Future of Cogges Farm still undecided

On 31 August Cogges Manor Farm Museum closed as a County Council run museum. During the past 30 years over a million visitors have enjoyed Cogges. Francesca Jones, who was the manager/curator at Cogges over the last few years, has helped to maintain the museum through diffcult recent times.

With support from the County Council a new Trust is being established to operate Cogges from 1 April 2010. A ‘Shadow Board’ is working with Council officers to manage that hand-over. Members of the Shadow Board used the opportunity of the August Bank Holiday weekend to meet visitors and to listen to their views. These are some of the comments they heard:

1. Open Café earlier
2. Local schools crying out for vocational days as part of the new 14 -18 diplomas
3. Bring back the horses!
4. Advent activity

5. Straw bale activity centre (i.e. climbing/slides etc) and adventure playground

6. Use the veggies in the garden/ offer gardening/ vegetable/ Victorian kitchen garden courses
7. Host community market/ Farmers Market

8. Make more of the shop
9. Have children’s parties
10. Animals all year round
11. Art gallery/craft centre would be good
12. Themed dinners in the Manor House

The Board’s vision sessions, where we discuss the future direction and services at Cogges, are now set for October and these and all previous ideas will be considered as part of the mix.

Please contact Janine Charles ( future@cogges.co.uk ) for further information

Relive the Dig for Victory campaign at Cogges

A campaign which saw British people growing their own vegetables to supplement food rations during World War Two is the subject of a weekend at Witney's Cogges Manor Farm Museum .

The Dig for Victory event at the Church Lane museum on Saturday, July 4 and Sunday, July 5 will chronicle the government programme which resulted in 1.4 million people keeping allotments during wartime.

Range of activities - Former Land Army girl Joan Clifford will give a talk on her experiences on the Saturday at the Oxfordshire County Council-run museum. She will be followed by music from the Wantage-based Pandemonium folk band from 2pm to 4pm.

The will be displays of the well-known Dig for Victory posters on both days, along with children's garden activity trails and the chance to purchase vegetable boxes from Foxbury Farm, Brize Norton. Visitors can admire the working farm museum's walled garden which is packed full of vegetables, herbs and flowers. People can also handle some of the farm's animals, feed lambs, milk cows and meet donkeys. There will be Victorian cooking demonstrations throughout the weekend and butter making on Sunday at 2pm.

What was the Dig for Victory campaign? - The Ministry of Agriculture launched the 'Dig for Victory' slogan one month on from the outbreak of the Second World War. People were encouraged to change their private gardens into mini-allotments. The move provided vegetables at a local level and helped the war effort by freeing up space for military equipment on the shipping convoys. By 1943, over a million tones of vegetables were being grown in gardens and allotments. Parklands and flowerbeds were also transformed into allotments. The Ministry of Agriculture circulated scores of posters encouraging people to grow their own produce.

Capture picture perfect prizes for best snaps of Cogges

A photography competition has been launched to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of Witney's Cogges Manor Farm being a working Victorian farm museum. Pictures should be based around the theme of the photographer's favourite memory of the Oxfordshire County Council-run museum. The idea relates to a photographic display of images of Cogges in the Church Lane museum's Barley Barn, which has been on view for 30 years.

Entries to go on display - All photos will be shown to the public in a special exhibition in the museum's tearoom during the last week of August. They will then be kept in the county council's Oxfordshire County Photographic Archive.

Francesca Jones, Oxfordshire County Council's Manager for Cogges Manor Farm Museum , said: "There are lots of photogenic buildings, animals and scenes at Cogges that make for great pictures to be taken of. I am sure that the competition will receive many excellent entries which will prove a difficult job to judge." The responsibility for the running of Cogges will transfer to a charitable trust from April next year.

Prizes available - Pictures will be judged in three categories: under-10s, 11-16s and adult entries, with first, second and third prizes of book tokens to the value of £25, £15 and £10 donated by the Cogges Agricultural Heritage Museum Development Trust. Joan Brasnett from the county council's Museums Resource Centre will judge the entries on subject matter and composition. Photos should not include images of the public or children.

Prints should be 10" by 8" (200cm by 255cm). Entry forms are available from the museum or can be downloaded at www.cogges.org Entries should be posted to:

Photography Competition
Cogges Manor Farm Museum
Church Lane
Witney
Oxfordshire
OX28 3LA

Entrants should write their name and address on the back of all photos and enclose a stamped addressed envelope if they want their images returned. The closing date for entries is Friday, July 31.

