Friends of St. Andrew’s Building
Cellist, Poet and dreamer, Kenneth Wilson set off in the summer of 2022 on a 2000 mile trip from Hadrian’s Wall to Rome on a 50 year old bike, towing a carbon fibre cello strapped to a trailer. He performed every day on the way – either formal concerts and pop-ups or busking. On his way, he played in a variety of locations including Canterbury Cathedral and the lawns of the Leaning Tower of Pisa to a final performance in front of the Vatican. Since his return he has written a book about his journey called Highway Cello.
We have been lucky enough to persuade Kenneth, after his recent trip around the Cathedrals of England, to come and play his cello and recite some of his funny and witty poetry. With the kind permission of Tom Nash, Kenneth will play at Greystoke Castle on Saturday 20 September at 7.30 pm. This will prove to be a very entertaining evening with a variety of music. Tickets £10 adults, £5 under 16s
For further information and reservations please contact, Shirley Mounsey, Maureen Hardy or Phil Lambert.
Leeds Excursion
An excursion has been organised with JD Coaches to Leeds for a shopping trip, visit to the museum or just a walk along the canal. Please book before Wednesday 3 September. Contact Shirley.
Greystoke Social Club
Monday 1 September – Forensic Scientist David Holme of Cumbria Police will be explaining how the use of Forensics, Fingerprints and much more help to solve crimes. This should prove to be a very interesting talk.
Monday 6 October – Have you ever wondered about solar panels or air sourced heating and the cost. Chris Silver from Rural Energy will be speaking about these and the grants available for people in the rural area.
Visitors are always welcome at our meetings and on our trips. Meeting are held in Greystoke Village Hall and start at 2.00pm. There is a charge, visitors £3, members £2, includes tea and biscuits.
Greystoke Church Choir
St. Andrew’s Church is expanding the choir to include children. Does your child love to sing? Come to our rehearsal and have a go! Wednesday 10 September, children 18:30-19:15, adults 19:00-20:00. New adults also welcome. Contact Isabella Wilson for further information.
Greystoke WI
At our August meeting, our speaker was Harry Navinski from Cockermouth who is a self-published writer of crime fiction. Harry admitted that this is his pen name, created during his time in the RAF, where he started as an apprentice navigational instruments fitter on aircraft. We heard about his exciting life in the RAF and his love of sports which led to sports writing for an RAF magazine. After the RAF, he spent time in India working to provide employment for vulnerable young women to prevent them being trafficked, a theme which feeds into one of his novels. This was followed by time in Cumbria, a writing course at Higham Hall and a career as a crime writer. It was very interesting to hear about the writing process that Harry has developed and the difficulties of getting published.
On Thursday 4 September, our speaker will be Alan Noble talking about the architecture of local railway stations. It is an Open meeting so all are welcome. There will be the usual refreshments of tea and biscuits, and there will be no charge for visitors. You are invited to bring along any memorabilia to do with railways.
If you would like to join us at WI meetings, please contact Sue, Val or Jennifer.
Greystoke & District Sports Association
We are working on an exciting Energy Sustainability Project for the Pool. There will be a public meeting about our Future Pool ideas late in September. Everyone will be welcome. The date will be confirmed soon on facebook and the Pool website. Meanwhile, please contact one of the Pool Committee members or the Greystoke Pool with any queries or comments.
Greystoke Film Nights
These ever popular Saturday evenings are returning this autumn on 11 October, 15 November, 2 February and 7 March. Put the dates in your diary! Films are to be confirmed, and there will be a bar and food. Look forward to seeing you there.
Greystoke Parish Council
The next Parish Council meeting is at 7.00pm on Tuesday 9 September in the Village Hall.
Village Hall Meeting Room Upgrade
We listened to your feedback and work has been completed to make this room a warmer, more inviting space. Walls have been thermally insulated and a complete redecoration, including new blinds, has transformed this room. Available to hire by the hour, reduced rates for locals – email Greystoke Village Hall to book.
Greystoke Village Hall
Since 1939, Greystoke Village Hall has been part of the village, standing centre stage, used by locals for all manner of things including child and youth groups, WI, school meals, meetings, weddings, exercise classes, pantomimes, hand bells, fundraising events and the beer festival to name a few. We sometimes may even forget it’s there but it is a valuable well used community resource run by a friendly bunch of volunteers. One such volunteer, Allan Marshall, joined the committee in 1974 and has shown nothing both dedication and commitment to the hall (and indeed the village) for over 50 years. Unforeseen circumstances have resulted in Allan stepping back from the hall however. Each hall committee has been lucky to work alongside him and he will be dearly missed. His contribution has been invaluable and if he couldn’t fix something himself he always knew someone that could. The hall committee wish to thank Allan for all that he has done and wish him good health.
