SEPTEMBER 2014
SEPTEMBER 2014 Tatsfield Parish Magazine
A house built on sand can be blown over! – see page 54
Inside this issue: OUR GREEN SCHOOL GOODBYE TO THE GREENGROCERS REVIEWS OF CONCERT AND ART EXHIBITION www.tatsfield.org.uk SYLVIA STREETS AND KEN WEBBER REMEMBERED
£1 – one copy FREE to each household
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PARKWOOD GOLF ACADEMY A TEAM OF 3 GOLF PROFESSIONALS LED BY HEAD PROFESSIONAL NICK TERRY, ASSISTED BY ROSS TAYLOR AND JACK HART AT THE SUPERB DRIVING RANGE FACILITY. INDIVIDUAL LESSONS ARE AVAILABLE MIDWEEK AND WEEK-ENDS FOR JUNIORS, BEGINNERS AND ALSO FOR MORE EXPERIENCED PLAYERS. GROUP BEGINNER LESSONS AND INTERMEDIATE PACKAGES, ARE AVAILABLE, WITH A STARTER 7 IRON INCLUDED IN THE PRICE. (MAXIMUM OF 4 PEOPLE IN A GROUP 5 X 40 MINUTE LESSONS + 7 IRON) ALL FOR JUST £79.00
PLEASE RING THE PRO SHOP ON 01959 577177 OR NICK TERRY’S MOBILE ON 07539 326240. EMAIL: [email protected] PARK WOOD GOLF CLUB, CHESTNUT AVENUE, TATSFIELD, KENT, TN16 2EG WWW.PARKWOODGOLF.CO.UK
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Beechwood Riding School JCG Hillboxes Farm, Marden Park BUILDERS Woldingham, CR3 7JD Brickwork Specialists Tel 01883 342266 Email: [email protected] All aspects of brickwork www.beechwoodridingschool.co.uk undertaken
Beechwood is situated in the beautiful Surrey Hills in the Patios,block paving, North Downs. All our horses and ponies used in the retaining walls school have been carefully chosen for their suitable decorative brickwork and much more temperament to achieve a happy, harmonious relationship between horse and rider resulting in every Reasonable rates rider reaching their own personal goal. Adults and References available children from 4 years old welcome. Clean tidy worker
• Separate Children and Adult Groups Call: Jamie on
• Private and semi-private lessons • Pony Parties 07921 219287
• Corporate Days • Hacks • Pony Days email: [email protected] • and lots more
RB Interiors
Interior Decorating Together with all types of maintenance and flooring inc, wood, laminate, carpet, vinyl & tiling. Fully insured Tatsfield Based
References Available Rob - 07870 528254 01959 541109
Email: [email protected]
7 Telephone A W Carpentry 01959 577010 & general building services Alan Waite • Interior & Exterior Carpentry • Kitchens/Bathrooms fitted • Renovations/ Alterations • Guttering & Fascia • City & Guilds qualified • Free estimates Mobile 07984 810966
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lingerie
Kim and Jane provide a complete bra fitting service and can help with all your lingerie needs! We stock a variety of quality lingerie to suit every price range.
BEAUTIFUL LINGERIE RANGES
Entre Nous is owned and run by Tatsfield girls and you’ll be assured of a warm welcome.
Opening times Mon –Sat 10.a.m – 5.00p.m
01959 563975
22a Market Square, Westerham, Kent TN16 2AT
Art Classes
Private Lessons Commissions
Watercolour, Oil Pastel, Pencil
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M.J. Cannon Construction specialising in NEW BUILD Extensions Screw Piled Foundations REMEDIAL Underpinning Crack Repair Structural Reinforcement Systems Associated building works undertaken 40 years experience in construction industry. References available. Martin Cannon Tel: 020 8657 1067 Mob: 07885 743699
12 TATSFIELD PARISH MAGAZINE
SEPTEMBER 2014 CONTENTS
Abba 56 Horti Show 46 Allotments 42 Horti tea 51 America’s Cup 52 Ken Webber 29 Art evenings 41 Litter 50 Art Exhibition 35 Little Acorns 40 Badminton 69 Magazine matters 23 Barn Theatre 43 Nature notes 60 Buses 23 Night sky 59 Composting 47 Not So Yoi8ng 63 Council Reports 24 Old Ship 34 CRAPP 37 Puzzle 72 David Brown 32 Quiz 38 Debater 62 Ramblers 68 Disney dancing 44 School 58 Editorial 15 Singers’ concert 46 Event calendar 48 St Mary’s Matters 53 Fairtrade 39 Sylvia Streets 31 Farm Shop 43 Talent Night 28 Food and Wine 63 Tatty Knitters 67 Football 70 Tea Dance 32 Forum 16 TPOs 27 Gardening 71 WI 64 Gardening Club 57 World Cup 55 Greengrocer 33 WW1 57 Heads wanted 41
Horti - butterflies 65
13 TATSFIELD PARISH MAGAZINE
Produced for the Village by the Parish Magazine Committee under the authority of Tatsfield Church. Managing Editor • Gerald South (577598) Treasurer • Madie Langford (577114) Distribution Manager • Terry Cartwright (577749) Advertising Manager • Maureen Perrin (577679) email: [email protected] Photographer • Ray Collins Production Team Hazel Cartwright • Tom Chorley • Jenny Lewis • Ian Mitchel Sule Morley • Christine Stainer • Phil Stokes • Carole Swetenham • Margaret Watson CHURCH CONTACTS ST MARY’S CHURCH, Church Lane, Tatsfield Anglican • Team Vicar: Revd Louise Ellis (577289) email: [email protected] The Rectory, Ricketts Hill Road, Tatsfield, TN16 2NA Hon. Curate - Revd Dr Gerald South (577598) Wardens • Mary Smith (577661) and David Eden-Riley (07973 255256) Roman Catholic • Fr John Olliver (01883 713776) COUNCIL CONTACTS Parish Council - Parish Clerk • Mrs Ana Hughes, 102a Sunningvale Avenue, Biggin Hill, TN16 3TT (701820) Chairman • Mrs Sue Smale, 21 Paynesfield Road, Tatsfield, TN16 2AT (577660) Parish Council website www.surreycommunity.info/tatsfield • email [email protected] Tandridge District Councillor • Bob David, The Briars, Ninehams Road, Tatsfield TN16 2AN (577357) Surrey County Councillor • David Hodge, 30 Harestone Valley Road, Caterham CR3 6HD (01883 337881) OTHER CONTACTS St. Mary’s Church Hall - Bookings • Sheila Cook (577443) Village Hall - Bookings Secretary • Helena Garcia ([email protected]) (07983 011028) W.I. Hall - Bookings • Sheila Cook (577443) Parish Room - Bookings • Ana Hughes (701820) Tatsfield Primary School - Head • Kevin Bellinger (577356) Tatsfield Village Club - (577330) Furze Corner Sports Pavilion - Bookings (07533 033325) Doctors • Stock Hill Surgery (580011) • Westerham Surgery (564949) Surrey Police - (101) Tatsfield Helpline - (577524) • Pet Register - Val Moore (574810) Village Website www.tatsfield.org.uk MAGAZINE CONTRIBUTIONS We welcome contributions from village organisations and individual residents but reserve all editorial rights. Copy date for the Magazine is 16th of the preceding month. Ideally contributions should be sent as a Word attachment to an email to: [email protected], Alternatively they may left at Linda’s Stores or posted to: TatsfieldPMag, Clouds, Ricketts Hill, Tatsfield, Westerham, Kent TN16 2NB. Advertising Enquiries should be made to our Advertising Manager Maureen Perrin (Tel: 577679 Email: [email protected]) Small Ads These are only accepted from Tatsfield or Titsey residents (No Trade) and are free (Max 10 words plus phone No.) We will include them in the next issue space permitting. Calendar Dates Our rolling Calendar usually covers 6 weeks from publication so please give us your dates in good time. If you don’t want your event to clash with others why not check with us early. Ideas/Opinions/Articles We are always looking for items of interest - have a word with the Editor. Correspondence We welcome letters commenting on items in previous issues or on anything else. Advertisements We take no responsibility for the goods and services advertised in the Magazine.
14 EDITORIAL Dear Reader, Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble. So says the Rabbi Yehuda Berg. Twenty years ago a magazine was produced monthly by St Mary’s church with a limited range of content and circulation. As a result of the village appraisal at the time, that magazine was transformed into one which gave opportunity to publicise the whole range of activity within Tatsfield and to reach every household. Over these years the magazine has continued to evolve both in its spectrum of content and in its presentation and style. For this we have to thank many people, most notably Bob David who has been the driving force behind the magazine for so many years. His position as District Councillor, his involvement with so many local activities and his visible presence around the village have made him ideally suited to overseeing the magazine and we cannot thank him enough for all the time and thought he has put into it. We now have a magazine whose words, typically twenty thousand plus of them, do much to encourage the people of our community and to help build their understanding and insight – words with “energy and power”. The magazine production team is committed to working to continue this tradition, even in the absence of Bob’s guiding hand. For this edition, and the next few, its members are seeking to develop the most efficient means of production, making as much constructive use of electronic technology as possible. This is partly intended to make the task of overseeing the process as painless as possible so that others may feel able to share the load some months. At present I am overseeing this transition but it is the intention that this role will be shared so that no-one is committed to overseeing the production of eleven magazines a year. Please consider whether you might volunteer to take your turn. Meanwhile the magazine is only as good as the material submitted for publication and we rely on villagers providing articles of interest, and clubs and societies keeping us informed about their past and future activities. This particular edition has many letters and contributions from villagers, opening up a wide range of matters, some giving positive examples of the merits of Tatsfield life and some offering constructive criticism. That is surely as it should be – please keep your contributions coming in so that this magazine can continue to offer words that “help and heal”. (Please see pages 14 and 23 for submission details). Gerald South
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Dear Editor, Bob David All of us in Tatsfield have often been unaware of the colossal amount of work put into the village by our good friend Bob David. But I am sure that we have all had help from him in different ways from time to time, quite apart from the village work in the varying organisations that make this village the lovely place that it is. Everyone will miss him now that he is stepping back and I would like to convey my appreciation and wish him every happiness in the future, though I feel sure that he will still be seen on a regular basis keeping an eye on us all!. Babs Heffernon, Paynesfield Road
Dear Editor, Our Welcome to Tatsfield We recently moved into 105 Paynesfield Road and just wanted to say thank you to all our new neighbours who have made us feel so welcomed to the village. We are really enjoying settling into our new home and have been pleasantly surprised by how neighbourly and friendly everyone in the village seems. We very much look forward to getting to know everyone and making new friends. Ian, Lizzie and Charlotte Dalimore
Dear Editor, Resting in Peace in Tatsfield On a beautiful sunny day 12th June I was finally able to lay my dear mother Irene to rest. Her wishes were for her ashes to be in St Mary's Tatsfield and I was pleased to be able to fulfil her wishes. I know that many of her dear friends would like to know where she is now resting and can now go and pay their respects. Rev. Louise has been a great help and made the interment a special day. There was only my best friend and myself there that day but I know that my mother would have been proud and pleased that had carried out her dear wishes. Wendy
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Dear Editor, Cat Lost and Found I would like to say a big thank you to the thoughtful person who found our cat Basil wandering about in Wedgewoods and seeing that he looked poorly, took him to a vets in Biggin Hill. Luckily, he is microchipped so the vet was able to contact us easily. He hadn't wandered too far from our home but he is 19 years old and is on medication for a hyperthyroid, so he is quite a frail old chap. It is heart warming to know that we live among such caring people - your kindness was much appreciated! Vicky Cribbens, Redhouse Road
Dear Editor, Ricketts Hill car incident To the young driver (or the parents of the driver) with fair hair driving a light/medium blue car that failed to stop after driving into us whist messing with their phone Monday 4th August at 17:10 along Ricketts Hill Road. It’s a shame we didn’t have the chance to swap insurance details for the damage to our car. We did turn our car round to follow you but you must have turned off quickly into either Manor Road or one of the houses between there and the temporary traffic lights. We use Ricketts Hill Road extremely regularly so the chances are we will see you again sometime soon, hopefully next time though you will be looking where you are going and won’t drive into us. In the meanwhile we hope before you actually seriously hurt someone that you use this accident as a learning experience and now realise that it is not acceptable or wise to be using your phone when driving your car. Have another look at the damage (presumably your offside wing mirror is damaged if not your wing) and imagine what could have been if you hadn’t looked up when you did because damage aside we were both very lucky to come away from a potential head on collision which could have killed or seriously hurt either of us. If you would like to do the right thing and pay for the damage then we would be happy to discuss or if anyone has any information regarding the accident or the identity of the driver it would be gratefully received. Dawn and Barrie Gillam, 07725 520420
17 FORUM Dear Editor “Bee-ing” part of the Community Having moved to Tatsfield last April and been busy ever since in redecorating, new kitchens, bathrooms etc. I hadn’t really had an opportunity or time to take part in any of Tatsfield’s many community activities although I did take the opportunity to visit the “Open Gardens” which proved to be a very enjoyable day and subsequently proved to be beneficial to me in a most unexpected way not that long afterwards. When I visited Jan and Dr Aslam Atkhar’s garden, apart from admiring their plants, the wonderful shepherd’s hut and wooded area, I was given a very enthusiastic talk about bees by Aslam with information about the benefits of his new beehive which was styled on the hives they use in Africa and generally perceived to be kinder to the bees. Only a matter of a couple of weeks after this experience I was in my garden one evening after work watering the garden when I heard an unfamiliar sound overhead. I looked up expecting to see some kind of small aircraft, or perhaps a paraglider but saw nothing – yet the noise persisted – and quite loudly. When I looked up once more I was quite shocked to see the air above me thick with a large swarm of bees buzzing above me. Over the course of the next hour the bees settled in a neighbour’s tree which overhangs the bottom of my garden. I spent that time indoors with all my windows and doors shut wondering what on earth to do with a swarm of bees – having a son who is allergic to bee stings living in the house – the bottom of my garden for a bee residence was definitely not my preferred choice! Then I remembered Aslam’s talk on bees and his saying that he had lost a swarm of bees but collected another one from a neighbour’s garden so I realised then it was possible to somehow catch them - I then did wonder if the bees belonged to him in the first place. On popping round to his to enquire whether he had inadvertently mislaid a whole beehive worth of bees, Aslam assured me that all his bees were tucked up safely in their hives, however he did have some spare capacity and was happy to come and rescue the bees as it was unlikely that they would survive long term in the tree. This provided me with a fascinating insight into how this was done. After donning “beesuits” Aslam with the aid of an enthusiastic assistant climbed the ladder (there was a little overlooking of any Health & Safety here… however I was comforted by the fact that there was a Doctor in the house, even though he
18 FORUM was the one at risk of falling down the ladder!) and after chopping a few branches off the tree was able to get access to the branch which the bees had congregated on - a further chop and the branch was cut, brought down and with a quick shake they were dispensed onto a blanket on the lawn. A cardboard box was placed upside down over the top of the clump of bees on the blanket and propped up with a brick to allow the few stray bees who had flown off to gain access to the rest of the swarm. Apparently (and I hope I am correct here) the queen bee gives off pheromones which attract the bees from the swarm so they will always return to the queen and over the course of the next hour all the stray bees were safely inside the box. Aslam returned once more complete in his beesuit attire this time with another assistant in the form of his son and they duly tied up the blanket over the box – double tied to ensure no escapees in the car ride back to their new home. He also gave me the ultimate accolade of naming the queen of his new hive after me – an honour which I was thrilled to have bestowed upon me! I was extremely grateful to have had such expert assistance in this situation and realised that if I had not taken part in a community activity in Tatsfield then I would have been at a complete loss as to what to do and it reinforced to me the community spirit that exists in the village and endorsed for me that I had made the right decision in moving to Tatsfield. I am aiming to take part in more community activities in the village now that my attention and energy is not being taken up with my house but I would hope that it is not in the form of finding new homes for bees! Ailsa Harmer, Westmore Cottage
Dear Editor, Tatsfield continues to change - not for the better As I write this (29 July), no doubt most of you will already know that the demolition of Veronica’s home at 35 Westmore Road has commenced, smothering us in noise, dust and nuisance. Much has been said about the inappropriate nature of this development and how sad it is that Tandridge District Council (TDC) approved this application with little thought about the impact it will have on our once ideal village of Tatsfield. It seems that they have their own motive(s) to support the plans of a greedy developer to “shoe horn” four, yes four, two storey properties onto the site of one bungalow. One would be naïve to think that no development would occur - but really four, two storey houses! In addition, TDC have deliberately chosen to disagree with the recommendations of our own Parish Council who are, and must be, the best placed to judge the impact of any development upon our village. It seems unjust that there is no right to appeal against planning permission being granted, but of course you can appeal if you are the applicant and you are refused permission.
