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The Grapevine Magazine
July 2009 Issue No 243 |
ACTIVITIES AT THE JUBILEE HALL
The trustees are still hoping to arrange 8 free day time sessions of activities at the hall as part of the Age Concern ‘Fit as a Fiddle’ campaign. It has taken a long time to organise because it will be arranged in partnership with the Thame Leisure Centre and there has been a management re-organisation there which has taken a while to settle in.
The plan at the moment is for 4 sessions of Badminton and 4 sessions of gentle aerobics. These sessions will be for the over 50s but the age limit is quite flexible. It may be possible to get something going before the summer holiday period but it is more likely to be able to start in September so look out for information on the village notice boards etc.
If we can get some Badminton sessions organised we hope to be able to offer some coaching to young people in the parish as well and also hire out the hall for individuals to book when the court is marked out and the posts are up. If anyone wants to let us know that they would be interested in this please give Gill a ring on 01491 612663 and we will keep in touch to let you know what is happening.
Are you interested in a Village Play Space?
When many of you think of a “playground” you picture swings and slides for the little ones without much for the rest of the community. What we are hoping to develop is a “play space” meant to provide exciting play opportunities for all children and young people as well as a place for parents, carers and the rest of the community to meet. We have now hired a landscape architect, Carolyn Place, to help us design our new play space with this in mind. Carolyn met with the Nature Club from the school in May to talk more about how they would like to use the space to help with her initial design. Kimberly Black came along to represent young people in the community and gave some great ideas that will help us ensure we design a place that they will want to use and enjoy. Designs will be available to all for review and comment at the Horticultural Show in September so we hope you come along and give your opinion. Once the designs are finalized we will go forward with the first stage of building.
The majority of the funding we have received is a Playbuilder Grant which specifically targets 7 – 14 year olds so the first stage will focus primarily on this group although we aim to make it as inclusive as possible. The Lewknor Parish Council are contributing £5,000 which can be used for all age ranges. In addition, the proceeds from this years’ Horticultural Show will go toward providing seating in and around the play area. We would like to thank everyone involved in the Horticultural Show for offering this support. Once our designs are complete and we better understand how far our funds will go, we will begin fundraising and looking for additional grants so that subsequent stages of building the play space can go forward.
Watch this space for more information and ways you can get involved.
Thank you,
The Bookclub at Lewknor
We read “The Dig” by John Preston in June, a novel based on the factual discovery of the Sutton Hoo burial chamber of a 7th-century king. The origin of the novel is interesting in that the author was given the idea for the book by one of the archaeologists who took a key part in the dig but the discovery of the treasures was initiated by the owner of the land, Edith Pretty, who was quite sure that there were riches in the largest mound on the site. Her belief is shared by a local man, Basil Brown, who is a self-taught investigator who perseveres despite initial set-backs until the skeleton of a ship is uncovered. The progress of the dig is held up as the respective representatives from the Ipswich and British Museums and a Cambridge don compete to be in charge but eventually the gold treasures from the burial chamber are uncovered just as the Second World War is about to begin.
Not a great deal else happens in the novel so some of the reading group were left wanting to know more about the find and the people involved but for others the sparseness and simplicity of the writing and the way in which the characters were drawn reminded them of the novels of Anita Brookner and “The Remains of the Day” by Kasuo Ishigaro which was set in the same era. However, for anyone who knows little about the importance of the Sutton Hoo excavation but would like to find out more this book would be a good introduction. I have since ‘googled’ the web site of the British Museum to see the ornaments and other artefacts which were found.
Our next book is “The Secret Shakespeare” by Jennifer Lee Carrell and after that, “Run” by Anne Patchett.
Elan Preston-Whyte
SCHOOL NEWS
For more information
about Lewknor School
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here
News from Krakatoa
It’s just about the end of another great year at Krakatoa and we’re busy preparing for our Sports Day on Wednesday, 15 July at 11:30 am. Please feel free to come by and join us!
