The Grapevine MagazineJune 2007 Issue No 222 |
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'Civic Launch': May 11th, and upcoming events
We had a great start to the Chiltern Gateway Project on Friday May 11th. We'd firstly like to thank everyone who was involved in making it a wonderful evening. There was plenty of food and drink, much of this generously donated, and a good time was had by all. Around 150 people came to mingle, hear talks by partners and supporters of the project, and celebrate its official launch.
The project relies on the guidance, input and vision of those involved- and if you'd like to be part of this in any capacity, then please do contact Simon (281 827) or Jane.
Upcoming events include an outdoor service for Environment Sunday on June 3rd, and an open day and BBQ at Adwell House on July 8th. Please see the adverts with more details about both of these events within the Grapevine.
The 'Bug Buddies', and the Ecoschools programme
The nature club has now been renamed by unaminous vote as 'the Bug Buddies'. That is a good name to have bearing in mind our activities for the next two sessions- a mini beast safari in the churchyard, and then at Aston Rowant reserve! The club has been going very well so far, and the children are teaching us a lot about the nature that they are seeing around them. There is a display board about the club with some photos of our recent 'Red Kite' session in the church- please do have a look.
We are keen to start the Ecoschools programme and are hoping to work towards the Bronze Award this Summer term. This fits with a wider drive towards sustainability within the school.
Electronic Gateway, and other publicity
Our website is up and running, although it is not currently being edited. Within the next month we should be able to manage the site, and upload links and notices etc. that it would be helpful to advertise. Please do visit chilterngateway website and let us know your thoughts. A leaflet has been produced for the project, and this is now available in the church. We received some good publicity around the launch, with Simon interviewed for BBC South and 3 counties Radio!
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We are pleased to announce that Beatrice Ellis, who recently moved into Church Lane is joining the Grapevine Editorial Team. Beatrice is a Psychologist and has a broad range of interests and experiences which will be a great asset to the team. She brings with her a new perspective to village life and great enthusiasm towards Lewknor and Grapevine.
As many of you may be aware, after 21 years service to Grapevine, Kay is planning on retiring from her role as Editor. With Beatrice joining the team, Kay will be handing over the reins to Beatrice and myself over the next few months. We will provide more details on this next month regarding new contact details for contributions and advertising.
So please join us in welcoming Beatrice and thanking her for volunteering to take up this important role within the Lewknor community.
Louise Boitoult
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District Council Elections May 2007
Both Rodney Mann and Angie Paterson were re-elected in the May elections to serve as your District Councillors for the coming four year term. In the run up to the election both pledged to do their best to represent the local communities at District Council and will now continue their work to put that into action.
County Council Homeshare Scheme
The County Council is piloting a new scheme in conjunction with the National Association of Adult Placement Services (NAAPS) The Homeshare scheme matches older and disabled people who need companionship or help with basic tasks (such as gardening or shopping) with people looking for a place to live. The scheme is particularly aimed at students and key workers, such as nurses and police officers, but applications from anyone who has a genuine interest in Homeshare will be warmly welcomed. Everyone will need to be police-checked before they can move in. Householders and people looking to move in will be carefully matched by the council’s Homeshare co-ordinator. The pilot is being funded by the Department of Health and will run initially December 2008.
Discover Oxfordshire’s grisly and creepy past on the web
An interactive website about the county’s grisly and creepy past is now up and running. The website, www.darkarchivist.com features the Dark Archivist, who takes the visitor back into Oxfordshire's past. You can search for sinister crimes which took place hundreds of years ago, look for old remedies and read up on crimes as they might have been written up by journalists today. Murders in Banbury, riots in Oxford, ghosts in Woodstock, beetle-eating professors in the university, sailors framed in Abingdon and vicars with a very good reason to keep people out of their bedroom in Henley are all meat and drink to the Dark Archivist. Many people visit the County Record Office to find out about the county’s past but many more are not able to visit in person. The website makes information more widely available
Outdoor Pool open for Summer
The Riverside Pool at Wallingford will be open again on Saturday 26 May for the summer season. Situated by the side of the river, on the Crowmarsh Gifford side of Wallingford, this 20m heated pool provides a great day out for all the family. In addition to the swimming pool there is a free paddling pool, a kiosk selling ice
creams, snacks and drinks, a large car park. The swimming pool opens at 12 noon during the week in term-time and at 11am at weekends and during school holidays. To comply with safety requirements all children using the pool must be accompanied by an adult, who can be responsible for a maximum of one child under 4 or two children between 4 and 8. Admission costs £3.50 for adults and £2.50 for children aged between 4 - 17 years. Children under 3 are free and discounts are available to Leisure Pass holders.
