Tackley Newsletter
December & January 2017–18

Contents

Parish Council

tackleyvillage.co.uk

Members

The clerk is Julie Farren.

Meetings

The parish council meets on a monthly basis on the second Monday of each month, followed two weeks later by an informal Monday surgery for 30 minutes. The next surgery is on 27 November and the next formal meeting on 11 December. There will be no surgery in December; the following meeting will be on 8 January. All meetings commence at 7 pm.

Should there be matters of concern between these dates please contact the parish clerk or councillors.

Minutes of all meetings appear on the Tackley website two weeks after the date of the meeting.

Copies of this report are also circulated via Tackley Notices emails.

Parish Clerk

Your council regrets to announce that we have received notice from Julie Farren that she wishes to resign from the position of clerk with effect from 1 February 2018. A full statement of the requirements of applicants for this position are set out in an advertisement in this newsletter. It is sufficient here to say that it requires a commitment of about 10 hours a week and to one formal meeting and one informal surgery per month. Applicants should have good communication, secretarial and accounting skills.

Balliol Farm

The reserved matters application is being processed by West Oxfordshire District Council (WODC) and we understand it is scheduled to be considered at the Uplands Planning Committee meeting on 4 December. These meetings are open to the public and there is an opportunity to make a short statement (three minutes) to the meeting by prior arrangement. All submitted comments are available on the WODC website (Planning & Development, application number 17/02923/RES).

Street Farm

The council is anticipating notification and details of the reserved matters application in the near future. When received, we will arrange a public display for information and comment. It should be noted that this proposal has also already been granted outline planning approval.

Village Hall Bus Stop

Your council is investigating possible safety improvements to the village hall car park entrance and the possible relocation of the existing southbound bus stop which may then enable the installation of a shelter as requested by a number of residents. There are some procedures and approvals to negotiate and residents are asked to bear with us for the present.

Traffic Calming Measures

We are also continuing to investigate measures to bring about a reduction in the speed of traffic entering and driving in Tackley. Certain options have been suggested but nothing definite has yet been decided; consultations are ongoing.

Front Garden Hedges

We are a little concerned that a small number of residents’ front garden hedges, albeit for the most part well kept, have been allowed to grow too far into the adjoining pathway. Strictly speaking hedges should not spread beyond a property’s boundary but some overlap is acceptable providing that it does not impede the walkway or obscure road signs. There is a small number that do indeed need to be thinned down, and we are hoping that this friendly notice will be sufficient reminder that overgrowing hedges could be dangerous, particularly for children walking that way.

Waste Collection

The council has made representations on behalf of residents about the erratic waste collection that has followed the onset of the new arrangements.

Crecy Hill Reserve

New fencing has been installed and Oxford Conservation Volunteers have visited to clear the scrubland that is preventing the grazing of cattle needed to maintain the reserve. There are further vegetation-clearing days planned for December and January and anyone interested in assisting should see ocv.org.uk.

Crab Apple Tree in the Recycling Area

Following complaints about the mess caused by apples falling and being squashed on the road and pathway at the entrance to the village hall and around the recycling area, we have received permission to fell this tree. The work will be carried out shortly. At the same time the dog waste bin will be uncovered from the vegetation obscuring it from view.

Scouts Fireworks

Katie Hofman

1st Tackley & Heyford Scout Committee would like to say a big thank-you to everyone who supported the firework display and bonfire last month. We hope that everyone who attended enjoyed the wonderful pyrotechnics and the large, warming bonfire!

Thanks also to the many volunteers who helped make the event possible — your hard work was appreciated.

The profit from the event will be put towards supporting the Scouting groups to attend Summer Camp in 2018, an event that they always enjoy.

Poppy Appeal

Sue Pitts

Thank you to everyone who gave so generously to this year’s Poppy Appeal, with special thanks to all the collectors who gave their time so willingly.

As I have not yet received the final figures, these will be published in the February newsletter.

Gardiner Arms

Martin Perrin

We are happy to bring this update just as the Gardiner Arms has celebrated its one-year anniversary of reopening. To mark this notable date for us, we had a lovely celebration on 21 October, Trafalgar Day. The pub took on a nautical theme, Martin gave a speech and there was much laughter and merrymaking. Mark Wragg’s excellent band Texas Ghost Train played for us. We plan to celebrate this anniversary date each year. Next year will also mark 230 years of the pub.

The pub has had a great first year, with lots going on.

