Editorials by Mike Piercy

August 2023.

It's been a quiet Summer, possibly due to the funny weather. The Coronation was very low key, in the village the only pictures I were sent were from Woodfield – thanks to Lindsay.

The highlight for me was the farm open day which was very well attended. The staff had obviously gone to a lot of bother to prepare exhibits and give rides.

Sad to hear that Pat Rushmere has passed away. She was a good supporter of Hallmark, passing on news from the Church

We should welcome the new shop and hope that it thrives. It will take them a while to adjust their stock to match the villagers’ needs, but they seem very friendly.

Unfortunately, I did not manage to persuade the new owners to write anything for Hallmark.

I also tried without success to get articles from the new playschool and new milkman. Everyone is feeling shy! Perhaps next time.

May 2023.

I was expecting to have lots of information about events for the coronation on May 8. However, not a word! Perhaps we are all becoming more republican or just celebrating quietly.

Village Hall AGM

We held this on March 8 so that villagers can see what the committee has done. The main project through the year was the car park resurfacing – this seems to have been very well received. We are now working on getting some plants into the area outside the main doors and plans for planters are in hand.

Because of the rising cost of services we have had to raise prices for next year - but only by 15%, well under the inflation rate. Village users still get a 50% discount

Roadworks

Everyone’s complaining about the roads at the moment. We have 3 issues affecting us. The first is potholes, a consequence of years of not maintaining the roads properly.

The second is the fibre broadband company GigaClear who are laying fibre optic cable to bring faster broadband connections to LG & LR. These cables are tiny and can often be fitted into existing underground ducts, but sometimes they do have to dig make new cableways. click GigaClear for the full story.

Finally there is the massive cable that is being laid to feed electricity to the proposed computer data centres at the Mollins site in Saunderton. Their need for power is so large that they have had to install their own heavyweight cable and run it from Saunderton to the National Grid connection at Amersham. This requires a series of major excavation as they have to bury a large cable and get it deep.

The Parish Council website contains up to the minute information on which contractors are digging where this week.

Local information

Hallmark is published every 3 months; between episodes you can keep up with day-to-day events and issues in the village by going to Facebook and searching for the group “What's on in Lacey Green and Loosley Row”.

Finally, congratulations to June and Gary Trew-Smith who have just celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary. They have lived in Loosley Row and Lacey Green for over 40 years. Many of you will know June as a dinner lady at St John’s School and a campaigner for the village play park. Others will remember being driven to their wedding in Gary’s white Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow.