With planning permission now granted for our extension, we’re busy working
away behind the scenes to keep the project moving forward. While much of
this work isn’t visible, every step brings us closer to creating a hall
that’s more accessible and welcoming for everyone in our community.
Our fundraising efforts have been great fun, and it’s been wonderful to see
so many people across the village getting involved.
A huge thank-you to everyone who supported the garage sale back in May. The
event raised an incredible £1,201, and we hope everyone enjoyed the day as
much as we did.
Our recent Pirates of the Caribbean night was another
fantastic success. Thank you to everyone who came along, and a special
mention to those who embraced the theme and dressed as pirates! A special
thanks to those who made the night possible: Louis Macke and Maxine Ward for
the amazing cocktails; Adam Barnett, Chris Giles, Geoff Morey, Mark Vingoe
and Ian Thomas working hard in the kitchen – the food was amazing, and we
would like to thank Sean Ducie for providing the curry – and Tony Perry
behind the bar. And a thank-you to those who are always helping out: Toby,
Graham and others!
A lot of work goes on behind these events and the running of the Pop-Up
Pub. We are incredibly grateful and lucky to have Julie Farren and Matt
Ollman, for their dedication to the village. Thank you both very much!
It has also been brilliant to see so many of our younger villagers showing
real entrepreneurial spirit as they raise money for the hall. From home
baking and face painting to their own creative fundraising ideas, their
enthusiasm has been inspiring. We can’t wait to celebrate what they’ve
achieved, and we’ll be sharing more information soon.
Bike Night
We’re excited to be hosting Tackley’s first ever bike night on Friday,
14 August from 5:30 pm. Bike nights have proved hugely successful
elsewhere, bringing together enthusiasts while raising valuable funds for
local communities. If you own a motorcycle, or know someone who does, we’d
love to see you there.
Auction of Promises
Please note that the auction of promises has a new date, Friday,
2 October, so be sure to update your calendars. If you’ve never been to
one before, an auction of promises is a fun fundraising event where local
people, businesses and organisations donate a service, skill, experience or
item to be auctioned. Rather than bidding on brand-new products, you might
bid for things such as a homemade meal, gardening help, an afternoon of
babysitting, a photography session, a hamper, a voucher, or even a promise
to walk someone’s dog. Every promise donated helps raise money for the
village hall, while showcasing the generosity and talents within our
community.
If you have a product, service or skill you’d like to donate for the
auction, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact Julie Farren at
chair@tvmh.org.uk or come and speak
to us on a Friday evening at the Pop-Up Pub.
Looking Ahead
We have plenty more events planned throughout the rest of the year, so be
sure to follow Tackley’s Pop-Up Pub and Tackley Village Memorial Hall on
Facebook to keep up to date and make sure you don’t miss out.
We’re always keen to hear your feedback. The events we organise are for the
people of Tackley, and the village hall belongs to the whole community. We
want it to be a welcoming, inclusive place that everyone enjoys using; so if
you have ideas or suggestions, please let us know.
And don’t forget, between all these special events you’re always welcome at
the Pop-Up Pub, every Friday from 5:30 pm at Tackley Village Memorial
Hall. It’s a great opportunity to meet new people, catch up with friends,
and experience the strong sense of community that makes the village such a
special place.
As our Friday nights continue to grow in popularity, we have one small
favour to ask: if you’re coming along, please bring your own glass if you
can. It really helps us keep up when the Pop-Up Pub is busy, and means less
time washing glasses and more time serving drinks. If you do use one of the
hall’s glasses, we’d be very grateful if you could return it to the bar once
you’ve finished with it, rather than leaving it on a table. It makes a huge
difference to our volunteers, and helps keep the evening running
smoothly.
Thank you for helping us make the Pop-Up Pub such a welcoming community
event.
Finally, if you’d like to support our extension project and help us make
the hall more accessible for everyone, donations of any size are greatly
appreciated. Please visit
justgiving.com/charity/tackleyvillage-memorialhall.
Thank you for your continued support. Every event attended, every donation
made and every hour volunteered helps secure the future of your village
hall.
Village Shop & Post Office
Dawn Chambers
Tackley Village Shop and Post Office will soon be advertising for a new
part-time member of staff.
Keep a look out for an email via Tackley Notices, and a post on the Spotted
Tackley Facebook page, for more on this exciting opportunity — or pop into
the shop and speak to our lovely manager.
At the end of the school academic year I attend the leavers’ service at
both Tackley Church of England and Dr Radcliffe’s Steeple Aston schools. It
is a wonderful celebration, looking back at the children’s time in primary
school, celebrating how they have grown and developed – and all they have
learnt and achieved – before sending them onwards to their next school.
