At the outset of lock-down, many village organisations were required to close. Others, and especially the community-run village shop and post office, had to find a new and safe way of working in order to provide customers, many of them elderly, at risk and self-isolating, with vital deliveries. One consequence of this was “The Paper Girls”. In this week’s Sunday Reflection, Jo Kirkland, one of that cheerful team, looks back over an eventful time.

On an early lock-down day back in March a text went out to our COVID-19 village group asking for volunteers to deliver the newspapers a couple of times a week. Four of us responded: Alpa, Portia, Lena and I. From that moment on we became “The Paper Girls”, a soon-to-be hit “girl” band with Jon Petersen as our hard-talking, star-making manager, delivering papers until fame beckoned!

It seemed like a way to do our bit for the village and a bit of fun, to have some banter in the group, and get out and about. Little did I know that it would come to define my week; to remind me what day it was as they all began to merge into one; to give me a chance to chat with at least four other people and also the households on my paper round; to track my progress on my bike up the hills of Hambledon and to feel I had a purpose other than home schooling and watching Netflix. 

I already knew Lena and Jon but I had never met Portia or Alpa. In our treasured chats (some a bit longer than others – sorry if your paper was late some days!) while we waited for our papers, we discussed kids, families, nutrition, injuries, death, business, politics, hangovers, emotions. Jon fixed our bikes, we occasionally practised yoga, we found common ground and we made friends.

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Since the introduction of restrictive measures to combat the Coronavirus pandemic, Hambledon website has invited village organisations to reflect on life under extraordinary circumstances. This week we hear from Camilla Edmiston on behalf of the Book Club.

There is something truly magical about losing yourself in a really good book. Never more so than in the current strange times in which we find ourselves.

As part of the Merry Book Club I have loved the opportunity to sometimes be challenged to read different things – books I would never have chosen but have then really enjoyed. Or sometimes not.

However, it is still a revelation and creates interesting conversations when we meet and discuss who likes what and why.

The Village Hall Committee are very pleased to welcome you to our second professional art fair. Please click on the link www.hambledonartfair.co.uk to view a wide variety of beautiful artwork by our local artists. You will have the opportunity to purchase work directly from the artists.

We hope you enjoy the fair and we look forward to welcoming you back to the village hall as soon as we are able.

Progress sometimes seems slow, but progress is being made. From Saturday 4th July customers can consume food and drink at the shop’s picnic tables.

The tables have been given some tender loving care and placed suitably distanced from each other on as level ground as can be found. Tim Coleman did a fine job of manicuring the grass. Thanks to all who helped with the tables today, we all agreed it is a lovely spot to sit, next to the pond, looking out on the Cricket Green, some in the sun, some in the shade, we’ve probably all taken it for granted in the past.

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From the morning of Saturday, July 4th, the Village Hall Committee invites you to log on to our second Hambledon Art Fair at www.hambledonartfair.co.uk 

You will be able view a wide variety of fine work from local, professional artists and have the   opportunity to buy work directly from the artists.

Lock-down restrictions across the UK will be further relaxed this Saturday, July 4^th, allowing for the reopening of pubs and restaurants as long as safety measures are in place and enforced.

In Hambledon, The Merry Harriers will reopen at midday, just over 100 days since it was required to close.

Behind the scenes, general manager Jake Andreou has been working hard to ensure the pub can comply with detailed government guidelines to protect staff, locals and staying guests from the risk of contracting the Covid-19 virus.

A member of staff will meet and greet customers arriving at the main entrance. The new measures will be explained, any questions answered, and a contact taken for individuals or for one member if in a small group. Drinks can be ordered at the bar, which has a Perspex screen installed, and will be delivered to you at a table. Payment will be by card.

A one-way system will be in place and customers will enter and leave by different doors. Tables and benches – inside and in the garden areas – have been situated to ensure correct social distancing can be maintained. A marquee has been erected on the boules court and this may also have a bar for outside drinkers.

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Hambledon FC have launched a Crowfunding site to help us make some upgrades to the Badger Park pitch. With the added incentive that Sport England will donate £1,500 to the cause if we hit our target.

More details are on our site below. Any donation however small would be greatly appreciated. 

http://Hambledon Crowdfunding Site  

Thank you for your support.

Come On You Dons

The Shop was open this last Saturday and Sunday mornings for the first time in a while. From now on the shop will be welcoming customers 7 days a week. But please come in the morning.

From now on, until further notice, the shop will be providing a walk-up service for take-away deli and groceries throughout the week up until 12:30pm. Unfortunately you will still not be able to enter the shop, all requests should be made from outside the front of the shop and paid for by card or contactless device.

For the next week (22nd to 26th June) we’ll be providing deliveries Monday through Friday, from the week beginning 29th June we’ll be doing deliveries on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. We plan to continue providing a delivery service so long as there is demand for it, but may reduce further the number of days on which it is available. As before, delivery orders place before 11am will be delivered the same day.

Newspaper deliveries will continue until the end of this month. From July 1st newspapers should be collected from the Shop.

The Post Office will continue to be open Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings 09:30 to 12:30.

We hope that on the 4th July we will be able to restore the outside seating to the Shop. We will not be providing seating on the shop terrace but the picnic benches will be available.

The forecast for the next week is good, please come and see us, though you can’t come in the shop, we are lucky enough to have a large outdoor space in front of the shop with plenty of space for people to mingle at a distance and chat. The shop has always loved a bit of gossip and always will.

Kate Walford, the Head Teacher of Hambledon Nursery School, contributed the Sunday Reflection this week.

As I reflect upon the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Hambledon Nursery School I would have to say that, overriding all else, is the fact that for the first time in its history it had to close, from Monday 23^rd March to Friday 29th May 2020.

If I had tried to imagine this at the beginning of the year, it would have been unthinkable. But, as the worldwide Covid-19 crisis unfolded, it became apparent that the nursery would not escape the impact of the virus and it closed under lock-down.

We did not have children of key workers or vulnerable children for whom the nursery was required to remain open, so we entered what was a very strange and unique period of time.

A small team, comprising of myself as head teacher and the school secretary, Stephanie Campbell, worked behind the scenes to keep things ‘ticking along’. Setting foot into the nursery while it was closed to children, staff and parents was an eerie and at times deeply saddening experience. However, like so many community organisations in the village, we adapted to the unprecedented times that we found ourselves in.

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We’d be getting a little edgy about now. As I write this on Thursday afternoon, the rain has just about stopped, but with just a day to go to the planned opening of the 2020 Hambledon Midsummer Festival, things are little damp.

The marquee would have been up by now, no doubt after endless debate about where exactly on the Cricket Green it should be placed. This year the marquee was going to be bigger than ever, in order to accommodate a record attendance at Saturday night’s Ball. We might just have got it to fit.