In common with many people I was delighted to find that Hayes in the House had reappeared in your paper.

They are always worth reading but on October 28 John really excelled himself, even if I did need to get a dictionary out.

Sadly, what he says is all too true.

People no longer live in the real world. There is more concern about the problems of characters in soaps.

Many people go about with a phone virtually glued to the ear.

Whenever some wonderful new invention arrives for the benefit of us all it so often gets put to detrimental usage.

The scientist who invented dynamite regretted it; likewise the one who first split the atom, believing it would be beneficial, instead it is an ever more destructive force for evils.

Scientists were once described as mad, nothing seems to have changed.

Technology has become ever more dangerous.

When TV became more

accessible it was for culture and to inform, not the wall to wall trash it has become.

One of the letters last week (October 28) pointed out how lucky we are to have an MP who stands by his principles, even, sometimes, against the party whip.

Furthermore John fights for his own people, locally. I have benefitted from that aspect of his work, more than once. In spite of the weight of high office, during difficult times, he always has time for ordinary people’s problems.

Composer Grieg, John and I are in sympathy re: trolls.

Mrs Landan

Market Deeping

FILTHY STATE: Reader George Scott emailed us this picture on Friday.

He said: “Taken today on track behind hospital. Is this a part of the town we are proud of?”

Vandals plastered a park’s bandstand in blue paint and wrecked a Wendy House – wasting cash raised by volunteers from Donington’s IDEA group.

IDEA member Jane King said £1,000 was raised at a fireworks night but immediately £400 of that has gone just to put the Wendy House right.

She said: “We get a big bill because of health and safety – we have to inspect it each time.”

Donington-based specialists Bates Environmental cleared the paint, but some may remain on clothes worn by the culprits.

IDEA’s Peter Lorimer said there were hand and shoe prints, suggesting “whoever did it would have had paint on their clothing afterwards”.

Other incidents have included:

l Someone pooing on a park bench

l Damage to plants and trees

l Graffiti

IDEA members are working with police to prosecute offenders and want the public to report incidents on 101.

It was Hallowe’en and there were firework displays, together with accompanied children “trick or treating”.

Why do some people consider estate roads suitable for parking in order to attend the firework displays? Or perhaps the question should be: Why do the organisers not wish cars to be parked in the area of the display?

When returning home on Friday at 8pm the left-hand side of the road leading onto the estate where I live was completely full of parked cars, all presumably at the firework display.

It was necessary for me to drive on the right-hand side of the road in order to pass these cars, which resulted in meeting another car head-on coming towards me.

This is not acceptable. People have a right to access their own homes without having to risk life and limb in order to get there.

I would like to be able to say that this sort of thing only happens at Halloween. Sadly, it happens every time there is an event at the rugby club or at the grammar school.

Please would you ask those people parking their cars to be more considerate of those that need to pass by.

Rosalind Sharman

Spalding

More than 7,000 people in the Spalding area are enjoying their TV viewing for free because they are 75 or older, new figures have revealed.

Almost half a million people are eligible for a welcome birthday present in the form of a free TV Licence as they turn 75 in the coming year, according to TV Licensing.

Now the body which collects TV licence fees and catches people watching TV without a licence has teamed up with Age UK to remind the over 75s that they are eligible for a free TV Licence to use at their main home address.

A month-long awareness campaign has been launched by TV Licensing and Age UK to spread the word to elderly people who may be missing out on their TV bonus.

Age UK charity director Caroline Abrahams said: “Television is an important source of information and entertainment for many older people, but those on low incomes may struggle to pay for a TV licence.

“We would encourage people aged 75 and over to apply for their free TV Licence so they don’t lose out.

“It’s easy to do and TV Licensing will renew it automatically for three years once you’ve applied, cutting down the paper work.”

More than four million people across the UK currently hold a free TV licence, including 7,100 in Spalding, who are aged 75 or over.

The concession applies regardless of income and includes anyone who is living with someone aged 75 or over.

But although the TV licence is free, it must be applied for in order for the address to be correctly licensed.

For more information, can call Age UK Advice on 0800 169 65 65 where lines are open from 8am to 7pm, seven days a week.

Interior trends frequently have a surprise in store and this one for winter 2014 is no exception.

