Parish News

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Sunday Reflection

John Anderson, chairman of Hambledon Parish Council, contributes this week’s Sunday Reflection.

Under normal circumstances, at this time of year, the Parish Council would be welcoming Hambledonians to the Annual Parish Assembly and listening to updates from all the Village organisations.  However, this is not a normal year.  This year is very different, and yet, somehow it is the same, in the sense that our Village organisations are, as ever, delivering exemplary services to the Parish.

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Training offered in Hambledon for use of life-saving defibrillators

Training in the use of defibrillators (AEDs) is being offered to residents following the installation of one inside the former telephone kiosk at the Hydestile Crossroads.

This takes the number of defibrillators in the village area to five; outside the village shop, on the exterior wall of the Merry Harriers, at St Peter’s Church, at Hambledon Football Club’s ground at Badger Park, and now at Hydestile.

Alison Martin, a Busbridge Parish councillor who helped arrange for the AED (automated external defibrillator) to be installed in the traditional red kiosk – which has also undergone renovation in the process – has arranged for a training session to be held in the meeting room at St Peter’s Church, Church Lane, Hambledon, on Saturday September 28th.

The training will be given by an expert from the London-based Barts City Life Saver organisation, a charity that teaches life saving skills and originated from St Bartholomew’s Hospital. The session begins at 11am with basic life saving training, then AED training at 2pm followed by baby and child resuscitation at 3pm. Participants can opt to attend the whole session, or part.

AED’s are used on people suffering from sudden cardiac arrest and, along with Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation, can greatly increase survival rates.

Training will be free to the Hydestile volunteers on the Busbridge Parish Council-sponsored rota, but to all others there will be a nominal cost of £20 per person to cover the costs of the trainer travelling to and from London and a donation to the charity’s work.

Anyone in the village can register to attend. Please contact Alison Martin at email amtillies417@gmail.com or by phone on 01483 893619.

If you would like to know more about the work of the charity please visit www.bartscitylifesaver.org

 

 

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NEW TEACHER REQUIRED AS ROSEMARY KILEY PREPARES TO RETIRE AFTER 27 YEARS

Hambledon Nursery School is looking for a new teacher following the decision by Rosemary Kiley to retire after 27 years.

Rosemary joined the school in January 1991, just after her own children finished at the nursery. She is a popular and respected member of staff. Head teacher Nicola Collett said Rosemary would be much missed when she leaves at the end of term.

In the meantime, she is seeking a new nursery practitioner to work four morning a week. Anyone who would like to apply should contact her at the school on 01428 684892 or by email on office@hambledonnurseryschool.co.uk.

The nursery, at Rock Hill, Hambledon, occupies the buildings of the former Hambledon Church of England state primary which, like many small rural schools, closed in the 1980s. Residents were determined that it should remain a place of learning at the heart of the community and a campaign led to the acquisition of the Victorian schoolhouse and playground at Rock Hill.

It reopened as a nursery for children aged two to five and has gone on to be adjudged “outstanding” by the government’s inspection body Ofsted.

The nursery had not long been in business when Rosemary joined the teaching staff and she recalls that in those early days the admissions list was recorded on a piece of cardboard. With a small but dedicated teaching staff, a school secretary, and overseen by a locally-appointed Board of Trustees, it has gone from strength-to-strength and is sought after by parents from the village and further afield.

Nicola said: “A happy working environment is reflected in the longevity of service of Rosemary and, indeed, other nursery practitioners”.

In retirement Rosemary (pictured) plans to focus on her flower arranging and will be holding a small sale of her creations at the nursery school on Saturday December 9 at 10am. Recently she supplied arrangements for the current BBC television adaptation of the E.M Forster novel Howards End, much of which has been filmed in Hambledon.

Anyone interested in the new teaching position can find out more about the school by looking at

www.hambledonnurseryschool.co.uk

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FOND FAREWELLS TO CATHERINE MCBRIDE

Hambledon has said a fond farewell to its associate vicar Catherine McBride, who has left the village to become vicar of St Mary’s, Market Drayton, Shropshire.

Catherine arrived in Hambledon more than five years ago and quickly became a popular figure; among her congregation at St Peter’s and within the village as a whole. She will be much missed but goes with the best wishes and blessings of the many friends she made.

Her departure was marked in several ways: at her final Sunday services on October 15, at a farewell tea party hosted at Feathercombe, and at a get-together at the Merry Harriers a few days earlier on October 12.

She then took a short holiday in Iceland before returning to pack her bags at Mervil Bottom, her Hambledon home, in preparation for beginning her new life and challenge in Shropshire, close to the Welsh borders from where she hails.

