Note an amended document for this planning application Land South of the Steeds

Financial Viability Assessment
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A Skoda  Citigo 1.0 MPI Black Edition 5dr 2015 

A small battery powered mulching lawn mower. 

Anyone interested in either may contact Peggy Martin on 01367 240499.

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The Great Coxwell Band will do a short doorstep concert again tomorrow night at 8 pm, for anyone who is in desperate need of live music!

Violin Concerto (first movement)  in G maj by Haydn - Katherine
I Can See Clearly Now by Jonny Cash  - GCB*
Hey Jude by the Beatles - GCB and anyone who wants to join in!

* Richard (voice) Lynette (keyboard), Russ and Ken (Guitars), Margaret (flute), Katherine (violin) and Oliver (drums)

Thanks,
Lynette
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Oxfordshire County Music Service 

This May we sent the message out to create an epic online performance of 'Over the Rainbow'.

Thank you to everyone who responded and sent in their videos and recordings. We had over 250 people submit their performances with loads of different instruments! Watch this space for the next one!!

More information here.

Click here for more information.

The Parish Council was invited to assist the District Council with the preparation of a Conservation Area Appraisal, something not done since the conservation area was established on 3 February 1971.  Our Neighbourhood Planning team has been carrying out much of the preparation work as a Conservation Area Appraisal document will support and add weight to our neighbourhood plan policies.  As the village has grown in size since 1971 we had to include consideration of the boundaries of the conservation area and whether they should be changed to include or exclude later buildings and to remove anomalies.  

We are grateful to villagers who welcomed us into their gardens on our walkabout yesterday and pending formulation of detailed proposals for any changes to the boundary and a formal consultation for the whole document, we should appreciate your views on any aspect of this project.  Architectural and historical details will add much to the Appraisal and we encourage you to get in touch with any information that you feel it would be helpful to include about your property.

A map of the Great Coxwell Conservation Area may be found at:

http://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/services-and-advice/planning-and-building/conservation-and-listed-buildings/conservation-areas/conse

To give you an idea of what the finished document should look like, we recommend glancing at East Hendred’s Conservation Area Appraisal, at:

http://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/services-and-advice/planning-and-building/conservation-and-listed-buildings/conservation-areas

Prior to the lockdown, reports have been submitted to Parish Meetings, giving details of progress with the Great Coxwell Neighbourhood Plan Update and progress with the Conservation Area Appraisal preparations.  These will recommence as meetings are rescheduled.

Peter Gale
Secretary
Great Coxwell Neighbourhood Plan Team
[email protected]

Hello everyone. I know we will all be welcoming the latest step in relaxing the national lockdown, announced by Government last week.  At last, single households are permitted to meet nearest and dearest love ones without social distancing measures.  For many in the village, this represents an important step on the road back to normality.

Although the Support Group remains in place and will continue to provide backup for those that need it, I think it is now timely to cut back the Support Group newsletter from a weekly edition to a monthly update. So, the next newsletter will be distributed in mid-July.  In the meantime, a big thank you from me to all the fellow volunteers who continue to give their support, and in particular, to Jonnie Farrow, for his consistent help in providing a weekly prescription collection service for those that need it.  This service will continue to operate until restrictions on movement and socialisation are fully lifted.  To date, Jonnie has picked up more than 200 prescriptions from Faringdon and Shrivenham surgeries.  All have found their way to their rightful recipients!

Lockdown Spotlight.  Perhaps appropriately, our final Lockdown Spotlight is on the Webb family, or rather the Webb dynasty!  The Webb’s live at the bottom end of the village and comprise Isy, Pete, Nick, Dexter, Lyra, Jez, Lianne, Ollie, Freya and Romey.  As many will know, Isy’s husband, John sadly died in 2015.  John’s father and mother, Monty and Nelly, bought Pear Tree Cottage back in 1935.  John was born two years later in 1937 and his sister, Jane, came along in 1946.  Isy and John were married in 1965.  She described life in Great Coxwell 55 years ago.   Back then, John developed a dairy farm, had a chicken hatchery, sold tractors and trained National Hunt racehorses.  Isy recalls 1000s of day-old chicks being taken to Swindon Station for onward delivery to farms across the country, and great race days with successful results on stable favourites including Chartrous, Shillingstone, Dardinelles and Indigo Jones.

