Hanwell NewsSpring 2011

Stars and Snowdrops at Hanwell Community Observatory, Hanwell Castle

From the Editor

Well, as a village community we seem to deserve a bit of a pat on our collectivebacks. Two people have written to say how well some members of our littlecommunity rose to the challenge of the snowy weather to help others. It is lovely toget these stories.

I have a general editorial policy of not printing anonymous pieces, but as this onewas a positive piece I put it in. I am frequently asked to put anonymous pieces in,obviously living in a small village no one wants to offend neighbours and I completelyunderstand that, but part of the reason I don’t put them in is that I don’t wanteveryone to think they were written by myself!

The main complaints I receive are about cars parking on pavements, cars parking inplaces which make the road more dangerous for other users, and garden hedgeswhich encroach substantially over the pavement. All are quite difficult issues toresolve with pretty non-existent parking space, narrow roads and narrowerpavements, but it isn’t good that children have to step onto the road to passobstacles.

The Dates for your Diary section below is very empty this issue. Is there nothinghappening in the village? I know that there are several clubs and groups out there, ifyou would like to let me know when you meet every month I will be happy to put it inthe diary. If you do not receive an email from me asking for material before eachissue, do contact me and let me have your email and I will contact you beforepublication.

We have room for about two more advertisers, as some of the previous advertisershave stopped advertising in the newsletter. If you would like to advertise yourcompany in this prestigious newsletter please contact me for information

Anne SheppardEditor, Hanwell NewsFairwaysChurch LaneHanwell Tel. 730441annesheppard@gmail.com

Dates for your diary

Wednesday 25th May The Cluster CareAGM will be held in Hanwell Village Hall at7.30pm

Sunday 5th June Proposed date for HanwellOpen Gardens

Saturday 11th June Cluster Care Group TeaDance, Mollington Village Hall at 2.30pm.

We had an amazing collection of hugeicicles around the village during the coldweather at the end of the year.

Catteralls bus service goes twice a weekinto Banbury on Thursday and Saturday.The bus stop is in front of the village hall.

From Hanwell. Departs Hanwell villagehall 10.18 am, arriving Banbury bus stationat 10.25 am.

From Banbury. Departs Banbury busstation 1.30 pm, arriving at Hanwell villagehall at 1.40pm. Cost £2 each way, or freefor bus pass holders.

The Dial-a-Ride, the door-to-door minibusrequest service operates from 09.00am to05.00pm every weekday and is intended tobenefit the elderly, those with impairmentsto their mobility or who have difficulty inusing public transport. Please book a dayahead. Details are available from CharlesNixon-Eckersall on 730314.

The mobile library calls fortnightly onTuesday afternoons at approximately3.15pm. It stops opposite the village hall.

Milk can be ordered for door step deliveryfrom Dairy Crest. It is delivered in the veryearly hours of Tuesday, Thursday andSaturday mornings. Tel 01295 264776

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Village Information

Buses

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Milk Deliveries

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are emptied every Thursday and should beout by the kerb, by 7am, with handles facingards.

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local primary school is Hornton Countyary School, in Hornton village, tel. 670335.head teacher is Mrs Hillary Childs. The

Household waste collection

Primary School

ol bus picks up pupils from the village hall.50am each morning and drops them offin at 3.40pm.

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loxham village telephone 720777.acher is Mr Nick Hindmarsh. Thepicks up pupils from opposite theat 8.00 am and drops them off again

ChairmanBob Dainty 730677

SecretaryWendy Green 738712

TreasurerGordon Polson 738031

Village Hall HireWendy Green 738712

Committee membersJill Bailey 730442

Jill Hart 730269

Richard Woodward 738975

Village co-ordinatorKeith Williams 738004

Chairman John Spratt 730671Arnold Bailey 730442

Bob Dainty 730677John Hart 730269

Giles Dessain 730679Gordon Polson 738031

Charles Nixon-Eckersall 730314

Clerk to the councilJayne Gordon 730878

The Hanwell village website with the villageforum is located at www.hanwellvillage.com

Telephone the scheme co-ordinatorMargaret Roselaar on 738285 forinformation or help.

