echo 15.2 final version - shinksey.files.wordpress.com
TRANSCRIPT
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The Hinkseys’ Cricket Match
The annual cricket extravaganza between North and South Hinksey returned for 2015 to Wootton village where we again enjoyed the hospitality of Dave Parker and Wootton & Boars Hill CC.
The weather relented and a full afternoon of cricket was enjoyed by all the players and spectators, almost as much as the superb tea laid on by Maggie Rawcliffe and Angie Bloss, many thanks to both Maggie and Angie.
As for the cricket, well we tried our best but came second again. North Hinksey batted first, and soon the air was filled with the traditional clonk of leather on willow. Although wickets fell steadily the runs mounted relentlessly, and North Hinksey reached 152 for 9 off their 24 overs. Huntley, Wells, Marsden and Jankiewicz were the wicket takers. South Hinksey went out to bat and the clonk of leather on willow was replaced by the tinkle of leather on ash as the South Hinksey batsmen’s defence was being regularly breached and the stumps were scattered in all directions. Asif Hameed picked out their best catcher with a fierce shot on his first ball, and South Hinksey faced an uphill task. New village resident Ian Whitfield timed the ball well for 24, showing us all how it should be done. The tail wagged as Jankiewicz and Mallinson added some respectability to the score, but it was too late in the day and we finished on 101 for 9.
Thanks to all our players and supporters, to Chris Andrews and his North Hinksey team, and above all to match manager Peter Rawcliffe without whose efforts the day would not take place. Time to get practising for our comeback in 2016! James Mallinson
We are always looking for new blood. If you would like to take part next year please get in touch with Peter on 01865 735288.
Save the date: Annual Fete Sunday 6th September 2015
SOUTH HINKSEY ECHO
www.southhinksey.org
Volume 15, number 2 June 2015
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Our ‘local’
Described by the Oxford English Dictionary as a colloquialism, when people in Britain refer to the "local" they are often talking about the pub. But a local is far more than merely a pub. It is one of very few places in this world where you can drop in unannounced, be assured of a friendly welcome, see several people you know and like, discuss any random topic of conversation, banal or world-‐impacting, over a beer, wine or cup of tea, with a friend or complete stranger, or sit alone in silent contemplative thought. We have one, and it is called the General Eliott.
Six months ago, after clearing an inordinate number of planning and licence application hurdles, Cass and Helen finally opened the doors, and equipped with little more experience than you'd get from simply being a customer, they became Publicans.
And hats off to them as it's blooming well working.
If you haven't yet made the effort to come down to the pub please do, as it really is rather good. When you do, allow time to order something off the menu or Special's Board: the 'Beef in Suet' is a proper portion of a proper pie, and the 'Sharing board' isn't merely prepared, it's crafted.
You don't even need to take my word for it, our very own General Eliott has been described enthusiastically in both the Oxford Times and the Telegraph... and I think the food has improved since both of those reviews. If you get the chance to meet the brilliantly passionate Italian chef, Pascal, you'll understand why.
Taking on a pub is no small challenge and Helen and Cass are only six months in, so perfection at this stage is a bit much to ask. There is the odd growing pain, but that adds to the charm of the place. I'd far rather that than have a corporate identity stamped on the place that rips out its character and personality.
So, it deserves our support and encouragement. If you like what Helen and Cass are doing, come again, tell your friends and 'Like' the General Eliott on Facebook. http://www.thege.co.uk/ If you don't like something, then please talk to one or other of them -‐ they are great people and want the pub to work for us too.
With live music every Friday, monthly quiz nights, ladies and gents evenings, and a beer festival scheduled for July, it is easy enough to find an excuse to pop-‐in.
