Issue Number 79

October 2002

PARISH COUNCIL After the summer break the PC met on

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Monday 16th September. Present were: Cllrs James, Cole, Gaertner, Smith and Willmer.

The PC welcomed back Irene Smith who, a few months ago, stepped down as Clerk. She has though agreed to help out as Secretary. If anyone has any information they would like passed to the PC, please, only send it to one of the Councillors. A Council email address has been set up which will published next month.

Following letters of complaint about speeding cars, the Council are contacting the Highways Dept to see what, if any, measures can be taken to slow vehicles entering the village on the Bampton Road.

Enquiries are being made as to what can be `done' to the trees which were pollarded into a V to avoid power cables near to Bakery Lane.

> It is hoped that the work to enlarge

the car parking area in Queens Crescent will be started soon.

The negotiations to extend the lease and continue renting the Large Playing Field from Christchurch are now in the final stages.

It has been reported that the pump at the allotments is not working properly. This will be inspected. The PC were informed that, as from April 2003, pensions and benefits will have to paid directly into a bank account. A full report on this can be found on Page 3.

Complaints are still being received about the state of the Playing Field, litter and dog mess being the main concerns.

Would the person who has left their trailer (with car!) in the Withy Beds please move it ASAP!

The next Parish Council meeting will be on Monday 21 st October at 7.30pm in the Carter Institute.

FOOTBALL CLUB

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With the football season now well unerway, the First Team have made an indifferent start winning two, losing three and drawing once from their first six matches. The Reserves have lost two from two but the Sunday Side have wove three out of three and at present are top. If anybody has any old football photographs that the Club could loan, please contact John Osbourne on 01993 771631

Matches for October

Saturday 5th Reserves vs Hook Norton

Saturday 12th Reserves vs Oxford Cits RRS

Saturday 19th Reserves vs Wantage Entertainment

Saturday 5th The Irish group that was booked have disbanded so this night has been cancelled.

Saturday 19th Disco 4000

CURIO-TODAY CLANFIELD, TOMORROW THE WORLDI!

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A local band provided a great evening's entertainment at the Football Club on the night of Saturday 24th August. Karen, Nick, Simon C, Simon H and guest played original tracks and covers, showing that there is plenty of talent in the village, and an enjoyable time was had by all. I'm also reliably informed they are available for private functions (and no I'm not on commission)...

Helen Fowler

HANDY HOUSEHOLD HINTS

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Did you know ... if you manage to get tar on your feet, or the floor, then rub it with a bit of butter and it will clean away easily.

Did you know ... a quick way to polish silver cutlery is to simmer it for a few minutes in a large pan of water containing a few loosely scrunched up pieces of tin foil. Rinse and dry.

Did you also know ... rather than using bleach to clean tea cups which have been stained with the tannin, pop in a dentures tablet - it brings them up sparkling clean.

ACCESS TO BENEFITS

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15 million people currently collect their state pensions and benefits at the Post Office, but from April 2003 these payments will have to be made [monthly] by direct credit into a bank account. Arrangements are being made for a new `Card Account' for the estimated 3 million people without an account. The account will only accept pensions and benefit deposits and will only allow withdrawal at a post office with a plastic card and a PIN (Personal Identification Number) number. Most High Street banks are also offering a `no frills' bank account into which benefits and pensions can be paid - and from which cash can be withdrawn (without charge) at Post Offices. Customers with ordinary accounts can receive state payments - but at present only seven banks allow free deposits and cheque withdrawal at Post Offices. Postwatch has concerns about how the Government will ensure that vulnerable benefits recipients are not disadvantages by the transition. What if something goes wrong: the loss of a card or a forgotten PIN number? Will an emergency payments system be in place? What about the change from weekly to monthly payments? Some benefit recipients may need free impartial advice on which type of account to open and how to manage it; will there be extra government funding for independent advice agencies?

Oxfordshire Rural Community Council

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The Clanfield WHAT also can be viewed from these pages, together with back copies.

If you would like the WHAT and other local village news sheets e-mailed to you, or you have a friend here or abroad who would like to receive copies then send an email to what@ox18.com with `subscribe' in the subject.

CLANFIELD'S FEAST DAY

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Village Feast Days were usually held on the first Sunday after the Church's Saints Day, but as St.Stephen's day falls on Boxing Day it must have been felt-that a summer day would be more appropriate and so it was usually held in August. This was a great day for the village. It was when all the little servant girls were allowed to come home to see their families and friends; boys too if they were away but usually they found work on the local farms.

The celebrations of the day began on the top green opposite the Mason's Arms, now the Tavern. The village band, actually Mr Knapp's Foundry Band, met there and then progressed down the Causeway to the bottom green. They would play there for a time and then return to Tommy Austen's field next to the Plough.

