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Newsletter No.
009
Come in
Number 9. The year has flown
past. It's a busy time of
year but if you need to relax,
maybe with a cup or glass of
your choice and a mince pie
then get stuck into our bumper
edition. We have news, facts,
quizzes, stories, recipes,
elves. Yes! Elves!
We hope you enjoy this and the
previous issues but if you
missed any and would like to
see them either in our ARCHIVE
or email Sylvia at [email protected] and
she will gladly send any you
have missed.
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Friday
Walks - Abington Park
The
Friday walks will continue over
Christmas. Come along and walk
off all that pud!
If you don't know, A group of us
meet in (Abington Park between
the tennis courts and the
Bowling Green) We have a little
warm-up then either a long or
short walk (depending on
ability) We all meet up at the
coffee shop at the end. It's
free and inclusive, we have
participants who use Nordic
poles, just walk, use a walking
aid or come along in a
wheelchair.
Walk in the Park,
Fridays 10:30 partners and
friends welcome
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FitnFab
Christmas Party
We
were all Harpole bound on Monday
(9th Dec) and a cracking
Christmas feast it was. The
staff at the Turnpike did us
proud. The party started in the
bar, moved to a nice function
room where we ate drank and were
very merry. Angela provided a
quiz and led the carols. Sylvia
and Becks organised a free
raffle, thank you both.
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Let's
get Quizzical
1)
The Americans call a type of
hat a DERBY, what is it
known as, in Britain?
2) Which government body
moved its Headquarters from
Tower Hill, London.
To Llantrisant, Cardiff in
1968?
3) Sinhalese is the main
language of which island
country?
4) Who was the last Queen
of France?
5) Which area of Germany
gives its name to a
chocolate cake/gateau?
6) What colour is the
"black box" flight recorder
on an aircraft?
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Rotary
Clubs - Santa Fun Run
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Earlier
this year the Rotary Club of the
Nene Valley donated a sum of
money to support the Tulip Group
which I manage. This came about
because Tony Roberts was the
then president of this Rotary
Club and Tony's wife attends my
weekly exercise group
(Fit&Fab - sneaky advert!).
Isn't it great how these things
come about!
Obviously, when Tony handed over
the donation I offered to
support the Rotary Club if the
opportunity ever arose.
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All
the Rotary Clubs of
Northampton joined
together this year and
organised a Santa Fun
Run - apparently the
person who was earmarked
to do the warm-up wasn't
available so Tony asked
me!! Some of you may
know the book 'Feel the
Fear but Do It Anyway'
- strangely enough I
have this book but
haven't actually read
it, perhaps I should,
because I breezily said
yes of course, and then
became increasingly
terrified as the day
approached. Sylvia
offered to come along to
provide moral support
and promised not to
heckle
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I can not remember very
much about the warm-up
but I did something and
people moved about a
bit. However, the event
was really well
organised by the Rotary
Clubs and everyone
taking part dressed up
as Santa and they looked
amazing. All sponsorship
income will be split 50%
to Cynthia Spencer
Hospice and 50% to the
remaining three
charities nominated by
local Rotary clubs. The
Lowdown will receive 25%
(nominated by the Rotary
Clubs of Northampton
Becket and Northampton
West), the Hope Centre
(nominated by The Rotary
Club of Northampton)
will receive 12.5% and
the Alzheimers Society
will receive 12.5%
(nominated by the Nene
Valley Rotary Club).
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I
got to dress up as an elf
(Thanks to Gef from Have
a Balloon & Costumes, Kingsthorpe
- another sneaky advert) and
Sylvia met Bernie from the
Saints.
Next year the event is planned
for the 6th December, it will be
at the Racecourse again and
everyone can take part (you
don't have to run!). Perhaps we
could get a Northants
Parkinson's People Team
together? Watch this space for
plans nearer the time.
Happy Christmas everyone from
Angela the elf xxx |
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Sylvia's
Gardening Tips
A
few general tips this
month as its a busy
time of year. If you
do venture out in the
garden wrap up warm
and take it steady.
