Greetings from BagshotView across a road junction with decorated shops in the background
  and many people milling about.

I concluded the last newsletter by referring to the imminent Royal Wedding. Like many towns and villages we had our street party in the 'old' part of the High Street. The weather was kind and everyone had a good time. Further photos of the event can be seen on our sister Bagshot Events site.

It is hard to imagine that, prior to the opening of the bypass in the 1920's, the road seen in the second of my two photos was the route of the main road from London to both Southampton and the West Country. Bagshot's was one of the first bypasses to be built - and I think we can see why!

The long hot dry spell in the spring resulted in many heath fires. One that featured on the national news during May was Swinley Forest that spans Bagshot's northern border between us and Bracknell. Fortunately for us the fire was on the Bracknell side and the wind was not blowing in our direction. A considerable area of woodland and heath was destroyed.

By the time of St Anne's Church's fete in July the weather had turned. Fetes in the rain are not fun so on the day the organisers adopted 'plan B' - move inside to the Church and Church Centre. Some attractions had to be curtailed, you could only bounce on the bouncy castle between showers, the plant stall and the BBQ soldiered on outside under gazebos and we discovered that pews are ideal for displaying second hand books! Despite the weather attendance was surprisingly good and a healthy sum was raised.

Previously I have written of the road works on the A30 associated with the housing development on the former Waterers Nursery site. At long last that is complete and the development is well under way and the first houses occupied. Mind you, no sooner had those roadworks been completed than the A30 was dug up elsewhere and another couple weeks of single file traffic ensued.

View along a narrow street with tables running down the street seating
  lots of people eating and drinking. Bunting tied overhead.Though well away from Bagshot, expats may well recall the Devil's Punchbowl at Hindhead on the A3 London to Portsmouth road (location). For those who don't know it, the Devil's Punchbowl is a huge natural bowl-shaped feature and the A3 contoured its way round the side into Hindhead. Traffic congestion was horrendous, not so much due to the road around the Punchbowl itself but because it funnelled into Hindhead. There was no alternative route available at ground level - the only option was a very long tunnel. It has been decades in the planning - and is now open and the old road through the punchbowl is being dismantled to be reinstated as the natural heath land. It has been said that this is the only road infrastructure project to be equally supported by local residents, environmentalists, conservationists and motorists!

Many of the visitors to my site are trying to trace their family history. If you are one of these, or think you might become interested in family history in the future, then you may wish to sign the petition at http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/1792
The information on birth, marriage and to some extent death certificates is vital to confirm a pedigree. Currently the only way to get the information off a Birth or Death certificate is to buy a certified paper copy costing £9.25. The same is true of Marriage certificates unless it was a church wedding and you can identify the church and you can track down the original Church registers (which won't now be held by the church). All a researcher needs is the information, not a legally Certified Copy, and this petition seeks to have this made available, perhaps in electronic form, at a realistic price.


Additions to the website since the last newsletter include

With best wishes to you and those you hold dear.
Neil
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