Compiled by Angie Paterson
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The May book we read was “The Master “ by Colm Toibin, a biographical novel about Henry James which was one of three books about James published in 2006 commemorating the centenary of his death. Unfortunately, this proved to be a “miss” rather than a “hit” with the majority of the group although staunchly defended by the person who had chosen it. The main criticism was the disjointed way in which the author had chosen to describe James’ life using a series of ‘flashbacks’ in endeavouring to link episodes and people he met with the inspiration for his major novels. However, by the end of the evening it was agreed that even if this book had disappointed it would be a good idea to go back to the original work and we decided ‘The Turn of the Screw’ should perhaps be on the list to read in future.
For June we are reading ‘Human Traces’ by Sebastian Faulkes followed by ‘Restless’ by William Boyd and ‘The State of The Union’ by Douglas Kennedy in July and August respectively. Later in the year, Philip Pullman’s ‘Northern Lights’ and Terry Pratchett’s ‘The Omen’ will give us an opportunity to enter a fantasy world a change from our own.
Elan Preston-Whyte
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A friendly boat show held around Beale Park’s large lake, where you can see many different types of boats, from handmade bespoke wooden boats to plastic canoes. This is a real family event, which offers free river trips. With plenty to see and do around the lake, including excellent catering, live music and childrens activities. Discount tickets for advance bookings – Adults £6 (£7 on the gate), Children 2-15 yrs £2 and under 2s FREE. For more information visit Beale Park website
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Many thanks to all those who came to the churchyard clear up on 28th April. It was a lovely sunny day and we achieved so much. Special thanks must go to Elan and Robin Preston-Whyte who spent so much time clearing out the French drains, Ken and Beryl Witney who did battle with the Elder branches, Simon Brignall, who cut down the sycamore saplings and to Geoff Denham who managed to keep all the machines going for us and who did a wonderful job on the old overgrown corner of the graveyard. Now that everything is down, I hope it will be a lot easier to keep on top of it. If anyone can spare an hour on any day to cut the grass, it would be much appreciated. Thanks again.
Jean Senior
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Love the luscious hosta! If you are asking yourself what to grow in the shade of a garden tree or beside the garage or next door's gable end, then look no further than this leafy double problem-solver. As well as being great in shade, the wonderful leafy growth also comes at a time when spring bulbs are dying back. Partner the two and mask the over-blown remains of the bulbs with fabulous new foliage.
But hostas are so much more than simply problem-solvers as their massive following would suggest. They're great in a woodland garden as well as in borders and beds. They're effective in combination with plants with Japanese heritage including the smaller maples, bamboos, hydrangeas and ferns.
Leaves in dense mounds are what hostas do best and depending on variety, they may be yellow, green, grey-blue or variegated. The pattern and array of variegation along with the range of colour brings added interest to mixed borders or beds. Leaves maybe heart-shaped or oval. Most produce attractive flowers on tall and sturdy spikes in summer.
There's a terrific range to choose from. Look out for 'Wide Brim'. This produces wonderful dark green leaves that have a wide margin of pale cream. It reaches a height of about 45cm and a spread of 1m. The leaves of Hosta fortunei appear early enough to combine well with late spring flowers, for example bluebells. Many variants are available. 'Shade Fanfare' produces large, bright yellow-green leaves with creamy white edges and reaches a height and spread of 45cm and 60cm respectively. 'Halcyon' is a great choice if you're looking for blue-green or glaucous foliage.
Hostas are clump-forming plants which really helps if you want to populate an area. If you dig up established clumps of hosta, it's possible to split the clump with a spade and replant the resulting halves. They'll do well under deep-rooting trees and are perfect near water, for example the shaded sides of a pond or stream. As perennials they die back completely in winter, the new spear-like shoots of the tightly rolled leaves appearing in spring. Hostas are fully hardy. They need a reasonably fertile, moist but well-drained soil. It's important to stop them drying out but spreading compost over the surface (mulching) in spring should do the trick. Their succulent leaves can prove too much of a temptation to slugs but growing in pots keeps the leaves out of harm's way if the war against slugs is one that you don't wish to engage in!
