by Madeleine Menzies-Racionzer

Those of us who live along the banks of the tidal River Crane in north St Margarets love our river. We build decking and jetties alongside it, our children paddle in it, we delight in the wildlife that lives along its banks. We keep small boats on it and every year in the summer we gather as a community to clean it out. We enjoy our river, and yet…

…when exceptionally heavy rain is forecast or high tides expected we begin to worry. We worry about the weight of the water racing down to the Thames and we worry about the incoming tide that is waiting to meet it. We worry about the 4 or 5 times a year when the river overflows into our gardens and covers our lawns with a thick layer of silt, plastic rubbish and grass clippings. Most of all - and even though it hasn’t happened in living memory - we worry about the possibility of our houses being flooded.

On Friday, at the end of the BBC 10.00 o’clock News the London weather forecaster gloomily warns ‘exceptionally heavy rain - up to 50mm - and a very high spring tide might cause some local flooding’. The national weather forecaster who follows says the same. ‘The exceptionally heavy rain in the South East combined with high spring tides might result in flooding.’ Up and down the tidal Crane and out along the Thames and its many tidal tributaries, people put down their cocoa and look at each other. ‘Exceptionally heavy rain AND an unusually high tide? Mmmmm.’

SATURDAY 27TH FEBRUARY 2010

Just before 1.00pm on Saturday afternoon the tide, listed as a healthy 6.88 metres, starts to come in, slowly at first but then with enough force to stop and then reverse the flow of the water. The Crane is already swollen to the top of its banks with the heavy rain that has fallen and there is nowhere for all this water to go - apart from sideways. By 1.30pm half of my garden is under water. At 1.43pm the tide stops and then turns. By 2.30pm the garden is clear but covered in mud.

The next tide, (6.08 metres) is at 2.12am on Sunday morning. Maybe it is anxiety or maybe I just need to go to the loo but at 2.15am I am up and looking out of the window. Once again the garden has disappeared under water, which is now within 4 metres of the back door. I immediately start thinking about how I might flood proof the kitchen - lift the fridge and the freezer off the ground perhaps or move the cat to a higher room? I check my insurance. Are we covered?

SUNDAY 28TH FEBRUARY 2010

The next tide, at 2.36pm on Sunday afternoon, is expected to be even higher. If anything is going to turn my house into Swan Lake this is it. At 2.00pm I put on my wellies and go down the garden through the muck to see what the river is doing. It has fallen slightly but it is still swollen and volatile. All it will take to set it off is the 7.18 metre incoming tide making its way up from Kew. I wait for the first signs; for the Crane to stop flowing and then reverse - but nothing happens. At 2.36pm, when the tide should have been at its peak and my garden lost under water, the River Crane continues its frantic flow towards the Thames but holding its height and staying within its banks. Someone somewhere has turned the tide off, like a tap. Someone somewhere has saved us from flooding.

On the BBC London News at 10.25pm that evening the newsreader announces that the Thames Barrier has been raised to prevent flooding in the London area. At Woolwich, 20 miles from St Margarets, huge metal gates have been rotated up from the river bed and are now holding back the tide. The newsreader says the Thames Barrier will stay in the raised position until 4.00am the following morning to keep back the next tide.

MONDAY 1ST MARCH 2010

It worked. Monday morning. The Crane is still flowing vigorously but it is comfortably within its banks and the level is still dropping. The sky is clear blue and I am comforted by the thought that the silt covering my lawn might do it some good.

3.25pm. A tide of 7.6 metres is expected but once again it does not materialise. The Barrier is still holding back the water that threatens to swamp London. All along the Thames from Teddington Lock to Greenwich hundreds of thousands of people who live by the river, or along its many tributaries, breathe a sigh of relief. The highest tide of the current spate (7.42m) is tomorrow afternoon but once that is out of the way the tides will start to fall back to a more respectable 5.36m. North St Margarets will be home - and dry - again.

The tidal crane, which runs from the Thames at Thistelworth Marina to the A316, marks the northern boundary between Richmond and Hounslow. 99.99% of the time its runs peacefully down to the Thames. Ever so often, maybe 4 or 5 times a year, at a particularly high tide or after exceptionally heavy rainfall it might break its banks and come into our gardens but flooding? No way! We’ve got the Thames Barrier looking after us.

