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AUTUMN BREAK.
The final Balance of Payment was due at the beginning of July.
Thank you to all those who have responded promptly. If you have not yet
sent your payment, please get in touch with Rod Arnold A.S.A.P.
Eileen
has received luggage labels for all those coming on the trip and will
endeavour to distribute them before we go.
A detailed programme will
also be sent out later this month, confirming your pick-up point and
outlining the included day excursions.
We look forward to the pleasure
of your company in September.
NEWS OF MEMBERS.
Joan Arnold thanks members who have enquired following her
recent operation. She is now at home and pleased to report steady
progress.
Doreen Barnard Jones writes from Billericay where she moved
18 months ago (can it be that long?) and sends her good wishes to all
at Pegwell and says she misses her friends.
I’m sure she would be
pleased to hear from anyone who would like to write. Eileen has the
address.
Good wishes to Mike Clouston in Cornwall. Hope you are feeling
better since our last contact. (We can’t do without Mike, a former
Committee member, who sets out our monthly Newsletter for us in such a
professional way.) Mike also scores full marks for reading Eileen’s
handwritten draft.
AROUND THE MEETINGS.
Thanet Voluntary and Community Sector Forum, linking the
various voluntary organisations, met on July 14th.
Westcliff Residents
held a meeting on Tuesday, July 20th and
Ramsgate Residents’ Groups are
invited to attend a meeting on Monday, August 2nd.
All these meetings
have a similar aim, to link societies together to speak as one voice.
It does look as though they are overlapping. We will wait and see.
We
have not been able to send a representative to any of them this month
as we have commitments of our own.
The next Committee Meeting of
Pegwell & District Association is on August 18th – any items
for the Agenda to Eileen, please.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS.
Thanet Coast Project at Quex.
Tuesday 3rd, Wednesday 4th,
Thursday 5th and Friday 6th August.
Oceans of fun from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Rock Doc Walk – Kingsgate.
Wednesday, August 4th.
Meet at 11 a.m.
outside Fayreness Hotel.
Margate Carnival Weekend.
Saturday, July 31st
and Sunday, August 1st.
Starting 3 p.m. Westbrook seafront.
Broadstairs
Folk Week.
Friday, August 6th to Friday, August 13th.
Ramsgate Week at
the Royal Harbour.
Monday, August 16th to Saturday 21st.
Contact Royal
Temple Yacht Club on 591766.
Wantsum Jazz Festival in Ramsgate.
Saturday, August 28th to Friday, 3rd September.
PEGWELL BAY NATURAL HISTORY.
By Richard Kinzler.
On the warm summer days many people will
flock to the Thanet coast to play in the surf, sunbathe on the beach or
hunt for life.
Rocky shores offer many great rock pooling prospects,
creatures to keep an eye out for are sea anemones, starfish, crabs,
shrimp and snails.
You may also see jellyfish washed up on the beach,
but be careful as some have special stinging cells and, even when dead,
they can still give skin a nasty sting.
Damselflies and dragonflies.
A
lot of people get mixed up with dragonflies and damselflies.
The way to
tell them apart is to count the pairs of wings – damselflies have one
whereas dragonflies have two.
August is the best time to see
butterflies and hear the clicking of crickets and grasshoppers along
the clifftop paths.
Also Swallows are starting to think about their
return trip back to Africa where they spend the winter. In preparation
for this they start to gather around the coastal areas, getting ready
to cross the Channel where they gather in large flocks.
Spiders.
Wasp
spiders have striking abdomens that resemble those of wasps, with bold
black and yellow stripes. They can be seen at Pegwell Bay Nature
Reserve where the grass is not regularly managed. The female is able to
spin a web and lay her egg sac in the grass.
NIGHT SKY.
Monday night, July 19th, was particularly interesting.
With a
hazy moon we weren’t expecting good visibility but to our amazement,
the street lights of Calais were clearly visible as were several other
strips of coastal lights along the French coast. The last time we saw
the individual lights so clearly was on Thursday, July 1st when the
lights of Calais and Dunkirk were both visible. This may be due to the
heat, but is not a regular feature, although the glow of the lights is
often seen on the horizon.
Another surprise on July 19th was the
sighting of a Shooting Star across the Bay, rather early for the
“shooting star season” which is usually in August.
WILDLIFE IN PEGWELL.
On Tuesday, July 6th, the Green Woodpecker appeared just
outside Driftwood kitchen window and we were able to take a picture of
him through the window, hanging on to the trunk of the palm tree. We
suspect he may be the culprit digging small holes in the grass, looking
for ants.
There was increased activity on the cliff on Thursday, July
8th, when both Kestrel parents were busy chasing away all other birds
in the vicinity. We guessed they might be intending to bring out their
offspring. This has always happened in previous years, when anything
that moved, including the cat has been chased away prior to the young
kestrels making their first appearance.
Watching from the sheltered
“look out” in the secret garden on July 9th we saw three young kestrels
leave the safety of their hole in the cliff, and take a short flight up
to the cliff top, about 3 feet above.
We noted that the parent birds
kept returning to the nesting hole and suspected that another baby might
still be there.
The young birds perched precariously in the long grass
at the cliff edge, continually squealing and calling to the parents for
food. It was fascinating to watch the parents return with a meal and
hover above the youngsters, encouraging them to fetch it for
themselves.
The following day, July 10th, our guess was proved right
when we counted four baby kestrels returning to the nest hole in the
evening.
This is quite a big family for the kestrels, who usually
produce two or perhaps three young ones, so the food supply must have
been very good this year.
The Partridges still make an occasional
appearance in the garden but we haven’t seen any chicks yet! Could they
have been the staple diet of the kestrel family?
There has still been
so sign of the resident Hedgehog who spent all winter safely tucked up
in a shelter of dry leaves. No doubt he has wandered off in search of a
soul-mate.
We know the Fox is around although we don’t always see him.
He informs us of his visits with a distinctive “trade mark” usually
deposited just by the door or on the path.
The birds all appreciate the
dishes of water around the garden and the grass is looking decidedly
dry, we could all do with a shower of rain.
Eileen was picking cherries
on the afternoon of Wednesday, July 21st when she suddenly found
herself surrounded by half a dozen or more young Long-tailed Tits, just
fledged from the nest. It was a rare opportunity to see these shy birds
close up before they had developed any fear of humans.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
Members will recall that the Association sent a donation of
£500 to the Haiti Earthquake Appeal in January this year.
We have
recently received a letter of thanks from the Disasters Emergency
Committee apologising for the delay due to the tremendous response to
the appeal.
To date £98 million has been donated.
A letter of thanks
has also been received from Pilgrim’s Hospice in response to the Garden
Safari last month. Driftwood garden was open for two days and raised in
total £80 with donations. We were informed that £3,800 was raised and
they hope to repeat the experience next year.
KITCHEN TALK.
Supper Macaroni.
1 medium sized onion.
1 oz lard.
4 ozs
quick-cooking macaroni.
Salt to taste.
1 oz flour.
½ pint stock (made
from a cube).
8 oz can of minced meat.
2 level tablespoons tomato
paste.
3 oz Cheddar cheese (grated).
Method.
Lightly fry the chopped
onion in the lard until soft.
Meanwhile cook the macaroni in boiling
salted water for 7 minutes.
Add the flour to the onion and cook over a
low heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.
Gradually add the stock,
bring to the boil and stir until thick.
Add meat and tomato paste.
Heat
through.
Add the drained macaroni and half the cheese.
Turn into a
heated dish.
Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Grill until golden.