News: The fence along Days Lock has been moved back to address health & safety concerns

Good news! Following fruitful discussions between the Parish Council and Andrew Reid, the owner of Bishops Court Farm, a section of the fence along Days Lock has been moved back to address health & safety concerns that had been raised in that area. Furthermore, the next section will be moved back from the river bank by more than we originally requested, to allow for future bank erosion, portage and access to the village for those mooring boats further up river. This line of this section will be the subject of consultation with interested parties. We would like to take this opportunity to recognise that this is not the only area that Mr Reid has allowed as an enhancement to the official rights of way. We thank Mr Reid for providing the land to widen the footpath, a generous gesture to the community. Amicable talks on other related issues continue.

The Digging Dorchester project on the Allotments

We have also been made aware of the new dates for the Dorchester allotments archeology activities.  Please do head on down and take part.

  • Undergraduate field school: Sunday 25th June – Friday 7th July
  • Public field schools: Sunday 9th – Friday 14th July, and Sunday 16th – Friday 21st July.

See www.discoveringdorchester.blogspot.co.uk for information on the project so far. Residents of the village are particularly invited to come and take an active part in the exploration of its history.

For more information please email edward.peveler@arch.ox.ac.uk

Ed is talking about the dig at the May Dorchester Historical Society meeting.
Wednesday 24th May, Village Hall, 7.30, members free, guests £3

Speakers for historical society meetings announced for April and May 2017

We have just received the Historical Societies list of speakers for April and May, and certainly wanted to share with you all.  Whether you are interested in the local excavations or the differences between Nouveau and deco, there should be something of interest.

Schedule of speakers:

  • May 24th 2017: Ed Peveler, ‘Discovering Dorchester: an update on recent progress during the excavation’
  • April 26th 2017: Robert Kidner, ‘Art Nouveau and Art Deco: how do they differ?’

Members free, visitors £3

Village Hall 7.30pm

See full event page for up to date details: https://www.dorchester-on-thames.co.uk/posts/event/historical-society/

Election of councillors to Oxfordshire County Council

A reminder that on Thursday 4th May 2017, you will be able to vote for your county councillor.  For all those within Dorchester, you are likely to be part of the ‘Berinsfield and Garsington’ area.

To check your candidates, you can view the list on the official county council voting page (I believe this page will also list the results afterwards).

As of 17th April 2017 though, the candidates you have available to you are:

Robin Francis Bennett Green Party
Evelyne Godfrey Labour & Co-operative Party
Elizabeth Lorraine Lindsay-Gale The Conservative Party Candidate
Simon Geoffrey Davenport Thompson Liberal Democrats