Earthwatch Special - Tuesday 29th December

Earlier this year I had a chance to go away with the Earthwatch Institute on their Climate Champions week. 12 of us made our way to Hill End near Cumnor to learn about climate change and help out with research in to fragmented woodland.

Have a look at my blog written during the week:
http://bbcoxfordweekends.blogspot.com/search/label/Climate%20Trip

Photos from the week:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/philmercer/sets/72157622732517348/

Links:
Earthwatch
There were quite a few other organisations taking part in the week:
Oxfordshire Nature Conservation Forum
Oxfordshire Community Action Groups
Dorchester Carbon Project
Berks Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust

Geneva Special - Bank Holiday Monday 28th December

It's an extended Weekend Breakfast Show this week, so we are doing things a little different. Today we are looking at the links between Oxford and Geneva as for the first time, the two cities are connected by air.

During a two day stay in Geneva, my producer Vicky and I were able to discover first hand the connections between Oxfordshire and the small but well connected city.

Have a look at our photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/philmercer/sets/72157623038872918/

Here is a map:
Click here

Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas everyone.



I've always really looked forward to the Christmas morning show, I'm not sure if its due to all the lovely Christmas messages that people send in or all the extra sympathy it seems to garner just for getting up early and working. It might also be that I normally escape the madness of preparing Christmas lunch. Anyway, it's fun.



This mornings show looks forward to the Celebration of Christmas and features interviews with some of those who took part. Including the Archbishop of Canterbury and the actor Robert Hardy.

Saturday 19th December

What a day. It's very cold, but thats winter for you. On the show this morning we heard from:

OxPAT
http://www.oxpat.org/
The charity that helps find funding for the many other charities helping the homeless of Oxfordshire are singing carols outside Oxford Railway Station at 1530hrs this afternoon.

The Ducklington Mummers
They are out this evening performing the traditional tale of good versus evil. You should be able to catch them around the following times in the following pubs:
8pm. The Fox, Stanton Harcourt
8.30pm. Strickland Arms, Ducklington
9pm. Bell Inn, Ducklington
9.30pm Plough Inn, Witney
10pm.Three Pigeons,Witney
10.30pm House of Windsor,Witney

Saturday 12th December

Morning,

We've been covering more of the Climate Conference happening in Copenhagen again. For the latest from the event have a look at this website: http://en.cop15.dk/ We spoke to a couple of people involved.
Dr Dan Bebber is the lead scientist from Earthwatch. http://www.earthwatch.org/europe/
Anne Augustine works with Oxfam: http://www.oxfam.org/

The next walk is going to be on Boxing Day, we are heading to Blenheim Palace, here are the full details: http://bbcoxfordweekends.blogspot.com/2009/12/boxing-day-get-active-walk.html
Sing Christmas
Oxford is going carols mad today with lots of choirs singing all over the city. To find out who and where have a look at this site: http://www.oxfordinspires.org/EE/index.php/site/whatson-spotlight/
We also chatted to Michelle Anthony who created the Oxford City Singers earlier this year. They have their concert on this evening. For information go to: http://www.oxfordcitysingers.com/

Boxing Day Get Active Walk

From Kate, our walk co-ordinator:

Well done to those who turned out on a dreary, damp day in November for the last walk. We all agreed if a walk hadn’t been arranged we probably wouldn’t have ventured out at all! Considering the weather we had a good turn out and raised over £50 for Children in Need. Many thanks to Pudsey for turning out to help with the collection and to see us off! If you haven’t already done so you can use the link below to look at the photos from all the walks and see the friendly people who take part.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/content/articles/2006/03/27/get_active.shtml

The next walk is on Saturday December 26th 2009. You’ll be able to walk off the excesses of the previous day! The walk will be around Blenheim Palace grounds so we’ll meet at the car park in Woodstock at 10.45am to start the walk about 11.00am. Depending on the weather between now and then we may decide to do a route that includes footpaths which may be muddy, so boots or sturdy shoes are advisable. The walk is fairly flat and about 5 miles long. As always the walk will be lead at a pace to suit everybody and well behaved dogs are welcome.

Everyone should sign the disclaimer and if new people wouldn’t mind completing a monitoring form that would be great. Please make sure you sign the disclaimer every time you come on a walk.

We’ve decided not to make a booking for lunch at a pub so we can go home and enjoy some leftovers rather than eat in a busy pub!

