| Advertising: | Stephen Wadsworth |
| Distribution: | Malcolm Black |
| Proofreading: | Emma Callery |
| IT/Web Support: | Martin Baxter |
| Treasurer: | Kevin Hope |
| Directory: | Diana Barber |
FROM THE EDITORS
Sadly we report the death of Terence Siddles. On behalf of the village we send our condolences to his family and friends.
We have two new members of the newsletter team this month and we say hello and thank you for volunteering to both Emma Callery and Stephen Wadsworth. Emma has kindly volunteered to proof read the newsletter and Stephen will be co-ordinating the advertising.
Both Emma and Stephen can be reached at news@hook-norton-newsletter.co.uk
| Andy Horne | Helen Foster |
| hookynews@totalise.co.uk | helen@hook-norton-newsletter.co.uk |
are not necessarily those of the Editorial Team
THE NEWSLETTER IS CHANGING
The Hook Norton Newsletter has been running for some 34 years and is very much part of village life. It has been in its current format for about ten years now, growing and changing with the village.
We are now going to refresh the look and feel to a more modern, quality product as part of ensuring its future for the next ten years.
This will include the introduction of some colour pages from February 2010 and we plan to produce the remaining pages on the same glossy paper as the colour pages, improving the general appearance of the entire publication.
Over the past eight to ten years we have tried to include as many articles and contributions as possible and allowed the Newsletter to grow to accommodate them. As a consequence, the average number of pages in current newsletters is significantly higher than it was.
While print costs have remained relatively stable over this period, we have not changed our prices when perhaps, in retrospect, we should have had regular annual increases to reflect the cost of publishing the larger newsletters.
Advertising income has not covered the cost of producing the Newsletter for some time now. Add to this, donations in the Post Office box have dwindled and consequently we must now adjust our advertising rates. We feel that, particularly with the new look newsletter, the Newsletter will continue to offer outstanding value to its advertisers. Costs from the February 2010 issue will be:
| Black and White | Colour | |
| Third page advertisement | £10 per issue | £20 per issue |
| Half Page advertisement | £15 per issue | £30 per issue |
Colour advertising space is likely to remain limited, to begin with at least, as the intention is to use the majority of colour pages for news. However, if the demand for colour advertising is such that we can produce more colour pages of news, we will certainly consider it, but we may not be able to accept all requests for immediate use.
COLOUR IS COMING!
Make the most of the colour pages by sending photos to illustrate your copy. Colour pages are limited so we can’t promise to put everything we receive in colour - but it’ll be a nice problem to have!
LIBRARY NEWS
| Opening Hours: | Monday | 2–5pm, 6–7pm |
| Wednesday | 2–5pm | |
| Friday | 2–5pm, 6–7pm | |
| Saturday | 9am–12.30pm |
Hello everyone, hope you all had a lovely summer break.
Firstly I would like to say a very big thank you to the Heath Trust for the very generous donation, which will help improve your library. Please read article by Pauline Walters for more information.
We’ve been busy here over the summer. Our summer reading challenge for children went well with 140 children taking part and 81% completed by reading six books over the summer. We had a storytime and a visit from Oxfordshire Museum, which were both well attended by 4–7-year-olds.
Our Rhymetimes for the 0–3-year-olds are still proving popular; the next dates are Monday 12 October, Monday 9 November and Monday 7 December, 2–2.30pm. All are welcome. Just come along, no tickets needed.
The AGM for the Friends of Hook Norton Community Library took place at the Brewery Visitors’ Centre and we enjoyed a short talk from Patrick Neale of Jaffe and Neale. Olwen Goodwin has now resigned from being Chairperson and we welcome Kerry McCormick. I would like to thank Olwen for all her hard work.
Sadly we no longer recycle batteries here, this has now moved to Hook Norton Primary School. Although popular here, Cherwell District Council collect more often from there along with the other recycled items.
