THE REDLAKE NUMBER 34 SPRING 2016

The editorial team comprises: Becky Sherman, Pat Jameson, Jeremy Jameson, How to contact us: by mail The Redlake Editors, Squire Farm, Chapel

Lawn, SY7 0BW by telephone 01547 530530 or by e-mail theredlake@squirefarm.co.uk

From the Editors The blossom on our damson tree is fantastic and we were just saying what a

good year it should be for the damson crop, but no sooner said than the wind

came from the north and along with it some gentle frosts; it is nearly May,

what do we expect? So we are hoping that it hasn’t been too cold for it to be

nipped again, it is the same with our small magnolias. I don’t think there has

been a year yet where the frost hasn’t got to the lovely flowers, but so far so

good, they are hanging on in there and looking good. May Day is just round

the corner, so look out for some snow!

Blossom or snow men, it’s on the toss of a coin!

Jeremy Jameson

The Redlake is published by The Redlake Valley Hall Committee and neither the committee

nor the editors can accept responsibility for any opinions expressed by contributors in these

pages. The editorial team reserves the right to edit contributions as it believes appropriate.

The Redlake is funded by grants and donations and it is our policy not to accept paid

advertising due to restraints on space

More information & photos of some of these articles are available on the

website at www.chapel-lawn.co.uk

Vikings in Chapel Lawn?

POST SCRIPT to Syd Crump's

Viking research from Graham Arnold.

Last summer Sydney Crump gave a

very interesting talk to answer the

question “Did the Vikings come to

Chapel Lawn?” The answer to this

question was left unanswered but I

can now update you.

Just north of Welshpool is the village

of Butterington. In 893 a formidable

force of Vikings (or Danes) set out on

a raid to Mercia. They were pursued

all the way by Alfred and his English

forces, finally surrounding them at

Butterington. The siege lasted for

many weeks, during which the Danes

were forced to eat all their horses and

dogs. Many died of starvation until

only a few hundred were left alive.

Finally, these men, sick and weak,

tried to break out but were all

ruthlessly cut down and killed.

The site of this battle is where the

church now stands. In 1838, while

digging foundations for the present

school, several deep pits were

discovered filled with over 400 skulls

and other bones. Many of the skulls

showed deep cuts and smashed bones;

evidence of a horrible and violent

death.

The distance between Butterington

and Chapel Lawn is just 30 miles.

This is as close as the Vikings came to

Chapel Lawn.

Sky Notes for May 2016

The coming weeks have a number of

important astronomical events. On 9th

May Mercury will transit the Sun.

This event is nowhere near as rare as a

transit of Venus. Mercury is much

smaller than Venus and will require

telescopes to observe it clearly.

Transits of Mercury take place at

regular intervals in two groups which

occur in this order – 9½ years, 3½

years, 13 years, then 7 years, 9½

years, 3½ years and then the sequence

is repeated.

Venus is now close to the Sun and

difficult to see. In early May it rises

only a minute before the Sun. We

will have to wait until middle or late

August before this brilliant planet will

grace our evening skies. It will

become a superb object around

Christmas time.

Mars rose just after midnight at the

start of April and by the end of May

will rise before sunset. Growing

brighter by the day and in apparent

size until May 22; now is the time to

get your telescopes out – sadly it

remains low in the sky but it may well

be possible to make out some detail.

Jupiter is visible all night, well

situated for observing and both Mars

and Jupiter are more or less at the

same brightness that is -2.1. Jupiter is

residing in Leo.

Saturn rose during early April around

1 am by the end of May around 9 pm.

During April and into May it is

possible to locate a comet; it is around

10 magnitude and even, under very

dark skies, with the more powerful

binoculars. This is Comet Ikeya-

Murakami (P/2010 V1), and the best

dates to find it will be April 24th and

25th when it passes close to Regulus in

Leo. On these dates it moves south

west only 0.5° from the 1st magnitude

star Regulus.

Graham Arnold

SPRING 2016 THE REDLAKE PAGE 2

Gwyn Philips

Gwyn Philips was born in 1931 and

lived his childhood at Waxhall,

Chapel Lawn. His father was a

workman for Mr. Wilding at Lynaven

Farm.

Gwyn and his family were Methodists

and they attended Sunday school and

services at New Invention chapel.

He will be remembered by some of

our older residents of the valley as a

fellow pupil at Chapel Lawn School.

