Children left out as sports hours are cut
TRING Sports Centre has closed its doors to young people for most of the half term holiday because bosses say not enough youngsters are using it.
Sportspace, the trust that runs Dacorum's former council-owned sports centres, used to open the Tring centre all day everyday during the holiday periods.
But a programme review means the Mortimer Hill sports facility now only opens from 6.30am to 10.30am and then from 3pm to 10pm on weekdays during school holidays.
Sportspace Marketing manager Ruth Barker said: “It has been quite quiet during the recent holidays which is why we have tried a different programme. If it gets busy again and the demand is there then we can open up again.”
Tring mum Susan Warren said she did not realise the centre had been closed until her 13-year-old son Sean Bartle and his two friends decided to go and play badminton on Monday.
She said: “I think it should be open because how are we going to encourage children to do something active and healthy during half term?
“My son and his friends would have been going to play badminton on Monday morning but instead they were playing on the PlayStation.”
This week has seen the centre open from 6.30am to 8am for lane swimming, 9am to 10.30am for crash course swimming lessons and then 3pm to 4.30pm for an inflatables fun session in the pool.
After 4.30pm the sports centre is open for its normal evening programme.
Mrs Warren, who lives in Meadowbrook, Tring, and is a committee member of Tring Swimming Club claimed when she called the sports centre she was told by staff that the closures were due to financial reasons and the lack of use.
She said: “It shouldn't be about finance it should be about service to the community and especially service to the children in Tring.”
Bosses at Sportspace say they have seen a decline in the number of people visiting during school holidays and that the changes are not based on financial reasons.
The sports centre is used by Tring School during term time and only normally opens to the public from 4.30pm and during the weekends.
But it has always been open all day to youngsters during the school holidays.
The change in opening times does not affect any other of the Sportspace-run centres in Dacorum.
The reduced open hours will also be in force during school holidays over Christmas and next year.
Cllr Andrew Fairburn, portfolio holder for community services for Dacorum Borough Council, said: “We have got good sports provision in the borough but individual decisions are a matter for Sportspace.”
Sportspace says that while the Centre is closed during the day repairs and cleaning works are being carried out.
Pillars are a brick too far for council
DACORUM Borough Council has ordered the removal of two brick pillars built without planning permission in Tring.
The two brick pillars were built on Christchurch Road at the rear of a property on Windmill Way on unregistered land that belongs to neither the town, borough or county councils.
At a borough council meeting last week it was revealed that a garden extension and fence had also been built on the land without proper permission.
Cllr Stan Mills said: “No one seems to know who owns this land and these two brick pillars have been built on the same basis as the fence.
“My view is we have got to stop people doing this and we should take action against them.”
Cllr Colette Wyatt-Lowe added: “We are dealing with a serious offender here. He built a fence without planning permission which we allowed him to keep, he built a garage without planning permission which we allowed him to keep.
“I think he should be made to take the pillars down and if he wants to build them it should be within the land he has already encroached on.”
The owner of the wall will now be served with an enforcement notice for the removal of the two pillars.
Firework night to blast off early this year
BONFIRE night is coming early to Wigginton this year with a fireworks display this weekend.
Wigginton sports field will provide the arena for an impressive display on Saturday, October 28.
The bonfire will be lit at 7pm and the fireworks will begin from 7.30pm.
Food and refreshments will also be on offer. Entry is free.
Fire fighters climb catwalk for fashionable fundraiser
DARING Tring fire fighters set temperatures soaring when they made a guest appearance during a fashion show.
These firemen strut their stuff on the catwalk for charity in front of a 200 strong crowd of mostly women.
High Street shops in Tring teamed together to showcase their latest fashions at the Arts Educational School.
Tring's Lochen Outdoors, Boltons and Benellie joined forces with Sera Evening Hire from Chalfont St Peter to put on the first Femme Fatale Fashion Show at the end of last month (September).
Claire Wise from Lochen Outdoors managed to talk the firefighters into performing at the end of the show. She said: “I knew the majority of people at the fashion show would be ladies and we wanted a bit of fun. The fire fighters just turned up and did it. It was brilliant.”
The event launched the new Autumn/Winter range and also raised just under £1,000 for charity, which was split between the Hospice of St Francis and the Fire Fighters Benevolent Fund.
