Hornton Online - May 2010

Sweet Dreams will give a talk to Hornton and District WI entitled Lingerie through the Ages next Thursday, June 3, at 7.30pm in the Methodist Chapel. The competition will be for a favourite kitchen implement.

27th May 2010 - School's Out

Hornton School’s Term 5 ends for the children today, Thursday - although teachers aren’t let off so lightly - they have a training day tomorrow. The final term of the year begins on Monday week.

27th May 2010 - Flora and Fauna

If you’re a fan of the novel and TV series Larkrise to Candleford, you won’t want to miss a special walk round the Flora Thompson Trail. 10.30am.

The trail follows a route round Fringford near Bicester and the trip there is being organised by Hornton’s Rosemarie Cater.

It’s taking place on June22 but Rosemarie would like numbers as soon as possible. The tour starts at 11am and takes about three hours - with a lunch break at the renowned Butchers Arms pub if you wish. The cost is just £5, so if you would like to come please contact Rosemarie on 01295 670530 or at r dot cater (a) btinternet dot com as soon as you can.

27th May 2010 - Magical Trip

The 3Hs Gardening Club go on their annual mystery tour on Tuesday week, June 8. Please meet on Hornton village green at 6.15pm.

27th May 2010 - Church Services

Ridley Ellis will lead the 11 am service in Hornton Methodist Church this Sunday, May 30. There is no service in the parish church because there is a benefice service in Shenington at 10.30am.

Don’t forget that you can pop in for coffee, cake and a chat in the Methodist Church every Friday morning from 10.30am to 12.30pm. There is a book, DVD and video swap - and, of course, lots of good gossip!

And Thursday Club meets every week after school until 4.30pm in the Methodist Church School Room. All children are welcome.

27th May 2010 - Flying the Flag

Have you got a birthday in the family? Then make sure you celebrate it in style by flying the Hornton birthday flag! For just £5 for village funds, you can have the name of the birthday boy or girl run up the Hornton flagpole - advertising your age is optional but all ages from 1 to 150 can be accommodated!

All you have to do is to ring Ian Harris on 01295 670541 and the celebrations can begin!

27th May 2010 - It's That Time Again!

You can view the minutes from the latest Parish Council Annual General Meeting.

20th May 2010 - From Mighty Acorns

The 3Hs Gardening Club raised a brilliant £316 from their plant sale last Saturday - that’s more than 20 per cent up on last year! The tables were piled high with all sorts of exciting foliage - and you’d have been potty to miss it! That’s precisely what this column did, so please accept your correspondent’s apologies for not including it in last week’s column.

The 3Hs’ next event is the Mystery Tour on June 8. Please meet on Hornton village green at 6.15pm.

20th May 2010 - Beetle Off

The beetle drive this Saturday evening organised by Peachtree Pre-School has been postponed to a later date - and an earlier time in the day - to ensure that more children can come along.

20th May 2010 - Child's Play

A bingo organised by the children’s playground committee raised a fantastic £107 on Monday last week. The proceeds will be divided equally between Hornton Brownies and the Thursday Club.

20th May 2010 - Rise Early

Hornton’s Rosemarie Cater is arranging a special walk round the Flora Thompson Trail at Fringford near Bicester, based on the novel Larkrise to Candleford.

It’s taking place on June 22 but Rosemarie would like numbers as soon as possible. The tour starts at 10.30 and takes about three hours - with a lunch break at the renowned Butchers Arms pub if you wish. The cost is just £5, so if you would like to come please contact Rosemarie on 01295 670530 or at r dot cater (at) btinternet dot com as soon as you Bicester.

20th May 2010 - Power to your Elbow

Jo Bell, whose parents Terry and Doreen used to run the Dun Cow, runs a class in Sun Power Yoga every Tuesday at 6.30pm at the Chapel.

Sun Power Yoga incorporates special breathing exercises and Jo says it’s designed to revitalise your whole body.

And at just £5 for a 90-minute session, you can be fitter without breaking the bank! Please being a mat with you if you can and wear loose clothing.

20th May 2010 - Godhead to Godhead

The Rev David Clarkson will lead the 11am service in Hornton Methodist Church this Sunday, May 23, at the same time as Holy Eucharist is being celebrated in the Parish Church of St John the Baptist.

And don’t forget that you can pop in for coffee, cake and a chat in the Methodist Church every Friday morning from 10.30am to 12.30pm. There is a book, DVD and video swap - and, of course, lots of good gossip! And Thursday Club meets every week after school until 4.30pm in the Methodist Church School Room. All children are welcome.

20th May 2010 - Book Up

The mobile library from Oxfordshire County Council will be on the village green next Wednesday, May 26, from 10.40am-11.20am.

13th May 2010 - Hail but Hearty

It’s a first - hail on May Day! And tThen we had rain as well. That made the £2300 raised even more remarkable - more than last year despite the terrible weather.

The cold kept many people away and the celebrations ended early but some attractions were well up on last year: the white elephant saw a 50 per cent jump in takings to £747. The revamped raffle, with a £100 first prize, almost doubled its revenue to £242 and even stalls heavily dependent on large numbers of customers were only slightly down. The skittles made £110, only £20 less than last year and the teas were only £34 down at £269.

The BBQ raised £301, Jenny's clothes £215.50, Lucky Squares £130, Rents £90, Hoop-la £58, and the Bottle stall £154.90.

Organiser Lorraine Joyner said:”Thank you to everyone who gave up their day to help and a special thank you to John Sullivan who stood in as master of ceremonies at very short notice and did a brilliant job.