So, whether you’ve joined us before or not, and feel that you can manage this walk put the date in your diary and come with us.

The weather of course is unpredictable and unknown at this stage. We’ll walk in all but the worst conditions but if you’re in any doubt about whether the walk is going ahead listen to Phil Mercer’s show on the Saturday morning between 6am and 9am.
Many charities encourage walking as a way of raising money. So before the start of the walk we are asking for a donation of £1 for a chosen charity. So far we have more than £1,050 for both local and national charities. Before the walk this month we’ll make a collection for the Foetal Medicine Unit at the J.R. Hospital.

To book a place or for more details contact BBC Oxford Action Desk 08459 311 222 or email katie.brown@bbc.co.uk
We look forward to seeing you on the next walk.

Please let me know your email address if you are able to receive the newsletter by email.

Sunday 6th December

Morning,

It's not surprising that we will be talking a fair amount about climate change today, with the Copenhagen Summit starting we'll talk to a couple of christians to get their point of view in More Questions Than Answers.
Rev Dr Gillian Straine curate from Kidlington popped in to tell us what churches in Oxfordshire are doing to make a difference.

Operation Christmas - Salvation Army
07852 576368
Cpt Mark popped in to the studio to remind us about how we can help this year. He's looking for 400 Christmas presents for 0-16 year olds, if you can provide one (unwrapped) pop it in to
St. Michael at the Northgate (Mon-Fri 9am-4pm) or any branch of Superdrug.
He is also looking for volunteers for there Christmas Day celebrations.

Comedy and Christmas
http://www.paulkerensa.com/gigguide.php
The comedy write Paul Kerensa talked to us about the challenges of trying to cheer up Christmas.

Papers. Here's a nice picture of David Cranston, who kindly reviewed the newspapers for us this morning.

Also let me introduce Rich, the newest member of the team and the man running things behind the scenes while the programme is on the air on a Sunday.

Saturday 5th December

After an exhausting week including recording the carol service at Christ Church Cathedral, it's back to usual.

We spent some time looking at a couple of environment subjects:

Tree O'clock
http://www.bbc.co.uk/breathingplaces/treeoclock/
There are events at Stratfield Brake, Kiddlington. Boundary Brook Nature Park, Oxford and at The Wittenham Clumps.

The Wave
http://www.stopclimatechaos.org/the-wave
We also heard from some of the people heading down to London to take part in The Wave, a huge climate change awareness Rally.

Alice's Adventures Underground
http://www.oxfordtheatreguild.com/pages/productions/AAU/aau.html
Star of the show Olivia Jewson popped in to tell about this latest take on the Lewis Carroll classic.

Sunday 29th November

More Questions Than Answers: Giving
http://www.givingwhatwecan.org/
We had a couple of guests discussing the pressure to give at this time of year. Geoffrey Richardson from the Blackbird Leys Credit Union (01865 718503) and Dr Toby Ord both have a lot of experience on this subject.

Nativity (U)
We talked to the director of the new movie that follows a primary school production of a Nativity play is on at the VUE and other cinemas over the next few weeks.

World AIDS Day
http://www.tht.org.uk/contactus/southeast/
http://www.oxford.anglican.org/the-door/news/world-aids-day.html
We heard about one project the Oxfordshire church is getting involved with in South Africa.

Saturday 28th November

Morning,

Sorry I've been quiet on the blog this week, it's been a manic one with the final preparations for the recording of this years carol service on Tuesday. I even got to meet the Archbishop of Canterbury!

This mornings show is a great one.

Hayley Westenra
http://www.hayleywestenra.com/
She is appearing at St Mary's in Banbury tonight. She has a fantastic voice so I played her doing a bit of West Side Story.

Pop Up Restuarant
http://covertpopup.blogspot.com/
lara.tyrrell@merton.ox.ac.uk
Lara is running a one night only special restaurant to try and encourage people to think local when shopping. All the food is sourced (where possible) from local providers.

Affordable Housing
If you want to join the debate on how to improve the amount of affordable housing in Oxford, you need to go to the Quaker Meetings house in Oxford for 11am.

United Charities Christmas Bizarre
On today from 10 to 1 at the Town Hall in Wallingford.

