Matrimony, music and meddling all meld in Hello Dolly, the spring production from the Kings Langley Light Opera Company which begins its run tomorrow, Tuesday.

There will be performances at the Kings Langley Community Centre in the Nap daily until Saturday, with weekday performances beginning at 7.45pm and two shows on Saturday scheduled for 2.30pm and 7,30pm.

Although it’s hailed as one of the classic Broadway blockbusters of the 1960s, the origins of the Hello Dolly storyline are much older.

The story of a meddling matchmaker and her schemes to engineer marriages, including her own, dates back to the first half of the 19th century.

There were two recorded stage versions before American author Thornton Wilder picked it up in the 1930s. His first attempt was a flop, but when he gave it a facelift and returned in the 1950s with The Matchmaker audiences were much kinder.

It wasn’t long before Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart developed it into an award-winning musical which also became a big cinema hit in 1969.

The central role of Dolly Levi was originally written for Ethel Merman, and although she eventually made her mark on the show the first star was Carol Channing.

Among others to set their seal on a show which includes toe tapping songs like Put on Your Sunday Clothes, Before the Parade Passes By, It Only Takes a Moment and the classic Hello Dolly was female impersonator Danne La Rue.

Gilli Morris-Monk has taken directing and choreography duties for the Kings Langley show, with Clive Swan as musical director.

Tickets are priced from £10 to £14 with concessions for pensioners and students and half price admission price for children under 16..

Call 01442 268839 for box office details or visit the society’s website at www.klloc.co.uk.

Britain steps up to the world cinematic stage with this gorgeously shot, stunningly crafted crime tale that very firmly puts style over substance.

From the very first scene of London by night, you’re in for a jaw-dropping high definition visual overload, the like of which has simply not been seen on screen.

Everything sparkles in a cold, crisp brilliance, and when the camera soars through the city streets, watching a heist getaway and ensuing chase sequence you can feel every cinematic bone fibre of your body reacting to witnessing something a bit special.

James McAvoy is maverick but good cop Max, who has a score to settle with criminal big-wig Sternwood (Mark Strong) after he was shot during a high-stakes heist.

Fate sees Max given the chance to bring Sternwood down when the mobster’s son is being treated in a London hospital. Will Sternwood bite on the bait of trying to free his son from a soft target location and might there be a bigger, nastier conspiracy going on behind the scenes?

The story about Max’s obsession with Sternwood is pure British Heat but alas director Eran Creevy hasn’t quite got the intricate plot and strong dialogue of the Michael Mann masterpiece, so while Welcome To The Punch rocks visually and packs some great action, it doesn’t resonate at a level to make it a classic.

Creevy deserves credit for pulling off such an accomplished film on a medium budget through some very high production values and a decent bunch of actors, but this could have been something really special if the dialogue and character development were better.

The emotional pull/love interest is a weak point. Andrea Riseborough as Sarah, Max’s partner, isn’t given enough to do except ask dim questions that help fill in exposition about the gun-running/political plotline.

Welcome To The Punch certainly references from the best with films like Infernal Affairs, Heat and last year’s Sweeney remake all prominent.

This is a new breed of British crime thriller which moves the genre on from the Guy Ritchie/ Essex Boys years.

There are some really great scenes on offer, with my picks the opening heist, a great nightclub shootout and an absolutely nerve-shredding stand off that all goes very wrong. Welcome To The Punch is definitely worth a look!

More than 100 artists will have their work on display at the 4th Open Art Exhibition to be held at the Luton Hoo Walled Garden.

The free show, on the theme The Garden and Beyond, opens to the public from Friday to Sunday.

Charlotte Phillips, the co-ordinator of the project to restore the historic garden, said: “I am really looking forward to seeing this exhibition. There will be paintings, photographs, sculptures, textiles and lots of other art works. If last year’s show is any indicator, the standard will be very high.”

Visitors can vote for their favourite exhibit, and the garden will also be open.

You can find out more and get directions to the garden online at lhwg.org.uk.

Biking enthusiasts will be pleased to see the launch of a new Berkhamsted cycling shop this month.

