• Click here for the latest peek in Lambourn ward member Howard Woollaston’s in-tray.

A look back…

This will be the last news update of 2022: normal service will be resumed on 5 January 2023.

Over the last year we’ve published a large number of stories about this area. Some have been referred to many, many times: that’s not because we feel the need to re-cycle copy or go over old ground but because the issues themselves have not gone away, have re-surfaced or have, like a mutating virus, acquired new features which need considering.

At the foot of this post you’ll see a link to our archive section (which may in turn link to another one). Searching for any or part of the phrases mentioned in bold below will take you to the often multiple references to these issues. Many of these still have a lot of life left in them and so expect further coverage in 2023.

The two main things that tend to crop up are planning and flooding and/or sewage. These are the kind of things that normally we don’t think about at all: when they’re directly affecting us, however, it’s almost impossible to think about anything else. We’ve lost count of the number of times these have cropped up in our coverage (a few of the major ones are referred to below). Whenever we cover them, and indeed other stories, we try to present as many points of view as possible, explain the issues and provide links for further information.

Matters such as speeding, rights of way, dog mess,, jubilee and coronation festivities and defibrillators are, amongst a host of other things, dealt with by town and parish councils. We provide information on their activities and link to  the most recently available minutes, and provide a summary of these if they are reasonably recent.

We’ll be continuing to cover as many aspects of life in this area as we can in 2023 and beyond, seeking always to inform, explain, comment and (where appropriate) entertain. If there’s anything you’d like to see covered, or if you have anything to say about anything we’ve covered already, please email brian@pennypost.org.uk.

Here’s a brief summary, in no particular order, of some of the recurring stories in this area in 2022. It by no means refers to all the issues we’ve written about.

• The B4000. This is a deeply scary road at the best of times. Traffic speeds, the number and size of vehicles using it, and the accidents that result from this combination, all seem to be increasing. Options differ as to the causes/s and the solution/s.
• Sewage leaks. This is often a serious problem in the Valley (few residents will need reminding). We’ve been in close contact with Thames Water about its repair programmes and local groups and individuals about their responses and reactions to the issue. 2022 has been a year of mainly low groundwater and so the system (and the repairs) have not been testes. 2023 may be different.
• The Woodlanders Protection Group has recently identified its own preferred solution which involves raising money (which it has done) with a few to taking WBC to court.
• Lambourn Junction is an excellent local organisation (best described as a noir-referring food bank) which was set up during Covid and has proved even more necessary during the current crisis.
• Lambourn Youth Junction has recently been set up to address the widely recognised problem of the lack of provision in the Valley for young people.
• Lambourn’s neighbourhood development plan (NDP) is reaching its final stages and we’ve been covering this since it started several years ago.
• Howard Woollaston, Lambourn’s district councillor,  produces an excellent update of his ward work which we publish at the start of each month.
• CIL charges. One local resident has fallen foul of the system in a big way – we’ve been covering the story for several years and will continue to do so.
• Valley of the Racehorse. At the start of each month, normally on the first Saturday, we produce an e-newsletter which includes as much information about life in the part of the valley upstream of Shefford as we can lay our hands on (and there’s a lot). Links to these are provided in the archive sections below.

• Christmas Tea Cup Tuesday at Oaksey House on Tuesday 13 December from 1.30pm to 3.30pm will be a little different. They will be showing the new Railway Children Film, serving hotdogs and a few other festive treats. All welcome.

• Click here for the latest peek in Lambourn ward member Howard Woollaston’s in-tray.

Lambourn’s newsletter

As ever at the start of each month, generally on the first Saturday, the Valley of the Racehorse e-newsletter will come galloping into the in-box of all those who have signed up to receive it (for free, of course). It provides the best and most comprehensive coverage of life in the area roughly bordered by Upper Lambourn, Membury, Shefford Woodlands and East Shefford.

Highlights this month include a campaign group on the B4000, Lamboutn ward member Howard Woollaston’s monthly update, pat Murphy’s regular racing column, hedge-planing, a look back at a fund-raising quiz, news from community groups, local events and some wise words from Mick Jagger (I still can’t think of him as “Sir” Mick Jagger – seems all wrong, somehow).

If you didn’t receive the newsletter, click here to read it.

Planning applications in Lambourn

A reminder to click here to visit Lambourn.org’s latest (3 December 2022) list of live planning applications in the parish. There are currently 42 of these: some are quite minor and technical while others are anything but, involving demolition and/or construction. If you want to find out more on any of these, follow the links to WBC’s planning portal. If you want to make any comments for or against any proposal, this must be sent to WBC if it’s to be considered by the officers before making a decision: raising the matter on social media won’t accomplish this, no matter how many times your post is liked or shared.

East Garston’s quiz

These are always very popular events and, after a two-year break because of the nasty virus, the Village Hall was packed on 18 November for an evening which raised around £6,000 for the upkeep and maintenance the building. A good part of this would have come from the takings at the bar. It would be fair to describe the business there as “brisk.” I like to think I played my part in this.

About ten years back I was a member of the winning team and facetiously raised the cup above my head, as if I were at Wembley. As I was, Nobby Stiles-like, waving it around, the base fell off and bounced off my skull. I have no further memories of the evening (perhaps I wouldn’t have done anyway). No risk of that this time as we finished fourth. Well done to the winners, the interestingly named “Play the man, not the question.”

Even bigger congrats are due to, above all, Ed James who organised the event and Sue Tulloch for cooking for over 100 people (including one of the best lasagnas ever). The fact that they have done it several times before doesn’t take any gloss off the achievement. Ed’s quite a useful auctioneer, too. Speaking of which, thanks also to Simon McNeil, Peter Hobbs, the Queens Arms, Sporting Agenda, Quintin Catering, Harriet and Vanessa Lee, Smiths of Axford, Dave Lee, Rupert Fleming and Nelson Travel for donating lots for the auction; and to Freddie Tulloch, Priscilla’s Kitchen, Karen Hobbs, Lambourn Food Hall, PJS, Carolyn Wray and Theresa Hing for supplying the raffle prizes. Other thanks to those who helped on the night including Val and Monty, Ray Baker, Richie Beeson, Nikki O’Brien and John James “and his warrior team”. There was also a bloke called Brian Quinn, whoever he is, who did this year’s guest round (on history). I would have got all those questions right, funnily enough. All in all great evening: and this time, I didn’t even have a lump on my head the following morning.

Even better news for the East Garston Village Hall, as previously mentioned, thanks to generous donations of material and expertise from Power-Aid and Neutral Home, the building now has its own solar array which any moment now should be fully operational. Even in these dank days it should provide about 10% of the Hall’s electricity and this will made more efficient when batteries are installed and, of course, whenever the sun puts in an appearance. We’re very lucky to have a building like this in the village (its facilities include a fully-equipped bar, a-v equipment, tiered seating, a full-size snooker table and even a bowling alley). Keeping it in working order doesn’t happen by accident but requires a lot of work by the trustees and volunteers (more of the latter are often needed to help run the bar at weekends). For more information on the Hall and the Social Club, including who to contact if you want to help in any way and how to book it for events, please click here. See you there at next year’s quiz, if not before.

The Woodlanders’ fighting fund

We mentioned last week about the decision that was recently taken by the Woodlanders Protection Group to look into the possibility of taking West Berkshire Council to court about its handling of road-safety issues on the rather terrifying stretch of the B4000 for J14 of the M4 to Membury. The background to this is looked at in this separate article.

