May 2000
Much to our delight our remaining long tailed tit has found a new mate and returned to complete her nest in our Berberis. Nature dosn’t allow for long periods of mourning in tiny birds whose life-span may only be a year or two, so ten days after we had found one of the original pair dead at the base of our patio windows, building work on the nest resumed. Most of the outer part of the nest must have been completed as these two began bringing in feathers for the lining almost straightaway. The Berberis is extremely dense and we don’t like to look too closely at the moment in case the birds are frightened off, but from the kitchen window we can watch them without disturbing them as they perch on the telephone lines, with longer fluffy white feathers from our bantams in their beaks. They look rather like tightrope walkers with balancing poles as they perch on the wires to make sure that the coast is clear before entering the nest.
This work went on for four or five days, but now we’re seeing just the odd bird flying in or out, so perhaps the eight to twelve white eggs are being laid. The parents must sit and incubate them for 16 days. When we see the parents taking food into the youngsters we will have a closer look at the nest, or as close as the Berberis prickles will allow, as they are unlikely to desert then but we won’t make the new pathway next to the bush or work in that area any more than necessary.
A magnificent cock pheasant has come to live in the garden in the last couple of months. I think he must have been missed on one of the local shoots. He is very fond of sunflower seeds and I have been scattering some about near the patio windows so that we can admire him more closely. A few days ago there were several poois of feathers near the sheep run and I feared the fox had got him when he didn’t show up for breakfast. He was back a couple of days later however, but seems much less keen to come out into the open and is much more alert. His wonderful tail feathers are still intact but his sides look a bit ruffled so I think he must have had a close encounter of the Fox kind! Alas. he has no mate so I don’t think we shall be eating much pheasant
next autumn. Wendy Bathurst
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
Despite the fact that many daffodils were already past their best, our Spring Show was quite successful. Many thanks to all who took part and congratulations to Kathy Ward who won the Abrahams Cup for being the overall winner with most plants in the show and Sue Tyler who picked up the Simmonds Cup for most points in the Daffodil section.
The Society shop behind the Village Hall is now open every Saturday morning so if you are running short of runner bean canes or need a top up of fertilizer, do pop round and see what we have on offer.
Our next enterprise will be part of the Village Day celebrations on The Common on 10 June. That date is a little early for us to have a proper show but we are hoping to put on a display which will be of interest.
At the moment I am doing a little research into the history of the Society, courtesy of Watford Central Library’s archive of the Watford Observer. Although in our schedules we say that we were founded in 1945, this was actually the date when the Society was re-founded after the Second World War. We have been around for a lot longer than that, although back in 1900 Chipperfield was covered by the King’s Langley Society. As part of this exercise, if anyone has any old photographs or memorabilia connected with past shows I would be interested to borrow them for copying purposes. In the meantime I shall leave you with a little brain teaser - what is the connection between the Flower Show and Sherlock Holmes? All will be revealed on Village Day!
John Hopkins
ROAD CLOSURE AND PARKING RESTRICTIONS ON VILLAGE DAY
• To ensure safe access for visitors, particularly children, to the events and activities to be held on The Common on Village Day, The Common between The Two Brewers and Queen Street will be closed to traffic between lOam and 6pm with access restricted to residents.
• To enable essential vehicles (including an ambulance) to park, both the Church Car Park and the Village Hall Car Park will be coned off with all spaces reserved.
• The Cricket Car Park will be reserved for use by stall-holders and groups providing displays and activities.
• Public car parks will be clearly signed and there will be provision for Orange Badge holders but it will be best to come on foot if you can.
COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES
Anyone who has relatives who died in action may be interested to know that the Commonwealth War Graves Commission have an internet site htrp;//www.cwgc.org/ where one can search for information, given, ideally, the surname, initial, year of death and branch of service (army, navy etc.) The location of the grave or memorial is given with brief information of actions in the area. A certificate commemorating the sacrifice can also be printed out.
