National Women's Register
THE Buckingham and District NWR (National Women's Register) Group is currently looking for new members.
NWR is a countrywide network of groups where lively minded women exchange ideas, have interesting discussions and join in social events with their group.
NWR helps you make new friends locally, encourages you to explore broader interests, and meet other local women.
We are a friendly group of women who meet on every other Thursday at 8pm in members' homes during term-time.
We have a varied programme of meetings and events for this term including talks on gardening and the River Great Ouse, an exploration of the ancient art of Tai Chi, and a summer barbecue.
In addition, we regularly discuss books we have read, go on walks and theatre outings, and have themed meetings (the next one of these is a Thai evening).
For further details, please contact Rachel on 01280 815893.

Buckingham U3A
THE chairman opened the meeting and announced that a second Local History Group had been formed and anyone interested in joining should, via him, contact Dorothy Shaw.
The Buckingham U3A website has recently been updated and members were encouraged to visit the site.
The speaker, Louise Reed, was then introduced, her subject being Deaf Not Daft.
Louise began by explaining that she has trained to teach deaf children to talk and taught at the Royal Manchester School for the Deaf, which moved into the Cheshire countryside to a much more suitable environment.
She went on to discuss the various methods of teaching, and urged the audience to take good care of their hearing.
Louise had showed unbounded enthusiasm for her subject.

RBST Northants Support Group
THE Annual Boxed Poultry and Fleece Sale will be held on Sunday, June 28 at Elm Tree Farm, Evenley near Brackley, from 10am to 2pm.
Many rare and not-so-rare breeds of poultry and fleeces will be for sale.
There will be light refreshments, a plant sale, a demonstration of spinning wool, and the RBST merchandise stall.
For more information please contact Toddy on 01869 346554 for poultry, and Carole on 01280 850677 for fleece.

Buckingham & Winslow Scouts
THREE Troops from the Buckingham and Winslow Scout District made the trip to Longridge Water Activity Centre in Marlow for a weekend of kayaking, Canadian canoeing, open top canoeing, bell boating, topper sailing, climbing, archery, simulating caving, raft building and racing.
The main event for all three District Troops was the raft challenge – the challenge being to build a raft for people to sleep on overnight.
All the rafts were themed, and 1st Stewkley were at the Petrol Station, while the 1st Tingewick had a Cloaked Interstellar Battleship and the 1st Winslow re-created the Telly Tubbies homeland.
Having spent all day building them, they were launched into the River Thames where they were anchored in the middle so they could no longer receive help from those on land.
Part of the challenge was to supply the judges with a warm evening meal and hot breakfast.
While this was going on many other troops were assembling small racing rafts for a second race over 600 metres.
Sunday morning saw the rafts brought back to the bank where the superstructures were removed and the rafts turned into mean racing machines, for some this meant removing barrels to lighten the vehicle then loading it with Scouts to race head to head with another raft down the River Thames for 300 metres.
There were trophies for the raft challenge, the Head to Head Big Raft Racing and the Small Raft Race.
This resulted in the District taking three of the nine places home, 1st Winslow were third in the Raft Challenge Point Competition while 1st Tingewick were second in both the raft races.
If there are any young people in the Buckingham and Winslow area who have been inspired to take on these sorts of challenges or adults who are up to these types of activities or leadership duties offered by the movement then you should contact the District Commissioner on 08458 382847.

Old Gaol Museum of Buckingham
FUNDRAISING for the BIG Fund (Buckingham's Improving Gaol) continues; work is due to start next month in the museum but funds are still needed.
Our Tesco collection day raised £269, thanks to all the volunteers who spent time there and to the public for their donations.
If you picked up a leaflet to join the Trust, please send it in, your support is vital.
On April 23, St George's Day, a splendid evening was enjoyed by more than 30 people.
They were able to sample wines with Bill Smart from the Buckingham Wine Circle, taste various English cheeses, listen to the History of Buckingham Mayors by Howard Mordue, in full mayoral regalia, were entertained by Sam X the town jester and joined in the community singing with master of ceremonies Ed Grimsdale!
A great evening that is sure to be repeated next year.
Our Grand Draw tickets for the BIG Fund are now on sale in the museum, £1 each with the chance to win £200 in cash, donated by Tearle & Carver; two nights for two people at a Best Western Hotel in Surrey; box of select wines; a voucher from Browns Hairdressers for a Cut & Finish and a basket of tasty provisions!
The draw will take place on Sunday, July 19.
Please support us and call in and buy a ticket.
On Saturday, May 23 there will be a plant sale in the museum from 10am to noon; free entry to the sale (herbs and vegetables only this year so come in and stock up).
If you would like to donate to the stall please bring plants to the museum on Friday, May 22 or before 10am on the Saturday.
Your own bag to carry plants home in would be appreciated.
Children's activities will take place during the May Spring Bank Holiday week on Wednesday, May 27 from 10.30am to 12.30pm.
Brass rubbing, fossil rubbings and various other activities will be on offer.
Admission charges are on our website www.buckinghamoldgaol.org.uk
Activities will continue during the summer holidays, call in to the museum to collect a leaflet.

