October 2008
Good news! Our village Post Office is safe thanks to the efforts of all those residents who have made use of the range of services now offered by the Post Office and Bipin’s constant reminder to us that if we don’t use it we will certainly lose it.
However, we must not be complacent. If you want the Post Office to survive you must continue to use both the post and other services available. These include:
• instant Euros - no need to order and no need to wait;
• other currencies available next day if ordered by 1pm on the previous day;
• travel insurance - your policy given to you over the counter; instant cover;
• other types of insurance - car, van, home and life insurance;
• various savings products including ISAs;
• personal banking (including cash withdrawal) for customers of Barclays,
Lloyds TSB, Nationwide, Halifax, Alliance & Leicester.
Please also remember that the survival of our Post Office depends on Bipin’s shop. If every family in the village made a few purchases each week, it would ensure that both shop and Post Office continue to trade for our future convenience.
TWENTY YEARS ON
It came as something of a shock to realise recently that it is twenty years since the first issue of Chipperfield News saw the light of day in October 1988 under my optimistic guidance as editor. I had never tried my hand at journalism before, but found it a very rewarding and enjoyable, though time-consuming occupation .
The village was blessed with a minister, the Reverend Arthur Ellery, who had the gift of picking up suggestions and enabling the parish to bring them to fruition. To his support and encouragement we owe not only our regular village newsletter, delivered to our door free of charge, but also the services of Chipperfield Care, another well established village institution.
Over the years it has been fascinating to discover the talents and activities sheltered in the village. One of the first surprises was to discover just how many clubs and societies were flourishing, sometimes hardly known of except to their members. Other stories came to light, such as Colonel Bob Morkill’s buccaneering description of his exploits as a young member of the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War, when he navigated his way across Europe with the aid of a map purloined from a copy of the Daily Mail. Another village resident proved something of a poet and entertained us with far-fetched stories of the origins of village street names, happily believed by some of our readers.
In those far-off days of 1988 the only person to use a computer was Debbie,who typed up and printed off all the copy, which I then painstakingly cut and pasted onto the format. Geoff Bryant our then business manager looked after our finances while Bill Yates conjured up our first advertisers. Finally, the invaluable Carl Perkins was our printer, who whisked the paste-up away and turned it into clean and tidy copies ready for delivery. This fearsome task was taken on at somewhat short notice by the intrepid Ruth Hare, who managed to organise an efficient framework for delivery to the whole village in an amazingly short time – and it is still continuing, with occasional new recruits here and there. When after eight years or so I felt it was time for a change of editor I suggested that the job would be better split between two people, which allows for holidays and also more continuity if one editor wishes to resign. This caused some consternation for poor Geoff, as he had to finance two computers rather than the one he had budgeted for, but somehow he managed to wave a magic wand and nowadays the two editors are computerised and all seems to run like clockwork with many contributions from around the village.
So next time you pick up your copy of Chipperfield News from the doormat, do spare a thought for all the people whose time and effort brought it about, and are still active on the job.
Sally Main
THE TWO BREWERS SIGN
Many residents and regular visitors to the village have been asking what has happened to The Two Brewers sign which has vanished from The Common opposite the pub. Unfortunately the sign blew down one night during a gale last autumn. It was however rescued from the road, having narrowly missed a parked car, and has been kept safely in an outhouse at the pub.
The sign should be making a re-appearence in the next few weeks when it will be put back on its original site.
GREEN FLAG AWARD
Chipperfield Common was generously ‘sold’ for ten shillings to Hemel Rural District Council, (now Dacorum Borough Council) in 1936 by the Blackwell family, with the clear understanding that the villagers would be consulted on all aspects of its management. In those days there was no Chipperfield Parish Council. It is perhaps true to say that the Common is the greatest single asset of the Village and one in which we all take a pride and frequently use, either for recreation or education. What happens to the Common is important to us all.
You may be pleased to hear that Chipperfield Common has won a prestigious Green Flag award. We were presented with our award in Liverpool on 21 July. The ceremony involved many types of council from all over the United Kingdom. The parks and open spaces for which awards were presented included the Royal Parks, London parks and a wide variety of town and parish amenities.Our award was in cooperation with Dacorum Borough Council who is responsible for the primary upkeep of the Common. The flag will be displayed at Blackwell’s cafe, another gift to the people of Chipperfield by the Blackwell family and therefore a fitting home for the flag as a tribute to their generosity.
