White's Field hedge replanted by volunteers

Another excellent day of work saw 14 volunteers fully replant the hedgerow with a range of species.  Starting at 10am the work was complete by 2:45 in mostly good weather. After a week of horrendous rain this was excellent fortune.  Volunteers ranged from young to old, including a 13 year old working on his Duke of Edinburgh bronze award.  Young plants included a number of edible species and have been protected from rabbit nibbling with tree guards and supportied with bamboo canes, in part freshly grown and cut in Chinnor.

Pictures below by Linda Brawn:

 Part of the finished hedgerow (above) and volunteers working (below)

Planting some hawthorn close to Mill Lane School.

Volunteers needed!

          Greening Chinnor & Chinnor Parish Council

White’s Field Community Hedging Project

Planting Day

Sunday 25^th November 10:00 – 16:00

meet at White’s Field

After the successful clearing day in October it’s now time to get ‘dug in’ and plant the new hedge.  Come and join the working party for an enjoyable and historic day. Whether you can spare an hour or can spend the whole day you will be most welcome. 

Just turn up at White’s Field anytime from 10:00. Make sure you bring suitable clothing including gardening gloves (or similar) and suitable footwear together with some light refreshments. If you have a spade, please bring it along.

For further information go to www.facebook.com/ChinnorParishCouncil or to register your interest please call Alan Brawn on 01844 352753

In the Thame Gazette

2/11/12

Recycling video cassettes

If you've been lying awake at night wondering how to recycle your video cassettes then worry no more as the answer is now available on our waste page (see right).  Unfortunately, there is no local service, but we're working with others across the District to make this possible either at the kerbside or via local collection points.  There are millions of videos still in use, or lying redundant in the draw as families upgrade to hard disk recorders, Sky boxes etc.  Don't let the vidoes end up in landfill.  Usable commercial videos can be Freecycled/Freegled, donated to charity shops, sold at car boot sales or otherwise given a new life with recycling the last resort.  More details here

White's Field hedgerow update

A huge "Thank you" to the 27 volunteers who turned up in Mill Lane in Chinnor today to clear some 200m of largely derelict hedgerow ready for replanting. Larger trimmings of hawthorn and sycamore were used to create a barrier of brash between the new planting area and Mill Lane, hopefully to deter people from walking through the hedge and trampling new plants. A large amount of ivy and bramble was removed to provide a clear planting area 3-4 feet in front of the fence.
A further work party is planned for 10am-4pm on Sun 25th Nov, all welcome. Full instructions will be provided.
Particular thanks are due to Alan and Linda Brawn for their excellent organisation which ensured this first phase of the job was delivered safely without injury, and to Maureen Dyroff for keeping us all fed with tea and cake.

Recycling Boots water filter cartridges

It looks like you can't recycle them, well not easily.  If you take them to bits and responsibly dispose of the filter media then the polypropylene casings should be recyclable.  see here for details.

Community clean up results

On Sunday 30^th September The Greening Chinnor Campaign in conjunction with the Parish Council held the second Chinnor Community Litter Pick.  A team of 14 willing volunteers from Chinnor and Kingston Blount met at a blustery and chilly White’s Field car park to form groups to litter pick on some of Chinnor’s most popular footpaths and bridleways.  Luckily the rain held off and a couple of very productive hours were spent.  

The volunteers split up into 4 separate teams in order to maximise the amount of rubbish collected. We were hopeful that there would be much less to clear up as we were revisiting footpaths and bridleways we walked in the spring.  Six months ago we collected about 25 bin bags full of recyclable and non-recyclable rubbish; this time we collected 14.  Rubbish collected again ranged from the usual plastic drinks bottles and cans to the more unusual, with a collection of 11 ice cream wrappers (all the same ice lolly) found under a hedge, 5 cigar tins, a scooter, skateboard and even a bike!  Yet again, we were extremely disappointed with the sheer volume of dog mess which was left as before, in a range of plastic bags either on the ground, thrown into ditches or hung from hedges and trees; we collected 4 carrier bags of bagged dog mess.  There are plenty of dog bins in the village which are used by the majority of responsible dog owners and cannot see why these cannot be used by everyone.

As always, these events could not happen without those who are willing to give up some of their precious Sunday mornings.  We would like to extend a huge thank you to all the volunteers who took part together with Jo and Liz from the Parish Office

White's Field Hedge working group

Greening Chinnor – White’s Field Hedge 28^th October 2012 – Request for volunteers

Greening Chinnor and the Parish Council are delighted to be working together in order to improve and augment the hedging between White’s Field and Mill Lane. The Parish Council team have been busy during the summer carrying out a major tidying up operation in preparation for the volunteer working party carrying out final clearance and planting.

We would welcome anybody who is free to lend a hand even for an hour. The first session will be Sunday 28^th October (clock change day – so you can have an extra hour in bed first) starting at 10am. We will organise follow up sessions dependant on how much has been completed. No experience necessary any kit will be supplied. However if you have some garden gloves and tools that is even better.

For further information please contact Alan Brawn on 01844 352753
For full details of the project background and proposals see the project pack

The Green Road into the trees

A talk about the Icknield Way by local author Hugh Thomspon will be held at Wallingford Town Hall at 7.15pm on Weds 17th October.  Hugh will talk about his new book "The Green Road into the trees" which charts his adventures along the Icknield Way, which runs through this part of Oxfordshire but actually starts on the south coast and ends up in Norfolk.  This is the annual lecture of the Wallingford, Henley and Mapledurham districts of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).

