North Leigh Community Cafe

19/10/2026

17/10/2026

🧺🧺 Peter the Picnic Basket Visits The Vyne 🧺🧺

Peter the Picnic Basket had been looking forward to his latest outing.

“I’ve heard we’re going somewhere very grand,” he announced.

“We are?” Said Barry. “The Vyne”

“Why is it called The Vyne?” Asked Peter

“I don’t know. But I do know it is a very old house, so try not to embarrass me.” Replied Barry fearing the worse.

With that, they set off towards the Hampshire countryside, where The Vyne sits peacefully amongst gardens, woodland and parkland.

Peter was immediately impressed. “Good heavens!” he said. “This is rather grand.”

It certainly was.

The Vyne began life in the early sixteenth century, when William Sandys, a courtier to King Henry VIII, built a substantial Tudor house here. William had risen to become Lord Chamberlain and was clearly a man who knew how to make an impression.

“Imagine getting a job at Court and celebrating by building yourself a house like this,” said Peter.

“Perhaps he had a very good bonus scheme,” suggested Barry.

Over the centuries the house was altered and enlarged, and in the eighteenth century the fashionable architect John James gave it a new classical appearance. Later, in the nineteenth century, the influential architect John Macvicar Anderson made further changes.

Peter looked thoughtfully at the building.

“So, basically, everyone who lived here kept looking at the house and thinking, ‘Very nice, but I know what would improve it.’”

“Hmm, some with more success than others” said Barry.

The Vyne became the home of the Chute family, who lived here for generations, read Barry. One of its most famous residents was John Chute, an eighteenth-century gentleman, architect and friend of Horace Walpole. Chute was a leading figure in the circle of cultured and fashionable people who gathered around Walpole at Strawberry Hill.

Peter was fascinated.

“So The Vyne wasn’t merely a big house. It was somewhere people came to discuss art, architecture and culture?”

“Apparently.”

“Did they have tea?”

“Almost certainly.”

Peter looked pleased.

“Then I approve of them.”

Inside, Peter discovered that The Vyne contains an extraordinary mixture of architectural styles and treasures. There is even a remarkable Tudor chapel, while the house contains elaborate interiors, portraits, furniture and objects collected by generations of the family.

Peter was particularly interested in the dining room.

“Barry?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think they had picnics here?”

“Inside?”

“I’m a picnic basket. I don’t recognise the concept of ‘inappropriate location’.”

Eventually, the house passed to the National Trust in the twentieth century, together with its gardens and parkland, allowing visitors to explore the property and discover the stories of the people who lived here.

Peter observed with great interest as he was carried through the grounds, admiring the lawns, trees, gardens and lake.

“This is much better than sitting in the boot of a car,” he announced.

“That’s where you normally live.”

“Exactly. I’m broadening my horizons.”

Then came the moment Peter had been waiting for.
Lunch.

He was placed carefully on a patch of grass overlooking the beautiful surroundings.

The sandwiches emerged. The cake appeared. The flask was opened.

Peter beamed.

“You know,” he said, “after five hundred years of Tudor builders, fashionable architects, wealthy families and National Trust conservationists, it seems to me that The Vyne has finally reached its finest historical period.”

“Which is?”

“Afternoon tea.”

Barry shook his head.

“You really are a picnic basket.”

Peter smiled.

“History is all very well, Barry. But someone has to preserve the sandwiches.”

And so Peter spent the afternoon at The Vyne, contemplating Tudor courtiers, eighteenth-century gentlemen, magnificent architecture and several centuries of English history.

Although, judging by the crumbs found inside him afterwards, it was the cake that made the greatest historical impression. 🧺🍰☕️

14/10/2026

🍁🍂Cafe Crystal Balls 🍂🍁

We won’t lie, for only the second time since we opened we were at risk of having to cancel today’s cafe due to lack of people. However, we needn’t have worried as once again those Volunteers who were able changed their plans to help out did so. As ever, thank you to all our crew.

We are fortunate that people continue to offer their services as Volunteers at the cafe, the latest being Caroline Cook who has recently moved to Wilcot - I’m sure you will all join me in giving her the warmest welcome😁.