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There
are a few jobs that can still be
done in the garden providing it
is dry. An important one is to
gather any fallen leaves.
Please don’t bin them! Put
them in a heap in a sheltered
corner of the garden as a haven
for bugs. Alternatively, pile
them around the base of shrubs
where they will rot down and
enrich the soil.
Pets and Plants, which
plants are safe
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Lots of us have dogs or
cats but how many of you
know which plants and
cut flowers are toxic to
our pets? Cut flowers
include lilies….all
parts are toxic to dogs
and cats, especially the
pollen, but in
particular to cats.
Carnations and
chrysanthemums may be
toxic to both cats and
dog.
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Houseplants
to avoid:
Swiss cheese plant
Aloe vera
Kalanchoe
Amaryllis
Weeping fig
Poinsettia |
Houseplants
that are safe:
Boston Fern
Areca Palm
Money tree
Aspidistra
Rubber Plant
Light Green Beetle Radiator Plant
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Progress
of hyacinth bulbs in
glass vase
Newsletter no. 7 showed
a picture of the glass
vase with the roots of
the bulb just visible.
This is how they now
look with the flower
clearly visible.
I shall now place them
on a light window sill
in the kitchen and have
high hopes that this
year the flowers will be
perfect for Christmas
day.
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| Making
Plans for next year
The
New Year is almost upon us and
the weather may not be good for
pottering in the garden so I
like to ponder on what I am
going to grow in the coming
year. I have decided to
concentrate on the produce that
I really like to eat myself. I
intend growing more blueberries
in pots and also a brown fig.
I
have taken delivery of two small
blueberry bushes. I already have
two so now they are a family of
four.! The different varieties
fruit in different months so
theoretically I should have
blueberries for at least two or
three months next year. I grow
them in pots in ericaceous soil.
It is their dormant season at
the moment so not much to see.
Next spring I will have some
photographs to share with our
readers.
I
am also venturing into the
unknown as I have decided I like
fresh figs so much I would like
to grow my own. Again I shall
grow it in a pot as they like to
be pot bound. Watch this space,
as they say!
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Recipe
of the Month
Apple
and Cranberry Brown Betty
with Almond Crumbs
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Ingredients
50g cooking apples—peeled cored
and chopped
125g fresh cranberries
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon mixed spice
4 tablespoons plain flour
75g soft brown sugar
50g oats
50g flaked almonds
75g chilled butter cut into cubes
Method
Preheat
oven to gas mark 6, electric
200c, fan 180c
In
a bowl mix the fruit with the
spices plus 1 tablespoon flour
and 1 tablespoon sugar. Tip into
a baking dish
Mix
the rest of the sugar and flour
with the oats and almonds. Work
in the butter so that the
mixture is like bread crumbs.
Scatter over the top of the
fruit and bake for 45 minutes
until brown and crispy.
This
can be made a day in advance.
Simply cook, cool and then
refrigerate until next day when
it can be warmed through for 15
minutes in hot oven.
YUMMY
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It
must have been about 1979. I was
working at an engineering firm
in Duston. I worked with a guy
about the same age as me (24
then) let's call him Jason. We
got on well and he and his wife
had been to our house a couple
of times for barbecues. They had
two young children and Jason was
adjusting slowly from Jack the
lad to sensible married with
children Jason. The previous
Christmas he had unwisely chosen
a large bottle of scotch as a
Christmas box from our employer
and as a result of the
aforementioned laddishness had
spent most of Christmas asleep
or hungover. This had put him on
stoney ground as far as his
in-laws were concerned. This
Christmas was, he assured the
lads in the works canteen, going
to be different. The Holidays
approached and true to his word
Jason chose a nice turkey when
the foreman came round with the
list. (If I recall correctly we
were earning about £40-£45 per
week then which was average for
this area. Our bosses were nice
enough to give us a nice bottle
of scotch or a good size turkey
as a Christmas gift. Depending
when Christmas day fell it was
either a fresh or frozen bird.
