The Grapevine Magazine October 2009 Issue No 245 Other Issues Home

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Songs of Praise 25 October 2009

At the request of a number of people in the village, we have arranged for a "Songs of Praise" to be held in St Margaret's on 25th October at 4.00 p.m.

More details will appear in the next issue of the Grapevine, but I would ask you to let me know well in advance, if you would like a particular hymn to be sung that evening. It would also be wonderful, if you would be prepared to say very briefly why you have chosen that particular hymn and what it means to you.

Look forward to seeing you all on 25th October at 4 p.m.!!
St. Margaret’s, Lewknor, Parochial Church Council
Tel: 01844-217600

LEWKNOR FETE & HORTICULTURAL SHOW 2009

THE MOST POPULAR VILLAGE SOCIAL EVENT OF THE YEAR WAS BUSIER THAN EVER AND WE RAISED £1711.66 TOWARDS THE NEW PLAYGROUND AND SEATING AREA AT THE RECREATION GROUND.

The show was a great success again this year. We are grateful to Mrs Susan Watt for welcoming the show at Knapp Farm where the lovely wooden barn was crammed with fruit and vegetables, beautiful flowers and home made produce. It was good to note that younger villagers are making an impact in particular Steven Denham with his purple cabbages and Karl Rolfe certainly knows his onions.

The trophies this year were awarded as follows:

‘THE MIDDLETON CUP’ - for the overall winner of the show:
Rachel Denham

‘THE RIDONE CUP’ - for the runner up:
Robert Anderson

‘THE GIFKINS CUP’ - for the best entry in the show:
Karl Rolfe - for his splendid red onions.

‘THE SCOTT CUP’ - for the highest number of points gained by one family:
Phillipa and Naomi Fibert.

‘THE ROSE BOWL’ - for the best entry in the flower arranging class:
Rachel Denham

‘THE JUNIOR SHIELD’
Lottie Skeates_O’Reilly

BEST KEPT GARDENS
We were lucky to have Eppi Hodgson as the judge again this year and here is her report:

“2009 has seen an enormous amount of gardening interest in Lewknor and Postcombe. Twenty five gardens were judged and standards very high, but sadly not everyone can win a cup”.

1st ‘The Alabaster Cup’:
Glenn and Yicong Rowles, 2 Salt Lane Postcombe.
They have created a gem from a patch of rubble, with beautiful planting, and year round interest. A worthy reward for two years hard work!

2nd ‘The Trotman Cup’:
joint runners up Rachel Denham & Trish Smith,
both have done some interesting re-designing of their already beautiful gardens.

Highly Commended:
Kathy Anderson: for high quality plants in a very restful setting.
Lucia Clinkard: has made a very interesting design of a long thin plot, a series of “rooms”
The Dulakes: have created a new woodland area and their vegetable plot is flourishing.
Pam Ritchie: for unusual geraniums and most colourful herbaceous always delight.
Christine Smith: has a true cottage garden, stunning hollyhocks and productive vegetable and soft fruit patch.

Best Kept Containers:
1st ‘Rose Bowl’:
The rose bowl has been retained in 2009 by Carol Camp from Postcombe – well done! A spectacular display from about 2,000 seedlings grown in her portable greenhouse.

Highly Commended:
The Avery and Fisher families in Lewknor:
Barbara Coe in Postcombe:
Englands Rose in Postcombe

Best Kept Kitchen Garden:
1st The Desborough Cup: Once again Ken Witney must have this award for his fantastic vegetables. How kind of him to pass on some of his expertise and help in growing to a young neighbour.

Highly Commended:
Horace Carter, as always his garden is very productive with high quality produce.

Catherine Burdett shows us that the “front garden” can feed the family, a lovely idea – just make it larger next year!

Steven Denham has worked very hard on his allotment.

Shirley Moore & Penny McCulloch have a great assortment of good vegetables.

Karl Rolfe has made a great start and hopefully will continue.

The Avery and Fisher plot is maturing very well and has grown prolific strawberries this year.

Les Gordon at the Leathern Bottle must be congratulated for his first season gardening with a secretly hidden and well kept vegetables & herb garden – keep going!

I have been very impressed with Nell Hargrove’s interest in her little garden, which prompts a thought might we have a junior competition next year for the under 12’s with not more than 1 sq. metre plot? OWN EFFORTS ONLY!

Eppi Hodgson Moorcourt Cottage Weston Rd Lewknor. ( 01844 351419)

“Congratulations to you all who make the show so successful and so interesting for everyone to view in the afternoon. Thank you also to all the helpers on the stalls and games, everyone works hard both on the day and beforehand. And thank you to all those people who kindly donated items for the stalls or to win as prizes.

