On Our Doorstep Baldock November 2022

Raising awareness of what’s on & where

to find things locally

Baldock, Ashwell, Weston and surrounding villages

We can't believe it's November already, just one more issue until Christmas!

We hope you all had a great October and half term week was packed with fun and Halloween haunting. We're looking forward to seeing all the elaborate costumes come to life.

October was definitely the tipping point for the weather this year. From mild days and blue skies to thunderstorms and puffer coats in a matter of days. Time to get the hats and gloves out ready for the upcoming fireworks displays. It was a particularly eventful month for us with Jacqui having an accident whilst cycling and ending up in hospital. She's been in for just over a week at this point, still unsure when she'll be able to come home. It will be a long road to recovery but she is slowly on the mend but with a fractured pelvis and stitches in her head it’s going to take time.

As we look forward to November, we'd love to see what you're getting up to. Our monthly gallery page is the perfect place to showcase what you've been up to or spotted in the local area. Keep tagging us and sending in your local photos, we'd love to feature as many as possible!

If you, a family member, or friend have a birthday coming up why not give them a shout out in the next issue of the

magazine. The sooner you send in your request, the more likely we can feature your birthday announcement. Aim to get you request in by the 16th of the month for the following issue.

Lastly, we wanted to make a shout out of our own. A massive thank you to all the local businesses who advertise with us and keep this publication in print. Supporting local is what On Our Doorstep is all about so when you use a service or business featured be sure to let them know you've spotted them in the magazine.

Until next month

Paul & Jacqui

info@onourdoorstepbaldock.co.uk

Disclaimer

or 07973 788418

All adverts and editorial are printed in good faith, however On Our Doorstep Baldock cannot take any responsibility for the content of adverts or services provided by the advertisers. Reproduction on whole or in part of this publication without prior permission from the publishers is strictly prohibited.

In rugby circles promoon to a new league is oen viewed with some trepidaon as each new step gets ever higher and harder .

However to date Legends have defied the odds with a great start to the season in Anglian Regional 2 and lie second on equal points with old rivals HAC ( Honourable Arllery Company ) having taken some notable scalps from the county of Essex along the way .

Letchworth began their campaign against old friends Brentwood who handed out the worst beang in the clubs history some five years ago . It was soon clear that the visitors were going to be in for a surprise if they thought this would be an easy victory against the new boys .

No less than seven of the Letchworth team played in that defeat and this me revenge was sweet with a fine bonus point victory 48-37 to open their account .

Then it was off on the road for two good wins in successive Saturdays over Woodford 40-19 and Chingford 64-19 to give real confidence before the match with Eton Manor at Legends Lane on the first day of October .

This as seen as a real tester as the Manor along with Southend and HAC were being seen as the teams to beat .

The game proved to be a real crackerone of the best seen at Legends Lane in many a year . The home side were trailing 19/0 aer half an hour but a great score by number 8 Tom Lewis pulled it back to 7/19 on the stroke of half me . The second half was all Letchworth bayed on by a massive crowd and following an early try in the second half they crossed the whitewash aer seventy eight minutes to e the scores . A hard conversion was missed but in the last minute there was a chance for Letchworth to snatch a result with a penalty from the ten metre line . Alas it dried agonisingly wide but everyone agreed a draw was a fair result between two sides barely separated by a sheet of bronco !

Then it was back to Essex for an encounter with Thurrock at the edge of

The Season So Far

the Thames estuary . The Grays side have always proved a tough nut to crack and despite their lowly posion they had the best of things aer the first twenty five minutes leading 13/7. However a great solo try by out half Josh Sharp who danced through five defenders to score under the scks steadied nerves and Letchworth went in 14/13 ahead .

The first ten minutes of the second half were a real purple patch for the visitors who ran in three glorious tries ….the wingers galvanised like a coalion of cheetahs ….and it was effecvely all over. Final score 20/45.

And so on to the seaside and another real challenge with Southend for so many years the dominant side in this part of the country

This proved to be a really pulsang game with the lead changing hands and drama right up to the last minute .

Southend took an early lead with a fine wingers try but minutes later flying Letchworth wing Tatenda Gurure proved he could do the same and doed down aer gassing past two defenders . Southend went ahead with an unconverted try before the visitors struck twice before half me to lead 19/12 at the break .

The first ten minutes of the second period were very uncomfortable for Letchworth as they leaked two so tries and with a large home vocal support it seemed a home victory was on the cards However as with the Eton Manor game this side do not believe in quing . They struck back through Gurure who was in the form of his life . Southend edged ahead again but once more Letchworth pulled things back to 33/33. In the seventy fih minute the home side were awarded a penalty and their metronomic kicker sloed it to make it 36/33

By now the home support were jumping up and down but there were a few more twists to come

Letchworth were awarded a penalty on half way by Southend dissent meant a further ten metres and now it was kickable. However Josh Sharp bravely elected to go for the corner and the resulng driving maul resulted in a five pointer and Letchworth edging it 36/38..,.. Sll it was not over …. A last minute penalty to Southend and by their man's standards eminently kickable ….

