COMMUNITY NEWS - Defence Academy of the United Kingdom

SHRIVENHAM STATION 

COMMUNITY NEWS 

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012

Editorial 

Come back Paul, all is forgiven! 

Welcome to this the, the first edition of the Shrivenham Station Community News of 2012. Not only is it the first of the 

New Year, it is also the first produced without Paul Coombs at the helm and with me as the Editor. Tribute must be paid 

here to the work of Paul over the last six or so years – he has set a very high standard for those following in his footsteps 

to maintain. We wish him a long and very happy retirement. 

In this copy you will find some excellent and interesting articles – 

we are always keen to receive news from ‘around the bazaars’, so 

please feel free to send in any news of what you might have been up 

to, if you’ve got some photos to go with it, so much the better. The 

email address and other contact details are given below. 

We have a fascinating account of Officer Cadet Sasha Kirkham’s 

expedition to the Arctic with the British Schools Exploring Society. 

The Chaplaincy report on the success of the Pet Service and 

we have another interesting piece by our Wargames Club. Our 

International friends and neighbours are well represented by the 

coverage of the International Families Day and an article about the 

Ladies’ trip to Parliament. The Scouts too give us a round up of their 

events. 

DAFFYS, as we’ve come to now expect, have been very busy – the 

highlights of their recent activities are covered within. This magazine 

started off life as the ‘Bower Brook News’, the Bower Brook Club 

being the forerunner to DAFFYS, so it is only right that they get a 

good showing. Some intrepid members of the DASC set off across 

the English Channel in early December – their adventures can be 

read about in the article written by Captain Phil Burrell; just don’t look 

too hard at the photos! 

The magazine reflects the myriad of things that go on here both 

within and without the ‘Wire’. We are, as ever, hugely grateful to our 

loyal advertisers – try if you can to support them and give them your 

business; many offer ‘deals’ to Defence Academy members. Tell 

them that you saw them mentioned here! 

The answer to the last Conundrum Competition was 

‘PRESENTATION’ although the eagle-eyed of you out there also 

noticed that it could have been ‘penetrations’…. and the winner is 

Carol Lacey from the Component Support Cell. Well done! And well done and thank you to all the others who entered. 

We had lots of correct entries. The next competition is on page 28 again to win a £50 M&S Gift Voucher. 

As well as articles, jokes, moans (shouldn’t be any of them!), poetry, cartoons or advertisements, we also welcome 

your comments and feedback, so if there is anything you would like to see or want to know more about, please contact: 

bbneditor.hq@da.mod.uk 

Tel: 01793 314714 

Community Liaison Office 

Defence Academy of the UK 

5 Short Street, Watchfield SN6 8SJ 

The Shrivenham Station Community News is printed by: 

Information Press, Southfield Road, Eynsham, Oxford OX29 4JB 

Tel: 01865 882588 

www.informationpress.com 

Please Remember 

Items for inclusion in the Apr/May edition may be submitted at any time 

but must be received by 23 February for publication at the end of March. 

Thank you. 

3

DO YOU OWN RENTED PROPERTY 

DO YOU NEED HELP WITH THIS PART OF YOUR TAX RETURN 

For the past 8 years I have helped numerous Service families 

to complete their Tax Returns. I live in Shrivenham which 

means I am able to meet new clients at short notice. I offer 

a fast and efficient service at reasonable rates. 

For further information, please contact: 

LOUISE SLATER BSc, FCMA on: 

TEL: 01793 783332 

EMAIL: BOB@WEEZ.DEMON.CO.UK 

in Highworth 

Dealers 

MOTORS LTD 

New & Used Car Sales 

Full Workshop 

Fully Trained Ford Technicians 

MOT Test Centre 

Class 4 Petrol & Diesel 

Collection & Delivery Service 

within 10 miles of Highworth 

Air Conditioning Services Available 

4

Royal British Legion – 

Field of Remembrance 2011 

The Royal British Legion (RBL) provides welfare to the whole Armed Forces family - serving, ex-Service and their dependants. 

They also campaign on a range of issues affecting Service people, are the custodian of Remembrance, run the annual Poppy 

Appeal and are one of the UK’s largest membership organisations. 

Each November since 1928 the RBL has been inviting individuals from across the country to join us to honour and remember 

loved ones who we have sadly lost serving in our Armed Forces at the same time as raising much needed funds to support 

our veterans and 

current Armed Forces. 

Following a request 

from the RBL, 6 

members of the 

Defence Academy 

volunteered to plant 

over 35000 crosses at 

the Walled Garden at 

Lydiard Park, Swindon 

as part of RBL’s 

creation of a Field 

of Remembrance. 

In somewhat damp 

conditions, the team 

worked along side 

phase 2 Army trainees 

and other civilian 

volunteers on their 

hands and knees to 

systematically plant 

crosses within surname 

alphabetic order. 

After over 5 hours of 

planting crosses, the 

Walled Garden had 

been converted from 

autumn filled flower 

beds to a wonderful 

tranquil setting with row 

upon row of crosses, crowned with a poppy with a personal 

written message inscribed on each of the crosses from 

around the world. 

The Fields of Remembrance were open to the public 

from Friday 11th Nov – Sunday 20 Nov 11 at the following 

locations; Westminster, Swindon, Belfast and Cardiff. My 

thanks go to all of the team who provided an excellent 

representation from the DefAc. 

The Royal British Legion aspiration is to raise of over £40M 

for this 2011’s Poppy Appeal. 

Defence Academy Art Society 

The Defence Academy Art Society meets once a week during term 

time to practise drawing and painting techniques. Additionally, experts 

provide tutorials in order for members to improve their skills leading to 

the twice yearly exhibitions in the forum of JSCSC. 

Membership costs £6 for Mess Members or their families for which you 

will be able to attend tutorials costing over £1000. 

If you are interested in joining then please contact the society secretary 

below. 

Art Society Secretary - Lt Col Rich Jordan 

RJordan.jscsc@defenceacademy.mod.uk 

Tel 01793 314414 

Defence Academy Photographic Society 

The Defence Academy Photographic Society meets on a 

Monday every fortnight at 7pm in the Old Lodge on the road to 

Beckett House. We aim to support and promote interest in 

photography through a comprehensive education, competition 

and exhibition programme. Our education work ensures that 

the skills and knowledge of our more experienced members 

are passed on to all. All levels of experience are catered for 

and new members are always welcome. We are pretty laid 

back and try to avoid the worst excesses of some of the elitist 

items published in the Photography World….. 

If you are interested in joining us please feel free to come 

along on any appropriate Monday evening or simply email me. 

tmouat.cmt@defenceacademy.mod.uk 

5

the crown 

11 High Street, Shrivenham SN6 8AN 

____________________________________ 

Your hosts, Phil, Brian and Wendy 

extend a warm welcome to you all at 

the Crown in Shrivenham village. 

We are open Tuesday - Saturday from 

11.00am - 2.30pm for breakfast, coffee, 

snacks and lunches. 

Evening meals from 6.00pm (last meal order 9.30pm) 

Sunday opening hours are 11.00am to 5.00pm for Sunday Lunch 

We sell ales from Hook Norton Brewery, 

including their guest beer each month. 

Extensive Wine List 

Ideal venue for Syndicate Dinners 

Booking is advisable 

Superb menu, including local 

meats and fresh fish. 

Summer days and evenings 

come and enjoy the sunshine 

and al fresco dining in 

our terraced garden. 

Function room available. 

Phone: 01793 784584 

6

International Families Day 2011 

International Families Day this year took place on Saturday 26 November and 

was visited by over 1000 visitors from across the Defence Academy and local 

area. This is one of the most prestigious events in the JSCSC calendar, as it 

provides an opportunity for members of the ACSC International student body 

and their families to share with their UK hosts, invited guests and ticket holders 

from across the Defence Academy, a sampling of international cuisine, together 

with a display of national costumes and entertainment. The event each year is 

organised by a committee whose members include current ACSC International 

Students, permanent Military and Serco Staff. 

There were 46 nations showcasing their culture and cuisine 

together with a programme of cultural entertainment in the 

Forum which included dance troupe performances from 

Ireland, Bangladesh, Brazil and Spain. Visitors were also 

treated to UAE poetry, a performance by an American Bagpipe 

group and an Elvis Impersonator. 

7

Barbury Shooting School 

Clay target shooting school open 7 days a week 

Practice Sessions - individuals or groups welcome 

Shooting lessons - individual or joint lessons available 

Corporate groups or Birthday parties including catering also available 

Barbury Shooting School, Wroughton, Nr Swindon. 

Tel: 07872 666154 email: enquiries@barburyshoot.com www.barburyshoot.com 

CYCLE REPAIRS 

WE COME TO 

YOU AT HOME 

OR WORK 

Free collection and delivery 

on repairs and servicing 

*Over 20 years experience in the cycle trade* 

**ALSO** 

PUSHCHAIR REPAIRS 

NEW CYCLES 

PARTS AND ACCESSORIES 

For a fast, friendly service call: 

Phil Mitchell (Bike Doctor) on 

01793 874873 

(Day or Evening) 

Mobile: 07850 650956 

SPORTS S MASSAGE THERAPY 

REMEDIAL E & DEEP E TISSUE MASSAGE 

G 

Massage for general pain, injury, 

tension release and relaxation 

All treatments offered to you in the comfort 

and privacy of your own home or workplace 

JUDITH PONTING 

Dip.PT.IIST, Dip.Sports Therapy 

Est 2002 

01367 718010 or 07900 272214 

8

Children were delighted to see Santa Claus in 

the Scandinavian area, and also enjoyed magic 

shows and face painting in the Field House 

Room. Each child was given an IFD Passport which 

allowed them to record the names of the nations they 

saw, cuisine they sampled and received a sticker or 

stamp to register their visit. 

