Spotted: Hendred

19/03/2026

Anyone called Brian on here who kindly helped this gentleman? This post was borrowed from a Didcot page.

Hi
I hope you can help?
On Monday my Dad got on the wrong bus home from Didcot & ended up in Wantage. He was very confused & instead of asking for help he decided to start walking back home to Harwell.
He ended up walking along the very busy road around 4/4.30pm. Cars whizzing past on their commute.
A very kind gentleman, called Brian, stopped & told Dad to get in. He asked where Dad lived & drove him all the way home to Harwell!
Dad said he believes he might live in Hendred Village.
My Mum, who isn't on Facebook & didn't meet him, would like to thank him personally. She is so grateful to you! He could have been knocked over.
If you recognise this event from Monday, please contact me.
Or, if anyone knows who Brian might be, please let me know.
Mum & Dad are extremely thankful for you kind actions.
Jo

19/03/2026

The noticeboard at Portway was looking rather sad. The beautiful oak had been covered by fence paint, the posts were rotting at the base and the back had fallen to pieces. It has been rubbed down and the oak restored as best we could, I think the owls look lovely. Hopefully it should be good for a few more years. Just to clarify this was done by volunteers with little expense to the parish council.

19/03/2026

I would like to know if anyone would like to have this cold frame from our garden? The wood is quite rotten and it will need new bracing but the glass doors are in perfect condition. Will need two people to lift it and be removed by Saturday lunch time, otherwise it will be recycled. Rough drawing of approx. dimensions. There is no base (pavers not included). I can be home most of the day today, tomorrow and Friday too. Please comment and I'll DM you.

18/03/2026

As a few residents may already know, there are plans afoot for a very large solar panel infrastructure near the A34, on behalf of Harwell Campus and laboratories. Shown below is the proposal and link giving an idea of the size of the site.

Harwell Campus, more specifically Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, are proposing a solar farm on the land north-west of the RAL site, which sits south of East Hendred. These plans include multiple ground mounted solar panels and an ancillary infrastructure. This proposed solar farm is only going to be supplying power to the Harwell Campus and laboratory, whilst using green energy instead of the national grid, with no power being supplied to the village or surrounding area.

This solar farm will be encroaching on an area of outstanding natural beauty which we believe should be protected from developments such as these. Although, they have stated that they will be planting trees and headway to screen the view of the solar farm from public rights of way, this does potentially set a precedent for Harwell (Campus) to approach more local landowners to use an even greater area of green space for their developments around our villages.

There was a public exhibition on 12th March, however we want to make sure everyone in the village is aware of these plans. Whilst the solar energy is proposed to help Harwell’s (Campus) contribution to climate change, which is a great thing given their usage, however there are negative effects of solar farms such as habitat fragmentation, isolating wildlife population and disrupting migration corridors. It also changes ground cover and affects soil health whilst building the infrastructure.

You can find the planning permission here - https://data.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/java/support/Main.jsp?MODULE=ApplicationDetails&REF=P26/V0523/SCR

17/03/2026

Random cat tree parts good condition other than the hair, free to who ever would like it or it’s going in the bin collection Ludbridge close

17/03/2026

Don't forget to book if using the Drayton tip.

Update after a visit to Drayton tip this morning. From April, you MUST book and MUST have proof of address, else you'll be turned away.

17/03/2026

17/03/2026

Free for collection, IKEA shelf unit, ideal for kitchen.

17/03/2026

Free for collection, small solid wood chest of drawers. Originally bought for dvd storage.

17/03/2026

Morning traffic update on hare traffic lights…jam eastbound now starts at Grove Park drive. So much for lights being managed.

16/03/2026

As predicted by you last week the traffic chaos is back at west Hendred with queues almost back to Rowstock and very little in the other direction! What’s happened to them people who promised the lights would be managed? It’s a bloody c*ckup once again.