Valley News 2OO April 2012 In this edition: Celebration of the 200 edition Church Services World Day of Prayer Tribute: Peter Varney Tribute: Leslie Larner Tribute: George Golder District Council News Village reports Heyford Park Residents Association Police report Coarse Gardening April Poetry Corner Springtime A Plant Day at Upper Heyford Healthy Heyford Walks & Art classes Bingo: Upper Heyford Village Hall Peace Camp remembered 7th May ‘The Monarch of Wit’ celebration of the life and work of John Donne 6th May St Mary’s Upper Heyford Letters: canal trees The Canal & River Trust 2012 A Prickly Subject - Hedgehogs Dance Academy at Upper Heyford Community Market at Souldern ‘With Great Pleasure’ - Ann Mallalieu Valley News is delivered FREE to every household in: Caulcott – Heyford Park – Lower Heyford In celebration of the Somerton – Upper Heyford 200 edition of Valley News Editor: Ian Lough-Scott, The Rickyard, Upper Heyford, Bicester OX25 5LH Telephone: 01869 232788 Email: [email protected] Still going strong after 33 years Treasurer: Stan Morris, The Orchard, Water Street, Somerton OX25 6NE Telephone: 01869 345544 Lower Heyford & Souldern Upper Heyford Ardley Fritwell Caulcott Somerton Annunciation Upper Heyford The Chapel St Mary's St Olave's St Mary's St James to the BVM St Mary's 11:00 Contemporary 1-Apr 11:00am Benefice Service Blessing of Palms - Lower Heyford Worship Communion 11:00 7:00pm 2-Apr Contemporary Compline Worship 10:00am 7:00pm 3-Apr Communion Compline 10:00am 7:00pm 4-Apr Communion Compline 5-Apr 8:00pm Holy Communion & Watch Heyford Park 10:00am Workshop & 2:00pm Proclamation of the 5:00pm 6-Apr Family Service - Heyford Cross & Communion - Stainers Park Chapel Lower Heyford Crucifixion 8:30 11:00 9:30 11:00 11:00 9:30 6:00am 8-Apr 1662 Contemporary CW HC CW HC CW HC CW HC Sunrise Service Communion Worship 11:00 15-Apr 10:30 CW Sung Communion - Ardley Contemporary Worship 11:00 9:30 11:00 Family 08:30 09:30 Matins 08:30 9:30 22-Apr CW Family Contemporary Worship 1662 HC & HC 1662 HC Family Worship Communion Worship Communion 9:30 11:00 9:30 10:30 11:00 18:00 08:30 29-Apr APCM CW Family APCM Souldern Chapel Contemporary Evensong 1662 HC Service Communion Service Coffee & Christ Worship 9:30 11:00 11:00 9:30 Family 08:30 11:00 11:00 Trad Lang Contemporary 6-May Family Worship 1662 HC 1662 HC Matins Communion & Worship Worship Communion Hymns Communion 9:30 11:00 9:30 11:00 11:00 08:30 9:30 13-May CW Family Family Bears & CW Sung Contemporary 1662 HC Matins Communion Worship Prayers Communion Worship 17-May 7:30 Communion Fritwell Methodist Chapel 11:00 9:30 11:00 Family 08:30 09:30 Matins 08:30 9:30 Family 20-May CW Sung Contemporary Worship 1662 HC & HC 1662 HC Worship Communion Worship Communion 9:30 11:00 9:30 11:00 10:30 18:00 Traditional 08:30 1662 Contemporary 27-May Family Family Souldern Chapel Evensong Language HC Worship Worship Communion Coffee & Christ Communion Community BBQ CHERWELL VALLEY WORLD DAY OF PRAYER GROUP FRIDAY 4 TH MAY 1.30 – 3.30 Cedar House Souldern. (345235 How did the Cross Provide the Answer to a Hindu/Jain Woman’s Prayer? [1 Timothy 2, 1-6] LED BY JAYSHREE PEARCE Followed by discussion Refreshments ALL WELCOME The Cherwell Valley Benefice in the Diocese of Oxford Rev Paul Hunt, 346739 [email protected]; Rev Edward Green, 340562 [email protected]; Mr John Hine (LLM) 350272; Scott Goosen (YW) 233087 [email protected] Benefice Office 233687 [email protected] Dear Friends, Easter lies at the heart of the Christian year. Although Christmas may be more popular today it is Easter that is the earlier and greater festival. For the first Christians Easter was a journey they participated in, rather than a singular event. Lent grew from the period of fasting and learning new Christians underwent before they were baptised -journeying 40 days with Christ in the desert. On Easter Sunday they would be baptised, born again of water and the spirit on the day that Christ rose from the dead. Today at Easter we still renew our baptismal vows, which for many of us were made on our behalf as small children. The events of the Passion too, Christ’s arrest, trial and persecution, would also have had a particular closeness for the early Christians, who were at various times and in various places persecuted and martyred for their faith. Jesus’ resurrection broke down the barriers between the living and the dead, the early Christians seeing the faithful departed as much a part of the Church as the living. When they prayed they prayed together across the divide of death. Resurrection and death are intimately tied. We