Mountain Challenge for Red Cross Hikers

Hoping to bring the up and coming Red Cross Week to a successful end, a group of enthusiastic fund raisers from Ipswich will climb the highest mountain in Wales as many times as possible in 24 hours to raise money for the British Red Cross. The team in question is made up of twelve members and they hope to scale the 3560 feet (1085 metres) peak of Mount Snowdon a number of times on Friday 10th May. They hope to raise £2,000 towards the charity's national fundraising goal of £1 million in a week. This year's Red Cross Week runs from May 5 to 11.

The brainwave was the idea of Red Cross staff member Mark Bradley, who is responsible for managing the “home from hospital” service at the Red Cross in Ipswich, which helps vulnerable people adjust back to home life after a period of illness.

Red Cross hikers will be looking to conquer Snowdon

Other volunteers and adventurers include Red Cross colleagues and service users along with the landlord, chef and regulars of the Lord Nelson pub in Fore Street, Ipswich. Mark said: "This is the fourth year we have set ourselves an endurance challenge for Red Cross week and they've been getting more and more extreme. Luckily, all those taking part are complete nutcases and were really enthusiastic when I suggested the idea."

Already having displayed extreme fund raising efforts, the group walked 45 miles from Haverhill to Ipswich in 2011, and last year they climbed 24 peaks over 2,400ft in two days. This year, the group will complete the first hike to the summit of Snowdon together and then split into smaller groups to complete as many ascents as possible in the allotted time.

"Ideally, we'd like to match the current record held by an army PT instructor who completed five climbs in 21 hours carrying full army kit," said Mark. "I won't be carrying the kit, but it'll be a huge accomplishment if we can match that record. Everyone has been training hard, which is a little difficult living in a county as flat as Suffolk, but we've been doing eight or nine-hour walks most Sundays. Some days I'm really excited about the challenge; other days I dread it, but it's for a fantastic cause so I hope that the local community and the regulars at the Lord Nelson will support us and the Red Cross."

Judging by the £950,000 that was raised last year, there is every expectation that Red Cross Week could touch the £1 million mark this year. Previously, money has been used to support the charity's vital work in the UK and overseas, providing unconditional care for vulnerable people in crisis.  The Red Cross is equally active in Suffolk, where its responsibilities include short-term care in the home for adults recovering from illness or a stay in hospital, support during A&E visits, first aid courses and cover for public events, medical equipment loan, emergency response volunteers to support victims of fires, floods and other crises, and humanitarian education. There is also the small matter of the charity shops that it runs in Ipswich, Felixstowe and Woodbridge.

To sponsor the Lord Nelson Inn Snowdon Challenge, visit www.virginmoneygiving.com/nelsonsnowdon24hourchallenge.

Plaque Honour For Canal Pioneer Thomas Dadford Jr

The name Thomas Dadford Jr. may not be on everyone’s lips, but you will surely have heard of him if you move in engineering circles. The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Wales Cymru, together with the Monmouthshire Brecon and Abergavenny Canals Trust and the Fourteen Locks Canals Trust, obviously think highly enough of him that they have unveiled a plaque in his honour. He is seen as the man who revolutionised the science of canal building, and once the facts are examined, it is hard to argue with that assertion.

A recent ceremony resulted in a panel being unveiled  near the Fourteen Locks Canal Centre, which is by Rogerstone, Newport,  followed by a rededication ceremony of his grave at St Teilo's Church in Llanarth. So what is there to learn about the man himself?

Thomas Dadford masterminded canals across Britain

Let’s start off with the fact that Dadford masterminded the construction of the Monmouthshire and Brecknock and Abergavenny canals, neither of these being built through the easiest of terrain, as witnessed by the massive embankment carrying the canal over the river Clydach at Gilwern.

Dadford lived from 1760 - 1801 and is buried near Abergavenny, Monmouthshire. He was born in Wolverhampton, and started his high profile engineering career aged just 16. He was appointed engineer of the Monmouthshire canal in 1792, at the age of just 32. This canal includes the flight of 14 locks and a four-arch aqueduct over the river Usk. Three years later,  in 1795, he commenced work on the Brecknock and Abergavenny canal, which included the canal over the river Clydach at Gilwern, as previously mentioned.
Geoff Ogden, chairman of ICE Wales Cymru, said: "We are recognising one of the early canal pioneers whose expertise revolutionised the science of civil engineering."

The original Monmouthshire canal was authorised by Parliament in 1792 and ceased being used as a commercial waterway in 1930. However, because of the canal's historical importance,  it is now protected by Welsh historical environment body Cadw, being recognised  as an ancient monument. Upon his death in 1801, Thomas Dadford Jr. was buried in Abergavenny.

