Great Coxwell WI would like to invite you to come to our meetings.  We are a small friendly group and meet on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7.30 pm in the Reading Room.  We have different speakers every month as well as time for a drink, raffle and chat.  We hope that you will be able to join us and enjoy the activities we arrange.

8th November: Sheila Furlong, Archway Foundation, Loneliness the hidden need
13th December: Christmas meeting, Ukulele Band and mince pies
10th January 2017: Women of WW2, Bill King, The integration of women’s talents to support the war effort 14th February 2017: Aspects of a novel, Pam Nixon
11th April: Emergency Rider Volunteers, Alastair Borland, Life Saving Express Courier
8th May: Karen Spence, Faringdon Art Society
13th June: SUMMER OUTING
11th July: Associated Countrywomen of the world, Mary Gregory, ACWW explained

I have been spoken to by village people who have experienced quite frightening driving practise. · Driving on the wrong side of the road down Cherry Orchard and specifically on the bends. · Taking the bends too fast on the wrong side of the road. · Overtaking on the bend by the stables – exiting the village and taking the traffic island on the wrong side of the road · Speeding along the main street and speeding along Cherry Orchard · Aggressive driving up Puddleduck Lane.

I experienced a local driver – coming up Puddleduck Lane as I was driving down past Rosemary Cottage – I reversed out of Puddleduck Lane onto the main road but had to halt in this action as someone was driving up the main road from the direction of the Old Post Office. The driver in Puddleduck Lane was so incensed that I had stopped in my reversing process that he brought his bumper onto my car in an aggressive manner. When the road was clear for me to reverse into he then swept past me at speed and drove down to The Laurels!!

The folk who have spoken to me have said that much of the poor driving is by village people and it is in many instances the younger residents.

Thank you!

Judith Heathcoat C/Cllr Faringdon Division

We are now approaching the third festival in Oxford filled with a wide range of helpful and inspiring events.  From Paul Mayhew-Archer (writer for the Vicar of Dibley and winner of the prestigious Grierson award for best documentary presenter on his film about living with Parkinson’s) alongside his friend Andy Hamilton (Radio 4’s New Quiz, Old Harry’s Game etc.) and professor of laughter Sophie Scott (also a neuroscientist) to Mindfulness, from a guided walk through a cemetery to Brian Daniel’s play about Dementia – Don’t Leave Me Now, workshops, singing, a Day of the Dead Ceilidh, talks, discussions and even Speed-dating with Death.  Don't miss it.  To visit please look at the website and book your tickets to be sure of a place. We look forward to seeing some of you there. Liz Rothschild and the Festival Team.

