Copy for the next edition should be given to Mr. George Adams at "Karibu", Main Street, tel: 680286 by midnight on Wednesday, 24thSeptemberplease.
If you normally prepare your material using a computer, it would make my life easier ifyou could submit your offering in electronic form, though paper is, of course, fine. My ‘official’ e-mail address is: news-editor @ oxhill.org.uk if you wish to send me stuff that way.
This edition was edited by George Adams
Progressive Supper
This is your advance notice of the forthcoming ‘Indian Summer’ progressive supper to be held on 27th September.
For those of you unsure of the format, revellers will meet at the village hall at 7.00 p.m. for aperitifs. We will then ‘progress’ in small groups of 4 to 10 to a home within the village for Starters. Thereafter we progress in a different group to another home within the village for a Main Course. Finally we all return to the Village Hall for our desserts, cheese and biscuits and coffee.
If you would like to participate in the progressive supper please telephone Tracey Hackett on 01295 680366 or 07813 978917 to confirm whether you would prefer to host a Starter, Main Course or bring a selection of puds and/or a cheese plate, (minimum of 3 selections per 2 diners please).
If you are unable to host a course or contribute to the Desserts, there will be a small number of tickets available at a cost of £15.00 per head.
Tracey Hackett
Talgarth Male Voice Choir
The choir will be making a return visit to St. Lawrence’s Church, Oxhill on Saturday 18th October. Further details will be provided in the October News.
Lilian
October Issue
Please could I have all copy for the next issue by midnight on Wednesday, 24th September?
If you normally prepare your material using a computer, it would make my life easier if you could submit your offering in electronic form, though paper is, of course, fine.
If you do use electronic form, the best format is a Word file with the page size set to A5 and Margins of 1.5cm all round. The News is currently set in Garamond 10pt, with headings in Lucida Sans Unicode 14pt bold.
My ‘official’ e-mail address isnews-editor @ oxhill.org.ukif you wish to send me stuff that way.
George Adams - 680286
Cover Pictures
It’s a little late in the year, but here are this year’s duck family paying a visit to the Saxtons. Photo from Jim Saxton.
Ed.
Macmillan Coffee Morning
Please come along to the Oxhill Methodist Chapel on Friday 26th September to help us raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Last year we managed to raise a wonderful £262. Jill Tucker has again kindly allowed us to use the hall.
If you would like to come and join us we will be open for coffee between 9.30 and 11.30 a.m.
Thank you, Jude (680150), Gaynor and Diana
Mobile Library
We have been informed that the arrangements for the Mobile Library are altering.
In future the van will visit Oxhill every third Tuesday. It will stop only at the Village Hall, arriving there at 10 a.m. and leaving at 10.30 a.m. In September our only visitation will be on Tuesday 16th.
Mobile Library times will in future be included in the ‘What’s On’ section
Editor
Treasure Hunt & Pig Roast
Sunday 21st September
Oxhill Village Hall
Treasure Hunt starts 11.30
Entry £1, children free
Pig Roast & BBQ
Adults £7, children £3.50
Bar
Tickets from Lilian Welsby, 680468, or Val Ewens, 680215
In aid of Church Funds
Church Service Times
St. Lawrence Oxhill
All are warmly invited to our services
Sunday 7th - Trinity XVI
9:30am - Holy Communion. (NM)
Sunday 14th - Trinity XVII
6:30pm - Evensong (Rev. G. Warner)
Note - No 8:30 Communion Service
Sunday 21st - Trinity XVIII
9:30am - Holy Communion. (ML)
Sunday 28th - Trinity XIV
9:30am - Family Service (NM)
Vicarage Notes
Harvest Festival 2008
All are warmly invited to the Family Harvest Service on the 28th. Our favourite harvest hymns will be included and hopefully I will be able to involve the children in my harvest talk! Our gifts will go towards the provision of a well with clean water in Kaduna, Nigeria, an area with which our Diocese of Coventry has special links.
Thought for the month
My house shall be called a house of prayer. These words were spoken by Jesus as he overthrew the tables of the moneychangers in the Temple. They echo the words of Isaiah who wrote of a ”house of prayer for all peoples”. In their turn, our ancient churches should offer a real welcome and openness, be beacons of the Christian life, and places where folk can find a haven of peace in an often frenetic world. My prayer is that St. Lawrence’s is seen as such a place!
Best wishes and God bless,
Nicholas Morgan, 01608 685230
From the Parish Registers
BAPTISMS
Welcomed into the Lord’s Family
August 24th - Jemima May Merriman
Kineton Oil Consortium
The consortium will be ordering oil in September. Please let me have your orders not later than 6 p.m. on Wednesday September 10th.
