Over 40 people gathered at the village war memorial for an Act of Remembrance this morning, led by Fr Jason, attended by over 40 people all following Covid guidelines. It was moving to hear Fr Jason read out the names of members of the Forces from The Hagbournes who lost their lives during the 1st and 2nd World Wars. Richard Allen and Iain Duff laid wreaths at Lower Cross in their memory.

NOVEMBER parish magazine FINAL VERSION

Thank you for bringing your families and pets to the Pet Service in West Hagbourne on Sunday.

We had a great turnout including: 9 dogs, 2 goats, 1 Shetland pony, 2 tortoises (in hibernation) and 78 cows (nearby) and many more in our hearts.

Thank you for everyone’s help –  from the organising – to baking cakes.

Healthwatch Oxfordshire wants to know what it is like living in the Didcot area about what it is like to find and use health care and local services. 

An information stand will be in the Village Car Park on Wednesday 21st October from 1.30-4.30pm.  

The more people share their experiences the more likely we can facilitate change. You will be welcomed at the stand to share your views however if you are unable to do so, there are two anonymous online surveys that can be completed instead – please see the links below.

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/WhatisitlikelivinginDidcot2020/

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/Parentsdoyougetthehelpandsupportyouneed

 

The work is part of a project by Healthwatch Oxfordshire focusing on market towns, particularly looking at the impact that population growth has had on local services.

 

Rosalind Pearce, the Executive Director of Healthwatch Oxfordshire, said: “This is a real chance for people living in Didcot and surrounding area to have their say on what local services are working well and what they would like to see improved.

 

“We will pass on what we are told to service commissioners and providers so please do use this opportunity to make your views known to local decision-makers!”

 

Anyone who would like to talk this through over the phone, or who would like a paper copy or a translated version of the survey to be posted out, can call 01865 520520.  Paper copies will also be available at the information stand. 

 

To find out more about Healthwatch Oxfordshire see www.healthwatchoxfordshire.co.uk

 

The Show took place this year in the unprecedented circumstances of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, leading to a sideways shift of venue into the Village Hall car park to enable social distancing to be observed, visitor details collected on entry, and extensive health and safety requirements to be met. The unusual sight of masked ladies and gentlemen wearing gloves and serving teas from behind the playground fence was probably a first for the village. The scene was set against a backdrop of six rather jolly bunting-clad gazebos dotted around the carpark, all of which were delightful but the prettiest of which was undoubtedly the Village Shop stall, beautifully designed and curated by the very talented Chris and Mark. We were blessed with blue skies and sunshine, kind people lending gazebos and even coming to put them up very early on Sunday morning, huge support from the marvellous village bakers, dedicated volunteers on the tea stall, excellent entries in all categories and a great turnout on the day from villagers happy to have a village event to come to!

The number of categories was restricted to 5 this year: Fruit, Vegetables, Flowers, Plants and Lockdown Projects. The number and quality of entries in each category was excellent and reflected the time and energy spent on allotments, vegetable plots and creative projects during the year.

Francesca Lloyd – age 6, scooped best in class in the Plant category and Best in Show. The judge commented on the importance of cultivating the interest of children in gardening and noted: ‘I am so impressed at Francesca managing to get an avocado plant growing – well done! This is very impressive – a good root system is now established, and it can now be potted on as a great plant!’

In the Fruit category, Erica’s pears won Best in Class, with Caroline Hunt’s apples being highly commended. We had an impressive number of entries in the Vegetable category, with Iain Duff’s onions judged as Best In Class, the uniformity of David Rickeard’s runner beans and the beauty of Charles Stutley’s tomatoes highly commended. In the Lockdown Project category, Cheryl Forrester won Best in Class for her fine silver necklace, and in the Flowers, Jane Drew won Best in Class for her exquisite white tinged with pink dahlia, while Caroline Hunt was commended for her arrangement and ‘understanding of colour palette but keeping it beautifully simple’. The Community Cup was won by two of our favourite people in the village – Darren and Ruth – for their outstanding commitment to the community during lockdown, providing us with food and beer to help keep us cheerful. Takings on the day enabled us to make a donation of £50 to the Friends of St Andrews.

We were delighted to be joined at Show by the newly formed Hagbournes and Upton Group for Group (HUGS) which promotes household level and village sustainability projects, supports nature’s recovery and campaigns for a greener future (www.hugsustainability.org).

