July 2017

Raising awareness of what’s on & where to find things locally

Issue 35 July

www.onourdoorstepbaldock.co.uk Baldock, Ashwell, Weston and surrounding villages

Welcome To the July issue of On Our Doorstep.

First of all I would like to apologise to everyone for the huge mistake on the ‘Movies’ page last month, I’ve double checked this month and we are good to go.

Massive congratulations are in order for Knights Templar School who stormed the Shine Student Media Awards. They took home an impressive 5 category wins including 'Most Outstanding Pupil' which was awarded to Bill Bowkett. We have been lucky enough to be able to print articles written by Bill over the last year and we would like to wish him all the best as he heads off in September to study for a politics degree at university.

The sun made a special appearance for the Big Lunch. it was a fantastic success again this year! The Baldock Scouts were on hand to help out throughout the day and they managed to raise almost £500 by the end of the day.

Special thanks to Richard Sell and the team of volunteers for organising and setting up the event. It was great to see so many of you turn up and show your support whilst having a great day in the sun.

Speaking of Summer, the school holidays are not far away now. Take a look at our What's On page to find out what's going on in the local area to keep you and the kids busy. Kicking off the summer holidays in style is The Cricketers at Weston. On 22nd July they are hosting a family fun day and an outdoor cinema event in the evening. The Sundown Film team will be setting up a screening of the hit animated movie Sing! A great

opportunity to relax and reserve your energy before the Baldock Cycle Challenge on the 23rd.

If you haven't signed up already be sure to register online to take part in the Baldock Cycle challenge. You could aim for your personal best, take a leisurely ride with friends and family or why not take part in fancy dress and see how much you can raise for a charity of your choice! It's the second event organised by the Baldock Forum this year and it looks to be a great day. You can choose from either of the two routes/loops available, setting off morning or afternoon (both aprox 30 miles).

As always we would like to say a massive thank you to all the featured businesses who have helped to support us in publishing this issue.

Best Wishes

Paul & Jacqui info@onourdoorstepbaldock.co.uk

Jacqui Calver 07973 788418

A WINNING PERSPECTIVE A er the incredible success at the Shine Student Media Awards, in a moment of indulgence Mr McDermo gives his unbiased view The grand Sta oners’ Hall always makes me think of Hogwart’s. It’s big for start. Colossal in fact. Grand tables stretch lazily from one end to other as hundreds of excited students, in a menagerie of uniform colours, flock on long benches cha ering happily. Ancient oak beams stretch languidly and ornately to swirls of plaster decora on and everywhere you look there are priceless century old works of art, in oil paints, gold and silver. But it’s the windows that make this cathedral of prin ng. Taller than T block and shining with mul tudinous hues, they stand, pictorial giants, telling the story of the Sta oners on all four walls. And we were there. Four students year 8 to 13 and myself.

The schools taking part read like a Times guide to esteemed educa onal establishments: Dollar Academy, City of London School, Manchester Grammar, Durham School, St George’s School for Girls, Dar ord Grammar School and your very own, humble, KTS. It had been a fantas c morning with an array of workshops and talks by the very best in the business. Bill Bowke , Callum Macleod, Vicky Lam and Mots Odumade had impressed numerous professionals with their insight and enthusiasm. At this point I had no idea how much they’d charmed everyone at Shine.

The awards ceremony was perhaps my best hour in teaching – aside from analysing the poem 'Tissue' with 10YB1. I had a strong suspicion Bill Bowke would win Most Outstanding Pupil – so it was not a huge surprise when we got to cheer him up to collect his gong. Bill’s only mistake all year was not ge ng picture editor Sasha Mills to take his picture for the award. Bill’s likeness looked like it was taken for a police lineup of suspects. As I snaffled ‘Most Inspira onal Teacher’, I realised that I’d beaten Bill to worst picture award. Then the whole experience became surreal, par cularly in the incredible 30 degree plus heat. The whole team scampered up as we won ‘Best Home Page’ – incredible, three gongs. Then ‘Best Online’... we had won this in 2016, surely it was another school’s turn! But no, Knights Templar School was read out for a fourth me that day. We were the only school to sit with four awards on our table. However, we were not finished as Sasha Mills awarded ‘Most Promising Photographer’.

I’m so proud of all the members. Sasha could definitely be a professional photographer if she chose that career, her work is stunning. I feel that in Callum Macleod, we have a future star.

However, the top student for 2017 is Bill Bowke . He is a leader and a consummate journalist. The prizes for best

online, best homepage and, logically, most outstanding student are down to his passion, commitment and flair. If he doesn’t end up as Prime Minister, he will edit The Times.

The History Boys and Girls So how, I hear you cry, did we do so well? First and foremost, it’s the current team. The NewsKnight and Newscast teams have worked so hard for these awards. For Newscast, Joe Royal and Sam Collins have been members since Year 7 and are integral in its evolu on.

Everyone who has contributed to both websites have a share in this success. In 2011 we founded KTS Newscast a er enjoying taking part in BBC School Report. Ben Crocker had masterminded the edi ng and became the Newscast film guru.

Luckily, we also had a young journalist called Joel Speed who had some great ideas. Joel proved to be a revela on and became NC’s first editor-in-chief. His early 3D animated tle sequence was pure genius and well worth viewing again. Joel was a real leader who developed and shaped Newscast; it s ll retains his format. Newscast became a produc on line for brilliant presenters and journalists. Rachel Warman and Chloe Newton’s Halloween edi ons were legendary, and Rachel Chris e a brilliant addi on to the team. Amy Wooten and Charlie Chalkley followed them as another stella combina on.

We even had a sense of humour as Robin Hutchinson, Janvi Bhalla and Amy McCarthy proved with our April Fools’ special.

Polly Pritchard and Jessica Fairey revitalised Newscast’s edi ng and brought it up to date. O en pupils would arrive and produce an incredible story like Jake Hayes and Will Budd’s unusual adventure. The las ng legacy of Newscast is to provide a history of the school and its pupils and staff.

