Oxford News
Patients celebrate new wildlife garden at hospital in 1988
The two pictures here are among hundreds that the Oxford Mail has published of happy occasions at the Churchill Hospital.
The one above was taken in 1988 when a wildlife garden was opened in the hospital grounds to attract birds and delight patients.
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It was one of six similar gardens created in the Headington hospital grounds at that time.
The work was carried out by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Naturalists’ Trust and was the brainchild of former patient Pat Hartridge.
Mrs Hartridge is pictured second from the right in the picture with, left to right, Cliff Shuker, Phil Hill and Colleen Petursson.
Mr Shuker was the senior director of ISTEL, a Cowley-based high-tech company which paid the £300 cost of creating the garden.
Mr Hill was the project supervisor and Mrs Petursson was assistant director of nursing services at the hospital.
They are seen unveiling the board at the entrance to the latest garden, outside the day room of the gynaecology ward. It had been planted with woodland trees, including silver birch and mountain ash.
The lower picture dates from 1975 when a £3,000 wheelchair ambulance was officially handed over to the hospital by the Oxfordshire branch of the British Red Cross Society.
It was bought from the profits made over a number of years at the Red Cross shop at the hospital.
Michael Page, the Red Cross director in Oxfordshire, is seen handing the keys to Marjorie Corton, the hospital’s head occupational therapist, as patients and staff look on.
Patients had already ridden in the vehicle, which had a tail-lift and had room for three wheelchairs and seats for others.
The Oxford Mail reported: “It is being used to take patients to their homes with an occupational therapist so their ability to cope at home can be assessed.
“When the young chronic sick unit opens at the Churchill, the ambulance will take patients from there on shopping trips and outings.”
The hospital celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2022.
It was initially founded by the Ministry of Health as an Emergency Medical Service hospital for local air raid casualties and then leased to the medical services of the United States Army.
In 1946, the facility was handed over to Oxford City Council, with the Radcliffe Infirmary managing the transition to a civilian hospital,
The relay will involve hundreds of walkers and community groups as they travel the full 185.2-mile route from Gloucestershire to east London, passing through Henley and other towns along the way.
It begins at the river’s source near Kemble, Gloucestershire, on June 5, finishing at the Woolwich Foot Tunnel on June 28.
Hannah Gutteridge, Thames Path national trail manager, said: “We’ve created 24 walks along the Thames Path, each walk will be led by an experienced leader from a community group, several of them from The Ramblers.
“We’re now inviting everyone to join us on the Relay.”
To mark the anniversary, 30 poems by Poet-in-Residence Robert Seatter will be featured in 30 locations between the Source and Woolwich, accessible through QR codes on waymarker posts.
A special mural by artist Vickie Amiralis is also being painted on Mill Meadows Pavilion in Henley-on-Thames during May.
Ms Gutteridge said: “We’re delighted to be collaborating with enthusiastic and experienced walk leaders from local Ramblers groups, regular Thames Path users and the Mayors for a Drinkable Thames.”
The relay is being organised in partnership with the Drinkable Rivers Foundation.
Li An Phoa, founder of the foundation, walked the Thames Path from source-to-sea in 2023, which gathered momentum for the ‘Mayors for a Drinkable Thames’ action network.
Li An Phoa and co-initiator of the Mayors for a Drinkable Thames James Manthel said: “During this walk we hope to strengthen the connection between the people and communities along the Thames.”
The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) is inviting people to take part in 30 Days Wild, a UK-wide campaign led by The Wildlife Trusts to help people experience and enjoy nature every day throughout the month.
A regular feature in summer diaries for over a decade, the challenge has helped people to get outside, to enjoy and connect with nature as part of their everyday lives, and has attracted more than three million participants nationwide.
Liz Shearer, community engagement director at BBOWT, said: “The 30 Days Wild challenge is one of the highlights of my year.
“It gives me an extra incentive to take a few minutes a day to simply notice all the nature around me, whether that’s listening to birds singing, looking out for flowers blooming or watching a bumblebee buzzing around.
“I would encourage everyone to join in and discover the joys of making time to get closer to nature this June.”
Participants are encouraged to use all five senses to experience the natural world, whether through a sensory walk in their neighbourhood or by noticing how wildlife relies on sight, sound, scent, touch, and taste to survive.
This year’s activities are designed to be flexible, with weekly themes and ideas to try, rather than a requirement to do something every day.
Suggestions include growing wildlife-friendly plants, learning to identify birdsong, or starting a nature journal.
Families can enjoy activity packs with new nature-inspired trading cards for collecting and swapping, while adults will receive a postcard to send to a loved one, complete with tips on how to do wild things in their garden, local greenspace or even from home.
Liz Bonnin, president of The Wildlife Trusts, said: “Every year I look forward to 30 Days Wild to strengthen my connection to nature, as well as to wildlife lovers across the British Isles.
“It makes our lives a little wilder – whether it’s through learning something new about an amazing creature or giving back to nature by turning a window box into a pollinator pit stop.
“You don’t have to go far to find something wonderful, especially in June when nature is on full display.”
The challenge also encourages people to give back by planting wildlife-friendly flowers, leaving food and water out for wildlife, or getting involved with a local nature group.
People are encouraged to share their activities on social media throughout June to join others taking part across the UK.
That is how many of us will remember our childhood days at school, both primary and secondary. How did we survive without the wonders of modern technology?
The pictures here were among a collection from St Edmund Campion School in Oxford that were due to be “binned and lost forever”.
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Thankfully, they were saved by former pupils Ray Doran and Noel McCabe, with help from friend Will Gardner, and despatched to Memory Lane.
Of course, youngsters didn’t spend all day at their desks as we see in Picture 1. It dates from 1981 and shows Bronan McCabe, John Carton and others in a school play.
In Picture 2, we see Helene Day and Junie Deegan with a teddy bear, which played a major role in a study to help deaf and hard of hearing children.
The idea was to encourage pupils with hearing difficulties to make a sound, which would illuminate the teddy’s eyes.
The Oxford Mail published the story in 1972 under the headline, ‘Teddy with a Heart of Gold’.
Picture 3 was taken in the school’s deserted art room in 1958, while we can identify headmaster Mr Taylor and Father McKenna among those in Picture 4 taken at Our Lady Help of Christians parish church at Cowley in 1970.
Picture 5 features pupils Chris Cooper, John Lever, Joan Murphy and Marie Ostojan, and in Picture 6, we see the impressive school building.
Sadly, it is no longer there. St Edmund Campion School, which opened at Iffley Turn in 1958, later became St Augustine’s School, which closed in 2003.
A housing estate was built on the site and pupils now go to Greyfriars Catholic School in Cricket Road, Cowley.
The original school was named after St Edmund Campion, who was born in 1540 and became a student and fellow at St John’s College in Oxford.
As lecturer in rhetoric, he entertained Queen Elizabeth 1 at a debate in Latin.
He accepted a travelling scholarship to Ireland, but maintained his links with Oxford, including dedicating his history of Ireland to the Oxford University Chancellor, the Earl of Leicester.
However, in 1581, he was arrested as a Roman Catholic agitator and martyred at the Tower of London.
Campion Hall in Brewer Street, Oxford, a private hall set up originally in 1896 when Catholics were again allowed to attend Oxford University, is also named after him
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