School launches news site
by Victoria West
victoria.west@ccnltd.com
COMPUTER whiz kids at Tring School are using their IT know-how to launch their very own school news website.
Some of the Tring Campus website youngsters |
Tring Campus Talks will be launched on November 1.
It will cover a whole host of subjects from school news and sports to hot topics of the moment like hunting and plastic surgery.
The site has been put together with the help of Graham Senior chairman of the community board at the school in Mortimer Hill.
Heather Simms from Tring Learning Centre said: “The main idea of it is to have a community focus. It is not all about Tring School, it is going to be looking at issues, debating and discussions.”
The website will be open to everyone and readers will be able to email views in response to stories through the web.
It will be updated once a fortnight and each year the school will put together a year book of stories for students to keep.
The website can be visited from November at www.tringcampustalks.org .
Poppy aid call
BRITISH Legion volunteers in Tring who are collecting for the Poppy Appeal are calling for help from youngsters in the town. Volunteer Pat Gray said: “Tring Poppy Appeal is struggling this year to keep up with the demands of collection points at Tesco and various points around the town. All of the poppy organisers are 70-years-old or over. Can some of the younger people give us a hand? Perhaps you can spare an hour or two during Poppy Fortnight from October 28 to November 11.”
If you would like to volunteer contact Nell Goodman on 01442 381620 or Pat Gray on 01442 826702.
Dairy farm gets go ahead for kennels
A TRING farming family has been given the green light by planning bosses to build eight luxury dog kennels.
Andrew and Beverley Cornthwaite decided to set up their own boarding kennels after struggling to keep their milking business afloat.
They were forced to stop milking cows last year because of the low price farmers get for milk in the UK.
Now the couple hope the new kennels will help keep their farming dream alive and they plan to be open to dogs in time for Christmas when many people take trips away.
Mrs Cornthwaite was a veterinary nurse for more than four years before she set up her own pet sitting service, Mrs Doolittle's Pet Sitters.
The kennels will offer a home from home environment and be heated with indoor and outdoor running spaces for each dog.
Dogs will also be walked twice a day.
Mrs Cornthwaite said: “The reason we are only having eight kennels is because I have worked with dogs for many years and one of the things I have found is that when owners go away their dog stresses a bit and putting them in an environment with lots of other dogs barking stresses them out even more.
“This way we can give more time to each dog.”
If you are interested in the new kennels when they open please call Mrs Cornthwaite on 01442 822191 or 07967 019031.
Parent power helps update classrooms
by Victoria West
victoria.west@ccnltd.com
YOUNGSTERS at a Tring school are enjoying more comfortable surroundings thanks to the fundraising efforts of dedicated parents.
Mums and dads at Grove Road School raised a staggering £18,000 through special events last year.
The cash has helped refurbish two classrooms in the school making them brighter by adding sky lights and sound proofing with special insulation.
Deputy head teacher at the school Fiona Masters said: “I think it is fantastic. The parents tried some new events this year, they had an auction of promises which raised a lot of money and they had a curry and karaoke evening.
“There has been a very good band of parents who do the active planning of the fundraising events.”
The classrooms, which cost £100,000 to refurbish, are for Years Three and Four.
Mrs Masters is hoping more parents will come forward this term to help arrange fundraising events. The school's next event will be a Christmas Bazaar on December 2.
Pottery made medieval way
AN OUTDOOR wood-fired hand-built kiln near Tring is turning out hand-crafted items of Japanese pottery.
Japanese potter Gas Kimishima used medieval techniques learned long ago from master potters and kiln-builders in Shigaraki, Japan.
He has made a collection of vessels which are being exhibited at the Long Room Gallery in Tring until Saturday, October 28.
He was attracted to Tring from London because he admired the town for its old charm and beautiful surrounding woodland - the latter guaranteeing a plentiful supply of fuel for his kilns.
Born near Mashiko in Japan in 1946 he moved to Highgate, London, in 1987 to study English culture and share his expertise in Japanese antiques.
He has lectured and exhibited in Tokyo and London, where he helped the Victoria and Albert Museum to classify some of their antique Japanese ceramics.
Kimishima-San's wife Sara, also from Japan, is a keen gardener, craftswoman and cook. She prepared Japanese snacks for the gallery's opening party.
The exhibition's curator, Ms Frankie Cole, says:
“Gas Kimishima can dig a lump of clay from the ground and make a perfect tea bowl.