As Christmas was on Monday that
year we spent Friday morning
tidying up our work area and at
lunchtime lined up to shake the
Chairman's hand and receive our
Christmas box. I got a grim
smile, a muttered ‘well done,
happy Christmas, next’ and a
19lb turkey frozen rock hard.
The Chosen few that had an
invite to the office party
scampered upstairs for unlimited
plonk, sausages on sticks and
keeping a wary eye out for Vera,
the canteen lady who had
Halitosis and a large bunch of
Mistletoe. The rest of us either
went home or to our nearest pub,
The Rifle Butt (in this
politically correct era it's now
called the Hart of Duston. Jason
and I with our pair of frozen
birds chose the Rifle Butt.
The Rifle Butt was packed. We
got to the bar, eventually and
Jason/Jack the lad ordered six
pints. ‘Well it saves queuing
again dunit’ We found a space
with shelf space and proceeded
to get Christmassy. Final score
Jason 4, yours truly 2. We
departed, me to walk home across
the fields to Kingsthorpe. Jason
to get a bus into town and then
on to Abington. It was a good
Christmas. Well, I had a good
time. Pity about Jason.
We resumed work on Wednesday the
27th, Three more days of work
and then a long weekend with new
years day tacked onto it. Jason
was a bit quiet and shivered a
bit whenever someone mentioned
turkey sandwiches. Friday came
and we were put on a job
together. I finally got to hear
about Jason’s Christmas
nightmare.
Jason boarded the bus for town
after we left the pub, two stops
further and some early leavers
from the firm's office party got
on, including Vera, tanked up
and randy Vera! Luckily for
Jason when she staggered up the
stairs she saw someone else and
walked past him to do a bit of
post-party flirting. Jason knew
she would be getting off at the
same stop so readied himself for
a very quick exit. As the bus
approached the stop Jason leapt
up and ran down the stairs,
unfortunately, the carrier bag
with the turkey snagged on the
handrail at the top of the
stair. Jason tugged, the bag
split and the turkey bounced
past Jason down the stairs
across the rear platform of the
bus hit the kerb and slithered
to a halt behind the bus. While
all the turkey ballistics
crashed down the stairs Vera was
descending on Jason. "Jason,
lover boy, give us a kiss for
Christmas." He followed the
turkey 3 steps at a time scooped
up the still frozen but quite
gritty bird and legged it up the
road. He didn't look back but I
can imagine the look on Vera’s
face. Another one got away.
The Bird, the frozen one not the
randy one, still had its shrunk
wrap plastic on it so Jason
rubbed of the grit and grime and
headed home for a nice family
Christmas. With two and a bit
days to Christmas, the turkey
was crammed into the fridge to
be joined by all the other
festive food after next day's
big shop.
The weekend proceeded well until
Sunday evening when Jason's wife
unwrapped the turkey in
preparation for the next day's
feast, when her Mum, Dad and
sister would descend for the
day. "Arghhhh Jason Help!" Or a
sweary equivalent got Jason
running to the kitchen. Oh dear,
It seems that when the still
rock hard turkey bounced down
the bus steps and hit the curb,
it had shattered into about
twenty pieces. The tight
wrapping had disguised this
until the evening before
Christmas when all the shops had
closed and the in-laws were
inbound. The look on his wife's
face made her words redundant.
‘Fix it, or else.’ Now I know I
would probably do the same thing
if I was in his place. We
engineers were trained to look
for solutions and Jason found
his in the form of an upholstery
needle and roll of black lacing
twine. "Three bloody hours it
took me" he explained. He got
most of it in the right place,
he was sure it was.
Now I didn’t know this fact at
the time. Lots of black material
used in clothing isn't really
black. Black is hard to produce
so lots of ‘black’ is actually
dark green. Interesting eh. Back
to Jason.