It’s a truism that it’s difficult to forecast (especially in the future). Last week we had around 45 customers, the week before 65. As it was the seniors lunch we expected fewer people but we were wrong on two counts. First the Senior’s Lunch is next week and second we had over 60 people join us on a bright autumnal day, including visitors from Ohio!.
After 81 weeks we should be getting fairly good at it; at least we don’t run out of things very often except for today - apologies to those of you who couldn’t have your tea cakes (we’ll try harder next week).

On the subject of food, if you would like anything else on the menu please let us know and we’ll see if it’s practical.

We are pleased to report that Steve has replenished our supply of jams and other goodies, whilst Derek was on shopping duty and managed to resist buying loads of cakes.

We are now taking bookings for the Cafe Christmas Lunch (16th December, 11:00 - 13:00), £5pp. Please talk to one of the Cafe Organisers - over 30 places were reserved today so book early to avoid disappointment.

If there are any businesses (or individuals) who would like to support the cafe with raffle prizes or become a ‘friend of the cafe’ by donations to our ever increasing costs, we would love to hear from you. Please DM us or email us at [email protected].

After a much appreciated break from the quiz (especially after a 5 hour drive down from Liverpool last Tuesday evening), Ivan was back as quiz master with what should have been a fairly easy quiz; 10 ‘what’s the sport’ picture questions followed by a mixture of lateral thinking and general knowledge. Sadly, we think that driving a car backwards the wrong way down a one way street would still constitute a traffic offence and who knew that the biggest cathedral in the UK was in Liverpool! Please let us know what you think of the new format.

The recent survey indicated that you love the ambiance of the cafe, the kindness of the Volunteers, the banter and the opportunity to chat; but some of you would like to meet more of our cafe goers. With this in mind, please feel free to ‘gate-crash’ tables or invite people you don’t know to join you. We are very lucky to have many customers with fantastic stories to tell, these range from flying in a homemade aircraft to spending years working in Pakistan.🇵🇰

We hope to see you all again next week.

😜🤪 What’s On The Way 🤪😜

🖼️🧵 Art and Craft Fayre - Saturday 17th October, 10:00 for 15:00, Long Hanborough Methodist Church.

📽️🍿 Film Night – Tuner, Saturday 17th October, 19:00 for 19:30, North Leigh Memorial Hall.

👀🎱 Bingo Night @ The Hall, 25th October, 18:30. Prizes and Bar.

🌻🌸 North Leigh Gardening Society, Tuesday, 27th October 2026, 19:30. Growing for Asthall Manor Kitchen Garden and Wildlife Gardening by Tim Mitchell. Refreshments Available.

👻🎃 Halloween – 28th October, Community Café, North Leigh Memorial Hall, 10:00–12:00. Pumpkin pie, ghoulish drinks, scary quiz.

🔥🎆 Bonfire Night / Guy Fawkes – Theme: Fireworks & Warmth. 4th November, Community Café, North Leigh Memorial Hall, 10:00–12:00. Parkin cake, hot chocolate with marshmallows, mulled w**e.

👀🎱 Bingo Night @ The Hall, 8th November, 18:30. Prizes and Bar.

🪦💡 Remembrance Day and Diwali, 11th November, Theme - Sadness and Light.

🎄🎡 Festive Fair, Sunday 15th November, Memorial Hall.

👀🎱 Bingo Night @ The Hall, 22nd November, 18:30. Prizes and Bar.

🎄👶🏽 Nativity Songs at the Cafe, 2nd December, Children from North Leigh Primary School will be joining us to sing some of their nativity songs.

🎄🌲 Christmas Tree Lighting. Saturday 5th December, 18:00 at The Green

👀🎱 Bingo Night @ The Hall, 13th December, 18:30. Prizes and Bar.

🎄🤶 Cafe Christmas Lunch, 16th December, 11:00 - 13:00. Sign up at the café to avoid disappointment. Entertainment by the North Leigh Primary School Choir and our Foundation Class Children.

🔔🔔 Cafe Reopens - 13th January 2027. Same time, same place.

12/10/2026

🎨✨ COME ALONG & SUPPORT OUR LOCAL ARTISTS & CRAFTERS! ✨🎨

Some of our coffee morning artists and crafters are coming together to showcase their wonderful work in a special Art & Craft Show 17th October 10 am to 3.00 pm. Free entry.

