Cllr. Mark Hoskins

12/05/2026

Delighted to present Wallingfords new Mayor, Cllr. Nigel Hughes, and honoured to act as his deputy for the upcoming year.

Last night, Wallingford Town Council held the town’s traditional Mayor Making ceremony at the historic Town Hall, where Cllr Nigel Hughes was formally elected as Mayor of Wallingford for the 2026–2027 municipal year, with Cllr Mark Hoskins appointed as Deputy Mayor.

The meeting was attended by local dignitaries, several past Mayors of Wallingford, along with the outgoing and incoming Mayor’s Cadets, all coming together for this important and long-standing date in the Wallingford civic calendar.

The meeting was opened by the outgoing Mayor, Cllr Ros Lester, who reflected on her year in office and thanked those who had supported her throughout it, including Deputy Mayor Cllr Christine Sandall, fellow councillors, her cadets, her husband and High Steward of Wallingford Ken Lester, and the Town Council office team for their hard work and support over the past year.

Following the formal nomination, seconding and vote by councillors, Cllr Hughes was elected Mayor of Wallingford. The outgoing and incoming Mayors then retired from the Council Chamber to exchange robes before Cllr Hughes returned to take over proceedings as Mayor.

In his first speech as Mayor, Cllr Hughes thanked Cllr Lester for her dedicated service and clear passion for Wallingford, reflecting on the many years they have served together on the Council. He also paid tribute to past councillors and mentors who helped shape the Council and its strong tradition of public service.

Looking ahead to the year ahead, the Mayor highlighted a number of key priorities for the Council, including progressing the Bull Croft Play Park project, finding a realistic path forward for the Regal Centre, and supporting much-needed renovations to the historic Town Hall to ensure it continues to serve the community for generations to come.

Cllr Hughes also spoke about the importance of Wallingford’s community groups, volunteers and residents, stating his commitment to supporting the people and organisations that make the town such a strong and vibrant community.

Congratulations to Mayor Nigel Hughes and Deputy Mayor Mark Hoskins on their appointments.

04/05/2026

News can often be depressing but take a look at what will be taking place at the Wallingford Sports Trust in June.
All part of life’s rich tapestry 😃

We now have confirmation of all 16 teams that will be participating in the 2026 Hildred’s Festival of Skittles GB Open Invitation Tournament, supported by Oxford City Flooring on Saturday 13th June. The draw for the tournament will be held this week and each group will feature 1 team from every row in the below image.

Sadly, last year’s winners Shunters, from Blandford Forum in Dorset, cannot make it over this year as the tournament falls on the same day as the Sturminster Newton league presentation evening. Shunters will be collecting the league winners trophies after overtaking Unstopabulls in the last couple of league games along with picking up the runner’s up trophies in the nomination cup after narrowly losing to the same team in the final. They hope to be back next year, but until then we can have a look at all the other teams hoping to win the 2026 GB Open title.

First up, a new team captained by former Bowling Stone Bryan Passmore, and named after a famous Bowling Stones catch phrase ‘It is what it is’. With Bryan and Dave Passmore coming back, along with regular guest on their skittles tours Lyndsay Bett. The rest of his team will be making their first appearance on our alley. Kev Passmore & Nathan Passmore are coming to our club for the first time with Nathan being one of the best U21 players in the game. We’ve also heard that Karaoke superstar Mungo will be joining them, but please don’t let this man anywhere near a microphone!

Returning for the second time and representing the Royal Forest of Dean are The Wanderers Skittles Team. Equally known for their prowess on the alley, their exceptional sailing skills on the river and their remarkable drinking ability, the Wanderers will be looking to improve on their excellent debut, which ended in quarter final knockout against Larkhall A. Charlie Sullivan has the tough job of trying to stop his team getting too drunk before their group games and we may be treated to another commentary master class from Sunshine aka Andy Barnard

Larkhall Sports from Bath will be returning again with two teams after their hugely impressive debuts in last season’s competition. Both teams made it to the semi-finals where Larkhall A were beaten by Shunters. Larkhall B won their semi-final against Falcons before losing to Shunters in the final. Dean Lye will be ensuring his teams can negotiate the early bus timetables as they prepare for another long day of travelling, drinking and doing quite well on the alley.

Brian John Webber (the Woodbutcher) will be back with his team of players from the Weston Central Skittles league representing his league team Falcons Skittles. Brian was the only Falcon who came over last year with the rest of his team being some of the top players from other teams in their league. Last year Josh won the player of the tournament award after his score of 44 with a 14 spare in their quarter final match.

We’ve got three new teams coming over for the first time and first up is a team from Newport captained by Matthew Callaghan. Mathew and his son William came over last year and played for Late Knights, so both have some experience of playing on the alley, but we have no idea what to expect from their other players.

