Category: STOP Press

Our new programme of activities for winter 2024 is available in the November newsletter for Members and is listed in greater detail in our Events Calendar on this website. This includes a New Year lunch, informal coffee mornings and monthly lectures in our winter lecture series until March 2025.

Winter Lectures

In our winter series, between October and March, there will be 4 lectures at Magdalen College Auditorium, and 2 lectures available to members via Zoom. Non-members are welcome at our lectures at Magdalen Auditorium. For more details, see Lectures.

9 – 15 December: Zoom lecture for members

Saving Country Houses with speaker Ben Cowell, Director General of Historic Houses

The organisation Historic Houses was created over 50 years ago in part to put the collected efforts of independent owners and custodians on a par with institutions such as the National Trust.

13–19 January 2025: Zoom lecture for members

Shells, Curtains and Doll Houses: the challenges of paper conservation within the National Trust

Nicola Walker, Senior National Conservator, Paper & Photography at the National Trust, will describe the wide variety of objects she encounters, including portrait miniatures, parchment documents, globes and fans.

18 February 2025, at Magdalen College Auditorium, Longwall St at 11am

The Happy Journey: the ffennells of Wytham

Local historian Mervyn Hughes has researched for over ten years the ffennell family of Wytham and the history of Hill End Centre and the trenches in Wytham Wood.

18 March 2025, AGM at 10.45 followed by a Lecture at Magdalen College Auditorium

The Stephen A Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities

We are delighted to welcome Professor William Whyte, architectural historian, fellow of St John’s College, Chair of Oxford Preservation Trust, who is currently responsible for the building of the new Centre for the Humanities. The largest single building project in the University’s history, the new Humanities Centre is the outcome of the largest single gift ever given to Oxford.

Coffee mornings and a lunch

Our informal coffee mornings continue on the last Tuesday of most months from 10.30am to 11.45am at a Café in central Oxford.

This is a chance for members and those interested in joining Oxford Centre to make friends and exchange experiences and news. See Events Calendar for details of venues.

New Year Lunch

Wednesday, 15 January 2025: LUNCH AT BROWNS, 5–11 Woodstock Rd

In January we are returning to Brown’s for the second year for a New Year lunch to help brighten the winter days. Booking required by members by 16 December: for a booking form with menu choices contact oxfordcnt@gmail.com.

Donations to local National Trust properties

We donate funds to local National Trust properties at the end of each year, to support projects and needs. At the end of 2023 we donated £1,000 to Nuffield Place for picnic benches, £500 to Chastleton for park fencing, and £500 to Coleshill Estate for tree planting equipment.

To thank us, OCNT Committee was invited to send representatives to a tea party in September for local Supporter Groups who had donated to the West Oxfordshire Portfolio, namely Chastleton and Coleshill. It was held at Chastleton, and we were able to inspect the new railings that we had paid for around the parkland. We were also invited to view the newly replanted gardens around the house, with a guided tour by Head Gardener Rosy Sutton. Afterwards we were served scones with jam and cream in the Brewhouse! Many thanks to our host General Manager Christian Walker.

In December 2020 we gave a donation to Cliveden towards the renovation of their Water Gardens. Over the past 3 years the lakes were drained and sludge removed while the carp (and the heron!) had a holiday elsewhere, the concrete and linings replaced, the fountains mended, the edges renewed and borders cleared for replanting. The lakes have now been refilled and look wonderful! A small gathering of local Supporter Group representatives were shown how our donations had been spent. Do go and admire the splendidly spruced up Water Gardens at Cliveden! We were the guests of General Manager Robert Miles, and had an extensive tour of parts of Cliveden gardens with commentary by Head Gardener Anthony Mason. (The coffee and walnut cake served in the Conservatory Café afterwards was excellent!)

Memories of Summer and Autumn Visits

Over the summer and autumn we enjoyed three visits. While the day at Baddesley Clinton was unfortunately rather damp, there was fine weather for the trip to Beaulieu through the lovely New Forest where the ponies were out in force, and there was warm sunshine for the visit to see the spectacular autumn colours at Sheffield Park and enjoy walks around the lakes.

Baddesley Clinton

Beaulieu Motor Museum

Members boarding the vintage bus at Beaulieu

Sheffield Park

The last two walks of the season were very different! Our visit to Nuffield Place in May was on a very wet day, with only four of us present. We were due to walk through the woods and along part of the Ridgeway path near Nuffield village, after a briefing about the history of Lady Nuffield’s restored garden. However, the House Manager, Steven, took pity on us and invited us to an indoor tour of the House in the dry, which we enjoyed very much. It was still raining when we had our very interesting guided garden tour with volunteer Gill from under umbrellas! We abandoned any idea of walking beyond the café across the road.

Our June walk was on White Horse Hill near Uffington, when we were much luckier with the weather, as after early rain it cleared and we had sunshine for exploring up the hill with National Trust Ranger Andy who told us fascinating facts about the history, geology, flora and fauna. We were able to go close to the white chalk lines of the horse on the hillside, finding out how they would be cleaned and rechalked at the end of June. At the highest point of Uffington Castle we could see 360 degrees to the horizon in seven counties!

Unfortunately, these were the last walks for our Walking Group, as we regret that Jonathan Anelay has stepped back as the Organiser and Leader after three years of very interesting and enjoyable walks at or near National Trust properties around Oxfordshire. Members of the Walking Group are very grateful to Jonathan for his detailed planning and expert leadership of the walks.  We are looking for a new Leader/Organiser for our walks!