Beckley & Area Community Benefit society Limited (BACBS)

The Abingdon Arms

The Abingdon Arms is open to outdoor customers! Suzy, Alex and their team have hit the ground running from the first day they were allowed to open, on Monday April 12th. The top two terraces are partially covered with a splendid and attractive ‘Capri’ tent with decorative lights, allowing both covered and open tables. Business has been brisk, and you are advised to book tables well in advance! New and old favourites are on the menu - https://www.theabingdonarms.co.uk/menus. In addition, they are offering picnic baskets for consumption in their garden or elsewhere. Eating at the pub until May 17th comes with the following limitations: rule of 6, or two households of any size; customers must order, eat, and drink while seated at a table; customers aged 16 and over must check in with the NHS test and trace (best done with the NHSCOVID-19 app), or provide contact details; when not seated, masks must be worn.

Future changes

• 17th May: indoors with rule of 6; the rule of six no longer applies outdoors.

• 21st June: all restrictions end.

More than a Pub Programme - https://bacbs.org/events

The monthly Sunday evening talks by Zoom continue and remain popular with around 30-60 people ‘zooming’ in each time. The talks range across many topics and remain very varied. The last talk from Prof Neil Mortensen on ‘Surgery in the pandemic and beyond’ was a broad ranging view on the challenges COVID had brought to surgical services in the UK. It is clear that the impact on waiting lists, and training of young surgeons, has been severe, and as president of the Royal College of Surgeons Neil has been at the forefront of exploring ways to mitigate these problems,

This is the current Sunday evening programme so far, with more events in the pipeline:

Next month, we hope, sees the beginning of the end of virtual events. We are hoping to resume live events in the pub in June. So we’re not quite there yet, and April and May events will still take place on Zoom.

Meanwhile, April has been a busy month for BACBS events: the regular first-Wednesday-of-the month pub quiz, an Easter ‘treasure’ hunt in Beckley and Horton-cum-Studley, and the talk by Professor Neil Mortensen. One of the happier consequences of holding these events on Zoom is that they attract broad audiences of a wide range of ages, from near and far.

Saving Elephants in West Africa. Sunday May 9th 6:30pm. Dr Susan Canney, a resident of Horton-cum-Studley, has worked on a variety of nature conservation projects across Africa, Asia and Europe, and in sustainable development policy at the Green College Centre for Environmental Policy and Understanding. Over the years her conservation work has become increasingly about finding ways for humans and nature to thrive together. The iconic elephant population in the Sahel of Mali has been her major focus since 2003, moving from scientific studies, to working with local communities and government. The work continued despite the lawlessness (and elephant poaching) that has accompanied the terrorist insurgency of 2012; and a pilot project to adapt the approach in Burkina Faso is underway. She is Director of the Mali Elephant Project and Research Associate at the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford.

About Jenga. Sunday June 27th 6:30 pm A talk by Leslie Scott, designer of Jenga and many other games.

We are hoping that this will be the first live talk in the pub this year. We are planning to Zoom it as well.

Leslie Scott was born and raised in Africa, and educated in Kenya, Sierra Leone, and England. One of the world’s few professional board game designers, she is the creator of the blockbuster game Jenga and a founder-director of Oxford Games Ltd. When not based at the Mpala Research Centre, a 50,000-acre wildlife conservancy in northern Kenya, Scott and her zoologist husband live on their own small wildlife haven, a 100-acre farm on edge of Otmoor.

Marlborough's Blenheim Campaign of 1704. Sunday July 11th 6:30 pm A talk by Tim King.

The battle itself is interesting - and the political background and the characters involved (including Louis XIV and Prince Eugene) are fascinating, as is the way that Marlborough had to hoodwink both friend and foe on his way eastwards.

Zoom access details will be provided nearer the time. If you would like to watch previous talks then email us at info@bacbs.org with your request, and we’ll provide you with a link.

‘Pub Quiz’

The next pub quiz will be on Wednesday 5th May. The quizzes are open to all comers, whether already in a team or not, and teams can be made up from different households – we use Zoom ‘breakout rooms’ to allow team members to meet as a group to discuss their answers to each round. We are hoping that the following quiz, on June 2nd, will be back home in the pub. Go to https://bacbs.org/events for further information and log in Zoom details.

gOOD nEIGHBOUR sCHEME and Covid Support

This service is still available to give lifts to those with no other transport, to attend vaccination appointments, collect items from surgeries, Stanton village shop etc., as well as to the Barton/Green Road roundabout where buses into Headington and central Oxford are frequent. To request a lift, either ring 07514 791919 (answerphone if no answer) or email BACBSgoodneighbour@gmail.com. Given COVID issues, both driver and client need to be satisfied with both parties wearing masks and having open car windows. If you know of anyone who might need help, and perhaps does not know this service exists, please do let them know.

ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING POINT AT THE ABINGDON ARMS

The EV charger in the pub car park has been installed and is available for use. To use it you need first to download the Vendelectric app for your phone (https://vendelectric.com/app) and then payment can be made by credit/debit card.

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS TO THE PUB GARDEN

We are exploring ways in which we can provide wheelchair access to the pub’s garden, probably from the carpark. Watch this space for further developments.