Community, Parish Council & Village
A brief summary of key elements of the PC meeting on 23rd April 2025. At this meeting they:
The next Guided Walk at Hillhouse Wood is taking place this Saturday 10th May with an early start.
The Dawn Chorus (links to a previous report) walk starts from St Mary’s Old Church at 3:45 am on 10th May. This walk affords the opportunity to see Nightingales and many other brilliant dawn choristers. For this walk you should bring warm clothing, stout footwear, a flask of hot drink and a torch.
Although these walks are normally well attended it is likely that they don’t always fall on a convenient date or time. Well, the Friends of Hillhouse Wood have been working hard to put this right.
Putting together:
… you can now guide yourself .
Continue reading “Seasonal Guided Walks Online”
At the start of this year Vocal Zones Choir decided to start a review of the choir and have implemented some changes; both the committee and the membership have been engaged in this process. They are pleased to announce a new name as one of the changes; they will now be known as Vocal Zone Singers. Members & the Committee feel that this name better represents the ethos of the group. They are not a formal choir; but simply a group of people who enjoy singing and like to meet together in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. The singers are all excited by the new direction the committee and membership wants to take their singing group.
They hope that this new photo better reflects the upbeat, friendly and sunny disposition of the group.
Continue reading “Vocal Zone Singers”This month’s news starts with Revd Heather’s May Day message. Following this, you can find out about events including:
… the usual listings of services & contacts.
Revd Heather’s message this month:
May begins and ends with a bank holiday, which is always rather nice, and with the spring well established now, and as we look towards the summer, we might hope that the bank holidays won’t disappoint us and will produce some good weather, perhaps even giving us the opportunity for a BBQ or family picnic.
Continue reading “St Mary’s News – The May Day or Mayday Edition”
80 years ago on 8th May earlier generations celebrated the end of war in Europe, or VE-Day as it was dubbed. As BBC Radio, and the Newspapers, announced the news, workers left their buildings to join in ad hoc celebrations in the street. Later they would organise street parties as well.
In that spirit of celebration, whilst at the same time commemorating the losses, West Bergholt PC are joining many others in organising (free) events on this date.
Continue reading “VE-Day 80”
The following free events are being hosted by the Friends of St Mary’s Old Church in 2025.
As usual everyone is welcome, there’s free parking and free refreshments including a glass of prosecco. Entry to all events is free but the Friends welcome any donations made on the day (cash or card). This will support the ongoing upkeep of the beautiful 1000-year-old church. We look forward to welcoming you there. For more information, or if you wish to tell us you’re coming, please email [email protected].
At both of the following events there will also be an opportunity for a Q&A session.
Continue reading “Elizabethan Witch, Romans & Concerts”
Meeting on 17th March 2025, the Planning & Development Committee first agreed the minutes from the previous meeting. The committee then discussed three Planning Applications for extensions to existing properties in Valley Crescent, Hall Road and Colchester Road. They supported all three although with some conditions attached to two of them. They also noted 3 decisions from CCC on prior applications.
Read the official minutes below.
The Environment & Highways Committee of West Bergholt Parish Council met on 10th April 2025 with topics including:
Read the official minutes below.
| Members present: | John Gili-Ross (JGR), David Short (DS) Katie Pulford (KP) and Harry Stone (HS) present |
| Also present: | 0 members of the public |
Following the Winter Bird walk, Steve Hallam will be leading two guided walks in the coming weeks:
The links above are to reports from previous walks. We recommend you wear strong boots or wellies since you may well need to walk through long wet grass!
The Friends of Hillhouse Wood is a group of local residents who work with The Woodland Trust to look after this beautiful remnant of ancient woodland. You will also be able to see them at the Village Fete on Saturday 14th June.
One aspect of observing nature that makes it so compelling is that you never know what you will see and hear. Will it surpass expectations, or disappoint? As mentioned in previous years, this winter bird walk is the one that has the potential to provide ‘thin gruel’. Over the years there seems to be reduced numbers of over wintering birds in this area, especially earlier on in the season. This is why the date of the walk has moved back by a few weeks.
This year, I had done some preparatory surveys in the days before the walk, and had seen relatively little. Nevertheless, 14 people came along, which was very pleasing. I thought that I should ‘manage expectations’ but, as it turned out, I was being unduly pessimistic.
Continue reading “Winter Bird, Spring Flowers & Dawn Chorus”
A brief summary of key elements of the PC meeting on 26th March 2025. At this meeting, as well as routine committee reports, they: