COMMUNITY NEWS IDEAS DATES SUGGESTIONS EVENTS POINTS OF VIEW NEWS GrapevineGrapevineTHE October ‘10 50p THE NEWSLETTER OF COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION

as soon as possible. But the new coalition government has FLACKWELL HEATH its own ideas for the future and until the school knows what LIBRARY the Government expects of We are starting to run our them they cannot plan major Internet Tasting Sessions changes. But some interesting again from this month. These ideas will be tried. sessions will cover the very basics of For example Mrs Dru would like computer use, but will include how to to develop a Parent Council to set up a web based email account and advise on what parents would how to search the library catalogue. like to see at the school. In her Sessions are free but must be pre-booked first week she began to go out to and will be on a one to one basis lasting parents waiting to collect their approx 1 hour. For more information children after school and had please call into the library. some very useful conversations. Well done to all the children who took She would like the Students part in our Summer Reading Challenge - Council, made up of representatives we had children galore reaching for the Mrs Daphne Dru elected by each class, to discuss stars and space hopping throughout the Carrington Junior’s New Head significant issues like whether a stronger universe. Hope you all enjoyed reading the books. The new Head Teacher at Carrington ‘house system’ and wearing house Junior School is Mrs Daphne Dru. At badges would give children a greater We now have an automated renewal the end of last term, when Mrs Plaskitt sense of belonging to the school and hotline 0303 1230035. You will need retired, the Governors were unable to what topics might be included in themed a PIN to use this service so if you don't appoint a suitable replacement. Mrs weeks. have one check when you next come Dru had not applied for the job and on I hope to report the more significant into the library so we can set one up for the strength of having been a successful developments in the Grapevine when the you. Deputy Head for five years she was Government has made its expectations For more information on library services, asked to take over with the designation known. opening hours and events please visit ‘Acting Head’ for this school year. Just in case you are wondering, her our website. www.buckscc.gov.uk She went into teaching by way of a degree surname comes down from her husband’s Alison Harvey in Social Science and Administration great-grandfather who was French. from London University followed by a Tim Kendell PGCE teaching qualification. She has been a teacher for 16 years. Before coming to Carrington she had taught at Primary Schools in Marlow and Wycombe. Her new job is very different from teaching but she plans to do some class teaching not only to keep her hand in but also to keep in contact with the children. Mrs Dru is also a hockey coach and she trains the rather successful Carrington hockey team. She describes her husband and children as a ‘hockey family’ for their successes at club and international level. Her youngest daughter is currently on a four year hockey scholarship at Stamford University USA. A new Head usually comes in with a range of new ideas they want implement CHATTELWORTH FLACKWELL HEATH Residents’ Association LIMITEDCW PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENT GROUP All general building work plus We are sure you will have noticed the Full Decorating Service wonderful displays of summer flowering Purpose-Made Joinery plants in the planters outside Radhuni Maintenance Free Products and on the corner of Chapman Lane First class service at competitive prices and Sedgmoor Road. The Residents’ Call now for a no obligation estimate Association have been pleased to Local Authority Approved provide the plants and we are indebted 95a Queens Road, , Bucks to Jeff Herschel for planting them. You HP13 6AH will probably wonder how the displays Tel/fax 01494 461544 in the planters have done so well in the dry weather over the summer. Our thanks go to the staff of Radhuni for watering the planter outside the restaurant and special thanks to Charles Colton and Charlie Hobbs who have tended the planter on the corner of Chapman Lane, as they have carried water a considerable with a great sense of humour and distance to keep it looking so fresh. considerable common sense. Her ‘get We are pleased to report Wycombe on with it’ attitude spurred us on and District Council Planning Officers took her accountancy skills have enabled us notice of our objections to the planning to make headway with our projects to application for 28 Sedgmoor Road in make the village a nicer place to live. their refusal. It was good that a number She will be sorely missed by us all as of near neighbours also put pen to paper she helped the Association in so many expressing their concerns. It is important ways and was always prepared to go the that unsuitable developments receive as extra mile. many objections as possible; otherwise Carolyn Leonard WDC is not aware of our concerns. Chair of FHRA Planning and Finally I should like to pay a personal Environment Group tribute to my friend and colleague on 01628 526512 the Residents’ Association Executive, fhra-planning-environment@ our Treasurer, Maureen Shepherd, who flackwellheath.net Adams Taxi very unexpectedly passed away in ~ Service ~ August. Maureen was a lovely lady, FH Residents’ Association 24 hours - 7 days a week seeks a New Treasurer FlackwellHeath www.rphtreeservices.co.uk Following the untimely death of 01628 290123 Maureen Shepherd the Residents’ Your Local Tree Surgeon Reliable, friendly service Association would like to find a new Office: 01628 533355 Treasurer. The job involves keeping Senior Citizen Tokens accepted track of the finances of the Association Flackwell Heath to: - Mobile: 07748 314950 as a whole and of the Cherry Fayre and Specialists Heathrow - Email: [email protected] reporting to the Executive Committee. Terminals 1,2 & 3 £25 At the end of the financial year the in airport Terminals 4 & 5 £28 Treasurer prepares the accounts, transfers Luton Airport £45 which are externally audited before Gatwick Airport £55 • and local presentation to the AGM and the City Airport £50 Installation journeys • Charity Commissioners. St Pancras (Eurostar) £48 Sales Oxford £40 • The Treasurer is automatically a High Street Wycombe £7 Any • Plumbing Design member of the Executive Committee Marlow £8 • Electrical • which meets about eight times a year genuine (Part P approved) A truly local Beaconsfield £7 and she/he needs to work closely quote Cookham £6 • Carpentry company Slough £20 • Plastering dedicated to with the Cherry Fayre Group to keep matched serving Windsor £22 • Tiling them aware of their finances. • Painting & decorating South Bucks. Maidenhead £12 Great kitchens If you would like to know more please For more information or to arrange your free quote and bathrooms ring Pam Mannering (Chairman) call Andy on: 01494 474236 are what we do. 01628 525317, Chloe Barrow Licenced by Council All work is fully or FREEPHONE 0800 644 6754 (Secretary) 01628 526547 or Carolyn (Licence No. OP279) References available insured. www.totallykitchensandbathrooms.com Leonard 01628 526512. SECURITY LIGHTS posters relating to ‘Trick or At the end of this month, the Treat’. Remember, if your clocks go BACK one hour children are old enough as we revert to Greenwich to be allowed out without Mean Time (GMT), so the adult accompaniment, “Taste the Goodness” – You are evenings will get dark that they are TOO old to be warmly invited to celebrate Harvest much earlier. Now is the time ‘Trick or Treating’. Any anti- Festival on Sunday 3 October. At to review your security lighting, social behaviour should be 8.30am Holy Communion there will both inside and outside your home. reported – see the relevant phone be a special focus on our village Inside, remember to re-set any timers numbers below. Allotment Holders; at 10.00am the controlling lights to reflect the earlier ‘PHISHING’ E-MAILS all-age service will be shared with dusk. Outside, check that any PIR- By now, everyone must be aware the Flackwell Heath Girls Brigade, controlled flood-lights are functioning of the situation relating to HMRC and at 6.30pm Communion Service, correctly, but remember, any outside and under- or over-paid tax! It has as well as Harvest, we will also be flood-light should be angled so as to been reported that ‘phishing’ e-mails praying for those who need healing- only illuminate your property – not started to appear within hours of the prayer. Any Harvest Gifts you bring the whole road! Your neighbours original announcement by HMRC. will be distributed to those in need in will not welcome their houses being Such e-mails suggest that the recipient Flackwell Heath and to Age Concern. floodlit by every passing pedestrian, is entitled to a tax rebate but require Tins, packets and fresh produce are car, cat or dog triggering your lights – the provision of bank details in order all welcomed. especially in the middle of the night! to receive the refund. Should you On Wednesday 20 October (7.30pm) OPERATION GRIM REAPER receive such an e-mail, ignore it and Christ Church is hosting a “Convivial delete it straight away. HMRC will will be 5* Buffet” at Flackwell Heath never contact you by e-mail, only by implementing Operation Grim Golf Club with speaker Capt Brian letter. Similar ‘phishing’ e-mails have Reaper again this year, to target Walpole OBE, former chief pilot also been reporting offering refunds any anti-social behaviour over with Concorde. Brian had a long of Council Tax. Again, ignore and the Halloween and Bonfire Night association