Many thanks to all of you who have used the shop for your deliveries. Whether you are using the shop because you are unable to leave your home or are simply avoiding a trip from your home by using the shop, you are doing the right thing.
A Sunday Reflection
It is an extraordinary time when families and friends cannot gather together over Sunday lunch, when our little church up on the hill cannot be open for Sunday worship, when our village pub cannot open for convivial drinks and conversation, and even our remarkable community shop has to take a short break and close its doors for 24 hours.
Yet, just as extraordinary, has been the response of the people in our village and its immediate neighbourhood, and today we say “thank you” to all those who have made sure vital things happen when so little can happen.
Especially we thank the village shop team – staff and volunteers – who have had to adapt over the past seven days to ever-changing circumstances, moving from near “business as normal” to a delivery-only service in such a short time.
A busy day at the shop, almost 40 orders provisioned. To put that in context, Waitrose Godalming do 120 a day.
Most are following instructions and keeping away from the shop. Just to refresh:
Until further notice we will be closing the shop on Sundays and Tuesdays, no deliveries will be made on those days, except that this Sunday we will be delivering newspapers to those that have pre-ordered. We will update you on our plan regarding future newspaper deliveries as soon as we can. Some newspapers are offering a free home delivery service for a few weeks, we’d encourage those who want newspapers delivered to explore the options open to them.
To summarise, the current operation of the shop is as follows:
The procedure for ordering a delivery is as follows:
Many thanks to those involved in the shop delivery service today. Just over 30 deliveries were completed.
Some have raised concerns about whether they should use the shop delivery service if they don’t need to, in order to ensure those who really need it are adequately served. At the moment our response is that we encourage as many people as possible to use the service. The Shop continues to be well supplied, being able to place larger orders helps the shop to meet minimum order requirements and therefore ensure those supplies continue. We will make sure that those who are most reliant on the delivery service are prioritised.
Bertie has gone missing, last seen at 1pm on Sunday March 15th on Hydon’s Ball. He is microchipped and with collar. He is a very approachable and loving Wheaten Terrier. Contact 07817 733655 or 07889 167784 with any information.
Please note that unfortunately the Hambledon Heritage Society AGM, due to be held on Wednesday 18th March, has had to be cancelled.
Saturday evening’s performance of Back to Before at Hambledon Village Hall has now sold out. No tickets will be available on the door.
For those that are attending, please note that seating is un-allocated. If you are attending as a group please arrive early if you would like to be seated together. Doors open at 7:30pm with the performance starting at 8pm.
There will be a licensed, paid bar.
Hambledon’s festive celebrations concluded with community carol singing outside the village shop on Christmas Eve which an estimated 200 people attended. It just gets bigger every year!
Following on from the equally-successful carols in the Merry Harriers and the Christmas Dance at the Village Hall (see earlier news item), it was then left to St Peter Church to bring home the Christmas message with midnight communion on Christmas Eve and a Family Service on Christmas Day.
Now all that remains is New Year’s Eve. There will no doubt be many private parties around the village and the Merry Harriers has live music and a buffet, beginning at 9pm and going on until 1am. Midnight will be celebrated with complimentary bubbly.
Finally, from all of us at the Hambledon Village Web Team, we wish you the very best for 2020.
We leave you with some photographs taken by David Edmiston of the Village Shop carols and our thanks to all those who organised and participated in a wonderful Christmas community gathering.
Hambledon has kicked off its Christmas celebrations with a sell-out dance at the Village Hall and packed community carol singing at the Merry Harriers.
Still to come, there will be another carol singing session, this time outside the village shop on the Cricket Green, on Christmas Eve, between 12 noon and 1.30pm.
To celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, there is the midnight communion at St Peter’s Church beginning at 11pm on Christmas Eve and the Family Service on Christmas Day at 10.00am.
For parents with young children there is a Crib Service at St Peter’s at 4.30pm on Christmas Eve.
The Hambledon Christmas Dance, organised by the Festival Committee, was held at the Village Hall on Saturday December 14th, with a licenced bar and a counter selling local Vann Lane gin. Once again music was provided by Toxic Sausage, featuring Hambledon’s own Mike Blanchard on keyboard.
Just over 100 tickets were sold and £1,500 raised. Of this, £750 will go to Cancer Research and £375 each to the Village Hall and the community-run village shop.
