Whispering Smith published in the Littlehampton Gazette June 20th. 2013

THE RESCUED barn owl I told you about a couple of months back has now been released back into the wild at Long Furlong where he was found, familiar territory for him. It was a great effort by WADARS and Brent Lodge to restore him back to full health. Animal charities, like so many of the unfortunate animals we profess to care for are feeling the harshness of these trying times and any help you can give to either organisation will be well worth while. Barny is back in the wilderness where he belongs an evening shadow hunting a distant hedgerow.

ARUN District Council are to be congratulated on their strong initiative to clear the town of dog fowling and prosecute those who show no concern to other footway or open space users. On my daily walk, especially along the promenade, Pier and River Roads, there has been a very remarkable improvement.

HAVING no cinema of our own I drove to the Brighton and visited the super new Komedia Picturehouse to see Man Of Steel, an excellent movie and probably the noisiest film I have ever seen, and I forgot to take my cell phone. After the show I visited the coffee bar alone and dejected, no calls to make, no texts or emails to check, no Scrabble with friends, no Angry Birds to play, misery, I couldn’t wait to get home. How have we come to rely so heavily upon such a tiny piece of electronic junk?

CLLR Alan Gammon tells me that there are allotment sites available. Getting an allotment is one of the best moves I ever made, I get a lot from it and have met old friends and made new ones. Apply but remember it is a commitment and to start with, really hard work and very time consuming. The best use of time is little and often and better than one mad dig then staying away for weeks on end, that usually means starting all over again as weeds wait for no man!

EMAILED our MP Nick Gibb a few weeks back asking his views on the badger cull but he did not respond. Not really surprised as I note from the voting record that he voted against the Opposition motion which called for a halt to the cull.