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Hambledon Village Shop & Post Office Christmas Opening Hours

There are some changes to the Shop and Post Office opening hours during the Christmas period. Both the Shop and The Post Office will be closed on Monday 25th December, Tuesday 26th December and Monday 1st January.

The shop will be open as normal at all other times, but the Deli will close at 1pm on Thursday 28th and Friday 29th December. The normal Shop and Post Office opening hours can be found here.

Thank you for your custom in 2017. We all wish you a very happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

Blessed are the cheesemakers

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Village Dance Raises A Record £1,250 For Cancer Charity

THE Hambledon Village Dance, a sell-out event at the Village Hall on December 9, raised a record £1,250 for local cancer charity KatCanDo.

This year’s party was organised by Mike Blanchard, keyboard player with the band Toxic Sausage. Mike, who lives in the village, wanted the dance to raise money in memory of Pat Hill, a friend and Merry Harriers regular who died earlier this year from complications from blood cancer.

Mike also wanted to mark the successful surgery at the Royal Surrey County Hospital received by Stewart Payne, Hambledon resident and friend of Pat’s, who was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer last year.

KatCanDo, which is run entirely by volunteers, raises money for the purchase of cancer-related equipment at local hospitals and hospices. It was set up in 2004 by Kate Coles, a friend of Stewart’s, who was suffering from bowel cancer and who overheard one of her specialists complaining that a piece of equipment that would be beneficial to sufferers was not available on the NHS budget.

With the support of friends Kate set up KatCanDo, a registered charity, with the express purpose of working with cancer care specialists to provide much-needed equipment at the Royal Surrey and Frimley Park hospitals and to aid cancer sufferers in local hospices.

Kate lost her battle with cancer in 2006 but her friends have kept the charity going and it has donated more than £300,000 to help the fight against the disease.

Stewart suggested to Mike that KatCanDo would be a worthwhile cause to donate the money to, and he agreed.

The dance was a big success, with Toxic Sausage belting out music that kept the dance floor packed.

Mike took it upon himself to organise this year’s dance, booking the hall, selling the tickets and taking no fee for performing. Well known around the village as Big Mike, he also has a big heart, and his kindness and hard work is much appreciated. Pat’s sons James and Jono attended the dance and were delighted and touched by the level of support. Thanks also go to Brigitte Coleman for the buffet and to the volunteers who ran the bar.

Toxic Sausage have a big following in Hambledon and will be appearing again at the Village Ball on June 23rd as part of the 2018 Midsummer Festival weekend.

If you would like to know more about the work of KatCanDo please visit www.katcando.org.uk.

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St Dominic’s School – Ofsted Inspection Results

Following a recent inspection on 28 November 2017, we have received a letter from Ofsted confirming that St Dominic’s remains a `good’ school.

This outcome is a result of our committed, hard-working staff who have ambition for all our pupils and students and are focused on ensuring that each and every one achieves the best possible outcomes.

If you would like to read the Ofsted letter, which captures the essence of our wonderful school, please click here.

Angela Drayton

Principal

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Any more fares?

Many readers may have seen a vintage bus around the village recently, negotiating the narrow lanes or parked up in the bus stop outside the Merry Harriers.

Its owner Richard Shirley was staying at the pub as he had been hired to take a party of birthday revellers from Busbridge to the Noah’s Ark pub in Lurgashall, with a late-night pick-up.

His bus attracted a lot of attention and Richard was asked if he would be prepared to bring it back next year for the Hambledon Midsummer Festival in June. He agreed and his bus will take part in the classic vehicle rally which will start from the Cricket Green on Sunday June 24 (see earlier news item).

It is hoped that the bus, with villagers aboard, will follow the rally of local classic cars and bikes from the Green, where the fete and ball will have been held the previous day, through local countryside and ending up at the Merry Harriers.

Richard, from Kingston, is a bus enthusiast. His 1953 AEC Regal RF-type single decker was one of 700 built for working in London and the Home Counties. It was retired by London Transport in the early 1970s and, after passing through various ownerships, was eventually acquired for preservation.

Richard, who also owns a red London Transport RT double-decker built in the early 1950s, works in the transport industry. Both his vehicles are inspected and licenced for passenger-carrying service and are maintained in superb condition.

