April – May 2021

Editorial

Perhaps, finally, hopefully, surely – yes, perhaps we can begin to look ahead as well as backwards in the Wychwood Magazine after a dreadful period.

Looking back, the Wychwood Post carried out an interview with two of our local GPs so the changes and successes of our surgery can encourage readers.  Travel during the pandemic was difficult to say the least but articles about essential travel from both New Zealand and Nigeria speak of perseverance through the many challenges.

Looking further back, John Naish reflects on his years as the Wychwoods’ post master while Alan Vickers looks at the earlier years of Henry Longshaw in an article that brings many reminders of a society that is fast disappearing into the rear view mirror.

But no self-respecting local magazine would only look backwards.  This is a time of hope, hope for the future so Tony Lewis encourages us to get planting in the garden, David Knight tells readers of the joys of cycling along the many bridleways and woodland tracks, and there’s an attractive walk in the Evenlode valley.

We’ve not finished.  Katherine Bott, known to many as a voice of classic FM, amuses readers with a few tales from her life and Eve West rounds off this issue with a warming tale of accommodating a new cat into the household. The Wychwood Magazine is looking forward to a brighter future for its readers.

Bob Forster, Editor

List of articles

• NEWS FROM THE WYCHWOODS
  Welcome to The Wychwood magazine; serving the West Oxfordshire communities of Ascott under Wychwood, Fifield, Idbury, Leafield, Milton under Wychwood and Shipton under Wychwood with ...
• Latest Highlights
    Now that spring seems finally to be arriving I thought I would be starting this on a bright note but of course we are all ...
• CONTACT
  Share your views The Wychwood is committed to continue producing interesting, informative and useful publications. To honour this commitment, we appreciate your feedback to assist ...
• SUBMIT AN ARTICLE
  Do you have a story to tell? We are always looking for interesting articles about the local community. Subjects can be from factual ...
• Forthcoming Events
  If you have future events you’d like highlighted in The Wychwood, please provide us with the details. Right now we are looking for details of all ...
• December – January 1986/87
  Shipton United CharitiesThe dilemma of how to distribute the charity monies in the age of the welfare state. Dec/Jan 1986/87 CharitiesAscott Cricket ClubThe 1986 season ...
• February – March 1993
  EditorialLocal helpers got the mail through after the postal delivery team all went down with flu. Feb/Mar 1993 Police NotebookThe Victim Support Volunteers and a ...
• April – May 1993
  EditorialExpeditions to Everest and dog fouling make up the local news. Apr/May 1993 Spring Term at Wychwood CE Primary SchoolA busy term with visits to ...
• June – July 1993
  EditorialOur local services, so essential to the villages are coming under threat. The library though is doing well. June/July 1993 Police NotebookVague or inaccurate address ...
• October – November 1993
  EditorialGreat sadness at the death of Jim Windless. He was distribution manager for The Wychwood. Oct/Nov 1993 Police NotebookConcerns about further consolidation of the police ...
• December – January 1993/94
  EditorialA marvellous response to the RNLI appeal for foreign or out of date coins. Dec/Jan 1993/94 Police NotebookThe telephone exchanges go digital which helps identify ...
• April – May 1998
  EditorialAn advertisement from the Isle of Wight, and so many articles that some have had to be held over for the next edition.  Apr/May 1998. ...
• June – July 1998
  EditorialSuccessful completion of Shipton`s new hall, and farewell to Graham and Pat Canning who are moving to Charlbury after 13 years here.  Jun/Jul 1998. Police ...
• August – September 1998
  EditorialCongratulations to the Wychwood School on its Ofsted Report, and for winning £350 in the Rover Environmental Competition, and Jamie Cuthbertson`s poem in the Blue ...
• October – November 1998
  EditorialThe death of Vera Winter, a magazine committee member, and thanks from her family for everyone`s kindness and £600 donated to the Charitable Fund for ...
• December – January 1998/99
  EditorialPlease help find Mrs Joan White, information about toads, and an old programme for a theatre production in the old Beaconsfield Hall.  Dec/Jan 1998/99. Police ...
• February – March 1999
  EditorialFarewell and thanks to magazine distributor Dorothy Cox who is moving to Chipping Norton.  Feb/Mar 1999. Police NotebookA reminder on the laws concerning parking on ...
• April – May 1999
  EditorialFarewell to PC Bob Salmon, congratulations to the new Vice Lord Lieutenant of Oxford, and the development of new technology for communicating.  Apr/May 1999. Police ...
• June – July 1999
  EditorialWelcoming our new vicar, Rev`d Mike Williams, and our new policeman, PC Dave Rich, and a nostalgic look at the old Shipton Parish Hall.  Jun/Jul ...
• August – September 1999
  EditorialTributes after the death of Jack Chapman and Monica Badger, a centre pull-out for Milton Council, and thanks to Malcolm Cochrane.  Aug/Sep 1999.  Police NotebookFly-tipping ...
• October – November 1999
  EditorialWhy do we speed through our villages? Shipton’s new skateboard park opens. Oct/Nov 1999 The Lawrence Home Nursing TeamThe charity was set up by Dr ...
• December – January 1999/0
  EditorialConcern about the possible closure of the Milton branch of HSBC, the importance of using poop bags, and thanks to PC Dave Rich.  Dec/Jan 1999/2000. ...
• February – March 2000
  EditorialSincere sympathy to Anne and the family on the death of Ian Matthews, and there is still a police presence in the Wychwoods.  Feb/Mar 2000. ...
• April – May 2000
  EditorialMrs J Schwarz`s telephone number should have been 831686, the history society`s millennium exhibition is not to be missed, and we have internet in the ...
• June – July 2000
  EditorialCongratulations to Rose Burson, and Mr and Mrs Jack Busk. Diggers Wood is planted.  Speeding in the village has been under discussion Jun/Jul 2000 Thames ...
• August – September 2000
  EditorialFlu vaccination information is published, letters from children about vandalism, and Vera Case is collecting stamps for Sobell House.  Aug/Sep 2000. Police ReportMindless vandalism at ...
• October – November 2000
  EditorialOffering sincere condolences to Bob Bradley`s family and friends, a competition to reward local shops, and what to do with litter.  Oct/Nov 2000. Police ReportThe ...
• December – January 2000/1
  EditorialThe Wychwood Players dedicated their last production to the late Peter Jessey, and they will be performing Aladdin and The Winslow Boy in future.  Dec/Jan ...
• February – March 2001
  EditorialThe first price rise for the magazine in 9 years, and the X3 bus service is beginning to be used more.  Feb/Mar 2001. Police ReportThieves ...
• April – May 2001
  EditorialA worrying time for farmers with the threat of foot and mouth, lots of litter, and please could dog walkers use a poop scoop.  Apr/May ...
• June – July 2001
  EditorialCondolences to the families of Richard Hartley and Jan Hicks, foot and mouth restrictions are getting easier, and time to clear Ragwort.  Jun/Jul 2001. Janet ...
• August – September 2001
  EditorialFocus on Dr Sandy Scott, congratulations to FWP Matthews for winning an enterprise award, new evening bus service to Oxford, and Ragwort.  Aug/Sep 2001. CongratulationsTo ...
• October – November 2001
  EditorialCongratulations to John Miller for 41 years service to Milton Hall, a coffee morning for Guide Dogs, and the Charlbury taxibus service comes to Shipton. ...
• December – January 2001/2
  EditorialCongratulations to those involved in the Poppy Appeal for raising almost £2500.  The new library is due to open on 3 Dec.  Dec/Jan 2001/02. Police ...
• February – March 2002
  EditorialThanks to Val Mitchell who retires as Gardening Contributor, and to Eunice Austin, poppy appeal organiser for Milton.  The new library is open, and a ...
• April – May 2002
  EditorialThanks to Charles Keighley for his achievements in Tree Planting Schemes.  Help with computer literacy will be available from April.  Apr/May 2002. Police ReportInspector Mike ...
• June – July 2002
  EditorialRose Burson died at nearly 102, Win White retires as Shipton Parish Clerk, and Mr Padmore is retiring as Head of Primary School.  Jun/Jul 2002. ...
• August – September 2002
  EditorialDon and Rosemary Salter are moving on and time to review the future. A tribute to Langston House, and  congratulations to Shipton in the best ...
• October – November 2002
  EditorialDon and Rosemary Salter`s last issue of the magazine, the Cricket Club`s win at Lords, and success at the Bowling Nationals.  Oct/Nov 2002. The Future ...
• December – January 2002/3
  EditorialGreetings from the new team at the magazine, and farewell to Don and Rosemary Salter, and other farewells.  Dec/Jan 2002/03. SnippetsThe Cotswold Art Exhibition raised ...
• February – March 2003
  EditorialThe new team says thank you to those who provided comments on their first effort at production.  Feb/Mar 2003. SnippetsRev’d Wendy Callan has been appointed ...
• April – May 2003
  Prince Charles in his elementCharles visited an exhibition of the Wychwood Project at Ramsden to celebrate the project`s first five years. April/May 2003 CountrysideViolet Miles, ...
• June – July 2003
  New Co-Op store opensThe Milton store has reopened after a refurbishment. June/July 2003 Welcome to Reverend WendyWendy`s first thoughts on moving to the Benefice. June/July ...
• August – September 2003
  150 years and still going strong.The celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the Cotswold Line and photos from Charlbury. Aug/Sept 2003 Relatively SpeakingThe Alan Ayckbourn ...
• October – November 2003
  Happy Birthday Shipton CourtCelebrating 400 years of Shipton Court. Oct/Nov 2003 Just Another DayHeather Derkacz describes what is involved in arranging flowers for a special ...
• December – January 2003/4
  National Village ChampionsAn outstanding cricket season finished in style with the victory at Lords. Dec/Jan 2003/04 Annie Savill –  A Free SpiritAnnie marks her 80th ...
• February – March 2004
  Ray Muddle, Sports Coach of the YearRay receives her award at the West Oxfordshire Arts and Sports Awards evening. Feb/March 2004 Doll MakingMargaret Gibbs explains ...
• April – May 2004
  The Wychwood Starts it`s 25th YearCelebrating 25 years of the magazine. April/May 2004 `Skribble`, a life in show businessRosalie Cox talks about her life in ...
• June – July 2004
  EditorialHellos and Goodbyes. A welcome to Martin Gibbs our new chairman. June/July 2004 Ask AliceA Day in the Life of Alice Burns, running the New ...
• August – September 2004
  Traffic CalmingA resident expresses concerns over the increasing volume and noise of traffic on the A361. Aug/Sept 2004 A Wanderer No MoreGoodbye to Katy, a ...
• October – November 2004
  EditorialOct/Nov 2004 The PolecatHas the polecat returned to the Wychwoods, possible sightings. Oct/Nov 2004 Dean FordA young life cut short. Oct/Nov 2004 Traffic ProblemsMore comments ...
• December – January 2004/5
  Editorial, Dec/Jan 2005 Best Kept Village AwardPresentation of award for Best Kept Village 2004 to Shipton. Dec/Jan 2005 Christmas PastRecollections of Christmas from 1980. Dec/Jan ...
• February – March 2005
  EditorialFeb/March 2005 Honouring The PastExtracts from the Feb/March 1981 edition Feb/March 2005 Thanks from JosephineA great feedback from the Shipton Charity Ball Feb/March 2005 Evacuated ...
• April – May 2005
  Robert MarshThe first of the young achievers series, featuring the up and coming in the Wychwoods. Robert`s hobbies are football and fishing and he is ...
• June – July 2005
  Heidi HiscockHeidi has a dream of one day becoming a full time football coach in the USA. In 2003 she went to the US for ...
• August – September 2005
  La Dolce VitaBecky Marshall`s experiences of working in Italy. Aug/Sept 2005 American VisitorsThe same language – maybe!! Certainly different cultures. Peggy Walmsley reflects on the ...
• October – November 2005
  The Truth about the Milton Ton up BoysThe lads for the `60s and their antics on bikes. Oct/Nov 2005 MemoriesA Day in the Life of ...
• December – January 2005/6
  So Now You KnowThe story of the Morrison family reunion in August 2005 with visitors from around the world. Dec/Jan 2005-06 MemoriesJumping for TOADSara Pierce ...
• February – March 2006
  Harriet Cochrane – Cotswolds to Africa Harriet describes her work with an Aid Organisation in Sudan and Niger. Feb/Mar 2006 New Wychwood Surgery steams ahead Good progress is being ...
• April – May 2006
  Has the Beast of Burford moved North?Another sighting of the beast suggesting its moving towards the Wychwoods! April/May 2006 CountrysideBurns Night Supper140 folk enjoyed a ...
• June – July 2006
  Palm Sunday Walk Christine Halliday attempts the traditional Palm Sunday walk in the Wychwood forest. June/July 2006 Idbury Arts Festival Following last year’s success another festival is ...
• August – September 2006
  Shakespeare, Raleigh, Drake and Ragged Edge From early beginnings to Middle Temple, the story of Ragged Edge. Aug/Sept 2006 The Past is another place The A361 from the ...
• October – November 2006
  High Tide at Shipton?Has global warming already caused a high tide? Oct/Nov 2006 LocalityYes I was a Bevin BoyPeter Mackrill recalls his time in the ...
• December – January 2006/7
  Why are People So Grumpy at ChristmasMax Harvey looks at the fun side of Christmas and wonders why some people don`t enjoy it. Dec/Jan 2006/07 ...
• February – March 2007
  Aunty Vi MBEVi Miles is awarded the MBE after years of service to the community. The award was made by Malcolm Cochrane, Vice Lord Lieutenant ...
• April – May 2007
  An Inspector Calls.Trudy Yates reviews an ambitious and highly successful staging of a well loved play. April/May 2007 ReviewMargaret leaves school at 70!Julie Hemming honours ...
• June – July 2007
  Beryl Stamps Her Last BookBeryl Brown retires from the Wychwood library after 30 years. June/July 2007 PersonalitiesBurning DesireVictoria Schofield always wanted to be a fire-fighter. ...
• August – September 2007
  Rain and Ruin? The Wychwoods flooded just as we went to print. Aug/Sept 2007 Dinner with the BBC Gordan and Christine Halliday took part in the television dinner ...
• October – November 2007
  River Stay Away from My DoorAnne and Nigel Braithwaite worked hard to save their house in Ascott from the floods with the help of friends ...
• December – January 2007/8
  The Wychwood Tapestry 2007 The largest continuous piece of children`s artwork in the country is reported on by Jane Bowley. Dec-Jan 2007/08 The Dangerously Beautiful WI A visit ...
• February – March 2008
  Community Spirit – Christmas Style Christine Halliday reviews the Christmas festivities including the carol singing, carols around the tree and the Christmas services. Feb/March 2008 A ...
• April – May 2008
  Kath had four little lambs Kath Cooper recalls her time farming and the unusual birth of quad lambs in 1958. April/May 2008 Wychwoods Tennis Club Another successful ...
• June – July 2008
  We’ll miss you Alice! Alice Burns is retiring from both the New Beaconsfield Hall management and the Shipton Parish Council. John Hartley and Malcolm Cochrane look ...
• August – September 2008
  4 Shires Swimming Club Harry Flint achieves success at the swimming club and keeps fit and active. Aug/Sept 2008 Max, Fundraiser Extraordinaire! Max Harvey decided to support the ...
• October – November 2008
  Editorial A poor summer but looking forward, summer will come again in November with the Wychwood players! October/November 2008 Sandcastles The new Wychwood Players production brings sand ...
• December – January 2008/9
  Editorial It can only get better! Looking forward to Christmas and the New Year to blow away the current problems!  Dec-Jan 2008-9 Journey to the Top of ...
• February – March 2009
  Editorial Can Spring be far behind? The cold snap is hopefully now behind us although its still very wet! We are making preparations for our 30th ...
• April – May 2009
  Editorial The snow, when it arrived had a big impact on the villages. Princess Ann opened the new Matthews extension and rock talent burst on the ...
• June – July 2009
  Wychwood’s Got Talent Summer is on the way and our rock bands are out in force. Feedback about dogs and the Wild Gardens. June/July 2009 Easter Rock ...
• August – September 2009
  A Feteful Summer The fete season is well underway with great successes at both Fifield and Ascott. Fetes are a critical part of each villages fundraising ...
• October – November 2009
  Something Different, Something NewMichael Cradock, this issue’s Guest Editor reflects on the changes around us and in The Wychwood magazine. Oct/Nov 2009Fresh EyesMichael Cradock takes ...
• December – January 2009/10
  Editorial Where do the days go? There is so much going on in the villages we barely are able to cover all the activities. Dec/Jan 2009/10 Christmas ...
• February – March 2010
  EditorialCold Snow and Warm Hearts, the community pulled together during the recent snow problems. Feb/March 2010Memories of Snowed Up WintersArthur Hunt recalls past winters when ...
• April – May 2010
  EditorialA Time for Optimism. Spring is now here and we look forward to a crowded summer of activities. April/May 2010Wait a Minute Mr PostmanA day ...
• June – July 2010
  EditorialBudding writers, walks and hymns to the countryside. June/Juy 2010Our ‘Living Story’ really livesThe story continues with three contributions from John Lyons, Katie Davies and ...
• August – September 2010
  Editorial, Our Way of LifeWhat makes our communities so special? We report again on the many achievements or local residents and organisations. Aug/Sept 2010Tea with ...
• October – November 2010
  EditorialThe last of the summer events, cricket across the Wychwoods and a look forward to autumn all makes up for Autumn Mists. Oct/Nov 2010Our Changing ...
• December – January 2010/11
  EditorialThe run-up to Christmas gets underway with stories from ‘across the pond’ of past Christmases. Dec/Jan 2010-11A Christmas DollTrudy Yates shares her memories of Christmas ...
• February – March 2011
  EditorialA welsh theme in this issue as well as the aftermath of the snow. Despite the weather the Wychwood generosity is doing well. Feb/March 2011Blwyddyn ...
• April – May 2011
  EditorialThis Sporting life sums up this issue. The spring sap is rising as the Wychwood inhabitants climb Kilimanjaro, play cricket or rise to international rugby. ...
• June – July 2011
  EditorialWe need rain! A busy summer ahead in the Wychwoods with Open Gardens, Fetes and Festivals. June/July 2011Our Day at the Royal WeddingPeter and Ann ...
• August – September 2011
  EditorialHalf way through summer and the Wychwoods are rockin’ with fetes, Gig-Arts, Art’s Kool and sport. Aug/Sept 2011A Prize-Winners weekendTracey and Rob Gorton spoil themselves ...
• October – November 2011
  EditorialFiona Walthall takes up her new role as Chairman and has Great Expectations for the future of The Wychwood. Oct/Nov 2011The Wild Garden and the ...
• December – January 2011/12
  EditorialChristmas Past and traditions as well as Christmas present, reflections on the year and much more. Dec/Jan 2011-12United Benefice New VicarKate Stacey says ‘I like ...
• February – March 2012
  EditorialAn upbeat theme for the year! Congratulations to Malcolm Cochrane on his MBE, and to our sports clubs for their successes. Feb/March 2012Congratulations Malcolm on ...
• April – May 2012
  EditorialA special tribute issue to her Majesty the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations with memories from 1953 and this year’s celebrations. April/May 2012Remembering the CoronationAllan Ledger ...
• June – July 2012
  EditorialJubilee events in June and the Olympics in July. There is also plenty of life in the old Wychwood dogs. June/July 2012Austerity Games: Now and ...
• August – September 2012
  EditorialDespite the poor weather there is lots going on in the Wychwoods this summer.With grwat sadness we mark the passing of Jean Kloos. Aug/Sept 2012Singing ...
• October – November 2012
  EditorialNever a Quiet Life! Read about how local residents helped make the Olympics a success. How ‘Stand Tall’ succeeded in New York and how the ...
• December – January 2012/13
  Editorial, Into the FutureYoung people demonstrate the most amazing skills and commitment in the Wychwoods. Our future is safe! Dec/Jan 2012/13One Year on : Kate’s ...
• February – March 2013
  Editorial, A Time of Promise Winter is slowly receding and Spring is round the corner. Now is the time to take stock and make plans. Feb/March ...
• April – May 2013
  Editorial, Spring into LifeThe arrival of spring brings a wealth of activities to the Wychwoods and opportunities to get fit again after winter. April/May 2013The ...
• June – July 2013
  Editorial, Festival, Fetes and Feting our GreatsThe fete season kicks off with the revived Leafield fete. National events influence our local activities. June/July 2013The Royal ...
• August – September 2013
  EditorialThe Crazy Days of Summer have arrived and it’s fete and show season. Once again we applaud success in the Wychwoods. Aug/Sept 2013Winning a dreamLaura ...
• October – November 2013
  EditorialHarvest is home and we look back on a successful summer and look forward to the events of autumn. Oct/Nov 2013New Blood for the Wychwood ...
• December – January 2013/14
  Editorial, Shall We Dance?The old gives way to the new and the community continues to live life to the full. A distinct dancing theme to ...
