February events at The Oxford
Another bumper month at The Oxford includes live gypsy jazz with Fiddlebop (and wood-fired pizzas), workshops to help with healthy habits and creativity, an opportunity to find out more about OAK’s plans for the pub, another in our series of Kington Castaways, and a new social group for people living with hidden disabilities!
We’re open every Wednesday for Places of Welcome, and our bar and café is open every Sunday 12-4pm.
Creative Workshop
This month: Make clay pots using the coiling method!
Drop-in to this relaxed craft session in the barn of The Oxford Arms, and learn how to make decorative pots with air-dry clay, using the traditional “coil” method - see an example of the finished article below!
Our cafe and bar will be open for food and drinks.
No booking necessary, materials provided, payment by donation
March events at The Oxford
Sunday 2nd March, 11am-3pm. Let’s Dance! Performances and half-hour taster sessions of different dance styles, including line dancing, belly dancing, jive, dance for joy, and chakra. Bar and café open throughout.
Wednesday 5th March, 10am-12.30pm. Sunflower Social - A hidden disabilities support group and network, meeting monthly in The Oxford’s barn on the first Wednesday of the month during our regular Places Of Welcome opening hours.
Saturday 8th March, 10.30am-12.30pm, and Wednesday 12th March, 6.30-8.30pm. Create a stunning mandala while practising mindfulness in this free workshop with Wonky Mandalas.
Sunday 16th March, 12-4pm. Kington Folk Club Sunday Session - a chilled live music session in the barn, bar and cafe open throughout!
Saturday 29th March, 6.30-9.30pm. RNLI/Oxford Arms charity quiz night.
Sunday 30th March, 2-3pm. Creative Workshop - paint colourful Pysanky eggs
And more to come in April and May, including our annual marmalade competition and history events!
Plus our regular opening hours: Places of Welcome, every Wednesday 10am-12.30pm - drop in for a conversation and hot drink; Bar and café opening, every Sunday 12-4pm.
Let's Dance!
The UK’s biggest ever dance event comes to The Oxford! Try out taster sessions of line dancing, jive, belly dancing, chakra, and more.
All sessions are free with no booking required - just drop by and have fun!
Let’s Dance is a national campaign to inspire everyone in the UK to embrace dance as a way to improve their health, connect with others, and have fun.
Gypsy Jazz with Kington Folk Club
Kington Folk Club are joining us with live gypsy jazz band Fiddlebop!
Music starts at 7.30pm.
Origin Pizza’s woodfired pizza van will be serving from 6pm, and the bar will be open 6-10pm.
Workshop: Building Health Habits
THURSDAY 13TH FEB - 10.30AM-11.30PM - Healthy habits workshop
Want to build healthy habits, but finding that life gets in the way? Join a free workshop in the Oxford’s barn for practical tips and tricks that actually work!
About your workshop leader: Tamsyn Cowden is a nurse with many years experience. She recently completed a BSLM accredited course in Lifestyle Medicine and currently carries out health checks in Herefordshire.
Community Q&A
Community Q&A - Sunday 2nd February, 2-3pm
Join us in The Oxford’s barn to ask your questions to the OAK team and learn more about:
Plans and timeline for renovation work at The Oxford
What our National Lottery Heritage Grant is funding
How we’ll be developing our events program and more in 2025
Bring your questions and have your say!
Our bar and cafe will be open 12-4pm for refreshments.
Can’t make the event but have questions about the project? Email your questions to info@openarmskington.co.uk, or just put them through The Oxford’s letterbox. A full transcript of the Q&A will be shared on our website and social media following the event.
Drop-in Health Clinics
Drop by for tailored advice on heart health, stopping smoking, mental and physical health and wellbeing and more, from a range of professional healthcare teams from:
Healthwatch Herefordshire
Social prescribers
TALK community hub
Age UK
…and more
Community Q&A
Community Q&A - Sunday 2nd February, 2-3pm
Join us in The Oxford’s barn to ask your questions to the OAK team and learn more about:
Plans and timeline for renovation work at The Oxford
What our National Lottery Heritage Grant is funding
How we’ll be developing our events program and more in 2025
Bring your questions and have your say!
Our bar and cafe will be open 12-4pm for refreshments.