NewsKnight ran with Newscast, first as a magazine and then as a website. Bill Bowke took up the reins of designer when it went online. He proved himself to be an outstanding designer with the crea on of the first KTS NewsKnight site. If this wasn’t enough, Bill also took on the role of commissioning editor and led mee ngs. It felt like I’d recruited an online editor from London’s media community. We were also lucky enough to land Ben Buky and Rowan Gray to bolster our team.

A er winning Best Online for Shine in 2016, I strongly advised Bill and the team against a major redesign of the website. They totally ignored my sage words and produced an en rely new website. The whole project must have taken countless hours and we launched despite my con nued affec on for the old site.

No doubt, as Bill picked up the fi h award at Shine he probably thought something like, That Mr McDermo knows nothing! And how right he’d be.

Mr McDermo

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Great weather, great food, great entertainment … what more could you wish for at Baldock's Big Lunch!

That's why the 300 or so who attended on Father's Day, Sunday 18th June had such a good time. And added to that two local scout groups, through the use of their marquees to provide much needed shade and due to the generosity of those who attended, raised something like £500.

As ever with events in Baldock the brilliant community spirit we have in the town shone through, and there are many thanks to be made. So a huge thanks to the following: to the staff of the Community Centre, Taste Café and White Lion for doing such a great job managing ticket sales; to Knights Templar School, the Community Centre and St Mary's Church for providing all the tables and chairs; to Staffy B's for the loan of their van to transport all the required equipment to and from the event; to Chapman's, Terry Cox, The Chilli Lounge, The White Lion and Taste Café for dishing up such excellent food; to G La Roche, brother Rob and their Dad for entertaining us all with their music (an inspiration to all budding musicians in the town!); to Satchell's for the free of use their games, including the very popular bouncy castle, to help entertain the kids throughout the day; to Baldock Fire Station for coming down and letting the kids scramble all over their engine!; and finally to the brilliant volunteers who from 7am to 9pm helped set up and take down the event.

And a special call out to Knights Sports Centre for their brilliant support of the event. They too provided help on the day, supervising the children's games and also letting people know about the many different activities available at the centre that help so many Baldock folk keep fit & healthy. www.baldockcycle.co.uk Richard Sell, Baldock Events Forum

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Through To The Finals July already! This term is always filled with end of year events, school trips and sporting events. As I write this, our athletics team of 40 children are celebrating reaching the finals of the District Sports competition after several weeks of selection and training. The children are always so proud to wear the Hartsfield kit and represent the school and we are lucky in North Herts to have numerous opportunities through the year for children to compete across a wide range of sports.

June saw children from across the school taking part in school trips and the Year 6 PGL trip (known as 'Parents Get Lost' but actually named after the founders of the adventure company) proved to be a great success. The weather was hot and sunny all week and it allowed our children to make the most of the range of activities on offer. The Giant Swing appeared to live up to expectations and the children and staff returned to school with a mass of stories and shared experiences that will ensure the trip is one of their memorable Hartsfield moments.

The last few weeks of term are always bitter sweet.

Everyone is looking forward to the summer break after an action packed term and preparing for the new academic year with new children in new classes with new teachers. It is, however, the last few weeks of primary school for our older children in year 6. Our current year 6 children will be sorely missed as they move onto local secondary schools and I know that many parents will have a tear in their eye during our 'leaver's assembly'.

Personally, I have thoroughly enjoyed my first year as Head of Hartsfield and I am immensely grateful to the support and encouragement shown by the Hartsfield community. In relation to that, we are currently looking for Governors to join our Governing body from September. We are particularly after those in the local community with a finance background or building/ project management experience. Please email our Chair of Governors on governors@hartsfield.herts.co.uk if you are interested.

Philippa Smith - Headteacher

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Mascots win Trophy No. 3

Following on from the report in our June issue, after winning the Isle White tournament the Baldock Town’s U9's travelled to Chelsea’s home ground, Stamford Bridge to play in the tournament Precision Pass Tournament and stole the show again and won the cup.

Next up was the Buntingford Cougars tournament on the 11th June. The boys beat over 20 other teams to win the U9 trophy, scoring over 20 goals and Kian McAdam the goalkeeper managing to keep 3 clean sheets, the youngsters were ecstatic to win their third trophy of the season.

Pinky Parker said “I am so very very proud of all the boys, what an achievement winning 3 trophies!”

“Well done to Kian, George, James, Harry, Blue, Bobby, Imad, Josh and Nathan!!!!”

The boys did the coaches proud again and it was a very happy team of boys and parents who went back to the White Lion to celebrate!

So will they make it 4 in a row at the BTFC Funday and Football Tournament at KTS! The future is looking bright at Baldock Town.

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same town. We both have one son, one daughter (who attend the same school) and one husband!

We also share a fondness of Gin! We have, this last sporting season, spent many an hour on the sideline of primarily a rugby pitch (and on occasion a football pitch too) cheering our daughters on. It was stood on the side-line that I said something really stupid to Julia. I was aware that she had cancer (although at that time not to what extent). She had a cold and I commented “Oh god that’s the worst, a cold is so annoying!” I just didn’t think, but Julia’s response was to laugh “you’re right, they are so annoying – I can’t take anything for it, although spine surgery is up there too!”

Julia told me her husband got chatting to someone in the pub recently, who asked him if he was the man who had the wife with cancer. This disease doesn’t define her – she prefers to be known as Julia!

We share some very basic things in common Julia and I, as briefly outlined above. The difference between us is that 1 in 2 people are diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. I have tried to put myself in her position and I just can’t.

However, it is possible to show our care and support of Julia, her husband and children (not least other cancer sufferers) by sponsoring them doing the Race for Life.

Please read Julia’s story and if you are able, donate a little something. Thank you. https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/juliasfundraising-page-37

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Our annual 'Learning Week', where the children take over the teaching for a week was a real success. The variety of topics chosen by the children was fantastic.

