Local Face: Vera Pudan

Mrs Vera Pudan has suddenly become central to life in Halton Village. Vera and her husband, Chris, waited ten years for to their specially equipped retirement bungalow in Brookside. They were delighted to be allocated a home in Halton as they already knew one villager and had heard only good things. They were not disappointed when they moved in June 1988. Their immaculate home was already in good order and only needed minor improvements, however, the overgrown garden has been tamed and now looks a picture.

Everyone was very friendly, from the start, giving a lot of mutual support. They immediately joined in with this spirit. Chris soon gained a reputation as a handy man to help out with little jobs around the place and is never too busy to give lifts or help at a jumble sale. Vera’s speciality is putting her computer to community use so she is the one everyone turns to for posters and tickets.

One thing which struck them was that there is no obvious focus to life in Halton Village. The shop closed down about five years ago and even the special Post Office service has now ceased. The Village Hall is not used often enough. The only place where villagers meet regularly is in St Michael’s and all Angels Church. Many thanks must go to Revd Andrew Meynell who is the mainstay of Halton Village as well as Wendover.

One evening, early in January 1993, a group of friends was sitting chatting and generally putting the world to rights. They couldn’t meet in the village Pub because there isn’t one. They had had this conversation many times before. “Isn’t it a shame that we can’t get together in the village, just for fun.” There used to be a Youth Club, there used to be a Village Fete. In November there had been a very sucessful Arts and Hobbies day. Chris had a super exhibition of the exquisite products of his garden workshop: dolls houses complete with indoor and garden furniture.

The next morning, Vera got to work on her computer and printed off 60 copies of notes to go through village doors. Soon another 60 were needed. All the villagers were invited to a meeting in the Village Hall in February with a view to starting a purely social forum.

About 35 enthusiastic villagers turned up. Any village resident could belong, there would be no subscription fee. The idea was to have fun getting to know one another. A volunteer committee was formed with the original group of friends heavily featured. Mrs Pauline Uzzell was declared Chairman with Mrs Vera Pudan, her enthusiasm and computer the obvious choice for Secretary.

They decided that the first venture should be a Cheese and Wine party which took place in the Village Hall in early March with 70 or 80 people present including friends who used to live in Halton. Next they will be whooping it up in a Barn Dance on 29th May.

It was agreed that the innumerable talents of the villagers should be tapped and latent talents developed through sharing. Vera is waiting to hear from you. The Halton Village Society does not want to tread on the toes of the work already done by the Church and the Parish Council, infact they are all cooperating to make Halton an even nicer village to live in.