Coronavirus - COVID-19
Need help or support? There are many in the village who have offered their services and are more than happy to help. Please see "What's On" or contact us now for further details, including contact names and phone numbers. You may also have had a leaflet posted through your door or seen a poster with more details. Please do get in touch.
"What's On" is back in paper copy and is also available here, please do sign up now to get your copy delivered to your email inbox.
The rules and advice are changing daily, please keep up with the latest via national and local news outlets.
Many if not all events in the village have unfortunately been cancelled as a result of the outbreak and subsequent social distancing measures. Find the very latest information on the calendar here.
Ollie's Shop & P.O.
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Visit the newly launched "Cotswold Room" at Ollie's Shop for a fantastic range of lovingly made local products and unique gifts from the Cotswolds such as scrumptious smoked fish from reknown Severn and Wye smokery, award winning jams and sauces, curious meats and Cotswold chorizos, Stroud handmade candles and Cotswold lavender lotions and much, much more!"
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Oakridge Village Shop and Post Office carries an extensive range of products from household essentials to award-winning organic foods and the very best local delicacies from all over the Cotswolds. Off road parking and a weekly order service and delivery are also available. Open 7 days a week.
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For more details click here
Email : olliesoakridge@gmail.com Tel : 01285 760239 Facebook : Ollie'sShop@OakridgeLynch Instagram: @ollies.oakridge |
Opening Hours:
Monday - Friday: 9am - 6pm Saturday: 9am - 1pm Sunday: 9am - 12 Noon Change of hours notice: In order to deal with an increasing number of orders, pick ups and deliveries efficiently, we will now be closed weekdays as from 3pm. Weekend hours remain the same. |
Oakridge Community Website
The Oakridge Community consists of five villages with a combined population of about five hundred and is situated on the edge of the Cotswolds, overlooking the magnificent Golden Valley; six miles from Stroud and seven miles from Cirencester.
The five villages form the ecclesiastical parish of Oakridge, within the Civic Parish of Bisley-with-Lipyatt. The Oakridge Parish Church, part of the Bisley Benefice, is dedicated to St Bartholomew and was built in 1837 with funds raised by Thomas Keble, the then vicar of Bisley.
Oakridge is a thriving and very active community with many groups and societies and extensive amenities, including a Village Shop & Post Office, Primary School, Pub, Recreation / Cricket Ground, Tennis Court, Allotments, Childrens Playground and Village Hall.
A Flower and Vegetable Show is held in July and a Village Show on the first Saturday in September. The School holds an annual May Revels on the village green.
Do You Offer Services to Oakridge Residents?
Do you live locally and offer services to Oakridge Residents - such as Plumbing, Decorating, Gardening, Odd Jobs, Dog Walking, Photography, Electrician, Walling, Bookkeeping etc. etc.
If you do we have added a new page 'Local Services' where you can advertise for free! Just contact me via the Contact Page with details of what you offer and how to contact you.
Latest!
For more detailed information on many of these items and much more, download the current edition of What's On
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Check out our new Village Gallery!
With thanks to Beth Hughes for this fabulous collection of local photographs, head over to the gallery....
Oakridge History Group
The Oakridge History Group meetings will be starting up again on Wednesday 23rd June at 7.30pm in the village hall. We will be spacing out the chairs to conform to any social distancing required at that time. The talk will be on the History of Tetbury by Jane Haines. Jane is the chair of History of Tetbury Society (HOTS) and is an authority on the fascinating history of the town. It promises to be an interesting and enjoyable illustrated talk.
