MID-JANUARY 2021 GROBY SPOTLIGHT MAGAZINE

Spotlight Groby & Field Head Mid-January 2021

The Monthly News & Information Magazine For Groby, Field Head & The Brantings

GROBY PARISH NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

LEICESTERSHIRELIVE EDUCATION AWARDS 2020

Shaping the Future Three Brookvale Awards Finalists of Groby Parish THE GROBY PARISH Neighbourhood Plan Steering Committee has been formed from volunteers that responded to the parish council’s call to arms last August. Some preliminary work has been done and the real hard work is about to begin. More volunteers are needed.

What is a Neighbourhood Plan?

A NEIGHBOURHOOD Plan gives communities genuine opportunities to influence the future of the places where they live.

The Groby Parish Neighbourhood Plan will allow people, who live, work, and have a business in the parish to have a say where they think new houses, businesses, and shops should be located and what they think they should look like. Other themes the Neighbourhood Plan might include are the natural environment, the historical environment, transport, community facilities, and employment. The final scope will be determined by the parish community.

What have we done so far?

THE PARISH council has approved the terms of reference for the steering group and the inaugural meeting was held 11 December 2020.

Application has been made to Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council to designate the whole extent of Groby Parish as the Neighbourhood Area i.e. including Groby village, Bradgate Hill hamlet, Field Head and part of The Brantings.

How can you help?

THE MORE people who participate and the more diverse the people are, the better the plan will be and the more it will reflect our collective will.

Anyone interested to contribute to shaping the future of Groby Parish should get in touch by email to grobyneighbourhoodplan@gmail.com or by letter for the attention of the Groby Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group c/o Council Offices, Village Hall, Groby, Leicester LE6 0DQ.

Carol Lincoln

Chair, Groby Parish Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group

Happy New Year

to all Spotlight Readers

BROOKVALE Groby Learning Campus had 3 FINALISTS for the LeicesterLive Education Awards 2020!

• Year 10 Alfie Swinfield for the ‘Music Excellence’ Award • Year 11 Mackenzie Smith for the ‘Sporting Excellence’ Award • Year 12 Katie Parker for the ‘Sporting Excellence’ Award The Virtual Awards Evening was streamed live on Wednesday 25th November: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tABJoGjNr2Y WELL DONE to Alfie, Mackenzie and Katie for reaching the FINAL!

Will Dempsey signs for Mansfield FC BGLC Year 8’s Will Dempsey played for the local team Groby Juniors when he was younger, then he moved to Kirby 88’s U12’s.

He had an amazing season with them and they were top of their league, County Cup Finalists and they had invited to attend the ACES tournament in Nottingham.

Unfortunately COVID hit and they never got to finish the season off. Will worked so hard during lockdown practising his football, working on his fitness and in August his hard work paid off and he got offered a 2 year contract with Mansfield FC! His Mum says it’s still early days for Will but he is really enjoying the challenge. WELL DONE WILL!

Next Issue Out On 13th February • Advert & Article Deadline Is 30th January

For publication dates and details of advertising rates, visit the website at www.grobyspotlight.co.uk

Groby & Field Head Spotlight

A new use for a glass coffee table

By Lindy Hardcastle

MY PARTNER David has had an adventurous life: travelling widely, playing rugby league, racing motorbikes – the one thing he never envisaged was lying on my living room floor with his head under a glass coffee table gazing up at the underside of a hedgehog in order to establish its gender.

PO Box 8, Markfield, Leics. LE67 9ZT

Telephone

01530-244069 Email us at: info@ grobyspotlight.co.uk Visit the website at www.grobyspotlight.co.uk 3,500 copies distributed 11 times a year (no issue in July) to homes and businesses in Groby, Field Head and The Brantings.

Printed in Ellistown by Norwood Press.

The Spotlight is a monthly compilation of articles, press releases, events, general items of interest and news items submitted to us by local residents, groups, associations, sports clubs and local authorities.

The opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the Spotlight Production Team. The inclusion of any group or organisation in this publication does not necessarily imply a recommendation of its aims, methods or policies.

Groby & Field Head Spotlight cannot be held responsible for the information disclosed by advertisements, all of which are accepted in good faith.

Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information in this magazine, but no liability can be accepted for loss or inconvenience caused as a result of error or omission.

Groby & Field Head Spotlight reserves the right to amend, shorten or refuse to publish articles and/ or advertisements submitted for publication.

All contents © Groby & Field Head Spotlight.

None of the articles contained in this magazine are to be reproduced in any way without first obtaining written consent from Groby & Field Head Spotlight.

NEXT ISSUE OUT ON: 13th February 2021 DEADLINE: 30th January 2021

Having resolutely resisted any conventional form of family life, I don’t suppose he ever expected to announce excitedly “It’s a boy!” either.

Hastily renaming our little friend Ronnie, we agreed it was time he moved out into the garden. Armed with a roll of chicken wire and tent pegs, we painstakingly constructed a tunnel, enclosing both his feeding station and the hibernation box. When we were satisfied in was secure, we posted Ronnie in and he trotted briskly down the tunnel and into the nest box.

Job done. Half an hour later I checked the box and he had gone. He hasn’t been seen since. I continue to put cat food in feeding station every day and Ronnie is eating it. A friend suggested it might be Gerald the rat who was tucking it, but I am sure it’s Ronnie. He carefully picks the meaty chunks out of the cat food and leaves the jelly behind. I don’t think rats are that picky.

Does anyone want a roll of chicken wire – hardly used?

David has introduced an entertaining new element into our morning ritual of breakfast in bed and the Guardian crossword - no, stay with me – he brings up dishes of diced chicken for our two cats and while Olaf eats his share, David hides Sammy’s around the room – behind photographs, on the windowsill, amongst the bric-a-brac on the chest of drawers. Watching Sammy hunt his breakfast is great fun. How are the rest of you getting through lockdown?

Plan Set to Improve Local Football Facilities HINCKLEY & BOSWORTH Borough Council has been involved in a two year project making plans which will help to improve community football facilities across England.

‘The Local Football Facility Plans’ have been completed for the first time following a partnership of local clubs, schools, councils, the Football Foundation and Football Association.

The aim of the Plans are to invest and build football facilities at community level and the benefits of the facilities set out go far beyond the pitch.

They aim to transform communities and change lives for the better. It will mean people will have the opportunity to play the national game and both physical and mental health can be improved, communities can grow stronger and young people become more empowered.

The Football Foundation said: “It’s been a real team effort and we couldn’t have done it without everyone’s local knowledge and expertise”.

Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council is now working with local partners to implement the plan, which can be found on the Football Foundation’s website: www.footballfoundation.org.uk/local-plans Executive Member for Leisure, Councillor Keith Nichols said: “This is an exciting plan to help improve existing facilities and build new targeted facilities in the borough. Putting this plan together has been a real team effort and I would like to thank everyone involved. I look forward to seeing the Local Football Facility Plan develop and improve football facilities across Hinckley and Bosworth over the coming years.”

3

Saturdays at Noon

By Rachel Marks EMILY just wants to keep the world away.

After getting into trouble yet again, she’s agreed to attend anger management classes. But she refuses to share her deepest secrets with a room full of strangers.

Jake just wants to keep his family together.

He’ll do anything to save his marriage and bond with his sixyear-old son, Alfie. But when he’s paired with spiky Emily, he wonders whether opening up will do more harm than good.

The two of them couldn’t be more different. Yet when Alfie, who never likes strangers, meets Emily, something extraordinary happens.

Could one small boy change everything?

Want to feel better? Cuddle your pet IF YOU THINK you feel better after cuddling your dog or cat, there is a good reason: you really do feel better.

After only three minutes of cuddling your pet, your levels of oxytocin, the ‘love’ hormone, increase, according to a recent study from Australia’s Monash University. And just five minutes of cuddling will also raise your levels of the two wellbeing and happiness hormones, endorphin and dopamine. So says a recent report in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research.

In her recent book, Your Pet, Your Pill, vet Margit Gabriele Muller says that caressing a dog or other pet provides exactly the same health benefits as skin-on-skin contact with another human. The hormones that are released “are the same as when you’re breastfeeding or cuddling a partner.”

Furthermore, a study at Liverpool University last year found that dog owners are four times more likely to be fit than other people.

Chinese scientists have discovered the rare Rock’n’Roll Panda. It will only eat A Wop Bop a Loo Lop a Lop Bamboo.

4

Groby & Field Head Spotlight • MID-JANUARY 2021 • Tel: 01530 244069 • Email: info@grobyspotlight.co.uk

Great Central Reunification Project still on track

L

AST YEAR renovations were completed at the former Great Central station in Leicester, which now has a new lease of life as a leisure destination including bowling. Older readers may have travelled on the line before local services were reduced as part of the Beeching cuts in the early 1960’s prior to closure of most of the rest in 1969.

The line was opened 70 years earlier and ran from Sheffield, through Nottingham and Leicester to Marylebone in London. The construction cost tells a familiar tale, with the final bill for £11,500,000 nearly four times the original estimate. Victoria station in Nottingham, now the site of the Victoria shopping centre, cost £1,000,000 and required the demolition of 20 public houses and 1,300 dwellings.

It was the last main line railway to be built in Britain during the Victorian period and, despite being planned for long-distance passenger services, in practice the line’s most important function became to carry coal and other goods traffic.

The love of heritage railways is so great that official closure is often not the end of the story, as enthusiasts come to the rescue. The line from Leicester at Birstall which travels north to Loughborough across Swithland Reservoir continues to be a family favourite, whilst Nottinghamshire residents equally enjoy their section of the line from Ruddington which also runs to Loughborough, though there are no facilities to disembark. The continuity of the surviving 18 mile section from Ruddington to Leicester was broken when 500 metres of railway was ripped up after closure. This meant that to restore the link an ambitious reunification project would need millions of pounds to rebuild bridges and embankments and relay track. The project has been described as one of the biggest projects in modern railway preservation. Substantial sums have already been raised, and parts of the project, including an impressive new bridge over the four tracks of Midland Main Line at Loughborough, have already been completed.

Last March the restoration of the bridge over the canal was completed. The canal crossing is a vital part of the project, as it will not just handle traffic heading to and from Network Rail and Great

Central Railway Nottingham, but play a key part in Loughborough Central’s northern approach.

When it is complete the new railway will be a heritage attraction for visitors from around the world.

With a link to the national rail network it will welcome charter trains of tourists to the area and be a home for the locomotives.

