The Big Lunch 2025 – Sunday 8th June

12-3.30 pm at the Recreation Ground, Rokeby Drive

We had the most excellent time at this year’s Big Lunch on Sunday 8^th June!

The sun shone as over 130 of us gathered to socialise, share food and raise money for the community fund. We enjoyed such a variety of stalls, featuring the ever-popular plant stall run by Teresa and Andrew, the book stall run by Ian and the Fair-Trade stall run by Riz. This year, we created a community nature mandala, run by Catherine and Joanna, with creative inspiration from Annabel.

Back by popular demand was musical entertainment from the Bottle Neck Brothers and the Boot Boys band (formed from members of the local Rotherfield United Walking Football team). So many people pitched in to help organise and make the day a really friendly and relaxed occasion, and it was a great opportunity to see old friends and neighbours and to meet new ones.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to make this such a successful and welcoming event!

Sunday 21st  December 2025 

Community Carol Singing Event 5.30 to 7.00pm

Our annual Community Carol Singing took place around the Christmas tree, on the Village Green, on Sunday 21st  December 2025, the last Sunday before Christmas. Over 100 people met at 5.30pm and collected for the Air Ambulance charity, on the night and through Our Just Giving page, which was be circulated on the Tokers Green village WhatsApp.

A big thank you to all the members of the community who made this all happen and look forward to getting together around the Christmas Tree on the Village Green next year!

Sunday 20th  December 2026 

Community Carol Singing Event 4.30 to 6.00pm (TBC)

Ladies Christmas meal – To be confirmed for December

(Example) 3 course meal at the Pack Saddle: places are limited so do contact those organising the meals as soon as possible.

Payment needed in advance with menu options pre-booked.

Email For Information

Men’s Christmas meal – To be conformed for December

(Example) 3 course meal at the Pack Saddle: places are limited so do contact those organising the meals as soon as possible.

Payment needed in advance with menu options pre-booked.

Email For Information

Within minutes of arriving Selina is surrounded by locals who might be taking a break, working from home or walking the grand children or folk just out for a chat or a catch up.

And of course, passing cyclists, walkers and horse riders can join in and enjoy the great coffee and wonderful treats Selina brings along each week.

So, if you are around on a Friday morning why not come and join us. And don’t forget Selina supports the Christmas Carols event and will be there at the Big Lunch in June.

This one of the stunning images provided by the late John Anderson, who was a professional photographer, and lived in Russell Road. This was taken on Tokers Green Lane looking out across towards the Chalkhouse Green.

Twelve images were chosen for this years Calendar covering all the seasons of the year and reflected some of the activities held across the community.

The 2024 proceeds from the Calendar will go towards the maintenance of the new village green which has been transformed into a new community space.

With summer almost upon us we plan to meet at our lovely orchard each month – to enjoy it as it grows and matures, to have a reason to meet as neighbours and supporters of our orchard – and if needed to do any maintenance work.

Please do come along from 7pm on the first Tuesday of the next few months – June 3rd, July 1st, August 5th and September 2nd.

May – Given the recent hot dry weather we decided that all the trees needed some water so May 2nd  evening a crew helped give every tree a bucket of water. We also enjoyed chatting as the buckets were filled up. Fun fact – we used 917 litres.

April – We added an information board to the orchard.  It is a plan which shows the different types of fruit trees we have. Many thanks to Dave Thornton for constructing the board and to Sharon and Glenn George for getting it printed. and to Cath Middleton for the beautiful artwork. Thanks also to Graham for mowing the orchard for the first time this year. All the trees seem healthy and the blossom is starting to appear as are some of our wild flowers

For additional information on the Community Orchard please click on their website link – Community Orchard

Our local defibrillator for our community is in a red cabinet at the junction of Rokeby Drive and Gaskells End.

Please look out for further news on Training i9n your local area.

For more info on defibrillators:
http://www.scas.nhs.uk/news/campaigns/savealife

No litter pick up event is currently planned for 2025

Sad News – The Pack Saddle Community Garden to Close at the end of the Year!!!

It all started back in COVID when this unused area of land was given over kindly by Mapledurham Estate, with the support of the Pack Saddle Pub to create an area which has become a place of escape and wellbeing for all the community that help maintain this beautiful idea!

This is area of land next to the pub`s lower car park was uncultivated for around 50 years until 2019 when it was divided into small allotment-sized plots.

There is a modest yearly fee and the understanding that some flower/veg produce gets donated to the pub.

This is truly a wonderful community project and we are all grateful to the Mapledurham Estate for being so understanding and supportive.

