October/November 2012

The Brightwell cum Sotwell Community Led Parish Plan

In 2004, Brightwell cum Sotwell was one of the very first parishes in the country to publish a community led plan setting out a vision on how the whole parish should evolve over the next decade. The main priorities identified ten years ago included a new shop, a parish website, a restored post office, a desire not to be joined up with Wallingford, a new community focus at the church and better pedestrian and bus connections for Shillingford Hill; aspirations that have mostly been started or wonderfully completed.

It is now time to make a new Parish Plan so in April, David Fox, Chairman of The Parish Council and Celia Collet (District Councillor) organised an Open Meeting at the Village Hall to discuss how this could happen. The meeting was well attended and agreed unanimously that the new plan should go ahead and look to the period of 2014 to 2024.

Community Led Parish Plans are a Government initiative and though they lack formal status, County and District Authorities are encouraged to take note of them when forming their own strategies, policies and services. There is no standard format for a Parish Plan nor is there a prescriptive list of the subjects it should address. It is up to all of us who live and work in the parish of Brightwell cum Sotwell to decide what is important and through a questionnaire to determine any priorities for action. This can include anything that is relevant to us, be it transport issues, the local environment, housing, development or playgrounds.

Our Parish Plan will look at the whole parish not just the ‘village’ part, embracing Mackney, Sires Hill, Shillingford Hill and Rush Court. It also includes all those bits in between – the fields, footpaths, hedgerows and river banks that make up the wider landscape and connect us to our neighbours.

We have already made a start: at the Village Hall meeting last April and at the Village Fete, people were asked to list their “Likes and Dislikes” about living in the parish and to raise any issues. A request for volunteers was made to help put the plan together. From this a Steering Committee has been established to move the process forward. Should you wish to suggest any issues that you feel should be included in the plan or would like to volunteer to help, in whatever capacity, please contact a member of the committee or the Committee Secretary Ann Brooker on bcspp2012secretary@gmail.co.uk

Look out for further information in the Villager Magazine, The Shillingford Hill Residents’ Association Newsletter, at events, meetings, on the Parish Web Site and through door to door ‘neighbourhood surveys’.

It’s your Parish Plan so please let us hear from you!

Jason Debney

St Agatha’s Church

My church calendar tells me we are in ‘ordinary time’. However, I sense there’s going to be nothing ordinary about these days we’re entering into. I think it might be worth us keeping alive something of the spirit of the Olympics and the Paralympics; the kind of perseverance capable of surmounting tall odds in life.

It is the dignity of humanity and the stories of our sporting successes and trials which will stay with us long after both sets of Games are over. It was Baron Pierre de Coubertain, founder of the modern Olympics, who said that; ‘The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle, the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well’. These sentiments of ‘fighting the good fight’ lie, I think, in that sometimes rather overused expression, ‘it’s not the winning that counts but the taking part’. St.Paul, in his letter to the Hebrews, puts it this way; ‘let us run with patience the race that is set before us’.

Tony and David, their team, and all of us keen to see the Extension realised, needed a degree of patience these past few years. Good things rarely happen overnight, and whether it’s seeing the fruits of the Extension, dealing with the ongoing twists and turns in the economy, in our family, school and work lives, it will help us to remember that the fruits we all seek don’t come easily. They can often only be won the way an athlete might train for and win a race; by going the extra mile, and by treating others as we would wish to be treated ourselves.

May I wish you all much peace this autumn and, as the rest of this year unfolds, may you find peace just at the moments when you least expect it and in unlikely circumstances.

At St.Agatha’s we find that gathering to remember the source of our Peace is a good way to realise it in the rest of our lives. You are welcome to join us at any time, and you are welcome to use our new room too (just see me or Janice). And THANK YOU for being part of it!

With regards, and prayers,

Jeremy Goulston

Brightwell School

Welcome back to the start of a new school year. It is lovely to see all the children again and hear all about their holidays. This year we welcome 19 new children into our Reception class. We are delighted they have chosen to join us and hope they will be very happy here with us over the coming years. We look forward to getting to know each and every one of them.

I am delighted to report that Miss Cunniappen, Mrs. Pearson and Mr Herlihy have all successfully completed their NQT year. This year Mrs Z McLauchlan is training on the Graduate Teaching Program working with our Key Stage 2 children, Mrs Teague is training for her Higher Level Teaching Assistant status and Mrs Jones is preparing for her Level 3 Diploma. We are very excited at the capacity that is growing within the school and look forward to their expertise contributing even more to the good success shown in our pupil results.

In early September we were lucky to have a genuine Olympic torch in school for 3 days. This torch was carried along a leg of the journey on day 48 – according to its unique sticker on the very lovely bag it fits inside. Every child in the school was able to carry it, albeit, just around our hall! We were surprised how heavy it was and indeed, how beautiful the lattice work is close-up. All the children have shown a great interest in both the Olympic and the Paralympic Games and have come back to school with many stories that have excited them whilst watching via the TV or attending events. Carrying an authentic torch was a wonderful opportunity to share as the events came to a close.