Happy to say it dried wide and short and delight for the large crowd of travelling faithful … not so much for the bucket and spade brigade !

So a great return aer six games … five bonus wins and a draw with 27 league points obtained

Once again the coaching from Baz Basra and his team has been immense along with backs player coach Josh Sharp who has been outstanding at out half all season and has really linked well with Tirherington , Davies and Vuki in the centres

Harvey Howman has enjoyed a fine spell at scrum half always on the look out to ferret a try or two

Young Ben Palmer has had an encouraging me at full back and will no doubt mature into a fine player and happily Chris Gibbs is also returning aer injury whilst as menoned Gurure is running into fine form on the wing ably backed by Josh Staddon and Kyle Toomey on the other wing .

Up front new men Tom Lewis at 8 and Jack Askham blindside / hooker have added to the strength of the forwards along with recent recruit Ali Gibbs .Skipper Liam Fis at openside has led by example while regulars Robinson , Rambo Hughes , Turner , Stokes , Tate . Wilcock and Peasnall have all performed with gusto up front . There was even a cameo from Baz Basra against Thurrock

So all in all it's shaping up to be a great season .., but don't just take my word for it …. The following home games are at Legends lane before Christmas

Nov 5 th HAC k off 2.15 Nov 26 th Stowmarket 2 15

Dec 10 th Woodford 2 pm

Dec 17 th Chingford 2 pm

Admission is free …. You won't regret it!

Club Captain Oscar ROBINSON in full flight

Friends of Weston School are looking for stall holders for our Christmas fair & Santa’s groo - at Weston village hall, Maiden street, SG4 on Sunday 11th December...11-3.30pm Stalls are £25 each with table & 2 chairs supplied.

Please send me an email, if you would like to join us, friendsofwestonschool@gamil.com. We are especially looking for stalls that will appeal to children, toys, Christmas gis and a face painter would be very welcome!

(No food /sweet stalls required)

‘Coats for Kids’ is a safe place where families can come for a free, preloved Winter coat for a child at zero cost and with zero judgement. We want to help share preloved, good-quality coats to kids that need a coat for Winter. Helping support families in a completely confidenal way.

For Coat Requests

Please join the Facebook Group www.facebook.com/groups/coats4kidsh erts to make coat requests for your child/children. Please include ages, genders and your locaon. I will do my very best to provide the best match possible and will arrange collecon. All messages are treated with the strictest of confidence. You can also email me at laurahhazelton@gmail.com.

For Coat Donaons

We’re in need of preloved, clean and

good-quality children’s winter coats, all ages and sizes please. Please bring them (bagged) to one of the drop off locaons listed below. Your kind generosity will help keep children warm this winter in our local area.

Drop Off Locations For Donations

Ÿ 6 River Court, Ickleford, Hitchin, SG5 3UD. (White House at the end of the cul de sac with a grey front door. NOT “6 The Embankment” as you come into the road)

Ÿ

Graveley Primary School, Ashwell Common, Graveley, Hitchin SG4 7LJ

Ÿ St Mary's Church of England Academy (School), Rook Tree Lane, Stoold SG5 4DL

Ÿ 35 Eskil Paddock, Stoold SG5 4TB

Ÿ 46 Thompson road, Arlesey, SG15 6AY

St Marys Sporting Success

It has been a busy two months at St Marys Juniors, especially with our world famous sport! We have already had 55 of our year 5 and 6's play for our school football teams against other schools. We had great success winning all but one of our games, scoring a whopping 38 goals and only conceding 9.

We also took 7 teams of 66 children to two Tag Rugby Fesvals. Our players showed incredible teamwork and had beaming smiles for days leading up to the event, during the event and then aer the event when we celebrated the success.

Our year 5 & 6's have also enjoyed their first experience of Netball,

playing in a friendly tournament witha few other schools. They really enjoyed themselves and are eager for some more matches.

We are only 6 weeks into the school year, and I am extremely proud to say that 80% of our year 4-6 children have already represented the school in a sports event this academic year! We are all so proud of them.

This number will increase over the coming months with table tennis, rapid fire cricket, football, X country, basketball, dance and mul sports events occurring before Christmas.

At St Marys, sport is a way of life.

Sco Hagland PE Coordinator

QUIZ NIGHT

In November, there will be a Quiz Night in St Mary's Church Hall. This will be held on Friday 18 November at 7.30pm.Why not come along, test your general knowledge and see if you can win a prize? You are welcome as an individual to join others or come along as a team of 6 players. This fun event is priced at £5 per person and a Pay Bar will be available with complementary nibbles. Tickets available from www.cketsource.co.uk/fosm

In December, there will be a Christmas Tree Preview event in Church between 5.30pm and 7pm with a fesve Recepon of wine and canapés. Please join us to enjoy and admire the beauful Christmas trees and don't forget to enter the 'Guess the Weight of the Cake' compeon as part of our Friends of St Mary's display! The winning guess receives the prize of a delicious Christmas Cake!

