The Farnhams Webzine

T H E F A R N H A M SSharing life in our communityJune 200980p

Parables AndMiracles

INSIDE COVER STORYCricket And Other Beginnings AtFarnham Common Sport ClubsSue and I moved to Crispin Way whenwe got married in 1957. Within a shorttime Fred Davis arrived on our doorstepannouncing a group was being formedto start a cricket club on a derelict pieceof ground, untended and overgrown,belonging to the Parish Council. WouldI join? As my current club, Marlow, wassome distance away I agreed and on16th November 1958 attended ameeting in the village hall with aroundeighteen other people.A quotation had been received of £200to make a cricket square. A committeewas formed with Maurice Herrington asChairman, Dave Bush as treasurer andDoug Crawford as secretary, and Fredas Cricket Captain. Even the futurejuniors were represented by CliveTaylor, then in his mid-teens. Moneywas needed! A whip-round produced£8.50 and the prompt resignation of theTreasurer who announced he would notbe responsible for an organisation thatstarted off in debt. Cornered by Mauriceand Stan Sidders, he was told that weneeded to "speculate to accumulate",and with other unspecified inducementsagreed to withdraw his resignation.There was much to be done, apart fromthe square I remember three bombcraters that had to be filled in, not largeby bomb crater standards, butnevertheless requiring many wheelbarrows of soil. All the early work wascarried out by the members. Stan wasthe link and behind the scenesorganizer, an early success finding aHayter mower and a small lorry to tow it.None of us had been involved in acricket square project so when a localman appeared and offered to lay one,we jumped at the offer. The price waslow but beggars could not be choosers.It looked wonderful as the grass seedgerminated, but this first square wascompletely unfit to play on, havingvirtually no grass! Stan dug out BillBowles from Eton College and eachSunday, in our new clubhouse, therewould be debate and firm instructionson the necessary remedial actions,payment being in the form of a few ginsat the new bar. Although cricket wasplayed from the beginning all matcheswere away. The celebration of a usablesquare culminated in a Sunday matchagainst a Middlesex side, a benefitgame for Alan Moss. Of course it rainedbut not hard enough to protect the clubfrom defeat by a score I fortunatelycannot recollect.Naturally we wanted a pavilion, so wedug out the foundations, employed alocal bricky to lay these and put indrainage. A new wooden building froma company at Hedgerley was erectedand finished by the members, all beingsupervised by Stephen Sidders in hisred shorts. An early effort was made toget the pavilion used for other activitiessuch as bridge which I understand isstill played today. It was not justcricketers who were doing the work. Aremarkable event of that period was theemergence of many others turning upand offering their services, withprovisos: If Nobby Clark helped wouldwe help him set up some tennis courts?If David Jameson and Biddy helped3

THE FARNHAMS MagazineSharing Life in our CommunityTHE FARNHAMS magazine is published bi-monthly by the United Benefice of FarnhamRoyal with Hedgerley at 80p per issue. The June and December issues are provided by the ParishCouncil and delivered to every home in our community through the Benefice distribution network. Inaddition, the February, April, August and October issues are available through annual subscription.Each issue is also available for purchase from local newsagents. All six issues contain village, churchand council news, together with details of local organisations and businesses. If you have anycomments or contributions, either as an individual, an organisation or a business, the Editor will bedelighted to hear from you. THE FARNHAMS magazine aims to be inclusive of all views andorganisations. Views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the editorial board.Managing Editor: Revd Graham Saunders (643233)Editor: John Winyard (642120)e-mail: john@winyard1.demon.co.ukEditorial: Jenny Harper-Jones (643872)Advertising Sales & Production: Roger Home (642078)Advertising Design: Heidi Hodgkins (642195)Distribution - FC West Karen Goodall (642165)Distribution - FC East Marian Fisher (647758)Distribution - FR John Newton (529928)Parish Council Representative: Diane Needham (642609)Treasury Michael Lowton (642174)Subscriptions Barbara Steadman (645654)Staff photoghaphers:John Archibald, Jim Williams & Richard BakerAdvertise in THE FARNHAMSPlease contact Roger Home, Advertising Sales, on 01753 642078Advertising rates per issue are £48 per page (180mm x 120mm),£27 per half page (90mm tall x 120mm wide), £17 per quarter page(90mmtall x 60mm wide), with initial set up fee of £20 for full page,£12:50 for half page and £6:50 for quarter page. Circulation is c 4000 homesin Jun & Dec and c 1000 homes in Feb, Apr, Aug & OctContributions and Copy DatesCopy dates of the next two issues of THE FARNHAMS Magazine3 rd July for August issue and September 4 th for the October issue.Publication is targeted at the beginning of the month of issue.All articles and photographs should be sent to The Editor,The Farnhams Magazine, Orchard Cottage, One Pin Lane, Farnham Common, Bucks. SL2 3RA;Email: john@winyard1.demon.co.uk Tel: 642120Copy may be submitted handwritten, typed, on CD or by e-mail.4

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News UpdateParables & Miracles – Flower Fest’ifc/24Inside Cover Story - FC Sports Club 3Dear Friends – A word in season . . 8Correspondence 12Parish Patch 16Farnham’s Fusion 23Time Hastens Away 29From Magazine to Webzine 36WI News 26Royal British Legion 50In The News – Pic’ Feature 37Parish Council AGM Special ReportInsertInformationPublishers and Publication Details 4THE DIRECTORY June 2008 39Church Information 40Parliamentary & Council 45The Credit Crunch Fete 39Subscriptions In’ 15Thank You 15June 2009 Farnhams IndexFarnhams LifeValete Jan Coleman 32Obituary – Nobby Clark 30A Musical Celebration - Pictures 48A Musical Celebration - Story 56Farnhams Pubs 49TV Make Believe - Poem 53The Registers 54Just Round The Corner–Eating Out 66Third Age Luncheon Club 78The Farnham’s Society In’ 10Autumn ALPHA Course In’ 19Further Afield . . . 21OUR MSA EXTRA – Pic’ Feature 83The Bees In Summer 73SEGRO Vision 82Favourites 21Farnhams Archive 69Sermon in Print - Encouragement 59Farnhams People–Brian Letchford 61Jottings From The Potting Shed 54Judy Tipping Remembers – Aunt Ive 31The Ruth Potts Poem 81This month’s cover: The Farnham’s Pubs, Eleven great hostelries to visit to quench this summer’s thirstCover Design: by Karina Dahl. Pictures supplied by Bill Youel.The class of 5-7year olds at the Church of England Hollybush School inChristmas Lane, Farnham Common taken in 1940. Rita Maycock is in thethird row, fourth from the left and Nancy Sharp is in the second row, alsofourth from the left (See ‘The organist’ story on Page 56)7

would we let them play hockey?Another non-cricketer who made amajor contribution was Tony Allard, firstas Fixture Secretary, later clubSecretary when Doug Crawford moved.The expansion to hockey, rugby, tennisand squash was eventually pursued,but that is another story and others arein better position to recall than I. Therewas much debate around the officialformation of the Club but the core weredetermined it would not be run by onesport.In our eyes this spoiled opportunities inclubs such as High Wycombe where itsgood hockey club was much theunderdog to cricket. Also, apart fromcompany sports clubs there are fewamateur clubs that cater for a widerange of sports in England. Abbeydalein Sheffield was one I belonged to as ajunior and still going strong, andoverseas the famous Wanderers Clubin Johannesburg, that even includesgolf. It is wonderful to see FarnhamCommon remaining successful with itswide range of activities. The noncricketersand even non-players whohelped in those early days were key toits success. Dave Bush, persuaded intomaking up a team in which it wasdifficult to get hands around bat or ball,later took to golf with great successincluding Captaincy of BurnhamBeeches Golf Club.Tony Allard was always involved andnever played any sport. MauriceHerrington offered his wise advice anda steadying hand. Stan Sidders, everpresent in the teams and behind thescenes, was the ‘organiser’ whoensured the right things happened,even when there was no money in thebank. One source of funds requiringmuch behind the scenes work wasthe annual féte, supported by localpeople including Lady Penelope ofThunderbirds fame and her RollsRoyce. This snapshot is from my failingmemory, there were many who did theirbit, so please forgive me for notincluding your names.Charles Brown8‘A word in season –how good it is!’Dear friends:Modern technology has made it easierto send written messages. Spellchecking programmes may add to ourconfidence. However, we can get theletters of a word in the wrong order butthe word produced may still berecognised as valid. This can causeembarrassment so it is always worthreading our messages carefully beforesending them! We can even get help

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with grammar which challenges us tothink about sentence construction. Thisis all very well but there is no ‘wisdom’check! Today messages go instantlywith the pressing of a button or the clickof a mouse and once they have gonewe can’t retrieve them. Email is awonderful invention which I tend to usefor sending documents or remindingpeople of events and meetings. I try touse email sparingly and avoid havingconversations in cyberspace. Email isgood but there are problems. Forinstance, some folk receiving messagesclick on ‘reply all’ and cyberspace getsclogged with emails that really havelittle relevance to many recipients.Another problem is that it has becometoo easy to get caught up in emailconversations when simply lifting thephone would take far less time andeffort. I sometimes feel like saying“please talk to me instead of sendingme long emails.”The written word is a very powerfulmedium which implies that we need tobe careful or even guarded about whatwe write. Modern technology has madeit easier to create, send and receivemessages, so for many people it hasbecome a lifeline, particularly forfamilies living thousands of miles apart.However, along with the harvest ofgood things has come the harvest ofthorns in modern messaging. I have lostcount of how many email scandals haverocked the government in recent years.You would think that people in highplaces would be wise (or maybe youwouldn’t!). There is also the morerecent innovation of social networkingsites which (on one level) is good forfriends to keep in touch. But thornsabound in plenty as people struggle toexpress themselves. Abusive languagealong with misunderstandings canspread like a virus, damaging or evenkilling off relationships. The fallout canaffect families and when children areinvolved the consequences can spill outinto schools. The written word is apowerful agent for good but it can beabused and carelessly mishandled.We have far more powerful means ofcommunication than we’ve ever hadbefore but we might consider whetherthis has brought us closer together ordriven us further apart. I leave this forus to consider, as the future ofcommunity, family life and workingenvironments may depend on ouranswer. We may also consider howcareful and discerning we are in whatwe write. The writer of Proverbs (Bible –Old Testament) gave us good advice:‘To make an apt answer is a joy toanyone, and a word in season, howgood it is’ (15; 23) I am very keen onmodern means of communication but Iam concerned that we should be wisewhen technology has made it so quickand simple. Let’s remember that instantmessaging can also mean instantmisunderstanding. Let’s make it ourpriority to build people up in what wesay and in what we write. Let’s alsoremember the value of community,which is why this magazine highlightscommunity life in the Farnhams. Don’tjust sit behind a computer screen, comeand share life in our community.With every blessing to you all for ahappy and peaceful summerGraham11

CORRESPONDENCEThe Farnhams gears up for yetanother battle with the DistrictCouncil over our Public Car Park inFarnham CommonDear Editor,I have been asked by a group ofFarnham Common residents, who havelived in the village for many years, towrite concerning their disquiet about theVillage car park. It is rumoured that thepresent first thirty minutes free parkingwill again come under discussion andmay well be discontinued.The need for revenue in thesedesperate times is well understood but itis feared that such a change wouldresult in consequences far outweighingthe financial benefit to the DistrictCouncil including:Small independent businesses, such asthe general hardware store, will beplaced at an even more seriouscompetitive disadvantage. For the largestores of Beaconsfield and Sloughsupply free parking and they will soonbe joined by Tesco, Gerrards Cross.Farnham Common traders dependconsiderably on single or a fewpurchases taking less than 30 minutes.Such a change will inevitablyaccentuate the pattern of a large weeklyshop in the local towns. The result willnot only be damaging financially, theresult of a steep decline in rates with twoshops recently closed, but social. Smallshops are the commonality and the gluewhich binds small places together, aplace for meeting and chatting as wellas buying. Once they disappear their12social replacement will be very unlikely.Their absence will much reduce thequality of life, particularly for theless–than-sprightly who find drivingthose extra miles an increasinglytroublesome and carbon increasingburden.Short term parking will inevitably switchto already congested local streetsresulting in unseemly squabbling forinsufficient places, accidents and ageneral unpleasantness. This willpresumably be particularly so at times ofhigh demand such as local schoolfinishing times when there are smallchildren around and early morningprescription times at the chemist for theelderly retired.John ElliottDear Editor,I was appalled to read in The FarnhamsMagazine that SBDC proposes that thefirst 30 minutes free car parking in thevillage car park be removed. Ideally allparking in the Car Park should be free -as it was.Do they want to destroy what is left ofour village life? Over the years we'velost our greengrocers, butchers, localfriendly supermarket, even fishmongersand bakers of many years ago. Whatwill be the point of paying the Council topark for the few remaining possiblereasons for visiting in the village? Itseems unfair that the Parish Councilshould be asked to foot the bill; but thatwould be better than losing yet morebusinesses.Delphine Gray-Fisk

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Editors Note: It is understood that inSouth Bucks District there are only twocar parks with a free period, FarnhamCommon and one of the two car parksin Burnham. For the last few years theDistrict Council (SBDC) have tried tostop the free period but it has beenretained after strong lobbying by ourParish Council. It would appear thateach Autumn the Environment Unit atSBDC proposes the free period bestopped after which Parish Councilsbegin their fight for retention a votebeing taken at District in the followingMarch. (Reported in the April issue).It is understood that all three DistrictCouncillors covering Farnham RoyalWard support retention of the free halfhour, but they need the support of 18other District Councillors to be sure ofwinning the debate. The district’s other37 councillors break down asBeaconsfield-7, Burnham-7, Iver-6,Gerrards Cross-5, Denham-4, StokePoges-3, Wexham-2, Dorney-1,Taplow-1 and Hedgerley with Fulmer-1.Many of these communities have nocouncil car park to defend and othershave or will have supermarket parkingavailable. We would hope thatcouncillors representing Stoke Pogesand Hedgerley support retention, withmany of their residents visiting, and ofcourse the Burnham 7, giving some 14THANKYOU15councillors likely to be in favour.Farnham Royal District CouncillorMaureen Royston is one of the biggestpromoters of the free half–hour andwould fight “with every bone in herbody” to retain this and would go for afree hour if she thought the villagerswere behind her. This would allow avisit to the dentist, a coffee at Coffee,Eats N Treats, a proper small shop andtime to chat with friends andneighbours.So now is the time to start our ownlobbying. Key people whose attentionneeds to be gained are;Chris Marchant, Council Officer heading theEnvironment Unit at SBDC,Email: chrismarchant@southbucks.gov.ukAdrian Busby, councillor and leader of SBDC.Email: Adrian.busby@btinternet.comBill Lidgate, councillor Cabinet Member with theEnvironment portfolio,Email: lidgate@nildram.co.ukAnd of course our own Maureen Royston atEmail: maureen.royston@btopenworld.comFor Hedgerley it is councillor Anita Cranmer,Email: ac@thecranmers.comand for Stoke Poges Frank Bowater,Email: frank-bowater@supanet.comThe sensible half-hour, a proper hour orprefer to pay, now is the time to hit thekeyboard to save our car parkSelma Becker, Pat Briggs, Charles Brown, Richard Bruce, John Cooper, John Elliott, Phil Ely, RosemaryFollowell, Douglas Foster, Delphine Gray-Fisk, Christopher James, Jenny Harper-Jones, Geoff Hewes,Jerry Houdret, Patsy Kemp, Chris Leister Crow, John Lovelock, R.E. Maun, Elisabeth Mills, DianeNeedham, Ruth Potts, Graham Saunders, Julie Smith, Judy Tipping, Russell Wendover, MargaretWentworth and Andrew, James and Barbara at the Library. Thanks also to The Farnhams staffphotographers, John Archibald and Jim Williams, and to Richard Bruce, Joy Clark, Coleen Mayhew,Graham Saunders, David Vincent, and Bill Youel for additional photographs and design

