1

CCCONTENTSONTENTSONTENTS BALA ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 42

Barkway Playgroup Vacancy ………………………………………………………………. 20

Beryl Rhodes 1928 – 2011 ………………………………………………………………… 14

Buntingford and District Social Club ………………………………………………………. 38

Buntingford Bowls Club – Bowls for Beginners ………………………………………….. 29

Buntingford Bowls Club Open Day ………………………………………………………… 29

Buntingford Citizens Advice Bureau ………………………………………………………. 25

Buntingford Civic Society – AGM invitation ………………………………………………. 10

Buntingford Civic Society – Have a Voice ………………………………………………… 12

Buntingford Gardeners Club ……………………………………………………………….. 15

Buntingford Heritage Centre ……………………………………………………………….. 19

Buntingford Town Council ………………………………………………………………….. 18

Buntingford Town Football Club …………………………………………………………… 30

Buntingford W I ………………………………………………………………………………. 27

Buntingford Youth Project ………………………………………………………………….. 21

Church Services ……………………………………………………………………………... 16

Dates for your diary …………………………………………………………………………. 3

Editorial ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 7

Edwinstree Middle School ………………………………………………………………….. 26

Freman College ……………………………………………………………………………… 32

Gardening update …………………………………………………………………………… 20

Gardening Year – April ……………………………………………………………………… 43

Global Travels – Oman …………………………………………………………………….. 40

Isabel Hospice forthcoming events ……………………………………………………….. 35

Layston School ………………………………………………………………………………. 39

Letters to the editor …………………………………………………………………………. 8

Meet your local PCSO ………………………………………………………………………. 31

Millfield First & Nursery School …………………………………………………………….. 13

Millfield First & Nursery School Eco Action Team ……………………………………….. 20

Not much going on – Martin & Mandy (Part 18) …………………………………………. 22

Out and about in April ………………………………………………………………………. 6

Poet's Corner ………………………………………………………………………………… 24

Round Robin Postal Tennis Tournament – Ladies Doubles ……………………………. 44

Royal Wedding celebrations ……………………………………………………………….. 11

Tasha's Tales ………………………………………………………………………………… 28

The Ramblers ………………………………………………………………………………... 31

U3A Buntingford ……………………………………………………………………………... 34

Useful local information …………………………………………………………………….. 2

We will Dib, Dib, Dib. We will Dob, Dob, Dob. – Vyse ………………………………….. 36

What's on in April ……………………………………………………………………………. 4

2

UUUSEFULSEFULSEFUL LLLOCALOCALOCAL IIINFORMATIONNFORMATIONNFORMATION

Mondays: Tuesdays: Wednesdays:

10:00am – 4:00pm 10:00am – 1:00pm 10:00am – 1:00pm

Open: Mondays – Fridays Saturday & Sunday

5:00pm – 8:00pm 10:00am – 1:00pm

Telephone: 01438 737333 (enquiries) 01438 737373 (renewals)

Mondays: Tuesdays: Wednesdays: Thursdays: Fridays:

09:00 – 13:00 09:00 – 13:00 CLOSED ALL DAY 09:00 – 13:00 09:00 – 13:00

14:00 – 18:00 14:00 – 18:00 14:00 – 18:00 14:00 – 18:00

POLICE STATION: Saturday Police surgeries:

GAS: ELECTRICITY: WATER (Veolia): SEWERAGE (Thames Water):

DOCTORS:

B A S H (Buntingford Action For Social Help):

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, RACE, HATE or RAPE CRIME:

LOCAL COUNCILS: BUNTINGFORD LIBRARY:

BUNTINGFORD CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU:

HOUSEHOLD WASTE SITE:

Baldock Road, Buntingford Non-emergency 0845 33 00 222 Every Saturday, 2:00pm – 4:00pm at Buntingford Police station

Emergency (gas leaks) telephone 0800 111 999 Emergency (power loss) telephone 0800 7838 838 Emergency telephone 0800 376 5325 Emergency telephone 0845 920 0800

The Medical Centre – White Hart Close Telephone 01763 271362 (24 hours) Orchard Surgery – Baldock Road Telephone 01763 272410 & 272411 (after hours)

Providing transport for hospital/doctors appointments, telephone Jane Winter 01763 271484

Confidential Information Help-line, telephone 01992 554440 (in an emergency, dial 999)

East Herts District Council – telephone 01279 655261 Housing – telephone 01279 714714 Benefits – Freephone 0800 373852 Buntingford Town Council – telephone 01763 272222 Hertfordshire Highways – telephone 01438 737320

The Manor House, High Street, Buntingford Telephone 0844 848 9700

Telephone advice available Mon – Thurs, 10:00am – 4:00pm

Watermill Industrial Estate, Aspenden Road

3

Sunday 3rd Tuesday 5th Wednesday 6

th

Saturday 9th Monday 11th Wednesday13th

Thursday 14th Friday 15th Sunday 17th Wednesday 20rd Thursday 21st Friday 22nd Sunday 24th Monday 25th Wednesday 27th Friday 29th

All day – Mother's Day. 8:00pm Buntingford & District Cage Bird Society – Benson Hall. New members welcome. Enquiries to Mr W Lodge on 01920 438482. 7:45pm for 8:00pm Buntingford Gardeners Club URC Hall, Baldock Road, Buntingford. Speaker Priorswood Nursery on Clematis. 2:00pm for 2:30pm St Richard's Church – Bingo at Benson Hall. 2:00pm – 4:00pm Buntingford U3A Seth Ward Community Centre. Speaker Vic Botterill on Body Language. 10:30am – 12 noon. BALA Coffee Morning at Benson Hall. 7:30pm for 7:45pm Buntingford WI at URC Hall. Speaker Fran Maciver on Kenya and the Kitabu Project. 8:00pm British Legion. All members welcome at the Crown PH. 8:00pm Buntingford Railway & Local History Society at the Crown public house, Buntingford. Speaker Dave Baker – Railway Films. 6:00pm – Copy deadline for May edition of Buntingford Journal. 10:00am – 12noon Buntingford Bowls Club Open Morning. See page 29 for details. 7:30pm Buntingford Civic Society AGM at Benson Hall, Buntingford. See page 10 for details. 7:45pm Buntingford Town Meeting at Seth Ward Community Centre. Good Friday. Easter Sunday. Easter Monday. 2:00pm for 2:30pm St Richard's Church – Bingo at Benson Hall. 7:00pm for 7:30pm start Buntingford & District Flower Club at Benson Hall. Carole Johnson 'From a Blank Canvas 2'. Royal Wedding street party – Buntingford High Street. See page 11. 7:30pm (doors open) Stax Partytime at Seth Ward Community Centre. See page 24.

DDDATESATESATES FORFORFOR YYYOUROUROUR DDDIARYIARYIARY

4

WWWHATHATHAT'''SSS ONONON INININ AAAPRILPRILPRIL???

MONDAYS 10:00am – 12:00am

10:00am – 12 noon

10:30am – 12 noon

1:30pm – 3:30pm

5:30pm – 6:30pm

6:30pm – 8:00pm

7:00pm

7:00pm – 8:00pm

7:30pm – 8:15pm

7:30pm – 9:45pm

8:15pm

TUESDAYS 9:15am – 10:15am

9:30am – 11:00am

1:00pm – 3:00pm

5:30pm – 6:30pm

6:30pm – 8:00pm

7:00pm – 8:15pm

WEDNESDAYS 10:30am

5:30pm – 6:30pm

6:00pm – 7:00pm

6:30pm – 8:00pm

7:30pm – 8:30pm

7:30pm – 8:15pm

Buntings Tumble at Cottered Village Hall. Contact 01763 272868.

Multi Activity Group at Seth Ward Community Centre. Contact Dave Austin on 01763 272066.

Iyengar Yoga Classes at URC Hall – term time only. Contact Jen Harris on 01920 821288.

Senior Citizens Club at URC Hall, Baldock Road. Bingo and an afternoon of socialising. For more information contact Jeanne Clark on 01763 274631

Cougars Under 7s training, Norfolk Road. Andy on 07941 078069.

Shotokan Karate at Seth Ward Community Centre. Contact Peter Deacon on 01462 642922.

Play Bridge for experienced players at Buntingford Bowls Club. £2.50 per session. Contact Gwen on 01763 272775 or Eddie on 07976 896718.

Pilates at Benson Hall. Contact Jacqui on 01763 274681.

Abs (body toning) session at Fit Together Gym, Buntingford. Contact Al on 07739 131694.

Buntingford & District Youth Club for young people aged 13 – 19 years, held at the Technical Institute, Baldock Road. Contact Nick Howell on 07789 927 64 or email nick.howell@hertscc.gov.uk.

Circuit Training at Seth Ward Community Centre. Contact 01920 823677.

Badminton at Seth Ward Community Centre – £2.50 per session. Contact 01763 273712.

Tuesday Toddlers at URC Hall. £1.50 includes drink and snack. Term time.

Leapfrogs Pre-school (Gt Hormead). Cookery sessions for ages 2 to 5 years, £6.75 per session. It is not necessary to be attending the pre-school. Booking is required. Please call 01763 289942. Term time only.

Cougars Under 12s Blues training, Norfolk Road. Shaun on 07836 214129.

Cougars Under 14s training, Norfolk Road. Frank on 07768 078167.

Grade 5 Ballet Lessons, Layston School. Contact Philippa on 01763 271010.

BALFF course 'Wartime Cinema and its Legacy', tutor Stephen Barnard at Seth Ward Community Centre, Buntingford. Phone 01763 72584.

Cougars Under 10s training, Norfolk Road. Martin on 07834 318518.

Circuit Training for 50+ at Seth Ward Community Centre. Contact 01799 550190.

Cougars Under 11s training, Norfolk Road. Sean on 07860 365681.

Body Circuit at Seth Ward Community Centre. Contact 01799 550190.

Boxercise/Tae Bo session at Fit Together Gym, Buntingford. Contact Al on 07739 131694.

5

WWWHATHATHAT'''SSS ONONON INININ AAAPRILPRILPRIL??? WEDNESDAYS 8:00pm – 9:00pm

8:00pm

THURSDAYS 9:30am – 11:00am

9:30am – 11:30am

10:00am – 12:00pm

11:00am

1:00pm – 3:00pm

2:15pm – 2:45pm

4:30pm – 6:30pm

5:00pm – 6:00pm

5:30pm – 10:00pm

6:00pm – 7:00pm

6:15pm – 7:00pm

7:45pm – 9:45pm

FRIDAYS 9:30am – 10:30am

10:00am – 11:00am

5:00pm – 6:00pm

5:30pm – 8:00pm

6:00pm – 7:00pm

6:30pm – 8:00pm

Cougars Under 16s training, Norfolk Road. Mike 01763 271750.

