Netherfield

Claverham Monday Badminton Club: Another week, another shuttle hits the ground, crushing the feathers that make it fly like a bird. The tension is palpable. It is like a gladiatorial combat. The two pairs viewing each other with slit eyes across the net. Actually, it is more fun than that. Come on, join in. You just turn up. First week is free. What you get is fun and fit. It starts at 20.00 (or 8.00 pm in old money) and goes on until 22.00 (or 10.00 pm). The normal cost is £5.00. That is £2.50 per hour for a good time. If you are interested ring Maurice 01424 838410, text 07957588172 or email [email protected].

Reflections on a garden: The leaves this year are just spectacular in the garden. The different acers have turned to vibrant reds, oranges and yellows. Even the geraniums are showing their little pink flowers once again in this mild autumn weather. It can’t last I suspect and we will soon bear the brunt of a cold spell, that threatens to kill off the last vestiges of colour.

I picked up a handful of acorns, which had departed the safety of their oak and were lying contented in the gravel of the drive. Some had tiny shoots protruding from their rounded ends and some had already sent a small root searching for a safe spot to grow. As one of our native species, I love oaks. They have that majesty about them that comes from their longevity and our perception that they have almost supernatural powers. They host many plants and insects, including that scourge of many a garden, ivy. It winds its way from trunk to branch clamping itself, by means of little white tendrils, to the runkles in the aged bark, that is so reminiscent of an ancient farm worker, who has spent their time in the open air, under a cloudless sky.

With some leaf compost in a plastic tray I planted them to offer to one and all. Free of course, just to get some more oaks on the skyline offering grandeur and stateliness to our development beleaguered countryside. Every garden should have at least one. Nobody born now will see them in their full glory as they take hundreds of years to become really dignified

More next week......

Swap Shop: Do any of my two readers have an article they want to swap for something else? The idea is that local people might have something they don’t want and would be willing to exchange for another object. No, I was not including husbands and wives in that category. For instance, I have a rice cooker. A very nice object, given as a present to me some time ago. In full working order and still in its box. I have used it twice to see if it works ok. It does. However, as a one-time chef I like to be involved in the cooking process throughout. Therefore, I have not used the rice cooker more than twice. Maybe someone would like it. I need a CD recorder that works. Is there somebody that wants a rice cooker and has a CD. Maybe, maybe not. I would be happy for some to take the rice cooker away if they will use it. Maybe that will apply to the CD recorder. If we do it in this column then I will write a story from the details supplied of how it all progressed and put the names of the people involved. Fame at last I hear you cry. Let me know if you are interested.

Contact: If you have any stories or articles of interest that will give our readership a reason to buy the paper please contact me on 07957588172 or via email at [email protected]

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on.

1) Make our website your homepage at www.ryeandbattleobserver.co.uk/

2) Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RyeandBattleObserver

3) Follow us on Twitter @BattleObs

4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!

The Rye and Battle Observer - always the first with your local news.

Be part of it.