More than a hundred residents of Axbridge ate their way through three sumptuous courses in the town’s progressive supper on Saturday, 30th November, 2024. It began and ended in the Oakhouse which had been richly decorated for Christmas by Marina and Dave at the pub making it the perfect venue for the organisers to distribute the courses.

The organisers, from left, Anna Dawson, Harry Mottram and Margaret Cowie in The Oakhouse

One of the organisers Harry Mottram said: “It was a great success with everyone saying they had a really enjoyable evening. The raffle was again a hit with £425 raised towards the £1,800 total figure which means we can donate £900 each to the Axbridge School Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and the Cheddar Food Bank. Booking was online with starter £20, mains free and the sweet course £10. As usual the traveller tickets were oversubscribed – so we had increased the price to £80 but they were snapped up in seconds each time they were released.”

The event is run by volunteers, which continues to be very popular since its inception back in the 1970s when the food included such classics as Black Forest Gateau and Chicken Kiev. Over the years various people have taken on the progressive supper to raise money for local charities which have included the Men’s Shed, The Friends of Axbridge Church, the Axbridge Heritage Trail, the Blackberry Carnival and the Axbridge Pageant.

Ensuring the raffle was a success: Sue and Heather with their partners

The trio of organisers of Harry Mottram, Anna Dawson and Margaret Cowie were helped on the night by Sue Binns and Heather Dugmore on the raffle who ensured the event went off smoothly. Participants drew their courses out of a hat at random discovering where their starter, main and sweet were located with one couple drawing their starter at Townsend and the sweet on Cheddar Road making the evening as much about walking as eating.

One of the lucky winners in the raffle

The organisers thanked those who donated prizes for the raffle – these included artist Gemma Tricky, photographer William King, Cheddar’s Bath Arms, The Oakhouse and Cobbs butchers in Cheddar. The next progressing supper is on Saturday, 29th November, 2025.

A presentation of the two cheques for £900 each will be made at the Farmers’ Market on Saturday, 7th December, 2024.

For more on the progressive supper visit https://www.facebook.com/AxbridgeProgressive

For details of the supper visit https://www.harrymottram.co.uk/2024/09/26/axbridge-news-everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-the-annual-axbridge-charity-progressive-supper-but-were-afraid-to-ask-including-the-things-you-should-never-do-on-the-night/

For more on the Cheddar Foodbank visit https://cheddarvalley.foodbank.org.uk/

For more on Axbridge C of E Academy visit https://axbridgefirstschool.co.uk/

And for details of The Oakhouse visit https://www.theoakhouseaxbridge.com/