Did you know that June 1st to 7th was National Volunteers Week? No, and neither did Vic Fryer, Elizabeth Oxer and Maureen Smith until the postman delivered to their respective doormats a congratulatory letter from Royal National Institute for the Blind. This enclosed a certificate from the National Centre for Volunteering inscribed: "In recognition of their dedication and commitment as volunteers to R.N.I.B. presented during National Volunteers Week."
What? You very reasonably ask, do these "volunteers" actually do that might merit the presentation of a certificate?
Answer! All three are voluntary transcribers of print into Braille (yes, they CAN read Braille) on computer for the R.N.I.B. Between them they have clocked up a total of nearly sixty years at it, and are still going strong.
The climate changes continue to shape events with what can only be described as an outstandingly successful early breeding season. This was followed once again by a late period of rather cold and wet weather which prevented most insects from emerging in large numbers, seriously affecting those birds breeding in May and June.
Nuthatches, Blue Tits, Blackbirds, Thrushes and Wrens have done particularly well, but Long-tailed Tits have had problems. Of the threatened species – those on the Red Data list – Bullfinches and Song Thrushes have bred but the Spotted Flycatchers disappeared before raising young again, having picked the wrong time for a holiday!
Of the other migrants, Blackcaps have been more numerous than ever before with as many as a dozen pairs counted, but Turtle Doves have been much less common with three pairs in Garston and very few in the surrounding areas.
Having now carried out surveys for some years, a few changes in the wildlife patterns seem to have emerged which are probably independent of the strange weather we now endure. Until this year, I always saw foxes in the early mornings, searching for invertebrates in the fields whilst the birdlife on hedges and fields was quite varied and common. With the improved effectiveness of pesticides there are many fewer feeding opportunities for some species while others are unaffected. For instance, Linnets have declined from about thirty to a handful in my area but Yellowhammers have maintained their numbers and probably increased, judging by the numbers on the birdtable. The former species seems unable to adapt quickly to the changes in management of their environment. No doubt everyone has noticed the thousands of rabbits which are gradually taking over our gardens in Newtown and elsewhere! Can someone please change their environment? I would be very interested in any general information on changes in wildlife patterns that anyone has noticed around the village.
Back to Garston. The bat boxes put up by the Vincent Trust have been very slow to attract residents but after the cold spell in July a nursery colony of Brown Long-eared bats was found together with a single Natterer’s bat. This is a particularly exciting development for the local bat group and it is likely that more species will now move in, particularly the common Pipistrelle.
Sadly, Dormouse numbers are almost non-existent as I write, with most nestboxes showing no signs of mammals.
On the plus side, at least half have provided nesting sites for a range of small birds, particularly Blue, Great, Marsh and Long-tailed Tits. Dormice can breed very late and as the weather improves we are hopeful of better luck in August.
The revised management plan for the woods with improved visitor facilities are being finalised. Work will start shortly on the car park to clear the ‘lake’ and improve the kissing gate, followed by large-scale removal of non-native trees and the widening of rides. Apologies to all visitors who have been unable to get through the gate either because of the water or it’s narrow gap. By next summer I hope most local residents will take advantage of the improved access and be able to find something of interest in the woods.
By no stretch of the imagination can the last few miles of Dorset, onwards along the main Blandford to Salisbury road, be ranked among the most beautiful in Dorset. But a mere half mile short of the county boundary, which hereabouts faithfully follows Bokerley Ditch, one comes to Woodyates where, in recent years, this age of the motor car has demanded further drastic changes to the wayside landscape. Gone for ever is a farmhouse and rectangular range of flint and brick buildings whose arched entrance gate led to an enclosed yard; in truth the buildings themselves are scarcely worth a second glance but what a story could they tell!
Through this same yard ran the Roman Portway down which, the better part of two thousand years ago, the legions and their transport trudged and rumbled on journeyings between Durnovaria (Dorchester), from whence a spur ran on over Ridgeway to Radipole and the sea, Vindocladia (Badbury Rings), where the arrowstraight Ackling Dyke turned northeastwards through Woodyates, and on to Sorviodunum (Old Sarum), Calleva (Silchester), Portes (Staines) and finally Londinium.