Allan’s departure has left a large role to fill so we are now looking for 2 or 3 locals to come and join in helping to run and maintain the hall. We don’t expect 50 years’ service or skilled tradespeople, as any major items are contracted out, just a bit of time here and there is all that is required. If you feel you could contribute in any way or want to chat it over please do call Laura (07828 741 354) or Emma (07890 987 051). We are also looking for a new Chairperson from February 2026 to join the current knowledgeable long standing committee. Want more info? Please contact Laura. We look forward to welcoming new faces.
Village Hall Events – Save the date
| Sunday 12 October | Soup & Pudding Event 11:00 to 14:00 |
| Friday 17 October | Clothes Swish – bring pre-loved clothes and swap them. A sustainable cost effective way to refresh your wardrobe (and Christmas Jumper’s) |
| Friday 7 November | Bingo |
| Friday 8 November | Bingo |
Housing Group Update
It’s been a very busy summer for us! As well as organising the housing survey, we’ve also made great progress on our other key objective – registering as an official community land trust. Our application is now with the FCA. This means we should shortly be able to open up membership – more on this to follow. Meanwhile, we now need to focus on opening a bank account and writing up various policies.
Housing Needs Survey – deadline Friday 12 September
By now, everyone in the parish (and some of you beyond the parish) should have received (at least) one copy of the Housing Needs Survey. The Greystoke Affordable Housing group commissioned this in conjunction with the Parish Council, so we can understand the housing need for the community – not just affordable. Please take the time to fill this in before the deadline on Friday 12 September.
A reminder of why this matters: This is your chance to have a say in the future of housing in our community. This survey gives every resident a voice. It will help us get the right homes for our community – not speculative developments that don’t serve our community, but homes designed to support the future of our village.
If you need extra copies you can pick one up at the shop, email ACT or ourselves at the Greystoke Community Group
Once the survey results are in we’ll be organising a meeting to discuss them,
Greystoke Pool Draw
Congratulations to the winners of pool draw for July and August
| July | August |
| £20 – Tony & Carolyne James – 137 | £20 – Steve & Kirsty Brown – 230 |
| £15 – Liz Kinghorn – 203 | £15 – Collen Turner – 151 |
| £10 – Rosie Illingworth – 121 | £10 – Ann Truman – 158 |
| £5 – Jan Fordham – 243 | £5 – Tom & Sam Fawcett – 126 |
| £5 – Jo Forrester – 37 | £5 – Niels Hansen – 52 |
| £5 – John & Gillian Capstick – 112 | £5 – Joan Handley – 107 |
| £5 – Helen Jamieson –152 | £5 –Andrea & Nigel Raper –50 |
Get Fit 4 Life
We’re back at Greystoke Village Hall, so join us Tuesdays from 3.00pm–4.00pm, starting 9 September, for a fun and friendly mobility class designed for all abilities. We’ll warm up, build strength for everyday life, enjoy games or partner work, improve how we move – and finish with a relaxing wind-down. Led by Debbie Jackman, a fitness professional with 20 years’ experience and a passion for inclusive, community-based exercise. No need to book – just come along or contact ">Debbie (07776 162 125) for more info!
Pop-Up Persiana
Dacre Village Hall committee is hosting a pop-up style restaurant with a Middle Eastern three course buffet prepared by professional chef Lee Cooper and with paired wine recommendations from The Wine Society in Dacre Village Hall on Saturday 6 September. Tickets are £37.50 (excl. drinks) from Dacre Village Hall or 017684 86 507.
Roy Reminisces
I would like to thank the people who have looked after certain grassed areas on the entrances to our village, and the Parish Council for the Village greens and verges. However, the grass verge alongside the footpath towards Greystoke Gill is a disappointment with dockings and rubbish a yard high. Also the field belonging to Story Homes could do with attention as I understood at the time of them getting permission to build Fawn Meadows it was going to be a recreational area. It would be better if they asked a farmer to put some sheep in and make use of it instead of wasting it!
We also remember the ending of the ending of the Second World War in Japan and the thousands of lives that were sacrificed 80 years ago on the 15 August. Still today lessons have not been learned and wars still rage and innocent lives are still lost.