JULY AND AUGUST 2020 Who’s who in your Parish Rector: The Rev. Tony Berry, MA (737160) Licensed Lay Minister: Mrs Hilary Swift (730898). Parish Secretary: Sally McCance (737160) M, T, W, Th 9 -2 pm [email protected] Organist: Ed Sutton: [email protected] St. James’ website: www.stjameschurchabinger.org Webmaster: Phil Rawlings (730382) [email protected] Christ Church website: www.coldharbourchurch.org.uk Webmaster: Martin Richards (711885) [email protected] St Mary’s, Holmbury: churchwarden85.wixsite.com/stmaryschurch St John’s, Wotton: [email protected]
Abinger Coldharbour Churchwardens: Dominic Roberts (731734) John Anthony Simpson (712026) Mary Hustings (711846) PCC Secretary: Sally McCance (737160) Sally McCance (737160) Treasurer: Jim Hartley (07968 797578) Martin Neve, (713382) Gift Aid Secretary: Tim Prideaux (730730) Helen Potter ( 712214) Flowers Secretary: Kim Edwards (730809) Patsy Simpson (712026) Trish Syms (712100) Hall Bookings: Evelyn Hall (Kim Edwards) John Venus Hall (Su Jones) [email protected] [email protected] 01306 730809 07779 726930 Ab. Hammer Hall (730703) Village Pavilion (711754)
PARISH NEWS Editors: Liz Hamilton (730382) Jenny Parker (731851), [email protected] Coldharbour Reporter: Graham Mytton (712122) [email protected] Distribution: Kim Edwards (730809) Advertising: Sally McCance (737160), [email protected]
ABINGER ORGANISATIONS Church Choir: Lucy Harlow: [email protected] Fair Secretary: Liz Irvine: [email protected] Sports Club: John Philpin (883568) [email protected]; Booking Secretary: Anne Burge (730950) [email protected] Abinger Common & Wotton WI: President: Sally Frost (730923) Wotton & Abinger Flower Show: Trudie Bree (730976) [email protected]
COLDHARBOUR ORGANISATIONS Sports and Social Club/Village Society: Garath Symonds (713790) [email protected] Church Electoral Roll Officer: Helen Potter (712214) Cricket Club: John Hopper (711754) Golf Society: Stuart McLachlan (712009) Village Band and Ukulele Orchestra: Debby Chapman (711704) Book Club: Emma Moreno (710024) Women’s Gardening Group: Tiggs Morton (07825 138508)
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PARISH COUNCILS Abinger: [email protected] www.abinger-pc.gov.uk Coldharbour (Capel): Stuart McLachlan (712009) www.coldharbour.net
DISTRICT COUNCIL Councillor: Hazel Watson: [email protected] [for Surrey County Council matters: [email protected]]
SHERE SURGERY 01483 202066 / Fax 01483 202761 Dispensary 01483 209913* Monday: 8.30am – 6.30pm (Closed 1.00-2.00pm) Tuesday: 8.30am - 6.30pm (Closed 1.00-3.00pm) Wed, Thurs & Fri: 8.30am - 6.30pm (Closed 1.00-2.00pm) *Dispensary takes calls after 11.00am Dispensary is also open Saturday morning for prescription collection only
WESTCOTT SURGERY & DISPENSARY 01306 875577 Mon, Tues, Thurs & Fri: 8.30am - 6.15pm (Closed 12.30 - 2.30pm) Wednesday: 8.30am - 12.30pm
CAPEL SURGERY 01306 711105 / DISPENSARY 713010 Monday to Friday: 8.30am - 6.30pm; www.leithhillpractice.co.uk
HOLMWOOD SURGERY 01306 889242 Monday to Friday: 8.00am - 1.00pm.
MEDWYN SURGERY 01306 883816 (PHARMACY 01306 740865) Mon, Thurs, Fri: 8.00am – 6.30pm Tues, Weds: 8.00am – 8.30pm Pharmacy, Mon – Sat: 8.00am – 11.00pm Pharmacy, Sun: 10.00am – 8.00pm
OUT OF HOURS EMERGENCY COVER - THAMESDOC Just call your surgery and you will be put through automatically
NHS DIRECT 111
POLICE Non-emergency: 101 or Emergency: 999
ELECTRICITY POWER CUTS – 0800 783 8866
WASP BUS - Soo Dean 07802 460069
COLDHARBOUR BUS SERVICES www.buses4U.org.uk
LOCAL SCHOOLS Abinger Common Nursery: Pre-School Leader: Louise Collins 07842978823 [email protected] Surrey Hills All Saints Primary School. Head: Jennie Ratcliff 730747 (A) 881136 (W) Scott-Broadwood School: Head: Susan Muat 01306 711181 Belmont, for boys and girls aged 2 to 16: 01306 730852
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PARISH NEWS DONATIONS REQUEST These are extraordinary times and quite understandably the pandemic has significantly affected our advertising income as most of our advertisers are small businesses. You will see that there are fewer pages of advertisements this month. Thank you to all those who make a donation to ensure the Parish News can continue to drop onto your doormat. Please help if you can by donating online to the parish of your choice. Bank Details Abinger: 60-07-02; PCC Abinger; a/c no 39447332 Coldharbour: 20-23-97; Christchurch Coldharbour PCC; a/c no 40192422 If you would like to make a donation other than online or have any questions please contact Tony on 01306 737160 [email protected] or Martin on 01306 713382 [email protected] for Coldharbour. If you would like to advertise with us please contact Sally on [email protected] Many thanks for your support.
NEXT ISSUE: September 2020 Closes 1pm Wednesday 19th August [email protected] We would love your contributions!