Fund raising for International Families Day took the 

shape of weekly bake sales organised by the wives 

and partners of the ACSC International students. The 

bake sales, co-ordinated by Judy Clarke proved to 

be extremely popular with the students at break times 

in the JSCSC Forum. Another successful fund raiser, 

co-ordinated by Maj Danny Brown, took place on Fri 

18 Nov when the families from USA served delicious 

breakfast burritos to the delight of the JSCSC students 

and staff. Fund raising proceeds were distributed 

between all nations to financially support the cost of 

their stands. 

The event was opened by the Commandant of JSCSC, Air Vice Marshal Ray 

Lock who thanked the ACSC International Students and their families not 

only for all the hard work involved in putting together this event, but also for 

how their presence continues to enrich our lives at Shrivenham. 

AVM Lock was accompanied by his family. 

Judy Clarke 

Head of International Student Liaison 

9

OSTEOPATHY 

PHYSIOTHERAPY 

PODIATRY 

ACUPUNCTURE 

CHIROPODY 

SPORTS MASSAGE 

PILATES 

YOGA 

Tel 01367 244699 

www.faringdon-clinic.co.uk 

Not sure where to go if you 

have back, neck, shoulder, 

arm, knee, leg or foot pain, 

headaches or sports injuries 

Our clinic offers 

an integrated approach to 

patient welfare 

ALSO AVAILABLE 

Industrial Carpet Cleaner for Hire 

Great for March Outs 

We will even drop off and pick up from your house 

No need to drive to Swindon 

No Deposit 

£25 Per Hire 

Includes Detergent 

Power Spray and Suction 

Phone: 07910 838593 

Evening and 

Saturday 

appointments 

also available 

Pilates Therapy 

Receive intensive hands on correction 

from a Pilates teacher and 

Physiotherapist whilst working at 

strengthening the core stability. 

Yoga Therapy 

Designed for those wanting to deepen 

their experience of postures, with an 

opportunity to receive intensive hands 

on correction. 

10

“All things bright and beautiful, all 

creatures great and small…” 

This is the first time we have held such a service here at 

Shrivenham and the event was well supported by both the 

Saddle Club and those who prefer their mode of transport 

to be more conventional. The riders arrived 

in a cavalcade that would not have looked 

out of place in a scene from the movies 

and the horses and ponies were a credit to 

their riders, standing serenely throughout 

the service. Special mention goes to 

Clare Chamberlayne, Katie Wilson and 

Amber Jones who delivered their reading 

and prayers from the top of their mounts! 

Meanwhile, Pam Berridge delivered her 

reading from the safety of the ground whilst 

being watched over by her two collies, Rollo 

and 

Archie. 

Late last year the Saddle Club approached Padre Pete with the idea of 

holding a Service of Thanksgiving and Blessing of Pets. Padre Pete, being 

a Franciscan at heart, was overjoyed to be able to help. The service is an 

excellent way of celebrating and 

thanking God for the faithfulness, 

service and love our pets and animals 

give to us.The bond between a person 

and their pet can be like no other and 

the service is a unique and beautiful 

ceremony that praises and affirms the 

wonderful contribution that our animals 

and pets add to our lives. 

Traditionally, such a service is held on 

or around the Feast Day of St Francis 

of Assisi on the 4th October. You may 

know that St Francis is the patron saint 

of animals. He called all creatures 

his brothers and sisters and showed 

a sensitivity to the living and organic 

things around him that sets him apart from other people of his day. He even 

cared for the inanimate objects of creation with a sensitivity that is similar to 

Buddhist teachings about kindness toward all sentient beings. He lifted worms 

from the road for fear they might be trampled underfoot by passersby. He 

walked reverently on stones. When he looked at the sun, the moon, and the 

stars, he was filled with inexpressible joy by his love of the Creator and invited 

them all to love their Creator. 

blessing.’ The singing of “All things bright and beautiful” was 

so ably led by Debs Edwards that Padre Pete felt confident 

enough to let the congregation loose on the final hymn 

before bringing the service to 

a close and inviting everyone 

to return to the Saddle Club 

for a welcome cup of tea. 

The Chaplaincy were 

delighted at how well 

received the service was by 

the whole community and are 

looking forward to running 

a similar service next year… 

watch this space! 

For many, the 

highlight of the 

services was when 

Padre Pete blessed 

each animal and 

owner by name 

although it has to be 

said that in order to 

avoid getting trampled 

by the larger (equine) 

animals in attendance, 

it was agreed that the 

horses and ponies 

would receive a ‘group 

11 

Janet Holt 

Chaplaincy Coordinator 

(Photographs taken by Janet Holt - should you wish to 

view these or any of the other pictures taken at this event 

please do not hesitate to contact the Chaplaincy on 

(01793 785515.)

THOMAS RENTALS 

Rental of Household Furniture and Appliances 

Television’s, Video’s, Bed’s, Lounge Furniture, Microwaves, 

Washing Machines, Dishwashers, Fridge/Freezers 

Plus other Furnishings and Appliances. 

For further information call: 

Office: 01295 251997 

Eric’s Mobile: 07885 215562 

Jim’s Mobile: 07771 864644 

Or visit our website: www.thomasrentals.co.uk 

12

Level 2 Award in Paediatric First Aid 

This two-day Paediatric Emergency First Aid course has been developed for those 

responsible for children and babies, or who simply are working with and have an 

interest in Paediatric First Aid. It will be of particular use to Parents, Teachers, Child 

Minders, Crèche Assistants, Playgroup personnel and anyone responsible for youth 

organisations. 

This qualification is made up of two units and in order to achieve the full qualification 

you must have achieved success in both units. However, should you only achieve one 

unit, then this can be recognised and accredited accordingly. This two-day course 

satisfies the guidelines and criteria as defined by the Early Years Foundation Stage 

(EYFS) and OFSTED. 

• Duration: A 12 hour course consisting of theory and practical work designed for parents/carers 

of babies and young children – from birth to 12 years of age. 

• Day 1 (6 hours) Includes: 

Responsibilities and reporting 

Dealing with an unresponsive casualty 

Shock 

Minor injuries 

Anaphylaxis 

Recovery position 

First Aid equipment 

Assessment of the situation 

Wounds and bleeding 

Resuscitation 

Epilepsy 

Choking 

Infection control 

• Day 2 (6 hours) Includes: 

Head injuries 

Febrile convulsions 

Electrical injuries 

Diabetes 

Burns and scalds 

Asthma 

Bites and stings 

Fractures and spinal injuries 

Ear, eye and nose injuries 

Sickle cell anaemia 

Foreign bodies 

Meningitis 

Heat and cold 

Poisoning 

• Certification: Although there is no formal assessment, the trainer will assess each individual 

ongoing throughout the course; this qualification is valid for 3 years. 

• Numbers: A maximum of 12 students can be accommodated on this course and must be aged a 

minimum of 14 years or above. 

• Location: Jubilee Community Centre (JCC). 

• Cost of the Course is £25 (Includes certificate and a copy of Paediatric First Aid Handbook for 

babies and children worth £2.29). 

• NUCO & FAA (HSE 29/99) approved trainer. 

For further information and dates for this course please contact: 

WO2 (SQMS) Peter Davies (Station Welfare Warrant Officer) 

Room 002, Headquarters, Greenhill House 

Tel: 01793 314 715 (24 hour answer service) 

Fax: 01793 314 717 

E-Mail: pdavies.hq@defenceacademy.mod.uk

Springtime word search for children 

Words 

to find: 

Lamb Daffodil Crocus Spring Blossom 

Equinox Lent Nowruz Chicken Mud 

L A M B Z D B C E 

L M B A A A U Q F 

S E S C K F U N G 

M Q N N R F Q O N 

M U S T L O W W I 

X I D U L D C R R 

O N F Z W I P U P 

M O S S O L B Z S 

E X N E K C I H C 

14

Sunday Service Times 

St Alban’s Church 

Protestant 

Sunday—Holy Communion at 1100hrs 

(Sunday School every Sunday except 

the 1st Sunday of the month) 

Catholic 

Saturday – Vigil Mass at 1800hrs 

Sunday – Mass at 0930hrs 

Confessions are heard on Saturday from 1730hrs or by 

arrangement. 

The Academy Chaplaincy Team hold a variety of services 

throughout the week, details as follows:- 

St Andrew’s Church – Shrivenham 

1015hrs – Parish Communion 

(1st Sunday – Family Service) 

St Thomas’ Church, Watchfield 

0900hrs – 1st & 3rd Sunday – Matins, 2nd & 4th Sunday 

Methodist Church, Shrivenham 

1030hrs – Morning Service, Crèche and Sunday Club 

1830hrs – Evening Service (2nd, 4th and 5th Sundays) 

Faringdon Baptist Church 

1030hrs – Sunday Worship now at Faringdon Junior School, 

parking in Gloucester Road car park. 

Tuesday Holy Mass at 0800hrs in the Prayer Room, JSCSC 

Eucharist at 0800hrs in the Slim Room, JSCSC 

Wednesday Holy Mass at 1800hrs in St Albans Church 

Thursday Lunchtime Christian Fellowship 1300-1350hrs 

in the Prayer Room, JSCSC 

World Faiths Prayer Room 

The Worlds Faith Prayer Room is to be found on Faringdon 

Road, beside the old gate into the Academy grounds. 

There is also a further prayer room located in JSCSC, suite 003. 

Fridays 1310 to 1345 – Muslim Prayers 

Swindon Mosques 

124 Broad Street, Swindon – 01793 523831 

136 Manchester Road, Swindon – 01793 511051 

Five Daily Prayers held regularly. 

