Reporter’s diary

Press, 15 January 1986, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Cycle sign A RANGIORA man who drives to the city regularly says this sign at the northern end of the Northern Motorway, south of Woodend, does not seem to be doing the trick. He says a growing number of cyclists are using the motorway. Many of them are from overseas, and could miss the sign because it is small. He. worried about both himself and the cyclists when he had to avoid them. He had seen three cyclists on the motorway at one time. The Ministry of Transport does not agree with his version of events. An officer who spent three years in the rural area, including the motorway, and returned recently said he saw only one cyclist during that time, «md told him to get off.

was a problem, it would have been raised before now. The sign is a standard size in accordance with National Roads Board regulations. The commuter who questioned cycle use of the highway said the sign could be missed by pedalling tourists with their heads down and their bottoms up. Buggy WARD 24 at Christchurch Hospital, the ward for children with developmental problems, is looking for one or two collapsible baby buggies with rubber wheels so that patients can be taken more easily on visits around the city. The buggies will be used for children aged three and up. Patients are now taken to places such as the library by car, then have to walk from a parking space.

They could be taken further if buggies were available. If anyone has a buggy that is no longer needed, the ward can be reached through us. Last cats

GEORGE and John Waine’s Men’s Hairdressing Salon, a mainstay of Hereford Court and the remodelled Whitcoulls Arcade for many years, will close on Friday. George Waine, who has been cutting hair and running the shop for 63 years, will finally retire properly. His son John, who has been working in the salon for 38 years, will work for the Bank of New Zealand as a bank driver. He says that he likes meeting people and will miss his customers, but it is time to get out and about. He has been trying to sell the salon and has had a few nibbles, but there have been no buyers. He will close and wait to see what happens. He has been cutting the hair of Christ’s College boys, at the school and in the salon, since 1948, and his father did the same before him. Postcard IF YOUR name is Tony Williams and you have a friend from Oran, Algeria, we have a postcard that might interest you. Nahoui Mohamed wonders how you are, and wants you to write. Trouble is, his postcard showing Oran at night was sent to an address in Wise Street which does not exist. The postcard has been shunted around Christchurch and we have been asked to find you. The address of your friend in Algeria is included. The postcard can be picked up from the secretary in the reporters’ room. Cricket women AN ENGLISH match in June will mark the diamond jubilee of .the Women’s Cricket Association, which is reconstructing the costume Wrn by the Maids of

Bramley and the Maids of Hambleton when the first women’s cricket match was held in 1745. That costume probably included calf-high half-hooped skirts, ankleconcealing pantaloons and red or blue hair ribbons denoting the team. Women adopted overarm bowling, later adopted by men in 1807, because of the hooped skirts. They also had the first World Cup and the first player to score 100 runs and take 10 wickets in the same test match. Women this year will wear modern gear in their jubilee match, but they will have hair ribbons to honour their predecessors. Bombarded IT MUST have looked like a Mack Sennett comedy. Two men tried to rob a bakery in a village near Lyons, France. When they advanced into the shop to steal the day’s takings, the woman owner and her daughter flung a barrage of cream pies and gateaux at the intruders driving them back. They were hit full in the face and stumbled into the street, where they came under attack again. The owner’s grandchildren were waiting there to cream them with another shower of cakes. Not hers GRANDCHILDREN hang around observing and taking it all in. A Rangiora woman recently had her five-year-old granddaughter to stay, an active child who watches everything. While grandma was cleaning her teeth, the girl asked to come in. She was almost speechless when she saw the teeth come out of her grandmothers mouth to be cleaned, but not too speechless to ask why. Her grandmother said they were not her own teeth. “Whose are they, then?” asked the girl It was time to explain to her about false -STAN