The Merry Harriers has a new general manager and head chef as Jake Andreou and David Totterdell take up their appointments at Hambledon’s 16^th 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”.

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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. 

A large part of Hambledon is currently experiencing a power cut. The failure in distribution by Scottish and Southern Electric Networks occurred at about 9.30pm (Wednesday December 11th).

SSEN said it hoped to have power restored by midnight. Details of the outage can be found at www.ssen.co.uk/powertrack, assuming you are able to use a mobile device or computer, or by dialing 105 or 0800 072 7282.

The reference to the failure is FW0673. 

The power failure is an unfortunate reminder of the need to be prepared for winter power cuts, and full advice and contact details can be found in the previous news story on this website. There is also a link to this advice called Winter Weather Advice to found on the right of the opening page.

In 2012 the National Archive selected Hambledon to be one of only 3 Surrey Villages to have their community website archived – to preserve it as a snapshot record of the time.  8 years later it gives a brief nostalgia trip if you should delve into that National Archive here.

There are still a few tickets available for the Hambledon Village Christmas party at the Village Hall on Saturday 14th December. It’ll be a good night of dancing, food and drink. Toxic Sausage always put on a great show.

Tickets can be purchased at £15 from Hambledon Village Shop or online at hambledonfestival.co.uk.

Tickets are still available for the annual quiz at the Village Hall this Saturday, November 30th. Come along for a fun evening of testing your powers of recall, a jolly good shepherd’s pie, licenced bar and fantastic raffle. Tickets £12.50 from the Village Shop. Either book a table for a team of 6 or buy individual tickets and we will put you in a team with others. It’s a great way to get to know people in the village.

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 16^th 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 16^th/17^th. They were presented with gifts and a scrapbook in which many had contributed.

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A small development of seven affordable and two market price houses at Orchard Farm, Wormley Lane, Hambledon, has been approved by Waverley Borough councillors.

The scheme, from the English Rural Housing Association, will provide an opportunity for people with Hambledon connections to apply to live in the new homes.

The planning application received unanimous cross-party support from members of Waverley Borough Council’s Central Area planning committee on November 13^th.

The approval came after members heard from John Anderson, chairman of Hambledon Parish Council, speak in support of the application which will provide two shared-ownership houses, five at an affordable rent and two market-priced bungalows.

Nick Hughes, regional development manager at English Rural, outlined the scheme, which is a scaled-down revision of a previously-rejected application for 17 homes, 12 affordable and five open market.

Jan Floyd-Douglass, who is a Conservative Waverley councillor representing Hambledon and Witley, was the first of the planning committee members to speak, saying she fully supported the scheme as it provided much-needed, genuinely affordable homes, and people with Hambledon connections in housing need will get first priority.

A number of Hambledon residents living close to the development site were in the public gallery to hear their objections presented to the committee by Richard Young.

But the mood of the meeting was overwhelmingly in support of the scheme, which has had a protracted planning history.

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The anticipated gas mains work along the lower section of Salt Lane from the Hydestile Crossroads has started and the road at this location is closed to traffic.

Vehicles must use the diversion along Clock Barn Lane to reach Salt Lane at Hydon Heath, close to the National Trust car park, to continue in the Hascombe and Dunsfold direction.

The work, to upgrade gas mains, is likely to take up to three weeks. This website carried an earlier news item alerting villagers and others to the road closure. The official notice is below the photograph.

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It’s less than a month away, get tickets while you still can.

Tickets are available at £15 per person, either on-line at https://ti.to/hambledon-festival/christmas-dance-2019 or at Hambledon Village Shop.

Proceeds from the event will be split between Cancer Research and village organisations