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Rented
Sheltered Housing
Dear
Sir,
There
are massive problems facing the residents of rented Sheltered
Housing who, in many cases, are suffering big changes to
support services.
Due
to a new method of funding many of the site Wardens (Scheme
Managers) are being withdrawn and replaced by what is termed
Floating staff. It is intended that Floating staff will
, as the name suggests, go from place to place visiting
people on their check list. Those on the check list will
be those considered to be in need of such a visit, and the
frequency could be as little as weekly!
The
problem is that rented Sheltered Housing each operates in
isolation and it has no national voice and there is no inter
communication between sites, even those in the same geographical
area. This makes them vulnerable to be picked off one by
one, which is happening at this very moment.
To
attempt to redress the concerns of the residents of rented
Sheltered Housing I have created a website which is www.shelteredhousinguk.com
and, through it, I hope to form a national council to defend
this valuable asset ,owned by everybody throughout the country.
Yours
sincerely,
Vernon J Yarker
Enjoys
reading 'Wyenot News'
Hello
Alan,
I
would just like to say what an excellent site you run. I
had the pleasure of visiting Ross last week for the second
time as part of my annual cycle roadtrip and enjoyed the
visit very much. The weather certainly helped as did the
accommodation at The White House, where I received a very
friendly welcome. I also had a very good meal at Yaks 'n'
Yetis. I had never previously sampled Nepalese food but
can certainly recommend this restaurant, both for the food
and for the friendly and helpful service.
I
regularly visit 'Wyenot News' and it kept me going through
the long winter months, helping me look forward to my visit.
You are very fortunate to live in such a lovely place!
Regards,
Bill
After
Dinner Speaker wanted
Dear
Sir,
I read 'Wyenot' with interest. I am an old member of Ross
Round Table. We get chucked out at 40. Every year two of
us organize a dinner at The Wilton Court at the end of February
for the old boys (about 45 in number). Every year I struggle
to get a good speaker. Do you know of anyone with a tale
to tell?
It
only needs to be about 30 minutes long, fairly lighthearted
and suitable for a group of slightly merry gents having
a good night out. We usually use it as a fundraiser and
give the profit approximately £400 to Acorns or the charity
favoured by the speaker. In the past we have had ex regiment,
pilots, motor racing, comedian etc.
I
hope you can help.
Robert
Dudley
After
dinner speaking is something I did myself for Ross Rotary
Club earlier this year. Although that talk went down very
well indeed and, I am told, was talked about for several
weeks after the event, it is not something I really want
to make a habit of doing. Although, I am told, I did not
come across as being nervous, what people did not see was
the week of sleepless nights leading up to the event itself.
That talk can be read
or downloaded or here as a pdf file, if you are interested.
I have
put Robert on to Jim Stewart of Ross Rotary Club for help
but, as promised, have also published his letter here, in
case somebody would like to help out by speaking at the
ex Round Table Club Members' Annual Dinner.
Chelsea
Pensioners
Alan,
You
may be interested to learn that I and my wife Veronica visited
two museums last week which you had advertised on August
29th. They were both part of the Heritage Open Days in Herefordshire.
The first was St. Johns Medieval Museum and Coningsby Hospital
in Widemarsh Street, opposite Focus superstore. It
is on the site of an old Blackfriars monastery in the grounds
of an attractive rose garden with an original Preaching
Cross.
The
museum explains the links between Crusades, the Knights
Templar and the Hospitaller Knights. There are a number
of interesting artefacts in the museum including a well
preserved skeleton of a 14th century monk. The Chapel is
still use today by the Order of St.John of Jerusalem.
The
Coningsby Red Coat Hospital was set up in 1614 for 'old
and worn out soldiers' and was probably the model for the
Royal Hospital Chelsea. I attach two pictures from the museum.
Firstly there is Nell Gwynn 'actress' who was born near
Hereford cathedral in 1650, and is believed to have inspired
King Charles 11 to found the hospital in Chelsea and also
to use similar uniforms as the hospital in Hereford.
'Oranges,
oranges who will buy my lovely oranges,' said Nell Gwynn,
who at the time was living in Drury Lane near the famous
theatre in London. It is said that her grandson James Beauclerk
became the Bishop of Hereford. I was especially interested
in the Nell Gwynn connection from my research project about
the Chelsea Pensioners of Ross which I finished last year.
The
second picture is a Servitor or inmate of the 17th century
hospital and shows a very good similarity to a modern day
Chelsea Pensioner. The other museum we visited was The Herefordshire
Light Infantry Museum in Harold Street, next to the County
Record Office. Again a very fascinating place to visit.
It holds displays of items going back to the time when the
British Army was in South Africa in the 19th century.
There
are many regimental photos, campaign medals etc to see and
is especially interesting for those with an interest in
family or local or regimental history. We also learnt that
the Herefordshire Regiment captured the second and last
Fuhrer of the Third Reich, Grand Admiral Doenitz in May
1945. The pennant from his car is on display here. Well
I didn't know that!
Acknowledgements:
The Curator of the Coningsby Museum.
Gordon
Amand.
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