Up-Coming Events

North Moreton News Useful Information

PCSO: call the Wallingford Team on 101 or email: [email protected] Issue 114 December 2016 Non-Urgent Police calls: 101 Crime Stoppers: 0800 555 111 NHS Non-Emergency Number: 111 North Moreton Christmas Market Parish Clerk: [email protected] 01235 511427 Parish Council Chairman: Ros Templeman 07969 349 831 There was a very good turn out for the Christmas Market with SODC Councillor: Jane Murphy 07970 932054 lots of very positive feedback after the event. A couple of people OCC Councillor: Patrick Greene 07899 878 344 have remarked that it had a buzz; upon reflection it did. The hall Parish Transport Representative: Veronica Gibbs 01235 813829 looked at its best with the internal and external lights and deco- Village Hall Bookings Marion Shipton [email protected] rations. Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinators: Elm Road: Derrick Stevens Phone/Fax/Answer m/c 01235 813246 We had set out to create a community event that would attract Rest of Village: Nora Haycock [email protected] 812202 both new and old faces; and that worked. There can be no doubt Concessionary Travel: 0845 310 1111 or www.oxfordshire.gov.uk Didcot Volunteer Centre: 01235 816709 that the mulled wine and minced pies made this a very sociable Postal Services: The Village Stores, Brightwell: event. Most of the stalls holders felt that they had done well and Mon. - Fri. 9.30 - 5.30 Sat. 9.00 - 13.00 01491 835551 would like to be there if the Christmas Market is to be repeated Astons Village Hall Tuesday 9.30 - 12.30 next year. Citizens’ Advice Line: 08444 111 444 Consumer Helpline: 03454 04 05 06 www.adviceguide.org.uk Unfortunately it didn’t manage to attract many families with Refuse & Recycling Collections: alternate Thursdays children. A real shame as the donkeys pulling Santa’s buggy up Garden Waste Collection: alternate Thursdays with recycling the High Street looked fantastic. The portraits and Santa’s grotto Black Bin dates: 1/15/31 December 13/26 January, 9/23 February were enjoyed by those that used these services but again it Green & Garden Bins: 8/22/December 7/19 January 2/16 February would have been great to have had more children. Please note: Bank holiday changes in bold No Brown bin collections over Christmas /New Year. Recommence on 19 We have been collecting feedback on the successes and sugges- January tions for improvements. Some suggestions for improvements included a) Move event to December; b) An earlier session for children; c) Photos to be taken with Santa in the Christmas sit- Editor: Nora Haycock, Peckwater, North Moreton. Phone 01235 812202 ting room set to replace Santa’s Grotto; d) Combine with Art Email: [email protected] Week (with Art in the church). Drop me an email if you have Printed by the Churn Benefice any good suggestions - [email protected] Copy for the March issue should reach the Editor by 22nd February Apart from the money generated for charities it raised over £300

North Moreton News is published four times a year & can also be read on line at for the village hall maintenance funds, which is excellent.

www.North-Moreton.com Thank you to all involved and all who attended.

Heather Skevington & Val Bates 12

Dates for your Diary including Forthcoming Events

North Moreton Parish Council New gate in the Rushcroft For the benefit of walkers, a new kissing gate has been installed in the far cor- DECEMBER ner of the Rushcroft to provide traffic-free (and less muddy) access to the foot- path to South Moreton. The Parish Council are grateful to Dave Powell, Iain 2 WI Meeting Village Hall 7.30pm Craigie and Ian Shipton for proposing and implementing this improvement. 4 Earth Trust Natural Christmas 10am - 3pm

10 Brightwell Art Group Christmas Exhibition & Sale, Stewart Hall Village defibrillator 18 Carol Service, All Saints’ Church 6pm A reminder to newcomers that we have a defibrillator outside the village hall. 24 Crib Service and Posada, All Saints’ Church 4pm We hope to be able to provide another training course in the New Year, but in 24 Christmas Eucharist Service 9.30pm the meantime, in case of emergency, dial 999 and the ambulance service will 25 Christmas Day - No Service in North Moreton give you the code to open the box. The defibrillator will provide simple, audi- ble instructions for use. Don’t be afraid of causing the patient more damage: a JANUARY charge will only be given if the heart has stopped beating.

9 NMPC Meeting Village Hall 8pm Village precept 11 WI New Year Dinner 7.30pm This is the time of year when we have to set the precept (the part of the council 15 Coffee Morning, All Saints’ Church 10am - 12noon tax that comes back to North Moreton). Over the past few years, we have been able to reduce the precept and keep it low because our reserves were high, but FEBRUARY we now think it prudent to maintain the current level of reserves. To cover our 4 MCC Quiz, Village Hall 8pm tbc normal expenditure and to allow for contingencies such as the pollarding of 8 WI Meeting, Village Hall 7.30pm trees or contributions to alternative bus services, we intend to increase the pre- cept for next year.

