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VILLAGER The

Issue 45 - August 2012

and Town Life

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Prize Crossword See Inside

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In this Issue

VILLAGER

Issue 45 - August 2012

The

and Town Life

£25

The History of

Prize Crossword See Inside

Weather Forecasting

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Gallery 1066

Baldock

Editorial

Melanie Hulse Solange Hando, Leon F. Jones, Helen Taylor, Katharine Sorell, Debbie Singh-Bhatti, Pippa Duncan, Sarah Davey and Pippa Greenwood

Advertising Sales Nigel Frost nigel@villagermag.com

Front Cover Image Rsaraiva

Prize Crossword £25 Up For Grabs!

The Perfect At-Home Manicure...................................... 13 Creating Space................................................................ 15 Crop Circle Season........................................................... 16 Feel Great This Summer.................................................. 19 Gdansk - Travel Report.................................................... 21 Cool Kit for Hot Days.......................................................23

Design and Artwork

Back To School Tips.........................................................26

Design 9 Tel 07762 969460

How To Choose A Driving Instructor..............................29

Publishers

Your Plants Don’t Need a Holiday!.................................34

Make A Time Capsule..................................................... 30

Villager Publications Ltd 24 Market Square, Potton Beds. SG19 2NP Tel: 01767 261122 nigel@villagermag.com

Space Out!...................................................................... 39 Could You Be A Cat Foster Carer?.................................. 40 Children’s Page................................................................42 Seasonal Dedlights......................................................... 44 Fun Quiz...........................................................................47

VILLAGER

Puzzle Page.................................................................... 48

Disclaimer

What’s On....................................................................... 58

The

and Town Life

All adverts and editorial are printed in good faith, however, Villager Publications Ltd can not take any responsibility for the content of the adverts, the services provided by the advertisers or any statements given in the editorial. No part of this publication may be reproduced or stored without the express permission of the publisher.

Inventions - Elevators......................................................53 Wordsearch.....................................................................62 You are now able to view the Villager Magazine online at

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The History of Weather Forecasting

BY MELANIE Hulse

We’re all tired of this weather in our house - where is the summer? I swear to you that summers were real summers when I was a child – eternally long dry days one after another after another from May to the end of September, even beyond. And I am not the only one who remembers those days. Ask anybody over the age of twenty to describe their summer holidays and it’s always the same – long days at the beach, even longer, hotter days working on the harvest or cutting hay, riding horses or bikes or picnicking by the river and fishing at the local lake. I am a glass half full kind of person but it is hard to encourage children to spend time outdoors when it is chilly and wet. I know, I know, ‘There’s no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes’ but even waterproofs are not waterproof after a couple of hours and besides, I am sure that phrase was just made up by the weather inventors to placate us moaning Brits. The famously bad British weather has had its uses throughout history though. Says one source, ‘It was not considered polite to discuss, when in society, anything that provoked an emotional reaction. To raise the subject of politics, religion, a charitable cause, even one’s children was risky. The weather and the consequent state of the roads, or the roses, was a safe subject and very useful at formal gatherings.’ In fact we are pretty notorious for our long discussions about the weather, there are jokes in France, Greece and Portugal about the British and

their obsession – maybe they should try living here, then they’d be laughing on the other side of their faces! Of course, the truth is that there are no weather inventors to blame, and although it is possible that the way the natural environment as a whole is treated could have an effect upon our climate, there is still no single guilty person. According to the Meteorological Office, much of the problem lies in our expectations. If we woke up each morning wanting rain, the chances are we would complain for the lack of it. Looking for something apparently makes it seem further away…hmm. Considering the records does show however that we could be slightly off in our innate weather predictions – e.g. that the sun ought to shine all day, every day throughout the school summer holidays. August is in fact, and has been for a long time, the wettest month of the year in England. It seems that we only remember the famous heat-waves and all the other years where we have been slopping about in wellingtons are wiped from our memories like bad dreams. My trusty Ladybird Book of The Weather does shed some light on our predicament: ‘ The weather in the British Isles is changeable because of our geographical position, with the land mass of Europe and Asia on one side and the Atlantic ocean on the other. The Arctic and the tropical regions are the sources of cold and warm air masses, which move to meet over the Atlantic Ocean. Each of these air masses carries with it its own kind of weather, and what happens when they meet over the Atlantic largely decides the weather of the British Isles.’ So, if we mainly have our high expectations and bad memories to blame for our discontent, and we aren’t in any position to drag this green and pleasant land southwards, who can we get annoyed with when once more water is pouring down the windows and that camping holiday turns into more of a bog survival boot camp? Tradition has it that the weather forecasters are the ones at fault – I can’t be the only one sneering my injured contempt at their five day prophecies. But how did the tradition of weather forecasting begin and how dare they carry on when their track record is so utterly dismal? The first kind of forecast recorded for the weather are weather-lore and sayings such as ‘When the windows won’t open and salt clogs the shaker, the weather will favour the umbrella maker!’ and ‘Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight. Red sky in the morning, sailor’s warning.’ Is there any truth in such

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traditional rhymes? The two mentioned above are actually fairly accurate predictors – salt, being very absorbent, reacts to the moisture levels in the air, as do wooden doors and window frames. A high level of water in the atmosphere usually means an increase in the likelihood or precipitation. A red sky is caused by sun shining on the undersides of clouds at either sunrise or sunset when the sun’s light is passing at a very low angle through the greatest thickness of atmosphere. The shorter wavelengths – green, blue and violets are scattered out causing the sunlight to be appear red. If the skies are clear to the east then the sky in the morning will look red as the moisturebearing clouds coming in from the west will be lit by the rising sun. As weather systems typically move from west to east then the chances of rain will be high when these skies are seen. The converse is also true – the sun, setting in the west lights the eastern skies meaning that if the sun has a clear path to light up the moisture bearing clouds in the east and to make them look red, it is because they have passed and finer weather can be expected. Early civilizations also recorded astronomical and meteorological events and used their findings to try to predict weather conditions as well as to monitor the seasonal changes in the weather. Around 650 B.C., the Babylonians tried to predict short-term weather changes based on the appearance of clouds and optical phenomena such as haloes. By 300 B.C., Chinese astronomers had developed a calendar that divided the year into 24 festivals, each festival associated with a different type of weather. According to NASA ‘Around 340 B.C., the Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote Meteorologica, a philosophical treatise that included theories about the formation of rain, clouds, hail, wind, thunder, lightning, and hurricanes. In addition, topics such as astronomy, geography, and chemistry were also addressed. Aristotle made some remarkably acute observations concerning the weather, along with some significant errors, and his four-volume text was considered by many to be the authority on weather theory for almost 2000 years. Although many of Aristotle’s claims were erroneous, amazingly, it was not until about the 17th century that many of his ideas were overthrown. However, by the end of the Renaissance, it had become increasingly evident that the speculations of the natural philosophers were inadequate and that greater scientific knowledge was necessary to further our understanding of the atmosphere. In order to do this, instruments were needed to measure the properties of the atmosphere, such as moisture, temperature, and pressure. The first known design in western civilization for a hygrometer, an instrument to measure the humidity of air, was described by Nicholas Cusa (circa

1401-1464, German) in the mid-fifteenth century. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642, Italian) invented an early thermometer in 1592 or shortly thereafter; and Evangelista Torricelli (1608-1647, Italian) invented the barometer for measuring atmospheric pressure in 1643. While these meteorological instruments were being refined during the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries, other related observational, theoretical, and technological developments also contributed to our knowledge of the atmosphere; and individuals at scattered locations began to make and record atmospheric measurements. The invention of the telegraph and the emergence of telegraph networks in the mid-nineteenth century allowed the routine transmission of weather observations to and from observers and compilers. Using these data, crude weather maps were drawn and surface wind patterns and storm systems could be identified and studied. Weather-observing stations began appearing all across the globe, eventually spawning the birth of synoptic weather forecasting, based on the compilation and analysis of many observations taken simultaneously over a wide area, in the 1860s.’ Regional and global meteorological observation networks began to be established in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries which made more data available for observation-based weather forecasting. It was not until the invention of the electric telegraph in 1835 that the modern age of weather forecasting began. Before this time, it was not widely practicable to transport information about the current state of the weather any faster than a steam train (and the train also was a very new technology at that time). By the late 1840s, the telegraph allowed reports of weather conditions from a wide area to be received almost instantaneously, allowing forecasts to be made from knowledge of weather conditions