 We are writing this from a house full of light and warmth, we luxuriate in the fact we don't yet need heating, duvet etc !! The sky is so blue and the stars are amazing and we appreciate the cooler mornings which allow us to exercise in comfort. It is nearly 20 months since we left Great Coxwell and with the bits of news we get from the UK we feel an even greater sense of gratitude that we live in France. The future for us, after the Referendum result, is very unclear though the immediate impact includes a big reduction in our pension income. To give us peace of mind we have applied for Carte de Séjours which will arrive in the next couple of weeks and will give us residency rights for the interim. After a long summer break we have returned to our weekly Qi Gong and French classes. Our French Prof is now pushing us to learn the subjunctive tense.....very testing but good for the grey matter. We have enjoyed all the outdoor events in the village and further afield and became volunteers for the outside bar adjacent to the Pétanque area, this also proved a good examination of our local knowledge and language skills when people ordered their drinks and refreshments. Gill enjoyed the regular Catalan Skittles sessions and again represented our village in a tournament, our team came back with all the trophies carried in a honking cavalcade of cars. Trish is determined to improve her pétanque skills so she can play in the village matches. Gill also volunteered to help with our Street Theatre event which was hugely successful and well supported. We also enjoyed the local Young Peoples' Theatre production and went to the annual Women's' Voices music festival where we danced till midnight under the stars. Wildlife spotting and gazing in awe at the landscape continues to be a constant joy and thanks to our daily forays our fitness has definitely benefited too. Tosca is always full of energy and loves the freedom; no stiles, barbed wire, mud, roads. Recently when UK friends were staying with us we spotted Booted and Short Toed Eagles, a Golden Eagle and during a visit to Cathar Castles they saw six Griffin Vultures circling nearby. Other friends joined us in August and it was a pleasure to take time out and show them some of our « terroir ». In May and again September we went on camping trips, in our beloved Dorothy. In May we went just over one and half hour drive into Spain and camped on the wild Costa Brava coast. We had beautiful walks, lovely food and great bird spotting at an internationally important wetland site south of Roses. Then our second trip we went to the Camargue, the Ardèche and Evian Les Bains in the Alpes. Different and beautiful landscapes with great campsites firstly next to the sea, then a river and finally a lake, we all loved it and Tosca was in her element. Gill was able to see the last Women's' Major Golf tournament of 2016, and was really close to all the top players, she loved it! We are planning another trip soon, maybe back to the Camargue ?? or Spain ?? We continue to enjoy foraging, current finds including figs, almonds, walnuts and wild rocket, though everywhere is desperately dry as our drought continues. Local friends are estimating their wine harvest is down by at least 50%. Our « garden » of pots and windowboxes are both beautiful and also supply us with herbs for the kitchen and Gill's kumquat tree is laden with fruit for this winter. During the annual International Photojournalism Exhibition in Perpignan we were able to meet people from the local Amnesty International Group as they held events, to coincide with the exhibition, emphasising the refugee situation in Europe. As you can imagine we are well connected with all things political in this country of passionate people! In June we travelled to the UK for the Quaker marriage of our lovely friends Sophie and Rich, it was truly one of the most beautiful days of our lives and we were so privileged to be there. We also enjoyed catching up with our friends and family in the Great Coxwell area and in other places, despite the awful weather and the referendum result !!!! We have begun to attend a monthly Quaker Meeting held in a lovely house next to a river in Quillan, which is about one hour away though we will continue to put out feelers for Quakers in our département. Finally some really close friends are buying a home in the next village and we are really excited about helping them to get to know this area and meet some of our friends. Staying in touch with our friends in other countries is very important to us and we love our Skype sessions especially with a friend who was working in Mongolia, such amazing tales of that nomadic people and other great sessions are with our friends in Albuquerque, watching children grow and develop. If you have any news then emails are great to read too ! Sending love and warmth and wags from « le vrai sud de France » With love from Trish Gill and Tosca xxx

Friday 25th November - Money Monster (15) (Crime, Drama, Thriller - 2016)

An American thriller in which a TV celebrity, who offers stock market advice on his financial television show, is held hostage by a disgruntled investor.

Director: Jodie Foster Writers: Jamie Linden (screenplay) Alan DiFiore (screenplay) Stars: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jack O'Connell.

If you have any queries, please don't hesitate to contact me.  Thank you for your continued support.  Kind regards, Billie Hayter Cinema Supervisor, Faringdon Town Council Tel: 01367 242191

To celebrate Longcot Church's 800th anniversary this year, there is to be a spectacular Christmas Concert featuring the 50 voices of the award-winning Wessex Male Choir at St Mary’s Church on Friday 16th December.  The concert, like many events in Longcot, was the brainchild of Dr John Forster, who, despite being diagnosed with cancer, continued to throw himself into the village’s fund raising efforts to support our Longcot 800 campaign to transform the church into a multi-purpose community facility with kitchen & toilet facilities so it can host meetings, events and activities as well as regular services.  One of John’s last requests before he sadly passed away in August was that the church roof will be well and truly raised on 16th December.  We very much hope to see you there.  Belinda Boyd +44 (0) 7831 488777