My now regular look ahead to events happening next month that would probably be in my events guide, if only they weren’t happening outside the psychological barrier of the M25 motorway.
Might tempt you outside London (horror!).
| National Badger Day | 1st Oct |
| Events held by local badger support groups to promote the British mammal. | Various Locations |
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| Corby Glen Sheep Fair and Village Festival | 1st-2nd Oct |
| The 773rd annual Corby Glen Sheep Fair and Village Festival includes Clay Pigeon Shoot, Dog Show, Fun Run, Craft Activities, Open Sports Event, Tug of War competition | Corby Glen, Lincolnshire |
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| Village at War Weekend | 1st-2nd Oct |
| Annual event to promote the Canal Museum, create awareness of all the canal village of Stoke Bruerne has to offer and to raise money to help the work of The Friends of the Canal Museum. | Stoke Bruerne, Northamptonshire |
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| British Musical Fireworks Championships | 1st-2nd Oct |
| Seven fantastic displays from some of the top pyrotechnic companies in the country. Lighting up Kings Gardens, the seven competitors will battle it out to win the only competition that is required to be choreographed to music. Each display lasts approximately 20 minutes | Southport, Merseyside |
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| Gatcombe Park Country & Craft Fair | 1st-2nd Oct |
| A combination of traditional & contemporary crafts and country events. Beautiful contemporary and traditional craft, demonstrations from top countrymen and plenty of craft and country shopping awaits. | Stroud, Gloucestershire |
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| Autumn Show & Game Fair | 1st-2nd Oct |
| Traditional country fair with country sports, arena events and food stalls. | Ardingly, West Sussex |
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| Thundercat Racing | 1st-2nd Oct |
| A round for the speed boat championships – can be watched from the sea shore. | Lowestoft, East Anglia |
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| Vintage Festival of Light | 1st-2nd Oct |
| Vintage tractor rally and country fete – described as "Blackpool in Miniature". | Chesterfield, Derbeyshire |
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| Steam in the Gardens | 1st-2nd Oct |
| Steam engines of all shapes and sizes will be on show, from full-size traction engines to miniature road vehicles. Enthusiasts will find models and miniatures in the Engine Shed, while the Steam Railway will run through Yard Wood | Southampton, Hampshire |
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| Banbury Canal Day | 2nd Oct |
| Boats and displays – the theme this year is ‘A Right Royal Occasion’ (celebrating the best of red, white and blue). | Banbury, Oxfordshire |
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| Henley Ploughing Match, Farmers Market & Lurcher Show | 2nd Oct |
| Ploughing Match – horses and tractors. Lurcher Show, Farmers Market and local trade stands. | Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire |
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| Come and Ride on Our Buses 2011 | 2nd Oct |
| Free bus rides on our own and visiting buses with a special emphasis on Eastern Counties 80 years after the company was formed in 1931. | Ipswich, Suffolk |
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| Nottingham Goose Fair 2011 | 4th-9th Oct |
| Goose Fair is one of Europe’s largest travelling fairs with a history that dates back more than 700 years. | Nottingham, Nottinghamshire |
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| Alwinton Border Shepherd’s Show | 8th Oct |
| With marquees, trade stands, industrial and horticultural exhibitions, sheep classes, sheep dog trials, and fell racing, this is the last major agricultural show of the season. | Alwinton, Northumberland |
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| Autumn Pumpkin Festival | 8th Oct |
| Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochhar has teamed up with The Hampshire Chutney Company and this Autumn’s Pumpkin Festival in Southampton to help raise money for the Jubilee Sailing Trust. | Southampton, Hampshire |
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| Marlborough Big Mop Fair | 8th & 15th Oct |
| The mop fair started as a place to find employment but if you changed your mind you could go back the week after to find something else. Afternoon/evening Fun Fair. | Marlborough, Wiltshire |
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| British National Ploughing Championships | 8th-9th Oct |
| Competitors include past and present British, European and World ploughing champions and competition will be fierce as ploughmen and women will be fighting for the honour of representing their country in the 2012 World Ploughing Contest. | Taunton, Somerset |