Horizon Divers at Freman Pool. Contact 01920 823955.

Little Ones Mother & Toddler Group at Scout Hut. Contact Jean on 01763 272081 or Lindsey on 01763 274868.

Mother & Toddler Group at Anstey Village Hall (next to the school). Range of activities including arts & crafts, music, outdoor activities, small world play, trikes & bikes & role play. All welcome. Term-time only. £2.50 per child (tea & coffee, snacks & juice included).

Carpet Bowls at The Bowls Club, Wyddial Road. Phone Julia on 01763 272584.

Keep fit for 50+ at Seth Ward Community Centre. Contact 01799 550190.

Leapfrogs Pre-school (Gt Hormead). Art sessions for ages 18 months to 5 years, £6.75 per session. Alternatively parents may stay with their child 1:30pm–2:30pm for £4 a session. (Under 2s must be accompanied by a parent/carer). It is not necessary to be attending the pre-school, booking required. Phone Kim Semple on 01763 289942.

'Story-time' for under 5s at Buntingford Library. Singing, stories, a sweet or biscuit and a picture to colour.

15 to 18 year olds drama workshops with Stagefrights Theatre at Seth Ward Community Centre, contact Dave on 01438 232181 or email stagefrights2009@yahoo.co.uk

Cougars Under 9s training at Norfolk Road. Kevin 07930 192079.

Buntingford Swimming Club at Ward Freman Pool. Contact Alan Bowell on 01920 821722.

Cougars Under 8s training at Norfolk Road. Matt 07814 838460.

Jazzercise Class at Seth Ward Community Centre.

Buntingford Badminton Club at Seth Ward Community Centre. Contact Liz James on 01763 274010.

Badminton at Seth Ward Community Centre – term time only.

Baby & toddler 'Rhyme Time' at Seth Ward Centre. £1 for first child, 50p for additional children & adults to include tea & coffee. Contact Mandy Sims at Bramble Hill Children's Centre 07904 955141 while the organisers of Rhyme Time are on maternity leave.

Cougars Under 15s training at Norfolk Road. Darren 07764 573696.

Friday Project, Buntingford & District Youth Club for young people aged 13 – 19 years. A range of activities, held at the Technical Institute, Baldock Road. Contact Nick Howell on 07789 927 64 or email nick.howell@hertscc.gov.uk.

Cougars Under 10s Stripes training at Norfolk Rd. Dave 07836 231915.

Cougars Under 12s Whites training at Norfolk Rd. Dave 07786 933963.

6

May Sunday 1st

Sunday 1st May to 23rd Oct

Mon 2nd to Sun 8th

Friday 6th

Saturday 7th

Wednesday 11th

Sunday 15th June Sunday 26th July Sunday 17

th

10:30am Bowls for Beginners. Free bowls lessons for May at Buntingford Bowls Club. See page 29 for full details.

2:45pm – 5:00pm every Sunday afternoon, Sunday teas at St Mary the Virgin Church, Braughing.

Red Cross Appeal Week – please give generously.

5:00pm – 6:30pm Oliver Heald MP surgery at the Manor House, High Street, Buntingford.

7:30pm Braughing Music Society present London Piano Trio. See page 27 for details.

7:30pm for 8:00pm start Quiz Night at Layston First School. See page 19 for details.

12:30pm – 2:00pm Ploughman's Lunch with the ladies of Buntingford W.I. at Benson Hall.

British Red Cross Open Gardens at Fanhams Hall – Ware. Cottered Village Fete. Aspenden Village Fete.

OOOUTUTUT ANDANDAND ABOUTABOUTABOUT INININ AAAPRILPRILPRIL Saturday 2nd

Sunday 3rd

Thursday 14th

Sunday 10th

Saturday 16th

10:00am – 12noon Great Hormead Farmers Market, Village Hall.

10:00am – 4:00pm Antiques & Vintage Fair at Barkway Village Hall. Homemade cakes & refreshments, 50p entry. Contact Rosie on 07912322538 or email flapperfortunes@yahoo.co.uk.

10:30am – 3:00pm British Red Cross Spring Sale at Cottered Village Hall. See page 21.

British Red Cross Open Gardens at Pelham House, Brent Pelham.

9:30am – 12noon Sandon Growers Market.

LLLOOKINGOOKINGOOKING AAAHEADHEADHEAD

WWWHATHATHAT'''SSS ONONON INININ AAAPRILPRILPRIL??? SATURDAYS 9:00am – 12:30pm

2:15pm – 4:15pm

2:00pm – 4:00pm

MONDAY –FRIDAY

Ballet Classes at Layston School for children aged 3 – 18 years. Contact Philippa on 01763 271010.

6 – 15 year olds drama workshops with Stagefrights Theatre at United Reform Church Hall, Baldock Road. Contact Dave on 01438 232181 or email stagefrights2009@yahoo.co.uk

Police Surgery at Buntingford Police Station, Baldock Road.

Buntingford Heritage Centre in the foyer of the Manor House. A display of Buntingford's past, open 9:00am – 5:00pm.

7

Firstly, I must apologise for the 'typo' in the letter from John Reynolds in last months Journal. It should have said that 'Longmead is only 4.87m wide' instead of 8.87m. Sorry my fault as I had to re-type the letter received in the post and made a mistake.

It is a busy time for all this month with Easter closely followed by the royal wedding and topped off by the May Day bank holiday. Lots of days off work, which is great but not if you are an employer! I'm sure many businesses, especially the small independent ones, really feel the effect of paying all their staff for the Bank Holidays. I wonder how anyone in business these days can afford to employ staff. With sick pay, paid holidays, maternity and paternity leave, etc. it can be prohibitive.

Anyway, all these Bank Holidays and celebrations this month, means that the deadline for the Journal is having to be brought forward to 6pm Friday 15th April. I know this doesn't leave much time to get contributions in but unfortunately it is necessary for the printers to be able to fit it in around the constraints of the Bank Holidays.

There are two other important dates that you need to put in your diaries. One is Wednesday 20th April at 7:30pm in Benson Hall, which is the Civic Society's AGM, when after the business of the meeting, the winners of the Art Competition will be presented with their prizes and Martin Coulson will give a talk on Layston Church. Civic Society member or not, you are more than welcome to attend. The other event is the annual Town meeting on Thursday 21st April at 7:45pm in the Seth Ward Community Centre, where every resident of Buntingford has the opportunity to find out what is going on in our Town and to have their say. So come on you lot, it's only once a year so really not to be missed.

I was so sorry to hear that Beryl Rhodes had passed away. Apart from her regular contributions of poems over the years, I had many a long telephone conversation with her, talking about anything and everything. Val Hume has written a lovely piece on Beryl on page 14 and you can find a poem written by Beryl in 2006 on page 15.

On a brighter note, Happy Mother's Day to all Mums out there on the 3rd April and I hope everyone enjoys the Easter break etc and that the weather is kind to us all.

Aliya Chowney

Copy and diary entries:

Aliya Chowney, 5 Longmead, Buntingford SG9 9EF (01763 272040)

email: aliyachowney@btinternet.com

Advertising enquiries: Bob Jackson (01763 271463) email: henryjack@msn.com

IMPORTANT PLEASE NOTE!

DEADLINE FOR THE MAY JOURNAL HAS BEEN BROUGHT

FORWARD TO 6:00PM ON FRIDAY 15TH

APRIL 2011

EDITORIAL

Thanks go to Debbie Lemay for proof reading

8

L e t t e r s t o t h e e d i t o rL e t t e r s t o t h e e d i t o rL e t t e r s t o t h e e d i t o r

Buntingford Journal is published by, but is editorially independent of, Buntingford Civic Society. It is delivered free to members of the Civic Society or it can be purchased from:

A CUT ABOVE BASRAS SUPERMARKET BUDGENS CO-OP SUPERMARKET COUNTRY FLOWERS DELISSIMO FLUTTERBY'S HARE STREET SHOP &

FILLING STATION MARK DOEL PEARCE'S FARM SHOP PIGGOTTS QUILLER BOOKS WESTMILL TEA ROOM

Dear Aliya by email Whilst we have written to and personally thanked those local companies that supported our recent fundraising activities, we would be obliged if you could reiterate our thanks. As always, we are extremely grateful to those who support our charity.

Friends of Reed School (FORS) exists wholly to benefit all pupils with money raised from such activities – providing items that wouldn't be available within the school's normal budget. FORS works closely with staff to identify classroom and recreational aids, visits from outside organisations, school outings and workshops, and so on, all of which, we believe, further enrich the children’s lives and their enjoyment of learning.

Donations of prizes, equipment and price discounts have recently been gratefully received from: Cave Shop ▪ Shop on the Corner ▪ Hotel Chocolat ▪ Peter McMeekin ▪ Tesco ▪ Sports Kit ▪ Unispares ▪ Royston Cycles ▪ Stationery Cupboard ▪ Madajazz ▪ B.A.S ▪ Knibbs Meat ▪ Clarks – The Photographic Studio, not forgetting of course the contributions made by Reed School pupils, their parents and teachers. A BIG THANK YOU to all.

A large chunk of the money we raise in 2011 will be spent on a very exciting new project the school is currently planning. That is the replacement of our current mobile classroom, which is on its last legs, with a lovely new mobile classroom which will offer more space, learning opportunities and resources for all the children in the school. The old mobile classroom will be demolished at the beginning of the Easter holidays in April and within six weeks we will have our lovely new mobile classroom in place. As budgets are tight, FORS are crucial to providing at least £3,000 to purchase a range of equipment for the children. £1,500 has been raised for this project so far.

We are delighted to announce the Oliver Heald MP has kindly agreed to open our new mobile classroom on Saturday, 25th June.

We do hope you are able to acknowledge our supporters who have given us such a boost to our fundraising efforts.

Should you require further information on the new classroom please contact the head teacher Mrs Jackie Harvey on 01763 848304, for more information on FORS please contact the chairman Mrs Liz Kershaw on 01763 848532/07702 838006.

Friends of Reed School

9

Dear Aliya by email Please may I through the Journal say a big thank you to all those people who made our coffee morning in aid of the Great Herts Feast a great success. We raised £571.50 – an excellent total. I'd like to thank all my wonderful helpers, cake makers, raffle prize donors and all those who came along on the day. I'd also like to thank Town Clerk Jill Jones, Assistant Town Clerk Eddie Plume and Steve for their help and support in setting-up the Council Chamber at the Manor House and for accepting cakes and raffle prizes prior to the event. All monies raised in the Great Herts Feast is to be divided equally between Herts Air Ambulance and Help for Heroes and was promoted by the Hertfordshire Mercury.

