Chair's chatter spring 2026

Welcome to our spring edition of the Village News. I don’t know about you but I’m enjoying the longer days, blue skies and drier footpaths! It's great to see the village come back to life, especially over this Easter break - the Common is once again a hive of activity.

There’s plenty to talk about at the moment, but top of mind for me is the recent spate of crime we’ve suffered, starting with several break-ins and ending with opportunists breaking into a series of cars along Coleshill Lane a couple of weeks ago. We’ve had a couple of security briefings over the past 18 months, the last one just few weeks ago, and you can read all of the most current advice on securing your property on our website, winchmorehillra.com. Elle remains on hand to advise if you have any particular concerns - you can contact her on +44 7707 077093.

On to more positive news, there’s a lot to look forward to over the coming weeks and months. Our summer kicks off with our summer solstice event on Saturday June 20th at 7pm. There will be sun salutations and a firepit, byo drinks, nibbles and chairs. More information will follow via the usual channels. Next is this year’s Safari Supper, after last year’s roaring success. The premise is a roving supper where you get the chance to meet a new crowd and enjoy a meal cooked by your local Masterchef wannabes. The evening starts with an aperitif and canapes in the Memorial Hall, has main courses hosted at various homes around the village and then returns to the Potters at the end of the night for desserts and digestifs. It’s on July 4th from 7pm, byo drinks. Tickets are £25/head available from Trish on +44 7887 898973.

Our summer finale is of course the Show and Produce Show on September 5th. The marquee is collected from its new storage unit and goes up a week or two beforehand and a mountain of prep goes into putting on a great day for everyone.The attractions include a bar and barbecue serving burgers and hot dogs from Hall’s, keenly priced fairground rides for the kids, multiple stalls, from face painting and shuffle board to Amersham Museum as well as arts and crafts-based local businesses. We kick off with a set from Amersham Community Band, to be repeated in the early afternoon, and often have a flypast - previous highlights have included a Spitfire and Lancaster. There’s also a fantastic Dog Show, raffle and tombola with fantastic prizes and teas, coffees, savouries and cakes served throughout the afternoon by the Memorial Hall team. Don't forget to add the date to your diary.

As always, a big thank-you to the teams that plan and manage all of these events and initiatives. If you’d like to get involved, please do get in touch - there is plenty of room for additional pairs of hands. We are particularly keen to put together a maintenance team to pick up initiatives such as repair of permissive paths, tidying the bus stops, cleaning the village gates, dealing with the bonfire patch, etc. If you could help, please contact Steve Thompson on +44 7860 376685.

The Potters Arms has had a spruce up recently, with the interior smartened with a lick of paint throughout and the patio made summer ready. The team have been busy cleaning, sanding and painting the patio furniture and it all looks very smart - do join them for drinks on the terrace, the ever-popular quiz on Wednesday eves, regular comedy nights and planned live music throughout the summer. The menu has also changed, now featuring more Nepalese dishes alongside the British standards. The Plough, the other remaining village pub that’s been empty for three years now, is still on the market and there remains some interest. We hope there will be some positive news on that soon.

Our monthly community lunches continue to thrive and now tend to alternate between the Potters Arms and the Memorial Hall, whose committee has just offered to fund those we hold there. We swap between Mondays and Fridays so that as many as possible are able to join us. There tends to be a group of around 30 people of all ages and we enjoy a bowl of soup and some bread, always veggie and gluten free by request. The crowd buy their drinks at the Potters Arms and bring their own to the hall - jugs of water are provided. This Christmas we enjoyed a scaled-back roast dinner and Christmas pudding. Do let us know if you’d like to join us.

The village walking club, led by Lindsay Gregory and Di Blackborough, has recently seen us walk to and around Penn Wood. Walks tend to be gentle and meandering, more recently ending up at one of the local pubs for well-earned refreshments. If your pace is a bit speedier, Run Winchmore Run on Monday evenings at 6pm caters for a wide range of runners and has space for more - any minute you’ll see them out in their WHRA-sponsored shirts. Contact Jamie Marlow on +44 7463 101727 if you’d like to join in.

Finally, the Share, Reuse, Recycle initiative we started a couple of years ago has started up again and will continue on the first Sunday of each month, weather permitting. You simply place items that are in good condition but that you no longer need outside your home for collection anytime between 10am and 4pm. This has been a great success so far, with many happy locals finding books, tools, furniture and sports gear amongst other items. For larger items, we’re happy to advertise on Facebook.

Do keep an eye out on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/winchmorehillra] or our village WhatsApp group [https://chat.whatsapp.com/FWvAEy6FTbCKkUc1QfNRDE] for details on all upcoming activities and village matters and get in touch if you have anything you’d like us to report.

Enjoy the rest of the spring!

Lisa