Community Yearbook 17012019

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Newbury Weekly News

Thursday, 17 January, 2019

Lib Dems’ double joy THE Liberal Democrats claimed both sea ts in the by-election in Thatcham West ward, triggered by the disqualifica tion and resignation of Nick Goodes fromWest Berk- shire Council and Thatcham Town Council. The Lib Dems said their stances were against them. Jeff Brooks was elected to West Berks Council with 48.2 per cent of the vote, while David Lister won the town council vote with 46.4 per cent. The turnout for the district council election was 34.3 per cent (1,702), while Thatcham Town Council’s stood at 34.2 per cent (1,693) of a total 4,597 electors. success inflicted a crushing defeat on the Conserv atives, but the Tories said circum-

Monty pops in for a carrot MEET Monty , the carrot-loving heavy horse. He became a celebrity in Kintbury after developing a taste for free fruit and veg from The Corner Stores in the High Street. Monty pulls the narrowboats along the canal for the Kennet Horse Boat Company and each day, after finishing work, he is taken back through the village to his field. But one day the owners of the stores, Jay and Anita Mungur, fed him a carrot and now Monty stops outside the shop and refuses to go on until he has had a treat.

Clare Hastings

Late bloomer EMINENT gardening writer Anne Scott- James lived for 15 years in Aldworth, next door to her daughter Clare Hastings, who co-wrote Gardening Letters to My Daughter with her mother. They shared a passion for their gardens and in the book she conveyed, in delightful light- hearted letters to Clare (the sister of Max Hastings), some of her immense knowledge on the subject. Now Clare is passing on her own knowledge to her daughter Calypso in Gardening Notes from a Late Bloomer, illus- trated by Osbert Lancaster, Clare’s stepfather. “I’m not dead yet,” she writes to Calypso, who will one day inherit Clare’s beloved cottage garden on the Berkshire Downs. “In fact I woke up this morning feeling quite chipper. I glanced out of the window ... and thought about you. And felt a frisson of panic. What if I were to be struck down before elevenses on the B4009? I realised that I needed to leave you a handbook about the garden. For you the countryside is a pathway from the car park to the door, to be completed on the run. But I’m not giving up.” Clare was a latecomer to gardening, daunted by Latin names and nervous around plants. Then she realised she wasn’t and never would be a ‘proper plantsman’ and that it didn’t matter. Since then she has explored the joys of gardening and now after many years’ experi- ence of her own cottage garden, Clare shares her gardening life notes with Calypso. The book, which Clare launched with a read- ing in her home village, is full of insight and humour, as well as practical information for newcomers to gardening. Gardening Notes from a Late Bloomer is published by Pimpernel Press at £12.99.

Steve Butler with Monty and Jay and Anita Mungur

Tory in retweet row A SENIOR Conservative councillor was forced to apologise after sharing online comments mocking Mr Boeck subsequently deleted his reposting of the comments. phobic, mocking tweets.” Mr Boeck later posted on Twitter: “I do believe without doubt that people of any

The chairwoman of Newbury Labour Party, Gemma Lowe, said: “West Berkshire Coun- cil has made a great deal of its commitment to improving the mental health of the community by raising aware- ness of its causes and fighting stigma. “Yet one of our senior elected representatives, Dominic Boeck, seems to think it’s acceptable to engage in trans- “I resolve to look closer at tweets before I retweet them and I regret any offence I may have given in this way. “I absolutely do not believe that anyone with gender issues is mentally ill.” ‘Reach out to residents’ gender and sexual orienta- tion must be respected and I will make sure my behaviour online and off reflects that.

transgender people as mentally disordered. Political opponents called for an inquiry after Dominic Boeck used his social media Twitter account to re-post other users’ comments. Mr Boeck shared comments by a poster, who wrote: “There are two genders but three options– 1 male; 2 female; 3 mental disorder.”

Kathryn Bossom gets a kiss from T utti men Mark Genders and Garr y Rees

It’s happy Hocktide! IF ever proof was needed that Hungerford is a town that cherishes its tradi - tions, then Hocktide is surely it. The town’s link with its Constable of the Town and Manor Ellie Dickins presented the Tutti Poles to Tutti Men, Mark Genders and Garry Rees, as they set off on their rounds, collecting‘ rent’ of pennies or kisses. The beautiful floral displays atop the poles are created

ancient past is renewed each spring on the second Tuesday after Easter as the Constable of the Town and Manor’s horn rings out across the High Street at 8am. The High Street was decked with flowers and ribbons of Hungerford blue as the Commoners were summoned to attend the Hocktide Court.

replacing Quentin Webb, whose two-year tenure as chairman came to an end. The ward member for Burgh- field, Mrs Jackson-Doerge has been a councillor since 2007. The chairman is the formal representative of the district council and is considered the ‘first citizen’ of the district.

THE new chairman of West Berkshire Council used her maiden speech to urge district councillors to “reach out and engage” with resi- dents, who she says could one day be standing in her shoes. Carol Jackson-Doerge was sworn in as West Berkshire Council’s chairman for 2018-19,

each year by Fiona Hobson of the Tutti Pole tea shop and restaurant. Then, accompanied by the Orangeman Jim Scarlett, and Tutti girls from John O’Gaunt School, they set of to collect the dues from commoners.

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