The Grapevine Magazine

LEWKNOR PARISH FETE & HORTICULTURAL SHOW 2008

The Horticultural Show will take place at Knapp Farm on Sunday September 14th 2008. There are a few things we need help with. Tombola prizes, potted plants for the plant stall or old crockery that will be smashed on the day. If you can help with any of these things, the tombola prizes can be left in school for the pre-school rep to collect, the plants can be brought on the day and crockery can be delivered to Soren Hjorth (01844 352720). Any cakes for the tea stall can be brought on the day. There will be another meeting at Lewknor School at 7.30pm on Thursday September 4th.

Please do come along!

Lewknor LOAF fayre,

The Loaf fayre returns to Lewknor on Sunday October 12th with delicious Local food and Fairtrade produce as the focus of our celebrations.

Stalls offering locally grown vegetables from the Sandy Lane organic farm and Harelesford organic beef and lamb will join together with local cheese, poultry and wine producers to give us a mouth watering display of what is on offer from local food producers.

The Friends of Lewknor school will be there with local jams and cakes all served up by the children of Lewknor school. So you can support our wonderful local school as well.

Together with ‘Tearcraft’ products and ‘Fairtrade’ goods the fayre will give us all the opportunity to shop locally in the run up to the Christmas season.

We look forward to this becoming a regular feature of Lewknor village life as the fayre will continueat St. Margaret’s on the second and fourth Friday of each month from 2.00 – 4.00 pm. This will be Lewknor’s very own ‘Farmer’s market’ giving us all the opportunity to support local food producers, and show our support for the welfare of our environment. The fayre will also give us another chance to show off our dogs, with rosettes for best smile, most obedient and best groomed amongst other awards. Our local animal charity, the Blue Cross will be present to judge the best contestants and award the rosettes

Oxforshire Rural Officer, the Rev.Glyn Evans will be coming to open our Fayre, and lead our reflections in church as we think about ‘Tending the Garden’ a service in which we celebrate the beautiful world in which we live. Come with an appetite as Harlesford Organic Beef and Lamb will be running a BBQ stall with their apppetitizing organic burgers on sale.

We look forward to seeing you at Lewknor’s second LOAF fayre.

 “I am the neighbourhood officer for Watlington which covers surrounding villages including Lewknor and in the course of chatting to residents around my last police surgery in the village centre I am aware of the recent concerns over a period of vehicle crime in the village. Therefore, after being advised that you coordinate input to the Parish newsletter, I thought I might pass on some news in respect of recent police action in this respect.  

On the 6th August 2008 local police arrested a male in connection with auto crime offences both in the Lewknor and Chinnor areas. As a result of police enquiries this male was dealt with for a total of 9 vehicle related offences, including  two in Lewknor for which he was charged .He  is due to appear at Oxford court in connection with these matters later in August.  

I hope this proves useful for inclusion in the newsletter as a positive result locally in the fight against crime.  

If you would like to discuss any aspect of this information report or any other local matter further please do not hesitate to contact me on: Tel: Gen Enqs 08458 505505 Work Mobile   07800 702763 “ 

 Best Regards Ian Kent (PC 4555 ) NSO Thame and Watlington

At long last a book which lived up to our expectations! “Perfume” by Patrick Suskind. is an intriguing story set in 18th century France with a compelling main character which in the course of the plot allows us an insight into the complex manufacture of perfume. Briefly, Grenouille (translated as a frog) is a Parisian orphan born without having a personal smell but able to discern the elements of any odours around him. This enables him to become an exceptional perfumier but his search for the one perfume above all others which will captivate and excite everyone takes him along a murderous path.

Suskind writes well and describes both urban and rural France vividly. He introduces us to a host of interesting people whose lives cross that of Grenouille. The climax of the novel may disappoint but that is the only criticism we made and we would thoroughly recommend the book as “a good read.” By the time this appears in Grapevine we will have read “The Undomestic Goddess” by Sophie Kinsella and our review will appear in October. The other books lined up for us are “The Other Boleyn Girl” by Philippa Gregory ( to accompany BBC2s take on The Tudors) and “ Redemption Falls” by Joseph O’Connor, author of the best seller “ Star of the Sea” which we read some time ago.

Elan Preston-Whyte

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District Council awards major

County Council awards grants to village halls and community centres
The County Council has approved a number of grants to help with improvements in village halls and community centres across the county. A total of £55,000 has been awarded to 14 separate organisations. The money will go towards a variety of refurbishment, extension and improvement works. In our area Chinnor has a further £5000 for its Village Hall and Kingston Blount has £1400 to refurbish the toilets in the hall.

