Dates to Remember
| Fri 10 Jan | Preston Village Society Christmas Party – Village Hall – 7.00pm |
| Wed 15 Jan | Parish Council – Village Hall – 8.00pm |
| Jan / Feb | Open Gardens Photo Show – Village Hall – date / time to be arranged |
Your Newsletter
Princess Helena College have kindly been printing this newsletter for the last 25 years. Many thanks the them and especially Liz Madden for all their efforts
Don’t worry – it’s not the end of the newsletter as Preston Trust are now taking on the job. One plus point is that the deadline for contributions will be extended by a few days.
Preston News Service (PNS)
The Preston Trust (who operate the PNS) has been experiencing some problems with the e‑mail service used to provide the PNS. Hopefully by the time you read this newsletter we will be operating a normal service using a new e-mail provider. Hence the PNS has a new e-mail address – pns@theprestontrust.org.uk
Existing subscribers should receive an update message, and in the event of any further problems we will also put a note on the Preston web site. To subscribe to the PNS, or find out more about it, please use the contact form on the website by following the link from the homepage, or send us an e-mail.
Preston Village Society
Please make a note in your diary for our Christmas Party which will be held on Friday 10 January at 7 p.m. in the Village Hall. Details will be sent by email or on a flier.
Phone And Broadband Issues
The Parish Council intend to lobby both BT and Open Reach to try to get some of the issues which affect Preston residents resolved. In order to do this, as much information as possible is required to be able to make a case. It would be helpful if any resident who has had, or is having, serious issues with their phone and broadband could send details to Margaret Trinder: email trinderm@btinternet.com or 01462 435339 by Monday 13 January so that appropriate letters can be written.
Letters from the Parish Council will address the overall issues in Preston. Residents should continue to report any individual problems they have to their provider and claim compensation.
St Martin’s Church And All Saints’ Church Services
| January | Service | Sidesman | Reader | |
| 5th | 10.00am | Parish Communion | Liz Hunter | Jenny Mason & Mike Kellard |
| Isaiah 60:1-6, RCL p.38, Ephesians 3:1-12 Gospel:Matthew 2:1-12 Intercessions: Dawn Jenkins Chalice: Dawn Jenkins | ||||
| 12th | 9.30am | Holy Communion | Malcolm Lowle | Hugh Reeves |
| Acts 10:34-43, RCL p.44 Gospel:Matthew 3:13-end Intercessions: Alec Dickinson Chalice: Alec Dickinson | ||||
| 11.00am | Holy Communion at All Saints’ | |||
| 19th | 8.00am | BCP, at All Saints’ | ||
| 9.30am | Holy Communion | Andy Cole | Sue Griffiths | |
| 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, RCL p.47 Gospel:John 1:29-42 Intercessions: Angela Fielding Chalice: Carolyn Hill | ||||
| 11.00am | Family Praise at All Saints’ | |||
| 26th | 9.30am | Holy Communion | Richard Blockley | Paul Constantinidi |
| 1 Corinthians 1:10-18, RCL p.57 Gospel:Matthew 4:12-23 Intercessions: Doreen Sansom Chalice: Di Blockley | ||||
| 11.00am | Holy Communion at All Saints’ | |||
| February | ||||
| 2nd | 10.00am | Parish Communion | Paul Constantinidi | Fran Bowes-Lyon & Hugh Reeves |
| Malachi 3:1-5, RCL p.60, Hebrews 2:14-end Gospel:Luke 2:22-40 Intercessions: Dawn Jenkins Chalice: Chalice:Dawn Jenkins | ||||
Church cleaning at St Martin’s.
Every first Tuesday of the month at 4.00pm.
Advent Course continuing into Epiphany
Come and join us for a fun and lively discussion, as we meet over three weeks on a Wednesday afternoon from 2-3.00pm followed by tea and biscuits! Do come even if you missed the December meetings!
| January 8th | @ 50, Horn Hill |
| January 15th | @ Crunnells Green House, Preston |
| January 29th | @ the vicarage |
Carols At The Red Lion
Thank you to everyone who supported this event on 20 December 2019 which raised £260 for Garden House Hospice
A Letter from Our Vicar
The Vicarage, Whitwell SG4 8HX. 01438-871121. Email: slfielding@hotmail.com
A New Year arrives and the world moves on. Perhaps, like me, you will look back and see what happened last year; or you will look ahead and wonder what 2020 will bring. Either way, you will be looking – using your eyes in the search for something.
