CLP

Enjoy a special event supper and drinks in Stratton Audley Church whilst watching live coverage from the Royal Albert Hall, on Saturday 14th September, 2019 at 7.30pm

After last year’s successful event, we are again hosting “ Last Night of the Proms” in the unique atmosphere and surrounding of St Mary & St Edburga Church, whilst enjoying a delightful 2 course meal with wine and soft drinks for just £25.00 per person (dietary options available on request). On arrival you will be given a glass of sparkling wine or a soft drink prior to dinner. Individual ticket sales are welcomed but why not book a table for 10 by inviting friends and neighbours to join your party?

 This event has limited places and is already selling out quickly so you need to buy your tickets now. To make a booking for this popular fun event please called Anthony Flack directly on 01869 277 511 or email strattonaudleyclp@gmail.com 

All money raised will go towards the Church Fund to improve community facilities.

Bright clothes to be worn to celebrate the end of summer!

Keeping you updated on what’s happening on the old Pound area in the village.

Click on these links to see the comparison photos from before, during and after the works.

Pound Area Comparison 1

Pound Area Comparison 2

Pound area comparison 3

Work by the Parish Council has begun on restoring the area of land known as the Pound, located on Launton Road  by the entrance to the Bucks Way footpath. So called, because in the old days it was a small enclosed area in the village where any stray or lost sheep were put until collected by their owners.  As a result of removing the undergrowth and lower branches of trees, an area twice the size has been created and with the ivy removed from the stone walls, there is now a delightful view of the field beyond which contains the outline foundations of the medieval castle.

Further ground works will be carried out in 2019 and the intention is to provide additional seating, and an information board to explain the importance of the site. The stone wall is in a poor condition and at some point will require rebuilding or at the very least some temporary repair to the structure.  If the area is to be more fully used, then a wall to enclose it and make it safe will be an added requirement. Consideration will also be given to placing a replica set of Stocks on the site as records show  this is where they were located in the 19th Century. Some money from the Village Improvement Fund will be used but much will depend on obtaining other funding.

The manual work was undertaken largely by Stewart Hopkins and John Honsinger over four days with support from others including removal of debris courtesy of Simon Goss and hedge trimming by Mike Gore.

What an evening!!   With bubbly to start, wonderful food, and rousing singing and flag-waving to finish.   The rafters rang with sea shanties, Land of Hope and Glory and Jerusalem and many people were hoarse by the time they left.   In all there were over 80 people involved, with Jeff Wakefield starting the proceedings off by relating the history of the Proms from the vantage point of performing there for 33 years as Leader of the 2nd violins, alongside his wife Audrey with her 25 years experience with the 1st violins.

Many thanks are due;  to Anthony Flack who organised the whole event and the drink procurement, to Michael Gore who solved the problem of getting a signal into the Church, Tony Fox who laboured long and hard on the logistics of setting up and taking down, Jackie and Dorothy for the super food, John Honsinger for his help with publicising and decorating of the Church, Alex Smith of TMI Foods for helping to sponsor the supper, everyone who donated raffle prizes and all those who entered into the spirit of the evening in their patriotic attire.  The icing on the cake is that there was an overall profit of £1463 towards the redesign of the teapoint/kitchen area.   Congratulations to everyone involved.

As part of the Community Emergency Plan for Stratton Audley, the Parish Councillor installed a Defibrillator in the porch of the church in 2016. Fortunately it has not been needed but please go and have a look at it. Anyone can access it for use in an emergency by following the simple instruction to call an emergency number to get a code to open the unit. Then the Defib unit can be removed and carried to the person whose heart has stopped. It is always fully charged and ready for use by anyone, even without training, as the machine once switched on gives you verbal instructions. However regular training sessions take place and you can call Stewart on 01869 277 937 to put your name down for a session.

These devises are known to save lives if used quickly and are designed as an interim measure to help prior to the arrival of paramedics. It has a GPS device installed in order to track it s location so the medics can find the location of the person in distress.

One the most frequently asked questions is ‘what happens if I use it on someone whose heart has not stopped beating?‘ and the answers is that the machine will not deliver a shock as it has a built in sensor to detect whether there is a heart beat or not.

Cllr Stewart Hopkins is a qualified and insured First Aider, able to provide refresher First Aid awareness to interested residents on an annual basis and saving the cost of employing an outside trainer.   Some 12 people have previously undertaken some basic instruction.    

The second Stratton Audley bi-annual Food Beer and Music Festival was held on Saturday 2^nd June with some 3000 people attending including many from surrounding villages and Bicester as a result of a heavy publicity campaign to welcome everyone to the village, and in the process raise money for a number of good causes.

The weather stayed fine and the car parks filled up. Some 30+ local food, beverages & craft stalls together with a Pimms bar, Gin bar and Smoothie bar all did a roaring trade. With 12 cask ales and ciders there was something for the Dads and for the children there was a Bouncy Castle, Slide, face painting plus many other entertainments and as a special treat a beautiful 1917 Burrell steam traction engine offered  free rides in a trailer all day long for the children, courtesy of local couple Robert and Ann Herring.

Burgers, bangers and a hog roast ensured no-one went hungry whilst they listened to two live sixties groups and a set of country fiddlers.

At lunchtime the Marsh Gibbon Silver Band struck up for the first time and this was followed by an enthralling dance routine by local girls from the Just Dance Company in Bicester.

To add to the sense of an old-fashioned street party, a large celebratory cake for the royal wedding was made by local baker Graham Nash and given out freely to everyone. In attendance to cut the cake were local MP for Bicester & Banbury Victoria Prentis, the Mayor of Bicester Sean Gaul and his wife, plus Miranda Markham, Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire.

There was an brief auction of some super items and the day concluded with 35 lucky winners being picked out of the drum in the Super Summer Draw. Winning numbers were:

1) 01556  2) 00445  3) 05947  4) 05147  5) 05135  6) 03682  7) 02360  8) 01522  9) 06160  10) 02754  11) 01125  12) 03610  13) 01915  14) 06069  15) 01081  16) 01686  17) 03678  18) 03855  19) 03396  20) 06721  21) 04198  22) 05163  23) 02258  24) 04139  25) 03790  26) 01785  27) 05124 28) 02402  29) 01708  30) 00933  31) 04134  32) 04029  33) 03825  34) 03260  35) 06830  36) 03623=

About 50% were won by villagers, many others from Bicester, and additionally a couple quite far afield which had to be posted namely a lady who lives in Aylesbury but works at BMW Cowley and another who lives in Oxford and bought the ticket at Impressions Beauty Salon in Bicester.

Many traders sold out and the hog roast and beer were the first to run out and later in the day the burgers.

Do check out the Facebook pages for Stratton Audley Parish Council and also the Stratton Audley Food Beer & Music Festival as there are some great photos to view.