Village Garden For the last few years Barbara MacKellar has planted and looked after the garden at 83 High Street, on the site of the old British Legion hut, on which the Memorial seat to Sir Stanley Fordham is situated. Due to failing eyesight Barbara has now moved into Cambridge. The Parish Council would like to thank her for all her hard work in helping to keep Melbourn a pleasant place in which to live. We are now looking for someone to take on this task and will be very pleased to hear from anyone willing to do this.
poetry R.M.R.G.
The advert. In the local mag said “Come and help us clean up your local river and its bed. We’re litter picking along the banks of the River Mel and our grateful thanks Will be due to those of you who collect the rubbish, left behind Along the river and its banks, for others to find. Saturday morning dawned sunny and bright, So we went along to see if we might Help make the River, its banks and pathways clean. We never knew, nor could we have foreseen The friendship and laughter we would come to receive. At the hands of Maureen, Les, Sandra and Steve. These were the dedicated four, Who encouraged us and were quick to ensure We were kitted out with gloves, pickers and sacks, And set on our way along the bankside tracks. Twenty-seven sacks were filled that day, Ready for the Council to take away. The River, itself, just for good measure, Gave up a lot of its sunken treasure… A P.A. system, a Sainsbury’s trolley, tin cans, bottles, lots of balls and, yes, a dolly. Some years ago the River was ‘sorted’ The banks were spoilt and the fast flow of the River aborted. A dredger was brought in, the damage done, The River was altered and its demise begun. This once beautiful chalk bed stream Started to die; choked with silt – it made you scream. But, at last, there was hope in sight For along came ‘the four’ and with all their might, Searched to find out what was entailed, To save the River, where others had failed.
30
www.melbourncambridge.co.uk
The work was specific, not experimental, With rules strictly laid down by the Agency Environmental. The River had to be narrowed, its banks restored, And the problem of silt could not be ignored. The work had to be done organically, All by hand and not mechanically. And so the hard work began, Under the watchful eye of the Council man. We’ve had our fun and laughter too, When one of us fell in and got soaked through. Colin, one day, cried out in alarm That he was wet right through – up to his arm. His waders had sprung a serious leak, And he was feeling far from chic. We pulled him out and watched as he ran With waders full, he looked like the Michelin man. The River was in trouble when the A10 bridge was built, As the Mel there soon became four-foot-deep in silt. To ensure the River flowed with a ripple, not a thud, Colin and Les would push through the sticky wall of mud. It was decided, without a doubt The pile of silt would have to be cleared out. A firm came along with a vacuum type machine And sucked at the mud ’till all was clean. One hundred tons of grit were then raked onto the River bed, Hopefully to encourage fish to spawn, they said. And now, as if fulfilling our dreams, In the River, trout and other fishes can be seen. Now the River flows clear and free, On to the Rhee, the Cam, the Ouse and the sea. At this time our thanks are due, especially, On this, their tenth anniversary, To this happy band, this hardy troupe… THE RIVER MEL RESTORATION GROUP.
