TRADITIONALLY, for the past 150 years, Horspath Village Feast has been held in September on the first Sunday after the 12th, unless the 12th falls on a Sunday, in which case it is on the following Sunday.

This has been followed by the village fair on the village green and annual cricket match in the recreation ground on Monday (Feast Monday) but for the past two years the fair has arrived a week early (breaking with tradition).

Many villagers were not happy about this and attended the parish council meeting on October 4 to tell the parish council they did not want this to happen again. Certain parish councillors present made it perfectly clear they were not really interested in village traditions and could not see a problem.

Now the public must wait until next year to see if their message got through. At the same meeting, a member of the public asked when the photographs that were hanging in the village hall, which represent village history and were removed when the hall was decorated, were going to be returned. Again, certain councillors did not appear to be interested in village history!

There I was thinking that, as councillors, we were there to represent and do the best for the village and villagers. As people will know, I very rarely admit to being wrong but in this case I could not have been more wrong.

KEITH BROOKS Horspath parish councillor Gateley Horspath