Lovelo Cycle Works will open its doors on Monday, March 25 at its new site behind Proffitt & Holt estate agents on the High Street.

The business was the brainchild of Mark Harris and Tim Warrell, both cycling aficionados who have been searching for the right premises for two years.

The shop will provide services, repairs, bike hire, parts and accessories to those who enjoy road, mountain, BMX, commuting or leisure biking.

Tim said: “Berkhamsted and the surrounding villages are home to a huge number of cyclists, so it’s remarkable that there has been no cycle business in the town for over a decade.”

Mark said: “It’s really exciting to have the opportunity to help cycling grow in the area and offer something unique.”

The team are planning a formal opening event for the end of April.

A road had to be closed after a car overturned just before 7.30am on Monday.

The woman driver of the silver Peugeot 206 was uninjured but the car had to be recovered from Red Lion Lane in Hemel Hempstead.

Police closed the road in both directions at 7.45am. It was re-opened just before 8.30am.

Berkhamsted and Hemel Hempstead Hockey Club enjoyed an unbeaten weekend as they continued their strong end to the season.

The men’s first team provided one of the performances of the season by beating high-flying league leaders Luton 3-2, while the third, fourth and fifth teams enjoyed 9-1, 5-2 and 7-0 victories in their respective matches.

The second team drew 0-0 with Letchworth, meaning that the Berkhamsted teams scored a combined 24 goals and let in just five in their five matches.

It was an especially important win for the first XI, whose victory in Luton kept their title hopes alive.

Berko conceded early on but hit back almost immediately through a neat flick from Olie Love.

Pete Allam put Berko in front after the break, before a Luton equaliser levelled things up again.

A draw looked to be on the cards, but Berko pounced again to earn the win 10 minutes from time.

The third team, meanwhile, were in devastating form in front of goal as they thrashed Blueharts V 9-1. James Barron Helped himself to six goals.

The fourth team had Jeremey Steed, Daniel Pryor (2) and Matt Buckley (2) to thank for their win over Southgate Adelaide, while Kieran Baxter (3), Thomas Moorhouse (2), Ed Holderness and Jake Alderson did the damage for the fifth XI at Stevenage.

A thief rang the doorbell of a home to check if anyone was in and when he did not get an answer forced the front door open.

But to the burglar’s surprise the householder - a man in his 30s - was home and chased the crook out of his property in Horton Gardens, Hemel Hempstead, on Monday, March 4 at around 8.30pm.

The thief - a white man aged in his mid-20s to early 30s, of medium build, between 5ft 7ins and 5ft 9ins tall and wearing a dark coloured baseball cap - snatched a purse and a set of car keys and ran off into Cupid Green Lane where he got into a waiting getaway car.

On the following day, a man - described as mixed race, aged in his mid-20s to early 30s, of stocky build with heavy facial stubble and wearing a dark blue hooded top - was seen close to the victim’s car. Police believe he was planning to steal it.

Anyone with information is asked to contact assistant investigator Kevin Deudon via the Herts Police non-emergency number 101, quoting crime reference number D1/13/1374. Alternatively contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

The four new captains at Little Hay Golf Club held their traditional drive-in ceremony on Sunday.

Despite the truly awful weather conditions – strong wind and heavy rain – their total combined driving distance of 730 yards was much longer than the total recorded by captains in previous years.

The drive-in signalled the beginning of the reign of Phil Joslin as senior captain, Jamie McIvor as junior captain, Jan Boyling as ladies’ captain and Mick Whelan as overall club captain.

The scheduled scramble competition, which was due to take place after the drive-in, had to be cancelled due to the weather.

The ladies’ section, meanwhile, competed for the Ovaltine Cup last week.

Caroline Banks emerged victorious with a score of 37 points, one point clear of second-placed Carol Kent and two ahead of Chris Marsden in third.

Marsden was also in action in the Weekday Ladies’ March Medal, where she triumphed with a round of 71.

Clare Stammeijer was a shot back in second place, and Chris Woodcock came third with 75.

Elsewhere, Tony Hodson and Jim Littlechild’s score of 51 points was enough to hand them victory in a senior men’s pairs competition.