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Philip Ledger 738174

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Neighbourhood Watch

You may have already heard that thesensor was removed from the security lightat Heath Farm House and foundabandoned on the back track.

Subsequently Walnut Cottage discoveredtheir garden shed had been broken intoand power tools stolen. Please can we allbe extra vigilant as someone has been/issnooping around looking for targets.

Wendy Green already circulates ThamesValley Police Community Messagingemails which alert us of crimes beingreported in the area. In fact we recently hadone saying that garden sheds were beingtargeted, as are oil tanks. If you are not onthis list and would like to be includedplease email Wendy atwendygreen@waitrose.com.

The more people aware of theseundesirable activities that affect us all, thebetter so please spread the word amongstyour neighbours and friends in the village.

Neighbourhood Watch Contacts

Important Information numbers

Police 0845 850 5505Thames Water 0845 920 0800

Area Co-ordinators

Wendy Green 7387122 Sackville CourtHanwell

Gullicote Lane/Houses westPam Kennedy 730013Old BarnMain Street

Houses adjoining village green to village hallThelma Spratt 730671The Old RectoryChurch Lane

Church LaneAmanda Wray-Mitchell 730402Heron CottageMain Street

Moon and Sixpence areaJoe McGloin 7303832 Hanwell CourtHanwell

Hanwell Court/Main Street south

Children’s Christmas Party

We couldn’t have had a better atmospherefor the party this year! It took place onSaturday 17th December which was the daythe snow fell so heavily. By 11am it was sothick on the ground that the prospect oftrudging through the snow to the village hallwith everything we needed for the partywas going to be a major expedition. Sophone calls were made and we managedto get hold of everyone, including FatherChristmas, and the party was moved toHeath Farm House. Everyone made itthrough the snow – some arrived on theirsledges! As always the children had agreat time making Christmas decorations,playing games, and having tea butundoubtedly the highlight of the afternoonwas when Father Christmas was spottedfrom the kitchen window making his way upthe village – a red speck in the snow!

Jennifer Hart Dyke was out walking Daisy,her dog, and was very surprised when shesaw him and asked if he realised he was abit early for Christmas Eve! Everyone wasdelighted to see him - except for Phoebewho was very unsure about this strangeman!! – and they were all happy he’dremembered to bring them a present. A bigthank you to Father Christmas for makingsuch an effort. Can we arrange such amagical Christmas party in 2011?!

Juliet Dessain

Mrs Doris Russell

We are very sad to report the death of long timeHanwell resident Mrs Doris Russell, who diedon January 2011.

Mrs Russell came from London to Hanwellduring the war as a land girl and met herhusband Jack here and stayed.

In March 2009 Mrs Russell received a medal forher work as a land girl, which was reported inthe Summer 2009 issue of Hanwell News.

We are all very sad to hear of her death and outthought go to her family

Open Gardens 2011

We are hoping to hold Hanwell Open Gardensthis year on the 5th June.

We need around 6 gardens or more to make itworthwhile for visitors and to show off ourvillage.

If you would like to open your garden, could youplease let me know as soon as possible on730677.

Bob Dainty

Local Heroes

It is true that disasters and emergenciesbring out the best in people and while theheavy snow that we had early Decemberwas neither a disaster nor an emergency itdid highlight some local heroes.

Our dear Bob Dainty in his quest to dothings for the village cleared the steps andsome of the paths in Park Close and usedthe salt from the bin there to treat saidpaths. He has heard back that he has beenaccused of "stealing" that salt and is veryunhappy about this, suffice to say I expecthe will think twice about doing it again, youjust can't win.

That said I expect that people do take gritfrom the salt bins for their own use when itcan be purchased at B&Q and the like. Thebin by Park Close does now have anofficial sticker on it saying road use only byorder of the highways dept.

Richard Woodward made 7 trips intoBanbury (snow tyres are great) and theshops for various residents, Gordon Polsonprovided the same service. We all do ourbit but a co-ordinated effort would be good!

And rain or shine Malcolm Rayner goes outevery week to collect any rubbish lyingaround the village.

AnonymousHanwell village

If you have any more local hero stories totell please do let the editor know.

