 |
| A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR WONDERFUL TOWN
|
|
|
|
|
|
Why not stay at The Crown & Cushion Hotel, The Fox Hotel, at one of the many B&Bs or in a fantastically luxurious log cabin (with its own spa) at Bluewood Park? We really are the town with a 101 Days Out on our doorstep. The town has a fascinating history and was, during the 70s, 80s and 90s, home to world reknowned recording studios where many groups recorded their albums. Artists such as The Proclaimers, Status Quo, Beverley Craven, Radiohead, Kula Shaker, Duran Duran, The Boo Radleys, Fairground Attraction all visited the town.
It's a practical and attractive place to set up and grow a business. Many local businesses are expanding and offering jobs - see our Job Vacancies section (now incorporating feeds from The Oxford Mail and others). This website is packed with information about; What's On, The Theatre, clubs, jobs, accommodation, travel and much, much more. We have a Local News page showing the latest news from Oxfordshire County Council, West Oxfordshire District Council and the BBC.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Red Box New Media Exhibition at Chippy Theatre
|
|
|
|
|
|
7 - 28 February at The Theatre
 What do Little Britain, The Hairy Bikers, Microsoft, Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Milton Jones, AOL, Oxford University, The WI, Xbox, Orange, Fanta and Chevy have in common? Chipping Norton ... of course!
Red Box New Media is a full service, digital creative agency who work on global marketing campaigns for some of the biggest brands in the world ... and they’re based here in Chippy. From 7 - 28 February Red Box is exhibiting some of its work in The Thetare's exhibition space. Come and see what they've been up to over the years – you may be surprised just what’s being created right on your own doorstep!
The exhibition space is open during any performance or film showing. It is also open Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 11:00am-3:00pm.
Tickets are FREE, so, there's no need to book - just turn up and chill out!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Picturing Life in West Oxfordshire
|
|
|
|
|
|
Budding
photographers are being urged to take a snapshot of life in West Oxfordshire as
part of a photography competition. The competition,
run by the District Council’s Tourism team, is hoping to attract portraits that
capture life in West Oxfordshire.
This could cover a
variety of themes, from wildlife to market towns, the panoramic views in the
North Cotswolds to a snapshot of Chippy town centre.
The winner will receive a beautiful canvas print of the successful image
mounted onto a 30" x 20" inch art canvas created by Blueprint Imaging Limited
and could be used in West Oxfordshire District Council’s tourism publications
promoting the District to tourists and visitors worldwide.
Cllr Richard
Langridge, Cabinet Member for Communities, said: “Tourists who visit the area
not only enjoy the stunning views and backdrop but also comment on the welcome
they get from the locals. We are interested
in what aspects of local life residents see as captivating, as it can only be
beneficial in encouraging tourists to visit."
Last year the
competition attracted over 117 entries and the winner was Peter Young of Long Hanborough with his picture of the lake and grand bridge at
Blenheim which now features in the 2012 Oxfordshire Cotswolds Visitor Guide. 
Peter said: “I was
unusually drawn to visit Blenheim on this particular day. I was taken by the
brilliance of the light, and the clarity and perfection of the autumn colours.
“Walking around the
lake the picture literally framed itself. I only use a
simple point-and-shoot camera, and as anyone in the family will tell you, most
pictures are taken on family holidays. So as you can imagine, this was rather special.”
West
Oxfordshire residents, including amateurs, club members or professional
photographers, are invited to take part in the competition.
Closing
date for entries is Friday 27th April. Further information and a competition entry form are available from the Oxfordshire Cotswolds website or by calling 01993 861553.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Chipping Norton on Ice - Time to get your skates on!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Open air ice skating weekend at Holy Trinity Primary School, London
Road
3 - 5 February 2012
 Holy Trinity Primary School PTA are very excited to announce
their forthcoming fundraising event – an open air ice-skating weekend to be
held in the school grounds over the weekend of 3 - 5 February 2012.
Tickets are available online from 13 January at chippingnortononice.com and are priced at £4.25 per person
per 30-minute session (consecutive sessions can be booked if skaters require
longer on the ice). Skate hire is included in the price and the rink will be
manned by a team of trained ice stewards who will ensure that our rink is safe
and well-maintained.
We are confident that the event will appeal to young
children, teenagers and adults alike and are running 30-minute skating sessions
from 7:00pm-10:00pm on Friday 3 February and from noon until 8:00pm on
Saturday 4 February and Sunday 5 February. Skaters
and spectators can enjoy refreshments donated by Starbucks, Maison
Blanc, Co-op and The Fabulous Bakin’ Boys, as well as from the town’s
restaurants, Whistlers and The Old Mill.
With a marquee covering the rink, generously donated by
Ascot Structures, not even bad weather can spoil the weekend!
