St John’s Church 2024 closure for alterations – further update!

St John’s Church 2024 closure for alterations - further update!

We are delighted that the final part of the alterations to St John’s Church are finally about to happen.   

Accessibility:

We are to have a stone ramp leading to the West Door of the church, and a wider step at the front of the church to enable people to turn their wheelchairs properly.  None of this will alter the Georgian front of the church which people know and love.

The Oratory floor will be made level with the church floor, so that there is no step between the two.

There will be a new door on the west wall of the Oratory, so that we will now have two ways to leave the building.

Heating and lighting in the Oratory:

As the panelling in the Oratory will be removed temporarily, the builders will take the opportunity to put some insulation between the panels and the walls.

The Oratory will have electricity, heating and lighting, so that it becomes a useable space for one to one conversations and for Quiet Day leaders.  It will also have resources for those making a pilgrimage to Little Gidding.

There will be no heating or lighting in St John’s Church.  There will be some sockets so that the organ and other small electrical items can be plugged in (all must be PAT tested).  There is no intention to plug in heaters, as these may overload the system with little effect on the warmth of the worshippers.

The building works will start on January 8th and will last until further notice.

The service on Saturday 2nd December to celebrate Nicholas Ferrar will be the last service in the church before the alterations. (the work had originally been planned to start in November, and therefore we moved or cancelled the December services).

The church will be closed to visitors from early January until the completion of the work and the clearing of the site.

For Service information please visit the Little Gidding Church website

Paul exceeds his target for the Brain Tumour Research charity

Paul exceeds his target for the Brain Tumour Research charity

I am extremely proud of my husband Paul Crank who has just completed his target of cycling 1000 miles in August and raising £1000 for the Brain Tumour Research charity, as our lovely brother-in-law Aubrey Lee died in June following a very short but aggressive illness due to this horrible disease.

During the month of August Paul cycled 1028 miles and raised £1219 for the charity which is an amazing achievement and a fantastic amount to raise from his kind and generous supporters.

Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease. Paul was fundraising for Brain Tumour Research as they are the only national charity dedicated to funding long-term, sustainable research in the UK.

To view Paul’s journeys view his JustGiving page at:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/paul1690204957104

Thank you very much to all who have supported Paul and this very worthy charity.

Patrick R C Ellis – 8th September 1936 to 24th January 2023

Patrick R C Ellis  - 8th September 1936 to 24th January 2023

Many of you will be saddened to hear of the death of Patrick earlier in the year.

His wife, Anne, reminded us how Patrick started his close involvement with the village:
When Patrick retired he did a 3 year course on local history at Nottingham University. He was required to choose a village on which to base his course work & when he found his Mother was descended from the village of Great Gidding he choose us! He completed the dissertation in 2000 & in 2001 was asked by the Parish Council to help write  a Millennium history of Great Gidding with David Shepherd. He took the village to his heart, made numerous regular trips to the village, had many happy memories & made some wonderful friends. He wrote two further books on the history of Great Gidding in 2015. He stressed to me it was important it was known he was a descendent of the Brawn family! 

Mike Keck has an abiding memory of Patrick visiting the village which would be of him sitting at the dining table with a glass of Rioja, regaling on either the Brawn family or the symphonies of Sibelius.

Julie Trolove would like to add – Great Gidding owes a great deal to Patrick, he generously gave his time, knowledge and skill to produce the history books, entertained us at many meetings and events, made us think about what was around us and under our feet, and where our small village fitted into history.  

Our condolences to Anne, his family and friends.

Cambridgeshire County Council’s

Cambridgeshire County Council's

Children and Young People Committee Decision Statement

Meeting: Tuesday 25th April 2023

Agenda item No 6. Future of Great Gidding Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School [KD2023/054]

It was resolved to:

a) approve the closure of Great Gidding CE (VC) Primary School on 31 August 2023.

b) approve, for children displaced by the closure:

– the provision of financial assistance in the form of home to school transport or a mileage allowance.

