SOUTHSIDE COMMON

Southside Common is situated to the left of The Common off Southside Road. It was once the village gravel pit, was registered as common land in 1968 and ownership vested in the Parish Council. Until recently the common used to be marshy all year round. The ground is still quite soft and marsh plants including angelica, comfrey, bugle, meadowsweet, ragged robin, cowslip and yellow flag have been identified among the nettles and dock. The parish council used to cut the grass twice a year, but has recently decided to take a more active role in managing the common to encourage wildlife. Over the last five years a nightingale has been seen prospecting the common for a nesting site and hoping to attract a female.

With active encouragement and assistance from Paul Knipe the council has agreed to undertake the following action programme;

Saturday 27th July and Saturday 24th August
Clearing out dead and unwanted material in the hedge and opening up spaces for planting shrubs to thicken the hedge. Removing more vigorous species which shade out hedgerow species creating gaps.

Saturday 23rd November and Saturday 7th December
Planting hedgerow shrubs in the gaps created by removing unwanted material. Planting hedgerow shrubs to thicken up the hedge.

All work days will start at 10am and finish around lunchtime. If anyone in the village, and especially neighbours, would like to help they will be very welcome to come along on the day.

Work has already been started on the common and neighbours will have noticed that the nettles have been cut under the trees and the crack willow, pulled down by ivy, has now had branches cut up and removed. The trunk of this tree has been pulled across the entrance to the site and a lot of dumped material has been burnt - including the Christmas tree someone abandoned on the site early this year!

As the parish council will be taking a more active interest in the common we would be grateful if villagers would stop using the site to dump household and garden waste material. As you may be aware a fine of £1,000 can be imposed for unauthorised dumping of waste.
Jenny Jolliffe, Chairman of Open Spaces Committee

How to deal with ticks on your skin

Paint them with nail varnish, let it dry, peel off later.

LONGPARISH PRIMARY SCHOOL

Following happy celebrations for the Queen's Golden Jubilee, the oldest children attended a School Leavers' Service at Winchester Cathedral on the theme of Dedication. Children from the School were asked to compile and read the prayers for this Service, which they did with help and guidance from the Revd Nona Harrison. Unexpectedly Ellen Blundell was chosen at random from the congregation to take on the role of Queen.

Year 5 (9-10yrs) enjoyed an Expressive Arts day at Testbourne - with Drama, Dance, Art and Music.

The School participated in National School Grounds week, enjoying the visits of Reptile Celebrities, Dr Richard Osmonds' High Tech Wild Trek van and Di Smith from Hampshire Wildlife Trust, as well as having lessons linked to the outdoors.

We would like to thank everyone who has taken an interest in the School and supported us through the year. We are grateful for the Tesco vouchers. We have decided to "bank" them in the hope of collecting a similar amount next year and then being in a position to choose a good quality computer.

Senior Citizens' lunches next term will be at midday on Tuesdays: Sept. 17, Oct. 22, Nov. 12 ,Dec. 10. Please come along. The children enjoy your company.

Sadly we have experienced vandalism recently. There will be adults on the premises during the summer holiday but there should be no children or young people on the school premises. If members of the public see anybody in the school grounds who they feel should not be there, please inform Andover Police on 0845 045 45 45, or tell someone they know is connected with the School.

FOOTPATH MAINTENANCE

Hampshire County Council is responsible for ensuring that footpaths are kept open and accessible, but it does not have enough money to cut all the paths that need it. Until this year some of our most-used paths were cut twice a year by a contractor, but HCC can no longer fund this service. The Parish Council belongs to the Hampshire Paths Partnership through which HCC officers fund and help volunteers to improve the paths, by, for instance, replacing stiles by kissing gates, but this does not include normal upkeep. Recently, however, following complaints that some paths were overgrown, volunteers and a footpath officer have cut some paths. Mary Jo Darrah, chair of Footpaths Committee, 720320