19 FORUM It may be the law, but there are many cases where the law has been proved to be inequitable and should be changed. Obviously living at 33 Westmore road, we are perhaps the most affected by this intense development. In fact we have been so upset by the unfair situation, compounded by the laissez faire attitude of TDC, that we are giving very serious thought about leaving the lovely village we thought we had moved into in 1978. One can only hope that the market value of our home, and that of our other neighbours around the site, will not be adversely affected by the over crowded development, and/or it’s future occupants being so close. It has been pointed out to me that a another development was allowed in John’s Road which contained five houses. Actually such comment is not very useful as the site was larger than Veronica’s and did provide off street parking for each of the dwellings with a separate garage unit built at the rear of the property, reached through their own gated entrance. Unfortunately the development site at 35 Westmore is not big enough to provide such good parking facilities, not with four houses on it. In fact TDC has deliberately ignored distinct guidelines which require two off street parking places to be provided per dwelling , PLUS one extra for visitors! No doubt they are content to overlook, or ignore, that the existing plague of parking on both sides of the street will be extended to this end of Westmore Road, in particular, at the junction with Crossways. It is interesting to note that the guidelines also state that for vehicles to legally park on each side of the road, without mounting the pavement, that the road should be a minimum of seven metres wide. Westmore Road measures under six metres wide! It seems that TDC and developers have no consideration for our village outlook and it’s inhabitants and are just simply motivated by profit. All in all this development is yet another example of the distinct erosion of the character and charm of our once beautiful village. When will it stop? Bill Collett. 33 Westmore Road. 01959 577 309 Editor: Those interested in further background to this application may like to see the comments of our District Councillor, Bob David, on page 21 of the June edition of this magazine. Whatever we may feel about this development let us hope that the eventual new residents of these houses will be welcomed into Tatsfield in the very positive way that is described in some of the other letters above. The letter has been seen by Mr Piers Morgan, Head of Planning at Tandridge District Council and he has responded as follows: Dear Editor, Thank you for the opportunity to respond to Mr Collett’s letter. It is always disappointing when the difficult decisions made by the Council are the cause of concern to residents. We understand that change and new 20 FORUM development are very difficult subjects and that often very strong views are held by residents. What I can say is that as the local planning authority the Council takes the concerns and comments of residents and Parish Councils very seriously but has to balance those views against the policies in the development plan, as well as government advice. It is therefore not always possible to agree with comments made but that is not to say they have been ignored. The Council’s reasoning for the decision can be read on our web site within the case officer’s report. Mr Collett is right that there is no right of appeal for third parties, whilst the legislation does provide the right of appeal to the applicant. I recall that the government did moot providing such a right to third parties but to my knowledge it has not been taken forward. Indeed it is my experience that currently the planning system is being constantly changed to make development go ahead more easily, particularly for housing. Yours sincerely, Piers Mason
Dear Editor, Waste collections Has anyone else had any problems with Tandridge Council’s green waste and brown bin collection service? Several of us in Westmore Road have. The bin men won't walk onto your property to collect the bin even if the bin is just on the other side of a small picket fence. I live on the unmade part of Westmore Road and normally leave the bin roadside. On this particular occasion, because we were going on holiday, I left the bin slightly back on our very small drive. Although the bin was completely visible from the road was the refuse collected? No!
21 FORUM So, if you are on holiday and want your refuse collected what should you do? Apparently, the answer is to leave your bin on the pavement, and hope that a minor miracle will be performed in your absence. My friend in Westmore Road has to actually pull her bin from her house to Redhouse Road, because very often they don't collect from her front. They drive down Westmore Road, merely take a quick glance because of the congested car parking, and if they can't see it they drive on! This collection is not free, I think we pay about £46 a year, which isn't a fortune, but is very definitely poor value for money What would these operatives like us to do? Wait with our bin and personally hand it to them? If you call them over, they treat you like they are doing you a favour? Unbelievable! On one occasion I actually ran down the road with the bin in order not to inconvenience them. The bin man looked at me and said "We were going to cross you off the list as you haven't put a bin out for a while!" This was in the middle of winter when there is little garden waste, but how can they arbitrarily strike you off when you've paid for the service? Biffa has, once again, taken over the contract, so things should change, but as they were the contractors in the first place I wonder if this will be the case? If you read all the restrictions and rules we have to adhere to for them to collect our garden waste, I wonder just exactly, what rights we do have? Sorry folks, but as you can tell, I'm just a bit miffed about this I just feel a service is a service, and this one doesn't appear to be fitting the bill. Wendy Collett. (Ps... Heaven help me now, I will probably find the brown bin in my front window!!!)
Dear Editor, Me and my birds Just a quick story for ‘bird man’ Nigel Shaw. For the past few months I have been befriended by a blackbird, don’t ask me why. Enid swears I’m a bird brain and must be on the same level of intelligence as my little friend, and she’s not joking! Opening the front door, if he’s there waiting I go back inside for his food. If I take too long he comes looking for me, but if he’s not there I give three whistles and in a flash he appears. One day I parked my car at the top of Johns Road and who do you think walked all the way home with me. One day, in a rush to go out, closing the door I saw him waiting. Not wishing to go back in for his food I spoke to him and walked off
22 FORUM to get my car. He went bonkers and I’m sure he was swearing at me, you could sense what he was saying – even I don’t use that kind of language (honest – ask Enid). Now he literally eats out of my hand. Even the sparrows know my whistle and turn up for food. My mates say I’m over the hill and past it but I can still pull the birds. Mick Garrard PS Eat your heart out Nigel, guess who had four lesser spotted woodpeckers in a row sitting on their fence?
CHANGE TO SOME BUS TIMES From 1st September Service 594 to Westerham leaving The Ship: Mon – Fri: 0947 1147 1347 1803 Sat: 0947 1147 1347 1547 1817 Service 595 to Oxted leaving The Ship: Mon – Fri: 1212 1412 1927 Sat 1013 1213 1413 1643 1927 There is no Sunday service on these routes
Magazine Matters Each Parish Magazine is compiled over the course of a few days from the articles received. This is a big job for those who volunteer their time and expertise and there are several ways in which their task can be eased by those submitting material. First and foremost, all items should be sent in by 16th of the month at the latest – it is also very helpful if they are earlier than this. If you are reporting on an event taking place just after the 16th please let us know in advance using the email address below. If necessary articles can be hand-written and left at Linda’s Shop in a clearly labelled envelope but if at all possible please produce articles in Word and attach them to an email mail sent to: [email protected] We do have a template that you could use as the starting point for your article and it you would like a copy of this please email the address above and ask for it to be sent to you.
23 COUNCIL REPORTS TATSFIELD PARISH COUNCIL Planning applications considered in the last two months include: development at Rose Cottage in Goatsfield Road on which we had some objections; a change of use for Parkwood House which we considered to be in contravention of a condition; garage development at Cedar Cottage, Ninehams Road on which we had some objections; we had no objection to tree work in Paynesfield Road and no comment on an alteration to the extension at Windrush, Westmore Green, a replacement garage at Libra, Ricketts Hill Road, and the erection of solar panels at 14 Paynesfield Road.
There continues to be a lack of interest in Parish Council matters until something impacts directly, but I must be honest and say that was my attitude until I got involved five years ago. I am now amazed at the number of matters that need Parish Council input and how much a genuine interest in and concern for the future of the village can be rewarding. You may be aware that the Parish Council has been looking for some temporary help with our work; there is a vacancy from now just until the elections next May. If you ever wondered what we actually do or thought you might be interested in some of our projects or have a spare few hours over the next few of months please give me a ring.
Another issue that I would like to repeat is the Parish Council offer to support anyone wanting to pursue the idea of erecting a new war memorial in the village. This is an initiative that needs to be led by the community. The Parish Council has the power only to help on the maintenance and upkeep of a memorial.
I would also like to thank and commend the residents who quickly reported the sighting of a number of traveller vehicles in the village, which enabled me to alert the police and, although they moved on it was only to Clarks Lane where the police were waiting to meet them.
You may have seen that the new managing director of Biggin Hill Airport is aware of the disturbance caused in the summer months by ‘buzzy’ light aircraft. We are pleased to know that he is again asking light aircraft pilots to avoid local built up areas. They have had instructions to avoid Tatsfield as well as Biggin Hill for some years but not all pilots have complied. We are also encouraged by his assertion that Biggin Hill “will never host the types of scheduled airline traffic or holiday charter flights you see at major airports”.
Sue Smale, Chairman (Tel: 577660; Email: [email protected])
24 COUNCIL REPORTS
TANDRIDGE DISTRICT COUNCIL
The way you register to vote has changed: Up to now, the head of the household has been responsible for registering everyone who lives there. Under the new system, people will be registered as individuals. You should have received a letter from Tandridge in the last month about this. Most people who are already registered to vote will automatically have been moved onto the new system. If you have any queries or if your circumstances change, you should contact Tandridge’s Electoral Services – email [email protected] or phone 01883 732716.
There are two kinds of registers. The Electoral Register lists the names and addresses of everyone who is registered to vote and is used for electoral purposes. The Open Register is an extract from the Electoral Register and can be bought by any person, company or organisation. Your name and address will be included in the Open Register unless you ask for them to be removed. To do this you should contact Tandridge as above.
Recycling in Tandridge: Tandridge’s target for the current year is that 60% of household waste is recycled. So far this year, 58% has been achieved but the hope is to hit the target by the end of the year and the aim is for 62% to be achieved next year.
