News

Dates for your diary

The St Nicholas Church Project Funding Group have put together a programme of events over the coming year to raise funds for the work we are doing to repair and renovate the building and allow the church to be used for more community and social events, keeping it as an important part of the village for the next generation.

Please make note of the dates and support our work by coming along to as many of them as you can.

All take place in the church unless otherwise indicated.

Arts & Crafts Exhibition                      - 17th August 10-2
Harvest weekend                            - 4th-5th October
Harvest decorating                         - 4th October
Harvest coffee morning                    - 5th October 10-12
Harvest Festival                              - 6th October 10.30
Sports Talk with Rob Bonnet              - 18th October in the village hall
Wreath Making                          - 30th November 10-12

For more information or to get involved contact Margaret Hutchings (hutchingsbestnet@gmail.com).

This is the third year we shall be holding the Arts & Crafts Exhibition and it would be good if we could make it even better than last year. It is a completely free event so no cost involved in either exhibiting and/or selling creative work or coming along to enjoy viewing it. It would be good to get as many as possible involved in our community and would be particularly good to see children and young people displaying their work. If arts and crafts are not of interest then do come along anyway and enjoy refreshments including home-made cakes.

Greatest Hits Choir Concert - 23 June 2019

It was a great pleasure to welcome back The Greatest Hits Choir from Thame on Sunday 23rd June. We managed to fill the village hall with 80+ people who enjoyed a very entertaining afternoon listening to this excellent choir. Their programme included many much loved songs some of which the audience could participate with. During the interval tea was served with a splendid selection of home-made cakes baked by many excellent bakers in the village.

Following the concert the Rev. Steve Hayes gave a short talk thanking the choir for their excellent performance and giving their time to help raise funds towards the cost of having the bees removed from the church roof. The sum of £1,095 was raised from the afternoon, which was a great result.

Bees at St Nicholas Church

Wild bees have colonised the roof of St Nicholas Church for many years, with some finding their way into the church through minute holes and unable to get out. The holes would be sealed up, only for them to find other holes and cracks. However, in the prolonged hot weather during the summer of 2018 the bees became extremely active and would find their way in, frequently buzzing along to hymn singing on Sundays and joining in with the rector's sermon! Naturally, people were becoming concerned about their presence and it was obvious from staining on the ceiling and walls and honey dripping through that damage being caused could become a huge problem for the church structure.

After seeking expert advice we were informed that the hive had probably become very large and heavy and we should have it removed before further damage was caused.

We didn't want to harm the bees, just have them removed safely, but due to the site being so inaccessible, it was difficult to find an organisation willing to help. After much searching we were given details of the Tree Bee Society of Great Britain, a small non-profit-making company dedicated to the conservation and preservation of pollinating bees. Their work includes the safe removal of bees. After visiting us last autumn they agreed to remove our bees, which they did between 29th April and 1st May 2019.

The process has been a lengthy, slow and difficult one, with members of the Tree Bee Society working at height, as over three days they carefully took off part of the ancient roof to locate the hive. The hive they removed measured approximately two metres by one metre. Five litres of honey was found and ninety litres of honeycomb wax. The honey is dirty, and so inedible, but the wax will be used for a range of products, including hand cream. These products are produced by the Tree Bee Society and sold to raise funds to support their work.

The bees have been taken to the Tree Bee Society’s headquarters in West Lancashire to be rehomed on their ten acre site.

The church roof has now been carefully repaired and internal repairs will also be carried out. Naturally, all this work comes at a considerable cost. St Nicholas church would be grateful for any donations towards the cost.

The work was featured on BBC News and ITV News, and in The Times, and there's a very interesting interview with the Reverend Steve Hayes and Abigail Reade from the Tree Bee Society on Jeremy Vine on Radio 2 (starts at 1 hour 31 minutes in).

The first three photos below were taken by Maggie Pearce. All the other images and videos are copyright © Abigail Reade and the Tree Bee Society of Great Britain. (The videos take a while to upload, but are well worth the wait!)

