Paul Vacher, Honorary Secretary to The Village Hall Management Committee, contributed the Sunday Reflection this week
The Village Hall has been there for nigh on 120 years. Now it sits silent, shut and brooding on Malthouse Lane, waiting for that time when things will be back to normal, when the doors can open and it returns to life again.
But, if the walls could talk, what would they say? Would they tell of the parties, the dances, the films and theatre productions; the flower show, the fashion show, the art show and craft show or those Committee and Council meetings that always seemed to over-run? Would they tell of the Pilates Classes, the Ladies of the Village stretched flat on the floor with their legs in the air and of the Wednesday mornings when Mothers and ‘tots’ gathered to natter and play with Lego etc. ? Would they remember the Harvest Suppers of yesteryear; the Royal visits, the Parish Assemblies when it was hard to believe that so much went on in the Village; the WI and WAGS (and the singing of Jerusalem), the Cubs and Brownies and so much more ?
Of course the walls would remember all of the above and they will hear it all again. The Hall is poised and ready to go just as soon as it is allowed. It has been spruced up and will welcome young and old and recommence hosting all those Village events that have been so sorely missed.
This as an oral history recording by the Imperial War Museum. The subject is Kenneth Chesson who moved to Hambledon in the 1930’s. He joined the Home Guard at the age of 17 and this recording describes his experiences in our village and particularly during World War II. He recounts Hambledon Home Guard; hobbies and social activities; training with Home Guard; reaction to attending crashed German aircraft; his brother’s military experiences; contact with Canadian troops; the Australian Army Hospital at Hydestile; enlistment and basic training with Royal Berkshire Regt, 1942; volunteering at Guildford
He went on to serve as a Private serving with 2nd Bn Royal Berkshire Regt. in India and Burma, 1944-1945
Press to play part 1Part 2
Link to the additional recordings at the Imperial War Museum.
The Surrey Hills Partnership is asking people NOT to visit the many public facilities and car parks at recognised beauty spots within the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and instead to access countryside close to where we live.
Well-known visitor attractions such as Frensham Ponds, Box Hill and Newlands Corner have seen a massive increase in visitors in the recent hot weather following a relaxing of lockdown restrictions.
This has resulted in a concern that social distancing is not being properly observed and there have been additional issues such as congestion, illegal parking, litter and fire risk.
The June edition of the Hambledon Parish Magazine has been hand-delivered to subscribers over the past few days by the volunteer team.
Additional copies are available to non-subscribers and can be purchased from the porch of the village church. Please leave the 70p cover price in the box provided. This is a temporary measure, in place until the village shop reopens.
As usual, the magazine features a round-up of village activities and issues, church news and articles, contact information and local services.
There is a special feature on resident Mary Caroe, sadly lost to the Covid-19 virus. Her remarkable life is celebrated in words and pictures.
There is also a fascinating article on how the community-run village shop is operating its delivery-only service, run by a small but dedicated team of village folk.
If you are a subscriber, and have not received your copy, please contact Stewart Payne on 07831 393561. If you would like to become a subscriber, please contact Mary Parker on 01428 682545.
A semblance of normality returned to Hambledon today with the reopening of the village nursery school. David Evans, chair of the Trustees, explains the latest developments.
Hambledon Nursery School has been working towards a phased re-opening from June 1st, in line with government advice. The issues this raises for all involved are challenging, as the following article explains.
Since late March, for the first time in its history, Hambledon Nursery School has been closed. Usually bustling with the play and laughter of small children, for the past two months the school has been strangely empty and quiet.
But although the children have been at home, a core group has been keeping the heart of the school beating. Outreach to parents coping for the first time with home-schooling, with a steady flow of ideas and links and personal support. Videos from teaching staff letting the children know how much they are missed, and looking forward to when they return. Liaison between members of staff, keeping everyone in the loop over a period when every news report seems to say something different, and the government’s advice and plans have taken time to take shape. Physically looking after the fabric of the school itself. And behind the scenes, administrative and financial activity: applying for and administering the furlough schemes, monitoring our financial health, and working out what in different scenarios the future might look like.
But now, at last, it looks like we have a route back to normality.
Young people are urged not to light fires or have barbecues on Hambledon and Buss’s Common, both of which are tinder dry.
Hambledon Parish Council has been alerted to gatherings of youngsters sharing barbecues. There is evidence of people sleeping out and camping on the commons and the Fire Brigade has expressed concern.
As a parent, please ensure your young family members are not lighting fires of any kind when they are out-and-about meeting friends. Even a barbecue in the sand pit is not safe, as sparks could set heather ablaze.
A fire would not only be extremely destructive to wildlife and habitats, it would endanger surrounding houses.
Notices have been put up warning of the risk. If you see anyone having a barbecue please ask them to stop. During current Covid-19 restrictions, it is especially important not to expose our emergency services to avoidable risk.
Theresa Jones, PA to the Principal of St Dominics’s School, contributed the Sunday Reflection this week
As a result of the Coronavirus lockdown St Dominic’s School stayed open throughout what would have traditionally been the Easter holidays and also the May Bank Holidays. This was done to support key worker families and children in the more vulnerable group. Recently the School has been working out the complex logistics of starting again after half term for Year 6 and Year 10 pupils.
Please continue reading to get an insight into life at St Dominic’s during the lockdown….