The Big Tidy Up
South Oxfordshire District Council is encouraging local residents and community groups to get involved in ‘The Big Tidy Up’ – a national campaign running throughout September, which aims to get everyone involved in tackling the problem of litter. ‘The Big Tidy Up’ could be the country’s biggest ever litter clean up. The month long event aims to get communities together to tackle the tide of litter and all the councils in Oxfordshire, working together as Oxfordshire Waste Partnership (OWP), are lending their support. South Oxfordshire District Council will be lending litter-picking equipment to anyone in the district who wants to organise a clean up of their area and will also take away any litter and recyclables after the event. Figures released by Keep Britain Tidy, organisers of the national Big Tidy Up, reveal that council taxpayers in the UK fork out £500 million a year to clean the streets, with over 30 million tonnes of litter collected from our streets each year. To find out how to get involved visit www.oxfordshirewaste.gov.uk

Update on M40 Junction 7 Bridge Works
UK Highways have postponed the publicised bridge closure until April 2009 due to changes in the engineering design after recent trial trench investigations. The postponement will enable the County Council to work with UK Highways to ensure residents/businesses have adequate consultation and support in preparation for the closure,

Councils secure £1.89 million to support rural communities
South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse District Councils have successfully secured £1.89 million to help support rural communities in southern Oxfordshire.  The funding from Government and the EU is to help revitalise and support rural businesses and communities in southern Oxfordshire between now and 2013.  The funding will provide support to a wide range of projects and training for farmers, growers, foresters, food businesses and rural communities. Initial expressions of interest have so far included ideas for a food festival, conservation, themed holiday breaks, and rural skills training.

District Council set to reduce its carbon footprint
The District Council is set to cut its carbon footprint and reduce its energy bills this year. It has joined the Carbon Trust, a nationwide carbon management scheme which will help the council take quick action towards its priority to reduce energy use, and to minimise its impact on the environment. The council is already strongly committed to protecting the environment, and in order to lead by example, it has put in measures to reduce energy use from its own operations. It has already made many improvements such as installing energy saving light bulbs and reducing the use of high-energy consuming lamps. It is also partway through a project to install insulating swimming pool covers at all of its leisure centres. In the future, as part of the scheme, the council will look at reducing the energy used by individual departments, and by the main contractors delivering its services – such as waste collection and grounds maintenance.

Have your say on Oxfordshire's future
People who live and work in Oxfordshire are being urged to have their say on a vision for the future of the county that aims to make a real difference to the quality of their lives. Organisations have been working in partnership to discover which issues people think matter the most and find out what they think can be done to tackle them as part of Oxfordshire 2030. The vision has been drawn up by the Oxfordshire Partnership, which is made up of organisations from all over the county including the County and District Councils. Now everyone can have their say on how we should respond to challenges facing Oxfordshire over the next 20 plus years.

The consultation runs until 22nd September and a final draft will be published in December 2008. You can read the Oxfordshire 2030 strategy on www.oxfordshirepartnership.org or you can order a hard copy by email (oxfordshirepartnership@oxfordshire.gov.uk) or by telephone (01865 816029). Then after you've read it, have your say on the strategy!

YOUR LOCAL NEIGHBOURHOOD ACTION GROUP (NAG)
‘TAKING ACTION ON YOUR TOP ISSUES’

Some of you may have heard about the Neighbourhood Action Groups which have been set up across South Oxfordshire. The Thame Area NAG was formed in September 2007 and covers the Watlington, Thame and Chinnor neighbourhoods. The Watlington neighbourhood covers the civil parishes of Britwell, Pyrton, Stoke Talmage, Wheatfield, Adwell, Shirburn, Lewknor and Cuxham with Easington.

Who are we?The NAG consists of representatives from the police, town, parish, district and county councils, schools, licensees, youth representatives, housing associations, the fire service and residents from across the area.

What did you tell us was your top priority? The main concern, expressed through consultation in Watlington in 2007, was speeding on the B4009 and the use of the road by HGV’s as a short-cut through the town.

What have we done?