We have had five year plans for many years for the Common but this year was the first under the Green Flag scheme. The Green Flag scheme has become the national standard for the management of parks and open green spaces. It is concerned, for example, with ensuring that parking, litter management, information and signing are all sensibly provided and maintained. Further, particularly where woodland is concerned, that trees, plants and animal life are well managed and the natural environment is maintained. In Chipperfield this requires a delicate balance between the requirements for visitors to the Common and the protection of the environment.
Chipperfield Common was the first area in Dacorum to win the award and already you will have noticed the impact preparations for the judging had on the resurfacing of the car parks and the provision, at last, of the bollards to protect the verges on the common from vehicular damage. Unlike previous plans, the Green Flag Management Plan requires an annual reassessment and will therefore tend to make sure that standards will be maintained. This can only be to our benefit.
The Green Flag scheme gives us all an excellent opportunity to ensure that the Common is properly maintained to meet the needs of all the interested parties within the village and continues to provide an enjoyable place to visit for those who are not as fortunate as those of us who live here.
Your Council is fully engaged with the Scheme with significant contributions through the efforts of our Common Ranger and more recently, the Tree Warden. With your cooperation, we can maintain the Common for the good of all. We commend the Green Flag Scheme to you and ask for your support to continue to help monitor and protect the Common. If you have comments or observations you wish to make about the Common, please send them to the Clerk or phone 01923 263310.
Mike Bradshaw
Chairman, Chipperfield Parish Council
VILLAGE PEOPLE
Dave and Val Calo and John and Anita Lowe wish to announce the safe arrival on 30 July of their new grandson Bobby - a little brother for Jack and a new son for proud parents Alan and Helen.
Tom, Nigel and Carol Clark would like to thank all friends and neighbours for their kind messages and support following Doreen’s death on 3 August.
Margaret and Tom Kingston thoroughly enjoyed themselves at a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace in July. Margaret received an invitation in recognition of her work for local people with the Dacorum Community Trust.
The rain stopped as they walked into the palace and the sun then shone. Margaret says “The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh looked lovely and amazingly youthful. I was particularly taken by some beautiful little chocolate cakes decorated by a chocolate button with a tiny gold coronet on it!”
BOOK SALE
Many thanks to all who gave books, brought them to the Small Hall and then came on 30 August to buy books and enjoy tea and cake. It was a rare sunny Saturday morning and about 200 people came to the sale. We raised a total of £268 towards further improvement of the premises.
Books in good condition which were not sold have now been delivered to local charity shops and old peoples’ residential homes. Liz Holliday
TAI CHI CLASS
Twenty-four people came to The Small Hall in September to find out more about Tai Chi exercises. There is enough interest to make a regular class viable and a ten-week term began on 12 September. The class meets in The Small Hall from 2pm to 3pm on Fridays. Please come if you would like to join the group.
HATFIELD HOUSE CHARITY WALK
11am - 4pm
on Saturday 11 October
(walk entries close at 1pm)
in aid of Hearing Dogs for Deaf People and Dogs For the Disabled
By kind permission of Lord and Lady Salisbury, a charity walk over two routes (one of 2 miles, the other of 7 miles) will take place in the grounds of Hatfield House. Entry fee is £5 for adults, £3 concessions. Pre-entry or entry on the day. Well behaved and fully vaccinated dogs welcome. Contact Ruth Dunkin on 01844 348136 or at ruth.dunkin@hearingdogs.org.uk
POPPY APPEAL 2008
Autumn is here again and with it Remembrancetide. The efforts of many people in the village will be concentrated this year on the fact that 90 years have passed since the end of the First World War. A dramatic presentation of scenes from that war will be performed in the Village Hall in the week leading up to Remembrance Sunday (see panel on front page). All of us involved in the annual Poppy Appeal of the Royal British Legion are also conscious of the casualties since 1918 - in the Second World War, Korea, The Falklands and now Iraq and Afganistan. The wounded from all these conflicts still need care, mental and physical; some 40,000 families need support with money, housing, healthcare; the memory of those who died must be kept alive. In the case of the Second World War, were it not for them we would not be living now as free people. In other conflicts the men and women who died or were injured answered the call of duty and deserve to be honoured and respected.