Well we haven't got an old mans hat, but we have got a sleigh. Father Christmas assisted by Baldock Rotary Club will once again be visiting the streets of Baldock and surrounding villages during December and making a collection for local charities

Baldock Rotary Club Christmas Sleigh 2022 Route

Day & Date Town/Village Route 6 p.m. to 8 p.m

Tuesday 29th November

Baldock

Baldock (Clothall Common) Thursday 1st December

London Road Page Close

Aleyn Way Merchants Walk Constanne Place

Chiltern Road Beechridge Close Woodland Way London Road (right)

Chauncy Gardens Malngs Close Walnut Avenue

Monday 5th December

Bygrave Road Larkins Close Salisbury Road

Holroyd Crescent Park Drive Park Close

Icknield Way East Bramley Close Grosvenor Road

The Rowans Alder Close Mansfield Road

Ringtale Place Barley Rise Laxton Gardens North Road Grosvenor Road West

Ashwell Street Angels Meadow Kingsland Way

Silver Street Back Street High Street

Friday 2nd December Baldock Baldock Ashwell Weston

Baldock Baldock (Clothall Common)

Football Close Jackson Street Orchard Road

Baldock

Tuesday 6th December Wednesday 7th December Baldock

Thursday 8th December Friday 9th December Monday 12th December Tuesday 13th December Wednesday 14th December Thursday 15th December Baldock

Friday 16th December Monday 19th December

Baldock Baldock

Stane Street Hurst Close Rive Close

Anchor Road Turpins Way

Eisenburg Close Rhee Spring Orwell View

Ivel Way Pryor Way

Bear Lane Dixies Close

Tuesday 20th December Bygrave

Park Street Park Cresent Church Street Simpson Drive Thurnall Close

Iredale Way Rye Gardens

Byrd Walk

Nighngale Way Elmwood Avenue Mons Avenue

Wynn Close Weaver's Way Mercia Road

Baldock Mill Lane Maiden Street Munts Meadow

Clare Crescent Willian Way Weston Way (Top) Pembroke Road Pinnocks Lane Clothall Road

Forge End Damask Green Road Friars Road

The Sycamores Norton road Bowmans Green

Westell Close Bush Spring Kings Mount

Limekiln Lane Penfold Close Roman Lane

Pond Lane Brewery Lane Hitchin St & The Gardens Weston Way Chilvers Bank

St Mary's Way The Rise

West Avenue Hopewell Road

Downlands Sale Drive Kings Mount

Ashtons lane Hillcrest London Road (le) South Road South Close Providence Way

Other Cul-de-sacs Hitchin Road Damask Close

The Leas Weston Way to Willian Rd

Coachmans Lane Letchworth Road

Baldock Rotary would really appreciate any me you can give to assist Father Christmas and the Elves with the street collecons .

‘Christmas is coming,the goose is getting fat Please put a penny in the old man's hat’

Connectivity That Inspires

BMW 545e xDrive M Sport

If you're feeling flush but also want to save money with a hybrid, the BMW 545e xDrive M Sport could be the ideal soluon to your dilemma.

Yes, there are plenty of ways to save cash if you're in the market for a 5 Series. Notably: don't buy the 545e model. But where's the fun in that?

With a 0-62 me of under five seconds, an electronically limited top speed of 155mph and all the creature comforts you'd expect from any BMW; you can beat the ridiculously high fuel prices thanks to a three-digit mpg figure.

Being the M Sport model, you get athlec styling inside and out, plus bigger alloy wheels, which help bridge the gap between the more execuvelike SE model and the full-beans big daddy M5.

BMWs aren't always the preest cars nowadays, but the unmistakable sight of the kidney grilles at the front should be sufficient to impress your mates.

Even more notable is the acceleraon, which pins you back in your seat. Plus, the four-wheel drive provided by the xDrive system offers a tremendous amount of grip to hold the car to the road in the bends.

Mind you, the 5 Series is sll a reasonably big saloon, so it has its limits and can feel cumbersome when trying to throw it round a corner.

The excellent eight-speed semiautomac gearbox, featuring paddleshiers behind the steering wheel, means you can channel your inner racing driver if desired. However, most will probably leave it in fully automac mode most of the me.

It is not all about noise and performance, though. The hybridity means it can do over 30 miles of engineless, electric-only driving.

On the inside, the cabin is typically BMW – excellent kit, supreme comfort and very nice, indeed. And, as a size up from the 3 Series, you'll also benefit from more room.

You have also got the pleasure of using BMW's excellent iDrive system, which connues to be a class leader.

The 545e is lovely to sit in, enjoyable to drive, and it's effortless to operate the infotainment system. It goes like hell - and it's cheap to run, too.

What more can you ask for?

Fast Facts

BMW 5-Series (545e) xDrive M Sport trim as tested: Ÿ Max Speed: 155mph Ÿ 0-62 mph: 4.6 seconds

Ÿ Combined mpg: 166-128mpg (WLTP)

Ÿ Engine layout: 2998cc turbocharged six-cylinder petrol with electric motor

Ÿ Max Power: (PS): 394 Ÿ CO2: 50g/km Ÿ Price: £62,555

I oen marvel at the wonders of the human mind, especially mine. The random thoughts, lost memories, and 'clever' ideas that just pop in there when least expected. You may recall the conversaon I had with mine a while ago regarding garden furniture. Lately, my inner self has been quite acve at nighme. The moment I turn off the light and snuggle under the duvet it seems to ping into life. Somemes its like Simms in there, I've built several houses, always geng stuck on a minor detail like how I would design the stairs, or how many windows to have in the Kitchen. Somemes I have solved world poverty.

