Tackley Newsletter
October & November 2021

Parish Council

As usual, there are lots of things ongoing that your council is working on. Here is a brief report on some of the important subjects and things you might have noticed.

Roads

June and Liz met with Chris Grain from Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) Highways to discuss the state of our roads, specifically Church Hill up to Sturdy’s, the top of Whitehill, Rousham Road and Tywnhams Road. Within days, many potholes were filled, which has improved things a lot. However, we were not able to get a date for when proper patch work will be done. Rousham Road and Church Hill are on the list of roads promised to be fixed.

Our new county councillor Andy Graham has since been to visit residents on Twynhams Road – thank you to Steph Radda for arranging this – and we hope that he will be able to push that through, although it may be within the next budget year. In the meantime, please continue to report any potholes online via FixMyStreet.

Flooding

OCC has promised that the Rousham Road bund will be deepened during the next month, which will hopefully help alleviate flooding from that end of the village. While the current bund works very well, in the December flooding it just did not have the capacity required.

The parish council is clearing the ditch along the playing field this month, to make sure it has the capacity to take what drains into it and has a good flow out of the village. With Tackley being in a bowl, there have been reports of flooding (in old parish council minutes) for decades, but it has certainly got worse in recent years. We are still hoping to arrange a meeting with local landowners to find ways to slow the water down before it reaches the village.

Thames Water has done a lot of work on the sewage drains, finding cracks where surface water leaks into them and putting in liners to prevent this. We are still awaiting the reports on upgrading the pumping station.

Twenty’s Plenty

We are looking at ways to slow traffic down within the village limits. Richard Holland-Oakes has formed a committee with interested residents to take this forward, in conjunction with OCC. If you have any questions or would like to help, please email [removed].

Football

Councillor Andy Lines writes: Tackley United has come on in leaps and bounds during recent years, and it is wonderful to have such a vibrant club in the village. The parish council recognises the great work that the management of the club is doing, and has agreed to contribute financially towards the the new state-of-the-art goals you might have seen appear on the playing field.

Part of the agreement between club and council is that the goals will be left out for the village to use. We hope to support efforts to build youth football in the village, and we ask everyone to respect the equipment and look after it.

Footpath Fortnight

Councillor Angus Paxton writes: To maintain access to the public rights of way, Tackley Parish Council ensures that every footpath in the parish is walked or ridden approximately annually.

The primary purpose of the exercise is to identify where the public right of way is blocked — for example, where the landowner has installed a fence that does not have an associated stile, or where a stile or gate has become impossible to use.

Secondary purposes include vegetation management and ensuring that the public rights of way can be easily enjoyed by the public, for example through signposting.

There are 25 footpaths, bridleways and byways in Tackley parish as described in the legally definitive ‘definitive statement’, which is available on the OCC website. The paths are mapped onto an online system for visualisation purposes, and this forms what is known as the ‘definitive map’. Note, however, the ironic legal peculiarities: the definitive map is not really definitive, yet the definition in the definitive statement is hardly definite!

A former Tackley parish councillor and clerk very cleverly arranged the public rights of way into a series of walks which the parish council arranges to be completed annually. Usually this involves a councillor leading a walk and inviting parishioners along, over the course of what is known as ‘footpath fortnight’. This usually happens in late spring or early summer, but in 2020, Covid intervened. This year, the elections in May meant I was a bit slow to get things organised — but eventually the walks were advertised, and happened over the last two weeks in July.

Clearly, walking hardly-used footpaths in the middle of summer means that intrusion from nature is rife. Some of the overgrowth was cleared, mostly thanks to Liz Marshall. The bridleway behind Sturdy’s Castle is seriously overgrown, and this has been reported to OCC. We have also noted a couple of stiles that need urgent repair or replacement, and we will be contacting the landowners imminently to ensure this is done. The bridge at Northbrook – only part of which is within our parish – is listed and in need of some work; this too has been reported to the county council.

Finally there is a section of public footpath that is completely impassable because of a very large and well-established bush — but this isn’t a problem because there is an easily-used alternative public footpath. Until I got into this, I didn’t even realise there was a footpath there! I will resist letting you know where it is — and challenge you to find it.