Live music has become a popular feature with events taking place every month to six weeks. Our next event is on Saturday, 25 November when we welcome, new to this venue, The RockBudz — a duo with an extensive range of musical experience.

We also have the great pleasure of hosting regular folk music nights, also each month or six weeks, when around 15 talented musicians from north and west Oxfordshire come to the pub and play awesome traditional folk music. The next folk evening is 16 December. This is organised by Liz Wragg from Tackley.

We have a pub quiz every Thursday, with our excellent quizmaster Don York from Tackley.

Our kitchen opened in March. We provide a range of simple but delicious meals, including light lunches as well as main meals and desserts. Our food is traditional, homemade and locally-sourced. Last month we received the top grade of five stars in our food hygiene inspection.

We are excited to soon be launching Tackley Bitter. Fictitiously referenced in an Inspector Morse episode, this will be our own bespoke beer. We hope it will be ready for Christmas.

New Year

Seeing the new year in was a lovely moment last year, re-establishing the Tackley tradition of linking arms and singing Auld Lang Syne to the ringing of the St Nicholas Church Bells, ‘Tackley Time’. It will be hard to find a better way to celebrate the start of 2018.

We are also looking forward to our first Tackley beer and music festival, Beerfest 2018. This is planned for the summer time. The committee has already met and begun its preparations. You will be hearing more information as things come to fruition.

For more information about what is happening at the Gardiner Arms, it now has its own website – gardinerarmstackley.co.uk – and Facebook page. Please take a look at both.

Christmas Opening

From Wednesday, 3 January the pub will return to its normal opening hours every day. These can be found on the pub doors, the website and Facebook page.

We love our lovely pub in this beautiful village, and want to assure everyone that we will be here running your pub for many years to come. We are really appreciative of the warmth, friendliness and support shown to us by the village, and would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Firing the Imagination: Experimental Archaeology in Tackley

Deb Ollman and family

A huge thank-you to the Tackley Local History Group for organising the amazing pottery days in October. It was lovely to see the village hall filled with inquisitive friends and neighbours of all ages eager to see if they could fashion a pot, goblet, urn or ornament worthy of a Neolithic dwelling.

Jane Bowen shared her knowledge and enthusiasm as she explained and demonstrated the basic techniques that would have been used in pre-Roman times. She gave us tips and ideas before letting us loose with the locally dug lumps of clay. We all chose a work station and there was much fun and chatter as the creative juices flowed and masterpieces emerged.

A selection of natural material, such as dried poppy seed heads, broken oyster shell and feathers, was available for experimentation and created surprisingly effective marks and decorations that made each item truly unique.

After being carefully marked so that we could reclaim them later, our pieces were spirited away by the archaeologically-enthused pottery fairies to be dried and fired. The children’s works of art were to be fired in Jane’s kiln, ensuring that our younger historians would almost definitely have something to take home and treasure. The adults’ pots were pit-fired, which would allow us to determine whether our local environment was sufficient for creating useful – even essential – pottery in ancient times. The answer is yes! Many of us were able to collect actual pots.

Those who needed a tube or two of superglue should still be proud to have taken part in the experiment and shown how different sizes and shapes of pot fared in the early firing process. Let’s hope we get to have another go, and that this was just the first in a series of local community archaeological experiments.

Finally, another thank-you to all the volunteers who provided this experience for free. I was so inspired that I joined up there and then (it’s only £6 a year) and am now looking forward to attending my first local history group talk to find out more about Tackley in the past. Please do show your support too. We are so lucky to have such knowledge and opportunity on our doorstep to share and enjoy.

School PTA

Roz Hicks

Tackley Primary School PTA have really hit the ground running this term, with plenty of ideas for fundraising and opportunities to explore the world of grant applications. Exciting times ahead!

We had our first Bag2School collection in November, which raised a total of £104. This is a brilliant way for us to raise much-needed funds with very little effort. Do keep your eyes peeled for the posters advising when the next collection is — the bags are available in the school office or at the village shop should you have anything you wish to donate.

Our next event is our ‘Night at the Movies’. This will be held on Friday, 1 December at the Methodist church; the curtain goes up at 8 pm. Entrance is £5 on the door. The feature is Bad Moms, so a great excuse for you to come and enjoy a light-hearted look at school mum life! The proceeds of this will go towards the new junior library at school.

The Key Stage 2 children will be performing their Christmas celebration concert at the village hall on Thursday, 14 December at 2 pm. This showing is open to Tackley village residents, and we will be selling hot drinks and mince pies to accompany the show. There will also be raffle tickets on sale with three amazing hampers up for grabs!