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further upwind. The two men most credited with the birth of forecasting as a science were Francis Beaufort (remembered chiefly for the Beaufort scale) and his protégé Robert Fitzroy (developer of the Fitzroy barometer). Both were influential men in British naval and governmental circles, and though ridiculed in the press at the time, their work gained scientific credence, was accepted by the Royal Navy, and formed the basis for all of today’s weather forecasting knowledge. To convey information accurately, it became necessary to have a standard vocabulary describing clouds; this was achieved by means of a series of classifications and, in the 1890s, by pictorial cloud atlases. A great stride forward in weather prediction was taken in the 1920s with the invention of the radiosonde – equipment still used today. Small, lightweight boxes equipped with weather instruments and a radio transmitter are carried high into the atmosphere by hydrogen or helium filled balloons that ascend to an altitude of about 30 kilometers before bursting. During the ascent, these instruments transmit temperature, moisture and pressure data (called soundings) back to the ground station. There, the data are processed and made available for constructing weather maps or insertion into computer models for weather prediction. Today, radiosondes are launched every 12 hours from hundreds of ground stations all over the world. The possibility of numerical weather prediction was proposed by Lewis Fry Richardson in 1922, though computers did not exist to complete the vast number of calculations required to produce a forecast before the event had occurred. The first computerized weather forecast was performed by a team led by the mathematician John von Neumann; von Neumann publishing the paper Numerical Integration of the Barotropic Vorticity Equation in 1950. Practical use of numerical weather prediction began in 1955, spurred by the development of programmable electronic computers. The British Meteorological Office (now Met Office) was founded in 1854 as a very small department in the Board of Trade, under Captain Robert FitzRoy (famous for commanding HMS Beagle on Charles Darwin’s historic expedition). It was set up to provide meteorological and sea current information to mariners. By 1861 it was issuing gale warnings to shipping: harbourmasters, on being telegraphed with a warning, would hoist north or south cones up a mast. Regular forecasts to the press began in 1879 and published forecasts have continued since that date. On November 14, 1922, the BBC broadcast the first radio weather bulletin to the public when an announcer read a script prepared by the Met Office,

and on March 26, 1923, daily radio forecasts began. On November 11, 1936, the world’s first television chart was transmitted at the start of a trial series. BBC Television closed down during World War II but, in July 1949, weather maps with captions began to be broadcast again. One of the most famous wartime forecasting problems was for Operation Overlord, the invasion of the European mainland at Normandy by Allied forces. An unusually intense June storm brought high seas and gales to the French coast, but a moderation of the weather that was successfully predicted by Col. J.M. Stagg of the British forces (after consultation with both British and American forecasters) enabled Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, to make his critical decision to invade on June 6, 1944. The face of weather forecasting literally appeared to the nation in 1954. States the BBC News website: ‘The idea of personalised weather forecasting on BBC Television was first raised at an executive lunch in 1953. The BBC’s then Director-General, Sir Ian Jacob, noted that “a young but highly professional meteorologist who was in the party” had made the point that it would be better if, instead of just weather maps and charts, the forecaster himself appeared on screen. Within a year, the anonymous young man’s idea had become a reality … with the help of “an easel and treatment to walls for background” at a cost of £50. On January 11, 1954, George Cowling of the Met Office became the first person to present a weather

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forecast on British television. The broadcast was live and lasted for five whole minutes. The Radio Times for that week highlighted the new service: “From Monday onwards the television weather report and forecast will be presented by a Meteorological Office forecaster who will explain and comment on the charts shown. The change is designed to stress the continuity of the reports provided; the forecaster will show, for example, how the weather expected tomorrow is conditioned by the weather experienced today.” “Two Forecast Officers, will for the time being share the job. They are: George Cowling, a 32 year old Yorkshireman, married and the father of a five year old son; and TH Clifton, a 42 year old Londoner, married and the father of four girls and one boy.”’ So, it would seem that as much relief as it provides, the state of the British weather cannot actually be blamed on the forecasters - shooting the messenger comes to mind. Sadly, the British summer is a wet summer and the winter is not too dry either. As a useful topic of conversation the weather is invaluable however and our diplomatic English reserve would not be the same without it! Perhaps then we ought to be glad for all the rain. As someone who lived for a time in Southern Spain where even our African neighbours complained of the heat, I try to be grateful for the water that maintains the green

of our English trees and the softness of our very English grass; and we could have it worse – I once visited Ireland where not only was the countryside greener than any I’ve seen here, but everything also smelled of cows. That same trip one of my Irish friends remarked – ‘The sun? I saw that once in a catalogue…’ so be glad - at least we Brits had a good long look at it in 1976.

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The Unforgettable Close Up and Cabaret Magic of Steve Dean Immerse yourselves and guests in the close up magic of Steve Dean or enjoy a Cabaret Show that includes mentalism and much more. Have you ever witnessed unexplainable events or illusions so convincing that they leave you fascinated and completely spellbound? This is Cabaret, close up mix and mingle and table magic at itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very best. Not only enter the unbelievable world of close up professional magic that is second to none, you can now see a cabaret show that will leave you gasping, your guests enthralled and audience participation that is not only professional but will cause laughter throughout and will be something to remember for a very long time. This is ideal for any corporate or private event. Steve is a master of his craft and a member of the prestigious Magic Circle. He has had many letters of thanks and testimonials from people from all walks of life. From a small dinner party to performing on a British Cruise Liner this sort of entertainment is second to none and will give your guests unusual and fantastic entertainment that they can get involved in and will talk about for months to come. (Steve is a member of Equity with full public liability insurance). Please phone or email for details

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the Perfect At-Home Manicure

By Helen Taylor

The key to looking perfectly groomed is paying attention to little details that make all the difference. It’s easy to overlook your hands and nails, but taking the time to include them in your beauty regime is a must for looking totally gorgeous from head to toe. The great news is, you don’t have to spend valuable time and money in nail salons to help them look fabulous; just follow our simple instructions for a brilliant at-home manicure. Getting Started Firstly, remove all traces of old varnish using an acetone free remover. Acetone (even with conditioners) will dry your nails, leaving them brittle. Rinse off the remover with warm water. Shape It Up Ensure that you dry your nails thoroughly; filing wet nails weakens them and makes them more liable to break. Next, shape the nails by filing from one edge to the centre, then from the other edge back to the centre, using long, smooth strokes. Never file the nails in a ‘sawing’ back and forth action, as this can cause the nail layers to split and separate, leading to weakness and breakage. Hold the emery board at a 45 degree angle, so that you are filing mainly the underside of the nail. Aim to create a ‘squared oval shape’; this is not only a natural look for your nails, but also offers the most strength and durability. Refresh and Renew Refresh, soften and renew your hands and nails by using an exfoliator. Use either a shop-bought product or create your own by mixing coarsely ground sea salt with essential oils. Soak fingertips in a bowl of lukewarm water, before gently scrubbing the nails with a soft bristled brush to completely remove any ingrained dirt. Dry hands thoroughly. Soften Up Massage cuticle oil or softener into the base of the nails. Leave to absorb for a few moments before gently pushing back the cuticles with a hoof stick. Clean any residue with a tissue and rinse nails in warm water. Tidy up the nail base by clipping away dry, ragged excess cuticle using sharp nail scissors, before moisturising with a nourishing cuticle moisturiser. Massage a rich hand cream thoroughly into the skin, working it into all parts of the hand.

The Perfect Hue For You It’s now time to select a colour that’s going to look great on your nails. Wearing the wrong coloured nail varnish can be really unflattering but how do you know what’s right for you? Choose your perfect shade as you would clothes - consider what best suits your skin tone. Cool complexions, mainly defined as having pinkish or blue undertones to the skin, suit bright pink, silver, purple and cool red. Warm complexions, with greenish undertones to the skin, look great in coral, gold, orange and warm red hues. Expert Application Remove any trace of hand-cream from the nails. Apply a clear basecoat to act as a foundation for the varnish and prevent staining. Wait until dry before applying two thin coats of polish, in three strokes. Make the first stroke in the middle of the nail moving swiftly from base to tip. Use a stoke to the left and then right to complete the nail. Allow the first coat to dry for three minutes and the second for five minutes. To finish, apply a top coat to lock in the colour and protect the polish.