On Wednesday 28th July Jane Haines will be leading a walk around Tetbury. We will be meeting at the Chipping Car Park in Tetbury at 6pm and the cost is £2.00 each, collected on the day. As we will need to know numbers, please book with Kay Rhodes 01285 760264 or John Loosley 01285 760460. We will recommence our 2021/22 season of talks on 22nd September when we hope to have a varied and interesting programme which will be published in What’s On. We continue to receive queries through the Oakridge Archives website https://oakridgearchives.omeka.net. The latest was a query regarding the site of several graves of the Phelps family in the Oakridge Methodist graveyard. An earlier query was regarding the Lewis family from a descendant in Canada which we managed to link to the James Lewis, the last hayward of the common who died in 1885 and whose photo is on the website. John Loosley Fancy some TaiChi?
Oakridge Village Hall Reopens!
As always, we are careful to observe government guidelines regarding reopening of our facilities, continuing to observe the 2m distancing rule and hand sanitisation. Ballyhoo continues to offer regular afternoon classes for their dance pupils, and the Hall is now beginning to open up to other fitness groups, including Yoga and Tai Chi.
As can be seen from their entries below, several of the village groups are now planning a return to holding their meetings in the Hall, beginning in June. Booking enquiries: email johnloosley40@gmail.com The Butchers Arms
Please see our facebook page and new website for the latest opening hours, or call for the latest menu.
Impact of Lockdown on School Life
After many weeks of being in lockdown it has been so lovely for staff and children at Oakridge to be back in school and see each other (rather than on Zoom) and enjoy some normality. Both classes have quickly immersed themselves in learning with lots of outdoors activities wherever possible.
Class 1 have made visits to the allotment and have started growing such delights as tomatoes and sweetcorn. Being outside is good for our emotional well-being. Fridays are forest school afternoons where both classes come together; we are currently in the middle of making dream catchers (on the theme of hope) using available natural materials from the environment. They are looking amazing! Class 1 have enjoyed learning about and making fantastic volcanoes (in a creative way) as part of their geography and learning about Mary Anning, an English fossil collector, as part of their English and Rocks and Soils topic in science. Class 2 have just started Evolution and Inheritance in science and were palaeontologists for an afternoon collecting and studying fossils which they found locally. We have been reading two fantastic texts in class: Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke and Darwin’s On the origins of Species by Sabina Radeva. Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke is a fabulous book about dragons having to leave their valley and search for the Rim of Heaven in the Himalayas because humans are threatening their existence. We combined art and writing using charcoal and mark making to create large-scale beasts (outdoor art) in two’s and three’s which we then used as our villain in our writing. They were terribly scary! We are now preparing for Easter and will be making hot cross buns before breaking up for our holiday. Jonathan Preston Executive Headteacher Tree Planting?
Gill Wimperis has suggested that Oakridge should have a community tree planting project but where, what trees, how to go about it and why?
Where? To grow a number of trees within the village is problematical with shading, blocking views etc. Ideas received include planting an avenue starting from near the bus shelter and carrying on the road to Waterlane. Alternatively, plant them (say 80 trees in all) along the four roads radiating from the crossroads, so each road has 10 trees on each side of each road. What trees? Wide spreading or columner? Small or large? Ornamental or forest? Ideas have included Rowan (Mountain Ash), Whitebeam, Acers (Maples), types of Oak. How? As a community project funding would be needed from grants, village organisations and individual donations. Highways and adjoining landowners would need to be consulted. Why? This would be a positive village memorial to this terrible year and our small contribution towards combating climate change. It would enhance what can be a bleak part of our landscape and would, hopefully, be a project to look forward to. Please give us your opinions, comments and ideas. Phone Gill on 01285 760528 or Bizzie on 01285 760729 or email 19biz45@gmail.com Stop Press! Alex Davies has spoken to The Woodland Trust who will provide us with the trees free of charge if we choose from silver birch, rowan, wild cherry, common oak or crab apple. |
Ollie's Shop - Curry Night!
As some of you know (and have tried and loved them), we now stock the award winning Madhus’ Rasoi cook-in sauces for authentic Indian cuisine in just 20 minutes.
