New Sport in Town Pub

The Harvest Home was full on Saturday night for a new venture when The Whitchurch & Overton Ferret Racing Club staged a Race Night.

The ferrets "raced" over a course approximately 20m long, the main problem being that the majority of them didn't quite understand the rules, i.e. they were meant to start at the beginning and then proceed along tunnels to the finish. In most races only one did this and was the de facto winner, most decided to turn round (some more than once) and very often emerged at the start.

Nevertheless funds were raised for a local football club from the Tote betting on each race.

The start	Betting in full flow	Back to the start!

Things are Brightening Up

Spring seems to be making Whitchurch more welcoming. The bulbs planted a couple of years ago by Working4Whitchurch are now blooming at the Town's gateways and, hopefully, creating a good impression on those who live here, are visiting or just passing through. A request will be made to the Town Centre Improvements Programme to buy more bulbs to plant this Autumn.

Finally work has started to refurbish the side and frontage of 7 Winchester Street. This was one of the buildings identified in the bid for Town Centre Improvement funding and a picture of it included in the final presentation to show bad things were.

The building will be repainted from top to bottom, the damaged rendering replaced (that's the grey parts in the photo), all the woodwork be repaired or replaced and a new damp course installed to prevent the damage previously caused to the rendering and window frames. Given good weather, it's hoped the work will be complete by the end of the first week in April.

Work on the Parish Hall frontage, which has been supported by a grant from the SEEDA Town Centre Improvements Programme, is now complete.

The Red House is no longer white, as of Friday it is now yellowish!

.... but

The impression can so easily be spoiled and tatty or out of date roadside advertising may well reverse any good impression gained of the town.

Recently erected signs have been spoiled by the rain and are now unreadable - click on the picture to see details - all three signs are equally unreadable.

London Marathon Sponsorship

Sophia Mattia, who organised the Valentine's fund raising ball, is at it again - this time running the London Marathon on 25 April. This is in memory of her daughter Ava and to help raise as much money as possible for The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths charity, which is working to prevent sudden deaths. Training is going well and she is now running 20 miles. This is her first marathon and she realises it is going to be a huge challenge both physically and mentally.

You can sponsor her at www.justgiving.com/Avas-Stars where there's more information about Sophia's efforts. Sophia would like to say a huge thank you in advance for your support!!

Green Week is Here

Whitchurch's first Green Week opened in style with an all day exhibition in the Gill Nethercott Hall. A steady flow of visitors saw a hall full of exhibits from electric vehicles through solar powered heating to sustainably produced jewelry and Whitchurch's own Eco-Shop.

The fair, which was supported by a grant from SEEDA, marks the start of a week of green activities which end with Whitchurch's second Earth Hour.

Twangfest is Back

Twangfest 2010 takes place on Saturday 5th June 2010 at Testbourne Community Centre. Arrangements to date include ~20 local bands, a headline 'tribute' act; 2 indoor stages, an outdoor open-mic stage, fully licensed bars, food stalls and lots lots more.

All profits from this event go to local charities so please show your support (and have a really good time!). Any volunteers will get free entry for 2.5 hours work. Contact details are under the 'Contact us' section of the website. Gates open at 11:30am for 12:00pm start, finishing at 11:30pm.

Whitchurch Marmalade Wins National Awards

Two marmalades made in Whitchurch have won awards at the World Marmalade Festival. Featured on this week's BBC Food Programme, the annual event invites entries from round the world.

Pat Gunner of Grandma's Jams & Pickles won a silver and Bronze award for her 2 entries. Her award winning marmalade and complete range of pickles and preserves are available every week at the Friday Market in the Parish Hall.

Have Your Say in the Future of the Borough

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council is asking for your views on what the borough should look like in the future.

A document is available on-line which gives the results of work carried out since November 2007 and asks that you give your views as part of a process that will produce a “Core Strategy” for the period to 2026. This will be subject to public scrutiny in April 2011 but your input now will help shape the strategy. The document gives the key themes that have been identified to date and asks questions such as "What infrastructure do you think is necessary to address existing gaps and support new development?".

If you want your views taken into account you have until 26 April. You can comment on-line or by post and copies of the document will be available in the library and is available for download.

New Season of Moviola Films

The programme of Moviola films to be shown between April and July has been agreed. The films include 3 that have won recent awards.

Tickets are £5 and will be available from John Dennett and The Handbag Shop 2 weeks before the show and at the Hall on the night.

More Work On Gill Nethercott Centre

Following complaints over the last 2 years, the surrounds of the Centre are to be relandscaped as the plan adopted before the Centre was opened three years ago had not worked and the area has been overgrown and untidy.

The work which will be "inside the budget of circa £10,000" will include clearing the existing undergrowth in March and installing a membrane covered in bark chips. Osier willow, Salix viminalis, will be planted on part of the site by early April; signs will be put up inside and outside the Centre giving information about the wildlife to be seen on the site.

Later, paths will be laid and a 'hide' built from which animals and birds visiting the area may be watched. Evidence has been found of otters visiting the site and it is hoped to build an artificial otter holt to encourage them to breed here.

In May the frontage of the site will be laid out as a garden.

New Opening Hours for Barbers

Whitchurch Barbers is now open on Thursday and Friday evenings.

Complete timings are:

The free eighth hair cut offer is still open!