June/July 2009

Village Quiz – And the winner is….The Villager team!

Yes, I’m sure modesty will prevent your editor from claiming the glory that The Villager team deserves. But be in no doubt: the team swept all opposition aside to win the 2009 Village Quiz in April. This of course means that Annabel and her colleagues will be spending long winter evenings devising tricky questions for next year’s Quiz. That is always one of the biggest drawbacks of winning, and one of the reasons why the Community Association team always ensure that they are well away from the lead – about as far as it’s possible to be, in fact.

Once again, it was a great evening. Last year’s winners, Barn Owls, set the questions. It was a particular pleasure that Viola Crowe, a long-time village resident, of course, was able to return as question master, and sad that Basil Crowe was not well enough to be there. Thanks to them on behalf of the 14 teams, and thanks also to the cooks, led by Caroline Oakley, who prepared the delicious chilli con carne.

The Village Quiz welcomes anyone from the village – of any age - who wants to form and enter a team of six to eight members. Key dates will be in The Villager, and entry is on a first come first served basis.

Hugh Roderick

Brightwell School

The new term has started well and we are looking forward to all the usual summer activities. The children at Brightwell continue to achieve high standards and we were very pleased to discover that we were equal 15th out of 196 Oxfordshire schools in the 2008 League Tables, which were finally released at the end of March. Success has not been limited to academic subjects, but in all areas of school life. Our KS2 pantomime was a great hit and the children excelled in their acting and singing and many stars were born! Parents have requested that this becomes an annual event.

Class 4 spent a fantastic week at Yenworthy Lodge, on the borders of Devon and Somerset. Tom Gould, Year 5 writes about Class 4’s Trip to Yenworthy: “On 16 March Class 4 set out for the beautiful landscape and wildlife of Yenworthy and Exmoor. Luck was on our side as good weather followed us throughout our many glorious activities. There were screams of enjoyment on the zipwire and delighted silence as we ate our delicious meals! One particularly special time was the Moorland Moment. We lay on our backs, surrounded by heather and gazing, astounded at the graceful stars displayed perfectly above us. I am sure that everyone in our class found Yenworthy a valuable learning experience and would go again, given the chance!”

We ended Term 4 with a special Easter Service, led by the children, at St Agatha’s Church. The children sang, acted and read brilliantly. Our School Council organised a Wacky Hair/Pyjama Day and raised £84 for our chosen charity this year, Ronald Macdonald House. The children also enjoyed an Easter Egg Hunt organised by FOBS. Our Year 6 children will be undertaking National Tests shortly and will also be preparing for their transition to secondary education. They have been a helpful, reliable Year 6 and we wish them well as they move into the next phase of their education. Year 2 will be assessed at the end of Key Stage 1 and Years 3, 4 and 5 will sit Optional SATs.

Angela Harbut

WI: Campaigning and Care

At our May meeting the NFWI resolutions for 2009 were on the agenda. A brief summary of the WI resolutions process and the topics proposed for 2009 revealed that one resolution: SOS for honey bees: stood out clearly as the main objective for this year’s AGM. Members were given information about the threat to bees and the actions that the WI and individuals can take. The resolution was passed unanimously. The meeting then continued with a talk by Jill Brooks about her recent travels in Ethiopia. Jill accompanied her lively stimulating account of her visit to a leper hospital with photos from her six week visit. We were shown the beauty and poverty of Ethiopia. Jill had encountered leprosy, aids, TB and fistulas in women that were due to poor obstetric care. She is to write a paper on her observations and hopes to be able to return to the country. It was good to learn that there are some centres of good practice and that the Leprosy Mission is working in Ethiopia where the incidence of leprosy has reduced.

Sandra Grainge

Parish Council Annual Parish Meeting

The Chairman reviewed the work of the Council during the past year, which included consultations, planning applications and 3 appeals. The annual precept was set at an increase of 2 %. IT facilities in the Parish Office were updated in December. The Kings Meadow Path has been restored and the Adventure Trail continues to be a great success. Councillor Cooper was thanked for his efforts in retaining the hourly bus service. Timetables will be delivered to every household in the Parish. Regrettably OCC Highways have still not repaired pot holes. Financial help in maintaining the village graveyard by the provision of a grant will be discussed in July. The Parish Magazine will get a new look.

Waste Collection Information packs for householders and delivery of bins will take place 14-31 May. District Councellor C. Collett gave a full report.

Local health Services County Councillor L. Atkins drew attention to many issues including Wallingford Hospital, NHS Dentistry, the doctor’s surgery dispensary service and future needs in the area.