The UK’s most Easterly skittles league in Dover will be sending a team over playing as The Sportsman, the name of the pub & team that many of them play for. We’ve seen some of their players at our club before as Brian Cakebread and son Dan have come over several times to have a few throws and they also brought a team over to join in with our Easter singles tournament, which was won by two of the players from Dover including Simon Scott.

Our final visiting team are the Jolly Floppers, who play in the Bruton and Wincanton league in Somerset. Captained by Roe Norman, they are another unknown quantity, but based on all the teams from Somerset we have come across before, they're sure to be very good. Captain Roe is also bringing a set of monster 5 1/2" Somerset balls over, which we'll be using in the Friday night exhibition match.

Representing the ABM we've got the 2024 winners Lads’ Night Out along with returning teams Gutter Nutters, Best Sellers, Young & Bald, Spare Ribs and Alsorts. Entering the competition for the first time are The Rollin’ Pins, captained by Andrew Bell one of our main tournament sponsors from Oxford City Flooring and finally, high flying newbies BGS, captained by young Callum Dickson.

Look out for the draw this week when we'll find out who all the teams will be playing in the group stage. Event will be announced by Wallingford Live Skittles

27/04/2026

Mayor’s Sunday 2026 – A Wallingford Tradition

Join us in the Market Place for Mayor’s Sunday, the annual and long-standing tradition marking the inauguration of the Mayor of Wallingford for 2026/2027.

Sunday 17 May 2026

This historic civic ceremony is an important part of the town’s heritage, bringing the community together each year to mark the start of a new mayoral term.

To allow the service to take place safely, the Market Place will be closed to traffic between approximately 11:00am and 1:00pm. We kindly ask residents in the surrounding area for their co-operation during this time.

All are very welcome to attend and be part of this special occasion.

For further details, please email [email protected] or call 01491 835373.

17/04/2026

Did you know about the 131 town bus?

The 131 Wallingford Town Service, operated by Going Forward Buses CIC, runs a circular route around town – helping you get into the centre for shopping, appointments, or meeting friends.

It runs four times a day, Monday to Friday, stopping at key locations including the Market Place, Lidl, and residential areas across Wallingford.

Simple fares – typically £2 single, with free travel for concessionary pass holders after 9am

It’s a small, friendly local service – just give the driver a clear signal to stop.

This is an experimental service, so it really does depend on local support.
Use it or lose it – if it’s useful to you, please make the most of it!

Find out more and view the route here:
www.goingforwardbuses.com

20/02/2026

Friday 20th and Monday 23rd February 2026: Thames Water (sorry, not Thames Travel as previously stated!) are believed to be digging holes somewhere in Brook Street in Watlington. They don't seem to be able to make up their minds exactly where the road will be closed, but it will certainly cause problems for our access to Watlington Library. We hope to be able to pick up and set down at the junction of the Benson and Chalgrove roads if we can't get to the library. If that is the case we will run the service ten minutes late from there to give people time to walk there from the library. We are sorry to be so vague but we have not received proper notification of this closure and what we have got is contradictory. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused. We have made our feelings known to the County Council!

18/02/2026

I’d love it if this years Royal garden party could end with a Dolly Disco 😃

Congratulations to Emma and all her team 🎉🍾

What wonderful news!

Each year, the Lord-Lieutenant of Oxfordshire is invited to submit nominations to Buckingham Palace for individuals whose service to the community merits an invitation to a Royal Garden Party. Wallingford Town Council is proud to nominate two outstanding members of our community annually – and we are absolutely delighted to share that one of this year’s nominees has been successful.

Congratulations to Emma Cox of The Dolphin, St Mary’s Street, who has secured an invitation to attend a Royal Garden Party hosted by The King at Buckingham Palace.

Emma works tirelessly for the Wallingford community, her family, and the many patrons who pass through the doors of The Dolphin. Her dedication, generosity and community spirit truly go above and beyond, and this recognition is richly deserved.

We are incredibly proud to see local volunteers and community champions celebrated in this way.

Please join us in congratulating Emma on this fantastic honour!

17/02/2026

It’s that time again!

Ready, steady… flip!

Wallingford’s Pancake Race is tomorrow morning, and you’re invited.

Bring your own frying pan if you'd like to participate. Registration opens from 10am. The children’s race starts at 10.15am, followed by the adult race at 10.30am.

Come along for some flipping good fun and a bit of friendly competition in the heart of town. Spectators very welcome. See you there from 10am!

20/11/2025

Have a look at the Wallingford Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan.

Welcome to the engagement page for Wallingford area Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan. We want to make walking, wheeling and cycling easier and more enjoyable for all in the Wallingford area. We have drafted a document called a Local Cycling and Walking

27/10/2025

Always a special time.

Come on down to the Town Information Centre at the Town Hall to pick up your poppies ready for Remembrance Sunday on the 9th and Armistice Day on the 11th of November 🌺

03/10/2025