The family wood business that has been so successful in recent years came about through tragic circumstances.  Their milking herd was infected with brucellosis and had to be slaughtered.  The remaining non-milking herd had to be penned in separated stalls as a preventative measure. So, John bought a job lot of plywood to partition his existing cowshed.   And he sold off his left-over stock of plywood without any difficulty.  The rest, as they say, is history!  The wood business moved to Southdown Farm on the A420 in 2008 and has gone from strength to strength under Jez’s leadership.
Jez famously appeared on television back in 1989, on Cilla Black’s show ‘Blind Date’.  Jez tells me it was for a bet…  He was matched up with a contestant called Samantha, (a hairdresser) and tells me they had a “lorra lorra” laughs, as Cilla would say!

Jez and Lianne married in 2001.  Lianne is a former air stewardess and physiotherapist.  They live only 30 metres from Mum Isy with their children Frere (16), Ollie (15) and Romey (8).  The girls have followed Leanne’s passion for horse riding and are both keen and able showjumpers, whilst Ollie possesses a graceful golf swing, (just like his Dad!) and plays off a handicap of 10.

Pete Webb married his partner, Nick Warr in 2015, although they have lived together in the village for 18 years.  They have occupied four different houses in Great Coxwell, but now live right next to Isy, with their two children Dexter, (4) and Lyra (10 months).  Nick is both brainy and musically gifted.  He is a molecular biologist by profession, based at Harwell, and he is currently involved in a project to understand the genetics of sex determination.  (He had lost me at that point in the discussion!)  He has played the saxophone for many years, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Brian May, the band Faithless and even Dame Vera Lynn!

So, how has Lockdown been for the Webbs?  For the most part, it hasn’t been too painful.  They all agreed that they are lucky living in such a lovely village.  Isy has missed being able to cuddle the kids.  Pete and Nick have been doing a lot more cooking with Thai curries their speciality dish.  For Jez, although business closed for a week, and some staff had to be put on furlough, May was a very busy month for the business.

Did you know…  As gap year students, Jez and his mate, John Flemming, were travelling on a bus in Colombia, when they were kidnapped and taken hostage by the terrorist organisation, FARC.  Dragged off the bus at gunpoint, they were held in a safe house for 24 hours. Some quick thinking and fast talking about being on a reconnaissance trip for a big UK charity led to them being released unharmed.  Rumour has it that Jez also drove such a hard bargain on the ransom fee, the terrorists just gave up….

As I close this newsletter, I know our thoughts and prayers will be with Betty and Peter Turner at this difficult time for them both.  The Turners moved into the village in the mid-1960s.  (Peter was a very capable civil engineer and built their house himself during holidays and in the evenings, whilst holding down a full-time job.)  Peter was taken into the Great Western hospital last week.  The good news is that we understand he has made steady progress in recent days.

Also, to Rory Gillmore, who fell whilst running and has had to undergo an operation on his arm.  We all wish him a speedy recovery.

Sadly, we also lost a member of our feline community this week.  It is believed “Tiger” was run over and was found at the lower end of the village.  Please take great care and encourage all your family and visitors to drive slowly in the village “20 is plenty” and sometimes even that is too fast.  We have lots of young children and animals in the village.

That’s all for this week, and this month.  Keep safe everyone.

All my love,

Mandy  xxxx

While the summer is taking a break, so are we, there will be no doorstep concert this week (11th June 2020).

See you all again for the next one!
Lynette

Hello everybody.  I hope all is going well as some of the lockdown measures are being lifted.  The village support group remains in place and is here to help anyone and everyone during these difficult times.