As the days get colder and the nights longer, colour experts at Crown Decorating Centres say the right shade of grey can provide the perfect backdrop to banish the winter blues.

We all know that a bright, warm room can provide refuge in the depths of winter – helping to create a feel-good factor for householders in south Lincolnshire as temperatures drop.

Surprisingly, it’s the greys we should be reaching for when it comes to re-decorating to create warmth indoors when the cold is creeping in.

Greys, mixed from green, purple and even orange undertones, can provide a warm, relaxing ambiance, which can help offset the dreary British weather.

Creating greys from a warmer palette of undertones offers a rich spectrum of contemporary tones, which can be easily incorporated into any interior scheme.

Crown Decorating Centres’ staff are on board to help take the strain out of finding the right shades of grey – or any other colour – to transform homes for winter.

Paula Taylor, marketing manager of Crown Decorating Centres, said: “The service in store includes an in-house colour mixing service, to help you get the exact colour you want. Help can also be given on colour scheming, as well as advice on selecting the right product for different areas of the home. Technology is also increasingly taking the guess work out of paint projects.”

Find your nearest Crown Decorating Centre at www.crowndecoratorcentre.co.uk

We’re inundated with advice on fitness and health these days, and much of it falls into the ‘worthy but dull’ category.

Do we really need to hear any more about the recommended daily limits on alcohol consumption or whether or not it is healthy to eat butter?

The basic message is absolutely correct, but what the health gurus often fail to remember is that life has to be fun.

And we would suggest the easiest way to exercise is to walk – and a ramble can be made as much fun as your imagination allows.

The Ramblers have five top tips for fun family walking.

• Make it an adventure: Don’t suggest ‘going for a walk’, make it an outing or adventure to somewhere like a park, a playground, woods or a pond. You could even treat them to a picnic or take something to eat and drink along the way.

• Take it nice and slow: Be prepared to go at their pace, stopping to play and look at things on the way, and to cut the walk short if they get tired. With regular walking children will build up their fitness just as an adult does, but keep walks short until you know about their abilities.

• Go prepared: Make sure they have comfortable clothes and shoes, extra layers in case of rain.

• Bring a friend: Team up with another family, or join a Ramblers group walk that’s suitable for families.

• Get creative: You could plan fun activities and games like a treasure hunt or I Spy. Look out for animals, birds, trees, people, buildings, colours, or collect tree seeds, leaves, shells and small stones. Take photographs along the way youngsters can put in a walker’s diary.

• The Ramblers has developed hundreds of routes that can be downloaded free from www.ramblers.org.uk/ramblersroutes

Caroline Smith could be a familiar face to many south Lincolnshire farmers and agronomists.

Caroline, who works across Lincolnshire as regional adviser for Dow AgroSciences, has been announced as the winner of the 2014 Barrie Orme Shield.

The prize is awarded annually to the best candidate for the BASIS Certificate in Crop Protection.

Caroline was presented with the trophy by Peter Kendall, chairman of AHDB at a ceremony at the Farmers Club.

Presenting the award, Peter Kendall said: “The industry depends on young people coming in. As farmers we need great advice. I look at the challenges of blackgrass, septoria and cabbage flea beetle, because of neonics being withdrawn, and I know as a farmer that I’m not going to solve these problems on my own. We need the industry training people for the future and people like Caroline.”

A south Lincolnshire grower is producing a specialist vegetable for restaurants sought out by foodies.

Jerusalem artichokes are being grown on about three-and-a-half acres of land at Bicker Fen by Fen Berry Fruit proprietor Jonathan Pearson.

He supplies wholesalers who deal with restaurants across the country that are popular with connoisseurs of good food.

Jonathan grows the pink skinned variety of the lesser known cousin of the globe artichoke – a less knobbly white variety, Fuseau, is also available.

He says: “I grew them successfully last year and, like this year, it was a nice sunny autumn and that’s important.”

The tubers are planted in April, in ridges like potatoes, where they grow underground, producing a green top that grows tall. This year, they have been up to 12 feet tall and, because of the late sunshine, they produced tiny sunflowers without the black centres.

When the top dies back into the ground the tubers swell in size until harvest time. Jonathan started harvesting them last week and will go through to about March.