Whilst you are online doing your Christmas shopping during the next couple of weeks, don’t forget about our Easyfundraising account. They have agreements with thousands of popular high street retailers, and donate a percentage of the purchases you make to your chosen cause. Signing up is very easy and costs the customer absolutely nothing. Please register, and help us raise much-needed funds! The website is easyfundraising.org.uk.

Primary School

Mrs L. J. Murrey, Headteacher

During November we held an interesting ‘International Week’ where children’s learning in the afternoons was about different countries and their cultures. Children were able to experience food from different countries and learn about similarities and differences between their own and other countries. On one afternoon we took part in a read-around across the school where children chose their favourite story to go and listen to.

Children have been very excited about the different topics they are learning about this term and it has been great to celebrate in our Friday assemblies some of their achievements. I have also been taught a thing or two about computer programming and the contents of a sarcophagus!

As you would expect it is a really busy term in the run up to Christmas and we would be delighted to see you at the afternoon performance of our Christmas performance in the village hall on Thursday, 14 December at 2 pm. Be prepared for some beautiful singing and performing from our key stage two classes. We are also joining Rev Marcus Green on Wednesday, 6 December at 3:30 pm for our Christingle service, and invite you to join for us for this.

St Nicholas’ Church

Rev Marcus Green

Bishop Steven, our new Bishop of Oxford, is asking all churches to look at the Beatitudes – the verses at the start of the Sermon on the Mount in St Matthew’s Gospel – and think about what it means to be ‘a more Christ-like Church’. I talked about this on Remembrance Sunday. He’s challenging us to be more contemplative — taking worship very seriously; to be more compassionate — genuinely caring for those around us; and to be courageous — stepping out in faith.

Christmas is a good time for this challenge.

Angels sang, calling shepherds to worship with Mary and Jospeh in a stable. Wise men fell to their knees when they saw Jesus. True worship isn’t only about words we may say or sing — it’s about the attitude of our hearts. Their hearts were suddenly changed that first Christmas; we are invited to re-read the familiar words of the story and ask: why?

Mary and Joseph at first had nowhere to call their own, but someone found room for them. They showed compassion, and that act of hospitality – in the rush and busyness of Christmas – reminds us that caring always matters. Even when we don’t feel up to it.

And Mary herself, so young and innocent, stepped out in faith when she was invited to be a part of God’s story, bringing his son into the world. She was genuinely courageous: not everyone believed she had heard from God, but she held firm.

Over the weeks ahead we will listen many times to the tale of Jesus being born, of angels and wise men and Mary and Joseph and of God’s love living in our midst. I suppose Bishop Steven’s invitation is to listen in a way that wonders, “and what do we do about that?”

Well, of all the gifts we give at this time of year, the gift of a few precious moments of peace – so that we find time to ask God into our hearts to help us – may be one of the most precious. I hope everyone knows that the church is open every day so that anyone can slip in and find that time if they would like to.

And I hope that as we enjoy our village Christmas events – the St Nicholas’ fair on 2 December, the Christingle on 6 December, the carol service on 17 December, the crib service and midnight communion on Christmas Eve, our glorious Christmas morning service and all the rest – we might all find enough of the love of Jesus shining through the caring, the stepping out in faith, and the familiar words and music so that we find ourselves surprised by becoming (in the Bishop’s words) more ‘Christ-like’. With bigger hearts. With bigger spirits. Finding God and loving each other. With faith renewed.

For I have a suspicion that if, perhaps, in the silence and the music and the words and the colours of Christmas, we take the time to really listen carefully – alone or all together – we may just sense how close God has come in Jesus. And a familiar prayer from a children’s Christmas carol might help us along the way as we try to follow Bishop Steven’s call: “Be near me Lord Jesus; I ask thee to stay close by me forever, and love me, I pray.”

Methodist Church

Vi Banbury

Taking place in November, the annual Traidcraft fair is now an established event in our church calendar. It provides an opportunity to buy gifts, cards and items ensuring that the producers receive a fair price for their products. The home-made soup and cakes are always excellent, and proceeds from sales are given to projects in the developing world.

Coming up in December, Messy Church will be on the second Saturday in the month, 9 December at 2:30 pm, with the usual mix of games, craft activities, worship and food.

Our carol service will be on Thursday, 14 December at 7 pm.

The following week on Thursday, 21 December we invite everyone to join us for a special coffee morning from 10 am to 12 noon. Come along and enjoy coffee and mince pies and sing some favourite carols.

