Voice Magazines - Matlock, Wirksworth & Cromford Edition - MAY 2024

From the Editor

interweb but if you aren’t, looks like you have to wear a bin bag or a holiday dress (only thing that was readily available in shops)… So that was April!!!

Bring on May and my Ninja Warrior adventures with my Nieces and Nephew!

Happy reading,

BUZZ… WHY WE NEED BEES

Bees—we all know they are under threat, don’t we?

But why are they so important, and what can be done to mitigate the danger they are in?

At the heart of their importance lies their role as pollinators. This seemingly simple act is crucial for the production of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. In fact, it’s estimated that one-third of the world’s food crops depend on pollinators like bees. Without them, many of the foods we rely on for sustenance would cease to exist or become prohibitively expensive.

Beyond agriculture, bees play a vital role in maintaining biodiversity. By pollinating a diverse range of plants, they contribute to the reproduction of countless species, thereby supporting entire ecosystems. From wildflowers to trees, bees ensure the survival of plant communities that provide habitat and sustenance for a myriad of other organisms, from insects to birds to mammals…to us humans!

Bees are also indicators of environmental health. Their presence and abundance can serve as a barometer for the overall well-being of ecosystems. Declines in bee populations may signal broader ecological imbalances, such as habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change. As such, protecting bees and their habitats is not only crucial for their survival but also for the health and resilience of entire ecosystems.

In addition to their ecological significance, bees also have profound cultural and economic importance. For centuries, humans have benefited from the products of bees, including honey, beeswax, and propolis. Beekeeping, or apiculture, remains an important livelihood for many people around the world, providing income, sustenance, and even therapeutic benefits.

Despite their immense value, bees face many threats to their survival. Habitat loss, pesticide

exposure, disease, climate change, and invasive species all take their toll on bee populations. The widespread use of neonicotinoid pesticides has been implicated in the decline of bee populations worldwide, leading to calls for greater regulation and alternative pest management strategies.

Fortunately, there is growing recognition of the need to protect bees and support their populations. Efforts to conserve and restore bee habitats, reduce pesticide use, and promote beefriendly practices are underway in many parts of the world. From urban beekeeping initiatives to pollinator-friendly gardening campaigns, individuals, communities, and governments are taking action to safeguard bees and their vital ecosystem services.

As individuals, we can help by:

• planting a diverse set of native plants, which flower at different times of the year

• buying raw honey from local farmers

• buying products from sustainable agricultural practices

• avoiding pesticides, fungicides or herbicides in our gardens

• protecting wild bee colonies when possible

• sponsoring a hive

• making a bee water fountain by leaving a water bowl outside

• helping to sustain forest ecosystems

• raising awareness around us by sharing this information within our communities and networks

GO ON, HELP SAVE THE BEES – THE WORLD WOULD BE A VERY DIFFERENT PLACE WITHOUT THEM!

We are proud to have offered our services to the area for over 20 years building up our reputation by offering a high service at affordable, honest and reasonable prices to both residential and commercial customers. Many of our customers are return customers or gained through ‘word of mouth’ and we welcome this loyalty. 24 HOURS 7 DAYS A WEEK

To advertise please call the Voice Team on 01629

Food & Retail

Slimming World Recipe Fish Pie

Method:

1. Heat your oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/ gas 6.

2. Cook the potatoes in a large saucepan of boiling water over a high heat for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain, return to the pan and mash well. Leave to cool then stir in the quark, season to taste and set aside.

3. While the potatoes are cooking, put the leeks and 2 tbsp water in a nonstick saucepan over a medium-high heat. Cover and cook for 10 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally, then tip into a large ovenproof dish.

4. At the same time, cook the eggs in another saucepan of boiling water over a high heat for 9 minutes or until just hard-boiled. Cool under cold running water, peel, halve and add to the leeks.

For

This fish pie is packed full of delicious ingredients; fish, prawns, eggs, leeks in a creamy sauce, all topped with fluffy mash. Yum!

