# From the editor
A happy New Year to
everyone.
It is good to see the
new Cricket Pavilion taking shape and soon the refurbishment project on the
Village Hall will be starting. Let’s hope for reasonable weather so that work
does not get held up.
Meanwhile to cheer us up
in the dark winter days, see details of a quiz evening on 10 February on page 6
and a dance evening on 3 March on page 8.
Zena Knight
Carol Evening
Thank
you to all who supported the Carol Evening. I am pleased to report that the
proceeds amounted to £391.50 which has been forwarded to Cancer Research UK. This money will be used
for research work at the Churchill Hospital.
Anne
Edwards
Food for Thought
Have
you a favourite or family recipe you would like to share with the readers of this
newsletter? If so, please email me (johnorman@aol.com)
or post through my letter box (Spring Cottage, Thame Road) Look out for the Recipe
Page in the next issue.
Janet
Willis
Milton
Common
NHW (West
Side)
Distraction
burglaries start us off in 2007.
There has been an increase since Christmas in the
waterboard distraction burglary method used across the Thames
Valley.
Usual excuses used are that it is an EMERGENCY, or that
there is a BURST PIPE and entry is needed to TURN OFF THE WATER or RUN THE
TAPS.
Please remember that there is no such thing as the
waterboard and residents should be reminded that, under no circumstances should
they allow anyone unexpected entry into their homes. Please
look out for your elderly friends and neighbours. Thank
you to all who took part in Dog Watch over the Christmas period, which again
was very successful. All dogs will be receiving a small reward. I have a new
NHW Holiday Year Planner 2007, so when you have planned your breaks and
holidays – please let me know. If anyone else wants to join the NHW Oil group –
please call.
Elaine
Horne
NHW
Co-ordinator M/C
01844
279520
Parish Council News
Pelican crossing – despite recent
setbacks, the Parish Council is still pressing for the decision not to go ahead
with the previously proposed pelican crossing to be overturned. It has been
decided to form a separate action group to concentrate on this. If you would
like to support this initiative, please contact the Clerk or Chairman.
Planning matters – outline planning
permission is being sought for the site of the Lantern Service Station, Milton
Common, comprising of a residential development of seven dwellings, including
affordable housing. The Parish Council refused the application as it stands on
the grounds of amenity considerations, traffic generation, parking and safety.
Financial matters – the draft budget was
discussed and approved, and included provision of £500 for funding the Milton
Common website, £500 for Tiddington Cricket Club pavilion and £1,000 towards
the Village Hall refurbishment. A precept of £9,225 was submitted for 2007/08.
Community policing – Inspector Stewart
Dunbar and his colleague, Sgt Mike Todd, attended our meeting in December to
discuss community policing. Neighbourhood policing is to be reorganised into
five areas, with Tiddington falling into the Wheatley and Chalgrove area, and
the Parish Council will be kept advised of progress. As always, the police are
keen to liaise closely with, and with the support of, local communities in
reducing and reporting local incidents. Inspector Dunbar
confirmed that the community officer for Milton Common is Abby Derbyshire. The
08458 505505 number remains a 24/7 service.
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,
transport
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 Jenny Stoker 339709
Thelma Cottage,
Tiddington
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: 339709) and documents viewed by appointment. Any copies
required will be charged at 10p per page.
Green Bins
for recycling
Remember these may be collected free from Tiddington
Garage
Refuse skips
Skips for non-recyclable waste are available
on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays at:
Wheatley Primary School, Littleworth
Road
8.00 – 12.00 or until full
Skips for non-recyclable waste are
available every Saturday at:
Thame Cattlemarket
8.00 – 12.00 or until full
There are no longer skips for garden waste
From your
Chairman
A very happy New
Year.
On 3 May there
will be local authority elections including elections of Parish Councils in our
District. All Parish Councillors will resign and a new Council elected.
Existing Councillors will be eligible for re-election.
Full details of
the election process will be sent out nearer the date, so this note is just to
stimulate your interest.
Tiddington is
entitled to six Councillors and if there are not more than that number of
candidates, those standing will automatically be elected; if there are more,
there will be an election. The term of office is four years although you can
resign earlier. The Council meets once a month, currently on the first Monday
of the month at 8.00pm in
the Village Hall. The office is unpaid.
