Deadline for the November 2024 newsletter is 25 October
Parish Council Meeting: Thursday 17 October
The next Parish Council meeting will be held on Thursday 17 October at 8pm in the village hall. Any member of the public who would like to raise an issue to be discussed at this meeting should contact the Clerk.
Members of the public who would like to speak to the Parish Council in person should register with the Clerk prior to the meeting.
Contact details are: Lisa Lathane, Clerk to the Parish Council:
Autumn Litter Pick And Green Clean – Saturday, October 26th, 10 am – 12 noon.
The Equinox has passed, the Harvest Supper has been enjoyed, and so Autumn has now arrived! The Preston Trust committee would once again like to invite you to come and help pick up litter around the village and parish. We also need volunteers, who would like to rake up and clear the twigs and leaves on The Green and around the pond.
Please wear appropriate clothing and footwear and bring your own gardening/DIY gloves. We will bring the Hi-Viz jackets, the litter picker tools, the black plastic sacks and some disposable gloves. As usual, we will work in pairs along each lane and footpath and bring the filled sacks back to St Martin’s Place in Church Lane. Just come along and lend a hand, please! This ‘good housekeeping chore’ does not usually take too long, nor require too much effort, and, of course, it makes a noticeable difference. You are all very welcome!
Thank you, Liz Hunter and Rae Reynolds, The Preston Trust committee members.
Preston Village Society
Our next meeting will be on Thursday 24th October at The Village Hall at 7.30pm. Our speaker will be Anne Lawrence – Tales from a former Counter Terrorist Detective Inspector with the London Met. All welcome. Please contact Gail Edwards for any further information 
St Martin’s Church and All Saints’ Church Services
| Sunday 6th October | 10.00am
|
All Saints. Joint Service of All Age Communion
Hebrews 1:1-4, 2: 5-12 Mark 10: 2-16 |
| Sunday 13th October | 10.00am
|
All Saints. Joint Service of Harvest Festival Praise
1 Timothy 2: 1-7 Matthew 6: 25-33 |
| Tuesday 15th October | 9.40am | Informal prayers and quiet time in church followed by coffee |
| Sunday 20th October | 10.00am | St Martin’s. Joint Family Service
2 Corinthians 9: 6-15 Luke 13: 16-30 |
| Sunday 27th October | 10.00am | All Saints. Joint Service of Holy Communion
Hebrews 7: 33-end Mark 10: 46-end |
| Tuesday 29th October | 9.40am | Informal prayers and quiet time in church followed by coffee |
| November
Sunday 3rd November |
9.30am | St Martin’s. Joint All Age Communion
Revelation 21: 1-6a John 11: 32 – 44 |
Advance Notice:
2 services per Sunday will resume on 10th November for Remembrance Sunday
9.30am at St Martin’s; 10.50am at All Saints
Team Vicar of St Paul’s Walden with Preston:
Letter From The Vicar
Once again, the pet service last month was very popular, held for the first time not outside but in the church because of the weather. And earlier than in previous years, an amazing flower festival on the theme of wedding anniversaries was held at All Saints. My thanks for the many brilliant and imaginative contributions.
Beyond our immediate communities, there seems to be a shortage of hope, whether from a new prime minister who has concentrated on the difficult challenges he faces, or on an international stage blighted by war. But hope is vitally important for all of us, whatever we are going through. Again and again, I revert to the promise of the Bible, and of Christian faith specifically, that we can trust in the goodness of God to hold us in his loving arms.
It takes some doing to hold onto this, but I prefer, with Julian of Norwich, to believe that “All shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well“. Worth repeating to ourselves every day, because it will give us hope. And more than this: every act of kindness which we ourselves perform for others will bring hope as well.
Last of all, can I thank all of you who sent cards and gifts and wished me well as I recover from open-heart surgery. This is hugely appreciated. I am so looking forward to being back taking a service on 3rd November at St Martin’s. Please note it will be at 9.30am.
Every blessing
Stephen
St Martin’s Church 150 Club 2024/2025
The winners in the 2024/25 150 Club (£30 each) were:
No. 120 Mr R Coles
No. 5 Mr & Mrs C Cooper
This is an important source of income for St Martin’s church to help maintain the building and churchyard. If you would like to join please email 
The Preston Trust: Autumn Talk For 2024
The international Order of the Knights Templar at Dinsley, 1142 – 1313 AD
Thursday, November 7th, 7.30 – 9.00pm in the Village Hall (Doors open at 7.00pm)
Keith Fitzpatrick- Matthews, Curator at the North Hertfordshire Museum in Hitchin will give us a talk on these medieval monks and their significant preceptory or religious house at Dinsley. The preceptory was a centre for prayer and worship, and also the economic base for the administration of their local assets of farmland, woodland and market rights.
There are now only a few artefacts from this site: the decorated Purbeck marble cover from a stone coffin,now here in St. Martin’s, the two Purbeck marble effigies now in St Mary’s, Hitchin, and some glazed decorated floor tiles in the collections of both The British Museum and the North Hertfordshire Museum.
Do come along – Keith is an enthusiastic and scholarly speaker! Wine and nibbles, coffee and shortbread will be available. Entry is free, but donations are always welcome.
The Preston Trust committee – Adrian, Jax, Liz, Rae, Wal
Village Day Take 2!