Dorchester Carbon Project and The Wave
http://www.cagoxfordshire.org.uk/index.php
http://www.dorchestercarbonproject.org.uk/
http://www.the-wave.org.uk/
We heard about some of the exciting plans the guys in Dorchester-upon-Thames are putting together as part of an influential government initiative. We also heard how lots of people from Oxford are heading in to London next weekend for The Wave!

Artic Explorers
http://www.polarcommitment.com/
Ian and Claire popped in to the studio ahead of an adventure they are setting off on next year. They will be part of a team walking 800 miles across ice to the polar pole to raise money for Help for the Heroes and the Thames Valley Air Ambulance. Good luck guys.

Sunday 16th November

Kalyan Das led the reflection this morning and Hedley Feast the Devotional. Helen Ann Hartley looked through the papers and also talked about the Shi Shi Go Shan festival in Faith Matters.

Songs of Praise
Website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006ttc5
Todays programme is from Witney, so we had a chat to the minister of High Street Methodist Church in Witney who hosted the team.

I played the new song from Howard Jones called Soon you'll go. It's off his album Ordinary Heroes.

We looked at Interfaith Week and a special memorial service remembering those involved in Road Traffic Accidents. The latter is happening at St Mary's Church at 3pm.

Plus, we talked to Professor Diarmaid Macculloch about his TV series The History of Christianity currently playing on BBC Four. You can catch up on the series by following this link: Click here...

Saturday 14th November

So I had a lovely Sunday off last week, but its back to the grindstone this morning. Last night the Oxfordshire Sports Awards graced the halls of the Kassam Stadium. To read the complete list of winners, click here...

Banbury's Canalside Development
If you pop in to Castle Quays today, you'll get a chance to have your say on plans to develop the area south from the shopping centre alongside the canal.

Jonny's Flight
Last week we spoke to Jonny Beech just before he set off with Nigel Lamb on the flight of a lifetime! Here are his pics:

Saturday 7th November

Morning,
I've got lots of firework bits for you this morning. Including a look through what displays are happening around Oxfordshire. Click here for a full listing...

Have a Safe Fireworks night.
Guy and Richard from the Oxfordshire Fireworks Partnership popped in to the studio to give us some ideas of how to be safe this evening. The phone number for the partnership is 0845 8505 505 if you want to report any fireworks issues.

Boot Camp
http://www.wolfffitness.co.uk/
So we heard from Daniel Wolff who had details of how you could raise money for Cancer research by doing his Boot Camp today, details from his website.

Jonnie Beech designed this logo for Nigel Lamb the aerobatics display pilot and will be having the flight of his life later today when Nigel takes him for a two hour spin!

Climate Week gallery

Here is a link to a flickr group I've created for the Climate Champions field week.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/philmercer/sets/72157622732517348/

Get Active Walk - Saturday 21st Nov 2009

The next walk is on Saturday November 21st 2009. That’s the day after the BBC Children in Need Appeal so to carry on the fun bring a bear or wear something spotty! The walk starts at The Bear and Ragged Staff, Cumnor. It’s a circular tour around the picturesque villages of Cumnor, Bessels Leigh, Appleton and Eaton so there’s a little road walking. However, most of the walk is on footpaths, some of which are very muddy, so boots or sturdy shoes are advisable. The walk is fairly flat and about 5 miles long. As always the walk will be lead at a pace to suit everybody and well behaved dogs are welcome.

We’ll meet at the pub car park of at 10.45am to start the walk about 11.00am. Please park at the far side of the car park away from the pub. Everyone should sign the disclaimer and if new people wouldn’t mind completing a monitoring form that would be great. Please make sure you sign the disclaimer every time you come on a walk.

We’ve made a group booking for lunch at the pub for those who wish to have lunch afterwards. There’ll be a menu for you to choose from so make sure you order your lunch before we set off on the walk!

So, whether you’ve joined us before or not, and feel that you can manage this walk put the date in your diary and come with us.

The weather of course is unpredictable and unknown at this stage. We’ll walk in all but the worst conditions but if you’re in any doubt about whether the walk is going ahead listen to Phil Mercer’s show on the Saturday morning between 6am and 9am.

Many charities encourage walking as a way of raising money. So before the start of the walk we are asking for a donation of £1 for a chosen charity. So far we have raised over £1,000 for both local and national charities. Before the walk this month we’ll make a collection for the BBC Children in Need Appeal.

To book a place or for more details contact BBC Oxford Action Desk 08459 311 222 or email katie.brown@bbc.co.uk
We look forward to seeing you on the next walk.