PARISH PATCHNew Parish office now in operationThe new Parish office is located on thefirst floor at Sherriff House, TheBroadway, Farnham Common SL23QH. Please note that there is a newlandline telephone number 648497.The parish clerk will usually beavailable from 10.00 – 1.00 pmalthough there will be times when she isout on parish business. If this is thecase please leave a message and shewill get back to you as soon as possible.If you need help with any parish orcommunity matters the clerk will be ableto advise you on the best course ofaction or bring your problem to theattention of the Parish Council. We areparticularly interested at present to hearabout any items which can be dealt withby the Bucks County Council ‘localcommunity gangs’ who deal with suchitems as cleaning signs and bollards,and cutting back vegetation (not grasscutting). If you have details of graffitiwe can ensure the correct people arealerted to remove this (responsibilitydepends on where it is located) and itwould also help us if you could let usknow of any areas that are particularlyin need of extra litter picking.. . . and introducing our new clerkHilda HolderHilda lives in Maidenhead with herhusband and three children. She wasborn in West Africa and, having spent afew years in Somerset, spent herteenage years in West Wales. Shequalified as a solicitor in 1984 workingwith a large commercial firm in Cardiffand then in a similar practice inBirmingham before working as a lawyerin the IT industry. She gave up hercareer to raise her family and moved toMaidenhead in 1996. She has foundthe South East an attractive, friendlyand relatively safe place to bring upchildren. She is very involved with PTAmatters and her local Church, StEdmund Campion in Maidenhead.Since 2002 she has had a number ofpart time positions but says she wasready for something more challengingwhen she applied for the role of clerkwith Farnham Royal Parish Council.Hilda started with the Council in Marchthis year and was delighted to be therefor the opening of the council’s newoffice. She said “The new office willprovide a permanent base for theCouncil and one point of contact forresidents in a ‘high street’ location. I amcommitted to providing the best service16

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I can. I try to be very approachable andwould encourage anyone with anyconcerns whatsoever to ring me at theoffice”.Keeping the villages looking goodAs readers know we are working toimprove the appearance of TheFarnhams. If there are any ideas thatresidents would like us to considerplease let us know.One particular problem is fly postingwith advertising boards on lamp postsand on areas such as Temple Dell andKingsway Green. If these are purelyadvertising we will remove themwhenever possible. However, if they arepromoting a local event or charity wewould want to help as much aspossible. One area that has historicallybeen used to promote local events isthe Temple Dell corner. If residentswish to use this area please contact theclerk beforehand so that we can ensurethe banner/board is ‘booked’ in andthere is only one banner at a time.The parish council is also aware thatthe cost of producing professionallooking banners and boards can beexpensive for organisations working ona tight budget. We are in discussionswith The Farnhams magazine about thepossibility of the publication sponsoringbanners/posters so that they can beprofessionally produced. Moreinformation will be made available in thenext edition of the magazine.Trees in The Farnhams . . .There are a number of excellentexamples of mature trees in gardens inthe Farnhams but unfortunately thereare developers and residents who donot appear to appreciate thecontribution they make to theappearance of the area. Many arebeing cut down or badly pruned andlopped. When this happens yet anotherpart of our rural heritage is lost.Some trees on privately owned land areprotected by Tree Preservation Orderswhich are used to protect trees that areparticularly attractive. It is illegal to cutdown, prune, or otherwise damage atree protected by a TPO without theCouncil’s consent, and unauthorisedlopping or felling can result in a fine ofup to £20,000. The Council typicallymakes TPOs when trees are underthreat of being cut down or of beingdamaged. A TPO may apply toindividual trees, groups of trees,woodlands or areas of trees.If you want to find out whether or not atree is the subject of a TPO, or if youwant to ask for a tree to be assessed fora TPO to be issued (whether it is in yourgarden or not) call SBDC’sArboriculturist on 01895 837376. Actnow before it is too late to save themature trees we still have left in theparish.. . . and grass vergesAs the magazine goes to press we arepressing SBDC to cut the grassverges and greens which are theirresponsibility but can we also ask localresidents to help us continue ourenvironmental improvements bymaking sure their own grass verges arekept in as good a condition as possible?The same goes for picking up any litterin the immediate area of your property –19

if everyone does (and most people do)this it is beneficial to the wholecommunity.NAG Open MeetingIt was disappointing that, after so muchwork by our Neighbourhood PolicingTeam, particularly PCSO CarolineSampson, to promote the OpenMeeting there was only a small turnoutof residents to discuss local concerns.However, thanks must go to those whodid take the trouble to come to themeeting – which unfortunately clashedwith a major football match! The itemsthat were highlighted were car parkingproblems, speeding and the use of sideroads as rat runs, car crime (particularlyin Church Road), flytipping and litter,and play areas for ball games. TheNAG, together with the Parish Council,will be taking all the points raised onboard to consider the necessary actionsto help resolve them.Playground and Ball Park ConsultationThe parish council is aiming to haveoutline designs and costs from threesuppliers for the play area at FarnhamCommon Sports Club in place by theend of June. As parents in particularwill be aware, there is a huge choice ofplay equipment now available and weneed specialist advice to make sure weput foreward the best options.Our consultation process will be ascomprehensive as possible andresidents will be invited to comment onthe proposals which will be displayedlocally. The council would like to assureeveryone that all aspects of the playareas and their use will be consideredincluding concerns over anti-socialbehaviour and impact on neighbours.Unfortunately, due to safety andsecurity concerns by Thames ValleyPolice, we are not able to consider thearea suggested by SBDC in FarnhamPark Playing Fields as a possible sitefor a playground in Farnham Royal.However, we are looking at thepossibility of using the Green atFarnham Royal for a small playgroundfor children up to the age of eight yearsold. A circular which seeks residents’views on this location, has beendistributed in Bishops Orchard andsurrounding houses and is on the noticeboard.Positive meeting with Slough EstatesA very positive meeting was heldrecently at the head office ofSlough Estates (Segro) to discusstraffic problems on the A355.Representatives from Bucks CountyCouncil, the Parish Council, the A355Action Group, and Slough Council weregiven a presentation on Segro’s ‘Visionfor the Future’.A short article about the new plansappear on page 82. However, insummary, we were told that in the longtermthe estate will change to lessmanufacturing and more high techindustries and offices. This will result infewer lorries from the site. Staff will beencouraged to use hopper buses ratherthan use their own transport and carsharing will be encouraged. Segro willsupport any moves to encourage use ofthe motorway box (M40/A404/M4)including positive signage and BucksHighways has confirmed that it isworking to downgrade the A355 in20

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favour of traffic using the A404. It wasclear that Slough Council also has greatconcerns about the A355 route and itwas pointed out that not all lorries, ofcourse, come from Slough Estates.PLANNING MATTERSNew applications:Shergill Cottage, One Pin Lane,Farnham CommonDemolition of existing property.Replacement with five bedroomdetached dwelling with integral garage(Amended application of previoussubmission)Feldon, Beeches Road,Farnham CommonPart single/part two storey side/rearextension incorporating garageDair Cottage, Beaconsfield Road,Farnham RoyalExtension and conversion of garage toadditional accommodationApplications Permitted:Maudlin Cottage, Green Lane,Farnham CommonTwo storey rear extension7 Sherborne Walk, Farnham CommonFirst floor front extensionCarnegie House, The Broadway,Farnham CommonChange of use of existing bicycle storeto office and retention of relocatedbicyle store Change of use from EstateAgency to Café11 Scott Close, Farnham CommonSingle storey side extension inc. garage12 Kemsley Chase, Farnham RoyalTwo storey side and single storey rearextensionApplications refused:1 Roskyn Cottage, Blackpond Lane,Farnham RoyalDouble garageDiane NeedhamFARNHAMS FUSIONAll Those Interesting Bits That MakeA Really Fine Brew.First of all a welcome to Mrs AlisonFischer, who is currently Assistant Headat Castleview School in Slough, leadingthe lower school, who has just beenappointed as the new head teacher atFarnham Common Infant School. Atribute article to Jan Coleman, whoretires as head teacher at the end of thesummer term appears later in this issue.WANTED IN FARNHAM COMMON - agood Greengrocers. With the arrival ofthe big supermarkets and subsequentclosure of Andrews we have noticed adistinct reduction in variety, quality andfreshness of fruit and vegetablesavailable in the village. It is also difficultto purchase just what you needbecause many goods are pre-packed inquantities that are too large for a singleperson or a couple. There is a verygood delivery service offered by TastyFruits, run by Chris and Paul who ranthe greengrocery side of Andrews andthose with a car can use the BurnhamMarket on a Wednesday but manyresidents miss our own specialist shop.Do pass the word around and maybesome enterprising person will find a wayof filling this vacancy.23

Douglas Foster promotes twoFarnhams Society events. TheSUMMER SUPPER on Saturday 27June 2009 at the Brian Jubb Hall,Farnham Common. Cost £12 perperson (£6 per child under 12 years).This will be the same as last year’ssuccessful format, consisting of a twocourse buffet - outside if the weather issuitable or inside if not. Bring your ownwine and glass. Contact is Edith Putleyon 01628 662478. A presentation ofthe Eton based SWAN LIFELINECHARITY, on Tuesday 4 July 2009again at Brian Jubb Hall, at 8 pm. £2per person at the door, including coffee.All Welcome.Corinne Ashley and Richard Try(pictured centre in our page 2 picturestory), principal organisers of theParables and Miracles of JesusFlower Festival thank all who helpedinterpret the parables and miracles infloral displays, those who helped withsupplying and serving teas and lunchesand those stewarding the Festival, heldto mark St John’s patronal festival overthe 2nd – 4th May holiday week-end. Amagnificent 19 displays, arranged by abroad variety of organisations in theFarnhams, Hedgerley, Slough, Iver,Beaconsfield and Gerrards Cross,together with a plant sale and therefreshments and donations raised arewarding £1700.Margaret Wentworth offers thosewho have retired from full-timeemployment and who would like toextend their interests to join SOUTHBUCKS UNIVERSITY OF THE THIRDAGE (U3A) You are welcome to cometo a monthly meeting as a visitor. Theyare held at the Beacon Centre,Holtspur, Beaconsfield at 2.15pm andthe current programme is:Tuesday 16th June, Myths and legendsof the Bermuda Triangle - WilliamWells, Tuesday 21st July, theDisappearance of Major Glenn Miller -Tony Eaton and on Tuesday 18thAugust, Amazon Adventure - Dr JillEyers. In addition there are twenty-fiveinterest groups including digitalphotography, improve your French orItalian, Family History, Opera, Art,Science, discuss books or play Bridge,painting, discover Geology, and outdooractivities include Walking, Ornithology,Tennis and Garden Lovers groups. Formore information contact VictoriaHammond on 01494 875641 orwww.sbu3a.org.ukAndrew, James and Barbara at FCLibrary throw out a welcome to allthose young adventurers and dragonhuntersout there. The SummerReading Challenge for children thisyear is Quest Seekers, a journey intothe magical world of books, starting inJuly. Your task is to read any 9 books ofyour choice during the school holidays -it’s free to join and you can collect funstickers and other goodies along theway to the final prize. Good luck! TheBook Doctor will be visiting the libraryagain on 28th July. After a verysuccessful visit earlier this year, she willbe on hand once more to give advice toparents and children on new books andpopular authors. Do you feel likehelping out in the Library Service?June’s publicity focus is on Volunteers –there are many different ways thatpeople can join in, and it can be very24

ewarding if you have a couple of hoursto spare every month. We’ll be having adisplay with more information, and youcan pop in for chat with us as well. Needto check our opening times? They are inthis issue’s Directory, centre pages. Seeyou soon!Sue Perry, Family Support Workerwith the Sure-Start Childrens Centre,writes to remind all parents with childrenup to 5 years that a County CouncilSure-Start Children's Centre is basedwithin Farnham Common library. Thisprovides families with support to helpour children have the best possible startin life. The work of the Centre is part ofa Government initiative for families withchildren in the 0-5 years range. Our aimis to help families find the informationthey need for bringing up children e.g.childcare issues, tax credits etc., andalso to provide a range of activitieswhich focus on the priorities for everychild of: Being Healthy, Staying Safe,Enjoying And Achieving, Making APositive Contribution and AchievingEconomic Wellbeing. For moreinformation about the timetable ofactivities at the Farnhams library Sure-Start centre please contact Sue Perryon 07771 908 424.Carole Ellis, Woodlands DistrictScout Secretary, has a great offer forBeaver age children. Many Farnhamsparents are already aware that theHedgerley Beaver colony is full but anew colony is up and running in nearbyHoltspur, meeting at 5.30 on Mondays(excepting bank holidays). Parents cansimply turn up on the day and if they arecontent with what they see, they canleave their children for a free sampleevening. Faith Pople is currentlyrunning the colony with help from otherdistrict people and two very keenyoung-leaders, who are making a greatcontribution. There is a full programmefor the rest of this term. We hope toappoint a new local leader before theend of this term. There will beopportunities to transfer to HedgerleyCubs and Scouts after leavingBeaver.To discuss your child’s entryphone Carole on 01628 663810 or Faithon 654994.John Shepherd of The Lions Club ofBurnham, announces the 10th annualBurnham Beeches Sponsored BikeRide on Sun 14th June. An opportunityto raise funds for a charity or goodcause as well as your local Lions Club.A choice of routes, all marshaled andsignposted, include 5 mile, a leisurely10, a popular 15 and a challenging 20mile. The entrance cost is £15 perperson or £10 for under 16’saccompanied by a participating adult.The start & finish is from the DukesHead Pub, Farnham Royal withregistration from 11am. Furtherdetails or to register contact Johnon 642741 or by Email onjdshephard@btinternet.comOur ‘Over The Border’correspondent, John Lovelockadvises the June and July meetingsof Hedgerley Historical Society.Wednesday 17th June 2009 – TheSWOP Project – bringing history to life.Mike Dewey Chairman of the Friends ofHigh Wycombe Libraries will describethe work of the SWOP (SavingWycombe’s Old Photographs) Projectwhich has collected more than 17,00025