Phil Joslin and Ron Goodfellow finished second with a total of 48 points, and Mick Milne and Terry Keeling were third with a score of 46.

> Pic - Phil Joslin, Jamie McIvor, Jan Boyling and Mick Whelan

A number of Dacorum’s bowlers have successfully competed their Hertfordshire Bowls Coaching Society Level 1 course ahead of the start of the 2013 outdoor bowls season.

Lyne Boniface and Bob Kerry from Tring Bowls Club, Alan Jones and Kevin Clarke from Berkhamsted Bowls Club and Kitcheners Bowls Club’s Brian Rumph have become the latest candidates to add themselves to the list of the borough’s qualified coaches.

This means that every bowls club in Dacorum now has at least one qualified coach and will help with the training of bowlers of all ages.

The Tring Hockey Club men’s teams completed a clean sweep of wins on Saturday.

The first team led the way as they continued their erratic form by beating top-of-the-table Thame 4-1. Goals came from Ash Tillett, Sam Payne and Simon Cobby, as well as an own goal.

The second XI, meanwhile, recovered from their first loss in eight games last week to beat High Wycombe 6-1.

After a slow start, the Tring side went in 2-1 up at half-time with goals from Greg Walton and James Heath, before the team stepped up a gear in the second half.

A further three goals from captain Walton and one from Dan Thompson completed the scoring.

Elsewhere, the third team secured a 4-1 win at Amersham to lift themselves off the bottom of the table. Steve Collins bagged a hat-trick.

In other action, the Vets carried on their recent good form to scrape a 2-1 win over high-flying East Grinstead. Andy Aikens got the first goal and Gary Arthurs bagged a late winner.

The ladies’ teams didn’t fare so well, however, with the first team drawing 1-1 with Stevenage, and the seconds finishing their campaign with a 6-1 defeat against Saffron Walden.

Jenny Wrench scored for the firsts and Katie Haines got goal for the seconds.

Detectives have released dozens of images of jewellery, keys, broaches, watches and coins that they believe were stolen during burglaries across Herts.

They have already reunited some of the items they found with their owners - but snaps of the rest of the items have been published on www.facebook.com/hertspolice

A 29-year-old man from Harpenden was arrested yesterday on suspicion of conspiracy to burgle.

The Gadebridge Badminton Club mixed 1 team suffered their first defeat of the season as they were narrowly beaten by local rivals Lockers Park in an exciting clash on Friday night.

High-flying Gadebridge went into the game full of confidence, but they came up against a determined Lockers park team who ground out a 5-4 victory.

It was a disappointing result for the Gadebridge side of Liz Bateman, Carol Johnston, Lesley Godfrey, Grant Hall, Russell Benham and Richard Billing, but they will be looking to bounce back quickly as they target a strong end to the campaign.

The chairman of Potten End Parish Council has warned the Gazette that Thursday’s annual village meeting is likely to be ‘boring’ due to the lack of people taking part.

Simon Barnard said the council has advertised for speakers at the event for the last two months – but only Holy Trinity Church came forward.

The meeting will take place in the church’s Church Room in Church Road, Potten End, at 8pm. But Mr Barnard said: “There will be nothing spectacular there, I am afraid. It’s all fairly boring stuff, unfortunately.”

There will be talks about broadband in the village, what the council does, and representatives from the police will be there to answer questions.

Mr Barnard said: “Councillors will be there, so that anybody in the audience – if there is an audience – can ask questions about things that are happening.

“I hope that there will be people turning up, but there’s nothing exciting going on as far as I can see.”

The badgers are back at Berkhamsted Castle – and one of its tour guides says the only way to get rid of them now is by filling the historic landmark with sand.

The mischievous creatures, who are protected by law, rip up turf at the tourist site to get at the chafer grubs beneath the surface.

The wet weather has made the castle particularly vulnerable to attack, as it brings the grubs closer to the surface and makes the ground easier to tear up.

John Waller, 69, of Cobb Road, Berkhamsted, regularly gives tours of the castle and first spotted the damage many months ago.