Cllr Jean Cook Dear Aliya by email I would like to pass on my thanks and congratulations to Jean Cook and her team of makers and bakers for their most fantastic cake and coffee morning as part of the Great East Herts Feast. This helped to raise a great deal of money for Help for Heroes and the Hertfordshire Air Ambulance. I must say I haven't eaten such quite good cake in a long time – I wish my own turned out as good, and I was able to buy an equally delicious apple pie which didn't last long when I presented it after Sunday lunch. It’s lovely to see the townsfolk of Buntingford getting together to have such a good time and to raise money for worthy causes. We all hope we won't need them but it's reassuring to know they are there if we do. I sincerely hope the event is repeated next year.

Debbie Lemay

L e t t e r s t o t h e e d i t o rL e t t e r s t o t h e e d i t o rL e t t e r s t o t h e e d i t o r

Advance not i f ica t ion to come and jo in the lad ies of Bunt ingford W .I . for a

P l o u g h m a n ' s L u n c h

on Wednesday 11th May at The Benson Hall

12:30pm – 2:00pm

M o r e d e t a i l s i n n e x t m o n t h ' s J o u r n a l

10

St Mary the Virgin Church Braughing

Every Sunday afternoon from 1st May until 23

rd

October 2011, between 2:45pm until 5:00pm you

are welcome at the Church Rooms for our

Sunday teas. All our cakes are home-made

locally. You may also be able to buy home-made

jams and marmalades or Braughing Friars Honey

from our Country Stall. All are welcome and we

look forward to seeing you.

11

ROYAL WEDDING ROYAL WEDDING

CELEBRATIONCELEBRATION

To mark the occasion of the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, Buntingford will be hosting a street party on Friday 29th April 2011 in the High Street.

Arranged by volunteers from many of the local businesses in the area, and with financial support from the Town and District Councils and the Buntingford Civic Society, this is going to be fantastic day of community spirit to mark this special occasion.

Starting at 10am venues will be available to watch the Royal Wedding on big television screens. These venues are currently St. Peters Church and The Social Club.

Then the High Street will close and be decked out in bunting, balloons, flags and decorations. People of the town are invited to bring picnic hampers and tables and chairs to set up along the High Street to recreate a good old fashioned street party. There will be a number of tables already set up, some of which will be set aside for the pensioners living in sheltered housing in the town and we’ll be providing free refreshments to them.

From midday, there will be stalls and events taking place up and down the High Street including live music, burger stalls, a hog roast, Old English sweet stall, refreshment stands, a cake baking competition, a Chas 'n' Dave tribute act, face painters and even circus acts. There will also be a children's fancy dress competition with, obviously, a Royal theme.

Buntingford will also be sending a giant 5ft card to Buckingham Palace to congratulate the Royal couple. The card will be kept in Church in the days leading up to the street party, so that residents can sign it. Schools in the town have been scanning images onto the card to add a personal touch from the younger generation.

We hope that you will join your town for this spectacular celebration to mark this very special occasion.

Official photo by Mario Testino

12

Buntingford Civic SocietyBuntingford Civic SocietyBuntingford Civic Society

Have a voice – things local

and national

While every attempt is made to ensure the accuracy and reliability of information contained in the Buntingford Journal, the editor assumes no responsibility for

errors or omissions in this publication.

There has been a super response to the Civic Society Children's Art Competition. We will have the results for presentation at our AGM, so member or not, you are welcome (7:30pm, 20th April at Benson Hall).

The Civic Society has had a good year with numerous projects well under way. On one side of the scale is our growing website with links to Civic Voice, the national organisation, and on the other side a good 'clean-up' of the Rib campaign, and support for young people at Freman College and Buntingford Youth Club.

Again with the greater good of the Town in mind we are likely to sponsor the Copper Beech tree and London Plane tree for the Market Hill area.

'Civic Voice' is celebrating its first anniversary and it is evident that 'Civic Voice' has a voice at the highest level. We will renew membership without increasing members' subscription this year. It is the Buntingford Journal that generates advertising revenue, which allows us to do things and keep the cover price well below printing costs.

Your probably saw the 3rd March Mercury front page 'new digester site proposed'. DLP consultants working for Taylor Wimpey and local landowners have in mind 150 houses plus the digester site between Hare Street and the Causeway. This speculative proposal is one of several challenging the Town and must not be dealt with in isolation. Localism and decentralisation (see www.communities.gov.uk/corporate/whatsnew) gives a stronger voice to communities, so ensure that your voice is heard.

Buntingford Civic Society holds to the vision we presented to EHC during the recent consultation period. The Local Development Framework is being prepared and papers can be viewed on EHC website (www.eastherts.gov.uk/ldfpanel) a week before LDF meetings at Wallfields on 7th July, 9th August and 28th September. Meetings start at 7pm and although open to the public are not public meetings.

Derek K Cooper – chairman

Check out our website at http://www.buntingfordcivic.org.uk

13

This has been a very busy month at Millfield. The School Council's fund raising for 'When You Wish Upon a Star' was a huge success with the help of the PTA, £252.63 was raised. We really appreciated the support of everyone at the school in collecting such a large amount of money. The School Council is now busy planning a Talent Show to raise money for Comic Relief!

Before Half Term all the full time children had the opportunity to take part in Rock 'n' Roll dance sessions. The children had a great time learning to hand jive and dance to some great music. These lessons were booked using the Sainsbury's vouchers we had collected. We are now collecting both Tesco and Sainsbury’s vouchers and are grateful for any contributions; please bring them to the School office.

During the half te rm ho l iday improvements to the school took place with much of the old window wall ing being replaced. This has made a big difference to the look of the school and will help to improve security and save energy.

World Book Day on Thursday March 3rd was a great occasion at school. All the staff and children came to school dressed as a character from a book. In Assembly everyone had the chance to see the other classes and all the children were given a World Book day voucher to spend on books. Many of the costumes were extremely innovative and the children had a great day.

We are now looking forward to Easter and planning a range of fun activities for all the school to take part in.

If you would like to know more about our school please visit our website www.millfield.herts.sch.uk or contact the school on 01763 271717

Kathy Willett – head teacher

Millfield First and Nursery SchoolMillfield First and Nursery SchoolMillfield First and Nursery School

14

Beryl Rhodes 1928-2011

I was very sorry to hear about the death of Beryl Rhodes, whom I got to know when she started to contribute poems during my stint as editor of the Buntingford Journal. I remember that she was very particular that I had to publish the poems exactly as she had written them. I always tried to double check them before the magazine went to the printers but on one or two occasions I received a phone call from Beryl shortly after the magazines were in the shops because I'd left out a comma or something! Beryl originally came from Alperton, near Wembley, but she used to visit Buntingford for holidays, staying at the White Hart Pub. She was a Land Army girl during the War and went to Bedfordshire, where she eventually met her husband Ken Rhodes. They married in 1949 and came to Buntingford in 1953. They had three children, Stephen, Pamela and Annette.

Beryl loved gardening and when I visited her I would always come away with some runner beans or a bunch of flowers. For about fourteen years she helped at the WI Market which was run from The White House cellar in the High Street, which was owned by two sisters. When the market had to close Beryl continued to sell her plants and flowers once a month from a stall at the side of 59 High Street and she got to know a lot of people during this time. She enjoyed visiting the auctions, which were held each week at Royston Market. One Christmas her husband came home with two 24lb turkeys he had bought at the auction "because they were cheap" but they had no fridge and the oven only just accommodated one bird! On another occasion Beryl went there and put in a bid for what she thought was two turkeys and ended up coming home in a shared taxi with two geese! Beryl also joined the Friends of Orchard Surgery and regularly attended their fund raising events. Sadly she became less mobile in recent years but got a new lease of life when she acquired her motorised scooter. Sadly, she had a stroke last year from which she appeared to recover but she then became ill and passed away in hospital on March 5th. She started writing her poetry to cheer up her son Stephen went he down with measles and wrote about all sorts of things. Her poems in the Journal were often very topical and she wrote about climatic change, the East of England plan and commented on various things in Buntingford. Her poem entitled "Friends" was read out at her funeral and, because she so loved her garden, I thought that her poem "Gardener's Friends" (written in June 2006) could be reproduced in the Journal as a fitting tribute to Beryl.

Val Hume

Beryl Rhodes

15

BBBUNTINGFORDUNTINGFORDUNTINGFORD GGGARDENERSARDENERSARDENERS CCCLUBLUBLUB Our last meeting was our Annual General Meeting and our Spring Exhibition.

The AGM was a lively meeting. The officers remained the same for this year and we recruited a new committee member. Due to an unfortunate "typo" the accounts will be signed off at the next meeting. It was agreed that the subscription would be raised to £15 per annum.

The exhibition, in spite of spring being late, was a good show. No prizes were given, but it showed what we could do.

The next meeting on Wednesday 6th April will be a talk by Priorswood Nursery on Clematis. On that day we will be bringing any paperback books we want to dispose of, to sell on behalf of the club. We will also be discussing how we want the future development of the club to progress and also suggestions for a recruitment drive. The competition is a spring photo.

Contact Margaret Howarth – chairman, for more details on 07747 355 017

Gardener's Friends

A little bird gave me a wild rose bush And some pansies yellow and blue,

It doesn't seem quite likely But I assure you it is true!!

The bees change colours of the flowers As they buzz in and out,

They are busy making honey Of that there is no doubt.

Peacock and red admiral butterflies Their wings opening to the sun

Are such a joy to see When the Summer's just begun.

Not forgetting the ladybirds And the Lacewings too.

Without them, the blackfly will surely accrue.

And the ants who sift the soil Saving us all that toil!

All these creatures that are small Have a part to play

In everyone's garden And are here to stay.

