The Plot So Far...

Newsletter of the South Harpenden Allotments and Gardens Society – Spring 2022
______________________________________________________________________

From the Chairman

It is hard to remember how things were as we are
now at the second anniversary of the pandemic and
we have survived the various lockdowns, relaxation
of strict controls, reimposition of further lockdowns
yet the allotments have prospered and for many
plotholders they have been a haven of peace, a
chance to exercise and socially distancing, see and
talk to other people other than through a mask or on
a screen. Spring is in the air after a wet and
miserable winter and the recent winter gales. We
still have a large waiting list and we have welcomed
many new, younger members to 'allotmenteering'
since March 2020 and with the prospect of a good
summer in 2022 we hope we can get back to some of
the allotment society social events and perhaps
those volunteer work parties getting the sites into tip top order for the Harpenden Town
Council annual inspections.
Thanks everyone for all your efforts over the hard times and here's to a prosperous
growing season in 2022!
Mike Cobley (SHAGS Chairman)

Treasurer’s report for 2022

Part of my role as treasurer is to set a budget each financial year. This normally take
place in September. Firstly, I look at all our income for the year, that’s the easy part.
Then I look at all our essential running costs i.e. insurance, water, rates (we get 50% off
as we are a not for profit organisation), petrol/oil for our machinery, machinery service
and repairs, electricity, and general admin. I then allow an amount for our Awards Night
and for general site maintenance, locks, keys etc. I then see how much I need spend
against our income. I can then allocate funds for new machinery and improvement to

1
our 8 sites. We have a yearly process called our Annual Plan where I ask site reps to put
in a bid for funds to improve their own site. This year I received a number of requests
as the year before we were restricted because of the lock down. Aldwickbury asked for
funds a new community wildlife pond and materials to improve the car park. Harpenden
Rise asked for a new shed, we considered it would be a good investment if we bought a
good quality shed with a long guarantee. Churchfield also asked for a much bigger shed
but hadn’t come to an agreement on exactly what they wanted. Piggottshill also needs
funds for the car park; also funds were requested for a new door on our committee
room. Our shop will fund its own improvements. The Annual Plan is part funded by the
annual grant we receive from Harpenden Town Council, which is about £3,000 each
year. As always, we rely on help from our plot holders to lend a hand with these projects.
Carole Pamphlett

Award winners of 2021

Photo Competition. All the award winning photos can be seen on our web site. The photo
below shows the entry that won 1st Prize: Smiley Courgette Boy, by Gabrielle Van der Haeg
PH84A.

Watch the web site for details of the 2022 photo competition!

2
Best plots. The Chairman’s Shield for best overall plot was awarded in 2021 to Roger White on
Aldwickbury. We have no photo of Roger’s remarkable plots, but the attractive layout of the
Aldwickbury site in previous year scan be seen, along with views of the other sites, in photos on
our web site.

The Percy Bradbury Trophy for most attractive plot(s) was won by Rod Cooley at Oakley Road,
shown in the photos below:

3
Best scarecrow. The winning entry in the 2021 Scarecrow Competition, judged from
photographs by attendees at the awards evening, and shown below, was made by Marcia Dorey
of Harpenden Rise.

__________________________________________

4
 The Composition of Fertiliser Products: what do the numbers mean?
We sell many fertiliser products in the shop and they all come with various numbers, e.g.
Growmore 7:7:7. Many people ask what these numbers mean and do they matter. All fertilisers
are required by law to state the content of nitrogen (chemical symbol: N), phosphorus (chemical
symbol: P) and potassium (chemical symbol: K) in that order as a percentage by weight. For
historical reasons, nitrogen is given as the simple element, phosphorus is given as both its
common oxide and as the simple element (thus: P2O5/P) and similarly with potassium (thus:
K2O/K). Many manufacturers give the amount of the element soluble in water or weak acid (for
the purposes of this note, these are all given as ‘soluble’) and some give total magnesium
(chemical symbol: Mg). A few also give the contents of so-called ‘trace’ elements, especially
boron (chemical symbol: B). These are not considered in this note. For liquid fertilisers, the
amounts given are the concentrations after dilution according to the manufacturer’s
instructions. THUS, always read the label!

