Yarcombe Voices ISSUE No. TWO HUNDRED and SEVENTEEN PRICE 80p JUNE 2018 EDITORIAL welcome and no knowledge of croquet is required - you This June sees the 65th anniversary of the Coronation of just need a good sense of humour. Her Majesty The Queen, an extraordinary landmark in our Croquet was the first outdoor sport which allowed men nation's history. Few can fail to admire our awe-inspiring and women to play the game on an equal footing, monarchandherconsortandtheimpeccablewayinwhich somethingthatEliZabethGarrettAndersonwouldheartily they have carried out their public duties all these years. have approved of. Born in 1836, she was the first woman Every year The Queen hosts three garden parties at in Britain to qualify as a doctor and surgeon, a remarkable Buckingham Palace as a way to recognise and reward feat at the time; she founded a medical school for women public service. This year, on the 22nd May, there will be an and was also the first female mayor and magistrate in the additionalgardenpartyforthe70thbirthdayofThePrince country. If you are interested in learning more about this of Wales, held specifically to thank those who are involved amaZing lady do drop into the Jubilee Hall at 7.30p.m. on with the Prince's charities, patronages and wide-ranging Tuesday 12th June when there will be a talk about her life. interests which include hedge-laying; Blackdown Hills Are you between five and eighteen years of age? Your Hedge Association member and champion hedge-layer views on village life are being sought by Parish Roger Parris and his wife Christine have been honoured Councillors who have issued a special invitation to the with an invitation. youngofthiscommunitytocometoaninformalgathering On Saturday June 23rd you are invited to attend at The Jubilee Hall at 6.30p.m. on 4th June. Hot dogs and Yarcombe's very own Garden Party when Glebe Farm's soft drinks will be available, together with a draw for a lovelygardenwillbethedestinationforavillageafternoon pair of cinema tickets. of free cream teas, a plant stall, raffle, garden games and The cycle of the year has reached the Patronal Day, 24th music from Maggie's Mix. Entry is free, donations will be June, of St John the Baptist Church when there will be a most welcome for the Baptist Chapel's Reading Room Birthday Cream Tea held in the Church. For some eight project. Hope to see you there! centuries the Parish Church has been at the heart of village Have you ever tried your hand at croquet? Croquet Club lifebutinevitablythoseyearshavewornawaythefabricof returns this month on Glebe Farm's croquet lawn, starting this ancient and beautiful building. Any gift you can make on 4th June and then every Monday afternoon until that day, large or small, will be much appreciated. autumn from 2.30p.m. to 4.30p.m. New members are very Miranda Gudenian IN THE COUNTRY Hello, my name is Gladys Hinde and I live in Kent. Unfortunately I am not that young anymore and my days of going out shopping and to the cinema and theatre are at an end as I am housebound nowadays, but I still live on my own with carers and kind neighbours helping me out. I have a lot of time for reading and watching television which is why a friend sends me your village magaZine. I do enjoy reading it, such an interesting magaZine with many varied pieces. I find the 'Country' articles at the beginning of each issue so interesting, and much enjoy reading the ones about 'times gone by'. I have written a'little something' for that section which you might find brings back memories for your older readers (like me!). I grew up in Hereford (later we moved to Kent whereImetmyhusband). TheotherdayIwasthinkingofmyyoung days and of all the things you could do with a penny when a penny meant something, not like today! The coin was large and round and you really felt you could buy lots of things with it. You could buy a toffee-apple, or two gob- stoppers, a small bar of milk chocolate, a comic, a clay pipe to blow bubbles with, a packet of fiZZy sherbet sucked up through a liquorice tube, a bag of chips with salt and vinegar, a pull of the one- armed bandit, a sugar mouse, a pencil sharpener. Does anybody remember cinnamon sticks to chew, you could 'smoke' these too! They cost a penny. With a penny you could buy a packet of crayons or a drawing