October/November 2005

Ted Pollard - 1918-2005

Brightwell-cum-Sotwell has lost Ted Pollard who had lived in the village since 1941. Ted was a quiet, friendly man inspiring great respect and affection among those fortunate enough to appreciate his sterling qualities. He has joined the two sons, which he and Peg lost, and our thoughts go out to her and to Deborah at this sad time.

Ted was with the RAF, retiring after 39 years with the rank of Squadron Leader. He served the country both in Europe and in the Far East before returning to Brightwell to live.

A keen fisherman and golfer as well as a supporter of Reading Football Club, Ted had many interests. He was also a member of Brightwell-cum-Sotwell Bridge Club, where he was a sought-after and reliable partner,

Basil Crowe

Joan Everex - 1919-2005

With the death of Joan Everex our links with old Brightwell are becoming very few. Widow of farmer Tom, Churchwarden and Treasurer for over three decades, Joan famously kept a fascinating scrapbook of all that went on in the village - and was herself a living village history book. Joan regularly attended church where she also did much flower arranging and organised the congregation to make a complete set of kneelers. She had been a stalwart member of the Mother’s Union and of the Women’s Institute, regularly helping with the Wallingford Friday market to which she contributed her surplus garden produce. She was very proud of her garden which was constantly full of flowers and always seemed to reap tomatoes earlier than anyone else gaining much of her initial experience from her Land Army days.

A keen participant with the village Bridge Club, it is ironic that one of her playing partners Ted Pollard died just a few days before her.

Sadly over the latter years age took its toll and though fiercely independent, she reluctantly agreed to being cared for at Sotwell Hill House which she grew to love. This is even more poignant as it was here she spent many childhood years playing and staying with friends.

Joan leaves behind two daughters, Rosemary Greasby and Gillian Williams, five grandchildren and five great grandchildren to whom we extend our sympathy.

Arthur Procter

Cecil “Dickie” Johnstone - 1916-2005

Was ever a boy misnamed! Dickie was never a Cecil!

I knew him since I was 11 and he was 15, both of us being pupils at the old Wallingford Grammar School. We were together in the after-school boxing class. Our paths did not cross for some years after school as he joined the family business - Reynolds & Johnstone, Chemists and Wine and Spirit Merchants, whilst I went away to work. Before the war Dickie enjoyed his passion for sport: football for Wallingfords Swifts, hockey and cricket for town clubs, as well as cricket for Berkshire. He joined the T.A. (4th Royal Berks) with several of his friends and in January 1940 they went to France. In May 1940 they were in the front line against the German assault. The regiment was decimated, Dickie was shot in the head, taken prisoner and hospitalised. He was totally paralysed down his left side for some time and was left with a permanent limp. In September 1943 he was part of a mutual repatriation scheme, being unfit for further service. He rejoined the family business and, besides looking after the wine and spirit side, he started a very successful agro-chemical business. He married Betty (an ex-WAAF) in 1946 and carried on working until he was forced to retire in 1966 as the result of a stroke. They came to Brightwell originally in 1966, went away from 1972 till 1978, came back to the village, and have lived here ever since. We resumed our friendship in 1980. He and I did a lot of work at St Agatha’s, becoming known as “Hinge and Bracket”. Latterly he suffered from diabetes and memory loss. To live through what he did and survive until he was 89 was the mark of a remarkable man. Another link with the past has gone.

Eric Green

Brightwell-cum-Sotwell Games

Despite competition from a pig roast and two weddings in the village and the Bunkfest we had 9 teams of 9 and various spectators, helpers and marshals to add to the colour and sunshine at the annual Village Games (re-named this year, as the public liability will not insure events called “It’s a Knock-out”). We all had a good time, with good-natured competition across a range of new and old games for all ages.

We changed the date this year to avoid the Bunkfest only to find that had changed too. Watch this space for 2006 - worried that if we change to a later date the brilliant weather we have enjoyed for 3 years in a row might not last. Join us next year and see if you can beat the masses of teenagers being sheep or discover what is hidden in those old pants!!

David Ebbs

Parish Church : Harvest

One of the great joys of living in Oxfordshire has been watching the local farmer reap his harvest and seeing the haystack grow larger day by day. It brings home the reality of God’s gifts to us in creation and his faithfulness throughout the seasons in providing the conditions that lead to the bringing in of the harvest. This picture of peaceful plenty was re-enforced for me by the recent news of Tesco’s huge and rapidly escalating profits.

