Another Load of Cobblers ....

[Ally]

Fantastic read Ossie!

re those town planners. I wonder what will happen in the future?

As I type I'm thinking of our Jo as Man U are currently losing 5 - 0.

[Kaz]

Ally, they're building on floodplains around Gloucester too! The problem is that even if the local council try to block it, government overrule them

Ossie, cracking read!

[Ally]

How perfectly stupid Kaz.

[Kaz]

It is but profit is king Ally, it seems

[cromwell]

Same everywhere with the building.
Great read Os, its murder in Midsomer!

[Workingman]

the flood risk was stated as 1 in 75 (if that’s years, it’ll see me out! )

Ah, but, but....it could happen in ANY year between 1 and 75. Buy an inflatable and keep your wellies by the door.

[TheOstrich]

the flood risk was stated as 1 in 75 (if that’s years, it’ll see me out! )

Ah, but, but....it could happen in ANY year between 1 and 75. Buy an inflatable and keep your wellies by the door.

Actually ........ there are around 10 or so Town Council-operated sandbag containers positioned at strategic points close to the rivers. There are two quite close to us. On the Friday, Mrs O and I checked out the one purported to be in the New Cemetery Car Park. Didn't spot it on the first fly-past in the car, but returning from the supermarket, we drove into the car park and located a dark green rectangular container up against a hedge. The next time we have a walk out, we'll see if we can locate the other one, same distance but in the opposite direction. They have said there are only 12 sandbags in each box, but I know they have spare bags and filling for them readily available.

All I need now is a wheelbarrow, and an Ostrich to harness to it. Strangely, looked everywhere, but I can't find Ossie at the moment .....

On an unrelated topic, there is fury up at the local soccer club at the moment. On Saturday 9th October, Gillingham Town Reserves travelled to Bridport Town Reserves for a Dorset Intermediate Cup game, During the second half, one of the Gillingham team, Eboni McCann, was racially abused by a home spectator, the referee halted the game, and in the aftermath, the team walked off the pitch. The abuse was reported to the police. Bridport have banned the so-called fan for life.

Subsequently, Gillingham have been slapped with a misconduct charge by the Dorset FA for walking off the pitch and causing the game to be abandoned. They could faced a fine up to £150 and have a disciplinary black mark on the club's record. This has sparked outrage; there is an on-line petition protesting the decision, and the story has made not only the local Radio Solent but also featured on TV - BBC Points South.

The FA are going to have a lot of explaining to do ........

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-58992793

[TheOstrich]

Gillingham Town Council
13:32 ·
Residents of Lodden, Bridge Close, Colesbrook and Milton-on-Stour need to ACT Now
The Environment Agency has issued the following warning.
Flood warning for River Lodden at Bridge Close, Gillingham
River levels are rising rapidly on the Upper Dorset Stour, River Lodden due to heavy rainfall. Flooding is forecast to affect locations near the Upper Dorset Stour, River Lodden, with low lying land expected to be most affected, particularly around Bridge Close in Gillingham. Flooding is forecast to affect Bridge Close in Gillingham from 02:00 PM on 31/10/2021. The forecast is mainly dry for this afternoon though there may be some showers. River levels are high and forecast to rise further at the Milton on Stour, Colesbrook, Lodden Bridge gauge. We are liaising with emergency services and local authorities. We will continue to monitor the forecast and re-issue this warning if necessary. Start acting on your flood plan if you have one Move family, pets and cars to safety and turn off gas, electricity and water if it is safe to do so. This message will be updated by 06:00 PM on 31/10/2021, or as the situation changes.

As we speak, it has just stopped absolutely bucketing it down with rain. That’s been the pattern for the last 12 hours or so, and Mrs O has made the point that she can see water glistening in the weak sunlight in the attenuation tank at the back of the house – that’s a deep hole in the ground designed to take excess water off our local river Stour. Social media has again reported many instances of road closures locally and sporadic flooding of properties in town; the ground is still sodden from the previous week’s event, as we are on clay here. As with last week's flooding, it seems to be the rivers Lodden and Shreen which are again the problem. Thankfully, the weather forecast shows the rain dying away this afternoon and a few days of comparatively dry weather.

I’ve just had a wander out to look at the situation locally. The attenuation tank does indeed contain water, but as far as I can see, there’s no “flow-through” through the pipe from the river itself, so what we have in the tank is simply accumulated rainfall – not uncommon after a heavy period of rain. The river Stour itself is very full and in spate , as high as I have known it, but although right up to bung, it hasn’t burst its banks yet. Within the country park area, much of the grass and scrubland is under water and at one point this has merged with the river – but the water is noticeably flowing off the country park into the river, not the other way round. So fingers crossed, we don’t have any problems with the Nest. It would have to rise at good 15 foot before I’d be concerned.

