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Letters to
the Editor - May 2010
My sister and I were very interested in the article on W H Hudson (‘Prose Master of the Wiltshire Downs’, Feb).
He is buried in Broadwater Cemetery, South Farm Road, Worthing, West Sussex, and our father — a master mason — cut the inscription on the headstone, and fired it and the surrounding kerbstones.
Some years ago there was a project to engage a group of schoolchildren to tidy the grave but, as we moved from Worthing in 2008, we don’t know what, if anything, was done. Worthing also has connections with Richard Jefferies.
After visits as a child and a young man, he came to Worthing on the recommendation of a doctor, hoping that the good air would restore his health. He and his wife and their two young children eventually lived in Sea House, Goring, where after a few months he died. He is buried in the churchyard of Broadwater Church, Worthing’s parish church, as it didn’t have one
of its own.
Goring and Broadwater are now part of Worthing but still keep some sense of separate identities. Jefferies is remembered in Goring by a plaque on the house where he lived and died, in his day Sea View and now Jeffries (mis-spelt) House, along the similarly mis-spelt Jeffries Lane.
The article on the recording of crafts (‘Paul Felix: An Eye for Crafts’) in the same issue was also fascinating. As a young man our father worked with his father (also a master mason) on work such as restoring Arundel Castle and the building of churches in East Sussex.
The First World War and subsequent Depression, and the
need to support a growing family, meant that the only work was as a monumental mason. From what we see in pictures, masons’ tools have changed very little except for saws for stone.
One very exciting time was when a new vicarage was being built in Worthing and stone-mullioned windows were ordered. Great blocks of Bath stone had to be cut with long, two-handled huge-toothed saws, with sharp sand and water as a lubricant. One of the labourers, a former First World War soldier, kept the rhythms going by singing:
Tiddley iddley ighty,
Take me back to Blighty,
Blighty is the place for me.
H & EM Gravett, Olney, Bucks
I see the Vocal Yokel (Robin Page, March) has managed to have a sly
dig at ‘Them’ by using the word ‘ridiculous’ in his sentence: “In the 1970s, ridiculous drainage schemes lowered the bed of our little brook”.
Keeping watercourses clear of debris lessens the likelihood of flooding, as does the lowering of the stream bed. By so doing, the volumetric capacity of the channel is increased to cope with higher water flows.
An example of the dangers of flooding can be seen in the island of Madeira, where the excess rainfall and resultant run-off were made worse by the casual dumping of rubbish into the main watercourses passing through the towns and a criminal lack of care by the local authority in allowing it to happen.
My ire was somewhat reduced by Robin Page’s grudging admission that the increased water flow would probably have benefited the kingfishers.
Jack Hill, St Albans
In reference to the article ‘One Man and His Dogs’ (Jan). What a revelation, what common sense Robert Alleyne has vis-à-vis canines and their place in our society.
For many years now the thought has been widespread that, in these days of gross canine over-population (and humans — another problem), dog licensing should be reintroduced. It should, and all owners and potential owners should be made to take a written test (as for the driving licence) based on Robert’s knowledge and comments plus of course the matter of waste pollution.
The time is not far off when world authorities will realise that resources used for maintenance of the pet culture will need to be used for the out-of-hand and rapidly growing human population.
Logical comments please on how population growth, the biggest problem facing humanity, is to be tackled.
Brian Lewbell, Wigan
The March issue dropped through my door on the eve of my ruby wedding anniversary. There on page 24 was a small article on ‘Postman’s Knock’. This is how I met my husband: I won him in a game six years before we were married.
I was a very naïve fifteen-year-old and was at the first mixed teenage party I was allowed to go to. Needless to say, I wasn’t so naïve after that.
Mrs Janice Dally, East Aberthaw, South Glamorgan
It is pleasing to know that Alstom, main contractor at the Pembroke Power Station site, is to support local children taking part in sail training events organised across West Wales by the Welsh Yachting Association.
This new CCGT 2,160 MW power station (being built for RWEnpower) will have the capacity to supply all the power required by the principality — enough to supply around three million homes.
So why on earth is the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) embracing large-scale wind generation? Indeed, when Pembroke Power Station is completed, most, if not all, of its generated power will be exported, via the National Grid, for consumption outside of Wales.
This is not to forget the approved 800 MW power station at Uskmouth and existing fossil fuel and hydro power generation such as Rheidol and Dinorwic (pump storage). We will have power ‘coming out of our ears’, as they say.
Surely the WAG, in all its wisdom, should be calling for the vast sums of money required for windfarms in Wales to go to far better projects and causes. No doubt, dear reader, you can think of many deserving and far more intelligent ways of spending this [ie our] money, especially when large-scale wind generation has proven to be so inefficient, being dependent on the vagaries of the wind — not forgetting the unbelievable desecration of beautiful Welsh countryside, and the health and noise problems.
Dave Haskell, Boncath
I was interested in Paul Trodd’s article about the lost churches of Romney Marsh (Dec).
I took both my sisters and brother-in-law, who lived at Lydd. My brother-in-law used to take me and my wife along to All Saints, Church, then on to Eastbridge Church along a quiet country lane. We got a key for the church from one of the houses in the lane. It was quite impressive inside, just a few pews to hold a small church service. At the back entrance to the church there is a seat which my sister Mrs Simpson donated, where we sat having a quiet hour amongst the sheep in the fields.
Geoffrey Harris, Biggin Hill, Kent
I have been inspired to write to The Countryman about the series
‘A Woodman’s Notebook’ written by A J Grace. The style and mood have been redolent of a BBC Radio 4 series on the countryside broadcast in the 1960s and ’70s.
I have been reminded of the style of those contributors like C Gordon Glover, Bruce Campbell, Richard Fitter, L Hugh Newman to name but a few. These broadcasters may be of a different age, but they were memorable. I wonder if any other readers can recall these wonderful broadcasters?
I have been a reader and subscriber for over thirty years, and have seen the transformation of The Countryman. I may not read it from cover to cover, but I do enjoy a good ninety per cent of the magazine including Humphrey Phelps, Gervase Phinn and ‘Curiouser & Curiouser’.
M R Getty Parker, Gosport, Hants
I wonder if the photographer Simon Kitchen knew he had taken a photograph of a very large meteorite falling from space in Snowdon (March cover).
Just turn the magazine upside-down and you will see (it’s a great picture anyway).
It amuses me — it must be my age I suppose. Fantastic magazine!
Michael K Hiscock, Devizes, Wilts
We welcome readers' letters,
which should be sent to:
Countryman, The Water Mill, Broughton Hall, Skipton,
North Yorkshire BD23 3AG
Or email: editorial@thecountryman.co.uk
The editor reserves the
right to edit letters for length and clarity.
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