The worst me is when I'm woken at 3 am by the gentle whisper of, “Nicky, are you awake, I need to talk.” We then discuss the value of the pound for an hour whilst I juggle with needing a pee and not wanng to leave my warm pit.

This week I have been plagued with collecve nouns of all things and how the spoken word differs from the wrien one. Its rare for my mind to speak to me with any context, it just fires quesons at me and expects a fully formed debate, but this one was different as I knew where it came from. I was watching some rugby online last Saturday aernoon, the commentary was so bad it was funny. I will point out here that I wouldn't have done the job, so fair play

to the person giving it a go. But it was dire. Towards the end of the match, the commentator said something that I had to replay several mes, this thing miffed me so much I had to seek advice on what was meant by it. It transpires that 'a coalion of Cheetahs' means that the commentator was simply stang that the opposion was a collecon of the fastest animal on earth (quite right too). My nighme mind needed to discuss this with me. It had a point when it told me that the spoken version of that collecve noun had a quite different meaning. We then went on to discuss the various connotaons of that choice of words. We moved on to the perils of text and emails, nong the fact that as people can't see you, they can't always understand the context behind the statement so there for can lead to misunderstanding. We moved swily on to Collecve nouns for random things, which I admit I just had to google. I'm not sure that a bevy of ladies is as acceptable as it once was, unless you're talking about my daughter and her friends on a Friday night.

Now, if you're reading this think she's lost the plot and needs medical help, there is a reason for wring all of the above.

I am oen asked how I think of things to write each month. Depending on what has happened during the month or how

I'm feeling about something, it is quite easy. Other mes my Muse seems to hide like a thief in the night and no amount of coaxing can bring her out. This is when I rely on my wonderful army of friends whom I appeal to for ideas. On occasion someone who thinks they are clever, challenges me. This month's arcle was brought to you in response to one such challenge. I haven't made it up, the nightly conversaons do happen, as they happen to all of us at some me. I was asked to include a parcular phrase. I might have to return the favour. I do love a challenge, when someone says those words 'I bet you can't,' Well, that's when I roll up my sleeves. If I'm honest, those four words have goen me in more trouble throughout my life than any other. “Hey! Nicky, I bet you can't dive off the second board.” I was up there for ages before I plucked up the courage and belly flopped from a thousand feet into the murky waters of the Kiaser Bondor pool.

Oh! To those of you that have a wicked streak, I'm over it now, I am not about to become the new Anika (eighes TV for those who are young) only literary challenges for me from now on.

The film focuses on a young couple who visits an exclusive destination restaurant on a remote island, where the acclaimed chef has prepared a lavish tasting menu, along with some shocking surprise."Deadline notes, Ralph Fiennes plays the world-class chef who sets it all up and adds some unexpected ingredients to the menu planned.The action follows one particularA-list couple that takes part.

The film follows 12-year-old aspiring artist Paul Graff as he struggles with school, makes a friend in his classmate Johnny , clashes with his parents Irving and Esther, and takes solace in the love of his grandfather.The 1980 presidential contest looms in the background and at one point, kids at a posh private school start an impromptu chant for Reagan at the mere mention of elections.

Strange World centers around the appropriately named Searcher Clade, a member of the Clade family whose legendary exploits cement them as the greatest explorers to ever live. Searcher, however, doesn't appear to have any interest in following his family's footsteps, instead he opts to live a quiet life as a farmer instead of the overwhelmingly loud, unpredictable, and dangerous life of an adventurer.

Armed with a sharp mind and a vivid imagination, Matilda Wormwood is unafraid to embrace her curiosity. While her loathsome parents are happy to content themselves with trashyTV and crooked schemes. Matilda loves nothing more than to lose herself in her beloved books. Harnessing newly-discovered powers and her remarkable courage, she battles the odds and is met with miraculous results.

Baldock Gardens

By Graham Tapp

November 2022.

Winter is on its way with all the cold weather that brings wind, rain, frosts and snow, well, perhaps not snow; we don't get much of that anymore, not in Baldock. When we moved here on December 1st 1986, we had a long freezing winter with quite a large amount of snow and six weeks of icy weather. It started in the first week of February; On the day, I was due to drive up to Yorkshire just west of Leeds to collect an order of rhubarb crowns, about 30 sacks a transit van full. I duly collected the hire van from Vincents in Letchworth Garden City, drove it back home and prepared to set off early the following day.

The alarm clock duly sounded, up I got and set off, nothing untoward except just a bit cold. I remember stopping in a service area some way up the M1, probably for breakfast; I'd always been partial to full English, so a good opportunity not to be missed, that, a cup of coffee and something like a mars bar and or a kit kat and got going again. I can't, after all this time, remember exactly what I had, but being a creature of habit, I could bet good money on it.