Beryl Rhodes June 2006

16

ST. RICHARD OF CHICHESTER Catholic Church

3 Station Road, Buntingford Telephone 01763 271471

Parish Priest: Father Ian Dickie

HOLY MASS is celebrated each: Sunday at 9:30am and 6:30pm Saturday at 6:00pm at Furneux Pelham Holy Days at 10:00am and 8:00pm Weekdays at 9:15pm CONFESSIONS are each Saturday from 10:30am – 11.15am

CHRIST CHURCH

UNITED REFORMED CHURCH BALDOCK ROAD BUNTINGFORD

MINISTER: Rev Duncan Goldie SECRETARIES: Gwen & John Edwards The Manse 'Great Stones' Meeting Lane Hare Street Melbourn Buntingford Cambs SG8 6AN Herts SG9 0AD Tel: 01763 260747 Tel: 01763 289460

MORNING WORSHIP EVERY SUNDAY AT 11:00am April 3 Mothering Sunday Mrs Drina Hampson 10 Holy Communion Rev Duncan Goldie 17 Psalm Sunday Rev Prof D M Thompson 24 Easter Sunday Rev Duncan Goldie May 1 Morning Worship Dr Jeffrey Barham

On Good Friday Churches Together will be holding their Act of Witness on Market Hill at 12:00 noon. All are welcome.

Junior Church meets at 11:00am every Sunday during term time and welcomes all children and young people.

The Bright Hour – a time for fellowship with prayers, hymns, activities and occasional visiting speakers – meets on alternate Tuesday afternoons at 2:30pm in the Church Hall.

Coffee and Company, organised by 'Churches Together', is held in the Church Hall every Thursday morning from 10:30am for anyone wanting fellowship and time for a chat.

Lunches organised by Christian Aid are held in the Church Hall from 12:30pm to 2:00pm on the first Friday of the month.

Visit our website at www.buntingfordurc.freeserve.co.uk

17

Sun 3rd Mothering Sunday

Wed 6th Sun 10th Sun 17th Palm Sunday Maundy Thur 21st Good Friday 22nd Sun 24th Easter Sunday

9:30am 10:00am 11:00am

9:30am 9:30am 11:00am 3:00pm 9:30am 11:00am 7:30pm 12:00noon 3:00–3:30pm 3:30–4:00pm 4:00–4.30pm 4:30–5:00pm 7:45pm 9:30am 9:30am 11:00am

St. Mary the Virgin – Westmill St. Mary – Aspenden St. Peter's - Buntingford

St. Peter's – Buntingford St. Mary – Aspenden St. Peter's – Buntingford Nevetts Care Home St. Mary the Virgin – Westmill St. Peter's – Buntingford St. Mary the Virgin – Westmill Churches Together St. Peter's - Buntingford St. Peter's - Buntingford St. Peter's - Buntingford St. Peter's - Buntingford St. Mary Aspenden St. Mary – Aspenden St. Mary the Virgin – Westmill St. Peter's – Buntingford

Sung Eucharist Mothering Sunday Family Service Family Worship for Mothering Sunday

Holy Communion (Book of Common Prayer) Holy Communion Holy Communion Songs of Praise Sung Eucharist Family Praise Said Holy Communion with Stripping of the Altar Open Air Service on Market Hill Service of Meditation 'Betrayal & Trial' 'The path to Golgotha' 'On the Cross' 'Death & Burial' Said Tenebrae Service – (Service of light into darkness for Good Friday) Easter Holy Communion Easter Sung Eucharist Easter Communion

Uni ted Benef ice ofUni ted Benef ice ofUni ted Benef ice of St. Mary ' s – Aspenden

St . Peter ' s – Bunt ingford

St . Mary the V i rg in – Westmi l l Church of England

Reverend Ian Hill – Telephone 01763 274072 Administrator Mrs Jenny Hill – Telephone 01763 271552 email jenny.unitedbenefice@hotmail.co.uk

There is a full and varied pattern of worship across the three churches St. Peter's in Buntingford has a more contemporary style

St. Mary's in Aspenden has a more traditional style St. Mary the Virgin in Westmill has a more liturgical style

Everyone is welcome at any of the churches

Services

18

BBBUNTINGFORDUNTINGFORDUNTINGFORD TTTOWNOWNOWN CCCOUNCILOUNCILOUNCIL

A QUALITY TOWN COUNCIL

This is the last chance to stand for election to the Town Council as the closing date for receipt of nomination forms is noon on the 4th April. Prospective candidates can obtain forms from East Herts District Council or the Manor House. The completed forms MUST be handed in to The Returning Officer, Elections Office, Council Offices, The Causeway, Bishop’s Stortford, CM23 4EN. As previously stated we are more than happy to answer any questions you may have with regard to a councillors role, please call into the office during opening hours for an informal chat. The charity coffee morning at The Manor House on the 11th March was very successful with over £500 raised for Help for Heroes and Herts Air Ambulance. Thanks to councillor Jean Cook for organising this event. Unfortunately, we have to report that once again the picnic bench in the play area at Hare Street Road playing field has been vandalised beyond repair. This is the third time this has happened and the Council has yet to decide whether or not to replace the bench. The Annual Town Meeting will be held on the 21st April at the Seth Ward Community Centre.

Jill Jones MILCM Cert HE Town Clerk

Town Council Meetings for AprilTown Council Meetings for AprilTown Council Meetings for April

Thursday 7th

Thursday 14th

Thursday 14th

Thursday 21st Thursday 28th Thursday 28th

7:30pm – Amenities Committee 7:30pm – Planning Committee 8:00pm – Resources Committee 7:45pm – Annual Town Meeting at Seth Ward Community Centre 7:30pm – Planning Committee 8:00pm – Full Council

All meetings will be held at The Manor House Al l members of the publ ic are welcome to at tend

Office hours: Monday – Thursday 9:00am – 5:00pm, closed Fridays

Tel : 01763 272222 email: btc.manorhouse@btclick.com – website: www.buntingfordtowncouncil.co.uk

IMPORTANT PLEASE NOTE!

DEADLINE FOR THE MAY JOURNAL HAS BEEN BROUGHT

FORWARD TO 6:00PM ON FRIDAY 15TH

APRIL 2011

19

BUNTINGFORD HERITAGE CENTRE

How did Buntingford High Street look 100 years ago? What happened in 1907? Who died in 1910?

Take a look at the latest Heritage Centre display in the foyer of the Manor House and you will find out.

If there is something of interest about Buntingford's past that you would like to have explained in a display please let us know.

The Her i tage Centre Commit tee 01763 272177

COME AND VISIT US IN THE MANOR HOUSE FOYER Don't forget you can buy Buntingford memorabilia at the Manor House.

CURRENT DISPLAY

Buntingford High Street at the turn of the 20th

Century

A display depicting a slice of Buntingford's history

Q u i z N i g h t

Saturday 7th May 2011

Doors open 7:30pm for 8:00pm start at

L ays t o n F i r s t S ch o o l

T h e C a u s e w a y , B u n t i n g f o r d

£8 a ticket including ploughman's supper

Maximum 8 persons a team Prize for each member of the winning team

Licensed bar

Tickets available from Debbie and Matt on 01763 272398

20

G a r d e n i n g U p d a t e

G a r d e n C e n t r e s Over the next two Journal editions (May and June), if space allows, I will list local garden centres and other garden suppliers, give a short description of the range they sell and any speciality. This guide will be mainly aimed at new residents to the town or any new gardeners.

G a r d e n A d v i c e S e r v i c e I would like to offer a garden advice service to anyone who is interested. I will visit your garden for up to an hour and offer any advice you need. The fee will be £25 and will be donated to the 'Help for Heroes' charity.

G a r d e n M a i n t e n a n c e I have been asked several times recently if my garden maintenance business is still running. The short answer is – sort of! Due to health issues over the past few years I have had to give up all my regular gardening jobs and stop work completely for the winter months. Arthritis does not like the cold and damp weather! But I can still undertake one-off jobs during the warmer months if required and on a good day I can still recognise a dandelion from a daisy.

Brian Lemay brianlemay@btinternet.com

07836 212259

Millfield Eco Action Team

All of us in the Eco Action Team have been working very hard to make our school even more environmentally friendly.

We have been litter picking in the school grounds. We also collect the left over fruit and tea bags for our compost bins every day.

With the Morrisons vouchers we collected we got some plant pots to put herbs in and some other gardening equipment. We are buying new bird tables and bird baths for the grassed areas of the school. We are also buying new picnic benches made from recycled plastic; this means trees are not used to make them. Soon we will be asking our mums and dads to help us weed and plant our class gardens for the summer.

At the PTA Easter Bazaar we are hoping to sell things such as pens and rulers made from recycled materials.

21

Monday evenings 7:30pm Monday evenings 7:30pm Monday evenings 7:30pm ––– 9:45pm9:45pm9:45pm Friday evenings 5:30PM Friday evenings 5:30PM Friday evenings 5:30PM ––– 8:00pm8:00pm8:00pm

Mon 4th

April

GRAFFITI ART Prep for art in the park project & Easter treats

Fri 1st

April OPEN MIC Music event more info to come!

Mon 11th

April

GRAFFITI ART Prep for art in the park project & Easter treats

Fri 8th

April

PUDDINGS = LBS Pudding cookery & health eating awareness

Mon 18th

April

AROUND THE WORLD Flag quiz & garden clean up. (So you can use it!)

Fri 15th EGG-CITING Easter egg hunt in the park

Mon 25th

April BANK HOLIDAY Closed

Fri 22nd

& Fri 29th

April BANK HOLIDAY Closed

Buntingford Youth

Project For a l l 13 -19 year o lds

Fitness@Buntingford! Every Monday Circuit Training. Girls only sessions start at 7:30pm

Boys 8pm onwards. Speak to Russell for more details. For more information contact Nick Howell on 077899 27640

S p r i n g S a l e Thursday 14th April 10:30am – 3:00pm

Entrance including coffee or tea and biscuits £3.00 Sandwiches will be served at lunchtime at Cottered Village Hall

Stalls selling: Hand painted silks ▪ Ladies fashion ▪ Handmade gold & silver jewellery ▪ Cheeses, cured meads & breads ▪ Knitwear & Liberty prints ▪ Ladies shoes & handbags ▪ Alpaca knitwear ▪ Home decorative ware ▪ Vintage home ware & accessories ▪ Children's country clothes

Silk coats, jackets, wraps & kaftans ▪ Leather handbags & accessories linens, cotton nighties & gifts ▪ Classic knitwear & accessories

