🐍 Slithering Secrets of Wycombe...

Good morning, Wycombe!

We're down to the last few days of July before August comes barrelling in — which means I've hit peak summer-holidays panic, complete with a bottle of sun cream I've just discovered expired in 2019.

August can wait a few more days — here's what's on first:

🎭 £20 tickets for Jersey Boys up for grabs!
🐍 Slithering Secrets of Wycombe unearthed
🌲 Forest bathing retreat for a proper reset

Plus a reimagination of The Odyssey (now set in High Wycombe), a ghost hunt at the Hellfire Caves, cigar festival, free kids’ crafts workshops and much more.

🏋️ Wycombe's Newest Fitness Community — 45+ Classes A Week 💪

Tired of the same gym routine? Cressex is now home to one of Wycombe's most exciting fitness set-ups — a training community where you're never grinding through a session alone.

4Front Fitness packs over 45 classes into the weekly timetable, split across three styles so there's genuinely something for every goal:

🏋🏻‍♀️ Gain (upper/lower hypertrophy training for serious muscle-building)
💪🏻 Hybrid (strength and conditioning in equal measure)
🫀 Metcon (the high-intensity cardio session that'll test just how fit you really are).

✨ 45+ classes every week
📍 Cressex Business Park, behind Playtrain
💳 £85/month, unlimited access to everything on the timetable
🎟️ 7-day free trial — no strings attached

Whether you're chasing PBs or just trying to build a habit that sticks, you'll find your people here.

Try before you buy — sign up via the website or download the 4Front Fitness app on iOS or Android.

👉 Claim your free 7-day trial 

Editor’s Highlights

🐍 Slithering Secrets of Wycombe

📍 Mad Squirrel | 🗓️ Tonight, 7:30pm
Dive into the mysterious world of Wycombe's folklore with Mark & Stevyn — featuring a new documentary about the legendary Wycombe Wyrm and the stories, legends and wyrd vibes woven into our local landscape. Free.

🍕 Street Food Evening

📍 The Walled Garden | 📅 Fri 31st July, 5–9pm
Close out July with a feast of independent food trucks — Friends and Flavours (burgers, vegan options), Wheatsheaf Pizza, and Baldie Bites (Mexican).

🐾 Dog Show 

📍 Magnolia Park | 🗓️ Sun 2nd August, registration from 11am, from 12pm
A dog show with categories including Handsomest Dog, Prettiest Bitch, Best Puppy, Waggiest Tail and Best in Show, prizes to 5th place.

🦇 Hell Fire Caves Ghost Hunt 

📍 Hell Fire Caves | 🗓️ Fri 31st July, 8pm–2am
Spend the night investigating one of the UK's most haunted sites — the chalk tunnels carved out for the infamous Hellfire Club in 1752, steeped in legends of occult rituals, ghostly footsteps, and the restless spirit of steward Paul Whitehead, still searching for his stolen heart…

🔥 The Summertime Smoke — Festival of Cigars 2026

 📍 EJ Churchill Shooting Ground | 🗓️ Sat 1st August
The UK's summer cigar festival returns for its second edition — world-class cigar makers, rare releases to sample, and master blenders to meet.

🧘🏻‍♀️ Wellness Moments

🌸 The Healing Garden: Nature, Meditation & Reiki 
📍 Rosie's Petal Patch | 🗓️ Sun 2nd August, 2:30pm 
A peaceful afternoon among the flowers — a heart-opening cacao ceremony, guided meditation, restorative Reiki and a look at the science behind nature's healing powers.

☕ Menopause Café Marlow – Launch Event
📍 Clarendon Fine Art Gallery, Marlow | 🗓️ Tonight, 6:30pm
A relaxed, informal space to talk openly about menopause, perimenopause and midlife changes. Free, just turn up.

🌿 Forest Bathing & Sauna Women's Morning Retreat
📍 Bayleys Bottom, Penn | 🗓️ Sun 2nd Aug, 9.30am
Step into the woods for Lammas, an old Celtic harvest festival — a morning of slow walking, lavender wish-making, sauna heat and an antique outdoor bath, ending in a women's circle.

🌳 Woodland House Open Garden
📍 Woodlands House, Marlow | 🗓️ Today, 2pm–4.30pm 
A private garden opens its gates for a charity afternoon — explore beautifully designed "rooms" including a formal box parterre, knot garden, Victorian glasshouse, stumperies of hellebores and ferns, and meadow walks with sweeping views and a labyrinth.

🎨 Get Creative

🎭 Summer Sunday Adult Workshops
📍 Fitworks Gym, Beaconsfield | 🗓️ Sun 2 Aug, 10am–4pm
Dance, sing and act your way through the summer with Infinity Performing Arts — from Hollywood golden era routines to modern pop. All levels and genders welcome.

🎡 Flackwell Heath Jigsaw & Paperback Library 
📍 Flackwell Heath Community Centre | 🗓️ Weds 5 August, 1pm–2:45pm 
A beloved community institution — this monthly swap has a huge selection of jigsaws and paperbacks across all genres, all donated and all raising money for the Community Centre. Drop in, pick something up, bring something back.

🎨 Sip and Paint with Jennie Roberts
📍 The Crown, Penn | 🗓️ Tonight, 7:30pm
Unleash your inner artist at this relaxed sip-and-paint evening.

🧭 CG Finance | Financial Planning That Fits Around Your Life

Pensions you've been meaning to check. Investments you're not sure are working hard enough. A "someday" plan for retirement that's still just a someday.