In the wider world, there is endless controversy about the European Community’s plans to set member countries more demanding targets for recycling and about the merits of different kinds of recycling collection methods, including each household having four bins for different materials. Also partly related to this are the big differences of view about the frequency of refuse bin collections. The Local Government Minister, Brandon Lewis, has said that weekly bin collections could be made compulsory by law in the Conservative election manifesto in 2015. Mr Lewis said that the move “towards near-monthly bin collections is a sign of the blinkered view of municipal bin bureaucrats who don’t see rubbish collections are a vital service for families”. This no doubt has been prompted by the decisions of individual councils to reduce the frequency of bin collections, partly to save money and partly to encourage people to put more in their recycling containers: Bury, Gwynedd and Falkirk councils, for example, have all decided to empty refuse bins once in three weeks and Torfaen council is consulting on monthly collections.
On a lighter note: Readers may be amused by some reports about happenings in the local authority world which have come my way. First is from Camden council where newly elected councillors were given a Personal Safety Guide telling them how to meet constituents. Councillors were told “to sit nearest to the door”, to lay out seating at “45 degree angles to avoid appearing 25 COUNCIL REPORTS confrontational”, “to make sure there are no heavy items in the room that could be used as weapons” and “to get a space which has a swift means of escape”. Next, a council in Somerset has apologised unreservedly after a man was locked in a public toilet for more than 24 hours. The man entered the block on Monday morning just before it was closed at 7 am to cut costs. Police were alerted at 10.30 am on Tuesday when a passer-by heard the man’s cry for help. And last, Coventry City council are considering plans to ban people from walking more than four dogs at a time in response to complaints about people not being able to control their dogs.
Cllr. Bob David (Tel: 577357 Email: [email protected])
SURREY COUNTY COUNCIL
Ricketts Hill Road Resurfacing: It was great to see this road getting the full treatment as I was writing this report and I am delighted with the quality and cooperation that the contractor has demonstrated with local residents. As Parish Councillor, Doug Massey has played a significant role in acting as the eyes and ears of Tatsfield in the lead up to and during the works.
Titsey Road: Residents will have seen the new speed warning signs on the road. After the fatal collision in April, an investigation by the County Council’s Road Safety Team and Surrey Police was initiated. After the completion of a review, a report will come back to the Surrey County Council/Tandridge District Council Local Committee for discussion.
Support for local Community Groups: Residents will be aware that each year all County Councillors have a local allocation of money to support community ideas. I am happy to listen to ideas/request for help. The full funding that I have for the whole of Warlingham, Tatsfield, Woldingham, Chelsham & Farleigh is £10,300 this financial year and all bids must be agreed by 28 February 2015.
A Big Thank You to Councillor Bob David One of the key partnership relationships that a County Councillor has is with fellow District Councillors and members of the local Parish Council. As I enter my tenth year as your County Councillor, I would like to use part of my report to say what a sad day it is when the best editor of any local magazine in Surrey decides to stand down. You will not be surprised to note that sometimes relationships between councillors can regrettably be unhelpful to the local community they are elected to serve. I can honestly say that in all the time Bob has been Tatsfield’s 26 COUNCIL REPORTS Independent member of Tandridge District Council we have enjoyed a very healthy relationship where we are both totally committed to putting Tatsfield residents’ needs, aspirations and hopes before politics – as it should be. Bob has and continues to be an outstanding loyal councillor who represents Tatsfield and the wider Tandridge communities so well.
Cllr David Hodge (Tel: 020 8541 8003 Email: [email protected])
DOES YOUR TREE HAVE A PRESERVATION ORDER ON IT?
Tandridge’s Tree Team is reminding residents to make sure any trees on their land are not protected before they start carrying out work, as they may commit a criminal offence if they carry out tree works, or damage a tree, which is protected. In the Tandridge district there are over 800 Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) covering thousands of trees. A TPO makes it a criminal offence to carry out any work to the tree without the Council’s permission. To find out if a tree is protected residents can use the Council’s LocalView mapping service (www.tandridge.gov.uk/localview.asp) or contact Customer Services on 01883 722000, (e-mail [email protected]). To make an application to carry out tree works, residents need to complete an application form and submit it to the Council. Planning conditions are used by the Council to keep trees, hedgerows and other soft landscaping on sites during development and for up to five years following completion. If it is considered essential to keep trees a TPO is often used instead. If valid planning conditions are in place, anyone carrying out work to trees covered by a planning condition must get permission. Residents can find out if their trees are affected by a planning condition by calling Customer Services on 01883 722000 and asking for the Duty Planning Officer. Felling licences: While a licence to fell trees in gardens is not needed, it is for trees outside gardens. Residents may need to apply to the Forestry Commission for a felling licence, whether or not the trees are covered by a TPO. The Forestry Commission’s South East office can be contacted on 01483 326200, or e-mail [email protected].
27 COUNCIL REPORTS Councillor David Weightman, Chairman of the Planning Policy Committee, said: “If you are not sure if your trees are protected it’s always better to check with us before you carry out any work.” More information about TPOs and tree protection can be found on the Council’s website www.tandridge.gov.uk/trees. Ian Mitchell
The Tatsfield-Vern d’Anjou Association hosts Tatsfield’s got Talent Night
7.30pm Village Hall 27th September 2014 £8 per ticket (available from Linda's Store or contact John White 01959 570097) Licensed bar – bring your own nibbles contact Jim Mullan if you would like to perform on [email protected] or 01959 574455
28 VILLAGE NEWS
KENNETH JOHN WEBBER 21 November 1932 – 22 July 2014
Below is an abbreviated version of the tribute to Ken delivered at his funeral by his son Peter. All those associated with the village composting site remember Ken with particular affection and respect.
How do you go about describing a life of a person, especially your father, to people who knew him as Ken, or Ken the Engineer, or Ken The Pipe. Well, I have racked my brains, and thought that the best approach was to read you this letter and then read a description of his life that my mother wrote as I think it best sums up the man that was my dad.
Ken was born on 21 November 1932 to Percy and Edna Webber at West Croydon, Surrey. He was an only child.
His father worked for Instone Airways (later to be known as BEA) at Croydon Airport. As a small child he was taken frequently to look at the aeroplanes there.
When he was three the family moved to Shirley (Croydon) where Ken attended Spring Park Primary School. He stayed there until 1942, when he was evacuated to Tremadoc in North Wales.
In 1945, he was enrolled and finished his education at Heath Clark School (now an annex of Croydon College). Round about this time the family moved to West Wickham, Kent, where Ken joined the Air Training Corps and the Royal Observer Corps. He left school at 17 and took up an apprenticeship with Creed Teleprinters at East Croydon (later to become IBM). He remained there until 1959. While there he was involved with the first punch tape machine for use on buses (to replace cardboard tickets) and advancing the daisy-wheel method of printing.
He attended Croydon College, Seabrook Road taking numerous exams which were to culminate in him becoming a Chartered Engineer. When Croydon College moved to the Fairfield site in 1960 Ken was “headhunted” to join the engineering faculty. He remained there until 1988 as Principal Lecturer with responsibility for the staffing and running of the engineering workshops.
When the faculty was closed down in 1998 Ken developed a scheme for the training of locksmiths as there was no such facility in the U.K. He took the courses countrywide, also to U.S.A. He was made an Honorary Locksmith for the UK and California when he finally “retired” at 65.
29 VILLAGE NEWS Ken was chairman of Sutton Model Engineering Cub for many years. He carried out voluntary work for many years on the Ffestiniog . He was an expert witness for Lloyds Register – when opinions on metal fatigue/stresses were needed. He invented a “hydraulic drain cover lifter” for Croydon Corporation.
He undertook National Service in RAF (1956 – 1958) as an armourer at RAF Shawbury (Shropshire) – servicing guns and ejector seats. While he was at Shawbury he met mum, Barbara, his wife; they were married in September 1958.
In 1974 he completed at a quarter size model traction engine which had taken him 5 years to build. Every component was hand-made. The engine (Dulverton) has been accepted by the Science Museum as an example of steam traction power.
Ken also wrote articles for the club magazine and “problem solving items” when the club “went onto the internet” (Mum’s phrase!).
In 2000 he was approached by the Marconi Museum to replicate Marconi’s original Morse Code Keys and Spark Gap Transmitter for the centenary celebrations. The replicas were given to several prominent people and were on exhibition at the BBC. Ken, self-effacing as usual, would not go to be publicly acclaimed.
Ken has two children, Peter and Gillian and the grandchildren, Zoe and Ben; Harry, Ella and Alec.
Latterly Ken helped in the village composting scheme where he serviced the shredding machines, soil sifter and built the compost bins.
Dad was always a quiet, studious very private person. As far as I am aware he was always a “loner” and I could never discover if he had any childhood friends – he always seemed to connect better with older people.”
To sum up then, that was Dad, self-contained, a font of technical knowledge that we all tapped into, generous to a fault, always willing to help out as and when he could, always quick with the “ask your mother” if it was a personal issue, but at the end of the day, our Dad - engineer, inventor, diy-er, pipe-smoker, husband, grandfather and friend.
Dad also had a particular sense of humour. So to finish I’d like to play a favourite of his – the Gas Man Cometh by Flanders and Swann.
Peter Webber
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SYLVIA ELIZABETH ELLEN STREETS 12 December 1926 – 18 May 2014 Sylvia, or Vene, as many knew her, was born in Old Lane and at two weeks’ old she moved to Lusted Hall Lane. A sister of seven other siblings, she lived all her life in the Village. She attended Tatsfield School until 14 years old; she met and married her soul mate, Peter Streets from Church Farm at the age of 17 years. They went on to have six children, Maureen, Bruce, Cliff, Paul, Annette and Patsy whom she loved dearly. The family home begun at Lusted Hall Lane, they moved to 6 The Square in 1955 where many gatherings were spent with family and friends. Later years involved Sylvia winning “Tatsfield in Bloom” for her lovely garden, which many admired. She enjoyed outings with the “not so young” and Tea Dances held in the Village Hall by her wonderful friends Jane and Dave Bishop. Early holidays were spent visiting the New Forest camping in a huge army tent, and many very very wet holidays. She loved Camber Sands always ending up with fish and chips, not forgetting visits to the cockle stall at Rye with a convoy of cars following filled with brothers’ and sisters’ nephews and nieces in tow. Sylvia and Peter always enjoyed visiting places in Europe including Yugoslavia and Jersey with Madeira being one of her favourites. When her children had grown up she worked as a Home Care Assistant looking after local elderly people in the village for 15 years. Her first grandchild was born in Canada and at 71, whilst visiting in Canada, she became a Great Great Grandmother. Celebrating five generations her family in Canada always enjoyed the many visits from “Nanny Vene”. Her family in Canada and England continued to grow - expanding to 14 grandchildren, 18 great grandchildren and 8 great great grandchildren. Sylvia was a loving, generous, kind and devoted grandmother and while many of her stories and sayings will be remembered one in particular stands out – “never look a gift horse in the mouth” – which she always said when trying to offer gifts of money to her nearest and dearest. Sylvia lived a full life surrounded by her loving husband Peter and her entire family. She will be so so missed, but leaves a legacy of her generous love and compassion, which will carry us through this time of loss. Night night to our Best Friend, Mother and Grandmother. The Streets Family
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DAVID BROWN
The sad news was given by the MC, David Bishop to the dancers at a recent Tatsfield Tea Dance Social, that David Brown had passed away on Thursday July 10 at the Princess Royal University Hospital at Farnborough.
David and his wife Rosemary were regular attendees at the four weekly dances held on a Wednesday afternoon in the Village Hall and both were very good dancers. David especially enjoyed the quickstep and he and Rosemary always looked very good together whilst dancing.
Some years ago David had contracted cancer of the tongue which meant severe surgery. From being almost speechless, he taught himself to talk all over again. He was a qualified private pilot and a hard working, popular and understanding person, with his own business. Over many years he was also heavily involved with organising alternate annual visits of French people from the twin town of Vern d'Anjou.
Dave and Jan Bishop
A tribute to David from his family will appear in the next edition of this magazine.
TEA DANCE SOCIALS Tea Dance Socials are held at the Village Hall on a Wednesday afternoon from 2.15 to 4.50 pm. The dates for the next events are 10 September, 8 October and 5 November. The cost is still just £6 each and a good fun time is guaranteed where you can meet and make new friends. Beginners are especially welcome. There is a free cream tea along with a raffle and a short quiz, both with prizes. Any enquiries please to Dave Bishop on 577550 or e-mail: davebishop_dbsound @yahoo.co.uk.
Have you ever looked at the Tatsfield Village website? – it is a beautifully presented source of a staggering amount of local information – and you can see this magazine in colour! www.tatsfield.org or just Google ‘Tatsfield’.
