The AscottThe AscottThe AscottThe AscottThe AscottGrapevineGrapevineGrapevineGrapevineGrapevine

Issue 41 January 2004

The Ascott Grapevine - Page 2

On Christmas Eve thechurch was absolutelypacked for the funeral ofValerie Barnes. I grew upwith Valerie, we were bornin Ascott and never left thevillage. She met Donaldwhen she was 13, they gotmarried in 1964 andwould have celebratedtheir Ruby Wedding inMarch.

Val loved sport whichwas lucky as she marriedinto a very sporting family.Every Saturday, Val wouldwatch Don play football in

Valerie Barnes

Thank youAnne!

Having now co-producedour first issue of TheGrapevine we realise howmuch work is involved andwould like to recognise thesterling efforts of AnneBraithwaite during her 10year tenureship of thenewsletter and also thankher for her advice and guid-ance to the new team.Thanks Anne – you did agreat job, kept us all in-formed and we hope tocontinue your good work.

If there is an aspect ofvillage life not already cov-ered in the Grapevineplease contact a member ofthe production team to dis-cuss your ideas. Articles forthe May issue of TheGrapevine should be sub-mitted by 4th April.

Call 01993 832163 oremail: ascottgrapevine@dial.pipex.com

Stuart Fox, Kingsley,Wendy Pearse,

Karen Purvis

1 February 2004 – 4th Sun-day of Epiphany1100 Morning Prayer/Serv-ice1600 Family Service (AllAges)8 February 2004 – 3rd Sun-day before Lent0800 Holy Communion15 February 2004 – 2ndSunday before Lent1100 Holy Communion22 February 2004 – Sundaynext before Lent1100 Holy Communion29 February 2004 – 1stSunday of Lent1030 Benefice Service /Holy Communion

Services atHoly TrinityChurch

7 March 2004 – 2nd Sun-day of Lent 1100 Morning Prayer/Service1600 Family Service (AllAges)14 March 2004 – 3rd Sun-day of Lent0800 Holy Communion21 March 2004 – 4th Sun-day of Lent / Mothering Sun-day1100 Holy Communion28 March 2004 – 5th Sun-day of Lent1100 Holy Communion4 April 2004 – Palm Sunday1030 Benefice Service atSpelsbury11 April 2004 – Easter Day0800 Holy Communion1100 Holy Communion

winter and cricket in sum-mer. Then, more recently,she’d watch her elder sonBarry play football, thenher younger son Adrian.

About 10 years ago shejoined The Coldstone An-gling Club and went fish-ing with Don. They spentmany a happy hour over atthe lake. Don was a devotedhusband and I know he’llmiss her as we all will, buthe’ll get great comfort fromhis 3 children and 4 lovelygrandchildren.

Carol Hawtin

Page 3 - Issue 41

During my time as a curateat St. Mary’s, West Derbyin Liverpool, the Churchformed a link with a ruralproject in Uganda. Thereare many such links but thisone from the outset wasdifferent. It was not basedupon sponsorship – the af-fluent western church fi-nancially supporting a com-munity project in the devel-oping world – but uponmutual education and acommitment to learn fromeach other.

That was 10 years agoand the link is as lively andvibrant as ever and hasmeant a tremendousamount to both parties. Ithas involved yearly visits byordinary people to experi-ence each other’s cultures.There is a monthly ex-change of news and con-cerns in the pages of St.Mary’s and the Project’snewsletters. The primaryschool attached to St.Mary’s has a link with theCommunities school inUganda and children havebecome great pen-pals – ashave members of the Moth-er’s Union and the YouthGroup with their counter-parts abroard. Friendshipshave been born and aware-ness raised.

One of the people tovisit St. Mary’s in my timewas a young man – StevenTwesigye – who is a projectworker with farmers inUganda. When he came toreturn to home after a fewweeks with us he remarked“I’ve noticed that in yourcountry you have lots ofclocks and watches – but notime.” A powerful remarkand something of an indict-ment of our way of life.

Time is something thatmost of us would say thatwe haven’t got enough of.But look at the results whenwe put it to good use! Theopening of the VillageShop is a perfect exampleof this. I know for a fact thatit has taken hours andhours and an awful lot ofenergy and hard work to getit open. Its opening feelslike a real boost for the Vil-lage and I want to congratu-late everyone who has beeninvolved in making thishappen – from the commit-tee to those who attendedcoffee mornings andfundraising events: welldone!

I write this on NewYear’s Eve – a time whentraditionally we look backover how we have spent ourtime during the past year

and start planning what weare going to do with ourtime in the new.

2003 has been an in-credibly frustrating one forme because of ill-health andI cannot believe that it isnearly a year since I spenttime in the Village and tooka service in Holy Trinity.However, I’m pleased to saythat there has been amarked improvement inmy health and I am able todo more now than I was afew months ago. I am veryhopeful of returning towork part-time sometimeduring February or March.My return will be gradualand carefully monitoredbut I am really looking for-ward to spending a lot moretime in Ascott once again!

Perhaps this New Yearwe can all think of ways ofspending some of the timethat we have in continuingto build up our commonlife.

With my very bestwishes and prayers for theyear ahead.

Mark AbreyRector of the

Chase Beneficeand Priest-in-Charge of

Ascott-under-Wychwood

Letter from Mark Abrey

The Ascott Grapevine - Page 4

It doesn’t seem possiblethat 2003 has gone and weare launching out into2004. I must admit that, forme at least, it only seemsfive minutes since we werecelebrating the millen-nium.

The beginning of a newyear is a time for reflectionon what has passed, and anopportunity to dream a lit-tle about what the futuremay bring. Looking backon the life of Ascott-under-Wychwood in 2003 ourview is dominated by theopening of the VillageShop. This has been a tre-mendous undertaking, andone which will havechanged our communityfor good. The future of theshop now rests with all ofus. The opening ceremonywas not the end of theproject which drew so manypeople together, but justthe beginning of its nextphase. This coming yearwill see the fruits of all thehard work, and may revealnew ideas which will needthe sort of determinationand effort that planning theshop required.

