epworth and belton arrow

Welcome to the Epworth and Belton Arrow

Signs of Spring are upon us with the glorious sound of the birds singing in the morning and the long awaited splash of colour from the daffodils. The seasons give us hope as we sense life around us changing and Spring brings evidence of new life and energy. We are so lucky to have so many lovely walks arou nd our villages where Spring can be fully experienced.

Walks can be experienced with local clubs too, so you don’t have to venture out on your own. Find out more information from Pathfinders and Haxey Walkers on pages 4 and 25.

If you would like to advertise your local business please be in touch. Advertising starts from as little as £30 + VAT per month.

The May issue deadline for adverts and content is Friday 12th April. The Arrow will be delivered by the 1st May.

Wishing all our readers a Happy Easter.

Isle of Axholme News

Isle Group of the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust. The Galapagos Islands by

Jenny Agg

Thursday April 4th at 7.30pm

On Thursday April 4th we will be having a talk about the Galapagos Islands by local lady, Jenny Agg. Jenny visited the islands recently and will be sharing her experiences with us. The Galapagos Islands are a unique place with a wide variety of wildlife and scenery and Jenny will guide us through her visit there, so do come along and find out more.

We meet at Belton All Saints Centre (Church Hall), Stocks Hill, Belton, DN9 1PE Everyone is welcome, you don't have to be a member of the Wildlife Trust so please come along and join us. Entrance fee is £1. There will be refreshments and a raffle. For further information about the local Trust group and their meetings please contact Tony Lee on 01427 753831 or Chris Trinder on 01427 872051. Details about the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust can be found on their web site.

Come for a walk with the Pathfinders

Every Wednesday & Saturday mornings we do a 4-6 mile walk , aiming to finish by noon. The venues are all over The Isle & different almost every time . Come & join us as we explore what’s all around us ! Details of all the walks & the meeting place are sent out at the beginning of each month. Details from isle.pathfinders@gmail.com or 07452 991948

Come & play Bridge with us

Our small friendly club meets at The Thurlow Pavilion , Epworth every Tuesday afternoon 1.00 to 4.00 PM to learn & play bridge , usually about 20 boards . It’s £3.00 including refreshments. Contact 1sle.bridge@gmail.com or 07452991948 for more details

Crowle & District WI started 2024 with our meal out in January. February saw us celebrate our 100 year centenary. We had a buffet, Quiz and unveiled our Centenary Banner which members had contributed to by making squares of what the WI meant to them. They were then sewn together to make our Banner. Sheila Ella, our oldest and longest serving member, cut the Centenary Cake. At the end of the wonderful evening all members left with a goody bag containing an apron, tote bag, coaster, lavender bag and teabag holder and teabags, all made by some of the members. Our March meeting was our AGM where the new Committee was voted on. Our April 4th meeting is Alan from Chocolate Drop who will talk about chocolate and bring some for sale.

We hold our meetings on the 1st Thursday of the month at 7pm in Crowle Community Hall, Woodland Avenue, Crowle, DN17 4LL. We have members from all over the Isle and beyond and are very friendly. Please come along and give us a try. Non members £4.50. Contact Trish Hindley 07894318013, e mail at crowleanddistrictwi@gmail.com or find us on Facebook at Crowle and District WI.

Haxey & Westwoodside Heritage Society's next meeting is on Thursday, 11th April at 7.30pm in Westwoodside Village Hall. Popular local speaker and author, Robert Fish, is making a return visit with "Isle Teacheramusing stories and anecdotes for a lifetime's work in Axholme". Not to be missed! All welcome, £3 including refreshments.

Epworth and District Flower Club

For the second time within a year the Flower Club welcomed Sue Hodgson from Grantham to demonstrate her flower arranging skills to an eager audience.

Before Sue began the Club welcomed and presented a cheque to Kirsty Walker representing Lindsey Lodge. The cheque for £1000 was a donation from the proceeds of the Open Meeting held in November when Nick Grounds demonstrated flower arranging and entertained approximately 150 people. Keep an eye open for the photograph.

Sue treated us to a “Night at the Movies”, very topical as the Oscars were presented the previous evening. The first film was set at the time of the Russian Revolution and Sue used two large circular rings into which her arrangement represented the song “Sunrise, sunset”. Using oasis eco foam Sue inserted bamboo and choisya providing sufficient foliage for the complete arrangement. This was supplemented with 5 deep red roses, a block of orange alstroemeria, 5 beautiful Hawaiian sunset protea, some slightly paler button chrysanthemums and finally 5 large sunflowers attached to the rings.

We were able to guess “Fiddler on the Roof” before we listened to the music.

The effect Sue achieved was the shading of the sun throughout the day.