22

Not Much Going OnNot Much Going On

(Part 18) Martin & Mandy

Turraaah!! That's a fanfare going on – all the paperwork to get an electricity supply to the church has finally happened. It's almost been an episode from 'Yes Prime Minister' getting to this stage! Ages ago, right at the beginning of the project, I stood in the fields to the south of the site with seven very keen people from EDF, pretty much all of whom were connected with the physical activity of putting a power feed into the site rather than the paperwork side. Frankly if I'd said 'Go' then they would have been doing it immediately but no, as you would guess, there is unfortunately a lot of paperwork involved. So, electricity exists on a set of power poles running west to east about 300 meters south of the site and the task in hand is to get a piece of cable buried joining the pole to the church – how hard can that be? For EDF to run a power cable across land they need a thing called an 'easement' signed by the owner of the land. Basically this just gives permission to transit a cable across the land and pays the land owner a stupidly small amount of money, £1.15 for every 50 meters or part of 50 meters of land that the cable crosses. The land south of the site is owned by the Church and so in the process of purchase our solicitor agreed an easement to be included in the sale papers – all nice and easy. I get a provisional quotation for the supply of power to the site and I sit down with a bump, it's a couple of quid as it goes, in fact it's several thousand but still, we need power, so what can we do. The purchase of the church goes through and Mandy and I are then the proud owners of 0.98 acres in Hertfordshire and I call EDF again, 'Oh can we do another site survey please' they say – sure when shall we meet? This time I meet a really nice lady called Angela, who spends half an hour walking round generally admiring the building and the view, which I now know is a good start to a meeting. After a bit of plotting she suggests we put a three phase power supply in from a different pole from the one we'd originally intended – that way the cost will actually come down and we will get a better feed of power. Great, this is good, cost coming down and more interesting feed of electricity, what can possibly go wrong? Angela produces a new reduced price along with a detailed route diagram for me and I write the cheque out and send it off. This gets me introduced to the legal department which is outsourced to a third party company and a lady called Liz, who is also really nice, a bit of tinkering around and she discovers that the cable needs to run across four different bits of land. EDF also decide that they don't want an 'easement' anymore, they want a 'wayleave'! So back to the Glebe Committee at the Church who kindly sign yet more paperwork, the two neighbours both also need to sign wayleaves and that duly happens. It comes to pass that one of the strip lynchets from years ago was sold and changed hands a couple of times and the details of it on the Land Registry site do not tie up with the actual owner, so that needed to be sorted out to keep EDF happy and provide them with agreements to actually travel cable across the fields.

23

Eventually all the bits of paperwork are in place, Robbie the engineer who's actually doing the work can't wait, he likes the site and already has my transformer cluttering up his yard, then I get a call from Liz, the lady dealing with all the paperwork. She has everything she needs, except she has just discovered that the power pole I'm planning on connecting to does not have an owner at the Land Registry. Well that's easy I say, just look at the wayleave you have for when you put the pole in and see who's signed it ... "Arh well," she says, "we don't have one of those." So now we try to find the owner of the land by nailing a notice to the pole asking for the person who owns the land to come forward and claim their £1.15 or whatever it is, bonkers really. The land divides two fields and both fields are owned but Land Registry does not have the fields butting up against each other on their plans so EDF think it's owned by nobody. They wait a bit and then give up and she sends all the paperwork back to EDF who sort of go 'Oh well whatever' and process the order. So that's got the paperwork sorted, now all we need to do is get a trench dug across a couple of fields and round the back of a barn, fortunately this is all built into the tender for the garage build and since we are not in a tearing hurry we can choose our time carefully. At the moment the fields are full of mud and about to be sown with a crop so it looks like late July after harvest is the time to actually dig the trench and then get power delivered and that's what the plan becomes. In the meantime we are also looking at samples of bricks, tiles and flint for the garage. We have a small list of items that need to be 'officially' approved by the conservation officer but in reality there's a whole pile of things to carefully choose from material wise. I've built industrial units before and they are really easy, I did not even look at the building blocks for those jobs, but this build requires a lot more consideration to make sure it looks right. Handmade bricks come from a number of sources in the UK and whilst they are all pretty much the same they are all very different, if you see what I mean! The conservation officer Sarah, and Brian our builder, are both really helpful along with Julian the architect, but in reality the final call comes down to our choice. Brian gets hold of a selection of sample tiles and bricks and off we go to his offices to ponder over bricks. Once we decide they get dropped off at the council offices for Sarah's view. We also need to build a test panel for the flint infill on the walls. This is done so we can get the colour of the lime mortar correct. It strikes me that this is a bit of a hard call as there are so many variables that affect the colour of the mortar once it's dried, but Brian has produced a subcontract brick and flint worker who is like Graham the bell frame chap, a specialist in his work, and he proves to be a wealth of knowledge and experience and helps us sort out the flint work panels to decide how to successfully match them in with the church. The problem with the panel is what do we try and match it to? The church has at least five different types of flint work, ranging from full hard core knapped flint on the porch of the building to a rubble infill wall with lime mortar plasterwork half way up the North side of the tower. In the end we decide that the Porch is the part of the building to match to. Unsurprisingly it's not like ordering breeze blocks from a builders merchants and the tiles, flint and bricks all have 10 week delivery times but this fits in with the general time frame, so after lots of pondering and consideration we choose bricks and tiles, with the conservation officer's help, and Brian puts the order in to the manufacturer for them.

For more history and information related to St Bartholomew's visit www.layston-church.org.uk

24

Poets CornerPoets Corner

Watching Moonbeams

Watching from our window, I glanced up at the moon...

like a necklace on black laces it hung there... and quite soon

this poem came into my mind... no matter where you are you'll find

she's always there above us, lighting clear our way...

ethereal moonbeams shower down... see how they play.

Starting like a hammock she grows until she's whole...

lighting the way for living things... man, cat and vole.

Some nights she is sleeping, recharging her great light.

I thought how wonderful the moon is when I gazed at her that night.

Teresa Bonner

25

The views expressed in letters and articles in the Buntingford Journal are not

necessarily those of the editor.

BUNTINGFORD CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU The Manor House, Buntingford Telephone 0844 848 9700 Mondays 10:00am – 4:00pm Tuesdays 10:00am – 1:00pm Wednesdays 10:00am – 1:00pm Closed Thursdays and Fridays

Housing BenefitHousing Benefit Q) I'm a private tenant but it's a struggle to pay my other essential bills after I've paid the rent. There just doesn't seem to be anywhere cheaper to rent round here. Is there anything I can do? A) If you are on a low income, regardless of whether you are working or on benefits, you may be entitled to help towards paying your rent through the housing benefit system. But the amounts paid out in housing benefit (sometimes also known as local housing allowance or LHA) to private tenants have just been radically cut, from the beginning of April. LHA can now only be paid up to a maximum of the rent levels within the lowest third of market rents for your area. It used to be paid up to half the rent levels. New claimants will be affected immediately by the lower rates, but people already receiving housing benefit will not be affected until nine months after the anniversary date of their claim, unless they move home or the size of their household changes – for example, someone leaves. Anyone facing a shortfall between their housing benefit and their rent as a result of the cuts should find out if their landlord will reduce the rent in return for getting paid housing benefit direct. They can also apply for a discretionary housing payment. You could also get "money advice" to help you to budget carefully so as to cope with the extra cost of a shortfall in rent allowance. Budgeting tools are available on Adviceguide (address below). And anyone who thinks they may have to move as a result of a cut in their housing benefit should seek advice from their local council's housing options service. For more information and advice on housing benefit and how the changes may affect you, go to the Citizens Advice website www.adviceguide.org.uk or consult an adviser at your nearest CAB.

26

We had an absolutely fabulous World Book Day on March 3rd. We started the morning off with a whole school assembly, then braved the cold weather for a brisk walk through Buntingford. Four hundred and seventeen pupils and 30 staff dressed up as story book characters; we are still waiting to hear if we have broken the existing record and for our claim to be verified. We had a marvellous array of costumes; Mad Hatter, Willie Wonka, Horrid Henry, Mr Gum, Hetty Feather, Mary Poppins, Harry Potter, Cat in the Hat, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, even Professor Dumbledore complete with a Phoenix.

M a n y p h o t o g r a p h s were taken, and pupils have been able to buy them as a lasting reminder of a fantastic day. We would like to thank everyone at h o m e w h o helped with the costumes and supported the pupils.

Years 7 and 8 e n j o y e d performances by Anthony G l e n n ’ s "Shaking Up Shakespeare" one-man show of "Romeo and Juliet" and "The Tempest" to enhance their English studies.

Arrangements for our Easter Service at Royston Church on Thursday 7th April are going well; more news next month.

Diane George

EEEDWINSTREEDWINSTREEDWINSTREE MMM IDDLEIDDLEIDDLE SSSCHOOLCHOOLCHOOL

27

B U N T I N G F O R D W . IB U N T I N G F O R D W . IB U N T I N G F O R D W . I ...

The Speaker at our March meeting was Barry Kaufmann-Wright, who gave a very interesting talk on his life as a Police Wildlife Crime Officer. Of the 32 years he spent with Essex Police, 22 were spent dealing with wildlife crime and he brought along some of the slides he has taken over the years. He told us about the protection laws relating to badgers and their setts and said that vixens have been known to take refuge in a badger's sett but how could she know it was protected? He related many incidents of crimes against animals which he had been involved in; two baby barn owls kept in a budgie cage, horses kept in appalling conditions and birds which are trapped and destined for illegal export. Apparently international wildlife crime is a bigger earner than drug dealing. We also saw slides of a scorpion which turned up in a box of peaches and a bird eating spider in a consignment of bananas so be careful when you are next in the supermarket! Our next meeting is on April 14th at the United Reformed Church Hall which Fran Maciver will talk about Kenya and the Kitabu Project. Visitors are welcome at all our meetings. If you want to meet some of us, why not come along to a Ploughman's Lunch which we are hosting on Wednesday 11th May at the Benson Hall between 12:30pm and 2:00pm. More details on this in next month's Journal.

Val Hume

London P iano T r io

P iano, Cel lo and Vio l in music by

Haydn, Gershwin and Mendelssohn

Saturday 7 th May - 7:30 pm

S t M a r y ' s C h u r c h , B r a u g h i n g

TICKET PRICES

£15 Premium; £12 Standard;

£10 Restricted view Telephone Box Office: 01763 289073

www.braughingmus icsociety .co.uk

www. londonpianot r io .com

28

A pril a time

for Easter and

religion. However in certain parts of the

world April will be a month of repair,

realisation and horrific truth! I mean for

parts of the world such as Japan where the

earthquake shook and the tsunami destroyed. This time will not be as joyous

or as celebratory as in England. For the majority

Easter eggs will be bought and festivities of Easter

shall be carried on as normal, while in Japan and

other parts of the world it shall not. So while we

are eating our weight in chocolate and enjoying

our bank holiday for the religious memory of when

Jesus died on the cross, we

should remember that there

are many in the world that will not be able to share the

joy of the occasion and for their reasons why they will

not be able to.

