Have you lost your Fitbit on your walk?

If so contact Mandy in 01367 240142.

On Thursday the “Great Coxwell Lockdown Band” will perform three popular songs from Musicals. The band is growing, and as being outside is now a little more relaxed, anyone who would like to play along are welcome to join us at a safe distance. Email Lynette at [email protected] if you would like a copy of the music.
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Dear Everyone, please find attached a briefing that has been circulated to all Oxfordshire County Councillors from our CEO Yvonne Rees.  It is a very detailed and lengthy document but has some exceedingly interesting and valuable information which I wish to share with you all.  Do come back to me if you have any queries. This will also be circulated to all of our key stakeholders.

With best wishes,

Judy

The latest report from Judy can be found on the Parish Council page, here.

VE Day.  Friday 8th May 1945.

Not many Great Coxwell residents remember VE Day.  But, seventy-five years ago, Ted Nieass, (Sandcroft), was a twenty-year old RAF pilot as the war in Europe came to an end.  What were his memories of VE Day?  Our investigative reporter went to find out!  It turns out that Ted was the other side of the Atlantic on 8th May 1945.  His WW2 story begins three years earlier, when at the age of just 18, he volunteered to become an RAF pilot and was summoned to Lords Cricket Ground, of all places, to be inducted into the RAF.  Amusingly, Ted remembers being put up, eight to a room, in commandeered luxury flats in Maida Vale.  London Zoo was their temporary cookhouse…The wild animals had packed their bags and been evacuated to Whipsnade Zoo, apart from the monkeys, who remained!

Roll forward to November 1944, and Ted arrives in Terrel, Texas, to begin his flying training at the No 1 British Flying Training School.  At this stage in the war, all flying training was overseas, either Canada, the USA or Southern Rhodesia.  He began his training on Stearman PT-18 bi-planes, and then graduated to the Harvard, (AT-6) Trainer.  His instructors were all American commercial pilots.  (One of the other students at Terrel was the actor, Robert Hardy.)  Ted’s life in Terrel was wonderful.  The RAF aircrew were thoroughly spoilt by the local population.  Indeed, the town still keep in contact with their Allied guests and publish an annual BFTS newsletter!

Ted recalls that VE Day was not hugely celebrated in Texas, for understandable reasons. The war in the Pacific was still raging in May 1945, and the US were taking heavy casualties in that theatre.  Ted returned to the UK on the Queen Mary on his 21st birthday in July 1945, and married Joan the following year.

When the glut of pilots subsided after the war, Ted went on to become a jet fighter pilot in the fifties and sixties, finishing his flying career leading an RAF training team with the Kenya Air Force in the mid-seventies, before a posting to RMCS Shrivenham and retiring from the service in 1979. He then spent six years as Bursar at Christs Hospital Girls' School in Hertford finally coming home to Great Coxwell in 1986.  He was soon persuaded to become Parish Clerk; a job that lasted for thirteen years, while Joan was WI Treasurer during ten of them.
Ted has one daughter, Jenny, three grandsons, Christopher, Martyn and Jonathan, all in their forties and one great granddaughter, Emilia Rose, Jon's child, born last September. 

Friday 11th May – 75th Anniversary of VE Day

Great Coxwell marked the 75th Anniversary of VE Day on Friday the best we could, given the continuing lockdown restrictions.  Musical entertainment at the bottom of the village kicked off with Nick Warr playing the Last Post and then Glenn Miller’s ‘In the Mood’ brilliantly on his saxophone.  This was followed by Nancy Smith, playing the National Anthem and then ‘the Can-Can’ very assuredly from her improvised stage – her Dad’s 1943 EAC ‘Matador’ towing lorry, (once used to tow artillery guns to the battlefield).

At the top of the village, Lynette Stulting and her band…more like an orchestra!... played Vera Lynn’s famous song, ‘We’ll meet again’, followed by ‘A Nightingale sang in Berkeley Square’.  It was hugely appreciated by the socially distanced audience.

Below are some of the video recordings, and some photographs of village residents taken from Friday evening …..

(The Last Post) - Nick
(In the Mood) - Nick
(Can Can) – Nancy - (Offenbach's Infernal Galop)
(We’ll Meet Again) Lynette Stulting Band 

Great Coxwell Community Fund.  

The Great Coxwell Community Fund is managed by its Trustees, Pam Smith, Pauline Durham, Sylvia Athawes and Annabelle Zinovieff.  It is available for village community events, but also, in extremis, for those in difficulties who have tried all other avenues for support.  If you are struggling and need a little help, please contact Pam Smith in the first instance.
  
Pam Smith – 01367 240233 or email on Chris Smith [email protected]

That’s it for this week.  At last, we heard some good news last night about the Government’s plans to end the lockdown.  Hurrah!  What is clear from the last two months is how the village has pulled together, how we have all looked out for each other, and how we have helped and cared for each other in adversity.  My thanks to everyone for all their kindness and consideration so far.  In a funny way, Great Coxwell feels a closer-knit community now.  One positive from the lockdown.

