Chipperfield News

May 2010

Chipperfield Common Management Winter 2009/10 n January 2009 the management plan was reviewed as part of the ‘Green Flag’ process that the Common now enjoys. The emphasis switched from ‘continuous canopy cover’ achieved through programmed woodland thinning to creation of open glades and of ‘edge’ alongside major paths. This winter therefore has been busy with lots of activity both from The Friends of Chipperfield Common (FofCC) and two sets of tree work contractors engaged by . A 40 metre wide glade has been created round each of the ancient sweet chestnuts and a previously lost area of heath with gorse restored near The Windmill. Pruning work to stabilise and encourage new growth has been undertaken on 6 of the 8 ancient sweet chestnuts. Several hundred metres of paths have been opened up with the creation of a 4 metre (each side) ‘edge’ whereby most of the smaller trees were removed. This edge creation work is designed to give a more open, secure feel for walkers and to allow more sunlight and wind through to the paths and surfaces. Once linked with the open glade areas this will act as a network of wildlife corridors with increased plants, insects, birds and, hopefully, bats that would otherwise not penetrate the previously dark corridors. FofCC have also been busy concentrating on first Manor Pond then Pill Pond. Manor Pond had its water supply restored by simply re-cutting the channel that allows road water to flow in. The following night it poured with rain and the pond re-filled. Over three mornings of work FofCC also cleared overgrowing trees and the pond is more open now. Pill Pond has been seasonally dry for many years and despite looking for a water supply none has been found and so we must rely on ground and rain water with a little road run off. Over another three mornings FofCC restored a view of the pond and cut back most of the overgrown willows. To join the Friends of Chipperfield Common please contact either Vanessa Johnson 01442 228844 [email protected] or Jo Deacon 01923 263310 The annual Chipperfield Common guided walk is on Wednesday 19 May at 7.00pm from the cricket ground car park.

A Summer Tea Party Tuesday 29 June 3-5 Pm

If you live in Chipperfield and are over 60, Chipperfield Care would like to invite you to a summer party at New Hall Farm. Come and meet old friends and make new ones. Enjoy wonderful cream teas, sandwiches and cakes. The roses will be blooming and the sun shining but if wet tea will be in the Studio! Transport to and from the Farm can be provided. If you would like to come, please contact: Sue Ellis: 01923 263010 or [email protected] by 15 June. Looking forward to seeing you.

St Paul's School

School Sport Some of our Year 6 pupils have taken part in a lacrosse tournament. They managed to win the area heats and got into the regionals and they came 10th. Some pupils in Year 5 and 6 took part in a tag rugby tournament on 26th March. They managed to get into the finals against Primary School. Unfortunately they lost, but they lost with pride! We also took part in a dance competition, on 31st March, including some of year 5 and 6 pupils. It was about “Where The Wild Things Are.” We didn’t win, but we did really well, and we really enjoyed it. Staff leaving We were very sad because two of our much loved staff have left. They were Mrs Chalk who was our dinner lady, cleaner and lolly pop lady. She had been at our school for 20 years. The other leaver was Mrs Willis who was a trainee teacher in Year Six. Mrs Chalk has left so she can go and look after her grandchild and Mrs Willis so she can go back to university. So we are all very sad but we wish them good luck for the future. Eco News We have achieved our bronze award and as you know we are moving on to our silver award. One of the many things we have to do is to make an eco code of all the things we can do to help the environment. We know now we are getting new equipment this Easter and the eco schools went round and took pictures of the playground before the equipment arrived. After it has arrived we will take some more

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pictures of the school and compare them. The thing that is affecting us the most is people driving to school! If you can walk instead of drive please do! Written by the pupils

Blackwell's The Village Club

One year on To celebrate our first year we are holding Blackwell’s Big Band Bash on Sunday 30 May from midday. Around 12 different bands and solo artists throughout the day. Barbecue, if the weather permits. All are welcome. This has been a great first year for us, meeting new people and some really great new friends, creating Christenings, Birthday and Christmas parties for you. We would like to thank everyone for their continuing support. We have endeavoured to please everyone; young, old, local, Tennis Club, Football Club, Trustees and further afield. In most cases we have had a lot of positive feedback with what we are trying to achieve at Blackwell’s from Bingo , Open Mic Nights, Buffets, Venue Hire, Parties, Sunday Music, Breakfast, Real Ale, etc. The list goes on with more on the way; Pizza, takeaways, puddings, later closing hour for food, new summer menu. You can also advertise your business on our video board. Please ask any one of our staff for details. All details are also available on our website. Just a reminder, you don’t have to be a member to enjoy Blackwell’s but it does help. Thanks again to everyone for their support and hope the next year is just as good if not better. Steve and Paul Ward

