Village Tribune 139

Nurturing

FROM THE EDITOR

This issue of the Village Tribune marks the 25th Anniversary since I first took on publishing the magazine (at the time, for Glinton, Peakirk and Northborough). Here are a few images of our previous front pages.

GET IN TOUCH

 Contributions: 07590 750128 e: villagetribuneeditor@me.com

 Social media:  /groups/villagetribune

 Website: www.villagetribune.org.uk

It most likely hasn't missed many of us who intend voting in person at this May's local election but, just in case, a reminder that you will need a photo identification at the polling station before you are able to vote.

www.villagetribune.org.uk

 Advertising: Alison Henthorn 07702 640361 e: alisonhenthorn@btinternet.com

Editor - Tony Henthorn

35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

T: 07590 750128 E: villagetribuneeditor@me.com

Advertising Sales - Alison Henthorn

T 07702 640361

E: alisonhenthorn@btinternet.com



 Rector Gary Alderson, Rector of Barnack with Ufford, Bainton, Helpston and Wittering 07503 975588 gary.aldersonwrites@gmail.com

Distribution

 AILSWORTH Saqib Farooq

10 Peterborough Road, Castor PE5 7AX saqib.farooq@peterborough.gov.uk

 ASHTON Hilary Smith

Thatched Cottage, Ashton E: hilly.smith@virgin.net

 BARNACK Mike Mills

17 Bishops Walk, Barnack PE9 3EE

T: 07523 312387 E: mills.mh@gmail.com

 CASTOR Saqib Farooq

10 Peterborough Road, Castor, PE5 7AX



ETTON Anne Curwen

The Coach House, Rectory Lane, Etton

T: 01733 253357 E: acurwen@hotmail.com

 GLINTON Shirley Hodgkinson

30 Websters Close, Glinton

T: 01733 252351 E: hodgkinsons@talktalk.net

 HELPSTON Clive Marsh

Clive Marsh, 34 Maxey Road, Helpston clive.marsh815@btinternet.com M: 07511 011662

 MARHOLM Saqib Farooq

10 Peterborough Road, Castor, PE5 7AX

 MAXEY Cllr Peter Hiller

E: Peter.Hiller@peterborough.gov.uk

 NORTHBOROUGH Polly Beasley

15 Claypole Drive, Northborough

T: 01778 380849 E: polly.beasley@btinternet.com

 PEAKIRK Trish Roberts

9 St Pegas Road

 PILSGATE Sally Hullock

3 Hillside Close, Ufford

sally@sallyhullocktraining.co.uk T: 07795 565658

 SOUTHORPE Daphne Williams

The Old Dairy Barn, Main St. T: 01780 740511

 UFFORD Sally Hullock

3 Hillside Close, Ufford

sally@sallyhullocktraining.co.uk T: 07795 565658

The views expressed within this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor. All copy is believed correct at time of print but no responsibility can be taken for errors and/or omissions. No part of this publication and/or website may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without prior written permission of the Publisher. Permission is only deemed valid if approval is in writing. The Village Tribune own all rights to contributions, text and images, unless previously agreed to in writing.

01733 772095 | www.dimension6000.com

5 Contacts

6-25, 37

34-35,

62-63

Welcome to Northborough

5,400 copies of the Tribune are distributed free of charge in Ailsworth, Ashton, Bainton, Barnack, Castor, Deeping Gate, Etton, Glinton, Helpston, Marholm, Maxey, Newborough, Northborough, Peakirk, Pilsgate, Southorpe & Ufford.

Thoughts Turn to Spring

lessons and carols on 22 December and the Benefice Communion on 29 January. Thanks to the choir for visiting and singing so beautifully and to Maggie Warren for the delicious cake!

I think we had a record turnout for our outdoor Christmas Eve gathering on the green. David Rowell described it as ‘A great Community event’. Thanks to all those who attended and for Eddie and Clemmie Bristow for playing Joseph and Mary so superbly.

As I write this my thoughts are turning to spring. A carpet of snowdrops are flowering in the churchyard and the daffodils are beginning to show along the wall. It now seems time to plan to strim and mow the grass and begin a programme of lifting the gravel from parts of the path to lay a barrier membrane against the weeds! Would

you be interested in joining a small group of volunteers to get this work done? Meeting weekly from 11am to 1pm, starting on Tuesday 21 March. Meet in the churchyard, refreshments provided.

Etton church will be supporting the Ukranian appeal by providing a collection point to the Church (wed. 10am to 2pm) and the Coach House for donations until 12 March. The list of items needed this time is: Rice, Flour, Pasta, Noodles, any tinned food, Aspirin, Paracetamol, Multivitamins, sanitary products for women and babies and sleeping bags.

An order has been placed to replace the bench on the village green to commemorate the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. It is hoped that it will be installed sometime after Easter. A representative from PCC has met with the Parish Council to discuss the installation and siting of the new village signs. It is hoped that they will be installed sometime this summer.

The Parish Council are also considering an appropriate small tree to plant in the churchyard as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy. Possibilities are Cornus Kousa ‘Miss Satoni” or Acer sieboldianum. Once chosen, and permission secured, a planting event will be organised.

Andrea Page has posted on the Etton Facebook page to gauge interest in an event to mark the King’s coronation. The Palace are hoping that communities will join a big lunch on Sunday 7th May but any suggestions are welcome as to how Etton wants to mark the event.

On 19 January, The Archaeologist from the Tarmac project gave an interesting talk as part of the Helpston History Society meeting. A few residents from Etton attended and I understand it was a fascinating evening.

Finally, the Anglian Water project is currently on hold whilst they secure the appropriate planning permission.

NENE VALLEY CARE HOMES

Garden Lodge Care Home in Glinton

Three small family run care homes in Peterborough and Market Deeping providing a real home-from-home environment with exceptional care from devoted, trusted carers.

Garden Lodge

in Glinton is a detached chalet style bungalow with a very attractive and peaceful garden.

9 ROOMS

Florence House

in Peterborough with all en-suite bedrooms. Situated just a few minutes walk from central park where the residents can enjoy the café and watching the world go by.

19 ROOMS

Garden Lodge: 01733 252 980/07801 273 804 or e-mail: managers@gardenlodgecarehome.co.uk

Florence House: 01733 315 900/07801 273 804 or e-mail: info@careatflorence.co.uk

The Laurels: 07801 273 804 or e-mail: thelaurels@nenevalleycarehomes.co.uk

www.gardenlodgecarehome.co.uk

The Laurels

in Market Deeping (taken over by us in February) is a beautiful Grade-2 Listed Building within walking distance to Market Deeping town centre.

20 ROOMS

Men United in Song, Supporting Prostate Cancer UK – Maunching March 2023!

New Year, same old? Why not mix things up and try something new? Be part of Men United in Song 2023, supporting Prostate Cancer UK!

Launching in March, the popular pop-up singing project will give another 40-plus local men the opportunity to get involved and do something really worthwhile... and YOU could be one of them!

Working over nine weeks towards a fantastic live performance at Peterborough Cathedral in May, you’ll learn to sing, meet new people, challenge yourself, perform live on stage AND raise money for a muchloved and very important charity – what's not to like?

No previous experience is necessary, just a willingness to step outside your comfort zone, get stuck in and give it a go... everyone’s in the same boat, and it’s all about the journey! Last year’s project was an overwhelmingly positive experience for the men who took part, with comments including:

The hard work paid off! Thanks for finding something in us that most didn’t know we had!

"Amazing, I never thought in a million years I would ever sing in front of hundreds of people!"

"Fantastic experience from the first rehearsal... thanks for getting us all through the journey!"

"We did it, what an amazing feeling… I’m so grateful to be part of it all!"

"What a great experience, would do it all again in a heartbeat!"

William, from Peterborough, says “When I saw the Men United in Song flyer, I jumped at the chance to get involved! I'd recently moved to Peterborough and I was looking for a way to get involved in the community and start building a social group, and this was the perfect opportunity! I come from a musical background but hadn't sung in a group in almost 20 years, and it was really great to get back into singing, and to raise money for a fantastic charity in the process!”

Men United in Song kicks off with introduction sessions on Thursday 2nd March (6.30-10pm) and Friday 3rd March (6.30-10pm) when you can meet the

team and some of the other men who’ll be taking part. This is NOT an audition and there’s no big red buzzer, just an opportunity to find out more and get involvedcontact us TODAY to book your time slot!

So… if you’re looking for a fresh challenge and you’d like to know more, get in touch NOW and start YOUR Men United in Song journey!

• Men United in Song introductory sessions will be at the John Mansfield Campus PE1 4HX on Thursday 2 and Friday 3 March (6.30-10pm), please register first for your timeslot.

• Men United in Song rehearsals will be at the John Mansfield Campus PE1 4HX from 7.45pm on Thursday evenings, starting on Thursday 9 March.

• The Men United in Song charity event will be at Peterborough Cathedral at 7.30pm on Friday 5 May.

For information or to register for one of our introduction sessions visit: www.peterboroughsings.org.uk, e-mail: menunited@peterboroughsings.org.uk or call 01733 425 194

COUNCIL CORNER www.northborough-pc.gov.uk

Northborough Parish Council have planters at village entry points to welcome residents, visitors and people passing through the village.

volunteers who can adopt one or more of the planters to water on a regular basis. There are 5 planters in total, the locations being, the A15 from Glinton, the east end of Church Street, Maxey road approaching from the west, Deeping St James road and in front of the Village Hall.

The Deeping St James road location is already tended by 11 year old Archie Tarver, who approached the council last year to volunteer his services as he was working towards his World Challenge Badge. During the hot summer months, Archie used grey (recycled) water, thus keeping the project as environmentally friendly as possible. Archie will also continue to water the planter for 2023, that said, we are looking for more willing volunteers to adopt the other planters so that we can have really colourful displays that the village can be proud of. If you would like to help then please contact any councillor, details listed in the tribune.

COUNCIL CONTACT DETAILS

Chair: John Dadge T: 01733 254145 M: 07802 702908

E: john.dadge@northborough-pc.gov.uk

Vice Chair: Malcolm Spinks T: 01778 343585 M: 07870 343562

E: malcolm.spinks@northborough-pc.gov.uk

Councillor: Rob Chiva T: 01733 252823

E: robert.chiva@northborough-pc.gov.uk

Councillor: Brian Spriggs T: 01778 342502

Councillor: Tracy Thomas T: 07720 327145

E: tracy.thomas@northborough-pc.gov.uk

Councillor: Mark Malcolm T: 07584 877793

E: mark.malcolm@northborough-pc.gov.uk

Councillor: Graham Fowkes T: 07711 415881

E: graham.fowkes@northborough-pc.gov.uk

Cllr Malcolm Spinks, Parish Vice Chair

The days are lengthening and we will soon be heading towards Spring and Glinton’s Coronation Celebration on 6 May.

Every Glinton resident should have received the initial event leaflet highlighting the day’s events and a request for volunteer help. To recap: everything will happen in the centre of Glinton - the High Street in front of the church will be closed from 2:30 - 11pm. The Bluebell will have an outside bar and seating on the car park with classic cars/ bikes displayed in front. Live entertainment including bands and a DJ will happen on a stage parked on the primary school playground and flanked by Pizza and Indian food stalls. At the rear of the school will be a range of stalls; hog roast; food outlets; exhibits by the fire service, police and ambulance service; a fun dog show; display of old and new tractors; climbing wall; Territorial Army; Exotic Pet Refuge; etc. Our bell ringers will herald the event’s start, the Benefice choir will perform when the beacon is lit at 8:35 pm and live music will last until 11pm. See Glinton Golden Orb Facebook page for news. To mark the event Parish Council intends to present every child attending Peakirk cum Glinton Primary School and Preschool with a special coronation mug.

There is growing disquiet amongst residents that services provided

by the Deepings practice have yet to return to pre-Covid levels. To voice these concerns and hopefully improve the situation, GPC has requested the patient participation group be reconvened.

Unfortunately our clerk, John Haste, after many years superb service, has decided to retire later this year. As a result we are seeking a replacement. The part time role is salaried and full training will be provided. Anyone interested should make contact via clerk@ glinton-pc.gov.uk

Under the superb stewardship of Sue Lane, our village hall is becoming increasingly popular and is busier than ever. GPC has decided to embark on a series of staged improvements to its energy efficiency and interior, under the direction of Cllr Gordon Wright.

Following the annual City Council safety inspection the remaining Ashburn playpark equipment, as well as one item on the recreation ground, has been deemed

dangerous and fenced off. Given GPC is likely to acquire the Ashburn play area and install new play equipment, this is less of a concern than the c£2000 needed to replace the other item. In addition the large log built climbing frame/ cargo net is rotting and the surface of the basketball court requires long term replacement. Discussions are ongoing with PCC about funding and grant opportunities.

