March 1998
From the middle of April The Two Brewers will be transformed into “The Builders Arms” as workmen descend on the 400-year old hotel to refurbish the premises.
The new owners, Scottish & Newcastle Hotels, expect the work to take three months and there will be no public access to the building throughout this time. The entire ground floor and all the bedrooms will be renovated and the hotel is expected to re-open in the summer as part of Scottish & Newcastle’s Chef & Brewer chain.
1st CHIPPERFIELD BROWNIE PACK
The 1st Chipperfield Brownies are currently preparing for their Deaf Awareness badge thanks to Jan Dennant’s expert tuition. They have been learning to use sign language and the badge is one of the more unusual that the Brownies can work towards.
We are also preparing for the first Pack Holiday for some years. It will take place over the Spring Bank Holiday at West Hyde. Rickmansworth which will be transformed into “Pooh Corner” especially for the girls. Unfortunately, not everyone will be able to attend as numbers are restricted to 18.
It seems a long time since the Christmas holidays when twelve of our Brownies enjoyed Babes in the Wood at the Village Hall, giving a special cheer to our very own “Jay” - Hannah Turner - the pack’s Young Leader, who excelled as Maid Marion in the production. More recently, we took part in the Guide Movement’s annual Thinking Day which celebrates the birthday of our founder, Lady Baden Powell. Chipperfield Brownies surprised everyone by singing a well-known English song in Dutch!
I hope this give you a flavour of the variety of activities that young girls can enjoy in the Brownies. Although our Pack is full to bursting at present, it’s never too early to put your daughter’s name on our waiting list. The starting age is 7 years old. Please contact me on 01923 268852.
Make a note in your diary for Saturday 14 March when we are holding a special Blue Peter Bring and Buy Sale in aid of Cystic Fibrosis. The idea came from two of our Brownies, Chloe and Elyse Thompson. We are getting together with 1st Kings Langley Pack and the sale will be held at the Guide Hut, Blackwell Road, Kings Langley. Do come to support us between 10 am and 12 noon. Have a cup of tea, see what’s on offer and help us to raise money for this worthy cause.
CHIPPERFIELD SCHOOL OF DANCING
With a successful show behind them, the girls at the Chipperfield School of Dancing are now working towards their ballet and tap exams. The classes have proved to be so popular that new classes have now started and there are a few vacancies for anyone who would like to join. The older girls who have worked their way through the grades are now starting point work. Places are available for late starters, age 13 and over.
A tap class for adults will be starting soon on Friday evenings and anyone who would like to come for fun and to keep fit is most welcome. There will be opportunities for adults to take exams if they wish to.
Classes are held in the Baptist Church Hall on Fridays and Saturdays. For more information and further details contact Mrs Elizabeth Gurney, telephone 0181- 428 9906.
NEAR MISS FOR THREE EX-PRESIDENTS
Much to their own and each other’s amazement, three members of Chipperfield Evening WI scored 79’/2 points in the recent County Quiz Competition held at Kings Langley Community Centre. The team, all past Presidents, were competing against teams from twenty-four other Institutes from West Herts. They missed a place in the County Final by just half a point. Congratulations to the three winning teams who will shortly be battling it out with three teams from East Herts to find the County Champions.
CRICKET CLUB PICTURE
Chipperfield Cricket Club have commissioned a painting depicting cricket being played on The Common. The result was so good, they decided to produce framed prints of the original and offer them for sale as a fund-raising exercise. The framed prints are on sale at Chipperfield Larder and the Bovingdon branch of Something Special, price £45. Unframed prints can be purchased for £15 and make an ideal gift for friends and relatives.
My apologies to Wendy Bathurst and all readers of her regular monthly article about the wildlife in Chipperfield. I’m afraid there was not enough space to include it this month. Perhaps we should arrange a special wildlife issue sometime?
DON’T FORGET!
From 1 March the Chipperfield News mailbox will be located in The Post Office Stores.
THE NUMBERS GAME
The Local Government Commission for England have just published and presented to the Secretary of State their Final Recommendations for the Future Electoral Arrangements for Dacorum in Hertfordshire - a glossy A4 size booklet of 38 pages. It is the result of over twelve months consultation and deliberation and has hardly left unchanged one ward in the borough.
The main aim was to try and level out the number of electors represented by each councillor in the borough, at least within a small percentage, above or below the overall borough average. The number of electors per councillor currently ranges from about 1,300 to 3,000. Although an attempt has been made not to combine rural areas with urban areas, little consideration appears to have been given to the other wide diversities of the various wards.
