Clubs & Societies
Civic Organisations In Brailes
A directory of brailes‘ Clubs, & Societies
Brailes Gardening Club
When: Usually the 3rd Thursday of the month (see Calendar for exact dates)
Where: Village Hall, Brailes, 7.30 pm start
Contact: ga*******************@***il.com for more details
Cost: £15 (2025 Subscription) £5 (Guests)
Benefits: Members are entitled to a discount of 10% at Applegarth, Chipping Norton and 5% at Batsford Garden Centre.
Contact: the Treasurer – lo*****@****ud.com for more details
Brailes Gardening Club held their first meeting in the Free School in February 2001. Peter Dodd of Stems Nursery, Toddenham spoke about propagating then demonstrated the art of division. Just 15 people attended, two of whom still attend meetings to this day.
When numbers grew the club moved to the Village Hall where it still meets today. Apart from a short period during lockdown, when a newsletter penned by Jacqui Vallance kept everyone connected, the club has had a mix of speakers and garden visits throughout the year.
Talks and demonstrations given by professional speakers cover a wide range of topics, including garden design, planting, plant propagation, wildlife, natural history, healing power of plants and plants and gardens of the world.
Private visits are arranged to gardens not normally open to the public and the limited group numbers create a personal and intimate atmosphere in which to enjoy each garden. Join our happy group as a member or attend as a visitor for a taste of what we have to offer.
Mechanical & Craft Society
When: 1st Monday of the month
Where: Village Hall, Brailes, 7.30 pm start
Contact: st************@********sh.com for more details
Cost: £5 (2025 Subscription)
Benefits: Members are entitled to a discount of 10% at Applegarth, Chipping Norton and 5% at Batsford Garden Centre.
Contact: the Treasurer – Eric Darvell – for more details
The Brailes Mechanical & Crafts Society was founded in September 1978 at the Institute. Membership was £1 for adults and 50p for ladies. On January 1st 1983 the Society took over the running of the institute, covering costs of repairs etc for the next ten years. In the mid-1990s the Society relocated its meetings to the Village Hall to accommodate the number of regular members attending. If you are interested in mechanics, crafts, and presentations by experts in their respective fields this society, one of the longest running in the village, is a great place to start and to meet members with a wealth of experience of their own.
Allotments
When: All year Round!
Where: Upper Brailes btw the Fountain and The Gate
Contact: an********@********et.com for more details
Part of the assets that came to Brailes Charities upon it’s formation included the land on which the allotments are sited. Brailes Charities lets out individual allotments for a small rent giving priority to residents of Brailes.
Sustainable Brailes
When: See Calendar or Notices
Where: tbc
Contact: Email us for more details
Sustainable Brailes started in November 2020 with a small group of 15 people meeting online. We now have over 60 people on our mailing list, and we meet regularly.
“The aim of this group is to share ideas, information and activities that help promote a low carbon community and a sustainable future, as well as have some fun. We are open to any ideas to support and promote local activities around increasing biodiversity, planting trees, supporting local green ventures, growing own food, recycling, bee keeping, greener fuel and
travel, etc. etc.”
Brailes Brownies
When: Every Wednesday
Where: Pavilion, Brailes, 6.00 pm ~ 7.30pm
Contact: hi*******@*****il.com for more details
Tel: 07989046305
Brailes Brownies is for local girls age 7 until the end of primary school. The club will be 70 years old in 2026, and produced a fabric collage to commemorate our 60th year, which hangs in St. George’s church. It is believed Brailes Brownies was started by Mrs Bengough, who lived at the Old Forge, with current leaders Veronica and Jane taking over the reins from Edna Jervis just over 30 years ago.
We play lots of games, indoor and outdoor – we do a variety of crafts, cooking and other outdoor activities, such as trails and quizzes through the village and over the fields. We try to do a trip each term – have recently been to Cotswold Wildlife park, Evenley Wood and Brandon Marsh. We also do a selection of brownie badges and follow the traditional brownie programme. We attend the Remembrance service in November, laying a wreath at the War Memorial and parading our flag.
We meet every Wednesday, termtime – 6.00pm to 7.30pm in the pavilion, beginning and ending each session with the traditional brownie song
Brailes Bellringers
When: Every Wednesday (subject to numbers available)
Where: St George’s Church, Brailes, 7.30 pm start
Contact: st************@********sh.com for more details
The Bellringers practice at St. George’s every week between 7.30pm and 9.30pm. To check in advance to confirm a session please call Stuart Cummings on 0777 259 5232. There have been bellringers practicing at St. George’s since at least the 19th century. More information about the history of the bells can be found here – in the Tour of St. George’s – Section 10 “Outside”.
Shipston Archers
When: Every Saturday (all year round)
Where: The Playing Fields, Brailes, start time is subject to change depending on weather and availability
Contact: sh*************@***il.com for more details
Set up in 2015, on the 600th anniversary of the battle of Agincourt, Shipston Archers is, primarily, a target archery club, affiliated to ArcheryGB, and part of a network of archery clubs across the UK. The club is also registered with both the West Midlands Archery Society and the Coventry and Warwickshire Archery Association. On the instructional side, we have fully licenced AGB Level 1 and Level 2 coaches. We welcome keen-to-learn juniors as well as more senior archers and we are also registered as a “return to archery” centre for those who have been away from the sport for a period of time.
We shoot on a Thursday evening on field, March to October, and use the hall where we can in winter.
Our tournaments on the field. Please see the calendar for details.
Don’t have your own equipment? We have a good selection of equipment available for beginners to use!
For more details about us, or if you wish to find out what we can offer, please drop by one of our sessions, visit our website, or email us!
Brailes Oil Group
When: All year round, except during energy crisis
Where: Parish of Brailes
Contact: Brailes Oil Group for more details
We were set up some years ago to join together all in the village who use oil and as individuals were paying a high price to get our oil on an individual basis. By joining together we now save between £30 and £80 on each 1,000 litres we order. But more importantly it means we save our beautiful planet by only needing a tanker to come to the village once or twice instead of 20 times with 500 litres.
So what do we do?
Every month round about 15-20th of the month we send out an e-mail inviting orders for oil for delivery at the beginning of the following month. So it is a monthly service.
1. At the end of the month we ring round all the local oil companies and tell them we have an order for someone for – say – 42,000 litres over 56 drops. Whoever gives me the best price per litre gets our order.
2. We send over a spreadsheet TO THE BEST PRICED VENDOR with the names, addresses, postcode, email address and telephone numbers of all those requiring oil delivery for that month.
3. We then e mail all those requesting oil with the name of the winning oil company, the price agreed and a contact name and telephone number and ask you to contact the oil company, confirm you are on our list with the correct amount and ask you to give them debit card details so they can collect payment ONCE YOUR OIL IS DELIVERED. If you want a full tank now is the time to confirm that as well.
4. We will then get our oil over the next 10 days or so. If you are not in, provided they can gain access you will get a delivery docket through the door confirming your delivery. Check all details are correct.
If you need oil send us an e-mail to let us know. You do need to bear in mind there is a lag time so if you realise you are running low on 3rd of the month it could be 6 weeks before you get your oil. So you do need to plan ahead.
If you want a fill up, we DO need a rough estimate of how much you think that will be.
If you ever have any problems call 07973828931 or e-mail will find us and we will sort them out. This is a completely free service, we will never charge for it and we get no kickbacks from any company.
Welcome to the group!