The Lanes Children's Centre

Building work on the site at St. Paul’s School is really moving on at a pace now and, all being well, the centre should be open for business in early June! In the meantime, we have been busy carrying out our regular activities, together with some extra ones during the Easter holidays. Families enjoyed an Easter Egg Hunt on Chipperfield Common and some Easter themed messy play and music sessions in . The mobile toy library is proving very popular and we have new members joining each week who take advantage of borrowing some really great toys for their children for use at home or at parties. We have increased the locations where the mobile toy library can be accessed to ensure that the whole community have the chance to borrow the resources, including some brilliant story sacks and larger toys, such as a bouncy castle and an inflatable limbo, which are ideal for parties! Weekly Events Bovingdon Under 1’s Tuesday 2pm-4pm. Clubroom of the Memorial Hall, High Street, Bovingdon. Includes a new MUSIC SESSION WITH THE LANES VERY OWN JO from 2.10pm - 2.40pm. Whole session £1.50 including refreshments. Toy Library. Wednesday Wigwams Children 0-5 years Wednesday 1.30pm-3.00pm. Baptist Church, High Street, Bovingdon. Alternates weekly between ‘Messy Play’ and a new MUSIC SESSION WITH THE LANES VERY OWN JO. £2.50 for the whole family for the music week or £2 for the whole family for a ‘Messy Play’ week. Toy library. Parent & Toddler Group. Fridays from 9.30am. Village Hall. Toy library. If you require further information regarding the Children’s Centre services or becoming involved with the Children’s Centre, please contact: Zoë Hier: 01923 262640 or 07966 966352 zoe.hier@pre- school.org.uk

Chipperfield Afternoon W.i.

Sheena Millington’s talk was about the making of the Quaker Tapestry. It is unified crewel embroidery of 77 panels conveying insights and experieces of the religious Society of Friends. 4,000 Friends and children in 10 countries have participated in the embroidery. Her slides showed its beauty and skill which includes the new ‘Quaker Stitch’ which she will demonstrate to us in June.

Chipperfield Evening W.i.

Charlotte Clifford addressed the meeting regarding her role as Clerk to the Worshipful Company of Farriers. Mention of the Farriers was first recorded in 1232 noting they paid a 'pipe roll' of 6 horseshoes plus 61 nails to the monarch. Documents record they were requested by the Mayor to form a Guild in 1356; they celebrated 650 years in existence in 2006. Farriers also worked as horse doctors prior to the 18th century when veterinary training began. Mrs Clifford has worked for the Livery company for 12 years, first as Assistant then as Clerk. She is the first lady to be appointed and is the 24th clerk since the 15th century.

Chipperfield Care

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Annual General Meeting held on 10 March 2010 Our Chairman, Lady Nichols, welcomed everyone. The organiser, Ann Soanes, gave her report in which she said that in the past 12 months two of our wonderful volunteers, Bill Beavis and Sally Main, had died. They are both very sadly missed. Neville Thomas, who had been both a duty officer and driver, and latterly a client, had also passed away as had Dick Neil after a long illness, bravely borne. Our thoughts were with their families. During the year we received 173 calls from clients. This was 47 more than the previous year and were mainly requests for transport to surgeries, dentists, physios, opticians and hospitals. We received a grant from the Parish Council which helped us to arrange with the Red Cross for Year 6 of St Paul’s School to be given a First Aid course. This had been very successful and so Care have again applied for a further grant for the present Year 6. Waitrose of Rickmansworth chose us to be one of their three charities in April and members were urged to shop at Waitrose and support Care. We have also applied for a small grant from Community Foundation. If successful we would like to arrange for mini buses, with tail lifts, to take some of our more disabled and housebound clients out for a drive, followed by tea. The tea party, which we held last year, complete with a table magician, was a great success. Ann ended her report by thanking all the volunteers for the tremendous support she had received. Vic Archer, our Treasurer, presented his financial statement after which he invited questions. He was thanked for all his work for Care in keeping our accounts in order. Mark Jarrad has agreed to be Care’s Independent Adviser for the coming year. The election of officers and management committee took place with Lady Nichols as Chairman, Tony Cornell as Organiser, Vic Archer as Treasurer and Jacqui Taylor as Secretary. Sue Ellis is retiring having been Secretary for the past ten years and Ann Soanes is also retiring having been Organiser for the past three years. Lady Nichols thanked them both very much for all their hard work. The date for the next Annual General Meeting is Wednesday 23 March 2011.