5. Pour the milk into a non-stick saucepan and bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Add the white fish, reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, carefully transfer the fish to the ovenproof dish, along with the prawns, herbs and lemon juice.

6. Strain the milk into a clean pan and put it over a high heat. Mix the cornflour with a little cold water and add to the milk. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to low and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often. Pour the thickened sauce over everything in the dish, season lightly and gently mix it all together.

7. Spoon the mashed potatoes on top, making a pretty pattern with a fork if you’re feeling creative, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the topping is lightly browned. Serve with your favourite Speed vegetables.

Serves: 6

Ready in: 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1kg floury potatoes, such as King Edward or Maris Piper, roughly chopped

• 4 tbsp plain quark

• 2 large leeks, sliced

• 4 eggs

• 250ml skimmed milk

• 600g skinless and boneless white fish fillets, cut into bite-size chunks

• 200g cooked and peeled king or tiger prawns, tails removed

• ½ small pack fresh dill, chopped

• 2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley

• Juice of ½ lemon

• 1 level tbsp cornflour

Syns per serving: 1

Our world is at your feet!

Over 20 years ago we purchased our first carpets from T. Nutt & Sons who also fitted them. Today ALL the carpets and floor coverings in our four bedroomed house were supplied and fitted by the above company. We have just replaced the hall, stairs and landing carpets plus the lounge carpet but only because I wanted a change of decor!! Second time round for Nutts. The experience of choosing carpets is second to none. No-one could be more helpful with suggestions on style, colour etc. The fitters have been excellent in every way. If you want friendly support with expertise, this is the place to come!!

Maintenance free Timber Alter native Windows & Doors from Evolution. With all the beauty of traditional timber, our wood effect windows and doors have to be seen to be believed.

Maintenance free Timber Alternative Sash Windows from the Bygone Collection. The most energy efficient, authentic, timber alternative sash window on the market. Exceptional build quality, with an unprecedented 12 year guarantee.

manufactures iconic steel replica, heritage, Art-Deco or industrial-styled glazing solutions. Aluco delivers expertly crafted, cleverly designed, and above all, authentic in style, steel-look windows and doors.

All Around the Shire

RUB A DUB DUB

Which soap do you remember from your childhood? There were many brands to choose from in the 1960s and 70s like Lux or Camay Beauty soaps where the model on the television advert demonstrated how to use the soap by rubbing in circular movements blobs of lather on her cheeks. My granny was not impressed when I tried this method and she told me to go back and wash the whole of my face.

During WW2, soap was rationed as the fat and glycerine from it was needed to make explosives and for other military uses.

From 1942, four coupons were given each month, and each coupon was worth 4oz hard soap, 3oz toilet soap, half an ounce of liquid soap, 6oz soft soap, 3oz soap flakes or 6oz soap powder. Shaving soap was never rationed but became scarce as did the other types.

Soap operas from radio (1930s) and TV (1950s) were so called because they were sponsored by soap manufacturers.

Washing powders like Oxydol and Rinso had to perform more than one household task.

The wartime Rinso packet had instructions for how to use for laundry and dishwashing.

Knight’s Castille, Palmolive, Pears, Fairy, Sunlight, Imperial leather, Carbolic, Lifebuoy, Coal tar, Pit Head

Bath soap if your father was a miner, were the types I grew up with. To imagine my parents and grandparents having to go without what we regard as basic cleaning products and five inches of water in your bath for the whole family a week, makes me glad I didn’t have to live through those times.

Guess the words and Fill in the crossword !

17

Across

1 Left Vienna to become the last item (5,5)

9 Download a version of wild arboretum? (8)

11 Bit of monochrome shading can be hard to pin down (4,4)

17 Beef, Duke? (10)

Pitcherwits®

Pitcherwits® are crossword puzzles where some of the clues are in pictures.

Sound easy? It’s not called “Pit-your-wits” for nothing!

The mixture of cryptic and picture clues, combined with Professor Rebus’ unique sense of humour, will keep you entertained for hours.

