Wassail in the Jubilee Wood

Wassail in the Jubilee Wood

Title: Wassail
Location: The Jubilee Wood, Great Gidding
Start Time: 19:30
Date: Thursday 16th February 2017

Time we had another Pagan adventure in the Jubilee wood to celebrate a Wassail. This is an old English custom of celebrating the imminent arrival of spring.  As the days start extending in daylight so thoughts turn to how to prepare for spring seeding whether in the cereal fields or the fruit orchards. The Wassail is an expression of looking forward and banishing the winter blues. In the Great Gidding version of a Wassail we mix and match in a modern terminology. We give a nod to the fruit orchards of the south west where Wassailing is still practised in alight hearted way and we also adapt our celebration to include the mixed farming areas of the eastern regions.

Timeline

Light the bonfire of trimmed hedge clipping at 19:30hrs, feel the heat and warm up.

19:45hrs find an unsuspecting apple tree and perform a Gidding Wassail.

20:00hrs assemble by to the bench seat at the entrance to the wood to  hear any prose, rhymes, tales written especially for the event. The theme “Enjoying the Jubilee Wood”

It can be serious, light hearted, mischievous, rude, coarse (after all we are being Pagan)

Retire to bonfire for warm up.

The Wassail will conclude at the Fox & Hounds at your convenience. As it is a Thursday you are invited to bring a food item befitting a Wassail  to be consumed after light hearted judging at the pub. This will be the weeks “Foodie Thursday” theme that is so popular at the Fox & Hounds. Sweet or savoury, it doesn’t matter and if its not your thing please don’t worry about it.

And……….fancy dress or pagan attire or just a silly hat or a mix of all three.

Aunt Sally at the Fox and Hounds

Aunt Sally at the Fox and Hounds

As summer gets closer the weekly Aunt Sally tournaments have been reinstated at the Fox and Hounds.

Come along every Thursday evening (weather permitting) to the beer garden at the Fox and Hounds for a few rounds of stick throwing and a few rounds of beers!

Read more about the Fox and Hounds

A few photos of previous Aunt Sally events

Fox and Hounds, Great Gidding

Fox and Hounds Pub, Main St, Great Gidding

The Fox & Hounds is a Grade II listed pub in the quiet village of Great Gidding.

A real gem of a village pub with a strong local trade. A range of menu options are available with an emphasis on authentic Thai curries cooked freshly in-house. Local guest beers are always available alongside Guinness and lagers.

See our main page

Opening hours: Tues – Fri: 17:00–00:00; Sat – Sun: 11:00–00:00.

Address: 80 Main St, Great Gidding, Cambridgeshire PE28 5NU

We also hold regular events at The Fox & Hounds. Please check the Events page or phone John for further details.

Telephone John Chiswell on 01832 293298 for more information.

Mince Pie Champion Revealed

Mince Pie Champion Revealed

Following three weeks of intensive, in depth and incisive analysis of Mince Pies,  yes Mince Pies!  we now know the identity of the Champion Mince Pie maker.

But first a little background. Since mid autumn Thursday evenings at the Fox & Hounds have been the centre of the culinary universe. What started out as a simple Pork Pie tasting has morphed into weekly food challenge. Pasties, Sausages, Bedfordshire Clangers and Scotch Eggs have all been subject to the judging panel. Remarkably some of the finest food presented has been submitted from the gnarled hands of the Farming, Undertaking and Electricians community.

Well done to all those who have taken part and watch this space for further challenges in 2015

David Roughton enjoying the limelight as Mince Pie Champion

David Roughton enjoying the limelight as Mince Pie Champion

Aunt Sally at The Fox & Hounds – photos

Aunt Sally at The Fox & Hounds - photos

The weather didn’t deter us hardy villagers from turning out to join in the fun of playing the now traditional August Bank Holiday Monday game of Aunt Sally at The Fox & Hounds. Contestants came in all ages (2 and upwards) and nationalities (Slovakian, Folksworthian to name just a couple) and the new pitch layout proved a great success as there were several ‘oooohhhhs’ and ‘aaaahhhhs’ as dolly legitimately hit the dust (soggy grass). A hushed whisper went round the crowd when Michael produced his own set of ‘sticks’ from a shopping bag… but we soon realised they weren’t magic ones after all.

Yummy feast

The mid-game break was a yummy feast as several people had been very busy making a variety of pies and sandwiches. Lesley Alexander’s ‘Breakfast Pie’ with quails eggs and Julie Trolove’s Fidget pie were delicious – as I’m sure were all the other goodies on offer.

