The Old Coal Yard start-up businesses welcomed five new tenants in the past month. The latest to arrive are Julia and Lucy of Number 15 Gallery. Julia, a Hambledon resident for nearly 30 years, and her friend Lucy, from Godalming, are opening a small Artists’ studio and gallery space at The Old Coal Yard, next to the Merry Harriers.

They met at Changing Perceptions in Godalming, a now, sadly, closed social enterprise for The Meath Epilepsy Charity (where Lucy was the assistant manager and Julia a volunteer). The days spent upcycling furniture and laughing (a lot) with the Meath residents are missed by everyone who spent time there.

Both of them have art backgrounds and wanted to be able to work and show their wares in a dedicated light and airy space. In 2022 they held a pop-up art exhibition in one of the, then, empty units (at the Old Coal Yard) in aid of The Fountain Centre Charity at the Royal Surrey County Hospital. It was such a great success and a lovely experience that they decided to take on a new unit when one became available – 2 years later and here they are.

Not only will they be creating and selling their own work in Hambledon, they will also have the work of 5 other local artists on display in the space – ceramics, stained glass, reupholstered and painted furniture, photography and paintings will all be available.

After much back and forth trying to choose a name for the gallery – they hit upon “Number 15” (a remarkable coincidence as they are in unit 15 at The Old Coal Yard).

Julia is excited about their opening day. “It is on Saturday 15th March (15th?!) at 3pm (15:00 hours?!) and everyone is most welcome to come and say hello. We are both delighted to be joining the gang at The Coal Yard and happy to finally have a studio space that we don’t have to clear up in time for dinner!”

Lucy added “Number 15 is scheduled to be open every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but if you see us in there at any other time, just pop in!”. www.Number15.net

https://www.coalyardcreatives.com

Following on from the resounding success of last year Hambledon Cricket Club is hosting a Race Night on Friday 25 April, we are hoping to raise much needed funds for the club.

We are selling tables of 6/8/10 people at £5 per head so get your friends together and book a table, individual places are also available, numbers are limited so get your booking in quickly, it promises to be a fun filled night!

There will be a licenced bar and pizza by Zoo Café on the night.

More details to follow about opportunities to purchase a horse and/or jockey in each race and chose your own name,  and many other things.

If you would like to book a table/place please contact Caroline Tristem at caroline@tristem.co.uk.

As Hambledon heads into Spring, with daffodils, primroses and cowslips coming into bloom and bluebells soon to flower, it is timely to look to see what the season offers of interest to villagers.

First up, at the Village Hall on Thursday March 13^th, is the Hambledon Heritage Society’s annual presentation. This year it features a talk on the subject of Witley and Haslemere Artists, 1859-1914.

The speaker is Sarah Bain, honorary vice president of Haslemere Educational Museum who will focus on the lives of the many artists who came to live in the area and gained inspiration from its beautiful countryside, Hambledon’s included. Doors open at 7.30pm for refreshments followed at 8pm with the Society’s brief AGM formalities and then the presentation.

An update on Wednesday 12th February: Hambledon Parish Council has had some positive news about the road closure. Surrey County Council believe they have fixed the issue causing the water to pour down the road. SCC’s drainage team have been on site today and cleared a root that had grown into and blocked a drain. Thames Water now has until Friday to backfill the hole and make the road passable.

The advice in the Bernard Cribbins comedy hit song The Hole in the Ground was: “Don’t dig there, dig it elsewhere”.

In Hambledon, as fed-up residents will know, the holes in its roads are no laughing matter. As for where they are being dug, it is not just “there” but “elsewhere” as well.

Hambledon Road at Rock Hill has been blocked since January 29, when Thames Water arrived to fix a recurring water leak. The hole is still there, the road remains impassable, and no one has been on site for a week.

Since then, there have been closures, for different reasons, on Church Lane and Hambledon Road at Hydestile. New Road approaching Witley Station is due to be closed for four days from next Monday, again by Thames Water. All this follows many other closures this winter, leaving villagers fed up and frustrated.

The Cricket Club AGM will be taking place on Tuesday 25th February 2025 @ 8.00pm at the HCC Pavilion.

It’s a great opportunity to hear about developments for the season ahead, so please come along if you can.

Starring Toni Collette and Damian Lewis, Dream Horse is the true story of a group of ordinary people from a Welsh village who decide to club together to breed a race horse despite having no experience. It’s a feelgood amusing story for a February evening which gets great reviews on the review site Rotten Tomatoes and The Guardian calls ‘A Winner’.

Doors and our extremely reasonably-priced bar open at 7pm and the film starts at 7.30pm.

Tickets £5 from the Village Shop or online by clicking this link. A small booking fee is added to online tickets which is taken by the booking website, not the village hall.

Certificate PG