The Grapevine MagazineOctober 2006 Issue No 215 |
Obituary |
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The Address by Ashley Denham at the funeral service in St. Margaret’s Church, Lewknor, of Daisy Doris Denham who died aged 92 on 13 August 2006
“Daisy was born in Aston Rowant in June 1914 in the house that later became the village shop. When the Gomm family moved to Beacon view in 1923 there were three sisters and four brothers. Daisy went to Lewknor School until she was 14, then went into service at Wheatfield and from there to Wycombe Abbey for a few years and afterwards, to Thame Mill Laundry which was often a walk or cycle ride in those days.
During this time she met Alf and after a brief courtship they married and settled at 3 Beacon View just before the war. The following years were very productive indeed when up to 1958, eight boys were born! Her good friend and neighbour, Ada Harris, helped some of the babies into the world as home births were not uncommon at this time.
She managed to fit the family into a three bed-roomed house and kept them fed and clothed being good at knitting. There were times when life was difficult for Daisy and she must have thought “If only I had a daughter!” to help with the domestic chores, but there was always a neighbour with whom to share her troubles. Miss Witney next door cheered her up on bad days and for many years this continued with good friends, Beryl, Ken, Olive and Sally.
Every Christmas she would try her hardest for the kids to make it special despite having so many to provide for. They always had plenty of presents and good food so a lot of effort must have been made. However, as the boys grew up and had families of their own, they were able to repay Daisy by taking her on holidays and buying presents for her. Daisy enjoyed going to the horse races especially at Newbury but most enjoyed going to watch some of her boys motorcycle-racing, even camping out near the racing fields. On many weekends in the summer months despite coping with all her aches and pains, she liked gardening and was good at growing vegetables. Flowers came high on her list too.
As the years passed, the grandchildren arrived which gave her lots of pleasure and she was always pleased to baby sit as she had plenty of experience to cope with this. So with 23 grand-children, 2 step-children and 24 great- grand- children, she was never idle!, We are sure she will look down on her achievements and give the little chuckle which was one of her enduring characteristics.
As we mourn her passing, we shall also be glad she had more than ninety good years filled with life and love.”
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While cleaning the vestry recently an important piece of local history was discovered. Two framed Rolls of Honour were found commemorating the men from Lewknor who served in the forces during the Second World War. Many old Lewknor names can be recognised on them recording the great contribution made by village families throughout the six years of appalling conflict and danger in the 20th century.
The Rolls of Honour have now been hung in the Lady Chapel (South Aisle) of the church. This seemed to be the most appropriate place for them as the Lady Chapel was refurbished after the war in thanksgiving that no-one in the Armed Services from Lewknor had lost his life.
For those interested in seeing the Rolls, the church is open every day during day-light hours. If locked, the key can be obtained from either, Ernestine Denham, the Verger, at 7 High Street or Ian Orr-Ewing, Church Warden, at 12 High Street.
Christine Smith.
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Nigel and Carol were married in Brighton and spent their Honeymoon in the Isle of Wight.
They both wish to say thank you to family and friends for their lovely wedding cards and presents. Also thank you to the people they work for especially Neil Allen for his kind gesture.
Carol and Nigel.
The children are delighted to be back and enjoying the start of a busy term.
The topic for the first half term is ‘people we need’. Each week, the children will look at the roles that Postmen/women, dentists, shopkeepers, doctors and nurses, fire and police officers play in their lives. The children have already been a walk to the local postbox and have been dressing up in the new ‘occupational tabards’.
THANK YOU – we would like to say a huge thank you to all those involved with organinsing and supporting the ‘Pre-School Fun Day’. The event raised £225 towards Pre-School funds.
The village Horticultural Show and Fete was also a huge success. An outstanding £1,500 (approx) was raised which will be shared between the Village hall and Pre-School. A big thank you to everyone involved.
Dates for your Diaries
Please support our forthcoming cake sales:
Thursday 18 October and
Thursday 14 December.
Any homemade cakes will be gratefully received. Please hand them to a committee member or the school.
Welcome
A big welcome to our new children who have joined us this term: Orlando Fraser, Bethany Mergel, Billy Griffiths and George Hopkinson-Wooley.
