TIDDINGTON WITH ALBURY & MILTON COMMON
_______________________________________________
U From the editor
The disaster of Boxing
Day and the earthquake’s tragic consequences have touched us all and made any
New Year celebrations a subdued affair. Since then members of the Council and
many others have been saddened by the news of William Tremayne’s
death. An appreciation follows below.
This is a bumper issue
of the Newsletter, with details of quite a few activities coming up in the next
few weeks. See pages 6, 8, 10 and 12 for further details.
Spring must be in the
air!
Zena Knight
William Frederick Tremayne
William Tremayne, who died on
10 January, came to the village with his wife, Angela in 1987. They lived in
Milton Common where they called their house Heligan,
after William’s ancestors’ estate in
William was a highly valued member of the community. He
was elected to the Parish Council in 1999 and appointed Vice-Chairman in 2001.
He would surely have gone on to become Chairman. As a Parish Councillor, he was
much admired for his trenchant views, though these often brought him into
opposition with fellow councillors. Perhaps his most important contributions
related to planning, where he always looked for reasons why development should
be allowed to go ahead, rather than being stifled. He was a great believer in
the village being able to maintain its facilities and possibly even acquire new
ones; he did not want it to become stuck in a time warp. More locally his
greatest triumph was the completion of the Milton Common Sewerage Scheme. Apart
from his activity in the village, William was best known as standard bearer for
the twinning of Thame with Mompesson
in
We extend our heartfelt
sympathy to Angela and the rest of his family.
John Nowell-Smith
Parish Council News
Councillor William Tremayne
– it was with great regret that the Chairman announced at the January meeting
the death, earlier that day, of William Tremayne,
Councillor for Milton Common. An appreciation appears elsewhere in this
newsletter.
Precept 2005/06 – a precept of £9,000
for the coming financial year has been agreed, a rise of £200 on the previous
year.
Christmas tree – thanks were expressed
to all those who had been involved in erecting the Christmas tree outside Tudor
Cottage and donating both tree and electricity. It was agreed that it made a
great festive addition to the village. The Council hopes to purchase a permanent
living tree for future years.
Bus shelter refurbishment – the bus shelter
on the south side of the A418 is to be given a face-lift. It is planned to
re-instate a window on the eastern side, so that approaching buses can be
viewed from inside the shelter. Essential repairs will also be made and the
interior brightened up.
Planning – the application for storage of caravans
on the Old Station Yard has been refused by the District Council.
Tiddington with Albury Parish Council Members
Chairman John Nowell-Smith 339650
Econ.development,
businesses
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
An application has been made for the veterinary practice at Sandy Lane Farm to be re-sited on the opposite side of the road, behind the farmhouse.
Donations – recent donations have included the Oxfordshire Association for the Blind and the Three Village Car Transport Scheme, based in Great Milton and serving Great Haseley, Little Milton and now Tiddington.
Membership of the Society of Local Council Clerks has been continued.
Thame Area Forum – the next meeting will be
held on Thursday, 10 March at
Lady Mary Bertie Foundation – Zena Knight has been nominated as a Parish Council representative on the Foundation to join Ken Field. John Nowell-Smith is now the Church representative together with Anne Edwards.
From your Chairman
I hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas and New Year. Most particularly, I hope you found the village Christmas tree a good innovation. It is planned to make it a permanent feature.
Since I last wrote, the ongoing preoccupations of the Parish Council have been the possibility of the installation of a pelican crossing on the A418 and development of Station Yard. So far as the pelican crossing is concerned, we are some way down the list on the basis of the County Council’s assessment of need, although we are arguing with them on certain points, particularly on the number of pedestrian movements. We have been warned that we may be asked to make a substantial financial contribution. We have pointed out that we paid for our 30mph speed limit while other villages got theirs for free.
There have been recent developments with regard to the Station Yard. Following SODC’s refusal of planning permission for the storage of caravans, Oxfordshire County Council has indicated that it is happy to consider other uses for the site. I hope to be able to report in the next issue of the newsletter.