In very, very general terms, nitrogen is what drives leafy growth, phosphorus gives sturdy plants
and encourages good root development, and potassium is essential for good flower, tuber, bulb
and fruit development. Magnesium can also matter in the healthy development of certain fruits
– especially tomatoes. You will see that, in the list below, there is a fair amount of variation.
Many of the products have a reasonable content of all three elements. Some are especially
targeted at one aspect of plant growth, e.g. the organic potato and onion fertilisers have slightly
more potassium to encourage tuber and bulb growth, the Green Veg Plant Food has a very large
amount of nitrogen, the Clematis Fertiliser and Sulphate of Potash (an old name for potassium)
have large amounts of potassium to encourage flower and fruit production, and so on.

Most fertilisers are best applied in the spring or early summer. Putting them on in the autumn
means that their full potential is rarely used as there is little plant growth. The possible
exceptions to this rule are bone meal and the other slow-release materials which need time to
release their nutrient potential in the soil.

It is not a good idea to put much nitrogen on grass in the autumn. This could encourage late,
lank growth which can be difficult to manage as the season becomes wetter. There is also the
risk that the under-utilised fertiliser will leach away over winter and is thus a waste of money.

As always, there are people on hand in the shop on most Sundays who are more than willing to
give further advice.

[Continued on next page]

Peter Loveland (Sibley Avenue Plot 10)

5
Product Name and Total Total Phosphorus Soluble Phosphorus (P) Total Potassium Soluble Potassium (K) % Total
Formulation Nitrogen (N) (P) % [P2O5/P] % [P2O5/P] (K) % [K2O/K] [K2O/K] Magnesium
% (Mg) %
Organic Potato 4 2.5/1.1 0.7/0.3 8/6.6 Not given Not given
Fertiliser 4:2.5:8
Organic Onion 6 5/2.2 3/1.3 Not given 7/5.8 Not given
Fertiliser 6:5:7
Growmore 7:7:7 7 7/3 6/2.6 Not given 7/5.8 Not given
Liquid Growmore 7 7/3 6/2.6 Not given 7/5.8 Not given
– when diluted
7:7:7
Bone Meal 3:9:0 3 9/3.9 0 Not given Not given Not given
Root Builder 0 17.5/7.6 16.3/7.1 Not given Not given Noy given
0:17.5:0
Green Veg Plant 21 0 0 Not given Not given Not given
Food 21:0:0
Fish Blood Bone 5 5/2.1 Not given 6.5/5.4 Not given Not given
5:5:6.5
Clematis Fertiliser 7 4/1.6 1/0.4 10.2/8.5 Not given 3/1.8
7:4:10.2
Sulphate of Potash 0 0 0 Not given 48/40 Not given
0:0:48
Dried Blood 12:0:0 12 0 0 0 0 Not given
Phostrogen – slow 8 11/4.8 8.7/3.8 Not given 23/19.1 2.2/1.3
release 8:11:23
Vitax tree and 4 2.5/1.1 0.5/0.2 7.5/6.2 Not given Not given
shrub 4.5:2.5:7.5
Vitax Q4 5.3 7.5/3.3 2/0.9 10/8.3 Not given 3/1.8
5.3:7.5:10
Tomorite – 4 Not given 3/1.3 8/6.6 Not given Not given
Levington 4:3:8
Doff Tomato Feed 4 Not given 5/2.2 Not given 9/7.5 Not given
4:5:9

6
 Soil analysis: what can it tell you?
Most farmers and growers have their soil tested routinely to ensure nutrient and pH levels are
conducive to efficient crop production and to help calculate the appropriate amounts of fertilizer to
apply. Too little = sub-optimal crop yields; too much = detrimental, financially and environmentally.

