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Bank
Holiday Monday, 25th August Adults 115, Children (over 11), 11
Children (under 11) 19 Takings £159.80 which included a donation of
£5. Cloudy until late afternoon, then some sun
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17th
August Faringdon Folly on TV There is a new series starting 10th
August on BBC TV called 'Britain from Above', hosted by Andrew Marr as he
discovers how each and every one of us is interconnecting making Britain what
it is today.
Andrew and the crew visited the Tower on 17th July
together with their helicopter and state-of-the-art camera, buzzing around to
capture the beauty of the Tower, woodland and town. Earlier that day they
were filming on the White Horse Hill which is featured in the programme.
The three-part series starts on Sunday Aug 10th on BBC One TV at 9pm.
The Folly will be on the second programme on Sunday
17 th Aug, on BBC One TV at 9.00pm. Meanwhile, if you would like to see more detail of the series and
some amazing footage take a look at
www.bbc.co.uk/britainfromabove/stories/secrets/follies.shtml
Photos on
FFphotos
bbc.htm
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3rd
August Adults 112 Children (over 11) 24, Children (under 11) 34,
Takings £128.04 Sunny day
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New logo for
Faringdon Folly 2008
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Look out for tee shirts,
fleeces and other merchandise with our super new logo, designed by David
Henderson.
Available in lots of colours from Faringdon Community and
Tourist Information office and the Folly tower |
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19th
and 20th July Special opening on the weekend of the Sealed Knot
Battle for Faringdon
Saturday: Adults 57, (38,3pm to 5pm) Children(over
11) 6, Children(under 11) 11, Takings £71.60 Weather: Mostly dry with
1 short cloudburst in early afternoon.
Sunday: Adults 87 (56, 3pm to
5pm) Children(over 11) 2, Children(under 11) 14, Takings £94.25
Weather: Cloudy and Sunny, and also windy. |
12th
and 13th July 2008 Special opening on the weekend of the
Faringdon Arts Festival
Saturday:
Adults 35, Children (large) 8, Children(small) 21, Takings £53.95
Sunday: Adults 46, Children (large) 3, Children (small) 10, Takings
£52.50 |
6th July 2008
Normal opening Adults 39, Children
(large) 5, children(small) 10, takings £40, plus £23 merchandise
sales. Weather showery and cool for this time of year.
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26th June
2008 We met with woodland maintenance people to decide which trees
need attention, including thinning of elder and sycamore. The aim is to
remove dead or dying limbs that are in danger of falling on the path, give the
Scots Pine preference in terms of light, and preserve and improve the habitat
for birds and insects. The work will be done in August/September.
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20th
June 2008 A noisy green woodpecker, in distress, alerted me to an
injured young woodpecker on the ground near the path. I couldn't see what was
wrong with the chick, but by the time I'd walked round the circle it was on
it's back and near death. It looked as if it had been attacked by a larger
animal/bird |
Tuesday
17th June 2008 BBC has been filming from the top of the folly for
a new BBC program named "Britain from Above"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/britainfromabove Eddie Williams
(chair of "The Friends of the Folly") was interviewed by Andrew Marr. The
program is due to go on air mid to late August of this year. It will be a 3
part program shown on BBC1, probably at 8 or 9pm on Sunday evening, so
primetime. Exact details are not known yet. |
01 June
2008 Adults 51 Children (large) 2 Children (small) 24 Takings
£70.70 Weather - Sunny & Dry.
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26 May
2008 Adults 15 Children (large) 2 Children (small) 12 Takings
£28.90 Weather - Appalling and wet. |
May Bank Holiday weekend. 4th and 5th May
2008 120 adults and about 60 children visited the tour.
Most of these were on Sunday 4th, the normal opening day and with good enough
weather. Monday was very wet until about 10.30, and the tower was only open
until 12.30. The Folly Singers and the Madd May Fest musicians made it a jolly
occasion.
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Sunday
6th April 2008 There were 179 visitors. The day dawned snow
covered, but turned into a fairly bright blue day. By mid afternoon the snow
had gone. See http://www.flickr.com/photos/raoul42/2399157026
and http://www.flickr.com/photos/raoul42/2399147356
for some great pictures
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5th April 2008 Private Opening John Otway and musicians play their music in the tower
www.johnotway.com
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24 March 2008 Easter Monday There were 116
visitors on this first public open day of the season. A good turn out as the
weather was very cold, and the wind even colder. Good views for the time of
year
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8th
March 2008 AGM of Folly Fellowship, UK wide Follies and Grottoes
organisation Members of the Folly Fellowship visited Faringdon.
They will visit The Folly and Faringdon house and have lunch in the
town.
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14th February 2008 Private opening on
Valentines day
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Jan/Feb 2008 You can see the 5 new wind
turbines at Watchfield from Folly Hill
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13th January 2008 Special winter opening of the
tower We had a very exciting evening with a wonderful
atmosphere - helped by the strong winds! Everyone seemed to enjoy the
experience of seeing the lantern and climbing the tower during the hours of
darkness.
People were waiting to get in 30 minutes before opening time
and for about 2 hours we were working at close to full capacity, with people
queuing in the Lantern Room and Belvedere Room to access the top of the Tower.
There was lots of positive feedback from visitors as far away as
Basingstoke and interest in private visits. We had a total of 338 visitors
who climbed the Tower and takings of £363.87 - the highest since the
public opening to see the Searchlight in March 2000. |
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Mid December 2007 Switch on of
this years's light - a pink lantern that dims and brightens every 7-10
seconds. |
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Summer 2004 The land around
the Folly tower and woodland were covered with Poppies. People driving along
the A420, often stopped to admire them. Poppies appeared because the farmer
decided to plant wheat- thus the dormant poppy seeds were exposed to light and
were able to grow. The wheat was largely eaten by the rabbits, so the poppies
were very visible. More
detailed explanation |
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January, February, March
2000 4 special openings enabled over 5000 people climbed the
tower to see the revolving light. On some days people queued far down the
path. |
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December 1999 Revolving
light(every 20secs). 5000500 candle power, 500 ft above sea level. Switched on
at 18.30 and of at 2400 |
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Faringdon Folly is open on the following dates
2008 |
7th September 5th October 31st October 1800-2000
Open 11am - 5pm
Adults £1,
Children 11-16 20p, Children under 11 free |
More about
Faringdon's history, including Lord Berners, Faringdon House, Robert Heber
Percy, The Folly Tower and Lighthouse Faringdon can be found on the
history pages of
Faringdon Online
Faringdon Online - a community website with
information about local services, businesses, leisure activities, places to
visit and it's history
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