The Resident Number 129 - 1976
Croxley Green Residents Association
|
CROXLEY REVELS - THIS IS YOUR DAY - JOIN IN THE FUN
The motorised procession of about twenty floats and cars wiIl leave Durrants School at 2 p.m. and follow the decorated route along Kenilworth Drive, Durrants Drive, Baldwins Lane, Lancing Way, and Sherborne Way to Barton Way Recreation Ground. There it wiIl be joined by the walking contingent and continue on its way to the Green via New Road. The stalls on the Green will be opened at 2.30 p.m. and Eileen Hewett, this year's Queen from Durrants School, will be crowned by the retiring Revels Queen, Deborah Wilkes of Rickmansworth School at 3.00 p.m. The Crowning Ceremony will be followed by a Fancy Dress Show -- (competitors should contact Mrs. Withers on the Raffle Stall beforehand) and a variety of displays (including Maypole Dancing) by local schools and organisations. Donkey rides, Clown Jack and his balloons, a roundabout, numerous stalls and competitions are some of the attractions in store. Come along and generously support us in our efforts for local causes. This year donations were given to Croxley House W.R.V.S., the Community Centre Association and towards a foetal heart monitor from the proceeds of last year's Revels. Enjoy yourselves! See you there! | ||
The Resident Number 130 - 1976
Croxley Green Residents Association
|
THE RESIDENTS' RAMBLE
Roger King, a keen walker and programme secretary for Amersham Rambling Club has kindly organised a family walk on behalf of the Residents' Association. This will take place on Sunday, 24th October. We shall meet at the Recreation car park at the top of Baldwins Lane at 2.30 p.m. and go by car to the Green at Chenies. A lift will be available for a few walkers without transport but if you can give a lift, so much th e better. After parking on Chenies Green we shall walk towards Mountwood Farm observing the fine view towards Church End, Sarratt. After crossing the Chess we shall rest awhile at the Saxon Church of Sarratt. We then return to the river enjoying en route one of the best views of the Valley looking towards Chenies and follow the Chess up stream. A short walk on a busy road follows. It is surprising how quickly one forgets the noise and restriction caused by traffic on roads so please exercise caution here, especially those with children. Nearing the end of the walk we can savour the old world charm of the Manor House remains and the rural beauty of Chenies' old buildings before returning to the cars. A map of the walk is shown below - distance: 4 miles. | ||
The Resident Number 131 -1977
Croxley Green Residents Association
|
YORKE ROAD to YORKE MEAD - Gas- light, open fires, toilets across the playground, cold water, no field, no hall, no staffroom, a cupboard for an office - this was the old Yorke Road School as built 101 years ago. It remained almost unchanged until after the war. Later we progressed to electric light, oil heaters, a hall, a staffroom and after the winter of 1963 indoor toilets, hot water and T.V. These additional improvements made conditions of work a lot better but still rather inconvenient - a great deal of time was spent "toing and froing". We used All Saints Church Hall for dancing and drama and John Dickinson's Sports grounds for games. When the Watford Road was widened and the trees removed, their trunks were transported to the playground for imaginative play. Then in May 1974 came the move to Yorke Mead. The great difference here is that everything is under one roof and on the one site - no more walks to the Church Hall, carrying the home-made, lifesize Donkey which caused so many smiles and calls from the passing lorry drivers! Our dinners are cooked in our own kitchen and they smell, as well as taste, good! We no longer close windows to keep out the noise of the traffic but can watch and listen to the birds from our classrooms. Several acres of playing field surround the school and parents have paid for a Learners' Swimming Pool.
| ||
The Resident Number 132 -1977
Croxley Green Residents Association
|
THE COMMUNITY PLAN
In 1976/77 the District Council spent approximately £2.20 million on manpower and at present is working 6% under full establishment. Efficiency requires careful handling of staff numbers and incentives. Bonus schemes in operation at the moment affect housing: plumbers, carpenters and decorators; manual and mechanical sweeping and refuse collection. HOUSING There are approximately 4,000 houses and flats, 1121 garages and 16 shops owned by the Council. The Government"s recent directive has not only reduced building but capital expenditure on repairs. No new dwellings were completed between 1974 and 1976 but 421 should be ready by March, 1978 : 114 (1 bedroom), 80 (2 bedrooms), 197 (3 bedrooms), 2 (4 bedrooms), 27 (sheltered) and 1 (disabled). This represents a rate of 150 dwellings per annum, 100 less than was considered necessary in 1974 to reduce the waiting list by 100 per annum. !n December 1976, there were 738 homes required in the current waiting section and 577 in the deferred section, after only 258 properties became available in 1976. | ||
The Resident Number 133 -1977
Croxley Green Residents Association
|
No price increase - it will just cost more!