Found

A Silver-grey scarf was left behind in thechurch after the midnight service atChristmas.Contact Susie Nixon-Eckersall. Tel:01295730314.

Cluster Care

The Cluster Care Group would like to wish AHappy New Year to all its supporters.

Thanks to the contribution of IMPROMPTU andthe Middleton Cheney Handbell Ringers whogave so generously of their time and thesupport of people who came out on a VERYcold December evening we raised almost £300at our Christmas concert in Hanwell.

We would also like to say a huge "Thank you"to Frank and Freya, licensees of The Bell inGreat Bourton, who have been fundraising forCluster Care. Frank and Freya raised moneyfrom several events in 2010 including aChristmas Raffle and are continuing to runevents throughout 2011. In addition they hold aregular coffee morning in aid of Cluster Care ona Thursday morning from 10.30-12.00pm wheneveryone is welcome to drop in for a coffee anda chat and there is also a weekly raffle. Sothank you again Frank and Freya, everyone atCluster Care really appreciates what you do forus!

The AGM for The Cluster Care Group will beheld in Hanwell Village Hall on Wednesday 25thMay 2011 at 7.30pm everyone is very welcometo attend.

A Tea Dance run by John Hill for The ClusterCare Group will be held in Mollington VillageHall on Saturday 11th June from 2.30pm.

Made by Us

Thank you to all the villagers who came andsupported my “Made By Us” sale at thebeginning of December. Despite the snow andthe roads in the village being extremely icy etc,over 120 came to the sale, of which a quarterwere from Hanwell! We were very pleased withall the interest and support for us and forMacmillan, and were happy to hand over a totalof £730 (including Christmas card sales). Willlet you all know next time we have another sale!

Juliet Dessain

Upton House& Gardens

Join us as a Volunteer at Upton

Would you like to become more involvedwith your local National Trust property andhelp protect your local heritage? Thencome and be a volunteer at Upton Houseand Gardens!

Volunteering is a great opportunity to meetpeople, develop new skills, enhance yourCV and learn more about Upton and thework of the National Trust.

Upton’s heyday was in the 1930s when itwas the weekend country home of Lordand Lady Bearsted. Lord Bearsted was theChairman of Shell from 1921 to 1946 andwas the son of the founder of thatcompany. He and his wife hosted houseparties at Upton for their wealthy friends.Today, visitors to Upton can delve into theBearsteds’ millionaire lifestyle andexperience a 1930s house party as well asexplore acres of beautiful gardens. LordBearsted was passionate about art andvisitors can also enjoy his internationallyimportant collections of paintings andporcelain.

Volunteers are the lifeblood of Upton,bringing the house to life and enthusingvisitors about the property. There’s avariety of volunteering roles available, mostof which require no specific knowledge orskills. What you do need though is bags ofenthusiasm and a friendly personality!

As a volunteer you could help visitors learnabout the house, lead tours of the stunninggardens, serve in the Gift Shop, edit ournew website, assist with events or provideadmin support to the team in the PropertyOffice.

New for this year is Family Volunteering –we’re looking for friendly families to engagewith families visiting Upton by providing awarm welcome and enthusing them aboutthe 1930s house party. You can also dressup in 1930s costume!

We value the contribution that volunteers maketo our work and organise various “thank you”events throughout the year. We also produceregular newsletters to keep volunteers in theloop with what’s happening at Upton and theNational Trust.

Your volunteering will really make a differenceas you’ll be supporting a charity whose missionis to protect special places like Upton forever,for everyone.

For more info and more roles please visit ournew website “Local voices” which is availableat: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/uptonhouse.

We look forward to welcoming you to the team!

Help visitors have a memorable day out at Upton House andGardens.

Encourage visitors to interact with the house – they can pot ared on the billiard table!

