The Grapevine MagazineApril 2006 Issue No 210 |
Obituary |
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At a service of thanksgiving for the Life of Joy, her grandson Gary gave the following appreciation
We are all here to say our farewell to Joy, Grandma, Nanny, Mum, Sister, good friend, Mrs. Elkins - whatever you called her there is one phrase that helps describe her….’passion for life.’
Her beginnings were very hazy hence the fact that she had two birthdays and several maiden names. This does not change the fact that Joy was a very caring fun loving individual who cared more about her friends, family, children and animals than herself.
She married after she had won the war for the allies and raised three stepsons as her own. After her first husband passed away she remarried and became the landlady of the Victoria Arms in Old Marston and then came to live in Lewknor. Eight years ago she was again widowed and it is since then that she has truly come into her own, and the person we knew so well.
Whether it was standing on the sofa, sword in hand, defending her kingdom against invading 5 year olds, or piloting an aeroplane, or traveling the world flirting with men half her age, or making prize winning jam, Joy always put her utmost into every task and enjoyed doing it.
It is without doubt that if Joy were here now she would like to thank all her friends and family for making all her life so fulfilling and complete. So let us keep our best memories of her foremost and in the words of one of her great grandchildren, Kieran, with whom she was so close, ‘she is in my heart and mind forever’.
Her Granddaughter, Jo writes:
Joy and Fred moved to Lewknor in Spring 1988, Granddad (Fred) passed away in Summer 19996. It was really after Granddad passed away that she got involved in the village; Granddad drove and she really did not want to leave Marston so they spent a lot of time there. So this was her 19th year! But…once on her own she mucked in with everyone else and became known in the village over a short time by you all. Who could not know she was around! She loved joining in and over the past few years even we have had to book her time to work in with commitments there in the village,….we never minded, she was so lost when Granddad first went and to know she had her own life was wonderful for us.
Jo, Gary, Kieran, and the rest of Joy’s family would like to express their appreciation and thanks to all the villagers of Lewknor, who not only helped to make Joy’s every day enjoyable but also helped us to remember it. Both Jo and Gary grew up in village environments; although Gary’s was in Africa; it has been wonderful to experience the warmth and friendliness of village life again. Many of you have been extremely helpful over the years; being a friend and doing what friends do for each other. People have said we were kind to Joy but as you all know she was kind to everyone, believed that what comes around goes around, the kindness shown to her she showed to someone else! Many of you have been extremely helpful with arrangements; even if we had not met you before. Your support and continued help is very much appreciated; there are not any words we could use to express how much it has meant to us. It is no wonder after all her years of wandering, Lewknor, is the final place she called HOME; who could not feel at home there! Thank you
Here is one of Joy’s little ditty’s which I am sure you will have heard!
Are you lonesome tonight?
Are your corsets too tight?
Is your brassiere falling apart?
Is your flabby great chest,
sticking out of your vest?
Do you feel you’ve been left in the dark?
Are your stockings all wrinkled,
your shoes wearing thin?
Are your knickers held up by a bloody great pin?
Are you frightened to yawn,
‘cos your teeth are all gone?
If so, that’s why you’re lonesome tonight!
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In February we read “Cloud Atlas” by David Mitchell which was shortlisted for the Mann Booker Prize in 2004 but missed out to Alan Hollinghurst’s “Line of Beauty”. This was a big book to read in more ways than one. It was over 500 pages long and consisted of six inter-connecting stories which spanned more than two centuries and were written in very different styles. Our discussion was, however, focused fortunately by a very succinct synopsis of the book by one of the group. This converted at least one other member to a more favourable impression of the novel!
We eventually decided that there were elements of the stories which appealed more than others but there was no agreement as to which storyline was more popular than others. We all recognised it had elements of other books we had read – Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” being one of them.
I was the author’s most enthusiastic supporter but felt I had had the advantage of reading the book whilst on holiday and then re-reading it again before the meeting. I don’t think I convinced anyone else to follow my example!
In April we are reading “Eve Green” by Susan Fletcher, a Whitbread First Novel prizewinner, and in May, another Justine Picoult novel, “The Pact”. June’s book will be “Scenes from a Museum” by Kate Atkinson and July’s “The Lovely Bones “by Alice Sebold.
If you are interested in joining the Book Club but would like to find out more first then I can be contacted on 01844 350392. Elan Preston-Whyte
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In May this year the law on child car restraints will change. Children up to 11 years of age traveling in cars will have to use an appropriate child restraint. The loophole, ‘if available’, will no longer apply. But what parent would want to exploit a loophole to recklessly endanger their child’s life anyway?