Playground working party:

Rokeby Recreation Ground is owned and run by Mapledurham Parish Council and overseen by a subcommittee made up of local residents and a Parish council representative. The grass is cut monthly from April until October by a contractor but village working parties are needed to turn the bark and trim back bushes.

We are looking for new blood and fresh ideas! If you are interested in joining the subcommittee or taking part in working parties, please

Playground monthly Rota:

We have a rota to visually check the play equipment and grounds every week with a closer inspection every month.

Click Contact button for Jane Bowen, resident of Chazey Heath and a Mapledurham Parish Councillor. 

The 2024 progressive dinner on October 12th was cancelled sadly!

We await further news on when the next event will take place.

Hope you all have an enjoyable summer, and we get some sunshine!

Rowan (Aurora) residential school opened our doors in Tokers Green on 18th November 2024, after a renovation of the old Maples Care home. As a provision we support pupils from 5 – 16 years of age who have a diagnosis of Autism and complex learning and communication needs. The pupils who attend Rowan have been out of school for a very long time and the majority are preverbal, meaning they are not yet able to verbally communicate.

We are a values-based provision with our curriculum, ethos and culture truly embedded in our values of being Kind, Respectful , Helpful, Brave , Honest and Curious. Our curriculum offers a broad range of learning experiences and opportunities that allow every pupil to build the confidence, skills and qualities needed to be Effective Communicators, Successful Individuals and Resilient Learners. We also focus on independent living skills and are looking forward to getting out into the community with our young people to access the local shops and amenities.

TROUT is a list of useful things that residents of Tokers Green are willing to lend, for a short time, to a Tokers Green neighbour.

There could be many neighbours who have similar things (e.g. a ladder) and the borrower could then find a lender who lives closer to them.

The intent is to create this as a neighbourly resource. We have things stored in our cupboards, sheds or attics that we seldom use and we often hear of a request on our TG WhatsApp group, from a villager for a thing they would like to borrow.

If you are a Tokers Green resident and have anything that you are willing to lend to a neighbour, Please notify Graham Simms with a private message on WhatsApp or use the contact button provided, and he will add your item to the list.

A small team of Tokers Green residents continue to maintain and make improvements to our Village Green/pond.

It is the only green space in Tokers Green, and we have the opportunity to make it an asset that we can be really proud of. In addition to arranging the maintenance of the brickwork/fencing/dead tree removal and Green Gym work.

We want to create a pleasant open space for locals and visitors to stop and enjoy the outlook and the wildlife.
A focus for the Tokers Green and Chazey Heath community to come together and to maintain with pride. A meeting point for walkers and cyclists and
a place where we can have our carol singing event  around the Christmas Tree each year, on our own village green.

Tokers Green are part of the South Oxfordshire Village Quiz league and play against 12 other villages between October and May on a league basis and in a knockout competition. We currently have 9 members but are always on the lookout for new players to enjoy a sociable few hours a couple of times a month. If you are interested in joining or would like further information, please hit the contact button.

Young and old are encouraged to grow sunflowers to brighten up the village in 2025.

For fun there will be an age appropriate prize for the tallest! and the most beautiful.

Measure your sunflower and get your results to Maria (contact details provided) with you result. Deadline end of August!

Happy Growing 2026!

In the summer we play at Bishopswood on both Mondays (5.45pm)  and Thursdays (9.45am). When the weather is very dry or wet we move to Rivermead and use the excellent all weather pitches. 

We have a busy social calendar and during this year we went to Newbury Horse Racing, played a golf tournament, had several dinners together, and had monthly bike rides

The cost is normally £5.00 per session, but free for the first visit. We aim to make our sessions active, fun and safe with participants able to take it at their own pace. As well as the weekly sessions and social events, we arrange optional friendly games against other clubs and enter tournaments.

We are always looking to recruit new members and we have no upper or lower age limit, nor is there any requirement to have played football before – all are welcome and we play for friendliness rather than competitiveness. See more info on our website Walking Football – Rotherfield United Football Club

We had our 3rd annual Wassail in the community orchard in January. There was again a huge turnout of friends and neighbours from all parts of the village. We estimated that there were over 80 people enjoying the spectacle and more importantly taking part too. As before we drank cider during the Wassail and that included mulled cider. We enthusiastically sang several traditional Wassail songs as we processed around the perimeter of orchard. As we walked, we banged our drums & pots to make plenty of noise to drive out any unwanted spirits that could harm our lovely trees.

We then divided into smaller groups and sprinkled cider on every tree and tied toast to them all – this was all done to encourage the trees to prosper, the blossom to flourish and the fruit to be bountiful. As before, we were delighted to be joined by the singers and dancers from Armaleggan. They sang several songs, they joined in the procession around our orchard, helped us drink the cider and closed the event with their fabulous fire dance.