In the early 50’s the Philips family

moved to Pentre Farm and they

started farming as tenants for Mr.

Owen’s family.

Gwyn became a special constable and

can be remembered visiting Chapel

Lawn School for chats and as a

previous vicar had said, we were the

“valley of lost hope” and he was in

the business of hope, Gwyn was

probably trying to do his bit to help

correct this!

Gwyn married Valerie and they had

two sons Kevin and Colin and in 1985

they moved to Bexhill-on-Sea, in East

Sussex.

Sadly they parted and he stayed in the

Bexhill area, but he always kept in

contact with his friends in Chapel

Lawn.

Colin still lives in Bexhill and Kevin

lives in America.

Gwyn died this year on the 5th

February; he was cremated in

Eastbourne on the 26th Feb 2016.

He always had a soft spot for Chapel

Lawn and his friends here and the

memories it held for him. I think he

would like to be remembered to those

who are lucky enough to live here

now.

Christine Oakley & Friends

Other News Newcomers

We are delighted to welcome some

more newcomers to Chapel Lawn.

Firstly to Dom & Syan Lavery and

their two children Joe and Ellie and

their dog Star, who have moved into

Honeyhole.

And to Vivian who has moved into

Michael Macturk’s house.

A Warm Welcome.

POETS CORNER

“Brineddin Wood”

Beaming light, trees transforming

Branches swaying side to side,

Bobbley trees with shades of green.

Standing bird, guarding its chicks,

standing tree not moving at all.

Let the moist trunks twist slowly in the wind,

like a human swaying side to side

Towering, groaning trees as tall as a

skyscraper.

In the forest the trees are swaying and

creaking! Like red hot fire in a bonfire.

Nuts are tumbling, the trees are towering.

The squirrel climbed up the tallest tree in the

wood, while the snow was falling down.

The bumpy bark crumbles off as the grey

squirrels spring down the tree.

The twigs were falling onto the ground from

the tree which was waving in the wind.

There is a bare leaf in the creepy wood.

Year 3 and year 6 children from St

George’s School, Clun,

21st October 2015.

BIG BREAKFASTS

SATURDAY 21st MAY

St Mary’s Church Chapel Lawn

Yet again Christine Oakley and

Patrick Cosgrove will be cooking and

serving Big Breakfasts in the

Redlake Valley Village Hall from

9am to 11am. £5 with as much tea

and coffee as you can drink.

This will be followed by a Spring

Sale from 11am to 1.30 pm. There

will be coffee, tea cakes and lots of

stalls including plants, cakes and

much more.

We hope you can join us for one or

both of these events.

Seasonal Gardening Notes

Nettles aren’t just stingers. Nor are

they just weedy wildflowers: the

native white dead nettle, Lamium

album, is a useful garden plant,

particularly under trees and large

shrubs where its soft, greyish foliage

and bright white flowers will lighten

the gloom, and its self-rooting, floppy

stems will cover the ground.

Of similar habit is Lamium

maculatum, with badger-faced, striped

leaves and flowers in a variety of

pinks, from blush-rosy to almost

purple. This spreads fast, even in very

dry soil, but is shallow rooted, so is

easy to twitch out if it exceeds its

brief. The forms with gold or silver

foliage are much more demanding of

good soil and much slower at their

ground-covering job. They can also be

martyrs to aphids so, although they

look temptingly pretty in the

photographs, they can be hard work to

keep.

The best natured of the family is also

the best looking – Lamium orvala

grows in a tidy clump, two feet tall,

with large, crimson-flushed leaves

and whorls of big, hooded flowers

which are the rusty-pink of Tudor

bricks.

Hannah Willetts

SPRING 2016 THE REDLAKE PAGE 3

Graham Arnold invites you to

Ann’s memorial Afternoon.

All are welcome to the Redlake valley

village hall on Saturday 28th May

from 3.00 pm.

There will be pictures and photos on

display in memory of Ann Arnold.

Food, wine, tea and cakes will be

available.

Redlake Valley Artists

exhibition in 2016

The Redlake Valley Artists will be

exhibiting again this year in Chapel

Lawn on Friday 16th to Sunday 18

th

September in the village hall. There

will be a preview on the Thursday

evening to which all local people are

warmly invited (more information to

come).