– the provision of a single per child payment to assist with the purchase of uniform for their new school.

Neighbourhood Plan – Surveys available soon

Neighbourhood Plan - Surveys available soon

After multiple discussions the Neighbourhood Plan team of the Giddings, Winwick and Hamerton have created 4 surveys covering each parish plus the businesses.


Neighbourhood Plan Great Gidding

Online and printed forms

There will be an online version and also a printed version of the surveys available. If you can, online would be our preferred way of completing the form as it reduces transcription errors. 

NB. You will be asked to enter your unique 6 digit reference number found on the first page of paper version of your Residential Survey.

These surveys are currently being printed and will be delivered over the weekend of 29th/30th April.


Online form access

Once you have received your paper version of the form with your unique reference number your will be able to access the 4 survey forms via these unique web links:

Business: bit.ly/3FUgpAZ

Great and Little Gidding: bit.ly/40z9Yer

Winwick: bit.ly/3LRVTVa

Hamerton and Steeple Gidding: bit.ly/42K2V4o


Please complete by 15th May

We would like all of the surveys completed by Monday 15th May. The results are a vital input into our Neighbourhood Plan. A proposed plan should be handed over to Huntingdonshire District Council (HDC) for comments by the end of the year. Once agreed by HDC it will then be reviewed by an independent examiner before finally being adopted by HDC as part of their planning process.

Thank you

Your help and support is greatly appreciated by the team. If you would like someone to visit and help fill out the survey, please ring Paul Hargrave on 07775 711514.  If you have any questions, please contact the team on hamwicking@gmail.com

Granddaughter of WW2 American pilot visits Gidding memorial

Granddaughter of WW2 American pilot visits Gidding memorial

A Great Gidding resident had a lovely surprise when two visitors from the USA called to convey their thanks in person to Bruce Jordan this afternoon. 

Heather Goldman is the granddaughter of Wayne Humphries, one of the survivors of the Bam Bam air crash, and had looked forward to visiting the site and seeing the memorial that Bruce and his wife Lois had diligently researched and compiled for preservation in St Michael’s Church.

Heather and her husband Federico are over for just one week and this stop was the most important on their trip as preserving the memory of her grandfather and his friends means so much to their families.

Well done Bruce (and Lois) for your dedication in ensuring that the air crew of Bam Bam will not be forgotten.  

Read the original post about the crash and the memorial here

Heather’s comment before her trip to Great Gidding

… I also plan to visit the church to see the memorial Bruce made for those men who died in the crash-my grandfathers friends. I would also like to thank Bruce for all of his work and dedication to preserving the history of this event. It means so much to our families!

S/Sgt Wayne Humphries, Tall Gunner - B17 Bam Bam.
Heather’s Grandfather S/Sgt Wayne Humphries

Neighbourhood Plan 2023

Neighbourhood Plan 2023

Neighbourhood Plan covering the Giddings, Hamerton and Winwick

The Neighbourhood Plan Group have joined forces with 4 people in Hamerton / Steeple Gidding and Winwick to create a joint Neighbourhood Plan in 2023 covering the Giddings, Hamerton and Winwick. This is an opportunity for all of us to set out a positive vision of how we would like our community to evolve over the next 15 years to meet the needs and aspirations of both the residents and businesses.

Surveys to be sent out in Spring

The first stage of this will be the surveys, that will be sent out in the Spring 2023. The results of these surveys will form the basis of the Neighbourhood Plan covering such things as what we have now and what we want in terms of amenities, facilities, green spacing, housing and services.

Your chance to influence Council decisions

The Plan will be submitted to Huntingdon District Council after formal approval by you. It is a statutory document and as such strongly influences their decision making about the Giddings, Hamerton and Winwick. Throughout this process we will provide you with regular updates and look forward to your feedback.

You can either leave a comment below or email: hamwicking@gmail.com