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The Grapevine Magazine April 2003 Issue No 179
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Unfortunately the opening of the village shop is being delayed for a couple of weeks due to some remedial building work that is necessary. This will mean that the scaffolding will be back. The good news is that as we go to press the lease should have been signed, which means that Suresh can take possession and start getting everything ready. There will be an official opening ceremony, which we expect will generate a lot of local interest on May 8th. More details will be posted in next month's Grapevine.
28TH APRIL This year's Annual Parish Meeting will be held at 7.30 pm in Lewknor School, on Monday 28th April. This will provide an opportunity to update everyone on the activities of the Parish Council over the last twelve months. Everyone is very welcome - this is your opportunity to hear about the Parish Council's work, how they represent the community and to ask any questions you may have. Representatives from the local County and District Councilors will be invited to address the meeting. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be available. Look out for further details of the meeting on the notice boards in Lewknor, Postcombe and South Weston a few days before.
Elections for South Oxfordshire District Council and for Lewknor Parish Council will be held on Thursday 1st May. This year, for the first time, voting will take place at the Jubilee Hall and not at Lewknor Primary School. Voting for our representatives on SODC will also be different this year. Electoral boundaries have been changed and we are no longer in the Aston Rowant Ward. The villages of Lewknor, South Weston and Postcombe are now in a new Watlington Ward which will have two members on the District Council so we can vote for two candidates rather than just one. If no more than two candidates are nominated for SODC in our ward then there will be no need for an election. Similarly, if no more than six people are nominated as candidates for Lewknor Parish Council there will not be an election for the parish council either because there will be the same number of candidates as the number of places on the parish council. The names of all the candidates will be published and placed on the notice boards in the villages on 3rd April so we will know then if elections will be held in our parish. If we do have the opportunity to vote please support the candidates by making the effort to go along to the Jubilee Hall and voting for the people you want to represent you.
THE FOOTBALL MATCH On Tuesday 18th March 2003, the Lewknor Lizards faced Stadhampton in a friendly match at Stadhampton Primary. In the first 3 minutes the Stadhampton team scored the first goal, so already we were trailing behind. Shortly after they scored, we caught up when Tim Cox, our captain, snaked through the opposing team and we got a goal. The ball was hit so hard that the net didn't know what hit it! When half time started, we took the lead when William Carrol single-handedly sliced through the opposing defence and blinded everybody with accuracy and speed, scoring our second goal. Unfortunately, Stadhampton didn't take too kindly to that and scored two more goals leaving us back at 3-2 to Stadhampton. Within the last few minutes our captain, Tim Cox scored the last goal of the game, leaving us tied at 3-3. It was an excellent start to the season. Written by Max Camp (defence) TECHNOLOGY This term Year 4,5,6 have been very busy, making toys with electric circuits. In our first session we discussed in partners the type of toys we were going to build and how the circuits would work. In the second session we started to create designs. We spent a further three sessions making our designs and adding finishing touches to our toys. We have got a whole new range of different toys, which we are all very proud of !! By Louise Hague PETIT CHAPERON ROUGE On Friday 21st March 2003, Year 4,5,6 performed Little Red Riding Hood - Le Petit Chaperon Rouge in the church. It was a great success and everyone was very impressed by our French skills! There were five different scenes. In the first scene, Le Petit Chaperon Rouge, was played by Katie Tremlin and Maman was played by Sarah Greensmith. In scene two, Le Petit Chaperon Rouge, was played by Georgia Mangion, and the Grand Loup Mechant, was played by Max Camp. In the third scene, Grandmere, was played by Louise Hague and the Grand Loup Mechant, was played by Adam Harington. In the fourth scene, Le Petit Chaperon Rouge, was played by Stephanie Coll and the Grand Loup Mechant, was played by Max Lamb. In the final scene, Le Petit Chaperon Rouge, was played by Hannah Lee and pa'pa was played by James Stone. This took one day to learn, and turned out amazingly well! By Max Lamb and Katie Tremlin
Condition of the Ridgeway The Parish Council has again reported the state of the Ridgeway to the County Council but it seems unlikely that any positive action will be taken without some more specific pressure being brought to bear. There is a legal process which, if evoked, can be used to oblige the County Council to take action. The procedure is fairly straightforward but it requires a suitably motivated individual to take the lead. If anyone is interested in taking on this project, further details may be obtained from the parish clerk, Mr Jefford (01844 281449). Appeals for Financial Support The Parish Council receives many appeals for financial assistance and it does respond positively to many of these. While all of these applications are deserving, of course, there has to be a limit and, while it is not applied rigidly, the basic rule of thumb is that the organisation making the appeal should be able to demonstrate that it has some direct interest in, or provides some service specific to, the local community. That being the case, the council felt unable to respond to two recent applications but it is possible that individuals might wish to make a contribution. They are: the regional branch of the NSPCC and the Ormerod School (for children with physical disabilities). If anyone wishes to pursue this, the telephone numbers are, respectively, (01908) 568336 and via the Marlborough School, (01993) 811431. Lewknor School - Vacancy for a Governor One of the governors of the Village School is nominated by the Parish Council. The most recent nominee has recently been obliged to resign so there is a vacancy. Anyone interested in filling the post should contact the Chair of the Parish Council, Mrs Bindoff, on (01491) 612663.