29

Open Morning

Sunday 17th

April 10:00am – 12 noon

Bunt ingford Bowls Club Wyddial Road, Buntingford

Don't be bored, pop in for a chat or even have a go.

Interested but cannot make the date, then ring Eddie Plume on 01763 273640 or John Hicks on 01763 272657 for an alternative opportunity.

Free lessons for beginners start on Sunday 1

st May at 10:30am

Vis i t us at www .bunt ingfordbow ls.co.uk

Vis i t us at www .bunt ingfordbow ls.co.uk

Bowls for Beginners Free Lessons each Sunday in May

starting on the 1st at 10:30am the Green, Wyddial Road, Buntingford

Fully qualified County coaches Only flat-soled shoes required Bowls provided at no charge

No obligation Come along and play

For further information contact: Eddie Plume on 01763 273640 or

John Hicks on 01763 272657

30

Since the last issue of the journal all hopes of enjoying cup success were dashed in about as many days as the same recently happened to Arsenal!

The First team crashed out of the Aubrey Cup, going down 4-1 to Baldock Town Letchworth of the County League's Premier Division. Buntingford played far better than the score would suggest and at times bossed the game, but unfortunately two (deserved) sending-offs put paid to any hope of securing passage into the semi final. Discipline was a problem during that game and it is something we are determined to address!

The Reserves also went out of cup competition to a team in a higher division, this time losing 2-1 to Codicote in the Reserve Cup. Again, the team performed well, but on the day the opposition was just too good for us.

A place in the final of the Herts FA Veterans Cup for the club's veterans was dashed by a strong Whitewebbs side who won the semi 6-1; as expected, they were very strong opposition, but Town were hampered by having no fewer that eight regulars either injured or unavailable. Having said that the team held their own until the second period of play and 6-1 was hardly a fair reflection of the game.

With all of our cup competitions now out of the way it was time to turn once again to the league. In the HSCL Division One the First Team have maintained their form and currently sit in second position behind Goffs Oak having beaten Bedmond Sports & Social Club (5-1) and Kimpton Rovers (5-0). We have the best goal difference in the league at the moment, something we wish to preserve, as this may well become crucial at the end of the season. In fact, the team have averaged 4 goals per game during this campaign, a fantastic record!

The Reserves, at the time of writing, are in fourth position in the league, four points behind Harpenden Rovers but with three games in hand. It is going to be tough to break into the top three as they have some very tough matches coming up, including matches against the best teams in the division, but at least their destiny is in their own hands. A good winning streak will see the team right up there and there is no reason why this shouldn't happen if the lads play at their very best.

Since the defeat at Whitewebbs the Vets have bounced back recording victories against Litlington (4-1), Cuffley (1-0) and Waltham Abbey (2-1), the latter result being exceptional in that this was the first time we have beaten them. Yet another example of just how far Town's Vets have improved over the last two seasons.

So overall, things are progressing nicely, but I’m sure there will be a few more highs and lows highs before the season ends!

Traditionally the league season finishes during the first week of May. Whether this will be the case this year is open to speculation as there have been numerous fixtures cancelled due to the bad weather. Knowing the Herts Senior County League as I do, the chances are that they will stick rigidly to their schedule. This will inevitably result in the imposition of some evening midweek matches upon us during the weeks to come, so keep your eyes on our website for details.

Chris Thurgill Chairman, Buntingford Town FC

BUNTINGFORD TOWN FC w w w . b u n t i n g f o r d t o w n f c . c o m

31

MMMEETEETEET YOURYOURYOUR LOCALLOCALLOCAL PCSOPCSOPCSO

If you have any issues you would like to talk about with your Police Community Support Officer Amanda Higham or you just want to say hello, she will be at the specified venues as listed below. (Times are subject to change at short notice)

Telephone 0845 33 00 222

PCSO: Date: Time: Venue:

Sat 9th

Thurs 21st

Wed 27th

3:00pm-3:45pm 2:00pm-2:30pm 3:00pm-3:30pm

Meesden Brent Pelham Haystreet

Amanda

Sunday 3rd

Tuesday 5th

Thursday 7th

Sunday 10th

Tuesday 12th

Thursday 14th

Sunday 17th

Tuesday 19th

Thursday 21st

Sunday 24th

Monday 25th

Tuesday 26

th

Thursday 28th

Sunday 5th June

Sandon, Chipping, Buckland – 9¾ miles. Leader David 01763 242677.

Morning walk Barrington – 5½ miles. Leader Angela 01223 843964.

Morning walk Therfield Heath – 5 miles. We hope to see the pasque flowers. Leader David 01763 242677.

Wallington, Rushden – 10 miles. Leader Tricia 01438 880553.

Morning walk Albury – 6 miles. Leader Lesley 01763 273463.

Morning walk Standon – 5½ miles. Leader Bob 01763 271170.

Meesden, Patmore Heath – 15¾ miles. Leader Paul 01763 244038.

Morning walk Elsworth – 6½ miles. Leader Alan 01763 263352.

Morning walk Coton – 6 miles. Leader Alan 01763 263352.

Hatfield Forest, Hatfield Broad Oak, Hatfield Heath – 13 miles. Leader Lesley 01763 273463.

Evening walk Therfield, Kelshall – 2½ miles. Leader David 01763 242677.

Morning walk Brent Pelham – 5½ miles. Leader Paul 01763 244038.

Morning walk Green Tye – 5½ miles. Leader Bob 01763 271170.

Advance notice of coach outing to North Downs Details from Tricia 01438 880553

get more out of walking with the Ramblers Royston and Dist r ict Group

Walks for April 2011

32

The first spring term flew past this year and seemed busier than ever. The first week back was an important one for our E Year as they received their Mock Results from their exams before Christmas. There were a lot of

relieved smiles from the majority, but as ever, a few students who realised too late that exam success is unlikely to result without revision. This is precisely why mock exams are such a valuable experience. I was impressed by how seriously students took their exams, their results and also the Post-16 options interviews that followed, where they talked about what they hope to do in September.

A real highlight of the term was House Drama. It is an event that never fails to make me proud on so many levels. The quality of performances was outstanding and this speaks volumes about how talented our students are. These performances had all been brought together in just five weeks by students who have to fit rehearsals in around already demanding workloads. The skills of leadership and team work involved are as admirable as the directing and performance skills demonstrated in each production. Our adjudicator was bowled over by what all four houses had achieved and could not speak highly enough of all the students involved. Congratulations to Moore House for best production.

Suitably rested after our half term holiday, we are all set for the few weeks – a critical time for students with summer exams. However, increasingly overall results hinge not just on performance in final exams but also in the controlled assessment tasks and on-going assessments during lessons. It is an important time for our A Year students too. It is hard to believe that only a year ago they were receiving their offer of a place in the college, but already they are deciding which GCSE subjects they want to take.

But as ever, at Freman, as well as the hard work and serious decisions there are lots of treats in store. We have House netball, football and swimming, a Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award practice expedition and the Spring Concert to look forward to, as well as Easter trips - Classics trip to Greece, and German trip, to name just a few.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank parents for their support for the college and their involvement in their sons' and daughters' learning. The attendance of parents at consultation evenings this year has been as high if not higher than ever. Very few, if any other schools, see such a fantastic turn out and I have no doubt that the way in which parents work with us so closely and supportively is a very important factor in students' success.

Helen Loughran, head teacher G i r ls U16 County Basketbal l Freman College Under 16 Girls Basketball team competed at the County Basketball Competition on the 3rd

February at Wodson Park, after qualifying to represent the North East Herts School Sport Partnership in the finals.

In the group stage of the competition the girls got off to a good start beating a good side from Sele School representing the Hertford and Ware Sports Partnership 25-20, with Captain Eleanor Bishop leading by example scoring 16 points.

33

The second game saw another good performance from the team with a 12-2 lead at half time. The points were shared in the 2nd half with Ellie Hawkins, Lara Gibson, Hollie Reader and Aimee Norman scoring some good baskets to win 25-6 and qualify for the semi final of the event.

In the semi final Freman had a tough game against Chancellors School (Welwyn and Hatfield Sports Partnership), which consisted of players from the Hertfordshire Warriors U16 team. Another strong performance saw Freman come back from an early deficit to win the game 35-17 with points coming from Eleanor Bishop, Kelly Stubbs and Alice Hildrop.

The final was contested between the two teams who had impressed the most throughout the competition. Hemel School (Dacorum Sports Partnership) like Freman had consistently scored 25-40 points in all of their games. In a close final, Freman led 14-12 early in the 2nd half but unfortunately Hemel finished the stronger team winning 26-18. Freman however can be very proud of an excellent performance and runners up in Under 16 Girls Basketball in Hertfordshire!

Squad: Eleanor Bishop (Captain), Alice Hildrop, Kelly Stubbs, Ellie Hawkins, Danielle Calvert, Lara Gibson, Victoria Biddlecombe, Courteney Chapman, Hannah Tofts, Aimee Norman and Hollie Reader.

In the sw im Freman College competed in the Annual District Swimming Competition at Bishop’s Stortford College. Out of 13 teams, the Freman girls finished 3rd, the boys 4th with an overall position of 4th – well done!

Amnesty Quiz Sixth formers from Freman’s Amnesty Group organised and ran another one of their successful quiz nights. As well as having fun, they used the evening to highlight the problems with the death penalty and raise awareness of the latest Amnesty campaign: some of the group had made a short video that was shown at the start of the evening. The quiz was a great success, with eight teams competing to win the coveted ti tle of Amnesty Quiz Champions, and of course some chocolate! With rounds such as science and technology, history, geography, and the arts, it was a real brain-teaser. A team of teaching staff managed to reign victorious. The evening raised over £300 for Amnesty International.

Winning team members: Mr M Wilson, Mr Morris, Ms Gaffney, Ms Eburah, Mrs Bowles and Mr Balding.

34

We now have 200 members, some of whom only come along to the monthly meetings, some just like the outings and others belong to lots of things. The opportunities are many and varied.

Included in the £15 membership is the U3A News and U3A Sources magazines, both delivered to your door. There is also a whole load of information, courses, DVDs, workshops, summer school etc. available through the Third Age Trust.

As well as the groups below we have a Discovering London group, visiting hidden aspects of London by coach. Part of their trip on the 15th April will take them to see the only Grade 1 listed cinema in the UK at Tooting.

The Travel Group have trips to the Peak District in October and Victorian Market Matlock in December. Visits to Haileybury and RAF Hendon are also planned in the next three months. Theatre trips and social events are also organised by the other groups. Groups run at Standon and Puckeridge, including local history, Pilates, digital photography, tennis and video making.

