The Ascott Grapevine

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Winter 2007Issue 53

The Ascott Grapevine - Don’t forget about the Ascott website:

Church ServicesGrapevine Appeal

Content & Editorial Policy

If you have an article, story or poem you wouldlike to submit for publication the Grapevine edi-torial team would love to hear from you. Mate-rial for publication is gratefully accepted. Due tospace considerations material may not be usedimmediately but may be held over to be includedin a later issue.

The Grapevine editorial team reserve the rightto shorten, amend or reject any material submit-ted for publication.

The Ascott Grapevine isprovided FREE to everyhousehold in Ascottand we wish this to con-tinue for a long time tocome.

Although ‘The Grape-vine’ does receive sup-port from the ParishCouncil and the PCC,it only raises a limitedamount of revenue fromadvertising. ‘The AscottGrapevine’ survivesmainly on donations. Ifyou would like to helpThe Grapevine continue,any donation large orsmall would be appreci-ated. You can give a do-nation to any member ofthe editorial team.

If there is an aspect ofvillage life not alreadycovered in the Grape-vine please contact amember of the produc-tion team to discussyour ideas. Articles forthe Spring issue of TheGrapevine should besubmitted by April 4th.

Call 01993 832163or email: [email protected]

Stuart Fox, Kingsley,Wendy Pearse,

Karen Purvis

The details and times ofthe regular services areadvertised on the vari-ous notice boardsaround the village andin the church porch,but here are some of thespecial services that arecoming up over the nextfew months:

Ist Sunday of the month10.00am Holy Com-munion - CommonWorship

2nd Sunday8.00am Holy Com-munion – Book ofCommon Prayer10.00am Family Service

.

Chase News

Further information about what’s happeing in theChase Benefice is in the Chase News, included inthe centre of this issue of the Grapevine.

3rd Sunday10.00am Benefice Serv-ice

4th Sunday10.00 Morning Prayer

Please check the noticeboards for special serv-ices over the Easter pe-riod.

We look forward towelcoming you andworshiping with you.

Tim Lyon

- Issue 53www.ascott-under-wychwood.org.uk

A Choir for ChristmasAt the beginning of Sep-tember I thought aboutforming a ‘scratch’ choirto sing a few carol - typeanthems as part of theAscott Carol Service inour church. I got intouch with the Revd.Mark Abrey to see if hewould allow us to takepart, and after his af-firmative reply, startedto ask around in this vil-lage and adjoining vil-lages for anyone inter-ested.

The response wasmost pleasing and webegan having Mondaynight rehearsals to pre-pare some work whichI had chosen. It seemsas though there werequite a few people whohad never sung in agroup but would like totry if given the chance.

As my work has been totrain choirs (amongstother forms of musicmaking) I set to, and weall worked hard to pro-duce some three- part-harmony.

It gave us a cheerfulatmosphere in which toexplore the newlyfound potential! Eachsession was concludedwith a glass of wine anda chat,This was also achance to get to knownew friends too.

We hope that havingsung at the Carol Serv-

ice, both on our own,and also to lead the con-gregation in the well -known carols, we maygo on to have furtherchances to sing togetheron other occasions.

Are you a frustratedsinger without a choir?If so, do get in touchwith me and wheneverwe get together againyou might ‘tr y yourhand’ (or your voice!)with us. It was good fun.

Daphne [email protected]

Like many churchesHoly Trinity in Ascottfinds difficulty in re-cruiting bellringers toring for Sunday servicesand special occasions. Isthere anyone in the vil-lage who learned to ringwhen they were younger,

Bellringersstopped because ofother commitmentsbut would now be will-ing to attend the occa-sional practice sessionand Sunday service?

We tend to ringrounds and simple callchanges. Our aim is to

make a joyful soundrather than learningcomplicated methods.

If you think that youmight like to join uscontact: Mike on830058 or Stuart on832004.

Stuart Fox


Births

Marriages

Deaths.On 23rd June 2006 toAilsa Palmer Stuart andSean O’Mahony, a son,Blake EmersonO’Mahony.

On 11th October 2006to Sarah and SteveRussell, a son, ThomasJames Fulier.

On 2nd December 2006at St. Andrew’sChurch, HatfieldPeverel, Essex, AnthonyWood to CharlotteRyder.

On 1st December 2006,Francis James Hawley,aged 79 years.

On 8th December 2006,Elizabeth ConstanceRainbow, aged 93 years.

Thank-God for Tesco,that’s what I say!

On a mild and over-cast morning on the 2nd

December, friends ofAnthony Wood, set offfor Hatfield Peverel, nearChelmsford in a twenty-four-seat coach hired byRosemary Dawbarn, forthe wedding of Anthonyand Charlotte. These aremy recollections of thetrip to Essex.

Why, you may sayshould I praise Tesco inAylesbury? Well, itwould be fair to say thatmost of those travellingcould be compared toold houses, full of char-acter, but with dubiousplumbing! I leave you toguess why I praise Tescoand their facilities!

A Grand Day OutAfter

o u rstop inA y l e s -bury wecontin-u e dw i t h -out too many problemswith traffic in the com-petent hands of ourdriver, MartinGrantham. In conversa-tion I discovered thatMartin’s father, Horace,worked with me atSmiths Industries inWitney 30 years ago.We often got into trou-ble for playing aboutand not paying enoughattention to our work.As a boy Horace at-tended the RomanCatholic Church in

Chippie and had gotinto serious trouble forputting ink into theholy water. Our playingabout kept us sane whileworking on the assem-bly line at Smiths; butback to our day out.

By noon we stoppedat a pub just outsideChelmsford for a meal,which we all enjoyed.The food was good andthe cost reasonable. Ihave a Scrooge-like na-ture and always look tosee if I am being ripped-

On 16th January 2007to Helen and PhilipPratley, a daughter,Philippa Olivia Pratley.


off. After the meal it wastime for the ladies todress for the big occa-sion; they all lookedvery glamorous whenthey boarded the coach,but I never understandwhy women make sucha fuss over dressing-upfor weddings! I waitedto see if one of themasked, “does my bumlook big in this?” Beingladies this questionwasn’t asked.

We arrived atHatfield Peverel at 2.00pm, half an hour before“kick-off” sorry, I meanbefore the wedding. St.Andrews was decoratedwith seasonal flowers; Ihad the feeling that thiswas the beginning ofChristmas.

The organist and ayoung man on a trum-pet played some finemusic before the mar-riage ceremony, therousing Toccata andFugue setting the scene.The service was simplebut moving, both Brideand Groom showingtheir nerves. There wasmore fine music, singingand poetry beforeAnthony and Charlottewalked down the aisle as

husband and wife, tothe joyous sound ofSortie in E flat major byLouis Lefebure Wely. Ido like music that liftsand cheers me.

After the usual pho-tographs and greetingsoutside the church, wemoved off to the recep-tion. The whole eventseemed very English,but don’t ask me to ex-plain what I mean.

Driving up a longdrive to the house wherethe reception was beingheld, we arrived outsidewhat I would guess wasa redbrick Georgianmansion. I half expectedto be greeted by JaneEyre and Rochester, butI wasn’t.

We entered a warmhouse full of friends ofthe bride and groom;again my ‘Scrooge-like’thoughts were with me,how much did it cost toheat a place like this?

After plenty to eatand drink and in a merrymood, we left for homeat 6.30 pm.

It was a comfortableand sleepy ride back toAscott, our only con-cern was for JimBeveridge who had been

ill for most of the day. Ido hope that by thetime that this goes toprint he will be fully re-covered.

I discussed withEleanor and Junehymns suitable for wed-dings, but after one at-tempt at singing one itsoon petered out. Thefootball songs of myyouth would not havebeen suitable for the la-dies of refined tastes onthe coach. Even for mewith more genteel tastesand as a practising Chris-tian the lewd and bawdysongs of my youthshould be banned andthose singing themlocked-up and the keythrow away! (Fred I don’tbelieve you. Ed.)

Arriving back inAscott at about 9.00pm I was greeted by mydog who was verypleased to see me; I wasalso in time to watchMatch of the Day.

We all agreed that ithad been a grand dayout. My thanks to Rose-mary for organising thecoach and to JillStedeford for bookingthe lunch at the pub.

Fred Russell


Leafield Picture Framing(Tony Croft)

Complete Picture Framing ServiceMount CuttingWash Lining

Tapestry Stretching

Door to door delivery and collectionHome consultation if required

Please telephone01993 878357 or call

Tony CroftCotswold View, Ascott Road, Leafield

For Free Estimate or Further Details

Although it is now al-most forty years sinceDon Benson completedhis excavation of theNeolithic long barrowat Ascott-under-Wychwood this year seesrenewed interest in theremains of this ancientburial place. The planto return the barrowstones to the village co-incides with the immi-nent publication (byOxbow Books) of thefinal report on the exca-vations, including theresults of an extensivepost excavation research

The Long Barrowproject led by DrAlasdair Whittle at Car-diff University.

