South Oxfordshire
STOP PRESS:
Farm cat holds the key to defeating the ogre of farmer’s inheritance
The owners of a smallholding in the Oxfordshire town of Tabbyshire are pinning hopes of saving their home and business on
Continue Reading Farm cat holds the key… – Performed by The Blewbury Players
Blewbury Players have an exciting year ahead. Don’t miss out, why not come along and join in? You could join the singing and shouting in the pantomime audience or audition for our summer production… something for everyone 😊
Audition workshops for A Monster Calls
It is with great sadness that we have to report the death of Jesse West who has been a pillar of strength in the village for nearly 60 years. Jesse’s funeral service will be held at St Michael’s Church, Blewbury at 12pm (noon) on Thursday 6th February. Burial at St Mary’s, Upton will follow the service with a further gathering at the Upton Village Hall after that. All are welcome to attend any or each part of the proceedings.
Our December Wine Club meeting was held a week earlier this month, giving us all a head start
on the Christmas festivities! Celebrating our 20th season, it was wonderful to see so many villagers
enjoying the evening. We are fortunate to have a diverse selection of wines to sample, ensuring
there’s always something new for our members to experience. Each wine comes with its own story,
and a big part of our club is not just discussing the wine, but also its connection to people, places, and
its role in creating a bit of history! Wine has made people wealthy, landed some behind bars, kept
families together for generations, and sparked a few feuds! Whatever the case, it has always
generated interest, and our village would be a little poorer without a Wine Club! So, I’d like to extend
my gratitude to everyone who makes it happen each month – from the committee who come up
with fantastic topics and make it all possible, to those who help tidy up at the end of each meeting,
and of course, all the members who join us to enjoy a glass or two and create more memorable
moments!
In January, we will explore what age does to a wine. We have invited the local wine business,
Grape Minds, to share their experiences. Hope you can join us!
We have decided to change the name slightly, from ‘drop in’ to ‘coffee morning’, but are pleased to
confirm that the Community Coffee morning is continuing with the same arrangement, meeting
for the most part at the Village Hall on the last Friday of the month. We welcome all villagers,
family and friends, and your canine companion if you want to combine your visit with your morning
walk. You can always rely on there being friendly faces, good conversation, coffee (including
decaffeinated), cakes and biscuits.
Occasionally, there will be special events that coincide with our dates, such as the Macmillan
coffee morning, but we usually have the same arrangement with some seasonal cakes and
activities. Although we typically don’t see many children due to school and childcare arrangements, we always set up a table to accommodate them.
We are producing a leaflet with the dates and times of the next 12 sessions which we will post to
all houses in the village.
The coffee morning at our Village Hall provides a great warm place for all generations to meet and
catch up and we look forward to seeing you soon!
From 6th January 2025 and every Monday thereafter, a new fun fitness class is coming to
Upton. “Dance and Fitness” is a fusion of Dance, Boxing, Aerobics and Toning and is appropriate
for everyone, no matter your fitness level, whether a complete beginner or a regular gym goer.
Classes will be held at the Upton Village Hall from 7pm to 8pm and at only £5.00 a class. The aim is to
make you fitter and stronger and gain greater flexibility with each class burning hundreds of
calories and toning the whole body.
My name is Angela Burt and I live in Upton Village so if you have any questions or want to know more
about my class, please contact me either by phone (07765 017 941) or email. I began teaching classes
back in 2012 as both a licensed and qualified Zumba® and Body Combat® instructor and had an
amazing time teaching so many wonderful individuals but made the difficult decision to stop
during the Covid years. I am excited to continue my journey again so if you’d like to get fitter or just
make new friends, please give this class a try. I hope to see you in January 2025
We (Gemma and Leanne) have recently set up a Baby Bank, called First Steps Baby Bank, to support families in need within Didcot and the surrounding villages, which includes those living in Upton.
Baby Banks work in a similar way to Food Banks, supplying families in need with essential babyrelated items free of charge. There are more than 300 Baby Banks running successfully across the UK but there were none in the Didcot area. We are a non-profit organisation so rely solely on funding and donations from the local community. We are
not yet registered as a charity but hope to be in the future.
Like the Food Bank, we work on a referral-only basis from a professional within the community such as a GP, Nurse, Health Visitor, Teacher, Religious leader. We have recently gone live with referrals and are trying to spread the word so that the community is aware we are here to support families in need. We are currently supporting mums and their children up to the age of 2 years.
If you need further information please see our website and/or Facebook page. You can also email us.
The Upton Christmas Readers return with ‘”Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Goose”.
It’s Christmas Eve, and Sherlock Holmes has been entrusted with the spoils of a rough encounter on
the streets of London; a worn felt hat and a goose.
