Italian town may be twin for Tring

Tring could be twinned with an historic medieval town in southern Italy, famous for its ceramics and olive oils.
Local people have teamed up to form a Tring Twinning Association, which is working to forge strong links with Loreto Aprutino.
The rural town, which has largely been undiscovered by tourists, is in the region of Abruzzo, which is well-known for its wines.
The town is thought to have been inhabited as early as the sixth century BC and has an olive oil museum which includes displays of medals won by the famous local producer Raffaele Baldini Palladini.
Tring artist Sheila De Rosa has been working on the project with Tring Together along with other businesses and groups.
They have talked to the Comune Di Loreto Aprutino, the equivalent of a town council in this country, which is backing plans to twin with Tring.
Sheila said: “They are totally and utterly behind us. They want to have a big launch over there and I’m hoping we can do something as showman-like over here. They have so much to offer and they are really quite keen on having a link with England. They are supporting our efforts whole-heartedly.”
The link with the Italian town will not have official status, but will be a friendship link.
A special introduction to Loreto Aprutino takes place at Forno Vivo in High Street, Tring on Sunday, July 2 at 5pm to showcase the fine food and wine of Abruzzo.
There will be a raffle, which will include the chance to stay at a luxury villa in Loreto Aprutino and a meal for two at Forno Vivo. Tickets are £12.50. For details email www.tringtogether@hotmail.co.uk.

Commuters pay price for station car park hold-up

Furious commuters have been left frustrated by the lack of car parking at Tring Station since Silverlink’s temporary car park closed.
Despite being given planning permission to reopen the car park in April, train bosses have been delayed by conditions set by Dacorum Borough Council.
Silverlink plans to build a decked level of parking above the current permanent station car park, but wants to open the temporary car park while work goes ahead.
The closure has forced many motorists to park in residential roads outside the station or drive to stations in nearby Hemel Hempstead and Berkhamsted.
Spokesman for Silverlink, Geraint Hughes, said: “The prime concern we have got is to reopen the temporary car park.
“We really want to get that open as soon as we possibly can so that we can accommodate the cars that have been displaced into the road and to make plans to go ahead with the decking scheme.”
The temporary car park was created back in 2003, so that the existing car park could be used to store machinery during rail works to improve the West Coast Mainline.
Half of the temporary car park has already been restored to farmland leaving about 99 car parking spaces unused.
Dacorum Borough Council spokesman, Louise Oughton, said: “The actual details Silverlink have to provide are details about the construction and the design, including use of lighting.
“They have known since April 20, that they would have to provide these details.
“We have in-house experts ready and waiting to look over the details once we get them,” she claimed.
Bob Cowper, of Marsworth, fell victim to the lack of parking spaces when he recently drove to the station at about 9.30am to catch a train into London.
He said: “I got to the car park, but there was nowhere to park, it was full. The temporary car park is still there, but it is closed.”
After searching for spaces with no success, Mr Cowper parked in Beggars Lane, a road that bans parking from 10am to noon.
He said: “I got a £30 parking ticket. I’m not complaining about parking tickets, if you’re not allowed to park and you do, you pay the price. But the bigger issue is an awful lot of money has been spent by the relevant authorities on the station.
“More and more people are travelling by train and more and more people are being encouraged to take the train.
“There is a perfectly good car park for the station, which isn’t being used.”
Mr Cowper has to drive to the station as there is no bus service running from the village into Tring.
Parking restrictions are in force in streets outside of the station in Tring to stop workers parking all day.
In Railway Cottages parking is available for residents only during 9am to 5pm, in Clark Springs there is no parking between 10am-11am and in Station Road and Beggars lane there is no parking between 10am and noon.
Ms Oughton from Dacorum Borough Council commented: “Our main concern as far as Tring residents are concerned is to make sure there are good car parking facilities at Tring Station and that means making sure that the main station car park is being worked on as a priority and the temporary car park secondary to that.”

Ref’s red card World Cup debut

Tring referee Graham Poll, pictured, had to dish out a red card when he made his World Cup bow yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon.
The 42-year-old was in charge of the clash between South Korea and Togo in Frankfurt and sent off Togo's Jean-Paul Abalo for two bookable offences early in the second half. He also booked three other players.
The decision, which was largely backed by BBC Sport's pundits, ultimately proved to be a turning point in proceedings as Korea made their numerical advantage count to come from behind and win 2-1.
Poll and his English team of officials are expected to officiate at least two more games in the World Cup as the competition in Germany continues to progress.

