Take your litter home - to yours, not mine

AS Victor Meldrew would have said, I just don’t believe it. I had planned on regaling you all closer to the New Year with annual rubbish figures for litter dumped in my front garden, but these past few days have proved the last straw.

Donations have ranged from the inevitable sweet and crisp wrappers to an astonishing collection of booze bottles and take-away trays.

A quick phone call to the council reassured me that they hadn’t listed my property as a handy extension to Lodmoor tip, so what the hell is going on?

So far this year I’ve had the dubious privilege of having to pick up more than 500 items from in front of my house at the rough rate of ten per week and believe you me there have been some pearlers.

In the name of sanity what are people doing walking the streets carrying a stabilising bar from a washing machine never mind dumping it in my garden?

And what about How To Look After Your Hamster, an extremely interesting book I’m sure but hardly reason to tear it in half and dump it in my garden!

Then we’ve had barrowloads of newspaper sheets, pieces of cardboard, polystyrene, old pens, ice lolly wrappers, car park tickets, half-eaten bags of chips, cigarette packets by the battalion, beer cans, empty cigarette lighters and even a used lipstick holder.

You never find a discarded £20 note, do you, and I’m sure that as the festive season draws closer, I can look forward to offerings up to and probably including discarded fast food partridge leg bones and the odd sticky but empty Christmas pudding wrapper.

I bet it was a flytipper who said it is better to give than to receive.

Just call your friendly local neighbourhood witch

WITCHES are alive and well and living on Portland.

It is amazing what you can stumble across on the internet as I found out while trying to track down the origins of a particular herb.

Google swiftly answered my query but what also caught my eye was an offering lower down the page from a self-proclaimed witch living on Portland.

She was quick to set her stall out that she was not some crone crouched over a cauldron stirring away at eye of newt and toe of frog.

Far from it for this was a respectable witch delving into potions made from herbs.

She said she was not in to mainstream spell casting but was not averse to a ritual here or there.

Well that’s all right then, although it would perhaps have been more useful to the community as a whole if she was able to come up with a few powerful examples of magic.

Think of the unbounded joy if she could complete all Weymouth’s roadworks with a simple wave of her wand or whatever she uses.

Then perhaps she could deal with all those unwanted cheerful phone calls from double glazing salesmen, out of tune 2am singing drunks and drivers who force their way out in front of you and have the gall to give you a little wave while doing so.

The list is endless but now, perhaps, we can shorten it a bit with a simple call to our friendly neighbourhood witch.

Is there a road kill solution?

YOU rarely see wildlife as you drive along and it may be because many animals are lying dead in the gutter.

On a recent trip from Weymouth to Taunton the grim tally began to mount within a mile of home until it reached levels which were quite macabre.

I counted more than a dozen dead badgers which were kept company by an incredible range of creatures from pheasants, crows and hedgehogs to rabbits, foxes and squirrels.

Just to round it all off we were delayed on the way back by a large number of blue lights round an accident which seemed to indicate that perhaps a few humans had been added to the toll as well.

Then, on arriving back in Weymouth, I saw the remains of three gulls on Dorchester Road within the space of half a mile.

Don’t know what the solution is or even if there is one.

Cuts or no cuts, some people still need help

SHE was absolutely furious and heaped abuse on the object of her scorn.

The tirade continued all the way down the pavement towards me in Weymouth town centre without once letting up long enough for her victim to get a word in by way of reply.

Even if she had stopped her criticism there would still have been no reply because this poor woman was talking to a wall.

I’m sure it was a particularly evil wall, but it doesn’t get away from the fact that the number of people with mental health problems is growing.

Local and county councils are desperately trying to trim their budgets to survive ahead of the spring financial debates, so let’s all hope that one of the things to be cut back isn’t facilities for these people. There are enough people talking to walls without sending them to one as well.

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Welcome home, Geoff

ONE of my greatest achievements in a long and interesting career in newspapers was to rescue Geoff Baker from becoming a supersalesman with Cadbury’s.