You will have noticed the erection of the new street light and plans to upgrade the bus shelter are under consideration.
John Nowell-Smith
Tel: 339650
Local Government Act 1972
Tiddington with Albury Parish Council
Notice of vacancy in the office of
Parish Councillor
Notice is hereby given that due to the death of William Tremayne, a casual vacancy has occurred in the office of councillor for the above Parish.
The vacancy will be filled
by election, if within fourteen days of the date of this notice,
any ten local government electors for the said parish submit a written request
to the Returning Officer, Council Offices,
In computing the fourteen days, a Saturday or Sunday shall be disregarded.
If no written request for an election is received by the Returning Officer within the time specified, the vacancy will be filled by co-option by the Parish Council
Dated this first day of February, 2005
Signed Zena Knight
Clerk to the Parish Council
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.
Easter
Rubbish and Recycling
Collections
Please note there will be no
collection on Easter Monday, 28 March.
Collection will be made on
Tuesday, 29 March
Refuse skips
Skips are available every Saturday at:
8.00 – 12.00
1st
& 3rd Saturday for garden waste
2nd
& 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
Thame Area Forum
Everyone invited to attend
From your District Councillor
The District
Council more or less closed down over the Christmas and New Year holiday, but
is slowly coming back to life. Refuse collection and recycling remains a
problem and opposition councillors are pressing the ruling group for new
arrangements, including the restoration of regular skips in smaller villages.
Other concerns centre around the ineffectual planning
enforcement regime and the organisation of the Planning Department.
The Council
will shortly be setting its budget for next year and it is anticipated that it
will lead to a small rise in Council Tax. Council tax bills may well rise
considerably in April, but, although these go out in the name of the District
Council, the increases are mainly those imposed by the County Council and the
Thames Valley Police Authority.
If you have
any concerns on either Parish or District Council matters, please feel free to
contact me by letter or by telephone.
John Nowell-Smith
The Old
Rectory
Albury
Tel:
01844 339650
Thank you so much to all
those who have a home collecting box – last year’s collections amounted to
£159.76.
This support given
enables NCH to work locally with vulnerable children, helping to overcome
problems and pressures, varying from coping with a disability to looking after
an unwell parent and being a young carer.
NCH works on over 500
projects throughout the
Jennie
Sherlock-Williams
Lady Mary Bertie Foundation
After great difficulty the problems with the above Foundation have been overcome and a cheque has been received to cover the arrears.
This Foundation dates
back to a will founded in 1737 and the income is purely a very small rent
charge on land at Tetsworth. The land in question was
taken over from the farmer by the Highways Authority when the M40 was extended.
This money is available
for the further education of boys and girls of this Parish and in more recent
years has been used to assist with books, tools, etc for this purpose.
It is proposed to hold a
meeting in mid February and if anyone is interested in applying for
consideration, they are asked to register their details with Anne Edwards,
November 2004
Once again Freda, Joan and myself managed to make a door-to-door collection around the village and with the collection boxes at The Fox, Tiddington Garage and Centre Caravans, we had a grand total of £401.83.
Thanks to everyone.
Pam Byrne
Carol Evening
May I thank everyone who supported the Carol Evening before Christmas.
I am pleased to report that the £300 mark was reached and
a cheque for £304.15 was passed to Cancer Research
May I also thank the two
gentlemen who provided the music.
Anne Edwards
From the Vicar
As
I write this letter memories of the Boxing Day Tsunami disaster and the sheer
devastation it wrought are still very recent. For some there was immediate
concern and anxiety for friends and relatives on holiday or travelling in the
affected region. Most estimates seem to suggest that upwards of 150,000 lives
were lost. Only a very small percentage
of those were British but that is still a very significant number,
and the largest single loss of British lives since the war. A disaster such as the Tsunami raises very
many questions for us all.
