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Village News

Sustainable Blewbury Talks

November 3, 2024

Our environment – our community – our future together:  Sustainable Blewbury Talks

Introducing Blewbury’s shyest and most secretive residents: Reptiles at Blewbury Nature Reserve by Hayley Snowdon. Monday 4th November, 8.00pm at the Melland Room. Tickets £6, including drink, available on the door.

Hayley will provide insights into the species that have been found at our Nature Reserve and explain how the habitat creation and improvement works we’ve undertaken benefit reptiles and amphibians on the site. She’ll talk about varieties that are thriving and endangered throughout the UK, advise us on how we can develop the best conditions to help them flourish here in Blewbury, and answer your questions about the lives of these extraordinary creatures.

Hayley works at Thames Water as a terrestrial ecologist where she provides ecological advice on protected species and helps deliver habitat improvement schemes.  She also leads on the Thames Water Hazel Dormouse and Reptile Monitoring Programmes.

Nature Reserve. We will be maintaining the paths and hedging on the site on Saturday 9 Nov, and 7 Dec. If you would like to join our list of volunteers, please email the secretary below. Many thanks to everyone who has helped so far.

Quaker Wood Exhibition. Come and see what we are planning over a cuppa and piece of cake. We will be exhibiting our plans for how the woodland will be laid out, the timescales, and the species of trees to be planted on Sunday 17 November, from 2 to 4 pm in the Vale Room.  There will also be an opportunity to volunteer to help with the wood maintenance. For more information on the project, contact Anthony by email: anthony@stiff.org.uk

Repair café, Sunday 17 November, 2 to 4 pm, Village Hall  Bring your household items including clothing, electrical, and gardening articles for mending, tools for sharpening and bikes for fixing for free. There will also be an IT specialist to help you with software problems on your tablets or phones. Refreshments available. Donations welcome to cover costs.

BLEWBURY FREECYCLE   FREE ITEMS TO A GOOD HOMEE-MAILTEL NO.
·  Ladies Halfords mountain bike, approx 22″ wheels, comfort saddle, 2 mudguards and basket. May need inners/tyres replacing and general maintenance.·  Boys mountain bike, approx 16″ wheels. May need inners/tyres replacing and general maintenance.Jayne Westlake
westlakefamily3@gmail.com
07870 791942
To freecycle your item please send a short description, email & phone number to Lydia Inglis (lydandmuz@gmail.com)

If you want to know more about Sustainable Blewbury and become a supporter who receives occasional newsletters, email secretary@sustainable-blewbury.org.uk.

 

Post Office News

We will soon be heading in to our busiest period here at Blewbury Village store and Post Office. There are a few last posting dates in November. Last posting date for international standard services is 26th of November and the last date for HM Forces mail is 27th of November.

Please note that from the 28th October to the 5th of November 2024 it is half term so we will be operating our reduced hours of 9am – 12pm. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

I am very excited to announce we have a new local egg supplier. We shall be stocking fresh eggs from the Old Farm Shop, Harwell. These will be available from 16th of October. We will be getting a delivery every Wednesday going forward so we will always have fresh eggs available. As always we have our delicious local honey, along side a variety of sweet treats, ice lollies, chocolate and cool drinks on sale.

As well as sending parcels, you can also do banking at the post office, including cash withdrawals, cash deposits and cheque deposits.

We look forward to seeing you in the post office soon. Thanks so much.   Sarah, Karen and Andrew

Blewbury Village Society

October 1, 2024

Fireworks Night, Saturday 2nd November

The BVS Fireworks Night is back this year on Saturday 2nd November in Tickers Folly Field. We have a spectacular firework display planned, and the bar and baked potato stalls will be back, under our beautiful new marquee. Gates will open at 6:00 pm, the bonfire will be lit at 6:30 pm and the fireworks will start at 7:00 pm.

Entry is £6 for adults and £3 for children – cash or card accepted (card preferred). The entry fee includes a baked potato, so it’s a great value family night out!

