An Archive of Past Events - some short reports
July 2010 - Fly Tipping in Horspath 
See larger photo - do you recognise any of the rubbish?
Have you paid for legal removal of rubbish to find that it has been illegally dumped?
The Oxford Mail reports briefly, with photos by Horspath residents, Keith Brooks and Heather Palmer. Read the short newspaper article. That rubbish has now been cleared.
Thames Valley Police - Community Messaging
The Wheatley Neighbourhood Update for December 2009 is now available. Please click on this link to view the update on the Thames Valley Police Website.
When Your Neighbourhood Page is displayed on the website, click on Wheatley (under Neighbourhoods) the next page contains your Neighbourhood Update, click against the update you wish to view.
Tuesday 27 October 2009 - Horspath Parish Council Wind Turbine Meeting - in Horspath Village Hall at 8:00pm. The documents pertaining to the meeting, including a letter from the Parish Council to the Oxford City Council Chief Exec, are now available to read on-line.
Horspath Village Annual Fund Raising Event December 2009
The 'Tree of Hope' annual fundraising event. The tree this year was generously donated. In this time of financial hardship it is even more important to fundraise for local charities and we ask you to support Cancer Research UK. Our support will help this vital work to continue. We ask you to complete a label for each person you wish to remember. The labels will be displayed on the lighted tree from Saturday 12 December.
The dedication of the 'Tree of Hope' by the Reverend Emma Pennington tooke place on Sunday 13th December following the Family Service in St Giles Church. (Cancer Research UK - Registered Charity No. 1089464)
Oxford Green Belt Network
Wednesday 11th November 2009 - The Annual General Meeting of the Oxford Green Belt Network was held in Begbroke village hall. The Annual Report is available on their website.
Tuesday 27 October 2009 - a special Horspath Parish Council Meeting
- was held in Horspath Village Hall at 7:30pm. A public fact-finding meeting to learn more about a large wind turbine, which is proposed for installation on City Council land to the south side of Oxford Road, Horspath. Speakers - Tom Brinicombe (Partnerships for Renewables) and Michael Tyce (CPRE Thame). The documents pertaining to the meeting, including a letter from the Parish Council to the Oxford City Council Chief Exec, are now available to read on-line. For background information, see the "Oxford City Council Proposals" page in the Parish Council & Local Government information area of this website.
Horspath Methodist Chapel
Saturday 17th October at 4 p.m. - Service of Thanksgiving was held for 100 years of Methodist worship and witness in Horspath. Venue - Horspath Methodist Chapel. There was also an exhibition of photos and refreshments were served. This was to be the final day of Worship in the Chapel. The Minister, Rev Rosemary Davies, (tel 01865 763676 or email rosemary.davies@oxfordmethodists.org.uk) has made the following statement -
"The chapel is closing for public worship as the regular membership is five and they feel that the responsibilities of maintaining Church life have now become too great. So existing members will be transferring to other churches from October.
As regards the building itself, it will remain open for group bookings up to 2010 until the Oxford Methodist Circuit which manage and own the property decide what to do with the building. There is a small working group looking at future possibilities.
Naturally this is a time of mixed emotions for the members, many of whom have been attending the Chapel for a long time but we hope that the service on October 17th was a celebration of the Methodist witness in the village and an acknowledgment of God's faithfulness to this congregation over the years."
August 2009 - by popular request there is now a test version of the Horspath website available for mobile phones. Have YOU tried it yet? Try it here. Please provide feedback so that we can improve this new area of the website.
St Giles Church and Horspath Village School
On Saturday, 27th June 2009 between 2.00 and 5.00 p.m. our Church and School held a Grand Fete in the Village Hall and playing fields, to raise much needed funds for both organisations. There were lots of games and stalls, crafts, plants, cakes, refreshments, ice creams, bouncy castle/bouncy slide, a village history exhibition, a big raffle with cash prizes, and a rolling programme of 'events' including singing, karate demonstration, etc.
You can now see a collection of photos taken at this exciting village event. Look at the menu for "Horspath Fete 2009" on the "Images from around Horspath" pages.
March 2009 - Sport in Horspath Village
Anyone for Tennis?? Would you like tennis courts in Horspath? Read here to find out how we can get started on this village project.
1 December 2008 - Horspath Village Sports Association. HVSA has made real progress with plans for the future of sport within Horspath.
Read the progress report (PDF format 30 Kb) and see the site map with notes (PDF format 167 Kb) of what is planned.
October 2008 - Horspath Parish Plan. The greater part of the Parish Plan Questionnaire has now been analysed and the results to date are available to view (PDF format 36 Kb) . Your comments are still welcome; please see the document for details.
Village Tree Planting
Sunday 14th and Saturday 20th December 2008, all 120 new trees (short bare-rooted whips) were planted by a small crew of village volunteers around the margins of the Bowley Field and the new sports field. So far we have lost only about 10 trees out of the 440 planted earlier, so there is now a total of 560 new trees planted and growing. Please contact Horspath Village Events for further information.
