Editorial June/July 2005

Obituary - Fred Charlton

Fred died in hospital on Tuesday 3 May. He had lived in Brightwell for more than 30 years, having worked overseas as a civil engineer for the government service. Fred was very involved with St Agatha's Church. At one time he regularly took evensong, was the Sacristan and was responsible for training young people as servers.

He was a member of the PCC and was a focal point for the care of the church - he made sure things ran like clockwork. Everybody knew Fred. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.

Arthur Procter

Brightwell School

This term our school Netball team continued their winning ways and remain unbeaten in inter school matches! We have done well also in Tag Rugby matches, coming runners-up in two competitions at Wallingford School. Through some fun fundraising we collected £282 for Comic Relief. Well done children. "Free sandwiches" were available to parents and children who came to help tidy up around the school one evening in April. Sadly we said farewell to Mrs Sandra Tallents, one of our long standing Teaching Assistants. After the summer she is off to Spain and we wish her well in her new life.

I am taking the opportunity to inform you of some major events that will be happening at school between now and the end of the academic year:

Arts Week: Monday 13 - Friday 17 June

Our Vital Villages week last year was such a success that we have chosen to have one week in the year when we have a curriculum focus. This year we have chosen to focus on Art, drawing ideas and inspiration from Nature. Class 1, our youngest children, will produce applique work on the subject of plants using textiles; Class 2, collage of animals on fabrics, using dyeing and screen printing techniques; Class 3, a tile mosaic of an undersea world; and Class 4, our oldest children, will produce landscapes and sculptures based on the work of other artists.

Open Day: Friday 17 June, 10 a.m. - 3.00 p.m.

On this day the school will be open to visitors and prospective parents - all are welcome at any time. A timetable of events will be posted locally and around the village and sent to parents in our newsletter. In addition to seeing the school in action there will be a spotlight focus related to the work produced during our Art Week (see above). Our School Fair follows in the evening.

School Fair: Friday 17 June, 6.00 p.m. - 9.00 p.m.

This event, arranged and managed by The Friends of Brightwell School, is open to the public. This year our theme is "Summer Adventure" and children will be encouraged to come as adventure heroes, e.g. Indiana Jones. In addition to the usual carousel of stalls: plants, greeting cards, bric-a-brac, lucky dips, toys, face paints, feely box etc., we will be serving "Pimms on the Lawn" (including healthy fruit "cocktails" for children) and drawing winners for our grand raffle. Don't be shy, come along, you will be made very welcome by the staff, parents and children of the school.

Roger Grant

Allsorts Pre-School

Allsorts children have enjoyed looking at the theme of "Holidays" and wish everyone a happy and relaxing time over the summer.

The Pre-school children would like to thank all those who have given up their time to be in Allsorts, reading and playing with them. We are all very grateful for the generosity of time, as we know how busy people are.

New Building Project

Yet more thankyous for the brilliant support for our fundraising efforts for the new Pre-school building. Our target as a Pre-school is to raise £12k of the £100k we need, as we felt this was realisable. We have to-date raised a fantastic £8k. We are still awaiting decisions on some of the big grant applications we have made, but remain very optimistic and confident in our project, and we look forward to the time when the new building will be in place.

Accreditation

The Pre-school is also working towards the Investors in Children Kitemark. This will prove that the standard of care and education Allsorts offers is of the highest standard. (The requirements are way over what Ofsted demand). The process takes about 18 months and so our target for accreditation is September '06. The accreditation is in 3 stages, and we hope to have gained the Bronze level in the next few weeks.

Registering Your Child

Allsorts is now full until September 2006 (no that isn't a typo!). We are exploring the possibility of offering afternoon sessions rather than running a huge waiting list. Do not be deterred, therefore, from choosing Allsorts Pre-school for your child.

Open Day

We will be holding an Open Day on Saturday 25 June, 10-12noon, so why not come down and see for yourselves.

Or alternatively, to arrange a visit to the Pre-school during normal session time, please contact Hilary, our Supervisor on 826387.

Lydia Cook

Parish Council

Government and County Council Elections

Congratulations to the Conservative candidate Mr Ed Vaizey, who is elected to serve as MP for the Wantage Constituency, and Lord Bill Bradshaw (Lib Dems), who retains his seat on the OCC by a majority of just over 500 votes. The distribution of seats on the OCC is 43 Cons, 17 Lib Dems, 9 Labour, 5 Green. Mr Patrick Green has been nominated for Chairman, SODC.

Parish Council

Mr Tony Lascelles has resigned from the PC with immediate effect and we will be seeking a replacement through the normal channels. Dr John Rodda has been elected chairman for four months until September when Mrs Celia Collett will take over the post. Steve Luck has been elected vice-chairman.

Village AGM

The Village AGM was held on 20 April with a reasonable turn out of 16 parishioners to greet our honoured guest Mr Hugo Brunner, Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire. Mr Brunner gave an interesting talk on the role of Lord Lieutenant. There were other reports from Lord Bradshaw, Mrs Mary Green - SODC, Mrs Carole Dennis - Hospital Car Service, Mr Tony Lascelles - Shop and Post Office, Mr Tony Debney - History Group, Mrs Caroline Alder - FOBS.