They taught about o r i g a m i , a r t h i s t o r y, martial arts, cooking, chromatography, bike skills and so much more. Pets were also very popular. We had ďŹ sh, snakes, dogs, a pony and a rather grumpy pig within our school grounds over the week. All adults in school were really impressed with the way the children planned and presented their lessons.

We also noticed that the children gave one another kind, constructive feedback about their teaching.

We are now really looking forward to our Summer Fete, which we run in conjunction with Sports Day. We hold these events on a Friday straight after school and they are a real celebration for our school community. FOSS our PTA keep everyone fed and watered and the older children supervise a variety of stalls and games. All children take part in races and we compete in house teams.

In July we will spend a whole week celebrating 'Arts Week'. We will work with visiting musicians and create some works of art. There will be a concert for parents during the week and Year 3 and 4 will visit Knight Templar to play their trombones.

July also marks the end of a busy school year and we will be saying goodbye to our Year Six children. We wish them all the very best of luck in their new schools.

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n O s ’ t a h W Baldock Floral Society's Monthly Meeting

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Thursday 6th July - 7.30 Baldock Community Centre.

The Demonstrator will be Lionel Clark with "Pick & Mix".

Sales Table. Visitors £6.

Jewellery Valuation Day Saturday 8th July, 10am- 4pm - at Fairclough Hall Farm, Halls Green SG47DP. Whether it's for insurance purposes or to gain a deeper insight into the history of your family heirlooms, a professional valuation is a great way to understand more about your jewellery.

4th Summer Beer Festival @ The Fox Friday 7th, Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th July at The Fox, William. Craft beers, Craft ciders, Pimms bar, Mojito bar, live music, BBQ & Street Food.

'A Summer Serenade’ Baldock Community Orchestra Concert: Saturday 7th July 2017 - 8pm at Baldock Arts & Heritage Centre, High Street, Baldock. Tickets £8 Adults, £4 under 18's. Available from Alison Gates: 07760 558550 David Smith: 01438 318568

Farr Festival - Bygrave Wood 13th To The 16th July - Music festival, huge line up, for tickets & more info go to https://tickets.farrfestival.co.uk/

Icknield Quilters 22nd-23rd - 12 noon - 5pm. Caldecote Church SG75LD. Come and admire their patchwork quilts & wall hangings.

Family Fun Day Saturday 22nd July, 12 noon- 5pm, at The Cricketers, Weston. Wipeout course, face painting, beat the goalie, BBQ & Pizza, Bouncy castle and Beer, cider & Pimms.

Baldock Cycle Challenge Sunday 23rd July, a chance to explore the beautiful parishes and countryside that surround the town. There are two loops, each approx. 30 miles each, one starting in the morning, one in the afternoon – or you can do both!

Find out more at www.baldockcycle.co.uk

‘Sing’ Family Open Air Cinema Monday 25 July at 12:00–14:30 at The Cricketers, Weston We’ll have the barbecue ready from 12 (with burgers & hot dogs £5) or you can pre-order your very own picnic lunch box (pizza slice, brownie, grapes & fruit shoot £6.50).

To pre-order your picnic lunch box please email info@thecricketersweston.co.uk.

Baldock Museum and Local History Society Thursday 27th July 8pm at Baldock Community Centre Grazyna Tutak will give a talk called "Sermon in Stone: The story of Caldecote Church " This will cover the history and restoration of the small but beautiful Church of St Mary Magdalene in Caldecote near Newnham. £2 (free to members) If you would like to have your event included FREE in the next issue please email info@onourdoorstepbaldock.co.uk by 15th July 2017.

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5 minutes with... ... Paul Macarthur from Safety & Health Ltd *Who are Safety and Health?

We are essen ally a small consultancy and workplace training company that thrives on offering the personal service to our clients. Having been around for just over 5 years we are rela vely new but have the knowledge and experience in workplace safety to offer our clients a wide range of services. We like to have rela onships with our clients and get to know them and their business. Our philosophy is to basically support our clients whilst providing them the service that they need. *What can Safety and Health offer?

Basically, we are a one-stop shop that can cater for all of your health & safety requirements. Whether that's being there to fill the gaps in businesses where there may not be the in house knowledge, to offering a fully managed package to support businesses that are developing that simply don't have the me.

We will tailor our services to offer packages that are suitable to all businesses. *What sets you apart from the rest?

We, like most offer a personal service. Legisla on and regula on is the same for everyone and we all have to comply. We believe it's everyone's right to be able to go home at the end of the day and it's my thought that our approach is what makes us different from the rest. Having not only a safety background but also a good understanding and experience in to how accidents occur, we adopt the pragma c approach that works for everyone. We are not there to build barriers but to make sure that what we are doing is done safely and find a suitable way that allows you to carry out any task you choose. *.

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Currently our clients range from small business with a few employees to global organisa ons. Mainly dealing with building contractors and produc on warehousing, we also deal with sports clubs, garages, hotels, toilet hire companies and not forge ng the technology developers so, we do have the ability to turn our hands to anything. *Is there anything you can't do?

Oh yes! But on the rare occasion when this does happen we are usually in the posi on where we have an associate that we can either refer the work to or, we can u lise so we can manage the work in order that the client has the piece of mind that the right person is doing the job rather than having to search for someone and taking their chances. *Where are you based?

Right here, in Baldock. A 5-minute walk from the High Street can find you at our offices and high specifica on training centre. *You offer training?

Yes. Our courses include all types of First Aid, Fire Safety, Food Safety, Safeguarding, Construc on Industry Training Board (CITB) courses and Driver Cer ficate of Professional Competence (CPC) for the commercial driver. The list goes on! All of our courses are fully accredited with na onal awarding organisa ons. *What is the most popular course you offer?

In my opinion, First Aid. It's a skill we should all have, par cularly in light of recent events. We can offer you the opportunity to learn a skill that could really make a difference and we would like to offer your readers a 10% discount on all of our courses. All they need do is give us a call on 01462 892 021 and men on 'On Our Doorstep' *What course would you recommend?

We'd need to chat about that one as we don't recommend without first having a chat to establish exactly what your needs are. We like to guide the caller down the right path for them rather than sugges ng a generic one size fits all. *Do you travel to your clients?