10/10/2026

🎬🍿 Terry and Florence Meet Dustin Hoffman 🍿🎬

It was an usually ‘slow’ Wednesday morning at the North Leigh Community Café. Terry and Florence the Floral Teapot were discussing their favourite films and actors.

“You can’t beat people like Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Julia Roberts and Kevin Costner” commented Terry.

“Terry,” she whispered, “I have some very exciting news.”

“Oh?” said Terry. “Has the Gardening Society finally decided to give you your own flowerbed?”

“Much more exciting than that. Dustin Hoffman has just walked in”

Terry nearly dropped his lid.

“THE Dustin Hoffman?”

“Yes. The actor.”

“What on earth is he doing in North Leigh”

“Perhaps he’s just passing through, you know how people tend to do that, and frequently on a Wednesday.”

“Well he’s here” said Florence hardly able to contain herself.”

“Mr Hoffman! What an honour. Would you like tea?”

“I’d love one,” said Dustin.

“We’re showing one of your films, ‘Tuner’ you know”, said Terry. “We’d love to hear more about it and your career”
Dustin settled into a chair.

“Well, I’ve been fortunate enough to have had a very long career. Some of the films people remember me for include The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy, Papillon, Tootsie, Rain Man and Kramer vs. Kramer.”

Terry looked impressed.

“That is quite a list.”

Florence nodded.

“And you’ve won Oscars, haven’t you?”

“Yes. For Kramer vs. Kramer and Rain Man.”

Terry looked thoughtful, then said “I’m going to have to revise my best actor list, your performance in all those films was nothing short of brilliant, particularly Rainman”, he then added “You know I’ve won several awards myself.”

Dustin looked surprised.

“Really?”

“Yes. Best Teapot at the North Leigh Community Café.”

Florence whispered, “Terry, that was a raffle prize.”

“An award is an award.”

Dustin laughed.

Then Florence asked, “But your most recent film is particularly interesting. Tuner.”

At the mention of the film, Dustin’s expression brightened.

“Yes. Tuner is a rather unusual story.”

He explained that the film stars Leo Woodall as Niki, a gifted young piano tuner whose extraordinary sensitivity to sound gives him an unexpected ability to crack safes. Hoffman plays Harry Horowitz, Niki’s older mentor in the piano-tuning business.

Terry’s eyes widened.

“Hang on. You’re telling me that a piano tuner becomes a safecracker because he can hear the mechanism?”

“That’s the basic idea,” said Dustin.

Terry looked at Florence.

“That’s remarkably convenient.”

Dustin smiled.

“In Tuner, sound is very important. Niki’s extraordinary hearing is central to the story.”

“Could he hear someone opening the biscuit tin from across the room?” asked Terry.

“Probably.”

“Then he’d be invaluable at the Community Café.”

Florence leaned forward.

“And what was it like working with Leo Woodall?”

“Very enjoyable,” said Dustin. “Harry and Niki have a mentor-and-student relationship, and a lot of the film comes from the two characters spending time together.”

Terry looked thoughtful.

Florence then asked, “And what did you enjoy most about making Tuner?”

“The characters,” said Dustin. “And the unusual combination of music, romance, crime and suspense.”

Terry nodded approvingly.

“Music, romance, crime and suspense?”

“Yes.”

“We’ve got all of those at the Community Café.”

Dustin looked surprised.

“You have?”

“Oh yes,” said Terry.

“Music when someone connects to the hall’s sound system.”

“Romance when two people share the last piece of cake.”

“Crime when someone takes two biscuits instead of one.”

“And suspense…”

Terry paused dramatically.

“…when the quiz answers are being marked.”

Florence nodded solemnly.

“Particularly when Dave ‘The Hat’ Broughton is marking them.”

Dustin burst out laughing.

Terry poured him another cup.

“You know, Mr Hoffman, I think Tuner and the Community Café have something else in common.”

“What?”

“Both are about people using their particular talents.”

Dustin smiled.

“That sounds about right.”

Florence lifted her cup.

“To talent.”

Terry lifted his.

“To long careers.”

Dustin lifted his.

