Residents were saddened by the passing of Aston Abbotts' oldest resident Cate Waite, who passed away on the 7th March at the age of 103.
Cate had lived most of her life in Aston Abbotts and until very recently she was a regular at the Thursday coffee mornings in the Village Hall. She will be very much missed.
Our sympathies are with her family.
Aston Abbotts Village Fete 2026 is planned to take place on Saturday 25th July.
More details will be given when we have them
This year the fireworks will take place on
Sunday 2nd November
This is different from previous years when it was usually held on the 5th.
Best birthday wishes to Colin Higgs, who celebrated his 90th birthday at the end of May.
Colin has been a mainstay of village life for many, many years; at times serving on the Parish Council, the Parochial Church Council, mowing the church grass, organising litter-picks and many other activities. He shows little sign of slowing down!
Colin was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to Aston Abbotts in the 2020 New Years Honours list.
You can read a year 2000 interview with Colin here.
Happy birthday Colin.
Aston Abbotts has again entered the Buckinghamshire Best Kept Village competition in 2025. This follows our successes in 2019 and 2022.
You can read more and see pictures from 2019 and 2022 here.
ASTON ABBOTTS VILLAGE FETE: 26th July 2025
Please, save the date for the annual village fete on Saturday 26th July, starting at 1:00pm, continuing to 4pm .
The Fete is the biggest event of the village calendar, and we really hope to see you there.
All proceeds from the Fete go towards good causes such as the Church, the Chronicle, The Village Hall and many more as decided by the villagers during the Annual Parish Meeting.
We look forward to seeing you.
Regards
Neil Redding and Will Adeney
Added a page for Trevor Hall's sink-hole book 'On the Origin of Faeces'
Added a page for Simon Guy's 'Soldier Lads' Booklet
Added a Footpaths and Bridleways page
Updated the Chronicle Archive with Chronicles from January 2022 to February 2024
Updated the Village Hall Page
Updated the Village Orchard Page
Updated the Gnomes page
Updated the 630 Club page
Added some more photos to the Fete page
Added some items to Social Activities page
Added some items to the Links page and removed redundant links
Moved Astonbury to the History section
Moved the Ladies Club to History section
Minor corrections and updates
The 2024 Aston Abbotts Summer Fete will take place on the village green at 1pm on Saturday 27th July.
There will be Morris Men, a Jazz Band, bric-a-brac, a book stall, a plant stall and many other attractions including games for the children. This is a traditional English fete, all are very welcome, and we hope to see you there.
Aston Abbott is pleased to announce the annual village fete on 22nd July from 13:00 to 16:00 on The Green.
The annual village fete has been a staple of the Aston Abbott's calendar running for over 50 years. All proceeds go towards good causes in the village. This year includes; The Chronicle, The Church, improvements to the Village Hall, the Bonfire Night Fireworks Display, Wild Flowers throughout the village and supporting a new Table Tennis table initiative for the Recreation Ground.
We are pleased to have many of the regular stalls as well as some new and exciting suppliers and activities.
This family orientated fete is a great and inexpensive afternoon out for the family, and don't forget your 4-pawed family members!
Children's Activities, Dog Show, Music By The Queen's Part Jazz Ensemble, Traditional Morris Dancing and much more.
Food and Drink will be available, including PIMMS, Beer (Booby Trap brewery), BBQ, Cream Teas and Prosecco, and Ice Cream.
Free parking is available in the recreation ground. Sat navigation: HP22 4LP.
Aston Abbotts won the Tindall Cup as judges gave our village 195 out of 200 points. (See the previous news item.)
Villagers gathered on the Green as Chairman of the Best Kept Villages committee Bill Chapple awarded Aston Abbotts with the Tindall Cup on Saturday 24th September.
The first picture shows Chris Phillips (left), who instigated and coordinated our efforts, and Parish Council Chair Jane Baylis receiving the cup from Bill Chapple.