The first big festival inthe Church’s calendar inJanuary is the feast of theEpiphany, when we cel-ebrate the coming of theMagi (or the three kings if

From the Curate

you prefer) to the infantJesus. The Magi can offerus all an example of how weshould respond to God inour daily lives. First theykept watch and studied thesigns, waiting to discern thesign from God that a newking had been born. Sec-

ond, they undertook a longand arduous journey – notat all easy in the first cen-tury middle-east. Third,they presented gifts to the

child, mindful that all thatthey had came from God,and it was right to givesomething back. Andfourth, and perhaps mostimportantly, they listenedto God when they were toldto return home by anotherway; they didn’t stay fixedto their original plan, andwere prepared to change.

If you are seeking to donew things this year, or ifyou are struggling with aresolution that is difficultto keep, remember thekings. Watch for the signsof God’s love in your life;undertake your journeyand keep going, even whenit gets tough; be generouswith all that you have; andabove all, keep listening toGod.

May 2004 be a trulyblessed year for you all.

Nigel Hawkes

Advertise Here …

Do you run a business serving the village or offer aservice such as babysitting, gardening, ironing or dog

walking?Advertise in The Grapevine and reach all the

households in Ascott-under-Wychwood in one go –email:

ascottgrapevine@dial.pipex.comor phone:

832163 for details.

Page 5 - Issue 41

Well, as you can imaginethe past six weeks have beenquite eventful in the life ofthe new village shop. Fromthe grand opening on a verywet Saturday in late Novem-ber through to Christmasand New Year, the shop hasbecome a ‘fixture’ in thedaily lives of many of us.

The story so far ….Last February, the villagegave the go ahead to thenew village shop in CookRow. From that date to theopening, £130,000 wasraised from a variety ofsources. This included local

Shop Update

fundraising, loans andgrants. The result – welljudge for yourselves!

At the planning stage, itwas the intent of the man-agement committee to cre-ate a shop with a differencethat would cater for allparts of the village. We saidwe would be• Welcoming and

friendly• Innovative

• Honest i.e. give valuefor money

• Efficient and well run

• Sustainable

Even the weather couldn’t keep people away!

From the initial re-search, you (the village) saidthe most important shop-ping items to put into yourdaily shopping basket weremilk, bread and newspa-pers. As a result, we haveinstalled a bread oven fordaily fresh bread, we havean arrangement with thenewsagent in Shipton forthe delivery of papers andwe have a full dairy section.In addition, we have regu-lar orders of fruit and vegand we even have a tie-upwith Oxford Wines.

And then there is awhole variety of products tomeet daily needs from firelighters to batteries to toi-let rolls which means moreoften than not you can justpop in and get what youwant (well almost …).

So, what about2004 …?We are planning to installmore freezers and chillers(we want to stock goodquality meat from CallowsFarm) as well as ice cream.We have been asked abouta video library and will con-sider that. However, in or-der that we continue to pro-vide for your needs, wewould like you to completethe enclosed questionnaireand drop it off at the shop.And if you leave your name

The Ascott Grapevine - Page 6

and telephone number wewill put you into the drawfor a bottle of champagne.It’s our way of saying thankyou.

So far we are on track forhitting our break-even tar-get although it will need, onaverage, 200 villagers tospend a tenner a week in

the shop. That’s quite achallenge. That’s why wewant to hear from youabout how we can continueto improve our service andproduct range.

Thank you for your sup-port.

John Cull – Chair,Management Committee

Who remembers the text below and on what it could befound?

Ben Cook and his wifeElizabeth, both born inAsthall Leigh, had settled inAscott by 1891. They wereliving in what was to be-come a long term familyhome at 33 High Streetwith their daughters Ellen(aged 7), Sarah (aged 2) andson, John Charles (aged 4).By 1901 another daughter,Agnes, and son, WilliamHenry, had been born. In1909, John Charles, bythen a keeper in CornburyPark, married Sarah Watts.Unfortunately Sarah diedwithin a very short timeleaving John Charles ayoung widower. Howeverin 1911 John Charles mar-ried another Ascott girl AdaMatilda Shirley. One of afamily of ten, Ada was ada-mant that she would notlive up in the isolation of

Why CookRow?In the comparatively short timesince Harry Cook’s death in1998, a fair number of peo-ple have joined the village com-munity of Ascott. To a goodnumber of the longer term resi-dents it will seem strange topose the above question. How-ever, the completion of the newdevelopment along High Streetknown as Cook Row seems theappropriate time to explain, forthose who do not know, thebackground to its name.

Page 7 - Issue 41

the forest and by the timeof their wedding in Octo-ber, John Charles (Charlie)had taken over from his fa-ther as a coal merchant de-livering coal by donkey cartfrom Ascott Station allaround the immediate area.Charlie’s Coal MerchantAccount Book from 1913-1916 survives listing hisdeliveries to FulbrookSchool, Chestnut Close(now Wychwood Manor),Leafield, Fordwells,Chilson, Asthall Leigh andSwinbrook. Strangely onlyten clients are mentionedin Ascott. Whether othercoal merchants existed orwhether the majority of vil-lagers relied on wood forfuel are two possible expla-nations. It is interesting tosee that Charlie’s book il-lustrates the considerableincrease in the price of coalin the first years of theGreat War. Coal rose from21/- per ton to 28/- andcoke from 21/- to 30/-. It isalso clear that when con-scription became compul-sory in January 1916Charlie was called up andhe served through the re-mainder of the War to-gether with his brotherWilliam Henry.

