TIDDINGTON WITH ALBURY & MILTON COMMON
_______________________________________________
U From the editor
Best wishes for a good
2004.
It seems to have gone a
little quiet after all the festivities over Christmas and the New Year, but the
Village Hall Committee has arranged for a couple of live performances to come
soon – Band of Two on 7 February (see page 5 for details) and Instant Wit on 20
March (see page 10)
A way to keep our bodies
in trim is a spot of yoga (details on page 7) and for our brains the meetings
on science at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (page 9) – and something new –
card parties (page 7)!
Zena Knight
Blood Donor Clinic – questionnaire
You may remember seeing this in the last edition of the Newsletter.
Two residents of Tiddington expressed interest and returned their coupons to
Sue at the Garage. I also received a telephone call from Imago Publishing in Albury, who had several of their personnel willing to come
to Tiddington rather than Thame,
to give this very important life saving service.
My thanks to the few,
but unfortunately this is a far cry from the 100 needed, and so with regret, it
will not be possible for us to provide this facility in Tiddington.
Janet Willis
Poppy Collection November 2003
Once again every house
in Tiddington and Albury
was visited and boxes were placed in The Fox, Tiddington
Garage and Caravan Site and the grand total amounted to £287.01.
Many
thanks to all.
Pam Byrne, Freda
Brown,
Joan
Manning and Pam Morris.
NCH – National Children’s Homes
Thank you to all who contributed through the home collection boxes, in achieving the total of £135.00.
Your continued support
enables 460 NCH projects, located throughout the
Jennie Sherlock-Williams
Parish Council News
Precept – the Council agreed a precept of £8,800.00 for the financial year 2004/2005.
Footpaths – the County Council has asked for
information on the nature of improvements required to the rights of way network
in the parish. This is in response to a Government initiative. As a result, the
Councillors Ken Field, John Nowell-Smith and William Tremayne and the Clerk walked all the designated footpaths
over a period of two mornings and were joined by Tony Clark from the Ramblers
Association. They will be reporting back to the County Council with suggestions
for improvements and modifications.
Pelican crossing – the Council hopes
that the County Council will consider the project and include it in the next
financial year starting in April, but there is no guarantee, even if the Parish
Council were to contribute £10,000.00 towards it. Needless to say, the Parish
does not have the funds to promise such a figure.
Milton Common notice board – no objections
were received to the siting of a board and it has since been ordered and
delivered. Erection will take place shortly.
Tiddington with Albury Parish Council Members
Chairman John Nowell-Smith 339650
Econ.development,
businesses
Vice Chairman William Tremayne 279797
Public transport,
planning, highways,
footpaths,
street furniture
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 Janet Willis 339415
Environment,
conservation, recycling,
waste
Clerk Zena Knight 339340
24 Albury
View, Tiddington
Thame Area Forum – the meeting scheduled for 26 January was cancelled and apologies to those who put the date in their diaries!
Payments – membership of the Society of Local Council Clerks was renewed for 2004.
From the Chairman
A very happy New Year to everybody. Let us hope that 2004 is a trouble-free year.
There will, of course, be problems arising from time to time and if these affect you, please do not hesitate to make them known to the Parish Council. As Alan says below, do come to the Council meetings to have your say and air your grievances.
John Nowell-Smith
Chairman
From a Parish Councillor
Ok, so I've
put it off long enough, it's my turn to write a piece for the Tiddington Newsletter as one of your Parish Councillors.
I've been a
Parish Councillor for about 5 years and I'm pleased to say I've enjoyed almost
every minute of it. I still think many people don't even know that the Parish
Council exists, well let me tell you, it does! The Parish Council operates for
a number of reasons. We do our best to feed the views of villagers “up the
chain” to District and County Council level. We endeavour to help and support
villagers on planning matters. We also manage the spending of the Parish
Council's funding. For example we subsidise public transport costs for our
pensioners and pay for the upkeep of the playing field. The money is also used
to buy new village facilities such as the bus shelter outside The Fox.
Unfortunately,
we also have to use the money to pay towards the cost of repairs, many of which
are needed as a result of needless acts of vandalism.
For example, the tiles on the old bus shelter roof were deliberately damaged
last year and these will have to be replaced. Even with generous donations of
“free” labour we still have the cost of new tiles. The Village Hall continues
to get its fair share of damage but hopefully the new CCTV will help the police
with their work. It's a real shame that money which should be spent on the
village as a whole, is having to be used to simply
repair damage caused by the small minority.
OK, time to
be more positive! Please remember the Parish Council is there for you. All
monthly meetings are open to members of the public and you can come along and
have your say. It's amazing how few people come, but when they do it's always a
great way of getting people to open up and let them say what they want to say.
