ASH WITH WESTMARSH PARISH MAGAZINE

APRIL 2018

60p

Part of the Canonry Benefice of

Ash – Chillenden – Elmstone – Goodnestone

Nonington – Preston – Stourmouth – Wingham

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Useful Contacts

Service Organisation/Name Contact

Emergencies Gas Emergency (24hrs) 0800 111 999 999 UK Power Networks (24hrs) 105 Water Leak Line (24hrs) 0800 820 999

Community PCSO Emma Carmichael 101 or email Emma.carmichael@kent.pnn.police.uk

Non-urgent and other enquiries 101 Community Warden Team 07811 271 299 Neighbourhood Watch Martin Porter - email porter118@btinternet.com

Crime Stoppers 0800 555111 Community Safety Dover 01304 872220 Consumer Direct 01845 4040506 Childline 0800 1111

Kent County Council 08458 247247 Dover District Council 01304 821199 Craig Mackinlay MP 01843 589266 Ash Parish Council Clerk 01304 832909 Citizens Advice (Dover area) 0844 8487978 Social Services 01304 204915 Ash Village Hall Enquiries 01304 851967

Environmental Health 01304 872215 Trading Standards 0845 4040506

Ash Library 01304 812440

Healthcare NHS Medical Helpline (24hrs) 111 or www.nhs.uk Out of Hours Doctor Service 0844 8001234 Ash Surgery 01304 812227 Hospitals - Kent and Canterbury 01227 766877 QEQM Margate 01843 225544 William Harvey 01233 633331 Pharmacy - Ash (Boots) 01304 812242

Education KCC Area Office 03000 414141 Cartwright and Kelsey School 01304 812539 St Faith’s School 01304 813409 Sandwich Technology School 01304 610000 Sir Roger Manwood’s School 01304 613286

Transport National Rail TrainTracker™ 0871 2004950 Stagecoach East Kent Ltd 0845 6002299

~ If an error is noted please inform the editors ~

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Welcome to the April magazine

Inside this issue

What’s On

Church Services

Parish Letter

Poplar Tree

Volunteers needed

Onlooker

Parish council vacancies

Children’s art competition

School news

Ash Horticultural Society

The Ash Society

Pets Corner

April Festivals

English Traditions

April Fools!

Letter to the editor

and much more…

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6&7

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10&11

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13&14

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18&19

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23&24

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Contacts

Clergy

Rev’d David Moulden The Vicarage, Queen’s Road, Ash 01304 812296

Rev’d Nigel Hale 01304 813161

Rev’d Chris Brewer 01227 721530

Benefice Administrator

Shannon Pemberton 07505 331832

This magazine is produced by St. Nicholas Parish Church. We

welcome items from individuals and village organisations. All items should come with a note of the contributor’s name. The editor

reserves the right both to edit and not to publish anything she

receives. Items on church matters do not represent the official position

of the Church of England.

Email copy for the next edition by Wednesday 11 April to

Rebecca Smith at rebeccasmith.ash@gmail.com or

post to Pat Coles at 116 The Street, Ash CT3 2AA.

Products and services advertised have not been tested and are not endorsed by the Parish Church.

Send advertising enquiries to agfoat@gmail.com

Front cover illustration: April Showers by Pat Coles

Please feel free to add some colour

of your own!

Magazine Subscription

Never miss an edition of your favourite parish magazine! To arrange for a subscription including magazine delivery to your door (within the parish) phone Rosemary Lines on 01304 812524.

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What’s On WESTMARSH VILLAGE HALL hosts a Wine and Wisdom on Saturday 28th April. A fun quiz evening with raffle starting at 7.15pm for 7. Bring your own food and drink. Entrance £6 per person, tables up to 8 people.

