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In the Sibfords today…
Sunday 31 May 2026Partly cloudy with rain
Temperature in Sibford at 5.00pm: 20°
Quaker Meeting
Please visit http://banburyeveshamquakers.org.uk/sibford for meeting and contact details.
Please visit http://banburyeveshamquakers.org.uk/sibford for meeting and contact details.
Yoga
…and tomorrow
Partly cloudy with rain
Private event
Private event
…and after that
Don't miss...
Patronal Festival Eucharist
Bonds End Lane Temporary Closure
Installing new Sewage system and manhole chambers.
A temporary Notice is being made by …read more
Ladies Coffee Club
Ladies!! Come for coffee and a chat at the pub.
Sibford Strollers
We leave the Village Hall car park on foot or by car at 10am sharp…read more
The Secret Lives of Swifts
Men’s Breakfast Club
We're just these guys, you know?
For further information, please visit our website page
Bonds End Lane Temporary Closure
Hawk’s Lane Temporary Closure
To facilitate jetting and CCTV of drainage system works
A temporary Notice is being made …read more
Hawk’s Lane Temporary Closure
Acre Ditch Temporary Closure (not for potholes!)
To facilitate jetting and CCTV of drainage system works
A temporary Notice is being made …read more
…more events
News & Notices
Old Mission Hall Studios for rent
Old Mission Hall Studios (OMHS)
Artist/Creative Space to Rent
Temple Mill Road, Sibford Gower, OX15 5RX
For details about the space and to view please contact Sibford
Sibford Gower Parish Council Minutes
The notes of the recent Annual Parish Meeting and the minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council have been published and can be found on the new Parish …read more
Outdoor Shakespeare Evening
Grand Opening of Sibford’s brand-new Outdoor Theatre
Experience an evening of live performance in our stunning new Outdoor Theatre space.
Enjoy performances from pupils at Sibford and Tudor Hall School, …read more
Sibford in the news
Sibford school student encourages locals to get outside on Supper Walks Fundraiser
Jennifer Bernert, a Year 9 student at Sibford School, is bringing local people together through countryside walks and …read more
Shrubfest 2026
Sibford’s very own charity music festival is back for a second year of fund-raising, fun and great sounds in a beautiful garden setting.
Tickets for this friendly evening in aid …read more
International Space Station
ISS next visible over Sibford around Wednesday 8 July 2026.
Notes:
- The "up to" figure is a measure of the maximum height of the ISS in the sky, between 0° …read more
The Sibfords Newsletters
Our daily newsletters provide the local weather forecast and list upcoming village events, new planning applications, etc. Subscribe here!
The Town Estate Charity
A Helping Hand for Sibford Gower and Burdrop Residents
The Town Estate Charity (Sibford Gower and Burdrop) has been part of our community since around 1560. It was set up …read more
Walks near Sibford
We are blessed with great walking country around the Sibfords. Visit the Sibford Walkers webpage for maps of over 50 circular walks. Each map page includes a link to download …read more
Fix My Street
The most reliable way to report problems with roads and local amenities, such as
- Abandoned vehicles
- Dog Fouling
- Drainage
- Flyposting or graffiti
- Flytipping or litter
- Pavements
- Streetcleaning
- Unlit lampposts
- Potholes…read more
…earlier news
Voices from the past
18 years ago
the Sibford Scene in May 2008
I remember a drive in No Mans Land: The first days of May 1945 were very active and very tiring ones for us in the British Army of …
I remember a drive in No Mans Land
The first days of May 1945 were very active and very tiring ones for us in the British Army of the Rhine. Hitler was dead and the Russians were fighting in Berlin and many other places. The German armed forces were under the command of Admiral Doenitz who had commanded their submarine fleet. Gaps were appearing in their defences which our army was doing its utmost to exploit.