Core Strategy The Parish Council has submittedits detailed response to the SODC Core Strategy Preferred Options Consultation. In putting thisresponse together we worked very closely with our appointed planning consultants, westwaddy ADP to deal with theconcerns of parishionersfrom a planning perspective. A very informative presentation was made by westwaddy at the Annual Parish Meeting.We have also commissioned an independent landscape assessment as thereport currently in the public domain seems to ignore thepresence ofBrightwell-cum-Sotwell.The SODC Cabinet will ultimately decided upon which site or sites 850 houses will be built.The rural identity of Brightwell-cum-Sotwell is clearly under threat.The good news is that the Parish hascome together inresponse to this threat. We estimate that over 300 responses were submitted that clearly oppose development on site B (the site on the Wallingford bypass across from Brightwell). A huge thank you to everyone who has written and who took the time to explain the implications of such a development to parishioners. We continue towork on this keyissue.If you would like a copy of the Parish Council's submission or have any questions, then please email: bcsparishcouncil@googlemail.com.

Before closing the meeting the Chairman remarked on the great community spirit in the Parish and thanked the Councillors for their invaluable support.

Charles Hunt

History of Art Lectures

This village has many delights. When we moved here five years ago I was surprised and very pleased to discover the Friday Art History Lectures that take place in the Village Hall.

These lectures were first organised by Viola Crowe many years ago when she was trying to ensure that the Village Hall was fully used and making income. Viola took advantage of the fact that Mary Acton lives locally. Together they set up a programme of lectures that have continued to interest and delight many. The early sessions were part of the Oxford Continuing Adult Education Programme. When local authorities introduced stricter criteria for the continuation of adult education villagers declined to be examined and assessed, so Mary offered to continue the lectures as an independent arrangement.

Many villagers have enjoyed Mary’s lectures over the years and return for more. The programme takes about five years and I have been informed that Mary never repeats the same information; she has the ability to change the focus of her lectures to give a fresh viewpoint. When she is not delighting us in the village Mary lectures for the Department for Continuing Education at Oxford University and has a career as a freelance lecturer and author. Mary enjoys doing the classes in the Village Hall and is looking forward to starting again in the autumn with “Understanding the Renaissance in Italy and Northern Europe.” The lectures are held for twenty weeks over the autumn and spring terms; leaving the summer free for gardening and holidays.

Now is a good time to join the group and to enjoy learning about both art and history.

Viola plans to return to the village to enjoy lectures from a better vantage point near the radiators. A group of volunteers is to take over her work but her wonderful organisation and welcome will be missed.

I have offered to organise membership details. Volunteers will continue to be needed on the coffee rota and, as in all village events, to assist to set up and clear the chairs. This is an opportunity for villagers to join to hear Mary’s lectures before places are offered to new people from outside the village.

If you are interested and would like to receive more information please email Sandra@grainge.org.uk or telephone 839166.

Sandra Grainge

The Green Plover or Peewit – Ron Wood

This is a bird of the open fields and damp grasslands. It was much more common in days gone by, but now only the odd pair may be seen in spring in this area. Its characteristic tumbling flight, showing black and white feathering, is very noticeable. It has three names, peewit from its wailing cry over the meadows; lapwing from its up and down wing beats and green plover from the bird books.

The nest consists only of a few grass blades laid in a shallow depression in the ground, made perhaps by a farm horse’s footprint, and is wide open to the sky. The four rather large greeny brown eggs are very pear shaped. With the pointed ends facing inward, this presents the sitting bird with the minimum of egg coverage.

On hatching, unlike the young thrush or blackbird which have to remain in their nests for at least a fortnight, the young peewit chicks, on strong little legs, will follow their mother through the meadow grass searching for insects, grubs and small worms.

At this time, probably their greatest danger comes from the sky above, where in spring, the hawk and crow are always looking for tasty young peewit chicks with which to feed their own young in nearby woods. Providing the young peewit chicks in their greeny brown fluff remain motionless in the grass they are relatively safe; but should they decide to run for thicker cover, the movement will be seen from above and their lives could be very short ones.

How do you find a peewit’s nest and eggs the next day if you wished to show them to a friend or child say? Answer, go to the best remembered area of the meadow and put down a marker, such as a piece of stick stuck in the ground, or a white handkerchief, or even a hat. Then walk slowly round and round the marker in ever increasing circles, and there’s a good chance you will find what you are looking for. Make your stay a short one, as the peewit will be waiting in the next meadow to return to her nest.

In days gone by, peewit’s eggs were greatly valued on the breakfast tables of some of the nearby hotels and restaurants.

Finally, there was a time when peewits nested in a meadow just west of our village church. Children from the then nearby school were taken to see the nest and eggs. But that, I’m afraid, was a long time ago.

Ron Wood

Update on Datchet Green Ducks

I thought you might allbe interested to know that yesterday 25th March– appropriately Lady Day – andpretty much exactlya year to the day –'The Darling Ducks of Datchet Green' (The Villager, Aug/Sep 2008)reappeared on Datchet Green ! Two (and sometimes three) fellas and their girlfriend. I have put a mini-pond out front for them - because they came and stood in a row in my front garden and "looked" at me through the kitchen window! They were trying sadly to drink non-existent water out of the little hollow handholdson top of the drain cover set in my front lawn! They are now much happier, drinking from and getting in and out of, their private pond! Looks like another Datchet Green Tradition is in the making ..... We on the Greenawait developments with great interest !

Leandra Briggs