Three Villages
(with Tiddington)
Hospital Car
Service
This service offers transport to and from the
doctors’ surgeries in Thame and Wheatley and to the various hospitals for patients
who do not have their own vehicles or who, for some reason, find if difficult
to use public transport or make other arrangements. Due to generous grants from the various
parish councils, patients are charged £2.00 for a visit to a surgery and £4.00
for a trip to a hospital (+ the cost of parking at the Radcliffe
Infirmary). Visits to podiatrists,
opticians and other health professionals are charged at the hospital rate.
If you would like to use this service please ring
me, Fleur Hughes, on 01844 338254 or
Thelma Blake on 01844 279567 to make arrangements. Please give us as much notice as you can.
Fleur Hughes
Milton Common
NHW (West Side)
There have been reports of door step
sellers in our area, i.e. trying to sell Gravel. It is recommended that you do
not buy from door step sellers.
Also while walking our dog I am still
seeing garage doors being left open while residents go out – please make sure
your property is secure.
Last week we had two incidents, one
abandoned Ford Saloon, and a suspicious male in a car along Old London Road,
which worried a neighbour as she was returning to work after lunch.
On investigation we found a courting
couple.......I will say no more…….or do we need another sign as well as the Dog
signs!
On the subject of signs there will be three
new NHW signs replacing the old ones which have been up for many years.
Elaine Horne
NHW Co-ordinator M/C
Parish Council News
Affordable housing – the architects’ plans
were presented at the March meeting. The nine homes proposed consist of one
3-bed and four 2-bed houses and four 1-bed flats.
Bus passes and tokens – please see article on
the arrangements made by SODC to provide the statutory free bus passes and the
changes to their provision of bus tokens. This Parish Council will continue to
provide £13.00 of tokens for all residents over 60 years of age.
Pelican crossing – surveying of the site
has recently been carried out and it is hoped that the installation will begin
in the new financial year, possibly in May.
Litter blitz – this annual event has
been arranged for the weekend of 8-9 April. Volunteers to give the village a
spring clean would be welcome on the Saturday at 10.00am outside the Village
Hall.
SODC new garden waste service –
please see separate article on the proposal for recycling garden waste. This
Council is of the view that an annual charge of £29.00 is exorbitant and has
asked SODC to continue the provision of
Tiddington with Albury Parish Council Members
Chairman John Nowell-Smith 339650
Econ.development,
businesses
Vice Chairman Janet Willis 339415
Environment,
conservation, recycling,
waste
Councillor Roy Boughton 339497
Health and safety
Councillor Ken Field 339671
Housing, planning,
building & controls
Councillor Alan Stratton 339430
Sport, recreation, arts,
tourism, grants,
awards, lottery
Councillor Angela Tremayne 279797
Planning; highways and Milton
Common
Clerk Zena Knight 339340
24 Albury View,
Tiddington
ecosacks and retain the
community garden waste skips at Wheatley and Thame.
Road safety, London Road, Milton Common –
the results of a survey
of the road traffic showed that there was much excessive speeding. Mr Peter
Ronald of OCC Highways will attend the May meeting to explain his proposals for
improvements to road safety, based on the funding available in the new
financial year.
Milton Common notice board – it has been
agreed to order a new name sign which will incorporate “Milton Common” above
the name of the Parish.
Parish Council Annual Meeting –
this will be held on 8 May and all parishioners are welcome to attend to hear
what has been happening during the past year and to have their say.
Donations – recent donations have been made to the
Oxfordshire Association for the Blind and to the Thame and District Citizens
Advice Bureau. The Council will also be giving a grant to the Three Villages
(with Tiddington) Hospital Car Service.
The Council policy for
donations is that the charity concerned should provide support to people within
the Parish.