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From the Editors
As we have our socially distanced editorial meeting in mid-June we tentatively hope that things are beginning to open up again. Who knows how things will look at the beginning of July or by the end of August? Some readers may have missed the April and May editions of the Parish News – but they were there, quite remarkable ones in fact because they were online, very colourful, and, although we say it ourselves quite an interesting record of the last couple of months of lockdown. In fact the Dorking Museum forwarded our May edition to their Archives who described it as a “fantastic record of all aspects of the Abinger/Coldharbour community under lockdown”. If you did miss out, then you can still find them on the two village websites (see inside front cover for details). Or email us at [email protected] and we’ll send you a copy. You will also see that the Parish News has a slightly different look about it – with no Church Cleaning Rotas or Future Events to put in and with some uncertainty over advertisers we have had to be rather more flexible. But we hope there will be plenty here you recognize as well. Liz Hamilton and Jenny Parker 4
Tony’s Letter The covid outbreak has disrupted so many lives and many tragically so. By comparison the change to my summer plans seem rather insignificant. But for us not to go to Suffolk and take part in the Beach Mission is a major change of a 39 year ritual some may say habit, some might even say addiction. Things that are important to us can often seem to others as rather strange or odd. Why would you want to spend your time with lots of children, why would you want to eat your meals with 50 other people in a marquee with rain dripping through the joins, why would you want to stand on a windswept beach singing songs with actions? Why indeed!! I have focussed on some of the downsides, but of course it is the upsides that make it all worthwhile. I often wonder about those first disciples of Jesus, many of the stories we hear about them are about difficulties they faced or experienced. They argued with one another. They were pushed and shoved by angry mobs. They had to deal with disappointed and grieving people. But the upside for them was that they spent time hearing Jesus talk about what God was like, they saw him demonstrate the Kingdom he told them so much about. It was the reason they walked away from their regular lives for extended periods of time; to be with Jesus. There is no way of knowing when you are in the middle of one of life’s downsides whether you will feel it is all worth it, because the upside may still be hidden or seem so far away. Only time will tell. And while time takes its time to pass we rely on hope, trust and dare I say faith. The future remains uncertain due to the pandemic the world is experiencing, the best we can do is hope for the upsides to be ones that make life bearable especially for those who have suffered most.
BID FOR THIS BEAUTIFUL STONE! This interesting object is a piece of Leith Hill stone, about the size of a hand, with a beautiful painting of St James’ Church on it done by Jenny. Jenny is auctioning it for St James’ funds – see it in all its colourful glory in Annie’s shop and email your bid by Sunday 12th July to [email protected] Paint one yourself – see how to do it later in the magazine! 5
Our Churches
You will certainly have noticed the rather interesting picture on the front cover – look again – is it one church or two? These pictures of Christ Church and St James’ mark the beginning of the week of 15th June when churches were permitted to open their doors (very cautiously) for private prayer. This was marked in both churches by a ringing of the bells. Christ Church is now open on Mondays between 9.30 and 11.30am and Thursdays between 4.00 and 6.00pm, while St James is open on Tuesdays between 10.00am and 12noon and on Fridays between 2.00 and 4.00pm. At all other times our two Church porches each provide a place for quiet contemplation and for enjoyment of the peaceful views across the churchyards. Our Services Although Lockdown rules for churches might change, possibly at short notice, we are expecting our two churches to remain closed for collective worship for the next two months. So, we will continue to alternate Morning Prayer services streamed live on YouTube with Zoom services actively involving our congregations. They all start at 10.30am. We will let you know if Lockdown requirements change, and our service arrangements, by email and on our websites. The invitation for Zoom services is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88098448185 The Morning Services are on the ‘St James and Christ Church’ area of YouTube and are available later on the Christ Church website https://www.coldharbourchurch.org.uk/tonyberrysyoutubemessages.htm 6
The planned schedule of Morning and Zoom services for July and August 5 July, 4th Sunday after Trinity, live streamed Morning Prayer 12 July, 5th Sunday After Trinity, Zoom Service 19 July, 6th Sunday after Trinity, live streamed Morning Prayer 26 July, 7th Sunday After Trinity, Zoom Service 2 August, 8th Sunday after Trinity, live streamed Morning Prayer 5 August, 9th Sunday after Trinity, Zoom Service 22 August, 10th Sunday after Trinity, live streamed Morning Prayer 29 August, 11th Sunday after Trinity, Zoom Service. Reflections The posting of reflections by the Leith Hill ministry team on Mondays and Thursdays on the Christ Church and St James websites, together with Tony’s Sunday thoughts on YouTube will continue throughout the next two months. You can find these on both church websites. Not on Tony’s mailing list? Please ask Sally to be added: [email protected] Thoughts from a technophobe - Colin Swift One of the positives to come from living under the Coronavirus rules, is for me, a technophobe, a surprising one. It is the pleasure that I am getting from attending and taking part in our joint Abinger and Coldharbour Zoom services. I love the fact that we are all facing one another, sharing the experience, rather like an Iona service. I enjoy the relaxed way that Tony leads these services and Ed masterminds the hymns and anthems. And, if something should go wrong, like the next reader losing his or her internet connection and disappearing, it’s dealt with seamlessly, with a minimum of fuss. All of these factors make me feel that we are worshipping together somehow; we are one. I’m half expecting God to appear in one of the little boxes, online from Heaven! I am sure that there are those who only want the more traditional service and, hopefully, once the country is free of the virus, that is what we will return to. Meanwhile, we can continue to enjoy worshipping together, huddled around our laptops, tablets or mobile phones. The main thing missing is, of course the coffee and chat afterwards and, if you worship at Abinger, the chance of one of Mad’s delicious cakes! 7
On a wider note, I love the fact that these Zoom services have seen Abinger and Coldharbour equally represented – 15 or 16 from each parish on most occasions. As a long-time believer that the more things we can do together, the better the future for both churches, I take heart from these joint congregations. Once we are back to “normal”, it would be great to see more people attending each other’s services... Wouldn’t it? Something to Celebrate David and Jan John celebrate a big birthday year David and Jan, together with their son Tim are celebrating a total of 200 years this year (80 +80 +40). Instead of the large party that they were going to be giving at the Abinger Hatch on June 20th David and Jan are making the best of the situation and holding a series of smaller socially distanced gatherings under a gazebo in their garden instead. They are wonderful neighbours in what we call ‘Abinger South’ where they have been living for the last fifteen years. David’s birthday is on Sunday June 21st and we already had a minor celebration with Jan in January.