Update - January 2019

St Nicholas Church Parochial Church Council wish to thank all who have supported our village church during 2018 and in particular during December, which has been a busy month leading up to Christmas with stalls at The Pantry, wreath-making workshop, carol singing around the village, the traditional Carol Service and our Christmas Eve Communion Service. Many of you help with cleaning and flowers and this is much appreciated. We are however, always pleased to have more volunteers and if you would like to join in please do let us know.

Our beautiful Grade 2* listed church needs constant care and maintenance and it's been a busy year, with several fundraising events helping us to raise the necessary funds. These have included table-top sales and coffee mornings, stalls at The Pantry and an arts & crafts exhibition. In addition to our Sunday services we have held special services at Easter, including the Good Friday walk up Muswell Hill, Harvest Festival, Remembrance Service to commemorate
100 years since the end of World War I and our traditional Carol Service and Christmas Eve Communion Service.

Over the next year we intend to safely remove the bee colony in the church roof. This is necessary as the hive has become large and is causing damage in the roof area. Unfortunately it is not easy to access, and we will need to have a professional bee removal company to carry out the work.

We also intend to move forwards with plans for a servery and toilet in the church, making it more user-friendly.

We shall need to carry on with our fundraising programme and are currently planning a programme of events. We hope you will continue to support us so that our church can continue to support our community.

Ringing for Remembrance

On 11 November 2018, bells rang out from churches and cathedrals in villages, towns and cities across the country to mark the centenary the Armistice. Piddington’s bell ringers, Tony Pearce (Tower Captain), Cheryl Coggins and Morwen Ashton, joined in by ringing the bells in St Nicholas Church from 12.30pm. You can see a video of them ringing here.

Harvest Coffee Morning at St Nicholas Church - October 2018

The Harvest Coffee Morning and produce sale was a great opportunity for visitors to see St. Nicholas Church beautifully decorated for the Harvest season. Many thanks to all who helped decorate the church. A collection of groceries and produce was collected and has been passed to the Bicester Food Bank.

Arts & Crafts Exhibition and Coffee Morning - August 2018

An Arts & Crafts Exhibition held in Piddington Church on 4th August was a popular event. Clearly there is much local creative talent and it was good to see such a wide range of artwork and crafts from within our community. Members of the Piddington Craft and Social Group joined in displaying crafts they have worked on since the group formed last autumn, along with many other local artists, crafters and sculptors.

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Wreath making - December 2017

The wreath making in the church was great fun. About two dozen people came along to create their own beautiful Christmas wreaths and enjoy mulled wine, mince pies and coffee. We will definitely do this again next year.
Photos: Maggie Pearce

Bingo evening

A Bingo evening was held on 11th November, the profits from which were split between St. Nicholas' Church and a children's project in Nepal. The evening was great fun and thoroughly enjoyed by all. Grateful thanks go to Al and Bev Hopkins, who put a great deal of effort into organizing the evening and arranged for some amazing prizes.
Photos: Maggie Pearce

Harvest Festival Weekend 2017

The Harvest Festival Weekend was greatly enjoyed by those who visited St. Nicholas Church which was beautifully decorated in all the wonderful autumn colours. Both the coffee morning and produce sale and the Sunday service were well supported and were joyful occasions to come together in our beautiful church. Many thanks to all who helped decorate the church and helped over the weekend. A large collection of groceries and produce was collected and has been passed to the Bicester Food Bank.

We are also celebrating the near completion of the repairs to the church and are particularly grateful to all who have helped raise the funds for these repairs together with funding from Viridor, Oxfordshire Historic Churches Trust and The Churches Trust. Without this valued support we would have been unable to carry out the repairs.

Keeping in touch - update September 2017

Following a quinquennial inspection in 2014 the rector Rev. Charles Masheder (who was rector at the time) suggested that a fundraising group be formed to raise funds for the repairs to the Church. Its purpose would be to support the PCC and focus on obtaining grants. This group was formed with five people, who began working on a five-year plan. There are now seven in the group including our new rector, Rev. Steve Hayes.

The first stage included work on the stonework around the beautiful stained glass window. Funding for the work came from Viridor, who agreed to give £9,000, and further funds were raised from events held in the Church and village hall. Further funds came from church funds.

