Category: Latest News

As many will know, in December 2023, Harborough District Council (HDC) voted to adopt a big increase in the council’s housebuilding target and to develop a new local plan. The consultation process related to the new local plan is now underway. It is early in the process, but you can view the details and contribute to the various consultations by clicking the link below.

https://www.harborough.gov.uk/info/20004/planning_strategy/528/new_local_plan

East Farndon Parish Council (EFPC) will be keeping a close eye on the new HDC local plan development and commenting where appropriate, especially in relation to any proposals that relate to housing development between East Farndon and Market Harborough. EFPC will also stay close to any local plan developments related to West Northants Council and will keep everyone updated via this website and the village Facebook page.

If you have any questions, please click this link to email our Parish Clerk, Caroline Burton.

Childrens Dance Classes for ages 3+ are held at the East Farndon Village Hall on Saturday mornings. Please email michelleanndance@gmail.com for more infomation or to book your childs space.

The church gates are part of the village’s World War II memorial and were installed in 1948. Unfortunately, over the years they had fallen into a poor state of repair and were in need of a full restoration. Thanks to the generosity of the village, sufficient funds were raised from the war memorial renovation project to allow this work to be carried out as well. The gates were removed in October 2023 and put back into place in December. Huge thanks to everyone involved in the restoration of this very important village memorial.

Christmas Eve brought the sad news of the death of Marlene Hook, at the age of 85. She had lived her entire life in East Farndon. It is 20 years since her husband John died, but she is survived by her daughter Stephanie and son Andrew.

Marlene lived with her parents George and Frances in a cottage near ‘Sunnybays’ which has since been demolished. It was after she and John were married that they moved to a house in The Lealand. Her parents moved nearby, just round the corner. Throughout her life she supported village activities and there is ample photographic proof of her involvement in the W.I., the fete, Age Concern and generally helping out at village events. No event seemed complete unless Marlene was there, doing her bit. The photos show some of her many contributions to village life.

Marlene had the sort of laughter that set other people off laughing as well. She was the kind of person a community needs, to keep village life going strong. Marlene will be much missed, her funeral will take place at East Farndon church on 17th January 2024 at 12.30.

The photo above shows Marlene at the village fete, around 2000, Marlene is wearing sunglasses as she helps at one of the stalls. The photo below shows Marlene (on the right) at the village May Day celebration in 1949.

The photo below shows Marlene (second from right) helping with the washing-up after an event in the village hall in the 1970s.

Below (extreme right) Marlene is part of the W.I. group clearing the spring in 2000.

In 2013 weather forced some stalls at the fete to move into the church and Marlene (left) was helping, as ever.

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Written by Alan Langley, Jan 2024

Following on from last years 12 Days of Christmas, for this years event, we would love villagers to decorate their house, windows, door, gate, wheelie bins etc with a snowflake and / or star theme. If you can, please join in to help create a festive atmosphere within our village …..and beyond. Launch date, Friday 1st December 2023. If you have any questions, please call Sam using the number on the poster below. Also, please send photos.

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East Farndon organises a range of village events to support the people in our community. We are aware that some people find it difficult to attend these events, especially during the cold and dark winter months, and this can leave them feeling isolated and lonely.

Our village has created a contact group that aims to make sure that everyone feels a connection with the community and are supported in attending village events. The contact group, which is made up of village residents, is available for anyone to call for help in getting to and from village events or for simply organising a get together for a cup of tea and a chat.

This initiative is known as “Ask Aimee” named after Aimee, who lives in East Farndon and has inspired the creation of our village contact group.

To get in touch please call 01858 402055 to leave a message and one of our team of East Farndon residents will return your call and set about getting things organised to help where we can. For those who have access, you can also make contact using this e-mail link: email Ask Aimee

East Farndon events are published in the monthly Parish Magazine, on the Village Website and Facebook pages, and posters around the village. As a reminder, click this link to visit our website Village Events Page: https://eastfarndon.org/events

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Many thanks for attending our village Christmas Soirée Social, that took place on Saturday December 9th 2023 in the Village Hall. The Village Hall Committee would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a merry Christmas and all the very best for a happy and healthy 2024. Click this link to view the event photos.