Roman

Our team of 3 Catechists are busy instructing 18 children in preparation for their first Holy Communion this May. This year, rather than have a dedicated Mass, the children will receive the Sacrament for the first time during the 11am Masses, some on 16 May and the remainder on 23 May. In this way, the whole parish is more involved and fully supportive on this important day in each of these children’s lives. Similarly, it is Fr. Terry’s intention that the Sacrament of Baptism in future will be celebrated during the Parish Mass. This will emphasise that a Baptism is not purely a private occasion for family and friends but the reception of the child into the Christian community. For a number of years, Fr. Jan has been a well loved face around our parish, helping both Fr. Des and Fr. Terry, and also looking after the whole parish. In recent months he has been based at St Saviour’s, , but next week he will exchange parishes with Fr John Vallomprayil SDS to become Parish Priest at St Michael’s, Pollards Hill, in Mitcham, SW London. We all wish him well and sincerely hope to welcome him again here in Chipperfield from time to time. St George’s Day is to be celebrated by an event new to our Parish – snail racing! Perhaps this new sport is creeping across ; just slow to arrive here. The accompanying supper of sausage and mash, however, sounds very English.

St Paul's And Holy Cross

Well, some will be delighted that their party has been elected to govern….others will be disappointed …. A good proportion of the nation will feel their vote doesn’t count as they live in Someone’s ‘safe seat’ …. A significant minority of people will not have voted at all. But at least we have some sort of choice to decide who should be our political leaders for the next few years….and who leads us, what their motivations are and how they exercise the authority entrusted to them will impact on us all. Whilst we may feel we have little choice in who leads us politically, each and everyone of us has real choice as to who governs us within. This month the church celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit to the followers of Jesus, some seven weeks after God raised Him from the tomb. The Holy Spirit comes to make the invisible Lord of all real in our lives, showing us God’s love, His understanding of us, and to empower us to be fully human , becoming in character more like the man Jesus, and building us together in community: He has a hard job! Now, we don’t have to welcome Him into our lives; we can live as our own ‘boss’, living, speaking, and doing as we think best. My sense is that God, our creator, has much better qualifications to be the inspiration in my day to day living than I on my own will ever have! What is more, I value enormously the way He continues to build me together with others who really welcome his presence in their lives. This is a ‘vote’ each of us has the power to make, which really does impact on everything in our daily lives, for now, and in the long run for eternity. So who might it be that governs within in the life that is yours? With my greetings, Jim Stevens

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Baptist Church

At the time of writing none of us are sure when the general election will be. All indications are that it will happen early to mid May. So have you been practicing writing your cross? Have you decided which party to vote for? Are you even going to bother at all? The last question is a crucial one. The lack of enthusiasm at the last election and the never ending scandals over recent months, will lead many of us to think why on earth should we vote. Can I offer a thought? When my first child was born, a wise man said to me, “We get the children we deserve”. I want to pose this question to all of us, “Do we get the politicians we deserve?” With our children our hope is to steer them to the right kind of behaviour, to shape their attitudes towards others and to teach them to make a worthwhile contribution to society. Should we ask that of our politicians? In truth, for all the scandal, they are not all bad. The very behaviour, attitudes and character we wish to see in our children are seen in the overwhelming number of politicians of all colours, shapes or sizes. The real facts, when you get behind the screaming headlines, bear this out. That some have been caught with their hands in the cookie jar, so to speak, should not deflect us from what should be a driving force to change our society for the better. Often the manifestos offered by any of the parties are based on focus groups and forums. Who makes up these groups? Well, us, the general public, those that they wish to ingratiate and therefore capture our vote. If we are honest we don’t vote to shape behaviour, attitudes and make a worthwhile contribution to society but we vote for our own interests. How different is that to having our hands in the cookie jar? Love Jason, The Man in the Manse Church News The Women’s World Day of Prayer service held in Village Hall on 5 March was attended by around 60 people and was a great occasion. The title this year was ‘Let everything that Has Breath Praise God’ - written by the Christian women of Cameroon - which we celebrated with joy as we processed into the hall while playing tambourines and shakers! It was a very moving experience, especially knowing that we were part of the wider fellowship of Christians on that day throughout the world Our Family Quiz Evening in March was a great success and raised £190 to help fund a life-saving trip to America for a young lad with a rare form of cancer. The church was filled with a good number of people and their families, who also enjoyed a light supper at half time. Thank you all for your support On 22 May we shall be holding our annual MAY FAIR and on 12 June we have a FAMILY BEETLE EVENING.

