I'd rather be in Deeping March 17

Deeping ISSUE 022 / MAR 2017

I’d rather be in

FEATURE

Sharpe & Son Solicitors

INSIDE

5

tales from the riverbank

EXECUTIVE – COUNTRY – EQUESTRIAN

Eastgate, Deeping St James

£570,000

Newton Fallowell are proud to offer for sale this executive stone fronted property backing onto the River Welland. The Eastgate area of Deeping St James is a sought after location with its mixture of period and executive properties. This property benefits from a generous South facing rear garden which extends to the bank of the River Welland. The property itself is well appointed with five reception rooms and four double bedrooms, two with ensuite. Arranging a viewing is the only way to fully appreciate both the property and its location.

Executive, country and equestrian properties required www.newtonfallowell.co.uk

For a discreet market appraisal call: 01778

345978

Welcome These whooper swans stopped by on the River Welland in Deeping St James on their way back to their home in Iceland having overwintered in the UK, along with 15,000 others. They are recognised by the distinctive yellow triangle on their otherwise black bill and for their long necks. They were captured on camera by David Pearson.

Meanwhile at Willow Tree Fen photographer Will Bowell joined the throng of twitchers some of whom had come from as far away as Suffolk and Yorkshire to record the visit of the Bluethroat. He commented, ‘Bluethroats are rare passage migrants in spring and autumn to Britain - usually to the coast or Northern Isles. One inland is pretty unusual and one anywhere in winter, when they should be in Africa, is even rarer so to have this one so local is an honour. Even better it’s a showy little belter, often hopping out of the reeds a few feet away from assembled crowds. Definitely worth a look if you get a chance.’

3

NATIONAL WINNER Field to Fryer 2014

REGIONAL WINNER

/

4

Best Independent Take-Away East Midlands 2014

Now accepting

33 18 42

12 07-11 News

Inside Editor: Sub-Editor: Designer: Features Writers: Research:

Judy Stevens Susan Hibbins Gary Curtis at Zerosix Design Judy Stevens and Martin Davies.

Joy Baxter, Nancy Titman, Dorothea Price and Mary Pendred

29 Stocks

12

Sharpe & Son Solicitors 33 Walk

18

Profile: Gyles Brandreth 37

Swimming Club

21

Martin Davies

38

25

Mothers Day Gifts

Five tales from the riverbank

27

Colour in your own Mothers Day Card

40

What’s on

42

Bird Watch

Photography: Publisher: Printed by:

Ian Baxter, David Pearson, Will Bowell and Gail Demaine Judy Stevens Warners Midland PLC

Cover: Heron in flight by David Pearson PRINTED BY WARNERS 01778 395111

Disclaimer. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission of I’d rather be in Deeping. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, I’d rather be in Deeping assume no responsibility as to accuracy and shall not be liable for any omissions or any loss, damage or expense incurred by reliance of information in this publication .Advertisers are solely responsible for the content of advertising material.

Deeping I’d rather be in

DBC - The Media Award 2016

Contact: 01778 348859 Email: idratherbeindeeping@gmail.com I’d rather be in Deeping

@BeInDeeping

5

We offer real person centred care to our residents in tranquil settings surrounded by beautiful gardens This is a real family environment and our values permeate all we do for our residents.

Garden Lodge

We are a very small home with maximum of 9 residents.

37a Lincoln Road, Glinton, Peterborough, PE6 7JS e: gardenlodge37a@aol.com

Residential Care Home in Glinton

t: 01733 252980

15 year’s experience in the security industry having been trained at the highest level. No call out charges within a 10 mile radius of PE6 8HT. Very competitive rates please call and ask for Jamie. Free site survey and no obligation quote.

Police checked and fully insured. SSAIB accredited in Intruder and CCTV.

JC security UK offers customers that little bit extra.

Problem with your existing alarm?