Tickets are available from CRPE Oxfordshire, Punches Barn, Waterperry Rd, Holton, Oxfordshire, OX33 IPP. Phone 01865 874780, email administrator@cpreoxon.org.uk or on the door.  CPRE members £3, non-members £5 (includes glass of wine).

Become a Master Composter!

Would you like to become a master composter?  Oxfordshire residents are being invited to become volunteer master composters.

Would you like to find out more about composting and help pass on the message to others? You will be trained to encourage your friends and neighbours to compost at home by attending events, writing articles and talking to local groups and schools. Volunteers are asked to give 30 hours of their time in order to qualify as a Master Composter.
You will join the existing volunteer group, who have been working in the community since 2008 to help keep biodegradable waste out of landfill.
The scheme is run by the Oxfordshire Waste Partnership (representing the county’s local authorities) and Garden Organic, who provide the training and technical support. Oxfordshire is part of a nationwide ‘Home Composting’ campaign, which offers subsidised compost bins to all householders in the county. The Master Composter programme runs alongside and strengthens this campaign.
Training is free, and covers the basic elements of home composting and related environmental issues. It takes place over two consecutive days at Garden Organic's Ryton Gardens (near Coventry). Refreshments are provided and transport to be confirmed nearer the time. The training will take place on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th November 2012, and attendance at both days is required.
The Master Composter scheme is open to everyone – you don’t have to be a composting expert. All we ask is that you are willing to contribute your time and enthusiasm as a volunteer.
There are a limited number of spaces available on the training, and applications are invited by Friday 26th October.
Please return the application form, either by email or post, to:
Eiles Robinson
Household Waste Reduction Officer
Oxfordshire County Council
Speedwell House
Speedwell Street
Oxford  OX1 1NE
Direct Dial: 01865 816043
Email: waste.management@oxfordshire.gov.uk

(news article copied from CAGOxfordshire website)

Community Litter Pick - this Sunday

Following our successful spring litter pick on some of the village's most popular footpaths, it's time to continue the good work.  The Greening Chinnor Campaign, with the support of Chinnor Parish Council are organising another community litter pick on Sunday 30th September on some of our most well walked public footpaths and bridleways.

Just turn up at White's Field car park (Mill Lane, Chinnor) at 10am for a briefing ready for a 10:30 start. Make sure you bring/wear suitable clothing including gardening gloves or similar and suitable footwear together with some refreshments. We plan to finish about 13:00 latest.

For further information or to register your interest please call Alan Brawn on 01844 352753

Swap shop/bike exchange 29th Sept

Chinnor and Thame Friends of the Earth will be holding a swap shop at Chinnor Village Hall on 29th Sept from 10am-noon.  The bike exchange at the FoE Green Fayre is always really popular and they've been asked to do another one - please help publicise this event.  If you've a bike to sell or buy then this is your first port of call!

Chinnor and Thame Friends of the Earth

SWAP SHOP  

and

                       BIKE EXCHANGE

Saturday 29^th September 2012

10am to 12 noon

                                  Village Hall, Chinnor

Bring and /or take for free:

Books - Clothes - Bric-a-brac - Baby equipment

Toys and games - Household items - CDs/DVDs/Videos

 Electrical CE marked goods accepted, no large items please.

 If you wish to sell a bike, please bring at 9.45am clearly labelled

with your name, contact details and the asking price.

We charge £5 for every bike sold.

Recycle stations available for the following items:

Inkjet cartridges - Mobile phones - Light bulbs 

Spectacles - Household batteries – CDs

Used postage stamps - Foreign coins

For further information contact Maureen Dyroff, Chinnor & Thame  Friends of the Earth on 01844 352816 or e-mail mdyroff@tiscali.co.uk

Village Showcase

We were delighted to attend the Annual Assembly of the Parish and Village Showcase in Chinnor last night where members of GCC met councillors and members of many other organisations and businesses in Chinnor.  It was a useful opportunity to explain what we're doing and working to achieve, and find out more about other organisations and how we may dovetail our activities to ensure we don't waste precious resources unnecessarily duplicating efforts.
It was also an excellent opportunity to get feedback on what people think about our plans to help us understand how we might improve communications and provide the right information to support our activity. 
Thanks to all who came along.  If you missed it, you can see us again at FoE Swap Shop in a few weeks.  Click on the Events & Meetings page for details or sign up to receive our monthly newsletter (see Contact Us page)

Student volunteering for GCC

We've just agreed with the University of Oxford careers service to work with their "The Student Consultancy" programme.  This means they will be lending us a student volunteer who will be undertaking research and reporting over the next few months on transport issues around sustainable travel with particular emphasis on the M40 J6 Lewknor transport links.GCC is working with Chinnor and Aston Rowant PCs to ensure their input can be added to the project, and the student team has been briefed to consider the project alongside the Oxfordshire Local Transport Plan 2011-30 which supports community led approaches to travel improvement and the improvement of cycling and walking facilities.  This is an exciting development and we're grateful for the focussed project support.