Langley News, Week August 11
RESIDENTS of an Abbots Langley block of flats had to be evacuated when an 80ft tree crashed into the building after being struck by lightning.
The tree crashed into the roof of 18 Harlech Road at around 5pm last Tuesday. Fire crews from Kings Langley, Watford and Hitchin attended the scene.
Top floor resident Jamie Lea, aged 26, was lucky to be out when disaster struck. No one was injured in the incident.

Wheelie good move
THREE Rivers council chiefs have rubber-stamped a move to issue households in the area with brown wheelie bins for garden rubbish.  
The optional scheme will be rolled out next month across Kings Langley and Sarratt and will extend to Abbots Langley and Bedmond in October.
The 240 litre brown wheelie bins will take grass cuttings, plants, flowers, leaves and bark. Collections will take place fortnightly and residents can also opt for a smaller 140 litre bin if they prefer.

Locals put in plans
ABBOTS Langley could be set for 15 new homes after a group of six local residents made an outline application for planning permission. The development on land at Hunton Bridge Hill, is for one four-bedroom chalet bungalow, eight three bedroom semi-detached homes and six two bedroom semi-detached homes plus parking. Public consultation on the plans will close on August 24. Plans can be viewed at Abbots Langley Parish Council offices and Three Rivers House.

Causing fun
YOUNGSTERS in Abbots Langley have been benefiting from a new holiday activity scheme aimed at reducing antisocial behaviour in the village. The Shade Project, a three-week pilot scheme, allows children aged 10 to 16 to enjoy sports and arts activities in a bid to keep them out of trouble. This week the scheme is taking place at the Manor House Grounds in Abbots Langley.  Project manager Alison Finn says the Shade Project can help tackle problems such as arson and graffiti.

Festival threatened due to funding problems
THIS year's annual Sarratt Music Festival could be the last after event organisers revealed they are having trouble finding the money to stage it.
This year's event features five concerts spread over two weekends next month but the expense of attracting star performers could see the spectacle axed in future.
Organisers are so concerned about the financial pitfalls of staging the festival they have struck a deal with Three Rivers Council who have agreed to cover 50 per cent of any losses up to a maximum of £2,000.
Julia Cheetham, who runs the box office, says the ethos behind the festival is ‘to bring the Royal Festival Hall to the village' but admits that funding shortfalls could put this in jeopardy. “This year we haven't managed to get a grant and next year it will be difficult to put on because there will probably be no funding to do it,” she said.
“It is a problem we have because performers don't come cheaply. “We are not trying to make money from it - we are looking to put on the concerts for the local community and ideally we would like to break even,” she added.
However music lovers can still look forward to this year's festival which will includes concerts from the Medici Quartet, jazz musician Claire Martin, and a family show by Alisdair Malloy. Details and booking information is available from the box office on 01923 269083.

Coroner finds death by hanging to be suicide
THE Hertfordshire coronor found  that an Abbots Langley man, who was found hanged in his home on January 28, took his own life.
The coroner, Edward Thomas, recorded the verdict on Tuesday August 3 at an inquest in Hatfield, that Christopher Robin Allen, 34, of Spur Close, Abbots Langley, killed himself by suspension.
Blood tests showed he had alcohol at more than two and a half times the legal driving limit in his blood and a trace of cocaine.
The coroner said it was not possible to give a precise date of death, but the fact that friends who tried to contact him a few days earlier were unsuccessful could be significant. Paramedic Karen Denise McNamara told how she had been in the area in a response car when alerted by the ambulance service.
She was first on the scene, but Christopher was beyond help.
PC Natasha Hayley, who was called to the scene, said there was no sign of a struggle and no suicide note.
Christopher was born in Watford and worked as a cleaner and was mostly estranged from his family.
His older brother James Allen told the inquest that he had not seen his brother for six years until he bumped into him in a pub the previous weekend and they had ‘buried the hatchet' and his brother had not seemed depressed.
Mr Thomas said the combination of alcohol and cocaine could cause depression, or a sad person to become sadder. There were no previous medical records of depression.

Rough and smooth diamonds' 60 years
THE RETIRED founder of well-known firm, JS Bishop Skip Hire, celebrated his diamond wedding anniversary last Thursday.
Jim Bishop, 79 and wife Irene, 78 celebrated 60 years of marriage by holding a party at Manor House, Abbots Langley with friends and family last Saturday.
The couple met as teenagers, when Jim came into the green grocer's shop where Irene worked in Leavesden Road, Watford in 1941.
Their eyes met over the fruit and vegetables. Jim, then 16, won 15-year-old Irene's heart by taking her on a dancing date at the British Legion Club in St Albans Road, Watford.
The couple, who live in Toms Lane, Kings Langley, courted for three years before tying the knot in 1944 at Christ Church, St Albans Road, Watford.
With rationing in force at the time Jim said everyone had to muck in to make the day a success.
He said: “Somebody came with their bread rations, someone with their meat tokens and I managed to get a barrel of beer.
“Everybody had a good time.”
They now have two children David Bishop and Vivien Hutchins, five grandchildren ranging between the ages of 23 and 34 and two great grandchildren aged two and 18 months.
Jim set up JS Bishop & Son Demolition in 1958 in Redbourn Road in Hemel Hempstead. Then in 1982 he founded JS Bishop Skip Hire, and both companies are still going strong, now based in Mark Road in Hemel Hempstead.
Son David and daughter Vivien have run both businesses with their father for years, taking over the business when Jim retired 18 years ago.
“The two of them get on well, never a cross word between them, not like most brothers and sisters,” said Jim.
Irene, who delivered Meals on Wheels for more than 20 years, now runs a pensioners club called The Monday Club with two friends in Abbots Langley.
In younger days, Jim spent his spare time with his horses and was a keen trotting and pacing sportsman, even appearing before the Queen at Windsor 30 years ago.
He now enjoys a more leisurely pace, spending his free time in his garden. And the secret to a long and happy marriage? According to Irene: “You stuck at things more when we were young. You didn't have the independence that women have today.
“We have been lucky.” Jim added:
“We have had a good life, we have had our ups and downs, but you take the rough with the smooth.”

Earlier bin collections
BINMEN in Three Rivers are set to start work earlier in a bid to avoid burnout in the current heatwave.
According to waste bosses the binmen, who walk up to 20 miles a day, could be putting their health at risk by working in very hot weather.
Therefore binmen will start work earlier when hot temperatures are forecast so they can get their work done before the heat becomes too intense.
As a result residents are being asked to put their bins out on the evening before collection day as the dustcarts will be leaving the depot at between 5.30am and 6.30am.
Normal collection times will resume as soon as temperatures drop.