Beckley & Area Community Benefit society Limited (BACBS)

Healthy Community Fair, Wednesday 19th February

On Wednesday 19th February, between 11am and 4pm, we will be holding a Healthy Community Fair at The Abingdon Arms. In conjunction with researchers at the University of Oxford’s Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, we will be looking at how our ‘More than a Pub’ programme and other community activities are good for health and wellbeing.

There is growing evidence that social activities are beneficial for both mental and physical health, so increasingly GPs and other professionals are ‘prescribing’ social activities for people who have mental health problems, certain physical illnesses, or are vulnerable to depression and other ills. We want to explore whether our community activities at The Abingdon Arms might potentially be prescribed as alternatives to medication. See the poster for what’s on offer.

This fun event is designed to explore, in a creative, interactive and sociable setting, how community activities can support health and wellbeing. Come along and see! Everyone, including children and families, older people, and people with disabilities will be welcome.

See also the Healthy Community Fair poster

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“More than a Pub” programme for February

We have a full and exciting programme of activities for you in February - see the colour chart. In addition to the Healthy Community Fair outlined above, we have our regular social event:

• the month starts with the Women and Men of Beckley lunches at 12:30pm on Tuesday 4th and Wednesday 5th February respectively

• the Pub Quiz is back, with Quiz Master Pete Burt, at 7:30pm on Wednesday 5th

• the Community Coffee Morning has changed day to the second Thursday of each month, which this month is Thursday 13th February, 10:00 to 11:30am

• the Community Afternoon Tea will be on Wednesday 26th February from 4pm.

There will be two Community Walks this month, on Fridays 7th and 21st February, leaving The Abingdon Arms at 2pm. Chris White, Beckley’s Parish Path Warden, will lead 2-hour walks checking on the state of footpaths and bridleways in the Noke, Beckley and Horton cum Studley parishes - do come along and join him. For some walks we may meet at the pub, but then drive, sharing cars, to Noke or Horton – confirmation closer to the time: see www.bacbs.org/events or email Chris at cpcwhite@hotmail.com

This month’s Literary Talk, on Sunday 9th February, 6:45 for 7:00-8:30pm, is about J. R. R. Tolkien, author and creator of the Hobbit. Dr Mark Atherton, Lecturer in English at the University of Oxford will speak on Tolkien and the Origins of the Hobbit'.

J. R. R. Tolkien was an Oxford resident whose Oxford was woven into the Hobbit universe. Tolkien had friends in Bee and Church Cottage in Church Street, Beckley – fellow Inklings Owen Barford and Cecil Harwood; and we know that C.S. Lewis was a regular visitor too. All these men liked beer. Tolkien once wrote “Ascetic Lewis --!! He put away three pints in a very short session this morning, and said he was ‘going short for Lent!’” So I think we can be fairly sure that Tolkien enjoyed a beer in the Abingdon Arms at some point.

Mark Atherton is the author of ‘There and Back Again: J.R.R. Tolkien and the origins of the Hobbit.’

Jazz at The Abingdon Arms: On Sunday 16th February, 6:30 to 8:30pm, we welcome back ‘The Latin Brew-Up’ with Pete Oxley (guitar), Keith Fairbairn (percussion), Frank Harrison (piano), Mark Hodgson (bass). Expect Latin rhythms, creative riffs, lots of fun! Entry is free, wine will be raffled. This is one of Oxford’s most popular bands, so seating may be tight – email mike.jd.hobbs@gmail.com to reserve seats.

Click here to see the full More than a Pub programme for February.

Other local events

Elsfield Wine Tasting evening: If you read your newsletter as soon as your receive it, you may still be able to secure a place for an evening tasting of fine wines, ‘fun facts and quizzical questions’ on Saturday 1st February, 6:30 to 8:30pm, at Elsfield Village Room. Tickets £15 per head from:

• James Plunket – 01865 358170, james.p@socialinvestgroup.com

• Peter McCool – 01865 358578, petermccool@hotmail.com

Community litter pick, Saturday 7th March: Clare Marsh has arranged with SODC that we will hold a community litter pick in and around Beckley on the morning of Saturday 7th March, starting provisionally at 10.30am and ending with celebration of a litter-free environment at The Abingdon Arms! With appropriate health & safety measures, we hope to make this a family occasion. We anticipate other villages might like to arrange a litter pick for the same day. Further information to follow.