We will have the usual wood collection for the bonfire with a small collection fee. We are working on transport, but spaces may be limited, so please email blewburybvs@gmail.com or phone Caroline on 07790 566754 if you would like your address to be included on the rounds. The deadline for a request for wood collection is Tuesday 29th October so that we can plan the route. We politely request that you only put out reasonably clean firewood and remove as much metal and plastic as possible. Unfortunately, if you do not adhere to this we may need to refuse to pick the wood up, so thanks in advance for your cooperation.

As always, we need lots of volunteers for this event – in particular with wood collection and potato baking beforehand, and with setup and refreshment serving on the night. If you can help, please email us at the BVS email address above. We’d love to hear from you!

BVS marquee for hire

The BVS marquee is available for hire by other groups, societies and individuals in the village for a small charge. It measures 12m × 6m and has sides if needed. If you were at the Beer Festival, or have supported the Fireworks Night or Summer Dance, you may have seen it in action. To book it, contact lydia.wanstall@gmail.com.

Dates for your diary – It seems a long way off, but December is always a busy month, so don’t forget to put the regular Blewbury events in the diary: Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve (24th December) and the annual Boxing Day walk (26th December) , as well as the Roger Cambray Memorial Walk from Blewbury to The Bell Inn at Aldworth (1st January 2025). More details to follow in next month’s Bulletin and on the BVS Facebook page.

Bridge Club

November 3, 2024

Due to unforeseen circumstances the AGM has been postponed and will now take place at 7pm on Tuesday 5th November in the Vale Room, ahead of a shortened session of bridge

The new Wessex League season has now commenced. Blewbury are now in Division 1 and have, so far, played 2 matches, losing the first, narrowly, to Banbury, but then managed a big win against Oxford ‘B’.

Blewbury bridge Club Realbridge sessions for November are expected to be on the 7th and 21st. we will be joining wantage bridge Club for their Realbridge sessions on the 14th and 28th.

Demand for Friday evening Social bridge has been poor in October, but it is hoped to run a session on the 25th. Dates for November, subject to numbers, will be 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th.     Michael Allen 851870

 

Blewbury WI

The Women’s Institute (WI) was formed in 1915 to revitalise rural communities and encourage women to become more involved in producing food during the First World War. Since then our aims have broadened and we are now the largest voluntary women’s organisation in the UK and currently have around 180,000 members in approximately 5,500 WIs.  Blewbury WI are proud to be one of those wonderful WIs.

We play a unique role in providing women with educational opportunities and the chance to build new skills, to take part in a wide variety of activities and to campaign on issues that matter to us and our communities.

Next main meeting is on Wednesday 27 November at 7.30pm in the Vale room of Blewbury village hall.  We are holding a “Blewbury WI bonanza” evening.  Fun and games, quizzes and other enjoyable activities – as they say “a lorra’ lorra’ laughs”.  Time to meet and chat with the WI crowd.  As always refreshment will be on hand. It promises to be a great night.

If you’d like to come along with someone else or find out more, ring our Secretary, Joy, on 850543 or email blewburywi@gmail.com.  Come as a visitor – give it a try – you will be made so welcome!

Calendar of events

Friday 1 November7pmCraft EveningKaren
Mon 4 November10.30amCoffee morningTrish
Tuesday 5 November7pmEvening ScrabbleLyn
Wednesday 6 November2.30pmRummikubSusanne
Tuesday 12 November12 for 12.30Pub lunchKaren
Tuesday 19 November9.30amWalkKaren
Wednesday 20 November2.30pmAfternoon ScrabbleBabeth
Monday 25 November9.30amChristmas OutingKaren

 

New talk by Prof. Emma Smith

August 22, 2024

 

If you’ve heard her on the radio (in her own show or on Melvyn Bragg’s In Our Time) or listened to her podcasts (Approaching Shakespeare and Not Shakespeare) or read one of her acclaimed books on the First Folio, you’ll know that Emma Smith is one of the best, and most approachable, Shakespeare scholars working today.

