Caddington Front Garden – Riot of Colour

I returned to Caddington on my way back as I needed to get a bite to eat. The village is suffering badly due to ongoing diversions that have cut off the normal route north via Chaul End, and to avoid the worst section by the shops I parked a long way back, and as I walked along I spotted a couple of gardens worth grabbing a few photographs in, once I had collected some food. As I came closer to my old house, I spotted a familiar face, and Phil, whose name he mentioned whilst we talked, hailed me with: “I thought you had moved to Eaton Bray!” That brought me into conversation and the lady who had been with him took the opportunity to take her leave telling him she would catch up later. He was correct I had been looking initially in that direction, but I brought him up to date, and we chatted for ten minutes or so before I went for my food.

I put my food in the car, picked up the camera and returned to the two gardens and the majority of the shots were from this one front garden which simply looked as if someone had opened a hundred seed packets and spread them liberally in the front of the house, then taken a hose and sprayed them with liberal amounts of water and possibly fertilisers! I had simply never seen so many brightly coloured flowers in bloom in such a small area – it could only be described as a “Riot of Colour’! It cried out to be photographed,

I obliged.

Mainly Tulips, and a host of others to which I could not put a name, so now that I have managed to get the Stockwood Discovery Centre gallery up, I have put these up as a follow-on. I hope they will give others as much pleasure as I derived from capturing them.

Gardening Book Delivery to Stockwood

I have now exchanged Contracts and am due to move to Marston Moretaine any day now, so my days, nights and times I did not know existed, have been filled by filling – filling boxes; the end result being that a four-bedroomed house has been reduced to a series of corridors between stacks – of boxes!
In order to achieve this Nirvana, I have reduced wall-to-ceiling bookcases to the building blocks of a cardboard city of skyscraper stacks of boxes. Where some have a small room in their house they term a boxroom, I have a boxhouse! It offered the opportunity to do some reading-weeding and provide an abundant supply of very random books to the Caddington Allotment Library, being successfully built by one Helen Taylor.
After the first room's bookcase was emptied I delivered a mere three boxes, but at that time I knew there were to be more, and a couple of back-breaking days later, another few boxes made their way to the Allotments Library, and I said there might just be a few to follow – I was wrong! I had forgotten that bookcases were to be found on the landing and in my bedroom, so I duly delivered yet more heavy boxes, saying there might yet be a few lonely remainders to follow – wrong again! I made no more promises to Helen and her daughter on their doorstep as I delivered yet another box.

These books had been acquired from my reading, that of my ex-wife and both our deceased parents from their collections. Amongst them, I unearthed a book signed by the entire Yorkshire Cricket team in the early part of the twentieth century and the point of this narrative; a book entitled: 'The Gardener's Enquire Within'. I had put this aside as soon as I spotted its title with the intention of making it a present to one of the gardeners at the Stockwood Discovery Centre, Jan Tysoe. I had made a vow to myself that I would not be creating any more galleries until the packing was completed, but that vow was about to be tested because there was no way I was going to visit the Gardens without a camera at this time of year, so I took only the single camera with the 90mm Tamron macro attached along with the book and sought out Jan without even removing the soft case from the camera.

However, having earlier in the day had a stressful series of phone calls to Insurance companies, the opportunity and the temptation to capture some of the colour and beauty around me, conspired to break my resolve, and the case was stuffed in one pocket and the lens cap in another and shooting began immediately I had handed the book to Jan. It was rewarding that she appreciated it and  from the ensuing brief conversation, I knew it had found a new home.  As we walked by the apple blossom and I took a few pictures, I learned that this was a real success story as two earlier, poor and wet seasons had all but killed these bushes. I left Jan to tend to the greenhouse and did my best to capture the new leaves and flowers that were the gardeners' reward for all their hard work over the winter.

Before leaving I paid a quick visit to the greenhouse to say goodbye and add the last few shots, but it was in here that I found myself getting the blindspots that were a precursor to a Migraine and I held out my hand as Jan directed her hose on my outstretched palm to down a couple of Paracetamol tablets. This had blatantly been brought along by my earlier telephone frustrations of the last two days.

That was last week and I did not even look at what I had taken till I had completed the filling of many more boxes to do my best to honour the vow I had broken.

