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Every few years, the lime trees around The Green need to be pollarded (pruned) to ensure they do not get out of hand and stay healthy. Tandridge District Council (TDC) will be doing this work at the end of March 2023.

Unfortunately, at least one of the trees – the furthest east on the south side – needs to be felled. It has been traffic damaged over the years and is now unsafe. A further tree may have to be felled, but this will not be confirmed until tree surgeons have been able to inspect it higher up.

It is currently planned to carry out the work on March 27-29, one day being used for each side of The Green, but Surrey County Council Highways will have to confirm that these are suitable dates for traffic management, as, for safety, the part of the road directly below the trees will have to be closed off. To ensure traffic can continue to flow, the parking bays on each side will be suspended in turn, as the work is being carried out.

These dates are provisional and await confirmation by Surrey Highways.

Again unfortunately, the work will inevitably cause significant damage – possibly total – to the Christmas lights. As a result, it may take the Warlingham Lights Committee a number of years to bring the display back to its recent standard.

A large tree on the north side of The Green, which had been scheduled for felling, has been saved following an ultrasound scan by an expert which showed that the tree is sound. The scan had been funded by Warlingham Parish Council.

It is being proposed that any tree or trees that need to be felled are replaced with new planting by TDC working in conjunction with the Parish Council. If so, then Warlingham residents will be consulted.

A consultation on ward boundaries for Tandridge District Council is currently taking place ending 20 March 2023. We encourage everyone to participate and have a say. More information is available via the consultation portal at Tandridge | LGBCE Site

You can also find plenty of other Parish Council information at Warlingham Parish Council | Surrey, England (warlingham-pc.gov.uk) or Warlingham Parish Council | Facebook

You may have seen our ‘snow angels’ clearing the pavements around The Green back in December. They successfully cleared and gritted a path which particularly helps more vulnerable people carry on with their daily lives and businesses to operate normally.

If you are interested in joining our enthusiastic band of volunteers, please get in touch with the Clerk at clerk@warlingham-pc.gov.uk.

Warlingham Parish Council has listened to a number of residents who have said that Tandridge District Council’s play area at Hamsey Green Recreation Ground, behind Verdayne Gardens, is lacking in many ways.

The availability of funding has become more limited these days but we hope to work with Tandridge District Council, under a joint arrangement, to make it possible to fund one or two pieces of new play equipment. We hope our contribution will make a difference.

But before all that, we would like to know what you would particularly like to see at the play area. We will not be able to support all the ideas but would like to hear from you – please get in touch via the Clerk at clerk@warlingham-pc.gov.uk

Here are some suggestions already received via Facebook to whet your appetite: a zip-wire like the one at Mint Walk; a climbing wall, basketball posts…

At this time of year it’s often good, once the Christmas rush subsides, to reflect – so here’s a look at some of the events, activities and moments from the last twelve months, from a Parish Council perspective, that stand out.

Amongst other things,

• Helping with the Remembrance Day parade and ceremony
• Supporting “Lighting Up Warlingham Green” at Christmas
• Working with Surrey County Council to run Warlingham Community Library and providing an increasing range of popular services and facilities
• Organising four Warlingham Walks in August
• Maintaining the Common Land and undertaking tree management and new planting
• Overhauling the lights at the War Memorial to LEDs to reduce consumption and give more reliable illumination.
• Providing an additional Public Access Defibrillator at the Harrow Inn
• The tributes we, and others, gave in recognition and thanks to Queen Elizabeth II for her unwavering dedication to public service – truly inspiring!

Of course, it’s not just members of the Parish Council that contribute to making Warlingham such a great place. It’s all of you that make Warlingham a thriving community and I think you all deserve thanks for what you do – big and small.

As always there’s still more to do and achieve. If you wish to volunteer, for example as a ‘snow angel’ (to help clear snow from around The Green) or join our library and tree working groups, please contact the Parish Clerk at clerk@warlingham-pc.gov.uk

And there’s more information about our activities, and the local community, on our website where we will post further news on the Green Improvement Scheme when we have it.

Whatever you’re doing over the festive period, everyone at the Parish Council wishes you a Merry Christmas and very Happy New Year.

A community library visitor comment started the initiative to offer selfserve tea and coffee in the library foyer.

“We already know the library is warm and welcoming – this just adds to the ease and comfort of the visit” says Donika Grundey a local young mum who visits the library a lot

Surrey County Council provides the tea and coffee which is available on a self serve basis through normal library opening times. as part of Surrey Libraries’ warm hub offering.  The tea and coffee is also available on Warm Hub Wednesdays

“We hope there will be a lot of use so we can carry on the initiative which allows people to simply help themselves just as they check their own book in and out” says Cllr Keith Prew, Chair of the Library Working Group.

We know that trees mean a lot to people in Warlingham from our iconic circle of limes on the Green to individual favourites. In order to celebrate this connection, the Parish Council invites you to submit a digital photo of you/your family beside your favourite with a brief description of why it matters to you. We do expect photos and stories to come in throughout the year as you find the best time of year, and it can include both individual and groups of trees across the parish. We will put them up on the parish council website and you can see the first entry already –a resident with the oldest tree in Warlingham – to inspire you. Please send to clerk@warlingham-pc.gov.uk.

Our first favourite tree was sent in by:

Miss Marion Havard, lead for the All Saints Churchyard Volunteers.

“My favourite tree is the ancient yew tree in All Saint’s churchyard. In 1998, Robert Hardy and David Bellamy [both members of The Yew Tree Campaign of The Conservation Foundation] signed a certification that this tree was 2,400 years old. It is therefore clear that the tree was already 402 years old when Christ was born and was 1,652 years old when All Saints Church was built in 1250AD. It is the fifth oldest tree in Surrey and has a Tree Preservation Order [TPO] on it.

Many churches have yew trees in their churchyards. Possible reasons may be:

– Pagans regarded the tree as a symbol of fertility and danced naked around it
– Yew wood was used to make long bows and harps [a mixture of war and peace]
– Vikings used yew wood nails in their shipbuilding, and
– King Edward I [1272-1307] decreed that yew trees should be planted in churchyards to ensure a plentiful supply of wood for longbows.”