MARCH

Free Christmas Parking 4 Safari Supper Didcot on Tuesday 6th, 13th and 20th December 11 Village Verge Clean 10am - 12noon Wallingford on Thursday 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd December Ros Templeman, Chairman Looking Ahead…….

30 June & 1 July ‘Rigoletto’ at Melhuish Farm Charitable Trust Grants for Young People The Trustees wish to remind residents that these £75 grants are now available to any young person who has lived in the village for at least 12 months, on reaching the age of 18 regardless or whether or not they are going into Higher HAPPY CHRISTMAS and a Education.

To apply, please contact the Clerk to the Trust, Nora Haycock, giving a brief HEALTHY and PROSPEROUS NEW outline of your plans and how you would spend the money. YEAR TO YOU ALL! Contact details can be found on the back page of this newsletter.

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Astons (and surrounding villages) Toddler Group

Fridays 9.30 - 11.30 (term time only) at Centre of Reflection, Spring Lane, Bus Services in The Moretons Aston Tirrold, OX11 9EJ. I would like to encourage villagers to use the DVTG Friday bus service to Tea/Coffee for mums and snacks for the children. Lots of toys for all ages as Wallingford that the parish council is currently supporting, as we will have to well as an outdoor area. For more information contact Sonia and/or Clare at make a decision at some point about whether the village continues to offer the [email protected] or just turn up - all welcome! option to our parishioners. The timings are up on the bus stop and are availa- ble on the website, and tickets can be purchased from Patrick and Lucy at the Earth Trust Bear. This Friday bus picks up in North Moreton at 10.37am preceded by South Moreton at 10.33am (and the Orchard Centre Didcot at 10.05am) drop- Join us at the Earth Trust Centre for our Natural Christmas event on Sunday ping people at Wallingford Hospital and then the Market Place. The return bus 4th December, 10am - 3pm., where you’ll be able to make your own natural leaves Wallingford Market at 1.15pm and then stops in the Moretons at Christmas decorations and gifts. 1.33pm and 1.37pm respectively before going in to the Orchard Centre in Did- There will be craft activities for all ages - from glittery pine cone baubles to cot. festive wreaths. Children will also be able to meet Father Christmas and go There is also an option available from Oxford CC for people who no longer on a present hunt around the Earth Trust Centre. have a local bus service and at the moment there is some availability on Mon- We will be selling our own homegrown Christmas trees from Paradise days and Wednesdays for people to use the bus to take them shopping etc. Wood and Earth Trust Christmas cards. There will also be a selection of between 10.15am and 2.30pm Monday to Friday (not bank holidays). You stalls offering some fantastic local products. need to call COMET on 01865323201 between 9am and 4pm Monday to The Poem Tree Cafe will be open for light refreshments. Friday and register for an account. There is a one-off fee of £3 and then you can pay over the phone for journeys. To go to Didcot it costs £2.25 each way Entry and parking are free. Craft activities will be priced individually (starting and bookings can be made up to 2pm the day before. from £1). All funds raised go towards supporting the Earth Trust’s work.

For more information and further events taking place in December, visit our During the term time, we still can use the school bus in the morning (before website: www.earthtrust.org.uk. the bus passes are valid): Aston Tirrold 7.59am, South Moreton 8.05am, North Moreton 8.10am, Didcot Parkway 8.40am. In the afternoon: Didcot

Inkjet Printer Cartridge and Mobile Phone Recycling. Parkway 3.43pm, Aston Tirrold 4.20pm, South Moreton 4.26pm, North More- ton 4.31pm, Didcot Parkway 4.45pm (times 1 hour earlier on Fridays). The Wallingford School are working with Recycle4Charity to raise funds towards 4.30pm service might well be of interest to people going out for the even- a new school minibus. If you have any old mobile phones or used, branded ing and taking a taxi home!! and not already recycled printer cartridges, please drop them into the collec- tion box in the Chequers Garage, Aston Tirrold. The full timetable is available on line at http://www.thames-travel.co.uk/ timetables-fares/oxfordshire-and-reading/94-95. You can email me on Did you know North Moreton has its own resident [email protected] with any questions/comments . potter? In her spare time, Helen Baillie makes pots in her studio on Elm Road. Recent works can be FreeTesco Bus! seen at www.sabalipots.com – they make great Don’t forget that on Mondays and Wednesdays there is a free bus to Tesco; Christmas gifts and newsletter readers can enjoy it picks up from the bus shelter at 9.53am and returns at 11.30am. an exclusive North Moreton discount! Veronica Gibbs PTR See contact details on the website

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North & South Moreton WI Remembrance Service and Collections

