The Horsington Blog

Horsington School is trying to raise funds via a virtual balloon race. No real balloons are involved, so no pollution or animal poisoning.

All you have to do is log in, buy some balloons, decorate them, and release them. The system then works out where they will land, taking account actual weather conditions on the day.

Have a go. You could win £500

The competition starts on October 31st

More details here

Ed writes…

Are you getting irritating automated calls from Amazon threatening to take payments from your bank account for an Amazon Prime subscription?

“Press 1 to speak to an Amazon agent”.

This is a barefaced scam. Normally when you press ”1”, nothing happens, and you get disconnected.

But one day last week I pressed “1” and was connected to a Chinese-sounding lady who told me my account had been hacked and she would help me to stop the calls and track down the culprit.

I was out walking, but she said she would phone me back.  She told me to go to my computer and open a webpage called “Teamviewer”. I was then instructed to download some software.

Luckily I had already Googled “Amazon Prime scam”, which revealed that I was about to have my computer stripped bare of all financial data, passwords etc with a view to raiding my bank account.

I wasted the young lady’s time (and mine) for about ten minutes before accusing her of being, amongst several unprintable things, a common thief, and a filthy scammer.

To my amazement she went on protesting that she was from Amazon and was trying to help me!

If you receive these calls on a mobile phone, they are easy to block.  Just go to call history, click on the number and select “block number”.

Amazon is a huge and profitable company and surely has the resources to track down these criminals, who are causing serious damage to the company’s reputation.

More about Teamviewer software here

R E S U L T S

Overall Winner of the Claret Jug – Scott Houghton 26pts
Division 1 winner (hcap <25) -Andrew Gordon 24pts
Div1 Runner-up Trevor Legg 24pts
Division 2 (hcap>25) Rob Acheson 23 pts
Div 2 runner up Mike Davies 23 pts

Best Team Horsington Hackers 57 pts
Runner up Shankers 53 pts
Nearest pin (hole 3) Mark Thirlwell (Sponsored by Nick Hudd)
Nearest pin in 2 (hole 6) Peter Gripper
Nearest Pin( hole 8) George Wagland

R A N K I N G

Player	Hcap	Points	Pos
Scott Houghton	28	26	1
Andrew Gordon	23	25	2
Lee Williams	21	24	3=
David Blake	17	24	3=
Trevor Legg	24	24	3=
Steve Lovell	20	23	6=
Frank Skinner	14	23	6=
John Treasure	17	23	6=
Rob Acheson	28	23	6=
Mike Davies	28	22	10=
Kevin Roadaway	14	22	10=
Richard Case	17	22	10=
Steve Penny	13	21	13=
George Wagland	18	21	13=
Andre Blond	16	21	13=
Jack Newton	23	21	13=
Thomas Lakeman	23	21	13=
Tom Mallaburn	26	20	17=
Robin Price	28	20	17=
Sylvia Blackwell	27	20	17=
Nick Maynard	20	19	20=
Tim Weatherlilt	13	19	20=
Phil Warren	28	19	20=
Mac Grant	13	19	20=
James Chalke	12	19	20=
Howard Bentley-Marchant	22	19	20=
Colin Constable	25	19	20=
Gill Miles	36	19	20=
Mark Thirlwell	16	18	28=
Roman Franks	18	18	28=
William Wallace		18	28=
Peter Blackwell	28	18	28=
Nick Hudd	13	18	28=
Anthony Ward	18	18	28=
Damian Orton	24	18	28=
Colin Sandall	23	18	28=
Simon Ball	26	18	28=
Tony Brodie	21	17	37=
Denise Case	21	17	37=
Ian Osman	16	17	37=
Geoff Corani	18	17	37=
Kevin Jackson	26	17	37=
Phil Ragsdale	12	17	37=
Jeoff Hunt	18	16	44=
Pete Bastable	23	16	44=
Mark Warren	24	16	44=
Mark Sedwill	18	16	44=
Justin Brown	12	15	48=
Peter Gripper	18	15	48=
James Bastable	17	15	48=
Peter Munro	24	15	48=
June Ragsdale	36	15	48=
Terry White	21	15	48=
Dave Bowden	23	14	54=
Perran Newton	23	14	54=
Moira Roadaway	36	13	56=
Roger Jackson	22	13	56=
Tony Garrett	16	11	58=
Chris Bailward	28	11	58=
Malcolm Stobart	22	10	60=
Rob Wright	26	10	60=
Andy David	28	9	61=
Andrew Tarling	24	9	61=
Chris Hoare	20	9	61=
Simon Edlman	18	8	64=
Richard Gaunt	28	7	65=
Anthony Hodges	23	6	66=
Anthony Yateman	28	4	67=

The Horsington Open was held on Saturday. This annual charity golf competition, now in its 8^th  year, was hotly contested at Henstridge Golf Club with a record entry of 68 socially distanced players. Horsingtonians turned out in force to support the event  – The Horsington Hackers, the Half Mooners, the Home Farm Harriers and Dentists on the Job all flew the flag for the village..