Your Parish Council has ambitious plans in terms of what it would like to achieve around Glinton, within our community and the staging of regular events but as funds are limited we are seeking a volunteer to work with us to seek out grant funding. If interested please make contact via glintonfb@glinton-pc. gov.uk or clerk@glinton-pc.gov.uk

Our seasonal fireworks leaflet seems to have had the desired effect with displays of aerial fireworks much reduced and fewer stressed pets. Thanks to all residents for their cooperation.

Condemned equipment in Glinton Recreation Ground

Glinton FriendshipClub

Pam Kounougakis

Recently we have lost several members due to relocation, ill health, mobility to the club and pure cold weather blues!! However now the days are warmer and lighter we have spaces for new members, local people who feel they need to get out and about and mix it up a bit meeting new friends and enjoying being

Spring has sprung and Summer approaches and The Friendship club continues its full programme of regular activities, including Bingo, raffles, quizzes, games, sales of bric a brac, book exchange, outings, celebratory meals and speakers.

entertained with new activities etc. so in our forthcoming programme we are holding an Open day, a taster, for people to come along and meet and try out our groups activities and have a snack with us! We are planning this for 6th March but watch Tribune Facebook and website for more details! The coming months

plans include Steve’s Bags and scarves and purses sale, a Poet, a super Coronation party with bopping! A trip to a wildlife centre and a shopping centre… different places though similar!! If interested please pop into Glinton Village hall any Monday between 10 and 2, and hope to see you there.

Glinton Village Hall - Proposed Development

Cllr Gordon Wright

Following on from the results of the 2022 full village survey that considered whether Glinton should construct a new community centre or refurbish and improve the existing building, the Parish Council are actively considering upgrading the current hall.

We are taking account of comments and preferences from parishioners, users and the halls dedicated management team.

The overriding intention is to make the unit more energy efficient, accessible and comfortable for all. We intend to appoint a local consultant architect and services engineers to prepare drawings and put forward options for consideration and grant opportunities prior to submission for planning approval.

Works being considered are as follows:

• Solar-panels and batteries

• Air-source heat-pumps

• New ceiling & insulation throughout

• Re-configuration of storage areas

• Damp prevention

• Fire-doors and shutters

• New front door and window

• External works to disabled ramp and lighting

• Refurbish and extend lean to

• New flooring to large and small hall

• New curtains & blinds and re-decoration.

Due to the scale of the work it is likely that some elements will be prioritised and the whole project staged over more than one financial year. We will keep residents updated as the project proceeds.

Cllr Gerry Kirt - Chairman - 01733 252839

Cllr RW Randall, Vice Chairman 01733 253276

Cllr Helen Aylesbury

Cllr DJ Batty - 01733 252749

Cllr CB Bysshe - 01733 253164

Cllr Steve Jackson - 01733 252409

Cllr David Lane 01733 252593

Cllr Andy Staines

Cllr Sukhvinder Singh

Cllr Gordon Wright

Mr J Haste - Clerk - 07591 834163

Cllr Rita Joshi-Boparai

rita.joshi-boparai@glinton-pc.gov.uk clerk@glinton-pc.gov.uk

Shaping our Future, the New Local Plan

Cllr Peter Hiller – Glinton and Castor Ward – people, not politics. peter.hiller@peterborough.gov.uk

At a meeting of full council in January it was agreed that a review of our current adopted Local Plan (2019) commences, along with a Local Development Scheme (LDS) timetable clearly setting out its consultation process and production.

National Policy requires Local Plans should be reviewed at least once every five years, updating if deemed appropriate. Areas examined will be changing national and local policies since the current Plan was adopted along with site allocations for local growth needs and aspirations, biodiversity net gain, climate change considerations and more certainty for infrastructure providers such as NHS facilities, Highways and Education.

As a veteran of three Local Plans during my time as an elected rural ward councillor

I’m aware of the potential significance of these documents to our villages’ communities. They ensure that new (housing and employment) development continues to take place in planned locations and help demonstration of what’s known as a ‘5 year housing land supply’ – a Government requirement - to reduce the risk of challenge from speculative, unplanned development such

as the recent attempts from Larkfleet in Glinton.

The review process is lengthy and complex before final submission and adoption by Government and it’s my firm belief that community engagement and consultation is hugely important. To that end I will keep the residents of Glinton and Castor ward I’m elected to represent fully informed through the pages of the Village Tribune as the work progresses over the next few years.

Glinton Horticultural Society Your friendly gardening club

The society started 2023 in January with a very Interesting talk by David Mainwaring on the history of Deeping Lakes and its current species of wild flowers and birds.

As I write this we are anticipating the February talk by one of our most popular speakers Geoff Hodge on Gardening in the Global Greenhouse. This will be followed on Friday 17 March by Colin Ward on Spring Flowers and New Introductions, and on Friday 21 April by David Burton on Bees and Gardening. All talks are held in Glinton Village Hall at 7:30pm.

Hopefully the weather will improve with the risk of frost

gone by the end of April so we can start replanting the garden and looking forward to the Society Plant Sale in the Village Hall on Saturday 29 April, 10am ~12noon – come early to avoid disappointment.

The new schedule for the Show in September is currently at the printers and will be available in March. It is currently automatically sent to all members and those who exhibited at the last show. If you are interested in showing vegetables, fruit, flowers floral art,

Glinton WI

preserves, baking, photography, handicraft and various classes for children, then contact Lynne Best: lynne.best89@yahoo.co.uk to obtain one We are hoping to make this another great show following it’s sucessful return last year, so why not get yourself a schedule and look to enter something in September.

The Show Schedule and full details of the Talks, Plant Sale and all future events are available on the Society’s web site

www.glintonhorticulturalsociety.org

As part of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Green Canopy initiative, Glinton W.I. have planted an oak tree in Glinton Playing Field.

A raffle was held at the Afternoon Tea we organised for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and the funds were used to purchase the tree and staking.

John Lenton of Lenton Landscapes of Glinton kindly came along and planted the tree for us.

BAINTON AND ASHTON COUNCIL CORNER

Jenny Rice, Clerk & Responsible Financial Officer

Parish Council Report

Traffic Calming and Precept Increase

This is still a constant subject and discussion for the Parish Council and decisions have been made regarding the new AutoSpeedwatch cameras now in place in the village. These were paid for by the Parish Council, are operated by the traffic calming group and overseen by AutoSpeedwatch themselves, who take the overall responsibility for the data. It is anticipated these will help to reduce the speed of some traffic through the village.

Chairman: Susie Lucas

Responsible for: Parish Council Liaison

Group, HR, New Projects. 01780 740 159 susie.hall34@gmail.com

Councillor: Cliff Stanton Responsible for: Police, Neighbourhood Watch, Speedwatch, Village Assets and Maintenance, Parish Council Liaison Group. 01780 749 123 Cliffstanton@btinternet.com

Councillor: Irene Walsh 07753 203 844

Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer: Jenny Rice 07889 669 550 bainton.ashton.clerk@live.co.uk

Costs for other measures to be introduced in due course have been built into the budget and precept for next year as extra project costs, along with a necessary move to gov.uk email addresses. However, all costs have increased, and the precept will see an overall, average increase of approx. £2 per band D household per month.

Jenny Rice, Clerk Tel: 07889 669550

E-mail: bainton.ashton.clerk@live.co.uk

COUNCIL CORNER

Newborough and Borough Fen Parish Council

Well at long last the Crown Gardens is nearing completion with the second bench in place brining the project to an end. It’s been a long road with support from the community and Parish Councillors to get it to completion – a big thanks to all who have helped. Though not part of the original project, work will be looked at regarding the village sign that sits on the site and some remedial work that is required around the base. Let’s hope we have a summer that enables everyone to make use of the book swap and just sitting in the gardens this year.

I mentioned previously that the Parish Council had decided to proceed with a Neighbourhood Plan for Newborough and Borough Fen. Firstly, I should stress that whilst the Parish Council manages the process to be followed it is for the community to decided what is to be included in any Neighbourhood Plan and not the Parish Council. Below is an explanation of just what a Neighbourhood Plan is and the benefits it brings to us once approved and in place.

Neighbourhood planning enables communities to play a much stronger role in shaping the areas in which they live and work and in supporting new development proposals. This is because unlike the parish, village or town plans that communities may have prepared, a neighbourhood plan forms part of the development plan and sits alongside the local plan

Bryan Cole, Newborough and borough Fen Parish Council prepared by the local planning authority (Peterborough City Council). Decisions on planning applications will be made using both the local plan and the neighbourhood plan, and any other material considerations.

Neighbourhood planning provides the opportunity for communities to set out a positive vision for how they want their community to develop over the next 10, 15, 20 years in ways that meet identified local need and make sense for local people. They can put in place planning policies that will help deliver that vision or grant planning permission for the development they want to see.

To help deliver their vision communities must take a proactive approach by drawing up a neighbourhood plan or order and secure the consent of local people in a referendum.

What is the role of the wider community in neighbourhood planning?

A qualifying body (working group) should be inclusive and open in the preparation of its neighbourhood plan or order and ensure that the wider community:

• Is kept fully informed of what is being proposed.

• Is able to make their views known throughout the process.

• Has opportunities to be actively involved in shaping

the emerging neighbourhood plan or order.

• Is made aware of how their views have informed the draft neighbourhood plan or order.

As stated, in order to deliver this, it is critical that we capture an many views as possible in various ways. This can be by leaflet drops to every house and businesses in the scope of the plan, attending meetings of the many village organisations in our community, school events... Having got all this information, it needs to be pulled together into a draft document for sharing and again getting views and ultimately give us all the chance to vote on the final Neighbourhood Plan and much more. All this will take time and people, so if you are interested in helping with this process then can you please let the Parish Council clerk know. The only requirement is you are free to attend a meeting to go through what we will need you to do on the 30 March 2023. Please note that this is to manage the process as explained and not to influence what is in the plan as the process will deliver this.

This will be a learning curve for all involved but as we go through the necessary hoops etc and go round the village capturing your views and thoughts, we should be able to answer any questions you have or at least take them away for clarification.

COUNCIL CORNER

By Irene Healiss (Clerk) clerk@newboroughandboroughfen-pc.gov.uk

The Parish Council have a few updates since launching into 2023 last month.

Newborough and Borough Fen signed up as a Civility and Respect Council in October 2022 and the above emblem has been added to the Parish Council website, with an aim to start a culture change for the local Council Sector.

Armed Forces Covenant

The meeting held on 5 January included the Parish Council signing the Armed Forces Covenant, which is a statement of mutual support between a civilian community and its local Armed Forces community.

The Armed Forces Covenant is based upon two key principles:

• The Armed Forces Community should not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services.

• Special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most such as the injured and the bereaved.

The purpose of this Covenant is to encourage support for the Armed Forces Community working and residing within Newborough and Borough Fen and to recognise and remember the sacrifices they make. This includes in-service and ex-service personnel, their families and widow(er)s which the Parish Council is pleased to be part of.

There are plans to arrange an Armed Forces ‘catch up’ for our local Armed Forces community. Once a date and time have been confirmed, the Parish Council will ensure that this is advertised for anyone wishing to take part and be involved. Cllrs John Rowell, John Fox and Vicky Coleman

will be championing the Armed Forces Covenant on behalf of the Parish Council.

In the meantime, there is an established Armed Forces hub in March, Cambridgeshire. If anyone would like to attend, please find details for this below.

Crown Garden

Crown Garden is nearing completion, with the new bench being installed as I write. It is a ‘lest we forget’ bench, making the newly renovated Crown Garden a lovely space for all the community to enjoy.

If you are able to assist with delivery, please contact the Clerk.

Allotments

There are a few limited plots available at the allotments on Peterborough Road for rent. If you are interested in growing or would like some further information, please let the Clerk know.

Friendship Tea

Neighbourhood Plan

The Parish Council will be looking to engage with the community in the production of a Neighbourhood Plan. If anyone is interested in forming part of the working party to bring this to fruition you are most welcome.

A new history board detailing the surrounding area has also kindly been donated to the village and will be in situ very soon.

The Village Tribune

The Parish Council are very grateful to local volunteers who have been assisting with delivering copies of the Village Tribune to everyone’s homes. However, there are some outstanding streets which have been listed below that are as yet, unallocated: WhitePost Road, Werrington Bridge Road, Bridgehill Road, Bukehorn Road, Part of Guntons Road.

The next Friendship Tea held by the Good Neighbours Group will be on the 16 March 2–4pm in Newborough Village Hall on Guntons Road.

Mobile Library

The mobile library will next be in Newborough on Wednesdays: 22 Feb, 22 March and 19 April 2023 and will be stopping between 2:30–3:15pm near to Newborough School.

Communication

A meeting is to be held on 30 March in the evening as a starting point. Please note that the time and location are yet to be confirmed, and details will be advertised beforehand.

