The original words, which tell the story of how good (King George) triumphed over evil (the Turkish Knight), were handed down orally and published by village author Walter Rose in his book Good Neighbours in 1942.

In addition to performing at each of the village pubs and restaurants and at pubs in neighbouring villages, the Mummers, who are all Haddenham residents, performed the play at the Real Ale Winterfest (see below), at the Red Cross Day Centre (at their Christmas lunch), and during the village carol service - a total of 17 times (at about 10 minutes a time). Collections were made at each of the venues and (including sponsorship of £200 from Chiltern Railways) £1,070 was raised for The Society for Mucopolysaccharide Diseases, The Parkinson's Disease Society and The Special Care Baby Unit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.

CAROL SERVICE. This year's village carol service in the village hall was organised by members of the Baptist Church and led by the Rev Carol Murray. The singing was accompanied by an instrumental group led by Alison Green and Jenny Hardy and representatives from village groups and organisations contributed Bible readings and seasonal poetry - Tom Chisholm (Haddenham Players), Pam Robbins (Puddleducks Pre-school), Irene Kershaw (WI), Paul Thres (Youth Football Club), Ricky Jeffrey (parish council and Parminters butchers), Ian Chalk (Horticultural Society). In addition, pupils from St Mary's School sang some Christmas songs. Afterwards, everyone enjoyed mince pies and coffee served by members of the village churches.

ROTARY. Members of Haddenham and District Rotary Club - formerly Thame Witchert Rotary Club - celebrated their 20th anniversary with partners and friends at the Oxfordshire Golf Club recently.

The club was founded in 1987 and met at the Rose and Thistle, then moved to the Seven Stars, Dinton, before returning to the Rose and Thistle, where they now meet every Monday evening. The club supports the local community in a number of ways (including running the wine tent at the Real Ale Winterfest) as well as the needs of the international community, especially when disasters occur or particular help is needed.

For the past four years, the club has also been sponsoring the planting of tree seedlings in the village tree nursery by each new intake of children from the two infant schools in the village, assisted by tree warden David Rankin, and more than 250 children have now planted a tree. In addition, in November, pupils at the junior school, who planted seedlings three years ago, replanted 40 of their two metre high trees to form a woodland area on their playing fields. Financial support for this was provided by the Haddenham Beer Festival.

CHARITY AND FUND-RAISING NEWS.
Quiz Night. Apologies to the organisers of the Utugi quiz night for mishearing - and hence misreporting - the total raised at their November quiz and supper, which was £840 and not £140! This has gone to support the street children project in Kenya. (Note: the children's home is in a Kikuyu area which, at the time of writing, had not been affected by the current unrest in the country.)

Winterfest. The tithe barn at Manor Farm was filled to capacity for the Haddenham Real Ale Winterfest on December 8. Mulled wine was served, along with real ale, to accompany hot pies from Simon the Pieman (Parminters butchers) and cold snacks prepared by Val Young and her team. Entertainment was provided by the Ian English jazz band, the Witchert Chorale, Haddenham Mummers etc.

There were also festive stalls and I discovered that Sally, the former manager of the now defunct Local Tastes shop, has taken over Just Biscuits, which was founded by villager Sally Bent (now retired). A total of £2,800 was raised by the event and most of this will go to the Florence Nightingale Hospice, with the remainder going to village clubs and organisations.

In the four years that the summer Real Ale Festival has been running, a total of £20,000 has been distributed to various village projects including the Upward Bound Trust, Snakemoor Local Nature Reserve, village tree planting, St Mary's Church Millennium Fund, school tennis coaching and various (mostly youth) organisations.

Line Dancers. The Pondarosa Line Dancers gave a demonstration for Abbeyfield residents and other guests on December 15 and raised £51 for the Leukaemia Research. A further £131 was raised for the charity at the Pondarosa social line dance that evening. The charity was chosen because one of the carers, Denise Smith, who had worked at the Abbeyfield for seven years, died very suddenly last year from leukaemia. Lindsey McGibbon and Sue Young would like to thank everyone for their generosity and all the people who donated raffle prizes.

Christingle Service. St Mary's Church was packed last month's Christingle service and a total of £228.33 was collected for the Children's Society. In addition, Christmas cards with a photo of St Mary's Church and containing signatures and messages of love from the congregation were sent for some of the young people the society would be helping at Christmas.