There were many attractions such as Mr Bowerman from Burford who set up a stall to sell toys. Joe Spurrit made toffee, rock and brandy snaps and sold them there. He also demonstrated the art of 'throwing toffee' over a polished hook, this he did again and again pulling at the sugary mass until the consistency was just right. This action was done to the accompaniment of a rhyme and I can remember my husband telling me this about a toffee-maker at St. Giles Fair in Oxford. My husband could recite the rhyme, 'Throw it and pull it....' Can anyone remember how it went? It must have been hard work. The toffee was soft at first, the repeated action of throwing it over the hook firmed it up and eventually it was laid flat and cut into short lengths. There was a pink and white toffee and also a brown and white, probably a mint variety. There were swing boats and run-a-bouts and these were brought by a Mr Edwards. There was also a chair-o-plane but it was Forrests of Burford who brought the coconut shies and skittles. There were many other sideshows on the green and all along the brook, as well as Mr Austen's field, and at night after dark paraffin lamps that gave off a naked flame would light the stalls. It must have been quite a sight!

Dorothv Wise

HARVEST SUPPER

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Friday 4th October 7-30pm at Windmill Barn Conference Centre, tickets now available at £5 each (to include your first drink) from Raena Farley Clanfield 810604 or Nancie Greatrex 810609

Come and enjoy an evening of `country fayre,' friendship and fun! The recently refurbished facilities at Windmill Barn are worth a visit - the food, friendship and fun are an added bonus!!

SLOW GIN..

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This is a good year for sloes, the fruit of the blackthorn tree. The last two years the flowers have been damaged by frost in April and hence produced very few fruits. They are far too astringent to eat but when allowed to add their flavour and colour to gin they make the most delicious liqueur.

Here are the instructions for sloe gin production: Ingredients

12 oz sloes

6 oz granulated sugar

8 blanched almonds (optional)

1 pint gin (as cheap as you like - quality is not important) Method

Prick four holes in each sloe with a darning needle and drop them into an empty litre gin bottle. Add sugar through a funnel in layers and throw in the almonds. Pour over the gin and seal. Store in cool, dark cupboard.

Shake the bottle to distribute the sugar roughly 2 or 3 times a week for 2 to 3 months (this helps the sugar dissolve) and then leave undisturbed for 6 months Strain the liquid through a few layers of muslin (a paper coffee filter paper may work as an alternative) so that it is clear and then return it into a bottle. Discard the sloes. Store for a further 6 months when it will be ready to drink. It will keep for 2 to 3 years.

Don't be tempted to pick the sloes too early. The best sloe gin comes from sloes picked much later in November/December - as long as the birds don't get them first. They are not ripe enough in September - it's like trying to make plum jam with green plums. My book says they are ripe in October but there certainly seems to be a country tradition that they should have been exposed to the first frost so wait until it gets much colder. Also autumn is definitely getting later so have a little patience. It will be rewarded.

Alternatively, go to an off licence and buy Gordons!

Caroline Hudson

Dear Caroline - a hint someone once gave me was that if you're feeling too lazy to remember to shake the bottle every few days, just place it safely in the boot of your car for a couple of weeks. Just make sure the top is securely screwed on! ED

LETTER TO THE WHAT

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My husband and I have lived in Clanfield for the last six years and although we work long and hard hours in our own business, we have not failed to notice the effort put in by many of the inhabitants of Clanfield to keep the village as smart as possible. You often see people trimming hedges, clearing pathways, mowing verges, keeping the memorial in good repair and also attending their own gardens to a high standard, as witnessed by the recent "Gardens Open Day".

So I find Tony Harrison's comments last month (July '02) in the What very offensive, especially to ourselves. The disrepair to which he refers is not due to a lack of care on our part, but to an act of wanton vandalism and burglary by some children from the village, who pulled the walls down and then plundered what was inside. Similarly we have not failed to notice the graffiti which has been scratched into our signs, so that they will have to be completely re-painted.

Perhaps Mr. Harrison could have called in and asked why the walls were so bad, before launching his diatribe. I wonder what Mr. Harrison has done for the state of the village, except to wander around and find fault!

Rose Hodges

DOG FOULING

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May we take this opportunity to thank those dog walkers using the public foot paths across our field who make use of the dog litter bins provided by the Local Authority at the two stile entrances to the field.

At the same time, could we also encourage other dog walkers to use these facilities and clean up their dogs' mess after them, and urge owners not to let their dogs roam unsupervised across the footpaths or, indeed, across our fields.