Continue reading →

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Join the Carol Singing at The Village Shop on Christmas Eve

Once again this year the Village Shop will be providing entertainment on Christmas Eve, in the form of carol singing, mulled wine and mince pies. The entertainment will start at 12 noon.

Please come along and join in with the singing from the Hambledon Village Shop Choir ably supported by David Kirby and friends.

The choir is over 20 strong this year and have had their first practise, which ended with a rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas (from memory). You can see how they got on in the video below.

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Raise money for the Village Hall when you do your internet Christmas shopping.

This year the village hall committee has been asking people in the village to do their  internet shopping via Easyfundraising to raise money for the hall. We have already raised £140 and would like to thank all those people who have contributed to this. Just think how much we could raise if more people sign up to Easyfundraising to do their Christmas Shopping. Here’s how to go about it…….

  1. Go to https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/hambledonvillagehallsurrey/ and join for free.
  2. Save the site to your favourites or download the reminder which will then pop up every time you visit the site of a participating shop.
  3. Every time you shop online, first go to the Easyfundraising website then type in the name of the shop or site you want. You will then be taken to  their website and can start shopping as usual. That’s all you need to do. It really is just one extra click of a button to raise money for the Village Hall.

After you’ve checked out, that retailer will make a donation to the Village Hall Fund (generally between 1% and 5% of the amount you have just spent) with no extra cost to you. A huge number of charities, schools and other good causes are signed up to Easyfundraising and most major retailers participate eg John Lewis, Amazon, Marks and Spencer. Easyfundraising itself is not a charity but a profit-making organisation which takes payments from the retailers which support them. Their website states that they don’t take any financial information from people using them to shop as all transactions will be with the retailer not Easyfundraising.

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The Cellar Christmas Appeal and Christmas Wreaths

We have been busy down at The Cellar creating Christmas Wreaths with fresh foliage and natural decorations. We are selling these wreaths to raise funds for The Cellar – www.cellarcafe.co.uk. The Cellar is a cafe in the centre of Godalming which as a charity welcomes and supports vulnerable people. We have been in Crown Court for over 30 years providing valuable outreach and we are open daily serving good value hot food and drinks.

If you would like to support our important work by buying a Christmas Wreath please contact [email protected]. The wreaths are £15.00 each and can be delivered to you on Thursday 7th December or Thursday 14th December. They are created on a 20cm oasis base and can also be used as table decorations.

The Cellar also has a Christmas Appeal which enables us to distribute a large number of parcels to the community. The parcels brighten the lives of those of our customers who need emotional and practical support at this time of year. Waitrose, or Sainsbury’s gift vouchers, cash, and also toys or festive gifts and seasonal foods are all gratefully received.

The Cellar Team would like to thank the Hambledon Community for all their support over the years and take this opportunity to wish you all a peaceful and happy Christmas.

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Games at Badger Park over Christmas

Please see scheduled fixtures at Badger Park until 7th January. We look forward to welcoming you down to Badger Park to enjoy a game from a nice warm clubhouse to cheer the lads on.

Saturday 2nd Dec Hambledon V Shalford 2pm
Saturday 9th Dec Hambledon V Lightwater 2pm
Saturday 16th Dec Hambledon V Egham Athletic 2pm
Saturday 30th Dec Hambledon Res V Hambledon A 2pm
Saturday 6th Jan Hambledon V Burpham 2pm
Sunday 7th Jan Hambledon Vets V Row United 10:30am

Come On You Dons

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Order your Christmas Goodies from Hambledon Village Shop

Order Forms for Christmas supplies are now available in the Shop or you can download the form by clicking here.

This year we’ll be sourcing turkeys from RG Young & Sons in Chiddingfold. The turkeys are 7 month old, Bronze, free-range outdoor from Appledore in Kent. The birds are dry plucked and game hung for 10 days and won the Great Taste awards in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Whole birds or crowns are available.

We’ll also be taking orders for the various turkey trimmings, Jane’s cakes and puddings and various Christmas tipples.

Christmas Orders including Turkeys need to be completed and retuned to the shop by end of business on Sunday 10th December.

