News Update 105, 9th December

The Christmas trail around the village is being organised to take place on Christmas Eve circa 5pm. If you want to create a display it is not too late, just contact Sophie: sophiejnelson@hotmail.com . The trail will end at the Red Lion where the Parish Council has made arrangements for everyone to share in some (gratis) mulled wine and mince pies. Dillie has volunteered to bring her keyboard so we can have a sing along to some carols

Stratton Audley Church

The Following is from Beckie Adams:
“We do hope you can join us in church to celebrate the Christmas season. Our services will be:
Sunday 18^th December (6pm) Carol Service in Stratton Audley
Friday 23^rd December (7pm) Carol Service in Godington
Christmas Eve (4pm) Crib Service – bringing the Christmas story to life for young children and providing a magical start to Christmas for all ages. Your children are invited to come in costume if they would like to. The collection taken at the service will be shared between the local church and the Children’s Society to help children and young people in distress. 
Christmas Morning (10.45am) Holy Communion – All welcome, of any denomination or none.

Perhaps you might like to donate some items to the Foodbank Collection Point in the church porch as one way of thinking of others at this time of year.

Please check the Shelswell Benefice website for details of Midnight Communion and other services in the various parishes within our the benefice http://www.shelswellparishes.info/services.php
A Very Happy Christmas!”

Craft & Christingle Sunday 4th December
Some of the village children had a creative and reflective time at the “Craft and Christingle” session at the church on Sunday (see photos below). There were a number of stations for card and ornament making as well as a Christmas prayer tree. The session ended with Christingles and a reading. A huge thank you to Becky Adams for setting up and providing a feast and to Alice for bringing us together.

The following is from Richard, Sara and the team:
“The December days are ticking by with now just a little over two weeks until the big day! Pop on down and enjoy a warming hot choccie, tasty light lunch, grab a Christmas tree & maybe a chance to add a few festive treats to your basket too! We are open 10am-4pm daily with lunches served 12-2pm (give us a call to book for lunch, it’s been a busy few weeks).

We close our doors for the Christmas break at 4pm on Thursday 22nd December and will re-open on Tuesday 10th January with a spring in our step for 2023! We’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support this year and wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and very good wishes for 2023!”

What’s on at The Red Lion
The Following is from Dillie:
“Come to our Christmas Party on 17th!  Free buffet from 8pm. 
And there’s a Christmas Quiz on 22nd with a new Quizmaster who has defected from another establishment… should be very entertaining.

We will be open for two hours on Christmas morning at 12, closing sharply at 2pm.  We’d like to offer our regulars a free drink.  Though I have to add that if the last time you came for a drink was Christmas Day 2021, we might be minded to name and shame you…  
On Boxing Day the pub will be open from 12 noon until 9pm and it will be the same opening times on 2nd January.

Otherwise, opening times are as usual…, no change.  Fish as usual on Friday evenings, Saturday and Sunday lunches as usual.  If you’re hungry on a weekday lunch and Sapphire is around, she’ll make sure you get something nice to assuage your hunger!

Meanwhile, please do feel free to come in and keep warm, our fire is blazing away and you might as well use it.  Bring your laptops and work here, if you like.  And during this very cold weather, we are offering a mug of tea or coffee and biscuits for £1.  Sadly, our margins are so tight we can’t offer it free, but we don’t think you’ll get better value anywhere else in the area”.

Road Closure Stoke Lyne Road/Cherry Street
Many people have been inconvenienced by the closure of the Stoke Lyne Road for the fitting of a water supply to Mattingley Barn, despite there being no permitted development at this site. No notification was given by Thames Water and to date no answer has been forthcoming as to why this happened.
Cherry Street was also closed yesterday for emergency work but this is justified as a significant underground leak was discovered earlier in the week. This has now been patched but looks as if the road will remain closed for the weekend until the tarmac contractor completes the work.

Village Road Sweep Next Thursday, 15th December
Cherwell District Council will be sweeping the roads in the village this coming Thursday 15th December from 8am. This is the big one of the year when all the leaves have fallen, so please  make a note of it in your diary and keep the roads clear. It is the one exception to the rule, where we encourage residents to park on the verges where necessary or alternatively just to move cars when you hear the road sweeping vehicle, which usually makes several passes down each road during the morning.
Please help by sweeping any leaves outside your property into the gutter.
Thanks for your continued co-operation.

The 100 Club
The winners in the 100 club draw for the month of December 2022 are:
£60                               Hook Family (110)
£40                               Michael McCabe (156)
£20                               Zoe Timmers (55)
£20                              Maxine Ling (9)

Padbury Brook Solar Farm Proposal – UPDATE
The Parish Council have been contacted by
All residents should have received a letter by post from the developer highlighting the changes they have made as a result of engagement with the community.
Additionally a link to the letter and new outline plan has been created: https://padburybrooksolarfarm.co.uk/update/
JBM have advised that they have finalised their planning application and this will be submitted to the Cherwell planning office in the coming weeks.