It
raises issues about how we can respond to such destruction spread out over such
a large number of countries. The most immediate need was for cash help and so
far the richest nations have been swift and generous in their giving. We can also hope that relief from debt interest to some of the
countries involved will have a positive impact.
The public response has been overwhelming and a huge amount of money has
been raised in a very short time. All
four congregations in this cluster of parishes have given generous donations to
the disaster committee.
A disaster such as this
also raises questions about religious belief. How can an all-powerful,
all-loving God allow such a thing to happen?
I believe that it is the Christian faith that God loves and cares for
his creation, and all life is equally precious to him.
I could not believe in God if I thought God willed such a thing to happen. It is my faith that God is profoundly present and shares in the agony and grief, but wills to transform it. Yes, there is agony but there is also hope, and the desire to rebuild and transform the grief, and we must believe that it is faith and hope that will have the final word.
I believe that it is the
Christian faith that each and every victim is loved and of ultimate worth to
God. God mourns the loss of each and
every human life and shares in our sorrow. Our most instinctive response is to
pray for those who have lost their lives, and those whose lives have been
devastated and changed forever. Our prayers
lead us to want to act and our gifts have gone towards the massive relief
effort needed.
The need for aid to
rebuild shattered lives and communities will continue long after the news has
faded from our headlines. I am delighted that the young people in our team and
in our parishes are going to do their bit. They will be holding a talent show, probably in Holton Village Hall and hopefully on 13
February (please keep an eye on notice boards for more news). It is efforts such as these that make a
difference by raising valuable funds, but also by showing how much we
care.
With best wishes Caroline King
|
Church
Services |
St Helen’s Church, Albury
|
|
6
February |
9.30am Holy Communion with James Watson (Common
Worship) |
|
13
February |
9.30am Morning Prayer with John Nowell-Smith |
|
20
February |
9.30am Morning Prayer with Albert Eastham |
|
27
February |
8.00am Holy Communion with Caroline King (BCP) |
|
6
March Mothering
Sunday |
9.30am Holy Communion with Caroline King (Common
Worship) |
|
13
March |
9.30am Morning Prayer with John Nowell-Smith |
|
20
March Palm
Sunday |
Walk from Waterstock
to Waterperry with Eucharist at Waterperry
with Caroline King |
|
27
March Easter
Sunday |
9.30am Holy Communion |
Confirmation
There will be a team
Confirmation on 17 May. Confirmation classes for younger people will begin
soon. Confirmation is not only for younger people. I would be delighted to hear
from anyone of more mature years interested in Confirmation. Preparation for
this is separate from the children and based on what is most appropriate in the
circumstances. Please see Caroline if you are interested.
Waterstock & Tiddington W.I.
Many members enjoyed a leisurely Christmas meal at the Clifden Arms at Worminghall in December and began the season’s festive celebrations in convivial style.
Our speaker in January had enjoyed an exciting holiday
exploring the wilds of
On 10 February, Diane Wilson will give us a talk on wildlife in a country garden and there will be a sales table.
We shall have our Annual Meeting on 10 March, when a new committee will be elected. All members are asked to consider whether they would like to stand for committee and ensure that the Institute continues to flourish.
Several members will be attending a series of three
lectures organised by the
There promises to be other interesting events arranged for the spring by the County and so the yearly subscription opens the door to many more activities than just those monthly meetings of our Institute.
And speaking of other activities, we shall have a quiz
evening on 19 February in the Village Hall at
Our monthly meetings are held in Tiddington Village Hall
on the second Thursday in the month at
Zena Knight
Yoga classes
Classes are held in
Tiddington Village Hall
on
Thursdays at
Tiddington Village Hall
December was a great month for the Hall; not only did we enjoy a fabulous live theatre production called The Snow Queen, but the annual Christmas bingo was bigger and better than ever. The profit from the event was just under £500, 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 villagers.
