Baronet's Diary

April 2008

I must be getting old as I turn first to the Obituaries column each day I open the newspaper. Gone are the days when I immediately turned to the back page and the sport - now it is the facing page opposite the Court & Social Page and I scan the chosen few that are featured to see how old they are. Usually the average age is in the 80s but often an unsuspecting accident or disease has taken away people my own age (or younger) and I think how lucky I am. However it is interesting to note that other notable figures died young as well; Charlotte Bronte died at the age of 39 and Jane Austen at just 42. It can often be that those that have died young, have achieved more in their lives.

The recent news that a farmer, who collected fly-tipped waste from his farm in Cambridgeshire to clear it up, has been penalised at his local tip since the detritus was deemed to be ‘commercial’, filled me with dread. This is another case when the absurdity of the law rebounds on the good-natured taxpayer. On the estate I carry a plastic bag (sorry not recyclable) in order to collect all rubbish that has been deposited on the footpaths and roadways and then I either burn or recycle the collation. The most common ‘finds’ are fizzy drink cans and crisp packets (ideal for ramblers ‘on the move’). In addition to that, the fields alongside the roadside seem to attract car, van and lorry debris (bumpers, broken lights etc.) and I firmly estimate that I personally collect two skip fulls of rubbish each year. Luckily I am not penalised for the small amounts that I put in the bin but I would be if I handed it all in together! Crazy!

We are having to undertake a Radon survey in one of the neighbouring cottages to the Hall. Radon is ‘a naturally occurring colourless odourless radioactive gas present in the air that we all breathe’. Tissington lies in a ‘radon sensitive area’ and we have had, over the years, exhaustive tests taken in the Hall to assess our sensitivity. These have proved that although it exists here (you can’t see it and you can’t smell it) the amount is of such a low level that we need take no action. However the re-letting of a cottage has meant that we have to go through the same process there even though the distance to the cottage is less than the distance to the other end of the Hall. Another absurdity of modern bureaucracy.

The rumours that there was a ‘dummy ball’ in the recent Royal Shrovetide Football game on the Ash Wednesday game came as no surprise to me. Over the years there have been hundreds of claim and counter-claim between the Up’ards and the Down’ards over whether ‘illegal’ tactics were used in the game and a goal scored as a result. It is not uncommon to hear of balls ‘buried’ prior to the game that suddenly reappear when the hug reaches that part of the pitch (basically a three mile radius of Ashbourne Town Centre) and the players could be diverted! Such were the allegations this year that the story was covered by both regional and national radio news. The full investigation will take place in secret and the goal will be ratified or not. All I know is that a basketball did enter play at one point but, since the real ball does NOT bounce, it was dismissed out of hand. I suspect though that the shenanigans of play will continue for a long time to come!

Derbyshire Dales are a good local district council. As a parish councillor, I was invited to a seminar at the Leisure Centre when the forward budget for their 2008/09 year was presented. The coming year sees the council losing  £1million  off their budget in real terms and the parishes were there to see where the cuts were to be made. Their surveys of local people say that the main priority is for affordable housing in rural areas and safer communities. Both these points are notably worthy but difficult to achieve. However the Council has created nearly 400 new homes in the last five years and is well ahead in this category over  other local boroughs. I would love to see affordable homes in Tissington but we are governed by the National Park for planning purposes and new homes are very hard to achieve.