“And to good tea. Now I must be going. I hope all the kind people of North Leigh enjoy the film - I really am rather proud of it”

“We’ll let you know” said Terry as Dustin left the hall.

“What a nice man and so talented” added Florence, a far away look in her eye.

07/10/2026

🎭🎭 A bit of a Pantomime 🎭🎭

We start this week by saying thank you for your overwhelming positive feedback - in a way this is bad news for us as it means we will have to generate our own improvements (great for Ivan Idea but less inviting for others in the team). Sadly, your feedback, which has been typed by Malcolm, was not acceptable to the funding body; they want on-line feedback or ‘hard copy’ using their forms to monitor that the grant is being well spent and having the desired outcomes.

As we said at the cafe, thank you to those who have already completed online submissions. The closing date is this coming Sunday (11th), if you want to add your views the link can be found in last Friday’s post.✉️

Ivan appreciated your feedback about the quiz but over the next few weeks we intend to try some new formats, including picture ‘rounds’. Thank you also to those of you who regularly engage with our Facebook posts; we still don’t fully understand how it works but it was interesting to note that a mention of Oasis or the inclusion of photos (of our fantastic people) sends the ‘views’ and ‘engagement’ rocketing😂🤣.

Our trial of Sunday opening for special events went well and we learned much about expectations and opportunities. Some said they would have liked hot food (bacon and sausage rolls), whilst others wanted longer opening hours. We promise to consider these suggestions but both depend on available resources and booking flexibility.

Ivan was pleased to hand over quizzing responsibilities to Lord Broughton this week - you may have noticed that he looked thoroughly miserable on one of last week’s photo - playing to the camera again no doubt😂🤣. His ‘October’ quiz was, as usual, intriguing. Thanks Dave.

Mystic Meg (remember her?) tells me that this year's Festive Fair will be held on Sunday, 15th November. As this is one of the major fund raisers for the hall and usually has a range of great buys we hope you will give the event your full support.

Those of you who couldn’t join us this week missed a real treat. We have some wonderful cake makers in the village not least Margaret. This week’s treats were Maringues and Choux Buns - oh my word!!! Thank you so much.

Last week we highlighted the appeal by North Leigh Preschool for funds and or material for a new ramp. If anyone has contacts in the timber trade that could get discounted materials or any businesses that are willing to contribute please DM us or email the cafe organisers - [email protected]

Finally, we are pleased to say that our new volunteer, Sue Brackston, seemed to settle in very well and we hope she will become a familiar face alongside our other cafe ‘stars’.

Hope to see you all again next week.

😜🤪 What’s On The Way 🤪😜

👀🎱 Bingo Night @ The Hall, 11th October, 18:30. Prizes and Bar.

🖼️🧵 Art and Craft Fayre - Saturday 17th October, 10:00 for 15:00, Long Hanborough Methodist Church.

📽️🍿 Film Night – Tuner, Saturday 17th October, 19:00 for 19:30, North Leigh Memorial Hall.

👀🎱 Bingo Night @ The Hall, 25th October, 18:30. Prizes and Bar.

👻🎃 Halloween – 28th October, Community Café, North Leigh Memorial Hall, 10:00–12:00. Pumpkin pie, ghoulish drinks, scary quiz.

🔥🎆 Bonfire Night / Guy Fawkes – Theme: Fireworks & Warmth. 4th November, Community Café, North Leigh Memorial Hall, 10:00–12:00. Parkin cake, hot chocolate with marshmallows, mulled w**e.

👀🎱 Bingo Night @ The Hall, 8th November, 18:30. Prizes and Bar.

🪦💡 Remembrance Day and Diwali, 11th November, Theme - Sadness and Light.

🎄🎡 Festive Fair, Sunday 15th November, Memorial Hall.

👀🎱 Bingo Night @ The Hall, 22nd November, 18:30. Prizes and Bar.

🎄👶🏽 North Leigh Preschool 3 December: children in years 1 and 2 will be joining us to sing some of their nativity songs.

🎄🌲 Christmas Tree Lighting. Saturday 5th December, 18:00 at The Green

👀🎱 Bingo Night @ The Hall, 13th December, 18:30. Prizes and Bar.

🎄🤶 Cafe Christmas Lunch, 16th December, 11:00 - 13:00. Sign up at the café to avoid disappointment. Entertainment by the North Leigh primary choir and our Foundation class children.