Charity Hui’s Plant Sale
Hui McDonagh thanks everyone for their generous contributions and donations at her socially distanced plant sale. Hui’s efforts at growing lots of wonderful seedlings and slugless hostas for us raised over £300 for St James’.
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Issie’s Marathon
Coldharbour’s Issie Roberts completed her challenge on Sunday May 31st when she ran her 26th consecutive mile, raising a total of £1,405 for the charity Compassion. In fact she is Compassion’s star fundraiser this month. The money will go towards supporting children of families across the world who have lost their income through the pandemic. Well done, Issie!
Keep Knitting
If you enjoy knitting, Mad needs gloves, hats, scarves of all sizes and even small knitted toys for the Shoebox Appeal. Please leave them in the box in St James’ Porch. They will be packed into shoeboxes nearer Christmas and sent to needy families in other parts of the world.
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Mary Collis Mary Collis has died aged 94. She and Harry came to live in Coldharbour in 1981. They moved to Capel about ten years ago. But we still think of them as Coldharbourians and they continued to attend village events when they could, and maintained their keen interest in the village and their many friends here. Mary had a fall on Harry’s 98th birthday in May. This photograph was taken in June 2012. We had a Diamond Jubilee themed celebration on the Memorial Ground and Mary and Harry came as the Queen and Prince Philip. Harry was born almost exactly a year after Philip, while Mary was born a year before her Majesty. Mary was born in September 1925 in Colchester. Her father Ernest Wright was in the Royal Artillery. The family accompanied him when he was posted to Hyderabad in Sindh in what was then the British Raj. Mary writes of her earliest memories of childhood being in colonial India. She would be 8 years old when they returned to Britain and life in barracks on Salisbury Plain. Ernest soon afterwards left the army and they moved to London where he became a civil servant in the War Office. In 1939 he took up a posting to the British legation in Stockholm where the family spent the whole of the Second World War. During the war in neutral Sweden he was responsible for assisting those who had escaped German-occupied countries. Mary went to school and became fluent in Swedish. She got her first job there, working for Imperial Airways. The Wright’s home is mentioned in at least two published accounts of the war. In Ewan Butler’s Amateur Agent, he writes “It generally fell to Mr Wright to meet the new arrivals. Many men who passed through Sweden to freedom have good cause to remember him, his wife and his very pretty daughters, for their flat was always open to them and sometimes every available bed and sofa was occupied by former prisoners of war, who used the place as a hotel while awaiting the flight which would take them home.” And in another book, this one by Arthur “Dicky” Bird, Farewell Milag, a former POW’s memoirs, this is what he writes about Mary, then aged about 16. “Mary, still at college was a gay spark with a good dash of innocent mischief about her, but she also had a lot going on behind her sparkling eyes.” Those who knew Mary would agree that “gay spark” and “a lot going on behind those sparkling eyes” chimes in very well with our memories of Mary. 10
Mary had a life-long interest in philosophical, religious and intellectual enquiry. She describes herself in her unpublished memoirs as having “gnostic- buddhist-spiritalist-universalist-hinduist-newthought-openminded thinking”. Wow is all I can say. I wish I could ask her to explain. Mary continued to work for Imperial Airways, which became BOAC after the war. She opened offices for the company in Gothenburg, then Oslo, then Hamburg and then went on to work for the airline in Berlin. It was during this time in Germany that she met Harry Collis, then working for the sister company BEA. Mary was by that time “seeing” other young men, and soon Harry, who was obviously interested in Mary, gave her an ultimatum to choose him and only him. Well you know how that turned out. Both were involved in the historic Berlin Airlift of 1948-9. They both, but still separately, moved to London. They married in October 1950. Roger was born in 1951, then Mark 3 years later, and Peter in 1958. Sadly, their second son Mark died in a tragic school accident at the age of 13. It was a deep blow to this happy new family. By now they had moved out of London to Epsom. Mary, and clearly also Harry, pursued more of her interest in philosophy, spiritualism and what became known as New Age thinking. At one point they and friends from around this part of Surrey all sold their own houses and moved into what can be best described as a commune. This was in the 1970s. In the end, Mary found that “it was wearing a bit thin, it wasn’t working out quite as easily and harmoniously as I had envisaged”. And it was after this episode that they found Anstiebury Cottage in 1981. They soon became key village people. Harry ran the Fête for several years. Mary sang in the choir. And both became much involved in village life. When Janet and I arrived in 1996 they were among the first people to make us feel welcome. She even wrote a nice welcome to us in the September “Coldharbour Collection”. Mary wrote for every Abinger and Coldharbour Parish Magazine from 1994 for the next 10 years. She created the Coldharbour Collection. As one of her successor “Coldharbour Reporters” I will repeat here what she wrote in her first column in the July-August edition exactly 26 years ago: “Some people in Coldharbour say there is nothing in the Parish News about their village. The poor editor can’t print what he doesn’t receive. I shall be happy to collate news items so do phone me”. Thank you Mary for blessing all our lives. We already miss you very much. Graham Mytton 11