Coronation Event

The Parish Council have started the ball rolling for a community event to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III in May. Please keep an eye on the website and Facebook page as the Parish Council start to make plans. There are also arrangements being made to hold a further Fun Day with VIVACITY following its success last year at Coronation Field.

The Parish Council will be launching a new website very soon, which will have all Parish Council and community related information for residents to look at. There is also a Newborough and Borough Fen Facebook page, which form the official channels for all Parish Council communication, so please do check them out online: www.newboroughandboroughfenpc.org.uk

Paul Cooper

Newborough Public Houses

Why Newborough Pubs? I have always been interested in history. In 1998 I started researching and writing books on the men from Newborough and Borough

Why Newborough Pubs? I have always been interested in history. In 1998 I started researching and writing books on the men from Newborough and Borough Fen who were killed in World War 2. This was incredibly interesting and having the opportunity to go and talk to the people who knew these men was a real privilege. How often do we regret not asking our relatives questions about their lives whilst they were alive? Most genealogist advice starts with “talk to the people who are still alive and can remember first” When I first came to this village there were two pubs still going and one which was officially shut but you could still get a beer in there. When I worked in Peakirk I would pass a building just past the Decoy and often wondered what it was. Later I was to discover, when writing about the men from WW2, that this was where one of them lived and it was a public house.

The village of Newborough was formed in 1823 from a Royal Charter on land that was formally common grazing land. Some land from Borough Fen was sold under the enclosure act in order to fund a parish church. The church, dedicated to St Bartholomew’s was opened in 1830. By far the largest form of employment was around agriculture. As with hundreds of villages across the country the main source of entertainment and socialising was the village pub and Newborough and Borough Fen were no exception. Within the parish of Newborough and

Borough Fen there have been eight public houses or inns. The main differences between the two are:

• An Inn a traveller can procure lodging, food and beverage whereas a Public house is where beverage, primarily alcohol, can be purchased along with food and entertainment is sometimes provided. There is a third option; under an act of Parliament (The Beer House Act 1830) introduced by the Duke of Wellington's Tory government. It abolished the beer tax, extended the opening hours of licensed public houses, taverns and alehouses to 18 hours a day. Previously it was 15 hours. These were subject to the control of the local justices and a license was required.

• The Act also introduced the Beerhouse and Beershops, premises which could sell only beer. The opening hours could be from 4am to 10pm. For a small fee of 2 guineas payable to the local excise officer, anyone could brew and sell beer. The excise licence would state whether the beer could be consumed on the premises (beerhouse) or as off-sales only (beershop). Supervision of these establishments by local justices was severely curtailed which led to many local complaints by magistrates and local gentry keen to control the working classes in their area.

• Eventually Newborough, Borough Fen, which includes Milking Nook, had a total of eight pubs or inns. In 1854 the Post Office Directory of Northamptonshire identified six

Pubs, Beer Sellers or Inns to a population of 879 people. In 2020 there are around 1400 inhabitants of the village and now only one public house; such has been the change in drinking habits and the change in socialising trends. For many years pubs had been the sporting centres of many a village. Teams that competed at; cricket, football, darts, dominos, cards, skittles, bar billiards and tug of war, to mention a few. This was all taken seriously and could be fiercely competitive, even between pubs in the same village. Looking back through the newspaper archives pubs in Newborough were regular venues for; Land auctions, Drainage Board meetings, Regular “Club” meetings and even inquests. Probably the oldest of the pubs in the village is The Bull Inn. It is first mentioned in 1802 where an advertisement for an auction was posted in the Stamford Mercury. It was also an important stop for coaches where food, drink, accommodation and importantly a change in horses was available. Just as importantly, especially in the winter, passengers could warm themselves before the next step of the journey. Horse drawn coach travel across the country was the primary method of transport until the growth of the railways. In general the horses would need changing every 7 to 10 miles. This made Newborough an important stop between Thorney and Market Deeping and Thorney Road was a main route.

Fen who were killed in World War 2.

The Bull Inn

Built on the corner of Guntons Road and Thorney Road, The Bull Inn is identified as being an inn prior to 1800. However, it is difficult to actually identify its actual age due to many of the brewery records being lost. As mentioned before it was a coaching inn. To date records indicate that Abraham Patstone was the landlord in 1812 aged 22. He is mentioned in name in an advertisement for an auction held at the Bull. As well as the landlord, Abraham was also listed as a farmer. He was an interesting character and is mentioned in the newspapers for a variety of reasons; including, offering a reward for the return of a grey mare that was stolen from his field opposite in 1823. He was also a church warden at St Bartholomew’s Church from 1834 until 1839. There is still in existence a list of the residents of the parish

of Newborough dated 1825. Abraham and his wife Sarah with their 5 children appear on the list. Abraham’s demise in 1839 was quite unusual. Following a trip to see the Bishop with the aim of acquiring more church land, which is documented as being successful, he celebrated to excess and on his way home drove his horse and trap into a deep snow filled dyke on Guntons Road. They found the horse unharmed but Abraham was “quite dead”

This was not to be the only time where a death features in the history of the Bull Inn. On Saturday 1st February 1947 a Mr John Heading (67) dropped dead at the bar in the Bull Inn. The autopsy found that he had 20 to 30% carbon monoxide in his blood. The verdict was that he died from heart failure with the carbon monoxide level in his blood contributing to his death. It was never determined where that level of poisoning originated from. He had previously been of good health.

There have been to date 19 different landlords of the Bull Inn. Apart from Abraham Patstone two of them worthy of a mention are George Cursley and Harold Goodliffe who between them ran the pub for over 40 years. George, who formally worked at the brickyards, and his wife Louisa took over the tenancy of the Bull in continued overleaf >>

Outside the Bull Inn with George (far Right) and Louisa Cursley (3rd from left)

1906 and was to continue running the pub with his wife until his death in 1930. Harry’s youngest daughter Elsie May, married Harold Goodliffe. Harold and his wife Louisa continued to run the pub from 1930 until his retirement in 1948. In total the same family ran the pub for 42 years. Harold served in the 1st Bn Northamptonshire Regiment during WW1. With his battalion overrun and virtually destroyed he was taken prisoner near Nieuport on 10th July 1917. Sadly two of Harold’s Newborough friends; Thomas Barnes and Jarvis Jesse Stacey were killed in the same action.

During WW2 the Bull Inn became the headquarters of No D Company 2nd Northamptonshire Regt Home Guard. Many of the company were made up from those not yet old enough to serve or those too old with many of these having served in WW1. It was also, as the story goes, the second home for the searchlight battery stationed along Drain Road.

As with the majority of pubs up and down the country the Bull was the home to many successful dominos, darts, pool and other pub sport teams winning many trophies over the years. It was also over the years been the base for after match drinks for Newboroughs football and cricket teams.

Three Horse Shoes

Although it cannot be said that the Three Horse Shoes was a pub in the centre of the village it was however, within the parish boundary of Newborough and Borough Fen. The pub was located on what is now Crowland Road and the first mention of a public house being there is in 1825 when the Landlord John Cue

died suddenly. During the 1800’s Thorney Road crossed what is now the Crowland Road at a place called Masons Bridge. It was a straight crossroads.

In times of horse drawn vehicles this was not a problem. However, in the era of the motorised vehicle the crossroad became an accident black spot and the road layout was reconfigured to become the now familiar staggered crossroad, where vehicles from Thorney and Newborough physically have to stop for traffic on the Crowland Road. The map dated 1850 shows that the section of road between Masons Bridge and the Toll Bar is named “Horseshoe Drove” At the point where the road goes over the “Old Pepper Lake Drain” stood the Three Horse shoe Inn. Not much is known about the

inn but its location would suggest that it was a coaching inn. We do know that the landlord from the early 1800’s until 1839 was John Cue senior and his wife Sarah. John and Sarah had two children; John Jnr and William. William was a millwright with his business based in Eye. In addition William was to hold the distinction of being the first Church Warden of St Bartholomew’s Church. He was also in partnership with his brother John Jnr farming 100 acres in the area then known as “400 Acre”. John Jnr died suddenly at the Inn in 1825 when in apparent good health. The inquest was held at the Bull Inn, Newborough by the coroner Mr Hopkinson. As there was no apparent reason for John’s death this lead to coroner to conclude that the cause of death was due to a “Visitation by God”

John Snr died in 1839 and the inn was run by John Bull until shortly after 1854 when the inn closed. The building remained and became the farmhouse for Horseshoe Farm until it was demolished in the late 1950’s. The farm yard survived until the late 1960’s.

More about Newborough Pubs in the next issue.

Bull Darts Team 1997

COUNCIL CORNER

Ailsworth Parish Council

Jenny Rice, Clerk & RFO, Ailsworth Parish Council

Neighbourhood Watch

A number of you, I am sure, are members of Neighbourhood Watch (NHW). Should you wish to join and you have an email address, you need to sign up to “Ailsworth neighbourhood watch” via the NHW website: www. ourwatch.org.uk and put in your postcode, select Ailsworth NHW, and follow the “join the scheme” prompts. You should receive a code by email and then an email to confirm membership.

Membership is free and does enable you to select all sorts of communication and information on matters related to criminality that may affect or concern you and to keep in touch on any criminal concerns that may impact us.

Previously, the only active NHW group in the village was Main Street, but as people are interested in being members, the Parish Council has set up the Ailsworth Group. Anyone in the Main Street group will automatically be joined to the Ailsworth Neighbourhood Watch, but please check you are registered on the website. I know a few of you may belong to groups set up in local villages such as Glinton and Stibbington but it may make more sense for you to join Ailsworth.

NHW is not a substitute for local WhatsApp groups to which you may belong but an additional awareness, to help keep the Village safe.

If there is sufficient uptake to the scheme, we are obtaining NHW notices for lamp posts to increase local awareness. Chas Foster (fosterchas@yahoo.co.uk) has agreed to act as co-ordinator for the Group and does have a supply of small NHW labels to affix to your window or door should you wish to use one. Please contact him directly. Stay safe.

Travelling Library

Cllr Stalley gave me details to pass on to promote the travelling library. This is a great service for the villages. The library attends Ailsworth 4 weekly (not one in February) and the next one is now 15/3/23 and then 12/4/23. 10.3011am in Andrew’s Close and then 11.15-11.45am in Main St.

Ailsworth Methodist Chapel – Future/Sale

The Parish Council held the second of its public consultations on Sunday 29/1/23. Our two ward Councillors Peter Hiller and Saqib Farooq attended and gave some updates on the situation regarding the Asset of Community Value application for the chapel, made by the Parish Council. This appears to be holding up the process but hopefully will be resolved soon and the sale process will re-start. This may mean a 6-month moratorium for APC.

There was a variety of ideas discussed and feedback for the

use, purchase, or otherwise of the Chapel. Any purchase by APC and subsequent loan would need to be agreed by residents and further consultation would be held. Any private investor would be free to bid during the 6 months and the Charity then accepts the highest bid at the end of that time. (APC do not receive any money from the sale, as some residents thought.)

It all depends on whether residents want a community facility and venue actually in Ailsworth (the other 2 such venues are in Castor) for residents to easily access and use for parties, events, polling station, Parish Council meetings and more. And whether this is the best building to be that venue. Where is the alternative? The other option is for a private dwelling or re-development for a house or flats possibly by a developer/ private buyer. Watch this space! Please continue to send in your views to clerk@ailsworth-pc.gov.uk

Grant to be Received from Augean

APC are pleased to announce that a grant of £32,518 has recently been approved for improvements to the play area. Paperwork still needs to be completed but hopefully work will begin in spring on replacement and new, equipment like a zip wire, basket swing, new springies, multi seesaw and extending the area and play to make it all more accessible.

Alastair Peat, Vice Chair, Helpston Parish Council

Helpston Parish Council

BDW Development Update

The Consultation period on the proposed 73 houses on the land off Broadwheel Road closed at the end of November. At the time of writing, there has been no official decision on the application. However, maintaining dialogue with the City Council planners has gained the response from them that the Planning Department “After advising the Agent (for BDW) that the application was headed for refusal, the Applicant is seeking to make some alterations to the proposal”.

The Parish Council remain alert and ready to respond to any changes that BDW may propose and will ensure these are communicated quickly to all members of the parish. We may all need to step up once more and represent the best interests of the village depending on this outcome.

The Kings Coronation

The Parish Council are giving their full support to the Helcats for organizing a relaxed event on the green at the crossroads on Sunday 7 May. They will be publishing details, however this is a great opportunity for the village to come together in a very relaxed format to mark this significant milestone.

Helpstonbury 2023Our Village Celebration

The organization for “Helpstonbury – A Festival in a day” is moving along at a pace. Details are

printed elsewhere in this great publication. We have ensured funds are allocated to put the infrastructure in place for what is set to be one of the memorable days of the year. – Keep June 17 FREE!!