Refuse and
Recycling
Bank Holiday
Collection Days
Easter Monday 17 April to be collected on Tuesday 18 April
May Day Monday 1 May to be collected on Tuesday 2 May
Spring Bank Holiday Monday 29 May to be collected on Tuesday 30 May
Concessionary Fares
Scheme
Bus passes for
residents of South Oxfordshire
The Government has introduced a free bus pass for all
people over the age of 60 and disabled people and their necessary travel
companions from 1 April. The new pass will be valid for five years from the
date of issue and can be used on journeys starting and finishing within the
district and also on journeys to Reading, Oxford, Abingdon, Aylesbury, Princes
Risborough and High Wycombe. It can also be used to travel within Oxford City and Reading Town Centre. There is
no limit to the number of journeys that can be made any time after 9.00am on weekdays and at any time at
weekends or bank holidays.
Travel tokens from
South Oxfordshire
As an alternative to the bus pass, the District
Council will continue to offer travel tokens to the value of £20.00 but the
eligibility age has changed to 70 and over and the disabled. These tokens may
be used on local journeys by bus, train, taxi or on voluntary/transport and
community schemes.
Travel tokens from the
Parish Council
These will continue to be provided to the value of
£13.00 to all residents over the age of 60.
Please contact Anne Edwards on 339794 for further information or if you
have not received a bus pass application form from the District Council
Please note that delivery of the tokens may be delayed for up to two
weeks from 1 April
Freedom of Information Act
Publication Scheme
Residents of the Parish
can see the records of the Council held by the Parish Clerk or learn where they
may be accessed. Records include minutes, financial information and responses
to planning consultations.
Application can be made to
the Clerk (Tel: 339340) and documents viewed by appointment. Any copies
required will be charged at 10p per page.
Refuse skips
Skips are available every Saturday at:
Wheatley Primary School, Littleworth
Road
8.00 – 12.00
1st
and 3rd Saturday for garden waste
2nd
and 4th Saturday for non-recyclables
There
is no skip on 5th Saturday or the Saturday after Bank Holidays
Thame Cattlemarket
8.00 – 12.00 or until full
Ecosacks
Please note that the collection
service for garden waste in the brown paper sacks will be discontinued on
Friday, 28 April.
Sacks may be purchased from the Clerk at 30p each (Tel: 339340)
Please arrange for any full
paper ecosacks to be collected before 8.30am
Friday (for Monday collection)
Freephone: 0800 7318752 or
Email:
public.amenities@southoxon.gov.uk
South Oxfordshire District Council
Proposed New Garden Waste Service
Following the recent trial scheme using ecosacks, the District Council
is considering a new, improved and more permanent garden waste collection
scheme from April. Residents will be provided with a fortnightly kerbside
collection from brown wheeled bins. No booking will be required. The cost to
residents for this service will be £29.00 per year. The garden waste collected,
such as grass cuttings, branches, leaves, weeds and hedge clippings, will be
composted locally.
If you are interested in signing up please contact the Public Amenities
Team on 01491 823416 or email public.amenities@southoxon. gov.uk or visit www.southoxon.gov.uk
From your District Councillor
The main event at
the District Council last month was the approval of the Council budget, which
also involved setting SODC’s Council Tax precept for 2006/2007. SODC has been
fortunate in receiving an unexpectedly good settlement in the Government Grant
which it receives and, as a result, has not had to increase Council Tax, unlike
the precepts of the County Council, the Parish Council and the Police Authority
which have all gone up.
There have,
however, been some changes to services, two of which are of concern to villages
such as ours. First, the arrangements for collecting green waste have been
revised so that the ecosacks will be discontinued from the end of April. In
their place wheelie bins will be provided at a cost of £29.00 per annum. These
bins will be collected every two weeks without requests having to be made to
the Council. My own view is that the ecosack service, which has on the whole
proved popular, should have been continued alongside the wheelie bins scheme at
least for a trial period.
Secondly, the
change in the Government’s bus pass scheme so that everyone over 60 is now
entitled to a free pass has led to SODC cancelling its travel token scheme for
those aged between 60 and 70, except for certain categories of disabled people.
This, of course, has a particularly adverse effect on villages which do not
have access to a frequent and reliable bus service. Those of us living on, or
close to, the route of the 280 may not be so disadvantaged, but the same cannot
be said for the residents of Milton Common. The tokens are also valuable for
those with heavy shopping who require to take taxis.
