Tackley Newsletter
December & January 2018–19

Memorial Plaque

As some villagers may know, my background is in prosthetics and orthotics (artificial limbs and callipers) and I was trained in Queen Mary’s Hospital, Roehampton by 400 men who were amputees from the first and second world wars. They trained me in a profession that I feel quite humble to be part of, and to be able to listen to their stories when I would have been only 17 or 18 at the time was unbelievable.

Since then both myself and Recare, our local family business in the rehabilitation and disability industry, have had an active role in the Paralympics, World Games and Invictus Games.

When you look back and realise that 100 years ago Tackley had only 150 houses, and 17 men lost their lives to enable us the freedom and enjoyment of the idyllic village we know today, you realise a lot was lost from such a small isolated community.

It had been brought to my attention previously that Tackley lacked a monument that reflected the historical events that had taken place. I, my family and Recare felt that being the centenary of Armistice Day, the village deserved a monument to be proud of; a monument that reflects the efforts of the fallen men and respects their families’ losses.

I also feel that for young people today and the future children of Tackley school, which both my children attended, this monument should be a talking point to enhance their curiosity and become enlightened on its history. What it represents can be learned about and respected for generations to come.

The brass plaque that is now on the outside of the village hall was commissioned by the Holland-Oakes family and Recare for Tackley, and designed and made by West Country Blacksmiths, a company we know well in Exmoor, Somerset. I know the team at the blacksmiths have been just as excited and enthusiastic as us to get this project underway.

I was made aware during the process that much of the oak we see throughout the UK originates from France. This was something the blacksmiths felt was not in keeping with the tradition of the plaque and what it represents, so they sourced a piece of beautiful solid English oak from their local National Trust estate at Holnicote, Exmoor. One of the craftsmen at the blacksmiths worked at the estate doing projects for them as his weekend hobby, and it was him who enabled this plaque to take pride of place on Somerset oak, something I believe to be a humbling representation of the 17 men who lost their lives.

Clow Cottages

The work on Clow Cottages, the site of Bob Clow’s old bungalow, is expected to complete in January. Thomas Merrifield are our agents for sale and rental. The parochial church council is looking to sell two of the new cottages and keep the third to rent out. If anyone is interested, do contact Thomas Merrifield, or talk to Julian Whitehead or me and we will do our best to help.

We are very grateful to everyone who has been so helpful to us during the building process: our architect, the contractor and workers, and everyone who has had to cope with having this work done on their doorstep. Thank you for your patience.

We very much look forward to these new dwellings soon becoming a part of our village life.

Road Wardens

Community road wardens are volunteers who repair small potholes in village roads, before they develop into larger ones, and report larger ones directly to contractors.

Following an agreement on funding between the parish council and Oxfordshire County Council we are now looking for villagers to express their interest in becoming community road wardens. Training and safety equipment will be provided and underwritten by the county council. To register an interest please contact me.

Poppy Appeal

A total of £1,614 was raised in the village for this year’s Poppy Appeal. This included the church collection from the Remembrance Day service, the collection from the village hall memorial service, and a generous donation from the parish council for their wreaths.

For a few years now, an activity box with items for children has been put in the primary school. The children on the school council give their time to sell these items and this year raised an amazing £1,063. Thank you to all who helped with this, which boosted the village total.

My thanks to everyone who gave so generously to this worthwhile cause. With special thanks to my willing group of collectors who give their time so freely every year.

Help Pandora Raise Money for Cancer Research

I am Pandora Collins, and I’m 10 and live in Tackley. I need your help to raise money for Cancer Research UK. In three days I’ve raised £925, but need the help of the village to raise more.

I’m doing this because my Godmother Dr Cathy Roberts lost her battle with cancer in September. I’m also inspired by my step-grandad David Lines, who is living with cancer, and my friend Danny who has leukaemia and is a fellow Harry Potter fan and a true Gryffindor.

My mum and I have made 30 teddy bears by hand which will be raffled at school, auctioned and (most importantly) some of my bears will be donated to children who have been affected by cancer, starting with Cathy’s son George and my friend Danny.

To help me raise enough money to make a difference please visit the website or contact my mum on [email address and phone number removed from archive].

Gardiner Arms

All is going very well at the pub. On 21 October we celebrated two years since reopening with a fantastic weekend, supported by many friends and customers. On the Friday evening the Wild Rockin’ Camels played a fabulous set and it was a tremendous night. We bought the pub an anniversary present of a pool table, kindly collected and assembled by Chris Kavanagh and Martin (Maca) MacMahon. Do come down and give it a try!