One of several burialmounds in the area theAscott barrow, builtaround 3,700BC onopen scrubby grassland,is probably one of theearliest of more than140 barrows con-structed in earth andstone that are scatteredacross the Cotswold-Severn region.Wayland’s Smithy onthe Ridgeway and theWhispering Knights atRollright are two good

examples of this type ofburial mound withBelas Knap andNotgrove in Gloucester-shire also being worth avisit.

The Ascott long bar-row, which was used byseveral generations ofour Neolithic ancestorsto bury their dead, ap-pears to have been builtin two stages, in a seriesof bays defined by linesof stakes and stone,filled mainly with earthand turf, with somestone, and enclosed orfaced by dry stone wall-ing. The barrow con-tained two opposedpairs of stone burialchambers or cists.

The cists containedthe remains of at least 21people (of all ages andboth sexes), depositedin a variety of condi-tions from cremationsand fleshed burials toincomplete selections ofbones from bodies thathad previously been ex-posed to the elements.This process ofexcarnation resulted inthe bones beingbleached through directexposure to sunlight.


Once the flesh had rot-ted the bones were thentransferred to the bar-row for burial.

Perhaps the moststartling find was the ver-tebra of an adult malewith a f lint arrowheadembedded in it. The ar-row had entered thebody through the stom-ach and lodged in thespine. Death would havebeen very quick, but wewill never know whetherthis was a tragic accidentor evidence of a moresinister event. But we doknow that the arrowmust have been releasedfrom close range to havepenetrated so deep.

The archaeologistsalso recovered pottery,f lint, axe fragments,stone querns for grind-ing grain, and the bonesof both wild and do-mesticated animals in-cluding cattle, sheepand pigs.

When published thefinal report on the exca-vations will providemore detailed informa-tion about the life anddeath of some of theearliest inhabitants ofour valley.The finds from the ex-cavations (with the ex-ception of the humanbones which are in thecare of the Natural His-

tory Museum in Lon-don) and the site archivehave now been depos-ited with the Oxford-shire County MuseumService and will bestored at the MuseumsResource Centre atStandlake. Volunteersare being sought to as-sist with the final stagesof documenting the ar-chive to make it moreeasily accessible to thepublic. Anyone inter-ested in helping withthis work should con-tact Carol Anderson on01993 814105 or email [email protected]

Carol Anderson

Could you spare just two hours per weekto assist in keeping this shop the successstory that it has become?

Have you made your resolution yet?

If you believe this shop to be of value to you then please give this idea someserious consideration.

Please contact Bridgette Crundwell at Home on: 01993-830671; at her Office on:01993 832592 (Mon to Wed) or at the Shop on: 01993 831240 (2.30pm to 6.30pmThur) if you are interested or would like more information.

We are constantly looking for volunteers who wouldbe willing to help with the everyday running of theshop, either serving on the till or, if you prefer, behindthe scenes.

Absolutely no experience is required, as all trainingwill be given until you are perfectly happy.


After six months attend-ing fairly uninspiringweekly meetings, andstruggling to fundraiseto finance my flight andexpenses, last July I flewout to South Africa. Tobe honest, I was begin-ning to question why Ihad ever applied toTenteleni, a small stu-dent run charity thatsends about 150 Britishstudents annually toSouthern Africa.

I had seen postersadvertising the charityone winter evening,when I was stranded lateone night in the library,slightly put out that Ihad an essay to finishwhile I knew my friendswere out, enjoyingthemselves. More thanslightly disgruntled that

I had not learnt my les-son, and had again leftthings to the lastminute, in the knowl-edge that I had a longnight ahead of me, theposter caught my atten-tion, and offered aglimpse of somethingfar more exciting thanissues of political phi-losophy! So, from thisevocation of sunshineand something otherthan essays, books andthe library, I becameinvolved, and the op-portunity that had beenprovided for me, provedto be quite amazing.

As part of theTenteleni project, Istayed alongside 14other British students ina Game Reserve situatedin the Mpumalanga

Province of North East-ern South Africa. Thebasic accommodationwas more than compen-sated for by the stun-ning scenery and wild-life, with zebras, Rhino

and Giraffe regularlygrazing outside ourhuts. The townshipwithin which we werevolunteering, about a 40minute drive away bor-ders Kruger National

Volunteering on the Tenteleni Project


Park, and from one ofthe schools elephantsare regularly spotted.

We were to have oneweek of training, beforeembarking upon ourvoluntary placements asteaching assistants in theMatsulu township for 8weeks. In this trainingweek, I was cheerfullytold that the school thatI was to be placed in,was the poorest in thecommunity. While Iwas aware that it was inthe rural part ofMatsulu (people are per-mitted to keep animals)I knew not what tomake of that comment,when we had all beenprepared for schoolswith intermittent (ifany) water, no electricityand a lack of basic edu-cational resources, toinclude paper and pens.To add to this, many ofthose children, who wewould be coming in tocontact with, were or-phans from HIV/AIDS,and were themselves in-fected, and thus sick.The task ahead wasdaunting, and the busride to school the fol-lowing Monday morn-

ing was crisp with si-lence, as we all sat incontemplation, aware ofthe very real possibilitythat we had bitten offfar more than we couldchew.

At 7.30 that Mon-day morning, whatgreeted me at BenjaminPrimary school, wererows and rows of happysmiling faces, and a level

of celebrity status. Asone of the first whitepeople to have come into contact with thesechildren, there wasmuch fascination overmy white ‘chicken skin’and ‘soft hair.’ Thatmorning, there seemedto be a sense of joy exu-berating from every class-room, as the youngestchildren transfixed by


our very presence, hungout of windows andshouted as they wavedmadly, trying to gainour attention. Therewas no doubt that ourpresence was clearly ap-preciated, but then thatwas evident the previousweek, when we had metthe local members ofthe education circuit,who had spontaneouslyburst in to song to cel-ebrate our safe arrival.

Much was evidently ex-pected of us!

The happy atmos-phere could only maskfor a shortwhile, theharsh real-ity of thesi tuat ion.The fact is,these chil-dren havevery few re-s o u r c e savailable to

them, and their lives arebeing ravaged by theHIV/AIDS virus. Thefigures are disturbing. Itis thought that 40% ofthe local populationhave HIV/AIDS (thehighest rate in thewhole of South Africa)and between 80 – 90%of the children in myschool are orphans; asone teacher explained to

me, peopleare eitherin fec t ed ,or affected.In theknowledgeof suchfacts, onew o u l dthink itwould beh e a r tbreaking tobe work-ing in such

company when so manyof those young individu-als have such a death sen-tence around their neck,but this thought rarelyoccurred to me. It wasan honour to be in thecompany of individuals,who had gone throughso much, and despiteeverything, continuedto have a smile on their


faces. When the chil-dren are so brave, andmatter a fact aboutdeath, a reality thatpunctuates their life, itwas impossible to bemorbid.

I was placed in one ofthe township’s largerprimary schools, with1095 pupils aging from4-18+ (if children failexams, which is com-mon, then they mustrepeat the year.) Therewere just 24 teachers,teaching classes of be-tween 50-75 children insimple brick builtrooms, with woodendesks crammed in, with

a chalk board at thefront of the room.Along both sides therewere windows, manywith broken windowpanes, which openedjust wide enough to al-low for a small breeze,

but the crowded roomsstill got very hot.

One of the most chal-lenging situations thatwe found ourselves in,was in the promotion ofawareness in issues con-cerning HIV/AIDS. As


part of the LifeSkills curriculum,we were responsiblefor teaching aboutthe facts of the ill-ness, it’s transmis-sion, and ways of liv-ing positively withit. It was particu-larly challenging fac-ing 65 – 75 faces,teaching about pro-tecting oneself fromthe virus, while thechances were thatnearly half the class hadalready contracted it.Somehow it felt like wewere giving a false hope,continuing the cultureof denial. Yet equally,emphasising the ways of

living posi-tively withthe virusfelt like wewere be-t r a y i n gthese chil-dren, ac-c e p t i n gthat this vi-rus wouldcontinue toc o n t r o ltheir lives.

that sleeping with a vir-gin will cure AIDS,awareness is improving,and there is increasingaccess to anti retrovirals.

I am very grateful thatI did manage to stum-ble upon such a fantas-tic opportunity, and wasable to spend a time,even if it were too shortin the presence of peo-ple who are truly hum-bling. I wish to thank

all those peoplewho helped mewith myfundraising ef-forts in order tomake the wholetrip possible.

To find outmore, visit theT e n t e l e n iwebsite atwww.tentelini.co.uk

LeishaBraithwaite

Nevertheless while it cannot be denied that thevirus has, and will shapethe lives of these chil-dren, there is hope.While many still believe


For my generation, thatis those born just beforethe 2nd World War, weare perhaps the last peo-ple to know the ghoststories connected withthe old vicarage. Oneconcerned the ghostlylight that was supposedto travel from the housealong the drive to whatwas the old stable block.It was a well-known tale,but I never met anyonewho had actually seenit.