On Sunday, 31 December we will be worshipping with friends from Woodstock and Kidlington at Kidlington Methodist Church. The service will be conducted by Rev Dr Martin Wellings.

In January the annual Covenant Service will take place on 28 January.

The Surprise of Christmas

Jan Grimwood

“Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents”, grumbled Jo in Louisa M. Alcott’s book Little Women. We all like to give and receive presents, especially at Christmas, so it’s not difficult to understand Jo’s disappointment that there wouldn’t be any. However, as the story unfolds, Jo and her sisters discover that the festive season has many surprises in store for them; though they are financially and materially poor, they realise they are rich and blessed in many other ways.

As we move into this festive season, shops are bursting with ideas, full of tempting things to buy as presents for others and treats for ourselves. Christmas adverts on our television screens are becoming cleverer and more sensational each year, and I admit to having a favourite — again! Advent calendars, once with just a few words and a chocolate behind each small door to mark the passing days of the unfolding Christmas story, have gone upmarket this year offering expensive treats of perfume or alcohol as an option. Christmas lights are being switched on, throwing brightness into the darkness of the the night. Santa’s in his grotto, and the countdown to Christmas has really begun.

Yet, beneath the glitz and the glitter, in the familiarity of the Christmas story there’s still that wonderful element of surprise, isn’t there? That certain something that still touches us. I remember, many years ago, going to see my eldest godson in his first school nativity play. The audience fell silent as the teacher welcomed all the families and friends, then the performance began, and the familiar story unfolded. As I watched and listened, I could feel the anticipation building among the audience as parents waited for their own child’s appearance on stage. I could sense the holding of breath in case anything should go wrong. I was totally unprepared for the moment my godson appeared, proudly wearing his shepherd’s costume, and uttered his few words. I sat there with tingles going up and down my spine, and I admit to wiping away a few tears. What a joy to be able to share those moments.

Just what is it about this story that has the power to affect us in such a simple yet dramatic way? At Christmas, Christians celebrate the coming of God to earth in a tiny, fragile, vulnerable human child; God made man. Born in a stable to an unmarried teenage mother; into an unwelcoming, occupied country and a broken, hurting and needy world. Born to live among us and share our lives, to love us and to die for us. What better present could there be? The following words were written by John Bell and Graham Maule of the Iona community:

Who would think that what was needed to transform and save the earth
might not be a plan or army, proud in purpose, proved in worth?

Who would think, despite derision, that a child should lead the way?
God surprises earth with heaven, coming here on Christmas Day.

As we celebrate Christmas, let’s continue to be surprised by the stories of the birth of the Christ child and the effect he still has on our lives. I hope you have a happy and blessed Christmas.

Features: Still Serving Up a Tasty Dish

John Newton

Just over seven years ago, Hurt Locker was our first ‘feature’. With the new year fast approaching and with no December screening, I thought it appropriate to look back on the highlights of 2017.

As with previous years our programme contained a mix of Oscar winners and highly-regarded films catering for a large range of tastes. My hope is always to select the finest fayre and avoid the turkeys!

For me, picking a favourite from our platter is almost impossible. True, I’ve enjoyed repeat helpings of Hidden Figures, Lion, A United Kingdom and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, but I suppose if pushed, my favourite was one of which I saw very little.

Our ‘Film & Food’ fundraiser (pictured) was a wonderful indulgence on a late August afternoon. We were blessed by excellent weather, which allowed our mouthwatering afternoon tea to be taken outdoors. This was the first such fundraiser, but due to the event’s success, we promise it won’t be the last.

So what of 2018? By all accounts Paddington 2 is just as wonderful as its predecessor. And Dunkirk and Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool may well be on the menu.

However, for our entree, we have a funny but moving family-friendly animation called My Life as a Courgette. For the date and more information, please visit our website features.org.uk or see village noticeboards in January. This screening will support the award-winning Oxford-based charity Yellow Submarine, and we are fortunate that its head of enterprises, Paul, will talk about their work prior to the film.

Happy Christmas and hope to see you in the new year.

Digging Tackley’s Past: the Gibraltar Point Site

John Perkins

The weather has been restricting the amount of time we can spend at the dig and we have decided to close down the excavations for the winter. The thirty-five volunteers who have worked up at the site have not only been learning about how to excavate but also how to measure and record and especially how to understand the contexts in which we are finding objects. So far we have many bags of pottery, mostly Roman but with some sherds that probably date back to the Bronze Age (ca 2500 to 800 BC), as well as coins, pieces of bronze jewellery from the late Iron Age or early Roman period (100 BC to 100 AD), and two bone needles, one of them beautifully polished and still sharp. There are other objects we have yet to identify.