Over the years we have fought hard to have a pub (remember the public meeting just prior to the 2010 General Election when we were on the cusp of losing the pub forever?) and now we have one. A local. Let's work together to keep it that way. Adrian Porter
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Parish News otherwise known as the Parish Council report for 2014/15
Parish Council election All five parish councillors were reelected to the Parish Council on 7th May. The Chair would like to thank Chris, Liz, Sarah, Matthew, and Sheridan, our Clerk, for their work and commitment. Traffic and road safety The Council is pleased to report that the campaign over many years for increased road safety along Hinksey Hill has been successful with fewer reported problems. The police are regularly monitoring traffic speed. The County Council is carrying out a review of the speed limit between the new Kennington and Hinksey Hill roundabouts, and the Parish Council is monitoring its progress. Footpaths The Council is investigating the possibility of creating a permissive footpath and cycleway along the electric road between South Hinksey and North Hinksey / Osney Mead. It has received in principle agreement from three of the four landowners, and is hoping for agreement from the fourth shortly. Once this has been confirmed, the Parish Council will start drafting a legal agreement. Finance Due to increased income from the burial ground and VAT refunds, and a continued fall in the costs of overheads and administration, the Council ended the 2014/15 year with a surplus of £3,800. However, the Council predicts larger maintenance costs in 2015/16, especially the removal of the leylandii in the burial ground, and the grant from the County Council for the maintenance of the verges has been halved to £500. Therefore the Council has modestly increased the precept from £7,250 to £7,500 for the coming year. This represents a 1.98% or 80p annual increase for the average household. Defibrillator The Council would like to thank the community for their donations towards the new automated external defibrillator, which is now installed outside the Village Hall. The Council would especially like to thank County Councillor Bob Johnston for his very generous donation, which made the scheme possible, and Emmeline Bryant for organizing the community fundraising efforts. A training session for parishioners has been organized for June.
The kit is located at the Village Hall side entrance
Redbridge Hollow The county, district and city councils are working with Kennington and South Hinksey parish councils to improve fly-‐tipping issues at Redbridge Hollow. A new fence is due to be installed to prevent further tipping, after which the city council will arrange for the current waste to be cleared. Unfortunately, CCTV installed by the district council was vandalized. The police have recently carried out arrests of several residents of the travellers’ site in relation to human trafficking, slavery, fraud and theft offences. Footbridge over the railway The county, district and city councils had committed a total of £250k towards the replacement footbridge on the understanding that Network Rail would contribute the remaining £500k. However, negotiations were ongoing. Peter Rawcliffe was also chasing a reply from Nicola Blackwood MP regarding the investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
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General Eliott The Council is pleased to see the General Eliott open for business again, and has been working with the landlord and residents to resolve noise and traffic issues. Maggie Rawcliffe, Chair
Other News
Easter litter pick
On the morning of Sunday 12th April we happened to be driving up Hinksey Hill and were amazed and impressed by the number of workers in high-‐viz jackets out clearing the verge. No, they weren’t council workers but Hinksey volunteers doing a very thorough litter pick. The same thing was going on in the village, with the two teams meeting somewhere by the bridge. The bright sunshine helped and those taking part were mightily pleased with the results.
Linda Slater
Alan: Bus Driver Extraordinaire From the beginning of June new (and less convenient) timetables come into effect for our local buses. Heyfordian is handing over the number 44 to another company, so we will be losing our very popular driver, Alan. I'm so sorry to hear that we'll be losing Alan from the number 44 bus route. Alan isn't just the person who drives the bus: he takes immense pride in getting to know the names of all his passengers, to find out where they are getting off the bus, and to provide the most friendly and helpful service imaginable. I only really ever take the bus once a week, and was amazed at how quickly he remembered my name and that I was getting off at South 'Hinskey' (always 'Hinskey' never 'Hinksey'), and had a ticket waiting for me without my having to say a word. I know he is deeply valued by a large contingent of elderly passengers, who rely heavily on his service and appreciate his kindness. When he took an unexpected week off for a family bereavement a few months ago, the passengers were in uproar, and the replacement driver deeply disgruntled at the number of demands of 'Where's Alan?'. So yes, I am very sad to hear that we're losing the services of that Oxfordshire treasure, Alan of the 44 bus. Clare Broome Saunders P.S The other charming thing about Alan was that he always greeted me with 'Hello Young Lady'. Probably ironic, but always lifted the spirits....