To return to Charlie’smarriage to Ada Shirley.The young couple tookover the cottage in ChurchClose where David Cook’s

family now lives but in1912 Ada returned to hermother’s home at 24Shipton Road for the birthof her first child Emma,named for her grand-mother. Emma senior wasthe village midwife and herMidwife’s Book also sur-vives. In it are recorded thebirths of Ada and Charlie’sthree children, Emma on1st March 1912, Chris on27th March 1913 andHarry on 14th May 1914.So when Charlie went offto War in 1916 histhoughts must often havebeen with his wife Ada andtheir three young children.Fewer children were bornin Ascott through the Warand young Harry agedthree was so bereft of play-mates that he was finallyallowed to join the othersin the schoolroom. Timepassed and as Chris andHarry grew older not onlywere they members of thechurch choir but theycould very often be seenwith the donkey cart, deliv-ering coal and blocks col-lected from Groves atMilton, to various peoplearound the village. By 1937Charlie and Ada were alsoselling groceries fromChurch View and whenthe Coronation of GeorgeVI took place the villagecelebrations includedsugar, sweets, lemons, lem- Harry Cook - 1941

onade and cheese pur-chased from J.C.Cook.

For the first part of the20c Busbys had lived atCorner House running theshop and associated farm.But around the beginningof the Second World War,Charlie and Ada exchangedboth home and businesswith the Busbys and so theCook family took up resi-dence at Corner House.Meantime Emmie had lefthome to go into service,Chris had become abutcher and Harry on leav-ing school aged 14 hadworked initially as an eggpacker in Heritage Lane fol-lowed by various jobs inHungerford, Stafford,Kidlington and CornburyPark. A short spell atCirencester Park followeduntil he was called up on14th November 1940 toserve in the Gloucester-shire Regiment. He met

The Ascott Grapevine - Page 8

Dorothy his wife to bewhilst training in Street,Somerset and they marriedin February 1942. After theWar, Harry worked on vari-ous estates until finally re-turning to Corner HouseFarm, Ascott, in 1953. Atthat time the CornerHouse Shop was run byAda and Emmie who likeHarry had also returned toAscott, to help her motherin the shop. To the villagechildren the shop was al-ways known as Mrs Cook’sShop and when the Cookfamily acquired a televisionshortly before the Corona-tion in 1953, the childrenwere all invited to comeand watch the event on thisnew phenomenon. Emmiemarried Fred Acton in1954 and moved to Lon-don Lane (The Cedars)with Charlie, Ada andChris. Harry and Dorothylived on at Corner HouseFarm where they brought

up theirdaugh te rMary andson David.In the1 9 6 0 ’ sChris tookover therunning ofthe shop.Harry con-t i n u e dw o r k i n gthe farm

and in 1977 together withDorothy and Mary alsotook over the shop. As timepassed Mary’s son Shanebecame his grandfather’shelpmate and on leavingschool joined him on thefarm.

Harry became probablythe best known figure inthe village. For 45 years he

Harry Cook at his Golden Wedding in 1991delivered the village milk,his day invariably beginningat 4.30 a.m. He cut thegrass in the playing fieldand along the village verges.And in 1968 he was electedto the Parish Council. In1973 he became the Chair-man of the Parish Counciland continued in that roleuntil his death in 1998. Al-ways ready for a chat, a waveor friendly smile the villagelost a friend when Harrypassed on. To long term vil-lagers the mention of Cor-ner House Farm will alwaysconjure up images of Harryand his immediate familyand their dedication toAscott.

Certainly there could beno more appropriate namethan Cook Row.

- Wendy Pearse

Page 9 - Issue 41

The Parish Councillorswould like to wish all villag-ers a very happy 2004 andassure them that they arehere to help with any villagematters if required.

Very grateful thanks toAnne Braithwaite for allthe hard work and persist-ence she has single-handedly put in over thepast 10 years to keep theGrapevine going and wehope she can now enjoysome well earned sparetime and good luck to thenew team taking over.

Dawls Close now has asmart new street sign withthe West Oxfordshire Dis-trict Council logo after theold one had fallen down. Anew arm has been orderedfor the signpost near therailway line with directionsto Shipton. The hedge op-posite the Green has nowbeen cut back by Cornbury

Ascott-under-Wychwood Parish Council

Park making it easier towalk on the pavement. Wehave also requested thatWest Oxfordshire DistrictCouncil tidy up the edgesall along London Lane tomake the pavement wider.We are pleased to reportthat since the informationwas published about AntiSocial Behaviour Orders inthe July Grapevine therehas been a drop in the levelof vandalism in the villagebut there is still a small mi-nority who persist in tryingto spoil the village. Just areminder that you can getan incident diary from meat anytime if you would liketo report any incidents ofgraffiti, loutish behaviour,swearing, vandalism etc.All incidents are reportedto the police and patrolshave been increased. Com-plaints have been receivedabout parking around the

village particularly on HighStreet where cars are parkedhalf on the pavement. Thisdoes of course make theroad wider for cars to getby but it also makes thepavement very narrow anddifficult for pedestrians,especially mums with smallchildren and pushchairs.Church Close is also verycongested with cars andthere is concern that if theemergency services wererequired at the houses orthe church, access would beimpossible at times. SoPLEASE could drivers be alittle more considerate.Lastly congratulations toeveryone involved in theshop, it is a terrific achieve-ment.

Margaret IsmailParish Clerk

Crown Barn, The GreenTel: 832829

The NW sign in LondonLane survived five yearsbefore it was stolen. Its re-placement lasted only a fewweeks before it was relo-cated and, at £10.00 a time,it is an expensive way ofproviding a minute’samusement for selfish de-linquents.

Fortunately, the pur-pose of the NW is morethan merely to advertise its

existence: it is all aboutgetting together with neigh-bours to take action thatcan cut local crime. It pro-vides a network of house-holds, local coordinators,the District Council Com-munity Safety Officer andthe Police. Connected bytelephone and the net, thePolice pass warnings ofcriminal activity in the areavia the local coordinators

Neighbourhood Watch (NW)and encourage feedbackfrom households and thepassing of any informationabout suspicious activity.

