BERDEN RECORDER’S REPORT 2021  

January
A new lockdown was announced by the Government, therefore all schools have once again closed and all learning is now online. Berden Church continues to collect donations for the Uttlesford Foodbank. The order to work from home means that a lot of people are walking around the village and keeping in touch with others during their lunch break. The Church and Village Hall remains closed.

February
The vaccination program is now in full swing with most people going to the Lord Butler Centre in Saffron Walden. This year’s fete has once again been cancelled. The Berden Buddies scheme is still very popular with prescriptions and shopping delivered to those who require support. Local flooding continues to be a problem with rain becoming far more intense.

March
Sue Griffiths our Parish Clerk and organiser of a huge number of events over the years has moved to a new home in Bricket Wood. The village organised a thank you present and wished her well. The Social Club organised an online Zoom Quiz on the 19th March. This was well attended and popular.

April
Church services have now resumed in their buildings for Easter. The Social Club has started work on refurbishing the Boules Ground at the Village Hall. It looks like the lockdown rules are starting to ease as cases of COVID 19 begin to decrease. A proposal for a new solar farm has been put forward at Battles Farm between Manuden and Berden. It would be 180 acres in size and an action group is being put together. A village survey was conducted regarding the proposal and it was overwhelmingly against the proposal. The Busstopshop took place on the 17th April and was very successful. Money raised was given to the Church and the Village Hall. Schools have now fully reopened.

May
People have been remembering Philip, Duke of Edinburgh who passed away. The Church bell was struck 100 times in remembrance. The Cabin Home School group continue to use the village hall two days a week. A Plant and Produce sale was organised by the ‘Stop Battles Farm’ Action group on the 22nd May. Berden Book Group continues to meet on a monthly basis.

June
A new lithium battery installation has been put forward to planning along with another solar farm application near the Stocking Pelham Sub-station. The regular Friday night bar re opened on the 25th June. Bar staff volunteers used card readers and brought drinks to your table outside.

July
Family night has resumed on the first Friday of each month. A food van also comes along and this proved to be very popular. We had another Busstopshop on the 10th July with the news tombola. All proceeds went to the Church Restoration Fund.

August
Champing has not restarted this year due to fire regulations but we hope to resume this next year. People have been on holiday this month with most staying in the UK. A Bank Holiday BBQ was held on the 30th August at the Village Hall.

September
A street picnic was organised on 11th September and this was very enjoyable. The main street was closed for traffic and music and food was shared. We also had a local history stall with pictures of Berden in the past. Berden Tennis Tournament took place on the 26th September and was once again organised by Keith Dunn. The day before was the Berden Croquet Final with 16 teams having taken part over the summer. The Harvest Festival service took place and once again the church was well decorated.

October
A Quiz Night was held in the Village Hall on the 8th October. It was restricted to a maximum of 60 people. It was a really enjoyable evening. Due to COVID precautions it was decided not to offer food at this present time. The bonfire collection has returned and is being built each Saturday in October. Halloween was celebrated by the children in the village on the 31st and was a popular and fun evening.

November
The Berden Firework Night took place on the 6th November and was a huge success. A large number of people attended and many people said how great it was to attend this event once more. People are hoping that we are returning to some form of normality. The Solar Farm proposals continue to be opposed and the village awaits the response from Uttlesford Council regarding this.

December
The Christmas Busstopshop took place on the 11th and was very successful. The village tree was also put up. Christmas lights have gone up around Berden very early this year. Many houses are lit up. On the 19th a village carol service took place and raised funds for the Essex Air Ambulance around the green. It was well attended and socially distanced. A new variant of COVID 19 has emerged called Omicron and it looks like we are heading for New Year restrictions for family and friends.

 

Mark Trapmore
Berden Local History Recorder