Six hundred vintage motorcycles converged on the Heritage Motor Centre last month for the nostalgic Vintage Motor Cycle Club Banbury Run.  The event is the 62nd Banbury Run and the largest gathering of motorcycles manufactured before 1931 in the world.

The Banbury Run is aimed at those who enjoy the thrill of riding with other Vintage, Veteran & Pioneer bikes. The Run operates over three different routes which all converge back at the Heritage Motor Centre. This year the Run will feature new routes and checkpoints to challenge the riders.

Visitors can enjoy wandering around Club and Trade Stands as well as the famous Banbury Run autojumble which is one of the best sources of Veteran & Vintage motorcycle spares.

Emma Rawlinson, Event Executive for the Heritage Motor Centre stated “We’re delighted we hosted the 62nd Banbury Run in conjunction with the Vintage Motor Cycle Club. The Run is a fantastic event enabling visitors to watch hundreds of vintage motorcycles cruise the roads of Warwickshire and Oxfordshire. It really is a spectacular sight to see!”

Advance tickets costs £5 or £6 on the day and £25 for an advance family ticket or £30 on the day. FREE museum entry is offered to entrants and spectators. Camping is available for the evenings of Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 June. Prices for the two nights are £13 in advance or £18 on the day. Advance tickets or camping can be purchased by phoning the new ticket hotline on 01926 287728 Monday – Friday from 9:30am – 5pm.  

The VMCC Banbury Run is just one of many exciting and unique motoring events held at The Heritage Motor Centre in 2010. To find out more information please visit the website at www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk

The largest Banbury Cake ever made can be seen at the Four Shires Show - to be held in Banbury Market Place on Sunday August 22nd. The cake - made by local bakers Palace Cuisine will be just one of many attractions at the show which will feature food, wine, beer and entertainment from around Banburyshire. The show, which is free, is being held in conjunction with Banbury Town Council who will be holding their famous flower and produce show in a marquee opposite Cornhill at the end of Parsons Street in the town.

Deddington Farmers’ Market launched its new cooler shopping bag recently.  It is designed to protect the great variety of locally produced meat, cheese, fish, milk and other fresh produce available from many of the market’s 60 stallholders.    

One the early customers at Saturday’s market was local MP Tony Baldry, who is often found amongst its shoppers. Tony was one of the first customers to buy the new bag on what was a warm sunny morning.    

The zip top bag is lined with padded foil to insulate perishable shopping from the heat.  Bottle green in colour it sports the market’s cheerful logo.   The bags are very versatile and can also be used to keep its contents hot so will also be useful when collecting take away meals or soups.   Bags will now be on sale at the Market Information Point under the village’s Town Hall each monthly market day.

“We pride ourselves on the large number of producers we have selling good fresh local produce.   The new bags are ideal for keeping their produce in tip top condition in the warmer weather.   They have already proved to be popular and were very much in demand last Saturday morning as it was warm," commented Geoff Todd.

Wildlife in north Oxfordshire will continue to receive vital support from the local council. It has just finished work on a bio-diversity plan which sets out how it intends to improve wildlife throughout its services.

The plan aims to protect habitats and species on property the council owns or has some influence over.

The latest example is a new set of swift boxes which are to be installed at Bodicote House to increase the number of nesting swifts at the site.

Cherwell's head of safer communities Chris Rothwell commented: "These are excellent examples of how support for wildlife can be integrated into council owned buildings.

Brackley based Global Mapping collected two more awards at the International Map Trade Association European Conference in Bayonne in SW France recently.

The Peoples Map London Mapping picked up the Silver Award for Best Digital Product.  The Peoples Map is a project aimed at producing a database of the Britain and Ireland showing every street.  The concept of Peoples Map enables any individual or organisation to create and maintain maps of Britain by ‘drawing’ features like roads, land use and point of interests over aerial photography, using simple online editing tools.

The information is checked and compiled to create high quality cartographic maps in various scales that can be used either as a source for finished maps or as the basis for the creation of new maps. The People’s Map data is free from third party copyright, with fair and straight forward licensing.

The World Atlas picked by the Gold Award for Best Atlas. Published by Millennium House, the Atlas incorporates cartography from EARTH, the limited edition World Atlas, but at a more down to earth price!

Global Mapping MD, Alan Smith said “ We are proud to have been involved in both of these project right from the start and are still involved today through our retail outlet MapStop”

The old Spiceball Sports Centre may now just be a distant memory, but parts of it will live on and are set to provide years of service to other community facilities in Cherwell.
Whilst works are progressing well on the old site, parts of the now demolished building will get a new lease of life around the district.
In addition to normal building salvage methods, the internal doors, wooden flooring and sanitary ware are all being used again - they've been given away for free to town and parish councils, and village halls in Cherwell.  Woodgreen Leisure Centre has also benefitted with the refurbishment of wooden floors to the main hall and meeting rooms.
Councillor George Reynolds, Cherwell District Council's portfolio holder for environment, recreation and health, said: "The old Spiceball Sports Centre may have been superseded by the new leisure centre, but it's good to know some parts of the old building will have a new lease of life. Rather than sending re-usable items to landfill, we've given it away to communities, helping to enhance local facilities and demonstrating good recycling too."