The other story wasthe haunting of thehouse by the ghost ofMiss Tweed and I doknow some people whohad seen a figure of awoman. Miss Tweedwas the sister of the Rev-erend Tweed, who livedat the vicarage in the1860’s.

Doris Warner toldme that her Grand-mother had seen theghost and I know of ayoung man who hadseen the figure at thebottom of the cellarsteps. He was so fright-ened that he ran off andnever ventured near theplace again.

The Vicarage GhostsDoris Warner was a

great collector of villagestories; she could havefilled the Grape Vinewith her recollections.

The ReverendNicholls was the lastvicar of Ascott to live inthe vicarage. In thosedays it was an unnervingplace to visit on a darknight. Most of the villagehad electric light, but thevicarage was still lit by oillamps. The ReverendNicholls lived therealone during the 1950’sand seemed uncon-cerned by tales of haunt-ing. He was a cheerfulyoung man, who didmuch to bring the villagetogether.

By the 1970’s part ofthe vicarage was rentedout to young families.Some years later I met ayoung women who hadlived there and I jokingly

asked if she had everseen the ghost. She said“yes I did, I went to geta cold drink in the earlyhours of the morningand saw a face lookingat me through thekitchen window.” Shealso said that she hadfelt a presence movethrough the kitchen to-wards the cellar door.

Wendy Pearse tellsme, that the ReverendShackleton, who livedthere in the years be-tween the two WorldWars, had performed aservice to rid the vicar-age of unwelcome spir-its. It is of interest tonote that the ReverendShackelton was a closerelative of ErnestShackelton the great ex-plorer.

I have worked in thevicarage grounds for overtwelve years and I’m

Bed & Breakfast

In Ascott

Excellent independent ensuite roomsfor your friends or relatives coming to stay.

Children welcome.

Please ring Mrs. Ingrid Ridley

01993 830612


pleased to say that I’venot seen any appari-tions, but on occasionsmy old dog, Tam,would stand rigid onthe drive and I wouldhave to pull hard on herlead to make her move.I have no such troublewith my present dog,Holly, who races aroundeverywhere. Her onlyconcern is how manybiscuits she will be givenby her friends, Dr. andMrs Goodford!

My only frighteningexperience was to runthe lawnmower over asmall shrub, which was

a treasured possessionthat had come fromPrince Charles’ estate.I’m pleased to say thatit survived and is now alarge and f lourishingbush.

My other concern isto try and recreateLeonardo’s painting,the Last Supper, as apiece of topiary from abox hedge. My first at-tempt left the figureslooking more like skit-tles from an Aunt Sallygame. I know nothingof topiary, so when I amtrying to cut a chin orneck on one of the fig-

ures the poor discipleends up without a nose.

Now the vicarage isfilled with electric light-ing the ghosts have de-parted. Perhaps the an-swer to all hauntings isto fill the house withlight, music and laugh-ter, unpleasant spiritswill then depart.

Fred Russell


Ascott-under-Wychwood Parish Council

Parish Council:David Wilkinson,Chairman 832144Stuart FoxResponsible FinancialOfficer 832004Elaine Byles 831427Bridgette Crundwell830671Sally Franks 831432Angela Barnes - ParishClerk: 01608 641045

First, the Parish Coun-cil wish one and all aHappy New Year.

The coming year willno doubt prove to beanother busy one, aswas 2006 with the Par-ish Council dealing withthe many issues that arebrought before them.The Parish Council hascarried out a Risk Assess-ment and we are pleasedto report there are noserious issues that needattention. The play areain the Playing Field hasnow been replenishedwith fresh play-bark, the

Horse Chestnut Tree onthe Green needs to havean annual inspection,which is due to takeplace in January. Theproject on the Pound isongoing, more slowlythan one would havehoped, but neverthelessprogress is being made.I’m sure that many of theproblems that came toour attention in 2006will still occur in 2007,such as speeding, park-ing and petty vandalism.Finally the Parish Coun-cil are in need of an In-ternal Auditor - should

anybody be interestedin helping with this orwould like more infor-mation, please contactthe Parish Council’s Re-sponsible Financial Of-ficer, Stuart Fox.

The next Society meet-ing will be on Thursday15th February at7.30.p.m at ShiptonVillage Hall when AlanWatkins will give a talkentitled Fred Lewis ofChipping Norton andBaseball. As a previousGrapevine illustrated,baseball was a feature ofAscott village life in thefirst half of the 20th cen-tury.

On 15th March Mar-tin Sirot-Smith will givea talk on SulgraveManor and the Wash-

Wychwoods Local History Societyington Family at MiltonVillage Hall at7.30.p.m.

Then on 19th AprilDr Gill Hey will talkabout The EarliestFarmers in Our Region-Ascott Barrow atShipton Village Hall at7.30.p.m. This will bea most appropriatemeeting for Ascott sincethe Parish Council is atpresent negotiating withthe Museums Servicesabout returning thelarge stones from theBarrow to the parish,

where they will be relo-cated in the restoredVillage Pound.

Old and new mem-bers are welcome. Sub-scriptions are £6 for anindividual and £9 for acouple which includes acopy of WychwoodsHistory when pub-lished. Visitors are wel-come at any meeting at£2 per head. More in-formation about theSociety can be obtainedfrom Wendy Pearse on831023.

Wendy Pearse


Nature NotesWhen asked “whatbirds visit your garden?”the reply will always in-clude at least one mem-ber of the Tit family,often the active Blue Titor his larger cousin theGreat Tit.

These woodlandbirds and their relativeshave adopted our gar-dens and will happilyspend the winter, feed-ing on peanuts andother food we leave outfor them rather than re-main in their natural

habitat. In spring manywill return to the coun-tryside, but Blue Titswill take advantage of asuitably sited nest boxand remain in the gar-den throughout thesummer.

There are seven Titsnative to Britain; sixbelong to the family‘Paridae’ and one theLong-Tailed Tit is not atrue Tit but the sole rep-resentative of the family‘Aegithalidae.’

You won’t find all ofthis family of birds inyour garden; theCrested Tit is confinedto the Scottish PineForests and both theWillow and Marsh Titare infrequent gardenvisitors. The Willow Titprefers damp wood-lands and the Marsh Tit,despite its name, lives inmixed woodland.

The largest of the Titsover wintering in our

gardens is the Great Tit;a distinctive bird aboutthe size of a sparrow witha black and white headand a yellow breast. Ithas a squeaky two orthree note song, whichearned it the name ofSaw finch. Because of itssize, it can be somethingof a bully, driving thesmaller birds away fromthe bird-table. In thebreeding season, it canalso be very territorial,although later in the


year it will often remainin small family groups.Its normal diet is smallinsects and caterpillars,but it will happily takepeanuts and other birdtreats and especiallylikes sunflower seeds. Inspring it has the unfor-tunate habit of strip-ping fruit-tree buds insearch of insects and itcan also be a pest of bee-keepers, catching bees asthey leave the hive.When it comes to nestbuilding they are notvery choosy and willconstruct their nests inupturned f lowerpots,post boxes, cavities in awall, a hole in a treetrunk and any suitablesheltered place. The nestwill be made of mossand lined with hair ordown and 5 to 10 eggsare laid. The femalebuilds the nest and in-cubates the eggs whichhatch in 13 to 14 daysand the young are readyto leave after a further15 to 21 days. Secondbroods are uncommon.

The Blue Tit is thegarden acrobat, eitherswinging from a string ofpeanuts or searching thebranches of nearby trees

and shrubs for small in-sects and spiders. Withits blue and yellow col-ouring it cannot be mis-taken for any other bird.Of all the Tits it appre-ciates man-made nestboxes most and a singlepair will often raise twofamilies in one year froma well-sited box and mayeven return to the samebox the following year.

Make sure the box is notaccessible to the localcats and don’t place itin an area that has fullsun throughout the day,otherwise the interior ofthe box will becometoo hot. The nest tendsto be a rather shapelessmass of soft material,moss, wool and hairwith a cup like hollowwhere 6 to 10 eggs arelaid. Nest building com-mences in April and asecond brood will becompleted by midsum-mer. When the young

are in the nest the par-ents will feed them,throughout the daylighthours, with a variety ofinsects, and even whenthey have fledged andleft the nest the parentswill still continue to of-fer the occasional mealto a begging youngster.

The final regular gar-den visitor is the CoalTit, similar in size to theBlue Tit, but more so-berly coloured, beingrather drab grey with a

dull yellow chest and ablack head, set off bywhite cheeks and awhite spot on the backof its neck. Although itsnest is similar to theBlue Tits it will rarelysettle in a nest box, pre-ferring to build at alower level, often withina foot or so of theground. It will lay 8 to12 eggs and incubatethese for 14 to 17 days


and the young will leavethe nest 20 days later.