photographs dating back to the 1870’s.Mr Dewey will present an illustrated talkshowing some of the photographs in thecollection covering Beaconsfield andsurrounding villages including FarnhamCommon. At the Memorial Hall in KilnLane Hedgerley Village at 8pm.Wednesday 15th July 2009 – Behindthe scenes at Bekonscot. BekonscotModel Village was first opened to thepublic by its founder Roland Callinghamon Sunday 4th August 1929 and tocelebrate the 80th Birthday we havearranged a private evening ‘behind thescenes’ tour .The visit will offer us theopportunity to see parts of the ModelVillage that are normally out of boundsnamely the Engineering Shed,Modelling Workshop, Signal Box andFigures Studio and to meet some of themodel makers and engineers who workthere. Admission is free but places arelimited so booking is required to thenumber below. Annual Membership ofthe Society is excellent value at £6.Further details from John on 647187.John Conen gently reminds us thatSunday 13 September is the day ofour Village Show, the 34th to beorganised by the Farnhams &Hedgerley Horticultural Society. By thetime this article appears, the showschedule should be available in localshops and FC library. It contains detailsof all the classes and how to enter. It’sYOUR show, so please try and entersomething you have grown or created.The show has been very successful inrecent years because over 100 localpeople have entered exhibits, andmany more have come on the day toenjoy the show. The show is FREE toenter and there is NO ADMISSIONcharge on the day, although you areencouraged to enter our raffle and takepart in the auction of a selection ofproduce including prize vegetables, fruitand cakes. There are over 90 classes toenter, with cash prizes for winningentries and 20 trophies to be competedfor! This year we are very grateful toMrs Rose Stewart for donating a newcup, which will be presented to the bestexhibit in the Flowers division of theshow. The Duncan Stewart MemorialCup will commemorate her latehusband, someone who did so much forour community. Anyone willing to helpout on the show weekend will be verywelcome. Please contact John on645880 or 07718 536627 or Email:conen@btinternet.comDavid Mayhew, Church CommunityWorker, of the Farnhams &Hedgerley Community Churchannounces that The Farnhams YouthClub is now open for all teenagers ofsecondary school age. Meeting from 7-9pm every Friday at the Brian JubbHall, Victoria Road, Farnham Common.An exciting evening full of all kinds ofactivities, including pool, table tennis,Wii games, teambuilding activities aswell as the occasional trip out. ContactJoe for more details on 07948 623 858.And . . . looking forward to HOLIDAYCLUB. To while away the holiday blues,an exciting club for 5-11yr olds calledFloodzone, will be held 10-12am,Monday - Friday, July 20-24th, duringthe first week of the summer holidays.The venue is Stoke Poges School,Rogers Lane, Stoke Poges. ContactDavid on 642251 to book26

TIME HASTENS AWAY . . .Rare Church Clock To Be SavedSt. Mary’s Church Farnham Royalclock is in dire need of repair.Described as “rare and precious” byGeoff Kirkman, of specialist repairersSmiths of Derby, the clock’s dials arein the 19th century Arts and Craftsstyle.This very special clock hasn’t ticked,chimed or told the time for nearly fiveyears. Unless repairs are carried outthis year, it may be too late to savethese Arts and Crafts faces and dials,and the mechanism desperatelyneeds cleaning.A time target of six months has beenset to raise the funds required. £9,500is urgently needed to carry out thesefirst stage repairs – with a top target of£18,000 to provide state-of-the-artextras including an autowind device,night silencer and automatic satellitecontrolled time keeper to bring thisimportant village timepiece into the21st century.Jerry Houdret, who is leading thefund-raising team, explains why theclock is so special: “The rare dials arein Arabic numerals, which was veryunusual for the period when RomanNumerals were favoured. They wereinstalled in 1891 in memory of therector, the Revd S. F. Marshall.His apparent interest in the Artsand Crafts movement led to theinstallation of the William Morriswindow in the Nave and one by FordMaddox Brown beside it.”These windows were originally fromdesigns for Bradford Cathedral and itis possible the Arts and Crafts clockfaces started life somewhere else too.Certainly, in 1901 the dials wereregilded and new hands fitted byGillett and Johnston of Croydon.Now, over a hundred years later, theyare once again in need of attention.A stopped clock has many negativeconnotations and St Mary’s clockmust chime out again to remind us allof the living, breathing church, at thecentre of our community.To achieve this, the fund raising teamis planning an exciting programme ofevents starting with a ClockRoadshow and Open Day at StMary’s Church on Saturday, 4th July.Experts will be on hand to value yourtimepiece (bring photos of biggeritems) or answer your questions, andthere will be an exhibition featuring StMary’s Clock and time-telling throughthe ages. (See details opposite).“In the words of the motto underneaththe clock,” adds Jerry, “Time HastensAway, so unless we get on now, nextyear it might be too late to repair theold dials. Do come along to theRoadshow and find out more aboutthis fascinating Arts and Crafts clockand its history.”29

OBITUARIESLaurence ‘Nobby’ Clarkvolunteered to join the Army. Enlistedinto the Royal West Kent Regiment, itwas not long before he wascommissioned into the ReconnaissanceCorps. His bravery in the Italiancampaign resulted in him beingawarded the honour of being'Mentioned in Despatches'. In morerecent times, while working in the motorindustry Nobby, with his wife Joy andyoung sons Martin and Graham, cameto live in Farnham Common in 1958.As a keen tennis player, Nobby joinedthe newly formed Sports Club anddevoted much of his time to helpingbuild the Club into the multi sports clubwe now enjoy. His first executive post atthe club was secretary of the tennissection, relinquishing this to take on thevice-chairmanship in 1971.It was with deep regret that we heard ofthe death on April 1st of LaurenceCharles Clark of Mayflower Way, knownaffectionately by so many people in thevillage as 'Nobby'.Born in England nearly 87 years ago,he spent the first five or six years of hislife in the Sudan, where his father wasworking.At this tender age he learnt to speakArabic well enough to act as interpreterfor his mother. Perhaps this was whenhe learnt to always try and help othersbut if he couldn't, he usually seemed toknow somebody who could.After schooling back in England, thesecond world war had started and, assoon as he was old enough, heHis tremendous input into the Club overthese years was recognised when from1980 until 1996 he was elected tobecome the longest serving Presidentto date. On his 74th birthday Nobbyretired from ‘38 years devotion to theclub’ an occasion marked by thepresentation of a gold pocket watchfrom the club (picture above).The bearded, pipe-smoking gentlemanwho, along with many other activities,enjoyed acting as the auctioneer at thelocal Horticultural Shows, and in hisfavourite role of Father Christmas atchildren’s parties, will be sadly missedby so many people.Our sympathy goes out to his verysupportive wife Joy and the family.30

JUDY TIPPING REMEMBERSKathleen Ivy Watts (nee Dancer), MyAunt Ive - A Village LifeKathleen Ivy Dancer was born on the7th February, 1916, the youngest of fourdaughters of Sarah and FrederickDancer at 3, Woodland Cottages,Farnham Common. The Dancers wereone of the oldest recorded families inthe village. Aunt Ive, as she was known,attended East Burnham School,Burnham Beeches with her threesisters, Margery, Elsie Jane and EileenNancy. At the age of 14 she left andwent into service for Mrs Hartshorn atReade House, next to the Church, withher life-long friend Ivy Young, AuntSqueak, Aunt Ive was known as Pip, Idon’t know who Wilfred was!Christened at St John’s she attendedthe Methodist Chapel for Sunday Schooland more recently attended St John’sregularly. She was an avid member, for36 years, of Templewood WI andworked in many of the village shops.She continued to live at 3, WoodlandsCottages with her mother, husband‘Nobby’ and their three sons, Robert,Joe and Bill. Sadly Nobby died in hismid-forties, whilst she lost Robert andBill when they were still young men soyou can imagine her life was not aneasy one.During the war she drove a milk float,delivering milk for Neville and GriffinDairy. At one time she drove a blackMorris Minor car in which the threeladies would go on jaunts, Mum thenavigator and Aunt Squeak in themiddle of the back seat obscuring therear-view mirror. On one journey insteadof going round and off left she justturned right against the flow of traffic!There was also a forage into the wastesof Windsor Great Park to attendthe Queen’s Jubilee celebrations.Returning to the car, in the dark, theyhad trouble finding it. A police car camealong and asked whether they had alandmark to go by, “We parked under anoak tree” they said, “Madam, do youknow how many oak trees there are outhere?” They were taken home in thepolice car and had to retrieve their carthe next day.Having never been abroad Aunt Ive, Ivyand my Mum decided, in their 60s, thatthey would go to Australia and NewZealand. They enjoyed the voyage outso much they decided to sail instead offlying home so the trip took six months.They had many adventures and gavetalks about the trip, wearing their grassskirts that they had brought home withthem. Aunt Ivy was so proud of her fourgrand-children, Jude, Jessie, Rowenaand Charlie and took a great interest intheir various occupations, activities andachievements. Her great-grand-sonBilly was born in February and Aunt Ivelived to see and hold him.I remember having wonderful times at 3,Woodland Cottages when all the familywould congregate at Christmas andbirthday parties. As a large family wewould go on holidays, walks in BurnhamBeeches and on Chapel Outings whenwe would all sing songs on the coach aswe travelled along. Following the deathof my own mother, Aunt Ivy and Ibecame very much closer, we would talkover problems and laugh a lot. We willall miss her.Judy Tipping31

19 YEARS AT FCISFarewell to Jan ColemanThis year will be a time of transition forFarnham Common Infant School (FCIS)as we bid farewell to Headteacher JanColeman, retiring at the end of thesummer term, despite many of usthinking she looks too young to retire!Jan started her teaching career in 1970in Southwark, South London. Followingplacements in Croydon, Brent andHillingdon, Jan moved to Bucks in 1990and took up the post of deputy head atFCIS. In 1996 she succeeded ChristinaMartell Headteacher. Due to budgetconstraints at that time, the Head rolehad a teaching responsibility of twodays a week, with Jan teaching theRising 5 class.1997 was a challenging year for a newlyappointed Head. Bucks County Councilchanged the age of transfer, resulting inJan and the governors having tomanage a redundancy process.Loosing Year 2 and Year 3 to FarnhamCommon Junior School, pupil numbersdropped by nearly 100 in a term. Thishad huge implications on finances andorganization. Jan successfullymanaged the school through this periodand pupil numbers have graduallyincreased to the two-form entry andsize we are today. Acorn Nursery,initially set up as a private nursery bySally Dobbs in 1998, was amalgamatedback into the school in 2004 as a schoolnursery class and has become a realasset.Jan has worked with five Chairs ofGovernors (Audrey Bainbridge, MikeCooper, Nicki Parkinson, Rachel Slaisand Julie Smith). Initially the GoverningBody was combined with the JuniorSchool, with Mike Cooper taking on therole of Chair when they had to formseparate Governing Bodies. I knowthat Jan is grateful to all governors shehas worked with, particularly GeoffreyWilkinson and Janet Armitage whohave remained on the Governing Bodythroughout her time as Head.Jan has also worked with a number ofdeputy heads at FCIS. Pat Alston wasacting deputy for one term prior to AnneBrown being appointed. FollowingAnne’s secondment to another school,Chris Staynor was acting deputy untilthe appointment of Hilary Buckland andwhen Hilary was promoted deputy of alarger school, our current deputy, ChrisStaynor was appointed.Despite some difficult years financially,Jan has worked hard with her team ofstaff and governors to improve facilities.The front extension, opened by Dominic32

Grieve MP in 2005, has proved to be areal asset creating a library andimproved office and staff facilities. Theentrance is adorned by a beautifulmosaic, made by the children and paidfor by the Friends of the School. Afurther extension, completed in 2006,provided cloakroom space and alloweddevelopment of ICT facilities. Furtherimprovements have been made to theNursery playground and an Early Yearsplayground created.Jan and her dedicated and enthusiasticstaff team have worked well together,enabling the school to move forward,achieving academic success within acalm and caring ethos. A particularstrength of FCIS that Jan stronglybelieves in is the broadening of thecurriculum with ‘special weeks’ thatstimulate the child. These include a‘Get Healthy’ week (achieving HealthySchool status in 2006) as well as Book,Music and Art weeks. As a keengardener, Jan has enjoyed developingthe ‘growing activities’ at the school andwitnessing the children’s’ excitement asthey see the results of their efforts. Hermusical skills are sure to be missed asshe currently teaches music andsinging to the whole school.Although I know that Jan will miss bothchildren and staff, she has plenty ofinterests to further develop and plans tospend more time gardening andexploring creative activities. There willbe Art galleries to visit, books to readand new skills such as digitalphotography to develop.As quoted by Ofsted in 2008, “FarnhamCommon Infant School is a good schoolwith outstanding features”. We are allthankful for the huge amount of effortduring her time as Headteacher intomaking it so. Although we still have afew weeks left before the end of thesummer term, I would like to take thisopportunity, on behalf of the wholeschool, to wish Jan a long, healthy andhappy retirement.Julie Smith35

www. thefarnhamsonline.org.ukFrom Magazine To WebzineFor 130 years The Farnhams magazinehas been the leading news organ of thevillage, sponsored by the Anglicanchurch but providing balanced andcomprehensive coverage of the localscene and services to localorganisations and businesses (andnational advertisers, see this issue’sArchive on page 69).As the world moves forward so has thetechnology of communication and theinterests of potential readers. Currentlyin its regular issues the magazinereaches between one third and one halfof homes and we guess that we areseriously under represented by those ofa younger age for whom the internetprovides a major source of informationenjoyment and those active in businessand family life where time is anessential.The Farnhams editorial committee havebeen looking at a website for severalmonths and we are close to producing adetailed proposal and seeking awebdesigner to bring the site to fruition.In the same way that the magazine isrun by many volunteers, a vital part ofits charm and liveliness, so we envisagethe webzine. Whereas a magazine hasits writers, photographers, an editorialteam and distributors so the webzinewill require the first three of these andalso correspondents who can look aftertheir own ‘space’ interactively fromhome or office. To get involved with this‘new fangled publishing enterprise’ justEmail the magazine editor onjohn@winyard1.demon.co.uk or if youwould like to be one of the webzine’sfirst advertisers register now withmagazine advertising sales onroger.home@virgin.netIt’s early days yet but some earlythoughts, just to tease you. Themagazine and webzine are to becomplementary, each having its owncharacter and tone but under the same‘sharing life in our community’ banner.Thinking bimonthly versus daily willhave enormous impact on outlook andcontributions. The traditional magazineshould have its own space to promotethe current issue and facilitatesubscribing and contributing. Thewebzine should seek to carry the latestnews and pictures, a community diary, afolksy/chatty interactive area and a‘getting involved’ space to encouragejoining in. Two other key services arethe Online Directory including links to alllocal websites and an AdvertisingInformation space to assist potentialadvertisers with both mag and webopportunities.This, we believe, will ensure themagazine continues to grow andinvolve us in the latest technology ofpublishing. Like to contribute? just let usknow, now is the time.EditorNote: Although the domain namewww.thefarnhamsonline.org.uk hasbeen registered there is no material online at present.36

