Organisations

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Presentation of Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service to Hambledon Village Community Shop

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This Saturday (September 19th), at a ceremony beginning at 11.30am, volunteers who have helped run Hambledon Village Shop and Post Office for the past 23 years will be presented with The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.

Cynthia Miller, who has been a stalwart helper throughout this period, will receive the award on behalf of all volunteers from Gordon Lee-Steere DL, chairman of the county’s Queen’s Award panel. Other guests include the chairman of Surrey County Council, the Mayor of Waverley Borough Council, the High Sheriff of Surrey and the chairman of Hambledon Parish Council.

The shop was rescued from closure by villagers in 1992 and is now one of the longest-running community stores in the country, vital to the wellbeing of Hambledon.

qavs300In recognition of this achievement, and of the hard work put in by volunteers over the years, the Queen’s award, which has an equivalent status for groups as the MBE has for individuals, was announced earlier this year. It is the highest honour given to volunteer groups.

For security reasons attendance at the ceremony is by invite but villagers are welcome to gather outside to help celebrate an important occasion.

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Play Cricket For Hambledon – New Players Welcome

altHambledon Cricket Club has been busy preparing for the 2015 season and is seeking more players to join its league and friendly teams and also more juniors.

Helpers are also required to coach the junior members and to umpire matches and score for both senior and junior teams.

Hambledon Cricket Club has one of the most picturesque grounds in the county and is a lovely place to play village cricket.  Players and spectators alike will enjoy a visit to the community-run Hambledon Village Shop, which overlooks the cricket green.

Junior coaching sessions take place on Saturday mornings and Monday evenings.  The first team plays competitive matches in the local Village League and the Friendly XI has a more relaxed approach.

More details about the club can be found at www.pitchero.com/clubs/hambledonccsurrey

For further information please phone Tony Strudwick on 01483 428564

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Oakhurst Cottage reopening

Oakhurst, the National Trust-owned 16th Century farm labourer’s cottage, reopens next Wednesday (April 1St) after six months of restoration and repairs.

The process has unearthed much new and fascinating information about the history of the cottage, a remarkable survival of a largely-unaltered humble agricultural worker’s dwelling into 21st Century Surrey.

As usual, village volunteers will be responsible for showing visitors around the cottage and have been briefed on the restoration and research. Even those who have viewed the property before will find it worth another visit.

altFrom its beginning at the end of the 16th Century the little cottage has survived, not without alterations, but substantially much as it would have appeared to Hambledon residents 200 years ago.  It has been furnished in the manner of a mid-19th Century farm labourer’s home and provides an authentic impression of rural working class life of the time.

The cottage was given to the National Trust in 1954 by the Allfrey sisters, who let it out to tenants Elsie and Ted Jeffrey. Elsie died in 1978 and Ted continued to live in the cottage until he died in 1983.

Its un-modernised state gave the National Trust the idea of opening it to the public. Since 1985 Hambledon volunteers have formed a rota to show people around by appointment.

Last autumn the National Trust embarked on extensive renovations using specialist craftsmen and women. Sagging roof timbers were repaired or replaced and damaged plaster was attended to using traditional methods of lime plastering.

At the same time the National Trust undertook research in Oakhurst Cottage’s history, producing a timeline that is now contained in a pamphlet available to visitors. The work was overseen by NT curator Sarah Woodcock and the research was carried out by Sophie Clarke.

The traditional cottage garden is currently being restored by Matt Phelps, gardener at the nearby National Trust property, Winkworth Arboretum.

Oakhurst Cottage is open on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturday and Sundays between 2pm and 5pm from April to September and until 4pm in October. It is also open on Bank Holiday Mondays.

Advance booking is required by telephoning 01483 208936 or emailing oakhurstcottage@nationaltrust.org.uk

Further details can be found at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/oakhurstcottage

and on our village website, with a comprehensive gallery of photographs of the restoration and the interior of Oakhurst.

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Hambledon Heritage Society

The Society promotes and encourages the study of the history of the Parish of Hambledon.  It encourages the conservation and preservation of buildings, memorials, antiquities, memorabilia, records, manuscripts and pictorial material relating to the Parish of Hambledon.The Society owns photograph albums going back over 100 years which are kept up to date.  These are displayed at village events, and are available to Hambledon residents to borrow. The Society organizes an annual lecture on a relevant topic each spring.

 Committee:
Chair: Stephen Dean, e-mail: deans84@aol.com
Secretary: Nessie Alexander, e-mail:  nessiehugo2002@yahoo.co.uk
Treasurer: Helena Hockridge, e-mail: helena@kis-solutions.co.uk

The Hambledon Heritage albums are now housed in the Sun Room at Cobblers, which means that they can be accessed by anyone interested in finding out more about the history of our village and the personalities who contributed to it. Please let Jane Woolley know if you would like to visit and browse – 01428 684213 or j.woolley881@btinternet.com. The postal address is Cobblers, Woodlands Road, Hambledon, Godalming, Surrey GU8 4HL.

Hambledon was one of the contributors to the Women’s Institute Scrapbook competition in 1952. It is made up of ‘scraps’ collected and given by Hambledon residents and was produced and maintained by Mary Parker, who lived in the village (and remained there all her life). It was kept at the village Post Office and was available for loan. By 1997 it was showing signs of wear and tear so a Hambledon Heritage Exhibition was organised to raise money for a Mary Parker Memorial Fund which enabled the Scrapbook to be conserved and re-bound.

