Chipping Norton Times - Issue 4/5 - January-February

CHIPPING NORTON TIMES
From the Editor
Thank goodness it’s local!
Do you remember people muttering about the number of empty
shops in our local towns?
Look around any of the market towns now - there are a few blank
windows, but not many. New businesses have been opening here -
small businesses, unique and individual, set up by people who can and
will chat to you, because they are genuinely interested in whether
you like (and will buy) the items they have chosen to stock. We are
highlighting some of those businesses in this edition, and hope that
you will drop in and say Hello, and take a look around.
There are new ‘skills’ involved in surviving the gloomy grey days of an
economic winter, things which we probably didn’t pay too much
attention to before - knowing where to look for the Best Buy
bargains, looking for 2 for 1 promotions and discount vouchers AND
making sure that we use them before they go out of date. We juggle
our plastic cards to get the longest free credit periods and the most
loyalty points, and think twice about filling up the car - at approaching
£100 a go, there are a lot of other things I would rather spend that
money on!
Of course one of the things we can’t always buy in locally is cheap
fuel…. BUT, if we can do most of our shopping locally we will
probably not be standing in the cold filling up the car and handing
over vast amounts of tax and profit quite as frequently, and we won’t
have such a long journey home. Whatever your MPG or kilometre
equivalent, shopping locally make huge sense.
So, pick one of those bright blue sunshine-y days and visit your local
market town(s). You can park free, take time to chat to the person
behind the counter, find out about the local produce, the local crafts
people and skilled artisans working here in our communities. Enjoy
the superb range of coffee shops and tea rooms –a different one
every time you come into town perhaps - welcoming pubs and little
restaurants for lunch or an early supper. We are very lucky living here
– we just need reminding every now and again, rediscovering the
reasons why we do live here and love it!
Best wishes
Jenni Turner, Editor
Our Front Cover photograph was taken by Gary Gleghorn.
Copywrite GG©NCDDD.2011
Copydate for the March edition is 16th February 2011.
(The 16th is our copy date for every month next year)
Telephone Chipping Norton Times on
07789 175 002
(The phone will take your messages too – leave your
name & contact number and we will return your call.)
email CHIPPING NORTON TIMES on
editor@chippingnortontimes.co.uk
www.stowtimes.co.uk
P O Box 6, Sheep Street,
Stow on the Wold, GL54 1WD
Inside this edition
FEATURES
8 - 12 Green Shoots Celebrating new businesses in our towns
27 ‘A Natural Sense of Humour’ – the winners, the winning captions
28, 29 ‘The Natural Wonders of the Cevennes’ article and
photographs from Mike Boyes
REGULARS
6 Book Reviews from Cotswold Bookstore
14 & 16 Rotary – News from the local clubs.
17 The Governments LOCALISM BILL – how important is that to
our communities?
18 2011 Census – 27th March; Can our councillors be Community
Champions?
19 Local Authorities, meetings & information
Telephone scams warning
20 Church Services
21, 22 Village Halls; Rural Cinemas.
23 - 25 LOCAL EVENTS & EVENTS DIARY for February
26 Local Walks in February
32 Wychwood ‘V’ Programme; Greystones Farm SSSI
33-35 Local Schools – news & reports
40, 41, 43 News & Reports from some of the Local Sports Clubs, etc..
44 Tax doesn’t have to be taxing - from Robb Eden
45 News & Reports from some of the Local Clubs, Societies,
Associations & Charities
47 Local Business Directory
Thank you to all our contributors, the writers and photographers who
have helped produce this first edition of 2011. This month the tiny team
of volunteers doing research, sub-editing and proof reading grew once
more and now includes Kathie McDonald, Diana Murphy and Jan Marley
– who also manages our deliveries. Their time and input was invaluable.
Thank you too to all our volunteer deliverers and sources of information
– without them these magazines couldn’t function and we always
appreciate their time and commitment.
Our design team this month was Eagle Design Ltd.
0845 230 8955 / www.eagledesign.net
Extra copies of Chipping Norton Times may be available at the Leisure
Centre and the Information Point. If you can help to deliver Chipping
Norton Times in your area, please contact the Editor – your help will be
much appreciated.