When the NUJ called a strike of all journalists in the 1980s, Geoff was working on the Express and Echo in Exeter. He refused to go on strike and when his colleagues finally returned to their desks they gave him such a bad time he walked out and got a job selling Mars bars.

I was editor of the Sidmouth Herald at the time and offered him a way back as one of my reporters.

In a very short time I realised he was destined for better things and he was soon snapped up by the Birmingham Post and Mail as their TV editor. Later he went on to work for the Daily Star, became a star in his own right appearing on Saturday morning television, and eventually ended up as PR to Sir Paul McCartney. We always kept in touch and sometimes shared a drink in the Street of Shame.

Geoff always had a rebelleous streak but he was the best reporter I ever employed.

Last week I received a press release, along with the other local papers, written by Geoff himself, saying that he was now down on his luck, having been out of work since leaving McCartney four years ago.

Geoff said he was coming home to live and would be asking the town council if he could earn a few bob by sweeping the streets and giving talks at the same time - “Littery Tours” as he put it.

It arrived a bit late for last week’s issue but since then the nationals have caught up with the story and there was a particularly distressing piece in the Mail On Sunday.

My first thought was that it was all a PR stunt to find a publisher for his book Rock Bottom.

The Mail On Sunday story described how Geoff had hit “rock bottom” himself, having buried his father Ron and seen the break-up of his marraige in recent times.

Many of us in the town will be pleased that Geoff is coming home. When times get tough (and we’ve all been there) being around those who know and love you best is the only place to be.

EVENT OF THE WEEK

ON Sunday I went out to Uplyme to attend the Remembrance service at the village church and to take a photograph of the wreath laying ceremony at the war memorial.

There’s a great community spirit in Uplyme and nowhere is that spirit more evident than at the parish church.

The church was packed to the rafters for the occasion, but that’s nothing new in Uplyme where the 10am Sunday services are so well attended that the it was even suggested in the weekly church News Update that they might have to consider moving to the village hall in the future.

Wing Commander Mike Jenkins, who flew fighter planes in the post-war years, gave an informative and eloquent reflection on the Battle of Britain heroes, and the Rector, the Reverend Gavin Tyte, held the congregation spellbound, especially the children, with his sermon on the importance of Remembrance, revealing that his grandfather was shot dead in Burma in the Second World War when his mother was just three years old.

Wing Commander Jenkins also read the roll of honour listing the 28 Uplyme men who lost their lives in the two great wars, having investigated the circumstances of some of their deaths with local historian Jack Thomas. It added greatly to the solemnity of the occasion.

Despite the driving rain, a large crowd gathered at the war memorial after the service where village organisations laid their wreaths.

I’m not exactly Mr Popularity in Uplyme. Someone representing the Royal British Legion came into my office last week and made that perfectly clear, although it didn’t stop her asking for a free advertisement!

However, it was good to witness first hand something which I have been aware of for many years – Uplyme is a tight-knit, caring community with a spirit second to none, and the church is at the heart of that spirit.

LYME ASIDES

THERE’S nothing I enjoy more than listening to successful newspapermen talk about their experiences. John Bryant was a bit of an icon in my profession, having been editor in chief of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph.

As well as being an excellent journalist he’s also a talented runner and athletics coach, Zola Budd being one of his protégés.

John is very knowledgeable on the Olympics, having written extensively on the games, and gave a fascinating talk at last week’s U3A gathering at the Woodmead Halls on the subject.

He compared the austerity games held in London in 1948, the “friendly games”, to the staggeringly expensive staging of the Olympics in 2012.

I thoroughly agree with his view that money is ruining sport - not just in athletics. Money has also ruined football and having listened to John I could not help but contrast the obsenity of paying England manager Fabio Capello £6 million a year for doing a part-time job rather badly when Lyme Regis Football Club, the eptiome of the grass roots game, can’t get a penny for their improvements at the Davey Fort from the FA because they are doing the work themselves.