But the village wants to thank Lorraine herself, who once again worked her socks off and helped raise so much money for good causes.

13th May 2010 - Drive By

Peachtree Pre-School are holding a beetle drive in the pavilion at 7.30pm a week on Saturday, May 22 - but this one comes with supper, a licensed bar and a raffle! Tickets including food are just £10 and organiser Laura Short needs to know soon who can come to organise catering. She’s on 01295 670232.

13th May 2010 - Church Services

Mattins will be celebrated in the Parish Church of St John the Baptist this Sunday, May 16, at 10.30amd. Half an hour later Ian Hearle will lead a service in the Methodist Church.

And don’t forget that you can pop in for coffee, cake and a chat in the Methodist Church every Friday morning from 10.30am to 12.30pm. There is a book, DVD and video swap - and, of course, lots of good gossip! And Thursday Club meets every week after school until 4.30pm in the Methodist Church School Room. All children are welcome.

13th May 2010 - Flying the Flag

Have you got a birthday in the family? Then make sure you celebrate it in style by flying the Hornton birthday flag! For just £5 for village funds, you can have the name of the birthday boy or girl run up the Hornton flagpole - advertising your age is optional but all ages from 1 to 150 can be accommodated!All you have to do is to ring Ian Harris on 01295 670541 and the celebrations can begin.

6th May 2010 - WI Not?

Fiona Taylor will give Hornton WI a talk on Herbal Medicine tonight, Thursday, at 7.30pm in the Methodist Chapel. The competition will be for a “guess who?” photo, so please bring a photograph of yourself as a baby or child.

6th May 2010 - Open Plan

The Methodist Chapel are holding an open morning this Saturday, May 8 from 10 am to 12 noon when the plans for the proposed new kitchen, meeting room and toilets will be on display. Light refreshments will be available.

6th May 2010 - Child's Play

Hornton Children’s Playground are holding their bingo sessions in the pavilion this Monday, May 10, at 7.30pm. The proceeds will be divided equally between the Brownies and Hornton Thursday Club.

6th May 2010 - Bettle Along

It’s no ordinary beetle drive! This one comes with supper, a licensed bar and a raffle! Peachtree Pre-School’s first-ever Beetle Drive takes places in the pavilion at 7.30pm a fortnight on Saturday, May 22, and tickets including food are just £10. But organiser Laura Short needs to know soon who can come to organise catering. She’s on 01295 670232.

6th May 2010 - Up the Pole

There were so many children dancing round the Maypole at this year’s Hornton May Day celebrations that they had to dance in shifts! The dancing was one of the highlights on the biggest day in the year – another was a cake in the shape of children dancing round the Maypole which won Isabelle Harris first prize in the craft competition.

Full details next week of all the money raised.

6th May 2010 - Slow Down

Pleas by Hornton parish councillors to reduce traffic speeds in the village and nearby have been turned down by Oxfordshire County Council. That was the disappointing news at the annual parish meeting, held on Monday last week.

Members had asked for the speed limit through the village to be cut to 20mph and to 50mph on Quarry Road and the Stratford-Wroxton road but the pleas were rejected. However, councillors were partly reassured when they heard that virtually no cars break the 30mph limit currently in place in the village.

Council chairman David Miles thanked everyone who helps maintain the village by mowing the greens, picking up litter and so on and asked them to keep up the good work. He also thanked Cllr Julie Stanley, who is retiring. As there were only six nominations for the seven vacancies by the close of nominations, the council will co-opt a seventh member and anyone interested should contact parish clerk Alan Cater on 01295 670530.

Members were told that there had been significant one-off costs this year – approximately £2,000 towards the flood alleviation project, £800 for portable speeding signs, £350 for new photocopier and a £200 valuation fee for the allotment land. The balances on the main Parish Council Accounts have decreased from £6,389.70 to £5,007.45 and it has been necessary to increase the Precept – the amount of money the parish council can raise through council tax - from £5,200 to £5,500 for the coming year - the first increase for three years. This helped cover the cost of borrowing £10,000 for the Allotment Land.

In a report, Cllr Miles said that the children’s playground is in a bit of a hole on the mole front.

“At present, it’s mole free after a visit from the mole catcher but I am sure that a new family of moles will soon move in as it seems to be a constant battle with the little creatures,” he said. David Jarrett has kindly repainted the swings free of charge and the committee has installed a new swing seat

Cllr Stanley told members that a great deal of progress had been made with the pavilion extensions. Grants of more than £50,000 have been obtained and the kitchen extension was under way. Underfloor heating will be installed soon, which may mean the pavilion closing for a month. She thanked all those involved in fundraising though a series of events throughout the year.

Jenny Bowes reported that the Neighbourhood Watch was more than £700 in the black, thanks to a very successful BBQ in the summer and winter warmer near Christmas.

And Kevin Wain said the History Group was going from strength to strength.

“We now plan to document more of Hornton's history over the coming year,with the possibility of a village history guide,” he said. “We are also planning another open evening looking at the civil war and the battle of Edge Hill.”

6th May 2010 - Church Services

There will be an 11am service in the Parish Church of St John the Baptist this Sunday, May 9, As this is a United service, there will be no servie in the Methodist church.

6th May 2010 - Just the Ticket

The mobile library from Oxfordshire County Council will be on the village green next Wednesday, May 12, from 10.40am-11.20am.

6th May 2010 - It's that Time again!

View the Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting 26th April 2010.