He said: “They store best in the soil as they maintain their vibrant colour, so you dig a few and wash and pack them.

“They are easy to grow but quite fiddly to harvest because they are knobbly. You need to be gentle and they can crack so we take them from under the ground with a machine and then hand pick them.”

It’s a crop the farmer would like to expand on, replacing French imports. He also planted half an acre of globe artichokes this year as an experiment and will harvest them next summer.

The value of British food production could fall by £1.6billion and 44,000 jobs in the agriculture supply chain could be axed if new EU pesticide bans come into force, according to a new report.

The report, commissioned by the NFU, the Agricultural Industries Federation and the Crop Protection Association, looked at the economic impact of plant protection products (PPP) on UK agriculture and the wider economy.

It found production of fresh carrots, frozen peas and apples is under threat as a result of loss or restricted use of active ingredients in PPPs, which farmers say safeguard healthy growth.

The report also found that the UK’s farming profit would drop by 36 per cent from current levels.

Manager of the Holbeach St Johns National Cut Flower Centre (CFC) Lyndon Mason is talking at the meeting of South Holland Growers’ Club next Monday, November 17.

Lyndon, who was instrumental in accessing EU grant funding for growers, will be talking about the work in progress at the centre and will review conclusions drawn from the Lily-Stock study tour of the Netherlands in the summer.

The meeting is at Whaplode Manor Hotel at Saracen’s Head, 7.30pm.

She’s known as the ‘Queen of the saltmarshes’ but at heart June Barton is still a marsh child.

She was carried on to Kirton Marsh as a baby and has spent just short of 65 years exploring its creeks, watching its birds and picking samphire.

She retains a child-like enthusiasm for the passion learned at her father’s side and admits she struggled to sit inside a classroom to absorb formal education.

It’s why her old teacher at Kirton Marsh Primary, Sheila Battram, still calls her the ‘Marsh Child’.

June has never spent much time away from the marsh and says of her one experience of living in a town – 12 weeks in a flat in Boston with her husband in the 70s – “I was like a duck out of water. I still had my land and horses at the marsh so I kept coming back daily, but I couldn’t settle so we got a council house overlooking the salt marsh.”

The marriage ended after seven years, possibly because June is a bit of a loner, happiest on the marsh, pursuing the lifestyle she has always known.

June says: “We used to have the ‘annual feed’ on the old August Bank Holiday Monday at the beginning of the month when people used to congregate from the towns because samphire is known as the ‘poor man’s asparagus’. We used to have hundreds of people come to our farm and every fortnight during the summer we’d go out on the marsh with a picnic and go butt stanging or some people call it dabs. It’s when the flat fish come on the big tides in the large creeks and we’d have a thing with prongs to stab them, but it’s disallowed now.

“I used to take my horses on the marsh and jump over the creeks. I didn’t see it as dangerous, though I wouldn’t do it now because the creeks are wider.”

She says the marsh changes with the tides, and June has spent a life-time studying the wind, erosion and currents. She says: “You don’t pick those up out of books. I am fourth generation salt marsh people, I am the real McCoy and one of the last of the breed. The television people told me that.”

An element of fame came with appearances on television and regular radio slots. June, who now lives near Fosdyke Marsh, has also shared her knowledge in two books, Queen of the Saltmarshes and Living the Dream.

She is also in demand as a public speaker and spends much of her life, when she’s not on the marsh, talking about her favourite topic.

There are strict rules governing the harvesting of samphire from the marsh.

It cannot be sold – that seen in shops and supermarkets is imported – and its roots should never be disturbed.

June Barton says the plant’s cycle starts in the autumn when its seeds land in quicksand in the creeks. With warm weather and a mix of both fresh and salt water it will germinate in late April/May, growing over a number of years to about a foot high.

It is harvested through the summer, using scissors or a sharp knife, traditionally starting in early August, though June says warmer weather has brought that forward to July.

June, who prefers pickled over fresh samphire, says the plant only survives in the same spot for about eight years. She says it is now growing further out towards the sea.

June says: “I am glad to see the season here and twice as glad to see the back of it because people are always phoning to ask what to do with it.”

Most local cereal growers suffered the worst ever blackgrass competition in their crops, mostly from rotations that are predominately autumn sown crops such as winter wheat.

