WHS – Children’s Seed Planting

Bring the children to the Village Hall on Saturdays through April to plant seeds. Bring an empty egg box and take home 2 sunflowers, 2 Nasturtiums, 2 beans. This event is free and is happening from 11 to noon each Saturday in April

Wolvercote Horticultural Society.

Local Trees – 2022 Calendar Project

During the recent periods of lockdown and restricted travel, many of us have been getting better acquainted with our local landscapes, and some marvellous photographs have been produced. Drawing on this fund of creativity and talent, the Wolvercote Tree Group invite you to submit your favourite photographs of local trees focusing on those in the immediate area of Wolvercote and Wytham, with a view to producing a 2022 calendar featuring the best submissions.

To submit a photograph for consideration, upload an image to your Instagram account using #wolvercotetrees #month (e.g. #jan) and your name. If you don’t have an Instagram account, send the image to wolvercotetreegroup@gmail.com. We will upload it for you. Pictures will be selected by an invited panel for the 2022 calendar which will be sold to raise funds for the work of the Tree Group.

Please be aware that selected photographs must be high-resolution, and should be taken in a landscape format. To produce the calendar in good time for sale at the end of 2021, the deadline for submissions will be the end of October (TBC). So, if you have pictures from last November and December 2020 you would like to submit, please do so now!

We look forward to seeing your photographs celebrating the wonderful countryside we live in. Any questions or queries, please email wolvercotetreegroup@gmail.com

Wytham Woods, 2020

Keep Wolvercote Tidy

Every March, Oxford City Council organises Oxclean and supply all the necessary materials to hold a major litter pick. And every year the Wolvercote Tree Group and the Commoners join forces to give the village a good going over. This, for reasons we all know about, they will not be holding the event.

However, as we all now out having extra walks, it might be a good time to have a  go ourselves. The council are unable to supply the necessary equipment (litter pickers and plastic bags) however there will be 4 pickers available for collection at 39 Meadow Prospect (you’ll need your own plastic bags). So how about the next time you go on one of your walks popping along collection your pickers from Meadow Prospect and having a go at a bit of litter picking yourself? Although it’s normally only the village covered, how about having a go at Godstow Road between Wolvercote and Wytham as well, which is always a mess of lager cans and MacDonald’s remains.

Wolvercote & Wytham Midsummer Festival AGM 2021

WOLVERCOTE AND WYTHAM MIDSUMMER FESTIVAL

Annual General Meeting

Thursday 14th January 2021

At 7.30pm via zoom. Open to all residents of Wolvercote and Wytham

At this meeting:

We will be looking back at the festival 2020 virtual events;

Looking forward to festival 2021 with hope for a real celebration;

Deciding a theme this new year and listening to your thoughts and ideas on events;

Being mindful of keeping safe and our carbon footprint;

Taking stock of our financial position;

Bidding a sad farewell to our present Chair and members standing down from the committee;

Electing a new Chair, committee officers and members who are up for renewal or replacement;

Welcoming new members to the committee;

Planning our next committee meeting

If you are interested in joining us at this meeting please contact John Winterbottom (jwinterbottom8@googlemail.com) who will send you a zoom link

We look forward to seeing you there!

Virtual Autumn Show

The virtual Autumn show is available to access from this afternoon and will remain on the WHS website so as many of you as possible will be able to take the time to look at the exhibits. 

Huge thanks to Anne Charles for loading all the images on the web pages.

Thank you to all of you who sent a contribution. It has really made a great display.

You can access the Autumn Show via our main page – wolvercote.org/wolvercote-horticultural-society/ > and scroll down to the section about the Virtual Shows.

Make a cup of tea, grab a piece of cake and enjoy the authentic virtual WHS show experience!

All Good Wishes,
Clare Winterbottom 
WHS Show Secretary

Something fishy is happening

Sadly St Peter’s isn’t able to hold two of our most social events this year – the Church Fete and our Patronal Lunch.  But that doesn’t stop us finding a way to celebrate St Peter. And since Peter was a fisherman, a “fishy” theme seems appropriate.
We’re going to make an art installation inside the church porch on Sunday 28 June for just one day – from 11:00-16:30. You, family and friends are invited to take part. Make a model fish, not too big and ideally no more than 30cm long in any material – fabric, card, paper or clothes pegs! If your fish is too heavy we won’t be able to catch it in our fishing net, so clay is probably too heavy. Attach a string or ribbon so you can tie your fish to the net.
     Older children and adults might like to make child-safe fabric fish (no buttons for eyes) which, after a suitable period of quarantine, could be sent to children in need.
You might like to be around towards the end of the day to take photographs of the finished installation.

Hand sanitiser will be available. Please practice social distancing and queue patiently if too many people arrive together. 
     For any additional information contact Phillipa Hardman (tel: 01865 513545 or email: Phillipa.hardman@virginmedia.com)

Pixey Mead Walk

Thanks to Dr Alison McDonald for completing a virtual walk planned for this years midsummer festival. Pixey Mead is a very special flood meadow and this film by Emily Malden shows why. Use the settings on the video (bottom right) to play in the highest resolution your broadband can manage.

Festival Lockdown Music Night

Broadcast on Saturday 20st June 2020. Click below to view again.

WHS Virtual Summer Show 2020

21st June 2020

This year’s Summer Show is going to be a virtual display of exhibits available online.

No judging* (*except for Class 22! – This is a new children’s class sponsored by Carl at The Post Box.)
No prizes – Just a wonderful visual miscellany of the produce of the society’s members and friends everyone can enjoy looking at!

Take a look at the classes you can enter    ————–

Classes 1 to 9 are the flower and vegetable categories
 – send a photograph of any of the following you may have grown or that are growing in your garden

1Rose or roses
2 Summer flowers
3 Sweet peas
4 Herbs
5 Beans
6 Peas
7 Salad potatoes
8 Berries
9 Rhubarb
10 Floral arrangement – send a photograph of a floral arrangement   you have created
11 Cake containing a vegetable – send a photograph of a delicious cake you have baked – let us know the vegetable included
12 Eggs – if you keep chickens or ducks send a photograph of their eggs

Classes 13 to 15 are craft categories
 send a photograph of any item you have crafted, any willow you may have woven or any flower(s) you have painted

13 Hand crafted object
14 Example of willow weaving
15 Painting of flower or flowers

Classes 16 to 18 are photography classes so that’s easy.

16 Photography – “Keep your distance”
17 Photography – “What I saw on my Boris walk”
18 Photography – “In it together”

CLASSES FOR CHILDREN (photographed and sent):

19 Painting
20 Model
21 A cake
22 Planted cress – as part of a model or picture (judged by Carl at the Post Box)
23 Photography – “Wildlife”
24 Photography – “Funny”
25 Photography – “Rainbow”

ALL ENTRIES FOR THE VIRTUAL SHOW NEED TO BE IN BY MIDNIGHT ON THURSDAY 18TH JUNE 2020

Please email completed entry forms with your images in jpeg form to show secretary: claremwinterbottom@googlemail.com

I will confirm receipt. Download the Application Form

Thank you for taking part!

2020 Festival Lockdown Treasure Hunt

Your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to identify the sixteen numbered locations of these images of bridges and causeways, all of which are accessible on foot via public rights of way or common land in Wolvercote and Wytham. Please observe the current lockdown rules as you explore.

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 locations of the images and the answers to the questions or 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.