THE ASH WITH WESTMARSH WI Spring Quiz Night is to be held on Saturday 21st April at 7pm for 7.30pm start at Ash Village Hall. Tickets at £6 can be obtained by phoning 01304 813024 or 01304 813530. Tickets will not be available at the door. Please bring your own food/drink and glasses. THE CHURCH CAFE will be open every Wednesday morning in the church porch from 10am to 11.30am with tea, coffee and homemade cake. A warm welcome and good conversation is guaranteed THE DEAL FOODBANK is at St Nicholas’ Church every Wednesday from 12.30pm to 2.30pm. All existing or prospective clients are welcome. Representatives of the food bank will be on hand to offer support and advice. For more information, telephone 01304 728428. . ASH GOOD COMPANIONS will meet from 2 to 4pm on Tuesday 3rd and 17th April at Ash Village Hall. All are welcome.

ASH PARISH COUNCIL will meet at 7.30pm Monday 9th April at Ash Village Hall Library. Visit www.ashpc.kentparishes.gov.uk/ for details. A CHURCHYARD BASH will take place on Saturday 21st April. Volunteers are needed to mow, cut, sweep and weed in the parish graveyard around St Nicholas Church. The bash starts at 9am with a delicious lunch provided at midday. ASH HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY hosts Sociable Saturday at Ash Village Hall on Saturday 7th April from 10am to noon offering teas, coffees, cakes and bacon rolls. MESSY CHURCH will take place between 3pm and 5pm on Sunday 8th April. The theme is ‘Resurrection and New Life. ASH BOWLING CLUB is holding an Open Afternoon and Shopping Event on Saturday 14th April at the club house and green in Moat Lane, from noon to 4pm.

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Church Services - St Nicholas Church, Ash

1st April Easter Sunday 8am Holy Communion 10:30 All Age worship with Holy Communion. If you have been filling a jar for ‘Catching Lives’ during the period of Lent please bring it to one of these services or pop it into the church during this week. Sunday 8th April 8am Holy Communion 10:30am Holy Communion 3pm -5pm Messy Church ‘Resurrection & New Life’ Sunday 15th April 8am Holy Communion 10:30am Holy Communion. The APCM (Annual Parochial Church Meeting) will take place straight after the service, please attend if you can. Sunday 22nd April 8am Holy Communion 10:30 Holy Communion Sunday 29th April 8am Holy Communion 10:30am Benefice Service at Holy Cross Goodnestone (NB this is a Benefice service, so there will be no 10:30 service at St Nicholas’ Church)

ASH TEMPLEMARS TWINNING SOCIETY are proud to present an evening of French frolics on Saturday 28th April 7.30-10pm in Ash Village Hall. Tickets £5 each. They will be revealing plans for the first Village trip to Lille. Come along and sign up! THE DEAL AND WALMER Handelian Choral Society's Spring concert, England's Green & Pleasant Land, is on Saturday 21st April at 7.30pm in St Mary's Church, Walmer. Tickets are £12, or £6 for students and under 16s, and are available from The Astor Theatre, and on the door. Wine and soft drinks will be available for purchase. ASH BOWLING CLUB is holding an Open Afternoon with Shopping Event on Saturday 14th April 12 to 4pm at the Bowling Green in Moat Lane. For more details see poster page 22.

