Authentic Thai 3 course meal, Licensed Pay Bar
*PLUS* Thai dancing presented by the Thai Dance UK Academy

Odiham resident - Linda Broadbent presents an evening of stories, pictures and entertainment based on her recent travels and experiences in Thailand as a volunteer Massage Therapist working with children and disability.

Tickets £35 available: Richard Ward Opticians,
113 High Street, Odiham
or email: info@massageforeveryone.co.uk

This is a fundraising event on behalf of Christian Care Foundation for Children with disabilities www.ccdthailand.org in association with www.4lifethailand.org reg. charity 1104291

Hampshire Farmers' Market will be visiting the Bury this Saturday 21st November and operating from 1000 until 1400 hrs. The Bury will be closed from 0800 until 1530 and the road closure will be from the Bridewell through to Church street and the junction of the High street.

A few of the happy faces at this years Odiham Spring Festival.

Blues & Booze In The Bury, Odiham, Hampshire, Sat 14 June 2008

The second annual Blues & Booze In The Bury in Odiham, Hampshire on Sat 14 June, was a blues festival with a difference. The emphasis was on acoustic blues; a refreshing departure from the big bands. This daytime event has found a winning formula: free entry, good music, real ales from local brewers and family fun which this year, included teddybears parachuting from the church tower. No wonder it draws a good crowd! It also raises money for national and local charities, notably The Neurofibromatosis Association.

The show started at noon with solo Hampshire bluesman, Bob Long, singing and playing acoustic guitars and rack harmonica. He specialises in blues and jugband music from the 1920s and 1930s and oscillates between the deep south of England and the deep south of The USA where he is a frequent visitor, having recently played in the Clarksdale, Mississippi Juke Joint Festival for the fourth time. His set included some well known classics such as Travelin’ Riverside and Milkcow’s Calf and some material which took us off the beaten track such as Tommy Johnson’s Slidin’ Delta and Lonesome Home. I particularly liked his arrangements of R L Burnside’s Miss Maybelle and Washboard Sam’s Diggin’ My Potatoes.

Pete Harris (vocals, guitar, mandolin), also from Hampshire, was joined by Hugh Budden from Dorset (vocals, harmonica) for a very polished performance. Their material was mostly post WW2 and included some classics, notably Jimmy Reed’s Honest I Do which was superb. Hugh Budden contributed soulful lead vocals on Cross Your Heart and Learn To Treat Me Right, combined with some sizzling harmonica. Every one of their songs was a joy. I especially enjoyed their arrangement of Kim Wilson’s Looking For Trouble.

Next was Jim Crawford, originally from Manchester and now resident in Appledore, North Devon. Jim’s guitar finger picking and vocals were both brilliant. His material was varied; it ranged from a beautifully executed Sam Hopkins shuffle to the delightfully gentle and melodic Sugar Cane. His arrangement of It’s All Over Now featured some spectacularly fast and precise finger picking. My favourite was his arrangement of Come On In My Kitchen, played on slide guitar with a haunting, chilling intensity. If Robert Johnson had lived a few more years and got an electric guitar, his performance might have sounded like this…

Ernies Rhythm Section, a band of energetic young men from Manchester, was, unusually for them, a trio having temporarily lost their drummer and keyboard player but pressing on undeterred. It worked well with Rik Warren on harmonica, sounding very much like Rice Miller, Ellis Davis on guitar and Sam Buckley on bass. All three took turns on lead vocals. They produced a lively, unsophisticated set which is their trademark and certainly pleased the crowd at Odiham. It was a particular pleasure to talented young musicians playing this timeless music. I loved their version of Jimmy Reed’s Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby, sung powerfully by Ellis Davis.

Top-of-the-bill, came the Spikedrivers. Their performance was sparkling; full of life and good humour, combined with highly impressive musicianship and a wide range of material which juxtaposed traditional songs with their own writing. The trio comprises Ben Tyzack (guitars), Maurice McElroy (percussion) and Constance Redgrave (bass). All three sing, with the lead vocals shared. Having three singers in the band works well; they produce excellent harmonies. Their set was rich in variety, lively and entertaining. Ghost Train was highly energetic and very bluesy. On Blue Trash, Constance put down her bass guitar and played washboard whilst Maurice played ceramic drum. Candyman featured Maurice on guiro. Shake That Thing was a jaunty number with the band literally dancing as they played. Midnight Mademoiselle and Soul Searching Blues were moody, thought-provoking songs. The festival ended with The Spikedrivers doing an encore with a hard-driving Dust My Broom featuring some creative, bassy slide guitar from Ben. Roll on Blues & Booze In The Bury 2009!