So please give generously wherever you see a collecting tin, either carried to your door - probably after dark and in hideous weather - by a gallant volunteer, on a pub or shop counter or in the street. Help the Legion continue its invaluable work!
Anne Wyburd, Honorary Appeal Organiser
RDFAS
Rickmansworth Decorative & Fine Arts Society meet every second Tuesday of the month at Sarratt Village Hall. Our illustrated talks on every aspect of the arts, art history and architecture start at 11am with coffee/tea from 10.30am. We have 10 lectures yearly, three Special Interest Days and at least five visits to houses, gardens, museums and exhibitions.
Our next meeting is on
Tuesday 14 October.
For more information please call Mrs Jean Butler on 01923 773586.
A SUMMER OF MUSIC
What a feast of music, song and dance Chipperfield enjoyed this summer!
On 21 June Chipperfield Choral Society gave their concert Summerfest at St. Paul’s Church. Director of Music, Delia Meehan, recently returned from examining music candidates in Hong Kong, accompanied the choir on the oboe in John Rutter’s Psalmfest, which opened the concert. The performance, which ranged from the tranquil to the thoroughly rhythmic, was conducted by Alan Taylor. Vanessa Bowers (soprano) and Robert Meinardi (tenor) added beautiful solo voices to the piece, with Nicholas King at the organ and Simon Parry playing the clarinet. The concert continued with Vanessa singing solos by Richard Strauss, Mozart and Dring and Robert performing pieces by Rossini and Donizetti and a very humerous rendering of the well-known Neopolitan song O Solo Mio. The choir was conducted by Delia Meehan in a fine performnce of In Windsor Forest by Ralph Vaughan Williams which concluded an enjoyable evening.
The following week we were treated to a stunning Candlelight Concert performed by the Chipperfield String Quartet. From jazz to the baroque, Natalia Bonner, Caroline Bishop, Naomi and Laura Fairhurst thrilled the audience and proved just how exciting a string quartet can sound. John Uff has written a full report of the evening which appeared in last month’s Chipperfield News.
Just a fortnight later, Morris Men descended on Chipperfield from the West Country to the far North and performed their traditional dances for all to enjoy. As usual, the hosts were the Greensleeves Morris Men and the guests included the Anker, Dolphin and Moulton Morris Men and sides from Bathampton and Wath Upon Dearne. They all performed in local villages and towns all day on the Saturday before returning to Chipperfield. The dancers joined a large congregation on a sunny Sunday morning for the open-air service on The Common and all the Morris sides took part in an extravaganza of music and dancing culminating in the traditional parade from St. Paul’s church to The Windmill. What a joy to live in Chipperfield!
Terry Simmonds
BAPTIST CHURCH
For those who know how writing for Chipperfield News works I am at a very real disadvantage, because I do not know how September has gone. I know, just as everyone else, that August was a real wash out. But it is September 1st and this is for the October issue. It could have been an Indian summer and we all may have had a glorious time, basking in the unexpected sunshine, or it could have gone to form and the start of autumn has been upon us.
October should go as expected, shouldn't it? Duller and wetter? Windier and colder? but hang on, that sounds just like August ! My life can't be any different to others when I say it is filled with expectations. I expect the sun to rise and the sun to set. I expect that when I flick a switch the lights come on. When I turn on the taps it is water and not champagne that comes pouring out. But maybe you were thinking of something else when I said expectations?
Expecting something can turn to demand. For example we may expect reasonable service or good healthcare. When it comes to it we can end up demanding those things. If we don't have them we are at best disappointed at worst angry and insistent. We feel safe when events happen as we expect them to. A comfortable and pleasant life is in planning for the future. Anxiety and uncertainty comes when it doesn't happen as expected and we don't see what is around that corner.