Music

• Friday, 21 December: The Band Next Door with Richard Boulton, Clare Bowerman and Mary McIntyre, all from Tackley.
• Friday, 28 December: folk music — approximately 15 accomplished musicians from North Oxfordshire.
• Monday, 31 December (New Year’s Eve): The Hellcats — Mark Wragg in the lineup again.

Primary School

It will not be long before we are dusting off our best singing voices ready for the Nativity. We welcome the community to see our Christmas performances, details of which can be found in our newsletter published every two weeks on the website.

In November we took part in a collaborative collective worship in Banbury with four schools from the Oxford Diocesan Schools Trust. A group of children from Rousham class shared work they have been doing in class about saying thank you, particularly to the women in World War I. The children showed their understanding and respect for the centenary of the end of the war.

Medcroft class have been really excited about the Titanic and eager to find out more about what happened. They have made links to sinking and floating, made ice and become really good investigative scientists.

We are hoping for news imminently about our application to extend our age range, and will keep the community updated.

Primary School PTA

The PTA has been busy this term with fundraising and planning. We had a very successful jacket potato evening in November that raised almost £600. This means, once again, that we can completely fund a pantomime for the whole school, and this year the children will be watching Dick Whittington at the end of the Christmas term. Thank you so much to those of you who supported this fundraiser.

Oxford Edens have kindly said that they will donate a percentage of their Christmas tree sales to the PTA (and other local charities). We are very grateful to this generous local business for their support.

Our Bag2School collection in November raised a record-breaking £192! Thank you to everyone who added to the mountain of bags. This total is being put towards the school library: we are nearly there with stage 1, shelving, and then stage 2 is investment in books before stage 3, the Junior Library system so children can take books home.

We have some dates for your diaries, too. On Thursday, 13 December we will be running a ‘sausage sizzle’ before the Christmas performance by the older children at the village hall. The BBQ will be open from 5 pm.

In 2019 we will be putting on a race night on 9 March and an Octoberfest evening on 19 October. Both promise to be great fun, so keep an eye out for more information. We are also joining with St Nicholas’ Church for the summer fete on 6 July.

Finally, can we ask that while you are online doing your Christmas shopping during the next few weeks you sign up to our Easyfundraising account. They have agreements with thousands of popular high street retailers, and donate a percentage of the purchases you make to your chosen cause. Signing up is very easy and costs you absolutely nothing. Visit easyfundraising.org.uk.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support and to wish you a merry Christmas and happy New Year!

St Nicholas’ Church

I love the ‘almost’ time of Advent. The start, but the ‘not-quite yet’ of the Christmas season. I love the weather of December, the songs on the radio, the purple in church with flowers hidden away as we hold back for celebrations to come.

I love the preparations. In early November I read that most people had already completed their Christmas shopping. I am clearly not ‘most people’! I love the finding and giving and the fun in tiny things that on one level make no difference at all, but mean everything because they are signs of love and friendship.

For Mary and Joseph it was a time of beginnings and expectations too. Mary had decided to believe God and go with what the angel promised. Joseph had decided to let go of his earlier anger and trust Mary and stay by her side. There had been wondering and holding back and signs of love along the way. At Bethlehem, they hoped for some kind of welcome from his family. What followed – the visitors, the gifts, the depth of the wonder – these were surprises.

If Advent is about beginnings and expectations, Christmas is about the surprising glory of God’s love. For that love isn’t viewed through the windows of a calendar – a tiny picture, a moment’s pleasure – then gone for good. It isn’t precarious like hope, fragile as frost on a December hedgerow. It isn’t ‘almost’ or ‘not quite yet’.

God’s love is the reality of Jesus, living among us, becoming one of us. All the glory and peace of heaven gets hung on a coat hook while Jesus rolls up his sleeves and feels what we feel, sees what we see, laughs at our jokes and cries our tears. God’s love is not proclaimed with fanfares in a galaxy far, far away. The Christmas story tells us:

How silently, how silently,
the wondrous gift is given!

So God imparts to human hearts
the blessings of his heaven.

No ear may hear his coming;
but in this world of sin

Where meek souls will receive him,
still the dear Christ enters in.

Cathedral Singers

Come and enjoy a superb evening of seasonal music in St Nicholas’ church on 8 December. The Cathedral Singers of Christ Church only do two Christmas concerts each year — one in the cathedral, and this is the other one in 2018! We are very fortunate to have them with us, so let’s fill our village church. £10 for tickets from the village shop or Sue Lygo.

Methodist Church

Over the next couple of months you will find two major themes at the Methodist Church. The first will be obvious but the second is a bit more unusual.

Christmas is a festival we share with our fellow Christians of all traditions. We celebrate the presence of God in Jesus, the beginning of God’s experience of a human life and the consequence that God understands what it’s like to be human.