The Chaplaincy – Who are we 

Father Steven Forster 01793 314488 

Senior Chaplain 

Padre Pete Edwards 01793 314487 

Academy Chaplain 

The Revd Richard Hancock 01793 780183 

OCF (C of E) 

Chaplains’ Coordinator 01793 785515 

‘The American Dream’ 

An American businessman was on holiday in Mexico and was 

standing on a wooden pier of a small coastal village when a small 

boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were 

several large Yellowfin Tuna. The businessman was impressed by 

the fish and complimented the fisherman on the quality and size of 

the catch. He continued to ta k to the fisherman. 

“How long did it take you to catch the fish” the businessman 

asked. 

“Only a little while” the fisherman replied. 

“Why don’t you stay out longer and catch more fish” the 

businessman then asked. 

“I have enough to support my family’s immediate needs” the 

fisherman said. 

“But” the businessman then asked, “What do you do with the 

rest of your time” 

The Mexican fisherman said: “I sleep late, fish a little, play 

with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into 

the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with 

my amigos. I have a full and busy life, senor.” 

The businessman scoffed: “I am a Harvard MBA and could help 

you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds 

you could buy a bigger boat and, with the proceeds from the 

bigger boat, you could buy several boats. Eventually you would 

have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a 

middleman, you would sell directly to the consumers, eventually 

opening your own can factory. You would control the product, 

processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small 

coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and 

eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise.” 

The fisherman asked: “But senor, how long will this all take” 

To which the businessman replied: “15-20 years tops.” 

“But what then, senor” 

The businessman laughed and said: “That’s the best part. 

When the time is right, you would announce an IPO - an Initial 

Public Offering - and sell your company stock to the public 

and become very rich. You would make millions.” 

“Millions, senor Then what” replied the fisherman. 

The businessman said slowly: “Then you would retire. Move 

to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, 

fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, 

stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine 

and play your guitar with your amigos...” 

Christianity, and other world faiths, teach us that the most 

important things in life are our relationships; relationships 

with our self, our families, our friends and with God. This 

story challenges us to think carefully about what we are 

working for and what we are working towards. Perhaps we 

have already found that which makes us happy or it is closer 

than we had every imagined. 

God Bless 

Padre Pete Edwards 

At the beginning of this year Chaplaincy has said ‘goodbye’ to Father Andrew Lloyd who is retiring to his own particular 

version of ‘drinking wine/sleeping late’ and ‘fishing a little/playing his guitar.’ I strongly suspect he will be doing more 

of the former than the latter! We therefore welcome to the Chaplaincy Team Father Steven Forster who joins us after a 

demanding posting with 38 (Irish) Brigade. Please feel free to drop into the Chaplaincy Centre at any time and welcome 

Steven or share with us your hopes and dreams, success or failures in life. 

15

The Families and Welfare team had a busy period in the run up to Christmas. To start with our numbers fell from seven to five 

when we said good bye to Glynis Weinand and Paul Coombe who have both moved on to enjoy their no doubt, even more 

hectic retirement! We wish them well. Number 5 Short Street continues to be the hub for the ‘Families’ side of what we do, 

with Kim Manning and Rebecca Dunne holding the fort there as well as helping out at the Jubilee Community Centre (JCC) 

when required. 

The many activities that take place in the JCC carry 

on; we have added a Twins’ Group session to the 

list now and every Monday afternoon from 1330 to 

1500hrs, it meets under the watchful eye of Carol from 

the Faringdon Children’s Centre. Also becoming a 

regular feature in the Centre are the Paediatric First 

Aid Courses run by WO2 Pete Davies – I can vouch 

for their excellence having attended one in October 

– There are more planned for the future: Watch this 

space! 

Families and Welfare 

Elsewhere in the magazine you will see and read 

of some of the things that the Welfare Team have 

been involved in – no doubt, some of you will have 

taken part in one or more of them. We are always 

looking for ideas as well as being here to help you, so don’t be shy, give us a call if there’s something you’d think we should 

be doing. We are lucky to have such a pro-active ‘Wives’ Club (in old money – forgive me, but by the time you’ve read this I’ll 

have done my Equality & Diversity Training Course, so I’ll get better) in the guise of DAFFYS. We pay particular thanks to Mrs 

Sheila Russell and her team for all they have done to date, again, some of which is reported on in this issue, but in particular 

I’d like to highlight the Christmas Bazaar, and the Children’s Christmas Party. It should also be noted that between them they, 

at the drop of a hat, produce the most wonderful homemade cakes. DAFFYS are always looking for volunteers, so please do 

lend a hand if you have a few spare minutes, hours, days……! 

On the subject of Volunteers – we are desperate for 

some assistance with the Kidz Club and the Youth 

Group. For them to continue in their present form we 

as a Team will need some ‘help’, if you can spare a 

few hours on a Tuesday evening Come along and 

see what happens and join in if you can. 

WO2 Pete Davies organised a Gala Evening at 

Debenhams in Swindon, as many of you know. 

Enormous thanks are due to him for getting this 

up and running – maybe as many as four hundred 

people turned up (about twice as many as we’d 

thought!) and made the event a great success. 

By the time you read this, bearing in mind that it’s being written in mid-December, Christmas will be but a distant memory, 

ICSC(L) 8B will be a good month into their course and the 8A Course will, hopefully, be seeing some light at the end of their 

tunnel, and we will be well underway in the New Year – who knows what it will hold 

Families & Welfare (Community Liaison Office) 

5 Short Street, Watchfield, Swindon, SN6 8SJ 

Tel: 01793 780793 or 01793 780794 

Fax: 01793 780793 

email: abolton.hq@defenceacademy.mod.uk 

pdavies.hq@defenceacademy.mod.uk 

kmanning.serco@defenceacademy.mod.uk 

rdunne.serco@defenceacademy.mod.uk 

HELP FOR HEROES CHARITY 

The Defence Academy is supporting the 

Help For Heroes Charity. Anyone wishing to 

make a donation or purchase a key ring, 

fridge magnet, wrist band or car sticker 

at a cost of £2.00 should contact: 

Sam Balfre, DA HQ, Greenhill House on: 

Tel: 01793 785670 

Mil: 961615670 

17

College 

farm 

• Welcoming Atmosphere 

• Extensive (Two for One) Menu 

• Daily Home Cooked Specials 

• Traditional Ales 

• Seating for 185 

✄ 

Where better to dine with your 

family, friends or work colleagues. 

Families and children always 

welcome – outdoor play area. 

To pre-order your lunch or to book 

a table Call us on 01793 783170. 

QUIZ NIGHT every Thursday 

evening from 9pm – prize for the 

winning team. 

Be the first…… 

…..To hear about great offers and 

what’s on at the College farm. 

Simply log on to the College farm 

website, and Register your details. 

Once this has been done, simply 

hand in this coupon to receive a 

free dessert! 

Spending Less on Eating Out 

When 2 people each order a main course meal, we will give you 

the lower priced meal……... 

FREE OF CHARGE! 

Mondays Special Offer 

For all Defence Academy Staff, Students and Dependants, 

20% discount off all food when dining anytime on a Monday 

on production of a valid military ID or DA entry pass 

Majors Road, Watchfield, Swindon, SN6 8TQ Tel: 01793 783170 

Email: collegefarm.watchfield@marstons.co.uk

Defence Academy Wargames Club 

The Defence Academy Wargames Club meets every 

Wednesday evening at 1930, usually finishing about 

2200. Anyone interested is welcome and no experience 

is necessary. We are a friendly lot and are very happy 

to show anyone what we do if you want to come along. 

Our portfolio of games (all of which are brought in by 

our members) has included boardgames, computer 

moderated table games and traditional figure games 

(land, sea, and air, and periods ranging from Ancients 

to ‘the Future’) but if you want to bring a game of your 

own there is no limit to our interest. 

At club nights we are in the middle of a season of 

World War 2 games, including Rules of Engagement, 

and we plan to move on to either science fiction games 

or to ancients – club members to decide - using the 

Fields of Glory system. All of these game series are 

interspersed with one-off games from other eras to ring 

the changes. In this respect we have played American 

Civil War riverine rules (Hammerin’ Iron), skirmish 

games, Pirate games ‘Zombies’, ‘Family Business’ 

and goodness knows what else… it all depends on what the 

members bring. 

Occasionally we run games at a weekend for those 

with a taste for large engagements that last a few 

hours longer - depending on demand. Our most recent 

one was a massive American Civil War game that was 

on a knife edge until the very end. We also make up 

parties to go to wargames shows (we went to ‘Salute’ 

in London, ‘Attack’ in Devizes, ‘Colours’ at Newbury 

Race Course, and ‘Warfare’ at Reading in 2011. Who 

knows where we will go next year! 

If you or any member of your family are interested 

please ring Dr Charles Kirke on 01793 785381 and/or 

email ckirke.cu@defenceacademy.mod.uk 

All the best,Charles 

Fr Andrew Lloyd MBE CF 

Father Andrew, the Senior Padre here at the Defence Academy, is 

leaving the Army after some seventeen years service (no pun intended! 

Ed). Originally from Cheshire, Fr Andrew did his theological training at 

Ushaw College in Durham and was ordained in the Roman Catholic 

Church in 1986 joining the Diocese of Shrewsbury. After an attachment 

to HM Prison Service and to a Cape Town ‘township’ he served in local 

parishes in Cheshire. He joined the Regular Army having served as a TA 

Chaplain and was commissioned into the RAChD in 1995. He has served 

in UK, Germany, Belize, the Balkans and Sierra Leone as a Regimental 

Padre and was Chaplain at the MCTC in Colchester. Whilst the RC 

Chaplain at RMA Sandhurst, where he spent four years, he raised funds 

for and oversaw the rebuilding of the Catholic Chapel there. In 2005 he 

was made MBE. As Senior Chaplain of 20 Armoured Brigade, which 

included deploying to Iraq, he was tasked to supervise the drawdown of 

Chaplaincy assets in Northern Ireland at the end of Op BANNER. Before 

coming to the Defence Academy as Senior Chaplain in 2010, he was 

promoted to Deputy Assistant Chaplain General with responsibility for 

Salisbury Plain and also deployed to Afghanistan. 

