Local News
This week includes grants, awards, good causes, poll-booth etiquette and neighbourhood plans.
See June’s Penny Post Hungerford for video of the recent hustings, news from the Town Council, High Street, sports clubs, schools and churches (If you would like to receive this monthly newsletter please reply to this email.)
Local Events – see below
Local Activities
• free weekly Sunday cycle rides with fitness trainer Ricardo Defazio. Meet 12noon at Seeds 2 Glory Wellness Barn in Stype just south of Hungerford. No charge. All abilities welcome. (NB Ricardo is in training to set a world record of cycling 850 miles through 9 countries this September!)
• Sewing Playground’s summer workshops Learn to Sew (Sat 17 June), Reversible Child’s Pinafore Dress (Sat 1 July)
• St John’s Marlborough Adult Education Classes:
Sat 24 June 09:30-12:00 Cookery Master Class: Pasta £30 per person including ingredients
Sat 1 July 09:30-11:30 Floral Art: Summer’s Bounty £40 for 3 wks. Provide your own materials.
Sat 1 July 10:00-16:30 18 Stance Tai Chi Qi Gong £60 one day course
• if you like a challenging game of Go please contact Warren on [email protected]
• free taster sessions available with Matt Ward Karate in Swindon, Royal Wootton Bassett, Chilton Foliat and Lambourn – plus one-to-one adult lessons. For more details please contact Matt on 07774 645476.
• upcoming cookery classes at Honesty just south of Newbury include The Amalfi Coast, Vietnamese and Eastern Mediterranean Summer Entertainment
Recommendations
• Henry recommends Hogan Music in Newbury: “Really helpful and friendly staff, full of useful information – I’ll be back!”
• Anne B recommends Andresa Skin Health Clinic on the Wasing Estate in Aldermaston “Their treatments are conducted in a professional and confidential manner. I always leave feeling pampered and special. I am looking forward to my next treatment.”
Special Offers
Summer is here so why not treat yourself to white fillings instead of your dreary old grey ones?
Book an appointment with Lambourn Valley Dental to replace metal fillings with white fillings before 30 June to get 20% off. Call 01488 757654.
Motoring
• Peugeot 405 Estate for sale – 140,000 miles £200 ono
• Four Oaks Cars offers an 8-seat executive taxi service but can also transport luggage and 1 or 2 bikes if you have a breakdown or need help getting from A to B on a trip this summer. They also do transfers to airports and cruise terminals.
• for great customer service Jamie Bishop recommends Elite Garage Services in Newbury for diagnosing a turbo problem on his van which is under warranty hence saving him an expensive bill.
Property
• upstairs flat for rent (sheltered housing) in Marlborough available from 1 June. Applications are invited from residents of Marlborough and district who are over the age of 55 years and can live independently.
• three-bedroom end of terrace cottage to rent in South Fawley. Lovely rural location just 5 miles from Wantage. Well behaved pets considered.
• Eclipse Cleaning offers a full service end-of-tenancy cleaning service
• Local property expert Jon Rich of Brearley & Rich offers some advice about the importance of first impressions.
Local Jobs
See the Penny Post website for local jobs including: Part-time Driver, Hungerford • Level 2/3 Nursery Nurse, Level 2/3 Apprentice and Bank Staff, Newbury • Finance Officer Watermill Theatre (closes 21 June) • Summer Assistant Kennet Horse Boat Company in Kintbury • Student Reintegration Manager and Pastoral Support Assistant, both in Hungerford • Part-time Parish Clerk, Froxfield • Delivery Driver, Hungerford • Classical Music Sales Assistant, Hogan Music, Newbury • Bar Staff, The Pheasant in Shefford Woodlands • Library Trustees, Hungerford • 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.
• are you looking to change your job? Richmond Retirement Village in Letcombe Regis (just south of Wantage) invites you to their next Recruitment Day 2 – 6 Tues 13 June to find out about the nursing care, domiciliary care, housekeeping, hospitality and fitness roles they have to offer.
• good luck to ex-Park House student and IBM apprentice Sarah Naylor who has reached the finals of National Apprentice Team of the Year 2017. Results will be announced on Monday!
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
Please support the businesses which support Penny Post!