The gold medal sauces are made right here in Stroud using only the freshest locally sourced ingredients by Madhu herself who also runs a successful catering business with authentic Indian cuisine at its heart. Today we are delighted to announce that we will be able to bring her delicious dishes straight to your table on Curry Night Friday by offering takeaway to collect from the shop every last Friday of the month, starting Friday June 25th. Below is a copy of the first menu on offer and if you are interested, just let us know by Wednesday 23rd and pick up from the shop on Friday afternoon from 2pm. Should you have any dietary requirements, please let us know when placing your order as Madhu can adjust the menu accordingly (vegan, gluten free...) The four course menu is £29 and feeds two people. So if you fancy a curry night with the best Indian food currently available right here in Stroud, please get in touch. Curry Night Friday 25th June 2021 Menu for 2 people £29 Masala Chicken Fresh locally sourced chicken cooked in an aromatic tomato sauce. Aubergines & Potatoes Saak Aubergines with Stancombe Beech farm potatoes cooked in a delicious fenugreek masala. Tadka Dhal Dhal with a temper! Or rather ‘tempered’ with curry leaves and whole spices Jeera Rice Light and fluffy basmati rice cooked with roasted cumin Naans Vegetarian option White kidney beans cooked with our very own spinach & lemon sauce. To place your order, visit us or call us at 01285 760239 or email us at olliesatoakridge@gmail.com by Wednesday June 23rd Oscar and Laura Sapperton Railway Tunnel
It is interesting to speculate on the effect the construction of the railway tunnel had on the local community. In 1837 Charles Richardson, Brunel’s engineer, began surveying the line of the proposed tunnel by sinking trial shafts and erecting large staffs to assist the surveying on the surface. It was on the 27 April that the people became fully aware of the surveying activity as a large staff was raised. This is described in Richardson’s journal.
“Got hauling pegs &c driven – got large sheer legs up and had some difficulty to get the hauling parts in the right place. The Staff had a violent shake when first lifted off the props. Raised it easily, steadily and without the slightest accident – large crowd of spectators many of whom lent a hand. Tried several ways of getting up the Staff but was forced to climb up by the main hauling rope. Tightened cross tree gyes and plumbed the head of the Staff thereby. Cast hauling tackle adrift and was lowered down. Tightened the gyes but was forced to put a sheepshank, about a yard long, in each.” The construction of the tunnel commenced in 1838 and was completed in 1845. A series of shafts were excavated, and miners were lowered down these shafts to dig out the tunnel and the spoil was hauled up these shafts. These railway miners came from all over the country and the 1841 census records many lodging at Sapperton, Frampton Mansell, Daneway, Far Oakridge and Oakridge Lynch. There was a total of 48 recorded and some miners had families with them, and they rented cottages. This activity must have brought in welcome business to the area where there was high unemployment due to the collapse of the woollen cloth industry in Chalford. Although, no doubt, many locals obtained casual labouring jobs, few were employed as miners but Amnon Bishop of The Frith the son of a local weaver is described in the census as a miner and brothers James and Henry Hayden of Oakridge became tunnel miners later working in many parts of England and Scotland. Following the opening of the railway many Oakridge men went to work on the railway both on track maintenance and on the trains. This of course was not the first time that “foreign” miners had come to the area as in 1784 work commenced on the Sapperton canal tunnel which was completed in 1789. Most of these miners were accommodated at Daneway and, according to Norman Jewson, in barracks on the road from Sapperton to Frampton Mansell. Head on over to the Oakridge History Website for more... Start here for more on transport services... John Loosley Dame Margaret Weston
Dame Margaret Weston, born in Oakridge in 1926, the daughter of Mr Weston, headteacher at Oakridge School in the 1940s (and remembered in several of the recent ‘Memories’ articles), has recently passed away at the age of 94. Following education at Stroud High School and Birmingham Municipal Technical School, she was one of only 3 women alongside 300 men, selected for a student apprenticeship at The General Electric Company, where she became a Chartered Electrical Engineer. Following qualification, she joined the Science Museum in London in 1955, rising to become the first female director of a national museum in 1973. Her aim there was to make the Science Museum more fun, more accessible to children, and more various in its contents, including making its galleries more interactive. She was also instrumental in creating a network of museums extending outside London, the nationwide Science Museum Group.