But deep down we know that we can't see round bends. That we are unable to know what is going to happen. I know I can't manage the course of my expectations of life and I would guess neither can any of us. We try but something big and ugly could be just out of sight. A very true phrase was told to me years ago, when I was sure I had my life mapped out, and it has popped into my head on numerous occasions since:
"As a Christian I do not know what the future holds,but I know who holds the future"
And knowing that God will never leave me, or let me go, is an expectation I can rely on! Love Jason, The Man in the Manse
Baptist Church News
We do hope you all had happy and relaxing holidays, despite the rain experienced in so many places! Now autumn is here and church activities have begun again (that is if they ever stopped)!
There will be a report on our Harvest celebrations and the MacMillan coffee morning in the next issue of Chip News. We were very blessed by fine weather for our BBQ held in the manse garden, with terrific food, and the garden party held to raise much needed funds for our church. Thank you to everyone who provided food and other items, and for your help and support at both these events.
There are two dates to note:
• Our Family Beetle Night will be on October 18th, see advert elsewhere.
• Our Church Anniversary service on the 19th at 10-30am
Also on the 19th, there will be a more contemporary type of service at 6-30.
We warmly invite you to join us at any of these and we look forward to seeing you at the Baptist church! If you would like to attend the monthly lunch on October 11th, please contact Brenda on 01923 269574. We'll be pleased to see you.
ST PAUL’S AND HOLY CROSS
"All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above,
So thank the Lord, O thank the Lord, for all His love"
For a few days in the middle of August, Judy and I joined with a couple of long standing friends from our previous parish to walk some of the South-West coast path. Bed and Breakfast stops had been booked months before. One night we arrived at a farmhouse, warmly welcomed, and the conversation turned to the summer weather! During the day we had walked by fields where the corn looked dead, the ears small, and the ground too wet for harvesting to take place. The frustration and anxiety in the farm became clear. The costs of drying what might eventually be harvested would be considerable: loss of income for the farmer, rising prices for a shortfall in production inevitable! Not an easy situation out of which to offer heartfelt thanks to God "for all
With my greetings, Jim Stevens
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
Belonging to a Salvatorian Parish has many advantages. Over the years we have met many of Fr. Des's brother priests when they have covered for his absences and now Fr. Jan Bak, a Polish priest who has said Mass for us in the past, has come to be our Priest in Charge. He is most welcome and we are grateful to Fr. Jan himself and to the Salvatorian Order for this interim arrangement until Fr. Terry returns.
Three of our parishioners are heading for Tanzania to join the Golden Jubilee celebrations in Chingulungulu: fifty years since our Sister Parish was founded ! By a happy coincidence it is also Fr. Terry's birthday so they will be taking two large greetings cards signed by all members of the congregation.
Later this year plans are in hand for the annual Parish Dinner which, this year, will be in honour, and fond memory, of Fr. Des.
UP THE HORNETS!
It has been a very good year for hornets. Not the ones that give me times of great sadness and occasionally great joy at Vicarage Road Watford, but the ones that look like wasps on anabolic steroids. Actually, they are more orange and brown than yellow and black, and half as big again as wasps. Their life cycle is much the same as wasps with queens flying in April or May and laying eggs to start the colony. By the end of August, beginning of September, new queens will leave the nest to find males to mate with and then hibernate until next spring. The male will then die, as will the rest of the colony. Like wasps, they eat a lot of pests in the garden but, as they also fly at night they eat a lot of moths as well. They nest in holes in trees or gaps where they can get into roof spaces of buildings.
As the wood work on our bungalow had not been treated for some years, we decided it must be done this summer. Unfortunately hornets had decided that a gap under the roof overhang was just the place to pop in and build their papery nest. Although they are big they are not normaly aggressive and I hoped the treatment could be done without disturbing them. All went well at the cleaning stage, but I was a bit alarmed to see the painter dash round the corner with one of his cleaning cloths over his head! They did not like the smell of the wood treatment, and one had stung him as he ran away. We agreed to leave that side of the bungalow until last whilst I decided what to do. I thought of doing it at night time, but just like moths they were drawn to the light and they never seemed to sleep, so that was usless. The poor painter tried again with a brush taped to a broom handle, wearing a hat jacket and gloves, but this time he was stung twice and the hornets were really mad! Hundreds whizzed up and down the path looking for trouble. We left them to calm down but there was no choice but to get a man to "do them in". I felt really bad, both for the painter and the hornets. As it was the end of August, I hope some queens may have already flown, but to my surprise there are still quite a few flying in the garden, but not from that nest.
