Cookham Matters

We are blessed with a scarce and declining habitat in Cookham.  The Chilterns offer one of the few remaining areas of chalk grasslands in the country.  But everywhere, this specialist environment is under duress, including in our village.  The way we farm has changed - the use of intensive fertilizers enriches the composition of the soil and livestock grazing practices have moved on, both of which have a detrimental effect on this dwindling habitat.  Factor in development, and our species determination that every open space should be available for recreational purposes and you start to understand why we have lost over 80% of chalk grasslands since the Second World War.  Cookham villagers were a generous (and foresighted?) lot back in the 1930s because the 46 acres of water meadows and chalk grassland, from Cock Marsh to Winter Hill were purchased by the village and donated to The National Trust in 1934.  For donkey’s years this area has been graze...

I think it's time to tell you about The Chicken. Some time ago I was heading to the woods with the dog via the view point at Winter Hill.  Just as I got to the National Trust car park, I came across The Chicken.  A happy, pecking chicken would have been some what of a surprise but actually, this was an even greater surprise because it was an oven ready chicken (although no sign of the cooking instructions).  She was spread eagle on the grass, with all four little limbs akimbo.  Oddly, my first thought was "Lucky, lucky Foxy Dog" not "Why is there an un-cooked chook at Winter Hill".  The dog dragged me ever closer and that is when I noticed the used condom.  Now I am the product of a Newlands Girls School education in the era of Mrs. Leighton and her quite remarkable legs (water retention, as I now know). In that era, we were still referred to as "gals" in clipped Home Counties accents.  Communal showers convinced us without doubt, that each an...

Something BIG is stirring and I don’t just mean Spring!  Over the Winter, a hard-working group from WildMaidenhead and WildCookham have been germinating a plan!  It’s a plan that they hope will help get the village all fired up and even more enthusiastic about our local wildlife and in particular, what we can do in our own little way to help nurture it at home.  Over the coming weeks you will start to see the group introduce the “Wild About Gardens” scheme.  It will be open to ANYONE in the Cookhams with a private garden – no matter how large or small.  Now it’s not a traditional competition, there is no winner as such, but I am told there is a party planned where they will be awarding special certificates, and there will be a Priceless Plaque (think of something that is definitely, almost certainly like the FA Cup or even better), that they intend * cough * will be handed down through generations to come in the village.  So here’s the scoop, ahead of ...

Back in July the 100 year old Lime tree at the junction of Alleyns Lane and Dean Lane was felled because of damage to its tree roots.  You’ll remember that the drainage contractors dug a trench across the small green and through the Lime’s fine network of roots.  And then they cut straight through the electric mains.  South East Electricity had to come in to repair, and they caused more damage to the root system as they were trying to reconnect us to the network – hence we lost the tree.  There was a huge hoo-haa because it was an iconic tree in the village AND because the contractors had very likely breached all sorts of rules by doing what they did.  So to bring you up to date… The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) at least felt there was action (or inaction) by the contractors that required investigation.  However, here we are 7 months later and information on the progress of that investigation seems to be impossible to obtain. ...

The BBC has more than its fair share of National Treasures, David Attenborough arguably the richest.  But did you know that Cookham has its very own Village Treasure?  Brian Clews sits firmly in the Village Treasure chest for his activities with several groups, but perhaps most visibly for his work supporting the our wildlife and habitats.  He sits on the committee for Cookham Wildlife Supporters, and can often be found sharing his encyclopedic knowledge and a bad joke or three in their events program.  Brian, lives in Broom Hill and has been resident in the village since before the Ice Age.  Well OK, that's a bit of an exaggeration but for FORTY EIGHT years.  We barely even had a railway station forty eight years ago (also an exaggeration).  He has spent forty years contributing to the local RSPB group, and has written books and papers too numerous to mention on this, his specialist subject.  But I've been watching Blue Planet and I know that it...

You may have seen that  The National Trust  will soon be charging for parking down at The Moor.  This has received a mixed response from residents and visitors alike, but I think it is worth explaining a little more about it.  I have seen people comment that it is simply a revenue generating opportunity, and the facts of the matter are – that is correct, but perhaps not for the reasons that you would imagine.  Countryside NT properties such as Maidenhead and Cookham Commons (MCC) suffer from not being able to generate much of an income.  Some money can be generated through sales of wood products or specific area membership recruitment, but most rely on quite a meagre annual budget to maintain and conserve the land they own - which is not sustainable going forward. Pay and Display car parking is a way of generating an additional income for NT countryside properties such as the MCC.   The area here covers 834 acres and costs over £70K...

