Wednesday 7th May at 7.30pm

Katherine Mills, National Trust manager of Munstead Wood, is speaking at the Hascombe Village Hall AGM to explain the history and future of Munstead Wood.

Munstead Wood was designed by Edwin Lutyens, built by Messrs Underwood of Dunsfold 1896/97 for Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932). She revolutionised the art, theory and practice of gardening and pioneered many principles which underpin gardening today. Gertrude Jekyll democratised gardening, sharing ideas, advice and inspiration through the popular media of the day reaching every level of society and giving birth to a national obsession.

The National Trust bought the property a couple of years ago and are preparing it for opening to the public. Katherine Mills of the National Trust is attending the Hascombe Village Hall AGM and will be giving an insight into Munstead Wood, its history and Jekyll’s rich legacy which is helping to shape plans for the property’s future.

Free entry Wednesday 7th May, 7.30pm. Please note this is at Hascombe Village Hall

He was, quite literally, the spy who came in from the cold.

Not the fictional one created by John le Carré in his novel of the same name, later turned in to an award-winning film starring Richard Burton and Claire Bloom.

The one sitting huddled by the inglenook fireplace at the Merry Harriers on a chilly winter’s day was a genuine Cold War spy whose escape to the West was as daring as any espionage book plot – a Russian KGB colonel turned double agent.

It’s hard to believe that this year Oakhurst Cottage is celebrating 40 years since it first opened as a museum.

This little labourer’s cottage, set in the edge of the woodland just off the cricket green, has been owned by the National Trust since 1954. It was given to them by the Allfrey sisters, Vera Margaret and Beatrice Evelyn, along with a number of other cottages in the village. The sisters had originally acquired them to save tenants from eviction. When these were passed to the Trust, it was upon the condition that they were ‘not let to well-to-do people’. At the time the tenants were Ted and Elsie Jeffery, who lived there until Ted’s death in 1983.

Hambledon Parish Council looks forward to welcoming you to the Annual Parish Assembly from 7.30pm in the village hall. It is an opportunity to hear updates from the Parish Council as well as reports from the many organisations in the village. Also an opportunity to meet and ask questions of our local police team. ALL WELCOME

The agenda is as follows:

Alice Servaes, on behalf of Feathercombe Farm, has asked the village website team to post notice of impending works to install a new polo pony exercise track and arena, so that residents are aware of lorry movements during construction.

Planning permission has been granted after due consultation and it is expected that work will begin on the site, accessed off Feathercombe Lane, on or around April 14^th. The project is expected to take between six to eight weeks and all vehicles will arrive from the Milford direction and will not drive through the village.

Lorry traffic is expected to be at its greatest several weeks in to the construction, when drainage and surfacing work will be taking place. Alice said she plans to keep residents informed of progress using the village WhatsApp group.

The arena requires no new buildings, fencing or other visible construction and the landscape should appear unchanged once work is completed.

The Surrey Hills AONB and Surrey Wildlife Trust have been involved in discussions with Feathercombe Farm and Alice said: “We will be putting some more hedges in at some point as well as trees. We really want to try and encourage the birdlife and all wildlife as much as possible.”

Please the plan below.

Please come along to the Annual Parish Assembly, held in the village hall on Thursday 10th April. It is an informal meeting hosted by the Parish Council which celebrates all the different organisations in the village with representatives from across the community giving a brief report of the last 12 months. Doors open at 7.30pm and there will be a chance to have a drink and a chat before the meeting starts.

Chairman Stewart Payne will open the meeting at 8pm and this year we welcome Surrey Police as speakers. PC Archie Ridley and PCSO John Savage will be holding a Q & A session at the start. The parish clerk asks that questions are sent in advance where possible. If you have any questions you would like to be addressed during the meeting, please get in touch via email (parishclerk@hambledonsurrey.co.uk) by Tuesday 8th April.

This Parish Assembly will be Cllr Stewart Payne’s last as both Chairman and a longstanding Councillor as he will be retiring at the May AGM. This meeting will be an opportunity to thank him for 23 years of service on the Council. If you would like to donate to his retiring collection, there is a collection in the village shop. If you’d prefer to make a bank transfer, please contact the parish clerk for the details.

The annual litter pick which follows the Parish Assembly will take place on Saturday 12th April at 10am. There will be opportunities to sign up at the assembly on the evening or in the village shop after. 

More details of the evening will follow.

Hambledon Village Trust, landlord of the shop and Pendle Cottage, is delighted to announce that work has started on the new roof.  

Scaffolding for the main roof will be erected in the next few days. Then, dependent upon the presence of an ecologist to monitor bat movement, and fine weather, tiles can be removed and work begins in earnest.

This phase of the project will include the main roof and the roof over the deli. The garage roof and flat roof will be done later.

A big thank you for the many donations that have raised enough funds to make this possible.

Continue reading for some background…