Can’t make the event but have questions about the project? Email your questions to info@openarmskington.co.uk, or just put them through The Oxford’s letterbox. A full transcript of the Q&A will be shared on our website and social media following the event.
January Creative Cafe - Winter lanterns
Creative Cafe is back for 2025, and we’re kicking the year off by making winter lanterns. Sarah will guide you through the process of making the lanterns - just add a string of LED lights to make your home extra cosy during the rest of the dark winter days. They’d be a great addition to your garden in summer, too!
All materials provided, with a suggested donation of £5 per session. All ages and abilities welcome.
The event will take place in the heated barn at the back of The Oxford.
Burns Night - Ceilidh in the barn
Celebrate Burns Night with a traditional Ceilidh band and barn dance, and not-so-traditional pizza from The Doughzy Mares
Bar and food from 6pm
£5 donation for the Ceilidh on the door
DJ Night with DJ Polo
DJ night in the barn with DJ Polo and special guests - bar open from 6pm, music from 7pm onwards
Plus loaded jackets and nachos from Lovely Spudly, served from 6pm
Free entry, all welcome!
Creative Writing Course
Writer and author Sarah Star is returning with another 6-session course, suitable for all: whether you’re a creative writing beginner, looking to hone your skills, or just need a push to get going!
Course dates will be 6-8.15pm, Feb 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th, and March 6th and 13th, £5 suggested donation for each class
Not sure if the course is for you? Join a FREE TASTER SESSION - Sunday 19th January - 2-3.30pm
New Year's Eve at The Oxford
NEW YEAR'S EVE - LIVE MUSIC & BAR - 6-10PM
Still not made plans for New Year's Eve this Tuesday night? Join us at The Oxford for live music in the barn from 6-10pm: acoustic melodies from LIV42DAY, plus guaranteed entertainment from alternative folk duo Diego Brown & The Good Fairy
The bar will be serving Hobsons, Lucky 7, Robinson’s, Staropramen, wines and soft drinks - and you're welcome to bring your own food or order in a takeaway. All ages (and dogs) warmly welcomed to our heated barn and marquee 🥳
Sunday Session with Mr H
Kington Folk Club presents a Sunday Session with bluesy singer-songwriter Mr H.
Mr H is a Singer Songwriter who is best known for his wordy Jazz/Blues musical collaborations with Hawkwind Saxophonist Nik Turner and his recording sessions with John David of Rockfield and Berryhill Studio's fame.He has occasionaly appeared in festivals such as Green Man, The Acoustic Festival of Britain, The Guitar Greats Festival, Aber Jazz Festival, Tenby Blues Festival and Hay on Wye's How The Light Gets in and supported Jerry Donahue, Gordon Haskell and Wishbone Ash to name but a few.
His writing style has been compared to Chris Rea,Tom Waits,Van Morrison,Charles Bukowski and Dave Gilmour and in 2025 he will be celebrating over 50 years of songwriting,recording and performing with random solo acoustic gigs throughout Wales and the Uk.
Not a great fan of social media he currently has two Website Albums "The Ballads and Blues of Mr H" and "The Rock and Pop of Mr H" in total 72 tracks,with a free download of his current single "Friends For A While" which is slightly removed from his usual style.
Christmas Creative Cafe
Join Sarah and a friendly group of crafters for the final Creative Cafe session of 2024. We’ll be making air-dried clay ornaments - just in time to decorate your Christmas tree!
You’ll find us in the Oxford Arms barn with the heating on!
Materials provided - Payment by donation
Carols in the barn with Churches Together
Who doesn’t love a festive singalong - and a mulled wine?
Join us at 5pm for a carol concert with Churches Together, and enjoy all the classics in our atmospheric barn.
Kington Winter Food Festival - events at The Oxford
The epic Kington Winter Food Festival is here, and we’re hosting some brilliant food stalls and events at The Oxford Arms!
11am-5pm - fancy some Japanese soul food or traditional Indian street food? Miniyaki’s and Lockdown Dhaba are setting up shop for the day in our yard
11.30am - dress your four-legged friends up as much as they can tolerate to enter our CHRISTMAS BEST DRESSED DOG COMPETITION!
12.30pm & 2pm - the angelic Whitton Voices are serenading us with a selection of festive favourites and Christmas classics
2-4pm - keep your family entertained with a selection of Christmas crafts for children (and adults!) in our barn
Kington Castaways with Geoff Cooper
Sunday 1st December - 2-4pm - Kington Castaways
Author and local legend Geoff Cooper as “Nicky” shares stories from her eventful life and the music behind them.