Don’t forget, we still have photocopying and computers with broadband here. The Friends now supply The Oxford Times weekly and also Country Living monthly. We have other donated magazines to read, as well as the Banbury Guardian supplied by the library each week.
Looking forward to seeing you all soon.
THE HEATH ALLOTMENT TRUST GRANT – HOOK NORTON LIBRARY
How many people in the village do not know that the library exists, and, even more importantly, what the library can do for them? In these times of austerity, the resources that the library makes available are even more valuable for those who are having to tighten their belts and might now find that borrowing books and using the computers available in the local library can really help.
Over the last ten years, the Friends of Hook Norton Community Library (FOHNCL) have been supporting this invaluable asset, their key achievement being to help prevent the library being closed when countywide cuts at Oxfordshire County Council, resulting from reduced government funding, threatened such an outcome. They are also able to give money to be spent on books, magazines, etc.
In response to a request from FOHNCL, trustees of the village charity, the Heath Allotment Trust, have recently made a donation of £1000 to the FOHNCL. This money is to be spent to encourage residents of the village, young or old, to use the library, especially people who are financially disadvantaged. For instance, the library already has online facilities in the form of three computers, which people who do not have access at home, who cannot perhaps afford a computer, or access to the internet, can enjoy the use of this facility.
Many of us love to buy books, but for those who would like to read the latest books from their favourite authors, but cannot afford such a luxury, why not visit the library, see if books you would like to read are held? Or if not, let the library manager, Janet May, know what type of books you enjoy and who your favourite authors are. Books can also be ordered from other county libraries.
If some of you have difficulty visiting the library, please give Janet a ring. If, for instance, you are confined to a wheelchair and are worried about access, you might be able to access the adjoining reading room and, if you let Janet know of your visit in advance, she can arrange to have some books you might enjoy ready for you to look at.
Some new items of furniture are soon to be purchased to enhance the amount of space available to display books, while at the same time improving the floor space within the library and facilitating the display of new books that might attract new readers. The library is there for every individual in the village and surrounding villages, please do make use of its facilities.
FRIDAY TODDLER GROUP
Held at the Baptist Hall 9.15–11.15am
Thank you all for supporting us between the school holidays.
It’s been great seeing some old faces returning and some new faces starting at the beginning of term.
We’d like to thank Alrys for answering our call for a ‘Granny’ and hopes she enjoys the time with us, but if there are any ‘Grannies or Grandads’ that would still love to come along and give us a hand, then we would love to see you.
We are going to have a Table Top Sale in aid of the Toddler Group. There will be Second-hand Children’s Clothing, Toys, Children’s Books, Baby Equipment, Cake Stall, Tombola and Refreshments
Please come and join us on Saturday 24 October between 10am and 1pm
Dates for your Diaries
Friday 9 October: Card Sale (Phoenix Trading), 9.30–11.00am
Friday 23 October (half term): we are open 9.15–11.15am
Saturday 24 October: Table Top Sale, 10am–1pm, everybody welcome
HOOK NORTON PLAYGROUP
The refurbishment of the playgroup toilets is now complete (we are so very pleased with them!) and work is about to start on our £5000 new sensory garden. Playgroup has had a busy summer club and are now planning their ever popular XMAS FAYRE (Sunday 22 November). We are assured Santa will be able to make it once again so put the date in your diaries now.
We do have some open slots for places in both the morning and afternoon sessions, and remember we also offer after school care up to age 11, walks to and from school for all ages, and playgroup places from age two. It’s also worth pointing out that we are a not-for-profit group, and our prices are correspondingly low! If you have any questions at all, call Julie Riley or pop in and say hello (in case you don’t know, we are behind the park, between Watery Lane and the Shearings).