My personal favouriteis the Long-Tailed Tit,

perhaps because it isonly an occasional visi-tor, passing through thegarden in a small butnoisy family f lock,searching for insects inthe trees and shrubs.This bird is very distinc-tive, with a very smallbody, flushed pink anda tail longer than thebody. They are more in-sectivorous than the trueTits and will rarely takescraps from the bird ta-ble. Perhaps because ofthis they suffer a veryhigh rate of mortality ina harsh winter; it hasbeen suggested that 10out of 12 die from onebreeding season to thenext. Their nests areworks of art, domed andcompletely enclosedwith an entrance hole in

the side, built in thefork of a tree, hidden inthe centre of a thornybush or amongst an ivythicket. The nest cantake up to 18 days toconstruct and may beused to raise twobroods between Apriland June. These birdstend to stay together asa family group and it hasbeen noted that theyoung of the first broodhelp feed the second.Watch out for flocks ofthese birds working thehedgerows, never stop-ping in one place, alwayson the move.

If you want to attractany birds to your gardenfeed them regularly andmake sure there is a sup-ply of fresh water avail-able for them to drinkand bathe. Peanuts,birdseed and cakecrumbs, together with asuspended coconutshell and a strip of suetor one of the commer-cially available fat andseed balls will keepthem fed during theworst of the winterweather. Don’t givethem crisps or saltedpeanuts, birds cannot

process salt and it willpoison them! Makesure that bird tables,and feeders are keptclean to prevent thespread of disease andstop feeding whole pea-nuts when the breedingseason starts; nestlingscan easily choke if theparent feeds them awhole nut. In the springit is better for the youngto be fed on insect foodthat is high in proteinanyway.

Stuart Fox


I am sitting writing thisin early January and Iam beginning to feel thestirring I get every yearwhen I know the yearhas turned, the days arebeginning so infinitesi-mally to get longer andthe snowdrop shootsare showing above thesoil. This is when I be-gin to plan for the gar-dening year ahead, todecide what projects Iwill undertake, whichparts of the garden willneed particular atten-tion and what vegetablesI am going to grow. Atthis time of the year, Iam sure everything ispossible and theweather will fall in withmy plans.

This year I am par-ticularly anxious to getoff to a good start be-cause last year seemed tobe almost a non-event inmy garden and I knowothers in the village andelsewhere felt the same.The weather was veryunkind to gardeners.March and April weretoo cold, May was toowet and June too hotmaking it very difficultto sow seed at the best

Gardening Notestime and to keep theweeds in check whenthey were growing apacein May. When it be-came possible to garden,the heat took your en-ergy away, made plantswilt and in some casesdie. The best time by farwas autumn, which waslong and warm. Thisyear I am banking ongood gardening weatherfrom March onwardsright into November. Itpays to be optimisticbecause that gives you

the spur you need tobelieve that planningyour gardening activitiesfor the coming year isworth the effort.

Having sufficient wa-ter is likely to be part ofthe plan for this year.Despite the good down-pours of rain this win-ter, the hosepipe ban isstill in force and mayvery well continuethroughout the year.Therefore, increasingwater storage capacity isvery important. A cou-


ple of water butts placedat strategic points in thegarden will be a goodidea as I won’t have tocarry heavy wateringcans a long way from thetap. Vegetables will getmore watering and growwell. Transplants willhave more chance of sur-viving.

I am also making theresolution to hoe weedsdown on every possibleoccasion when theground is dry. It makessuch good sense, asweeds seem to have theability to grow, set seed,fall to the ground andgerminate overnight,starting the whole proc-ess off all over again. Ofcourse they don’t do itovernight, it just seemsthey do.

A new project willtake a lot of thought.This could be rearrang-ing all the plants in aflowerbed because theyhave grown tired andpast their best and somehave died out altogetheror it could be becausethe colour scheme isdull and unexciting. I’lltake the opportunity todig in plenty of compostbefore planting up thebed again. It could betrying out some newplants I’ve never grownsuch as those being usedin tropical-looking gar-dens, for example bam-boos, spiky leavedphormiums, large leavedcannas, fatsia japonicaor even banana plants.If I do try cannas andbanana plants I will

need to decide how I amgoing to deal with themduring the winter.Would it be better toplant them in potswhich I can bring in-doors or shall I trustthat we will have a mildwinter, so plant themout in the garden andgive them good protec-tion when summer isover.

It could be that thisis the year; I finallywork out the shape ofthe vegetable garden. I’vetried various ways tomake it ornamentalrather than just produc-tive. It is important forit to look good becauseit’s an integral part ofthe garden not justtucked away at the end.Looking at books gives


inspiration. Bookshopswhere you can sit andbrowse keep the costdown.

What vegetable andf lower seeds to buyneed to be thoughtabout and orderedthrough catalogues orbought in the gardencentre. Catalogues givea wider choice and by farthe most exciting cata-logue is from ChilternSeeds. They offer a vastrange of flower, shrub,tree and vegetable seeds.It is always exciting totry a flower or vegetableseed you have nevergrown before. Will I sowall my seed in the green-house or cold frame orwill I sow everythingoutside that can besown there? Over thelast few years I have beenthinking about sowingmore and more seed in-side and not plantingout until they’ve growninto sturdy plants. Thisyear I am going to sowas much as possible in-side then plant out. HadI done this last year Iwould have been able tooffset the vagaries of the

weather much betterthan I did . Sturdyplants have more chanceof surviving drought ifthey are watered in wellwhen planted and thenwatered regularly there-after. They can also fendoff pigeon, rabbit, catand insect attack better.Also you can plant themexactly where you wantthem. Only vegetablesand flowers that don’tlike being transplanted,such as parsnips andCalifornian poppies,will be sown outside.

It’s all very excitingthinking about the fu-ture, how will the gar-den look at its height inJune or July? Will thecolour combinations beright or will there beexciting or revoltingclashes? Planning nowgives the chance to getat least some of it rightand it gives a warm feel-ing of anticipation whenthere is no way you canget out in the middle ofwinter and actually dogardening. When youread this it will be timeto buy seed potatoesand set them sprouting

for an early crop of deli-cious new potatoes. Theweather will, of course,be ideal: you will be ableto dig and ready yourground for serious gar-dening in March and thedaffodils will be well ontheir way to burst forthin glorious gold to tellyou that spring has ar-rived. Let’s trust thisarmchair view turns outto be reality and all ourgardening dreams,surely I mean plans, arefulfilled.

Yvette Keauffling


Wychwood Project

Wychwood’s Ancient TreesAncient trees are a par-ticular feature of theUK, indeed our countryis home to more thanhalf the ancient trees ofEurope. But what is anancient tree? It is diffi-cult to define precisely.However an ancient treeis one that is old, fat orhollow by comparisonwith other trees of thesame type. Some an-cient trees are instantlyrecognisable but otherscan be less obvious.Trunk girth size isn’t al-ways a good indicator asthere is a lot of variationbetween tree species.However, an ancient treeis likely to have a bigtrunk girth relative toother trees of the samespecies.

The former RoyalForest of Wychwoodcontains many ancienttrees. These trees areprecious because theyare home for a fantasticrange of wildlife. Thenooks and crannies ofold trees provide valu-able habitat for some ofour rarest creatures.

Looking after these treesis essential if theseplants and animals areto survive.

These old trees arealso precious to us be-cause of their impressivebeauty and for their his-tory in the landscape.There are old oaks in theWychwood area whichwere alive when Eliza-beth I was Queen ofEngland. Many ofWychwood’s oldesttrees are in theparklands of the big es-tates. Many more are inthe gardens of largehouses, some are in an-cient hedgerows. Ahandful can be found asremnants of earlier land-scapes in the middle offields and woodlands.

Ancient trees cancontinue to live for hun-dreds of years with theright care. Finding outwhere these special treesare and helping treeowners understandtheir trees and how bestto look after them is oneof the key aims of a newinitiative of the

Wychwood Project –The Wychwood OldTrees Project.

The Gibbet Tree,which can be seen in thedistance the east of theA361 near CappsLodge, is one of themore infamous old treesof Wychwood. Do youknow of any others thathave an interesting his-tory? Do you know ofany really old trees hid-ing in a garden or field?If you do we would bepleased to hear fromyou.

If you know of anyold trees or you wouldlike to join the OldTrees Project contactNick Mottram of theWychwood Project on01993 814143, [email protected] write to the Projectat Fletcher’s House,Park Street,Woodstock, OxonOX20 1SN.

The Wychwood OldTrees Project is part of alarger programme ofwork that focuses uponthe ancient habitats in


the Wychwood areaand is supported withfunding from NaturalEngland, West Oxford-shire Network’s Leader+

Programme and theEsmée Fairbairn Foun-dation.. All the treerecords collected forthis project will be

added to the nationaldatabase being compiledby the Woodland Trust.