In The News37Top picture showsGraham Saunders, l,Rector of FarnhamRoyal with Hedgerleyand David Mayhew, r,Church CommunityWorker with theFarnham s & HedgerleyCommunity Churchsharing the cross at theGood Friday jointcongregation open-airservice on KingswayGreen. The service wasfollowed by more crosses,this time hot cross bunsand coffee in the BJhall. Centre is retiringhead teacher JanColeman of FarnhamCommon Infants Schoolwith a group of herhappy pupils , see herValete on page 32.Bottom shows one of thefive tactile and acousticsculptures on the SensoryTrail created by theBurnham BeechesRanger Team andopened by BeechesSuperintendent, AndyBarnard in March

Advertorial - www.helpinhearing.co.ukAWARE OF WHATYOU ARE MISSING?As recently reported we are finally able toget our message across, with thegovernment taking note, that earlyidentification of hearing loss is vital for ourquality of life.A trial across the UK of 35,000 people aged55-74 found that routine hearing testsoffered substantial benefits. On averagepeople live a staggering 10-15 years withhearing difficulties before they actively seekhelp.Such sound deprivation can be extremelydetrimental. Hearing problems can make itdifficult to understand conversations whenthere is background noise, such as in shopsor cafes or when watching television.It can lead people to become depressed andwithdrawn, as well as having difficulties atwork. Because hearing loss happensgradually, it is usually a family member or aclose friend who will make the hearingimpaired person first aware of the problem.Only 3% of people in the study were foundto have hearing aids but 12% of people hada moderate or severe hearing loss.Early diagnosis can significantly improvethe quality of life, as research proved it iseasier to adjust to the benefits of goodquality amplification by way of digitalhearing devices, if the impairment iscorrected at an early stage.Hearing aid technology has advanced at atremendous rate. Today’s products are ingeneral extremely discreet and socomfortable that the user is not even awareof them until they take the devices out andsound becomes ‘muffled’ once again. Someproducts can wirelessly connect to mobiletelephones and MP3 players using‘Bluetooth’ technology and the hearing aidsbecome the headsets.A full assessment when carried outcorrectly takes approximately 1 1/2 hours. Afull medical history is taken and lifestyle isdiscussed. An examination of the outer earis carried out with the use of a videootoscope,which allows the patient to viewinside the ears on a computer screen.Results are discussed in detail andrecommendations made for the mostappropriate action.The tests are non-invasive and only requirea certain amount of concentration. Anyonefound to have a medical condition whichneeds further investigation will be referredto their GP.‘Help in Hearing’ welcomes anyone who isconcerned about their hearing to get intouch and arrange an assessment which iscarried out at our premises located inFarnham Common and Marlow. The hearingtest and consultation is entirely free.Selma BeckerRegistered Hearing Aid Dispenser, Fellow ofthe Society of Hearing Aid Audiologist,Director of Help in Hearing, can becontacted on 64268746

Looking for an excuse to get friends together? Been meaning to treat yourself at the Spabut not had the chance?Why not bring the SPA to you?Have a TEMPLE SPA class where you and your friends can relax in your own home, get ahome facial, gain skin care tips, have the opportunity to try an exclusive range ofprofessional skincare products and importantly have some fun!.For more information about attending a Temple Spa class, hosting a class or having a 1:1consultation with a Lifestyle Consultant, please contact Lynn on 07976 137724 orlynn.temple_spa@yahoo.co.uk47

Hedgerley Church - Music CelebrationTop, Revd Graham Saunders leads the congregation inapplause to celebrate the long services to church music fromRita Maycock (69 years a chorister), Ken Maycock (50 yearsas organist) and Nancy Sharp (60 years a chorister), below r,Ken and Rita together at the Organ, and below l, Keninspects the gift from friends and admirers, the latestYamaha electronic organ.48

THE FARNHAMS PUBSHow many will youbag this summer?As our pictures show on this issue’scover the Farnhams enjoys a wealth ofPubs like no other similar sizedcommunity in South Bucks and EastBerks, a wonderful asset for ourenjoyment and relaxation. Elevenhostelries today but many of us canremember 15 when the Yew Tree, OnePin, Brickmold and Farnhams Pumpwere all in operation but we can beforgiven for thinking it would beinevitable, in the days of greater homeentertainment, that some would pass.One is now a private house and one isscheduled for housing but we remainconfident that at least one will be reopeningagain in the near future. Butlet’s not dwell on the past - we can justlyboast of eleven great places to visittoday. Their character on the outside isgiven and obvious from our coverpictures, plenty of parking, places to sitand plants to enjoy. The Farnhamsmagazine now invites readers toexplore these treasures and we offeryou a quick guide to their character onthe inside. So in alphabetical order herewe go.Blackwood Arms – typical country puband restaurant ‘the hidden gem’ servingreal ales and real pub food, now withBrakespeares it has aims to return tothe Guinness Book of Records goldenyears of serving the most real ales in ayear.Crown in Crown Lane – new landlordsof 9 weeks, Shirley and David, welcomeus to sit under the second oldest (afterKew Gardens) wisteria in the land andenjoy a meal when the kitchens havecompleted their refurbishment.Crown in Farnham Royal –manageress Lynn invites us to socialisein the warm and friendly atmosphere ofthis good old fashioned drinking pub.Dukes Head FR – Landlord BarryMurphy and Manager John tempt youwith home cooked hot and cold foodthroughout the week but Sunday lunchis really special.Emperor – Darren, Stacey and Johnny(head chef) say “don’t be a stranger,come on down and enjoy sensationalfood at sensible prices in stylishsurroundings”.Foresters – The most recognisablelocal landmark especially with wisterianow in bloom and shrubs and treesresplendent. Both bar and restaurantare ‘hub of the village’ having beenunder the caring stewardship of Maggieand Tony Jackson for 18 years.Royal Oak – great food, reasonablypriced with the menu regularly changingto match the seasons, families andchildren welcome both inside andoutside in the large beer garden.Carries the Cask Marque for its beers.Stag – the perfect venue on the veryedge of idyllic Burnham Beechesoffering refreshment, food and a warmwelcome to anybody and everybodyfrom kids to grandparents.Stag and Hounds – Emma Joycewelcomes you to a proper Englishfamily pub with real ales and servingbreakfast, lunches and dinner (till9:00pm), with special Fish & Chipsupper ‘to die for’ on Tuesdays androasts on a Sunday.White Horse – specialist in real ale withat least 8 beers, from all over the UK,49

served straight from the barrel, no handpumps here. CAMRA multi-awardwinner and traditional home made foodat lunchtimes.Victoria – a modern drinking pub, agreat venue to relax and watch topclass sport on TV, with both Sky andSetanta packages, or a quiet game ofpool.We trust you will forgive us for includingtwo on the parish boundaries, theBlackwood at Littleworth Common, agrand walk away through the Beeches,and the White Horse at Hedgerley,another worthwhile walk to discover thearea’s best selection of real ales, butmany will find Farnham’s friends andneighbours inside when you enter.Forgive us too for excluding othersnearby like the Jolly Woodman, astone’s throw from the Blackwood andthree more in Stoke Poges, but, well wehad to draw the line somewhere.So which one is your local? Or perhapsyou have more than one you visit on anoccasional basis. With the summercoming, and bearing in mind that all ofthese are in walking distance of most ofus and parking no problem see howmany you can bag over the next fewmonths. You will be sure of a warmwelcome whether it is just a pint or twoor something more substantial. Andshould you wish to book ahead all theirtelephone numbers are in the Directory.Enjoy!EditorRoyal British LegionOur Annual Dinner was on Saturday 7thMarch and although numbers attendingwere a little lower this year, 79 werepresent and the meal provided wasexcellent, as usual. Judy did very wellwith the raffle which raised £455 forBranch funds. The only drawback wasthe limited space for pre dinner drinkswhich we understand was because anew restaurant was being put in, newbar, etc. so we hope that in 2010 therewill be more seating available. Anadditional amount of £3,000 has beensent to Headquarters for the PoppyAppeal, so the amount collected wasabove that of 2008. We are still lookingfor new members. The count in earlyMarch was 147.If you know of any Senior Citizen whomay require help in any way, likeregular visits, etc. please let us know -we may be able to help. The BeetleDrive did very well, another good rafflebringing in over £100.In closing I must mention how nice itwas to receive so many cards frommembers of the British Legion on thepassing of my wife Joan, who did quitea bit of work for the Legion and will besadly missed. The crematorium waspretty full on 3rd April for a nice serviceconducted by the Revd GrahamSaunders and it was very nice to seethe Revd Stanley Bedwell also taking apart.John Cooper50

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TV MAKE BELIEVE?News Item April ‘09: Children 10 and 11 charged with attempted murderDid you see the way he shot them?How their blood came spurting out?When he’s got his sawn-off shotgunNo-one messes him about.He’s the big man on his parish,I’ll grow up to be like him,Smash the losers dissing me,Get some notches on my gun.I can see the action betterOn our new High Def TV.Mum, she likes the horror movies,Things they show don’t frighten me!I know the spooks aren’t really real,Can’t really suck my blood at night.But still I get to sleep much better‘Cos my Mum leaves on the light.If I had my sawn-off shooterI would blast those spooks to Hell,And I’d blast that bully JimmyStraight out of my class as well.Our TV’s a Plasma Slimline,Covers more than half the wall.So you’re right into the action,Can’t get out of it at all.It’s on the wall above our fishtank,I thought Mum had put it thereFor when blood drips off the Telly,Save it splashing everywhere.I don’t like to see blood either,When Mum cuts up meat that’s raw,Liver with its blood and tubesHas me heading for the door.So when in class I smash up Jimmy,Really bash his face in good.It will be like the Telly, won’t it?I don’t have to smell his blood?Do I?Russell Wendover53

Jottings from the Potting ShedWhat a beautiful start to May. I amalmost on “Sunrise to Sunset” dutyeven though my garden is quite small.The last of the Parsnips was eatenduring May Bank Holiday and theCabbage I planted in the smallgreenhouse has produced surprisinglytender Spring Greens. The Winter GemLettuce is still being harvested and hasproved to be an excellent crop to growunder cover. I was unable to obtain the“All Female” Cucumbers but FarnhamCommon Nurseries have provided“Burpless Tasty Green” which mayneed just a little help with pollination.The often tedious job of pricking outbedding seedlings is complete, MelonsCucumbers and Tomatoes are in thegreenhouse, Potatoes are earthed up -so shall I finish here or find you a fewjobs to do before you light thebarbecue! Let’s think....JUNE - Keep up the fortnightly sowingsof Lettuce and Radishes. Sow moreCarrots such as Chantenay which willprovide an Autumn crop. The Melonsand Cucumbers will probably need alittle help with pollination so, with a softsmall artist’s brush, transfer pollen fromthe male flower to the female flowervery gently. The male flowers are theones with a long, slim, yellow stamenand female flower has a slight swellingat the base of the petals. All clear?Good! Towards the end of the month, atleast one row of First Early Potatoes willprobably have been harvested, sosprinkle the ground with garden limeand blood, fish and bone fertilizer andwork these well into the soil. Water wellif the soil is dry and the following day,tread over the soil to firm it down. Nowyou can plant out some Cabbage orother Brassica. Net them if you can asprotection from butterflies and pigeons.Sow more Beetroot. Don’t worry if youseem to have too many. Cook themand freeze them. Ours lasted until thebeginning of April which meant that wespanned the whole year with saladitems - last year’s Beetroot and newseason Lettuce on the same plate -delicious! Leeks will be ready totransplant now. I did give you details atthis time last year, so anyone whowants a reminder can contact methrough the Editor, John Winyard, and aFROM THE REGISTERS (June 2009)Baptisms:There were no Baptisms in any of the three churches during March and AprilWeddings:St. Mary’s Farnham RoyalFunerals:St. John’s Farnham CommonRicky Smith & Amy DeanSteven Rickwood & Jemma AdlamIvy WattsCrematoriums & Cemeteries:Nancy Williams Ada Tognola Joan Cooper Betty RowlandsHarry Wilkinson Lilian Elmes Laurence (Nobby) Clark54

photocopy of the article can beprovided. Watch out for bugs. Bright redLily Beetle can only be killed bysquashing. Greenfly don’t likeRoseclear 3. Organic Liquid Derris, thescourge of Blackfly, has beenwithdrawn, so I shall probably use softsoap solution. Just dissolve soft soap inwarm water to give you a sprayableliquid. It is illegal as it has beenclassified as “a chemical spray notapproved by DEFRA”. You have beenwarned! Me? I never cared aboutpeople who talk rubbish. Keep mowingthe lawn regularly. If you want a stronggrowinglawn, use a mower whichcollects the grass unless we have extrahot weather, when clippings can beallowed to stay on the sward aboutonce a fortnight.JULY - Continuing with the lawn theme,it is probably time to give it a treatmentof “Weed and Feed”. Read theinstructions and only carry out insuitable weather. In the flower gardencontinue picking Sweet Peas everythird day, if possible, whilst still leavinga few blooms to attract the bees. Keepdead-heading Roses and all otherblooms to encourage further flowering.Make sure that everything has enoughwater. It helps if you make your owncompost as this can be mulched aroundshrubs and prevents evaporation and,in the Autumn, it can be forked in as asoil improver.Sow more Lettuce seed and Carrots. Ifyou sow Early Carrots (those usuallysown in February and March) you willfind them quick to germinate and lovelyeaten when they are about the size ofyour little finger. Khol Rabi is avegetable which I first had in Germanyand, served with a white sauce, are achange from Turnips. Also try stir-fryingthem when they are small. Sow somenow. More Beetroot can be sownduring the first week of this month aswell. Watch out for Potato Blight whichwill infect Tomatoes as well. The firstsigns are leaves curling and turningbrown followed by the collapse of theplant. My outdoor Tomatoes were totallydestroyed by it in 2007 but the potatoesescaped primarily because I growmainly blight resistant varieties. Thereis a preventative fungicide calledDithana 945 which does not appear tobe on the banned list. However, as thedisease usually appears during heatand high humidity I suggest you watchthe weather forecast. My greenhouseTomatoes were not infected bythis airborne fungus. Plant outWinter Cabbage, Brussels Sprouts,Cauliflower and Lettuce. Be carefulwhere you buy your Brassica plantsfrom if you don’t grow them yourself.You can so easily import Club Rootdisease. Better to raise your own in celltrays and transplant when they are 3" to4" high. I’m going to leave it at that fornow, so that I can leave the office andget my hands dirty outside. That justleaves Ian Currie to tell what to expectweather-wise.JUNE & JULY: Average temperaturesthroughout with some days exceeding84 degrees. A few showers.Good Gardening, everyone!R E Maun55