While we endeavour to keep the footpaths free of dog fouling by means of regular topping, we are still receiving complaints from walkers about the presence of dog mess actually in the middle of the footpaths. We feel it not unreasonable to ask that the paths be kept clear, since there are more than adequate undergrowth and rough areas for the dogs to use for toileting without causing a problem and we have taken steps to provide disposal bins.

lain & Beverley Main, Hunters Court

CLANFIELD W.I. TRIP TO HIGHGROVE

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Clanfield Women's Institute were very privileged to be invited to visit HRH The Prince of Wales' private gardens at Highgrove House on Tuesday 9th July. Twentyfour ladies went by coach to Tetbury where they had coffee, visited the beautiful church and interesting antique shops before arriving at Highgrove at Midday. We were expertly guided around the acres of different areas of the gardens - some very formal, others left wild. These included the walled vegetable garden with its tunnel of sweet peas, the topiary yew hedges (which have grown very fast thanks to organic compost), the cottage garden, the memorial garden to the Queen Mother, and much more. No-one will forget the stumpery which is in a wooded area filled with old chestnut tree stumps and planted up with ferns and hostas. Our tour, which lasted an hour and forty minutes, finished with a cup of tea and Duchy Original biscuits and a chance to buy souvenirs in the gift shop.

For your chance to join in other outings, contact Liz Stevens, WI President on 01367 810255

REAL NOTES TO MILKMEN:

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(We'd be interested to know if Roger Prew has ever received anything like these).

• Dear Milkman, I've just had a baby, please leave another one.

• Please leave an extra pint of paralysed milk.

Cancel one pint after the day after today.

Please don't leave any more milk. All they do is drink it.

Milkman, please close the gate behind you because the birds keep pecking the tops off the milk.

• Milkman, please could I have a loaf but not bread today.

v Please cancel milk. I have nothing coming into the house but two sons on the dole.

Sorry not to have paid your bill before, but my wife had a baby and I've been carrying it around in my pocket for weeks.

Sorry about yesterday's note. I didn't mean one egg and a dozen pints, but the other way round.

When you leave my milk-knock on my bedroom window and wake me because I want you to give me a hand to turn the mattress.

Please knock. My TV's broken down and I missed last night's Coronation Street. If you saw it, will you tell me what happened over a cup of tea. My daughter says she wants a milkshake. Do you do it before you deliver or do I have to shake the bottle?

Please send me a form for cheap milk, for I have a baby two months old and did not know about it until a neighbour told me.

Please send me details about cheap milk as I am stagnant.

> Milk is needed for the baby. Father is unable to supply it.

CLANFIELD CE PRIMARY SCHOOL

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We begin the new school year with 5 new children in our Reception class namely; Luke Bowden, Nicole Dowding, Harry Edwards, Roseanne Loveridge and Oliver Wells. I hope they will all be happy here at Clanfield School. I would also like to welcome Mrs Caroline Butcher who joins us as a Teaching Assistant in Class 3 and Mrs Alison Smith our new Catering Assistant. When saying goodbye to our Year 6 pupils last term we inadvertently missed one of them off- Harry Weaver. We would like to wish him good luck and hope he is enjoying Burford Secondary School.

Last academic year, 3 children achieved 100% attendance, with a further 22 children achieving more than 97% which was an improvement on the previous year. This represents a third of the school and for those children represents a magnificent achievement.

Special certificates were awarded to these children during the end of year Leavers Assembly.

It would be great if we could continue to improve our attendance record even further this year and hand out more awards.

Visitors to our school are always welcome and encouraged. If you would like to know more please telephone 01367 810257.

Harvest Festival - This year's service will be held at St Stephens Church on Thursday 10th October at 1.30pm. Everyone is welcome to join us. There will be a retiring collection for this year's chosen charity Food Aid.

Drinking Water for Health - You may have read reports in the press recently about the health benefits of children having greater access to drinking water during the school day. Some LEAs and many individual schools now promote the practice of children keeping a bottle of water on their desk and sipping it regularly throughout the day. The aim is to prevent dehydration building up between breaks in the school day.

Studies have found that children who are dehydrated do not work as well in the classroom as those who have drunk the recommended eight glasses of water a day. Teachers reported that children became more alert with longer attention spans. The children keep the bottles on their desks and are encouraged to sip the water.

I would like to pilot a similar scheme in Class 3 during September and if it is successful extend it across the school later in the term. Children will need a named plastic bottle for their water and bottles should be taken home every afternoon for washing and returned each morning.

The children will refill their own bottle during breaktimes. This scheme is for promoting the DRINKING OF WATER ONLY, no alternative drinks will be allowed during class time.