On Tuesday evening (December 17th) the Merry Harriers resounded to carols with musical accompaniment from the church and with Hambledon’s recently-arrived vicar, Simon Willetts, on the keyboard.
The Merry Harriers has a new general manager and head chef as Jake Andreou and David Totterdell take up their appointments at Hambledon’s 16th Century pub.
They arrived in mid-November and have been warmly welcomed to the village by staff and regulars. Together they have set about introducing new menu ideas and working to expand the appeal of the accommodation while maintaining the pub as a traditional “local”.
By coincidence, both are from Stoke on Trent in Staffordshire, although they only met on being appointed to their new jobs by Peter and Lana de Savary, owners of the Merry Harriers.
Jake, 26, is already a familiar face in the bar and restaurant area, introducing himself to regular customers and getting to know the village. David, inevitably, is seen less as he leads his small team in the kitchen. But his changes to the menu have already been favourably received.
Jake, pictured left above, said: “We are working together on many aspects of the pub. As far as food is concerned, we are trying out various ideas with traditional pub food and some interesting specials, including vegetarian and vegan options. We have changed suppliers and now have daily deliveries of locally-sourced meat and vegetables.
“Our plan is to have a fairly small, quality, seasonal menu changing every few months as well as specials. We hope to have evenings set aside for locals to sample the menus and let us know what they think”.
The Conservative Party has held the Surrey South West Parliamentary seat, which includes Hambledon.
Jeremy Hunt was returned to Westminster as MP, but with a reduced majority. The Liberal Democrat candidate came second, with an increased share of the vote.
The result was:
Jeremy Hunt, Conservative, 32,191 votes, a majority of 8,817.
Paul Follows, Liberal Democrat, 23,374 votes.
Tim Corry, Labour, 4,775 votes.
The Conservative share of the vote compared to the last election was down by -2.4 per cent. The Liberal Democrat share was up by +28.9 per cent and the Labour share was down by -.4.7 per cent.
Customers and staff gathered to say fond farewells to Danielle and Sam Montgomery-Page, who have left the Merry Harriers after almost three years in charge.
The pair, who also had an earlier stint at the pub in 2009-2011, have departed for France where they plan to start a new chapter in their lives.
Danielle, as front-of-house, and Sam as head chef, have guided the Merry Harriers as it expanded its accommodation under its owner Peter de Savary. It now offers accommodation upstairs in the 16th Century building, in the garden rooms at the back and in shepherd huts across the road, 15 rooms in all.
During this transition it has kept its appeal as a village pub popular with locals, and it was the regulars who gathered to wish Danielle and Sam well on their last weekend, November 16th/17th. They were presented with gifts and a scrapbook in which many had contributed.
Villager Nick Massey passed away on Sunday 6th October. Our thoughts are with Karen and all of Nick’s family at this sad time.
At Karen’s request we are posting here the details of Nick’s funeral, which are available by clicking on this link: https://www.dignityfunerals.co.uk/funeral-notices/06-10-2019-nicholas-john-massey/
Thank you from Jane Woolley.
You may know that I did a sponsored walk on 15 September to raise money for Citizens Advice on the occasion of its 80th birthday. Citizens Advice set me a target of 10 miles; I set myself a target of £1,000. But how wrong I was!
It was a glorious day: perfect weather, magnificent scenery, good walking conditions and excellent company. We set off from the Citizens Advice office in Haslemere and walked across National Trust land along the Serpent Trail and then up Blackdown, reaching the top at the Temple of the Winds where crystal clear views stretched across the Weald and the South Downs to the sea. I’ve never seen anything better. Then it was onwards (and downwards!) through the Blackdown estate vineyards to Fernhurst where the Red Lion welcomed us for lunch; after which we meandered gently along the bottom of Blackdown to return to Haslemere. It certainly didn’t feel like 10 miles but it truly was!
That was the good part. But the best part is that, thanks to the incredible support I received from so many villagers, I raised over 50 per cent more than my target. Over £1,600 has reached Citizens Advice Waverley via your on-line donations, cheques and cash, nearly all of which were gift aided. I am overwhelmed by your generosity: thank you all so much.
Jane Woolley
The annual match between the Cricket Club and the Village Shop (aka The Grumble on The Green) will take place on Sunday 29th September, starting at 1pm.
Come along and support.