Mounting any kind of legal action is neither cheap, certain nor stress-free. It’s perhaps akin to embarking on a game of high-stakes poker against an opponent who not only dislikes losing but also has far deeper pockets. The ante for this particular game was £10,000, and this set was raised through an online funding page in less than a week. The next order of business is to see if the Judge who’s currently reviewing the Woodlanders’ case feels that the case is sufficiently strong to go to court. If it is then the players will take their seats at the green baize table and wait for the cards to be dealt.

As the article explains, the immediate trigger for this was two accidents in November that were so similar in nature and location as to suggest that the second was a conscious attempt to re-enact the first (though with one extra vehicle). Looking out of my window as I write this, the dank, dusky November mist has reduced visibility almost to zero. Take great care with any journeys along the notoriously dangerous B4000, particularly in conditions like this.  By the time the clocks go forward next year, not only the visibility but also the legal situation might be a little clearer.

Planning applications in Lambourn

Click here to visit Lambourn.org’s latest (3 December 2022) list of live planning applications in the parish. There are currently 42 of these: some are quite minor and technical while others are anything but, involving demolition and/or construction. If you want to find out more on any of these, follow the links to WBC’s planning portal. If you want to make any comments for or against any proposal, this must be sent to WBC if it’s to be considered by the officers before making a decision: raising the matter on social media won’t accomplish this, no matter how many times your post is liked or shared.

Parish councils are statutory consultees in the planning process and as such look at every application and make their recommendations to the planning authority (WBC in this case). Parishes do not, however, have the power to decide these matters and the planning authority may come to a different conclusion. Members of the public can attend all or part of parish council meetings (except Part 2s, where confidential or commercially sensitive matters are discussed). Visit Lambourn Parish Council’s website for more information on forthcoming meetings. Note that some of the applications on the above-mentioned list will already have been considered by the Council.

Lambourn’s gallop

On 23 November, WBC’s Western Area Planning Committee considered and decided application 21/01097/COMIND for the “construction of woodchip surfaced gallop with rails and associated landscaping and mitigation planting (part retrospective)” at Land at New Barn Farm, Wantage Road, Lambourn, West Berkshire, the applicant being Mr Jamie Osborne. You can see a summary of the application provided as part of the WAPC’s agenda by clicking here and a video of the meeting (this was the only item discussed) by clicking here. The officers – who are, after all, professionals in this matter – strongly recommended refusal. The purpose of the WAPC meeting, the matter having been called in by the ward member, was to see if the members felt differently.

One of the most serious objections was raised by the Forestry Commission as a number of trees had been felled. As planning permission had not been granted when the chainsaws were fired up, this was a case of getting the cart before the horse –not that the horses in Mr Osborne’s care do anything as vulgar as pull carts. This may yet scupper the whole project. The applicant was forced to apologise to WAPC for this oversight. Many of the members appeared to accept that this was genuine: whether it was or wasn’t, it certainly had the desired effect on the committee. The Forestry Commission, however, may be a tougher nut to crack. It has issued a re-stocking notice, which the applicant is appealing. If this fails then the plan as it stands cannot proceed.

As with many planning committee deliberations, much of the discussion involved weighing up the competing claims of various policies. As has happened before, economic and environmental considerations found themselves in opposite corners of the ring. In this case, the former case had a significant ally in the form of WBC’s policy CS12, which supports the local racing industry. When it came to the decision, five of the eight members were convinced by this and voted to go against officers’ recommendations and support the application (with several conditions). Two voted against and one abstained. It’s now up the Forestry Commission to decide what happens next.

Crash bang smash on the B4000

Sadly, the sound of screeching brakes, smashing windscreens and wailing 999 sirens is becoming all too familiar on the stretch of this road that runs (more or less with Roman straightness but with a few alarming bends and dips) from the members Industrial Estate to the A338 just north of J14 of the M4. The whole road all the way to Newbury can be pretty scary: this bit, however, is at times terrifying. There have so far been two major smashes and four written-off vehicles in so far this month. No fatalities, fortunately, though that probably has more to do with the safety features in person-day cars that any safety features on the road; of which there are none.

A local pressure organisation, the Woodlanders’ Protection Group (WPG), has had enough. On 23 November, a spokesperson contacted Penny Post and confirmed that WPG was proposing taking WBC to court and has set up a crowdfunding page to raise the £10,000 that it feels is necessary to fight its corner. The intention, the spokesperson told me, “is to demonstrate unsound planning decisions and to ensure better planning criteria in the future for development at Membury and, indeed, similar sites elsewhere in the district.”

For more information on this, including some hair-raising photos and a link to the crowdfunding page, please click here.

Some tree work has recently been done around the Village Hall car park to remove shade from the panels. The resulting logs next to the steps up to the Millenium Field are free to anyone who wants to help themselves.

Meanwhile, hundreds of new hedge and tree saplings are being planted around the Millenium Field by the East Garston Eco Group volunteers. Last weekend a sixty-metre stretch in the north east corner of the field was planted with a row of native species from the Woodland Trust including rowan, blackthorn, oak and hazel. This will join up the existing hedge around the field creating a valuable wildlife corridor.

The final stage of the planting (about 60 saplings) will happen from 2.45 on Saturday 19 November. Please bring a spade or fork. Gloves are recommended. For more information on this or the group’s activities generally, email ecoeastgarston@gmail.com.

This week we look at Remembrance Sunday services, meeting a councillor, prize bingo, tree planting and a photography competition. We also offer a link to the most recent Vally of the Racehorse e-newsletter in case you missed it last weekend, offer a round of applause to two local companies which are providing solar panels to East Garston’s Village Hall free of charge and take a GDPR-compliant peek inside Lambourn District Councillor Howard Woollaston’s in-box  – plus our usual round-up of other local news, local events and activities and news from your local councils.

This week’s news

• Remembrance Sunday service at St Michael and All Angels in Lambourn begins 10.45am at the War Memorial on Sunday 13 November  followed by 40 minute service in church. All present are invited to the Royal British Legion Club for refreshments.

• Steve Mead is the Parish Councillor for Eastbury and he is holding a ‘Meet your Eastbury Parish Councillor’ drop-in session on Saturday 12 November between 8.30am and 10am at Eastbury Church.

• Prize Bingo comes to Woodlands St. Mary Social Club  on Sunday 13 November at 3pm. Open at 2pm, eyes down at 3pm. Funds raised to be donated to Cancer Research UK.

• Lambourn RDA presents a programme of choral music at St Michael’s Church in Aldbourns on Saturday 19 November at 7.30. Tickets are £10 pp available from The Post Office Aldbourne on the door, or to reserve call 07796 446083

• Lambourn Surgery are holding the final Flu/Covid clinic of the season on Saturday 12 November between 8.30am and 3.45pm at the Surgery, Bockhampton Rd. If you are eligible, no appointment is necessary. For further details see here.

• Chaddleworth and Shefford Schools PTFA have a Winter Fete on Saturday 19 November from 11am to 3pm at Shefford School. Free entry to a variety of local handmade gift stalls, cake and refreshments and even the chance to make your own reindeer food.