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The Parish Letter One of the more successful services we had last year was a Songs of Praise service, with high tea after, dedicated to those who volunteer in our church. We called this a service for unsung heroes. The UK Civil Society Almanac for 2017 estimates that 14.2 million people formally volunteered at least once a month in 2015/16. (These figures are for people who have ‘formally’ volunteered – the number of those who informally volunteer must be considerably more). Regular volunteers give on average 11.6 hours per month. Our society would rapidly fragment if we didn’t have so many volunteers. The question I would like to address is this: What happens when we feel we can no longer carry on what we are doing? Let’s put this in a wider context firstly, because it helps us to gain perspective. Not only volunteers, but many professional people, with innate gifts and honed skills, reach a moment when they can’t go on. Marathon runners have the concept of ‘the wall’, a moment in this gruelling race when the body rebels against running any further. The depletion of the liver and muscles produce a sudden feeling of impossible fatigue. The body says ‘enough’, but the athlete keeps running. ‘The wall’ manifests itself in different ways. The seasoned actor gets stage fright; the talented batsman has trouble scoring more than a couple of runs; the author gets writer’s block; the soldier is crippled by traumatic stress; the pilot discovers a fear of flying. The remedies for sudden crises of role differ too. Some are easy: the out of form batsman, or the wordless author, will discover rhythm in time – as the saying goes: class is permanent, form is temporary. Some need therapy, especially if you have uncovered a dormant phobia, like flying, which is a known phenomenon among experienced cabin crew. Some need more than therapy, because deep, psychological damage has been caused, like the soldier with PTSD. Placing our ministry for God, or the common good, in this wider context shows us we are not alone; that there is something deeply human about the loss of function; it is part of our condition. Experiencing it locates us among others, helping us to empathise, to understand the feelings of others. But every profession has its particularities, and Christian ministry is no exception. In fact, as usual with issues of faith, there is a strange quality to it. There are a number of ‘sensations’ or issues which contribute to ‘loss of function’ such as personal failing, personal trauma, personal conflict, personal disappointment and personal bewilderment. However, due to limited space, I would like to focus on one and that is personal failing.

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I use the word ‘personal’ advisedly. Sometimes we do, sadly, bring things on ourselves in life and more self-awareness and the presence of critical friends may help us to see this. However, the curse of the era of radical individualism is the assumption that if something has gone wrong with you as a person, both the fault and the solution lie only with you. Given the culture of individualism, it is likely that a sense of personal failing lies heavily on many. So, here’s some good news to begin with: if we have a sense of failing, we are, perhaps with a degree of irony, on the right path. It reveals that we have self-awareness; that we are pretty good at seeing ourselves the way others see us. Our Christian faith encourages a discipline of personal examination and reflection that questions, but avoids a spirit of condemnation. It is people who lack self-awareness, or any interest in how others might view them, who pose the greater threat in any kind of ministry. The problem with failing in ministry is that the surrounding culture, in which we participate, is unsympathetic to moral failure in others, especially those who aspire to high values, or standards. Though the Church is often thought to be judgmental, wider society is drenched in this trait. This equates to living more by law than by grace. Of course, it is right that the Church and the culture’s expectations of Christian ministers are high, but it should be realistic and gracious too. Even though we fail, it is far better to have a creed to live by and fail it from time to time, in the hope of succeeding, than not. But to risk this, we need grace, not the unsparing judgment of others. However hard it may feel, we have to show our need and vulnerability from time to time. This needs to be done wisely, with people who are confidential and know us. The ability to tell someone that life has got on top of us is an integral component of ministry. Superman, or Wonder Woman, models of ministry are dishonest and have contributed to far too much dishonesty in the life of the Church, where people feel inhibited from telling the truth in case others think ill of them. In Romans 5, the Apostle Paul observes: We boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us. Far from concealing his problems, it looks like Paul boasted about them, because he saw an unbroken line from suffering to hope. It is a fascinating inversion of how we understand the world, where we assume hope emerges from being in a good place, not a bad one.

Reverend David Moulden

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Experience Easter To celebrate the Easter season St Nicholas’ Church are trying something new this year and would like to invite you to ‘Experience Easter’ with us. From Wednesday 28th March to Monday 9thApril there will be 6 Easter Stations placed around the church marking the time from Palm Sunday to the Resurrection. The church is open every day from 9am to 4pm and we hope you will be able to come along

and feel the impact of the Easter message in a new and thought provoking way.

Jenny Taylor

Baptism Archer John Smart-Wood - March 4th 2018

Poplar Tree in St Nicholas’ Churchyard

It is with regret that we have to inform you that the poplar tree in the church yard will be felled shortly as there is concern that it may be contributing to damage to the foundations of a neighbouring property. The decision to take this action has been taken after expert reports and technical advice gathered over the past 3 years. Initially we were required to remove part of a boundary hedge , but this did not ameliorate the damage. We have consulted widely and have been subject to both civil regulations (controlled by Dover District Council) and the Ecclesiastical Courts (Commissary Court of the Diocese of Canterbury). These two authorities apply stringent rules with regard to buildings, trees etc. We are concerned about the loss of wildlife habitat and a local landmark , but there are 68 other trees in the churchyard and we have been ordered to plant a replacement tree - not the same variety as this type of poplar as it would grow to be too large for the area. Lastly, and most important, we are pleased that the matter has been resolved for the occupants of the property, who have endured disruption over the past 3 years.