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The copy deadline for the August issue is 15th July

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Elaines’ Garden Baldock community and The Prince’s Trust Project join forces to create Memorial Garden for much loved staff member of Weston Way Nursery.

Elaine LaRoche was the Secretary at Weston Way Nursery for 27 years and sadly died, suddenly, from cancer in April this year. On Thursday 22nd June a garden in her honour was unveiled at the School.

The heart-warming venture, completed by a team of seven young people from the Prince’s Trust (on a 12 week self-development scheme) were between the ages of 17 and 24 and included two ex-pupils who attended the nursery during Elaine’s time there. What makes the project even more special is the community response. It was an undertaking supported by Tapps Garden Centre and Baldock Beer Festival amongst others with a great response from the local community who donated money along with pots and plants.

The colourful garden allows Elaine’s memory to live on within the nursery. Situated behind the staffroom, the garden also allows the staff, whilst on lunch and in their spare time to look out upon it.

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Baldock Gardens

By Graham Tapp

Tapps, The Baldock Garden Centre

July 2017.

Last month I wrote that the day after I finished writing my piece, it was expected to rain, effectively ending the very prolonged winter dry period, it did exactly that, it came down in the proverbial cats and dogs, torrential heavy rain for hours, we did not get the worst of it, Kent had a storm so bad that it was regarded as the most severe in living memory, the Suffolk and Norfolk coast had lightning so bad that it was said to be like daylight and localised floods did no end of damage.

We have had rain on and off here, but nothing like what we should have had and the soil moisture deficit is still very low standing at 49 to 53% of the long term average (the long term average is the rainfall average from 1961 to 1990) as you can see we need a lot of rain to catch up, records from our borehole indicate that it is dropping 5mm per day approximately 6 inches a month.

Through June I have had many visitors, requesting identification of all sorts of pests and diseases, so I thought it would be a good idea to discuss some of them and to give some idea of how if possible to cure the problem, so in no particular order I will name the problem and then a way of curing it, not necessarily the quickest cheapest.

Woolly aphid, these aphids are most unsightly and messy, but very unlikely to get to such a large population to kill plants, you will see them as a fluffy mass usually in the branch joint's leaf axis and in rough bark, sometimes you will see them in the soil around the main trunk of trees eating at the roots. Insecticides can be used if they are deemed to be a problem an organic soap solution can be used, the best thing to do is prune out the largest infestations and burn them, coming to our aid with these pests are hover flies, Lady birds, wasps and lacewings so don't ever kill them not even the wasps.

Scale insects, The ones that generally cause the most trouble look like muscle shells may be dull red to brown in colour, the young hatch from eggs and are known as runners or crawlers depending on what part of the country you hail from, they are the initial instars (first young) hatching from eggs, they have functional legs and will run about looking for a good source of food to attach to, some will be blown in the wind with the hope of finding a food source, most feed on their host plants sap and slowly starve that part of the plant of valuable nutrients, most scale insects are immobile in their adult stages having lost their legs and are usually bought in on infected plants, Adults can be wiped off most plants but it is a disgusting job to do making an awful mess, generally the best control will be chemical working best on the runners or crawlers, two or three applications may need to be used on the adults, you will not be able to tell the dead from the live adults until you squash them. " yuck " they crack and pop just like that famous breakfast cereal.

Red spider mites, these are not the small red spiders we see running about on or around our plants, but a very much smaller and nastier mite almost microscopic in size, they are so small that most people wouldn't be able to see them or know where or how to look for them, the signs that they have been at work is a fine web mesh around the edges of the plant leaves and a general mottling, if really bad a falling of the foliage. Glasshouse red spider mites can be a very serious pest from March onwards sucking sap from the host plant eventually causing death if not treated, most are becoming resistant to some chemicals, but the good news is that a biological control is available in the way of predatory mites and midges, good house keeping helps so keep the area clear of old plant material, keep the humidity up by spraying water onto the leave, this will not get rid of them entirely but will help keep them under control.

Nutritional problems are being bought in for identification, most are turning out to be just trace elements being in short supply, this would be caused by our local soil having a very high pH, very alkaline, Folia feeding can help and using an ericaceous feed and or compost will lower the pH, what is soil pH? I hear you ask! the simple answer is that it is the acidity level of your particular soil, for best results it generally needs to be neutral, soil Ph levels have a scale from 0 to 14, 0 being acid and 14 being alkaline, both ends being extreme and would not support plant life, 7 is regarded as neutral and would be the recommended level for our general growing, unfortunately we are looking at levels of 8 to 9.5 so ericaceous plants will really struggle.

Some nutritional problems I have seen have been very severe and the plants are looking really bad, this is mostly due to very poor feeding and or using cheep compost in baskets or troughs, good feed for your plants costs very little but will give long flowering or fruiting from very healthy plants suffering from very few problems, why spend a lot of hard earned cash or your time buying or propagating plants and then not feeding them some hearty food, as I've said before you wouldn't do very well if you had nothing to eat except porridge 3 times a day all summer then imagine that it was reduced every mealtime by one spoonful until all you had was an empty bowl.

Now having discussed feed/nutrition and available water we have a couple of infections that mimic both, the worst of these being the wilts, bacterial or fungal they block the water conducting tissues causing the lower leaves to wilt hence the name, in early stages and cooler times the symptoms look very similar to feed related problems, as the season moves on and the temperature rises the plant will show leaf wilt further up the main stem, most people who don’t know what it is will think it is a lack of soil moisture the deficit I spoke about earlier, thinking that the plant was dry will water and water until it is flooded also they will over feed, as the temperature rises higher the infected plants will collapse completely, there is no readily available cure and I would suggest that you try and grow wilt resistant varieties as it can take many decades to clear from your soil, we have it here on the farm, we have the verticillium type that can take up to 30 years to clear.

I hope this has been helpful and not to scary, enjoy the coming summer, cheers Graham.

