Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year to Everyone!
Remembrance Sunday: The Centenary FIRSTLY I would like to apologise to all the people who could not get into the club for this event. In past years when the event has been held on the Club car park we normally get about 120 people attending, so for this year’s Service we anticipated that about 200 people would attend, which would have been able to get into the club not the 300 plus that did attend. I would like to thank you all for coming and for the good comments that I heard about the new Tommy added to the War Memorial. I would also like to thank the Rev Edward Bampton and all the other people who helped out on the day with the reading, poems etc. It was also nice to see the Scouts, Guides, Cubs, Brownies and Rainbows at this service as they are the ones that will keep this tradition going as they get older. The collection on the day raised a total of £228.83 which has been donated to the Royal British Legion by the club. After the service I met with Rev Edward Bampton and we had a discussion about what we could do next year to improve on this year, one point that came up about holding the last post in the car park after the service inside has finished with a break to allow people to get to the car park in time for this to take place. I was also asked why no places were kept for ex-service personnel to attend, but as I explained the name on the front of the club has been kept there as it was formed by servicemen in the village looking for a place to meet and talk after the First World War. The Club started out as a Nisson hut with a stove in the middle, but now the club is open for anybody to join and is not just for ex-service personnel.
I would also like to thank Cadle Builders for installing the Tommy and English Rose Memorials for redoing the poppies on the name stones free of charge. I would also like your views on what could be done to make next year better, so anybody with any ideas please drop them the into the club addressed to me and marked War Memorial. Once again my thanks to you all for supporting this year’s Remembrance Sunday.
Paul Brudenell
(Remembrance Organiser)
Groby Meadow News - (Groby CIC)
Can you help fund a new footbridge at Groby Meadow? OBSERVANT residents of the village may have noticed new excavations taking place on the Groby CIC Meadow on Newtown Linford Lane. No, not another visit from the Time Team but work to improve the drainage of the meadow and the village. A new drainage ditch has been created but we need funds to construct a further footbridge across it. We have been working with Stakeholders for nearly five years on this issue and according to Severn Trent, the existing drainage pipe across the Meadow was blocked and needed replacing. After much discussion it was agreed that a drainage ditch would be more effective and more easily monitored. This is along the line of the open ditch that existed in the 1960’s and followed the line of the drainage pipe. On Saturday 24th November, a team of CIC volunteers and contracted grounds man set about the task. The ditch and a safe crossing point at it’s lower end were completed on the day but there is still extra work to be undertaken by Severn Trent where their pipe joins the Meadow boundary. The CIC is hoping to construct a further footbridge across the ditch when funds become available, and this is why we are appealing for donations or sponsorship offers. Thanks to the Trustees of the Thomas Herbert Trust for their continued support of the Meadow and to the person who made an anonymous donation, thereby ensuring that there were sufficient funds to complete this important work. The Meadow will be closed until the end of January to allow for the extra work to be carried out. When it re-opens walkers will need to use the slightly redirected footpath and the safe crossing point. Anyone with a lively dog or energetic children will have to be extra vigilant.
John Hitchings (Groby CIC) NEXT ISSUE OUT ON 19TH JANUARY - ARTICLES & ADVERT DEADLINE: 5TH JANUARY