No problem, we offer a complete takeover service e: jcsecurity@outlook.com

t: 01778 349432 Yell.com Safe local trades JC security UK @jcsecurityuk

www.jc-security.co.uk

COVERS ALL AREAS INCLUDING: • MARKET DEEPING • BOURNE • STAMFORD • LANGTOFT • BASTON • SPALDING • PETERBOROUGH

• DOMESTIC AND COMMERCIAL • INTRUDER ALARMS • CCTV • ACCESS CONTROL • AUTOMATED GATES • FIRE ALARMS • SECURITY LIGHTING • 6

NEWS

Celebrating a year in their Spalding Road premises, Claire Cross and the team at the Spin Room A glass bearing the inscription Mable Robson May 2nd 1905 and an engraving of The Cross Deeping St James has been acquired by a collector who would love to find the story behind the name. If you have any ideas who Mable might have been please get in touch with the magazine.

Crime writer Alison Bruce and singer Rachel Eyre visited the Ironhorse recently to promote the Deepings Literary Festival and the talk that Alison will be giving about her work and the latest in the DC Goodhew series. Alison is keen on fifties vintage and local singer, Rachel Eyre will be accompanying the author. Tickets £2.50 from https://www.deepingsliteraryfestival.co.uk

Image: Gail Demaine

Rush hour in Deeping St James

After many years of voluntary service to Age Concern, Peter Hubbard has retired. He joined ‘more years ago than I can remember’ as a driver with the well-used minibus service, which takes local pensioners on day and shopping trips. Now he and wife, Margaret, are moving to Bourne and he has handed back his bus keys. Pictured is Chairman of Age Concern in the Deepings, Chris Knight (left) who thanked Peter for all his hard work and wished him well.

Already members of the acclaimed Q Guild of Butchers, local firm Grasmere picked up no less than 14 awards in the recent Smithfield Awards in London, including six golds out of a record entry nationwide of 600 products from Q Guild members. The Awards were presented by food writer, Tom Barker-Bowles. Pictured Will Bowell.

7

Shutting it in or shutting it outWhatever You Need, We Have The Solution...

Garage Doors -

New, Repairs & Servicing.

All types supplied includingRoller & Sectional.

Automate existing doors.

Blinds - Made to Measure.

Pleated, Roller, Vertical, Venetian, Roman, Vision and Intu/Perfect fit.

Other Services: Insect Screens Internally or externally fitted.

Lets air & light in, keeps insects out.

Shutters Plantation, Security or Decorative.

Commercial, Industrial & domestic.

Security Jail Bars Retractable grilles

Professional, friendly & personal service.

No obligation Free quotations

NEW WEBSITE www.garagedoorandshutterservices.co.uk Call: 07709 337647 Securing your property in style!

28 Cowslip Drive, Deeping St James, Peterborough PE6 8TE

Something for

everyone!

Classes

Now helping the community with Hospital Equipment Amnesty

Events Regular clinics Some free courses

Hand in your unwanted items to the Centre for return to hospital

Information centre & room hire … so much more than just ...it’s “the old Doctors’ Surgery”...

2 Douglas Rd Market Deeping Tel: 01778 381770 Follow us on

www.deepingscommunitycentre.org.uk

Now stocking Diffusalite Venetian Blinds from £9.99!

Crowland Carpets is a family run business with over 47 years within the flooring industry.

We offer a FREE estimating service and FREE advice and we can supply and fit: Carpets Vinyls Laminates Flotex, Sisal, Seagrass, Coir, Underlays, Rugs, Mats and mat-wells, and we can even up lift at a cost.

We cater to all budgets with products ranging from £8psm - £99psm.

Crowland Carpets, 3 The Deeping Centre, Market Deeping PE6 8FG t: 01778 341827 e: enquiries@crowlandcarpets.co.uk Visit: www.crowlandcarpets.co.uk

No Sales - No Gimmicks - Just good honest prices 8

NEWS

Snowdrops in St Guthlac’s churchyard.

Harry Byton (19) from Deepings School stood out in front of 1700 other aspiring paramedics to secure himself a fully-funded place to study Paramedic Science at Northampton University.

