At the recent meeting of the Parish Council, Mr. Phil Perry, who has been a councillor for more than 10 years, confirmed that he was resigning on health grounds. The Parish Council is now looking for someone who would be interested in filling the vacancy left by Mr Perry.
David Kiss whose Rocking Horse Workshop is in Hodnet village, has researched, written and now published a ground-breaking book on the heyday of his craft. “A Kiss of Rocking Horses ~ A Directory of British Rocking Horse Makers (pre-1950)” is now available and can be purchased at the shop or by mail order.
‘A Kiss of Rocking Horses’ is the most comprehensive listing of all known British Rocking Horse Makers, over one hundred and fifty in all. Each maker is listed alphabetically and, where known, the social background of each firm is reported on as well as the range of products that the firm produced. David has spent many hours researching old catalogues, magazines and newspapers for information on Rocking Horse manufacturers both large and small.
The book aims to equip the reader identify and name any model of British Rocking Horse by the means of over 720 colour and black and white pictures and illustrations. These are spread throughout the 520 pages of the book.
Designed as a directory the book seeks to include as much information about all British rocking horse makers established before 1950, who have put at least one model into production. David acknowledges though that the content is by no means definitive and his historical research is on going.
He adds, “The words ‘Rocking Horse’ can be used to describe many variations of a genre, from a very simple and cheaply made item, up to a large and fully sculptured animal, and because of this, this book features many different types of Rocking Horses.”
David has set up a new website dedicated to his book – www.akissofrockinghorses.co.uk This features information on price and how to order “A Kiss of Rocking Horses” as well a preview of some of the pages.
On Thursday 29th July, Shropshire Council’s Parks and Countryside Sites Service held its first Wildlife Photography Course in Hodnet.
With course members ranging from novices to those with experience of having wildlife photographs published, John spent the morning on a range of topics from the basics of photography through to describing some of the effort which goes into taking stunning wildlife photographs. He had brought with him some of the equipment he uses in the field and enlightened his audience with descriptions of their benefits and at times their weaknesses!
In late July the main attraction was a wide variety of insects plus water plants. The five pools offer an excellent habitat for wildlife and this group of photographers were kept happy for around two hours. The more enthusiastic had to be almost dragged away when the time came to leave.
Speaking afterwards, Lynne Dean, Countryside Ranger with Shropshire Council who organised the course said, “Parks and Countryside Sites team run a series of events throughout our 130 sites where we hope to encourage people to get out and enjoy the Shropshire countryside.
“The photographic day was designed for people like me who have a digital camera and want to take pictures of wildlife. That’s where John Harding came in and gave us some great advice on how to the get the best pictures possible.
“Wollerton is one of our newest sites as it was created as part of the Hodnet bypass in 2003. Seven years on, the flora and fauna there is stunning.”
At the end of a very enjoyable day course, participants who had come from places as far away as Birmingham, were asked to email John Harding with a selection of their photographs. John has put a selection of these on the Wood Lane website. Click here to view them.
To visit the Parks and Countryside Sites section on Shropshire Council’s website, please click here.