Our speaker on April 11th is Vic Botterill on Body Language, 2pm at the Seth Ward Community Centre. Guests welcome £2, so come along and find out more.

For further details call Jean Devenish on 01763 271783

Every Tues Contact Beth Wilkins

Whist Group 01763 271359

10:00am

First Thursday 10am Contact Linda Hood

Walking Group (2hours plus) 01763 272020

10:00am – 12:00pm Local Footpaths

Yogic Breathing Every Monday

Exercise suitable for all Bev Smith 01763 849023

10:00am – 11:00pm Seth Ward CC

Contact Colin Gibbons

Family History 01763 271398

Individual sessions arranged

Last Tues in month 27 April Contact Mick Westwood

Strollers Group 1 (Gentle stroll) 01763 272594

TBA

3rd Wednesday Contact Evelyn Smith

Strollers Group 2 (1hour plus) 01763 272241

10:30am

3rd Thursday Contact Gill Southgate

Coffee & Chat 01763 271892

Phone for details 2:00pm – 4:00pm

4th Thursday Contact Alan Rumble

Computers (all levels) 01920 823608

2:00pm – 4:00pm Seth Ward C C

2nd Friday Contact David Smith

Digital photography 01763 849023

2:00pm – 4:00pm URCH

2nd & 4th Tuesdays Contact Christine Jeffries

Singing for Pleasure 01763 273466

2:00pm – 4:00pm 59 High Street

Every Tuesday Contact Alan Smith

Bridge for Beginners £5 Tutored 01763 287657

10:00am – 12:00pm Seth Ward C C

Weekend Contact Evelyn Smith

Social Outings 01763 272241

Various

3rd Monday Contact Iris Cannon

Enjoying Music 01763 274319

2:00pm Various houses

3rd Wednesday Contact Anne Austin

Reading Group 01763 272066

2:00pm Various houses

Contact Linda Grace

Art Group 01920 438220

Various

TBA Contact Dave Austin

Table Tennis 01763 272066

PM Seth Ward C C

35

FFFORTHCOMINGORTHCOMINGORTHCOMING EVENTSEVENTSEVENTS

Sat 9th April – The Mayor's Variety Gala – 19:30–23:00

A spectacular evening of song, dance, theatre, laughter and a splash of magic with all proceeds going to Isabel Hospice. Being held at Rhodes 1-3 Southmill Road, Bishop's Stortford, CM23 3JG. Call Rhodes on 01279 651746 for tickets. Adults £9 Children & Concessions £7. Tue 12th April – Coffee Morning for Isabel Hospice – 10:30–12:00 You are welcome to attend our fundraising coffee mornings, held the second Tuesday of the month at Markwell Pavilion in Bishop's Stortford. Enquiries telephone 01279 755320. Sat 16th April – Jumble Sale – Thundridge – 14:30–16:30 Thundridge Village Hall at 2:30pm – 20p entry. Come and grab some bargains. Details 01920 462992. Sat 30th April – Abseil for Charity Organised by The Rotary Club of Harlow Tye. Taking place at Church Langley Water Tower, Harlow. If you are interested in taking on this challenge in aid of Isabel Hospice please contact Mary Bunyard on 01279 734211. Link: http://www.harlowtyerotary.org.uk. Sun 1st May – Abseil for Charity Organised by The Rotary Club of Harlow Tye. Taking place at Church Langley Water Tower, Harlow. If you are interested in taking on this challenge in aid of Isabel Hospice please contact Mary Bunyard on 01279 734211. Link: http://www.harlowtyerotary.org.uk.

Isabel Hospice website www.isabelhospice.org.uk

For more details phone Julia on 01763 272584

COME AND HAVE A GO AT CARPET BOWLSCOME AND HAVE A GO AT CARPET BOWLS

Under the umbrella of the U3A

we have Carpet Bowls every THURSDAY MORNING

between 10am – 12noon

at The Bowls Club in Wyddial Road, Buntingford

COME AND JOIN US FOR A FUN MORNING

36

We will Dib, Dib, Dib. We will Dob, Dob, Dob. A further instalment of the author's view of the post world war years in a small Hertford-shire, Essex border village and how it relates to today's experiences.

Do they still have Bob-a-Job week? Perhaps it's changed, due to inflation and now Ten-Pounds-a-Job or even Ten-Euros, (thanks to the ill advice foray across the channel) it may even now be redesignated by the jobsworth as, an unscheduled voluntary part time casual stipend for work carried out by a non specific gender minor as contribution to a charity or recognised organisation as it may be classified! The idiots in Brussels, with the consent of our dopey lot, no doubt have put their sticky fingers in this tradition along with everything else.

I do hope somebody tells me I have it wrong as Bob-a-Job week was an an-nual tradition that any self respecting Wolf Cub looked forward to with relish, as it was generally accepted that along-side the statuary 'bob' there was al-ways 'extras' available to any enterpris-ing lad. These extras came in many forms such as bottles of pop, cake, comics and the occasional unwanted items that were no longer required or in one particular case not tied down.

I was called to the colours in the late forties when some of the adults in the village decided that it would be a good idea to start a Cub pack as an adjunct to a thriving Boy Scout Troop. In fact I was a few months shy of the recruit-ment age but by some economic use of the truth I was accepted as a

"tenderfoot". It emphasised the point as we stood around waiting so long my feet were killing me, as contrary to all other clothing into which I never grew "into", I always seem to grow "out" of footwear, that is until I discovered boots but that's a story for another time.

Anyway we were all assembled in the Scout hut on the village green one late summer evening and were grouped into patrols headed by a "sixer" then we were all given names based on the Jungle Book stories.

The Rudyard Kipling tales had long fascinated my young mind so I was in the groove so to speak. We were all enlisted and given a list of essential items that contributed to the all important uniform.

After a lot of pestering I got my "uniform" (which must have cost my parents dear in those strickened times). It consisted of cap, green; jersey, green, woolly and itchy; shorts, blue, heavy; socks, blue, very woolly; garters, elastic (blood stopping ouch!); belt, leather; neckerchief, green (reef knot in ends) and secured with the magical "woggle". Apart from a knife (I suppose Cubs are not allowed knives now, Health and Safety and all that tosh), the woggle was a Cub's most treasured possession and ones sartorial demeanour was sadly lacking without one. Ask any chap, he is not complete without his woggle.

Once all the formalities were over and the scout promise was learnt and we were duly

37

presented with our flashes denoting troop, six and Boy Scout badge and undying allegiance to the crown and the scout movement we got down the interesting stuff.

Wide games, camps and a lot of fire-lighting took place along side tying knots and recognising flags throughout the winter months but eventually spring came and it was Bob-a-Job week and we were let loose on the village and wider community armed with a card for the customer to sign as a job done and a pack of yellow stickers that the household could place in the window to ward off the reoccurring knock from other boys with the "Got any jobs Missus?"

For week we competed with the local Scouts for the best jobs in the village and I doubt that there was not a garden unweeded, errand run, litter picked, window cleaned, dog walked or shed cleared out in the whole village. Perhaps it is the rose tint of nostalgia but the sun always seemed to shine during Bob-a-Job-week and with the resultant attention of every youth in the area the village seemed to shine as a result of this mass spring clean.

Once we had exhausted all our own relations like Grans and Aunties and of course mums, we ventured into the wider community and being careful to see that there was no "Job Done" sticker in the window we rang the bell and gave our best cub salute and offer of any help required.

As the week progressed we often came into contact with other boys on the same quest and then the competition began as to who had raised the most money. Of course there was the usual laddish exaggeration and tales of near misses with dogs and which house-hold gave the best lemonade and cake.

Some enterprising souls managed to secure a week long project such as the two lads who got the job of creosoting a barn, this paid thirty bob each and regular food breaks. (Thirty bob was a tremendous amount of cash). However there appeared to be as much creosote on the boys as there was on the barn at the finish and it was unclear whether their tan was due more to the liquid than the fine weather.

The best jobs were shed clearing and tidying where we were asked to "give it a good tidy and clear out all the rubbish". Enough said and we liberated pram wheels, old vitreous enamel signs, wood various and any amount of unwanted and rusted tools and general detritus which could be turned into soap box carts, bikes and essential adjuncts and ac-cessories to the many "camps" that we regularly built. Moreover we were often asked to have a bonfire to get rid of any rubbish and this always was a welcome diversion from the job in hand.

At the very next meeting we all handed in our cards and money often in a jam jar (this would now be outlawed as the little darlings may break the glass and cut themselves with resultant blame, full scale enquiry and compensation claims,Oh Dear!) to Akela (Mrs Couchman). She in turn gave us a big thank you and well done and whilst there was some enquires as to whom made most she never divulged the outcome as it was felt even the smallest contribution was valuable.

Those days taught us many skills which helped us as we went through life, such as how to work as a team, assisting in the upkeep of the community, the value of work and pride in a job well done, communication and planning skills and value of work.

I think that I have heard these sentiments recently again, something about a Big Society? Nothing new under the sun is there, call me Dave? But to be fair he wasn't born then. Perhaps "Bob-a-Job" is still alive and well, let's hope so.

Vyse

38

ENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINMENT FOR APRIL

2nd April – ABAKUS, Rock band 9th April – No entertainment, Free Pool, Free Snooker and Free Juke Box 16th April – TRIPLE X, Reggae band 23rd April – RAIDERS, from Rock 'n' Roll to present day 30th April – SKYLINERS, 60s/70s

MEMBERS FREE, GUESTS £4 WHEN ENTERTAINMENT PROVIDED OR £7 SPECIAL NIGHT

Don't forget to check out our page on facebook and our NEW website for information about bands, how to join as a member and all updates

and photo's of the great nights at the Social Club, www.thebuntingfordsocialclub.co.uk

BBBUNTINGFORDUNTINGFORDUNTINGFORD ANDANDAND DDDISTRICTISTRICTISTRICT SSSOCIALOCIALOCIAL CCCLUBLUBLUB C I U affiliated

6 Church Street, Buntingford, Herts. SG9 9AS

Telephone 01763 271889 www.thebuntingfordsocialclub.co.uk

www.lemonrock.com/buntingfordanddistrictsocialclub

BIG CASH BINGO EVERY MONDAY

Guaranteed £150 minimum snowball prize. ALL WELCOME – start time 8pm

Let 's give you a reminder of events

ALL MAJOR SPORTING EVENTS SHOWN, TIMES PERMITTING

♪ Live enterta inment on Saturdays except

2 nd Saturday in the month (unless otherwise announced) ♫

Plus: Dar ts ▪ Poo l ▪ Snooker ▪ W i i conso le

We have Club Knockouts for Darts, Crib, Pool and Snooker

AND DON’T FORGET, WE SELL THE CHEAPEST PINT IN BUNTINGFORD! We also have Happy Hour everyday 5:30pm to 6:30pm and Funday Sunday,

where the juke box, pool table and snooker table are free all day

New members always welcome and for any of you lapsed members, you are always welcome to rejoin at anytime.