One other service
to be lost is the Thame Information Bureau which has been closed. Certain
information is available from the One Stop Shop in Thame Town Hall and tickets
for events such as the Thame Players can be obtained through Tickets Anywhere
in Greyhound Walk or by calling 0871 222 7232. The nearest surviving
Information Bureaux are in Henley
(Tel: 01491 578034) and Aylesbury (Tel: 01296 330559)
John Nowell-Smith
District Councillor
Tel: 01844 339650
From your County Councillor
Road Traffic
Issues at London
Road, Milton Common
Mr Peter Ronald, the Area Engineer, will present
the results of the traffic survey at the 8 May meeting of the Parish Council, when
he will have the details of his spending allocation for the financial year
April 2006 to March 2007. As we knew, there is a considerable amount of speeding
going on and we hope that Peter will be able to make some suggestions to
improve road safety.
Budget
This year's budget showed a County Council Tax
increase of 4.375% compared with last year's increase of 4.5%. You may recall that a manifesto commitment of
the now ruling Conservative Group was to reduce the rate of increase of the
Council Tax. However this was done at
the expense of a cut in the Social Services budget of £2.2 Million, a cut in
road maintenance of £1 Million and reducing the mobile library service by one
vehicle. This will reduce the frequency
to rural areas. In addition all service
budgets are required to find savings or cuts whichever way you look at it. I am particularly disappointed about cuts to
the road maintenance budget, as I get more complaints about the state of the
highways than all other items put together.
Older
Peoples Homes
The new homes replacing older ones policy, which
was decided on about three years ago is now producing good results. The new homes are being designed and built to
modern standards. For example, larger
rooms and removing the shared room situation which was not liked, in
particular, by new residents. New homes
have been opened in Wallingford, Didcot, Witney and Woodstock. A new home on an extended Meadowcroft site is
planned for Thame, where the design work is complete and planning permissions
are awaited.
Please feel free to contact me about County
Council issues that concern you. My
contact details are as follows:
Address: 50
Hardings, Chalgrove, Oxford, OX44 7TJ.
Home Telephone: 01865
891169
Email: david.turner@oxfordshire.gov.uk
David Turner
19
March 2006
Oxfordshire Highways
In conjunction with its
partners on highway matters, Isis Accord and Jacobs Babtie, the County Council
has launched
Oxfordshire Highways
From 3 April there will be
a new single telephone number for all highway enquiries to the Area offices
0845 310 11 11
0845
8 505 505
The single number for non-emergency calls
SOLL Leisure
SOLL are pleased to announce the launch of their
new website
www.soll-leisure.co.uk
View all the latest offers, up to date programmes
and information about membership benefits
From the
Vicar
HOLY WEEK
This year,
Easter Day falls on 16 April. The week
leading up to it, which begins with Palm Sunday on 9 April,
is very important in the church year, and is known as Holy Week.
Holy Week
begins with Palm Sunday, the day when the Church remembers the triumphal entry
of Jesus into Jerusalem. The gospels tell us that
he had gone up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, and that when he entered the city, the crowds gave him a rapturous welcome, throwing palm
fronds into his path. On this day churches worldwide will distribute little
crosses made from palm fronds in memory of Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem. In our four parishes we
will celebrate Palm Sunday as we always do by beginning our service in
Waterstock with the blessing of the Palms and then walking the river path to
Waterperry were we will re-enact the Passion and celebrate the Eucharist. The service begins at 9.30am in Waterstock; we usually arrive in Waterperry about 10.00am.
The next
highlight of Holy Week falls on Maundy Thursday. Maundy Thursday focuses on one of the final
acts concerning Jesus to be related in John’s Gospel – the washing of the
disciples’ feet by Jesus. The ceremony of the “washing of the feet” of members
of the congregation came to be an important part of the regular worship of the
medieval church, symbolising the humility of the clergy, in obedience to the
example of Christ.