Jenny Taylor and Bill Vennart, church wardens

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Help needed for the art exhibition The success of this event (May 5th to May7th) over the past years has been due to the tremendous help from many people. Again, the Friends are asking for volunteers to help with setting up during the week before, to steward the exhibition and to run the cafe. They would also be grateful for cakes etc. Please contact Denis and Marian Blaxland 01304 812736 with offers of help.

Church Flower Meeting 2018

Easter Lilies Anyone wishing to donate money for Easter lilies in memory of loved ones please contact Christine Brown or Linda Laslett.

We had our annual flower arrangers meeting last month to organise the rota for the coming year and to iron out any problems or thoughts on how we can improve anything. We would love to have any new helpers if anyone is interested, just please contact any of us named below or come along to St Nicholas Church in Ash on Easter Saturday at 9.30am when we will be there decorating and you will be most welcome. We were very sorry to lose Sheila Bedwell, who has been with us for many years and done a wonderful job through the year and at festival time, but now feels the time has come to retire. We would like to say a huge thank you to her from us all. Thank you also to everyone who does an amazing job all through the year to keep everything running so smoothly. Christine Brown 812651 Mary Evans 813139 Linda Laslett 812564 Rosemary Guest 814012

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Onlooker

A councillor’s view of the Ash Parish Council meeting held on Monday 5th

March 2018.

One of our District Councillors explained the proposed new boundaries for

the District Council. Ash will still be in the same ward as now. The only

change will be as follows. Little Stour and Ashstone will have 2 councillors

instead of the present 3. This is in line with the proposed reduction in the

total number of Dover District Councillors from 45 to 32.To receive the

same service that we have now will mean a huge increase in the amount

of work for each District Councillor. Our councillor also announced that

the threat of parking charges in the village have been withdrawn. Sense

prevails.

An increase of fly tipping around the village was reported including beds

and mattresses. This thoughtless behaviour costs extra money to enable

the relevent council to dispose of this eyesore.

The very cold weather and the snow has led to a great increase in

potholes around the village some of which are inches deep. Also the

quality of the roads has deteriorated generally leaving the surface in a

parlous state. The question is ‘how long will it be before all these

problems are solved’.

ASH PARKING PROBLEMS

One of the issues which is high on any poll that the council has held is

that of car parking. Although the council is very conscious of the problems

especially in The Street, there is no obvious solution. There is no space

for extra parking so the only solutions lie with ourselves. As a community

we must try to be as considerate of others as possible when we park our

cars.

The Parish Council ask everyone to obey the double yellow lines, not to

park so the pavements are obstructed, to respect the needs for deliveries

to the shops which we wish to keep, to make use of your garage or

parking area off road as fully as possible, not to park on dangerous bends

or obstruct the vision of other motorists whenever possible and not to use

your car if you can walk within the village.

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Ash Parish Meeting Monday 23rd April, Ash Village Hall 7.30pm.

This is NOT a Parish Council meeting even though it will be chaired by the chairman of Ash Council. This is your meeting and there will be an opportunity to discuss any topic of relevance to the parish of Ash.