The event has already generated a huge amount of interest
locally and could not have taken place without the support of our generous
sponsors: NatWest, Chancellors,
Machine Link, Hawkins Group, Southcombe Garage, Corbetts Electrical, Go Mobile, Cedar
Therapy, Information Press, The Phone Co-op, Cafe Le Raj, Wheelers, RJ Hair,
Ceta Insurance, Conker Statistics, Firs Garage, Chipping Norton Physiotherapy
Clinic, Cheltenham & Gloucester, Crown & Cushion Hotel, Beales, Ackerman
& Niece, Gill & Co, Thai Shire, Oliveri Barbers, Jaffe & Neale,
Bitter & Twisted, Cotswold Tool & Plant Hire, Sainsbury’s and Four Shires
Leather & Shoe Shop.
Holy Trinity PTA aims to make this an exciting and fun event for the whole
community which they intend to run on an annual basis.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 The Town always looks lovely after a snowfall but as we found out last year can give us some serious problems. The Town Council has
been working hard over the last few months to prepare for snow this
winter HOWEVER will need YOUR HELP to achieve its goals.
The
current status is as follows:
✽ Oxford County Council will keep the main
roads clear, namely London Road / Banbury
Road / Over Norton Road / Horsefair / Topside / A44 Worcester Road / A361
Burford Road / West End/West Street/Churchill Road / Walterbush Road / Hailey
Road / Albion Street – but excluding the pavements.
✽ the TOWN has to look after the minor
roads and pavements and carparks
✽ The Town Council has 46
GRIT BINS ready and filled with road salt/grit (with another 5 on order) / 5 tons of salt in two strategic areas
(bagged and bulk) for replenishment
✽ 2 small Tractors (1
bucket / 1 plough) - loaned to the Town by MACHINELINK (for which we are all ENORMOUSLY
grateful)
✽ 13 grit spreaders and half a ton of bagged salt – housed with the
SNOWMEN/LADIES for use in their designated areas – see the full plan
The
Mayor and Deputy Mayor have been appointed as SNOW COORDINATORS and DEPUTY who will oversee and
offer assistance where most needed.
SNOW
MEN/LADIES AND AREAS
The
Town has been divided into 13 main areas and a SNOW MAN/LADY has volunteered to act as co-ordinator for each area but
these SNOW MEN/LADIES will NOT do all the work – they will have access
to grit spreaders/grit supplies as well as emergency numbers for snow plough
assistance as required. Two Areas are currently lacking volunteers toand desperately need a SNOWMAN or LADY to look after the spreaders and also build teams:
Area 6 i.e. Walterbush Road (hopefully pavements only) Costwold Crescent and Hailey Crescent
Area 8 i.e. Hannis Road and Cornish Road -
The spreaders are very neat and quite small (about the
size of a pram) so are easy to manage.
MAJOR
PRIORITIES OF THE TOWN ARE:
In
the event of dangerous wintry /icy conditions the Town undertakes to arrange and prioritize snow clearance and/or
gritting as follows:
1) ensure that the hospital area on London Road
is accessible and that the car park area is clear
2) help with the clearance of snow from around carparks/pavements
3) check and if necessary help clear access to
old peoples' homes
Snow
clearance
is defined as:
✽ Pavements - clearing sufficient
snow so that a pushchair can be safely used
✽ Roads - shovel as much snow
as possible to the sides of the road but leaving gaps to allow parked/abandoned
cars to move.
WE ALL HAVE A DUTY TO
HELP CLEAR THE PAVEMENTS/ROADS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AND TO HELP OUR NEIGHBOURS
ESPECIALLY IF THEY ARE OLD OR INFIRM.
THE
ESSENCE TO THIS PLAN IS TO IMPROVISE WHERE WE HAVE TO AND USE BASIC COMMON
SENSE.
✽ Snow is easier to
clear before it is driven over and compacted
✽ If possible clear the
snow before using salt/grit – salt/grit is more effective on a clear road
✽ Never use water – that
only creates black ice and causes more problems
✽ Use a grit spreader
rather than a shovel – the spreader uses a fifth of the grit which is more than
sufficient – remember grit is expensive at about £150 a ton means each grit
bins costs about £40 to fill up
✽ Use a HI-VIZ jacket to
ensure you are visible to traffic
✽ Work as a team and
remember to help your older neighbours
✽ NOTE if snow or ice is
cleared sensibly then there is NO public liability risk on you – but any
clearance has to be done SENSIBLY.
If you would like to Volunteer as SNOWMAN/LADY for either Area 6 or Area 8 please pop into the GUILDHALL (between 9:00 and 12:00) or e-mail the town clerk at cntownclerk@btconnect.com
THE ENTIRE TOWN NEEDS TO WORK TOGETHER
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Calling Chippy Businesses - become "An Award Winning Chippy Business"
|
|
|
|
|
|
 The West Oxfordshire Business Awards are in their second year and once again promise to celebrate the success of businesses across West Oxfordshire. The Awards recognise and reward the achievements of organisations based in the district and acknowledge the accomplishments of those businesses that drive the corporate success of the region.
