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Our views were ignored

When more than 100 households in the surrounding locality to Freeman’s Meadow formed a community group nearly 10 years ago and worked closely with Henley Town Council to make the improvements that have been maintained and enjoyed there to this day, there was a widely and publicly stated agreement that Freeman’s should remain a relatively undeveloped open green space of natural character, for passive recreation and quiet enjoyment of the residential community this land-locked area serves.

Fast forward nine years and, such is the strength of feeling against formal permission being granted for regular organised football training to take place on Freeman’s, with floodlights and no facilities to support it, all of which are completely alien to the natural character of this environment and its current use, more than 30 objectors bothered enough to turn out on a Tuesday evening and attend the committee hearing to voice their concern. Yet still our town councillors gave permission to the football club for a trial period.

The fact that councillors chose to disregard this strength of feeling of the townsfolk it serves brings their intentions into sharp focus, leaving the impression this decision was a fait accompli.

The consensus view of most respondents on the subject remains firmly that there are far more suitable sporting venues.

Indeed, it has come to light since the committee meeting that availability has been released at the Henley Rugby Club pitches on a Wednesday evening, which the Exiles have immediately taken up and so the matter is resolved for now.

If you are interested in this topic or generally in Freeman’s Meadow and wish to comment further, please send your views to friendsoffree mansmeadow@gmail.com where they will be treated in complete confidence, anonymously and included in the record on this or other subjects going forward as they arise.

Freeman’s Meadow
Community Group

Learning from differences

Sir, — The Rev Mark Taylor, minister at Stoke Row Chapel, asserts (Thought for the Week, Standard, October 17) that scripture is “God’s truth” and unchangeable.

Christians should, therefore, follow it, even if the “truth” is unwelcome. However, he fails to consider that the definition of “scriptural truth” depends upon the considered understanding of believers.

This varies to the extent that different churches, groups and sects have decided that their particular understanding necessitates broadly excluding themselves from other believers, hence Stoke Row Chapel.

It would be most helpful if Rev Taylor would respond to the following questions:

1. Why is he so certain that his understanding of scripture is the right one?

2. What explanation does he have for the widely varying understandings as devoutly held as his own?

3. Are other believers “bending the gospel”? If so, why has the Holy Spirit allowed this grievous error to develop and continue? — Yours faithfully,

Douglas Kedge

Lea Road, Sonning Common

Rev Mark Taylor responds: “I am thankful to Mr Kedge for thoughtfully engaging with my recent Thought for the Week and for raising important questions — ones many genuine seekers and fellow Christians have contemplated. First, you ask why I am so certain about my understanding of scripture.

“I must admit, my conviction is always held with humility. I believe the Bible is ‘God-breathed’ and trustworthy and I do my best — through study, conversation and prayer — to remain faithful to its teachings. However, I understand that my interpretation is influenced by many factors: tradition, personal experience and the community I share with others.

“I see myself as part of a much longer story of believers seeking God’s wisdom over centuries. I aim to hold my convictions honestly, while listening carefully to Christian voices past and present.

“Second, you acknowledge that devoted believers and churches sometimes reach different conclusions, which can lead to separation.

“You are correct — disagreements can and do occur, just as they did among the earliest disciples. These differences serve as a reminder of our human limitations and challenge us to maintain humility and openness.

“At Stoke Row Chapel, our specific character is not meant to be exclusionary, but rather an effort to live faithfully in light of our understanding, while also valuing and respecting the wider community of Christian believers. I am fully aware that unity does not require uniformity, and I share the hope that, even amid diversity, we ‘make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace’ (Ephesians 4:3).

“Third, you question whether other believers are ‘bending the gospel’ and how the Holy Spirit enables such differences.

“Scripture itself warns about the danger of straying from the core of the gospel and urges us all to practise patience, gentleness and a readiness to be corrected by God’s Word.

“The Holy Spirit continues to guide the church, sometimes correcting us through challenges and other times through unexpected insights from others.

“I do not see myself as in a position to judge the sincerity of others, and I believe God is always at work, patiently inviting us all into greater truth and deeper love for one another. I also want to acknowledge that any sense of division or exclusion in the church’s history causes real pain — something I sincerely regret.

“My hope for Stoke Row Chapel is not to isolate ourselves but to use our gifts within the wider fellowship of Christ’s church, with a spirit of welcome and cooperation.

“Thank you, Mr Kedge, for voicing these essential concerns. I welcome ongoing honest, respectful dialogue. May our churches always be places where truth and charity are both treasured and where our unity in Christ is demonstrated — even as we learn from our differences.”

Unsupported assertions

Editor, — Does Tim Davies’s contribution to your pages (Standard, October 10) represent the reignition of the flame of the Conservative torch, or is it another damp squib?