Bicester Local History Society
BICESTER Local History Society will be holding their next monthly meeting at St Edburg's Church Hall, Old Place Yard, adjacent to the Bicester Library, on Monday, May 18, at 7.30pm.
The meeting will feature a talk given by local author Mark Davies entitled A Literary Tour of the Thames.
He will consider the wealth of literary classics and some lesser known works that have featured locations along the River Thames and the authors, ranging from Chaucer to Phillip Pullman, that have been inspired by the history of the area.
Non-Bicester Local History Society members are very welcome to attend the meeting at a cost of £2. Further details can be obtained by contacting Pete Chivers on 01869 600109.

Cane & Able Over 60s Club
WE must begin by saying a huge thank you to all who came along and supported our spring fundraising event held on Saturday, April 25.
We raised a fantastic amount to help towards our annual summer outing and other ongoing expenses.
It was lovely to see so many people support our club.
Members helped to run the various stalls on the day and we must also thank Clare, Martyn and Jackie from Phoenix Cards, Pretty Bags and Bijoux Jewellery and Jean Dale and Rosie's for their support too.
We are hoping to organise another fundraiser in the autumn so watch this space for more details.
Our outing this year takes place on Friday, June 19, on the Kennet and Avon Canal, near Newbury, which sees 51 members and guests step back in time and savour the peace and tranquillity on a horse-drawn barge.
A huge thank-you to the Rotary Club of Winslow and the Winslow Lions, who have generously donated towards this outing too.
At our meetings held in April and May we welcomed some new guests.
In April we were entertained by the fabulous Risborough Hand Bell Ringers who also delighted us with some singing too.
They were also kind enough to judge our Easter Plate/Garden competition, which must have been pretty tough to judge as we had 15 entries.
The three winners – Fred Cowley, Pat Lawrence and Bill Mills – received Easter Eggs.
Nigel Benfield, a film and television extra, gave us a wonderful insight into this profession delighting us with his stories and photograph display at our May meeting.
In fact, he had filming the day before at Blenheim Palace with Catherine Tate and Billy Connolly in the new adaptation of Gulliver's Travels.
We have had to make a slight change for June's meeting, which will now be Bingo and a quiz as we shall now see the return of the Winslow Tea Dancers at our September meeting.
Our next meeting will be held in the St Laurence Room, Market Square, starting at 2.30pm on Saturday, June 6.
Come along and join in the fun.
For further details contact Brian and Sheila Spatcher on 01296 712503 or Sharon Stevens on 01296 714916.

Brackley WI
TWO of the Brackley Women's Institute were invited to the very prestigious ceremony of mayor-making last Saturday, May 9.
Representatives from many clubs and charities were invited to attend the historical changeover of the mayor.
We felt very honoured, and had dressed in our best as had everyone else there too.
The Brackley Brass Band, situated in a corner of the upstairs chamber, played mellow opening music and the National Anthem.
The ceremony proceeded with speeches from mayor Cllr Kevin Dixon and councillors, presenting cheques to worthy charities, and introducing the proposed new mayor Cllr Carol Billingham.
The mayor, resplendent in the red cloak of office, and councillors then resided to a private room, and re-emerged with Carol Billingham now wearing the red cloak. The new mayor gave a speech full of optimism.
When the speeches were over, the councillors and Mayor moved to the lower hall, where we were all treated to drinks and light refreshments.
Pam Archdale and Lesley Stubbings were very pleased indeed to have been part of such an important gathering.

Action Group for Cancer Research UK
THE AGM of Buckingham and District Action Group for Cancer Research UK was held recently, and the existing committee all remain in place, with Sally Wilson as chairman.
Margaret Richardson was thanked for her 26 years of service on the committee by being presented with a rose bush from everyone.
Not counting last year's CRUK Relay For Life, which raised more than £99,000, a total of £9,300 had been sent to head quarters during the last year.
In memoriam donations, whist drives, general donations, flag days, supermarket collections and the sale of CRUK Christmas cards helped towards this amount. Future events will start with a Tesco collection on June 19/20 and a flag day once more in Buckingham town centre on October 10.
A curry evening has been booked in Padbury Village Hall on November 21.
If anyone is able to help with the collection, flag day or if you would like to organise any other fundraising events please contact Sally Wilson on 01280 816483.

Buckingham Wine Circle
OUR next meeting is on Thursday, May 21 at the community centre starting at 8pm. The main event of the evening is a talk and tasting from John Lovell of Marsh Gibbon Brewery. In addition, Anne van der Velde will also be arranging a wine tasting.