Surprisingly, an astonishing number of parents bringing their children to Lewknor School and Pre-school do not seem to know or care that there are already laws about child restraints!
Children are frequently observed standing in moving vehicles, sitting two to a front seat or on parents’ laps. All of these situations are illegal, and carry a fine of up to £1000.
In a head-on collision between two vehicles moving at only 15 mph, an unrestrained child will accelerate with a force 30-60 times their body weight - enough to break limbs or windscreens.
Parents, who don’t wear seat belts themselves either, aren’t going to be much use to their children in the event of an accident if they have concussed themselves against the inside of the windscreen.
Securing your kids in the car may be a hassle when you’re in a hurry to get them to school, but it’s much more of a hassle to have to visit them in hospital while they recover from serious injuries to heads or limbs. That’s assuming they recover…
(Name given, but withheld on request)
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Spring is here!
This is the month to turn thoughts into action in the garden. Gearing up for spring is great fun, made even better by the choice of shrubs on offer that will give sure-fire colour in the coming weeks.
Pieris japonica is a real winner. This compact shrub is one of the hardiest and easiest pieris to grow. It produces lovely, glossy evergreen foliage and fabulous flowers that develop in gorgeous clusters at the tips of shoots in early spring. Planting in combination with colourful early perennials is an effective way of setting off the white pieris flowers. For example, spring bulbs and heathers make good companion plants.
The great thing about pieris is that the evergreen foliage offers structural benefits all year round, particularly in winter and early spring when beds and borders can look bare. Great in a shrub border or a woodland garden, Pieris japonica comes from an acid-loving family. However, its compact size means that if you don't have acid soil, container growing in ericaceous compost is a practical way of bringing the benefits of pieris to your garden. This plant is also very well suited to smaller gardens. Best results in terms of flowering will come if you're able to plant in a sunny position but it will be happy enough in dappled shade. Moist soils are ideal with moderate levels of fertility. Fully grown, Pieris japonica can reach a height and spread of 4m and 3m respectively. Maintenance couldn't be simpler - a light trim following flowering to remove any untidy shoots is all that's required.
There are few things better than being outside during the glorious afternoons we sometimes get around now. The blackbirds and thrushes keep us company with their songs and squabbles, glad to leave winter behind. Make a promise to yourself to enjoy as many of these times as you can - and plant some spring flowering shrubs as well!
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Very few responses were received to the parish council’s request for comment on safety arrangements for users of local bus services operating on the B4009 at Lewknor. It was interesting to read the letters in the March issue of Grapevine and the points that were raised were discussed at the parish council meeting on March 13th. The parish council has decided to ask the bus companies to use the new bus stop for services going in the Chinnor direction and to leave the current ‘old’ bus stop in service for the buses going towards Watlington without making changes to the informal parking arrangements.
Grapevine is a good place to air views on local issues but the parish council would really appreciate people coming along to their meetings if they have particular concerns which they would like the parish council to address. It is often easy to resolve some questions straight away. The dates of future parish council meetings are published at the back of Grapevine and members of the public are welcome to attend. The parish council is always willing to set aside some time during the meeting for members of the public to ask questions or express their views. Sadly, very few people come along to parish council meetings. Attendance at the annual public meeting is also very low.
In reply to some of the questions raised by Derek Hazlewood: it is clear that a considerable amount of public money has been spent on the improvements to the B4009/M40 bus link while nothing has been contributed by the bus company. The fuel subsidy available to the company for providing local services which could be claimed when the buses first started to use stops at Junction 6 has not been available for several years. The parish council does not know the total cost of the new works but it is in the region of £300,000. Anyone can ask for information under the Freedom of Information Act, so a request to Oxfordshire County Council should result in the information about total cost being provided if Mr Hazlewood cares to pursue this. The parish council supported this scheme because it provided an opportunity to improve the safety of all users of the M40 Junction 6.
It is generally agreed that the safety improvements are significant but, of course, not perfect. It is very unlikely that any of the improvements would have been achieved without the bus link scheme. People will form their own views on whether the outcomes of the scheme represent good value for money.
The taxi-bus service was an attempt to enable people from surrounding villages to access the M40 bus stops without using their cars but it is evident that car parking around Junction 6 associated with the bus service has not reduced. The parking remains a problem and is likely to continue until a suitable alternative is found.
Gill Bindoff.
On the last day of term we hope to hold an Easter Egg Hunt for the children, weather permitting, outdoors. (Indoors if the weather is unkind!) The event will start at 11.15 am. Cake Sale The Pre-school Cake Sale raised £78.00. thank you to Elan Preston-Whyte who topped up the total amount to £100. A big thank you to all those who made cakes and supported the sale. Webb Ivory Christmas Catalogue Thank you to all those who bought Christmas cards etc. from the catalogue. A total of £51.91 was raised for the Pre-school.