The disordered thinking shown by his second paragraph provides a clue. I wonder what responsibility he thinks Freddie van Mierlo and our local councillors have for the increase to the national living wage and the raised employer national insurance contribution and what he suggests they should be doing about it?

Fighting one’s way past Mr Davies’s praise for Buckinghamshire County Council’s supposedly faultless stewardship, we come crashing into the non-sequitur of his frankly silly, unsupported assertion that the only party with
“pro-business instincts in its bones” is the Conservative Party. Well really, where to start? Which party did Boris Johnson, who famously exclaimed “(expletive deleted) business”, belong to?

We can reasonably surmise that the sort of businesses Mr Davies is pro to his bones are those that seek to pay such low wages that the taxpayer needs to top them up, businesses that don’t trade with Europe and firms run by “good” Conservatives like PPE Medpro.

Even with a government as error-prone as this one, it’ll be a long road back for the Conservatives if Mr Davies’s analysis of our problems is typical of them. And a dead-end road at that. — Yours faithfully,

Andy Robertson

Woodcote

No joined up thinking

Sir, — With the Peppard road in Caversham closed for roadworks, who allowed the Henley Road and Reading bridge roadworks to happen at the same time?

It appears no one is in charge to co-ordinate roadworks in Reading or maybe they just want to stop people from Oxfordshire visiting Reading. — Yours faithfully,

Peter Rendell

Tanners Lane, Chalkhouse Green

Infrastructure is failing us

Sir, — I hear the hosepipe ban is to be extended in the Thames Valley area. Could I suggest that this obvious failure of infrastructure instead lead to a halt on the building of any new houses or to the introduction of new reservoirs in the area. — Yours faithfully,

Sophie O’Sullivan

Henley

Thoughts on my butterfly

Sir, — As the author of the butterfly photographs (Standard, September 19), the captions of which received recent criticism, I would like to clarify my decision in naming one of them a wall brown.

The photograph was taken on Maidensgrove Common on July 8, 2025. When I cropped and sharpened it I initially thought it was a gatekeeper. However, closer examination made me conclude otherwise.

1. There is a row of eyespots on the hindwing. These are not found on a gatekeeper but can be seen in Tony Chandler’s photograph of a wall brown (Standard, October 3).

2. There is a pattern of dark line across the forewing. Unfortunately Tony C’s picture is overexposed and this feature cannot be seen.

3. Two guide books that I consulted show both features on a wall brown butterfly.

4. The same guide books do not mention a limited range for this butterfly. Furthermore global warming is changing the locations of many species.

My hope is that by submitting nature photographs to the Henley Standard it will encourage families to examine their environment more closely and look for the same flora and fauna for themselves. Spend more time looking at nature and less time watching IT screens. — Yours faithfully,

Tony Taylor

Knappe Close, Henley

Squirrels don’t like rain...

Sir, — It was interesting to read Amanda Stewart’s letter about her observing a lack of grey squirrels this autumn.

With plenty of food this year the squirrel population will multiply rapidly so expect them to be abundant in 2026.

What went wrong for squirrels over 2024/25? Last year was a very wet year and squirrels don’t like rain. Also, the crop of acorns and beech nuts was very low.

Trees naturally have a series of poor nut years and this reduces the population of animals that eat the nuts. Then an abundant year, a mast year, where some of the nuts will be left to make new trees. Isn’t that clever of the trees! — Yours faithfully,

Andrew Hawkins

Henley tree warden

...But they do like Caversham

Sir, — I think that Checkendon’s squirrels have migrated to Caversham.

We are overrun with them. So much so that I have given up planting my pots with bulbs.

Despite chicken wire, chilli powder and other deterrents for the last two years I have lost all my bulbs in my 12 pots.

It is too expensive for me to keep them happy and busy so this year I have pansies, cyclamen and polyanthus. — Yours faithfully,

Anne Smith

Upper Warren Avenue, Caversham

Festival was joy to witness

Another Henley Literary Festival is over. The last day always feels like the end of a very enjoyable holiday — you would like it to last a bit longer. And that despite the festival having been extended to nearly 10 days. This year we were spoiled for choice.

My highlights include three awesome women: Lady Hale, whose commitment to public service and equality in law for all citizens is admirable, Anne Sebba, with her story of the women’s orchestra in Auschwitz told with great sensitivity and tact, and Mary Beard who, to me, a somewhat reluctant former student of secondary school Latin, turned out a revelation. I particularly enjoyed her lack of squeamishness in choice of terminology and in her comments on Roman emperors from quite a feminist perspective. I simply didn’t expect to be entertained so much.

Generally speaking, female heroines and subjects got plenty of spotlight this year. We had Sonia Purnell with her fascinating account of the life of Pamela Harriman, regarded as the most influential courtesan in history, whom Frank Sinatra described as “a wearer of all shoes”. I am looking forward to the book on her “strategic sex life”.

