Church & Village News

Herts Connected

Hertfordshire Constabulary encourage residents to sign up to their community messaging system to receive emails about what is happening in the local area.

You can choose to receive free messages from Police, Neighbourhood Watch and other agencies.

To register please visit: https://www.hertsconnected.co.uk

Once logged in be sure to “Edit your interests” and tick the “Police” box to ensure you receive the police messages. – Preston Neighbourhood Watch

Preston History Website

Recently uploaded pieces to the Preston History website include the following in-depth articles:

• The history of Ladygrove aka Minsden Farm, Preston
• The newly discovered history of the Foster family who lived at Castle Farm, Preston and who were John Bunyan’s benefactors
• The story of Mr and Mrs Michael Dewar of Stagenhoe (who also owned Minsden Farm)
• The fascinating correspondence between Reginald Hine (the Hitchin historian) and Michael Dewar about the writing of ‘The History of Stagenhoe’
• The discovery of the final resting place of the skeleton of a Temple Dinsley monk at St Martins, Preston
• New photographs of Temple Dinsley (formerly PHC) – the mansion and its gardens.

Link: https://prestonherts.co.uk/whatsnew.htm

St Martin’s Church and All Saints’ Church Services

Letter From The Safeguarding Officer At All Saints Church

I lead the children’s work at All Saints and at Preston church (St Martin’s).

May has been busy. It began with an uplifting service for VE day followed by the moving funeral of our old friend, Peter Saunders, who played the organ for so many years. We were pleased to see the return of Elizabeth Bunker for that occasion, and she will be one of the many visiting clergy who will cover the services while we have no permanent priest.

On the first and third Sunday, there will be a communion service at 11 am. On the second and fourth Sundays, there will be an informal and shorter Sunday Praise service. I do hope you can join us whenever you are free. You can be assured of a warm welcome as we all mingle afterwards for tea and coffee in the annex that adjoins the church. During the service, children can enjoy the colouring table at the back of the church, or they are welcome to join the older children in outdoor games and indoor crafts.

Our next big event at All Saints’ church is a choir concert on Saturday July 12th at 2 pm. We welcome back Village Voices for another wonderful selection of pop/folk and jazz songs.

Do get in touch if you need help or support of any kind. The phone number of our Parish officer is on the opposite page and Emma will organise baptisms, weddings or funerals.

I wish you a peaceful and joyful June and I look forward to meeting you if you meander up to the church one Sunday morning.

Helen Beavis

St Martin’s Church 150 Club 2025/2026

The winners in the May draw in the 2025/26 150 Club (£30 each) were:

No. 71 Mr & Mrs R Bowden
No. 55. Ms K Cronin

There are a few unsold tickets and we welcome any more participants – tickets cost £20 for the year, with 25 or more prizes of £30. 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 or buy another ticket please email

Orpheus Choir

A welcome return for a Midsummer Concert at St Martin’s Church on Saturday 21st June at 7pm with classical and modern music.

Tickets £10 to include a glass of wine or a soft drink. Tickets available on the door or in advance from https://ticketlab.app/event/31796#/

All proceeds in aid of St Martin’s

Village Day Saturday 13 September

Firstly, thank you so much for of your replies about whether to have this year’s Village Day in July or September. As you can see by the date, the consensus is that Village Day will be on Saturday 13 of September.  The theme of the Scarecrow Trail is ‘Toys and Games’ – They can be board, computer, playground – basically any type of toy, game, or character in them you want to make! Whether for the first or umpteenth time, we hope that many of you will want to make scarecrows.

Things to remember:

If possible, it would be great if Scarecrows are on display from the evening of Friday12th of September through to the evening of Sunday 14th

It’s your scarecrow and you may create whatever you want to – it doesn’t have to follow the theme and be a game or toy. Scarecrows from previous years are always welcome!

You don’t need to live on the Scarecrow Trail to make a scarecrow, it can stay at a ‘hotel’ (A person’s garden who has kindly allowed us to host other people’s scarecrows)

You don’t need to let us know the name of your creation until September, but we would appreciate you telling us once you have decided to make a scarecrow

You don’t have to join the competition to make a scarecrow, please say at the same time you give the scarecrow’s name that you want to share the fun but not the competition

Straw is available, free of charge, for those chomping at the bit to get their scarecrows made. For those new to the village, don’t be shy. This is a great event and the Scarecrow trail around the village makes it EVEN MORE spectacular, so come on folks get creating.
Some top construction tips from Jane Clark:

If you have a set of overalls, these make a great filling structure to base your design on. You can then dress as you like

You don’t really need that much straw – maybe a bin liner or 2 (bring your own bags)

Think of a character that already has a ‘stand’ e.g. bike (ET) / chair (queen or princess)

This year I have had the genius idea of running thick electrical wire through pipe lagging and putting inside the overalls before the straw filling so the arms and legs can bend into desired shaped. (Game changer!)

I will leave that with you to get your creative juices flowing!! Straw collection is from Castle Farm …come into the farm and round the corner past the bungalow you will see an open fronted shed … the straw will be just inside there so rock up whenever suits you and help yourself …for the Pro’s amongst you it is now in small bales so don’t start pulling at the big round bales of hay!! Any problems just give me a shout.

More about Village Day will be in following newsletters and on the PNS but we thought you might like to start planning your scarecrows now. We are really looking forward to seeing your creations and you. Adrian, Halyna, Liza, Jax, Rae, Sam 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.

Our Safer Neighbourhood Team can be contacted on 101 for non-emergencies and suspicious activity.

For emergencies or if you witness a crime taking place 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.

Voluntary Emergency Telephone System

Preston Parish Council would like to remind residents about the Voluntary Emergency Telephone System: .

If someone is unwell, you should dial 999 without delay. If the ambulance service tells you that the defibrillator is required, that is when you ring the VETS number. One of the volunteers will talk to you and arrange to bring the defibrillator from the Red Lion car park and will assist until an ambulance arrives.

The volunteers have been trained in how to use the defibrillator and CPR. Please note, this is a best endeavours system, and we can’t guarantee that a volunteer will be available when a call comes in.

The Parish Council would like to sincerely thank the 13 members of the community who have volunteered to make VETS possible in Preston.