He said: “We get a lot of visitors here from all over the world and this is going to spoil their enjoyment of the castle.”

John said filling the castle with sand would soon stop badgers getting at the turf.

It was a disappointing week for Berkhamsted manager Mick Vipond as he saw his side come away goalless from two league fixtures in the space of just three days.

In two contrasting displays, the Comrades did everything but score as they were held to a 0-0 stalemate with Haringey Borough on Thursday night, before Vipond’s side were beaten 1-0 by Ampthill Town in an abject display on Saturday.

“We played so well on Thursday and then didn’t have much time to prepare for Saturday,” said Vipond. “We then only had one shot on goal on Saturday which just about sums up how lacklustre we were.”

Berkhamsted have been forced to rely on a number of youth players in their first team squad this season, and Vipond fears that this may finally have caught up with his side.

“I actually wrote down a list of who we had available but don’t have anymore for one reason or another, and it is a full first team,” he said.

“What we have got now is some good potential in a young side but some of the youth team players could perhaps do with another season in the Reserves.

“I always want to improve on last season but I’m not too sure that we will be able to do that now.

“Still, we will keep battling and start to make plans for next season.”

Berkhamsted currently sit in seventh place in the MSSML Premier Division, but would have been targeting more than the solitary point they picked up from the clashes with Haringey and Ampthill.

The Comrades were impressive in Thursday’s trip to Haringey, but they could not turn their dominance into goals as the Borough net lived a charmed existence.

It was a different case entirely on Saturday, though, as the Comrades floundered against Ampthill on a soggy Broadwater pitch.

Ampthill keeper Tom Kennard made one good save from Connor Calcutt after Lewis Pritchard flicked the ball into his path, while Michael McKenzie looked dangerous at the other end.

Ampthill skipper Robbie Goodman eventually got the only goal of the game with a well-placed shot on the turn with 15 minutes remaining.

Hemel Storm 78
Reading Rockets 63

Hemel Storm pulled off their biggest upset of the season with a stunning defensive performance to defeat league champions Reading Rockets on Sunday.

The win secures Hemel’s place in England Basketball’s top flight Division One for next season –moving them up to seventh place in the table and handing them a post-season play-offs spot.

The victory was all the more remarkable because Hemel were without their leading scorer – Great Britain U20 international Louis Sayers who was competing for Brunel in the University National Finals – and second top-scorer Drew Spinks who is recovering from a calf injury.

After an even first half, and within a minute of the third quarter starting, Hemel fell behind 45-37 as Reading connected on two three-pointers.

Hemel’s co-coaches Dave Titmuss and Mark Lloyd called a time-out to organise their team’s swarming pressing defence, and the tactic worked as Storm stunned the Reading team by going on an impressive 18-0 run to take a 62-53 lead into the final quarter.

The Storm defence was relentless and held the home side to 10 points in the final period while their free-flowing offence added 16 to seal a memorable victory.

A delighted Titmuss said: “The win was huge for us because it keeps us in Division One which was our primary goal this season.

“We have an all-English team and unlike most of the other clubs we don’t have the resources this season to sign American or European imports but we’ll be able to do so next season to strengthen our team.

“This season we can now focus on making the top-eight play-offs.

“Our pressure defence against the Rockets in the third quarter was terrific and the 18-0 run was obviously the key to our win.

“We forced them into 16 turnovers overall and scored 23 points from the extra possession.”

All of Hemel’s starting five scored double figures, with Tom Adorian leading the way with 19 points.

Storm are at home on Saturday at Sportspace against Leicester Warriors, tip-off 7pm. Tickets are available online at www.stormbasketball.net

Police want to get in touch with motorists who may have witnessed a theft.

A man took a tripod used for surveying from the roundabout in Redbourn Road, Hemel Hempstead, on Wednesday, February 27, at around 3pm.

He then got into a Ford Transit van and drove off.

Officers would like to speak to a taxi driver who was parked in St Agnells Court, a woman driving a small red car north along St Agnells Lane and a man who was driving a black Vauxhall Vectra.