• Claire Burdett at the The Media Marketing Co explains the recent exciting Changes at Twitter. Don’t miss her Instagram Masterclass on Thurs 22 June and a workshop on SEO (how to get top Google ranking) on Thurs 29 June• important IT security tips from the new IT Repair Gurus on Hungerford High St
Competitions
• Congratulation to Julie Mungomery for winning our May Quiz and the prize of a month’s free membership kindly donated by Seeds 2 Glory. Click here to see the answers.
• Which leads neatly on to our June Quiz, a novel-themed one with the prizes kindly donated by the Hungerford Bookshop.
• Did you figure out how many Young Farmers can fit in a Mini Metro? The answer is 20!
Charity Plugs
• for local Big Lunch/Great Get Together events, see below.
• please support Jo Fielder (who used to manage Cobbs & Fielder Farm Shops) who was diagnosed with MS 3 years ago and starts her Ridgeway Challenge this Saturday to raise £10,000 for the MS Society and Riding for the Disabled Assoc. MS sucks (my Mum had it for 25 years) but Jo is being incredibly strong and positive.
• please support the ATP floodlight improvement project at John O’Gaunt School Hungerford which is desperately needed by local football and rugby teams which rely on the ATP for winter training. Over £11,000 needs to be raised. All donations will be matched by Greenham Trust.
• congratulations to the Thames Valley Kings Wheelchair Basketball Club, based in Thatcham, for receiving the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service! Well deserved recognition.
• there are a number of events in the next few weeks which offer support and advice to carers – click here for more.
• donations of children’s and adults’ summer clothes and shoes for refugees to be shipped to Greece mid-June requested by West Berkshire Action for Refugees. Click here for drop-off point details.
• see this week’s Local News for a list of just some of the people who’ve helped to raise money for good causes recently.
• budding young Newbury Olympian Annabelle Chaffey is in training for the UK’s senior bob sleigh team for the Winter Olympics 2022 and is looking for sponsorship to help cover her training and travel expenses.
Four (& two) Legged Friends
• reminder to be Be Tick Aware this summer especially if you walk in long grass in bare legs. we know several people battling Lyme Disease. We had to take a tick off our cat Marmite’s head this week (see video in link above on how we do this with a tick twister)
• Zen dog whispered ken Stronach can help you create a strong bond with your dog and solve any behavioural problems. Click here for more about his work, including some interesting case histories.
Green Fingers
• June gardening tips from local head gardener Bob Davidson can be found here
• continuing the slug obsession – I heard this week that a ‘safe’ way to use slug pellets is to put them under upside down guttering on the ground. The theory is that the slugs will be attracted under the guttering to eat the pellets and they will die instantly and remain under the guttering so no wildlife will be able to eat the poisoned slugs or the pellets. Can anyone corroborate this? Otherwise we’ll stick to beating slugs without using pellets
• the race is on to grow the biggest pumpkin for Hungerford Food Festival pumpkin competition on Sunday 8 October! This is the Atlantic Giant our local champion Andrew (Barney) Barnes grew in Kintbury last year. He is kindly sharing his Atlantic Giant seed to anyone who wants to have a go. We will also have seedlings for sale soon. Please reply to this if you’re interested.
• for inspiration at Shalbourne Open Gardens this Sunday see Events below
Seasonal Snippets
• this week’s recipe: beef or lamb kebabs with matching wine suggestion from Simon at The Naked Grape
• why not branch out into tree house glamping?! It is all the rage this summer and Jo and Richard from 4 Points Leisure can point the way
• glad to see what is being offered locally for unpaid carers in West Berks Carer’s Week including free pamper treatments, information sessions & cream teas. If you are a carer please do take advantage – you deserve it.
• summer must be here – Newbury Lido (Berkshire’s largest outdoor heated pool) opens tomorrow!
• is your family in exam hell? If so don’t worry – Vanessa Kenneth from Careers Tutor has some useful advice if you’re thinking Help! My teenager has just crashed and burned in their exams…
• if you’re getting married this summer and nervous about your first dance – don’t worry as Alison from Cheek2Cheek Dance can help (and she is very affordable)
• Newbury Youth Theatre are looking for three beer barrels, ideally light plastic ones that look like wood, for their current production of The Curious Invention of Emanuel Stork to be performed at the Corn Exchange Newbury and the Edinburgh Fringe. They would be more than happy to “borrow” them and return after the Festival at the end of August. If you can help please contact Robin on [email protected]
• there are plenty of local walks, cycle and horse riding routes to enjoy this summer – this great interactive North Wessex Downs map helps you find them!