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a p p s Our pick of this month’s must have downloads Clippy - IOS Make gifs and short video clips from any video on the web! Easily add text, emojis or s ckers, on top of the gifs and clips. You can use any keyboard you'd like!

Share with your friends anywhere you'd like Speak & Translate- IOS & Android This is an indispensable voice and text translator that allows to communicate effec vely in any corner of the globe. Instantly speak 54 languages and hold wri en conversa ons in more than 100 languages!

Three Good Things - A Happiness Journal - IOS It’s been shown that if you write down three good things that happen to you everyday, your happiness and posi vity increase. A happiness journal, enables you to do exactly that with a simple user-interface.

Puls 2 - - IOS A relaxa on app featuring scien fically proved breathing techniques and a futuris c breath visualiza on that help you reduce stress, fall asleep in just 60 seconds, improve your sleep cycle.

PubSpek - IOS The worlds first applica on that gives you feedback on your presenta on and helps you pinpoint core issues related to public speaking! Great tool for Students, Business Speeches, Class Presenta ons etc.

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Stylish, Versatile & Efcient Imagine a stylish, versatile and efficient way of living with the addition of S:CRAFT interior shutters in your home.

Shutter styles and materials Every home can be transformed by interior shutters which suit all ages and styles of property. From the sleek contemporary look of full height to continental café style, there are a broad range of shutters for windows and doors.

Whether you are thinking of finishing off a regular square window, classic bay, conservatory, or something with a more unique shape, we help bring your vision to light with plantation shutters, made to measure, just for you.

More than just a window covering, shutters add a personal touch to your home, also working well for wardrobes, patio doors and room dividers, helping you make the most of both space and light.

With made-to-measure shutters, you can achieve the look you want from the size of your louvres to the position of your tilt rod.

Think of your home transformed with premium, made-tomeasure shutters from the widest possible choice of materials, colours, textures and finishes. Shutters are renowned for their versatility and quality of finish, made to fit your space. From MDF and hardwood through to water resistant ABS. Choose from a variety of appealing colours and styles to match your interiors. Effortlessly maintainable, shutter materials also help insulate your home for both sound and temperature.

Your windows and budget will help determine what style and material you choose, as well as how you want to best use your living space. You might want to allow in as much as light possible, or privacy might be your main priority.

Perhaps you need a robust material for a high traffic area of the house, or you want the elegance and soft touch of a hardwood shutter.

Although white shutters are the most popular choice there are a range of colours and finishes to suit every interior with 28 paints, 20 stains, and a custom colour option to choose from. All S:CRAFT shutters receive six coats of paint or stain, and a UV There is a growing range of shutters on the UK market and it's important to find out about the construction process for peace of mind. Shutters will be a timeless fixture in your home and you want to be confident that you are investing in a quality product that will be resilient to temperature fluctuations and cope with dayto-day usage for years to come. Premium S:CRAFT shutters are highly engineered at the world's largest shutter factory that uses mortise and tenon joints for stability.

All S:CRAFT shutters are completely made-to-measure for the perfect fit. When you're ready, contact Finesse Interiors your specialist S:CRAFT PARTNER who will be able to help advise you on the best options.

Let us inspire you with the styles, materials and colours to get premium, made-to-measure shutters just as you want them.

Finesse Interiors 01462 896046 JULY

2017

23

National History ‘On Our Doorstep’ A town as old as Baldock has more history than being founded by the Knights Templar and the Kayser Bondor stocking factory that is now a large Tesco's. Tucked away against the south-east corner of St Mary the Virgin church, there are a collection of gravestones enclosed within iron railings.

The graves are of Rev. John Smith, Rector of the church from 1832 to 1870, and his family. Rev Smith was the first to decipher the complete text of the Diary of Samuel Pepys (others had previously deciphered sections of it). Smith laboured on the Diaries for three years, from 1819 to 1822.

His transcription, which is kept in the Pepys Library, was the basis for the first published edition of the diary, edited by Lord Braybrooke, released in two volumes in 1825.

This unique literature is of major significance as a record of the Pepys years. They were published as the 'Memoirs of Samuel Pepys', Secretary to the Admiralty in the reign of Charles II and James II composing his diary from 1659 to 1669 - most notably covering the 1666 Great Fire of London.

Local resident Adam Higgett points out that Pepys actually visited Baldock in September 1661, though he didn't appear too impressed; “we took horse and got early to Baldwick [Baldock]; where there was a fair, and we put in and eat a mouthfull of pork, which they made us pay 14d. for, which vexed us much.”

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2017

WESTON

If You Go Down To The Woods Today!!

All the children who attend the nursery are having the We have been making the most of our wonderful woodland garden and the weather has been good to us so far this year for all events.

Grandparents' Day was a great success with over 130 grandparents coming to the nursery to share the experience with their grandchildren. They were able to participate in a number of activities to include: painting, role play, puzzles, water-play and using the interactive white board. At the end of the session the children got together in the garden to sing some of their favourite songs. The grandparents joined in with the much loved train song. One grandparent commented, “A really lovely morning with so much to see and do. It's obvious how much care you take with each child. Thank you.”

We took part in the Rotary Open Garden's event as part of the Baldock Festival. It was good to welcome so many people from the Baldock community into our gardens. They were able to see the thriving growing area, newly fenced throwing area and magical woodland trails.

Recently we hosted a training event for early years' practitioners in Hertfordshire to learn more about Forest Schools. We all had the opportunity to participate in a number of activities and games designed to build selfesteem, communication skills, independence and confidence through an appreciation of the natural environment.

opportunity to experience a Forest School session this half term. They are taught how to handle risks and most importantly to use their own initiative to solve problems and co-operate with others.

The Annual Teddy Bears' Picnic saw well over one hundred children attending with their teddy bears and their parents. The weather was wonderful and Phill Perry entertained all the children. It was the perfect setting for an afternoon picnic.

Jane Millett - Headteacher

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Do You Love Baldock?

Have you got any spare me?

Do you want to contribute to the town's community events?