“It is very nice to have a river at the bottom of your garden.
It is not very nice to have your garden at the bottom of the river.”

A QUOTE FROM A NORTH ST. MARGARETS RESIDENT

— from Martyn Day

Thank you all very much for making this possible with by your continuing and generous support of the St Margarets Fair, which this year will be on Saturday the 10^th of July.

I’ve just read the official website and seen the following:

“Exclusively for the darbaroud.com website, I can reveal and confirm what numerous competitors have imagined for the 2010 edition! Yes indeed, the course, which is still made up of 6 stages, has been slightly extended to reach a total of 250 km - the 25^th anniversary requires this! The itinerary will be packed with the most beautiful sites in the Saharan provinces. The menu will include dunes, mountains, dried up lakes, regs, oases and … more dunes!”

This is excellent as it is 6km shorter than I thought! Brilliant news! Although I think it may be harder!

I am now starting to taper, reduce down my mileage and eat. I still want to keep the strength in my legs and I’ll do this by running hill repeats and doing short speed work (repeat 800m and 1000m). This will keep my fitness level whilst ensuring that I am getting as much rest as I can. It is definitely the mental aspects I need to work on. I have done all the training, it’s in the bag and I’ve been doing it for the last year and a half. So it is all there. But I do just wonder if I need to do another long run. It’s all about confidence, but I will rest and not push it because I want to be as fit and healthy as I can on that starting line.

I’m off this afternoon to get my ECG done and medical certificate signed. As I am over 40, I have read in the small print they recommend you should do an ECG whilst exercising! These are the final few things I need to sort, along with my gels and sports drink. I have all my equipment now and I’ll be carrying about 5kgs in food! The good thing about this is that once it’s eaten my pack will be lighter. I had a vegetable tikka for lunch today and it was rather good! The porridge yesterday was a bit unpleasant, but better cold.

I must say a big thank you to all those people who are supporting and encouraging me on a daily basis. I am getting some very strange looks, as I am wearing in my new trainers, which have sand gaiters sewn to the shoes, and this looks like I’m walking in moon boots. I do agree I must look so silly. Just wait till you see me in my full kit! Anyway, thank you to everyone.

Georgie runs her own training business, providing 1:2:1 training, run together sessions or will happily help you with your training and fitness goals. Visit www.run.uk.net for more information or call Georgie on 07736 070612.

There will be biscuits.

Marble Hill Placentres are also looking for VOLUNTEERS to serve on the COMMITTEE. We are hoping to find people with an enthusiasm for organisation and a willingness to get involved with staff in developing the facilities and strengthening our funding.

You will need to attend one or two committee meetings a month (at Marble Hill in summer and nearby in winter) but, more importantly, to contribute to developments between meetings. Marble Hill Playcentres is not just a place for children to play: it is a £100,000 business, employing up to 20 people. Committee members need to be able to take responsibility for key decisions affecting the One O’Clock Club and Adventure Playground. You will be offered training and help to build your skills as well as the support of our paid staff.

The position is voluntary but expenses (including babysitting) are payable.

Your initial commitment would be for just one year but we would hope that people will want to continue their involvement beyond that.

If you are interested, please contact the Chair, Sarah Liquorish by phone (88926732) or email (sarahliquorish@onetel.com).

Last weekend Lawrence Dallaglio was in the St Margarets Tavern enjoying the local hospitality and taking a short break following his hectic few days in Twickenham as part of his mega 1,800 mile cycle ride from Rome to Edinburgh for his Cycle Slam charity campaign.

For more details please go to the St Margarets Traders site www.mystmargarets.com

Mothering Sunday is traditionally the day we show our Mothers that we appreciate them and love them and that we are thankful to have them in our lives. Mothers Day came to be celebrated in UK in 17^th century as Mothering Sunday. On this day children give flowers and bouquets to their mother to express their love for them.

England was the first country in the world to dedicate a day for mothers as early as 1600’s. Held on the fourth Sunday in the month of Lent, the date for Mother’s Day changes each year as the dates of Lent are not fixed.