A right royal day out for Jamie and England

Young Jamie Hodgson was the envy of all football fans when he met the England football team just days before they jetted off to Germany for the World Cup.
Five-year-old terminally ill Jamie and his family travelled to Manchester to meet the top football players on Thursday, June 1, at the Manchester United training ground.
They got to rub shoulders with the likes of David Beckham, goalie David James, Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen and even Prince William, who was there to meet the players.
Dad Eddie, a Chelsea supporter, said: “Jamie half understands it. I got him to say ‘hello  Prince’. He really enjoyed it, it is another experience for him.
“We try to do as much as we can with Jamie and to be able to do this was unbelievable.
“It is probably David Beckham’s last World Cup and he is the captain, so to meet him eight days before the World Cup was unbelievable.”
The once in a lifetime meeting came about when mum Christine won a makeover competition. Part of the prize was lunch at The Grove in Bushey.
When the couple arrived at the posh country estate they realised the England squad were also there for training sessions.
Christine said: “When we booked the lunch at The Grove we were oblivious that the England team would be there.”
They met coach Sven Goran Eriksson and later arranged with football bosses to meet the whole team in Manchester.
Eddie said: “It is the type of thing people don’t get to do in a lifetime.
“Prince William wished us all the best of luck. He is a really caring guy. He is very down to earth. He is like a normal person off the street.”
Jamie is disabled and suffers from congenital heart disease. Doctors do not know how long he will live and the family has to make regular trips to Great Ormond Street Hospital.
The Gazette last month (May) appealed for a special garden decking play area for Jamie.
Since the appeal Wigginton man, William Miller, of Grass Roots Gardening Services, has agreed to create the special decking in the family garden in Meadow Close for free.
NIB Construction in Hemel Hempstead and Jewsons in Berkhamsted have donated equipment. It is hoped the decking will be completed by the end of the month.
Christine’s neighbour, Celestria Bell and ex-Tring councillor Pat Gray have teamed together to help get other facilities for Jamie, including a pathway in the garden and possibly a play house.
Tring Lions Club has pledged to donate cash and Tring Youth Town Council presented £250 to the family last week.

Team effort funds new computer suite

Whiz kids have been getting to grips with their new state-of-the-art computer equipment.
After months of fundraising by Dundale School Association, the school in Silk Mill Way finally scraped together enough cash to fund updating its computer room.
Parents and teachers teamed together to raise £15,000 towards the cost of the £25,000 suite, through special fundraising events.
Deputy head teacher and ICT co-ordinator, Jon Hood, said: “We are delighted with our new computer suite and computer network.
“It is fantastic that children have the opportunity to use state of the art computer equipment. It wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the Dundale School Association, parents and families who worked tirelessly to raise the £15,000 for the new computers.”

Housing plans get green light from town council

Tring Town Council has voiced no objections to plans for housing at The Paddocks off Western Road, Tring.
The application, which is the sixth proposal since 2004, put to council bosses for housing on the site, follows a special concept plan drawn up by Dacorum Borough Council earlier this year.
The detailed plan aims to ensure land off Western Road, which is divided among several private land owners, is developed to high standards.
The latest planning application for The Paddocks is for eight houses with 12 parking spaces.
Residents turned out for a Tring Town Council planning committee on Monday, June 5 to voice their concerns, over the narrow Miswell Lane access road and drainage problems.
Tring Town Council had no objection to the plans, but drew attention to issues which will need to be addressed before any development goes ahead.
Tring councillors agreed the access road should be brought up to standards appropriate to adoption as a public road, the drainage and sewage system should be upgraded and street lighting should be low scatter, so not to cause any inconvenience to residents.

Council delay keeps John stuck indoors

A disabled pensioner has been left housebound after waiting 11 months for the council to build special steps at the back of his Tring home.
John Langston, 73, said council workmen visited his Sugars Green home last July to measure up for the work, but nothing has happened since.
During the hot weather Mr Langston is keen to get out into his back garden where he can stretch his legs.
Mr Langston said: “The only time I can get out is when my daughter comes round, otherwise I’m housebound.
“I can’t get outside when the sun comes out.”
The desperate pensioner also needs a walk-in shower and a ramp at the front door of his bungalow, as well as the long low steps from his back door leading down into the garden.
Mr Langston has to use a walking frame to get about as he suffers from arthritis and when he leaves his home - with the help of his daughter - he uses a wheelchair.
He said: “I’m marooned inside. I have carers who come three times a day, but they only come for half-an-hour.
“Being stuck inside gets depressing, but I have to try and keep my spirits up.”
Dacorum Borough Council spokesman Sarah Jones, said she was unable to comment on the details of Mr Langston’s individual case, but admitted there was a long waiting lists for essential access ramps and other home adaptations for people suffering disabilities.
“I think there is generally quite a backlog of that kind of work,” she said.
“There is quite a lot of demand generally for this type of work, where a lot of people chose to stay in their own home as they get more frail.”
But according to Mrs Jones, delays can be caused because some adaptations to facilities are funded by a Disabled Facilities Grant.
The work could only be ordered to be carried out by council contractors once any additional funding required had been received, she explained.
The length of time to carry out these adaptations also varied depending on the work - a shower conversion was a standard specification so could usually be done ‘quite quickly, she said.
Other more bespoke work like access ramps could take longer.
“We do our best to ensure that adaptation work is carried out promptly,” she stressed.