Fundraising is now underway for the third and fourth phases, which have an estimated cost of three million pounds. Just before Christmas a fifty thousand pound grant arrived for the line’s ambitious Reunification project from a charitable trust based in the Midlands.

Andy Fillingham, Chairman of the Friends of the Great Central Main Line ( the membership club of the Great Central Railway leading the fundraising effort) said “At the start of December we had raised three hundred and seventy five thousand pounds towards the appeal total. This latest phase of our Reunification appeal began in March, so to have already reached more than ten percent of the funding required is extraordinary.

Then we were amazed to receive this kind and generous grant. After a year which has curtailed a lot of our planned fundraising work, this is a most welcome Christmas gift which has surprised us all!”

When the reunification project is complete it will provide a heritage route from Leicester to South Nottingham via Loughborough.

Readers may be familiar with the southern section (both sections closed temporarily because of Covid 19 restrictions), which passes through Rothley and Quorn.

The less familiar line north of Loughborough, passes through East Leake. A short video online shows some of the Great Central stations and also has interviews with the vicar and residents of the village, who were opposed to the closure, the loss of services and the rail link with Leicester. (Google Great Central BFI).

What’s at Ruddington?

If the Reunification Project goes to plan a trip to Ruddington on the Great Central might provide an enjoyable day out at some time in the future. In addition to the cafeteria, an historic bus collection and other facilities at the rail terminus, the site adjoins the Rushcliffe Country Park.

The Rushcliffe Country Park was open countryside until the War Office acquired the land in 1938 and built 87 buildings for making bombs. After the war it became an Ordnance, Storage and Disposal Depot until it was closed in1983.

A country park was proposed and demolition began in January 1990.

The lake was created and over 140,000 trees were planted.

Twenty minutes walk away there’s the village museum, the framework knitters museum mentioned elsewhere in this issue, and plenty of opportunities for food and drink which will hopefully survive the current crisis in the hospitality industry. In the meantime the Leicester section of the line needs our custom when they are able to re-open.

And there’s still a fund raising hill to climb to complete reunification of the railway line. Direct

donations to the fund raising appeal are always appreciated, but another way to help is to buy a book about the reunification project. Full of colour pictures, and telling the story of everything completed so far, it costs £12.50 including postage and packing. The book has been sponsored by the Friends of the Great Central Main Line, so every penny goes to the appeal. Email blycett.gcr@gmail.com to order.

Do you have memories of the Great Central Railway to share with other Spotlight readers?

Norman Griffiths

My grandfather’s a little forgetful, but he likes to give me advice. One day, he took me aside and left me there.

For publication dates and details of advertising rates, visit the website at www.grobyspotlight.co.uk

Membership renewal news from Groby Ex-servicemen’s Social Club IT IS A DELIGHT that many members have called and emailed about membership renewals for 2021.

The Management Committee of the Club have voted to keep the price exactly the same as 2020. We hope that you appreciate the decision of which the Committee think is the best thing to do in supporting the Club.

There will be the below options to enable you to renew your Memberships for 2021: 1. Post an envelope through the door on your daily exercise (if able) with your name and address on with the correct money inside, do not include your club case or card as it isn’t needed. Cheques are welcome.

2. Post your correct money in an envelope to the Club and have a note inside with your name and address on. Cheques are welcome.

Also, please if you have an email address include in the envelope as we are collating a database to send updates.

We will be extending the deadline date to the end of April 2021.

If anyone would like to become a Member of the CIU, please wait until we open our doors for you to purchase.

Membership renewal fees are: • Life Members: Membership Numbers 1-100 £0.00 (£3.50 if you have a CIU Pass Card) • Life Members (25 Years) £4.00 (£7.50 if you have a CIU Pass Card) • Club Members: £8.00 • CIU Affiliated Members: £11.50 If you would like to become a new member then this can be done when we are back open.

Please help us and pass on the message to anyone you know and check our Facebook page if you can for regular updates.

We thank you for your support and understanding during this pandemic and we hope you are all staying safe and we cannot wait to see you soon.

Club Officers and Committee

RUGS - we are CLEANING SPECIALISTS traditional Persian or Chinese, Gabbeh or Kilim, we even love Wiltons and Shaggy ones!

Hard floor cleaning On site curtain cleaning Rugs, including oriental and antique All types of upholstery, especially leather

01530 244900 Q 07825 795558 www.sjscarpetcleaners.co.uk CHECK OUT QUALITY OF OUR SERVICE ON SJS GOOGLE REVIEWS FOR BOTH LEICESTER AND LOUGHBOROUGH

Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect.

5

6

Groby & Field Head Spotlight • MID-JANUARY 2021 • Tel: 01530 244069 • Email: info@grobyspotlight.co.uk

Bradgate Rotary News

Call for community groups to apply for grant funding COMMUNITY groups in Hinckley and the parishes of Hinckley and Bosworth are being encouraged to apply for their share of the Borough Council’s Parish Community Initiative Fund and Hinckley Community Initiative Fund.

This year a total of £162,000 has been made available to support community projects, throughout the Borough. Grants are available for up to 50 per cent of the total project cost. These grants fund a wide variety of projects such as play areas, community building improvements, new pathways, heritage trails, and sports facilities, and this year the council is giving high priority to any schemes that help to improve the environment.

Grants for 2021/22 will be provided on the following basis: • Projects must be within the borough of Hinckley and Bosworth • Maximum of £12,000 per project • Maximum of 50 per cent of total project costs funded • All works must be completed within the financial year • Projects must demonstrate that they meet the council’s corporate aims and that they are of community benefit.

Councillor Martin Cartwright, the Executive Member responsible for Rural Communities and Environment at the Borough Council, said: “As in previous years I would like to see these grants spread as widely as possible across the 24 parishes in Hinckley and Bosworth and a variety of different schemes, with special emphasis on the smaller organisations, charity groups as well as parish councils. As the Borough Council has declared a Climate Emergency additional points will be awarded in the scoring process for those schemes that address climate change or improvements to the environment. The dates for submission of applications has changed slightly from previous years so please pay attention to the scheme closing dates.”

Applications are invited from now until the closing date of 12th February 2021. Application packs will automatically be sent to parish and town councils. Further copies are available by contacting the Green Spaces team on 01455 255707 or by emailing greenspaces@hinckley-bosworth.gov.uk

Smart bird

Santa delivers thanks to Bradgate Rotary Santa gave his reindeer a well-earned rest in the lead up to Christmas.

Aided by Bradgate Rotary, Santa and his sleigh paid a visit to Mercenfeld and Lady Jane Grey Primary Schools, the Co-op Store on Laundon Way and the Stamford Arms car park, to bring a smile to local children and their parents.

At the Laundon Way Co-op Store over 100 children came to visit Santa, and each received a chocolate selection box, plus the opportunity of a photo with the great man on his sleigh.

Over £300 was also donated towards the charities supported by Bradgate Rotary, namely LOROS Hospice and Leicester Children’s Holidays.

Groby Valentine Scarecrow Festival 13th & 14th February Bradgate Rotary are urging the people of Groby to get creative and make a fun scarecrow for the Valentine’s weekend of February 13th & 14th.

Entries are only £5 with the chance to win a fabulous prize. Enter online at bradgaterotaryevents.co.uk by the closing date of 8th February.

On the weekend of 13th and 14th February, a Scarecrow Trail map including the Anagram competition will be on sale for £1 from the Stamford Arms Pub. Profits from the event will be going to Bradgate Rotary charities.

Events still in the planning

RAVENS have been found to be among the cleverest animals in the world.

These largest members of the crow family can even score as high on intelligence tests as chimpanzees. Ravens can remember where food is hidden, can use tools to get at it, follow human faces with their eyes, and understand what people mean when they point. All in all, researchers praise their “general, sophisticated cognitive skills.”

The study was carried out at Osnabruck University in Germany.

We will be holding a Walking Market event in May which will give householders to clear out their barns, attics, toy cupboards to have a stall on their drive to sell. Businesses can also get involved by having stalls with their goods to sell. A map showing everyone involved will be created for visitors to tour around the village.

In September the successful Family Funday and Obstacular will return to the picturesque venue, Ulverscroft Grange and grounds.

A bit of spare time on your hands?

Anyone interested in joining their local Rotary and helping the community please email Adrian Walker – walk77a@yahoo.com

It was all so different before everything changed.

ADVERTISEMENT

JANUARY 2021 | ISSUE NO. 02

GROBY PROPERTY NEWSLETTER

BREXIT PREDICTION FOR L O C A L P R O P E R T Y Written by PRICES Gemma Hawley Roll the clock back to April 2020, and major financial economists and property market commenters were sounding the alarm. The very best-case scenario was a 5% drop in property values by the end of the year, and most were in the 10% to 15% range. They forewarned the Covid-19 stimulated recession would trim tens of thousands of pounds off the value of Groby, Ratby and

The considered opinion of the Treasury was house prices would drop by 18% if the country voted to leave the EU, so let us see what that would have done to Groby house prices if that had taken place and then what exactly has happened in the last four and half years …

Markfield homes.

Yet the Groby, Ratby Markfield property market seemed not to get the memo on that, and now as we find ourselves at the end of 2020 and the worst of lockdown restrictions appear to be passing, vaccinations on the way and economy starting to grow, Groby, Ratby and Markfield property prices seem to be doing quite well.

What happened to the house price crash that wasn't?

Before I answer that, it reminded me of what the Treasury said in 2016 about a leave vote on the Brexit referendum.

So why has the Groby, Markfield and Ratby property market not matched the property pundits twice in the last five or so years?

Well for most of us, owning a property is about having somewhere to live rather than an investment (an Englishman’s home is his castle??). Nevertheless, once a homeowner is on the proverbial ‘property ladder’, it cannot be denied that it is eternally

beneficial to know, as a homeowner, that you have made a healthy investment in your home and that the value will rise to alleviate the ache of trading up market - or down market when you retire. Those local homeowners who own two bedroom homes would have made an average of £99,683 profit, a rise of 66% or a weekly profit of £479.75 - calculated between the price they would have paid in the summer of 2016 and the price they would sell for today.

Whilst it is no surprise the property market boom was inspired by the Chancellor’s Stamp Duty holiday, this is not exclusively the Chancellor’s achievement. The three ‘D’s have been with us throughout 2020, Covid or no Covid (Debt, Divorce and Death), together with a huge shift in the way homeowners see their homes. With us cooped up during the lockdown and working from our dining room tables, the need for people to have a home with an extra bedroom to work from, together with a garden, has been one of the most challenging this year… hence the rise in demand.