I thought it might be informative to send some soil samples from my allotment to NRM Laboratories,
Bracknell, for analysis. This company does many different laboratory analyses and is one of the largest
agricultural analytical service providers in the UK. See: https://cawood.co.uk/nrm/services/ I chose
their standard A001 soil analysis which measures pH, available Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K) and
Magnesium (Mg). I also had one sample analysed for organic matter (A218).

I sent five samples: one a combined sample from five small (2 x 1 m) beds (code = 1-5); one sample
from each of three larger (4 x 3 m) beds (codes 7, 8 & 10); and one combined sample from the other
four samples for organic matter analysis (coded 1-5+7,8,10). Soil samples were collected in early July
2021 by scooping up many small amounts of soil within each plot, sieving and then mixing thoroughly
for each test sample.

Results

Test sample Nutrient Index

Plot code Soil pH P K Mg Organic matter
1-5 7.6 7 5 3 -
7 7.7 6 3 3 -
8 7.8 6 5 3 -
10 7.8 7 5 3 -
1-5+7,8,10 7.7 7 4 3 8.8%

• Perhaps surprisingly, the results were broadly similar for all five soil samples tested. This
reflects the fairly rigid crop rotation I practice which means plots have had a similar cropping,
fertilizer and liming history for the past 10 years.
• I also like to think it reflects a competent soil sampling methodology on my part. But as I have
been an agricultural research scientist for almost 50 years, getting that bit wrong would be,
frankly, embarrassing.
• pH values were slightly higher than ideal (6.5 – 7) and indicate no liming is needed for several
years at least.
• P, K and Mg indices are a simplified way of showing the relative nutrient status, although
amounts in ppm were also provided (not shown in table). For most vegetable and fruit crops
grown commercially on farms, indices of 2 – 3 are considered ideal. Thus, the indices for P
and K on my plots are high — indicating, perhaps, over-generous applications of ‘Growmore’
fertilizer. Solution? Have a P & K ‘holiday’ and don’t apply any fertilizers containing these
nutrients for several years.
• An organic matter of 8.8% for the clay with flints soil on my allotment is very good, indicating
effective additions of compost and manure. On local commercial farms with similar soils (such
as Rothamsted), 5% organic matter would be considered high. However, it is much easier to
increase soil organic matter on a small allotment plot than on a field scale. Organic matter is
‘good’ for many reasons — retaining moisture and nutrients, improving soil structure and
drainage and promoting soil health. But exactly how you measure ‘soil health’ in an objective

7
 way is currently a ‘hot topic’ in agricultural circles. Organic matter is but one of many
important factors.
• Nitrogen is the most important plant nutrient, so why no analyses? Essentially, it is because
it is much more difficult to analyse for nitrogen in soils because nitrogen content fluctuates
throughout the year so results are less meaningful than for P, K & Mg, which are less dynamic.
• Sampling in July is not ideal and may have resulted in overestimates of the P & K levels.
Sampling is better done in early autumn after crops are harvested. Cost of this indulgence?
£86.40. I’ll have to give up using ‘Growmore’ and lime for a very long time to recover that
cost!
Stephen Moss (Topstreet plot 27)

Analysis of my allotment soil shows it is in good condition; it has high organic

matter and nutrient levels and a reasonable pH.

_____________________________________________

8
 Our Allotment History
In 2002 Alison and I took some friends for a walk along the path between Grove school and the
Aldwickbury allotment site. We looked over the gates and hardly any plots were in use and thought
the site might be used for house building (some things don’t change). The first photo (below) shows
the site in 2002. So we decide to take a plot and the second photo shows the plot we were allocated.
It took a lot of work but soon we took an adjacent plot and then extended one of them. For a while I
was a site rep. Later the hazel coppice was planted beside our plots and the trees along the path
behind Grove school got taller and shady so we moved to new plots higher up the site in 2017. Later
one of the shading trees was removed! With global warming perhaps shade is what you need!

