Causeway Head Road

Despite the scrapping of the Dore Area Road Safety Scheme, the project to provide a crossing on Causeway Head Road remains alive and well. During a recent discussion with an official in the City Council’s Road Safety section, we were told that the consultation phase has produced no objections to the scheme. This means that the detailed design can be finalised and sent to Street Force for implementation, which is now expected to take place "either late in the summer or in the autumn".

Although we have yet to see the final drawings, it is believed that the crossing will be located close to the telephone box near the newsagent and will incorporate a refuge in the middle of the road, thus enabling the crossing to be made in two stages. The presence of the refuge should also assist in reducing traffic speed at that point. It is also believed that there will be alterations to the junctions with both High Street and Devonshire Terrace Road. A copy of layout drawing is awaited.

Flowers in the Village

Steve Bott and his team of gardeners at Norton Nurseries have their plans well in hand for the flower tubs, which will be placed around the village in June. The cost of the 15 tubs will be £1,058 including VAT.

Last year some people expressed doubt that the cannas (which are propagated at Norton) would stand up to the strong winds, but they did and made striking centrepieces to the fine displays. Steve and his team worked extremely hard on their entry to the ‘Yorkshire in Bloom’ competition, and thoroughly deserved their win.

In 2002 we just broke even in our collection of donations towards the cost of the tubs, which includes watering and maintenance throughout the season. Thank you to all those who gave so generously.

If you would like to contribute towards the cost of this years display, please send your donation to John Giles: - 10, Rushley Avenue, (tel. 236 1009), Angela Kingdon: - 19 The Meadway, (tel. 235 6122), or any member of the Dore Village Society committee. There will also be a collection box at Green’s. Thank-you

Daffodils again

No apologies for mentioning bulb planting yet again. Last autumn’s efforts provided a colourful display of daffodils, crocus and snowdrops on various sites in the village.

We will be planting again in September, although possibly not quite the seven thousand bulbs that we managed last year.

From reports the pilot scheme of crocus planting on the verges in Causeway Head Road was a success. We propose to extend this scheme again this year and continue in forthcoming years. However we will be also continuing with the daffodils.

Needless to say, the purchase of bulbs is expensive. We thank those who have donated in the past two years. If anyone feels they could contribute towards the cost it would be very much appreciated. Help in planting would also be warmly welcomed. Please contact me on 236 5043, or any other Committee Member.

David Heslop

The Wildlife Garden

Bird-watching is a curious hobby. Just a few years ago you would probably have been derided if you admitted you were a keen bird-watcher, but nowadays, with the ever growing interest in all things avian, you are suddenly elevated to the heady realm of ‘expert’. But when does a hobby become an obsession?

I have met bird-watchers who travel the world looking for rare birds, but not to photograph or study them, they simply tick them off their must see list. To these ‘listers’ - often wealthy, retired American doctors and dentists - the country they were visiting was irrelevant; they were not even remotely interested in the culture and the only local people they would talk to were their guides. Generally, these elderly men would be accompanied by their much younger wives - ‘Bird-watching-widows’ - who didn’t have the slightest interest in birds. As far as they were concerned, even the rarest of birds were simply known as LBJ - ‘Little Brown Jobby’.

In Britain we have our own LBJ - the sparrow, so well known that non-birders will habitually call just about any small bird a ‘sparrow’. But perhaps not for much longer though. Sparrows, particularly those in the urban areas of southeast England, have been in sharp decline: 75% have disappeared between 1994 and 2001. It seems somewhat ironic that sparrow numbers are falling so dramatically, whilst at the same time, more of us are feeding birds and encouraging wildlife into our gardens.

The question is, are the two linked? One theory is that sparrows are being unintentionally poisoned by mouldy food left out in dirty seed-holders and on bird-tables, whilst another is that increasing numbers of predators - cats, magpies, squirrels and sparrowhawks - are to blame.

In fact there is a plethora of hypotheses: everything from a lack of suitable nest sites to gardeners no longer feeding birds with bread. There is even a theory that the ever increasing numbers of mobile phone masts are the reason for their decline.

As gardeners we cannot do anything to prevent the spread of these masts, other than not owning a mobile phone, but what about the other ideas? If we do feed birds, we must make sure that our bird-feeders, tables and baths are kept scrupulously clean and also, if possible, position them near dense cover so that sparrows can hide from any marauding cat or sparrowhawk.

Of course their decline could have nothing at all to do with predators, or how much or what we feed them, it may simply be something as basic as the lack of potential nest sites. Nowadays we are such enthusiastic home-improvers and roof-space developers, I am sure many of the holes where sparrows used to nest have all but disappeared under a sea of plastic cladding. If you are having your roof repaired or a loft converted, please check first to see if any birds are nesting under the eaves.

With so many conflicting theories, the British Trust for Ornithology is attempting to try and find the real reason for the sparrow’s decline. Over the next few years, it will be studying the problem along with the help of a small army of volunteer bird-watchers. Hopefully, this will enable us to understand the real cause of the bird’s decline and more importantly, we will perhaps be able to reverse the trend before it is too late. It would be a sad day for all of us if the once common British sparrow was to become merely a tick on an American bird-watchers list; just another rarity to boast about to their friends back at home.

Jack Daw

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