Cloverleaf Aug-Sept 2020

Overview Isn’t it surprising how quickly how quickly strange behaviour becomes normal? ZOOM and similar platforms are now widely accepted by young and old as the way to meet, celebrate, learn and worship ; it no longer seems odd to queue in socially distanced fashion; judging how many people are in a shop becomes second nature; and even the wider use of face coverings no longer seems unusual. However, life is very slowly returning to some semblance of the old normal. The Churches are open with services resuming; more shops have started trading and our pubs and restaurants are welcoming customers once again – just in a slightly different way. Let’s hope that this continues. This edition of Cloverleaf is slightly shorter than usual, as the various clubs, societies and organisation have yet to restart their activities, so no reports and no need for the diary pages. The Village Hall in Combe remains closed for the time being. It’s not surprising, as planning even the smallest activity at the present time is daunting, with pages of guidelines to follow in order to meet the COVID-19 requirements. Hopefully, by the time we reach our last magazine for 2020 (Oct/Nov), everyone and everything we will be in a better place. This issue brings news of the NEW Combe St. Nicholas Parish website, which is now up and running. A lot of time and hard work has gone in to this, so do check it out. There’s a test of your knowledge of Somerset towns with a cryptic quiz too - please give it a try. You may have noticed the Lord’s Larder collection box in The Village Shop in Combe. Further on in the magazine, charity volunteer Amy Greenhalgh gives us an insight into how it works and tells us how this community has performed! I’m sure that Chard Museum never thought that it would be celebrating it’s 50th anniversary by being closed for part of the year! Happily, it is now able to re- open and the museums interesting article tells us about a wide range of socially distanced activities which have been planned. It is a fascinating place, full of local history and well worth a visit. Finally, thank you to Lynn Osborne, for our cover picture, which features the wonderful show of wild flowers at Underway Meade. Lesley Cole Editor Bygone Days Whilst searching for a photo of a cowshed to accompany my Grandfather’s piece below, I was amused by Mr Google’s results. These rustic structures are by and large things of the past. The few that remain have been converted into homes, offices, restaurants, and wedding venues. The word “cowshed” has been adopted by spas and beauty products. My Grandfather would be stunned that the cowshed has been reinvented as a place to pamper oneself! Lindsay Rossiter September 1967 – Open Air Milking The rat race for progress catches up with one now and then and we find ourselves standing looking at our lovely loose boxes and cowsheds. With chains and yokes rattling, a hive of industry at milking times, we wonder if conversion must come. Must we put the frills of milking into mothballs, that little bit of individual attention the cow so enjoys, into thoughts of the “past” as we streamline the whole process. It is happening and we now talk of “cows per man” and not “man per cows”. Pneumatic drills, diggers, sledgehammers and fire have all been set upon our old buildings and no sooner were they demolished, a crane of fantastic strength and manoeuvrability was heaving precast concrete structures into position. In 48 hours, the frame and roof of the new building were in position and the crane gone. A remarkable piece of modern technique. All this progress meant milking the cows somewhere else and with the aid of an outdoor milking bale, which they have taken to like a charm, the inconvenience has been overcome. We are now milking cows in the very field in which they graze, and what a time- saver it is! The bale, a moveable construction of tube and tin complete with six stalls, the power unit at one end, milking direct to churn being individually weighed. Three units milking while a further three cows are being made ready for a quick change- over and so on. The cows love it, including their ration of cake, and fight for position as to who enters the bale next. On a cool, dewy morning, with the sun just rising, it is so much more pleasant in the open than in a stuffy shed, but we certainly hope to be reinstalled before the wind and rain comes and the temperature drops below that 32oF. In view of the dry and sunny weather we had in August it is disappointing to find there has been a great shortage of butterflies. Tortoiseshells, brimstones, peacocks and orange-tips were with us in the spring, but that seemed all we were to enjoy of them. Some butterflies I saw and caught when I was a boy one never sees today, and so many other insects of the countryside are getting few and far between. Stag beetles, hornets, grasshoppers, frogs and toads, all are declining and to paraphrase a well-known hymn, it is a case of “Change and decline in all around I see”. Surely if the number of insects reduce, we must presumable expect a reduction in those creatures that largely exist by preying upon them. Will progress upset the balance of nature? I dread to think. Kenneth C Beckingham A Somerset Quiz Kindly submitted by Gill Sauer, these cryptic clues will give you the names to 20 Somerset towns or villages. Some will solve them in a flash, others may ponder. You’ll find the answers towards the back of the magazine. 1. Look out! 2. A way over H2O 3. A team lost the end of the nut 4. Female relative surrounded by heavyweight 5. Burnt 6. Cloudy French green is not off 7. Elevated spanner 8. Boss of the pit 9. The capital of France meets the capital of Italy 10. Pauper’s Latch 11. Boot 12. You can find water in these 13. York’s church is unwell 14. Mother listens to the clock’s noise 15. Overcook the pig meat 16. Victory, tin, weight 17. Quality or easy 18. Fortified vehicle + y 19. Get married more often 20. Apply aftershave or very dry sparkling wine In the Garden with Claire Pearce of Combe Dingle Nursery I would love to be able to say that I am an avid taker of notes, that I know exactly when to do things each year, and that I should time it differently next year. But nature doesn’t quite work like that. So maybe by luck more than judgement or that I have been gardening for more years than I have not, it all falls into place. As with every year in the same week as pulling up spent foxgloves, leaving the leafier ones in to flower another year, I am pricking out seedlings of foxgloves, biennials and a lot of next year’s perennial stock. Now is the time to enjoy the garden and to keep it looking it’s best. I seem to always need a pair of secateurs in my back pocket. I have a lot of trees and there is usually a branch that needs a trim. I like to keep the canopy just above head height. Keep dead heading roses, annuals and perennials so quick and easy and so beneficial. Wisterias are a tangly mess this time of year. Tie in new growth needed to extend frame work and all the rest cut back to 5 leaves. Once Lavender flowers have faded, cut back into new growth, but not beyond as it will not re- grow on old wood. If your plant is too woody, it is best to be strong, rip it out and start again. Dry the flower heads and keep in the house. What could be better than a Lavender scented play room. Lawns can struggle at this time of year. It is best to raise the mower height and know that it will recover. We rarely pick up our cuttings and I think this helps. Mowers with a mulching plug are fantastic and save a lot of hard work. I have heard a lot of people complaining this year about bare patches due to leatherjackets (crane fly larvae) . A good way to treat these are with nema- todes in the spring or autumn. Hopefully, like me you are enjoying a surfeit of home produce. Preserving is starting, Blackcurrant jam etc. and of course rhubarb Gin. Feasting on pota- toes and pulling up onions. Making more space for more crops to go in, such as winter and spring cauliflowers, purple sprouting and cabbage. I say why not have Kohl Rabi and toma- toes for breakfast. I just can’t wait until lunch! Underway Meade We continue to live in strange times and the rules about gathering outside in groups (bigger than 6 with other households, at the time of writing) are still in place so a big thank you to our local community for continuing to use Underway Meade in a responsible way. At this time of the year we would usually be planning our annual autumn quiz night, an important fund raiser, but as the village hall is still unavailable for the same reasons we will have to put this on hold for the time being.

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