In 2005 we will be embarking on a major building project to refurbish the toilets (adding a disabled cubicle) and extend the kitchen to make it more practical for caterers, etc.
The ongoing fundraising continues in February with the popular return of the Heart of England Jazz Band on Saturday the 5th (see opposite). If you are planning to come then please purchase your tickets in advance by calling me on 01844 339430 or speak to any Village Hall committee member. They are £6.50 for adults and £5 for concessions.
Alan Stratton, Chairman
Tiddington Cricket Club
With Christmas and New
Year celebrations still a fresh memory, the appearance of spring flowers and
the lengthening days focus the mind forward to a new cricket season. The mild
winter (so far) has been an enormous bonus to the intensive work carried out on
the square last September.
As many of you will have noticed, lawns have continued growing and more important for us so have the roots. Consequently the square is in very good shape, which we hope is reflected in its performance during the summer.
Details for pre-season
nets and fitness sessions are currently being finalised.
The darts A-Team continues to challenge for titles in singles, pairs and the knockout competition whilst the B-Team is currently mid-table in both singles and pairs competition.
The indoor Aunt Sally
side continues to challenge for honours as does our cribbage team, which since
the last newsletter is now close behind the leaders in the pairs competition,
although still mid-table in the singles competition.
Whilst the sad news of the impact of the Tsunami in
It is pleasing to say a
massive THANK YOU to everyone who donated, via a raffle, over £330 at the New
Year’s Eve party in the Village Hall.
Those who enjoyed last
year’s summer ball will be pleased to welcome back the Roadrunners Band for a
St. Patrick’s Dance on 19 March in the Village Hall (see page 12 for details).
In a departure from
conventional fundraising, Melvyn Snoek is seeking
sponsors to grow his hair! Can you guess how long his hair will grow in the
three months, which started on 1 January?
Entry forms are to be
found in the Clubhouse and at Tiddington Garage, cost £2 per entry with a prize
of 30% takings going to the nearest guess. All profits will be split between
Michael Sobell House and our own new pavilion fund.
Then at the St Patrick’s Day Dance there will be an auction to win the right to
shave off Melvyn’s hair!
And finally TCC runs a
“100 Club” every year with monthly draws for £25, £20 and £15 and an additional
prize of £100 drawn in December. All for just £15 per year.
If you would like to join, please call Tracey Smith on 01844 339178.
Ray Manning
Wheatley Library
Firstly, we would like to wish all our customers – past, present and future – a happy, healthy and successful New Year.
The next storytime will be held on Tuesday, 15 February from 11.00 –
12.00noon and is open to all 4 – 8 year olds. Please collect a FREE ticket from
the Library.
If you have not visited
us lately, do pop in and see how up-to-date we have become. Our new
computerised system is proving very advantageous both to staff and customers.
If you wish to know how it could benefit you and how to use from your own home,
please ask.
We have also increased
our stock of audio-visual materials and books.
Carole Underwood
Library Manager
CCLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Programme of free lectures
Friday 11 February, 10.30, 1.30, 7.00
Weather forecasting? I could do that! – Alex Deakin. For ages 11+
Friday 11 March, 10.30, 1.30, 7.00
The wildlife man: wildlife conservation – Barry Kaufmann-Wright. For ages 11+
Phone 01235 445959 to reserve a place
Deddington Writers Group
Writing competition on theme of Festival
¨
Short story (1500 words)
¨ Non-fiction
(1000 words)
¨ Poem
(up to 36 lines)
Entrants must be Oxfordshire residents
Entry fee: £2.00 (under-16’s in non-fiction and
poetry categories free)
Send SAE for full details and entry form to: DWG
Competition, 26 The Daedings, Deddington,
Oxon OX15 0RT
Email: daeda@clara.co.uk
Closing
date: 16 April
Great Haseley and District
Horticultural Society
It has been a busy year
for the Horticultural Society. We have organised several interesting garden
visits and put on a very successful Annual Show. Behind the scenes we have been
moving forward with preparations to register the Society as a charity as
discussed at the Annual General Meeting last March.
