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12 January 2025 - CADENT GAS PROJECT IN COOKHAM VILLAGE SUSPENDED
Cadent the gas project company who have been carrying out disruptive gas works in Cookham Village has announced it will be postponing the project and restarting later in the year.
Cadent Gas was set to continue works in Sutton Road through until late March, but will stop the work by Sunday, January 19.
There have been long delays for drivers since work started in replacing gas pipes in the village a few days ago. Cadent has announced it will be postponing the project and restarting later in the year.
30 December 2024 - BARBARA COLLECTS NEARLY £15,000 FOR OXFAM
Barbara Walmsley from Cookham is ‘touched’ by the support received for her 39th year of fundraising for Oxfam. This year Barbara said “The good news is that the total has been creeping up and is now over £14,700 which has really surprised me because times seem to be much harder than last year.”
Barbara annually fundraises for Oxfam in the Maidenhead Sainsbury’s in Providence Place to raise awareness of global poverty. She used to collect money for over 30 hours in person at Sainsbury where she also fasted. Now Barbara in her 80s and for medical reasons has a trusty cardboard cutout friend ‘Boxfam who fasts on her behalf.
23 December 2024 - START OF CHRISTMAS FOR HOLY TRINITY
1 December 2024 - THE COOKHAM VILLAGE CHRISTMAS MARKET
It is definitely Christmas with the Cookham Village street market today. It was opened by Joshua Reynolds our Lib Dem MP. There were lots of food stalls mainly organised by various shops in the Village along with mulled wine. Lots of activities such as rides for youngsters, Santa’s Grotto and live entertainment from a host of bands, choirs and children’s groups.
The Tuneless Choir will be taking centre stage as well as the Cookham Kids Singing Group and local bands including West Street.
30 November 2024 - WATER WATER EVERYWHERE
With thanks to Lynda Mallett
27 November 2024 - COME BACK HELEN TO COOKHAM STATION
The photo is of Cookham Station waiting room with train passengers waiting for the 10.15am train. It looks like we need Helen to sort things out.
10 November 2024 - COOKHAM TWINNING IN THE FRENCH PRESS
( With thanks to Keith le Page)
We were delighted to welcome twenty-one French visitors from Cookham’s twinned village of Saint-Benoit over the weekend of 26th-28th October, with several events in a crowded schedule. The visitors stayed with local families, who were organised so that conversations could flow in either French or English. Interestingly Cookham has more French speakers than the number of English speakers from Saint-Benoit.
The weekend started with a reception hosted by the Chairman of Cookham Parish Council, Bill Perry, and attended by the Mayor of Saint-Benoit, Bernard Peterlongo, and by the Deputy Mayor of Windsor and Maidenhead, Mandy Brar. The visitors received copies of the ‘Discover Cookham’ books, with a challenge to find several of the locations on the following day.
A highlight of the stay was a visit to Blenheim Palace, (celebrating the victory of the English over the French at the Battle of Blenheim in 1704), and the Churchill exhibition there proved particularly interesting to our guests. We then went on to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, where we attempted to find the top ten treasures of the museum, taking us through every floor.
We entertained the visitors with a traditional English skittles evening and Fish and Chip supper at Flackwell Heath Bowling Club, where honours were shared between the two countries. On the final evening we joined together for a social at Pinder Hall with a great display from Datchet Border Morris, with hosts and visitors being encouraged to participate in a Morris Dance together.
Cookham and Saint-Benoit formally started their Twinning link in 1994, so this was the 30th anniversary of the start of the connection. A group from Cookham will be visiting Saint-Benoit in October next year, and there are other regular links between the two villages.
29 October 2024 - MORE ON COOKHAM TWINNINGS 30TH ANNIVERSARY
Cookham’s French exchange with its twinned village of Saint-Benoit
Twenty-one French visitors from Cookham’s twinned village of Saint-Benoit enjoyed some local hospitality over the weekend of 26th-28th October, with several events in a crowded schedule. The visitors stayed with local families, who were organised so that conversations could flow in either French or English.