We hope that they all settle in quickly and enjoy their busy time at Pre-School.
Queries
Lewknor Pre-School telephone number is – 07919 081088 between 8.00am and 19.30pm.
Stephanie London
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Wallingford Handbell Ringers are offering everyone the chance to do a spot of festive ringing. This is a short course of five Thursday evenings at 7:30 pm starting on Thursday 16th November at the Bullcroft Recreation Rooms in Wallingford High Street. All are welcome, young and old. No previous experience of music making is required to enjoy ringing carols on handbells.
The first session is free and the cost for the whole course is £20.
For more details contact Alan Cooper, 01491 822406, ajc@hrwallingford.co.uk.
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Green Fences and Green Walls
Turn necessity into beauty in the garden this month. Every property needs boundaries to mark its limits. Hedges - 'green fences and walls' - are a wonderful way of putting one in place and at the same time bringing a host of other benefits to the garden.
Just look at what they offer over the alternatives. Hedges provide a wonderful, living shield between you and the world beyond. Depending on species, you can have year-round foliage or seasonal interest. Wildlife can find refuge in hedges and they filter wind without creating turbulence. A thorny hedge is an effective discouragement to unwanted visitors and all hedges are a barrier against the dust, dirt and litter that can otherwise come into the garden.
For beautiful and practical garden boundaries, look at this selection of fabulous hedging plants: evergreens such as conifers, yews or box are perfect for smart, year-round green boundaries. For some seasonal plant magic, go for deciduous plants, for example hornbeam or beech. Thorny plants like Berberis or Cotoneaster will improve your security (some insurance companies now recommend them). For flower-rich hedges go for Rosa rugosa or Fuchsia; their attractive, colourful blooms will be a source of pleasure every year.
Planting a hedge is straightforward if you follow some simple steps.
. Dig a 90cm strip (150cm for boundary hedges). . Fork in plenty of compost or well-rotted manure (a barrow load per metre is ideal and should help to avoid subsequent droughting problems). . Use either bare root or container grown plants. . Plant along a string line approx 45cm apart for deciduous and 90cm for conifers. . If your garden is in an exposed position, protect young conifers with a plastic mesh windbreak. . Water all plants well, apply general fertiliser in early spring and water regularly over the next growing season.If space is short, a formal hedge, neatly clipped, can have a small footprint. Hawthorn, for example, can be clipped back to about 45cm wide. In any case, hedges can be used as a support for climbing plants and make a superb backdrop to a border.
Hedges don't need to be made up of a single species. Ideal if your garden fronts onto fields or a lane, a mixed hedge, perhaps including hazel, ash and blackthorn, will provide a suitable bridge between the garden and the ground beyond. If you've got the space to let it grow a little wild, blackberries and clematis climbing through a tangle of branches will create a wonderful sense of deep countryside wherever you are as well as providing more options for wildlife.
At the opposite extreme, box or yew hedges can make a very formal statement either neatly clipped or with the inclusion over time of a variety of interesting shapes.
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We were lucky to have Eppi Hodgson as the judge this year and it was very interesting to go round the parish with her as it was the first time she has judged the gardens for us. As usual, the passion that people have about their gardens shone through even though the gardens were judged in July during a very dry and difficult year. We saw some lovely planting in both mature and new gardens and decisions about winners were very close and difficult to make. One result of the judging was to make a small change to the award of the trophies to include a category for kitchen gardens. It was striking that more people are making kitchen gardens and the allotments were also included in the judging.
Here are the judge’s awards together with brief comments:
Best Kept Garden1st: The Alabaster Cup: John and Rachel Denham at 24 Watlington Rd Lewknor. ‘A lovely entrance to the front and at the back an area of secret rooms - much thought has gone into the design and planting and the garden is very well kept.’
2nd The Trotman Cup: David and Jackie Dulake, Wyckham House, Lewknor. ‘A large garden looked after beautifully. Very pretty patio pots and grapes in abundance!’
Joint 3rd: Barbara Coe, Elm Cottage, Postcombe. An interesting and very thoughtful garden with a relaxed atmosphere and kept imacculately.
