September/October 1991             Issue 40

CHURCH NEWS

Flowers, fruit and veg

      For the beauty of the earth
      For the beauty of the skies
      For the love that from our birth
      Over sand around us lies,
        Lord of all to thee we raise
        This our sacrifice of praise.

After September flowers, October fruits: Harvest Festival will be celebrated on Sunday October 6th at 10 a.m. and 6.30. This year, following the all-year-round food basket available for gifts for the Porch in East Oxford, children from the Youth Club (and anyone else) are invited to bring some food (whether in tins, jars or raw) and to bring it to the altar at the Offertory during the Family Communion service. After the service these gifts and prayers will be taken to the Porch as a token of Sandford's support for the homeless in Oxford.

[The Porch - more info]

THE ANNUAL HARVEST SUPPER

      Come ye thankful people, come,
      Raise the song of harvest home.
      All is safely gathered in ...

The Sandford River Run

The Sandford Gold Cup for the 5 mile Open (around Radley boathouse) was won by a club runner from east Oxford, Benjamin Hope (aged 14) in 29 mins 32 secs, who narrowly beat local runner Nigel Northcott (River View), with Vincent Boyle (Church Rd) third. Andy Hackett was the fastest adult over 3 miles in 24 mins 40 secs.

The Ladies Race (3 miles) was won by Mrs Sandra Bowyer (Henley Rd) and the over-50s by the Vicar. The Youth Division was won by Martyn Akrigg (Henley Rd) in 22 mins 14 secs, the Youngers' Division by Christopher Hackett (Henley Rd) in 22 mins 57 secs - a very good time for an 8-yr-old. Julie Cook, aged 6, again won the under-10 girls in 31 mins 38 secs. The medals and cups were generously donated by Alan and Beverley Cook.

With some sponsorship still due in (to be divided between Youth Club, Church Building Fund and Village Hall Building Fund), thanks and congratulations to Sandra Bowyer and team (£25.50), Alan Northcott (£24), Lisa Beecham (£23), Charmaine Harris (£15), Brad Harris (fl3), Matthew and Steven Brookings (£11), James Smith (£11), Joe Harkin (£5).

[More information on the River Run]

Friends of Sandford Church

The building is in need of some repairs and redecoration - the historic monument on the church porch is crumbling, for example, due to pollution in the air. The architect's 5-yearly report is due in October and it would help those entrusted with the upkeep of a 900-yr-old ancient monument (a house of prayer for all the people who enter, and a beautiful sight for all who pass by) if as many villagers as possible would sign up as Friends of Sandford Church before these costings begin.

R.I.P.

The general standard of maintenance in Sandford was high. The judges found very little litter in most places. (An exception was in the water by the wharf, where they notices cans, bottles and other debris.) However, the rubbish sacks left out (on a Sunday morning) for collection did not enhance the small green off Church Road.

Houses and gardens looked well cared for. Walls and fences were in good condition, except for some unsightly broken barbed wire in Church Road and the broken coping stones off the bridge over the stream at the bottom of Henley Road. Commercial properties were well maintained, except for litter in public house car parks, and potholes in that of the Catherine Wheel.

One noticeboard was very much in use, and up-to-date; the other, in Henley Road, had some out-of-date notices. No Best Kept Village Competition posters were found. The footpaths were unobstructed, but several were not signposted. (The sign for one path starting from Church Road has been missing for nine years, according to a resident.)

The Church and Churchyard were very well maintained. The Village Hall appears to be an excellent, purpose-built building. Unfortunately the judges found it in poor condition, with one smashed and one cracked window, a damaged door, and neglected grounds with nettles and some litter. This was not characteristic of the general standard of the village, which could, the judges believe, make itself a winner in future competitions. The colour-coded map provided was very helpful.



BB/RDF/BKV
June 1991

Garden Competition

Winners received miniature rose bushes and hanging baskets donated by monies from Residents Ass. of Park Homes and Parish Council. Thanks to all of you. .

MAIN AVENUE	1st	Mr Smith, 19 Main Avenue
		(congratulations Mr Smith, for the second year running)
	2nd	Mr Lewis, 23 Main Avenue
	3rd	Mr Watts, 2 Main Avenue
	VHC	Mr Newell, 31 Main Avenue
THE CRESCENT	1st	Mr Welford, 32, The Crescent
	2nd	Mr Parrott, 43 The Crescent
	3rd	Mr Smart, 17 The Crescent
	VHC	Mr Jeffrey, 13 The Crescent
HENLEY ROAD	1st	Mr James, 97 Henley Road
	2nd	Mr McCall, 5 Rock Farm Lane
	3rd	Mr Judd, 81 Henley Road
	VHC	Mr Taylor, 31 Henley Road
CHURCH ROAD	1st	Fawkes Cottage
	2nd	Mr Holford, Furness
	3rd	Mr Turner, 47 Church Road
LANDSCAPED		Mrs Leary, 1 River View
		(second year running)
RIVER VIEW	VHC	Mr Pyx, 7 River View
	VHC	Mr Surman, 10 River View

(The use of  'Mr'  is for convenience only, and is certainly not meant to imply that the male member of the family necessarily does all the gardening).

