Your letters
To the Editor
I refer to
the June 2008 Newsletter, in which Mrs Stewart-Liberty recounts the history
of Admiral Lord Howe and describes a painting of old ships (head-lined ‘HMS
Himalaya’) which she attributes to ‘Dixon’. I would like to make a few
observations based on my own research.Firstly, according to the details marked on the frame of the painting, it shows “HMS Yacht Victoria and Albert, HMS Hero, HMS Hindustan and HMS Impregnable”. (HMS Impregnable was also known at different times as HMS Howe and HMS Bulwark and carried the figure-head of Admiral Howe.) There is no mention of HMS Himalaya which, according to my research, was originally built for P&O as a passenger ship and later sold to the Royal Navy and used as a troop and ammunition ship. As far as I am able to tell, it was never involved with HMS Howe/Impregnable/Bulwark.
Mrs Stewart-Liberty acknowledges “some authenticity was sacrificed for composition” in the painting. This is certainly true as in any case there is no time when the said ships were together in time and place.
The Hindustan was the other ship hulk (together with Impregnable) which was purchased by Liberty and the timbers as we know make up the Tudor facade of the London store.
Secondly, the painting which she reports as being commissioned in 1975 cannot be by Charles Dixon, as he died in 1934. Following up on this, and checking government national archives, Colin Sully has established that the painting was apparently commissioned, by Liberty and Co, from Leslie Willcox R.A.
John Pearson
Chesham
Hands-off our box!
To the Editor
The headline of the article in the February newsletter (A post-box for the
Shop… the campaign starts here!) should surely have intended to refer to
a campaign for a new post-box. Instead, the call to arms is for a campaign
to move an existing ‘heavy use’ post-box to the Village Shop. Despite calling
for residents’ views, the only thing left to decide seems to be the timing
of this relocation.All the current post-boxes appear to be viable in their current location. The suggestion of moving a post-box that has been proven to have ‘heavy’ use is as maddening as it is mad! It seems along the same lines as the ‘outrageous’ and ‘heinous crime’ of removing a road sign, mentioned elsewhere in the Newsletter.
The article states (as a fait accompli) that there will be “winners and losers” as a result of this move. Why chose a solution with winners and losers, if there’s a perfectly reasonable solution whereby everyone could be a winner? There is certainly nothing wrong with the idea of having a post-box at the Shop, and I have no doubt that those who support this idea would be happy to contribute to the £400 needed. A collection box in the shop seeking £400 for the post-box would soon see the money collected, especially from those who would value a post-box there. Alternatively a fund-raising event can be staged, and its profits pay for this post-box. Self-funding a valued amenity would also contribute to the sense of community pride already associated with the Shop – rather than community shame of having robbed one area to furnish another.
Let’s all make sure the shop gets its post-box if we want one – but by ensuring they get the funds to obtain one, not by robbing the community of an existing well-used post-box. That’s the campaign the Village Shop (not the Parish Council) should be pursuing, and it could start now.
We should be very happy to be amongst the first contributors.
This letter represents the views of a significant proportion of Sly Corner residents.
Keith and Diana Taylor
Sly Corner
To the Editor
I read Mr Usborne’s article about a new post-box for the Shop (February Newsletter) with some surprise.
As he knows from the letter sent to him in September 2007, the majority of the residents of Sly Corner and surrounding properties object to the removal of the post-box which we currently use.
The choice seems to be that either the Shop or its customers pay for a new box or that Sly Corner gives up its box which according to the Royal Mail has “quite a heavy use”.
We are told elsewhere in the February issue by Mr Usborne how well the Shop is doing. Therefore I would respectfully suggest that it pays for its own pedestal box. Alternatively if that is really not possible the Shop could at least make a contribution towards the cost and the balance could be met by public subscription. I am happy to support the Shop and for it to have its own post-box but not at the expense of the residents of Sly Corner and the surrounding properties, whether they like it or not.
In order to set the ball rolling I would be prepared to make a contribution of £20 to fund the new post-box.
Gerald R.A. Tomkins,
Sly Corner
To the Editor
Embellishing our demi-paradise here at The Lee, the Shop is now firmly established.
One sees it as a club, no entrance application, no membership cost; you can
shop till you drop, there’s even a chair! Fortnums and Waitrose are losing
– never mind. The range of stock, ever increasing, encourages browsing and,
while doing so, meeting people. It’s the smiling welcome, the geniality.
For some of us two or more visits a week are habitual.The glory days of Karel’s shop and Post Office, the John Lewis of Oxford Street, are recalled. In the 1920s – my young days – shopping was often daily, milk in urns on the street horse-drawn and ice blocks delivered for the larder, before refrigerators. Now our Community Shop serves without fail through the dedication of so many – the ordering, stock management, accounting, credit facility, staffing and paper delivery. The committee is to be congratulated.
Would a modest annual get-together for all be an idea?
John Glanfield
The Lee
To the Editor
Remembering to buy a Valentine’s card is not one of my strong suits. At the last minute, I called at the Village Shop and sorted through their selection. It was then that I received something of a surprise. To say the least, the Valentine’s cards were highly suggestive – some would say bordering on the pornographic. I mean, there were references to male “telescopes – of all kinds”, several allusions to “love handles” – and what on earth rhymes with “Venus”? All this was accompanied by various salacious and bawdy drawings. And they weren’t even on the top shelf. The young lady who served me blushed visibly.
I consider it my duty to draw this state of affairs to the attention of the Parish. I don’t know what you would have done, but I bought three of each. If you rush, there might be a few left – for next year.
Mike Senior
The Lee
(Well I never got one: Ed.)
To the Editor
When a telegraph pole manifests itself in front of your house who do you call? Call Pole-Busters!
Three parish councillors-turned- pole-exterminators immediately set to trying to capture the telegraph pole with their nuclear-powered ‘proton packs’ (sold by Dell). They successfully entrap a luckless member of OpenReach into their containment grid, only for the pole to remain resolute.
Further investigations reveal a demonic figure by the name of Skanska – a (fictional) demigod worshipped in 6000BC by the Hittites, a minion of BT – the shape-shifting god of destruction. With utmost stealth, and ruthless determination, the Pole-Busters manage to entrap both Skanska and BT in their containment grid. But still the pole shrieks out in defiance.
An electricity outage compromises the containment grid and Skanska, BT and OpenReach roam free. In the chaos, OpenReach emerges in a female humanoid form and makes her way to an address in the North East. The Pole-Busters realise that this address was set up to summon BT who would then destroy the world.
The Pole-Busters manage to open an inter-dimensional portal allowing BT to enter the human world but by doing so, the Pole-Busters are transformed into dog-like beasts. Being led to believe that they are its prophesied adversaries, BT challenges them to choose a form for it to assume, as it destroys the world. With blank stares, the Pole-Busters choose E-On.
A gigantic version of E-On appears and begins to lay waste to Oxford Street Seeing this, the Pole-Busters decide their only hope is to cross their proton-packs-emitted energy streams, reversing the particle flow and destroying BT’s gate to its home dimension – the downside being that the Pole-Busters themselves may be destroyed.
With a heavy heart the particle flow is set to reverse, causing E-On to explode in torrents of waste paper. The Pole-Busters emerge unscathed, being freed from their dog-like forms. As the clouds of paper settle, the Pole-Busters cheer as the demons and telegraph pole evaporate leaving a glorious wintry day’s view across the Chilterns.
It really is that simple to remove a telegraph pole from Oxford Street!!
John Clarke
Lee Common