News

Keep Charlbury Active is on Radio Oxford this weekend

Radio Oxford have contacted us because they came across the Community Centre's "Keep Charlbury Active" and "Charlbury's Spring Clean" on social media and thought it sounded interesting. So do tune in at 3.35pm on Sunday, but in the meantime, make sure you send in your information about the miles you have walked, cycled or run, so I can make it sound impressive! We've already clocked up 500 miles, which is brilliant, but there's a long way to go to reach our target of getting round the coast of mainland Brtitain. More details and the form to log your distances can be found at this link.

Tanya Stevenson · Fri 22 Jan, 18:06 · Link

Neighbourhood Plan Inspection recommends plan should proceed to referendum

The submitted draft Charlbury Neighbourhood Plan 2031 has now been independently examined and the examiner has concluded that, subject to a series of recommended modifications, the submitted plan meets all the necessary legal requirements and should proceed to referendum.

WODC must now formally agree to accept the modifications and then arrange a referendum at which all registered electors within the parish of Charlbury will be eligible to vote for the adoption of the plan. If a majority of those voting agree, the plan will become a "made plan" and will inform the determination of planning applications within the parish.

The examiner's report can be viewed or downloaded, along with the submitted plan and other information about the examination on the Charlbury Neighbourhood Plan page of the WODC website at https://www.westoxon.gov.uk/planning-and-building/planning-policy/neighbourhood-planning/charlbury-neighbourhood-plan/

Peter Kenrick · Fri 22 Jan, 12:13 · Link

Getting to Carterton Friday - Charlbury to Burford road closed on Dyers Hill

For those aiming for Carterton for a COVID vaccine on Friday morning (22nd) - please note that the road from Charlbury to Burford is temporarily closed on Dyers Hill for Thames Water repairs.

Alternative routes are: are:

To get onto the Burford road further along - go to Spelsbury, turn left to Chadlington - go through Chadlington and then turn left by the Cafe de la Post to get back onto the Burford Road; or

Go to Carterton via Crawley - after Crawley turn right onto the Witney to Burford road and then take a left turn by a pub to go through Minster Lovell into Carterton. Go through the town centre to Alvescot Road and the Health Centre next to the Library.

Meryl Smith · Fri 22 Jan, 08:01 · Link

Oxford / AZ Covid vaccine coming to Charlbury !

From the Medical Centre this afternoon:

Great News! we should have our first delivery of AZ Oxford vaccine soon and hope to vaccinate our house bound patients next week (aiming for Wednesday 27th January with a team of six vaccinators but this may change!)

We hope to run a Charlbury Clinic next Friday 29th January using the AZ vaccine for those over 70 and shielding patients (again still just in planning stages at the moment)

The Patient Group team will be checking regularly for updates and post here as soon as we know, in case anything changes (for example the delivery does not turn up...).

Please do not contact the Practice for further information, they will be extremely busy again next week, and vaccinating in Carterton all day tomorrow, Friday.

Keep looking after yourselves & each other, we will get through this.

Nikki Rycroft · Thu 21 Jan, 17:53 · Link

Ditchley is recruiting!

The Ditchley Foundation is recruiting for the post of House Operations Manager within the Bursary Team.

The Bursary provides operational support for the Foundation, with particular focus on maintaining the Ditchley Park mansion and grounds. The House Operations Manager is responsible for the efficient running of the daily operation of the Ditchley mansion and ensures all requirements for house-based events are delivered by the respective operational teams. The role is the de facto deputy for the Bursar and has line management responsibility for the Head of Estates, Domestic Bursar and Chef, as well as casual event staff.

This role requires a general background in business administration, including experience in team leadership, HR, H&S and compliance. The successful candidate will be resilient, adaptable and genuinely enjoy working in a team, collaborating closely with work colleagues and possessing a strong understanding and appreciation of positive team behaviours.

The post is full time and involves some evening and weekend working during events, for which time off in lieu will be given.

More information about the Foundation and its home Ditchley Park can be found at www.ditchley.com.

Further information about the post can be found here.

House Operations Manager

Applications should be sent in writing to Mike Montagu, Bursar, either by email to: bursar@ditchley.com, or to the address below and should include a current CV with a covering letter.

The Ditchley Foundation, Ditchley Park, Enstone, Chipping Norton, OX7 4ER

By applying for this vacancy, you are giving permission for The Ditchley Foundation to contact you and retain your details.  For more information, please contact Katie Williams, Major Events and Projects Lead, (info@ditchley.com) for a copy of The Foundation’s Candidate Privacy Notice.  

Katie Williams · Wed 20 Jan, 13:07 · Link

Keep Charlbury Active - and tidy!

The Charlbury Community Centre is launching a challenge to see if we can collectively make it around the coast of Britain by the end of lockdown – that’s 11,000 miles!

Run, walk or cycle around our local area then log your miles on our website here. We are also busy creating resources to make it more interesting – suggested routes, quizzes and wildlife to spot. You can see all our updates on the community centre website.

While you are out and about we’d love your help to give Charlbury a big spring clean. So the next time you head out for a walk don’t forget your litter bags and gloves!

What we need you to do:

• Collect the litter you find when out on a walk and place it in a bag.

• The bags you use will need to be tied and left at the community centre (so please don’t use your favourite one!).

• If possible, please can you split the litter you find into recyclable and non-recyclable waste.

• Please leave all litter bags next to the big bins at the community centre, ensuring they’re tied in a knot at the top (pop the bags the other side of the fence so they’re not blocking the walkway).