FOHNS
 The
Friends of Hook Norton School (FOHNS) are planning a series of fun
events throughout the school year. |
HOOK NORTON BROWNIES
 Hi, my name is Katrina Hambidge. I am the new Brown Owl for 2nd Hook Norton Brownies, as of this September. On Sunday 4 September, which was my first official duty with my unit, myself and five Brownies and one Brownie guest and parent help, attended Cotswold Wildlife Park, to celebrate 100 years of Guiding. We all met in a large white tent, which was called Crystal Palace, where we were given a talk on the history of Guiding. We then went on a train ride around the park, and also visited the animals, eventually finding the lions! Then the Brownies did different activities, including scrape a mask, feeling objects to make up a word and a collage. We then had a massive picnic with all the Rainbows, Brownies, Guides, leaders and Guests. In the afternoon we all went for a walk around the Wildlife Park and finished off our day by playing in the playground of the park. This is Brown Owl checking out for now, thanking everyone involved for the great day out that we all enjoyed ... and looking forward to the next event. |
CHIPPING NORTON SCHOOL TRUST FUND
The Chipping Norton School Trust Fund provides financial assistance to pupils to help with their studies and other associated activities. The fund is currently supplemented by two local donations. The Heath Allotment Trust has made donations in order to help young people living in Hook Norton who might otherwise not be able to take part in a fuller and wider school life. In the past, pupils have benefited from assistance with the purchase of sports equipment, musical instruments, coaching sessions, residential courses associated with areas of study and residential university taster sessions. It may also be possible to contribute to after-school sessions and educational visits. The Lions Club of Chipping Norton may make a donation to the Trust Fund where a pupil requires funds to assist their personal development in connection with a community project, whether home of abroad. This may take the form of a grant where a pupil is undertaking an overseas trip involving community work, e.g. a building project, help on a mercy ship or where a specific coaching or training course is necessary to assist with training of others in our local community, e.g. lifeguard training.
For further information about the Lions Club of Chipping Norton, please call Sian Arnold.
For further information about the Chipping Norton School Trust Fund, please contact Anne Evans (village representative on the Trust Fund Committee)
HOOK NORTON W.I.
Our July meeting was a Garden Party which took place at Hollybush Road hosted by Val Cornelius. As it was a rainy afternoon it was held inside and a good time was had by all. We had a lot of fun attempting a quiz and then a poem of Pam Ayres was read causing a lot of laughter. The delicious food completed a very enjoyable afternoon.
In August we had an outing to Sudeley Castle. It was a lovely day and we were all able to walk around the gardens and ruins and see the exhibitions that were there. After lunch we went to Winchcombe and had a pleasant stroll around the shops and have a well-earned cup of tea.
The speaker for our September meeting will be Brian Lowe giving a talk on The Beauty of Oxford. There will be a visit to Pendon Museum on 24 September. On 20 October, Illona Cross will be giving us a talk on A Journey through Tanzania and on 17 November we will be having a talk on Denham College by Barbara Gray.
GARDEN CLUB
By the time you read this, the Autumn Show and day visit to Wisley will have passed.
The cup winners were:
|
Phil Knights Comrades Cup - Most points by a man: |
Peter Arnold |
|
Debenham Cup - Most points by a lady: |
Rachel Mortimer |
|
Rose Brown Cup - Most points by a child: |
Marcus Randall |
|
Edge & Bolton Cup - Floral Art: |
Sheila Lilley |
|
W.I. Cup - Homecraft: |
Peter Arnold |
|
Presidents Cup - Collection of Vegetables: |
Peter Arnold |
|
Brewery Cup - Photography: |
Ann Wyatt |
| Certificate of Merit for Floral Art: | Sheila Lilley |
|
Diploma for Excellence in Horticulture A collection of 4 vegetables: |
Peter Arnold |
| People’s Choice: | Rachel Mortimer |
|
Congratulations to all. The Club has had a very good year and there are only two events to go. On 21 October Tim Goodwin from Fosseway Garden Centre will talk on seasonal planting and bring plants to purchase. As agreed last year, the AGM has been moved to 18 November for a Members Evening to include wine and mince pies. We look forward to a good turnout. The Committee has already been planning the calendar for 2010 and would welcome any suggestions and comments from members. Verity Calderan
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24 SQUARE MILES - NEW ON THE HOOK NORTON WEBSITE!