Separately, shortly you will receive a request to complete a survey on the Solar Farm development that has been created by local resident Ronan Goss, which is part of a dissertation he is writing for his studies. He is a  third-year student at the University of Cambridge studying Land Economy. Whilst this is not a Parish Council survey, it is endorsed by the PC and will help to inform opinion within the community, so please respond if you are able.

Digital Connectivity Survey
Our local MP, Victoria Prentis has recently launched a Digital Connectivity Survey to help her build a comprehensive picture of where mobile and broadband coverage is weak in North Oxfordshire.
Broadband signal is still an issue for many of us and mobile signals are non existent in some locations. So this is very relevant for us and only takes a few minutes to complete on-line.
She hopes as many people as possible will respond to the survey, the results of which will then be shared with service providers so that they can all work together to improve connectivity across this area. You can access the survey here.
Two New Vehicle Speed Signs for the Village
As previously reported two new Vehicle Activated Signs have been acquired for the village, one for the Mill Road entrance and the other for Launton Road. The further good news is that these are both due to be installed on 19th December.
This means that each of the approach roads to the village will now have a permanent speed warning sign which will act as a reminder to reduce speed in the village.

Garden Waste Subscription 
I have received the following communication from Cherwell District Council and I daresay other have received similar letters:
“The subscription to this service is due to expire on 28th February 2023. Please renew before 28th February 2023 to continue your garden waste collections. If you renew after this date we will be unable to collect your garden waste until you have a valid subscription.
The charge for each garden waste subscription for 1st March 2023 to 29th February 2024 is shown below:

• Subscribe between 1st December 2022 and 28th February 2023 and the first subscription costs £39, and additional subscriptions cost £33 each
• Subscribe after 1st March 2023 and the first subscription costs £43, and additional subscriptions cost £33 each.

The easiest way to renew your garden waste subscription is by visiting our website: https://www.cherwell.gov.uk/payable-garden-waste-collection
Alternatively, if you can’t renew online, please call our Customer Service Team on 01295 227003. If you are calling us to renew your subscription, please ensure that you have read our Terms and Conditions before calling us”.
Bicester Heritage January Scramble
The next scramble takes place on 8th January, 9am to 2pm. The special local residents discount code is BristolBoxKite, but these are limited so may no longer be available.

Historical Village Information on Display in the Church
The following information has been kindly provided by Dorothy Howarth:
“The Shelswell History Festival in July took as its theme Trade and Transport and, although this seemed to have little to do with this village, the Local History Group produced information about the blacksmiths which were in Cherry Street (named after the blacksmith’s family) the start of the postal service in this area (which was down to the Stevens family) and the existence of 33 lacemakers in the village in 1851, at a time when there were “12 Paupers receiving Parish Relief” – which is probably not unrelated.
In terms of “Transport”, Stratton Audley is somewhat unique in being shown on a map of England of around 1690, amidst mainly large towns and cities, and it is believed that this may have been due to the existence of the Manor House where there could have been accommodation.   This map is the first of the whole country and is based on the strip-maps of John Ogilby and, without a map such as this, it would be difficult to think in terms of “transport”, hence a tenuous link to the festival’s theme.
More information on these topics and the amazing life of John Ogilby are to be seen on the display boards which were used for the Festival and are still on display in the Church.   It had been intended to take them down and put them into storage but the Church Warden is of the opinion that many people have taken an interest in them and suggested that they should be left on display for a little longer.   If you know of someone who would be interested please let them know before they are put back into storage.”

Advanced News of likely Boundary Changes 
You may be aware that the geography of parliamentary constituencies is currently under review. The Boundary Commission for England launched a nationwide review in January 2021 which is now nearing its completion.
One of the aims of this review is to equalise the number of voters in each constituency. At the 2019 General Election the Banbury constituency was the 16th largest constituency in the country in respect of its population. The publication of the Boundary Commission’s revised proposals a few weeks ago has all but confirmed the new geography.
A new constituency is set to be created around Bicester – the Bicester and Woodstock constituency.This new constituency will comprise the District Council Wards of Bicester East, Bicester North & Caversfield, Bicester South & Ambrosden, Bicester West and Fringford & Heyfords from the current constituency, the Wards of Kidlington East and Kidlington West which will transfer from the Oxford West and Abingdon constituency and the Wards of Eynsham and Cassington, Freeland and Hanborough, North Leigh, Stonesfield and Tackley and Woodstock and Bladon which will transfer from Witney constituency. All of the Launton and Otmoor Ward will also move into the new constituency including those villages currently in the Henley constituency.
A map of the Bicester and Woodstock constituency can be accessed here.
The Banbury constituency will remain as Banbury town plus the Wards of Adderbury, Bloxham and Bodicote, Cropredy, Sibfords and Wroxton and Deddington. It will also take in the Wards of Chadlington and Churchill, Charlbury and Finstock, Chipping Norton, Kingham, Rollright and Enstone and the Bartons from the Witney constituency.
These changes are expected to be introduced in time for the next General Election, provided it is called after July 2023.