Art and Music Painters in the Garden Just as the Spring heatwave gave way to June rain, the Painters in The Kitchen re- grouped into smaller groups to meet outside and socially distanced. The renamed Painters in the Garden got together, well wrapped up in winter woollies and blankets, to brave the drop in temperature and paint and draw for the first time since March. Everyone kept to their own work stations and brought everything they needed so no borrowing and sharing! The best thing though was the chat and laughter as we shared experiences and rediscovered the joys of painting in a group. And we’ve now put up a gazebo so even the rain can’t stop us! Jenny Parker
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The Coldharbour Village Band during Lockdown
When the lockdown began the band had started to prepare new music for our summer season. We had performances planned at the village fete, Leith Hill Place, plus other local events throughout the summer. These preparations came to an abrupt end when the lockdown came in March. At the time no one imagined how long it would last. To keep us motivated and provide some fun we put together a video of ‘We’ll meet again’. This was largely for our own entertainment but is a valuable reminder of those early days of lockdown. It can be viewed on the following link. https://youtu.be/jMRGXlMcIQc As many of the band are from the village we often saw each other on our daily exercise walks or queueing at the shop, but not everyone was lucky enough to get out, and several of our members are from far flung places like Ockley and Dorking, so to keep us together as a band, and to provide a welcome reason to practise we decided to have a zoom concert to mark VE Day. Due to the time lag it is impossible to play together on zoom however we were able to do a concert with households performing in turn. There were some memorable performances of VE Day related tunes, particularly memorable was the entire Brill family’s rendition of The Dam Busters. Time continued to roll by and lockdown was still in place so we had a further concert at the end of May with ‘lockdown’ as its theme. There were many imaginative song choices - my favourites included ‘Don’t worry, be happy’ by the whole Roberts family and a lockdown medley from the Williams duo culminating in ‘The Hills are alive with the sound of music’. It was a 13 beautiful summer evening and many performances took place in people’s gardens. Birdsong could be heard in the background as could the clinking of wine glasses. Now we are in mid-June. Plans are afoot for our next zoom concert at the end of the month. I am hoping that we can play together again in the flesh before the summer is over. It may be an outdoor socially distanced occasion but it will be a start. One thing is for sure - it will be a summer that none of us will ever forget. Debbie Choirs and Singing There are 70,000 choirs in the UK, nearly all of which are in suspended animation. There are therefore well over a million people who would love to resume singing, (an activity with well- known associated physical and mental health benefits) but who of course wish to restart only when it is safe to do so. The Church Times reports that new scientific evidence from Germany has cast doubt on the claim that singing constitutes a high-risk activity in the transmission of Covid-19. This and other evidence suggests that, with adequate risk assessment and social distancing, singing could be restored in some contexts as part of church life in the UK. And not only church life we hope.
Here is what some of our local choirs are doing (NB Pre lockdown pictures!). Our Church Choirs Our church choirs have been meeting regularly on Monday nights with Ed Sutton, our organist and choirmaster. Ed is determined we will re-open our churches leaner and fitter (singing wise), and in good voice. We’ve had fun with virtual choir practices, socials, workshops on back to basic reading music and plainsong, and quizzes. We have just had a booking for a wedding at Christ Church in July – actually July 2021 – which will give us something to work towards! In the meantime Ed is doing a wonderful job hosting our church services and providing thoughtful music for us to listen to. 14
Holmbury Choral
The Leith Hill Festival in April was cancelled and we were hoping it would be held in September instead – sadly not to happen. Our summer concert which was due to be held in St James’ on June 24th also had to fall by the wayside, so we are having to explore various new ventures, including a vocal training workshop (on Zoom of course) and virtual recordings. This is not for everybody, however, and we are now hoping for a socially distanced meet up for a sing on the Green in July (weather and regulations permitting). After that, we will be exploring venues which allow us to rehearse keeping 3 metres apart (currently the thinking for choirs) and then, who knows…We are having to rethink our Christmas Concert but very much hope that plans for the Leith Hill Festival in 2021 will keep us going.