Nick Mottram

The PCC has had greatfun this autumn with aWychwood Forest BigDraw art project. Runin collaboration withThe Oxfordshire Mu-seum two local artists,Sally Howkins and TomRalphs Laman workedwith 300 children inHailey and Kinghamschools to create a mu-ral of their impressionsof life in theWychwood Forest. The30 metre long mural wasthen displayed in theBrewhouse Gallery atthe museum duringOctober. Over 250 visi-tors to the museum dur-ing this time also madecontributions to the dis-play which resulted in atremendously vibrantand entertaining work ofart. I am now lookingfor other venues to dis-play the mural and seek-ing funding to offer abigger and more exten-sive art project to more

Wychwood Project Parish Conservationlocal schools during2007.

The autumn also sawsome very interestingjoint talks with theRSPB farmland conserva-tion advisor KirstyMeadows at Enstoneand the BBOWT WaterVole Recovery ProjectOfficer Cath Shelswellat Fulbrook. These talkshave helped to encour-age local people to sug-gest more conservationactivities; for examplethere are plans for wood-land clearance work atEnstone airfield, a drystone walling trainingcourse at Fulbrook on21/22nd April and twomore people havestarted to work with theFriends of WychwoodBird Aid winter feedingprogramme for smallfarmland birds.

Ian Gourlay from theFriends of Wychwoodled a delightful walk on4th November focussing

on the trees aroundFinstock, Wilcote andCornbury. He enter-tained the walkers withfascinating stories of thelocal area, the history ofthe trees and wood-lands, landowners andlocal influences on thespecial character of thearea.. More walks andtalks are planned for2007 and will be adver-tised locally for eachevent as well as in For-est Update and on localwebsites and papers. Formore informationabout the Parish Con-servation Challenge orif you would like to sug-gest some conservationactivities for Ascottplease contact JaneBowley Project Officeron 01993 814131 oremail:

[email protected] Bowley


Memories of Coldstone Part 6When I was a small boywe had some youngducks penned in theopen end of a shed justoutside the garden gateand when dad was dig-ging the garden we chil-

dren picked up theworms and took themto the ducks who gob-bled them up eagerlyand got quite excited.They used to stand upand quack every time wewent past. Each spring-time we had threeyoung f luffy goslingswith a broody hen in acoop and a run on thelawn. They soon grew

much bigger and werelet out into the yard andthe orchard, to get fatfor Christmas and theyused to squawk likemad when anyone cameto the house.

Quite a number oftradesmen came at thattime. We had FishyRainbow with his horsedrawn van on Saturdaymorning and a midweekday. He brought fishand green grocery. MrDavy’s butchers vancame from Milton. Fos-ters’ red van “A SHOPAT YOUR DOOR”came on Tuesday morn-

ings with a variety ofgoods including pots,pans and paraffin. Theequivalent of the onedriven around local vil-lages by Basil Pratleyfrom Milton in more

recent years. On Tues-day afternoons the lorrycollected the eggs for thepacking station atBanbury and there wasalso a lorry fromHartwells the Ironmon-gers at ChippingNorton which broughtheating stoves andspares like stove wicks,f lame spreaders andmantles for lights in ad-


dition to paraffin andmany other goodswhich could be ordered.Mr Bill Lock broughtour bread in a van fromPeapells the bakers atLeafield. Their premiseswas the building whichis now the LeafieldCommunity Shop.However with the se-vere blizzards in 1947most roads wereblocked and there wereno JCB diggers or evenfront end loaders ontractors, so the roadshad to be dug out byhand with shovels. Weran out of bread anddad took a hessian sackand walked across thefields to Leafield to get

some loaves. After-wards, I remember see-ing the blocks of snowpiled up about six feethigh on both sides ofLondon Lane. In lateryears the bread was de-livered by “Dennis theBaker” from the CornerCafé in ChippingNorton. This stood onthe corner at the top ofNew Street when theroad was only about sixmetres wide. It was laterdemolished with twentyor more other buildingsso that the road couldbe made wider. On to-day’s layout the caféwould have been stand-ing on or near the pedes-

trian island in the mid-dle of the road.

Also when I wasabout five years old I re-member the horsedrawn loads of barleysheaves coming into theyard and up inside thebarn which is now thedwelling “ColdwellBrook”. People camefrom the village andhelped stack it inside.The load went inthrough the big door-way and then the emptywagon was drawn outthrough the lower door-way at the other side andaway through therickyard at the back. Afew months later thebarley was threshed. Thethreshing machine waspulled into the middleof the barn between thetwo doorways. The trac-tor providing the powerstood out in the yardabout where the divid-ing wall is now builtwith the big driving beltfrom the pulley reachingup to the wheel on thethreshing drum. Eithera baler or an elevatorwould have stood at thefar end of the threshingmachine to deliver the


threshed strawfrom the door-way towardsthe rickyard.

It could nothave been avery pleasantjob threshinginside the barn.H a v i n gbreathed in myown share ofthreshing dustover a period of ten yearslater on, I am sure thatit must have been quitean ordeal with the ma-chine working betweenthe doorways and onlythe wall slits for light andventilation. Dust masksand respirators were notreally thought about inthose days. At least twopeople and probablythree would have beenworking on the stack ofbarley moving thesheaves onto the ma-chine where somebody,the bond cutter, wouldhave picked up eachsheaf and cut the string,then somebody elsewould have fed the loosesheaves in an even flowinto the machine. Dadlooked after the cornsacks at the front end,

taking them off whenfull and weighing theminto two hundred-weights (100 kilo-grams). The unluckiestperson had to rake outthe chaff and the cavings(short, light bits ofstraw) from under themachine and move thechaff away and into aheap for cattle feed andthe cavings either into aheap or more often putit back in with the restof the straw. The menhandling the straw hadthe cleanest job outsidethe back of the barn.

Two or three yearslater a rick in therickyard was beingthreshed and I was withthree or four other boysall standing by the cornrick with sticks to kill

any mice that ran outbut we got bored withthis after a time and dadwas taking the sacks ofcorn into the barn so theback doors were openand we went in to tryout some machines inthere. We got on allright turning the win-nowing machine,putting dust and rub-bish off the f loorthrough it, then we hada go at the chaff cutter.The machine was forslicing the hay intolengths about half aninch long for cattle feed,with a long narrow boxat the back that linedup the hay, then twocogged rollers com-pressed it and forced itthrough the front wheretwo long curved blades


on the big wheel withthe handle on, slicedthrough the hay, guillo-tine style. We were try-ing to make it work andsomehow I sliced off theskin on three fingerknuckles. This is whenI made my first acquaint-ance with iodine liquidand learned that if itmakes it sting, then it isdoing good, but I wasextremely lucky not tolose any fingers.

Also in the barn weused to dress the wheatseed for autumn plant-ing. In the days beforeseed corn was chemicallydressed by machine toprotect it from soilborn diseases, we hadsome tins of black liq-uid called Vitrol, ratherlike thin tar, which weused as a protection. Aspace was swept cleanon the floor of the barnon the evening beforedrilling, then we wentout with a hurricane lan-tern about eighto’clock. Several sacks ofwheat were tipped intoa heap, then the Vitrolwas spread over the sur-face and dad and grand-father mixed it in witha shovel while we held

the lamp. The followingmorning the corn hadall to be shovelled backinto the sacks ready totake to the fields. But itreally made your handsblack when you levelledthe corn in the seed boxon the drill.

The first chance I hadto help with threshingwas a 2 day Whitsunhalf term school holi-day. They had beenthreshing some ricksduring the week beforebut on the Tuesday af-ter the Bank HolidayMonday the fourlandgirls who had beenhelping failed to arrive.Dad drove to the hostelto find out why and theforewoman there saidthat the girls had toldher that Mr Pearse wouldnot be threshing againuntil Wednesday andthey had all four gone

out for a day’s shop-ping. Grandfather said“They was some badgals!” The workforce wasreduced to dad, twomen who came with thethreshing tackle, grand-father between times ofattending to cows andother livestock and BillyRainbow, a local charac-ter who used to tagalong with one ofLainchbury’s threshingsets. Smaller than aver-age , wearing long bootswith turned up toes andsocks pulled outside thecorduroy trouser legsnearly up to his knees.This would certainlyhave stopped any micerunning up insidethem. He used to stackthe threshed strawwhether it was in balesor a loose straw rick us-ing the elevator. Thethreshing machine had


to be set horizontallylevel for each corn rickand made secure withwedge shaped woodenblocks in front and be-hind each wheel. Theywere banged into placewith a heavy iron barand sometimes Billwould decide to help,picking up the iron barwith a shout of “Mindyour eyebrows.” So witha shorthanded crew Ibecame part of thethreshing gang even if itwas only raking out thecavings from under-neath the threshing ma-chine.