If you are
interested in standing or would like any further information, please contact me
on 01844 339650.
John Nowell-Smith
From the
Vicar
Happy New Year.
We had a lovely
Christmas at St Helen’s, the church was beautifully decorated and it was great
to see so many of you on Christmas Eve and for the first time for our
Christingle Service and the afternoon activities the day before. We believe
this church is vital to the life of the village. We are a small friendly
congregation and we meet for worship every Sunday at 9.30am. Over the last
eighteen months it has been especially heartening to see small increases in our
weekly congregations and also to have held a number of services and activity
afternoons that are particularly appropriate for young children and families.
We would dearly love to continue and even do more of these.
Despite being away from
the centre of Tiddington we are a Village church in the truest sense of the
word and every member of the parish has the right to be baptised, married for
the first time and at the end of life to have a funeral service followed by
burial in the churchyard or ashes following a committal in the crematorium. It
is also possible for services of thanksgiving following significant wedding
anniversaries. As vicar I am delighted to take these services and enjoy meeting
you and sharing these special family moments with you.
We have exciting plans
for the future; we would like to make the church warmer and even more
welcoming. To do this we need to improve our heating and do outside stonework,
making the building much more weatherproof. Unfortunately the costs of
maintaining this lovely and friendly building and providing ministry are beyond
the means of our small but faithful congregation. This year it will cost us
nearly £155 a week just to maintain the building and fulfil our obligations to
the Diocese and the wider church. We appreciate all offers of help but if you
could help us by offering to pledge a small amount weekly it would make a huge
difference. If you can sign a Gift Aid form, so much the better. £3 a week gift
aided would make your financial gift of £156 worth about £200.
The Parochial Church
Council of St Helen’s is committed to serving God in this village, so that your
village church will be there for this and future generations. If you feel you
could offer us even a little financial support please speak to me, John
Nowell-Smith, Ken Field or Anne Edwards.
With best wishes for 2007
Caroline King
On behalf of St Helen’s, Albury
Parochial Church Council
FROM
THE REGISTERS
FUNERAL
Monday
15 January at the Crematorium
Arthur Field
May
he rest in peace.
Arthur Field
Arthur Field grew up at Draycot and attended
school at Ickford.
After leaving school he worked at the Draycot Farm
for Mr Good as a cattle man. He became a skilled hedgelayer and was justly
proud of his work round the local fields. Together with his father, they cut
rushes from the river at Ickford, which they plaited and made into mats and
baskets for sale.
He married Elsie in 1935 and they began their life
together in the cottage next to his parents at Draycot.
We moved to Tiddington during World War 2 and our
two families became firm friends.
Arthur joined in the village activities such as
the Cricket Club and served in the Home Guard.
When the new Airey houses were built after the war
ended we were rehoused and the Field family were allocated one next door.
Arthur was a keen gardener and besides growing
vegetables at the new house, he rented an allotment in Ickford Road – his onions in
particular being successful!
By this time he had left the farm and gained
employment at the Pressed Steel works in Cowley, besides serving as a barman at
The Fox.
He and Elsie enjoyed several holidays in Europe together with his
brother, Fred. Later they flew out to Australia to visit their daughter,
Anne. Sadly they lost their younger son, Laurence, after a long illness.
When the Village Hall was built in readiness for
the Coronation celebrations, Arthur joined the volunteers. Then, when the
Church roof needed retiling later on, he was once more in the gang.
For a time Arthur was a familiar figure delivering
the daily newspapers. Then his health deteriorated, his eyesight and hearing
began to fail and his faithful partner, Elsie passed away in July.
He died a month before his ninety-first birthday
and will be sadly missed by his son, Ken, four daughters and numerous
grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Dot Wood
Waterstock & Tiddington W.I.
In mid-December we had a most convivial evening in
the cosy restaurant of Common Leys Farm, Waterperry Common, when twenty six
members enjoyed a delicious dinner, pulled crackers and exchanged Christmas
presents. We felt the festive season had really started.