Help for the Hungry!
“A Foodbank Donation Point can be found in the church porch. If you can, please support this with your donations of tinned and dried goods, toiletries, and so on.  Urgently needed are tinned tomatoes, tinned fish, rice pudding, tinned meat, tinned fruit, and juice / squash.  (They have plenty of cereal and pasta)  Thank you very much to all those who have dropped donations into the box in the church porch – Please keep them coming!
If you need to, you are very welcome to take whatever you need from the box, and any leftovers will be taken to the Bicester Foodbank on a regular basis.
The Rector, Alice Goodall is now a ‘Local Referrer’ and can refer you to the Bicester Foodbank. She would need a few basic details from you, and then will be able to give you a referral number.  You can then go into the Beacon in Bicester and collect a bag of food to keep you going for a few days, or you can phone them and they will be able to drop off a bag to you. Contact:
Alice Goodall, The Rectory, Finmere   01280 848192  alicegoodall313@gmail.com
The Beacon is situated in Wesley Lane, Bicester OX26 6JU (off Sheep Street – not the Market Square end but the other end!).  As well as the bag of dried goods, you may be able to collect some fruit and vegetables and a meat voucher.  Someone from Citizen’s Advice is there on a Tuesday from 10 – 12 am, and there is a wellbeing café on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, 1 – 4 pm”.

Don’t Forget – Fresh Fish every Thursday 
Jack from Grimsby continues to come to the village on Thursday’s between 6.30-7pm and parks his van outside the Red Lion. He has a wide selection of fresh fish and shellfish. You can just turn up or place orders in advance by text and his mobile number is 07535 935119.

Fish & Chips Van in the village on Saturdays
For those new in the community, a Howe’s Fish and Chip van comes to the village every Saturday lunchtime from 1.30pm to 2pm. You will hear a bell (like a school bell) and his first stop is in Cherry Street. He then drives along Cavendish Place and stops again at the junction with Mill Road.
Howe & Co was established in 1930 and now has over 100 vans serving villages. You can track each van by going to their website and you need to look for van no 4:
https://howeandcofishandchips.co.uk/#findvan
They also have a general number you can call 07809 901761.

Bird Bath Water
Recently a resident found a baby owl on a lawn in Cavendish Place and sadly, despite valiant efforts by a local vet the bird died a few days later – some  unpronounceable disease passed between birds sharing water. The vet suggested it is a timely reminder for people to give their bird baths a clean in an effort to try to decrease the chance of our beautiful birds contracting the infection.

Bad Parking in Church Street

We have previously reported on parking issues concerning the entrance to The Manor and their grounds which are private, but recently a number of vehicles have partially blocked the entrance gates for the cottages to the left hand side of the pub. There are clear signs indicating that this entrance is in constant use and it would be much appreciated if more care is taken when parking on the road.
Parking on Grass Verges
A number of comments have been relayed to the Parish Council about cars being parked on more than one occasion, on the grass verges in the village in particular in the Bicester Road. This is sometimes unavoidable, however it can be a danger for pedestrians especially where the verges are used by pedestrians in the absence of footpaths. It is also a problem when the grass is to be cut which is done on a frequent basis.
The verges are an attractive part of the village and we are lucky to have such greenery, especially in the absence of a proper village green and not only is it unsightly, some verges are slowly being eroded.
It has long been the convention to keep the verges free of vehicles and the Parish Council respectfully wishes to take this opportunity to bring this matter to the attention of everyone especially those new in the community.

Access to The Manor Grounds in Church Street
From time-to-time residents of the Manor have legitimate cause to remind everyone, especially visitors to the village and those who are new in the village, that the grounds of the Manor are private. This is not necessarily obvious as the gates are kept permanently open for ease of access by residents. Situated next to the pub, it means vehicles of people visiting the pub are frequently identified as parking in the Manor grounds. Likewise a few Manor residents have recently seen an increase in dog walking, pushing prams and generally using the grounds as either a recreational area or as a cut through to Mill Road.
The Management Committee of the Manor are looking at new signage to install at the entrance, but have asked for it to be pointed out that the grounds are private for the use of the residents and invited visitors.