The Christmas story is not only about the birth of Jesus. It also includes the story of wise men or kings who came from afar looking for Jesus. They found him: and in January the church celebrates this wonderful showing of Jesus to the world – his ‘Epiphany’ as we call it. We shall celebrate the Epiphany on Sunday, 5 January, and we shall remind ourselves that Jesus remains available and open to all, however far away they may currently be from him.
What we look for we find, and what we focus on grows. I firmly believe this. Over the last few weeks we have been looking at a little book called Looking and Longing. It is about our search for God, and for the God who comes in Jesus. If you would like to join us, we meet on Wednesday afternoons at 2 pm for an hour. In searching for God and in looking for Jesus, we also find that we discover a little more about ourselves and about others.
In wishing you a very happy New Year, may I hope that your own looking and searching will be fruitful and life-giving in the year ahead.
Every blessing
Stephen
St Martin’s Church 120 Club Draw 2019/2020
The winners in the December draw in the 2019/20 120 Club (£30 each) include, as in previous Decembers, an extra ticket from those who have not won in the past 5 years:
No. 69 Mrs M Trinder
No. 95 Mrs S S Healey
No. 63 Mr D Keast
Open Gardens Day – Sunday 24th May – The 29th Year!
The second Bank Holiday Sunday in May as usual. Many of our lovely Preston Gardens will be open to admiring visitors again. If you have never opened your garden before but would quite like to this year, we will be delighted to hear from you. Do remember that visitors are looking for variety rather than perfection and ‘wild’ areas can be just as interesting as designer borders!
Liz 433859, Pam 422315 or Meta 456567
Neighbourhood Watch
The number to contact at North Herts Police for all non-emergencies (including witnessing of fly-tipping) is 101 or 01707 354000.
For removal of fly tipping which has already occurred, call NHDC 01462 474000 or online at www.north-herts.gov.uk, then follow the links to Transport and Streets, Street Cleaning and Fly Tipping where there is a form to complete to report the details.
PC Johnie Streeter and PCSO Heather Burrows can be contacted regarding local community issues. Their contact details are as follows:
PC Johnie Streeter: 07525 905431 or 01438 757604 Johnie.streeter@herts.pnn.police.uk
PCSO Heather Burrows: 07740 745168 or 01438 757604 or heather.burrows@herts.pnn.police.uk
In the event of an emergency or if you witness a crime taking place please call 999.
Register with the OWL System
Keep up to date with what’s going on in your neighbourhood by signing up to the OWL System (Online Watch Link). Information about crime, the latest crime prevention advice and local community news is sent by email from Herts Police.
Visit www.owl.co.uk for further information or email the Watch Liaison Officer at WLO@herts.pnn.police.uk.
Details are also available on the Neighbourhood Watch page of the Preston Village website at www.prestonvillageherts.com.
2019 Open Gardens Photo Show
To bring some spring sunshine into the parish a selection of the photographs from Preston Gardens Open and Flower Festival 2019 is now available to view on the Preston website. To visit follow the links from the homepage www.prestonvillageherts.com
We are planning a second showing of the complete set of the photographs sometime in January or February. It will be free, at the Village Hall with tea, coffee and shortbread. As with the June 2019 showing – the photos will be projected on the big screen in a repeating loop so come along at any point and stay as long as you like without missing the start (or end).
To help us plan and so we can keep you posted with the details of day and time, please register your interest with Liz – phone: 433859, use the contact form (and we will forward your message) or leave a note in the porch at Rose Cottage on Chequers Lane.
Christmas Tree Lights 2019
A big Thank You to everyone who helped set up the tree, provide refreshments, and entertain us with carols and festive song. Nina and Louis won the drawing and poetry competitions at the primary school and did the honours of turning on the lights.
You may have noticed the lights were off for a few days and now look different – thank you to the tree team for turning out to replace the faulty set of lights.
Instead of the barrel planter used in previous years we now have a tractor wheel rim! A very special thank you to David and Jane Clark who have kindly donated it to replace the perished planter. At short notice, they hunted around their barns until they found something to use. It looks great, recycles an unused piece of equipment and is appropriate for our rural setting.