Reporter’s diary.

Press, 15 July 1982, Page 2

Reporter’s diary.

Footwork. IS THE Incredible Hulk hobbling around town? Is there a large leprechaun with only one toot? Those were the questions posed a colleague when he saw a<- huge green foot (pictured) .poking out of a. city dustbin bn his way to work. He passed it, as no doubt had countless other city workers disembarking from their buses in Cathedral Square: But, being an inquisitive chap and always on the look-out for gimmicks to festoon his garage walls, he returned. But no, it was no Christchurch - yeti,, but a hanging advertising sign from Sporting Feet, a specialist shoe . shop in Shades Arcade. "Have we lost a foot?" said the lass on receipt of the telephone

“I'll check... yes, it looks like it,” The foot is back in place. Close-knit A-SMALL town like Cromwell has its own way of accommodating the inevitable conflicts over the Clyde high dam. The town’s Mayor, Peter Mead, wants a high dam at Clyde, yet he re- . mains a close friend of some of the appellants to the Clutha water right. His son is taught music by one of the appellants, whose husband is the chairman of directors of a Cromwell company of which Mr Mead is secretary. Another of the appellants is , the brother of the president of the Cromwell Business Association, who wants a high darn built. One appellant has even got his name down on the Ministry of Works’ waiting list for a job oh the dam site, where his . father and brother are both already employed. "We’ve got different viewpoints, but in a small community we don’t get particularly worked up about them,” said Mr Mead. “We are all still talking to each other." ■ Memory Lane WITH THE clearance of superflous outhouses from the courtyard of the Provincial Government buildings, it is ’ planned to reinstate the surveyors’ chain measure which formerly was an unobtrusive • but important feature of the area. It is hoped to find someone with a long memory who can recall — or has a record of .— - the form of marker used to a indicate the standard chain” . measure. , There. was; another chain

marked on the high kerb on the south side of Armagh Street outside the Provincial building. Details of either or both of these would be gratefully accepted by W. J. A. Brittenden (telephone 557610) before and after office hours. ; x Royal lines MANUFACTURERS have been quick to cash in on the birth of the Royal baby. But the event has not been marked only by souvenirs. Mr Thomas Kershaw, of Bryndwr, had written a 28line poem to commemorate the event. He has sent it to the Governor-General (Sir David Beatty) with the request that it be passed on to the Royal parents. Ice mail SIR RANULPH FIENNES, the leader of the Trans-globe expedition, hopes to be back in England in September. He and his party have been circling -the globe, by both poles. He has been to both now. Mr John Leversedge, of Christchurch, editor of “Fact” a magazine aimed at schoolchildren 'throughout New Zealand, sent a congratulatory card to Sir Ranulph. The card was delivered by ski plane to the ice Hoe on which the explorer was travelling south's from the North Pole. His acknowledgement' was .written at. Nord, in north-east Greenland. and postmarked in Spitzbergen. The. postmark, decorated with a reindeer, ■: helpfully includes- the longitude of its post office, Lonyearbyen — 70 degrees, , 12 minutes. 28 secpnds North. | Mr Leversedge wrote to Sir '

i Ranulph about six weeks ago. The reply was written on July 1, postmarked on July 3, and reached Christchurch on July 13. Funny bone A YOUNG lady was recently admitted to Christchurch Hospital with an injury to an elbow says the North Canterbury Hospital Board's publication, "Pulse.” The account says: "The house surgeon’s history of this injury reads as follows: ‘At a wedding reception at the Chateau and went to try out the honeymoon suite bed with others. Bouncing up and down and she got bounced backwards off bed, landing on. arm. Bingo! Fortunately she is not the bride, but what a wedding present... (it was a good, bed).’-Considering that these notes were written at 6 o'clock in the morning, the house surgeon in question obviously has a great sense of humour, an important asset in a doctor." Market survey THE “GUARDIAN” newspaper in England has reported oh the reading habits ' of inmates of Nottingham Prison. Disregarding, it says, "Mayfair,” "Penthouse” and “Men Only,” the most popular magazine is "Country Life.” The writer, Alan Rusbridger, says that.it is not "A Countryman’s Notes" which attracts the readers. It is not the column on ballet, or other special articles. “It is simply that the boys behind bars like to keep track of such things as the movements of the money classes, the disposition ~of large empty properties and the price of Georgian silverware,”