Helpston’s Neighbourhood Plan

The Parish Council would like to extend their gratitude to the Committee of villagers who completed the 4 year task of creating the Neighbourhood Plan for the village. This is a significant document that helps shape the development of the village in years to come as well as forming the basis for all planning applications within it. The Plan was formerly adopted by the City Council in December and will have financial benefits for the village through increased CIL payments when development takes place.

Communication

We would like to underline that there are grants available to village organisations and clubs to promote initiatives or procure equipment for the benefit of the village – Please get in touch with a councillor if you wish to explore these (grant requests are invited in September for determination in October each year.

Parish Council Clerk: Syd Smith

E: helpstonpc@hotmail.co.uk

Chair: Joe Dobson

T: 01733 252 192

E: councilmessages@btinternet.com

Vice Chair: Ali Peat

T: 07399 532 266

E: alastair@alfrescolandscaping.co.uk

Councillor: Alastair Bradley

T: 07941 570 653

E: alastairbradley@hotmail.com

Councillor: Andy Ratnett

T: 07798 651 872

E: andy@ratnett.co.uk

Councillor: David Dykes

T: 07515 288 606

E: david.dykes@btopenworld.com

Councillor: Eric Sieker

T: 07464 092 273

Councillor: Gill Jolly

T: 07713 329 141

E: ghaigh6d@hotmail.com

Councillor: Leslie Newitt

T: 07766 616 961

Councillor: Rosemary Morton

T: 01733 252 243

E: g.morton526@btinternet.com

Your Parish Council works hard behind the scenes to represent the community as has been seen with the above actions and initiatives. Monthly meetings are open to all village residents and we welcome input so we can continue to keep Helpston the community we all wish to live in.

We look forward to continuing to update everyone on the actions and issues within the Parish that are being managed on a day to day basis.

Helpston Local History Group

The HLHG hosted a very interesting talk on 19 January 2023, by Ian Meadows a Consultant Archaeologist, entitled ‘Revealing the past through quarrying around Maxey’.

Forty five members of the public attended the event together with eleven members of the history

group; everyone learned many surprising and interesting facts about our local area.

ideas for further research and additions to the website. Email us for membership enquiries.

Future events and projects will be discussed by the committee and publicised throughout the coming year in the Tribune, on the Community Facebook page and by posters around the village, please keep an eye out for them, and don’t forget to look at the website which is updated regularly.

We Need Your Help

We have a personal request to the community from Margaret Courtman – “I have a papier mache model of our cottage possibly made around the 1960s by Mrs Goodfellow. Robert her son brought it to me when he left JC cottage and moved out of the village. I believe his mother made others but do not know where they are. Can anyone help please?’

The 2023 AGM has now taken place and a committee secured for the next year, however we would be very happy to expand our membership with new members to add their local

knowledge and experience to our archives or just be someone who is interested in the history of Helpston. We are always looking for members of the community to contribute stories or suggest

Our next open event will be a talk delivered by David Crayton DipFAA of John Lucas Funeral Directors entitled ‘ A wry journey into funeral history and customs from flowers to falling cows’, on Thursday 16 March 2023 at 7.30pm in St Botolph’s Church, Helpston.

We are still looking for contributions of stories and artefacts for our ongoing ‘Helpston Home Front’ project.

If you would like any information about the Helpston Local History Group, would like to enquire about becoming a member or be on an email list for upcoming events please contact us via the links below. Website: www.helpstonhistory.org.uk E: helpstonhistory@gmail.com

MESSAGE TO ALL HELPSTON GROUPS

Are you in a Helpston group that needs new members?’ Send your group details to the village tribune for the next Tribune edition.

Jackie Robinson

Henryk Bliszczak: Obituary

Henryk Bliszczak lived in Helpston with his wife Sheila for more than 70 years, originally in a small cottage in Broadwheel Road, and later moved to Glinton Road where his 4 children were born, Stephen, Ian, Janet and Karen.

Sheila died in 2012 and Henryk moved to the Almshouses in 2018.

Henryk had what many may envy, a happy stable family life in Helpston, but the contentment of adulthood could not erase his time during his early teenage years at the very heart of Nazi darkness. Instead of fond childhood nostalgia, he had mental snapshots of corpses burning in pits, a man and a boy shot because they could not march anymore, and of eating coal to stay alive whilst seeking warmth from the bodies of his dead friends.

The nightmare began in 1944 when in the process of putting down the Warsaw rising, the SS arrested the Bliszczak family and herded them onto cattle wagons for the 180 mile journey south.

Henryk was just entering his teenage years when he witnessed some of the worst excesses of a regime which killed 1.5 million people – 90% of them were Jews – in the gas chambers and Crematoria at Birkenau, the twin camp to Auschwitz, and the centre piece of the planned extermination of Europe’s Jews. The liberating Soviet troops arrived there almost 80 years ago but they were just 2 days late for Henryk. The Nazis had not finished with him.

With the very sound of the liberator’s artillery in their ears,

Henryk and scores of others were dispatched to another camp, Mauthausen, and 4 more months of torment. Like thousands of other Polish Christians, Henryk and his mother, father and sister were flung into the camps, guilty of real or imagined links with the underground resistance.

They knew little of Auschwitz, adapted for forced labour purposes from Army Barracks in 1940, but extended into a large network of camps with Birkenau, (the size of a small town) it’s prime killing centre.

It was this reality which began to dawn on the Bliszczak family on their arrival. Spared the notorious life & death selection process on the railway platform, the family was taken to the real bath house, not the one that concealed the apparatus of death until the last moment “not far away they were burning bodies in pits” remembered Henryk, describing those first moments in Birkenau as the worst of his life “my parents tried to shield me from the scene, but it was only 200 yards away, then families were separated. The panic of wives, husbands and little children was indescribable” the young Henryk spent the first 4 days with his father in the wooden barracks of the men’s camp, steadily absorbing rumours about what the flames

shooting into the sky over the camp meant as the Germans retreated on all fronts, the killing at Birkenau entered its most feverish phase, with the extermination of 400,000 Hungarian Jews, the act made more efficient by a new railway spur leading directly to the 4 Crematoria. As well as industrialised slaughter, random thuggery by the guards was a daily fact of life, Henryk recalled a typical example: “there were large water tanks between the rows of barracks in the men’s camp, which we nicknamed swimming pools. When the SS wanted to have a bit of fun they separated out the Jews in a particular section and made them run around it until they were exhausted. They were told to jump in, if they could swim they were alright, but if they couldn’t that was the end of it – their bodies were fished out the next day”. Henryk was then moved to the same section as his mother and sister, it was the last he saw of his father. Those able to walk were taken from the camp on death marches into Germany, as the Nazis fled from the advancing enemy “We could hear the Russian artillery getting closer, and I thought surely this was it, they were going to let us go” said Henryk, but the reality was a 120 mile march to Wroclaw, with those who stumbled and stopped along the way doomed to summary execution.

Henryk

Open coal wagons awaited at Wroclaw railway station, where Henryk and another 100 children were placed. During the 2 days and 3 nights it took to cover another 130 miles, many died of dysentery and cold. Henryk ate coal to survive. By the time the Americans found him in Mauthausen camp, 4 months later, he weighed just 4.5 stones.

“The Americans arrived in 3 tanks and 2 jeeps, there were 53 of us children and the Americans didn’t know what to do with us. They got in touch with Polish forces who looked after us from then onwards. We had been so starved that we couldn’t eat anything for about 2 months we were given only pills and vitamins until we could start eating normally again”

After the liberation of Auschwitz his mother and sister returned to the village of Sochaczew in Poland and Henryk eventually was repatriated to England, firstly in Wales, then a short stay in Birmingham and eventually arriving at Lilford Park in Northamptonshire.

It was always believed by his mother that his father had died in Auschwitz, but in 2008 after some research by a family member who works for the Polish government in Warsaw, records were found showing his

father was moved to NatzweillerStruthof concentration camp in 1944 where he worked in a slate mine. 1944 was one of the hardest winters on record and he died there on the 4 January 1945.

It was discovered that there was a memorial to those who perished in the camp and it was Henryk's wish to visit the place where he died to give some closure so in 2009 some of our family members drove Henryk & Sheila there to find his father's nameJan Bliszczak engraved on the memorial.

After emerging from the post war melee of displaced person camps, and after a stint as an Army cadet in Italy and then Egypt, he ended up in England in 1946 with just an army cadet uniform and a kit bag, by the early 1950’s he had moved to Helpston and trained as a Toolmaker. Henryk assumed that he was the sole survivor of his family. He knew no better until 1954, when his Aunt traced him through the Red Cross and wrote to tell him that his mother and sister had both survived Auschwitz and the transfer to camps in Germany. Henryk was chivvied along by his best friend, Walter Crowson to make the return journey to his homeland, although the pair could not make the trip until 1962. Henryk

remembered; “We were a day late, and my mother thought it was a dream that we weren’t coming after all, but I arrived, and the neighbours went and fetched her from my Uncle’s farm where she was strawberry picking, the reunion was quite something” he revealed. Two years later Walter persuaded Henryk to return to the Auschwitz camp. Their escort around the remains of the camp did not believe Henryk had been a prisoner behind the barbed wire fences because of his youth. Henryk visited his mother twice a year and in 1988 his whole family made the trip to Poland. For years Henryk preferred to say nothing of his horrific experiences, he was keeping the truth from his children, but he made his peace with his memories and even with his former captors, he did it by forgiving them “I never thought I would be able to forgive, but I do. The SS were highly trained killers and they got pleasure from what they did, but they were brainwashed. I console myself by saying they weren’t in a right state of mind”. His lost childhood created the most ardent of family men, and his sons were more like brothers to him “I have a scar to my last day because everything was taken from me” said Henryk, explaining the devotion to family.

Henryk & Walter Crowson on his first visit back to Auschwitz Sheila & Henryk

Henryk at his father's memorial in 2009

Ronald Blythe: Obituary

President of the John Clare Society for over thirty years, Ronald Blythe has died aged 100.

A founder member, he was asked to be President after a group of WEA students became enthused about Clare at a meeting at the Fitzwilliam Arms, Marholm. The question was asked by the Helpston vicar at that time, Rev Brian Blade:”Why isn’t there a John Clare Society?” And so the Society was formed in 1980. Year after year Blythe made the trip from his Suffolk farmhouse by the River Stour to Helpston, by train or getting a lift as he never drove, describing it as his ‘favourite yearly outing.’ As a writer himself on rural themes with an exceptional talent for observations of his environment and the people he met, his annual presidential addresses were a treat for all who heard them. Even in his later years when he sometimes struggled to read back his own handwritten

notes, we hung on every word. In his book “At Helpston – Meetings with John Clare”, Blythe explored the poet’s character and the influence of his rural surroundings. He writes:” At Helpston Clare sought different solitudes, one for nature study, one for ‘escape’, one for inspiration, one for reading, one for bliss. The uncultivated region beyond the enclosure, the Hills and Holes at Barnack, the muddles and sunken ponds, all became a set of outdoor studies where he could safely close the door on noise and intrusion. He is a human nightingale who hides and sings.” Blythe left school at fourteen but soon got a job in a local library and devoured as many books as he could. From his extensive reading, his own writing was born, and in 1969 his book

Noel Ingram: Obituary

1952 - 2022

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Noel Ingram on 20 December 2022.

Noel was a Helpston man born and bred. He was born at the Gables in 1952 and lived at The Wind In The Willows on West Street for the first two years of his life. He moved to Broad Wheel Road and lived there attending the primary school on Glinton Road before attending Arthur Mellows in Glinton. His first job when leaving school was at Titman’s butchers

in Glinton where he spent many happy hours with Alan in the shop and delivering meat in the van.

He moved to London working for GEC and met his wife Sally and brought her back to live in Paston, Peterborough in 1978. They were blessed with two sons and the family moved back to live in the village he grew up in, in 1990.

‘Akenfield’ based on conversations with characters from a Suffolk village was a success and made into a film. For many years he wrote a weekly column in the Church Times, where he spoke simply about his garden, his cat, the seasons, his Christian faith and the people he met in his role as a Reader at the local church. Living in the village of Wormingford, he was well known, yet, like John Clare sought solitude in the creaky old farmhouse at the end of a lane. I cut out many of these articles and have a folder bursting with them.

A tribute in the Society Newsletter for February reads:” Ronald Blythe’s legacy was not simply his extensive cannon of writing, but also the example he set us as he grew older. A kind, deeply thoughtful and gentle man, he preserved ‘a spiritual vitality, a vividness, an imaginative sort of energy’. He will be hugely missed.

A traditional man, who was not afraid of hard work. Although Noel had a variety of jobs, including a stint at

Noel Ingham

Ronald Blythe reading Presidential Address at JC Fest 2013

the paper mill, he most enjoyed his time as a jointer’s mate at the electricity board, working outside through all kinds of weather.

