A sparkling new chapter brings connection, wellbeing and community to later life… Let’s raise a glass to Bartlett’s Residential Care Home’s new vineyard!
Set in the heart of the Bucks countryside, the Bartlett’s Residential Care Home team have embarked on an exciting new chapter – their own vineyard.
More than 4,000 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines were recently planted on the edge of the Chiltern Hills, an area with soils remarkably similar to those of the Champagne region in France. In just a few years, the Bartlett’s team hope to produce their first bottles of English sparkling wine, grown and made on-site.
What makes this project so special is the role residents play in the journey. From touring the vines by golf buggy to helping select new shoots, the vineyard is designed to be an active part of daily life.
For many, the benefits of purposeful activity in nature are profound. Studies show that time outdoors, working with plants and sharing in seasonal tasks, can improve wellbeing and provide a strong sense of achievement. This is particularly valuable for those living with dementia, where moments of purpose, connection and familiarity can bring joy and reassurance.
The vineyard also represents something wider: a commitment to enriching later life with unique experiences, rooted in community and nature. For residents, families and staff, it’s already a place to relax, socialise, and be part of something enduring.
Bartlett’s Residential Care Home, Portway Road, Stone, HP17 8RP.
Oxford’s Westgate just got a whole lot messier – in the best possible way. Liz Nicholls tucks into The Beefy Boys’ award-winning burgers
Is it even a good night out if you don’t wake up covered in meat juices and reeking of garlic and truffle oil!? (Don’t write in, please… the answer is no.)
That’s the glorious state I’m in as I write this, snout-deep into my box of leftover goodies from last night’s mega feast chez The Beefy Boys, who have just opened their newest temple of indulgence on the rooftop terrace at Westgate Oxford.
Do my jeans feel a little tighter than they did yesterday? Yes. But I have no regrets, only fond memories, the kind of full-body contentment you get from being fully, gloriously fed, and a hankering to go back for another feast this weekend with my boyfriend (AKA The Burger King).
If you’re a red-blooded carnivore (or even a part-time vegetarian) you’ve probably heard the buzz around Beefy Boys. Oxford foodies have been collectively drooling in anticipation, and judging by the launch night alone, they’ve delivered the goods and then some. With their award-winning, American-style “dirty burgers”, this crew aren’t just flipping patties, they’re serving up flavour stacks.
But who are The Beefy Boys? Well, back in 2011, four childhood mates from Hereford – Anthony “Murf” Murphy, Daniel Mayo-Evans, Christian Williams, and Lee Symonds – took their love of backyard barbecues and turned it into a burger empire. What started with home-grilled experiments quickly spiralled into full-on success after the boys entered the World Food Championships in the land of excess, Las Vegas, and walked away with global acclaim. Since then, they’ve scooped Best Burger and Best Burger Chef at the 2023 National Burger Awards, opened five restaurants (Hereford, Shrewsbury, Cheltenham, Bath and now Oxford), and even launched a cookbook that topped Sunday Times bestseller lists.
And let me tell you – the food lives up to the hype. These are not dainty burgers. These are filthy, finger-dripping, stacked-to-the-ceiling monsters, crafted with obsessive attention to flavour, with options galore, including cheese “skirts”, the option to have your prime patty pink in the middle, and gazillion more fun-in-a-bun options dripping in meaty flavour. Every bite is a high-five to your taste buds. The OG Beefy Boy is the ultimate gateway burger: juicy Herefordshire beef, layered with classic fixings, and cooked to perfection. The Oklahoma Onion Boy is a next-level experience, with onions smashed right into the patty as it cooks, creating sweet, caramelised edges slapping you with an uppercut of umami. It’s award-winning for a reason.
Add in great fries (stacked, natch) craft beers, cocktails, and a lively, neon-lit vibe and you’ve got your next favourite night out. My fellow reviewer Marlie Green also gave top marks to the crispy bacon fries (including brekkie the following morning) as well as the divine shakes (have them for afters as you waddle home and think of them as a guilt-free pudding?), especially the Biscoff option.
The Oxford restaurant is a 100-cover rooftop venue with a buzzing open kitchen, bold signage, and a central bar slinging cocktails and mocktails, it’s got fun written all over it.
Calories… who? I loved every decadent second of it. In a world full of “clean eating” and food noise, there’s something gloriously rebellious about going the whole hog when the food is this good.
The Beefy Boys haven’t just brought burgers to Oxford – they’ve brought a vibe. So book a table (especially at peak times) or try your luck as a walk-in. I’d advise limbering up: turn up hungry in your baggiest, darkest clothes and get stuck in! What better work-out ahead of the Christmas scoffathon (just me?) than tucking in and enjoying the meat sweats?