He uses only what is to hand - earth, water, wood, fire and air - and his pots embody his love of simplicity and the careful use of natural resources.
For further information call the gallery on 01442 828091.
Widower's anger at poor deal for hospice
by Victoria West
victoria.west@ccnltd.com
A TRING man whose wife was cared for by the Iain Rennie Hospice at Home has slammed the raw deal hospices are dealt by the Government.
Peter James says hospices are being short-changed by government funding.
His wife Deborah, who was a trustee of the Iain Rennie Hospice at Home, was cared for by the charity's nurses while fighting lung cancer.
The couple, who were married for 30 years, were active fundraisers for the hospice and Mr James, of Tring Hill, still volunteers with the charity.
His wife died aged 62 in March this year after a three year battle with cancer.
The Iain Rennie Hospice at Home last month launched an Emergency Appeal to raise £200,000 by April 2007 or face cutting nurses to save cash.
Mr James, 72, said: “Deborah would be turning over in her grave if she thought we would have to lay people off because of lack of funding.
“I think it is rather sad that we have got to be put in this position but how else are we going to get the money - either we cut back on nurses and the service or we find the money, but we can't keep on asking the public to put their hands in their pockets.”
The Iain Rennie Hospice at Home, which offers a 24 hour service to terminally ill people who wish to stay in their own homes, gets just 14 per cent of it's funding from Primary Care Trusts.
Mr James made the decision to speak out because of the excellent care Iain Rennie nurses gave his wife.
He said: “Suddenly Deborah was a patient and I was a carer and we experienced first hand how the service works, especially the Iain Rennie side of it.”
Before becoming ill Deborah often worked in the Iain Rennie offices and took charge of organising many successful fundraising events.
Mr James believes the level of care she received was so good that she lived longer than she would have in a hospital and nurses also helped him cope with the loss of his wife.
He said: “The benefits of having the nurses come in, be there at the end of the phone and to give a service was second to none.”
Chief executive of the Tring charity Rowena Dean has already pledged that the hospice is determined to keep caring for patients and families who need their help, particularly overnight and at weekends when they are often the only service available.
Mr James wants the Government to stump up more cash for hospices. He said: “I'm very angry about the way we are being treated. The Government has already announced that hospice at home is a good idea and yet they are not willing to put their money where their mouth is. I want to make people aware of the injustice of this.
“We really have to stand up and be counted and not be put off by excuses.”
Iain Rennie nurses cared for a total of 792 patients in the year to March 31, 2006 and 86 per cent of the charity's income comes from local communities.
How Travis drove Danny off course
MUM Jane Beaumont from Pitstone cradles her newborn son Travis together with daughter Leah, 3, and husband Danny - a motorbike racer who pulled off the track to speed to his son's birth.
The family posed for The Gazette just days after Danny made a dramatic dash from the Brands Hatch Circuit in Kent to Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire.
The 30-year-old biker, who lives with his family in Marsworth Road, had vowed to end his Superstock race season on a high with a win at the famous track on October 1.
After hearing that his wife was soon to give birth however,
Danny pulled out of the vital race after just two laps and sped instead to the hospital.
Baby Travis was born at 12.48am on October 2, weighing 6lb 3oz. Sister Leah had celebrated her third birthday just two days earlier on September 30.
Danny, who had agreed with his wife to race at Brands Hatch, said: “Once the lights went up [at the start of the race] I wasn't focused on it. My head was all over the place - I pulled over after two laps. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I didn't want to crash and hurt myself and not be able to get there.”
After a difficult year on the track Danny is currently considering his racing options for next year.
Tales of Tring come to life
DELVE into 2,000 years of history during Tales of Old Tring - The Pageant next month.
The show, based on a book put together by pupils from schools in Tring with The Friends of Tring Church Heritage, will be at the Church of St Peter and St Paul on Friday, November 10 and Saturday, November 11.
Three years ago The Friends of Tring Church Heritage produced a pageant called If These Stones Could Talk. Both performances were sell-outs.
Now the second volume of the book Tales of Old Tring has been turned into a show.
The Pageant will be held in the High Street church from 7.30pm on both evenings.
Tickets are now on sale priced £8 for adults including a glass of wine during the interval and £4 for children.
Tickets can be purchased from Colin Bendall by calling 01442 824508 or Graham Senior on 01442 822770.
To go to the Tring homepage, click here