In England, in by-gone years, as an affirmation of humility, the monarch would
wash the feet of a small number of his or her subjects. This has now been replaced by the ceremony of
the “Maundy money”, in which the Queen distributes specially minted coins to
the elderly at cathedrals throughout England. There will be a Maundy
Thursday service in St Mary’s Wheatley at 7.30pm.
Good Friday
(14 April) is the day on which Jesus died on the cross. It is the most solemn
day in the Christian year, and is widely marked by the removal of all
decorations from churches. The custom of
observing a period of three hours’ devotion from midday to 3.00pm on Good Friday goes back to the 18th century. The “Three Hours of
the Cross” often take the form of an extended meditation on the “Seven Last
Words from the Cross”, with periods of silence, prayer, or hymn-singing. We shall observe the first of these three
hours in Waterperry at 12.00 noon.
Holy Week ends on Holy
Saturday; this is the day we decorate the churches for our Easter
celebrations. Easter is the principle
Christian festival and there will be communion services in all our churches on
Easter Day. The events of Holy Week are
important and give perspective to the miracle of Easter. At Easter we celebrate that Jesus has risen
from the dead, and that death does not have the final word. This is the basis of our Christian hope. I hope to see many of you in church over Holy
Week and Easter.
With best wishes for a
very happy Easter.
Caroline
Waterstock & Tiddington W.I.
We enjoyed a visit from Peggy Long in February. A
familiar figure as a traffic warden in Thame, she showed us the MBE received
from the Queen and the photographs taken on her special day at Buckingham
Palace.
At our Annual Meeting in March, we thanked Mrs Sue Cox
for her five years as President and welcomed Miss Joan Wood as her replacement.
We have nine committee members continuing from the previous year. The annual
report showed just how busy we are with all the many activities participated in
during the year. Finances are in a healthy state too, particularly following
the enjoyable quiz evening in February.
On 13 April we look forward to a demonstration of the
making of hand-made leather goods by Chris and Sally Hirst. The competition is
for a picture of an owl in any medium. An appropriate subject as the winning
entry will go forward to the Group Meeting, where the speaker will be from the
Stonesfield Owl Rescue. Thame WI
will host the meeting at the Town Hall on Thursday, 27 April.
We have our resolutions to discuss on 11 May. At the
National Federation AGM in June, topical subjects are chosen for discussion and
our members have a chance to put their views beforehand. The two subjects this
year are Renewable Energy and Sport for a Healthy Population.
We meet on the second Thursday in the month at 7.30pm in Tiddington Village Hall.
Zena Knight
Thames Valley
CRIMESTOPPERS
0800 555 111
Call anonymously with information about crime
Tiddington Village Hall
Missing Chairs!
A slightly strange request this month but it has come to
our attention that we are missing a number (19 to be precise) of brown chairs
from the Village Hall. It is quite possible that someone may have borrowed the
chairs and has simply forgotten to return them. If you have any ideas where
they might be then I would be really grateful for any information which leads
to their safe return.
Despite an excellent calendar of hall hirings, after the
deduction of running costs we don't have a great deal of money to spend on
keeping the hall in good order, so we'd like to avoid having to purchase new
chairs.
Alan Stratton
Chairman
Tiddington Village
Hall Committee
Tiddington Cricket
Club
Although we are still experiencing cold and windy
days, the build up to a new cricket season is well under way. Questions like
will the outfield mower start have already been answered (with a little
persuasion) and the outfield has had its first cut.
The square is due to be handed back to us after
the autumn renovation and care since.
Pre-season nets are already under way with the
last sessions to take place at Lower School, Thame on Sunday 2 and 9
April, 12.00-1.00pm. All players who have played senior cricket
and prospective new players should attend.
It is really important to prepare the ground for
the coming season. So this year we have two work parties: on Saturday 1 April
at 10.00am and the traditional Good Friday session,
also at 10.00am. Bacon butties, etc will be provided.
This year’s league fixtures start on Saturday, 13
May, again with 1st, 2nd and 3rd XI’s entered.