with Concorde and will delete such e-mails – they will NOT period. The operation will run from be sharing many fascinating facts be genuine, even if they look it. late October to early November. and stories about the aircraft. He has Trading Standards will conduct spot For further information about a strong Christian faith, so will also checks at relevant premises to ensure any of these topics or about share how his faith has influenced that fireworks are not being sold Neighbourhood Watch, contact: his life. When he left the RAF he to underage persons. The Fire & David Gresswell – Area Co- joined BOAC/British Airways and Rescue Service will be visiting local ordinator, Flackwell Heath subsequently became chief Concorde schools to promote firework safety 01628 525019 e-mail: flackwell- pilot and General Manager of the awareness, and local shops to ensure [email protected]) Concorde Division. Tickets from the fireworks are being stored correctly. Church Office at £10. Members of the Neighbourhood Police General & Non-emergency A ‘Light and Bright’ Family Fun Policing Team will also be visiting number: 0845 8 505 505 Night for All Saints Eve will be held local shops and off-licences to ask Public Safety Team (Anti-social at the Church Centre on Sunday 31 for their co-operation, and to be extra behaviour): 01494 421087 October from 6.00pm to 7.30pm. It is vigilant during the period and not Crimestoppers (Anonymous): an evening of fun, games, excitement sell eggs, flour, alcohol or fireworks 0800 555 111 and competitions for all the family. to those individuals suspected of The cost is just £1 per person, to potentially misusing them. Various Trading Standards (Consumer include a hotdog. Book your place posters will also be available from Direct): 0845 4 04 05 06 with the Church Office Thames Valley Police promoting these issues as well as several Halloween On Sunday 31 October at 8.30am and 10am we will be welcoming Eddie Arthur, Executive Director of Wycliffe Bible Translators based at Horsleys Green, who will be speaking on “The Impact of the Bible on British Culture and Worldwide” in preparation for next year’s 400th anniversary of the publishing of the King James Bible. Please contact the Church Office in Chapel Road for details of regular services and further information on any of the above: 01628 533004 (9.00am – 1.00pm Monday to Friday). Age Concern Watercolour Classes Want to try watercolours? Or maybe Day Centre improve your technique? Consider The Flackwell and Loudwater Day the group who meet at the Community Centre has been open for 26 years - and Centre. They are part of U3A (University we are wondering how many people in of the 3rd Age), an umbrella group, our village know what we do. open to all, which offers access to many From Monday to Thursday we offer activities. The watercolour class, which transport and a good hot lunch at a started in March 2010, is held in the reasonable cost, plus some crafts and Sarney Room at the Community Centre activities, company and sharing lots of on Thursdays from 2 - 4.30pm. There laughs for elderly folk who feel isolated are about 14 people, men and women, at home, or whose carers would aged 50+, and it is a friendly group with welcome a break. If you know of anyone an encouraging atmosphere. Take your in such a situation who could enjoy a own equipment, paints, paper etc. No day out in company of folk in similar previous expertise is required. circumstances, please contact our The group is tutored by Joanne Nicholl, Centre Manager, Jacky Retallack-Hall a former art teacher. Sometimes she on 01628 526113, who will arrange a starts the class with a demonstration and visit to the Centre to talk about what we discussion of a particular technique, can offer and if it is the right place to be say drawing or washes, and then of any help. participants continue with their own Tomatoes and Grapes both by Joanne Nicholl, Alongside this service, we also invite work. Joanne comes round and gives anyone 60+ to join our Lunch Club individual comments and advice. to express interest/go on the waiting list, for a freshly cooked 2-course meal (at Associate membership of U3A is £8 per please contact one of the Convenors, present £4) for themselves or with a year; the cost of the watercolour classes June Lysaght 01628 526068 or Pam couple of friends. This has proved to be is £2 per session, payable termly in Gresswell 01628 525019. very popular with folk in the village and advance. Sue Arnautov bookings can be made by phoning the The class is full for the autumn term, but Centre 01628 526113. Come and see - saves cooking for yourself! With lots of local news about other Day Centres threatened with closure Mary Harding - we will be pleased to hear from anyone who would like to know more hosts about what we can offer to elderly A Social Afternoon in Support of Ashton Opticians people in Flackwell