Kay Mander’s filmed survey of 24 square miles of rural Oxfordshire was part of a 1943 project to better understand the use made of the countryside in order to facilitate better planning. Filmed in 1946, ‘Twenty Four Square Miles’ shows in detail the use made of the land for farming and industry and the social fabric of the towns and villages and how they are managed. With commentary by John Arlott. Directed by Kay Mander. A Basic Films Production. Crown Copyright. Many thanks to Emma Kane for finding this brilliant gem in the BFI National Archive, getting permission to put it on the website, and loading it up at http://hook-norton.org.uk/about-hook-norton/24-square-miles.html. Take a look at Hooky 63 years ago. We would be interested in any feedback on the film. How much did it reflect the real Hooky of the day? Do you recognise anyone? Let us know … Ed.
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WILL YOU SHARE YOUR WARTIME MEMORIES?
Would you be interested in talking about your memories of the Second World War? The Second World War Experience Centre is carrying out a nationwide project, recording the personal experiences of people who lived through the War years, to ensure these stories are preserved for future generations. With the recent passing of the last veterans of World War I, this has brought into focus the increasing urgency to record people’s memories before it is too late.
Recent interviewees from the Oxfordshire area have included a lady who worked at Bletchley Park as a decoder, a Land Army girl who worked on farms in Kent, an evacuee who left London to live in a mining village in South Wales, a Prisoner of War captured at Dunkirk in 1940, a gentleman who served with the RAF Medical Service in the Middle East, and a Merchant Navy seaman who was on the Atlantic Convoys.
The Centre is a registered museum and charity, and more than 4000 people have been interviewed for the Centre’s oral history archive. The Centre would like to record the stories of ex-servicemen and women, civilians, children, factory workers, or anyone who has first-hand memories from that time.
Its website can be found at http://www.war-experience.org.
If you are interested in having your wartime memories recorded for posterity and inclusion in The Second World War Experience Centre archive, or would like further information, please contact the Centre’s volunteer recorder in the Oxfordshire area.
LURCHER SHOW- 16 AUGUST
|
Click to enlarge.
Barney, Thank you to everyone that supported the Lurcher Show held at Nill Farm by kind permission of Angus Irvine. Click to enlarge.
WInner and Reserve The day started at 9am with straight racing, this was followed by hurdle racing, speed jump and fun scurry. There were three rings for showing in the afternoon. We raised £900, which is shared between Katharine House Hospice, Evesham Greyhound and Lurcher Rescue and National Playing Fields. Details of EGLR can be viewed at www.lurcher.org.uk. |
CONGRATULATIONS!
|
Hooky Slimmer Sue White has reached the District Finals of Slimming World’s Woman of the Year Competition for 2009. With a weight loss of 3st 11lb, Sue has reached her Target Weight and has dropped from a size 18 with an obese BMI to a slinky size 10 with a healthy BMI. Sue was totally new to Slimming World when she joined and has found Food Optimising much easier than she ever imagined! Click to enlarge.
Sue says, ‘I have more energy than I ever had before, which enables me to walk more and my golf has improved! I used to cover up in dark, drab clothes and now I wear much brighter clothes and have more confidence. With regards to my health, I suffered with knee pain when climbing stairs and now I don’t have this anymore.’ ‘Going to the Slimming World Group made me realise I was not alone. The group is fun and friendly and it’s a part of the week I look forward to! I always attend and stay to the end of the sessions, which are a large part of being successful and as a Target Member I can now attend every week for free!’ Hook Norton Group runs at The Sun Inn every Tuesday at 6.30pm. For more info on the group please contact Lucy. |
STRAWBERRY TEA
Thank you to everyone who came along to support our Strawberry Tea in the summer holidays ... it was a lovely, relaxed, sunny Sunday afternoon in Beanacre eating cake, drinking tea and digging deep in our pockets to raise £270 for Breast Cancer Care (www.breastcancercare.org.uk). Thank you for your generous donations.