So, what of 2021? Read the rest of the article on our new Facebook Page @GrobyPropertyNews

8

Groby & Field Head Spotlight • MID-JANUARY 2021 • Tel: 01530 244069 • Email: info@grobyspotlight.co.uk

County Councillor’s Report from Ozzy O’shea Email ozzy.o’shea@leics.gov.uk or ozzyoshea@hotmail.com

Latest Coronavirus Update for Leicestershire We are now in Lockdown since I last wrote. I hope this guide helps residents.

Here is a summary of what you can and cannot do during the national lockdown: You must stay at home. The single most important action we can all take is to stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives.

You should follow this guidance immediately. The law will be updated to reflect these new rules.

LEAVING HOME You must not leave, or be outside of your home except where necessary. You may leave the home to: • shop for basic necessities, for you or a vulnerable person • go to work, or provide voluntary or charitable services, if you cannot reasonably do so from home • exercise with your household (or support bubble) or one other person, this should be limited to once per day, and you should not travel outside your local area.

• meet your support bubble or childcare bubble where necessary, but only if you are legally permitted to form one • seek medical assistance or avoid injury, illness or risk of harm (including domestic abuse) • attend education or childcare for those eligible Colleges, primary and secondary schools will remain open only for vulnerable children and the children of critical workers. All other children will learn remotely until February half term. Early Years settings remain open.

Higher Education provision will remain online until mid-February for all except future critical worker

courses.

If you do leave home for a permitted reason, you should always stay local in the village, town, or part of the city where you live. You may leave your local area for a legally permitted reason, such as for work.

If you are clinically extremely vulnerable you should only go out for medical appointments, exercise or if it is essential. You should not attend work MEETING OTHERS You cannot leave your home to meet socially with anyone you do not live with or are not in a support bubble with (if you are legally permitted to form one).

You may exercise on your own, with one other person, or with your household or support bubble.

You should not meet other people you do not live with, or have formed a support bubble with, unless for a permitted reason.

Stay 2 metres apart from anyone not in your household.

County Council, Recycling and Household Waste Sites Recycling and household waste sites will remain open using the appointment system.

The County Council is encouraging people to only visit the sites if it's essential and only if you have booked an appointment first. Visit: https://www.leicestershire.gov. uk/popular-now/book-a-wastesite-appointment to book an appointment

Early Christmas Present for Rural Pubs MONEY from a brand new initiative supporting struggling rural pubs is

being awarded to landlords across Leicestershire, just days after the scheme launched.

Leicestershire County Council is offering a one-off payment of £1,000 to support small village pubs which are unable to open their doors over the festive period.

Around 100 have already applied, the first eight pubs are being awarded cash and another 20 being put in the post.

Launched on Friday (18 Dec), the scheme – thought to be the only one of its kind in the country - aims to keep people in jobs, maintain the role of the pub as a community hub and help them to diversify by providing extra services for residents.

I have made all 4 pubs in my ward aware and totally supported their applications.

Hospitality has been dealt a big blow during the pandemic. And the impact is even more acute when you consider the lifeline pubs can provide within communities.

That’s why the County Council has moved quickly to bring in support.

It’s hoped that the scheme will support up to 200 community pubs and is backed by major trade body, the British Beer and Pub Association, which represents around 20,000 of the country’s pubs.

Ivanhoe Trail Issues I HAVE arranged for the Ivanhoe trail to have the leaf fall cleared off the path between Taverner Drive and the M1 Bridge.

Please note there is some flooding on the permissive path that leads across to Sacheverell Way. However I need to give a gentle reminder to the small minority of dog walkers, who are not picking up after their dog. Please pick

up after your dog - it only takes a minute. Remember you can put your dog’s poo in both the dog bins and council waste bins thank you for your co-operation.

Scam Alert - COVID-19 Vaccine Scam Text I WAS CONTACTED by a local resident after they received a Scam Text Message allegedly telling them how to book their vaccine appointment the link from the text looked like a genuine Government Website.

I checked through the links and soon realised it was a scan immediately alerting Trading Standards. They put out the below warning. I am always here to help if in doubt don’t click on anything.

Please be careful.

Criminals are taking advantage of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout through a convincing scam text to steal people’s personal and financial details.

The text contains a link that leads to a convincing-looking but fake NHS website with an application form. It asks for your bank/card details in order to ‘check identity’.

The NHS will not ask for payment.

Below is a copy of the Text message.

NHS: We have identified that you eligible to apply for your vaccine. For more information and to apply. Follow here: uk-application-form.com Please warn friends and family of this scam text.

Message From Trading Standards WE HAVE been made aware that fraudsters purporting

For publication dates and details of advertising rates, visit the website at www.grobyspotlight.co.uk

9

Tel 0116 2394336 or 07808 585825 to be HMRC officers are still threatening Leicestershire residents with a tax scam.

The phone calls are from automated callers stating that a tax fraud has been logged against your name and if further details are not provided then charges would be made against you.

Do not give your personal details out and become the next victim of this scam. This is a scam run by fraudsters who are trying to extort money from you by pretending to be the 'tax man'.

If you think that you have been a victim of a scam, seek advice from the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 2231133.

Scam alert – fake Leicestershire County Council text message TRADING Standards have received a report that a fake text message is being sent purporting to be from Leicestershire Council regarding breaches of Covid restrictions.

They have NOT sent this message.

Be wary of unsolicited text messages or emails.

If you need advice or wish to report any scam please call Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 1133.

Scam Warning - Fake DPD Emails and Texts Action Fraud has seen a surge in reports relating to fake emails and texts purporting to be from DPD. The messages claim that DPD was “unable to deliver your parcel today” and provide instructions on how the recipient can arrange another delivery. The links in the emails and texts lead to fake websites that are designed to steal money, as well as personal and financial information.

Victims of this scam have reported losing over £242,000 since June.

For more information, please visit https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/

alert/fake-dpd-messages-lead-toover-200000-in-losses-since-june How you can protect yourself: • If you’re unsure whether the email or text is genuine, then don’t use the link. Instead, visit the DPD website by entering the official web address directly into your browser’s address bar, or search for it and follow the search results.

• Remember, your bank will never ask you to transfer money to another account, or contact you out of the blue to ask for your PIN or full password.

• If you have received an email which you’re unsure about, you can report it by forwarding it to report@phishing.gov.uk. You can report suspicious text messages by forwarding them to 7726.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank residents for your continued support. Remember I am only an Email or a phone call

• New Guttering • Wood Staining • Repointing • Ridge Tiles • Chimney Stacks • Roof Valley • Dry Verge • Flat Roofing • Dry Ridge • Lead Flashing • Moss Removal • Slate/Tile Roofing • UPVC Fascia, Soffits & Gutters FREE QUOTATION AND FREE EMERGENCY CALL OUT Proprietor: Elias Bell

1 Maynard Close, Bagworth, LE67 1BU

Mobile: 07494820600 - Telephone: 01530 231 631 Email: eandlmaintenanceltd@outlook.com I consider ‘On time’ to be when I get there.

away. Finally I would like to wish all residents and councillors A very Happy, Healthy and prosperous New Year.

Ozzy O’shea

Working for you

Portrait

A PRIMARY teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing.

As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.

The girl replied, “I’m drawing God.” The teacher blinked: “But no one knows what God looks like.”

Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, “They will in a minute.”

10

Groby & Field Head Spotlight • MID-JANUARY 2021 • Tel: 01530 244069 • Email: info@grobyspotlight.co.uk

Virtual Improvements proposed to the workshop to Markfield Road industrial area support groups THE BUILDINGS on industrial area seeking grants the south of Wallace A ‘VIRTUAL’ workshop is being held on Wednesday, 20 January to encourage community groups and organisations to apply for a SHIRE environment grant.

Grants of up to £3,000 are being offered by Leicestershire County Council to help reduce household waste across the county, and the workshop is open to anyone who would like to know more.

The workshop is a fantastic opportunity for residents to gain an insight into how SHIRE environment grants could benefit their group, the local community and the wider reduction of household waste across the county.

Councillor Blake Pain, county council cabinet member for action on climate change, said: “There will be an opportunity to hear about some of the projects previously supported, how potential projects could contribute to some of the campaigns already supported by the council and, of course, the chance to ask our team any questions.”

Examples of projects, which have previously received funding, include fixers’ groups in Hinckley and Market Harborough, which help residents repair broken household items and a series of waste reduction workshops run at Fearon Hall in Loughborough.

During the one-hour session, the team will give an overview of the scale of household waste in Leicestershire and share ideas about the type of projects that could be supported, as well as guidance for the application process.

Projects must be located in Leicestershire (not including Leicester City or Rutland) and should help reduce household waste. A simplified application process is also available for smaller grants of up to £300.

The virtual workshop will take place at 10am on Wednesday, 20 January. Interested groups and organisations can sign up at: https:// surveys.leics.gov.uk/snapwebhost/s. asp?k=160743887310 Further information about the SHIRE Environment Grant can be found online: https://www. leicestershirecommunities.org.uk/ grants/environment-grant.html The application deadline for the current round of funding is Friday, 26 February 2021.

Drive, occupied by Scania agent Keltruck Ltd and Westermans International, and sometimes referred to as the ‘Quinto Crane’ site, are showing their age and in some respects are no longer fit for purpose.

Borough Council planners are now considering a proposal to make radical changes to improve the look and suitability of the buildings, and improve the safety of those working or visiting the site. In addition to detailed proposals the application asks for approval in principle of a fast food outlet with a drive through facility.

The work involves the demolition of existing buildings, refurbishment of an existing building and erection of workshop buildings with ancillary offices and welfare floorspace, parking together and new access.

Established in 1983, Keltruck Limited is the largest independent Scania Distributor in Europe and has 18 operating locations. Each Keltruck workshop has the high-tech equipment needed to maintain modern commercial vehicles, but at the Markfield Road site there is inadequate headroom to tilt the cabs of HGV’s forward to allow access to maintain the engines. The roof is not in a good condition and the owners say that the expensive repairs that are necessary are cost prohibitive. That’s not the only problem with the existing building – the HGV inspection pit leaks after heavy rainfall and structural cracking to the perimeter walls has rendered the pit unusable. The plan is to refurbish the Westermans building to make it suitable for Keltruck, and to build a new unit for Westermans.

Westermans was founded in the early 1960’s by Peter Westerman, who owned and ran a welding supplies company from a Leicester city centre showroom. The business expanded into the market of second hand and refurbished welding machinery and plasma cutting equipment. Still based in Groby it now supplies welding equipment globally.