Not many miles further on, it started to get cloudy and dark then I realised that the traffic on the opposite carriageway was at a standstill. The south side of the motorway was blocked due to a crash in the snow that was falling some miles behind me. I arrived at the farm to collect my rhubarb and was asked with complete surprise, "how I got there?" They had seen the forecast and the news I hadn't. No time for coffee, I was set on my way home with the instruction to use the A1 as the M1 was closed entirely; with a great deal of luck and help from the snowplough men, the A1 was just about drivable all the way back to Baldock, and as you can guess there wasn't much here. We did get the snow the next day, and I had more trouble getting the van back to Letchworth than I had driving all the day before.

The rhubarb was stored in the barn, which is now part of the garden centre. The cold weather went from bad to worse, with temperatures dropping to minus 12 centigrade and the wind chill,

undoubtedly made it low enough to penetrate the straw insulation and tarps over the crowns.

It took six weeks to get warm enough for us to be able to try planting. Unsurprisingly, nearly all of them were dead. A few were still alive and came out of dormancy successfully and produced a minor crop. Such is the fun of horticulture. We have had nothing like it since. A little snow, but thankfully, no low temperatures like that.

Winter temperatures have now risen to the point that plant dormancy can be affected, and possibly reproductive productivity, i.e. fruit production. Some varieties of fruit need between 100 and 1000 hrs of temperature below seven degrees centigrade- to enable them to produce viable, reasonable and profitable crops.

This is an accumulative level of temperature and does not have to be all together day after day. So as long as the hours below 7 degrees add up to what that particular variety needs, it will be fine; many can tolerate hours more than their requirement but may run into problems with late flowering if it keeps them dormant long into spring. Other issues could be deformed fruit, pests and diseases.

It was believed by researchers that once the plant's chill requirement is satisfied, it will come out of dormancy; this is now known not to be the case, and there are now three or more stages or types of dormancy being deeply discussed. I am not going into this here, but basically, it has been found that the temperature has to slowly and progressively warm up. I won't go into specifics as they are different and complicated for various species.

If the post-chill period warms up too slowly or suddenly stops and it goes cold again, dormancy break will also stop; this is when we growers all hold our breath with trepidation because if we then get cold wind or a frost, our crop for the year will be lost or at the very best damaged.There are several times through the year when open-grown fruit crops can be compromised. The next stage will be post-dormancy; just as the fruit buds start

to swell (generally, the fruit buds are the big fat ones), this is when the Bullfinches and Sparrows like to pick them all off, not to eat them particularly, but it is part of their mating ritual and just because they can.

Once the buds that have survived swell to the point that the scales that protect them start to come apart and small openings appear, this is the time when the spores of mildew, scab and many other fungal diseases get in, just waiting for the correct time to infect our valuable crop. We, though, are waiting for them and spray with a protective fungicide a few days before the buds are about to open.

Back in the 1950s, '60s and '70s, professional fruit growers used to spray tar oil on frosty cold old days in autumn as a winter wash and then in the spring, mercuric oxide from bud burst to pink bud stage to give protection from all sorts of bugs and fungi. Spring used to be a much longer, drawn-out affair back then. As a young lad, I can remember the farm men spraying the fruit trees with ice forming all over the back of the sprayer and, of course, all over them. The protection for them while driving an open tractor was a fisherman's sou'wester with leggings and a hat if they were lucky. Sprayer men's skin would turn different colours depending on what they were spraying, a dusky greyish yellow for tar oil, Redish orangy yellow for nicotine and fungicides, red for some insecticides and a dull white for Mercuric oxide and DDT. This is a bit of a generalisation, but we could mostly tell what was going on when Dad appeared at tea time.

The places to look were his ears and neck, sometimes, his wrists if the gloves didn't fit properly; my Sister and I were told by our Mother not to say anything or laugh, Dad didn't mind, but Mum did. I don't think she liked going out shopping with someone who looked a bit like a rainbow; unfortunately, that's how it was living on a fruit farm back then.

Its Beginning To Lk A L

Like Christmas….. Is It??

Many people are going to struggle more than ever this year thanks to the cost of living crisis. I know we are all going to have to ghten our belts over the next few months/year but there are those who don't have any belt le to ghten. So I'm asking (yes I know I do EVERY year..) if at all possible can you find that lile extra to put together a hamper, either for a family or an older person.

If you have done one of these before, you know what to do and thank you!! If you haven't then all you need to do is put together a lile hamper consisng of things that you may like to see in a Christmas Hamper. Please keep in mind that it will be for people who may not be able to afford day to day things let alone goodies for Christmas. So as a guide I would suggest pung half sensible things (pasta/beans/soup etc) and half Christmas goodies. Because aer all IT IS CHRISTMAS!!

So if you want to be part of this amazing project then contact me on 07901 821403 and we can discuss details.

Thanks for reading and Happy Christmas!!!

Karen

For most people their home is the biggest investment they will ever make and the things they keep in it are their most prized possessions.