Commented Keith Le Page. Chairman of Cookham Twinning, “we wanted to give them some English experiences, with a good mixture of the cultural and social. They were only here for a long weekend, so we made the most of the time”.
The weekend started with a reception hosted by the Chairman of Cookham Parish Council, Bill Perry, and attended by the Mayor of Saint-Benoit, Bernard Peterlongo, and by the Deputy Mayor of Windsor and Maidenhead, Mandy Brar. The visitors received copies of the ‘Discover Cookham’ books, with a challenge to find several of the locations on the following day.
A highlight of the visit was a visit to Blenheim Palace, (celebrating the victory of the English over the French at the Battle of Blenheim in 1704), and then on to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. One evening was taken up by a skittles evening and Fish and Chip supper at Flackwell Heath Bowling Club, and another by a great display from Datchet Border Morris, with hosts and visitors being encouraged to participate in a Morris Dance together.
Cookham and Saint-Benoit formally started their Twinning link in 1994, so this was the 30th anniversary of the start of the connection. A group from Cookham will be visiting Saint-Benoit in October next year, and there are frequent links between the two villages.
28 October 2024 - COOKHAM CELEBRATES 30 YEARS BEING TWINNED WITH ST BENOIT
This weekend a group from Cookham’s twin village in France visited to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Cookham Twinning.
24 October 2024 - COOKHAM DIG FRESHAIR NEWS
Did you know that the artist, Phyllida Shelley, has been undertaking art work of the Cookham Dig, next to Holy Trinity Church, for the last three years, since the Dig started in 2022? Some fascinating items have been found during this time. You can see her work at https://www.phyllidashelley.com/cookham-abbey-24 which shows some of the fascinating discoveries that have been found on the Dig. This week the first edition of the newsletter ‘Freshair News’ has been released regarding the Dig. If you would like to be included on the subscritption list go to https://www.phyllidashelley.com/contact and scroll down.
30 September 2024 - NEW CONVENIENCE STORE IN COOKHAM VILLAGE
A new convenience store has opened in Cookham Village. The location was actually occupied by Budgens in the 2000s, which can be seen in the photo. More recently Mary Brooks the ladies’ outfitter has been there and also Andrew Milsom, the estate agent, who are now in Cookham Rise.
29 September 2024 - HOLD UP ON COOKHAM BRIDGE
On Friday 27 September, there was a hold up on Cookham Bridge. A swan, which appeared to be injured, decided to leave Cookham for Bourne End. In the end the swan was encouraged to leave the road so that the traffic could cross the bridge again.
24 September 2024 - COOKHAM PARADE TURKISH RESTAURANT CLOSES
The Turkish restaurant on Cookham Parade appears to have closed. However there is a notice on the front door saying that someone else will be moving in soon. Who could it be?
21 September 2024 - BARBARA PREPARES FOR HER 39TH OXFAM FAST
16 September 2024 - COOKHAM AND BOURNE END BOAT PARADE
YES:
EVERYONE IS A WINNER!
Firstly a huge, huge thanks to Helen Glover & Steve Backshall for joining-in with the madness & navigating the crowds @ The Bounty, plus their difficult task of judging!
The weather was perfect, moon was gorgeous & huge fun for all OTT!
— we really are all SO lucky to enjoy this little piece of Heaven!
Ghost Busters, Giant Octopus, Caribbean Pirates, Palm trees, a Giant Croc, Moulin Rouge Boat from across the Channel & did anyone spot a Unicorn carrying a Hulk?
( but only before it went complete dark— where on earth did it go???)
Yes, Complete Madness, all done at same time, in our beautiful little piece of Heaven, just after a perfect sunset
—- so, back to the original question: How could Helen & Steve possibly try to choose?
