ENSTONE ENSIGN
Number 448 May 2022
Newsletter for Enstone Parishioners
THE CHASE BENEFICE – MAY
Sunday 8 May 10.00am Ascott BCP Holy Communion
Sunday 15 May 10.00am Enstone CW Holy Communion
Followed by Annual Parochial Church Meeting
Sunday 22 May 10.00am Spelsbury BCP Holy Communion
Sunday 29 May 8.00am Spelsbury BCP Holy Communion
10.00am Ascott CW Holy Communion
Sunday 5 June 10.00am Chadlington CW Holy Communion
Sunday 12 June 10.00am Ascott CW Holy Communion
ST. TERESA’S CATHOLIC CHURCH, FISHERS LANE, CHARLBURY
There will be no Mass in Enstone in May. The Parish Priest is Fr Tony Joyce, at Holy Trinity Rectory, London Rd, Chipping Norton OX7 5AX. holytrinityrcchippy@gmail.com 01608 642703
All items for the June Ensign in by 28th May (or sooner, if you have it ready) please, to Hillside (blue door opposite Artyard Cafe) or ring 677231 for shorter items. You can also email me at info@andreabates.co.uk
PARISH COUNCIL NEWS-APRIL
Planning Applications:-
• Leys Farm, Little Tew Road, Church Enstone, 22/00673/FUL – Erection of two agricultural barns, including solar panels with associated hardstanding, planting and drainage. No objection
• Land for Electronic Communications Site at Enstone Airfield, Enstone, (Cellnex, Vodafone & telefonia) – The installation of 1 No. 0.3 m dish @ 25.5 m AGL to the existing established 27.5 m telecommunications tower with all related ancillary devices and works thereto. No objection
Decisions Received:-
• 7 Cleveley Rd, Enstone – Erection of two detached dwellings with associated parking and provision of new vehicular accesses to serve existing and new dwellings – Approved
• The Dower House, Lidstone Rd, Enstone – Application for a Certificate of Lawfulness to confirm that the use of Dower House as a dwelling house in breach of condition 2 of planning permission W87/2018 (restricting the occupation of the dwelling to person solely or mainly employed or last employed in the locality in agriculture or forestry, or a dependent of such a person residing with him or her) is now lawful. Approved
• Heythrop Park Hotel – Phase 2B works including demolition works and redevelopment of existing maintenance area to provide new bedroom accommodation block, enclosed walkway, landscaping and all incidental works. Development of part of overall upgrading of Heythrop Park Hotel and estate – Approved
• Broad Close, Little Tew Rd, Church Enstone – Demolition of existing porch. Construction of a single storey garden room to north elevation. Internal alterations to remove modern partition walls and block off two existing windows. Refused
WELCOME TO CLLR. MIKE BAGGALEY
The Parish Council welcomes Cllr. Baggaley to the Parish Council.
QUEEN’S JUBILEE:-
- The Queen would like her 70 year Platinum Jubilee to be marked by the planting of trees, The Queen’s Green Canopy (queensgreencanopy.org), and so the Parish Council is working with the Enstone Eco Group to make 70 silver birch trees available to families in Enstone for planting locally. All children at Enstone Primary School will, in addition, be given a small memento of the jubilee and will be invited to join the Green Canopy initiative, by registering with the Parish Council to acquire one of the young trees in a plant pot. The trees may then be planted either in private gardens (with permission) or, later in the year, at one of several locations in the village (under appropriate supervision). In the June Ensign we will publish more details about the local scheme and how to register to get your tree in a pot.
- Other organisations will be reporting separately in this month’s Ensign, regarding other activities that are taking place during the Jubilee weekend.
20s PLENTY CAMPAIGN …. OXFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
Thank you to those who have responded to the questionnaire regarding the 20s Plenty Campaign. It was agreed at the Parish Council meeting to support this campaign – for all current 30 mph speed limits, to be reduced to 20 mph speed limits within the whole Parish. The earliest this may take place is late 2022/early 2023.