Click this link to see more East Farndon event photos.

From December 4^th 2023, the East Farndon Village Hall will look slightly different! Your village hall committee is committed to being as environmentally friendly as possible and we are pleased to announce that solar panels will be installed on the roof.

By using solar energy we will generate electricity, rather than importing from the National Grid and therefore make savings to our annual electricity bill, which is one of our largest expenses. The solar panel system will supply our electricity first and additional energy will be stored in our battery, thus optimising our savings. Electricity will only be imported from the grid when there is insufficient capacity contained within our battery storage system. Our expectation is that this will reduce the overall running cost of the village hall, helping ensure its viability into the future.

The addition of solar panels is part of an exciting initiative to help future proof the village hall, making it more efficient and help it become more self-sustainable. Over the coming months we will also look at more efficient lighting options to further reduce our outgoings and into utilising cheaper import rates to top up and charge our battery storage system overnight.

If you want to know more about what’s happening to the village Hall then please use this link to email Paul Hodgetts. Also, use this link to visit the Village Hall Home Page on this website.

Many East Farndon residents and former residents will be sad to learn of the recent death of Gerry Prior. Below is a memory of him from Bob Boucher.

Gerry and Lorna first moved to East Farndon in 1977 and lived at Hillside. Gerry took on village life with gusto; he joined the village hall committee, was a thespian in the village shows, did the BBQ cooking with Jim Grant, played cricket for the village team, opening the batting and keeping wicket.  Although they moved from the village to Husbands Bosworth, and then to Market Harborough, they still kept close contact with the village, joining in most things that were going on. He played golf with David Thake, David Deacon, John Bush and others with the U3A at Kilworth Springs golf club. Gerry will be sadly missed by all. RIP Gerry Prior.

Gerry is shown in the photo which was taken of those who helped in the restoration of the church bells in 1990. Gerry is in the back row, second along from the right.

As most of you will know, in November 2022, we launched our campaign to raise funds to renovate the East Farndon War Memorial. A community based renovation team / working group was set up and they have been fantastic in organising a wide range of fundraising events, and in addition, the team have inspired the receipt of a number of generous cash donations made directly by village residents.

The renovation team have raised a massive total of £14,790.25 and everyone was very pleased to see the newly renovated War Memorial at our Remembrance Service on Sunday November 12^th 2023. At the service two wreaths were laid, Jessica Oakden on behalf of the Parish Council and Richard Everard on behalf of everyone who has donated to the renovation fund. The team has done such a great job that enough funds are available to also renovate the church gates, which are part of the village’s World War II memorial, installed in 1948.

Huge thanks go to the renovation team, (Scott Harrison, Jo Shaw, Judy Hodgetts, Jessica Oakden, Tom Knott and Caroline Burton), to everyone who has taken part in and / or attended our fundraising events, to John Smith for his work on the War Memorial, and to everyone for their enthusiastic support and generous donations.

The renovation team’s fundraising efforts concluded at the November 2023 remembrance service and afterwards, people marked this by getting together at the Village Hall to enjoy refreshments, and to view some photos in an exhibition showcasing how the year’s fundraising activities unfolded.

Please click the link below to view photos and stories from our remembrance service, the gathering afterwards in the Village Hall, the launch in 2022 and how the War Memorial looks, before and after.

https://eastfarndon.org/remembrance-sunday-war-memorial-renovation-nov-2023

Also, click the links below to view photos and stories from many of our renovation fundraising events.

WW2 Air Crash Talk /  Wine Tasting Event /  London Cenotaph to Farndon Sponsored Cycle Ride /  Coronation Beer Festival /  Quiz Night / Platinum Jubilee & East Farndon Booklet sales

Did you know that this website now includes a photo archive of many of our recent / past events. Click this link to explore further: https://eastfarndon.org/photo-archive-of-recent-village-events/