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The D& G Choir in Lockdown
Jacqui Clemson writes: The last time that the D&G choir sang together was on Thursday 12th March. Before the ‘Lockdown’ moment that was announced on Monday 23rd, the D&G choir had been working hard towards performing Gilbert & Sullivan’s comic opera, Trial by Jury, planned for 25th April. With only a month to ‘curtain up’, the professional soloists and orchestra had been booked, costumes had been rented, scenery and props had been acquired, tickets had been sold and all the choir had learnt their lines and were excitedly anticipating taking the stage in front of friends and family. Disappointment was palpable! Since then the choir has been striving to keep spirits up and invent new and innovative ways of keeping in touch and singing. It is widely predicted that the last areas to return to normal will be the performance related arts, and so trying to keep the choir family communicating, supporting one another and working together has been top of the agenda. Like everyone else, the choir has used Zoom technology to organise weekly virtual meetings as well as performing a play and run quizzes. Since Zoom technology does not lend itself to having multiple people talking at once, and certainly not singing together it was suggested that we create a virtual choir recording with the use of more sophisticated technology. The song chosen was ‘Oom-Pah-Pah’ from the musical Oliver. The result can be seen by going to YouTube and simply searching for Oom-Pah-Pah by the Abinger D&G Choir, or entering: https://youtu.be/FW1xXY9lG8A . We are now gearing up to record another virtual audio track (no video) within the next few weeks. For more information on the choir go to www.dandgchoir.net 16
Sandy Pringle On June 10th our dear friend Sandy lost her battle with cancer. Sandy was someone who threw herself energetically into everything she did. She was a keen member of the Duffers & Gruffers Choir and many of us also knew her from classes at the Wotton Club where she always filled her corner in Wendy Round’s salsacise classes with fun and laughter. Our thoughts are with her husband Hugh, who was always such a support for her, and all her family. Wendy writes: Sandy’s great love was her family - she was proud of every one of them, and they are a really strong and tightly knit unit. Lovely girls. And her first granddaughter, Aurora, was a great joy to her. Unfortunately, many of the holidays that Sandy and Hugh had planned for this year have had to be cancelled, including a family skiing holiday. However, the family rallied round wonderfully and - after strictly self-isolating - were able to be with Sandy at her home for lots of family fun, including Easter Egg Hunts, Bake Off competitions and lots of other stuff. Sandy was a fighter, an amazing woman, who - only 12 weeks before she died - went on a skiing holiday with Hugh, Clive and Mandy Woods, and Steven and myself, and was even able to ski a little. She loved the sociability of the whole ski scene, especially sitting in the late-afternoon sunshine after a good day’s skiing, with a large Aperol (her favourite ski tipple) in front of her. She was a keen gardener and loved to work in the garden, and when she was too weak to get out there and work herself, they used to transport her on a tractor so that she could supervise. Sandy was a great character, and a lovely, generous, and fun-loving friend. I shall miss her terribly. The Pringle girls have set up the following charity page in aid of GRACE and Sandy was aware and proud that they were going to do this: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-pringles-campaign-for-uk-cervical- cancer 17
Miscellany Speed Limit through Abinger Common Spot the difference: Paradoxically the top picture was taken on Monday June 8th and the lower one on Thursday June 11th. So what happened in between? Last year Abinger Common residents, with the assistance of Hazel Watson, our County Councillor, urged the Council to change the speed limit to 20mph through the village. And a couple of weeks ago we noticed that the sign at the southern end of the village had changed to 20. Hooray we thought! But we quickly realized that it would be unenforceable because there were no signs as you left the village or as you came up from Raikes Lane or Sutton Abinger. I queried this with Surrey County Council who reacted by replacing the 20 with a derestriction sign again. No reply to my query, however (so far). I can only imagine that they just couldn’t complete the job because of the lockdown. Hazel’s response indicates that eventually we should get our 20. She writes: “The speed limit will 20mph from the Well to Rew Cottage (including Evelyn Cottages) and the 30mph for the rest of the way up to Raikes Lane. Equally the 20mph speed limit goes down Sutton Lane to just beyond Abinger Manor and then becomes a derestricted speed limit again. The 40mph sign in the middle of the village reflects the speed limit on Donkey Lane, and this remains a 40mph speed limit (the speed limit on Donkey Lane was reduced from derestricted to 40mph when the speed limit on Leith Hill Road / Hollow Lane was reduced). We will see a 20mph speed limit sign eventually attached to the back of this sign with the 20mph sign visible to cars driving up Donkey Lane to the village and the 40mph sign for cars leaving the village into Donkey Lane. The 40mph speed limit was left on Donkey Lane as it would have cost the Parish Council more to have a speed survey in the road if it was to be changed. The new limits will be enforceable once all the new signs are in place – the commitment that I have is by end March next year but clearly something is happening sooner than later”.
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Fibre Optics If you go down to the woods today you’ll never believe your eyes! One day in June, in the usually quiet woods near Abinger Bottom, a large white van drove a long way up the track into the woods and two cheery men opened up an old BT cover in the ground and started feeding yellow cable down under the trees. They were pleased to chat and told us they were laying fibreoptic cable ready to connect the houses. This is a new BT commitment to FTTP- Fibre to the Premises! FTTC or Fibreoptic to the Cabinet already covers 96% of the UK but as the new working practices of working from home during the Lockdown have shown, the internet in our villages and rural areas, is somewhat patchy. The men, who said they’d never done a job quite like it before, told us that we would soon have much better broadband connections. They then fitted a new fibre connection box to the telegraph pole on the road. Finding out exactly what is going on is proving difficult. So, if anyone knows any more about when houses might be connected do contact the PN with information. New CCTV Cameras to Catch Mole Valley Fly-Tippers There is much interest in Coldharbour about this issue because of regular fly tipping along Coldharbour Lane, on NT property and far too often also in the road itself at the bottom of Anstie Lane. Graham Mytton has received this report from the last Capel Parish Council Meeting. Mole Valley District Council has installed nine new CCTV cameras in fly-tipping hotspots across the district to catch offenders. An individual or business found to be responsible for fly-tipping in Mole Valley risks receiving a £300 fixed penalty notice. Anyone who undertakes work to a building, or hires a contractor or tradesperson
19 to do so, has a duty of care to ensure that the waste is disposed of responsibly and legally. Work could include the installation of a new kitchen, upgrading a workspace or having work done in a garden. Every householder, landowner, occupier or manager has a legal duty to ensure that a contractor or tradesperson is, or uses, a registered waste carrier. This can be checked by calling 03708 506 506 or visiting environment.data.gov.uk/public-register. Hazel Watson said: “We take every incident of environmental anti-social behaviour extremely seriously. Fly-tipping is illegal. If a fly-tip is reported to us, we will work with our partners and contractors to clear the waste as quickly as possible and follow any leads with the intention of identifying and prosecuting the offender. If you take recycling to a bin site and the bin is full, please do not leave it by the bin. This is also considered fly-tipping, and if caught you risk being fined.” If you see a fly-tip happening, please call the police on 101. To report a fly-tip that has already happened, please visit www.molevalley.gov.uk, message MVDC on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, or call 01306 885001.