In order to establish the extent and pattern of use, SODC have carried out a review of the mobile skip facility that has been operating for the last couple of years. Much of the material collected via the mobile skips turns out to have been garden waste which SODC was unable to recycle, so it simply went into landfill. A facility specifically designed to handle organic matterwill shortly become available, permitting SODC to reduce its dependency on landfill and thus substantially improve its recycling rate. The upshot of this is that the present system of mobile skips will be terminated with effect from 1st June. Local availability dates to the end of March have already been published, those for April and May are below. From June onwards the scheme will involve skips being placed at Watlington, Chinnor, Chalgrove and Wheatley against a schedule that is still being refined. Further details will be published once the timetable has been confirmed.
John Radcliffe Casualty Unit 01865 221467 Royal Berkshire Casualty Unit 0118 987020 Minor Casualty Units Townlands Hospital Henley-on-Thames 01491 5722544 Wallingford Hospital 01491 208500
To: Grapevine From: Derek Hazlewood, Hill Road, Lewknor "I'm sure we all enjoy the display of daffodils at the entrance to our village. It is now many years since I, and some former members of the village planted them. I feel however, that they now need to be supplemented - particularly on the right hand side as you enter the village. Is it possible that some younger members of the village could plan to carry out this extra planting this coming Autumn? To raise money we had a collecting tin in the then village shop and put a note in Grapevine. However, it is not so much the cost (which is not great) as the willingness to spare a few hours to do the planting."
EDITORIAL - Having produced another splendid Grapevine last month, Louise Boitoult has now agreed to become joint Editor - thank you again Louise. In order to make the production more efficient can we ask for items for the Grapevine to be sent either direct via Email to Louise or me (see Email addresses on the back cover) or delivered to 2a Hill Road - and please by the 20th of the month.
The half-term has sped by - helped by some glorious weather and lots of exciting activities. We all enjoyed our visit to Chinnor library, with stories read by the librarian. To encourage future generations of readers the children were given a book token for World Book Day to spend on a book of their choice. Nature and the environment were part of the theme for this term and everyone had a lovely walk to the farm to see the animals and signs of spring. The bulbs planted by the children are coming into flower, providing a welcome splash of colour. The children have also made wonderful miniature gardens as well as planting sunflower seeds. We've been making the most of the sunshine recently and been enjoying the outside space. To enable us to extend the range of outside activities we are fund-raising for a secure, fenced area and hope to get this finalised as soon as possible. A very successful coffee morning was held at Laundry Cottage, raising over £150. We will also be holding the annual sponsored bike ride in school in June, and intend to hold a wine-tasting evening. The ferret racing evening has been moved to September so that it won't clash with other events of "the season" such as Henley, Wimbledon and Ascot (to name but a few). Details will appear in a future Grapevine. Don't forget that for waiting list/information about pre-school phone Denise on 01844 281367.
Many people will have noted the arrival of the Tom's Snacks trailer at the junction of the B4009 and Hill Road, Lewknor. Traders have tried to sell refreshments in the vicinity of Junction 6 before but the traffic situation is far too dangerous for this business to trade safely. The whole length of the B4009 from the A40 to the village turning is designated as a prohibited area for street trading because of the risks to public safety and the people responsible for Tom's Snacks were told they could not trade where they were. The SODC Environmental Health Department took the action and we are very grateful to our local member of SODC, Cllr Rodney Mann, for making sure that action was taken quickly.
A leaflet giving details of walks and other events organised between March and September is now available from local libraries and from the National Trails Office at Cultural Services, Holton, Oxford, OX33 1QQ. Telephone 01865 810224. There is a really interesting range of activities planned and several are easy to reach from our parish. For example there is a 9.5 mile walk led by a National Trails volunteer starting at the car park at Whiteleaf, near Princes Risborough, on Sunday 27th April at 10.00am.
a2b - Access to Community Transport If you are unable to use conventional transport, your problem may be alleviated by the newly established a2b website spnsored by the Oxfordshire Rural Community council (ORCC). All you do is enter where you want to start from, where you want to go to plus any other relevant information, eg wheelchair user. The site will then search its database of community transport schemes and highlight any facilities that might be appropriate. The site can be found at:- www.a2binfo.net/oxfordshire. If you do not have access to the internet ORCC will provide you with a paper version of the directory on request. Furthermore, they will also attempt to handle enquiries about specific journeys. Call 01865 883488 and ask for the Rural Transport Community Worker.
A web-based local community news service focusing on Thame and adjacent villages has recently been established. It is intended to carry news items, bulletins on local activities and events and access to local trademmen - plumbers, electricians, hairdressers and the like. It has the potential to be a very valuable facility but its usefulness will be critically dependent upon the extent to which it is used - which is not quite as silly as it sounds. Have a look. You can find it at thamenews.net. If you would like more information, try one of the following:sonjafrancis@tiscali.co.uk; Tel 01844 218833; Fax 01844 218805; Mobile 07808 377944 or call at Jordan's Courtyard, 8 Upper High St, Thame.
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