32 VILLAGE NEWS OUR RETIRING GREENGROCERS Saturday 30th August will be the last day the village’s greengrocers shop will be open, for on that day Tony Brown reaches the retirement age of 60 and he and his wife Di will be closing the door of the shop for the last time. The corner shop on the green has been a greengrocers shop for as long as most of us can remember, with Tony’s mother and father, Winnie and Charlie, in charge until they handed over to Tony and Di in July 1985. Tony used to work as a butcher in Croydon and Di in a leather warehouse in Edenbridge. They married in June 1983 and then decided two years later to give up their jobs and continue the family greengrocers business in the village. The shop has always stocked fresh fruit and vegetables, tinned and frozen food, dog and cat food, wild bird seed, cut flowers, bedding plants and pot plants. But Tony and Di remember life in the village in the 1980s being very different from what it is now. They knew most people in the village. They were also very busy in the shop but since then business has gradually reduced and more and more people have turned to supermarkets rather than use their local shops. In addition, with increasingly both husband and wife working it has become less convenient to use local shops for only part of a family’s household needs. So, gradually over the years business has reduced and the shop now has many fewer regular customers, although there are still some in the village who regularly buy most of their fruit and vegetables in the shop. So, what happens next? The shop will be vacant, for the time being at least, but hopefully someone will want to rent it for use as a greengrocers or some other kind of shop. Anyone interested in doing so should phone Tony or Di on 01959 577667. It would be a great pity if we had an empty shop in the heart of the village. Let’s hope that someone will see this as a good business opportunity. As for Tony and Di, they intend to continue to live in Grove Road as they have done since they were married over 30 years ago. Their two sons are following different careers – Martin is training to be an accountant and Charlie hopes to make his mark in IT. Tony will be kept occupied looking after his stock of animals – donkeys, pigs and sheep – which he has on land at the Biggin Hill end of Lusted Hall Lane and Di will be taking it easy. The village as a whole are very grateful to Tony and Di for their long service in the shop and wish them a happy retirement. Bob David
33 VILLAGE NEWS NEWS FROM THE OLD SHIP We are now one month in from opening. Although we have had some expected teething problems, our plans for The Old Ship are coming into place. Our main objective was to have the garden re-landscaped so we can all enjoy the summer which we have achieved, and we are sure you will agree it is looking great. We are still working on some of the building plans which are currently underway and will be completed within the coming weeks. Our first live act performed this month and we have plans for running more evening live acts throughout the coming months, along with themed evenings. Please check the local boards for further information. The restaurant is offering good quality, and more importantly locally-sourced, food accompanied by a superb wine list and local beers. We have also introduced coffee mornings, where you can come along and enjoy a chat with friends. We have successfully started hiring out The Old Ship: if you have a birthday or a gathering coming up and need somewhere to go, then we have a large customer area and garden available for hire. We can supply the music and/or food. The choice is yours. CCTV has been installed and we are keen to get involved in the local neighbourhood watch scheme. Our continuing goal is to make The Old Ship the hub of Tatsfield. We welcome any suggestions you may have and we are keen to support local events, clubs and societies within the village. For starters…. we are currently displaying local art which has had some amazing reviews from customers, and are also looking to sponsor the Tatsfield Beer Festival on September 13th. For more information you can visit our new website: www.theoldshiptatsfield.com Paul Brazier
The newly designed garden at The Old Ship
34 VILLAGE NEWS A REVIEW OF THE TATSFIELD ART GROUP’S ANNUAL EXHIBITION If you have ever watched a television documentary covering the Royal Academy’s, ‘Summer Exhibition’, you will know that the process of selecting the work to be displayed is a time of great intensity for all concerned. The Tatsfield Art Group (TAG), rather sensibly, avoids this stressful situation by operating a policy of showing everything that is submitted to them. Not only does this avoid disappointment for the artists, but it also provides a more democratic show, one that openly declares that ‘art is for everyone’ ‘We stipulate the (maximum) number of exhibits, but I don’t think that we could survive as a club if we set up a selection/rejection process’. (Carol Gaskell) Come the time of hanging, however, the atmosphere changes dramatically. The RA’s guest curators have an expanse of white walls upon which to hang their chosen pieces and many hours to cogitate. The TAG members have display stands and, due to Village Hall availability, need to produce a virtually instant display on the morning of the show. I know which set of conditions I would prefer to work with! Fortunately, through practice, the inherent difficulties of this situation have largely been overcome. ‘We are now more confident. I think the standard of execution and hanging has become more professional in the last few years. We now have a schedule of responsibilities so that the frantic four to five hours of the hanging morning are slightly less fraught. Everybody brings things with which to dress the hall. The production of the brochure is time consuming but I feel that it adds to the exhibition quality.’ This year’s body of work, which included contributions from ‘linked artists’ and the Millennium Group, was displayed thematically and included project pieces produced by TAG members on the themes of Gustav Klimt, the First World War and Auguste Renoir.
35 VILLAGE NEWS
‘I think themes lend a degree of coherence and help the hanging process, individuals being given a theme to collect together and display in a particular area. The group projects have brought us together to resolve problems and discuss techniques.’ This sense of unity was most evident in a magnificent group production of Renoir’s, ‘The Ball at the Moulin de la Galette’, surely the highlight of the show. TAG currently has 17 full members, each paying a termly fee that includes the cost of visiting artists/tutors, such as Adie Parker, Pippa Doig and Sandi Gray. Sue White acts as the Group’s membership, website and parish magazine contact, andwould very much like to hear from anyone that may be interested in joining this friendly, like-minded group of artists at one of their monthly, Monday evening meetings. She can be contacted on 570097. For further information about the group’s activities, visit ‘tatsfield-art-group.weebly.com’. As well as Carol (Gaskell) and Sue (White), I am reliably informed that Sheila Alexander, Carol Pearson, Ann Cootes, Sue Brown, Mike Lambert, Malcolm Tovey and Paul Stainer all need to be thanked for the part they played in the preparation, organisation and running of the event. But, of course, as an active, self-supporting group, everybody did their ‘bit’ over the weekend as stewards and when taking everything down on the Sunday afternoon. And so, on behalf of the village, may I thank them all, not just for their efforts over the weekend but also for being kind enough to share the fruits of their labour with the stream of visitors, from our village and beyond, who I am sure will have left the hall decidedly richer than when they arrived. Nigel Shaw
HARVEST FESTIVAL An invitation to come and celebrate harvest at St Mary’s on Sunday October 12th at 10.00am followed by harvest refreshments in the hall. All Age Service with Holy Communion You are invited to bring harvest gifts For further details see St Mary’s Matters
36 VILLAGE NEWS CRAPP GOES INTERNATIONAL Given our dog poo endeavours it is probably not so surprising that the CRAPP Team, Community Revolting Against Pervasive (dog) Poo, was invited to attend the International Public Health Conference "INTERPOO" held this year on the Isle of Dogs near Barking. The most notable speaker was a Doctor Excrementos, Professor of Poo -ology at the University of Turdistan, very well qualified. The Professor likened piles of abandoned dog poo to that of land mines, not to be trodden on, pointing out that a dollop of dog poo is likely to contain more nasties than that of almost any other animal. OK, the Komodo dragon may be a touch worse but you don't get to see too many of these in Tatsfield unless of course Nigel Shaw knows differently! Known nasties were given as follows: Parvovirus Whipworm; Hookworm; Roundworm; Threadworm; E Coli; Salmonella and much more. The larvae of these parasites can remain in the soil indefinitely so there may not be any obvious physical sign to alert a child playing games on the village green that their ball has become contaminated. An edition of the BBC programme "On Your Farm" in May featured a farmer who said that a right of way over his field had led to the loss of a significant number of his animals because, as he put it, some irresponsible people with dogs failed to "pick up" This may also explain a reason why our local farmer has fenced a corridor across his field at the bottom of Goatsfield Road. Whilst on patrol recently, Jack alerted me to an abandoned pile of dog poo in Shaw Road. Now what I found amusing at this particular encounter was that the dollop had been ring marked in shocking pink. As it happens the BBC1 programme "Have I Got News for You" featured spot dog poo recently in their "odd one out". Swansea Council who, it seems, is highlighting the presence of abandoned dog poo with a pink spray. On the other hand it may have been a response to what I had written last time, but in any event whoever was responsible - WELL DONE YOU! When returning from patrol one day last month we turned into Paynesfield Road from Crossways to see a lad contemplating what his dog had deposited on the pavement. From where I stood observing the events as they unfolded I could see his dilemma, if nobody was around could he do a discreet runner? Too late, shock horror, the poo patrol was bearing down upon him. " 'Allo, 'Allo, 'Allo, and what do we 'ave 'ere then, are you going to pick that up son?" "Sorry haven't got a bag" was the tortured response. "Well son, there are two things you must have when dog walking, firstly, a dog and secondly a poo bag. Suggest at least two poo bags cos my spare I'm giving you now has saved you a possible £1000 penalty" The lad did his duty and the patrol moved on. Howard Aylett
37 VILLAGE NEWS
QUIZ OF QUIZZES Eighty six quiz minded people gathered in the Village Hall at 7.30 on Saturday 12 July to take part in this event. Tables of 6 were drawn from the surrounding area with teams from Tatsfield WI, Not So Young Club, the Singers, Westerham Ramblers, Westerham WI, Art Club, Line Dancers, St Mary’s Church, Pam’s People and 3 other individual teams, 13 teams in all. Terry Cartwright was again question master and set 10 questions on 8 varying subjects with an additional Cryptic Film Titles table quiz. There was a break halfway through the evening for a wonderful upmarket Ploughman’s followed by Lemon Meringue or Cheese Cake with cream, masterminded by Carol Jordan with assistance on the night from Tina Rhoda and Lloyd Gulley and a bar run by Jackie and Julie from Little Acorns. There was a raffle with prizes provided by The Bakery and some committee members and Bob and Brenda David sold the tickets. Competition was intense with double points’ jokers that could be played at any time. The final outcome was not decided till the last table quiz round but in the end third place went to the Line Dancers with 153.5 points, second were the the Westerham Ramblers ‘Let them eat cake’ team with 158.5 but victorious were Pam’s People with 159.5, a very close finish. The event raised well over £500 for Village Hall improvement funds. Thanks to everyone who helped with the set-up and on the night with a special thank you to our jovial question master. See you all next year. Roger Sawyers
TATSFIELD PLAYING FIELD ASSOCIATION 100 CLUB Congratulations to the 100 Club winners for June
1st prize K. Budgen £45.00 2nd prize Chris Maynard £30.00 3rd prize Les Eames £15.00
GOOD NEWS? Do you have any good news you would like to share? A new arrival, an engagement, a new job, academic or sporting success etc. To include it in the magazine email to [email protected]
38 VILLAGE NEWS WHAT CAN WE DO? - Suffering in Palestine During the Summer the appalling tragedy of what is happening in Gaza has been filling our newspapers, television screens and radio airways. In time other news breaks, the story slips from the headlines and sometimes from the forefront of our attention. But for the people of Palestine this is not a news story. It is only part of an ongoing cycle of suffering in the occupied territories. Since 1967 tens of thousands of houses have been demolished, thousands of acres of agricultural land bulldozed and hundreds of thousands of olive trees destroyed. An estimated 800,000 trees have been …
… slashed, burned or uprooted The olive has long been, for many different cultures, the symbol of peace, wisdom, fertility and purity. For Palestinians the olive tree also symbolises their attachment to their land and, because these extraordinarily ancient trees are drought-resistant and grow under poor soil conditions, they represent Palestinian resistance and resilience. That resilience is demonstrated by the planting of new olive trees on the devastated land. It takes many years before those trees will bear fruit and so the hope and determination of these farmers deserves support. If we want to offer a small measure of support to the olive farmers of Palestine, an easy way is to buy their produce. Locating produce from Palestinian farmers is very difficult but Linda’s Stores will now stock Zaytoun olive oil which is not only produced by Palestinians but is organic and extra virgin (the olives are taken to the presses within 24 hours of picking) so it tastes very good …… and it is Fairtrade. You may wish to go a step further and buy a sapling olive tree.Replanting olive trees encourages the Palestinians to keep hope alive and reaffirm their commitment to work constructively toward peace-building. To find out more visit the Tatsfield Fairtrade Village website. Google it, type www.tatsfieldfairtradevillage.weebly.com in your browser or go to the village website and click on the ‘Fairtrade’ link on the left. Carol Jordan, Tatsfield Fairtrade Group
39 VILLAGE NEWS LITTLE ACORNS PRE-SCHOOL The children have been enjoying the summer break during August and return for a new year on 8th September. Little Acorns plays an important role within the Tatsfield community as it provides an opportunity for children to benefit from attending a pre-school setting. Here are some of the ways in which children can learn and develop through play.