Fr Andrew leaves us with all our best wishes for the future. 

19

Its been a busy couple of months with lots of DAFFYS events taking place. October saw the return of COOK WITH 

DAFFYS with Rachel Curry and Claire Calder entertaining a large group of ladies to the delights of the Victoria Sandwich 

cake. Watch out for more demonstrations in St Albans Church soon. 

We have had a fantastic range of guests at the LADIES LUNCHES that take place on the 1st Friday of the month. Mrs 

Jane Thicknesse spoke about living in the Falkland Islands, Mrs Judy Clarke on the joys of being Head of International 

Student Liaison and Dr David Whetham on Military Ethics. A diverse and thought provoking selection indeed. 

The end of October DAFFYS entertained over 70 young 

children in the annual HALLOWEEN PARTY. Pin the Eye 

on the Skeleton and designing your own ghost being just a 

few of the wonderful crafts that took place. Many thanks to 

all the helpers, headed up by Cath Fraser, who gave up their 

time to make it such a successful event. 

Our November DAFFYS COFFEE 

MORNING in the Jubilee Centre was a 

mixture of celebration and sadness. DAFFYS 

presented the Jubilee Centre with a range of 

new books and baby bouncers in recognition 

of the support it gives DAFFYS. We also 

said thank you and farewell to Rachel Curry 

as she left for the Falkland Islands. Rachel 

has been a valuable member of the DAFFYS 

Team, organising the monthly Coffee Mornings 

(including all the stall holders). Andria Benjamin 

has taken up the reins as the Coffee Mornings 

continue on the first Thursday of the month in 

the Jubilee Centre. 

20

Over 100 children and their parents enjoyed the delights 

of Magical Timmy at the CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS 

PARTY on 11th December. 

Gluhwein provided by the DAFFYS Team, flowed at the 

Annual Defence Academy Bonfire at the beginning of 

November. This is one of our most important fund raising 

opportunities, allowing us to bolster the funds that enable us 

to run other events. Caroline Rawlins did a fantastic job coordinating 

the team on what was a very successful evening. 

It was also the first time our new DAFFYS shirts were used. 

From now on our team of volunteers can be easily located at 

DAFFYS events. 

The annual Defence Academy 

CHRISTMAS BAZAAR 

organised by DAFFYS, took place 

on Thursday 17th November. 

With over 

70 stalls 

of goods 

ranging from 

jewellery and 

umbrellas to 

china and 

scarves, 

bubble bath 

to underwear 

and chocolate 

to books, there truely was 

‘something for everyone’. 

The highlight of the afternoon for 

all of the children was of course 

the opportunity to meet Santa! 

He arrived on a horse keeping 

his reindeers well rested for later 

in the month. 

After a tea of sandwiches and 

cakes for the children and 

mulled wine and mince pies for 

the adults, came the moment to 

tell Santa 

what one hoped 

to receive at 

Christmas. We 

do hope that 

those wishes 

were fulfilled. 

It was a 

fantastic 

evening 

enjoyed 

by over a 

thousand 

visitors. 

Philippa 

Gasson took 

the lead in 

organising 

the large team of volunteers who 

worked tirelessly over many hours 

to make it an absolute success. 

21 

There is always something happening in the DAFFYS 

Calendar, from Coffee Mornings to Ladies Lunches and 

Bring A Dish events to Cook with DAFFYS. We also have 

a trip coming up to Oxford in February half term and a 

visit to the Tank Sheds (DCC) in March. Also watch out for 

our PAMPER Evening coming soon. 

For more details on all our events please see our 

website www.da.mod.uk/daffys or email 

dadaffys@gmail.com 

Once again 

Cath Fraser 

led a team of 

volunteers to 

make it a hectic 

but highly 

successful 

afternoon for all.

THE 

BARBERS 

6 Cornmarket, Faringdon, Oxon 

01367 244611 

www.thebarbersfaringdon.co.uk 

Tuesday 9.00am - 6.00pm 

Wednesday 9.00am - 6.00pm 

Thursday 9.00am - 7.00pm 

Friday 9.00am - 6.00pm 

Saturday 8.30am - 2.00pm 

(Open Lunchtimes) 

Gents £8.00 

OAP’s £5.50 

Boys (over11) £6.00 

Boys (under 11) £5.00 

Clipper Cut (all Over) £5.00 

Restyle £9.00 

We stock a range of: 

Nitty Gritty Aromatherapy 

Head Lice Combs 

Lotions and Repellent Spray 

22

Music & Firework Evening Donation 

from Serco and ESS 

Serco and ESS very kindly donated £500 each to the 2011 Music and Fireworks evening. The cheques were presented to 

the Shrivenham Station Commanding Officer, Wing Commander Guy Sawyer RAF from Serco by Mr Ian Marlow, Defence 

Academy Services Director and Mr Paul Lidster, DACI Contract Manager and from ESS by Mr Chris Holness on Thursday 

15th December 2011 in the Station Commanders Office. 

Mr Chris Holness from ESS with 

the Station Commander, Wing 

Commander Guy Sawyer RAF 

Mr Ian Marlow and Mr Paul Lidster from 

Serco with the Station Commander, 

Wing Commander Guy Sawyer RAF 

23 

Serco and ESS Representatives 

with the Station Commander

DEFENCE 

ACADEMY 

GOLF CLUB 

Set in the Academy grounds the course provides 

a challenge to golfers of all abilities. 

18 different holes are achieved by a devious 

combination of 14 greens and 17 tees, 

so making each hole unique. 

All Military, Civil Service or 

Contracted Employees (e.g. Serco, 

Cranfield etc) and dependants 

are eligible for membership on a 

Full, Weekday or Pay as you play 

membership basis. 

If you have ever wanted to take 

up golf, the DAGC is the ideal place 

- an inexpensive introduction to 

the game of golf at a fraction of the 

cost of local public courses. 7 day 

membership is only £220 per year 

– Shrivenham Park is £550 

DAGC offers: 

• Competitions and matches 

(with local clubs) 

• Opportunity to gain 

EGU handicap 

• Extensive practise facilities 

• Turn up and play – no need to 

book tee times 

• Ladies section with priority on 

Tuesday mornings 

• Golf lessons with local pro 

If you are interested in joining 

please contact the manager (785725) 

For further details of the club and course 

please visit www.dagc.org.uk 

24

International ladies visit Houses of 

Parliament & Westminster Abbey 

On Tue 8 Nov, a group of International ladies travelled to 

Westminster by coach to visit the Houses of Parliament. The 

ladies are all spouses of Staff and 

Students attending the Advanced 

Command and Staff Course at 

by King Edward the Confessor in 1065 no longer exists, but 

its foundations remain under the present Abbey most of 

which was built under the reign of Henry III between 1245 

and 1272. The ladies 

were able to listen to an 

audio guided tour in their 

own language, which 

furnished information 

about the resting places 

of monarchs including 

Edward lll, Richard ll, 

Elizabeth l, Mary Queen 

of Scots and Henrys lll 

and V. They also visited 

Poets Corner where they 

saw the tombs of writers 

Dr Samuel Johnson, 

Charles Dickens, 

Robert Browning 

and Alfred 

Lord Tennyson 

together with 

the actors David 

Garrick and Sir 

Laurence Olivier. 

Ladies at Westminster Abbey 

JSCSC and represented 20 different nations. 

The ladies were provided with a personal guide who gave a 

very informative tour of the House of Commons, House of 

Lords, Robing Room, Central Lobby and Voting Chambers 

plus Westminster Hall. They were also given an insight into 

the working practices 

of our Government 

and the formation of 

both the Houses of 

Commons and Lords. 

The group reported that 

they had enjoyed the 

tour and had learned 

much about our history, 

our democracy and the 

role our Monarchy has 

played over the years in 

the development of our 

Parliamentary process. 

The ladies followed the 

tour of the Houses of 

Parliament with a visit to 

Westminster Abbey. The 

original church founded 

Garden of Remembrance 

25 

The timing of our visit was very 

poignant, as it coincided with 

preparations for Memorial Day. 

The Grave of the Unknown 

Warrior from World War 1 

dedicated by King George V 

51 years ago was decorated with 

poppies. This memorial stands 

as a tribute not only to the fallen 

Tomb of the 

Unknown Warrior 

of the First World War, but also to the millions who have 

died since in international military conflict. The ladies also 

visited the Garden of 

Remembrance which was 

being laid with hundreds 

of commemorative poppy 

crosses in preparation 

for the Service of 

Remembrance on Sun 

13 Nov. 

The visit was organised 

by Judy Clarke, Head 

of International Student 

Liaison and kindly 

sponsored by JSCSC. 

Special permission for the 

tour was kindly granted 

by HM Government 

Parliamentary Tours Office. 

Judy Clarke

The Chaplaincy Team of the 

Defence Academy of the United Kingdom 

present a series of… 

Lent Lunches 

on the following Wednesdays 

between 1310 – 1400 hrs 

7th, 14th, 21st & 28th March 

All those working and living at Shrivenham Station are 

welcome to join us for a simple lunch of bread and soup 

and a short talk by one of the Chaplains. 

In the Slim Room at JSCSC 

For further information please call Janet in the Chaplaincy on 785515 (Internal Ext 5515) 

or talk to one of your Chaplains. 

26

Svalbard Arctic Odyssey 

Officer Cadet Sasha Kirkham was a student at Welbeck, 

the Defence Sixth Form College when she was selected to 

participate in the 5-week British 

Schools Exploring Society (BSES) 

2011 Expedition to Svalbard, a 

Norwegian archipelago 600 miles 

north of Tromsø on mainland 

Norway, and well within the Arctic 

Circle. The Expedition came to 

global attention when, in the early morning of Friday 5th 

August 2011, a polar bear attacked ‘Chanzin Fire’, one the 

groups of Young Explorers on the expedition to Svalbard. 

