Stinchcombe Local History Society – “A Village Property” 

Stinchcombe Village is full of wonderful properties both large and small. Each property has its own House History. All properties are rich in history and memories. Other Villagers know little or nothing about those histories. Indeed, sometimes the owners themselves know nothing!

Your Own House History

The Stinchcombe Local History Society is suggesting that once a month a local homeowner may like to publish what they know of their house history for all. To include photos and any other interesting stories and put on the Parish website. Then maybe other local people can add their own extra titbits to that property history with their own stories.The History Society can then build up a comprehensive history of the Stinchcombe Village Properties. 

The First Village Property

The first history of a “Village Property” is planned for the New Year as “Combe House & Street Farm“.

Suggestions for topics

Rather than being too prescriptive here are some suggested bullet points to get people started

• when the house was built
• description
• how it’s changed over the years
• past residents and their occupation/role
• significant events
• anecdotes
• how they’ve researched the house’s history
• what it means to them to live in an historic house
• photos old and current

To get Involved

Roger Batty will collate stories and details. Contact Roger Batty (07765468756) if you would like:

• to be involved with “A Village Property”
• get your own property published
• would just like to help in the project

The new Royal Mail Service

Just used the new Parcel Collect Service from the Royal Mail. The Royal Mail is now offering this extra service on top of handing over the mail – picking up parcels from households to deliver elsewhere. 

Although a new idea for Royal Mail, the concept of having letters and parcels picked up from your home has been around for more than a decade – being offered by competitors such as DPD, Hermes, DHL, TNT and the Royal Mail parcel spin-off Parcelforce. 

The new Royal Mail service means the postman coming to your door can collect up to five items.

The service costs 72p per item on top of usual postal charges – or 60p for returning items bought from online sellers such as Amazon. 

So a 10kg parcel costing £16.80 to post at a post office counter will cost £17.52 to be picked up. 

Customers use the Click & Drop service to pay for and download a label which must be stuck on the letter or parcel. Also to arrange for a “Safe Place” for the parcels to be collected. Bookings can be made up to five days ahead although pickups can be made the day after a booking.

Personally, I found the site OK to use for the first time, but my second parcel would be much easier.

Two down, Two to go

After two weeks of lockdown, we still have two more weeks of Lockdown. Many people probably feel that this second Lockdown is harder than the first. Maybe because of the darker nights, maybe because of “pandemic fatigue“, or just because of less social interaction. It might be because someone has employment or financial worries.

Covid has also come closer, with most people now knowing either a person who has had COVID or knows of a friend of a friend.

Stinchcombe Together

At this time remember to look after your neighbours and keep in touch with friends, make sure they are OK. Remember Stinchcombe Together is still here to help with:

• Shopping,
• Prescriptions
• Essential items
• Keeping in touch
• General support

Each area of the Village has its own Local Street Contact to coordinate the response required. For more information email stinchcombeparish@gmail.com

Stinchcombe Together also run the “Stinchcombe Social” WhatsApp Group which anyone in the village is free to join.

Refurbishment of the Stinchcombe Phone Box

Refurbishment of the Telephone box is finally complete with our nice new Stinchcombe name panels. Thanks to Simon Packer for fixing them in place.

Now for the inside….

Census 2021 will provide a snapshot of modern society

Households across Stinchcombe will soon be asked to take part in Census 2021.

The census is a once-in-a-decade survey that gives us the most accurate estimate of all the people and households in England and Wales. It has been carried out every decade since 1801, with the exception of 1941.

“A successful census will ensure everyone from local government to charities can put services and funding in the places where they are most needed,” Iain Bell, deputy national statistician at the Office for National Statistics, said. “This could mean things like doctors’ surgeries, schools and new transport routes. That’s why it is so important everyone takes part and we have made it easier for people to do so.

The first online

It will be the first Census to run predominantly online. Each household will receive a letter with a unique access code, allowing them to complete the questionnaire on their computers, phones or tablets.

Census Day

Census day will be on March 21 2021, but households across the country will receive letters with online codes allowing them to take part from early March.

The census will include questions about your sex, age, work, health, education, household size and ethnicity. And, for the first time, there will be a question asking people whether they have served in the armed forces, as well as voluntary questions for those aged 16 and over on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Results will be available within 12 months, although personal records will be locked away for 100 years, kept safe for future generations.

For more information, visit the website

In the News

You may have seen Slow Ways featured on both BBC News and ITV News on October 16th?  “Slow Ways…seeks to elevate the position of walking in our national conversation, to be seen not just as a worthy, healthy hobby but part of our national transport infrastructure”.

Slow Ways in a snail shell

Slow Ways is a project to create a network of walking routes and footpaths that connect all of Great Britain’s towns and cities as well as thousands of villages.

Using existing footpaths, people will be able to use the Slow Ways routes to walk between neighbouring settlements or combine routes for long distance journeys.

During lockdown 700 volunteers from across the country collaborated to produce a first draft of the Slow Ways network, creating a stunning Slow Ways map in the process. This incredible effort has led to the creation of 7,500 routes that collectively stretch for over 110,000km.

While COVID-19 has forced millions of us to stay at home and indoors, that hasn’t stopped us from being collaborative, imaginative, creative and productive.

We are currently working on building a website that will host all of the Slow Ways routes information and hope to launch that later this year.

All of the routes information that we collate will always be free to browse, search, view, share, download and enjoy.

Want to find out more? Read the FAQs on the Slow Ways Website.

Slow Ways Group

Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a Slow Ways Group in Stinchcombe. And be in at the start of the project in January 2021.

Further Reading

• Guardian
• Ordnance Survey
• Country Living

Worship at St Cyrs

In discussion with all the wardens, we have taken the decision to move all Church services online at present.

Our church will remain open for private prayer. 

We will have a zoom service at 9:30 on Sunday, also live streamed to Youtube.

ONLINE WORSHIP

Please visit our Facebook page or Youtube channel for our services.

Although under Tier 4 communal worship is permitted, in the knowledge that the NHS is overstretched by the pandemic, it is our judgement that we have a responsibility to our local community to do as much as we can to prevent the ongoing spread of the virus. 

With new coronavirus restrictions, make sure you’re signed up for church e-mails to get the latest news.