WOMEN’S CYCLE TOUR OF BRITAIN – CHIPPING NORTON TO OXFORD SATURDAY 11TH JUNE 2022
All details here – the tour is expected to travel through Enstone from 11.40 am to 12.00 pm.
The Women’s Tour | Stage Six (womenstour.co.uk)
LITTER/DOG POO BINS:-
The District Council is aware of the concerns from several residents regarding the recent changes and the Parish Council is working with the District Council to try and resolve some of these issues but it will take time.
S106 MONIES FOR RECREATION FACILITIES WITHIN THE PARISH OF ENSTONE:-
As part of the new development on the land south of the Oxford Road, the Developers have reserved monies for recreation facilities within the parish. For any organisations who wish to consider this, please contact me within the next month with suggestions.
Parish Website …..
The parish website is for information from all organisations within the parish so please let me know if you wish to have any information put onto the website (enstoneparish.org).
Dates of next meetings:-
- Thursday 12th May – Annual Parish Meeting
- Thursday 19th May – Annual Council Mtg followed by Parish Council Meeting
- Thursday 23rd June – Parish Council Meeting
- Thursday 28th July – Parish Council Meeting
Mrs Beth Sinclair, Enstone Parish Clerk, Briery Cottage, 9 Alexandra Square, Chipping Norton, OX7 5HL.Tel: 01608 641051: Email:- enstoneparishclerk@gmail.com
Website address for the Parish = enstoneparish.org
Facebook Page = Enstone Parish
OXFORD ARTWEEKS
The Oxford Visual Arts Festival, popularly known as Oxford Artweeks, now in its 40th year, will take place countywide from May 7-29. Brochures are available in the village shop. Locally, Andrea Bates will be holding an exhibition at Hillside, of paintings and prints. Many pieces will be sold in aid of Ukrainian Relief – this will include unframed oils, some of them with a Ukrainian theme, as well as unmounted limited edition fine art litho prints, signed and numbered. Oh, and those of you who know me will be aware that I’m old-fashioned – so it’s cash or cheques please, preferably.
See attached flier for details.
ENSTONE WI
Our Annual Meeting was held on 7th April. The existing Committee were all re-elected to continue for 2022/23. After completing the business part of the meeting we were all taught how to create a hedgehog by just folding the pages of a paperback book! Next month’s meeting will be on 12th May 7.30pm in the Parish Hall and will be a talk and display on The Making of Handwoven Handbags from the Philippines. Please contact 678136 for further information.
ENSTONE ECO Helping us all to do the right thing.
Recently we took part in the Enstone litter pick organised by Councillor Philip Shaw and the Everyday Wild event in the Parish Hall organised by Hannah Bourne-Taylor. We are also involved with the Parish Council in planting trees for the Queen’s Jubilee. Did you know:
- The Big Plastic Count is the UK’s biggest investigation into household plastic waste. From 16–22 May, people are encouraged to count their plastic waste to help evaluate the true scale of the plastic problem. The results will show the government what needs to be done to tackle it. To take part, visit https://thebigplasticcount.com
- Magic Bags: This incentive is money saving and reduces food waste. Local retailers, restaurants, pubs and producers fill Magic Bags with food and drink which has reached its “use by” date, but is perfectly edible, and it costs you about a third of the usual retail price. Download the free “Too Good To Go” app which notifies you where to find a Magic Bag.
For more information or if you’d like to join Enstone Eco, please contact us at enstoneeco@gmail.com Or join us at our next meeting on 18th May, 7-9pm in the Litchfield Room, Enstone Parish Hall.
QUEEN’S PLATINUM JUBILEE
As part of Enstone’s celebrations for HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee there will be an Enstone Book of Remembrance placed in the Parish Hall, which villagers young and old will be able to add their thoughts or comments about the last 70 years in the village and surrounding area. Ahead of the 5th June there will be an opportunity for those members of the village who are over 70 years old, and therefore have shared their lives with Her Majesty the Queen to insert their own message/photographs or mementoes. If you are over 70, or have a friend or relative who is over 70 and would wish to provide something for the book, then please get in touch with Martin Juckes at mjuc@btinternet.com and he will arrange access.
