Summer Show blossoms with more local entries

The 117th Steeple Aston Flower Show saw an increase in entries from the village with more local adults and children participating in many classes.

The first Summer Show was held in 1869, and villagers have clearly not lost their enthusiasm for competing in many of the vegetable and flower classes. These, as well as the cookery and children’s classes saw an increase in entries and some close results.

Last year was an outstanding one for entries. This time, despite the increase in entries from the village, the overall total was more average. The open classes, which normally attract experienced exhibitors from outside the village, and the handicraft classes were particularly badly hit.

Altogether there were130 classes including flowers, vegetables, cookery, handicraft and photography. And this year there was a special prize for the best scarecrow. The judges of the photos and the floral art said they were particularly impressed with the excellent standard of the entries.

There was a new cup this year. The Wadham Challenge Cup is named after the grandfather of Richard Preston, Chairman of the Horticultural Society. Dick Wadham was Head Gardener at The Grange in Steeple Aston from 1890 until 1939. Appropriately, the first winner of this cup was his grandson’s wife, Dorothy Preston.

Richard and Daphne’s horticultural expertise is pretty legendary in the village and this year they didn’t disappoint. They tied for the honour of most points in show, so have to share the Walker Cup for Show Champion.

Other winners included Julia Whybrew, winner of the Hayter and Lee Cups and the Banksian Medal, Diana Relton who won the Coronation Bowl for her cookery and Eleanor Jolley who won the Gladys Stevens Memorial Cup for handicrafts. Gwen Stone won a cup and a trophy for her flower and foliage arrangements. Janet Coley won both photography awards and the prize for the best scarecrow.

Christopher Bedding won the Senior Children’s Cup and the Junior Children’s Cup went to Harry Tomkins. The Under 9s cup went to Yolanda Martin and the Under 6s to Oliver Brooks.

Other attractions at the show included Karluk Siberian Huskies, a bouncy castle, bowling, handicraft and produce stalls, a bottle stall, a WI stall, the prize draw, teas, games and side shows. For the first time this year there were several trade stalls as well.

An auction of produce donated by exhibitors was held before the prize giving. Sheila Side, President of the Steeple Aston and Middle Aston Horticultural Society gave out the prizes to the winners. She thanked the members of the committee and all the other people involved in making the show such a success.

Richard Preston also wanted to thank all those involved, including the people providing tea and cakes. He especially wanted to thank the committee which has some new members who have bought a fresh and youthful eye to the proceedings. In one case very youthful – Jasmin Trinder must be the youngest ever committee member at age 14.

Fourth time lucky for Dog of the Day Sooty

The overall winner of Steeple Aston’s Fun Dog Show was Sooty, a cocker spaniel owned by Emily Savins from Buckland. They are pictured here being presented with the cup for Dog of the Day by the judge Malcolm Butler.

For a delighted Emily, a former pupil at Dr Radcliffe’s primary school in Steeple Aston, it was fourth time lucky. Sooty had been entered in the show for the last three years, but had only been placed in the agility class. So Emily and her family were delighted with this year’s achievement.

Over 30 dogs entered for the show, which runs alongside the Flower Show. The numbers were down on last year, much to the relief of the organisers who were rather overwhelmed by the 67 dogs who entered in 2007.

The show is sponsored by The Hart Veterinary Centre in Bicester. They provide the funding for rosettes for the winners and runners up and the trophy for the Dog of the Day, who is selected from the winners of the five classes.

The five classes were:
Agility (over the jumps)
The dog with the waggiest tail
Best child handler
Veterans
Dog most like its owner

The Dog most like its owner class caused much hilarity when the owners were persuaded to parade on all fours like their dog.

Wednesday teashop to reopen in September

The teashop held on Wednesday afternoons in the Sport and Recreation Building has been judged a success and will reopen on a permanent basis in September.

The teashop opened for business on six afternoons in the second half of the summer term. It is run by Sue White, Kate Quist and Laura Geddon of Fresh Start Catering, the award-winning company that does the catering at Dr Radcliffe’s School.

The Treasurer of the Sport and Recreational Trust, Ted Whybrew said: “They have got the tearoom off to an excellent start. The teas and cakes were popular with those picking up children from school, and the ice creams were particularly popular with those being picked up. Many seemed to find it a convenient place to wait while other children were at their club or singing in the school choir.

A few of the grandparent generation, including several Parish Councillors, also took the opportunity to meet for tea and a chat. A couple of ramblers and visitors to the village dropped in – we think mainly to use the toilets, but they stayed for tea.”

Sue White, who runs Fresh Start Catering confirmed that the teashop had done well, especially on sunny days when the icecreams were much in demand. However on wet days business was very slack.

Ted concluded that all in all the enterprise covered its costs and was sufficiently popular with users to make it worth continuing next term.