If you are not on theNW list of members andwould like to be, contactthe Watch Office number(01993 893811) for the de-tails of your local coordina-tor who will tell you moreabout the scheme.

Nick Leadbetter

The Ascott Grapevine - Page 10

Thanks to the generosity ofa local landowner we havebeen able to plant 350 na-tive trees and shrubs by FiveShilling Corner, a formerquarry on high groundabove the village. The treeswill grow to fill a gap be-tween an existing area ofwoodland and an oldhedgerow, which marks theboundary with Chilson Par-ish.

The planting weekendstarted badly. On Fridayafternoon a westerly galestarted to blow along theEvenlode Valley, bringinghorizontal rain just as westarted to put up the stakesmarking out the plantingarea. Two hours later a pairof very wet, cold andmuddy helpers, made theirway back to Ascott wonder-ing who would turn-out tohelp on Saturday and Sun-

day if the weather didn’timprove.

However, the Godsmust have taken pity on usand Saturday dawned coldand bright, with the prom-ise of more dry and sunnyweather on Sunday. Twentyvolunteers arrived includ-ing several from Ascott, allarmed with spades andsome bringing picniclunches. The planting wascompleted by lunchtime onSunday, after much hard

Friends of Wychwoodwork, including removingthe large stones that seemedto be lurking just beneaththe surface wherever youwanted to dig your plantinghole.

As they mature the treesand shrubs in the copse willenhance the landscape andencourage wildlife.

The Friends ofWychwood support theWychwood Project, whoseaim is to raise awareness ofthe history and heritage ofThe Royal Hunting Forestof Wychwood, encouraginglocal people to take part inand benefit from the resto-ration, conservation andenhancement of the richmosaic of landscapes andhabitats within the ForestBoundaries.

If you would like toknow more about the workof the Friends contactStuart Fox on 01993832004 or emailstuart@wychwood.me.uk

Tree Planting in Ascott

Page 11 - Issue 41

Cook’s Corner: Ascott’s Favourite Recipes

Joan Pratley’s Yorkshire Ginger Cake

Ingredients:1 lb. Flour, 1/

4 lb. Sugar, 1/

2 oz. Cinnamon, 2 Eggs, 1/

2 lb. Butter, 1/

2 oz. Ginger, 1/

4 oz.

Bicarbonate of Soda, 1/2 lb. Treacle, 1 teacupful Mild (or more), a pinch of cayenne, and

a pinch of salt, a little preserved or crystalised ginger (optional).Baking Tin: 12”x 71/

2”x 21/

2” deep

1. Put the flour into a basin with the sugar, spices and salt.2. Rub in the butter.3. Add the eggs lightly beaten, and crystallised or preserved ginger if used.4. Warm the milk and treacle, add the soda to the milk, and put both milk and treacleinto the mixture.5. Beat very well; enough milk should be added to make the mixture into a batter.6. Put into a buttered and papered tin and bake very slowly (in a low oven) for about 1hour. Leave to cool in tin.

Further contributions to ‘Favourite Recipes’ would be appreciated for publication infuture issues.

Wychwoods Local History Society

On Thursday, 15th January2004 Alan Watkins will bebringing more slides takenfrom his huge collection ofpostcards to illustrate a talkentitled Chipping Nortonto Chipping Norton Junc-tion telling the story of therailway that used to runfrom Kingham to ChippingNorton. The meeting willbe held in Milton VillageHall at 7.30.p.m.

On Thursday 19th Feb-ruary 2004 in Shipton Vil-lage Hall at 7.30.p.m. SirFrederic Bolton fromPudlicote will talk aboutthe History of Pudlicotefrom 1154 -2004.

Then in March onThursday18th at MiltonVillage Hall at 7.30.p.m.Howard Gatling will give atalk entitled EnglishChurch Vaulting.Old and new members arewelcome. Subscriptionsare £5 for an individual

and £8 for a couple whichincludes a copy ofWychwoods History whenpublished. Visitors wel-come at any meeting at £2per head. Further detailsfrom Wendy Pearse on831023.

The Ascott Grapevine - Page 12

I am writing this withChristmas just round thecorner and although it is atime for all the usual thingsat this time of year, it is alsoa time when I sit down andlist the seeds I need to or-der for the forthcoming sea-son. I still order most of myseeds by post, direct fromthe seed merchant; a habitI can’t seem to get out of,despite all of the gardencentres displaying racks ofcolourful seed packets asearly as September. I knowthat modern-day methodsof harvesting seeds andpackaging them in

hermetically sealed enve-lopes means a much longershelf life, if unopened andthe ability for them to beon sale throughout theyear, but I still enjoy brows-ing through several seedcatalogues before makingmy list and sending off anorder. No doubt it goesback to remembering myFather doing the samething forty, or so, years ago.Mind you, seed merchantswere fewer, names likeDobies and Carters springto mind and they were alldelivered in plain enve-lopes, with none of the

mouth-watering photo-graphs of flowers and veg-etables that you get today.

I also remember my Fa-ther buying seed potatoes,peas and broad beans fromCrafts shop in Chippy. Forthose who don’t remember,Crafts was opposite theTown Hall, where an estateagent is now. You also usedto be able to buy fertiliserby the pound. It was a lovelyshop.

I always aim to try a newor different variety of veg-etable each year. Sometimesthey work, sometimes theydon’t. Not all varieties aresuited to certain soils oraspects. Not all live up tothe seedsman’s hype butfrom time to time you findone that grows well andtastes good. These are theones that you tend to in-clude in each year’s order.

Take potatoes, for in-stance; two modern varie-ties that I have found to besuccessful are Victoria, asecond early, and Maxine,a red main crop. Both cropwell, taste excellent andstore over a long period. Istill rely on many old andwell-tried varieties, ofcourse, but trying the oddnew one, each season, addsa little spice to the garden-ing year.