“Where’s Ossie?” I asked Mrs O on my return.
“Gone squawking off somewhere, going on about buying a single rail ticket to Glasgow ….”
So if you’re watching the COP26 live broadcasts (well, there’s nothing else on TV at the moment) and you see a masked and feathered interloper storm the stage and grab the microphone, you’ll know who it is. No, it’s not Greta Thunburg.

A last minute toss-of-the-coin decision yesterday between Milborne Port Reserves in the Dorset League Division 1 and Donhead United in Division 4, and for once I got it right, certainly for goals . A leisurely drive up through Shaftesbury and a few miles out down the A30 in the Salisbury direction takes you to the Donheads, where you turn right into Charlton Lane (just before the traffic lights at the start of the hill down to Ludwell – I bet they’re currently underwater), right into the narrow Parhams Lane, and the car park entrance is again immediately on your right. Parking provision is quite adequate; the local community hall is also situated here, and the grounds spacious enough to host one of the very few public firework displays taking place in the area next weekend.

But first, a stop-over at Shaftesbury Fire Station, where the Dorset and Wilts Fire Service were advertising a Car Wash in aid of the Firefighters’ Charity.
It might have been helpful if the young pre-teen lad at the pointy end of a high-pressure hose hadn’t decided to deploy it before I’d shut the car window ……

No changes at the Donhead Sports Club since I last visited the place a couple of years back, although Donhead United have now returned to their spiritual home, the Top Pitch, after being forced into exile on the Bottom Pitch when the now-defunct Gill Dons FC were briefly in residence. In fact, there’s no trace now that the lower pitch ever existed. The Top Pitch was always considered superior because it has a Wooden Dugout / Shelter on the far side (you can get 4 bodies into it at a pinch, or just 1 if you rigorously enforce social distancing ). On the other touchline, however, I noticed they have marked out two dugout areas on the grass, labelled “H” and “A”, not of course that anyone was taking a blind bit of notice of them.

Having warmed up out on the pitch, both teams decided to amble the 100 yards or so back to the changing rooms at 14:55, to the referee’s annoyance , before making a re-appearance shortly after kick-off time, so we started a little late. I was just musing around the thought that Blandford, going downhill, would probably score first on the grounds that (a) they had started quite purposefully and (b) the Donhead keeper was looking a bit nervy, when Donhead suddenly hit them for three goals in four minutes! The first on 8m stemmed from a spirited run up the middle by Donhead’s no.9, who fed his no.10 to score, despite the keeper getting a hand to the ball; the second followed a beautiful bit of ball-juggling by no.9 (a lanky 20-something with a distinctly retro-Mick Channon hairstyle) who finished by lobbing the bemused keeper from 15 yards, and from the kick-off no.10 went straight through the middle for the third. Game effectively over. Donhead’s fourth followed on 27m.

Throughout the match, I was keeping an eye on a line of black clouds marching eastwards towards us, but although it twice spitted with rain on the wind, it kept dry at the ground. There was also the makings of a rainbow visible in the second half.

After the interval, Donhead scored on 57m, 69m and 74m with Blandford notching what turned out to be their consolation goal with a sharp header from a corner on 66m. In the second half, there was a series of changes to the Blandford club lino which culminated in a young teenage girl being handed the flag – she actually made quite a decent fist of the job .

An unfortunate incident on 86m when the Blandford keeper was accidentally floored in a goalmouth scramble . Whilst he was being helped back to his feet by one Donhead player, another Donhead player rolled the ball around him into the net and the referee, who hadn't adjudged the original incident a foul, indicated a goal. Blandford didn’t protest, (they were probably beyond caring by then), but before the game restarted from the middle, if I read it correctly, a couple of the Donhead players intervened with the referee and sportingly suggested they wouldn’t be aggrieved should he amend his decision to an away free kick in the box, which was how the game was restarted. That was only the briefest of respites for Blandford as 3 minutes later, Donhead’s no.15 gleefully back-heeled the ball into the net, after the away keeper had failed to hold a corner, to complete the scoring.

30/10/21: Dorset League Division 4
Donhead United 8 Blandford United “A” 1
No admission and no refreshments available; the Sports Club and bar were firmly shut. I’ve known them do teas and coffees on previous visits. So a final visit to Mr Lee for cod ‘n chips, with a celebratory pea fritter added for an extra £1.40. With the clocks changing, kick-off times will move to 14:00 from next weekend, so games will be over by 15:45, well before Mr Lee starts frying.
Attendance: 27

[cromwell]

You're a better man than me Os, getting out in this weather.
Milborn Port. Sir Milborne Port was a character in the Anthony Horovitz novel Deadline, one of the Simon Bognor series of books - now not many people know that.And even fewer care i would imagine!
Great read Os; pity the game was a massacre. Pea fritter? Now that's a thing I've never had.

[miasmum]

What the dickens is a pea fritter?

Yes I still read for the refreshments