Down in the Dell 2016

    

 

  Family Bat Night, 
 Thursday 8th September

This year we welcomed Naomi from Warwickshire Wildlife Trust to be our guide and mentor for the evening. Fortunately the weather was kind yet again. The wind had died down leaving clear skies and a balmy temperature. A good turn out ensured we broke even. After a few rounds of the bat-and-moth game and identifying the bat that had hibernated under the blanket, Naomi trained us in the use of bat detectors and after an anxious wait the real bats duly appeared at 8:50. Our detectors rattled like pebbles in a tin as they passed overhead. They travel at an amazing speed and were only visible silhouetted against the sky. Below the house and tree line they were lost in the gathering darkness, but we could still pick up the signal that told us they were pipistrelles. Many thanks to Naomi and all who came along to be educated in bat lore. It was an enjoyable evening.

First the children played bat-and-moth ....

... and then batman himself chased moth-woman!

 

The Dell Music Festival, Sunday 10^th July

Yet again we did it in the Dell, a Music Festival for both aspiring and well established young bands. The Trinity School Band and Tan.Trum, all still at school, played like seasoned professionals, ready even now to follow in the footsteps of Chasing Deer, who are off to London on the verge of making it Big Time. The Empire, Grassroutes and headliners the Recruits showed them how it's done, but they clearly needed no lesson, only a platform to make themselves more widely known. And for the first time in the history of our Festival we had a real platform, a covered stage supplied by the Genius Brothers who most efficiently and competently ran the PA system. Starting us off was Copperhead Road, their lead singer none other than our own Stephen S, a decidedly larger than life figure, who would act as an entertaining MC for the rest of the programme.

But that's not the end of the musical story. We had soloists to fill the silences between one group and the next. They included newcomer Lawrence, old hand Tom P. now reprising Sixties pop with astonishing power, Shanade who joined forces with rapper Clint B. and shared an ad hoc backing group, and poet Aysar Ghassan with some hard hitting topical satire.

Perhaps as many as 400 had filled the Dell by late afternoon, as the tennis addicts drifted in. The weather was warm but not too hot, with no rain at all, apart from three drops when the most timid ran for the gazebo specially put up as shelter. Burgers and hot dogs were available non-stop from the Star & Garter and the Fat Pug. Sweet As did a roaring trade in cakes and the "best cheesecake in the world" (it was, too. JD). There was a Face Painter and there was a Glitter Tattooist. We thank them all for their contributions to our finances, and we thank the audience for their generosity at the end as the donation bucket filled up. We thank local carpenter and joiner, Kevin McDonald, who made and donated a chalk board for the kids to practise honing their graffiti skills. A board for the bored? And we thank the St. John Ambulance team who fortunately had very little to do all afternoon, and the Performing Rights Society (PRS) for their continued support and generous discount. Finally, thanks to Adam who organised  a very successful line-up and loaned his drum kit for general use on stage (in the photographs it's not Chasing Deer every time!),  to Chris M. for masterminding the catering, to Stephen as MC and wacky singer, to Chris Y. and Rosie for supplying the power from their houses, to various Friends of the Dell and their families who delivered the flyers that let the neighbours know there was going to be some loud noise. Thanks also to the Star for the use of their toilets and to Warwick District Council for supplying extra wheelie bins, all full by the end. Shall we do it again next year? Well, this year we managed it without a grant on a budget of donations accumulated over the years. Next year we shall need a grant again, or a generous benefactor. Any offers?

See pictures of bands here, and of your good selves here.
 

The Dell Party, Sunday 22nd May

  

The weather forecast  kept changing from day to day and it began to look as if we might have to cancel this year's Dell Party. Yet the wind dropped, the day started sunny and although it clouded over later plenty of families came to enjoy the Punch and Judy show (with a bit of mystery and magic thrown in by our new presenter, Professor Harvey), bouncy castle, face-painting, home-made cakes and excellent live music from seven local groups. Bands playing for us this year were Blue Radio, Chasing Deer, Funksters, Midweek, One Trick Pony, Rhiannon Johnson & Barry Spiers  and the Sam Powell Blues Band (the Hangovers, as was). 

A sudden deluge in late afternoon dampened nobody's spirits as we all rushed for shelter under the trees and gazebos set up for that very eventuality (the gazebos, that is). Fortunately the raffle draw took place before the rain came. We were very grateful to the Chair of Warwick District Council, Cllr. Jane Knight, who drew the winning tickets. Sadly the Mayor of Royal Leamington Spa, Cllr. Ann Morrison, was indisposed and unable to attend.

Many thanks to all those volunteers who delivered flyers, organised the music, helped set up in the morning, sold cakes, raffle tickets and lemonade and generally made it all possible. Local sponsorship is always much appreciated and this time included the Fat Pug, the Grove Practice, Haddie and Trilby, Havana, Kang's Stores, News Plus of Regent Street, the Oddfellows, Rymans, the Star and Garter, Stonemonkey, Think Design and Print, Wigwam and the Woodland Tavern.  We were also supported by the Performing Rights Society (PRS for Music).

Above all our thanks are due to everyone who turned up in such cool and unpredictable weather, and whose generous donations will help us put on another party next year. 

More pictures of the audience here.

See pictures of VIPs and Bands here.

Welcome to the new Ranger Service

At their last meeting Friends of the Dell met up with members of the WDC Ranger Service. With the outsourcing of on-street parking enforcement, the role of some former traffic wardens now covers both car parks and green parks across Warwick, Leamington and Kenilworth. There are 15 Rangers altogether and they will patrol the parks, usually in pairs, twice a week, though on randomly chosen days, wearing a dark blue uniform. They will not have police powers of arrest, but will carry radio links and be able to summon emergency services. They see their role as getting to know the parks and the people who use them, learning about the problems we face, especially as regards drug abuse, dogs and anti-social behaviour and helping to facilitate ways of dealing with these problems. But they are also keen to become better informed about the history of the parks, the social events that take place and the groups like ourselves who work for the well being and environmental protection of green spaces. They will not be directly concerned with litter as this is the responsibility of Veolia. 
One issue they are prepared to tackle is that of locking the gates. They will seek authorisation for locking up at night and come back to us to see if we want to proceed with the plan. Hours of locking in the evening would advance through the spring and summer in line with Jephson Gardens. In the mornings the gates would be unlocked at a uniform time throughout the year of, say, 7.30 a.m. Friends of the Dell would have a key for use in emergencies. If we go ahead, we would post warning notices on our three notice boards in advance of the date when locking would start.

 

[We have heard nothing further about  locking the gates, but at present there seems to be no great need for it.  JD.   4 Feb 2017]