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Page 13 - Issue 41

Looking out of the win-dow at this time of year canbe a dreary experience, butit is surprising how manywinter-flowing plants thereare. In the shrub line youhave the Viburnum family.V. Fragrans is normally inflower from early autumnand continues well intospring, only being setbackif we have a prolonged pe-riod of frost. A big bonusis its sweet scent. In factmost winter f loweringshrubs are highly scented,they need to be to attractthe few pollinating insectsthat are around!

Other shrubs in flowerinclude Mahonia Japonica,an evergreen with lovelyyellow lily -of-the-valleyscented flowers and WinterJasmine, again yellow, butsadly not scented, unlike itswhite summer namesake.Have you noticed how fan-tastically the Winter Jas-mine has flowered this year,I don’t think I can ever re-member it doing so well, nodoubt as a result of the hotsummer we had.

Two other excellent win-ter shrubs, both deciduous,are the Winter Honey-suckle and the WinterSweet. I had a very largespecimen of Winter Hon-eysuckle which had to bemoved because of a build-ing extension and in so

doing it split into two, so Iput each half in a differentpart of the garden and bothhave thrived. As you can seeit is a very tough plant. Cuta sprig and bring it indoorsand it will scent a room.Likewise, Winter Sweet, orChimonanthus to give it itsbotanic name, I think iseven more sweetly scented,but tends to take severalyears before f lowering.However, it’s well worthwaiting for.

If you enjoy reading gar-dening books then one ofthe best on winter colouris “Colour in the WinterGarden” by Graham StuartThomas, who sadly diedlast year. It’s easy readingwith many beautiful illus-trations by the author. Thebook is out of print, butwell worth tracking-downvia second-hand booksell-ers.

I noticed that the Snow-drops are just pushing up

through the soil and itwon’t be long before theyare in flower, indeed by thetime that you read this theywill be. They will be fol-lowed by the Winter Aco-nites, which are one of myfavourite bulbs, or tubers tobe strictly accurate. To seea large area on Aconites inflower on a winter’s day canbe stunning. Both of theseplants are best divided “inthe green” as they say. If youlift them just as the flowersare fading and split and re-plant them, they quickly re-establish and spread. Bulbsbought in packets in Sep-tember never seem to flour-ish.

Before we know wherewe are the Daffodils will bein flower, closely followedby Tulips and then the earlyherbaceous plants and thenthe Roses, but that will befor the next edition!

- CURLY KALE

The Ascott Grapevine - Page 14

Perhaps they shouldchange the words of thatseasonal song “I’m dream-ing of a white Christmas”to “I’m dreading a wetChristmas.” Whilst trudg-ing though the mud, in thedrizzle, on my way homefrom Pudlicote, havingtried, unsuccessfully, towalk off my Christmaslunch, nature seemed lessattractive than an armchairby the fireside.

However, even on sucha dull damp day there werethings to see. In nearbyfields a flock of fieldfaresand redwings were forag-ing, probably for earth-worms or other insects,having migrated from Scan-dinavia in September.When the ground freezesthey will turn their atten-tion to the hedgerows,stripping the last of the ber-ries from the hawthorn.

Walking by a hedgerowI was startled by a cock-pheasant bursting from theundergrowth with the char-acteristic whirr of wingsand distinctive alarm call.These birds are not nativesbut have been living andbreeding in England sincebefore the Norman Con-quest; they are first men-tioned in 1059. The firstintroductions came from

Nature Notes

an area extending east ofthe Black Sea across South-ern Asia. Later introduc-tions, about two hundred

years ago, were of a Chinesespecies and the two haveinterbred. The Chinese in-troduction has left its mark,notably in the white neckring, which shows on thecock birds and which is ab-sent in the Asian species.

Although coming fromwarmer and drier regionsthe pheasant has becomeacclimatised to our damperclimate and breeds herequite successfully, althoughone wonders how long itwould survive a series ofhard winters if its numberswere not replenished eachyear by stock bred forshoots. When the pheasantbreeds in the wild it is in ashallow hollow in theground, concealed bybranches of a shrub orbramble or amongst densegrass or even in the centreof a patch of nettles. Ten or

more eggs, with a colourvarying from a uniform ol-ive-brown to greyish-blue,will be laid on a bed ofleaves or dried grasses. Rear-ing of the young is normallyleft to the female as pheas-ants tend to be polygamousand the cock bird will bebusy looking after the re-mainder of his “harem,” at-tacking other cocks, usingthe spurs on the back of hislegs as offensive weapons, ifhis attempts to frighten offrivals by aggressive displayfails.

The hen will only startto incubate after all her eggshave been laid. The chickswill hatch in twenty-fivedays. Soon after hatchingthe chicks will start to lookfor their own food guidedby the female. They areomnivorous and will eatgrain, leaves, berries, nutsand earthworms.

As I passed Mr Grip-per’s pond three moorhenssplashed across the surfacein frantic haste to avoid me,half flying and half runningover the surface. Thesebirds inhabit almost everykind of freshwater habitat,from small ponds to largelakes and small streams towide rivers. A pond newlydug by our neighbours wassoon colonised by a pair

Page 15 - Issue 41

The Sebakwe Black Rhino Trustpresents a

MAY DAY SPECIALCharity Dinner & Show

withPAM AYRES

Saturday 1st May 2004at

Witney Lakes Resort, Witney, Oxfordshire

All the proceeds from the Evening will go to help theBlack Rhino Conservancy in Zimbabwe, and also to helplocal school children.

6.30pm Drinks Reception with Canapés7.30pm Pam Ayres entertains9.00pm Dinner – Raffle – Auction

The Sebakwe Black Rhino Trust was formed in 1989 tohelp establish and secure a black rhino conservancy inthe Midlands regions of Zimbabwe in southern Africa,where a breeding group of rhino could be establishedunder free and natural conditions but fully protected frompoachers.