When the bus was delayed on the Botley Road once, Alan shared out a packet of chocolates with the passengers. I also have this photo of him with an empty silver platter next to him and a balloon attached to his seat: it was his birthday and the Abingdon passengers had treated him to cookies.
Linda Slater
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Spied in the Village…
Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, and our MP, Nicola Blackwood, were snapped in the village on 14th April. They popped into our ‘local’ for lunch on a return visit to South Hinksey, following their initial visit last year at the time of the floods.
See below for more details on the subject of flooding.
Wildflower meadow
The wildflower meadow in the burial ground is six years old and flourishing. Introduced plants are increasing in size and multiplying, others have ‘appeared from nowhere’. Grass growth is restrained (as intended) by yellow rattle, an annual which we sowed two years ago and which has self-‐seeded successfully: weaker grass growth allows flowers to do better. I’ll be introducing some more plants over the next twelve months to increase the mix. The Parish Council is planning to have the leylandii behind the graves felled as the roots are making gravestones lean, the trees are liable to break and cause damage, and no longer form a useful barrier anyway. They will be replaced with a native hedge which will get over these problems and increase biodiversity. Do walk through and see what’s there, you may be surprised. Some of last year’s common spotted orchids are already showing (though not in flower yet). If there’s enough interest we’ll repeat last year’s family picnic and flower hunt this summer. Peter Rawcliffe
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Flooding Village Temporary Barrier There will be a public meeting in the village quite soon to discuss the temporary barrier for the village and the works to be done. Groundwork is expected to start in July, and to be completed by the end of August. There’ll be a training session for Matthew Frohn’s barrier team once the groundwork has been done. Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme is progressing to schedule. Public drop-‐in sessions to find out about the scheme, ask questions and make suggestions are from 2:30 pm to 7:30 pm -‐ visit when you like.
While there is not a session in South Hinskey I have secured the offer of a public meeting in the village attended by members of the Environment Agency project team. I’ve suggested this could be combined with the temporary barrier meeting (see above). Details will be circulated on Shinfo.
In the meantime the latest, May, update on the scheme is downloadable from http://oxfordfloodalliance.org.uk/. General election results locally and nationally should make the scheme more rather than less likely to go ahead. If anyone is in doubt about the need for serious action to reduce Oxford’s flood risk, climate change predictions might well change their minds. Look out for more on this soon.
Long-‐stretch maintenance Oxford Flood Alliance’s (OFA) long-‐stretch maintenance campaign (i.e. ensuring that the longer rural stretches of the Hinksey Stream and other watercourses in our area are maintained by the riparian owners) continues (see http://oxfordfloodalliance.org.uk/ ). This effort has been going on since 2012! In August last year intrepid OFA canoeists explored the whole area.
In March Adrian Porter and I had a preliminary meeting with Steve Smith, City Engineer, and Peter Collins from the Environment Agency (EA), at Coldharbour, south of the village, where the stream goes under the railway. Adrian has since had another meeting at Coldharbour, this time with the EA and Network Rail. Action by NR to clear this area now seems extremely likely. It certainly needs clearing, as this picture shows (believe it or not that’s a statutory ‘Main River’ watercourse behind, not a wet woodland). Many thanks to Adrian for taking the lead on this for OFA, and getting his teeth so firmly into it, and to Peter Collins on the EA side. Further site visits along the stream with other landowners will, we hope, follow. Peter Rawcliffe
Date Venue
Tuesday June 23 Kennington Village Hall OX1 5PG
Thursday June 25 Abingdon Guildhall OX14 3HL
Friday June 26 West Oxford Community Centre OX2 0BT
Tuesday June 30 Oxford Town Hall OX1 1BX
Friday July 3 South Oxford Community Centre OX1 4RP
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Parish Church of St Laurence, South Hinksey
from Fr James Wilkinson, the Vicar
Looking forward to the Feast of St Laurence – 9th August This year we will be keeping the festival of our patron St Laurence on Sunday 9th August 2015. There will be a service at 11am in the church at which the celebrant and preacher will be the Bishop of Beverley. Following this there will be a procession through the village to the General Elliott Pub for a BBQ lunch -‐ follow the people carrying red balloons! Further details about how to get tickets for the BBQ lunch via SHinfo at a later date.
