printed on page 1 of issue 509 (March 2010)

A MEMORY

In the winter of 1981/1982 one dark night in deep snow, the electrical system in my Maxi  (remember the Maxi?) failed. No power, no lights.  Out came Dick all smiles;  he put on his wellies and helped push it into his drive for the night. A pleasant courteous man on my one brief encounter.

Bernardine Shirley-Smith

printed on page 18 of issue 509 (March 2010)

ANOTHER MEMORY

A few years ago I was waiting on Paddington tube platform to catch the train and as it came in the doors opened right in front of me.  Dick Francis, who by that time had left this country,  was standing there about to get off. 'Dick Francis!' I said.  He backed off as if he'd been shot.  'Sheila Paine, Blewbury' I said, to reassure him.  He beamed and as he walked away down the platform he followed the train and waved at me all the way, clearly delighted with this unexpected link with the village.

Sheila Paine

printed on page 1 of issue 510 (April 2010)

AND YET ANOTHER MEMORY

I was being visited by Jack Cosby from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville , USA , and we went into the Red Lion for a drink at lunchtime. We were chatting away and Jack said ‘Isn’t there a famous author living around this area. He writes all those books on horse racing, named Dick Francis, I think’. I said yes that’s right- do you want to meet him, as he is sitting at the bar, 3 feet away from you. Jack nearly fell of his chair in surprise, at which point Dick Francis turned around, said hallo and had a charming and very friendly conversation with Jack.

Paul Whitehead

Photo courtesy of Oxford Mail/Oxford Times (Newsquest Oxfordshire). It shows Dick Francis at work at his desk in Blewbury, after he had retired as a jockey.

printed on page 5 of issue 509 (March 2010)

Listening to The Living World on Radio 4 I learned of a Nature Reserve in Somerset where five species of heron have settled.  Maybe our two visiting egrets had come from there.  They do not mate or lay eggs until there are enough birds to form a breeding colony. Safety in numbers.

The lone and lonely gander in Savages field has formed a perfect partnership with the pony there.

A glorious sight, up on the downs, on a late February evening was flocks of starlings coming in to roost.  More than one party they swirled and dived in formation, now in line, then in a cluster, each party dovetailing the other.  I missed them going to roost so rapid is their descent.  Once in the trees they are not silent.  I have read that in 1486 Dame Juliana Berners described them collectively as a 'murmuracion of stares'. 

Now in mid March I have seen them swirling over Blewbury but this winter I have only had the odd one visit the garden. They must have been hungry during the  freezing blizzards when their source of food was buried deep in snow. At one time they were a nuisance taking everything from the bird table.

The snowdrops have been so welcome surviving in the snow. They hang their heads to protect from snow and rain and yet aconites and crocuses  remain upright and open fully in the sun.  They are able to close up tight when the warmth of the sun disappears.  Brimstone butterflies, a Peacock and Tortoiseshells, have all been observed flying and visiting flowers after their long winter hibernation.  Hopefully they each will find a partner to make the wait worthwhile.         

Bernardine Shirley-Smith

printed on page 11 of issue 509 (March 2010)

The weather has not been kind to astronomers this winter. With night after night of cloudy weather. When it did decide to clear for a few nights, there was a blanket of snow covering the observatory, and the temperature plummeted to record levels. Enough to keep the most seasoned of observers in the warmth of their homes.

We have just a few more weeks to observe Mars through the telescope, before it will be so far away from the Earth, that the image becomes too small to be able to see anything worthwhile. I did manage to image Mars on just one occasion, see below, but I had to be quick.

Maybe we will have more luck with Saturn, which is now rising earlier in the evening sky as we move into spring. I had a quick look a few nights ago, and it was nice to see the rings opening out now, after being edge on to us for a while, and difficult to see with small telescopes. You will find the planet high to the South East, just after dark, beneath the constellation Leo. If you have a telescope, see if you can spot the rings. Tilted at an angle of 3 degrees, and very narrow. Don’t forget – if you are not sure which object to point at – planets do not twinkle like the stars.

Venus is now showing up in the evening sky, low down to the west, just after sunset. Cannot mistake this planet, as it is so bright.

Mercury will be joining Venus for the first week of March. Look for it just to the right of Venus. If you have not seen it before, this will be.an ideal opportunity to spot this elusive planet.