A CELEBRATIONChurch Music In HedgerleySt Mary’s Church, Hedgerley, was fullon Sunday, 19th April, to worshipAlmighty God and give thanks for theamazing devotion to choral musicshown by Ken and Rita Maycock andNancy Sharp.For Ken, we were celebrating his 50years as organist at Hedgerley. Rita hascompleted 69 years in the choir andNancy 60 years. Even more amazingand deserving of our thanks is the timethey spend planning and preparing forServices. Can anyone remember aSunday when Ken and Rita have notbeen the first at Church and the last toleave?Ken has been a keen organist from avery early age. Tales of his Armyservice, advancing through NorthernEurope after D-Day, are full of littlestories about finding church organs inwar-torn villages and the joy of beingallowed to play them. After the war hewas assistant organist at St. Peter’s,Loudwater (where his father was Vicar),and was called upon from time to timeto play at Hedgerley Church in the1950’s.He was then working at GregoryBuildings. He and Rita met and marriedin 1956, moving to a new house inHedgerley Hill. In 1959 he was invitedto take over from Rosemary Gutteridgeand became our organist.Rita and Nancy are both Hedgerleyladies and attended the Church ofEngland Hollybush School, ChristmasLane. The photograph on page 7 of the5-7year olds, taken in 1940, shows Ritain the third row, fourth from the left.Nancy is in the second row, also fourthfrom the left. Revd. Jones came toHedgerley in 1940 and decided that aChurch choir was needed, inviting theschool to audition.The whole school turned up! Rita,though only 5years old, was chosenand is therefore a founder member!Nancy joined in 1949, aged 8 years,and still sings regularly with us eventhough she moved away when shemarried.At the end of the Service came thepresentations! For the ladies, flowersand beautiful gold bracelets inscribedwith their names and ‘from St Mary’s,Hedgerley’. Ken then had to sit andlisten while the new Audio Systemplayed a CD of the ‘Golden Voluntary’ -a piece of organ music speciallycommissioned in his honour from RogerLeaver. Next he was given the score,beautifully framed and signed. And toplay it?All his friends and admirers, includingthose who have moved away fromHedgerley, raised a substantial sum,enough to present him with the latestmodel Yamaha ‘Puratone’ electronicorgan. This he now plays at home, withgreat pleasure.Well done Ken!Nancy!Well done Rita andRussell Wendover56

‘The Ministry ofEncouragement’A sermon based on Acts 11; 19 – 30preached on 3rd May 2009 – St. John’sPatronal Festival at Choral EvensongI wonder what it takes to get you upin the morning. Is it the thought ofanother inspiring day at work? Is thethought of further achievement andsense of feeling worthwhile? What is itthat encourages you?There is a new comedy series on BBCcalled Reggie Perrin. Some of you mayremember the late Leonard Rossiter’srendition during the 70’s. In the newseries Martin Clunes plays thedisillusioned Reggie Perrin who is amanager at Groomtech industries. He isthe disposable razor guru who doesn’tlike his life. The series is comedy butthere are also some serious referencesto the problems of modern life. Reggieis frustrated by the pointlessness of hiswork and disillusioned by modern life! Iactually knew someone very similar toReggie when I worked in industry. Geoffwould reluctantly turn up to work eachday. Like Reggie he would carry anempty briefcase to work. He wouldcomplain about his journey to work. Hewould bluff his way with managementand found it difficult to take workseriously. Like Reggie Perrin he wouldcome up with absurd ideas. He wasclearly disillusioned with modern life. Iam sure that there are many like him!Part of the problem of today is that thereare too many people who criticise anddelight in doing people down! Thisattitude is bound to create moredisaffection and people like ReggiePerrin. We need people who canencourage in government, theworkplace and in schools. Thedictionary says that ‘to encourage’means: ‘To make someone feel braveenough or confident enough to dosomething.’ We desperately need thisin our society and we need this in thechurch. We need the ministry ofencouragement to build confidence inour mission and ministry today.Our reflections take us back to Antiochin the early part of the 1st century. Ourreading sets the scene very shortly afterthe stoning of Stephen. ‘On the day thatStephen was stoned (8; 1) a greatpersecution broke out against thechurch at Jerusalem.’ The writer ofActs, St. Luke, then adds ‘all except theapostles were scattered throughoutJudea and Samaria.’ Some hadtravelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprusand Antioch. As the believers scatteredthey preached the word of God on theway. However, prior to the mission toAntioch they only shared the messagewith the Jews. Antioch was regarded asthe third great city in the world next toRome and Alexandria. Antioch was abeautiful cosmopolitan city set some 15miles from the Mediterranean Sea.However, Antioch was a byword forluxurious immorality. It was famous forchariot racing and the deliberate pursuitof pleasure by day and by night. It wasfamous for the worship of Daphnewhose Temple stood some five milesoutside the town. ‘The morals ofDaphne’ was a phrase that the entireworld knew for ‘loose living.’We may think that Antioch would have59

een the last place to launch a mission.However, it proved appropriate becauseof its cosmopolitan nature. At Antioch,disciples of Jesus were calledChristians for the very first time. AtAntioch the Church took a groundbreaking step of faith by preaching tothe Gentiles. At Antioch the mission ofthe church to the world began. What ismore, the mission was launched bypeople who were never named. All weknow is that they came from Cyprusand Cyrene. Their mission wasspontaneous. It was not led by theapostles or planned by them. I believethat this mission was led by grassrootsfolk with a heart for the Gospel. Thiscan teach us a great deal! It seems tome that some of the most successfulenterprises in the church have beeninitiated by lay people rather than theclergy. This is because the church, asthe ‘Body of Christ’ has takenownership of its mission.As part of my training in Bristol I spentthe summer months of 1984 onplacement in a church in Nailsea. Thechurch was clearly alive and had grownin recent years. The Vicar informed methat the church grew by 30% during thenearly 2 years they were without avicar. During this time some membersof the congregation really cametogether and set their hearts on themission of the church. As a result, thecongregation grew and matured. Don’tget rid of me yet! I believe that it is thework of the clergy to enable missionand to encourage. It is not the clergy’srole to do the entire mission.The early church can teach us a greatdeal about what really works in terms ofgrowing the kingdom. So let’s go backto Antioch. How did the Apostles reactto this mission by unknownevangelists? They sent Barnabas toAntioch to investigate. The sending ofBarnabas was inspired. Barnabas wasa man with a big heart. He wasn’tinterested in red tape and whether themen of mission had done the right thing– he didn’t go wading in saying: ‘you’vemade a good start, now leave it to us!’We are told that ‘he was glad andencouraged them all to remain true tothe Lord with all their hearts.’ Barnabaslived up to his name which means ‘sonof encouragement.’ We are also toldthat ‘he was a good man, full of the HolySpirit and faith.’There is sometimes a temptation to seeBig Mission in terms of personalities.There are, of course, some successstories such as Dr. Billy Graham. Butthe real success of the church is due tothe unknown soldiers of God who havea passion for the Gospel and want toshare it with others. The natural flow ofthe Holy Spirit through his people has afar greater success in mission thanthose that are engineered through evermore elaborate schemes. Take anotherlook at Antioch! It was such an unlikelyplace for mission, certainly in ourmodern terms. Yet, with a bit ofunfettered enterprise and courage,unknown missioners found it inthemselves to go and share the GoodNews of Jesus Christ. And they weresuccessful. Then look what happened,Barnabas came along and encouragedthem in their mission. He brought inmore resources by going to Tarsus tofind Paul. We are told that for a wholeyear Barnabas and Paul met with the60

church and taught great numbers ofpeople.We need encouragement. It is theprimary role of the clergy to enable andencourage the mission of the church.But we should all share in thisencouragement and help to build oneanother up in our faith. It’s easy tocriticise and pick holes in things thatdon’t really matter. Let’s ask the Lord tofill up our hearts and be glad when wesee the Holy Spirit at work.Let me tell you what encourages me! Iget a real thrill when people around mediscover their gifts and begin exercisingthem for the kingdom. It delights mewhen someone brings a friend along toone of our services. In this respectpeople are exercising the simplestevangelism: ‘come and see!’ We havetremendous opportunities all around us.On the 27th of June there will be a‘Sharing Good News’ training day onevangelism in the Brian Jubb Hall. Iwant to encourage you to come and joinus and explore ways in which we canshare Good News. On the 27thSeptember we will be participating in anationwide scheme called ‘Back toChurch Sunday.’ What a greatopportunity to encourage past membersto ‘come and see’ and be restored tofellowship. We will also be starting‘Alpha’ once again in the autumn –maybe we can think through and prayfor the opportunity to encouragesomeone to come.Let’s remember the lessons from theNew Testament. The church growsthrough the ministry and mission ofall God’s people. The ministry ofencouragement builds confidence inGod’s people and fills us withgladness when we see the Lord atwork.Graham SaundersFARNHAMS PEOPLEPhil Ely Investigates TheChemistry Of Brian LetchfordPandora's box was opened on BrianLetchford this week. Born at UptonHospital, our Slough Man's parentsmoved to Wales when he was ten andlater to Bradford when he was atBirmingham Uni. He liked Slough andused to return for holidays, staying withrelations rather than go to Wales orBradford. At Birmingham, whilecompleting his BSc, he had the choiceof doing National Service or working fora PhD and so he spent a full six and ahalf years at Birmingham. “I just lovechemistry, I find it completelyfascinating,” he says. In Wales he used61

to help serve church communion butsays, “I don't believe in god any more. Idid, but I suppose I now believe in 'MrsDo-as-you-would-be-done-by'. It’s thenub of what Jesus taught.”From university he joined ICI Paints inSlough. As a post doctoral recruit, hewas allowed a further 2 years researchwhich he adored, but in 1965 he wasasked to join ICI New York at swanky 44Madison Avenue. This was animportant commercial appointmentmanaging the affairs and interests ofthe whole ICI group in the US. When Iasked Brian to complete 'I didn't getwhere I am today by . . ..' he instantlyresponded ' . . staying in research!' Onhis return to the UK his days as aresearcher were largely over. A furthersix years were spent at ICI's NewVentures before he moved to theirOverseas Department. “I visited 28different countries” he recalls, “Iremember returning from Chittagong,Bangladesh. The flights were groundedand my local agent and I had to travelby train in sweltering humidity. As soonas we entered the crude wooden traincompartment the agent bolted all thewindows and doors shut explaining theconsiderable danger of attack bybandits.”In 1986 he was appointed a director.During these years Brian and wife Janetraised a family and by the late 1970'sBrian was chair of the school PTA aswell as being an active sportsman,member of JAWS, running, skiing,sailing, playing golf, tennis and othersports. In 1996 Ken Barnett, whoworked for Brian, coerced him intobecoming a school governor, “It was all62Ken's fault!” he says with a grin. At thetime the Junior and Infant schoolsshared a single board of governorsincluding Malcolm Paice and JanColeman as head teachers. Thegovernor's roll included many familiarnames; Lindi Bilgorri, Lauri Elliot,Geoffrey Wilkinson, Tina Lewis, CharlesMitchell and Alison Vincent as vicechair.New recruits included Dr Sally-Ann Hayward, Elizabeth Howden,Charles Mitchell and Brian. ElizabethHowden and Chris Staynor were therepresentative teachers.In those days county and governmentpolicy initiatives were diffused by thehead teacher to the governors whoworked with them to execute generalpolicies in the school and all had someautonomy. Today the governor's rolehas changed beyond recognition. In2000 Bucks County let it be known thatthey wanted the Junior and Infantschools to have separate boards whichBrian believes was an excellentdecision.“The Junior School has twelveGovernors now and all are very busyworking on the stream of initiatives,concepts and evolving ideas fromgovernment and county.” I asked himfor some examples: “Every ChildMatters is perhaps the overarchingtheme of everything the school doesand under the DCSF initiative, it has todominate our thinking.” he says, “DCSFstands for Department, Children,School and Family and it broadens ourthinking and our responsibilities. Thereare five main topics; children must behealthy, safe, welcomed, fulfilled andachieve but there are other objectives

like positive contribution, enjoymentand economic well-being. DCSF ishugely important. Another example isFMSIS, Financial Management Systemin Schools which operates countywide. It’s a very prescriptive systemprocessing all orders, managingdeliveries and doing payments on line.It’s very time consuming but it works.The Community Cohesion Initiative isanother. We're obliged to interface withall levels of the community and to play afull role in it. More recently still we'vehad the Extended School programme -providing for and being responsible forall children between the times of 8amand 6pm on school days to allowparents to work. There are dozens ofclubs and activities to make sure thishappens.”I notice that none of these initiatives aredirectly to do with teaching children.“There's a constant development of thecurriculum and tests as well as all theinitiatives we've just been discussing.Children take Keystage 1 when theyleave the infant school and Keystage 2when they leave us.We have to show the child's satisfactoryprogressive development and there areannual Level 3, 4 or 5 tests between.“Asked if he approves of all the testing ,he says “Yes, but the league tablesaren't fair because there's noconsideration of factors such as thenumber of special needs children in aclass or illnesses. All these systemsand initiatives, the curriculum and testsare constantly evolving and there is ahuge overhead of Self Evaluation andreporting to be done by governors andstaff alike. It's a lot of work and I haven't65even mentioned Ofstead. We're due aninspection this year and we only get 2days notice of the inspectors visit.”Is it better now than it was in 1996?“Definitely, we have far more resourcesand money and the systems work welleven if the effort of running the ship isgreater.” And the attraction of thisvoluntary post? “I love it, I love seeingthe children develop and being part ofthe team working for the school. Its themost rewarding thing I've ever done. Iwas Chair of Governors from 1996 to2000 and that's even more rewarding.When we knew Malcolm Paice was toretire I decided to step down so that mysuccessor should appoint the personthey'd be working with. I was able topass the baton to Brenda Cox, a verycapable and gifted person.”Brian and Janet's house was hauntedwhen they moved in. “In my son's roomyou'd wake up and find this man leaningover you,” he said “it was really quitefrightening. After a few years most of ushad experienced it when sleeping therefor odd nights. I just had to getsomething done about it. We asked avicar we knew to come and deal with it.I don't know what he did but he sorted itout.”Brian's crystal clear mind, excellentmemory and efficient mannerundoubtedly make him a hugelyvaluable asset to a school’s governors.So Man of Slough, on behalf of thehundreds of children and parentswho've benefited from your efforts a bigthank you.Phil Ely

