September 1999
Saturday 11 September
Join us for a family bike ride round Chipperfield (or further afield for the more energetic!). All ages/trikes/ buggies welcome. For more details phone Lucy Wood on 01923 260249.
ACCOLADE FOR LOCAL SHOP
Last month Rajesh Narotomo leant to his great surprise that he had been voted Newsagent of the Year 1999 by his customers at R&N NEWS.
The Gazette Newspaper invited readers throughout their distribution area to nominate and vote for their choice. Rajesh received the most votes as well as many letters of appreciation and he now possesses a hansom trophy presented by Gazette Newspapers and G.R.Howard Ltd, Wholesalers.
Born in the Portuguese colony of Mozambique, Rajesh and his family left there following independence in 1975 and settled in Lisbon. He married Nutan in 1988 and they came to this country to live in Sudbury Town. Four years ago Rajesh, Nutan and their young son Punit came to Chipperfield to take over the newsagents. Rajesh was impressed by their friendly welcome to the village and values the support he has received from his customers over the years.
However, Rajesh has decided that he must spend more time with his family - impossible at present, working such long hours - and will be moving soon to Harrow to start a new job. All his customers will miss his cheerfulness and obliging service. We wish him well.
SUMMER FUND RAISING
The house-to-house collection made during June for the West Herts Branch of the RSPCA brought in £425.24 and a further £99.13 was raised at the flag day in Kings Langley, making a grand total of £524.37.
Peggy Harpley’s sponsored walk raised £511.50 for the Baptist Church Funds. Accompanied by her daughter Deborah, she walked from Berkhampstead Castle, along the canal to Kings Langley and back to Chipperfield in 3 hours 45 minutes.
Proceeds from the coffee morning held at Yew Trees on 14 July in aid of the Meningitus Unit at St. Mary’s Hospital totalled £300.00
The Open Gardens on 18 July in aid of the Red Cross attracted 1,131 paying adults and with plant, craft and book sales, teas and the raffle raised £3,745.
The various organisers of these events would like to record their sincere thanks to all those who helped and all those who contributed so generously.
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
July was one of those months! The Summer Show was most disappointing with a paucity of both exhibitors and visitors - no doubt the latter found the alternative attractions of summer sunshine and Wimbledon on the box far more appealing. My own modest efforts were thwarted by a torrential thunderstorm in the early hours which smashed the roses to pieces, whilst the discovery of a family of slugs devouring my best lettuce didn’t help much either.
The there’s the house - but you don’t want to know about the collapsed ceiling do you?
So it’s back to the garden. Yes, I’ve definitely fallen behind this year as a visiting friend who was admiring my bindweed was quick to point out “Actually, there are two sorts of bindweed, the greater and the lesser”. Needless to say, I have both! “I also have bramble, ground elder and horses’ tail but I don’t want to boast about it” I replied. Yes, things are going pretty well.., all things considered! John Hopkins
FIRST WORLD WAR PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORDS
The Curator of Dacorum’s Museum Store at Berkhamsted wishes to build up a photographic record of Dacorum men who died in World War I. If you are a relative of one of the fallen soldiers whose names are inscribed on Chipperfield’s Memorial Plaque and if you know of an existing photograph which could be borrowed, would you kindly contact Mary Nobbs on 01923 269480. She will arrange to collect, copy and return the photograph very promptly.
THE BEDFORDSHIRE AND
HERTFORDS HIRE REGIMENT
The County Regimental Museum is planning a memorial project next year and if you know of anyone who served in the County Regiment the Curator would be pleased to hear from you.
For further details contact Lt. Col. T.D.A. Veitch on 01780 764802.
The Regimental Museum is part of Luton Museum and Art Gallery, Wardown Park, Old Bedford Road, Luton, LU2 7HA.