Surprise... tis I on Lou's show

So i got woken up with a bump this morning when Lou lost her voice and I got press gananed in to looking after her show.

My Story
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mystory
One of the subjects we covered was the BBC project My Story. If you want details of how to send in your ideas to My Story then you need to have a look at the website... or send your (up to) 1,500 words to:

BBC My Story
PO Box 65 655
London, W12 2BG

Annie Get Your Gun
The guys and girls of Wantage Stage Musical Co are putting on the Irving Berline classic at the Civic Hall from Wednesday to Saturday. Call 01235 770087 for tickets and information.

Sunday 1st November

What a morning! We handed out the first tranch of tickets to this years carol service 'A Celebration of Christmas' we are holding it at Christ Church Cathedral. If you want to get some, they are strictly limited so it's first come first served. Send me an email mercer@bbc.co.uk if you would like some. We are restricting everyone to a maximum of 6 per household.

Street Pastors
We had an update from the new Street Pastor teams working in Wantage and Grove. If you want details email: wantageandgrove@streetpastors.org

Saturday 31st October

Morning,

So I'm a bit dazed and confused after my week away learning about Climate Change, watch this space for my reports and interviews from there. This is the info from todays show:

The Big Climate Event
http://www.cagoxfordshire.org
Our Eco Guru Simon popped in to the studio to tell about their big event at Oxford Town Hall on the 7th November. It's a chance to share and learn ideas on how you can do your bit to help Climate Change. You'll need to book your place.

The Red Cross
http://www.redcross.org.uk/
The Oxfordshire Red Cross is marking its centenary with an event in the Clarendon Centre in Oxford from 9am. If you can't make it then have a look at the website or get in touch.
oxon@redcross.org.uk / 01235 552660

The Bunk Line
http://www.brazilproductions.co.uk
We heard from Nick Brazil about his latest documentary on the railway line from Cholsey to Wallingford.

I also promised I'd post up details of an event for Clive, so here it is:


Hi Phil
I would be most grateful if you will please be good enough to mention this charity fundraising event on your BBC Radio Oxford show this weekend.
I live in Freeland and have kidney cancer, and am trying to do my bit as a voluntary fundraiser for an excellent Oxford based cancer charity, UCARE, who are already dong so much to help others. This is the link to their
website: http://www.ucare-oxford.org.uk
We are holding a fundraising event by way of a concert to be given by the Radcliffe Orchestra, on Saturday, 7th November at the Tingewick Hall, which is on the JR Hospital site, and I attach a poster with the full details.
Tickets are only £8, including light refreshments, and will be available on the night, and beforehand at the Cairns Library, which is located in the academic centre of the JR hospital. This is also where the Tingewick Hall is.
I hope you can help us please. Many thanks.
Kind regards
Clive Stone

Dead Wood!

Our main task today has been to venture out into the wildes of the county to assess the amount of dead wood that has collected on the woodland floor.

It was actually more fun and a bit easier than I had originally thought. Rather than count everything (an almost impossible task!) you just draw out regular lines across sections of a plot of the forest and then count any wood that is wider than 5cm diameter!

It did all begin to blur in to one after a while!

In the evening we began to think as a group, to see if there was one project that we could agree to put in to action together. A difficult choice as most of the ideas will require outside help. We shall see if we can get anywhere though. Watch this space!

Mini beasts and the great debate

The Climate Camp continues and today we moved on to mini beasts, although not quite as we hoped. We were due to head out in to the woods to count millipedes and woodlice however the bit's of kit required didn't show up in time. So instead it was a day of leaf sorting and for the first time in a very long time for me, a go at sewing. Not something I was expecting really, but we had to put together some mesh bags for a new experiment on what affects the decomposition of leaves... mini beasts or bacteria!

Here are some pics from a lab experiment to see if it's possible to replicate some of the woodland conditions under a more controlled environment. The Woodlice in this tub started off with a selection of leaves and have created the top soil you can see in this pic. And it only took a few weeks!

Each evening we have a more formal learning session which last night dealt with the facts around Climate Change and today how that is affecting us and what we can do about it.#

This would take me a month to explain, but needless to say, it seems we are probably in a great deal of trouble! I'll try and explain it a bit later, but for now my bunk bed is calling me!!!

If I should enter the woods today...

Today was the first day of some real work on the Climate Research field trip. After a briefing session in the lab giving us the basics on what Climate Change is and how woodland is part of the process we headed out to the trees themselves.