Chipperfield Corinthians Football Club

The 2009/2010 season has now reached close to the end although due to the poor weather over the last few months it has meant both teams still have a fair number of games left and there will be a number of midweek games needed to complete the fixtures. The first team under the leadership of Derek Hall are currently still 7th out of 16 in the Herts County Premier Division which is a very creditable performance following the promotion achieved last season. They have won 9, drawn 3 and only lost 6 of their 18 league games. The last week saw contrasting fortunes with the team missing some of the regular players and losing to Heath who were close to the bottom of the league, only to bounce back in superb fashion beating league leaders Wormley who had until then only lost 1 league game all season. If Chipperfield win their two games in hand they will move up to fifth. The second team under the leadership of Jason Ward & Peter Dent have improved their position and are now currently sitting in the runner-up position in the Herts County Reserve Divison 2 having won 9, drawing 4 and only losing 3 of their 16 league games. There are now 6 games left and a good finish will see them move into the top Reserve division. The club have their own website and you can follow the progress of both teams and get details of matches: www.pitchero.com/clubs/chipperfieldcorinthians/ Most games are Saturday afternoons although there will be some midweek games and all the players would welcome your support. Martyn Dicker

Chipperfield Choral Society

The beautiful chapel of the Royal Masonic School for Girls was the venue for the annual spring concert on 20 March. Musical Director, Delia Meehan, conducted the choir and orchestra in the Polovtsian Dances from Borodin’s opera, Prince Igor, with those well known themes made popular in the musical Kismet during the 1950s. Bobby Chen on the piano added a tremendous sparkle to Beethoven’s Choral Fantasia in C minor. At times with tones of a piano concerto, the work came to a splended choral finale in much the same way as did the composer’s later Ninth Symphony. Mezzo-soprano, Joanne Thomas, joined the choir as solosit in Elgar’s The Music Makers which concluded the evening’s programme. This work included themes used in Elgar’s earlier works such as Gerontius and the Enigma Variations and both choir and soloist did a fine job in making the

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performance a thoroughly enjoyable one. Terry Simmonds

Kings Langley Bowls Club

We are holding a COME AND TRY BOWLS morning at the Kings Langley Bowls Club on Sunday 9 May 10.00am-1.00pm. So why not join us and bring along family and friends for a fun morning. There will be a team of members on hand to show you the rudiments of the game. Equipment will be provided but please wear flat soled shoes. The new Boules rink will also be open. After you have tried your hand at bowls we would like you to join us for cheese and wine in the clubhouse when bowlers can meet other members of the club and find out a little more about the club. Please could you telephone Lucinda or Geoff on 01923 262857 if you would like to come along.. There will be coaching sessions on Sunday mornings 10.00am-12 noon through May to September.

Chipperfield Horticultural Society

Spring Show - Saturday 10th March 2010 Despite the very cold and long winter that we have just experienced, the Spring Show was a great success. Although there were not the long tables filled with vases of daffodils that we usually have, we had a very large entry in floral art so that the village hall was full of wonderful spring flowers. The classes for painting and drawing were fabulous, perhaps these exhibits were done during the winter months when we could not get out and about in our gardens. The domestic section was mouth watering and all three classes for photography were full to bursting. All in all a great day, thoroughly enjoyed by exhibitors and visitors alike who not only had a visual feast but also a culinary one as the cream teas were very popular with everyone. The day finished with an auction of produce and a raffle. Overall points winner Pauline Williams was presented with the Abrahams Cup and Ann Soanes as runner up was presented with the H. Simmonds Cup. Put the date in your diary for our Summer Show, Saturday 19 June .

A Lady In Waiting

Spring at last and once again its lambing time. ‘Put the ram in on bonfire night and get lambs at Easter’ the old saying goes. Well, I got twins just before Easter but I am still waiting for Sally. Katy, the oldest ewe, is a very good mum and rather conveniently nearly always has her lambs in the daytime. She was true to form again this time, one just before lunch and one just after. She gave me a nice ewe lamb, Lucy, and a neat little ram, Chris. All seemed to have gone well, my only concern was that the grass hadn’t grown much and they do need plenty of nourishment. I dished out extra sheep mix and they have a feed block to lick but the next day Katy looked a bit off colour. I did not want to lose her and end up with 2 lambs to bottle feed so I was a bit concerned. Epson Salts is a good old farmer’s stand by so she got a drop of that, extra food and a bit of T.L.C. and the next day she was fine. Lucy and Chris are full of beans, running races and using their poor mother as a trampoline, but I do wish Sally would produce some playmates for them. My sheep are all Shetlands which are very hardy and usually lamb easily. In Shetland they would lamb outside but mine get portable red huts with DANGER EXPLOSIVES written on the outside. They never bother about the weather but they always lamb in the huts. I then put a hurdle across the front and keep them shut in with their lambs for a few hours to ‘mother up’. I check up on Sally last thing at night and first thing in the morning and keep an eye out while I am in the garden. She is very affectionate and comes to have her cheeks rubbed at bedtime and is lapping up the extra attention but I wish she would get on with it. Wendy Bathurst