SOMETHING IN THE GRASS
This year we managed to make some nice June hay in our new orchard
where the sown grass was long and fresh. It was rather a laborious business with David scything the grass and me turning it by hand, but the end product was excellent. This is not always the best time to cut hay as few flowers have set seed, so we left some older patches of turf for another month.Whilst trying to decide how much to cut and what was ready, some- thing pink caught my eye; a common spotted orchid! I know that some lucky folk in the village have these growing in their lawns, but this was a first for us and we were thrilled with it. It’s just the sort of plant we have been hoping for but I was not expecting anything so soon. Before modem weedkillers and fertilisers were widely used these orchids were common. Now they are becoming increasingly rare as they cannot compete with fast
growing grass. Orchids have a special relationship with various soil organisms and are rather difficult to sow or transplant but their seed will stay viable in the soil for years, so the best way to get them is to create the right conditions and see what comes up! We have cut carefully around the flower and marked the spot so that it can set seed and we will know where to look next year.
Since finding a baby grass snake in my compost heap a couple of years ago, I have tried not to disturb the heaps in the summer in case I put a fork through some unhatched eggs. Last week I badly needed some compost for a new bit of the garden and as it was now August, I felt sure it would be OK. I carefully took off the top cover and examined the contents and as there didn’t seem to be anything about I pulled my wheelbarrow a little closer. Just then I noticed something in the grass - a long length of slothed off snake skin! As the snake grows in the summer so it must shed its outgrown skin and I had just found 18” from the tail end. After that I dug very carefully in the heap but there was no sign of any eggs or young. Hopefully they have been using the heat from one of my other heaps to incubate and I won’t need to touch those until the autumn. I had forgotten all about snakes when a few days later I popped down to the vegetable garden to pick some peas. As I picked the first pods there was a rustling sound and a beautiful grass snake glided across the path into the raspberry canes. It was a good three feet long, olive green with a pale yellow band around its neck. It was only just able to squeeze through the net over the raspberries and this slowed it down, giving me a very good view. We have had a lot of trouble with mice eating our strawberries and peas this year so I’m hoping the snake will eat the mice for me.
On our regular dog walks to Barns Lane we have been intrigued by what appear to be pellets from a bird which contain cherry stones. They are left on top of the gate post and don’t contain any lime as droppings usually do. They look just like owl pellets, but owls don’t eat cherries! Any suggestions? Wendy Bathurst
BEETLE WATCH
The Colorado Beetle can devastate potato, tomato, aubergine and pepper crops and although it is not established in UK, is a notifiable pest. Adult beetles can travel on plants and produce imported from abroad. They look like a large ladybirds, about 10mm long with black and yellow stripes running down their backs. If you find one dead or alive, phone lain Newcombe on 01442 228637 at once.
LOCAL EVENING BUS SERVICE
This new service started in June and provides a convenient way to reach Jarman Park and the Woodside Centre on Friday and Saturday evenings. Journeys can- be prebooked the day before or on the day you wish to travel and will return you to your home address (within half a mile of the route) if you request it. Return journeys depart at l0.2Opm. The return fare is £2.00 for adults, £1.00 for those under 18. To book phone 0845 304430 between 4.OOpm and 8.OOpm Tuesdays - Fridays, 9.OOam to l.OOpm on Saturdays.
Can YOU help Care? Care is always looking for local people with some spare time to help with transport or act as duty officers. If you would like to know more, please contact the duty officer on 01923 264700.
THE COST OF CARING
Do you or someone you know look after a dependant relative, friend or neighbour?
They may be eligible to claim an Attendance Allowance. This is not a charity but a
benefit to help with costs and is not means tested. Phone Jenny Shieldhouse at
Dacorum Borough Council on 01442 228395 to find out more.
A PERSONAL MILLENNIUM WARNING
Please take note
We have all heard or read scare stories about the possible chaos that may surround our entry into the new century. However, it seems that some unscrupulous people are seeking to benefit personally by scaring others into disclosing personal information.
Throughout the UK there are reports that people are receiving telephone calls at home from bogus callers stating that they represent individuals’ banks which are having difficulty meeting the requirements to be ready for the year 2000. The callers state that all bank customers need to transfer their accounts to a bond account specially designed to protect their money until the bank can fully comply with year 2000 requirements. The bogus callers then ask to confirm some personal information. such as account number and sort code and then ask for verbal authorisation to transfer funds to this special bond account. They go on to say that people who do not transfer their account could lose all their money.