The tradition came about because families had to send their children into service as domestic servants or apprentices when they were very young. So, once a year the rich families allowed the children to return to their homes and mothers. The idea was that the children would attend the Mother’s church, i.e. the church of the family home, rather than the church that was closest to where they were employed. After paying a visit to church, children met their mothers and presented them flowers, which they gathered from bushes along the way. Girls baked special almond cakes called ‘Simnel Cakes’ or ‘Mothering Cakes’ for their mothers and the day became a wonderful way to honour mothers and spend time with the whole family.

• In addition to Mother’s Day, International Women’s Day is celebrated in many countries on March 8.
• The “Mother’s Day Proclamation” by Julia Ward Howe was one of the early calls to celebrate Mother’s Day in the United States. Written in 1870, Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation was a pacifist reaction to the carnage of the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. The Proclamation was tied to Howe’s feminist belief that women had a responsibility to shape their societies at the political level.
• In 1912, Anna Jarvis trademarked the phrases “second Sunday in May” and “Mother’s Day”, and created the Mother’s Day International Association.
  She was specific about the location of the apostrophe; it was to be a singular possessive, for each family to honour their mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers in the world. This is also the spelling used by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in the law making official the holiday in the U.S.

— from Roisin & Elle of Forgetmenot Flowers

Laurence Mann
Secretary

Option 1 Highlights

• Orleans Infants remains an infant school but with four-form entry. Requires building of three classrooms with space reserved for two more.
• St Stephans remains as is
• St Marys Infants remains as a two form infant School
• St Marys Junior moved the St Johns Hospital site and increased to three form entry
• St Marys Junior site becomes a one-form entry primary school (Infant & Junior)

Two additional forms from the current one form expansion

• Same as Option 1, but St Mary Junior School doesn’t move, the St Johns Hospital site becomes a new one-form infant and two-form junior school.

“These proposals would, in due course, be subject to the publication of statutory proposals and full consultation, to which parents and other local residents would be invited to respond, before any final decisions would be taken”

Nick Whitfield, Directory of Children’s Services and Culture

“Those who have the will to win,
Cook potatoes in their skin,
Knowing that the sight of peelings
Deeply hurts Lord Woolton’s feelings.”

Seventy years ago, on the 8^th January 1940, the wartime government introduced food rationing - a control that was to remain in force for the next fourteen years. All over the country people started tightening their belts at the sobering news that their personal weekly food ration would be:-

Butter or Lard: 4 ounces
Sugar: 12 ounces
Raw bacon or Ham: 4 ounces
Eggs x two
Cooked Bacon or Ham: 3 1/2  ounces

Dig for Victory

To help increase the supply of food people were urged to “Dig for Victory’ and turn gardens, parks and bombsites into allotments. By 1945 there were 1.5 million allotment holders producing 10% of the food grown in Britain. (Incidentally the booted foot on the iconic “Dig for Victory” poster belonged to a Mr. W. H. McKie of Acton!)

“This is a food war. Every extra row of vegetables in allotments saves shipping… the battle on the kitchen front cannot be won without help from the kitchen garden”

Lord Woolton, Minister of Food, 1941

Other more enterprising souls formed “Pig Clubs”, giving money, time and food scraps to buy, feed and raise pigs. After slaughter half of the meat was sold to the Government to help with the rationing. The remainder was divided between Club members as either pork or bacon. At war’s end there were about 6,900 Pig Clubs

Eat More Greens!

Generally speaking most people understood the need for strict rationing although some found the shortages a little trying.

“Frying was quite difficult as lard was rationed and olive oil only obtainable at a chemist on a doctor’s prescription, so sometimes we were reduced to liquid paraffin. At least we didn’t suffer from constipation!”

THEODORA FITZGIBBON

Although food was in short supply and some of it was of dubious provenance…anyone who lived through the war will never forget the notorious “snoek” canned fish from South Africa, ¼½d a tin, and described by many as ‘slimy’…the general health of the nation actually improved as the population lost weight and took more exercise. Great efforts were made by the Ministry of Food to ensure fairness of supply, nutritional value and variety. As well as producing reams of information on growing food, effective food management and new recipes, the government also created cute cartoon characters like Potato Pete and Dr Carrot who encouraged healthy eating with slogans like “I make a good soup,” and “Carrots help you see in the blackout.”