Dad bought me alight axe when I wasnine so that I could pol-lard the willow trees bythe orchard wall. Therewere a lot of branchesgrowing on the crowns,all sizes up to abouteight inches thick.Other things also grewon the crowns of thosetrees like blackberry bri-ars, dog roses and goose-berry bushes wherebirds had deposited theseeds. It was a joy tohurry home afterschool, sharpen my axe,get the light ladder fromthe shed and cut two or

three down before teatime. When down, I cutthe branches into fenceposts or bean sticks ac-cording to size and thesmaller twigs I tied intoa faggot to dry out forfire lighting. Nothingwas wasted and it was alltidy. I had no problemsworking on my own butone day I was helpinggrandfather cut outsome fence stakes whenthe axe slipped off thewood and cut a threeinch slit in the toecap ofmy boot. A check uprevealed that no toes hadbeen touched but sincethen I have always madesure that legs and feet arenot in line with the cut-ting arc of the blade. Istill use the axe forsharpening fence stakes.

Burford School wasan improvement onAscott but the worstpart was the travellingtime. Starting fromHigh Street we wentdown to Lyneham, thenback to Upper Shipton,through Swinbrookand Widford, then intoBurford by WitneyStreet calling at theLower School beforegoing up to the one at

the top of the hill. Thismeant that coming backwe didn’t get home un-til five o’clock. We mademany stops on the wayand the total number ofus was about 50 on a 35seat bus. The worstbugbare was that formost of the first year wecame home after 12.30on Tuesday afternoonsand had to go on Satur-day mornings until12.30 as well, so that bythe time we got homeand had a meal the af-ternoon was half overon both those days. Eve-ryone was glad whenSaturday morningschool was discontin-ued. Some of the buseswere some poor oldthings when we startedand broke down on theway a few times. Thenthe boys had to get outand push to get goingagain. On two occasionsin hard winters whenthere was snow and iceon the roads we startedskidding going up thehill towards Swinbrookfrom Shipton andcouldn’t get up thesteepest rise towards thetop. With the front onone side of the road and


the back end slidingacross to the other sideit was quite a while be-fore the driver could re-verse back down anddrive across to the A361Burford Road. The vehi-cles were run by Backs

Coaches of Witney andthey also transportedthe mill workers fromthe villages to theWitney blanket factoriesand something musthave paid fairly well be-cause within three years

we were taken to schoolin luxury coaches withnames like “BlanketQueen” and “Corona-tion Coach”.

Jim Pearse

Ascott in Flood


Cook’s Corner: Ascott’s Favourite Recipes

Have you a favourite or seasonal recipe you would like to share?Then please jot it down and hand a copy to

Stuart Fox, Wendy Pearse, Karen Purvis or Kingsley or email it to:[email protected]

Lemon Gateau

Ingredients:1 packet of trif lesponges6oz caster sugar4oz margarine2 lemons (rind andjuice)3 eggs, separated

June Holmes recentlygave me a copy of acookbook containingrecipes collected bymembers of the formerAscott Women’s Insti-tute. We will be publish-ing some of these reci-pes in future issues of theGrape Vine and wehope to reprint the

WI Cook Bookbook. We would like tocollect some more reci-pes to add to the origi-nal book. If you wouldlike to submit yourideas drop a copy intothe Village Shop ad-dressed to me or send anemail [email protected] these were old or fam-

ily recipes I would wel-come some historyabout them.

One of the recipesfrom the original WIbook is published be-low.

Stuart Fox

Recipe from The W.I. Cook BookReproduced by kind permission of Christopher Badger.

Method:Line 1 1/2lb bread

tin with foil (to assist lift-ing out).

Beat together sugarand margarine. Add eggyolks, one at a time.Add lemon juice andgrated rind gradually (itwill look curdled).

Beat the egg whitesand fold into the mix-ture.

Slice the spongecakes and place a layerof sponge alternatelywith a layer of the mix-ture finishing withsponge.

Cover with foil andchill.

Turn out and coverwith whipped cream.

Monica Badger


Book Review

Primo Levi was one ofthe great writers of thelast century. His mostfamous book is prob-ably the first, If This Is aMan, a meditation onhis experience ofAuschwitz. Its fame isdeserved; indeed every-one should read it. ButI would like to pointyou to another PrimoLevi, the delightful,witty author of The Peri-odic Table, one of themost original autobiog-raphies ever written.

As a chemist, Levibuilt his book onMendeleev’s famous ta-ble of the elements, cre-ating his own personalPeriodic Table of the el-ements of his life. It be-gins like a traditionalmemoir, with his ances-tors – and instantly sub-verts the piety of thatmodel with the tragic-comedy of its element,Argon. Argon, Levi ex-plains, is one of the no-ble gases, inert and un-able to combine withany other element. Justso were his ancestors,Jews in the Catholic

The Periodic Table Primo Levi

provinces of Piedmont:fabulously inert (one,barred from marryingthe girl he loved, wentto bed for 25 years), anddivided from theirneighbours by an invis-ible wall of mutual sus-picion.

From his distant an-cestors, Levi zooms inon himself – and his sec-ond chapter, ‘Hydro-gen’, makes just such aleap between the vast-ness of space and thesmallness of two boyssetting out to under-stand the world throughchemistry. The youngLevi shows his friend thesimple process of elec-trolysis – which ends,like several of the experi-ments of The PeriodicTable, in an explosion.They are shaken; butalso awed to think thatthey have released a forceof nature, ‘the same ele-ment that burns in thesun and stars’.

Nineteen chaptersfollow, and once againall traditional models ofautobiography are sub-verted. Nothing on

Levi’s parents, wife orchildren; some timesdwelt on lovingly, oth-ers left out altogether.There are three chapterson his university years,four on his war (butonly one on Auschwitz,about which, he ex-plains withPiedmontese modesty,‘I have written else-where’); six on the im-mediate postwar years,and only three on all therest, which came tothirty by the time ofwriting. All have theunique Primo Levi fla-vour, made of wry hu-mour, profound reflec-tion, and deep human-ity; all are beautiful,touching, and in thebest sense strange. Myfavourites are ‘Iron’,about the friend whotaught him to face dan-ger in the mountains,and who died as a parti-san at 25; ‘Phosphorus’,about a great love of hisyouth, indeed of his life;‘Gold’, the story of hisarrest and capture; ‘Ni-trogen’ and ‘Chro-mium’, about his early


adventures in chemistryand writing; and ‘Vana-dium’, the story of hisre-meeting with a Ger-man from his Auschwitzpast, who craves his par-don.

Most strange, how-ever, most beautiful andmost Primo-Levian ofall is the last chapter,‘Carbon’, which fol-lows an atom of carbonthrough the vast tractsof space and timeevoked at the start, andthrough endless cycles

of life and death, as theatom is bound into themolecular chains ofplants and animals, isreleased, and boundagain.

This short tale is aperfect blend of scienceand literature, and atthe same time the mostdetached and the mostpersonal thing Levi everwrote. There is nothinghuman here until theend, when the atom en-ters the writer’s brain,and makes him write the

final full-stop of thebook: ‘this dot here,this one.’ In that dotPrimo Levi reaches outto touch his readers,and reading it we reachback and touch him.

The Periodic Table isavailable in PenguinModern Classics, price£8.99.

Carole Angier

Carole Angier’s biographyof Primo Levi, TheDouble Bond, isavailable in Penguin, price£9.99.

Recently Anne Colecame to speak to theHistory Society aboutWychwood PlaceNames and her talkprompted me to con-sider some of the AscottPlace Names which havesurvived into presentusage, their longevityand possible deriva-tions.

To begin with the vil-lage - Ascott underWychwood. Prior tothe Norman Conquestthis area of theEvenlode Valley washeld by King Haroldwith his main centre atShipton and Estcote

Names from the Past(Ascott) at the east endand Westcote at thewest end considered torepresent the extremesof his estate. TheWychwood derivationis generally accepted tobe the Wood of theHwicc, a small scaleSaxon Kingship basedin Herefordshire andWorcestershire withWychwood formingpart of the south eastboundary.

Moving on to thetwo parts of the village,D’Oyley (spelt in manyways) and Earl. D’Oyleydates from shortly afterthe Conquest when the

D’Oyleys, builders ofOxford Castle and pow-erful landowners, weregiven one of the twoAscott manors byWilliam the Con-queror. The Ascott Earlname seems to date fromthe acquisition of theother Ascott manor bythe Despensers, Earls ofWinchester, prominentin the time of EdwardII.

Although not offi-cially a name, AscottGreat Bridge is men-tioned in the HundredRolls of 1279, possiblyowing it’s existence tothe D’Oyleys and cer-


tainly providing a rivercrossing long before abridge was built atShipton.