The site currently has very poor separation of visitors and also poor access for heavy goods vehicles to and from the A50. The owners want to deal with these issues as part of this application, and this will include the provision of a deceleration lane for vehicles entering the site, and a merge lane for those leaving.

With regards to the fast food outlet/coffee bar, it will be up to the end user to submit further details when full planning permission is sought.

Norman Griffiths

Both of our churches here in Groby are closed again due to lockdown.

Please be assured that we are still here for your spiritual needs during this time of great challenge.

Whether you meet with us face to face, via our facebook services or via telephone.

Rector – Rev Ed Bampton 01162396520 Rev Noel Colley 07757 302271 www.facebook.com/StPandStJ www.achurchnearyou.com/church/5501 !"#$"% #$&% '()%*+%, )%-.#*) '%)&$/%' *' 01##12'3 4&%)5 =1",*5 6.%',*5 @%,' *( 78+ 91+8#$"% 4&%)5 6:.)',*5 *( ;<*+ =1)"$"- >)*5%) 4&%)5 ?.",*5 *( ;<*+ =1)"$"- @1)':$8 Telephone Church, 11.15am every Sunday Call 0333 0164757, then enter room number 10336316# then pin number 1920#. Call charged at local rates.

!" #$% &''( )&# *+,-,.%)/ *%++$-. $- +-)#'-* +/')*' .'0.12'**)3' #$%- &)2' )&( 4$2' .'/'+4$&' &%25'- .$ $&' $" $%- '/('-* $& 6786769:;<< ! #$% =,// 3'. ) >)// 5)>?@ ===@")>'5$$?@>$213-$5#%->1 !"#$"% #$&% '()%*+%, '%)&$-%' ./*+ 01",*2' !

34##45 1' 4" 6*-%7448 34) +4)% $"34)+*($4" *", ,*$#2 94'(' (4 '1994)( : %"-41)*;% 241<

Christian Booklets/Gospels/Magazines and DVDs - have been put outside the church on Chapel Hill for anyone who is interested and would find them helpful.

If men are from Mars, then why can’t we send them back?

For publication dates and details of advertising rates, visit the website at www.grobyspotlight.co.uk

Lord Lieutenant’s Award

Kiera selected as finalist in 2020 awards

CONGRATULATIONS goes to former BGLC Post 16 Head Student Kiera McCourt, as she was selected as a FINALIST for the Lord Lieutenant’s Awards 2020.

Kiera is a finalist in the ‘Young Leader’ category, which is a brand new category for this year. The virtual awards ceremony was streamed live on Tuesday 17th November. Kiera did not win her category, but what a fantastic achievement in recognition for all Kiera’s fundraising activities here at BGLC. WELL DONE Kiera!

What happened to your New Year’s resolution?

IF YOU ARE already struggling to keep it, here is something that might help you.

Psychologists advise that it is useless to say you are going to quit anything.

Instead, make your resolution to change into something positive. For example, instead of “I will give up sweets,” say “I will eat fruit twice a day.”

It seems that people with an ‘approach goal’ score greater success than those who see themselves quitting something they still like. As one Swedish doctor explained: “You cannot erase a behaviour, but you can replace it with something else.”

The most popular resolutions regard physical health, weight loss and change of eating habits. The research was done at Stockholm University.

Procrastination has its good side. You always have something to do tomorrow.

11

12

Groby & Field Head Spotlight • MID-JANUARY 2021 • Tel: 01530 244069 • Email: info@grobyspotlight.co.uk

GROBY GARDENING SOCIETY NEWS THERE WAS of course no meeting in December due to the continuing Covid-19 restrictions.

The end of the year saw Leicestershire put into Tier 4 restrictions and there seems little prospect of these being lifted in the short term.

Hopefully you all had a good Christmas and some (probably) muted celebrations to welcome the New Year. Most of us will be glad to see the back of 2020, I’m sure. Now that 2021 is here, with the Covid-19 vaccine poised for rollout, a new president in the United States and Brexit having finally “been done”, the new year is full of hope as we enter January. January is named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and transitions. He is typically represented with two faces, one looking forward to the future, the other looking at the past, so a brief review of the year is customary.

From the Society’s point of view, the year was cut short immediately after the March meeting when Tracy Beatty talked to us about weeds. All remaining meetings, talks and trips were cancelled, along with almost every other social activity this year.

Lockdown began in March, and has been tinkered with throughout the year, with Leicester never really being released from it. Initial panic buying, clearing of supermarket shelves and fights over toilet rolls slowly eased, and a realisation of the importance of the NHS and key workers including supermarket staff, delivery drivers, police, fire and ambulance crews, postmen, bin men, bus drivers and taxi drivers became more apparent. We clapped the NHS workers each week, but didn’t overlook the importance of the key workers. Mothering Sunday was effectively cancelled. Care homes went into lockdown, with no visits allowed. Schools opened and closed, universities too, and social

A Fieldfare distancing became the byword. Not everyone adhered to the restrictions, of course, and in the hot summer months the crowd on Bournemouth beach was estimated at 500,000. As we all know, Covid loves a crowd, and the rates of infection began to increase.

Throughout this time, scientists were working on creating a vaccine, and two arrived and were approved for use in December. Let’s hope it’s a turning point, and we can look forward to a return to a ”new normal”, whatever it might be.

Following the science proved to be a good idea after all.

Underlying all this was the shadow of Brexit, and the possibility of the UK leaving without a deal, despite the promises of an “oven ready” agreement. There are still a lot of unknowns, but the roads leading to Dover are no longer (at the time of writing) clogged up with HGVs trying to get onto the ferries and onto Eurotunnel trains.

And there’s a new president in the White House, after 4 years of Donald Trump, despite his reluctance to accept the result.

January is generally the coldest, dullest month of the year, a time for gardeners to plan ahead and look forward to new growth as Spring approaches. Levels of daylight will increase, the nights begin to shorten, and wildlife in the garden will adapt to the changes. The hedgehogs

haven’t been seen in our garden for a few weeks, but we did see a few Redwings and a solitary Fieldfare as the temperatures dropped.

Last year saw a fairly mild and damp start to the year, with a couple of named storms rushing on from the Atlantic and causing disruption. Spring was dry and warm, and made the Covid restrictions seem less burdensome initially. The summer was hot, with record sunshine and temperature figures in the UK, ending with spectacular thunderstorms in the UK, and globally 2020 was the hottest year ever recorded.

Autumn was generally wet, and more storms brought protracted rain and flooding to parts of the UK. Global weather included severe droughts, wildfires in America, floods and devastating typhoons in the Pacific and Indian oceans.

Covid restrictions had a noticeable effect on the climate, with air pollution reduced significantly for a short time.

At the time of writing, there is also a possibility that a second ‘Beast From The East’ is building up, bringing very cold conditions again as it did in 2018. January always seems a long month, but winter becomes spring, albeit slowly, and your garden will begin to make demands on your time again.

By the time you read this, the equinox - and longer evenings – will be just 8 weeks away. Hopefully we’ll be able to hold meetings later this year.

Happy New Year to you all. Enjoy your garden when you can. Stay safe.

(If you have any queries about the society, please email Helen Box on helen_box@hotmail.com in the first instance.)

Keith Poole

Planning Apps LISTED below are some recent planning applications local to our area: Residential development of 283 dwellings (Class C3) including provision of public open space, associated infrastructure and engineering works and demolition of Vine Cottage - at land Off London Road, Markfield, Leicestershire LE67 9UY One dwelling (resubmission of 19/00117/FUL) (part retrospective) - at 5 The Crofts, 163A Main Street, Markfield, Leics. LE67 9UW Demolition of dwelling and outbuildings - at Vine Cottage, Captains Lane, Markfield, Leics.

LE67 9UY First floor extension at side of house - at 110 Main Street, Thornton, Coalville, Leics. LE67 1AG Single storey detached annexe at rear of house - at 71 Main Street, Markfield, Leics. LE67 9UT Erection of a three bedroomed detached dwelling - at rear Of 75 Main Street, Thornton, Coalville, Leicestershire LE67 1AH Two storey front and side extension - at 4 Laundon Close, Groby, Leicester LE6 0YZ Demolition of existing buildings, refurbishment of an existing building and erection of workshop buildings (Use Class B2)with ancillary offices and welfare floorspace, parking together and new access - at Unit 2 Midland Distribution Centre, Markfield Road, Groby, Leicester LE6 0FS Single storey extension at front and side of house - at 5 Oakmeadow Way, Groby, Leicester LE6 0YN

I can have any woman I please. So far, I haven’t pleased any of them.

For publication dates and details of advertising rates, visit the website at www.grobyspotlight.co.uk

13

COMING UP IN FEBRUARY

National Nestbox Week OUR BIRDS are short of nesting holes, and no wonder: gardens, parks and woodland are much neater than they used to be, and modern homes offer few crannies for nest building.

National Nestbox Week, which is celebrated from 14th February each year, aims to encourage us to put up more nestboxes, and to consider planting shrubs or trees with fruit that birds eat. These can make all the difference to birds struggling to survive, especially blue tits, great tits, house sparrows, robins and starlings.

The British Trust for Ornithologiy (BTO) offers a variety of ideas for building and placing nestboxes. Go to: https://www.nestboxweek.com

FAST FREE LOCAL DELIVERY ZANUSSI

BOSCH

Washing Machine 1400rpm Spin Speed 8kg Load Capacity A+++ Rated 2yr Guarantee

Washing Machine 1400rpm Spin Speed 7kg Load Capacity A+++ Rated Express Wash

WAJ28008GB

ZWF81443W

15 Programmes

14 Programmes

Blomberg

SAMSUNG

Washing Machine 1400rpm Spin Speed 7Kg Load Capacity 28 Min Fast Full Load 16 Programmes A+++AB Rated

Washing Machine 1400rpm Spin Speed 8kg Load Capacity A+++ Rated 5yr Guarantee

LWF174310W

WW80J5556MW

White

BOSCH

BEKO

Built-In Dishwasher 12 Place Settings 4 Programmes Time Delay Noise Level 50db A+ Rated

Tall Freezer Frost Free A+ Rated 168 Ltr (Net) White H145 W54.5 D59cm

SMV40C40GB

Fitted Kitchens We are pleased to announce that we are now agents for A.W.E Kitchens and Bedrooms Who specialise in Bespoke made to measure kitchen & bedroom furniture Please call in for further details

FCFM1545W

FREE DELIVERY

ANSTEY

with Personal Service

“Ask About our Same Day/Next Day Installation and Removal Service”

Want a home office or a garage conversion for an office to work from home?

