Local News
Visit the Local News section of PP website for this week’s Local News, including the Hungerford planning decision, grants for Community Asset Transfers, road signs, police updates and The Mysterious Case of the Vanishing Post Box.
Local Events – see below
Local Activities
• in case you missed it here is our Spring Guide to local courses (I know we mentioned it last week but now that Spring really seems to have sprung we’re going to run it one more time) with plenty to Stretch the Mind, Flex the Body, Soothe The Soul, Get Creative, Train the Dog and offer you Food for Thought.
• Inspirational Spring Cooking with food writer Belinda Harley 10am – 2pm Weds 26 Apr
• Weekend Nutrition Course, Newbury 29 and 30 April
Recommendations
• Debbie from Inkpen recommends Four Oaks Car Taxi Service: “Thank you, Cliff, for your excellent driving and service…”
• Sue from Marlborough recommends Brown Dog Financial Planning: “Thanks for explaining our finances and paperwork in normal English…”
Special Offers
• Dudleigh Films in Newbury has a great Spring Studio Special Offer – five professional talking-head videos from just £250
• A wide range of special April offers is available from Hogan Music in Newbury.
• The Lambourn Valley Dental Practice is offering half-price dental hygiene sessions for children if booked during April.
Property
• South Fawley Cottage to rent available now. £950 pcm. Lovely rural location just 5 miles south of Wantage
• grazing & stable available to rent in Hungerford from 1 May
• Click here for a range of properties to rent and for sale in Hungerford.
See the Property News section of Penny Post for a range of property-related articles.
Local Jobs
See the Penny Post website for local jobs including: Stockperson, Lambourn • Part-time Waiting Staff, Little Bedwyn • Assistant Management Accountant, Lambourn • Part-time Lifeguards, Hungerford • Teaching Assistant, Padworth • Library Trustees, Hungerford • Waiter/Front of House Supervisor, Inkpen • Experienced Gardeners, Lambourn • Full-time Care Assistants, West Berkshire • Occupational Therapist, West Berkshire • Massage Therapist, West Berkshire • Cleaners, West Berkshire • Charity Shop Volunteers, Hungerford • Homecare Assistants, throughout West Berkshire
• interested in becoming a teacher? Book a 30 min appointment Thurs 27 April at John O’Gaunt School, Hungerford to learn about the Excalibur Train to Teach programme
• if you’re over 19, unemployed, live in West Berks and need confidence applying for work this free six week Get Started! course at Heros Charity in Fawley is for you
Local Businesses
Family Life • Food & Drink • Health, Beauty & Wellbeing • House, Garden & Pets • Legal & Professional • IT, Media & Web • Visual & Performing Arts • Retailers • Travel & Tourism • Tuition & Training
• Public Chamber of Commerce meeting about Small Business Rates and the recent revaluation – Thurs 6 Apr, The Three Swans Hotel, Hungerford.
• Click here for an interview with Stewart Hofgartner of Below Stairs Antiques in Hungerford
• If you’re looking for looking for a bright, literate and experienced part-time PA then you might want to click here.
Charity Plugs
• a friend of ours works in a mental health unit in Swindon and has clients who want to start exercising but aren’t allowed in gyms because they don’t have the right footwear. She asks if Penny Post readers might be able to help
• you may not know what a tweedlemuff is (I didn’t until quite recently). I can reveal that they are knitted hand muffs designed to provide a stimulation activity for those suffering from dementia. Each one can only be used by one person so more are always needed. The evidence shows they are very beneficial. So, all you experienced (or first-time) knitters, click her to find out more.
• please donate any unwanted DIY equipment, plumbers’ tools and sewing machines to the Hungerford Rotary Club’s tool collection for Africa on Saturday 8 April.
• the Forever Hounds Trust is looking for a solicitor who could volunteer to help revamp its legacy materials. Please email [email protected]
• local family-support charity Home-Start West Berkshire needs volunteers to encourage and offer practical support to parents with young children. Their next training course starts 28 April in Newbury. If you are interested please call 01635 760310 or email [email protected]
• Click here to support Darren Lovegrove of Lambourn who’s running in the London Marathon to raise funds for asthma research in memory of his late son Charlie.
• Bluebird Care in Newbury is supporting Parkinson’s Awareness Week 2017, an annual campaign run by Parkinson’s UK, from 10-16 April. Visit the Parkinson’s UK website to find out more about the campaign and how you can get involved.
• click here for a great opportunity for local groups to raise money for themselves at the Newbury Rotary sponsored walk on 7 May.
• Hungerford Library is looking for trustees for when (as is expected) it becomes a charity later this year.
• see this week’s Local News section for a list of just some of the people who’ve helped to raise money for good causes recently.
Four-legged Friends
• grazing & stable available to rent in Hungerford from 1 May
• the launch Party for The Real Pet Detective at Hungerford Bookshop on Friday 7 April
• we have a sheet of A4 paper taped up in the kitchen headed ‘Cats Like…’ We add to it as necessary and it’s now pretty much filled up. ‘Goodness me,’ a friend said once, ‘your cats dohave a good diet.’ I was quick to point out that, on the contrary, it was a list of all the things we had to put away if they weren’t going to get eaten. Such items include crunchy muesli, mushrooms, cake mix and wood glue. About the only things we’ve established they don’t like are blackcurrants and hummus. I thought cats were just meant to eat meat?