Pre-season friendlies start on Saturday, 22 April
at home to Thame, whilst on the following day, Sunday 23 April we go straight
into the Village KO at home to Great Tew.
Junior coaching this year will start on Wednesday,
26 April, 6.00-8.00pm to accommodate matches
for age group teams on Sunday, 30 April and Monday, 1 May.
This year Riaan Krynauw is back from South Africa (now permanently) to lead
the coaching again. Coaching is available to all boys and girls from 7 to 13 years and will follow
a programme designed to teach basic skills during the course which runs to the
end of July.
Progress is being made with the new pavilion. We
are due to receive the schedule of works so that we can invite tenders prior to
appointing a contractor.
The winter Aunt Sally league season has now
finished with our team again finishing in an excellent third place. They have
also reached the final of the Team Handicap knockout and the Triples
competition. Two teams have again been entered into the SE Oxon Summer league
on Fridays whilst our Wednesday team will play in the Oxford and District league.
On the Darts front the “A” team is still very
close in both singles and pairs competitions with all to be decided in the last
two matches.
The “B” team continues its roller coaster journey,
sitting mid-table in Division 3.
The cribbage team continues to challenge in both
singles and pairs competitions with everything to play for in the final rounds
of matches.
New players and members are most welcome.
Ray Manning
Weather Statistics
Hose pipe
ban
The rain we have had this year is only 60% of the
normal for this region.
How we use the water (in litres):-
Brushing teeth with tap running 6
Flushing the toilet 8
Dishwasher
20
Power shower
80
Car wash 480
Hosepipe for one hour 600
January
We had 10 days only when some rain was recorded.
From the 5th we began to have the
bitter cold weather from Russia. We had ten days of
temperatures below freezing. We have not had the snow in Tiddington, unlike
many parts of the country. The coldest temperature was in Aviemore -11.7degC 10degF
February
No rain recorded for 18 days, 14 days of frost.
Coldest night in Tiddington was 11th,
when the temperature dropped to -4degC 24degF
March up to
the 16th
4 days of rain, 5 days of
frost.
For most of us February
is regarded as a winter month. It is sometimes the coldest month of the year.
In the past 100 years February has been colder than January 48 times. The
lowest temperature recorded in the country was 11th February 1895,
it was
-10.9degC 12degF
Let us hope that Spring
will arrive very shortly to cheer us all
Glen Evans
Thame and
District
Citizens
Advice Bureau
Opening Hours
Monday 10.00am-1.00pm Open
door
1.30pm-4.00pm Appointments
Phone
advice
Tuesday 10.00am-1.00pm Appointments
Phone
advice
Wednesday Closed
Thursday Closed
Friday 10.00am-1.00pm Appointments
Phone
advice
Advice line: 01844 214827
Appointments line: 01844 217186
Wheatley
Library
Storytime
The next storytime will be held on Tuesday, 4 April
from 11.00am to 12.00noon and is open to all 4 – 8 year
olds. Please collect a FREE ticket from the library.
At the end of May we hope to have “Starting Out on
the Internet” sessions. These will be FREE and pre-bookable. More details will
be available in the library towards the end of April or telephone 01865 875267.
Why go out of the village to get your DVD or
video? Save on time and petrol. We hold special promotional offers each month
and our videos/DVDs can be kept for one week. We have a large selection
available or we can order titles from other branches for you.
Carole Underwood
Library Manager
M40 Chilterns Environmental Group
The Highways Agency recognises that traffic noise
is a big problem for a many of us living along the M40 between Junctions 3
(Loudwater) and 7 (Milton Common). To
gauge the extent of the problem, it will be assessing noise levels at a number
of locations and will, hopefully, recommend appropriate remedial treatment –
quiet surfaces, barriers, maybe even both.
All to the good, you may say, but don’t hold your breath – they don’t
expect to have a budget for any activity until 2011 at the earliest!
It is important to know the views of those who are
suffering from this problem before decisions on surfaces or barriers are made
BUT who exactly are you and where do you actually live?