Dottie Pride

The OTMG (Odiham Town Manager Group (CiC) aims to “To provide a vibrant and sustainable retail and commercial community for the benefit of the residents and businesses of Odiham alike. This is to be carried out through events and the promotion of the village of Odiham. The group is recognised by both Hart District Council and Hampshire County Council, and the OTMG, with the help of the local community, retailers and business's puts a lot of work, and funding, into organising events such as last weekends, Blues and Booze In The Bury and The Odiham Christmas Extravaganza and many more.

As already mentioned, The OTMG meets these objectives through the organisation of local events such as the weekly street markets, the Christmas Extravaganza, periodic farmers’ markets and food festivals. It also provides support for activities run by others.

Apart from generous support from the Odiham Parish Council to part fund the Annual Extravaganza, it has little external funding. To prosper it must raise its own money.

Everyone can help the OTMG help Odiham by joining the Great Weather Lottery. Application Forms are available from the George Hotel or you can join online and get more information here .

It's fun to play, and you could win up to £10,000!

All you need to do is: complete the membership form, select six single numbers 0—9, and return the completed form to Reception at the George. Each selection of six numbers will cost £1 per week. That is 20p for each daily draw from Monday to Friday in which your selected digits are matched against the last digit of the officially recorded temperature (F) at six locations -

Corfu(3)
Istanbul(4)
Tenerife(0)
Innsbruck(0)
Edinburgh(5)
Stockholm(1)

Using the digits in brackets, as an example, the winning number for that day would be “340051”. Match 3 numbers in sequence and you win £2, match 4 numbers in sequence and you win £20, match 5 numbers in sequence and you win £200 and match 6 numbers in sequence and you win £10,000 and you don't even need to check your numbers as your winnings are sent to you automatically so you can just relax and wait for the cheques to arrive.

Help the OTMG to help Odiham, and remember - It might be you.

From: The Rt. Hon. James Arbuthnot, M.P.

HOUSE OF COMMONS,LONDON SW1A 0AA

Community Praise for Local Heroes

Yesterday in the House of Commons, James Arbuthnot, Member of Parliament for North East Hampshire, spoke about Saturday’s RAF Odiham Heroes Parade and highlighted the outstanding work of the local Chinooks crews that are returning from Afghanistan.

The home coming parade was the result of 9 months collaboration between the RAF, Odiham Parish Council and the Odiham Town Manager Group. Celebrations started with a Chinook flypast along Odiham High Street, followed by the procession which included a tank, armoured vehicles and marching band. There was a parade in The Bury and festivities continued later into the day with the Blues and Booze music event.

James said:

“The people of Odiham showed a huge degree of appreciation for the wonderful work of the local Chinook crews that are coming back from Afghanistan. They were lining the streets three deep to welcome home members of the armed forces, and I know that everyone involved with RAF Odiham appreciates this fantastic level of community support. But thank you also to Peter Fountain and Odiham for giving us all the opportunity to say thank you.

“I spoke to many people during the day and there was unanimous agreement with the remarks of the Chief of the General Staff, Sir Richard Dannatt, who says that we need to have a debate about the priority that we give to our armed forces. The work that those people are doing is second to none and we need events like this to remind us of the outstanding job that they do.”

(end)

17 June 2008

The Rt. Hon. James Arbuthnot, M.P. Speaking at the Houses Of Parliament.

A few memories of the day from Blues And Blues in the Bury 2008 and the RAF Odiham Heroes Parade. You can also find photo's from the day on Bob Longs Website

Or click here to see the Thames Valley News Report on the day.

A few memories from the RAF Odiham Heroes Parade, June 2008.

The Day started with a Chinook flypast along the High Street.

It's not every day you get a tank rolling through the village...

... Or an armoured car!

The Band

On Parade in The Bury.