The summer holiday, as well as being a chance to rest and have fun, is also
a liminal space. An in-between time. Primary school is over, but secondary
school hasn’t yet begun.
Life is full of in-between moments, when one period has ended and we wait
for the next stage to begin. These may be big changes, like a new job or
moving house, or smaller ones as we adapt to life’s challenges.
These moments are often full of various emotions, from saying goodbye to
friends, colleagues and neighbours; to the excitement of starting something
new, meeting new people and making new friendships. As we stand on the edge
of something new, with all its possibilities stretching out before us, it
may also seem overwhelming. Jesus in the Gospels repeatedly invites his
disciples to ‘come and follow’ him — as he crosses boundaries, travelling to
Samaria, or crossing the Sea of Galilee.
As we journey through the summer, and this space in between, it is worth
taking time to notice our emotions; because recognising them and naming them
helps to release their hold on us. We can use the summer to help us prepare
to step into the new space, job, school or home. Just as we prepare for
going away by packing our bags, we can prepare for the new stage in life by
getting the things we will need ready – from new pens and rulers, to
crockery and bed linen if moving away from home – or by learning something
new to aid us in our adventure.
Whatever changes you face, as you journey through the space in between I
pray that you will know Jesus’ presence going with you.
King Island is about as far from Tackley as it’s possible to go. It’s a
small rocky island in the Bass Strait, the perilous waters that separate
Tasmania from mainland Australia. Nevertheless, the village and the island
are connected by a link so strong that it brought a visitor from King Island
all the way to Tackley on 9 July. She was welcomed at St Nicholas’
Church by churchwarden Janet Maybank and by Rachel Strachan and Neil Wilson,
who had made their own pilgrimage to King Island in 2019.
There they saw the wild seascape which, in 1845, was the scene of the worst
civil maritime disaster in Australian history, when an emigrant ship called
the Cataraqui was wrecked with the loss of 399 souls; there were only nine
survivors.
The names of all the Cataraqui’s passengers and crew can be seen on a
memorial at the site. The dead were emigrants, many from Oxfordshire, and 42
of them were from Tackley. These were seven families, men, women and
children, ranging in age from three months to 39 years.
Artist’s impression by Chris Matthews
The tragedy still resonates on both sides of the world. It took Rachel and
Neil to King Island, and this year it brought a King Islander to Tackley,
with small items of debris from those windswept beaches – believed to be
flotsam from the wreck – so that she could place one of them, a coal, as an
offering on the Cataraqui memorial in St Nicholas’ Church.
To the left of the altar there’s a small oak door with a beautifully carved
image of the shipwreck, the work of John Bye. Unveiled in 2006, this is
Tackley’s memorial to the villagers who died, and here the beachcomber’s
recent find was placed. It was an emotional moment. That shore had been a
happy place for her as a teenager. Her own family’s emigration from England
had been successful, and like so many friends and relations we all know,
their new life on the other side of the world was good news. How different
it was for the Tackley emigrants in 1845.
At that time most Tackley families depended on agricultural labour, in
which men, women and children were employed when they could find the work.
But there wasn’t enough of it; and it was seasonal, sporadic, and dependent
on good health. There was widespread poverty, no job security, and of course
no state welfare. The only help for those on the breadline was local charity
and, try as they might, the better-off parishioners could not support the
many struggling families. This was the crisis that led to the decision to
fund the voyage of the 42 villagers to Australia. Yes, there was hope of a
better life. There was also heartbreak and desperation.
Those interested in family history research occasionally discover a
connection with the Cataraqui emigrants. In the church, as well as the oak
carving, there is a storyboard about the disaster and its background. If you
would like to know more, see the illustrated feature on the Tackley Local
History Group website.
Details of our new programme of talks, beginning in September, are now on
the website too.
Tackley WI has continued to enjoy an interesting and varied meeting
programme.
In June, Professor Nick Hawes gave us a wonderful and interesting
presentation on robotics.
In July, at our first open meeting of 2026 – for both men and women –
speaker Alastair Lack gave a fascinating talk on The Oxford of Morse,
Lewis and Endeavour, which was well received.
Our August meeting will be a crafting session, and we will be making felted
sheep. Interest for this activity has been high. All available spaces to
participate in the crafting event have now been filled.
Tackley WI will include other crafting activities in our future meeting
programme, which will be advertised in due course.
At our meeting on Tuesday, 1 September, Alex Harrison, a Community
First Responder from South Central Ambulance Service, will give a
presentation on first aid. This supports the WI’s national Bystanders
Can Be Lifesavers initiative. The meeting will be open to women only.
Visitors are welcome for £5, which includes refreshments.