• Great news for bus users. Following on from successful free bus travel last Christmas, this Easter and for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, bus journeys starting in West Berkshire, and the return journey if going beyond the West Berkshire border, will be free all day on several allocated days in November and December. As well as being able to get around West Berkshire, free bus travel is available to Reading, Basingstoke and Swindon. For more information click here. As part of this scheme West Berks Council is offering a Free Christmas Shopper Bus Service for villages, including Lambourn Woodlands, that don’t have a public bus service on Saturdays in the run up to Christmas, starting Saturday 19 November. To book your seat and request a shopping destination of your choice, please contact 01635 551111 or email transport@westberks.gov.uk. See here for more details.

• So week two into the new food waste collection scheme and we forgot that the food caddy was collected weekly so we didn’t put it out…hope you did better than us. Luckily we have a home compost as well so a lot can go into that.  Quick reminder that you don’t have to put your food waste in the green bags (it can go straight in the caddy which is easy to rinse out) and the lovefoodhatewaste.com website has great ideas about how you can reduce food waste.

• Quick reminder about support available to get you through the cost of living crisis, including tips on how to reduce your home energy bills. And please watch out for any scams that ask you to click to apply for energy rebates – they all happen automatically.

Panels on the hall

Excellent news that Power-Aid has agreed to supply and install 16 solar panels on East Garston Village Hall/Social Club free of charge to help with their energy overheads. Brett Pallister, MD of Power-Aid, had been speaking with Pat Glover and Alan Breadmore from East Garston Eco Group about donating this generous gift to the village. Further to this, he has since spoken with one of his associates, Jon Bumstead from Neutral Home and persuaded Jon to forego his usual consultancy fee in advising the Hall and Social Club as how best to reduce its emissions and expenditure.

The Valley of the Racehorse

Each month, as many of you in the area know, we publish a newsletter covering the Upper Lambourn Valley (basically, upstream from Shefford and following the B4000 from Shefford Woodlands to Membury). 5 November was the publication for the most recent issue and, as usual, it’s packed with news, features, reports from local organisations, environmental updates, jobs, property and much else besides.

If you didn’t receive it, you can click here to read it.

A councillor’s in-box

Each month, Lambourn ward member Howard Woollaston provides us with his homework in the form of a summary of what has been in his in-box or in-tray in the previous four or five weeks. You can read his latest summary here.

As this post contains all these ward updates going back to June 2020, it’s pretty easy to do a quick search on what words and topics crop up most often. “Planning”, for instance, features 99 times, “speed” (as in traffic) 51 times, “water” 55 times, “Membury” (as in the Industrial Park) 47 times, “B4000” 32 times and “Covid” 26 times. I’d imagine that, allowing for the substitution of local problem areas, any other ward reports (not that I’m are there any remotely as regular or as detailed as Councillor Woollaston’s) would produce similar results.

This month, however, the cost-of-living problems led him to focus on some district-wide measures designed to help alleviate these. As regards ward matters, which is what this is update is usually concerned with, many of the usual suspects put in an appearance with planning, speeding, Membury and the B4000 all getting a mention. Covid was mentioned twice, but only retrospectively. That’s not a word either he or I want to type too many times again: rest assured, however, that if this does return then anything about it which particularly affects Lambourn will be mentioned in these updates.

This week we look at a Lambourn actress, a councillor meeting, a warm welcome and a boot sale. We also issue a final reminder for any contributions for our imminent monthly Valley of the Racehorse e-newsletter and join Lambourn.org in studying the quite long list of undetermined planning applications in Lambourn  – plus our usual round-up of other local news, local events and activities and news from your local councils.

This week’s news

• Lambourn Valley actress Catherine Chalk enjoys her debut role in mainstream cinema in the the film Hilma which will be showing at the Parade Marlborough on Thursday 17th November, before it goes on general release. The Guardian described  her performance as Anna Cassel as “terrific.”

• Penny will be hosting a Rembrance Day show on 4LEGS Radio next Friday 11 November from 9am to 11am. Please call/text her on 07768 981658 or email 4legsradio@gmail.com if you would like to pay tribute to a family member or loved one.

• Steve Mead is the Parish Councillor for Eastbury and he is holding a ‘Meet your Eastbury Parish Councillor’ drop-in session on Saturday 12 November between 8.30am and 10am at Eastbury Church

• We were surprised when we put out our new food caddy out this week by how full it was. By putting all food waste in a separate container, it becomes easier to see what foods you tend to throw away and to adjust shopping, cooking or consumption accordingly. The lovefoodhatewaste.com website has great ideas about how you can reduce food waste.  See here for a reminder of how the new collection works and why it is being introduced. You can put your caddy out every week and you don’t have to put your food waste in the green bags (it can go straight in the caddy which is easy to rinse out).

• Quick reminder about support available to get you through the Cost of Living crisis, including tips on how to reduce your home energy bills. And please watch out for any scams that ask you to click to apply for energy rebates – they all happen automatically.

Seeking approval

Once a month, the excellent Lambourn.org provides a list of all undetermined planning applications in the parish of Lambourn. Here’s the list as of 27 October.

Planning authorities used to send letters to neighbours when an application had been made but now they don’t (or WBC doesn’t, at any rate). Applicants are meant to put orange notices outside the affected properties but sometimes they don’t. The Parish Council will consider all the applications that come before it as a consultee each month but to get a list of these you need to locate the agendas (which are only published a few days before) or go toe the meetings. You can’t go to the WBC planning portal every day just to see if something you might reasonably object to is going up across the road. So, a list like this is really the best way to see what’s happening. Once approval has been granted it will too late to do anything about it.

Note that this list is not subject to rolling updates, so an application validated on 28 October would not feature until the next monthly update. If you want to comment on an application you need to do so by following the instructions on WBC’s planning portal: click on the links on Lambourn.org which will take you to the specific application.

This week we look at photographs, pumpkins, a shopping trip, a new fridge in Shefford and pending planning applications in Lambourn, We also have a couple of first-hand experiences of traffic speeds in Eastbury  – plus our usual round-up of other local news, local events and activities and news from your local councils.

This week’s news

• For all those wanting to enjoy the shopping trip to Cardiff, organised by Eileen Horton, could you please make sure you have paid by the end of Friday 28 October. Wendy at Universal Stores is taking payment.

• The  popular Halloween Trail is back in Lambourn on Monday 31 October commencing 4.30 from the Market Place. Follow the route to find letters that will make a spooky word. To book a place please message Julie on 07840780345. Please bring a pen/pencil. Sweets donated by Market Hair.

• Have you heard of the ‘HallowClean’? It’s a week long initiative set by Tidy Up Britain to help keep or communities clean and tidy. The idea of the HallowClean is that you dress up in your scariest costume and go litter picking with your friends. Kind of like trick or treating but the real treat is a cleaner environment. You can even post #HallowClean with pictures in your costumes to let people know what you’re doing and maybe even more of your friends will want to get involved. Happy HallowClean.

• On Saturday 5 November  at 6.30pm Lambourn Sports Club is hosting the Lambourn festival and community Bonfire party and BBQ. Tickets  are available from Lambourn Universal Stores, Lambourn Sports Club and Lambourn Pharmacy.

•  Quick reminder that the first film matinee and evening showing in East Garston Village Hall will be The Duke starring Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren on Tuesday 1 November. You can pay £6 on the door or £32 for the whole season of 9 films. The matinee screening is at 2.30pm with tea and cake and the evening film at 7.30pm with a cash bar and Nippy Chippy take-away for the interval. See here for the full list of Season 17 films.