We were out to collect leaves and then count them. The first major learning point for me, the difference between Maple and Sycamore leaves!!!

Here are some of the pics:

Hill End - Base Camp

Heading out to the woods.

Tehri, showing us how they measure tree growth.

Climate Camp

Hello from Hill End near Farmoor. This week I'm taking part in a Climate Change Field Study with Earthwatch.

They've invited me a long to get a sense of the problems facing the world and how we can make a difference. Also I'll be taking part in some actual research in to the affects of the changing environment on our woodland. I'll check back with any good gossip I get as the week goes on.

I've already hit one problem, the BBC laptop isn't liking the country air. I'll reboot and try it in the morning.

Look out Swampy, here I come!!!

Sunday 25th October

A really busy one this morning, so here is the background information for you:

Universal Harmony
Website: http://www.nirankari.com/
The Universal Brotherhood meet in Oxford and have a special event on this weekend that aims to bring together people from around the country.

Banbury Cross
Website: http://www.banbury.gov.uk/
It's the 150th anniversary of the Banbury Cross this month, and today there was a special service of celebration being held.

Jo Thoenes climbs up Kilimanjaro
Website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/content/articles/2009/06/17/mountain_feature.shtml
Jo left on Friday to join 7 other people who are climbing up Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for the NASIO Trust. Jo starts the climb today and is going to be giving us regular updates on this amazing challenge.

Saturday 24th October

First things first. Don't forget: THE CLOCKS GO BACK TONIGHT. I'm having to cover the house with post-it notes to remind me!

It's a full one. Mercers Movies recommends Fantastic Mr. Fox
http://fliptips.blogspot.com/ for the full review.

Moon watching
Website: http://www.cnaag.com/
The Chipping Norton Amatuer Astrology Group are off to the Rollright Stones to go moonwatching today. We also learnt our word of the day... Bortle! Here's an explanation off the interweb! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bortle_Dark-Sky_Scale

Birding
Website: http://www.rspb.org.uk/
The RSPB are holding an event in Port Meadow, Oxford. It's a chance to learn how to make sure our winged friends are well fed for the winter.

Little planes
Website: http://www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk/
Sunday is going to be fun at the Heritage Motor Centre in Gaydon where they are holding the Large Model Aircraft Show. Including a scale model of the Vulcan and Wellington bombers!

Art in Woodstock
Website: http://www.artinwoodstock.com/
Chris Baylis popped in to brief us the events of the next week.




What Recession.
We talked to Sian Holt from the new Fudge Kitchen shop in Oxford and Neil Kinch from Salters Steamers about how they were faring in these tough times.

Listen again to hear the whole interview.

Sounding off..

It's been a busy week so far with lots of my time going on producing a special programme on the Sounds of Oxfordshire ready for the 1st November. We have had the artist Robert Jarvis putting together a work based around the sounds peculiar to Oxfordshire. It's coming together really well, so will be interesting when complete.

I'm also starting the packing for an adventure next week when I'm heading to Wytham Woods to take part in a Climate Study field trip! The Wellies were the first thing I got ready!

Sunday 18th October

On the show today,

We got the latest on the Abingdon Marathon.
Website: http://www.abingdonamblers.co.uk/serve_page.phtml?static=marathon/race.htm
You can have a look at the map of the route on their website.

Art in Woodstock
Website: http://www.artinwoodstock.com/
Kathy Shock from the Jewish Congregation in Oxford.

More Questions Than Answers
We took a look at the current and past challenges facing Christians in Russia and Communist states. To follow the work of the Keston Institute have a look at their website.
http://www.keston.org.uk/

And Joel, presenter of Sunday Lunch was showing off his posh new get up! He is the king of bargain hunting! Just thought you should see where his money went!

Saturday 17th October

Lots out and about around the county this morning.
Philip Waddy the new chairman of RIBA south popped in to tell us a bit about the current challenges facing architects in Oxfordshire.

Early on we heard about the charity ROSY:
http://www.rosy.org.uk/ or call direct on 01865 848696.

Don't forget we will also be going for a walk along the Thames Path south of Abingdon later... details of where to go are here... http://bbcoxfordweekends.blogspot.com/search/label/Walk

Thriving Sustainably
Website: http://www.thrivingsustainably.org.uk/
An event happening today at West Oxford Community Center in Botley.