Children from the village are welcome to take part in the procession with an image of St Laurence which will have been produced at a workshop nearer the day, further details again via SHinfo. A prayer for the coming festival Almighty God, who made Laurence a loving servant of your people and a wise steward of the treasures of your Church: fire us with his example to love as he loved and to walk in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, to whom with you and the Holy Spirit, be honour and glory, now and for ever. Amen. Sunday Teas! Come and have tea and cake in church on the following Sunday’s between 3 and 5pm… 14th June, 26th July and 27th September
Sunday Services -‐ 6 monthly Calendar -‐ May to October 2015 The pattern is usually the first and third Sundays of the month at 9.15am except in August.
Sunday 14th June Trinity 2 Tea 3-‐5.00pm Sunday 21st June Trinity 3 Eucharist at 9.15am Sunday 5th July Trinity 5 Eucharist at 9.15am Sunday 19th July Trinity 7 Eucharist at 9.15am Sunday 26th July Trinity 8 Tea 3-‐5.00pm Sunday 9th August St Laurence Eucharist at 11.00am Sunday 23rd August Trinity 12 Eucharist at 9.15am
Sunday 6th Sept Trinity 14 Eucharist at 9.15am Sunday 20th Sept Trinity 16 BCP Eucharist at 9.15am Sunday 27th Sept Trinity 17 Tea 3-‐5.00pm Sunday 4th October Harvest Eucharist at 9.15am Sunday 18th October Trinity 20 Eucharist at 9.15am
Best wishes, Fr James Wilkinson [email protected] 01865 245879 www.acny.org.uk/468
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Things to do
Indoors -‐ Bowls in the Hall Bowls in the Hall is now established. We have a regular group of players, including children -‐ some of whom are getting rather too good! We have a massive bowls box in the hall to store the mat etc, so setting up is much easier.
Meetings have been held about every month and we hope to have the next quite soon. We’ll mail the regulars with possible dates and put a note on Shinfo when it’s decided.
If you haven’t been before do come along. It’s fun. There is a small fee to cover expenses (children free). Drinks, crisps etc. available.
‘’Skip’’ Blay in action
Outdoors -‐ Wild Oxford The Oxford festival of Nature – this event is running over two weeks (1st to 14th June) around the City of Oxford. Please follow the link: www.oxfordfestivalofnature.org to see all the event listings. We are running a guided walk at Lye Valley on the 4th of July, which will be led by Judy Webb. Places are limited so please book your place on-‐line using this link if you would like to come along: http://www.bbowt.org.uk/whats-‐on
South Hinksey Open Air Pool This hidden gem of the 1930s is open now until October: http://www.fusion-‐lifestyle.com/centres/Hinksey_Outdoor_Pool/home
Help!
We need more helpers with producing the South Hinksey Echo. History The Echo started life as the Village Hall Newsletter in 2003. Pom Bourgein and I produced the first couple of editions as a one-‐sided newsletter intended to promote use of the Village Hall after its refurbishment. The 2004 Parish Plan, under the Friends of South Hinksey, placed great emphasis on communication within the Parish, and so the Newsletter became more inclusive and wide-‐ranging. Pat Philipson came up with the name of South Hinksey Echo in response to a competition. In the early days a printed copy was delivered to every house in the Parish, thanks to Dave Markham and his generous help with the printing. Nowadays it is largely distributed by email although we do print a few copies and deliver them to people who we know do not have access to a computer. The present I was the sole editor for some years but more recently the job has been shared by a small group, each taking it in turns to edit one edition, while sharing editorial decisions. The Echo comes out three times a year (around January, May and September). We particularly need someone from the Hill as I'm very conscious that we tend to be village oriented. Most of the editing communications are done by email, though we sometimes need one face-‐to-‐face meeting to discuss ideas. Please consider joining us. You can contact me by email ([email protected]) or tel: 327366.
Linda Slater