• February – March 2014
  EditorialSomething about the Wychwoods. The community is alive with volunteered backed activities, are you involved? Feb/March 2014Give a Little, Gain a LotPeter Hills, Chairman of ...
• April – May 2014
  Here Today – Gone TomorrowConcerns over the future of the Shipton Post Office, articles commemorating the stat of the Great war and Artweeks preparations. April/May ...
• June – July 2014
  EditorialThis issue has a distinctly musical flavour, with Bob Forster playing at Tall Trees and details of the new Wychwoods Music Festival. June/July 2014The Power ...
• August – September 2014
  Editorial Our Green and Pleasant Land. The centenary of the outbreak of WW1, stories from WW2 and the height of the village fete season. Aug/Sept 2014 The ...
• October – November 2014
  EditorialAutumn’s Gold. As we move form summer to autumn an opportunity to round up the last of the fetes and shows and look forward to ...
• December – January 2014/15
  EditorialGreat response to our request for ghost stories. A last look back at the commemoration of the start of WW1 and a Christmas message. Dec/Jan ...
• February – March 2015
  EditorialA Time of Promise. As we look forward to 2015, the Wychwood villages continue to ‘punch above their weight’ with the range of activities taking ...
• April – May 1997
  EditorialJanet Wallace retires from the Wychwood Surgery, Joyce Ward has poetry published, and encouraging articles and obituaries on local people.  Apr/May 1997. Police NotebookAre patrol ...
• October – November 1997
  EditorialTributes to Diana, Princess of Wales, Shipton Cricket Club are runners-up at Lords, and thanks to Tom Jourdan for his hard work on the new ...
• December – January 1997/98
  EditorialHow to stop junk mail by writing to the Mailing Preference Service and Royal Mail Door to Door.  Dec/Jan 1997/98. Police NotebookRay Mears is retiring ...
• February – March 1998
  EditorialOlive Tucker gives a number for the Telephone Preference Service to stop unwanted telephone calls, and an update on the charity Emmaus Oxford.  Feb/Mar 1998. ...
• ARCHIVE
  search our archive for previous editions Previous editions of The Wychwood are added here. Our more recent issues are pdf format. We are looking at ways ...
• April – May 2015
  Editorial For Every Season. Looking back on key events including the WI Baton Passing and the opening of the Groves Shop. Looking forward to a season ...
• Submit an Event
  Right now we are looking for details of all events in 2015. They will be added to this site on receipt and will be published in ...
• Photo Albums
  Photo Albums
• Advertisers
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• June – July 2015
  Editorial For Every Season. Looking back on key events including the WI Baton Passing and the opening of the Groves Shop. Looking forward to a season ...
• Antiques and Furniture
• Building and Maintenance Services
• Business Services
• Catering Services
• Cleaning Services
• Computer Services
• Domestic Appliances
• Education
• Estate Agents
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• Fashion Health and Beauty
• Flowers
• Forestry and Fencing
• Funeral Services
• Garden and Tree Services
  ​
• Home Improvement Services
• Motoring and Garages
• Music
• Nursing and Care
• Pet Supplies and Services
• Pictures and Portraits
• Play Groups and Youth Clubs
• Professional Services
• Property Services
• Pubs Restaurants and Accommodation
• Shopping and Groceries
• Sport
• Travel Services
• August – September 2015
  Editorial The Summer Season. Fetes, the St Mary Shipton celebrations and sport make up the summer season. Aug/Sept 2015 New Man at the School Joseph Rubba takes up ...
• October – November 2015
  Editorial   The editor looks back to summer events and onward to events of autumn and Christmas. Oct/Nov 2015 Top Gear in the Wychwoods   Early car enthusiasts, ...
• December – January 2015-16
  Editorial Thoughts about the voluntary groups that enrich our lives in the villages Dec/Jan 2015/16 Angel voices ever singing An appreciation of Shipton’s richly lauded church choir. Dec/Jan ...
• A Most Unturbulent Priest
  In bygone times, a call from the monarch to a priest was not always good news. Far from being a privilege, a degree of apprehension ...
• February-March 2016
  A most unturbulent priest Wychwood vicar, Kate Stacey, is elected to the church’s General Synod. February/March 2016 A storm in a matrimonial teacup A Sicilian wedding that ...
• A storm in a matrimonial teacup
  A marriage date had been arranged. I like to think of myself as a bit of a feminist, but obviously when it comes to weddings ...
• Last lick of the lollipop
  We were very sad to say goodbye to Rita Puschnik who has worked at Wychwood School for nearly 32 years. Speaking of her time here ...
• O Still Small Voice of Calm
  The New Beaconsfield Hall is associated with noise, youth and exercise among other things but on Thursdays the Hall is strangely quiet. The usual hustle, ...
• Tour de Hadrian’s Wall
  Our latest trip combined our twin interests of motor-caravanning and cycling – with Roger as back-up van man to cyclists Liz and our friend Jane. ...
• It Is Better To Give Than Receive
  ‘It is better to give than to receive’ This wise saying could have been written with our communities in mind. We are very fortunate to live ...
• Burford Institute of Music
  Oxford University Don Leads Music Students The Burford Institute of Music is running a new composition project this term led by Dr John Traill, the Composition ...
• I’ve Got One of Those
  I was surprised whilst watching Antiques Roadshow some years ago when my wife Ann jumped up and said ‘I’ve got one of those!’ The item ...
• Obituaries
  Jean Hawcutt 1931 – 2015 Shipton has lost a long-time resident with the demise of Jean Hawcutt who lived on Church Street for over 60 years. Born in ...
• Confusions
  Confusions comprises five separate but loosely linked plays by Alan Ayckbourn on the subject of failed communications in a wide range of social settings in ...
• Shipton W.I. Meets Sue Ryder
  The Sue Ryder shop in Burford was honoured to be approached by the Shipton WI to organise a fashion show for their last meeting of ...
• Christmas Extravaganza
  Forty four local people appeared in the Talents in the Wychwoods show on 5th December at the New Beaconsfield Hall. The show opened with Lights Out, ...
• Rose Bowl
  Alan and I enjoyed our afternoon at The Wychwood Magazine get together at Wychwood School. It was good to chat to all those involved in ...
• Shipton Cricket Club
  2015 was a very successful season in the main, so thanks to everyone, participation by so many is what makes us such a special club. The ...
• Globalisation – Eeklo to YoYo
  Just before Christmas 45 years ago I drove across the plains of Flanders in Northern Belgium to a small town called Eeklo to carry out ...
• Wychwood C.E. Primary School
  OFSTED In November the school were inspected by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, and the Governors were delighted to receive such a positive report that reflects ...
• Celebrating Ten Years
  Cotswold Beauty Salon 1998 – It All Began. Before having children, I was a career woman with Estee Lauder Companies, staying in 5* hotels and with a ...
• Is This Daylight I See
  I write this almost at the shortest day of the year, with Christmas just round the corner. It is difficult to imagine the longer, lighter ...
• Poppy Appeal Collections
  Ascott under Wychwood House to house collections throughout the village by volunteers came to £466.68. In addition the Remembrance Day Church collection of £170.10 is to ...
• From Mindfulness to Multiverses
  Wychwood Circle 2016 will see the Wychwood Circle entering its fifth year as our own home-grown discussion group, based in the Wychwood Library but drawing participants ...
• The Story of the W.I. in The Wychwoods
  A Plea for Help The national Women’s Institute began in 1916. Not long afterwards, in 1918, an Institute was founded in Milton to cover both Milton ...
• When I’m Sixty Five
  “Doesn’t it hurt?” “Why does he keep doing it?” “At his age…” But after a lifetime of running, it’ is hard to give it up. I was going ...
• April – May 2016
  Four girls in a boat Milton rower, Georgina Purdy, is part of a record-breaking crew that crosses the Atlantic. April/May 2016 Hare today, Hare tomorrow Milton’s former pub, ...
• Four girls in a boat
  “Where shall we meet?” – a common enough question but there cannot be many people who have met in the Seychelles to support a rowing ...
• Hare today, Hare tomorrow
  We are raising a glass to the people of Milton. What a welcome we have received from you all. We cannot thank you enough for ...
• Prepare to be amazed
  When the words ‘youth hostel’ are mentioned, one may think of long dormitories, squeaking bed springs, hostel chores, slightly scruffy decor and, of course, the ...
• Wychwood bowls club
  Since its formation Wychwood Bowling Club has been a small friendly club run and managed by its members. We wish to encourage new bowlers, particularly ...
• How do you catch a ram
  Just under two years ago we bought a flock of pedigree polled Dorset ewes and some cattle, as the first of a number of contributions ...
• A glimpse of the past
  What a wonderful surprise; I was reading the book No Better Friend by Robert Weintraub about prisoners of the Japanese in the Padang concentration camp ...
• Burford school news
  Our symphony orchestra treated us to an evening of Vaughan Williams’ Folk Song Suite and Danzon No. 2 by Marquez to bring to a close ...
• Gourmet cooking in Milton
  On 6th January, 24 lucky people attended a cookery demonstration given by Mark Peregrine, Director of the Le Manoir Cookery School. Mark had kindly agreed ...
• Ian Marsden
  Ian was born on the 8th July 1946 in Manchester to Ella and Leslie. He had an older sister, Ann. Around the age of five he ...
• The Bumblefoot Project
  The Bumblefoot Rock Project is an all ages, all abilities new music project based at the New Beaconsfield Hall. Students attending the project learn how ...
• Jan Harvey at Artweeks
  Artist Jan Harvey is opening her studio in Ascott Road, Shipton–under-Wychwood; the Garden Gallery will be open from May 21st to May 30th which includes ...
• June – July 2016
  Shipton cricket club An overview of the scope of our burgeoning club June/July 2016 Mindfulness Background to this increasingly popular concept June/July 2016 David Cameron meets Alfred Groves DIY shop ...
• Ascott Forest School
  The Wychwood Project is a registered charity that uses the focus of the Royal Hunting Forest of Wychwood to encourage local people to understand, conserve ...
• Mouth watering in Milton
  That famous pantomime shout of, “It’s behind you!” could not be more fitting for Milton’s newest eatery. Tucked down the new lane to The Paddocks ...
• The caterpillar goes home
  I was interested to read the article by Jeff Broxholme about the tiny gold brooch shaped like a caterpillar. Jeff and I chatted about it ...
• Wychwood Library news
  Wifi Available As well as computers and printing facilities, just pop in with your tablet or laptop and log in. We can help you to get ...
• Wychwood CE Primary School
  Some of our classes were studying explorers and David Hempleman-Adams came and gave a talk to the children in KS1and LKS2. The children were fascinated ...
• Shipton Charity Ball 2015
  The annual Shipton Charity Ball took place on Saturday 12th December 2015 in the New Beaconsfield Hall. This year’s chosen charity was SeeSaw which supports ...
• Milton-under-Wychwood Allotments and Garden Association
  My reader will be familiar with my normal moan about the weather but having just got back from a very enjoyable warm and sunny holiday ...
• The alternative Valentine’s Day
  We pair of ancient relics decided that we would like to spend Valentine’s Day in Rome. No champagne and red roses for us but rather ...
• The Wychwood Saplings
  Five years ago we asked you to watch us grow and that is just what we are doing. We had another amazing year with our ...
• St Mary’s church: a feast of fun
  Did you think church fetes were dull? Well, think again and read on Come for lunch – enjoy the stalls and a drink from our bar ...
• Even beauty needs maintaining
  Beauty rarely lasts forever. The beautiful people of this world gather all manner of products to delay the impact of age. Maintaining the beauty of ...
• The problem with poop
  Toxocariasis is a potentially serious infection in humans. It is transmitted via the ingestion of dog faeces. The most common symptoms are disorders of the ...
• Shipton Cricket Club
  Nets At the time of writing our new three-lane practice nets are being installed, ready for the start of the season. This has been a major ...
• Business Directory
• Dressmaking and Alterations
   
• Shipton Cricket Club
  It has been a damp and cold start to the season with most of the pre-season friendly matches called off. However, outdoor training has started, ...
• Mindfulness
  There is a lot of buzz about mindfulness at the moment, and with good reason. Clinical evidence indicates that it is as effective as antidepressants ...
• Dulcie Arundell
  Dulcie was born in Charlbury, but moved to Shipton as a baby with her parents and older sister Kathleen, living at Salisbury Place, next to ...
• Milton Under Wychwood Allotments and Gardens Association
  Down Hearted – Never! I expected to be writing an uplifting article this time talking about burgeoning growth and a frenzy of sowing seeds and planting ...
• EU referendum – two opposing views
  Why I Want To Stay in the EU “To be or not to be?” was Shakespeare’s way of posing a question concerning an outcome which could ...
• The Wychwood Day Centre
  The Wychwood Day Centre is a registered charity providing day care facilities for housebound elderly people in our community. It meets once a week at ...
• Wychwoods Tennis Club honours Archie Clark
  The 2016 summer tennis season started in a very special way at Wychwoods Tennis Club on the evening of Tuesday 5th April. The first club night ...
• Meeting of Nations
  Jeonghye and her handsome brother walking down the aisle in a large decorated room in Witney on the 27th February this year was a sight ...
• Wychwood CE Primary School
  Last term we were treated to an excellent performance of Jonah- A Fishy Tale by the children in Years 3 and 4. Parents and pupils ...
• She Is Flying
  She is only 12 years old but already she is flying – up and down hills, through the mud, around Bruern Woods – everywhere she ...
• Wychwood Library News
  The Milton Fete is to be held in just a few days and Wychwood Library will be manning the bookstall selling all of your wonderful ...
• David Cameron Meets Alfred Groves
  Alfred Groves and Sons Ltd had the pleasure of a visit from the Prime Minister and local MP the Rt. Hon. David Cameron on the ...
• Wychwood Players – Wuthering Heights
  The Wychwood Players performance of Wuthering Heights was outstanding, with our regular players who were joined by new comers who contributed an important part to ...
• Forest School Fun
  Forest School has become very popular in the UK in recent years with its emphasis on using the natural environment and practical experiences. You may ...
• We Are The Champions
  Wychwood FC U13s started the season by winning a big Summertown tournament and just carried on from there. With consistent training on Kingham Hill School ...
• Trudy Yates
  1927 – 2016 Trudy Ann Robb Yates of Shipton-under-Wychwood, died peacefully at home on 23rd February at the age of 88. She was preceded in death ...
• All Sorts of Volunteers Wanted
  Wychwood Project are always looking for volunteers to help with their many projects. Maybe something will appeal to you from the list below? For more information ...
• Burford School News
  The school has been buzzing with a constant stream of visitors. As we are now providing weekly and flexi boarding, there has been a marked ...
• Mrs Keith Cameron
  1918 – 2016 All Fifield was saddened to hear of the death on Maundy Thursday of Anne Cameron – just three weeks after her 98th birthday, ...
• Church Choir Pulls Out the Stops
  It is six years since Shipton church choir first made a bid beyond the boundaries of Oxfordshire to sing a single service at Birmingham Cathedral. ...
• Medical Detection Dogs – Saving Lives
  Our local volunteer group had its best year yet in 2015, raising over £16,000. We are grateful for the wonderful support we get in the ...
• Leading By Example
  People walking with their dogs off the lead in the Wild Gardens have become a problem of late. Sadly many of the offenders are locals ...
• Milton under Wychwood W.I.
  Milton W.I was asked to help the Blue Cross Centre with their May open day by knitting cats and dogs. Patterns and wool were supplied ...
• Fifield News
  Honeydale Farm, Ascott-under-Wychwood was the family home of the Pearses for many years and they were sad two years ago when they had to take ...
• August – September 2016
  Editorial We seem to have had such a sad time in the villages recently with the loss of three friends, Doreen Barnes, Jenny Leyland and Bob ...
• Shipton under Wychwood Cricket Club
  I am hoping that when this article is published the dreadful wet month of June will be but a distant memory. I squelched my way ...
• Doreen Margaret Barnes
  1949 – 2016 What an unbelievable shock when we received the sad news that we had lost our wonderful sister Doreen, aged just 66, whilst on ...
• Rock The House
  Rock music and politicians from the House of Commons might seem an unlikely association; however the ‘Rock the House’ battle of the bands has gone ...
• View Across Milton Green
  How fortunate we are to have this green and leafy space in the middle of our village. As one who lives close by I am ...
• Marital Memories
  The 2nd April 1966 dawned cold and grey over Manchester and the wind blew. The bride arose early and after a light breakfast, did all ...
• Tale of the Unexpected
  Welsh rain does not come in half measures, even in mid-summer. That Sunday morning at Dolgoch youth hostel, high among the barren moorlands of mid-Wales, ...
• Robert (Bob) Barrett
  1928 – 2016 Bob Barrett was an unmissable character in the Wychwoods, a man of great warmth with so many interests, and friends. He was born ...
• The Ladies’ Duck Rescue Agency
  The front garden was becoming untidy; the Mme. Alfred Carriere rose was quite out of hand, growing across the front door and out into the ...
• Wychwood CE Primary School
  Statuary Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) Last term we had our SIAMS inspection. Lesley Turnville, the inspector, complimented the children who were friendly, polite ...
• Summer Fete…1950s Style
  The summer fete was due to start on a Saturday in June, 1956, soon after the large house,The Standings, had been built, near the Crown ...
• Milton’s Right Royal Weekend
  The weekend of the 14th and 15th May saw Milton celebrating the Queen’s 90th Birthday with two special events. On the Saturday the Milton Volunteers held ...
• Milton Knows How To Carnival
  I do not know how they do it but the sun always seems to come out for Milton’s annual village fete and this year was ...
• Wychwood Library News
  Summer Reading Challenge Children across Oxfordshire will be celebrating 100 years of the world’s greatest storyteller Roald Dahl with “The Big Friendly Read”, this year’s Summer ...
• Happy Birthday Ma’am
  As a past leader of 1st Wychwood Guides I am always delighted to be invited to their celebrations such as Thinking Day. The latest party ...
• St. Mary’s Church Feast of Fun
  The previous Church Fete took place on a very rainy Bank Holiday Monday. This year we chose Saturday 18th June hoping for better weather and ...
• Jennifer Leyland
  1946 – 2016 When Jenny came to Shipton in 1981 she had already had a very busy and varied life. Over the 35 years which followed ...
• Milton under Wychwood W.I.
  At our May meeting we had a discussion on supermarket food waste and food banks. We then moved on to dementia care and the benefit ...
• Milton under Wychwood Allotments and Garden Association
  As I am hopeless at predicting the weather I am going to restrict myself to stating the obvious – it is generally warmer in the ...
• Milton Parish Council Update
  First, I would like to thank the councillors who have now retired, Graham Collett, Edna Naish, Laura Jones, and before Christmas, Helen Jones, for their ...
• HGVs – Love or Hate Them?
  Since 1983 Burford Town Council (BTC) has asked OCC for a solution to the problem of too many HGVs. Recently a free online mapping tool ...
• Open Garden Splendour
  The gardens at The Wychwood Manor, were very kindly opened by Mr. and Mrs. Wilmot-Sitwell to help celebrate the 90th Birthday of HRH Queen Elizabeth ll. ...
• Farmer’s Harvest
  I am writing about a farmer’s expectations for this year’s harvest but, like the referendum, the outcome of our harvest is very hard to predict. Even ...
• Where Have All the Buses Gone?
  By the time this edition of The Wychwood Magazine is read, the regular bus service into Burford will have become a memory; indeed, daily buses ...
• Known Unto God
  On the 3rd May 1917, the 5th Battalion of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry attacked the enemy holding a well-established and fortified trench system. ...
• David Hills Trust Golf Day
  The 14thannual David Hills Trust Golf Day in aid of Toynbee Hall’s work with disadvantaged children and the young in the East End of London ...
• New Postal Orders
  Big changes are afoot in Shipton. Our local village shop and Post Office is being extended and modernised. Due to the Post office transformation programme most ...
• Rio gold made in Milton
  One of the overpowering images of the Rio Olympics was the dominance of the British cycling team at the velodrome. Medal after medal came the ...
• Spread a little happiness
  It was Tuesday; nothing special about the day. Tuesday lunch at the Swan in Ascott is Pensioners’ lunch and that is a regular treat. I ...
• Messy meals
  We love our food at Wychwood Baptist – whether it is cake or one of our lunches at our Friday Cafe, an elegant tea party, ...
• W.I. green fingers in the pink
  Each year a member of Shipton WI opens her garden to host our Garden Meeting. This July we were welcomed to the beautiful garden at ...
• Prew’s garage
  It was Roald Dahl, the children’s author, who painted a beautifully bucolic picture of life around a village garage in his book, ‘Danny, the champion ...
• Rosalie Vivienne Firth Cox
  “TV” Skribble 1929 – 2016 How do you do justice to a life in such a small space? Rosalie Cox, known to friends and family as Mrs Skribble, ...
• Fitsteps to fitness
  It is early morning at Beaconsfield Hall; one or two dog walkers are out there enjoying some watery sunshine, the first of the tennis players ...