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CREATING SPACE

By KATHeRINE SORELL Are you feeling cluttered, chaotic and claustrophobic at home? Katherine Sorrell offers six quick and easy tips to help create more space Step One: Clear out that clutter It’s boring but simple: sort through your stuff. All your stuff. Unless you’re absolutely certain you want to keep it where it is, then put it into boxes or bags marked for rubbish, recycling, giving away, mending or storing elsewhere. If it’s too painful to do this all at once, aim for one room per week, or else do ten minutes a day – then make a habit of keeping on top of it, with regular sortouts. You’ll be amazed how much extra space you find when your house is no longer crammed full of unnecessary clutter. Step Two: Create super-efficient storage Every nook and cranny around your home can be used to store your possessions in a neat and organised fashion. Built-in cupboards make the most of space, as they can be made to fit into the most awkward of corners, and stretched right to the ceiling for maximum capacity. Paint them the same colour as the walls and they will blend in brilliantly. On the other hand, off-the-shelf storage tends to be cheaper, more flexible and whether it’s a vintage French armoire or a cheap coloured plastic bucket, can be tailored to suit your style and budget. Step Three: Lighten up Start by ensuring that your windows are brilliantly clean, that curtains or blinds don’t block them, and that furniture is placed in just the right spots to make the most of natural light. As for artificial lighting, bear in mind that the traditional central pendant, used on its own, creates gloomy corners and offers no atmosphere. Instead, think about employing a more interesting combination of different types of lighting for flexibility, comfort and interest. For a quick upgrade on a budget, simply replace main light switches with dimmers, and plug in a selection of table or floor lamps at key points, to layer the lighting and emphasise special features. Step Four: Be flexible with furniture When you have run out of space, it makes sense to take a long, hard look at your furniture and make sure that every single piece is worth its place in your home. Simple, slender styles have the least impact in a small space, while pale or

transparent pieces blend into the background, and anything raised on legs will make your room seem larger (because there is more visible floor area). In general, avoid deep upholstery, bulky outlines and fussy detailing. Special foldaway or compact furniture can help – but don’t sacrifice comfort or function – and with a touch of lateral thinking you can turn ordinary furnishings into dual-purpose ones, such as a chest of drawers that doubles as a bedside table or a coffee table that includes space to store magazines. Step Five: Add glass and mirrors With a little thought and not too much expense, simply hanging a mirror can create the illusion of space where it does not exist and double the apparent size of a room. One positioned opposite a window will distribute the maximum amount of natural light; near a light fitting, a mirror will reflect its brilliance around the room. Glass, too, provides vistas from room to room or from inside to out, really opening up a home. If you are having building work done, consider glass walls, floors or even stairs, but for quicker, cheaper solutions you could opt for glass doors, glass or acrylic furniture or see-through accessories such as lamp bases, door knobs and vases. Step Six: Use clever colour Colour can manipulate our sense of space enormously. Pale colours seem to recede, enhancing a sense of spaciousness, while darker colours absorb light and therefore appear more enclosing. Colours on the ‘cool’ spectrum, such as blue and green, are more distancing than ‘warm’ colours such as red and yellow. Whites, offwhites and cool pastels are, therefore, perfect for making small spaces seem larger – and they look sophisticated and contemporary, too, especially when combined with the natural textures of materials such as timber and stone.

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Crop Circle Season

Special Report

It’s August, and although the crop circle season is nearing its end, now is the best time to go out and see what delights the Andy Goldsworthys of the skies have left us to marvel at this year. Actually, crop circles “appear” around the world throughout spring, summer, and autumn – whenever and wherever there’s a standing crop. But with a fair chance of decent weather and the kids on holiday and needing some diversion, August may be the right month to go and see one, perhaps as part of a day out in the country which might include a pub lunch and a couple of hours in a traffic jam on the A303 (because an awful lot of crop circles “appear” in the Stonehenge area). I say “appear” in quotation marks because of course the contentiousness about them is how they’re made, or more especially who or what they’re made by: freak weather, outer space visitors or human pranksters. Crop circles have been reported sporadically since the 17th century, and the first investigation of their cause, in Surrey in 1880, put them down to “cyclonic wind action”, extraterrestrials having not yet been thought of. From the 1970s, though, they were reported more and more often, attracting more media attention and more theories about their origin. I needn’t go into detail, but by 1991 there was a large body of opinion that they were the work of UFOs or their occupants. Unfortunately for the UFO theorists, in that year a couple of blokes called Doug Brewer and Dave Chorley claimed to have made most if not all of them using nothing more sophisticated than a plank and a length of rope, and were more than

happy to be filmed doing so. Since then there have been crop circle competitions and manufacturers including Nike have used their logos rendered as crop circles in advertising. There’s even a group called Circlemakers that specialises in creating ever more intricate patterns and, like Doug and Dave, is happy to be filmed doing it. But it takes more than a video of a couple of guys with a plank and a length of rope to convince the UFO theorists and although I don’t wish to be disrespectful of sincerely-held views it always seems a bit strange to me to favour a theory you can’t prove over an alternative that can be demonstrated, filmed, and repeated on demand. The UFO theorists – who, given their refusal to believe the evidence of their own eyes, ought to be called the “sceptics” in this case – can point to lots of oddities and anomalies that suggest that Doug, Dave and their successors didn’t create all of the crop circles in the world; but then, we don’t know who painted all of the paintings in the world, but that’s no reason to suggest that extraterrestrials did. I raise the subject of paintings deliberately, because I don’t really care whether it was a couple of blokes or alien astronauts: my point is, crop circles are beautiful and they serve no practical purpose - to me that makes them art. Anyway, believe what you want to believe. But if you’re having one of those Dunkirk-spirit makethe-best-of-the-recession “holidays at home” this August, just Google one of the million or so regularly-updated websites devoted to the subject, choose a crop circle near you, and visit it. You’ll love it. Who needs art galleries?

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Wood Green Open 7 days a week 10.00am – 4.00pm FrEE entry

Animal Fun Day Sunday 16th September 10.00am – 4.00pm £2 adults

A great family day, enjoying have-a-go dog agility, pet toy making, novelty dog shows, bouncy castle, shopping opportunities and much more, dogs welcome.

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Behind the scenes tours 14th, 21st & 28th August Booking is essential 1.00pm – 3.00pm £4 per person

Join our Hands On team for a behind the scenes workshop at our Godmanchester Centre. Find out more about dog, cat, small animal and field animal care, make fun pet toys and feed some of our animals tasty treats. Suitable for ages 5+. Please visit our website or call us for more information about any of our events at the Godmanchester and Heydon Centres.

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Feel great this summer

by pippa duncan

It’s never too late to start making yourself feel good - both mentally and physically - and summer is a great time get started. Giving a little attention to your diet, exercise and general wellbeing can really benefit to your overall health. Diet - You don’t have to radically alter your diet as even small changes will benefit you. • Blackberries, blueberries, cranberries and strawberries are all high in antioxidants and fibre, are nutritious and eating great handfuls will fill you up with healthy energy • All melons, but particularly watermelons are mainly water. They’re healthy and a great option if you need something sweet • Courgettes, mushrooms, leeks, asparagus, onions, peppers and garlic are all delicious grilled or roasted with a light brush of olive oil. High in nutrition and flavour, low in calories • There are no rules for salads - just put in any vegetables or fruit that you have, such as lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and avocado. Combining different greens or lettuces, such as cos, romaine, Chinese leaf, rocket or watercress make salads more interesting and are cheaper than buying the ready-packaged salads. Add beans, couscous or tabouli for a bit of substance. • Alcohol is high in calories, so reduce this by enjoying a white wine spritzer (50/50 wine with sparkling water) or going for a non-alcohol

alternative, such as lemon barley water or lime cordial with sparkling water. Exercise - This doesn’t have to mean daily sessions at the gym or long-distance running. The key to weight loss is using up more calories than you’ve eaten, and there are lots of ways you can achieve this: • Walk. Sounds simple - and it is. Start by walking locally three times a week for just 20 minutes. Build up the pace so that you can do the route more quickly and extend the time to 30 minutes by extending your route. If you can fit in four walks a week, or even every day, go for it - you will notice the difference. • Yoga is a great exercise for stretching and toning your muscles without having to break out into sweat. In the summer heat, your muscles are already warm and relaxed. Even better, find a class held outside to enjoy nature along with your session. • If you are exercising in the heat, remember to keep to the shade and wear a hat to protect your head and neck. Wearing sunglasses will protect your eyes and help you to avoid squinting, causing lines around the eyes. • Gardening is great exercise as you use a wide range of muscles and are constantly moving. Wellbeing - We all have to deal with stress at some point and research shows that it’s actually the small things in life (being stuck in a traffic jam, forgetting to pick up the dry cleaning, missing a work deadline etc) that causes more tension and anxiety than the major life events. So, allow yourself some ‘me time’. This simply means doing things just for yourself and just for the pleasure of it. Allowing yourself 20 minutes a day to potter in your garden, read the paper, or even take a nap calms the mind, lowers blood pressure and, just as importantly, gives you a few minutes to just ‘be’. More recent research shows that we don’t necessarily need eight hours sleep. Many of us can exist quite happily on less but what’s important is the quality of your sleep rather than the quantity. Try to stick to a routine, even with the lighter summer nights, winding down and avoiding alcohol too late in the evening. If your room gets too warm, fans are a great way to cool the temperature and their low hum will help you drift off to sleep.