REVIEW OF THE EVERYDAY WILD EVENT
Hannah Bourne-Taylor who lives in Enstone organised this truly fabulous event at the Village Hall on 10th April. Anyone who wasn’t able to come along to this family friendly event really missed a treat. There was so much to learn about our local plants, trees and wildlife talking to the experts and hearing their short talks.
Hannah has made a page on her website called ‘Resources’ where we can find out useful tips about local wildlife and how we can help – what sort of plants to grow, how to get a swift nest box and information on hedgehog highways. Just go to her website www.hannahbournetaylor.com and click on ‘resources’ on the main menu.
Chris Mason of Cherwell Swifts enthusiastically explained how lucky we are to have swifts nesting in Venvell and Litchfield Close Enstone and what we can do to ensure these valuable birds continue to be able to find suitable nesting places high up in the eves of buildings. We learned how they are very clean and even take their droppings from the nest. So if you know of a suitable place where more nesting boxes can be put, then please get in contact with him via www.cherwell-swifts.org.
Hannah read a very moving extract from her new book Fledgling, which is for sale in all good bookshops and online and went viral after being featured in the national Guardian newspaper and described her watching swifts returning to their nesting places in Enstone after flying all the way to Africa and back to Enstone without landing or stopping once.
Craig Blackwell showed us the Bee Friendly Garden which has just been created in front of the Parish Hall. It’s full of flowering plants which will provide nectar and pollen for the bees throughout the summer. You could also get the benefit of these beautiful flowers in your own garden by looking at the very helpful explanation board which names the plants and shows the seven main species of bumble bees in our gardens. See if you can find them in your garden. These small plants will grow and make a beautiful border and all are available from Applegarth Garden Centre in Chipping Norton for very reasonable prices.
We also heard from Louise Spicer from the Farmland Bird Aid Network about the value of feeding farmland birds during the winter to prevent them from starving to death as their populations are in grave decline. 1 in 4 British birds are threatened with national extinction including farmland birds like Yellowhammers, and swifts, sparrows and starlings.
Teenage friends from Hedgehog Friendly Street gave us an enchanting video and ran a quiz, through which we learned to much about hedgehogs. Did you know that they are intolerant of milk and meal worms so you should only give them water and hedgehog fleas don’t harm anything else but the poor hedgehogs. That even putting a shallow dish of water in your garden can help them through the summer and if you see one ‘sunbathing’ take it to the hedgehog rescue centre in Minister Lovell immediately. If you’re interested in in finding out how you can build hedgehog highways to join up your garden with others and let them eat the slugs on your plants, then contact then go to Hannah’s website to find out more. These gaps in garden fences aren’t big enough for cats or dogs, so are safe for your own pets.
The Enstone Eco team also had a stall so we were able to hear what local people want us to focus on and get feedback on our ideas. These include planting a tree for the Jubilee and sharing local owners’ real life experience of owning electric cars and cycles.
Let’s look forward to another Everyday Wild event sometime.
Ian Cave, Enstone Eco. enstoneeco@gmail.com
ENSTONE PRIMARY SCHOOL NEWS
We hope you enjoyed our “Eco Special” in the last Ensign. This month I thought I would tell you a bit more about our School Council, which is the other pupil leadership group run in school. The School Council comprises of 7 student members (one from each year group) and a staff lead. Pupils stand for annual election and are voted in by their peers – a good way to learn about the rules of democracy! The remit for this group is to represent the voice of their fellow pupils and to lead on special events in school, including fundraising activities. One of the first ideas the children had this academic year was to improve their stock of playtime toys by holding a “good as new” toy sale in the playground after school. The group worked hard to collect the toys and hold the sale, raising almost £100, which they then had the fun task of spending. The result: lots more lovely bats and balls to play with, although poor Mr and Mrs Lewis next door do see rather too much of our balls, which have a habit of sailing over the fence (so sorry!). Back in November our School Council members took responsibility for creating an “anti-bullying charter” which they published and shared with the whole school. The team also organised fund raising activities for Children in Need, the Santa Run and Comic Relief, inspiring their classmates to join in and raise good sums of money for these worthy causes. The next project for our School Council is the renovation of our playground “buddy bench”. They are a committed group and contribute very well to the life of Enstone Primary School. We look forward to a busy and enjoyable summer term for all of our pupils.