PLENTY of reaction to the old photos published in last week’s View from Lyme Regis. I asked if anyone could name the person on the far right of the picture above and Win Reed was the first of many to call in to identify him. It was, of course, Harry Blanchard, who I should have recognised as he lived opposite me in Anning Road when I was a kid. Mr Blanchard, who worked on the railways, was a much respected borough councillor.

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Another away trip in FA Cup

Monkey Hangers or Vauxhall Motors up next

YEOVIL Town avoided the inevitable banana skin that haunts league teams when the FA Cup comes around. So often the headline makers in the past, the Glovers were the potential victims this time when they visited Nene Park last Saturday in the first round proper.

However, a controversial Andy Williams just seven minutes from the end was enough to give them victory over Blue Square Bet Premier Rushden & Diamonds, and revenge for a 3-1 defeat in the same round in 2006.

The Glovers had struck the woodwork twice in the first half; Sam Williams’ shot having cannoned off the post before Paul Huntingdon struck the crossbar with a header soon after; whilst the host’s were also unlucky when Lewis Spence’s shot was brilliantly tipped onto the crossbar by John Sullivan.

In an entertaining game despite the lack of goals, it appeared that Yeovil had settled for a replay at Huish Park when they scored the decider late on.

The Diamonds claimed the goal should have been disallowed because Sam Williams stood in an offside position, had blocked keeper Joe Day’s view as he attempted to save Andy William’s shot after the keeper had parried Dean Bowditch’s original effort.

However after consultation with his assistant referee Mark Brown allowed the goal to stand.

The draw for the second round however was not kind to the Glovers who have to travel again; this time either to Victoria Park to meet the Monkey Hangers - Hartlepool United, or

Ellesmere Port, Cheshire to Blue Square Bet North side Vauxhall Motors.

The tie is to be played on the weekend of the 26th/27th or 28th November depending on the outcome of the replay next Tuesday after the sides fought out a 0-0 draw in Tyne and Wear last Saturday.

THE shirts worn by Yeovil Town on Saturday for the home match against Dagenham & Redbridge will once again be auctioned in aid of The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.

The shirts which will all be embroidered with a poppy will be signed by the player and will be offered for auction where it is hoped that each shirt will raise at least £100.

The minimum bid for each shirt is £30, and bidders will be notified when their offer has been exceeded so they can make a further bid if required.

Bids can be made by contacting RBL county secretary Dave Brixey at dbrixey@britishlegion.org.uk or by telephone on 01278 442061 before the closing date at noon on Monday November 29th.

There will also be a collection at half time during Saturday’s match by members of the Armed Forces based at RNAS Yeovilton.

Glovers chief executive Martin Starnes and manager Terry Skiverton both stated how proud they were that the club were associated with the appeal

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Misterton ship five as struggle continues

FOUR Perry Street League  teams - Winsham United, Forton Rangers, Barrington Reserves and Combe A - successfully booked a place in the last 32 of the Somerset Intermediate Cup last weekend.

Tomorrow attention turns to the second round of the County Junior Cup. Holders South Petherton head off to Bristol to take on Parson Street Old Boys who currently sit midtable in the Bristol & Suburban League Division Two.

Top of the League Pethy were disappointed to be without a game last weekend when opponents Barrington failed to raise a side for the local-derby.

There are five other teams carrying the league banner tomorrow. Combe Reserves will be looking to finally end their 12-game winless run when they entertain Castle Cary Reserves at Slades Cross.

Crewkerne Town go into the clash with visiting Bath Arsenal full of confidence after beating Lyme Reserves 2-1 a result which extended their unbeaten run to seven games. The match was marred by a double fracture suffered by Lyme’s midfielder Andy Hitchcock. The injury seems certain to end the career of the 38-year-old who had spells with the Seasiders and Western League Bridport. Paul Gold, with his ninth in six games, and Kev Wheeler netted for the Tigers.