Heath, Loudwater, Troops Overseas on Christmas Day OPTOMETRISTS Green, Bourne End and the 1 Acorn House, 12-16 Straight Bit, Flackwell Heath nearby surrounding areas. We are an Sunday 17 October 3 pm to 6 pm At the Royal British Legion Club independent organisation with purpose- PRIVATE AND NHS EYE EXAMINATIONS built, well equipped premises and Featuring the very popular SPECTACLES & CONTACT LENSES qualified staff. In most cases we could Billy Jones and Kevin Taylor provide transport in our own minibus. (Strapped for Cash) Your independent practice in Flackwell Heath Volunteers - If you would like to find out Bumper Prize Raffle more about being a volunteer in any way for value, style and personal service at the Centre - by driving our minibus, Tickets £5 from helping in the kitchen, shopping for our Mary Harding 01628 520546 01628 530420 clients, organising or joining in with the George O’Leary 01628 526360 www.ashtonopticians.co.uk activities during the day – our Centre All ticket proceeds to UK4U Partners: Mr. M. W. Ashton BSc.(Hons), MCOptom, Manager, Jacky Retallack-Hall would Mrs R.V. Ashton BSc.(Hons),MCOptom be very pleased to hear from you. Also keep an eye out for some of our fund raising events! Shirley Wallis Chairman of Managing Committee A1 TAXI SERVICE Flackwell Heath & surrounding area Apologies to Paul Lowe The photo of the noonday gun on the 0162801628 851466851466 front page of the August/ September HighWycombe & surrounding area Grapevine was taken by Paul Lowe and not by Sue Arnautov as stated. As far as I know, Paul was the only 0149401494 441000441000 photographer to get a picture of the 4 - 6 - 8 Seater Vehicles Available gun actually firing. Minimum Fare From £3.50 Tim Kendell - Editor Airports - Seaports - London Theatres CARRINGTON First School The Stag The smell of day old boiled cabbage, in our pupils’ growth and development fish on Fridays, tapioca and semolina and we all know that lunch is a very pudding with a dollop of something they important meal for all of us to remain called jam! Are these your memories of alert and able to work well in the school dinners? afternoons. Busy parents can sent their Good or bad most people have children off to school daily without the memories of what school dinners meant worry of what to put into their lunch to them but sadly for today’s pupils they boxes in the knowledge that they will have a nutritious 2 course meal. haven’t had the opportunity to build 91 Heath End Road, Flackwell Heath, Bucks, HP10 9ES those memories. All is about to change To date the kitchen is built, the walls Telephone: 01628 521277 at Carrington Infant School as school and flooring are going in as this article dinners are back on the menu. To be is being written and the units and correct we will soon be offering hot appliances will be fitted within the school lunches. This is a culmination of week. Trays, plates and cutlery will be Osteopath home visits work over a number of years, parental purchased, menus will be prepared and Flackwell Heath and near area surveys, meal tastings and work with the finally orders taken! £40/session, local authority on converting a room in As autumn progresses we look forward to back, neck and joint pain etc school into a kitchen. freshly cooked, hot tasty meals, with the This is such an exciting project for us. smell of bread wafting throughout school Tel 07730 733377 As educationalists we recognise the and not a hint of boiled cabbage. www.community-osteopath.co.uk importance of a healthy balanced diet Lynn McMeekin Flackwell Heath Women’s Institute and Margaret Webb was in Wendover - his garden is in the amongst the exhibits in the National Gardens Scheme. temple. Everyone received a The next meeting will be on piece of birthday cake as they Wednesday 6 October and is the left. The rest of the week, the AGM. sun shone! Evening WI [Photo caption: Laughter in the rain: Liz Payne (on left) and Gilly Pusey showed us how she uses Hilda Slater of the Evening WI her spinning wheel, the traditional at Stowe] type with a treadle which drives the spindle: the speed of the treadle Morning WI controls the number of twists per Edwin Rye, winner of the BBC inch of yarn. Gilly keeps Angora Gardener of the Year award rabbits and goats, and buys sheep WI Reports for in 2002, told us about the fleeces. The hair or fleece then has October 2010 issue pressure and stress of making a garden to be washed and rinsed many times from a bare plot of soil in 3 1/2 days. before use. The next stage is dyeing, In August coaches took a group of He was one of five finalists each with usually with plant material providing members, friends and relations to a budget of £1000. The theme was the colour and mordants to fix it. the Bucks. Federation of WI's picnic 'Magic in the Garden'. Cameras were Then the fibres have to be carded - at Stowe Landscape Gardens to trained on the gardeners all the