Across

6 Cut the picture of the harvest (4)

7 Noisiest part of after-dinner speech (3)

8 Abundantly alcoholic? (4)

14 Sky pilot gives up posy for Scotswear (4)

15 Hit, from hot-air propellor (3)

16 Opposed to the freeze of the car? (4)

Down

3 Bland and quiet Diva? Unlikely! (5)

4 She’s into ballerina diagnostics (5)

12 Tiger-eye? Get away, somehow it’s a nest! (5)

13 A vial, snapped open for help (5)

Down

1 We make lifelong attempts to be in blue state (7,3)

2 Why a car crashed into an architectural feature (7)

5 “Founded a nation, did I? That’s just as well!” (2,8)

10 Losing fluid because of broken linkage (7)

Down: 1 Proposition, 2 T b a, 3 Gas, 4 Non-adhesive, 6 Go to sea, 7 Not here, 8 Engrave, 14 Rev, 15 Sit.

Across: 1 Patrol wagon, 5 Agonies, 9 Omit, 10 Gird, 11 Other, 12 Iris, 13 Ache, 14 Rameses, 16 Naval battle.

ANSWERS FOR LAST MONTHS PITHERWITS

These puzzles are devised by the brilliant Professor Rebus. For more of his puzzles visit www.pitcherwits.co.uk

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BOOK REVIEW

WAKENHYRST - MICHELLE PAVER

There’s nothing like a bit of gothic thriller for immersing yourself in another world and author Michelle Paver has a great talent for suspense and menace.

Her other gothic novels, Dark Matter and Thin Air, were bestsellers and Wakenhyrst, the most recent book, is another treat for fans of creepy, gripping and spooky tales.

It’s an engrossing clever story, atmospheric and dark, centred around Maud, a young girl who grows up in a

grand house on the edge of the Fens. Her mother dies in childbirth and her life is ruled by her despotic father who she adores – until she starts to find out about his secrets.

Paver builds tension brilliantly. Maud is a superb brave heroine, her father a perfect villain. Religion, superstition –and a clever narrative around the place of women in Edwardian times. What’s not to love?

Before: After:

• Window Cleaning

• Gutter Cleaning

• Conservatory Cleaning

• Moss Removal

TAKING ON NEW CUSTOMERS!

CONTACT US TODAY!

Tom Lucking: 07581 070 916

tom@deluxewindowcleaning.co.uk

www.deluxewindowcleaning.co.uk

HERITAGE SKILLS HEDGELAYING

Laying hedges is just one of the techniques which can be used to manage hedgerows. Other techniques include trimming and coppicing. Coppicing involves cutting stems off at ground level to encourage the hedge to regenerate. Left unmanaged a hedgerow will continue to grow upwards and outwards and will eventually become a line of trees.

Where farmers keep cattle or sheep a good hedge is essential – although barbed wire fences can easily be erected they do not provide shelter like a hedge. Hedges are important for our wildlife, environmental, heritage and scenic value. A well-managed hedgerow is thick and bushy, an impenetrable barrier to sheep and cattle and a haven for wildlife.

Cattle will lean against a hedge and make gaps whilst sheep push through the base, hedgelaying prevents this. Cut stems are bent over at an angle, secured with stakes and in some styles binders along the top, so creating a living, stock-proof barrier. Hedgelaying is the only hedgerow maintenance

method currently available which promotes regrowth from ground level and which will ensure the health and longevity of the hedgerow. Once a hedge has been laid regular trimming will keep it in good order for up to 50 years when it may be appropriate to lay the hedge again.

Regional styles

There are different styles of hedgelaying across parts of the UK. Each style has been developed over many years to cope with the climate of the area, different farming practices and the type of trees and shrubs that grow in the hedge.

There are more than thirty styles recorded in the UK plus others in France, Germany and Holland. Each year the National Championship tests the skills of hedgelayers on eight of the main styles in current use.

The ones you are likely to see in the Sheffield Lakeland Landscape area are the Derbyshire and Yorkshire styles.

Please get in touch if you have any community history projects in your area, we might be able to help!