Caddington – Short Stroll

It was unforgivingly muggy and I had been at the screen for several days, so as my daughter and her two children were coming over, I decided I needed a break, so grabbed my camera and strolled down the main road through the village, taking a close look at flowers and any pollinators that were busy at work.

It was not long before I found subjects for the 100mm macro lens on the 7D. I diverted down one arcing road which starts and finishes simply further along the same main road, and in so doing was rewarded by two displays of a flower I had never seen before – it vaguely resembled a cluster of fibre optics lit by LEDs! I have tried searching for a similar looking flower on Google to help find out its name – to no avail.

All too soon, I had to make tracks back to welcome my grandchildren to the house, but despite a few owners' comments that the displays were not that brilliant I think I captured some reasonable pictures.

The most prevalent species were hydrangeas – quite obviously a favourite of many and there was a variety of colours on display, the first to catch my eye being all white.

I also found several people were more than happy for me to venture into their front gardens, but mostly I only took shots at the boundary.

Hoverflies and Other Budliea Pollinators

It seemed cooler outside than in, so lunchtime took me outside with the Canon 7D and the Canon 100mm Macro with its onboard flash. The sun was in and out of cloud cover making it as difficult as possible for me to keep adjusting both the ISO and Aperture to take this gallery of images mainly of the hoverflies, of which I saw at least three different species, and within any specific group there were different ages.

Because some were half the size of the largest, I took a control shot of my thumbnail against a single flower head of the Verbena as most were found feeding on its pollen, with fewer going for the florettes of the Budliea whose size was easier to judge.

The most striking variety was a bright yellow that I had not come across before, and one looked very like a bee. I was lucky to get a few shots where the insect was still in flight, but a couple had just taken off and remained in frame from when I was taking a shot whilst they were static.

I started off with the flash set to one third over exposure and the ambient set to one third under, but eventually I set the flash to a full stop over and the ambient one and a third under with a few changes of ISO from 1600 down to 250 when the sun was fully out and I was shooting around the edges of the verbena clump.

I was reasonably happy with the end result considering how few were around despite the warmth.

Chaulington – thus far

The various partners concerned with formulating the plan for the sale and redevelopment of the former Vauxhall Storage area at Chaul End, announced that on Friday and Saturday they were returning to the Community to show and discuss where they had reached, and what they had put together since the last gathering.

Sadly, I felt the community response was poor, and I felt that the appearance of apathy was not entirely to be blamed on the residents of the local villages and hamlets; I think that the small card that was distributed was poorly designed with no clear focus on what was to take place, and when I visited I made just that point. The map detailing the clearer idea of what was to be put forward needed to be the main feature and considerably larger – the invitation to visit had to catch and hold the recipient’s attention on the journey from letterbox to recycling bin. Timing was also poor; the competition from pre-Christmas shopping was always going to be a disincentive, especially after a week at work.

I visited on the Friday and read the content of the display boards overnight and on Saturday morning taking my notes along for a brief discussion just before closing on the Saturday afternoon. There were points I felt were not given prominence and some questions I had, that were not answered, and the response I got was that some were not items for that stage in the process, and this I am afraid I do not accept. Unless certain aspects are fully resolved at the start, their power to be implemented is diminished, if not completely lost when only introduced towards the end of proceedings. This area is severely disadvantaged currently due to past mistakes. It is essential that these are tackled head-on as prerequisites before the development is considered, before an even greater burden is heaved upon the surrounding communities.

The whole idea of developing this land with a large residential component has very few detractors and a lot of goodwill, because Bedfordshire needs more housing and the location has numerous benefits. The scheme has a power rarely seen in this context, and it is this power which needs to be wielded to remove some of the problems that currently exist and ensure a far better integration with less negative impact on the lives of those who live in the areas of Caddington, Slip End, Chaul End and Aley Green. It would seem that all to whom I spoke were already assuming that some issues were totally insurmountable and were not even going to be fought against; well that is not good enough!

Chaul End lane as a route, although it has issues (pun intended) at both ends, is a vital thoroughfare, and so to hear of only negative changes envisaged due to safety concerns was unacceptable – that route needs its solutions implementing prior to the added burden of the extra traffic from some three hundred more dwellings are added to the mix.