• Get by with a little help from my friends
  On Monday 16th May, out of the blue, I suffered a stroke; no warning signs at all. I had spent a perfectly normal day and ...
• Dance addiction
  Hi everyone – we teach ballroom, Latin and sequence dancing and will, this autumn, be offering classes to adults at the New Beaconsfield Hall. We ...
• The Saplings
  The Saplings group of young budding theatricals has now been running for five years, with the dedicated support of Lizzie Large, Kirsty Plant, Fiona Belardo, Mark ...
• Leadership
  What it means to do your Duty – and set an Example The text of a panel to be placed in the Modern Warfare Exhibition within ...
• Pheriche Hospital 1998 – 2016
  As it is now 18 years since we started The Everest Memorial Trust Charity, I think that it is an appropriate moment to provide an ...
• Shipton Cricket Club
  The dreary skies of June gave way to the less dreary skies of July, and the almost summer-like skies of August and we finally managed ...
• News From the Wychwood Benefice
  Moves are afoot to change slightly our pattern of services with a view to developing further the worship and community within the Wychwood Benefice of ...
• Wychwood Circle Programme 2016–2017
  Curiosity, Character and Consumerism From climate change to cosmology, Wychwood Circle’s recent topics have got participants thinking about rationality, ethics and the limits of knowledge. There ...
• Pig Muck on the Ladder
  A good friend, Bob, the builder, re-roofed the barn where we mill and mix our pig feed. Rather harshly, I thought, he banned me from ...
• St Mary’s Church Shipton
  A Vision For The Future The Parochial Church Council of St Mary’s Church are planning work to bring the building and its facilities into the 21st ...
• Coffee, Cakes and a Natter
  Call in at the New Beaconsfield Hall, Shipton between 10am and 12noon on a Monday morning and the first thing that hits you is the ...
• Burford School News
  The GCSE and ‘A’ Level results this year are once again excellent and show the tremendous effort that our students have made. Achieving and exceeding ...
• Wychwood Library News
  Read all about it We had a “Big Friendly Read” summer at Wychwood Library this year with loads of children signing up to the challenge to ...
• Wychwood CE Primary School
  Oxfordshire Tennis Finals We had two teams make it to the Oxfordshire finals, a Year 3/4 team and a Year 5/6 team. Both teams played very ...
• Fifield news
  Summer Evening in the Garden on Saturday 9th July, 2016 The beautiful setting in the timeless gardens and grounds of Fifield House (so generously made available ...
• MUWAGA – Showtime
  We saw a lot of people at our gardening stall and overall the Milton Fete generated a good sum of money for the church, Milton ...
• Milton under Wychwood WI
  July saw the ladies of Milton W.I. running the refreshment marquee at the annual fete; what a great day. We were so busy that we ...
• Memories of Christmas past
  Bonfire Night had come and gone and the preparations for the school nativity play and Christmas Carol Concert were well under way. Those of us ...
• I Cannot Believe It Is Christmas
  How can this be? It is December and Christmas already? I am not ready, and writing this article only increases the feeling of panic Now, ...
• The Christmas Children
  Anne Hartley and I are in our brilliant school here in the Wychwoods week in, week out, enjoying the company of our children and staff, ...
• Jack Busby 1926-2016
  Jack was born in Ascott-under-Wychwood to Stanley and Elsie Busby. He was one of six children, having three brothers and two sisters. The family moved ...
• Wychwood School goes worldwide
  International Week Nobody could accuse our primary school of being inward looking! Here are just a few highlights of the school’s International Week: Drumming workshops using traditional ...
• Grown Locally, Eaten Locally
  In the last two articles I have written about the harvest from the farmer’s point of view. In this article I am asking how will ...
• Ascott remembers Reginald Tiddy
  Late one evening, on 10th August 1916, at the battle of the Somme, Ascott resident Reginald Tiddy was hit and killed after he went out ...
• Easy does it at The Lamb
  Shipton is very fortunate in having three active inns. The Lamb however is the only one which can with some justification claim to be a ...
• Shipton-under-Wychwood Cricket Club
  2016 Season Review A season of more lows than highs, we start our review with a departure. Stephen Brain It is the end of an era at the ...
• Bittersweet: a Christmas tale by Bob Forster
  She loved Christmas. Always had done. It was now eight Christmases she had lived through although she had no memory of the first two. Since ...
• Fame (of a funny kind ) comes to 43 Shipton Road, Ascott, bedroom 3
  Some Wychwood Magazine readers may have seen young Tom Gidman doing a comedy stint at the Swan pub, sandwiched in between professional comedians, Steve Bujega ...
• Bumblefoot visit
  American Rock Star Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal formerly of rock band ‘Guns N’ Roses’ visited students at the Bumblefoot Rock Project at the New Beaconsfield Hall ...
• The Seven Letters: A debut novel by Shipton-under-Wychwood author, Jan Harvey
  Jan Harvey’s debut novel has been published. Set in wartime Paris and Oxfordshire, The Seven Letters is a dark tale of the women of the French ...
• Library news – it’s BUSY!
  We wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Another year has passed and Wychwood Library is working well with the help of ...
• Hare Today and Hare To Stay
  As we head towards our first Christmas at The Hare, we would like to raise a toast to the wonderful residents of the Wychwoods who ...
• Wychwoods Tennis Club
  Yes, there was some rain but the abiding memory of the 2016 summer season is long sunny club evenings where we played into the dark ...
• Oggie at Ninety
  The lady, who twice saved Shipton Court from being demolished, celebrated her 90th birthday surrounded by her friends on 19th September. Oggie Arathoon no longer ...
• The Challenge
  On the morning of Sunday 16th October, instead of being in church, and in my comfort zone, I was well outside that zone running a ...
• News from Burford School
  Burford Sixth Form – opportunity – challenge – success With more than a thousand visitors on site at the height of our Open Evening in September ...
• Ascott Martyrs Live On In Local History
  A new project led by Ascott resident Paul Jackson is getting underway to further research the story of the Ascott Martyrs. The Wychwoods Local History ...
• Goff Bridges 1942-2016
  My dad was born in April 1942 and lived all his life in Milton. He played both football and cricket for the village teams. His ...
• ‘It’s a Cracker!’ (as Frank Carson would say)
  Are you ready for your Christmas cracker and the battle to see how many of those present will actually wear the paper crown? Why do ...
• Pretty as a picture
  When Ray Derkacz mentioned in the last issue of The Wychwood that he was thinking of starting an informal photography group in the Wychwoods, the ...
• The perfect mince pie ……… for amateurs!
  There is one major drawback to making mince pies – pastry is needed. Ready-made pastry can be used or there is the time-consuming process in ...
• Fifield: Small But Not Forgotten
  Fifield might be small but it is certainly not sleeping. There has been a healthy programme of events over the past few months which has ...
• Happiness, happiness ……………….
  Ken Dodd, the much-loved twentieth century Scouse comedian was known for his wildly tousled hair, his wacky humour and, most famously of all, for his ...
• Time To Move On
  When Rosemary Salter stopped me in the street back in 2002 and asked if I would like to take over as editor of The Wychwood, ...
• October – November 2016
  Editorial It has been quite a memorable summer with the Rio Olympics. Who would have thought a seat clamp, manufactured by Wychwood Machining based in Groves’ ...
• Thank you, Christine
  In the last issue of the Wychwood Magazine, Christine Halliday announced that she was stepping down from her role as editor after fourteen years; those ...
• The new team
  The new editor, Bob Forster, has lived with Lynda in Shipton for 30 years. Both of them were primary school teachers who retired in 2010. ...
• Never too old to party
  There was a great flurry on December 20th in the morning – no not snow – but activity at The Paddocks in Milton. The party started ...
• A pair of bright sparks
  Most communities have their own family names that crop up over and over again – Bury St. Edmunds has its Hearns, Witney has its Rainbows ...
• Lord Arthur Saville’s Crime
  The synopsis of the play is not initially attractive in today’s world of dissent and threat, but in this production of Oscar Wilde’s Lord Arthur ...
• Know your Wychwoods
  Here are 20 questions about our villages; how many can you answer correctly? 1. In which year did Shipton Cricket Club win the National Village Championship? 2. ...
• Escaping from ‘the pit’
  In the run up to Christmas the school was full of the sound of music. Two nativity plays: ‘We Three Kings’ by Foundation Stage and ...
• Local business gets a kick start
  Having played cricket for Shipton CC in the early 1990s, I have always liked the Wychwood area, so was delighted a few years ago when ...
• A lady of talent
  To say that Pat Bannister is an artist is rather like saying that champagne is a nice drink. The term ‘artist’ simply doesn’t do her ...
• Pretty as a picture (part two)
  …as I was saying in the last issue, you should by now be feeling more confident about the simple technicalities of getting a properly exposed ...
• Shipton Parish Council news
  The months leading up to Christmas were a busy time for the Parish Council. As well as the routine WODC and OCC consultations that required ...
• Milton Parish Council news
  Our one major project for the start of 2017 will hopefully have been and gone by the time you read this; the installation of the ...
• News from Burford School
  Burford School has been selected as one of only twelve schools to appear in the Parliamentary Review of Secondary Education currently being undertaken by the ...
• The early gardener
  Sort the seeds Those MUWAGA members who order their seeds through the Association know they are on to a good thing as all seeds are half ...
• Idbury’s link to the Forth Bridge
  Jeff Broxholme has long been intrigued by a large and unusual Victorian grave consisting of a cross rising from four arches in Idbury churchyard. The ...
• Talking turkey
  Christmas provides a deadline for all of us. The cards must be sent, presents bought and wrapped, the tree decorated and food for the day ...
• A ten year old meets his musical hero
  This was the first time I would meet international rock star, Bumblefoot and I felt excited. I hoped I would get his autograph and play ...
• Winter Wander Winter Wonder
  Winter is the perfect time to get your coat on, get your gloves and a warm hat, a scruffy pair of boots, and go for ...
• Medical Detection Dogs news
  We would like to take this opportunity in the first magazine of 2017, to thank all our local supporters for their help and interest. We ...
• Wychwood library
  The library is a hive of activity! Here’s a listing of the many and varied activities happening over the February/March period. Firstly, the weekly events: Tai ...
• A campervan – the world on wheels
  When Roger and I purchased our campervan we decided that we would try to use it every month – for at least a day or ...
• Jeremy Spencer
  1948-2016 Jeremy Spencer has died peacefully aged 68. A Shipton resident since 2006, he retired from the restaurant business three years before then, and was mourned ...
• The Rio Paralympics at ground level
  On 25th August 2016, complete with 2 branded suitcases full of exciting new clothing, I set off to Heathrow for the 12-hour flight to Rio ...
• Live for the living and care for the dead
  If you walk down Church Path in Shipton under Wychwood you walk between two churchyards.  On one side, around St Mary the Virgin Church, is ...
• Can you step up for Alex?
  Alex’s identical twin sister, Izzy, wants nothing more than to have her sister enjoy all that she does.  Her dream is for Alex to run ...
• Rhythm and blues light up Milton
  Some readers will be long-time residents of these villages, and will remember when Sinnels Field and Church Meadow were indeed just a field and a ...
• December 2016 – January 2017
  Editorial December arrives with all the bustle of Christmas approaching; what an exciting time it is. Of course Christmas is barely over before we are heading ...
• February – March 2017
  Editorial We had been warned. The February/March issue of the Wychwood Magazine is, apparently, the worst to compile because the writing has to be done in ...
• A day in the life of Wychwood Surgery
  What the doctor says … It is 8 a.m. and the phones start ringing. The receptionists start fielding calls and dealing with requests. The practice managers, ...
• Book review: The Ascott Martyrs by Beverley McCombs
  If you lived in New Zealand and knew your family had emigrated there from England in 1874, you might want to find out more. Beverley ...
• Your church in the community
  Pastoral care is at the heart of who we are as a church; Anne and Kate, our ministers, do a magnificent job of being alongside ...
• The future of the Shipton Charity Ball
  As many of you know, a Charity Ball has been held in the New Beaconsfield Hall for the last 14 years raising in excess of ...
• Charles Philip Miles
  1926-2017 Charles Miles (Charlie), the son of Cocker & Winnie Miles, was born in Green Lane, Milton-U-Wychwood then moved to Pear Tree Close. He had six uncles ...
• Shipton Parish Council news
  At its February meeting, The Uplands Planning Committee gave outline planning permission for 44 houses near the school. This was not unexpected as the site ...
• Milton-under-Wychwood Parish Council
  The large woody dams project on the Littlestock Brook, to intercept sediments and flood surges, has been substantially completed and the Environment Agency is remotely ...
• Support for students
  If you know someone who is leaving school in 2017 and intending to go to university or college, they may be eligible for a grant ...
• Help needed at the Wychwoods Day Centre
  One of the highlights of attending the Day Centre is the chance to sit down with friends and to enjoy a home cooked meal. Anyone ...
• Wychwood Primary School: spring topics and Forest School
  Primary education is not what it used to be! Our youngest children in Foundation Stage were excited to learn about dinosaurs; they were looking at ...
• That garden
  England’s gardens are famed across the world, their frothing herbaceous borders, their Capability Brown landscapes, their pools and decking; from Chelsea to Kew, from Sissinghurst ...
• Mid-month meditation in the Wychwoods
  As the evenings grow lighter you may be tempted to venture out towards the end of a busy day – or call in after work ...
• Branching out
  Many of you will have seen those wonderful steel tree sculptures in prominent places in the Wychwoods and wondered where the inspiration for them came; ...
• News from Burford School
  Once again an exceptional number of parents in the area have made Burford the first choice of school for their child to move on to ...
• Royal knees-ups in Shipton
  If people know you are associated with the Wychwood Magazine or with the Wychwoods Local History Society, they are inclined to sidle up and, in ...
• A spring in your step
  In our last issue, we described a short ‘Winter Wonder’ walk taking in the villages of Shipton and Milton. This springtime walk is shorter, less ...
• The patient gardener
  I expect you thought you had seen the last of me. I can sympathise with my reader who, having heard I was going on holiday, hoped ...
• A Musical Life: Ascott composer, Bob Chilcott, hits the high notes
  If I had thought, while stumbling through Beethoven’s Für Elise on our seriously out of tune piano at the age of six, that some fifty-five ...
• BBC 500 Words writing competition
  If you are a regular listener to Radio 2 in the mornings, you will be aware of the evolution of the 500 Words reading and ...
• The Vicar of Dibley
  Although only running for two series and ten specials, the TV series The Vicar of Dibley has been warmly taken to the nation’s heart and ...
• Fifield news
  Fifield is busy. In January, parishioners and friends sat enthralled through Liz Morris’s Tales of Snow and Ice, over her research visits to the Arctic ...
• Wheelchair dancing classes
  Enterprising Oxfordshire occupational therapist, Lizzie Large, is launching a relaxing and fun-filled dancing class for wheelchair users, starting at the New Beaconsfield Hall in Shipton ...
• Walking for health with the Wychwood Walkers
  You may have seen us on a Tuesday afternoon walking in Shipton or Milton. Why not come and join us; we meet at 2.00 p.m. ...
• A blast from the past
  In the first of a series of articles, we plan to delve into The Wychwood archive and revisit a story from the past. In 1994 ...
• Pig tales
  A feed rep visiting the farm asks the worker hurrying across the yard where he can find the farmer. The worker replies with a grin ...
• Shipton Cricket Club
  Over! Last year the mid-season wet weather strained our ability to prepare consistently playable pitches, but we did benefit from our fantastic new nets and the ...
• The best holiday ever
  For you, what are the ingredients of a perfect holiday? Think back. Pause before you read on. There are perhaps three essentials of that perfect ...
• The Wychwood Saplings
  Watch us grow! We are a professionally run youth amateur dramatics group for 6- 16 yr olds, who meet in Milton Under Wychwood throughout the school ...
• April – May 2017
  Editorial Welcome to your new-look Wychwood Magazine! Why new-look? Because for the first time ever you are reading our magazine printed in colour. While the adverts ...
• Home is where your heart is
  I remember many wise quotes from my mum, but the one about how “When God gives you another baby, you don’t have less love for ...
• No stone left unturned
  Why, on a cold Christmas Eve, I decided to sign up for my first ever half marathon I will never know! I had lost 5 ...
• The Vicar of Dibley
  Here beginneth the lesson: stage versions of popular television sitcoms appeal to audiences happy to re-engage with old friends. But to succeed, the actors need ...
• Are you an exhibitionist?
  Of course, I am not thinking of the sort of exhibitionist who streaks at the next Shipton cricket match, but rather those who want to ...
• A blast from the past
  In an article entitled Hot Shoe Shuffle in the Oct/Nov 2002 Wychwood issue, Liz Watson wrote about Camilla Harvey’s work to support the Abingdon Riding ...
• Summer term at Burford School
  Not a moment to spare. There is a common misconception that the Summer Term is one in which schools kick back and unwind a little. It’s ...
• Milton Parish news
  Milton PC has seen two huge projects come to completion this Spring. The first was the installation of 12 woody dams in Littlestock Brook. Managed ...
• Shipton Parish Council news
  The Annual Parish meeting took place on 20th April with a small but supportive attendance from residents. We received a number of useful reports which ...
• Wychwood School
  Residential Visit Our Year 6 children had a great week in Kilvrough, South Wales. Rock climbing, canoeing, caving, a beach day of rock pool investigating and ...
• All the fun of the fair…in 1954
  I love meeting my old school friends from Shipton. A chance encounter whilst out shopping recently, reminded me of happy days with them all those ...
• Going like the clappers
  Church bell ringing is alive and well and living in the Wychwoods. There are now 9 ringers registered at St Mary’s tower; three started training ...
• Twas ever thus
  In Spring, when some minds turn lightly to thoughts of love, here at Manor Farm we have had to forebear the romantic, and adopt a ...
• Memories of Christopher Fry in Shipton
  Christine Murphy recently drew my attention to the following interesting passage in the book, Muriel Spark, a Biographical and Critical Study by Derek Standford. “In the ...
• Out with the old
  It was 24th November 2010 when we began our new venture running the village shop. The first few weeks were a hard slog as neither ...
• Fast and furious
  Samantha Weller has lived in Shipton for the last 5 years and is the Team Principal of a local motorcycle endurance team which won the ...
• Wychwood Project exhibition wins Lottery funding
  A Wychwood Project exhibition about the history of Wychwood Forest over 800 years has been awarded a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant of £8,000. The ...
• Wychwood spirits
  There are people who seem to experience and feel things out of sight to most of us. I know two such people. In my experience, ...
• Obituary: Cicely Miller
  1921 – 2017 Cicely was born in Maesteg, South Wales on 6th May, 1921 to Emily and George Tibbetts. The family moved to Milton when she ...
• Wychwood Bowls Club in 2017
  Formed around 1930, the Club has been located at its current premises since 1947. Entering its 70th year at the rear of the Shaven Crown, ...
• Community First Responders
  Did you know that there is a small group of people in your community that volunteer to help the South Central Ambulance Service on 999 ...
• Summer Reading Challenge
  This summer there’s something peculiar happening at Wychwood Library – it is the annual Summer Reading Challenge with the theme of “Animal Agents”, illustrated by ...
• Ring out the bells
  On the evening of 25th March, the New Beaconsfield Hall resounded to the sound of The Nathan Jones Big Band. After the excellent supper cooked ...
• Girls will be girls
  It was back in February 2013, that young Alex Scrivener was first featured in the pages of The Wychwood; the reason for that article was ...
• Women’s Institute
  What is it all about? Today’s WI is very different from the often held idea of tea drinking, cake baking, twin set and pearl-wearing ladies. Yes, ...
• The story of Chipping Norton Theatre
  This fabulous building began life as a Salvation Army Citadel, with the first stones, still visible on the front exterior of the building, being laid ...
• Carlo and Giovanni cooking for charity
  Back in December 2016, the Shipton Charity Ball raised over £7,000 for two charities very close to our hearts – The Air Ambulance and the ...
• Bales up on the A361
  It must have happened before in Shipton’s long history, but it happened again this summer – a straw wagon took the Wychwood Inn bend a ...
• Clapped out but not forgotten
  Jeff Broxholme is always looking for interesting aspects of Wychwood life in the past. His most recent find is a photograph of an unusual looking ...
• A Needlework Challenge.
  For the 2012 Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, Fifield made a needlepoint wall hanging depicting life in Fifield through the ages, with representations of ...
• Fifield News
  Mediterranean Meze – Saturday 17th June in the gardens and grounds of Fifield House. Blessed with perfect summer weather, over 100 guests entered into the spirit ...
• Writing competitions
  In our last issue we announced a writing competition in memory of our much-loved distribution manager here at The Wychwood Magazine, Doreen Barnes, who brought ...
• Wychwood library
  It is not too late to join the amazing 2017 Summer Reading Challenge ‘Animal Agents’. These detectives are looking to solve the case of the ...