Anyone wishing to contact the Parish Council can do so via Christine Haggart, Clerk of the Ash Parish Council: phone 01304 832909 or email clerk@ashpc.kentparishes.gov.uk or visit the Parish Council website wwww.ashpc.kentparishes.gov.uk

Onlooker

Parish Council Vacancies

Ash Parish Council has 2 vacancies to be filled by co-option. If you are interested in becoming involved on behalf of the local community, please apply in a brief letter or email explaining why you wish to be a councillor. You will be asked to meet the council on Monday 9th April at 7.30pm. Applications must be with the clerk by Friday 6th April. Information about what councillors do can be found on the parish council’s website (details above). If you have any questions please have a chat with the clerk or one of your local councillors. There are some regulations about who may be a councillor. For example you need to be 18 or over, and also a resident or work in the parish, or a land-owner or tenant in the parish, or on the parish electoral roll, or live within three miles of the parish.

Defibrillators in the community Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) will shortly have around 73 defibrillators that they wish to donate to Community groups, charities etc. The units will be free but given on the understanding that from handover maintenance and responsibility for the units stays with the successful bidders. Any groups interested in bidding for one should contact Senior Partnership Manager, Nick Silvester. Telephone: 01622 692121 ext 6140 email: nicholas.silvester@kent.fire-uk.org

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Ash, Cartwright and Kelsey CE School

The past 2 to 3 years have been very challenging for the Ash, Cartwright and Kelsey School. After considerable effort, governors have been fortunate to appoint an excellent new Headteacher in Fiona Crascall along with 6 new teachers. The leadership of the school and the Governing Board are working confidently together to create an ambitious and aspirational school. There is a real buzz of excitement in the school and the children are experiencing, once again, a caring and vibrant place to learn and develop. Our school sits firmly in the community that it serves with an enthusiastic parent-teachers association and real engagement from parents who want to see the school succeed for the benefit of their children. A new social media page has been set up and is run by parent volunteers keeping the community up to date with news and events. Not only is this a community school , but it is also Church of England Aided , where the school’s Christian values of Joy, Creation , Community, Friendship, Perseverance and Forgiveness guide the school journey for all the children, staff and parents. Over the coming months we will bring you news of school activities and progress through articles in the magazine - some of these will be written by the children and the first one appears below. Please do all you can to support our school.

Bill Vennart (Archdeacon’s Nominee Foundation Governor)

Falcons Class Trip On Thursday 8 February, Falcons class (Year 6) took an amazing trip to Harry Potter World in London. Previously the class had been learning all about it and did some outstanding work based around the topic. One of the best were some pastel paintings inspired by Harry Potter and starry night. The day was amazing, we got to see some of the costumes that the actors wore on set. Other things involved seeing the breath-taking props, sets, mechanics and vehicles all used while filming the awesome and much loved films. It was also really fun finding all the “Golden Snitches” along the way and completing our passports. (continued over)

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Another great feature was the awesome “Dark Wood”, which was creepy yet fun, with the Platform 9¾ just a little further ahead leading to the fantastic “Hogwarts Express”. We can’t forget the lovely tasting butter beer which we bought at lunch. Overall we had an amazing day and had loads to talk about to our parents when we got home. All we can say is a huge thank you to the PTFA for paying for the transports which enabled us to go. But the biggest thanks must go to Miss Brown for organising this wonderful experience, and Mr Hayes for helping out and enjoying the trip as much as we did, as well as Mrs Laslett for doing the same.

Finley Parfitt, Falcon’s Class

The Friends of St Nicholas Church

The Race Night in February was again a sell-out and raised a wonderful £1,648. Many people we need to thank as well as those who came to cheer on their horses; Tony Jones, Bill and Linda Laslett, Joe and Ann Stoker, and the many local businesses sponsoring the event. The money raised will be used to improve the church kitchen; refurbishing it and enlarging it. We are having a membership drive, as some members sadly die and some move away. Our new brochure will be available with the April Parish Magazine, in the church or by phoning Ash 812049 or 812736.

Denis Blaxland

The editors of the Ash with

Westmarsh Parish Magazine are

compiling a directory of local clubs

and societies to publish regularly in

the magazine. To have your

organisation or group included,

please send contact name and details to rebeccasmith.ash@gmail.com .

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Ash Horticultural Society

Talk on Madagascar, February 22nd

The members were treated to an excellent talk on the ecology, fauna and flora of Madagascar by Dr Clive Nuttman. He had led parties of conservation students, from mainland Africa to the island over several years and they had made their studies in certain of the habitats.