I’m sure that the majority of people who live within the parish really appreciate our wonderful countryside, especially during lockdown. We are lucky to have such lovely surroundings. We are also very lucky that many of our public rights of way cross land that is owned and managed by conscientious landowners, and that there are some additional ‘permissive’ paths that we are allowed to use. I think it is therefore important that we respect their land: take litter home, pick up after our dogs, keep dogs on leads around livestock, and stick to the designated routes.

If you have any queries or observations about the footpaths and rights of way in our parish, please do not hesitate to email me directly at [removed], or pop along to a parish council meeting or surgery.

Community Apple Press

With the apple harvest underway, it’s a good time to remind villagers that the community apple-pressing equipment is available to borrow.

We have two scratters for quickly chopping up the apples, two presses, and one pasteuriser. This equipment is available free of charge to anyone who lives in Tackley. To borrow it, please contact me on the numbers above.

In the past we have held successful ‘apple days’, and we hope to arrange a similar event next year where anyone can bring apples to press for free or just taste other villagers’ juice.

Primary School

Welcome back to the start of another school year. It has been such a positive beginning to the term, and some return to normality for our children and staff.

We have welcomed nine new starters to our Nursery, who have all settled in well.

Staff training has focussed on wellbeing and mental health.

The classes have spent time working as a team to focus on their ‘team values’ and priorities for the term. Classes are celebrating ‘what went well’ each week in their learning, and this is also celebrated as part of our whole school assembly at the end of the week.

Rousham class is studying a history unit of Egyptians, Harborne class is learning about the Stone Age and Bronze Age, and Nethercote is exploring changes in living memory thinking about transport, food and toys. The children have approached all of their learning so enthusiastically, and like us are enjoying getting back into the rhythm of school life.

It will not be long before we are talking about Christmas, and we are looking forward to some real treats and star turns from our children!

St Nicholas’ Church

In this update: All Saints & All Souls service, Remembrance, and our current coronavirus guidelines.

Covid Guidelines

We all want the pandemic to be over, but for the time being, we’re still putting some things in place in order to keep people safe when we gather together.

Face masks: if you come into the church building alone, there is no need to wear a face mask. But for a service when there are quite a few folk around, please wear one if you possibly can, so we do our best to care for each other. If you are exempt or just can’t manage them, then do come anyway — it’s okay. We keep masks on throughout services and other events.

Distancing: we are keeping every other pew empty – they are marked with an X or with a sticker saying ‘pew unavailable’ – in order to maintain some distancing. Apart from that, sit where you want, with whom you want. If you’d like a bit more space around you, bring a coat or a bag so no one gets too close!

Capacity: because of distancing, the maximum number of people we can get in church is around 60. That’s more than fine on an average Sunday, but it does mean that we might say we are full on big occasions like All Souls or Remembrance Sunday. So, come early! To keep everyone safe, we won’t go over that number.

Booking a place: we don’t plan to go back to this. But if you come at the very last minute for a big event, please don’t be cross with a churchwarden who tells you we are full. We are sorry, but keeping everyone safe right now has to remain at the top of our to-do list.

All Saints & All Souls

Last year we couldn’t hold our annual service where we remember loved ones who have gone before us, giving thanks for life and love. This year we are doing it. It will be a bit different because of how things are right now, and St Nicholas’ Church has a maximum number of just over 60 people, but please do join us at 5:30 pm on Sunday, 31 October for this very special service. With more apologies than I can possibly offer: if we reach capacity on numbers, we won’t be able to cram more people in. We have to keep everyone safe at all our services. At least this year we can put this service on, reading out all the names as we always do, with candles lit, standing together in love and remembering.

Remembrance

Our annual Remembrance service is on Sunday, 14 November at 5:30 pm. Yes, we have a limit on numbers; and yes, please wear a face mask — but still yes, please come as we remember all who gave their lives for our freedom: freedom to love and care for each other, even through these days.