Are you wondering how you might be able to stay warm at home – and save money – this winter? Help is at hand from PeCAN, Petersfield Climate Action Network
How would you like tailored, free and impartial advice to help you make more informed decisions about home energy upgrades? Thanks to the My Home Made Better energy advice service residents across South East Hampshire can get just this.
Advisers could help you understand why your home might be losing heat in winter, what is causing high energy bills, and whether there might be opportunities to make the most of grant funding, earn money back from the grid, or increase your property’s overall value. With 37% more renewable installations in the first half of 2025 (vs 2024) now is the time to find out what you could do with your home.
The My Home Made Better service recognises that widely available, generic information on heat pumps, insulation and solar panels is not enough, and that you need relatable guidance unique to your home. Advisers understand the demand for access to reliable, trustworthy advice, without feeling under pressure to commit to work you’re not comfortable with. Recipients have told PeCAN that the advice offered is ‘clear and extremely helpful’.
PeCAN is an environmental charity aiming to help local communities reduce their carbon emissions, protect nature, improve resilience, and adapt to the changing climate. They do this by running projects and activities with local people and organisations to help make the changes to buildings, transport, natural environment, understanding and behaviour that our community needs to live sustainably.
Their projects include the immensely popular A Fruit Tree in Every Garden scheme, which has seen over 3,000 subsidised fruit trees distributed across East Hampshire over the past five years. Their biennial Petersfield Eco Fair welcomed more than 1,500 visitors in 2024, and is set to return in July 2026. Their education outreach programme, working with local primary and secondary schools, has seen more than 100 free workshops and assemblies delivered to over 5,000 students.
If you’d like to start exploring options for your home, call the free phone line 0800 804 8601, email mhmb@petersfieldcan.org, or fill in the contact form on PeCAN’s website: petersfieldcan.org/projects/home-energy/my-home-made-better
For more information, inspiration, case studies, and videos from around the region, head to www.myhomemadebetter.org.
My Home Made Better has received funding from the Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Scheme. It is supported by Hampshire County Council, Southampton City Council, and Portsmouth City Council, and delivered by the Environment Centre, in partnership with Petersfield Climate Action Network, Winchester Action on the Climate Crisis and Energy Alton.
Santa’s Fun Run on Sunday, 7th December, has a record target of £100,000 towards local & selected charities. Malcolm Parr of Marlow Thames Rotary invites us to step up…
Three thousand Santas will take the streets in Marlow on 7th December for a 5km challenge that can be run, walked or sauntered.
An event started 21 years ago by the Marlow Rotary Clubs with a handful of runners has grown to its maximum size and is expected to sell out in weeks. Several local lead charities will benefit but organisers will allow groups raising over £50 to share in the £15,000 “charity pool”. Businesses in particular may choose to use the event to raise funds for their own charity, and last year individual company awards topped £4,000 each.
Last year a record £95,000 was raised. The target this year is £100,000 for the lead charities, Scannappeal (for new local breast screening equipment) and the Heart of Bucks Community Foundation’s Together Against Poverty appeal. John Prout, lead Rotary organiser for the event, said he was confident the record target could be achieved, adding: “In 2004 our first event attracted about 100 entries and each year we’ve grown and evolved.”
Marlow Thames Rotary Club President Richard Hockly said: “We want the course to be a sea of red Santas, a fantastic fun weekend that includes businesses, schools, churches, charities, scout and guide groups, families, neighbourhoods, clubs. Come and join us!”
Entry £20pp if you book before 19th November at santasfunrun.org and then £25pp. Costumes provided at no extra cost. The event starts in Marlow’s Higginson Park.
Photo Oxford, 25th October to 16th November festival uncovers plenty of truths… or does it?!
Oxford’s biennial festival returns to the city featuring a packed programme of more than 25 exhibitions and events by 60 photographers, ranging from celebrated international artists and documentary photographers to exciting new talent. Venues include Modern Art Oxford, Pitt Rivers Museum, The Bodleian’s Weston Library, North Wall Arts Centre and the Jolly Farmers pub.
At Oxford Brookes, an exhibition documents the clandestine nocturnal activities of The Night Climbers of Oxford, a hidden culture of climbing, scaling and traversing the city’s rooftops while the rest of the world sleeps. “For nearly a century, an unseen, undocumented, and unspoken tradition has unfolded under the cover of darkness within the walls of Oxford’s colleges and gothic architecture. One of risk, elite athleticism, and quiet rebellion,” says photographer Austin Bradley. “Their climbs are both a challenge and a statement, sometimes used as a platform for acts of political defiance.” Shot in the visual language of 1930s film noir, the exhibition is as much about the stories of these extraordinary climbers as it is about the ascents themselves.