There is nothing better than eating sweetcorn on the day you pick it and all fresh picked veg tastes
great.
Happy plotting.
Paul Gardiner (Aldwickbury plot 27)

9
 Vegetable Sudoku Puzzle

This is a standard Sudoku puzzle but with letters substituted for numbers. Normal Sudoku rules
apply: Each row, column or 3x3 mini-grid should contain each of the letters A,E,I,O,U,B,G,N and R.
Once completed a word search of the grid should reveal a vegetable.

Hint: Letters causing a problem? – try some algebra!

Peter Goucher

[The solution is at the end – but don’t look yet!]

10
 Evaluation of black ‘permanent’ markers: an update and a new ‘Best Buy’

Avid readers of this Newsletter will recall that in 2020/21 I evaluated several black markers which
claimed to be ‘permanent’. Despite ‘permanent’ being defined as ‘lasting for a long time or for ever’
(Cambridge Dictionary) most markers failed dismally to live up to their name with poor legibility even
after only 6 months. (Thought: can a job lasting a few months be described now as ‘permanent’?
Presumably ‘yes’ if you work for a stationery company. I digress….).

There was a clear winner in 2020/21 – the Pentel Twin Tip. This was the only marker with which
writing on plastic labels could be said to be still clearly legible after one year. Writing for all other
markers (Edding 300, Edding 2200, Nice Day, Sharpie, Texta 700, Tiger) was virtually illegible, especially
on labels exposed to the sun. In the name of science (and to get more evidence in case of litigation…..)
I repeated the experiment in 2021/22 with some of the same (Pentel Twin Tip, Sharpie, Edding 2200)
and some different markers (Pentel N50, Pentel N60, Garland Garden Marker).

As before, text was written on both sides of white plastic plant labels placed on my allotment at
Harpenden on 11 February 2021, with one side of label facing due south (S) and the other side facing
due north (N). Two labels were used for each marker. Legibility of writing was assessed on 24 January
2022 and photos taken.

Front, S facing side of labels on 11 February 2021, at start of experiment

Results

• There was a new ‘winner’ – the Garland Garden Marker (see photo). This was the only marker
with which writing on labels exposed to the sun (S facing) could be said to be still clearly

Front, S facing side of labels on 24 January 2021, 11

months later

11
 legible. Last year’s ‘winner’, the Pentel Twin Tip, was second-best, but legibility was much
poorer – but still better than all the other markers.

Back, N facing side of labels on 24 January 2022, 11 months

• As in my previous experiment, there was a big difference in legibility between N and

S facing sides of the plastic labels. Writing legibility was much poorer on the side
facing the sun (S) and better on the side never exposed to direct sunlight (N). The
Garland Garden Marker was best, with the Sharpie performing particularly poorly.

Conclusions
• The Garland Garden Marker was by far the best marker tested. It can be used on plastic,
timber, rubber and steel according to the (rather excessive) packaging. A new ‘best buy’.
Ayletts sell them (£2-99) or they can be bought online from Garlands:
https://www.garlandproducts.com/black-waterproof-garden-marker.html

Perhaps the Dark Lane shop should get some in (hint, hint).

• Regardless of marker you use, ensure that the side of the label with writing on faces north,
or at least is not in direct sunlight.

Stephen Moss (Topstreet plot 27)

[Editor’s note: the author, tongue in cheek, has suggested

delaying publication of this Newsletter until our Dark
Lane shop has sold out of Sharpie markers (which
“I recommend the performed poorly). What? And compromise our
‘Garland Garden scientific integrity and credibility?!]
Marker’.”

________________________________________________________________

12
 Full of Beans

2021 was a good year for runner beans. My four wigwams, the ground previously
prepared with two wheelbarrow loads of manure, gave a bumper crop. We were still eating them at
Christmas - the beans that is.