Next Sue began her arrangement inserting sprigs of bay leaves from her garden and added phoenix palms which she trimmed. Sue advised the group how she was leaving space which could be filled later because she was using dark calla lilies. Their stems were bound onto skewers as they are too delicate to insert successfully and needed careful handling. Sue told us how they were to represent a black swan in a film. White agapanthus just opening were next added and white alstroemeria and we were given further clues about following one’s dream before the final flowers, avalanche roses and white and green parrot tulips (British grown) completed a representation of “Billy Elliot”. The musical accompaniment was “We love to boogie”.

The third arrangement of the evening began with more bamboo and a perfect fatsia leaf and variegated laurel at the base. A spray of pale green orchids was cut and placed carefully before dark red luechadendron were added. These picked up the centre colour of the orchids as did the next flowers, dark red chrysanthemums. Gorgeous large headed, green camouflage roses from South Africa completed that arrangement and the clues and music helped the audience to guess “The bridge over the river Kwai”.

Braveheart was the film depicted by the next flower arrangement and created it on the top of a large twisted wooden stand. Pussy willow and tall delphiniums gave a striking effect. Sue used several variegated delphiniums the colours of which varied from very deep blue to a paler shade. Additionally Sue used large white roses and finally eryngium. These beautiful sea holly, the variety supernova, were then snipped so skillfully and added to the arrangement reducing the height emphasis. This time there was no musical accompaniment .

Finally Sue created an arrangement telling us how the actors were disappointed that they had created such a sentimental film. The theme of the film worked around 9 love stories and only 9 flowers were used by Sue. But they were 5 enormous, perfect, red anthurium and 4 large dark red roses all so strategically placed with such artistic ability. Variegated laurel and a plastic red heart completed the arrangement accompanied by music from “Love Actually”.

After a vote of thanks and a raffle for the 5 arrangements members enjoyed refreshments and a social opportunity. Members were also reminded that fees are due in April.

The April meeting on Monday, 8th will host Sue from “Pollen” talking on a Spring theme and members were reminded that we shall have a plant sale too. Members bring along plants and cuttings to buy which generates a little income and is another learning opportunity and a time to socialise.

If you are interested do give us a try. We begin at 7.30 in St Andrew’s Church, Epworth.

Isle of Axholme News

EPWORTH AND DISTRICT WI

TUESDAY 9 APRIL 2024

7.30 IMPERIAL HALL - SMALL HALL AGM & LEIGH OAKLEY (local author)

At this meeting we will be holding our AGM. However before the AGM we have Leigh Oakley a local author who will be talking to us about her journey to fulfilling this ambition. It's always good to hear from local people and their successes.

On Saturday 2 March we held a Fashion Show in the Imperial Hall to raise funds for our WI and Lindsey Lodge Hospice, this was held conjunction with Complete Clothing. This can only be described as a resounding success , the support we got was amazing with over 100 people attending and we would like to thank you all for coming along. Complete Clothing were very efficient and friendly and our local models made the afternoon fun and lively. Thank you also to all who provided cakes and raffle prizes. We are delighted to report that we raised £758 which will be shared between Epworth WI and Lindsey Lodge Hospice.

Haxey Girl Guiding Brownies and Rainbows

We need your help at our meetings!

Girl Guiding is a great organization involving girls of all ages. We learn new skills, have adventures, enjoy fun together and challenge ourselves to be the best we can be. Why not come and help inspire the next generation of young women and develop resilience in our girls. Come and have fun and enjoy being part of a friendly community!

You can make a real difference in the lives of our young people.

Rainbows, Brownies and Guides meet on Monday evenings in term time at Haxey Youth Hub.

Please contact

Michelle Peake (07876 710610)

Susan Fox (07778 639661)

Claire Todd (07976 807083)

To find out more! /www.

1st Isle of Axholme BP Scouts March 2024

Scouts and cubs have been busy this month working towards a number of badges aswell as preparing for their first overnight camps of the year. The scouts will go to Summerbridge Church Hall, Nidderdale for their first camp, which includes a hike to Brimham Rocks. They will practice their culinary skills, leading indoor games plus lots of mapwork and compass navigation. On the Sunday we will learn some adventurous skills such as axe throwing, air rifle shooting and archery, followed by an inflatables session at the local swimming pool. The cubs will have their first sleepover at West Butterwick Hall, with lots of games and finishing off their entertainer badge.

Cubs have been working towards their wolf pack star awards, learning about constellations (night hike stargazing), the RSPB, country code and renewable energies. We have been continuing our science badge looking at the aeronautics of flight and making and testing paper aeroplanes. We have been preparing for our camp entertainer badge finale too (photos). They will also complete a first aid session, to make sure they all know how to keep themselves safe and what to do in an emergency.