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My name is Julie Stone and I am the manager of Lewknor Blue Cross Animal Adoption Centre. The Blue Cross has set up a new service to help people living locally on limited incomes with veterinary care. Our welfare clinic is now open every Thursday from 10 - 12, (by appointment only). This new service is available to anyone in receipt of housing benefit, Council tax benefit, income support, working tax credit, or jobseekers allowance. Also those in receipt of state retirement pension with no other source of income.
The clinic offers treatments for animals such as worming, de-fleaing, vaccination, microchipping and neutering. Other illnesses and conditions can also be treated, and if these cannot be treated at the centre, then clients will be asked to go to the Larkmead veterinary practice at Cholsey, provided they are a registered client. Donations for treatment are requested but this will be considerably less than private vets. If the vet decides animals need more extensive treatments clients will be asked to make a contribution of up to half the costs, up to a maximum of £100.
We hope this is a service is a help to the local community as we are committed to helping improve the lives of animals and people where we can. If this service is of interest to your readers, they can contact the Lewknor Centre on 01844 355293
Blue Cross Animal Adoption Centre
OPEN DAY
Sunday 8th July
Stalls, Refreshments, a Fun Dog Show, and lots more
ALL WELCOME
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Since the Ist March 2007 17 vehicles have been broken into in the beauty spot in Christmas Common, Watlington Hill, Aston rowant Nature reserve abd the surrounding area.
Auto Crime Over half of the car crime is ‘opportunist’. Don’t give criminals an easy ride.
Top tips – Don’t leave anything on display – it’s a prime invitation for passers by.
Fit an immobilizer, either electronic or mechanical – a sure way to stay out of trouble.
Consider marking all your valuables especially those that are frequently taken in your car.
Mark items with your postcode and keep a note of any serial numbers in a safe place.
Keep your keys in a safe place.
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Are you housebound? Do you have little contact with the outside world?
What some of our clients have said about Phone Link:
‘The phone link has given me something special to look forward to during the day’
‘It is a life line. I don’t know what I would do without it – be very, very lonely I suppose’
OUR VOLUNTEERS PHONE HOUSEBOUND AND ISOLATED OLDER PEOPLE FOR A CHAT ONCE OR TWICE A WEEK.
If you think you might benfit from the service, or you know someone else who would, please contact
Alex Ivey on 01235 849 400
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RESULT OF UNCONTESTED ELECTION
The following reflects the gist of a written statement by David Buckle, the Returning Officer on 23 April 2007. The six persons noted below stood validly nominated at the latest time for the delivery of notices of withdrawal of candidature, namely Noon on the 11th April 2007; since there were only six vacancies, they were duly elected Parish Councillors for the said Parish without contest.
| NAMES OF PERSONS ELECTED | HOME ADDRESS> |
| Bindoff, Gillian | Field Farmhouse, Lewknor, Watlington, OX49 5RR |
| Hjorth, Caroline Margaret | 2 The Glebe, Lewknor, Watlington, OX49 5TZ |
| Bowie, Timothy Carlile | Laundry Cottage, Rectory Lane, South Weston, Thame, OX9 7EQ |
| Graham, Murray Robert | Church Farm, Church Lane, Lewknor, OX9 5TP |
| Weston, Paul Timothy | 27 Barley Close, Lewknor, OX49 5UA |
| Boulton, Duncan, Hughes | Tanglewood, Lower Rd, Postcombe, Thame, OX9 7DU |
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Further to last month’s announcement, although OCC has been obliged to withdraw its financial support for the 275 Service, the operator intends to sustain it on a commercial basis, so it is expected to continue to run Mon-Fri, although precise details of the new timetable are not yet available; they will, no doubt, be posted at the bus stops when they are published..
The revised timetables, which will become effective on 3 June, for the M1 and 124 Services and the for the new ‘Line 40’ have been published. All local bus timetables can be found on at OCC’s website – enter ‘bus timetables’ in the Search window, then click on ‘Timetables and Maps’. BUT remember to check the date of the timetable that you are accessing – at the time of writing, the new times had not yet been updated.
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Concerned about the noise pollution generated by the M40? Whether you are prepared to have a go at actually doing something about it, or just interested enough to want to know what is going on, you can keep up to speed with the efforts of the folk who are already active in this field – the M40CEG – via their website
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Entries in the LPC (Lewknor Parish Council) Comment column will normally 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 |
| P07/E0270 | Blue Cross Centre – erect ‘barn’. | NSV | Granted |
| P07/E0426 | Adwell Farm Cottage, Box Tree Lane – reduce obscure glazing. | NSV | Current |
| P07/E0432 | Copcourt Lodge – New stable block. | NSV | Current |