Bob Harry (Piggottshill plot 66)

_____________________________________________

13
 Musings of a Site Rep
Site-repping has its rewards, though I can’t think of any just now. Unless we
include the benefits of seeing the different ways in which our members
successfully grow crops. The job involves a lot of walking round the site, PH in my
case, often pushing a mower, while envying (and hopefully learning from) some
of the gardening successes, but also discovering some of the problems. Problems
can be solved. I will mention some here, which may be relatively trivial, but worth
a bit of discussion. This selection concerns overgrown fruit trees, composting, and
stony ground.

Pruning. The allotment site should be presentable and easily accessible. So don’t forget that fruit trees
can be pruned! It is of no concern to a site rep whether or not your trees are productive, but we do
notice the nuisance of overhanging branches from untended trees (and thorny fruit bushes). Pruned
trees mean that we can mow paths and wander round in safety, without risk of eye damage, and
neighbours can do their work without having to crouch to avoid overhangs.

There is a correct way to prune, depending on the type of fruit, but I find there is no need to be
especially careful or neat. If necessary, be brutal. Just make sure that branches don’t obstruct paths
or overhang neighbours’ plots, and the fruit is not too high to reach. It seems there is no strict rule
about timing, but apples and pears are usually done after leaf fall, often with an additional pruning in
summer (when really serious growers also thin out clusters of fruit). Late autumn pruning means that
twigs and branches can be put onto the Guy Fawkes bonfire – why else was Guy Fawkes Night
invented?

Plums and cherries should be pruned only in the growing season

though, usually in summer (to avoid risk of silver-leaf disease), or in
spring if necessary for training. Being aware of the silver-leaf risk, I
once did a major pruning of an overgrown plum in autumn anyway,
after taking over a new plot, and sealed the cut ends with Arbrex or
something similar (available in our shop). The plum became productive
again after a couple of years (flowering in the photo).

And if you have hazels that you don’t harvest for nuts or coppice stakes, self-sown or otherwise, I
suggest removal altogether – they grow like crazy and encourage “tree rats” (grey squirrels), who will
eat all the nuts anyway. If you plan to plant new fruit trees, make sure they are near the middle of the
plot, not near to the edge, and have the required dwarfing rootstock.

Quick composting. There are lots of plastic compost bins on our site, many of them empty and/or
unused, often without trapdoors or lids (which might be found wind-blown not too far away). That is
a shame, because they are expensive and very useful. I am not suggesting that anyone should buy new
ones, however – all that plastic that would probably never be recycled! But if they are there, already
bought or inherited from previous tenants, why not use them to the full? Often you will see a large
pile of weedy soil next to such a bin, rapidly attracting a population of bindweed, rhizomatous grasses
and other nasties. Simple solution: put the waste straight into the bin, not onto the ground, and
especially not onto hedge bottoms or paths (yes, some people actually do that!). Then you’ll have
more space for cultivation, and no weedy mountain that will last forever, or until it annoys a successor
tenant. After a while there will be ready-made fertiliser to shovel onto your plot, or to use instead of
something bought in a heavy plastic non-decomposable sack. Thick weed roots, old grass and rhizomes
will take a couple of years to decompose, unlike soft green waste which can take just a few months.

14
Mixing soft green material such as weeds, grass cuttings, and kitchen waste (plant-based only) with
the tougher stuff will speed up decomposition, which must be thorough. When the bin’s contents look
like crumbly soil, it is safe to use. The bins are quite entertaining too: you’ll be amazed how the volume
diminishes and lets you keep filling them up month after month, and you’ll wonder where those
thousands of tiny earthworms came from. Remember to keep the bins covered and reasonably well
sealed (not forgetting a heavy brick to hold down the lid, with a plot number painted on it just in case).
It’s a good idea to have more than one bin in use, so that the contents of one can rot down while you
fill another. If you have only one, it should ideally have a removable trapdoor near the bottom so that
you can shovel out the lower composted layers while the upper layers are still undecomposed. That’s
a compromise, since the ones without trapdoors seem to be slightly more efficient. Make sure that
the interior is in contact with the soil, so that worms and other creatures and microbes can get access
and join in the composting process. Even if you have this kind of quick composting equipment, you
might also wish to make an old-style, slow compost heap to provide a snug winter home for
hedgehogs. So why not keep your bins and make just a small wooden-framed compost container for
hedgehog housing (and long-term compost production as a bonus)?