Sand and water play can be an early introduction to science and maths, e.g. learning that water is fluid, not solid, and that it can be measured in different sized containers. Playing with dough, drawing and painting pictures, dressing up, playing with dolls can encourage creativity, imagination and expression of feelings. Building blocks, jigsaws and shape sorters can help with recognising different shapes and sizes, putting things in order and developing logic. Playing ball games, dancing, running, climbing all help to develop body movement, strength, flexibility and co-ordination skills. Games help with taking turns, sharing and mixing with others. Singing, playing simple music instruments help to develop rhythm, listening and hearing. It is important that learning is fun at this age and there is a strong emphasis on this at Little Acorns. Opportunities for play at pre-school provides so much more than a few minutes or hours of ‘fun’. Playing also allows children to relax, let off steam, develop social skills such as concentration and co-operation, encourages the development of the imagination, develops motor skills and teaches self expression. Three and four year olds are entitled to fifteen hours a week of government funding and funding is also available for some two year olds. Please contact us for details. If you would like more information about Little Acorns or would like to register your child or have a look round, please contact Julie Barlow on 540775 during pre-school hours. These are Monday – Friday 0900-1200 and Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 1200 – 1500. If you have a child attending Tatsfield Primary School, our breakfast club operates every day from 7.15am. Rebecca Veale, Chair (573669)
40 VILLAGE NEWS
Tatsfield Art Group invites you……
To join us for two evenings with Adie Parker, professional artist and tutor. We will be using pastels (pencils or chalk) to complete a painting of an animal of your choice, wild or domestic. Mondays 6th and 13th October - 7.30pm to 10pm Tatsfield Village Hall - cost £20 payable in advance Please contact me for more details or to book a place (limited places) Sue White 01959 570097 [email protected]
HEADS WANTED I am a mature hairdressing student and I need models on a Monday at college in Hayes, Bromley for wash and blow dry, shampoo and set, colour and highlights. College is open from 10am - 8pm and I work in a very small class and I am fully supervised. Please contact me for further information. Susan Biancofiore 07903149885
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ALLOTMENT NEWS Well, summer is fading fast, and the allotments are full of produce! Crops are being harvested and all plotters should be looking extremely healthy over the next few months! The Committee continues to be busy, working to improve the site. Major progress has been made on the drainage problem - a local contractor was employed to do phase 1 - which was to stop the flooding at The White House end. Underground pipework was laid to drain water away into the farmer's field, and part of the original trench on the Approach Road side was opened up, which should also help. A special thanks goes to Jim McKenzie for his Trojan effort in cutting back the low branches and shrubs right along the perimeter fence - enabling the contractor to access the trench with his digger. We are always impressed & grateful to those plot holders who go that "extra mile" making life better for everyone. The picnic benches have now been assembled and installed by yet another band of helpers - finally being secured in concrete as a precaution! Woodchip was then spread around the base area to avoid unnecessary mowing. This whole operation took several days, once in scorching sunshine .....and then in torrential rain! I believe some "refreshments" were quaffed....! We had hoped to "christen" the furniture at a BBQ in August, but unfortunately, this had to be cancelled due to inclement weather. This has now been re- scheduled to Sunday 14th September - the day after the Horticultural Society Autumn Show - hope to see you all there! Liz Armitage
42 VILLAGE NEWS LOCAL FARM SHOP You will see reported elsewhere in the magazine that our village greengrocer closed at the end of August. So the nearest shops for fruit or vegetables for most of us will be the supermarkets in Biggin Hill, Oxted and Warlingham. But there is an alternative nearby which you might like to try. It is the small Farm Shop which you will find in Westerham Heights Garden Centre (which is just off the end of Main Road, Biggin Hill at the junction with Chestnut Avenue and Tatsfield Lane). The Farm Shop stocks a range of fruit and vegetables, much of it locally sourced, as well as some other interesting products. Its opening hours are: Wednesday – Friday 9.30 am – 5 pm Saturday 9 am – 5.30 pm Sunday 10 am – 4 pm It’s worth a try! Bob David
BARN THEATRE - BLUEHOUSE LANE, OXTED RH8 0AA DIARY SEPTEMBER Local Churches Comedy Event (Local churches present a fund-raising comedy event with Comedy Magician John Archer) Saturday 6th (8.00) (Tickets (£5.00) available from [email protected] or 01883 734502) OCTOBER The Oxted Players – My Boy Jack (It's 1913 and war with Germany is imminent. Kipling's determination to send his myopic son to war triggers a bitter family conflict) Wednesday 15th – Saturday 18th ( Sat 2.30 & 7.45) (Tickets available from www.barntheatreoxted.co.uk or 01883 724852) The Barnstormers – The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Six quirky adolescents compete in a fictional spelling bee, in Putnam Valley Middle School) Thursday 23rd – Saturday 25th (7.45pm) (Tickets (£15.00) available from www.barntheatreoxted.co.uk or 01959 561811) Information pertaining to all the above shows can be obtained from: www.barntheatreoxted.co.uk or 15a High Street, Westerham. Kent. TN16 1RA. 01959 561811
43 VILLAGE NEWS TATSFIELD KIDS DANCE AT DISNEY
On July the 29th twenty seven pupils, many of them from Tatsfield and Oxted schools, and all pupils of the Shirley Cox dance school in Biggin Hill, danced at Disneyland in Paris in front of a large group of supporters and an audience of many nationalities in a fully packed theatre.
For the last few months I have been working with the girls on six very different routines showing the many aspects of dance, progressing through from little ones to seniors, with everyone giving a terrific performance, which was much appreciated by the audience and the demanding and professional Disney production team.
Later that day they took part in the Disney parade with four other schools from around the country, they all looked good as they marched and danced down Main Street in Fantasy Land.
It seems so easy these days to accuse young people of being lazy, definitely not these girls, they worked hard every lesson and then on the day of the performance were outstanding, I was very proud of them.
Once all of the hard work was over, everyone was able to enjoy the parks and have a really good time.
Well done girls. Tatsfield has got talent!
Beverley McAffer (Senior Teacher with the Shirley Cox School)
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45 VILLAGE NEWS IN GOOD VOICE Tatsfield Singers gave a concert in the Village Hall on June 28th which was a sell-out, and rightly so, demonstrating yet again that Tatsfield really is a bit out of the ordinary, hosting both a choir and a symphony orchestra, either of which would be quite at home in a population ten times as large. On this occasion they took us on a journey round the world in a programme that was devised, led, conducted and introduced by Alex Deterding. Among other places we visited Ireland, South Africa, Israel and Germany, as well of course England – and even Tatsfield – and in the course of a varied evening we enjoyed some old favourites, such as The Skye Boat Song and The Holy City, as well as some pieces that, to me, were quite new. I particularly enjoyed the Bill Bryson readings and the poem Colour-blind, and I think The Old Crotchets deserve a special word for their rendering of The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Just one word of criticism: it would have been helpful if the programme had included the place and date of the event and names of all the singers. Denis Hayes
TATSFIELD HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY AUTUMN SHOW SATURDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER Have you ever thought of entering one of the many categories in the Autumn Show? Maybe not, because you think it is for experts only who grow special prizewinning specimens that are grown just for this one event. Did you know that there are categories to suit everyone from beginner to expert, from adults to children, from vegetables to fruit, flowers, flower arranging, cakes, jams and much much more? Did you know that you don’t have to choose what you want to exhibit until the week before the show? The last day for entries is Thursday 11th September. Your entry doesn’t have to be presented for judging until Saturday morning between 08.30 and when the judges start at 10.30. After judging and some lunch the doors are open for all from 3.00pm, price just £1.00 on the door. Come and have a look at the best of Tatsfield - over 400 exhibits on display, and while you are there have a cup of tea and some home-made cake. If you would like some more information call Jon Allbutt on 577100 or have a look on our website www.tatsfieldhorticulturalsociety.weebly.com.
46 VILLAGE NEWS TATSFIELD COMMUNITY COMPOSTING September will be the last month of public opening of the compost site where the task of turning Tatsfield’s green waste into compost has gone on since the first week of April. Our loyal team and allotment volunteers have been able to keep up with the increasing flow of green waste that has been coming up to the site and this is only because we now have the correct machinery to deal with the task. “Fred “has had a few teething problems a couple of tantrums and run out of the necessary liquid to keep it going, petrol. But other than that he has performed extremely well. Our continued thanks go to the SCC and TPC for their support to this venture.
Two of our D O E volunteers have completed their time with us Joshua Dennis and John Harber (shown in the photo), and we are now left with one, Charlie, who I am sure will be glad when September is over!
What with the new machines, additional volunteers and what has for the most been good weather, 2014 has been a good year for the scheme but there is still copious quantities of Black Gold that will be produced over the next four weeks so do please come along and collect some for use either at home or on the allotments. . Please do support us in making a donation for the material as well as bringing the waste up to the site.
Donations £ 1.20 a bag and £ 2.50 for a wheelbarrow load.
We continue to have the green waste put in the wrong bins so when using the site please follow the signs for the correct bins.
I continue my appeal to you all: please offer assistance at any time to this worthwhile community enterprise for the benefit of all those that live in the village. If you want to volunteer to help on the site, even if it is just by manning the input bins and doing a ‘meet and greet’ or you need further information on anything about the composting site please contact Martin Allen 577201 or Phil Brett on 577420.
Further details of this and all other THS events can be found on the THS website http://tatsfieldhorticulturalsociety.weebly.com/join-us.html Martin Allen
47 EVENTS CALENDAR SEPTEMBER 1 Mon 9-10am PCSO Rupert Kelly Surgery – Linda’s Stores 9.30am Tots on Top – CH • 1.30pm Bridge Club – WIH • 8.15pm Bingo - TVC 2 Tue 7.30pm WI Meeting - WIH 3 Wed 10am-12noon WI Pop In WIH • 8pm Yoga – VH TATSFIELD SCHOOL RETURNS
4 Thu 9.15am Morning Prayer – StM 5 Fri 2pm Short Mat Bowls – VH • 8pm Badminton Club - VH 6 Sat 10am Flower Festival – StM 10am-12noon Composting Site Open • 11am-12noon PC Café -The Bakery
7 Sun 9am Holy Communion – StM 10am Open the Book-All Age Service – CH 10am Flower Festival – StM • 10.30am Ramblers Walk 3-5pm Church Teas - CH 8 Mon 9-10am PCSO Rupert Kelly Surgery – Linda’s Stores 9.30am Tots on Top – CH • 1.30pm Bridge Club - WIH 6pm Beavers - SH8.15pm Bingo - TVC 9 Tues 2pm Not So Young Club - WIH • 7pm Scouts – SH • 7pm Pilates - TPS 8pm Gardening Club - WIH 10 Wed 10am WI Pop In • 2.15pm Tea Dance Social – VH • 6pm Cubs – SH 8pm Yoga - VH
11 Thur 9.15am Morning Prayer – StM • 10am Over 50s Yoga – WIH 2pm Scrabble Group – Scrumdoone, Greenway 3pm WI Darts – WIH • 3pm WI Darts – WI • 5.30pm Brownies – CH 7.30pm Duplicate Bridge – WIH 8pm Table Tennis – VH 12 Fri 2pm Short Mat Bowls –VH • 8pm Badminton Club - VH 13 Sat 10am-12noon Composting Site Open • 11am-12noon PC Café -The Bakery 1pm Beer Festival – Westmore Green 3pm Horticultural Society Autumn Show - VH 14 Sun 10am Sung Eucharist – StM • 10am Ramblers Walk - 3-5pm Church Teas – CH • Allotment Barbecue 15 Mon 9-10am PCSO Rupert Kelly Surgery – Linda’s Stores 9.30am Tots on Top – CH • 1.30pm Bridge Club - WIH • 8.15pm Bingo – TVC 16 Tues 7pm Scouts – SH • 7pm Pilates - TPS • 7.30pm Tatty Knitters – The Bakery 17 Wed 10am WI Pop In • 6pm Cubs – SH • 8pm Yoga – VH
18 Thur 9.15am Said Eucharist – StM • 10am Over 50s Yoga – WIH 3pm WI Darts – WIH • 5.30pm Brownies – CH 7.30pm Duplicate Bridge – WIH • 8pm Table Tennis – VH 19 Fri 2pm Short Mat Bowls –VH • 8pm Badminton Club - VH 20 Sat 10am-12noon Composting Site Open • 11am-12noon PC Café -The Bakery
21 Sun 10am Holy Communion - StM • 10.15am Ramblers Walk 3-5pm Church Teas
48 EVENTS CALENDAR 22 Mon 9-10am PCSO Rupert Kelly Surgery – Linda’s Stores 9.30am Tots on Top – CH • 1.30pm Bridge Club - WIH 6pm Beavers - SH8.15pm Bingo – TVC 23 Tues 7pm Scouts – SH • 7pm Pilates - TPS 24 Wed 10am WI Pop In • 6pm Cubs – SH • 8pm Yoga – VH 25 Thur 9.15am Morning Prayer • 10am Over 50s Yoga – WIH • 3pm WI Darts – WIH • 5.30pm Brownies – CH 7.30pm Duplicate Bridge – WIH • 8pm Table Tennis – VH 26 Fri 2pm Short Mat Bowls – VH • 8pm Badminton Club – VH 27 Sat 10am-12noon Composting Site Open • 11am-12noon PC Café -The Bakery 7.30pm Talent Show - VH 28 Sun 10am Sung Eucharist – StM • !0.30am Ramblers Walk – 3-5pm Church Teas – CH • 7pm Youth Group - CH 29 Mon 9-10am PCSO Rupert Kelly Surgery – Linda’s Stores 9.30am Tots on Top – CH • 1.30pm Bridge Club - WIH • 6pm Beavers - SH 8.15pm Bingo – TVC 30 Tues 1.30pm Whist - WIH • 7pm Scouts – SH • 7pm Pilates - TPS
OCTOBER
1 Wed 10am WI Pop In • 6pm Cubs – SH • 8pm Yoga – VH 2 Thur 9.15am Morning Prayer • 10am Over 50s Yoga – WIH 3pm WI Darts – WIH • 5.30pm Brownies – CH 7.30pm Duplicate Bridge – WIH • 8pm Table Tennis – VH 3 Fri 2pm Short Mat Bowls – VH • 8pm Badminton Club – VH 4 Sat 10am Churchyard Tidy Up – StM • 10am-12noon Composting Site Open 11am-12noon PC Café -The Bakery
5 Sun 10am Open the Book-All Age Service – StM 11.30am Holy Communion – StM 6 Mon 9-10am PCSO Rupert Kelly Surgery – Linda’s Stores 9.30am Tots on Top – CH • 1.30pm Bridge Club – WIH 6pm Beavers – SH • 7.30pm Art Evening – VH • 8.15pm Bingo - TVC
Venues AMB - Aileen McHugo Building • CGA - Community Games Area CH - Church Hall • FC - Furze Corner SH - Scout Hut • StM - St. Mary’s Church • TPS - Tatsfield Primary School TVC - Tatsfield Village Club VH - Village Hall • WIH - Women’s Institute
49 VILLAGE NEWS
LITTER PICKERS CORNER Every Saturday I try to get out and collect the litter that is dropped along both sides of Approach Road. From my litter sack I see that not only do we have the Old Bakery and The Ship for our dining out experiences but that we now have a third venue for our repasts – the Approach Road Diner. This has proved be one of our most popular eating places as I regularly collect at least two full plastic bags of litter every week from this one road and I know that others do the same throughout the week. Patrons of the Diner are almost impossible to find but the evidence that they exist is all around us. Apparently, there is no need to book, just drive through and when you are replete just throw out all your excess packaging, left overs and empty bottles all over the highway. Someone will be along later to pick it up for you. Bon Appetit!!