Noel had a natural talent for gardening and he spent many happy hours nurturing flowers and plants, building a pond and even an aviary where he kept two owls, a kestrel, quails, zebra finches and budgies. He was at his happiest with nature, outside walking his dogs or tending his many bonsais. His love of nature and the outdoors began as a child and he would spend hours in Royce Woods, searching for bird’s nests, although he had such a healthy respect for nature that he would never disturb

or move them. He also enjoyed following animal tracks or spend all day in the woods only going home when the church clock struck the hour when it was time for tea.

In years to come he would pass this love onto his two grandsons who enjoyed spending many happy hours outside with their Nanny and Pappy.

Noel also enjoyed holidays camping in Yorkshire and Devon when their sons were young. In later years Noel and Sally took cruises to Norway and the Baltic and even toured Canada, venturing as far as Alaska.

In 2010 Noel and Sally moved to Woodland Lea and Noel spent

George Morton: Obituary

Members of the local farming community gathered at St Mary’s Church, Marholm on 15 February to give thanks for the life of George Morton, who died recently aged 87.

George had farmed all his life at Scotsmans Lodge. He was two years old when his Mother and

many years landscaping the garden and altering their home to their liking. He was a wellknown figure often stopping for a chat whilst walking Hollie, his dog he loved so much.

Noel was a kind and gentle man who would greet you with a warm twinkling smile. His sense of humour was infectious and he was truly loved by those who had the privilege to meet him.

Noel’s family would like to thank the many people who attended his funeral and also the Parish Council for agreeing to the installation of a commemorative bench to be placed outside Royce Woods.

George Morton

Father took over the tenancy at Scotsmans Lodge in 1938, both parents coming from farming families in Bedfordshire. George developed asthma from the age of seven, when little was known about it. This prevented him attending primary school regularly. However, George went on to secondary school - his asthma less of a problem, and excelled at the practical side such as metal work, woodwork and of course farming. In his late teens, he joined Glinton Young Farmers Club where he met Rosemary who was club secretary at the time. He was also involved in farming with her family in Maxey.

With farming playing a big part in both their working life their friendship developed and they announced their engagement in October 1959, being married on 3 April 1962 at St Mary’s Church, Marholm. Ill health has been a challenge to them both during the whole of their 60 years of married life. Three months after their marriage, Rosemary was suddenly taken ill and spent nearly a whole year in a London hospital. She wasn't expected to survive, but miraculously did and gradually she was able to get back into everyday life again. Both illnesses left their marks, but it was continued overleaf >>

George Morton Funeral

>> something they didn't dwell on - with many people never even knowing, as it was work as usual. In May 1965 their daughter Elizabeth was born and Robin, their son, followed in December 1967, beating all the odds and bringing immense joy, not only to them, but to family and friends who had all been a tower of strength along the long journey back to health.

Over the post war years, new technology has come along. George took this in his stride where he could. In 2000 he was offered more land and at the same time Rosemary had taken on the role of promoting their own beef and retailing it, so the Willow Brook Farm Shop was opened at Scotsmans Lodge. George, although well into retirement age, immersed himself

in helping Robin get the new land in hand and played a vital role in how it was farmed to get the best results. In September 2004 George was returning back to the farmyard at The Elms, Glinton Road, Helpston, which he and Rosemary purchased the year before, when he was involved in a road accident with a lorry running into the back of his tractor, resulting in serious head injuries and multiple operations on his broken jaw with metal plates being inserted in his face. After a couple of weeks he was back on the farm working as usual. Unfortunately, however, after a short time it became evident that health problems related to the accident were affecting George’s day to day life which slowly took his independence away from him in the last ten years of his life,

resulting in having to eventually have 24 hour care. George coped with these problems with great dignity, never grumbling and with impeccable manners towards his carers and familywith please and thank you right up to the end when his speech was limited to just that. He got great comfort from all of his four grandchildren, who are actively involved in farming, Katherine and William ( Elizabeth and Guy’s two children, with their farming and contracting business in Suffolk), along with James and Grace (Robin and Dawn’s two children) at Scotsmans Lodge - ensuring the farming business which George, Rosemary and their parents before them had all enjoyed working for and made it their whole life, continues and thrives.

Peterborough Anglo-French Association

Jackie Robinson

For our January meeting, the PAFA ‘indulged’ in a wine tasting and evaluation evening.

The Chairman, Tony Elliott, an experienced home winemaker who often wins awards for his wines, brought along six unlabelled bottles from his collection for a ‘guess the ingredients in these wines’

evening; we also had to choose a favourite and least favourite wine from the six. There was a definite favourite – it consisted of a marmalade base – a very drinkable wine, and the least favourite

depended on the individual tastes of members.

Our AGM takes place in February and we hope to have a good turnout to elect a committee ready to prepare for our French friends to visit in July 2023.

Feel free to look up our Facebook page, Peterborough Anglo-French Association (don’t forget the hyphen) or copy and paste www.facebook.com/groups/697608323628779 and if you have any membership enquiries please email ameuk@btinternet.com

PROUD SPONSORS OF THE HELPSTON BEER FEST

ALL PROFIT WILL GO THE LITTLE MIRACLES AND THE FRIENDS OF JOHN CLARE PRIMARY SCHOOL:

by Anne Lees

The Amblers in Tribland

Aristotle once said, ‘In all things of nature there is something of the marvellous’. We couldn’t agree more, and it won’t be long before there will be plenty to marvel at! Who doesn’t feel uplifted by a host of golden daffodils fluttering and dancing in the breeze, or a carpet of snowdrops spread out in garden borders and woodland? The aconites – with their bright yellow flowers and choirboy ruffs – are like drops of sunlight on the ground, and people’s faces light up when they spot them. There’s just something inherently cheerful about them; maybe it is because they are small and on display in some of the coldest weather and therefore, somehow, brave.

As I write, it is a beautifully sunny day, with a strong breeze, and I am feeling very positive. It is easy on days like this to remember that Spring is round the corner, and start counting the days until Summer. But that would be disrespectful to the here-and-now where the birds in the garden seem to be enjoying the blustery day too, playfully darting from one shrub to another as if playing a game of tag or hide-and-seek.

I took part in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch recently and was thrilled to record nine different species during my one-hour viewing period, including a ‘flying visit’ from four Long-tailed Tits. They suddenly appeared, fed for a few seconds and then fled again, as quickly as they had arrived. It may have been a fleeting experience but, in the moment, it was spectacular – and truly joyful.

It reminds me of a Japanese term that I learned about recently –wabi-sabi – an ancient philosophy focused on accepting the imperfect and transient nature of life. Nowhere is this more in

evidence than the great outdoors where the vegetation is straggly, the weather unpredictable, the seasons changeable, and the wildlife fickle. But that’s what makes being outdoors such an enjoyable experience: knowing that every time we go for a walk, things will be subtly different even though it might be a familiar route. There is no guarantee that the beautiful wildflowers we discovered under the trees have not wilted, or that the kestrel will be out hunting at the same time as before; that the rare orchids will have bloomed this year, or that the rain will hold off until our walk ends. Living creatures are constantly surprising and delighting us on our travels as they go about their daily business and a sudden cry of, “Oh, look!” will go up. Every amble is a mini adventure!

We are getting quite good at naming wildflowers and birds, so this year we are going to attempt to learn how to identify trees – I’ve got the pocket guide ready. And the binoculars. And the waterproof footwear. We are ready and willing –even if not always able – and open to all the wonders that nature has to offer. By the time you read this, the Amblers will have celebrated our fourth anniversary! But I’ll tell you all about it in the next issue.

Speaking of anniversaries, we must congratulate Village Tribune editor, Tony Henthorn, for supplying us with such an interesting and valued publication for the last 25 years! It is no mean feat to produce a magazine: gathering articles, recruiting advertisers, and overseeing the printing process and logistics of delivery, but it has greatly benefitted from his innovative approaches and guiding hand (and, of course, the help of indispensable volunteers). Well done, Tony, et al – and long live the Village Tribune!

We amble on Friday mornings in various Trib’land locations and you are welcome to join us. If you would like to come along, or offer to show us around your locality, text the Amblers on 07714 021 131 for more information, or PM me on the Village Tribune Facebook page. We look forward to meeting you.

Benches

We have had three benches refurbished with hardwood slats; two are near the Book Stop and one is near the Church. Helpston carpenter Dick Dickens has done a really good job and they should last for many more years.

The Book Stop

The Book Stop is proving ever popular. Started during lockdown in the bus shelter it is always full of books. People are taking and giving books most days. Please do not leave magazines, jigsaws or toys; they will just be disposed of.

Road Signs

The road signs have all been pressure-washed by Ben Harris of Sissons Barn. Ben also cleaned the play equipment on the Village Green last year.

The Allotments

The rainwater harvester is now full, in readiness for the spring growing season.

A working party will be planting a hedge along the western edge of the allotments and along the track on 18 February. This will provide shelter from the wind, and hopefully discourage animals from coming into the allotments.

Climate Emergency

We have joined the John Clare Countryside NE Cluster with Glinton and Northborough to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions and encourage nature recovery. We will divide up the tasks between members to avoid duplication and enable us to do more. More volunteers are needed all the time.

Details of events will be posted on the notice board by the Village Hall, on the website: www.peakirkvillage.co.uk and on the Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/peakirkvillage/

PEAKIRK PARISH COUNCIL

For all Peakrik news, minutes and agendas visit: www.peakirkvillage.co.uk

Chairman: Henry Clark – Tel: 01733 253 203

Sally Jackson – Tel: 01733 253 483

Emma Crowson – Tel: 01733 252 200

David Fovargue – Tel: 01733 254 227

Anne Tuley – Tel: 01733 254 114

Sarah Smith – Tel: 07588 055 553

Kamal Sisodia – Tel: 07958 053 439

Clerk: Angela Hankins – Tel: 01733 253 397, Email: clerk@peakirk-pc.gov.uk

St. Pega’s Church Guidebook

Our wonderful Guide Book is here! Full of the fascinating history of our ancient village church.

Revel in the thousand years of architecture, curiosities, wall paintings, stained glass windows, memorials, churchyard and bats!

Sheila Lever

At only £5 per copy how can you possibly resist, as all monies go to the continued upkeep of St. Pega’s Church.

Copies available from Sheila Lever: Please call 01733 252 416 or e-mail: sheila.lever@btinternet.com

PEAKIRK COUNCIL CORNER

Henry Clark, Parish Council Chairman

Christmas Campaign Update

Helping our Ukrainian Friends

Three vans carrying around five tonnes of food, warm clothes and Christmas Boxes for Ukrainian children set off from Helpston on 30 November, travelling through Germany and arriving in Poland on Friday 2 December.

The six drivers from Helpston, Etton, Peterborough, Doncaster and Dronfield were joined in Gliwice by four other members of the team who had flown out to help unload the vans and reload onto trucks bound for Ukraine. In addition to the donations brought from Peterborough, the project had also funded the purchase of 21 generators in Poland, which (and they were very heavy!) were also loaded onto the lorries.

As part of the Christmas Campaign, we had arranged with our Ukrainian friends in Poland for a Christmas party for Ukrainian refugee children. 120 children joined us in a church in Gliwice for an evening of music and singing, including a very average rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas by the UK team! We had also brought with us small gifts for each of the children. Many Ukrainian women who joined us for the evening came up to say how important such support and messages of hope are to them and their children.

On the Sunday 3 December, the empty vans started on the long road back to England through a cold and snowy Germany, while Richard Astle joined the trucks travelling across Poland, and over the border into Ukraine, stopping near Rivne, where our longterm partner in these projects, Pastor Aleksander, has his church.

The next day we unloaded all the donations and were able to visit the church where the local school is currently based in the basement. Their normal building is unsafe as it has only a covered trench, rather than a concrete basement, for use in air raids. One of the generators will ensure that they don’t have to sit in the basement in the dark, when the electricity is off (it is currently only on 4 hours a day).

Christmas Boxes being given out to children in Rivne, western Ukraine

We gave out 120 of the Christmas Boxes, each one of which had been created by children at schools in Helpston, Oundle, Peterborough, Dronfield and Doncaster.

The generators were distributed to community venues across Ukraine – to a community café in Kyiv, to a charity for the deaf in Odesa, to communities around Rivne and Sumy and to refugees from Kharkhiv now living in western Ukraine. A second delivery was made in early January to communities around Kherson, Kryvii Rik, Zaporizhiya and Bakhmut. In total the project delivered 37 generators to Ukrainian communities – as shown in the map below:

Ukraine’s future matters to us all. As a team we are committed to doing what we can to help the people we have met, the communities we have helped and the country we have become so proud to support.

We would like to thank everyone involved for their support – whether donating food and clothes, making financial donations to help us buy generators and heart valves, helping children to create Christmas Boxes or heaving heavy boxes into vans; it all matters and it all makes a difference.