Flint. It is not only piles of muddy roots and rhizomes that are allowed to accumulate in the corners
of some plots but, even worse, piles of flints. Most of our soil is full of flints, though unevenly
distributed (my plot is exceptionally well endowed). Flints collected up and left in piles become a real
nuisance when plots change hands, since meanwhile they will have become an unmanageable
reservoir for weeds, especially those rhizomatous couch-like grasses.

So what to do with flints? Best option: leave them in the soil, assume that they will help drainage
through the heavy clay, and enjoy the odd shapes they cause in root vegetables. Collected up, they
make good paths, especially if laid on so-called weed-proof thick plastic (which will be penetrated
eventually), or drenched occasionally with weed killer. Flint paths are more durable than the currently
fashionable wood-chip paths, which have the advantage of being easily dug-in if the paths are no
longer needed. It seems to me that some of the firm grass paths on PH are actually laid on flint layers,
which pop out when paths are encroached on. If you really want to remove your flints (a thankless job
that will never end!) but don’t want to make use of them, then I can only suggest taking them to the
rubble container at the recycling centre.

What a Year!
Our weather becomes queerer. That was well demonstrated in 2021, with drought, intense rain and
late frosts - it seems we had everything except those nearly forgotten snow drifts of years ago. And it
all affected the performance of the year’s crops, and their pests and diseases, at least on my plots in
their sheltered corner of PH. This about last year – so no mention of the February storm of 2022!

Despite, or because of, the cold spring, there was an abundance of soft fruit (berries and currants).
The nightly frosts during April should perhaps have kept insect pollinators away from the flowering
fruit trees, or even killed off the flowers. But no, the crops were reasonable or good, helped by a slight
reduction in brown rot (Monilinia), which had recently been increasing, and an even greater reduction
in plum moth and possibly of apple and pear pests. Allium leaf miner also seems to have taken a hit,
with less early damage, especially to leeks (which suffered later on though). I suspect that weather,
rather than leaf miner, was responsible for the hopeless state of my onions, but it’s hard to tell
because I never really got the hang of growing them. Among the other usual pests, even black fly were
not abundant enough to be a nuisance on my beans (and apparently not on those of others – see Bob
Harry’s note on his remarkable runner bean crop).

15
But there was no avoiding the slimy peril – slugs. They must have been breeding in a frenzy during all
those warmer-than-usual wet days. After a few weeks away in June-July, I returned to find them
crawling all over my favourite cabbages (Primo 2). Nevertheless, after much spreading of slug pellets
and removal by hand, many of the cabbages continued to grow and had firm interiors that were
perfectly edible and tasty after the disgusting outer layers were chopped off. There was even plenty
of spare to make a decent store of sauerkraut. Despite my early scepticism, the currently-available
“safe” slug pellets seem to do a reasonable job, at ground level anyway. Above ground, the climbing
molluscs, mostly snails, can only be picked or flicked off.

Damaged cabbage, protected from pigeons, but not from slugs – yet!

Slug pellets were not necessary on my potatoes though. I mostly grow an old-fashioned, reasonably
slug-resistant variety (Desirée), on which any slug damage usually begins where there is already scab.
But a wet June meant that there was almost no scab.