The Councillors are there to help and lend support. Zena, the Clerk also sifts
through the information which comes in from all sorts of places and passes it
on through the Councillors and the regular newsletters. Just remember we're
here to help; if it's a tree you think needs cutting back because it's
dangerous and don't know who to talk to or you have a suggestion for new
village facilities, please come along on the 1st Monday of every month to the
Village Hall at
Solarsavers
Solar
water heating at discounted prices for your home
§
Free
energy for your home
§
Save
money all the year round
§
Works
even on cloudy days
§
Reduce
pollution
Supported by District and County Councils in the
For
further information
call 0800 107 0044 or visit the website www.solarsavers.co.uk
Now on a
personal level, compared to most people, I'm still a newcomer to this village,
having lived here for just 7 years. Joyce and I really enjoy the village life
and always look forward to the various activities (mainly social) that go on.
When I used to work in
Alan
Stratton
Parish
Councillor
Refuse skips
Skips are available every Saturday at:
8.00 – 12.00
1st
& 3rd Saturday for garden waste
2nd
& 4th Saturday for non-recyclables
Thame Cattlemarket
8.00 – 12.00
or until full
From your
New proposals have come from the Boundary Commission to change some of the County Council boundaries. At the moment Tiddington, Waterperry and Waterstock come under the Wheatley division that I have been representing for the last ten years. Under the new plans, that would cease to be the case, and your village, together with Waterperry and Waterstock would be in the Chalgrove division.
The proposals are by no
means final, and the County Council is considering them and will send back a
considered view to the Boundary Commission. They will then come back with a
final recommendation. Any changes would not come into effect until the next
I am writing about this
for two reasons. Firstly, I would like to know the views of people in this
area, so that I can report them as part of the consultation process. Secondly,
I would like to assure people that, whatever the outcome, I will continue to
work as diligently for Tiddington, Waterperry and Waterstock as for
the rest of the division that is not being considered for changes. A Councillor
can, anyway, only be sure of representing any or all of their ward or division
up until the next election, and so there will be no difference to the way I
serve the electorate in the various villages.
I have enjoyed working
with the villages east of Wheatley, and they do give a more balanced feel to an
area that is otherwise quite close to Oxford, but we must wait and see what the
final decision is.
With very best wishes for 2004
Tel: 01865 351404
The Cottage,
Anne Purse
Church News
The big news is the
licensing of Caroline King, our new House for Duty Priest. This will take place
in the Church on Sunday, 15 February at
Caroline will be known
to many of you, as she has taken several services here and has been active,
home visiting as part of her job as Curate at Wheatley. We can consider
ourselves very fortunate that she is taking up this new position. The nature of
her job and her responsibilities are described in the note from James Watson,
Team Rector, which appears below.
John Nowell-Smith
339650
From the Team Rector
As announced in
December, we are pleased to welcome the Revd Caroline King as the new priest
responsible for the parishes of Albury, Holton, Waterperry and Waterstock.
Caroline begins her ministry on 15 February, when she is licensed by
the Bishop of Dorchester at St Helen’s, Albury.
To all intents and
purposes Caroline will exercise her ministry in the parishes just like any
other vicar, but it is important for people to recognise that her appointment
is not full-time. By virtue of living in the vicarage rent free (but without
stipend), she will work for the equivalent of two days per week plus Sundays.
As seems to happen with part-time jobs, they soon become three quarter-time and
even full-time jobs when they are performed by people who are conscientious.
Caroline is such a person and so I hope that you, her congregation, will help
to ensure that she will be able to maintain, as far as possible, the correct
balance between work and home. As we all want Caroline and her family to
flourish in all aspects of their new life, I would ask people to be aware of
the part-time nature of her appointment.
Finally, I would like to
thank everyone in the parishes for holding the fort during the interregnum.
When a parish has no priest, a lot of work is carried out by the churchwardens
and lay officers of the church and I have been touched by the dedication which
church members have shown to make sure that the life of the parishes has
continued much as before.
James Watson
Wheatley Team
Ministry
See over for Church Services
|
Church
Services |
Albury |
Holton |
Waterperry |
Waterstock |
|
1
February |
Holy
Communion |
Holy
Communion |
Holy
Communion |
Evening
Prayer |
|
8
February |
Matins |
|
Holy
Communion |
Holy
Communion |
|
15
February |
Morning
Prayer |
Holy
Communion |
|
|
|
22
February |
Holy
Communion |
Family
Communion |
Evening
Prayer |
Holy
Communion |
|
29
February |
Cluster
Service Venue
and time to be decided |
|
|
7
March |
Holy
Communion |
To
be advised |
|
14
March |
Matins |
|
|
21
March |
Morning
Prayer |
|
|
28
March |
Holy
Communion |
|
Weather statistics
October
Pleasant
month with 26 rain free days.
