Retired Tatsfield doctor with a number of strings to his bow helps with the vaccination programme

By Dave Bishop

Family talent

Last week’s community news included the story of local Tatsfield lady and retired school teacher, Jan Akhtar, and the way that she had written a wonderful children’s story book titled Snail loses his shell.

Readers who read and saw that story have said that it made them feel nice to read about such local talent and, best of all, it cheered them up.

So many of us have had an awful year and as one Tatsfielder said: “even the Archers on BBC’s Radio 4 has gone downhill so much that instead of the signature tune being “dum-ti-dum-ti-dum-ti-dum,” it should be “doof-doof–doof” instead.

So it was, when out on a morning visit to our local Sheree’s Tea Shop and Stores to buy my copy of the Surrey Mirror, I met the retired Dr Aslam Akhtar (above) and his wife Jan out with their walking machine i.e. their lovely dog, Sophie.

Pleasantries were exchanged and the doctor told me this story: “I have been working at Orpington Well Being Clinic where I have been injecting or vaccinating for the Covid-19 with the Pfizer vaccine, which is very fragile and has to be handled very carefully.

"It takes a little while because, unlike flu, you have to be careful with the procedure and how you handle this vaccine.”

He went on: “So I did my bit and gave this elderly lady the vaccine and, whilst I was doing this, she told me that she had been careful and self-isolating since March last year. As soon as it was done, she said to me 'well doctor, now that that’s finished' (and whipping her mask off) 'can I give you a kiss and a cuddle and have a party?' I replied (horrified) 'no madam, on both counts you can’t do either'!”

And he went on to quietly explain to her more details of how it all works, which shows what a cracking doctor he still is. This doctor Aslam Akhtar has a number of strings to his bow including the building of a shepherd's hut, a pizza oven, two wood stores, a veranda, a rocking horse and various pieces of indoor and outdoor furniture. His family nickname is 'project man.'

Tatsfield’s woodworker

Considering this unhappy Covid time, it is good news to hear that local Tatsfielder’s are making the best of their time by branching out from their normal day jobs and trying something else to make some cash.

One person who has done just that is David Bacon who lives at number 1 Pond Cottage on Westmore Green.

David stopped working after completing some 30 years of trying to make a living in his taxi business and went right back to his original trade of a woodworker.

He has equipped himself with a superb workshop with almost every machine and tool one can visualise necessary for the design and making all sorts of bird tables.

The finished results vary in price from just £30 and upwards. They are a quality-first item and he has explained that he can do almost anything to order. For instance, should you happen to need a pergola, just tell him your needs and he will do the rest.

David has recently branched out and in the front of his and his wife’s Abi’s house, he has now added some coloured bird nesting boxes and different shaped hedgehog houses. All one has to do with these houses is  to fill them with straw and leave the rest to the prickly things.