We will be celebrating with carols by candlelight at 7 pm on Thursday, 13 December. Our weekly coffee morning on 20 December will also have carols. I will be leading worship at 10:30 on Sunday, 23 December and on Christmas Day itself we will be joining our friends at St Nicholas’. There will also be Messy Church: craft and informal worship on a Christmas theme from 2:30 till 5 pm on 8 December and 12 January.

The second theme is ‘covenant’ and is certainly nowhere near as well known. In fact it’s not really a festival like Christmas, marking an aspect of the story of God we tell: it’s an annual marking of our story and how it relates to those stories of God. It’s based on a tradition of worship which pre-dates the Methodist movement and has been part of worship in Methodist churches since our early days in the mid-eighteenth century.

We celebrate God’s commitment to us and respond by reaffirming our commitment to God. Although we make personal commitments it is also important to us that we do it as a community. The commitment is serious and not one which we find easy. Often it is difficult to join in with the prayers, but we also know that in God we are accepted and can share in God’s fullness of life. As an article on the national Methodist Church website has it: “In our culture we tend to prize our ability to make decisions and choose our own path in life. It can feel very hard to give that up. But this prayer is like a love poem. It is about surrendering to God in love and joy.” It’s not about making an agreement or signing a contract but about declaring a relationship. Like all relationships, it is not always simple or straightforward but in it there can be enormous fulfilment.

Most churches hold a covenant service early in the new year and ours at Tackley will be at 10:30 am on Sunday, 6 January. If you would like to join us you would be welcome, even if you just want to come along to see what happens.

Meanwhile, may you know the joy of life in all its fullness as we approach Christmas and beyond.

We Are Sorry to Announce

I will start by wishing everyone a very merry Christmas.

At Features we usually celebrate by screening a big hit from the previous summer. This year we were going to show a double bill guaranteed to leave you smiling and possibly singing. Unfortunately, my PC has other ideas! A serious problem last month led to the cancellation of our November screening. This appeared to be resolved, however an even more serious problem occurred, making it currently impossible to carry out many of the tasks associated with running Features. For this reason and with a heavy heart I feel I must cancel our December screening.

I’m sure in the new year Features will once more provide Tackley with fab films for free on the second Sunday of every month. To paraphrase Arnie… we’ll be back. Check posters for details.

Gardening Club

November was our last meeting of this year.

January will be our annual general meeting — look out for details in Tackley Notices emails and on posters.

Which only leaves me to say a very happy Christmas to all Tackley gardeners, and we look forward to seeing you in 2019.

Apple Pressing

In spite of heavy rain and a cold wind the third annual apple pressing event was well attended under the veranda of the village hall on 6 October. A good number of people called in to try a glass of freshly-pressed juice while others brought bottles to fill and take away. A number of families attended with the children taking an active part in the production.

More than 30 litres of delicious juice was created from at least six different types of local apples, some picked on the day from trees on the playing field. Thanks to all those who attended and helped with the clear-up afterwards and to Barbie who made us a very welcome cup of coffee.

The apple pressing equipment is available for any villager to borrow free of charge.

PALs

A very big thank-you to all who turned out on Saturday 17 November to join our last litter pick of 2018, and to all those who have come on previous picks during the year. You have done the village proud and the resulting lack of litter is proving it.

We covered the whole of the village and all four main roads coming through, which resulted in 13 part-filled bags of litter. All who participated remarked how much harder it had been to find any rubbish and how much better Tackley looked.

We will soon be looking for replacement organisers as Dave Robson, whose idea this all was in January 2015, has decided he’s ‘had enough’ and his legs are refusing to work well enough to do all the organising and managing the litter picks. Judy will be carrying on for a while and there have been some suggestions as to how we could share the jobs while we recruit new organisers. If you are interested in taking on the job, please do ring and have a chat. We currently pick approximately once every two months so it is not too onerous a task.

Our next litter pick will be on Saturday, 2 February.

We would like to wish you all a very happy Christmas and New Year.

Walking Group

Meet at Tackley Village Hall at the time shown to arrange car sharing; please contact the walk leader if you would rather meet at the start of the walk. Some walks conclude with lunch at a local pub or cafe; please contact the walk leader if you will be joining the group for lunch. Most walks are circular. All walking is at your own risk.

• 8 December at 10:00: Rollrights, Salford. 5.5 miles, led by Linda. Including a pub.
• 12 January at 10:00: Noke, Beckley, Elsfield. 5 miles, led by Penny. Including the Abingdon Arms at Beckley.
• 9 February at 10:00: Chipping Norton, Churchill. 5 miles, led by Alan. Ending with a meal at a Greek restaurant in Chipping Norton.