This led to the tragic death of Horatio Chapple. Two of 

his fellow Young Explorers and the two Group 

Leaders were severely injured. Sasha was not 

part of Chanzin Fire, but as a member of the 

same expedition she trained, deployed and 

recovered with those involved. 

crispbread with Primula squirty cheese and some snacks 

for lunch, and dehydrated ration packs for dinner. It was fair 

to say there wasn’t a lot of variety, and we ate so many of a 

particular brand of cereal bars that I can’t bear the thought of 

them without shuddering! Having assimilated what we were 

going to try and achieve, and how we would survive, we 

were by then extremely excited, and left with no doubt that 

this would represent a once in a lifetime opportunity which 

would leave us with unforgettable memories. 

We arrived in Longyearbyen, Svalbard on 23rd July in the 

early hours of the morning to be greeted by the Arctic 

Summer’s 24 hours of daylight - it was a big shock at first, 

but didn’t take long to adjust to, and actually quite useful as 

Sasha has now moved on to the next stage of 

the Defence Technical Officer and Engineer Entry 

Scheme (the Headquarters of which is part of 

the College of Management and Technology at 

Shrivenham), and is a bursar on Taurus Squadron 

of the Defence Technical Undergraduate Scheme, 

studying Mathematics at Aston University. There 

follows the story of her expedition: 

“The reality that I was really going to be going to 

the Arctic sunk in on the 15th April 2011 when I 

attended the briefing weekend for the expedition 

in Derby, when I met the majority of the young 

explorers (YEs) 

who would be going to the 

Arctic with me; including the 

members of my Fire Team 

“Gnomen” (a ‘Fire Team’ is a 

group of 8-12 YEs) and our 

group leaders. During the 

weekend we were briefed on 

and learnt how to set-up and 

pack the radio equipment, 

trip-wires and tents, and 

introduced to the rifle we were 

to be using in the Arctic. For 

a lot of people this was the 

first rifle they had ever seen, 

let alone use, and so we were 

shown how to load, unload 

and clean the rifle in some 

detail. Our Science topic was 

Glaciology; investigating eg 

energy transfer from the sun 

and how fast the glaciers 

were moving. We were also 

given some photos of the 

mountains and valleys which were taken over 100 years ago, 

and so we planned to go and re-take the photographs as a 

comparison. 

We also familiarized ourselves with the stoves we’d use, and 

with the food we’d be eating: porridge/cereal for breakfast, 

27 

it meant there wasn’t a limit as to how long we could walk! 

The next day was on the shooting range for a refresher 

session with the rifle and to live-fire, before loading all our 

kit onto the Langoysund ferry; this took several hours with 

all the food, science kit, rifles, tents, radios, crampons, ice 

axes etc, as well as personal kit. The journey to the wild and 

empty beach which was soon to become our base camp 

took 4 hours, and reinforced how far away from civilisation 

we would be for 5 weeks. As soon as we arrived we started 

to unpack and we worked until the early hours of the 

morning setting up base camp. There was one main tent 

with all the spare food and kit and then another with all the 

electrical items such as the laptop and spare radio parts. We 

spent the next few days getting used to our surroundings, 

refreshing our training, eg setting up trip-wires, and going 

on day trips to get used to equipment and work out the best 

clothes layers. The sun was very strong and, combined with 

a lack of atmosphereric ozone, some people were suffering 

with sun burn. We were all very keen to start exploring past 

the adjacent Von Postbreen glacier, and further up into the 

valley towards the mountains, and so, after just a few days, 

the Fire Teams all set off in our different directions, unsure 

when we were all going to see each other again; you could 

go days without seeing anybody else, which allowed you to 

really appreciate the stunning surroundings. 

We divided up the group food, science equipment, rifle, 

rifle cleaning kit, tents and fuel evenly across the 10 YEs in 

our Fire Team, but after the first day of walking it became

COMPETITION TIME 

SOLVE THE ANAGRAM 

Win a £50 Marks & Spencer gift voucher 

MARINESTAGAP 

Clue: It was besieged twice between 1750 and 1800 

Answers, which must include the years hinted at above, 

to the email address below by Friday 2 March please 

bbneditor.hq@da.mod.uk 

Good Luck! 

28

obvious that some people were struggling and the kit was 

redistributed to cater for the weaker people. This meant 

that for some of us, our bags weighed over 25kg; however, 

it was worth it as 

we could move at 

a faster pace as 

a group. After a 

few days walking 

we reached a big 

ice-wall, which 

was used to teach 

and practice 

ice-climbing, 

which was a huge 

amount of fun. 

There were also 

some ice caves 

nearby which 

we took turns to 

abseiling down 

into and then climb 

back out. This 

was fascinating as 

there was a small intra-glacial stream and 

waterfall in the cave, and with the intense 

blue of the ice, it really was beautiful. We 

decided to make this location our advanced 

base camp, and to lighter our load, we left a 

tent with all the extra food and personal kit. 

Gnomen Fire decided to make the most 

of the 24 hour daylight by walking through 

the night and sleeping during the day; this 

meant that it was slightly warmer whilst we 

were sleeping and slightly cooler when we 

were walking; this meant that if we did find 

another Fire Team, they were all sleeping 

in their tents! We had a few day trips from 

our advanced base camp, one of which 

took us to the closest big hill in the area, 

Hampus Fjellet. We had to rope-up due to 

the crevasse risk, and it was also the first 

time that we had walked through deep snow, 

which was very tiring, especially up hill as 

you would slide back down 

a few inches every step; 

however, we soon got to 

the top and the views would 

have been tremendous, 

if the weather had been 

clear! Our leader then took 

us down a different route 

which enabled us to sledge 

down the hill on our survival 

bags. All in all, one of the 

best days of the whole 

Expedition. 

We then pushed further up 

the valley as we wanted 

to reach the Gnomen 

Mountain after which our 

Fire Team was named - a 

good week’s walk away. 

Not long after setting-off one of the Team badly injured his 

heel and couldn’t walk; we were forced to set up camp in 

29 

the middle of the glacier in a very exposed and vulnerable 

position. Luckily the weather wasn’t too bad, and the 

Expedition Doctor trekked across the glacier to us to give 

his diagnosis, which was 

that he had to remain 

stationary for 2-3 days! 

This was heart-breaking 

as we all wanted to keep 

going, to see more and 

explore. Having played 

cards for a day, our team 

leader asked if some of us 

wanted to climb the ridge 

at the sdie of the valley. It 

took us half an hour just 

to get to the base of the 

ridge, and then an hour’s 

scrambling on all fours 

saw us at the top - the 

view was incredible; we 

could see base camp, 

and almost our entire 

route so far. On the trip 

back down we were able to run and slide 

down the scree, which was great fun. 

On the third day, all injuries had greatly 

recovered and we were packing up 

ready move when we were informed 

of the tragic incident which had taken 

place in Chanzin Fire. We headed 

straight back to base camp and 

returned home a few days later. My time 

in the Arctic was fantastic; I made close 

friends, learnt many new skills including 

Arctic survival, and learnt a greta deal 

about both myself and the group. I 

would love to return in the future to 

undertake another expedition.” 

Officer Cadet Sasha Kirkham 

Despite the Expedition being cut 

short, 15 high-calibre YEs impressed 

BSES enough 

to be asked to 

return on future 

expeditions as 

assistant leaders, 

and Sasha was 

fortunate enough 

to be selected; 

hence she is 

now fundraising 

to attend the 

5-week Namibia 

Canyons 

to Coast 

Expedition, 

exploring the 

Namibian 

mountains, 

savannah 

and desert, 

in Summer 2012. For further information please contact 

Squadron Leader Ian Wright at HQ DTOEES on 785865.

MOBILE: 07773 431856 

Repairs carried out to most domestic appliances including: 

Washing Machines, Tumble Driers, 

Dishwashers, Cookers, Hobs, Microwaves, 

Extractors, Fridges and Freezers. 

Reliable service, reasonable rates, call now for an appointment 

Defence Academy 

Netball Club 

Players of all standards 

and vintage welcome 

Training sessions 

with a professional 

coach every Wednesday 

6pm - 7.30pm 

The Academy Quilters 

Offer you Patchwork and Quilting 

Have you ever considered doing Patchwork 

but thought that it was too difficult 

You don't need to be experienced in any way as 

lots of help and encouragement is available. 

Beginners are most welcome. 

If this appeals to you or any of your friends then may 

we invite you to join our friendly and supportive group 

We meet on Mondays 1930 - 2130 

Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1000 - 1200 

during school term in the Moore Rehearsal Room. 

This is behind the College Theatre, 

opposite the Medical Centre. 

Please come along and see us 

babies and toddlers are very welcome. 

If you are interested then please contact 

Heather on 01793 762278 

More information 

available from: 

Toni Andrews 

788444 

Faringdon Market 

Every Tuesday 

8.00am - 12noon 

In the Marketplace 

30

Defence Academy of the United Kingdom 

Service of Peace & Quiet 

9.15am every Thursday in St Alban’s Church 

All Welcome 

An opportunity to take time out of your 

week to find some guided peace and 

tranquility in a calm environment. 

For More Details Contact: 

Padre Pete Edwards 

01793 314487 

pedwards.hq@defenceacademy.mod.uk 

or 

Janet Holt 

01793 785515 

Jholt.serco@defenceacademy.mod.uk 

The short service will have a Christian 

framework but will use meditations and 

readings from other spiritualities to help 

to reflect upon our journey through life. 

Why not come along and try it. 