Although we have not
held the Annual Show on the Great Milton Recreation Ground before, the feedback
from visitors was that this was a good venue.
I am sure we will want to return in the future. The standard of exhibits
last year was again very high and there was an especially encouraging increase
in the number of children exhibiting.
The support of several local gardeners in opening their gardens to
visitors was greatly appreciated, especially by Mary Spiller, from
Plans for the 2005 Show
have already started and the Schedule will have some new entry classes which we
think will appeal to people. Amongst others there will be new classes in:
pumpkins, peppers (capsicums), tomatoes on the vine,
decorative gourds or squashes, pears, soft fruit with stones, a pickle made
with fruit or vegetables, home-made beer and elderflower cordial. Following the
success of the “men only” cake class last year we are introducing a bread class
as well. For children there are new classes of “grow a potato in a bucket” and
“paint a hard boiled egg”.
Behind the Show there is
a lot of hard work by members of the Committee and many other volunteers. On behalf of the Committee I would like to
give a big thank you to all our volunteer helpers. It is only with your help
that we are able to put on such a good Show.
Please remember that the
Committee exists to develop the Society in the ways that its members feel best
serve the needs of the local community. We need your ideas for gardens to
visit, lecturers to speak, or other activities that you would like us to
organise. We are already developing the programme for this year, which begins
with the lecture by Phil Shurvell on February 22
(details on page 27)
Following a lot of
discussion amongst members about the future of the Society it was decided last
year that we would apply to register the Society as a Charity. As a first step
in this process the Society has now adopted a new Constitution, which sets out
our aims and meets the requirements for good governance set out by the Charity
Commission. We can now complete the Registration process and expect a decision
from the Charity Commission within the next few months. The Society depends for
its vitality on the support and efforts of its membership and a very committed
committee. We have a thriving membership and welcome new members. As a member you will receive our Newsletter
about upcoming activities and get a preferential rate on garden visits that we
organise. For membership details drop an email to
hortsoc@haseley.globalnet.co.uk or phone Sally Orriss
on 01844 279231.
Andrew Dixon,
Chairman
Weather Statistics
Tsunami – a series of long high sea waves caused by
disturbance of ocean floor, or seismic movement. Tidal wave.
I must admit I had to
turn to the Oxford Dictionary to find the meaning of the word.
Now we all know what havoc
it can cause and the tragedy that follows.
If any of our readers
who have friends or relations involved in the disaster, we offer our sympathy,
as it is something that cannot easily be forgotten.
No of wet days 15
Rainfall 1.6in
Highest temp 50degF 10degC
Lowest temp 28degF -2degC
Frost 6 nights
November was the driest
for 48 years
No of wet days 8
Rainfall 1.3in
Highest temp 52degF 11degC
Lowest temp 28degF -2degC
Frost 10 nights
No of wet days 6
Rainfall 1.5in
Highest temp 51degF 11degC
Lowest temp 30degF -1degC
On the 7th
Gales in
Throughout this period
we have been lucky enough to have a few bright sunny days. We have been lucky
to avoid all the tragedies, so let us say a quiet
thanks, and long may it continue.
Glen Evans
Thank you from
Operation Christmas Child
I know that Christmas
seems a long time ago now but I wanted to write to say a BIG thank you. We were
overwhelmed by the generosity of all those who made up shoeboxes for Operation
Christmas Child. I personally was able to take over 200 shoeboxes as gifts from
Wheatley to the warehouse in Watlington and the total
there by the end of the campaign was over 12,000. Our boxes
went to
It was good to hear that
the shoeboxes were safely delivered and below are some of the reports from
Keith Hands met a little
girl called Micala who was on the Oncology ward. The
first item she took out of her box was a Barbie, which she immediately hugged
to her chest. Her mother said with tears in her eyes “she has always dreamt of
owning a Barbie”. The next item in her box was Ken, Barbie’s boyfriend!