I also saw no ground rules set for the introduction of workshops and/or offices interspersed into the plan other than centrally in a so-called flexible unit; that shows no imagination as to how communities develop organically. A new community of the size envisaged needs places for work opportunities within walking distance with space for transient traffic for delivery/collection, there needs to be a level of self-sufficiency built in, especially to cope with the effects of being snowed in during winter. I asked the question of what the changes in micro climate might be expected by the change of use, and I was offered the answer that this would have been considered empirically by experts – I was distinctly worried by that response as the experts’ handiwork I have encountered in this locale over some thirty years leaves me underwhelmed to the point of despair.

Caddington and Slip End suffer from a completely misplaced Postcode, or rather as Julian Lyon pointed out: a bad misreading of postcodes by reading only the first part of the numbers. This needs addressing (pun intended again!) for the entire area including the new development, so that this is not perpetuated.

I saw no mention of stages of construction, and it seemed to me the work needs to be staged, to allow the community to grow at a pace that allows it to blend with the existing structures, so they can adapt. The construction phase will be the most disruptive to the existing community and the less this impacts negatively, the greater chances of successful overall integration.

There are rules in rural areas that make lighting paths difficult, but I suggested that it would be worthwhile taking a look at a lighted pathway from Sawston to Babraham in Cambridgeshire which is a very successful and much welcomed recent addition, that is used by cyclists, pram and buggy users as well as walkers.

In the past when discussing this project I have referred to this area of Bedfordshire as being:  “…a Museum of Crass Mistakes of Poor and Inadequate Planning…” I feel here is an opportunity to break out of that mould. To that end the ground rules must be laid down at the outset, they are well nigh impossible to be implemented further down the line. This project has value to all concerned and must be viewed in this light. Future generations need to be proud of what is done here, I just hope the opportunities are grasped.

As I have stated earlier, I may well be leaving the area, but I would like to think that I may be able to still offer constructive suggestions that make this area a good place to live.

Town & Country Sponsor Caddington Fireworks Display

I arrived at Caddington School way too early as I thought the Display would likely start at 7 or 7.30, so having set up the tripod, I had a long wait before the fireworks started. Where I parked happened to be over a blocked drain which was not visible when I pulled up, but was very obvious when I emerged from the car as it was probably at least six inches deep, so before I had been but a few moments my shoes and socks were soaked through, and my feet were to remain that way for the duration as I donned my wellingtons!

The rain had abated, but the grass of the playing fields was muddy underfoot, but this did not dampen the spirits of those who came along, children of every age seemed not even to mind if they fell over in the sodden grass as they played with their multi-coloured light sabres in mock fights, or simply waved them around to delight in the strobing effect.

Cadets seemed to have been detailed to curtail gatecrashers and minor misbehaviour in the gloom. The air was alive with the incessant chatter of children enjoying themselves and the numbers steadily increased as the time moved closer to the start of the show. The temperature slowly dropped as the wind rose, and I begun to regret not having worn a sweater below my anorak. I had not anticipated that I would have to constantly wipe the lens of condensation between each shot, which meant losing a lot of shooting time as I selected exposure times from eight seconds to twenty to try to get the precise effect I was seeking. I also moved to three different locations to add variety to the end result.

I was using ISO 400 when I started, but eventually settled on 800, and I used apertures of f/8 to f/11 and exposure times from five seconds to twenty seconds, and the lens I used on the EOS 5D MkII was the Sigma 12-24mm and I also varied the focal length over the time.

At the end as I was packing up the camera I met with the School's head, Sue Teague, who shared an interest in photography, but I saw none of the staff of Town & Country, but there again I must have been all but invisible during the time I was shooting. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

The Cricketers, Caddington Fire Pics

A minor fire develops in a chimney at the Cricketers Public House to which the Firefighters attend with some serious Fire Appliances, because it had to be tackled from above. The men put up an impressive and colourfully lit display with a tall extending platform from which to tackle the fire.

I had come across it by pure chance as it occurred right outside my front garden, and I spotted the bright and flashing lights and was fairly assaulted by the loudspeakers as Control were speaking to the firefighters over the appliance radio. Had I not come down at that precise moment from my office, I would have missed the show entirely, so it was a bit of excitement to end the day so I grabbed my widest lens, the 12-24mm Sigma and popped it on the Canon 5D MkII and set it at 3200ASA and grabbed me some shots!

So here 21 shots later are what I captured.

