Upton Village

South Oxfordshire

Recreation Ground Storage Container – Update

Recreation Ground Storage Container – Update

 

The Parish Council has been considering additional secure storage for several years. In October 2024, following a public Finance Committee meeting, the council agreed in principle to purchase a shipping container and allocated budget for that purpose. This is to provide dry, vermin‑proof storage for council assets including marquees and other equipment, in addition to Uptonogood equipment and other requirements, and to free up space in the existing recreation ground garage and the village hall store.

At the Annual Meeting on 3 June 2026, councillors discussed the “logistical arrangements” for this previously approved purchase (agenda item 27), including where on the recreation ground a container should be sited. The meeting was open to the public and included a site visit. Several locations were considered, including beside the existing garage, under the cherry trees near the entrance, near the village hall, the nature garden, and within the copse. After debate and formal votes on two alternative motions, the council resolved by majority to site a single 20‑foot, green container in the copse, where it will be screened on three sides and not visible from neighbouring houses or the highway.

Some grass and low branches were cut back in the copse by a volunteer prior to the meeting so that councillors could see one of the possible locations on the ground. The final choice of location, however, was made by the council at the meeting itself, following debate and recorded votes. No private decisions were taken.

The council’s initial view is that a small ancillary storage container on parish‑owned recreational land may benefit from permitted development rights for local authorities under national planning legislation. Nevertheless, in response to residents’ questions, the council will now ask Vale of White Horse District Council to confirm the planning position in writing and has paused delivery of the container and its base pending that advice. The council will comply with any planning requirements that are identified.

Councillors are conscious that the copses and nature areas on the recreation ground were established with local volunteer effort and wish to minimise any ecological impact. Any further clearance will be limited to what is strictly necessary for safe installation, and the container will be painted green to reduce its visual impact.

Draft minutes of the Annual Meeting will be published on the council website in due course. Residents are welcome to contact the Clerk with any further questions or comments.

Weather warning for thunderstorms on Friday night risk of flash floods

“The heaviest rain is likely to affect central southern England, south-east England and the Midlands on Friday night before moving to northern England and Scotland by Saturday.

There could be as much as a month’s worth of rain falling in just a few hours and this would lead to flash flooding. Frequent lightning, large hail and gusty winds are additional hazards that would bring transport disruption.”

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/articles/cn7d5221le7o

 

Thames Water’s hosepipe ban in OX postcodes

Thames Water said the measure would come into effect on 22 July for households across Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire who were supplied by Farmoor Reservoir near Oxford.

Announcing the ban Thames Water said a lack of rain and increasing demand had stretched water supplies.

The temporary restriction will affect people across areas with postcodes beginning with OX, GL, SN, RG4, RG8 and RG9.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp90p2zz999o

Upton Photographic Competition

The Summer 2025 Upton Photographic Competition is now open! This competition is open
to all residents of Upton.
There are two age categories:
• anyone under 16 years of age
• anyone 16 years of age and above
There are three competition themes:
1. Upton and Surrounding Area: any photograph that shows off the area in
which we live (landscapes, buildings, people, nature, sunsets, weather etc).
2. Photos from your travels photographs from anywhere in the world
3. Black and White any summer image captured in, or converted to, B/W
Images can be captured by phone or camera and sent to this email address. Please remember to
include a brief description or title. The closing date is September 30th 2025 and there is no limit to the
number of entries.
Good luck and get snapping!!

Upton Neighbourhood Watch

As they say: “no news is good news” and nothing was noted in Upton this month.
The group is now officially registered and if you would like to be formally part of the group and
receive local updates, do join using this link
To raise our profile within the village, we are hoping to install some signs and to have a presence
at the Village Fete on 6th September.
The latest edition of Which? ScamAlerts highlighted fraudulent QR codes, known as
quishing scams. QR codes are two-dimensional patterns of small black and white squares that can
be created by anyone. While many are harmless, some act as gateways into a scammer’s trap.
Fake codes are most commonly found in car parks as sneaky stickers placed on payment machines,
according to Action Fraud, the national fraud and cyber crime reporting centre. Scam QR codes have
also been found on online shopping platforms, with sellers receiving dodgy QR codes via email to
verify their accounts or to receive payments for sold items. Some reports revealed scams
impersonating HMRC and other UK government bodies. Action Fraud issued a warning after
revealing that £3.5m was lost to reported QR code scams in 2024.
Before scanning a QR code, you should:
• look for tampering – does the QR code look like it has been stuck over something? If you’re not
sure, enter the website address manually and avoid scanning the code;
• preview the website address before following it.
When you scan a QR code, you should see the address pop up before you’re redirected to it.
Check the address to make sure it corresponds to the address you were expecting;
• avoid scanning QR codes in public places, such as car parks. Look for alternative ways to carry
out the task. If it’s a car park, there should be information about other ways to pay;
• try to avoid using a QR code to make a payment;
• avoid QR code scanning apps, as they can increase the risk of downloading malware or
being redirected to a misleading advert. Most mobile devices have QR code readers within the
phone’s camera, so use that to scan QR codes instead.
• avoid scanning QR codes in emails, as these could be used by scammers to disguise phishing
links.
If you lose any money to a scam, call your bank immediately using the number on the back of your
bank card and report it to Action Fraud.
Our next meeting will be in September (date to be confirmed) and as ever, all are welcome .