We would like to give a warm welcome to our new children – Clara Sparks and Henrietta London. We wish them a very happy time at Lewknor Pre-school. Stephanie London
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For further details Tel 01491 838585 or e-mail benson10k@btinternet.com
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There have been several recent instances of vandalism, including damage to light fittings at the Jubilee Hall and the glass in the Lewknor village notice board being smashed (for the third time in five years). The parish council is particularly concerned that, on the night that the notice board was vandalised, other damage was done within the village, reportedly by someone using a firearm of some kind. Damage of this kind is always made good, of course, but not without cost – and, in the final analysis, most of the bills for damage to public property are paid by the public – which in this case, usually means you – the local taxpayer. Private property is not sacrosanct and the lych gate to St Margaret’s Church, which was restored not long ago at considerable expense, has been defiled with graffiti and bears the scars of burning.
All such incidents should be reported to the police, making a 999 call if the incident is actually in progress, or on the new non-urgent 0845 8 505 505 if the report is being made in arrears. It is really important that every incident is reported because the police need to be able to form a complete picture of patterns of damage in order to know what action to take.
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Although the District Council has refused planning permission for the dirt bike rack up Hill Road, it is still being used on an occasional basis and it is likely that this casual use will increase as the weather improves. SODC has already taken the owner of the land to court and, if necessary, is prepared to take further formal action to enforce its decision. To do so, however, it needs to know when the track is used. Local residents observing the track being used are advised not to confront the individuals concerned but you are encouraged to report such incidents to Trevor Brown at the Planning Enforcement Office, SODC (01491 823000) giving details of the date and time of use and the number of bikes, quad bikes, etc using the field. SODC will be putting their own notices up at the field shortly making it clear that use of the field by bikes and other vehicles is illegal.
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The routine local collection (normally on a Tuesday) will take place on WEDNESDAY 19 APRIL. The collections may take place at different time of day, but please do not put your rubbish out before 6pm on the Tuesday, 18th.
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Entries in the LPC (Lewknor Parish Council) Comment column will be confined to one of three options: ‘Approve’, ‘Object’ or ‘NSV’ (No Strong Views), the latter being the most usual. Entries in the SODC Status column will be ‘Current’, ‘Appeal’, ‘Withdrawn’, ‘Granted’ or ‘Refused’; all of which are self-explanatory. Further details of individual Planning Applications are available on-line, as follows. Open SODC’s Home Page at www.southoxon.gov.uk. At the top – click on ‘On-Line Services’. On the window that opens, scroll down to and click on ‘Use online planning services’. Then click on ‘View planning applications via the Planning Register’ and follow the instructions to find the specific application that you seek..
| Ref No | Remarks | LPC Comment | SODC Status |
| P05/E1334/RET | Beech Farm, Postcombe – storage containers | NSV | Withdrawn |
| P06/E0076 | 9 High St, Lewknor – garage & porch | Object | Withdrawn |
Thames Valley Police has conducted an analysis of the usage of the sixteen Police Stations in Oxfordshire and has adjusted their opening hours to match the requirement reflected by this evidence. It is stressed that this is confined to ‘Front Office’ over-the-counter service; it does not represent a reduction in policing, indeed the revised schedule actually involves a total of 47 additional opening hours per week. With effect from 10 April 2006, the opening times for Thame Police Station will be:
| Mon, Fri & Sat | 1000-1800 hrs |
| Tues, Weds & Thurs | 0800-2000 hrs |
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Report to the Church Buffet Supper Evening on 17th March 2006-03-18 By Ian Orr-Ewing, Churchwarden and Chairman of the Parochial Church Council From little acorns, mighty oaks do grow. It all began with the Lych Gate. It was in a deplorable state and everyone could see it was. Fortunately, we had enough in our reserves to do the necessary work and, when it was finished it looked fabulous, but the experience gained made the PCC decide to change architects.
We appointed Tony Mealing of Tebbot & Wells, High Wycombe, to take over the task of looking after our Grade 1 listed building. He soon found that the church was in a heap of trouble. A survey was carried out of the fabric and established briefly, amongst many other things, the following major faults:
We firstly approached English Heritage, because this is the “Open Sesame” for virtually all the other grant-giving charities. After 6 months form filling, negotiations and site meetings with all the parties including English Heritage, we were given the OK by the DAC. But they told us very firmly that the first thing we must do was make the building watertight. English Heritage then made us a grant of £15,000 for what they call Project Development. This included carrying out a detailed investigation of the structure and opening up the roof in several places to see if the timbers were rotten. This done, English Heritage told us in November 2004 that we were in the running for a grant, but they would not pay for any work begun before their official announcement of the grant in January 2005.
