This week we start with some sad news and end with the reminders and a word of caution on Covid-19.
Roni Howarth
Many of you will already know that Roni Howarth died unexpectedly in hospital on August 18th. Although he had become increasing unwell it was a complete shock when he went into hospital for blood tests, suffered a stroke and died on the following day.
Roni was a lovely, smiling, giant of a man who always saw the best in others. He was a hard-working member of the Church community, being a keen bell-ringer, organiser of the Ride and Stride, and a former Church Warden. Roni loved this village, regularly sitting in the garden with his breakfast, gazing round and blessing his good fortune in having moved here.
His funeral will take place in Stratton Audley church on Thursday, September 10th at 12.30pm, with a limited congregation as dictated by the Government. He will be sorely missed by Dorothy and Bronte and all who knew and loved him. Dorothy is particularly grateful for the many wonderful cards, tributes and flowers she has received, together with the constant support of all their friends and neighbours.
Parish Council Meeting 2nd September
Due to Covid-19 the rules over holding Council meetings were changed to allow for remote video meetings. Stratton Audley Parish Council usually meets every month in the Red Lion but for the time being has opted to meet every two months via Zoom video conferencing. The next one is set for September 2nd at 7pm and if you have an item for the Agenda or wish to join-in please email the Clerk at strattonaudley.parishclerk@gmail.com
Launton Road CLOSURE for Patching Works
The long awaited patching of the road surface in Launton Road is on schedule to start on Tuesday the 8th September and run through to the end of the following week 18th September. The week immediately after this on Tuesday 22nd, Church Street will be closed for 4 days until Friday 25th. This is going to cause disruption particularly for through-traffic which will be diverted. However residents and businesses will be allowed to access their premises and so too will any delivery vehicles or commercial contractors. Parking will be prohibited on the road as the contractors will need to be able to have full access to the entire road.
The Launton Road works will start in the village by the church and finish at the stream a couple of hundred meters outside the village gate boundary. No-entry (except for access) signs will be placed at both ends – in the village and again at the intersection a couple of miles down the road at the crossroads for Launton Village. Customers wishing to access the Stratton Audley Barn café by car will be able to do this for most of the time by traveling to it from the Launton village end. We understand that the only time when the road will be completely unpassable is when works are carried out by the right angle corner pinch-point in the village, outside Mulberry Farm House and the Old Dairy. Furthermore the road will be opened up at weekends, unless for any unforeseen reason it is impossible to do this safely.
I am sure with a little goodwill on all sides we will endure this short term inconvenience and benefit in the long run.
Advanced notice of Road Closure – Stratton Park Road
Notices have been posted for the temporary closure of the road that runs passed Stratton Audley Park to the cross roads with Mill Road and beyond to the road to Godington. The closure will take place from Tuesday 28th September (at 07:30hrs) up to and including 8th October (at 16:30hrs). This closure is for the day time and each day from 07:30hrs to 16:30hrs. Distance of the closure is 1.75miles.
The reason as many of you know is for temporary passing bays to be built alongside the road for large HGV vehicles that will be traveling to and from the East West Rail compound at Poundon.
Re-Establishing the Coffee Morning in the Pub
This week we see the reinstatement of the coffee morning on Tuesday 1st September at 11.00. It is £2 per head for coffee and biscuits. It will be held in the pub garden because of social distancing. All welcome.
REMINDERS
Monday Night is Persian Night
Mitra will be serving up again between 5 & 8pm on Monday at her new location at the junction of Bicester Road and Church Street. No pre-orders, just turn up. If you need to contact Mitra you can text her on 07444 364789.
The Red Lion
The new website is up and worth checking out for details of what’s happening www.redlionstrattonaudley.co.uk
Alternatively see the pub or village Facebook page or phone 277 225.
Opening hours are:
Monday: closed
Tuesday – Friday: 3-11pm
Saturday: 12-11pm
Sunday: 12-9pm
Stratton Audley Barn
The café is open Tuesday to Sunday 10-4pm serving coffee, paninis, cakes and gelato ice cream. There’s a designated seating area provided in the paddock with tables, parasols and a few Bell tents.
Collection Point for disposal of Ink Jet cartridges
A collection box for used ink-jet cartridges has placed in the bus shelter on the Stoke Lyne Road and any money raised from their bulk return will go to the RSPB.
Cabaret Evening at the Red Lion – SOLD OUT
Delighted to report that tickets for this event on Thursday 3rd of September in the Red Lion are all sold out. Please note that whilst the pub will be open and serving drinks in the bar area, the beer garden is likely to be closed from mid-afternoon.
And finally a Cautionary Note on Covid-19
The number of new daily cases is rising in Oxford City and the reality is that measures that would slam the brakes on Oxford’s gradual emergence from lockdown have moved a step closer. The number of cases in Oxford in the week ending August 21 was 41 – which is 26.9 cases per 100,000 and sees the city moving ever closer to figures in parts of the country that have been labelled by central Government as areas of concern or that require intervention.
Ansaf Azhar, Oxfordshire County Council’s Director for Public Health, said: “With a Bank Holiday coming up, the need for people to abide by all of the things that we know stop the spread of this virus is greater than ever. Undoubtedly the 18-29 year age group is driving this rise in cases but my appeal is to everyone. We were able to leave lockdown and stay out of it because we were suppressing the virus locally by our own actions. We were keeping our distance from each other, sanitising and wearing masks. We all need to act responsibly and continue to follow this very simple advice. If we do that collectively, we will reverse this upward trend that we are seeing in Oxford”.
So perhaps if you are planning to take a trip into Oxford take extra care of yourself.
The better news is that in the Cherwell area there were only 14 active cases as of this week. To put that into context there are an estimated 18,340 cases currently across the UK.
Have a great Bank Holiday weekend.