Artists exhibiting in 2016 include

Graham Arnold, Sharon Barthram,

Ursula Freeman, Gretchen Ind, Sarah

Jameson, Jemima Jameson, Simon

Jameson, Tara Paul, Ella Wilding and

Hannah Willetts. Work will include

paintings, drawings, stone carving,

printmaking, photography, cards,

limited edition hand-made books and

much more!

We have lost one or two participants

this time so have invited some friends

to join us and these are Ciara Lewis,

Kate Morgan-Clare, Sue Greenan and

Rosamund Black. All live and work

very locally and will bring something

a little different to the show, including

paintings, works on paper, mixed

media, embroidery and woven texiles.

With lovely home-made cakes and

refreshments on offer too, we hope

the show will be the success it has

been in the past and look forward to

welcoming everyone over the

weekend.

Sarah Jameson

REDLAKE RECIPES

SHROPSHIRE SPRING LAMB

CHOPS WITH DAMSON SAUCE.

This makes a delicious change from

mint sauce and the slightly tart flavour

of the damson compliments the sweet

taste of fresh young lamb. It is a good

way to use up surplus damsons you

might have frozen the year before.

Serves 6.

12 best end of neck chops

1 lb (450g) damsons

½ pint (300ml) dry white wine

Good bunch chopped fresh herbs

Sugar

Butter

First make a puree by boiling the

damsons with a tiny bit of water and

enough sugar to just remove the

acidity from the taste. Cook until soft

and rub through a sieve. Set aside.

Season the chops with salt and

pepper, dot with butter and sprinkle

with chopped herbs. Grill to taste.

Set aside and keep warm. Drain the

meat juices into a saucepan and add

white wine. Boil rapidly to reduce by

half and stir in the damson puree.

Serve chops on hot plates with a good

dollop of damson puree on each.

Bon appetite.

REDLAKE CARTOON

NEWS FLASH!

IT’S OFFICIAL, sniffer dogs are better at detecting sausages &

cheese than drugs!

St Mary’s C of E Primary

School Bucknell Do you enjoy being with young

children? Then why not volunteer to

help at St Mary’s for a few hours each

week. Contact the Head teacher on

01547 530264

Recent Events. Christmas

2015-Spring 2016

This correspondent is very

embarrassed that she has only

managed to get to two of the events

she will be writing about! I had better

start with those!

Eduardo Neibler the Internationally

renowned classical guitarist came to

our humble, little village hall at the

beginning of March and gave us his

expert playing and music. He is truly

talented; his fingers often running

over the guitar strings in a blur, his

compositions diverse and beautiful.

He was accompanied by Matthew

Robinson who had had to learn some

of the pieces in a very short time. The

hall was at its seating capacity and a

few people even, were unable to get

tickets.

The other event I went to was the film

The Martian, an excellent Sci-fi of a

scientist’s (Matt Damon) experience

of being left behind on Mars by

himself and his efforts of not only

surviving, but devising ways to

communicate his plight to Earth and

hope for rescue. In good tradition, he

is rescued and it all ends happily! We

didn’t have a large audience, but

enough to make it worthwhile. The

next film shown was ‘The Lady in the

Van’ which, thanks to Maggie Smith

as the ‘Lady’, attracted over 60

people; our best audience this season.

‘Ex Machina’, shown back in

February did not attract such a good

audience, but in spite of being another

Sci-fi (not everyone’s taste) it was

thought provoking, if weird.

Tony Oakley had his 60th Birthday

Party in the Village Hall, and family

& friends had a great time dancing the

night away to a live band.

The Village Hall has been named a

beneficiary of Michael Macturk’s

estate and has received a small

donation. The committee had a

meeting to decide how to use this

donation and it was decided to use it

to start a ‘Macturk Fund’ dedicated to

the improvement of the external drive

and entrance way to the Hall, which is

a little shabby to say the least! The

improvements include tarmacking a

SPRING 2016 THE REDLAKE PAGE 4

section of the path, landscaping and

planting and the inclusion of a

picnic table or bench (or both) with

a plaque commemorating Michael

Macturk and his contribution to the

community. The Macturk fund will

be added-to by fund raising and

grant applications. We already have

an amount from The Clun

Recreation Fund promised.

Next month sees the AGM for the

Village Hall and even though the

meeting can be a bit tedious, anyone

is welcome to come, find out what is

going on, ask questions (not too

difficult please), have their say,

complain (if you must) or

congratulate (which would be nice).

