Chorleywood’s Chaps in Hats don’t miss much. From their daily coffee spot outside The Buzz on the corner of Lower Road, they keep an eye on the goings on in the village.
During the summer a 27 ton articulated lorry delivering to the Coop hit the wall of neighbouring business, Wright Bathroom Centre.
The accident sparked off a morning discussion about the extent and frequency of deliveries to the supermarket. The general consensus was that our roads are no longer suitable for such heavy vehicles and that something should be done about it.
The gents didn’t stop at thinking. The following day they acted by contacting the Co-op’s head office as well as one of their distributors, Blakemore, suggesting to both that vehicles should be changed to smaller lorries and deliveries restricted to once a day – between 7am and 9am. Just a week later (25 August) both organisations adopted the recommendation of fewer deliveries using smaller vehicles. Result!
A couple of weeks ago a lady named Sarah stopped to thank the Chap in Hats. Sarah’s mother had wanted to move back to Chorleywood to live near her daughter but her partner Duncan was very reluctant, considering Chorleywood to be too “posh”. Then, on a visit to Sarah’s home in Chorleywood, the couple came into the village, Duncan met the Chaps and following a conversation with them he changed his mind, having decided that “Chorleywood does have ‘proper’ people.” Their property is now up for sale, they are house hunting in Chorleywood and Duncan’s priority on arrival will be to join the group.
The Chaps in Hats are doing a grand job.