I hope the ones at Vicarage road will fare better this season!
Wendy Bathurst
UP THE HORNETS!
It has been a very good year for hornets. Not the ones that give me times of great sadness and occasionally great joy at Vicarage Road Watford, but the ones that look like wasps on anabolic steroids. Actually, they are more orange and brown than yellow and black, and half as big again as wasps. Their life cycle is much the same as wasps with queens flying in April or May and laying eggs to start the colony. By the end of August, beginning of September, new queens will leave the nest to find males to mate with and then hibernate until next spring. The male will then die, as will the rest of the colony. Like wasps, they eat a lot of pests in the garden but, as they also fly at night they eat a lot of moths as well. They nest in holes in trees or gaps where they can get into roof spaces of buildings.
As the wood work on our bungalow had not been treated for some years, we decided it must be done this summer. Unfortunately hornets had decided that a gap under the roof overhang was just the place to pop in and build their papery nest. Although they are big they are not normaly aggressive and I hoped the treatment could be done without disturbing them. All went well at the cleaning stage, but I was a bit alarmed to see the painter dash round the corner with one of his cleaning cloths over his head! They did not like the smell of the wood treatment, and one had stung him as he ran away. We agreed to leave that side of the bungalow until last whilst I decided what to do. I thought of doing it at night time, but just like moths they were drawn to the light and they never seemed to sleep, so that was usless. The poor painter tried again with a brush taped to a broom handle, wearing a hat jacket and gloves, but this time he was stung twice and the hornets were really mad! Hundreds whizzed up and down the path looking for trouble. We left them to calm down but there was no choice but to get a man to "do them in". I felt really bad, both for the painter and the hornets. As it was the end of August, I hope some queens may have already flown, but to my surprise there are still quite a few flying in the garden, but not from that nest.
I hope the ones at Vicarage road will fare better this season!
Wendy Bathurst
PRE-SCHOOL PLAYGROUP
A year ago Chipperfield Pre-School Playgroup was re-launched by the new owner, Mrs. Ceri-Anne Dealey. Since then the Pre-school has seen a complete refurbishment of the Small Hall in which it runs, has employed new staff and also introduced new equipment.
All staff have recently been on training courses and are well advised in the six areas of learning.
Children play in a flexible environment with a wide range of choice both inside and out. There is a transition programme organised for children starting in St. Paul’s School nursery to help their move in to the school.
The Pre-school Playgroup has also recently undergone a successful Ofsted inspection.
Children aged 2 and above are welcome to join, irrespective of whether they are toilet trained or not. The Pre-school is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 12 noon.
For more information, to arrange a visit or book a place contact Ceri-Anne Dealey on 01923 270946
VEHICLE ACTUATED SIGN
Proposed site in Dunny Lane
Chipperfield Parish Council would like to thank all residents who responded to the consultation regarding the location of a new VAS. At the Council meeting in August all comments were taken into consideration and in response to the numerous replies, the Parish Council have written to Hertfordshire Highways asking them to investigate the viability of locating the sign nearer the crossroads in Dunny Lane, facing traffic leaving the village travelling towards Belsize.
The location will depend on a feasibility report which will indicate the best possible position for the sign. Traffic speeds, visibility of the sign, comparison with other areas, the maximum prospect of success in traffic management and any physical problems or requirements when installing the sign will determine its final position.
Jo Deacon, Parish Clerk
SLOW RIPEN TOMATOES IN THE AUTUMN
Does this work? If you have to pick your tomatoes before they have ripened on the vine, wrap each one in a sheet of newspaper and store at room temperature, in an airtight container in the dark. Check every three to four days - they will eventually ripen to perfection.
OCTOBER IN YOUR GARGEN
We are fast approaching the time when the clocks go back and gardening after tea is at an end. October is, however, a very busy time for us gardeners as we should be planting tulips, daffodils, crocus, hyacinths and other spring-flowering bulbs. For rock gardens, tubs and containers there are a host of small-flowering bulbs such as snowdrops, specie tulips, dwarf iris, crocus, scillas, ixias, chionodoxa, dwarf narcissi and the like to choose from. For growing in bowls indoors use hyacinths and narcissi such as Paperwhite, Actaea and Tete-a-Tete. The best compost to use is bulb fibre.