Phil Sole and the team at CG Finance sort all of it — thoroughly, independently, and without the sales pitch. As a Chartered Financial Planner, Phil left the corporate world behind to build advice around you, not a bank's targets or a product quota.

📍 Oxford Road, High Wycombe
🏡 For professionals, families and business owners
📋 Pensions, investments, protection, estate planning & business financial strategy
✅ Fixed fees, agreed upfront — no commission, no surprises

However tidy (or not) your finances are right now, a free chat costs nothing and might save you years of putting it off.

👉 Book your free consultation — cgfinance.co.uk | 01494 362749

🔍 Family Fun Finder

🎡 Summer Family Fun Day
📍 Magnolia Park | 🗓️ Sun 2 Aug, 11am–4pm
A family fun day packed with inflatables, pony rides, go karts, craft stalls, a BBQ and a live DJ — something for all ages.

🥁 Family African Drumming Workshop
📍 The Firelight Tipi, Lopemede Farm | 🗓️ Wed 5th August, 2pm 
A joyful family session in the Djembe drum circle — no experience needed, just rhythm and a chance to dance together. Drums provided, all ages welcome.

🦕 Discover & Make: Clay Creations 
📍 Wycombe Museum | 🗓️ Tue 4th & Weds 5th Aug, sessions 10:30am–3:15pm 
Get your hands dirty in this pre-history inspired clay session — dinosaur footprints, fossil imprints and more.

🎭 Sword in the Stone – Outdoor Theatre
 📍 Waddesdon Manor | 🗓️ Fri 31st July, show at 2pm (workshop 12.30pm)
Cambridge Touring Productions bring the legend to life with songs, colour and plenty of adventure. Plus, a drama games workshop for ages 5–10 before the show — sign up on the day (spaces limited). Free with grounds admission.

🌿 Young Growers Summer Club 
📍 Grow Together allotment, Wycombe Marsh | 🗓️ Mon 3rd August
Two free sessions: Grow & Explore (9am–10am) — hands-on allotment activities, exploring plants and food, harvesting and seed saving — followed by Make & Create (11am–12noon) — creative sessions using natural materials. For kids 5+.

🎭 £20 tickets to Jersey Boys at Wycombe Swan (RRP £58)

Jersey Boys is back! The Tony-winning story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons hits the Swan Monday 24th – Saturday 29th August, and our friends at the theatre have hooked us up with an amazing offer: tickets just £20, down from £58.

This link's your secret way in — it's not on the theatre's website.
👉 Book your discounted seats here — live until the show starts!

Entertainment 🎉

🎵 Throwback to the 90s Disco 
📍 Spindle & Thread | 🗓️ Sat 1st August, 8pm–midnight 
One night of he biggest 90s hits — Britpop, dance anthems and cheesy pop classics from Spice Girls to Oasis to Take That, with DJ Paresh on the decks.

🎧 Hip-Hop Hobby Shop 
📍 We Make Wycombe Hub | 🗓️ Sun 2nd August, 1pm–5pm 
An interactive hip-hop session with DJs scratching, rappers performing, and a chance to try graffiti — cans and boards provided. Free entry, kids welcome with an adult.

Quiz Nights

• Belle Vue | Tonight | 8pm

• The Crown Penn | Tonight | 7.30pm

• Merletto Lounge | Fri 31st July | 7pm

Sports & Activities

🧘🏻‍♀️ Headstand and Arm Balance Workshop
📍 B’Hive | 🗓️ Sat 1st August, 2pm
Build strength and confidence with this hands-on workshop breaking down headstands and arm balances step by step, suitable for those looking to progress their practice.

Community Notes

🎂 Hills Cafe 10th Anniversary Celebration 
📍 Hills Cafe, Micklefield | 🗓️ Sat 1st August, 2.30pm–5pm 
Celebrate 10 years of Hills Cafe with pizza and nibbles. Free, but donations are welcome.

📲 What you missed on socials this week…

📖 What if the ‘Odyssey’ had been set in Wycombe..?
🏡 Your say on Wycombe’s next 15 years starts now
🍗 Wingstop is opening in Eden this year
🧀 Calling all cheese fans! The night of your life is heading to B’Hive…
🌾 Massive straw bale playground popping up this summer
🏞️ Could you be Rivers Officer for the Chilterns?
🏛️ Bucks Council has launched its 5-year Corporate Plan

🗓️ Dates for your Diary

🪨 Hughenden Rocks: A Walk Through Geological Time 
📍 Hughenden Manor | 🗓️ Thurs 6th August
Discover 100 million years of history underfoot on this 3.5-mile guided walk through Hughenden — from Cretaceous chalk laid down by ancient tropical seas to flint, clay, and the legacy of the Ice Age.

🌿 Plot to Plate – Grow, Harvest, Eat 
📍 Peterley Manor Farm | 🗓️ Sat 8th Aug 
A hands-on half day in the kitchen garden. Sow seeds, tour the garden, then sit down to a two-course seasonal lunch made from the produce around you.

The Wycombe Wordle

Six guesses. Five letters. One Wycombe connection. Let me know if you get it!

🟩 Right letter, right spot
🟨 Right letter, wrong spot
⬜ Not in the word

👉 [Play here]

That’s a wrap for this week’s Pulse!

Have a superb weekend — but before you dash…

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See you next Thursday,
Steph