If you use the internet on a regular basis, you’ve probably had many emails about the new General Data Protection Regulations, GDPR. It gives a glimpse into the number of places data is held on us.
The data we keep about FoBH members is simply limited to names and contact details so that we can keep you aware of what’s going on and what we do with your subscription payments.
Privacy Statement
To comply with the new General Data Protection Regulations, GDPR, we will use the data you supply only to communicate with you for membership and newsletter distribution purposes and will store it securely.
The data we collect:
name, postal address, postcode and phone number
email address
Your data will not be shared with external parties without your specific consent.
You can ask for your data to be deleted at any time by emailing treasurer@bernardsheath.org, or by writing to the Treasurer at 21 Warwick Road, AL1 4DJ.
Several trees on the Heath have succumbed to winter gales, some because of the ‘sail’ effects of ivy and the wind drag it causes, and others, including this dead hawthorn, to old age. This latter tree has fallen across the path along Townsend Drive.
Remember those days from late March to mid May when grass began to turn yellow and water restrictions were a distinct possibility? There was only 1.5 mm of rain in April, see above. The summer was not particularly dry by comparison to previous years and the year was rounded off with the highest rainfall of the year of 98 mm, including 10 cm of snow on the 10th December.
The highest daily rainfall was 33 mm on May 13th, and of temperatures, the lowest was -5 deg C on January 22nd and the highest 31 deg C on June 19th.
Weather measurements have only been made for the last four years and over that time total yearly rainfall fell from 740 mm to 534 mm. Average temperatures have stayed within a narrow range of less than 1 deg
To children’s delight, but maybe not older folk,4 inches (10 cm) of snow fell on Sunday, 10th December. It’s the most snow we’ve had, certainly over the last four years. Clinging snow brought down several branches of trees. Photo: JB
Well done, and thank you, to everyone who helped with our action day on Sunday, 19th November.
Litter and dumping of various items is a constant problem on the Heath, particularly around seating areas and on the sides of Harpenden Road. We do our best to keep it clear and keep the Heath a welcoming area for public use.
Action days are not restricted to litter picking, and some of us worked on cleaning out the old water tank close to the old Judo Club.The tank was constructed during WW2 for a supply of water in the event of fire, but has since become a container for rubbish and leaves. We made a start on cleaning it out last November and this was the second attempt.
A determined effort revealed that much more rubbish, especially rubble, had been dumped than realised, probably to a depth of nearly 10 inches (25 cm) in one area. More work is needed.
We’re having a tree at the St Saviour’s Christmas Tree Festival – our theme will be ‘Christmas on the home front in Bernards Heath in 1917‘. We know from the Roll of Honour that thirty-four young men (see below) from the Bernards Heath area died at the Front that year, and we know their names, but we don’t know anything else about them. 16 of the 34 were killed at Passchendaele.
Our tree will honour them, and remember what was going on back home that Christmas. Can you, or anyone you know who had family in Bernards Heath back then, help us with any information about them, or the Christmas customs locally in 1917? If you can help, please get in touch emailing Jenny Burley, jennyburley1@gmail.com
Jenny is making 34 of these decorative poppies for the tree
The 34 names from the Roll of Honour for 1917:
Captain Guy Frederick Bailey MC, 7 July 1917 (Western Front) Private Charles Aubrey Bamford, 29 November 1917 (Western Front) Lieutenant Henry Lee Betts, 20 September 1917 (Western Front) Private Percy Buck, 31 July 1917 (Western Front) Private Albert Edward Butcher, 24 December 1917 (Western Front) Corporal Frederick Ernest Butcher, 20 July 1917 (Palestine) Gunner Cyril Hugh Thomas Calvert, 9 October 1917 (Western Front) Private Charles Ridgway Cooper, 12 April 1917 (Western Front) Private Albert Josiah Critten, 28 April 1917 (Western Front) Driver Charles Robert George Day, 29 November 1917 (Egypt) Private Walter Dennis, 28 April 1917 (Western Front) Private George Field, 20 October 1917 (Western Front) Private Harry James Gates, 26 November 1917 (Western Front) Private Charles William Harris, 23 July 1917 (Western Front) Private Alfred Thomas Hopkins, 20 September 1917 (Western Front) Private George Marcus Hornett, 22 September 1917 (Western Front) Private Arthur Ivory, 23 April 1917 (Western Front) Private Harry Ivory, 3 August 1917 (Western Front) Corporal Ernest Walter Izzard, 31 July 1917 (Western Front) Private James William Keech, 21 September 1917 (Western Front) Bombardier Henry John Manners, 21 October 1917 (Western Front) Private Kenneth Ernest Knott, 21 September 1917 (Western Front) Midshipman Richard Owen, 14 June 1917 (Atlantic Ocean) Sergeant William James Payne, 31 July 1917 (Western Front) Private Harry Peacock, 28 April 1917 (Western Front) Lieutenant Geoffrey Edward Sewell, 2 September 1917 (Western Front) Gunner Bertram Christian Sexton, 1 November 1917 (Western Front) Lance Corporal Alfred Stone, 24 June 1917 (Western Front) Private Charles Stratton, 28 March 1917 (Western Front) Gunner William Taylor, 30 September 1917 (Western Front) Gunner Arthur George Tyler, 8 July 1917 (Western Front) Captain Harold Henry Underwood, 19 April 1917 (Palestine) Private Frank Warwick, 8 December 1917 (Western Front) Quartermaster Frank Arthur Wilkinson, August 1917 (on active service in the merchant marine)
Apologies if you missed the FoBH website over the last two weeks. It was hacked, and when this happens, you don’t want to be in Russia on the first day of a holiday as I was. Nearly all of the content was recovered from backups, but it can be a tedious, complex process. Rod