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| Organ Festival | 8th-9th Oct |
| All the sound and spectacle of the fairground organ. Hand turned organs, fairground organs and model steam engines. | Milton Keynes, Bucks |
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| World Conker Championships | 9th Oct |
| Thousands flock to the venue near the ancient market town of Oundle to watch this great spectacle as modern day gladiators fight for glory armed only with a nut and 12" of string. | Oundle, Peterborough |
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| World Porridge Making Championship | 9th Oct |
| Famous annual competition to make the best porridge – with the golden spurtle trophy. | Carrbridge, Inverness |
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| East of England Autumn Show | 9th Oct |
| There will be many displays of traditional country life, including country crafts, as well as large animal exhibits. Magnificent Shire horses, incorporated as part of the Wisbech Shire Horse Show, will be dressed in their traditional glory. | Peterborough |
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| Robot Wars | 9th Oct |
| Robot Wars, the TV show left our screens a few years ago, so this is your chance to see your old, and new favourite robots fighting live in the flesh. | Portsmouth, Hampshire |
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| Falmouth Oyster Festival | 13th-16th Oct |
| The festival celebrates the start of the oyster dredging season, the diversity and quality of Cornish Seafood and in particular, one of the last remaining traditional oyster fisheries, dredging by sail and hand punt. | Falmouth, Cornwall |
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| Tavistock Goose Fair | 14th Oct |
| Market traders come from all over the country to sell their wares and provide entertainment. Stalls and side shows are set up in the centre of the Town, and some 270 stalls are provided for traders. | Tavistock, Devon |
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| Railway in Wartime | 14th-16th Oct |
| Turn the clocks back to 1943 for their most popular event of the year, with ENSA entertainers, street parades, vehicle displays and re-enactments along the railway. | Pickering, North Yorkshire |
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| The Battle of Hastings | 15th-16th Oct |
| Get up close and personal to a live battle at the very place where the Battle of Hastings took place. This annual re-enactment is packed full of drama, tension and intrigue. | Battle, East Sussex |
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| Autumn Air Show | 16th Oct |
| The Autumn Air Show pays homage to the uniquely international air battle, the Korean War, characterised by the contrast between the highly-developed piston engine and the first generation of jet aircraft. | Duxford, Cambridgeshire |
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| Hastings Borough Bonfire Night | 15th Oct |
| Celebrating the town’s role in thwarting the Gunpowder Plot – a parade with flaming torches through the town to light a giant bonfire – then fireworks. | Hastings |
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| Quince & Apple Day | 16th Oct |
| Held in the beautiful and historic Georgian Walled Garden, visitors can discover and taste a huge variety of mysterious produce, including quince and medlar as well as pears and twelve different varieties of English apple. | Runcorn, Cheshire |
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| Countryside Live | 22nd-23rd Oct |
| You’ll see livestock, equine competitions, hands-on crafts for you and the children plus Graham Fletcher is back with his horsemanship demonstrations. | Harrogate, North Yorkshire |
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| Scottish Ploughing Championships | 22nd-23rd Oct |
| The Scottish Championships are held annually – in a different area of the country every year – with the aim of promoting the importance of good ploughing. | Tore, Muir of Ord |
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| Punkie Night | 27th Oct |
| Punkie Night is an English custom practiced on the last Thursday of October, in Somerset in England. Children will march around with a jack o’lantern, singing a song. | Various, Somerset |
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| Littlehampton Bonfire Night | 29th Oct |
| The Littlehampton Bonfire Society arranges a torchlight procession, mammoth bonfire, seafront firework display and funfair. | Littlehampton, Sussex |
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| Robin Hood Pageant | 29th-30th Oct |
| The grounds of Nottingham Castle will be transformed into a medieval village encampment complete with a range of colourful characters allowing you travel back in time to the 12th Century. | Nottingham |
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