Our squadron of flail tanks was operating near Delmenhorst, a few miles from the city of Bremen and word had gone round that we were up against the German Parachute Regiment on this part of the front, so we weren’t expecting any favours. Our Royal Signals lorry, an Austin 3 tonner was equipped with a big five kilowatt, eight horsepower charging engine and spare batteries for the tanks, radio sets and equipment for servicing the tanks. Our driver/mechanic, Freddie Bungeroth from London, looked after the lorry and batteries and Jock Shearer and I were radio mechanics. Jock was a Glaswegian and a Veteran of Dunkirk and D-Day whose place I had taken for a few months while he recovered from a wound sustained in June ’44. Jock was one of more than one hundred thousand wounded who were evacuated by landing craft via the Normandy beaches, to offshore hospital ships or direct to hospitals in England during the Normandy campaigns.
With the squadron fragmented we had to do guard duties, which were not normally duties of attached personnel, and on this night I opted to do the first shift up to midnight in the hope of getting some rest afterwards. Soon after midnight, while I was just making myself as comfy as possible in the bottom of my trench, an armoured car arrived with orders for our signals lorry to follow it under cover of darkness to where some of the tanks were parked for the night. It soon left the hard road and led us on tracks across heath land to where the tanks were parked by a copse. One tank required a change of batteries and I dealt with any radio faults.
We finished while it was still pitch dark and Jock told the driver of the armoured car we were ready to leave. “You’ll find your own way back won’t you?” he said. “I think so”, said Jock and we set off but soon found it wasn’t that simple with ‘pepper pot‘ headlights in the reverse direction. Eventually we came out onto a hard road and started driving along it. We could make out one or two lorries with the allied forces white stars on them and then – nothing. After about a mile Jock said “I don’t like this very much. It’s too quiet. Let’s turn round and go back.” As we got back towards where we had seen the lorries we saw a torch being waived to stop us and an angry infantry man opened the cab door and said “Where the hell have you been to? This is the front line. I heard you go past but you were so quick I couldn’t get out of my trench in time to stop you.” Jock didn’t say anything. He just ran his forefinger gently round his throat inside his battledress neck band.
That evening we listened to the radio report from the front which included the sentence, “Our patrols discovered that the German Parachute Regiment which had been holding the line in the Delmenhorst area, had withdrawn from its positions during the night”. We wondered whether the sending-out of those patrols had been prompted by our safe return from no man’s land. Lady Luck was certainly riding with us that night! Other memories of that historic week were :- Of being stopped by a military policeman as we approached a crossroads in Bremen. He warned us that German troops were still holding out in the street we were about to cross and told us to get up speed and go over the crossroads as fast as possible. Freddie didn’t need any second invitation. Our tyres hardly touched as we went across!
Of watching a twin jet Messerschmitt 262 making three or four bombing runs at Bremervoerde. We couldn’t see its target from where we were parked but I think it must have been the bridge on which Himmler, the SS chief was later arrested by British Troops as he tried to cross.
Of arriving at a new location and finding all our squadron’s tanks parked on a piece of concrete outside a school. We wondered what was going on as there were no officers around. Somebody told us that he had heard that a Swedish diplomat had been trying to bring about a cease fire and it dawned on us that this might be it. We were also told that Captain Sadler, a highly respected Dragoon officer had been killed during that days fighting. I wondered which piece of news would reach his family first on his farm near Haywards Heath in Sussex, the good or the bad.
Of enjoying a good night’s sleep having had none for 60 hours. There was no reveille the next morning and some chaps stayed in bed until 4 pm to celebrate the ceasefire.
Bob Lamb
153 years ago
Reverend Stevens's diary for Monday 9 June 1873
Went to Ryde. Rosa confirmed by Dr Samuel Wilberforce Bishop of Winchester in Ryde Parish Church. I arrived before close …
Went to Ryde. Rosa is. Took a private lodging.
Local picture of the day

The Manor, Sibford Gower. Photo by Barbara Foster for the Sibfords Calendar 2023 (February).

The Manor, Sibford Gower. Photo by Barbara Foster for the Sibfords Calendar 2023 (February).