Baldock Events Forum has the following vacancies and are looking for suitable people to fill them as soon as possible. If you think you have got what it takes and would like to be a part of the organisa on that helps community events happen in the town, please send a CV to Jim McNally at jim.mcnally@sky.com. We want to appoint people as soon as possible, but it is important that we get the best people for the town.

Town Centre Manager Richard Sell has decided to stand down from the role of Town Centre Manager for personal reasons. We would like to thank him for the great job he has done in organising the first event run by the Forum, The Big Lunch; this event a racted the largest number of people ever (more than 300) and was acknowledged to be a massive success. We are looking for someone to take over this role as soon as possible; please see below for more details.

This is a part- me, paid post, with a salary dependent upon the successful applicant's skills and relevant experience. The main du es are top organise and co-ordinate an annual calendar of community events, some of which will be run by other groups in the town while others will be run by the Baldock Events Forum.

The events the Forum are currently responsible for are: Ÿ The Baldock Beast Half Marathon (February) Ÿ The Big Lunch (June) Ÿ The Baldock Cycle Challenge (July) Ÿ The Baldock 10K run (Sept/Oct) Ÿ The Baldock Christmas Fair (December).

Events Director This is a strategic voluntary post offering direct support to the Town Centre Manager, par cularly in the area of community events.

Fund Raising Director This is a voluntary post and the holder will co-ordinate fundraising ac vity on behalf of the Forum, to ensure the long term viability of the company and its adherence to the company's community and charitable ideals.

Both directors will be members of the Baldock Community Forum CIC, (trading as the Baldock Events Forum) and part of the company's board. The company is a Community Interest Company, which is not for profit and all money generated will be directed either towards charitable purposes, or to promote future community events in Baldock.

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2017

The icon is back Nokia 3310 Nostalgia reborn for the smartphone generation Ask anybody which mobile phone they owned at the beginning of the 21st Century, you could pre y much guarantee that the answer would be the Nokia 3310, a handset which was considered a turning point in the mobile phone industry, where a company brought a product to the market aimed squarely at the masses. A phone that was durable, func onal, had an outstanding standby me of 10 days and was fun! Yes, the 3310 rocked 4 games, fun ringtones and Xpress on covers in a vast array of colours and designs.

The Nokia 3310 had something for everyone in the days when the iPhone was merely a twinkle in Apple's eye. A er selling over 126,000,000 units, it went on to be replaced by much more feature rich alterna ves and eventually the keyboard was dropped en rely to be replaced by touch screen smart phones that we see today.

Now, almost seventeen years later, the Nokia 3310 has returned. The black and white five line display has been replaced by a 2.4 inch TFT colour display, it now supports a MicroSD, has a camera and can play MP3 music either through its speaker or included headphones. Ringtones are no longer Monophonic, but now boast polyphonic and MP3 support. It's also quite a bit smaller and lighter that the original 3310 and doesn't feel quite so durable. It s ll rocks very impressive talk and standby me which would make most smartphone owners green with envy, in fact whilst iPhone and Android users will be recharging their devices late in the evening, Nokia 3310 owners can relax knowing they might not need to find a charging socket for up to 30 days, even with heavy use the phone will manage 22 hours talk me!

Don't get too excited if you are expec ng to get all the super features of your touchscreen phone. No, this is aimed squarely at the budget marketplace. You won't find Wi-Fi or GPS support and the available apps are limited to say the least (although fans of the original 3310 will be delighted to find 'Snake' has returned in its more advanced full colour glory! The phone also has a inbuilt camera for both s lls and video, you will need to plug in a MicroSD card to use these features and the camera will only capture 2MP images on a pre y basic sensor.

Internet is available, but only 'Edge' speeds, however you simply don't need 3G or 4G speeds these networks allow because the technology of the phone doesn't make use of it.

Limited web and social network func onality like Facebook can be found using the included Opera web browser, but don't expect anything more than the most basic surfing experience and email is only available if your provider supports it.

With all this said, the Nokia 3310 isn't looking to replace the touchscreen smartphone industry, but what it does do, goes some way to adding a bit of 'cool' to the low-cost entry level phone market. It's a welcome cheaper alterna ve to excessively expensive smartphones and it really looks the part.

Nokia is now in the hands of Finnish start-up HMD, a company formed specially to take on the mantle of one of the most legendary names in the mobile phone industry. The 3310 forms one of four new handsets announced this year, the others more 'tradi onal' Android powered smartphones.

You can pick up a Nokia 3310 in four bright colours for around £49 to buy the phone outright. Add a low cost 'Sim Only' contract of an even lower cost Pay and Go sim and you are away. More informa on and photos of the 3310 can be found at www.thegadgetman.org.uk

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SlimmingSandra World Recipe Lloyd Supplied by

Turkey and Vegetable Skewers Kebabs look and taste delicious, they're speedy to cook and a firm favourite at every barbecue... plus our special oriental marinade makes these kebabs even more moreish!

Ingredients

Method 1. In a wide ceramic bowl, mix the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sweet chilli sauce and ginger together. Add the British turkey to the bowl, toss to coat well and allow to marinate for 15-30 minutes or overnight if time permits.

2. Preheat the grill to medium-high.

3.Thread the British turkey pieces and vegetables, alternately, onto 8 metal skewers. Place the skewers in a foil-lined grill tray in a single layer and pour over the marinade.

4. Place under the grill and cook for 12-15 minutes, basting with the marinade and turning frequently, or until the British turkey is cooked through. Alternatively, you can cook them in a preheated oven at 200°C/180°C Fan/Gas 6 for 20 minutes, turning a couple of times during cooking.

5. These skewers can be eaten warm, or let them cool then pack into an airtight container for a picnic and eat at room temperature.