It is with sadness that we say goodbye to Denise Harrington. Denise has been with the pre-school for over 12 years and has been adored by children and parents alike. We will miss her and we wish her all the best with her new job! We are currently recruiting for a new Pre-school Assistant.
After much consternation, we finally have a website: www.krakatoa-preschool.ik.org!! Many of you may have also seen our new Krakatoa car magnets to spread the word about our pre-school.
Finally, we would like to extend a giant thank you to Alex Hopkinson-Woolley for her fantastic organisation of the Safari Supper again this year.
We hope everyone has a lovely summer and we look forward to welcoming the children back in the Autumn. Krakatoa Pre-school - 07919081088
For more information, please click here
News from your District and County Councillors
| County Councillor | Roger Belson | 01491 612091 |
| District Councillors | Rodney Mann | 01844 281426 |
| Rev'd Angie Paterson | 01491 614033 |
| Council | Council Website | Main Switchboard | |
| Oxfordshire County Council | www.oxfordshire.gov.uk | 01865 792422 | online@oxfordshire.gov.uk |
| South Oxfordshire District Council | www.southoxon.gov.uk | 01491 823000 | info@southoxon.gov.uk |
Firstly we are delighted to announce that following the County Council elections on 4th June Roger Belson remains your County Councillor. But the main news this month is.....
All about waste!!
The Oakley Wood Recycling Centre reopened Saturday 27th June: Following a £700,000 upgrade of the County Council's Oakley Wood Waste Recycling Centre it reopened on 27th June. There are more containers and twice as many parking bays so queuing times should be reduced. Opening hours are:
- 8am to 5pm, seven days a week (including bank holidays)
- on Thursdays from 1st April to 30th September there is late night opening until 8pm.
This significant increase in recycling volumes and consequent reduction in waste to landfill is not only environmentally friendly but also is financially beneficial to the Council and thus to tax payers - less landfill tax and more recycling credits! It is acknowledged that there have been some teething problems:
- Verdant and SODC have struggled to cope with call volumes and customers have found it difficult to get through on the phone.
- There have been a lot of requests for assisted collections as a result of the introduction of bins. A few hundred properties (out of 56,000) did not receive their bins or sacks on time.
It is also acknowledged that for those who have experienced problems it has been very frustrating and on behalf of SODC your Councillors can only apologise. Please be assured that staffs at the Council are working hard to deal with the outstanding issues.
Food Waste: a number of complaints have been received by residents who think that their food waste is being tipped in with the rubbish on the vehicle. The vehicles have completely separate containers for rubbish / recycling and food waste so although it may look as though everything is going into the same container, the Council assures residents that food and rubbish are kept completely separate, food waste going for treatment to produce agricultural compost and rubbish to landfill. The figures speak for themselves!
Collection times: Residents become used to specific collection times and the Council has received a lot of calls from residents who thought their bins had been missed when in fact the crews had not yet collected. With the introduction of new services and routes many collection times will be different. The Council does not guarantee specific collection times. Due to new rounds, some collection crews are working later than normal ie past 5pm, so please bear with us until the eve/next day before reporting anything missed.
PLEASE NOTE – No Black Sacks - Once the Council are confident that all properties have their bins or sacks collection of black bags will cease. The use of a 2 bin or 2 coloured sack system is designed to prevent contamination of recyclate, encourage recycling rather than rubbish and prevent collection of commercial waste with residential waste.
Garden Waste the collection days are now the same days as the recycling. We apologise for the delay in delivery of bins to those just joining the service. These delivery problems should be resolved in the next two weeks.
WASTE COLLECTION DATES
Since we all have to get used to the new schedule, it may be helpful to have a reminder until we get into the swing of it. It goes like this:
| Date | Bins | |||
| Kitchen caddy | Green (recycle) | Grey rubbish) | Brown (garden - optional) | |
| 7 July | Y | Y | . | Y |
| 14 July | Y | . | Y | . |
| 21 July | Y | Y | . | Y |
| 28 July | Y | . | Y | . |
| 4 August | Y | Y | . |  |
OAKLEY WOOD RECYCLING CENTRE NOW OPEN
The Oakley Wood Recycling Centre (near Wallingford), which has been closed for refurbishment since March, re-opened on 27 June.