The Pebble Painting Challenge Jenny Parker and Annie’s Shop in Abinger Hammer have come up with this idea to raise funds for St James’ Church. Paint a pebble and take it Annie’s where it will be shown outside the shop. Pebbles will be sold in aid of the church. Here’s how to do it! 1. Source a stone to the shape of your liking - preferably one with a smooth surface. 2. If necessary, clean the surface with soap and water, using an old toothbrush to scrub the dirt off. 3. You can sketch lightly the outline on your stone first with pencil, then use a fine painting brush and acrylic paint. Try using the other end of your brush to make dots uniform dots. 4. Let your stone dry, spray or paint with matt varnish. Any problems ring Jenny on 01306 731851. All contributions welcome from children and adults.
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Children The children write: We are delighted that the Evelyn Hall doors have been opened once again to welcome us back to play together. Some of us have returned to enjoy the last few weeks of term as we get ready to move up to school after the summer holidays. We’ve settled back in and are very grateful to our fantastic nursery workers who continue to keep us safe whilst still creating an amazingly fun atmosphere.
We have spent a lot of time outside, hunting for bugs, exploring our story stones, practising our hockey skills and getting puffed out running many races! We’ve been working as a team using building blocks and guttering to create ramps for some balls. We’ve also been practising our hammering skills using real hammers – DIY SOS here we come! Of course it wouldn’t be right to spend so much time outside without building a den, so that’s what we did! And that’s where we sat reading some of our favourite stories. 21
Inside we spent time writing thank you letters to people who have been kind to us. As we’ve spent so much time at home recently we wanted to share some of the things we’d learnt and the list couldn’t be more diverse! From cool dance moves to new cycling skills and even a magic trick involving an ear! Of course there are some of our friends still at home and although we miss them we know they are still fully involved with the nursery, speaking face to face virtually and showing and telling what they’ve been up to. We really are thrilled to be back and to be able to tell you all about our exciting nursery life. Surrey Hills All Saints Primary School
Headteacher, Mrs Jennie Ratcliffe writes: Over the last few weeks, it has been a pleasure to welcome back children in Year 6, Year 1 and Reception, in line with Government guidance, as well as the children in the key worker bubbles. Despite school looking very different - for example appropriately spaced out desks, plenty of social distancing signage and even a new one-way system at the Westcott and Abinger sites - the children have been amazing, settled in well and adapted to learning in their ‘bubbles’. I would like to thank all the staff who have been working extremely hard over the last three months, including half-term, bank holidays and the Easter
22 break, both in school and at home and through such challenging times. In addition, I would also like to thank the Surrey Hills parents/carers for their continued support. During lockdown, the staff at Surrey Hills continued to provide the children with fantastic home learning activities which were available as paper packs or online using Purple Mash. In addition, staff regularly delivered food boxes to families, kept in touch with families by making regular phone calls as well as sign posted families to organisations and websites for tips, advice and support. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, to see the ‘new normal’ daily school life: Twitter: @SurreyAllSaints or Facebook: Surrey All Saints. Years 5 and 6 It has been wonderful to see the amazing work being produced by children in Upper Key Stage Two. Many have really embraced our new way of learning and I have loved reading the range of uploaded pieces. In English, we are continuing to read ‘Pig Heart Boy’ by Malorie Blackman. As well as interpreting the story, this has inspired some deep thinking and thoughtful poems. Key Worker Children Children in our key worker groups have been making the most of the lovely weather and spending much of the day outdoors, having a great time connecting with nature through the nature garden and pond, as well as producing some beautiful artwork. Another highlight was celebrating VE day with a street party, complete with plenty of sun, cake and food. Everyone had a great time. Reception Places for September 2020 The current circumstances are making parents new to school life, very anxious and as a result, we still have a few spaces in Reception, for September. We understand that some new parents really don’t know what to do as the ‘right thing’ just now. Do recommend us to anyone still looking for a Reception place for September. Please email [email protected], marking their email RECEPTION SEPTEMBER 2020. Finally, I would like to wish you a lovely summer and on receiving further guidance from the Department for Education, look forward to welcoming the remaining year groups back to school.
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Children in Lockdown – Dorking Museum Appeal We are appealing for images of local children, photos taken by children and art created by children to illustrate the Covid-19 crisis for a children’s action book which is currently in development. This is for a chapter, yet to be written, called Eyewitness to history - Outbreak2020. Items will also be added to the Museum archive for the benefit of future generations. Please do take a moment to capture what life is like for our children and grandchildren during lockdown and beyond. These might include images that represent our villages during the lockdown, images of children’s videocalls, art activities, diary entries, keeping up with schoolwork, enjoying family activities, exercising, looking after pets or livestock, allotment or garden activities, photographing wildlife, etc. Please offer anything you think might be of interest and be sure to write a line or two about it, including the names of the children. We promise to keep images in a safe and secure place and double check your formal permission before we publish anything. Please send to: [email protected]. Scouts Some of the members of our local Scout Group are from Abinger as when Abinger Scouts closed they merged with the Shere and Peaslake Group. Scout Leader Melanie Bromley writes: Throughout the lockdown our Scout Group has been running all of the sections. We have been doing bike and car maintenance by Zoom. Growing vegetables, practising hands only resuscitation on big soft toys, putting brothers, sisters and parents into the recovery position and talking to pilots. We have spoken to Scouts from all over the world from the west coast of the USA to New Zealand during a virtual International Jamboree. We have had lots of fun camping in our gardens, making dens and going on scavenger hunts. Cubs have completed their Air Activities Badge and we had two pilots come and tell us about their experience of flying: Ludo Forrer and Becca Clarke (this must be Coldharbour’s Bex). Another fun thing has been the recreation of famous paintings such as this one. There is one other hidden in the magazine – can you find it?