🔔🔔 Cafe Reopens - 13th January 2027. Same time, same place.

05/10/2026

Terry says “thank you if you’ve completed the funding body survey kindly provided by OCVA we sent out on Friday. If you haven’t and would like to contribute please do so by clicking on the link in Friday’s post”

03/10/2026

✏️🔬 Tiffany and The Poet (Part 2) ✏️🔬

The following week Oldpot had quite an audience. Tiffany had told everybody she met about Kipling.

“Right” signed Oldpot “where did I get to?” “We’d met the first of the six honest serving people and we were just about to go onto When” explained Tiffany. “Oh yes, him (or her). This is where we start to gather data. We need to understand patterns and variations. In response to a customer request, do we all make tea exactly the same?”

“Of course not,” answered Ian Inkpot Teapot. “In fact I struggle to make normal tea” “Exactly, but your talents are a special cause of variability.

Tiffany, do you and Terry make identical cups of tea?” Asked Oldpot?

Tiffany paused before answering “Now that I think about it, no we don’t, he’s, well ‘different’”.

“So there is a difference not in the process but who’s doing the brewing and perhaps things like water temperature, agitation, etc?”

“She’s very agitated” muttered Toby. “Oh do shut up” said Donatella.

“Sorry Tiffany, just a bit of fun” said Toby. At which point he slipped off the roll of table clothes and landed on the Saleflag Twins. “Serves you right” said Oldpot. Everyone laughed including Tiffany.

Oldpot resumed “Continuous improvement depends on identifying timing and frequency. When do the issues appear, are they related to time, people or something else”

“I get it” said Tiffany “This is how you distinguish common cause vs special cause variations”.

“Exactly,” said Oldpot.

“Now let’s think about Who. It’s critical to have respect for people (or crockery / cutlery). Improvement is done with people, not to them. What we need to know is who touches the process, who experiences the pain, who owns the standard? Ignoring ‘Who’ leads to resistance, workarounds, and failure.”

“Finally,” said Oldpot “How do we make a lasting difference? Only after the first five do you touch solutions. How should the process change? How do we test it? How do we standardize it? That’s PDCA in action.”

“And, my friends” added Oldpot “That is where Poetry meets Improvements”

02/10/2026

🫶🫶 Your Cafe Needs Input 🫶🏾🫶🏾

First of all, thank you for your feedback at the cafe last week. Your comments were most gratefully received and we were touched by how much you seem to enjoy what we have created together.

We had hoped to use your input not only to shape the future of the cafe but also as one of the required inputs to the T&C”s of our grant award. Sadly, the input is needed electronically by individuals attending the cafe. Failure to meet the T&C’s may preclude us from further support.

Therefore, please could as many of you as possible complete the survey (link below - you may need to copy the web address into your browser). Having done so if you could please ‘like’ this post so that we can track the number of responses.

https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/0JaAFehi5h

For question 2 please enter North Leigh Community Cafe.

Thank you.

30/09/2026

🎉🎉 80 Up! 🎉🎉

It’s hard to believe that this is our four score (i.e. 80th) cafe. What is even more surprising is that the format remains largely unchanged. We Organisers are a mixed bunch; for example my motto is ‘let’s change it’ whereas others in the team are definitely in the ‘let’s keep it’ camp. One might think this leads to conflict; you wouldn’t be wrong. However, what unites us is our focus on doing the best we can to provide a welcoming and inclusive cafe environment.

A big thank you once again to our cake makers and raffle prize donators from last week. I’m pleased to say that you helped us raise nearly £530 for MacMillan Cancer Support. Not only that, on Sunday Terry and his friends raised a further £90 and the Garage / Garden sale added another £360. A special must be made of Julie and Margaret who ran their now legendary coffee morning last Friday. Between that and the plant sales another £1000 has been raised - well done Nor Lye.

We were deeply moved by the comments from our customers last week - we don’t want to embarrass them by mentioning names (you know who you are) but thank you for the encouragement. It was also nice to welcome visitors from East Anglia who apparently had seen us on the TV (no not Crimewatch!) and were visiting friends and wanted to come along. As we always say, everyone is welcome. Your comments prompted us to ask for more of your feedback (good and bad). Our intention is to use this to shape further features of the cafe, for promotion and to support grant submissions. It looks as though, as usual you have ‘come up with goods’.