APPROACH ROAD DINER MENU Nibbles and Starters Drinks to accompany your meal Walkers Crisps Morrisons own label Gin Melon Carling Black Label Tuna and sweetcorn sandwich filler Stella Artois (bottle or can) for the more Pringles discerning diner Sandwiches – various Carlsberg Coca Cola Main Course McDonalds Burger and chips Red, white and Rose wines from Australia or Chinese mixed take away South Africa Chicken nuggets Bottled water, still or fizzy Pizza Fish and chips
Dessert Hot apple pie Lucozade Bananas Red Bull Chocolate muffins Diet lemonade
Chocolates and mints: Toblerone, Wispa Lion bar Rounding off with A french brandy, A fine Classic cigar or a packet of Mayfair or Marlboro fags
Terry Cartwright
50 VILLAGE NEWS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY TEA PARTY AT TROUT ROOST
The day of the tea party dawned brightly before us and despite a 40% chance of rain and some forecasts that said rain was coming, we , that is over 70 people from Tatsfield and beyond, came to Mary and Barry Bull’s to join friends and the THS committee members for a wonderful afternoon of “Tea and Cakes “.
As the preparations started to form with the erecting of the gazebo’s and the laying out of the tables and chairs the place began to look splendid, especially as Barry had remembered to mow the lawn. The summer had ensured that the backdrop was gloriously green and offset the white of the gazebo and tablecloths well, and was superbly rounded off with table displays of sweet peas kindly donated by Sue Warren.
To add to this the cakes and scones started to arrive, and for those of us that way inclined they looked good enough to eat there and then. We did however resist until the appropriate time and I particularly enjoyed the Vic….which I later found out was the shortened term for the Victoria Sponge.
Our thanks go to all of you that supported the event to Carol Gaskell for organising us all, the marvellous makers of the cakes, too many to name individually, the committee and helpers especially our put upon washer upper Sophie and of course Mary and Barry for a wonderful summer event put on by the THS.
Having cleared everything away under threat of rain and taking a superb “Speckled Hen“ with Barry the rain did come and quite heavily for a short period of time so our luck on the day seemed to be most timely indeed.
Further details of this and all other THS future and past events can be found on the THS website: http://tatsfieldhorticulturalsociety.weebly.com/join-us.html
Martin Allen
51 VILLAGE NEWS
52 ST MARY’S MATTERS Confirmation 9th November There will be a group of young people and a group of adults being confirmed on Sunday 9th Nov. The preparation for the young people will be from 12-1:30 pm on Sundays 21st Sept, 5th Oct, 2nd Nov and will include a simple lunch. There will also be a follow up session on 23rd Nov. Adult preparation will be on at 8pm on 8th Oct and 5th Nov with the encouragement to read a particular book we will be looking at when we meet. If you are interested in confirmation and would like to join one of these groups please speak to Louise on 577289 or email [email protected]
What’s So Amazing About Grace? “We speak of grace often. But do we understand it? More important, do we truly believe in it….and do our lives proclaim it as powerfully as our words?” In the sermons for four weeks starting on the 14th September we will be exploring grace with the help of Philip Yancey and the Bible! Alongside this you may also like to read Philip Yancey’s excellent book ‘What’s So Amazing About Grace’. As well as the Sunday sermons there will be further opportunities to explore this theme and talk about the book at three Monday evening sessions on 15th & 29th Sept and 6th Oct. Copies of the book are readily available on Amazon. For further details please speak to Louise on 577289 or email [email protected]
Service arrangements for Sunday 7th September To fit in with the Flower Festival the services on Sunday 7th September will be: 9.00am Said Holy Communion; 10am Open the Book outside church hall [or inside if wet].
Holiday Club This summer saw St Mary’s 5th summer holiday club. We were blessed with amazing weather for each of the days and enjoyed hearing some of the stories that Jesus told, learning some songs, making all kinds of crafty bits, and playing lots of games. We also built some very impressive houses, on rock and sand, before recreating a very life like storm!
53 ST MARY’S MATTERS
All Age Harvest Festival with Holy Communion, 12th October, 10 am Harvest is a time when we thank God for His boundless generosity to us. Following the service, details of which are in a separate advert, harvest gifts will be delivered locally and to our link church Christchurch Brixton Road. Children and adults are all invited to bring harvest gifts to this service. What will you bring? It may help you to know that it would be really good to have some small (shoebox size) boxes of goodies that would suit an elderly person living on their own. Also Christchurch are particularly glad of the following which go to their ‘store cupboard’ and provide the makings of a simple meal for those in immediate need: rice; pasta; tea bags; cans of protein foods - baked beans, tuna, sardines, meatballs, meat pie, stewed meat; cans of tomatoes; canned vegetables such as carrots and peas; canned fruit and fruit salad; packets of custard; jars of jam. Churchyard We are very grateful to those who have given time and energy towards the maintenance of the churchyard in recent weeks. In the early summer growth was very rapid and it naturally takes a while before all areas can be given the time required to conform to our management plan. 100 Club Results of 100 club draw for July and August. July: 32 Ken Munday £25 33 L.Ellis £15 August: 45 S and V Geary £25 77 Babs Heffernon £15 Flower Rota September 7th Flower Festival September 14th Jan Maynard September 21st Tina Boys September 28th Tina Boys Jan Maynard 577659 Records July 20th Baptism of Toby Kilgour July 23rd Wedding of Tim Butler and Katarina Mansi July 25th Funeral and burial of David Brown July 27th Baptisms of Oscar Saunders and Jessica Garrett August 3rd Baptism of Edward Stokoe August 4th Funeral and burial of Ken Webber August 8th Wedding of William Humphrey and Alice Laugharne August 9th Wedding of David Knight and Jane Ashcroft August 10th Baptism of Carys Dwyer August 17th Wedding of Toby Burrows and Meleiha Miles August 24th Baptism of Henry Philip 54 A TATSFIELDER’S VIEW OF THE WORLD CUP
BEYOND THE FIFA WORLD CUP 2014
Hannah Longley is now working in Brazil – readers may recall her previous articles in the April and June magazines earlier this year. We thank her for now giving us her perspective on the World Cup
My lasting impression is that the FIFA World Cup 2014 was well organised despite fears it would be chaotic. The Brazilians were hospitable. The football was entertaining. In fact, some have gone so far as to call it the best World Cup in recent memory.
I watched the first England match against Italy on the big screen at the FIFA Fan Fest on Copacabana beach. The excitement and sense of anticipation from people of all nationalities was overwhelming. Armed with a can of local beer and my face painted with the St George cross, the World Cup could only have started better if England had managed a win.
I was also fortunate enough to have tickets to see England play Costa Rica in Belo Horizonte. We were well prepared to cheer on the home team sporting red and white fancy dress costumes topped with majestic golden crowns but unfortunately England’s performance had been a huge disappointment before the game even started. English support throughout the match was nevertheless uplifting and unrelenting. We managed to catch a glimpse of the England bus from a nearby bar in which we commiserated the defeat and watched the tail lights disappear as the squad headed home.
Hannah is on the right
Rio de Janeiro had a number of outdoor venues around the city for locals and tourists alike to enjoy each of the matches. The Jockey Club offered the action on a big screen in the sunshine overlooked by the statue of Christ, the Swiss camp by the Lagoon had fake snow and fur rugs on hand and a stroll along Copacabana beach promised encounters with football fans from around the world. The most local experience was a big screen on a street called Alzirão - as Brazil went head to head with Chile in the penalty stage the atmosphere was incredible and the crowd was showered with drinks each time a goal was scored.
The World Cup would not have been complete for me without a visit to the world famous Maracanã stadium. The sun was setting as Colombia played Uruguay
55 A TATSFIELDER’S VIEW OF THE WORLD CUP and chants erupted from the seats surrounding us - “Ô Colômbia pode esperar, a sua hora vai chegar”. This roughly translates as “Colombia just you wait, your time will come”. The Brazilians had absolute faith in their national team and enthusiasm was building for their subsequent match against Colombia in the event of a win.
The football became so absorbing that widespread protests — against perceived wasteful spending on the World Cup and the 2016 Rio Olympics — did not occur in the same way that protests had undermined the warm-up Confederations Cup tournament last year. Violent outbreaks occurred at the stadiums and in other areas where people were congregating in large groups to watch the matches but appeared to be isolated incidents and were handled swiftly without a significant amount of press attention.
Yet Brazil’s hope of winning a sixth World Cup ended in humiliation with their semi-final loss to Germany. The country was stunned. Not only was Brazil beaten at home, it was annihilated and left feeling demoralised.
Brazil’s performance as host, however, brought words of encouragement from Olympic officials about the staging of the Games in Rio in two years - even if preparations will likely be completed at the last minute, as they were for the World Cup.
Hannah Longley
Saturday 4th October 2014 Botley Hill Farmhouse Marquee Raising funds for The Brain Tumour Charity 7pm-12.30am- Dinner & Entertainment £45 9pm-12.30am Entertainment Only £22 Contact [email protected] or 07711744300
56 THE ‘GREAT WAR’ AND TATSFIELD ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO THIS MONTH A month after war had been declared, it seems to have had little impact on Tatsfield. The only recorded event for September 1914 was the auctioning of the contents and livestock of Botley Hill Farm. Fifty cattle of various breeds, eight carthorses and a multitude of farm implements, household furniture and effects were up for sale. As summer ended, the Times newspaper had reported that some British citizens who had been in Germany when war was declared had been able to return to England safely. However, one group of visitors included several who were of ‘an age capable of bearing arms’ and they had been detained. Among them was ‘Mr Charles Leveson Gower, J.P., Squire of Titsey’. He and others were to be ‘removed to a fortress and placed on ordinary prison fare’. He and his companions were among the first group of visitors to each country whose names would appear on lists of prisoners of war to be exchanged between Britain and Germany. Meanwhile, Tatsfielders were volunteering for the front, and in the months to come, there would be news of casualties. The names of Tatsfield men who died in the First World War are now to be seen at the Aileen McHugo Building. Ian Mitchell, Tatsfield History Project: Email: [email protected] Tel: 577376
TATSFIELD HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY GARDENING CLUB MEETING “ALL ABOUT ROSES” 9TH SEPTEMBER AT 8.00pm IN THE W I HALL The Gardening Club gets off to a great start with Jon Allbutt talking about our favourite garden plant, the Rose. Amongst Jon’s many talents is rose growing, working in the 1980s at his ‘In Laws’ nursery Hill Park Roses near Kingston, probably the only remaining retail rose grower in the area. Jon will describe how roses are produced; how to prepare, plant and care for the many different types of rose from standards to ground cover. Jon will also demonstrate how to propagate roses by grafting and, if time allows, have plenty of material for you to have a go yourself! Jon’s talk will be illustrated with his collection of slides of the many types and colours available today. If you have a rose growing well in your garden bring along a bloom and share your pleasure with us!
57 TATSFIELD SCHOOL South and South-East In Bloom – ‘Blooming Schools’ Competition
On 18th June we received our judge, Chris Murphy, who came to look at our school grounds. He spent an hour with the staff and children who showed him around together with Mrs Hester from Tatsfield Horticultural Society, who has helped with our Gardening Club. Children from each class told him about the plants they had grown and how they had used the grounds for their work in the curriculum.
We then had to wait until the middle of July for our result which turned out to be a SILVER-GILT! We achieved 166 points out of 200 (4 short of a gold!) with which we were delighted.
Mr Murphy wrote:
“This new school has superb grounds that include an orchard, hazel coppice and area of meadow. There is also good provision for gardening activities, mostly in raised beds. The school has an active gardening club that is well supported by a member of the local horticultural society. In addition all children in the school have opportunities to grow plants (flowers, vegetables and herbs) from seed and to care for their continued growth. The children are enthusiastic and have good horticultural knowledge. It would be good to see the school adopt a ‘peat free’ compost policy and add a wormery to its composting facilities. The new grounds provide only limited areas for the pupils to discover native plants, wildlife and habitats. It would be good to see the school improving bio-diversity on the site through the inclusion of a pond and the further development of the meadow area to include native wildflowers. Many congratulations on a very strong first entry to the Blooming Schools competition – one that is worthy of a well deserved silver-gilt award. A gold award is well within your reach.”
Roll on next year!
