Cotswold Link (North Cotswolds) Nov-Dec 2022

The Cotswold Sky

Why does the New Year begin on January 1st?

Perhaps surprisingly, New Year’s Day is not determined by any natural astronomical event.

It is a manufactured day by our ancestors who were aware of the daylight hours extending each day from what we refer to as the Winter Solstice which occurs; this year; on Wednesday 21st Decem ber some 10 days prior to the New Year. New Years Day and the month of January derive from the ancient Roman god Janus (image) who was the god of beginnings.

Janus was depicted as having two opposite faces. One face looking back into the past and the other looking forward towards the future. To celebrate the New Year the Romans made promises to Janus from which the tradition of New Year’s resolutions originate. It was the custom to exchange cheerful words of good wishes followed by the “rex sacrorum” a priesthood associated with the Roman Senate who offered a sacrifice of a ram to Janus.

Reference: www.earthsky.org

Diary

Winter Solstice: Wednesday 21st December 21.47 hours GMT.

Mercury: Unobservable through out November. Can be observed from mid-December and lies close to Venus towards the end of the year looking towards the south west at sunset.

Venus: As with Mercury, Venus is unobservable during November but emerges in the south west at sunset during December.

Mars: Observable during Novem ber quite bright as you look East from around 20.00 hours working its way southwards so that by Christmas Day easily observable high to the right of Orion at 22.00 hours.

Jupiter: Look high and southerly during November around 20.00 hours Jupiter can be observed brilliantly bright. By Christmas Day Jupiter will have journeyed more towards the south west.

Saturn: To the right of Jupiter throughout the months of No vember and December but will be setting by 21.00 hours during No vember and needs to be observed early evening during December before setting.

May I wish all our readers A Merry Healthy Festivities Season followed by a Happy Healthy 2023.

Stay Safe – John Harris

Cotswold Link Annual Family Christmas Quiz

Relax and chill out, these questions are for the young and not so young. You may not even agree with some of the answers but the quiz is for the family to take part and enjoy.

Burns, Winston Churchill, Charles Dickens, David Lloyd George, Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, Picasso, William Shakespeare

a) “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat”

b) “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time……”

of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness ……..”

3 - What date is St. Stephen’s Day?

4 - In Charles Dicken’s Christmas Carol, who was Scrooge’s dead business partner?

5 - In the song “12 days of Christmas” …. My true love brought to me….?

Westmin ster Abbey?

14 - The North Pole is said to be Santa’s home. In which Ocean is the North Pole located?

15 - What is the chemical formula of snow?

- You receive 10 Christmas Cards from places in Europe; each one wishes you a “Merry Christmas” –Identify where the cards comes from.

1

a) joyeux Noël

b) buon Natale

c) Feliz Navidad

d) Nadolig Llawen

e) καλά Χριστούγεννα

f) Wesołych Świąt

g) Fröhliche Weihnachten h) feliz Natal

i) vrolijk kerstfeest

j) felicem natalem Christi

2 - Match the quotes with the follow ing sources:

Anonymous, The Bible, Robert

c) “What is our task? To make Britain a fit country for heroes to live in”

d) “God is no respecter of persons”

e) “Oh my Love is like a red red rose …”

f) “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day ……”

g) “My mother said to me, “If you are a soldier you will become a general.

If you are a monk you will become the Pope.” Instead, I was an ……… and became ………..”

h) “There’s a genius in all of us”

i) “When you fall, I will be there to catch you – With Love, the floor”

j) It was the best of times, it was the worse of times, it was the age

6 - What colour are the berries of the mistletoe plant?

7 - Who wrote “Auld Lang Syne”?

8 - How many points does a snow flake have?

9 - In which country were Christmas trees fist used to decorate homes?

10 - During the First World War on which Christmas Day did the soldiers of Great Britain and Germany stop fighting and greet each other?

11 - There are two Christmas Islands and they are located in which oceans?

12 - What did Captain James Cook discover on Christmas Day 1777?

