Category Archives: Village Societies and Organisations

Hughenden Village Community Association

First Meeting: Monday 16th March at 7.30pm

Large Hall, Hughenden Village Hall

Invitation to the Meeting

We would like to invite you to the first meeting of the Hughenden Village Community Association on Monday 16th March at 7.30pm in the Large Hall of Hughenden Village Hall. We will expound our ideas and introduce the first whole-village event.

From Peter Gieler:

I have been the current Chairman of Hughenden Village Hall for the past 2 years. I have lived in Hughenden for over 43 years and have been constantly involved in the local community and served for some years as a Parish Councillor. For some time I have been concerned with the various organisations working within the parish but running parallel to each other, rarely combining or working together. Since the Covid pandemic it has become difficult to attract volunteers, be it for the Village Hall, Residents Association, the shop or even the Parish Council. Our age profile concentrates on the elderly, missing our youth. We all need to widen our appeal and approach.

What then is a Village Community?

A village community is a small, typically rural human settlement where residents live in close proximity, often sharing a similar lifestyle and strong social ties. It acts as a primary, tight-knit group focused on mutual aid, with residents sharing local services, a common area, or a place of worship.

Hughenden does not meet these factors. We are a spread-out residential development without a typical village centre. Both the local church and the pub, usual meeting places for locals, are at extreme ends of the village and far from each other. The Village Hall sits fortunately in the middle and, with the shop and its café, attracts many visitors.

What is the Problem?

During the year there are several events organised by the local PTAs, the Residents Association, the Football Club, the local Drama Group, the Art Group and the Photographic Group. At each and every event we struggle to gather enough volunteers. Would it not make sense to have an association where we can support each other and make more residents aware of the community they reside in? We are fortunate to have two Primary Schools in or bordering Hughenden, but the Parish suffers from not having a secondary school. This makes communicating with our younger generations difficult.

Plans So Far:

Hughenden Valley Village Hall celebrates its 80th Birthday on 5th September 2026, which is a Saturday.

Events organised so far include:

Afternoon Event: Open Air Brass Band Concert with Chiltern Brass, Picnic in the Park, Children’s Fancy Dress

Evening Event: Decades Disco hosted by Bob, Jasper and Richard

All Day / Weekend Event: Photographic and painting exhibition of Hughenden in the last 80 years

We hope you will actively support this event and, in turn, we hope to be able to support events you organise.

Peter Gieler

Chairman, Hughenden Valley Village Hall

DIG Update End Jan 2026

Rainwater Levels

    You might be forgiven for thinking that the stream will flow up through Hughenden Valley this year given the large amounts of rain we have had through the winter period so far. But that may not be the case, and I have enclosed a diagram that may explain things a bit.

    The graph shows the readings for the borehole at the bottom of Cryers Hill between November 2024  and the beginning of February 2026. The borehole has equipment which measures and reports on the groundwater level and that is what we see below. The levels detailed on the left of the graph are what are call datum levels; the figures compare to a reference point. So, for us in the valley, a figure of 90.0 metres shows the groundwater levels here are relatively low and the stream won’t be running in the vicinity of the pumping station.

    This graph shows that the highest groundwater figures occur towards the end of winter, typically in February. From looking at the figures, when the reading exceeds 91.0 then the stream is likely to be flowing at the pumping station and also further up through the village from Warrendene. From memory, I believe the stream was flowing in the village from December onwards, which is quite early for it to flow. This shows itself on the graph, where the borehole reading was above 91 in December.

    At the beginning of February 2026, the graph is on a steep upward slope, but we are still some way short of the 91 metre figure. Beyond the end of February and assuming we get some relief from this rain, then the stream may not rise at all and we also may not see the groundwater levels putting pressure on the sewage system. Maybe we will not see any sewage discharges this year also.

    • Warrendene

    The last time we saw Warrendene flooding was 18th December, when again, Warrendene Road became a river. My understanding is that the front of the Harrow was flooded, but that water did not get inside the pub. Since then and despite the large rainfall in recent months, no further flooding of the pub or other property has happened. This goes to show that we can suffer large amounts of rainfall without flooding in the vally, but we simply cannot cope well (at present) with the severe bursts of rain that happen occasionally and which has caused much misery from flooding in the last few years in Warrendene.

