Netherfield

So, the Library will be outside the Netherfield Village Stores and Cafe on Tuesday 20 March 2018 between 13.00 and 13.20, in its usual place, ready to dispense those tomes of wonder.

Claverham Monday Badminton Club: Whilst we may not have a Gail Emms or a Nathan Robertson amongst our band of happy wanderers, it does not mean that we are devoid of expertise and experience within the ranks of the Club, as one or two of our players have even been known to hold the racket the right way round. If I didn’t have a little joke, my regular reader would probably watch paint drying. Where they ask is the joke? Let’s move on.

Twelve, sprightly young things came through the portals of the Centre, rackets in hand, ready to share in the delights of this pleasurable form of exercise. Most, I noticed, were over fifty, but that does not mean that their heart pills and glucose drinks needed to be utilised. As previous blogs have reported that is an ideal number to enable everyone to be engaged in competition at all times throughout the evening. The three courts can then host a match of four, which usually takes about ten minutes, barring seizures and strokes. Therefore, throughout the evening - and whilst that may test some people’s stamina - nobody has to sit out.

It is surprising how often you think a combination of two players looks good enough to beat the pants of whatever opposition they encounter. But that is the beauty of the game that it is generally, very much a lottery as to who will be triumphant. Will it be Sandra the Slayer, Jolly Jo, Ben the Brave or Gwyllum the good? Well that is what is wife says anyway.

More next week...........

Netherfield Village Old Photos: Perhaps my requests for old photographs to adorn the walls of the Village Hall at Netherfield and to build an archive gave the wrong impression, that it was just of the hall. My apologies if I gave the wrong impression. It is of any aspect of Netherfield Village life. If you have any you think would be appropriate, please contact me, Maurice Holmes, at [email protected], and we can go from there. Netherfield Village Hall Bingo Night: The countdown has begun. Legs eleven, my age - twenty one. I am practicing as we speak to make sure the evening goes with a swing, or at least a full house. It is almost upon us. So get your glad rags on and “G4S” to help you take home your winnings. Well, maybe a handbag or trouser pocket will be enough. The next Bingo Night is on Thursday 22 March 2018 at 7.00pm. Don’t forget.

Netherfield Village Hall Jumble Sale: As I mentioned last week the date of the next Jumble Sale has been decided and will take place on 7 April at 10.00 am. There will be the usual array of useful items for the home, toys for the kids, clothes, books and all manner of other things to make you want to browse and buy. The prices are cheap and the atmosphere is friendly and relaxed, apart from when somebody has hold of the other end of the Coco Chanel little black dress you were just about to buy. So get your purse out, your armour on and come on down.

Battle Neighbourhood Plan: Whilst it is called the Battle Neighbourhood Plan it is about the Parish of Battle and therefore incorporates the villages of Netherfield and Telham. Part of that process is to keep the community informed of what has happened and what is about to happen. Therefore, this has to be achieved through as many mediums as possible to make sure that we reach as many people as we can. Flyers, blogs and posters all help to achieve this end, but in the modern world the internet is key. The website is building everyday and can now be viewed I believe as a separate entity. The Parish of Battle residents and for that matter other interested parties will be able to see it at: http://www.battleneighbourhoodplan.co.uk and make comments as they see fit.

Reflections on a garden: I know I have one regular reader of this part of my blog. When I visit the doctor’s surgery the lady in question informs me that this is the only part of the Village Voice for Netherfield that she reads. Whilst I am glad that she takes the time and trouble to visit at least this bit of the paper, I think of all the other sections she is missing, as my other reader can tesitfy.

It was quite disconcerting to hear on the radio that greenfinches are dropping in numbers due to diseases they are getting from areas around bird feeders, whether this be tables or hanging feeder stations. This is a worrying development as we have a family of greenfinches in our garden. As they are suspended above the ground, that is the feeders not the birds, we assumed they were protected from predators such as cats and the like, but that may not be so, as the danger maybe the droppings left by other feathered varieties. This has required that we address this problem as quickly as possible and move the feeders to another position, but still within sight of the kitchen.

I am contemplating getting the mower out from its winter hibernation. It needs a clean and a service prior to its yearly task of keeping the lawns cut to a level which allows the wildlife to survive. They can access the bugs, worms and other delicious accompaniments to sunflower seeds and fatballs. Yum, yum I can hear the blackbirds chirp as they dig their beaks into the soil and extract some unwary earthworm from its slow twirl across the garden, swallowing gob fulls of earth at one end and divesting it behind them as they go. I suppose the only good thing is that whatever is left of the earthworm, after the blackbird has gorged itself on this five star repast and cleaned their beak on the grass, will become another worm again.

It was also a time to open the doors to my good lady’s garden shed, which has been a place of refuge and comfort to a myriad of spiders, woodlice and beetles during our unusually harsh winter this year. Her natural reaction to this monumental expression of generosity on her part, by allowing her favoured domain to be shared with these web-making, creatures of the dark, is abject horror if they suddenly appear within a mile of her features. Her arachnophobia does not manifest itself in a frenzied attack with a wooden club on the poor little “mites” but a screaming banshee assault on my ears to get rid of them, NOW.

More next week.................................

Contact: If you have any stories or articles of interest that will give our readership a reason to buy the paper please contact me on email at [email protected].