• Lambourn Food Hall has relocated its butcher catering department and so has space to offer Lambourn a new retail outlet on the High Street. Nothing will change in the shop at all. The butchery remains the same and so does the fresh food takeaway (see their new hot food take-away menu here), but they are asking locals to suggest what they want most in the village. Make your suggestions on their facebook page. or email Ryan at info@lambournfoodhall.co.uk. So far people have suggested a bakery or a secondhand shop.

• Quick reminder about support available to get you through the Cost of Living crisis, including tips on how to reduce your home energy bills. And please watch out for any scams that ask you to click to apply for energy rebates – they all happen automatically.

Traffic calming

Over the last few years efforts have been made to introduce traffic-calming measures in Eastbury in which local ward member Howard Woollaston has been much involved. Many of the homes there open straight onto the valley road which, at places in the village, is barely wide enough for two cars to pass.

Once proposal was a 20mph speed limit. Councils seem reluctant to introduce these and require considerable supporting evidence. Instead, WBC decided to put some traffic calming measures in place. In his above-mentioned column, Howard Woollaston said he was “very disappointed” with them: certainly they are so small as to be almost invisible. A combination of budget cuts and the fact that the road couldn’t be made any narrower without causing problems for larger vehicles was responsible for this.

I understand that Lambourn PC will shortly be using SIDs to conduct traffic surveys through Eastbury in the hope that this might lead to a 20mph limit. Of course, one can make the limit as low as you like but it still has to be enforced. Who’s going to do that?

Earlier this week Penny and I were driving west through Eastbury at about 9am. At the junction at the bottom of the chute we were nearly driven off the road by a van pulling a trailer which must have been doing 45. A bit further on, a car pulled out of a driveway ahead of us and accelerated away. I kept my speed to under 30: by the time we got to the houses just past The Plough, the car was fast vanishing into the morning mist ahead of us.

The first incident shows that calming measures are needed: the second, though, suggests that if people who actually live in the village (as I imagine this person did) don’t pay attention to the limit, what’s the point?

This week we look at flu (human and bird) and Covid, a Duke in East Garston, a fair and a boot sale: plus our usual round-up of other local news, local events and activities and news from your local councils.

This week’s news

• Click here (and scroll down to Across the area) for news of West Berkshire Council’s Library Service, new food recycling arrangements, a service of thanksgiving, political invective, a paint-recycling initiative and the cost of living hub.

• Sadly bird flu is closer to our area than it has ever been with cases reported in Swindon and Farrington. Lambourn Parish Council have issued the following notification in respect of the alert by Defra on Monday 17 October.

• Lambourn Food Hall has relocated its butcher catering department and so has space to offer Lambourn a new retail outlet on the High Street. Nothing will change in the shop at all. The butchery remains the same and so does the fresh food takeaway (see their new hot food take-away menu here), but they are asking locals to suggest what they want most in the village. Make your suggestions on their facebook page. or email Ryan at info@lambournfoodhall.co.uk. So far people have suggested a bakery or a secondhand shop.

• Season 17 of the Valley Film Society will launch on Tuesday 1 November in East Garston Village Hall with The Duke starring Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren. As well as the normal 7.30pm screening with a cash bar and Nippy Chippy take-away at the interval, there will also be for the first time a matinee showing at 2.30pm with tea, coffee and cake. You can pay £6 on the door per film or join for the whole season of 9 films for £32. See more details here.

• St Michaels and All Angels Christmas Fair will take place on Friday 2 December from 5.30 – 8.30 pm. For all your Xmas gifts, refreshments, mince pies and a raffle what’s not to like? Please contact Amanda Marchant to book a table on Amanda99cats@hotmail.co.uk

• Quick reminder about support available to get you through the Cost of Living crisis, including tips on how to reduce your home energy bills. And please watch out for any scams that ask you to click to apply for energy rebates – they all happen automatically.

• If you want want to book a table at the Christmas Craft Fair on Saturday 19 November at the Memorial Hall, Lambourn please ring Eileen on 01488 73685. All proceeds are going to the community bus to Wantage.

This week we visit the fire station, get ready for Halloween, check out a car boot sale and look forward to the launch of Lambourn’s new youth club on 1 November. We also take a peek into the most recent Valley of the Racehorse e-newsletter and into the Lambourn ward member’s in-tray: plus our usual round-up of other local news, local events and activities and news from your local councils.

This week’s news

• Lambourn Fire Station is holding an Open Morning this Saturday 15 October from 10am to 1pm, giving anyone who is interested in being an On-Call firefighter, the opportunity to have a look around and ask questions to those already in the job. Visitors will get an insight into what it’s like to be an On-call Firefighter at Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service. Guests will be able to see what goes on behind the scenes and ‘have a go’ at trying some firefighting activities yourself. Children and parents alike can watch along as firefighters perform drills. Fire Cadet equipment will also be provided to give young people the chance to have a go alongside their parents.

• It’s that time of year when we celebrate the ghoulish and the spooky, Lambourn Sports Club is getting in on the fun with a Halloween Party on Saturday 29 October at 7.30 pm. Tickets are £5 per adult and children go free and there will be face painting and lots of candy to entertain young and old alike.

• Great Shefford Ladies Group are having a French Night with cheese and wine in the village hall, on Wednesday 19 October from 7.30pm to 9.30pm. Learn some french with Charlotte Victoria Chrimes while enjoying delicious cheese a glass of wine and laughter with friends. Text Nicola on 07766 050175 for how to book.

• Set Michaels and All Angels Christmas Fair will take place on Friday 2 December from 5.30 – 8.30 pm. For all your Xmas gifts, refreshments, mince pies and a raffle what’s not to like? Please contact Amanda Marchant to book a table on Amanda99cats@hotmail.co.uk

• Quick reminder about support available to get you through the Cost of Living crisis, including tips on how to reduce your home energy bills. And please watch out for any scams that ask you to click to apply for energy rebates – they all happen automatically.

• If you want want to book a table at the Christmas Craft Fair on Saturday 19 November at the Memorial Hall, Lambourn please ring Eileen on 01488 73685. All proceeds are going to the community bus to Wantage.

A full in-tray

After a summer recess, ward member Howard Woollaston’s monthly ward update returned last week. You can see this here (as well as all the previous ones).

The work of a ward member often involves fighting the same battles over and over again. Councillor Woollaston’s latest update certainly had a number of old favourites including speeding, the B4000 and the Membury Industrial Estate. Nutrient neutrality, which became an issue when new regulations were introduced for the Lambourn catchment earlier this year and which has had WBC’s planning department slightly tied up in knots ever since, is also an increasingly regular item. No mention of sewage, fortunately: this is more to do with the low groundwater levels than any certainty that all the necessary repairs have been done by Thames Water. He also looks at WBC’s response to the cost-of-living crisis and, once again, praises the work done by Lambourn Junction.

Other items include CIL and members’ bids (the next rounds of both of which are now open for applications), the Lambourn NDP and a new football facility at John O’Gaunt school, which many children in the parish attend. He also takes this opportunity to confirm that he’ll be re-standing for election in May 2023. When the time comes to cast your vote, a glance through the above-mentioned post will tell you some of the things he’s got up to since we started this in June 2020. It might also be of use you’re thinking of a standing against him, as a guide to the kind of things that might one day be in your in-tray. It’s unlikely that many of them are going to go away any time soon.