time combed to get them to lie parallel - celebrate the 90th Anniversary of and some shots had to be repeated before spinning. Gilly passed round the WI (in Bucks.). Unfortunately it until the producer was satisfied. All hanks of various yarns, including was a wet day; instead of summer the time they were working against sheep wool, alpaca, angora and raw dresses and sunhats, waterproofs and the clock. Edwin's garden used all silk. After all this work, the yarn can umbrellas were needed. In spite of the white flowers, silvery-leaved plants be knitted. Everyone was impressed weather, WI members from all parts and variegated foliage and he called by the amount of work involved. of the county were there with chairs it 'Magic in Moonlight'. The gardens, and picnics. The cannon was fired, The October meeting on 14th includes which were in Birmingham Botanic the Annual Meeting. Members are the band played, the bells pealed and Gardens, were left in situ for one year then Happy Birthday and Jerusalem asked to bring a favourite poem or and then removed to leave a bare anecdote to read. were sung on the temple steps as the plot for the next competitors. He birthday cake was cut. The lovely transferred everything to his home Jean Worth and Sue Arnautov sampler made by Margaret Flintham The New Build your own roundabout Village Calendar and meet the neighbours It all began, as so often needs someone happens, in the Stag. A group of neighbours were talking and the to look after it subject of the state of Thanks to the wonders of computer their roundabout arose. science and the village web site, it The top of Buckingham is now possible to give a full list of Way is a cul de sac with meetings, activities and events that take the narrowest of roads. place in the village. People who are The turning circle at the new to the Flackwell Heath or current end is so small that vans residents who just feel they would like and lorries can only turn to do something different will only by encroaching onto the grass. It had become have to visit one website to see what is such a mess that even residents found some heavy equipment to dig out the available. themselves using it as a place to park foundations for an extension to their The website will also list one-off events their cars. house and a pile of soil to build up the centre of the roundabout. They spoke to like the Cherry Fayre or a wine tasting Claire Goddard declared that she was the Council and were told it would not which are only once or twice a year. going to turn the mud patch into an be able to help them but they could do We aim to list events up to 15 months attractive roundabout with enough it at their own expense. ahead so that organisers can avoid space to enable people to turn and drive So they did! Four families, Claire clashing with someone else’s event. out of the cul de sac. Nick Cotsford and Tom, Claudia and Nick, Lisa and It will also help people to keep free volunteered to draw up the design. The design incorporates a gravel area so Julian, Rachel and Michael, agreed special days like the FH Minors football to contribute £130 each to buy the tournament or the Christmas lights and that larger vehicles can encroach on it if necessary without doing any damage. materials. Their reward is not only an carol singing. The middle is a hexagonal construction attractive roundabout but also, through This service will cover all charity, not for of heavy lengths of timber filled with just working together, the families have profit, and church events in Flackwell compost. became friends. Heath and there will be no charge to Claire’s partner, Tom Hunter, is a Tim Kendell them builder and he just happened to have Most Wanted Brian Moulson, manager of the Village Web site has set up a straightforward The public in the Thames Valley can system for regularly up dating the play a role in bringing serious offenders to justice with the launch of a ‘Most information. All we now need is a Wanted’ website for the region. It volunteer to be the focal point for shows pictures, E-fits and to view CCTV the village calendar receiving the footage of people currently wanted. information and posting it on the The site is run by Crimestoppers, which website. allows people to give information about If you can send an email you have all crime anonymously. the computer skills you need; the tricky Members of the public can find the bit is linking with club secretaries and gallery of our Most Wanted criminals event organisers to make sure they keep at: http://www.crimestoppers-uk.org/ you up to date. But when you get to thamesvalley and click on Most know them you will find they are quite Wanted. chatty and you will quickly become an expert on everything interesting that is OSTEOPATHIC CLINIC happening in the village. Michael Thornton ND, DO Express Videos & Off License is back in Flackwell Heath If you would like further