The long campaign to keep the 503, Hambledon’s only bus service, looks to be over as Surrey County Council has confirmed it is to be scrapped at the start of September next year.

The route, which connects the village to shops, surgeries and rail and bus links further afield, is operated by Stagecoach under contract to Surrey County Council which heavily-subsidises the 503 and many other rural routes. The council needs to make savings.

The 503 starts at Lane End, Hambledon, and runs through the village to Hydestile, Milford, Godalming and Guildford.

It has been under threat since 2011, but Hambledon Parish Council campaigned to keep the service going and it survived three successive bus reviews.

On those occasions no alternative was proposed and the village would have been left with no bus. This time, however, it is different.

It’s that time of year when those of us who have horses and other livestock, would love your help to keep them safe around Guy Fawkes night. Last year with your support and everyone’s diligence in the village, we were extremely thankful that none of us had any accidents or vets visits (some will remember we had a horse that nearly died from being spooked by fireworks in 2021). So please, again this year, we ask for your help to publicise and perhaps educate those who are not aware of the inherent risk from fireworks being set off near horses and livestock. It really can cause terrible tragedy. There are several stables in the village, that due to the current mild weather, have horses, including foals out at night in the fields. We really appreciate your support again.

Thank you on behalf of all the horses and livestock owners Sarah Morris (Hydon Farm) and Julie Davis (Daremead)

Hambledon Village Christmas Party
Saturday 2nd December 2023
@TheVillageHall

The Hambledon Village Christmas Party will be held at the Village Hall from 8pm on Saturday 2nd December. Tickets are £20 each. There will be live music from The Likeness, grazing boards (included in the ticket price) and a licensed bar. Join us for a great party! All proceeds will be donated in memory of Charlie Cosser to support his dad‘s work in local schools. Tickets can be purchased at hambledonfestival.co.uk.

Hambledon Midsummer Festival
21st to 23rd June 2024
@TheCricketGreen

SAVE THE DATES!

Friday 21st June 6.00pm to 10.00pm – Jazz On The Green

(Tickets on sale from 10am 15th January 2024)

Saturday 22nd June 12.00pm to 4.30pm – Hambledon Village Traditional Summer Fete

Saturday 22nd June 7.00pm 12am – Hambledon Village Midsummer Ball

(Tables on sale from 10am 15th January 2024)

Sunday 23rd June AM – Church Service On The Green

Sunday 23rd June AM – Classic Transport Rally

Hambledon friends of Philip Underwood and The Rev John Postill will have been saddened to hear of their recent deaths. Their families have agreed to the village website posting details of funeral and thanksgiving service arrangements.

Both made a considerable contribution to community life in Hambledon and we include tributes further down in this article.

The life of John Postill will be celebrated at a thanksgiving service at Busbridge Church at 2pm on Saturday October 21^st.

Philip Underwood’s funeral will take place at St Peter’s, Hambledon, on Tuesday October 24^th at 11.30am. To help with numbers, it would be appreciated if you could respond to the following email address if you are planning on attending – [email protected]

Waverley hoppa Community Transport is offering free travel on the Godalming hoppa Shoppa service between 9.30am and 2pm from 1 October to 31 March 2024.

The service can be used by anybody of any age who lives in the Godalming area and who does not have access to any other transport.

All buses are fully wheelchair accessible.

The art Fair is just over a week away now on Saturday, October 7th (10am to 5pm) and Sunday October 8th (10am to 4pm).

Artists exhibiting include some of Hambledon’s own with paintings and drawings from John and Cathy Coleman and Sophie Keir (still counted as a Hambledonian!) and ceramicist Georgie Gardiner, plus this year Jane Taylor from Jewelled at the Coalyard.

We also have amazingly talented professional artists who haven’t exhibited with us before and we’re getting so excited to see everyone’s beautiful work. We’re looking forward so much to seeing you all there!

Admission £1, children under 16 free.

Fencing work to enclose the footpath across Feathercombe farmland between Hambledon Church and the woods below Hydon’s Ball has been completed.

The new owners of the farm, who consulted with Hambledon Parish Council over the proposal, have installed oak posts and wire fencing and allowed a width of more than two metres. This is considerably wider than the minimum of 1.75 metres requested by Surrey County Council, which is responsible for public rights of way.

The parish council asked if the path could be kept as wide as possible, having first established that it did not require planning permission. It asked the owners to consult with SCC, which they did. The county council raised no objection and nor did the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

It was acknowledged that many land owners fence their fields and have a right to do so, to protect crops or animals, and to prevent trespass. The parish council publicised the proposal on the village website and parish magazine and only one objection was raised.

