Beckley & Area Community Benefit society Limited (BACBS)

Key events in March

Please see the ‘More than a Pub’ programme for details

Talks on the first and last Sundays of March:

• Sunday 1st March: ‘In search of the Garden of Eden: a journey in Iran’ - John Battye

• Sunday 29th March: ‘The Otmoor Riots in Social Context’ – Dr Maeve Bayton

Litter picking - Saturday 7th March in Beckley and Stanton St John.

Jazz - Sunday 15th March: Stuart Henderson trio – trumpet, keyboards, bass. Please reserve seats in advance.

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The Abingdon Arms

Suzy and Alex continue to work flat out at The Abingdon Arms, providing a warm welcome, high quality food and drinks for us 7 days each week. Alex’s varied menus include excellent vegetarian, vegan and fish dishes, and a weekday low-cost menu – all freshly prepared and cooked with locally sourced ingredients whenever possible. Suzy maintains a lovely range of local craft ales, other beers, wines and soft drinks. The pub offers a warm and sociable place to which we can escape from the current cold, stormy weather. Indeed, when part of Beckley village experienced a 24-hour power cut recently, many residents retreated to The Abingdon Arms and made full use of the hospitable welcome, warmth, hot food and good drink on offer!

Vicky is working mostly from home at present, having given birth to a baby son in January. We wish her, Dan and their baby well.

The Abingdon Arms opening times are:

Bar

• 11am to 11pm every day, Monday to Sunday

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.

On Monday evenings, curries replace the usual menu.

The pub’s website is at http://theabingdonarms.co.uk/ where you can reserve tables on line, and the pub’s telephone number is 01865 655667.

Developments at The Abingdon Arms

Following requests from local parents, Alex is considering introduction of an affordable family meal on Thursdays between 4pm and 6pm (times to be confirmed). Separate set menus would offer two or three courses for children and adults, the dishes chosen to appeal to all.

From April, all being well, Alex aims to bake enough bread on Fridays and Saturdays to sell loaves over the counter. In due course, he will offer his own-smoked fish and meats too. Also planned are a bar snacks menu and installation of a wood-fired pizza oven. Watch out for further news!

Staff wanted: All these exciting developments depend still on Alex and Suzy being able to recruit good full-time kitchen and front of house staff. This has proved very difficult to date. Please do contact Suzy if you know of anyone who might be interested – phone 01865 655667.

Improvements at The Abingdon Arms

It is now 6 months since the new accessible toilet block was handed over to the pub and community. We have received much praise for providing this facility, and for its quality. Everyone can now go to the toilet in warmth and comfort. It’s hard to recall just how bad the former toilets were, but many men have felt relief at not having to go outside to the loo during the past weeks’ bad weather! A few minor ‘snags’, e.g. cracks in the internal plaster, will be rectified shortly.

Hand rails: Customers may have noticed the excellent hand rails installed in the pub between the main bar area and the barn / restaurant. This should make it much easier to access the barn. Many thanks to Barney Hill for a solution that blends in with the existing woodwork really well. Please remember though that customers who cannot manage the steps even with the handrails, such as those in wheelchairs, can get into and out of the barn through the fire door. Please just ask a member of staff to give you access.

Other improvements and amenities are on the way:

1. A painting of the coat of arms or crest which features on the hanging pub sign has been donated to BACBS. Suzy will mount this in the pub’s porch, as near to the outdoor sign as is possible; and, with help from the artist who created both, Elizabeth Talbot, BACBS plans to draft and mount an adjacent plaque which explains the heraldic significance of the crest.

2. With the aim of limiting background noise in the barn during ‘More than a Pub’ talks and other events, we will install a sound-baffling curtain across the barn entrance. This will not cut out all background noise, but we hope it will help.

3. We will install a glass-fronted notice board on the outside wall of the toilet block in which BACBS and pub information can be displayed.

4. Adjacent to the notice board, we will mount a map display board. A few suggested circular walks will be indicated on the map, with key points and relevant information. We are looking for someone to create the map graphics: do you have graphic skills, or do you know someone who does? If so, please email mike.jd.hobbs@gmail.com

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Beckley’s Annual Litter Pick

Clare Marsh has arranged with SODC to lead a community litter pick in Beckley on Saturday 7th March. We will meet outside The Abingdon Arms for a 10.30am start. Picking sticks and hi-vis vests, for adults and children, will be provided; but please bring robust gloves. Volunteering certificates (good for CVs) will be presented to children and students. Please contact Clare with any questions on 07733 250654.

A litter pick will take place in Stanton St John on the same day: please ask for details at the Village Shop.