• Zen and the art of being an allotmenteer
  Being a person of little imagination, I thought I would plagiarise one of those iconic titles Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert ...
• Milton news
  Have you taken an opportunity to visit the new Parish Council website www.miltonunderwychwood-pc.gov.uk? The Council has recently agreed to purchase the domain name of the present ...
• Shipton council news
  Everyone seems to be in good summer spirits despite the national political turmoil, but let us be careful about leaving our places open as summer ...
• Shipton-under-Wychwood Cricket Club – half-way through
  As we approach the half-way point of the 2017 season, the club has secured its first trophy this year with the Shipton Swans Ladies Team, ...
• Burford Festival 2017
  Well, we could not have asked for better weather, or a better turn out! Our Gardens Weekend was fine and attracted around 1500 people to ...
• RAF Brize Norton – 80 years of history
  Brize Norton: 80 Years of History is a new exhibition at Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum (SOFO) which explores the history of one of the country’s ...
• Going to the dogs
  Recently the Legal Matters column in the Oxford Mail summarised the current laws relating to dogs. Apart from the risk of prosecution, for the safety ...
• Count the cost of the cat
  When I take a cat to be neutered, I sometimes wonder why the general public too often fail to get their cats neutered. Of course, there ...
• Son of a carrot cruncher
  Looks are deceptive. John Pratley, a gentle bear of a man, eases himself into his armchair; alongside him wife June knits on silently. Oxfordshire has ...
• The world divides
  Many years ago a friend expounded to me his theory to explain the difficulties of human relationships. On so many matters the world divides in ...
• Wychwood School pupils DO get out more!
  The Cotswold Wardens came and led a walk around Shipton and Milton, and held some workshops looking at how sheep and local stone have shaped ...
• Burford School – the home of good reading
  With libraries closing, or losing trained librarians, one might be tempted to think it is for a good reason. E-books and mobile phones have been ...
• U3A – University of the Third Age
  U3A (University of the Third Age) is a learning co-operative that enables members to share educational, creative and leisure interests. Our members’ careers may be ...
• Wheel, wheel, wheel
  Saturday 9th September promises to be a red-letter day in the Wychwoods; that is the day when between 100 and 200 of Britain and the ...
• Second-hand bookshops can shock
  Although second-hand bookshops are disappearing almost as fast as Oxfordshire bus services, browsing through the ones which survive can result in unexpected surprises. Here are ...
• Neil Ford
  1977 – 2017 Neil Andrew Ford was born on 23rd March 1977 at the John Radcliffe hospital, Oxford; a little brother for Nicola. Neil was a true ...
• Keeping the gates open
  Opposite Shipton Court there is a pair of wrought iron gates opening onto the Lime Avenue and leading down to the Wild Garden. I am ...
• A true tale
  The following conversation took place when Jane, not her real name, but a real Wychwood resident, answered the phone recently: “Hello.” “It’s M&S here. Good morning Mrs ...
• Fun of the Fete
  Photos from this year’s Milton village fete, held on Saturday 1st July. August – September 2017
• The gardeners’ harvest
  Now, I understand that my reader was nonplussed because last edition’s MUWAGA article included a real photo, and featured an uncharacteristically philosophical style. Relax, it ...
• All is safely gathered in
  If we are honest we all love to look over the neighbour’s fence. Farmers are no different in keeping an eye on what the neighbours ...
• St Simon and St Jude’s church
  Benefice Path Hopefully by the time you read this, the path to the Benefice Rooms in Milton will have been replaced with something safer. Over the ...
• Shipton Parish Council news
  First of all, may I extend a big welcome to our new Councillor, Rebecca Ward who moved to the village in the summer of 2016. ...
• Ascott Martyrs – project update
  The first annual Martyrs’ Day, held on a fine June day at the recreation ground in Ascott, was attended by many descendants and supporters. The ...
• Eva Bye (Watton)
  1920- 2017 Eva was born on 3rd April 1920, in Shipton-under-Wychwood. She had two sisters, Dorothy and Rose, and a brother Albert, who was sadly killed in ...
• Jack Prew’s ancient ‘Fergie’
  Jack gave the ‘Fergie’ to Milton Parish Council to use for cutting the village green grass and he serviced it for many years. When the ...
• Reverend Anne Hartley retires – officially!
  Is that a statement or a question? Who knows what retirement will be like until they try it? At this stage in my life I’ve ...
• The mysterious death at Shipton Court
  On 30th June 1843, a grim scene unfolded in the parish church of St Mary the Virgin at Shipton-under-Wychwood. A coffin was exhumed and carried ...
• Tramper man and his mobility scooters
  Lawry Hugill may just be the Wychwoods’ most recognizable character – virtually all our magazine readers will have seen him, but who is he? Read ...
• Surgery news
  After 3 years much appreciated service, Dr Dominic Matthews has moved on and Dr Katy Walsh has been taken on to be a permanent member ...
• Libraries are branching out
  Well done to all our young readers at Wychwood Library who have met the challenge to read six books this summer and solve the strange ...
• Cornbury Music Festival – a fond farewell
  Hugh Phillimore founded the Cornbury Music Festival in 2004 and, sadly, this year 2017 was the last. To find out why this iconic and popular ...
• Shipton bells: a progress report
  The Shipton Bell Fund (target £70,000) now stands at approximately £27,750 which includes a contribution of £20,000 from the Parochial Church Council, the proceeds from ...
• Village shop takes off
  In the few months since St. Michael’s Stores in Shipton had its major overhaul and refurbishment, business has soared. Gone is the cramped space with ...
• Snowdrop House, Shipton and the Tubb Family
  Annette Williscroft’s great grandmother, Mary Anne Maisey (née Tubb), used to live at Snowdrop Cottage in Shipton. Her grandmother had told her father that Mary ...
• Congratulations!
  Everyone loves good news. Weddings, exam or sporting success, promotion, a new baby – they all bring a smile to our faces. It would brighten ...
• News from Fifield
  Fifield had its usual busy summer. On 23rd July the Friends of St John the Baptist, Fifield, held their Annual Summer Barbecue. Forty-two people attended ...
• Breakspeare clinic – an update
  Sadly we must report the end of an era. For the past 26 years, the Breakspeare Clinic in Milton-under-Wychwood has been providing NHS physiotherapy for ...
• A kaleidoscope of lycra
  Milton Fete probably takes pride of place for the single biggest community event in the Wychwoods, but for one event that united Shipton and Milton, ...
• A wing and a prayer
  Mid-August, holidays in full swing and gorgeous weather – or not.  Shipton’s fete was cancelled this year, so, at short notice, St Mary’s church stepped ...
• The Wychwood Local History Society
  After the great concerns earlier in the year that the Society might have to be ‘mothballed’ for a while, the 34 members present at the ...
• October – November 2017
  Editorial Our last issue contained many items of general interest – U3A, Burford Festival, cats, dogs etc (in fact, a member of The Wychwood team was ...
• Dance Addiction, one year on
  Well, here we are, still teaching Wychwood (and more distant) folk to dance those elusive, romantic and sexy ballroom styles that constitute our yearly ‘fix’ ...
• A big ‘thank you’ from the Wychwoods Day Centre, and a request
  The Day Centre for the elderly at the New Beaconsfield Hall has become a fixture within the Wychwoods for almost 20 years now. It seems ...
• Unlocking potential and inspiring futures
  It is always rewarding when GCSE and ‘A’ Level results arrive at Burford School, and happy smiling faces mean that grades have been achieved and ...
• Here comes the long awaited Pantomime – oh yes it does!
  The Wychwood Players are pleased to announce this year’s pantomime, Peter Panto, devised by Peter Webster. All the usual panto fun, the free sweets and the ...
• Rock and Pop Choir
  With the success of Gareth Malone, a number of choirs have developed both nationally and locally. I think there is room for another type of ...
• Thirty years behind the counter, and the cat came too
  In the late 1970s, Edna and I started to look for a village shop and Post Office to run. Life would be easier living on ...
• Did you work in the Witney blanket factories?
  There were many sad days for Witney and the surrounding villages when the Witney blanket factories closed. Early & Marriott’s, James Walker & Son and ...
• Book review
  The Wychwood Magazine is hoping to include a book review in each issue. Readers are very welcome to send in a brief review of a ...
• What I am really thinking
  This article was published in The Guardian in the autumn of 2016. The author remained anonymous but as he is a familiar local figure, it ...
• Know your Wychwoods (ii)
  1. Who is the longest serving member of staff at Milton Co-op? 2. How is the American soul singer, P.P. Arnold, linked to our area? 3. Who ...
• A moment in time
  Ascott author, Allan P. Ledger has just had his second book published. Following the publication of ‘A Spencer love affair‘ he has followed it up ...
• Food for thought
  In the 1630s, the Great Tew Circle met to champion the use of reason in the religious polemics of the time. At Wychwood Circle we ...
• Wychwoods Tennis Club
  We have had another busy and enjoyable summer season of tennis including the Vets Tournament, which took place one sunny, Sunday afternoon in July. It ...
• Young and adventurous?
  If you are at school, in Year 8 or above, the Burford Cadet Corps could give you all the stimulation you need. There, you will ...
• Village hall, village life blood
  While society is continually evolving, there is a widespread myth that rural communities are somehow immune from change; nothing could be farther from the truth. ...
• Healthy and tasty
  We are hoping to feature a straightforward recipe in each issue for a main course. It must be, as the title suggests, healthy and tasty, ...
• August – September 2017
  Editorial This issue the magazine highlights the role played by volunteers in our communities. The magazine itself can only run thanks to the input of many ...
• Music education – fun or fundamental?
  There has been a good deal of coverage in the press in recent months about arts education in general, as well as music education in ...
• Wychwood Primary School – loud and clear
  I am pleased to share that the school has been awarded the Sing Up Gold Award in recognition of the singing we do in classrooms, ...
• Bruce Finlay (September 1939 – October 2017)
  Many of our readers will have fond memories of Bruce Finlay who lived with Jackie in Shipton for more than thirty years before moving to ...
• David Hills Trust Golf Day
                      The David Hills Trust Golf Day competition this year was held on 1st July at the Wychwood Golf Club, to raise money to continue the ...
• Wychwood Tennis Club
  The Tennis Club hosted a Tie Break Tens charity tournament to raise money for Cancer Research UK. Karen Purvis arranged the event, choosing a cause, ...
• Turned out nice again – Martin Hallam, woodturner
  Martin is a proud Liverpudlian who was born in that fine city in 1943, but has lived in Milton since 1972. His father was the ...
• Wychwood Photography Group – developing well
  How time flies. Hard to believe the photo group has now been going for a year. When I first mooted the idea of setting up ...
• Ode to a Christmas pilferer
    The Wily Christmas ‘shopper’ Sidles through the door, He’s left his money back at home, What would he want that for? Shuffling down the far aisle, His thieving choice to ...
• MUWAGA – A time of celebration
  As you read this Christmas is almost upon us, in fact the first Christmas ads appeared in October as I write this. It just seems ...
• Saying thank you to Malcolm
  After 24 years Malcolm Cochrane MBE, who initiated the fund-raising, design and building of New Beaconsfield Hall, has stepped down from the committee. Malcolm has ...
• A Risky Business
  This morning a commentator on the TV stated that the gambling industry in the U.K. made as much money as every single farm in the ...
• Mila Piano Trio
  On Saturday 9th September, I was pleasantly surprised by a message from a friend asking if I’d like to bring my six-year-old daughter to join ...
• Fifield news
  The Villager Bus is under threat following a Department for Transport push to bring in an EU regulation and change the licence under which these ...
• Fruit tea bread
  The dried fruit needs to be soaked in hot tea overnight, so start your preparations the day before you plan to bake. Ingredients 350g/ 12oz mixed dried ...
• Remember Marilyn Watkins
  A good number of readers of The Wychwood will remember Marilyn Watkins and her daughter Zoë, who lived for many years in Milton and latterly ...
• From George to Emily, Xmas 1917
  From George to Emily, Xmas 1917 ‘Somewhere in France’ These words were written in a note by a twenty-year-old Milton lad, George Tibbitts, to his young ...
• Lady Reade Educational Foundation
  Do you know someone who is leaving school in 2018 and intending to go to university or college? If they live in Milton, Shipton, Bruern, ...
• Kate looks back
  This is my seventh and final Christmas letter as your vicar. It has been wonderful to spend these years with you, and we will be ...
• Jane Heather
  13th September 1928-18th September 2017 Fifield residents have been saddened to hear of the death of Jane Heather, a long term resident of the parish and, ...
• In a bit of a pickle
  I am very partial to pickled beetroot. A few weeks ago, our good friend Joanna appeared in our kitchen bearing a large, beautiful bunch of ...
• The Wychwood Singers
  Singing in a choir has become a popular pastime in recent years and over the past six years the Wychwood Singers has gone from strength ...
• Trees in the Wychwoods
  The Wychwoods are blessed with having some very significant trees growing in full view of anyone passing by. So, in occasional issues of this publication, ...
• Cooped up no longer
  A revamped Midcounties Co-operative Food Store in Milton-Under-Wychwood has been unveiled following a £320,000 investment, and the portacabin that resided on the Green for a ...
• Shipton parish news
  As this edition takes us into the New Year, some thoughts on the coming year may be useful. 2018 brings Parish Council elections and some ...
• Lights, camera, action!
  Here in the Wychwoods we are lucky to have a variety of businesses. One resident of Milton has had his own business in Groves Yard ...
• Ascott martyrs
  Textile banner Over the last few weeks thirteen participants from Ascott and around have been planning and stitching a 100 x 130cm banner commemorating the Ascott ...
• Book review
  ‘The art of hearing heartbeats‘ by Jan-Philipp Sendker When Julia Win’s father disappeared from life in New York she and her mother had no idea where ...
• “They are brothers” he said
  We lost our 20 year old cat and we were not going to have another; or so we thought. A photograph in the local paper showed ...
• Thoughts of a new arrival
  Moving to a new location is always difficult, you don’t know anyone, you don’t know where the best walks are, or even the best pubs. ...
• Mystery, medicine and murder on Shipton Downs
  Few people go to Shipton Downs. Many pass through it on the way between Chipping Norton and Burford. Shipton Downs is the high saddle of ...
• A peaceful Christmas
  Are you hoping for a peaceful Christmas? For many of us, it can be anything but! Peace is often associated with quiet, rest and relaxation, yet ...
• Go on tell us a story
  Frequently when you come into contact with one of our senior citizens, for example at the Day Centre or a coffee morning, you are rewarded ...
• Short tales
  Grave business Sam was of the habit of eating his lunch in the local churchyard during the summer months. On Wednesday he sat down on his ...
• Appeal for help
  The Wychwood magazine has been a regular feature of Cotswold life in the Wychwoods for over thirty years and is run by a team of ...
• Autumn colours
  A selection of images taken by members of the Wychwood Photo Group. December 2017 – January 2018
• Fireworks – November 2017
  A selection of firework images. December 2017 – January 2018
• December 2017 – January 2018
  Editorial The term ‘bumper issue’ is probably overused, and this issue still runs to its regular 67 pages, so perhaps it cannot be described in such ...
• Let’s talk about the weather
  Ever since arriving in the Wychwoods in 1981, I have been keeping detailed weather records. To begin with, it was a manual recording system but in ...
• Wychwood Library
  Tai Chi: Monday mornings at 1000. Tai Chi is excellent for improving balance, lowering blood pressure, memory skills and ‘quietness’. Beginners and returners always welcome. Evening Reading Group: first ...
• Mud, music and snow at Wychwood School
  The playground area was completed so the children now have some great equipment to climb and play on. We had a large donation from our ...
• Spotlight on Peter Panto
  From tucking the three Darling children into their cosy bed it was just one step through the window to the magical Never Land of Peter ...
• Snow Business
  Wychwood residents are unlikely to forget Sunday 10th December 2017 in a hurry. We had been warned but the scale of the snow disruption had ...
• On your doorstep
  This is the start of a readers’ section of favourite places in our area, places that are open to all to enjoy. Contributions of between ...
• Betty Florence Sara Dixon
  1928 – 2017 Betty was born on 12th May 1928, one of the 16 children of William and Agnes Strange. Not much is known of her ...
• John Burgess
  1948 – 2017 John was born in Field Assarts, Leafield, the middle child of three – Marie, John and Julie. His father worked at the radio station, ...
• A festive bird
  Tradition at Christmas time is very important. That is quite helpful for us as turkey producers. Demand is pretty consistent for a farm fresh turkey ...
• A personal journey towards a Wychwood World Champion
  At seven years old Charlee started karate with OSTMA (Oxford School of Traditional Martial Arts). She had a flair for it, all her moves very ...
• OFTAT – Old Folks Trans Africa Trip – a reprise
  Ten years ago Gail Huntingford and I related in this magazine the details of our overland journey with our spouses, along with my brother and ...
• The rutting season
  Which road in the Wychwoods currently has the worst surface? After the snow and ice, there are extra ruts, potholes and bike swallowers across the ...
• The changing of the guard
  Nothing, so we are told, stands still for long; this magazine is no exception to that old saying. It is just over a year ago ...
• Anthony Durston
  1935 – 2017 Anthony Durston, one of nature’s true gentlemen, was born on 6th September 1935 in Woodstock where his parents owned the local hardware store. ...
• Time for a bit of P&Q
  With so many distractions around and absorbed in our mobile lives, I am finding in my private practice more people are seeking out quiet time, ...
• What is a good, all-round education?
  ‘We provide outstanding education for all our students, within and beyond the classroom’  –  Burford School Many of us will have heard the phrase ‘educating the whole ...
• Wychwood Wild Garden update
  The fish have arrived In early December we achieved a major goal with the arrival of fish to restock the water system. We started work on ...
• Things that go bump in the night
  At this time of the year with its long dark nights, the tradition of telling ghost stories has become rooted in many communities throughout the ...
• Thank you
  Just over £1000 was raised on Christmas Eve courtesy of singing around the Christmas trees in Milton and Shipton. Carols were sung and prayers were ...
• Milton under Wychwood Parish Council
  There is much to offer thanks for as we begin 2018 and look back on 2017. The Parish Council are grateful to those at Alfred ...
• Shipton Parish Council
  Planning, as usual, has been a major preoccupation over the last year but it has offered us some important local insights. One Habitat and Ecological ...
• Fifield news
  Fifield in the 17th century. Fifield features in the recently published Oxoniensia (Volume 2017- number 82) in Peter McCullough’s piece on his researches into the Bray ...
• Food for all
  It is a sad fact of life and a shocking reflection on our society that there are now well in excess of 500 food banks ...
• Gardening tips for 2018
  Mike Hawtin is a serial winner of multiple classes at the annual MUWAGA show; Tony Lewis is the club’s chairman and another regular winner. The Wychwood Magazine ...
• The future is bright – the future is Matthews Cotswold Flour
  The Matthews Cotswold Flour (FWP Matthews) mill has been on the Wychwoods’ skyline for over 100 years (they celebrated their centenary in 2012) bringing jobs ...
• Rock and Pop Choir
  In the October edition of The Wychwood I wrote a short article about a new Rock and Pop Choir we were hoping to start in ...
• The rowan that twitched
  It was late March, early morning; grey skies and not a breath of wind. The rowan tree stretched above the garden, anonymous and shapeless, its ...
• An appreciation of Reverend Kate Stacey
  Six years ago we welcomed Kate and her family in her new role as our vicar, responsible for Milton, Shipton, Fifield and Idbury. All too ...
• Time for God?
  Introducing Sarah Peterson Sarah is from Stillwater, Minnesota, and is a volunteer worker with Time for God – an organisation which gives an opportunity for international ...
• The Wychwood Magazine, from beginning to…?
  How did it all start? In 1979 three forward-thinking men, Col Oliver Stedall, Cdr ‘Rob’ Long and Mr. Dudley Hopkins discussed the possibility of producing ‘The ...
• Hit the ground running in 2018
  The New Beaconsfield Hall has installed a professional standard treadmill in its gym. Pictured here is a gym member putting it through its paces. It ...
• What, no church?
  “Now that Anne Hartley has retired and the vicar has gone, there’ll be no church, know what I mean?” No, you could not be more wrong. ...
• Readers’ quiz
  The answers to all these questions can be found in the 2017 issues of the magazine; anyone who struggles can reveal the answers at the bottom ...
• The Wychwood Project
  Have you ever thought of volunteering with any of the outdoor practical tasks organised by the Wychwood Project? They provide an excellent opportunity to: • Enjoy ...
• Winter in the Wychwoods
  A selection of Winter and Christmas photos.  With thanks to Alan Vickers, Dean Griffiths, Chris Jackson, Linda Dixon and Tony Lewis. February – March 2018
• February – March 2018
  Editorial What is it that makes for an attractive and popular local magazine like ours? On the editorial team, we think we know some of the ...
• 20 years of the New Beaconsfield Hall
  It seems to be on everyone’s lips these days – “Where does the time go?” but can you believe that it is 20 years since ...
• HOWZAT?!