Two o'clock Christmas day, the
family had descended, the table
set. Glasses charged. The man of
the house was helping by getting
the turkey out of the oven. "Oh
bugger." Jason's wife looking
over his shoulder started
weeping, her makeup ran down her
face, giving her a slightly
halloweeny look that strangely
did not look out of place next
to the turkey.
The bird had remained intact,
the stitching had held. Where
Jason had carefully stitched the
flesh it had swollen to lift the
scars up. The stitches
themselves had burned black but
not before the surrounding skin,
and the flesh beneath as Jason
layer discovered, had taken on a
fluorescing green colour leached
from the twine, that was as
everyone later agreed very
unappealing.
Jason's Christmas was by any
standards, grim. His wife
cobbled together a meal of
sorts, luckily a ham was ready
for next day so no one starved.
But both children declared to be
vegetarian shortly after the
holidays, Jason’s standing with
the in-laws plummeted even
lower. The turkey incident was
the last straw. Jason came over
for a barbecue the next summer,
alone, the kids were staying at
their mums that weekend. The
next Christmas, the Rifle Butt
takings were slightly lower as
Jason skipped the pub and
carried his sturdy rucksack
straight home with its cargo of
finest scotch whiskey.
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Turkey, not Vera. Merry
Christmas everyone, hope your
turkey turns out great. Phil |
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A
Brief History of
Northampton Castle
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Castle, probably about 1869 when
most of it was demolished to make
way for Castle Station |
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William
the Conqueror made Simon de
Senlis the first Norman Earl
of Northampton, and he is now
well known in the town for
building the Castle. It is
more than likely there was
some sort of Saxon or Danish
fortification in place on the
site prior to the building of
the Castle. There is no
mention of it in the Doomsday
Book which was completed in
1086 as it was in the early
stages of construction at that
point. It was finished some
years after.
During
the 11th, 12th and 13th
centuries Northampton castle
was a particular favourite
place for royals to visit on
their travels around the
realm. So much so that they
usually spent the main feast
days (Christmas, Easter and
Whit Sunday) there. Back then,
wherever the monarch resided
became the de facto seat of
government and the political
hub of the country.
Consequently, several major
events took place at the
Castle.
The
following timeline shows how
the castle was intrinsic to
the history of British
monarchy
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1106-
Meeting here between Henry
I and his brother, Robert
Duke of Normandy, Senlis
dies, Castle becomes a
Royal Castle held by Henry
II.
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1264-
Barons War, Castle held by
Simon de Montford, a
rebel baron. The
castle was briefly under siege.
When De Montford became
leader of the Barons. His
sons defended the castle,
aided by students and
scholars from the
University. In an attempt
to break the siege, rode
out of the North gate (now
regents Square) they were
met and killed by the
Royal army in a skirmish
about where the racecourse
is today.
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1879-
In spite of a County
petition for its
preservation, only a
Postern Gate survived the
1879 destructions. Later
re-built by the station
entrance on Black Lion
Hill. Though no longer at
the top of the steep
Castle bank, it is there
for all to see – and feel
pride in its great past.
The
royal decree prohibiting the
formation of the university
was formally rescinded in 2005
by order of the privy council
and the current university was
created. One other thing that
has not been granted to the
citizens of Northampton is
City status, regularly
petitioned for but so far not
given, Northampton is one of,
if not the largest, towns in
the country. But one day maybe
after all it only took 740
years to get the university
back.
Doug
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We
aim to be...
an
inclusive group so if
you have an idea for
an article that you
think would be of
interest then get in
touch with us.
You don't have to be a
journalist, and if you
find trouble getting
your idea onto paper
or email we'll give
you a helping hand.
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Answers
to the Quiz
1)
A BOWLER HAT
2) THE ROYAL MINT
3) SRI LANKA
4) MARIE ANTOINETTE
5) THE BLACK FOREST
6) ORANGE
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And
Finally...
We, the newsletter production
team would just like to
wish you all a very merry
Christmas and a Happy New
Year. xxx
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