Editorial

Ray applauds the continued correspondence generated by "Straight Talking" and then moves on to safer ground by talking about the weather, local flora and fauna and a delightful Fellabella pony.

Hello again,

Another bumper edition for you this month; so much so that the Village Kitchen has had to take a rest for this edition. I also owe sincere apologies to Anne Brown, our "stand-in" Post Mistress at Stoke Ferry. Her delightful travelogue of her visit to Istanbul has also had to wait an extra month.

Not surprisingly, much of this edition is taken up by Parish Minutes. It is that time of the year! But the second largest item is your letters! To my knowledge, this is the very first time they have filled four full pages. Keep up the good work; even if you are writing to disagree with Mr Grumpy or to praise the Editor, your input is the real life blood that ensures the continuing life of the Pump.

Mother nature has also had her say in May; some how she crossed over the April and May weather. I think May must have been the wettest month ever. But we mustn't complain; the farmers and the gardeners were desperate for rain at the end of April. And more important, the wet May probably prevented the early imposition of a hose pipe ban.

We had some elderly visitors for the second week of the month and were fortunate to find a dry and warm day to visit the Bircham Windmill and to see first hand their new arrival, Isadora a delightful Fellabella pony. She was just eight days old when we saw her and was already the star of the show. Her very proud mum was happy to take a back seat while her off-spring milked the crowds. We were stunned to learn that a pedigree Fellabella can fetch as much as £3,.000 at auction; not that Bircham intend to sell.

We were also pleased to see the Sand Martins back on Stoke Ferry common. They did go into hiding for two or three days during the cold snap but seem to be happily nesting in the bank again now. I can't recall seeing so many fledglings in my garden; from baby sparrows begging for food to blackbirds and gold finches.

In the wider world, Tony Blair is taking his long drawn out farewell tour, at your expense of course, while the government of this country remains in limbo and leaderless. I will be interested to see what changes occur once Gordon Brown takes over the helm, but I am not holding my breath for anything which helps pensioners.

Only two brave people were sufficiently dedicated to take up Ray Garrett's challenge with his "Spirit" quiz. Neither got all the answers right but I'll give them both a bottle of wine for their endeavours; well done Mavis Smith and Graham Forster.

Ray Thompson