Thank you to all those attending the pick on Saturday, and to Pat for the refreshments.
To confirm to John (2 tyres) and Annie (1 wheel with tyre) that these were collected and added to the pile.
Clifford Bosley
Details of Long Wittenham’s celebrations to mark this year’s Diamond Jubilee have been sent to every household in the village.
Events will be centred around a Diamond Jubilee Street Party on Monday 4 June from 12 noon to 4pm in High Street which is being closed for the day.
Neighbours and friends are all invited for a community lunch. Table and chairs will be organised. You just need to bring a picnic or food for sharing – or you can buy food from the BBQ and Pig Roast.
There will also be a host of other events being organised including a parade of non-motorised vehicles, a cake bake and prize for the best decorated house. More details will follow in the coming months.
If you would like to know more, contact Cath Nicholson (407987) or Sandra at The Plough.
Oxfordshire County Council is closing the B4016 Lady Grove during the day time from Monday April 23 for five days.
The closure will be from the T-junction at the Long Wittenham end to the junction with the Didcot Ring Road. The road will be closed from 9.30am to 3.30pm each day.
Long Wittenham’s plans to install a defibrillator in the disused phone box on the High Street have been reported in the Oxford Mail.
Beth Chesney-Evans who together with Crispin Evans put forward the idea and led the fund-raising campaign is also being interviewed on BBC Radio Oxford Drive Time show at around 5.05pm tonight (11 April 2012)
A new village map is now in place outside the village hall by the end of the month. A 3ft by 2ft vinyl copy detailing street and property names to aid visitors and delivery companies has been produced. It has an index with grid references and is illustrated with photographs of local landmarks and historic buildings. Another possible site being considered for a second map is at the front of the Pound, a small plot of land in the High Street.
You can also view and download the map here.
Services in Long and Little Wittenham
Palm Sunday 10am April 1st Family Service in Long Wittenham commencing at the Cross and walking to Church.
Maundy Thursday 6.30pm 5th April DORCHESTER ABBEY Meal and Service commemorating the Last Supper ending with a celebration of Holy Communion. Please contact David Haylett or Anne Ilsley if you wish to come (for catering purposes).
Good Friday 10am Family Service at St Mary’s.
Easter Day 8.30am Holy Communion at St Peter’s Little Wittenham; 10am Holy Communion at St Mary’s Long Wittenham.
You are very welcome at all of these Services in your Churches.
Each year Key Stage 2 children from the villages of Long & Little Wittenham and also children from beyond the village who attend Long Wittenham School learn May Pole Dancing.
They then put on a display of their dancing for our community. We are hoping that this year they will be performing at the street party to be held in the village on Monday 4th June to celebrate the Queens Diamond Jubilee.
Before we can offer this activity to the children we need a team of adults willing to teach the children – no previous experience necessary!
If you are able to help and will be available on 4th June please contact Mrs Christine McRitchie:
Work has finished on a £41,000 scheme to improve the surface of a 500 metre section of the bridleway and cycle path linking Wittenham with Didcot.
The path was surfaced with hardcore ten years ago and is popular with walkers, cyclists, joggers and horse riders. The stretch from the bridge over Moor Ditch to Bow Bridge on the main B4106 road has broken up in places and needs improving. The Wittenham Vision Sustainability Committee approached the national cycling charity Sustrans for a grant and was told that £41,000 would be available for the project.
Resurfacing work includes a non-slip surface for horses. The parish council has paid £200 towards repairing part of the fencing along this stretch of the bridleway.
Ian Jones from Wittenham Vision said: ”We were fortunate to get the funding from Sustrans who had to use up their budget allocation by the end of March. The bridleway is very popular and an important link with Didcot. We are very pleased to have achieved our objective.”
Parents living in Saxons Heath are being urged to encourage their children to use the new playing field at Acklings or Bodkins to play football and ball games and not gather on the Green. It follows a letter from a resident concerned about the risk to children chasing balls in the road and the safety of drivers. The council is seeking advice from the county council about the possibility of erecting “Not suitable for ball games”
signs. But signs are difficult to enforce and parents are urged to encourage their children to avoid the Green and play ball games at the recognised play areas, Acklings and Bodkins.
The Vine&Spice pub-restaurant plans to build a wood and glass flat roof extension, described as a “high quality, sympathetic contemporary structure ” providing 32 seats for diners.
The Vine withdrew a previous application following objections but has submitted a new plan which it believes meets previous concerns. The revised plan is supported by the parish council but has to win approval from South Oxfordshire District Council.
In the application the Vine’s architects say the proposed structure is free-standing and will not detract from the existing historic building.
Their report adds: “When inside the extension the large glass screens next to the existing building will create a frame to view and appreciate the fabric of the listed Grade two architecture.”
To minimise impact of the development on the High Street the proposed three-metre high building has been contained and would not be visible from the roadside.
The existing restaurant has three areas which include the front bar for drinking and dining, a ground floor dining area and two dining areas on the first floor. It is proposed to close the first floor which, says the report, is isolated from the main dining area and bar. Access for customer s and staff is via narrow and substandard stairs. The first floor rooms would be available for hire as meeting rooms and private functions.
