Local News  

Visit the Local News section of the PP website for this week’s news including a pause for discussion in Hungerford, bowling and football clubs, rail reprieve, differing views of the A34, happy birthday to the Ramblers, flag raising, good causes celebrated, traffic and fire-service news, roadworks, police updates, the cost of potholes, the first NHS patient, Wold Book Day, 1436 and all that, 459 tonnes of luggage, 52 countries, seven maids with seven mops and an Einstein look-alike at the mic. 

Click here to read the March issue of Penny Post Hungerford  featuring updates from Hungerford Town Council, Chamber of Commerce, Football Club, Primary School and lots more…

Local Events – see below

• Dressmaking tutor Silvia Luce is starting fab Sewing Playground workshops this month in Hungerford: Introduction to Dressmaking (20 Mar) Pyjama Bottoms (25 Mar),  Make an Apron (31 Mar)
• due to popular demand Matt Ward Karate is starting new classes in Lambourn: Mondays 5.30pm (4-7yrs) & 6.30pm (8-15yrs) and Fridays 4pm (4-7yrs), 5pm (8-15yrs) & 6pm (Advanced 8-15yrs). To book contact Matt on 7774645476
• there are a few places available on Transition Marlborough’s Practical Permaculture (sustainable agriculture/grow your own/chicken keeping etc) Course starting 18 March – just £45 for 10 workshops or £5 per workshop
• a new pack of 1st Lambourn Brownies is starting on Monday evenings. Click here for details.
• Walking netball – a slowed-down version of netball suitable for all ages and abilities – available at The Lambourn Centre every Thursday 1 – 2pm from 23 March until 27 April, £3 per person. Call 01488 73690 or just turn up.

Mother’s Day
• enjoy a fun & creative day out with Mum on this Mother’s Day Floristry Workshop & Sunday Lunch with Kelly Louise Floral Design – or make your own special gift for Mother’s Day at Kelly’s workshop 6.30 – 8pm Fri 24 Mar in Marlborough
• book a Cream Tea Cruise 2.30pm Mothering Sunday on the Rose of Hungerford
• Special Mother’s Day Lunch Blandy’s at Inglewood nr Kintbury. A marvellous chef, beautiful setting and gift for every mother dining! Book on 01488 687010
• Special Mother’s Day menu at The Bear in Hungerford (Mums eat free after 6pm) Book on 01488 682512

Recommendations

• Hanna from Wantage recommends Bluestones Garden Designs:“They suggested plants we would never have thought of.  An extremely good investment!”
• Angela recommends Andresa Aesthetics Skin Health Clinic: “My skin has never looked so good! This clinic has been a real find…”

Special Offers

• March Madness Golf Offer at Donnington Grove Country Club in Newbury
• buy a 30ml Pink & Green Facial Oil and receive a 30ml Gentle Face Exfoliator COMPLETELY FREE (worth £15 – while stocks last)

Plants for Sale

• beautiful snowdrops for sale in Great Shefford 01488 648 441
• two large rubber plants are looking for a new home in exchange for a donation to the Injured Jockeys’ Fund.

Local Jobs

See the Penny Post website for local jobs including: Hotel Receptionist, Newbury • Music Sales Account Assistant, Welford • Dispensary Receptionist, Ramsbury • Seating Riggers, (Open Day 17 Mar) Membury • Welder Fabricator and Mechanic, both East Garston • Sales Co-ordinator, Hungerford •  Part-time Life Guards, Hungerford • Gardener, near Lambourn  • Administrator, Newbury • Stable Manager, Upper Lambourn • After-school Childcare, near Newbury • Full- and Part-time Pub Cooks, Newbury • Shop Assistants, Great Shefford • Car Mechanic, Newbury • Occupational Therapist, West Berkshire • Massage Therapist, West Berkshire • Cleaners, West Berkshire • Customer Services Assistants, Hungerford • Charity Shop Volunteers, Hungerford • Homecare Assistants, throughout West Berkshire

• Click here for apprenticeships at Newbury College. Current vacancies include chefs, nursery nurses, engineers and IT.
• Next meeting of the Careers Springboard Workshop is on Wed 8 March at Broadway House, Newbury 1.45pm – 3.45pm
• a friend needs an immigration lawyer. If you can recommend someone please reply to this.