Village Hall

Youth Club

Oxford Park Home Residents Association

Items discussed were concern for the park itself, maintenance of the park, roads, fencing around the recreation area, flooding in certain areas of the site, water pressure, and the old brick kiln site. The environmental department have looked into these various complaints and have had a meeting with the site owner, so these problems will hopefully be resolved.

Everyone enjoyed the wine and buffet - thanks to those who helped with the preparation. Special thanks to Mr Waite and Mr Matthews for giving their time on a Sunday evening. Mr Matthews was very impressed by it all, and will give us his support. We shall be notifying all members and new residents about future meetings, and a special meeting will be held later, about selling and buying of your mobile homes. This is a very important issue.
  Thank you all for supporting the Association. We are here to help you.

O.P.H.R.A. Committee (Chairperson Mrs H. Hutton)

Pause for Thought

Jesus always took a closer look at those he met, such as Zaccheus the tax collector and Mary Magdalene the prostitute. This is how Jesus looks at us - he sees the good within. May we take the example of Jesus with the people that we meet, and never prejudge them but always encourage the good within.

Linda Parrott

Roman Remains in Sandford

The archaeological excavations revealed part of a well and support holes for building posts. Two skeletons of small babies next to a silver coin, were also discovered, buried, as was common in the period, under the floor of the dwellings, near to the post holes. Naturally, the site yielded a large number of pottery fragments, most of which came from an area which must have originally been a tip for pots which had been damaged during manufacture. Even among these broken fragments, the quality of craftsmanship in the works was apparent. These Sandford potters were evidently skilled artists, who created fine shaped and delicately detailed wares.

The excavation lasted for a few weeks in August, but now the settlement and the water pipe have been buried together. For those interested, the discovery was covered by the local press, and there viii be more information from the Archaeological Unit in a future Link.

Nick Hawkins
Lower Farm Cottages

Rock Farm

Rock Farm, or to give it its original name Sandford Farm, was one of the major estates in the parish, and an ancient one. Evidence tends to suggest that it may have been one of the lands mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086) as held by Robert Roger from St Mary's Abbey in Abingdon. In 1552 Willian Dinch of London bought a fine estate at Little Wittenham, which became the family home for some 200 years.

We are on surer ground as we enter the 17th century. In 1639 Elizabeth Dinch of Little Wittenham, who had become by marriage Elizabeth Isham - the religious dame mentioned on the plaque over the church porch, and a village benefactor - is recorded as owner of the land, comprising Sandford Farm, from which her tenant paid out a village charity of £5 yearly to the poor of Sandford, and to Brightwell near Wallingford 20 shillings per annum to four poor widows.

Elizabeth died on 7th August 1657. She had probably lived at Sandford Farm, in a large house which has long since disappeared, and the site of which can only be conjectured. By 1663 I find Samuel Dinch, her younger brother, paying land subsidy for as much land as John Powell, the Lord of the Manor. The Dinch male line became extinct in 1719 and the Pusey manor sold by 1749. However it appears that a Dinch daughter, Jane, had married into the family of Keck of Great Tew, and the Sandford estate continued in their ownership until at least 1825, when a great great grandson was still paying the parish rate.

Great changes were to come to Sandford Farm in 1825. Old farming practices were changing, and in this year the estate was put on the market. It then consisted of 308 acres of arable, meadow and pasture land with 18 acres of coppice and plantations including Sandford Brake, and six cottages. The purchaser was James Morrell, brewer of Oxford, and for the next few years the farm was called Morrells Farm.

Amongst the meadow land at this time appear two interesting relics of Sandford's ancient open field system. Town field, the village's common hay field mentioned in 1240, which was shared by lot amongst the villagers at hay time, was one-third farmed by Sandford Farm, which also farmed two-thirds of another meadow. These odd scattered areas made the job of farming them difficult, and eventually

The 19th century was one of improvements and building new 'Model Farms'. Farming had been increasingly mechanised, with a better class of workers' housing and much new farm machinery for processing the farm produce, usually powered by a steam engine. Over the next few years Morrell must have spent a great deal of money improving his farmstead and estate, modernising the old farm buildings and erecting new ones, and installing machinery. During this period also, fox hunting was becoming very popular, and Morrell did much to turn his estate into hunting country by planting gorse coverts to encourage the foxes. The Keepers' cottage probably dates from this time. Nor should it be surprise us that his new beer house was named 'The Fox'.