Scott Houghton from Templecombe, playing for the Horsington Hackers, carried off the Claret Jug, which now returns to its rightful place in the Half Moon. Peter Gripper and George Wagland, playing for the Half Moon,  won two of the three “Nearest the pin “ competitions. David Blake and the Warren family team,  the Horsington Hackers,  won the team prize, beating off a stiff challenge from the Foxcombe Flyers (Andre Blond and Damian Orton, with  Jack and Perran Newton); Richard and Denise Case put in a strong showing, along  with  Andrew Tarling and Nick Maynard, also representing the Half Moon. Chris Bailward’s team., The Home Farm Harriers managed to produce the division2 runner up, Rob Acheson.

Anthony Yateman fought off a spirited challenge from Richard Gaunt to secure last place with just 4 points.

Over £1200 was raised for charity, to be divvied up between St Margaret’s Hospice and the Somerset Air Ambulance.

A great day. Well done everyone.

Thanks to Jerry’s Electrical, Vale Motors and Totally Floored for some great prizes. And to Henstridge Golf Club, for presenting a course in terrific condition.

Our Yorkshire correspondent Willie Heckerslike* sent us this extract from the map of Yorkshire. There must be a Somerset equivalent. Suggestions please -Ed

*(c) Victoria Wood. RIP

The Horsington Open tees off on Saturday with a record entry of 72 golfers – 24 more than last year. In fact the competition is now fully booked

. The prizegiving is around 2 pm on Saturday 5th September. Why not come and have a drink, buy a raffle ticket and cheerr on your local heroes, who will have been working all morning raising money for local charities. (And also enjoying a highly competitive but friendly game of golf

The latest (and hopefully) final list of teams and tee allocations can be downloaded HERE

The fishermen and coastal dwellers of 17th-century Britain lived in terror of being kidnapped by pirates and sold into slavery in North Africa. Hundreds of thousands across Europe met wretched deaths on the Barbary Coast in this way. Professor Robert Davis investigates

Read this article on the BBC History website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/white_slaves_01.shtml

Our parliamentary correspondent Harry Hansard is having a bit of a thin time at Westminster at the moment, so he has pointed his acid-dripping pen at Wincanton, where a dramatic council meeting took place on Monday 24 August. Over to you, Harry

Reminiscent of a Wagnerian opera, Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and “Snow White and you-know -who”,  Armageddon made a brief visit to Wincanton on August 24^th. Outside the wind crashed and the rain came down in stair rods. Inside, for the benefit of Zoomwatchers, a tragedy was played out.

The seven dwarves have it in for the Wicked Stepmother. She has been ingnoring some of them, harassing them by sending too many emails,  bullying,  fixing the minutes and other crimes. They have had enough. It was time to assassinate her. The knives were out. But in a supreme piece of procedural legerdemain, Standing Orders decreed that the assassins speak, not as elected councillors, but as ordinary  residents, thereby neatly blunting their daggers. (Whaaat? -Ed)

First to plunge in the dagger was Councillor Dawn Old, who read the charge sheet “ For 18 months I have been bullied and harassed;  you complain at every opportunity  at my behaviour, yet no reflection is taken  on your own behaviour. You have racked up over 100  formal complaints about you. I have seen you be the cause of 2 clerks going off sick, belittled my colleagues, picked people to co-opt and  scripting what they say,  fixing votes, minutes of meetings falsely changed. Spending money from reserves, conducting council business outside the full council, selling us out over car parking, and  lone meeting with property developers” (foot soldiers of the devil incarnate? -Ed).

She brandished a petition with over 507  signatures (nearly 100 more than the  votes received by the Wicked Stepmother) and demanded a vote of no confidence in the WS.

The WS was ready to cut her off at the pass. Step forward on cue, bag carrier Councillor Tudgay . Out of order, he ruled. (Follow this carefully) The councillor was speaking as a resident and not as a councillor and therefore could not initiate a vote of no confidence. That would have to wait for a slot on a probably very crowded agenda.

Councillor Eadington (speaking as a resident, but not as a councillor(!) said it was like being on the Titanic heading for the rocks skippered by the WS. She was off. Stab. So too was Councillor Sue Hinks, fed up with not being informed or involved in council business and excluded from the WS’s inner circle. Stab

Councillor Phil Rogers brandished his dagger. He was voted in to represent the town, he said. But he felt the council now merely represented itself.  He would not put up with bullying. Stab

Councillor Old re-entered the fray, her dagger flashing. She thanked the resigners for their years of service and said there was not one remaining councillor she had respect for or could vote for. This was the most corrupt council Wincanton had ever had. She resigned. Stab. Comedic exit to strains of “The Muppet Show”, which drowned out formal proceedings for the next few minutes.

Councillor Hearne complained she no longer had a voice on the council. Her suggestions often never made it on to the agenda. Resign . Stab.

The WS remained unperturbed throughout these assassination attempts. Icily emotionless, she batted away each mortal blow like someone swatting an irritating fly. The brave assassins were reminded that all assassinations had to be in writing, dated, and delivered to the Town Hall.

So rather than witnessing the the bloody demise of the Wicked Stepmother, we ended with the disturbing spectacle of the seven dwarves, well 5 of them, falling on their swords.

The WS had vanquished her foes without lifting a finger. She now reigns supreme, unchallenged and mistress of procedural chicanery. Where is Snow White when you need her?

This is not over.

You can witness the meeting on YouTube-https://youtu.be/V3O9cSatiDU

(Skip the first 2 minutes)