Nikki Archer said,
“There are so many memories, but a special one is the little boy in the cancer
hospital who had just been told he could not go home for Christmas. His mum
explained this and she and the Romanian interpreter got very upset because the
little boy did not smile when given his box. It seemed he didn’t really want
it. David and I spent some time with him but he opened his box and played with
some toy cars with me, with one huge smile on his face. It blessed not only us
but his mum and the young Romanian girl with us.”
So thank you again for
all your generosity.
Lucy Betts
Something Unusual
from
Shrubs for winter fragrance
The
particular beauty of shrubs that bloom in winter lies in their fragrance. The
fact that their flowers are much smaller than spring and summer blooms means
they rely on a powerful scent to attract insects – bringing a winter bonus for
gardeners. To breath life into your garden with winter scent, here are some of
our favourite flowering shrubs.
For
structure at the back of a border, one of the most beautiful upright flowering
shrubs is Viburnum x bodnantense
Dawn. This reliable star performer bears
heavily scented dark pink flowers on its bare winter branches, which turn
lighter as the season progresses and the toothed young bronze leaves start to
appear. Chinese Witch Hazel,
or Hamamelis mollis is
another reliable favourite which will produce its distinctive sweet smelling
spidery blooms in sun or shade. Able to
grow up to three metres, it’s a good choice for larger gardens.
For something more compact try a Daphne. Odora Aureomarginata is one of the most fragrant. Or you could try Daphne mezereum. Sometimes called the February Daphne, this shade loving woodland plant with densely clustered lilac and violet flowers is a favourite in cottage gardens.
If you are looking for a plant with a lower, spreading habit, Corylopsis pauciflora or Winter Hazel is highly graceful and worthy of space to spread its dense branches. Breathtaking in spring, it bears two or three primrose yellow flowers on short tassels which smell deliciously of cowslips.
For
something perhaps a little more showy, you can’t go
wrong with a Mahonia.
Apollo is a fairly compact variety and produces large heads of bright
yellow flowers in early spring. Or, for
a more upright option and which flower a little earlier, try Charity or Winter
Sun both of which look particularly striking at the back of borders. The bonus is the heady scent carried on the
breeze from the long spikes of flowers.
Finally,
something which many gardeners would consider too tender for our winter gardens
is the beautiful Mimosa with its silvery leaves and long fragrant flower
heads. Don’t think you need to confine
yours to the conservatory. Our large
specimens stayed out all winter and produced masses of flowers for us earlier
this year. You might just want to try it
if you have a sheltered spot and a taste for the unusual!
For
more inspiration and advice visit us at Newington Nurseries on the A329 near Stadhampton.
Tel:
01865 400533
Crimestoppers
0800 555 111
Some gardening tips for Spring
from
Great Haseley
& District Horticultural Society
¨
Get in supplies of potting compost, seed
potatoes, onion sets and seeds ready for planting. Sort the seed packets in
date order of planting.
¨
Sow sweet peas in pots, preferably only 1
or 2 seeds to a pot. Start the seeds on damp tissue paper so that you only pot
pre-germinated seeds.
¨
Divide clumps of snowdrops after flowering
while they are still ‘ in the green’ and plant
elsewhere in the garden.
¨
Prune bush and shrub roses, cutting out any
dead or diseased stems.
¨
Come up with an idea that will give
pleasure to passers by – maybe a spring hanging basket (already in garden
centres) or some sunflowers for later in the summer.
¨
Set aside an area in the garden where
children can grow whatever flowers and vegetables they like.
¨
Remove any left over dried up fruits on
plum or other fruit trees.
¨
Put the mower in for service as soon as
possible.
Thame and District
Citizens
Advice Bureau
Opening Hours
Monday
Tuesday
Phone
advice
Wednesday Closed
Thursday Closed
Friday
Phone
advice
Advice line: 01844 214827
Appointments line: 01844 217186