This is the site for The Wychwood Magazine, serving the communities of
The Wychwoods in the Cotswolds since 1980!
The magazine is published every two months, by the community for the community and our friends, with 68 pages, packed with features, articles, news and short stories
about life in the Wychwoods.
Latest issue: October – November 2021
Editorial
Every community likes to think that it has a heart. Starting with friends in the community, that heart reaches out to others living nearby, but is this the end of a community’s heart? Does it stop there?
This edition of The Wychwood contains no less than three articles about locals who are reaching out beyond their friends and neighbours. “Charity,” we are told, “begins at home.” The trouble is that too often it ends there as well. It takes both courage and determination to reach out beyond our localities but that is exactly what our three writers are doing. Jack Godfrey, Rachel Carter and David Ensor have all undertaken challenges which, when completed, will benefit people far and wide, yet these three are unlikely to know any of individuals personally; now that shows real heart.
This October/November magazine, however, contains so much more that will captivate our readers. Local history gets a good airing; there’s the history of Burford School as it celebrates its 450th anniversary, Graham Nelson explains how Shipton cricket club has inherited and developed its grounds – this celebrates their centenary year, and Clare Iley writes about a local history trail she has developed for the enjoyment of all families around Shipton. Perhaps such articles would be expected in a magazine like this, but you are probably not expecting to read about smiling Americans, greedy hares, trainee wildland meadows and even dead dogs!
But I’ll finish with a challenge: if everyone who reads this magazine was to make a donation to one of the charities referred to above, now that would show a community with real heart.
Bob Forster, Editor
List of articles
- Valerie Carter Shortman, our new deputy editorI’m new to the Wychwoods, having moved with my husband, Neil, and two dogs from west London to Shipton in January, trading car sounds for ...
- One short life can change othersJack Godfrey is rather a remarkable young man. Like any other 21 year old, he has his dreams and aspirations, hopes and fears, but this ...
- Burford School – A history of new beginningsBurford School is a special community. It is an honour to be invited by the Governors to take the helm from the hugely impressive Kathy ...
- Top of the pubs?For the second year in a row, the Swan at Swinbrook has been voted Oxfordshire’s Dining Pub of the Year and retained its AA Rosette; ...
- You called that summertime?!The weather in July and August in the Wychwoods was somewhat unremarkable, with July being 1.3°C above average and August 0.5°C below average. The only ...
- Mud, mud, inglorious mudThank you to the Milton Village Volunteers and the Cotswold Wardens for the great work on the footpath from the end of Green Lane down ...
- Did you know …?The long-standing editor of this magazine, Christine Halliday, has stood down from the committee – but she can’t resist assisting wherever needed, and this was ...
- Volunteers neededAt the bottom of the allotments in Milton-under-Wychwood there is a small community wood. This was set up a few years ago by a handful of ...
- Marcia Little (1957-2021)Marcia was born on 16th March 1957 in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire. At the age of four she moved to Witney with her mum Elsie and brother ...
- Milton under Wychwood community craft cafeThe Community Craft Café is open every Thursday from 10.00am until 2.00pm in Milton Village Hall. Come and join us, whether it is to chat ...
- Call the midwifeI have spent almost all my working life here in the Wychwoods and I can honestly say that the decades I spent carrying out midwifery ...
- A term full of fantastic learning at Ascott PreschoolSummer may feel like a long time ago but the children enjoyed a term packed with fun activities, including food tasting, science experiments, learning about ...
- 100km or bustIn October 2019 I signed up to walk 100km along the Cotswold Way but Covid delayed my plans until June 2021 so training resumed in ...
- An implacable man of the countryThere is a blue plaque attached to a house on Sheep Street, Burford. It commemorates The Countryman magazine and its founder John William Robertson Scott. ...
- Milton Baptist Church Sunday School 1969A photograph on the back cover of our last issue prompted this response of good memories from one of the Sunday School teachers, Margaret Bradley. This ...
- The Grapevine storyFor over 17 years the editorial team in Ascott has enjoyed producing The Grapevine magazine and hope that our readers also enjoy the fruits of ...
- Without their help … ?The Wychwood Magazine comes to you thanks to the efforts of so many people in our community. First and foremost are the writers, without whom ...
- Wychwood library bulletinBook Groups First Monday in the month at 7.15pm in the library.Second Thursday in the month at 1.45pm. Contact the library if you’re interested in joining our ...
- The Old Prebendal HouseFollowing the devastating floods at Christmas 2020, The Old Prebendal House (OPH), the care home located on the Old Prebendal Estate in Shipton under Wychwood, ...
- Creating a village trail for families of Shipton under WychwoodBack in the days before we had heard of coronavirus, as Heritage representative of the Cotswolds branch of The Arts Society, based in Burford, I ...
- Home care during the pandemicMy name is Kirsty from Familiar Faces. I have been providing a private home care service for the vulnerable and the elderly in the Wychwoods ...
- Shipton church repairs: the story so farThe nave aisle roof, which was our immediate cause for concern following the discovery of rotten beams, was repaired in the early summer. This was ...
- Iris Hodges 1925-2021Iris Hodges, past resident of Milton under Wychwood, died on July 17th this year shortly before her 96th birthday. Iris was born and grew up ...
- Extra recyclingThere is now a yellow recycling bin at Milton Village Hall for: crisp/popcorn/nuts packets chocolate and sweet wrappers (nothing paper based) biscuit wrappers (sweet and savoury) toothpaste tubes and ...
- Ascott Martyrs Educational Trust (AMET) – who do you think you are?The memorial benches for the Ascott Martyrs on the Green at Ascott Could you be a descendant of the Ascott Martyrs? If so, AMET would love ...
- Oh to be in EnglandLong-time Ascott resident Fred Russell dons his rose-tinted spectacles. Of course I wanted England to win. I watched the football on television like most people did, ...
- Littlestock water meadowWe moved to Shipton in November 2019 and acquired a five acre meadow with the house. It is a long strip of land alongside the ...
- A walk to rememberMy wife Susan sadly died of Alzheimer’s Disease in May this year. Over a period of about five or six years her condition had slowly ...
- A cricket ground beyond compareThis is a special year for cricket at Shipton as we celebrate 100 years of the club at our lovely ground. In two previous articles ...
- Gardening in the Wychwoods‘Hare today, gone tomorrow’ is what they say. The hare raises a complete range of opinions amongst allotmenteers, ranging from ‘get rid of it’ to ...
- The joy of dancingAndrew and I moved to Shipton under Wychwood in 2006, having relocated from Chesham Bois in Buckinghamshire. We were both working full time, Andrew employed ...
- From the Wychwood 40 years agoVolume 2 February/March 1981/82: Readers may occasionally claim that an article in the Wychwood Magazine is full of bull…., however 40 years ago this was a ...
- Shipton Parish Council newsBrian Rigby has now moved away from the village to be closer to his family and consequently has resigned his position on the Parish Council ...
- The joy of beekeepingMy partner, pets, and I managed to move into Shipton under Wychwood right at the start of the second lockdown after a protracted tussle to ...
- A lifetime in Fifield94 year old Les Wilcox looks back to an entire lifetime living in Fifield. At the end of the First World War, my father met and ...
- The Bread of LifeClearing the worktop to make space for our new bread maker hasn’t been easy. On the farm we grow our own milling wheat and this ...
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