He said, “Starting on 10 September the teashop will be open every Wednesday at 3.00pm except on very wet days. It is intended as a facility for everyone. So if you are among those who think the village would benefit from a place to get tea and have a chat do give it a try and bring your friends. No one has been disappointed yet.

Prices are very much as those charged for village events. Remember also the team running this is the same as that which resulted in the School being judged as the best provider of school meals among junior schools in Oxfordshire.”

Eco-town shortlisting postponed

A decision on whether Weston on the Green will be shortlisted as a site for the building of a new ‘eco-town’ has been postponed.

A shortlist of ten sites was due to be announced in October, but the Government now says the list will not be published until early 2009.

The site for the proposed Oxfordshire eco-town, known as Weston Otmoor, is alongside junction 9 of the M40. A roadshow displaying plans for the site visited Steeple Aston in July as part of a public consultation exercise in neighbouring towns and villages.

The new town would provide homes for 35,000 people and 12,000 jobs. The developers say between a third and a half of all the homes would be priced so that first-time buyers and families could afford them.

A new railway station would link Weston Otmoor to Oxford, Milton Keynes and London and there would be a new Park-and-Ride with space for 6,000 cars. Inside the town itself, residents would be expected to travel around by free tram instead of by car.

Opposition to the plan is being coordinated by a group called Weston Front. Among the leading campaigners is Anthony Henman, father of the former tennis star Tim, who has lived in Weston on the Green for more than 35 years.

The protesters point to the fact that a number of the 15 sites originally named have either been withdrawn or are in serious doubt. According to the campaign website: “Weston Front believes that Weston Otmoor will not progress further once the ongoing sustainability study is complete.”

School dinners in Steeple Aston are best in county

School meals at Dr Radcliffe’s primary school have been judged to be the best in Oxfordshire.

Fresh Start Catering – a company run by local mother, Sue White – took over the catering at the school just over a year ago. She and her team came first in the primary school section of this year’s competition run by Oxfordshire County Council.

Pictured here hard at work in the school kitchen are (l to r) Sharon Peace, Selena Chapman, Sue White and Marian Trinder. Other members of the team not in the photo are Nikki Richard, Kate Quist, Penny Troughton and Sue Davies.

Sue is delighted with their success in the competition. She said “I am passionate about this project and very pleased we have won the competition in our first year. We are also very grateful for the support we have had from the school.”

Fresh Start Catering provides home cooked food, where possible organic and locally supplied. And the children clearly approve, with 120 of them enjoying school dinners every day. That’s 65 per cent of the children at the school, compared with a county average of around 27 per cent. On Fridays, the number increases to 160.

The judges for the competition visited the school, inspected the kitchen and ate with the children, asking them what they think about their school dinners. They also took away a sample meal for analysis to ensure it meets national nutritional standards.

The winners were announced at a presentation at the Malmaison hotel in Oxford. The winners received an engraved shield, along with a bottle of champagne and a £25 voucher for each member of the team.

Sue, who has a background in hotel and catering management, set up Fresh Start Catering after working at the school as a council employee. She said: “I thought that we could do better if we had the freedom to do things our own way. I have doubled the number of staff so that we can make all our own food, including bread and cakes.”

“As much of our food as possible comes from local sources; our meat is delivered daily from Bicester, our eggs come from a local farm and we have organic vegetables from North Aston. The children also grow vegetables and herbs for us and parents bring in surplus fruit and vegetables they have grown.”

Sue and her team are also starting to expand their activities beyond the school. They already run the Village Teashop on Wednesday afternoons in the Sport and Recreation Centre. Sue would also like to provide a community lunch, perhaps once a month, for villagers to attend. She is keen to canvass opinion on this so if you think it’s a good idea, please let her know.

Second Open Gardens raises cash for sport and recreation

Members of the Steeple Aston Social Club raised nearly £700 when they opened their gardens to the public. The money will be spent on the maintenance and development of local sport and recreation facilities.

This second village Open Gardens day, which took place on Sunday, 20 July, followed a successful event under the National Garden Scheme in May.

Three gardeners who regularly open their gardens under the National Gardens scheme - the Prestons, the Nicholsons and Garry Norris - did so again. On this occasion they were joined by Mrs Vivian, the Mallinsons and the Whybrews whose gardens are not normally open to the public.

Ted Whybrew, Secretary/Treasurer of the Social Club said, “The weather was kind and publicity successful. So around 140 adults paid £3 to visit the six gardens. Some visitors came from as far as Milton Keynes, Bedford and Northampton. In addition a few gave donations and some plants were sold.

All this, together with over £200 from the teas meant that a total of £684 was raised to help maintain Robinsons Close and the Sport and Recreation Centre.

Barbara Brewer and helpers laid on excellent and popular teas – thanks to the generosity of many cake makers. I’d also like to say a huge thank you to all for their effort in making the day the success it was.”