PARK STREET AND DISTRICT RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION
NEWSLETTER - No 78, SUMMER 1998
available in booklet form to members via post - please note, the most current issue will not be shown on this page
EDITOR: MR. JOHN BAKER, 40 PARK STREET LANE, PARK STREET, ST. ALBANS, HERTFORDSHIRE.
GENERAL WEBSITE EDITOR: BEN WILKINSON - paulwilkinson@hotmail.com
ARTICLES SIGNED BY ED. OR EDITOR ARE FROM JOHN BAKER. MOST ARTICLES WHICH ARE NOT MARKED WITH A NAME ARE BY JOHN BAKER.
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Since the last newsletter the composition of the committee has changed slightly. Due to her moving to Redbourn we have lost our Minutes Secretary, Pam Sanderson. We are now in need of a volunteer to fill that vacancy. Ann Gurd has resigned from the committee after many years of service. Fortunately Julie Stevens has joined us. Nonetheless we could still do with at least two more members.
As for Road Agents - we are short. John Mills who looked after The Mall for longer than I can remember has resigned, as has Val Hamby who covered the top end of Orchard Drive. This area has been taken over by Peta McKeon, thus leaving Woodbury Gardens without representation. Woodlands (temporarily being looked after by Laura Rawling) is also in need. Roger Shephard, who covered the village, has also resigned due to his no longer living within easy distance. That leaves another area to be covered.
It would all seem to be doom and gloom, which insofar as I am concerned, it is. The silver lining to the lowering cloud is Anthony (Sandy to all who know him) Sanderson, who will take over Acers and part of Maplefield currently vacant due to departure of Pam Sanderson.
We are without official cover in the following areas, which are all temporarily covered by myself: Frogmore, Smug Oak Lane, Sycamore Drive, The Beeches, Radlett Road, Alder Close, White Beams.
The list, as you can see, is endless. I know that this plea has been made many times in the past. About the past there is nothing which can be done. The future is yet to come. So!!! HOW ABOUT IT FOLKS!!!
John Baker
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BARBECUE
What a day to chose to hold a barbecue! July, say the statisticians, was the hottest July since records of the weather began. The 11th of that month certainly was uncooperative. Somewhere, someone has forgotten to mention that fact to whomsoever was in control of the deep depression hanging over Park Street on the days prior.
What was to be done, as holding a barbecue in a possible tropical storm is not everyone's idea of an evening out. Also, there was the fact that all the 100 tickets had been sold and the food purchased. Any surplus or if you wish, profits, were to be donated to the fund being accumulated to build a new village hall.
Tragedy? Despair? No. One of the organising committee, I suspect that it was Pam Miller, used her charm on the Headmaster at How Wood School and there we congregated, and what is more, 10 residents who turned up without tickets were not turned out into the harsh weather but found that there was enough food for them. The committee had learned from experience that there are always such occurences and cater for an emergency.
Despite the weather the barbecue was a success. Our thanks are offered to Chief Chef Trevor and his commis Peter, both clad in the gear reminiscent of the Fishermen of England and sheltered only by an open tent, borrowed from the Scouts. They cooked in the most inclement conditions. Included in those thanks are Laura, Loraine and the two Pams. They served and policed the noisy cheerful gathering most firmly and charmingly.
At the time of going to press I do not know how much has been donated to the Village Hall funds. I may get the information, in which case I shall find a space somewhere to let you know, otherwise I fear that you will have to wait until the Christmas issue.
John Baker
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ANNUAL GENERAL MEEING
The Annual General Meeting was held as advertised on 21st April. A score of residents attended, half of which comprised members of the committee. In these days of poor attendance at most AGM's, be they AGM's of large international companies or the smaller bodies as is ours, we must not complain.
We can take heart from the fact that only one member of the public was present at the Annual Parish Meeting of St. Stephen Parish. Had I not turned up the Councillors could have all gone home as there was reason for holding that meeting. I did apologise and was forgiven.
On page 1 you will find the composition of the 1998/99 committee.
I regret that I am unable to give you more details of what was discussed at the AGM. The minutes taken there appear, like lost sheep, to have gone astray.
John Baker
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STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS AS AT 28th FEBRUARY 1998
STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS
AS AT 28th FEBRUARY 1998
INCOME
ITEM TOTAL 98/99 TOTAL 96/97
Subscriptions £1,095.50 (£1,455.70)
Advertisements £410.00 (£294.00)
Barbecue excess £67.12 (£74.52)
Bank interest £46.22 (£37.10)
SUB TOTAL £1,618.84 (£1,861.32)
TOTAL £1,618.84
EXPENDITURE
ITEM TOTAL 97/98 TOTAL 96/97
Office expenses £11.35 (£116.70)
Photocopying £20.11 (£27.84)
Donations £20.00 (£100.00)
Newsletter £1,041.54 (£1,330.73)
Insurance £156.00 (£153.75)
General expenses£174.72 (£24.99)
Adjustment £0.00 (£10.00)
SUB TOTAL £1,423.72 (£1,794.01)
EXCESS OF INCOME£195.12 (£97.31)
TOTAL £1,618.84
BALANCE OF FUNDS 1997/98 1996/97
Cash in hand £17.78 (£13.42)
Current account £907.98 (£724.38
Deposit account £1,535.33 (£1,528.17)
£2,461.09 (£2,266.97)
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THANKS TO REDLANDS
Some time ago the Residents Association was notified that some restoration work was neede on the River Ver to the North of Park Mill and around the sluice gate area.
