Videos of the recent Roman villa excavation at Broughton Castle are now available on Time Team's YouTube channel
Videos of the recent Roman villa excavation at Broughton Castle are now available on Time Team’s YouTube channel
Videos of the recent Roman villa excavation at Broughton Castle are now available on Time Team’s YouTube channel
Meet the Rapeseed crop in Furlong Field
by Woodway’s ancient road.
It’s a stunning tapestry of floral gold
and its abundant flowers are no mere crowd.
They are a highly cultivated lot
stemming from deep roots in History,
their nature changed through time.
Safe attributes bred in. Toxicity bred out.
In this locality it seems,
their seed-selves were not bothered by cold soil.
They’ve grown up quickly
like they couldn’t wait for Spring to arrive.
They’re a jostling yellow crowd with their
four-petalled flower covered spikes,
showing off their glory in this late April field.
Especially to what flies above.
Planes, bees, butterflies. Camera shutters!
These flowers are like faces in this photograph
where a background of tree lines make a frame.
What they want though, is above them
in the fluffed grey clouded sky,
to which they seem to reach up hopefully.
Not for sunshine, but to welcome down
the showers of April rain.
Jo the Po
Photo by Andrew Tindsley: Brassica Napus. Rapeseed in full flower alongside Woodway Road.
This poem was inspired by the April photograph in the 2022 Sibfords Calendar. The calendar was produced in the village as the result of a photo competition in aid of church funds, and is available at the church in return for a donation of your choosing.
Results of the April draw:
1st prize £70 – Ginny Bennett
2nd prize £42 – Jane Dorrell
3rd prize £28 – Tim Huckvale
Draw made by Juliette Glazebrook.
Tempted? Read more about the Village Hall Lottery
Diana Thompson writes: A big thank you to everyone who responded to Krzysztof Kuzas’ plea for help earlier this week to provide support to the Ukrainians.
As you see, the response has been pretty huge! Never mind a van, I fear he may need an artic.
A gander called Goose
had his own little hoose.
A hut very close to the lane.
He would watch who went by
with his beady goose eye
and honk when the postman came.
There can’t be a grander gander,
though he has a damaged wing.
In the day he is quite free to wander
in his field of black sheep where he’s king.
But high status can’t stop him from wishing
that a girl-goose might land in the spring!
Jo the Po
Photo by Andrew Tindsley: Safe and secure. A wonderful shed provides a great winter home for a local goose. Part of Suneday Smallholding.
This poem was inspired by the March photograph in the 2022 Sibfords Calendar. The calendar was produced in the village as the result of a photo competition in aid of church funds, and is available for £6 in the church, the village shop and The Wykham Arms.
Results of the March draw:
1st prize £70 – Kathleen Winter
2nd prize £42 – Anita Spencer
3rd prize £28 – Nicky Sena Cullen
Tempted? Read more about the Village Hall Lottery
Judith Chester obituary | Fostering | The Guardian (4 February 2022, 4:10 am) On leaving Sibford school Judith rapidly climbed the hospitality ladder, becoming manageress of the Wimpy Bar in St Giles, Oxford, while still in …
Results of the February draw:
1st prize £71 – Roger Mallows
2nd prize £42.60 – Barbara Crabtree
3rd prize $28.40 – Catherine Berks
Draw made by Kat Davison, Issi George and Keith Allen
Can you believe it has been a whole year since we started the Lottery!!
It’s been great fun and all in a good cause as this year we have building work to do at the Village Hall so every penny counts!!
Please remember to pay your subscription fee for this year so we can keep the Lottery going strong. Please refer to the Lottery page on the Village aHall website for guidance.
Snowscape
The Snowscape. Tranquil.
A Table with cloth of white.
Clean on for the Spring.
A Table. Waiting.
Trees and fences look so grey.
Spring seems far away.
Look for the hidden colour.
Look deep for the branch of … Gold.
Jo the Po: I have used the form of a Japanese Haiku, followed by that of a Japanese Tanka (5-7-5 and 5-7-5-7-7). There is a mystery to solve in the photograph … if you can spot it!
Photo by Carol Fieldhouse: A Winter scene from Sycamore Close towards Ferris
This poem was inspired by the February photograph in the 2022 Sibfords Calendar. The calendar was produced in the village as the result of a photo competition in aid of church funds, and is available for £6 in the church, the village shop and The Wykham Arms.
Nine Diocese of Oxford churches share funding for community schemes (29 January 2022, 5:57 am) At Holy Trinity, Sibford in the Deddington Deanery, a grant will support a new monthly fresh expression of church in the Village Hall, beginning after …
UK schools with the best of arts, sports and academic programmes – Study International (27 January 2022, 9:40 am) Sibford School provides the UK's only Intensive English Course to international students needing to polish their English language skills.
Sue Bannister writes: We have heard from The Mulberry Bush, the charity which we supported on 1 December when Stephen Gomersall spoke about the time he spent at COP26 in Glasgow and what climate change might mean for us all in the future. Our event took place during the week when annually The Big Give offers match funding to charities. We are delighted to say that with match funding we raised £4750 and we would like to thank everyone who was involved, not least Stephen. The event was sold out and we would like to thank all those of you who attended, donated, volunteered, or spread the word. Gift Aid has yet to be added to the total, so the final to sum should be around £5000.
The Mulberry Bush School, at Standlake near Witney, is a residential school for traumatised children aged from 5 to 12. Apart from the school itself they have an excellent outreach programme.
We are already planning a similar event in November or December 2022.
Julie Lynn-Evans
Sue Bannister