Merriott Rovers are another side who will go into tomorrow’s games with confidence high. The Rovers, despite being far from their best had too much for West & Middle Chinnock and collected their third successive three-point haul with Scott Jennings notching his 15th goal of the season. Weston St Johns Sportsbar lay in wait forr Martin Case’s troops.

Meanwhile the other tie see Perry Street travel to Frome Town Sports on the back of a 1-0 home defeat courtesy of a Paul Stoodley goal for Ilminster Reserves.

JOHN FOWLER CUP, QUARTER-FINALS: LAST season’s runners-up Crewkerne Town Reserves can begin to harbour hopes of going one better if they can overcome in-form Misterton Reserves at Unity Lane.

Despite The Tigers recent goalscoring exploits, Missy will go into the game as favourites with a 100 per cent record still intact after Dan Peach scored twice in a 3-1 win over Millwey Rise Reserves last time out.

Luso-Chard, with a Marco Quedas hat-trick, his fourth of the season, in a 4-0 win over Lyme Bantams will be too strong for the Millwey second-string tomorrow.

The other tie sees lowly Winsham Reserves visit Jocelyn Park to lock horns with Chard United who are clear favourites to progress in the semi’s

TOMMY TABBERER CUP, ROUND ONE: A DARREN Dabinett double was crucial in Dowlish & Donyatt moving up a place to eighth in the Division Two table after beating Hawkchurch 3-1. But ‘the Stripes’ grip on Tommy Tabberer Cup will be severely tested at the first time of asking when they visit Beaminster Reserves - still smarting from a surprise 4-2 defeat at Hinton at the weekend.

PREMIER: THE pressure is building at Unity Lane as Misterton continue the hunt for their first win of the season. The latest disappointment, a 5-0 reverse at Beaminster, means Missy have now shipped 25 goals in four games and are now shorn of playmaker Jason Crabb who has moved on to Merriott Rovers.

Jak Flatt takes his team on the long trip to East Devon to take on Farway United tomorrow.

Ilminster Reserves fresh from their narrow win at Perry Street, their first run out for three weeks, entertain Barrington Reserves in a close looking local-derby at the Rec.

DIVISION ONE: TWO of the Division One relegtion candidates meet at Horseshoe Lane tomorrow. Thorncombe, with new boss Tommy O’Hare having overseen his first match, a 3-1 Dorset Junior Cup defeat at Witchampton, entertain Charmouth who are now managerless after Mike Walton’s resignation last weekend.

Ilminster Colts are another side in the wrong half of the table. An 8-4 Intermediate Cup hiding at the hands of Whitechurch last weekend could leave the Blues defence shell-shocked ahead the trip to Perry Street Reserves who have been boosted by the arrival of Stuart Packer from Thorncombe.

Packer scored twice on his Mothers debut, and there were two for Kev Rowson, in a 6-2 win at Norton.

Perhaps the pick of the day’s fixtures is Millwey Rise’ visit to Forton Rangers. The Devonians hit the goal trail last weekend as they crushed Tedburn St Mary 16-0 in the Devon Intermediate cup.

But don’t write off the Rangers who could upset the form book and bring an end to the Rise 18-month unbeaten league record.

DIVISION TWO: GOALS from Phil Denslow (2), Stacey Hawes and Ade Male saw Hinton pull off the result of the day last weekend with a 4-2 win which ended Beaminster’s 100 per cent record.

If results go their way, a similar scoreleine at home to Hawkchurch tomorrow will take the Saints up to the heady heights of second spot.

Crewkerne Rangers may have something to say about that as they look to avert a min-slump that has yielded just four points from a possible 12. Manager Scott Isaacs takes his side off to South Petherton Reserves with sub Steve Bryant’s goal salvaging a point after Dan Smith had given visitors Shepton Beauchamp an 25th minute lead.

Meanwhile Forton Reserves will look to put a 12-0 humbling at Uplyme firmly behind them as they vsisit Chard Rangers Reserves for a basement battle.

DIVISION THREE: TWO goals from Ian Banfield helped Combe A to a 3-0 win over Fry Club in thye County cup. The Saints entertain struggling Farway Reserves tomorrow.