This is in stark contrast to the parish we left in Evaton and Sebokeng in South Africa. In the large townships of that area there were areas where people had ‘enough’ and even a few where a very small minority had ‘plenty’. However, for the vast majority of people unemployment was the norm, casual and occasional employment a Godsend and very poorly paid work something to be endured, if it meant food on the table and money for school fees. One wage-earner, or one Granny with a small Government pension was often the salvation of the extended family.

How can we hold these two very different experiences together? We can do it

by CELEBRATING all that God has given to us in creation; by REMEMBERING that God has given to human beings the stewardship of this world and its resources; by SHARING the much that God has given us with those who have less than we do; by COMMITTING OURSELVES to any initiatives in the religious, social, economic and political worlds that are seeking to eradicate the causes of exploitation and gross inequality.

Jesus came to bring new life to a creation that has suffered much as a result of humanity’s sin. He came to bring healing and wholeness not just to sinful, damaged and broken men and women, but also to the whole created order. Paul says in Romans 8:21-22 that the creation which presently “groans in labour pains” will one day be “set free from bondage to decay”.

This new creation will only be realised at the end of time, but God is already active in the pain and brokenness of the old, seeking to bring new life to the earth and its people. He invites us to share in his creating and re-creating activity.

Jill Chatfield

Brightwell School

Many of you will know the kind and learned gentleman Mr Ron Wood, a villager and former Deputy Headteacher at Brightwell School. We all think he is quite amazing because he retains such an active interest in children’s education through sport at Brightwell, and helping out at Allsorts Pre-School. It is almost unforgivable that I have not given Mr Wood a mention in this article before, and I offer my apologies unreservedly for this omission. However, I have chosen my moment well.

The sporting activity that Mr Wood coaches in the summer months involves 2 teams of 11 people, 2 bats, 6 short sticks and 4 little bits of wood. The latter, in pairs, sit on top of the 6 sticks, placed twenty-something yards apart in a set of three. The game involves two teams but with only 13 on the field at any one time, 11 of the fielding team and 2 of the batting team. There is a well known brief and ‘clear’ description of this game that talks of the team being ‘in’ batting until the team who are ‘out’ get the team who are in out. Mr Wood tells me, a heretic from north of the border, that this game, called Cricket, is really quite simple, but more important, extremely edifying and enjoyable.

In truth it is not a view I shared, until this summer. Like many others, I sat enthralled as England and Australia slogged it out for a little pile of dust that would be hard pushed to fill an eggcup. England kept us on the edge of our seats until the final game of the series when they secured victory at The Oval, Fred Flintstone (I think) being their Man of the Series. Mr Wood must be positively glowing and eagerly looking forward to coaching potential cricket stars of the future on our hallowed grass.

On a more formal note, we wish our former Year 6 pupils, who have moved on to their secondary schools, all the very best for the future. Again these children did our school proud, achieving results in English, Mathematics and Science beyond national standards and expectations. Their hard work, combined with the support of parents, teachers and governors over the year, earned them well-deserved praise.

We said farewell to Mrs Clarke, teacher in Class 3, and were pleased to see Mrs Montanheiro, teacher in Class 2, back with us after her maternity leave. We also welcomed a number of Teaching Assistants, Mrs Roisin, Mrs Jones and Miss Molyneux into the fold.

Over the next year we will be involved in a number of exciting local and national projects that will enhance our teaching and learning in the core subjects of mathematics, literacy and information technology. We continue to work closely with Wallingford School as they roll out Phase Two of their sports development programme. I will report on each of the initiatives, as we move through the year.

Lastly, we are sharing an Open Day for Early Years children with Allsorts Pre-School, on Friday 11th November, 10.00 a.m. – 3.00 p.m. Please come and visit us.

Roger Grant

Environment Group

That hurricanes Katrina and Rita can cause so much damage over such large areas is difficult to understand when in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell we live with weather which seems so benevolent for much of the time. In August last year there were two very dramatic cloudbursts, but this year the summer storms have been less intense and have tempered the continuing drought which is reflected in the drying up of some of the streams and ditches around the village.

Plans are being prepared for the management of the Wellsprings, while the management of St James’ churchyard has continued along the lines agreed with the PCC and BBOWT. The hemlock which had been rife in the Millennium Wood has been successfully treated and thoughts are being directed to another open day in 2006.

Tawny Owl Survey
Did you hear the report on Radio 4 the other day of a BTO Tawny Owl Survey? It involves the listening for their calls from your house or garden for 20 minutes a week. There are more details on the BTO website:
www.bto.org/gbw/Tawny_Owl_Survey.