The island has a land area approximately twice the size of Great Britain with a wide variety of ecological zones, linked to big differences in the annual rainfall from the east to the west coasts.

He explained how the extraordinary wildlife there had evolved over the millennia as the island drifted apart from the mainland as the former supercontinent broke up.

There are some areas of grassland but no suitable animals to graze on them, so quite unlike the savannahs in Africa.

The largest carnivore is the ‘Fossa’ – like a cross between dog, cat and mongoose; it is quite capable of preying on the lemurs.

There is a weird looking hedgehog like creature called a Tenrec – with some yellow coloured spines. A very large rat, happy to stand on 2 feet; almost endearing as it approaches humans without any fear – but sadly close to extinction due to the activities of villager’s dogs.

The Tenrec of Madagascar

The flora of the island is equally remarkable; there are large regions of spiny forests where the shrubs and trees are adapted to a long dry

Its centuries of isolation had encouraged the evolution of unique forms – it is thought that the ancestors of the smaller species of animals could have arrived from the African mainland, drifting on large lumps of vegetation from flooding rivers. But this would not have been possible for larger animals and as a result there are no large carnivores or large herbivores there.

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season of 8 months under great heat and without any rain; then in the wet season there are wonderful flowering plants through the forests, whose flowers and then fruits are a great food source for a range of insects and animals. One of Dr Nuttman’s students, was, after very many hours of waiting, able to take the first ever photograph of a moth species, with an extreme length of tongue, feeding on a flower with an 8-inch long trumpet shape. Such associations between a flower species and its specialized pollinator have co-evolved over thousands of years.

Then there are the magnificent huge Baobab trees which tower over the surrounding areas. Sadly there is a major problem with deforestation, as poor farmers remove the forest to grow their subsistence crops, but as the soil is so poor, it is then used for only 2 years before they move on.

The unstable political situation does largely prevent efforts to prevent such actions, but if only a more stable government could prevail, this island could be developed as a very attractive destination for tourists interested in wildlife and conservation.

Gary Bradbury

Ash With Westmarsh WI

Call for illustrations

Artists from Ash or other parishes in the Benefice are invited to submit illustrations for use in the magazine, and especially for the cover. These might be linked to parish or village events, or to the seasons or month the magazine will be distributed. Please send us your black and white drawings (suitable for A5 or smaller space) or good-quality photocopies of them to Rebecca or Pat (contact details on page 2).

Your Magazine Editors

Our next meeting will be at the village hall at 7.30pm on Thursday 12th April. Eve Muggeridge will be speaking about 'How I Make Stained Glass'. She will bring samples of her work and may have a few items for sale. Members are reminded if possible to bring items for the Food Bank and the Cantercare Charity (baby care items). For further information please contact the president on 01304 241774.

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The Ash Society

Meeting 15th February 2018

Members were disappointed to find that the advertised speaker Carl Willets from the Musick Cabinet was unable to attend due to illness.

His talk was entitled Queen Victoria to Lake Victoria indicating that many of the problems that afflict countries in the underdeveloped world today, once occurred much closer to home!

In Victorian times there were many outbreaks of cholera in London and other big cities.

As quoted there was ‘terrifying morbidity and mortality’. In Soho alone there were 550 deaths in just ten days.

We were shown a cartoon of the great scientist Faraday giving a card to Father Thames. Everything was thrown into its waters, including even bodies.

Water was extracted from the same locations as those where drains emptied their foul contents. (I saw exactly this scenario taking place on the Ganges in a recent television series).

Dr John Snow, a great physician and anaesthetist to Queen Victoria created a ghost map of London noting all the houses where a death had occurred.

Following this he took the handle off the water pump in Broad Street and the deaths in this area stopped. The link with water was established.

A new embankment along the Thames was built with sewers underneath taking waste further down the river on the ebbing tide.