Neighbourhood Plan for Caddington and Slip End

This weekend has been devoted to displaying the possible plans for future development of the Caddington, Slip End and surrounding local areas. The venue for these discussions is the Heathfield site, which is itself a subject of the discussions. Another feature was an update of what was gleaned from the earlier consultation with  local residents over the Chaulington Scheme.

I visited on the Friday evening and was a little disappointed in the number of those present – because those who had given up their valuable time to be there to answer questions and who were working on the project were in the majority, which I feel sure they found dispiriting. It was self-evident that considerable effort had been expended on the work that had been going on behind the scenes. I was intending to put up a photo of the map that was on display, but I see that it is available, (though without the designations of the possible development sites) on the CaddSE site. <http://caddse.info>

When viewing the above or any other links in this item, use the back arrows in your browser to return here.

I have produced two PDFs from the plans that were on view that show the added details presented on Friday and Saturday, here is close-up view of part of the map *: 

Click in this image to view it larger in your browser

I did find that much of what was presented did seem somewhat open-ended; at first glance I thought that certain designated areas had more defined development intentions than it transpired. I also felt that they were too dispersed, which seemed to suggest that speed of implementation was considered inevitably to be a slow process over a protracted period of time, whereas my view was that a bold assessment of the defined future should be placed on the table for 2018, and that a path to that future should show the line of least resistance, set against the future targets five years beyond that. Means should be found to ensure that unnecessary delays had penalties attached.

By way of an example of fairly avoidable bad planning I explained that in the case of the Busway route, one only had to look at the original reason for that route when it ran trains, it was chosen because it did not disturb residential areas, whereas if a bus is to provide a service it needs to be close to those various residential areas. For trains A to a reasonably major terminal B, speedily and frequent is a target, but for buses it is for there to be several minor stops and is better represented as A to Z ,with the rest of the alphabet between, with schedules that used different combinations of stops that represented the best assessments for some A to Z trips, having alternative minimal stops, with others for more inclusive travel, even including Request-only points. The route in the current case should have involved a crossing of the A505 such that Caddington, Slip End, Chaul End etc were part of that route.

One overarching snag to the Neighbourhood plan and the Chaulington plan is Chaul End Lane, and I have yet to hear of a resolution to that issue. Several previous short-sighted plans have made this an issue that is far from easy to tackle. The Tesco site, the single carriageway A505 stretch, the No right turn junction at its junction with Chaul End lane –  all these contribute to present problems. When you add in the Junction 10A roundabout linking the A6, and the fact that the locals of Slip End and Caddington suffer the noise of the M1, yet have real difficulty in reaching the Motorway quickly themselves, one begins to realise that a seriously bold and different approach to the future is needed for this neighbourhood.

I noted that one of the questions that had been asked was whether bridleways/ ccycle routes improvements for the area should be provided through local tax increases, and there had been surprise that people should largely be against this. I feel if our postcode was unlinked from LU1, then one might find villagers more amenable to considering such a proposal more favourably.

Local residents should definitely read the relevant information provided on site regarding the Neighbourhood Plan – <http://caddse.info> provided by the CaddSE N-Plan Steering Group. They provide a detailed map of the area involved as a link from the above website.

I feel that the guidelines for each site should have been suggested at this stage, because then residents can make a valid assessments of each, whereas at present these are far to vague, no reasons for their designation has been supplied, so only those immediately adjacent have any valid understanding of their merits or demerits, or of any knowledge of current ownership or plans for those areas by the landowners. I think that before the community as a whole is asked for their opinions this information should be supplied.

I may have missed them, but I saw no Assessment Principles, but since the Chaulington discussions seemed well-attended, that should provide a useful guide to the assessment principles at least from the residents side, then the local parishes and local authorities should add their considerations. Only at that stage should the allocated sites be reviewed overall by the residents for their own rating.

I shall be interested in the conclusions drawn from this consultation.

* The second PDF I created can be found here:

http://www.fntn.co.uk/rodwp/NeighbourhoodPlanOverview.pdf

PS. I do not own copyright for any of the images reproduced in this piece. They are only provided for convenience

Summer’s End in the Country?

