Dec - Jan 1997
A report from Anne Wyburd, Honorary Organiser of the Appeal.
Well, I suppose that we can’t go up and up! At £1745.68 we are £43 down on last year. The fluctuations are extraordinary - some streets have yielded over twice and some only half as much. Once again the stalwart collectors had to contend with bad weather and darkness, too, if they were to find householders at home after the day’s work. I am most grateful to two new collectors and a special word of thanks goes to Kate Farrow, who is giving up after 14 years as a star performer on The Common.
Amounts collected from shops, pubs and businesses range from over £55 (Chipperfield Garden Centre on Tower Hill, once again the leaders - congratulations!) to £2.29 from another employer with customers. A lot depends on the enthusiasm of proprietors and staff and I am most grateful to everyone who really makes an effort, while trying not to divert too much from their own tills.
Everyone reading this will be as enraged as I was when I was told that a visitor - surely not a resident! - had lifted the collecting tin off the reception desk at “The Two Brewers” when it had been there for over a week. The staff were also disgusted and put the replacement tin out of reach. Forte’s management have given us a donation which has brought the hotel’s collection almost up to last year’s figure, for which we are most grateful. (What did Lawrence Fellick write, and say in his sermon on Remembrance Sunday? Maybe our village is not as idyllic as some night imagine).
My thanks, as always, to all the people who helped with the Appeal by collecting and by counting the money, to Patrick Gardiner, the Legion secretary, for particular support and to everyone who gave so generously. You all make my job both enjoyable and immensely worthwhile.
PHONE BOX FURORE
A letter from June Evans, Copthall, The Street
I am writing in support of our beautiful old red telephone box on the village green. It seems to me to be situated in exactly the right spot - convenient for visitors to Chipperfield to use. I realise, of course, that not all village residents own a telephone, but I suspect the vast majority do.
The previous and very ugly modern-style box, situated near the old Post Office, was scruffy, out of style with the village and seemed mainly to be used by rowdy and noisy teenagers in the evenings. Our traditional red telephone box now blends into the charm of Chipperfield village. Mr. Williams, a resident of Kings Langley, suggests moving the box (at whose expense?) to be near the bus stop by The Two Brewers - where the pavement is far too narrow and would, I believe, look out of place and be a dangerous obstruction.
Please do let us keep the telephone box where it is. It adds greatly to the special atmosphere or our lovely village.
The facts from David Nobbs
Although the formal responsibility for the siting of the new telephone box rested with Dacorum Borough Council (which both owns the Common and is the relevant planning authority) and British Telecom, there was a good degree of consultation with the Parish Council.
The Parish Council’s first concern was replacement when the box outside the old Post Office was removed. British Telecom advised us that a replacement could not be justified on economic grounds. However, they did acknowledge that it was strategically important in view of its position in the village centre, close to the Common which attracts many visitors. A special case was successfully submitted by their Field Officer for a phone box to be retained and for it to be of traditional design.
The location of the box was governed by British Telecom requirements for length of cabling to suitable wiring points and by its visibility in cases of emergency. The Parish Council’s preferred choices - alongside the post box outside The Two Brewers or in the car park by Old School Cottages - were thus not available. We therefore agreed on the present site, being convenient for use and in a position where public gaze might deter vandalism. The new phone box obviously does stand out as a new feature on a well-loved scene, but as time goes by, it is likely to be accepted as part of that scene, just as in many other villages.
THE CRACK OF DAWN
With the shorter days of winter comes the chance to be up “at the crack of dawn” without setting the alarm too early and the chance to see the night shift clocking off in the garden. My early morning runs with the dog (well, not early really) have been much more rewarding lately with regular sightings of foxes and Tawny owls. One of the foxes that comes through the garden and over the field opposite has a very distinctive dark, almost black, coat and is quite small and timid. Another is a pale chestnut colour with a broad white chest. The latter is much bolder, just trotting a short distance from me and turning to have a good look before continuing at his own pace. He has a regular route under the fence by the footpath and across the goat run to the beech tree and into our little wood. I hope they don’t take a fancy to my bantams this winter!
It was lovely to hear the Tawny owls hooting one morning when we did get up early to go on a bird-watching trip to Essex. As I ran up the footpath, the hooting was just above me and on stopping, I saw a perfect silhouette of the owl perched on a branch of the poplar tree. The male makes a “Hoo Hoo” sound and this particular male was answered by the “Kay Wick” call of a female in our little wood. After a second or two, she flew over my head on her silent wings and they flew off together into the Christmas tree patch.