Harry said ‘During my course at Stamford College I was able to shadow a paramedic on a 12 hour shift that gave me the experience I needed to stand out with my university application.’

If you want to study a course which can prepare you for a range of careers within the Health and Social Care industry contact www.stamford.ac.uk

Dak and Amrish of DSJ Pharmacy completed the London Winter Run in aid of Cancer Research UK on 5th February, The sum raised by the generosity of Deeping residents and friends totalled £400. DSJ Pharmacy has matched this sum, so the total raised is £800!

Deeping man Gareth Williams is busy training to compete in the London Marathon to raise funds for Children with Cancer, a cause close to his heart after a friend’s son was diagnosed with Cancer. Gareth hopes to run dressed in a neoprene Mr Bump costume weighing approx 7 kgs and not very aerodynamic!

Gareth, a Coach with the Market Deeping Dragons Mini Rugby Team, who lives in West Deeping is hoping to raise over £3,000 for Children with Cancer. To donate visit www.virginmoneygiving. com/garethwilliamsmarathonchallenge

Doggies in the Window

Best weather barometer in Deeping what are the Shampooch dogs wearing today?

One year on! Happy Birthday Deepings Library. l-r Judy Stevens, Liz Waterland, Phil Dilks 9

TOWNGATE TYRE & SERVICE CENTRE LTD

Proud winners of the DBC Award 2016 Practical Excellence Award Deepings Business of the Year

Whitley Way, Northfields Industrial Estate, Market Deeping Tel: 01778 347973 Open Mon-Fri 8am - 5.30, Sat 8am - Midday

GREAT PRICES ON: THE AREA’S LARGEST INDEPENDENT HIRE COMPANY Deeping Car and Van Hire HIRE COMPANY THE AREA’S LARGEST INDEPENDENT

4 o 4 o 4 o 4 o 4 o 4 o

ALL MAKES & MODELS SERVICING & REPAIRS

TYRES EXHAUSTS BATTERIES REPAIRS MOT’S From £35 (APPOINTMENT ONLY) BRAKE PADS & BRAKE DISCS

£94.95

OFFER VAN HIRE Small Vans Short wheel base vans Long wheel base vans Small Vans & Hi-top Small Vans Short baseTail vans Luton wheel Vans with Lift Long wheel base vans wheel VanShort Sales / Car Sales & Hi-top base vans Tyre Fitting and Servicing

VAN VANHIRE HIRE

Luton Vans with Tail Lift Long wheel/ base vans Van Sales Car Sales & Hi-top Tyre Fitting and Servicing

01778

CAR HIRE

CAR HIRE CAR HIRE Small Cars Large Cars Manual / Automatic Small Cars Petrol / Diesel Large Cars Delivery Manual / Automatic Small Cars Collection

Buy Buy Buy Buy

1 2 3 4

MOT & WINTER SERVICE FROM

Tyre - MoT £30 Tyres - MoT £25 Tyres - MoT £20 Tyres MoT FREE

COURTESY CAR AVAILABLE

www.mcvehicles.co.uk Email: Towngatetyres@aol.com

Petrol / Diesel Delivery Large Cars Collection

01778

Manual / Automatic 344493 347827 Luton Vans with 01778 01778 Short and Long term hirePetrol available / Diesel Tail Lift Visit us at: www.deepingcarandvanhire.co.uk 344493 347827 Delivery Van Sales / and Long term hire available CarShort Sales Collection Visit us at: www.deepingcarandvanhire.co.uk Tyres Fitting and Servicing.

01778 344493

01778 347827

Short and Long term hire available

Visit us at 10

www.deepingcarandvanhire.co.uk

Property

Wills & Probate

Crime

Dispute Resolution

Family

Business

18 Priestgate, Peterborough PE1 1JN Telephone: 01733 865880 www.mcp-law.co.uk

NEWS Hannah update

Defibrillator training at Scholes who have a defibrillator newly installed on their Bridge St wall.