And this year’s winner…

So, onto the final scores and I’m especially delighted to announce the winner of this year’s trophy is… da dah… Paul Crank! Paul also received the bottle of bubbly stuff and, as is customary, a kiss from the bubbly stuff sponsor’s wife.

Thank you very much to Michael, The Fox & Hounds and all of the contributors to a great afternoon.

Aunt Sally and Pork Pies

Aunt Sally and  Pork Pies

August 25th 2pm Gidding Time @ the pub

The Annual August Bank Holiday Aunt Sally Tournament

Its back, the tournament you can’t say no to. Monday August 25th sees the annual Aunt Sally Tournament starting at 2pm Great Gidding time. This is in addition to the regular Thursday evening game which has been extended from its original 8 week run to the end of August. Three things of note, that  the weather has been quite summery, we now have some regular players and the skill level is still woeful. There are occasional glimmers of fine play but these are usually short lived.

My thanks to Ian Alexander for taking on the game for the rest of the summer and our hosts at the Fox & Hounds for allowing such a silly game to be played.

If anyone would like to sponsor this event, I’m sure we can find a suitable category to place your donation.

This year the food theme is Pork Pies. Currently patrons of the Fox & Hounds are researching quality Pork Pies and the Aunt Sally Tournament is an ideal event to expand the research so if you have a favourite Pork Pie either bought or home made then bring it along for a taste test,  actually any pie will be warmly  welcome  Game, Vegetarian or  Sausage.

 

Previously……….

Time-lapse video of Aunt Sally at the Fox and Hounds

Time-lapse video of Aunt Sally at the Fox and Hounds

Some of you may have noticed grown men (and women) disappearing out of the back of the Fox and Hounds on a Thursday night. Well here’s what’s been going on…

Quite disappointing really!

Thanks to Michael for organising and for the time-lapse footage and to the Fox and Hounds for hosting.

PS. The Giddings now has a YouTube channel. If anyone has Giddings related video and want to share it then email Paul and he’ll give you login details (and instructions if needed).

Great Gidding Aunt Sally Tournament 2013 – photos

Great Gidding Aunt Sally Tournament 2013 – photos

The 2013 Great Gidding Aunt Sally Tournament on August Bank Holiday was blessed with fine weather and a good crowd. Michael organised a well run event with six throws per person per round and six rounds in all. A good turnout meant there was plenty of time between throws for a chat and catching up with village gossip. And Chris at the Fox and Hounds ensured we were topped up with drinks and a selection of sandwiches. There was a real competitive spirit throughout the afternoon as most people didn’t want to take the ‘Marmite Challenge’ – an extra element added by Michael at several points during the tournament for the worst throw/silliest moment/hopeless cause!

…We’d all like to say a BIG thank you to Michael for organising such a fun afternoon.

A message from the organiser…

Thank you everyone for your support. A worthy winner and runner up, Mathew and Adam. Thank you Calum and Patrick for keeping the scoreboard updated, Paul and Krystyna for the sponsorship fizz and Chris at the Fox and Hounds for some excellent sandwiches and finally thanks for the Met Office for a correct weather forecast.

Regards Michael.

Fox and Hounds has had a make over!

Fox and Hounds has had a make over!

If you haven’t already noticed the Fox and Hounds pub on Main Street in Great Gidding has had a bit of a wash and brush up and is looking ‘spick and span’. Why not pop along for a pint?

Poetry Please and lunch at the Fox and Hounds.

Poetry Please and lunch at the Fox and Hounds.

Poetry Please and lunch at the Fox and Hounds.

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On Tuesday morning, 9th July, twelve people gathered in the garden of 85 Main Street to bringing their favourite poems to read and share. Settling down with a cup of coffee or glass of elderflower cordial in the hot sunshine we heard a very wide range of poems, some long-established favourites but some lesser known ones too. We heard reasons why a poem was a favourite or how it first came to notice. Some were long-time favourites and some were found in recent reading. The choices were wide, from the childhood favourite, A A Milne, through Pam Ayres to Laurie Lee, Walt Whitman and Robert Frost and there were several discussion about the themes and relevance of the poems.

Lois Jordan impressed everybody by faultlessly reciting, from memory, two long poems, The Duck, by Frank W Harvey and The Song of Right and Wrong, by G K Chesterton, learned as a schoolgirl, if I may say, more than a few years ago. John De Val delighted everybody with his two choices from Rupert Brooke, Dining-Room Tea, which spoke of the pleasure and importance of being with friends and The Old Vicarage – Granchester, which was a very fitting poem to conclude the readings and drift over to the Fox and Hounds to enjoy an excellent lunch. It was a lovely occasion and, as it was so enjoyable, there was a conversation about arranging a similar event later.

Thanks to all those who came to take part.

Paul Burgess