There were also radio programmes like “The Kitchen Front” which was broadcast at 8.15 every morning. With popular, well-informed presenters like Marguerite Patten, Ambrose Heath and Freddy “Ricepud” Grisewood these programmes would discuss current food issues, answer questions from listeners and introduce new ration-beating recipes.

One of the most famous of these was ‘Lord Woolton Pie’, created at the Savoy Hotel by Maitre de Cuisine, Francis Latry and named after the Minister of Food, Frederick Marquis, 1^st Lord Woolton. Although it came in various forms Woolton Pie was essentially boiled seasonal vegetables in a simple white herb sauce covered either in pastry or mashed potatoes with a little grated cheese… if you had any. The peelings from the vegetables would be crisped up in an oven as a tasty side dish.

Another wartime recipe was the Oslo Meal originally given as an experiment to school children. It consisted of 2 slices of wholemeal bread spread with a little margarine or butter, a small heap of grated cheese served if wished with a salad of lettuce, carrot, cucumber or tomato followed by a glass of cold milk. This forerunner to the Ploughman’s Lunch vastly improved the health of the nation’s children and many busy housewives began using it as a main meal because of its simplicity.

A Clear Plate Means a Clear Conscience

Rationing did not end with the end of the war. In 1948 bacon, cheese, meat, chocolate, sweets, milk and preserves were still rationed along with bread, soap, bananas, and potatoes. In 1951 people could still buy only 10d.(4p) worth of meat each week. It all finally ended in 1954, when meat was finally taken off the ration.

Many thousands of people were involved in the supply of food during the war - the 30,000 merchant seaman who died shipping it, the 6000 Preservation Centres run by the Woman’s Institute making jams and pickles, the mobile canteens staffed by the Women’s Voluntary Services providing emergency meals to people made homeless by air raids and of course the countless housewives who queued patiently to buy it… and are probably queuing still.

— from Martyn Day

Over the years the Fair has become synonymous with its live musical performances. This year will be no exception - so if you’re interested in taking part in this musical tradition on Saturday the 10^th of July please contact mailto: livemusic@blueyonder.co.uk

All genres of music are welcome.

Some runs are good and some are just plain awful. I did a run last Friday and felt like I had lead weights tied round my ankles and I was feeling really slow and tired. I did make it to 3 hours by running and walking. I kept telling myself that there will be moments in the race that will be exactly like this. However, I was bored of Richmond Park and it was so muddy and wet! I ran again this Tuesday and I think I must have been running backwards as it took me 2 hours to run around the park and back home. In fact that’s not quite true, as I only ran from Sheen gate to Richmond Gate - the longer way round! I am definitely bored of the park now as I feel I know every path, muddy track, hill, etc… It’s all mental though and I need to remain positive as I now know I can and will do it.

So I plan do another 4 long runs between now and when I go. I’m starting to taper the week commencing the 15^th March so I will aim to do shorter runs, as well as sprints and hills sessions. I’m taking my husband on a long 25 mile walk at the weekend. He’s not looking forward to it, but I will not make him run up the hills and I’ll carry all the food and drink etc! It’ll be muddy but fun!

I am raising money for F.R.O.D.O. which is a charity transforming the quality of life and providing hope for disabled children in developing countries. If you would like to sponsor me then please visit justgiving.com/Georgie-Islip Thank you for all you support.

Georgie runs her own training business, providing 1:2:1 training, run together sessions or will happily help you with your training and fitness goals. Visit www.run.uk.net for more information or call Georgie on 07736 070612.

Too busy for Milan?
Too cold in New York?
Can’t face the traffic in London?

Well the good news is that some of the world’s premier lingerie and swimwear brands are coming to you. SL Privée is delighted to invite your to its Spring Fashion Show at:

Parvinu at Phelps, St Margarets

On Tuesday 16^th March 2010 at 19.00

During the evening you will be able to sample some great food and wine whilst enjoying a spot of shopping, or being fitted by Philippa or Susana in our Ladies’ Private Boudoir!