Bring your office to home with the help of...

Building Services

Office Refit Specialist

Get in touch today for your office quote

07734405374 07973852738 contact@countycontractorsleics.co.uk www.countycontractorsleics.co.uk @CountyCon County Contractors, Groby, Leicester

david@dnhceilingsandpartitions.co.uk www.dnhceilingsandpartitions.co.uk DNH, Anstey, Leicester

If you can’t laugh at yourself, make fun of other people.

14

Groby & Field Head Spotlight • MID-JANUARY 2021 • Tel: 01530 244069 • Email: info@grobyspotlight.co.uk

Mountains make you feel better THE NATURAL environment can make a real impact on your mood.

Mountains can leave you feeling more optimistic, while the ocean can help boost your inspiration.

A recent study at Goldsmiths University of London found that water is most effective at increasing positive emotions, such as happiness and inspiration. Woodlands can help you forget your worries, and fields and meadows can enhance your energy levels.

Rising demand for leggings THE POPULARITY of leggings soared last year. They became the must-have fashion garment to see out Covid-19.

John Lewis reported sales of leggings and loungewear had increased by 1,303 per cent. Sweaty Betty was selling a pair of Power Leggings (£75) every 90 seconds.

Julia Straus, CEO of the brand, explained: “Good quality leggings transform the way you feel.”

Even Lucas Hugh, the retailer that made the £175 leggings Jennifer Lawrence wore in The Hunger Games, saw a 100 per cent increase in sales last year, despite shutting down its King’s Road boutique. Leggings are “a nesting thing”, according to Anjhe Mules, the co-founder of the brand.

The challenge to some over-60s LAST YEAR saw a steep rise in redundances among the over-60s, and a lack of proficiency with digital work tools such as Zoom helped contribute to the problem.

The number of workers over 60 who were made redundant increased from 8,000 between April and June to 31,000 between July and September – twice the percentage increase of any other groups.

According to research by Rest Less, a jobs site for older people, older workers are less likely to receive workplace training than their younger counterparts, and once made redundant are significantly more likely to find themselves in long-term unemployment. “Contrary to popular belief, most 60-somethings are not revelling in their gold-plated final salary pensions – a long lost preserve of their parents’ generation.”

New measures to protect children online

THE GOVERNMENT is to give the communications regulator Ofcom new powers to protect children and adults when they are using the internet.

An Online Harms Bill will be introduced later this year, with the intention of allowing Ofcom to block access to online services that fail to properly protect children and other users. Giants like Facebook and Instagram could also be fined large sums if they fail to take proper action against posts that were legal but still harmful. That would include pornography accessible to children, bullying, and disinformation, such as fake claims about vaccinations.

The Digital Secretary, Oliver Dowden, says that the legislation should be in force by 2022. He said: “A 13-year-old should no longer be able to access pornographic images on Twitter; YouTube will not be allowed to recommend videos promoting terrorist ideologies; and anti-Semitic hate crimes will need to be removed without delay.”

Pandemic dreams THE PANDEMIC is affecting our dreams.

More people are reporting nightmares which relate to ‘contamination’ and ‘cleanness’.

A recent study has found that the more anxious a person is in their waking life, the more vivid will be their dream images.

The findings, published in the journal PLUS One, explain that “Pandemic dreams show a higher proportion of anger and sadness words; these features seem to be associated with mental suffering linked to social isolation.”

You know that feeling you get after a really rewarding day at work? Could you describe it for the rest of us?

For publication dates and details of advertising rates, visit the website at www.grobyspotlight.co.uk

Letters

A message of thanks I WOULD LIKE through the Spotlight to send our thanks to Simon the fastest post man in the west for always delivering our post with a happy face on which has been an awful year for all of us. He has never let the people of Groby down.

Thank you Simon keep up the good work.

Also the brilliant refuse collectors who we may not always see but know they will be emptying our bins without fail.Thank you so much we would be in a mess without you turning up each week.

Lets all hope 2021 will be a better year for us all we can only hope and do what we are told to keep safe.

Zena and Brian Markfield Road, Groby

15

Are your double glazed windows STEAMED UP or

MISTY?

There’s no need to replace the whole window we will replace the glass unit for you.

Repairs to ALL PVCu and Aluminium Windows & Doors

Groby’s Random Santa JUST BEFORE Christmas I was walking on the path through the allotments when I spotted a prominent yellow piece of paper and a cd.

The paper prominently said “Groby’s Random Santa”. Further investigation showed this was an act of spontaneous generosity from an unknown person, and that if you didn’t like it, then one should pass it on.

1) I would like to say “thank you” to whoever was the Random Santa for taking the time, trouble and effort to do this.

2) I would like to blow a raspberry to whoever it was who found one of these presents and rather than respecting the simple instruction to re-wrap and pass on decided to try and destroy it and litter with it. So, the cd wasn’t your taste in music, yes ... and ... so what ? Would re-wrapping really have been too much ?

3) I notice this hasn’t had a domino effect and been ‘a thing’, which is a bit of a shame.

Just call our small, friendly firm - whether it’s one window or a full house - with approximate sizes, and we’ll give you a price OVER THE PHONE or a free call out if you prefer.

Window Services Repair & Replacement Specialists: Est. 1982 167a Dominion Road, Glenfield, Leicester LE3 8JB

Telephone/Fax:

0116 287 5395

Groby Resident

The birds and bees HERE IS SOME good news: all new major roads will have wildflower-friendly verges that could boost our numbers of birds and bees.

Highway England has said that vibrant road verges will be created as standard on new roads over 300 miles in England, using low nutrient soils which will be seeded with wildflowers or left to grow naturally.

A staggering 97 per cent of our meadows have been destroyed since the Thirties, due to modern agriculture. This means that the 238,000 hectares of road verges across the UK could become a vital habitat for pollinators.

The Government has pledged to build 4,000 miles of new road by 2025.

Have you made a Will?

“A will is the only way to make sure your savings and possessions go to the people and causes that you care about.

It is so important - please don’t put it off” We can help with advice on: Wills & Estate Planning, Trusts, Lasting Power of Attorney, Probate & Funeral Planning Call now for peace of mind - Our fees are VERY reasonable Full Member of the Society of Will Writers True Blue Wills Ltd Your local Will Writers and Estate Planners

0800 6122 818 enquiries@truebluewills.com www.truebluewills.com Every once in a brownish-purple moon, I worry that I might be colour blind.

l n s y

n

, . e

16

Groby & Field Head Spotlight • MID-JANUARY 2021 • Tel: 01530 244069 • Email: info@grobyspotlight.co.uk

Groby Surgery Patients Group Newsletter

Covid19 vaccine – the surgery will contact you when it’s your turn OFTEN WHEN the British travel abroad they are astonished by the free for all at bus stops. We are very good queuing as over the years we have had a lot of practice. There can, however, sometimes be unrest when queuing at airports as those who have a bit more cash in their pockets can pay for a speedy journey through security or priority boarding.

The approval and roll out of the Oxford/Astra Zeneca vaccine, in addition to the Pfizer version has given us hope that this is at least the start of the end of all the restrictions which have affected our day to day lives. But with millions wanting the vaccine we are all back in a queue, albeit a virtual queue on the NHS computers.

The good news is that someone with the extra cash in their pocket can’t buy their way to the top of the queue. We all have to wait our turn. And just like the queue to board the plane, where the very vulnerable or those with mobility problems will board first even if they haven’t paid for priority, those with the greatest risk and greatest need will be the first to get the jab.

Everyone is in the priority lane, but for some the vaccination is more urgent than for others.

Ringing the surgery or 111 doesn’t get you a place higher on the list, it just blocks the lines and makes it more difficult for the surgery to deal with all the routine illnesses that the winter brings. The surgery will contact you to make an appointment when it’s your turn to roll up your sleeve, but it is essential that your contact details are up to date. Make sure they have the telephone number you would like

them to contact you on, and an email address if you have one.

For further information just Google NHS vaccine roll out.

Sometimes we try too hard AT THE SURGERY everything possible has been done to ensure that those who need to visit are in a Covid-safe environment.

The appointment system means the waiting room is no longer crowded and patients are asked to stand and wait if they can. For some this is asking too much and they have to sit down. There is a chair but patients are asked to only use it if it is essential. Minimising things that patients touch helps keep the surgery Covid-safe.

One patient who needed to sit thought a good way to help would be to take her own folding walking aid that opens to a canvas seat. Sadly, as she rose from her folding seat, she fell and broke

her shoulder. She was just being helpful but it all went wrong and was distressing for her and the staff on duty. She had an uncomfortable wait for the ambulance and now weeks of discomfort as she recovers.

If you need to visit the surgery remember that ...

• the usual reception seating arrangements have been suspended during the pandemic, • there is a seat available for those who cannot stand and wait, • it is subject to Covid cleaning arrangements between patients, • you should use the seat provided, don’t bring your own, • you should tell reception staff you have used it in order to ensure it is sanitised in accordance with Covid Safe guidelines.

Norman Griffiths for Groby Surgery Patients Group

It is not enough to love – you need to be loved SOMETIMES we can be inclined to give and give and give to others - without asking anything in return.

We may think that this is a sign of generosity - of great strength. But it can also be one of pride - we want to be seen as the one who does not need help. Or it can be a sign of very low self-esteem - we do not think we are worth receiving anything from others.

Whatever the reason, when we keep giving, without also receiving, we put ourselves in danger - we will burn out quickly. It is as important to know when we need to TAKE attention and care, as when we need to give it to others. If you do not pay careful attention to your own needs - whether physical, emotional, mental or spiritual - you will not last the distance.

If you want to remain a joyful giver for years to come, you need also to be a joyful taker and accept God’s love, given to you through other people.

Seen on a birthday card Forget about the past, You can’t change it.

Forget about the future, You can’t predict it.

Forget about the present, I didn’t buy you one.

Julie’s Pet Care SERVICES

Pet Minding

Tel: 07934 686692 Email: Email:Julie.petcareservice@gmail.com juliedu.petcare@gmail.com

Dog Walking CRB Checked My wife and I just got divorced. We split the house. I got the outside.

From £5

For publication dates and details of advertising rates, visit the website at www.grobyspotlight.co.uk

By the Revd Dr Herbert McGonigle.

Do your days rush by at a HECTIC PACE?

H

AVE YOU EVER stopped to think that your mobile phone and emails have not given you more time?

Just more things to do in the same amount of time.

We leave our messages in one place while we take our bodies elsewhere.

Instead of doing one thing after another, we shoot out a variety of tasks, and then swoop down on them later, needing to deal with them all at once.