These artefacts have come from a series of pits, post-holes and ditches that we have gradually revealed, with more to be excavated, but whose chronology, function and relationships to each other we have yet to work out. Most intriguing of all are the remains of what seems to be a substantial stone structure, probably Roman, but perhaps earlier, but again neither we, nor Anni Byard – the archaeologist who has been leading us so brilliantly – nor the other archaeologists who have visited the site have any clear idea of what it is.

Our most unexpected finds have been three infant burials, which seem to be late Roman in date, and a cremation burial which is probably from the Bronze Age. Each has taken painstaking and delicate work over several days to excavate and lift – the remains are very fragile – and will now be looked at by specialists to try and get more information about when they were buried and their ages at death, and possibly gender in the case of the cremation where some bones have survived the burning in reasonable condition.

There is one other burial. From the shape of the skull, which is the only part we have revealed, it seems to be a woman. The rest of the skeleton is currently inaccessible under a couple of tons of soil in one of the spoil heaps and we will not excavate it until we restart digging in the spring. What we do know is that the skeleton is lying north–south and not east–west, which means that it is not Christian and is therefore earlier than about 700 to 800 AD when an east–west Christian orientation became common practice in Britain. Because there is Roman pottery lying beside and below the level of the skull, she could not have been buried before the Romans reached Tackley. She is therefore either Romano-British or Anglo-Saxon.

In its complexity and interest, the site has lived up to our expectations and we have much more to do when work starts again in the spring. In the meantime we have a thousand pieces of pottery, as well as other finds, to clean, sort, identify and date. We will be doing this over the next three months. It will be an opportunity to learn much more about the artefacts we have found, how and when they were made and used, as well as what they can tell us about the people to whom they belonged. If you would like to be involved in this please contact Sue Ashton. You can also join us when excavation resumes in the spring.

We will be holding an exhibition of our finds on Saturday, 21 April in the village hall.

History Group Talks

All talks talk place in the village hall and start at 8 pm. Join us at 7:45 for tea or coffee before the talk and for a glass of wine afterwards. All welcome. Membership is £6 per year, or each talk is £2 at the door for non-members.

Other Events

Look out for in the future: history and archaeology tours of Tackley, another pottery day, and an exhibition of the excavations at Street Farm.

Archaeology at Street Farm

John Perkins

By the time this newsletter is published archaeological work will have started on the Street Farm site. One of the conditions that the developer is required to meet before obtaining full planning permission is to carry out a complete archaeological survey of the field, which we already know was the site of Roman buildings from the early 2nd century AD until the late 4th century. These may include a small villa or at least a reasonably wealthy farmstead since the finds that have already been made include painted wall plaster.

The excavations are likely to take around eight weeks and are being carried out by Thames Valley Archaeological Services. The history group have started discussions with them about providing guided tours of the site once the excavations are well under way, as well as the possibility that they would set up an exhibition in the village hall of the objects they discover and give a public talk about the results of the excavation.

Local History Exhibition

John Perkins

Tackley Local History Group had planned to open the first exhibition in the new exhibition space in the south porch of St Nicholas’ Church in early December. This was over-optimistic and we are now planning for an opening on Saturday, 21 April.

Twelve of us are working on the exhibition, which is provisionally titled Tackley: 15,000 Years of History.

If you would like further information, and especially if you have objects or photographs that you could lend for the displays, please contact Anne Martin on [phone and email removed from archive].

By coincidence, Harborne class at the primary school will be studying the history of Tackley next term. As we plan the exhibition we hope to be able to bring objects, documents and photographs in to the school to help them with their projects. This term they were studying the Romans and we were able to show them pottery, coins, jewellery, and other Roman objects found in Tackley.

Walking Group

Linda Birch

Walks are held on the second Saturday of the month. We meet at Tackley Village Hall at the time shown to arrange car sharing. Please contact the walk leader if you would rather meet at the start of the walk. Most walks are circular. All walking is at your own risk.

Contact walk leaders for further information.

Gardening Club

Mary Lee

Christmas is nearly here, and there is very little that can be done in the garden at this time of year. Keep delicate plants covered in fleece and bring on cuttings in the greenhouse.

Our 2018 starts on 16 January with our AGM and cheese and wine. We will have most of our year planned by then and hopefully there will be more people who would like to come and join us.

A very happy Christmas to everyone, and see you all next year.