  All Stars at Shipton 2017 was a record year for the youth section at Shipton cricket club with 220 youngsters aged from five to 18 joining ...
• There’ll be another one along in a minute
  And so there will be – the Wychwoods have got a new bus service, the 210, which started on 12 February. It can no longer ...
• Milton Parish Council
  Last year our Annual Parish Meeting was not well attended. This year I would like to try something a little different: I would like the public ...
• Shipton Parish Council
  The Parish Council elections take place in May and we are looking for new members to help with our work supporting the village. A full ...
• Girlguiding in the Wychwoods
  Girlguiding is the leading charity for girls and young women in the UK. Here in the Wychwoods we are very lucky to have Rainbows for ...
• Farewell to all this
  Five years ago Alan Vickers asked me if I would be prepared to be Chairman of The Wychwood Magazine. He chose his time well: I ...
• A bird in the hand
  One afternoon in late September I was working my dog Tilly in the grass field above the allotments in Ascott, when I became aware of ...
• The Wychwood Knitters
  A ditty by Ann Dyson We meet each week to knit and natter To show our work and share the patterns. There is always a special event to ...
• The Wychwood Walkers
  The group was founded by the Wychwood Surgery, to provide an opportunity to take part in healthy exercise once a week, and encourage people to ...
• Burford students abroad
  There is no better way to re-inforce learning and broaden the mind than to get outside the classroom. Our first trips abroad each year are ...
• A letter from Africa
  Dear Wychwood readers, My time in The Gambia is going really well! As you may know, I am here as part of the Crosslinks Gap Year ...
• PP Arnold returns
  American soul singer, PP Arnold, who spent several years of her early married life in Milton, is returning to take centre stage at the 15th ...
• 50 years of the Cotswold Volunteer Wardens
  The Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty was created in 1966 and a couple of years later the Cotswold Voluntary Wardens service began. The aim ...
• The year’s weather in the Wychwoods – 2017
  In our last issue, John Miskin summarised the Wychwoods’ weather since he began record keeping in 1981; now, Miles Peregrine gives us the highlights (?) ...
• Police alert
  Did you know that you can be kept up to date with the latest crime alerts and crime prevention in our area? All you need ...
• The Women’s Institute in the Wychwoods – 100 years on
  The original Women’s Institute was founded at Stoney Creek, Ontario in Canada in 1915. And the Wychwood’s WI was founded in 1918, making it one ...
• On your doorstep: Foxholes Reserve
  This is a special part of Bruern Woods, just above the level crossing, special all the year round. Peace and quiet reigns. There are no ...
• On your doorstep: Church Path
  I love to walk down Church Path alongside Shipton church and think of all the feet that have trodden the way before me. The churchyard ...
• Time flies when you are having fun
  Some of the youngest members of the Wychwoods have been enjoying regular visits to The Paddocks in Milton under Wychwood. We have been taking small ...
• News from the churches
  So Kate, our vicar, has left and is settling into her new role in Stroud. Many people from the Wychwoods attended a wonderful induction service ...
• Patrick Creavy – A brief account of my life at Charles Early Blankets, Witney
  I started work at Charles Early in Newland Warehouse at the beginning of the 1950s as a Blanket Clerk sitting on a high stool at ...
• Pauline Ann Creavy (1930-2017)
  Pauline was born on Saturday 6 September 1930 in Oxford. After her schooling, she trained and worked as a hairdresser. In recent years it is ...
• Marjorie Piggot (1923-2017)
  Fifield has mourned the death of Marjorie Piggot, wife of Guthrie and a loved and valued resident of the village. Born in 1923 in North Wales, ...
• It is all go – Gardeners prepare for action
  By the time you read this we should be busy preparing the ground (if like me you didn’t get round to it in the autumn) ...
• Milton under Wychwood Fete
  All That Jazz Saturday 7th July 2018 In 2017, the Milton-u-Wychwood Fete was bigger than ever, and made a massive record £6705 to help support the maintenance ...
• Putting the boot in
  Last month I spoke to Darren, the fitter who is installing some grain equipment for us. “I can’t see you next week, I am going ...
• Chastleton House
  Looking to get involved in something new for 2018? Do you have lots of enthusiasm, an interest in heritage and enjoy meeting new people? Help bring ...
• Fifield news
  Fifield and Idbury Big Summer Feast The Sixties and Flower Power. Saturday 16th June promises to be a splendid evening in the gardens and grounds of ...
• Artweeks 5-13 May 2018
  Local artists from the Wychwoods will be exhibiting again in the lovely St. Nicholas Church in Chadlington. Margaret Gibbs with her watercolours, cards and prints, ...
• Hare today….
  Today a rabbit or hare is often the chosen sign for a renamed hostelry where the new owners are apparently ashamed of its former name ...
• All change – a day at Wychwood School
  As a fundraiser for more playtime equipment, the School Council arranged a ‘Take Over’ day. Pupils were invited to apply for jobs in the school ...
• If you go down to the (new) woods today…
  To the casual viewer it might look like someone is trying to re-plant the Wychwood Forest across the Bruern Road in Milton! Over the last few ...
• It is infectious
  A smile is infectious, you catch it like the flu When someone smiled at me today, I started smiling too, I passed around the corner and someone saw me grin When ...
• Milton under Wychwood Sports Association
  The Pavilion on The Green, Milton-under-Wychwood, was kindly supplied by the Parish Council in 1995 to provide changing rooms, toilets and a social room for ...
• Wychwood Bowls Club
  Did you know that there is a Lawn Bowls Club in the Wychwoods? It is situated behind the Shaven Crown, just off the lane up to ...
• Shipton Bridge Club
  Each Wednesday afternoon, the bridge club meets at the New Beaconsfield Hall at 14:00 for a couple of hours of Chicago bridge. The atmosphere is ...
• April – May 2018
  Editorial I had not realised before just how significant the year 2018 would turn out to be for our villages. Perhaps of greatest note is the ...
• So what’s been going on in The Wild Garden?
  Nine years ago many of you in the Wychwoods responded to the call to save the Wild Garden for the community. Today over 200 of you ...
• Don’t panic!
  British people tend to see the art of “muddling through” as a virtue. We laugh along at “Dad’s Army” and we admire their spirit. Not ...
• Panic!
  Long-time Shipton resident, Johnny Graham, had a nasty moment back in 1955, a memory that remains fixed in his mind over 60 years later, and ...
• Fun in Fifield
  The Swinging Sixties – a Flower Power Evening. The Fifield and Idbury Summer Dinner in the gardens of Fifield House is a much anticipated annual event. ...
• The Gardeners’ Hymn
  All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all. But what we never mention, though ...
• A builder of repute
  Those white vans with a red cross are a familiar sight in the Wychwoods, but who is Robin Perry and what is his background? Here ...
• One book closes
  Long-time library manager, Ruth Gillingham, retired at the end of March. Here she looks back on many good years at our library and looks ahead ...
• The Old Prebendal House – it’s all in the name
  Sitting beside the River Evenlode in Shipton is the imposing set of buildings comprising The Old Prebendal House. Now a well-appointed care home, it has ...
• Thirty years on…
  Back in 1988, two intrepid young cousins set out on an exciting journey to raise funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children. Their ...
• All right in the long run
  The London Marathon polarises opinions. When Lyneham’s Mark Jessey and Milton’s Adam Smith took part in April’s race, watchers’ views would fill a book. Were ...
• Deathtrap by Ira Levin
  At the New Beaconsfield Hall. The thriller “Deathtrap” is a complex “play within a play” and perhaps in homage to the late Ira Levin, this review ...
• A giant of a tree
  There cannot be many people in the Wychwoods who have not visited Shipton’s Wild Garden. If there are, they should do so sooner rather than ...
• Fields of plastic tubes
  They are everywhere – fields full of what look like white or pale green sticks standing around a metre above bare soil. Off the Lyneham ...
• Shipton Parish Council Notes
  April saw the last Annual Parish meeting under Brian Young’s chairmanship. We are all grateful for his calm and dedicated leadership. A new chairman will ...
• Milton’s Annual Parish Meeting
  Wednesday 2nd May saw our Annual Parish Meeting take place. It’s always a bit of a gamble organising this type of meeting, as to what ...
• Compose yourself
  Are you keen to take good photographs with your camera or phone, but are not interested in the intricacies of aperture, shutter speed, ISO, depth ...
• Rodney Rose (1948 – 2018)
  On Wednesday 4 April, around 250 family friends and colleagues filled Milton Parish Church and spilled out into the Church grounds to celebrate the life ...
• A lifetime in farming
  This article is expected to be the first in which the magazine reports on local residents who have experienced a lifetime, or at least what ...
• What did you think?
  We were warned! When it was suggested that we should send out a questionnaire to our readers about this magazine, the prophets of doom told ...
• On your doorstep: Blenheim
  Many, if not most, of the readers of this magazine will have visited Blenheim, one of Britain’s most popular tourist destinations, and less than twenty ...
• On your doorstep: The Pantry
  It surprises me that more young people, particularly young mums, do not gather at The Pantry in the Paddocks. In this day and age of ...
• Bell Ringing in Shipton 2018
  At the beginning of 2018, thanks to the generous support of the local community with fund raising events and private donations, the Parochial Parish Council ...
• Enjoying life at The Paddocks
  When The Paddocks opened its doors in the summer of 2015, residents who moved into the extra care scheme quickly found out that independent retirement ...
• News from Wychwood School
  Science week The school turned into a large science lab as children worked in small groups as part of the Big Science competition. The children were ...
• Who am I?
  Here are some clues to four local characters, some clear, some cryptic; can you identify each one? (Answers at the bottom of the page.) Who am I? ...
• Up and down in the Wychwoods
  SeeSaw is a local charity which provides a grief support service for bereaved children and young people. Each year SeeSaw provides support for around 500 ...
• Lumpy but lovely
  ‘Lumpy’ is a word much used by cyclists to describe any hilly route, whether that be Cotswold hilly or Alpine hilly. The route described below ...
• It just takes an hour
  Wychwood Day Centre is a lifeline for elderly residents; for some it is the only time out of the house all week. These people are ...
• News from the Library Friends Group
  The local villages have been so lucky to have wonderful library staff who care about their customers, work really hard to make the place attractive ...
• How much?
  Easter Saturday, and another cake stall was held outside the Coop in Milton, except it wasn’t outside, but more of that in a moment. How ...
• June – July 2018
  Editorial The Wychwood Magazine has a wide coverage; 1,200 copies are distributed across the area and further afield for postal subscribers. We take an interest in ...
• My first year at Burford School
  Before I actually started at Burford School I was very nervous about how I would get on, how big the school would be, who would ...
• Pretty as a picture
  Recently we started a whole school project, ‘Take One Picture’.  The children looked at the painting ‘High Street, Oxford’ and used it as a stimulus ...
• The Oxfordshire Museum
  This beautiful museum, situated in the centre of Woodstock, is the perfect antidote for all those who dislike museums. It is not dim and dusty; ...
• Cropredy
  Cropredy is a pretty village just a mile or so north of Banbury on the River Cherwell. For many people it is connected with Fairport ...
• Thoughts on the Windrush
  The recent hoo-haa in the media and Parliament over the appalling treatment of the Windrush migrants has reminded me of two events in my life ...
• Wychwoods Local History Society Revived
  For the past year, the Wychwoods Local History Society (WLHS) has been in a state of almost suspended animation. There has been no membership subscription ...
• Queens Award for Volunteering
  You may remember reading in a recent edition of ‘The Wychwood’ an article about the Cotswolds Voluntary Wardens. The Wardens are very proud to announce ...
• Writing for the Wychwood Magazine
  There is something very satisfying in writing an article that others want to read. Maybe, like me, you find drawing or painting a near impossibility, ...
• The Wild Wychwoods
  We are surrounded by a fabulous array of nature. Speaking as one who was bought up in a city, I feel hugely privileged to be ...
• Naval origins of commonplace sayings
  Many sayings and words in common usage have their origins in the Royal Navy, some of which are quite obvious and well known, some less ...
• Going up
  After years of what feels like an unchanging scene in the Wychwoods, change is at hand. And change is always controversial, especially changes to the ...
• A lifetime in building: Arthur Hunt
  Arthur Hunt has always cut a distinctive figure around the Wychwoods – tall, strongly built, clipped moustache with military overtones, dapper and always immaculately dressed, ...
• Introducing Marianne Ferrero, our new library manager
  I have thoroughly enjoyed my first month as Manager at Wychwood Library. While I relished the prospect of returning to work after five years of ...
• Another fine tree
  Our villages here in the Wychwoods are blessed with some lovely trees and I want to single out one in particular. It is the magnificent ...
• Milton WI reaches its century
  100 years of Milton WI was celebrated with a party in the village hall on 19th June. The WI was formed at the very end ...
• The trip of a lifetime
  What a year it has been! In September, I met seven other gap year students and two leaders for the first time; in January, we ...
• Fake News
  Even farmers suffer from the modern phenomenon of fake news. The latest advisory booklet to drop through my letterbox was a guide to protect against ...
• Once in a blue moon
  When it comes to music-making, I am the complete amateur – lots of enthusiasm and enough talent to fill an egg cup. There is virtually ...
• Local heroes
  Congratulations to Archie Orr-Ewing, who saved the life of a customer at his and Nicola’s pub, The Swan at Swinbrook. A diner had swallowed too ...
• A warm welcome
  Plans and the first stages of development are underway for new houses to be built in both Shipton and Milton with up to a hundred ...
• The Wychwood Singers – our community choir
  “Choir is the most important and most enjoyable of my weekly activities” – so says one of the Wychwood Singers. Over the past seven years, ...
• Bernard West – kitten of the keys
  Where we lived previously, I had ended up in the church choir, and I had no intention of making the same mistake when we moved ...
• The Wychwood Woolly Wonders
  A lot of plans and projects are discussed and enthused over in pubs; however very few ever come to fruition. This is what can happen ...
• The Wychwood Quiz (iii)
  1. Everyone knows the location of the New Beaconsfield Hall but where was the original building? 2. What were the previous names of the Milton Hare ...
• Girl power comes to the allotments
  As recently as 20 years ago allotments were very much a male preserve. This has been changing for years but recently I was struck by ...
• Fields of plastic tubes: the local background
  I was interested to read your article ‘Fields of plastic tubes’ and I thought you might be interested to hear the full story. As most ...
• Witney? Blankets, of course
  For hundreds of years, if you asked: ‘Witney?’… The answer was invariably ‘Blankets, of course!’. And Witney’s famous woollen blankets kept people warm from the ...
• Do you shop at Amazon?
  If so, here is an easy and NO-COST way of supporting The Wychwood Wild Garden. We have joined their Smile programme which donates 0.5% of ...
• Photos from Milton Fete July 2018
    August – September 2018
• August – September 2018
  Editorial I was very gratified to receive several very favourable comments about our last issue, the only problem being that we now have a good standard ...
• Next please – Dr Nixon looks back
  I never wanted to be a GP. In fact, I never wanted to be a doctor. I always wanted to be a vet. Growing up ...
• Cotswold Voluntary Wardens work in the Wychwoods
  Over the last two months, Cotswold Wardens have made a significant contribution to our core objectives in the Wychwood area, namely conserving, enhancing, understanding and ...
• Ascott Martyrs remembered
  On Martyrs’ Day, Saturday 23 June, local people and visitors from far and wide gathered at Ascott-under-Wychwood to remember the 16 women gaoled in May ...
• Dreams do come true
  Almost 25 years ago, a public meeting was called in Shipton to afford every parishioner a say on whether or not to build a new ...
• The MUWAGA Show – gardeners against the heat
  We all know that you can’t beat the weather; you may be able to reduce the impact but in the end nature wins. This year’s ...
• Congratulations around the Wychwoods
  Two Church Street couples, Charlie and Dominique Loader and Sebastian and Rachel Veeder, have made an attempt to drastically reduce the average age of the ...
• Harvest 2018
  I know, I know; farmers are always moaning about the weather. One minute it is too wet, the next we are desperate for a drop ...
• Summers of 1976 and 2018 – which was the hottest and driest?
  2018 has been an extraordinary year weather-wise so far in the Wychwoods, with the ‘Beast from the East’ to start the year, storms at the ...
• The Oxfordshire Performers Club
  A Performers Club has recently been set up for adult amateur musicians who are seeking opportunities to perform in a friendly and supportive environment. The Oxfordshire ...
• Fifield News …with some events not to be missed!
  Following their successful introduction last year, the Coffee with homemade cake, soup and bread mornings return to Fifield Parish Hall on the first Thursday of ...
• Welcome packs
  Over 100 new houses are planned for the Wychwoods, all planned to be completed within the next two years. In addition, existing houses are changing ...
• Ring out, wild bells
  Since the last report on the bells in the June/July edition of The Wychwood Magazine, thanks to the continued generous support of the local community, ...
• Nothing goes to waste
  Have you ever noticed that (some) men cannot bear to throw away their ‘good wood’? Friends talk about wood being moved from one house to ...
• “More tea, vicar?”
  In October, Geoffrey Clement became the new vicar of Shipton, Milton, Fifield and Idbury. Here, he introduces himself to our readers. So who am I? I ...
• Milton’s special tree
  Scattered around our villages are several variegated maples (acer) most of which are planted in private gardens. Many can be seen from the road. Their bright ...
• 1066 and all that
  One amazing mosaic is on display at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock, one that comprises 33 million pieces of spring steel. It depicts ...
• My heart will go on
  Members of The Wychwood Singers certainly “felt the words” as they sang this evocative song from Titanic to mark their affection for their late Musical ...
• On your doorstep – Lord Moreton’s Seat
  Tucked away in the parish of Lyneham is a tranquil spot with a magnificent view. It is not beside a road so you have to ...
• Milton parish news
  The last PC meeting prior to the summer recess saw a high turnout, due to the decision made by the Planning Inspector in relation to ...
• Once in a blue moon: a first
  Dustbin men have become ‘refuse operatives’ and perhaps lorry drivers will become ‘logistics deliverers’ but customs and excise officers just have to live with the ...
• Drinka Pinta Milka Day
  Youngsters will not remember this slogan, produced by the Dairy Council many years ago to promote its products. Some of the ancient ones will even ...
• Wychwood library
  There is a wide range of events at Wychwood Library, from our popular coffee morning every Wednesday, to our monthly Poetry, Reading and Knitting groups. We ...
• Over 60?
  A new magazine, ‘Our Generation’, is being produced by West Oxon District Council, outlining the many opportunities available for over 60s in the area. Copies ...
• From the archives – May 1980
    October – November 2018
• Hounds of the Wychwoods
  Getting to know the canine friends we meet out walking. Interviewer: Jan Harvey October – November 2018
• It has been an enormous “Step up for Alex”
  Eighteen months on from launching our fundraiser, Alex has since spent 30 days in hospital, 170 hours plugged into Functional Electrical Stimulation, 233 hours in ...
• What is the PPG?
  The Wychwood Surgery Patient Participation Group (the PPG) started over 12 years ago; since April 2016 such groups have been statutory. Members are all registered ...
• Wychwood Circle programme for 2018-19
  Continuing our radical exploration of culture, philosophy, faith and ethics, Wychwood Circle this season takes the theme of ‘What matters most’. From aspects of our ...
• The train now arriving…
  Do you travel to or from Kingham station? If so take a moment to look at and enjoy the flower beds, pots and hanging baskets. There ...
• Dorothy Treweeke (1923 – 2018)
  In the early morning of Tuesday 17 July, Dorothy Treweeke died peacefully at home with her very kind and efficient carer and a very good ...
• Wartime memories
  The Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum (SOFO) in Woodstock is planning a new 1930-1970s Oxfordshire exhibition and is now appealing to the public for help filling ...
• Common sayings with a biblical origin
  In our last issue, Martin Hallam introduced us to the naval origin of sayings like ‘mind your Ps and Qs’ and ‘Groggy.’ Now, Aubrey Raye, ...
• The things that we miss
  During the lull of activity that persevered during the heatwave, several readers of the Wychwood Magazine reminisced about some of the things that they miss, ...
• More photographic tips
  Following on from the article in the previous edition here are a few more compositional tips that you might find useful. Remember that they are ...
• October – November 2018
  Editorial The British have a fascination with the weather; remembering ‘The Beast from the East’ and a heatwave all within the past 12 months, this is ...
• Ship ahoy!
  Anyone who uses the Milton Coop will have met Rosie Dodds, one of many cheerful faces behind the counter. Here Rosie tells of her voyage ...
• Our global primary school
  We enjoyed an International Week of varied activities that taught the children about different countries and religions from all over the world. The oldest children ...
• HOWZAT! A report from Shipton cricket club
  The seniors – a challenging year We knew this year would be tough: several of our best and most experienced players had moved on with new ...
• Milton Parish Council
  This autumn, the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group has made considerable steps in the process of putting together a Plan. The village survey was analysed and ...
• Fifield explained
  Village names The origin of our village name – 5 hides/holdings/fields, is fairly well known, but has anyone ever managed to count the number of spellings ...