• Groundswork

• Gully Emptiying

Gardener’s Calendar

Top Tip:

May is such a brilliant time in the garden. Time to plant out, sow for later in the summer, take cuttings to give you more plants for free. It can’t get any better than this.

It’s also a good time to prune forsythia to keep a bright bushy shape and plenty of blossom next year.

Tender plants which have been started off indoors can be hardened off now – take them outside during the day and bring under cover at night for a few days then they won’t be shocked into slower growth. You also need to be careful with baskets and containers. They can be planted up as soon as it feels like the frosts are over but have a couple of rolls of fleece handy if it feels like it’s going to be a cold night. If you’ve got seedlings growing in rows or pots thin them out once they’ve got a couple of proper leaves (ie not the little leaves that emerge as they start to grow). This way they’re less likely to suffer from fungus and they have a better chance of flourishing if they’re not having to fight for space.

Watch out for bright red lily beetles. They can attack fritillaries as well as lilies and will very quickly decimate your plants.

You can keep on sowing bright summer annuals in beds – they’ll give you bright colour around the end of July and August when bare patches start to show.

Feed your daffs and tulips with a liquid fertiliser now to encourage a good strong display next year.

NATURE NOTES FROM THE PEAK DISTRICT

AS SPRING ARRIVES THE GARDEN BIRDS STILL COME

From autumn into late winter the garden visiting birds have grown in numbers and diversity. Then, a few weeks ago as the first warmth seemed to arrive, many of the birds reduced. Night-time temperatures make a big difference because if it is very cold then small birds burn up body fat. This needs to be replenished the following day and as a matter of urgency – if they don’t refuel then small birds die. Indeed, this is why our garden feeders become so important in wintertime. However, a couple of cooler nights brought the numbers back up and whilst the titmice (blue, great, and coal tits) have never got back to the highs of a couple of months ago, the finches in particular have been doing very well. Usually, a winter visitor I think the siskins may be stopping to breed locally, with several still on my feeders at any one time. They are joined by greenfinches, bullfinches, chaffinches, and goldfinches, all of which will, it seems, breed in or around the garden.

Jackdaws have returned to nest in a neighbour’s chimney stack, and the local carrion crows have a nest and territory in a nearby woodland. Both species are coming to the garden to feast on the hanging fat-balls. Also in the wood, a chiffchaff started singing in late March almost like somebody just threw a switch and the song ‘chiff-chaff, chiff-chaff, chiff-chaff’ started up. This is not to be confused with the bi-syllabic, repeated ‘seesaw’ of the local great tits. Another loud and insistent call is that of the nuthatches that hold territory and occasionally come to the feeders. At this time of year, the repeated ‘chwit-chwit’ and the loud, ‘kee-kee-kee’ are

very distinctive. Much of the bird activity is now settled on establishing a breeding territory whilst attracting and protecting a suitable mate. But levels of activity will carry on growing as summer-breeding migrants pour in from April onwards. As always, the period from May to August promises to be a very busy time for the songbirds of the Peak District!

Along with new arrivals from the south, many of our winter birds will have departed northwards to their own breeding grounds. This may be the far north of Britain or else back into northern Europe or even Iceland. This is a time of great change, and for birds such as the starling for instance, our winter population includes gatherings of hundreds of thousands or even up to a million birds. Some of these breed locally but many head back across Europe for the summer. In Russia for instance, the return of the starling is viewed as a harbinger of springtime, very much as we await the coming of the swallow back from Africa. Even our population of winter blackbirds mixes those which reside here and breed locally, and a big influx of continental birds from across the North Sea. Of course, once all this movement is settled and the birds have bred, then it will all start over again for the next winter period.

JACKDAW

MALE BULLFINCH

MALE SISKIN

CARRION CROW

BLUE TIT

THE LITTLE RED HEN HOUSE NORTHUMBERLAND

STUNNING HOLIDAY COTTAGE IN WARKWORTH, NORTHUMBERLAND

✽ 2 spacious en-suite bedrooms

✽ A fully enclosed garden

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