Your letters
To the Editor:If these pages are going to be used to extol local pubs and restaurants (a reference I think to last month’s article about the Pheasant: Ed.) I’d like to praise the Cock & Rabbit and The Old Swan, although I’m sure they are already readers’ firm favourites.
Some years ago, on Boxing
Day, I unexpectedly took 14 people to the Cock & Rabbit for lunch as I
could not feed them. The staff looked after this big influx brilliantly and
when some of my young guests wanted to put on a little concert, with snatches
from My Fair Lady, The Boyfriend, and Phantom, Victoria fixed up a microphone
and dimmed the lights and they entertained us, unaccompanied, to the joy
of us all. Denizens of the public bar joined us when they heard the happy
singing coming from the dining room and applauded thunderously at this extempore
concert.On another occasion (fund-raising for the Old Church), stalwarts carried the piano from the Church to the Cock and we had a delicious dinner and memorable operatic entertainment, this time provided by professionals. Not many pubs would put up with that sort of upheaval. At the end Chris Poole said: “You’ve all had a fantastic evening, everyone put another 20 quid in this beer mug”, and we did, and the event raised a good sum for the Old Church Restoration Fund. Thank you to the Cock & Rabbit.
Late one recent evening I took three people to the Old Swan, and Shaun had
gone home to watch football. However he reappeared and cooked us a truly delicious
dinner with all good humour and cheerfulness. The food there is consistently
good, the service immaculate and the welcome second to none in my experience.A friend of mine lost a lot of weight unexpectedly so I took him and his wife to the Old Swan. Shaun’s dinner, which included the great treat of his special lobster thermidor, restored my friend’s appetite and he is the better for it, thank goodness.
On the subject of Midsomer Murders (also featured in the April Newsletter), I don’t know if they’ll be back: my long, arduous, tough negotiations to get 16 individuals round the Green a payment of £800 per household (for inconvenience) nearly frightened them off. But we got there in the end and some of the residents thanked me, some did not (’twas ever so).
The Green is recovering well. The experts came today under Chris Ruttle’s guidance. We had to wait till the grass dried out.
Liz Stewart-Liberty
The Lee
To the Editor:
Bemusing comments from our village Cricket Club Captain in the March edition of the Newsletter!
Democracy is surely also something about protecting the rights of the individual or minority (Ed, was it John S. Mill or Jeremy Bentham – perhaps someone can say?) Majorities are to do with electoral systems, or lack of.
As far as we know, no-one is complaining about cricket nets or cricket, or for that matter, schools, shops or scout packs, however old they are or however long they have lived in the neighbourhood.
You would think and hope, wouldn’t you, that when it comes to village cricket, a centre of village activity, everything could be done by local, neighbourly agreement which takes in everyone’s interests. Whatever this storm in a tea-cup, let’s just hope we find a couple of stars from the Lee for the English Cricket Eleven.
Philip Lund
The Lee
(Fellow cricket-lover and neighbour)
To the Editor:
On the 22nd April our very own village shop will have been opened by our very own Mary Stewart-Liberty.
A great deal of thought, hard work and planning will have been put into this project: a tremendous achievement to be applauded to all who worked with determination and enthusiasm to make it actually happen.
Living in the ‘suburbs’ of The Lee/Lee Common I generally do my shopping either in Wendover or Aylesbury. I know people who live in Lee Common drive to Waitrose in Chesham. Of course prices in our village shop may in some cases be marginally higher, but let’s not under-estimate the price of petrol, the ever ongoing hassle of parking, etc.
But there are even more important points to consider why we should shop in our own village shop.
We are all part of a small country community and we all need one another. The world ‘down the hill’ is often frenzied, impatient, quickly irritated, even angry. Our world is not only beautiful but also very special.
We have our own farmers working the land. We have our own village activities, our church celebrations. The Fête on The Green. The Flower Show. Our own cricket team. Our revamped Parish Hall. Our small but still traditional school. Our pub, and more. It’s wonderful, it’s still so English, it’s ours, to be cherished, carefully kept.
The new village shop in its own way will not only contribute to our own world but will also be such a convenience to the elderly, busy mums, people who have jobs to go to – well worth the extra pennies. Moreover it is a matter of what is important and what is not.
Therefore let each one of us turn our village shop into a real success!
Reina Free
Kings Ash
To the Editor:
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the children I have looked after whilst a member of staff at Lee Common School. The children have made the job worthwhile with their never-ending energy. Thank you for my leaving present.
Margaret Bunce
Kings Lane
To the Editor:
Have other Newsletter readers noticed a significant and disturbing increase in aircraft noise just recently? I am not referring to the big commercial jets – though they are bad enough around 6:00 am when the trans-Atlantic flights are arriving at Heathrow. At least they perform a useful service. Nor am I referring to the intrusive helicopter noise – I just assume that they are carrying out work of national importance defending Chequers from terrorists or bringing Blair’s despatch boxes and sandwiches from Downing Street.
What I am concerned about are those small aircraft that drone ceaselessly backwards and forwards over the Chilterns (including The Lee), mainly on Sunday afternoons and bank holidays. Presumably these are privately-hired planes – a trip round the block to show off to the kids and grandparents. Playing at Biggles for an hour.
Aren’t these Sunday afternoon flyers aware of the noise levels? Shouldn’t they pay compensation to those under them? A sunny afternoon at peace in the garden is a thing of the past. What right have these people to inflict this annoying form of pollution? Can anyone say where these planes come from; go to; etc? Why do they have to fly the same route time after time? And why do they have to be so frequent – every 10 or 15 minutes?
It seems a singularly selfish and probably useless pastime. We can only hope that Gordon Brown will eventually get around to taxing them out of existence.
Mike Senior
The Lee
To the Editor:
As readers may know John Chudley has decided not to stand for re-election to the Parish Council next month after having spent more than 15 years as a parish councillor, as he and Gill are planning to move to the New Forest later this year.
Of recent years John has been Deputy Chairman, providing wise advice and sound judgement to me as Chairman and to fellow councillors. He has also taken on responsibility for supervising the Lee Common allotments where his own expertise has been so valuable.
His departure will be a loss for the council and we would like to thank him for his many years of service.
Barnaby Usborne
Lee Common