Serves: 4 Cook time: ready in under 30 minutes plus marinating

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200ml dark soy sauce/tamari 1 tbsp rice vinegar 1 level tbsp sweet chilli sauce 1 tsp peeled and grated root ginger 400g skinless turkey breast steaks, cut into bite sized pieces Ÿ 1 red pepper and 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and cut into bite sized pieces Ÿ 8 spring onions, cut into bite sized pieces Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

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2017

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Tag Rugby Summer Camps Tag Rugby Summer Camps Back At Letchworth RFC! The camps offer the opportunity to have fun, be active, improve rugby skills and make new friends. They are aimed at children aged 6 to 12 with no previous rugby experience necessary. Tag Rugby is a non-contact sport that will help your child develop their rugby skills, improve confidence and puts the FUN back in the fundamentals. The days will be full of enjoyable games, all under the watchful eyes of DBS checked, RFU qualified coaches. Competent swimmers aged 8 and over will also be taken swimming including water slides at North Herts Leisure Centre.

The cost is £75 per player per 3 day camp. To find out more or to book a place contact Richard Sell t: 07919 216806 or e: richardsell@btinternet.com .

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rich.humphreys@btinternet.com T: 01462 612033 M: 07738 246568

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Regular maintenance Garden Make-overs Jungles tamed Patios Fencing Turng Planting Articial grass Decking Driveways Pressure washing of patios and drives

Making Learning Fun

Bouncy Castle Hire

Once again this year the children are following the life cycle of butterflies.

Our caterpillars have just arrived and we are very excited to watch them grown and change to be released later this term.

We also enjoy a visit from the Baldock Fire Fighters as part of our 'People Who Help Us' theme.

The Nursery children have been enjoying their weekly trip to the Hartsfield Early Years playground. We are lucky enough to have a strong relationship with the school who kindly allow our children to visit and experience the excellent facilities once a week during this term. For children who will be attending Hartsfield in September this is one of the many way we help them make the transition to school.

As the end of the year approaches we have a number of fun events for the children and their families to enjoy. The Nursery Sports Day is a morning of great fun. The children get to show off their skills in lots of different sporting events and of course the Mum's and Dad's are not left out! We also have our end of term picnic for all our children, the relaxed atmosphere is a perfect way to start the summer holidays If you are still looking for a Nursery or Pre-School place for September please contact us on 01462 896322. We offer early drop-off, late pick-up and lunch club, most childcare vouchers are accepted and Nursery children are guaranteed morning sessions

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Valuation Day at Harriet Kelsall On Saturday 8th July 2017, Harriet Kelsall Bespoke Jewellery is holding a Valuation Day at their Hertfordshire Jewellery Centre.

Whether it's for insurance purposes or to gain a deeper insight into the history of your family heirlooms, a professional valuation is a great way to understand more about your jewellery. Shirley Mitchell, an independent valuer and member of the NAJ Institute of Registered Valuers, will be carrying out valuations between 10am4pm (prices start from ÂŁ90). Simply contact Harriet Kelsall Bespoke Jewellery to be advised on the times available.

Alternatively drop your jewellery to the Halls Green Studio in advance to be advised on prices and for your item/s to be allocated a time slot on the valuation day.

Harriet Kelsall Bespoke Jewellery will then get in touch around a week to ten days after the event to let you know that your jewellery and paperwork are available to collect.

If you're planning to bring along inherited jewellery that is in need of a new lease of life then why not make the most of the day and book a consultation with one of the company's expert designers to chat about the possibility of a simple alteration or re-design.

Harriet Kelsall Bespoke Jewellery, Fairclough Hall Farm, Halls Green, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, SG4 7DP 01462 790565. hertfordshire@hkjewellery.co.uk

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MARTIN BALL PLASTERING

JULY MOVIES JULY 7th - SPIDER-MAN:The Home Coming Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, a young Peter Parker/Spider-Man returns home, where he lives with his Aunt May, under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark. Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine – distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man – but when the Vulture emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened.

JULY 11th - WAR FOR PLANET of the Apes This is the third chapter of the critically acclaimed franchise, Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel.

After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker side and begins his own quest to avenge his kind. Caesar and the Colonel are bought face to face and pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of the planet.

JULY 14th - CARS 3 Blindsided by a new generation of blazing-fast cars, the legendary Lighting McQueen finds himself pushed out of the sport that he loves. Hoping to get back in the game, he turns to Cruz Ramirez, an eager young technician who has her own plans for winning. With inspiration from the Fabulous Hudson Hornet and a few unexpected turns, No. 95 prepares to compete on Piston Cup Racing's biggest stage.

JULY 21st - DUNKIRK In May 1940, Germany advanced into France, trapping Allied troops on the beaches of Dunkirk.

Under air and ground cover from British and French forces, troops were slowly and methodically evacuated from the beach using every serviceable naval and civilian vessel that could be found. This is the story how, 330,000 French, British, Belgian and Dutch soldiers were safely evacuated.

JULY 28th - WISH UPON Jonathan Shanno gives his 17-year-old daughter Clare an old music box that promises to grant its owner seven wishes. Skeptical at first, but Clare soon becomes seduced by its dark powers when her life starts to radically improve with each wish. Everything seems perfect until she realizes that every wish she makes causes the people who are closest to her to die in violent and elaborate ways.

Be careful what you wish for...

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Covering Baldock, Ashwell & Weston JULY

2017

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Flystrike: Keep your rabbit safe It is very important that rabbits are kept in clean, spacious living condi ons.

Try and stop any build up of urine or faeces as that will a ract flies. Rabbits need plenty of space to move around and exercise preferably away from its toile ng area, and any uneaten fresh vegetables should be removed daily.

Rabbits that are very young, very old or have health problems including dental, gut or paralysis issues are more suscep ble to fly strike.

Ini ally, rabbits can hide fly strike quite well as the eggs and maggots are usually buried deep in the fur. “Bluebo les and greenbo les are a racted to soiled fur or infected skin to lay their eggs” the most common site for this to happen is around the rabbit's anus and scent glands. A rabbit that is overweight, unwell or suffers from joint problems will struggle to keep this area clean. This can then lead to the fur being ma ed with urine and faeces, which a racts the flies. The eggs that are laid will hatch into larvae (maggots) in approximately 12 hours and will start feeding on external debris. Once this has been consumed, the maggots will con nue to eat sound skin and ssue, o en tunneling under the skin layers. This is very uncomfortable for the rabbit and will progressively get more painful as the condi on progresses. Ini ally the rabbit will be very restless, however as me goes on it will become unwell, inappetent and lethargic. The combina on of the sore skin and the maggots creates a very pungent ammonia smell. This is because the maggots release proteoly c enzymes into the ssues to cause cell death and decomposi on. These toxins can cause serious shock, Sep cemia and if le untreated, will o en be fatal.