In a four-minute clip from a street scene from an old Orson Welles film and a similar clip from a more recent film, you will see an amazing difference. In the early film, the camera records ‘real time’ – people get out of their cars, walk across streets, wait for lights, speak to other people, enter a bank. In the more recent film, a similar sequence was reduced to a half a dozen quick cuts.

Transition time was eliminated.

Modern life teaches us that ‘down time’ is wasted. Time is money. So mobile phones, emails, etc, enable us to ‘waste’ less time. The tempo of cultural life picks up, the heartbeat of daily life races, and our own body rhythms respond with adrenaline, cramped muscles and heart attacks.

To take time out for daily prayer, for a quiet walk that is not to the next meeting, for daydreaming or for Bible study becomes a cross-cultural act.

Following Christ, waiting on Him, is a countercultural act.

One lovely biblical phrase is ‘in the fullness of time, it came to pass’. This suggests four things: that time crests like a wave; that there is a right moment for things to happen; that it’s not ours to plan that moment, but to recognise it; and that we are not the primary agents of what happens in the world.

So, feel free to accept God’s offer of rest when you are weary; receive each moment of your life as a gift from God’s hand; pray to discern what each new encounter you make requires of you, and freely entrust everything else to God’s care.

17

How to call the Police when you can’t talk THERE WILL be times when a domestic abuse victim needs urgent help and needs to call the Police but may be unable to speak, due to not wanting to alert the perpetrator to the call.

There is a way round this which the emergency services call the ‘silent solution’.

When a person calls 999, an operator asks which service they require. If they do not answer, they are prompted to tap the handset, cough, or make a noise. If none of these happen, they are then given the option to press 55.

Doing this will alert the operator that the person has made the call intentionally and needs help.

A police spokesman said ‘Please do not think that just because you dial 999 that police will attend. We totally understand that sometimes people are unable or too afraid to talk, however it must be clear that we will not routinely attend a silent 999 call.’

The reason is that the emergency services don’t know whether the call was made by accident, perhaps after mis-dialling.

It is hoped that by spreading awareness of the function, the emergency services will be able to act more efficiently and save lives.

Promote your business here every month ...

Be in front of thousands of local readers as they find out more about their community

Call Mike today on 01530 244069 or email your details to info@grobyspotlight.co.uk Change is good as long as I don’t have to do anything different.

18

Groby & Field Head Spotlight • MID-JANUARY 2021 • Tel: 01530 244069 • Email: info@grobyspotlight.co.uk

GROBY ALLOTMENTS NEWS F

IRSTLY, can I wish you all a Happy, Healthy and much better New Year!

As I write this article, we have just been moved into Tier 4, not a nice New Year present, but a necessary one in these times of increasing infection rates. We allotmenteers are so lucky because we can go down to our plots to exercise, and see and speak to neighbouring plot holders, socially distanced of course.

Getting outside is so good to raise your mood, as is watching your plants grow. I realise that not everyone can get outside in the garden or allotment, but you could start growing a few seeds on your windowsill, even if you just grow a few herbs, it really does cheer you up watching them grow and even more when you are able to taste them!

Have you lost a bracelet?

I MENTIONED this in my article in the last Spotlight issue, but some of you may have missed it.

I found a distinctive gold bracelet when digging at the edge of the allotment path recently through from Ratby Road to Chapel Hill. It isn’t an ancient Anglo-Saxon hoard or a Viking treasure trove, but it is made of gold and it is a bracelet, which could be of great sentimental value to someone.

If I had lost a bracelet whilst out walking around Groby, I would be sad and hope to find it again one day. So, I’m giving it one more try - Please, if you have lost a gold

bracelet somewhere in Groby in the last few years, do contact me at grobyallotments@yahoo.co.uk, describing your lost bracelet, and if it matches the description of my find, I will be able to reunite you with it.

Of course, it may be that this bracelet was a present from a former suitor with whom you fell out and you tossed this bracelet away into the grass in a fit of anger.

Do you now regret your decision?

You see I’m imagining all sorts of scenarios regarding the loss of this bracelet – please come and reclaim it and help me stop speculating!

A Frosty end of year!

WELL, DIDN’T we have very seasonal weather at the end of 2020?

We had our day of snow, meaning that on that day I couldn’t get down to the plot to harvest my sprouts, leeks or kale as it was too cold for me! I’d already dug up all the carrots and parsnips, but they do say that a good frost does make parsnips sweeter. We did really well with our festive meals this year as all vegetables were home-grown (carrots, potatoes, sprouts, leeks, onions, broccoli and red cabbage)!

We even managed home-grown apple sauce! It was a very quiet Christmas this year, as I’m sure all of us felt, but a new year is upon us with things to look forward to and there is nothing more satisfying to me than to see my little vegetable seeds coming up, to plant out for another years’ harvest. That is tangible hope for the future!

World Soil Day IT ALMOST passed me by, as I’m sure it did you, but 5th December 2020 was World Soil Day. A blog I follow was extolling the

virtues of the no-dig method of gardening to help preserve soil structure, help the soil to replenish itself and best of all, it requires less backbreaking work on the plot! The idea is to look after the soil and so increase the quality of the veg you grow. You do this by disturbing the soil as little as possible and it is a great idea if you are at the end of your tether battling weeds, pests or disease, or if you are new to gardening. The great benefit is less work and time spent toiling in the garden or on the plot.

What you do is to cover any bare soil with a mulch. You can use any well-rotted manure (but be careful to make sure that the animals have grazed in fields that haven’t been treated with weedkillers, as some of these remain in the soil and are toxic to plants) or compost, bought or homemade.

You will need to dig out the worst weeds such as dock or brambles but then you simply cover the soil with cardboard and then put a thick layer of compost, your own or bought, or manure over the top of the cardboard and leave for the winter. In the Spring, you can plant your seedlings straight into the compost. The long spell of being deprived of light should have killed off most of the weeds and they will then rot down into the soil, enriching it further.

As long as you hoe regularly to keep any weeds down, your area should stay fairly weed-free and the worms that turn over the soil will keep their network of tunnels and the fungi that link up the plant root systems will remain intact.

You will also have a straighter back and need fewer hot baths – even better for the planet!

Carol Lincoln

Contacts

By Mark Watson

JAMES CHILTERN boards the 23:50 sleeper train from London to Edinburgh with two pork pies, six beers and a packet of chocolate digestives.

At 23:55 he sends a message to all 158 people in his contacts, telling them that he plans to end his life in the morning. He then switches his phone to flight mode. He’s said goodbye. To him, it’s the end of his story – and time to crack open the biscuits.

But across the world, 158 phones are lighting up with a notification.

Phones belonging to his mum.

His sister. His ex-best friend. The woman who broke his heart.

People he’s lost touch with. People he barely knows. And for them, the message is only the beginning of the journey.

Funny and wise, tender and deeply moving, Contacts is a beautiful story about the weight of loneliness, the importance of kindness – and how it’s never too late to reach out.

Don’t forget: Tell them you saw their advert here!

Our fabulous advertisers make your magazine possible - please use them if you can

I was sitting drinking coffee in my slippers this morning, when I thought to myself, I really need to wash some mugs.

For publication dates and details of advertising rates, visit the website at www.grobyspotlight.co.uk • OTTOMAN/FOOTSTOOL in pristine condition with removable castors - Silver-Grey velour - hinged lid offering lots of easily accessible storage space - Shop price £330 Ideal for lounge or bedroom - Size - W 93 cm - D 57 cm- H 41cm. (36 x 22 x 16 inches) Price: £60.00 • TABLECLOTH - John Lewis - New in original package - pretty white damask - Cost £50 - size - 108 x 320 cm. Price: £20.00 • Placemats - New with original labels - John Lewis - Cost £5 each -colour champagne - set of 8. Price: £20.00 • LEATHER TOTE BAG - Cost £100s - Very soft supple tan leather as new. Price: £35.00.

Tel: 01530 242318 (Markfield) • Sony SOUND BAR HT-CT390 + Sub Woofer.

Cost £250. Will Accept £100.Hardly Used, AS NEW. Full Instructions + Quick Start-up Guide.

Tel: 07756 799402 (Groby) • GOODMANS Freeview + DIGITAL TV RECORDER. Price: £20.00.

Tel: 0116 347 8360 (Groby) • Gatsby solid oak SIDEBOARD, 3 drawers in centre and cupboard either side W52” D18” H32”. Price: £250.00.

• Two beige leather TWO SEATER SETTEES excellent condition. Price: £100.00 each (will sell separately.)

• Benjamin Roberts Ivory WEDDING GOWN Size 14 (beautiful beaded skirt and train) plus long veil. Price: £250.00 • Six 8” Franklin Mint Lilliput Lane PLATES, cottage scenes (boxed) Price: £5.00 each.

Tel: 07547 901657 (Groby) • Bootmaster MOBILITY SCOOTER - excellent condition. Dismantles for easy transport. Purchased new at £1,195 and used for less than 12 months. Price includes front basket, seat bag, 2 sets of keys and manual.

Price: £500.00 Tel: 0116 287 5585 (Groby) • LEGXERCISE - unwanted gift.

Price: £25.00 Tel: 01530 245482.

SPOTLIGHT

Small Ads

• Paw Patrol TODDLER BED with mattress. Blue and red, 145 cm long, 74 cm wide, 66.5 cm to top of headboard. Suitable up to 4 years or 23 kgs. £45.00. Made up but sadly not used. Can deliver locally if required.

Tel: 01530 230893 (Bagworth) • One WHEELCHAIR - FREE - buyer must collect.

• Four TEDDY BEARS, various sizes and makes. Two at £15.00 each and two at £17.00 each or £64.00 for the four.

• Selection of JIGSAWS - ranging from 1,000 pieces down to 100 pieces. Prices from £1.00 to £6.00 each.

• Portable PUZZLE BOARD - £8.00 o.n.o.

Tel: 01530 243493 (Markfield) • Cast iron traditional round PUB TABLE, Angel of Mons design, recently professionaly repainted black as per original colour.

Original hardwood top in very good condition, make an ideal table for a conservatory. Probably made early 20th century, just after WWI as it has the word Victory on its joint plates.

Price: £120.00.

Tel: 01530 243043 (Markfield) • Totes pillowslip genuine suede grey LADIES SLIPPERS size 7 (NEW with packaging) £10.00.