*Litter pickers are available to borrow from the Community centre during opening hours*

Top tips to remember

• Always wear gloves when picking up litter

• Do not collect any hazardous waste such as dog poo or sharp objects

• You are still only allowed to go out once a day for exercise, so make this part of your daily walk – do not make a special trip

Our youth team will be weighing the litter collected and we will announce the total at the end of lockdown

Thank you all for your continued help and support,

The Charlbury Community Centre Team

uk_map.pdf

C Hansford · Mon 18 Jan, 09:33 · Link

Getting to Carterton Health Centre for a COVID vaccine

All Together In Charlbury (ATIC) wants to help Charlbury residents who have been called for a COVID vaccine at Carterton and need transport. If you are in this position and cannot call on a family member or friend to get you to your vaccine, call our usual call centre number 01993 776277 (9.00 to 1.00 Mon-Fri or leave an answerphone message) and we will see what we can do. Please give us as much notice of a request, as you can (but we know that you can only do this when you have been contacted yourself!).

For others who are driving - ATIC suggests that the best route to Carterton Health Centre is to go via Burford. Go through Burford across the bridge from the A361 and up to the main road roundabout. Turn Left onto the A40 towards Witney and Oxford. Then almost immediately turn Right onto the B4020 signposted Carterton, RAF Brize Norton and Burford Garden Company.

On the B4020 go past the Burford Garden Company and carry on down the B4020 into Carterton. Carry straight along the road towards Carterton town centre. You will come to traffic lights – go straight across towards the town centre (crossing Upavon Way). Continue straight down the road to the next set of traffic lights in the town centre. Turn Right into Alvescot Road. The Health Centre is on the right just past the Library. (The second Original Factory Shop building is opposite.)

If you would like an annotated map of the town centre (containing these directions) to complement the map provided by the Charlbury Medical Centre, you can download one from the ATIC page in the Community section of this website (Charity and World) or email charlburyalltogether@gmail.com. There are also copies at Cornerstone at the Corner House.

Meryl Smith · Mon 18 Jan, 09:16 · Link

Latest planning applications to West Oxfordshire District Council

The following planning applications have recently been lodged. Click on the address to see full details at the WODC website.

57 Ticknell Piece Road Charlbury
Erection of a two storey side extension and a single storey rear extension
WODC reference: 20/03528/HHD - Mon 21 Dec 2020 - Under consideration
Cuckoo Cottage Church Street Charlbury
Single storey rear extension & alterations including replacement windows to bay, new stone facing to front elevation and internal works.
WODC reference: 20/03452/HHD - Mon 14 Dec 2020 - Under consideration
4 Thames Gardens Charlbury
Demolition of existing garage and the erection of a new garden room
WODC reference: 20/03307/HHD - Mon 30 Nov 2020 - Under consideration

Mon 18 Jan, 06:15 · Link

Roads to Carterton via Burford are OK this morning (Saturday)

For those preparing to drive to their COVID vaccination in Carterton today - the roads to Carterton via Burford and B4020 are OK this morning (Saturday) apart from some patches of lying rainwater. (Trial run carried out 7.00 - 8.00 a.m.!)

Meryl Smith · Sat 16 Jan, 09:08 · Link

The History of Charlbury through .... Churchill's visits to Ditchley

When Winston Churchill became Prime Minister in 1940, the security forces became concerned for his safety as air raids increased over Britain. When not in London, he spent time either at Chartwell, his country house south of London, or at his official retreat at Chequers. Both were vulnerable to air raids. Already very familiar with the area around Blenheim where he was born, Churchill had become friendly with the Conservative MP Ronald Tree who, with his wife Nancy, had bought Ditchley Park in 1933. Ditchley, with its heavy tree cover and lack of visible roads, was an ideal bolthole for the Prime Minister. Churchill asked the Trees if he could stay at the house on certain weekends “when the moon is high” i.e. favourable for air raids.

His first visit was 9-11 November 1940 and he found the house and grounds ideal both for relaxation and also for conducting the business of war and diplomacy. Afterwards Ronald Tree wrote to him: “we hope so much that you will come to Ditchley as often as it may suit your convenience . . . We have kept it running until such time as needed for some war purpose, so that it is at your entire disposal. ….. use the house as your own”. Many visitors joined the PM on these weekend visits including Sir Anthony Eden and Harry Hopkins, President Roosevelt’s envoy, who was key to Churchill’s efforts to win American support for the war.

Enter Gordon Woodyatt, a Welshman who had moved to Oxfordshire in the early 1930s and then settled in Charlbury, working for the Southern Electricity Board. He became a manager and his duties included making repairs when the lines came down or the supply was interrupted. One weekend he received a call to repair a fault at Ditchley while Churchill was in residence. The Board drafted in German prisoners of war to fill the gaps left by the men away fighting and at one time in the war he had 200 working under him. The prisoners dug trenches for the cables and he found them very willing workers. Other prisoners of war were employed on the farms around Charlbury, helping to keep the country supplied with food.

By late 1942, the security at Chequers had been greatly improved and Churchill no longer needed to stay at Ditchley. His last visit was for lunch in 1943. A bronze bust of Churchill on the estate marks the role Ditchley played at a critical stage of the war.

Charlbury Society talk Monday 18th January

A very secret war: bugging the Nazis in WWII

Dr Helen Fry explores how British Intelligence bugged the conversations of high-ranking German PoWs and discovered some of Hitler’s most closely guarded secrets.

Zoom meeting 7.45 for 8pm for Society members

To join contact Susan Merry at sec.charlsoc@gmail.com

Subscription £8.50 Under 18s free