THANK YOU!
My son and I would like to thank the kind gentleman who took the trouble to stop and pick up our pet 'Buster' and take him to the vet on Sunday 16 August. He is a much loved family pet and we were terribly upset when he went missing. Can we both just say thank you so much for your kindness and we are very grateful.
£300 RAISED FOR HOOK NORTON PLAYGROUP
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Click to enlarge.
Steve Rooney and Hook Norton Playgroup would like to thank all of the kind donors who sponsored him on his Paris–Geneva Bike Ride this summer. The sponsorship raised came to over £300, which will help to maintain the facility for all the parents in the village. The ride itself lasted four days, and took in over 320 miles of French countryside through the Ile de France and Burgundy, passing through fields of swirling wheat, sunflowers and gorgeous hillside vineyards, before climbing to the Swiss border at the 1300m Col de la Faucille (the Eagle’s Pass), and from there via a spectacular 20-mile descent into Geneva. Steve’s next cycling project is a three-day ride over the six famous Cols in the French Alps, including the 21 hairpins of Alpe D’Huez, in September. |
HOOK NORTON CHARITABLE ASSOCIATION REMINDER:
Donation Requests To be received by 9th October
The
closing date for donation requests following Music at the Crossroads
in July, is October 9th 2009. Any group, charity or good cause can
make a request for a donation. All requests are considered by the
HNCA committee and recipients will be notified in advance of the
donation evening, which will be at the AGM on November 18th at the
Visitor Centre Hook Norton Brewery at 7.30pm. 
We cannot accept
requests for donations to individuals. Please indicate the use that
the money will be put to if successful. Historically the HNCA
donations have gone largely to groups, clubs and village societies
involved with the elderly, developing children, village resources.
Please make your request in writing to: HNCA. c/o Peter Watkins,
Little Bowden, The Bourne, OX15 5PB or Petewatkins4@aol.com
LEE STRATFORD COMMUNITY TRUST
Firstly, apologies for the missing Duck Race this year. We had to cancel due to lack of helpers in the setting-up stage. It would have been a slightly different format for this year and due to work commitments I was unable to undertake it all from scratch on my own. It will return at a later date as it is has become a firm favourite in the village and a major fundraiser for the Trust.
2009 Children’s Christmas Party
Sunday 13 December at the Memorial Hall, 2pm
This year we have been able to book the amazing Chaplins travelling pantomime. You can visit their website www.chaplinsentertainment.co.uk and have a sneak preview of their shows. We have booked ‘Aladdin’, which is suitable for the age ranges we deal with. This year we will be having just one party, due to the extra expense of booking such a great show. This will be FREE to all Hook Norton children aged 0–10 and tickets will be issued as usual using the same format of application forms. Watch out for the posters in the village at the end of October for further details. Santa has been contacted and will be able to make a very special visit again this year to hand out early presents for everyone.
Lee’s Six-a-Side Football Tournament
This took place on Sunday 9 August and was, as usual, a great success. The weather was really good and eight teams turned up to take part.
There were quite a few local teams this year, which was nice to see. The winning team comprised mainly of Charlbury lads – the captain being Liam Kelly (our son-in-law), so still a nice link with Hooky and Lee. A BIG thank you to Hook Norton Football Club, all the players and the Sports and Social Club for all their efforts in making this happen and helping us to realise this fitting memorial tribute to Lee and raising much needed funds for the Christmas Party.
