Cotswold Chatterblog

(From the letters section of the Chipping Campden Bulletin. Reproduced with kind permission of Jeremy Green) 

Dear Jeremy,

In 2008 Beijing hosts the Olympic Games, with London to follow in 2012. But for Campden every year is “Olimpick”, and in 2012 the Cotswolds Olimpick Games will celebrate their 400th anniversary. Read the rest of this entry »

(From the letters section of the Chipping Campden Bulletin. Reproduced with kind permission of Jeremy Green)

Dear Jeremy,

Another wonderful flower festival is over and now many of us are reflecting on the very successful weekend it was. In our tea rooms we had a really happy five days serving lunches and teas to over 1,000 people, but none of that could have happened without our enormous band of helpers: firstly, all the kind people who donated the food (over 100 cakes) and also the non-food items; and then the large number of friends who worked in shifts in the kitchen. The stars of the tea room “staff were the children. They behaved beautifully and were polite and helpful to our customers, especially the elderly and disabled, and we all enjoyed their cheerful company. So a very big thank you to Maricon, Olivia, Tyler, Theo, Felix, Ellie, Daisy, Alexander, Kelly, Sidney, Hamish, Serena and Rosanna.

Last but certainly not least I want to give a huge thank you to my “Stalwarts” – Jenny, Carol and Avril. They worked so hard but together we had such a fun and happy weekend. Thank you to you all.

Yours sincerely,
Jessica Brook

Also, see our other Flower Festival article here.

Dear Jeremy

The flash floods that hit Chipping Campden and the surrounding areas last Friday may have caused less devastation than the rivers that burst their banks in other parts of the country, but anyone who has been in any way affected by similar natural occurrences will understand how traumatic it can be to find your home and belongings badly damaged, if not quite wrecked.

So we would like to pay a little tribute through your pages to all the good friends, neighbours and kind souls who came rushing to help us when we were so greatly in need: Maralyn and Bill from Paxford, Anne and Ken from Mickleton, Pearl and John from up the road, Geraldine and Tony from across the road who had their own damage to attend to, Maureen who brought food and drink for everybody and stayed cleaning the whole day and Phil the Minister from the Baptist Church, who not only brought words of comfort but got himself thoroughly filthy carrying furniture and ruined possessions from the house to the road, from where everything was speedily removed in countless journeys by Graham and Conrad. Read the rest of this entry »

(From the letters section of the Chipping Campden Bulletin. Reproduced with kind permission of Jeremy Green)

Having just moved here from Greenwich, London to Chipping Campden, I would like through the Bulletin to thank the many friends and neighbours (they know who they are) for their warm and generous welcome. It is very nice to be made part of a friendly community having come from a large and “too busy to pass the time of day” area. We are both looking forward to spending many happy years here.

(From the letters section of the Chipping Campden Bulletin. Reproduced with kind permission of Jeremy Green)

It’s comforting to know that good things happen on the streets of Campden! Totally unaware, I dropped my purse outside the library which was thankfully found by a couple waiting for the bus. The tourist information office being closed, they handed it to a lady in the town who kindly took the trouble to phone my home and mobile numbers. Apart from cash, I would have also lost debit/master cards, and a driving licence and the prospect of cancelling and renewing these was not attractive. Not only am I enormously grateful to these kind people, it’s good to know there are thoughtful, caring people around.