Apologies for the late posting of this, but the November newsletter can be found as a download below – the run up to Christmas has officially started in Chester Green!

Newsletter summary for screen-readers:

Little Chester Newsletter: November 2025 Highlights
The Little Chester Newsletter for November 2025 is here, featuring a fantastic lineup of community events, especially as we head into the festive season!

Upcoming Community Events
Mark your calendars for these key dates:

Christmas Craft Fair : Come find unique gifts among around 30 stalls, including home-made bakes, preserves, jewellery, festive decorations, cards, and fragrances.
When: Saturday, November 22, 2025, from 10 am – 3 pm.
Where: Chester Green Community Centre (DE1 3SA).
Details: Free entry, with refreshments like tea, coffee, hot chocolate, mulled wine, soup, and hot dogs available for sale.

Final Quiz Night of 2025: The last quiz night of the year, with questions set by Phil Teague.
When: Friday, December 5, 2025. Doors open at 7:00 pm for a 7:30 pm start.
Details: Admission is £3 per person in teams of no more than 5 members. There will be prizes, festive nibbles, and a bar accepting cash or card.

Christmas Lights Switch On: Gather around the Christmas tree on the corner of Marcus Street and Chester Green Road.
When: Sunday, December 7, 2025, at 5:15 pm (gathering from 5:00 pm).
Details: All fairy lights around the Green, Marcus Street, and Camp Street will be switched on. You are welcome to bring a non-breakable item to hang on the Christmas tree once it’s delivered.

Christmas Window Trail: Look forward to the start of December when participating houses and businesses reveal their decorated windows! This is not a competition; just try to include lights so your creation can be seen after dark.

St. Paul’s Christmas Services
St. Paul’s Chester Green has a range of services this December:
Christingle Service: 4:00 pm on Sunday, December 7th. This is followed by the Chester Green Christmas lights switch-on at 5:15 pm.
Outdoor Carol Service: 5:00 pm on Sunday, December 21st, on the grass outside the church. Enjoy mince pies afterwards. (Will move inside if the weather is bad.)
Nativity Service: 3:00 pm on Christmas Eve, December 24th. Come and have fun building the nativity scene together.
Midnight Mass (Holy Communion): 11:15 pm on Christmas Eve, December 24th.
Christmas Day Service: 10:00 am on December 25th. Bring a present to open as we celebrate.

Community Groups & Local News
St. Paul’s Rainbow Tots (Parent & Toddler Group): Friendly, relaxed, and fun play sessions with craft, stories, music, and a safe outdoor area.
When: Every Monday during term time, 10 am – 12 Noon.
Cost: £2 per family (cash only).

Little Chester History Group: The next meeting is on November 20th in the Community Centre at 7:30 pm. The speaker is Keith Blood on “Derbyshire Curiosities.” There will be no meeting in December.

The Coach and Horses Pub: The pub has been relisted by Derby City Council as an Asset of Community Value (ACV), providing protection in planning law for it to always be a pub.

Royal British Legion: Lamp Post Poppies will be appearing around Chester Green for Remembrance Sunday. You can “sponsor” a poppy or make a donation via the JustGiving page: https://tinyurl.com/CGPoppies2025

Below is the PDF and audio versions of the October 2025 newsletter. Enjoy!

Brief Audio Podcast:

Deep Dive, longer, Audio Podcast:

Here’s the September Edition of the Little Chester Newsletter for download and/or listen via the podcast. I’ve changed the style of the podcast this month, so please let me know which you prefer!

PDF Download

Podcasts

Below are the two versions of the podcast. The 1st is a shorter look at the articles, and the 2nd is a longer ‘deep-dive’. Let me know which you prefer in the comments!

Below is the August newsletter, which will be arriving in your letterboxes soon. Lots of thank-yous this month for everyone who helped in our 10th free Picnic on the Green event and also details on the exciting roman excavations planned in August by University of York!

Download the newsletter or listen to the podcast version below!

A link to the Denvention Dig page is here

Details on what was found in the 2013 dig can be found here

Please see attached the electronic versions of the June and July newsletters. The podcast version of the July edition is also below. Apologies for the lateness of these!

If you find the podcast useful, do let me know 🙂

The Feb 25 newsletter is out now (you should have received your paper copy already 🙂 ).

Lots of info for the regular classes at the Community Centre, and the QUIZ that’s happening on Friday 7th Feb (always a great night out!)

All this and more in this month’s edition!

The December newsletter is out now, and printed copies should have made their way to you, too!

Lots on this December:

• Rhian’s quiz night is at the Community Centre (6th December, 7pm).
• The Chester Green Christmas Lights Switch-on at 5pm next to the Christmas Tree at the end of Marcus Street (where it meets the Green).
• The Christmas Window Trail also officially starts on Sunday (give or take the odd window that is not quite ready!

Lots more in this month’s Newsletter! The Window trail map is below or an electronic version is via this link: tinyurl.com/CGXmasWindows2024

Below is the October Newsletter including details on:

• Snowdrop bulb planting the the Cafe on the Green
• Halloween Disco
• Little Chester History Group
• Parking Permit updates (please return your voting slips!)
• How to get involved in our annual XMas Window Trail
• and more!

The September newsletter is available below. Details on Rhian’s Quiz night (20th Sept), the Halloween Disco (26th Oct), Local History Group, the 3rd Chester Green Arts Trail (7th Sept) and more besides!

Lots to see in this month’s newsletter. A huge thank you to all who put on the Picnic on the Green event. We were competing with many other high-profile events in Derby and the Euros final, but we still got over 200 people to attend this annual free event.

There are details on the next quiz, a message from our new MP, and details on the CG Arts Trail (early September). There is also a petition to install earth bunds around the green to help protect it from unauthorised encampments (this summer’s visitors have just left!) This has been used across the country to keep caravans and unauthorised vehicles off urban parks, whilst still allowing access to be kept when needed via removable posts at key locations.  Linked below are examples from Chichester, Reading and Walsall.

If you agree that something needs to be done about this now-yearly problem, please help by signing this petition.

https://tinyurl.com/CGBundPetition

All this, and more, in the August 2024 Newsletter, linked below