The Gas Council announced this year that they would not increase prices by more than the Government's 10% levy. So what do they do? Change the method of costing so that, in my case at least, my bill cost 12% more, plus 10% on top of that I British Rail said they would not increase fares again this year. So what do they do? Cancel various concessions on season tickets so that they cost more. Three Rivers Council, I believe, are genuinely trying to keep rate increases down. Yet the rules for cess-pool emptying, as from 1st April, were changed from £2.16 per load to a minimum of £40.50 for four loads. Happily for old age pensioners, as a result of representations from your Association, the Council will now service small households, with one emptying a year, for £10.50. But why dream up such a complicated system with minima and maxima penalising the small house and favouring the large? Why not make an honest increase of so much per load? FOOTPATH FOULING BY DOGS - On this vexed question, a Councillor at the A.G.M. made it clear that the Council will support any individual who prosecutes the owner of a dog fouling the footpath. But this does NOT include the grass verge. | ||
The Resident Number 134 - 1978
Croxley Green Residents Association
|
MORE ABOUT OLD CROXLEY - I was interested to read Mrs. Leader's note on the Croxley of days gone by. Having been born twelve years earlier, perhaps I can add one or two further items of interest. I was born in one of eight houses in the New Road known as Louise Gardens; when the road was numbered our house became 104. The first butchers I remember in New Road were Mr. Jackson and Mr. Ernest Wilbee. Both these had their own slaughter house at the rear of their shop. Ernest Wilbee's shop was at the end of four attached premises and at the other end was a grocers kept by Mr. Arthur Wilbee. In between were two private houses set 3 or 4 feet back from the line of the shops. Arthur Wilbee ran a cycle repair business in his back yard. Mr. Saunders, the butcher, who had for some time worked for Mr. Jackson, started his own business in a shop previously run as a fishmongers by Mr. Garland, who had moved to a double fronted building he had built almost opposite. In his new shop he sold fish and vegetables. The store Mr. Dimmock ran for some years was originally owned by Mr. Flack and managed by Mr. Wells who, after a time, moved a little higher up the road to start on his own in a shop kept by Mr. Ranee for the sale of furniture. Mr. Rance kept a few cows which he grazed in two fields on one of which Dickinson Avenue was built.
| ||
The Resident Number 135 - 1978
Croxley Green Residents Association
|
CANOEIST ON CROXLEY GREEN! - I am sure that the passersby who saw the most strange sight of a canoe on Croxley Pond in January must have thought that the extreme cold had made some local residents go slightly potty or pondy. The Chiltern Society have a pond squad to carry out work on cleaning out derelict village ponds. To date we have cleaned out well over 30 ponds including the two Croxley Ponds. However, I must point out that all the labour was provided by that excellent body The Friends of the Green and the Chiltern Society provided its special tools and waders and a bit of technical assistance. Not that our ponds were derelict, all they needed was a wash and brush up. The job was completed over one weekend with the assistance of two skips provided by Three Rivers District Council. To spend a day almost up to the armpits in mud and water is not everyone's cup of tea, but it does beat the daily grind at the office desk. Someone said we looked like small hogs trying to get as filthy as possible and I am sure there is something in this. However, when we had finished the pond, Roger Figg of the Friends said he would like to round the day off by having a paddle in a boat on the pond. So out came my canoe and Roger had his wish fulfilled. It's a case of not 'Jim'll Fix It' but 'Roger'lI Fix It'. Roger King.
| ||
The Resident Number 136 - 1978
Croxley Green Residents Association
|
THE GREEN AND I - Born and bred in Croxley Green the focus of my young life was the Green. Haunts of youth were numerous, including Croxley Hall Woods, Whippendell Woods, the River Chess,the Moor with the River Gade and the canal but family times were best on the Green. Summer Sunday evening strolls after church, with a stop at the Orchard to buy a bag of cherries (why isn't the Green one huge cherry orchard, millions of cherry pits were dropped there) proceeded through the reeds by Copthorne Road up to the cricket pitch. Then over to the triangle with its mole-cum-ant hills and harebells in profusion. The dell, where did it come from, that could be run or rolled down. Over the road to Croxley House and the dill pond, down the lane and behold the duck pond complete with ducks.