The auction of produce was a roaring success, partly due to the efforts of a large group of children vying with each other for each lot and regularly badgering their parents for more money – thank you parents for indulging your children in this way – we raised over £200 on the auction, a great sum, and altogether the show raised just over £1700 a fantastic total, more than we have ever made before, and in the middle of a recession!” Eppi Hodgson

Village Play Space?

The project to build our new play space is moving swiftly along and it is getting very exciting now that it is about to become a reality.

We displayed the draft design at the Horticultural Show which were received positively (thank you to everyone who came by to have a look and offer an opinion). Based on this input, we finalised the design and are about to get bids from contractors.

Earth moving, planting and landscaping should begin in November and the equipment is scheduled to be installed in February, with a grand opening in March 2010.

We received a number of expressions of interest from community members who would like to sponsor a tree. If you are interested and have not gotten in touch, please do so in the next month as the trees will be planted soon!! Trees cost £70 and will display the name(s) of the person or family who sponsored them.

The proceeds from this years’ Horticultural Show will go toward providing seating in and around the play area and recreation ground. We would like to thank everyone involved in the Horticultural Show for offering this support.

Watch this space for more information and ways you can get involved.
Thank you,

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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 CONTACT DETAILS

Council	Council Website	Main Switchboard	E-mail
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

Councillors keep in touch with the Parish Council on issues relating to the different Councils and try to attend meetings on a regular basis. We are happy for residents to contact us directly on specific personal issues whenever necessary.

New roof completed at Lewknor Primary School
There were celebrations last month over the completion of the thatched roof at Lewknor Primary School. The work which was funded by the County Council cost £46,000. Lewknor School is one of a few thatched schools still in existence. As part of the celebration the children, and no doubts adults too, learned about thatching techniques and the history of the building.

Community leisure card scheme launched
We are all being encouraged to live healthier life styles and to help with this the District Council has launched a new community leisure card scheme in the District. The scheme offers various types of membership options at the Council’s leisure centres to encourage use. Cards include ‘pay as you go’ as well as prepaid memberships and unlike some private gyms, membership and payment can be amended as and when your needs change. There’s even a scheme for infrequent users, so they too can benefit from discounted activities by building up reward points. Other benefits include a free or discounted first activity and the ability to book online. For more information see the District Council website or visit one of the leisure centres. The nearest is Thame Leisure Centre and the phone number is 01844 215607.

As the time for open fires approaches the County Council Fire and Rescue service is urging residents who enjoy open fires to get their chimney swept. There are an estimated 6000 chimney fires in England each year and in Oxfordshire recorded incidents have increased by around 5% over the last four years. A startling fact is that in January this year fire crews in South Oxfordshire attended 21 chimney fires compared with only 12 in the same month the year before.

Oxfordshire County Council's Fire and Rescue Service is urging householders to ensure their chimney is safe and to have it swept by a registered chimney sweep. They are also advising on other general safety advice when enjoying an open fire at home.

• Have your chimney swept once a year (twice if you burn wood)
• Avoid burning resinous woods
• Burn only suitable fuels
• Do not light fires using flammable liquids such as petrol or paraffin
• Do not overload your fireplace
• Let the fire burn out completely before you go to bed
• Check around the fireplace for hot embers or sparks
• Use a British Standard fireguard to prevent sparks escaping
• Fit a British Standard smoke alarm and test it regularly

Help find South Oxfordshire’s young achievers

The District Council is giving nearly £30,000 to young people in the area through its Young Achievers Awards’ scheme.  The scheme recognises excellent citizenship, sports achievements and brilliance in the arts. Young residents between 11 and 18 years of age can apply or be nominated for an award of up to £250. 

There are three different awards under the scheme:

• Citizenship awards for those showing outstanding community or voluntary work
• Arts awards to recognise achievement in music, dance, drama, creative writing, painting, sculpture, photography, video production, multi-media and crafts
• Sport awards to reward those representing Oxfordshire in a sport

The awards are in recognition of the dedication and determination that so many young people in the district put into sports, arts and improving communities and give an often much needed boost to pay for the cost of activities. The closing date for applications is 31 October 2009. Further information can be found on the website. If you know anyone who might be eligible for an art or sports award do encourage them to apply. Or you could nominate someone for a citizenship award.

New Powers for Police Community Support Officers
The District Council has given new powers to PCSO’s to help crack down on litter, graffiti, fly-posting and dog fouling. The powers came into effect on 1st September which means that PSCO’s can issues on the spot fines of up to £80 for one of these offences. Evidence from councils with similar schemes has shown that it is an excellent deterrent against environmental crimes such as throwing cigarette ends or chewing gum onto the streets.

