Old Basing

There is still time to enter St Mary’s Church Christmas Tree Festival which will be held on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th December. The theme this year is Comfort and Joy. As the trees will be displayed outside in the church grounds, the decorations and trees will need to be weather proof and firmly anchored to the ground with lights that are battery operated. Full details of how to enter can be found on the church’s Facebook page.

On St Mary’s Facebook page there is also a plea for knitted angels for the Christmas Tree Festival with a knitting pattern that can be down loaded. This is a quick and easy project for the more experienced knitter or a great way for those who are new to knitting to practice their skills as the instructions are clear and simple to follow.

The recent Scarecrow Trail followed in October by a Pumpkin Trail proved to be a popular way to celebrate village and seasonal events without breaking any government safety guidelines. The next trail to look forward to is one being organised by FOOBS (Friends of Old Basing Schools) to be called a Winter Wonderland Trail. If you would like to decorate a window in a suitably festive way to be included in the trail please contact the organisers. Type F.O.O.B.S into your search engine to access the contact details.

Elspeth Lee

Hatch Warren and Beggarwood

LIDL: Hatch Warren’s new grocery store is advertising its intention to open on Thursday of next week (3rd December). The store is situated on the Hatch Warren retail park, where Argos used to be. The company has made changes to the parking arrangements to complement the new shop. The opening will mean that every unit in the retail park is occupied.

VISION FOR SOUTH WEST: the Borough Council is inviting comments on its draft vision document, which can be accessed through its website or this link: https://www.basingstoke.gov.uk/visionM3-j7-land. The aim of the vision is to guide early discussions and help to set the direction for future planning policy which will emerge as the new Basingstoke and Deane Local Plan is developed. Although the fields that may be developed lie outside Hatch Warren and Beggarwood, the impacts will certainly affect our area.

DISTRIBUTION DEPOT: the planning application for the distribution depot at Oakdown Farm has been modified and residents are invited to comment on the revised application.

CCTV FOR BEGGARWOOD: the Community Association is attempting to raise £1500 to install CCTV cameras at the Café in the Park, to deter and possibly catch the vandals who have have been attacking it. At the moment they are just short of one third of the way there.

CHRISTMAS MARKET: the Community Association has rescheduled the date of its Christmas market to 13th December between 12:00 noon and 4pm. If it can go ahead, this will be a welcome dose of normality in a year that has been so cruelly disrupted. The Association is trying its hardest to make this happen, but may still be thwarted if restrictions make it impossible.

Stephen Reid

Silchester

CHURCHES our Parish Church continues with the Zoom services at 10.00am and the Methodist service starts at 10.30am. Everyone is welcome to join our groups, just listen in.

SILCHESTER calendar is now on sale with a great selection of super photo taken in and around Silchester and well worth £10 per copy. Please order by email from 2021calendar@silchesterchurch.co.uk soon. These have a tough envelope for posting safely.

ANOTHER CALENDAR Sandi Smithers has produced an African Calendar, with photographs of her trip to the Masai Mara – cycling some 320km - plus some of her own very beautiful paintings. To order one please contact Sandi on 9700394 to get all details. They cost £10.

CHERRY TREES NURSERY has some places available for children from their 2nd Birthday to the start of main school. Contact www.impstonepreschool.co.uk

LOCKDOWN has it ended/changed/or what? We all look forward to Christmas and meeting family & friends and hopefully being able to attend a Carol Service. News for all of us soon. Silchester now has new personal carol! Words, music and orchestration by Robin Scott who lives in our village. We await news of the Premiere of this lovely carol.

Nancy Jones

Chineham

Last week, residents were reminded about the closing of the footpath beside Great Binfields Primary School. People wishing to make use of the path should be aware that, despite the large signage, the work has now been postponed until 2021. We shall try to keep abreast of this situation.

Given the newly re-imposed stronger restrictions on social distancing, Chineham WI had to abandon their planned meet-up at Conkers garden centre.

They are, however, now going to Zoom in to the digital age and apart from a meeting in November, are planning a grand Christmas party via Zoom. The party will involve the provision of own refreshments and party hat, and a fun time is promised for all.

Chineham Village Club remain hopeful that following the end of the formal lockdown they will still be able to hold their planned Christmas bingo on Monday, the 14 December. The members-only event will have limited places and so will need to be pre-booked at the club or by calling 01256 471982. On Christmas Day they plan to be open between 11:30 and 15:00. They will again be admitting members only and require pre-booking.

Local councillors have voted on funding some community facility improvements and upgrades. These include refurbishment of the community toilets at Four Lanes Junior School, extra solar panels for the village hall, car park lighting at the village hall and car park lighting at Christ Church together with improved surfacing.

Fiona Biermann

Kempshott

The Down Grange car park is closed from 10pm to 8am every day. Kempshott Methodist Church has their Sunday 10.30am service online and a fellowship meeting every Wednesday morning. www.basingstokereadingmethodists.uk/churches/kempshott

St Mark’s is open for individual private prayer 10am till 1pm each Tuesday. Services are online at https://www.saint marks.org.uk/saintmarksathome.htm

Diana Manville

South Ham

Sandringham Court after being left empty and neglected for the past 6 years has finally been demolished. The construction on the site of 13 flats to be let at affordable rents to Basingstoke people on the housing register should start in January 2021.

Bus Services: The no 3 bus will continue to run to its normal timetable during the lockdown. The timetable maybe reviewed if the lockdown continues past 2nd December.

Bin Collections: During the lockdown the grey bins will continue to be collected on a weekly basis. The green bins will as usual be collected fortnightly. All bins will be collected on their usual day.

South Ham/Berg Estate Councillors are still unable to hold Surgeries or face-face meetings due to the Covid-19 crisis. However, if you require the assistance of a Councillor please contact Cllr Colin Regan on 07796225618, Cllr Gary Watts on 07738710518 and Stephanie Grant on 07786512226.

Colin Regan