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Gdansk on the Motlawa River

by solange hando

Spires and domes, gables, towers, elegant façades festooned with frescoes and dormer windows, Gdansk’s finest buildings reflect centuries of flourishing trade at the mouth of the Motlawa river. Ships from all over the world still dock for maintenance and repairs while ferries and yachts sail downstream towards the Baltic Sea. Meanwhile at the heart of town, Europe’s biggest medieval harbour crane looks down on the river. Once powered by four giant wheels, it rises, eerie and awesome, a dark silhouette jostling for space among gaily-coloured buildings, café-terrace and boutiques gleaming with Baltic amber. Gdansk loves amber, a local tree resin millions of years old, crafted into jewellery, trinkets and artwork. There are 100 different kinds, most precious the gems with a bluish hue, most common the yellow and orange colours shimmering like sunlight on the river. From the old fish market to the Green City Gate, the waterfront promenade is a perfect picture postcard, historic town tucked away on the left bank and on the other, a sprinkling of tavernas, old royal granaries, a small marina where riggings tinkle in the breeze, the Millennium bridge in the distance and a maze of canals and islands which feel like the Little Venice of the Baltic North. Now and then, an archway lets you peep into the old historic centre hiding behind the tightly-packed buildings along the riverfront. Gdansk suffered heavy losses in wartime but the Historic Centre has been beautifully restored and the city is as magnificent as ever. Stroll down the Longmarket towards the Golden Gate or delve into the flower-draped lanes and you want to stop every step of the way to marvel at such rich

architecture, here the Main City Hall in Gothic Renaissance style, there Neptune’s monument, the city’s landmark alongside the crane, the Golden House on the Royal Route, the Great Armoury, a classic example of Dutch Mannerism, the balustrades and statues crowning so many buildings, the city gates and a dizzying number of churches from St Catherine’s the oldest to St Mary’s, the largest brick church in Poland. Bells chime now and then and when the sun sets, red brick towers and green domes glow like magic across the cityscape. For history buffs, there are museums to explore, from the amber museum, in the daunting Executioner’s House and Prison Tower, to the history and Solidarity museums. Here and there, monuments recall significant events and people, the local astronomer Hevelius, the Polish soldiers who defended Westerplatte on the first day of WWII or the shipyard Solidarity workers who, in August 1980, changed the course of history in Poland and beyond. Pop into the Main City Hall to enjoy the splendid interiors and superb panorama from the top of the 80 metre high tower. Far below the streets are abuzz; artists, buskers, shoppers and tourists filing into the pastry shops replete with cheese cake and Polish doughnuts. But sooner or later, the river calls you back. Just across the Green Bridge, the city’s favourite meeting point, sleek pleasure yachts prepare to cruise across the bay to the lovely spa resort of Sopot where the people of Gdansk like to relax at the weekend and myriad swans glide undisturbed, under the longest wooden pier in Europe.

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After

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Cool kit for hot days

The coolest gadgets for summer August tends to be the month we start looking for ways to battle against the heat. It’s boom time for fans, but if you have some cash to hand you can find something considerably smarter than the typical bladed job: Brookstone’s Bed Fan ($79.99 plus shipping from the US) is a height-adjustable fan that directs cool air over you when you’re in bed, while Dyson’s immensely clever Air Multiplier (£159) wafts a powerful blast of cooling air without the buffeting and chopping of traditional fans. Fans can only do so much: if you want to reduce the temperature rather than just move air around, you’ll need an air conditioner. There are lots of models to choose from, with prices as low as £160, but the biggest choice of portable models cost around £250. Models such as De’Longhi’s NF170 cools the air in the summer and doubles as a dehumidifier to prevent condensation and damp during the winter. f course, an air conditioner isn’t much use if you’re out and about, but clothing firm Columbia reckons it has the solution: Omni-Freeze, a specially developed fabric that transmits heat away from your body and feels cooler than normal fabrics, and Omni-Freeze Ice, which is activated when you sweat and, Columbia says, lowers the temperature of the fabric. It’s far from cheap - expect to pay around £40 for a base layer top or £45 for a polo shirt - but we’d rather see the great British male wearing such technical clothing than getting his top off and tummy out. The slightest hint of sunshine sends most of us into the garden for lounging and barbecues, and a big part of that is having a drink in the great outdoors. Luckily there are all kinds of gadgets designed to keep your drinks cool. The Ravi Instant Wine Refresher (£20) is chilled in your freezer, and when you want to use it you simply stick it on the neck of the bottle and let the wine pass over its internal coil, dropping the temperature by around 15 degrees. That means it’s best suited to red wine. For white, the Menu picnic wine cooler (£35) uses a thermal jacket to keep your wine chilled until it’s ready to drink. If the party’s far from home, there’s a huge range of car-powered portable fridges; expect to pay around £50 for a good one. If your tastes are more beery, the Tinchilla Instant Can Cooler

Dyson Air Multiplier

Belkin Laptop Cooling Pad

Mini Chillow Cooling System

(£12.99) uses thermal conduction to cool a can of lager in just 60 seconds: all you need is a bit of ice and a pair of AA batteries. It’s even possible to find cool gadgets to help you sleep. The superbly named Chillow (£27.50) is a “personal cooling pad” with a foam core, rather like memory foam, that you fill with water. Although it’s designed as a sleep aid, the manufacturers also suggest that it’s a good way to stop your laptop making your legs too hot; they’ve even created the Compusooth (£39 in a pack with the Chillow) to go under your hands and keep them cool while you’re using your computer. While you’re at it, you might want to invest in a cooler for the laptop itself: they’re susceptible to warm temperatures, and a device such as Belkin’s laptop cooling stand (£21) can help prevent overheating.

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Back to School Tips for Parents!

By Debbie Singh-Bhatti First day back at school can be an anxious time for both parents and children, so here are some tips to make it a more relaxed experience all round. Re-establish meal and bedtime routines at least one week before school begins. This will help your children avoid being over tired or overwhelmed by school work and activities. Review early any material the school has sent, so you can be informed about teachers, classrooms, supply requirements, important dates, bus travel etc. Buy any necessary school supplies early, such as new pencils, pens, folders and notebooks. This will help motivate your kids to be more organised. Encourage your children to spend less time in front of the TV or computer and more time participating in learning games such as reading or puzzles, to help ease them back into the learning process. Buy or update school uniform early - well before the end of the school break. Check out bus timetables and journey times, and

if appropriate, drive the route to school if you havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t done it before. Prepare your kids lunch boxes the night before, with a variety of healthy foods and snacks to help sustain higher energy and concentration levels throughout the day. And finally, give lots of encouragement and support as your children enter a new environment, make new friends and learn new things.

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HOW TO...

