Theletcombe Register

The Letcombe Register The Letcombe Regis Parish Newsletter January 2019

Diary January

Mondays 14,21,28 7.30 - 9.00 pm Voices in the Vale (In the Pavilion on WI nights only) Village Hall Tuesdays 8,15,22,29 9.30 - 10.45 am Hatha Yoga with Beth Village Hall Tuesdays 8,15,22,29 9.30 - 11.00 am Ridgeway Handbell Group East Challow Thursdays 10,17,24,31 9.30 am Pilates with Rachel Lock Village Hall Fridays 11,18,25 10.00 am / 11.00 am Tennis Cardio Class / All ability Coaching Tennis Courts Saturdays 5,12,19,26 9.00 am Tennis - 1 hour Cardio Tennis Courts

Wed 2 8.00 pm Book Buffs Greyhound Inn Sun 6 10.00 am Matins - lay led St. Andrew’s Sun 6 3.00 pm Film Club - special free screening - ‘Paddington 2’ Village Hall Mon 7 Greyhound Closed until Friday 18th January Wed 9 8.00 pm Film Club - ‘Lady Bird’ Village Hall Thu 10 2.30 pm Knitwits Mill Bank Sun 13 10.00 am Holy Communion - B St. Andrew’s Mon 14 7.30 pm WI - ‘The Yeomen of the Guard’ - Shaun McCormack Village Hall Mon 14 7.30 pm Photographic Club meeting (in the Warborough Room) Village Hall Wed 16 7.30 pm Gardening Club - AGM, slideshow and refreshments Village Hall Fri 18 3.30 pm Richmond - Tea Dance with Ron Barry & dancers Richmond Fri 18 3.30 pm Greyhound re-opens Greyhound Inn Fri 18 7.30 pm Bingo! - jackpot £100 - all welcome Sports Pavilion Sat 19 1.30 - 4.30 pm Nature Reserve Work Party Nature Reserve Sun 20 10.00 am Matins - lay led St. Andrew’s Sun 20 8.00 pm Greyhound - Pub Quiz Greyhound Inn Mon 21 8.00 pm Parish Council Meeting Village Hall Thu 24 2.30 pm Knitwits 9, Brook View Sun 27 10.00 am Holy Communion - A St. Andrew’s Sun 27 4.00 - 7.00 pm Greyhound Folk Club Greyhound Inn Thu 31 10.00 am Richmond - ‘Powernap’ recliner and adjustable beds demo Richmond Thu 31 3.00 pm Richmond - Reminiscence Café Richmond

Holiday Waste Collections

Monday 7th January - the Green Recycling bin and Food Monday 31st December - The Grey Landfill bin and Food th nd waste bins will be collected the next day on Tuesday 8 waste bins will not be collected until Wednesday 2 January. (On this occasion there will be no Brown Garden January. waste collection). February Sun 3 10.00 am Matins - lay led St. Andrew’s

© 2019 Francesca Engelmann for Letcombe Regis Parish Council Issue 161 The Letcombe Register January 2019 Letcombe Regis Parish Council Bones, dairy products, vegetable peelings and all other cooked and uncooked food can be recycled; used to generate electricity for 9,000 homes and fertiliser for local The Parish Council wishes you all a very Happy and farms. Healthy New Year. The first Council meeting for the New Year is scheduled for Monday 21st January 8pm, in the Unwanted presents can also be given a new home through Village Hall. All are welcome. the county council’s Reuse scheme at all the Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC). This includes the newly In recent weeks a number of villagers have raised launched scheme at Dix Pit, near Witney. Before placing concerns at the very low levels of water flowing through the reusable items into the skips, speak to a member of staff for advice. stream along the Warborough Road and South Street. As a result the Parish Council has invited representatives of Oxfordshire County Council’s top-tips, to help reduce waste Thames Water to an open meeting from 7pm on 21st and recycle more during the festive period, are part of its January in the village hall where this, and the progress of Thriving Communities initiative. They include: the new pipeline, will be discussed. If you are expecting to attend please try to let the Parish Clerk know so that we Buying charity gifts or vouchers for events or experiences. are aware of numbers. They come without any packaging.

