Good morning, Wycombe!
Half term is upon us again, and it’s always a mixed bag for me. On the plus side there’s less laundry and no extracting two children from the house by 8am. On the minus side, there’s that moment on Tuesday morning when you realise the snacks have run out and you can’t bring yourself to visit yet another pumpkin patch.
Send snacks. Failing that, here’s what’s on:
🎶 A free Festival of the Senses at the Brunel Shed
💆🏻♀️ My verdict on a Fast Therapy sports massage
🏴☠️ A Peter Pan meet and greet
Plus local fireworks displays, an evening for classical music lovers, news of Wycombe’s first ever Bard, and much more.
🕺🎄 Christmas With Danny Foster & The Big Soul Corporation 🎶
Saturday 12 December | 7.30pm | Old Town Hall | 18+
Dinner first, then Motown until your feet give up 🎉
Danny Foster and his band are taking over the Old Town Hall for an unforgettable festive celebration. The Big Soul Corporation Girls and special guest Victoria Goddard join him on stage, and the setlist is full of songs you know by heart: Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Diana Ross & The Supremes and more.
🥂 Festive welcome drink on arrival
🍽️ Three-course Christmas dinner
💃 Live soul and Motown party band, playing until late
🎟️ 10% off for Pulse readers through the link below
Office party, family get-together or a big night out with friends: this one covers all of them.
👉 Book your night with 10% off: https://booking.trafalgartickets.com/en/wycombe-swan-theatre/specialoffer/efs2dgy27toms
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Editor’s Highlights
📍 Brunel Engine Shed | 🗓️ Sat 24 Oct, 11am–7pm
A new free festival built around accessibility, with quiet zones and sensory-friendly spaces throughout. Live music, a pop-up cinema, workshops and fun for all.
📍 Hellfire Caves | 🗓️ 24th, 28th–31st Oct, 6–8.45pm
The 18th-century tunnels once used by the notorious Hellfire Club turn into a Halloween scare attraction after dark, with live actors lurking in the chalk passages under West Wycombe Hill. Strictly 16+.
📍 B'Hive | 🗓️ Sun 25th Oct, 6pm
B’Hive is turning one, and they’re marking a great year with a buffet and plenty of live music.
📍 Wycombe Swan | 🗓️ Mon 26–Wed 28 Oct
George and Harold turn their half-dog, half-policeman comic hero into a musical while he takes on Petey the evil cat and Flippy the cyborg fish. One for Dav Pilkey fans.
👻🐶 Half Term Scooby-Doo at Adams Park 🎃
Wednesday 28 Oct | Adams Park | Film tickets just £2
Zoinks! Half term fun that won’t empty your wallet…
Wycombe Wanderers are showing Scooby-Doo: The Movie on the giant screen in the fanzone, with great value Halloween activities running before each screening.
🎟️ £2 a ticket for the film
🎬 Pick your screening: 12pm (SEN-friendly, with sensory packs) or 4pm
🍎 Halloween activities, £5 extra: arts and crafts, apple bobbing and toffee apples
🕚 Activities start at 11am before the SEN-friendly screening and at 3pm before the 4pm one
🎃 Pumpkin carving, £5 extra, must be pre-booked
🍔 Food packages available: £6 per person, or £20 for a family of four
🧙 Fancy dress competition, so come in costume
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🔍 Family Fun Finder
🏴☠️ Peter and Wendy Meet & Greet
📍 Pirates Landing | 🗓️ Thu 29th Oct, 11am–1pm
Say hello to Peter and Wendy from the Swan’s Christmas panto and grab a photo, then hit the soft play.
Discover & Make: Nature’s Wind Chimes
📍 Wycombe Museum | 🗓️ Tue 27th & Wed 28th Oct, multiple sessions
Explore the museum, then make a wind chime from pine cones, feathers and twigs.
🏺 Monster Mugs & Pumpkin Pots
📍 Max's Pottery | 🗓️ Mon 26th Oct, 10am
Halloween pottery for ages 7–11. Make a monster mug or a pumpkin pot.
🦜 Treasure Island Holiday Club
📍 Christ Church, Flackwell Heath | 🗓️ Wed 28th–Fri 30th Oct, 9.30am–12.30pm
Games, crafts, songs and stories for Years 1–6. £10 per child.
Plus many more — check out our Halloween guide 2026 👻
Wellness Moments
😊 Winter Wellbeing
📍 The Front Room | 🗓️ Sat 24th Oct, 4pm
A two-hour workshop on psychology-based ways to manage stress and keep your mood up through the darker months.
📸 Mensnap
📍 Django’s | 🗓️ Mon 26th Oct, 7pm
A monthly men’s mental wellness group that uses photography to get conversations going, led by a psychotherapist and photographer.
Friday 23 October | 6–8pm | Maison Française d’Oxford | Free
One for the classical music lovers, and it’s hosted by a Wycombe local, Fabienne Sinclair Morris.
Charlotte Sohy wrote a symphony, an opera and a stack of chamber music in Belle Époque France, then got quietly written out of music history for the best part of a century. Now her great-grandson, Matthias Weber, has made a documentary about her and is bringing it to Oxford for its UK premiere.
🎬 Screening Charlotte Sohy: la consécration d’une compositrice
🎙️ Matthias and producer Laurence Uebersfeld in conversation after the film
🎹 Sohy’s Petite Suite and Piano Trio played live by pianist Reiko Fujisawa (“A total joy” – The Times), with Gina McCormack and Adrian Bradbury
🎟️ Free, but you’ll need to book
A rare night of film and live chamber music, just up the M40.