HANWELL – LET US CELEBRATE

One of the common criticisms of villagelife is a lack of community spirit but thatsurely can’t be said of our village. This is anote of personal thanks on behalf of Susanand I to the following for all their helpduring the snowy weather and all the gooddeeds done for us during my recent illnesswhich has hitherto rendered me unable todo the normal things in life. The localheroes (to us!) who must be mentioned indespatches for many reasons are:

Colin and Sheila Richard Bob Anne and Charles Nigel and Elaine Jayne Ken and Dee

Dog walking Many other odd jobs

On a wider issue one must also considerpeople like Sue Quinney who deliversnewspapers in all weathers. She isindefatigable in her quest to ensureHanwellians get their daily read. (I don’t order anewspaper but still appreciate what she does)Then there’s the Parish Council, the Village Hallcommittee, the folks that organise Christmasfunctions and other events for children, Gileswho mows the fields, Charles and the team whomanage church affairs (the bells are somethingto be very proud of), the farming communitywho are always willing to help (as we knowwhen stuck in snow last year) and AnneSheppard (ably supported by Charles) whoensures that we get the Hanwell Newsletter.

Should I go on? Okay then…

We shouldn’t need touse Surnames –youknow who you are. Also

All the neighbourhoodwatch team, everyone who

to everyone who offeredme and Sue their goodwishes and offers ofhelp…it is greatlyappreciated. We must

say a special thank you to RichardWoodward who has done so much for us(and others) and without his help Christmaswould have been greatly tainted. Of course,many others in the village have done greatthings for others. We can think of GordonPolson offering help with his 4x4 and Tomand Jill who kept the website updated(make sure you use it folks!) and themyriad other people who help those inneed.

Let’s just check on some of the voluntarytasks that people do that some take forgranted…

Salting our roads (it isn’t the counciland it isn’t the salt fairy)

Clearing pavements and drives ofsnow

Shopping Gardening tasks Rubbish clearing Giving lifts

raises money for charity(look at Juliet Dessain’s Christmas gifts andtreats event and the Stars and Snowdropsevent led by Christopher and Rowena and thePoppy Appeal run by Susie and Charles Nixon-Eckersall.

I am clear that I have undoubtedly missedlots of people and lots of issues but you getmy point. If I have missed you out, write to theeditor and sing your praises or those ofsomeone else. Let’s celebrate our good fortune.When we stop to think, we could not functionwithout these invaluable folks.

We should celebrate having such a fine body ofmen and woman who make our village what it is– raise a glass (when you are next in the Moonand Sixpence) to all those who unselfishly helpand give freely of their time and effort forothers. Let us further hope that when they arein need, someone heeds their call.

Carl Portman

It is easier to build strong childrenthan to repair broken men.Frederick Douglass

Helpful Information

Residents are urged to check their watersupply shut off valves both inside andoutside of their home after a resident’shouse was recently flooded, as both valveshad failed and the water could not beisolated.

Inside valves (stop cocks) are where themains water supply enters the house,commonly under the sink. Outside theyshould be on the pathway outside yourproperty or nearby.

If the valve outside doesn't work it is theresponsibility of Thames Water 0845 9200800

If the valve inside doesn't work contact aplumber.

Richard Woodward

Garden Help

Charlie the gardener can help with all sortsof garden chores. He already works fortwo people in the village and both are veryhappy with his work (see editor for info). At£8/hour he is excellent value. ContactCharlie on 07403 291449 or email him atcharliethegardener@hotmail.com

Yes Master!

Hanwell resident and chess masterCarl Portman played chess grandmasterViktor Korchnoi at the London ChessClassic in December 2010. Although hedidn’t win Carl says, “I lost but that’s ofno consequence – it was an honour anda once in a lifetime chance to play one ofmy childhood heroes. Four and a halfhours wasn’t bad though!”

Carl has offered to give chess tuition toanyone in the village who would like tolearn or improve their game.

Banbury has a new adult educationprovider.

I am writing to let you know some colleaguesand I have opened a charity branch of theWorkers' Education Association. We will berunning courses in the Banbury area and havebeen doing so since last year.

I enclose details of the course we are running inMarch this year and would be grateful if youcould tell the people of Hanwell that we are inexistence and perhaps include us in yournewsletter.

We are accepting enrolment for the IntroductionGardening Course at Branch level, we arerunning in March. The course is for 5 weeksstarting the 3rd March 2011, 1pm-3pm atHanwell Fields Community Hall, Banbury.Telephone Jenny Gough; the Branch SecretaryTel: 01295 690326 for further information.

The course fee is £40 but we may be able tooffer it for free for people on benefits.