As your local broker our role is to select the policy most suited to your individual needs. Ensuring peace of mind for our customers is at the heart of what we do.

To make sure your most treasured possessions are properly covered contact the Emperor of insurance

SHIRES IN THE COMMUNITY

Dear Baldock Residents, Aer all the years of working as the Community Champion for Shires Funeral Directors, I am never surprised by the level of support we receive for the many appeals we have throughout the year.

Every month we have supported either a local or naonal charity with an appeal they may have to raise vital funds, as well as sponsoring events, donang raffle prizes or our me to offer support. The last couple of years have been somewhat quieter, but we are nonetheless, sll bowled over by Baldock's generosity.

This year we celebrated our 10 year anniversary of being within the community and it was lovely to look back on the appeals we have supported, school dresses for an orphanage in Nepal, Easter Eggs for Children Centres, Bras for Cancer Research, Christmas gis for Salvaon Army and Feed Up Warm Up and books for Teens Unite.

Baldock is such a wonderful community and we would like to thank you once again for the connued support. If you know of any local or naonal charity that we can help during 2023, please email me at community.shires@cpjfield.co. uk

Thank you once again, Donna Kenne CertFAA Funeral Home Manager and Community Champion Shires Funeral Directors

I richmonds-coaches.co.uk

How charitable gis in a Will can reduce the amount of Inheritance Tax that has to be paid.

There are many reasons why the making of a Will is delayed, and it can feel like a daunng prospect even thinking about it, but the fact is that a Will is the only way to ensure your wishes are honoured aer your death.

There are a lot of benefits to wring a

Reducing The Amount of Inheritance tax to be Paid

Will, but one you may not be aware of is that a Will can reduce the amount of Inheritance Tax that has to be paid on your estate.

As a general rule, anyone who owns a property which will ulmately be le to children and or stepchildren/grandchildren (as part of the 'pot'), can leave £500,000 tax free.

In the case of a married couple, in most cases where assets pass to the surviving spouse on first death, the allowance of the first to die can be used on second

passing – so a married couple (or those in a civil partnership) can leave £1million tax free (this taxfree allowance would be less where the total estate is over £2million).

Inheritance Tax is paid at 40% on anything over the tax-free threshold.

Where the estate is likely to be over the Inheritance tax threshold it can be a good idea to make gis to charity in your Will.

This can reduce the amount of Inheritance Tax that will be paid when you are gone.

Gis to charity are exempt from Inheritance Tax - so these sums get taken off the value of the estate before calculang how much Inheritance Tax is due to be paid.

And…did you know that if you donate at least 10% of your estate to charity, Inheritance Tax is paid at 36% instead of at 40% on anything over the Inheritance Tax threshold?

Once you have provided for your loved ones, you can use your Will to donate money to causes that are close to your heart. Your generosity can live on through you if you leave a gi to charity, and it can also mean that less Inheritance Tax has to be paid!

For more informaon about this, or about making a Will in general, contact A R K Lasng Powers & Wills Ltd (www.arkpowers.com). A local company who provide themselves on looking aer local people. Call them on 01438 746977 or email info@arkpowers.com

BALDOCK CHRISTMAS FAYRE

The Baldock Events Forum are pleased to announce that one of the UK's leading developers of rerement homes, McCarthy Stone, is now a major sponsor of the Baldock Christmas Fayre!

McCarthy Stone is currently building 57 rerement homes at Icknield Way in Baldock and are commied to providing great places to live for the community.

And a great place to be on Saturday 3 December, is in Baldock High Street at the Baldock Christmas Fayre!

Things kick off at 11am, with cra stalls at Baldock Community Centre, the Arts & Heritage Centre & St Mary's Church Hall, which also hosts its annual Christmas Tree Fesval in the church itself, parts of which date from the 12th Century.

At the same me, the fair will open with rides for children, while adults can partake of coffee, mulled wine and Christmas snacks from the Food Court, while listening to live music from local musicians and bands. Music connues on the stage unl 9pm.

The fun connues throughout the day and the Baldock Christmas Tree lights will be switched on by Simon the Snowman at 6pm to complete the day.

There's something for everyone at the Baldock Christmas Fayre – come and join us!

As the weather develops that autumnal chill why not save your heang bills and head on down to the Orange Tree every second Wednesday where BALDOCK folk club is in full swing with a great variety of folk and roots music . Doors open at 7 pm with music from 730 to 10pm finish in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere . All bar one of the acts are Free with a hat donaon and raffle so bring a bit of cash for that

Recent visitors from London and Cambridge have commented how this lile club “punches well above its weight “ and every me produces a high talent and variety of entertainment

So why not give it a try ? You will meet new friends enjoy great music and also KEEP WARM!

