Editorials by Mike Piercy

March 2025. I am sorry to say that I had no response for my appeal in the last edition for someone to come forward and take over editing Hallmark. I intend to retire in the Summer (after 15 years) so the June issue will be my last. There is still time to handover the magazine to a new editor or team, so if you are interested please get in touch.

The Village Hall AGM will be held on Tuesday March 11 at 8pm. Come along to meet the committee and air your views. Free wine and soft drinks for all comers!

Buckinghamshire is holding elections for Council members on Thursday May 1. The Boundary Commission have decided to reduce the number of councillors from 147 to 97 (which should give a good saving). Lacey Green is part of the Ridgeway West ward, we currently have three councillors and this will drop to two. So political organisations can enter one or two candidates and you will have two votes to cast. lf you wish to stand then you must enter by April 11. If you need a postal vote then request this before April 14.

I met the new owner of The Whip. He seemed like a nice gentleman and was very friendly. He’s intending to make a major investment to refurbish the whole building and is looking forward to opening in the Spring. He told me that they will be running an Indian restaurant but he intends to keep the bar going.

December 2024. I had hoped that you would take advantage of the new publication schedule to tell me about your plans for Christmas events.

The Church contributors have done a great job at this and have filled our middle pages with Christmas plans, they have even given us the schedule for their Summer celebration of their 200" anniversary.

However, the other village organisations seem to be planning a very quiet Christmas and New Year.

We haven't got a play or pantomime scheduled for this Christmas in the Hall, but we do have an article on page 31 about Equus’ next production in the Spring.

Happily the village organisations are making good use of the Village Hall and there are plenty of commercial bookings as well. We are covering our operating costs and managing a small program of improvements, especially in the kitchen.

Welcome to Becky, the new Head Teacher at St John’s Primary School. This autumn she has taken over from Mr Newton and is now settling in.

We were hoping that the new stocks would have been fitted to the windmill by now, but they soon will be going up.

I have been editing Hallmark for the past 15 years and have enjoyed it greatly. However I am now slowing down and realise that it is time to hand over to new blood. I’m not in any great rush to go, so can hand over the tasks gradually.

So if you would like to try helping put the magazine together there is opportunity to try it and see if you enjoy it.

There are a variety of tasks, you could try one or all of them -

• Liaison with village organisations and regular contributors to gather in their articles and perhaps steer them to write about particular village issues

• Writing articles yourself, and interviewing persons of interest in the village

• Reviewing the village history and putting together articles from Joan West’s magnificent Wiki

• Using DTP to design the look of the magazine and being creative laying it out

• Liaison with the printers and distributors to ensure that the magazine is printed and distributed correctly

Please get in touch to have a chat about any of these jobs.

Thank you for your donations towards our running costs, happily we have received enough to enable us to keep publishing without going into the red.

Thank you also to Timea, a first time contributor for her very engaging article on running.

Congratultions to Stocken Farm for winning the “Best Run Small Farm Cup” for the second time at the Chiltern Hills Agricultural Association awards.

Did you know that the Community Bus service has been extended with a new bus. They only come to Lacey Green on Tuesdays, picking up at 9.05, 12.00 and 15.10. Cost is £2.50. I also notice that they do trips from Risborough High Street to Worlds End and Chiltern View Graden Centres on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. See www.racb.co.uk

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.

Hallmark November 2022.

Each year the cost of producing Hallmark rises. Though we do get income from our adverts this does not cover the production costs. So each year we ask residents to contribute to the production costs – and any surplus goes to fund improvements in the Village Hall.

The contributions are entirely voluntary; you will still receive the magazine even if you are not able to contribute. The cost of producing each issue is about £2 per copy - £8 across the year. So we suggest a donation in the £5 to £10 range.

You can pay in a variety of ways. You can give cash or cheque to the person who delivers the magazine. Alternatively, you can put cash or cheque in the envelope and return it to Leigh Axe, 4, Woodfield, Lacey Green HP27 0QQ. Finally, you can pay by Internet banking to Lacey Green & Loosley Row Village Hall Fund, Sort code: 20-85-73, a/c 30557900, quoting reference “Hallmark Don”

Thank you for your support – the Hallmark Team

Thanks to Jonathan Hilder and Sonia Goby for his superb front cover picture and those on page 11. It’s good that the local village magazines can work together.

Thanks also to the local police for their article. It’s good to see that they recognise the local issues and are keen to communicate with us.

The middle pages are full of stories about our Ukrainian visitors, it’s great that they have settled in so well. I hope that the new charity and Bucks Council can find a solution to the housing problem.

Theatre group Equus are bringing their panto to Lacey Green again this year, it’s a great tradition. Let’s support it.