• Buying your new outfit for a Christmas party from a As ever there continue to be a number of potholes on charity shop, and returning it afterwards. This will save village roads. The Parish Clerk remains vigilant and will you money, you’ll be supporting a good cause, and avoid report them but it is extremely helpful if you also report any the need to throw away a garment you might never wear that you are aware of - [email protected] again. (More information on electronic reporting of potholes can be found at https://fixmystreet.oxfordshire.gov.uk) • Many shop-bought decorations come with lots of non-recyclable packing and will have travelled thousands Whilst on street matters if you are parking on the roadway of miles. Why not make your own? There are plenty of please try to face the direction of traffic, and if you are online tips for anyone who isn’t an arty-type. having to park close to foot ways please be sure to leave sufficient space for pedestrian, including those with Home -made cards and presents are much more personal, buggies and wheelchairs. so keep the Christmas ribbons, paper and cards you receive this year and re-use them next year as gift tags, or Finally, a huge thank you to Francesca and the team of make them into cards again. volunteer 'posties' for yet another year of compiling and • Look out for Christmas trees that can be replanted, but if delivering the Register through all weathers to us all. yours can’t, take it to any recycling centre so it can be composted. Jeanne Lapsley Chairman, Letcombe Regis Parish Council • Artificial Christmas trees that need a new home can be donated to a charity shop, or if no longer in good condition, can be taken to a Household Waste Recycling Centre.

Dreaming of a green Christmas? • If your recycling bin is struggling to cope with all the extra bottles, cardboard, plastic and paper, put any that can’t fit Residents are being given some simple tips by Oxfordshire into the bin in a clear plastic sack or cardboard box. Place County Council to help reduce the environmental impact of it next to your bin on collection day. festive waste. Don’t forget that your bin collection day might change due Christmas is a busy time for Oxfordshire’s bins – residents to the bank holidays. Check with your district council to generate nearly 2,500 extra tonnes of waste over the make sure you don’t miss it! festive period – that’s the same weight as 400 elephants... or around 25,000 reindeers! The HWRCs will close at 3pm New Year’s Eve and be New Year’s Day. Otherwise they will be open as normal from Oxfordshire County Council provides services that enhance 8am-5pm. quality of life in the community and protects the local environment. Becky Kenton-Lake, from Oxfordshire County Council’s Its Waste Recycling team works on initiatives to reduce Waste Recycling team, said: waste and encourages recycling. It manages the treatment and processing of household waste collected by district “More and more people tell us they are planning to have a councils. Oxfordshire has seven Household Waste ‘ greener ’ Christmas this year, so we hope these tips will be Recycling Centres (HWRCs) The nearest being: useful and help to reduce the huge amount of extra waste generated during the festive period.

Drayton household waste recycling centre Steventon Road, Drayton, Near Abingdon, OX14 4LA “Reducing how much we throw away and recycling food that can’t be eaten are some of the easiest things we can Stanford in the Vale household waste recycling centre all do to help the environment.” Faringdon Road, Stanford in the Vale, Faringdon, SN7 8L For further information about recycling over the festive From turkey to sprouts, the county council encourages period, visit the website www.oxfordshirerecycles.org.uk/ residents to put anything that can’t be eaten into their food christmas caddy for recycling.

The WI had a very jolly meeting in December, when we The weather could hardly have been worse as storm were visited by the Lord of the Manor of Sulgrave - a.k.a. Deidre lashed the country with rain and gale-force winds. Martin Sirot-Smith – who told us all about a Tudor About an hour before St Andrew’s Carol Service was due Christmas. This month we are expecting Shaun to take place, there were fears that few people would turn McCormack to tell us about the Yeomen of the Guard, the out on such a night. But Letcombe Regis villagers are queen’s bodyguard at the Tower of London. made of sterner stuff! The church was packed. It is one hundred years since the first Service of Nine Lessons and Can I remind members to look at the resolutions article in Carols was devised by Eric Milner-White, the dean of “WI Life”, and come prepared to vote for the one they like King’s College, Cambridge, following his experience as an best? And another reminder: subscriptions are due this army chaplain in WW1 . Our own service also reflected the month. Bring your cheque books along if you haven’t paid centenary of the armistice, with appropriate poems and already. music by English, French, German and Austrian composers. Friends Of Letcombe Valley Community On such a wild night, it was particularly apt that our thoughts went to those sleeping rough. Maybe it was the Nature Reserve weather, or the mulled wine, but the congregation dug deep to raise the magnificent sum of £335 for our Exciting news came in the form of an otter caught on a trail Christmas charities, Crisis and the Children’s Society. camera on the bank of the Letcombe Brook in early December. This is the first record of an otter, probably a A fortnight earlier, on December 1st, there had been more male, so far upstream on the Letcombe Brook and it may music and more generous giving. St Andrew’s Gift Day safely be deduced that it came to Letcombe Bassett saw Rector Leonora and members of the congregation in through the Letcombe Valley Community Nature Reserve. church in the morning to welcome those who had come to This news confirms that work on the Reserve is slowly donate. It is always very humbling when people who are making a difference to the wildlife attracted back into the not church-goers still give generously to maintain our area. A new ‘virtual tour’ of the Reserve has been put historic church which has stood at the centre of the village together by Michael Bailey and Dominic Lamb and is for centuries. Our hard-working Treasurer, David Allchin, available to view at https://www.bbowt.org.uk/blog/michael- is still counting the final donations and claiming Gift Aid but bailey/exploring-letcombe-valley-nature-reserve on the it already looks as though over £4,285 has been raised, a BBOWT site. record for recent years. This will go a long way towards preserving St Andrew’s for future generations. Heartfelt After the festivities of Christmas and New Year, fresh air thanks to all. and exercise are on offer for volunteers at this month’s work party on Saturday 19th January, 1.30 - 4.30pm; In the evening there was a lively concert when the refreshments are provided mid-afternoon. There will be Saxonians, a saxophone quartet, delighted the audience some light tasks to be carried out at your own pace under with a programme that ranged from Berlioz to the Beatles! expert guidance. BBOWT provides most tools but warm, Who knew that the saxophone could produce such varied old, waterproof clothing and working gloves are music; it was a revelation. recommended and, as it is likely to be wet underfoot, wellingtons or walking boots are advisable. Meet by the So let’s hear it for the Music Makers! For Christine Birch, lake on the Reserve in Letcombe Regis for the safety and who organises music for St Andrew’s, for Marilyn Mitcham guidance briefing at the start of the session. Opportunities who rehearsed and conducted the impressive choir, for for Duke of Edinburgh Award volunteering\skills sections; Joseph Barber our wonderful organist and for Anne under 18s accompanied by an adult please. For further Williams and her team of bell ringers. “We are the music details, or in case of uncertain weather conditions, please makers. And we are the dreamers of dreams.” contact 769194 or 763827.

Charitable giving isn’t just about money. It’s good to see that kind people in the village find the time to wrap Pilates classes presents and leave them under the tree, providing some th Christmas cheer to those who might otherwise get no Pilates class with Rachel Lock, restarts on Thursday 10 presents at all. Thank you. January at 9.30am at the Letcombe Village Hall. Please call 07801 824293 if you would like to join this friendly January 6th is the Feast of the Epiphany, celebrating the class to improve and maintain good strength, tone and arrival of the Wise Men from the East. The Middle East has flexibility. Limited class size to ensure best practice for a great need of wise men, and our own country desperately safe and effective workout Private lessons also available. needs wise men and women as we face a new year of political turmoil. Photographic Club

Remember that St Andrew’s is open daily, providing a th space for quiet prayer or reflection amidst the tumult. We The next meeting of the Photographic Club will be on 14 wish you a peaceful and blessed 2019. January in the village hall starting at 7.30pm. The theme for the session will be portraiture. Please send any photograph that you would like to have critiqued to [email protected] by 11th January. There will be a charge of £5 to cover the hire of the Hall and refreshments.

© 2019 Francesca Engelmann for Letcombe Regis Parish Council 3 The Letcombe Register January 2019 Film Club Have you been a victim of crime or abuse? January is a bumper month for Film Club with 2 great films for you to enjoy. The first is ‘Paddington 2’ which we are th Being a victim or a witness of a crime can be an emotional showing free of charge on afternoon of Sunday 6 Jan as and difficult time. a New Year treat for all ages. Although this a sequel, you don’t have to have seen the first Paddington film to enjoy Victims First provides free emotional and practical support this heart warming live animation which was nominated for to all victims and witnesses of crime or abuse, as well as lots of awards in 2017, including best British film. In an all family members of victims. It is available across Berkshire, star cast of the great and good of British acting, it is Hugh Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire and can provide help Grant whose performance as the “baddie” stands out. regardless of whether or not the crime has been reported Other well known faces include Hugh Bonneville, Sally to the police. Hawkins, Jim Broadbent, Brendan Gleeson, Julie Walters...and the list goes on...... with Ben Whishaw as A Victims First Officer can discuss any emotional or Paddington. Please come along and bring your friends and practical needs you may have and work with you to put a family to enjoy a rare and uplifting treat. tailored support plan in place. Film rating PG. The type of assistance available includes telephone and Our second screening in January is ‘Lady Bird’, another face to face support, advocacy including help to access award winning film released in 2017. This is a coming of other services such as sexual health clinics, drug and age comedy-drama set in Sacramento, California in 2002. alcohol services and legal services, support through the The Oscar winning Saoirse Ronan plays Lady Bird, a criminal justice system (if you have reported the crime to senior at a local Catholic High School who has a turbulent the police) and therapeutic counselling. relationship with her mother. Critics and movie goers alike loved this film and it was listed in the top 10 movies of A Young Victims Service is also available to anyone under 2017. It was nominated for 5 Oscars including Best Actor 18 and works with young people to help them cope with for Saoirse Ronan, Best Director and Best Picture. An the effects of crime. especially good film for parents of teenagers! The film has a 15 rating as some swearing and scenes of a To speak to a Victims First Officer about any of the sexual nature. services and to receive support please call 0300 1234

th 148.  Sunday Jan 6 : Paddington 2. Film starts 3pm; doors open 2.30pm with refreshments including soft drinks You can also find more information or make a referral for available. Admission free! support online at www.victims-first.org.uk

th  Wednesday January 9 . Film starts 8pm; doors open 7.30pm with refreshments available. 200 Club

200 Club Draw -10 January 2019 Book Buffs 193 Dominic LAMB £50 The next meeting will be held in the Greyhound at 8pm on 54 Mike & Lyn PRICE £25 Wednesday 2nd January when we shall be discussing 'Atonement' by Ian McEwan and our personal choice of 21 Nick GARDNER £10 favourite Christmas book. 93 Henry & Nicholas BATTEN £10 The library book for January, available at the meeting, is 17 Tony HINE £5 'The Girl on the Train' by Paula Hawkins, the alternative being the best book you received for Christmas. Non-Winners draw:

Any queries to Freddie on 767772. 49 Anne WILLLIAMS £25

143 Fiona FULFORD £20

Richmond Letcombe Regis 157 Thérèse CLARKE £10 209 Louisa HENRY £10 th January 18 3.30pm – Tea Dance in the Restaurant with 23 Reg & Margaret PIKE £10 Ron Barry and dancers. 141 Audrey RUDKIN £10 January 31st at 10am – ‘Powernap’ company are coming to sell recliner chairs and adjustable beds in the Conservatory New Numbers draw:

January 31st at 3pm – Reminiscence Cafe for those living 125 Paul CAMPION £5 with dementia or memory loss and those caring for their loved ones. 200 Charles & Jayne MATTHEWS £5 83 Valerie BROADBENT £5 © 2019 Francesca Engelmann for Letcombe Regis Parish Council 4 The Letcombe Register January 2019

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Though the trees have lost their leaves and the wild The first meeting of 2019 will be on Wednesday 16th flowers faded, there is plenty to observe every winter as January at 7.30 in the Village Hall. the skies come alive with visiting birds. Resident starlings are joined by others from the continent making the roost A very brief AGM will be followed by a short slideshow of sites particularly large, though starling numbers have gardens worth visiting. declined by 80% in recent years. At dusk large flocks of starlings whirl and dive in spectacles called 'murmurations'. After that we enjoy wine, nibbles and a good chat. Approximately one million redwings are another migrant bird that arrive to over-winter in Britain each year favouring Potential members are most welcome. the fruit and berries that can still be found in orchards and along hedgerows. They have gathered along the north Scandinavian coast before making their treacherous, 500- Topical Tips mile flight without a stop to cross the North Sea. Amongst the finches, hawfinches numbers increase in winter and Well I hope you’ve all had a good Christmas and are now may be identified in woodland by their size and very large ready to tackle the garden with enthusiasm. bill. Bramblings, similar to chaffinches but with a longer white rump, will visit gardens in winter and also like beech If you grow begonias and pelargoniums from seed or want woodland and farmland fields near woods. They may be to give it a try, then you should do it now. If you’re more seen along the Ridgeway hedgerows in flocks mixed with adventurous with your seed sowing then this month is the chaffinches. last chance to sow seeds, like native trees and alpines, which need frost in order to germinate. In the village, watch for wigeon, a medium-sized duck with You should inspect your dahlia and canna tubers to make a round head and small bill, feeding on vegetation in, or sure they’re not drying out too much. Although you need to near to, lakes and the brooks, and listen out for their watch out for dampness and rot, if they get bone dry they distinctive whistling call. The head and neck of the male won’t grow next season. duck are chestnut, with a yellow forehead, pink breast and grey body while the females have a browner head and Make sure you keep your flowerbeds free of leaf debris as back. In flight both birds show white bellies and males this can harbour disease. have a large white wing patch. Wigeons breed in central and northern Scotland as well as northern England, but Now I think we’ll retire indoors or at least into the over-wintering birds in southern England may come from greenhouse for a while! Make sure houseplants are getting Iceland, Scandinavia or Russia. Finally, the call of tawny sufficient light. Move them if necessary and don’t leave owls may be heard around the village and at least one bird plants behind curtains on a cold night, especially if you has been spotted around the Church at dusk. Barn owls, have no double-glazing. given the highest level of legal protection possible under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act, rest on fence posts Some plants, for example clivia, benefit from a dormant and fly low; you may catch them in your car headlights or period over winter. This means less watering, feeding and hear their screech call at night. Unlike many species of lower light levels. Fuchsia will also quite happily sit there owl, you may see short-eared owls hunting during the day and can be started back into active growth by re-potting, as well as at dusk for small mammals and occasionally for increasing watering and feeding. Cacti are extreme small birds. These owls’ 'ears' are actually tufts of feathers examples in that they need virtually no water and no feed- and they have piercing yellow eyes and streaky feathers ing at all. that camouflage them well against the grassland. Ian Taylor (764677) would be delighted to hear from you if you There’s not much to do on the fruit and veg front but you have any records of bird sightings, unusual or not, in the can get on with pruning your currants and gooseberries. village through 2018. You can also continue to prune apples and quinces.