Choose a Driving Instructor Freedom. Independence. Convenience. Time. Opportunity. These could all be yours once you have successfully passed your driving test, but as it now takes on average 47 hours of professional tuition at a cost of around £1,270 to qualify as a driver, what is the best way of getting there as quickly and cheaply as possible? You might think that being taught by friends or family will save you money, but research shows that learners who combine professional instruction with private practice ultimately do better on their driving test, with nine out of ten learners who pass first time being taught by a professional. So how do you find the best instructor for you? Personal recommendations are a good place to start, but just because a friend or family member got on well with a particular instructor is no guarantee that you will too. As you start your search you should consider four things: the instructor’s qualifications, rates, vehicle and personality. Check that your instructor is approved by the DSA (Driving Standards Agency) and that they display a green badge to show they are an Approved Driving Instructor (ADI) or a pink badge if they are a trainee. Also ask to look at their last grade report to see how they fared when their teaching was tested by the DSA (grade 4 is satisfactory and

grade 6 is the highest). Beware if your instructor is charging well below the average - they may well be cutting corners as well as prices – and you could end up paying more in the long run. Ask about discounts for block bookings or advance payment, and see if you can negotiate a better rate for longer lessons (ninety minutes is often more productive than an hour). Some instructors also offer the first lesson for free. Check the model, age and condition of the car. Many people find it easier to learn in a smaller car and if you are particularly tall or short, you will need a model with a fully adjustable seat and steering column. Make sure the car is clean, well maintained and fitted with air bags and dual controls. A good instructor should be reliable and punctual and give you their full attention throughout the lesson, with no stops to drop off, pick up, fill up or make phone calls. They should not shout nor make you feel otherwise uncomfortable – even if you do make mistakes! Choosing a driving instructor is like selecting any other commodity: shop around, compare the market and .then make your choice. And if, despite your best efforts, you are not happy with them or the way you are progressing, move to someone else!

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Make a Time Capsule

By sarah davey

A fun summer holiday project to do with the children is to make a family time capsule, where photos and other mementos are stored away for years then opened again on an agreed date. Decide how long you want to store your capsule. It might be for a set number of years or until a specific date or anniversary. Decide where to put it. Burial may not be the best option because of the likelihood of damage or loss. If you do decide to bury it you’ll need your capsule to be airtight and waterproof. Special capsules can be purchased for this. Above ground options can include the attic or the garage. You can even buy hollow polyurethane rocks to disguise the capsule and allow you to leave it outdoors. Everyone in the family should contribute something. Items can include: newspapers, fashion magazines, photos, drawings, toys, It’s nice to get everyone to write something about what it’s like to live in 2012 and what special events have taken

place in their life. The contents should be sealed inside plastic bags and it’s a good idea to include some desiccant gel bags to absorb any moisture. Don’t include anything which might perish (rubber, wool, wood, or anything edible). When it’s filled hide it out of sight. Make a note of where it is in case you move. Also make a note at the end of each calendar year to remind you where it is and when to open it.

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Close to Baldock town centre in spacious surroundings this motel style Bed & Breakfast offers off road parking. • continental breakfast • large luxury en-suite rooms • free wifi internet access • sky tv/dvd player • fridge in room • private location • close to train station • major credit cards taken

Tel: 07970 162753

Email: ami@amcofm.co.uk or sally@amcofm.co.uk North Road, Baldock, Hertfordshire SG7 5DN

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Gallery 1066

BALDOCK

Nestled in a cobbled mews in Baldock, this newly extended Gallery is fast becoming the leading art attraction for connoisseurs to first time buyers. Working with over 70 award winning artists from around the Globe, Gallery 1066 offers beautiful works such as those of the official Olympic Artist Fabian Perez to the much loved and legendary Rolf Harris. The Gallery has just renovated a beautiful mews property adjacent to it doubling the existing display space - the transformation is stunning. The renovation has brought back into use a beautiful old building which had been standing empty for many years, so retaining both the original exterior/interior brickwork, exposed beams and commissioned handmade windows to maintain the integrity of the mews. The Gallery is further enhanced by the light flowing down to ground level due to the addition of a mezzanine upper floor which incorporates double height views up through the building. The extra space will also allow the Gallery to host larger corporate and private events in its beautiful surroundings. ‘Our aim has always been to make affordable art accessible to all in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. We are noticing an increase in the sale of original investment art as it offers an enjoyable way of adding value in the future. Introducing and supporting local, national and global artists has been key to our success, making us one of the largest galleries throughout the Home Counties,’ Hayley Norman, Gallery Owner.

Having such a variety of talent makes for an enjoyable visit to the gallery, whether you are looking for something fun, sensual, contemporary or traditional there really is something for everyone, mixed with beautiful sculptures for both the indoors and the outdoors. The Gallery is also bringing garden art into their remit and is always looking for innovative and stylish ideas to display at the Gallery such as acclaimed Sculptor Rick Kirby whose compelling figurines in stainless steel stand proudly in locations across the UK and one has been unveiled by the Queen. If you have not been along yet why not take a trip to Baldock, enjoy a complementary glass of wine or cup of coffee and enjoy a fine art experience in relaxing surroundings. The Gallery will be having an official VIP Launch evening on the 2nd August and Summer Open Weekend on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd September, everyone is welcome. ‘By running these events it helps to attract so many people from the Home Counties which in turn is good for Baldock and helps to put this historic market town on the map. We look forward to welcoming new faces and our regular clients into our newly extended vibrant Gallery - we just want to open people’s minds to these wonderful creations’. For more information www.gallery1066fineart.com Tel: .01462 622233 Gallery 1066, Willow Mews, 6a Hitchin Street, Baldock, Hertfordshire SG7 6AE

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Your Plants Don’t Want a ‘Holiday’

by pippa greenwood If you’re going on holiday shortly, don’t forget that your garden and plants will appreciate some TLC before you leave. An hour or two spent sorting out your plants can not only help to keep them going whilst you’re sunning yourself elsewhere, but also help to make your house look less abandoned in your absence. So before you grab a suitcase, make sure you spend some time in the garden. I’m certainly not a lawn buff, but whether your lawn is your priority, or like me it’s more of a patch of grass than a bowling green, sort it out before you go. Give it a thorough mowing, cutting it as short as you dare but without ‘scalping’ it by cutting too low. Next take a pair of lawn edging shears, a halfmoon edger or simply a sharp spade and neaten all the edges, including those next to flower beds. The effect of edging lasts far longer than mowing and will not only stop the lawn moving into the flower beds, but also make the grass appear more recently maintained. Make sure that all plants, especially those in containers and those forming fruit whilst you’re away, are given a good feed before you go. Liquid feeds usually have the speediest response, but if you’re taking a long trip, controlled release fertiliser granules will last for longer. If you use a dry or granular feed, make sure that you water it in well unless it’s just about to rain. It really is worth persuading a friend, relative or neighbour to pop in to your garden and do the odd bit of watering. Make sure to suggest that they pick the sweet-peas, harvest some veg and so forth, then you’ll both benefit. A good, thorough watering of the garden will mean that plants in open ground should be unharmed by hot weather for a good while. Plants in pots and tubs are totally reliant on you if there is not much rain, so make these your priority, and tell your plant-sitter where all the containers are, especially those out of sight. Many plants cease flowering if faded flowers are left on them and allowed to start to form seeds. This means it’s extra important to remove every faded bloom before you leave. If you’re off for more than a week, I suggest ‘dead heading’ not only the faded flowers, but also those which are just starting to fade. A sharp pair of scissors or just your finger and thumb should do the trick. Hanging baskets are invariably in the hottest, sunniest pots in the garden and with their roots

up in the air they are especially prone to drought. Unless you have a really reliable watering helper lined up, it’s best to carefully lower hanging baskets and stand each one on its own pot in a shady spot where it will dry out less quickly. Planters and patio pots lose moisture very readily especially if the weather is hot, windy or, worse, a combination of both. By carefully grouping the pots together in one place you’ll not only make it easier for your holiday helper to find them all, but will also create shade around the roots of the pots, so reducing the risk of drought and heat damage. Try to position more drought tolerant patio plants such as pelargoniums, towards the outer edge of the group, and more drought prone plants towards the cooler centre of the group. Make sure that your garden sheds and other storage areas are properly secured so that there’s less chance that any light-fingered guests will burgle your belongings. It’s worth giving the padlock keys to a neighbour, just in case there is anything in the shed that might be needed in your absence. Ladders, mattocks, spades and other gardening items that could be used to break into your house (or the shed) should be removed completely, or locked away out of sight so that they don’t encourage burglary. Finally check that plants are healthy and that any new outbreaks of pests or diseases are treated or dealt with before you go - leave a handful of whitefly in your greenhouse, or a few greenfly on your roses, and there may well be a full-scale disaster zone when you return! Visit Pippa’s website www.pippagreenwood.com and order your ‘Winter Thru’ Spring’ Vegetable Collection. Orders close soon. Whilst there, visit the new products area for a great selection of products including signed copies of Pippa’s books, Grower Frames, cloches, raised bed kits, delightful terracotta herb planters and wall plaques, biological pest controls and lots more!