James Morrell died in 1863. His brewing interest was carried on by Trustees, but of what became of his Sandford estate we learn little until 1897 when Sandford Farm (i.e. Rock Farm) came up for auction. The Farm appears to have been broken off from the rest of the estate, as it then consisted of only 115 acres. From this date Mr Benfield appears as the owner. He did very little to improve the farm - indeed it was somewhat neglected as his major interest lay in exploiting the clay found on his southern boundary, for which he had built a new brickworks by 1900, but he improved a number of cottages, and also opened up a small narrow footpath that led to Minchery Farm from what is now known as Rock Farm Lane. It was during Benfield's occupation that the farm's name was changed to Rock Farm.

Much could be written about the farm's tenants over the years and the beer house, which I hope to return to in a future article.

Kingcup.       [Kingcup - more info]

SANDFORD-ON-THAMES PARISH COUNCIL

At the meeting of the Parish Council held on Tuesday 11th June 1991 in the Village Hall, seven members were present.

Rock Farm Lane It was agreed the PC would formally request that the County Council reconsider the adoption of Rock Farm Lane and the roadways on the new development. The PC did not wish to adopt the street lights on the development.

Henley Road The developer to remove and scrap the original concrete street light at the junction with Rock Farm Lane and provide three new galvanised columns as existing in Henley Road, in the positions detailed on the plan. The developer to pay for the cost of supply and erection. The PC to adopt the street lights on completion.

Street Lighting Generally The PC formally to request that the County Council adopt the Street lighting in the village at the next review.

Planning It was agreed that as the number of planning applications had increased a separate planning committee, for the time being consisting of the parish councillors, to be set up. Also agreed that plans would not be circulated as this had caused considerable delay in the past.

Amendments:
Elmslea - two storey rear extension. Amended to include installation of fire escape and fire door on rear elevation. No objection.
65 Henley Road - two storey rear and side extension. Amended to side extension set back at first floor level, etc. Objection as question of access still unresolved. PC unwilling to consider application until this has been dealt with satisfactorily.

Approval: Garage at Henley Road - erection of canopy. Granted.

Income and Expenditure

Income:	Nil
Expenditure:	Clerk's salary (1.5.91)	200.00
	Village Hall Mr James	398.33
	Gratuity	64.95
	Local Council Review (Sub)	4.15
	Municipal Ins. Playground	23.68

Ten Acre/Kiln Park Boundary Wall: Mrs Hutton reported on the potentially dangerous condition of the boundary wall. This has been inspected by Mr Langford (SODC Safety Officer) and Mr Brookes (Planning Officer) and action will be taken.


A refuse skip for use by anyone in the village will be at Kiln Park caravan site on the 13th September and at the Village Hall on 9th October and 8th November.

CHEMISTS' ROTA SERVICE

September/October

Closest to Sandford area only

The following Chemist will be open for dispensing from 5.30 - 6.30 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, and 12 noon - 1.0 p.m. Sundays and Public Holidays, on the week commencing:

September 1st	M.J. Proctor, 252 Cowley Road, Oxford
September 8th	N.J. Proctor, 158 Oxford Road, Cowley
September 15th	P.L. Jenner, 236/8 Cowley Road, Oxford
September 22nd	Kingswood Chemists, 103/5 Pound Way, Cowley Centre
September 29th	Emerald Pharmacy, 34 Cowley Road, Littlemore
October 6th	W.H. Green (Chemists) Ltd., 8 Rose Hill Parade
October 13th	M.J. Proctor, 252 Cowley Road, Oxford
October 20th	M.J. Proctor, 158 Oxford Road, Cowley
October 27th	P.L. Jenner, 236/8 Cowley Road, Oxford
November 3rd	Kingswood Chemists, 103/5 Pound Way, Cowley Centre

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SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD IN ISSUE NO. 39:

Across: 1, Asia. 3, Fracture. 6, Organic. 9, Rider. 12, Gasp. 14, Eke. 15, Guarantee. 17, Ante. 18, Ski. 19, Adult. 21, Nun. 22, Tone. 23, Departure. 27, Mud. 29, Oral. 30, Preen. 31, Pigment. 33, Befuddle. 34, Gala.

Down: 1, Along. 2, Aga. 3, Feign. 4, Carpenter. 5, Reek. 7, Gratitude. 8, Cat. 10, Debenture. 11, Resin. 13, Seal. 16, Abandoned. 18, Stump. 20, Deer. 24, Pap. 25, Alive. 26, Extra. 28, Urge. 32, Mug.

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