ALSO this week: Jake becomes an uncle, the dangers of wheelie bins and the perils of parking legally

STILL HERE

WHAT has Cambridgeshire County Council in common with Tesco?

The answer is that they both do their best to ignore Soham.

Some time ago it was noticed that the large map outside the Ely grocers showed all of the communities in and around Ely, but didn’t name the largest, in fact the only, town in East Cambs.

Now the county council seems to have taken this as its lead and has issued a leaflet entitled “Wicken Way – Visit Wicken and Soham”.

According to the town council Soham rates but one sentence in the whole publication. Which is a little surprising as Soham boasts probably the longest network of footpaths in the county. Some of which even go to Wicken.

Not to worry, there are signs and markers enough to guide visitors in, around and through our little town.

HAPPY DAYS

JAKE the spaniel is a happy chappie at the moment. He’s just become an uncle for the first time, or he would have done if such relationships were not so species specific.

His owner’s son has just become the proud father of a boy which, as his owner is always referred to as “mum”, must make him an uncle of some sort.

Jake is looking forward to taking the little chap on long walks around Soham when he visits. He may even share the delights of staring at the ducks on Brook Dam but thinks he will keep the infinite pleasures of hedgerow smells to himself until he’s a bit older.

WRONG PLACE

I NOTICED that my friends the PCSOs were out and about again last Monday.

One obviously thought she’d got another customer as she was dashing across Pratt Street, pad in hand, towards a vehicle parked outside the hairdressers.

I bet the chap who had his Mercedes van stolen from the recreation ground car park that day wished that he’d left it on the street so that he could keep an eye on it and possibly get a bit of protection from the forces of law and order. As it was it disappeared.

Should you come across it, a silver Vito registration KJ04 MWP. Please call the non-emergency police number, 101.

That’s apparently what you get for parking legally!

BEWARE BINS

SO it looks as if we will be getting wheelie bins by the end of the year now that East Cambridgeshire District Council has secured £5million from the government to pay for them.

I can’t see Mrs of Soham and I filling one of these things within a fortnight, we never seem to fill a black bag these days and I doubt we would be able to drag it across the gravel drive if it were full, anyway.

I’d never realised how dangerous these things were until I saw the item in last week’s Standard about the ferret in Waterbeach that became trapped in one.

The last thing you need when you’re disposing of rubbish is to be confronted by angry wildlife!

FIND OUT

THERE is a chance to find out what’s going on and, possibly more importantly, what’s proposed in Soham at the meeting of the Forum next week. It takes place in the pavilion at 7.30pm.

One innovation brought in by the Forum was the notice boards sited around town where local organisations can have an A5 poster of their forthcoming event displayed for free.

At the moment they don’t seem to be being used as well as they might - on Monday I counted four notices on the Fordham Road one.

Notices should be taken to the town council offices in the Pavilion any weekday morning.

GOOD LUCK

AS one who gets giddy in thick socks, let alone even thinking about a cliff or a high building, I take my hat off to Soham woman Lauren Payne who is proposing to bungee jump from 160ft strapped to her father, John, to raise money for motor neurone disease and the Arthur Rank Hospice.

I certainly wish her all the luck in the world as I keep both feet firmly planted on Mother Earth.

To support Lauren with a donation for these two excellent causes call Sanctuary Home Care on 01905 334882.

FOLLOW JAKE

THIS week Jake is walking across Soham’s most westerly common. As he gets closer to the horsefen he comes across Mill Grove. What exactly is Mill Grove?

Two weeks ago Jake was walking along the part of Station Road that used to be called Pump Lane when he noticed a house called Tenby Lodge.