Front Page Post

As the calendar turns to May, we are reminded of a day that forever altered the course of history—Victory in Europe Day, more commonly known as VE Day. On the 8th of May, we commemorate the joyous moment in 1945 when the Allied forces declared victory over Nazi Germany, marking the end of World War II in Europe. This significant milestone not only represents the triumph of freedom and democracy but also honours the sacrifices made by countless brave individuals who fought tirelessly for our liberty.

In the spirit of remembrance and gratitude, we invite all members of Kirtlington village available to join us in a short memorial service. This gathering will be held at the village memorial, 11:00hrs, 8 May, lasting approximately 10 minutes. We will have a moment of silence to reflect on the enduring legacy of VE Day. For those unable to attend, 8 May,  we will again reflect on VE Day when members of the Branch support the opening of Kirtlington Village Fete, Saturday, 28 June.  

We look forward to seeing you at the memorial or at the Fete and sharing in this moment of collective remembrance and gratitude.

If you are interested in joining as a member of the Kirtlington Branch, please talk to one of the members on the day, or stall helpers at the fete, or visit the Royal British Legion website members page https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/get-involved/membership/become-a-member and select Kirtlington as your branch. Please note there is no need to have served in the armed forces to become a member of the Royal British Legion.

Kirtlington Royal British Legion

The Royal British Legion, Kirtlington Branch, will meet at St Mary the Virgin Church, Kirtlington at 10:45 before proceeding to the war memorial for the Remembrance Service at 11:00 hrs, concluding back at the church. 

If you are non-military and wish to parade with the Royal British Legion, Kirtlington Members to remember a family member or friend, please do. If you have their medals, please also wear them with pride on your right lapel.   

Royal British Legion, Kirtlington Branch members will be in the Oxford Arms after the service. It would be lovely to see you there.

Kirtlington Hedgehog Street is connecting gardens in the village to give hedgehogs enough space to breed and to help keep them off the roads. This is part of the national Hedgehog Street campaign. To learn more see this article that was published in the national press.

• 60 properties in the village are connected
• c. 16 acres of gardens are included
• The village pub, school and church are all connected.

The national Hedgehog Street organisation has told KWACS that Kirtlington has one of the biggest volunteer-run Hedgehog Streets in the country!  See the map in green.  To join, please make sure hedgehogs can pass from your garden to your neighbours’ gardens.  All it needs is a CD sized hole in your fence or wall.

In Spring 2020, there was a rapid and significant decline in Kirtlington’s hedgehog population.  We have written up the evidence for the decline which is very clear and the possible reasons for it.  Click here for that article and here for another article by Professor Patrick Doncaster who researched into hedgehogs in Kirtlington Park in 1992. Click here for coverage of the loss of our hedgehogs on local BBC news.

KWACS is delighted, whenever possible, to support other communities who would like to set up their own hedgehog street.  In particular, click here if you are interested in receiving a lecture about what we have done in Kirtlington.  This is given either in person or via Zoom by the brother of the KWACS committee member who leads our hedgehog work.  He is a wildlife photographer, film maker and public speaker.  In addition, visitors are welcome to come to Kirtlington to see in person what we have done.

DONATIONS

If you would like to support our work, please click on DONATIONS above.  That will take you to our on-line giving page for the KWACS Hedge Fund.

All donations will go directly to enlarging Kirtlington Hedgehog Street or supporting other communities start their own hedgehog street.

As hedgehogs have yet to evolve the ability to fly, where there is a ground difference between gardens we have to resort to innovative structures like this stone staircase and oak ramp:

As part of the project, we use foot print recording tunnels and camera traps to check on the presence of hedgehogs. A camera trap video of a hedgehog on the ramp posted to KWACS’ X (formerly Twitter) feed went viral with over 33,000 views!