HOW TO BECOME A MUSEUM CURATOR AND SURVIVE THE NEXT TEN YEARS
One day in August 1999, I met David Clarke, who was then the Managing Director of our Brewery. He said, 'That room, next to the Brewery Museum, the one that we have reserved for the village is now ready. Do you think you could get a few bits and pieces together for the opening by the Princess Royal on the 9th September?'
What room I wondered? It was the first that I had heard of this 'museum' and was somewhat taken aback. As a member of the Local History Group I knew that we could get Austin Hall's old cart and a stuffed crow from Temple Mill. A local farmer would help with his collection of farm tools.
The Princess Royal came and was very polite as she looked at this somewhat odd and disjointed display and told me what her local group had done using the internet. Did I see a flicker of amusement cross her face? Somehow I became in charge of these village artefacts. Gradually local people began to lodge their treasures as it became apparent that we were taking the museum seriously. Local organisations deposited their old records.
I struggled on. Fortunately I had enough sense to make a list of everything that came in.
I instituted a Document Registration system and managed a reasonable display. The museum joined professional associations. Still I struggled on. In 2003, Pat and Barbara Summerell took pity on me and together we appointed ourselves Joint Curators and Archivist. A Trust Deed was formed and there were three Holding Trustees, all of whom were born in Hook Norton.
TEN YEARS ON and we are pushed for space for both artefacts and archives. We open our archives to local school-leaving youngsters for research and we have taken several displays to the Day Care Centre. The school regularly visits to see how our records tie up with World War II and the class is invited to join in a dramatised version of an air raid. We have successfully received two small national grants. This year our energies have been channelled into a PowerPoint presentation depicting the stories of two Hook Norton families who emigrated to the New World. We enjoyed doing this, but was it hard work. We have presented these stories at both Carry On Learning and as part of the Local History programme.
TEN YEARS ON ... How Barbara Summerell, our Archivist, enjoys researching and discovering interesting items for enquirers: 'I think my great grandfather might have worked for the brewery ...', ‘My family moved to Hook Norton in 1870, are there any living descendants that you know of ...?', ‘I am researching the name “Bloggs”. Do you have any information on them?’ It is also time-consuming and very hard work. 'Can't they say what they really want?', she has been known to retort. And how Pat's wizardry with technology keeps us up to date and adds animation to our PowerPoint presentations.
One of our displays was in November 2007 when trusting female villagers loaned their wedding dresses to us for four days and we were able to present them, each with a narrative, photographs and text. This proved very popular and rewarding. We were very grateful to those who loaned dresses and to those who helped with the display and the appropriate flower posies. We could not have done it without them. The display covered the years from 1940s to the present day and was inspired by the Diamond Wedding of the Queen.
TEN YEARS ON and TEN YEARS OLDER ... our present aim is to achieve the standards of Museum Accreditation in our organisation and to maintain our museums (both the Brewery and the Village) and present them in a way that is both interesting and accessible. All helpers are volunteers.
All very laudable and what fun it all is. Why then do I wake up in the night shouting, 'I have got to go down to the Museum NOW?'
HOOKY TEN YEARS AGO
The big event in Hooky ten years ago was the Brewery’s 150th anniversary. There was a visit from the Princess Royal who officially opened the new Visitors’ Centre on 9 September, which included a visit to the newly established village museum. From the report I gather that it was ready ‘just in time’! The Brass Band played at Stratford Races to mark the Hook Norton Brewery’s 150th anniversary, some of the races having been sponsored by David Clarke. St Peter’s Church on 12 September was the venue for the Brewery’s 150th Anniversary Service. A new piece of music, entitled ‘Brewery Celebrations’, written specially for the occasion by Ron Glynn, was played. A framed copy of part of the music score was then presented to David Clarke and his wife. There was a flower festival where the displays depicted the 39 public houses owned by the Brewery, reflecting the creative skills, ingenuity and hard work of many people.
