Local interest

Fête 2019: browse and enjoy

~ BAACA

If you need another reason to join us, we have a fantastic variety of stalls lined up for you on 29th June from 12:30-5:00, to complement the fun dog show, bar, BBQ, ice creams, tea & cakes and tug of war.

Fête 2019: Raffle prizes

~ BAACA

As always we’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity of our residents in donating raffle prizes to support the fête (see below).

You can get your raffle tickets on fête day (29th June), but our volunteers will be going around the village on Wednesday 19th June from 6-9pm, calling at each house in Bellingdon & Asheridge to give you your FREE fête day programme and the opportunity to buy raffle tickets to be in with a chance of winning one of these amazing prizes:

  • Two Premium tickets to a Rugby International at Twickenham
    (kindly donated by Conlan Associates)
  • Priests Ford Car Service to the value of £125
  • Fastbreak Sports voucher for £50
  • Family Pantomime ticket for The Elgiva
  • Boden voucher for £50 (kindly donated by Paul O’Leary)
  • Christmas Tree voucher, Christmas Tree Farm
  • England Rugby Jacket (kindly donated by Steve Valvona)
  • Photoshoot at Venture Studios, Eton
  • £20 Voucher Tring Brewery
  • Delta Force paintballing vouchers
  • Canapease – cookery class voucher for one
  • Bottle of whisky (kindly donated by John Conlan)
  • Selection of wine, kindly donated by residents.
  • And many more…

If you have additional prizes you would like to donate either in advance or on the day please contact Jill.

If you’ll be unavailable on 19th June but would still like to donate, please contact Liz in advance or use the contact details on the flyer we will leave on the evening.

Thank you – we couldn’t do it without you.

Summer at St John’s Church

~ BAACA

Where? St. John’s Church, Bellingdon

What? An exhibition on “Our beautiful world”. Tim Yates will also repeat the talk (about 20 minutes) he gave last year on both days at 3pm on the history of the village.

When? Saturday, July 6th (10.30 to 16.30), Sunday, July 7th (14.00 to 16.00)
This will be followed by Songs of Praise with some well-known hymns (16.00 -16.30) on the Sunday.
Refreshments will be available.

Can you help? Do you have anything we could display? Anything which reflects “our beautiful world” would be most welcome – painting, photography, embroidery, children’s paintings, arts and crafts in any medium – or perhaps something which is on the general theme of the environment and the damage we are doing to our world. You may also have other ideas we have not thought of. As well as reflecting our theme we’d like to showcase the talent in our villages and have a community focus. Could you tell us about it in advance of the weekend, or lend us anything we could display? If you can offer anything please could you get in touch with Jane Edmunds (j.edmunds@sky.com or 01494 782889)?

Do come and visit us during the weekend!

Jane Edmunds

The Bull – update May 2019

~ BAACA

We are finally able to reveal some of the mysteries lying beneath the shroud of scaffolding and plastic that envelops the works next to The Bull.
Whilst it does seem a very long time since work started on the new building to house the village nursery presently situated in the pub, an enormous
amount has been done.

Starting with the spoil excavated from the footings which was mechanically separated into soil for use on the garden surrounds and flint which was used as a base to reduce the use of concrete, every consideration has been given to reduce the carbon footprint of the development and to the use of eco-friendly materials.

The internal walls are built using blocks newly developed and manufactured to meet modern building standards at the village brickworks using local straw and clay with facing bricks from the same source. The
timbers are constructed using a process whereby English Larch waste and offcuts are made into a composite structural material and English grown
hemp is made into blocks at the brickworks and used as infill of the walls to provide an insulation factor 50% more than that required under present building rules.

Recycled car windscreens form an unlikely material that will provide a solid and insulating base for the internal floor and the mortar binding the building together and for rendering the internal wall is simply a mix of local clay and straw.

When completed the building will have a “green” roof, planted with indigenous plants and will sit considerably lower in the landscape than the present covering suggests. In short, this unique building, the first of its kind in this country, will not only serve a most practical purpose but will be one in which the Matthews family and indeed our village can take enormous pride.

  • Showing the detail of an internal doorway and the delightful effect of the home-developed clay and straw building blocks
  • This shows the central area. The surrounding area can be partitioned into different usable spaces.
  • Showing the composite Larch timbers
  • Recycled windscreens for an insulating base to internal floor
  • The exterior wall showing the hemp block insulation “fillers” and the overall thickness giving exceptional insulation.

Summer Newsletter out now!

~ BAACA

Your printed copy of the summer newsletter should be dropping through your letterbox in the next few days. In case you don’t receive it, or the dog gets there first, you can find an electronic copy here.

In this Summer issue of our newsletter we look forward to our annual fête and the many other things going on in our small, but lively, village community.

This last quarter we’ve held another well attended tea and cakes event, plus a BBQ pub night including a very popular football session for the youngsters.

Gary Woodley, one of the hall trustees, is happy to run the football on a Friday evening during the summer so do pop down. We’re hoping to run further BBQ pub nights too.

July 9th sees the AGM of the Bellingdon & Asheridge Community Association (BAACA). This is your annual opportunity to see in detail what’s been going on at the hall and review the charity’s accounts. All welcome, we don’t bite!

Of course, BAACA couldn’t run without our volunteer trustees. National Volunteers’ Week runs from 1-7th June and we’d like to encourage you to think whether you have a few hours spare each week to help us.

We are very much in need of a secretary (trustee position) and also a
maintenance supervisor to keep an eye on the premises and call in
help when needed.

For just a few hours a week you could make an immeasurable contribution to the community, so don’t be shy. Please get in touch with one of the committee or email us for more information on either position.

You can find out more about what we do here. Or contact us for more information.