You know that expression “take time to stop and smell the roses”?  I was reminded of that today when I joined some of Cookham’s youngest residents on a nature walk led by Brian Clews of the Cookham Wildlife Supporters.    I met Bo aged about 6 (at a guess) and I watched her as she looked at an acorn.  It wasn’t even a particularly nice acorn – it was a bit squashed.  But she was completely absorbed in finding out what was inside and telling me how it had been nibbled by a Squirrel (something that Brian had just shown her on a pine cone).  Little people don’t have much interrupting their thoughts I guess.  She was not looking at the acorn at the same time wondering if the lasagne would de-frost in time for supper.  She and her friends with their enthusiastic little hands up and their stomping through the puddles and their waving sticks about, reminded me that we all need to take time to stop and have a really good look. I’ll leave you to ...

I think it’s fair to say that thunder and lightning would not be the preferred conditions to host a dog training walk.  It’s August as you recall, you kind of hope that it might be like high summer?  Sort of hot and maybe even a bit sweaty?  If not hot, then warm?  And sunny?  As it was, Cookham Dog Walkers showed their mettle – they are a hardy lot it seems, they just pulled on their wellies, turned up the collars on their sowesters and grabbed their sodden dog treats to attend regardless.  Of course, the dogs were entirely oblivious to the wet, they were just thrilled to meet some new friends.  Jia, a Tibetan Terrier decided the best way to demonstrate her enthusiasm was by running everywhere, extremely fast and preferably whilst jumping.  Which was fine because Honey, who purely by coincidence is also Tibetan Terrier (X Poodle), was easily her match.  Milo the Bichon Frise was a little overwhelmed by the girls, so he very sensibly kept h...

It’s about a month since the 100 year old Lime tree at the junction of Alleyns Lane and Dean Lane was felled because of damage to it’s tree roots.  You’ll remember that the drainage contractors dug a trench across the small green and through the Lime’s fine network of roots, and then they cut straight through the electric mains.  South East Electricity had to come in to repair, and they caused more damage to the root system as they were trying to reconnect us to the network – hence we lost the tree.  The drainage contractors were required to apply for permission from the RBWM (as the landowners), to dig the trench and, in doing so, they should have been given a Root Protection Area (RPA) to map out a safe dig.  There are questions regarding what was requested, issued and followed in this process, and the RBWM planning enforcement team started an investigation.  We have a single point of contact in the RBWM and I have asked three times now for an update of their...

We recently had our Sunday morning dog walk cut short.  We had stopped to chat to the owners of a similar, but much larger, dog.  Everyone was off lead and no-one, canine or human, seemed anxious about that.  Our dogs have been very well socialised from puppies and whilst they are never going to win the obedience class at Crufts, they are largely responsive and reasonably well trained.  Moments in though, play turned nasty and it was clear that the other dog became aggressive towards one of ours.  It was very noisy with fur flying and none of us knew how to intervene.  Fortunately, rather than run in panic away from us, our dog ran TO us and cowered as close to my partner’s legs as possible, screaming.  He had a nasty bite to his ear, but more upsetting was his fear.  The people obviously apologised and went on their way so we could head home in the same direction, to try and sort the wound out.  It was at this point that a family who had wi...

For those that have been following Tree-Gate in Cookham Dean, the latest update.... Some residents had suggested that when the council come to re-plant in October/November we might try to crowd-fund a larger specimen tree than they would normally provide (approximately 3 meters).  Unfortunately, this seems unlikely for what is an obvious reason now it has been explained to me.  The bigger the tree, the bigger the hole they need to dig to plant it in and the trouble with trying to dig at all in that tiny area, is that it is criss-crossed with services pipes. The plaque from the bottom of the tree truly seems to have disappeared (as has the stump which was removed on the 24 July) and we did wonder if any members of the families who originally planted the tree (the Hebbs and Jordans) were still local, and had rescued it.  Although I would not be surprised if it has been accidentally dug into the ground with all the earth works or cleared up when the tree was felled....

If you were a Toad in Cookham, you would be very glad to see Barbara Brown.  She’s a bit like International Rescue for Toads.  You’d recognize her easily enough because she’d be carrying a bucket, two children’s fishing nets and several scoopy things, whilst marching up and down Lightlands Lane.  Her mission is to save Cookham's Toads from being squashed on the road, and she has a team of Toad Wranglers that help her. First of all, a few toad basics for any rookie Toad Wranglers: Toads have lumpy skin and frogs have smooth skin. Toads tend to live away from water (until they mate) frogs need to live close to it. Toads prefer to crawl (although they can hop) and frogs prefer to hop. Toad Wranglers really need gloves, because they produce a toxin from glands behind their eyes (meant to deter predators from eating them) that can be irritating to the skin. Toad Spawn is laid in strings, Frog Spawn in dense clumps. You WANT Toads (and Frogs) in your garden becau...