I was just making tea on my return when I heard a magpie making a great commotion in the pine tree. The first rays of sunlight were just catching the tree and the magpie was jumping up and down on a branch just beside the owl box. To my delight, a tawny owl was perched in the box entrance, with the sunlight just catching its beautifully speckled breast. The poor bird sat there for a few seconds until a jay came to join in the persecution. This was too much fir the owl, who dropped down into the bottom of the box. At this, the magpie proceeded to do a victory “dance” on the roof of the box! It’s a hard life being an owl.
After finding a young grass snake and egg cases in one of our compost heaps last year, I have been careful not to disturb the heaps too soon. When I finally did turn them, I was disappointed to find no signs of snakes at all. It came as a great surprise to find part of a sloughed off skin as I emptied the compost bin a few days ago. As the snake grows, so it must shed its outer skin and it will do this, depending on age, three or four times a year. Although there was only a small amount of the almost transparent back skin, there were loads of the long “plates” from the underside. From the size of these it was an adult snake, probably several feet long! It will be hibernating somewhere now but we will all be on the look-out for it again next summer. Wendy Bathurst
CRÈCHE AT THE MOUNT PRISON
Would you like to help in a very real and practical way to keep a family together at a time of great strain on partners and their children?
HACRO is starting up the crèche professionally, so that it is open every day and does not collapse through lack of regular support, as happened before.
Visiting is for two hours - far too long for children to sit and talk - every afternoon except Wednesday and on weekend mornings. The prisoners and their families are longing for their children to be cared for during at least part of each visit, so that they can talk in peace and the children won’t disturb everyone else’s visits. The staff are worried about safety because, at the moment, the children run about unsupervised and accidents have already happened.
This is what we need: 2 paid & qualified childcare workers (part-time); a team of reliable volunteers to work with them; lots of equipment (new or good as new), for
example -
sturdy toys for toddlers
books, activity materials for drawing and painting, games, puzzels, videos,
boardgames for older children
anything else you can think of!
Ages range from 0 - 10. We can collect from you and we also happily accept donations of money to buy equipment. Can you help?
Anne Wyburd (01923 267515)
HACRO Chairman
New blood needed
Organising events has always depended on a number of individuals giving up their time freely to make them a success. As with other Club activities, the Fair can only be continued by finding new blood to take over from those who have done more than their fair share over the years. Unfortunately, this continues to be a major problem, not only for the Youth Club but for many other village groups and organisations.
We hope that we will be able to organise an equivalent event, perhaps in the spring. Naturally, this depends on convincing, cajoling or coercing a few people to take a leading part in organising it. If you would like to discuss how you might be able to help, please let me know.
Bob Wiggins (01923 244545)
PARISH COUNCIL NEWS
Items reported to the meeting held on 10th November included the following of general interest:
Chipperfield Beat Inspector Keith Ashton, in charge of rural policing in this part of Dacorum Division, advised the Council that crime in Chipperfield was running at a lower level than a year ago. In the seven months from April to October 1997 the following had been reported:
Burglaries from dwellings 3
Burglaries from other premises 1
Criminal damage 5
Assault/wounding 0
Theft of motor vehicles 7
Theft from motor vehicles 15
Other 4
Total: 35
Incidences of the first four crimes listed were substantially down. Unfortunately, vehicle related crime spoilt the pattern by showing an increase in the annual rate. All in all though, without being complacent, we should feel pleased to live in one of the areas of Dacorum with the least crime, situated in the county of Hertfordshire which has the lowest crime rate in the country.
Chipperfield Common management
John Pringle, our Parish Clerk, reported that following concern expressed by several members of the public about woodland clearing on the Common to the north of Windmill Hill, he had contacted Cameron Lewis, Woodland Officer for Dacorum Borough Council. Mr. Lewis had advised him that this work was in accordance with the five year management plan for the Common. It included thinning the sycamores to allow more room for the native species. There had been a greater number of sycamore saplings than expected and most of the other trees had suffered badly from damage by grey squirrels. The area had therefore been more extensively cleared than had been foreseen. A contract for replanting with oak, ash and beech before the end of January and the subsequent nurture of the young trees is being prepared.
Affordable housing
Dacorum Borough Council Housing Committee have approved the proposed scheme for a development of six affordable homes to be built by Hightown Praetorian Housing Association at the eastern end of Croft Meadow, on land owned by the Borough. Provided the requisite grants are awarded and planning permission obtained, building these homes for people with Chipperfield connections could start in the summer 1998. New Parish Councillor
John Hopkins resigned from the Parish Council in September due to pressure of other commitments. There was no request for a by-election during the period designated by the Electoral Registration Officer and so the Parish Council needed to co-opt a member. At its November meeting, the Council unanimously agreed to co-opt Mike Joseph, of 6 Queen Street, to fill the vacancy.
