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Woodcote
is a large, some would say characterless, South Chilterns village situated
about three miles west of Goring and a mile south
of the A4074 road from Wallingford to Caversham. However a lot of people
enjoy living there and the village has some redeeming features.
To quote from the village website:
‘To drive through Woodcote is to miss it. A green, a village hall, a couple
of modern shops and schools are all you see. Nothing distinguished or
distinguishing, certainly none of the expected Thames Valley village charm
with its quota of church, pub and old cottages suitably rose strewn and
picturesque. Driving up from Whitchurch Hill each day to work it feels
like ascending to a village in the clouds. With its radio mast to prove
it, Woodcote is the highest point in the South Chilterns, after Nuffield,
but leaves behind an impression of bungalows and open spaces and not much
more. True, there is the attractive thatched barn of Church Farm overlooking
the crossroads and here lies the key to the puzzle. Woodcote is one of
the Chiltern villages which unlike their Thames Valley cousins often have
a common at their centre ringed around with small farms. To find the centre
you have to investigate the periphery as old Woodcote is in the valleys
and hollows which surround its open heart. It is a pattern of settlement
laid down in very early times and little altered since, rural but not
at all isolated.’
There are two churches in the village - St Leonard's Church, Church of
England and the Church of Christ the King, Roman Catholic. The latter
is a modern timber-clad building. In addition, a Methodist church meets
at St Leonard's Church once a month.
The Woodcote Rally is an annual festival of steam, vintage & veteran transport
with entertainment for all the family. Crafts, trade stands, children's
entertainment, protected animals, live bands, a traditional fun fair and
CAMRA's famous Festival of Ale.
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Images
of Woodcote
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(Click
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