Sarah Mann, Headteacher
ENSTONE HISTORY SOCIETY
On Wednesday, 11th May at 6.30 for 7.00pm at St Kenelm’s Church, author and broadcaster Jo Willett will talk about her book on the eighteenth century pioneering scientist and feminist- Lady Mary Wortley Montague. Please contact John Pritchard if you would like to attend.
On 9th March, Dr Virginia Bainbridge, honorary research fellow at Exeter University who offers a Latin translation service for local and family historians, gave the Society a talk on Syon Abbey and the powerful influence these well-connected nuns had. On March 30 the Society held an extra meeting with a talk from member Gerald Skinner who has extensive and in-depth knowledge of the Kremlin and Eastern He discussed the various threads
of history which have led to the present war in Ukraine. In April, Waddesdon Manor at War was the theme of talks by Carol Hardy and Liz Whetton; they are senior guides at Waddesdon and volunteers at the Rothschild archives which has given them an extra insight into the family’s history. Members and guests are invited to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee at a garden party finger food and wine lunch to be held on Friday, 3rd June. Further details and
venue to be confirmed. Members’ attendance will be free but there will be a charge of £5.00 for non-members who will be very welcome. John Pritchard – 01608 678175 – johnch.pritchard@tiscali.co.uk
ENSTONE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
Enstone Horticultural Society are pleased to announce we will be holding our annual Plant Sale at the Enstone Parish Hall Gardens on May 28th from 10am-12pm. If anyone has any spare seedlings, cuttings etc we would be very grateful of them to add to the sale. Please contact via email if you are unable to bring them on the morning of the sale so collection can be arranged.
Recently we have been researching where else members can use their discount cards. CSM gloves have confirmed 10% discount online for gloves using code CSM7431 www.centresalesgloves.co.uk ;Oxford Garden Centre in South Hinskey; Applegarth, Yarnton and Charlbury Garden Centres
Future events:
- 4th June – Cleveley Open Gardens
- July – Annual garden competition, ‘Productive vegetable garden’
(in the ground, raised beds or pots) - 20th August – Enstone Show, Flower and produce Show to be held at the Parish Hall.
- December – Wreath making – more details to follow.
ENSTONE SPORTS & SOCIAL CLUB
FACILITIES FOR HIRE GROUND AND CLUB
ENSTONE SPORTS AND SOCIAL CLUB
New members welcome
Barclays Premier League Live on Sky ,plus other sports too.
TELEPHONE NUMBER: 01608 677823
| EVENTS COMING IN 2022:
Bingo- Sunday May 29th,eyes down 6pm Saturday 4th June Family Jubilee tea party,fun and games, including rounders and more,open to all from 2pm, tea at 4pm bring your own. Six-a-side cricket – Saturday 11th June, entry forms OUT NOW!, This year is in aid of Prostate cancer UK, maximum 8 teams, you can find out more from Richard Allen on Facebook or email richardallen507@btinternet.com Raffle prizes most welcome as are cakes for the cake stall. George Chainey darts competition date tbc. Enstone Sports club Cricket Matches in May at home are every Sunday 1st/8th/15th/22nd and 29th, all Start around 1.30pm, come and watch the team, the bar will be open later on these days(hopefully sunny days!!) Anyone interested in playing for the Enstone cricket team for a social game of cricket on a Sunday please contact:- Jonathan Watts on 07818697752 or email Jonathan.Watts61@gmail.com for details. Committee Meetings: May 9th 7pm; June 6th 7pm Memberships: Adults £10, under 18’s and Over 65’s £5 Will endeavour to update our Facebook page and let people know of any changes or new events. Thank you all for your support and be safe. |