The Abingdon Arms

Zuzana, Vicky and Alex have worked flat out at The Abingdon Arms since starting with us on 1st November. Their 7-day opening, excellent range of well-kept local craft ales and quality wines, varied menus including a selection of vegetarian and fish dishes, weekday low-cost menu, and the recent addition of Monday curry nights are proving very popular indeed.

Opening times into the New Year are:

• Monday 30th December - open for lunch and evening curries.

• New Year’s Eve - open for lunch until 4pm, bar open until 5-ish, then closed in the evening to give all staff the night off - and we would like to wish all the staff a great new year!

• New Year's Day - open as usual for lunch and dinner, but Alex will do a Sunday style menu at lunchtime. Will likely be extremely busy, so please reserve tables.

• Thursday 2nd January onwards – normal opening hours, as below:

Bar

Monday to Sunday, 11am to 11pm every day

Meals

Lunches: Monday to Saturday 12 to 2.30pm, Sunday 12 to 4pm

Dinners: Monday to Thursday 6 to 9pm, Friday & Saturday 6 to 9.30pm

N.B. Mondays are curry evenings

Staff and accommodation wanted: Our travellers having returned to Australia, Zuzana and Alex are looking for permanent, full-time front of house and kitchen staff - ideally this might 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.

Monika, Zuzana’s Deputy Bar Manager, is looking for accommodation in Beckley. Do you have a room you could let?

Please put the word around for staff and accommodation, and phone Zuzana at the pub (number below) if you can help.

The Abingdon Arms’ new website is at http://theabingdonarms.co.uk/ where you can reserve tables on line, and the telephone number is unchanged – 01865 655667.

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“More than a Pub” programme for January

The new year programme kicks off with the Women and Men of Beckley lunches at 12.30pm on Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th January respectively (please note MoB meets on the second Wednesday this month). Our regular community coffee morning will be on Friday 10th from 10am, and community afternoon tea on Wednesday 29th from 4pm.

This month’s Community Walk will be on Sunday 12th January, leaving The Abingdon Arms at 2pm and returning to the pub for drinks around 4pm. Chris White (Beckley’s Parish Path Warden) will lead a convivial winter walk in the direction of Horton cum Studley, linking with walkers from Horton if possible. Dogs welcome.

January’s Jazz at The Abingdon Arms, on Sunday 19th, 6.30 to 8.30pm, will feature special guest Chris Montague on guitar, with Frank Harrison (keyboard) and Mark Hodgson (bass). One of the most innovative performers and composers on the national circuit, Chris has played with cutting-edge bands (e.g. Troyka) and at prestigious events including the London Jazz Festival. Now you can hear him play in our very own community pub!

On Sunday 26th January, at the earlier time of 6 to 7.30pm, The Abingdon Arms will host a film by Beckley wildlife cameraman Steve de Vere: ‘Summer in the Meadow’. Chase away the winter with this uplifting film of summer in our local area…….. [Please note the earlier performance time, set to allow revellers to proceed on to the Burns Night Supper at Beckley Village Hall for 7.45pm]

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

Other local activities in January:

Saturday 18th January, 3pm: The Beckley Community Orchard Group will hold their annual Wassail at the Orchard down Otmoor Lane. Trees will be awakened and evil spirits expelled by eating, drinking and making substantial amounts of noise! This is the nearest Saturday to the 17th January which represents the twelfth night of Christmas in the pre- Gregorian calendar. Food, drink and a bonfire will be provided; and visitors will be invited to a tour of the Orchard.

Sunday 26th January: Steve De Vere’s film will be shown at the earlier time of 6pm so that you have the opportunity to get to Beckley Village Hall for Beckley’s annual Burns’ Night Supper at 7.45pm: Three course traditional or vegan haggis dinner, piper, glass of bubbly and a dram of whisky. Tickets £25, available from Cathy Davies, payable by cheque or bank transfer – email bburnsnight@gmail.com or phone 01865 358850 to reserve.

Click here to see the advance More than a Pub programme for 2020.

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February dates for your diary

Elsfield Wine Tasting evening: Anticipating the end of “dry January” 2020, you are invited to an evening 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 in advance from:

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

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

Please see attached poster. Don’t leave it too late!

Pub Quiz: The popular Abingdon Arms Pub Quiz will return on 5th February in its regular ‘first Wednesday of the month’ slot, with QuizMaster Pete Burt.

Literary Talk: Our literary talk in February, 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, 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.’

Healthy Community Fair: On Wednesday 19th February, 11am to 4pm, BACBS will host a ‘Healthy Community Fair’ at The Abingdon Arms, organised in conjunction with the University of Oxford’s Department of Primary Health Care. This fun event is designed to explore, in an interactive and sociable setting, how community activities can support physical, mental and social wellbeing. Intrigued? Everyone, including children and families, will be welcome.

Future BACBS plans include a community lunch for the men and women of Beckley and our wider community, which will be in addition to the Women and Men of Beckley lunches; renewed table games; a concerted programme of community engagement to identify and inform neighbours who have moved recently to Beckley about BACBS and other village amenities (more on this next month); and a training session on dealing with unexpected collapses in children, including resuscitation. Updates will follow.