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📌 New on the Wycombe Noticeboard
Here's a glimpse at what's new this week:
And more!
Notices start at £9.95 and you can place them for a week or a month, with up to six photos, and every new one goes on our Instagram Stories.
🎃🤖 Robot Reg, Spooky Stories & Soft Play at Cupcake Kangaroo 📚
45 minutes of stories and songs, then 45 minutes to let them loose in the soft play!
Cupcake Kangaroo has two special sessions on the last two Fridays of October, each starting with a guest class before the kids can take over the soft play to burn off whatever energy is left.
🤖 Phonics with Robot Reg | Friday 23 October, 11.30am
A playful phonics session with Pip and Robot Reg
👉 Book here
🎃 Spooky Books & Boogie | Friday 30 October, 9.30am or 11.30am
Halloween stories, songs and dancing with Becky
👉 Book here
🎟️ £16 per child and adult, soft play included
📍 Cupcake Kangaroo, Wooburn Green, HP10 0DG
Two Fridays sorted. 🦘
🦢 Something’s Stirring Again… ✨
Friday 6 November | 5–7pm | Starting around the Guildhall
Keep an eye out for chalk feathers and swan signs around town. My sources tell me they’ll start appearing at the Sunday Market on 1 November… 👀
First Friday is back on 6 November. If the last two are anything to go by, expect live music under the Guildhall arches and a few surprises dotted around town (anyone else try their luck at High Street crazy golf?!).
Wander down after work, find a seat, and see what happens. No tickets, no set programme — what you do next is up to you.
🪶 See you there?
Culture
🐉 Wycombe’s first ever Bard: the inaugural Bard of High Wycombe will be crowned at Wyrd Wycombe in the town centre on Sunday 7th February, from 11am, alongside music, dancing and a Knight versus Dragon fight.
📚 A Court of Splintered Harmony Early Opening
📍 Waterstones | 🗓️ Tue 27th Oct, from 8am
ACOTAR fans can mark the release of A Court of Splintered Harmony with quizzes, bingo, freebies and prizes. Just turn up.
🎨 New collective for neurodivergent artists: Neuroverse Artist Collective helps neurodivergent artists find each other and get their work seen. It’s free to join, you don’t need a diagnosis, and its online gallery is live.
Council Catch-Up
🏗️ Of note in the planning inbox:
Horns Lane: Plans for 50 homes have moved closer. Developer Thakeham can start demolition before access, drainage, tree and ecology details are signed off, and its construction traffic plan was approved in September. The detailed plans (reserved matters application) still awaits a decision.
Hughenden Road: A hand car wash built without permission behind 125–125A is applying retrospectively. It isn’t operating yet but would open 8am–6pm daily. Pending.
High Street: Another retrospective application seeks to keep 5–6 High Street (Ani’s Collections and Wycombe Juice Bar) split into two shops in the conservation area. Pending. The PVC banners, noted on a recent Pulse post, aren’t part of the application. An… interesting look.
Gordon Road: The former hairdresser at 175, empty since May 2025, could become a fried chicken and burger takeaway open until 11pm (10pm Sundays), with a filtered extractor flue. Pending.
🚗 Parking permits proposed for six Wycombe roads: Coningsby Road, Mayhew Crescent, Adam Close, Hepplewhite Close, Wheelers Park and Pimms Grove could get permit parking. Nothing’s decided yet. Have your say by 11:59pm this Friday, 23 October.
Sports and Activities
🏃 Run the Patch
📍 Peterley Manor Farm | 🗓️ Wed 28th Oct, 8am
A 5K through the farm and pumpkin patch, plus a 2K kids’ fun run. Finishers get a T-shirt, a pumpkin and a medal, and the money raised goes towards a running track in Nepal.
Community Notes
🏥 Help shape your new Neighbourhood Health Centre
📍 Council Offices | 🗓️ Today, 10am-12pm
Bucks Healthcare NHS Trust want to hear from High Wycombe residents about what families need from the new Neighbourhood Health Centre.
🌍 Community and Climate Cafe
📍 Patch | 📅 Today, 7.30pm
This month: find out how repair cafes work, then have a go at a few basic fixes yourself.
💙 SEND Café – Wycombe Wanderers Foundation
📍 Adams Park | 🗓️ Tues 27th Oct, 10am-12pm
A free drop-in for parents, carers and professionals to connect, share experiences and access advice around SEND and education.
🤝 Community Activity Day
📍 High Street | 🗓️ Tue 27 Oct, 11am–3pm
Free drop-in with Bucks Council, Thames Valley Police and partners — crime prevention advice and security items, health checks, recycling advice, housing and Adult Learning help, plus bouncy castle and kids’ activities.
Business News
🎉 OPENINGS:
OFFICE, Eden — Wed 28 Oct
Smyths Toys, Eden — Thurs 29th Oct
Wycombe Juice Bar, High Street — opened Tuesday
🚪 CLOSING: TG Jones on 9th January 2027.
The Wycombe Wordle
Six guesses. Five letters. One Wycombe connection. Its a toughie this week. Let me know if you get it!
🟩 Right letter, right spot
🟨 Right letter, wrong spot
⬜ Not in the word
That’s a wrap for this week’s Pulse!
Have a spooktacular half term — but before you dash…
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See you next Thursday,
Steph
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