Is Sunday the very last day of this Summer? It looked strongly as if this was to be, so I determined that I would take the opportunity to be out and about with the camera; more correctly with two, one, the EOS 7D with the 100 - 400mm and the other the 5D MkII  with the 24 - 105mm. I set off heading towards Dunstable and just by the Mansfield and Streetfield Schools entrance I parked up, because the tractor was in the steep hill  field where I had spotted it ploughing on the Saturday, and here was again this time ‘dressing’ I believe is the term. Having taken a few shots, I was waiting whilst the tractor was hidden from view when I heard a different sound coming from the direction of the Schools’ playing fields, as I approached, I spotted a radio-controlled helicopter between the trees, and grabbed a quick shot before entering the grounds to get a better look.

I saw the man handling the craft, with his back to me and thought I’d try to get some shots looking over his shoulder or at least with him silhouetted in the foreground, and I then did my best to get shots of the chopper in flight, I kept shooting till I saw him land it and as it did so laughter broke out from behind me – they thought I had missed out and and were also amused that the controller had never known I was behind him; I was surprised they were behind me as I had no clue there was anyone else around, though I was not in the least disappointed with the shots I had taken. I showed him a few of them on the back of the camera, then took some more shots of a smaller helicopter and a truck, before returning to grab more shots of the tractor. I was while I was doing that the man caught up with me and asked could he some of the shots and gave me his email address, I promised I would send him the URL of the blog, and he was happy. I also spotted a very happy cyclist as I left, presumably because for the last half-mile it had all been downhill, and she was coasting at a fair lick!

I then headed for Dunstable and on towards Tringford where I called in on the anglers, before moving on to Wilstone where I was lucky to capture a Migrant Hawker spotted initially by some birders.Later I was to see a juvenile heron as well as a more mature one standing at the water’s edge alongside a lapwing. I also spotted a swan aloft and another revving for takeoff. It was however sad to see just how low the water was at Wilstone due to its leak.

I felt contented by the shots I had taken in the warm October sun under a blue sky with puffy fairweather clouds, and headed back to watch what turned out to be a very exciting Korean Grand Prix. I was highly amused by Lewis Hamilton’s radio message to his team after several fruitless laps close behind the Sauber of Nico Hulkenburg trying his utmost to get past – ‘Anyone got any suggestions?’

Somewhat Forlorn Butterflies

The two mature Buddliea bushes in my back garden have been very slow to blossom this year, which has been a major disappointment to me. The florettes have only just begun to really show within the last three or four days, and I was beginning to worry that they would flower so late that no insects would still be around to do their work.

Sunday afternoon finally saw a reasonable number of both the butterflies and bees, I had only seen Cabbage Whites in the garden so far this season. Now I was seeing the more colourful varieties, the Tortoiseshell, Small Brown and Peacock, but upon closer inspection those visitors were in a parlous state, so having had a warm fuzzy over seeing the increased numbers of butterflies gracing my garden, I was now much saddened by seeing the tatty and battered ones that arrived. I doubt these specimens have long to wait before the end comes.

The bees seemed in better condition, but even before Sunday I was seeing battered wingtips on those. The gallery of images I have created shows that they were all hard at work catching up on lost time as they gathered the fresh nectar, and the bees seemed happy to bulldozer past the butterflies as if they were not there. The butterflies seemed far more concerned when their own species arrived on the scene, and would often fly away rather than stay their ground.

The various species of Whites were still keen on mating as they would often fly off and do their aerial pirouettes when confronted on a buddliea blossom. This now the last of any flowering in this garden, so once these visitors have left I really only have Autumn to bring colour to the garden till Spring next year.

Island of Flowers – Caddington

In front of the Village Post Office and a couple of Sandwich bars lies a recently rebuilt traffic Island, edged with stone blocks heralding from China, which apparently are extremely durable, and were chosen for this and their increased height to protect the flower beds from being wrecked by careless drivers. This is currently an island of flowers, and it is in full bloom.

For their position, I believe less would have been more; more appropriate, and more attractive ultimately, allowing individual flowers to flourish, and naturally less expensive. That said however, they do add a glorious splash of colour to the otherwise functional area.

It was because of my observation that they were generally at their peak I decided I would go back for a camera, and record them for posterity, or at least to serve as possible images for cards, and give me yet another chance to focus on the amazing sophistication of some of the common pollinators of our flowers, in this instance mainly the hoverflies. To collect some thirty acceptable images from my short sojourn on my knees, precariously close to parking cars is a testament to their beauty.