By dint of boundary modifications to twenty-five of the present twenty-eight wards in the borough, the Commission has managed to achieve a fairly even number of electors per councillor, ranging from about 1,800 to 2,200. You will not be surprised to learn that Chipperfield, with less than 1,400 electors per councillor at present, will lose its sole ward status and is to be included in the Bovingdon, Flaunden and Chipperfield Ward. This ward will also include Felden and Boume End, currently part of the Hemel Hempstead South ward. The proposed new ward is to have three councillors to serve the whole area.
The changes take effect from the next local elections in 1999 when Dacorum Borough Council will have twenty-seven wards (at present there are twenty-eight) with fifty-two councillors (fifty-eight at present). Elections will continue to be held every four years as at present.
EDITORIAL
I cannot believe that I am the only person in Chipperfield who finds the chairs in the Village Hall so very uncomfortable that I set almost solid after sitting on them for a couple of hours. I admit that I have short legs, which probably doesn't help but I haven't noticed too many giants in the village.
The chairs themselves are objects of local historical value - they were made by Cox of Watford, I should guess in the late l940s/early 50s. I am sure that when they were purchased they were at the cutting edge of institutional furniture technology. Alas, today they are just a cutting edge!
Would the Village Hall Committee consider launching a new chair appeal in time for the year 2000? I for one would be happy to purchase/sponsor a chair for the greater comfort of society members and audiences during the next millennium.
On another matter entirely - in view of the extensive building works which will be taking place at The Two Brewers shortly, has the Parish Council made any arrangements for an architectural historian or conservation officer to have a watching brief? It may well be that the renovations will reveal parts of this ancient building that have not seen the light of day for decades. If so, it would surely be a good idea to record any findings before they vanish again under new plasterwork or - perish the thought - are destroyed.
Liz Holiday
USE IT OR LOSE IT - IF YOU CAN GET NEAR IT
Bollards; white keep clear lines. What’s next? I refer to the obstacles that have appeared on the roadside frontage of Chipperfield Post Office Stores since opening 18 months ago.
We were given no advance warning or even the courtesy of being informed that these obstructions would be appearing. We had a ramp built to the front of the property to provide better access for disabled customers between their cars and the Post Office and shop. This is of little use now.
Our customers have made various comments about not being able to just pop in, especially during the spring and summer months when the car park is overflowing. One customer asked if we were being victimised. There are a number of other places in the village that are far more hazardous than this particular stretch of road.
We fight for custom in the Sub Post Office and shop. Our aim is to serve the local community but we also rely on passing trade - especially the Post Office which struggles to keep open. The future of both the Post Office and the shop will be decided in the coming months. So many Sub Post Offices are closing through lack of support and use. The powers that be who make these decisions regarding the bollards and white lines are short sighted.
Will we be the next to close?
Jane Watson
on behalf of the Regan family
ALARM SERVICE FOR THE ELDERLY CELEBRATES
15 YEARS OF SERVICE
Piper Emergency Control system started in 1983. It provides an emergency service to tenants in accommodation for the elderly owned by Dacorum Borough Council and is extended to owner/occupiers within the range of the service, to sheltered housing schemes managed by an adjacent local authority and several Housing Association. The alarm service is provided to help those faced with an accident or medical emergency within their home. By pulling a cord or pressing a button, the caller opens a telephone link with a trained operator at the control centre. The equipment is sensitive enough to allow a two-way conversation from any room in the caller’s home. As soon as the telephone link is opened, the operator is able to identify the caller. Even if the caller is unable to speak, the operator can give a reassurance that help will soon arrive.
In an average week Piper Emergency Control will take 400 calls of which about 25 will require immediate attendance by the emergency services. For further information contact Lou Wilson, Elderly Services Manager, Dacorum Borough Council on 01442 228615.
ANCIENT WILD HOLLIES
In his regular column in The Guardian, naturalist and broadcaster Richard Mabey writes “The proliferation of wild hollies proceeds apace in the Chilterns ... they are becoming the dominant understorey in beech and oakwoods on the acid plateaux. Across much of Chipperfield Common the hollies make up impenetrable thickets below the timber trees... Chipperfield and Sarratt are one of the epicentres of holly. Ancient hollies pack most of the hedges as well as the woods... The great resurgence of holly may reflect a decline in grazing (cattle love their foliage) on the local commons and of management in the woods...”