The September Meeting gave members the chance to show how creative they The fallen in both World Wars from North Moreton and those from all war were when they decorated flowerpots under the supervision of two ladies from conflicts were remembered in our Remembrance Service on Sunday 13th No- the craft shop, ‘No Two Things’ in Didcot. Some of these were brought as table vember kindly taken by the Revd Clive Holmes. Reverend Holmes gave us a decorations to our bring and share Harvest Supper in October. This was a social new creed for modern times which was extremely poignant. evening which gave members the chance to catch up whilst enjoying a delicious A big thank you to Penny Busby, Mary Greene and Alistair Auckland for car- supper.

rying out the house to house collections; the total collected was £315.79p with In November members and friends welcomed Christine Wallace, who took part a further £155.63 donated on the Sunday. Thank you all to who donated for in the Great British Bakeoff in 2013. She demonstrated how to make macarons your generosity. whilst telling us about her time as a contestant on the show. Jeanette Howse also came along and the two of them talked about the Didcot Food Festival, which Christmas Services for All Saints’ North Moreton they are organising at the end of the month. It was a very interesting and enjoya- Sunday 18th December at 6.30pm – Carol Service ble evening. Also in November, Mary Greene hosted a very enjoyable Coffee Saturday 24th December 4.00pm – Crib Service and Posada Morning.

Saturday 24th December 9.30pm – Christmas Eucharist Service The speaker at the December Meeting is Bill Heine, Radio Oxford presenter, who is giving a talk entitled ‘25 years in Local Radio’. We look forward to Christmas Day No service in North Moreton hearing what he has to say!

Monthly Coffee Mornings in All Saints’ Church Our New Year Dinner will be held in January and Gillian Franklin is the speaker at the February meeting, when she will give a talk on the History of Apples. Libby Macdonald and Jill Fletcher are hosting monthly coffee mornings in All

Saints’ Church, North Moreton. Members have also attended the local Group Meeting at Aston Village Hall as well as attending courses and visiting other local WIs. This is purely a social get together, it is not a fund raising event but a chance to

get together with friends and neighbours and have a chat! There is no charge We are always pleased to welcome both new members and visitors. Meetings for coffee, tea, cakes and biscuits but a small donation towards heating costs take place on the second Wednesday each month and are usually held in North would be appreciated. Moreton Village Hall. Please contact Sue Harrison, 817042 for further infor- The first one held in November, was a great success with nearly 30 people at- mation. Penny Busby th tending! The next one will be held on Wednesday 25 January so do pop in South Moreton School Penny Collection between 10am and 12noon – we will be delighted to see you!!

This is to say a huge thank you to all those who contributed to the penny collec- Art Exhibition tion over the last couple of years. This has been so much appreciated. Overall, we raised nearly £1,000 which is a remarkable achievement with pennies! Brightwell Art Club invite you to come along and view their annual exhibition on Saturday 10th December. It is held in the village hall adjoining the Com- We have now closed this appeal but the closure comes with a huge thank you to munity Shop, from 10am -1pm. As well as paintings there will be jewellery, everyone who supported it. craft work, cards, and tea, coffee and cakes for sale. Polly Vacher Free entry, so do come along and have a look at what the club has been doing.

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Bell Celebration Moreton Cricket Club

Tuesday 15th November was the culmination of three and a half years hard Perhaps it's true to say that while not a lot is happening on the cricket front at work, by a very small committee. We began in order to renovate the five this time of the year, a number of our junior members are doing their County elderly and difficult bells, with a budget of £35K and ended with the con- Assessments at present. These take place during the winter months and hope- struction of a ringing gallery, vestry, WC and kitchenette, somehow raising fully lead to places in the various county teams next season - we wish all those the necessary £160K. In addition, we were able to extend the ring to six, taking part the very best of luck. with a new treble bell and a replacement Sanctus bell, tuned to be one oc- The club is also looking at improving its training facilities on The Rec and hope tave higher than the treble. this will lead to some new nets which will give us the ability to train and prac- The bells rang out during the morning, as the first full peal was rung on the tice in all weathers. We are also looking at the possibility of obtaining covers renovated bells, lasting almost three hours. For this peal, it was very satisfy- for protecting the pitch which should hopefully mean that fewer games will be ing to invite the ringers, who had worked so hard to assist us with the reno- cancelled following bad weather. vations and uncomplainingly took on the unrelated work of kitchenette and In the meantime we wish everybody a very Happy Christmas and New Year WC as well. and look forward to seeing you at the Quiz which should be taking place on the