Not Just A Walk in the Park
Website: http://www.orhcharitablefunds.nhs.uk/
Sunday will see a lot of people heading the University Parks in Oxford to take part in a fundraising event for the JR's Heart and Cancer centres.

Leaches Farm
Website: http://www.bbowt.org.uk/
Giles Strother took me on a tour of the new plot of land that BBOWT have managed to rescue thanks to your money.

Steampunk
Website: http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/steampunk/
Art Donovan took us on a tour of the rather bizarre exhibition at the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford. It runs until February 2010, so plenty of chances to go and have a look.

Tours aplenty this weekend

Vicky and I are putting together the final plans for this weekends programmes and it is a bumper session of tours. You'll hear my look around the new Steampunk exhibition at the Museum of the History of Science, plus a first hand view of BBOWT's plans for Leaches Farm on the Oxfordshire/Buckinghamshire border.

On Sunday, More Questions Than Answers will take a look at how the church in Russia dealt with life under Iron Curtain and the freedoms since the fall of communism.

Wellies on early

I ended up getting the wellies out a little earlier than planned. I headed off this afternoon to see how £200,000 will help to secure a piece of farmland that BBOWT want to buy.

It's at Leaches Farm on the Oxfordshire Buckinghamshire border. Giles Strother, the man in charge of all of BBOWTS reserves took me on a guided tour. It was fascinating to see how it looks now, before they get their mits on it. Give them a couple of years and it will be interesting to see how much wildlife has moved in.

Listen to the whole interview and tour on Saturday morning.

Wellies armed

I've just had some exciting news, it loosk like I'm heading off on a field trip in a few weeks time.

The Eartwatch Institute have invited me and some bods from other Oxfordshire based organisations to take part in a field studies trip. Unfortunately not to China or South America, but instead to the Wildes of Wytham Woods!

I'm off to the Doc's tomorrow to see if I'm fit enough! Fingers crossed!

Sunday 11th October

From Phil: Good morning,

Here are the bits and bobs from todays show. Got off to a sad start with the news that Boyzones Stephen Gately has died (according to their website).

Dr Robin Gibbons lead this mornings reflection.

The Oxfordshire Devotional this morning is one of our special on location episodes. The service was recorded at Magdalen Road Church in east Oxford. Thanks to our outside broadcast team of Mike for doing the hard work and everyone at the church for making him welcome.

NB/ I got a little stumped with that usual debate... is it Maw-dalen or Mag-delen Road. My understanding is that its Maw-dalen College and Street, but Mag-dalen Road! Obviously there are different opinions on this one! (mercer@bbc.co.uk if you want your say!)

Faith Place
This week its All Saints -- The village church of Sutton Courtenay and is the Faith Place of Ken Giles who told his story to Hedley Feast.

Emmanuel Church
http://www.emmanuelbicester.org.uk/
Great news from Rev Chris Boyce, the work has begun on building their new church. If you want to help them get to the total of £1.5 million, then call 01869 244918 or have a look at the website.

Hymns from Honeysuckle Cottage
Today Dr Gillian Warson looked at the hymn Awake my soul.

More Questions Than Answers
Lionel Tarassenko is an Inventor and Scientist and will be talking about his faith and working in the world of science tonight at Christ Church Cathedral. Have a look at the website for more information.
http://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=854&Itemid=658

Come walking

Earlier this week I checked the next BBC Oxford walk. Something we do to make sure there are no surprises!

All is looking good, there will be one diversion around some reconstruction work the Environment Agency are doing to the Thames Path at Abingdon. The rest of the route looks good.

This is the proper blurb from our walk supremo Kate:

The next walk is on Saturday 17th October 2009. We’ll meet at the car park at Culham Lock at 10.45am to start the walk about 11.00am that gives us time for everyone to sign the disclaimer and for new people to complete the monitoring forms. Please make sure you sign the disclaimer every time you come on a walk.

The walk is about 6 miles long. Some of the first part of the walk is on a quiet road but most of it is on footpaths, so boots or sturdy shoes are advisable. Most of the route is very flat with a very gentle rise to a short downhill section to the river. As always the walk will be lead at a pace to suit everybody. As usual well behaved dogs will be welcome.

We’ve made a group booking for lunch at the pub for those who wish to have lunch afterwards. There’ll be a menu for you to choose from so make sure you order your lunch before we set off on the walk!