After much head scratching, 2 winner trophies were awarded to:
Aquaholic/ Under the sea &
Swn Yr Afen/ Moulin Rouge ( French flag)
2 runners up trophies:
Gritviken/ Pirates of Caribbean &
You ‘n Me/ Ghost Busters
Other awards nominated by Helen & Steve B were for
Alcafar— brightest boat &
Neanja— fancy dress ( yes, a giant croc was spotted, OTT!)
All children who turned up in fancy dress are also winners
( apologies if I missed awarding your medal on the eve—-please collect one from Damian @ The Bounty)
AGAIN: EVERYONE WAS A WINNER — all skippers & crew for their time, effort & expense.
—we all wish this to be a great family spectacle, for benefit of whole Cookham & Bourne End Community
Special thanks to Andy / Captain Beaky for drone work( …coming soon), to Dave Hopkins for the final parade flourish & to all crew & skippers especially those who travelled from France, Shepparton, Harleyford & locally — with everyone mooring-up in safe, orderly fashion.
Other special mentions to Chris & Thea, who ( despite their own boat being out of action) collected over £375 in yellow collection buckets at The Marina.
NOW, if you liked this 2024 procession and would like to make this grow even bigger& better for 2025, please consider a donation via our Nessie’s easy click QR code, please
— every little really does help!
Your support to us in putting on this spectacle and & also trying to raise funds for Mama Amelia Orphanage is greatly appreciated
From Sue, Dave & Damian @ The Bounty,
Andy / Captain Beaky,
Dave Hopkins &
Syd
15 September 2024 - COOKHAM SOCIETY POSTER DRUM HAS A FACE LIFT
The Poster Drum by the train station in Cookham Rise has had a revamp. It was initially installed for the Millennium on 15 July 2000 and opened by Chris Barrie of Red Dwarf fame. Who at the time lived in the Widbrooke area of Cookham.
7 September 2024 - COOKHAM ABBEY DIGGERS NEARLY WIN AT COOKHAM REGATTA
7 September 2024 was the day of the Cookham Regatta. A group of enthusiastic “rowers” representing the Cookham Abbey Dig competed in the Dragon boat category. The crew was made up of participants from Friends of Cookham Abbey, the University of Reading and Holy Trinity Church, Cookham. The Cookham Abbey Diggers were delighted to win there first race and continued to win until they were in the finals against the Herries Mermaids, who had a particular advantage as the couple Steve Backshall MBE and Helen Glover MBE the Olympic rower were in their team. So the Cookham Abbey Diggers came in a triumphant second. Well done Cookham Abbey Diggers.
7 September 2024 - SANTA’S FUN RUN (3 December) NOW OPEN TO ENTRIES
See some more information about the event.
28 August 2024 - COOKHAM DIG ON BBC RADIO 4
11 August 2024 - MALEK AHMED WINS GARDEN IN BLOOM AWARD
9 August 2024 - WHAT’S ABOUT AT THE NATIONAL TRUST BRICKWORKS
Of course, after weeks of hot weather, it had to rain, didn’t it! As a dozen of us gathered at the Golden Ball, and set off to the nearby Pinkneys Green Brickworks site, the heavens opened! But undaunted we were soon looking for wildlife at this small National Trust reserve. Of all things, Roman Snails were among the first finds, albeit empty shells. But this rare species seems to be thriving on the site, as were the many tiny froglets that hopped around our feet in the short grassy area at the entrance. The ponds they had emanated from however seemed otherwise devoid of much life and even finding many insects among the foliage proved hard going.
We did find Broadleaved Helleborine in one or two places, and a variety of ferns including Lambs Tongue. What was most likely Royal Ferns were festooned with thousands of cup-shaped spore containers on the back of the leaves, and some fronds were distorted by one of the fern galls, quite likely Chirosia Betuleti.