Church Opening

Finally: all our churches are open every day, so please do come along and take a moment to sit quietly, to pray and listen and be with God. We offer them to you as a safe space in the midst of this strange world. If everything feels too much, or just wrong, or people or life are just making you frustrated or upset, come and sit in church and take time in the silence to be with God. He knows; he understands; he hears — and he loves you and me, always.

Walking Group

This group is a friendly way to get to know the Oxfordshire countryside better, on its leisurely walks. We meet at Tackley Village Hall at the times given to arrange transport to the walk start. Advance booking is not required, but walkers must give their contact details to the walk leader for test and trace. There’s no obligation to car share, but there is rarely enough parking for each person to drive themselves to the start. Distances are approximate, and all walks are at participants’ own risk.

• Saturday, 9 October at 9:30 am: Charlbury, Spelsbury & Taston. Using the Oxfordshire and Wychwood Ways we’ll walk through farmland from the market town of Charlbury to these hamlets. 5 miles.
• Wednesday, 27 October at 2 pm: Port Meadow. From Wolvercote we’ll walk across Port Meadow, then follow paths towards the canal and the ruins of Godstow Abbey, and back to the Godstow Road car park. Slightly over 3 miles.
• Saturday, 13 November at 9:30 am: Old Boars Hill. Fine views of the ‘city of dreaming spires’ as well as the Berkshire Downs and Chilterns. Passing through the Oxford Preservation Trust’s Jarn Mound and Wild Garden and Daryush Memorial Gardens. Start at Wootton near Abingdon. 4.8 miles.
• Wednesday, 24 November at 2 pm: Chadlington. From Chadlington we follow paths towards the River Evenlode, then pick up the Wychwood Way before looping back to the village. 3 miles.
• Saturday, 11 December at 9:30 am: Blenheim Great Park. A walk through the north of Blenheim Park taking us on Akeman Street and parts of the Oxfordshire, Shakespeare and Wychwood Ways. 3.6 or 4.7 miles.

Book Club

There are a few things I love about being in a book club. First, it pushes you out of your reading comfort zone. Second, you can walk into a room knowing no one, but have a starting point for a conversation. Finally, it’s a way to meet new people. As a newbie to the village, it’s helped me to get to know people and learn more about Tackley.

Thankfully we’ve moved from being online to taking it in turns to host in our gardens, chatting about the book, our life experiences, and the village — with a drink and nibbles.

Some of us read the books while others listen to them, which can create differing perspectives and add a layer to the discussion.

If you are interested in joining, please email us to be added to our mailing list. Our next book is Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell for our meeting on Tuesday, 12 October at 7:30 pm.

Local History Group

We are restarting our annual programme of activities, but doing so cautiously while we all wait to see whether new Covid restrictions will have to be imposed during the winter. We have therefore so far only organised talks for October and November. We hope to publicise the rest of the programme in November.

Talks

Monday, 25 October: John Perkins: Villas, Farms, Temples and Cemeteries: Roman Tackley – The Latest Discoveries.

Monday, 22 November: Liz Woolley: “Those rampageous, dragonnading fire-devils”: The Coming of the Railway to Oxford.

Talks are in the village hall and start at 8 pm. Join us for tea and coffee beforehand and for a glass of wine afterwards.

Early in the new year Les Summers, who was deeply involved in the project, will talk about the building of the new steam locomotive Lady of Legend between 2009 and 2019 at Didcot Railway Centre.

Field-walking

Field-walking, looking for pottery and flint tools in particular, has enabled us to identify many prehistoric and Roman sites in and around the village. If you would like to join us, and find out what to look for and how to identify what you find, we are holding a training day on Sunday, 24 October jointly with a group from North Leigh Roman Villa. Let us know if you are interested.

Local Attractions

Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum

Brigadier Ian Inshaw, longstanding chair of the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Trust, has stepped down after fifteen years which have seen the creation and establishment in Woodstock of one of Britain’s leading military museums, and the only such museum in Oxfordshire.

A career army officer, Ian spent his last five years as commander of the Bicester Garrison and, on retirement, joined the trust to help create a new concept for a military museum: telling the stories of how conflict has affected the lives of people in Oxfordshire.