All proceeds will provide extra nourishment to the lo-cal school children; help with books and equipment forlocal schools; medical supplies for the Clinic; pay towardsthe building of a new Education Centre, as well as pro-tecting the 60 black rhino in the Midlands Conservancy.

Tickets are £40 each and can be obtained from:Annie Gripper, Manor Farm, Ascott-u-Wychwood, OXONOX7 6AL.Tel: 01993 830 278Fax: 01993 830 395E-mail: johngrippervet@compuserve.comwww.blackrhino.orgwww.pamayres.com

who nested and raised abrood. I now have the pleas-ure of having one of themvisit my garden to feast onthe fallen apples, which Ileave each year for the black-birds. Moorhens are veryshy birds and prefer to hideamongst the reeds, ratherthan remain in open water.Their nests too are nor-mally concealed in densevegetation. Moorhen chickscan swim from their firstday after hatching, but stillneed to be fed by their par-ents. If the parents have asecond brood the chicksfrom the first will help theirparents in raising the newbrood; this is very unusualbehaviour amongst birds.Apart from this co-opera-tion moorhens are very ter-ritorial; two pairs cannotshare the same patch ofwater.

By now the sky was dark-ening, more rain threat-ened and my armchairbeckoned.

A Happy New Year toyou all.

- Stuart Fox

The Ascott Grapevine - Page 16

Paper Mâché: Medium for Comedy

‘Oh yes, that’s somethingwe did at school, anddoesn’t it involve gettingcovered in wet newspaper?’is the usual comment whenI say I make paper sculp-ture. I don’t use newspaper,but I do get sticky. The ini-tial process is to make a wirearmature, the sculpturedform; and then to build upthe paper in layers to thefinal shape. Painted andvarnished, the finished

piece has a character of itsown, and hopefully a hu-morous one. Paper is theperfect medium throughwhich to make a joke, acomment on society, or acaricature. Once made, themodel has to be dressed:earrings perhaps, curly hair,whiskers, a top hat; a smalldetail that will be seen bythe keen observer, for ex-ample a mouse in adeckchair reading the Fi-

nancial Times in miniature,while the cat he’s mindingis sipping cream through astraw. A reversal of the or-dinary is another subject Ioften choose, for example ahare and hound chasing ahuntsman. Life is too seri-ous, and I am aiming for alittle light relief.

-Eleanor Edwards

We all enjoy indulging our-selves with a spot of nostal-gia, often forgetting thatthe idyllic traffic-free past ofcountry cottages and hon-est toil on the land was alsoa time of grinding povertyand empty larders. How-ever, set against that was asense of belonging to andbeing part of a communitysomething that is oftenmissing in today’s moremobile society.

A recently publishedbook “Walk humble, MySon” written by Eric R.Moss provides an insightinto village life in Ascott asEric was growing up andcovers the period from1918to 1939.

Eric lived in one of thecottages by the gates intothe Churchyard, a view thathas changed little in the

A Good Readintervening years. Most ofthe places he describes canstill be seen, althoughsome, like the ChurchillArms Inn have undergonea change of use and otherslike the old wooden TiddyHall have been much im-proved.

Other interesting factsemerge: the cricket pitchused to be in the first fieldon the right over the levelcrossing, electricity didn’t

come to Ascott until 1933,our railway station onceboasted two platforms, eachwith a waiting room, andemployed a station masterand a full-time porter!

This book is publishedby The Wychwood Pressand also includes The Per-sonal Memories of DorisWarner, a former VillagePostmistress. It is availablefrom the bookshop inCharlbury at a cost of £8.

Page 17 - Issue 41

School News

Leafield School NewsBest Value Added Schoolin County: You may allhave read in the local pressthat in the Primary SchoolTest Results LeafieldSchool achieved a valueadded score – measuringimprovement in pupils’ re-sults from the age of 7 to11 – of 102.9, the best inthe county, where the aver-age was 99.9. All credit dueto our head, Mrs Ryde, andall the staff who work ex-tremely hard but most of allto the children who areencouraged to, and do,their best at all subjectswhether they find it easy ornot. As you read this weare pleased to report thatMrs. Ryde returned to workafter Christmas havingmade an excellent recoveryand we shall have just hadan OFSTED inspectionduring January which wehope to be able to reporton in the next issue. TheGovernors wish to pass ontheir thanks to Mrs.Blackman and all the stafffor their hard work and ex-tra effort during the wholeof last term which helpedmaintain continuity withinthe school without detri-ment to the children andtheir education.

Last Term’s News:Class 2 and 3 had an enjoy-

able visit to Oxford to see‘The Twits’ and after halfterm the Annual Gover-nors Meeting with Parentswas enjoyed by allattendees, possibly due tothe introduction of nibblesand refreshment, but prob-ably due to the excellentyear we were discussing andbeing able to see the pro-posed plans for the newclassroom and improve-ments due to start this year.Mrs. Flear held a very in-formative Early Years OpenDay which if you were un-able to attend and wish tosee what goes on with theyoungest members ofschool please telephoneand arrange an appoint-ment.

Christmas activitiessoon got under way. Boxeswere filled for OperationChristmas Child and thechildren learnt a vast arrayof songs and dances fortheir “Christmas Aroundthe World” held in LeafieldChurch which was full tobursting with friends andfamily attending, who I amsure will agree, enjoyed atruly marvellous perform-ance.

Other activities in-cluded a visit by Class 4 tothe Ashmolean Museum,the Friends’ childrens’ raf-

fle, Christmas Parties andour Christingle Service inChurch.

Volunteers Needed:We are looking for volun-teers to help on Monday,Wednesday and Fridaymornings from 9.30. If youare able to spare some timeon any of those morningsto help with reading andsounds work, Mrs. Flearand Mrs. Cain would loveto hear from you, or in thefirst instance telephone theschool secretary Mrs. DebBrown, Tel: 878273.

