Dates to Remember
| Sat 6 Oct | Community Book Swap – Village Hall – 10.00-11.00am |
| Sat 13 Oct | Sausage Festival – The Red Lion – from 3.00pm |
| Mon 15 Oct | First Aid Training – Primary School – 7.00pm |
| Wed 17 Oct | Preston Village Society – Windrush – 8.00pm |
| Wed 24 Oct | Parish Council – Village Hall – 8.00pm |
| Sat 27 Oct | Autumn Litter Pick – Village Green – 10.00-12.00am |
| Sat 3 Nov | Fireworks – The Red Lion – 7.00pm |
Preston Neighbourhood Plan
The Preston Neighbourhood Plan must adhere to the policies of the North Hertfordshire Local Plan. Because this is delayed, NHDC have advised that the Preston Neighbourhood Plan should be placed on hold until it can be amended following the publication of the final version of the Local Plan. Once amended, Regulation 16 will be re-run, prior to the Neighbourhood Plan being submitted for examination. Preston residents will be kept updated via the newsletter, PNS and the Neighbourhood Plan website: www.preston-np.org.uk
Preston Village Society
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 17 October at Sue Griffiths, Windrush, Back Lane. Jim Lewis will talk about: London’s Lea Valley, Britain’s Best Kept Secret.
The Red Lion – Events
Saturday 13 October – Sausage Festival – Join in all the fun with a conker competition on the Green, sausages sourced from local supliers and live music. Starts at 3.00pm
Saturday 3 November – Fireworks – Display at 7.00pm with barbeque, pizzas and much more.
St Martin’s Church And All Saints’ Church Services
| October | Service | Sidesman | Reader | |
| 7th | 11.00am | No Service at St Martin’s | ||
| 14th | 9.30am | Holy Communion | Richard Blockley | Paul Constantinidi |
| Hebrews 4:12-end RCL p.702Gospel: Mark 10:17-31 Intercessions: Doreen Samson Chalice: Meta Reeves | ||||
| 11.00am | Holy Communion at All Saints’ | |||
| 21st | 8.00am | Holy Communion (BCP) at All Saints’ | ||
| 09.30am | Holy Communion | Mike Kellard | Richard Blockley | |
| Hebrews 5:1-10 RCL p.708 Gospel: Mark 10:35-45 Intercessions: Hugh Reeves Chalice: Mike Kellard | ||||
| 11.00am | Holy Communion at All Saints’ | |||
| 28th | 9.30am | Holy Communion | Richard Gill | Sue Griffiths |
| 2 Tim. 3:14-4:5, RCL p.719Gospel: John 5:36b-end Intercessions: Meta Reeves Chalice: Di Blockley | ||||
| November | ||||
| 4th | All Saints Day. No service at St Martin’s | |||
| 11.00am | Family Communion at All Saints’ | |||
Weekday Services in Whitwell:
Tuesdays – 9.30am Morning Prayer All Saints’ Church.
Alternate Wednesdays – 9.30am Holy Communion at Lime Tree House 10th & 24th October.
St Martin’s Church 120 Club 2018/2019
The winners of the September draw in the 2018/19 120 Club (£30 each) were:
No. 71 Mr & Mrs R Bowden
No. 77 Mrs H Wragg
A Letter From Our Team Vicar
01462 686808
Dear Friends,
You may have thought I had written my last letter in the September edition but these really are my final words as Vicar in the Preston Newsletter. I will no longer be around in the parish in October but I am pleased to be able to write to you just one more time.
We had a really good time at Holiday Club again this summer. Almost thirty children participated with nine adults and seven teenagers in support. There is some beautiful art-work displayed at All Saints’ Do visit if you can.
The words ‘last’ and ‘final’ are cropping up a lot this month: my last visits to school, my final services at Lime Tree House and Sue Ryder-Stagenhoe; my last Harvest Festival, Auction and Supper, the last baby to be baptised here. All these events are and will be enjoyable and it’s emotional too as I recall all the other such happy occasions here in St Paul’s Walden and Preston.
On the weekend of 29/30 September there will be a joint service at All Saints’ at 11am. And on the Saturday I am honoured to be leading a memorial service for a previous Vicar. Tim Lewis Lloyd left in 1978 and continued to serve in this diocese until 2001 when he retired as Vicar of Sawbridgeworth. Tim’s wife Frances died before he retired and her ashes are interred at All Saints’. It will be good to welcome Tim’s family here for the service after which his ashes will be interred with Frances’s. Do join us.
I will always remember with great joy the time I have spent in the parish and all of you too. I have made a great number of friends here. We are to remain living in Letchworth and I’m sure I will continue to come across you in the area especially in Hitchin where I do most of my shopping.
And I assure you all of my continuing prayers and good wishes
Elizabeth
Church Cleaning
The church is cleaned on the first Tuesday of every month starting at 4.00pm. Anyone wishing to assist please contact Margaret Cashin 420073
Harvest Supper
The Friends of St Martin’s Committee would like to thank everyone who attended the Harvest Supper for their support. This event raised £335.