Caddington’s Flowers after the Rains

When Britain experiences a heatwave, there always seems to be a sting in the tail, we generally pay for it with heavy downpours and in some areas flooding. Nearby in Caddington certainly, one of the drains regularly becomes overwhelmed in such scenarios, and today was no exception, we had several short sharp showers and claps of thunder, but Manor road was only awash for a few minutes, but in some of the showers it fell with a vengeance and as I later walked through the village with occasional spits, I did see some flowers that had taken a battering, but overall I was pleasantly surprised, and I captured evidence in the main of a lot of colour.

By one of the road name signs the nearest resident had planted lavender and despite looking slightly forlorn, it was pleasing to see numerous bees taking their nectar fix, but that was rare during my observations, in fact it was a wasp that I caught sight of doing some pollinating.

Despite the drizzle I experienced as I looped round Elm Avenue, it was the birdsong I mainly heard rather than the hum of bees at work, which has been a notable feature for this year sadly, also I do not see too many butterflies or hoverflies, all of which used to be a common sight in and around the village. There was one very vociferous female blackbird that came close and I was hoping to get a shot of, but she kept to nearby trees finally flying to a nearby rooftop, so I imagine originally I was close to her nest and the calls were to make me follow her away from her chicks.

There must be a good few hardworking gardeners because I came away with eighty useable images.

Front Garden Pollinators

The day started overcast, but bright and cool for the second day after the hot sweltering days of the preceding week, and as I took lunch I noticed that the hoverflies were out, so I was tempted to grab my camera and the Tamron 90mm f/2.8 with Vibration Control to see whether I was correct in finding this focal length more suited than Canon's 100mm.

However the hoverflies were not in the mood for hovering and were not as abundant as I had first thought, however the sun was finally burning through the cloud cover and this had brought out three types of bee to my front garden and also a couple of butterflies, the ever present Cabbage White which definitely always was flighty, and a small brown butterfly which I later discovered was a Gatekeeper – rather apt considering it was my front garden, but it invariably kept its wings folded, only rarely opening them, and often just as I had moved close enough to see detail, it would open them and flutter off! However patience and determination prevailed and I did catch some fleeting glimpses of its full spread.

Chaulington – the end of Act 1

I was intending to call it the conclusion, but of course that would be so wrong, as this is simply the start of a long road, the beginnings of the groundworks for the labyrinthine British planning process. It was interesting to see the preliminary outline that had been constructed from the various interactions the team have had with both individuals and groups of residents.

I frequently used to drive the road before it was routed around Chaul End, so this morning I took time out to take a stroll around the hamlet, to see the idyll that these residents wished to preserve; ironic to think that its very isolation was due to Vauxhall diverting the pre-existing through road to create the cul de sac, that they now want to preserve.

In the new venue at Caddington Village School, a summation of the ideas put forward over the weekend and earlier, were presented at breakneck speed to allow John Thompson to deal with their understanding of the neighbourhood’s priorities, and ideas that they had diligently coalesced. The first of these images were some of local teenagers’ work, highlighted by one Sam (I know no more than that) who had created a very detailed drawing with clear indications of his thoughts. At the end they handed out some printed pamphlets that gave hard copy for what had been in his presentation, which will provide thought-provoking bedtime reading.

One point that John mentioned was this development was to be to European standards, which I brought up with him and GM’s Head of European Real Estate, Julian Lyon before he left – I hoped that GM would try to ensure that there was some form of covenant drawn up that ensured that a major proportion, (possibly for 70% of the dwellings) had room sizes that met European building standards, because Britain’s standard minimum sizes fell far short of our European neighbours. I believe that GM are in a strong position to exercise their corporate morality in such matters when drawing up the rules by which developers must operate.

It will certainly be interesting to see how this project proceeds, because unlike many such gatherings, there was little or no animosity towards those making the presentation.

Chaulington – The Reveal

Tuesday Morning and the sun is bright, the prospect of the week ahead is for steadily rising temperatures, Spring is definitely coming to this part of Bedfordshire, to the hamlets of Aley Green, Woodside, and Chaul End, and the two villages of Slip End and Caddington. What do the residents anticipate the experts will make of their varied ideas and wishes? Have they come up with a completely new name for the development, or will the name used thus far help to link the aspirations of Chaul End and Caddington for the future?