Travel down a country life memory lane at Cogges

Country life in the past will be the subject of special reminiscence sessions led by Oxfordshire County Council history experts at Witney's Cogges Manor Farm Museum on Monday, June 15.

Officers from Hands on Oxfordshire's Heritage will bring fascinating collections of historical artefacts to the county council-run museum for people to handle and look at. The items will include photographs of past village life across Oxfordshire and objects from history, including a policeman's hat, handcuffs, a church collection pouch and a beer tankard.

Relive fond memories - Francesca Jones, Oxfordshire County Council's Manager for Cogges Manor Farm Museum , said: "Country life, as with anywhere, has changed over the years but people still have fond memories of their experiences in the country. We're fortunate that the county council has a huge collection of artefacts from past times, some of which people can view and handle at Cogges on June 15."

No booking is required for the free sessions in the Visitor Centre at the Church Lane Museum , which take place at 2pm and 3pm. Anybody wanting more information should call 01993 772602 or go to http://www.cogges.org/

Carve out some wood knowledge at Cogges

Experts will demonstrate an ancient woodcarving method at Cogges Manor Farm Museum during a special weekend there dedicated to woodcraft. Members of the Oxfordshire Woodturning Club will show off their skills at the Oxfordshire County Council-run Victorian life museum on Saturday, June 13 and Sunday, June 14.

Visitors will be able to see hurdles being made by David Rees of the Woodland Project and learn more about woodturning from club members.

Interesting and informative - Francesca Jones, Oxfordshire County Council's Manager for Cogges Manor Farm Museum , said: "We are fortunate to have members of the Oxfordshire Woodturning Club coming to Cogges Manor Farm Museum . Their visit should be an interesting and informative experience for people who want to discover more about woodturning."
Woodturning differs from most other forms of woodworking as the wood is moving while a stationary tool is used to cut and mould it. Woodturning dates back around 3,300 years when the Egyptians first developed a two-person lathe. A pedal replaced hand-operated turning in the Middle Ages and lathes were motorised during the industrial revolution.

Poultry Weekend at Cogges Manor Farm Museum

Learn how to pamper your fowl at Cogges, 30th & 31st May, 11am – 5pm

Poultry experts will be on hand at Cogges Manor Farm Museum this weekend to offer advice on the best ways to keep your feathery friends in a healthy and happy condition.

Members of the Cotswold Pheasant and Poultry Club will display chickens and give tips on how best to look after fowl at the Oxfordshire County Council-run museum in Church Lane from 11am to 5pm on both days.

Have your poultry-related questions answered

The club is a group of fanciers involved in the breeding, exhibition and presentation of poultry, ducks, turkeys and pheasants. Its main aims are to promote pure poultry and pheasant breeds and to educate the general public by answering their fowl-related questions.

Regular activities include demonstrations of hand milking, butter making (on Sunday), Victorian cooking, animal handling and children’s trails.

Half Term Activities at Cogges Farm in Witney

Plenty to see and do at Cogges Farm in Witney over half term, May 23 – May 31

• May 23, 24 & 25: Our Daily Bread Weekend – See the bread oven in action, See hand milking and butter making demonstrations. Meet local bakers, make a virtual sandwich and on BH Monday take part in a Guinness World Record Picnic * Please contact the museum for further details


• May 26: Recycling activity – make stick people or peg dolls


• May 27: Children’s baking sessions and story telling


• May 28: Farm fun, animal handling and craft activity


• May 29: Family craft drop-in, make an animal bookmark


• May 30 & 31: Poultry Weekend – Meet the Cotswold Poultry Club members and their chickens!
  
  Church Lane, Witney, Oxon OX28 3LA. Tel: 01993 772602
  or visit http://www.cogges.org/ Official site

The Lampton Worm comes to Cogges

Saturday 2 May at Cogges Manor Farm Museum, Witney in the Wheat Barn - Times: 2.30pm and 4.30pm

Little does young John Lampton know as he sits, dreamily fishing in the sunshine before the tale unfolds. A play told through light and shadow, music and puppetry. Written for children and all lovers of theatre, this will be Theatrix’s first visit to Cogges Manor Farm Museum and a chance for visitors to see a taste of what may help set the stage at Cogges from 2010. A fast-paced telling of this traditional tale adapted, designed, directed and told by Theatrix, with puppeteering from students at AWC, this community arts show is just thirty enchanting minutes.

There will be an opportunity for the audience to come and meet the puppets and learn how they were made and move at 3pm. Through this event Theatrix would like to inspire future participation in the company’s projects by the community for when it hopes to move into the Barley Barn at Cogges Manor Farm Museum in April 2010.