With the end of the millennium looming, the village was humming with photo-shoots all over the place for the Local History Millennium book. Planning permission was granted for the new doctor’s surgery – to the obvious great relief of the Parish Council and Dr Hurst. The playgroup had received a grant for equipment and the Sports and Social Club were applying for Lottery funding.
Things have changed to the good on the wildlife front. There was the reporting of the first sighting of a raven in the parish for the first time in 150 odd years. Now they are making frequent appearances in the wildlife reports. Likewise, kites were persecuted in the 19th century and are now being reported in the village after re-introduction in the Chilterns just 21 years ago.
FOHNCL had its first AGM and were relieved to have ensured that the library stayed open in the face of cutbacks. They donated the first computer to the library and have continued with support for the intervening decade.
Some things stay the same. The Parish Council had a vacancy and there were problems with the playground. The Brass Band had a busy schedule, planning for the Macmillan Coffee morning and Christmas Fayres were going ahead and there were complaints about parking. The Garden Club Autumn Show, the Cricket Club and the WI all contributed to the thread of continuity in the village. Long may it continue.
WILDLIFE NOTEBOOK - MID JULY TO MID SEPTEMBER
Ian Taylor in the East End phoned on 14 July to say that there was some debris on the edge of their lawn and, on investigation, he found a large hole, one foot wide and two-and-a-half feet deep, below the roots of his privet hedge, with the remains of the paper wall of a wasp nest and a few wasps and one can only think that, within the previous couple of nights, a badger had dug up the nest, as they find wasp grubs particularly delicious.
In East End a lady was a little taken aback when she opened her compost bin to find a grass snake. These snakes are very partial to living in compost bins, so please take care.
I apologise to Gwen Whitehead in The Shearings, as in the last newsletter I reported that she had seen a pair of garden tiger moths, when, in fact, they were a pair of scarlet tiger moths on her comfrey and nettles.
In July, I mentioned about the huge number of painted lady butterflies, and in May David Shirt saw scores of them passing through the village, particularly on the top of the low hill behind White Hills Farm. There was a mass invasion into this country as the conditions in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco were excellent for the germination of the plants on which the caterpillars feed. It is amazing to think that they fly here from so far away! Each of the females from the influx in May will lay 300 eggs, so the painted ladies we saw in August were the offspring. Unfortunately they do not survive the British winter. They can be recognised by their rosy-orange upper side and black wing tips marked with white.
On 8 August, Martin Madge had in his garden on his buddleia bush over 25 butterflies, seeing more in one day than he saw in the whole of 2008. Other people have commented on the fact that their buddleias have been very popular with painted ladies, but also seen are peacocks, small tortoiseshells, red admirals, gatekeepers, commas, speckled woods, brimstone and whites.
On 23 July, David Shirt saw a fine roe buck in the field behind White Hills Farm, looking bright foxy red in the evening sunlight.
For about ten minutes on 7 August a red kite was seen over Scotland End, which appeared to be quartering between the Brewery and surgery, flying up and down and was a beautiful sight.
For the first time in quite a while, over Sibford Road on 9 August, David Shirt saw a raven, which was flying high and calling. Little owls had been calling all day from the trees, which makes him think that there were youngsters about. Seen in the fields near the village in the middle of August were linnets, a couple of yellowhammers, chiffchaff, willow warbler, a pair of spotted flycatchers, hobby and a merlin. The last swift was seen in the village on 15 August.
In early September, Nick and Frances Price in Park Hill phoned to say that over the last couple of months a female duck and her six ducklings have been appearing in their garden and at that moment it was lovely to see them all sitting on their lawn.
It was good to hear from those who contacted me and please let me know of any of your sightings.
ST PETER’S HOOK NORTON 2010 NATURE CALENDAR
 Designed with photographs by Patrick Fox, is now on sale at St Peter’s, the Village Shop and the Post Office £5.00. This stunning A4 wall calendar features seasonal images of landscapes and wildlife, many of which were taken in, or near to, Hook Norton. All proceeds go to St Peter’s. |