The Valley of the Racehorse

Our monthly Valley of the Racehorse e-newsletter was published last week and you can click here to read it. As ever, it’s packed with stuff, including…

• A look at some speeding and traffic-calming measures in the valley.
• An introduction to the new youth club which launches on 1 November.
• Local tree-planting initiatives.
• The Valley Film Society’s new season.
• Pat Murphy’s regular racing column.
• News from local schools, charities and voluntary groups.
• A reminder about our prize quiz.
• News and offers from local businesses.
• Events, jobs and properties.
• Some wise words from James Thurber.

As ever, the consideration of planning applications will be one of the main items on the agenda. This month there are five being looked at:

• 22/02052/FUL – Castle piece Stables – Section 73a: Variation of Condition 2 (Approved Plans) of previously approved application 17/01285/FUL: Revised application for an American barn/machinery store.
• 22/02067/FUL – Uplands Bungalow, Upper Lambourn – Construction of arena for horse training.
• 22/02168/HOUSE – 1 Battens Court, Ermin Street, Lambourn Woodlands – Large window opening to east elevation, new rooflights and rear boots room. Action BJ
• 22/02199/HOUSE + 22/.02200/LBC2 – Eastview Cottage, Eastbury – Minor alterations to layout within 20th-century extension to accommodate open plan kitchen and dining area.
• 22/032307/HOUSE – 2 Tubbs Farm Close, Lambourn – Demolish Utility Room and store. Build new Home Office.

If you want to find out more about these in advance of the meeting, click here to visit WBC’s planning portal and then enter the appropriate reference number in the box at he foot of the page.

Planning applications in Lambourn

You’re also advised to keep your eye on the excellent post that’s provided by Lambourn.org which lists all un-determined planning applications is the parish. You can see the most recent one (20 September) by clicking here. This is updated every month or so and there’s a different url each time. If you want to keep updated about what be being built near you, we recommend that you subscribe to Lambourn.org’s newsletters. See the panel on the right of the home page to do this.

You may wonder why there are about 60 applications on this post but that Lambourn Parish Council (LPC) (see section above) is only considering five. This is because some may have already been commented on by LPC while others have yet to be brought before it.

Remember also that LPC is only a consultee in the process. West Berkshire Council is the planning authority and makes the final decision but is obliged to submit applications to the parish or town council and other bodies for their views before determining the matter. At any point, however, you can comment on the application to WBC and your views will be taken into account.

Lambourn Valley’s newsletter

The October Valley of the Racehorse e-newsletter will be published on Saturday 8 October and will, as ever, provide the best round-up of what’s going on in the area bordered by Upper Lambourn, Membury, Shefford Woodlands and East Shefford. You can click here to see September’s issue.

If you’re a usual contributor then you should have received the monthly email reminding you about submitting anything. Anyone else is also free to email penny@pennypost.org.uk if there’s anything you feel should be included. Please send this as soon as possible.

Membury’s change of use

WBC’s Western Area Planning Committee met on 21 September and the first matter was, the consideration of 21/03083/COMIND, the details of which you can see here. This was for a change of use of land use Class B8 (storage and distribution) on a site located to the west of Ramsbury Road, immediately adjacent to, but not within, the designated Protected Employment Area of Membury Airfield Industrial Estate. The application documents submitted advise that the site will be occupied by the applicant as a storage depot for their groundworks contracting business.

The ward member, Howard Woollaston, pointed out that this application was “to replace the time-expired approval consented in 2018” and suggested  a number of reasons why this new application should be refused on the grounds that “much has changed” since then. These included: the considerable expansion of the industrial estate (including 10,000 sq m Walkers distribution unit); the “doubling” of the B4000 traffic, largely as a result of this; the fact that “the whole Membury industrial Estate is recognised by our own Highways officers as being unsustainable with the barest possible level of public transport (one bus a day)”; and issues relating to surface water drainage, already a problem in and near the estate.

He also pointed out that “this site is outside of the Designated Employment Area and is part of the North West Downs AONB: yet since the previous consent expired the applicant has blatantly ignored this fact, removing topsoil and created bunds using heavy machinery, presumably on the assumption that this consent will be approved but without any current planning approval.” On a separate issue, he also doubted whether the application “would generate significant local employment.”

Membury Industrial Estate is, he added, an anomaly dating back to the Second World War and the subsequent use of the disused airfield and is in many ways not in the right place “Nobody in their right minds,” he suggested, “would think of creating a Designated Employment area here if we had a blank sheet of paper today. However, we are where we are…”

He concluded that he could see “absolutely no justification in allowing further industrial development beyond that already designated and the applicant should be required to return the land to its original state through enforcement action if necessary.”

Lib Dem Councillor Adrian Abbs also made the point that it was only by visiting the site that he had been able to get a true sense of the scale of the proposed development and the impact it was likely to have. This site visit was during the previous consideration of the matter by WAPC: as mentioned last week (click here and scroll down to seeing it for yourself), the site visit for this meeting was, oddly, cancelled because the period of royal mourning. This decision seems to send out the message that site visits are not particularly important; in fact, they are.

In the event, a fairly rare blue-green-orange alignment (Councillors Woollaston, Culver and Abbs respectively) against the proposal was not enough to stop the application being passed as the other five members voted in favour. This may not be the end of the matter, however, as I understand that a judicial review is being considered.

Planning applications in Lambourn

Thanks are due to Lambourn.org for having once again pulled together an updated list of applications which are currently active (ie undecided) in the parish of Lambourn. There’s the usual mixed bag ranging from minor changes of use to fairly major home-building projects. Most will be decided by officers. Any which are called in by the ward member or which receive more than 10 objections will go before the above-mentioned Western Area Planning Committee.

There are, once again, rather more of these than usual. Some of these will have been paused because of the uncertainty caused by the nutrient neutrality regulations (introduced in the River Lamnourn catchment area earlier this year), the full implications of which remain uncertain.

This week we look at local respect for the death of the Queen, Covid and flu jabs, good news from Chaddleworth & Shefford schools and a couple of postponements. We also give you a quick run down of what we had in the most recent Valley of the Racehorse newsletter: plus our usual round-up of other local news, local events and activities and news from your local councils.

Note: due to the period of mourning which will end after the Queen’s funeral on Monday 19 September, a number of events and activities may be postponed or cancelled, perhaps at short notice. We have highlighted those that we are aware of but you are advised to check in advance with the organisers.

This week’s news

• Following the Ofsted inspection in June, Chaddleworth St Andrew’s C.E. and Shefford CofE Schools are delighted to announce that they continue to be rated ‘Good’ schools. Headteacher Alison Stephenson would like to thank staff, governors, pupils and parents for their continued support and encourage you to read the full reports on Shefford and Chaddleworth.

• If you are looking for fitness classes check out the new cardio and fitness courses available at The Lambourn Centre. Book via leisurecentre.com or ring 01488 73690. Note that the Lambourn Centre will be closed on Monday 19 September.

• Next Wednesday 21 September there will be a Community Response to the Cost of Living Crisis meeting in Newbury. The aim of the meeting at St John’s Churcho is to coordinate the community response to the looming crisis and develop a network of support hubs across the district. These hubs will provide a warm and comfortable space for residents who are unable to heat their homes as the price of domestic energy spirals, and signpost people to where they can get more support. The meeting will be chaired by a member of the local church community. All welcome. Please book your free place here.

