Thanks to Rosiegirl for the heads up – Cobham has its mojo back!  The Christmas lights are getting turned on at 4:30pm on Sunday 29th November.  Most shops will be open until about 4pm and there will be a Victorian theme.

For more information, head here (they do a much better job than me!)

I say let’s show up in force and support our town, even if it is on a Sunday this time!?  You’ll find me standing under the mistleote.

Cobham’s most grand garden is free on Wednesdays during November (starting tomorrow)!! 

Well worth a visit I say, although not sure how many people will benefit from free admission on Wednesdays…?  Surely better to open it up on a Saturday or Sunday?

Click here for more info, and I might see you there?

What’s the deal with the St John’s Ambulance site on the Portsmouth Road next to the Cobham Club?  The old ambulance station has been pulled down – does anyone know what’s going up in its place?  Is it a refurb?  Or more ‘affordable housing’…?

Fuliflling its purpose as a promoter of all things ‘Cobham’, wholesome and righteous (and a few things that aren’t…), the Cobham Blogger unashamedly promotes this charity event taking place this Saturday in Crystal Communications in the High Street.

If you know of anything of a similar vein that could do with a plug, then drop me a line at cobhamblogger@hotmail.co.uk

Part of the Heritage Day celebrations this Saturday will involve the unveiling of a plaque to remember and commemorate the 400th birthday of Gerrard Winstanley - possibly one of Cobham’s most famous residents.

Thanks to Cobham historian and minor local celebrity David Taylor for the info below:

“This year marks the 400th anniversary of the birth of the man who is arguably Cobham’s most famous past resident – Gerrard Winstanley who led the Diggers in an attempt to establish a community on St George’s Hill in 1649 and then at Little Heath in Cobham. Earlier this year the Prime Minister saw fit to quote from Winstanley when addressing the leaders of the G20 summit in St. Paul’ Cathedral. However locally, and despite the fact that Cobham has a road named after him and the establishment of a “Digger Trail” around Elmbridge (with a board and ceramic portrait of Winstanley outside Barclays Bank), Winstanley is not as well known as he deserves. 

Winstanley and his followers are often referred to as communists and, in a sense, they were. But so were the early Christians who had “all things in common.” Winstanley believed that the earth was “a common treasury”. However, what happened at St George’s Hill and then at Little Heath were not attacks on private property. The events took place on common land which belonged to the Lords of the Manor but was used by manorial tenants. The commons were often referred to as “wastes” and this is what they often were – land that was often totally under utilised. The middle years of the 17th  century saw a good deal of hardship among the poor and Winstanley argued that the common lands should be put to better use to help them.

To commemorate the 400th anniversary of Winstanley’s birth a plaque is to be unveiled in the church on the morning of Heritage Day on September 12th by the Mayor of Elmbridge. A small exhibition about Winstanley and the Diggers will be displayed in the church and the classic film “Winstanley”, made some years ago and newly available on DVD will be shown throughout the day.”