It's sad to think that our Summer is well and truly over and we are deep into Autumn, with Christmas just around the corner. The Lights of Love Ceremony and Late Night Christmas shopping is fast approaching and will be on the evening of 27th November.

Another date for your diary: Sunday 8th November, Remembrance Sunday. The parade leaves the Red House at 10.30am, with a 2-minute silence at 11.00am at the War Memorial. There will also be a short service outside St Peter's Church and wreath laying.

New residents have already moved into the first houses on the Taylor Wimpey development in Hare Street Road, Knights Walk. I was wondering if the new residents - or existing town residents for that matter - are aware of the significance of the road names on the development: they are named after residents of Buntingford who gave their lives for their country in the First World War. The roads on the Fairview development on the old Sainsbury's Depot site south of the town will also be named after others who died. This is one way of keeping their memories alive, lest we forget. All of these names and others are on the Town War Memorial, by St Peter's Church.

The Civic Society would like to extend a warm welcome to the new residents and hope you will be happy in Buntingford and that you join in with the activities the town has to offer.

Whilst construction works are moving on apace on these two developments and on Wheatley Homes Area 1 behind Snells Mead, we still await the decision by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on Wheatley Areas 2 & 3, due sometime in November. The decision on the Aspenden Road East development has again been delayed and is now expected in February 2016.

We have been advised that the Buntingford North site has been purchased by Redrow Construction and that work will start on that site imminently. The McCarthy & Stone website is advertising "Residential Living" Apartments in Buntingford on the same site, subject to Planning Permission; more about that in the coming weeks.

Finally, I was talking to the landlord of one of our local pubs the other day and he related a rather strange story to me. A couple of weeks ago a duck walked into his pub and ordered a sandwich and a beer. He was so amazed that the duck could talk he just served the duck with his sandwich and beer as he couldn't think of anything to say. Over the coming days he gradually got into longer conversations with the duck and found out that it was working on a local building site. This period of time coincided with the arrival of the annual circus in town and when speaking to the circus boss about the duck it was suggested that the duck contact the circus boss to discuss a highly paid position in the circus. The next day the duck came in and ordered his usual sandwich and beer and the landlord started to tell him about the circus and the opportunity to get himself a better job. Do you mean the group on the field up the road with all the animals?, asked the duck - Yes, replied the landlord. The group with all of the trucks? - Yes. Do they own that big coloured tent? - Yes. The one with the hole in the top? - Yes. Well what do they want a plasterer for?, said the duck.

Graham Waite, BCS Chairman

If you have any queries about Buntingford Civic Society or issues you would like to raise, you can email the Chairman direct at chairman@buntingfordcivic.org.uk.

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