Welcome
This website has been set up to provide useful information
for Ewelme residents and visitors alike. We hope that it will be of
interest to anyone wanting to know more about our beautiful, historic
village.
The site is very much a work in progress - it clearly takes quite some
time to get all the information from many different sources together -
over time more and more information will be presented.
On the left hand side there are many links to various areas and
organisations in the village - some do not have content associated with
them yet, but show areas where we plan to develop in time.
If you think that there is something missing or an section that you can
add to, then please feel free to contact us - we will provide links to
other sites, if appropriate.
The Shepherds Hut Pub
Web site launch
Following the re-opening of the Shepherds Hut pub on the 19th June, their website has now been launched: http://www.shepherdshutpub.co.uk.
Ewelme Village Shop
The shop is now open!
Details can be found at their website: http://ewelmevillagestore.co.uk.
Ewelme News is available on-line!
At last, the latest Ewelme News is available on-line - the latest issue is available here:
ADSL Broadband Update!
As most of you know, I have been working with BT Openreach to bring broadband service to deprived Ewelme residents.
The original problem was that at least 60 village and RAF properties were known to be deprived of broadband, because few of the existing circuits into the village from Wallingford were of adequate quality to support it at such a distance from the exchange.
The only solution was to install new lines. BT Openreach has just commissioned 50 new circuits for us ready for use, and some have already been allocated successfully. A further 50 are awaiting new conduit space to be put through Wallingford bridge.
BT Openreach is the enterprise which provides the circuits to any independent service provider (ISP) which wants them. There are some 250 of these, all of which must be treated as arms-length reseller customers by BT Openreach. No one gets preferential treatment.
You choose your favourite ISP and apply for broadband service. The ISP will determine whether your line will support broadband. Because you are almost certainly connected to the exchange by an old line, you will be told that your line is not able to carry broadband. Do not give up there. Of course your present line can’t carry broadband!
You must insist that the current line is known to be “fault status” and you have been waiting patiently for it to be changed over to a good one (which were all used up) or one of the new lines now available.
Some ISPs suddenly appear to want to charge you for a new line (£129.99) but others do not. Whether this is right or wrong is too complicated to debate here. I would not entertain paying anything because it is a regulatory market anomaly for OfCom to sort out. Just ask for your supplier’s personal details to log a formal complaint to OfCom, before switching to another ISP.
Do not assume that, because you have applied before, you will be automatically recognised as in any queue. You will not be on anyone’s radar. Start again from first principles now.
Just make sure someone actually sends an engineer (BT Openreach) to your house to change your old line over to a new one, and test it.
Now, if that fails, it really does mean you are too far away from Wallingford exchange for even the new circuits to help you. The next step is to wait for Phase 2 of our work with BT Openreach which is probably 12 months away, assuming it can be proved to work in the present field trials. It is not guaranteed to be an option but we are hopeful.
However, there is a wireless network solution working now in the village which has helped people to enjoy broadband for the last few years. You can explore how to join in even as an interim measure. It may be that it has to become a long-term solution for those genuinely at the end of the technological universe.
You may have had a frustrating time with BT’s retail ISP arm vainly trying to sell you broadband via call centres in other parts of the world. Their performance has been lamentable.
But BT Openreach itself has done a first-class job for us so far.
I want to end by sincerely thanking BT Openreach’s senior management for taking our plight seriously, appointing a very competent person to produce a solution and doing it within 6 months of taking ownership of the task. No mean feat. Thank you again, Peter Higgs.
Neil Blake, Ewelme - 31st January 2007
The Ewelme Watercress Beds Local Nature Reserve
'A study to investigate local awareness, by community stakeholders, of the conservation work at the Watercress Beds LNR at Ewelme, Oxfordshire (OS Grid Ref. SU636920).'
David Langston, a resident of Ewelme, has written this independent academic research report as part of a Diploma in Environmental Conservation he is studying at the University of Oxford.
The report reflects the views from a sample of 98 Ewelme residents and includes contributions from elected district councillors, as well as details of the Watercress Beds’ importance as a County Wildlife Site and its status as a designated Local Nature Reserve. Many villagers have strong opinions on the way in which the site is managed; not all are supportive of the work (both planned and already completed) at the site.
It considers questions such as…
The report offers some suggestions on how things might be done differently and draws upon the recommendations of the UK Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment.
David has very kindly made this report available to ewelme.info to allow access to a wider audience.
Ewelme Research Survey - Report(300Kb)
Ewelme Research Survey - Appendices(664Kb)
Gallery - Your help required..!
While we are making a start with the gallery, we need more pictures to help show off our village. So, if you have any pictures showing any aspect of the village (new or old) then we are interested! Digital format is best, but photographs can easily be scanned and returned - you will of course, get a credit for the photo and see them on the web!
Residents Websites
We will be very happy to include links for residents in the village who already have websites - especially if there are details about the village that others may be interested in!
Send the URL of your site plus a brief paragraph to the webmaster and we will include the link here.
Jenkins-of-Ewelme.org.uk
This is our first residents site - Chris has a weather station and provides details about the Weather trends in Ewelme (you may have seen printouts on the village notice board). He also has a keen interest in astronomy and has posted details about the real-time position of the Planets from Ewelme. According to a recent survey, Broadband access is regarded as an important facility in most households in the village, although many think they just can’t get it. Chris has written two articles about the means to obtain Broadband access, without needing a telephone line connection. One is about the Ewelme Community Wireless Network, and the other about obtaining 3G Mobile Broadband in Ewelme.
DerrysDen.co.uk
This is the website for Sue Hill's shop, Derrys Den. The shop is located in Benson and, as well as a good range of selling cards and gifts, Sue has a stock of Ewelme and Benson books, calendars, tea towels, pens and fridge magnets. There are also books relating to Oxfordshire.For those not local to Ewelme, the shop offers a mail order service and can post to either the buyer or someone they wish to send a gift to. Details here.