Jill Hancock
58 THE NIGHT SKY IN TATSFIELD September 23rd this year marks the point in the Earth’s orbit where day and night are of approximately equal length meaning that we have reached an equinox, in this case the autumnal one. On this day, and to be more precise at 2.29 am, the Earth’s axis will point neither towards nor away from the Sun and everywhere has twelve hours light and dark. At the times roughly in between the equinoxes, called the solstices, the north pole of the Earth’s axis points towards the Sun during June and away from the Sun during December. When the Earth is closest to the Sun, which occurs in January, it is five million kilometres nearer than it is in July. Without the tilt of the Earth’s axis there would be no seasons as we know them. In the middle of September, around 9pm, the Summer Triangle is due south with Vega and Deneb both not far from the overhead point (zenith). The map shows the brightest stars and a few of the smaller and less well known constellations in that area. These are Sagitta (the arrow), Delphinus (the dolphin) and Equuleus (the little horse). The Summer Triangle is shown by the dotted line. The Story of Time (Part 12) The payment of £8,750 was not quite the £10,000 that was expected as the second half of the longitude prize but if you add up all the advances, prizes and expenses that the Harrisons received they amount to £23,065. There is some debate about whether this can actually be seen to be the prize or not, although it is known that the money was paid from the Board’s accounts, so to all intents and purposes it was. However, I have jumped ahead slightly because in 1772 Larcum Kendall’s watch, known as K1, received what might be considered the most severe test possible when it was given to Captain James Cook who took it on his second voyage to the South Seas. In the ship’s log Cook waxes lyrical about the watch and describes it in glowing terms. He returned to England in 1775 and it is to be hoped that the great seaman’s enthusiasm for the watch was passed on to an ageing Harrison. The following year, at his home in Red Lion Square, John Harrison died on 24th March - his 83rd birthday. The watches that the Harrison’s had made were expensive and experimental prototypes but they had laid the foundations for other clock makers to improve their designs in such a way as to make them easier to “mass produce” and thus more affordable. It has to be remembered that the Admiralty would have had to buy a chronometer, as they were later known, for every ship in the fleet, so cost and speed of production would both have been significant for them. To be continued…. Brian Mills FRAS
59 NIGEL’S NATURE NOTES Correspondence: Not much news has been received so far this summer but that which we have is of great interest. We begin with a report from ‘Adventurer Jim’ (04.07.14): ‘Some butterfly news from just outside the parish. Ruth was away in London yesterday so, released from duties, I thought I'd have a wander around Titsey and Oxted Down for the day. I hoped to spot White Admiral and had a fanciful notion that I might be granted an audience with HIM (His Imperial Majesty, the Purple Emperor). No such luck, unfortunately, but I did have a magical 15- minute encounter with a pristine Silver-washed fritillary. Half-way up the steep red walk, past the hairpin bends, there are two welcome benches overlooking a small sunlit glade. While resting and tucking into a restorative scotch-egg, I was pleased to see a fritillary quartering the glade with that effortless gliding flight. As I stood to attempt a photograph, it took a keen interest in me and repeatedly circled and landed on me, even flying between my legs on occasions. Despite this, I only managed a couple of in-focus shots. I'm not sure what was so attractive about my tatty brown shorts and pasty white legs but I was definitely giving out the right signals - best not go there! Not much else was seen in the woods apart from a single Red Admiral and the odd Speckled Wood. The Himalayan Balsam is as rampant as ever and I was surprised and disappointed to see how far the Small Balsam has now spread through the top wood - a real shame. Moving on to Oxted Down it was too windy up on the high part but I had more luck down on the sheltered area where the North Downs Way runs. Good numbers of Marbled Whites, Small Heaths, second brood Common Blue and my first Gatekeeper of the year.
Thanks for this, Jim. With the mild spring and hot summer I would have expected some good butterfly sightings but, as you say, ‘no such luck’. My own consists of: Small White, Large White, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell and Red Admiral. A pretty poor show. Desmond (Bishop) similarly reports: ‘Not many butterflies. 04.03: Brimstone. 09.03: Brimstone and Peacock.’ Hopefully, the latter part of August and September will bring us something worthy of excitement.
Next we have Deline (Kerry), a welcome newcomer to ‘Nature Notes’ (12.07.14): ‘Thought I would let you know about the Little Owl in my oak tree. Not sure if they are common around here. Between nine and midnight most nights he/she sits in the oak tree in the back garden calling. I wasn't sure if it was the foxes at first so I opened the back door and put the outside light on. That didn't stop it; it carried on calling. Definitely not a fox, unless it was stuck up in the tree!! I looked on the internet for owl calls and it fitted the Little Owl's 'contact' call. Nothing like the other owls I hear.
60 NIGEL’S NATURE NOTES Double checked by Pete (Delene’s husband) the next day! You may tell me they are common around here and not to bother you!!!...... but mine is a bit special!!’ Well, we often see or hear Tawny Owls, and a Barn Owl has been spotted previously but, according to our records, the Little Owl is most definitely NOT a common occurrence. In fact, I can't find a record of one at all! So, it looks as though you've managed a 'first sighting' - how exciting is that?! Well done, Delene, and thanks for the report. ‘Wow, that is exciting. Especially as I am not one of your regular bird watchers!! I thought you might tell me that there are loads around Tatsfield!! I hope all his/her calls are fruitful and we may have some baby Little Owl calls in my oak tree in the near future!! P.S. It wasn't a 'sighting' it was a 'hearing'. I didn't bother to get the binoculars out as I thought it would be like looking for the impossible!!’ I know what you mean although it must sleep somewhere during the daylight hours, possibly in your tree. It might be worth taking a daytime look. The Tawny Owl and Cuckoo are also 'hearings', but we still class them as 'sightings'!
The Bird Register (+)
This is a final call for your overlooked Bird Register sheet. They will be collated at the end of this month. Unfortunately, I have so far received just 10 responses. It always seems a shame that so few people participate. The main difference is that the bird register can be done very quickly. It, literally, takes me two minutes at the end of each month to tick the boxes. Surely, someone within each household can find 2 minutes a month (or around 30 seconds per week!) to participate in this simple, yet potentially valuable, community activity. In fifty years time, parishioners will look back at these (your) observations and be surprised at the evident change. Or perhaps they won’t? According to Scott Sampson (Utah Museum of Natural History), ‘We should all be worried about the gaping psychological chasm separating humanity from nature.’ ‘As a species, we’ve never been more disconnected from the natural world.’ ‘First-hand encounters with nature in the developed world have dropped precipitously, to less than ten percent of what they were just one generation ago.’ ‘The next generation of humans must learn to see their relationship with the natural world in ways that will seem alien to our current anthropocentric, reductionist and materialistic perspective.’ ‘What emotion do we need to foster a sustainable shift in human behaviour? In a word, love.’ Unfortunately, love for our natural environment seems sadly lacking. However, most children enjoy creating and filling out forms and surveys so, perhaps, by allowing and encouraging them to take part in our bird register, we can begin to spread a little love. Interest in wildlife and the natural environment has to begin somewhere. Why not here?
Any news, views or observations? Contact: [email protected] Alternatively, drop a note in to ‘Linda’s Stores’ or to ‘Primrose Ridge’, Greenway.
61 DEBATER Five Pounds Alex. My son James is a highly qualified electronics engineer and is one of the "top tech guys" in large American company up at Preston in Lancashire. His title is a "Systems Analyst" and he earns extremely good money. So how did this come about? Well for many years I was a single parent father and the loft in our house was fitted out as a complete electronics workshop. The "shop" as it was called, started because we young BBC engineers were encouraged to design and build anything electronic, not only at work, but at home as well. With me it got to be an obsession and over a period of time, I had gathered together some very good electronic test equipment that was necessary to find out where lost signals could be detected, and repaired, in almost any sort of electronic equipment. From 11 years old, James joined me in the loft and I taught him how to operate and use a signal generator, oscilloscope, wobulator, meters and all associated items needed when repairing such things as TVs and radios. I also taught him how to read a circuit diagram. When Sinclair computers appeared he modified his by fitting a large heat sink on its base and it worked just fine for a long time until he replaced it with another much better one, home built in the "shop". Along with his very happy marriage, he has a cracking absorbing job that he can walk to in just 15 minutes from his house. He loves that exercise to start and finish his day. Just for fun, he is a black belt, third Dan, in martial arts, which makes him an instructor of boys and girls, men and women. As well as that he is a total vegetarian, as is his wife, and both of them are dedicated punk rockers. So why all of this proud chat about my son then? Well one of the many staff at his workplace is a Polish lad named Alexi. who is another "whiz kid" and also has a gift of quickly repairing anything electronic. Give him a malfunctioning laptop, TV, radio, video recorder or whatever, and he will bring it back to you fully working, almost always the next day, and always the same cost of £5. He is 24 years old and has a shed where he does exactly the same decent repair job as my son did so many years ago. The company has over 1,000 employees, so there is plenty of spare time work for him and lots of £5. The other day I took a small TV to a local shop and asked if they repaired such things. Yes was the reply and there would be a "research fee" of £85 to detect what was wrong. I told the shop man that the TV had cost £92 from Tesco's so I wouldn't be bothering to get it mended. The man reminded me that today was a "throw-away society" and it was cheaper to replace than repair things. Now some of you youngsters who read this monthly magazine, might be wondering what sort of career to take up that will give you a decent living. I promise you that if any of you do take up repairing electronic things for people, you too could earn a lot of money and, with hard work, get very, very rich. Dave Bishop
62 CLUB NEWS NOT SO YOUNG CLUB
Unfortunately, the weather was not suitable for us to have the garden party outside on the 8th July but we had a very pleasant afternoon all the same. Amy Burbage and her daughter provided us with Pimms and a mousse to round off the tea. The "guess the cake weight" competition was won by Pat Tyler and "guess the number of sweets in the jar" won by Jean Gibbons.
At the 12th August meeting, the Club members were provided with the usual buffet lunch, which earned high praise from some of the members. The committee always work hard to make sure it is a success. Isobel Edwards was celebrating her birthday and provided us with a glass of wine each! Many thanks to you Isobel.
The next meeting is on the 9th September and we will be entertained by Ian the antiques man again (always fun!). Members, please try to bring some pieces for valuation (not jewellery).
Babs Heffernon (Tel: 540602)
TATSFIELD FOOD AND WINE SOCIETY Tatsfield Food and Wine Society (TFWS) celebrated twenty years in July this year. Thirty seven members enjoyed a Champagne Afternoon Tea complete with a special cake and antique china. We were entertained by Melanie playing her violin and a storyboard of events took us all down memory lane. I would like to take this opportunity of again thanking firstly Ann for letting us use her garden (it was here that the first event took place) and to all those who helped to make the occasion a very happy one - even the weather was kind. The Society was founded as a result of The Village Appraisal and was the idea of Eileen Pearce who masterminded it for many years. It has been said that TFWS is an elite secret society - this is not the case. We are a group of people who get together to enjoy good food and wine. Our membership has been steady with a waiting list, but there are now a few places available. We are non-committee and all members are expected to cook sometimes and help with the organisation of monthly events. For many years we have served teas/coffee cakes and light lunches at the November Craft Fair in the Village Hall. If anyone would like to know more please contact me. Kay Longley – Co-ordinator (Tel: 577682) Email: [email protected]
63 CLUB NEWS
WI 1st August W.I. Meeting As I walked, nay waddled my way home with a very full tummy I reflected on the lovely afternoon spent at the beginning of July in a member's garden - even though she was away on holiday! We sat enjoying the sunshine, with Barbara's permission of course, thinking what a trusting lady she is. As usual we had a lovely gossip about everything under the sun, enjoying the friendship as well as the dainty sandwiches assembled by the Committee (bless them!), followed by beautifully made scones with jam and cream (of course), then a variety of cakes accompanied by lashings of tea (not ginger beer). We had a surprisingly difficult puzzle to complete matching halves of faces to one another to make a whole. We had a posy competition featuring a patriotic red, white and blue theme won by Chris Roux-Martin with a very pretty entry. She took home the W.I. rose bowl for the year.
WI August Meeting Mr Chris Stewart was the August speaker and gave us a lively, entertaining and informative talk about hops. It was a short history, centred in Kent of course, and accompanied by many old photographs of the pickers who came mainly from London for their summer “holidays”. The conditions were dreadful with hardly anything provided for them and they had to bring everything with them, often carrying huge bundles of bedding and cooking equipment. Young children came with their families and helped to pick. In many cases this was to pay for their school uniform, as they could not go to school if they did not have the correct attire. In days long gone there were 80.000 pickers in Kent each September living ten to twelve families in dilapidated barns with holes in the roofs and no toilets or water. Much later of course small huts were provided with heating and access to facilities. Some can still be seen to this day. Churches, the Red Cross and St. Johns, offered food and first aid although villagers would not mix with the strangers or have any dealings with them. There were several disasters with so many people packed into close proximity. The food available was not good and added to the lack of sanitation it is not surprising that diseases were abundant. There were several disasters including cholera outbreaks and serious floods in the 1800’s. There were crop failures due to fungus and pest infestations lasting years. Many accidents happened, but the people carried on working. They had to! A lot of the men later went off to war but those remaining and the women folk worked on the hop farms as usual.