We should now be planting wallflowers, Canterbury bells, forget-me-nots (myosotis) and sweet williams and bedding plants such as pansies, primroses, polyanthus and the small half-hardy cyclamen. Why not pop along to the garden centre to see the selection of plants suitable for winter hanging baskets and window boxes - these should be planted up as soon as possible.
Now is the time to harvest root crops, to dig the rest of the potatoes and pick fruit such as apples. Start planting the early onion sets now and make a final sowing of radish and lettuce. As soon as possible, dig the vegetable garden adding farmyard manure to all areas except those on which root crops are to be grown next season. During November we shall be sowing broad beans and planting raspberry canes, so the ground should be prepared for these now.
Michaelmas daisies (aster), rudbeckias and sedums should be in flower this month. However, many perennials are now past their best and should be cut down. Put the ‘clippings’ on to the compost heap and add a little Garotta powder to speed up the composting process.
Give the hedges a final trim and prune shrubs such as buddleia. Lavendars can do with a light trim too. Roses should still be sprayed against rust, blackspot and mildew. Lawns will need to be aerated and scarified and should receive a dressing of an autumn turf fertilizer. Once the grass has received its last cut, it is a good time to get the mower serviced so that it is ready for use when the grass starts to grow again next year.
Shading should be washed off the glass of the greenhouse and if the house can be completely emptied, fumigating with a sulphur candle will kill all the pests and diseases which might be lurking inside. It is a good time to put weedkiller such as Glysophate or S.B.K. on to any persistant weeds such as ground elder and bindweed.
Autumn colour should be at its best this month. Enjoy the wonderful leaves of the acers, rhus typhina, euonymus alatus, blueberries (vaccinium) and the liquidambers.
Terry Simmonds
PLASTIC BAGS AND BOTTLES
With our once every two weeks collection of vegetable waste and compostable material, plus plastic, tin, glass and newspaper re-cycling boxes, a large compost heap of my own and a recently acquired wormery, most of the “rubbish” I now throw out consists of plastic bags and wrappers. How marvellous then to come across an article entitled “36 uses for Plastic Bags” ! According to this article with a bag you can:
• Protect your small garden plants from frost. Cut a hole in the bottom of the bag;
slip over the plant and anchor it with stones; pull up the bag over the plant and roll closed; secure with clothes pegs or paper clips. Open the bag if the weather gets warmer;
• Protect fruit on the tree. Slip apples and plums into clear plastic bags to keep out insects and deter birds while the fruit ripens;
• Protect shoes from mud. (This one might be a bit slippy...);
• Cover notices and signs to protect them from rain (I think we do this anyway in the village);
• Protect you car wing mirrors from ice or snow when you park outside at night.
• Store paintbrushes if you are half-way through a job at lunch time. No need to clean the brush - put it in the bag and it will stay soft and ready for use after your break.
Some ideas for re-using plastic bottles include:
• Cut down the water you use to flush your lavatory by filling a 1 litre bottle and placing it in the cistern to reduce the amount of water you use;
• Making a bird feeder by cutting out a large opening; make a hole in the side to accommodate a twig or piece of dowel to act as a perch; pierce the lid and thread a string through it to hang the feeder and finally fill the bottle with bird seed.
• Make a scoop by cutting a 2-litre bottle with a handle diagonally from the bottom so that you leave the top tree-quarters intact. You are left with a handy scoop for removing leaves from gutters, cleaning out cat litter or spreading sand on your drive.
ADVERTISING YOUR EVENT
IN THE VILLAGE
This is the season for shows, meetings, sales, concerts, matches, quizzes and a dozen or more other events which will be held in the village in the next few months.
Please remember when advertising your event that banners and free-standing ‘A boards’ may require planning consent before they are put in place. Check with Dacorum Borough Council Planning Department and if permission is received, please ensure that you do not obstruct pedestrians or distract vehicles with your publicity.
Notices should not be fixed to telegraph poles or traffic signs, as they are a distraction to drivers.
If you place a poster on the village notice boards, please remove it when it becomes out of date.