Chesham

In 1901 the foundation stone was laid of the preset building, and more details of this can be seen in the current exhibition about Chesham churches in Chesham Library, Elgiva Lane. Now,100 years later, the church has opened its archives so that one can look back on the life of the church.

The recent centenary commemoration at the church in Chesham's The Broadway included a special service and visits by many involved with the church, including the Rev Terence Brinkley, who was in the church's Boys Brigade in the 1960s. The Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, Sir Nigel Mobbs, presented six members of the Boys' Brigade with awards.

Also present were Don Phillips, chairman of Chiltern District Council, and Cllr David Ponting, mayor of Chesham.

CHESHAM (Evening) Townswomen's Guild will have an outing to Weymouth on May 19.

AGE Concern Befriending Schemes are seeking those willing to befriend a housebound older person for an hour each week in Amersham or Chesham. For Chesham please phone 01494 782042.

AMERSHAM & Chesham Hard of Hearing Club exists for the benefit of all who suffer from impaired hearing and meets every other Tuesday at the Red Cross Hall in Chiltern Avenue, Amersham, at 7.30pm.

AMERSHAM & Chesham Talking Newspaper is a digest of local news on tape, delivered every Friday morning to the blind, partially sighted or disabled people, by the Amersham and Chesham Talking Newspaper Association. For details phone 01494 784200.

CHARISMATIC Chesham town councillor Derek Lacey, leader of Chesham Residents Association, will chair a group next month to hear residents of Chesham's Pond Park outlining their problems.

The scheme, Working Together for a Safer Chesham, wishes to identify Pond Park's most pressing issues, which includes health issues, the environment, young people with nothing to do, and the fear of crime. Vandalism, litter, abandoned cars, and transport problems will be discussed.

THE new Metropolitan Line timetable, operative from May 20, shows a considerable reduction in services between Amersham and London. This will also affect those using the Chesham Shuttle. At present, during off-peak hours, there are four trains an hour at most times of the day. This will be cut to just two an hour. Currently these four trains represent two fast ones to Aldgate and two slow ones to Baker Street.

From May 20, the two trains are fast ones and will only run to Baker Street. This means that passengers going further towards the City will have to change trains. Furthermore, as there are no slow trains, there will be no direct services to Northwood, Northwood Hills, Pinner and North Harrow.

London Underground spokesman Heather Preston, said: "The Amersham branch service will be reduced from four trains to two, all running to Baker Street. But passengers still have the alternative of catching the two Chiltern Line services an hour."

Uxbridge trains will be more frequent about six an hour and Watford will have four to six trains an hour. But this increase and the fact that Harrow-on-the-Hill will have more trains an hour hardly helps the commuters of Amersham and Chesham.

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE'S County Show has been cancelled due to the foot and mouth crisis.

ON Wednesday, May 16, from 2pm to 5pm, Gipsy House, Great Missenden, is open to visitors as part of the Buckinghamshire Open for Charity 2001 Scheme. The owner, Mrs Felicity Dahl (she prefers to be known as Liccy) will greet you. She is the widow of the late Roald Dahl, the celebrated children's story writer who died from leukaemia in November 1990.

The house and its garden include a caravan, a hut where the author worked, and a children's maze. Admission is £2, children 50p, and proceeds to the charitable foundation Liccy set up ten years ago to fund causes close to her late husband's heart.

Instead of wallowing in the comfort of Gipsy House, surrounded by memories of Roald's avid interests, from food to orchids, Liccy is busy running the foundation and helping to launch her husband's redesigned books.

ADMINISTRATION, listening and giving information and advice, practical work and DIY, working with elderly people, working with people with learning difficulties, fundraising contact Chiltern Volunteer Bureau, 150 High Street, Chesham, to find out more.

JILL Herring, of 6 Nightingale Road, Chesham, on 01494 783676, is secretary of the Over-50s Coach Travel Club. The yearly membership is £3, and trips are booked one month prior to the date of trip. Trips vary from a full day at Swanage on May 25, a full day to the Cotswolds on June 2, a half-day mystery tour of the Thames Valley on June 14, a trip to Worthing on June 19, to a full day in Essex and Suffolk on June 20. The pick-up points are Greenway Parade, The Sportsman, Broadway, Red Lion Street (all Chesham), plus Amersham Station and Little Chalfont. In addition. theatre trips to London are planned.

DATES for your diary: Monday, May 14, visit Chesham Town Hall at 7.30pm to witness the appointment of the new Mayor and the new Deputy Mayor.

Wednesday, May 16, come to Chesham Town Hall at 7.30pm for the Annual Town Meeting.

Saturday, June 16, Chesham Carnival.

Annual Civic Service, Sunday, June 10, St Mary's Church, Chesham, 10.30am.

Town Carol Service, Wednesday, December 19, St Mary's Church, Chesham, 8pm.

THE Junior Talmer Tennis Club meets this year during the summer term at Dr Challoner's Grammar School, Chesham Road, Amersham, on Wednesday evening each week, from 6pm to 7pm. There are new tennis courts, all six of them. The club aims to continue improving the children's tennis kills with fun, games and coaching, etc. All children are welcome from age four upwards to 12. The joining fee is £20 to help pay fees for hiring costs, and £3 per session. Wednesdays from May 16 to July 18, with a break on May 30.

TOM Clitherow has been appointed chief executive of Chiltern Leisure Trust. Tom has overseen the development of the council's community leisure facilities and services of the past 25 years. Along with the board, council and his team, Tom intends to improve the quality and range of the leisure facilities and services in the Chiltern District.

Tom is supported by the senior management team of Jill Mace, operations director; Gordon Hubbard, head of Facilities & Project Management; Sarahlise Evans, head of Finance, and Sue Shutter, head of Human Resources.