May In Your Garden

Spring was very late arriving this year with the majority of daffodils flowering in April rather than in March. Hopefully, the seasons will catch up and we should be able, with safety, to plant out the tender bedding plants towards the end of May as usual. Always be prepared to cover up vulnerable plants with something like garden fleece should we get a surprise late frost. As soon as possible, get the hanging baskets planted up in the greenhouse so that plants can get growing before the baskets are hung up outside. Use a good compost and add SwellGel which helps conserve moisture. Fuchsias, geraniums, begonias and busy lizzies are ideal plants for baskets and so too are trailing petunias, million bells, verbena, lobelia, diascia, helichrysum, bidens and bacopa. Herbs, srawberries and tumble tomatoes can be used to make up edible hanging baskets. Tubs, troughs and window boxes can be planted up too. Do find time to have a look at plant ideas on view at the garden centre. In

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the garden borders candytuft, clarkia, eschscholzia, godetia and nigella can be sown direct now and thinned out later. Towards the end of the month plant out the bedding plants such as geraniums, fuchsias,busy lizzies, asters, salvias, petunias, begonias, and edging plants such as lobelia and alyssum. Then plant out tubers of dahlias and cannas and the rest of the summer flowering bulbs such as gladioli. After flowering, remove dead flowers from daffodils, leave the foliage and add fertilizer. In the vegetable garden it is time to sow beet and carrots, cauliflower, and summer cabbage, plus peas, spinach and turnips. At the end of the month marrows and courgettes, aubergines, outdoor tomatoes and runner beans can be planted. The last of the seed potatoes can be planted now and the early potatoes should be earthed up as the foliage grows. Keep up with the hoeing and make sure that crops are watered as necessary. Feed with growmore fertilizer and make sure that slugs and snails are kept at bay. Herbs can be planted now and tender plants such as sweet basil can be planted soon. Carry out regular sowing of salads such as lettuce and radish so as to keep up a succession. Hardy border perennial such as lupins, delphiniums, penstemmon, campanula, dianthus, hemerocallis, lavender, salvia, verbena and verbascum should be planted now. All plants grown in containers can still be planted. Once they have flowered, spring flowering shrubs should be pruned. Roses should be sprayed against black spot, mildew and rust every 2 or 3 weeks. Feed roses shrubs and perennial with a fertilizer such as Toprose or Vitax Q4 Tickets for the Chelsea Flower Show which takes place from 25 to 29 May must be obtained in advance from 0844 338 7528 or rhs.org.uk/chelsea. The Malvern Spring Garden show runs from 7 - 9 May and tickets may be obtained from 01684 584924 or at the gate (tickets for 6 May no longer available). Local gardens open to the public and well worth a visit include Abbots House, Abbots Langley; Patchwork, Hall Park Gate, Berkhamstead and Ragged Hall, Gaddesden Row all on 2 May; 9 Tannsfield Drive, on 9 May and Great Sarratt Hall on 30 May. Terry Simmonds

Kerry Camden

Kerry lived in Chipperfield with his wife, Diana, for over 40 years and died peacefully at home with his family around him. As a professional musician playing the bassoon, Kerry worked with many of the major orchestras in London and also spent many years as principal bassoon in the London Mozart Players. He was professor at the Royal College of Music and in 1992 was awarded a fellowship of the College. He took great interest in tutoring and travelled to Hong Kong, Oman and Canada. Kerry provided backing music for many films, including some James Bond, and also had sessions with the Rolling Stones. He was a founder and Musical Director of the Sinfonia Orchestra and conducted their 25th anniversary concert in January this year. His music course in Berwang, Austria, will celebrate its 50th anniversary this August – unfortunately he will not be there. Kerry always loved the peace and tranquillity of Chipperfield; often walking around the village with an ice-cream in hand! A huge thank you to all who attended his service and for the donations sent to The Hospice of St Francis.

Village Hall Barn Dance

Saturday 13 March Local villagers got together for a fun evening Barn Dance which raised £788 for Village Hall funds. As always, Ken Turfrey and his group provided the music with Debbie, the Caller. Anne Stickland organised the evening which included an excellent two course hot supper. The event was a great success. Our thanks are given to Anne and her helpers and to those working at the bar. Richard Edwards

www.chipperfield.org.uk

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