Of the few insects we did encounter, a large all-green dragonfly seemed determined to continue hunting on it’s ‘patch’ along the path, even as we stood close by to watch. Some dragonflies leap out at passing insects (the darters), others latch onto a prey and follow it relentlessly (the chasers) but this was a Hawker, plying back and forth over a chosen territory hoping to scoop up small items on each pass. This particular Southern Hawker would probably have entertained us for ages, but we had to move on.
Among the birds we encountered (mainly by call) was a piping Nuthatch, and some chirruping Goldfinch. But the best was hearing some young Great Spotted Woodpeckers shouting out their begging calls from a nest hole somewhere nearby, whilst the adults ‘chipped’ around the place waiting for us to depart. One eagle-eyed observer found a body feather of a Red Kite suggesting they too may have bred on site.
In the end we had found a host of things to keep us interested until it was time to retreat to the Golden Ball for a welcome coffee! Why not join us on a future ‘What’s About? You would be very welcome. Brian Clews
8 August 2024 - THE POUND - CONGESTION
8 August 2024 - THE COOKHAM DIG IS NOW OPEN
6 August 2024 - THE POUND - ROAD CLOSURE
29 July 2024 - SAD DEATH OF MICK VOGEL
It is with great sadness that Cookham.com has just heard of the death of Mick Vogel. Mick has been well known in Cookham for his wonderful bird photography and amazing knowledge in that area. He would be out and about with his camera in early mornings before most of us had even opened our eyes. Each year he used to produce a beautiful calendar of his photos and his love of birds rubbed off on many of us in Cookham. He will be sadly missed.
16 July 2024 - SWAN UPPING TIME AGAIN (updated 18 July 2024)
The Swan Uppers were in Cookham today, marking the swans on the annual Swan Upping.
5 July 2024 - THERESA MAY NOMINATED FOR A PEERAGE
Former prime minister Theresa May will sit in the House of Lords having been nominated for a peerage. She will enter the House of Lords after she was given a peerage in the dissolution honours list.
Dissolution life peerages are awarded by the King after the dissolution of Parliament before a General Election, with nominations often made by major parties for MPs who are standing down.
Theresa May announced in March that she would not be standing again in Maidenhead after 27 years as the Conservative MP for the constituency.
28 June 2024 - ACCIDENT ON M40 - REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
28 June 2024 - CAROLYN DELANEY TO TALK AT THE MEDIA HUB
- From Sarah Parfitt - Cookham Media Hub
- I hope that you have been enjoying the sunshine moments over the last few weeks. I have had a really busy year on the work and family front. One of the highlights was producing a programme for the BBC World Service from the Northern Ireland Science Festival. It was a global look at the menopause: https://www.bbc.
co.uk/programmes /w3ct5l4l - A big thank you to everyone, who attended our last Media Hub earlier this year with Ross Kemp and Stephanie Peters. Adrian Adams and I were delighted to present Stephanie and the Thames Hospice team with a cheque for £500.
- I am also really pleased to let you know that we will be having one more Media Hub before the summer holidays. Carolyn Mayling will be sharing her very moving personal story with Marlow FM presenter Carla Delaney. When Carolyn was teaching at Redroofs School for the Performing Arts, her 11 year old daughter Rosie developed vasculitis, a rare auto immune disease. After six traumatic months in hospital, Rosie tragically died and Carolyn set up the charity "Rosie's Rainbow Fund" in her memory.
- Carolyn will be talking about how she and her family learned to live with this unimaginable loss and why at the age of 54, using a donor egg and IVF, she decided to have another child. Since then, Carolyn's life has continued to be challenging - she has been through a divorce, breast cancer, and more, but despite everything, to quote the title of her book, she believes that "The Future is Rosie".
- After Carolyn's interview, we will be having a fun-filled networking session and this will be led by Cathy Evans from Inkspot Publishing.