All our courses are advertised on our website,so people need to keep checking when thecourses become available. Our home page ishttp://www.wea.org.uk/and course search is onhttps://enrolonline.wea.org.uk/online/coursesearch.aspx

Andrew WillisChairman

An unusually serious looking Carl takes on a grand master

Invisible MysteriesMore Hanwell Ghost Stories

I was on the receiving end of many Hanwellghost stories while living in the tower yearsago. Glimpses of unknown people featuredin strange tales, but the ones I’mremembering now are stories that centrearound surprising and unexplainablesounds.

With my eyes shut, I often stood on theTower lawn trying to imagine scenes frombygone centuries, when the place brimmedwith people coming and going.

One of Hanwell’s most colourful characters,known for his ‘keeping of a hospitablehouse in the old English style’ was SirAnthony Cope, MP for Banbury in the reignof Queen Elizabeth I. He welcomed manyinfluential people to the castle during hislifetime, including the Queen’s favourite theEarl of Leicester, travelling from his castlein Kenilworth, and King James I himselfcame early in his reign.

It is thought the old Banbury road oncepassed in front of the Castle, running nearthe present day footpath to the Church.The two old stone pillars mark the gatewayleading up to the once imposing frontage.Distinguished visitors apart, the clatter ofhooves and rumbling of carriages and cartswould have been a familiar sound for manyyears.

The castle gates through which the ghostly carriageswere heard to pass

Moving on to a day sometime in the 1970s,when a group of student actors came for ashort stay at the Castle. Now relativelyempty and surrounded by garden and

trees, the place must have appeared peacefuland quiet. Billeted in the top room of theTower, they could not have expected whatwould happen later after they’d fallen asleep.

Suddenly awoken by noises seemingly comingcloser to the Tower, they recognised theneighing of horses and the thud of hooves oncobbles. At once the shutters were flung open,but straining their eyes through the darknessthey saw nothing at all, just the empty grassstretching its way to the gateposts. Now theywere aware of an invisible coach creaking andgrinding its way towards them, until thestudents were sure it was right under theirwindow. Mesmerised by what was happening,the group huddled together until they noticedthe mysterious noises were fading away.

The Tower atHanwell Castlewhere Ann’svisitors heardthe ghostlycarriage

I like to think those students were morefascinated by events of that night rather thanterrified out of their wits: However, this wascertainly not the case with the story of a familywho moved into a new home in Church Lane.Talking to a former organist one day in theChurch, I heard his version of this tale. Thefamily came to service soon after the move, butthat was to be the one and only time, for shortlyafterwards they upped and moved right awayfrom Hanwell. The reason for the suddendeparture? You may have guessed. Yes. Thisfamily had also been disturbed in the night byghostly sounds of an invisible coach and horsesdriving towards them. However this time thehorses drove right through the house and outagain before once again fading away.

Ann ReayFormer owner of the Tower, Hanwell Castle

Stars and Snowdrops returns to HanwellCastle

The snowdrop, alone among our wildflowers, is protected under the Conventionon International Trade in EndangeredSpecies, which makes it a very specialplant indeed.

The annual Stars and Snowdrops event atHanwell Castle, held on the secondweekend of February, has attracted 5000visitors in the last six years. This yearabout 500 visitors attended on theSaturday to view the ancient snowdropcolony, which dates back to the time of theCopes who originally built the house on thesite at the end of the 15th century. Manyalso braved the cold, rainy weather on theSunday for a muddy but enjoyable day.Tea and cake sold particularly well onSunday when visitors could gather aroundthe huge log fire that was roaring in thehouse.

We were delighted at the number offamilies who came and we would like tothank the visitors who attended for therespect they showed to the grounds and

the village itself which was evident from thecomplete lack of any litter left behind.

Bloxham, St Joseph’s and Shenington primaryschools made excellent sets of planets for theannual Planet Parade programme and thesewere displayed as a scale model of the solarsystem along the snowdrop walk.

All children who came could enter a freeastronomy quiz, with each entrant receiving aposter and all the entries went into a draw forthe prize of a children’s astronomy book.