BaldockFolkClub

The programme to Christmas is as follows

Ÿ Wed Nov 2 Janice Burns and Jon Doran … two mega talented young musicians from the North East support brilliant blues guitarist Chris Wright ( £10 on night )

Ÿ Wed 16th Lizzy Hardingham … beauful singer songwriter from South Herts .., support Rhys Wilson FREE

Ÿ Wed 30 th St Andrew's Special with Robin Campbell's Celc Mash Up and the Tanglers Irregulars plus floor spots

FREE

Ÿ Wed Dec 14 th …Mummers Play with the Barfront Guizers and Barry Goodman plus Viv Lucas and floor spots

FREE

Ÿ Wed Dec 21st ….XMAS MUSIC HALL SPECIAL ….Mahew Cramptons “ Have a Banana show“ plus Carols and floor spots … nibbles and mince pies FREE Plus two Tangler sessions at the Cock on Sunday 13 Nov and Dec 11 at 230 pm to 5 pm FREE

KEEP MUSIC LIVE !

Baldock Rotary Jazz Concert Success

Baldock Rotary recently staged its tradional Jazz Concert at Knights Templar School. The event aracted an audience of 135 who enjoyed an evening of music from the ever popular Apex Jazz band, drinks from a well-stocked bar, and a fish and chips supper.

The evening, coordinated by Rotarian Amandeep Dillon and the Rotary fundraising commiee, generated funds for the North Herts Mulple Sclerosis Society and for St Mary's School PTA, who ran the bar.

Rotary President Thom Odd thanked all those who had supported and parcipated in making the event such a success and one that will enable Baldock Rotary to make a charitable donaon to the North Herts Mulple Sclerosis Society

President Thom concluded by saying that “overall, it had been an extremely entertaining evening thoroughly enjoyed by everyone present and it provided another example of Baldock Rotary Club working in and with the community to generate funds which will be donated to a very deserving charity”.

If knowing more about Baldock Rotary Club and its acvies appeals to you please take a look at our web site, www.baldockrotary.co.uk or contact our Membership Secretary, Paul Redwood tel 07999 350990 or email paul49redwood@gmail.com

Rotarian - Paul Lucke

ROGERSONS REMOVALS

The Benets of Osteopathy

What is Osteopathy?

Osteopathy is a form of manual therapy which takes a whole-body approach to healthcare, it uses diagnosc and therapeuc techniques to improve health across the body's systems.

Who do Osteopaths treat?

Our team of Osteopaths treat a wide range of paents of all age groups form a few months old to those in their 90's.

What do Osteopaths treat?

Osteopathy can treat a wide range of condions including arthric pain, frozen shoulder, joint pain, headaches arising from the neck, neck pain, acute and chronic back pain, lower back pain, sciaca, minor sports injuries, neuralgia, circulatory problems, cramp, digesve problems, and fibromyalgia.

How does Osteopathy work?

Osteopaths use a variety of techniques to adjust the body. These techniques can

include joint arculaon, manipulaon, and so ssue, which increase joint mobility, relieve muscle tension, enhance blood, and nerve supply to ssues and aid's the body's own healing mechanisms

What happens in an Osteopathy consultaon?

During a consultaon the osteopath takes a detailed case history including informaon on your present complaint and your past medical history.

As part of the assessment the Osteopath will assess your posture, mobility of the area you are experiencing symptoms in, and your enre body to idenfy the cause of your symptoms. The osteopath will then explain their diagnosis and a treatment plan for your complaint.

Our Osteopaths

At Amber Health we currently have a team of seven highly qualified Osteopaths.

What our paents say about our osteopaths

“I have been suffering from back pain for a long me and I thought it would never go away. I've been to a lot of different chiropractors etc in the past but it didn't go away. Aer having a few sessions, it was amazing how different I felt! I never thought this day would come – thank you”.

“A fantasc team who helped me recover from some horrendous back pain in an amazingly short me period”

If you are suffering from pain or tension, why not see how osteopathy could help you? To book in with one of our Osteopaths call the clinic on 01462 490 141 today.

It may be helpful to seek Veterinary advice for your pet 6 – 12 weeks before the firework season begins to help you prepare for it, as now days it won't just happen on November the 5th.

Ideally for behavioural advice regarding fireworks you will need to see your Vet a lot earlier around 3 – 6 months in advance.

Dogs (Signs to look out for} Panng & pacing, shaking, growling, finding places to hide

Try walking your dog earlier and making sure they have eaten, close your curtains a bit earlier and put the TV or radio on for background noise. Maybe give your dog a filled Kong to keep them busy, as this may help to distract them and ease their anxiety.

Fireworks & Pets

Cats (Signs to look out for)

Hissing or low grumbling, hiding, withdrawing from you, ears back, and crouching gait

Make sure you keep your cat in if you know a firework display is planned nearby, and as you do for dogs close the curtains earlier than usual, and put the TV or radio on to help reduce the outside noises. Make sure there are places easily accessible for your cat to hide, and provide an indoor lier tray in a convenient locaon, as anxious cats oen avoid toilet visits if they feel threatened.

Small Pets

Rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, mice, ferret and birds all need to be treated with special care when fireworks are being let off. These animals are easily frightened. Hutches/cages and enclosures should if possible be put in a quiet room indoors, or a garage or shed.

Give your pet extra bedding so they can burrow into it to make them feel safe. If you cannot move the hutches or aviaries cover them with thick blankets or even an

old duvet to help block out the flashes from the fireworks and it will also deaden the sound of the bangs, but do make sure there is enough venlaon.