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DELIVERY PEOPLE

REQUIRED Local people for

The Villager or people with transport for additional contract delivery jobs. Please email Nigel for more details

nigel@villagermag.com

STEEL FOR BUILDERS Are you paying too much for your steel through normal retail suppliers? Then contact County Construction (Steelworks) Ltd TODAY!

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Space Out!

By Debbie Singh-Bhatti Garden sheds are not what they used to be, and that’s a good thing! Once they were nothing more than a glorified cubbyhole for hiding gardening equipment and other little-used household items. Today they have come of age, providing stylish and valuable extra space. Many of us need more room but in the current economic climate are unable or unwilling to move house. A home extension can be pricey, but it doesn’t have to be the end of all our dreams. Erect a wooden structure at the end of your garden and you could solve your space-related problems without breaking the bank. For around £3,000 you could enjoy the benefits of an additional room (a saving of around £7,00012,000 on a brick built version). A fully insulated summer house, with its own floor, windows and electricity supply could serve a number of purposes - from a home office to a fully fitted gym, guest room or simply somewhere for to escape the hustle and bustle of family life.

Hitchin

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01462 759819

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01462 730769

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Outdoor wood-built rooms don’t require planning permission or building regulations and can be fully operational in about six weeks from the time of order. In addition they can be built to your own specification and are fully portable - so that if you do eventually move, you can take your room with you! Now who says sheds are boring?

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Could YOU become

a cat foster carer?

The RSPCA North Bedfordshire Branch currently has 30 cats in its care, with 55 waiting to come in from Inspectors alone. Most are housed with our volunteer foster carers in their own homes. Without these people we could not carry on. Have you ever thought about fostering? Could you look after a homeless cat until he, or she, finds their forever home? We provide food, litter, toys, bedding and pay for any veterinary costs. You provide love and security. When a cat is in foster care the chance of finding a good match with new owners is increased. The foster carer is able to give much more information about the cats’ nature, and likes and dislikes – than if the cat was kept in a cattery. If you think you could become a cat fosterer, discuss with everyone in the house if it is something they would be happy to do. Don’t forget to take into consideration your own pets and how you think they would cope. Decide if fostering cats could fit into your home, family and lifestyle – for example, as a foster carer you are responsible for keeping the cat secure in your house at all times. Some of the cats we help are initially quite timid. Have you the space, and patience, to give them a quiet place in which to settle? Also, are you prepared to have prospective new owners coming to your home to meet the cat? Our home check team assesses all prospective new owners, before being allowed to meet the cat. If you decide it’s a ‘YES’ to fostering – THANK YOU! Please contact us on the number below, or via our website. We will then provide you with the food and equipment you need. When a cat becomes available which needs a place, the Fostering coordinator or Branch Manager will then give you a call. They will ensure the cat

is suitable for your set-up – we have to cater for a variety of different cats; pregnant, mum and kittens, nervous, older, young, recently castrated, feral and semi-feral. Arrangements are then made for he, or she, to be moved to your home. An RSPCA Inspector may bring them to you, or sometimes they need collecting from a vets’ practice. They may need to have regular visits to the vets for treatment, neutering or vaccination; so ideally you need your own transport. You will have support at all times if you have any worries or questions. The cat will stay with you until the time comes to move to their new home – this can be anything from a few days to a couple of months. The tough bit is saying goodbye, but when you receive pictures and stories of how they are getting on in their new lives – you’ll know it will have been worthwhile. The demand for cat fosters is greater now than it has ever been. Hundreds of animals are being made homeless daily, unneutered cats breeding and the population of strays growing – we just can’t house them all. But with your help we could at least start to make a difference. For more information please give us a call on 07769 322424 or www.rspca-bedfordshirenorth.org.uk

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SEASONAL DELIGHTS

HOME-MADE BURGERS - all you need to know

It’s the barbecue season and nothing tastes better than delicious home-made char-grilled burgers. Follow these top tips for great burgers. • Always choose good quality premium minced steak for the best flavour but pick one that has some fat in it – don’t buy extra lean mince as the burgers will dry out too much during cooking. Try asking your local butcher to mince some rump or chuck steak with about 20% fat content. For four quarter pounder burgers you’ll need 500g mince. • Mince is fairly bland so you’ll need to add plenty of flavouring. Grated or very finely chopped onion and minced garlic form the basic flavouring but you add whatever dried or fresh herb, spice or seasoning you like. You’ll need to add 5-10ml (1-2tsp) salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper too. • A handful of fresh breadcrumbs and a little beaten egg will also help to bind the mince together and prevent the burgers from breaking up during cooking. Whizz all the ingredients in a food processor until the

mixture starts holding together or use clean hands to mix as thoroughly as possible. • Shape the burgers into round flat discs with wetted hands. To get perfectly round shapes press the mixture into a metal pastry cutter. Don’t over handle the burgers or they will be tough and dry when cooked. • Ensure that burgers are cooked all the way through and there is no pinkness in the middle. To check this press the burger down with a fish slice – if there are pink juices oozing out then cook for a few more minutes. • If you want a change from the classic sesame seed bun why not serve the cooked burgers on top of wedges of toasted ciabatta bread spread with a little mustard mayo or pack into warmed and split pitta breads with salad or coleslaw. • Try a fresh tomato relish instead of ketchup – just peel and finely dice a couple of ripe plum tomatoes and mix with a little olive oil, fresh chopped basil, a pinch of sugar and salt and freshly ground black pepper.

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Specialists at hog roasting Hot Hog roast only the finest British

• WEDDINGS • PARTIES • • CORPORATE & SPECIAL EVENTS •

seasonal

free-range pigs and also lamb or wild boar*. Our mobile unit comes complete with a chef and servers and we can cook from a half to two whole hogs at a time depending on your needs. Whatever the occasion, Hot Hog should be perfect for you.

Call Paul at Hot Hog now on

T: 01462 743552 M: 07885 638122

BURY LANE • Fresh Fruit & Vegetables • Delicatessen • Café • Butchery • Fresh Flowers

• Gift Shop • Garden Shop • Plant Centre • PYO in season • Free- range eggs

Open 7 days a week all year round Monday - Saturday 9am - 5:30pm Sunday 10:30am - 4:30pm

A10 Melbourn By pass, Melbourn, Royston, Herts 01763 260418

w w w. b u r yl a n e f a r m s h o p.c o.u k To advertise in The Villager and Townlife please call 01767 261 122

M&M

Painting & Decorating Domestic Specialist Over 15 years experience Interior & Exterior Decorating Free No Obligation Estimates Fair Prices Reliable Quality Work Call Martin on T: 01438 354486 M: 07775 645717 Please mention the Villager when you call - special rates apply

T. Jordan Carpentry & Joinery Made to Measure Quality Timber Products Doors, Windows, Stairs, Gates, Cabinets & Mouldings

Please call Tim on 01462 850363 22 Station Road, Lower Stondon, Henlow SG16 6JP 46

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Fun Quiz - The Olympic Games 1. Who won eight gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics to add to the six he won in 2004, breaking the record for having won more career gold medals than any other Olympian? 2. Which country is due to host the 2016 Summer Olympics? 3. After flying from Athens to RNAS Culdrose, in which English county did the 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay begin? 4. Which European country holds the record for winning more medals than any other in total at the Winter Olympics? 5. Which famous person declared the 1936 Summer Olympics officially open? 6. In 2007, after claims that his hairstyle looked like the 2012 Olympic logo, which politician said “you can say what you like about my hairstyle, but it’s never caused epilepsy and cost significantly less than £400,000 to design”? 7. Which country’s four man bobsleigh team at the 1988 Winter Olympics was the inspiration for the 1993 film Cool Runnings? 8. The 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow were boycotted by a number of nations due to the Soviet Union’s invasion of which country? 9. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the Summer Olympics how many times? 10. The title of “world’s greatest athlete” is traditionally associated with the winner of which Olympic event, after King Gustav V of Sweden said “You, sir, are the world’s greatest athlete” to the winner of this event at the Olympics in 1912? 1. Michael Phelps 2. Brazil 3. Cornwall 4. Norway 5. Adolf Hitler 6. Boris Johnson 7. Jamaica’s 8. Afghanistan 9. Three 10. The decathlon

Before

After

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CODEWORD

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

9 X 9 PUZZLE

How to play Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s simple! Fill in the grid so that each row, column and 3x3 box, contains the digits 1 through to 9 with no repetition. Use your logic to solve the puzzle. Watch out! Sudoku is highly addictive.