• The Christmas Cottage
  The phone call came out of the blue. Would I mind having my home featured in a glossy magazine as ‘The Perfect Christmas Cottage’? My ...
• A fruitful Autumn term at Ascott Preschool
  It’s been a wonderfully energetic start to the academic year at Preschool. We’ve loved hearing what children did over the holidays and welcoming lots of ...
• A letter from our new vicar
  Dear Friends, People often say to me: “It’s your busiest time of year!” They have a point, there is lots going on. But it is a ...
• A walk through time
  Imagine stepping out of the front door of Shipton Court, walnut trees and then an avenue of limes stretching ahead of you with open countryside ...
• Burford School plays Broadway
  In October, you may have attended the concert given by the school’s jazz ensemble All That Jazz when they performed at Milton Church. Or perhaps ...
• Oliver John Field
  7 September 1934 – 28 August 2018 Fifield was saddened by the sudden death of Oliver Field a few days before his 84th birthday. Born in ...
• The Hot Seat!
  The ups and downs of being Milton’s Parish Council Chairman Before getting so heavily involved in our local council, I spent the majority of my working ...
• Wychwood Benefice Mothers’ Union
  The origin of the Mothers’ Union dates from 1876 when Mary Sumner, a vicar’s wife, recognised that many women in her community lacked support whilst ...
• Wild Wychwoods
  Our kitchen overlooks the former mill leat and we get a lot of pleasure from watching the wildlife residents and visitors. Of these, the moorhens ...
• THE Royal Baby
  As I write, it’s the week after the announcement that Harry and Meghan are awaiting their first child. We have another royal birth to look ...
• The spirit of Christmas
  I was based at Cowley police station in the run-up to Christmas one year. In the early hours of one morning during the week before ...
• Iron Age Wychwoods
  The building of new houses can bring unexpected returns. In keeping with all new development sites, an archaeological survey is under way in the field ...
• Annie Savill
  1923 – 2018 Annie was born in London to Gaythorne and Mildred Savill. She spent some of her childhood, with her brother Billy, in Woodmancote, Gloucestershire ...
• The Great War
  The call to arms for the best of young men For King and for country across the Channel to fight Would they come back? No idea when To ...
• Christmas box biscuits
  100g butter 225g plain flour 100g caster sugar Boiled sweets halved 2 egg yolks Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks, add ...
• Is it the one with a feather in ‘er ‘ead?
  After approaching forty years in the Probation Service, I can claim to have worked in a wide variety of locations including Magistrates Courts, Crown Courts ...
• The editor’s mince pies
  Many years ago, a pre-Christmas edition of Blue Peter featured an idiot-proof recipe for mince pies, one that didn’t involve the tedious matter of making ...
• My wishes for 2019 (and beyond)
  What matters most? Based in part on Wychwood Circle reflections, my wishes for 2019 revolve, for our country, around truth, harmony and an end to ...
• Wychwood Folk Club – What’s in a name?
  At the time of writing, Elaine & I have been running your local folk club for almost 5 years. Now do not be put off (and ...
• Have you seen us?
  Do speeding vehicles through the Wychwoods concern you? Ask anyone who lives or walks near the main roads. How do you get those drivers to ...
• Congratulations to…
  Jimmy Mc/Culloch whose 80th birthday falls on 5 December, but there’s still nothing that he likes more than to go out for a bike ride. The ...
• Gardening club
  Whoopee it’s Christmas I am not the greatest fan of all the razzmatazz that precedes Christmas but I do like the day itself. It has the ...
• The summers of 1976 and 2018 in the Wychwoods
  ‘Yes, yes, let’s talk about the weather.’ So sang the ladies’ chorus in Pirates of Penzance, and the British have a fascination with the weather. ...
• The Slow Death of Maxwell Carrick
  Local author, Jan Harvey, has used Shipton under Wychwood as the backdrop for her new novel, The Slow Death of Maxwell Carrick. Borrowing heavily from ...
• The Wychwood BODS – Branching Out Drama Society
  The Wychwood BODS is a professionally run, new drama group for 11-18 years olds. This year we have been meeting on Monday evenings but in January ...
• Events calendar
  Events calendar
• December 2018 – January 2019
  Editorial In front of me is an empty page. I have only around 200 words with which to sum up the contents of this issue of ...
• The shape of water
  I met a family the other day coming into the Wild Garden from Dog Kennel Lane. It was obviously their first visit to the Garden ...
• Sing us another one
  As previously reported, the choir of the Wychwood Singers was devastated in the summer following the death of our much-loved Musical Director, Robin Martin-Oliver. He ...
• The house that Jeff built
  Not many people spend forty years in the pub; Jeff did. Mind you, he built most of it. And while few present-day residents of the ...
• Shipton news
  On Christmas Eve, a good sized crowd convened on the village green to sing carols around the tree. This year, the 50th anniversary of the ...
• Milton news
  Milton under Wychwood Parish Council started 2019 early with their first meeting in mid-January. There is plenty to do this year; among other goals in ...
• Fifield guide dogs
  A few years ago I wrote a short paragraph in the Fifield Parish Newsletter publicising the need for volunteers to give a Guide Dog brood ...
• Open your diary…
  … and enter the date: Monday 29th August (Bank Holiday Monday) for the Shipton Summer Fair. Up to 30 games that were all the rage ...
• Welcome pack
  Houses are changing hands constantly in the Wychwoods and new houses are on stream. Every new occupier should be made to feel welcome. It has ...
• Wychwood Library bulletin
  Five things you may not know about Oxfordshire libraries! You can join Oxfordshire Libraries online and can renew and reserve books online using your barcode and ...
• A lifetime in the workshop
  Past issues of the Wychwood Magazine have featured a series on individuals who have spent a lifetime in one career, or, at least, what has ...
• Living well with Dementia
  It is quite likely that you know of someone who has dementia, or, like me, you could have a close friend or family member who ...
• Memories of an Ascott Martyr
  Fanny Honeybone was the youngest of the Ascott martyrs. One of her children was Millicent and we managed to talk to Millicent’s son, Ivor Townsend, ...
• Wild Wychwoods
  This spring we extended the patio behind the house by 10 feet, not anticipating the wildlife surprise that lay in store. We laid a six ...
• Congratulations
  November’s production of Blackadder Goes Forth by the Wychwood Players was seen by some as their best-ever performance, at least as measured by the standard ...
• Cubs and Beavers go wild
  The Cubs and Beavers really do regard the Wild Garden as their second meeting place – come rain or shine! Over the years, we have spent ...
• A school with a difference … or two
  Once upon a time, there were three schools in the Wychwoods. First to disappear was the one at Milton although its building is still very ...
• Lady Reade Charity
  Do you know someone who is leaving school in 2019 and intending to go to university or college? If they live in Milton, Shipton, Bruern, ...
• School was never like this!
  School trips play an important part in enhancing the curriculum for the children and when children leave it is these trips they often remember the ...
• Up, up and away
  With Christmas fading into distant memory for many of us, some of the more successful gifts will hopefully remain an enjoyable distraction, if not even ...
• Lady Mondegreen is dead
  Well not really. She never existed but a mondegreen occurs when our brains try to make sense of a partially heard or semi-understood phrase. Lady ...
• Mini sagas
  Back in the 1980s, the Telegraph and Radio 4’s Today programme launched a combined competition for writers of Mini Sagas; stories written in exactly 50 ...
• End of the line
  Every day throughout the year, tourists stream into Burford, attracted by its ancient church, the dual rows of higgledy-piggledy shops that line the hill down ...
• Bravery
  The rugby referee stood a little nervously outside the pearly gates. St. Peter opened them with a smile. “Welcome. As you probably know, everyone who has ...
• On your doorstep: Chastleton House
  At first glance, Chastleton House, mid-way between Moreton and Chipping Norton, bears a striking resemblance to Shipton Court; both are fine Jacobean buildings, but while ...
• On your doorstep: The Fox at Leafield
  The Fox at Leafield, like many local pubs, has had to work hard to attract customers. It was closed from Spring 17 to April 18 ...
• In the hot seat! – Brian Rigby CBE
  Chairman of Shipton Parish Council Perhaps not really a hot seat as I only took over from Bartha Pitman in October – there is more warming ...
• Langley’s World War I naval hero
  The scene in the engine room aboard HMS Indomitable on the morning of 24 January 1915 was frantic. During what became known as the Battle of ...
• To dig or not to did; that is the question
  The tree is in the kindling pile, the tinsel is back in the bag and the indigestion is settling down, but it was fun while ...
• Two minutes of magic
  Magic is rare. In its rarity is its value, a value that can inspire for days, months and years into the future. But this magic ...
• The things that we miss
  In a previous issue, we listed some of the things that readers missed, for better or worse, including strap-on roller skates and teenagers who acknowledge ...
• Eva Montgomery 1923 – 2018
  Eva loved being part of an active village ever since she moved here in 1952. Coming from their busy Service life in the RAF, she ...
• No teddy bears in sight
  If you go down to the woods today, you are in for a big surprise. Well not THAT big but if you have walked through ...
• Much appreciated
  Both Shipton and Milton have very active groups of volunteers whose work is greatly appreciated, enabling our communities to retain and enhance their appearance to ...
• Artisan bakery and its impact at Matthews Mill
  Bertie Matthews in the wheat fields above his family mill in Shipton under Wychwood, Oxfordshire Matthews Cotswold Flour, based in Shipton under Wychwood,has launched two new ...
• Readers’ quiz
  The answers to all these questions can be found in the 2018 issues of the magazine. After six years the Wychwoods said goodbye to Rev’d Kate ...
• Fred Russell’s surprise 80th birthday party
  A selection of photos taken at the party February – March 2019
• Christmas 2018 at Blenheim
  A selection of photos from the lightshow at Blenheim. February – March 2019
• Citizens Advice
  If you are struggling with a problem or need impartial advice, Citizens Advice are on hand to help every Friday from 0900 – 1200. We ...
• February – March 2019
  Editorial 2019 is well underway; perhaps the novelty has worn off already. This new year heralds several new writers in our magazine as well as the ...
• A lifetime in caring
  When the editor first asked me if I would be interested in writing this article my immediate reaction was….absolutely not!!! I balked at the title ...
• The Rural Oxfordshire Network
  The Rural Oxfordshire Network, RON, was formed two years ago to fill the gap left when the long running Rural Issues Café was disbanded. RON was ...
• Milton fete
  Get your stetsons and cowboy boots ready for a Wild West theme to this year’s Milton under Wychwood Fete! This year, Tricia Waples and Shirley Allen ...
• Shipton Fair
  This is a definite diary date: Monday 26th August (Bank Holiday Monday). As well as the multiple games that have already been listed in our ...
• Why I love Parkrun
  It’s fun, it’s free, it’s sociable and it’s a small bit of ‘me-time.’ If, like me, you would like to try and get fit but do ...
• Wychwood Library – a hive of activity
  Event Spotlight: Rhymetime Rhymetime takes place every Monday in term-time from 14:00 – 14:30 in Wychwood Library for 0-5 year olds and their carers. There’s a ...
• Children’s hobbies: judo
  My name is Elodie Lock and I am 10 years old and attend Wychwood Primary School. I started doing Judo when I was 5 years ...
• Children’s hobbies: stamp collecting
  The joy of collecting stamps is that it is something to do when you want to be alone or you are feeling bored. I really ...
• Children’s hobbies: drama
  I started Saplings when I was six years old. We have children up to the age of thirteen and we put on plays. We have ...
• Children’s hobbies: reading
  One of my favourite things to do is read. There are thousands of different types of books, so therefore there is always something to read. ...
• Sow, sow and sow again
  I just love this time of year. Even if the weather can still be far from perfect you can say goodbye to winter and hello ...
• Milton under Wychwood Scarecrow Trail
  Following the success of the scarecrow competition at the MUWAGA Produce Show last year, ideas of holding a larger event for scarecrows were hatched by ...
• Congratulations
  The annual David Hills Trust Golf Day raised a fantastic sum exceeding £5,400 to support the work for children and young people at Toynbee Hall ...
• Dougles Cunningham
  5 December 1924 – 13 October 2018 Douglas was born and raised in Edinburgh, alongside his younger sister, and won a bursary to Leith Academy where ...
• John Hemming
  4 August 1927 – 23 December 2018 John was born in Solihull to his dad Jack and mother Amy. They first lived in Studley where they ...
• Can you see the tree for the wood?
  When talking to visitors about what trees they like in the Wild Garden the answers are typically the cedar, the limes in the avenue – ...
• Enthusiast at work
  I am a traditional dry stone waller living in Ascott under Wychwood and am highly honoured to have been nominated for an award for this ...
• Shipton Bells – the return
  Back in the autumn last year, Mike Brooks reported on the refurbishment of the church bells at Shipton. All the bells were removed and taken ...
• Footpaths in Shipton
  Ten footpaths that start in the village are described here, all relating to the sketch map. Later issues of the magazine will cover the footpaths ...
• All change
  The name Rawlins has been familiar among shops in our area for many years; sadly no longer. The Rawlins business began in 1911 as a bike ...
• The Wychwood Woolley wonders, chapter 2
  I write this next instalment of the adventures of six tyro shepherds and their flock of fifty ewes under a leaden February sky. But when ...
• Shipton council news
  This year, the Annual Parish Meeting, to be held on Thursday 18th April at New Beaconsfield Hall, will be tackling current issues in the village; ...
• Milton Parish news
  The Parish Council work hard on your behalf to improve the sights and facilities in the village and surrounding area. As well as initiating our ...
• N-GAGE Youth Club
  Ah, Friday night…the start of the weekend. Time to sit back, relax – maybe pour a glass of wine? Not at Wychwood Baptist Church! At ...
• Those fields of plastic tubes
  In the August/September issue I wrote an explanation about the ‘fields of plastic tubes’ and I thought it might be of interest to bring you ...
• Burford Festival 6-16th June
  There will be around 20 gardens open plus 50 other events including: Music: a capella voice choirs, jazz, classical and choral Film and theatre: A plastic ocean, ...
• Burford School
  A cause for celebration The government’s validated league tables published at the end of January confirmed that Burford is the best state school sixth form in ...
• Fill up your log store!
  We have fresh split logs available, all funds to the Wychwood Wild Garden. Call 0845 8056804 giving your name, address and contact number, we can ...
• Recipe: Walnut & Leek Quiche
  We are being encouraged to eat less meat,to increase fibre in our diet not to mention eating five portions of fruit and vegetables each day. ...
• Meat your maker??
  One film I shall not be watching this year is the Bafta award winning 73 cows. It is a film about a farmer, Jay Wilde, ...
• Why have an allotment?
  Good question. What are they for? Well, clearly for growing fruit and vegetables and flowers but also for getting out into the open air, away ...
• Friends united
  My friend Linda and I go back a long way. We met on our first day at Dartford County Grammar School for Girls in Kent ...
• Out of left field – baseball in West Oxfordshire
  My first sight of a baseball player was probably at the North Leigh fete in 1951. I think Heyford USAF base must have sent a ...
• Pitch perfect
  Four years ago the decision was made to install an all-weather pitch on the back field at school. This was to improve the sports provision ...
• February – March 2019
  Editorial 2019 is well underway; perhaps the novelty has worn off already. This new year heralds several new writers in our magazine as well as the ...
• Only joking
  Apparently the outsize ‘thatched cottage’ on Milton’s building site has been dubbed ‘Trump Tower;’ presumably the cul-de-sac behind will be called ‘Fake Mews.’ There was a ...
• Images of the Wychwood Rock Choir
  Some images of the Wychwood Rock Choir.  For details contact Gordon Halliday on gordon@sinnelsfield.co.uk. April – May 2019
• April – May 2019
  Editorial ‘Spring has sprung, the grass is riss, I wonder where the birdies is?’ – so goes the ancient piece of doggerel. And living in such ...
• Littlestock Brook flood management project
  During the past month or so, the Parish Council members and volunteers of Milton have joined the Littlestock Brook flood management project to help prevent ...
• Poetry at The Paddocks
  Reciting poetry aloud as part of a speech choir has helped improve the wellbeing of some of the residents at The Paddocks, Milton. And to ...
• Medical vignettes 1
  Dr Sandy Scott, long-time GP in the Wychwoods, begins a series of articles on some of his more memorable experiences during many years of medical ...
• Blue plaques
  All across the country, blue plaques are attached to buildings previously inhabited by individuals or groups of repute. Our area is no exception. The Wychwood ...
• Spring at Ascott Preschool
  Feathers, fleece and dragon flames We have enjoyed a lively Spring term at Preschool. One of the highlights has been watching our chicken and bantam chicks ...
• Come hell or high water
   Wychwood Mtb (mountain bike) was started by me last September, a 50-year-old who has a passion for being outdoors on a bike, specifically riding off-road ...
• Feeling the heat
  Taking care of your pet in the summer With another hot summer predicted, it’s essential for dog owners to brush up on some top tips for ...
• Milton Parish news
  Good news/bad news First the bad news. Some of you will be aware of recent acts of vandalism on the village green, on the footbridge at ...
• Shipton Parish – Annual Meeting
  Record breaker “This,” announced county councillor Liz Leffman, “must be the best suppported parish meeting I have ever attended!” Yes, she was referring to the Annual Parish ...
• Wychwood Bowls Club – 90th Anniversary
  When researching for this piece, I came across a lovely article called Teenage Memories of Shipton (The Wychwood, 1986). It described how cricket was played ...
• Ascott Martyrs update
  After two years of discussion with the Parish Council, including a public consultation exercise, the Ascott Martyrs Educational Trust is at last close to providing ...
• Shipton Church: the challenge
  Following the collapse of a large purlin (horizontal) roof timber due to wet rot, further inspection has found evidence of death watch beetle in several ...
• A year in the life of Milton WI
  2018 was such an amazing year for Milton WI – our centenary, so how can we top it? Well we will all have a jolly ...
• Alert!
  The children in Years 3 and 4 at the village school have been learning about WWII. They went for a visit to the STEAM museum ...
• Bright lights at Burford School
  The dates are set, the cast selected and everyone is wildly excited to see the Arabian tent booked for the show. From cast to crew, ...
• Investment Club goes online
  The Wychwood Investment Club is going virtual. Previously, meeting only once a month over dinner to discuss investments was just not enough time and led to ...
• Milton church from the air
  Credit: Robert Arnold June-July 2019
• The Wychwoods as they were
  Recognise any of these? June-July 2019
• Milton footpaths
  In our last issue we focussed on footpaths in Shipton; so what has Milton got to offer? Footpath 1 is a continuation of Green Lane which ...
• Wychwoods Tennis Club
  I first became involved at the Wychwoods Tennis club back in 1999 around the time the New Beaconsfield Hall was finished. Whilst pursuing my role ...
• Heavenly rugby
  Fred and Joe are two friends who are mad keen on rugby. Over a beer one night they make a pact that whichever one of ...
• All change at Fifield Parish Hall
  At the Annual General Meeting held on Tuesday 30th April, Jane McWilliam took over from Catherine Hitchens as Chairman. Catherine had been Chairman for 15 ...
• Living history
  It is an ordinary day in Ascott in 1947. The mobile shop has pulled up in front of the Old Forge and two ladies are ...
• Wychwood Library news
  June is a busy month at Wychwood Library as we prepare for our popular book stall at the Village Fete on 6th July. If you ...
• Peppa CO-OPerates
  Her master was out at the annual Church meeting And Peppa the dog was so tired of just sitting. The dog cage, the sofa, the armchair, the ...
• Elite bread and butter pudding
  This is very simple and includes one of your five-a-day portions, as well as using up leftover bread. It is good with rhubarb at this ...
• The inspector calls – Wychwood Inn
  Over the next couple of issues I shall be reviewing the four pubs in Shipton and Milton. First out of the hat is The Wychwood ...
• Just passing by
  In the middle of June, two national events passed close to the Wychwoods, witnessed only by a few; so what were these largely unnoticed events? It ...
• Changing times
  It is surprising how sensitive and responsive nature is to changes in the environment. Two days before Christmas, standing in a neighbour’s garden I became ...
• From the ashes
  Rumour has it that Judds Grave (the crossroads from Shipton to Leafield) got its name from Henry Judd’s coffin which went missing there in a ...
• A life remembered
  Saturday 23rd March was always going to be an emotional day for my family as it would have been my brother’s 42nd Birthday. Sadly Neil, ...
• A servant and a service
  Milton under Wychwood Welfare Trust Charity was formed in the early 1970s. It was a combination of three or four charities coming together to form ...
• My life as a sapling
  The Saplings is a great opportunity for younger children to find their voice and perform in front of family and friends. It is a music ...
• A time for everything in the garden
  As my reader knows, I am not one to moan (unless a good opportunity presents itself). It seems only the other day I was writing ...
• June-July 2019
  Editorial ‘Sunshine on my shoulder makes me happy,’ – so sung John Denver and it’s a line with which most readers would agree. Summertime anywhere brings ...