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Outdoor Spaces Gardening Clubs in Coldharbour and Abinger Tiggs Morton runs the Coldharbour club and told us how it all started: A big reason for buying our home in Coldharbour 8 years ago was because it had a garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll, who has always been one of my gardening heroines. Both the inside of our home and the outside areas had fallen into serious neglect and those first few weeks I was often torn between fixing the inside of our home or starting on the garden. I learned how to be a gardener from growing and digging in this garden and making many, many mistakes. In doing so I met some lovely neighbours and we started talking and sharing plants and that is how the idea for the local gardening group got started. I started the Coldharbour gardening group in January 2017 and I remember it because it was a very cold snowy day and there I was schlepping around the village putting invite letters through people’s letter boxes and trying to “sell” my passion for digging and growing and all in the middle of winter! There is just something wonderful and life-affirming about getting your hands in the soil! One of the loveliest things about this group is we have a few members who had previously said that they just weren’t gardeners and that they didn’t know anything about gardening. You should see their gardens now! It has been a lot of fun meeting up on a regular basis and swapping plants and stories. Last year we went on a tour of Gertrude Jekyll’s garden in Munstead Wood and in December we held a wreath making workshop at the village hall in Coldharbour. We were taught to make Xmas wreaths and the money we raised went to a local children’s charity. We hope to do another workshop this December and I will make sure to get that information in to the Parish News in plenty of time for you to join us.
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The Abinger Group has been started by Kim Clark and Caroline Williams and has grown out of Lockdown - so much time spent in gardens! They write: The aim is to share our enthusiasm for gardening and for the more experienced gardeners to help those just starting out or who have run out of steam. We hope to visit each other’s gardens to help each other with planting solutions, to share and swap plants and seeds as well as talking through gardening frustrations and challenges! We could also help each other with gardening projects. As we are new we can structure the group to suit our needs and look forward to having joint events with Tiggs and the Coldharbour group. As soon as it is possible to meet in groups of up to 10 we will hold our inaugural meeting. In the meantime contact Kim ([email protected]) or Caroline ([email protected]) for more information. Hedgehog News from Abinger Common At the beginning of the Spring we asked for any sightings of hedgehogs as part of a national survey to see if hedgehogs were disappearing from our gardens. As the weather warmed up the hedgehogs began to wake from hibernation and sightings began to come in. Droppings in gardens were the first signs. Keep your eyes open as this is the best indication that they are around (they’re unmistakable if you google hedgehog poo). Trish Wrigglesworth in Glebe Lane caught images of hedgehogs coming to eat at the food tray she put out (see above). Neighbours (the Chestertons) heard hogs mating in their garden and there have been other sightings. This hedgehog was found by the Irvines’ dog in their garden at Hookfield House but was not harmed and returned to the hedgerow. SO, GOOD NEWS! There are hedgehogs still coming to our gardens on both sides of Abinger Lane. At the moment we’ve only had sightings clustered round the centre of Abinger Common and no sightings in Coldharbour. If you have seen evidence of hedgehogs please keep the information coming in.
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STAY ALERT! SAVE COWS! Nicky Scott, Lead Ranger, tells us of her challenges and problems experienced during the recent weeks. We have received a number of calls and texts to alert us to various problems – mainly escaped cattle – and this has been incredibly helpful in allowing us to attend to matters quickly and efficiently. Last night a villager in Coldharbour called Luke Smith, the grazier, to alert him to the fact that the cows had again left the paddock, and it transpired that the bridle gate by the cricket pitch had been tied open. It is happening with such regularity now that I am beginning to think it is being done maliciously so needless to say, if you witness anyone doing this please get in touch and we will attend immediately. Report any antisocial behavior to Surrey Police on 101. Luke grazes 15 belted Galloway and belted Galloway-crosses on Dukes Warren as part of a conservation project. The cattle help keep birch and other shrubs at bay, creating more open land. Their dung also promotes dung beetles, which in turn promote the birds that eat them, boosting wildlife diversity. Tennis The Abinger Tennis Club Charlie Ingram writes: Although there is currently no cricket and the clubhouse remains closed, the Abinger Tennis Club is now fully operational with both our courts in excellent condition. Coaching is available privately, and free on Thursday evenings for members. (See our advert in this magazine for details). Check LTA guidance for C-19 protocols.
