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/