•  The scheduled Elvis Tribute Act, Mike Nova who was due to perform at Lambourn British Legion last weekend has been rescheduled for Tuesday 1 November. Tickets are £5 per member, £7 for non-members and £10 for those who want to chance it and just turn up on the night. Call Elaine on 07984 136090 or email Cathy Brown on brownc1@btinternet.com to make your reservations. And the Legion’s Vintage Tea Party has been moved from Tuesday 20 September to Thursday 22 September at 2.30pm. They hope this will not inconvenience anyone too much.

• Lambourn Food Hall is putting together a WhatsApp group to share all their weekly offers and specials from the shop. If you would like to join the group just text 07749 191509 with your name on WhatsApp and they will add you to their list. It is a business WhatsApp and only admins can post. You can also follow their facebook page here.

• Quick reminder that Covid-19 booster vaccinations are now available from Lambourn Pharmacy. For further details regarding eligibility please click here.

• The Community of Hungerford Theatre Company is bringing its production of  Two to The Walwyn Hall on Friday 23 September. Tickets cost £10 and can be purchased on the door or at hungerfordtheatre.com.

• Lambourn Carnival Committee will celebrate this year’s carnival success with an 80’s Dance Party at the Walwyn Hall on Friday 7 October from 7.30pm to midnight. Come and dance the night away for a cost of £10 per person, (adults only), bringing your own drink and nibbles. Fancy dress is optional and there will be a small prize for the best dancer and the best fancy dress outfit. Ticket details here. (Don’t forget you can see the highlights of this year’s carnival in Penny’s short video here.)

• The new Woodlands St Mary Day Centre in Woodlands St Mary’s Village Hall for local senior citizens is offering taster days on Tuesdays and Thursdays in September with official five day a week opening from Monday 3 October. For more details please see their facebook page here or contact enquiries@wsmdc.co.uk or 07547 684040.

This week we look at local respect for the death of the Queen, road closure in Eastbury, a good Ofsted inspection and a WhatsApp group. We’ve also taken a close look at the cost-of-living support available in the valley and drawn your attention to the forthcoming Valley of the Racehorse e-newsletter. There’s also our usual round-up of other local news, local events and activities and news from your local councils.

This week’s news

• Following the Ofsted inspection in June, Chaddleworth St Andrew’s C.E. and Shefford CofE Schools are delighted to announce that they continue to be rated ‘Good’ schools. Headteacher Alison Stephenson would like to thank staff, governors, pupils and parents for their continued support and encourage you to read the full reports on Shefford and Chaddleworth.

• Reminder that Front Street in Eastbury will be closed between 8am and 4pm from Monday 12 September for up to five days. This is to perform the necessary work on creating the speed-reduction measures for the village. See details on West Berks road closure map (select 2 week view).

• This Saturday 10 September, the Lambourn British Legion is hosting the popular Elvis tribute act, Mike Nova. Tickets are £5 per member, £7 for non-members and £10 for those who want to chance it and just turn up on the night. Call Elaine on 07984 136090 or email Cathy Brown on brownc1@btinternet.com to make your reservations. And the Legion’s Vintage Tea Party has been moved from Tuesday 20 September to Thursday 22 September at 2.30pm. They hope this will not inconvenience anyone too much.

• Lambourn Food Hall is putting together a WhatsApp group to share all their weekly offers and specials from the shop. If you would like to join the group just text 07749 191509 with your name on WhatsApp and they will add you to their list. It is a business WhatsApp and only admins can post. You can also follow their facebook page here.

• Quick reminder that Covid-19 booster vaccinations are now available from Lambourn Pharmacy. For further details regarding eligibility please click here.

• Congratulations to Saddleback Farm Shop for celebrating their 10 year anniversary this Saturday 10 September with family friendly festivities to enjoy. See details on their facebook page here.

• Looking for an equine bargain? Henrietta Knight is holding another of her popular surplus tack and equipment auctions….on Sunday 11 September at West Lockinge Farm. For further details click here.

• Lambourn Sports Club is hosting An Evening with Dan Windass on Thursday 15 September. Doors open at 7pm and tickets, which include a fish and chip supper, cost £30 per person. Contact Kerry Prior on facebook for tickets.

• The Community of Hungerford Theatre Company is bringing its production of  “TWO” to The Walwyn Hall on Friday 23 September. Tickets cost £10 and can be purchased on the door or at hungerfordtheatre.com.

• Lambourn Carnival Committee will celebrate this year’s carnival success with an 80’s Dance Party at the Walwyn Hall on Friday 7 October from 7.30pm to midnight. Come and dance the night away for a cost of £10 per person, (adults only), bringing your own drink and nibbles. Fancy dress is optional and there will be a small prize for the best dancer and the best fancy dress outfit. Ticket details here. (Don’t forget you can see the highlights of this year’s carnival in Penny’s short video here.)

• The new Woodlands St Mary Day Centre in Woodlands St Mary’s Village Hall for local senior citizens is offering taster days on Tuesdays and Thursdays in September with official five day a week opening from Monday 3 October. For more details please see their facebook page here or contact enquiries@wsmdc.co.uk or 07547 684040.

•  The Vine and Craven Hunt have organised a Fun Ride for all the family on Sunday 11 September at 10am. It will cover approximately 10 miles of the Lambourn Downs, with shorter routes and jumps available to suit a variety of skill levels. Each rider will of course receive a rosette for their efforts. Entries to be submitted here.

Support in the Valley

The cost-of-living crisis is certainly staring to bite and, now the nights are drawn in, will do so even more.

In this post, we’ve taken a look at the main issues and highlighted the national and regional responses. We’ve also drilled down to a hyper-local level and looked at some of the support groups available in the Upper Lambourn Valley, as well as talking to some of the businesses which are affected by the crisis and doing their best to fight back.

This week we look at scarecrows, recycling. firefighters and Elvis and cover a long-running issue involving CIL payments and the way these are enforced. There’s also our usual round-up of other local news, local events and activities and news from your local councils.

This week’s news

• This Bank Holiday Sunday 28 August, Lambourn will be holding their 50th post-war carnival parade. Here is the route map so drivers please be patient and understanding if marshalls ask you to wait. Lambourn Carnival has waited a long time during lockdown to celebrate village life again, we wish all watching and taking part a fabulous time. This is a huge achievement when many bigger towns haven’t managed to keep their carnivals going. To honour this occasion, for the first time ever the church bells will ring when the parade leaves the assembly field at 5pm. There is still time to enter a last-minute walking, equine or motorised float into the parade: please download entry form here.

• There’s also still time to get your Carnival raffle tickets for the chance to win 1st prize of £200 and many other fabulous prizes from our local traders including a family joint of Rooksnest beef, tea for two at Blandy’s, morning on the gallops for two at Signy’s yard plus vouchers from the High Street shops and the market traders, bottles of fizz, vodka and wine. Profits help to pay for Carnival expenses and support local groups and organisations. Buy your tickets at Universal Stores or see the carnival committee in the market square on Friday and Saturday.

• The Royal British Legion in Lambourn is already turning its attention to an autumn menu of entertainment. First up on Saturday 10 September, is the much acclaimed Elvis tribute act, Mike Nova. Tickets are £5 per member, £7 for non-members and £10 for those who want to chance it and just turn up on the night. Call Elaine on 07984 136090 or email Cathy Brown on brownc1@btinternet.com to make your reservations.