Uptonogood? 2025

Thank you to all those that participated at this year’s Uptonogood? Whether you
rode or volunteered and helped in one (or more) of the many capacities required, the event could not
happen without you, so thank you, Upton’s thriving community, for your support.
We had some 550 riders on the day, cycling 5 different routes, looked after by 52 Marshals and 7
Sweepers. Once the riding was over, we had 3 fantastic bands, 1 DJ, 387 burgers flipped, 80
sissling sausages, and approximately 1000 pints of beer and cider consumed!
On the downside, we had a broken chain, broken derailleur, a nasty case of gravel rash, and a broken
collar bone. Fortunately, they were all taken care of by Safe Hands and Mountain Mania, our first aid
and mechanical support providers.
For once the sun shone throughout the day and although hot, it was not the “hottest day” forecast,
with a third of the 648 litres of water purchased for the feed stations being returned unused.
We are pleased to say all our efforts have resulted in approximately £13.5K raised which will now be
apportioned according to volunteer/marshal requests but with the majority staying right here
in Upton to support the upkeep and improvement of the wonderful facilities we have. Full details will
appear on our website in due course.
If anyone took photos on the day that you don’t mind sharing, please email them to us.
If you are up for doing it all again next year, the date will be Saturday 20th June 2026.
All the best,
Mike Tibbetts and Bob Lot

Upton Village Fete

Save the Date: Saturday 6th September 2025, 12 noon – 4 pm
Planning is in full swing for this year’s Upton Village Fête, and we’d love your help to make it
another fantastic community day!
We are currently looking for volunteers to help with:
• running stalls (books, plants, tombola, hampers, refreshments, and more)
• helping with set-up on the morning of the event
• lending a hand with clearing away afterwards
Whether you can spare an hour or the whole day, we’d be so grateful for your time.
We’re also on the lookout for donations for our ever-popular stalls:
• hampers: bottles, luxury food items, pamper products
• tombola prizes: unopened gifts, treats, bottles, toiletries
• books: good-quality fiction, children’s books, and recent titles
• jigsaws: complete and in good condition
• plants: cuttings, potted plants, herbs, flowers
• preserves: homemade jams, chutneys, marmalades
• face painting: we’re also in need of a volunteer to offer this fun activity on the day!
Donations can be dropped off to: Ann Parham, Pottengers, Chilton Road, Upton
by Wednesday 14th August 2025
This is a brilliant opportunity to get involved in a village tradition and help raise funds for our local
community.

Upton Wine Club 20th Anniversary

Saturday 14th June was a special day in the Upton Wine Club calendar because it marked the 20th
Anniversary of our club. For the past 20 years we have averaged an overall annual membership of
50+ residents from our village and have sampled over 1,600 wines! Although many members keep
coming because they have an interest in wine, either just enjoying it or looking to try something
different or even wanting to learn a little more into what makes a quality wine, I believe that a key
factor in the club’s success is its social side.
During each monthly meeting, we always allow time between tasting wine for our members to
catch up for a social and this Saturday we took that to the next level. Upon arrival, members enjoyed a
cocktail, a Bellini made from mixing peach juice and prosecco. This is a great welcome drink for
small or large parties. After some celebrations, where we thanked past chairmen Mike Collins and
Will Betts and secretary, Fiona Betts for their support in setting up and its continual running
over the years, we settled in to a wonderful BBQ.
We enjoyed the food with two whites, a Coral-do- Mar Albarino from the Rias Baixas region, which
had characteristics of stone fruit and a wonderful citrus flavour and a Buitenverwachting Buiten Blanc,
a crisp, medium-bodied Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa. For the red we had a Codici-masserie
Primitivo from Italy, a beautifully red berry/dark fruity, jammy wine which is great on its own but
amazing with some food! We finished the evening with some amazing chocolate brownies and a
dessert wine called Elysium black Muscat Quady. If you have not tried this and enjoy sweet wine, do
try it: it’s simply wonderful with any sweet dessert! And what better way to finish the evening than a
line dance! A first for the wine club but so popular it wouldn’t surprise me if it didn’t become a
candidate for another Upton club! A massive thank you to all that came along and enjoyed the evening
and to all those who made it such a fantastic celebration. The wine club is off now for the
summer months but will be back again on 17th September 2025 for a new Season. Look forward to
seeing all the familiar faces again and if you wanted to come and give it a try, don’t forget all the
details can be found on our website.

QR code scam warning

QR codes in pubs or restaurants are usually safe to scan, but fraudulent QR codes (also known as quishing scams) are most commonly found in car parks as stickers placed on parking machines.

Local councils and trading standards have recently put out warnings about QR code scams in car parks