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Another successful quiz at Hambledon Village Hall

Another good quiz in the Village Hall   – thank you to all those 80+ who bought tickets, turned up and made such a success of the evening.  It wasn’t just knowing and remembering the answers, one had to know when to use that multiplier!  Win or lose, everyone had a good time and enjoyed their cottage pie. Congratulations to the winning team ” Sextuplets”. Also thank you to Mary Parker and Anthea Edwards for kindly donating extra raffle prizes (cake and gel nails) and Robin Cole for his photocopying.

On top of a super evening, the grand sum of £1137 was raised for the Village Hall.

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Hambledon Midsummer Festival 2018

In summer 2018 Hambledon will be hosting a weekend of festivities to celebrate midsummer. Alongside the traditional fête and ball (both on Saturday 23rd June) there will be an evening of big-band jazz, accompanied by local food and drink (Friday 22nd June), a Church service on the Cricket Green on the Sunday morning and a Classic Transport Rally (also on the morning of Sunday 24th June).

Tickets for the Village Ball

Tables at the Ball always sell out fast. Until the end of December, Villagers can reserve tables ahead of the start of official sales in January, by either completing the form on the festival website at hambledonfestival.co.uk, or filling out the paper form available at the Village Shop.

Tables can be reserved for either 10 or 12 attendees (first come, first served) at a cost of £30 per head. We also have a few seats available at tables for people who are not part of a larger group. As usual you will need to provide your own food & drink, though there will be a paid bar for those who wish to use it. The dress code is “creative black tie”.

Calling All Stallholders and Volunteers

If you’ve previously helped run a stall at the Village Fête, we hope you’ll be willing to do so again. If you haven’t been involved in the past but would like to get involved, please email us at [email protected] or mention your interest at the Village Shop. Please don’t be shy – we’re going to need lots of help throughout the weekend.

There will be a meeting for all participants at 8pm on Wednesday 7th February in the Village Hall.

You can keep up to date on the plans for the weekend at the festival website or on Facebook at facebook.com/hamblefest.

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NEW TEACHER REQUIRED AS ROSEMARY KILEY PREPARES TO RETIRE AFTER 27 YEARS

Hambledon Nursery School is looking for a new teacher following the decision by Rosemary Kiley to retire after 27 years.

Rosemary joined the school in January 1991, just after her own children finished at the nursery. She is a popular and respected member of staff. Head teacher Nicola Collett said Rosemary would be much missed when she leaves at the end of term.

In the meantime, she is seeking a new nursery practitioner to work four morning a week. Anyone who would like to apply should contact her at the school on 01428 684892 or by email on [email protected].

The nursery, at Rock Hill, Hambledon, occupies the buildings of the former Hambledon Church of England state primary which, like many small rural schools, closed in the 1980s. Residents were determined that it should remain a place of learning at the heart of the community and a campaign led to the acquisition of the Victorian schoolhouse and playground at Rock Hill.

It reopened as a nursery for children aged two to five and has gone on to be adjudged “outstanding” by the government’s inspection body Ofsted.

The nursery had not long been in business when Rosemary joined the teaching staff and she recalls that in those early days the admissions list was recorded on a piece of cardboard. With a small but dedicated teaching staff, a school secretary, and overseen by a locally-appointed Board of Trustees, it has gone from strength-to-strength and is sought after by parents from the village and further afield.

Nicola said: “A happy working environment is reflected in the longevity of service of Rosemary and, indeed, other nursery practitioners”.

In retirement Rosemary (pictured) plans to focus on her flower arranging and will be holding a small sale of her creations at the nursery school on Saturday December 9 at 10am. Recently she supplied arrangements for the current BBC television adaptation of the E.M Forster novel Howards End, much of which has been filmed in Hambledon.

Anyone interested in the new teaching position can find out more about the school by looking at

www.hambledonnurseryschool.co.uk

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Christmas & New Year Festivities at The Harriers

There’s a lot going on at The Merry Harriers through the festive season.

Christmas Craft Fair – from 6pm on November 22nd

Special Christmas Meat Draw – 5.30pm Saturday 9th December

Quiz Night – 8pm Tuesday 12th December

Carols by Candle Light – 7.30pm Thursday 14th December

Live Music by Little Lux – 3pm Wednesday 27th December

New Years Eve Party – Live Music by Stealers Bluff, free entry, buffet & bubbly at midnight, bar open until 2am – from 9pm Sunday 31st December

Llama Birth – maybe….