Gardening Hints

April—the busiest and best month in the gardener’s calendar. Plenty of hard and enjoyable work required but if the sun is shining, everything in the garden starts to come alive. It has been a wet, soggy winter, but as the ground dries get your vegetable patch for planting and sowing. Be careful and don’t be tempted to sow the more tender crops in your vegetable patch. We are not out of the woods yet with frosts and damaging cold winds. You can warm the soil up prior to sowing by using cloches or cold frames. It is a good time to chit main crop potatoes to be ready for planting in mid April. If the ground is still wet and cold wait until the ground has warmed up so the potatoes start to grow straight away. Prepare your plot ready for growing runner beans. Make sure your canes are strong and securely fastened and dig in some well rotted manure, ready for planting. Plant onion sets and shallots during April, both of these can be started off in cell trays and planted in the ground when they have taken root. During April sow beetroot, broad beans, broccoli, brussels, cabbage, carrots, kale, leaks, lettuce, parsnips, peas, radish, spring onions, spinach and turnips. Don’t forget too much and feed fruit bushes if you haven’t done already. April is an excellent month for planting fruit trees, bushes, shrubs and perennials. Continue to dead head and feed pansies and primroses during April and May as they will make a fantastic display of colour. Spray your paths and patio with Pathclear to remove weeds and stop further germination for three months. Don’t forget to bring in your empty baskets ready for replanting with summer flowering plants ready for collection from mid May onwards. As always take time out to relax and enjoy your garden with a drink of your choice, mine is still a cold beer. Cheers Source: Nigel, Art Garden Centre

No objection to Buttercross Lane cottages plan

Plans to demolish a house in Buttercross Lane, Epping, and build a terrace of three cottages are not being opposed by Epping Town Council. The latest proposals are a fifth attempt by a developer to redevelop the site after all four previous planning applications were rejected. The latest application is for three three-bedroom 'Edwardian' cottages on the site of 1 Buttercross Lane. The four previous applications were for nine apartments, then six apartments, then six apartments and a house and then one house and two two-bedroom flats. Mr Shaw said only five buildings in Buttercross Lane are in the conservation area, and all were architecturally different. On parking, he said the six parking spaces proposed for the cottages were "an insignificant number" when compared with the traffic generated on Buttercross Lane, to and from the other houses and business car park behind the High Street. He told councillors the development would "enhance the street scene". Local resident David Clarke said it was "regrettable" the existing house was to be demolished as it "conforms very well with the pattern of Buttercross Lane" providing "an excellent buffer between the business properties (in High Street) and the other houses in the lane". Buttercross Lane resident Ken Faulkner added that Buttercross Lane residents had considerable concern over the increase in traffic, especially during the construction of the cottages, and sought support for planning conditions that builders' vehicles should be kept within the site boundary with work restricted to between 8am and 4pm. Deputy Mayor councillor Michael Wright said: "It's taken a long time to get there but at last we are there with a development that looks attractive. "What concerns me is that Buttercross Lane is exactly that - a small lane - and the volume of traffic that goes up there is a problem already. It could be a problem with fire engines, ambulances and the like getting down there, particularly during the course of construction.

The council is to request planning conditions, if approval is granted by the district council, that an additional storey cannot be added to the properties through loft conversions and that front gardens are not to be used for parking.

Robert Stephenson & Hawthorne 0-6-0ST locomotives No’s 56 & 63 in the yard at North Weald Photo: Tony Goulding In early February two additional steam locomotives arrived at the Railway. The locos began their lives in the early 1950s with Stewarts & Lloyds of Corby serving the extensive iron and steel plant at that location. Due to their short saddle tanks and larger fireboxes, which gave them a somewhat ungainly appearance, they became known as ‘Uglies’. After many years of hard work, the whole class of nine locos was withdrawn in 1969 and some entered the heritage sector. The EOR will undertake full assessments of the locos and carry out extensive overhauls before they can enter traffic. It is anticipated that most of the restoration work will be carried out in-house at North Weald over the next few years. In addition, both locos will need replacement fireboxes and this part of the work will be undertaken by an outside contractor. At the time of writing, mid-March, our programme for 2021 is still in the development stage and will, of course, be dependent upon the success of the government’s roadmap out of lockdown. We anticipate our programme will include events to cater for the interests of rail enthusiasts, the general public and the allimportant character events for children. If all goes to plan highlights will include: Steam and Diesel Galas, Vintage Steam, Classic Cars, A Belated Mother’s Day Celebration, an on-train Ale Event, Paw Patrol, Gruffalo, Dinosaurs and Vintage Buses. Please keep your eye on our website for up-to-date details –www.eorailway.co.uk

To put all of this in place we will, of course, need extra working volunteers both on operating days to assist with running trains and during the week to keep our maintenance programme up to date. Adult membership costs just £20 per year and that includes four copies of our 44-page in-house magazine Mixed Traffic, which is packed with interesting railway related articles. If you would like to join please contact our Membership Secretary at membership@eorailway.co.uk We will be pleased to hear from you.

Robert Good Epping Ongar Railway Volunteer Society