A meeting with the Environment Agency took place on site. I suggested that the work might include the cleaning up of the mill stream where it ran by the shops and the flats.
The agency agreed to supply the labour but said that the cost of 72 tons of shingle needed to fill a hole in the river bed would have to be bourne by someone as they had no cash available.
It was decided to approach Redlands to see if they could help. A Mr. Peter Burton was contacted. He said that if the Association would confirm my actions in writing they would supply the necessary shingle transported to the site at no cost.
The work has now been completed. Hopefully the water will run clear and, in due course, fish and wildlife will return. Once again, a very big thanks to Redlands.
Ian Getley
We feel that a 'very big vote of thanks' is due also to Ian who used his charm of manner - well known to many members - to charm Redlands to co-operate in the way which they did.
Ed.
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VILLAGE HALL APPEAL
Fifty one villagers, including a large number of our members, enjoyed a very well run Quiz Evening at the Village Hall on Saturday 27th June. The competetive spirit prevailed as high scoring teams battled it out to acheive leading positions - eventually won by the team led by Dick Downs, Village Hall chairman, with 114 points out of a maximum 130.
A sausage and chips supper was included in the price. This was served during the interval.
A successful raffle, well supported by those present, helped to swell the profit, after all expenses, to £220. The Association, as promoters of this event, wish to thank its members, Neighbourhood Watch and Link Up for their generous gifts for the raffle and cash donation.
The next Quiz Evening will be held in the Village Hall on Saturday 26th September at 8.00pm (but better to arrive a little earlier). Please bring your own wine, beer and glasses. Advance tickets may be booked by ringing 875940.
Mervyn Ramsey, Hon. Secretary
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THE PARK STREET AND FROGMORE MILLENNIUM PROJECT
The Park Street and Frogmore Society want to do something significant tomark the millennium and consequently we are aiming to produce the most complete pictorial record of the villages of Park Street, Frogmore and Colney Street it is possible to make.
We wanted to choose a project which did not cover ground already well documented in existing works and which did not demand large numbers of active people at specific times. The project had to be of value to both our local history and environmental activities.
The photographic record of our three villages is poor, most available imnages coming from a set of postcards, few of which are available because of the market in such objects amongst collectors. Most collectors will not allow copies to be made of the images on their postcards because of the increased value attributed to rarity. Our local history is being locked away.
Nor have changes in the local environment been adequately documented. Typically these are back garden housing developments, gravel working and major changes to the use of large buildings and land as old industries close or move away. Aerial photographs also provide a unique and very visible record of the development of an area.
The project will be split into three phases. We have chosen the world wars as markers because each was followed by a significant shift in social attitudes. The first, and most ambitious phase, will be to photograph the areas occupied by the villages prior to the First World War. We will photograph all of the buildings along all of the roads and paths which were occupied at that time. We will be particularly careful to adequately document the open spaces, public and where possible, private. We have a variety of such spaces occupied by farms, public rights of way, old gravel workings and derelict factory sites. Where relevant panoramic views will be recorded as development tends to eliminate these and with them the 'feel' of the local environment.
The second phase covers the time between the wars, this is a relatively slow time for development in the villages.
The third and final phase brings the record up to date with photographs of all additions since the end of WWII. Our sponsorship and support only covers phases one and two. We will move on to phase three when we have acheived the first two.
We have been pleased to receive support from a number of partners, in particular The Old School Studio who have provided money to buy films, St. Stephen Parish Council who have provided some useful maps on permanent loan, and most significantly Rural Action who have provided £1731. to pay for the processing and protection of the prints and the acquisition of some survey quality aerial photographs taken between 1962 and 1994. For the near future a local pilot has promised the use of an aircraft to take some contemporary aerial photographs which we will supplement with video. The total value of phases one and two of this project in hard cash, support from sponsors in various forms and voluntary labour from our members amounts to £7959.
The images will be used in conjunction with other material, either currently owned by the Society and its members or acquired in the future, to stage exhibitions and produce publications. Some of the material will form part of the Society's Millennium Exhibition at the St. Stephen Parish Council Pageant and Families day on 11th July 1999.
For the future we intend to supplement the photographs with recordings of people's memories of life in the villages, and also get their comments on life today. In the longer term we are planning to make video records of the villages with the aim of producing themed multi-media CD ROMs.
This society believes that simply researching old documents and o