31

Exercise Cormorant Dash XIV – 

On Stronger Tides 

By Captain Phil Burrell 

I am delighted to be able to report that the onset of winter 

hasn’t dampened the Defence Academy Sailing Club’s 

members’ enthusiasm to continue to gain qualifications and 

experience and that our planned December event was held 

as intended. For this evolution, we had decided to make 

best use of Paul Molyneaux’s considerable experience as a 

RYA qualified Offshore Examiner and planned, therefore, a 

cross-channel event that would offer a considerable period 

of night sailing and sufficient distance against Offshore 

Qualifying Passages requirements. 

(a genus of medium-sized pelagic sea snails, commonly 

known as the “purple snails” or the “violet) is one of the 

JSASTC’s extensive fleet of 7-berth vessels, which are very 

much the workhorses of the JSASTC. 

With differing commitments across the Defence Academy, 

we arrived at the JSASTC independently and with varying 

tasks to complete. Our forward party had responsibility 

for taking over our yacht from the JSASTC staff and for 

For this Exercise, which was held from 1 – 4 December 

2011, we assembled a diverse team of 6 (RN, RM, UK 

Army, RAF, Australian Army) from the Defence Academy HQ 

and from the Technical Division within CMT. As always, our 

level of experience varied considerably but the imaginative 

and challenging programme catered for all needs. Having 

experienced glorious conditions during our September event 

(see Community News December 2011/January 2012 Edition 

pages 32/33), our December event took full advantage of 

the considerable wind (up to Force 7) and some pretty mild 

temperatures for the time of year. 

Once again, our vessel of choice was a 34 foot Victoria yacht 

from the Joint Services Adventurous Sail Training Centre 

(JSASTC) (www.jsastc.co.uk) in Gosport. Yacht Janthina 

32

completing the mandatory safety and passage planning 

activity. Others had responsibility as caterers for the event, 

which necessitated a trip to the local Morrisons to stock up 

on essentials and goodies. 

Our well-considered but ambitious plan was to sail from 

Gosport to Yarmouth, entering Yarmouth harbour by night. 

We planned then an early start and a night time exit from 

the western end 

of the Solent 

through the 

Needles channel 

before turning 

left and heading 

pretty much 

due south to 

Cherbourg, some 

80 miles away. 

After an early 

evening entry to 

Cherbourg and a 

night ashore, we intended a 30 mile passage east to the port 

of Saint Vaast La Hougue ahead of an overnight crossing of 

the English Channel for a pre-dawn entry into Bembridge on 

the Isle of Wight. Our final leg would be the short 6 mile hop 

from Bembridge back to Gosport and a return of the yacht. 

With a following tide we were all on board and underway 

by 1400. The first part of our plan saw us heading west 

within the Solent motor sailing under light airs. This offered 

an opportunity to shake out a few cobwebs and to practise 

drills. While we had been offered a night berth in Yarmouth, 

our planned arrival time was after the closing of the shore 

based showers (an essential factor in all sail plans) and 

was, therefore, not ideal. After a quick 6 person conflab, 

we decided to change our plan and seek an overnight 

berth in Lymington. This was so much more satisfactory on 

several levels (and not least the high quality ablutions (see 

Exercise Cormorant Dash XII report)), while the night entry 

and exit from Lymington offered a much greater challenge, 

and therefore higher training value, than that provided by 

Yarmouth. Safely alongside by 1830, by 

now the wind strength had increased 

and had brought with it the forecast 

rain. Fortunately, the Mayflower pub, 

one of Lymington’s popular hostelries, 

was only a few minutes walk from our 

berth and offered an ideal spot to spend 

the evening. 

The need to catch the west flowing tide 

necessitated a 0500 ‘call the hands’ 

and we were underway by 0520 in dark 

and blowy conditions. The night exit 

through the Needles channel offered 

a good navigational challenge with a 

narrow gap and some pretty daunting 

hazards in the Shingles Bank to the 

north and the Bridge (an underwater 

ledge causing dramatic overfalls 

on occasion) to the south. Having 

negotiated the route successfully, we 

turned south as planned and started 

our passage to Cherbourg. Our chef 

prepared an outstanding breakfast of bacon rolls and 

coffee and we took advantage of the prevailing conditions 

to fly our spinnaker sail. All thought it amusing to allow 

me to continue wearing my head-torch until 1400 in the 

afternoon, when I finally realised what had been causing the 

tightness in my temples! Unkindly, someone chirped that 

they thought that it was charging my brain! Anthony took it 

upon himself to ensure the retention of moral by providing 

a virtuously limitless quantity of warm food and hot drinks 

throughout our passage. No danger of losing weight on this 

trip despite the best efforts of the sea and wind to empty our 

stomachs. We spotted land from a distance of around 28 

nautical miles (1 nautical mile is 2000 yards) but at 7 knots, 

it was still another 4 hours before we entered the large port 

of Cherbourg in the dark. Once again, our access to the 

shore based showers was thwarted (a recurring theme on 

this trip) as we didn’t have the access codes to the showers 

and those that we were told by ‘friendly’ (French) yachtsmen 

didn’t seem to work! Fortunately, we found a restaurant in 

town that didn’t mind our dampness and odour and which 

offered enormous 

pizzas and 

copious red wine. 

With our coastal 

routes being 

largely dependent 

on tides, we 

enjoyed a late 

(0700) rise on 

Saturday and 

were underway in 

rough seas and 

blowy conditions 

by 0930 heading east for Saint Vaast La Hougue, a pretty 

town within a very attractive setting. A famous fishing and 

sailing centre, the town is also an oyster farming centre and 

close to the fortified Tatihou Island, which contains now a 

botanical garden, ornithological observatory and maritime 

museum. While we did not have time once within the lock 

basin to visit the island, we were able to enjoy a late picnic 

lunch on deck (not bad for December!) and to take the 

opportunity to stretch our legs ashore. 

We departed Saint Vaast as planned at 1730 and faced 

a pretty challenging overnight passage back to the Isle 

of Wight, some 85 miles to the north. With strong winds, 

33

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34

dark skies and high seas, described by one as mastodons 

charging across the ocean, we needed to change our sail 

configuration on a few occasions, an operation that required 

much balance and a willingness to get pretty wet! We 

needed also a bit too frequently to alter course to avoid a 

number of large merchant vessels that appeared oblivious to 

our presence. Discretion being the better part of valour, the 

law of gross tonnage certainly applied from our position in a 

34 foot yacht. 

Somewhat 

surprisingly given 

that our course 

altered erratically 

between heading 

for Bournemouth 

at one moment 

to Brighton an 

instant later, the 

Isle of Wight 

came into view as 

planned. With the 

Island providing 

considerable shelter 

from the north 

westerly gale force 

winds, conditions 

became much more 

bearable as we 

planned our dawn entry into Bembridge. 

While the route offered a buoyed channel, 

the challenge with Bembridge is that none 

of the buoys are lit. We overcame this by 

placing lookouts armed with torches in 

the bow and it was their job to keep us 

between the buoys. We celebrated our 

safe arrival in Bembridge with a breakfast 

of coffee and nutty (chocolate), which 

helped pretty much instantly to restore 

dampened spirits and improve moral. 

to head back to 

Shrivenham after 

another excellent 

4 day expedition. 

Our list of 

achievements in 

pretty daunting 

and challenging 

sea and wind 

conditions was 

impressive. We 

had covered 

some 198 nautical miles by day and by night, which had 

included 20 night hours. We had achieved two ‘over 8 hour 

passages’ of 80 and 85 nautical miles respectively, one of 

which had been completely overnight. We had changed 

sails on several occasions and hoisted our spinnaker. We 

had goose-winged for a while when the conditions were 

appropriate. We had visited 4 ports (each with an arrival or 

departure in the dark) and we had carried out a range of 

seamanship drills. Most importantly, we had been able to 

share ideas and thoughts and we had focussed on the skills 

needed to develop each individual on the trip. In one case, 

this led to the award of a RYA competent crew qualification, 

with the recipient 

having accrued the 

requisite 5 days’ 

successful training 

during recent sailing 

expeditions. 

If this article has 

stimulated your 

interest, full details 

of Defence Academy 

Sailing Club (DASC) 

activities, which 

cover both yacht 

and local dinghy 

sailing at all levels, 

can be found on the 

DAIS. 

After a 40 minutes stop in Bembridge, we 

re-negotiated the buoyed channel, this 

time in the early light, and headed north 

for Gosport. We practiced a few drills 

along the way and arrived back alongside 

at 1030. All that was required then was 

to de-store the yacht, to clean up and 

35

Shrivenham Garage Service Centre 

(Established 1932) 

MOT’s 

Petrol/Diesel Servicing 

Welding 

General Repairs 

All Major Credit Cards 

33 High Street, Shrivenham 

Tel: 01793 784040 Fax: 01793 782202 

The White Horse View B&B 

All rooms are En-Suite with outside seating areas 

1 mile from the Defence Academy 

& Seasons Day Spa 

Bookable Spa Treatments 

Please visit our website www.thewhitehorseview.com 

Telephone 01793 780301 or 07967 497926 

Shrivenham SN6 8JL 

36

len r nin R l k 

Cues Lane 

Bishopstone 

Swindon 

SN6 8PP 

royaloak@helenbrowningorganics.co.uk 

www.royaloakbishopstone.co.uk 

01793 790481 

Five miles from the Defence Academy 

front gates, and a free Landrover 

collection service too! 

Organic farmer runs 

pub, lets people mix 

with her 

animals 

and then 

eat them! 

Helen Browning, 

Bishopstone organic 

farmer and publican 

at The Royal Oak, 

said she was quite relaxed at the news 

that her daughter Sophie, above, had 

chosen to live with the pigs since her 

bedroom was a terrible mess these days 

and the pigs were a lot cleaner. 