Woodstock & District U3A

The Thames Valley Network, which represents University of the Third Age’s branches throughout our sub-region, recently announced a study day, The Drama of Dunkirk, which will take place on 5 March at Henley’s River & Rowing Museum. This sounds like meat and drink not only for our own branch’s Battles and Battlefields group but for anyone interested in 20th century history. For further information contact Patsy Thornton on [phone number removed from archive].

Our last lecture of the year will be given by Tim Walker, a lecturer based at the University of Oxford’s Botanic Gardens, and is entitled In the Bleak Midwinter. An informed guess suggests it might say something about seasonal horticulture? You can find out on Tuesday, 4 December at 2 pm in the Community Centre, New Road, Woodstock. Guests, as always, are welcome at a mere £2 a head.

Pottery Day Review

Well done Tackley Local History Group for arranging such a special event.

We took our two grandsons, aged 11 and 7, and we all had such fun. We were provided with all the necessary equipment along with a huge lump of clay from Wood Farm. We had some expert tuition from Jane Bowen who showed us how to work the clay and how to make a pot, as well as how we could decorate our work.

We were then free to get on with our creations. There was lots of giggling and chatter and some tongues sticking out from concentration and deep thought as the many wonderful creations started to emerge: pots, jugs, saucers, vases, flowers and other sculptures were made and artfully decorated with lines, shapes and motifs.

The finished items were all carefully taken to be boxed up ready for firing. Two options for firing! The safe route, a proper pottery kiln, or the more challenging option to consign your creation to be fired in an authentically-recreated prehistoric kiln. The choice was ours.

At the time of writing we are waiting for the items to be fired and then we can collect them — exciting!

This was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon, and we’re now looking forward to seeing the finished articles. We had so much fun.

Art Exhibition

I invite you to my photography exhibition, Autism: Life on the Spectrum, in the village hall cafe from 7 to 12 December.

Autism is an often-misunderstood disability affecting over 700,000 people in the UK, including me. I’m also a former Tackley resident, and this exhibition forms part of my final project, comprising 12 images depicting my life with autism through abstract photography.

The exhibition will be open during shop opening times, and entrance is free, although donations are most welcome. The artwork on display will be for sale afterwards to help fund my future work. There will also be brochures to buy which explain both the artwork and provide some additional information on autism spectrum conditions.

Frances Maxwell

Michael, Suzanne and Lynda would like to thank friends and neighbours for their kind messages, cards and support given during the recent months following the sad and sudden passing of Frances.

Special thanks to Father Robin for the lovely personal service, comforting words and prayers.

Thank you to Neale Harrison for writing and reading such a beautiful poem about Frances.

Also thanks to Eloise of EP Caterers for the excellent catering and refreshments provided afterwards.

Finally, thank you for all the generous donations made in memory of Frances. These totalled over £700 and will be shared between the Churchill Hospital’s respiratory clinic and the adult intensive care unit at the John Radcliffe Hospital.

Do You Have a Spare Room?

The Oxfordshire Shared Lives Scheme supports carers to provide paid care and support in their own home to vulnerable adults.

People who use the service need practical and emotional support in order to live their lives more fully and independently and feel part of a family household. They may have a learning disability, physical disability or mental health need or they could be an older person or someone with dementia.

Here in Oxfordshire we are keen to recruit people from all walks of life who feel they can offer this type of paid support in their own home. It could be anything from occasional short breaks or daytime support through to a longer-term full-time arrangement. The support that our carers give makes a huge difference to the lives of people using the service, often enabling them to experience new opportunities and reach new goals.

No matter what type of arrangement our carers provide, they all receive ongoing support and training from a team of qualified social workers to ensure delivery of high quality person-centred care. They could also be paid up to just over £400 per week for each person they support.

There are regular opportunities to meet up with other carers and people who use the service at social and information events so a wider support network is also available.

Victims First

Victims First can provide free emotional and practical support to all victims and witnesses of crime or abuse, as well as family members of victims, regardless of whether or not the crime has been reported to police.

A Victims First officer can discuss any emotional or practical needs you may have and work with you to put a tailored support plan in place. This could involve referring you to a specialist service such as services for victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse.

A Young Victims Service is also available to anyone under 18.

Cooking Fires

Did you know that one in three people rescued from house fires in Oxfordshire are rescued from cooking fires? Or that distraction is the main cause of cooking fires?

It’s easy to get distracted — the phone rings, someone’s at the door or a television show catches your attention. If you need to leave your cooking, even for a couple of minutes, turn down the heat, set the timer or ask someone to watch it for you.

Or you could find that firefighters join you for dinner!