There are more secrets to uncover in an exhibition at Caper Books on Bartlemas: Oxford’s Hidden Sanctuary which is celebrated in a new book and accompanying exhibition exploring Bartlemas Hamlet and leper hospital on the 900 anniversary of their foundation.
Over at the John Radcliffe Hospital, photographer Marysa Dowling explores how to make pain visible, whilst also investigating uncomfortable truths, Bog Jobs, at the Jolly Farmers presents photographs of “cottaging” locations around London taken between 1979 and 1996 demonstrating photography’s power as evidence: during this period photographer Phil Polglaze was commissioned by criminal defence lawyers in aid of gay men standing trial for gross indecency. Outside of the court room, his photographs have never before been seen by a wider public.
The theme of truth runs through the programme exploring photography’s relationship to reality. “Questions about photography’s relationship with truth are as old as the history of the medium,” says Festival Director Katy Barron, “and with the rapid growth of AI, they feel particularly relevant now. This year we are presenting the work of three thought-provoking artists who explore artificial intelligence (AI) in their work.”
“One of these, artist and performer Haley Morris-Cafiero, interrogates AI tools to expose the hidden biases in the recruitment software used by large companies to assess potential applicants. Those with large eyes are viewed as being more honest and those with high cheekbones as better leaders! Exhibition visitors will have the opportunity to try the tools themselves and create ‘more-employable’ versions of themselves!”
Other festival highlights include an exploration of data related to US military expenditure released by the Pentagon, a lecture by legendary American photographer, Joel Meyerowitz, who championed the use of colour in the 1960s, and a new representation of work from the 1970s by pioneering photographer Daniel Meadows documenting the last Lancashire cotton mill.
The programme also includes the first UK exhibition of photographs about the human stories behind South Africa’s truth and reconciliation hearings. These are on show for the first time in over 20 years.
For more information on these and the other free exhibitions and affordable events taking place as part of Photo Oxford visit www.photooxford.org
Tammy Nemeth invites you to enjoy an Oktoberfest evening on 31st October, starring Karl Bavarian Brass band in the beautiful & lively village of Ipsden near Wallingford
Nestled just outside Wallingford, Ipsden is a charming village with a welcoming spirit. Our community hosts a variety of events throughout the year, designed to bring people together—not just neighbous, but everyone from the surrounding areas.
Our village is alive with creativity and local talent. Discover your artistic side with watercolour painting classes led by renowned local artist Denny Webb. Stop by the village shop, lovingly run by Shirley Small, or explore fresh, local meat and produce at Emma and Jed’s Blue Tin Produce farm shop. For a breathtaking view, visit the King William pub, a perfect spot.
Ipsden’s events are a highlight for all ages, and everyone is invited! You may have tapped your feet at Music in the Barn, showcasing local live talent, or laughed until your sides ached at the St Mary’s Players’ pantomime. Perhaps you’ve tested your detective skills at one of our thrilling murder mystery evenings. Ipsden village church is a hub of activity, organising monthly coffee mornings at the village hall, festive Christmas caroling, wreath-making workshops, and cosy “warm spaces” during the winter months.
Join us for an Oktoberfest evening featuring Karl’s Bavarian Brass Band, and a locally prepared dinner. Tickets are available at ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on?q=ipsden. We can’t wait to welcome you! ipsdenvillage.co.uk
With over 30 years’ experience, you know you and your home are in good hands with Hazel Interiors
“A professional, experienced company that I would not hesitate to recommend. After renovating our Grade II house, (with very uneven walls & floors), this did not faze Hazel at all, she measured, assisted in helping me find the right fabric for each room, and made three sets of full length curtains & three blinds, all fitted including rails etc, and they look perfect & hang beautifully despite the wonky house! I couldn’t be more delighted with the outcome. You could not find a better service anywhere & at a very reasonable & competitive price. Small independent businesses are always overlooked, but please use this wonderful company, you will not be disappointed.”
And that’s the opinion of just one of the delighted clients of Hazel Interiors based in Wantage where you’re guaranteed a warm welcome, service that spoils you and soft furnishings you’ll fall in love with.
Hazel Interiors is about more than just the end product, it’s an experience that will envelop you as you take your space from house to home.
Free home consultations with a carefully selected range of fabrics will help you get a feel for your new look whether it’s bedroom curtains, dramatic swags and tails, modern blinds, softly quilted throws or gorgeously padded headboards, cushions to add the finishing touch for seats or to scatter all can be designed and created to suit your and your home.