We recently celebrated Harvest in St Agatha’s with a beautifully decorated Church. As in previous years, the children and their families donated provisions for The Porch Steppin’ Stones Centre, Oxford who provide day-long support for homeless and vulnerable people wanting to move forward in their lives. If you would like to know more about the charity their website address is http://www.theporch.org.uk/ . I would like to thank you all for your collaborative hard work in fundraising over the last few years. It was a great relief (!) to know the new extension and its facilities are now available for use when the children visit the church.

Sadly we have to say goodbye to Carol Higgs in October. Carol has acted as a lunchtime supervisor at the school for 30 years. Many of you know Carol and are aware that she is having increasing difficulty with her mobility, so after much thought, she has decided it is time to hang up her apron and have a well earned rest. We will miss her very much and would like to thank her for 30 years of lunchtimes - it won't be the same here without her. We hope that she will come back and visit us. All the staff and children wish her a long and happy retirement.

And finally …..we are vey much looking forward to the forthcoming Village Eurovision Song Contest where our choir will be placing an entry. We are the French entry – please look out for us and give us a cheer.

Liz Hunt

WI

After our last meeting I went home and said ”I’ve just shaken the hand that’s done Kate Middleton’s hair! Not to mention Margaret Thatcher.” Andrew Hall, our speaker, who with two partners run three salons in Oxford, Abingdon and Witney, entertained us for nearly an hour and a half on the history of hairdressing and the status of the hairdresser. He believes in training his staff in customer care and expanding their horizons., e.g he likes them to spend some time in Helen and Douglas House where he himself volunteers to look after the hair of patients and their mothers – he also works with disabled people on a farm on his day off. He emphasised the importance of using the right product – including your brush - and demonstrated how techniques have changed using members to demonstrate. Lucky Anita Rowberry had the Duchess of Cambridge treatment. And we all went home with goodie bags!

Next month it’s a case of “and now for something completely different”. We have Malcolm Nelson talking about Forty Years of Smuggling. It’s an Open Meeting so why not join us? For art afficionados in November we have Mary Acton explaining how and when Modern Art started to look different.

Mais Appleton

The Village Stores

Many volunteers delivered and collected the questionnaire, which went to every household in the village seeking views on the shop. The responses have now been analysed, and some actions have already been taken to respond to comments received, further initiatives will be taken in the future. There are some suggestions regarding stock items which we aren’t able to meet, these are the ones that entail the shop having to pay delivery charges, but where suggestions can be tried, they we will be in stock over a period of time. To all who took the time to respond, thank you. Welcome to the new members who joined the Association after receiving the questionnaire and to all of the volunteers who delivered and collected the questionnaires, I extend the Committee’s grateful thanks.

I am sure most of you will have heard that Stephanie has had a baby girl, whom she and Russ have named Isla. The family is doing well and are overwhelmed with all the cards and gifts they have received.

It has come to the management team’s notice that some of you think Steph is not returning. This is not the case; she has already been enquiring about how the shop is doing, and is determined to be back in time to organise and run the Christmas stock event in late November. All of you who know Steph will not be surprised that she left the shop in good order, with very clear instructions for every event that may occur. And prior to her holiday, Margot worked way beyond her duty to make sure that the new team of Supervisors is well trained in all aspects of running the shop. Each of them is committed to ensure that the shop continues to be well stocked and maintains a friendly reception to all who use it. Please call in and meet, Mandy, Carole, Jules and Alistair, they will be pleased to see you and help with any queries you may have.

Gina Coupar, Chairman

The Bach Centre – old stories wanted

The Bach Centre's founder, Edward Bach, only lived in the village for a couple of years. He arrived in 1934, renting "Mount Vernon" in Bakers Lane. He also worked and stayed part of the time in "Wellsprings", just around the corner. He died in 1936 and was buried in the churchyard of St James's.

All this was a long time ago, and we tend to assume that we don't have anything new to learn about his life - at least, not from people who actually met or saw him. But every so often something turns up.

A lady called Carmen Monari is our education contact in Brazil. Most years she comes to the UK and drops in to see us as well as spending some time around Betws-y-Coed in Wales, which Dr Bach visited several times after leaving London in 1930. A few years ago, Carmen was interviewed by one of the local papers in Wales, and she used the opportunity to ask readers who might have met Dr Bach to come forward. For a long time there was no response. But Carmen popped into the Centre earlier this summer on her way back to Brazil and told us that somebody had finally contacted the paper.

The reader's story was that she remembered her parents asking for Dr Bach's advice when she was about 8 or 9, and very ill. Dr Bach examined her and confirmed what her other doctors had said, that all that could be done was being done. But he could, he said, do one further thing: and he suggested one of his remedies, Scleranthus, saying it might help her make up her mind to get better. We assume the Scleranthus helped - whether or not it did, the lady telling the story made a full recovery and turned 90 this year.

Hearing this story set us wondering if anybody now in the village - or once in the village - has any stories about Dr Bach or any memories they can share about the Bach Centre in the past. We'd be interested to hear them! For example, Nora Weeks and Victor Bullen, Dr Bach's friends and assistants, kept the Centre going almost single-handedly during the 1940s and 1950s. We know Nora had a small car and was a bit of a menace in the narrow lanes... stories of close encounters with her would be welcome.

Pop in and see us, or email foundation@bachcentre.com or call on 01491 834678.

Stefan Ball