• see this week’s Local News for usual slices of life ranging from democratic dogs to diggers at Crab Hill and from ex-mayors stuck at Heathrow to police updates.
• two things to choose from my husband Brian this week. There’s a frankly rather unlikely story of Bertie Wooster trying to use the web in Jeeves Goes Online; and the latest song, Whatever it Takes (which refers to all the dreadful mistakes he’s made but, perhaps wisely, doesn’t say what these were – I guess there’s a limit to what you can admit to in three and a half minutes).
See below for upcoming local events.
Penny
[email protected]
Local Events
(More on the PP calendar)
Sat 10 June
St Lawrence’s Church Summer Fete 10am – 2pm Croft Field Hungerford
Madagascar: A Musical Adventure Jr 2 – 3.30pm Herongate Leisure. Production by Hungerford Theatre Company
Iftar Celebration (the evening meal that breaks the fast of Ramadan) 9pm The Riverside Community Centre, Newbury (rescheduled from Sun 11 June at the request of local families). Free entry – all welcome. Please RSVP to Mamun on 07886 249365.
More on the PP calendar: DIY Pallet Workshop in Wantage, cancer support coffee morning in Hungerford
Sun 11 June
Newbury Boules in the Square 10am – 4.45pm Lots of challenging competitions with proper sand and everything! Organised by Newbury Rotary.
Aldbourne 5k Fun Run in aid of St Michael’s Primary School
Open Farm Sunday 12 – 4pm,Stroud Farm (on B4000 rn Lambourn Woodlands). Free entry. Lots to see and do for all the family. Visit farmsunday.org to find other open farms local to you.
SHALBOURNE OPEN GARDENS 1-5pm in aid of Shalbourne Primary School. 19 open gardens of all sizes & tidiness. Tea, cakes & carpark at Shalbourne Manor Barn. Tickets £8 per adult (under 16 free) from the Shalbourne village shop or Shalbourne Manor on the day. Please contact Donna Scott, [email protected] 01672 870019 for more info.
Mon 12 June
Pampering for Carers 1 – 4pm Royal British Legion, Newbury. Free treatments on offer to unpaid carers – include nail filing and painting, upper back massage, hand and arm massage and eyebrow shaping. Book your treatment at 0118 3247333 or [email protected].
Fri 16 June
Big BBQ at Hungerford Care Home – 12.30pm onwards all welcome. Entertainment with Julie Hunt from 2pm
Sat 17 June
Swindon Civic Day offers ‘Open Doors’ at four of Swindon’s treasured heritage assets: Milton Road Baths, the Railway Village Museum, The Baker’s Arms.and a big get together at the Central Community Centre
Newbury’s Big Conversation 12 – 2pm Newbury Baptist Church. Please bring food to share for lunch and join in the conversation – what is good about Newbury…and what could be better?
East Garston’s Big BBQ from 5pm at the Village Hall
Hungerford Youth Centre Fun Day 11am inc BBQ, circus skills, live music, Water Wars. Free entry.
Sun 18 June
Harey 8 Mile Run 10.30pm starts at Hungerford Rugby Club with kids fun run first
Kintbury Yard Sale 10am – 1pm Kintbury Jubilee Centre. Sell your stuff! Grab some bargains!
Father’s Day Lunch at The Bear, Hungerford
Father’s Day Lunch at Blandy’s in the stately setting of Inglewood nr Kintbury
Coming Soon…
Watermill Touring Production: Nesting opens Weds 21 June in East Garston Village Hall – click here for full tour dates in Aldworth, Padworth, Bradfield, Aldbourne, Shrivenham, Cold Ash, Brill, Hungerford, Hampstead Norreys, Eastbury, Uffington, Ashampstead and more…
Sat 24 June Cinderella Murder Mystery at Wilton Windmill
Sat 24 June Violin Bonanza – family performance at East Garston Village Hall
Fri 30 June Jazz in the Park, Hamstead Marshall with 2 fabulous local singers – Steph Richardson with Andy Kennedy’s Quintet and Harriet James with Pearl, TN