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Good Neighbour Scheme

The BACBS Good Neighbour Scheme provides lifts to the Islip Surgery 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 and appointments. We have now added the Barton bus stop as a destination so that people can then get a bus into Headington and Oxford, which is likely to be quicker than a car journey anyway.

The BACBS volunteer transport scheme serves residents of Beckley, Elsfield, Stanton St John, Forest Hill and surrounding area – Noke, Woodeaton and Horton cum Studley have their own GNS services. The number of requests for lifts remains quite low. If you know of anybody who might benefit from this scheme please give them our contact details: 07514791910 or BACBSgoodneighbour@gmail.com

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Community Engagement

A useful information pack for new Beckley residents has been put together for BACBS by John Stradling and Susy Jepson, and will be delivered to newcomers shortly after arriving. If you know of newcomers , or can suggest additional useful information for inclusion, do let us know at john.r.stradling@gmail.com or susy.jepson@gmail.com. Some long-established residents have expressed interest in the pack too! A copy can also be downloaded via the BACBS website, bacbs.org/local-information or the Beckley and Stowood village website at www.beckley-and-stowood-pc.gov.uk/information.

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“More than a Pub” programme

There are talks in March on the first and last Sundays –

Sunday 1st March, 6.45 for 7.00-8.30pm: ‘In search of the Garden of Eden: a journey in Iran’ - John Battye (Stanton St John). To set the scene, Fariba Battye will present some tastes of Iran.

Sunday 29th March, 6.45 for 7.00-8.30pm: ‘The Otmoor Riots in Social Context’ – Dr Maeve Bayton (Beckley), formerly Tutor at Ruskin College, Oxford.

Jazz at The Abingdon Arms, at 6.30-8.30pm on the third Sunday of each month, goes from strength to strength. Seating is limited, as some regulars found to their discomfort at February’s packed-out session. For this reason, we encourage you to reserve seats in advance by emailing mike.jd.hobbs@gmail.com. March’s session, on Sunday 15th, sees a return of popular jazz and classical trumpet-player Stuart Henderson, with Frank Harrison on keyboard and Mark Hodgson on bass. Don’t leave it too late to reserve a seat!

Regular activities

Our regular MtaP favourites continue: the Women and Men of Beckley lunches at 12.30pm on Tuesday 3rd and Wednesday 4th March respectively, and our community afternoon tea on Wednesday 25th from 4pm. The community coffee morning has changed day however, and is now held on the second Thursday of the month at 10-11.30am, i.e. 12th March. This alteration is designed to avoid clashing with the Friday Otmoor Flyer bus and the Beckley Art group. We look forward to welcoming bus regulars and local artists to morning coffee!

The monthly Pub Quiz has returned, at 7.15 for a 7.30pm start on the first Wednesday of the month, so 4th March, in the capable hands of QuizMaster Peter Burt. And the community walks continue, on Friday afternoons at 2pm in March, led by our Parish Path Warden, Chris White. Do come along and discover the public byways of the area.

Future events

Our valued programme of Sunday evening talks, poetry and other events continues beyond March, so save these dates:

Sunday 26th April, 6.45 for 7.00-8.30pm: ‘Poems and pictures’ - Peter Malin

Sunday 31st May, 6.00 for 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, 6.45 for 7.00-8.30pm: 'Searching for exoplanets and alien extra-terrestrial life' - Suzanne Aigrain, Professor of Astrophysics, University of Oxford

Sunday 28th June, 6.45 for 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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Healthy Community Fair

On 19th February, The Abingdon Arms hosted a ‘Healthy Community Fair’ organised by BACBS in conjunction with the University of Oxford’s Department of Primary Care Health Sciences. The aim was to explore ways in which pub-based activities can bring people together socially, for it is known that social and community involvement can enhance physical and mental health. Although the numbers attending were modest, a good cross-section of our community (including several children) came along and greatly enjoyed a range of craft activities including ‘yarnfulness’ (mindful conversation while working with wool), handling of museum objects, card and board games, and even tap dancing lessons! Alex provided a splendid buffet lunch, which added to the vibrant and interactive atmosphere. We thank all who joined in, and Suzy, Alex and their staff for making everyone so welcome.

Our University colleagues managed to speak to a number of people about their research into ‘social prescribing’ and will reflect on how to use this feedback to inform their research. They commented afterwards “there was a clear enthusiasm for the principle of drawing on community assets to address and support health and well-being. But there was also concern expressed about how accessible this would be to all, and whether those who might benefit most would be open to the idea of drawing on other avenues for support”.

We may run a similar event in the future, perhaps for a shorter time period between 12-3pm, or even 3-6pm so people could come after work. We would very much welcome further feedback from those who attended this innovative event.

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