85 years on

My father would have been 85 years old today. He was born and died in this house and loved it dearly. When he retired he turned to the garden with complete zeal making copious notes on every rose. When it came into bud, flowered how good the crop. he sprayed at the first hint or black spot, rust or greenfly. Top Rose filled his boots and the garden was a picture. Amazing for our wedding and for the open garden day when it was featured in the Independent newspaper (when questioned as to what the picture of the famous Edney gates with house behind was of a 3 year old nephew replied 'Grandpa's cat'. . . and so it was sitting at the side of the gate; and we were summoned to help with tea and stand duty on the gate. More than 1200 people turned up we ran out of everything there was to run out of. Tea, milk etc. No farm shop then so much more drastic effort required for recovery.

His last triumph being his and my mother's 50th wedding anniversary which ran to 6 parties over 5 days; everyone having a jolly good time with different musical entertainment and a host of guests. They were in their element. We returned from work on the yacht to join in. For us quite surreal to go from an 8' x5' cabin to call your own to the space here. We started with the Welsh Guards summer party, always good for a jaunt they brought a coach as they did for his funeral and as then they carried off in style and for many hours. The last party was people from the valley and the church and a good time seemed to be had by all.

By the end of the celebrations my father was as he put it, inexplicably tired. We thought at the time that it was age (76) the hot weather and the effort he'd put into the jollity but the week after we returned to work my mother rang me in Antigua to say that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and I never saw him well again. He was dead in less than a year.

That is all a long time ago but he would be quite disappointed in the actions of some here now. I often think of us all as 'Shambridge' an everyday tale of country folk. We have had all sorts of shenenagins from drug heists to bean thieves. He would have been astounded at the drugs and cross about the beans. Why would anyone come into the kitchen garden allotments and steal broad beans? What a risk for a few pence worth of one of your 5 a day and 2 years running! Criminal record at best, jail at worst. Bonkers. At least last year they left an empty bottle of vodka. This year just stripped bean plants. Cameras next year its getting like midsomer murders. The mystery of the missing beans. The drug round up found stashes of drugs in woods and fields and led to a conviction (yes made the papers) of a temporary resident. Now its watch out for your washing as apparently their is a designer clothes thief in the village. Am I writing a book. You bet!

The street light at the end of Gatcombe Lane was put there in the 1930's to light the bus stop and make it safe for staff from farm and court getting the bus back from the village in the dark. North Somerset in their wisdom failed to appreciate why the light was there and have moved it across the lane where it no longer fulfills it's purpose. They are trying to pretend that its a question of cost but we all know that in reality it never occurred to them why it was there and as there were trees on the other side it was easier to locate it without cutting any branches. It would not have taken much immagination to have worked it out. Now we are told it is too costly to put right the blunder. Perhaps we should be radical and give financial penalties for this sort of mistake? Would it improve performance?