information 3 Straight Bit Treatment for pain in the back, please contact one of the following 9am - 11pm every day neck, shoulders, knees and hips Brian Moulson brian@flackwellheath. Sports injuries and headaches net Manager of the village website Everyday low prices on beers, wines and spirits 25 Heath End Road Dan Murphy 01628 524747 • 01494 433072 or 07799713117 DVD movie rentals [email protected] New DVD repair service. Repair scratches on DVD and CD discs Tim Kendell 01628 521149 including video games. [email protected] Successfully repair Xbox 360 laser burns. £3 per disc repair, bulk discounts available. Quality beers wines and spirits - with 10% off wines 01628 298224 CHRIST CHURCH October at Pigeon House Farm CHARITY FAYRE Do you have a particular charity close ctober is the month when for granted, but they are not there just to your heart? Would you like to raise the main questions affecting to take in the view. It was possible money for this charity? Othe next arable farming year this September to see several red kite, should have been answered - which We are once again holding a Charity buzzard and kestrel all resting at the fields to winter sow, which to spring Fayre at Christ Church on Saturday 20 same time with no apparent conflict, sow, which to fallow and what to November between 10.00 and 1.00 and in the Ash tree where Fleckman field plant? One influence is the soil type are looking for people to come along to divides from the White Hill field, which varies from clay, flints and sell good quality items/crafts to help before they returned to soaring above sand in the field named Kiln field at their favourite charities. Perhaps your the crop stubble to watch the ground the back of the Stag, through glacial charity even has its own goods to sell. for prey. gravel and chalk on the slopes, to As people are starting to think about flood plain gravel in Fleckman field Because this August was dull, the Christmas this is a good time both to sell near Fern. harvest was slow and extended and and promote the charity. we noted from the combine cab an The first winter sown crops are often If this would interest you or you would increase in the numbers of mice seen on the heavier ground which has to be like further information please call scurrying away from the combine back worked before too much wet weather Alison Harvey on 01628 530186. towards the uncropped cultivated field occurs. Winter crops establish a margins. There were a good number reasonable ground cover wherein of long tailed field mice, recognisable birds such as the skylark will find even from the cab by the dark fur and some cover and some food, supported large ears, but also more than usual, a Flackwell Amblers by the uncropped field margins and If you would like to join us on Sunday good number of harvest mice equally uncropped field corners. Where 24 October, 2010 The Flackwell recognisable, but by their small ears spring cropping is scheduled, any Amblers will be going for a walk and orange brown fur. Also very overwintered crop stubble provides at Dropmore. We will be meeting unusual, but seen in Barn field during an important winter food source for at Budgen's car park at 10.00 a.m. straw baling was a polecat complete seed eating birds which feed on the This walk will last approximately 2 with a dark band over the eyes. spilt seeds and broad leaved weeds. hours and is undertaken at your own If the field is to be rough fallowed, Good sightings of the barn owl should risk. Please wear walking boots or that is, simply left undisturbed from be had in October, around the farm strong shoes. N.B. This walk may be agricultural activities until the next at dusk and dawn. In the subject to change at short notice due harvest, it will provide year long telegraph poles conveniently provide to prevailing weather conditions. feeding and breeding habitat for a the owls a perch above the hedges The next date for your diary is Sunday wide range of wildlife. and margins where there is most 21 November, 2010. chance of sighting prey. The presence of birds of prey over Celia Barker crop stubble can sometimes be taken Ray Smith

Amy Gray 4 PAWS Aerobics and Yoga with Caroline Mobile Hairdresser Professional dog grooming Wednesdays at Carrington Junior In the comfort of your own home All breeds catered for Aerobics 7 – 8 pm 7 years experience From clipping to hand stripping Fitness Yoga 8 – 9 pm 07733 427928 Call Sharon on 01628 532863 01628 826544 or [email protected] www.4pawsonline.co.uk 07989 328573

DON THE HANDYMAN Martin Your LocaL MoT speciaLisT QUALITY WORK FROM A LOCAL AND RELIABLE A friendly family run business with 30 years experience Vehicle serV icing TRADESMAN Servicing all cars, new and old also light commercial vehicles.  General property maintenance, including Adams the little things that need fixing • General car repairs and maintenance

