We were concerned to hear of two recent planning applications affecting WALNUT COTTAGE, 30 Sandfield Road. Although not a listed building, we have always thought that this is one of the most attractive houses in Gateacre - and that, along with its neighbours, it contributes very much to the character of the Gateacre Village Conservation Area.

The first application (ref.08T/2518) proposes pruning of trees within the garden, including 'crown lifting' of the very distinctive walnut tree which gives the cottage its name. The second application (ref.08H/2885) proposes the insertion of UPVC replacement windows and a UPVC door.

We have been notified by the Planning Department that, despite our objection, permission has been granted for the work to the walnut tree (though not for crown lifting of the nearby sessile oak tree). A decision on the windows/door application is still awaited.

We have been told by the publishers that our long-awaited book - which is to be entitled 'Gateacre and Belle Vale in Old Photographs' - is scheduled for release in September 2009. We are very grateful to all those members and friends who, in response to previous appeals, have allowed us to borrow, copy and use their postcards and other pictures of Gateacre people and places. We have to supply the publishers with all the material by the end of March, and Beryl Plent is currently hard at work preparing the captions. If you have - or know of - any further photographs which you feel are of particular interest, please let Beryl know as soon as possible.

We have also been contacted by the author of a new book, to be published in 2010, about the history of the Irish National Stud. This will include a biography of William Hall Walker - of Gateacre Grange - who bred his racehorses in Tully, County Kildare, and in 1916 presented his Stud to the (then British) government. The significance of 2010 is that it marks the centenary of Walker's Japanese Garden - nowadays open to the public as part of the Irish National Stud Museum - which is regarded as one of the finest in Europe. The whole Walker story is a fascinating one - he had horoscopes prepared at the birth of each foal, and only retained those whose prospects were deemed favourable - and we shall be supplying the author with information and contacts to ensure that the Gateacre connection is not overlooked.