Hands Off Hagbourne Fields 🍃💚🍃

A time to remember the huge sacrifice made my individuals for the sake of people they would never meet. #OnThisDay in 1944 Flying Officer John Wilding and Flight Sergeant John Andrew of the Royal Canadian Air Force who gave up their lives to save the Wallingford. 🇨🇦 Following an aborted raid over Le Havre, one of the engines of their Halifax Bomber exploded, causing their aircraft to catch fire over Wallingford. Flying Officer John Wilding, only 23 years old, and Flight Engineer, Sergeant john Andrew, 22 remained aboard after the rest of the crew were ordered to bail out. They managed to fly the bomber away from the town and it crashed in a field nearby. The aircraft was still carrying its full bomb load. John Wilding was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, and they were both mentioned in dispatches for their bravery.

From TVP South & Vale 📣 Wantage & Grove NHPT 📣 Despite repeated warnings regarding the dangers of wildfires, we have sadly seen another significant grass fire in our area, this time extremely close to residential properties in Grove. 🔥 Appeal for Information - Suspected Arson 🔥 Occurrence Number: 43260426186 Crime Type: Arson Date: 16/08/2026 Time: 22:42hrs Location: Field near Tozer Way / Armstrong Avenue, Grove Wantage Neighbourhood Policing Team is appealing for information following a suspected deliberate fire in a field adjacent to Armstrong Avenue, Grove. The fire affected an area of grassland and hedgerow measuring approximately 50m x 50m and required attendance from the Fire Service, who successfully extinguished the blaze. Given the dry conditions and proximity to nearby homes, this incident had the potential to be far more serious. Prior to the fire being reported, a number of youths were seen acting in an anti-social manner on Byron Avenue. At around 10:00pm, a male riding a silver moped, a male riding a dark coloured moped, and another child were seen travelling from Byron Avenue towards Armstrong Avenue, in the direction of where the fire was later discovered. We are keen to identify the individuals on the mopeds and speak to anyone who may have witnessed the incident or has information that could assist our investigation. Local residents may recognise those involved, and we would also like to hear from any youths who were in the area and may have seen events leading up to the fire. ⚠️ Wildfires can spread rapidly, endanger lives, destroy habitats and pose a significant risk to nearby homes and businesses. We urge everyone to take these warnings seriously and help protect our community. 📞 If you have any information, please contact Thames Valley Police quoting Occurrence 43260426186.

🚨Government announces three councils for Oxfordshire 🚨 I’m a fan of unitary councils in principle. Reducing duplication and avoiding competing priorities should mean councils are more effective at delivering what residents need. BUT three councils solution that the Government has announced today for Oxfordshire misses that opportunity for change and instead I fear will create years of uncertainty and poorer services. And financially they are set to fall from the start. The government hasn’t learnt the lesson of Berkshire where too many small unitary councils were created, that are no longer financially sustainable. So now many residents in Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire are likely to have to bail out West Berkshire that is critically short of cash, and those living in the Oxford Green Belt will find themselves swallowed up in the new expanded Greater Oxford council. 😔