The celebration service took place in the evening and we welcomed Bishop first Saturday in February. Colin of Dorchester, who said he was sure he was the bishop who had Trevor Denning, President blessed more loos than anyone else! An indication that there is far more understanding that our churches are community buildings (historically they have always been so) and are available for everyone, of all faiths or none. The London Underground extends to North Moreton for The service included a history of bells throughout the ages and fittingly, the one night only! bells played their part in tolling at various times. Rather whimsically, at one point, the oldest bell was welcoming the newest with a ‘bell conversation’! The next train on the party line will be terminating at North Moreton for the Tolling the bells and getting the timing right is tricky stuff and we thank Safari Supper on Saturday 4th March 2017. Richard and Gill Loyd for their ringing and Jason for his drama. Certainly a service to remember! More information on fares and ticket purchase will follow soon, so 'Mind the

gap' in your diary!- It is my hope that we will be able to have an annual ‘bell service’ to cele- brate the bells and the part they play in our lives. For those who have not taken part before, the Safari Supper is a long-running village event, taking place every other year, and now in planning with a theme The party that followed the service extended for several hours. I am grateful to those who provided so many refreshments, whether they could stay for of 'London Underground Stations'. Dressing up is encouraged, (but not obliga- tory), and for those of you who like to dress up, the variety of options is limited the service or not. only by the number of stations on the map (270).

Thank you North Moreton! You never fail to support us. The evening starts with a drink in The Bear, when everyone receives their itin- Beryl Jones erary for the evening. Starters, main course and desserts are taken at different

houses in the village, and we end up back at the Bear. Help Needed? Newcomers to the village are welcomed and encouraged to join in, and there is Do you need occasional babysitting /child minding or help with the ironing? no obligation to host a course.

If so, Wendy Compton who lives in the village will be pleased to help. Call her on This train stops only once every other year, so don't miss it! 07496 084160 or email [email protected] for more information Alison Wolfe

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The next Book Sale will be on 1st April 2017! Melhuish Farm Opera, North Moreton

Following the very successful production by Regents Opera Company of 'La Since Kate and Gar Evans started the village book sales in 2006 we have Bohème' last June, Melhuish Farm Opera in conjunction with The Regents raised under the successive leaderships a total of nearly £18,000, all from Opera Company will be staging 'Rigoletto' by Verdi for two nights only on the books kindly donated to us. The money has gone to support and maintain the 30th June and 1st July 2017. hall and towards projects at the church. We are delighted that Claire Steen and Alison Wolfe have now taken over the leadership of the sales: the next The format is modelled on Glyndebourne and Garsington operas which means one will be in the hall on Saturday 1st April. If you have any books that you full evening dress and picnic dinner in the garden. This makes it a very special

occasion. would like to give, please do ring them on 01235 814617 or 818544.

The sales could not have succeeded without a great deal of work from a large Tickets will be on sale in February 2017 but for those in North Moreton there team of helpers: we are grateful to you all for everything that you have done, will be one week priority booking opening on 30th January, so if you are inter- and we are sure that you and others will continue to play your brilliant part in ested and would like to be on the mailing list please apply to melhuishfar- keeping the sales going and so keeping our hall alive. [email protected] giving your name, address, e-mail and telephone num-

ber. Jane and Trevor Denning, and Alison and Nick Sanders All are welcome and we do hope you will want to come. All profits go to the North Moreton Village Hall charity ROSY which looks after seriously sick children in Oxfordshire - please see: www.rosy.org.uk.

A big thank you to everyone who helped in so many ways to make the Au- tumn book sale a success; once again we raised over £900! North Moreton Bridge Club The Committee are very grateful to the Dennings and Sanders for all their hard work organising the sales for the last four years and look forward to The North Moreton Bridge Club started in October and the plan is to run it supporting Claire and Alison in the future. through the winter months until the end of March, and then again next winter.

They would also like to thank Gar Evans for looking after the maintenance of the hall for over 20 years. He has now retired from the committee and will The aim of the club is for those who enjoy playing bridge but aren't too serious be a hard act to follow. Thank you Gar - we hope you enjoy your increased about it, to come along play some bridge, have a chat and a cup of tea. It is very relaxed and everyone is really enjoying it. there is no need for a partner. leisure time!

Two small ‘house-keeping’ points: when you return the key to the key-safe The club meets every Wednesday from 4pm until 6pm so if you play bridge please ensure that you replace the code with random numbers and also that and would like to come and join please contact Alice Auckland on you switch off the external lights. There is a switch that will allow the light [email protected]. to remain on for sufficient time for you to lock up - please read the instruc- tions and treat the switch gently!! If you don't play bridge but would like to learn we are looking into the possi- bility of starting a class next winter so if you would like to join that please also Don’t forget that the hall is an ideal venue for parties of all kinds and our contact Alice Auckland. We will need at least three people to sign up to make tables, chairs and other equipment are available for hire at very reasonable it worthwhile - so why not have a go? prices. For prices, and to book the hall contact Marion Shipton on [email protected] / 814372 . Alice Auckland, Polly Vacher Nora Haycock, Chairman VHMC

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