So what about potato blight last year? In last year’s PSF I suggested how I tried to avoid blight by
cutting off the tops of my potato plants as soon as they begin to turn brown, in theory preventing any
blight spores being washed down from diseased leaves to infect the tubers. 2021 turned out to be a
year to test that. Warm showery conditions in July seemed to be suitable for the beginnings of blight.
Sure enough, there were a few patches on leaves of my plants that seemed to be blight. I wasn’t sure,
but picked a few off for disposal (NOT to my compost bin!). Since it still seemed to be slowly spreading,
I checked that the tubers had reached a reasonable size and then cut off all the tops to ground level
and took them away. Then I was able to harvest tubers as needed, digging up the last of them in late
September. Most were like pink goose eggs, free of scab and slugs. I threw away only two small tubers
that had soft, dark patches, probably blight. The presence of blight was confirmed by the state of my
tomatoes. I made the mistake of putting some spare tomato plants too close to the potatoes, and had
to pull them all up before any fruits ripened. The main planting, further away, was more successful,
but I had to look for and remove any fruits with developing blight symptoms, and picked most of the
healthy fruits just as they began to ripen, to finish off on an indoor window sill.

No doubt next year’s weather and crop behaviour will be entirely different. I suppose repeat
performances each year would make allotmenting much less interesting.

My thanks to the contributors of this spring’s edition of PSF, from whom I learned plenty. Happy
allotmenting!

Geoff Bateman (editor; Piggottshill plot 135)

16
Office Holders and Committee Members of S.H.A.G.S. (updated Feb 22)
Committee Name Email Tel. No.

President Vacancy

Chair Mike Cobley mikecobley@hotmail.com 767782

Treasurer Carole Pamphlett carolepamphlett@hotmail.co.uk email only

Secretary Gill Hicks allotsec@outlook.com 07961 372834

Deputy Chair Roger Glanville rglanville@virginmedia.com 761912

Alex Davis allotlet@gmail.com 07850 332117

Lettings Secretary
Jim Machin allotlet3@gmail.com 762856

Alex Davis allotlet@gmail.com 07850 332117

Database Manager
Jim Machin allotlet3@gmail.com 762856

Communications Officer/
Rod Cooley rod.cooley@ntlworld.com 620682
Webmaster

Shop/Distribution Manager Vacancy

Machinery Manager Roger White white.roger@btinternet.com 762377

Newsletter Editor Geoff Bateman glb47@tiscali.co.uk 07423 041299

Awards Officer Linda Gahagan lindamgahagan@gmail.com 765815

Publicity Officer Jane Keech jkeech@aol.com 07702 906168

Site Reps Rep. Name Email Tel. No.

Hazel Upton rguhu77@hotmail.com 712131

Roger White white.roger@btinternet.com 762377

Aldwickbury Richard Mottram richard_mottram@yahoo.co.uk 07905 003736

Tom Chichester- thomas.chichester-

07971 353375
Miles miles@ntlworld.com

Churchfield Keith Davison k.davison@sky.com 07740 411455

Jenny Stevenson alanandjenny3@btinternet.com 712921

Cross Lane
Vacancy

Marcia Dorey
Harpenden Rise marciadorey@yahoo.co.uk 712250
Roger Dorey

Oakley Road Rod Cooley rod.cooley@ntlworld.com 07913 061169

17
 Site Reps Rep. Name Email Tel. No.

Mike Cobley mikecobley@hotmail.com 767782

Fraser Gordon frasermgordon4@gmail.com 07957 948011

Piggotshill
Geoff Bateman glb47@tiscali.co.uk 07423 041299

Syd Marvell n/a 07880 877192

Sibley Avenue Vacancy

Topstreet Way John Myres john.myres1@ntlworld.com 07981 142099

Sudoku Solution

The hint given in the original puzzle refers to the possibility of substituting the letters for numbers 1
to 9 in a consistent manner. For example, in this puzzle each of the ‘E’s become 1, ‘G’s become 2, etc.
following the given letters. The puzzle can then be solved in the usual and familiar way and once
completed, the letters restored to reveal the solution.

Note: A grid could be helpful to record the substitutions as below:

A E I O U B G N R
6 1 9 7 8 3 2 4 5

18