Appointed a Dame in 1979, she retired in 1986 and spent her last years back in Stroud, where she helped set up the Museum in the Park, and was a patron of the Stroudwater Textile Trust and Cotswold Canal Trust. Bisley-With-Lypiatt Parish Council
Please see the Parish Council website for Ward information and minutes of Council meetings. www.bisley-with-lypiatt.gov.uk.
The Parish Council (PC) is busy with the project to develop a Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) as an addition to Stroud District Council’s Local Plan to plan how the area will progress over the next 10 years. Consultations are under way with Village Hall meetings in the 3 constituent Wards to canvas opinion with ALL residents – so any ideas you have on the way YOU want YOUR area to develop would be happily received. Feel free to contact us if you want to share ideas about our future in Oakridge Ward. Ward Councillors - Tony Martin (brx44@ymail.com – 07710 800290), Mike Bell, Roger Budgeon, Dennis Robbins Clerk - Debbie Meredith 01452 771089 admin@bisley-withlypiatt.gov.uk From The Ground
Oakridge Parochial School Allotment Project
Read The February/March
Update Here ... OAT (Oakridge Allotment Team) Tel: 07983 65414 Email: info@fromtheground.co.uk |
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Did You Know? Siccaridge Wood
Siccaridge Wood is one of the few places in the Cotswolds in which the hazel dormouse makes its home, numbers of which are closely monitored as part of a national scheme, while wood ant nests can be found on the ground and silver washed fritillary and comma butterflies flit around the open rides. The Arts and Crafts Movement Oakridge was a hub of the Arts and Crafts Movement and famous painters, furniture makers, poets and other interesting people have lived here. Find out more at our Oakridge History Archive. Daneway Banks Just beyond Siccaridge Wood lies Daneway Banks, where the steep sides have almost lunar like bumps made by generations of yellow meadow ants. A classic example of limestone grassland, it is also home to the large blue butterfly which has been recently re-introduced after being extinct in the UK for several decades. |
Hire Our Village Hall Why not hire our Village hall?
Garden Club - Local Links Download the Gloucestershire Federation of Gardening Societies Spring Newsletter.
Visit the Generous Gardener Website for news of Gardening Lecture Days, Masterclasses and Specialist Plant Sales at The Coach House Garden, Ampney Crucis. Find out about the new Cafe and what's on at Miserden Nursery. |
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Oakridge Events Diary If you would you like us to add an event - please get in touch through the Contact Us page. Full calendar and "What's On" available here. |
"What's On" Newsletter We protect your information and privacy strictly in accordance with all legal requirements and we do not share your personal information with any third party.
What's On Editors: Victoria Beard Tel: 01285 760339 Email: vbeard51@gmail.com and Gill Davis Tel: 01285 760354 Email: gillaquarius@aol.com
Regulars
Out and About Chalford Sports & Social Club
From time to time events and courses at the Chalford Sports & Social Club are included in 'Whats On' which you can download above or visit their website at chalford-ssc.co.uk Bisley "Well Dressing"
Bisley's famous "Well Dressing" custom, dating from 1863, is held every Ascention day - Find out more. Useful Links |
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Artists and Artisans In Residence Find out about the Artists and Artisans who live and work in Oakridge, Including:
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Country and Wildlife |
From the Archive
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Delve into the Archive at oakridgearchives.omeka.net
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And buy the Book! 
You can buy this beautiful 175 page fully illustrated hardback 'Oakridge a History' for just £12 from Ollie's Shop or by mail from John Loosely, Email :
johnloosley40@gmail.com |
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