Seriously, this is the pub on a farm 

– 3000 award winning free ranging 

organic pigs, 200 dairy cows, glorious 

veal and beef – where people and 

animals come together. 

Whether it’s a farm walk or safari, 

or eating astonishing steaks, pies, 

beef burgers, this is the whole food 

experience. Washed down with well 

kept real ales, a short list of organic 

wines, unusual soft drinks, sitting by a 

log fire reading the papers or borrowing 

the paperbacks – this is proper English 

pub life. 

Some other easy to digest 

highlights: 

• Our big red safari Landrover can collect 

you and take you 

home. Discretionary, 

uncomfortable, now with 

brakes. This is a free 

service if we like you and 

if you behave! 

• We are loved by Michelin, 

Good Food Guide, 

Sawday’s special places, 

Times Top 50 UK pubs 

2011 

• We are five miles from 

the main gate of The UK 

Defence Academy. We know 

quite a few of you, and most of you have 

behaved so far 

• Our own farm produces much of our own 

meat – beef, pork, lamb, veal. Villagers grow 

lots of veg for us. You can too. We trade it for 

beer. World class head chef. 

• Staff all local, some family, some attractive. All 

speak in whole sentences, spelling improving 

all the time. Service sometimes entertaining. 

• Helen’s farm produces the organic pigs 

that end up as her bacon and sausages in 

Sainsbury, Tesco and Ocado. Look for the 

orange pig logo. 

• Events, we love them. From music once a 

month, to books, to talks, to farm tours and 

safaris; occasional mountain bike trips. Big on 

classic cars once a year. Burns Night to Bonfire 

night, we try to do it properly. 

• Cheap warm bed 

and breakfast, £25 

per room. Sleep as 

many as you want. 

• We like kids, dogs, 

dirty boots, noise. 

Great children’s 

food. 

38

‘The Barn Kindergarten and 

Out of School Club’ 

AT SHRIVENHAM PRIMARY SCHOOL 

‘THE MOST FUN FOR MILES AROUND!’ 

‘The Barn Kindergarten’ 

(Previously Watchfield Kindergarten, Established 1994) 

Open term times Monday - Friday 9.00am - 3.00pm 

Catering for children aged 2 - 4 years. 

‘The Barn Out of School Club’ 

Open term times 8.00am until start of school. 

And after school from 3.00pm – 6.00pm 

Catering for primary school children. 

Transport for Watchfield Primary School children provided. 

Qualified and experienced staff. 

Contact: Miss Jane Oughton (NNEB, Norland Diploma) 

1 Manor Close, Shrivenham, Swindon. SN6 8AE 

Tel. 01793 782182 

email – janeoughton@tiscali.co.uk 

MOT 

TESTING STATION 

for 

Petrol & Diesels 

Catalytic Converters 

SERVICE & REPAIRS 

To All Makes & Models 

* Suspension Pump-Up * Welding 

* Exhausts * Brakes * Suspension 

* Batteries * Clutches 

* Air Conditioning Specialists 

* Diagnostic Code Reading 

* Collection Service Available 

Discount given to Military Personnel on 

all MOT’s and most other work 

Phone 01793 861196 for an appointment 

C J PARRY LTD 

Unit B, Westrop 

HIGHWORTH SN6 7HJ 

39

Upcoming Live Music Events 

Wed 18 Jan 2012 Wed 01 Feb 2012 

Owners are responsible for keeping their dogs 

under control at all times. 

Whether your dog is big or small it should be 

remembered that not everyone likes dogs - especially 

unsupervised, badly behaved dogs. 

It is a requirement that when exercising dogs they are under 

control and not allowed to disturb the wildfowl on the lakes 

and streams in the Defence Academy grounds. In the 

interest of hygiene the exercising of dogs on the sports 

fields is prohibited. Dogs must not be allowed to foul 

public areas such as footpaths, car parks and grassed areas. 

Where it is unavoidable the owners are to remove the waste 

and dispose of it appropriately. 

The Dogs (Fouling of Land ) Act 1996: Failing to 

clean up after your dog carries a maximum fine 

of £1000 in the Magistrates Court. 

Dogs must not be allowed to roam 

unattended and unsupervised. 

Please ensure that your dog cannot 

escape from your garden, a stray dog 

can cause considerable distress to 

anyone who is scared of dogs, as well 

as the possibility of the animal being 

involved in an accident, causing 

injuries to themselves and others. 

1 st Shrivenham Station Brownie Guide Unit 

All over the world there are millions of Brownies. 

They all have great fun and make lots of new friends. 

Being a Brownie means you will do exciting activities, 

have a real adventure and have fun. 

1 st Shrivenham Station Brownies do not operate a 

waiting list and are ready to welcome girls aged 7 to 

10 from all nationalities and faiths. 

We meet on Wednesday evenings during term time, 

from 5.15pm to 6.30pm in Burgoyne House. 

For further information please contact:- 

Dott Brown 

01793 763892 

For information regarding Rainbow Guides (5 to 7yrs), 

Guides (10 to 15 yrs), Seniors (15+) or if you are 

interested in becoming an adult helper please 

contact: Maggie Gregory on 01793 782200. 

Thursday 1.30pm – 4.00pm 

Moore Rehearsal Room behind the College Theatre 

Twisted Threads (the Shrivenham Handicraft and Sewing Group) meets weekly to practice all types of handicraft. 

We are not a teaching group, although usually there are members who can provide advice and help. Current 

members’ interests include tapestry, cross stitch, crewel embroidery, hardanger work, blackwork, Florentine 

work, patchwork, quilting, knitting, shortening trousers and making curtains! 

We also talk a lot, so even if you don't sew, you are welcome to come in for a cup of tea and a chat. This makes it 

a very useful group for non-English speakers to practise their language skills in a friendly atmosphere. 

We make a small charge of 50p per session to cover refreshments and resources. There is no joining fee. 

So do drop in, and feel free to bring your small children. 

For further information contact: 

Dott Brown 01793 763892 

Marilyn Jeans 01793 782508 

Mary Bedells 01793 722436 

41

The Gulshan Brasserie 

Where TASTE and EXCELLENCE is always an ongoing CHALLENGE! 

Fully Licensed 

Relaxing 

Ambiance 

Tuesday 

Night 

Special 

Friday 

Night 

Special 

Choose any starter, any main, 

any rice or nan 

PLUS 1 vegetable side dish 

for £12.90 per person 

**£2.00 extra for King Prawn or Duck** 

Dine in only 

Choose any starter, any main, 

any rice or nan 

PLUS 1 vegetable side dish 

PLUS choice from “Dessert of the Day” 

for £14.90 per person 

**£2.00 extra for King Prawn or Duck** 

Dine in only 

Opening Hours: 12 Noon - 2pm & 6pm - 11.30pm 

Open 7 Days a Week and All Bank Holidays 

10% Discount on All Take-Away Meals 

Telephone: 01793 782388 or 01793 782611 

NB! To avoid disappointment, Reservations are Highly Recommended 

Address: 47 High Street, Shrivenham, Wiltshire SN6 8AW 

42

Help for Heroes 

Donate your old personal mobile phone 

PHONES FOR HEROES 

The “Phones for Heroes” appeal has been 

set up with the aim of supporting Help for 

Heroes. In the UK, millions of unwanted 

mobile phones lie forgotten and unused in 

drawers, desks etc. It is hoped through the 

Phones for Heroes appeal to encourage 

people to dig out these unwanted phones 

and donate them. 

English Conversation Club 

Jubilee Community Centre 

Every Wednesday afternoon 13.30-1500 

International ladies, would you like to practice your 

English by talking to friendly English speaking people 

You can build on what you have learnt in the classroom. 

Perfect English definitely not required! 

English speaking ladies wanted too! 

Help Heroes – and the Environment 

Funds will be generated by collecting donated mobile phones 

and refurbishing and reselling them where possible. For every 

reusable and recycled phone, Help for Heroes will receive 60% of 

any proceeds after allowing for collection, delivery and ancillary 

expenses. The funds generated by the appeal will go directly 

to Help for Heroes to provide practical, direct support to our 

Servicemen and women injured during service of their country. 

The Phones for Heroes appeal plans to re-use as many mobile 

phones as possible in developing countries all over the world. 

Re-use of products is an essential part of the recycling process. 

Any mobile phones which are not re-usable will be recycled in 

the most environmentally friendly way. Even the postal bags 

used to collect the phones are recyclable! 

How To Donate a Phone 

To donate an unwanted mobile phone to Phones for Heroes, you 

can either: 

• Visit the Phones for Heroes website (see below). 

• Bring your phone, battery and charger (no SIM) to: 

Paul Adey 

SO1 Service Secretary 

Room 121 

Greenhill House 

Tel: 01793 785837 

For more information about Phones for Heroes, 

you can visit: www.phonesforheroes.com 

FAO ALL OCCUPANTS OF SERVICE FAMILIES 

ACCOMMODATION (SFA) AND SINGLE LIVING 

ACCOMMODATION (SLA) 

Can you volunteer to be one of our chatters, 

simply talking with those who wish to practice 

their English 

Please come along and join our group and just, have a 

chat! Our group is relaxed and informal; there is no cost to 

join in. Free tea and coffee from the coffee shop and the 

soft play area is available if you bring your children. 

For more information call Kim Manning, Assistant Families 

and Welfare Officer (Internationals) on 01793 780793 

Homeopathy 

A respected and widely used medicine that is safe 

and effective. Used in first aid situations and in more 

chronic physical, emotional and mental health complaints. 

Suitable for all ages, from babies to the elderly. 

Homeopathy can be used without side effects 

alongside prescribed medicines to restore health. 