To find the answers, we want to carry out our own
noise monitoring, without having to rent expensive equipment or stand on windy
footpaths or bridges for hours on end.
In fact, our sort of monitoring can be done at the front door or in the
garden, day and night, and you can involve your neighbours too - the more
results, the better!
We need to plot the relative M40 noise levels
throughout the whole of our parishes, not just adjacent to the motorway
itself. It may be unscientific but even
a wholly subjective judgement will tell us a great deal about the actual extent
of this noise problem.
Here’s how it works.
1. Judge the noise level, as you
experience it, on a scale of 1 (no noise at all) to 5 (can’t hear myself
think). Ideally, do it once in the day
and again at night. Note the day and
time and, if possible, the wind direction.
2. E-mail your findings and village location and postcode to: M40cc@btinternet.com. If you don’t have e-mail, please ask a
friend to send the results for you because it is important.
What happens then? We collate the results received from the
various parishes affected and draw up our own “noise footprint” map showing the
areas of most and least noise. We then
compare our findings to those from the Highways Agency to get an overall
picture of the problem.
Hope to hear from you!
Ross Osborn
Great Milton
C of E Primary School
www.great-milton.oxon.sch.uk
With Christmas now a distant memory and spring
(nearly) ready to “spring” the School has already had a very busy 2006.
Comenius Project. In
September 2005 a new member of staff began to teach French across the school.
This has been a very popular addition to the curriculum! As a further step
towards broadening our horizons we welcomed visiting teachers from three
partner schools in Europe. These
schools are in Weissach in Germany, Livorno in Italy and Huelva in Spain.
Together we have
now planned the initial
stages of a joint project which will enable our communities to share
the similarities and differences of our lives, celebrations, interests and
environments. This venture will span the
next three years and in this time there will be exchanges of work between the
children in the partner schools and visits between schools for staff and others
also.
The
Great Milton
after School Club which has been
running for almost a year now. The club can accommodate “drop-ins” as well as
planned weekly places. The children have a wide range of activities ranging
from “Art and Craft” to outdoor treasure hunts and seasonal activities. They
have a snack which they make from a range of healthy options. The cost is £7.00
per session with a concession for families. The club will also be running
“holiday” sessions during the Easter, Whit, and Summer School Holidays. Please
contact the school for more information.
Charity. The collection money from the Christmas Carol Service has
been sent to Helen House and the Paynter Home Orphanage in Sri Lanka. This was decided by the school council, who have
expressed an interest in continuing to support the Orphanage. Classes 1 and 3
raised money for Marie Curie Cancer Research with their daffodil mini pots of
care.
The
Sensory
Garden
project was launched on Thursday, 9
March with a Garden Tea. Thank you to class 1 for their delicious scones and
those children from class 6 who served refreshments.
Caretaker. The School is looking for a cleaner to work 22.5 hours per
week (out of school hours). Enquiries to the school on 01844 279388.
Friends of Great Milton School.
The Friends have been VERY busy since
the start of the school year organising three fantastic events. In October we held our first “Gorgeous
Goodies” shopping evening which provided some wonderful retail therapy. Hot on its heels was our Firework and Music
Evening which gets even more spectacular each year. To round
off 2005, the Christmas Cracker, a
party for the children and parents of the school, was our biggest ever. We were delighted to present a donation to
the School and were overwhelmed by the response of the children to the “big
cheque”. Our thanks to Le Manoir,
Countax, Waterstock Golf Club, as well as all the other local businesses for
their support, and of course, to the children and parents of the school for
joining us at all our events.
Friends Diary Dates. 20 May - Spring Fete and Fun Day, 13 October - Gorgeous
Goodies Too (Crafts and Indulgence), 3 Nov – Fireworks and Music Evening
The
school web site has had a facelift. It will be kept updated throughout the
year with articles and pictures of activities taking place at the school. The
web site can be viewed at www.great-milton.oxon.sch.uk.
Mark Stoker (Governor)
CAN YOU DONATE SOME OF YOUR TIME TO US?