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SCHOOL NEWS

For more information
about Lewknor School
please click here

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News from Krakatoa

This term has gotten off to a great start and we are pleased that our new joiners (Hayden, Alfie, Annabelle, Katie and Isaac) have settled in so well.

We would like to extend a very warm welcome to our new member of staff, Denise Bird. Denise teaches dance and music and does children’s discos/parties and will certainly be an asset to our team.

This half term we are discussing Autumn, Harvest Festival, festivals and celebrations (including Yom Kippur, Chinese moon festival, birthdays and Grandparents Day) and we will end with a few weeks focused on pirates and princesses!

Krakatoa Pre-school - 07919081088

BOOK CLUB

We have discussed three books over the summer, the first was “The Secret Shakespeare” by Jennifer Lee Carrell which I shall quickly pass over as we decided that even those who found the “Da Vinci Code” mildly diverting, would fling this book across the room.

Fortunately, “Run” by Anne Patchett was very different and for most of us an enjoyable read as was the third, “A Tenderness of Wolves” by Stef Penney. “Run” is set in contemporary Boston and involves a well-to-do Irish American family who have adopted two black children. We are introduced to these children, now students in their twenties, and their father on a snowy night when Tip arguing with his father, steps into the path of a car, but is saved by an unknown black woman who pushes him away only to be hit herself and badly injured. The plot of the novel hinges on the identity of this woman and the eleven year old daughter, who is with her that night, and the consequences of the accident. The book written well before Barack Obama appeared as a presidential candidate predicts his rise to fame but describes the differing lives of white and black Americans and the opportunities presented to each. It is also about more universal themes of love and loss, sin and the possibility of redemption. However, it failed to achieve a perfect score of ten as a good read for not fully rounding-off some characters and expecting the reader to believe in the supernatural abilities of an aged Catholic priest.

Stef Penney’s “A Tenderness of Wolves”, our third book was quite a contrast although again it was set in wintertime but in Canada in 1867. It was the Costa Book of the Year in 2006 so came with high expectations which were more or less fulfilled. It centres on the aftermath of the murder of a fur trader and the trail followed to find his killer. As a first novel it had the freshness of new ideas and some really beautiful descriptive passages, but not quite a mastery of character and plot. The author being primarily a script writer has, we think, written it with a view to a film being optioned on the book. We shall see!

We have two books lined up for the Autumn; ‘The Secret River’, an Australian epic, by Kate Grenville and ‘ Somewhere towards the End’ by Diane Athill. Both have had excellent reviews.

Elan Preston-Whyte

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News from Newington Nurseries

The Acer:

Imagine the archetypal Japanese garden, characterised by simplicity, refinement and calm. The garden is an idealised representation of nature arranged to create a sense of well-being and to serve as a refuge from the stresses of the world. An Acer throws gentle shade onto the house, helping to keep it comfortable through the heat of the day and provides delightful colour effects through spring summer and autumn. A decorative bridge crosses running water and bamboo screens provide sympathetic divisions between the different sections of the garden. Don’t you just wish you were there? With the right plants you could achieve a similar feel in many British gardens.

Perhaps your most important ally in achieving this is the Japanese maple or Acer palmatum. A deciduous tree with a history of cultivation well in excess of 300 years, Japanese maples have been grown in temperate areas outside Japan since the 1800’s. They are well suited to garden conditions because of their compact root systems which are unlikely to undermine paths, structures or compete with other plants. Many Acers have characteristics that are striking through the different seasons, including intense autumn colour, brightly coloured winter bark and fresh new growth in spring. Their style and compactness makes them ideally suited to courtyard gardens, so much so that Acer palmatum ‘Red Pygmy’ ranks second on Channel 4’s ‘10 plants for courtyard gardens’. Some Acers will grow into small-medium sized trees at maturity.

‘Osakazuki’ (brilliant red autumn colours), for example, may reach a height and spread of 6m. ‘Bloodgood’ (height and spread up to 5m) is always popular and the dark red-purple leaves take on a fantastic vivid red in autumn. For very finely cut leaves as well as colour, look to ‘Garnet’, ‘Burgundy Lace’ or ‘Dissectum’ (leaves turn gold in autumn). These are also on the bigger side for Acers. For very confined spaces or containers, look out for ‘Red Pygmy’, ‘Corallinum’ or ‘Crimson Queen’. Acers are adaptable plants, but are unhappy in wet or dry conditions and find very alkaline soils difficult to cope with. Some shade is an advantage for green-leaved or variegated varieties, but red leaves do need sun to develop deep reds to their full.

As we move into October, the next event in the natural calendar is the turning of the leaves, prior to their fall. This small selection of Acers can provide a wonderful reflection of autumn right on your doorstep. Couple this will some Far Eastern flavour and you can create some garden magic to come home to!

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

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