D. I. Harper, 01295 680529
Village History – Whatcote
Rev. James Gorle, 1806-1884
My son William has alerted me to the fact that there are, in the recesses of Cambridge University Library, publications of the mid nineteenth century by the Rev James Gorle, Rector of Whatcote.
With help from June Wreford, who supplied some information from the Whatcote Parish Registers, I have traced his life history. Born in Tewkesbury in 1806, he was educated at Cambridge, where he won prizes for his scholarship. He became Rector of Whatcote in 1842, remaining till his death in 1884. Beside the memorial crosses to himself, and his wife Hannah in the churchyard, there is a poignant third, dedicated to three of their children who died in childhood or young adulthood. His youngest son, William, followed him as Rector of Whatcote in 1884 but only for a year and a few years later (though he was still young and I cannot trace his death) he disappears from clerical records.
James Gorle was first and foremost a scholar, and his works are mainly analysis of the works of earlier theologians, (often with examination questions), varied only by a work of sacred poetry, one of versified fables, and a contribution to a book of sermons on the subject “Every good gift from above”. (The date of this is right for it to have been preached from the Whatcote pulpit).
I do wonder whether such an academic man would have established much rapport with his parishioners, at a time when the Church was distancing itself from much of its flock by becoming more High Church, and Whatcote like Oxhill had a growing Methodist movement. On his deathbed, Gorle dictated a message for his parishioners, (now displayed inside Whatcote Church) which does I think hint at some distance between them. He asks pardon for his failings as a Minister, but also asks his flock - by my interpretation - to pull their socks up. Such stern paternalism was however fairly typical of a Victorian Rector, so maybe he was just doing his job!
Ann Hale
Weekday Walkers
Our walks for August are as follows:
Friday 12th September
Ratley to Hornton, a 7 mile walk with 373 feet of ascent. Lunch will be at “The Dun Cow”. We will leave Oxhill at 10:00 a.m.
Friday 26th September
Long Compton to Cherington returning via Weston Park is 5.5 mile walk with 360 feet of ascent. Lunch will be at “The Cherington Arms”. We will leave Oxhill at 9.45 a.m.
Please contact Jim Saxton 01295 680613
or saxton @ tiscali.co.uk before Thursday prior to walk
Nature Notes
O Autumn, laden with fruit, and stained with the blood of the grape, pass not, but sit Beneath my shady roof; where thou may’est rest, And tune thy jolly voice to my fresh pipe. And all the daughters of the year shall dance! Sing now the lusty songs of fruits and flowers.
William Blake, 1783
Autumn is the season of harvest; not just the grain, but the picking of apples and grapes in orchards and vineyards, and the natural harvest of fruit and nuts, blackberries, elderberries, sloes, fungi and mushrooms, and hazelnuts and sweet chestnuts, and of course the horse chestnut to provide conkers. Unfortunately a recently arrived leaf-mining moth from Macedonia has begun to infest the trees, while a virulent fungal disease, known as bleeding canker is also making inroads. First reported in the UK in the late 1970s, the disease may be on the increase as mild winters and wetter springs encourage its spread.
However the majority of insects do good and are essential for pollination, so imagine my horror the other day when in one single publication I saw a “Patio Bug Zapper”, a Cordless Solar-powered Portable Insect Killer”, an “Attract and Zap Plug-in Bug Zapper”. But it seems not only are our insects in peril, there was a “24-hour protection against unwanted garden animals – Sonic Cat Repeller” and finally “Target all nuisance animals from 20 metres with your very own Mega-Sonic Scatter-Cat hand held gun”, all this in a publication called Easylife!! Perhaps we will soon see “An Even Easier Life” magazine with “Mega-Sonic Children Scatter Gun”! What is happening to the world – have people gone mad (of course the answer is yes!).
On September 12th in the year 1680, old Mr Rod near Hereford died at the age of 106 years. His diet was strange. He never ate flesh, nor fish, nor milk, nor butter, nor cheese, only hard eggs. But at 50 years old he ate the forehand of a roasted pig, and afterwards could eat any part of a pig; else he never ate any flesh. He loved sack, but drank it temperately.