Call for speakers and walk leaders - The ‘More than a Pub’ programme is ambitious, and we would welcome offers to lead walks and other activities, and both offers and suggestions of speakers for future literary, poetry and public interest talks.

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Beckley & Area Community Benefit Society

New Committee members: At its Annual Members’ Meeting in November, Susy Jepson and John Stradling were re-elected to the BACBS Management Committee and two new members were elected – Dave Drew from Beckley and Sam Clarke from Oxford. Readers will be interested to know more about Dave and Sam:

Sam Clarke: Sam lives in Oxford but has a couple of fields in Beckley where he and family have been planting trees for 25 years. This has made him a regular visitor to the pub. He has a background working for environmental and other voluntary organisations with experience of other Community Benefit Societies. Most likely to be seen with wife, Ali, and children and grandchildren.

Dave Drew: Dave and Vilma moved to Beckley 33 years ago, and all three sons attended the village school. Dave was an active member of the Friends of Beckley School committee, served on the Village Hall committee, and was an active member of the Beckley Sports Club, responsible for cutting the cricket pitch from scratch! He had over 40 years’ experience in the food retail business. Dave is a member of Studley Wood Golf Club, served 7 years as Junior Organiser and also managed the Oxfordshire under-16 team. In 2015 Dave was Men’s Club Captain raising over £15k for Cancer Research. He organises the village 9-hole golf roll up every Tuesday evening, plays squash on a Thursday, and occasionally six-a- side football on a Sunday. Sporting activities are often followed by trips to the Abingdon Arms!

Committee roles: Following the Annual Meeting, members of the BACBS Management Committee have agreed the following official positions and practical roles:

• Chair: Mike Hobbs

• Treasurer: Gabriel Brodetsky

• Secretary: Adrian Hampshire

• Communications: Lise Traynor, Gabriel Brodetsky, Adrian Hampshire

• Community engagement: Susy Jepson, John Stradling

• Financial Governance: Gabriel Brodetsky, Sam Clarke

• ‘More than a Pub’ programme: Susy Jepson, Dave Drew, Mike Hobbs (and co-opted member Mary Stuck)

• Property: John Stradling, Dave Drew, Lise Traynor (garden)

• Tenant Liaison: Nin Kelay, Mike Hobbs, John Stradling

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Good Neighbour Scheme

The volunteer transport scheme which was set up for BACBS by Cathy Davies and John Stradling 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 have difficulty getting to these activities. The scheme serves residents of Beckley, Elsfield, Stanton St John, Forest Hill and surrounding area (Noke, Woodeaton and Horton cum Studley have their own schemes), so please inform neighbours and friends who might benefit. Requests to 07514 791910 or BACBSgoodneighbour@gmail.com

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Community Pubs

As reported in the national media, purchase by communities has become the most certain and successful means of keeping local pubs open. Not just that, community pubs thrive because they provide welcoming places to meet friends, neighbours, and indeed strangers, as well as places to eat and drink. There are now nearly one hundred community pubs in England, and a growing number ‘in the pipeline’. The Abingdon Arms is a fine and widely-recognised example of a successful, well-used community pub, as indicated again by a recent mention in The Observer: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/dec/07/northumberland-village-asks-the-world-to-save-its-pub-from-closure

BACBS has appreciated very generous support, both advisory and financial, from the Plunkett Foundation. Based in Woodstock, the Plunkett Foundation plays a key national role in supporting community pubs, as well as community shops, woodlands and other enterprises. Their annual report on community pubs makes interesting and heartening reading and can be found here: https://plunkett.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/PLUNKETT_BB_PUBS19_download2.pdf

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BACBS Annual Members’ Meeting

The 2019 BACBS Annual Members’ Meeting was held on 18th November 2019.

Last year’s proposal to ‘twin’ the new pub toilets with public toilets in the developing world was discussed again, no action having been taken during the year for two reasons - because the toilet block was under construction, and because the proposal proved to be controversial. The Toilet Twinning charity has an evangelical Christian parent body, Tear Fund, with which some members of our secular Community Benefit Society are uncomfortable – and this was evident from discussion at the 2019 AMM.

Three salient questions were posed by Members present to the meeting:

1. BACBS was established primarily to benefit the community of which Members are a part, so would it be appropriate for BACBS to make donations to any charity?

2. Can the AMM legitimately make decisions which have an impact on all Members without formal notice, ie without a proposal being submitted to Members before and supported by a majority at an Annual Members’ Meeting?

3. Might it be inappropriate for BACBS, a Community Benefit Society, to endorse any inessential action which is divisive for its Membership and potentially for the wider community.

The BACBS Committee proposed at the AMM to address these issues and report back to the Membership. The BACBS Management Committee therefore considered this matter carefully at its meeting on 9th December 2019, and concluded that (1) BACBS should not make donations to Toilet Twinning or to any other charity, for this could be contentious, and would not be an appropriate use of BACBS’ funds, especially when the Society has not yet been able to redeem shares to those who have requested share withdrawal, and no interest payment to shareholders has yet been possible; and (2) BACBS should avoid any inessential decision or action which could be divisive for the Membership and wider community served.

BACBS committee members are keen to hear from you, members of our Society and community about what more the Community Benefit Society can do (as our name indicates) to benefit our community. As always, we will value offers of help – there are many roles available for willing.

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