 The West Oxfordshire Business Awards are open to any businesses in the area, no matter what size or industry, whether home or office based. With 10 categories there is one suitable for most organisations from large to small, green to rural, charity to new business, tourism, social media and innovation to business person.
The Awards offer an exceptional platform for local businesses in the area to raise their profile by recognising and rewarding the achievements of organisations based in West Oxfordshire.
Mike Leggett, chair of the organising committee commented, “We are expecting a record number of entries this year as the Awards become better known for helping the winners gain awareness locally.”
Entries Close on 13 January, so click here to see which category you might enter? It's remarkably easy to enter so come on - let's see even more Chippy Businesses represented this time at the Awards ceremony at Heythrop Park on 8 March 2012!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| CHIPPING NORTON LITERARY FESTIVAL
|
|
|
|
|
|
The question is not so much ‘why does Chippy need a literary festival?’ but rather ‘why on earth doesn’t it have one already?’ Our wonderful independent book shop, Jaffé & Neale is a haven for readers and writers alike (as well as for those in search of a decent latte) and with so many famous authors on our doorstep we’re surprised no-one has done this before.
The festival website is up and running at www.chiplitfest.com.
 We’ll be working with hoteliers, retail outlets and local eateries to give festival-goers the best possible experience of our beautiful town. We can’t guarantee the weather for you, but we’ll certainly guarantee a warm welcome and a packed schedule. Many of the festival events will take place in Chipping Norton Theatre, a sensational building steeped in history, drama and great works of literature.
So what can you look forward to? Well, we’ll be hosting panel events such as the Crime Writer’s Forum, Contemporary Women’s Fiction and Writing your Life Story. We’ll have the ever-popular How to Get Published session, as well as talks from inspiring and personable authors. Our workshops will teach you how to write for television, how to break into journalism, and how to get into travel writing. We’re planning creative writing workshops, social media workshops and dozens more besides. There really will be something for everyone.
In between sessions you can wander round Chipping Norton and take advantage of some of the special festival offers we’ll be organising. The Town Hall will be open all weekend with an exhibition hall packed to the rafters with publishers, booksellers and authors, and a special reading corner so you can curl up with a coffee and your favourite book. We’ll have a children’s corner for budding authors, a free book swap, Scrabble tournament and heaps of other events to make the Chipping Norton Literary Festival a true celebration of words.
 We’ve been delighted with the response we’ve had so far from authors, who are queuing up to take part in ChipLitFest. We are delighted to announce that the Festival's Patron is local author Prue Leith.
Sponsorship
packages are still available there are some fantastic opportunities to sponsor of an event involving so many well known authors. Nationally renowned estate-agents Knight Frank are The Festival's Headline Sponsors. With Cotswold Life
and The Theatre as partners there will be some tremendous PR. The tangible benefits alone are worth more than the modest amount for which we are asking. Local sponsors include Corbetts Electrical who are sponsoring the "Historical Writing" Workshop, The Phone Co-op who are hosting "How to Get Published" whilst local insurers CETA are hosting our amazing Crime Writer's Event. Midcounties Co-operative are hosting at the Town Hall and Oxford based accountants Shaw Gibbs LLP are doing the same at The Theatre.
So, if
you’d like to be involved in supporting the festival project, please
select the ‘sponsor’ option on the mailing list or telephone Ken Norman on 07790 670 234.
Confirmed authors include:
 We’re adding to this list all the time, so to keep up to date with our
plans, and be the first to receive details of the festival schedule,
sign up to the festival's mailing list or you can follow us on Twitter @ChipLitFest.
|
  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 At the last networking breakfast meeting of the 729 Club local solicitor Geoffrey Cotterill announced that after years of working for other people he has set up his own office in Chipping Norton under the Setford's banner.
Geoffrey has over 25 years experience in the fields of commercial, commercial property, charity and church law, having worked both in private practice and in-house. In addition, he has written many articles, contributed to a book on social housing law and been a board member of one of the country’s largest housing associations.
Whether your organisation is large or small, Geoffrey believes in giving the same high level of customer service and adopts a pragmatic approach to achieving your goals. Geoffrey has set up his blog and Twitter accounts so, you can easily find him on-line.
Away from the office, Geoffrey enjoys music, film and theatre and is currently studying for a GCSE in Astronomy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Lido lottery is still going strong - originally started over 40 years ago to raise funds for the pool it was resurrected to help keep this much loved facility going. You can subscribe to the lottery for £3.00 a month - the prize fund = 50% of the total raised. For further information and an entry form call in at Jaffé & Neale or print off the form here. November's 2011 prize winners: First prize: Rachel Godfrey (£114.75)
Second prize: B C Herbert (£68.85)
Third prize: Liz Cooke (£45.90)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|