The committee put in a lot of time

and effort to make sure the hall runs

smoothly and to provide a certain

amount of entertainment. This is all

voluntary and Beryl’s role of

‘housekeeper’ can be a thankless

task and one which she does

stoically! Christine and Jim keep

the bar stocks up, Christine and Di

and others are forever cooking and

decorating for events and we have a

few volunteers to host the flicks,

which Peter organises. That doesn’t

include the official roles of

Secretary (Patrick), Treasurer and

Chairman. You see, there is a lot of

work, time and dedication going on

behind the scenes and we need new

blood and we would welcome your

support.

Becky Sherman

Farming Column

Spring may be here officially, but

there is very little sign of any

quantity of grass, which is not

good as the back of the silage pit is

almost reached and on fine days

the cows are getting restless

wanting to be outside eating the

grass.

Calving is almost over with only

two larger calves having needed

help. With the cows vaccinated

this year, they have passed on

immunity in the colostrum to their

calves against scour and no calves

have needed treatment to date.

I wish we could do something

about the TB problem in the area.

We have just done our fourth test

since autumn and been unable to

pass the last one due to one cow

being classified inconclusive, so

we are still officially shut down as

we need two consecutive clear

tests to regain our TB free status.

I thought only vicars were called

out of retirement to work again,

but the vet doing our testing is well

past retiring but was working four

days a week TB testing.

Lambing has come and gone with

some quite reasonable weather in

March helping after the winter’s

rain and mud. They say that 10%

of the sheep make 90% of the

work in lambing, none more so

than a lamb we ended up naming

‘Gormless’. After an assisted

lambing it was given some

artificial colostrum from the bottle.

It took 3 days to persuade it to go

to its mother for milk and not look

for me. It almost starved to death

on day 2 and had to be revived

with milk and glucose through a

stomach tube. On day 5 it was

decided to put mother and lamb in

a larger pen with some others. It

took Gormless under an hour to

become totally stuck in a sheep

trough, four legs in the air, no

doubt practicing for later life! Its

mother’s tag ends in ‘007’ and I

think it was a secret agent sent to

annoy the shepherd.

The sheep purchased from my

neighbour lambed well with a little

help and with no new tricks, just

the standard procedure that if a

ewe has two lambs, she will end

up lying on top of the best one; it

is guaranteed to wind the shepherd

up.

All commodity prices are low at

present and even my friends with

egg laying flocks of hens have had

price cuts from the egg packers in

March. Without some financial

support from the EU, upland

farming would become very bleak.

I do not believe that we would be

supported by British government if

we left the EU and the wider rural

economy would suffer as well.

James Middleton

Diary Election Day for the Police Commissioner is on Thursday 5th May.

ODAS viewing Mercury, Monday 9th

May at 11.45 village Hall car park.

Flicks in the sticks: Spectre. Action/ thriller. Saturday May 14

th Adults

£4.50, children £3.50 bar & ice creams. 7.30pm

Synod Meeting Thursday 19th May

7.30pm

Church Fund Raiser- Saturday 21st

may. Farmer’s Breakfasts 9-11am, & Stalls & plant sales with teas & Cakes from 12-2.30pm.

VH AGM Tuesday 24th May.

RVCBS AGM with speaker, Thursday 26

th May 6pm

Ann Arnold memorial, Saturday 28th

May. Village Hall from 3pm.

PCC meeting Tuesday 31st May

7.30pm.

ODAS AGM Thursday 2nd

June followed by Talk “Space 2016” by Michael Bryce 7.30pm. £3 including tea, coffee & biscuits.

EU Election Day Thursday 23rd

June

Food & Flicks: “Dad’s Army”. Saturday 25th June. Film £4.50 adults & £3.50 Children. Food £6.50 adults & £3.50 Children. 6pm

ODAS special event Saturday 2nd

July 2-5pm with Syd Crump.

ODAS Summer Community Event, Saturday 2

nd July 2.30pm Talk “The

Search for Planet X” by Syd Crump, followed by afternoon tea, £5.

W.I.- Meeting 2nd

Tuesday of the month 7pm.Village Hall

ODAS on the last Thursday in every month. 7pm Village Hall

For all ODAS info please contact Carolyn Wilde 01547 530085