• Good news that many West Berks busses now offer an all day Connect Group Bus Ticket for up to 4 people (any combination of adults and children) for £10 (urban fare) or £15 (rural fare). These tickets can be bought from the bus driver or via the Newbury & District app on your phone (which also shows in real time where each bus is on its journey so you know how long you have to wait).

•  The Vine and Craven Hunt have organised a Fun Ride for all the family on Sunday 11 September at 10am. It will cover approximately 10 miles of the Lambourn Downs, with shorter routes and jumps available to suit a variety of skill levels. Each rider will of course receive a rosette for their efforts. Entries to be submitted here.

• Although any mention of Christmas might seem like madness, we all know that as soon as the kids are back at school, it seems to rear it’s annual head. Should you be interested in a Christmas shopping trip this year to Cardiff, please ring Eileen on 01488 73685, to secure your place. There are only 9 places left.

• There is still time to enter Lambourn Festival’s competitions including the Scarecrow Competition and the Chalk Drawing Competition (collect free chalk sets from the Lych Gate in the Market Square on Friday and Saturday mornings) to be judged on Saturday 27 August. See here for more details. You can also test your knowledge of Lambourn by entering this year’s photo competition. Print the form off here or pick one up from Universal Stores.

• Advance warning that Front Street in Eastbury will be closed between 8am and 4pm from Monday 12 September for up to five days. This is to perform the necessary work on creating the speed-reduction measures for the village. Click here for more information.

• Great Shefford Ladies Group are hosting a mouthwatering blackberry and apple crumble making event on Wednesday 14 September in Great Shefford Village Hall. All ingredients will be supplied, and whether you fancy yourself as a Masterchef, or an absolute beginner,  everyone is welcome. A cost of £10 per person will be donated to Great Shefford Under Fives. Contact Nicola Liddiard on Great Shefford Villagers Facebook page

This week we look at rubbish, the carnival, a road closure and a fun fair as well as our usual round-up of other local news, local events and activities and news from your local councils.

This week’s news

• Quick reminder about the new Mini Recycling Centre (MRC) in the overflow carpark opposite The Queen’s Arms in East Garston. What is an MRC, you may ask? It’s where you can take stuff to recycle that isn’t collected kerbside by the council: namely plastic pots, tubs and trays (which often are included in the plastic bottles and cans kerbside bag but shouldn’t be as it costs taxpayers’ money to get them separated out and then they are put into the black bin waste stream instead of being recycled)  The nearest other MRC is in Hungerford so this will save a lot of driving for Lambourn Valley residents. For more details see West Berks Council’s website. See more here about East Garston Eco Group which has supported the installation of the MRC.

• There is still time to enter Lambourn Festival’s competitions including the Scarecrow Competition and the Chalk Drawing Competition (collect free chalk sets from the Lych Gate in the Market Square on Friday and Saturday mornings) to be judged on Saturday 27 August. See here for more details. You can also test your knowledge of Lambourn by entering this year’s photo competition. Print the form off here or pick one up from Universal Stores.

• Advance warning that Front Street in Eastbury will be closed between 8am and 4pm from Monday 12 September for up to five days. This is to perform the necessary work on creating the speed-reduction measures for the village. Click here for more information.

• Great Shefford Ladies Group are hosting a mouthwatering blackberry and apple crumble making event on Wednesday 14 September in Great Shefford Village Hall. All ingredients will be supplied, and whether you fancy yourself as a Masterchef, or an absolute beginner,  everyone is welcome. A cost of £10 per person will be donated to Great Shefford Under Fives. Contact Nicola Liddiard on Great Shefford Villagers Facebook page

This week we look at a new mini recycling centre, 30 years in the Pharmacy, some municipal rebukes, hare coursing and the forthcoming festival. We also draw your attention to the recently published Valley of the Racehorse e-newsletter and provide our usual round-up of other local news, local events and activities and news from your local councils.

This week’s news

• If you missed our August Lambourn Valley Penny Post on Saturday please see it here.

• Due to the heat, the fruit and veg stall regretfully won’t be at the Lambourn market this Friday as their produce won’t survive but all the other stalls will be.

• August 2022 marks a landmark anniversary for pharmacist Graham Jones. It is 30 years since northerner Graham, and his wife Julie clapped eyes on the Lambourn Valley and etched a pivotal place for both his family and his business. Penny Post caught up with Graham to reflect on his time in West Berkshire. Click here to read the full story.

• The long-awaited thing that has come to East Garston is West Berkshire’s first rural Mini Recycling Centre (MRC) in the overflow carpark opposite The Queen’s Arms. What is an MRC, you may ask? It’s where you can take stuff to recycle that isn’t collected kerbside by the council: namely plastic pots, tubs and trays (which often are added to plastic bottles kerbside but shouldn’t be as it costs taxpayers’ money to get them separated out and then they are put into the black bin waste stream instead of being recycled) and small broken electric appliances. In due course you will also be able to take clothing, scrap textiles, tetrapaks and pringles-style tubes to the MRC. Huge thanks to Sue and Freddie Tulloch for allowing the use of their land for this facility. Please respect their generosity by ensuring the area is kept tidy when depositing recylable materials. The nearest other MRC is in Hungerford so this will save a lot of driving for Lambourn Valley residents. For more details see West Berks Council’s website. See more here about East Garston Eco Group which has supported the installation of the MRC.

•  A reminder that on Saturday 20 August Lambourn Sports Club will be hosting its annual Show and Fete and this is the last chance to enter a host of categories, including one for the young gardeners, sponsored by Lambourn’s award-winning grower Robert Read, which is looking for the longest runner bean and the funniest, or wonkiest vegetable. For those without green fingers, there are handicraft and baking categories to enter. Entry forms can be found here (or hard copies from Universal Stores). Entry deadline is Friday 12 August. Given the clement weather, perhaps there might be some lemons grown in the valley this year.

• Lambourn Festival‘s event schedule kicks off this weekend with Picnic on the Porch on Saturday 13 August  You can also enter the Scarecrow Competition and collect free chalk sets from the Lych Gate in the Market Square on Friday and Saturday mornings to enter the Chalk Drawing Competition to be judged on Saturday 27 August. See here for more details including how to enter the Lambourn Carnival Parade.

• Advance warning that Front Street in Eastbury will be closed between 8am and 4pm from Monday 12 September for up to five days. This is to perform the necessary work on creating the speed-reduction measures for the village. Click here for more information.

• On Tuesday 16 August from 2.30pm to 4.30pm, the Royal British Legion in Lambourn will be holding a Vintage Tea Party. The cost is £4 per person and all proceeds will be donated to MacMillan Cancer Research.

• Attention all stargazers: the peak of the Perseids meteor shower over the UK will be this Friday night, into the small hours of Saturday morning. With the warm weather we’ve been having, there’s a good chance of great viewing conditions, unobstructed by clouds or rain. However it will be competing with the light of a full moon, which may affect visibility. The best place to view the showers are wide open spaces, away from the light pollution of towns and urban areas. According to Steve from Newbury Astronomical Society, the meteors will appear to radiate from a point in the sky in the north. They will radiate across the whole sky from this point. So look anywhere except towards the full moon.

• As soon as crops are harvested, there is a risk that hare coursing will start on local farmland. Hopefully new legislation passed at the beginning of August will help police crack down on it. We have done a quick summary of the problem and what you should do if you witness it.

