At the end of 2004 it is perhaps time to stop and take stock of the Village life at Brize Norton. The village has many varied Sporting and Social Clubs all enthusiastically run by willing volunteers. A thriving village School and a nursery/pre-school for the under fives, at the other end of the spectrum the Over Sixties remain very active with a full programme of entertainment. The allotments appear to cater for all ages from toddlers to one keen gardener who I know is 78 years young! 

So, if you are finding the winter nights boring with nothing new on the T.V. consider joining and perhaps helping to run one of the activities in the village. The various committees would be delighted to have new members.

Do you remember the flooding or were you affected by the flooding of 2 years ago? The Parish Council and some persons affected by the flooding have continued to push for better drainage for the village. Work has been carried out in the Kilkenny Lane/Rocky Banks, Masons Arms and Brize Norton Road areas, also drains are being repaired in the area of the Church and Manor Road. All of this is good news; however the improvement to the drainage/watercourses further downstream has not yet been addressed. With further building at Carterton’s new residential and industrial sites plus the 600 new houses and considerable new build of accommodation and concrete areas on the RAF base the issue of flooding will continue to be addressed by the Parish Council.

Do you know that a ”Country Park” will be built/planted at the north west of the Carterton development? This will actually be in the Parish of Brize Norton. In addition to tree planting there will be footpaths, cycle paths, roadway and a Car park. Do you see this as a welcome new facility much needed by the local community? Or do you take the opposite view that has been expressed to me by some residents of the village. Why do we need a Country Park in the middle of the country? To stop urban sprawl of planting trees would be sufficient. With the closure of Kilkenny Lane n car park would (possibly) attract more vehicle movement through the village and along the Burford Road. Who will Police the area to prevent cross country motorbikes, off the road vehicles, dog fouling and possible travellers setting up camp? If you have any views on this matter the Parish Council would like to hear from you.

Councillor Jenny Bromley attended the Annual Remembrance Day Service and placed a wreath at the war memorial on behalf of all parishioners of Brize Norton. It was also pleasing to note that the children of the village attended a service and laid down their wreath on the 11 November.

After serving on the Parish Council, latterly as Chairman, for 2 years Shane Rae resigned from the Parish Council in September and is currently studying a BSc in Advanced Computing from Kellogg College in Oxford. I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank him for his service as Chairman of the Parish Council and wish him every success in the future.

This newsletter will be delivered in December, by which time I expect to see Christmas lights and decorations in abundance throughout the village. I was particularly impressed by the decorations on the outside of some of the houses last year and look forward to seeing them again. May I, on behalf of all the Parish Councillors wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Peaceful New Year. 

Keith Glazier

PRE SCHOOL

• 100 Club – Do you fancy the chance to win some money? Brize Norton Village Pre-school run the 100 club. There is a small board of 100 squares. Each square is numbered and the cost is £1 a month (paid annually £12). Each month 2 numbers are drawn. 1st prize is £20 and 2nd prize is £5. In December 1st prize is £50 and 2nd prize is £25. So chase a number and have a go. If you are interested please phone Christine on 844010. 
  
• Christmas Concert & Fayre – will be held on Monday 13 December in the Elderbank Hall. Doors will open at 10.30 am with a concert at 11.15 am. Come and join the children and staff for the annual Christmas concert. There will be stalls, refreshments, a raffle and of course a small concert from the children. For information or if you could help by donating a raffle prize or baking a cake please ring Christine on 844010.

We have a small charity in the village which allows us to give a small gift to pensioners, widows and anyone else in great need at Christmas time. I shall soon be bringing the gifts round so if you are not yet on my list please contact me. If you don’t tell me I don’t know.

Joy Douglas 842373

Our ”Swing into Autumn” Dance was again a great success and it was great to see so many villagers enjoying themselves. As a result of the generosity of the 57 Swing Band playing for us for free and Colin & Di Dawes of Foxbury Farm providing delicious food at cost we were able to help the Church with much needed funds. Many thanks to the 57 Swing Band, Foxbury Farm and everyone who helped to make the evening go with a swing! We are aiming to make this an annual event, and the band and hall are already booked for Saturday 24 September 2005.

The church was overflowing with both people and gifts at the Harvest Service. All the West Oxfordshire Young Farmers Clubs brought hampers of food and these with food collected at the School from their harvest service was taken to the Porch Shelter in Oxford. The collection of £200 is on its way to Gulu in Africa to help people that Roger (out team rector) visited there this Summer.

We have welcomed into our church the congregation of St Christopher’s on the RAF base as their church has closed. We had a special combined St Britius and St Christopher service on All Saints Day. The Remembrance Sunday service was also well attended and Wing Commander Cameron Gair of 99 Squadron headed the wreath laying ceremony. The church is honoured to be receiving in the near future the Squadron’s previous standard which will be ]aid up at a special service and have a permanent home in our church.

We now have Sunday School which meets every Sunday during the 9.15 am service and a Youth Club (The Comets) which meets on Friday evenings – further details can be found in the church porch. Family Services continue successfully every month; the last one was about Samson and Delilah acted by the children.

Our Christmas Services start on Sunday 19 December with a Candlelit Carol Service at 6pm. The nine lessons will be read by representatives of village organisations and all children are welcome to come dressed as shepherds, angels, wise men, etc., for the nativity tableau. Please contact Kathryn Kirby (842491) for more details of the nativity tableau. Coffee and hot mince pies will be served after the service. Candlelit Midnight Mass will be at 11.30 pm on Xmas Eve and there will be a combined Family Service and Holy Communion at 9.15am on Xmas Day. Roy asks the children to bring a present that they have received with them to show!

