STACK NEWS ISSUE 4 - December 2000
Gosh another edition of Stack News! Is it just us - or is time accelerating?
This year has definitely been the year of the badger for us (whatever the Chinese may think!). Hence this year's picture.
Christmas 1999 began with our 'usual flying visit' to our mum's in London (Jayne's) and Hampshire (Roger's) before returning to The Stack for a well-earned rest! But not for long, as we were soon back 'up-country' to collect Roger's mum for what was to have been a two week stay during which time my brother would move into a riding stables with granny annexe for mum. This was not to be! The censor has removed the unexpurgated details of the ensuing family dispute, but suffice to say that mum is now settled very happily into a nice cottage in Mylor - a village about 20 miles from us. Her intended two-week stay with us becoming two months, and the riding stables remaining my brother's unreleased pipe dream.
January saw the start of fitting out our new kitchen (a task still not complete as Stack News goes to press). Jayne made her first TV appearance helping our local RSPCA inspector catch over 50 white rabbits someone had released on nearby moorland. In February Roger started a yearlong course in 'Environmental Conservation'. This is very much practical and includes such skills as habitat management and restoration as well as building Cornish Hedges, boardwalks, and fencing. It keeps him amused for two days each week! Another half day he spends doing free computer courses.
Early in the year we met Pip and her greyhound Robbie. Pip helps re-home retired racing greyhounds. We have since become Robbie's foster 'parents' looking after him on a number of occasions throughout this year.
As a result of a generous birthday present Jayne acquired a long wished for moth trap, and started catching/identifying/releasing moths in our garden. She also joined the local Butterfly Conservation Society and (with help from new friends) is trying to identify some of the 2,500+ possible moth species in Britain.
Jayne continues to work for The Cornwall Wildlife Trust part-time (check out her website www.wildlifetrust.org.uk/cornwall) and now also volunteers with the RSPCA one day a week. This has resulted in our family increasing by a hamster, two degus and two rats and all awaiting their fate at the RSPCA - the rats and hamster literally so. Roger still insists on waiting for building work to be complete before acquiring any canine additions to the family.
Talks/meetings/fieldtrips continue unabated and currently include photography, geology, botany, wildlife, and industrial archaeology. We've also done a weekend dowsing course (yes it really works!). Just to add a little variety, we've also got building plans - again! This time to demolish what was (as some of you will know) our temporary kitchen and currently our utility/workshop. We want to build a new entrance hallway/utility/pets room and proper workshop for Roger. On the roof will be a timber deck area with access to the upper garden area.
In May the world went mad when the Ministry of Agriculture (MAFF) declared Penwith 'pro-active zone' in the so-called experimental badger cull. Their aim being to find out if killing badgers reduces TB in cattle by eliminating them from ten areas each 10 kilometres square. We could write volumes on what happened next, but suffice to say we didn't think this was a good idea as they've already killed about 30,000 badgers over the last 20 years with no results forthcoming. We joined the local opposition! Since then badgers have taken over our lives - particularly Roger's.
Independence day for some (4th July) saw Roger becoming a tour guide for four days when ten people from the photographic club that we used to belong to in Ealing came down for a visit. We arranged for them to stay in a pub in Penzance where they could study their other hobby (beer) whilst admiring the sea views. Roger drove their minibus to some of his favourite places with scenic, prehistoric, mining and industrial interest. Also a visit to an open-air performance at a theatre on the cliffs (in the rain). And of course sampling more pubs!
Autumn saw Roger being asked to set up a new badger group for west Cornwall (see our new website www.dingdong.redhotant.com/badgers). Organising and publicising this event has proved has very time consuming, with Roger getting a lot of coverage both in the press and on the radio, (he's becoming a bit of a local celebrity). All the work has paid of though and resulted in a successful launch of the West Cornwall Badger Group in December despite having some of the worst storms so far this year.
And so to Christmas 2000. This year we are planning to have our first Christmas together in our own home. We'll probably put our feet up and just doze in front of the box like everybody else - or maybe even go to the beach!
The beach has been particularly exciting this year with Roger finding a rare Spirilla Spirilla shell and his first sea bean. We also saw wild dolphins and basking sharks for the first time.
So if the weather fair we will probably be walking off Christmas dinner along the beach this year.
That’s all for now, best wishes for the festive season from
Roger & Jayne