Lockdown Spotlight.  This week’s lockdown spotlight falls on a couple who have been at the very heart of village life for the past 26 years, Mike and Pauline Durham.  There have been few, if any, community events over the past two decades that have not seen Mike and Pauline heavily involved.  Whether it be summer fetes, the Great Coxwell playground or the Lockdown Support Group, they have been central to all that is great about Great Coxwell.  In each of these many activities, their quiet (well maybe not in Mike’s case – He has a reputation for a booming voice!) Christian values have shone through.

The Durham’s moved to ‘Spicers’, (bottom left of the village next to Church Lees) in 1994, and then moved round the corner to Oak House in 2007,  Oak House sits in the grounds of what was once John Webb’s wood yard.  Mike’s association with Great Coxwell began many years before their arrival in the 1990s.  He was one of eight siblings, growing up with six sisters and one brother.  Five of them were born whilst the family lived in Berry Hill Cottage, not a stone’s throw from the Durhams’ current abode.  Indeed, Mike’s father and his uncle used to plough (with horses) the fields on Monty Webb’s farm over 80 years ago.  (Monty was Jez and Pete Webb’s grandfather.)  So unsurprisingly, Mike has always had a strong attachment to Great Coxwell.

For the record, Mike’s uncle, on his mother’s side, was James Leonard Wearn, a name that appears on the village War Memorial.  James was killed during the Salerno landings, Italy, in September 1943.
Mike was Managing Director of SW Group Logistics for many years whilst Pauline completed her teaching career as Deputy Head of Ferndale School, Faringdon.  She still works as a volunteer for the National Trust Educational Department, based at the Coleshill Estate.  Their kids, Adam and Sophie have flown the nest now.  Adam has followed his father’s footsteps into logistics whilst Sophie is Deputy Head of Department at Walthamstow Girls’ School.

Mike served on the Parish Council for 16 years, and was Chairman for 5 of those years.  A natural leader, he brought vitality and compassion to the role.  The Durhams remain fully involved in the Village, making contributions to Art Weeks, the monthly Cream Teas, the annual Fete, the Christmas Fare and the Park development.  Their other passions including their Allotment, where things are now getting very competitive (!), and local walks, which they have explored with worrying enthusiasm during lockdown.
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How has lockdown been for you?  The Durhams have taken advantage of lockdown to get really fit.  They have walked sections of the d’Arcy Dalton Way, during lockdown!  Pauline said that they have always walked but that lockdown has given them the chance to explore new walks that they were previously unaware of.  Their big concern is that their daughter Sophie’s wedding, due to take place on 24th October, will be able to go ahead.

What’s been the most difficult thing about lockdown?  They both agreed that they have missed family very badly – particularly their new grandson, Jackson.

Any tips on lockdown?  ‘Get out more, get to know your neighbours better, and bake more cakes!’ said Pauline.  She is an avid and excellent cake-maker.  She is also a jigsaw puzzler, and has completed six 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles during lockdown.  On the other hand, Mike is a quick crossword addict, and is now half-way through his second Daily Telegraph, Quick Crossword book since incarceration in lockdown.  Each book consists of over 300 crosswords!  His aim is to complete a quick crossword in 7 minutes.

By the way…  Did you know that the d’Arcy Dalton Way was named after Colonel d’Arcy Dalton, who was a founder member of the Oxford Field Path Society.  The walk was created in his honour and runs for 66 miles from Fenny Compton to Wayland Smithy.

More pictures of Great Coxwell from the past

Here are two more pictures of Great Coxwell from years gone by.  The first is a photograph of the junction from the 1960s.  The second is a map from 1659 showing the village divided into ownership segments possibly identifying the parcels of land required to make their tythe contributions to the diocese, which were then stored in the Tythe Barn. (with thanks again to Andrew Whiting).  Tythes were normally one tenth part of agricultural produce set apart ‘as an offering to God’, regarded as an obligation or tax for the support of the church.

That’s all for this week.  Stay safe everyone.

Mandy  xxxx
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