The
Anthony Nolan Trust is a charity that runs a register of potential bone marrow
donors for patients suffering from illnesses such as leukaemia.
We’re
currently looking for volunteers with office skills to help us out with a busy
summer of fundraising that lies ahead.
If
you have a day or even a couple of hours to spare each week we’d love to hear
from you.
We
are based at 1
Ashurst Court, London Road, Wheatley, although we would be willing to pay
reasonable travelling expenses.
For
more details please call 01865 875757 and ask for Christine Chatfield. Charity no:803716
GREAT HASELEY
AND DISTRICT HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
The Society was started in Great Haseley in the 50’s
but has been a joint society shared by all the surrounding villages for many
years, with members and committee members from the whole district. We are truly
an inter-village society.
Our original purpose was to put on an annual
traditional horticultural show in August every year, but the society is now
active all the year round.
Advantages of
joining the Society
·
Newsletter sent three times a year
·
Receive the Schedule for the Show and entry to classes for adults and
children
·
Advance notice of winter lectures on garden and garden design subjects
·
Private visits in the summer to gardens of interest, some not open to
the public
·
Seeds at 30% discount from Mr Fothergill Seeds - worth the membership
fee alone!
The Annual Show is held on August Bank Holiday
Saturday, has many keen competitors, but also plenty of novices and people who
just enjoy the fun of entering. There are classes for photography, cookery,
crafts as well as the flower and vegetable classes. There is a thriving and
growing children’s section with hot competition amongst the children! The Show
rotates round the local villages and is held in a different village each year.
The annual membership fee is
only £3.
Why not join us to enjoy
some of our activities through the year and see what an enthusiastic lively
society we are!
For further information contact Membership Secretary
Sally Orriss at The Old Stores, Great Milton OX44 7NL or on 01844 279231.
This year the show
will be held in the beautiful setting of Rycote Park on Saturday 26th
August at 2pm and we need lots
of entries so get growing!
Here are a few tips for April
Vegetables - Plant onion sets, you can buy these from the
garden centre, they are very easy to grow.
Earth up new potatoes as soon as shoots appear, cover with fleece if
night frosts are forecast. If you are
growing potatoes in a bucket to enter in the show remember to have some
drainage holes in the bottom of your bucket.
Herbs - Now is the time to plant herbs, parsley,
coriander and chive. Small growing pots
from the supermarket can be planted out in the garden, this gives you a head
start and works well. Plant mint in a
pot sunk into the ground as it takes over.
Prune winter and spring flowering shrubs after
flowering e.g. forsythia, early clematis, viburnum. They will flower next year on the new growth.
Keep on top of the weeds with regular
hoeing. Try mulching thickly with
compost or wood chip to prevent regrowth and conserve moisture, as we are told
water will be in short supply this summer.
GARDEN VISITS FOR 2006
Court Farm, Worminghall, Thursday 15
June
at 6.30pm
We
have organised a repeat visit to this wonderful garden after our very
successful visit last August. We were all so impressed by the beautiful borders
filled with wonderful plants and the amazing vegetable garden that we have
asked Phil Kusmishko, the Head Gardener, for a further guided tour - but at a
different time of year - to see what the garden is like in June.
This
is a quite fabulous garden and created with such artistry - if you didn’t come
last time, do come - it is not to be missed!
Members £2 Non
members £3
Ryton Organic Gardens, Saturday 15 July
We
have organised a coach to take us to the Ryton Organic gardens, home of HYDRA
the organic organisation, near Coventry.
Here
there are 30 gardens in 10 acres, that
illustrate how to grow organically. There are special gardens for vegetables,
flowers, fruit, herbs, wildflowers, roses, trees, children’s garden,
composting, organic control of pests and diseases.
We
are also lucky that we have arranged for the visit to coincide with the Wine and Food Fair weekend when we can
taste and buy organic products as well as cookery demonstrations, talks and
garden tours.
There
is also a garden café or restaurant to have lunch, or you can take a picnic.