Vicky Greves, Governor.

Ascott Pre-school

The Ascott Pre-school con-tinues to go from strengthto strength. Numbers haveincreased substantially andPauline and her team haveintroduced a new sessionon a Wednesday afternoonas a result of this. The pre-school has made a success-ful lottery application andas a result, work will beginin February on astro-turfingthe back play area. This willmean that the children willnow have more opportunityto play outside all yearround. Fundraising for newequipment for the play areawill begin this term.

The Ascott Grapevine - Page 18

Highlights fromlast term

At the beginning of Decem-ber, the pre-school had anexciting trip to the new vil-lage shop. The children re-ally enjoyed the experienceand the juice and biscuitskindly of-fered by theshop assist-ants.

T h ec h i l d r e nw e r etreated to aspecial visitfrom JennyMead whoruns a localmusic andmovementg r o u p .T h e yshook their ma-racas with enthusi-asm and enjoyedmaking swishy fishmovements -greatfun had by all!

The children thor-oughly enjoyed their an-nual Christmas party anda visit by Father Christmaswas an extra bonus!

The pre-school per-formed a very successfulcarol concert at the end ofthe term with a record 43children on stage!

Prepare-for-school ses-sions still take place onTuesday and Thursday after

the morning pre-school ses-sions. These provide invalu-able support and encour-agement for those childrenwho are about to enter theclassroom for the first time.

Toddler Group

Toddler group is open to allon Friday mornings from9.30 till 11.30. It’s a greatway to meet new parentsand to engage your child insome social interaction andfun. It is also a good intro-

duction to pre-schools,play groups and nurser-ies. You only pay anominal fee when youattend and it is a veryenjoyable and stimulat-ing environment foryoung children and

their parents.It plays an im-portant rolein the life oft h eWychwoodvillages.

Page 19 - Issue 41

Walkers and TalkersTuesdays 2-4pm,New Beaconsfield HallFor children aged 1-4.£1.50 per session.Call Rachel Hartley 01993832112Toddler Singing GroupThursdays 9.45-10.45,New Beaconsfield HallFor children aged 0-5.£1 per session.Call Debbie Whitehouse01993 832688

Ascott Toddler GroupFridays 9.30-11.30,Tiddy HallCall Pauline Plant 07968006451

Mums andToddlers –What’s On?

Update from Windrush Valley SchoolA winning start tothe year...The England rugby squadwas not the only sportingsuccesses of last term. Con-tinuing on from our 100%successes in last year’s KS1and 2 SATs and the EnglishSpeaking Board, since win-ning the inter-schools foot-ball shield the Under 9 andUnder 11 football teamshave not yet lost a match...aschool record...Well doneto all the players.

Congratulations......to Oliver Cookson andHenry Priddis from Form

2, for winning entries in thepoetry competition organ-ised by Ottaka’s Bookshop,Witney. Joshua Ridley forhis place in the NationalYouth Orchestra with hiscello. Ashley Elder, JoshuaRidley, Matthew Markwell,Jack Priddis and GeoffreyChapman who all enjoyedsuccess in The Mathemat-ics Association’s PrimaryMaths Challenge. Ashleyand Geoffrey are nowthrough to the final.

Visits . . . .Form 1 visited the BanburyMuseum for a look at toysfrom the past. Form 2 vis-ited Witney War Memorialon Remembrance Day.They participated in thetwo minutes silence andstudied the War Memorialto supplement their His-tory project. Form 2 alsovisited Chedworth Villawhere they had a guidedtour of the bath houses,hypocausts, water shrinesand mosaics. They handledartefacts and talked to aRoman slave about his lifein the kitchens! Years 3 and4 visited the Fabulous Bak-ing Boys factory in Witneyto support their DesignTechnology project of pack-aging. This lucky groupmanaged to come away

from the factory with theFabulous Baking Boys muf-fins still inside their com-plementary goody bags ofpackaging samples!!

Charityfundraising...At Harvest Festival pupilsand parents raised £230 forthe homeless children inSouth America. The Chil-dren in Need collectionsraised £110 and the Foot-ball Club Sponsored Pen-alty Shoot Out raised£308.60. The Toy Saleraised £91.39 for the BlueCross – the ChilternsHouse, nominated charityis Hearing Dogs for theDeaf. All donations of usedpostcards, postage stampsand used toner cartridgesare being collected inschool.

Christmashighlights...

Nursery, Reception andForm 1 performed A Scare-crow’s Christmas while theupper years put on an ex-cellent version of SnowWhite and the SevenDwarfs. All pupils enjoyedthe Christmas Pantomime,Frosty the Snowman, andthanks to the Ascott Play-group for joining us in theNOISY fun.

The Ascott Grapevine - Page 20

Wychwood Football

Wychwood Football Clubcurrently has teams fromUnder 7’s through to 17’s.The 7’s to 10’s play minisoccer at Shipton, the 12’s& 14’s play at Milton andthe 11’s & 17’s play atAscott.

I have been ‘managing’one of the teams - the 17’sfor five seasons who haveplayed at Ascott through-out. It has been a rollercoaster ride – ranging fromwill we have enough inter-est to continue to eighteencommitted players that wehave now – most comefrom the Wychwoods andsurrounding villages. Infact I had previously runone other side which alsoplayed most years at Ascott- two teams in eleven years -must be something to dowith playing at Ascott!

It has been especiallypleasing that the boys have

been able to make use ofthe excellent facilities– newSport England Pavilion andchanging rooms, welllooked after pitch and fi-nally new goal posts thathave recently been erected– makes the football facili-ties complete. Oppositionteams often comment onthe facilities and the won-derful view and surround-ing area. We all certainlyappreciate what we have –especially after using oppo-sition facilities around theOxford, Banbury, Bicesterand Abingdon areas.

Finally we would all liketo thank Mary Barnes whois our liaison for keys andlooking after the changingrooms – has always beenhelpful and supportive overmany years. Thanks Mary!

