The Golden Green Association Newsletter
Issue No. 310
Wishing all Golden Green residents a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
Facebook: Golden Green Association.
Send items for inclusion to Anne Waddingham (gghamlet@outlook.com) or Alec Pelmore (alecpelmore@btinternet.com).
Mission Hall Bookings
Website: www.goldengreenhall.com
The Golden Green Hall is available for bookings. Contact Nicky Whapshott goldengreenhall@gmail.com or 07702 212317. Ideal for children’s parties.
What’s on in Golden Green?
Weekly Classes in the Mission Hall
Mondays (except bank holidays) – Steady Steps: Strength, Mobility and Balance Class – 10.30am-12 noon
Contact: Pat 01732 850739
Tuesdays – Line Dancing – Hall – 10.30-11.45am
Contact: Wendy Langley 07833 079213
Tuesdays – Life Drawing – Hall – 8-10pm
Contact: Peter Muller 07948 367240
Wednesdays – Waggy Tails Social Club – Hall – 2-3pm
Currently fully subscribed. If you want to go on the waiting list, contact Sue Harriman 07759 904677
*******************
This Month in Golden Green
2-24 Dec (not Mondays or weekends) – Christmas Dinners by Jonty – The Bell – 12-2.30pm
Contact: Jonty Hoad 07769 652279 (booking required)
Thursday 11 December – Coffee Morning – Hall – 10.30am-12 noon
Contact: Alec Pelmore 01732 850739
Saturday 13 December – Afternoon Tea – The Bell – 1-4pm
Contact: The Bell 01732 605352 (booking required)
Monday 15 December – Bingo! – Hall – 7-9pm
Contact: Nicky Whapshott 07702 212317
Saturday 20 December – Jonty’s Supper Club – The Bell – 7-9.15pm
Contact: Jonty Hoad 07769 652279 (booking required)
Wednesday 31 December – New Year’s Eve Party – The Bell – 8pm-1am
Contact: The Bell 01732 605352
Golden Green 250 Club December winners – £25 each
39 – Geoffrey Curd
20 – Rosemary Worsell
140 – GGA
The 250 Club costs £6 per year for each number and there are 36 prizes of £25 each year. If we are being honest, it is really a subscription to the village to support community activities and the village hall. We will be asking for renewals after Christmas.
Steady Steps: Strength and Mobility Class
Mondays 10.30-12 noon Mission Hall
Contact Pat 850739 for info or just come along. £4 per person for a class, a cuppa and a biscuit; £6 for a couple.
Golden Green Coffee Morning
Thursday 11 December 10.30am-12 noon Mission Hall
All ages are welcome to join us for hot drinks and homemade bakes. Just turn up or contact Alec 01732 850739 for more details. And we need ideas for our next minibus trip in February.
Golden Green Carol Service
Sunday 21 December 4pm Mission Hall
All welcome to join in with our joyous seasonal celebration. Sing some well-loved carols, accompanied by the brass band, followed by mulled cider and mince pies.
Carols in The Square
A must-go-to annual event – Christmas Eve 6.30pm in The Square, Hadlow – singing carols accompanied by the East Peckham Silver Band – it is only then that Christmas really starts!
The Bell News
Clare, Justin & Nigel
Tel: 01732 605352 or 07881 816227
Email: queensowntaverns@hotmail.com
Facebook: The Bell – Golden Green
Christmas & New Year Opening
Christmas Eve 12 noon – 11pm; Christmas Day 12 noon–2pm; Boxing Day 1-9pm; 27 Dec 12 noon-11pm; 28 Dec 12 noon–11pm; 29 Dec 6-11pm; 30 Dec 12 noon–11pm; New Year’s Eve 12 noon–1am; New Year’s Day 12 noon–11pm
Free Pool Table – all day every Friday
Afternoon Tea – Sat 13 Dec 1-4pm – contact The Bell to book
New Year’s Eve Party with Lee Willz Wed 31 Dec – 8pm–1am
Jonty’s Feasts at The Bell:
Booking essential – text or WhatsApp Jonty Hoad 07769 652279. Menus and booking form at jontyslittlefeasts.co.uk
– Christmas Dinners – 2-24 Dec (not Mondays or weekends) – 12-2.30pm
– Supper Club – Sat 20 Dec from 7pm. Turkish (not Turkey!) Night
Golden Green Community Lunch
Wednesday 21 January 12.15 for 12.30pm sit-down Mission Hall
The perfect antidote to the post-Christmas doldrums, our annual residents’ lunch features home-baked pies and scrumptious desserts, served with wine or a soft drink, all courtesy of the Golden Green Association. There’s also a raffle for charity (prize donations welcome). GG residents of all ages are welcome – a good opportunity if you are new to the hamlet to meet others, find out more about the community and make friends. Booking essential – contact: Linda Daker 01732 382498 (note number change) after 2 January, stating number of places, your names(s), phone number and any special dietary requirements or food intolerances. Volunteer cooks and helpers, please apply to Linda.
Annual Golden Green Fish ’n’ Chips Challenge Quiz
Saturday 7 February Mission Hall
Stop all the clocks. Cancel everything else on 7 February – you won’t want to miss the fabulous annual GG Fish ’n’ Chips Challenge! Booking details in the next Hamlet or if you’re on Facebook, there’ll be an announcement in the GG Association group later this month.