Property

• How Much is My House Worth? – introduction to the valuation tools available to prospective house sellers by Ellie Yakar-Wells at Nye & Co
• Artist based in Weston is looking for studio space with natural light, locally. Anything considered. Please call M Shaw Stewart 07780 588542
• For rent: Two rooms available in a shared house in Hungerford, of four people in total, £275pcm/£300pcm (dependant on size) plus £120 towards utility bills and cleaning. Available now. Contact Nye & Co
• For rent: Large two-bed maisonette on High Street, Hungerford. £825pcm. No pets. Available early April. Contact Nye & Co
• For rent: Characterful three- bed flat, Hungerford. £1,000pcm. Parking for one car. Available mid March. Contact Nye & Co

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

Charity Plugs

• West Berkshire Action for Refugees need vital donations for refugees by end of March inc sleeping bags, tents, men’s walking boots, coats, nappies, sanitary towels, baby wipes (click link for details of where to donate)
• grants up to £2,500 available from Healthwatch West Berkshire for research projects into local health and social services issues – deadline 8 Mar
• well done to Katy Hawthorne & the Newbury branch of Soroptimists International for raising nearly £800 for The Rosemary Appeal (to build a renal & cancer care unit at West Berks Community Hospital) with this year’s Pancake Race in Newbury (great fun – do enter a team next year!)
• ARK (Action for River Kennet) has a great volunteering program for March which includes hedge planting, litter picking, plaque installations and faggot making!
• Lambourn Valley Dementia Friendly Community Forum invites local businesses and residents to a Working to Become Dementia Friendly Coffee Morning on 10am Tues 28 Mar

Four (and two) Legged Friends

• yeah – new bird flu guidelines 1 Mar – 30 Apr mean you can now let your birds outside (having taken steps to make the area unattractive to wild birds) – unless you are located in a Higher Risk Area in which case you are meant to still keep your birds inside or under netting (local HRAs to us are centred on Swindon and Thatcham)
• if you’re worried about your cat hunting wild birds here is a reminder of bird feeding tips for cat owners (with a performance from our local robin)

Seasonal Snippets

• revised dates for upcoming M4 closures due to bridge repair between Jncts 12 & 13
• celebrate National Pie Week at The Bell at Ramsbury from Mon 6 Mar.
• local composer Fiona Bennett (A Country Suite, The New Lady Radnor Suite) would love your vote to enter Classic FM’s Hall of Fame for a third time. To encourage voting in general Classic FM is giving away £1,000 to five random voters!
• the Search is on for a Hungerford Carol. Entry deadline 1 Oct. Composers must live, work or go to school within 10 miles of Hungerford
• this week’s recipe: Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato, Lentil & Ginger Soup from LoveFood in Marlborough
• Guide to March Night Skies from Newbury Astronomical Society, includes how to spot Venus, Mercury and Mar
• Sustainable Wantage – March newsletter – lots of interesting stuff as usual
• see this week’s Local News for the usual mix including the cost of potholes, Newbury’s oldest building, World Book Day and good news on the railways.
• please watch this video and support Thames Valley Police’s #TVPRural campaign on the importance of reporting crime in our countryside
• many energy suppliers are putting their standard tariffs up so now is a good time to sign up for the Collective Energy Switch – deadline for West Berks residents is Mon 20 Mar.
• there was an exciting 3D Printer project at Newbury Library recently.
• I’ve had a busy week filming the Hungerford Town v Maidenhead match last Sat and then Newbury Pancake Races on Tuesday. ITV Meridian couldn’t send a cameraman this year so the organisers introduced us and I spent half an hour uploading three minutes of footage to them of which they used eight seconds…Never mind, you can watch the whole thing on our Penny Post Community YouTube channel (for short and sweet videos about local life).
• finally, if any of you have ever tried to prise teenagers out of bed and listen to their excuses (and goodness knows, I have) then my husband’s latest song Getting Up might ring a bell or strike a chord…

Penny 
[email protected]

Local Events
For more see our calendar

Fri 3 Mar

Women’s World Day of Prayer The same service will be used (in translation) around the world from Samoa to American Samoa via about 170 participating countries. Click on link for a service near you (inc Thatcham, Newbury, Hungerford, Lambourn Marlborough, Swindon)

Sat 4 Mar

Sun 5 Mar

Weds 8 Mar

Meet Fred ages 14+ – really thought provoking content, with a cast of actors with and without disabilities.
March Floristry Workshop 6.45pm Chilton Foliat Village Hall with Kelly Louise

Fri 10 Mar

Cheltenham Preview Night 7.30pm Fri 10 Mar. East Garston Village Hall featuring Oliver Sherwood, John Francome, Noel Fehily, Colin Brown, Stan Moore, Pat Murphy and Jamie Snowden

Coming Soon…

Sun 12 March Newbury Talks: Freeze! The Strange Science of Ice 3pm Corn Exchange Balcony Bar
Sun 12 March Swindon Repair Cafe 2 – 5pm Eastcott Community Hall, Savernake St. Swindon SN1 3LZ
Weds 15 March Jane Austen’s Kintbury Connection Talk at Inkpen & Kintbury History Club 7.30pm
Fri 17 to Sun 19 March Babe the Sheep Pig  ages 5+ – this looks ace and is full of West End actor/musicians!
Fri 17 March Live Swing Band at The Wheatsheaf, Chilton Foliat
Sat 18 March Lewis & Leigh  Ace Space
Sat 18 March Romantic Masterpieces, 7.30pm East Garston Village Hall
Wed 29 March Clover Stroud Author Talk The Wild One Hungerford Town Hall
Thu 27 & Fri 28 April The Empty Nesters’ Club by John Godber, Corn Exchange – one for the Mums and Dads