July - Aug 1999
If you are tempted to trundle your garden rubbish over on to the Common to tip it out, after all it is biodegradable think again!
Cultivated plants seem to love the conditions and will quickly take hold, smothering and replacing the wild plants so destroying the natural mixture of the woodland. Our Common Ranger has to spend a lot of time removing fly- tipped garden rubbish to maintain the integrity of the Common.
Why not compost it, offer surplus plants to neighbours or pot then up for a plant sale. If all else fails, take your garden rubbish down to the dump! Special offer - a free Dacorum compost bin (providing you collect it) to the first person who phones 01923 264433.
THE BAPTIST CHURCH
The Ladies Fellowship meetings will continue throughout July and August, every Tuesday at 3pm. All ladies most- welcome to come for a cup of tea and informal chat. Brenda Harpley
FROM PAGE TO STAGE
March 2000 promises to be an interesting period for Writers Inc.. Join up now and get involved in the collaborative process that takes words from page to stage.
‘Writers Inc. was formed in 1996 to promote the talents of new writers. We write in many genres, from poetry to sitcoms. We welcome the challenges of writing in today’s literary world - the ups and the downs!
If you have “Creative Inc.” in your veins and would like more information, phone 01442 834906 for details of our next meeting. Susan K. Franklin
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
I spend as much time as possible in the fresh air at this time of year and have little opportunity to watch television. If I did, there seems to be an enormous number of gardening programmes around at the moment. however, I much prefer to look at real gardens. There are grand stately homes as well as many private gardens open to the public but it is also very enjoyable just wandering around the village and looking over people’s hedges. Our Society trip to Wisley was enjoyed by all those who came but the low numbers involved means that we will have to reconsider seriously these sort of outings in the future.
A free packet of seeds from a gardening magazine gave me the opportunity to try growing some giant sunflowers for a change this year. I though that one either side of the vegetable plot might be fun. The plant on the right hand side of the path seems to be flourishing but the one on the left and its subsequent replacements soon succumbed to the chewing of some unidentified pest.
Unidentified pests were also responsible for breaking in to the Society’s shop recently and while nothing was taken it is worth reminding all gardeners to check the security of your valuable tools. I was speaking recently to a couple of members who had a number of items taken from their garden shed, so it pays to take precautions.
The weather lately has been warm and sunny with lots of showers, some quite heavy, and most of the garden is doing well. The dahlias have got off to a good start and most of the vegetable are looking healthy. I don’t seen to be having much luck with my salad crops at the moment though and the slugs seem even more numerous than previous years, so that although the resident frog is fatter than ever, even he can’t keep up with
the supply! John Hopkins
IT NEVER RAINS BUT
On 1 June we decided to start the annual stint of house painting at our home and a section of guttering was removed in order to deal with the gutter board behind it. It was a beautiful day and the gutter was left off overnight to allow the paint to dry. You will all know what happened during the night - a deluge fell on Chipperfield! My rain gauge said 33.5mm. The area of roof drained by the missing gutter is about 18 square metres. A simple calculation shows that about 600 litres (132 gallons) cascaded from the roof and I concluded that my sins must have been greater than I thought!
For those who think that this must be Chipperfield’s wettest day, I checked my records which go back to 1982. I found that 33.5mm has been exceeded on six occasions, the wettest being a staggering 62mm (about 21/2”) on 23 September 1992. Since 1992 there have been 25 days when the rainfall has been greater than 25mm (1”). It is worth remembering that the 600 litres which washed my patio could have filled three
CHIPPERFIELD COMMON TEMPORARY RABBIT FENCING AND GREY SQUIRREL CONTROL
The work carried out to restore the heathland habitat to the large glade within The Common saw good results with an excellent rate of heather germination following sowing in December 1997. Unfortunately, last winter most of this work was undone by extensive rabbit browsing. The only viable means of protecting the heather seedlings is to exclude the rabbits from their growing area. It is proposed to use temporary fencing (for approximately five years) which will allow the heather to establish and grow to such a size that the plants will tolerate later browsing. The enclosure would not be particularly big, measuring 10 metres x 20 metres, and consist of a rabbit wire fence. Once the fence has been erected the area will be re-sown this autumn.
The grey squirrel is a native of North America and since it was first introduced into Britain in the mid-l9th century, has spread throughout the country. Grey squirrels pose the single largest threat to the survival of young broadleaved trees. Serious damage is caused when they strip the bark from trees.
The problem of grey squirrel damage to the beech trees on Chipperfield Common is one which we have been aware of for some time. A brief inspection of the young trees reveals widespread bark damage, which has lead to the disfigurement and in some cases, the death, of the affected trees.
In Britain, grey squirrels have no natural predators, nor are they seriously affected by disease. Unless the squirrel population is controlled The Common will not enjoy the splendour of the magnificent beech trees in the future. At present the only viable and cost effective means of control is to use warfarin treated bait dispensed from hoppers which would be located in the woodland. In order to prevent harm to other animals the hoppers are designed so that only grey squirrels have access to the bait. Contractors who would site and maintain the hoppers are trained and certificated in the use of pesticides.