Moving on to roads.Perhaps the oldest vil-lage name is that of Lon-don Lane since the‘toppe of London’ ismentioned in a CourtBook of 1592. With theriver bridge establishedthe crossing may wellhave constituted a ma-jor route to London inpast times, hence thename. High Street isnot an indication of theHigh Street which weusually associate withtowns. It is a derivationof Upper Street as op-posed to Lower Street(Shipton Road) possiblyindicating their posi-tions above the river.Priory Lane is not a sur-viving memory of apriory in the village butboth the monastries ofOsney and StFrideswides in Oxfordcontested the ownershipof land and buildings inAscott originally do-nated by the D’Oyleyfamily. These buildingsincluded D’OyleyHouse and nos 16 and18 High Street, for-

merly a barn belongingto the Priory before it’sconversion into cottagesand of course situated atthe entrance to PrioryLane. Church Close I’mafraid is a rather elegantname for what was origi-nally called the Row orRaggs Row of Charitycottages, their site dat-ing back at least to aCharity Deed of 1478.Heritage Lane is listed inthe Census of 1891 butearlier in 1851 it wascalled Longland Laneechoing the name of thefurlong which it ranalongside. It would beinteresting to know whythe name was changed.Mill Lane is a giveaway– surely always referredto in this manner. Amill is mentioned inDoomsday Book and

the parish boundaryrunning north of themill to ChippingNorton Road runsalongside a brook calledHolliwell in 1591. Thevillagers at the time be-gan a survey from thehead of the brook refer-ring to it as HolliwellHead. A possible HolyWell or just a nearbyHolly Tree?

Andrews Yard de-rives it’s name from anEdwin T. Andrewslisted in the 1891 Cen-sus as a grocer living onthe site who came fromLondon to set up hisbusiness in Ascott.

The present road toLeafield rising from theBurford to CharlburyRoad was known as theWoeful Road suppos-edly from its meander-


ing nature, seemingly atribute to the typicalEnglish drunkard butprobably an indicationof the furlongs in theearlier open fields ofAscott, the ends of thefurlongs forming a seriesof doglegs. Or perhapsas someone once sug-gested to me a moresadly romantic explana-tion could be that whenthe large parish ofShipton includedLeafield and Ramsden(up until the mid 19th

century) all the burialswould have had to takeplace in Shiptonchurchyard and theWoeful Road was theroute for the coffins.Brazil Lane for which Ihave no explanation ismentioned as LittleBeassell as early as 1591.

Coldwell (Brook),Coldstone (House) andBalls Close where thesheepwash is sited, allrefer to a boundary(Cold and Balls) and lieon the parish boundarywith Shipton.

Two of the oldestnames in use refer tocopses of trees that aresited near to the top ofWoeful Road. On the

western side of the roadis Priestgrove men-tioned in 1163 whilstBoynal Copse meaning‘Boia’s nook or corner’,mentioned in 1278, liesto the east of the roadon the top of the ridge.Could Boia be the ear-liest named inhabitantof Ascott parish, maybea surviving British localor indeed a Saxon im-migrant?

Perhaps the most in-triguing name refers tothe small copse alongthe Chipping NortonRoad where Ascott’sboundary joinsChilson. This is knownas Five Shilling Corner.The name dates backbeyond 1838. It be-came a quarry and was

later used as the villagedump since it was partof the ‘town’s allot-ment’ in the Enclosureof 1838. But I wonderwho was prepared topay 5s for it and to whatpurpose? If for use as astone quarry it wouldseem that the stone wasprobably of a fairly goodquality and I wonderwhere that stone nowresides? Before the En-closure the quarry be-longed to the owner ofColdstone Farm so pos-sibly the stone couldconstitute some of thebuildings on that sitethe earliest of whichdate back to at least thebeginning of the 17th

century.Wendy Pearse

Community Pubs Week

It’s a frightening realitythat at the moment atleast 26 pubs close everymonth. The majority ofthese pubs are not highstreet theme pubs, butcommunity pubs. A vil-lage pub is an importantcommunity amenity.

Community PubsWeek is a celebrationand promotion of all

17th-24th Febcommunity pubs - notjust village locals, buturban gems too.

So why not makethis the week to cel-ebrate the pub that wehave in our communityand pay The Swan avisit.

As the saying goes -‘It’s your local - use itor lose it.’


Ascott Toddler Group,supported by Ascott PreSchool, is now well intoits second year and prov-ing popular with tod-dlers and their carersalike.

The Group providesa safe, friendly and infor-mal setting in which 0-4 year olds can play to-gether while their par-ents and carers enjoy acup of coffee and someadult conversation!

Toddler TimeEqually, for new or ex-pectant mums or thosenew to the area, it offersan opportunity to meetother parents and carerswith shared experiences.

A wide range of playequipment is availableand the children cantake part in a variety ofactivities, such as playdough, making cards forspecial occasions andother arts and crafts.During the session the

children are encouragedto sit down together toenjoy a drink and ahealthy snack and thereis usually a sing-along atthe end.

Based at the AscottCricket Pavilion, duringthe summer months theToddler Group takesadvantage of warmweather by having ta-bles, chairs and playequipment under theshade of the trees on thefield. During the cooler,wetter months however,the Pavilion provides acosy and comfortablesetting.

Ascott ToddlerGroup is held on Tues-day mornings from9.30 - 11.30am and thecost of attending is£2.00 per family. New-comers are always wel-come and for further in-formation Pauline Plantcan be contacted on07968 006451.

Pauline Plant


Out of the cupboard you appearA touch so soft, a smell so great,

Something that my heart holds dear.

The burning red and brightness of yellowMix together like bread and butter,

And orange soon will follow.

For this model I took great careTo make it extra special,For all of you to share.

Piece by piece I must be steady,All the time until it’s ready,

Slow and steady is always best,Perfection is put to the test.

By Ashley Davey.(Year 6)

A Poem from Leafield School

September toDecember 2006

School started the newacademic year welcom-ing a number of newchildren and three newmembers of staff includ-ing Miss. Malony whonow teaches Class 1.We have been awardedHealthy School Statuswhich every school isrequired to have by2009, so we are wellahead on this one and

Year 6 at Leafield School prepared plaster casts of seashells and this gave riseto the poem below.

A Description Of My Shells

Leafield School News

as a ‘Healthy Oxford-shire School’ new initia-tives include a healthytuck shop which hasproved very popular anda breakfast club which isrun by some volunteerparents who we thankvery much. We have vis-its by the children’smobile library and afterschool clubs include cir-cuit training, creativewriting, cookery club,gym club and football

club. We have also justbeen awarded the Ac-tive School Mark too.

Harvest service inchurch was well sup-ported with donationsof food and producegoing to ‘The Porch’project in Oxford.There was also a collec-tion with proceeds go-ing to the ‘Pearl of Af-rica Foundation’ and‘Street Child Africa’ insupport of two of our


parents who were trek-king to the top ofMount Etna to raisefunds. Funds wereraised for Breast CancerResearch via a non-uni-form day and our regu-lar 200 club raises fur-ther valuable funds forthe school and ultimatebenefit of the children.

Music lessons con-tinue with violin andrecorder being learnt bya number of children.Class 4 had a very suc-cessful trip to BanburyMuseum to view theVictorian Exhibition aspart of their studies anda number of the olderchildren are looking for-ward to their residentialtrip to Yenworthy inFebruary.

The run up to Christ-mas was as usual verybusy with performancesby all the children eitherat school or in ourlovely church here inLeafield. The Friends ofLeafield School helpedwith the BBQ at theChurch Christmas Fairand also ran a very wellsupported Christmasraffle for the childrenand a party at the village

hall which was enjoyedby all.

As shown in our po-sition in the recentLeague Tables, especiallythe Value Added, whichshows the progress chil-dren have made, our re-sults were again excel-lent and just to confirmthis in more detail atKey Stage 1:- Reading,Writing, Maths and Sci-ence 100% achieved theexpected level with50%, 25% 62.5% and38% respectively achiev-ing level 3. At Key Stage2:- Reading 85%achieved level 4 with62% at level 5. Writ-ing 85% achieved level4 with 38% at level 5.English 85% achievedlevel 4 with 38% atlevel 5. Maths 100%achieved level 4 with85% at level 5 and100% achieved level 4 atScience. These resultsare above the nationaland Oxfordshire levelsin all subjects and levels.In Foundation our re-sults are also above thelevels in all areas of learn-ing. This is down tohard work and supportof all staff at this school,

our supportive govern-ing body and the sup-port of our parents. Thechildren of course alsodeserve praise for work-ing hard and doing theirbest.

For further informa-tion contact the schoolsecretary Mrs DebBrown on 01993878273.

Vicky Greves,Chair of Governors.


The Post Office StoresMilton-under-Wychwood

We have moved to our new addressThe Post OfficeShipton Road

Milton-under-Wychwood OX7 6JLTel: 01993 832243

Opening hours:Mon.-Fri. 9am - 5:30pm (Closed 1-2 for lunch)

Saturday 7am - 1:00pm

Post Office Services Available at ‘The Swan’, AscottMonday 10:30am - 12:30pm (Bank Holidays Excepted)

We have a good selection of Greeting Cards, Stationery, Agents for Sherlocks DryCleaners, Abbeycolor Photoprocessing, Passport Photos

We will be pleased to see you.