64 CLUB NEWS Transport was provided in later years. Trains from London then wagons to the farms but later on there were coaches as well so the pickers would not have to walk all the way with their goods. The pickers were paid by volume. Each container held a bushel and these were checked by the tallyman. However, he would often push down hard on the top layer so compacting everything then saying that the container was not a bushel, thus depriving the picker of payment for his (or her) work. The pickers were only paid at the end of the harvest in order to keep them on the land and working, not in town drinking. The payment was 2d per bushel. When you think that one whole bine amounted to half a bushel and took ten minutes to pick, it is obvious that the work was hard and constant. These days dwarf hops are grown and harvested by machine. The old traditions have died out. Mr Stewart gave us many facts – he obviously had researched the subject fully and confided that he enjoyed a pint or three. - What is the difference between a vine and a bine? A vine has tendrils and a bine does not. - Hops are part of the cannabis family. - Hops are female flowers. Those with seeds are used for beer and those without are used for lager. - Hops were first known to have been used 10,000 years ago - Hops were used for medicinal purposes in days gone by, as the properties are highly complex. - Next meeting is on 2nd September when we look forward to hearing all about “The Road to Chelsea” Toni Holley
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY It may seem an odd time of year to be talking about growing for butterflies, as they are staring to pack their bags for another year - don’t panic – the winter is not quite upon us yet, but with all gardening it pays to think ahead. When you are planting anything expected to last more than one season then the autumn is a great time to do it – so now you are back from your holidays, it’s time to start thinking about next year’s flowers. Butterflies, like so many of our insects, are under increasing threat from pesticides and loss of habitat. They will visit any garden and we have the opportunity to attract up 20 species if we work at it! There are a number of plants that will help to attract butterflies but location is nearly as important as plant selection. When planning a butterfly “patch”, pick a sunny sheltered spot, and
65 CLUB NEWS plant a number of each plant variety in blocks. Nectar across the season is vital for butterflies, especially in the leaner, spring months, as these are key for butterflies coming out of hibernation. Autumn flowers are key for building up their strength for getting through the winter. Prolong flowering by dead-heading regularly and watering well as necessary. Water is especially essential for nectar production. Avoid insecticides as much as you can – completely if possible. Butterflies are delicate and very susceptible to chemicals. Caterpillars are also key of course, and there are some amazing looking beasts that come under this heading. I will cover how to encourage these and moths, which are so key to pollination of many species, next month. The list of plants is fairly long and the RHS publish a list on the Internet, as do many butterfly conservation sites. Spring nectar producers for butterflies include early Buddleia varieties, Hebe, Honesty, polyanthus and violets. The end of season favourites include ivy (also important for bees), michaelmas daisies and sedum spectabile (beware of non-nectar producing varieties). You can target specific species – in which case best to look up their favourite food on the Internet. The “top 5” for a wide variety of butterflies are usually quoted as follows: Buddleia (The butterfly bush) - easy to grow in almost any soil. Different varieties will flower in pink, red, purple, and white. Usually in bloom through July and August. Several varieties, including the 'basic' Buddelia davidii, the yellow pompoms of Buddleia globosa, and the hybrid of the two, Buddleia x weyeriana. The lilac buddleias are said to be bestand these are an absolute favourite with 18 species including Brimstone, Comma, Common Blue, Gatekeeper, Green-veined White, Holly Blue, Large Skipper, Large White, Meadow Brown, Painted Lady, Peacock, Red Admiral, Small Copper, Small Skipper, Small Tortoiseshell, Small White, Speckled Wood and Wall Brown. Verbena Bonariensis - stems up to a metre tall support heads of lavender coloured flowers from August to October. Easy to grow from seed, plant March-April in well-drained soil. Can provide useful height at the back of a border. Lavender - lilac-blue flowers grow on spikes through the summer. Plants can be used for edging beds or grown to form an attractive, low-growing hedge. Needs a sunny, sheltered position in well-drained soil. Lavender should be planted in April or May and pruned back to encourage bushy growth. Perennial Wallflower (Bowles Mauve) - produces a profusion of sweet- scented purple flowers from April all through the summer. Wallflowers make
66 CLUB NEWS great bedding plants and will grow well in full sun or light shade. Plant in well drained soil. Marjoram (Oregano) - a perennial herb, growing from 20 to 80 cm tall. White, pink or purple flowers grow on spikes from June to September. A good edging plant and useful ground cover, requiring little maintenance. The smaller varieties also do well in rock and alpine gardens.
This Month’s Mystery Plant I thought it might provoke a little thought and two way communication to ask the audience a question each month. So I thought I would pick an unusual plant and see if there is anyone out there with genuine Tatsfield experience with it. Has anyone tried growing Silphium perfoliatum? I am told Silphiums grow to up to 6 feet and are a very useful architectural addition to the back of a border. It does not need staking and is less susceptible to disease, and longer lasting than Hollyhocks, plus they self-seed in a controlled way – producing 2-3 new plants that can be transplanted each year. So if anyone has any experience of them in this area – please feel free to drop me a line ([email protected]). I will include any feedback in next month’s article. Guy Deterding
TATTY KNITTERS Yarn bombing came to Tatsfield in the month of July. You may have noticed the brightly covered bollards outside the village hall on the weekend of the Art and Craft Show and also the Scout Fair. Members of the group had a lot of fun and watch out for more. Yarn bombing started in 2005, it is a type of graffiti or street art that uses colourful displays of knitted or crocheted yarn or fibre rather than paint or chalk.
67 CLUB NEWS At our meeting on September 9th we are going to eat. Meet normal time 7.30 pm in the Bakery, the meal will cost £25 plus drinks. Please contact me if you are coming so I can confirm numbers. Back to normal in October. Val Quick 07761571071
WESTERHAM RAMBLERS Sunday 7 September Leader: Dudley Turner Venue: The Recreation Ground, Church Road, Biggin Hill at 10.30 am Map Ref: TQ420590 Postcode: TN16 3LB Length: 5½ miles to Downe via Christmas Tree Farm. One short steep hill
Sunday 21 September Leader: Dudley and Jean Turner Venue: 10.15 am Westerham Green, 10.45 am Hosey Common or 11.30 am Weardale Car Park, Toys Hill. To Emmetts, where we will stop for coffee. One steep hill in each direction. It poured with rain when we did this walk on 10 August, so we are repeating it in the hope of better weather. Map Ref: TQ447540, TQ453539 or TQ470519 Postcode: TN16 1AS, TN16 1TP or TN16 1QS Length: 2 miles from Toys Hill, 5 miles from Hosey or 6 miles from the Green
For further information, contact Dudley Turner on 563017, Mobile: 0777 600 5417 (Dudley) or 0776 544 7615 (Jean) E-mail: [email protected]. Or visit http://www.westerhamramblers.org.uk Click on a grid reference to get a map showing the meeting place.
Please remember that we carry no insurance. As we started as an informal group, we never felt it necessary, so everyone is responsible for themselves (and their dogs). For more information, check the website. Roger and Angela Sawyers
68 SPORTS ROUND-UP
TATSFIELD BADMINTON CLUB
Would you like to join an active badminton club? We have one in the village whose members cover a range of standards from a modest level to a strong league level. Our club night is on Fridays from 8 pm at the Village Hall, all through the year. We have mixed and men’s teams playing in local leagues. New members with some playing experience would be welcome.
Interested? If so, please come along to the open evening we are holding on Friday 19 September at 8pm in the Village Hall when you will be able to meet club members and have a game or two. Give it a try and see how you get on! If you cannot make it on the 19th give one of us a ring.
We also have a thriving junior club which will be taking in new members this autumn. You can read more about this in Village News.
Ollie Carr (Tel: 07709 817347) and Bob David (Tel: 577357)
Many congratulations to Harry Boys and Richie Goode who were both picked for the Youth Surrey Games this year back in June. Harry drew in his singles match and won the mixed doubles and boys doubles while Richie won the boys doubles. The Tandridge team came third out of five teams and they narrowly missed the semi-finals by one point! Better luck next year boys. On a personal note unfortunately Gordon White has left Tatsfield badminton club and I would like to thank him greatly he introduced Harry to Tatsfield and let him join in with the one junior group at that time although he was only 10. Under Ollie Carr's brilliant coaching and Gordon's advice what to enter he has really improved over the years and has thoroughly enjoyed entering the Youth Surrey Games and other competitions and also the chocolates at Christmas and Easter! Thank you for all the help Gordon you will be missed. Tina Boys
PARENTS – WOULD YOUR CHILDREN LIKE TO PLAY BADMINTON? As well as being a club for adults, Tatsfield Badminton Club has a thriving junior section in which a great number of children over the years have learnt to play the game and have gone on to enjoy playing badminton at a high level as adults.
69 SPORTS ROUND UP Some of our current young members will soon be moving up a level and so we have vacancies for a new group of Key Stage 2 children (aged 7 to 11 years) who will be taught the game and coached. Children who have not played the game before would be welcome as well as those with some knowledge of the game. The new group will start in the autumn and their sessions will be on Friday evenings from 5.30 to 6.30 pm in the Village Hall. Interested? If so please give one of us a ring to register your interest and to find out more. Julie Barlow (Tel: 541103) and Ollie Carr (Tel: 07709 817347)
TATSFIELD ROVERS FOOTBALL CLUB On the back of promotion to Division 2 of The Redhill & District Football League, Rovers have agreed another package with Howard Cundey for them to continue as our main sponsor for the 2014/15 season, along with a great local flooring company based in Westerham - MCL Flooring (07584355771 or www.mclflooring.com) who have very kindly agreed to donate much needed funds to our club in order to become the official match ball sponsor for the 2014/15 season – thanks to both for their much needed support. With a large squad Rovers began their hectic preseason campaign on Tuesday 8th July, and have been training every Tuesday and Thursday 7pm-9pm throughout July and August, as well as playing friendlies every Saturday afternoon from 26th July to 30th August. Every player that is attending training has have the same goal – to be in the starting line-up come first game of the season. With competition for each and every position on the pitch, this can only mean good things for Tatsfield Rovers FC. A very exciting season is ahead of us! Pre-season fixtures were: 16th August – Tatsfield Rovers v Godstone FC 22nd August – Whyteleafe FC v Tatsfield Rovers 23rd August – Tatsfield Rovers v Real Holmesdale FC 30th August – Tatsfield Rovers v John Fisher FC Our first league match is at Nomads (Edenbridge) on 13th September. Home games are played at Furze Corner– so if anyone finds themselves at a loose end on a Saturday afternoon – come and watch the Rovers!! For regular updates from Tatsfield Rovers Football Club please check out our website: http://www.clubwebsite.co.uk/tatsfieldroversfc/248081/Home or follow us on Twitter @TatsfieldFC Thanks. Mark Canning, Manager
70 GARDENING IN TATSFIELD SEPTMEBER NOTES As the growing season starts to draw to a close we can look back with a great deal of satisfaction and what everyone seems to agree was a very good growing year. Particularly satisfying are the Ivy Leaved Geraniums in the baskets and mangers in the village centre; in previous years they just didn’t make enough growth and flower, not so this year! Top and bush fruit have done very well, I have solved the mystery of why I never have a crop of Redcurrants but have tons of Whitecurrants on a bush nearby. They flowered very well with lovely long trusses of fruitlets that developed nicely, but as they filled out and started to change colour they just disappeared in a matter of a few days. The answer is – Blackbirds! They clearly have an eye for colour and can’t resist them! I don’t like putting netting over the bushes as this can trap the birds making it very difficult to untangle them without cutting up the netting. The old CDs flashing as they twirl only work for a short while so it may be that I have to make a rigid cage if I want to enjoy Redcurrants next year! Another mystery is why my Garlic failed to make decent sized bulbs and speaking to other allotment holders it seems that I am not alone – no idea why – any ideas? My onion sets grew very well except for my redskins that started to grow and then they died leaving me with just a few. If you have any space left after harvesting crops it is not too late to sow leafy vegetables like Pak Choi and late Lettuce varieties, with good growing weather this month you should have some early winter pickings until they succumb to the first frosts. Growth in our ponds has also been very strong this year leaving some with no surface water to be seen at all. While this provides important shade and oxygen a complete cover of the surface is not ideal so now is a good time to carefully cut back some of the growth. Make sure to leave the cut material at the edge of the pond for a day to let the pond life return to the water before bagging it up for disposal. Despite some very heavy rain at times the ground has become very dry especially amongst permanent plantings such as shrubs and perennials. I have noticed that the late summer flowering Cyclamen (Cyclamen hederaefolium) is very slow and just a few days after a good soaking with rainwater I now have that lovely carpet of pink/white flowers. If you decide to water where the ground is very dry remember to soak the soil, not the plant! It will take several sessions before you can be sure of penetrating our heavy soil. Jon Allbutt (577100; [email protected]) 71
PUZZLE PAGE SEPTEMBER PUZZLE With aeons of spare time now on his hands it is rumoured that Bob will often be seen walking the paths of Tatsfield. Using the path scheme below is it possible to find a route that will take him along each of these paths once and only once? Is it possible to find such a route that starts and finishes at his house, marked by the blob? If you think the answer to the previous question is “no”, can you add to the path system so that he can walk each of the paths of the revised map once and only once, starting and finishing at his house?
Shaw Road
Greenway Crossways Johns Road
Westmore
Road Paynesfield Ninehams Westmore Road Green Road
Ship Hill
If you are interested in this problem and would like some further insight into it then try googling ‘Konisberg bridge’. Elsa Trudogh
Editor: Thank you, Elsa, for sending in this puzzle. There may be other readers who enjoy challenges such as this. If so, why not send in your favourite puzzle for others to try. Send them to: [email protected]
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