Congratulations to Cyril and Margaret Godwin who celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary on March 31st (they even had a card from the Queen!) They moved to Blewbury in 1964 after visiting a friend and falling in love with the village.
The footpath that continues across the Churn estate from the top of Cow Lane will be closed for several weeks for the filming of a battle scene for a Ridley Scott film about Napoleon Bonaparte.
Blewbury’s Zak Corderoy is delighted to announce that he will be joining Gearlink Kawasaki Racing Team for his debut season in the British Supersport Championship. He will race with team mate, Northern Irish rider Eunan McGlinchey.
SUNDAY 5TH JUNE – NOON – 5PM
This event will be run by Blewbury School PTA in conjunction with a small team from the village and will be held in the School grounds and the Village Hall. This report is written prior to our big open meeting (on 17th March) at which a lot more ideas will be discussed. The main framework is much the same as the report on the front page of the March Bulletin – the emphasis of the event is for the whole village to get together and have an afternoon of fun and enjoyment. We start with a Pig Roast prepared by Sheila Austin and a vegetarian/vegan option. You are welcome to bring your own picnics and there will be a Bar and soft drinks at attractive prices so don’t bother to carry heavy bottles. The Brass Band will play while we have our lunch and then the activities will begin.
There will be something for everybody. Games, stories, face painting. Cream Teas, a variety of stalls selling plants, cakes, bread, honey and local produce. Bingo for young and old, children’s races, have a go at short tennis, a boules competition, make a Crown craft stall. A demonstration of wood turning. A display of the Queen’s previous Jubilees by the History Society. A scarecrow competition. A flower festival. A display and demonstration about the Chalk Streams and a host of other things to do OR just find nice seat in the shade and chat to your friends and family.
The afternoon will end with the traditional Tug of War which always gets everybody on their feet cheering on their teams. There will be full details and a timetable in the May Bulletin and we look forward to seeing you there. This is an event not to be missed!
At 6pm in St Michael’s Church. Our Jubilee Celebrations will come to a conclusion with a Special Choral Evensong Service of Thanksgiving for the Queen’s long and devoted reign to which everybody is warmly welcome.
Any comments, ideas or queries, please contact Pat Mattimore on 01235 851088 or at bernardmat@btinternet.com
The last in our series on the green spaces that help shape the special character of our village covers privately-owned land at Parsonage Farm and Orchard Dene.
In the heart of the village, Parsonage Farm is bounded by South Street and two small streams that run down to Watt’s Lane. The western stream provides a natural boundary between Orchard Dene and the garden of Parsonage Farm. Both properties were once part of the ancient prebendal (church) manor of Blewbury. Parsonage Farm was probably the main holding of this manor, and would have had a fine house (long gone) to serve the canons of Salisbury Cathedral when in residence. (Bishop Osmund, a nephew of William the Conqueror, was given church lands in Blewbury, and these were among many properties mined to endow the new cathedral in 1091.) Parsonage Farm was a thriving dairy farm, including a small retail unit called Robinson’s Dairy, until the post-war compulsory purchase of its fields to the east (for ‘Eastfields’) rendered it uneconomical, although rural links remained – there was a blacksmith’s forge here until the 1970s.
The 1805 Enclosure Award refers to Orchard Dene – the field that shelters the Blewbury Wagon – rather obviously as ‘part of an orchard’. At the end of the 18th century, land in this area was farmed by Thomas Watt, whose name lives on in the public footpath leading from South Street to the north side of the churchyard. It is from Watt’s Lane that walkers can gain the best view of both green spaces – these views provide us with a 21st century sense of Blewbury’s very rural origins. Both Orchard Dene and Parsonage Farm are home to a number of mature trees including chestnut, ash and blackthorn. At Parsonage, much of the ground is deliberately left to itself, providing an abundant home for insects and birds including green woodpeckers, little owls, tawny owls and red kites. There are also plenty of squirrels, muntjac and foxes. Orchard Dene and the land at Parsonage Farm help to form ‘the core of paddocks, orchards and streams’ referenced in the 1985 village plan – special places ‘for us, and for those who come after us’. Blewbury is lucky that the owners of both places are custodians who wish to keep nature right at the heart of our village. Sustainable Blewbury
The Extraordinary General Meeting of the Village Produce Association was held on Tuesday 18th January 2022. It was proposed at this meeting that the current Committee would resign en bloc and a new committee be formed by attendees at the meeting.
It is with regret that we have to announce that a new committee could not be formed (no residents attended the meeting) and therefore the VPA has officially closed. A few formalities require completion upon which a full report will be available at the end of February. To receive a copy email: vpa.in.bl.up@gmail.com
May I take this opportunity to thank all the Committee Members, past and present, and in particular, Karen Foreman (Chair) and Chris Jarvis (Secretary) both from Blewbury and Maggie Maytham (Treasurer) and Malcolm Wright (Vice Chairman) both from Upton, for their hard work for so very many years. I myself, although not a resident of either village, really enjoyed the challenge of being Show Secretary and seeing the smiles on the faces of winners at the summer show. Unfortunately, over the years, support for the VPA diminished and we, the Committee, reached the decision that the VPA had reached the end of its viable life.
As the saying goes, all good things come to an end. On behalf of the ex-Committee – Thank You to everyone in Blewbury and Upton (and surrounding villages) for your support and as always HAPPY GARDENING. Eileen Bracken
Community Speedwatch (CSW) is a national initiative where active members of local communities join with the support of the Police to monitor speeds of vehicles using speed detection devices.
Vehicles exceeding the speed limit are referred to the Police with the aim of educating drivers to reduce their speeds. The fastest speed recorded is 65mph on Bessels Way.
Several Blewbury volunteers have been actively taking part in the initiative since the end of July 2021, but it would be great if more people could volunteer so that we can try to keep our roads safe, and with longer daylight hours and improving (we hope) weather, the more people we have the more we can do. The Parish Council is fully supportive of this group. For more details and to register please visit https://www.communityspeedwatch.org/ select ‘Join Existing Group’ from the left hand side of the webpage and look for Oxfordshire, then Didcot – Blewbury Speedwatch group or contact Jill Ingoldby on 07824 552562 / jingoldby(at)btinternet.com
The Governors of Blewbury School are delighted to announce that from January 1st Ms Jo Reeder will be promoted to this new position from her current role as Head of School.
In a ceremony at County Hall on Thursday 4th November, the High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, Imam Monawar Hussain, made a special award to Karen Foreman and Blewbury Good Neighbours for all the good work they’ve done for the community during the pandemic.
Attendees at this year’s Remembrance Sunday gathering at the Blewbury’s London Road War Shrine were rewarded with the gift of a beautifully refurbished commemorative stone, thanks to the sterling voluntary work put in by local stonemason Ryan Morris.