Waste Management

SODC aim to improve the amount of recycled material collected from the present 26% to 29%. From June, bio-degradable green waste sacks (for composting) will be available at 65p each. Since May 11 clear sacks for recyclable household waste have been available at a cost of £2.50 for 25. These sacks can be purchased from SODC and One-Stop-Shops. Green boxes for recyclable material are always available from the SODC free of charge.

Village Seating

A new seat is to be installed on the High Road at the beginning of July. This is to be located near the bus stop on the south side.

Didcot to Wallingford road

A speed limit of 30 MPH is to be imposed on the A4130 . It will start to the west of Frog's Island and extend to the east of Slade End joining the existing speed limit along the Wantage Road. It will also go north along the road towards Sires Hill. 'Gateways' are to be installed (similar to Blewbury and Upton) to highlight the fact that vehicles are entering a residential area.

Village Shop and Post Office

Various aspects of the action plan resulting from the Vital Villages Survey are being pursued.

Recreation Ground and King's Meadow

Serious concerns have been raised about recent activities at the Recreation Ground; two fires have been lit and the firewood used has been broken from trees around the ground; a lot of bottles and beer cans have been left behind. Furthermore, as some of the culprits leave the village they create a nuisance, ringing doorbells and generally making a noise. There has also been an increase in the incidents of vandalism at Kings Meadow - the fence around one of the play areas has been severely damaged and the goalposts are in need of replacement. Repairs will be undertaken in the next few weeks. This damage has to be paid for from Parish Council funds. Please report any incidents of vandalism to the PC and the police.

Steve Luck

Parish Church

The Festival of Pentecost

The Church crams into half a year's celebrations all the main events that happened during Jesus' life on earth, starting with his arrival as a baby, continuing with his ministry, his death, resurrection, ascension into heaven and the arrival of his permanent representative on earth - The Holy Spirit. It is this last event that we have just celebrated, the festival of Pentecost or Whitsun. It recalls how the disciples of Jesus were changed from a fearful group into people emboldened to speak out the Christian message.

Most of us value a friend in whom we can confide, somebody with whom we can share both good and bad news, who will tell us whether or not we are making wise and good choices, who will reassure us at difficult times. Throughout the ages Christians have experienced the strengthening power of the Holy Spirit - the presence of God himself with their lives. That same Spirit will be present in our lives - if we ask.

Church News

The Annual Church Spring FÍte raised £680. Our thanks go to both those who helped run it and also the many people who came and supported us. The proceeds will go towards the church fabric fund.

If you have recently been in St Agatha's, you will have noticed that, not only does the building need redecoration, but also the plaster in several areas needs to be replaced. We are also investigating ways to provide toilets and other domestic facilities so that we can make more use of the building without restricting its present arrangements.

The process of finding a new vicar proceeds apace; the vacancy has already been advertised and we await developments as several clergy have already shown interest. In the meantime services continue in our normal pattern.

Churches Together Wallingford Area

As part of the 850th Wallingford Charter celebrations Churches Together are organising a Songs of Praise to be held in the Castle grounds on 31 July at 5.00pm. This will mark the end of the weekend of celebrations. Come and enjoy the Sunday afternoon festivities and then join in with singing some favourite hymns.

Arthur Procter

Environment Group

After a winter with about half the normal rainfall, there may be a danger of a drought this summer. But March and April rainfalls have been around average and, so far, the spring seems rather cool, so perhaps we will escape the effects of water stress in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell later in the season. However, even in the average year, because of the high population density, low rainfall and high evaporation, the water resources of Oxfordshire and the rest of South East England are very similar in proportion to those of countries much farther south, such as Algeria and Tunisia.

St James' Churchyard

Management of St James Churchyard is progressing according to the plan devised with the help of Helen d'Ayala of BBOWT and through the co-operation of the PCC. The plan includes the monitoring of the plants and wildlife. For example, Orange Tip, Speckled Wood, Brimstone and Small White butterflies have been observed and there appears to be a greater number of Cuckoo Flowers this year. A number of cowslips kindly given by Ron Wood have been planted and to encourage their growth, the grass around them is being kept short. The yew trees in front of the church porch are to be cut back and shaped into an arch.

Visit

The Riverside Reserve at South Stoke was visited on 23 April by 14 members of the Group. The sight of about a million Loddon Lillies in full flower was the main attraction, but there was also a very varied bird life to observe and ringing of Chiffchaff, Dunnock and Blue Tit was going on. The Reserve was previously a boat yard owned by a Mr Saunders, which was active until the 1940s when he moved to the Isle of Wight to build Saunders Roe flying boats.

Pond Survey

Several years ago the Northmoor Trust enquired whether there were Great Crested Newts in the ponds of the village. Then there seemed to be a few ponds with them: now there appear to be more.

John Rodda