At our January meeting, Rick Goble, a paramedic
with the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air
Ambulance, gave a presentation on the work of the service and related some of
his experiences. Members were very moved by his talk and it was resolved that
the proceeds of the raffle which we will be holding at the Quiz Evening on 10
February will go towards this charity.
On 8 February, Margaret Deakin will give a talk on
New
England:
from history to foliage. We shall also have a sales table, a chance for members
to sell any unwanted goods and give a percentage of the selling price to
Institute funds. Nominations for committee will also be invited.
In March our Annual Meeting is likely to be on
Wednesday, 7 March in the bar area of the Hall, if the building project goes
according to plan. Further details later.
The County Federation will also be holding
their AGM in March, on the 27th, and members will have the chance to
hear a speaker, Gabriela Leonowicz, who is an ex-policewoman and ukulele player
with a great sense of humour. She will “peep behind the Iron Curtain”. Members
are invited to apply for tickets through the Institute.
If you haven’t yet booked a ticket for the Quiz
Evening on 10 February, they are selling fast. Either make up a team of eight
or come on the night and join a table. Bring your own supper and drinks. We
look forward to seeing you.
Over the last few months we have welcomed four new
members and our meetings are held on the second Thursday in the month at 7.30pm in Tiddington Village
Hall. Visitors are very welcome.
Zena Knight
Tel: 339340
0845
8 505 505
The single number for non-emergency calls
Tiddington Village Hall
December was once again a very busy and successful month for the Hall. It
was so nice to see so many people at the Annual Christmas Dinner and Dance and
then later in the month at the Christmas Bingo.
This was only the second time the Village Hall Management Committee had
organised the dinner (following the hugely successful “UNIT years”). The meal
was great and guests danced well into the night. Plans are already being made
for this year, so please make a note in your diaries for Saturday, 1 December 2007!
The Christmas Bingo was once again a big crowd puller and the profit
from the event was well over £300, which will go towards the running costs of
the Hall. On behalf of the Committee, I would like to thank everyone for
coming, and in particular all the people who helped collect the brilliant
prizes. Once again we were overwhelmed by the generosity of the villagers.
We had hoped that in 2006 we would have been able to start work on the
major building project to refurbish the toilets (adding a disabled cubicle) and
extend the kitchen to make it more practical for caterers, etc. However, due to
the delay in receiving the necessary grant money this has put our schedule back
a little. We now hope to start in March and with your help, and I mean your
help we can get the work done and completed on time and on budget. Some of you
have already said that you'd like to help and we will be contacting you shortly
with more details. In the meantime if you think you can offer anything to the
project, please give me a call or speak to the project co-ordinator: Ken Field.
Even with grants we've already got, we still need to make a significant
contribution from our own funds. Our next fundraising event is going to be on
Saturday 3rd March. With the popularity of the BBC TV series Strictly Come
Dancing, we thought we'd offer you some live dancing in the Village Hall with
the option to have a go yourself if you like. We've got a small group from
Bicester coming to demonstrate and teach Modern Jive and West Coast Swing. In
addition to this, there will be time for the traditional ballroom and sequence
dances. Please do not feel you have to dance, we just want people to come and
enjoy themselves, be it dancing or simply watching. The tickets are just £5 and
we're asking people to contribute towards an American Supper buffet. Please call
me to book your tickets or speak to any committee member. Looking forward to an
entertaining evening!
With best wishes for 2007.
Alan Stratton
Chairman
Tiddington Village
Hall Committee
Tiddington Cricket
Club
Despite all the recent
ravages the weather has thrown at us, especially the gale force winds, the new
pavilion has survived unscathed.
External doors and
windows have been fitted to secure the building and first fix electrics are
also complete. Plastering has started, as has some decorating.
The external timber
cladding has now been fitted and gives a good indication as to the final
appearance of the building.
We believe that towards
the end of February we will be able to start work on elements of the build we
are doing ourselves. This will include refitting the bar and creating new bar
storage, fitting the new kitchen and changing room benches. We are also
responsible for all soft furnishing.
Already we have offers
of help for some of the above, but additional help will be much appreciated
(contact Chairman Gary Munson 01844 339618 for further details).