Carols. Members of Churches Together in Haddenham sang carols in parts of Haddenham and at two of the pubs before Christmas and raised £329 for Christian Aid and Stoke Mandeville Hospital Eye Unit Appeal.
Witchert Chorale. The group had a busy schedule before Christmas. They took part in a concert at St Nicholas Church, Cuddington, which raised £320 for the church's refurbishment programme. They also sang carols at five of Haddenham's pubs and restaurants and, for an hour, outside Threshers' shop and raised £130 and £52 respectively for Crisis (the charity which helps homeless people).

DENTAL CENTRE. Dr Nilesh Patel, a graduate of the University of Bristol Dental School, who has practised in Nottingham, Surrey and Middlesex over the last few years, took over the Haddenham Dental Centre from Dr Jane Lelean last month. He sits on various British Dental Association (BDA) committees and is currently chairman of the Young Dentists' Committee so he is well informed about dentistry at a national level. Dr Patel, who works with a dental hygienist but is currently looking to appoint a new dental nurse, has reopened the NHS waiting list and also offers private treatment. He very much hopes that the centre will become a part of the community.

MEDICAL CENTRE. Patients of Dr Catherine Wade will be shocked and/or saddened by news that she retired just before Christmas after seven years at the practice.

FUNERALS. There will be services at the Amersham crematorium (Milton Chapel) tomorrow (4.45pm) for Ivy Oakley (100), who died on January 2, and at St Mary's Church on Monday at 11am for Paul Odgers, 92, who died on Christmas Eve, .

RECYCLING. Don't forget to put your glass box out next Tuesday as well as your paper, cans and plastic bottles.

THIS WEEK. Visitors and/or prospective members will be welcome at any of the meetings publicised below.

Carry on Learning. There are two chances to hear Ann Severn's talk on Charles Dickens this week - at the Carry on Learning session today (10.30am) at the Haddenham Abbeyfield and at the Thursday Club tomorrow (1.30pm) in the village hall lounge.

Coffee Morning. This month's Veterans' Coffee Morning is tomorrow (10am-noon) at 4 White Hart Lane.

Village Society. Les Stocker will be giving a talk on the work of St Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital tonight (8pm) at Haddenham Village Society's monthly meeting at Haddenham Community Junior School and will talk about the challenges and rewards of setting up 'the world's busiest wildlife hospital'..

Snakemoor. The next working party is on Saturday from 10am. It is planned to do some tree planting provided the ground isn't frozen. Please bring a spade or fork if you can. Details from Robyn Thorogood on 291254.

Medical Centre. Haddenham Medical Centre will be closed for the afternoon tomorrow (from 12.30pm) for this month's 'Protected Time for Learning' session. Emergency cover is provided during this time.
Senior Alpha. If you missed Monday's introductory session but would like to attend the Senior Alpha course, being run by the Haddenham Outlook group on Monday mornings (10am-noon) please ring Jenny on 290990 or Vivienne on 290247 for further details.

St Mary's Fellowship. Monday's meeting (2.30-4pm) at St Mary's Centre includes a celebration of Holy Communion with the Rev John Race.
Give Blood. One of Thame's Blood Donor Sessions will be held in the village hall on Tuesday (1-2.55pm and 3.45-6.15pm). Villagers are also welcome to attend.

Darby and Joan. There will be a musical quiz and sing-song with Barbara Shaw at the Darby and Joan Club meeting next Wednesday (2pm) at the Youth and Community Centre, Woodways

WI. Sue Crisp will give a demonstration of Rag Rug Making, followed by a hands-on session, at Haddenham Witchert WI's meeting next Wednesday (8pm) at the Youth and Community Centre, Woodways.

SAFE DRIVING. Haddenham U3A is hosting a special meeting on January 17 (2.15pm) when the Driving Standards Agency will give an audio-visual presentation 'Arrive Alive' on safe driving for the over-50s. Free entrance, non-members welcome.

CONCERT. A date for your diaries: Russian virtuoso Alexander Ardakov will be giving a piano recital at St Mary's Church on January 19 (7.30pm) in aid of the Leprosy charity LEPRA. Details to follow.
WEA. A seven-week course begins on January 23 (2-4pm) with Charles Tyzack who gives An Introduction to Modern China. To book a place call Carole Fryer on 01296 748538.