Pictures by Michael Gould.
Congratulations to Cate Waite, Aston Abbotts' oldest resident, who celebrated her 100th birthday in September. Cate is a regular at the Thursday morning coffee mornings and she celebrated her birthday by going out with family, as shown in the picture below by Michael Gould.
Aston Abbotts has won the Best Kept Village again! We were entered in the Tindall Cup - this cup was for those who won categories in 2019 (the last time the competition was held). So, we are the Champions of Champions! What an accolade.
We scored an incredible 195 points out of 200! We can all be hugely proud of this achievement.
It’s incredible. The Presentation Tour is scheduled for Saturday, 24th
September, with the Cups to be presented by Lady Elizabeth Howe, HM
Lord Lieutenant and President of the Competition.
WELL DONE ASTON ABBOTTS! WE DID IT! Thank you all for your support, encouragement and hard work.
Here's just a handful of the judges’ comments:
The 2022 Aston Abbotts fete will be held on Saturday July 23rd at 1.30pm.
For more information about the fete please email fete@aston-abbotts.co.uk
The ladies Club, which met fortnightly for around 75 years and more recently met monthly, has been closed down.
Click here to read the closure announcement
It is with regret that I have to report the death of Percy Humphreys of The Green Aston Abbotts.
He leaves behind his younger sibling Hilder and niece Sandra.
Percy was born in the Bull & Butcher pub, Aston Abbotts where his mum and dad were Landlady and Landlord for at least 50 years. They also owned the Bakery there where Percy worked until the death of his mother. He later worked for Todd's Coaches.
He had been living alone since the death of Sheila, his wife. He loved gardening and did this as much as he could as he entered his senior years. I’ve also been told he was a good cook.
Percy will be missed by family, Friends and neighbours.
Percy’s funeral is to be held on Monday 13th September 13.30 at St James Church Aston Abbotts followed by the burial. Attendees are welcome to tea in the Village Hall.
Pete Lucas Editor Chronicle
Regrettably the Village Dog Show due to take place at Aston Abbotts Fete on the 24th July has been CANCELLED due to Kennel Cough in the village.
We apologise for the disappointment as this is a popular event, but we are sure that everybody will understand the welfare of the dogs is paramount.
ASTON ABBOTTS FETE Saturday 24th July 2021 opening at 1pm.
Just a week to go and your local co-ordinators should be organising collections of books, bric-a-brac and bottles for the Tombola and collecting returns for the raffle.
We will be setting up from 10am on the day and would welcome assistance with moving chairs and tables to the green and clearing up after the Fete closes at 4pm. Many hands make light work so please come and help.
Programme of Events
1.00pm Fete opening by Greg Smith MP
1.15pm Great Horwood Band
1.30pm Dog Show opens next to the Church
2.00pm Unveiling of Village History Board on the green by Colonel Vladimír STOLÁRIK (SLOVAK Defence Attaché to the United Kingdom & Ireland)
2.15pm Aldbury Morris Men
3.00pm Great Horwood Band
3.45pm Raffle Draw and award of prizes
4.00pm Fete Closes
David Gray Fete Organiser.
The future of The Royal Oak in Aston Abbotts appears to be in doubt. Owners Teri and Gary say they have no immediate plans to re-open the pub and are understood to be 'considering their options'.
The potential loss of Aston Abbotts sole remaining pub will come as a body blow to those villagers who have used it regularly. However, the pre-pandemic trade level was not very high and the situation over the last year has apparently forced a rethink by the owners.
Any further news will be reported here and in The Chronicle when the situation becomes clearer.
It is uncertain whether or not the Aston Abbotts Fete can go ahead in 2021 in the current situation, but fete organiser David Gray has pencilled in the date Saturday 24th July and he is making preliminary arrangements.
As soon as we have confirmation of the fete, one way or the other, we will post the information here. In the meantime please note the provisional date of Saturday 24th July.