This year we held the first ever Blackham Village Pumpkin carving competition and the winner lit the bonfire on Firework Night! Lots of people joined in and the houses of Blackham were beautifully decorated with pumpkins, ghostly displays and plenty of treats. We have a ‘No Tricks’ Policy so it is safe and friendly, and houses without pumpkins are not disturbed. We also learned of the sad tale of the small boy who was left waiting for the bus…

The Blackham Village Advent Windows are an annual event starting on the first day of December. Houses in the village decorate a window - a new one each day leading up to Christmas Eve. It’s a tradition now.

There’s no expectation - some people do very simple effective designs and others get very creative. It isn’t a competition, just a beautiful way to brighten up our village. Even the bus shelter gets a Christmas decoration.

Lots of families and escorted children enjoyed an Easter out and about in the village following clues to a huge haul of chocolate eggs. Amazing how many hiding places there are and how many hungry children we have in the village! We also hid a very special golden egg for the adults to find.
Watch out for this lovely event again this year. There is no charge to participate. BETSI foots the bill and the sound of the children on the look out for chocolate makes it worthwhile.

In memory of Kevin Ashby, a much loved and respected village dairy farmer, Blackham holds a tractor run. Organised by Charlie Bowers and Kevin’s late wife and family, the Tractor Run leaves the farm and travels across a well planned route to a local pub for a BBQ. This is a charity event with donations made to The FCA and other charities. It is a fabulous event and a large number of Tractors of all types and ages arrive.

Our village florist Gill offers wreath making workshops for villagers’ families and friends. The best bit is seeing the doors around the village at Christmas adorned with the beautiful creations.

The Church has a beautiful display to cheer the Harvest Festival Service. But some harvest joy arrived at the Bus Shelter at the other end of the Village. A couple of the BETSI team, with a little help at the creative stage by some grandchildren, put up a harvest display. We love thinking of ways we can bring a smile to the residents of Blackham from the bus shelter.

We don’t have a pub in the village any more but we do have a warm village hall to create our very own pub. With candle light, licensed bar (greatly reduced prices), bar snacks, Steve’s toasted sarnies, traditional pub games and lovely villagers we had a wonderful evening. Lots of chat and a great place for new villagers to meet their neighbours - look out for the next one - we’ll definitely be doing it again!