Following the departure of the legions for Rome, the Saxon marauders were checked for a while at Bokerley Ditch before they swept round the British defenders in a classic outflanking movement to enter Dorset from the west in about 500 A.D. On the south side of today's A354, the now demolished farmhouse took its name from these earth ramparts with their legendary Arthurian connections, thrown up against these fierce invaders from across the North Sea. continued in Oct 97 issue
Archery is one of the fastest growing sports in Britain today; this is largely due to the huge interest in the new technology that is encompassing archery. Compound bows, which were invented in 1966, have become precision shooting machines, compared to the old long bows of Robin Hood’s time. The long bow as used in Agincourt could only shoot an arrow at 180 feet per second and about 250 metres in distance. The compound bows can shoot an arrow at 350 feet per second and it is possible to shoot almost a mile in distance with specialised equipment and in certain conditions.
Materials such as carbon, graphite, kevlar, boron ceramic and aluminium are often used in the production of the high tech equipment; arrows are far straighter and faster made of carbon and aluminium than wooden shafts.
Archery consists of two main types, target archery and field archery.
Target archery is shot over a flat field at large round targets over measured distances. The archers stand in a line and shoot 3 arrows in an allotted time. 90 metres is the longest distances reducing by 10 or 20 metres down to 20 metres which is the distance shot indoors.
Field archery is shot rather like a golf course. A group of 4/6 archers shoot at targets at varying distances, some are pictures of animals, and others are round targets set at different and unmeasured distances over undulating ground. The course is often set in woodland and in a figure of eight pattern. Sometimes the archer has to climb up onto a platform and shoot down or across water or into ditches. This type of archery is far more exacting and a very high degree of skill is required, but is great fun and attracts young and old, alone or in family groups. It can be just fun or highly competitive.
Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by US Air Force pilots together with the replies from the maintenance crews. "Squawks", as they are known, are problem listings that pilots leave for maintenance crews.
Problem: "Left inside tyre almost needs replacement"
Solution: "Almost replaced left inside tyre"
Problem: "Test flight OK, except autoland very rough"
Solution: "Autoland not installed on this aircraft"
Problem 1: "Number 2 propeller seeping prop fluid"
Solution "Number 2 propeller seepage normal"
Problem 2: "Numbers 1, 3 and 4 propellers lack normal seepage"
Problem: "The autopilot doesn't"
Solution: "IT DOES NOW'
Problem: "Something loose in cockpit"
Solution: "Something tightened in cockpit"
Problem: "Evidence of hydraulic leak on right main landing gear'
Solution: "Evidence removed"
Problem: "Number 3 engine missing"
Solution: "Engine found on right wing after brief search"
Problem: "DME volume unbelievably loud"
Solution: "Volume set to more believable level"
Problem: "Dead bugs on windshield"
Solution: "Live bugs on order"
Problem: "Autopilot in altitude hold mode produces a 200 foot per min descent"
Solution: "Cannot reproduce problem on ground"
Problem: "IFF inoperative"
Solution: "IFF inoperative in OFF mode"
Problem: "Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick"
Solution: "That's what they're there for"
It is not often that a serious issue comes before the Parish Council which affects the county parish of Pentridge, but the proposal for a telecommunication mast at Cobley Farm must be regarded as such an issue; so much so in the eyes of the community that a petition was presented to the Plans Committee from the residents to show a clear objection to the construction.
After looking at the plans, the Committee concluded that there was no logical reason why Mercury, the company seeking planning permission, could not share the Orange mast at Vernditch, just two miles away, and therefore avoid another piece of our area of outstanding natural beauty being spoiled.
What I found quite astonishing was the fact that, of all the places it could have chosen in this area, the company had decided to locate this mast next to an historic listed building.
Anyway, we now await the decision by the East Dorset planners which I understand will be made on the 5th of August.
One thing I haven't quite understood is the decision by the County Council to install a stile for a footpath and to make access for a bridleway, both adjoining the public path BR4 between Peaked Post (the nasty bend on the road to Pentridge) and the nature reserve at Martin Down.
Under normal circumstances, you would expect this to be an admirable thing for the County Council to do, keeping up with its obligations to maintain public rights of way etc; except for the fact that the District Council is in the process of extinguishing the footpath and diverting the bridleway!
I wonder if this is an argument for abolishing the district councils altogether and having one tier of local government in Rural Dorset with suitable offices in the villages and towns, thereby bringing the County Council much closer to the people whose lives it affects.