The route led visitors to the observatory sitewhere Hanwell Community Observatory teammembers were on hand to provide the latestnews on the project and demonstrate both theMillennium telescope and several smallertelescopes, including the very popular solarscope.

The CPRE – Campaign to Protect RuralEngland, who celebrate their 80th birthday thisyear, were present and highlighted theenormous concern in recent months about theconservation of English forests and the

importance of the Hanwell Site with itsmediaeval fishponds. Equally, theyexpressed concern regarding bad streetlighting and have a campaign to supportthe Campaign for Dark Skies, which isobviously vital for the continuance ofastronomy and star gazing, regular eventswhich will soon be organized for the publicat the Hanwell Community Observatory.

Also in attendance was the RSPB. TheHanwell site is home to a huge range ofbirds since it provides a secure habitat forwater fowl as well as woodland birds.During the weekend, 28 species of birdswere observed by the RSPB team.

The Planet Parade Planets

A big thank you was made to Raleigh, the youthvolunteer organisation who have done so muchto improve access at the Hanwell site andwithout whom the open weekend would havebeen impossible.

As a thank you to the village £100 is donated tothe Village Hall fund from the Stars andSnowdrops proceeds.

Hanwell Community Observatory can becontacted at www.hanwellobservatory.org.uk

Norman KissoonHanwell Community Observatory

Nature for Young Hanwellians

Love them or hate them, bats aranimals and very important to thenvironments around the world.some 18 species in the United Kwhich 17 are known to actually bbut some are incredibly rare duedestruction and other factors suof food source.

So what is a bat?

Photo source: Google

Well I can tell you what it isn’t –a flying mammal – which meansyou and me it is warm blooded abody hair. It gives birth to live yodoes not lay eggs. They live in rhibernate in winter because therenough food for them to eat.

‘PARTS’ OF A BAT

Photo source: Infovisual.info

They use ‘echo location’ to findaround because they don’t seethe phrase ‘as blind as a bat’ isaccurate as some bats can see.bats at your Hanwell home thenvery lucky indeed. They are a pr

species in Britain and having them is a sign of agood local environment. By law, you are not

e preciouseThere areingdom ofreed hereto habitat

ch as lack

a bird. It isthat likend hasung, so itoosts ande is not

their waytoo well butnotIf you haveyou areotected

allowed to disturb them, or even their roost –even if it is not occupied and there are big finesand even prison sentences for doing so. Learnto live with them and enjoy them. They will keepyour summer mosquito population down, forsure.

One of the most common species in Britain isthe common Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellusand I am delighted to say that last year wefound a roost of them nesting in our loft here inHanwell.

After a call to the Bat Conservation Trust torecord them and a visit from the bat inspectorwe can safely say they are indeed pipistrelles.They flew away in September and we wait tosee if they return next summer.

Here are three of those bats...

Photo source: Carl Portman

MythsIf you don’t like bats, here’s some good news.They most certainly DO NOT fly into your hair.They are not at all interested in you and if youleave them alone, they will leave you alone.

Want to learn more about bats? Then visit theBat Conservation Trust at the following addresshttp://www.bats.org.uk/ and see how fascinatingthey really are.

If you have any natural history questions pleaseemail me but check with your parents/guardiansfirst. My email address is:carl.portman@hotmail.co.uk

Next time we are going to look at hedgehogs.

Carl

Banbury Rural Neighbourhood MonthlyUpdate – February 2011

Team News

The team have been extremely busy thismonth in dealing with ‘Anti-SocialBehaviour’ and ‘Speeding’ which arepriorities set by the Neighbourhood ActionGroup.

During the month PC Miller has run over 9speeding operations which has shown asmall number of people continue to speedthrough our villages. The highest recordedspeed was 47mph on a restricted 30mphroad. The driver was dealt withappropriately and robustly. Please slowdown on our roads and treat every villagelike it is your own.

‘Anti-Social Behaviour’ has also beenidentified as priority in Bloxham, Cropredyand Adderbury with Twyford. The team areworking hard to combat this issue andthese villages have seen over 30 hours ofdedicated foot patrol by PC Miller, PCSODale and PCSO Alford over the pastmonth. If you are experiencing anti-socialbehaviour or would like to report anyconcerns please make contact in the usualmethod.