 Bathroom refurbishments a speciality • Free courtesy car available • Tyres, exhausts and batteries supplied and fitted  Your DIY problems solved! • Latest diagnostic equipment for all makes of vehicle • Air conditioning service available  Please call to see how I may help 01628 850000 email: [email protected]

Martin Alexander House, Wessex Industrial Estate, Bourne End, Bucks, SL8 5DT Vehicle serV icing CALL DON ON 07957 490142 Adams www.donthehandyman.co.uk Mr Khalaf Al Habtoor Flackwell the place for a holiday? his son Mohammed is his assistant Yes, if you are Mr Khalaf Al Habtoor, and CEO and his son Ahmed runs the recently back here in his second divisions dealing with the importing, home, which he has owned for 30 sale and leasing of cars, including years. Based in Dubai, in the United Bentleys. His daughter Amna looks Arab Emirates (UAE), he first came after the education division with two here by chance: a friend wanted to large international schools in Dubai; convince him that there was more to the senior school offers courses for the than London, and took him International Baccalaureate . to The Compleat Angler in Marlow. Mr Al Habtoor attributes his success He was delighted by the greenery, to determination, luck, very hard work the hills, the cleaner air, and began and leadership skills. Yes, he began Mr Khalaf Al Habtoor with HM The Queen house-hunting. He saw the house in at a time when the UAE was recently at Al Habtoor Royal Windsor Polo on June 20 2010. Flackwell the same day and bought it. formed, and growth was taking off, but At first his family were doubtful but he saw and grasped opportunities that PLANS PREPARED & SUBMITTED they were won over. others did not. He also has a firm belief R.M.HILLIER M.R.I.C.S Although Mr Al Habtoor also has in doing business by ethical principles All types of home extensions, loft houses in Lebanon and Egypt, Britain (he has recently set up an anonymous conversions, conservatories, garages is his second home. During the World 'hotline' for whistleblowers in his and internal structural alterations by Cup, there was a big English flag at his companies). Chartered Building Surveyor gate. He finds no difficulty moving He is also a considerable philanthropist, For further details contact: 01628 819335 from one culture to the other – perhaps mostly for educational and medical helped by the long British connection purposes, and has received many with the Gulf. awards and honours for this. Readers Mr Al Habtoor is not a sheikh – nor may remember that he has given Flackwell Heath Community even 'in oil'. He comes from a modest our Residents' Association some Association background: his father was small- donations, including that for the 'Al Chairman: Danny Murphy scale dealer in pearls. As a boy, Mr Al Habtoor Youth Award' (see April's 01628 524747 Habtoor used to enjoy the company issue). Secretary Chris Thomas of his father's friends, and when he Mr Al Habtoor's sons and grandsons 01628 520361 was seventeen one of them offered are very keen polo players, with their Treasurer Val Weston him a job in the construction industry. own team. The family keeps about 60 01628 523213 Taking it meant leaving school and polo ponies, many from Argentina, in Centre bookings Pam Wilsher driving 3.5 hours, to cover a distance air-conditioned stables back home in 01628 525484 of less than 65 miles, each way to Dubai. Recently they participated in a work, daily for six months, but it was polo tournament at Windsor and met Keyholder Express Video Shop the start. Three years later, he resigned HM the Queen. Mr Al Habtoor himself Reg Charity No. 1044870 (much to the regret of his employer, does not play polo, but supports his who offered him part of the company sons. He thinks it a demanding sport to stay) and set up on his own. that offers tough challenges which are He founded, built up and leads a huge good for the character. He himself is GrapevineGrapevine multinational business, with over a self-confessed tennis addict, playing 40,000 employees, which celebrates mostly doubles, and also enjoys its 40th birthday this year (website: walking. He is happy to be part of Editor: Tim Kendell 55 Philip Drive Flackwell Heath HP10 9JD www.habtoor.com). The Group still Flackwell Heath. 01628 521149 has substantial construction interests In fact, despite all the other adjectives [email protected] – they built the striking Burj Al Arab that can be applied to him, that's my Sue Arnautov tower, for instance – but now also main impression – a happy man. Design: [email protected] includes real estate, hotels and resorts, Sue Arnautov Subscriptions: Irene Walker insurance and publishing. It is still a 01628 529710 private company and doing well despite FSC The Grapevine is printed by Spot on Print the financial crisis. Mr Al Habtoor using paper with 80% recycled fibre and has three sons and three daughters; certification FSC certification