Highest temperature on 9th
was 66degF 19degC
Coldest
day on 30th with 38degF 4degC.
Temperatures for this month have been close to the 100 year highs.
The highest temperature
in Tiddington was on the 7th, reaching
60degF 16degC. This was one of the
highest in the country.
There were 15 days when
we had rain, and 4 nights of frost.
December
According to statistics, December has got colder in the last three decades.
We had 6 days of frost
and 15 days of night frost.
The coldest was 24degF -4degC on the 9th.
So far we have had 12 days of rain.
The highest temperature
was on 6th and 7th with 50degF 11degC and we have had 6 days of frost.
The price of crude oil
has been going up, due to a large extent to the
Many places in the Mid
West have had temperatures of –20degC. The thought of it is enough!
2003 was only the fifth
warmest on record.
Highest temperature was 101.3degF 38.5degC.
The hottest year was
1999.
2004 is predicted to be
the warmest ever.
Glen Evans
United
Neighbours In Tiddington
Our annual Dinner Dance
on 6 December was yet again a very pleasant and successful evening, enjoyed by
seventy plus members, partners and friends, and was a good start to the holiday
period.
The usual Christmas card
delivery was well-used and made extra money for our charities (amount to be
confirmed at the AGM).
Our Christmas Meeting
was yet again in party mood following a demonstration of a makeover and a range
of Body Shop products.
Our February meeting is
on the 24th and March on the 23rd.
If you need more
information about our club please contact Josie Adams, Julie Smith or any
committee member.
Pat Wise
Card parties
Are you interested in hosting a card party at home or in a
local venue?
Birthday cards, invitations,
wrapping paper, notelets and cards for all occasions
at reasonable prices.
If you are then please contact Louise for more information
or a brochure.
07776476965
01844 339671
Waterstock & Tiddington
W.I.
At our December meeting we were in festive mood with sherry and seasonal refreshments provided by the committee members. The atmosphere was greatly enhanced by the sight of the Village Hall already beautifully decorated for Christmas. We had entertainment from the “Bakehouse Buskers”, a group of three who had put together a programme of ancient and modern literary readings and sketches, all with a Christmas flavour.
In January we met Mrs Betty Collins, an amazing lady of
64 who had rafted down the
In a change to the published programme, we will have a talk by Mrs Patsy Dudley on 12th February entitled “A house, a family, a business”. It is the history of a local family in Thame and their old house in the Upper High Street. The competition is for a yellow object.
On 11th March we hold our Annual Meeting and the competition will be for an article connected with zebras.
Several members will be attending three music taster
sessions organised by the
Four members are also visiting
A forward date for members to put in their diaries – the
Group Meeting in
Our monthly meetings are held in Tiddington
Village Hall on the second Thursday in the month at
Zena Knight
Anyone for Yoga?
It has been suggested by a good friend of
mine in Tiddington that the village may appreciate a
Yoga class. With this suggestion in mind I would like to do a Taster class in
the Village Hall to establish how many people would be interested in attending
a regular class, to take place every week.
If you are interested – please come along
with your comfortable clothing and floor mat or blanket on:
Wednesday, 4th February at
Tiddington Village Hall
Yvonne Cartwright
Tel: 01844 279205
News from
Orchids
are the ultimate exotic houseplant and – with Valentine’s Day upon us again –
the most unusual and romantic gift.
“But
don’t such elegant plants demand a lot of attention, and aren’t those delicate
blooms short lived?” It’s a question we are often asked at the nursery. The
answer is that, while there are orchids that need controlled environments, many
others will bloom for months in the average living room, kitchen or bathroom.
And with at least 25,000 species and more than 110,000 man-made hybrids, there
is quite a selection to choose from!
For
sure-fire success choose a Cymbidium (Wind Orchid) or a Phalaenopsis
(Moth Orchid). These are incredibly popular now so you will have no trouble
finding either.
For
something more unusual, but still easy, try the following:-
Brassia (Spider
Orchid)
The
fragrant yellow flowers of this plant have long, thin petals with green and
brown markings. For full impact, grow it in a hanging basket, give it plenty of
light, and keep it cool and moist during the summer.
Dendrobium
This
is another orchid that loves cooler conditions, lots of light, plenty of water
in summer and less in the winter. It produces several flower stems carrying
sprays of flowers in various colours that are, again, best displayed in a
hanging basket.