All tickets will be entered into the draw for the chance to win:

• Silk Nightdress by Valery
• Bra and brief set by Prima Donna
• Swimsuit by Feraud
• Bra and brief set by Aubade

and many more…

Details

• Tickets £25 per person
• All ticket proceeds will be going to the New Victoria Medical Foundation.
• To buy tickets or to get more information on the event, please call Susana or Philippa at SL Privée on 0208 332 2299
• Download the invitation [PDF]

Richmond Council has negotiated the purchase of part of the former St John’s hospital site, in Strafford Road, Twickenham, for further primary school provision, subject to approval from Cabinet on Monday 22 February.

The purchase from the current owners, the South West London Mental Health Trust (MHT), will be conditional upon planning permission being obtained for the site.

It is anticipated that a planning application will be submitted later this year.

“There is a high demand for primary school places in the East Twickenham and St Margarets area which has caused concern among parents for a number of years. I am very pleased that we will be able to obtain this site for school place provision.

“The purchase is subject to Cabinet approval on Monday, at which point we will be able to begin work on specific plans. If planning approval is obtained we will press hard for the new places to be available as soon as possible.”

The plans are part of the Council’s borough-wide school expansion programme.

For more details visit www.richmond.gov.uk/cabinet_meetings_agendas_and_documents?mgl=ieListDocuments.aspx&CId=163&MId=2222&Ver=4

There was a time when the St Margarets that we know didn’t exist. No station. No shops. No pub. No cafes, No streets crammed with cars…nothing. The Thames flowed quietly towards the sea through an open parkland of grand houses, smallholdings and market gardens. Boatmen might stop at Richmond to drop off a passenger or pull into Isleworth to collect a cargo but between the two there was little catch their interest.

The poet James Thomson wrote of this beautiful landscape:

Here let us trace the matchless vale of the Thames,
Far winding up to where the muses haunt,
To Twitnam’s bowers.

…and it doesn’t get much more syrupy than that.

The land upon which St Margarets now stands was particularly fertile. J. Middleton’s “Survey of Middlesex” in 1807 stated that some of the most productive market gardens in the area were situated on drained marsh lands by the river side, which, while “being richly impregnated by water from the river”, were protected from flooding by raised banks of earth known locally as ‘sea walls’.

“The time or period when these walls were constructed is one of those events on which history is silent. I have heard it said that much of the base and centre of them consists of chalk, which substance was probably made use of for the purpose of keeping out moles, rats and worms.”

Over the last two hundred years the course of the river has been modified. Embankments were built and the tidal flow controlled by lock gates up stream and from 1894 the Richmond Half Tide lock. As more and more houses were built in the area the land upon which they stood was raised and drained to avoid flooding. In the course of all this work the old sea walls disappeared.

The last remaining sea wall in the area ran alongside ‘Ducks Walk’ following the course of the river from Twickenham Bridge to East Twickenham. It finally disappeared when the path was widened and the land raised to allow houses to be built. ‘Ducks Walk’ was well named. Prior to the builders arriving ‘Ducks Walk’ was much lower than it is now and often flooded at high tide. It is hard to imagine that where the houses now stand was once marshland.

In those days the water table was no more than 8 to 10 feet below ground level and accessible by relatively shallow wells. The gardeners raised this water using a device that was described in the 1807 Survey as “for cheapness of machinery and despatch exceeds the pump or roller”.

This ‘machinery’ consisted of a vertical post set firmly in the ground a few feet away from the well. On top of the post was another long post, this time horizontal, pivoting around a strong iron pin. On one end of this horizontal post was a rope and large bucket - on the other end a counterweight to provide balance. The gardener pulled the bucket down and dropped it into the well. When it was full the gardener, assisted by the counterweight, was easily able to raise the bucket to the surface. It was identical to the ‘Shaduf’ - the counterbalanced device that the ‘fellahin’ or peasants in Egypt have been using for over 4000 years to irrigate their fields. Similar devices have been also used in Eastern Europe and India.

The railway came in 1845 and soon modern St Margarets began to fill in around it. Gradually the market gardens, the smallholdings and the seawalls that protected them began to disappear under concrete and landfill. In the 1920’s workmen digging a deep trench in Worple Road in Old Isleworth found a reminder of the area as it once was. At a depth of about 11 feet they came across bundles of blackened twigs tied together and placed there at some time in the past to make a path across swampy ground. The recent history of St Margarets is just beneath our feet… and it’s very, very wet.

— from Martyn Day