• MONOPOLY EXPRESS game (like new - think it’s unused) £5.00 • CHARADES and quiz games (5 card packs) £5.00 • Chrome TOWEL RING (new in box) £3.00 • Wii GAME - family fortunes £8.00 • Wii GAME - Just Dance £8.00 • Wii GAME - Now that’s what I call music dance & sing £8.00 • Wii GAME -The X factor £8.00 • Scrabble Trickster Board game NEW unused £15.00 Tel: 07753 198340.

• Evergreen GARDEN SPREADER. Price: £10.00.

• Panasonic BREAD MAKER. Price: £25.00.

• Celestron nature BINOCULARS 8 x 42 with carry case. Price: £50.00.

Tel: 07512 963016 (Groby) • GOLF CLUBS with FULL SIZE BAG - Hippo Plus carbon graphite shaft irons 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, P Howson Detonator graphite shaft woods 1½, 3 - Hippo bag, no cover, a little dusty. Price: £15.00 the lot.

• CROSS PENS – both brand new, never used. Competition prizes. May be viewed prior to purchase: - CROSS CENTURY II 10 CARAT ROLLED GOLD FOUNTAIN PEN Solid 18 carat gold nib (medium).

Presented in a luxury gift box. Comes with two black Cross standard size ink cartridges Cross lifetime mechanical guarantee. Cross rrp is £240, Amazon selling for £200. Will accept £120.00 or vno.

- CROSS YEAR OF THE MONKEY PLATINUM PLATED BALLPOINT PEN - Beautiful monkey design etched into the barrel. Finished off with 23 carat gold plate. Swivel-action propel/ repel action. Medium point. Presented in a stylish gift box with an acrylic pen rest. Cross lifetime mechanical guarantee. Was on sale at John Lewis for £210. Will accept £120.00 or vno.

Tel: 07902 459298 (Markfield) • ROOF RACK plus 2 BIKE RACKS to suit most cars particularly Fords.

Price: £50.00 Tel: 0116 287 2730 (Groby) IF YOU HAVE any household items which you’d like to advertise FREE in the Spotlight, please SEND DETAILS by post or email - sorry, we can’t take them over the phone.

Maximum EIGHT items please.

Our postal address is: Spotlight Small Ads, PO Box 8, Markfield, Leics. LE67 9ZT or you can email details to: info@grobyspotlight.co.uk PLEASE ENSURE that you put ‘SMALL ADS’ in the subject line, and INCLUDE YOUR FULL POSTAL ADDRESS (not for publication, just to know where you are).

ELECTRICIAN A one-stop professional & reliable service ♦Fixed Wiring Testing ♦Landlord Certification ♦Expert Fault Finding ♦Fuse Board Upgrades ♦Extra Sockets & Lights ♦Electric Heating

19

♦Complete Rewiring (with minimal disruption)

♦Cottage Specialists ♦Electrics Showers (Inc. Plumbing) ♦Security (Alarms, CCTV, Lights) ♦Free No Obligation Quotes

Control Electrics (Leics.) Ltd

Call: 0116 268 2910 Cropston Road, Anstey, Leicester LE7 7BR

Relationship status - table for one but drinks for two.

Groby Library News Happy New Year The Library is still closed.

However, you can access on line, e-books.

See our website at www.Groby Community Library.

We look forward to seeing you soon. Keep safe.

Dr.Janet Harrison

20

Groby & Field Head Spotlight • MID-JANUARY 2021 • Tel: 01530 244069 • Email: info@grobyspotlight.co.uk

HINCKLEY & BOSWORTH BOROUGH COUNCIL NEWS - Councillor Martin Cartwright reports

Tel: 0116 287 4500 Mob: 07850 707050 COVID-19

Groby Pool

AS I WRITE this month’s article in Groby we have entered Tier 4 for the first time in the Tier system. The second of the vaccinations has been approved today, the day I wrote this article.

I HAVE BEEN aware of and campaigned for some time to address the lack of bins at Groby Pool itself.

Hopes now lie mainly with the vaccination roll out program as quickly as possible. I have been contacted by a number of residents disappointed that they have not received their vaccinations. Sorry, I am unable to help you with this as your GP will be in touch with you directly.

Klondyke YOU MAY recall I wrote an extensive update on the Klondyke issues in my October Spotlight column. Part of which was the compound that had been granted a CLEUD (Certificate of Lawful Development) which incidentally did not include use, you would not be able to occupy the property once built.

A new planning application to build a bungalow on the compound site was submitted to HBBC last year. This was turned down with the applicant having until 21st October 2020 in order to appeal.

The appeal was submitted at 5.09pm on that date and at the time it was unclear if A: The time to submit an appeal was end of the day on the 21st or work day being 5pm and or B: If all the relevant paperwork had been submitted. Had there been any omissions from the submitted paperwork then the applicant would not have had the time to correct these.

I can now confirm that the planning appeal inspectorate has now granted the appeal to go forward (this does not mean that either the appeal has happened or been won or lost) so it was the end of the day not the close of business and all the relevant paperwork must have been submitted by the applicant in order to get to this position in the process.

The result of the above means that an appeal will be held sometime during 2021.

There is nothing anyone can do until an inspector is appointed with a case reference number and a “start date” declared for the appeal at which point the statutory process will begin.

I will let you know when this happens. For now just expect an appeal to be heard with regards the appeal against refusal to erect a new dwelling on the compound part of the Klondyke site and for that appeal to take part sometime during 2021.

Groby Litter Pickers CONGRATULATIONS, and sincere thanks to Groby Litter Pickers who have tirelessly litter-picked the pavements, grass verges and Groby Pool area week after week for many weeks.

Please refer back to the October 2020 edition of the Spotlight on page 14 for the “What a Load of Rubbish!” article.

As pictured in the article the amount of rubbish collected that has been discarded is staggering. It’s easy to see what that area of Groby would have looked like had you not completed this voluntary litter picking. Like you it saddens me that so much rubbish is simply discarded on to our grass verges.

I was delighted to be able to help you and your volunteers in sourcing some supplies from the Borough Council so that you have the tools and equipment required to do this safely.

Cllr Martin Cartwright

Call: 0116 287 4500 Mobile: 07850 707050 E-Mail: hbbc@appliancehome.co.uk Write : Maverick House,10 Pine Tree Avenue, Groby, LE6 0EQ

@CllrCartwright

Refuse & Recycling Collections EVEN DURING heavy snow recently the bin crews still turned out and completed almost all the collections just as they have done week in week out throughout the pandemic.

This part of the Borough Council’s service continues to receive nothing but praise rightly so and justifiably earned.

Groby residents are very grateful to our bin crews and thank them for the dedication to the service of emptying our bins efficiently despite the extra risks posed to themselves during the pandemic. Just like the NHS we applaud you.

I am here to help you

Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council – Groby Ward. Executive member for: Licensing, Environmental, Climate Change, Rural Issues & Klondyke Community Hub

Cllr Martin Cartwright

Whilst not an excuse to dump rubbish in the Pool or surrounding area the lack of bins was not helping the situation.

The Quarry owns this area of land and the Pool itself. I have had talks with them and they have agreed to install two bins at the locations for which I saw fit.

The quarry has asked Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council not only to procure the bins on the quarry’s behalf but for the Borough Council operatives to install them and the Borough Council street scene services enter into a paid agreement with the quarry in order to empty the bins on the same schedule as we currently complete the Groby Pool car park bin collections.

Whilst only a few weeks have gone by since these bins have been installed, it is clear that they are well used.

I would like to thank the Quarry owners for accepting that this work needed carrying out on their land.

I would also like to thank the HBBC employees who very professionally installed the bins at the locations so as not spoil the enjoyment of the view and or people sitting on either of the benches. The bins are strategically placed so as to have the maximum potential of use from visitors to the pool area but without having an impact on the vista.

cllr.martincartwright

Should you have any comments or problems you would like me to mention in my article please get in touch.

Please remember if I can ever be of help to you or your family please do not hesitate to contact me. My contact details are listed above.

Without doubt this year has been like no other and I doubt anyone will not be glad to see the back of it.

Keep safe, take care looking forward to helping you again during 2021 Kind regards

Cllr Martin Cartwright

I’ll never forget the first time we met but that won’t stop me from trying.

For publication dates and details of advertising rates, visit the website at www.grobyspotlight.co.uk

Professor recommends boosting our Vitamin D levels

PROFESSOR Angus Dalgleish was interviewed on the Nick Ferrari show on LBC on 11th January 2021.

According to the professor, several reports have noted the association between low Vitamin D3 levels and increased risk of death from COVID-19.

He has lobbied that correcting the nation’s low Vitamin D3 levels would do more to save lives and the NHS. According to Professor Dalgleish, Finland is the only country to do this nationally and it has resulted in a very low death rate.

Support for community pubs LEICESTERSHIRE County Council recognise that rural pubs are at the heart of many Leicestershire communities - and as part of their commitment to helping businesses during these tough times, pubs struggling during the pandemic will have the opportunity to apply for a new fund.

The County Council is offering a oneoff payment of £1,000 to support small village pubs which are unable to open their doors over the festive period.

The funding criteria are set out below: • Pubs must be located in a Leicestershire village.

• Pubs must be able to demonstrate how your pub provides a vital community role.

• Pubs must derive less than 50% of its income from sales of food, a wet-pub by definition.

• Pubs will need to self-certify that they meet all eligibility criteria and may need to provide accounting evidence.

• Businesses also in receipt of other grants are also eligible to apply.

• Be able to confirm that there have been no material changes to your business that would prevent you from receiving this grant (ie. your business is still operating and is not insolvent, in liquidation or in administration).

Where applicable, you must still be the liable party for the business rates attached to your premises.

By applying for this grant you consent to Leicestershire County Council processing, within its own organisation, central government and in accordance with the Data Protection Legislation any information that you have provided to them in order to process your claim successfully.

If you require a paper copy of the application form please email communitypubs@leics.gov.uk

The Authenticity Project

By Clare Pooley SIX STRANGERS with one thing in common: their lives aren’t always what they make them out to be.

What would happen if they told the truth instead?

Julian Jessop is tired of hiding the deep loneliness he feels. So he begins The Authenticity Project - a small green notebook containing the truth about his life.

Leaving the notebook on a table in his friendly neighbourhood café, Julian never expects Monica, the owner, to track him down after finding it. Or that she’ll be inspired to write down her own story.

Little do they realize that such small acts of honesty hold the power to impact all those who discover the notebook and change their lives completely.

0116 234 0548 We can take care of every detail, advise and help you on each and every step of the way.

