Good news for the people of Wolvercote. We will soon have a brand new building belonging to our local community! 

As part of the planning agreement for the old paper mill, CALA Homes were obliged to provide Wolvercote with a ‘community facility’. So, they will soon hand over their former sales office – a bright, two-storey building and courtyard garden situated at the entrance to the new development, just beside the White Hart pub. 

How will the building be managed? After conducting a survey of 300 households and holding a series of public meetings and workshops, a working group evolved of residents of Wolvercote Mill and the surrounding area. The group has now formed a Charitable Community Benefit Society (CBS) to take ownership of the building. This means that the building is now a community asset. Moreover, the organisation is democratic and accountable and welcomes any local resident to join the group and vote at the AGM or stand as a member of the steering group. 

The plan is to open this month (the CBS is currently waiting for the lawyers to agree a completion date), offering affordable room hire for your events and parties, a pop-up cafe, co-working, group meet-ups and more. 

The vision is to provide a vibrant, open-hearted and flexible space that welcomes, connects and nurtures everyone in our community, whoever you are, whatever your interests. 

This is the beginning of our journey. We’re looking forward to discovering the best uses of this building for our community, working together with all local residents, groups and organisations. If you are interested in getting involved, booking a room or just want to find out more, visit www.thewolvercotemill.org or email info@thewolvercotemill.org.

Once we have a completion date, we will also be organising an open house so you can visit us for a cuppa, cake and tour of the building. Watch this space!

Celebrating 20 years of the Festival in Wolvercote and Wytham. See the first 2003 programme.

The Wolvercote and Wytham Midsummer Festival Anniversary Bench has been a long time in the planning, designing, implementing and installing, but here it is unveiled by one of our dearest village treasures, Sheila Pargeter*, one of the Festival’s founders 20 years ago.   Also enjoying the rustic charm is Charlotte Fenton who suggested the idea in the first place. Huge thanks to our festival Chair, Teresa Woodbridge who organized the funding and kept nudging the project to its final reality. This could not have happened without the generous help from Julian Cooper and his Oxford Direct Services (ODS) team who provided the large and characterful piece of oak and installed the bench.  Thanks too must be given to artist, Richard Fox, who turned a drawing by Jo Malden into a wonderfully sculpted engraving representing the festival logo with flying goose and bunting. You may notice the Wolvercote Community Market logo in the left-hand corner which is in recognition of their kind donation towards the project, and the crown that you will find in the right-hand corner is a nod to this historical coronation year.

Please sit and tarry a while on this bench if you are passing.

*Follow this link to read Sheila’s unveiling speech which describes the history and formation of the festival 20 years ago.

Here is the running order for Fun on the Green 17th June 2023

Pick up your passport and see how many flags you can spot with the Flag Trail. Passports will also be available in the Village Hall during Fun on the Green on 17th June from 12 noon to 5 pm. Small prizes for completed passports will be given during the Parade Workshop on Saturday 24th June (10 am – 12)

Tickets are now available for the Festival Raffle. They are on sale at the Community Market at the White Hart, Wolvercote and in the pub from 4th June. They will also be available at some of the festival events. The draw is in the Village Hall at the Music Night interval on Friday 23rd June. Support your community!

Many thanks to the local businesses below for their kind donations and Teresa Hall for organising.

Your mission is to identify the eighteen numbered locations of these images ‘Round Wovercote’, all of which are accessible on foot via public rights of way or common land in Wolvercote and Wytham.

A map can be found here on which you can mark the numbers of the images in the location you have chosen. All the locations can be found on this map

If you would like a further challenge you may answer a question associated with each image, which you can download here. The questions also appear under the photo when you click or tap the image.

The locations of the images and the answers to the questions will be posted on the Festival Website later in the summer.

Good luck and enjoy exploring our villages on foot. Many thanks to Amanda Saville for putting this together on behalf of the Festival Committee.

The 2023 Wolvercote and Wytham Midsummer Festival programme is now available in local shops, pubs and churches. These paper copies are intended for those who cannot download from the website. The full programme with additional links is also available on the Festival Page

You can download the programme here

If anything changes, we will update the Festival Page.

All events are free of charge unless indicated. The Festival is run entirely by volunteers and relies on donations to cover costs. Any surplus is distributed to local groups. Donations are gratefully received at some events where cash collections can be made. You can also make a donation on the Festival Page (above).

See you there!

Oxfordshire’s largest visual arts festival takes place in May 2023. Full guide here (Pages 100-103 for sites in Wolvercote and Wytham). Website here.

• South Oxfordshire 6th – 14th May
• North Oxfordshire13th – 21st May
• Oxford City May 20th- 29th [29th Bank Holiday Monday] including Wolvercote

Follow us on @OxonArtweeks.

See fresh art on Instagram.com/oxfordshireartweeks, follow the hashtag #oxfordshireartweeks

and/or sign up for a monthly newsletter at www.artweeks.org/newsletter

The theme of this year’s festival (16th – 25th June) is ‘Round the World’, celebrating the international aspects of our community and connections. We welcome ideas and offers of help, especially for the Fun on the Green event on Saturday 17th June. If you can spare an hour or so to be on the rota for some of the fun stalls on the green, or to lead or help with a craft workshop or stall with an international flavour (e.g. origami, simple toys and games, wreath making, doll making, etc) please get in touch with Teresa Woodbridge.

We will also be continuing our tradition of the Village Trail, this year inviting our residents to put out a flag or flags (as many as you like!) representing the country or countries of your choice. If you would like to be included on the map of the trail, please contact Elizabeth Rozeboom or Zoe Greenwood. We look forward to hearing from you.

Exciting news! Over the last few months, Team FG has been busy behind the scenes and we’re excited to share with you some of the changes we’ll be implementing starting from the next issue!

A new layout, printed in full colour, will be the first thing you’ll notice. We’ve harmonised some of the sections to make it easier to browse through each issue, and to bring stunning local images to the forefront.

We’ve created Flying-Goose.org which will feature all the content you’ll get on the printed version, plus a number of interactive services for the community, with a particular emphasis on events and public-interest directories. This website is still work-in-progress. You can expect to see more content added on a weekly basis.

We also have a new email address, so if you’d like to reach out to us feel free to email editor@flying-goose.org. If you’d rather talk on the phone, call 01865 570 380.

Finally, a quick reminder that we’re always looking for new, exciting content, so send us your written pieces/photos and we’ll do our best to publish your content!

The next issue will be distributed at the end of March. We hope you will enjoy your new-look Flying Goose!  Chris Maddison & Piero Stallo, Co-Editors