John Aubrey ‘Observations’ 1685
Grenville Moore
Garden Club News
Nestling among fields and rolling countryside of Oxfordshire is a gem of a garden called “Pettifers”. The Garden Club were given an early evening tour around the different “rooms” of this garden by the gardener, who was most knowledgeable about the profusion of plants. Ornamental grasses dominated the borders, showing how architectural planting needs few flowers for colour and structure. Dahlias seem to be back in vogue and it was interesting to see unusual colours and shapes in this garden favourite. The garden’s many facets were enhanced by the ever changing and dramatic weather conditions, although the rainstorm kept off until we were safely inside. We rounded off the evening with an excellent meal, nay banquet, supplied by Carol Wixey at the Hare and Hounds in Wardington. Thank you to all the car-drivers supplying lifts!
If you are interested in preserving wild life and keeping green places, hiking or painting keep a space in your diary for the open meeting on October 16th when Adrian Thornton will talk about National Parks.
New and current members will be welcomed for the new season’s talks, which begin on Thursday 18th September, at 7.30 p.m., in the Village Hall.
Ann Saxton
For Sale
Reluctantly,
as owner must purchase a smaller model
Aluminium Lean-to Mini Greenhouse
6 ft. wide x 5 ft. high (at back) x 2 ft. deep
Excellent fitted shelving, but some glass needs replacing
Invaluable for seed sowing, over-wintering plants,
and just fun for growing things,
displaying them
and for garden storage
Purchased new now this would be over £400, but this much-loved Vintage Model could be yours for around £40
Call Myrtle Knight on 680 555 to view
Quaker Week in Shipston
Did you know that the Library in Shipston was once a Quaker Meeting House?
During National Quaker Week, 4th – 12th October, there is to be an exhibition in the Public Library
“QUAKERS IN SHIPSTON,
PAST AND PRESENT”
This will describe the history of the library, formerly an active meeting house, as well as the rich story of Quakerism, past and present, in the area today
The Exhibition will be open during normal Library hours.
Also there will be an informal
OPEN EVENING
on
THURSDAY 9th OCTOBER
Speakers and light refreshments
Willington & Barcheston Coffee Morning
Saturday 13th September 2008
10am – 12.30pm
Join us for a morning of fun and games
Homemade cake stall, home made bread, fresh local produce, tombolla, splat the rat, tractor trailer rides, plant stall, raffle, white elephant, golf and much much more
Entrance fee £1 which includes tea or coffee and a biscuit
If you would like to be involved in any way or have white elephant donations that require collection please contact Sue Peebles on 661593 or Jane Williams 664870
This year the event will be held at Home Farmhouse. Just drive into the ‘Willington Loop’ and look out for the balloons
Everyone welcome!
This years supported charity -
Children's Liver Disease Foundation
Country Car Boot Sale
In aid of Shipston Home Nursing
SUNDAY 7th SEPTEMBER
Gates open at 9.00 a.m.
In the Idyllic parkland of the Honington Estate
By kind permission of Lady Sarah Wiggin
Car booters by application only
Please call Rebecca on 01608 674929
Public entry fee £2 per head, maximum £5 per car
Food and refreshments available
Shipston Home Nursing
Armscote Manor Lecture Series
Monday 6th October - James Kerr, landscape and architectural photographer;
Shakespeare’s Scenery, a photographic journey of Warwickshire and the North Cotswolds
Tuesday 7th October 2008 - Graham Dillamore; The Gardens of Historic Royal Palaces
Wednesday 8th October 2008 - Dr Paula Henderson PhD, FSA; The Tudor House and Landscape
Thursday 9th October 2008 - Val Bourne; The Winter Garden
Friday 10th October 2008 - Maggie Cole with Harriet Walter & Guy Henry (subject to availability); The Scandalous Mrs. Woodhouse - Violet Gordon Woodhouse; a performance in words and music
The lectures start at 7 p.m. with a glass of wine. Sponsored by Bablake Wines Limited
For tickets please contact Deborah Williams or Madeleine James at Armscote Manor, Armscote, Warwickshire CV37 8DA, Tel: 01608 682 375, deborah.williams@armscotemanor.co.uk
Please make cheques payable to Shipston Home Nursing and send applications for tickets with a self addressed stamped envelope.
Ticket prices: 1 lecture £14.00, 2 lectures £26.00, 3 lectures £33.00, 4 lectures £44.00, 5 lectures £53.00. Tickets not available on the door.
Village Hall
Week beginning Monday:
September 1st - Una & Jane
September 8th - Angela & Gaynor
September 15th - Julie & Keith
September 22nd - Gwyn & George
September 29th - Judy & Dot
October 6th - Gwyn & George
The Village Hall Committee would like to say thank you to Dot Richards and Jane Smith, who have offered to help clean the Hall even though they are not on the Committee. We would be grateful for any other help, but I’m not holding my breath!
Una Hill