Whilst both Darts teams
no longer have interest in the Knockout competition the “A” team are currently
mid table in the singles league and lead the pair’s competition.
After the heady heights
of leading the singles league the “B” team have settled back to more customary
position in mid table and are similarly placed in the pairs league. The team is
quickly gaining a reputation as singles draw specialists.
Wednesday’s Aunt Sally
team are having an excellent season indoors and are currently leading their
league. Both Ken Field and Peter Pridmore have been amongst the top doll
scorers as reported in the Oxford Mail recently.
Monday’s Cribbage team
sit comfortably mid table in both singles and pairs leagues and it is reported
that the height of ambition for the season is socialising!
On the cricket front
pre-season nets have now been booked for Sunday’s 11th, 18th
and 25th March and 1st April at Lord Williams Lower School sports hall in Thame.
All sessions 12–2pm. Whilst all current players will be informed closer to the
time new players will be most welcome to attend these sessions.
With construction of
the new pavilion still in progress the bar will continue to open at the Village
Hall on Thursday and Friday evenings and Sunday lunchtime.
I look forward in the
next issue to being able to detail the count down to opening the new pavilion.
Ray Manning
Wheatley
Library
Opening
Hours
Tuesday 2.00pm – 7.00pm
Wednesday 9.30am – 1.00pm 2.00pm
– 5.00pm
Thursday 2.00pm – 5.00pm
Friday 9.30am –
1.00pm
2.00pm
– 6.00pm
Saturday 9.30am – 1.00pm
The
Merry Bells, High Street, Wheatley
Tel:
01865 875267
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
An Outreach session is held at
the offices of the United Reformed Church, Crown Square, Wheatley on Monday mornings
from 10.00am
To book an appointment ring the
Thame Appointments line
Newington Nurseries
Warm Winter Colours
Year-round gardening is becoming evermore popular as
people are discovering how many plants can bring the benefits of foliage,
flowers or form right from the start of the year. Beautiful plant life in
all its forms quite simply makes us feel better. Even if we don't realise
it, our bodies and minds are so much happier when they are presented with
plants. At this time of year more than any other it is essential to get
our daily allowance of green and living nature, and winter gardening is a
fantastic way of doing this.
Viburnum is a winning candidate for a place in the
winter garden. Viburnum x bodnantense flowers from late autumn into
spring and as with many winter-flowering plants has the added benefit of very
fragrant flowers. A deciduous shrub, the large clusters of small flowers develop
on bare stems and are a fabulous source of winter colour. Even on a
frosty morning, the cheerful blooms have the power to lift the spirits with the
warming impression they create.
Viburnum x bodnantense can reach a height of 3m and a
spread of 2m, so it's best positioned towards the rear of a border or in a more
open space, like a woodland garden. Look out for some star varieties:
'Charles Lamont' produces bright, pink flowers, 'Deben' bears white flowers
which flush faintly with pink during the winter months or Viburnum
grandiflorum, which is a slightly more compact shrub and bears pink-flushed
white flowers from winter to early spring. Viburnum foetens is another
slightly smaller variety and flowers from late autumn through to early spring
with pink-tinged white or pure white flowers.
To get maximum benefit from a new plant, consider
combining it with others that will help show off its best features.
Perfect planting partners for winter flowering viburnum include other
winter-flowering shrubs, or berrying plants and evergreens that can provide the
perfect backdrop to the viburnum's blooms on bare branches.
These viburnums will grow well in full sun or partial
shade, and are not fussy about soil type, as long as they are moderately
fertile, and moist but well drained. Very limited maintenance required
beyond a tidy-up after flowering to trim back any untidy shoots. Don't be
afraid to remove older branches if the plant is getting too dense, as this will
encourage additional growth of young wood that bears extra flowers.
This selection of viburnums will bring enjoyment
through the time when much of nature seems to be sleeping. Winter flowers
will 'warm' borders with their happy colours and whether you choose to do your
winter gardening from the sitting room window, or out in the garden proper, you
are sure to feel better from a little plant magic.
For more inspiration and advice, visit Newington
Nurseries on the A329 just outside Stadhampton.
Tel: 01865 400533 ~ www.newington-nurseries.co.uk