Cameron Lewis
Woodland Officer,
Dacorum Borough Council
THE BALANCE OF NATURE
Last autumn one of our Christmas trees by the vegetable garden was covered in aphids and it became a slightly hazardous business getting through the gate. The sticky honeydew they exude attracted large numbers of sleepy wasps and lots of ants that fought over the spoils. As winter came they gradually disappeared and were forgotten about until about a month ago when I noticed a dark patch on the tree trunk as I walked down the garden. At first there were only enough of the little black beasts to cover a dinner plate but after a day or two they went all round the trunk and up it from a height of about 5 feet to 15 feet. Although there are five other Christmas trees in the group, none of the others were affected. By the end of the week no part of the tree over 5 feet was un-affected! The ground underneath it began to get sticky and the first ants began to make their way up to stake their claim on the honeydew. From then on, the whole tree seemed to be alive with insects. Ladybirds arrived to lay their eggs, along with hover- flies and various other things I had not seen before.
Hoverflies do a wonderful job in the garden pollinating flowers and like ladybirds, their lave eat vast quantities of aphids - up to 800 in the ten days before they pupate! The females, which which mimic bees and wasps with their yellow and black striped bodies but only have two wings instead of four, can smell aphids and lay their eggs among them. Each female may lay 100 eggs a day which hatch after three or four days and then begin to battle with the ants, who try to protect the aphids so that they can drink their honeydew. Some types of hoverfly lawe produce a protective slime which deters the ants and I think we must have had some of these, as the whole tree and its surroundings became a slimy, stick mess!
Although the aphids are fast breeders, they could not keep up with all the predators flying in and their numbers soon began to fall. When I looked this morning there were only a few hungry looking lava on the tree. Aint nature wonderful!
We have just finished shearing the sheep. It’s just as well they are all fairly tame as bad backs and sheep shearing
don’t go together! Old shepherds always say that time watching sheep is never wasted and this proved to be the case a few days ago. Beryl did not look “right”, she was restless and agitated. After the last move to fresh grass she had been loose and made her bottom dirty. I decided to look for fly strike or maggots in her wool. Sure enough there they were, tiny maggots wriggling about in her wool. If left they would start to eat her
alive, so it was off with her overcoat and on with some cream! I am no expert shearer and could not bend to do her the proper way but we got it all off while she stood up. With the flies about we decided to do the lot and son John proved very nifty with the shears while I held the sheep. Jake the ram was the best behaved and he seemed to enjoy the attention. They all look rather comical but at least there is no wool left for maggots to hide in and Beryl is no worse for wear.
The lambs look nearly as big as their mums now and except for two, are all nice and tame. Snowball has obviously told her young rams all about mint sauce and they will have nothing to do with me! If anyone would like to spin some wool, I have plenty to spare. Wendy Bathurst
SEE THE AREA YOU LIVE IN - BY BIKE
We are a small group of mountain bike riders who ride in the Chiltern area and occasionally further afield. If you are interested in joining us you should be of average fitness or better. We try to keep to country lanes and bridleways and the times of rides and distance covered varies. If you would like more information or would like to take a trial trip, call Haydon Robinson on 01923 269321.
CHIPPERFIELD PARISH COUNCIL
The next meeting will be held at 8pm on Monday 12 July in St. Paul’s School hall. Residents most welcome.
WHERE ARE YOU NOW?
Calling all former members of the Chipperfield Boys and Girls Brigade companies!
On Sunday 4 July at 10.30 am we are laying-up the colours of these units which for many years served this village. Come and join us for this special service, as we place the banners in a permanent place of honour in the sanctuary. Everyone enjoys nostalgia, so if you have any memories of belonging to either unit, come along and share them with us. The Area Commissioner for the Girls Brigade, Miss Margaret Orchard, will be assisting in the service. This will also be a parade service for the 1st Chipperfield Brownie Pack. Coffee will be served afterwards, as usual.
HOLIDAY CLUB ‘99
Our Holiday Club will operate from 26 to 30 July, from 10 am to 12 noon in the Village Hall. To run it we need an army of helpers, before and during that week. If your child usually attends or might be interested in doing so this year, please consider giving a helping hand. We need a people to cover a diverse range of jobs.
For information about the Club and/or about the help we need do please ring me. Andy Shiach St Paul’s Youth Worker
MOTHERS’ UNION
Our next meeting is on 14 July at 7.45 pm, when we will be having a talk entitled Aids and You. Guests are most welcome. For venue see the Pew Sheet. On 11 August we have our annual Teddy Bears’ Picnic in the Vicarage garden, for mums and toddlers who have attended the Pram Service.
Our secretary, Marilyn Comrie, moved to Herefordshire at the end of May and we gave her a Garden Gift Token in appreciation of all her hard work. Valerie Newman.