THERE IS NO TRUTH IN THIS ALLEGATION and you are advised to make your family aware of this scam. especially elderly relatives who could be very vulnerable to such a worrying suggestion.
BE WARNED - at least one Chipperfield resident has already been contacted in this way.
CHIPPERFIELD PARISH COUNCIL
Diane Butler of 35 Croft Close has been co-opted to serve on the Parish Council. A full list of councillors and committees will appear in next month’s issue.
NEWS FROM ROCKHAMPTON
When I last wrote I was living and working temporarily in Brisbane. In November last year I moved to Rockhampton, which is a reasonable sized town by Queensland standards (a population of about 70,000) and is situated on the Tropic of Capricorn not too far from the sea. I am still working for the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and am based at the Tropical Beef Centre (TBC). This is a joint venture between DPI, the University of Central Queensland and the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). Although based at TBC I really don’t seem to have been there much since moving. I am still heavily involved in the delivery of the animal ethics training workshops around the State. In the few weeks leading up to Christmas I was at Kuranda (west of Carims in northern Queensland), Townsville (not far from where I lived in Ayr) and Bribie Island (north of Brisbane). This year I’ve been to Charleville (south west QId) and will soon be going north again to Mareeba (west of Cairns) and Townsville. I’ve also been involved in developing workshops on animal welfare for our staff and livestock producers. For this I went to Marcoola (north of Bribie Island) just before Christmas and this year I’ve been out to Longreach (central west Qid). I’ve also made other visits to Longreach, Charleville and Brisbane with other aspects of my job.
The trip to Charleville was particularly memorable as I had the opportunity to fly over what is called The Channel Country in a little aeroplane at low altitude (1000 feet). The main watercourse is the Cooper Creek, which splits into hundreds of channels covering an enormous land area - it’s a stunning landscape. I was particularly fortunate as at the time I flew over the Cooper was in flood, which even in a wet year, happens for just a few weeks. Sometimes the Creek dosn’t run for years.
I’m not living in Rockhampton itself, but am renting a “worker’s cottage” on a CSIRO-owned cattle research station named Belmont. The nearest township is about 15 km. away and is called The Caves. I’ve yet to visit the caves from which the township takes its name. Rockhampton is about 30 km south-east of Belmont, so it is an easy drive to and from work, although there is about 8-9 km of dirt road from Belmont before the bitumen road starts. You have to take care of kangaroos, wallabies and hares on the dirt road, particularly at dawn and dusk. I am really enjoying living out in the country again and find it hard to imagine ever living in town. It is very quiet and peaceful, with just three other houses in the vicinity of the station. Our next door neighbour is 5-6 km away.
The cottage is a little dilapidated and quite small, but we’ve managed to fit in our belongings and make it quite comfortable. The best part of it, for me, is the verandah, which is screened against insects and which I’m gradually filling with lots of plants, particularly ferns. We have also been busy in the yard, planting shrubs and creating flower beds, which we are gradually filling. We’ve also put up a birdbath and a couple of bird tables. These have been a geat success in attracting a wide variety of birds. My favourites are the babblers, which are about the size of a song-thrush, but look more like a tree-creeper with long, curved bills. They are very social, vocal, active birds that can be seen running up and down trees, hopping from branch to branch and foraging under leaves and twigs. I also like the red-winged parrots, of which we’ve had as many as a dozen at one time. They are quite large birds (32cms) and are a vivid green colour with bright orange beaks. They get their name from a brilliant red wing-patch. We have decided to compile a list of birds that we find on the station. So far we are up to 75 species, most of which we’ve seen around the house. Things will be more difficult now and we shall have to go looking for others.
“Winter” seems to have arrived here very suddenly. A couple of weeks ago it was still hot and humid but recently we’ve had days when it has only reached the mid 202C and the other night it got down to 9C. This may not seem cold but I assure you that it is when you are living in a wooded house with a corrugated iron roof, no insulation and ill-fitting doors and louvre windows! It was just 2°C warmer inside the house than it was outside! Winter is also our dry season and the grass is rapidly drying-off and going brown. We shall need to do lots of watering to keep our plants alive. One advantage is that I suspect the birdbath will be in great demand, which may give us the opportunity to add to our list of bird species.
Carol Petherick