Scouts have welcomed an 8-strong team of students from Lincoln University who have been training us in a media project for our photography badge. The scouts had the choice of making a stop motion animation film using building materials such as Lego and green screen. The students taught them the basics and then have been hands on helping them create scripts and film. The other group are using Capcut to make a tiktok style film. They have learned all the types of shots they could take for their raw footage and then how to edit. It is brilliant to have such a knowledgeable team and an opportunity like this to offer the scouts!

Beavers section will soon restart - please get in touch if your child (aged 5-8 years) would like to join us this Term.

Sections all meet at the Westwoodside Village Hall: (Cubs, Scouts and Senior Scouts) meeting on Monday evenings 6pm (Cubs), and 7pm (Scouts & Senior Scouts), and Beavers (tbc) probably on a Tuesday evening at 6pm (from September).

SON PROMOTES DAD’S BOOK ON WORLD BOOK DAY

A widowed local Dad showcased his third children’s book with his son, Hugo, on World Book Day at Misterton Primary School (pictured).

Hugo and Daddy’s Superhero Adventures was the third book Ric Hart wrote after losing his wife, Jade, shortly after giving birth to their son, Hugo. Ric says: “I couldn’t be more proud of a day like today. Hugo dressed up as the superhero in the book, Harts Hero. The H symbol is a sign for hope for all children that they can face adversity with as much positivity and confidence. It is what we do and teach our kids around loss, which allows them to see magic can always be created from adversity or loss.”

Hugo and Daddy’s Superhero Adventures is now available from Amazon and Waterstones and all the proceeds of the book go to the Children’s Bereavement Centre in Newark (www.childrensbereavementcentre.co.uk).

Ric Hart has now published seven books since the loss of his wife, which in turn has been his outlet during the pandemic to cope with his grief and leave a legacy for Jade, and also Hugo.

The ‘H’ symbol can be found on the website linked to the book (www.hartshero.co.uk) where adult and kids’ clothing can also be bought - all the proceeds go to the charity. Ric adds: “Being alive to experience these days with Hugo, well I’m proud of every step and so will Hugo.”

DONCASTER CANCER DETECTION TRUST

April is such a lovely month. Clocks have moved forward to give us more daylight hours which inspires us to get out and about.

On that note have you thought about organising an event (or entering one) to fundraise on our behalf? We have printed T-shirts available and we can help with publicity.

There are various events if you are active: half marathons are taking place in Birmingham, Sunday 5th May; Bristol on Sunday 19th May; Manchester on Sunday 26th May; London on Sunday 1st September; Great North Run, Newcastle on Sunday 8th September.

For something a little else energetic how about organising a quiz evening, a book or plant sale, be sponsored to lose weight (good incentive!) or abstaining from alcohol, smoking or junk food for a month…..or two! And for adrenalin junkies, how about abseiling or skydiving or trying a zipwire? The possibilities are endless and you will be raising money for much-needed cancer-related equipment for our local hospitals.

If you fancy any of the above do get in touch with us. Our details are:

22 Wood Street, Doncaster DN1 3LW (entrance by the side of Kerry Gough Florists), first floor (lift available), Room 104. Tel. 01302 325029. Email: info@dcdt.co.uk. Website: dcdt.co.uk. As the office is not fully manned it is best to Email or telephone in advance if you are thinking of coming to see us.

Don’t forget, we will help publicise your fundraising efforts beforehand and can include a write-up and photograph on our website afterwards.

Big or small, everything you do will help. Just get in touch with us.

Each participant expected to raise a minimum of £300 in sponsorship to cover the costs PLUS REWARDS:

• £300 in sponsorship will get you your medal, certificate on completion of the challenge and a personalised Lindsey Lodge water bottle

• £500 will get you your very own Challenge with Lindsey Lodge Hoodie!

Group booking special offer!

Teams of 5 or more who sign up, can get register for only £30 each! To register please email llh.enquiries@nhs.net

Tandem skydive with fully qualified parachuting instructor from 15,000 ft in aid of Lindsey Lodge! Who can take part

• Minimum age – 16 (under 18 require parental consent)

• Maximum age - none (subject to health)

• Minimum weight – 44kg* (approx. 7st/99lbs) (weight with clothes)

• Maximum weight – 100kg* (approx. 16st/224lbs) (weight with clothes)

• Minimum height – 147cm ( approx.. 4ft10)

All participants are required to sign a British Skydive self-declaration medical form (included in confirmation from Skydive Hibaldstow), if for any reason you cannot agree to the form, you will need to take a British Skydiving medical form to your GP.

Please note, some medical conditions such as those related to mobility, sight or hearing will need to be communicated to the drop zone prior in case any further assessments are required.

If you have any concerns you wish to discuss prior, please contact the drop zone on info@skydiving.co.uk or 01652 648837 and they will be happy to advise further.