SUCCESS: That surely understates the festival in the village which lasted nine days.

The flowers in the church were out of this world and the open gardens were great.

Then, of course, Sunday, July 17, saw the great Old Basing Duck Race. I couldn't get there, but two of my deputies stood in for me.

Katie Roberts, seven, and her sister Rachel, one, did the business and reported back to me. In their own words they said there were about 300 people there, and that they weren't real ducks, they were yellow with numbers on their bellies.

SOMETHING special: On Saturday, July 24, there will be a jazz night at the home of the Godesens at 71 The Street. The Graeme Hewitt High Society Jazz Band will be stomping away.

Tickets are £17, with the opportunity of taking your own picnics, and are available from Sue Offord, at 58a The Street.

VILLAGE show: You should be really well into growing your entries for the show but, no doubt, the kiddies haven't made a start yet. Sit them down and get their ideas for a miniature garden. They have 10 weeks left.

POSTAL depression: The village is suffering at the moment with what I believe to be a less-than-acceptable postal service.

Maria Ashworth has publicly aired her concerns. I have suffered with mis-delivered post and agency postal workers asking their way.

From my experience, if you voice a complaint, nothing happens, and it seems an individual complaint goes nowhere.

If you have a complaint, call me or send me an e-mail to cmullet@supanet.com

I will collate them and submit them to Postwatch on a monthly basis. Perhaps, then, it will be realised what problems we have.