• and from cats to dogs, there are now even more dog-bag dispensers in West Berkshire than there were. If you have a dog, please use them.
• and still on canine matters, Newbury Dogs Trust is holding its Easter Fair from 11am to 3pm on 23 April at its rehoming centre at Hamstead Marshall.
Competitions & Quizzes
• looking a week or so ahead, the next quiz at The Wheatsheaf in Chilton Foliat will be on Tues 18 April.
Seasonal Snippets
• nettles are annoying things but they’re highly nutritious and lovely to eat (when cooked, of course) and at this time of the year they’re young and plentiful. Click here for a few picking tips and a recipe.
• Hungerford’s unique Hocktide is coming up next month. Click here for an article explaining its history and describing the main events – as well as a 1991 video narrated by Johnny Morris.
• sparkling Chardonnay (well, a cuvée comprising the classic combination of Pint Noir and Chardonnay using a méthode champenoise, to be precise) – yes, that phrase often gets people’s attention. Did you know there’s a vineyard just outside Wickham which, after five years of hard graft, is about to start producing the stuff? You didn’t? Click here and all will be revealed.
• it’s April, which means that there are some things worth thinking about in the garden. Local expert Bob Davidson’s monthly column is here, including a great tip for all you potato growers. (And click here for other gardening tips.)
• last week, my husband shared with you some thoughts about being Cool in the Pool. Further aquatic incidents (none of them showing him in a particularly cool light, in my opinion) are revealed in Cooler in the Pool.
• the April Sustainable Wantage newsletter is now out and includes events, recipes, gardening tips, campaign updates and more.
• see this week’s Local News for the usual mix including planning announcements, post boxes, police news, grants for local services and plans for Swindon’s town centre.
• the LiftYourMIND Roadshow is coming to Hungerford – The Southey Way is challenging the residents of Hungerford to test their strength against Marlborough in aid of the mental health charity Mind to raise awareness of the link between physical and mental health. We’ll be outside the Hungerford Town Hall on Saturday 8th April – click here for more.
• if you’re an accountant, happy new year – the new tax year has begun.
Penny
[email protected]
PS: If you know anyone else who might also enjoy this week’s Penny Post, please click here to forward it them!
Local Events
Fri 7 Apr
Launch party for The Real Pet Detective, Hungerford Bookshop 7.30pm
For more events, see the Penny Post Calendar.
Sat 8 Apr
LiftYourMIND roadshow 9am – 2.30pm Hungerford Town Hall steps
Jazz All Stars, Croft Hall Hungerford, 7.00pm
For more events, see the Penny Post Calendar.
Sun 9 Apr
Marlborough Spring Fair, Marlborough College 10am to 4pm
For more events, see the Penny Post Calendar.
Wed 12 Apr
Joanna Trollope Book Talk, Croft Hall Hungerford 7.30pm
For more events, see the Penny Post Calendar.
Thur 13 Apr
Charlton Spring Festival, The Charlton Centre, Wantage, 11am to 2pm.
For more events, see the Penny Post Calendar.
Fri 14 Apr
Many Clouds Lambourn Open Day from 8.30am – visit racing yards all morning and enjoy the entertainment in the afternoon
For more events, see the Penny Post Calendar.
Easter Holiday Activities
Weds 12 Apr Creative Teens: Make your own PE Bag 10am – 4.30pm, Hungerford
Weds 12 Apr Easter Family Fun: Make Easter Bonnets 9 – 11.15am Lambourn
Thurs 13 Apr Cycle Coaching Event for 5 – 14 yr olds. Newbury Showground
Thurs 13 Apr Easter Family Fun: Make Easter Bonnets 9 – 11.15am Hungerford
Mon 17 Apr Point to Point and Country Show, Lockinge, 10am
Weds 19 Apr Family Easter Egg Hunt 9 – 11.15am Lambourn
Weds 19 Apr Youth Drama Taster Sessions for 4 – 14 yr olds Corn Exchange, Newbury
Thus 20 Apr Samba Drum Workshops for 7 yrs upwards nr Thatcham
Thurs 20 Apr Family Easter Egg Hunt 9 – 11.15am Hungerford
Thurs 20 Apr Lambing Walk 10.30am – 2pm Sheepdrove Organic Farm
Sat 22 Apr Mothers & Daughters: Make A Skater Skirt 10am – 4.30pm, Hungerford
Mon 10, Weds 12, Weds 19 & Fri 21 Apr Easter Club at Riverside Community Centre, Newbury
Free Junior Golf Tasters & Lessons at Marlborough Golf Glub see link for dates
Easter Climbing Extravaganza for Juniors at Rockstar Climbing in Swindon 10 – 21 April
Easter Sessions at Reading Climbing School (inc daily Easter Egg hunts)
Hogan Music Workshops. For more information call 01635 496 57
Coming Soon…
Tues 18 April Quiz at The Wheatsheaf, Chilton Foliat
Sat 22 Apr LiftYourMIND Roadshow 9am – 2.30pm Newbury
Thu 27 & Fri 28 April The Empty Nesters’ Club by John Godber, Corn Exchange – one for the mums and dads.
Sat 29 & Sun 30 April Weekend Nutrition Course, Newbury
Sat 6 May WB MENCAP’s Growing4All Open Day near Kingsclere
Sat 6 to Sat 20 May – Newbury Spring Festival.