North Devon Tourism Firms Feeling Summer Job Rush

Attractions and holiday parks throughout the North Devon area are experiencing the usual rush of applications for summer work in the local holiday industry. Suggesting that “Mr and Mrs Average” feel that there is a sense of optimism about the coming summer season, it appears as though applications are running at the usual high level.

One local firm, John Fowler Holidays, a company that operates three parks in North Devon, saw more than 370 people apply for just 31 seasonal jobs this year. They run one park in Ilfracombe and two in Combe Martin.  Ollie Fowler is the senior manager and said although most of the vacancies went to returning staff, his firm also saw around 12 people apply for each of the 25 part-time and six full-time jobs advertised – a significant increase on other years.

Ollie said, “The park manager here at Ilfracombe said she had never seen the numbers of applicants go over three or four per job before. People won’t say when they come to interview that they are desperate for a job, but the sheer number of applicants for positions suggests that. We really do connect with the local employment market, and as it is such a big thing for us, we try to make it our sole purpose to employ people locally.”

North Devon is a fantastic tourism destination

Lynn Reynolds, who is the commercial manager at Exmoor Zoo, said that 125 people had applied for the one full-time job in the zoo café in the space of just five days. “The advert was originally booked in the Job Centre for two weeks but we had to close applications after five days due to the high level of interest,” she said.

Another popular attraction in North Devon is The Big Sheep at Abbotsham, where 400 job applications were received for just 15 jobs this year, while the Unison Croyde Bay Holiday Resort received 100 applications for around 10 vacancies. Spokesman for the company, Anne Tattersall, said that the company always took the time to respond to young people who apply for jobs.

“This is something we feel quite passionately about; as an employer you have a responsibility to respond to youngsters who have taken the time and effort to apply. It can damage their confidence when they don’t hear back, and we should be nurturing that. I would urge all employers to respond to applicants either way.”

Woolacombe Bay Holiday Parks said it was experiencing a ‘high level’ of interest in the 200 seasonal jobs available at the park, and this had been so since the start of the year. It was difficult to quantify exact numbers, but a  spokesperson said the park started recruiting for Golden Coast in February, and the other three parks in March, mostly for housekeeping positions. “We had masses of phone calls, not just lately for the three parks, but back in February for the opening of the Golden Coast,” she said.

A spokesperson for Park Resorts Limited, which operates Bideford Bay Holiday Park, near Bucks Cross, said it received in the region of 100 applications for jobs this year and was still receiving applications. “According to the seasonal staff figures, we have recruited 60 staff with another 10 needed,” a spokesperson told the Gazette.

Early Concerns About The Next Apple Crop

Considering that we haven’t had our summer yet, most people’s minds have yet to turn to thoughts of the traditional autumn apple harvest.  But if your livelihood depends on this quintessential British crop, then the extremely harsh, elongated winter will be preying on your mind, as witnessed by pronouncements by the Tenbury Apple Group who are expressing concerns about what sort of year they can expect in Tenbury and the Teme Valley.

Their representative, Alec Wall, said recently, “We simply do not know what will happen but the blossom is certainly later this year than is usual.”  This is the second year in a row where there is likely to be a plethora of furrowed brows, with last year’s problems being caused by a combination of some late frost but also by the excessively wet summer, resulting in reduced activity amongst the bee population, so essential for pollination.

In more detail, the poor 2012 crop came about because the frost damaged the fragile blossom, while bees did not fly in the heavy rain that followed. The whole scenario was disappointing, because despite this, early hopes for 2012 had been promising. The two previous years had been successful.

There are concerns over the apples in Tenbury

Interestingly, different parts of the same orchard can be affected in different ways depending on the degree of shelter, meaning that one part of an orchard can be badly damaged while a nearby sheltered area could escape relatively unscathed.  Younger trees can normally stand up to the frost better than older trees.

Whereas the increased unseasonal rainfall is a more recent problem, frost has been a constant enemy to apple growers over the years. In the past, various different techniques have been tried to counteract the worst of it, including lighting fires in the orchards to try to keep the frost away.

Early crops are often gathered in July and this can run through until the end of August.  Early cooking varieties such as Bramley are most likely to be hardest hit by the late frost.  You may be surprised to know that despite the general feeling that some varieties are dying out, The Tenbury Apple Group, which plays a key role in the annual Apple Fest in the town, has still identified more than 300 different varieties grown in the area.

http://www.tenburywells.info/

Aldborough Roman Site

Or to give it the official Roman title,  Isurium Brigantum. It is now better know as the Aldborough Roman Site, Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire, and is the care of English Heritage.  It is supposed that it was ‘capital’ of the Romanised Brigantes, the largest tribe in Britain, and was originally the site of a 1st century Roman fort at the crossing of Dere Street, the Roman Road running north out of Eboracum (an early name for York)  over the River Ure.