• Qualified Funeral Directors • Floral Tributes arranged • Hearse, Limousines and alternatives available • Monumental Service • Car parking available

21

• Online tribute and donation profile • Catering suite • Chapels of rest • Funeral plans available • 24 hour service

Funeral arrangements can be made in the comfort of your own home if preferred.

Talbott House, Leicester Road, Anstey, Leicester, Leicestershire LE7 7AT Email: talbotthouse@ansteyfunerals.com Website: www.ansteyfunerals.com

Alexander the Great is what happens when men get to name themselves.

22

Groby & Field Head Spotlight • MID-JANUARY 2021 • Tel: 01530 244069 • Email: info@grobyspotlight.co.uk

Start planning some days out for later this year

E

VERYONE talks about working from home as if it’s something new. Yes, it is for a lot of jobs thanks to new technology, but in the past working from home usually involved making things using the old technology, and framework knitting is one example.

The textile trade is a prime example where working from home wasn’t completely eliminated by the growth of factories. Did anyone in your family make goods at home using a machine provided by a manufacturer? Or did someone use one of those automated knitting machines that were once so popular? If so, why not email or write to the Spotlight and share your story with other readers.

There’s an interesting leaflet on the Lost Yards of Ratby that shows the sites of seven yards in the village that are linked to the Heritage Trail.

Harrison’s Yard, formerly named Slingsby’s Yard, was situated behind the cottages on the corner of Station Road and Chapel Lane and was created by the conversion of farm outbuildings into six residences during the early 19th century. By the 1851 census Ratby was recorded as having 131 framework knitters. In 1871 there were four framework knitters living in Harrison’s Yard.

The Borough Council’s conservation survey says that a former framework knitter’s cottage is the only surviving example of an early industrial building here in Groby. Framework knitting was once one of the most important industries in the East Midlands, explains the Leicestershire Industrial History Society. William Lee of Calverton in Nottinghamshire invented the stocking frame in 1589. This made it possible for workers to produce knitted goods around 100 times faster than by hand.

In the great British tradition of not fully expoiting the potential of new technologies he was refused a patent by Elizabeth I, so Lee took his invention to France. When he died his brother brought the machines back to London, but the industry gradually moved back to Nottinghamshire and spread to Leicestershire and Derbyshire. By the end of the 18th century over 85% of all the frames in the UK were to be found in these three counties.

Framework knitters suffered poor health and malnutrition and life wasn’t easy. The working day was long and working conditions were dangerous, cramped and uncomfortable. Master Hosiers owned the knitters’ houses and required them to buy all their own materials, and pay to use their knitting frames. The whole family had to work as wages were low and overheads high. Just to make ends meets children had to take on tasks such as wool-winding.

The industry began to decline after 1810 and in the second half of the 19th century, steam powered knitting machines allowed the industry to progress to a proper factory based phase.

The craft is remembered locally at the Wigston Framework Knitters Museum, set in a Master Hosier’s house with. The house dates from the last years of the seventeenth century and shows signs of various alterations.

At the rear is a two story Victorian frameshop in the garden a cobbled yard and a water pump. It’s said that the workshop was locked and left in 1952 leaving a unique record of working life. The 1690 house is furnished with numerous artifacts, and there’s a large garden and a museum shop. Guided tours will no doubt be available again as life gets back to normal and the museum re-opens when Covid restrictions are lifted.

AS NOTTINGHAMSHIRE was the birthplace of the stocking frame it’s appropriate that the county has its own museum. The award-winning Framework Knitters Museum in Ruddington, south of Nottingham (pictured above) claims to be one of a few places left in the country where you’ll find the working and living conditions of this industry perfectly preserved for you to experience and explore.

The Ruddington Framework Knitters Museum is a unique surviving example of a 19th century framework knitters’ yard, restored as a living history museum. In 1851 about half of all households in the village were engaged in the industry in some way. When the museum fully re-opens visitors will once again be able to see how framework knitters and their families lived and worked – the sights, the sounds and even the smells.

The museum tells the 400 year history of framework knitting, from its role in the Industrial Revolution to the infamous Luddite riots of the 1800s, and how framework knitting gave birth to the Nottingham lace industry. There’s original knitting frames in action and you can even knit your own souvenir on a vintage Griswold knitting machine. The collections of hosiery and related items include a pair of Queen Victoria’s stockings.

If you are starting to make a list of places you want to go to when restrictions permit these two museums might be worth adding, if the subject interests you. To find more information online just Google framework wigston or framework ruddington.

Norman Griffiths

I don’t play ‘hard to get’. I play ‘hard to get rid of’.

For publication dates and details of advertising rates, visit the website at www.grobyspotlight.co.uk

15 POPULAR

Stamford Arms

AT THE HEART OF GROBY SINCE 1921

LOCKDOWN SNACKS WordSearch E L K U Q R S P I V T L Q P W K J P L H

M T O A S T A N D M A R M I T E I R N D

A C U R A C L C U S T A R D C R E A M S

E I T S A O T E S E E H C D N A M A H F

C H E E S E A N D O N I O N C R I S P S

V V W S E I N W O R B E T A L O C O H C

C S A L T E D P E A N U T S D T C C R N

I N J C N C V C S A J U U P U W W Q T R

X X N H I Z I X U H U N W I H Q J Q R Y

Z Y X E J M N W X F R G P H S O X Z G F

I C H E E S E A N D B I S C U I T S P S

H V F S X J G H C I W D N A S N O C A B

Y O G E R P A K Y C R A H L E Y X G Y Z

N C B O Q U R Q G R B T U L C S E Z K U

D R D N L D C O P J J U W I B Z S C H N

H C O T O F R D P J F H P T E X N B X H

B H F O A B I X S P O R M R H U L P V A

J F S A O Z S T S A O T N O S N A E B O

23

Our lockdown 3 takeaway menu will be available online 4th Jan www.stamfordarms.co.uk featuring Pizzas, Pastas and plenty of our traditional main meals for collection, or free delivery to Groby.

D Z Q S M F P C K F H P O T N O O D L E

T Q T T O A S T A N D M A R M A L A D E

IF YOU can find 15 of the MOST POPULAR LOCKDOWN SNACKS in the Wordsearch grid above, you could win BACONSANDWICH BEANSONTOAST yourself a meal for two and a bottle of house wine at The CHEESEANDBISCUITS Stamford Arms in Groby.

CHEESEANDONIONCRISPS

Thank you for your support in lockdown 2 giving us the ability to support many charities, especially our Chatty Shelter to help support mental health in our community.

We have provided Christmas Dinners to the Groby and Ratby Community Response Team, delivering a bit of Christmas Spirit.

Promoting youth sports at Newtown Linford Cricket Club, by supporting the annual Boxing Day Duck Race and raising £300.

Raising over £8000 with our Bradgate Rotary Club in 2020 in support of local charities and the Bradgate Park Calendar.

We celebrated our traditional Christmas Carols for Churches Together here at the Stamford Arms on 17th December 2020, spreading the message of Christmas to local families in Groby.

New Takeaway Menu Starting 7th January

CHEESEONTOAST All you have to do to go into the draw is find - and mark a line £600,000 in grants available CHOCOLATEBROWNIES through - 15 of the most popular LOCKDOWN SNACKS. These CUSTARDCREAMS can run vertically, horizontally or diagonally (and backwards!).

HAMANDCHEESETOASTIE HOBNOBS Send your marked entry forms to: FEELING PECKISH, Groby POTNOODLE Spotlight, PO Box 8, Markfield, Leics. LE67 9ZT to arrive by SALTANDVINEGARCRISPS SALTEDPEANUTS Saturday 30th January 2021.

TOASTANDMARMALADE Please remember to fill in your name and address - and to put a TOASTANDMARMITE TORTILLACHIPSANDDIP stamp on your envelope.

The sender of the first correct entry drawn out of the AN EXTRA £600,000 is being invested into a popular fund hat will win the voucher for a Meal for Two and a Bottle set up to support Leicestershire communities during the of House Wine at The Stamford Arms, - thanks to at DiscoveryEducation.com Created byGroby Puzzlemaker pandemic – taking the total to over £2m. the generous sponsorship of Brian Rigby - owner of The Leicestershire County Council’s Communities Fund was launched in Stamford Arms.

March to ensure that community-based organisations could continue to

Huge boost for communities from County Council

Here are the 15 LOCKDOWN SNACKS you have to find:

BACON SANDWICH • BEANS ON TOAST • CHEESE AND BISCUITS CHEESE AND ONION CRISPS • CHEESE ON TOAST • CHOCOLATE BROWNIES CUSTARD CREAMS • HAM AND CHEESE TOASTIE • HOBNOBS POT NOODLE • SALT AND VINEGAR CRISPS • SALTED PEANUTS TOAST AND MARMALADE • TOAST AND MARMITE • TORTILLA CHIPS AND DIP Name: ..............................................................................................................

Address: ............................................................................................................. .............................................................................Postcode: .............................

Last Month’s Winner was:

MRS M A SKEMPTON of Stamford Drive, Groby.

Congratulations! Your voucher will be sent to you soon!

carry out vital work, despite the impact coronavirus is having on their finances. To date, the fund has awarded over £1.5m to 220 projects across Leicestershire.

Find out more about the fund and how to apply by visiting: www.leicestershirecommunities.org.uk/communities-fund-round-3 Projects which have already been supported include: independent foodbank in Coalville, Feed the Need Coalville, who was awarded £8,300 to help deliver daily food parcels to those in need, and The Bridge (East Midlands), a charity that provides early intervention and homeless prevention services to vulnerable people in Leicestershire, who received £9,100 to help them continue helping those in need.

Round three will have an additional focus on supporting community groups who are providing a vital service to local people during the pandemic, including: • support for people who are described as clinically extremely vulnerable • the provision of welfare and associated support for vulnerable and disadvantaged people and families, including money/debt advice services; employment related support; food bank and associated food provisions; and access to other essential supplies and equipment • support to improve the mental health and wellbeing of people affected by the pandemic, including projects which reduce isolation and loneliness.

THE DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS 22ND JANUARY 2021.

Women remember something that happened five years ago. I can’t remember why I stood up.

START THE YEAR IN STYLE SELL YOUR PROPERTY WITH

CHARNWOOD LIVING HIGH STREET SERVICE AT INTERNET PRICES NO SALE NO FEE

LANDLORDS ARE YOU TIRED OF PAYING HIGH FEES?

CALL US NOW TO SEE HOW MUCH WE CAN SAVE YOU Charnwood Living Ltd - Terms & Conditions Apply

0116 243 0880

www.charnwoodliving.co.uk

17 The Nook | Anstey | Leicester | LE7 7AZ