Starfields Observatory / 31st January 2010. 23.17ut. 180mm MC

Mars – Showing a bright, short lived dust storm, on the limb to the West of the North polar cap.

©John Napper

New Moon 14th. Full Moon 28th Clear skies: John Napper – Starfields 818853

printed on page 18 of issue 509 (March 2010)

My horizons once were endless

far beyond Samarkand

beyond the skulking hulks

of stranded fishing boats

askew on the desiccated sea

beyond the turquoise minarets

summonsing shrouded men

crumpled in prayer

within the shawls of Islam

where once I wandered.

Housewives now with plastic shoppers

trip my clodding feet

and the bus no longer

leads to Samarkand

or even Timbuktu

but ends for me at Reading

where my old bones

now needs must stall

at concrete stairs

that used to face the stars.

Sheila Paine

printed on page 13of issue 510 (May 2010)

I suppose that it was inevitable that after the prolonged cold winter everything would come out together with the first warm sun: grass, spring flowers including tree clossom.  At the time of writing there have been none of the usual vicious winds that tear at delicate leaves and petals.  Even the cloud of debris from the volcano in Iceland has passed high overhead sparing us a fall out of dust and ashes. 

Dandelions.  There must be an innate time switch for dandelions - one day there are very few and then suddenly they are everywhere.  I don't dislike dandelions, but I am not attracted by their bright golden yellow although colour therapists claim it has healing properties. It is the same golden yellow seen on those cultivated daffodils on their tall stalks grown for the flower trade.  I do not like seeing them planted along our roadsides.  To me the practice smacks of suburbia. However I do like the species daffodils (narcissus) growing naturally in the Lake District and also in our chuchyard. I admit this is a personal preference one over which we have some control as they grow from seed as well as from bulbs.  

Not so with dandelions.  They have no need of sex to reproduce.  Each seed is genetically identical; carried away on its parachute.  The plant does produce large quantities of pollen which provides food for young bees but except when the plant is in danger of extinction the pollen is of no use to its reproduction.  Hardly ever; each bit of chopped off root can reproduce the same uniform plants.

Two swans have settled happily on the Manor lake.  On the last visit there was only one bird.  Did the lone swan   go in search of a mate?  Swan Rescue have no fear for them; the birds have their own runway and have been seen to take off with ease. They are learning to live beside people and dogs.  The Canada geese on the other hand are less welcome destroying vegetation and puddling the ground.       

Bernardine Shirley-Smith

printed on page 13 of issue 510 (May 2010)

First of all, an apology for typing in the wrong month to spot Mercury. I hope you realised that I meant the first week of April, not March, and managed to see this tricky little planet.

After seeing the Blewbury Wagon being launched into space the other evening, it served as a timely reminder that, although we will not be able to see the wagon moving across the night sky, it is now a good time to see satellites.

There are a great many of these, orbiting the Earth. You only have to look up at the stars, on a moonless night for a few minutes at this time of year, before you begin to see them. Looking just like a star, but moving steadily across the sky. The brightest by a long way, being the International Space Station (ISS). You can find predictions for the ISS at heavens above.com .

If you do want see a wagon - how about the Plough, the most familiar asterism in the northern sky. Also known as the Saucepan. I have an old book somewhere, which shows it as an ancient chinese constellation of a Wagon. At this time of year, the Plough is right overhead. This famous pattern of stars is used by many to find the pole star, by following an imaginary line through the two end stars, known as Merak, and Dubhe.

The second star in from the end of the handle of the Plough, Saucepan etc. can be seen as two stars close together. The bright star Mizar together with it’s fainter companion Alcor. Also known as the Horse and Rider, these stars are considered to be a good test of reasonably good eyesight, and the clarity of the sky. A telescope will reveal that Mizar itself has a fainter companion, forming a binary system, where the two stars are revolving around each other.

Brilliant Venus is struggling to make headway in the encroaching evening twilight. Look for a pleasing view of Venus close to a crescent Moon on the evening of 16th May.

Saturn is still well placed, as is Mars. But the red planet is now a tiny image in most telescopes.