I know that some parents are keen on this idea and I would be interested to hear your views. I will report on the success of the scheme in a later newsletter.

Class Topics

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CLASS ONE - First of all a big thank you for the many cards and gifts at the end of last term - they were very much appreciated. This term our topic will be "All About Me". We will learn about ourselves, our bodies, relationships and our environment. If you have any relevant books or artefacts please send them in for sharing - we promise to look after them carefully.

It would be lovely if every child could bring in something special to them (e.g. a photo, a first outfit, a first birthday card, a bridesmaid dress, etc) anything that marks an occasion or step in their development.

CLASS TWO - This half term we will be studying "settlements" in Geography. For the second half of the term and the first half of the Spring Term we will be studying the "Ancient Greeks" in History and in Science we are studying "materials". CLASS THREE - Our Geography and History topics will be the same as Class Two. In Science we are studying "forces" whilst in DT and Art we will cover "bread making" and "texture".

Panto Update

This year's festive school outing will take place on Wednesday 18th December. We have booked front row seats to see the matinee performance of Puss in Boots at the Oxford Playhouse. Please note that parents, grandparents, friends and family are welcome to join us - seats permitting. Coaches will depart Clanfield at 12.30pm and we should be back around 5.00pm. If you would like to go to the Panto, please contact Mrs Graham on 01367 810257 - space is limited so hurry! The cost of these tickets (inclusive of transport) is £11.00 each.

Raising Cash for our School

Once again we are collecting the BOX TOPS tokens which can be redeemed for cash. Each token is worth 10p and can be found on Nestle Breakfast Cereals, while stocks last, between June 2002 and March 2003.

In order to collect the maximum number of tokens possible, we would appreciate it if you, the readers, would help collect tokens on our behalf. Please send any tokens to Clanfield CE Primary School, Main Street, Clanfield, Oxon OX18 2SP. Thank you.

Ink Cartridges - Please help our school to help the environment and received free IT equipment. We have joined a great new scheme to get free new IT equipment, its called INK for IT and quite simply means that if we you collect empty recyclable inkjet cartridges and return them to the school, we can convert them into PC World vouchers to spend on IT equipment.

We are collecting the following cartridges: - • All Hewlett Packard cartridges

• All Lexmark cartridges

• Canon BCO1/02/05/06/20, BX2 and BX3 cartridges

It will really help if you can collect as many used recyclable inkjet cartridges as possible - from your home or from your workplace.

Webb Ivory Catalogues -A great way to help raise funds for your local school. The new 2002 catalogue is event bigger, better and packed with everything you'll need for Christmas. There's great wrapping paper, superb quality cards, Christmas decorations, and hundreds of unique gifts, many of which can be personalised free of charge. To stimulate those young minds, there is a wide range of fun and practical educational toys for all ages from Galt.

Up to 25% of the "You Pay" prices in the catalogue will be donated to Clanfield CE Primary School. So remember, whatever you buy really does make a difference. Chocoholics Catalogues - The winter 2002 chocoholics' brochures are now available.

This season's range includes many new products and as a result of requests from customers, includes details of their suitability for those on special diets.

All chocolates are suitable for vegetarians and many of the items are also gluten free. Included in the range are products sweetened with maltitol that are more suitable for diabetics or those who prefer to take

less sugar in their diet.

Catalogues are available from Mrs Bartlett or Clanfield CE Primary School Office. Alternatively please come along to the Chocoholics evening at the school on Thursday 10 November.

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DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

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* Sponsored by Barclays £ for £

NOTICE TO THE PARISH COUNCIL The driver of the Dennis Green van has a name, it's Malcolm Newman. I have lived in the village for 52 years, have been driving the Dennis Green van for 10 yrs. Most people know me as `Malc'. I have been placing grass cuttings under named trees for 15 yrs. If you wanted me to stop you only had to ASK.

CLANFIELD WI.

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After dealing with various items of business the September meeting of the W.I. was delighted to welcome David Endacott who talked about the World of Bats.

English Heritage licenses David with a group of other knowledgeable enthusiasts to carry out surveys in the county on the bat populations each year. He explained that there are over 1,000 species of bats in the world, with 16 species breeding in the UK. Oxfordshire is lucky to have 14 of these breeding in our county.

David showed us slides of the four most common species starting with the smallest, the pipistrel, which weighs in at just four grammes when fully grown. He was anxious to tell us that bats bear no relationship to either mice or rats, and are insectivorous. He also insisted that all bats are disease free, including their droppings! The populations are shrinking as a result of the methods of farming now being carried out, and a number of boxes are therefore being attached to trees to encourage nesting.