Herbicides to deal with grass weed have now become very limited. Grass, which can very quickly develop a resistance to chemicals, produces thousands of seeds per plant and you only need a few to survive the herbicide to have a large generation of resistant plants in your crop.

Infestation of blackgrass will dramatically reduce the yield; it can be halved or even near right off. Blackgrass that seed bring about a massive seed return to the soil in following years, especially if incorporated into the soil.

More varied rotation and spring-sown crops are needed, allowing weeds to be killed off before the crop is sown.

Cultivation methods can also play a large part of the defence. Ploughing and completely inverting the soil can help, but it needs to be several years since you ploughed, as this will only bring up old seeds. Also ploughing is very costly and it is then difficult to prepare a suitable seed bed, especially on heavy clay soil. So called stale seedbeds encourage seeds to chit so they can be killed off before the next crop is sown, but soil must not be moved with this operation or it will bring to the surface more viable seeds to establish with the crop.

Three men have been arrested in connection with the theft of three motorbikes in Bourne.

One of the bikes was stolen from outside a house in Victoria Place at about 10pm on Saturday.

Police later recovered a second bike in St Paul’s Gardens but it’s believed that a white Honda bike, with partial registration number AV11, may have been dumped elsewhere in Bourne.

Anyone with information should call 101.

Drivers faced rush-hour chaos in Spalding after a four-vehicle pile-up in Little London, near Cowbit Road and London Road, yesterday.

The crash happened at about 4.50pm and a section of the road was closed for about an hour while the vehicles were recovered, but no one was hurt.

Meanwhile, Emergency services attended a two-car crash on the A15 near Bourne at about 3.35pm on Monday.

A Ford Kuga and a Citroen Xsara collided in Northorpe where the road was partially blocked for a short time.
Firefighters made both cars safe and no one was hurt.
There was also a crash on the A15 in Dunsby, near Bourne, when a car left the road at about noon Sunday.
It caused a small fuel leak from the car but no one was hurt.

New ideas are being invited for next year’s People’s Parade in the hope even more members of the community will take part.

Following a successful first event in June, a meeting is being held later in the month to discuss future plans.

The meeting will begin with a short presentation by chairman Ian Smee, who will reflect on the event at Sir John Gleed School, which saw hand-pushed carts, bands and other walking groups process through town.

There was also entertainment, food and stalls at the school site throughout the day.

Mr Smee said: “We had a successful first year but aim to increase the size and participation of the event.

“This parade is for the people, by the people and we are a charity organisation with no commercial objectives.

“We believe that the parade programme is consistent with the improvement and interest of the whole community.”

The meeting takes place on Thursday, November 20, at Bookmark in the Crescent, Spalding, at 7pm.

Computers and jewellery have been stolen after a break-in at a house in Crowland on Saturday.

The burglary took place at a house in Harvester Way where an Apple Mac computer, Playstation, Kindle Fire tablet and valuables were among the items stolen between 1.30pm and 4.30pm.

Burglars also struck at a house in Colton Close, Baston, where intruders got in through a dining room window between midnight on Friday and 11.40pm on Sunday.

Meanwhile, a bungalow in Battlefields Lane South, Holbeach, was broken into between 3pm last Thursday and 11am on Friday.

Nothing is thought to have been stolen at this time but anyone with information should call 101.

You can be anything you want to be at the University Academy Holbeach – because the annual show is Bugsy Malone and organisers would like you to go along in 1920’s fancy dress. 
The hall is being transformed into Fat Sam’s bar and prizes will be awarded for the best outfit. It’s curtain up on the production, featuring pupils of Years 7 to 13, tonight (Thursday) and the musical is also being presented tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday, starting 7.30pm.

Pictured are (back) Daisy Church, Sophie Juniper and Abigale Howard, and (front) George Bloken-Tyrerell and Jade Hill.

The Peele Community College has secured the Silver Award in the Investors in People programme that assessed the college recently, after achieved a total of 120 evidence requirements.
Head teacher Simon Gilman said: “I’m thrilled that we have reached the Silver Standard. 
“This means we have made significant improvements since 2011.”

Pictured: Simon Gilman, headteacher, and Betty Boor, business manager, with the award.