Mike Hare
School Report
The spring term has, as ever, been a busy one for us all at St. Paul’s Primary School. Back in February, very early in the morning, our year 4, 5 and 6 children gathered at school to take part in a visit to the Millennium Dome. This educational tour was a ‘taster’ and many of the children were encouraged to return to the Dome with their families for a better look! The school was visited several days later by Roman Legion XIV, a small touring theatre company. The children were fascinated to learn about life in Roman times for both men and women. Faye was even given a full Roman makeover! They were also given lessons in the life of a Roman soldier. Many of the children were relieved, I am sure, to be living in the year 2000.
During the term the school raised money for charity in addition to raising funds for the school. £250 was raised on behalf of Barnados and, by paying to take part in pancake
races on the playground, £100 was raised on behalf of the Mozambique Flood Fund—’ Although relatively modest amounts, we like to support a variety of charities in this
way and we feel that the children should be made aware of the circumstances of others who are less fortunate than themselves. We can all do a little to help.
At Easter, Hilary King-Jones retired as our school secretary. Hilary has worked at St. Paul’s School for over 25 years. She is now looking forward to her retirement and I am sure she will enjoy many more rounds of golf. We would all like to thank Hilary for the contribution that she has made to the school over such a considerable period of time and we would want to wish her a long and very happy retirement.
Lyndon Evans, Headmaster
PHOTOGRAPHING ENGLAND’S HERITAGE
The largest ever survey of England’s built heritage was recently launched by the National Monuments Record, the public archive of English Heritage.
The purpose of the survey is to provide 360,000 ‘defining images’ of listed buildings for the Images of England internet project. The resulting Images of England website will be completed by 2002, creating one of the world’s largest picture libraries. The project has been backed by a £3.09 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and is supported by the Millennium Festival Fund and The Royal Photographic Society.
Over the period 1999 - 2002 one photograph - “the defining image” - will be taken of the exterior of each listed building. These photographs will be taken by volunteers from The Royal Photographic Society from a public road or other public place.
How does this affect Chipperfield?
There are 45 listed buildings in the civil parish of Chipperfield ranging from the War Memorial and the church Lych Gate - not forgetting St Paul’s Church itself - to the Manor House and the old school and including many barns at a number of farms. In addition Bucks Hill, Sarratt and Flaunden have a further 140 listed structures, which include red telephone boxes and the pump on Sarratt Green.
If owners of listed buildings see someone photographing their property, probably carrying a large camera bag and possibly with a pair of step ladders, it is most likely that they will be a volunteer on the Images of England project. If you are in any doubt ask to see a proof of their identity. All photographers carry identification and authority
IT’S NOT ALL HARD WORK
Since the departure of Andy our Youth Worker in January, we have been looking at how we can continue to provide the same opportunities for young people without leadership and I have been reflecting on my role in this.
I first began helping with Sunday School some eleven years ago and have been actively involved with the Pathfinder youth group for eight years. I cannot pretend it has been easy and it would be untruthful to say I have loved every minute; it has been and still is hard work, the worst times being on cold, dark Sunday evenings, when with an effort I stir myself from beside a cosy, blazing fire to go out to a freezing youth club and prepare for the onslaught of up to 14 energetic and eager young people. I often think I must be mad - so why do I continue to do it and why do I find it so hard to walk away from it all? Angela would say I am doing what God calls me to do - which may sound pious, but although I believe it is true I am honest enough to know that I must be getting something out
of it for myself or I would not continue. So why do I not acknowledge that I am getting a bit long in the tooth for this and some young, fresh person could do a much better job? One reason is that there is no enthusiastic younger person willing to take it on and it is hard to walk away from something you have put so much of yourself into, knowing that it will cease.
