The Food Market is returning to Cheam Village – Goody!! Last time I visited I was most impressed with the quality of the food and the range of products. I am told that some of the stalls who are here, are also at Borough Market.
“This is the best Cheam Charter Fair in over 40 years”. These were the words of one old Cheam resident, which made me very happy to hear. The fair was one of those events which demonstrated what a wonderful village Cheam is to live in. We must have had over 60 stalls. They were a mixture of small start up businesses, charity fund raising stalls and local societies. Park Road fairly buzzed from 9:00 to 1:00, when people finally started to drift home. I was on my feet the whole morning, ironing out last minute glitches (“Can you help me put my table up, the leg is stuck!”) and making sure the cones were in the right place, to block off traffic.
I was most amused to hear one stall holder say “Wow, £3 to park in the car park all day – thats a bargain!”
However I think the most imp0rtant phone call I made that morning was when I phoned PC Donna Williams to say “If you are quick, they are doing free tea at Cheam Library”. Donna and PCSO Steve King had been on their feet since 7:00am directing traffic in Park Road and by 11:30 had well and truely earned a free cup of tea!!
Thank you to everyone who helped make the fair such a success, but especially to its organiser Richard Marston, who put so much effort in. http://cheamcharterfair.org.uk/
I love visiting Michaels in Cheam. They are just brilliant. The fruit and veg is always fresh and extreamly good value. Mick goes up to Covent Garden every morning at 4:00am to buy it.
Mick, his wife Cath and son Stephan know their stock. If you want to know which is the best Spud at this time of year for boiling, what an Asian Pear is or when the Figs will be in season they will tell you.
But what I love most of all, is how friendly they all are. Mick is always happy to have a chat and will often put me straight about what the council is doing!! Michaels are one of those shops which make Cheam Village special and its High Street a cut above the usual.
Michaels can be contacted at: 13 The Broadway, 020 8642 6446
The heavy rain over the last few weeks means that the grass in Cheam Park is getting rather long.
Unfortunately Sutton Parks dept dare not yet put their tractors on the grass to cut it, in Cheam Park. The reason why, is because Cheam Park is on clay. As soon as you put a tractor on the clay ground to pull the mowers, you run the risk of chewing up the wet, sticky, clayish ground. Hopefully by the end of this week, they will be able to do so. In the mean time, we can enjoy the buttercups, daisies and cow parsley.
On Sunday I heard that familiar screaming in the sky, which told me that the Swifts had returned to Cheam from Africa. They stay here until August and then start their return journey back.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/thingstodo/surveys/swifts/
Swifts spend their life almost entirely on the wing and even feed, sleep and mate in flight. They feed exclusively on insects and only come to land when nesting.
They hunt for insects over a wide area and range of habitats from meadows, open water and over woods to the skies above towns and cities. An abundant supply of insects is critical for their survival. Parent swifts collect lots of insects to take back to their chicks – up to 1,000 at once which make a big bulge in their throat. When they have chicks to feed, swifts can gather as many as 100,000 insects a day.
‘Our’ swifts fly across the Sahara desert in autumn, and some even go as far south as South Africa! Others don’t go quite as far and stay around central Africa. It’s a long journey, but they don’t hang around: one young bird left its nest in Oxford and flew all the way to Madrid in just three days!
As a group, swifts are the fastest birds in level flight. The peregrine is the officially the fastest bird, but only in a steep dive called a stoop. Our swift holds the record for the fastest proven, recording an impressive top speed of 69.3 mph (111.6 kph) in a recent study. The needle-tailed swift of Africa and Asia has been reported to reach over 100 mph, but this is yet to be officially proven.
As part of the preparations for Cheam Charter Fair, I visited Carshalton Pantomime Company, Costume Dept today.
On Charter Fair Day, St Dunstans School are reading the Charter and performing a Tudor Dance, as the Choir from St Dunstans Church sing Greensleeves. The children dress up in Tudor Clothes and look magnificent.
But in order to do this, the parents first go to the Pantomime Company to hire their costumes!! This is located in a now redundant building, which is part of Sutton Hospital. Further details can be found at:
I have reported this rather ominous lamp post in Malden Road. It looks as if someone had driven into it rather hard.
I am told the lamp post is sound and that there is no risk of it falling over. God forbid!
I am very pleased to report that a new post is on order and should be installed soon.
(Click picture to play video)
It is shameful that, despite all the promise on a four or five year old’s first day at school, or the passion of their teachers, you can all too often plot that child’s path just by asking how much their parents earn.
The £2.5billion Pupil Premium was one of the four pledges on the front page of our manifesto. And now, with Liberal Democrats in government, schools are using the money for things like breakfast clubs; homework clubs; or to provide one-to-one-tuition. These are the sort of experiences many middle class children take for granted but a poorer child might rarely enjoy.
Yesterday I visited a fantastic primary school to see how they are spending their Pupil Premium, highlight our new Summer Schools to ease the transition from primary to secondary, and to set out our plans to reward teachers and hold schools to account.
The Pupil Premium shows that, in tough times, we are implementing Liberal Democrat values and prioritising help for those pupils who need it most.
Best wishes,
Nick Clegg MP
Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister
PS Click here to find out how much money your local school will receive from the Liberal Democrats’ Pupil Premium.
I am very pleased to report that the bike racks for Cheam Station have now been installed and are up and running. I first proposed them over a year ago, but at least they are finally here.
This year is Cheam Stations 165th birthday, as it was opened on 10th May 1847. I think the bike racks make a rather good birthday present!