• We requested that Police and Trading Standards conduct HGV weight restriction operations. Police and Trading Standards have conducted a number of operations and more are planned. South Oxfordshire District Council has updated restrictions on their web site, which is used by regional haulage companies.
• Trading Standards have set up a ‘Lorry Watch’ scheme; the public can complete forms held at the local Parish Council office, which will be investigated by Trading Standards and Police. Evidence to date suggests the issue may be more one of perception than reality: the weight restriction allows some access by HGVs (for example for deliveries etc) and operations are revealing a low number of offenders (in fact all the HGVs that were stopped at the last operation in July had a legitimate reason to be there)
• We worked with the parish council who were already aware of the issue. We recommended additional traffic calming measures and this will be reviewed by the parish council, as part of the ongoing village traffic plan
• We worked with the police and the Safer Roads Partnership to ensure that the B4009 is identified as a “Community Concern “site so the speed enforcement van will now be placed at additional sites along this road. Targeted traffic operations have resulted in the issue of a number of penalty notices for a variety of traffic offences. The Speed Indication Device (SID) has also been used to educate road users about their speed.

How will the next priority be decided? Consultations have been taking place across the neighbourhood since the end of July to decide the next issue to be tackled. Volunteers have been visiting all the villages with questionnaires. They will be completing nearly 400 questionnaires and ensuring that these are done on a representative basis to reflect the demographics of the neighbourhood.

VULNERABILITY OF INDIVIDUAL WIRELESS NETWORKS
There have been instances recently of youths (strangers) wandering about in Postcombe using a laptop computer to ‘download music’ via wireless modem routers installed in private property. This does not appear to constitute a crime in itself and, so long as your network has adequate software protection, it is of no real concern. If your installation is not protected, however, anyone ‘eavesdropping’ on your system may gain access to all manner of personal data, bank accounts, etc.
Be aware; be alert and, if you are not already protected, you need to be. Like ‘clunk click’, you know it makes sense.

1. Apply to Stokenchurch Parish Council via the administrator, Mr Malcolm Penny, who will be happy to accept an approach by telephone on 01494 482047. There is currently (summer 2008) a short waiting list but more land is being made available and it is anticipated that all demand will have been satisfied by the autumn.
2. Allotments in, or close to, Lewknor itself are managed on behalf of the landowner, All Soul’s College, by a firm of property consultants, Messrs Smiths Gore of The Old Barn, Worton Rd, Cassington, Oxford, OX29 4SX. It is understood that, while there may not be any plots immediately available, more may well be brought into use shortly. A formal application will probably have to be made in writing, but for specific advice on the latest position, call Chris Rogers (of Smiths Gore) on 01865 733312.

Places for People

TOE (Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment) and Oxfordshire County Council working in Partnership.

Local communities and organisations in rural parts of Oxfordshire are being offered the chance to bid for grants of up to £10,000 cash for practical projects that make real improvements to their countryside. Projects could include creating short community walks and information signs; improvements to create more accessible rights of way, trails and green spaces; new routes for walkers, cyclists and equestrians aiding better connections with local communities and services. We are very keen to encourage projects that include local youngsters, volunteers or groups with a high level of community involvement such as local councils, voluntary organisations and user groups.

Projects are led by the applicant with support from the County Council.

• They will need landowner permission
• and should be able to be completed with a year of receiving the final go- ahead.

• Oxfordshire County Council’s Countryside Service
• Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment,
• Grundon Waste Management,
• Viridor Credits and Waste Recycling Group.

How to find out more:
Further information is available from the administrator at TOE – by calling 01865 883488 (Wednesday or Thursday only) or visit toe@ruralnet.org.uk
An information pack can be downloaded from Places for People

Entries in the LPC (Lewknor Parish Council) Comment column will normally be confined to one of four options: ‘Current’ (ie recommendation still pending), ‘Approve’, ‘Object’ or ‘NSV’ (No Strong Views); the latter is the most usual and is often amplified by specific observations and/or reservations. 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 here
In the box on the right, click on ‘Planning’. Then click on ‘view applications via the Planning Application Register’ and follow the instructions to find the specific application that you seek.

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Stop Press – ‘BBC Songs of Praise’ Do take time to watch Songs of Praise on Sunday 7th September as Lewknor will feature in the programme. Jo Whitfield, who is local to the area, has been filmed giving her testimony. The school Nature Club was also filmed on the Nature Reserve, carrying out an activity lead by Jenny Crook from Natural England.

RECENT EVENTS:

ECO SCHOOLS SILVER AWARD At the end of the summer term the children from Lewknor C of E Primary School were successful in achieving the Eco Schools Silver Award. This was awarded for: Energy Monitoring, creating the School Garden and studies during Eco-Week. Their success was celebrated at a special, end of year assembly. In true Eco spirit the trophy awarded to mark the achievement was made by Jane Pendlenton using a re-cycled, decorated silver foil sandwich platter.