In the past two days several villagers expressed pleasure to councillors at finding the fencing was erected at a generous width. Indeed, it is wider than most other footpaths in the area and the owners have undertaken to ensure that it is maintained to prevent it becoming overgrown.

Public Right of Way 118 crosses what is known as 14-acre Copse, from the kissing gate close to the old lime kiln near the church to another kissing gate at a mid-point in the field and then over to a third kissing gate where it enters the wood. It is a popular and scenic walk for locals and visitors and, until recently, was unfenced.

The new owners of Feathercombe Farm, the Trinity Partnership, have ended arable use of the field and instead will use it for grazing polo ponies, turning it into high-quality grassland.

Earlier this month, Alice Servaes, on behalf of the partnership, offered a site visit for Hambledon Parish councillors to explain the need to fence both sides of the path to ensure the welfare of the ponies, to prevent trespass and to keep dogs from straying.

Councillors were shown dog mess deposited many yards away from the path, a health hazard to grazing animals, and clear evidence that some dog walkers were allowing their animals to run over private land.

A parish council inspection the day after work was completed found that dog mess was evident inside the new fencing, a worrying sign that some inconsiderate dog walkers are letting their pets foul the path without clearing up after them.

PLEASE take dog waste bags with you to ensure the path remains a pleasure to walk for all.

For more background on the footpath and other plans for Feathercombe Farm, please see earlier news story here .

Come along to support this amazing cause. There’s a raffle with really great prizes (meal for two at the Harriers, £25 gift voucher for the White Hart in Whitley etc etc). £5 a strip and cash only so don’t forget to pop into the Post Office on your way if you need to get cash!

The Cricket Club are holding an end of season party at the Village Hall on Saturday 14th October.

ALL are welcome – past, present and future members/affiliates and family/friends, and anyone from the village! Live music, plenty of food and drink, as well as a raffle/auction to raise funds for the club.

For more information and to purchase tickets click here.

The new owners of Feathercombe Farm invited parish councillors to a site visit to outline plans to fence in the footpath across the fields between Hambledon Church and the woods below Hydon’s Ball.

Alice Servaes, on behalf of the Trinity Partnership which recently acquired the 240-acre farm, met with Stewart Payne, Alison Scott-Bishop and Simon Rhodes in early September to explain why it wishes to erect oak post and wire fencing across what is known as Fourteen Acre Copse.

The popular and scenic footpath 181, a public right-of-way, runs across the centre of this field from the churchyard to a kissing gate in the middle, and then continues at an angle across the second part of the field to another kissing gate where it enters woodland. Currently this path is unfenced.

Alice said that the fencing is necessary to ensure the well-being of polo ponies that will be grazing either side of the path. This is being put to high-quality grass, but was previously used for crops.

She was particularly concerned that some dog walkers allow their pets to run free in the field, and do not keep to the footpath. Evidence of dog fouling some distance away from the path was shown to councillors.

Alice said there will be no obstruction or deviation to the existing footpath and walkers will have a two-metre-wide track, with waist-height wire fencing either side. The view from the path will be unaffected. It is common practice for landowners to erect fencing beside rights-of-way to protect crops, livestock or horses, she said.

No barbed wire will be used and a grass verge will be maintained either side to keep some distance from electric fencing which will be used to keep horses away from the path.

Alice said trespass was a problem and she had also seen horse riders in the lower field area even though the path is not a bridleway.

At an earlier site meeting to discuss a proposed horse exercise track, Alice assured councillors that the owners had no intention of appealing the rejection by Waverley Borough Council for what amounted to a stable unit in the lower field. This proposal was widely opposed by Hambledon residents and the parish council earlier this year. Alice and her planning team said it would not be seeking any similar permission in this field.

The exercise track, which will require planning permission (not yet submitted) will be in a field behind the existing Feathercombe Farm buildings, accessed off Feathercombe Lane. It will not be lit, nor will it have any buildings and is unlikely to be visible from public footpaths.

Councillors asked if the footpath fencing could be wider than two metres, to allow for family groups to walk side-by-side. Alice noted the suggestion but did not give any commitment.

The parish council has confirmed that landowners have the right to fence their fields without requiring planning permission. The path is in the Green Belt and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The council sought a view from Surrey Hills AONB board, and it said it would raise no objections.

Public rights-of-way are the responsibility of county councils, and the Parish Council has also contacted Surrey County Council. At the time of writing, there has been no response.

All welcome to this (last?) summer event at St Peter’s this Sunday at 6PM. It promises to be a lovely late summer’s evening, perfect for a Pimm’s with village friends from near and far as we sing some favourite hymns.