His time as chair brought together the strong military heritage of Oxfordshire – which includes its two former county regiments, the Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars and the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry – and its strong links with the Royal Air Force and the US Air Force, and many components of the Royal Logistic Corps.

From the beginning, Ian was committed to the creation of a museum that was attractive, unique and sustainable. Today’s purpose-built modern museum in the beautiful grounds of The Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock is his legacy — it is the result of his leadership and determination to ensure that the stories of Oxfordshire’s soldiers, airmen and their families and communities should be accessible to all.

Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum is once again open to the public after a Covid-enforced shutdown, and the trust’s team of professionals has created an exciting programme of events for the year ahead.

The trustees of the museum have embarked on a search for Ian’s successor, and in the meantime, new trustee David Shouesmith has taken over as interim chair.

The trustees are hugely grateful for Ian’s unstinting passion and commitment to the museum, and are delighted that he will continue to work with the trust as a Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum ambassador.

North Leigh Roman Villa

11 and 12 September proved to be North Leigh Roman Villa Volunteers’ most successful open weekend yet. Saturday saw over 250 people come to see the mosaic, while Sunday achieved the highest attendance on a single day since the volunteer group started, with 330 visitors.

Among these were 26 volunteer cleaners, drawn from Friends of North Leigh Roman Villa, who helped Laura Mountford of English Heritage clean and conserve the mosaic.

In conversation with the dozen local volunteers staffing the site over the weekend, visitors remarked on the excellent opportunity to handle so many different Roman artefacts. Comments included “You’ve changed the way I think about the Romans” and “Thank you for making these dry stones interesting”, and “The input of the volunteers made my visit feel valued”.

This was made possible because as well as North Leigh Roman Villa Volunteers, the event welcomed volunteers from Tackley Local History Group. They helped set the North Leigh villa in the wider context of Roman Oxfordshire, and provided visitors with details of the newly-unearthed villa in Tackley, which has its own mosaic. The event also featured John Perkins from the Tackley group in a live interview on BBC Radio Oxford.

Specialists from English Heritage were also present to explain artefacts and coins from the Roman era.

Cumulatively, since the North Leigh volunteer group began in the summer of 2019, more than 3,250 people have been to see the mosaics at the site.

To join Friends of North Leigh Roman Villa or arrange a special opening, please email us.

Combe Mill

We will be open and in steam on Sunday, 17 October from 10 am until 5 pm with the theme of ‘wood crafts’. No advanced booking is necessary; just pay on arrival.

In addition to our beam engine, small industrial engines and collections of artefacts, we have demonstrations by crafters and mill volunteers. Blacksmiths will be working in the forge. Visitors can admire a small collection of turret clocks and many artefacts from the Victorian era. The ‘Millie the Mill Cat’ trail is available to entertain younger visitors.

The barbecue will be in operation, and light refreshments together with hot and cold drinks can be purchased on a takeaway basis from our tearoom to be enjoyed in the picnic area beside the River Evenlode. Combe Mill publications, handcrafted items and ice creams will be on sale from the gift shop.

Visitors can try their luck on the tombola and browse a small selection of market stalls selling handcrafted items.

This is the last Steaming Sunday of the year. In what has been a challenging time, it would be lovely to see you.

Check out our website for all other opening dates and information about the mill.

Pat Ward

Derek, Maria, Stephen and families would like to express their sincere gratitude for all of the kind personal messages, including the lovely cards, and to all who attended the church service on the sad passing of Pat.

Our thanks go to Canon Robin Gibbons for his kind words, prayers and for conducting such a personal service, and a special thank-you to Neale Harrison for composing such a personal and meaningful poem.

Our thanks also to Debby and her team for their support, assistance and for allowing us to display a condolence book along with photographs in the village shop.

Finally, a big thank-you to all who donated to Sobell House in Pat’s memory.

Please accept this as a personal acknowledgement.

Gabriel Hounslow

Thank you for the lovely turnout to celebrate the life of Gabes. A big thank-you to Martin for his fabulous hosting and providing of nibbles; to Maca for his booming voice, port pouring skills and help organising the evening; and to Father Robin for his very kind reflection. But also the so many kind words and conversations we all had. We are truly blessed. RIP Gabes.