Skip to main content

Frog-on-the-Tyne.


Today I met a woman in a pub car park to discuss going on toad patrol in the coming months.

Yes, you read that sentence right: anyone driving through the country lanes near where I live this Spring may just see me standing around in a high-vis jacket, looking for toads in distress. I was coerced into this by my wife, who’d responded to an advert looking for volunteers to help assist the toads’ journey across a busy road to a pond on the other side, and felt it was a good cause to be involved with; it’s also an excuse to get out and do something, which is always good if you’re naturally reticent like me; the fact it’s for a excellent cause makes it all better, though forgive me if I burst into We All Stand Together while I’m doing it.

The woman took us on a little wander to where the toads usually cross and explained the whys and wherefores of a usual patrol. The organization started in 2001 with a fair few volunteers, which - like the toad numbers - have dwindled with time. Such is the nature of nature. All we need to do, should we decide to join in, is to rescue the frogs as they start to cross in an awkward place and escort them to the other side, making a note of their sex as we do it. I daren’t ask during the meeting how you sex a toad, because it sounded too appropriate, but I’m presuming it’s fairly easy. I guess I’ll find out shortly. Either way, I’m not going to make a big deal out of it; It’s nice to help if I can.
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Not The Bayeux One.

The Carole King album Tapestry has been my 'getting-ready-in-the-morning' soundtrack for the past few weeks.  It's been a favourite album ever since I was a student, which makes for a pleasantly gentle way to usher in the start of a day. I've always been a fan of a well-crafted song, which is something of a Carole King hallmark, ever since she started writing with her first husband in the early Sixties. Tapestry may be an unimaginative choice for a favourite LP, as it suggests I haven't delved that far into her career, but it's still an undoubted classic; anything with '(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman', 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?' and 'You've Got A Friend' on it can't really fail; if nothing else, it proves she likes writing songs with long titles.  Next month, she's set to perform the album live in its entirety for the first time at a gig in Hyde Park, which I would have loved to have gone to, if it weren...
Read more

Shakerpuppetmaker.

Have Parker from Thunderbirds and Noel Gallagher ever been seen in the same room? The resemblance is uncanny. So much so, I think something’s afoot. If my suspicions are correct, I've stumbled across a secret that will blow the music and puppet industry wide apart. In the mid-60s / mid-90s at least. It doesn’t take long to see the signposts. There’s the similarity between the name of Oasis’ first single, Supersonic, and Supermarianation, Gerry Anderson’s puppetry technique. The Gallagher brothers would often wear Parkas . Live Forever was clearly a reference to Captain Scarlet and Standing on the Shoulder of Giants to the size difference between Noel and his bandmates. The more you think about it, the more brazen it gets. It’s fishier than Area 51, Paul is Dead and JFK's assassination put together. The only glitch to the theory is scale . According to Wikipedia, Anderson’s marionettes were 1’10” and Gallagher is 5’8”. How does he maintain an illusion of avera...
Read more

Hitchin is Mine.

As of six o’clock tonight, I take over the Hitchin is Yours Twitter account for a week; a stewardship I’m anxious to get right. I’m proud of my hometown. It’s a great place to live, with so much going for it. I've always sold it to my non-Hitchinite friends; so much so, that a lot have gone on to move here. Any town expansion plans are partly my fault. Feel free to picket outside my house. I love its history and architecture. Take St Mary’s Church, for example. The building is beautiful inside and out, and huge for a town of our size. There has been a place of worship on site since the 7 th Century. Much of the present building dates from the 1300s. You wouldn't get that in America. (Don't forget the British Schools Museum too.)  Hitchin is a hive for creative people and a hub for the arts. It boast two theatres, two comedy clubs, a couple of art galleries, a festival for world music and a thriving music scene. This drew...
Read more