DIVISION FOUR: PICK of the matches sees leaders Combe B travel to W & M Chinnock Reserves. Meanwhile Hinton could take top spot with a win at Hawkchurch Reserves.

Barrington Reserves, buoyed by a 6-3 Intermediate Cup win over Baltonsborough, entertain Chard Utd Reserves who had a double from Ryan Ebdon in a 5-1 win at Hawkchurch.

In-form Will Aplin took his goal tally to six in three with hat-trick in Shepton’s 5-2 win over Ilminster A. Shepton entertain Thorncombe tomorrow. The Thorns went down 3-0 at Combe B with Graham Cleal and son Brad both on target.

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60 SECONDS INTERVIEW: Mark Mabey

Father-of-five Mark Mabey lives in Netherbury with his wife and children.

He was brought up in Southampton and attended King Edward VI School before training as a chartered quantity surveyor over a number of years with day release attendance at Southampton College of Further Education.

He has worked in the private sector and public sector as well as the in-between housing association sector and currently works for Magna as head of development.

Mark had an interesting spell at work for London Underground in fire safety improvement, following the King’s Cross fire in the late 1980s.

His hobbies and interests include fishing, travelling, history and tracing his family tree. He has traced his family back to both Netherbury (18th century) and Powerstock (17th century).

WHAT does your job involve?

I head a team of about a dozen staff who are responsible for the new house building programme across Magna Housing Group. So a combination of line management of staff as well as working with Directors and non-executive members on the development strategy and financial implications of being an active affordable housing business. My day-to-day work at the moment includes getting our team revenue budget and new housing capital budgets prepared for next year.

WHAT is the best part of your job?

Visiting live building sites, which I do less often now than I used to. An active site has quite a buzz to it and meeting new residents who have just moved into their new homes. The latter is what our work is all about.

WHAT schemes are you currently working on?

My team is working on a number of projects. The most local to Bridport is the site at Dibdin View (Flaxhayes) for 57 new homes’ which should be complete next spring.

WHAT would be your dream job?

Running a post office in rural New Zealand – being a combination of a childhood desire to run a post office and an evolving desire to live in New Zealand.

WHERE is the best place you have visited?

I’ve been fortunate enough to visit many countries and recently spent five months away from work travelling with my family so a difficult one to answer – but perhaps the most unusual place – because of what is there – is Moeraki on the east coast of New Zealand’s South Island. The beach there is strewn with crystal-filled circular boulders that are ‘conceived’ underground and ‘born’ often via the cliffs onto the beach.

WHERE would you still like to go?

China – our plane had an abortive take-off from Hong Kong last year and so we spent an unexpected night in Hong Kong which has whetted my appetite to see more of what is in my view the real China.

WHICH football team do you support and what are their chances this season?

I’ve supported Tottenham Hotspur since the early 1970s and I’m glad to say that I think this year ‘we’ can finish in the top five securing a place in European Competition next year. It’s about time they won the FA Cup again – so fingers crossed on that one.

WHO would be your three dream guests at a dinner party and why?

Nikola Tesla – a very clever man who could tell us how to sort out our future energy needs.

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni or Mike to his friends - another man way ahead of his time – would love to hear what he would be working on now if he was still alive.

Ronnie Rosenthal – an ex-professional footballer who had a short spell with Spurs – so I could chat about Spurs but also say that I would have scored against Aston Villa when he managed to miss an open goal from about two yards out.

WHAT was the last book you read, film you watched and CD you listened to?

I’m reading a book about the origins of Freemasonry – lots of thought provoking ideas linking ancient stories to modern belief systems and how and when what we know today as Freemasons may have evolved. The last film was Stranger than Fiction, courtesy of a work colleague, classed as a comedy but found quite an interesting concept. Worth a view but do not expect too many laugh out loud moments. The last CD was a home-made compilation courtesy of my teenage daughters including Justin Bieber who is apparently a well-known Canadian singer.