November Talk
For a number of years the Group has organised a talk in November on subjects as diverse as: the return of the red kite, waste, bats, bird ringing and the ecology of Oxfordshire. This year the focus is on insects. We are lucky to have Dr George McGavin, who is the Curator of Entomology at the Oxford University Museum, to talk on Tuesday 22 November at 8.00pm in the Village Hall. His subject is to be: “Bug World: Sex Violence and a Cast of Millions”. Dr McGavin is much in demand by naturalist and environment groups and is a contributor to radio and television.

John Rodda

Farming in the Future

Scratch the surface and there’s a lot going on! In farming nothing ever stops as the production or natural cycle moves slowly onwards. This year we galloped through harvest with most of the grain going straight into store without expensive drying. By the time this is published planting for harvest 2006 will be well underway and the sheep, hopefully, will be on schedule for a slightly later January lambing period.

I am often asked for opinions on the future of agriculture and queried over the confusing support measures that the industry receives from the EU. A philosophical, factual and non-political appraisal is difficult to encapsulate in The Villager, but here goes ----

The agricultural industry has for long been at the receiving end of political change and the environmental bandwagon has been an easy issue for many to jump on. Indeed, there are now so many special interest organisations peripheral to farming, all jostling for influence that concerns and messages are confused. Farming has moved on, reacted to change as it always does, and is probably at least ten years ahead of current opinion on many environmental issues. Sustainability is the most over-used, abused and misunderstood word in our language.

Out there in the countryside we are being strangled by red tape, inflexibility, confusing messages and diabolical organisation from Establishment bodies. But farming is not alone in this malaise - the whole business sector whether large or small is similarly affected.

We regularly hear that the Common Agricultural Policy cannot be controlled and will be an unending millstone for the EU and the tax payer. This is inaccurate as major changes are occurring to curb the open-ended nature of subsidies to agriculture. To this end, we have a new support system which aims to replace most of the existing crop and livestock schemes that originally befitted the industry. It is called the Single Payment Scheme and breaks the link between production and support moving away from the oversupply situation that the previous systems encouraged. It also benefits the producer who satisfies cross compliance legislation covering a multitude of environmental factors including hedgerow management, field margins and a raft of other ‘good agricultural practice measures’.

The most important aspect of these changes is that all support measures will be phased out over an 8-year period which is a highly significant step forward for the EU, the tax payer and also the farming community.

The new scheme is aimed on a whole farm basis and is not attached to any requirement to farm the land and produce food for consumption at home or abroad. In fact, we now have a situation where I could do nothing apart from basic environmental activities which we already carry out, and claim the farm allocation which is my entitlement. In itself this will mean fundamental changes to the structure of farming although many businesses have already failed because of the dire economic state of the industry.

Many will take this as the first step towards retirement, major changes will occur within business operations, labour will be reduced, and a low cost farming will result, as we all adapt to the changes and ‘system’ that prevails. Non farming enterprises will continue to expand and planners will have to take notice of this demand.

Farms, once again, are attracting investment interest from outside the industry. After all, why not buy a property with guaranteed income over the next 8 years ? There is no agricultural qualification and the land does not have to be farmed. Consequently, land prices are beginning to be artificially inflated by external demand factors. What does this all mean for the future? The scenario that presents itself is that many farms will go out of business, or become even larger in the quest for economic efficiency as support diminishes. This, undoubtedly, will have a downside on rural communities around the country.

I disagree with the concept that small farms, that are the lifeblood of many rural communities, will bear the brunt of these changes and will cease to exist. Many of these businesses have diversified over the years, or operated on a part-time basis to supplement income. This will continue but the next farming generation, apart from needing to be very astute, will require a major income from another source. This will allow the agri-business to develop and perhaps the generation beyond will be the full-time farmers of the future. We can only be positive; in the years ahead farming will play a major role, given the opportunity, in bio fuel production and even food from our own resources may be wanted again. One thing is certain, farming will continually change to meet the requirements of the time.