JUST ROUND THE CORNER– giving you the lowdown and highupsof local m’eating placesThe Emperors new clotheshave that wow! FactorIPA and continental lager, the sunsetting after a perfect spring day givingthis western facing bar a perfect amberoverlay to complement the creams andoaks. There is plenty of room to sitcomfortably but this was an evening forstanding a while, for bubblyconversation, for a Friday night relaxafter the business week.The bar both lazily fades into a tabledarea for relaxed eating on woodentopped tables or abruptly turns into arestaurant proper. Here the tables arelinen topped to suit the more romanticmood, competent but unhurried, yetanother place to linger.Outside we passed others enjoying adrink, at pic-nic style tables, both sunnyfront and in back shade at this time ofday but when summer is with us properthis will be a ‘beaut’ of a place. Ouradvice is to book now for Midsummer’sday and August Bank Holiday.‘Great expectations’ were very much onour mind as we booked dinner for two atthe Farnhams latest makeover, ‘TheEmperor’. After all, this second attemptin as many years to transform adelightfully good pub to a good pub plusa restaurant had to succeed sooner orlater. Our visit suggests it is sooner.The décor is back to unpretentiousvillage pub style, a clean, comfortable,at-home feeling as we stood around thewell stocked bar – a pint of Greene KingSo to eating. It did not take long todecide from the sensibly short andconfidence building menu, whichscreeched seasonal fresh and cookedfor-the-table.We loved the grazingboard, pure enjoyment choosing apersonal palette of English andContinental tidbits, arranged with style(the first Wow) on a piece of real welshslate ‘board’ and served with aterracotta pot of freshly baked bread.Warmed chorizo sausage, chilli andcoriander prawns, apple smokedcheese, a spicy chutney, aioli andmarinated olives. Mr Greene and MrKing never dreamed of their finest pint66

eing coaxed down with such fervourand flavour.Two more wows! were to follow. Theycall it posh fish ‘n’ chips, fivechunky beer-battered fried scallopsaccompanied by hand cut chips for her(“I’ll give it foive” she said as theymelted away) and asian–spiced confitof duck leg with salsa for him, tender,juicy, a hint of sesame and mangosetting it a world apart from the tired ‘al’orange’.A happy selection of wines by the glassperfectly complemented these twogood-lookers, yes, there is an artist inthe kitchen as well as a competent chef.Then we stopped, no time tonite forcrème brulee or hot chocolate fondant,or the selection of mini desserts toshare, that will be next time when wereturn with friends, tonite is for catchingthe first episode of the new ReginaldPerrin, but we are sorry that MartinClunes did not wow us as much as thenew Emperor.Our restaurant meal came out at abouta sensible £50 for two including beersand wine. When not full dining thereis an excellent choice of supersandwiches at around £5/6, includingthe Emperor special slow cooked porkbelly with apple puree, you choose,baguette or white or brown bread, allserved with a side of handcut chips.Richard BruceFARNHAMS ARCHIVEElisabeth Mills’ study of life as seenthrough the pages of this magazinenearly a century agoThe August 1916 parish magazineconcentrates on purely parochialmatters rather than the war, but beforecoming to that let us look at some of theadvertisements which are featured inthe supplement to the magazine.Names that are still well-known todayare included, the first of which is Bird’sCustard. ‘Remember when there’s notime to make a good pudding that Bird’sCustard is made in a minute. Try it withtinned, bottled or stewed fruit;pineapple chunks or dried apricots(stewed).’ Dreamless suppers arepromised by Brown and Poulson’s inrecommending their cornflour. ‘Light,nutritious, sweet and savoury, corn flourdishes made with milk and cheese aredigestible and economical - the verything for summer suppers. They savemeat and are cheap and sustaining.’Finally, Vaseline ‘your friend in ahundred troubles. For giving beautifulcomplexions - for healing all skinafflictions - for relieving rheumatism andneuralgia - there is a Vaselinepreparation for all these and muchmore. Yellow - our regular grade, whichis known as pure all over the world,Pomade - delicately perfumed,especially adapted for toilet purposesand as a dressing for the hair. White -highly refined, very delicate.’ Now tomore serious things. ‘A meeting washeld in the Reading Room on June 28thon finance and other matters. Mr.Wimperis explained the church69

accounts and pointed out that a budgetfor the current year would show werequired the following amounts: Churchworking expenses, such as caretaker,gardener, insurance, water rate, repairsand sundries, £50. Organist and choirexpenses, £50. The curate’s stipend,recently increased, including houserent, rates and taxes, £220. In additionthere are annual liabilities of unfixedamounts such as (1) The ChurchBuilding Society, which havingcontributed towards the cost of erectingSt. John’s Church, had an establishedright to receive the offertories of oneSunday in the year. (2) The OxfordDiocesan Fund to which we shouldcontribute at least £10. The objects ofthis fund are not generally well known.(3) The Church schools and our Sundayschools. In the last two years we havehad appeals from the Prince of Wales’Fund, the Belgian Relief Fund and theRed Cross Society. Lastly, we have aresponsibility, which as a branch of theChurch we may not neglect, forsupporting Missionary work. In the pasteighteen months or so, it has been thepractice at St. John’s to devote theoffertories of the first Sunday in eachmonth for this purpose. The missionsprincipally assisted in this way were theDiocese of Kalgoorlie, the Diocese ofLebombo, the Oxford Mission toCalcutta and the S.P.G. Finally, thelikelihood of outlay being required, at nodistant date, to give the organ a newlease of life, alterations to the vestry,and completion of the oak seating in thechurch. ‘It was urged that subscriptionsshould be increased and at least £100contributed to the Curate’s Fund. In thediscussion which followed two pointswere specially emphasised: (1) Theneed of a Church Council, and thedesirability of its existence as a councilof the whole parish and not St. John’sonly. (2) The advantages which wouldresult from the publication of matter, ofspecial interest to the St. John’s people,in a separate fly-leaf in the parishmagazine. As to financial matters, MrCrane explained that in his experience,a Church Council should consist oftwelve men, all communicants, and attheir instance the Church needs weremet by voluntary assessment on thepart of the congregation and was giveneffect through the weekly envelopesystem, which worked without difficultyand to general satisfaction. Mr CurtisHayward urged the desirability of aChurch Council representing the parishas a whole and deprecated anysuggestion that St. John’s should beconsidered as a church apart. It wasdesirable that the unity of theecclesiastical parish should bemaintained and saw in its maintenanceadvantage to those church peoplewhom changes in the type of service, atone church or the other, mightotherwise drive out of the parishaltogether. He further expressed hisdesire to give all possible support to thework of the Church in this parish, as hehad endeavoured to do elsewhere inthe past.’There is no note as to who Mr. CurtisHayward was - presumably everyoneknew - but Mr Wimeris was one of thetwo principal sidesmen, and Mr Cranewas the curate, whose address,incidentally, was The Avenue, FarnhamCommon.Elisabeth Mills70

Experienced Teacherof 30 yearsFarnham Common Area11+ TutoringSmall GroupsJanuary 09 - October 09Saturday MorningsReasonable RatesSally Coombes B.Ed(CRB Cleared)Tel: 01753 646607 orEmail: sally.coombes@btinternet.comfor more detailsINTRUDER ALARM SPECIALISTSEstablished in Farnham Common Since 1990For All Your Installation Requirements and Local ServicingTelephone : 648330WEB: www.templewood.co.uk E-mail: security@templewood.co.uk72

THE BEES IN SUMMERSummer, when bee-keepers go to greatlengths to KEEP their bees - fromforming a swarm and flying off topastures new (or your garden shed oryour chimney). We want them to stay athome and bring in the honey.At some time in the Spring, the workerbees (females) think collectively aboutthings - is the hive big enough for them?- is the Queen fit enough to lay another100,000 eggs this year as she has inthe previous 2 or 3 years? The answer,usually, is to follow nature’s survivalistplans and swarm when the weather iswarm enough in May or June.When the time is right they will start bybuilding up to 10 large, waxy cells (littlefinger sized) in corners of the hive. TheQueen will lay an egg in each and whenit hatches the worker bees will feed thelarva with Royal Jelly. After about aweek they will seal over the top of thecell so that the larva can transform intoa Queen, which takes a further week.It is said that the grown Queen taps onthe sides of her waxy cell, or evensqueaks(!) when she is ready.Whichever it is, this is the signal formost of the bees to form up outside thehive, with the old Queen amongst them,and fly off. Only the newly hatchednursery bees are left behind. One wouldexpect the old Queen to relish thischance of freedom after 2, 3 or even 4years stuck in the darkness of the hive.However there are reports of the Queenbeing carried kicking and screaming tothe front door. Perhaps she hasforgotten her one and only flight as ayoung virgin - Oh ecstasy!Back in the hive, a new Queen will chewher way out of her cell, to be fed andgroomed by the workers ready for hermaiden flight. So what does she do first,before flying off to meet the boys? Shegoes to the other Queen cells andstings the competition to death. Howdoes she do it? In the Grand Design ofthings, the Queen is the only beewithout a strong barb on her sting,enabling her to sting more than once.Why does she do it? One does not haveto meet a Himalayan she-bear to knowhow deadly is the female of the species!Ira Pasti73

Advertorial – Christopher JamesGarden Design…Why Bother?There was a time, before the talentshows took over, when Garden Design& Ground Force-style make-overprogrammes dominated prime-time tvbut, as with everything on the smallscreen, what you see is not alwayswhat you get and so I’m not sure if itever did the real world of garden designmany favours.As a trained garden designer, I get theimpression we are often misunderstoodbecause not everyone understandsexactly what we can do or even thedifference between landscaping andgarden design.There are lots of excellent landscapers,I often work alongside them, and whilethey can build you the patio of yourdreams, what they won’t do, unlessthey have a serious design background,is to look at the project as a whole.At a first meeting with a new client Iseek to understand what kind of gardenthey are dreaming of and how they willuse the outdoor space, relaxing,gardening and entertaining, and howmuch they wish to spend. I look at thearchitecture of the house, thesurrounding landscape, even theneighbour’s gardens and think about adesign that will, first and foremost,integrate the garden with itsenvironment whilst relating back to theclient’s needs. This approach is the‘Golden Rule’ of good garden design.Even if you have an aptitude for design,it’s still something where professionaltrained is vital and this is the gardendesigner’s unique selling point.Take the recent case of a charmingGrade II listed brick and flint cottage inthe Chilterns, surrounded by beechwoods and heath land. This is not theplace for a steel pergola to provideshade for the patio but, for acontemporary twist, a design withcopper to reflect back the surroundingswhen in their most glorious Autumncolours.The good garden designer works notonly to enhance the value of theproperty but save the client costs oncontracting and materials forlandscaping requirements and planting.For the most part, garden design worksbest for serious clients with seriousbudgets. Although the cost of manymaterials and labour have come down itwill cost in the region of £4000 to builda 20 square metre patio in Old Yorkstone.If you would like to talk about your owngarden, check out some recent projectsor find out more about garden designand the services we offer, please visitmy website www.christopherjames.euChristopher James74

The Third Age Luncheon ClubAre you retired? Would you like to meetwith other like-minded people? Doeslistening to good speakers interest you?The Third Ago Luncheon Club may bejust what you are looking for.We provide a simple lunch, in goodcompany, and with informative andentertaining speakers.During the year we have welcomedamong our speakers, Clare Churchillfrom Reach, a charity for disabledchildren, Ben Baker from the ChilternOpen Air Museum, the Revd LindaHillier from Kingsway Connections, whoshowed us all how multi-skilled wereally are and Charlotte and RobinMorrison who entertained us with talesof their journey whilst taking part in aclassic car rally from Panama to Alaskaon the West Coast of America.The Third Age Luncheon Club is held inthe Brian Jubb Hall, Victoria Road,Farnham Common adjacent to StJohn’s Church) on the first Wednesdayof each month.Our next meeting will be on Wednesday1st July at 12.45pm for 1.00pm,finishing at approximately 3.00pm.There is a small charge of £2.50 perperson.Just come along - we will look forwardto meeting you.Ruth Potts - 644448Dictionary CornerTautologyAn unnecessary, inessential, useless andpointless repetition of words in a statement ofthe same thing using a different word.Such a tool should never, no way, be heard.Editor says lose it, cut the dead woodWriting such scribble cannot be that good.Ruth Potts78

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THE RUTH POTTS POEMD-Day + 65commemorating the 65th Anniversaryof D-Day, to be celebrated early in JuneA lifetime agoBrave young menand women tooFrom England’s southern shoresset sail, for Normandy’s coast.A fight for freedomFor Yours, for MineAnd for France - liberationIn the name of Justice they did fightA lifetime ago.From afar, we salute youThat era’s brave soldiersWho bore the banner aloft in the outrage of warFor those who diedand for those who survivedWe give thanks and Remember you all.We shall never forgetthe sacrifices made on the beaches of NormandyA lifetime ago.Ruth Potts81

A VISION FOR THE FUTURETransforming The Trading EstateSlough Trading Estate is planning amajor transformation over the next 20years to improve the businessenvironment for existing occupiers andprovide a world-class destination for newoccupiers. The Estate currently providesaround 17,000 jobs, 25 per cent of all thejobs in the Borough of Slough, and thevision is to create over 4,000 new jobsand contribute around £100 million ayear to the Slough economy.For nearly a century, Slough TradingEstate has successfully adapted to thechanging demands of business as wellas the community. SEGRO’s (SloughTrading Estate’s owners) Vision for theFuture, redevelopment proposal seesthe Estate playing an even greater role inthe local community of Slough and theeconomic development of the widerregion through offering some bold newideas. The vision is for modern,environmentally friendly buildings, tailormadefacilities, more open green spaceand a step change in transport choices.A new main entrance, with tree linedboulevard, leads to a central area, whichwill be home to offices, a purpose builttransport hub, two hotels, shops,restaurants and cafés, a conferencecentre, leisure facilities and the new‘Aspire’ Skills Training Centre. Aspire willprovide education development andwork-based learning programmes foradults and children, helping businesseson the Estate improve competitiveness.Five purpose built environments will becreated to meet the needs of officebased,retail, enterprise, industrial andhigh tech companies.Kevin O’Connor, Director of SloughTrading Estate, said: “The TradingEstate has been an integral part of theSlough community for nearly a Century.The redevelopment will build on thisdelivering a key business location for the21st Century with facilities open to localpeople and links between the communityand business strengthened.” The plans,first announced in October 2007 andconsulted on throughout 2008, havebeen developed in consultation withbusinesses on the Estate, SloughBorough Council and other stakeholders,and support for the investment iswidespread. The consultation stage hashelped inform the final application (nowwith Slough Borough Council), withfocus on a modern, thriving businesscommunity where the needs of peoplecome first.Further information about Vision ForThe Future can be found onwww.sloughte.com or by contactingStephen Lord at SEGRO,Email:Stephen.Lord@segro.com82

OUR MSAEXTRAAt Burltey WoodThe Beaconsfield MSA is Britain’s most modern, new conceptmotorway service area. Our pictures show the massive food courtbuilding, the signage tower carrying a full line-up of high streetbrands, the continental style motel with sun-trap terrace and theextensive lake. Relax by the lake and adjoining picnic area. Enjoyeating alfresco on the terrace and walk around the extensivelandscaped grounds and carefully preserved ancient woodlands andmonument. Yet another great asset on our doorstep.

