CLUB CORNER

Wendover Arm Trust

During December 2020 volunteers from the Wendover Arm Trust planted 420 saplings in the area behind the completed winding hole (photo above). The saplings were kindly provided by the Woodland Trust and comprised a wide variety with Goat Willow, Crab Apple, Hawthorn, Hazel and Downy Birch.

This follows a previous planting of 130 trees near the former pumping station at Whitehouses. They have registered with the "Plant Britain" crusade which was started by BBC "Countryfile" in December 2020.

The Trust has now cleared and re-lined the canal to Bridge 4 and re-watering of this section is planned for the Spring. This will add a further 246 metres to the 960 metres already in water from Drayton Beauchamp. A further 852 metres needs completing to join up with Phase 1 which is fully navigable from the junction with the Grand Union canal.

Considerable costs will be incurred to complete this section and the Trust is seeking funds from various potential avenues.

Nigel Williams

Wendover Horticultural Society

The Wendover Horticultural Society has cancelled the February and March meetings, but remain hopeful that monthly meetings from April and the May coach outing will go ahead as planned. WHS want to try to re-start as early as possible, while at the same time keeping safe. With luck, most people will have been vaccinated and it will be effective by Thursday 1 April, which is the meeting date. Fingers crossed!”

Wendover Bowls Club

In my last little report I was bemoaning the fact that we were missing out on the Club social events over the Christmas period. Well, we did have a party, albeit on Zoom, but a very splendid party indeed on New Years Day. After the initial chaos that is a mark of almost all Zoom meetings we settled down to an evening of quizzes, beetle drives and problem solving. It was good to note that almost half of the total Club membership joined in, which is an indication that the Club spirit is in fine fettle. Belinda Horn did a good job of keeping us in order which must have seemed like herding cats at times. The lady deserves a medal. What I enjoyed most was seeing the faces of all the members that we have been missing over the last months.

Sadly, the Club is still in lockdown with only a glimmer of hope on the horizon with the vaccine. Our annual membership comes due

this month and, though we have been offered a discount if we want to take it, I hope that everyone remembers that there are still bills to be paid and we struggle on with no income. Let's look forward to a sunny and healthy summer.

Don Knight

Aylesbury Choral Society

All who are interested in choral singing are welcome to join Aylesbury Choral Society’s online virtual choir for informal Tuesday rehearsals from 7.30 - 9pm. We are currently learning music by Brahms, Brucker, Haydn and more contemporary popular works. For more information, please contact the membership secretary at moira.membership@gmail.com or the chairman, Chris Dalladay, at acschairman@gmail.com.

John O

BBOWT Chilterns Group in February

We shall continue our popular series of Zoom talks with the warden Phil Townsend telling us about 'A Year in the Life of Aston Clinton Ragpits'. This will be on Tuesday 19 February at 7.45pm. Enjoy great photos of orchids and other unusual natural treasures of this Chilterns reserve on our doorstep. Please book online at bbowt.org. uk/events at £4 per screen.

College Lake may be able to reopen at half term so keep an eye on the latest news online. You will find the situation of each local reserve outlined on bbowt.org.uk so check before you go and please take care to park carefully - there are ten Wildlife Trust reserves within ten miles of Wendover.

Conservation work is unlikely to resume till after mid-February so please check the volunteering pages for the latest information. One way or another, enjoy the fresh air and look out for the first signs of spring like catkins, celandines and joyful song thrushes!

Richard Birch

Wendover Cricket Club

The current lockdown has caused the cancellation of Wendover Cricket Club’s indoor junior training until at least after the February half term; if the situation allows, training will then begin, otherwise outside in April. The club’s new contact for juniors is Viral Patel – tel. 07930 360495 and email wccjuniorscontact@gmail.com and for girls cricket wendoverccgirls@gmail.com.

The fundraising arm of the club is its 200 Club, which holds live monthly draws on Facebook (Everything Wendover group) – January’s top winner was Chris Hunter. Stuart Holcroft and David How are running this section and are contactable at wendovercc200club@ gmail.com.

More info and other contacts for enquiries can be found on the website www.pitchero.com/clubs/wendovercricketclub.

Jonathan Seabrook