Joint 3rd. Mr and Mrs Sinclair, Elsdale Cottage, Postcombe. ‘A very suitable garden for the cottage with soft planting and a lovely shade area with water features’.
Highly Commended: Lavender Cottage, Postcombe. A very good cottage garden with lovely colour at the time of judging’.
25 Weston Road, Lewknor: Lovely gardens at the front and at the rear with some very imaginative ideas and some special plants.
Town Farmhouse, Lewknor: a large garden well designed with some lovely features and very well looked after.
21 High Street, Lewknor: some lovely planting and very pretty areas.
Best Kept Kitchen Garden
1st The Desborough Cup: Horace Carter at 2 Beacon View, Lewknor. ‘An immaculately kept garden with great vegetables. Clearly a lot of work but, despite the drought, some marvellous produce.’
2nd. Allotment, Lewknor - Kathy and Rob Anderson. This allotment looks very good and is very productive.
3rd. Allotment, Beacon View - Ken Witney: ‘Also a very productive plot and a very large one too - easy to see how much work is involved.’
Highly Commended: Sue Denham. 5 Beacon View: ‘Again a lot of hard work is being made to grow vegetables and soft fruit - an orderly and well kept kitchen garden.
Best Kept Containers:
1st Rose Bowl: Mrs Simm at 3 Glebe Cottages, Postcombe. ‘A lovely surprise. A very clever use of plants, containers and materials. It will be very interesting to see what happens to the garden at the rear!’
2nd Penny McCulloch, Wheatfield House, Lewknor Close. Spectacular hostas and foliage plants. The pots are lovely and show a great amount of thought.’
Highly Commended: England’s Rose, Postcombe: Lots of bright and colourful plants create a very welcoming entrance to the pub.
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The Show was a tremendous success this year. There were a good number of horticultural entries and lots of activities to keep all the family entertained. The weather for the Show afternoon on Sunday 17th September was not expected to be particularly good but turned out to be glorious so everyone basked in the warm late summer sunshine. We are very grateful to Mrs Susan Watt for welcoming the Show at Knapp Farm where the old barn and the gardens provide such an ideal setting. Thanks to the efforts of the many organisers and all the supporters over £1400 was raised. This will be shared between the Lewknor Pre-School and the Jubilee Hall and will be a very welcome addition to their funds.
The trophies this year were awarded as follows:
THE MIDDLETON CUP for the overall winner of the horticultural show: Christine Smith with 710 points
THE RIDONE CUP for the runner-up: Ken Witney with 540 points
THE GIFKINS CUP for the best entry in the show: Tara Hyde. The Cup was awarded for her wonderful basket of home-grown fruits
THE SCOTT CUP for the highest number of points gained by one family: Kathy and Robert Anderson with 900 points
THE ROSE BOWL for the best entry in the flower arranging class: Penny McCulloch
THE JUNIOR SHIELD Charlotte Coles with 130 points.
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Dance to Tumble Down Dick on Saturday 25th November at the Jubilee Hall, Lewknor. The Band is great with a really good caller so make a note of the date and be sure to come along with all the family – even little ones love a barn dance!
This is an evening for everyone to join in - definitely NOT a fund raising event. Tickets will soon be on sale and more details will be in the November Grapevine. A bar and refreshments will be available. BE SURE TO BE THERE.
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There are many special trees throughout the Chilterns and some of these are ancient. Such trees have done well to survive various hazards over the centuries such as disease, man, squirrels, grazing animals and competition from other plants.
Because of this, the Special Trees and Woods project is celebrating ancient trees in the Chilterns with the forthcoming conference in High Wycombe. This free event is aimed at those with an interest in special trees, both the amateur and professional alike.
Liz Manley, coordinator of the Special Trees and Woods Project said ‘We are delighted that Ted Green, one of the national experts in ancient trees, can join us as a guest speaker for this event. Ted is a colourful and charismatic speaker with a passion for ancient trees making his presentation unmissable for anyone interested in Special Trees and Woods of the Chilterns.’
This half day conference is being held at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, High Wycombe on 25th November 2006. Thanks to funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, this event is free to all interested delegates. However, places are limited so please book by calling 01844 355 525 or go to www.chilternsaonb.org/special for a booking form.
Editor’s notes