Nothing can be certain, but archaeological finds suggest that the Ninth Legion were active in the area. By the second century, it appears to have acquired an importance, judging by the fact that it was deemed to be the capital of the Brigantes tribe.  Progress continued apace over the next hundred or so years, and mosaic remains suggest buildings of substance and importance, often homes built by important Roman personnel. The fourth century brought uncertainty throughout Europe, and despite the likelihood of bastions being erected at about this time, the area’s prosperity slowed.

The new site is under English Heritage care.

Once Roman rule ended, the area was consumed by the Anglo Saxons, although geomagnetic scanning in 2011 revealed the remains of an amphitheatre, which suggests that it could have been a Roman town of some size.

English Heritage cares for the site these days, and there is one corner of the defences  laid out in a Victorian arboretum, while two mosaic pavements can be viewed in their original positions. The site’s fascinating museum has an outstanding collection of Roman finds.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/aldborough-roman-site/

St. George’s Day Puts English Heritage Into Overdrive

Feeling that it is imperative that it lives up to its name, English Heritage has really been ripping into the St. George’s mood. Having burst a blood vessel with excitement over the weekend just gone with a plethora of exciting family-orientated events, its web page has been boning up on the St. George story, with tales of derring-do, and a chance to really understand what the dragon episode is all about.

English Heritage is making the most of St George's Day

In line with many patron saints, he wasn’t actually born in the country that now adopts him, but most likely to have been from Cappodocia, that well known enclave of Asia Minor. He was thought to have become a high-ranking cavalry officer in the Army of Rome. He is recognised as a historical figure by Christians because he was beheaded in Lydda, Palestine (in AD 303) for refusing to carry out Diocletian's orders for Christian persecution. Canonisation followed in 494AD by Pope Gelasius.

Edward III’s reign in the fourteenth century turned out to be the turning point in St. George’s fortunes, although whether he was a dragon slayer is open to conjecture. It is not thought likely that St George ever came to England, but he was known here from as early as the eighth century. His reputation for virtue and chivalry became the spiritual inspiration for the Crusaders, and by 14th century the story had gained widespread popularity.

Did you know that :-

• St George is also the Patron Saint of Bavaria, Beirut, Portugal and Hungary, to name but a few. He's also patron saint of soldiers, archers, cavalry and chivalry, farmers and field workers, riders and saddlers, and sufferers of leprosy, the plague and syphilis.

• Baden Powell also named St George is also the patron saint of Scouts, as "St George was typical of what a scout should be."

• At the Synod of Oxford in 1222, St George's Day was declared a public holiday.

• Shakespeare died on St George's Day 1616, and if the story is to be believed, was born on St George's Day, 1564.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/

Telford Access to Nature Receives Further Funding

Recent news is good news from the Severn Gorge Countryside Trust (SGCT) based at Coalbrookdale, who at the beginning of the month were able to announce the receipt of a further £103k from Natural England and BIG Lottery. This will enable training opportunities for the Telford Green Spaces Partnership (TGSP) for greater sustainability for the groups to learn the techniques of raising funds, undertaking biodiversity surveys, tool maintenance and conservation OCNs.

The Trust’s web site reports that  “Following the success of the 3 year funded Telford Access to Nature Partnership, in November 2012, we have received a further £103k of funding for a further 12 months from Natural England . This funding is being used for training opportunities for Friends of Telford's Green Spaces, collectively known as Telford Green Spaces Partnership which amalgamated in 2011. This partnership continues to grow as more Friends groups are looking after their local space.”

April is proving an active month for the Trust with the commencement of “Mighty Oaks”, a parent activity programme requested by the parents who attend the Little Acorns programme with their children. This will be led by 2 local ladies who are volunteers and trained Walk Leaders.

Mighty Oaks will be a monthly series of free walks and activities specifically for the parents as mentioned above, and will be led by Cadi Price, Telford Access to Nature Partnership Officer. The initiative came from a SGCT volunteer and parent who had been asking if it was possible to organise adult walking activities within the woodlands. The two “local ladies” as seen above, are two volunteers who have recently become Walk Leaders and will lead the programme, helped by Cadi.  Mighty Oaks may open to other interested adults depending upon its success. The programme, until December 2013, includes walks, surveys, orienteering and den building!

Check out the web site (address below).  You will learn about the history of the SGCT and see, once again, how much effort local volunteer groups put into maintaining and preserving the beautiful British countryside.

http://www.severngorge.org.uk/