New Moon 14th Full Moon 28th

Clear skies: John Napper – Starfields 818853

printed on page 3 of issue 511 (June 2010)

Early morning is the time to watch garden birds or hear the dawn chorus.  Throughout May I have been pleasantly surprised at the variety of birds visiting the garden, though numbers are down; mostly they come in pairs.  A nearby dense hedge and a few trees provide nesting sites. So far the smaller visitors have been: robin, chaffinch, great tit, blue tit, goldfinch, dunnock, house sparrow and blackbird.  Residents are the pigeon and collared dove!  Opportunist "droppers-in" are jackdaws, a thieving magpie and a heron flying over the garden which put me in mind of dinosaurs.  Not so long ago two greedy species used to raid the bird feeders; this year I have not seen a greenfinch (said to be a victim of a virus) nor a starling.  Starlings have taken advantage of arable fields.

Swallows returned in good time to find their former nesting sites but I have not seen any house martins whereas there used to be lots in the village

The Manor Lake is quite fecund; two swans, two Canada geese, coots and tufted ducks have been busy nesting.  On the Cleve moorhens have hatched their young early.  By the time you read this Mallard ducks may be out and about again with their young ducklings rejoining the drakes which have been loafing around looking dejected. 

An earlier buzzing of Queen wasps has gone quiet; there were a lot flying in April. Those that have escaped being killed have very likely nested in sheds or garages or wherever they can strip wood for their nests.

Even earlier one of my Hostas   started to flower, leaving nothing to chance after the cold winter.  Now the battle is on against snails and slugs which seem to be less numerous having failed to survive the winter, but the aphids are here with a vengeance.

Bernardine Shirley-Smith   

printed on page 8 of issue 511 (June 2010)

Photograph by Bernard Mattimore

printed on page 13 of issue 511 (June 2010)

The snowdrop that cried
I am planted in your village greens
Oh! What a delight to be seen
I am so pure and white
I’m sure I bring such delight
To grow during the winter months

is such a fight
So why pick me during the night

In the grass 1 live so long
I know this is where I belong

Next seen, spare a thought
For the pleasures I have brought
In a vase I want to cry
For my life is short and a sure goodbye
    Marie Hughes

printed on page 19 of issue 511 (June 2010)

Wells . We have had several replies to our request last month for information and pictures of wells and pumps. At least three are not recorded on the Ordnance Survey maps commonly available, and we would very much like to know when they were dug. Keep the pictures coming in, and any stories attached to them too. The picture here is of a well now covered, showing the brick construction at the top, widening into the chalk lining. ( Photo: Mark Vaughn) Do you remember using a well in Blewbury? Look at the website for the latest pictures – www.blewburyhistory.org.uk.

We are still collecting stories about WW2, so do tell your story to Mark or Audrey or any other history group member.

Please contact either Mark (email mjpalethorpe@hotmail.co.uk , tel 851609) or Audrey (email audrey.long@waitrose.com tel 850427 ) with any information.

Next meeting is at Robinsons, Parsonage Lane , at 8 pm, a week later than usual, on Tuesday, June 15th .

printed on page 13 of issue 512 (July/August 2010)

Last month I wrote that I had not seen a greenfinch or a starling.  Oh dear!  The greenfinches then arrived and the bird feed bills increased. One starling tried to hang onto the feeders, but gave up and flew away.  I am so lucky that I don't get squirrels or muntjac deer.  Perhaps it is tempting providence to say this.

The goldfinches continue to delight. Together they are known as a 'charm of goldfinches'  - a perfect description.  They flit, rather than fly, from one food source to the next. This year dandelions have supplied them with an abundant supply of seed, but they have to work to get them  I have heard that there are larger numbers of these little birds this spring.  I wonder?  Since the introduction of niger thistle seed in special feeders they have had a much easier 'fast food'  supply and have flocked into gardens.  They have also discovered sunflower seed hearts.   

I have never seen a spotted flycatcher nor a yellow hammer here.  They are known to frequent gardens on the edge of the village nearer open land.

The Manor lake birds have been busy - perhaps too busy claiming territory to get on with the business of nesting.  The swans lord it over all, but curiously accept one of the dogs that wades into the lake.  They respect each other and when the dog has quenched his thirst he retreats without a backward glance. The coots are troublesome squabbling with the moorhens, but in spite of this have raised a family now almost as large as their parents. The tufted ducks come and go; the moat provides an easy exit.  A dabchick that nested on the moat raised one youngster.  

Bernardine Shirley-Smith