Tackley WI has a friendly and welcoming membership. Most months we hold a
coffee morning for our members, which provides an additional social
opportunity. Our members have a wide age range with varied interests. We
meet on the first Tuesday of the month, excluding January, at 7:30 for
7:45 pm in Tackley Village Memorial Hall.
We have another open meeting planned in autumn. This will be clearly
publicised nearer the time.
If you would like to find out more about our meetings, please do not
hesitate to email us.
The walking group is a friendly way to get to know our local countryside
and surrounding areas. We have continued to enjoy some beautiful walks in
glorious weather throughout the spring and early summer; however, one of our
walks was cancelled because of the very hot weather! We hope to revisit
this, possibly as an extra to our regular schedule.
It has been lovely to see some new people join us on our walks where we
have explored the countryside and canal paths around Cropredy, Thrupp and
Somerton; wild flower meadows around Chipping Norton; and lovely footpaths
through Kirtlington and Bletchingdon parks.
The group arranges two walks each month. Walks on second Saturdays meet at
9:30 am and are approximately 5–8 miles; those on fourth
Wednesdays meet at 2 pm and are approximately 3–5 miles.
We meet at the village hall before each walk to arrange car sharing, bus or
train to the start of the walk. Most walks are in North Oxfordshire,
but we sometimes venture a bit further afield. Some walks conclude with an
optional lunch or refreshment at a local pub or cafe. Routes are often
suitable for dogs kept under close control.
We warmly welcome regular and new members to join us, as well as any
suggestions for routes.
Our programme to the end of October is below, and can also be found on the
village website. Further details of each route will be sent out via Tackley
Notices.
Saturday, 8 August at 9:30 am: Old Boars Hill, Oxford, led by
Annabelle Smith.
Wednesday, 26 August at 2 pm: Wytham Woods, led by Ken
Kahn.
Saturday, 12 September at 9:30 am: footpaths around Thornhill,
Stanton St John and Beckley, led by Linda Birch.
Wednesday, 23 September at the slightly earlier time of
1:42 pm to catch the S4 bus to Shipton Turn where we will follow
footpaths back to Tackley via Weaveley Furze, led by Alison Matthews.
Saturday, 10 October at 9:30 am: the Banbury Fringe walk, led
by Alison Matthews.
Wednesday, 28 October at 2 pm: a walk in Flora Thompson
country – Cottisford and Juniper Hill – led by Sue Kavanagh.
Please note that walks may be subject to change, and that walkers take
responsibility for their own safety.
Features has continued to show a variety of films each month; some old and
some new, some light-hearted and some more challenging. Our aim is to show a
balance of films we think people will enjoy, ensuring they are all
well-written and all tell a good story.
Our recent screenings have included such variation as a film based on
Maggie O’Farrell’s bestselling book, which provided a fictionalised account
of Shakespeare’s life with his wife and children, and a poignant story about
the death of a father/grandfather and how the different generations dealt
with this.
Our screenings are free, but we have a donations box. We are very grateful
to all who attend Features and have given so generously to the various
charities we have supported. We alternate between giving to external
charities and giving to Tackley Methodist Church. We are pleased to support
smaller, local charities as well as those that are better known. Recent
donations have been made to Age UK and SeeSaw bereavement support, among
others.
After our August break we have a variety of films planned for the next few
months, including some that have recently been seen in the cinema and some
older films that are definitely worth another watch.
We look forward to seeing you at the Methodist Church for a cuppa and a
film at 7 pm on Thursdays 24 September, 22 October,
12 November and 17 December.
Keep a look out for emails through Tackley Notices and the posters we place
on noticeboards around the village in the week before each film.
Our licence means we are unable to externally advertise the names of the
films we’re showing, hence the rather cryptic posters. You can, however,
have access to the programme by emailing us.
We had our members’ garden party in July at Gill’s, and wish to thank her
very much.
At the time of writing, we badly need rain for our gardens — but there is
none forecast.
Our next meeting is on Tuesday, 22 September when we have a welcome
return from Chris Day who will talk about Year Round Container
Planting. I hope to see you all then.
Gerry Beckett (Grandad Moon)
Dawn Chambers
We would like to say a huge thank-you for all the cards, letters and
flowers we received following Dad’s death. They were and remain a great
comfort to us all.
We would also like to thank all those who donated to the Thames Valley Air
Ambulance and Cancer Research in lieu of flowers. £1,765 has now been passed
on to these two very worthwhile charities.
Dad loved Tackley life, the clubs and societies, village events and his
churches; but most of all he loved the people: his friends, acquaintances
and neighbours. Thank you all for making his life here so very special.
Dad would have been 100 on 7 November, and we plan to hold a Macmillan
coffee morning that day to celebrate a life well lived — and no celebration
for Dad would be complete without cake.