Bar and cafe open 12-4pm, Castaways session starts at 2pm
Live music from Lake & RJ's Smoke Shack
Saturday 30th November - 6-10pm - Live music & RJ’s Smoke Shack
Acoustic session with incredible young singer-songwriter Lake, plus RJ’s legendary burgers and waffles
Free entry
Reggae night
Swap the November weather for island vibes in our barn this Friday as Steve M spins his reggae mix from 7-10pm
Christmas Craft Workshops
Get in the Christmas spirit with our cosy workshops in the barn
Music and comedy night with Kate Green
Music and comedy with artist Kate Green - an absurd and eclectic musical mashup of comedy, storytelling, ukulele ballads and zombie poems.
Free entry, donations welcome
November events at The Oxford
Saturday 16th November - 7.30-9.30pm - Music and comedy with Kate Green - An absurd and eclectic musical mashup of comedy, storytelling, ukulele ballads and zombie poems
Friday 22nd November - 7-10pm - Reggae in the barn - DJ Steve M returns to the Oxford Arms barn with his reggae mix, plus woodfired pizza from the Doughzy Mares - Free entry
Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd November - Christmas Craft Workshops - Get in the Christmas spirit with our cosy workshop in the barn - make embossed foil wreaths (10am-12.30pm, Fri & Sat) and decorative stars (1.30-4pm, Fri & Sat) - £20pp, book by emailing info@openarmskington.co.uk
Saturday 30th November - 6-10pm - Live music & RJ’s Smoke Shack - Acoustic session with singer-songwriter Lake, plus RJ’s legendary burgers and waffle
The Big Draw celebrates Diwali
The Big Draw - the world’s largest drawing festival, meets Diwali, the Festival of Lights. We’ll be uniting the two events with a colourful and creative line-up of activities.
Jungle DJ night with DJ Polo
DJ Polo will be playing a jungle set in the barn from 7-10pm, with loaded jacket potatoes on offer from the ladies at Lovely Spudly who’ll be parking up in our yard from 5pm.
Creative Cafe Autumn Special
A seasonal craft special featuring sock pumpkins and more…
All ages welcome!
Creative Writing Course
Ever wanted to write, but not sure where to start? Join author and teacher Sarah Star for a six-session course at The Oxford, with free, drop-in taster sessions on Sunday October 6th, 2pm-3pm and 3pm-4pm.
Antiques Valuation
People living in Kington and the surrounding Herefordshire, Powys and South Shropshire borderlands are being urged to check their attics, storerooms and cupboards for hidden treasures that might be worth a small fortune.
Experts from Shrewsbury-based Halls Fine Art will be visiting the Oxford Arms on Friday, October 4 from 10am to 2pm to hold a charity antiques valuation event.
A fee of £2 will be charged for each item professionally valued and all money raised by the event will go towards transforming the Oxford Arms into a community “hub and pub”.
The experts hunting hidden treasures are Maryanne Lineker-Mobberley, silver, jewellery and bijouterie specialist and Alexander Clement, watches, clocks and Asian art specialist and general valuer.
Anyone wishing to have collections or large antiques valued at the event may take along photographs to show Maryanne and Alexander, who may arrange a follow up home visit.
Those who have antiques that they wish to be valued but are unable to attend the valuation event can contact the fine art team on Tel: 01743 450700. Visit https://fineart.hallsgb.com/ for more information.
Creative Cafe at the Oxford Arms - September
September 28th – we will try out a range of hand-made mini looms to weave some small items.
Kington Walking Festival Map Interpretation Workshop
Learn to correctly interpret what you see on a map. This indoor workshop in the Oxford Arms Barn introduces the art of map interpretation which enables you to get an incredibly detailed picture of the ground using simple techniques. Once you have been introduced to this simple yet effective skill, you will never look at a map in the same way again.
Location: The Barn, Oxford Arms, Duke Street, Kington. https://what3words.com/reverted.cabinet.woods
Heritage Day at The Oxford Arms
Explore and celebrate Kington's droving history, with tours, film and fun family challenges - plus vintage-style afternoon teas and ploughman's lunches!