Epidendrum (Crucifix
Orchid)
This
rampant grower produces aerial roots and pendant flower stems up to two metres
long. So, again, it’s ideal in a hanging basket. It will survive with very
little attention. Give it good light, a minimum temperature of 12 degrees
centigrade and, for even better results, feed it during the summer.
Zygopetalum (Ladybird
Orchid)
The
unusual green, brown and purple blooms on this sweetly scented orchid normally
appear in spring and autumn. This plant likes dappled shade and lots of water
in summer and good light in winter.
Basically,
the rules are simple. They may look precious, but with care, orchids will bloom
for months –and live forever!
§
Newington
Nurseries is on the A329 just outside Stadhampton
§
Tel: 01865
400533
Tiddington Cricket Club
Now that Christmas and New
Year have been safely negotiated and daylight hours are getting longer, we
begin to turn our thoughts to another summer’s cricket.
Thankfully we have not
had a repeat of last year’s dreadful flooding on New Year’s Day, as this put
back pitch preparation, only to be followed by
the drought at the end of the summer. Hopefully the mild
autumn and winter
(so far) will give better wickets during the summer.
Club teams continue a
winter season of Aunt Sally, Cribbage and Darts, of which the men’s “A” team
are still in the Knock-out competition.
Pre-season indoor nets
have been booked at
Sunday 7th
March
Sunday 21st
March
Sunday 28th
March
Sunday 4th
April 1-2pm
We also plan to repeat
last year’s indoor fitness sessions on Thursday evenings starting on 4th
March, with four further sessions. Times and venue are currently being
finalised.
New players and members are most welcome. Please contact me or enquire at the club bar (open Thursday through to Sunday evenings and Sunday lunchtime)
Ray Manning
Tiddington Village Hall
The Village Hall
Christmas events once again proved a great success. Thanks to
all those who helped and supported the Bingo, which raised over £400.00 and the
two Christmas parties on the 20th of December.
The next Village Hall
event features a duo called Band of Two,
who perform a wide selection of Celtic songs from artists such as Van Morrison,
The Pogues, Christy Moore, The Dubliners, Ralf McTell and many more. It takes place at the Village Hall on
Saturday, 7th February at
On 20th March there will be the welcome return of “Instant Wit”, a live version of “Who’s line is it anyway?”
It may well be eleven
months away, but we do plan to have another Village Hall New Year’s Eve Party
this year. However we need your input. Please feel free to pass on your
comments to me or any other committee member about what kind of party you would
like – fancy dress? winter BBQ? it’s
up to you!
Alan Stratton
Chairman
CCLRC
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Free public lectures
13 February
Explore the world of the very small with Professor Tony Ryan. Recommended for age 11 and over.
12 March 7pm Creating faces
Facial reconstruction with Dr Caroline
Wilkinson. Recommended for age 9 and over.
To reserve a place contact Lisa Faircloth Tel: 01235 445789
Free Open Day
24 March
Suitable for age 16 years and over
To reserve a place contact Emma Gilgunn-Jones
on 01235 445553
Great Haseley Baby and Toddler Group
This group meets every Thursday during term time (including half term week) from 10.15 to 11.45 in Great Haseley Village Hall, and despite Great Haseley being in our name, the group is attended by people from other villages such as the Miltons, Stadhampton and Rycote. We have mats and baby toys for the youngest attendees and a range of other toys – slide, cooker, ride on toys, dressing up, to name a few, for the older or more mobile children.
We have snacks for the children, served at a table half way through the morning, and refreshments for the grown ups, and most sessions end with some songs. Periodically we have a more closely supervised activity of some sort, such as play dough or puzzles. At the end of each term we have a “party” session. We also aim to meet up in the evenings every so often (grown ups only!) in order to have complete conversations.
You can attend as many or as few times as you wish and it all costs just £1.00 per session, with your first visit being free.
If you are caring for a pre-school age child (or children) do come along one Thursday and try us out.
For any further information, please contact Denise on 01844 279810 or Caroline on 279762.
WHEATLEY LIBRARY
Happy New Year from us all at the Library.
To help the cold dark evenings pass more quickly, during the month of February, we are offering 3 videos/DVDs for the price of 2. So do come along and visit us.
There will be a storytime for 4-8 year olds on Tuesday, 17th February. FREE tickets must be collected in advance.
For your convenience, our opening times are as follows:-
Tuesday 2.00 – 7.00
Wednesday 9.30 – 1.00 2.00 – 5.00
Thursday 2.00 – 5.00
Friday 9.30 – 1.00 2.00 – 6.00
Saturday 9.30 – 1.00
Tel: 01865 875267
Carole Underwood
Library Manager