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Fully qualiFied â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 25 years experienCe

PlumbinG & heatinG ltd

gas

Gas installer Boiler installation with 5 year warranty Boiler breakdown & power flushing Frozen condense pipe rectified Boiler service and landlord certification

water PlumbinG and heatinG

Full heating & bathroom installation Under floor heating Mains pressure upgrades General plumbing work & maintenance

solar solar

Solar thermal for hot water Solar PV installation by MCS approved installers Solar cylinder upgrades & breakdowns

Call: 01462 292247 / 07566 118 247 218627

14 Pear Tree Close, Lower Stondon, Bedfordshire SG16 6ND Email: dave@dhplumb.co.uk Website: www.dhplumb.co.uk

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Garden and Property Maintenance internal and external repairs Fencing and timber structures Environmental retaining walls Decking and paving Decorating and internal repairs Routing cables and networking Satellite fault finding and repairing Shed repairs including new felt or roof

From start to finish we offer a professional and friendly service so that all our customers are delighted to see the dramatic improvements to their property. Base preparation

Main build

The final result!

Chapman Property Maintenance 50 Plum Tree Road, Lower Stondon, Henlow Bedfordshire. SG16 6NE Tel: 01462 813164 or 07767 442904 Email: chapmanGL2000@aol.com

Chapman Property Maintenance

Please feel free to call Steve for general advice and an estimate

01462 813164 or 07767 442904

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TAE KWON-DO Martial Art Training for Men, Women & Children • 2 Free Lessons • Great Family Discounts • Have Fun, Get Fit, Feel Safe Contact: Alan Bradford 3rd Dan

Call:

07980 827 664

Letchworth Tae Kwon-Do: Training Fri 7pm & Sun 10am Knights Templar Sports Centre, Weston Way, Baldock SG7 6EY Biggleswade Tae Kwon-Do: Training Tues. 6.30pm & Thurs 7pm Holmemead School, Mead End, Biggleswade SG18 8JU CRB POLICE CHECKED, FULLY QUALIFIED BLACK BELT INSTRUCTORS

email: bradfa31@aol.com

• www.alanbradfordtkd.com

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Alan George Painter & Decorator Interior and Exterior Work Wallpapering and Coving Reliable and Local Specialist City & Guilds trained with 30 years experience Sole trader No VAT Free estimates Call Alan on 01582 454604 Mob:07760198256 or E-Mail: george-a6@sky.com

Painting & Decorating Property Maintenance Quality Workmanship Papering, Coving etc. Interior and Exterior Work Free Quotations Call W Firkins & Partners Ltd 01462 814117 or 07939 267083 Est 1981 20 Clifton Road, Shefford, Beds

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INVENTIONS - ELEVATORS

By Leon F. Jones

“Welcome to Canary Wharf - the office you require is on the 18th floor.” Or “Welcome to the Eiffel Tower. There are wonderful views of the city from the Observation Level.” A world without elevators is unthinkable. Elevators may be considered modern inventions however they are first referenced by Roman architect Vitruvius who reported that Archimedes (c287BC-c212BC) constructed one in about 236BC. One of the most famous ancient lifts, a cab on hemp rope elevated manually, is at the Sinai monastery in Egypt and the ’Book of Secrets’ by Ibn Khalaf al-Muradi in Islamic Spain described the use of an elevator-like lifting mechanism for heavy equipment. Early elevators used manual hoists or winders but by 1793 the first screwdriven elevator was installed in the Russian Winter Palace, built by Ivan Kulibin. By the mid-1800s, hundreds of goods lifts were in use. Operated by increasing water pressure inside a cylinder, a steel column below the cab caused

it to rise, aided by a counterweight. As buildings grew taller, however, this proved impractical, as it required a pit as deep as the building was tall. In 1852, Elisha Otis introduced his revolutionary safety braking system, which prevented the fall of the cab if the cable snapped. In 1854 he demonstrated his invention in a death-defying demonstration in the Crystal Palace and in March 1857, the first Otis passenger elevator was installed at 488 Broadway in New York City. Strangely enough, the first elevator shaft preceded the first working elevator by four years. Today elevators are everywhere and special adaptations are Dumb Waiters, exterior glass elevators on buildings and the Paternoster in busy commercial premises. Thank you Mr Otis.

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The Villager Prize Crossword

Last Month’s Crossword Winners Congratulations to: 1st - Mrs. C Stevens from St Neots 2nd - Ellie Jones from Wrestlingworth

sponsors of

THE VILLAGER PRIZE CROSSWORD

1st Prize £25 Name:

Complete the crossword, fill in your details below, cut out this section and send to the address below before 17th August 2012 Prize Crossword, Villager Publications Ltd 24 Market Square, Potton, Beds SG19 2NP

2nd Prize £15

Tel:

Address:

Across 1 Cut short (4) 3 Adversary (8) 9 Error (7) 10 Board game (5) 11 Very eager (12) 13 Informal (6) 15 Small piece of food (6) 17 Books giving meanings of words (12) 20 Relating to the moon (5) 21 Absence of sound (7) 22 Moving very fast (8) 23 Spheres (4) Down 1 Business (8) 2 Start of (5) 4 Written in rhyme (6) 5 Now and then (12) 6 Protect the eyes (7) 7 Throw (4) 8 Produced (12) 12 Small bunches or groups (8) 14 Physics or chemistry (7) 16 Untie (6) 18 Lying within (5) 19 Add to (4)

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To advertise in The Villager and Townlife please call 01767 261 122

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Lots of Choice Immediate Availability

The Carpet Trade Centre • • • •

Over 10,000sq ft of warehouse to choose from 100’s of designs, stock always changing Vinyl/cushion floor stock Large choice of rugs

Delivery and fitting service in days rather than weeks Low, low prices, high quality stock

Tel: 01462 851637 Units 5A-6, Henlow Industrial Estate Henlow SG16 6DS

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what’S ON?

IN AUGUST

10 June-30 September Tea at Radwell Every Sunday afternoon 3-5pm Radwell Village Hall Selection of home-made cakes, tea, coffee, soft drinks. Typical price: tea & piece of cake £1.60. Supporting Radwell Village Hall. 1, 8, 15, 22 & 29 August Children’s Nature Discovery 2-4pm RSPB The Lodge, Sandy Adults free, Children £4, RSPB Wildlife Explorers £3 Enjoy a fun and informative walk spotting birds, butterflies and dragonflies and get hands-on with some bark rubbing and other great activities. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Tel: 01767 680541 Web: www.rspb.org.uk/thelodge 1 & 17 August Date with Nature Dusk Watch 7.30pm til late RSPB The Lodge, Sandy RSPB Members £4, Non-Members £6 including car park and entry An exciting evening event, experiencing the sights and sounds of the reserve as darkness creeps over and secretive nocturnal creatures begin to emerge! Booking essential. Tel: 01767 680541 Web: www.rspb.org.uk/thelodge 3, 6, 10, 17, 20, 24 & 31 August Minibeast Safari 2-4pm RSPB The Lodge, Sandy Adults free, Children £4, RSPB Wildlife Explorers £3 Kids love to delve and discover the bugs, beetles and beasties living in the undergrowth on the reserve. Booking essential. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Tel: 01767 680541 Web: www.rspb.org.uk/thelodge