We thank John for his services to the village as a councillor and wish Mike all the best in his new role.
GAS & ELECTRICITY DE-REGULATION
Dacorum Council staff are receiving training to enable them to talk to residents about the choices available when the British Gas and Eastern Electricity monopolies end in March 1998. Dacorum Council is neutral and will not recommend any particular supplier. David Nobbs, Chairman
FROM THE EDITOR
This is my first attempt at editing The Chipperfield News. In addition to grappling with the copy, I have never used desk-top publishing before and so this issue is the result of my “learning on the job”. Between working full-time and the usual domestic demands, I haven't yet quite mastered the machinery. I hope, however, that you will forgive any errors and excuse me if you find some articles on different pages than is usual.
As a librarian, I am very keen on publishing information and so I hope you will find the details of various events I’ve included to be useful.
I should like to thank Charlotte for her patience and Tony Briselden for his encouragement and practical help.
Any constructive comments you may have will be very useful and both Charlotte and I welcome contributions for future issues. Liz Holliday
From Mrs Janette Noonan, Toms Lane, Kings Langley
I recently attended the 50/50 Auction held to raise funds for St.Paul’s Church. It was an interesting, enjoyable and at times exciting afternoon, thanks to the excellent auctioneer, Mr Graham Holt and his helpers. Like most folk there, I was lucky with a bid or two and helped the funds quite a bit!
My delight was short-lived however, when I returned to my car (a red Rover Metro J295 5PP). Someone in a larger vehicle had manoeuvred badly causing considerable damage to my driver’s door. Should the guilty party read this, I would be most glad of a contribution towards repairs. If anyone witnessed the damage occuring, I would be glad to hear from them. My phone number is 01923 266921. I was parked in the car park near the church on The Common between 2pm and 6pm.
I am writing this in the hope and belief that there are still some people ‘who will do the right thing” given the opportunity. Thank you for reading this.
From Carol Petherick, Queensland, Australia
As some of you will know, I was back in Chipperfield for a few weeks in August and September. It was wonderful to be back ‘home’ and to be able to spend some time with family and friends. There were a few people that I wasn’t able to catch-up with and I’m sorry that I missed seeing them. Thanks mainly to the organization of others, I was at least able to spend a little time with a lot of people.
I’d expected quite a few changes in and around the village, but was pleasantly surprised that there seemed so few. It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces and thanks to all those who stopped to chat with me and invited me into their homes. It made me feel as if I’d been away no time at all, when it’s been, in fact, four years. That must be a good sign and it certainly felt marvellous to be able to pick-up with people as if it had been only a few weeks or months since I’d last been speaking to them. I guess that’s what coming home is all about.
I also made a rapid trip to Scotland and back, part work and part pleasure. I caught up with more friends and colleagues and in 20 days drove 2,200 miles and slept in 14 different beds! I’m used to driving long distances: the week before last, a colleague and I drove over 2,000 miles in five days, but the driving here is very different to driving at home. I am certain that there is much more traffic on the roads than there was four years ago and everybody drives so fast - the maximum speed limit here is 60 mile per hour!
To say that I had an enjoyable time in the UK would be an understatement. But good things come to an end, and all too quickly it was time to say my farewells and return to my home here. Needless to say this wasn’t an easy thing to do but I have wonderful memories (and lots of photos) of my visit to carry me through to the next visit. I don’t know when that will be, but I will save hard and try to make it in less than the four years it took this time.
Thanks to all those who made me feel so much at home. I very much look forward to seeing you all again on my next visit. In the meantime, you will be in my thoughts and I send you my very best wishes for Christmas and the coming year.
Nell Berners-Price would like to thank all her kind friends for taking her to and from Church regularly over the last two years since moving to Commonwood. And also for the trips to the shops, the doctor, dentist etc. She also greatly appreciates the help from Chipperfield Care, particularly for a recent emergency at very short notice.
Bea Winfield writes ‘I would like to thank friends and neighbours in Chapel Croft for the cards and kind thoughts expressed at Ken’s passing and specially Mary Studley. who was a wonderful in help in my hour of need’.
Con Packford sends her grateful thanks to the two kind strangers who came to her aid when she fell in Chapel Croft early in November.
Paul and Sally Thompson of The Mill House, Windmill Hill are delighted to announce the birth of their second daughter
Beatrix Victoria on Thursday 2nd October 1997 (weight 8lbs l4oz).