- Tickets for this event are only available on Eventbrite: https://www.even
tbrite.co.uk/e/o ur-summer-media- hub-2024-tickets -935567235787?af f=oddtdtcreator - The Media Hub is celebrating its 11th birthday this summer. Its members include print journalists, producers, directors, writers, bloggers, actors, photographers, media trainers and consultants. Previous guest speakers have included Theresa May, Princess Esméralda of Belgium, John Altman, Adrian Moorhouse, Dotun Adebayo and the late Tim Brooke-Taylor.
- We would like to thank everyone who has made our next event possible - the Bel & The Dragon, Carillion Communications, Inkspot Publishing, Mohammad Sabahi, Adrian Adams, Rachel Sellman and of course, Carolyn, Carla and Cathy.
- We look forward to hopefully seeing on you the 10th. July.
24 June 2024 - NEW PLANNING APPLICATION FOR STRANDE PARK
This is the revised planning application notice pinned to the Shanly Strande Park land which may be of interest.
20 June 2024 - SUMMER HAS COME TO COOKHAM
17 June 2024 - HAS SUMMER COME TO COOKHAM?
10 June 2024 - FRIENDS OF COOKHAM ABBEY MULTI-FAITH ENGAGEMENT SESSION
A multi faith engagement session was held by the Friends of Cookham Abbey at Salt Hill VR in Slough on 1 June 2024 where people were encouraged to come and learn more about the deep-historical association of ritual and religious sites in the area of the Thames.
The University of Reading excavation and Field School return to Paddock Field on Monday 5 August, and will run for four weeks ending on 31 August. Friends of Cookham Abbey will be putting on tours led by a senior archaeologist.
6 June 2024 - COOKHAM REMEMBERS D-DAY 80 YEARS ON
The Cookham church bells rang at 6.30pm as a remembrance of 80 years since D-Day. Adam of Devine Flowers had decorated the War Memorial in Remembrance.
16 May 2024 - MANDY BRAR FROM COOKHAM APPOINTED DEPUTY MAYOR
Councillor Simon Bond has been elected as Mayor of the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead for the 2024/25 civic year, with Councillor Mandy Brar from Cookham as Deputy Mayor.
14 May 2024 - THE SCULPTURE GARDEN
12 May 2024 - ALL THINGS INDIAN
As part of the Cookham Festival there was an Indian themed afternoon on Sunday 12 with Mandy Brar & friends, which took place at the Cookham Dean Village Hall. There was Indian food, dancing and much more!
11 May 2024 - THE AURORA BOREALIS ABOVE COOKHAM
The aurora borealis came to the South East Friday night. It seems that there is great activity on the sun! The photo shows the aurora over Marlow Bridge.
Updated 8 May 2024 - THE COOKHAM FESTIVAL IN FULL SWING
5 May 2024 - WHITE OAK SOON TO RE-OPEN
31 MARCH 2024 - COOKHAM BRIDGE CLOSED AGAIN
26 MARCH 2024 - SUMMER EXHIBITION AT THE STANLEY SPENCER GALLERY
The exhibition coincides with the publication of Gilbert Spencer. The Life and Work of a Very English Artist (Yale, edited by Paul Gough with contributions by Sacha Llewellyn and Amanda Bradley Petitgas).
9 MARCH 2024 - DEFIBRILLATOR AT COOKHAM STATION
A defibrillator has been installed a Cookham railway station.
2 MARCH 2024 - WHAT ARE THEY DOING AGAIN BY COOKHAM STATION??
It looks like they are digging the bollards by the station up again!!
AND FINALLY
AFTER
29 FEBRUARY 2024 - WHAT ARE THEY DOING BY COOKHAM STATION?
Work has been going ahead by Cookham Station with new bike racks and now some strange extensions seem to be appearing along the road. The Age Concern shop has a raised block outside. They want to know how can Cookham residents do deliveries to them with their recycled product? Further up by the station a sort of pavement area has been created with dome metal bollard haphazardly built into the tarmac. It looks like the bollards may have been placed in the wrong place as they are currently a danger to anyone who may have vision impairment and has not stopped parking judging by the car parked in the area today. The work has reduced the number of much needed parking spaces in the area and does not seem to have done anything to improve the area for anyone. People are asking what is the aim of what is being done and it is an accident waiting to happen.