The following article has been put together by Jenna Gordon, with help and input from several other young families in the village. It is included in the June issue of the Hambledon Parish Magazine but, if there were sufficient interest, it could be the forerunner of a separately produced Hambledon Children’s Magazine. So please let Jenna know what you think by adding your comments below.
It all feels strange but due to the Covid-19 virus the Cricket Club, under the instructions of the English Cricket Board (ECB), is under suspension with no matches or gatherings taking place for senior and junior players. The suspension, it would appear, will be for the foreseeable future and maybe for the whole cricket season. However, coaching on a 1 to 1 basis is now allowed under the safety guidance of social distancing etc. So there maybe some small 1 to 1 coaching activities taking place in June. Hopefully full local cricket may start up in late summer.
The cricket senior league XI side having won the league title for the 2019 season was raring to go to try and repeat their success for 2020, but now, if team cricket does start up again this season, it will have to be on a friendly or knock out game basis. The friendly XI had a full fixture list. Also we had a full junior take up which may have to be abandoned for this year.
So what is happening with the Cricket Club and the cricket green during the suspension? The CC is still holding its monthly committee meetings via telephone conference calls to ensure that we can continue with club business. These virtual meetings are to review our financial position, to cover only necessary expenditure, keeping it to a minimum as we have no income at present coming into the club. Also we need to keep the maintenance of the cricket green in good order. Our volunteer ground keepers, self isolate in the work to be undertaken, ensuring that safe working procedures are adopted. You can see from the photograph at the beginning of this post that the square and outfield are in fine condition and ready for the re-commencement of cricket.
Seniors: The CC has to take into account the possibility of recommencement of local cricket this year, maybe in late summer? But present signs are still not looking good at this time. The club however, is still keen to welcome new players of all ages to the club, even in this situation of suspension, so please mention it to any of your friends or contact our captains.
Juniors: It looks like the current suspension will not be lifted in time for this year’s full group training sessions. We are looking into restarting some junior coaching on a 1 to 1 basis using the nets etc. There may be a possibility of some full junior training, possibly in July/August, but again, the present situation does not look too helpful. Lets hope we get back soon to scenes shown in the previous year’s photo below.
If Junior team training/coaching does happen, we will need help and support this year. Please email, Caroline Tristem on [email protected] or call Alexander Wood (07753 832323) for more/latest information.
For further information about the club, please call the Club Captain, Mark Burton (07722 752465) Friendly Captain, Andrew Dunn, (07973 748861); Secretary, Sion Griffiths (07775 516448).
In the absence of cricket, we hope that the people of Hambledon will use and enjoy the Cricket Green outfield space for their controlled recreational use during this uncertain time.
‘Butterfly Conservation have put together a video for people to watch during lockdown as part of the local Chiddingfold Wood White Project. This should give people an idea of things they can do to help wildlife in their own gardens, especially butterflies and moths.’ Grab yourself a cup of tea and have a watch –
I love the Mediterranean culture of eating together, long leisurely meals with family anecdotes and stories of life. The Spanish, Italians, Greek, Portuguese all have their way. We are always in a rush to clear plates and bustle along.
Now we have time, so much time let’s stay slow, the evenings are wonderful. I’m not a fan of BBQs , not English ones. The hunter gatherer he man, beer in one hand and lighter fuel in the other is symbolic of the British summer. But I’d much sooner enjoy a Braai or Asado. Hours spent preparing the fire and long long time cooking the poor unfortunate beast on the rack. So when our cavemen are gassing and burning let’s sit a long slow starter of Mezze, carne freda, charcuterie. OUR HERITAGE TOMATOES
It was a beautiful spring morning last Sunday for the 2020 dawn chorus walk in our gardens – although it was probably more of a sit under a blanket with a cup of tea than a walk for most of us!
People were listening around Malthouse Lane and at the Hydestile end of the village.
Between us we heard a total of 25 different birds which is about the amount we usually hear when we’re out and about.
We heard: blackbird, blackcap, blue tit, Canada geese, chaffinch, chiffchaff, collared dove, crow, cuckoo, garden warbler, goldfinch, great tit, hedge sparrow/dunnock, jackdaw, jay, magpie, pheasant, robin, rook, song thrush, sparrow hawk, tawny owl (up late!), woodpigeon, wren and great spotted woodpecker.
It was a lovely, peaceful way to spend an hour but we’ll all be very glad to be able to meet and walk together again next time.
So we should be bringing an end to 2019/20 season and hopefully celebrating some silverware for the club. It was a season that promised so much for the football club. We were fielding 5 sides for the first time in our 100+ history. All of the teams were competing well and there was a real chance of success. We were also competing at the highest level in the clubs history with the first team in the Premier division of the SCILW league for the first time. However with the business end of the season fast approaching the season came to an abrupt end with the lock down coming in March.
Please note that the shop will be delivering as usual this Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Because of the way the shop roster works, we’d actually prefer if you could place your orders on Bank Holiday Friday, in preference to Thursday or Saturday, if at all possible. If you’ve already placed an order for Thursday there’s no need to change it.
As usual, we’ll attempt to deliver all orders received before 12 noon on the same day.
Suffering long term isolation and lockdown is not so rare an imposition as you may think for residents of our area. Not too many years ago the two institutions of King George V Hospital Hydestile and Milford Hospital were home to 100’s of patients suffering from Tuberculosis.