PC Miller held a community meeting at theJubilee Centre in Bloxham earlier in themonth regarding anti social vehicle use inthe adjacent car park. There have beenreports of vehicles ‘displaying’, playing loudmusic and disturbing local residents in theearly hours of the morning. PC Miller hasdiscussed the matter at the last ParishCouncil meeting and it has been agreedthat funding will be made available for agate to prevent vehicular access over night.In conjunction with this, PC Miller is in theprocess of setting up ‘Park Watch’. Thescheme is for local residents and parkusers to report problems and manage thefacility as a community. Signage will beerected shortly and the NeighbourhoodTeam will be making contact with thoseresidents who live nearby. This is ascheme that we would like to develop inother village parks. In order for us to do this

successfully it relies upon help from the localcommunity. If you would like to set the schemeup in your area please make contact with PCMiller who will be happy to help.

‘Youth Activators’ from Cherwell District Councilare on board to tackle ‘Anti-Social Behaviour’.The ‘Youth Activators’ are setting up free sportssessions in Bloxham and Cropredy in anattempt to divert young people towards positiveand constructive leisure activities. Informationabout these sessions will be published locally indue course. Anyone interested in participatingin ‘Youth Activators’ can contact Lydia Fox(Lydia.fox@cherwell-dc.gov.uk) or NickHarrison (nick.harrison@cherwell-dc.gov.uk) orvisit the facebook pages.

PCSO Nikki Dale has been talking to severalschools in the rural area, and has visitedchildren at Bloxham Pre-School about personalsafety, including a demonstration using theNeighbourhood Policing Team’s van. She hasalso visited ‘Class 1’ at the Bishop CarpenterSchool with police education materials. Overthe coming months, PCSO Dale will be workingwith Shenington School in dealing with‘Thoughts for the Month’ during assembly, andwill also be working with the school to helpreduce speeding in the village by producingposters to increase awareness. PCSO Dale isalways looking for other schools interested inworking with their Neighbourhood Policingteam, so please do not hesitate to get intocontact with her.

PCSO Angie Alford has been developing the‘Community SpeedWatch’ scheme throughoutthe neighbourhood. She has run verysuccessful sessions in Swalcliffe andShenington and will soon be running thescheme in the Barfords. CommunitySpeedWatch is partly about enforcement, butalso about education. Using a piece ofequipment known as a Speed Indication Device(SID), the volunteers and a member of thePolicing Team will record details of vehiclesexceeding the speed limits throughout thevillage. The only way that this scheme can workis if residents of this village really get involvedand be available for operations when needed.Giving up an hour of your day could really makea difference. If you would like to be part of yourvillage’s Community SpeedWatch scheme,please contact PCSO Angie Alford.

Crime News

The Team are pleased to report that overthe past 12 months Serious Violent Crimehas reduced by 50% and SeriousAcquisitive Crime, this includes BurglaryDwelling, Theft Of and From Vehicles andRobbery, has reduced by 58% in theNorthern villages and 45% in the South.Overall crime is down by approximately25% from the same time period last year.Following a number of thefts from thenorthern villages, the team are pleased toreport that 4 persons were arrestedfollowing a burglary at a remote location inWardington. Two males have beencharged.

There has been an increase is thefts of fuelfrom large containers and tanks throughoutthe rural community. Most of the locationstargeted have been very remote farms,yards and private properties. Please beextra vigilant and report any vehicles orpersons acting suspiciously. If the personsare driving a vehicle, make a note of theregistration number and pass this to police.Checks can be made discretely and easily.

Have Your Say onlineYou can now send non-emergency messagesto us using the online form that is available onthe Thames Valley Police website. A number ofpeople have already sent their concerns usingthis method. For you to do that please followthe linkhttps://reportonline.thamesvalley.police.ukPlease allow some time for us to get back toyou as we do check our mail box only at certaintimes of the day.

Members of the team will be available on thefollowing dates and at the following locations, tomeet and discuss any issues or problems withinthe community:

Should you have any problems or concernsplease phone the Thames Valley Police non-emergency number on 08458 505 505 or emailbanburyruralneighbourhood@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk . In an emergency please dial 999.