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LYME MATTERS by Philip Evans

Monmouth beach is the battle ground

THE first salvos have been fired in what I predict will be long and awkward negotiations.

The first meeting took place between Lyme Regis Town Council and West Dorset District Council last week over the future management of one of the town’s most lucrative areas – Monmouth Beach.

Looking at Monmouth Beach, you wouldn’t think it was worth much. It’s not the prettiest area of Lyme, despite its proximity to the town’s biggest asset – The Cobb.

It’s a mish-mash of car parking and boat parks, as well as playing home to the bowling club, power boat club and boat academy. At the western end caravans and chalets dominate the skyline. None of it is very pretty but the area contributes huge amounts to the economy of Lyme.

An uneasy truce over who runs what has hovered over Monmouth Beach since 1974 local government reorganisation spurned our two local councils.

The big prize, of course, is the car parking revenue. At present the town council own and run the Cabanya car park (that’s the one on the right going westward just before the boat academy).

The town council also owns the bigger car park on the other side of the road but has leased this to the district for many years. Part of the deal was the district taking over the running of Lyme’s Tourism Information Centre, saving the town a good deal of money.

But that lease runs out in 2012 and it is rumoured that the town council will be taking it back. And the estimated £250,000 in car parking revenue that comes with it.

With that sort of revenue the town council could complete all its current projects – the Marine Parade shelters, new toilets in the gardens – and much more besides.

Last week’s meeting resulted in the district saying they did not want to renew the lease on another piece of land - the trailer park – behind the lifeboat station. And promptly served notice the next day (undue haste, wouldn’t you say?) on the sailing and power boat clubs to vacate their boat parks.

In a statement the district said the clubs would have to lease the land direct from the town council which should be simpler. Hmm? One problem. The district owns the frontage to the boat parks and could landlock them should they feel inclined to do so.

So who made the decision to give notice to the sailing and power boat clubs, who are rightly concerned for their future? The district council officers or the councillors? Lyme’s two district representatives were present at last week’s meeting but I understand neither of them knew anything about the leases being terminated.

That’s a big oversight or a mighty snub whichever way you look at it. Another fear locally will be the future of Lyme’s award winning TIC. If the town council take back the major car parking area on Monmouth Beach, will the district hand back the TIC to the town council.? Can the town council afford to run it?

These and many more will be the questions to be considered by both sides over the coming months.

The relationship between the two authorities has been fragile to say the least. The outcome from last week’s first tentative steps towards sorting out Monmouth Beach does not auger well for an amicable solution.

'Movember'

THERE’S been much talk of facial hair in the office this week. The young lads who work alongside me have decided to grow moustaches during November to raise money for research into prostate cancer. A good cause.

And as I am always dragging my staff into doing their bit for Cancer Research I feel obliged to take part as well.

I sported a moustache for most of the eighties and well into the nineties. When I finally exposed a clean-shaven top lip my eldest daughter Zoe did not speak to me for a week. She said I didn’t look “like Dad”.

Last year I attempted to grow a goatee beard which turned out to be a bit of a comedy. But I’m going to have a go at growing a moustache for the cause. We’ve all put in a fiver and anyone who laughs will be asked to contribute a similar amount.

EVENT OF THE WEEK...

NO significant event to comment upon this week but there’s one this coming weekend which I commend to you - the annual Festival of Remembrance organised by the Lyme Regis branch of the Royal British Legion, to be held at the Woodmead Halls on Saturday (starting at 7.30pm).

I have compered this event for many years and will be back on stage again this Saturday. I’m more than a bit anxious about this because for two out of the past three years I had to cry off at the last moment having been taken ill. Vice-chairman David Manners stood in on both occasions and did a splendid job.

But the Legion have kindly asked me to do it again so I hope they have the St John Ambulance standing by!

I have written many times in this column about my admiration for the work of the Legion, especially in Lyme. Although I’ve never served in the Armed Forces, I am a member of the Lyme branch and I would encourage others with a non-military background to do likewise.