CHILTERNS COMMONS PHOTO COMPETITION
There are 187 ‘commons’ scattered throughout the Chilterns Area of Natural Beauty (AONB). Between now and 31 July, the Chilterns Conservation Board is organising a photographic competition open to all amateur photographers, the aim being ‘to capture the essence of your local common’. If you are interested, there are (or perhaps were) leaflets posted on the village notice boards and you can read all about it at this link:
Then scroll down to the ‘Commons’ section and click on the photo competition entry. The problem then, of course, is to find out exactly where the 187 commons are. For that you will need to contact Kath Daly at the Chilterns Conservation Board (which is at The Lodge, 90 Station Rd, Chinnor, OX39 4HA) by telephone (01844 355524) or email at kdaly at chilternsaonb.org.
RECENT LOCAL PLANNING APPLICATIONSEntries 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.
| Ref No | Remarks | LPC Comment | SODC Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| P09/E0276 | Lower Farm, Lower Rd, Postcombe – newbuild replace-ment for barn. | Object | Granted |
| P09/E0405/RET | Weston Grange, Adwell Rd – newbuild outhouse for ground source heat pump. | NSV | Current |
| P09/E0462 | Copcourt House, Thame Rd, Tetsworth – renovation of barns & change of use | Current | Current |
| P09/E0463/LB | Copcourt House, Thame Rd, Tetsworth – renovation of barns & change of use | Current | Current |
| P09/E0557 | Moorcroft (sic) Barn, Weston Rd – new extension and change of use to B8 (ie storage and distribution). | Object | Current |
News from Newington Nurseries
Hardy HibiscusIf we’re lucky, July should be the month for even the less dedicated sun worshippers among us to get out and catch some rays. There aren’t many better places to do this than your own garden, patio or balcony. Private, economical and when you fancy something to eat or drink, just pop inside to the fridge. So much better than fighting it out with the holiday-making hordes!
July brings out the human sun worshippers, it’s also the time to see and enjoy the plants that are happiest when the rays are beating down on them. Hibiscus syriacus is one such shrub that performs best when the sun is out and the mercury’s rising. If you’ve got a sunny place in your garden with neutral or slightly acidic soil, then Hibiscus syriacus could be just the plant to deliver bags of colour and fun.
Given a bit of heat, this shrub really does flower well, and what flowers they are! ‘Diana’ bears big, white flowers, up to 12cm across. The blooms of ‘Woodbridge’ are a rich pink, with beautiful dark centres up to 10cm in diameter and the flowers of ‘Oiseau Bleu’ are a gorgeous bright blue. Hibiscus syriacus ‘Red Heart’ is another lovely plant that produces flowers with delicate white petals and rich, dark red centres. A medium to large deciduous shrub, Hibiscus syriacus can reach a height of up to 3m and a width of about 2m. They are perfect for shrub or mixed borders and are great for combining with agapanthus, penstemons and asters.
The purple foliage of berberis or smoke bush is also an attractive accompaniment to the various pastel shades of Hibiscus flowers. Once fully established, the larger varieties of Hibiscus can be draped with late flowering climbers which can help to maximise the plant value you can derive from small spaces.
July is when most of them come out to salute the sun, and this performance can carry on into early autumn, but do make sure you keep this shrub well watered through the growing season. Syriacus varieties are mainly frost-hardy but ask when you buy if the variety you have chosen needs any special attention in cold weather. Hibiscus syriacus is not a demanding plant to maintain, making it an ideal choice for people with a busy lifestyle or newcomers to gardening.
Tip-prune in late winter and early spring to maintain a healthy framework of branches in the shape that you want.
Newington Nurseries, Newington, Nr Stadhampton, Oxon, OX10 7AW TeI 01865 400533
www.newington-nurseries.co.uk