The second stage was estimated to cost £37,000 and included repairs to the stonework, roofing and internal flooring. However, at this stage Rev. Charles Masheder moved away and for a year we were without a rector. During this time work was put on hold. In October 2016 Rev. Steve Hayes became our new rector and under his guidance we have been able to proceed with the next stage. Funding has been secured from Viridor (£18,000), Oxfordshire Historic Churches (£4,000) and Churches Trust (£2,500) for the repairs, which had now become urgent, and costs had risen to £41,000. With this funding and funds raised by ourselves work was able to start in June 2017 and should be completed by the Harvest Weekend.

With feedback from the Community Led Plan we are pleased that the village is in agreement for the next and final stage of the five-year plan, which is to put a servery and toilet inside the Church. We will soon be applying for grants to enable us to proceed with this stage. It is important that we move forward to help preserve this beautiful 700-year-old Grade 2* listed Church, enabling it to be shared by everyone.

We thank everyone for their continued support during a difficult time and we invite you all to come and celebrate the completion of the recent work at our Harvest Festival Weekend when the Church will be beautifully decorated in the harvest colours. We will be having a coffee morning and produce sale on Saturday 30th September between 10am and 1pm and the Harvest Festival Service on Sunday, 1st October at 10.30am.

Our first Coffee Morning and Table Top Sale

The first Coffee Morning & Table Top Sale held in St Nicholas Church on 4 March was a great success. Thanks are due to everyone who helped organise and run the event, from putting up bunting and setting up the tables to serving the endless coffees, teas and mountains of homemade cakes. Thanks too to everyone who took a table - there were lots of bargains and plenty of chat.

St Nicholas Church Project Funding Group

We are a small group of people who have for several years met a few times a year to discuss ideas on how to raise money for the upkeep of St Nicholas Church. Some of us are also on the PCC. We all work together to maintain everything. At the moment some of us are busy sending off for various grants for our more urgent repairs whilst the others are busy planning events we can offer in the Church this year. We are very restricted due to the lack of a kitchen and toilet. It is hoped that eventually we will have better facilities but meanwhile please try to support us by coming along to one of our new ventures, a coffee morning and tabletop sale and a concert by the Miltary Wives Choir.

Harvest Festival weekend

The 2016 Harvest Festival weekend was much enjoyed by the many people who visited St. Nicholas Church. The church was beautifully decorated in all the wonderful Autumn colours. Both the Saturday coffee morning and the Harvest Festival Sunday Service were well supported and were wonderful occasions to come together in our beautiful church to celebrate harvest.

Many thanks to all who helped with decorating the church and to all who helped over the weekend. A large collection of groceries and produce was received and will be passed on to the Bicester Food Bank.

Bellringing

If you heard the church bells ringing on Friday 3rd June 2016, it was because we took part in the BBC's Music Day.

The Piddington bellringing team is (left to right): Chris Taylor, Wendy Taylor, Morwen Ashton, Tony Pearce (captain), Cheryl Coggins, Pam Newell and Rachel Pennington. We welcome new members, and anyone interested in taking part can telephone Morwen on 01844 238510 for further information.

And here's what they sounded like ...

The Piddington Bakers cake stall

As well as supporting fundraising events, such as the recent concert in the church, you can help raise money for the ongoing repair and maintenance of St Nicholas's Church by buying a cake from the Piddington Bakers regular stall at The Pantry.

Oxfordshire Churches in 360 Degrees

St Nicholas's Church in Piddington is featured in a fascinating website showing the interiors of many Oxfordshire churches in 360-degree panoramas. You can see the panoramic view here.

101 churches have been photographed so far and can be viewed here: http://in360degrees.co.uk/oxfordshirechurches/

Here is how the photographer, Nikhilesh Haval, explains the project.

As a hobby and to practise my photography skills, I have been photographing the interiors of Oxfordshire churches in 360 panoramas for the past 2 years. Where possible, I have sought permission to do so, but it has not always been possible. As my collection grew I realised I could use the imagery to increase awareness of the historic churches, so I have collected all the information and produced a website that shows all the panoramas on a easy to use Oxfordshire map: http://oxfordshirechurches.in360degrees.co.uk . The idea behind this is for people who are going to get married to share the venue with far away friends and families. The idea is also to promote the variety and magnificence of the rich architectural heritage that these churches hold. The site is free for everyone to use.