Stop press: Stanton St John will also hold the annual litter pick on Saturday 7th March!

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Walks, Maps, Information

We are going to install a notice board and a map display board on the outside wall of the new toilet block. In line with our policy of promoting physical and social activities, our plan is for the map to show routes for a few local walks, with information such as walk length and key features. This will complement the small folding Ordnance Survey map of the area, which provides more detail, and which can be purchased (£4.50) at The Abingdon Arms, Stanton St John and Islip shops.

The display map will be line-drawn for clarity. Do you have the graphic skills to help us create the map, or do you know someone else who might? Please contact Mike Hobbs if so at mike.jd.hobbs@gmail.com

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Talks and Events: Programme for your diary

Sunday 9th February, 7:00-8:30pm: ‘Tolkien and the Origins of the Hobbit’ – Dr Mark Atherton, Lecturer in English, University of Oxford

Wednesday 19th February, 11:00am-4:00pm: Healthy Community Fair, organised in conjunction with the Oxford University’s Dept of Primary Care Health Sciences

Sunday 1st March, 7:00-8:30pm: ‘In search of the Garden of Eden: a journey in Iran’ - John Battye (Stanton St John)

Saturday 7th March, 10:30am–12:00 noon: Community litter pick. Information to follow.

Sunday 29th March, 7:00-8:30pm: ‘The Otmoor Riots in Social Context’ – Dr Maeve Bayton (Beckley; formerly Tutor at Ruskin College, Oxford)

Sunday 26th April, 7:00-8:30pm: ‘Poems and pictures’ - Peter Malin

Sunday 31st May, 6:30-8:30pm: ‘The poetry of place’, title tbc – Next Step Poetry Group, preceded by an afternoon walk visiting places of literary & historical interest in and around Beckley, a poetry workshop ‘on the move’!

Sunday 7th June, 7:00-8:30pm: 'Searching for exoplanets and alien extra-terrestrial life' - Suzanne Aigrain, Professor of Astrophysics, University of Oxford

Sunday 28th June, 7:00-8:30pm: ‘Shiva as the Dancing Lord: The travels of a Hindu icon from temple to museum’ - Crispin Branfoot, Reader in the History of South Asian art and archaeology at SOAS, University of London

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Good Neighbour Scheme

This volunteer transport scheme provides lifts to local GP Surgeries and to community events at The Abingdon Arms and Beckley Village Hall. Lifts are for people who do not have their own transport and would otherwise have difficulty getting to these activities. The BACBS Good Neighbour Scheme serves residents of Beckley, Elsfield, Stanton St John, Forest Hill and surrounding area. Noke, Woodeaton and Horton cum Studley have their own schemes. Please inform neighbours and friends who might benefit. Requests to 07514 791910 or BACBSgoodneighbour@gmail.com.

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The Abingdon Arms

Opening times:

BAR

Monday to Sunday, 11am to 11pm every day

MEALS

Lunches:

Monday to Saturday 12 noon to 2:30pm, Sunday 12 noon to 4pm

Dinners:

Monday to Thursday 6 to 9pm, Friday & Saturday 6 to 9:30pm

NB Monday evenings are curry evenings

The Abingdon Arms’ phone 01865 655667/website, where you can reserve tables on line, is at http://theabingdonarms.co.uk/

Children at The Abingdon Arms:

The Abingdon Arms is a community pub, so children are welcome. Please do keep a caring eye on them at all times though! Since the kitchen settled down a little in the new year, Alex has developed a Children’s Menu which varies from week to week. This is available Monday to Saturday. In addition, child-size portions of some dishes from the adult menu are offered, as on Sunday lunches. See the sample menu.

Staff and staff accommodation wanted:

Suzy and Alex are still looking for permanent, full-time front of house and kitchen staff. This could be a couple, for whom upstairs accommodation is available. They are keen to train staff, and to provide jobs and career development for local people.

Also, Monika, Suzy’s Deputy Bar Manager, is still looking for accommodation in or close to Beckley. Do you have a room you could let?

Please put the word around for staff and accommodation, and phone Suzy at the pub if you can help 01865 655667.

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