Another female speaker on an apparently serious subject but also with lots of sex thrown in was Dr Nussaibah Younis describing her time working as a UN peacebuilder in Iraq. She shared her Book Club session with Esther Freud who was presenting her latest account of family relations and tribulations. The whole hour was unexpectedly a laugh a minute.

And we had Sarah Vine, the former Mrs Gove. She has done her best to dispel the stereotype of a good Tory wife — Vine certainly had no intention of organising tombolas, baking cakes and sacrificing her own career on the altar of her husband’s politics.

Vine wasn’t top of my list of authors to read but I’ve changed my mind. This book will provide a few laughs.

Talking about Tory women, I have to mention Iain Dale with his short biography of Margaret Thatcher, designed to fill a modern history gap for young people.

Dale’s book about Mrs Thatcher is joining our two other biographies in the same series: Tony Blair by Steve Richards and Harold Wilson by Alan Johnson. Alan gave us a revealing account of this Labour prime minister who deserves to be remembered.

However, if I was to give a bunch of flowers to one person I saw in Henley last week I would not hesitate — the biggest bunch of flowers would go to Jo Hamilton, the victim and survivor (and I do mean survivor) of the Post Office scandal.

The dignity, strength of character and sheer stoicism this woman has shown deserves utmost respect. Her words “what they’ve done was so wrong” will forever resonate with everyone who was in that room listening to Jo’s story.

I’ve been coming to the Henley Literary Festival for 1
8 years and, for the first time, I saw the audience spontaneously getting to their feet to give that brave woman a well-deserved standing ovation.

Going back to my festival highlights — some were unexpected.

I went to the session with Thant Myint-U out of sentiment for my student days and membership of the United Nations Student Association.

It proved a fascinating hour with a grandson of the fondly remembered Secretary General of the UN (U Thant served two five-year terms), historian and a great speaker. The interviewer was Daniel Hahn, my favourite festival interviewer, who knows how to gently and humorously get the most from his interlocutors.

In this case the conversation expanded into the reasons for the marginalisation of the organisation in the past couple of decades, and the need for more charismatic leadership.

And another high point — Jonathan Freedland, for whom I decided to sacrifice a very tempting hour with Raymond Blanc. It was worth it.

Freedland’s new book about a little known episode in Second World War history devoted to a group of anti-Hitler plotters promises to be a very good read.

Finally, Jung Chang and her long awaited sequel to Wild Swans — what a story, what a life.

There were also lighter, thoroughly entertaining moments: Gyles Brandreth with his book about the Milne family, Christopher Robin and, of course, Winnie-the-Pooh, full of interesting and quirky facts, which of course necessitated a purchase of yet another book.

Also, recently discovered by me, Rev Richard Coles, with whom I had a lovely chat about the marvellous qualities of dachshunds. Two such distinctive sausage characters, Cosmo and Hilda, feature prominently in his books.

In the separate category of culinary entertainment I can’t fail to name Jay Rayner, who should seriously consider a new career as a stand-up comedian.

Apart from Jay’s event I went to two other sessions focused on food. One was a rather serious-sounding one: Mariella Frostrup and Belles Berry and their recipes designed to improve the health of menopausal women turned out to be good fun.

I flipped through the book without the slightest intention of buying but, guess what? It wasn’t at all what I expected — no zero-fat yoghurt dressing or 10-calorie muesli breakfast. I am quite sure that my daughter and I will put the book to good use.

The same day in the evening I got another cookery book, this time by Berry senior, the 90-year-old awesome Dame Mary. I am convinced this book is going to be used very often in our house. No need to resort to Google. Bryony Gordon as an interviewer turned out to be a hoot and Dame Mary was admirable, a walking advert to the quality of her cooking.

This year must have been a record one for ticket sales. I’ve never seen a longer queue in Phyllis Court than the one before the session with Graham Norton — and what a treat it was.

That record queue was closely followed by the one for David Suchet. What a thoroughly nice speaker he is and what a story he told of his own life as well as that of Agatha Christie. In these stressful times it is nice to spend an hour with a thoroughly happy man.

My husband and I and quite a few of our friends are pretty devoted to the festival. I am, in fact, an addict. We enjoy sharing our impressions in between talks over numerous cups of tea and coffee and the inevitable cakes, sometimes over drinks or lunch.

Henley has quite a lot to offer. The newly opened cosy tea room at the Relais Henley hotel is such a friendly setting and has wonderful home-baked cakes. And some of us even managed to throw in some serious shopping.

A big thank-you for all this fun to the organisers and all the fantastic volunteers, always patient and helpful, never short of a smile or a joke, and a special acknowledgement to the wonderful Ryan clan who created this magnificent festival.

A personal thank-you from us to Virginia, Saskia and Bryony who can sort out any problem. Here’s to the next, anniversary year!

Magda Ralphs

Caversham