Windsor Berkshire

Local police report that two security guards delivering cash to the ATM in Tesco's supermarket in Dedworth Road were robbed on Monday 4th August 2008 at around 11am.

They were approached by a white man, 5ft 6ins to 5ft 7ins, of slim build. He was wearing a blue cagoule jacket, jeans and boots and a balaclava. The man threatened them with what is believed to be a handgun and demanded money. No-one was injured in the incident. and the robber drove off in a silver Mercedes convertible.

If you have any information about this incident please contact DC Sarah Houghton on 0845 8 505 505. If you don't want to speak to police then please call the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.

Labels: crime, dedworth, robbery, supermarket, tesco

Tomorrow Tuesday 15th July 2008 the Swan uppers will depart from Eton Bridge at about 09.00 am. Again this has been a poor year for the cygnets due to weather and the conservation role of ringing the birds will help future plans to aid the swan population on the thames.
http://www.windsor-berkshire.co.uk/swanupping.php

Labels: ceremony, river, swan upping, swans

A lovely visitor to my garden this morning. This striking 'Leopard Moth' Zeuzera pyrina spent all day on a sunshade. He looked to have a wingspan of about 5cm and as you can see, is beautifully marked.

After an absense of several hundred years Red Kites are back. At 1.30 pm today Windsor resident Nicola Brown reported a large bird of prey with the familiar forked tail and wingspan close to 2 metres circling over the Dedworth Road.

Red Kites were once regarded as vermin and were persecuted from the late middle ages until the nineteenth century when the last English Red Kites were killed by humans. However a small colony survived in Wales and a breeding program and reintroduction sceme has proved amazingly successful.

The bird seen of Windsor today was almost certainly from the Chiltern hills where there is now a large and ever growing population of these stately birds, taking advantage of the thermal currents coming off the hillsides.

Although large and impressive, Kites mainly scavenge on dead animals, small mammals and invertebrates such as beetles and earthworms.

Labels: bird spotting, red kite

Windsor Boys' School will be involved in a four-year partnership with Eton College.

According to the BBC, Schools Minister Andrew Adonis announced partnerships as a "new era for independent/state schools partnerships. " The purpose is to share sixth form expertise, including "raising aspirations" about university applications.

Eton has recently come under fire over its charitable status designation and is actively pursuing policies such as this that demonstrate how it helps a wider community and why it should retain that status.

Labels: college, education, eton, School, Windsor Boys

For the past 18 months the gas meter meter at the Jolly Gardeners pub in Old Windsor, Berkshire has wrongly been measuring consumption in feet rather than metres. This led to bills of close to £2,000 per month in winter and the Landlord had to turn off the heating, resulting in loss of business. British Gas now admit the mistake and have offered £500 compensation. However the pub Landlord has asked them to rethink that offer which he does not believe represents a fair settlement of the matter. Didn't we go metric in the early seventies? You might think the gas people could have sorted things out after close to 40 years.

Labels: British Gas, Jolly Gardeners, Old Windsor

This year (2008) the giant Ferris Wheel will once again stand in Alexanrdra Gardens from 28 June to Sunday 2 November.

Labels: ferris, windsor wheel

According to The Sun newspaper (sic), one of this season's characters appearing on the tv show "The Apprentice" has been allegedly behaving badly with a young lady in a back alley in Windsor.

What the Sun fails to ask is why the soldiers weren't called out from the barracks to march this young man off to Slough straight away?

Alright, having an occassional fumble down the Goswells is something we may all regret in our pasts, but ... appearing on The Apprentice? Oh, the shame of it!

Labels: Apprentice