What has happened to my Green? The cherry orchard is no more, sadly missed but seemingly inevitable, due to the age of the trees and cost of cherry picking. The reeds, the dill pond and the duck pond suffered the seemingly fate of changing weather patterns, though attempts have been made to save the ponds. Some losses however are man-made. Poor planning decisions allowed house building out of character, the destruction of mature-hedge-rows with trees and replacement with trees on the Green which are, if anything, worse than the loss. | ||
The Resident Number 137 - 1979
Croxley Green Residents Association
|
COUNCIL CONSIDERATIONS
1. The Council have now agreed new plans showing demolition of the garage previously built at Highfield Estate to achieve a landscaped strip comparable with the approved plan. Other buildings and road ways have been realigned to regularise what has already been built. 2. The Planning Committee have indicated some loss of allotment land in connection with later development of the Community Centre. Despite the fact that even though Barton Way car park is even more underused in the evening than during the day, provision must be made for 24 car spaces, IN THE FIRST INSTANCE. 3. A tenant has requested that two garages be demolished to allow for an additional shop in the Baldwins Lane shopping parade. 4. Rough road texture will be installed at two control points in Rousebarn Lane during February/March. 5. Three Rivers are sending 4 Councillors to consider complaints of nuisance from Leavesden Airport. CASSIOBRIDGE MARINA As I look out of my window, I can see a large excavation sticking up out of the ground, waiting for the lorries to take it away. So things are happening at last. | ||
The Resident Number 138 - 1979
Croxley Green Residents Association
|
GENEROSITY - For many years I have been puzzled by the generosity of Three Rivers Council in providing a "Free of Charge" Car Park close to Rickmansworth Station for the use of commuters from a very wide area. It is of no help or convenience to the vast majority of Ratepayers as it is always full well before 8.00 am. Recently this Car Park has been superbly re-surfaced at great expense and perhaps the commuters who use it would be willing to contribute in some tangible form to this expense. Further than this the Council are pleased to provide a Golf Course and Mansion at a "Peppercorn rent for the very needy golfers at Moor Park. It would be interesting to know if there is any other Council in the Country who are so generous to people outside their area. Interested Ratepayer.
TV, VIDEO AUDIO SALES, SERVICE & RENTAL PERICO ELECTRONICS 245a, New Road, Croxley Green Telephone: Rickmansworth 73997 H. WILLOUGHBY 305 Baldwins Lane, Croxley Green Telephone: Rickmansworth 74559 High Class Fruit & Vegetables PERSONAL SERVICE | ||
The Resident Number 139 - 1980
Croxley Green Residents Association
|
RECENT ITEMS DISCUSSED IN COMMITTEE
1. Rousebarn Lane - more sleeping policemen asked for. 2. Motor Cyclists on the Moor. Prohibition signs are being removed as quickly as the Council erects them. We have written to the Police and to Three Rivers Council about this. 3. Municipal Tennis Courts. Three Rivers Council are willing to hand over the running of Council tennis courts at a fee of £80 per annum. Takings would then belong to the lessee. In view of the problems of manning, security, collection of money, insurance, vandalism etc. etc. your Association refused the invitation. 4. Pedestrian Crossing at bottom of Baldwins Lane, opposite the shops. Three Rivers Council objection seems to be that it would be too near the Two Bridges roundabout. What about the crossing on the A412 by the Two Bridges? You could not get much closer than that without being on it! 5. Barton Way Recreation Ground. Three Rivers Council are proposing a new Sports Pavillion with a car park. The groundsman to be available during daylight hours only. Would this not lead to misuse by motor cyclists? We have written to Three Rivers Council expressing our fears. THE EDITOR, | ||
The Resident Number 140 - 1980
Croxley Green Residents Association
|
ROUSEBARN LANE - Justified complaints have been made to your Committee about traffic from Hunton Bridge using Rousebarn Lane and Links Way as a short cut to Croxley. These comments have been passed on to the Council. Obviously residents with chiIdren are very concerned about this. At theA.G.M. the horseriding fraternity added their weight to the complaints, though I do think that the suggested closure of Rousebarn Lane to cars, to allow free use to horse riders will meet with considerable opposition from pedestrians who m ight consider galloping horses are a similar danger to them. Rightful other users of the woods already have experience of dodging galloping riders when trying to cross churned-up bridle paths, or struggling along muddy footpaths used by horses, contrary to bye-laws. Three Rivers Council have spent £9,000 on two amazing rumble pads sited at each end of Rousebarn Lane. The deterrent effect of those rumble pads seems to work in inverse proportion to the speed - the faster you go, the less you notice them. Just try it and see for yourself. Neither the Council's expensive but ineffective solution, nor the sledgehammer proposal of the closure lobby - what about police, ambulances, Blacketts Nursery?-will provide the answer to the problem of Links Way. (By the way, our Chairman has ascertained that Hydig lorries are probably legitimately using this route to outlying farms).
| ||
