15th May 2012: Superfast Broadband - Complimentary Hog Roast: Saturday 19th May 12:30 @ The Plough. David Hine & Julian Morris said: “Do come along on Saturday: relax and let the children play in the Plough Children’s Play area and enjoy the ambience of a Hog Roast – and ask your questions about the Gigaclear Superfast Broadband solution. We also extend the invitation to this event to those who have already signed up! All are very welcome! Keep putting your completed order forms in the box in the Appleton Community Shop – and blank forms are also in the box.”

11th May 2012: Tickets for the Jubilee Fireworks to be held at Appleton Manor. Tickets for the Jubilee Fireworks, to be held in the evening of Saturday 2nd June in the grounds of Appleton Manor, have been on sale since Monday 7th May and the organisers report 200 tickets have already been sold. Entry is strictly restricted to 499 ticket holders (licensing requirements) and it is anticipated the ticket allocation will sell out ahead of the event and no tickets will be available at the gate. On Wednesday May 16th the ticket price will increase from the current £5 Adult (16 years and over) and £2 Children (age 3-16) to £7.50 and £3 respectively. Ticket application forms are contained in a Royal biscuit tin on the table near the counter in the Appleton Community Shop. Applicants should complete the form, leave it in the tin with their cheque or cash, and their tickets will be available to collect from the tin within a day or so.

9th May 2012: More rain today and tomorrow! Might be some local flooding. Parish weather forecaster, John Evans commented: "Not quite a warning - but a note that we look as though we will get about four days worth of rain between now and 6pm tomorrow.

7th May 2012: Grenville Toomey features in the Oxford Mail and on BBC Radio Oxford. See Grenville Toomey and Oxford Mail and the Oxford Mail article. He also featured on BBC Radio Oxford when he was interviewed on BBC Radio Oxford by Malcolm Boyden on 4th May He spoke movingly for 25 minutes about his recent return to Korea.

29th April 2012: Appleton Flood Team message: Sunday 29th April. The Appleton Flood Group have been out this morning and checked the village trouble spots. The ditches are running well and there are no serious areas of puddleing. The brook is not yet at capacity. The worst of the rain has now passed and we hope tommorow will bring sunshine. Could we ask any residents that are out in and around the parish and surrounding area today to move any tree debris they can from the roads and paths. Can we also take this opportunity to ask all residents with ditches to ensure that they are kept clear and free of debris. If there are any residents with problems this morning please dont hesitate to contact the Appleton Emergency Team... contact details Flood Team Contacts on village website. Many thanks, James Mansfield. Appleton Emergency Team Chairman. Yesterday's message: Village weather forecaster, John Evans, warns: "Despite the hosepipe ban, we are due to have a lot of rain tomorrow - Sunday - maybe one or two weeks worth in a day. The recent rain may have briefly saturated the top soils so some flooding is a possibility."

27th April 2012: Broadband. Another Clinic at The Plough: David Hine, joint chairman of the Broadband Group, said: “Last Monday’s Broadband Clinic was a great success. Slowly but surely we are getting the message out there about what’s involved and what we need to do. We are running another Clinic on Monday 30th April – again at The Plough between 7:00pm and 8:30pm. "The really good news is that we are at the half-way mark in completed sign-ups. So help us get the other half. Come along on Monday evening to get your questions answered, whether it’s about how it works, what you will end up paying, how it’s installed or how it will work. "And on costs, the key point to make clear is this: you don’t pay £37 monthly on top of all you currently pay. Gigaclear is the basic ISP, so you can subtract the cost of your current ISP (£12-£15 for most people) and then sign up for a free mail service. Then start looking at where you can save on telephone by using a Voice Over Internet (VOIP) service. See VOIP Explained.  So you aren’t adding £37 extra to your monthly bills. Some people can even save. And for that you get a superfast Broadband service that will be light years ahead of the rickety old copper-cable service we have now. "Let’s seize this chance to modernise Appleton’s communications! It won’t come round again for quite a while if we don’t. Spare forms in the shop – leave them there with your cheque or send them back to Gigaclear"

26th April 2012: A beautiful patchwork picnic blanket is being created for the opening of the Appleton's park on 2nd June. We hope this will be a lasting memory of the community spirit which has helped this dream become a reality - something for the parish to treasure and to be displayed at special events of the future. All local residents now have the chance to get involved - decorate a square with your family's name or children's name. Fabric squares can be picked up from us but need to be back by Monday 30th April (this deadline has now been extended by a couple of days) so act quickly! More details.

20th April 2012: Joint chairmen's message: see Broadband Chairmen’s message. Please complete application form (see link Gigaclear Order Form) and send cheque for £100 to Gigaclear (or place in box in Appleton Community Shop) BY 30th APRIL 2012!

18th April 2012: Rushey Weir to be modernised: See Rushey Weir EA plans and mention of the Northmoor Weir postponement.

18th April 2012: Grenville Toomey to visit Korea. Appleton villager, Grenville Toomey, featured in the Oxford Mail today (see Grenville Toomey Oxford Mail), telling the story of his forthcoming visit to Korea at the invitation of the South Korean government. No doubt the visit will have its emotional side and we all wish Grenville a good trip.

17th April 2012: Playground and Recreation Area: work starts in earnest! the contractors who have been designated to work on the Playground and Recreation Area will be starting work on Thursday 19th April: Becky Bradbrook, a committee member, said: "This is really exciting news and means we will be on schedule for the official opening on 2nd June 2012".

15th April 2012: Packed Village Hall for Broadband meeting. About 90 people gathered in the Appleton Village Hall on Saturday to hear the Broadband proposals for the parish. After an introduction by David Hine, Matthew Hare, CEO Gigaclear, and his team of experts presented the Gigaclear solution. Several questions were raised by the audience and there will be a full report of the meeting shortly. David Hine said: “The Broadband Group was delighted with the turnout on a Saturday morning and I believe the meeting was very informative and constructive.

"We are going to clarify some issues of price and technical detail so that people can understand the cost savings that can potentially be made by combining internet and voice telephony. I must stress; we only have until the end of April 2012 to make the decisions about the Gigaclearcsolution. If we do obtain agreement from 120 households, Gigaclear have said they will connect within about three months. If we do not receive this level of support we will have to live with the present rather variable and poor performance. The Broadband Group urges all resident to consider seriously the proposition and visit www.appletonbroadband.co.uk for information.”

13th April 2012: Green Sustainable Appleton. For those who are still interested and those who could't be at the initial meeting in March, there is a further meeting on Monday April 16th at 8.00pm in the South Lawn Barn, Netherton Road, Appleton. Simon Kineton from Oxfordshire Low Carbon Hub and Jo Hamilton from the Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University will be there to listen to what we want to do and help plan the next steps.

11th April 2012: Parish Council Agenda 16th April 2012. See April 16th PC Agenda for the April agenda.

7th April 2012: VoWH: Consultation on Council Numbers. There is a proposal to reduce the number of representatives on the council, to compliment the proposed boundary changes. Make you views known by taking part in the public consultation.

1st April 2012: Website statistics hit high: Website statistics (see Website Statistics) hit an all-time high in March 2012 with 5,740 Visitors (previous best May 2011 at 5,732), Pages Visited 38,656 (previous best January 2012 at 37,064) and Hits 125,629 (previous best May 2011 at 118,165). Thanks to all our viewers!

27th March 2012:Northmoor Lock & Weir. Regular maintenance of Northmoor weir and lock is due to happen soon.This work has been brought to the PC's attention in a letter from the Environment Agency.