If you are interested inhelping or playing pleasecontact :-

Sport

Under 7’sTim Hooten 01608659027Under 8’sCharlie Barrett 01993830375Jerry Barker01993 831491Under 9’sMike Lake01993 830954Under 10’sRob Schofield01451 824256Under 11’sMark Stratford01993 831703Under 12’sJohn Dyakowski01993 831717Under 14’sDavid Agnew01993 832494Under 17’sPaul Marsh01993 830506

Paul Marsh

Having been promoted toDivision Three of theWitney & District League,Ascott have found this sea-son a lot tougher than thelast. We are currently 4th

from bottom, but perform-ances of late have been en-couraging.

We are now down toonly two Ascott residents

Ascott Utd Football Clubplaying for the side andwould welcome someyounger legs, especially asthe majority of the team isaround 35 !!!

After Christmas we willactively be looking for anew Manager, somebodywho may be able to bringsome new players. Since re-forming in 1990, Ascott

Utd has enjoyed a gooddeal of success and wewould like to continue, ifpossible.

Should this challengingrole be of interest, pleasecontact Allister Moore on01993 883562

Allister MooreSecretary of Ascott Utd

FC

Page 21 - Issue 41

As an Ascott dweller it is apleasure to have been ableto bring the Wychwood U-11 football team to play atthe Playing Fields off theHigh Street, and to call ittheir home ground for thisseason.

This year the team pro-gressed from mini soccer(played ages 7-10) whenthey play 7-a-side on re-duced sized pitches, toyouth soccer which is 11-a-side on full size pitches. Itis a big leap for the players,not just coping with the

Under 11s Football

massive increase in pitchsize, but also to play for twothirty minute halves, andto adjust to the full teamgame.

Wychwood FC havebeen able to run 8 mini andyouth sides this season withages ranging from U7 toU17 , the latter also playingin Ascott. Thus the clubcontributes to the range ofhealthy sporting outletsprovided for children inthe Wychwoods.

The U11’s have beenmoderately successful so

February 1st

Bullingdon Home

February 15th

Witney United Away

Group Cup to be Advisedby League

Training GameChipping Norton LeisureCentre Commences:Wednesday 7th January2004.

far, scoring plenty of goals,and winning a few games toplace them around mid-ta-ble in the Witney and Dis-trict league, at themoment.There are a fewmore games to go in thisyear’s 18 match season,plus a cup competition.

Thanks go to MaryBarnes for her back up inpreparing and cleaning thesports pavillion, and toAscott Sports Associationfor permission to use thepitch.

Mark Stratford

WychwoodFootballRemainingLeagueFixtures:-

Since the summer of 1994Ascott has had a badmin-ton club.

Over the years new faceshave come and gone but acore of regulars remain andmeet regularly on Wednes-day evenings at Tiddy Hall.There is only one court soit tends to be as much asocial affair, whilst waitingfor a turn on the court, asa means so keeping fit andhaving fun.

Poppy Appeal 2003A big ‘Thank You’ to the village for the Poppy

Appeal - we raised £516.84.Mary Barnes

Ascott-under-WychwoodBadminton Club

New members are al-ways welcome. There are awide range of standardsand playing styles but themain aim of the club is toallow everyone to play. Any-one interested in joining uscan just come along to theTiddy Hall at 19.30 onWednesday evening. If thenumbers merit it I am surewe would be able to use thehall for a second eveningeach week.

The Ascott Grapevine - Page 22

Page 23 - Issue 41

One feels one shouldn’t give a figWhen one is told that one is big

A portly frame cannot be wrongWhen ones as broad as one is long

One feels it’s in such awful tasteTo be told so rudely to ones’ face

The fact of the matter is old chapYou’re absolutely far too fat

If you’d been a woman, I would say,You must be in the family way

And if you ever go to seaWhy they’d use you as a marker buoy

The thing is, old boy, you’d never drownLike a barrel, you’d bob up and down

Of course, you may have heard it saidWhat you have now is middle-age-spread

In your case though, there is no doubtIt’s spread so fast and burst right out

The battle of the bulge I’d sayIs what you’re going to have to play

Waging war on over-weightYou’ve got a problem on your plate

So give up chips and give up piesGive up drink, take exercise

Take up swimming, take up squashOr better still to have more fun...

...The last two lines of this poem are not considered suitable for a village magazine.

Fred Russell

Fat

This poem by Fred Russell may strike a telling note with those of us who have over-indulged during the festive season...

The Ascott Grapevine - Page 24

REGULAR ACTIVITIESMonday to ThursdayMorningsPre-School-Contact PaulinePlant 0796 8006451.Friday MorningsMother and ToddlerGroup- Contact PaulinePlant 0796 8006451.Tuesday EveningsYoga- Contact DavidBillham 01993 842061.Wednesday EveningsBadminton- Contact ChrisMorgan 01993 831958.Thursday EveningsYoga- Contact Chris Seers01608 676236.Saturday MorningsDog Training- ContactSharon Wilson 01993831801.

SPECIAL EVENTSSaturday 31st January 2004-Tiddy Hall 10th Anniver-sary.Contact Ros Shepherd01993 830227.Saturday 7th February2004. Jumble Sale 2-4pmFundraising for Pre-School.Contact Pauline Plant 07968006451.Saturday 6th March 2004.Folk Night.Fundraising for SportsClub. Contact Lyn Collins01993 830114.

Tiddy Hall Events

Wednesday 10th March2004. The Friends ofWychwood. IllustratedTalk, Ancient Trees in theWychwood Landscape. 8-10pm, With Refreshments.Contact Stuart Fox 01993832004.Friday 12th March 2004.“House of Colour”Evening.Fundraising for VillageShop. Contact MargaretIsmail 01993 832829.

TO BOOK THE TIDDY HALL CONTACT :Rosemary Dawbarn 01993 831632

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