In a great coup for The Motley Crew, Blewbury’s newly-formed Shakespeare fan club, Professor Smith has agreed to give a talk right here in the village on Shakespeare’s late works Pericles, The Winter’s Tale, Cymbeline and The Tempest, often collectively known as the ‘Romance Plays’. For anyone thinking of seeing the RSC’s current, well-received production of Pericles, or the upcoming Tempest in the West End, or the Globe’s Cymbeline in the new year, or if you’re simply looking for fresh insights into our greatest playwright, this is an unmissable opportunity to experience Shakespeare scholarship at its best, almost literally on your doorstep!

Emma will be appearing at Blewbury Village Hall at 8pm on Monday September 30th. Tickets are £7.50, including refreshment (a bargain – the Oxford Literary Festival charged £13!) and are on sale at the Post Office or via email at admin@themotleycrew.org.uk. You can also use this email address to join the Motley Crew mailing list.

Pre-Show Talk on Pericles

The Motley Crew has organised a coach trip to Stratford to see Pericles on September 11th. The trip itself is sadly sold out, but there’s also an introductory talk on the play a couple of days earlier, given by Chris Whatmore, to which everyone is welcome. This will take place in the Vale Room at 7.30 pm on Monday September 9th. Tickets for this event are £2.50, also available at the Post Office or via email at the above address.

Blewbury Climate Action

October 1, 2024

Sustainable Blewbury Repair Café, Sunday 15th September

This was our 15th Repair Café. The weather was fine, and we had a lot of grateful customers. We had a lot of customers for sharpening, and our volunteer specialists also repaired several bikes, clothing, a sewing machine, a table, radios … and a stone cutter. Repair Cafes are free, but customers usually give donations which cover the hire of the Village Hall and Vale Room. This time there was more than £40 surplus so that will go towards the expenses of our upcoming program of speakers. Details of the programme will be in the next SB Newsletters and elsewhere. The next Repair Café is on November 17th – put it in your diary

Why do we hold Repair Cafes?

For sustainability: The repaired items are reused rather than replaced, which minimises use of valuable resources, and as customers watch the repairs being done they often learn how to do them themselves, but please avoid putting yourself into danger.

Keeping warm this winter.

The consumer organisation Which? has tested and compared store-bought vs DIY draught excluders to see how much cold breeze they let in, and their results showed that best draught excluder for your front door won’t cost you a penny! They compared four popular shop-bought draught excluders for front doors with two homemade versions they’d seen recommended online. You can read their results in their magazine or online (for free!) Their tests showed that a rolled up towel was better than any of the shop bought ones (brush, rubber or cloth), and that the other often recommended home-made version (tights stuffed with rolled-up newspaper) was by far the worst option. The advantage of brush or rubber draught excluders are that they are screwed to the door, while all the others must be put back into position every time the door is opened.

Which? has also tested loft and wall insulation.                                                           Jo Lakeland

Sustainable Blewbury

 

Apple-juicing. If you’d like to juice your own apples, bring them washed (bad bits removed but not cores) and your own clean bottles or containers to the Manor, Berry Lane on: October 13 and 27 between 2 and 4pm. Arrive by 3pm if you want to pasteurise your juice (which will need glass screw top bottles). Costs: £1.50 to press a large bucket or basket of apples plus 30p per bottle to pasteurize. If you have a larger quantity of apples, you can hire our equipment for £15 per day (Blewbury and Upton residents), £20 if you live elsewhere. For further information or to volunteer to help, email Andy at andy3210123@gmail.com

Nature Reserve. We will be maintaining the site on Saturday 12 Oct, 9 Nov, and 7 Dec. If you would like to join our list of volunteers, please email the secretary below. Thanks to everyone who came on 15 Sept but there is still a lot to do if the hedging is going to survive!

