Issue 6 is off to the printer today, which means that in a few weeks it will be published! At the start of June, it will be available to purchase for £1 at various locations across the three villages.
This issue includes our regular features along with the first in our brand new series entitled Local Historic Faces & Places; an exciting Summertime ‘Flash Fiction’ Writing Competition in conjunction with local author Annette Hannah; photos of the wonderful Coronation events enjoyed by everyone in May; a feature on local charity, Small Acts of Kindness; and a whole lot more!
If you have any questions about how to get hold of a copy, do please be in touch using the CONTACT US page, or directly by emailing threevillagesmagazine@gmail.com.
This Sunday (14th May) it is Rogation Day, so The 3 Churches Benefice are holding a special 10.30am Rogation Day Service at the historic church of St James, which is the old Parish Church of Stanstead Abbots. This is a fantastic opportunity to join in a thanksgiving service as well as chance to appreciate the history of St James.
After the service, meeting outside the church at 11.30am, there will be a traditional ‘Beating the Bounds’ walk, led by Miles Dymock. Do remember to wear appropriate clothing for the weather, sturdy shoes and bring a bottle of water!
Miles kindly gave us some additional information about the walk he has planned: The walk across along the Parish Boundary on Olives Farm reveals one of the many quirks of Medieval England, where in the 1500s Henry VIII altered the Stanstead Abbotts and Hunsdon Parish Boundaries in buying Olives Farm, which he purchased for its supply of spring water that fed into the newly created Fish Ponds that were central to his new Park, Ponds Park.
This was one of a number of formal Deer Parks, which were effectively enclosed spaces around Hunsdon House in which it was possible to stage manage a deer hunt with a high chance of success, though Ponds Park was possibly the most ornamental and may have been influenced by Italian gardens of a similar scale that Henry had seen in his youth. Many of these original deer parks will shortly be being paved over by the Gilston Development or be mined by the potential quarry development.
For those that are not proposing to walk the entire Parish Boundary the walk from the church to Olives Farm and back is approximately 3.5 miles and decent walking boots are recommended as it can get extremely muddy. The plan will be to stop at Olives Farm for refreshments, which is the halfway point on the circular walk and if anyone is interested to see some of the many Roman remains found in the fields over the years I’ll have these set out in one of the barns.
This is open to everyone, so do go along if you are interested!
We are delighted to have some newcomers to Great Amwell – six cygnets at Amwell Pool!
Jenny Hanson, a very gifted local photographer whose work is featured on the cover of The Three Villages Magazine: Issue 4 (December 2022), has kindly shared some of the images she has taken of the new arrivals.
Jenny said, ‘I first spotted three on Thursday 27th April in the morning. One had just hatched as it was still wet. The others may have been that morning or the night before. On Friday morning there were five and by the afternoon there were six. They were out on the water on Saturday and luckily, unlike the previous two years, we didn’t need Swan Rescue to build a ramp. I went there every day as we were worried the water level would drop, but the water level was nice and high. Gill and Kevin from Swan Rescue did swing by to check all was well on Saturday morning.’
It is lovely to see the cygnets enjoying the safety of Amwell Pool!
Stanstead Abbotts Local History Society (SALHS) are holding their Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Friday 12th May, 7.30pm at Stanstead Abbotts’ Parish Hall.
The AGM will be followed by ‘Memories of Stanstead Abbotts’, which promises to be really interesting.
This event is free to Members, but only £2 to non-Members, which includes wine and nibbles!
If you attended a Coronation event and got some photos, please do send them to us! We would love to feature images of all the fun that was had over the Coronation Weekend on the inside covers of our June issue of The Three Villages Magazine.
Please send the images (in as high resolution as possible and with a caption) to print.threevillagesmagazine@gmail.com as soon as you can! The deadline for getting the files to the printer is 15th May, so photos need to come in before then. Do make sure that you have permission from those in the photograph too!
Many of you took the time to vote in the Local Elections yesterday, Thursday 4th May. After a busy night of counting and verifying, the result for Great Amwell & Stansteads Ward are in!
Name of Candidate
Description
Votes recorded
BOYLAN Peter
Conservative Party
472 (elected)
DUMONT Joseph Charlie
Liberal Democrats
553 (elected)
HEIGHWAY John
Labour Party
210
HOWLETT Joe
Liberal Democrats
468
MOORE Stuart
The Green Party
169
MOULE Peter John
Conservative Party
397
WATTS Graham
Labour Party
139
*if elected the word ‘elected’ appears against the number of votes
To see more information, please do visit the East Herts Council page by clicking HERE.
Can you help? We have had a request for help from The 3 Churches Foodbank Hub.
They are in need of the following:
Sanitary towels
Fruit juice in cartons
Tins of rice and custard
Jars of pasta sauces
Toilet rolls
Donations can be made to Sue at 8 Millers Lane, Stanstead Abbotts or contact The 3 Churches Foodbank Hub (07487 350918). Any help would be greatly appreciated.
The 3 Churches Foodbank Hub A local Hub of the Hertford & Ware Foodbank based at St Margarets’ Parish Church
Gary moved to the three villages along with his family in September 2020 and in his spare time has taken some lovely photographs of the area, including this winning image.
We asked Gary about his photography and here’s what he said: ‘I have been into photography ever since I can remember and have spent a lot of my time doing big game photography in Zimbabwe which was never dull, and I’ve got a lot of stories that I laugh at now but were certainly not funny at the time. Photography around the UK is different, and dare I say it, more interesting, in the way there are clear cut seasons and the amazing variation of photography you can experience just in one place over a year. The historical side is also captivating, and something we never had at home – and I do now and again get a shot of squirrel falling out a tree.’
Thanks to Gary for letting us use this enchanting photograph on our cover.
Issue 6 will be published at the start of June, so if you haven’t done so already, get your copy of Issue 5 before it disappears!
Thank you for your continued support, The Three Villages Team.
Calling all Local Charities and Not for Profit Groups. Would you like to register your interest for the next Round of Local Community Funding?
This opportunity opens from 10 May 2023 and interest needs to be in by 11 June 2023.
Co-op will let you know if you’re successful in October and if you are you’ll be part of the Local Community Fund for 12 months from October 2023 to October 2024 (with one pay-out, in November 2023).
The Three Villages 