The Farnhams Magazine ! A Special Supplementcovering council and community reports presented at theFarnham Royal Parish Council AGM on Monday 9th March, 2009.Prepared by Diane NeedhamParish Councillors Trevor Clapp, Bob Milne, Bill Youell, Diane Needham and CliveRobinson ready for tonight’s agendaTrevor Egleton, County Councillorrepresenting Stoke Poges andFarnham Common, spoke of this year’smajor County Council challenge tobalance the increasing demand forsevices with public expectation of lowCouncil Tax rises. The Council Tax willincrease this year by 3.7% despite onlyreceiving an increase in centralgovernment grant of 1.75%, in cashterms just £1 million. The governmentgrant system now results in taxpayers inBucks paying nearly 80% of the total taxbill whilst this proportion is reversed inthe north of England. The proposedgovernment grant increases for the nexttwo years are minimal and will continueto result in the local tax payer funding taxrises. This year’s budget has beenprepared assuming efficiency savings of£8.9 million, nearly 3% of the 2009/10budget, together with service reductionsof £7 million, which will ensure that theCouncil does not spend more than itsincome. These service reductions are innon-essential services. We intend tomaintain our front line services essentialto the more vulnerable members of oursociety.The Council recognises that in order tobalance the budget in future years actionmust be taken now to reduce costs andoperate even more efficiently and thus itis embarking on a programme of majorchange in how it operates and deliversservices.

HANDY HELP LTDSubsidiary of Age Concern Slough and Berkshire EastSlough andBerkshire EastNeed aplumbingjob done?,%5)&00&'6%7-0(,%8&..&'6%9*:%7-0(,%;*

County, District and Parish, the three councillors are, l to r, Trevor Egleton, MaureenRoyston and Peter CathcartPeter Cathcart, Chairman ofFARNHAM ROYAL PARISH COUNCIL,started his report by reflecting on theloss of Duncan Stewart who served as amember of the Council for more thantwenty years and chairman for twelveyears. Duncan’s knowledge of theFarnhams was unsurpassed, a majorbenefit to the parish council. Hisuntimely death last autumn was a verysad loss and we will remember himfondly. As a small token of recognitionwe are proposing to dedicate one of the‘environmental improvement’ trees to hismemory.Last March Trevor Clapp proposed thecreation of a website for the parishcouncil. We are now close to creatingthis to give all residents information onthe role and functions of the parishcouncil. We also hope to seek theparticipation of local schools in thedevelopment of the website.We have worked hard in the last year tosupport the new Youth Club - in realityLiz Jarvis worked tirelessly ondeveloping this much-needed project.As always we need support from withinthe community and I hope that morevolunteers will come forward to assistthis project. During the last few years wehave contributed to Christmas festivitieswith lights and a public celebration atKingsway. With the expertise of BillYouell we produced the best Christmaslights the village has ever seen and avery successful event with theassistance of Burnham Beeches RotaryClub. We looked at the role of the clerkand the manner in which the parishcouncil functions in the light of changesover the last 15-20 years. We havedecided to provide an office rather thanthe old system of the clerk working fromhome. With the appointment of HildaHolder we will be operating from anoffice in Farnham Common.

all members. I thank all council membersfor their substantial contribution to therunning of the parish during the last yearand look forward to another enjoyableyear ahead.Hilda Holder, our first ‘village officed’clerk, at the AGMThe Playground and Sports AreaWorking Group has worked intensivelyon the development of play areas. Thisis inevitably a slow process with manyissues to be resolved before we canproceed.Throughout the year we have dealt withour conventional responsibilities inrelation to street lights, bus shelters andso on. Our County and DistrictCouncillors - Trevor Egleton, MaureenRoyston and Dev Dhillon - have made asignificant contribution to debate duringthe last year and have also provided uswith much useful information relating tocounty and district issues. I have nowbeen a member of this Parish Council for18 years and last year has been one ofthe most interesting in that we have beenable to look at issues sensibly andpragmatically. We are starting toundertake particular projects like theplanting of trees in the villages. Meetingsare a pleasure to attend, a great credit toNeighbourhood Police Office RobertaRiversPC Roberta Rivers, NeighbourhoodOfficer with Thames Valley Police, setout the Neighbourhood Team for theFarnhams. This comprises CarolineSampson, Community Police SupportOfficer, Bev Pearse, NeighbourhoodInspector, Clayton George, NeighbourhoodSergeant and herself. Asecond Community Police SupportOfficer is awaited. There was a reductionin overall crime of 8.2 per cent in theperiod 1 April 08 to 31 Jan 2009.Neighbourhood consultation listed threepriorities for the Farnhams:Anti-Social behaviour.-ASB has gone down considerably.-Youth Club opened in November 2008

at Brian Judd Hall. It is held every Fridayand is slowly building a base in the teencommunity.-Gates have been installed by theHousing Association in key hotspotsalong Langton’s Meadow.Parking:-There are on-going issues at zig zagson the Broadway and on the doubleyellows outside the Forester’s pub andat St Mary’s school, with one child hit,one reported assault and heatedarguments.Vandalism-Criminal damage to dwellings down by35% and damage to vehicles down by42.9%-Vandalised garage areas in Langton’sMeadow have been repainted (by oneASB offender)The police hold monthly Beat Surgeriesand a special one at Christmas, on theBroadway, offering crime preventionadvice, attracted over 50 people. TheNeighbourhood Action Group meetsevery six weeks.Specific Incidents:-Shoplifting in the Broadway: Onebusiness had four incidents in threedays. All offenders were identified, onehas been arrested and charged. GoodCCTV images and car indexes takenfrom vehicles as they drove off helped toidentify offenders. Automatic NumberPlate Recognition (ANPR) cameras arehelping us track down and followvehicles and criminals.-Racially Aggravated Assault: we aredealing with a possible series of crimesagainst a new minority resident inour community. One of the possibleoffenders has been arrested andinterviewed.-We continue to target parking,especially at St Mary’s, Church Roadwhere a child was recently hit by a car.After repeated warnings two tickets wereissued.Distraction burglaries remain a concernwith elderly/vulnerable victims targetedby people posing as someone needingto gain entry and who will often have aseries of homes they will target.The Farnham Royal ANPR Camerareads every vehicle index that passesby. Images are so good we often get apicture of the occupants. More are beingplanned and plans are in place to havethese operational 24/7. One camerapicked up two stolen cars within thespace of one hour. Soon after fivepeople were arrested from thesevehicles. The cameras are also used inpost-crime investigations, providing listsof vehicles that can be used to identifyoffenders and witnesses They alsoidentify vehicles without insurance orvalid Road Tax.Colin Snowden, Chairman of the A355Action Group reported an eventful buthardly fruitful year. In April 2008 wemet Mrs Val Letheren, chairman ofthe Transportation Committee, BucksCounty Council. The agenda had fouritems:-Progress towards reducing the volumeand weight of traffic through theFarnhams. (No progress had beenmade)-Matters to alleviate the impact of the

Motorway Service Area. (BCC did notbelieve there would be any real impacton the Farnhams)-To consider illegal parking on the ZigZag lines on the pedestrian crossings inFarnham Common. (BCC said it was amatter for the police but the delegationsaid some kerb alterations were neededto make it impossible to abuse the ZigZags. The delegation proposed suitablekerb alterations but it is believed thesehave not been pursued)-To consider the question of rat-runningthrough residential areas. (BCC said itwas a difficult problem to solve. It isbelieved this has not been consideredfurther)In September the Group, which had notbeen consulted, objected to theswitching off of the street lighting on theA355 between Farnham Common andthe MSA. The A355 with street lightingwas considered so dangerous a fewyears ago that the speed limit wasreduced to 50 mph, following a series ofaccidents. Removing the street lightingis potentially dangerous and the groupbelieves there has been an insufficientand uncoordinated objection the action.It is not too late to object.The A355 Group met both the SloughBorough Council officers and,separately, with the general manager ofthe Slough Trading Estate. (Editor’supdate: A further meeting held on March20 with Bucks County Council, SloughBorough Council, Farnham Royal ParishCouncil and Trading Estatemanagement proved to be positive withall members agreeing to work towardsdowngrading the A355 and encouraginguse of the A404.Andy Barnard launching the BeechesSensory TrailAndy Barnard, Superintendentof Burnham Beeches and StokeCommon reported that changes carriedout in 2007 have bedded in including thenew café, toilets and information point.Continuing improvements there are newfacilities for cyclists, more recycledplastic benches for café customers,resurfacing the area, improved drainage,new displays for the information pointand a new leaflet dispenser. The dogfreearea has been modified with newfencing and access gates. A year ago weinstalled solar powered car parkmachines which have generated avoluntary income of approx. £6,000. Thesupporters badge scheme hasperformed well with a first year incomeof around £3,000. This money has beenused to provide many of theimprovements mentioned above. Wehope to purchase a bird box camera andviewing screen for the Information Point.

Input from volunteers has increasedsubstantially with around 5,000 hours ofassistance. Tasks included the neareradication of rhododendron, 500m ofnew paths and the clearance of scrubfrom heath and wetland. Volunteershave also acted as ‘eyes and ears’, haveprovided administration support and carefor our dormice colony.This year’s pollard restorationprogramme has just been completedwith work on 87 veteran trees. Work isunderway on the site’s sensory trail, aseries of wooden sculptures providingvisual and audio stimulation, designed toenhance the enjoyment, especially forthose with sensory handicaps. Localschools have provided words andspeech that can be downloaded ontoMP3 players.We have restructured the ranger’s team,creating three new roles – two assistantrangers and one senior ranger; we arealso recruiting a part-time administrativeofficer. The team has delivered 22events in the last year attended by over1,200 people – the lantern makingproject with local schools beingespecially successful.During the year we celebrated the firstyear of ownership of Stoke Common.We have written a new managementplan, consulted the local community andhave successfully applied for grant-aidfrom Natural England to carry out heathland restoration on the site during thenext ten years. We have also beenworking to establish a team ofcommunity volunteers to assist withworks on the site.Mary Harrison, chair of the Board ofGovernors of St Mary’s FarnhamRoyal Church of England PrimarySchool reported another successfulyear. There are currently 328 children onroll with 49 members of staff.In April, the Right Reverend Alan Wilson,Bishop of Buckingham, rededicated theschool confirming our strong links with StMary’s Church. Bishop Alan spent mostof the day in school and we were thrilledto read his blog entitled, ‘Everyone issomeone at Farnham Royal.’ Thechildren continue to thrill us with theirenthusiasm for learning which has beenenriched by an array of visits, visitorsand extra-curricular activities. The schoolsuccessfully bid for a CreativePartnership grant and it is now workingwith animators, theatre professionalsand story tellers to develop the children’sunderstanding of mathematics.In the Foundation Stage outdoorlearning area, all-weather safety turf hasbeen laid, climbing apparatus purchasedand markings, used in the curriculum,have been painted on to the tarmac. Acanopy has been erected to enablelearning outdoors in all weathers.The provision for Gifted and Talentedpupils has been enhanced by theintroduction of the TASC – ThinkingActively in a Social Context - approach.The school seeks to promote a healthylifestyle and the success of our ‘walkingcrocodile’ continues to grow withapproximately 70 children walking toschool with staff from the Duke’s Head.We have introduced termly ‘scoot toschool’ days. One parent has been

trained to deliver ‘Footsteps’ training toincrease awareness of road safety andNational Standards Bike Ability Trainingwill begin for children in Years 5 and 6 inthe summer.A donation from the Burnham BeechesRotary Club enabled the school toreplace its sound system and membersof the Mars ‘Galaxy Line’ redecoratedthe library and several classrooms. Adonation from the Charles Warner Trustenabled the purchase additionalreference books. In addition, thechildren have enjoyed working withDiane Needham in designing aplayground for Farnham Royal.The children, staff, parents andgovernors of the school have raisedsome £2800 for charities.The school is fortunate to be staffed byan outstanding group of teachers andteaching assistants who promote itslearning culture. It also offers adulteducation courses to parents to enablethem to support their children in literacyand numeracy. The Governing Body, theparents, the PTA, the school’sImprovement Partner and the Diocesanadviser are all hugely supportive and wegreatly value their interest, support andcommitment.Mrs Brenda Cox, Chair of theGoverning Body of FARNHAMCOMMON JUNIOR SCHOOL first of allremembered Malcolm Paice, who hadbeen head teacher for some 22 years,leaving last July. Several events wereheld to celebrate his time at the school.It was a bitter-sweet time, sayinggoodbye to someone who had given somuch to the school and who was held inhigh regard by pupils, parents, staff andgovernors.Mrs Helen Jones, previously deputyhead at a primary school in Maidenhead,took up her post in September, her firstheadship. One of her innovations hasbeen the introduction of Parent Forums.The school was awarded HealthySchools Status. We have upgraded ourkitchen and now have a state-of-the-artfacility providing both hot meals andpacked lunches that are fully compliantwith government’s regulations. We arehoping to expand our existing diningroom for pupils and staff.We retained our Investors in PeopleAward and were praised by the externalassessor for the way in which staff andgovernors worked together. One of ourbiggest challenges concerned a majoraudit. Whilst some elements werehelpful in clarifying areas of weaknesswe were aware of, the detail of much ofit was overkill for the size of our budget.We are working with the Infant Schoolover worries about the controlledcrossing on the A355. Incidents ofdrivers not stopping at the red lights andspeeding are major concerns. Althoughdiscussed with the county council theimprovements promised have yet tomaterialise.Following appeal our 11+ results haveoffered 19 pupils grammar school places- a pass rate of 32 per cent, once againabove the county average. Our level 4results were above the national averagein all core subjects and the level 5 results