Flix in the Stix ProgrammeThursday Feb 15thIce Age 2Milton Village Hall2.00 p.m.

Thursday Feb 22ndThe QueenNew Beaconsfield HallShipton 8.00 p.m.

Saturday Feb 24thThe QueenTiddy Hall, Ascott8.00 p.m.

Saturday March 17thMonster HouseMilton Village Hall2.00 p.m.

Saturday March 17thHistory BoysMilton Village Hall8.00.p.m.

Saturday April 21stOver the HedgeMilton Village Hall2.00.p.m.

Gordon Halliday

Opening Times

Monday:2pm to 7.00pmTuesday:Closed

Wychwood Library

Wednesday:9:30am to 1pm/2pm to 5pmThursdayClosed

Friday:2pm to 7pmSaturday:9.30am to 1pm

Beryl Brown,Library Manager

01993 830281


Why not try and solveour New Year’s puzzleand win £5. The answerto each clue is the nameof a f lower, some arewild and some culti-vated.

Flower Power Quiz

1. In olden days she waited for a dance, too shy to tempt her partner with aglance.2. First a swiftly moving thing. Second, might suggest a ring.3. This young creature in the field one sees. Like many others he has four ofthese.4. A means of transport, dangerous, alas, and human beings thought of inthe mass.5. Dainty, white and like a bell, not much harm if it fell.6. A man’s name for the first-well known to you, to write now with thesecond would not do.7. Firstly a person who is very smart, and then a symbol of courageous heart.8. Not often does this beast inspire our terror, the second part denotes asimple error.9. Advice like this sounds most alluring, yet to wed for this oft means regret.10. This flower’s name means darkness and a shield, but do beware the poi-son it will yield.11. In order thus folks often watch a game, all love this simple flower of singlename.12. A girl who might live in the dell, it also has a lovely smell.13. An animal who swiftly steals away, the second part most of us wear someday.14. A simple name. If ‘in it’ you are well, it could be elephants as well.15. The first capers, jumps and runs along, the second is a herb with perfumestrong.16. Without its aid we could not see, this bloom of stately majesty.17. A novel’s character of fame, takes on this wee red flower’s name.18. A dainty garden blossom we have here, that love’s completely happy isnot clear.

Don’t forget to include your name and address on your answer sheet!

Leave your answers atthe village shop in an en-velope addressed toStuart Fox. At the endof February all the cor-rect entries will be put

into a draw and the firstone picked wins! Don’tforget to include yourname and address onyour answer sheet.


West Oxfordshire Dis-trict Council’s Cabinetis supporting Cllr Hi-lary Biles’ request for anurgent meeting becauseof significant concernsthat a deadline set byOxfordshire CountyCouncil will jeopardisefuture plans for theChipping Norton CareHome and PrimaryCare Facility.

Oxfordshire CountyCouncil has stated itsintention to withdrawfrom the ChippingNorton Care Home andPrimary Care Facilitiesscheme if a number offinancial issues cannotbe resolved by 31stMarch 2007.

Cllr Hilary Biles,Cabinet Member forHealth at West Oxford-shire District Councilsaid: “The situation isextremely serious forthe people of ChippingNorton and surround-ing areas. If the deadlineto sort out the VAT andimpairment issues isnot met, then Oxford-shire County Councilwill withdraw its sup-

Call for Meeting:Chipping Norton Hospital

port for this project.Personally I have beenfighting on behalf of lo-cal people for health fa-cilities in ChippingNorton since 2002.Closure of the carehome will impact di-rectly on hospital serv-ices and the proposedGP surgery. This cannot be allowed to hap-pen. Sixteen beds havealready been lost inWest Oxfordshire andwe can not afford tolose any more.”

David Cameron, MP,has also voiced his con-cerns and has written toall parties supportingsuch a meeting which hehas offered to Chair.

Cllr Hilary Biles andCath James, StrategicDirector at West Ox-fordshire District Coun-cil, have written to theLeader of OxfordshireCounty Council, theChair and Chief Execu-tive of the OxfordshirePCT and the Chair andChief Executive of theStrategic Health Au-thority asking them to

support the proposedmeeting. Because of theissues involved otheragencies such as Rev-enues and Excise arealso being asked to at-tend.

At the Cabinet meet-ing on 3rd January manylocal district council-lors echoed their sup-port for the meetingand commented thatthe hospital campaignhas been going on for along time and peoplehave worked hard, de-spite all the ups anddowns, to secure a newfacility which might stillbe in jeopardy due toTreasury bureaucracy.

For further informa-tion contact:

Carys Davies /Samantha Simpson

Publicity Officet: 01993 861615

m: 07771 965360

Cllr Hilary BilesCabinet Member

t: 01993 832426

Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG)–Jan 2007At the first NAG AGMheld at Beaconsfield hallin late October, JohnCull & Roger Shepherdwere re-elected to servea second year as Ascott’srepresentatives on theChipping Norton NAGcommittee.

The first year took alittle while to get startedbut by the end of theyear the relationshipbetween the police(based at Chippy) andthe NAG volunteers wasstarting to pay divi-dends. The communica-tion was much im-proved and there was abetter understanding ofhow best to communi-cate issues affecting thecommunity. During thefirst year, the main issuescentred on anti-socialbehaviour associatedwith youth, speedingand parking. Thesethemes have been car-ried forward to year twowith Roger participatingin the speeding andparking sub-group andJohn involved in youthmatters.

We have also askedfor a regular update fromthe NAG police liaison

officer and this has been‘posted’ by DaveTustian, our neighbour-hood support officer.You can always get localupdates fromwww.whosmybobby.co.uk.Dave writes:

“I have researchedour crime systems andcommand and controllogging system and since1st of November 2006there have been nocrimes reported in thevillage. There has onlybeen one incident in thevillage and that was atthe pub when 2 indi-viduals tried to put pres-sure on the landlord tolet in someone who was,and still is, barred fromthe pub.

So I’m afraid it is ageneral message aboutsecurity. Keep itemspost-coded as sheds onallotments are beingbroken into and toolsstolen. People are un-likely to buy things thatare clearly marked. Trail-ers are also being stolen.Barn conversions andbuilding sites are alsohaving items stolen soplease remember toupdate your security as

the build progresses andwhen items of value arefitted such as ovens,boilers etc. For trades-men, there are stickersavailable from police sta-tions that state ‘we donot leave tools in thisvehicle’.

Motorists; please donot leave items on dis-play in your vehiclewhen parking. Please donot park on or partiallyblock footpaths, orwhere there are droppedkerbs. It could be theaccess point for a wheelchair user. Parents whendropping or collectingyour child(ren)at theschool, please think ofother road users andpark just away from theschool.

It is not a good ideato employ people whoknock at your door andoffer to mend your roofor resurface your drive.Ask your neighbour whothey can recommend;often the cheap quotedoes not turn out to beso good in the end.

Anti social behaviourdoes not have to be putup with; so take advicefrom the Police or

.

Tiddy HallRegular Activities

Monday to ThursdayMornings Pre-School-Contact Pauline Plant07968006451

Friday MorningsMother and ToddlerGroup. ContactPauline Plant07968006451.

Wednesday AfternoonsPiano Lessons in theCommittee Room.4pm - 7:30pm ContactPauline Carter 01993774568

Wednesday EveningsBadminton. ContactChris Morgan 01993831958.

Saturday MorningsDog Training. ContactSharon Wilson 01993831801.

To book the TiddyHall contact:

Ingrid Ridley:01993 830612

Witney - 3rd Thursdayof the Month

Woodstock - 1st Satur-day of the Month

Chipping Norton - 3rd

Saturday of the Month

Charlbury - Quarterlyon Saturdays (Dates tobe Confirmed)

Further details from Thames Valley Farmers’Market Association on: 0870 2414762

orvisit the web site at:

ww.tvfm.co.uk

Thank You!Costa Rica Coast-to-Coast Challenge

A big ‘Thank You’from the whole ‘PoorTrait-ers’ team to every-one who attended theRace Night for the ben-efit of the Prince’s Trustat Tiddy Hall. A veryhealthy sum of over£690 was raised.

Also many thanks tothose who have givendonations directly. Theteam has now exceededour original target of£17,000 and everythingwe raised above thissum goes 100% to thePrince’s Trust charity.

I’d like to add a per-sonal ‘thank you’ toeveryone who haswished me luck andgiven me encourage-ment when I’ve beenout training. I onlyhope I’ve done enough!By the time you arereading this in yourcosy living room, I (andthe team) will be racingacross Costa-Rica!

We’ll let you knowhow we got on in thenext issue of the Grape-vine.

Thank you Ascott.Gareth Evans

WODC anti social be-haviour officers. Wecan’t help if we don’tknow.’

Roger and John hopethis update has been use-ful and if you have anycomments, please pass

them to the Editor orcontact the ‘boys’ di-rect.

They will be back re-porting on NAG mat-ters in the next Grape-vine.

John Cull

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