Talks programme. We run this in the winter to help update ourselves about environmental, energy and climate change issues (and anything related to them). It’s also a good time to meet other SB supporters. Would you like to give a talk or know someone who would? We are looking for people who have a knowledge of relevant fields to come and inspire us. Contact the secretary, email below, if you can help us.

Quaker Wood. This is a big and exciting project for Blewbury to share and enjoy for generations to come. Contractors will be planting this autumn/winter as SB felt that tackling this was too big for the limited resources of our volunteers. Prior to the planting, contractors will clear the barbed wire fencing and prune some of the vegetation on the boundary with the Mill Brook. This is to allow more light into the stream to encourage biodiversity and to make safe some dead or dying trees. There are a lot of ash trees, some of which are showing signs of Ash Dieback.  We intend to leave most of these initially, but we may have to remove some or all of these if the disease takes hold. By the end of the year, we will have the beginnings of a new woodland on our doorstep. But then, we will need volunteers to help establish and maintain the new hedge, paths and trees.

We are planning an exhibition to show how the woodland will be laid out and the species of trees to be planted and an opportunity to volunteer. More details soon.

Anthony Stiff is our volunteer Project Manager for Quaker Wood. We thank him for all the effort that he has put in to get it to this stage.  For more information on the project, contact Anthony by email: anthony@stiff.org.uk

BLEWBURY FREECYCLE   FREE ITEMS TO A GOOD HOMEE-MAILTEL NO.
·    MuCullock petrol lawnmower 40cm cut model 40-450CP·    MuCullock petrol hedge trimmer (Virginia MH 555) 55cm blade, needs service·    Alpina VIP 25 petrol strimmer, needs serviceAlan Cooper
Agc.mc1@gmail.com
851725
Garden Set comprising Glass Topped garden table (needs some assembling), 6 x garden chairs, 2 x garden foot rests, 1 x small glass topped side table. Reasonable condition.Ann Aplin     annaplin55@gmail.com851246
To freecycle your item please send a short description, email & phone number to Lydia Inglis (lydandmuz@gmail.com)

If you want to know more about Sustainable Blewbury and become a supporter who receive occasional newsletters, email secretary@sustainable-blewbury.org.uk

Bridge Club

The Annual General Meeting will be held at 7pm on Tuesday 8th October in the Vale Room, ahead of a shortened session of bridge. Formal nomination for the appointment of Officers of the Club or Committee Members, and of issues individuals wish to raise under Any Other Business, should be notified formally to the Secretary or Chairman at least a week in advance.

On Friday 4th October, 7 for 7.30pm start, Menagerie Bridge Club are hosting a ‘Play with an Expert’ event on Realbridge for Blewbury and Wantage Clubs. If you would like to take part, and have not already done so, please contact the Chairman.

Blewbury will be hosting joint Realbridge sessions with Wantage Bridge Club at 7pm on October 10th and 24th. Wantage will be hosting similar joint events on October 3rd, 17th and 31st.

Hopefully, Social Bridge sessions will run on Friday evenings on October 11th, 18th and 25th

The Wessex League season is about to start again. Blewbury are in Division 1 this year. Finn Clark is running some Sunday afternoon online Seminars again – ‘How to win Wessex League Division 1 matches’. If you are interested please contact Finn – finnclark@yahoo.co.uk

October 31st sees the end of our competition year. A new set of competitions will begin on November 1st.

Michael Allen    851870

COFFEE & KIDS!

Our October session is on Monday 7th October – with activities for Autumn.

We welcome all bumps! babies & toddlers, along with parents, grandparents and carers. We meet in the Vale Room, Blewbury Village Hall, 9.30am – 11am. A friendly and safe place to enjoy the company of others and have some refreshment as the little ones have fun with toys, learning to play together. We finish the session with songs and action rhymes. A donation of £2 is appreciated towards our costs. Mothers’ Union hosts look forward to welcoming you.

Any queries, contact Louise 07837 009730