The Film Place, Buckingham
THE Film Place in Buckingham is showing the film A Bunch Of Amateurs (15) today, Friday at 8pm.
This is a deliciously-relaxed British comedy in the very best farcical mode.
Burt Reynolds plays ageing Hollywood has-been, Jefferson Steel, who is duped by his agent into taking the part of King Lear with the Stratford Players.
Believing he is about to take to the stage in Stratford-on-Avon, Steel is brought to earth with a bump when he arrives at Stratford St John in rural Suffolk!
Tomorrow, Saturday, you can see The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button (12A) at 7.30pm.
Based on the Scott Fitzgerald novel, the story certainly is a curious one.
Button is born as an old wrinkled infant in 1918 and, his mother dying in childbirth, is abandoned by the father into the care of an old people's home.
He grows younger as the century progresses while he meets for the first time the love of his life, Daisy, a child growing up in the 1920s.
Following his wartime adventures, Benjamin and Daisy come together in age, their brief happy years as a couple drifting apart once more as the ageing processes are reversed.
Wine will be served on both days.
Films can be seen at the Ian Fairbairn Lecture Hall, Chandos Road Building, University of Buckingham.

Buckingham Acoustic Club
IT was Mike's turn to host the most recent evening and what a fantastic turn out we had, with several new faces.
Mike started the evening with a selection of songs from the '60s.
Next, we had two newcomers to the club, Adam and John, who entertained us with a fantastic set which included songs from Razorhead – a great blend of the two voices accompanied by some very skilful guitar playing; we hope to hear more from them.
Local singer-songwriter Marian then took to the stage to play some covers and was joined by Mike on bass for the last song, a self-penned number called If You Should Go Before Me.
There was a short interlude while we set up Laura, Andy and Lynne collectively known as Cerridwen.
The New Inn audience was entranced by the haunting whistle playing of Andy who used electronic effects to produce a wonderful sound.
Next up was our regular Flamenco guitarist Nick who is always a delight to listen to.
Hot on his heels were Alex and Ian who played a selection of Bob Dylan songs.
It was time for another newcomer so we asked George to take the stage.
George played a number of covers and a song written in collaboration with his father called Saturday Night's Alright which had a catchy chorus line which the audience joined in with gusto!
Last but not least the popular duo Riff Raff performed a selection of popular rock hits.
What fantastic night of free entertainment!
Join us again next Wednesday at the New Inn at 8.30pm when we do it all again.
Website: www.buckinighamacousticclub.co.uk.

Tiffield Open Mic
CRAIG got things off to a gentle start with some instrumentals, Kingfisher by Bert Jansch and Naked Ladies and Electric Ragtime by Michael Chapman. Then, he reverted to more audience familiar ground with some Van Morrison vocal.
James, the bass man, joined in for Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall Pt 2, then they carried on with other James' favourites including Hey Joe, House Of The Rising Sun, Bad Moon Rising and Black Magic Woman.
Sam, the harmonica man, joined in for a little blues shuffle and James and Sam continued with their blues instrumentals.
Next up was the great guitar playing and unique vocal delivery of Robert, who played Del Shannon's Runaway, amongst others, and finished off his set with Benny Hill's Ernie.
Jack and Phil impressed the audience with their complimentary vocal styles – Jack singing Sympathy For The Devil with the audience joining in with backing vocals, and Phil singing Roxanne.
Sam joined them on harmonica for the Dylan classic The Times They Are A-Changing – it sounded great.
Marco gave a quick bass lesson to James and then they proceeded to play a tight version of Sweet Home, Chicago.
Craig joined in on flute for Ain't No Sunshine.
Finally, we finished off the night with Marco, playing Oasis' Wonderwall literally unplugged as we packed the kit away around him. A great night.
Thanks to the proprietors, Jane and Russell Proctor, for their excellent hospitality.

Buckingham & Winslow Scout Fellowship
AFTER a visit to our Fellowship meeting, by Margot Parfit from Rotary, the fellowship decided to take part in their 40th anniversary challenge to fill 40 Aqua Boxes.
These boxes are sent to disaster areas and will provide clean water for those in need as they contain filter, tap, chemicals and survival bags.
They are also filled with emergency supplies, from baby bottles to buckets.
The Fellowship filled one box, the Buckingham and Winslow District Scouts another and 3rd Buckingham Scout Group aim to fill one more.
At our recent AGM Peter Frohock has taken the role of chairman for another year supported by Vera Abram as secretary and Jean Summers as treasurer.
We have 15 members and meet on the first Thursday of each month in Winslow Scout HQ with a full and varied programme which ranges from a ghost walk of Buckingham, social events and assisting at district events like the Beaver Scout Midsummer Day in June.
If you would like to join the Fellowship or know more about us please telephone Peter Frohock on 01280 817381 for further details.
Membership to the Fellowship is open to all adults; please give us a call.