David then produced some boxes from which he showed us a few of his "resident community" from his bat "hospital" who seemed quite happy to be passed from one pair of hands to the next!

It was a very interesting evening with a speaker who obviously knew his subject inside out. There has been a change of speaker at the next meeting on October 8th

,

when Christine Usherwood will speak on "A Bicycle Made For Two".

Barbara Hilditch

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ST STEPHENS CHURCH NEWS

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By the time this arrives on your doormat the children will all be back at school, the Witney Feast will have come and gone, the evenings will be drawing in and our thoughts will be of winter!

The last few weeks have been fairly quiet after the hectic times in May, June and the beginning of July. Many were away on holiday and our congregations were somewhat depleted. Vicar David and family were away for two weeks and we were fortunate to have Arthur Pont to take Evensong the first week and Revd. Roland Meredith to take the Eucharist service the second Sunday, to both of you, a sincere "thank you".

Congratulations to Craig Smith and Carina Foreshew and also to Darren Bryant and Nicola Briley who were married at St. Stephen's on Saturday 3rd August 2002.

A service of thanksgiving for the life Pat Morton-Smith was held on Monday 22°a July. A full church paid tribute to a life well lived to the very end, in spite of her terminal illness. Our sympathy to Phil and all the family.

Condolences to the family of Una Parrot who was laid to rest Friday 26th July. The Historic Churches Trust sponsored Ride or Stride took place on a beautiful warm and sunny day, five cyclists who set out from St. Stephen's Church and one sponsored 'welcomer' together raised in excess of £500!! Well done!

The following day, Sunday 15th September, was our Harvest Festival. Sue Morris and her band of flower arrangers did a grand job, the Church looked at it's best, enhanced by the sun streaming through the windows. As it was our United Family Service with our friends from the Methodist Church it was doubly special but it was a Family service with the emphasis on the older generation rather than the youngsters - Gordon and Cherry Shute were celebrating their Diamond Wedding Anniversary! Daughters Heather and Jenny had gathered the family and organized with vicar David for a Blessing on their 60yrs of marriage and those years still to come! Their many friends from Clanfield and surrounding villages filled the Church. Tea and coffee after the service, with a piece of the delicious `60' wedding cake rounded off a memorable service. We all felt so privileged to live and work in an area of natural beauty, live in warm comfortable homes with ample food, and we remembered those less fortunate around the world. A collection of £118.61p was taken for the TEAR fund.

We are sorry to hear that Dorothy White has been in and out of hospital these last few weeks, firstly in The Horton Hospital, then Witney Community Hospital and latterly in the JR. We sincerely hope that the `powers that be' will get their act

together and Dorothy will get the treatment she needs to return home to Clanfield and all her friends and in much better health.

A CCCC meeting was held at `Isengard' on Thursday 12h September. The main discussion was around having a regular service at St. Stephen's to begin in January 2003 for a trial period of 12 months. It is hoped this will provide greater accessibility to our Church services. More on this as final times are agreed. The bell mechanism and the porch roof need attention at a combined cost of around £7000. It was agreed the work should be done although it will be money to find above our expected annual expenditure. (For those of you that wonder C.C.C.C. is Clanfield Community Church Council).

Nancie Greatrex

LOCAL CONSERVATIVES NEW ARRANGEMENTS

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As a consequence of the recent changes in the District boundaries Clanfield and Black Bourton are now linked with Bampton rather than Alvescot.

We are pleased to announce that the Conservative Black Bourton and Clanfield Branch has joined forces with the Bampton Branch of Conservatives to form a new group and we will be combining our activities and social events.

Our new MP David Cameron and newly elected members of the District Council Fred Gray and Jonathan Phillips will all be involved.

The first date for the diary is the 29th November at the Grange in Clanfield for an early Christmas Party. David Cameron will be here.

Alan Crisp and Brian Ferguson are the Clanfield representatives on the committee. Alan Crisp

Clanfield Produce Show 2002

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The Show raised in excess of £1000 for the Frank Ellis Cancer Ward at the Churchill Hospital again this year.

The most amazing result was in the class competing for the Women's Institute Silver Salver awarded for the best Victoria Sponge made to a specified recipe. Len Barnes scooped this award for the fourth year in succession despite the fact we had changed the judge yet again. Barnie's sponge has now been selected as the best by three different judges.

The cup presented to the person with the most points in the Cookery section was also awarded to a man this year. Bret Gaertner impressed the judges with his Cheesecake, Apple Pie, Savoury Flan and pickled onions to mention but a few. Charles Willmer also won the class for the best jam so it was a landslide victory for the culinary talents of the men of Clanfield.

A huge thank you for all the support we received.

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