Whatlington

The Royal Oak

Everyone’s favourite annual village event is coming up – the fete! June 15 is the date to keep free in your diary and keep your fingers crossed for good weather! There will be all the usual attractions and stalls, so come along and smash up some crockery, win some good prizes (usually wine!) and indulge in a BBQ and ice-cream! If you have anything you would like to donate for the raffle, or if you would like to help out in any way, please call Angie 01424 870087.

Irish Music Night at The Royal Oak is on Friday May 31, so come along, particularly if you haven’t experienced this unique evening of traditional live music before. Admission is free, the usual menu will be being served if you’re peckish, or you can just soak up the atmosphere at the bar with a drink or two. If you would like to book a table please call 01424 870492.

Royal Oak Day, or Oak Apple Day as it is also known falls on Wednesday May 29 and celebrates the restoration of the monarchy, when Charles II rode back into London on his birthday in 1666. This day is celebrated around the country and was a national holiday up until a couple of hundred years ago. As we have a Royal Oak in our village, we have decided we should mark the day with another great dinner in the Barn at the pub. Traditionally meat pie and plum pudding are eaten on Royal Oak Day as these “indulgences” were banned by Cromwell until the monarchy was restored, so that is what’s on the menu, all for £10 a head. Like our St George’s Day celebrations, tickets are limited due to space in the Barn, so if you would like to join in, please call us on 01424 870492.

The quiz is still a regular weekly event on a Thursday at The Royal Oak from 8pm. It’s a popular night so if your team of up to six people would like to reserve a table, please call and let me know, the usual menu is served throughout the evening.

The Oscar, Bafta and Golden Globe winning movie Argo is next up at the Whatlington Film Club on Friday June 7. Based on the unlikely joint CIA-Canadian mission to extract six American diplomatic personnel out of revolutionary Iran, the film was the most-decorated movie of 2012. Directed by and starring Ben Affleck it tells of the plan to send a phony Canadian film crew to Iran and smuggle the diplomats out as members of the production team. Tony Mendez (Affleck) pulls in some favours from his Hollywood contacts but, not surprisingly, his CIA bosses doubt he can complete the mission and, all the time, the Iranian security forces are beginning to close in. The film club meets once a month and shows some of the best films of the year in the Royal Oak Barn, with the bar just the other side of the door. It costs £7.50 for a year’s membership – just turn up on the 7th and join on the spot. Can anyone who hasn’t paid this year’s subs please do so asap! For more details call Steve Turner on 01424 870041 or email [email protected]

The Royal Oak Readers will meet again on Tuesday June 4 at 7.30pm to discuss “The Red House” by Mark Haddon. Everyone is welcome to join us for a drink (or coffee!), we are a nice friendly informal group.

If you have any village news you would like included in this column, please email [email protected].