Entries into our What’s On sections are free. If you have an event you would like us to publicise please email the details to whatson@villagermag.com 3 & 4 August The Importance of Being Ernest 7pm RSPB The Lodge, Sandy Adults £12.50, Children £8, Under 7s free, Family 2+2 £35 We welcome the return of the Pantaloons for their fourth successful year with an outdoor performance of The Importance of Being Ernest on the lawn of The Lodge. Bring your blankets, picnics and chairs and a bottle of course, to enjoy a fun, outside performance. Please note no dogs at the performance. Web: www.rspb.org.uk/thelodge 4 & 5 August The Brothers Grimm 2pm RSPB The Lodge, Sandy Adults £12.50, Children £8, Under 7s free, Family 2+2 £35 We welcome the return of the Pantaloons for their fourth successful year with an outdoor performance of The Brothers Grimm on the lawn of The Lodge. Bring your blankets, picnics and chairs and a bottle of course, to enjoy a fun, outside performance. Please note no dogs at the performance. Web: www.rspb.org.uk/thelodge 5 August August Military Pageant Air Show Gates open 9am, flying starts 2pm, vehicle parade 1.30pm The Shuttleworth Collection, Shuttleworth (Old Warden) Airfield, Biggleswade Adults £20 in advance, £25 on the gate, children free The Shuttleworth Collection Military Pageant Air Show with vintage and modern aircraft. Ticket also gives entry to Swiss Garden and Bird of Prey Centre. Web: www.shuttleworth.org 11 August Bat Night 8.30-10.30pm RSPB The Lodge, Sandy Adults £5, RSPB Members £4, Children £4, RSPB Wildlife Explorers £3 Our popular night walk, searching for the bats that live and feed on the reserve. Please bring a torch. Must book and pay in advance. Tel: 01767 680541 Web: www.rspb.org.uk/thelodge

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what’S ON? IN AUGUST

11-12 August Knebworth Country Show 11am-5pm Knebworth House, nr Stevenage Adult £8, Children £4, under 4 free, family £28 Family Country show with all day entertainment, birds of prey, working dogs, children’s entertainment, arts and crafts, gifts, food marquees and more. Tel: 01438 812661 Web: www.knebworthhouse.com 19 August Country Fete 11am-4.30pm St John’s Hospice, Moggerhanger Entry £1.50, children under 14 free In the grounds and field behind the hospice. Steam engine and fairground rides, trade stalls, dog show, pony rides, animal demonstrations, classic cars, children’s entertainment, dance & music, BBQ, hog roast, cream teas and more. Tel: 01767 642412 Email: danielle.brandon@sueryder.org Web: www.sueryder.org/events 1 September Old Warden Grand Village Fete 2pm Free entry Village Hall & Garden Traditional stalls. Free children’s entertainment. Teas & cakes, produce stall and Tombola. Tel: Stall bookings Debbie 01767627753 Tel: Rod 01767 627756 or Dawn 01767 627753 5 September R.H.S. Hyde Hall Members £11.50, Non-Members £13.50 including entry to the garden Letchworth District Gardeners Association trip to Hyde Hall, Chelmsford, with sweeping panoramas and big open skies this garden inspires visitors of all ages. Coach will depart from the Bus Stop opposite Barclays Bank at 9am and will leave Hyde Hall at 4pm. If paying by cheque please make it payable to L.D.G.A. Tel: Thelma Colman 01462 674696. 14 Crabtree Dell, Letchworth Garden City, SG6 2TJ.

9 September Companion Dog Show - Pedigree and Novelty Classes Registration from 9.30am. Pedigree Classes commence 11.00 am /Novelty classes commence 11.30 G & M Growers, Upper Caldecote, Nr Biggleswade SG18 9BU R.A.T.S. (Re-homing Animal Telephone Service). Stalls, home-made refreshments available. All proceeds go directly to helping the animals in our care. Tel: 01234 871174 Web: www.rats-animalrescue.co.uk 21 September Celebrating International Peace Day 2-8pm Letchworth Centre for Healthy Living, Rosehill, Hitchin Road, Letchworth Take time out from your busy day and drop in for as long as you wish. Just come to sit, listen or join in. You can bring a picnic and sit in the beautiful grounds or eat in the café. Peace Mantras, guided Meditations, breathing practices to still the mind, hands on healing, to encourage a little bit of calm in a crazy world. Take some time out to cultivate a state of peace within yourself. Open to all babes in arms, toddlers, teenagers, adults of all ages. All monies raised will be donated to CPI charity www. internationaldayofpeace.org. Tel: Jacqui 01462 678804 Email: jaqui@letchworthcentre.org Web: www.letchworthcentre.org 20 October Singing Day with Peter Phillips 10am-3.30pm St Mary’s Church, Hitchin £24, full time students free Singing Day with Peter Phillips, world-renowned as the Director of the Tallis Scholars and now also Director of Music at Merton College, Oxford. The day will be devoted to preparing and singing Tallis’s famous motet in forty parts, Spem in Alium, at the beautiful Parish Church of St Mary in Hitchin. Tel: Box Office 01462 459446 Email: info@benslowmusic.org Web: www.benslowmusic.org

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Oven Cleaning! - It’s a dirty job! Why do it yourself? We clean ovens using non-caustic, non-toxic products in your home. Ovens • Ranges • Hobs • Extractors Agas • Microwaves • Barbecues (May - Sept) Single Oven (all racks/pans inc)........................£35 Single Oven & Grill Oven (all racks/pans inc).....£45 Single Separate Grill Oven (racks/pans inc)......£15 Microwaves & Combination Ovens....................£20 Extractor Fan (free filter for next clean).............£12 Hob..................................................................£12 . . .

Agas and Ranges priced accordingly Oven Bulbs replaced for free in all jobs V.A.T free

Contact James on: 01767 260188 or Mobile: 07812 666081 email: ovenmen@live.co.uk You can also book at www.ovenmen.com

parent company est. 1998

J W A Building & Maintenance

• Extensions • Carpentry • Kitchens • Plastering • Brickwork • Domestic

• Patios • Plumbing • Decking • Painting • Tiling • Commercial

• Driveways • Electrics • Roofing • Decorating • Bathrooms • Refurbishments

Tel: 01462 735565 Mob: 07866 528411 info@jwa-building and maintenance.co.uk jwa-buildingandmaintenance.co.uk 14 Glebe Avenue, Arlesey, Bedfordshire SG15 6UP 60

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All types of roofing work undertaken. Friendly, reliable and professional service.

Tel: 07989 423449 or 01767 317121 www.baroofing.co.uk

Ace Garage Doors Quality, Reliability and Great Value

• High levels of security • Sales, service and repairs • Same day service 24/7 • Free no obligation quotations • Suppliers and installers for all leading garage doors • Automation for new and existing garage doors

Hitchin: 01462 812927 Stevenage: 01438 742664

Mobile: 07870 987817 www.ace-garage-doors.co.uk

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TV AERIAL & SATELLITE SPECIALIST See our website for a comprehensive list of our services www.allbandaerials.co.uk

CALL FREE 0800 7317988 To discuss your requirements or to make an appointment

ALLBAND AERIALS

22 Bedford Road Lower Stondon, Beds SG16 6EA

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Classifieds Alarm Specialists

Decorators

DMR DECORATORS

alarm rescue Repairs, alterations and new installation for burglar and fire alarm systems

FOR INTERIOR & EXTERIOR DECORATING SERVICES

No annual charge to pay – you only pay for the time and the materials used!

C O N TA C T D A V E :

(NO VAT)

01763 250 865 M: 0 7 7 7 5 6 6 7 3 7 0

If your alarm system needs rescuing, call Alarm Rescue

Tel: 07860 470528 www.alarmrescue.co.uk

Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning

Plastering

James Geekie Plastering

01462 732632 sales@steam2clean.co.uk www.steam2clean.co.uk

All types of plastering - big or small

C A r p E T A N D u p h O l s T E rY C l E A N I N g

Interior/Exterior Work Undertaken Re-skim Rooms, Walls, Artex & Ceilings Dry Lining and Screeding

Drying time kept to a minimum Flea & Dustmite control available 24 Years’ Experience

Tel: 07792 415356 or 01767 317161 Email: james.geekie@hotmail.co.uk

Fully Insured NO VAT for a limited period

S2C_ADD.indd

09/12/2010

16:41

Property Maintenance

R. CHAPMAN

Home & Garden Services

Patio’s Driveways Fencing Brickwork Painting & Decorating Tiling 20 Years Experience - No Job Too Small!

01462 850575 or 07950 311881

Business gone a bit slow? Let us help! Advertising in The Villager is easy. To find out more call Nigel on 01767 261122 or email nigel@villagermag.com

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