Membership secretary David Humphreys will be present at the festival and will be hoping to sign a few up on the night.

With our young service men and women putting their lives on the line every day in foreign parts, the work of the Legion has never been more crucial.

Please give them your support.

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WEYMOUTH MATTERS by Harry Walton

If the bank won’t trust you... try Asda

DON’T you just love banks for the way they bend over backwards to help us?

One Weymouth man disagrees with this after returning from Northern Ireland with about £800 in cash.

He didn’t fancy wandering around with such an amount for too long and swiftly took it to his local bank… which refused to accept it without identification and an explanation of where the money had come from.

When he asked why, it was suggested to him that they had to guard against criminals trying to launder vast quantities of cash.

“Not very good at it am I?” replied the man, pointing at his miserly £800 before eventually prevailing on the bank to take his money.

The only problem was that his bank then refused to accept £40 of the cash because it was in “foreign” Northern Ireland notes.

“But Northern Ireland’s in the UK!” exclaimed the bemused man, but the bank stood firm and refused to accept such dubious currency.

The man eventually solved his problem… by going down to Asda and spending the notes on groceries via the store’s automatic shopping tills.

So the moral of the story is this: If your bank won’t trust you then don’t trust them and go to Asda!

Nectar from the Gods shouldn’t come in Sunset Yellow

IF you’ve ever been thirsty then you know how satisfying a soft drink can be as that first swallow trickles down your throat.

It can be nectar from the Gods. It can also be a major threat to your health.

It so happened that I was recently thirsty one afternoon and took the soft drink carton I’d bought up to the seafront to enjoy while relaxing on a bench. I didn’t relax too long.

Everyone knows about additives, but having the dangers baldly spelt out for me – albeit in incredibly small print – was still a bit of a shock.

People might be forgiven for thinking that Sunset Yellow is some sort of artist’s pigment used to enhance a landscape devoted to capturing the arrival of dusk. Nothing so wholesome.

This grim additive has been blamed in medical circles for causing everything from headaches, hives and a runny nose to liver disease, stomach cramps and kidney failure and tumours. Are you still thirsty?

Perhaps I haven’t kept as up date on these things as I should have because my wife knew all about it and said she’d always checked for it in squash she’d bought for our children.

What she said rang a bell and I remembered those times when such things as dodgy additives were headline news.

It doesn’t command quite such a level of public concern now, but seeing that squash label warning has reactivated my watchfulness about health..

The label read: “May have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.”

Be warned and check such things to protect your children. Norway thought enough of the threat to ban Sunset Yellow.

Just sailing on through!

MOTORISTS have enough on their plate at the moment with roadworks, but two roads full of vehicles had another cause to moan the other day.

They were all caught by bells going off and barriers dropping down for the 10am raising of Town Bridge.

So you could understand the muttered curses, the raised hands and the resigned sinking into seats as they cooled their heels waiting for craft to finish passage up and down the harbour.

They got through a minute or so of bells and barriers being activated and checked, they got through another minute or so of raising the bridge, they endured the wait while sailors got through the bridge and they even stood still for a few more minutes while the bridge was dropped down, its resting position checked and the barriers raised.

Then it was a churn forward as one line of traffic battled forward to tackle the Boot Hill roadworks and the other line of traffic ground its way slowly in to town.

In all I suppose perhaps 70 drivers and various passengers were inconvenienced while the operation itself must have cost a few pounds together with the services of various council staff, so what was it all in aid of?

Well actually it was to allow one yacht to enter harbour!

Water off a duck’s back

A TODDLER wanted to feed the ducks but there was an equally beguiling attraction at Weymouth’s Swannery car park.

She didn’t know which to do first, so she began by dropping some pieces of bread for the ducks to come forward and gobble them up as she clapped her hands with delight.

Then she gave in to temptation and went for the second attraction… a romp in a series of big puddles nearby.

Naturally the feathered feeders were unimpressed by her splashing. It was all water off a duck’s back to them!

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