If you have any other concerns or quesons then please call the pracce and our dedicated staff will be there to assist you.

Midjourney - Creating Original Artwork with AI

I've been playing around with Arficial Intelligence Art for the last few weeks and I have to say, I am completely hooked!

Arficial intelligence (or AI) Art is a popular way of creang artwork when you might not be quite so able yourself or you want a clever variaon on the style of another piece.

There are a number of systems available for use, but for this review, I will be talking about an amazing system called 'Midjourney'.

Midjourney is in fact, a research lab that produces an arficial intelligence program also called Midjourney. Midjourney creates or imagines images from text-based prompts. This can be extremely complex or very simple. Midjourney uses a system called 'Discord' to manage its systems, so that's where we enter our prompts.

For the purposes of this review, I type the following prompt:"a very happy person sing in their garden reading 'On Our Doorstep Magazine', photo realisc, highly detailed, incredibly lifelike --test "

Most of the above prompt is descripve text, other instrucons are included preceded by a '--'. In this case, 'test' asks Midjourney to use its most recent algorithms which seem to be more detailed.

Here's the result of that input

millions and millions of images, it has learned the structure of the contents of each of these images in order to know what it needs to produce. Every image it enrely unique.

I decided that I like the first image, so I asked Midjourney to 'upscale' it which adds increased detail.

You can see that detail has increased and the image fills the brief well. One thing to be noced is that MJ doesn't do text very well, so what you have is gibberish, although there are similaries to text.

I then asked MJ to provide me with 'variaons' of this image, it then created 2 new images based on my brief, but using the original as source material.

I didn't think, the results were as good as the original!

To complete my tesng, I changed my prompt to A very happy Keanu Reeves sing in an English garden reading a magazine, photo realisc, highly detailed, sunny day --test --ar 2:3

I changed the aspect radio to 2:3 which would fit on the cover of a magazine!! Here's the result, there is a definite similarity to Keanu, he seems very happy reading the mag!

Blinders, sing in a pub in Birmingham.

Again, it's close to what the character of, doesn't look much like Cillian Murphy, so I altered the prompt again Cillian Murphy dressed as Tommy Shelby from Peaky Blinders, sing in an 1920s Birmingham Pub reading a magazine, photo realisc, highly detailed, sunny day --test --ar 2:3-upbeta

The thing about AI Art is that it leads you down a rabbit hole where you can spend hours creang images. In my case, I have been doing just that and in some cases, had printed posters produced of my (or MJs) work. If you want to see some more examples of what I have created, go to www.thegadgetman.org.uk /some-of-my-creaonsusing-midjourney-arficialintelligence-art-program/ or scan the QR code

You can test Midjourney by vising midjourney.com

See you next me

You can see that two images were produced, both quite lifelike, this informaon is produced on informaon which has been fed to the algorithm,

To round it all off, I generated a new image Tommy Shelby from Peaky Blinders, sing in an 1920s Birmingham Pub reading a magazine, photo realisc, highly detailed, sunny day --test --ar 2:3

Similar instrucons to before, but in this case, Tommy Shelby from Peaky

Useful numbers

Advice

Citizen’s Advice Bureau

Trading Standards Advice Samaritans Councils

North Hertfordshire District

Doctors

Baldock Surgery Dentist

Victoria Place Dental Surgery Emergency Utilities Gas Emergency Electric power cut Hospitals

Lister Hospital Queen Elizabeth 2 EMERGENCY HEALTH Library

Baldock Library Police Police Schools Knights Templar Hartseld St Johns St Marys Infants St Marys Juniors Brandles Travel Arriva Buses

National Rail Enquires National Bus line Vets

Baldock Veterinary Centre Nurseries

Weston Way Nursery Merry Go Round Peanuts Preschool Play Groups Magic Moments Merry Go Round Plumbers

Maben

PE James Window & Door repairs

JML Windows Repairs

Warrens Windows

Campervan Hire

Kerb2Coast

Locksmith

Lock and Glaze

Mobile Hair Dresser

Hair By Jacqui

Funeral Directors

Shires - CPJ Field Baldock

0300 123 4049

01707 354000

03444 111444 0300 300 8136 116 123 01462 474000 01462 892458 01763 313869 0800 111 999 0800 7838838 01438 314333 01707 328111 111 01462 620700 01462 895267 01462 892478 01462 892347 01462 892156 01462 892189

chrismead-roofing@outlook.com

01462 895579

01462 892172 01462 896322 07736 124327

08701 201088 03457 484950 0870 6082608 07709 618434 01462 896322

07949 120911 07816 586777 01462 640307 01462 338676 07973 788418 01462 491149

01438 906300 01462 261401

November Gallery

A Beautiful autumn night- Drew Harrington

Amy felce

Mark Hardman

John Auburn

St Marys tag rugby team

Peppa Pig ballon caught on the fence-Janet MacDonald

Letchworth Rugby Club celebrations Gary Ryall

Sun rise on the Old Wallington Rd Louise Tapp

Helena Dean Instragram favourite

Some of the Baldock RunTalkRun group