Horspath Garden Club
The photographic competition was judged on 11 November 2008 by Brian Peart. There were 75 photos entered of which 28 were Commended by the judge, who complimented the club on the high standard generally achieved. All the Commended and prize winning photos can now be seen in the "Images from around Horspath" area of the website. The evening was enjoyed by all and a repeat competition is likely in the future.
Oxford Green Belt Network
The AGM of the Oxford Green Belt Network was held on Monday 17th November 2008 at 7.30pm at Sandford-on-Thames Village Hall. The Annual Report is available on their website.
Grassland Habitat Project
October 2008 - Shotover Wildlife Project. Grassland Habitat Project in Horspath Common. Read about this local project on-line or in PDF format - printable version (100 Kb).
Horspath Wildlife Conservation Area
Saturday 30th August 2008: Annual maintenance day in the Bat Tunnel. We opened the bat tunnel to interested visitors. Some of the visitors even knew how to use a shovel or a hammer, or lend a hand in other ways !
All visitors were issued with a hard hat and given a short safety briefing. The boarding of the walkways is now lengthened and improved.
Horspath Primary School
This year, 2008, our successful CoE Primary School celebrated its 150th birthday. There were various events associated with this, among them was a visit by The Bishop of Oxford, John Prichard, on Wednesday 25th June and on Friday 11th July there was the School Open Day & Barbecue, in the School Grounds. Contact Sue Ackland, Horspath School (872702), email office.3161@horspath.oxon.sch.uk.
Horspath Garden Club
Sunday June 8th 2008. "Horspath in Bloom" - Horspath Gardens Open Day on Sunday 1:00 - 6:00 pm
21 lovely gardens were available to view, St Giles Church was open with a mass of floral arrangements and children’s artwork, there were teas, a tombola, a plant stall and a children’s competition. Admission was £4.00 (adults), all proceeds to St Giles Church, Horspath. We had superb weather and it was a splendid occasion for horticultural education and exchange of views and for socialising with friends. Congratulations to the organisers.
Horspath Parish Council
7th March 2008, Little Horspath defeats Oxford City Council
The Planning Inspector rejected the appeal by Oxford City Council for flood lighting on the grounds that the Athletics Ground Car Park was only given planning consent within the Green Belt on the grounds that it was an essential compliment to the Athletics Ground. Therefore, he concluded that other uses for the Car Park were inappropriate within the Green Belt. He also concluded that the lighting itself would represent a further urban encroachment into the rural character of the area which would undermine the separation of Horspath Village from Oxford City.
Thanks to the Representatives of Horspath PC, OGBN and CPRE for their excellent presentations and well done Villagers for your valuable support. Read the history of this saga. The full text of the Inspector's judgement is available in PDF format (57 Kb).
Village Tree Planting
Saturday and Sunday, 26th and 27th January 2008, 300 new trees (short bare-rooted whips) were planted by a goodly crew of village volunteers around the margins of the Bowley Field to thicken up the existing lines of trees and hedgerows, partly for improved screening between the village and the future new BMW body factory nearby which will be about 15 metres tall, partly to enhance the existing lines of trees as wildlife corridors, and partly to enhance
the landscaping around the proposed new sports pitches. Please contact Horspath Village Events for further information.
Horspath Parish Council
What is Horspath Parish Council? and How does the Parish Council do its work? together with Parish Council Aims and Parish Council Projects are now available to view on the "Local Government" pages.
These documents and more are available in the Local Government area of our web site on the "Parish Council Agenda & Minutes" page. Members of the public are welcome to attend Parish Council meetings.
Oxford Green Belt Network
Monday 19th November 2007 at 7.30pm - The Annual General Meeting of the Oxford Green Belt Network took place at Marsh Baldon village hall. The brief formal business was followed by a discussion on the threat to the Green Belt. See the OGBN website for news of new Campaign "Hands off Our Green Belt".
Horspath Neighbourhood Watch
14 August 2007 Horspath's Neighbourhood Watch Scheme goes online! Check it out here.
Oxford Green Belt Way
Friday 13 July 2007. The CPRE Oxford Green Belt Way was opened by MP Boris Johnson at 2.30pm at Shotover Country Park. Boris Johnson then left for Henley, but a goodly company of about 70 people, including the Lord Mayor of Oxford and CPRE members, then walked down to Horspath. A reception at Horspath Village Hall followed. Everyone enjoyed the walk and had tea waiting for them at the Village Hall. Perhaps Mr Johnson left early to finalize his bid to be the next Mayor of London? (Well, we now know that he was successful!)
Vandals attack village tree
30 June - 1 July 2007 Vandals stripped the bark from a tree at the Recreation Ground. See the sad state of the tree.
Latest update 1 September 2010