Easter Campaign

Our 8th trip to Poland sets off from Helpston on 15 March, this time in conjunction with Princebuild, a local construction company. Two of Princebuild’s directors will be joining the team to drive out hopefully, filling four vans (three of them supplied by Princebuild) with food, medical supplies, candles, torches and Easter Gift Boxes for Ukrainian children and older people.

If you’d like to support the campaign you can bring donations to the Granary Café, Willowbrook Farm, the Bluebell, Helpston and local churches. Princebuild’s support has brought in a further £10,000 in donations, taking our total funding raising to over £134,000.

In total since the invasion and including the Easter campaign the project team will have made eight trips to Poland and:

 Purchased and had delivered 37 generators for use by churches, schools, orphanages, charities and cafés across Ukraine.

 Delivered 20 tonnes of donated food supplies including rice, pasta, tinned food to villages close to the Russian border in Sumy Oblast and across southern Ukraine.

 Delivered two tonnes of general medical supplies, such as bandages, sutures, surgical gowns and gloves to the Kyiv Heart Institute.

 Purchased specialist medical equipment for the Kyiv Heart Institute, particularly 15 heart valves and over 600 sutures for use in heart surgery.

 Supported a charity for the deaf in Odesa, buying head torches, power packs and hi-vis ribbons to help them.

 Delivered 600 gift boxes for Ukrainian refugee children in Poland, Rivne and Sumy Oblasts.

 Supported 160 Ukrainian refugee children to attend a residential summer camp in Poland, providing them with much needed respite and a range of activities with children their own age (two members of the UK team also attended this camp and worked as volunteers).

 Supported 90 Ukrainian refugee children to attend week-long day camps in Gliwice, Poland.

 Supported financially three individual families of refugees in the first days of the war to establish their families in Poland.

You can watch videos of the Campaign and the trip to Poland and Ukraine on our YouTube channel: www.bit.ly/3E7nCwJ and there are lots more photos on the Facebook page: www.facebook.com/HelpingUkrainesSurgeons

You can continue to support our work at: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/helpingukrainesurgeons

people

Our Villages’ Person this issue is Tribland ward councillor Peter Hiller. A Langdyke Countryside Trust trustee and the only Peterborough City councillor accredited carbon literate by the UK’s Carbon Literacy Trust, Peter’s green credentials are notable. He has a passion for environmental protection generally, particularly within the rural communities he’s been elected to represent for the last 17 years.

So Peter, What Brought You to Tribland?

The move from my life in London 30-odd years ago was necessitated by my dad’s ill health, to be with and support my mum through a difficult time.

I met my now wife Debbie and we’ve loved living here ever since.

Where Were you Born and Raised?

London’s East End, where my grandparents had several pubs, off the Bethnal Green Road. The importance of community cohesion, respect for elders and good manners was embedded from an early age and has stayed with me since.

What First Interested You in Politics?

(laughs) Nothing. I’ve been elected city councillor 6 times over the years to represent the communities of our ward but

leave politics to the career MPs in their Westminster bubble. It’s us, the people in our villages who matter not self-serving politicians. Our local elections are for who residents trust to continue to represent their best interests 24/7, not pop-up chancers or political posturing. Residents tell me they support who they can rely on to consistently clear the fly tipping, protect front line services, act swiftly to move the Gypsy and Travellers illegal pitches, sort the dreadful mess they often leave and install measures to prevent their return, resist inappropriate new housing estates, tackle anti-social behaviour and speeding head on and liaise with police and parish councils - amongst many other day to day infrastructure issues.

What Makes you Angry or Sad?

Animal cruelty, wilful vandalism, dangerous driving, rudeness and bad behaviour, self-important

narcissists and unwarranted criticism of our emergency services. I sometimes get very sad when I witness the apparent hopelessness of some people’s personal situations. More often that you might expect, an element of my role as a ward councillor is to try to help folk in difficult circumstances.

What Makes you Happy?

My wife Debbie and our time together. Listening to great music in its many manifestations, especially when I’m cooking. Seasonal changes to our wonderful walks through the countryside we’re blessed with in Tribland. Good dinners and wine with friends.

Most Famous Person You’ve Met?

Infamous more like – when I was about ten my gran introduced me to Ron Kray, who visited them at their home in Bethnal Green regarding some business to do

with the pubs. She addressed him as ‘Mr Kray’ and, rather than afraid, I was spellbound by his aura of physical menace. I recall he was immaculately suited and although living close by in Vallance Road he’d been driven to their house in a big silver American car. Even as a child I knew the twins were a major presence in the East End. Hobbies?

I enjoy contributing to the Tribune magazine regarding environmental and planning issues as they relate to our rural area. In a former life I used to drive touring cars competitively and for a number of years was a member of the BMW (GB) pro-driver team for their corporate track day events at Silverstone and Thruxton circuits. These slower days I really enjoy walking, cooking and vintage Hi-Fi.

Most Treasured Thing You’ve Owned?

Oh, I’d say my dad’s 1938 silver medal from Webbe Boxing in the East End. He won this when he was 18 and just a year later enlisted in the RAF for the biggest adventure of his life flying in Lancasters over Europe, North Africa and Italy.

Favourite Film?

Depends on my mood but we’ve always loved watching Armageddon (1998) with Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Owen Wilson and Liv Tyler amongst other great actors. It’s a popcornpopper with everything: Lose yourself plot, terrific soundtrack, humour, morality and immorality, tearful sadness, brilliant special effects and ultimately how America saves our planet yet

again. We love it. We recently saw Ali on Netflix, starring Will Smith. Brilliant on so many levels, including the soundtrack.

Favourite Music?

I grew up with and still love listening to gospel, rhythm and blues and soul music luminaries like Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson. Like most I suppose it rather depends on what I’m doing but for me the diverse vocals of Rod Stewart, Freddie Mercury, Diana Krall, George Michael or Al Green are pretty near perfection. For our instant kitchen disco it has to be The Communards version of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes’ Don’t leave me this way. Fab-u-lous!

PETERBOROUGH MILTON GOLF CLUB

Enjoying a superb position at the entrance to the Fitzwilliam Estate, Peterborough Milton Golf Club has become a popular venue for relaxing and enjoying a drink, meal or social function in our recently refurbished clubhouse, or on the patio overlooking the 18th green.

Suspicious

Circumstances

By Dr Avril Lumley Prior

At the time of writing, Talking Pictures was repeating the excellent 1990s series, In Suspicious Circumstances, in which Edward Woodward examines the evidence (or the lack of it) relating to “true crimes” committed between the 1870s and 1980s. The programmes have inspired me to revisit four Tribland ‘cold cases’ spanning a period from the seventh to the seventeenth centuries.

An Assassination at Castor?

When the Christian princess Alhflæd of Northumbria married the pagan prince Peada of Mercia in 654, it was hardly a match made in Heaven. The union was engineered by their respective fathers and arch-enemies, Kings Oswiu of Northumbria and Penda of Mercia, during a brief détente with the intention of

making inroads into each other’s territories.

Part of the contract was that Peada should accept Christianity, which he eagerly agreed to do and returned to Mercia, according to twelfth-century sources, ‘rejoicing more in his new religion than in the little virgin that he had received in Northumbria’. The pair probably

adopted the abandoned Roman prætorium site at Castor, close to Mercia’s boundary with East Anglia, and set about converting the locals with great gusto.

The peace between the warring kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria was short-lived and King Penda was slain in the ensuing battle. The victorious Oswiu created Peada sub-ruler of continued overleaf >>

Death of Peada (Jan Jansson, Map of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, 1646)

>> the South Mercians, in reward for his neutrality, and together father-in-law and sonin-law founded a monastery at Medeshamstede [Peterborough]. Unfortunately, building work was disrupted when Peada was murdered at Eastertide in 658. The historian, Bede, writing 200 miles away in Jarrow and 70 years after the event, reveals that suspicions fell upon Alhflæd, whilst the Peterborough version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, written c.1121 (over 450 years later), unambiguously names her as the culprit. So, does the Dutch cartographer, Jan Jansson, who depicts Alhflæd as though she were a seventeenth-century harridan, urging her henchman to despatch her husband. But was Alhflæd really guilty as charged? If so, what were her motives? Or was the pro-Northumbrian Peada’s assassination part of the dastardly plot to win back Mercia’s independence, which in fact happened after a coup two years later? And what became of Alhflæd? Tantalisingly, Bede does not say; though it is likely that, guilty or innocent, as a lady of royal blood she was banished to Northumbria and spent her widowhood in a nunnery.

The Death of the Ailsworth Witch

A more grisly fate awaited the humble widow of Ailsworth who, with her son, was accused of witchcraft. A charter of c.975, tells a sorry tale of envy and hierarchical bullying, masquerading under the cloak of religion. It appears that Æthelwold, Archbishop of Canterbury, gave King Eadgar’s thegn, Ælfsige, and his son, Wulfstan Uccea, land at Ailsworth. It had been confiscated after the

widow was ‘drowned at London bridge’ and her son had escaped and become an outlaw. Their purported misdeed was to have thrust an iron rod into a life-size effigy of Ælfsige.

frog-marched down King Street and lost her life near a bridge carrying Ermine Street (the road to London) across the Nene, at Ailsworth?

In those days, local miscreants were tried by the abbot of Peterborough or his representative at the Hundred Court which met on a BronzeAge burial mound on the contiguous boundary of Ailsworth, Upton, Bainton and Ufford, now known as the Langdyke or Langley Bush. Even so, the usual punishment for sticking a pin in an effigy was simply a penance of prayers and fasting, provided that the victim survived, which Ælfsige clearly did.

Why then was the offence deemed so heinous that the poor wretch was taken to King Eadgar’s court in London for judgement and ultimately consigned to the Thames? A more feasible and generally accepted alternative is that, afraid of forfeiting her land, she attempted to prove her innocence through Ordeal by Water, whereby the accused was thrown into a river or pond. If she floated, she was deemed guilty since the waters had rejected her; if she sank, she was innocent and hopefully would be rescued in time. So, was the widow

Considering who actually benefited from her death, there is every reason to believe that the evidence (namely the effigy of Ælfsige) was planted and that the hapless widow and her son were framed. Nevertheless, there may have been some pricking of consciences. Ælfsige and Wulfstan returned their ill-gotten land at Ailsworth to Archbishop Æthelwold, who immediately bestowed it upon Peterborough Abbey.

The Legend of the Peakirk Roundhead

Lost in the mists of time is the story that the body of a Roundhead soldier (in full seventeenth-century kit) was discovered beneath the earthen floor of a cottage in Peakirk’s Chestnut Close, during its

demolition. Here, we have three possible locations: the white cottage next to the church gates (demolished c.1913); the cottages that once stood in the present churchyard (demolished c.1926); or the cottages on the western edge of the village green (demolished c.1885). Of course, we must also consider that the

The Langdyke Bush Hundred Court site

Chestnut Close cottages, c.1920: a 17th-century crime scene?

hypothetical corpse was buried on the plots before the cottages were built.

Oliver Cromwell’s troops’ presence was undoubtedly felt in the area and they certainly wreaked havoc in Peterborough, which had initially declared for Charles I. Moreover, the Lord Protector regularly supped with his favourite daughter, Elizabeth, and her dyedin-the-wool Royalist husband, John Claypole, at Northborough Manor. But whatever was a lone Roundhead doing in Peakirk? It is also highly improbable that he would be buried in his clothes, in an age when even second-hand underwear was at a premium. Unless, of course, he was murdered and his cadaver needed to vanish quickly and without a trace. For decades, my husband, Greg, scoured local newspaper articles for reports concerning the recovery of the Roundhead’s remains, to no avail. Could any Trib. readers shed some light on the tale?

Sweeting claims that a document (presumably Wyldbore’s script) was discovered in St Benedict’s parish chest. The incident allegedly occurred in a ‘large old low house next to the manor house’, where Wyldbore slew his neighbour during one of his frequent bouts of drunkenness. Surely, a case of manslaughter rather than first degree murder.

In brief, Wyldbore began his declaration of guilt by thanking all the spectators who turned out to witness his execution. He explained that his alcohol dependency was such that he had forgotten what it was like to be sober and that his repentance was so sincere that his eyes had become ‘a fountaine of teares’. He concluded by entreating his audience for their prayers and commending his remorseful soul to God.

However, gracing the chancel of St Benedict’s church, Glinton, is a memorial to Joan Wyldbore (died 28 March 1698), ‘widow of John Wyldbore, gentleman, who lies not far from this tomb’. Is Joan’s husband buried in the churchyard or near the scene of his crime, just across the road from the church? Or was John Wyldbore’s ‘confession’ just an elaborate hoax?

A Mysterious Death in Glinton?