Will there be a glorious compromise, or will they have realised that amongst all these differing views from the age ranges of those who took part, there is an answer that satisfies most of their desires yet did not actually come to them, but did dawn in the minds of the experts – they who walked the full length of Chaul End Road, who cycled a around the entire neighbourhood with fresh eyes – is there some really insightful scheme that will be put to those who attend tonight’s meeting, deeper in the heart of the village at the new venue, Caddington Village School in Five Oaks?

We can only await the Reveal.

Chaulington – Friday's Community Meeting

I had earlier decided that I would endeavour to get to the meeting prior to the advertised start time, in order to chat informally with the team gathering the community’s thoughts for the Vauxhall Storage Depot’s new life, but I was far from alone with this intention. The hall was very much alive when I entered and signed in.

I had seen some wonderful Cumulus clouds as I came through the gates and saw this as a good omen – blue sky thinking? So even before going inside I grabbed some shots of this portent.

I tried to learn who were the people to whom I needed to engage in conversation to learn something of what the experts had gauged could be presented to the audience. I, like a few, had expected more of their views of the options that were available, but we were told this was not the way this group behaved; they were consulting us before presenting any proposals – they were seeking some form of consensus from all our disparate views before looking at the idea of putting these into any loose pre-Planning proposal. They were going to listen first.

They would hear the views of those attending on the Friday and the Saturday, then go away and sit down amongst themselves to try to wrestle with the issues we saw, and any propositions we may have put forward, so they could then meet up with us on the Tuesday with a draft of what collectively they had understood from us were the important guidelines that should be adopted in any proposal that was to be put before the planners.

It was interesting to note how we were deflected from asking them for proposals, by their continued insistence they were listening first – they were not going to be accused of foisting their ideas upon us then ignoring our protestations, and it was not long before the dynamics of the discussions moved towards the positivity of the ideas as to how this piece of real estate could be re-incarnated into a cohesive community project, not necessarily entirely without dissent, but certainly with far less antagonism than meets most planning applications for Development.

I consider that this part of Bedfordshire around the conurbation of Luton and Dunstable to be a Museum of Crass Mistakes of Poor and Inadequate Planning, and I really hoped that here was an opportunity to break the mould and do something for which future generations would be proud of our achievement. Good Planning could have prepared the ground for really accessible routes between the M1 and the Airport, the Railway Stations, the University, the Industries of Luton and onward to Hitchin and Cambridge. Good Planning would not have brought the M1 Spur road to a roundabout serving the A6 link from Harpenden and St. Albans – just to name one example. The very moment the Olympic games was announced for London, a plan should have been submitted that separated these traffic streams and the funds requested from central Government to advertise Luton having hotel places, an Airport, and train service to provide a less expensive and viable alternative to being in London for the duration of the Games. Luton missed that boat (to mix metaphors) in Spades; an opportunity unlikely to return in our lifetimes.

My point is let us start way before the actual building by preparing the infrastructure to receive the development, and use a phrase from Winston Churchill: ‘Action this Day’ let us make a bold decision not to add another exhibit to the Museum, build on the will to make a positive contribution that I saw in the hall today.

I hope I was right in seeing blue sky, beyond the clouds, this morning. My glass is half-full.

Chaulington – An Update

Some Missing Info – New Phone number

PPS Group who have sent out a pamphlet inviting the communities of Caddington and Chaul End to a series of discussion meetings in Caddington, however inadvertently missed a zero from the contact telephone number, so this prompted me to put that right for anyone who reads my blog and wishes to contact the group prior to the meetings scheduled for Friday and Saturday the 26th and 27th of April.

That contact number is 08000 086 769.

I had never heard of Heathfield Hall, and upon querying this, learned that it was within the grounds of the former Heathfield Lower School. I think a map showing the location would not have gone amiss.Although I myself may well be leaving the village, I am interested in this development. The county is certainly in need of more housing, but for those who live here presently our concern is that the highest priority be to improve the road infrastructure that exists, so that with the greater call on these roads they are capable of still flowing. This needs to be addressed so that as house-building starts, the construction traffic is able to move on and off site causing minimal disruption to the existing population.