13 - Which famous scientist born on Christmas Day is buried in

16 - What British spacecraft was lost on Mars Christmas Day 2003?

17- Who banned Christmas Day in Britain?

18 - Who was the first British monarch to broadcast a Christmas message to the nation?

19 - In what year did Queen Elizabeth II deliver her first televised Christmas message to the nation?

20 - “So this is Christmas” are the first words of which John Lennon song?

(Answer p14)

May I wish all our readers A Merry Healthy Festivities Season followed by a Happy Healthy 2023.

Stay Safe – John Harris

Bathrooms

Country Bathrooms: p7

HPR Services: p5

Builders & Contractors

Calarel Developments: p7

Country Roofing & Building: p15

DTN Oxford: p6

Garolla Garage Doors: p13

Hooper Joinery: p2

Mitre Oak Buildings: p16

North Cotswold Builder: p12

Rooflight Company: p3

Phil Dadge: p7

Thomas Contracting: p12

Wychwood Oak Frames: p13

Children’s Services

Cotswold Tutor: p9

Clearances

Coln Clearances: p12

Oxfordshire Clearances: p2

Clothing & Footwear

Elm of Burford: p5

Education Burford School: p1

Cotswold Tutor: p9

Elderly Services

Hearing & Mobility Store: p11

Windrush Care: p4

Electrical Services

P Wheeler Electrical: p6 Fuel

Cotswold Petrolium: p6

Furniture

Amanda Hanley By Design: p1

Graham Lane Furniture: p6 Hilltop Joinery: p7 Hooper Joinery: p2 Phil Dadge: p7

Roundabout: p14

Food & Drink

Cotswold Maple Peas: p9

Framing

Witney Framing: p8

Garage Doors

Garolla Garage Doors: p13

Gardening & Outdoors

A R Lewis Tree Care: p13

Coln Clearances: p12 DTN Oxford: p6

English Resin: p16

Stockwell Davies Tree Contractors: p12

Thomas Contracting: p12 Tom Negus Tree Care: p13 Waterside Landscaping: p13 Gifts

Alain Rouveure Galleries: p9 Elm of Burford: p5

Haulage

Mustoes Haulage: p12 Healthcare & Wellbeing

Andrew James Dermatology: p11

Bourton Podiatry Clinic: p1

Cotswold Deep Tissue Massage: p11

Cotswolds Foot Clinic: p11 Kate Bishop Trainer: p10 Paul Brookes Foot Health: p11 Runnerbean: p10

Hearing Aids

Hearing & Mobility Store: p11 Home & Interiors

Alain Rouveure Galleries: p9

Amanda Hanley By Design: p1 Burford Kitchens & Interiors: p3

Country Bathrooms: p7

Country House Curtains: p5

Hilltop Joinery: p7

Paul Dadge: p4

Rooflight Company: p3

Witney Framing: p8

Locksmiths

Just Carpentry & Locks: p2

Motoring

Cotswold Garage: p15

Painters & Decorators

Paul Dadge: p4 Phil Dadge: p7

Plumbers

HPR Services: p5

MPN Plumbing & Heating: p15

Property Maintenance

Coln Clearances: p12

Country Roofing & Building: p15

Dovecote Property: p13

DTN Oxford: p6

G & B Power Washing: p12

Garolla Garage Doors: p13 Hilltop Joinery: p7 Hooper Joinery: p2

Just Carpentry & Locks: p2

MJ Harris Domestic Repairs: p2 Mossinator: p1

Phil Dadge: p7

Recruitment

Mustoes Haulage: p12

Removals

Coln Clearances: p12

Oxfordshire Clearances: p2

Sports & Leisure

Cotswold Riding: p9

JDR Karting: p9 Runnerbean: p10

Tree Surgery

A R Lewis Tree Care: p13

Stockwell Davies Tree Contractors: p12

Tom Negus Tree Care: p13

Tuition

Cotswold Tutor: p9

Windows

RJB Window Restoration: p15 Rooflight Company: p3