Closer still to home, we were told that the Delf Stream in Sandwich was deemed to be responsible for the death of former mayor William Bradley (1881-2), forty years after London had been cleaned up!

This prompted the building of a new aquafer at Woodnesborough to supply clean water to the town.

Moving further afield we were told that every day in the world there are 880 deaths from water related diseases.

However all was not lost. Local retired doctor, Mike Vaile, from Staple, stepped into the breach with a very interesting and revealing presentation of his work with the charity Water Aid.

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The charity Water Aid aims to reduce this by providing fresh water and clean toilets to affected areas.

He described the situation he and his fellow aid workers would find in a typical village in Malawi: small girls carrying water, often polluted, over an average distance of 3 – 4km, causing distortion to the spine and leaving them no time for school.

Toilet facilities would consist of a communal area in the bush with no privacy and no hand washing facilities or worse, a drop down loo into the river from which they drew their water.

Water Aid would then provide bore holes and pumps with training in their maintenance. They also built composting latrines which were 10 – 15ft deep and ultimately provided safe compost for their gardens. Hand hygiene using soap which reduces disease risk by 50% was also taught.

The benefits of these changes were far reaching. Apart from increased good health people were released from the poverty trap imposed by unsafe water. Time became available for schooling and employment and the quality of life was greatly improved.

So why Lake Victoria? He explained that this is the biggest tropical lake and the 2nd largest fresh water lake in the world.

The White Nile flows from it carrying water which could be harnessed to provide for these villages.

We left with leaflets outlining all the places in the world where Water Aid is active and plenty of food for thought.

Janet Searle

Water Aid Facts

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Pets Corner

Ticks, like fleas are among the most common parasites that can infest your pets and they can spread infectious diseases to pets and people.

The most common tick in the UK is Ixodes Ricinus or the sheep tick which is found lurking in shady, grassy areas.

They are most active in the warm, wet weather of Spring and Autumn when they seek out mammals to attach to and we are seeing quite a few at the moment now that the weather is warmer and wetter!

The sheep tick is generally oval, flat and small, the size of a sesame seed when unfed, but when completely engorged with blood, they can grow to the size of a coffee bean.

They look for hosts to feed on by climbing to the top of long blades of grass and waiting (a behaviour known as ‘questing’) for passing traffic such as your pet.

Long-haired dogs and inquisitive dogs are most frequently infected and the ticks most commonly attach to the head and chest area.

If you find a tick on your pet, it’s important to remove it carefully with a special tick remover otherwise embedded mouth parts can be left behind and can cause local reaction and infection.

Ticks can also spread nasty diseases such as Lyme Disease which can cause fever, lethargy and arthritis and this has been reported in both dogs and humans in the UK.

Ticks can be prevented from attaching to your pet by using a low dose release collar such as Seresto, spot-on liquids or tablets all of which are prescription medicines available from your vets.

We are holding our Annual Open Day on Bank Holiday Monday 7th May from 12pm-4pm and hope lots of you can make it.

Please come and have a look behind the scenes, learn more about what we can do to help you look after your pets and meet lots of interesting and unusual animals.

You’ll also be able to look around our Cat-Only Clinic and Rehabilitation Clinic. This is a great day out for all the family, that’s completely FREE and we hope we’ll see lots of you there.

Bourne Vets

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April Festivals 1st Easter Sunday: The most important festival in the Christian church, when we celebrate the Risen Christ; it makes sense of Christmas and gives us a celebration after the awful happenings of ‘Good Friday’. How unusual though, to have Easter Sunday and April Fool’s Day coinciding! For more of the latter see the article on page 26. 2nd: Bank Holiday Monday – Enjoy and let’s hope for Spring weather – not snow! 7th: The Jewish community celebrate the last day of Passover. 11th: Yom Hashoah: a sober day to remember the horror of the Holocaust. 23rd: St George’s Day – the Patron Saint of England.

Pat Coles

Strange English Traditions (Part I)

St Mark's Day (25th April)

Most people know of St Mark as the author of the earliest Gospel, the man who brought Christianity to Africa as the first Bishop of Alexandria, and whose symbol is the winged lion.