So, it is my contention the roads giving access to the development must be in place prior to any of the housing getting underway. This phase itself will be disrupting, but can be minimised by creating new roads, not simply widening those pre-existing.

It is very easy to see where in the past opportunities have been missed or decisions have simply been put off for one reason or another. The siting of the Tesco's Store prevented the A 505 linking to the A5, the Dunstable Bypass has been discussed over many years, my belief is the Busway should never have gone ahead, but with it nearing completion it is on the wrong side of the A505 to be ideal for this proposed development. Airport Way should never have joined the local traffic linking Harpenden to Luton – need I go on?

Let's not miss this opportunity to move forward. Public Transport will only be viable in rural communities when it properly serves those communities; they can only be run efficiently when probably around 70% full, so pricing should be aimed to meet or exceed that target, so whilst it does not, which is now, we must accept that the private car will provide that service, and to do so with the minimum of pollution it has to flow. This extra capacity has to come first, only in that way will this new development be welcomed. Also, existing businesses should be able to benefit both the future residents and themselves, and hopefully create more.

I would like this development to succeed, but it will need considerable understanding and imaginative planning to ensure that it meets with co-operation rather than antagonism, and in my personal discussions in the past I have to say I am less than optimistic.

Luton completely missed the boat in regards to the recent London Olympics, by not using the years from the moment that London's bid was successful to build a flyover or bypass for Airport Way, so that local traffic was not disrupted, and Industry, the University and the towns beyond were able to flow to and fro directly between M1 Junction 10 and to the Airport, with its roads to Parkway Station, the University and the out of town shopping park and Town Centre.

Get the infrastructure right this time, sort (well there is a plan!) the Junction 10 Spur road. Get good access and egress from the former Vauxhall Storage depot, improve the existing road by widening it between Caddington Village and the A505, and benefits will accrue. The other highway to be considered has to be the Information Super Highway to ensure there is fast Fibre Broadband to every building and mix business and other activities in, so that there is a strong sense of community instilled from the start.

I shall be coming to the meetings with an open mind, but numerous doubts, I hope I can be convinced that there is a genuine will to do the job properly from the start, and the commitment to see it through.

Caddington – Non-stop Fine Snow

Snow is wonderful when the sun is shining, it covers much of the ugliness and angularity of a village scene, but without the sunshine, no delineation between sky and horizon, brown, slush-laden main roads and constantly-falling fine damp sleet-like snow, it is somewhat dismal and the devil to capture any detail. This was what somewhat dampens the spirit of the weekend. Had the snowfall abated and the sun shone milkily, the sounds would have been more shrill as families made the most of the days. It would have lightened the gloom and raised spirits and more than made up for the lost working and classroom time, and made the coming of Monday more bearable.

I did find that the few who did venture forth were generally cheerful, and acknowledged my presence in the main, but certainly to several of the men I encountered I was invisible, they never so much as lifted their heads as they passed me by, alone in their own unsmiling worlds trudging begrudgingly by with no care for others’ company. I am sure the sight of the sun would have lifted their heads and their spirits.

So the pictures from that afternoon stroll are to capture some of the brighter signs and some of the shapes and colours to be found when you look around.

Caddington Stroll

The Day had been cooler, and the threat of rain was forecast for the end of the day, so with email and work up to date, I took a look in my own garden, and finding that the lone peacock butterfly had taken its leave, I took a stroll with the 100mm macro lens along Manor Road.

I found some interesting variegated hydrangea, and a few bees working their magic, and went along Elm Avenue and on into the Crescent, taking the occasional shot, before a few raindrops made me consider whether I should head back, but it stopped after a few more desultory drops, so I continued slightly further before heading back, taking a few more shots along the way, on my return I also decided I should do something about the windfalls from the Bulis tree in the front garden which the wind had blown along the pathway for pedestrians to crush under foot, making a sticky mess, so before I could take a look at my images, I did the decent thing and cleared the path. Tomorrow’s rain can do the rest.

Evening Harvest

Returning to Caddington in a different way because of the roadworks for gas-pipe laying, I found that the farmer was out bringing in the oilseed rape with a new combine harvester, so I stopped, grabbed a camera and captured one lap around the field before the sun dipped below the horizon, thus losing all colour, and subsequent interest on my part.

It seemed a fitting end to the afternoon, so deserved a small gallery of images.