Despite being pretty tired after the cafe and subsequent activities, the Organisers had decided it was time for another ‘Bored’ meeting, this time at The Gurkha in Kidlington (excellent Virgin Mojitos). Amongst the topics discussed were future ‘feature’ weeks and Christmas. We are pleased to say that once again you are invited to join us for Christmas Lunch on Wednesday 16th December. The format will be similar to last year but we will be asking for a £5 contribution towards costs (this will include one alcoholic, non-alcoholic fizz or ‘posh soft drink). There are only 60 places so please sign up as soon as possible.

After what seemed like a constant stream of special event weeks it was a relief to have no particular theme or celebration, you might say a ‘normal’ week. Over 65 customers joined us for another bumper week. Ivan was once more in the chair for the quiz with the usual selection of the factual and questions requiring creative answers (his personal favourites). Congratulations to team Freddie, who despite only having three members managed to win the quiz. You’ll be pleased (or otherwise) to know that Lord Broughton will be taking on the pleasurable duties😱 of Quiz Master next week - the theme is October🤷🏻‍♂️.

What a busy weekend we’ve just had, so many people entering into the community spirit. Special mention must go to Laura Rendell and all those who made the Scarecrow weekend an outstanding event in beautiful weather on Saturday. The Nor Lye Notes concert was well attended and much appreciated - congratulations to all our choristers . Another special mention for Joyce and Ian Travail who despite the deteriorating weather made the garage / garden sales a success - Terry and his human friends (in this case Joyce, Rose, Carol, Steve, Jonathan, Malcolm and Derek, plus a donation of individual jars of jam from Tiptree) were pleased to support this initiative (thank you to our team). The weekend was rounded off by Bingo - phew!

Finally an appeal. You may have seen that the preschool needs material for a new ramp. The cost of this is in the region of £5000. If anyone has contacts in the timber trade or know any businesses that are willing to contribute please DM us or email the cafe organisers - [email protected]

Finally, we are pleased to say that we have a new volunteer starting next week - Sue Brackston. We have known Sue and her family for many years but lost contact as our children grew up, it is therefore nice to be able to rekindle a lost friendship.

Have a good week and hope to see you all again next week.

😜🤪 What’s On The Way 🤪😜

📚📘 North Leigh History Group, Tuesday 6th October at 07:30 in the Memorial Hall - Owain Glyndwr (the last Welsh prince of Wales, presented by Rhys Williams).

👀🎱 Bingo Night @ The Hall, 11th October, 18:30. Prizes and Bar.

🖼️🧵 Art and Craft Fayre - Saturday 17th October, 10:00 for 15:00, Long Hanborough Methodist Church.

📽️🍿 Film Night – Tuner, Saturday 17th October, 19:00 for 19:30, North Leigh Memorial Hall.

👀🎱 Bingo Night @ The Hall, 25th October, 18:30. Prizes and Bar.

👻🎃 Halloween – 28th October, Community Café, North Leigh Memorial Hall, 10:00–12:00. Pumpkin pie, ghoulish drinks, scary quiz.

🔥🎆 Bonfire Night / Guy Fawkes – Theme: Fireworks & Warmth. 4th November, Community Café, North Leigh Memorial Hall, 10:00–12:00. Parkin cake, hot chocolate with marshmallows, mulled w**e. Themed quiz.

👀🎱 Bingo Night @ The Hall, 8th November, 18:30. Prizes and Bar.

🪦💡 Remembrance Day and Diwali, 11th November, Theme - Sadness and Light.

👀🎱 Bingo Night @ The Hall, 22nd November, 18:30. Prizes and Bar.

🎄🌲 Christmas Tree Lighting. Saturday 5th December, 18:00 at The Green

👀🎱 Bingo Night @ The Hall, 13th December, 18:30. Prizes and Bar.

🎄🤶 Cafe Christmas Lunch, 16th December, 11:00 - 13:00. Sign up at the café to avoid disappointment.

🔔🔔 Cafe Reopens - 13th January 2027. Same time, same place.