Some may also have heard the story of how his relics were smuggled out of Alexandria in the Middle Ages by unscrupulous Venetians who hide the relics in a barrel of pork and cabbages (would that work at Customs nowadays?).

However, few people in this country remember the very ancient, possibly pre-Christian traditions that were celebrated on St Mark's Day up and down the length of England until very recently.

Perhaps the most macabre tradition is the one in which parishioners would sit in silence in the church porch on St Mark's Eve (24th April in case you wondered).

According to legend, between 11pm and midnight the ghosts of the Parish would arrive for their own special church service. The spirits of those who would die within the next 12 months would also attend.

(continued over)

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This practice was well documented as occurring in Kent right up until the 19th century and even inspired poems, plays and a movie!

Slightly less ghoulish was the tradition of making a Dumb Cake on St Mark's Eve.

Young women who wished for a sneaky glimpse of their future husbands would mix an eggshell each of wheat flour, barley flour, salt and some water.

This would be made and baked in utter silence (hence the fact it is called a Dumb Cake) and then you would prick out your initials on to the cake before baking it in the hearth overnight. According to some traditions your future husband would appear at midnight to turn your cake and ensure it didn't burn.

Illustration The Dumb-Cake Baking Print by W. Finden, c1843

Other traditions claim that in addition to the Dumb Cake you also needed to perform a spot of gardening. On the night of the Feast of St Mark a young woman would plant some hemp seeds in the garden and chant the following...

"Hemp-seed I sow; Hemp-seed I grow;

He that is my true love Come after me, and mow."

Apparently, if you had managed to do everything correctly your future husband would appear with his scythe and come and mow your crop of hemp. Nowadays we would probably expect our local police constable to appear if we tried growing hemp in our garden.

Unsurprisingly these traditions fell out of favour, but I think I would still prefer them to their modern alternative of internet dating.

Penny Bernard

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April Fool’s Day

Or Gowki’s Day as it’s called in Scotland.

The Gowk is the cuckoo, and maybe there’s a clue there to the origins of

this widespread and ancient tradition: Spring, a kind of madness in the

air, a need to shake off winter and its restrictions, to be up and doing – for

change.

Tricks can be as simple as the old favourite ‘Your shoelaces are undone’,

or as complicated as The Guardian’s ‘Spaghetti Harvest’ article – or the

invitations sent in 1698: “To see the lions washed at the Tower of

London”; a joke successfully repeated in 1860. The fun lies in being able

to call somebody (especially your ‘elder and better’?) a fool, and get away

with it.

This delight in the reversal of normal rules runs deep in many cultures. In

Britain we have the misrule of The Feast of Fools when, for a day, a boy

(or even an ass) could become a Bishop; Mischief Night, when you could

wake to find your garden gate removed to the local pond and your house

number swapped; Twelfth Night and May Gosling Day...

They all have – or had – two things in common: the normal rules do not

apply, there is a licence to misbehave; and, importantly, it come to an

end, usually at mid-day. If a trick is attempted after mid-day the joke

rebounds and the intended victim can answer:

“April Fool’s gone past. You’re the biggest fool at last.”

– and order is restored.

And in this age, an era that President Obama called ‘post truth’, the age

of ‘fake news’ when, according to a 2017 study at the University of

Massachusetts, people are 70 per cent more likely to believe and

circulate fake than ‘real’ news, has misrule won at last? And where’s the

fun?

P. O’Halloran

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Letter to the Editor

“Simnel Cake” (March magazine). Pat Coles was over generous in her recipe. There should only be eleven marzipan balls as Judas did not qualify for one.

Ray Cooper

Ooops, I knew that, really! Pat Coles

Would you like to share ‘the story behind’ something special in your village or part of the parish?

It could be a street or house name, stained-glass window, pew or little-known monument.

Whatever it is, we would be delighted to share your story.

Please send your articles to the editors, contact details on page 3.

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