• Milton parish news
  Spring has been a busy period for the Milton councillors. A sub-committee has been established to consider bids to spend the money we will eventually ...
• News from St Mary’s Church
  Structural problems with the nave roof at St. Mary’s mean that the expected peel of our newly refurbished bells had to be delayed. A scaffolding ...
• Care for our future
  How much do you care about our Wychwood Surgery? The NHS seems to be constantly under threat and under budget. Future provision is within the ...
• Crispy wrapped asparagus
  This recipe celebrates the British asparagus season which will draw to a close in July so make the most of it because the imported varieties ...
• Francis John (Frank) Ware
  1932 – 2019 Frank was born in Quetta, on the Indian NW frontier (now Pakistan), the son of a British army officer, but went to school ...
• On your doorstep: Burford Church
  When historian, Simon Jenkins, wrote his mammoth guide entitled England’s Thousand Best Churches, he identified just 18 to which he gave five star rankings.  Only ...
• On your doorstep: Lodge Park & Sherborne Park Estate
  An insignificant sign off the A40, heading towards Cheltenham, points to Lodge Park, one of the National Trust’s lesser known, but very unusual properties.  At ...
• Wychwood School: An inspector calls
  In May we ’got the call’ to say Ofsted would be visiting the next day.  The inspection happened to take place on our Outdoor Learning ...
• Phileas Fogg beats the Wychwood Surgery
  He did it in 80 days; it is probably going to take us over a year. The entire surgery team are step-counting and aiming to walk ...
• Don’t be averse to a verse
  Don’t be averse to a verse Many pastimes are much worse At The Paddocks you can liven up the day And join the Speech Choir that’s run by ...
• Wychwood Players
  A Small Affair (a misnomer as it had a large cast of 17 characters) was written by the late Bob Larbey of The Good Life ...
• Behind the mask
  This is the first of what we hope will be a series of articles about older and familiar figures in the Wychwoods; what links each ...
• A year in the life of Shipton WI
  We are a group of women who lobby governments, raise community awareness and influence change; we also make jams and knit cardigans!  Being part of ...
• A bit of the Antarctic in Leafield?
  Here’s a mystery; up at the old radio station and Post Office training centre at Leafield, there is a solidly built hut which has always ...
• Daylesford Farmshop
  The road north-west from Kingham meanders along the Evenlode valley, parallel with the railway line, until it reaches Daylesford, a classic estate village, nestling below ...
• The village that smiled
  It was new, it was brave and it was designed to raise money for the Milton scouts and guides – oh, and it was raining ...
• Thanks for the stamps
  You may have read my article on stamp collecting in a previous issue. I was really surprised when I received not one, not two, but ...
• Burford School: End of an era
  ‘Off the cricket square!’ ‘If you can touch it, you can catch it!’  Familiar words to current students, generations before them and many of their ...
• The versatile hornbeam
  The late Dr Scott (senior) took it upon himself to plant a number of lovely trees around the village of Shipton and I have already ...
• What is strength and balance?
  This is an evidence-based exercise class focusing on developing strength, balance, flexibility and mobility. Uses a chair for support and a range of equipment. Ideal ...
• Going up fast
  First it was the planning stage, followed by the debate: what was going to be built next to the school and what would be its ...
• Summer term at Ascott Preschool
   Lots of fun, whatever the weather! We had a wonderful time at our Summer Fun Day and BBQ despite not-so-summery weather. The children enjoyed the bouncy ...
• Message-in-a-bottle….
  …. and card-in-a-wallet If you do not already have one of these little cannisters for each member of your household plus one of the Cards, all ...
• First impressions of The Swan
  A new pub in a village might be compared to the birth of a new sibling in the family- preceded with gossip as to its ...
• Blue plaque: Chipping Norton recording studios
  Little did I know as I lay back in the dental chair for my biannual inspection at Chipping Norton Dental Practice that the sounds emanating ...
• Mill Memories – A People’s History
  Life and Times of the Witney Blanket Workers I wonder if anyone else has experienced a moment of inspiration, thinking that’s a good idea, jumping in ...
• Congratulations!
  Golden Weddings There have been several Golden Weddings over the past few months, including John and Pat Soothill, John and Edna Naish, Tony and Di Fletcher, ...
• The things we miss
  Past issues of The Wychwood Magazine have carried lists of the things that we miss; everything from Spangles to Top of the Pops.  That was ...
• Mike Porter
  27 May 1935 – 27 April 2019 When Mike and I were living in Ripon, North Yorkshire in the early 1980s, he was posted to RAF ...
• Medical vignettes 2: Acceptance
  My father arrived in the Wychwoods as the new doctor in 1936. Over the next four decades, he laid the foundations and slowly built a ...
• Photos from Milton Fete 6 July 2019
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• August – September 2019
  Editorial If there is one term that links many of the articles in this issue of The Wychwood, it is the term ‘feel-good’. At a time ...
• It’s a wonderful life
  Back in April I wrote rather gloomily about the prospects for this year’s harvest. We had just had a very dry spell and all our ...
• Cooperation is better than conflict
  During May we were having a clear up in the garden and our daughter went to pick up a piece of white plastic that had ...
• More coffee anyone
  Surely there has to be a limit to how much coffee can be drunk in Milton? Perhaps not. While there are at least three existing ...
• Ringing the changes
  Little did I know four years ago when I thought about learning to ring bells! “How hard can pulling on a rope be?” Surprisingly difficult ...
• A message from our MP, Robert Courts
  One issue that is frequently raised with me is law and order, and policing. Everybody, all across the country, wants to feel secure and safe ...
• A memorable year for the Bowls Club
  Wychwood Bowls Club has enjoyed a busy season playing our usual local friendly fixtures (against Burford, Chipping Norton, Filkins, Charlbury, Adderbury, Begbroke, Chadlington, Middle Barton, ...
• Wychwood Photography Group
  Your local photography club continues to thrive and is now in its fourth season. We are an informal club dedicated to helping new, inexperienced or ...
• Medical vignettes no. 3
  Retired local doctor, Sandy Scott, continues his series on the joys and perils of being a GP. She was a matriarch who had lived for most ...
• Community concerns
  We make no apologies for raising the following issues again, resulting from further acts of indiscipline by a small minority in the Wychwoods, affecting both ...
• Milton Parish news
  Ash die-back is affecting us badly in the area (you may have heard that the Bruern Estate woods are being closed) and we have had ...
• Shipton church roof
  Walk into St Mary’s church and the first thing you see is a huge and complex scaffold structure which stretches to the roof of the ...
• Our library in action
  The Space Chase! Big congratulations to all the children who finished the Summer Reading Challenge, ‘The Space Chase’, and proudly received their medals and certificates. All ...
• The archive
  The Wychwoods Local History Society has now digitalised around 2,500 photographs. Unfortunately a good number do not have details of the people shown. We plan to publish ...
• Apple Day at Milton’s community orchard
  The orchard is looking lovely now that the grass has been cut and all of the trees weeded and mulched. We left the grass long ...
• Woods and limbs at risk
  The Bruern estate is suffering heavily from Ash Dieback, sometimes known as Cholera ash dieback, so much so that it looks as though we shall ...
• Restaurant review: The Hare at Milton
  I have visited The Hare more than once and have never been disappointed. It has all the qualities that I hope to find in a ...
• Gardeners’ delight
  The MUWAGA show Despite erratic weather the level of entries to the August Show was as high as usual. There were 316 exhibits, ranging from ambitious ...
• Cub Scouts – developing ‘skills for life’
  “So can we go faster than the speed of light?” This was a (not unusual) question raised recently during a wide-ranging conversation by Cub Scouts. It came ...
• Time for a fresh start
  This is the ideal time of year to be considering the possibility of taking on an allotment; the growing season is largely over, the weeds ...
• The gnomes are back
  Last year you may recall a strange gnome running around our village, training for the London Marathon. To date, Adam Smith, aka the MDUK GNOMERUNNER, ...
• Autumn
  From the middle of August there are the first indications – the merest suspicions – of autumn: a whiff of wood smoke; the gathering of ...
• Your post office
  Shipton post office was raided one night in the summer with considerable damage done to the post office equipment; this resulted in the closure of ...
• Fred Evans
  23.8.21 – 7.7.2019 Fred was born in Islington on 23rd August 1921. He grew up with his brother Stan, who was 10 years younger than him. Fred had ...
• Courgette chutney
  This is good for using up the glut of courgettes or the ones which have turned into small marrows overnight. 1.5 lbs of courgettes grated 1.5 tabs ...
• Rising to the challenges
  The editor of the Wychwood Magazine has asked me to write an article for the Wychwood about the perils and pitfalls of being an author. ...
• Building on success
  The New Beaconsfield Hall was built in 1998 with a supreme effort from the people of the Wychwoods. The villagers used every conceivable form of ...
• Church is not just for Sundays!
  A quiet space to be still Have you ever thought of visiting the church during the week? The churches are open seven days a week during daylight ...
• Shipton’s traditional fair 2019
  In all probability there are times leading up to an event when all organisers a) question their sanity, b) vow never to repeat the experience, ...
• Memories of steam
  I read with interest about the Flying Scotsman passing through the Wychwoods in the last issue. It reminded me that as a child of ten ...
• High notes, low notes
  The Wychwood Singers have just completed what can only be described as a traumatic but ultimately successful singing year. As many readers will know our ...
• West Oxfordshire Citizens Advice
  Volunteer and make a difference You don’t need previous experience to join Citizens Advice as a volunteer because we provide all the training and support required. ...
• A wonderful asset
  After much planning and building our All Weather Pitch is up and running. We were very pleased to invite Lord Glendonbrooke, whose charity donated the ...
• Coming shortly
  Both the new housing estates, Deanfield Homes at Shipton and St. Jude’s Meadow in Milton are getting ready for occupation. St. Jude’s Meadow is progressing ...
• Don’t ditch it!
  “That’s not worth saving!” But sometimes it is. Heather Derkacz is a great believer in recycling for charity and she could use many of the things ...
• Readers’ quiz
  How did Shipton get its village green? Which is the oldest property in Milton? Can you name the two leaders of the Wychwood Guides? Where was the Wychwood ...
• October – November 2019
  Editorial This issue of the Wychwood magazine really does have something for everyone. As autumn arrives with its shorter evenings, there is a feast of reading ...
• A farmer’s Christmas
  The farming seasons merge from one time to another but it feels as if a line has been drawn when harvest is finished and, at ...
• The well-seasoned gardener
  What I want for Christmas is ……….. Christmas is a time to celebrate, eat, drink and gather family together. Those are the things I treasure. At ...
• Never a dull moment at Wychwood School
  We are grateful to the local community who support our school. The Cotswold Wardens came and took our Year 5 and 6 children on a ...
• Milton parish council news
  Nicola Boulton has been co-opted onto the council, a valuable addition, but on a sad note, we send our condolences to the family of Pat ...
• Shipton parish council news
  The Deanfield Homes development is progressing well. They have opened a show home and are now actively marketing the properties. We can thank them for ...
• Good Companions’ farewell
  It was David Trollope, who has been involved in so many activities in the Wychwoods since he has lived in Milton, who thought of the ...
• Rolling in on the crest of a wave
  Did you know that we now have deliveries of fish brought fresh from Grimsby to the Wychwood villages on Mondays? Jane parks her van and ...
• A child’s Christmas, 1950s style
  Christmas 1954 was eagerly anticipated by us children; two weeks before our mothers would allow us to go singing carols. At people’s houses, a group ...
• Wychwoods’ history
  The ambitious project to produce a definitive history of the County of Oxfordshire within the Victoria County History series moves on with the publication of ...
• Marie Moss
  1924 – 2019 I used to regularly take Marie to the Day Centre and we would talk with Fred Russell of the old times and what ...
• Cricket Club report, 2019
  The seniors went into the season with four new team captains knowing, for the 1st & 2nd XIs at least, it would be a year ...
• Grandson of Ascott Martyr unveils memorial plaques
  Welcoming a good crowd of mainly descendants of the Ascott Martyrs at a recent unveiling of more explanation of the Martyrs’ story on the village ...
• Wild Garden – party invite
  The letter arrived in 2009; “Would the community be interested in buying the Wild Garden?” The answer was a resounding YES and after a frenzied ...
• Remember
  Remembrance Sunday has now passed but what about 2020? All three Wychwood villages need a volunteer to take over responsibility for the poppy appeal in ...
• 2019, a musical dilemma
  My piano students are accustomed to staging their June show and receiving their prizes and awards and, to all intents and purposes, it seemed that ...
• Oh no you didn’t ………
  If you have lived in the Wychwood villages for 20 years or so you may well remember the pantomime productions put on at the OLD ...
• Lady Reade Educational Foundation
  In 2019, the Lady Reade Educational Foundation, run by St. Mary’s Church, Shipton, awarded five grants to students planning to attend university or college this ...
• Nativity
  The air tense with anticipation – Mothers, hankies screwed in nervous hands, Fathers, tall and stiff and out of place, Await the magic of the incarnation. Coughs, scraping chairs, ...
• The Mutant Mice of Milton – a bedtime story
  My dad loves gadgets. He is always among the first to buy a new smart phone or tablet when it comes out. I suppose this ...
• Christmas cheer
  The annual pre-Christmas sale at John and Liz Shannon’s in Milton raised the amazing total of £1200. Not bad for a house sale, one that ...
• Missed!
  The golf challenge between the vicar and a businessman was reaching its finale – just three holes to go. Scores were level. The businessman licked ...
• Wychwood Library bulletin
  It is never too late to join the library We would love to see ‘Join the library’ on your list of New Year’s Resolutions. You can ...
• All the fun of autumn at Ascott pre-school
  Getting out and about in Ascott Our aim this term has been to venture out around the village as much as possible. On one walk we ...
• Your bus service
  Changes are in hand for our local bus service, run by West Oxon Community Transport. From 14th December there will be a regular Saturday service; ...
• Reuben Thomas Wilsker – an appreciation
  1991 – 2019 Reuben – standing at the back left in the photo – was born with the disadvantage of having cystic fibrosis. Did he allow ...
• Thank you
  The produce table at the junction up beyond Milton church has, thanks to the generosity of Joanna and David Van de Poll, raised £700 this ...
• Stars light the skies
  The Wychwood Saplings and BODS( Branching Out Drama Society) worked throughout the summer holidays to perform ‘A Summer Showcase’ for family, friends and supporters. The ...
• Recruiting Shared Lives carers
  The Shared Lives Scheme matches people who need additional support to be independent and live on their own, with carers and their families. Sharing a ...
• Wychwood Circle – a gymnasium of the imagination
  Psychotherapists, counsellors and others interested in mental health as well as spirituality may have spotted some interesting speakers at Wychwood Circle this autumn. After mindfulness ...
• Bods keep branching out
  We want you to hear our voice. Our drama society is open to young people to join us on our journey. We aim to have ...
• Messy church
  Sounds interesting? Come and join us at the Wychwood School on Sunday 8 December from 4pm until around 6pm and start getting into the Christmas ...
• Tarka the otter
  In the summer, walking the dogs along the river we noticed crayfish shells dotted along the bank, the sure sign of an otter. Twenty five ...
• Medical vignettes, number 4
  The House stood in its own seven acre grounds in an isolated spot in the valley. Originally built as a Hunting Lodge, it had changed ...
• The Wychwood Art Group
  Have you always wanted to paint but don’t know where to start? Did you used to paint but have forgotten how to approach the subject? ...
• Handy tip
  If you have been unfortunate enough to drop your mobile phone in a pan of water, or worse, in the bath you may find this ...
• Milton Community Craft Cafe
  This is an exciting new venture led by a group of volunteers providing a place for people of all ages to meet, either over a ...
• Groaning names
  Many shops and other establishments have a love of what can only be called ‘make-you-groan’ titles. Here are a few that have come to our ...
• The three musclelessteers
  Dear, oh dear – would you just look at them?! Three fully fledged males from Shipton with not a six pack in sight. They look ...
• December 2019 – January 2020
  Editorial The last issue of the Wychwood felt quite special to me; why was that? It had the normal quota of interesting local items and news, ...
• New faces at the Wychwood Magazine
  The Wychwood Magazine would not survive without its volunteers. Apart from the layout and printing of the magazine, everyone responsible for the production of this publication is ...
• A Fifield mystery
  Riddle: when is a window not a window? This riddle came about when the new needlepoint stained glass window came to be hung in Fifield church. ...
• Burford School: The challenge and the satisfaction
  Here at Burford School, we actively encourage all our students to get involved in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme at every level. We have ...
• Wychwood School: on the way out?!
  Outdoor learning We are so fortunate in having a Forest School on the school site and we have extended our curriculum to include Outdoor Learning for ...
• Medical vignettes 5: the Nepali ambulance
  In 1988, a small group of us split from a large trek descending from Everest to climb over a high altitude pass to view the ...
• Laburnum Grove by J. B. Priestly
  The Wychwood Players’ latest production gave us a chance to witness pre-war 1930’s English suburbia as dramatised by the noted writer J. B. Priestley in ...
• Congratulations
  Grace, a Year 6 pupil at Wychwood School, finished 25th out of 120 runners at the County Cross Country Finals – 25th best out of ...
• Hugely appreciated
  Great thanks are due to the few who help the infirm. Let me explain. The car has gone, so has the eyesight, but in their ...
• Delicious chocolate cake
  What I like about this cake is that you can use either jam or marmalade and it is a good way of using up those ...
• A year of singing
  We are incredibly fortunate in Shipton to have our fantastic church choir. It is currently 25-strong, but that has varied considerably through the 17+ years ...
• Wychwood voices
  It is not just Wales that is famed for singing in the valleys. Here in the Evenlode valley, we have at least three choirs providing entertainment ...
• Mill Memories – A People’s History
  The life and times of the Witney blanket workers After three and a half years of collecting the mill workers’ stories, writing the book and finally ...
• It’s veg all the way
  Santa came and went and a very good time was enjoyed by all. There is always a fly in the ointment and one moaner – ...
• Susanna and Chris Naylor
  The deaths in a road accident of Susanna and Chris Naylor stunned many, not least neighbours and friends in Shipton. They had been on a ...
• Patrick Edginton
  1946 – 2019 Pat was born on January 2nd 1946 and passed away on August 26th 2019. Pat started his education at Dean Close junior school ...
• Wychwood Tennis Club – a potted history
  The club was formed in 1950 and so this year, 2020, we will be celebrating the club’s 70th Birthday by organising several events for both ...
• Does healthcare bother you?
  Healthwatch Oxfordshire, the county’s independent health and social care watchdog, is recruiting new Trustees. If you have a passion for making things better, and you like ...
• Ascott Pre-school
  We are ready for a great 2020 We are looking forward to lots of fun at Pre-school this year: there will be cooking, crafting, singing, dancing, ...
• Losing the canopy
  Next time you walk down the Wild Garden Avenue towards the Round Pond, pause at the junction of the path that goes off to the ...
• Rain, rain go away
  Christmas seems to have come and gone so quickly. Why does time go faster as you get older – it should be the other way ...
• Wychwoods’ weather summary for 2019
  The weather during 2019 has been hitting the headlines for its extremes in both temperature and rainfall, but if you were to take the summary ...
• Confessions of a bookworm
  I have been spotted in the library by the editor of this magazine, desperately trying to squeeze my numerous books into the small opening of ...
• Trial by jury
  The envelope had an official look about it, an air of something about to make an impact on life. Inside was my summons to Jury ...
• A trip to the beach
  A grandmother took her little grandson to the beach. They were having a good time until a huge wave came in and swept the boy ...
• Interior design
  Muddy boots and fun pursuits Creating a stylish home that can also withstand muddy boots and soggy pawprints can be a challenge, but it is entirely ...
• Welcome
  In a recent issue of this magazine, a reader sent a very downbeat poem, lamenting the supposed decline of the Wychwoods. Here, a fellow reader ...
• Linda recommends…
  This is the first contribution to what we hope will be a regular feature where local readers choose their favourite books from Milton library. Here, ...
• Milton parish news
  The collapsed wall in Shipton is a timely reminder of what nature can do, especially with all the rain we have had through the autumn ...
• Shipton parish council news
  Although we are now firmly into the New Year, we would like to thank everyone who attended the Christmas Carols on the Green on Christmas ...
• Eating at the Shaven Crown
  The Shaven Crown in Shipton under Wychwood was founded in 1365 but the new management has only been in place for seven months, long enough ...
• Supper Club
  The Gluts & Gluttony Monthly Supper Club is a feast from the veg patch on the last Friday of every month by food writer and ...
• The sequel
  In our last issue, Swedish correspondent, Lars Legs, reported on three elderly and distinctly scrawny runners from Shipton, dubbed The Three Musclelessteers, who were continuing ...
• April – May 2020: 40th Anniversary edition Part 1
  The April – May 2020 edition of The Wychwood is the first of a number of special editions celebrating 40 years  since the first publication.  ...