THE FARNHAMS’ SOCIETYAbout UsFormed in 1978, The Farnhams’ Societyis for the general benefit of people livingin and around the Farnhams. Althoughcentred on Farnham Common andFarnham Royal our coverage includesBurnham Beeches, Hedgerley, Egyptand the outlying areas of Stoke Pogesand Burnham.We try to assist in improving theamenities of the villages, to stimulatepublic interest in the beauty, history andcharacter of the locality and to involvethe community in social activities. Weare a voice for the village and are nonconfrontationaland apolitical.Over the last few years we have madepositive representation over questionsconcerning proposed gravel pits, parishboundaries and planning developmentswhich affect the community; we havehelped clean up our villages; raisedmoney for local charities and haveprovided local information sheets whichwe have distributed around the villages.We regularly publicise matters of localconcern, activities and events in ournewsletter.The scope of our efforts is to arrangetalks of local and general interest toeveryone; arrange visits to places ofinterest in the area and further afield inthe South East; arrange theatre trips andhave occasional sociable functions suchas a Summer Supper, Christmas Supperand family walks.The trips are mainly by coach whicheliminates driving and parking and ismore relaxing. All the events arefinancially self-supporting. Nonmembersmay also attend these eventsbut will be asked to pay a smallsupplement above the cost to Members.The Society is in good health, bothfinancially and in spirit, and is intent ongrowing and attracting more membersfrom the growing Farnhams’ population.In the 2002 census the population of theFarnhams was 5,420 and of Hedgerley,870, making a total of 6,290.Since then there has been a great dealof housing development and thepopulation has increased significantly(the SBDC have no up-to-date figures).Currently, membership of the Societystands at around 400 households (thesubscription is by household notindividual - it costs the same whetherthere is one resident, or 4, or more) sothere is plenty of scope to increasemembership.Anyone in the Farnhams with an interestin the community will benefit by joiningthe Society – come and join us. We areone of the best value organisationsaround, providing lots of fun, informationand entertainment for £10 per 5 years -only £2 per year.If you are already a member, doencourage your friends and neighboursto join and help us to expand the Societyand increase its influence over localmatters of interestEditor’s Note: Detail of the next twoevents is given in Farnhams Fusionpage 24.

showed high attainment, although ourwriting results were lower than we wouldlike.The governing bodies of FarnhamCommon and Stoke Poges schools arefighting proposed changes to thecatchment areas for John Hampden andWycombe Royal Grammar Schools. Ourparents have been outraged at theproposal that Gerrards Cross andDenham be included in the catchmentarea giving them a choice of three singlesex boys grammar schools. It appearsthat the county has not taken intoaccount the effect this will have on theFarnhams. The schools and parents feelthat our needs have not been properlyaddressed – even ignored. We willcontinue the battle.We are looking at issues of ExtendedServices, where government wants us toprovide or signpost childcare andactivities from 8.00am to 6.00pmthroughout the year. We are alsorequired to have a plan for CommunityCohesion in place - looking at the placeof the school in the community, and nextyear we will be addressing therequirement to be an Eco-School. Weregard our main business as that ofeducating the pupils in our care but weseem to have to comply with so manybureaucratic regulations and legislationthat at times we wonder if thegovernment and county councilremember that objective!Julie Smith, Chair of Governors ofFarnham Common Infant School,noted the successful Ofsted inspectionin February 2008. The School focus isnow on the ‘whole child’, believing it is asimportant to develop social as well asacademic skills, within a nurturingenvironment. On every occasion I visit Ifind happy, polite, well behaved childrenwho are enthusiastic and keen to learn.I believe that Farnham Common InfantSchool is an asset to the community.Our headteacher, Mrs. Jan Coleman, isretiring at the end of this academic year.The governors, staff, children andparents will be very sorry to see herleave after 18 years at the school andheadteacher for 12 years. TheGoverning Body is currently recruitingand are committed to ensuring a smoothtransition and to make certain thechildren’s learning is not affected. Lastsummer the percentage of our Year 2children achieving Level 2 or above intheir key stage 1 SAT results remainedsignificantly above the national average.Themed weeks have been enjoyed bythe children in areas such as music, artand books. We continue to focus onhealthy living and were delighted toreceive an ‘Active Award’, in recognitionof additional physical activities. Our‘Footsteps’ training for Year 1 and 2children continues, providing essentialroad safety awareness. We introducedthe Bucks County Council ‘Go for Gold’scheme, where children are encouragedto walk to or from school each day,obtaining stamps on arrival. Once theyhave collected 40 stamps they areallowed one free swimming session at alocal pool. We are still concerned aboutthe safety of the pedestrian crossing onthe A355. We are working closely withthe governing body of FarnhamCommon Junior School on a number ofissues, including Extended Services.

Pilates; a Bridge Club runs everyWednesday evening. Details of allactivities are on the club website,www.fcsc.org.uk. Our socialmembership continues to thrive.Pauline GregoryPauline Gregory, Chairman ofFarnham Common Sports Club(FCSC) announced that she took overas chairman of the Club, from RichardBaker, in April. At the same time a newtreasurer, subscription secretary and barchairman were elected, so four out of thefive club officers are new to their job.Despite the recession, membership isholding up well, and all of our sportssections continue to field many teams incounty leagues. We resurfaced two ofour tennis courts, and power-cleanedand repainted the other four. All sectionswelcome juniors and have specificprogrammes to encourage our youngpeople to play sport. Children under 12can become members to play all thesports for £80 per year.We offer different exercise courses in ouractivity studio, the most popular beingRelations with our close neighbours arenot as good as we would wish and thewhole committee wish to improve thisstate of affairs. I will be contacting themin the immediate future, with an invitationto visit us and see what the club is doing.I will also try to set up an email addresslist so that they can be kept informed ofplanned events at the clubhouse andgrounds. This will be particularlyimportant as the club celebrates its 50thanniversary, on Sunday 24th May, whenwe are hoping to welcome as manyvillagers as possible.As cricketers were the first group ofsportsmen to use the sports ground, weare having a spectacular cricket-basedday, with junior cricket games against‘Barmy Army’ sponsored junior teams inthe morning, and two senior matches inthe afternoon, against the English cricketsupporters Barmy Army and the celebrityRainmen. An “It’s a Knockout” styletournament will take place, in whichteams can be entered by individuals orlocal establishments. There will be abarbecue and Asian food stall runningthroughout the day, as well as a bar formembers and friends. Luncheon will beserved in the marquee with guestspeakers – tickets can be purchasedfrom the club. We hope to make this aday to remember.John Winyard, Editor of THEFARNHAMS magazine, reported themagazine continues to make a strong

impact on the life of the Farnhamvillages. We have maintained oursubscription base, have a full advertisingorder book, despite some recessionaryimpact, and we consistently have morecopy than available space for eachissue.The print run for the subscription issuesis just short of 1,000 copies. We havelost three retail sales outlets this yearand added one but overall retail salesare down. We are currently seekingadditional outlets. Our print run for thetwo free issues in June and Decemberremains at 4,000, delivered to 3,000homes in the civil parish and a further1,000 homes in the ecclesiastical parishsouth of Church Road.Advertising is sold on an annual basisand we are currently full to the end of2009. We increased colour advertisingspace from 4 pages to 6 pages during2008.Copy and Pictures. It is encouraging tosee that residents are increasinglyprepared to write for us and send inpictures. The insert is now a commonrather than a rare occurrence. Thisreport provides an opportunity toapologise to those whose material wehave not been able to use.A profitable enterprise. The magazinebudget is around £17,500. From thisyear’s surplus we have made acontribution to the Charles Warner Trustwhich provides educational support toyoung people in the parish.We have strengthened our editorialcommittee by splitting the treasury andsubscription function into two withBarbara Steadman (Subscriptions) andMichael Lowton (Treasury) joining theteam. We have also secured anadditional staff photographer (JimWilliams).Naomi Arnold MBE, Chairman of Thelocal branch of the Royal BritishLegion reported on the annual dinner atStoke Park Club. Due to illness, DavidTurner, our treasurer, was unable toorganise this and has had to resign. Oursincere thanks to him for all his work inrecent years. Judy and Vic Tippingorganised a splendid fundraising raffle.We are deeply grateful to Hertford Kingfor his continued support for our branch.Following the amalgamation of thewelfare committee with the mainbranch committee we gained additionalmembers but circumstancesnecessitated David and MargaretYoung’s resignation. A welcome additionis our new treasurer, Ruth Potts.Our fundraising and social event the‘Poppy People’s Tea Party’ was held inAugust with financial support fromForeman King, and excellent catering byTemplewood WI. The branch standardwas handed over to Howard Gibbs, whowill follow the excellent tradition laiddown by John Cooper, our standardbearer for more than 20 years.This year’s Poppy Appeal was againorganised by Cherry and Dave Marriott,with the task of counting the moneybeing undertaken by Lilian and StanCoote. The final Branch figure, astupendous £16,000, again placed ussecond in the county for brancheswithout a club.

Last year, Remembrance Sunday and‘11-11-11’ coincided on the same day,but this year, we were back to twoevents.In the Farnhams, the Remembranceceremony was at the War Memorial inFarnham Royal with the service at StJohn’s in Farnham Common. In StokePoges, the service in St Giles was heldby Rev Harry Latham and local groupsalso attended the Hedgerley service.Sadly we continue to lose members, alltoo often by death, but the committee isworking hard to enrol new members.One misconception is the belief held byso many that membership of the RoyalBritish Legion is open only to those witha service background. This mostcertainly is not the case.Judy Tipping, Chairman of FarnhamCommon Village Hall Committee, saidthe Trustees of the Village Hall meet bimonthlyto discuss the various points ofbookings, up-keep and finance.The Village Hall has been updated to ahigh standard and therefore attractsmany bookings for parties and groupsincluding the Evergreens SeniorCitizens, various karate and badmintonclubs, dancing, mother and toddlergroup and more recently the newly setupFarnham Common Short-Mat BowlsGroup.We are very fortunate to have a verygood Custodian who is well able to carryout many of the repairs needed andobtains quotes for any larger workswhich need to be done.The FARNHAM ROYAL VILLAGEHALL Management Committee(Chairman, Stanley Swann) reportwas presented by Committee memberLiz Jarvis. In 2008, the hall was used byboth local residents and other peoplefrom the district. The aim of themanagement committee and trustees isto keep the hall as a focal point in thevillage and to make sure that thestandard of the hall is maintained, one ofthe main reasons it stands out as avenue for many different functions,including the daily Montessori School,regular dance classes and Karate.The committee and trustees weresaddened during 2008 to lose theservices of Duncan Stewart. A trustee ofthe hall for many years, he will be sorelymissed by us all and the void he has leftbehind will be difficult to fill.The committee and trustees give manyhours freely and voluntarily but repairscome at a price and it is a fine linebetween pricing ourselves out of themarket and having enough finances todo the work required. Since the start of2009, the hall floor has been repaired. ata cost of some £3,000. and this wasfollowed by a water leak needing theinstallation of a new water pipe system.This work continues.Richard and Shirley Westover continueto run the booking of the hall but we areshort of a committee secretary.Rosemary Followell, president ofTemplewood Women’s Institute, saidthe formation of the Beeches GroupEvents Committee proved to a greatsuccess. Templewood hosts the next

group event and we will benefit from thisshared expertise and support.We shall be sending a delegate to the WIannual conference at the Royal AlbertHall in June.We provided light refreshments orafternoon tea for a number of events,including the annual parish meeting, thePoppy Appeal collectors and thehorticultural show.Short Mat Bowls. In February 2008,Templewood WI set up a short matbowls club to provide a friendly,afternoon sporting venue for those whoprefer more gentle exercise. Short matbowls is played with lignoid or woodenbowls with a bias on one side. The art isdelivering the bowl so the bias draws itin an arc to rest gently on, or as near aspossible to the jack.Rosemary FollowellIt has been a full and rewarding year. InApril, volunteers encouraged ladies to tryvarious hobbies, handicrafts andcomputer skills as part of a Dabbleevening. At our summer garden partywe welcomed about 45 people. InSeptember, Pat Pearce, a founder ofDreamflight, explained her vision oftaking children with life-limiting illnessesto Disney. At Christmas, we organised ahot supper followed by songs and carols,sung by Jenny Harper Jones, aChristmas story and a short mimedsketch. Two of us attended the WI Half-Yearly Council meeting in Aylesbury.The Beeches Group held a joint event inHedgerley for all five WIs in the group,with speaker, the Hon Lucia Whitehead.The Buckinghamshire Federation of WIsis planning its 90th celebration in 2010.The initial start-up costs were daunting,requiring two short mats to make theclub viable. We were very grateful tohave the support and advice of DistrictCouncillor Dev Dhillon and were thrilledto get grants from a local Social Fundand South Bucks District Council.We launched the club in September2008, when we welcomed about 25people, the majority of whom had notbowled before. We have tried to keep thefees as low as possible, charging anannual membership fee of £8 and £2 perweek to bowl.We have a strong band of increasinglydedicated bowlers who have developedtheir skills noticeably since their first,tentative attempts. The competitive spiritis developing in some and the social sideis enjoyed by all.

The Blackwood Arms Country Pub & RestaurantCommon Lane Littleworth Common Burnham Bucks Sl1 8PP.Reservations : Tel. 01753 642169 ~ www.blackwoodarms.comA selection of real ales from around Britain. Great restaurantMenu featuring fresh fish, steaks and popular specials.Traditional Sunday roasts served 12 noon – 4 pm.… a hidden gem on the edge of Burnham beechesonly a 10 minute drive from Farnham CommonFrom Farnham Common turn into Beeches Rd. then left ontoBedford Drive, along Hawthorne Lane, up Pumpkin Hill,And Curriers Lane, turn right at the T junction onto DorneyWood Rd. and next right into Common Lane.ALPHA Autumn 2009 - Please return this form to:-Mrs Pat Briggs ‘The Alpha Course Administrator’52 Freemans Close, Stoke Poges, Bucks. SL2 4ERName……………………………………………….…………………….Address…………………………………………….………………………………………………………………………………………………....……………………………………………..…………………….……..Tel:………………………Email:………………………………….……I would like to come to the Introductory supper on Sept 16thI am interested in joining the Autumn Alpha CourseI am interested but cannot make all / some of the datesI would like to talk to someone about the Alpha CoursePlease tick as appropriate

TheFarnhams& HedgerleyAlphaCourseAll WelcomeWhatever views you may have about the Christian faith, Alpha will give you an opportunity,together with other people, to explore the meaning of life. You may have never attendedchurch or you may have attended for much of your life but don't really understand what itmeans to have a personal relationship with Jesus. This invites you to come and join a smallgroup and discover what that means. You don't have to have all the questions worked out.This is the place to ask all the questions you have in a friendly and non-threateningatmosphere. No question is too small or too big.Each session begins with a meal (there is no charge for the meal but if guests want to makea donation we are grateful, there is no pressure). This is a chance to get to know others in thesmall group. There is a short video which looks at a different aspect of the Christian faitheach week. This is followed by a time of discussion, again in the small groups, whereeveryone is welcome to contribute their opinion, ask questions and discuss with the rest oftheir group. The emphasis is upon exploration and discovery in a relaxed and informalenvironment.We would love to meet you, share with you, hear your views and get to know you. If youdon’t enjoy the evening you are under no obligation to keep coming. No one will track youdown!Our next course begins on Thursday September 17th and runs until 3rd December with abreak for half term. So if you would like to know more or have any questions, do get in touchby completing the form and returning it to the Farnhams & Hedgerley Alpha CourseAdministrator or telephoning or Emailing.