The interest which the 1998 Exhibition evoked and the material that was contributed to it awakened a realisation that there was an on-going need for village memorabilia to be retained and recorded. This led to the establishment of the Hambledon Heritage Society, one of whose roles is to compile and maintain a meticulous collection of photographic and printed memorabilia which are contained in the Hambledon Heritage albums.

Visit http://hambledonsurrey.co.uk/scrapbook/ if you would like to look at the digitised version of the Scrapbook.

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Click the banner above to listen and view.

The Hambledon Heritage Society is also proud to announce the publication of the first part of their Oral History Project:  video and audio recordings of villagers’ stories recounting life in the Hambledon during the 1940’s.

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"Outstanding" Rating For Hambledon Nursery School

Teaching staff at Hambledon Nursery School can enjoy the summer break in the knowledge of a job well done after the government’s inspection body Ofsted awarded it an “outstanding” rating.

All schools are visted periodically by Ofsted inspectors and judged as either Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement or Inadequate. Hambledon Nursery School had been judged as outstanding following previous inspections.

Staff knew that another Ofsted inspection was due but had no advanced knowledge of when it would take place. In the event the inspectors visited in June and the report is now available online at

www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/CARE/EY472201

Open the page and find the link to a PDF document headed Early Years Register inspection report.

Nicola Collett, head teacher, said that staff and parents were delighted with the outcome. She said the report highlighted the professionalism of teachers and how engaged children were in their learning.

The school was originally the village state primary school. When it closed in the 1980s residents were determined to see it remain at the heart of the community as a place of learning.  A campaign led to the acquisition of the Victorian school house complete with playground and its reopening as a nursery school run as a business by a charitable trust. It caters for children aged 2 to 5 and retains its strong links with the village, the church and the parish council.

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Roundup of events in Hambledon

A busy week of events in Hambledon, including the fete, mid-summer dance and Viewmap unveiling, has culminated with the opening of the refurbished Almshouse.

One of the pair of almshouses in Malthouse Lane has been extended and modernised. No 2 has a new kitchen, en-suite bathroom, a larger living room, under-floor heating, double-glazing, fire alarm and sprinkler system and insulation.

altThe opening ceremony was performed by Audrey Monk, clerk to The Trustees of the Almshouses, who has written a history of the buildings.  They were built in 1907 and, more than 100 years later,  both were considered to be in need of upgrading to bring them up to 21st Century standards.

No 2 became vacant when John Givens moved out two years ago and Andrew Falk, chairman of the Trustees, launched an ambitious fund-raising scheme to help finance the work, which has cost in the region of £100,000. The majority of the work has been undertaken by local builder Mike Coates.

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New Manager Appointed For Hambledon Village Shop

A new manager has been appointed to take over the running of Hambledon’s community shop and post office.

She is Jo Jazeel, and she may be familiar to villagers because she has been running the farm shop operating at the Winterton Arms in neighbouring Chiddingfold since April of last year.

Jo will start on Monday (Feb 17) and will work a 26-hour week, continuing to operate the farm shop as well.

She has useful experience in the retail trade.  In addition to her successful venture at the Winterton Arms, she worked as a temporary sales assistant at Kirdford Community Stores between September 2012 and March 2013. Before that she was an account manager for a retail and supply company and a general manager for a book store. Her various roles included staff management, buying, marketing and distribution.

She also worked as a self-employed dog walker for 30 local clients when her daughter Annie-May, who is now 10, was younger. They live in Chiddingfold.

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Her appointment, which has been made in consultation with exisiting part-time shop managers and staff, results from a decision by Hambledon Village Shop Ltd, the company which operates the business, to appoint a single manager.

Of the previous managers, known as the “Three A’s”, Amanda Wright is reducing her hours to two mornings a week, Alison Wilson will continue with the same hours as before, and Alan Brien will leave after a gradual hand-over of his Post Office duties. Jo will have all managerial responsibility.

Of the part-time staff, Michelle, Cyril Netley and Helena Hockridge will continue as before, subject to any reorganisation of working arrangements that Jo may deem appropriate.

Volunteers will continue to be an integral part of the shop operation and have been informed of the changes.

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Milford Hospital Unveils Plaque – Galton & Simpson

June 1st saw a significant event for the history of Milford Hospital.  Two former patients returned to see a plague unveiled to mark their meeting in 1948.  Ray Galton & Alan Simpson met as 19 year olds suffering from TB.  They stayed for many years receiving treatment – but their time was well spent.  The started to write comedy sketches together, which were performed on the rudimentary hospital radio service.     They went on to become the foremost comedy scriptwriters – creating Hancock and Steptoe and Sons, and a huge catalogue of shows over the following decades.    The plaque was unveiled by their friend and performer Paul Merton.

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I had the privilege to meet the guys a few years ago, as part of my research for the Milford Hospital History Website.   They described to me in detail their years at Milford, and most interestingly, the location of the original laundry cupboard in which they built their radio studio – arguably the “Birthplace of the British Sit-Com.

You can find the story here.

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