26 FEBRUARY 2024 - FLOODS AGAIN
Just when Cookham thought the floods had gone, the Moor is flooded again and is again closed to vehicles. So far the Causeway is not yet open for vehicles as Sutton Road is still open.
21 FEBRUARY 2024 - WHAT’S ABOUT A WALK - MARSH MEADOW
Eighteen members joined Brian Clews to explore our local meadow on our first walk for the year on 20 February 2024. Thanks to the Chartered Institute of Marketing, our starting place was their car park and we were soon on The Moor, peering at our seeding efforts of last autumn, wondering if there were any still in place after the recent floods. Indeed, we then found ourselves on a squelchy meadow which was still some 50% under water! But that enabled us to study the various plumages of swimming Black-headed Gulls, some of which were almost into full breeding plumage (of brown not black heads!). A skein of about 40 very vocal Greylag Geese passed overhead as we surveyed the Marsh Meadow pond, still very much over-filled with water and with the swan nesting raft cast unceremoniously into the reeds by the fast moving flood waters of last month. We looked carefully at some of the fallen tree branches for any signs of Willow Emerald Damselfly eggs but without success. The Ditch was also very high in water level and with much of the vegetation scoured away, creating concern as to whether or not our precious Water Voles had managed to stay somewhere in the area. But a keen-eyed member noticed some holes in the bank which may well indeed affirm their continued presence. We also found a single empty whirl shell which we guessed belonged to a Great Pond Sail, which was confirmed with a natty App wielded by one of our party. Nearby was an empty Five-banded Cirnuella snail shell, but better still were some occupied miniature Balea wall snails busily shinning up the railway bridge brickwork. Beyond the bridge, on the Cockmarsh side, we were welcomed by strange squeaking noises from the wetland patch there. Whatever it was soon spotted us and went quiet, but suddenly realising it was the call of a Water Rail, I managed to imitate it enough for it to reply once again. We do get overwintering Water Rails in the vicinity so it was most likely a visitor rather than a resident bird. Back on the Meadow side of the bridge we were entertained by a gentle murmuration of about a dozen redwings hidden somewhere in the hedges opposite, sounding a little like a Starling roost, but more musical. Nearby a pair of Jackdaws had clearly put a down-payment on a hole in an Oak tree for the season. Some 25 species of birds and a few wet feet later, we were back at our starting point. Brian Clews  |
16 FEBRUARY 2024 - NEW BIKE RACKS FOR COOKHAM STATION
It seems Cookham station is having new bike racks installed. We already have some, but the new ones look much stronger and tougher!
THE OLD BIKE RACKS
12 FEBRUARY 2024 - IT IS RAINING AGAIN
The Moor and Quarry Wood look a bit damp again after the January floods.
THE MOOR
12 JANUARY 2024 - THE FOURTH EMERGENCY SERVICE
The Moor and Quarry Wood look a bit damp again after the January floods.
, the Cookham pharmacist, has been celebrated by the Cookham community for being the ‘fourth emergency service’ in the village for 15 years. More than 100 people attended a special anniversary event for Neelm Kaur Saini who has managed Cookham Pharmacy in Cookham Rise since January 2008.
The Old Butcher’s Wine Cellar hosted the guests on Saturday and the village generously presented Neelm with flowers, champagne and gift vouchers, as a show of their gratitude for her service.
8 JANUARY 2024 - A BIT WET IN COOKHAM (updated)
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| 8 January 2024 with thanks to Viktoria Evans |
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| SUTTON ROAD, COOKHAM |
1947
2 JANUARY 2024 - TREE FALLS ON CAR IN SUTTON ROAD
A tree came down on a car on Sutton Lane, Cookham on Tuesday afternoon. The lady driver suffered minor injuries.
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