Stay Safe,

Best regards,

Mandy xx
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As you are aware Oxfordshire’s seven Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) have been shut to waste delivered by the public since 24 March 2020, following Government’s direction that everyone should stay home due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
 
Since then we have been working with the city and district councils to ensure excellent kerbside collection services have continued, and preparing for full service reopening of the recycling centres. The sites will reopen on Monday 18th May at 8:00am.
 
All seven sites will be open seven days a week as long as they are not overwhelmed and can operate safely, and will accept all waste materials. Sites will open at 8am and close at 4pm to allow for additional cleaning.
 
The number of vehicles allowed onto the site will be reduced by approximately 50% to allow for social distancing. This means that queues are highly likely, especially at peak times such as weekends. Traffic marshals will be in place to manage queues, but queuing is not allowed on the public highway.
 
Residents are therefore being urged only to visit the site if their trip is essential and they cannot safely store their waste at home
 
Other policy changes in place include:

• Contactless card payments for DIY waste only
• Site staff are there for guidance and will not be able to help unload waste from vehicles
• Only one resident will be allowed out of the vehicle, unless assistance is needed with heavy items, and then 2 people will be permitted
• For the time being hire vans and trailers will not be allowed access, even if they have a permit.
• Sites will shut at 4pm promptly and anyone queuing will be asked to return another day.  This will allow the site staff the time needed to clear and clean the site thoroughly.  Traffic marshals will monitor the queue and warn those who may not reach site by closing time. 
• In line with Public Health England guidance, residents who are vulnerable, or who are showing symptoms which may indicate coronavirus, should not visit household recycling centres

 
We will begin our communications to residents at the beginning of next week. A full list of FAQs will be available on our website shortly.
 
When communicating this good news with your residents, please emphasise that Government guidance says that trips to an HWRC should only be made if ‘essential’ – that is if the waste cannot be stored safely without harm to health. The Government guidance states: “It would be reasonable for residents to undertake a journey to a HWRC if the waste or recycling could not be stored safely at home or disposed of through other legitimate routes such as a dedicated collection. By this we mean that the waste/recycling could not be stored on their property without causing a risk of injury, health or harm to the resident or other members of their household or harm to public health and amenity.”
 
If you have any questions please contact the waste management team

Judy

Judith Heathcoat
Deputy Leader to the Council, 
Cabinet Member for Community Safety
Oxfordshire County Council
Cllr. Faringdon Division (Buckland with Gainfield, Littleworth, Faringdon, Eaton Hastings, Buscot, Coleshill, Gt Coxwell, Lt Coxwell)

Important Update

Hopefully, you will have seen the Additional Newsletter posted yesterday on the village’s VE Day celebrations.  It has been brought to our notice that the arrangements as they were described could contravene the Covid 19 Social Distancing rules. This note seeks to re-enforce those rules and make sure that we continue to keep safe.

What are we doing in Great Coxwell?
With the need for social distancing limiting what can be done to mark this event, the following two small events will take place from home:

1) Location: Driveway opposite 'Olde Willows' at the bottom of the village.
Time:  5.30pm.
Event:  Nick Gow will be playing the saxophone and Nancy Smith will be playing the oboe from home.
Music.  ‘In the mood’ (Glen Miller),’ The Last Post’ and ‘the National Anthem’.

2) Location: ‘Stonevale’ on the T junction at the top of the village.
Time:  6pm
Event:  Lynette Stulting (piano) and her daughter, Katherine (violin) will be joined by Russ (guitar) and son Oliver (drums) as well as Ken and Richard to play ‘We’ll Meet Again’, (Dame Vera Lynn)

Unfortunately, it would not be appropriate to gather together or visit both performances so please enjoy either event if you can from your own home.

Let’s make sure this virus does not stop us remembering and celebrating VE Day.

Mandy Burns.  Xxx
(Great Coxwell Support Group)

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Extra garden waste collections

Please help us to spread the message to residents that we are collecting extra garden waste collections for customers of our brown bin service.

Here’s the message we’re sharing with residents:

If you’re a garden waste customer, this weekend’s the perfect time to get your lawn, flower gardens and vegetable patches in tip top condition as we’ll be collecting one extra bin load of garden waste after the bank holiday.  A bin’s worth of waste is considered around three large bin bags, and should be left next to your brown bin on your usual collection day during: week commencing 11 May – Vale

Friday waste changes

If your waste collection is usually on a Friday, then this week it will change to Saturday to give our crews the bank holiday off.  Collections will be on Saturday 9 May and from 6am so we recommend putting bins out the night before.

To find out more head to our website visit whitehorsedc.gov.uk/bankholiday

Cards and gifts:  I have a selection of handmade blank cards suitable for all occasions.  Also if you need a present, I always have a selection of Claire's handmade bespoke jewellery.

Plants:  I still have a few Italian beefsteak tomato plants, as well as Ailsa Craig and Alicante tomatoes, plus a few 'Heritage' type and courgette plants.  I also have petunia and geranium plants for sale. 

Jane Holmes, Foxley (241367)
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