BISLEY BLUE COAT SCHOOL
- GOVERNOR VACANCIES
If interested, please contact the school clerk by October 19.
BISLEY COMMUNITY COFFEE AND CAKE
- TUESDAY OCTOBER 13
What: Coffee/Tea and homemade cake, drop in any time, all welcome
When and where: Bisley All Saints’ Church, Tuesday October 13 (and every second Tuesday) from 10.30am till noon
How much: Free although any donations are used to help local causes.
ALSO we have started a Community Book Swap at the back of the Church (to left of Vestry Door). Drop in anytime, daylight hours. Bring a Book, Take a Book, Swap a Book
When and where: Bisley All Saints’ Church, Tuesday October 13 (and every second Tuesday) from 10.30am till noon
How much: Free although any donations are used to help local causes.
ALSO we have started a Community Book Swap at the back of the Church (to left of Vestry Door). Drop in anytime, daylight hours. Bring a Book, Take a Book, Swap a Book
FLICKS IN THE STICKS
- TUESDAY OCTOBER 13
What: October’s Flicks in the Sticks is the comedy The Devil Wears Prada 2, which is closely based on the original film from 2006 – though it shows how much the world has changed in the intervening twenty years.
Andrea Sachs (Anne Hathaway) is reunited by circumstances with Meryl Streep’s tyrannical fashion magazine boss, Miranda Priestly; Priestly would like to be just as unpleasant to her staff as she was in the first movie, but modern sensibilities and a more powerful HR department preclude that.
The storyline also reflects the slow death at the hands of the internet of print publications like the fictional Runway, which is based on Vogue (Vogue now publishes less frequently and sells fewer copies per edition than it did a couple of decades ago).
TDWP2 also stars Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci, was well-reviewed by critics and fans, and is currently the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2026.
When and where: Tuesday October 13, doors open at 7.30pm, screening at 8pm, at the Village Hall.
How much: Donations of £4 invited. Tea/coffee and biscuits are free, but there is a pay bar.
Andrea Sachs (Anne Hathaway) is reunited by circumstances with Meryl Streep’s tyrannical fashion magazine boss, Miranda Priestly; Priestly would like to be just as unpleasant to her staff as she was in the first movie, but modern sensibilities and a more powerful HR department preclude that.
The storyline also reflects the slow death at the hands of the internet of print publications like the fictional Runway, which is based on Vogue (Vogue now publishes less frequently and sells fewer copies per edition than it did a couple of decades ago).
TDWP2 also stars Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci, was well-reviewed by critics and fans, and is currently the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2026.
When and where: Tuesday October 13, doors open at 7.30pm, screening at 8pm, at the Village Hall.
How much: Donations of £4 invited. Tea/coffee and biscuits are free, but there is a pay bar.
HARVEST FEAST AT COPSEGROVE
- FRIDAY OCTOBER 16
What: Celebrate Harvest time with the Copsegrove Food Mile feast, with supper created from as much local and seasonal produce as possible, from within just a single mile of the farm boundaries. Talented local chef Ian Ballantyne will showcase Copsegrove Welsh black beef and venison alongside freshly harvested vegetables grown and supplied by Ashley Dickenson from the Bisley Farm Shop.
When and where: Friday October 16 from 6.30pm to 10.30pm at Copsegrove Farm.
How much: £67 inc booking fee from this link.
When and where: Friday October 16 from 6.30pm to 10.30pm at Copsegrove Farm.
How much: £67 inc booking fee from this link.
NEXT BEAR INN PUB QUIZ
- SUNDAY OCTOBER 18
The proceeds from October's Bear Inn quiz will help to upgrade this website to the next tier, which will give us some additional functions.
‘PEOPLE'S EMERGENCY BRIEFING'
- FRIDAY OCTOBER 23
MURDER MYSTERY EVENING
- SATURDAY OCTOBER 24
What: A School Reunion in a posh hotel begins as a classy catch-up over cocktails; then one of the guests is murdered... Come along and help us work out who did it!
When and where: Saturday October 24, doors open at 7pm for a 7.30pm start, at Bisley Village Hall.
How much: Tickets £16.30 on sale now from this link.
More information: Tickets include a curry supper served during the interval. Licensed bar available. Booking fee included. All proceeds go to support the Village Hall.
When and where: Saturday October 24, doors open at 7pm for a 7.30pm start, at Bisley Village Hall.
How much: Tickets £16.30 on sale now from this link.
More information: Tickets include a curry supper served during the interval. Licensed bar available. Booking fee included. All proceeds go to support the Village Hall.
THE BIG BISLEY
BONFIRE NIGHT BASH 2026
- SATURDAY NOVEMBER 7
What:
The Big Bisley Bonfire Night Bash - fireworks, a bonfire, a Guy competition, sweets, glow toys, food, and drinks.
Thanks to Bisley Marquee Hire and Graduate Gardeners for their generous support of this village event.
All monies raised from ticket sales will help to fund Bisley Music Festival 2027 and other village events and causes.
All monies raised from stalls will go to Bisley church, village hall, and flower show.
When and where:
Saturday November 7, from 5.30pm to 9pm, at King George V Recreation ground, Van der Breen Street, Bisley GL6 7BN.
How much:
Early bird tickets at priced as follows:
Children 0-4 FREE
Children 5-17 £4
Adults 18+ £8
Group (2+2) £18
Where can I buy tickets?
Online from Ticketsource via this link.
In person from Bisley Farm Shop and The Bear.