GOLF DAYS Friday 6th May – Mill Green golf club Friday 17th June – The Hertfordshire Friday 22nd July – Hatfield London (Essendon) Friday 23rd September – Brickenden Breakfast at 9:00am – Tee off at 10:00am (all enquiries speak to Club chairman)

39

Our open morning on the final Friday of last half term was a great success. The children enjoyed sharing all their brilliant story work with parents and other visitors. Year 1 performed a Three Little Pigs dance whilst Reception children told the story of Chinese New Year and paraded with their dragon. Year 2 welcomed visitors to their Roald Dahl café and KS2 children told stories using their story boxes and made pop up books. The children certainly loved preparing for the occasion and were very excited to be entertaining parents and friends.

We celebrated World Book Day with a Family Reading Breakfast. Mums from our PTA started serving toast and jam, tea, coffee and juice from 8.30am and working flat out for an hour. We ate our way through nine loaves of bread! Many of our parents stayed to share comics, jokes and poems with their children. Everyone had a great time and it was lovely to see our hall full of parents and children enjoying reading together.

We have been having fun learning outdoors and the sun has kindly shone on us. Year 4 was busy investigating the River Rib and Year 3 has been studying rocks and soils in the school grounds. Reception children have enjoyed tracking the troll from the Billy Goats' Gruff story across the field. Year 1 has been looking at habitats and Year 2 has been testing surfaces outside for their train tracks. We are lucky to have our lovely school grounds and our interesting town of Buntingford to explore.

If you would like to find out more about our school, please visit our website at w w w . l a y s t o n . h e r t s . s c h . u k or contact us on 01763 271235.

Gill Langley – head teacher

LAYSTON C OF E FIRST SCHOOLLAYSTON C OF E FIRST SCHOOLLAYSTON C OF E FIRST SCHOOL

40

Global Travels

O m a n

Where palms, not high-rises, form the skyline Most visitors to the Middle East region look first at visiting the popular Dubai resorts. An alternative to the building sites and skyscrapers of Dubai is the Sultanate of Oman. Bordering the UAE in the Arabian Gulf, Oman remains unspoilt by over-development and offers an attractive location for a short break away from the mild British weather or a traditional fortnight's holiday in the sun.

Oman offers an exciting array of opportu-nities for exploration and discovery due to its diverse natural beauty and its colourful cultural heritage. Musandam, in the north offers majestic fjords whilst the south boasts virgin sandy beaches, magnificent deserts, rugged mountains and lush oases. Oman takes pride in its rich cultural and archaeological heritage, dating back to hundreds of years of trade and foreign influence, which is depicted in the country's over 500 forts and castles.

With all year round sunshine, Oman is an ideal place for either a short beach break in any of the 5*+ luxury beach hotels in the capital Muscat or combined with a more adventurous desert safari staying overnight at a Bedouin-style tented camp in the heart of the spectacular desert landscape. For the ultimate luxury experience, discover Musandam in the north and stay at the Six Senses Hideaway Zighy Bay in your own private pool villa, which provides generous space and presents an uncompromised standard of luxury. In the beautiful and traditionally built capital Muscat, there is a wealth of excellent 5 star beachside accom-modations as well as budget hotels. Must see places to visit in Muscat include the spectacular Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque set in beauti-f u l l y m a n i c u r e d gardens. Inside the massive prayer hall that can accommodate 7000 worshipers is the largest chandelier in the world at 50 feet high.

41

The prayer carpet is also the largest single woven carpet in the world. The mosque is only open to non-Muslims between 8am-11am and visitors should wear full-length leg and arm covering, and women must have their hair covered. Another must visit in Muscat is the Muttrah Souk located on the ornate marble paved corniche. Here you can use your haggling skills to obtain some great bargains. A visit outside Muscat must include a trip to Ras Al Hadd, a protected area where at night you can witness the fas-cinating sight of giant turtles ascending the beach to bury their eggs before returning to the water. Travel further south to the Wahiba sands where you will see some of the most beautiful and dramatic sand dunes in the world. Experience the thrills of an exhilarating 4x4 'dune bashing safari', and spend the night under the stars in a traditional Bedouin tent.

For more information call Jeff Jones at Global Travel Buntingford on 01763 273344

www.globaltravelbuntingford.com

42

Minibus trips for April 2011

Tues 5th

Thurs 7th Fri 8th Thurs 14th Tues 19th Wed 20th Wed 27th Thurs 28

th

Sat 30th

10:30am – 2:30pm 9:30am – 12ish 10:30am – 3:00pm 9:30am – 12ish 10:30am – 2:30pm 9:30am – 12ish 10:30am – 3:00pm 9:30am – 12ish 2:30pm

Country Homes & Gardens and Bury Lane Farm Shop, Melbourn – Cotton Traders, Edinburgh Woollen Mills, Plants, Deli. etc. Tesco at Bishop's Stortford. Brookfield Centre – Boots, M&S, Argos, Next, Tesco, etc. ALSO Easier Living Mobile Exhibition will be there that day. Bishop's Stortford Town Centre. Van Hage Garden Centre. Tesco at Bishop's Stortford. Welwyn Garden City – John Lewis, M&S, Debenhams, WHSmith, Boots etc. Bishop's Stortford Town Centre. Performance – "Little Shop of Horrors" at Gordon Craig. Tickets: £13.

Bus £4.50

Bus £4

Bus £6

£4

£5

£4

£6

£4

£4

May 2011

Thurs 5th Sat 28th

9:30am – 12ish 2:30pm

Tesco at Bishop's Stortford. Performance – "Half a Sixpence" at Gordon Craig. Tickets: £12.

Bus £4

Bus £4

B A L AB A L AB A L A Bunt ingford Act ion for the Less Able

Registered Charity No. 1094426

To book a seat or for more information phone 01763 273623 or 01763 271708

Coffee Morning Coffee Morning Coffee Morning at Benson Hall, Buntingford

Wednesday 13th

April 10:30pm – 12noon

Easter Raffle Cakes Bric-a-Brac

Proceeds for the Mini-bus

43

Gardening Year Gardening Year Gardening Year ––– Apr i lApr i lApr i l

Now that spring is well and truly here, there is plenty to keep you busy. Don't rush to buy tender plants until May as ground frosts at night are common. The Easter weekend gives us all a chance to get out in the garden.

General

Keep on top of weeding and fork over soil ready for May planting. Even better, fork

in some old garden compost/soil improver as you go.

Also you can mulch the soil with a layer of garden compost, bark chippings, manure

etc to suppress weeds and help the soil retain water during dry spells.

Feed borders with dressing of blood, fish and bone. Follow guidelines on pack.

Vegetables

Outdoors sow beetroot, broad beans, early carrots, lettuces, parsnips, peas,

radishes, spinach and spring onions.

Plant early and main crop potatoes but earth up shoots to protect from frost.

Trees and Shrubs

Cut off last year's hydrangea flower heads and shorten thin or old shoots.

Cut back overgrown laurel, bay, box, fatsia japonica, hebe and skimmia.

Feed roses with a general purpose fertilizer.

Lawns

If the weather is mild and the ground has warmed up reseed bare patches by

scattering lawn seed mixed with seed compost and water regularly.

Start feeding lawns and if necessary use a feed with moss or weedkiller.

Mow lawns weekly if weather is mild.

Flowers & Patio Pots

Remove top layer of old compost in permanently planted containers and top up with

new compost mixed with slow release fertiliser.

Plant hardened off hardy annuals, unsprouted dahlia tubers and gladioli.

Allow daffodil leaves to die off naturally before removing.

Ponds

Remove blanket weed and divide overgrown plants.

Add new water plants but leave planting or dividing water lilies until May.

Top Tips

I have surplus canes from my black bamboo. Various sizes, some up to 3mtr tall,

which would make good bean poles. Call me on 01763 271927 – a small donation for 'Help for Heroes' charity appreciated.

'Gardening Which?' Best buy – Joseph Bentley Stainless Steel Digging Spade at

circa £28 – from B&Q & independent garden centres.

Brian Lemay brianlemay@btinternet.com

44

If you would like to have your event in the diary of events pages,If you would like to have your event in the diary of events pages,If you would like to have your event in the diary of events pages, please contact please contact please contact Aliya ChowneyAliya ChowneyAliya Chowney on on on 01763 27204001763 27204001763 272040

or email: aliyachowney@btinternet.comor email: aliyachowney@btinternet.comor email: aliyachowney@btinternet.com

TACTICS TENNIS

ROUND ROBIN POSTAL TOURNAMENT SPRING/SUMMER 2011

LADIES DOUBLES The event is open to all players providing they play their matches within a 25 mile radius of Buntingford.

The aim of the event is to give players the opportunity of playing several matches in their own locality against players of a similar standard. It is emphasised that all casual players should enter as well as team players as the event will be seeded. The tournament will be structured so that some matches will be played at their home venue at times convenient to all players.

At the beginning of the tournament entries are grouped into manageable sections of half a dozen or so by ability and locality, each pair playing every other pair in their section. Depending on the size of entry the top one or maybe two pairs will proceed to the next round and so on towards a final which will be played at the end of the summer on a date convenient to the finalists.

For those of you who want day-time only matches please specify this on your entry form. Day-time only matches will be for the casual/social player only and there will be a separate division included for these players.

Each pair will be notified of matches they are due to play, the home pair will provide the venue, balls and if possible refreshments. The home pair should also inform their opponents of toilet facilities at the venue. Each match will be the best of 3 sets: 2 tie break sets and a 3rd long set. On completion of the matches the results should be sent to the organiser at the address below. I f e n t r y f o r m s a r e u n u s e d p l e a s e p a s s t h e m t o y o u r f r i e n d s

E n t r y f e e £ 2 5 p e r p a i r

Cheques should be made payable to TACTICS TENNIS and sent to: Liz Wade, 81 High Street, Buntingford, Herts. SG9 9AE

Tel: 01763 273646 mobile: 07930 576021 email: tacticstennis@hotmail.com

Please enc lose a se l f addressed s tamped envelope

Closing date for entries April 16 th 2011