So, whether you’ve joined us before or not, and feel that you can manage this walk put the date in your diary and come with us.

The weather of course is unpredictable and unknown at this stage. We’ll walk in all but the worst conditions but if you’re in any doubt about whether the walk is going ahead listen to Phil Mercer’s show on the Saturday morning between 6am and 9am.

Many charities encourage walking as a way of raising money. So before the start of the walk we are asking for a donation of £1 for a chosen charity. So far we have raised nearly £1,000 for both local and national charities. Before the walk this month we’ll make another collection for ROSY (Respite nursing for Oxfordshire's Sick Youngsters).

To book a place or for more details contact BBC Oxford Action Desk 08459 311 222 or email katie.brown@bbc.co.uk
We look forward to seeing you on the next walk.

Saturdays 10th October

Here are the extra bits of information from the Saturday 10th October show for you:

Banbury Folk Festival
Its happening this weekend.
Website: http://www.banburyfolkfestival.co.uk/
Phone number for tickets: 01295 279002

Arhythmia Alliance
Website: http://www.heartrhythmcharity.org.uk/
If you heard Susan from Hambledon talking about the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) she has managed to get sites in four villages in her area, this is the site to give you more information.

Wallingford Partnership
Website: http://www.wallingfordtown.co.uk/
The new project to bring investment to the town has really worked, they have secured £200,000 to spend over the next 18 months.

OX4 Festival
Website: http://www.thisistruck.com/about-ox4-festival.aspx
Some great bands appearing in venues around the Cowley Road tonight.

Crayfish

From my mate Chris, who spotted someone with this bucket full of crayfish along the Thames the other day... hense why we might go catching Crayfish today! We will be aiming for the Americans apparently!

The weekend shapes up

So this is how things are shaping up for the weekends programmes.

Saturday
We'll hear how a group from Wallingford have managed to obtain £200,000 to promote the town with. Find out about plans to place defibrilators around some of Oxfordshires villages, how Abingdon is turning pink for the day and we will get all the details on this years OX4 festival.

Sunday
The Oxfordshire Devotional is out and about, this week at Magdalen Road Church. We have plenty of audio from the happenings at the Oxford Oratory with the visit of St Therese and we look at how one Inventor balances his love of Science with his faith.

Childrens books that grown-ups might like!

I was covering for Lou on her Daytime show today and we got in to a discussion on childrens reading. I asked if there were any good books that the children are reading that might be good for adults to read. Kate Robinson from the Oxfordshire County Council Library service was listening and as she specialises in Childrens books she sent us the following recommendations:

• How I live now, by Meg Rosoff.
  Powerful, insightful, funny and moving. A 15 yr old girl is experiencing a dystopian view of Britain, being torn apart through civil war.
• Here Lies Arthur, by Philip Reeve.
  Original, almost poetic writing at times - re-working the myth of King Arthur. Seen through the eyes of a young runaway, who becomes the assistant to Merlin.
  And also - from a while ago,
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, by Mark Haddon.
  If you haven't read it -do so. Funny and gives an insight into a the world of Christopher -a teenage boy with Asperger's Syndrome.
• For a silly, funny, childish read- go for the Mr Gum books - a series by Andy Stanton. You will see why he won the Roald Dahl award for funniest book last year!
• And for Picture books -that adults will enjoy -try local author Mini Grey - all her books are witty, anarchic, original works of art.

Thank you for those Kate,

Why not have a read and let me know how you get on.

Phil

Vaccine Q&A - Saturday 10th Oct

On Saturdays show we will have Dr Anthony Harnden coming in to the studio.

He knows all there is to know about vaccines. So if you have a question about the Swine Flu vaccination or the safety of the cervical cancer injections let us know.

mercer@bbc.co.uk

St Thérèse

We're just putting together plans for Sundays programme and one thing we will look at is the historic visit of the relics of St Thérèse. She arrived in the pooring rain yesterday evening at the Oxford Oratory on the Woodstock road. I was amazed at how many people braved the bad weather to take part in this pretty momentous occasion.

I'd love to hear from anyone who went and what you made of the whole event. Bung me an email (mercer@bbc.co.uk)

Welcome

So this is the new blog for my Weekend Breakfast Show's.

I'll be using this site to post up links and pictures from the programme and any other useful (and useless) information.

The show is broadcast live between 6am and 9am Saturday and Sundays.