• Lambourn Parish Council is preparing a Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) for the Parish. As part of this process, following feedback from public consultations, the Parish Council is undertaking a “Call for Sites” to identify land which has potential for new housing up to 2036. The NDP is seeking appropriate sites for 25 new dwellings over the plan period. Sites for up to 65 houses have previously been allocated by West Berkshire Council. See here for how to have your say on where new houses should go. The deadline is noon on Wednesday 31 August.

The Valley of the Racehorse

The August Valley of the Racehorse newsletter was published last week and you can click here to read it if you didn’t get it. Here’s a selection of what it included:

• A appeal to save Lambourn’s last remaining phone box.
• Local trainer Pat Murphy’s regular racing column.
• Lambourn district councillor member Howard Woollaston’s regular monthly ward update.
• A chat with Great Shefford’s home-brew beer champion Steve Folland.
• News from local schools, community groups and charities.
• The latest on the forthcoming Lambourn Carnival.
• Events, jobs and property.
• And, to finish with, some wise words from golden-age Hollywood producer Adolph Zukor.

See below for red pigs, skatepark repairs, an Aberdeen legend on 4LEGS and the continuing challenges posed by the government’s recent nutrient neutrality regulations – plus  our usual round-up of other local news, local events and activities and news from your local councils..

This week’s news

• Frustration for everyone at the Lambourn end of the valley as mobile signal and broadband have both been down – makes you realise how dependent we are on them, especially card machines in shops and the systems that local businesses and the pharmacy and surgery rely on. Apparently it’s something at Membury to do with Open Reach who conveniently are on strike not only on Friday 29 July but on Monday 1 August too. So if you aren’t reading this, that’s why…

• Great Shefford’s red pigs are back. The tradition of hiding 14 candy filled red pigs around the village has finally been revived, having been interrupted by lockdown so look out for them over the summer holidays. Each little pig contains a sweet treat and a sheet of paper for the finder to write their name on. Once found, the organisers ask that a fresh wrapped sweet (for health and safety reasons) is placed in the pig and re-hidden for another child to find. The pigs are now a little battered from their adventures, so it is requested that hiders and seekers are mindful of this and offer some TLC when handling them.

• Lambourn’s much loved skatepark in The Cricket Field will be undergoing a much anticipated refurb in the coming week. As a result the area will be fenced off  until Tuesday 2 August. Although a tad frustrating for now, at least it will be ready for all those budding skate enthusiasts to enjoy for the rest of the summer.

• There is still time to have your say on West Berkshire Council’s Bus Improvement Plan. It is vital they hear from passengers and potential passengers to ensure they are meeting needs. Please take the survey before midnight this Sunday 31 July.

• Something long-awaited is coming to East Garston that will benefit the whole Lambourn Valley. More details to follow next week…

• There are 20 places available on the free suicide awareness course on Tuesday 16 August from 11.30am to 3pm at The Memorial Hall in Lambourn. Although mental health is thankfully much more talked about these days, suicide still accounts for an alarming number of deaths particularly in young men. This free course offers some meaningful pointers for employers and colleagues to recognise the signs and symptoms that someone may be on the brink of taking their own life, and offers credible interventions. Click here to book your place.

• The Five Bells in Wickham had a very successful launch of its new outdoor Braai cooking facility last Saturday showcasing this South African ultimate BBQ. Definitely worth checking out this summer and the next Braai dates to put in the diary are Friday 19 August with same menu for those that couldn’t make the first event and Bank Holiday Braai on Bank Holiday Monday 29 August with live music from local group Neon & Atlas.

• There are pitches available at Aldbourne car boot sale on Sunday 31 July from 10am until noon at the Football Field.  Each seller is asked to arrive at 9.30am and will be charged a fee of £5 which will be donated to Aldbourne Youth Club. See more details here.

• Would you like to get away from it all for a few hours each week? Nutwood Organics at Sheepdrove is looking for volunteers to join its Community Supported Agricultural Project to help maintain the vegetable beds and learn what it means to grow organic – and in exchange you get delicious, fresh veg. We have friends who volunteer there and absolutely love it. If you would like to get involved please text Kasia on 07723 304420 or email her on  NutwoodOrganics@gmail.com You can also contact her to order your green veg box and salad bag for delivery in the Lambourn Valley.

• To enter a walking, vehicle or equine float in this year’s Lambourn Carnival parade on Sunday 28 August please see all the information you need hereincluding float categories, entry form and also the schedule of all the festival events and competitions leading up to the big day.

• A quick reminder that Lambourn Surgery Patient Participation Group’s July newsletter highlights three particular areas of concern; the prevalence of Covid in the valley, the prospective autumn booster programme and the importance of the early diagnosis and detection of cancers. Read the full text here.

• Whether you attend church regularly or not, East Garston PCC invite you to peruse its latest Annual Report. It is an easy read and provides insight into how the church is organised and the building maintained and includes information about the team of abseilers which was recruited to inspect the condition of the tower.

• Trindledown Animal Welfare Trust in Great Shefford is in desperate need of donations of fresh veg for its guinea pigs, rabbits, pigs and tortoises. it needs salad leaves, spring greens, parsley, mint, coriander, sage, cucumber, courgette, swede, broccoli and celery.

• Do you have a friendly nature? The ability to chat with people easily? Good listening skills and knowledge of your local area? Local charity Eight Bells is currently looking to recruit Community Navigator Volunteers in Greenham to provide community support, with a focus on looking after mental health and reduce social isolation. Volunteers will be fully trained and by giving as little as two hours a week you could make a huge difference in someone’s life. Please click here to find out more.

• An update on the Lambourn Neighbourhood Development Plan is available here.

• Quick reminder about the Lambourn Flower and Produce Show on Saturday 20 August. With a heap of different classes for you to enter into and at only 20p per entry, there is bound to be something you can have a good shot at. Entry forms can be found here and must be submitted by 12 August. See more information here.

The 21 July letter from Whitehall mentioned “two significant measures in response to the nutrient pollution issue.” One of these is a nutrient mitigation scheme by which Nutrient credits can be purchased by developers which will then fund mitigation projects such as reed beds (which help remove phosphates).  This may be in place by the autumn: a pretty rapid roll-out by government standards. The other is the obvious and long-overdue matter of getting water companies to improve their networks by placing “a new statutory duty on water and sewerage companies in England to upgrade wastewater treatment works to the highest technically achievable limits by 2030 in nutrient neutrality areas.” The government can pass as many laws as it likes but the question is whether they’ll be enforced properly. Enforcement so far has been woeful. Indeed, the more bits of legislation there are to address a particular issue, the more likely it is that the laws aren’t working. 

Football on 4 LEGS

4LEGS Radio’s new Football Season Show launches this Saturday 30 July between 10am and noon. Join Chris Capel and other football fans who think they know it all as they preview the new football season with special guests Pat Chambers, Chairman of Hungerford Town FC and Willy Garner, who played for Aberdeen and was assistant Manager to Alex Ferguson from 1984 to 1986 when they won five major honours. Willy is now on the board of directors at Aberdeen. In addition to previewing the new season, the panel will discuss the Women’s Euro 2022 and the wonderful  Lionesses who play in the final on Sunday. They’ll also be talking about the men’s team chances of winning the World Cup at Qatar in December – one can always hope…

• If you missed Penny’s fascinating show last week on 4LEGS radio about local UFO sightings in the Lambourn Valley and the Pentagon’s current admission of unidentified aerial phenomena, listen here (from 1 minute).