    • Natural Flood Management Status

    We have had a brief update from Andrew Morsley this month on where we are with things:

    • The Hughenden Valley project is now on hold while we await the contract to embark on phase 2 – implementation.  Bucks Council are holding some budget that needs to be released and Bucks Council have applied for funding from Regional Floods Committee.  We will then need to do a prioritisation exercise once we know the budget (we should know in March)
    • The feasibility report Andrew prepared  for the Bucks Thames Natural Conservation Project  will be available soon for public dissemation.

    With regard to Bryants Bottom, who are not covered by the NFM project, Hughenden Parish Council have approved a grant for the village to obtain consultancy from Andrew for him to specify potential work to ease the flooding issues seen there. This is being followed up at present.

    • WhatsApp Group

    It has been suggested that it might be worthwhile setting up a WhatsApp group for residents who see their properties at risk from the different forms of flooding we can see. This might be from hillside runoff, stream issues, sewage spillages etc.

    I have seen a bit of interest if forming such a group. The idea would be to use it in exceptional circumstances such as when flooding may be about to happen or, indeed, has already happened. We would seek to use it really only for emergency purposes. Please let me know if you are interested in joining such a group.

    Thanks.

    Paul Woodford

    2 February 2026

    Hughenden Village Hall Committee’s Guided Walk – 2nd June

    This is to let you know that the Village Hall Committee’s annual Guided Walk to see the abundant flora and fauna that exists around the playing field and chalk slope will take place next Monday evening, 2nd June.  For those of you who may be interested, please meet in the car park outside the Small Hall at 7.00pm (NOT 7.30pm) and refreshments will be provided after the walk.

    HAGA Meeting – Friday 30 May 2025 at 8.00pm

    Looking forward to seeing as many of you that can make the HAGA meeting on this coming Friday, 30 May 2025 at 8.00pm.   

    John Tyler will be talking to us on “In the forests of Borneo”.  The tropical rainforests of Borneo are among the richest and most ancient on Earth, home to Orangutans, headhunting tribes and a wealth of colourful wildlife.  In John’s illustrated talk we will meet some of the forest residents, discover the threats that they face and see how their future depends on us.

    Norma Hill and Barbara Blackett will be serving the tea and coffee.

    At this meeting you will be able to sign up for the remaining 2 day visits we have organised for 2025, as follows:

    • Saturday 26 July 2025 – Cambridge University Botanic Garden

    For those who already have their names down for this trip, please note on the sign-up sheet whether or not you would like to join the guided tour of the Botanic Garden at an additional cost of £7 per person;

    • Wednesday 3 September 2025 – Barn Farm Plants Garden Centre & The National Herb Centre.

    As there is no HAGA meeting at the end of June, Friday is the last meeting at which you can sign up for the trip to Cambridge University Botanic Garden.  After that you are welcome to contact me to sign up for either trip (Diana Dove diana.dove@btinternet.com)

    Hughenden News Summer 2025

    We are starting to put together the Summer edition of Hughenden News.  We welcome articles on almost any topic related to life in Hughenden Valley, Bryants Bottom & Cryers Hill, and a bit wider afield! So if you run a club or society, have attended or are planning an event (Do you have any good pictures from VE Day street parties?), or think that there is a topic that should be brought to a wider audience then do get writing.

    We would like to hear your stories about village life, growing up in the village, are you “valley born” or “just arrived”, & do you have any photos to share – ancient or modern? We can help you develop the text.

    Please send material, by 14th June to magazine@hughendenresidents.org . Also use that address if you have any questions.

    Please provide photographs & graphics as separate files to the text.

    Finally, some previous editions of the magazine are available on-line at https://hughendenresidents.org/magazine/

    Nature Quest on 7th June, Hughenden Valley Climate Group,

    We are holding a Nature Quest on 7th June at the Church from 10 am to 4 pm for Great Big Green Week and Churches Count on Nature week.  We will have sheets for adults and children to follow but would welcome any help on the day even if for an hour or come and have a go!  We have just been designated as a Local Wildlife site after a recent inspection as well and hope to further build on this base in the future.