The
coach will pick up at Great Haseley Village Hall and Great Milton School at 9.30am
and return at approximately 6.00pm
Cost:
transport by coach and entry to gardens and wine and food fair
Members
: £12.50 Non
members: £15.50
There
is a limit of 36 for this visit and all bookings must be paid for in advance.
Le Manoir Great Milton Gardens - Wednesday 6 Sept & Thursday 7
Sept at 6.00pm
A
visit to Le Manoir, to see the garden and vegetable garden in its late summer
glory. We will be taken round by Anne Marie Owens, the Head Gardener. She would
prefer small groups, so we have arranged for two groups, on successive nights
in September.
There
is a limit of 10 people for each group.
Members
£2 Non Members £3
Please
contact Mary Isaac on 01844 279606 or maryisaac606@hotmail.com
for further information or to make a booking.
Benson 10k Road Race
Sunday, 9 April 2006, 10.30am
It’s time to put those trainers on and get
your entries in for the third Benson 10k Road Race starting from Benson Parish
Hall. Money raised will go to local charity groups. £2,500 was raised in 2005.
All finishers will receive a medal, a hot cross bun, sponsored by Cottage
Kitchen of Benson, and a jar of honey sponsored by Rowse’s Honey of Wallingford.
Entry forms are available from Benson shops
and www.bensonbulletin.com.
For more details please contact Les Bond on
01491 838585 or email benson10k@btinternet.com
Where do old
computers go?
What happens
to computers taken to recycling centres in Oxfordshire?
There have been items in the media recently about
computers being dismantled in India, China etc by people
working in conditions that are hazardous both to them and to the environment.
The computers left at Redbridge are collected by a
company called DTC, who in turn take them to a prison in Nottinghamshire, where
they are broken down into their individual components.
The reusable bits are used to build computers for
local schools and the non-reusable items are recycled. Some of this recyclate
may be bought on the open market, so could be transported outside of the UK – only as a single
recyclate stream, not as a whole computer.
All of the other Waste Recycling Centres collect
TVs and monitors and these stay within the UK, where they are recycled.
CAG Oxfordshire
Newington Nurseries
Spring is here!
This is the month to turn thoughts into action in the garden.
Gearing up for spring is great fun, made even better by the choice of shrubs on
offer that will give sure-fire colour in the coming weeks.
Pieris japonica is a real winner. This compact shrub is one of the
hardiest and easiest pieris to grow. It produces lovely, glossy evergreen
foliage and fabulous flowers that develop in gorgeous clusters at the tips of
shoots in early spring. Planting in combination with colourful early
perennials is an effective way of setting off the white pieris flowers.
For example, spring bulbs and heathers make good companion plants.
The great thing about pieris is that the evergreen foliage offers
structural benefits all year round, particularly in winter and early spring
when beds and borders can look bare. Great in a shrub border or a
woodland garden, Pieris japonica comes from an acid-loving family. However, its
compact size means that if you don't have acid soil, container growing in
ericaceous compost is a practical way of bringing the benefits of pieris
to your garden. This plant is also very well suited to smaller
gardens.
Best results in terms of flowering will come if you're able to plant in
a sunny position but it will be happy enough in dappled shade. Moist
soils are ideal with moderate levels of fertility. Fully grown, Pieris
japonica can reach a height and spread of 4m and 3m respectively.
Maintenance couldn't be simpler - a light trim following flowering to remove
any untidy shoots is all that's required.
There are few things better than being outside during the glorious afternoons
we sometimes get around now. The blackbirds and thrushes keep us company
with their songs and squabbles, glad to leave winter behind. Make a promise
to yourself to enjoy as many of these times as you can - and plant some spring
flowering shrubs as well!
For more inspiration and advice, visit Newington Nurseries on the A329
just outside Stadhampton.
Tel: 01865 400533 ~ www.newington-nurseries.co.uk
Easter Activities Programme for
Young People 2006
For information
contact SODC Leisure
Tel: 01491
823417
Email: leisure@southoxon.gov.uk
Website:
www.southoxon.gov.uk