Thank you everyone for coming to Village Day, in whatever capacity: volunteering your help to The Preston Trust areas, baking (or buying) creating and displaying your amazing scarecrows, organising / running the Dog Show and organising / running your own games and stalls. Our thanks also to Ray, Jo and all the staff at The Red Lion, to SG4 and those of you who came to enjoy and take part in everything the day had to offer!
You all helped (as did the weather…) make Village Day a wonderful day for this special community, a day where people met up with old friends and hopefully met some new …
The winners of the Axe Throwing, Guess the Weight of the Cake, Find the Knights Templar Treasure, Milking Daisy Buttercup and the Raffle have all been contacted so, we are sorry but, unless you have been called it wasn’t you.
Scarecrow Winners:
| Best in Show | The Claw | The Johnson Family |
| Senior Judges | ||
| 1st place | Shrektacular? | The Coles Family |
| 2nd place | Supergran | Team Clark |
| 3rd place | Cruella De Vil | Liza and Matt Norman |
| Junior Judges | ||
| 1st place | “No Courage, No Brain” | The Hodgeson Family |
| 2nd place | A Frozen Summer | The Ide Family |
| 3rd place | Winnie and Friends | Abi and Mark Waters |
The Emoji puzzles and answers will be on the Village website – prestonvillageherts.com
Sadly the day(s) ran at a loss, but as a “Fun Raiser” it was a great success – thank you all
Adrian, Jax, Liz, Rae and Wal -The Preston Trust Committee
The Preston Trust Committee Warmly Invite You To The AGM on Sunday 20th of October, at 1100 am for an 11 30am start in the Village Hall.
The Preston Trust has an important place within this special parish but it needs your help to continue the work it endeavours to carry out, and fulfil its commitment to every person in the village and in the parish. The Trust’s main objectives, which have remained constant since The PT’s conception, as a registered charity, in 1990 and are as important today as they were then. For those of you who are new to the community, (we hope you are very happy in your new homes), and to those would like to refresh your memory the main objectives are:
- To enhance and preserve Preston for the benefit of all the villagers and visitors.
- To secure the preservation and protection of features of historic or public interest, including the village’s history.
- To promote high standards of planning and architecture.
- To support financially and promote any purpose for the benefit of villagers and in particular, its children and senior citizens.
The PT committee works hard to uphold the objectives of The Trust and to listen to the views and concerns of all parishioners about planning and other matters which concern them. Sometimes this has meant going door to door to canvass opinion, other times it has been working quietly and discreetly in the background. Membership of the PNS (Preston News Service) has continued to grow, both in the number of users and usage. It is helpful in so many ways to everyone, whilst the Litter Picks and Green Cleans help keep the parish free from rubbish and The Green, tidy and pleasant. Whilst these are serious aspects of being on the PT committee the team enjoys organising ‘fun’ events for the enjoyment of this special community, from walks, and talks to Village Day with the Scarecrow Festival and the upcoming Christmas Tree Light Switch On, held on Sunday 1st of December – more details in the November newsletter…
Your participation is paramount to keeping the Trust running and continuing to help this special community. You can be involved as little or as much as you would like but we would really appreciate your support as we, in turn, support your wants and needs for your parish.
If you’ve ever thought to yourself ‘Why don’t they do this or why do they do that’ then please simply ask a committee member or even join the committee and help make the difference you are hoping the Trust will make…
If you have any queries or items you would on the Agenda,
We warmly invite you all, whether you are a Trust member, or a new (or old) neighbour, to come and find out more about the Preston Trust, and what it entails to be a member, at our AGM. We will hopefully be able to answer all of your questions, including the ever popular one –‘will there be refreshments?’ Yes!
Please join us on Sunday 20th of October.
Adrian, Jax, Liz, Rae, and Wal – The Preston Trust committee.
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. If you use the What3Words app, please include the three words for the location of the fly tipping.
PCSO Heather Burrows can be contacted regarding local community issues.
Contact details are as follows:
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.
Reporting suspicious activity
Please report any suspicious activity or vehicles you may witness in the locality.
Call the police on the non-emergency number 101 or report it online by using the website www.herts.police.uk/report and follow the links.
Beds & Herts Bike ‘n’ Hike – 14th September 2024
Sincere thanks to all who sponsored me on the Beds & Herts Historic Church Trust bike ride this year.
I visited 20 churches on a 27-mile round trip and raised £800 (plus gift aid).
Half of this will be donated to St. Martins’ Preston and the remainder to historic churches in the diocese in need of repair.
The weather was perfect but not my back wheel – a deflated tyre on the home stretch at St Ippolyts (requiring an emergency callout) did not deflate my enjoyment of the day!.
Ita Leaver
Preston Parish Council Bottle Tombola
The Parish Council would like to thank everyone who donated bottles to the Bottle Tombola on Village Day. This made £315 and will be spent by giving £100 to Preston Trust to help recoup losses from the cancelled Village Day in July. The remainder will be used as matched funding for a grant application to install a defibrillator cabinet on the outside of the pavilion in the recreation ground. The defibrillator is already available and the cabinet will mean it can be used all year round to help someone in need in either Wain Wood or the Recreation Ground, both of which are a long way from the defibrillator at the Red Lion.
Leftover bottles will be donated to the Red Lion Harvest Auction or saved for next year’s Village Day.
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 £325.