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Dorking Lawn Tennis & Squash Club DORKING LAWN TENNIS & SQUASH CLUB HAS REOPENED! Dorking Lawn Tennis & Squash Club is back up and running with members enjoying playing tennis again on the 9 artificial clay courts. The family friendly club is following LTA guidelines, allowing singles, doubles and coaching up to 5 players. Families and friends are enjoying the opportunity to meet up with strict social distancing measures to get some welcome fresh air and the chance to burn some calories. The club is offering a great deal at the moment with an introductory family membership for 3 months for only £150. Up to 2 adult family members & the children! If you are interested just contact Janet on [email protected] Enjoy some tennis from 8am until sunset. Great atmosphere with professional coaching available. We look forward to welcoming you... A bit of background information…. Dorking Lawn Tennis and Squash Club has been based in Ridgeway Road, a short distance from the town centre, since 1912. We are nicely tucked away in lovely location! The club has nine artificial clay tennis courts four of which can be floodlit and three squash courts together with a small gym. Whilst Tennis has reopened its courts, currently Squash and Gym remain closed in accordance with government guidelines. However these facilities will reopen as soon as possible. In addition to regular social tennis, squash and racketball, all of which, in normal times, are played throughout the year, The Club runs active leagues and tournaments including charity tournaments and is represented at high level in county tennis and squash leagues. Because of the quality of its facilities, it also acts as host to various LTA national championships and Surrey schools tournaments. P.S. And you may have recently read in the press that playing tennis is associated with an extra 9.7 years of life. It is, of course, your choice……..! Ian Rogers
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Pubs Re-opening The Abinger Hatch
The Abinger Hatch are hoping that on July 4th they will be able to open their doors and in readiness are putting up a marquee in the garden. Takeaway meals and the grocery shop will continue to run. Check the website for details: www.the habingerhatch.co.uk or ring Brad on 01306 730737
The Plough and Coldharbour Village Shop It does feel as though we’ve ridden the wave and that the seas are now calmer, and we have only been running a village shop! For Becky, Fede, and me the last 12 weeks have just churned by in a bleary eyed haze. We have met and made friends with lots of lovely people during lockdown. Families needing feeding, older couples shopping for even older neighbours, people displaced or stranded, frontline workers disguised in Lycra in rare moments of escape and of course all those who found out that our coffee machine was still on! The Shop is currently open weekdays 8.30-1pm weekends 9-3pm. With the Pub due to reopen we hope on 4th July we should introduce Fede to you all. Federico is the partner of head chef Abi who is currently awaiting the imminent birth of their first baby. A chef himself, Fede had taken over her role just before lockdown and we have been so lucky to have had him with us throughout. Known to many of you who have picked up much enjoyed takeaway food from the kitchen door and more recently his excellent BBQs outside the Pub on weekend lunchtimes. One of Fede’s passions is his prized Harley Davidson. And here they both are (see next page): 29
Fede has gone overnight from producing perfectly cooked burgers to creating a new menu for the Pub’s opening and trays of interesting and delicious things have begun to appear in the cold room! A marquee is due to be erected in the Pub garden to provide additional covered space and the cellar is being restocked ... well done to those who did such a worthy job of helping to empty it over the last few months! Finally, thank you thank you thank you to all those who knowingly or unknowingly have helped to keep us going through this unprecedented time. We have felt your support and it really has made all the difference. Oh, and if anyone has a small time-machine and could organise it so that we could all take a week off without anyone noticing, that would be just perfect! Sue Smith Directory of Local Businesses
BUILDERS etc. B A Gunter 01306 628291 Dorking Glass 01306 882971 RB Fencing 01306 640143 01483 414745 [email protected] LHP Groundwork and Drainage 01306 628412 [email protected] Lyne & Co Capel Building and 01293 871008 [email protected] Renovation Morley & Johnson Roofing Ben 07824861902 George 07710 503069 Morley- [email protected] CARE Assured Care Solutions 01483 548964 [email protected] CARPENTERS Tony Winch - Carpenter, Joiner 01306 742373 07969016924 www.tonywinch.com Cabinet Maker CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS Bullimores 01306 880880 [email protected]
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CHIMNEYS & CHIMNEY SWEEP Joe Lund 07930 507 115 and 01243 583430 COMPUTERS Surrey Hills PC MAC and PC 01483 608242 07771 665 863 [email protected] WMF-IT consultants 01306 731253 [email protected] DECORATORS David Skerritt 01306 711898 Dorking Decorators 01306 640418 www.dorkingdecorators.co.uk ELECTRICAL Smithers & Co Electrical 01737 843844 07850 563091 FUNERALS Sherlock & Sons 01306 882266 GARDENS AND TREES EJM Garden Services 07766 081 557 [email protected] David Ford Tree Care 01306 611661 07940 197911 [email protected] Capel Tree Surgeons 01306 711124 07775 727121 www.capeltreesurgeons.co.uk Bury Hill Landscape Supplies 01306 877 540 www.buryhilllandscapesupplies.co.uk Groundscapes JOBS IN 01306 711720 [email protected] GARDENING Scovell & Sons Horticultural 01306 611384 07597 946 240 Services [email protected] LEAFHILL Peter Nutting 07572 712 592 [email protected] Neil McCance; Down to Earth 01306 730259 evenings Garden Services [email protected] Osborne Landscapes & 07818 001840 01306 730090 construction. Mark Osborne Phil’s Mowing 07905 160 765 [email protected] SPORT, BEAUTY & WELLBEING Abinger Sports Club: Tennis [email protected] 07774 773 993 Dance a Ramix 01306 731182. 07899 842 727 [email protected] Dorking Lawn Tennis and 01306 889009 www.dltsc.co.uk Squash Club Peaslake Beauty Room. 01306 731182 Avril Munford [email protected] Revitalise Fitness Mobile 07858 731 [email protected] Personal Training and Coaching
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Hannah Schellander 07846 508 117 www.hannahschellander.com Hypnotherapy Jodechi (Tiggs) Morton 07825 138 508 Psychotherapy, CBT, TA, Life [email protected] Coaching HORSE LIVERY Crockers Farm Coldharbour 07584 624 990 [email protected] PEST CONTROL EMWOOD 0800 092 2277. 01306 501426 PROTECTA PEST CONTROL 01403 259972 07833 259972 www.protecta- pestcontrol.co.uk PRINTING Dyson printers 07850 518 948 [email protected] Mark Mitchell, M V Press [email protected] PUBS The Abinger Hatch 01306 730737 The Plough Inn, Coldharbour 01306 711793 REAL ESTATE Portcullis & Co 01483 283000 portcullisandco.com REMOVALS EDE BROS 01306 711293 edebros.co.uk SOFT FURNISHING Gill Grist Designs 01737 842520 [email protected] SHOPS Coldharbour Village Shop 01306 711793 Kingfisher Farm Shop 01306 730703 Abinger Hammer Village Shop 01306 730701 SWIMMING POOLS Burgess Pools 01306 730952 [email protected] TAXI Dorking Taxis Ltd 01306 885533 [email protected] VETS The House Vet 01483 272999 [email protected]
If you would like to advertise YOUR business here contact Sally on [email protected]
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