Other information:
If driving, please park with care and respect around the village and follow the road traffic laws and Highway Code.
There will be nowhere to park in Van der Breen Street.
Pedestrians and drivers - please take care around each other!
The Big Bisley Bonfire Night Bash - fireworks, a bonfire, a Guy competition, sweets, glow toys, food, and drinks.
Thanks to Bisley Marquee Hire and Graduate Gardeners for their generous support of this village event.
All monies raised from ticket sales will help to fund Bisley Music Festival 2027 and other village events and causes.
All monies raised from stalls will go to Bisley church, village hall, and flower show.
When and where:
Saturday November 7, from 5.30pm to 9pm, at King George V Recreation ground, Van der Breen Street, Bisley GL6 7BN.
How much:
Early bird tickets at priced as follows:
Children 0-4 FREE
Children 5-17 £4
Adults 18+ £8
Group (2+2) £18
Where can I buy tickets?
Online from Ticketsource via this link.
In person from Bisley Farm Shop and The Bear.
Other information:
If driving, please park with care and respect around the village and follow the road traffic laws and Highway Code.
There will be nowhere to park in Van der Breen Street.
Pedestrians and drivers - please take care around each other!
DISCOVER LOCAL WILD PLACES
- TUESDAY NOVEMBER 24
THE RELUCTANT VAMPIRE
- SEPTEMBER?
Apparently this new BBC comedy – much of it filmed in Bisley – is going to be screened in September, though actually I can’t find an authoritative source for this.
Based on a book by the late Eric Morecambe, it is (says the BBC) ‘set in a timeless English village, where everything is picturesque’ and stars Lenny Rush, Tom Davis, Sian Clifford, local actor Charlie Cooper, Asim Chaudhry, and Bill Bailey and Ross Noble as the gargoyles in this trailer:
Based on a book by the late Eric Morecambe, it is (says the BBC) ‘set in a timeless English village, where everything is picturesque’ and stars Lenny Rush, Tom Davis, Sian Clifford, local actor Charlie Cooper, Asim Chaudhry, and Bill Bailey and Ross Noble as the gargoyles in this trailer:
REMEMBRANCE DAY 2025
JILLY COOPER RIP
Jilly was a lovely woman, well-liked in the village, and often to be seen pottering around with one of her greyhounds.
She will be greatly missed.
Here are a few links about her - the first featuring Eddie Kearney speaking to The Times. This must have been an interesting experience for both parties.
The Times: My trip through Jilly Cooper’s Cotswolds, land of a thousand romps
The Times, again: Jilly Cooper’s 1969 debut column: ‘We lived in screaming chaos’
Times obituary: Dame Jilly Cooper obituary: Sunday Times columnist and prolific author
The Daily Mail: Huge bidding war looms for diaries of bonkbuster author Jilly Cooper ‘that are even racier than Rivals’
The Daily Mail, again: Jilly Cooper was one of the kindest women I've ever known - the world is a far less fabulous place without her
The Daily Telegraph: The Jilly Cooper I knew for 20 years deserved damehood decades ago
Daily Telegraph obituary: Dame Jilly Cooper, sharp-eyed social observer and author of Riders dubbed ‘Queen of the Bonkbusters’
Guardian obituary: Author whose bestselling novels, including Riders and Rivals, were set deep in an English countryside where the natives pursued land, sports, and each other, with lust and gusto
Observer obituary: Jilly Cooper, saucy novelist who just wanted to make people smile
Bookseller obituary: Jilly Cooper dies aged 88
New York Times obituary: Jilly Cooper, Widely Popular Romance Novelist, Is Dead at 88
Le Monde obituary: Jilly Cooper, known for her novels filled with sex, snobbery and fun, dies at 88
Berliner TagesZeitung obituary: UK queen pays tribute to author Jilly Cooper, dead at 88
Cotswold Journal: Cotswolds village of Bisley which Dame Jilly Cooper called home
She will be greatly missed.
Here are a few links about her - the first featuring Eddie Kearney speaking to The Times. This must have been an interesting experience for both parties.
The Times: My trip through Jilly Cooper’s Cotswolds, land of a thousand romps
The Times, again: Jilly Cooper’s 1969 debut column: ‘We lived in screaming chaos’
Times obituary: Dame Jilly Cooper obituary: Sunday Times columnist and prolific author
The Daily Mail: Huge bidding war looms for diaries of bonkbuster author Jilly Cooper ‘that are even racier than Rivals’
The Daily Mail, again: Jilly Cooper was one of the kindest women I've ever known - the world is a far less fabulous place without her
The Daily Telegraph: The Jilly Cooper I knew for 20 years deserved damehood decades ago
Daily Telegraph obituary: Dame Jilly Cooper, sharp-eyed social observer and author of Riders dubbed ‘Queen of the Bonkbusters’
Guardian obituary: Author whose bestselling novels, including Riders and Rivals, were set deep in an English countryside where the natives pursued land, sports, and each other, with lust and gusto
Observer obituary: Jilly Cooper, saucy novelist who just wanted to make people smile
Bookseller obituary: Jilly Cooper dies aged 88
New York Times obituary: Jilly Cooper, Widely Popular Romance Novelist, Is Dead at 88
Le Monde obituary: Jilly Cooper, known for her novels filled with sex, snobbery and fun, dies at 88
Berliner TagesZeitung obituary: UK queen pays tribute to author Jilly Cooper, dead at 88
Cotswold Journal: Cotswolds village of Bisley which Dame Jilly Cooper called home
