a weekly hop. Political Risinghurst is part of the Risinghurst and Sandhills Parish Council. The PC covers an area of some that naturally encompasses Sandhills and Risinghurst but one that also stretches up over Shotover and down its southern slopes; and east towards Forest Hill. The Parish Council was formed in 1956, breaking out from the bigger Forest Hill and Shotover PC. Within Oxfordshire County Council, Risinghurst is part of the Quarry and Risinghurst Ward and is represented by two councillors; at national level it forms part of the Oxford East parliamentary constituency. Places and people of interest Risinghurst was home to the author C. S. Lewis, who lived in a house called The Kilns for 33 years until his death in 1963. During his time at the address he wrote many of his books, most notably the Narnia books which were published between 1950 and 1956. Behind the house is a large wild area, now a nature reserve, but then the garden and this wild area is said to have been the inspiration both for Narnia and possibly for Tolkien's Middle-earth. 'Jack' Lewis and his brother Warnie purchased the house in 1930. This was before the Estate had been built and at that time The Kilns was surrounded by of land. Warnie described it as follows: 'The house stands at the entrance to its own grounds at the northern foot of Shotover at the end of a narrow lane, which in turn opens off a very bad and little used road [now Kiln Lane], giving us great privacy as can reasonably be looked for near a city.' After the Estate was built, The Kilns was given an address as being on Ringwood Road. In 1969 The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust bought the lake and woodland behind the Kilns. The Trust describes the woods as follows: 'The steeply rising woodland includes beech, birch, alder, sycamore and larch. Dotted around the reserve are large sandstone boulders known as doggers on the slopes in the trees. The pond is full of aquatic plants and many toads migrate here to spawn in spring, when the garden is also full of birdsong. Moorhens and coots regularly nest here and other visitors include herons, kingfishers and warblers. Giant horsetail grows at the margins of a stream which flows in from the east and there are spectacular displays of dragonflies and damselflies in summer.'