We have had many lovely thank you messages from around the village for holding the event. Huge thanks must go to the dedication of our Committee without whom the Show could not have gone on, Geoff and Linda for their support and opening the hall horribly early, the Parish Council for letting us use the car park, our fantastic team of tea stall helpers, our sponsors – The Fleur de Lys and the Village Shop, and our wonderful judges, Richard Roslyn, Head Gardener at Blewbury Manor, for his extensive knowledge and assessments, and Baz for her informed and insightful judging of so many excellent entries. Finally, a massive thank you to all of those who came and made it such a special and joyful occasion.

Felicity Topping, Chair, Village Produce Show

The Parish Council and Village Hall Committee have agreed to request that the path alongside the village hall is correctly registered as a Public Right Of Way and included on the Definitive Map as such.  It has been very well used for access to the school and village hall for several decades at least in its current state.

To do this, we need your help!

As part of the application process, we need to establish how many residents would be prepared to confirm their ongoing use of the footpath over the last 20+ years, as supporting evidence.  There is a simple form to complete if the application proceeds.

We would therefore be very grateful to all residents or other path users who can verify their path usage in order to progress this and ensure the path is identified as a public right of way moving forward.  Please see the attached map indicating the path in question.

Please email easthagbourneparishcouncil@gmail.com to confirm you would be happy to help.

The “Alternative” TreeFest 2020

The Idea:  To Make the Hagbournes Shine Bright OUTSIDE

Light is a symbol of hope, of brighter days to come! And we quite like the idea of providing some hope in these strange times – so let’s make the Hagbournes sparkle!

How?

You can sponsor a live 4ft Norwegian Spruce to go in your front garden to decorate and ‘light up’.  If you are a business or if you belong to a group or club, you could nominate someone from your group to ‘host’ the tree in their garden.  Or maybe you could club together with neighbours and sponsor lots for your street?  And don’t worry – if you’d like to be involved but don’t know anyone to host your tree, just let us know and we’ll find a garden for you.

As the festival isn’t taking place in the church we’re not limited by space so the more trees the merrier across both villages!

Cost:

4ft tree for front gardens – £25 (you can order more than one!)

There’s no prize or ’theme’ as such this year (apart from the 10th anniversary), we would just love a community effort to make our lovely villages twinkle at Christmas!  Clearly any decorations would have to be waterproof (they can still be used to advertise your business or group activity) but our main emphasis this year is on the lights.

Any monies raised from the sponsorship of the trees will be shared between a local charity and St Andrew’s Church.

There will also be 10 x 6ftNorwegian Spruces in the churchyard of St Andrew’s – each one representing a year of the festival and each showing the sponsor’s name.  These are £35 each.

What do you need to do now?

If you’d like to sponsor a tree please email Sarah Wright on sarah@frenchbeanies.co.uk so we can just get an idea of how many trees we might need to order. This needs to be done by mid-October.  Once we have an idea of numbers we will send out further information and sponsorship forms.

We hope this all makes sense.  Please spread the word and encourage your friends and neighbours to sponsor a tree. Let’s make the Hagbournes the most Christmassy villages in South Oxfordshire!

We invite you to an afternoon of words, music and refreshments launching ‘The Four Seasons’ anthology by local poets.

St Andrew’s Church, East Hagbourne

Sunday 18^th October 2020.  Starts 2:30pm

Donations for tea and cake will support Church funds.

The books will be available from the Post office.

For further details: Linda Benton 01235 817891 Linda.Benton@live.co.uk

PoetsTrail Sept 2020 poster 1 page

‘Bring your pet to church Sunday!’

Hagbourne Church Pet Service  at York Farm, West Hagbourne

Sunday 25th October, 3-4 pm

You may be required to wear a mask.

Seating will be set up to allow social distancing.

People will be asked to follow national guidelines – which can change.

2020 pet service poster october

Oct 2020 parish mag

Monday    21st Sep      1:00 – 4:00pm
Thursday 24th Sep      1:00 – 4:00pm
Saturday  26th Sep      9:00am – 12:30pm
Monday   28th Sep       1:00 – 4:00pm
Thursday  1st Oct         1:00 – 4:00pm
Saturday  3rd Oct         9:00am – 12:30pm

CLOSED Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday

24^th October to 1st November 2020

Decorate your house, carve your pumpkins and join the half-term fun! Who will have the creepiest creations??

To have your house included on the trail map (it’s free!) please email your name and address to:

Laura Lloyd at lauralloyd07@gmail.com or Michelle Bowden at michellem1303@gmail.com

Closing Date for Trail Entries: Friday 16th October.

Maps will be made available on the village websites and Facebook groups from Friday 23rd October.

Please enjoy the trail and remember that social distancing rules must be followed at all times!