2025 RBL Poppy Appeal
Thank you to everyone who donated to this year’s RBL Poppy Appeal in Golden Green, Hadlow, Plaxtol and Shipbourne. Special thanks to our dedicated house-to-house collectors: in GG – Howard, Pete, Alan, and June; and Stephen, Owen, and Ed who manned stalls at the Esso garage and Poult Wood. Together, our communities raised over £10,000 to help the RBL continue its important work supporting veterans and their families. Thank you for caring. Sean Waddingham, Poppy Appeal Organiser.
Christmas/New Year Bin Collections
Waste, recycling and garden waste collections will run on schedule up to and including Wednesday 24 December. They will change from Thursday 25 December over the festive period. All collections will be back to normal from Monday 12 January 2026. Visit https://www.tmbc.gov.uk/bins-waste/christmas-waste-collections to check your collection days.
Road Closures and Works
Blackmans Lane is scheduled to be closed from 16-17 December for works by OpenReach.
Christmas shoppers should be aware that KCC have scheduled roadworks with temporary traffic lights on the A26 Hadlow Road close to the junction with Cannon Lane on 19-20 December, which will likely result in queues.
Advance warning that the southern end of Hartlake Road is scheduled to be closed by the railway bridge from 6-7 January 9.30am-3.30pm for telephone pole replacement.
Three Elm Lane is scheduled to be closed between the Carpenters Arms and the Esso garage on 9-10 January from 7am-7pm for drainage cleaning; and on 11 January, at the other end of the village, between Pierce Mill Lane and The Man of Kent, Tonbridge Road will be closed from 9.30am-3.30pm for works by OpenReach.
The A21 southbound slip road to Vauxhall roundabout has a reduced speed limit and lane closure from 12 November-3 January for emergency barrier/fence safety repairs.
A21 Roadworks and overnight closures will continue on various dates. (See the traffic map at https://one.network/ for more details).
More information including diversion routes can be found on the traffic map at https://one.network/ though we can’t guarantee that it’s up to date! Any deviation from the dates given are down to the contractor(s) concerned.
You can report non-urgent problems with roads and pavements to KCC online at https://www.kent.gov.uk/roads-and-travel/report-a-problem. This includes street light faults, potholes, drainage, traffic signal faults and overgrown vegetation (including hedges and grass).
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council Local Plan
The Local Plan will look ahead to 2042 and will provide a long-term vision and growth strategy for new development in the borough, providing a policy framework to help guide and shape the future of Tonbridge and Malling. To read and comment on the Local Plan, as well as other supporting documents, or to find out more, please visit the consultation https://www.tmbc.gov.uk/localplan where you can explore the emerging Local Plan and share your feedback. The deadline for comments is midnight 2 January 2026.
TMBC Bourne Ward Councillors
Cllr James Lark james.lark@tmbc.gov.uk; mob 07812 596194
Cllr Steve Crisp Steve.Crisp@tmbc.gov.uk or c/o TMBC, Gibson Building, Gibson Drive, Kings Hill ME19 4LZ
Hadlow Parish Council
admin@hadlowpc.co.uk or 01732 851878
www.hadlowpc.co.uk
facebook.com/HadlowParishCouncil
X: @HadlowParish
Parish Council Office open Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9.30am until 12 noon.
Next Parish Council Meeting – 8 December – 7.30pm Old School Hall, Hadlow.
Hadlow Parish Senior Christmas Lunch Sunday 14 December 2025 – contact the Parish Clerk to book.
More people to join the parish council urgently needed – contact the Parish Clerk.
Golden Green Parish Councillors
Nick Collins: 850968 nicolins@btinternet.com
Ed Bright: 850590 ed.bright@talk21.com
St Mary’s Church, Hadlow Christmas Services
Carol Service – Sunday 21 December 6pm
Messy Christmas – Tuesday 23 December 10.30am-1pm
Christmas Eve – Wednesday 24 December – Nativity Service 1pm – Carols in the Square 6.30pm – Midnight Mass 11.30pm (carols in church from 11pm)
Christmas Day – 25 December 10am Family Service
Please see the Hadlow newsletter for details of other services.
St Peter’s RC Chapel, Maidstone Rd, Hadlow
For service times, please see
catholicclocks.com/mass-times/england/kent/hadlow/saint-peters-chapel
Hospital Transport Service
Residents of Hadlow and Golden Green who need help to get to clinic appointments can contact Mike Harvey (tel 01732 851881, mob 07464 548448).
Anti-Social Behaviour Team
If you want to report anti-social behaviour, please either call TMBC’s Community Safety Partnership Team on 01732 844522 or email: csp@tmbc.gov.uk
Community Warden
Community wardens’ aims are to foster community wellbeing, support the elderly and vulnerable and help with accessing community services. Our Community Warden for East Peckham and Hadlow (including Golden Green) is Diane Wakeling. Contact her on 07813 713740 diane.wakeling@kent.gov.uk
Compiled by Anne Waddingham and Alec Pelmore ©2025