Det Insp Justine Jenkins said: “I am keen to trace the three people mentioned above as we are aware they witnessed the incident and could help with our inquiries. If this was you, please contact police.”

Anyone with information can contact Det Insp Jenkins via the Herts Police non-emergency number 101, quoting crime reference number D1/13/1262. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

The man who ran 100 marathons in 100 days last year now aims to run 30 marathons in 30 days from Saturday this week.

Matthew Loddy, 47, of Watford Road, Kings Langley, ran from Lagos in Portugal to London – covering the equivalent of 100 marathons – in memory of former work colleague Phil Latham.

Phil died from stomach cancer aged 36 in 2010, after being cared for by The Hospice of St Francis in Northchurch.

Matthew took on last year’s challenge to raise cash that would be split between the hospice and the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Matthew, who is managing director of Berkhamsted’s Framework Scaffolding Contractors, will now run between all of the Trust’s UK bases to raise more cash for the two charities.

He hopes that this year he can raise £150,000 for them – £50,000 more than his successful target for last year.

He said: “If we can get 50,000 people donating £2, that’s £100,000. It’s too much money to get off friends and family.

“I want people to think: ‘This mad Englishman is running a marathon a day – I will give him some money’ and that’s the way I will hit the target.”

As part of the challenge he will run through Hemel Hempstead on Wednesday, April 10, and Berkhamsted and Kings Langley on Thursday, April 11.

To sponsor him or find out how to join part of his run, visit www.frameworkfoundation.co.uk

There are just six days left until the latest annual Chilterns Cycle Challenge.

There will be 10km, 35-mile and 75-mile circular routes in the fundraising event for Tring-based Iain Rennie Grove House Hospice Care.

TV personality and regular supporter Fern Britton will open the event and take part in the 35-mile cycle challenge while Gazette film-maker Natalee Hazelwood will ride the 10km route.

The charity’s director of fundraising and marketing Gillian Barnett said: “The Chilterns Cycle Challenge is one of our most popular events.

“We’re looking forward to seeing as many local people as possible turning to two wheels to support our services for local patients with life-limiting illnesses.

“Last year the Cycle Challenge raised a vital £40,000 towards the specialist care that we provide and we would love to beat that total this year.”

You can sign up for the event – which is on Sunday and begins at Kingsbury Square in Aylesbury – by visiting www.rennieway.org or phoning 01442 820740 before midday on Friday.

Entry is £15 for adults and £7.50 for children and the price includes a medal and T-shirt. Entry at Kingsbury Square on the day is £20 for adults or £10 for children.

Berkhamsted’s first-ever comedy festival is entering the final straight – but there’s lots more laughter in store in the week ahead.

The Berkomedy bonanza, organised by the Get Stuffed team who also serve up the annual Tringe comedy bonanza later in the year, devised double bills featuring 26 up-and-coming gagmeisters over 13 nights.

The Greene Room function room in the Kings Arms on Berkhamsted High Street has been the base, and tonight’s bill features Irishman Jarlath Regan alongside Grainne Maguire. Tomorrow night Mary Bourke and Kevin Shepherd do the honours, and then WitTank and Ahir Shah are on the bill on Sunday.

Next week’s double helpings feature Paul McCaffrey and Diane Spencer on Monday, Carl Donnelly and Lucy Beaumont on Tuesday and Iain Sterling and Mark Smith rounding off the programme on Wednesday.

You can get full details and book tickets at www.get-stuffed.biz.

Monday night also sees the regular Screaming Blue Murder session at Hemel Hempstead’s Old Town Hall.

The veteran comedy night, a fixture since 1988, this month features Windsor on compere duties and Rob Heeney and Otiz Cannelloni as the guest comics.

Sharp-tongued Manxman Rob’s been building a name on the live circuit for a decade, while Otiz bills himself as a man of mystery, madness and magic with a set that blends Tommy Cooper-style bumbling and stripped-down stand-up.

Before that, the Old Town Hall hosts a second session from Brighton-based topical comedy troupe The Treason Show on Saurday night.

It’s a show for adults, say OTH insiders, so you have been warned.

Call 01442 228091 for box office details about either show.