The Sunday School will hold their Christmas Party on Saturday 15 January in the Elderbank Hall. Our Christingle Service will be held on Sunday 1 February at 4pm. We hope to decorate the oranges in School on the Friday afternoorn before.

Roger, Roy, the Churchwardens and members of the DCC wish everyone a very happy and peaceful Christmas.

I am pleased to announce after a very disappointing season last year that the Brize Norton Ladies football team have started the current season in fine form. They are currently top of the table in the Thames Valley County’s Womens League, winning all 8 games played so far. They are also top of the league goal scorers table hitting home 44 goals to date.

They have played one game in the County Cup which resulted in a 2-2 draw against Mansfield Road (a division one team). Each team in the County Cup will play 4 matches over the course of the season with the top placed team from each pool going forward to the final on Sunday 17 April,

I would like to wish the ladies all the best for the rest of the season and I hope they can continue with their current form, which would enable them to be promoted to division 1 next season. If you are interested in joining and are aged 14 or over please contact Sam Goodwin (846827). All abilities are welcome.

The criminal justice system would collapse if people were not willing to be witnesses in court cases. But what happens when those who know something about crime don’t want to get involved? What about people, who are afraid to contact the police direct or, for whatever personal reason, wish to remain anonymous. The alternative to speaking to the police is to call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Nobody is asked for their name, but their information does help to solve crime. Thames Valley Crimestoppers has been in action for five years and in that time almost 7,400 police investigations have started and over 920 people arrested solely as a result of Crimestoppers callers.

People from Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire call about all types of crime. But there is still a lot more information out in the community that would help to reduce crime even further. There are 2.1 million people in the Region and the task of Thames Valley Crimestoppers is to get the message across to all of them. The support of community groups and organisations is vital in spreading the word.

Tea Dance Dates:- 

A Happy Christmas to you all. 

Joy Douglas 842373

I have recently been given one of the minute books of Brize Norton’s Mother’s Union committee meetings. These are for the years 1965-1970, 1975-1986. They will be kept with the church records. If anyone knows where the minutes are for the missing years we would be grateful to receive them as they are very much a part of the life of our church. 

The Mother’s Union itself was started in 1876 and its purpose was to be especially concerned with all that strengthens and preserves marriage and the Christian way of life. The minutes record the names of those stalwart ladies on the M.U. committee who met regularly to organise services in the church, social events, raising money for charity and booking speakers for their meetings. There was Mrs Aisla Walwin, a Churchwarden, who worked so hard for the church and for village organisations with fund raising; her home was frequently the venue for many M.U. committee meetings. 

Mrs Paddock, Mrc C. Timms, Mrs J. Timms, Mrs P. Timms, Mrs Pinnigar, Miss Atkinson, Mrs Cooper, Mrs Hunter, Mrs Law and Mrs Rye (the vicar’s wife) all served on the committee in those years mentioned. Meeting in Mrs Walwin’s home, then the Victory Hut and when that was demolished they then met in the Cricket Pavilion and in 1989 met in church. 

From 1993 Carterton M.U. joined them when their branch closed. I would be interested to know when the Mother’s Union first started in Brize Norton and where they met before the Victory Hut was built. I do know when it folded up and that was in 1998, not long after Aisla Walwin’s death.

Wendy Morgan – 842663

Our future programme includes:

Our thanks to Edna, Carol and Benita for our lovely teas and June for the home made cakes.

New members are welcome. 

Contact Joy Douglas on 842373

Brize Norton School Association welcomes any budding tenor, alto, soprano or bass singers, or even if you just enjoy singing, to join us on Wednesday 22’ December 2004. We will be meeting at 6pm by the village war memorial where we will continue to visit your house as we work our way down the village collecting in aid of Sobell House. Refreshments will be provided.

Brize Norton W.I. meets every second Tuesday each month at the Elderbank Hall at 7.30pm. We have a variety of interesting speakers. Why not come along and find out more, you will be offered a warm welcome and homemade refreshments. 

Our winter programme includes: 

For more information ring Anne Hancock on 842197.

The show, forming as usual part of the village August bank holiday ”funday”, had a respectable entry. Thirty-one exhibitors, including eleven children, producing just short of 200 entries.

The standard overall was very high, particularly in the handicraft section, where the scrap metal sculpture by Helen Beckingham and the wood carving by Pete Faulkner were especially eye catching.

The entry in the flower section was lower than in recent years, betraying the poor weather we suffered earlier in the month. The other sections showing a marked decline, in numbers if not quality, is the cookery section. The former can’t be helped but it would be nice if some people would have a go at the latter – indeed an increase in entries in all sections would be most welcome.

In the children’s section age group class winners were Deborah Willimont, Hannah and Hollie Merriman, Islay Thorne and Brandon Edwards.

The Cambray Cup (vegetables) Beckstone Rosebowl (flowers) and Aubrey Smith Plate (cookery) have been retained by last years winners, Dave Chapman, Roy Henly and Chloe Thorne respectively. Helene Beckingham won the Christina Barnard Cup for the handicraft section this year. A special thank you is due to the judges Mr Paintin, Barbara Stanton and Pam Edwards without whom there would be no show. They did an excellent job once again.

Many thanks to everyone, who supported the show, hope to see you again next year. We would also welcome new exhibitors and be happy to again see entries from former supporters.

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All entries for inclusion in the March issue should be received by 15’ February.