A very happy New Year to everyone. Last year seemed to fly by and Christmas came and went in a flash. Perhaps this year the pace will be a bit slower.

Last autumn’s events went very well with the exception of the Bonfire and Fireworks evening. Even though the fireworks were amazing it didn’t raise as much money as normal.

 

We are not sure if it was the weather or the change of date. (We do not have a definite date for the bonfire this year as it depends on when Heathfield have theirs, which is to be confirmed. ) The Harvest Supper raised £495 and the Jumble Sale £294.

​

You may remember that Geoff Cadle left us a legacy in his will which we have put to good use.   We now have full CCTV coverage of the Hall. We have also been able to commission a village sign which has been on our ‘wish list’ for some time. The sign has been made beautifully by Douglas Andrews, our local wheelwright. It should be going up sometime in February and, in case you wonder why it has a chicken on top, Punnetts Town was famous for its chicken industry in the mid 1800s. Lots of detail about this can be found in Molly Beswick’s book ‘On The Edge’  (so-called  as  Punnetts  Town  is  on  the  edge  of  four  parishes).  

 

David Bysouth, our retired local wheelwright, has kindly made and donated a lovely oak bench which will be erected on the ‘green’ opposite Barley Mow House, roughly where the telephone box used to be. We had to apply for permission to erect both the sign and bench and the cost of doing so has been sponsored generously by Pat and Mike Clark. Pat is a former Parish Councillor for Punnetts Town and both she and Mike have always been strong supporters of the Village Hall. We would like to thank all these kind people for their help and support.

VILLAGE CAR PARK

 

As most of you know, the car park is in a poor state due to the potholes.

 

Unfortunately there is tremendous run-off of water from the main road during wet weather. Punnetts Town is also full of springs (hence Spring Hill, from the bottom of North Street along to Kemps Farm).  In addition we get ‘joy riders’ who churn up the surface of the car park.

​

The car park belongs to the Parish Council, not the Village Hall, and they are aware of the issue with the potholes. Rather than just filling them in, a short term solution, they are looking to carry out major drainage and resurfacing work.

 

In assessing the car park, the Parish Council have a lot of factors to consider and the work could be very costly.

 

In the meantime, please be patient and drive carefully.