cannot experience the former without the latter; we cannot understand resurrection without also embracing death. Modern life frequently isolates us from this reality, sometimes we simply don’t like to think about it, but it is certain that we will at some point all die just as Christ died. Our Easter faith is that as we die with Christ we shall also rise with Christ. Our surety is in participating in his life as those early Christians did, not just at Easter, but every month week and day, confessing with our mouths and believing in our hearts. As we do so the great festivals of the church year come alive. As we remember the resurrection of Christ week by week on the Lord’s day, celebrating His on-going presence in bread and wine, that greater celebration on Easter Sunday grows in depth and richness. This requires commitment, a choice and sacrifice, but very little compared to the Christians who came before us. It is my prayer that you all make that choice to encounter the resurrected Christ, not just this Easter but every day of your lives and in the life the come. God bless, Eddie SUNDAY, 6th MAY AT 6:00 pm in St. Mary’s Church, Upper Heyford - THE MONARCH OF WIT - a 50 minute celebration of the life and work of John Donne (1572 -1631), who is best remembered as a poet and the Dean of St. Paul’s. The performance is a one-man presentation by James Clarkson, a professional actor. “No man is an island, entire of itself... Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; and therefore ask not for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” Some of us saw this show at Bloxham church and can thoroughly recommend it, so don’t miss out. Put the date in your diary now ! Further details nearer the time. The Friends of St. Mary’s. Community Market - Souldern Village Hall - 9:00am-12:00noon (3rd Saturday of the Month) April 21st * May 19th * June 16th Provisions * Vegetables * Plants *Jams & Chutneys * Gifts & Crafts (All subject to availability) Breakfasts (supplied by the Pig Place) Come and enjoy a cup of tea/coffee and a chat Tel: 01869 345931 or email: [email protected] for further information Let’s celebrate the 200th edition of Valley News In the first issue the aims and aspirations of the Editorial Team was clearly defined on page 1 and it is rewarding to know that 33 years later the magazine is still being produced in line with the wishes of the original team. Valley News was set up in response to the demise of Ploughley Twenty, a Church of England magazine circulated throughout the Bicester area. The late Mrs Wynne MacIver of Somerton was the tour de force and she set up a small committee to plan and produce it, originally in A5 booklet form. The attractive cover was drawn by Brian Scott Smith on a cold Christmas morning, and the copy was produced literally on a ‘cut & paste’ basis before being sent off to the printer. It was then a Saturday morning job for a working group to collate and staple the booklets, a long and laborious process, but on the plus side it was very much a team effort with all the villages represented. The home PC and email has made the production much easier and the content is now probably broader and more interesting , however, sadly much of the camaraderie it engendered has been lost. The original editorial team comprised: The Reverend Clifford Rhodes, Bob Cropley, Miss Hughes, Ian Lough- Scott, Wynne Maclver, Brian Scott-Smith, Dr Ann Shukman & Jack Talbot, and the early issues had articles from The Heyfords WI, Somerton WI, Royal British Legion, Somerton Social Club, Lower Heyford Forget-Me- Not-Club, William Wetherall School, The Warreners, Upper Heyford (sadly the first issue reported the sudden death of Mrs Doris Burns who helped to set up the club in 1974); Somerton Rectory Playschool, a proposed new social club at Somerton for the over 60s (to be called ‘The Sunshine Club’, aptly reported by Ivor Greenhouse!), Miss Dew’s weather report, Heyford Athletic FC, Heyford United FC, Lower Heyford Bowls Club, Somerton Table Tennis Club, Steeple Aston & Rousham Cricket Club, and of course a church report from the Rector. Sadly in the intervening period we have seen the passing of Rev. Clifford Rhodes, Wynne MacIver, Miss Hughes, Jack Talbot and many other contributors to the magazine, whose efforts we have good reason to be thankful for. There has been many changes in the villages since 1979, Somerton has its new village hall, Upper Heyford’s Reading Room has been refurbished, new homes have been built; schools, shops and pubs lost; Upper Heyford airfield has closed and there is a new community on the site.