We simply could not wait that long before doing something about the coping stones, which were a danger to the public and could have fallen at any minute! You could see daylight underneath the bottom of some of them and they could easily have flown off in a high wind! The PCC took the decision that we were not prepared to take the risk of waiting for English Heritage and carried out the work in November 2004. The stones are now safe for 50 years and also locked in position with stainless steel pegs. We also took the decision to spend £15,000 in early 2005 to put in night-storage heaters to start drying the building out, which was all we could afford at that time. English Heritage will not pay even one penny towards the cost of installing a heating system and we had to fund this entirely ourselves.
Time marched on and Christmas 2004 came and on Christmas Eve we knew that we were definitely going to get a grant! Then finally, in late January 2005, we were told that we were to be given a provisional grant of £121,000 towards the total cost of just short of £170,000. We then had to obtain our final “Planning Permission” from the Diocesan Advisory Committee and work began in late May.
As predicted, having obtained English Heritage’s Grant, 4 more charities came on board and we eventually raised £144,500!!
No praise can be too high for the builders Boshers (Cholsey) Ltd. They completed the work on time in August last year and I have never known a contract with a building firm go more smoothly. The DAC are even so delighted with the quality of the workmanship that they have advised us to apply for an architectural award - no money, I’m afraid, just prestige! We carried out another project last autumn. That was the replacement of the floor in the nave and the installation of a proper heating system. Again English Heritage would not pay for repairs to floors or heating, so we had to raise the money independently. We were given a good kick-start by the J. Paul Getty Jr. Charitable Trust with £35,000 and, in all, we managed to raise by January this year £59,000 towards the cost of £61,000.
The state of the old floor had to be seen to be believed! Wet rot everywhere and the smell was appalling! If we had left the bit underneath the organ any longer, within 6 months it would have crashed through. The boards were breaking up into smithereens as the workmen lifted them. Fortunately, we had a visit from the DAC whilst all this was going on and they saw the problem first hand.
There are so many people who have played a major role in achieving the success of the last 2 years, but I would particularly like to mention Tony Mealing, Caroline Notley and Elan Preston-Whyte. Tony has been a tower of strength and we would never have raised so much money without Caroline and Elan.
Where do we go from here? Our task is by no means finished. We applied to English Heritage for a further grant this year without success. Other churches’ needs were more pressing. We need another £180,000 - £200,000 to do all the tracery round the windows in the nave and chancel, plus a couple of other buttresses threatening to part company with the outside walls. We shall apply again this summer.
We are raising money now to redecorate the whole of the church inside (£15,000), but we have a long way to go. We need to tackle the woodworm in the pews and pulpit. Much of this work we can do ourselves. But as a final item of good news, we have raised the £2,000 we need to renovate the font.
We also need to raise a considerable sum to put in a disabled toilet and a tea preparation area. Then we can prepare food, hot drinks and wash up. This will require in excess of £50,000. We have achieved quite a bit, but we always knew from the outset that it was going to be a 5-year programme. To coin a phrase, it’s a bit like the Forth Bridge. There are always problems with a Grade 1 listed building, even if it is very beautiful. We have spent £270,000 in the past 2 years and raised very nearly £220,000. The rest came from past savings, carefully managed by Jill Calcutt to whom we owe so much. We have every reason to feel very upbeat about the future. We now have a new roof, a new floor and a new heating system. We have a dry church and a warm church.
It would be the greatest tragedy, if all this hard work went to waste and this is why we have asked you to come this evening. We are not talking about fundraising for capital expenditure on the fabric and facilities of the building tonight, but we are talking about increasing our income to meet our revenue expenditure (that means our running costs) and what we have to pay the diocese to have a vicar. We want to save the future life of the church in Lewknor. We want to continue to be able to provide a place to worship for the village, where villagers can look forward to being looked after by a vicar from the cradle to the grave. Simon’s contract comes to an end in April and it is most unlikely that he will be replaced with a new full time clergyman unless we in Lewknor and the other 5 villages can show (a) that we are paying our way and (b) that the appointment of a new vicar will meet a clear strategic need within the deanery and diocese. We have to find a way to convince the Bishop, Archdeacon and others that we deserve to have the services of a priest. This is very much under threat at the moment. We have to find a way to keep the right to have a Vicar and this is why we have invited you here tonight.
Ian Orr-Ewing, 17.3.2006