Registered with the Society of Homeopaths 

Clinics in Shrivenham, Highworth and Faringdon 

Home visits by arrangement. For more information call: 

Wendy (RS Hom) on 01367 244811 or 07717 068390 

All occupants of SFA/SLA are reminded that it is their 

responsibility to dispose of unwanted items such as fridges, 

washing machines, old furniture and bicycles on posting. 

These type of items are not to be left in any of the SLA 

buildings or outside vacated SFA at any time. It is not the 

responsibility of the Campus Integrator to dispose of these 

items when abandoned inside the wire, or the local authorities 

if left on the road outside of Quarters. 

Details of where to find the local Recycling Plant or how to 

arrange collection by the local authority can be obtained from 

the HIVE website. 

Any provable instances of fly tipping of this nature will result in 

the costs of disposal being presented to the individuals 

concerned. 

43

Rose and Crown at Ashbury 

16 th Century Inn and Alehouse 

Telephone 01793 710222 

Traditional Inn for Traditional people 

En-suite letting rooms - Wifi throughout. 

Home cooked food and good cask conditioned ale 

Belinda Billinge 

Dip.CFHP MPSPract(FHP) MVR 

FOOT HEALTH PRACTITIONER 

*Nail Trimming *Ingrown Toenail *Corn Removal 

*Calluses Reduced *Verrucae/Wart Treatment 

For Home Visits call: 

07791 093023 

Member of the Alliance of Private Sector Practitioners 

Member of the Voluntary Register of Foot Health Practitioners 

Private dining with lifts back to the academy 

Billy and Sandra look forward to your visit 

44

Watchfield and Shrivenham Scouts 

Group news – We ran our traditional “glowlights and LED 

novelties” stall at the Bonfire Night evening on 3rd November 

and this was once again well supported by those attending 

the celebrations. No less than four of the Guy Fawkes 

effigies made by the Scouts 

were sitting atop the bonfire 

when it was lit! Wg Cdr Sawyer 

had been invited to meet the 

Scout Leaders and judge 

the Guys at the earlier Scout 

Meeting. The Beavers, Cubs, 

Scouts and Explorers turnout 

out in force to attend the 

Remembrance Service on the 

Defence Academy in November. 

As usual, we marched to and 

from the JSCSC, thankfully 

with the good weather on our side. Members of the Leader 

team, Committee and friends of the Group gathered for 

a Christmas Dinner at The Woodman, Fernham on 26th 

November, enjoying festive fayre and, inevitably, ending 

up with a few campfire songs – with actions, much to the 

bemusement of the staff. Luckily for the other customers, we 

were in a separate dining room! No less than 39 youngsters 

and 22 Leaders and parents descended on Sainsbury’s 

at Stratton for a spot of bag packing on 11th December. 

Although we only helped at the tills for 2 two hour sessions, 

thanks to the generosity of the customers and a smiling 

Beaver holding a bucket by the exits, we raised an amazing 

total of £723.10 (plus several Euros and a US $) for Group 

funds. This, together with the proceeds of our earlier popular 

Jumble Sale at Shrivenham Memorial Hall, will help us with 

upgrading our pioneering and catering equipment, sprucing 

up the HQ and putting something towards the minibus fund. 

From the Sections – Over the past couple of months the 

Beavers have had international and friendship themes for 

several meetings, along with a sausage sizzle and movie 

night (complete with popcorn and ice creams!) They have 

also been making their own Christmas cakes and held a 

45 

grand Christmas Party. The Cubs have spent their evenings 

with a Guy Fawkes event, a local hike, a heraldry workshop 

and of course a Christmas Party. The Scouts ran a weekend 

pioneering course for the whole District, learning knots 

and lashings, building structures and testing the strengths 

of the ropes, as in this photo. This 

one held - thankfully! Other projects 

included learning about the festival of 

Diwali whilst the Scouts were working on 

their Global, Promise and Commitment 

Badges. Two Scouts, Owen Turner 

and Dominic Wellham also completed 

the year-long prestigious Stuart Rae 

Challenge which culminated in an 

unaccompanied weekend hike as part of 

a small team in Mid-Wales. For info, see 

http://scouts.org.uk/ccblog/188/ 

Things are looking up – We will be starting a new Beaver 

Colony in the New Year which is great news, especially for 

the six to eight year old youngsters on the waiting list to join 

our Group. The aim is also to start other second Sections for 

the Cubs and Scouts, just as soon as we have a few more 

Leaders on board. Interested in joining in the fun Then 

please get in touch! 

cn@wands.org.uk 

www.kascouts.org.uk/wands

KIDZ CLUB 

(AGES 8 - 11 YEARS Junior School) 

AT THE 

JUBILEE COMMUNITY CENTRE 

TUESDAY 1730HRS - 1900HRS 

COME AND HAVE FUN WITH YOUR FRIENDS 

PLAY ORGANISED GAMES 

(TELL US WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO DO)!! 

MEMBERSHIP IS FREE!! 

(50p required for a drink & snack) 

YOUTH GROUP 

(AGES 11 - 16 YEARS Senior School) 

AT THE 

JUBILEE COMMUNITY CENTRE 

TUESDAY 1930HRS - 2100HRS 

SOMEWHERE TO MEET YOUR FRIENDS, 

HANG OUT, PLAY MUSIC & RELAX 

(TELL US WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO DO)!! 

MEMBERSHIP IS FREE!! 

REFRESHMENTS AVAILABLE 

47

Prior Park Preparatory School 

Open Door Dates, 

Fri 9 March 9:30am-3pm 

Sat 10 March 9:30am-12:00 noon 

Prior Park College 

Open Door Dates, 

Fri 9 March & Fri 4 May 11am-1pm 

T: 01793 750 275 

E: prepregistrar@priorpark.co.uk 

www.thepriorfoundation.com 

T: 01225 831 000 

E: admissions@priorpark.co.uk 

www.thepriorfoundation.com 

3 to 13 IAPS day and boarding established Catholic Christian school 

~Beauty Matters ~ 

Jan Egginton 

Beauty Therapist 

C.I.B.T.A.C / B.A.B.T.A.C 

Steiner Trained / Registered Electrolygist 

Professionally equipped, home based salon 

Quality products ~ Competitive prices 

Specialised facials 

Electrolysis 

Waxing 

Massage 

Manicures 

Hand treatments 

Eyelash/Eyebrow tinting 

Just 5 minutes drive from Watchfield 

Gift Vouchers available 

For full information and appointments 

please telephone 01367 820860 

www.your-beautymatters.co.uk 

49

Clubs & Organisations 

DA Friends and Families Club 783955 

Sheila Russell 

Brownies 763892 

Dott Brown 

Rainbow Guides 782881 

Jane Hollick 

Ladies Golf 780120 

Kath Easton 

International Cookery 780020 

Gail Sharp 

The Academy Quilters 762278 

Heather Bennett 

Book Club 784672 

Karen Crutchlow 

Twisted Threads 763892 

Dott Brown 

Tennis Coach 07899 966390 

Murray Chapman 

Martial Arts Club 314895 

Phil Gregg 

Badminton Club 785570 

Haydn Kohl 

Bunco 780283 

Tamara Lucas 

Stables/Saddle Club 785489 

Jenny Scott 

Medical Services 

Elm Tree Surgery 782207 

Shrivenham 

Health Visitors 783724 

Fernhill Practice 01367 242407 

Faringdon 

White Horse Practice 01367 242388 

Faringdon 

Westrop Surgery 762218 

Highworth 

Great Western Hospital 604020 

Swindon (Switchboard) 

John Radcliffe Hospital 01865 741166 

Oxford 

Highworth Dental Practice 762231 

Faringdon Dental Surgery 01367 240514 

Graham Jones Pharmacy 783336 

High Street Shrivenham 

Vets – Danetrees 01367 242777 

Faringdon 

Archway Vet Surgery 765335 

Highworth 

Vets – Elms 01367 242416 

Faringdon 

Community Services 

Captain Anthony Bolton Ext 4714 

Station Welfare Officer 

WO2 Pete Davies Ext 4715 

Welfare Warrant Officer 

Kim Manning 780793 

Assistant Families & Welfare 

PC Mark Goodman 785611 or 07967 612502 

Community Police Officer 

Chaplaincy 785515 

Defence Estates Housing 784849 

SERCO Housing 784883 

MHS Rep 784313 

Watchfield Village Hall 782234 or 783157 

Jubilee Community Centre 785927 

Watchfield Post Office 782236 

Shrivenham Post Office 782260 

Leisure Facilities 

Empire Cinema - Greenbridge 08714 714714 

Wyvern Theatre 535534 or 524481 

Oxford Play House 01865 305300 

Faringdon Library 01367 240311 

Highworth Library 463500 

Faringdon Leisure Centre 01367 241755 

Jolly Roger Soft Play 522044 

South Marston Leisure Club 833700 

Oakfield Riding School 01367 240126 

Oasis Swimming Pool 445401 

Shrivenham Royals FC 784388 

Highworth Recreation Centre 762602 

Sullivan School of Dance 872682 

Education 

Defence Academy Shrivenham 784881 

Language Centre 

White Cottage Nursery 825845 

The Cottage Nursery 314461 

Hillsborough Day Nursery 790271 

Chestnut Trees 07973 418202 

The Barn Kindergarten 782182 

Old Station Nursery 01367 243800 

Positive Steps 01367 718888 

Watchfield Primary 782623 

Shrivenham CE Primary 782406 

Longcot & Fernham Primary 782381 

Shellingford Primary 01367 710301 

Faringdon Community College 01367 240375 

50

51 

DA

Fernham, Nr Faringdon, 

Oxfordshire. SN7 7NX 

Tel: 01367 820643 

Website: www.thewoodmaninn.net 

Email: enquiries@thewoodmaninn.net 

The Woodman Inn now 

offers courtesy transport 

for eight or more within a 

10 mile radius

COMMUNITY NEWS - Defence Academy of the United Kingdom

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