Hall Paths
Reference having been made in this column some time ago to the paths in the Hall Grounds and the very small measure of comfort that attaches to walking over beach stones, I think it is only fair to draw attention to the fact that some improvement is now being effected. This question has been under consideration for some time, and it has been decided, in time, to give the paths the benefit of some judicious treatment. Early this week the stones were carefully swept off the main path leading from the entrance to the Hall, leaving the bare surface to dry in the sun (if any). Later the whole area is to be specially treated and gravelled and it is hoped that it will be similar to an asphalt path. This will certainly be a much needed improvement and make the approach to the upper parts of the grounds easier for older people and invalids. Writing about the Hall reminds me of one or two other matters. I noticed that a neat low fence has been erected on the left hand side of the path from the entrance thus shutting off the woodland glades. I should like to make a reference also to the wonderful sight which the kitchen garden has presented. (It was at its best something over a week ago!) I do not think I have ever seen such a magnificent blaze of colour, and the rambler roses on the far wall were a glorious sight. Now they have faded and have been cut down; how are the mighty fallen! It would be difficult to imagine a more typically English garden and I should like to know just how many varieties of flowers were to be seen blooming there. At present I think the lavender takes first prize with a beautiful overpowering scent.

A Holiday Mystery
I have been trying to find out why the Urban District Council held its August meeting this week. The second Wednesday in the month is the normal day of meeting, but from the time when the bug of enthusiasm for civic business first sharpened its teeth on my cranium it has been the custom to defer the August meeting until the third Wednesday, the understanding being that members wanted their holidays like ordinary human beings, and could not be expected to attend committee meetings in the early part of the month. So I said to a councillor who ought to have known, “Why this departure from the time-honoured rule of postponement?” All he could say was that the Clerk approved it, and that committee meetings were held early in order to keep August Week clear of business. He seemed almost to have forgotten that in other years the decks could not be cleared until the third week. I believe there is mystery behind all this. I very nearly believe that Councillors are a declining race, denuded of their ancestral hereditaments and totally unable to find the kudos for a fortnight at Southend. Or is it that, having opened Rushden Hall, they have confirmed their flattering speeches by camping in the avenue? They may cloak themselves in secrecy, but you can’t get away from the fact that seventeen of them were seated round the table on Wednesday.

Further damage to windows at Rushden Hall has been reported to the police.

Greenhouses at Rushden Hall can be inspected by the public on Sunday afternoons.

Young vandals smash restored hall
“If it wasn’t for us, this place would go to rack and ruin,” asserted a Rushden pensioner, referring to the vandalism at The Hall, where restoration of the centuries-old building has just cost the Urban Council nearly £5,000.

Seventy pensioners use the building every day for their reading, card games and darts, and they feel it is only their presence, particularly on Saturdays and Sundays, that is a deterrent to worse damage being committed.

As quickly as window panes are replaced, youths smash them again with sticks and stones. The improvised games room is one example; it would be cosily warm with its stove for heating if it were not for the continual draughts from the shattered windows – the majority composed of small diamond panes.

Most of the damage is inflicted by mischievous hands – and senseless heads – at the week-ends. Last week-end another half-dozen panes, a globe and two gas mantles were wrecked.

“On Sunday morning there were four or five boys, aged about 14, playing about in the next room,” one of the pensioners told us (he was referring to the room near the main entrance containing valuable wood carvings). “and we asked them to be quiet. The next thing we knew, they had smashed the globe and were running across the park.”

The globe was one of the new gas fittings only installed this autumn.

Two mantles over the dartboards – they were purchased 10 days previously from the pensioners’ penny-a-week fund – were found smashed on Saturday morning.

No respect

The men remonstrate with the boys when they find them fooling around the premises, but the boys show little respect.

The incidents described show that appeals and warnings from the Council have little or no effect, for it was at last week’s meeting that Coun. E. E. Newell, as chairman of the Parks Committee, announced serious vandalism and said that offenders would be prosecuted.

To the “Echo and Argus,” Mr. Newell said that the trouble began after new windows were put in two months ago as part of the restoration scheme.

“The Council takes a strong view of the matter,” he said, “and is prepared to take the necessary steps to quell it.”

Townspeople who deplore these depredations may well imagine that when so much is known about the culprits and their habits the protection of the Hall will soon be effective.

Although Rushden Urban Council has just footed a bill for nearly £5,000 for restoration of Rushden Hall, windows are continually smashed by boys. The vandalism is viewed with grave concern by the Council. In the picture one of the pensioners who use the premises points out the latest damage.