296 February and March 2020 John Hayward PLAYGROUND JOY Below, from the front cover of TT exactly one year ago, the sad, well-worn apparatus which is now replaced, bright and sparkling-new. IT’S PLAYTIME! Monday 13th January, Tipton School Head Ruth Ingrouille helps Solomon cut the ribbon, Mo Mylne, David Birch and Anne Ladbrook celebrating with Tipton School students Loud Screams Wiggaton Closed Don’t miss the for up to Haircut Book Launch on Wailing in the Five Days from for Beavers 17th March in Night 24th February the Village Hall COPY DEADLINE For 297, April and May 2020 Friday 20th March (unless by arrangement) CONTRIBUTIONS VIA YOUR BANK TO: The Tipton Times Fund Sort Code: 30-94-36 A/c No: 01720384 Email us at NEW ADDRESS - [email protected] View Your Colourful TT On Line - www.tiptonstjohnvillage.org.uk Follow us on Twitter - @TiptonTimes Editors: David Birch 01404 815402 3 Tipton Lodge, Tipton St John, EX10 0AW Paula Faulkner; Barbara Pugh 01404 811161; Anne Sadler Treasurer: Tony Pugh 18 Hayne Park, Tipton St John, Sidmouth, EX10 0TA Proofreader/printers: Pauline Belton; Janet Croud; Anne Reid; Anne Sadler; Ian Wonnacott Distribution and General Production: Maggie Bowley; Debbie Budge; Janet Croud; Tony & Joyce Cuerdon; Jenny Dorrington; Roy Faulkner; Michelle Grover; John Harding; Yvonne Hartland; Kyle Hayes; Sue Kensdale; Nicky Knight; Katherine Lilley; Diane Mann; Linda Martin; Gill and Allen Marks; Ann Matthews; Ann Moore; Jan Passmore; Tania Phillips; Anne Reid; Liz Rogers; Maggie Rule; Nikki Sanford; Chris Schofield; Alison and David Stevens; Megan Watton; Denise Wightman Cover photographs: We welcome letters and contributions but reserve ‘Cutting the ribbon’, and ‘Children the right to edit and amend (and adults!) at Play’, Karen Burgess such offerings. Views expressed within each ‘Sad Old Equipment’, Barbara Pugh article are the author’s own. - 3 - Editorial A belated Happy New Year to you all and welcome to the first edition of 2020. It’s easy at this time of year to feel that we are caught in a kind of no man’s land: the festivities of Christmas are almost forgotten and we’re a long way from the brighter days of spring. It’s reassuring, therefore, to read Geoff Pinn’s closing line in Nature Notes, “We are over halfway to Spring now and I, for one, am really looking forward to it. See you there!” Indeed, Geoff’s whole piece reminds us that there is something of interest at every time of year, especially for the observant. No one could have missed, however, the marvellous and fully completed play area, satisfyingly finished on time, despite extremely adverse weather conditions. This is a wonderful addition to our Playing Field and the village as a whole. It’s great to see that so many children are enjoying it already and that it has quickly become a focus for families. There is no shortage of things to do at this time of year, either. It’s that time again when we look forward to what TIPPs has in store for us in February. ‘Detention’ seems to offer the ideal half-term diversion. Alternatively, there are opera nights at West Hill, visits to the Norman Lockyer Observatory and cricket nets or tennis for the more active. There’s all this and, of course, your regular gardening and recipe advice and many more regular favourites. Finally, in a world that has allegedly ‘had enough of experts’, it’s good to read Ken Mylne’s well-argued and calmly reasoned piece on climate change. Sometimes, we’re lucky to have experts to hand! The Editors Contents Bee Man - buzzed off on hols Obituaries 22 Beaver Hair Cut 10 OSM Choral Society 8 Book Launch 13 Playground refurbished 4 Church Draw 11 Playing Field 7 Poem 8 Church News 13 Readers 19 Clinton Devon 12 Recipe Corner 27 Community Hall Report 14 RSPB 9 Crafts & Hobbies 14 School 15 Cricket 9 Scouts, Beavers & Cubs 18 Garden News 20 Table Tennis Dates 13 Geoff Pratt 28 Tennis 27 Letters to the Editor 10 Thought for the Times 11 National Trust Sidmouth 20 Tipps 6 Nature Notes 5 Tipton Past 25 Night Sky 21 Weather 26 - 4 - Tipton Playing Field Opens the New Children’s Playground These pictures are so much better in colour - look on line www.tiptonstjohnvillage.org.uk ‘Diary & Events’ As soon as the workmen had tightened the last bolt, swept the last crumb of soil from the new pathways and driven away, the new playground gates were pushed open by excited and curious children and their adults, so happy to have a beautiful new set of playground apparatus to explore. Note the clean and dry, but resilient new surfacing Although the official opening took place on 13th January, there were children