As the secrets of both the hat and the bird are revealed, they expose a complex mystery and
perhaps even a dastardly crime. Can Holmes and Watson solve the puzzle and get to the truth before
dinner time, or will the case of the Christmas Goose leave them both with ruffled feathers?
Come and find out on Saturday 30th November at Upton Village Hall. Doors open 6:30 pm, and the
performance starts at 7 pm.
Tickets £6.00, are available on the door or in advance from Karibu (High Street) or Finches
(Stream Road). Refreshments are included in the ticket price. There will be also be a raffle, with all
proceeds going to St Mary’s Church. Donations of raffle prizes welcome in advance at Karibu or
Finches, or bring along on the night.
The game is afoot!
Brazil’s wine regions, particularly Serra Gaúcha, Campanha, and Vale dos Vinhedos, have been
gaining international recognition for their excellent wines. The unique terroir, characterised
by high altitudes, diverse soil types, and a favourable climate, contributes to the distinct
flavours and quality of Brazilian wines.
Winemakers in these regions have embraced modern techniques while respecting traditional
methods, resulting in a variety of wines that are both innovative and rooted in heritage. Whether
you’re a fan of reds, whites, or sparkling wines, Brazilian vineyards offer a delightful and diverse
tasting experience. And this month members of the Upton Wine Club had the opportunity to
sample some of the best with Michael Corfe presenting some of his most popular wines from
his company, Go Brazil! Michael has been visiting Brazil for over 15 years
and bringing wine back to the UK for us to try. If you are looking for something a little different,
that you will not find in most places you commonly buy wine, then look no further!
We had over 30 members at the Upton Village Hall this month, tasting sparkling wines, whites and
reds. One of the things, members found most interesting was the suggested food pairing of
some of the wines. For example, if you are looking for something to pair with a some spicy Asian
food, then it would be worth trying the Don Guerino “vintage” Torreontes. Light in alcohol, so
the spices don’t burn your mouth but high in floral notes and unoaked, which compliments the
intense food flavours. On another note, if you like wines from northern Italy, then you might want to
try the Don Guerino “Origine 1880” Teroldego, where the grapes originated from NE Italy, giving
some new world influence to an old world grape variety!
The Upton Wine club is all about trying something a little different with friends from the village and
having a nice social evening. There is no need to have any knowledge of wine but the hope is that
after a while, you will become a little more confident when sitting at a restaurant table and
offered the wine list or when you walk into an aisle of wine and are wondering what you should select!
If you’d like to see what wines we tasted this month or are interested in coming along to the
club please take a look at our website. You need no knowledge of wine, just an interest in trying it!!
On Wednesday 20th November we are starting to get into the festive spirit by offering some sparkling
wines, ports and one or two other surprises you might like to try over the next month or two!
Please check out our website for more details
This season marks the 20th Anniversary of our Wine Club in Upton and after the obligatory AGM,
we started the year by looking at some myths and facts about wine that could be of use to us all! Here
are a few things we discussed during the evening.You may have put a silver spoon in an opened
bottle of fizz and put it in the fridge, to drink it a few days later … in reality, it’s probably the cold
that is preserving the bubbles not the spoon! Putting a stopper in the top and keeping it upright
in the fridge (ideally not in the door, which will disturb the wine every time you open it) is likely to
give you a few extra drinking days!Like many things, we are more confident in trying
and recommending something if it has been personalised to us. There are a few wine apps in
the market now that will give you information on your wine just from taking a photo of the label and
if you give some feedback on your preferences, it will make recommendations on similar wines you
might like to try. I like everything about a Chardonnay from Burgundy except the price, so
my app suggested trying South African Chardonnay’s, where there are some exceptional
wines at a very good price!
Do all wines improve with age? Well, in a word no! Broadly, the wine needs to contain a stabilizer to
allow it to last for several years. For red wines, these are tannins and for white wines, a high
degree of acidity, sugar or alcohol to help preserve it over time. Over the years, wine will soften and
change in complexity and colour. Some wines for example need to age by law: for example, a Rioja.
Crianza will have been stored before bottling for a minimum of 24 months, while a Gran Reserva will
need storing for a minimum of 60 months! Both spending some time in oak barrels, which give it
an added layer of flavour and complexity.If you’d like to see what wines we tasted this
month or are interested in coming along to the club please take a look at our website. You need no
knowledge of wine, just an interest in trying it!!
Next month we have Nicholas Corfe from Go Brazil taking us through some exceptional wines from
Brazil. I hope you can join us on Wednesday 16th October at the village hall at 8:00 pm