And finally, another murder that, perhaps, never actually happened. Reverend William Debonaire Sweeting, vicar of Maxey (1881-1901), alerts us to a long-winded ‘gallows’ confession by John Wyldbore of Glinton Manor, composed around 1700.

Tantalisingly, after several weeks of searching, I can find no official record of Wyldbore’s dastardly deed or even the original copy of his confession; it seems that only transcripts survive in Sweeting’s publications. The parish chest (now a repository for retired hymn books) has long been divested of all its official records, which are safely lodged at Northampton Record Office. We may wonder whether the good reverend retained Wyldbore’s ‘confession’(presumably on a loose sheet of paper) for future reference, just in case some snippet of information should turn up; and that the document has since disappeared. Neither can I find any details of his hanging anywhere in the Soke of Peterborough. Still, I can take meagre comfort from the fact that Sweeting spent over 20 years researching this conundrum only to admit defeat in the end!

Circumstantial Evidence

Nowadays, with DNA samples and hi-tech forensics, miscarriages of justice are thankfully becoming increasingly rare. Indeed, any modern defence team worth its salt could easily pick holes in the accusations levelled against Alhflæd of Northumbria and the anonymous witch of Ailsworth. Clearly, these were two vulnerable women who were pawns in the hands of powerful men. As for the lone Roundhead and the permanently inebriated John Wyldbore, were these “true crimes committed in suspicious circumstances” or merely yarns made up for amusement?

Northborough Manor: a murderer’s lair?

The Wyldbore memorial, Glinton Church (1696)

DIARY FARMING Rosemary’s

As we start a new year I am amazed at the amount of new technology on the market with the emphasis on saving the environment, far too much to list here. The manufacturing industry have been working on ways to minimise the field operations in the arable sector and also the livestock area for years.

We, as the end users (farmers) are now able to put this into our workplace, it's the digital age where the younger generation who have been brought up with it embrace it in their every minute of the day which is excellent. There are unfortunately some of the older generation who have difficulty in using it (me included), I have the equipment but lack the know how. If I press the wrong button I have to ask for help from one of the youngsters - which I am generally able to do.

Who I do feel for are those amongst us who don’t have the equipment or knowledge to use it, we have all had the frustrating and stressful experience of needing to speak with a doctor, or order a prescription only to find the system at the surgery has had a blip and after a lengthy wait you as the patient are left as you are or go to

111. Some of these requests could very easily have been dealt with by a quick word with your GP - the now ‘new digital’ way seems so complicated that people end up going to A & E with the most trivial problems, clog them up, creating patients waiting for up to 50 hours on trollies and ambulances queuing up, no beds on the wards available with half of the occupants medically fit for discharge, but nowhere to go, or refusing to go because they are being fed, watered and are comfortable. And some people are coming in purely for the warmth and for somewhere to sleep for the night. I was fortunately able to deal with the situation I found myself in, but after many months being unable to reconcile with the position some patients find themselves in when they are unable to speak for themselves. Many have worked

all their lives and paid into the system in the hope that when their need came the professionals would come to their aid giving them the assurance and dignity they so deserve in their hour of need. When and if you do reach the doctor or consultant relevant to your health problem they are brilliant. I can't speak too highly of them. Successive governments over the last 20 years I believe, are to blame, starting at the top and filters right through to the public at this end finding ourselves in an intolerable situation. Where is the “Great Britain” I and many others were born into?. I think when you think it through two words sum it up “selfishness” and “greed”. Without taking sides, the caring side has not been recognised financially enough over the last two decades and without them the system cannot work. My apologies

for saying this but I meet and speak with people who come from all walks of life saying what they have experienced, not a day goes by without this coming into conversation. Since writing these notes the government are addressing the issues of more hospitals, beds, carers, doctors, nurses etc - not quite sure where they are all coming from to make this work in the timescale they are advocating - only time will tell.

The intervals of different temperatures over the last two months have had quite a dramatic effect on our everyday activities on the farm and in the farm shop. All we can do is to work with each day's fluctuating temperatures as they come.

The sugar beet crop has taken a severe battering with some fields being written off. Where we have been able to lift (when

the ground gave 2-3 hours in the day for lifting) the sugar beet had to be delivered within 48 hours maximum, it is too early to make any prediction as to the profitability of the crop at the moment until all is finished, but at least some of the crop has been salvaged after a years input. This has always been farming and it’s no different nowadays, it’s a gamble. The other farming activities have been less affected but life has been more difficult with everything freezing up.

The last few days of dry weather have enabled us to start our spring sowing, which is a bonus and will encourage the plants to get a good root structure before any excessive dry periods later in the growing season. The gardens are looking very sorry for themselves which is quite noticeable after the previous mild

seasons, in fact I think I have lost most of my Geraniums and Pelargoniums in my “heated” greenhouse some of which varieties go back many decades, again only time will tell in the next few weeks what has survived. I’m also unsure of the more hardy plants, hellebores for one which is normally full of bloom at this time of year - no sign of life at all. We shall just have to wait and see with the consolation that nature has a wonderful way of leveling up. The bird life has been the only brightness in these dark, dreary days and are very interesting to watch and I have the sheep as my new neighbours on their annual visit cleaning up the grass and putting their organic matter back into the soil as they have done for centuries.

Nurturing Curious Minds

Discover why Forest Schools are so beneficial for children, and learn how you can create some of these activities yourself at home.

We chat to Amanda Webb, who is Forest School Leader at Helpston Playhouse. She has been teaching Forest School at the Ofsted rating ‘outstanding’ setting for three years. Why is it important for children to get close to nature? It's so important for children to have access to the outdoors. Not just from a physical or mental health perspective but so they can

discover and explore the world around them. Learning about wildlife builds their curiosity. Simple things like smelling flowers, exploring weather, mud squelching, counting petals, catching snowflakes, comparing bugs and plants, it's all part of their development too and these natural resources are free!

What skills or benefits does forest school offer kids?

At Forest School there’s no right or wrong way of doing things. Children get to explore and experiment within an openended, free-thinking environment. They can build their confidence and self-awareness by managing their own risk taking through something like climbing a tree.

They develop empathy by learning about how to care for nature by planting seeds or building a bug house. They can work on their resilience and self-esteem through using tools for woodwork and creations. All the time the children are working and playing together they’re building upon their social and communication skills. These are all personal skills and depending on the activities or resources on offer, children can extend their knowledge academically too. What are your favourite forest school activities?

I love it when the children can explore and play. We often go on bug hunts, we need to care for all our creatures as they all have families and important jobs to do. We often make our own paint with mud, berries and herbs to brush onto branches or stamp onto material, allowing the children to create their own patterns. It's important for them to learn about their own environment so we play with conkers, cones, wood, stones and acorns, building towers, creating pictures, rolling them down pipes and sticking them in play dough. The children can learn about trees, seeds, seasons, textures and speed. All the time learning new vocabulary.

Can you give an example of an activity that the children really love?

Anything that explores their senses. They absolutely love creating teas or potions. Everyone has a cup or bowl and access to herbs, petals, peel and scented tea bags. They can cut their own herbs, tear the tea bags to explore the insides, pouring their own water from jugs to develop their own fine and gross motor skills. They can extend the activity by finding more additions such as leaves or bark from the garden to discover new smells, colours and textures. It's amazing what their imagination createshot chocolate, soup, tea, magic potions and birthday cakes.

Why do you think forest school has become so popular of late?

Forest School has been around in Britain since the mid 1990s but recent research shows that an outside approach offers children a more hands on way of learning with the freedom and space to build upon their personal skills without limitations. This enables a child to be loud, messy, fast and independent within a safe environment that encourages their wild side.

Can you give an example of a Forest School activity parents could try at home?

You could go for a walk and look at the trees. Play colour bingo by finding things that are red, yellow, orange, brown. Collect things from the floor and make pictures with your findings. Try just going for a walk and thinking about your senses, smell deeply - pine woods, lavender, listen to the animals and plants, feel the bark and grasses.

Ice blocks are a really fun way to explore change, as the ice melts. You could fill a bowl or tub with seasonal items and put them in the freezer to explore later. During autumn collect conkers, leaves, acorns. In winter look out for pine twigs, berries, orange peel. In spring you’ll find green leaves, blossom, petals and for summer collect herbs, seasonal flowers.

It is the simple things that can be the most fun, like planting a seed on a windowsill, looking for bugs in your garden or on the way home from school, studying frosty patterns or exploring the weather like blowing bubbles on a windy day. Whatever you do make sure you have plenty of fun!

Langdyke Countryside Trust

An ambitious programme is being pursued by the board of the organisation which is run entirely by volunteers.

The appeal for cash help to purchase a 23-acre area of land between Helpston, Etton and Maxey is making excellent progress. It is hoped efforts to take over the land will start shortly.

The plan is to further enhance the Christ’s College Pits area alongside the Maxey Cut as a nature reserve that can be enjoyed by the local communities.

In the meantime day-to-day activities at the Trust continue - with volunteers supporting Monday and Thursday work parties at the Etton, Swaddywell, Bainton Heath and Torpel reserves.

And a great events programme is also being put together

The Trust has a special event organised for the summer -

ideal for the young and not so young!

The big Langdyke BioBlitz is planned for Sunday, June 18 at the Etton sites - High Meadow and Vergette Wood Meadow.

The idea is to create a fun-filled day of ‘Citizen Science’ to help record the flora and fauna at the two sites.

The event is ideal for all the family and participants can come along at any time between 10am–4pm.

Langdyke experts will be on hand to help volunteers survey an area, identify the finds and record them.

Events organiser Claire Noble said: “We are organising a day which we hope will appeal to those with an interest in nature and - in particular - to families looking for something different to do on a summer Sunday.

“More details about the event will be released nearer the time on the Langdyke website langdyke.org.uk but for now please keep the date.”

Other events coming up include a Spring walk along the Maxey Cut and South Drain as well as an evening event at Castor Hanglands with experts from Natural England. More information soon.

The Trust is run entirely by volunteers who do a great job. But there is always a need for more. If you are interested in attending a work party or helping out with clerical tasks or surveys please get in touch by emailing:

volunteer@langdyke.org.uk

Alternatively please consider paying a small membership fee to support the work.You can find out more on the Langdyke website: www.langdyke.org.uk

David Rowell

The Langdyke Countryside Trust continues to forge ahead with its programme to benefit nature - and needs your help

Bainton Primrose Festival – Sat 18 March

Once again, St Mary’s church and the Bainton and Ashton Parish Nature Recovery group are joining forces to celebrate the beauty in our lovely churchyard with the Primrose Festival.

Reverend Gary Alderson

This will be on Saturday 18 March – the Mothering Sunday weekend.

• You can enter the spring flowers arrangement completion, or the photography competition – with groups for children and adults. And there’s a nature art competition for primary-age children.

• See the beautiful spring flowers in Bainton churchyard, with information about the different species.

• See the competition entries for flower arrangements and nature photographs, and the prize giving.

• Prizes for spring flowers, children’s art, and photography competitions.

• An opportunity to buy Kathryn Parsons’ cards and photographic prints.

Thanks to our prize sponsors, who currently include Smithers of Stamford, the Blue Bell Inn at Helpston, Sushi & Salad of Stamford, and Walker’s Bookshop of Stamford.

Timetable

Official Opening at 12-noon

Nature and Wild Flower

Scavenger Hunt - 12-noon & 2pm

Producing a piece of art together from what we’ve found round the Churchyard with Kathryn Parsons.

Church Tour - 1.30pm

Highlighting the architecture and history.

Walk Around the Local Countryside - 2pm

Please bring a change of shoes / boots if muddy! About three miles and not too hilly!

Tea-time Refreshments - 4pm

Closing with a short service, celebrating God’s gifts of nature.

Parking Available at Bainton Allotments and on Side-roads.

Please do not park on our verges! Toilets available at the Reading Room.

Rules for Competitions

Photography Competition

Photographs should be of local wildlife, wild flowers or scenery - taken via phone or camera, printed (Up-to A4 size) and posted/delivered with the age, name and address of the photographer to: The Rectory, Millstone Lane, Barnack PE9 3ET. Please send by WeTransfer/e-mail to: stmarysbainton@gmail.com so we have an electronic copy.

Closing Date for entries: Saturday 11 March.

If you have trouble printing off photographs, please e-mail us on the above address.

There are two age groups:

• Up to 18 years of age on 18 March 2023

• 18 years and over

Photographers agree that their photos can be displayed, attributed, in the church and

via the Parish News and Village Tribune websites and magazines.

Flower Arranging Competition

An arrangement of garden-grown or bought spring flowers and foliage– please do not use flowers taken from the wild!

Two age groups:

• Up to 18 years of age on 18 March 2023

• 18 and over

To be arranged in the competitor’s own container, and brought to the church between 10am and 12pm on Saturday 18 March.

These will be displayed in the church to the end of Sunday 19 March.