playing on the new equipment from before Christmas, many happy groups inside the smart new fencing constantly to be seen by the passing dog walkers. Swings, with an exciting difference Congratulations to the Playing Field Committee for a resoundingly successful outcome. A wheelchair-friendly roundabout, and a place to picnic This has been the result of much hard work, consultation, funding submissions, planning, tenders and so on and so on - a long papertrail trudge. Ain’t we lucky in Tipton to have folk who are willing to put in so much time and trouble for us all? Plenty of climbing and clambering opportunities - 5 - NATURE NOTES After all the wet weather and windy weather we experienced at the end of last year and into the New Year, it has taken until the third week in January before we have been able to enjoy some really cold frosts at night and unbroken sunshine throughout the day. It really has been most welcome, but unfortunately this seasonal weather doesn’t look set to last for long. Back to the default wind and rain soon! The long January nights have not been quiet around here though! Apart from the sound of owls calling to each other in order to secure their mate for the breeding season, other noises, piercing the dark, have been very noticeable. Foxes have also been contributing in their way too! You’ll hear two typical calls at this time of year, the raucous triple bark, which the dominant dog fox uses to proclaim his territory, and a loud wailing scream. Before a successful mating, the vixen may often rebuff an amorous male with snarls and yelps. Even when they have mated, screams will persist as the copulating dog fox is temporarily trapped by the female. At this time of year, you may see the pair tail to tail in the ‘tie’ position which, from the sounds produced by mating animals, may be an uncomfortable affair. The two foxes can remain locked together for an hour or more, but once mating is over, the vixen wastes no time in preparing an earth, January is a busy time for fox families. Cubs born in the previous spring disperse to find territories or mates of their own. Although many leave of their own accord, they are sometimes driven off by their parents who don’t welcome competition for food or partners. It has been very busy at our bird table, too. Many of the regular visitors are here, including the Great Spotted Woodpecker, who comes to decimate our peanut supply! Great Spotted Woodpeckers begin ‘drumming’ in January and this will continue into April or until the young are fledged. Both sexes participate in the drumming as they communicate and establish their territories. As these birds don’t have a song to advertise ownership of their chosen patch of woodland, so they make themselves known by drumming on dead trees with their powerful bills. Woodpeckers ought to get headaches as a result of those hammering blows; they don’t because their skulls are cushioned by a matrix of minute pockets of air, supported by strengthened bone tissue. It’s a dramatic sound and some creative individuals will use other surfaces such as the metal plates on telegraph poles to create an even louder sound. A story has it that one bird even used a metal public address tannoy at a racecourse! We also have three starlings who seem to be the best of mates until some (out of date) fruit cake is thrown out onto the grass. A certain hierarchy (or should that be pecking order!) automatically kicks in and it is quite amusing to watch them as they try to either fend each other off, or try to steal a morsel out of turn. You sometimes wonder if they will ever get around to eating at all! The cake has also attracted a pair of Blackcaps to the feeding frenzy. They seem to have extremely voracious appetites as far as the sweetmeats go! While Blackcaps are traditionally summer visitors, typically arriving in March and April and migrating south for the autumn, they are increasingly staying in the UK all year round. The Blackcap is a Grey Warbler, easily identified by its distinctive cap. Males have black caps (as the name suggests), while the female’s cap is chestnut brown. Juvenile males also have a brown cap. They have thin, dark-coloured beaks and brownish-grey wings. They are a similar size to Robins. Blackcaps eat a diet mostly made up of insects, including flies and caterpillars. Unlike the majority of warblers, they also enjoy eating berries, and are particularly fond of mistletoe berries. They are actually extremely efficient at spreading mistletoe seeds, eating the flesh of the berry and wiping the seed on a branch, allowing it to potentially germinate there.