The school has also recently launched its ‘Green Steps’ programme and will be working hard to put it in place at the start of the new school year. The steps, which were agreed by all of the children, are as follows:

Go Green in everything I do
Remember to recycle, re-use and reduce
Energy is precious
Eat home-grown food
Never leave the room without turning off the lights
Stop waste while there is still time
The earth is in danger
Everyone can do their part.
Pass the message on.
So what are you waiting for? Save the world.
Watch this space for news of the next step in the Eco-Schools award.

A Rocha 25th Anniversary Celebration:This was held in St. Margaret’s church Lewknor on 19th July and was a great success. 250 people nationwide attended. They took part in presentations given by speakers including Steve Rodrick from the Chiltern’s Conservation Board, Jenny Crook of Natural England and people from the A Rocha project both national and worldwide. During the day children from Lewknor C of E Primary School performed two plays entitled ‘Petrol Patrol’ and ‘The Holybrook Animals Litter Pick’. The children had worked for 10 weeks on these productions with members of the Creation Theatre. They had reached a very high standard and were able to put their message about saving the world across very clearly.

Mural ‘From Southall to Lewknor’:During the day, visitors were able to view and appreciate the mural produced jointly by children from Blair Peach School Southall and from Lewknor C of E Primary School. The mural depicts the wild life to be seen on a journey from Southall, (where a disused littered space has been turned into a green park for the children) to Lewknor, via High Wycombe. The project was overseen by artists David Coleman, from A Rocha Southall, and Claire Newgrass from the Christian environmental group SAGE in Oxford. The children greatly enjoyed working on this joint project and were very proud of their achievement.

CLIMATE EXCHANGE MEETING (date to be confirmed) Later this autumn, we plan to host an event that will bring together different local groups, who are taking practical action on climate change within their communities. This will provide an opportunity for these communities to share their experiences and advice and to learn of other initiatives.

For further information on climate change you can access Climate X- Change’s web site

CONTACT FOR GATEWAY:Phone: 01844 281 827/ 07974 018 482
Email: jane.pendlenton at googlemail.com , simon.brignall at arocha.org
Address: Jane is now based at St. Margaret’s and Lewknor C of E School on a full time basis.
Postal contact can be made to Revd. Brignall at the Vicarage, 46, High St., Tetsworth, OX9 7AS

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When it’s hot, and it still can be well into September, there’s nothing like sitting under or amongst trees. Courtyard and urban gardens have long made a feature of compact trees and with the ranges available now so can you whatever your outdoor space is.

Use these fabulous plants to bring style, shade and vertical interest to your garden. Here are some suggestions: if your outdoor space is limited, choose from the wonderful range of foliage colours and plant shapes that Acer palmatum (Japanese Maple) has to offer. With more room to play with, Carpinus (Hornbeam) is a superb garden tree, full of character and interest through the year. Japanese Maple is a family of small, slow growing trees or shrubs that are ideal for container growing. They’re also great for establishing in the ground. They’ve been cultivated as ornamental trees for hundreds of years and it’s easy to see why. The fantastic range of foliage effects and plant forms means that there is an Acer palmatum to suit almost every mood.

Acer Palmatum can be a real miniature tree – ‘Garnet’ will grow to just 2 metres in height and ‘Corallinum’ gets to around1.2 metres. ‘Crimson Queen’ is another great choice with red-purple leaves on arching shoots and reaches a height of about 3 metres. All of these are perfect for container growing. Alternatively you can go for bigger cultivars like ‘Bloodgood’ which reaches a height and spread of roughly 5 metres. Carpinus is perfect where there is more room and offers an interesting option if you’re looking for a bigger tree. With an elegant growth habit and attractive foliage (great autumn effects), they bring a sense of style to larger spaces. The heritage of Hornbeam is more utilitarian though this doesn’t take away from its beauty. The name derives from the hardness of the wood (known as ‘ironwood’ in America) and historically was used for wagon wheels, carving boards and tool handles.

Hornbeam usually reaches between 10 and 20 metres in height but may grow as tall as 30 metres in optimum circumstances. Common Hornbeam can reach up to 25 metres in height but ‘Columnaris’ grows to approximately 10 metres with a spread of 6 metres. Spire-like when young, it becomes ovoid as it matures. Carpinus turczaninowii is an interesting choice, reaching between 6 and 12 metres at maturity. Its leaves are glossy dark green and turn orange in autumn. Both these tree species need fertile or moderately fertile well drained yet moist soil in sun and partial shade although some varieties of Acer palmatum need more shade to achieve optimum leaf colour. Both are fully hardy and need limited maintenance beyond a trim in late winter or early spring.

Newington Nurseries, Newington, Nr Stadhampton, Oxon, OX10 7AW TeI 01865 400533
www.newington-nurseries.co.uk