The Mothering Sunday service will be on Sunday 19 March at 4.30pm and the church will be open all day.

The organisers and St Mary’s Bainton cannot take responsibility for vases / containers, so please ensure it’s not your precious heirlooms.

Children’s Art Competition

• Up to 18 years of age on 18 March 2023

An A4 picture representing the nature of our area: could be plants, animals or a drawing of the local fields and landscapes.

To be delivered to the Rectory by 11 March, or can be created on the day. Or sent to the above email address.

Teresa Scott

St. Andrew’s Church - Updates and News

Great fun has been had and a lot of fundraising has been done in Northborough over the last two years, with the aim of restoring our grade one listed building and the hope of removing it from Historic England's At Risk register.

As part of the SOS Andrew’s fund raising family I have had great pleasure in getting involved and meeting so many lovely people coming along to support us and without whom we couldn’t have reached our first target of £20,000. I am happy to report that repair work has commenced, with the church drains being checked and cleaned last year, along with general maintenance and spring cleaning, both internally and externally, while we wait for permission from the relevant bodies for the more serious(and expensive!) building and repair work to start.

Here are Some of Our Highlights of 2022:

of Queen Elizabeth II and her entrance to the 2012 Olympics.

The Handlebards, cycling Shakespearean actors who performed Twelfth Night for us at Northborough Manor. Despite the weather it was Shakespeare at his best!

Open gardens and an Open Art Exhibition, what clever, talented people there are in Tribune-land.

So may we say a Big Thank you to all who have supported us, from U3A church history visits, those who have attended our Festivals, Cream Teas, Fish and Chip suppers in the Church, Carols in The Cottage and so much more. It is lovely to see the church being well used and busy and we will endeavourer to continue with our fundraising until the repair work is completed.

In the past St Andrew’s has been known as The Church of Two Widows. We have Martha Clare, wife of John Clare, buried in the church yard and: Elizabeth Cromwell, Lady Protectress, wife of Oliver Cromwell is buried in the Claypole Chapel.

Watch this space and I hope you can come and join us for more fun and celebration this year.

Platinum Jubilee Flower Festival with a Knitted Toy Corgi Parachute Jump. All in honour

TheDaysSleepless of Easter

Reverend Gary Alderson

There seemed to me, in the early days of my Church of England ministry, a conspiracy to ensure mystical feelings at the important church festivals, through the creative use of sleep deprivation.

The parish where I was a Reader was All Hallows’ Wellingborough. They had a Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, and then a Mass of the Dawn on Christmas morning at 8am. Guaranteeing the priest fewer than his (it was always “his” in those days) eight hours of sleep, on one of the biggest church days of the year. But that faded in comparison with what I had to manage as a curate one Easter. An Easter Eve Vigil on the Saturday evening which seemed to go into the small hours, with the confirmation of apparently every teenager in Northamptonshire. Followed by a 6am service on Easter Sunday. In theory this was followed by bacon rolls. In practice, before I got near any food, I had to go off to take a service elsewhere. Never were the words “Hallelujah, he is Risen” declared by such a grumpy priest, nor one with such levels of blood sugar.

Even as a new Christian, in my early 20s, I remember this kind of thing going on. The Easter Sunday sunrise service in Dunstable took place at the top of Dunstable Downs, at 6am. A lot of us made the half-hour walk up there. Dunstable Downs in March can be very beautiful, and

seeing the sun rise on Easter day – even when it’s rising over the tower blocks of Luton – is very touching. But it’s bitterly cold and windy. Occasionally somebody fainted up there.

A ritual we will be following at some of our villages is lighting the Easter Fire. You light up a load of logs outside the church door (we have a special little brazier for this at Helpston, but small barbecues are quite a good substitute). Then you light the new Easter Candle from the fire, and everyone processes behind the priest, holding the candle, into the dark church before all the lights are shared and the church is full of light.

That’s what is meant to happen. And what we managed at Helpston and Ufford last year. Instead, at one of my old churches, every year without fail, we had the blowing-out of the fire by a howling wind. Ever year, the lighting of the first fire could take anything up to half an hour, as the Church Warden tried increasingly frantically to get it all going. Until we got just enough of a flame to kick the whole thing off. One year, at 6am with the traditional Easter blizzard blowing

outside one church, the Warden finally got the fire to light. And was then hit amidships by a flurry of snow that took the whole thing back to square one.

Why do we go through all this, I often asked myself. And the answer is of course that the symbolism is so incredibly powerful. In the darkness of an Easter Eve night, lighting that first spark in the darkness and then seeing that light passed from candle to candle until the whole church is full of light, is amazingly powerful. A real statement of faith that light shines in the darkness. On Easter morning, to see the sun creep above the horizon as we celebrate the risen Son of God has resonances that echoes so many religions: a gasp of wonder at the new day that is sown deep in our human souls. This year, I’ll be leading the special Easter Eve service at the lovely St. Andrew’s Church, Ufford at 8pm. And then Mike Mills will be leading the sunrise service the following morning at Hills and Holes.

But don’t expect me there at 6am. I’m not falling for that again. Have a happy Easter. Christ is risen indeed. Hallelujah.

SOS St. Andrew's & Northborough Manor Proudly Present Another Fundraising Event

The Return of: The Handlebards!

Wednesday 24 May, 7pm. Tickets available for purchase on: www.handlebards.com/tickets

(£18.50–£20.50)

Join the Handlebards, cycling Shakespearean actors, for another hilarious, high-octane production. They carry all their set, props and costumes on the back of their bikes, performing extremely energetic, charmingly chaotic and environmentally sustainable Shakespeare plays across the UK. They specialise in open air theatre, but are really happy performing anywhere: Theatres, Castles, Gardens, Bicycle Shops, Pub Gardens, Schools and Northborough!

The Story so Far: Four young lovers find themselves lost in a magical forest, where the Fairy King and Queen are fighting for the possession of a changeling boy. A group of amateur actors head to the same

SOS Save the Dates

SPRING BARN DANCE

Saturday 18 March

7–11pm at The Northborough & Deeping Gate Village Hall.

Raffle, licensed bar and hot dogs! £15 entry. Contact Sharon on: 07523 861 289 or e-mail: contact@deepingsummerball.co.uk

KING CHARLES III CORONATION

Monday 8 May

Starts & finishes at Andrew’s Church.

“The Crown Jewels Walking Treasure Hunt!”

Followed by: Tea Party for a King!

forest to rehearse for a play. Humans and fairies collide and hilarity ensues.

This is an outdoor production, so please bring your own chair or blanket to sit on, a picnic to dig into, and dress for the weather!

Please don’t bring umbrellas as they block sight-lines for other audience members. Ponchos and raincoats are just as fetching, so please wear these instead

The doors will open at 6pm; please come early come and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. Chairs, picnics, blankets and any other low level accessories are welcome.

STRAWBERRY CREAM TEA

Saturday 17 June

1.30–3pm or 3.30–5pm at Northborough Manor

Pre-Booked Tickets Only! On sale from 15 May. Contact Clare on: 07802 487 679 or e-mail: clare@euro-pa.net

THE SEALED KNOT, ELIZABETH CROMWELL & NORTHBOROUGH

Saturday 23 & Sunday 24 September Northborough’s connection with Oliver Cromwell & his family.

For more information or offers of help please contact: Polly on: 01778 380 849, Clare on: 07802 487 679 or e-mail: clare@euro-pa.net, or Teresa on: 07874 860 148 or e-mail: tabscott@btinternet.com

Diary

GLINTON ART GROUP

Saturday Mornings/Tuesdays

Glinton Village Hall PE6 7JP.

We are excited to be part of the local celebrations marking the Kings Coronation. We are submitting our depictions for the new village sign post in the village school. Also, a small exhibition of our current paintings. The art group meets on Saturday mornings and also Tuesdays in the village hall. £5 a session tea/coffee provided.

Contact Sheila Brigeman on 01733 2222 266

ST PEGA’S CAFÉ RETURNS TO SERVE BRUNCH ON SUNDAY

Sunday 5 March

9–11.30am at Peakirk Village Hall.

Bring along your family and friends, everyone is very welcome. Full English and Continental Breakfasts served or just pop-in for a coffee. As usual, we will organise two breakfast sittings – one from 9–100am and 10.30–11.30am. Please let us know of any special dietary requirements.

To book your table, please call Sheila on 01733 252 416 or e-mail: sheila.lever@btinternet.com

M.A.D. GOES TO STAMFORD

Tuesday 7 March – Saturday 1 April Stamford Arts Centre PE9 2DL.

Maxey Art Group and Deepings Art Club are holding another joint exhibition of paintings. High quality artwork by local artists will be available to buy between 9am–5pm. Entry is free. Should you require any further information please e-mail or contact Pam on 07767 212 409

THE ARTS SOCIETY, PETERBOROUGH

Thursday 9 March

10.15am at The Fleet, Peterborough PE2 8DL. The Chair – 2000 years of sitting down, by Marc Allum. Chairs and ‘sitting solutions’ from antiquity to the 21st Century, with an Antiques Roadshow expert.

Doors open at 10.15am for coffee and a chat, your first talk is free, so why not come and join us?

For more information visit or how to join visit: www.the-arts-society-peterborough.org.uk

ON THE EDGE - NORTHBOROUGH WI

Friday 10 March and Friday 14 April

7:30pm at Northborough Village Hall PE6 9DP.

Our WI ladies meet once each month, our aim is to provide something of interest for everyone with our varied activities and speakers. In addition, we run walking and craft groups, a lunch club and a book club for the like-minded.

We currently have spaces for new members so, if you’re looking to make friends and try new things, come and join us on:

10 March Murder on the WI Express - A murder mystery evening. Make sure you have your alibi straight.

14 April Speed Jigsaw - Limber up your fingers and help your team complete the puzzle first. E-mail: ontheedgewi@gmail.com

THE ARTS SOCIETY PETERBOROUGH’S MONTHLY LECTURE

Thursday 13 April

10.15am at The Fleet, Peterborough PE2 8DL .

The First Atlantic Liner - Brunel’s Great Western, by Helen Doe. The first liner to establish a regular steam service across the Atlantic - the Concorde of it’s era, it carried the rich and famous, including stars of the London stage.

For more information visit or how to join visit: www.the-arts-society-peterborough.org.uk

NEWBOROUGH FRIENDSHIP TEAS

Thursday 16 March, Thursday 27 April, Thursday 25 May, Thursday 22 June, Thursday 20 July, Thursday 17 August, Thursday 28 September, Thursday 26 October and Thursday 23 November.

2–4pm at Newborough Village Hall.

The monthly Friendship Teas are proving very popular with often around 30 people attending. It is a very informal chance for residents to get together and have a good chat over a cuppa and a cake.

Please feel free to pop along and meet old friends or make new ones.

For further information, please call Wendy on 07507 635 617.

Please follow our face book page for all local information: Facebook-square/Good Neighbours Newborough

A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING!

Saturday 1 April

7.30pm at St John’s Church, Barnack.

The Stamford Concert Singers return to Barnack with a musical journey for everyone! Including: George & Ira Gershwin, Rogers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Leonard Cohen, Andrew Lloyd Webber, John Rutter and more! Plus, surprise solos by choir members!

Tickets available from Gary Alderson please call on:07503 975 588, e-mail: gary.aldersonwrites@ gmail.com – or pay on the door. Tickets £10 including interval tea, coffee, and biscuits.

GOOD FRIDAY WORKSHOP

Friday 7 April 2.30–4pm at St. Andrew's Northborough.

Come and join us for craft activities, Easter Garden, All-age worship and hot-cross buns and biscuits!

CASTOR, AILSWORTH AND DISTRICT GARDENERS SOCIETY

Tuesday 25 April

7pm at Cedar Centre, Castor.

AGM and Basketry Demonstration/Talk by Nene Coppicing and Crafts.

Thursday 4 May

CAADGS are pleased to invite you to book your seat for a: Coach Day Trip visiting Lampton Hall and Gardens, and Cottesbroooke Hall and Gardens, Northamptonshire. £40pp. Last few seats available to members/non-members. First come first served. For details and to reserve your seat please contact Peter Huckle: 01733 380 745 or e-mail: peter.huckle@cobnut-cottage.co.uk

Saturday 5 August At St. Kyneburgha

Castor and Ailsworth Village Show.

Organised by CAADGS. Schedule available soon.

A MAXEY WEEKEND

Friday 23 June – Sunday 25 June Maxey.

This will include Friday night entertainment, Afternoon Teas, Tower Tours of St. Peter’s, a ‘Where’s Wally’ Hunt and Flower Festival in the Church. The Church events will be raising money to “Raise the Roof“ as it is in very poor repair and leaking badly! Kits will be available to make your Wally, yes you need to make one and put him in your garden! Please save the dates, we would like this to be a great village event. It is being organised by the Church and Village Hall Committee.

tribunedirectory