Visit us online at hazelinteriors.co.uk, call 01235 799914 or pop in and see us at 1 Mill Street, Wantage and chat to us about making your house a home you can be proud of.
The Mutton at Hazeley Heath welcomes Graeme Souness for an exclusive DEBRA charity dinner
Take your seat and enjoy a winning combination at a charity dinner with Liverpool legend Graeme Souness hosting at The Mutton at Hazeley Heath.
The football favourite is Vice President of DEBRA, a charity which supports people living with epidermolysis bullosa (EB), and the three-course dinner with wine pairing will be held for this cause.
Fresh from his incredible two-way Channel swim earlier this year, which raised an astonishing £800,000 for DEBRA, Graeme will be joining guests at The Mutton for an unforgettable night of stories, conversation, and generosity.
The evening will begin with drinks and canapés, before diners settle in for a three-course feast created by Head Chef Rob Boer, followed by an intimate Q&A with Graeme hosted by the evening’s MC – Ady Williams, BBC Radio Berkshire presenter and former Reading FC player.
Set against the beautiful backdrop of Hazeley Farm. The Mutton is proud to hold the title of South East Pub of the Year in the 2024 National Pub & Bar Awards as well as two AA Rosettes. This family-run countryside pub offers the perfect backdrop for a night of great food, laughter, and giving back.
In addition to the dinner and Q&A, you’ll be able to bid in a live auction and buy tickets for a raffle offering luxury prizes and one-of-a-kind experiences. The evening will also present an opportunity to support DEBRA’s £5 million campaign to fund clinical trials and improve care for EB patients.
Tickets are priced at £150 per person. Spaces are limited so early booking is recommended. Purchase a ticket via the link HERE or email: reservations@themuttonhh.co.uk
About DEBRA
DEBRA is the national charity supporting people living with epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a painful and life-limiting genetic skin condition that causes the skin to blister and tear at the slightest touch. With no known cure, DEBRA funds vital research into treatments and provides specialist healthcare, support, and quality of life for people living with EB.
Puppy trainers needed to support charity in Farnham & Woking
Could you give a life-changing gift to someone you don’t know?
Volunteer puppy trainer Karen Hardcastle does just this and says it is an “amazing feeling”. She explains: “Becoming a volunteer trainer with Hearing Dogs has changed my life. It’s just been the best thing I’ve ever done – to have a dog, to learn a skill, meet lots of people, get out and about, and make a difference to someone else’s life.
“When I speak to prospective volunteers, the first thing they say is ‘I’d love to do it, but I couldn’t give the puppy up at the end’. Of course you miss the dog you’ve been training, but a lot of the emotion isn’t sadness, it’s happiness.”
Could you do this? The charity has expanded it’s training programme into Farnham and Woking.
Dogs are trained to alert deaf people to important and life-saving sounds such as smoke alarms, doorbells, and even baby monitors and when fully trained, hearing dogs not only provide practical assistance to deaf people, but also offer lots of love and emotional support and help reduce isolation and loneliness, which many deaf people experience.
As a puppy trainer you’ll take a puppy into your home for 6 to 18 months and get it started on its training journey – from teaching basic cues to going out and about to experience different sights, sounds, smells and environments. All trainers are fully supported and all costs are covered by the charity – food, toys, bedding and vet costs.
Find out more at hearingdogs.org.uk/volunteering/puppy-training/
Well done to North Moreton’s Mavericks who have defended their championship of the Home Counties Women’s Cricket Premier League
Winning a title is one thing, but defending it is the true test of champions.
Last year, the Moreton Mavericks made history by winning the Home Counties Women’s Cricket Premier League. Now the tiny village club has done it again, retaining their crown against much bigger rivals from Beaconsfield, Binfield, Charlbury, Newbury, Oxford, Stony Stratford and Thame.
The Mavericks, based in North Moreton, famed for The Bear pub and its 167-year-old cricket club, entered the season determined to rise to the challenge. For the first time, they signed a 21-year-old New Zealander. The decision proved invaluable in a demanding league where no team escaped defeat, with every side losing at least three matches ina 14-game programme. Captain Georgia Haworth says: “Huge thanks and congratulations to the 35 girls who represented the club this season. With injuries to key players, we were very grateful for that extra capacity.” Club President Mike Howat adds: “As a small village club we continue to punch above our weight. Great credit goes to Georgia and her team for retaining the title.”
The Mavericks also lifted the GU18 county trophy this summer, with neighbouring Thame and Steventon also celebrating success. For details on joining or supporting the Mavericks, visit moretoncc.org
