Newsletter No 110

August 2017

Nearly 800 years ago, 65,000 tons of limestone were taken from Chicksgrove and Chilmark quarries from 1220 to 1238 to build Salisbury Cathedral. In the early 14th century, another 6,500 tons of stone were taken from the quarries to add the tower and the spire to the cathedral. (The effect of this extra weight necessitated building buttresses inside and outside the tower to prevent further shifting of the pillars below, but that's another story!). It is documented that the Cathedral masons could only move stone to Salisbury during the months of April to October, as the drovers' tracks were impassable at other times for ox carts. (Building work had to stop in any case, as the lime mortar would freeze during the winter months). 

The emergency number worldwide for mobile is 112.If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your mobile network and there is an emergency dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing networks to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly this number 112 can be dialled even if the keypad is locked.

Locked your keys in the car? Does your car have remote keyless entry?   If you lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their mobile from your mobile phone.   Hold your mobile phone about a foot from your car door and have the person at home press the unlock button holding it near the mobile phone at their end.  Your car will unlock.

Hidden Battery Power Imagine your mobile battery is very low.   To activate press the keys *3370#.   This should have given you a 50% increase in battery.  This reserve will get charged when you charge your mobile next time.

How to disable a stolen mobile phone. To check your mobile home serial number key in the following digits on your phone*#06#  -  a 15 digit code will appear and this number is unique to your handset so when your phone gets stolen phone your provider with this The number and they will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card the phone will still be useless!

The Salisbury Xanten Twinning Association planned this Spring visit. Previously they have made the journey in Autumn. The route was the same as the route taken in Oct 2015 by coach from Salisbury coach park.

The coach arrived in daylight and all 33 of us were met by the hosting family. Sheila and I stayed with Tanko Scholten. He is a bachelor and looked after us brilliantly. During any free time, he took us in his car around the local towns on a private tour. This was a superb extra that was not expected but very welcome. At the end, we had a much better understanding of how Xanten fits in geographically. We had serendipitous times too such as coming upon a parade of a whole township celebrating 350 years of pilgrimage to their town. Lots of brass bands. Lots of children dressed up. Lots of adults dressed up in their society's uniforms. Some folk on horseback.

On our first morning Tanko drove us to the coach for a visit to the Netherlands [not called Holland] to visit Deventer and Geithoorn. Deventer is a lovely old town with a cathedral with a carillon that played lovely tunes whilst we were guided around the city. The Town Hall is new and has a curious design of huge fingerprints cast

Town Hall is new and has a curious design of huge fingerprints cast in metal cladding the building. Here Sheila took a tumble on the stairway but miraculously was almost unscathed. We had lunch in a local pub which was excellent and free!

We then got onto the ferry to cross the river and on the coach to Geithoorn. Geithoorn is a medieval town unscathed by WW2 and is known as Little Venice. It certainly has a lot of canals and a big lake ideal for messing about in boats. We had a one-hour boat trip around the town. Lovely on the hot sunny day. We then went to Smith's Pavilion for coffee and the local apple pie. We sat with Joan Lunnon for this feast.

Tanko took us around his village of Wardt next morning. He showed us six of the farms that his family used to own. The Scholtens were an influential family in the past. They now own just 2 farms.

We had a tour of the Siegfried Museum. Here we learned about the Niebelung and how the story has been used for political purposes by the Nazis. They only picked out the parts that fitted with their idealogy.  In the afternoon Tanko took us off to Kevaleur and here we chanced on the parade. We then drove on to Kalkar town where we chanced on another parade. This time of 150 large trucks driving in the town blaring the horns. It was so deafening that we soon departed.  Tanko took us to a British War Cemetery in the Reischwaldt. Rows of perfectly gravestones and well-tended lawns greeted us. As always, a moving place to visit in this quiet woodland setting.

So we moved on to Wisselward a nuclear power station that was never used and is now a pleasure park. It was hot and crowded so we returned to Wardt and to the lakeside. Here we sat in the shade and had a beer.

In the evening, we went out to a restaurant for schnitzels and then to a bar by the river Rhine. Here we watched the massive cargo barges sail past until darkness fell.

A clap of thunder awoke us on Sunday followed by a short downpour.  Tanko then drove us to other parts of Xanten such as the Amphitheatre where plays take place. It is set in deep woodlands. He also showed us where Churchill stayed in WW2 in a house called Furstenburg. From this house Churchill could see the Rhine and make decisions on the use of troops in 1944. Nearby is another impressive farmhouse that once belonged to the Scholtens. Then near that yet another farmhouse where Tanko’s aunt resides.

Visited the Roman Museum or the APX. The museum makes ours look very small. We did not stay long because we had visited it 2 years ago. Instead we persuaded Tanko to take us to a town called Rees. This is on the Rhine too and we strolled along the river bank enjoying the warm sunny weather. There was a festival here too confined to the market area. Very noisy it was. We went into a cafe on the riverside and had a Flammkucken 

This is a tale about a tiny village on the south coast of England. You may not have heard of it. No matter,

What is of interest, to me, is why Gribbling on Sea is so called. Well first it is on the coast and second it is close to where the Gribble thrives.

Locals delight in catching these creatures and cooking them like scampi or prawns since they are of the same biological family.

Straight from the sea they are a delicate and rather pretty pink colour and look a bit like a wood louse. They are about an 4mm long and found on the wooden piers and jetties. They also love wooden ships. They may have the toredo worm as company. They taste delicious too I am told.

This creature is responsible for many problems because with no specialised gut bacteria it directly digests wood. So, ships in olden times were particularly susceptible. Hence adding copper sheets to the hulls of ships. Not just for barnacles.

The villagers have now found a new way to exploit the Gribble. By using them to feast on straw and timber to convert this into biofuel. Enzymes produced by the tiny creatures are able to break down woody cellulose and turn it into energy-rich sugars.

So the cafes do a roaring trade in gribble on toast, gribble pate and gribble chutney and the go ahead villagers are coining it in with the biofuel.

So, if you have never heard of the Gribble I hope you have learned some small smattering of knowledge.