I have had such fun with the young people; I have done things I would never have dared to do without them egging me on. Well, you cannot lose face, can you, when faced with the ‘wall of death’?! I have watched with hilarity young people racing rafts they have designed themselves with grit and determination to finish the race even when their craft was almost totally submerged; I have danced to the words of “Father Abraham” round a beach fire in an Essex dusk just to keep warm; I have seen the mad young venture into the sea in the coldest weather - the list could go on and on, for we have done so much and had such a crazy fun time!
What has been great is the privilege of watching the young grow and develop,
both in their spiritual life and in mutual understanding, confidence and compassion - watching them get a buzz out of cleaning an old person’s window or weeding their garden; watching how they grow together as a team and care for each other, the older ones looking out for the newer, younger ones; watching them tackle challenges and hurdles and the look on their faces when they have exceeded their own expectations - even having the courage to toss their own pancakes - these are all treasures I can store up and remember. It is so moving to hear them praying for each other when one of them has a particular problem and wonderful when we can together enjoy the answers to those prayers.
It is hard work, especially having to make endless phone calls to organise anything, but the rewards are great. My prayer is that someone will feel called to continue the work and take this opportunity to make a real difference in the world, because these young people are our future. Could that be you?
Anne Stickland
NEWS FROM ROCKHAMPTON
We have recently returned from a holiday in New Zealand, “The Land of the Long, White Cloud”. It is a lush land with lots of large rivers and lakes, so evidently gets plenty of rain. February is the best time to visit, as it tends to be the warmest, driest month and we were lucky to get glorious, hot, sunny weather for most of the three weeks.
New Zealand is much the same size as the UK and is populated by about 3.5 million people (compared to 58 million in the UK), 60 million sheep and 70 million possums! The possums were introduced from Australia and are a ‘pest’ in every sense of the word. They are responsible for the death of large tracts of forest and the consequent land degradation. Huge sums of money are being spent on trying to control possum numbers, as well as many other pests. We were told that the European wasp is also helping to destroy the native beech forests. The trees produce a honeydew on which the wasps feed (and exclude the native insects) and are responsible for spreading a fungus that is killing the trees.
It is obvious that New Zealand abounds with introduced species of all sorts, many of which are detrimental to the native flora and fauna. Many have come from Europe; there are thrushes, starlings, sparrows, blackbirds, chaffinches and goldfinches everywhere. Large areas of land are being choked by gorse, broom, blackberries and dog-roses. Many of New Zealand’s native birds are flightless as a result of having no predators (the only native land animals are two species of bat) and such animals as rats, weasels and stoats have decimated their populations. Small islands are now being cleared of these predators and the native birds introduced to them in the hope that they will breed and their numbers will increase
We began our holiday with a few, very relaxing days cruising the Marlborough Sounds to the north of the South Island. We were able to appreciate some beautiful scenery and to catch our own dinner - there is nothing like really fresh fish! We then had a week driving around some of the South Island trying to take in as much of the stunning scenery as we could. There are snow-capped mountains (even in summer), turquoise lakes, rugged hills, steep forested valleys and fast flowing rivers and streams. Inevitably we were too ambitious and a lot of time was spent at the wheel. New Zealand is only a small country but we soon discovered that the driving is nothing like it is in Australia where you can cover 100 kilometres in an hour relatively easily, and legally. Many of the roads in New Zealand are steep, narrow and winding and with such amazing scenery, frequent photo-stops are essential. We quickly came to the conclusion that the driving times given on maps were for locals and that “tourist time” was about double that given!
Our last week was spent in the North Island, driving from Wellington, in the south, to Auckland, in the north-east. The countryside we saw in the North island was mainly agricultural land and rolling hills, with the occasional mountain range and bright blue lake; very beautiful but less stunning than the South island. We also visited some geo-thermally active areas, which you don’t find in the South Island - geysers, hot springs and lakes and pools of boiling mud.
It was soon time to return to Australia and get back to work. Our holiday certainly whetted our appetite for New Zealand and we plan to return there in the not too distant future. Next time we shall spend less time driving and more time exploring a few, select areas of
this truly beautiful country. Carol Petherick