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For treatment to be successful, the rabbit needs to be seen by a Veterinarian as soon as possible. Depending on the severity of the case, the rabbit may have to be hospitalised for intensive therapy and monitoring for a few days. Rapid removal of the eggs and maggots is impera ve to stop any further damage. This can be done by shaving the fur off the affected areas.

As always, preven on is be er than cure there are a number of things on the market that owners can use to help reduce the risks. Owner awareness of fly strike is vital to help everyone to be able to recognize the signs and know when it is an emergency that needs Veterinary a en on as soon as possible.

For any further advice then please contact Royston Veterinary Centre on 01763 242221 or Baldock Veterinary Centre on 01462 895579

Chicken

TIKKA PANCAKES

Ingredients 125g plain oor 1 medium egg 300ml semi skimmed milk 1 green chilli (deseeded) 1 tsp ground cumin 2 tbsp sunower oil 2 boneless chicken breasts 150g jar Patak's Tikka Spice Marinade 70g natural yogurt.

4 salad onions 4 cherry tomatoes 8 rocket leaves or salad of your choice 4 tbsp of Mango Chutney 4 tbsp of low fat Greek yogurt

Method 1. Mix together a 1/4 jar of Patak's Tikka Spice Marinade and 70g natural yogurt 2. Dice the chicken breasts and add to the paste and yogurt mixture. Cover and place in the fridge for a few hours, or for best results, leave overnight to develop a fuller avour.

4. Sift the our & a pinch of salt together in a bowl. Make a well in the centre & add the egg & half the milk. Whisk together well then stir in the rest of the milk to make a smooth batter. Stir in the chilli & cumin, refridgerate for 30 mins.

5. Reserve 1 tbsp of the oil, then heat a little of the remaining oil in a shallow frying pan & add a ladle full of the batter, swirl it around the pan & cook for 1-2 minutes each side until golden. Transfer to a plate and keep warm. Repeat with the remaining mixture to make 8 pancakes, separated with sheets of kitchen paper.

3. Heat the rest of the oil in a large nonstick frying pan & cook the chicken for 10-12mins, turning occasionally, until cooked through. Divide the chicken between the pancakes, putting it on one quarter of the pancake, & top with the salad, onions, mango chutney and yogurt.

Fold up the pancakes to make parcels and serve.

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SPECIAL OFFER For all new Conveyancing ma ers taken during JULY and AUGUST 2017

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MC P umbing and Heating

We are Gas Safe Registered and use Kamco products and machines for our Power Flushing We are based in Baldock and offer a reliable service

Winners of the Best Art Gallery in Hertfordshire!

Gallery 1066 are very proud to be voted the Best Art Gallery in Hertfordshire 2017! The art gallery is situated in the old coaching town of Baldock and were thrilled to receive the award and would like to thank you all for your continued support and everyone who voted for the gallery.

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Answer-phone on both numbers & will return all calls

The team at Gallery 1066 work hard to bring exciting and new artists into Hertfordshire – by offering a wide range of contemporary ne art to suit all tastes and pockets. The gallery is known for hosting red carpet artist events throughout the year for acclaimed international artists such as Fabian Perez, Todd White and Doug Hyde (to name a few) attracting over 200 visitors to Baldock.

With over 3000sq. ft over two levels the gallery offering a diverse range of genres and subject matters making Baldock the art destination in Hertfordshire. Gallery 1066 is proud to house household names such as Jack Vettriano and Sherree Valentine Daines whom has been commissioned by the Royal Family, as well as the likes of Fabian Perez who last year was commissioned by none other than the Pope! As well as highly established artists the gallery is continuously introducing new exciting emerging talent and unveiling their latest collections.

Gallery 1066 is a gallery with a difference offering a personal and friendly service as well as private commissions, home approval service, corporate space consultancy and of course a complimentary drink whilst you enjoy the gallery!

Thank you again to your continued support and we hope to welcome you to the gallery soon! www.gallery1066neart.com JULY

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Toftlund Vistit

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Toftlund is almost unknown in Britain, difficult to find on maps and non-existent according to Wikipedia UK. However, it has become very well known to many in Baldock since the first visit of Rotary members in 1970.

Toftlund is a small town in the Southern half of Denmark, with a population of just 3,300, a school, a few hotels and lots of agriculture. Nevertheless, it has a very active Rotary Club, which has been twinned with Baldock's Rotary Club for the past 47 years.

Each 4th year Toftlund members visit Baldock, with the reverse trip taking place in the 2-year midterm. Over that time many friendships have been formed and strengthened.

May 2017 saw the latest visit, right in the middle of the Baldock Festival. This gave our visitors the chance to share our lives and experiences. In addition the Stotfold Steam and Country Fair was under way, which added more sights and pleasures.

During each exchange visit a “Challenge” is practised, where each Club re-enacts a competition dating from an incident in 1983 when the Danes challenged the Brits to climb a flag pole. On their home territory the Danes should have won easily, but the Brits had a secret advantage in that their challenger, Dr David Woolven, had been in the Royal Navy and scaled the pole as if it had been a ship's mast. Since then the Challenge has been repeated during each visit and (curiously!) the Home team still always loses.

In 2017 the Challenge was to hit the target with suction darts and, as expected, the Danes took the prize home [picture] with a convincing win.

In 2019, the Baldock Rotary members are determined to win it back.

After a few very enjoyable days the time came, sadly, for our friends to return home. Till the next time, descendants of King Canute!

Humphrey Pickering(Baldock Rotary, Chairman – International)

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JULY

2017

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