• February – March 2020
  Editorial This issue, the first in our anniversary year – of which, more later, is packed with variety. Nobody can read its pages and feel left ...
• Four decades of The Wychwood
  April – May 2020
• The Wychwood Post
  In 2010 the idea of a community-based social media group began to take shape. When I moved back to the Wychwoods in early 2011, I ...
• Party night
  The idea of a Burns Night supper came late to the good folk of Ascott, but not too late. The essential ingredients were identified. First came ...
• Friday night is cricket night
  6.00 – 7.30 Our dedicated team of coaches and helpers ensure we offer player-centred coaching sessions where developing cricket skills is fun, exciting and safe for ...
• Wet, wet, wet
  Remember the weather in February this year? Storm Ciara, Storm Dennis and Storm Jorge almost without a pause. But readers may be surprised to know ...
• Shipton May Day
  ‘Good-morning, ladies and gentlemen, We wish you a happy day, We’ve come to show you our garlands, Because it’s the First of May.’ The happy sounds of young children ...
• Shipton Church: an update
  Over a year after a timber fell from the roof, alerting us that all was not well with the structure, Shipton church is still full ...
• On display
  This year, as part of Oxfordshire Artweeks (www.artweeks.org), the Wychwoods will be represented by Alison Townley, Cally Bond, Ian Sanders and Julia Sorrell R.I., whose ...
• Eyes wide open
  Next time you wander through the Wild Garden, keep your eyes open for a rare specimen. As you walk with the ponds on your left ...
• Only ten years old
  While the Wychwood Magazine is 40 years old, the Wild Garden is celebrating its 10th year since it became a village-owned asset with a special ...
• Aside
  A doctor friend was driving at high speed round a roundabout when he spotted the police car. He wound down the window and waved his ...
• Sue recommends…
  I particularly like books that weave the history of a country through the story, giving an insight into different cultures. Here is my ‘short-list’: Patrick Gale, ...
• Children: Hunt the villages
  Click here for a pdf version that you can download and print.
• Brock’s health warning
  Did you know that LED night lighting can damage the retina and promote macular degeneration, particularly in the over 50s? I am referring specifically to ...
• Lockdown – a shop assistant’s view
  Rosie Dodds works as a shop assistant and here she gives her reflections on the lockdown. In my life I’ve never experienced anything so frightening and ...
• Lockdown – a teacher and mother’s view
  Dee Loder, local teacher and mother, looks back at her experiences during lockdown I have lived in the village for almost 10 years and worked at ...
• Lockdown – view from a Wychwood Baptist
  John Witts, gives Wychwood Baptist’s perspective. As with the Benefice, COVID-19 has impacted how WBC operates, and we are similarly providing services and activities on Zoom, ...
• Olives – grown in Shipton
  A burst of early spring sunshine has inspired Camilla and Hamish Harvey to break out of enforced isolation to harvest a bounteous crop of olives ...
• April – May 2020
  Editorial Nostalgia, so the saying goes, ain’t what it used to be. But there is no shortage of it in this, our anniversary issue of the ...
• June – July 2020
  Editorial Many readers will remember 2007 as the year of the floods; most will remember 2008 as the year of the financial crisis; but everyone will ...
• Wychwood weather in May and June 2020
  If this proves to be popular, then this might become a more regular feature in this magazine, with a local weather report about the two ...
• Cruising down the river
  Enjoying the peace and quiet of a recent stroll along the River Evenlode between Shipton and Ascott I recall how, one sunny afternoon back in ...
• Ascott Preschool is back in business
  Like all educational establishments, we learned how to cope with the lockdown.  Videos were produced, stories were told, pictures of freshly hatched chicks and even ...
• Tribute to Steve Biles 1947-2020
  Steve was born at home in Black Bourton on 21st February 1947, the year of the great snow. He was born at 5.30 a.m., one ...
• Success
  Jasmine Meaden from Ascott certainly has a very good reason to celebrate.  She has recently been offered a place at The Guildhall School of Music ...
• The new face of school
  Lockdown changed in school from 1st June when Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 children were allowed to go back to school along with Key ...
• 40 years at Burford School
  Originally opened in 1571, Burford School has seen many changes in its lifetime.  By the time the Wychwood Magazine was launched, Burford School had just ...
• Falling back in love with the Wychwoods
  For many university students, lockdown has forced us to make the decision to come home to be with our families during the uncertainty. This meant ...
• Everyone for tennis?
  Tennis has been a life saver for the physical and mental well-being of its club members once the lock-down restrictions were eased, it being one ...
• Matthews flour mill rises to the challenge
  Matthews Mill by the Shipton train station is a fine heritage industrial building.  Built in 1912, if the walls could talk, they could tell us ...
• A care without limits
  My name is Kirsty from Familiar Faces. I have been providing a private home care service for the vulnerable and the elderly for two and ...
• On, on – harvest awaits
  Many moons ago I used to do a bit of hashing.  I am not referring to a drug habit, but a form of cross country ...
• Pastures New
  When you have lived somewhere for 23 years it is hard to move on to a new area, but that is what Jan Harvey and ...
• Local blue plaques: The Revd Edward Stone
  This magazine’s series of articles on local blue plaques, continues with the blue plaque to be found on the site of the old Hitchman Brewery ...
• Scouting under lockdown
  Normal Scouting at 1st Wychwoods came to a screeching halt with the rest of the country in mid- March. All those ambitious outdoor plans were ...
• Reflections from Fifield
  Finding nothing odd about putting a package on someone’s doorstep, ringing the bell and then dashing backwards at top speed in case they open the ...
• Gordon Gillett (1945 to 2020)
  A victim of Covid19, Gordon sadly died in April this year in the Elizabeth Finn Care Home in Bradwell Village, just south of Burford, where ...
• 40 + years of Johnson’s garage
  Mum and dad purchased Station Road Garage in 1966 from Dickie Worth (of Worth’s coaches). It was a lot of money at the time, but ...
• Changes in medical practice in the Wychwoods over 40 years
  By way of a preface, what follows are MY thoughts and opinions as a long-standing GP on the changing face of General Practice over the ...
• A real tweet
  There is nothing special at first glance – just a cul-de-sac of bungalows for older people hidden in the middle of Milton.  But even the ...
• From the sublime…
  Following on from other readers’ ethereal and magnificent encounters with elusive and mighty beasts, my own close brush is on a smaller scale and strikes ...
• School holidays – 1918 style!
  School holidays in 2020 will, in all probability, be very different from previous years, but one thing is certain: they will be nothing like school ...
• If you go down to the woods today …
  …  you could get a big surprise.  While the Wild Garden is well known in the community, the Foxholes Reserve at Bruern is off the ...
• Keep those wheels a-turning
  Time spent tinkering with bikes during lockdown has led to an opportunity for budding bike repair enthusiast Laurie Wessel. I am thirteen years old and I ...
• FarmED
  For the past couple of years, work has been going on above Shipton on the A361, transforming the land beyond the Lyneham/Kingham turning, but what ...
• What next?
  At the time of writing, the lockdown is being eased in gradual stages and the pandemic is in retreat.  The danger is by no means ...
• Strawberry and Mascarpone Swiss Roll
  Serves 6 to 8 people This is a lovely summer dessert and can be made the day before, particularly enjoyable in the garden if you can ...
• Wychwood School copycats
  Can you identify the original artworks and the children who appear in the copies?       August – September 2020
• Test pdf
• August – September 2020
  Editorial Perhaps there has never been such an indecisive summer as the one we are experiencing. The virus lurks behind every decision and in many ways, ...
• Introducing the new deputy editor
  Originally from Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, university took me to Salford, Ohio, Leeds and Durham where I ditched biochemistry to become a primary school teacher. At Salford ...
• Sew, sew, quick quick sew
  There are four wonderful women from this neck of the woods, namely SARA, NICKY, LOUISE and JILL, who have built and tended a tree opposite ...
• Harvest 2020
  I would not advise anyone to ask an arable farmer for an honest appraisal of this year’s harvest – not unless you enjoy bad language ...
• 40 years of change in Ascott-under-Wychwood
  Men may come and men may go, but I go on forever. While these lines of Tennyson’s, learned by many during their schooldays, were written ...
• Limericks
  In our anniversary issue, we challenged readers to write a limerick that began with the line, ‘There once was a worker from Harrow…’ Seven entries ...
• Shopping lessons from the lockdown
  Over the years, I have fallen into the habit of doing most of my shopping as one ‘big weekly shop’ from the supermarket. However, during ...
• Ascott’s unique village shop
  The tagline ‘owned by the village, run by the village, there for the village’ really does sum up Ascott’s beloved, award-winning village shop. The shop’s ...
• Milton Parish Council news
  The COVID lockdown has meant that council meetings have been conducted via Zoom. This change required legislation to be passed in order for us to ...
• The view from Milton
  It is not very often that a comet is visible in our skies for a sustained period of time. However, in July and August we ...
• 92 miles in three days
  In April I lost my mother to COVID-19. This was a difficult time, especially as my twin brother and I were also struck down with ...
• Birth of a wooden car
  Some children appear to be born with a spanner in their hands, and Andrew Bradley was certainly one of these. His father, Bob Bradley, was ...
• Heartfelt
  Some time ago, l was able to say thank you to the volunteer drivers that have taken us to the hospitals. Now, through The Magazine, ...
• A cautionary tale
  Radawi was very proud of his grass hut – the pride of the village. So when the meeting of tribal chiefs was announced, he was ...
• The happy allotmenteer
  On retirement, I decided to rent an allotment and, eight years later, I still do not regret that decision – until I get caught in ...
• 40 years of change at the WI
  Since the first WI (Women’s Institute) meeting in the Wychwoods back in 1918, there have been many changes to village life and its institutes. In ...
• Thoughts of a new arrival
  There is no denying that the last few months have proved to be an extremely odd time for all: or, to use that favourite expression, ...
• Wychwood weather: July and August 2020
  This report is more factual and less descriptive than previous versions, drawing on the charts below. As you can see from the tables, July was ...
• COOKIE POLICY
  About this cookie policy This Cookie Policy explains what cookies are and how we use them, the types of cookies we use i.e, the information we ...
• Pathways to freedom
  The Cotswold Wardens’ last walk was in mid-March, just before everything stopped. Our work parties were also suspended. All this when we have had the ...
• Congratulations
  Jean and Keith Colledge celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary recently. Shipton church, well supported by the whole community, raised around £1000 for the repair and restoration ...
• Things that go bump in the night
  At last, and not before time, August’s heatwave was coming to an end. Sweltering days followed by restless nights. Everyone had had enough. Finally, Thursday ...
• Blind date with a book?
  As soon as lockdown began, Wychwood Library closed. All its users were bereft. No library and no bookshops. There was always online shopping but that ...
• The church at work
  The Chipping Norton Deanery has a new Area Dean: Rev’d David Salter of Churchill and Kingham was sworn in on Wednesday 8 July, 2020, by ...
• The beauty and the folly of growing sunflowers
  Like pretty much every other farmer, we have been trying to find a viable crop to replace oilseed rape (OSR). OSR has worked well for ...
• Medical vignettes: Zanskar 1989
  Zanskar 1989. The June of the Tiananmen Square massacre, I was the doctor on a small expedition to attempt to climb the north face of ...
• A Wychwoods education of sixty years ago
  (Extracted from a longer article of lifetime memories by Rob Taylor prepared for the Wychwoods Local History Society and available on their website at https://wychwoodshistory.uk/whistory/a-shipton-lad-not-just-a-naughty-boy/ ...
• Wychwood Neighbourhood Watch
  ‘Nottingham Knockers’ are door-to-door traders who try to sell goods on the doorstep: often cheap household items. They will often claim to be on a ...
• From lockdown to Wembley
  Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown meant huge changes to daily life for everyone. One loss was competitive sport. Without warning, the national sports’ pages were ...
• The Wychwood Interview
  Our magazine is starting a series of interviews of well-known characters and where better to start than with the chairman of the Milton parish council, ...
• The wildlife pond and more at Shipton allotments
  There are various reasons for building ponds and while those in Milton are aimed towards improved drainage and balancing the ecology, featured in the Council ...
• Help in Milton
  The Milton-Under-Wychwood Welfare Trust was established in August 1970, being made up from the following charities: • The Milton-under-Wychwood Charity of Ann Ansell – which was ...
• The first time
  The Wychwood is beginning a series of articles in which readers recount the first time they did something a bit special. Here, Tony Lewis opens ...
• We’ll Meet Again. Thank God.
  No one could remember a time when even the vicar wasn’t allowed to enter a church building. Two World Wars didn’t stop church services, rather ...
• Shipton church car boot sale
  Photos of Shipton’s summer boot sale in aid of the church roof restoration. October-November 2020
• October – November 2020
  Editorial Not everyone in the Wychwoods is called to active service but this issue shows the huge range of activities undertaken by the locals. While not ...
• Carol singing
  Samantha decided to go carol singing on Christmas Eve. She knocked on the door of a house and began to sing. A man, holding a ...
• Milton Parish council news
  It has been a bit of a whirlwind here at MPC of late. Jenny Miller, our Clerk, confided in me some time back that she ...
• Shipton Parish Council news
  Here are a few updates to things that may (or may not!) be of interest to you. Environmental initiatives – The Parish Council embarked on its ...
• Fifield news
  During the Fifield Parish Meeting in late August, Catherine Hitchens and Vicky Orr Ewing stepped down from the position of Chair and Vice Chair to ...
• North Oxfordshire Community Foodbank
  As many face a bleak winter there has never been a more urgent need to support those engaged in meeting the needs of families facing ...
• Congratulations!
  For the second time in five years, the Rooflight Company, based here in the Wychwoods and advertised in this magazine, has been voted West Oxfordshire’s ...
• Mapping the Wychwoods
  I have spent most of my working life working with antiquarian maps and atlases and when you consider the relative size of the three Wychwood ...
• Definitions
  For these offbeat definitions, blame Peter Claxton: Impending: death of a pixie Codicil: this fish is unwell Apres ski: a broken leg Inhabit: dressed as a monk Carpe diem: fish ...
• With regret
  We have been informed of the recent deaths of two well-known and much liked members of our communities; Bet Insley, a long-term resident of Milton, ...
• Thank you, Martin
  You hear people say, “Oh he’s a real asset to the village.” With no one is that truer than for Martin Gibbs and we at ...
• The Wychwood Magazine 2020 quiz
  Who was the turkey pluckers’ shop steward? Who does the new plaque on Ascott village green commemorate? Angela Profitt had a book published telling the story of ...
• TERMS AND CONDITIONS
  Please read these terms of use carefully before you use this website. You should also make yourself familiar with our Privacy Policy. What is in ...
• PRIVACY POLICY
  The Wychwood Magazine (“we” or “us”) are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.  This policy (together with our terms of use and any other documents referred to ...
• December 2020 – January 2021
  Editorial What it is to be spoiled for choice! Our writers have been on overtime for this issue of The Wychwood. Now that schools are back ...
• A Shipton memory
  Back in the 1950s, occasionally Mr Covenay (a chimney sweep who lived in a small cottage at the top of Little Lane) would set up ...
• 2020: the editor reflects
  Nobody escaped unscathed from last year.  Everyone has a list; holidays cancelled, club meetings scrapped or sent online, social events forgotten, diaries empty – the ...
• Wychwood Players: a new venture
  West Oxfordshire drama group, The Wychwood Players, have gone down a new route in order to entertain their loyal audience.  Despite being hamstrung by the ...
• Our thanks to Julie Hemming
  We do not know exactly how long Julie has been involved on the committee of The Wychwood Magazine but we do know it is a ...
• With regret
  Long-time Wychwood resident, Jessie Rainbow, who had lived in the same house in Shipton for over 60 years, died recently.  Her cheery personality will always ...
• Woggle support needed!
  The 1st Wychwoods Scout Group has been busy for many, many years. Unfortunately, our group’s records are very sparse due to the frequent changes in ...
• Recognition from behind
  An increased use of facial recognition is very much a feature of our use of technological gizmos, be it smart-phones or passing through airport passport ...
• Did you know that … ?
  December 2020 was the Wychwoods’ wettest December since local records began in 1995. Milton Parish Council has a new clerk, Lara Jacques.  Previous clerk, Jenny Miller, ...
• Congratulations
  Many thanks to all who supported the church’s Auction of Promises which raised £4514 towards repairing the church roof by auctioning promises as diverse as ...
• The WI excels
  Meeting in a Bag The committee members of Shipton WI prepared and delivered a surprise goody bag to every member of the Institute as they were ...
• Pandemic page-turners
  You have to be careful with book recommendations. I remember, when I was in the book world, we asked Frank Muir for a list of ...
• Progress at Shipton church
  The Archdeacon, responsible for Shipton church in the Oxford Diocese, has granted permission to commence repair and restoration work on the nave roof which will ...
• The Fifield ship
  A few years ago, while John Palmer was painting the mesh grille outside St. John the Baptist’s church, he saw what appeared to be the ...
• Alternative definitions
  Barbecue: a long wait for a haircut Beginnings: a century at Lords Benign: what an 8 year old will be on his next birthday Coconut: someone who is ...
• Out with the camera at the turn of the year
• April – May 2021
  Editorial Perhaps, finally, hopefully, surely – yes, perhaps we can begin to look ahead as well as backwards in the Wychwood Magazine after a dreadful period. Looking ...
• February – March 2021
  Editorial This was not how it should have been. Everyone expected a happy, if slightly restricted Christmas and a New Year that would enable us to ...
• What’s new at the Wychwood Project?
  Do you have a favourite place, plant, or walk in the Wychwood area? Artists in residence at the Wychwood Project, Nimmi Naidoo and Flora Gregory, ...
• New life at Shipton church
  External scaffolding at the north and south of St Mary’s church has been erected to allow repairs to be done on the outside roof. Special ...
• Fibre broadband for the Wychwoods?
  The UK Government is currently rolling out a scheme to improve rural internet connections, by using fibre-optic cables to connect each individual property to the ...
• Stumped for something to do?
  Here at Shipton under Wychwood Cricket Club, we do not just offer the chance to learn and play cricket from the age of 7 upwards. ...
• Milton parish council
  … or the travails of a new clerk I wasn’t sure what to expect taking over as Parish Clerk.  Whilst I was confident my background would ...
• Wychwood bowls club
  Bowlers made the best of the limitations of 2020 and did well to complete all our internal competitions. We are hoping for better things this ...
• Congratulations
  Milton’s Glyn and Sarah Allcock became grandparents on 5th December 2020.  Their daughter, Harriet, gave birth to Persephone Elizabeth who weighed in at 9lb 11oz.  ...
• Did you know …?
  The Day Centre is looking ahead to life post-lockdown.  Meetings have been held for the committee and the volunteers, under the leadership of the new ...
• Riddles
  Click here to reveal the answers. What English word retain the same pronunciation, even after you take away four of it’s five letters? What gets bigger every ...
• Riddles – answers
  What English word retain the same pronunciation, even after you take away four of it’s five letters? Queue What gets bigger every time you take from ...
• Disaster strikes again
  Do disasters always happen at the worst possible time?  Readers may recall from the last magazine that torrential rain totalling 34.8mm fell in the Wychwoods ...
• Oxfordshire’s blue plaques: Patrick Steptoe (1913-1988)
  This magazine has included articles about local blue plaques and the causes behind them – the recording studio in Chipping Norton and a plaque in ...
• The last of the snow and floodwater.
  A pictorial reminder.
• An O.A.P. looks at the Adult Education Centre Brochure (1981)
  Now, what could I do on a Monday,Instead of watching the ‘box’?I could occupy hours making Japanese Flowers,Or learn to repair old clocks.What could I ...
• August – September 2021
  Editorial “You should get out more!” This phrase is often used in jest. It was only a few minutes ago that I was sent a selection ...
• 100km or bust
  In October 2019 I signed up to walk 100km along the Cotswold Way but Covid delayed my plans until June 2021 so training resumed in ...
• 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 ...
• Wychwood Rainbows, Brownies and Guides
  Guiding wouldn’t be able to happen without our incredible volunteers. They’re not paid for what they do – they give their time because they are ...
• February – March 2022
  Editorial If a popularity poll was ever carried out on the nation’s favourite month, it is a fair bet that February would be at or near ...
• Bruern farm diversifies
  Bruern farm is set to open a new café as part of its commitment to the community. The farm opened a shop last summer, selling ...
• Messy Church
  Sounds interesting? “Church” and “Messy” aren’t the sort of words you would usually think of together! But come and join us for some fun. A ...
• Raw sewage pollution in the river Evenlode
  Water utility companies routinely discharge untreated sewage into our rivers with devastating consequences. Privatised water companies have invested little in improving outdated sewerage systems.  As ...
• Vol 44 February-March 2023
• Vol 43 August-September 2022
• Vol 43 October-November 2022
• Vol 43 December-January 2023
• Draft Front Page Apr 2023
  Editorial Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aliquam hendrerit, augue et placerat aliquam, neque lectus fermentum magna, non euismod mi elit et orci. Cum ...
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