David Greasby

Brightwell Art Club

As I write this, we are just at the end of August and it won’t be long before we start our Autumn Term. We had our annual Art Day Out at the beginning of the month and this year we went to Ewelme. Just the sort of place we like, with lots going on in a small area. We had access to the church, churchyard and the adjoining ancient almshouses with their shady courtyard and gardens. And had we wished to venture beyond those areas, there were views of the surrounding countryside and village houses, which were also very tempting. It was very difficult deciding which bit to draw or paint and some of us spent ages wandering around trying to make up our minds! Eventually everyone found a subject they liked and settled down - and then the trick was not to get carried away and try to put too much in the picture frame. We only had a few hours - not a week! In the end, I think most folk settled for doing a few sketches in the morning, backed up with colour notes and/or photographs, which could then be worked on at home. Then, after a picnic lunch, some of us ‘went for the bigger picture’ and tried to achieve a watercolour in a couple of hours. Not easy - but good fun trying.

As I think I’ve mentioned in previous updates, occasionally we set up a still life or co-erce someone to come and sit for us - so we can have a go at portrait drawing/painting. Recently Sarah Jackson was brave enough to do this for us for a couple of mornings, and we owe her a big thank you, because it’s quite daunting sitting there while a room full of people scrutinise your every line and facial contour. And you can hear odd comments between tutor and student, like “No – the nose isn’t right – if you look carefully you’ll see it’s slightly fuller/flatter/more pointed” or whatever. It can get very personal!

Once the club gets going again in September, there will be pressure to get pictures framed and ready for the Exhibition on Saturday 3 December. It’s amazing how quickly the term will fly by between now and then! We hope to be able to exhibit the same number of pictures again this year, to the same high standard that the club members usually achieve, and also to have a member demonstrating their painting skill.

I hope you’ll all make a note of the date and come along to see what we’ve been up to, have a cup of coffee and a chat, and enjoy looking round the craft tables.

Olive Sutcliffe

Parish Council

The Chair of the Parish Council was assumed in September by Celia Collet as Dr John Rodda has chosen to relinquish the Chair. He had been in the Chair since May 2003. Thanks go to John Rodda for all his hard work and excellent contributions as Chair. We also welcome Nick Spencer as a new member of The Parish Council.

Police - Sergeant Rees, the Area Beat Sergeant has advised the Council that, despite a recent restructuring of the local police service, we should see no reduction or change to the police vigilance in our village.

Oxfordshire 2016 Structure Plan - we have been advised by Lord Bradshaw, OCC, that at present further major housing developments are planned for the Didcot, Grove and Bicester areas.

Hospitals - Due to overspending in the NHS in Oxfordshire the threat of serious bed closures and service reduction in Oxford, (as recently announced by The Nuffield Orthopaedic Trust) and to community hospitals is a very real problem and should be resisted at any forthcoming meetings.

Concessionary Fares - Those who are recipients of travel tokens should watch for announcements about any changes regarding Concessionary Fares.

Brightwell-cum-Sotwell Conservation Area Appraisal & Management Plan - Final Draft - Please look out for posters regarding village meetings as there are changes that could have implications for you.

It’s a Knock Out - This event was a great success and thanks go to all concerned and participants.

Brightwell-cum-Sotwell boundary map - Due to the likely warding of the Shillingford Hill area of our Parish an identifiable boundary line between Brightwell-cum-Sotwell and Shillingford Hill has been determined.

Skate Park - The Council has expressed an interest in being able to use a mobile skate park that may come to the village with trained supervisors from time to time. 2006 Grants - The Council will consider applications for donations to Parish Organisations. Should your society or club wish to bid for a grant from The Parish Council, please contact Jane Dix, the Parish Clerk, on 826968 to obtain forms. Completed forms to be returned by 26 November.

Flies - The recent problem with flies in the village was brought to the attention of the Council and was stated to be a matter due to the weather rather than a farm related issue.

Tony Stapleton

Allsorts Pre-school

Once more many thanks to those of you who supported our building fund through the bulb scheme. At the time of writing we are waiting a response from the Big Lottery People’s Millions. Time is becoming very tight for us, as the planning permission on the current building expires soon, and we will only get a temporary extension on that. We really have to build next summer.

A date for your diaries: February 11th, 2006, at the Village Hall, 7pm onwards, Allsorts Wedding Reception - a chance for a party and to wear that dress again or the outfit you have always wanted to wear! Get romantic and get in the mood for Valentine’s Day. There will be a live band and much to enjoy!

If your child will be starting Pre-school soon or in the future, please come to a Foundation Stage Open Day on November 11th, 10 – 3pm. This is a joint event between Allsorts and Brightwell School, as Foundation Stages 1 and 2 are at Pre-school and Foundation Stage 3 is in the Reception Class. Confused? Want to know more? Come and find out, and see how the two settings work closely together to give your child the best care and education. For more information or to arrange a visit please contact Hilary on 826387.

Lydia Cook