As far as veg are concerned, stake your sprout plants if you think they’re vulnerable to wind rock. You should also Nature Notes keep checking your brassicas for grey mould. Removing all plant debris and rotting leaves from the plot helps to (with thanks to Freddie Trotter who found this in The control disease. Times): Remember to start saving your egg boxes as next month “It's at dusk that I feel most keenly the long history of this we’ll be chitting potatoes. village, the course of its four narrow lanes set a millennium or more ago, its Norman church and scatter of humble I hope this lets you in gently and I would like to wish you all dwellings many hundreds of years old. It persists, as a happy New Gardening Year. villages do, protecting and outliving its inhabitants: human-made, but having transcended us to become part of its landscape. At their best, villages bear witness to a lasting partnership of people, place and nature, and to me there is something deeply moving - almost sacred - about that.”

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© 2019 Francesca Engelmann for Letcombe Regis Parish Council 7 The Letcombe Register January 2019 Letcombe Football Club 2019 Adult Coaching & Keep fit Classes Now is the time to put those New Year Resolutions into We only played two matches in December as there is action. Sign up “NOW” for Friday or Saturday morning always a break over Christmas and the New Year. We fitness or Tennis Coaching classes. visited Marcham who were on a run of seven unbeaten They run from 11th of January to 30th of March. games, and won 3-0. We were three up and conceded two You can exercise as little or hard as you like, but it is late goals, but it was a comfortable victory. We then important to sign up now to ensure enough attendees for played league leaders Faringdon Town reserves at home the courses to run (you do not need to be a club member to and produced our best performance of the season to win take part) get fit for the New Year. Give us a try by just 3-0. The match was played on a bitterly cold day in driving turning up as a taster Cardio is ideal for anyone returning rain, and we are now only four points behind Faringdon or starting into tennis. having played three fewer games. Although the sessions are initially booked for a full term,

Matches in January arranged so far are: the cost reduces proportionately dependant on when you

join. There is a Friday morning Cardio class from 10 am

Sat 5th Dorchester away league 2.00 and a Saturday 1 hour session from 9am, plus an All Ability th Coaching session from 11 am on Fridays, or book a private Sat 12 Milton A home league 2.00 lesson for £25/hr. Please ring NTA our resident coaching Sat 19th Milton A home cup 1.30 team on 0800 888 6030 to join all sessions or on line via our web site www.clubspark.lta.org.uk/letcombetennisclub (>coaching >Letcombe Tennis school> Cardio or Adult Tennis Club Coaching).

Junior Winter County Tournaments Don’t think Tennis is just a summer sport As an LTA affiliated club all junior members are eligible to Our 2 all weather courts are 99% fit to play on all year join in the local county winter tournaments rotate between round (only issue may be early morning frost). Both courts Wallingford, Oxford and Benson. The January tournaments drain really fast and with the new non slip acrylic covering held on Thursday evenings are: - boys singles 14 and you can play safely, even during rain. The hedges have under on the 6th of Jan, boys double 16 and under on the now grown up and offer effective wind breaks, so there are 13th of Jan, boys singles 9 and under and 10 and under no excuses to get playing, other than lethargy! Non boys and girls mixed, both on the 27th of January. Please members welcome to try us out on Sunday morning Roll email the club if anyone wishes to take part. Up open sessions from 10 am

Compiled by Francesca Engelmann, 2, The Old Stables, Warborough Road, OX12 9LD Tel: 01235 769310

Email: [email protected]

The views expressed in the Register do not necessarily reflect the views of Letcombe Regis Parish Council.

Deadline for inclusion is always the 27th of each month.

The Register is also available to view, along with much more information, on the Village Website: www.letcomberegispc.org