She takes up her responsibilities in Market Drayton with her licensing service on November 22. In the meantime, the Busbridge and Hambledon Benefice has started the process to find a replacement and interviews will be held later this month.

Before moving last week Catherine told the village website: “I can honestly say that Hambledon has been the most amazing place to live and work. I have been extremely happy here and it is in no small part due to the wonderful community in the village, who made me feel so welcome. I feel I have made some good friends here, who I am sure I will keep in touch with.

“I would encourage everyone to cherish the village and what it has to offer: continue to be a warm and loving community, which looks out for each other and where everyone ‘does their bit’ so that Hambledon can continue to thrive.

“I’ll take some very special memories with me of the times when I’ve had the privilege of being part of significant moments and occasions for Hambledon families and will certainly keep you all in my prayers.

Many thanks and God bless”.

At her leaving party at Feathercombe, the home of Ion and Muriel Campbell, she was presented with a cake made by Katherine Frogley, which was decorated to illustrate some of Catherine’s passions; the church, rugby, the Welsh dragon – and a pint of bitter.

Farewell speeches were made by Simon Taylor, rector of Busbridge and Hambledon, churchwardens Alan Harvey and Liz Cooke and PCC treasurer Alison Martin.

At her farewell party in the Merry Harriers, where Catherine would enjoy a pint of Surrey Hills bitter and take part in quiz and music nights, she took to the microphone to give a rendition of the Tom Jones hit Delilah, accompanied by Mike Blanchard on key board. See photograph below. Many villagers were in attendance.

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Parish Clerk & Responsible Financial Officer – Hambledon Parish Council

£15.00 per hour
20 hours per month working from home including attendance at evening meetings

Hambledon Parish Council is looking to appoint a Parish Clerk & RFO with the drive, determination and organisational skills to manage a varied workload.

In addition to managing the day-to-day work of the Parish Council, the post holder will work closely with Councillors to plan and implement the aims and objectives of the Council.  

The ideal applicant will have financial & administrative experience, the ability to deliver projects on time and within budget and be able to demonstrate enthusiasm for working with residents and local organisations.

To download an application pack including a Person Specification, Job Description & Application Form to apply, please visit http://www.sussexalc.org.uk/vacancies.asp. Please note that CVs will not be accepted: applicants must complete and return an application form to apply.

Closing date for all applications: 30 September 2017

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Merry Harriers – Hellos and Goodbyes

The Merry Harriers is undergoing refurbishment under its new ownership, beginning with a striking new sandy-coloured forecourt surface already labelled by locals as “the beach”.

International businessman and entrepreneur Peter de Savary and his family acquired the pub a month ago from previous owners Colin and Julie Stoneley. Regulars at the 16th Century freehouse said a fond farewell to Colin and Julie, who ran the pub for nine years, taking over from the Beasley family, who had been in residence for the previous 40.

 

In a Facebook posting as they prepared to depart the Stoneleys wrote: “We hand over the Merry Harriers to the next “caretakers”. It has been an absolute pleasure to be a part of its 427 year history and to have worked with, met and served so many fabulous people. Thank you for your support…and keep supporting your village pub for many years to come.”

Their final weekend on May 20th and 21st was celebrated with live bands and the Stoneleys said that they were proud of the variety and quality of the music sessions staged during their time at the helm.

Colin and Julie Stoneley

The de Savary family, who recently moved into the area, have ambitious plans for the Harriers and Peter de Savary is expected to attend a forthcoming meeting of the parish council to outline his proposals. In the meantime a great deal of work has been undertaken, including the new surface, a sprucing up of paintwork and signs, new benches, landscaping and kitchen equipment.

 

 

 

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Primary School School Places

The Parish Council has for some time been concerned that families living in Hambledon find it difficult to get their children into primary schools within reasonable distance of the village.  It has raised the problem with the Surrey County Council, the local education authority;  and it has become clear that,  if it is to make any headway, it needs more information about actual, as opposed to perceived, needs.

As one of the many villages in the area which does not have its own primary school, Hambledon has to depend on its neighbours.  Two of these, Chiddingfold and Grayswood, are in charge of their own admission arrangements and would have to be asked direct if they could consider taking more children from Hambledon.

Admission arrangements for the primary schools in Witley, Busbridge and Milford are managed by Surrey which has categorically stated that it would not afford priority to children living in Hambledon.  This is not what the Parish Council is seeking – it just wants a level playing field for all children within a reasonable radius of these schools.

However, if the Parish Council is to ask for a rethink when admission arrangements come up for consultation in October, it needs to have a case.  So could all families who have children starting school in autumn 2018 and who would like them to go to a local primary school please get in touch with the Parish Clerk (Jane Woolley), if possible before everyone disappears for the summer holidays, so that, if appropriate, the battle can be continued.