book. Back then, you only needed to put a penny in the collection plate on Sundays! There were a lot of pavement artists in towns and cities, many were old soldiers down on their luck. I always felt very sorry for them. You could drop a penny into the pavement artist's cap and feel you had done your good turn for the day. I remember doing an old lady's shopping (it never occurred to me that one day I would be an old lady!) and my wage was a penny. A glass of TiZer was one penny. I also remember going down to the greengrocer's and buying a penny-worth of spoiled fruit. I am ninety-seven now and I have seen many changes in my lifetime! Thank you to everybody who contributes to your village magaZine, it must brighten a lot of lives. Gladys Hinde Thank you, Gladys, for taking the time to write such a lovely contribution for Yarcombe Voices. I know how much our readers will enjoy it. - The Editor YARCOMBE WEATHER ~ APRIL 2018 2018 2017 2016 Av. Max. temp. 14.6°C 14.0°C 12.5°C Av. Min. temp. 7.0°C 6.0°C 4.0°C Av. Overall temp. 10.8°C 10.8°C 8.2°C Rainfall 98.5 mm 31.4 mm 46.6 mm Wettest Day 9th 26.7 mm 30th 20.1 mm 22nd 9.0 mm Sunniest Day 19th 13.0 hrs approx. 19th 13.0 hrs 23rd 12.0 hrs Warmest Day 19th 25.6°C 9th 19.7°C 20th 12.5°C Coldest Night 5th 1.9°C 27th 2.2°C 28th -0.1°C Sunshine hours 105.0 hrs. approx. 199.0 hrs 161.0 hrs We had five glorious days between the 18th and 22nd April when the daily maximum temperature was in the mid- twenties, making it one of the hottest April spells since 1949. The rest of the month was damp, cool and overcast with very little sunshine for the time of the year. Tony Newman THE STORY OF THE TAXI DRIVER, THE PRIEST bunk bed and a little old television set. "Wait, I think you AND ST PETER are a little mixed up," said the priest. "Shouldn't I be the One Easter a priest and a taxi driver both died and went to one who gets the heaven. St Peter was at the Pearly Gates waiting for them. mansion? After all I "Come with me," said St Peter to the taxi driver. was a priest, went to church every day, The taxi driver did as he was told and followed St Peter and preached God's to a mansion. It had everything you could imagine from a word." bowling alley to an Olympic-siZe pool. "Oh my word, thank you," said the taxi driver. "Yes, that's true." St Peter rejoined, "But during your Easter sermons people slept. When the taxi driver drove, Next, St Peter led the priest to a rough old shack with a everyone prayed." Page 2 JUNE'S SERIOUSLY BAD POEMS VEGETARIANISM. I suppose I could be a vegetarian if I really, really had to, as there aren’t many vegetables I don’t like. I’m not over-keen on aubergines, but rumour has it they don’t like me much either, so no problem there. The trouble is some vegetarians adopt a kind of righteous attitude which almost suggests meat-eaters should convert to their way of life. Sacré bleu! I guess when someone proudly announces they’re vegetarian it’s not always wise to say you hope they’ll feel better soon, or to ask whether they think there’ll be a cure for it one day, but I can’t stop myself. As a child I can well remember tucking into some really tasty meat without actually knowing what it was or where it came from, but when I realised it didn’t grow on trees I just shrugged my shoulders and got on with eating it. Contrast this with a close relative of mine who, on making the same discovery some years later, couldn’t thereafter walk past a butcher’s shop without raising a limp wrist to her forehead and feeling faint. Never mind, here are some bad non-vegetarian poems: Meat ‘Em Halfway I almost got persuaded by my mate whose name is Stan, To give up eating meat and therefore be a better man. I'm not a vegetarian, but compromised this far: I promised I would only eat the animals that are! What Else? At last I've proved I've got the willpower that I said I had. I've gone a whole day without booZe. That's made me really glad. I knew that I could do it and resultantly I think, I'm off down to the pub right now, 'cos this calls for a drink! Going West A friend of mine's a West Brom fan and quite opinionated. He says that with a bit of luck they won't get relegated. I told him that the Hammers will be champions at a stroll, They'll win the cup, they'll win the league and not concede a goal.