Telscombe

YOGA: With Natalie Heath every Tuesday from 6pm to 7pm in the Civic Centre. This class is back after the summer break on Tuesday September 4. Contact Natalie Heath email: [email protected] phone: 07738538094.

LIVING LIGHT PILATES: Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning in the Civic Centre. £6.50 per class or class pass for £44 (eight classes plus one free session). Contact Nicola Murray-Smith email: [email protected] phone: 07776 457752.

FITNESS PILATES: Every Monday morning and Thursday evening in the Civic Centre. Get fit, tone up, prevent back pain, improve flexibility and posture. Equipment provided, just bring some water. Only £6 per class or £40 for eight weeks. Contact Jennie Palmer email: [email protected] phone: 07825 702775.

SENIOR TEA CLUB: The Deans Senior Tea Club meet every Tuesday from 10.30am to 12.30pm in the Civic Centre. Come along for tea, coffee, cakes and a chat. It’s free, but donations are always welcome.

CITIZENS ADVICE: Drop in advice surgery on the last Tuesday of each month from 10.30am to 12. 30pm in the Civic Centre. Advice can also be gained via their website www.citizens advice.org.uk, Adviceline 03444 111 444.

YOGA: Every Monday from 7.15pm to 8.15pm in the Civic Centre. Contact Jane email: [email protected] phone: 07703 167895.

DANCE CLASS: Little Stars Pre-School Dance Class for pre-school children aged 2 to 4 years, every Tuesday 9am to 9.30am at the Civic Centre. £3.50 per session. Contact Anneli Smith 07930 490058.

COUNCIL MEETING: There will be a Policy and Resource Committee Meeting on Monday. If there is insufficient business, meetings may be cancelled. Please therefore telephone the Civic Centre on 01273 589777 to ensure that a meeting is being held (an Agenda will be placed on the website). Meetings are open to members of the public who are able to ask questions for a 15 minute period at the start of each meeting, relevant to that Committee. Meetings are held in Telscombe Civic Centre unless otherwise stated.

FOOTNOTES: ‘Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May’, only in this case it was the rough winds of March. This line ran through my head as Chaplin and I surveyed the carnage the recent gales had wrought on the garden. Daffodils that the day before had been proudly tossing their heads in a slight breeze, were now flattened down against the lawn. Our two rose trellises and archways were a mangled mass of twisted and splintered wood, sprawled haphazardly across the grass, the climbers they had previously supported for years, entangled with them. Thankfully the perimeter fences remained untouched, but the garden gate had been wrenched from its post and hung at an awkward angle from its hinges. Mercifully, the gardener arrived, looked at the scene and grunted non-committedly, ‘not too bad’. My face must have shown my surprise at this reaction. ‘Order some new support arches, metal ones this time mind’. He said. He glanced at the rest of the storm damage. ‘Soon have the rest fixed, them daffs will be up again by tomorrow, and I’ll fix the gate’. He moved towards his shed, which is always a sign for me to retire and re- assume the duties of tea maker. Somewhat reluctantly I ordered up new metal arches. I much prefer wood, because I think it looks better, but orders are orders. By the time Chaplin and I came out with the requisite mug of tea, the wreckage had been cleared away, the climbers on temporary supports, formed from the old smashed ones.

The gate no longer hung drunkenly from its post, but was upright and secured properly, and the garden looked like its normal self with the lawns undergoing their first cut of the season. The weather forecast was hinting that the gale force winds were a thing of the past, so, hopefully the garden would not have to suffer again, this year at least. We are on a corner, and in the twenty years I have lived here, any wind, however slight, has always had increased power and force, coming straight off the English Channel.

The upside to this is that even on the hottest of days, the smallest breeze is refreshing and welcome. Sure enough by the following day the daffodils were up and pert again. By the following week, the new metal arches had been installed, the climbers draped elegantly around them and all was returned to normality. Listening that evening to the crescendo of hysteria from our political leaders, I thought how wonderful it would be if our national problems could also be so easily settled. Have a good week and go safely.