The Whitchurch group of Church of England Churches, comprising All Hallows’ Whitchurch, St Mary Tufton and St James the Less Litchfield has a new website.

Designed to be user friendly with a useful search facility it reflects the activities of the Churches, worship and prayer, community and a brief history of each Church.

Please take a look.

www.hantswhit.church

Whitchurch Town Council is keen to support the Whitchurch Silk Mill, perhaps the town’s most valuable asset. It has produced an article to promote the Mill and its inclusion in “Eat to Help Out” – an ideal opportunity for us all to make that visit…

Whitchurch’s gem of industrial heritage is one of the many venues in the town ready to make use of the Government’s new “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme. The Riverside Cafe at the Mill is one of a number of cafes, pubs and restaurants in Whitchurch that has signed up to the new Government scheme, which starts runs throughout.

The scheme is designed to encourage the use of local venues as lockdown eases. Sue Tapliss, director of Whitchurch Silk Mill, said:

“This is a fantastic scheme from the Chancellor to give our customers a 50 per cent discount, and through our commitment to our local team it will give a boost to our community and team.”

Since it first reopened, following the relaxation of the coronavirus lockdown, The Café at the Mill has seen a steady stream of visitors particularly drawn to sit on the banks of the River Test in the glorious sunshine. The lovely lawns of the Mill thankfully lend themselves to effective social distancing. Discounts do not apply to takeaway refreshments but will be applied for customers using seating in the garden.

Mill lawns by the Test

Alongside a number of other museums, Whitchurch Silk Mill has recently joined the “we’re good to go” accreditation scheme, certifying that the Mill team have taken the necessary steps to support social distancing and good hygiene practices.

Visitors to Whitchurch Silk Mill’s riverside café who eat-in will benefit from a 50% discount, up to a maximum of £10 per person, on food and drinks, any Tuesday to Wednesday in August and Bank Holiday Monday.

The Silk Mill – a wonderful setting on the river

The deal can be used as many times as you like throughout the month and you don’t need a voucher to use the scheme, it can be used at the same time as other offers and discounts too plus there is no minimum spend. So you could just nip in for a cup of tea for £1 or hot chocolate for £1.20, or have an afternoon cream tea for just £3.25! Every penny spent at the Mill supports living weaving heritage at the Mill and helps keep this gem of industrial heritage weaving more than happy memories.

The Mill is taking part in the Eat Out to Help Out scheme to make up for the 105 day closure the Mill faced during the coronavirus lockdown. 70% of the Mill’s income comes from visitors and this loss has put this Grade Two* Listed building and working museum at great risk. Even while closed, the building, grounds and river still needed continual care.

The website below lists all the cafes, pubs and restaurants taking part within five miles of Whitchurch https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/eat-out-to-help-out/find-a-restaurant/results?postcode=RG28+7AL

This article appeared originally on the Town Council website at:https://whitchurch-hampshire-tc.gov.uk/2020/08/03/whitchurch-silk-mill/

Visit the Mill and support this wonderful amenity in our town.

Many activities have ‘popped-up’ during the lockdown, many appearing on the wonderful Whitchurch Community Events Live Facebook page, a terrific initiative started by Marcus Winch, Mark Bish and Amanda Winch.

One such activity has been the tremendous Thursday afternoon videos from Katie Black who runs Cookery Doodle Doo.Yesterday was the 21st video, and sadly the last – but what a colourful mouth-watering item it was – the appropriately named Rainbow Fudge.

After a whole range of simple but tasty recipes this may have been the ‘sweetest’.Others included strawberry shortcakes, beer bread for Father’s Day, summer tarts for a lovely tea in the sunshine, brekkie bowls to start the day, marble cake, hot cross scones…The list goes on and on – great fun for all. It was a lovely activity too for involving children.FundraisingKatie has also been fundraising during the videos and has raised over £600 in donations for Naomi House – a fantastic achievement. A BIG Thank youA massive thanks is given to Katie for providing these recipes which has brought to many the enjoyments of the kitchen, and also to the Community Events Live team for arranging the facility.

Katie’s Facebook page is here:https://www.facebook.com/cookerydoodledoonorthhants/

Fancy entering a Scarecrow for this special event? The team at Community Support Live Events tell us they have well over 40 Scarecrows confirmed already! Will your road or group be represented? You have until the 15th August to register your creation….no theme, let your imaginations run wild! Just make sure your scarecrow is family friendly! Email your details to Davieswinch@sky.com and you will be added to the trail list.

Tomorrow, work will begin on replacing the current town website; interruptions to service can be expected from late morning while the work is undertaken. Further interruptions may occur when the events calendar is added once the site has gone live.

The website story:

The current town website was part of the Town Centre Improvement Plan (TCIP, 2007-10) funded by the South East England Development Agency (now defunct) and at the disbanding of the TCIP Steering Committee, responsibility for its day to day oversight passed to the trustees of the Whitchurch Association, who also oversee the running of the Gill Nethercott Community Centre and the town’s Walkers are Welcome accreditation. The TCIP budget did not provide funding for ongoing maintenance or upgrades.

The design of the original site was heavily customised and despite revamps over the last three years funded by the Whitchurch Association, it had become apparent that due to aging, and out of date software, it needed to be replaced.

The Whitchurch Association has used the same company that the Town Council employed to design its new site. We have learnt from experience and taken on board advice from Comms Team volunteers and have streamlined the website. The new website is clean, fresh and up to date in appearance and has been designed, like all new websites, to be easy to read/navigate across multiple devices.

To support the town in the best way we can, the decision was taken to develop a site that serves two purposes,

1) to attract people into Whitchurch (tourism) hence the use of fabulous pictures to really showcase the town and area and the ‘What to Do’ section, encouraging visitors to stay longer and hopefully spend more money and…..

2) to continue to serve the local community.*

* Residents, community groups, clubs and societies will still be able to submit suitable news articles and events by following the links clearly shown in the footer of each page. Please Note, it is NOT the responsibility of the Whitchurch Association, or the website Comms Team to provide an editorial/news service. If details of news items/events are not submitted externally, for consideration, they will likely not appear.

Trustees are very grateful for the assistance they have received from local residents and businesses who have provided professional quality photographs and information.

Going forward the site will continue to be overseen by a small team of Whitchurch Association trustees and volunteers.