Our little village now has it’s own website! The Odiham Community Website was finally launched to the world on Thursday 23rd March. The new website was commissioned by the Odiham Town Manager Group, sponsored by gencon and built by Garrett Coakley, Cathy Griffiths and Lee Hughes, who also created www.81redballoons.co.uk.

Odiham is a lovely little village, with one of the richest collections of historic buildings in Hampshire. The buildings in the High Street, many of which have Georgian facades concealing medieval origins, are almost without exception of special architectural or historic interest.

Amongst the many historical attractions in Odiham are Odiham Castle, which was used by King John the night before he travelled to Runnymede to sign the Magna Carta, a 17th century Pest House used to quarantine sufferers of the plague and other infectious diseases and is one of only five such buildings that remain in Great Britain, and our very own set of stocks used up until the early part of the 19th century “to encourage virtue and discourage evil doers”.

The Odiham Community Website has been designed to strengthen the, already strong, sense of community in our area and to give everyone in the village a chance to be involved in the decisions that affect them, and to get their voices heard.

It’s based on a very similar style to www.81redballoons, and contains an ‘Odiham Blog’ as well as information for visitors, community groups and a directory of local business’s and services.

It’s early days yet but this site has been very well received in the village and as more and more people start to use it, and add their voice to it the Odiham Community Website looks set to become an invaluable resource for the area.

We hope you like it.

Gonna make you a drink you can't refuse. A Godfather - equal measures of Jack Daniels and Amaretto - expensive but worth every penny.

‘Tis the season to be jolly and all that and yesterday we decided, for the second time, that if we can't beat the Tuesday Market in our little village then we'll join 'em! Alison did the first week, after I pulled the "I've got a cold' card so despite the remnants of a really annoying cough I stood outside in the freezing cold, and occasional shower, flogging our wares.

I got to pitch up next to Gary, or "The Duck Man" as he is more commonly known in Odiham. It's amazing just how many people want wooden Ducks! We are in the wrong business! Even I succumbed eventually and came back with a little wooden duckling of my very own :)

And you know what? I quite enjoyed it! There was a real sense of community amongst the market traders. It's only a small market, no more than 6 stalls at the moment, and to be honest it's always been a source of friction amongst the retailers in the village. Parking is hard enough as it is, but when the Tuesday Market takes 10 parking spaces out for 4 hours it's impossible! So, just like everyone else, we moaned! "Our shop is always quiet on a Tuesday" we said. "It's our worse day of the week" we whined! Then Alison suggested we give it a go ourselves and set up our well-worn Gazebo, take a few chocs out, some toys, and a Christmas card or two and see what happens. So we did!

Although the market itself will never pay for our retirement the strange thing is as soon as one of us stood outside freezing to death for the morning the shop got busier! Go figure! And we didn't do too badly on the stall so all in all it's been worth it. We'll stick it out until Christmas then maybe do it once a month in the New Year.

So if you happen to be passing through Odiham on a Tuesday morning please feel free to visit our stall, we’re the one with lots of Gifts, Chocolate, Christmas decorations, Christmas cards and a few toys on, stuck at the end next to the tribe of wooden ducks, oh and feel free to bring coffee – all donations greatly received!

Cathy :)

Lovely Weather, if you're a Duck!

Wine Racks Jack and the Beanstalk Window