First Aid Training
Pam Biggs, who is a Hitchin first responder and who undertakes the weekly checks on our defibrillators, will run a first aid training course on Monday 15 October at 7.00pm in the Primary School hall. This will cover cardiac arrest, use of the defibrillator, breathing difficulties, choking, chest pain, unconsciousness and bleeding scenarios. All Preston residents are welcome to attend. Booking is not required.
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 Matt Jenkins and PCSO Heather Burrows can be contacted regarding local community issues. Their contact details are as follows:
PC Matt Jenkins: 07736 225349 or 01438 757604
PCSO Heather Burrows: 07847 364955 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.
Beds & Herts Bike ‘n’ Hike
Many thanks to all those who sponsored me on the Beds & Herts Historic Churches Trust bike ride on 8 September. I visited 20 churches on a 41-mile round trip and raised £300. Half of this will be donated to St. Martins’ Preston and the remainder to needy churches in the diocese. – Ita Leaver.
Save The Date – Preston Village Voices
Friday 14 December 2018, 7.30pm @ Preston Church.
We are once again looking forward to entertaining you all with a Christmas Celebration of songs, carols and verse old and new, with special guest appearances!
Proceeds will support:
St Martin’s Church, Preston – Toilet and Kitchen Facilities Project
Aimed at providing a really modern and lasting comfort station for our church congregation and visitors alike, with particular attention to the disabled, families with young children and elderly folk with or without wheelchairs.
The Anne Robson Trust.
It is estimated that every year, over 40,000 patients die alone in an NHS hospital bed in the UK, with no loved ones, friends or family at their bedside. The Anne Robson Trust, a newly registered local charity, aims to provide trained volunteers in every NHS hospital to ensure that this will no longer happen.
Originating at the Lister hospital in Stevenage and now managing a second pilot scheme at the Princess Alexandra hospital in Harlow, the Trust, with the full support of the NHS, aims to quickly expand its services across the UK, without impacting on the NHS budget in any way.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Preston Village Voices 07495541624
Preston Cricket Club – Season Round Up
The 2018 season closed with the amazing news that our First XI have been promoted for the first time ever and we look forward to playing in Div 1 of the Saraces Herts League in 2019. www.hertsleague.co.uk. We will be in the Top 30 teams out of 260. Our 2nd XI found things a little harder in Div 5 and struggled with regular availability. The 3rd XI had a good start but have ended up mid-table and our 4th XI remained in their league for another year. The Sunday cricket agenda has been again very tough – finding players hasn’t been easy but we have on occasions fielded two Sunday teams. Our Junior teams have done ever so well winning the vast majority of their matches and helping to develop our senior teams as several enjoyed great success transitioning from junior to senior cricket.
Our huge thanks to Callum Blair, Peter Murrell, Bob Welch, David Fleckney, David Clark and Rupert Bruce for their continued assistance on the ground. Something we were highly praised for by villagers attending our recent cricket week – that means a great deal. Callum also sees himself up for a Natwest ECB Cricket OSCA for his work on the groundf as does our Junior Cricket Director, Nigel Biggs for all their efforts and help. Thanks also to our army of tea helpers that have again found things hard going but continued to put many other Clubs to shame – we are very lucky and thanks to Diane for organising them all. More help please!
Ray, Jo and the team at The Red Lion have once again been a great support and many thanks to the Directors.
It’s also been great, again, to have been given the chance to welcome another Australian over. Many of you will have got to know Lewis Balcombe over the summer. It’s been a pleasure watching Lewis play and score so many valuable runs (including several centruries) for us and just be a huge influence to us all on and off the pitch. Congrats Lewis. But we couldn’t have looked after him without the hugely generous support of two good friends in the village. Thank you both so much once again.
Here’s looking forward to 2019 already. Anyone intersted in playing, helping etc please, do get in touch. We are always looking to welcome players of all abilities and ages. Anyone fancy helping out with a a tea or two please give me a ring and happy to have a chat about how it works. Many thanks for all your support. Mark Waters 07796544683.
The 2018 Autumn Litter Pick Up
Saturday 27 October, 10.00am – 12 noon.
The Preston Trust would, once again, like to invite you all to come and help pick up litter around the village and across the parish.
Do, please, come and join us on The Green, on Saturday October 27th, at 10.00am. Wear appropriate clothing and footwear, and do please bring your rubber gloves! NHDC are willing once again to loan us HiViz jackets and ‘litter-picker’ tools. As usual, we will work in pairs along each lane and footpath, and then bring the filled plastic bags back to The Green.
Despite the heavy traffic on all the lanes of this parish, our regular Litter Pick Up sessions do greatly help to keep ‘our patch’ reasonably clean and green. This exercise is mildly interesting, and soon over and done with!
Just come along and lend a hand, this October, please. Many thanks. Liz Hunter, PT committee member