For anyone over five, the story has been specially adapted by the director and designer Paul Batten from the Northumberland folk tale The Lambton Worm. The highly visual show is suitable for those with a hearing impairment and the soundscape, narration and music also means that those with a visual impairment could enjoy the story to the full.

The puppets have been made by Theatre Production students at Abingdon and Witney College, who will be operating them and helping to run the show. Paul Batten is also lecturer of the Performing Arts Production course at Abingdon and Witney College. He finds huge educational benefit for his students who are hoping to find careers in technical theatre, when he is able to create opportunities for them to work on events outside of their normal college setting. This show has been written specifically with this aim in mind, and the production standards are set very high for the students to make and operate shadow and rod puppets and run the lights and the sound.

Theatrix Community Arts is one of the Cogges Community Enterprise Group partners and is based in Cogges. Theatrix is currently working with Oxfordshire County Council as part of the CCE steering group to assist in the handover of management of the Cogges site.

This performance has been kindly supported by Oxfordshire County Council and the Cogges Agricultural Heritage Museum Trust.

For further information contact Olivia Thornton, Development Director, Theatrix Community Arts T: 078 559 84624, E: olivia5thornton@yahoo.co.uk

W: http://www.paulbattenproduction.wetpaint.com/

A Night in the Museum

Cogges Manor Farm Museum will be overtaken by ghosts and ghouls during a special evening packed full of spooky activities.

The working farm museum in Witney hosts A Night in the Museum on Saturday, May 16, which includes guided tours around the venue's Manor House, a buffet and music from Oxford-based band The Skeleton Crew.

There will also be spine-tingling tales at the Oxfordshire County Council-run museum from actor Bill Spectre, well-known for his ghost trails around Oxford . The Manor House tour will involve parts of the building that are not normally open to the public.

Tickets for the evening, which runs from 7.30pm to 10pm, at £10 are available on 01993 772602.

Enjoy music from The Skeleton Crew as you tuck in to a buffet followed by ghost tales from the amazing Bill Spectre http://www.ghosttrails.org/

16th May 7.30pm – 10pm

Thatchers and badgers at Cogges Farm

A badger's tunnel appeared recently in the middle of the riverside walk path at Cogges Farm. Investigation by The Oxfordshire Badger Group proved it to be a 'trial trench' (not a newly occupied set) and staff have been able to backfill the hole and thus re-open the path to visitors for this coming season! A watching brief will be kept on the area.

Work is due to start on the roof of the farmyard shelter shed at the beginning of April. The thatchers (Rumpelstiltsk) will re-thatch the 'bundle thatched' roof, which is expected to take two months to complete. Visitors will be able to see work in progress and the craftsmen are only too happy to explain their work and have, in fact, attended Cogges several times over the past few years to demonstrate thatching techniques.

The farm re-opens to the public on Tuesday 7th April.

Witney blankets of snow at Cogges Farm

Witney may be world famous for its woolen blankets, but during the first week of February 2009 it was a blanket of snow that covered the Victorian farm museum.

The award-winning attraction re-opens to the public on Tuesday 7th April and we'll keep you updated about what's happening and what's in store, so keepcoming back.

Cogges Farm - still an uncertain future

In spite of record visitor numbers in 2008 and a tourism award, Cogges farm has faced an uncertain future. In November the Cabinet of Oxfordshire County Council agreed several recommendations from the Cogges Project Board. In theory these plans will secure the future for this historic site in Witney, but the reality is less assured.

The County Council will continue to run Cogges Farm during 2009, but on a reduced subsidy (cut from £250 to £160k), so it will only be open to the public from 7th April to 31st August. Make the most of it! Season ticket prices were dramatically reduced last year and will be held for 2009, which is pretty good value as the seaon ticket price is equivalent to paying for three individual visits.

During this time a new charitable trust will be created, to take over day-to-day running of the museum from the council in 2010. This is a major step forwards, because the trust will have to freedom to attract sponsors and outside funding that is not open to council-run attractions. In addition the Council is committed to continuing a subsidy of £160k per year and to offer match funding of £150k for any necessary capital work (i.e. building improvements).

That's the good news. However, even when fully subsidised (£250k per year) Cogges was run on a shoestring and utterly reliant on the goodwill of staff and volunteers putting in many hours of hard graft. The barns, which could be a huge asset if converted to a high enough standard to hold weddings and conferences, need substantial investment. In other words the new trust will need to raise a huge amount of money to top up the Council subsidy before it takes over running Cogges Farm in 2010.

There's still a long way to go ....