This years Clash of the Clubs Candlemas Quiz was won by Quiz Park Rangers, DSJ WI in runner up position. £465 raised for the Deepings Youth Group.

Following the story carried in last months magazine we were contacted by Jenny Brown who remembers ‘My great Aunt Liz (nee Fielding from Stowgate) used to bike from West Deeping to buy her groceries from Hannah Smith. She was one of the first to get a bungalow at 66 Broadgate Lane, with her husband Jim Smart. Hannah always said that she had the bungalows built for her loyal customers. Mr and Mrs Jibb lived at number 68 Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr and Mrs Vellam lived in the bungalows as well.’

Rebecca Kuttel, Deborah Croyle and Sarah Pellet of Animates celebrate their success in achieving outstanding scores in all five categories in the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons practice standards awards, third practice in the UK and only practice in Lincs to have achieved this standard.

Rhianna & Cheryl are delighted to announce the opening of their hair boutique.

Offering luxury treatments at affordable prices.... a special kind of magic!

120 Church Street, Market Deeping

01778 218200 enquires@rcohairboutique.co.uk

Help the NHS help you!

Hospital equipment amnesty! Having seen a One Show item on this matter, a director of the community centre thought the idea good enough to import to the Deepings! Storage space has been cleared for any items that you might have had from the hospital no longer use. A collection service is also being offered.

A little Valentine’s Day pampering at the Library courtesy of the Beauty Retreat.

Thompson Skip Hire

Camp Farm, Six Score Road, Langtoft Fen, Market Deeping

Tel: 01778 346624 or 24 hour mobile 07930 548172 • Any size of skip • Site Clearance • Aggregates & topsoil • We can load it for you • Local family business

Bank Holiday Service

Same or Next Day Delivery Open 7 Days a Week 11

Sharpe & Son

Solicitors

12

FEATURE

The Library that Refused to Die has not only taken a place at the heart of the community but it is also the centre of the plans for the first Deepings Literary Festival. Loved for the symbolism of a three-year struggle that united a community but also because it has pride of place as a Grade 2 listed building in a prime position where Deeping St James bumps into its neighbour Market Deeping.

It is interesting to explore the past of this imposing and much-loved building!

Research back to the 1700s revealed that the Vokes family, flax dealers of Stamford, owned the property. Around 1770 ownership transferred to the farming Dixon family and stayed until the death of Nancy Page (née Dixon) in 1887. At this time the ownership of the property transferred to the Sharpes who had been tenants since the very early 1800s.

Well heeled, the Sharpes were surgeons and solicitors, property owners and merchants who owned estates in London which can be traced back to the 17th century. Samuel Sharpe, born in November 1776, was the second son of George and Barbara (née Baughan) Grindley Sharpe of Holborn, London. Five siblings were all baptised at St Sepulchre’s Church, where their father had been married and baptised. On Samuel’s marriage to Sarah Bates in 1802 he came to live at The Park (now Wade House and the Library). Here they had ten children, six dying as infants, while four, Samuel, John, Edward and William, were all baptised at St Guthlac’s and survived.

Sharpe enjoyed a thriving career as a solicitor. As such he had three partnerships; the first with Peter Burrell of Market Deeping was dissolved by mutual consent in 1816. The next, with Alfred Coren, was dissolved in 1820, all monies owing paid to Mr Sharpe. It seems that Samuel used this additional finance to extend the building by adding a wing, the imposing bay windows and laying out nine acres of park behind the house which had been purchased from the Dixon Estate. An orchard was planted in a walled garden with galleries to light fires to protect the peach trees from frost, according to a 1820 date in the wall. The other partnership entered into by Samuel was with farmer John Walpole. Together they sold stacks of Highland hay and records show that in 1819 they were farming land in West Deeping, Deeping St James and Langtoft, as well as in Market Deeping. This partnership was dissolved in 1825.

Twenty-year-old John Crutchfield Sharpe took over the farming side of the business from his residence in the Rectory at West Deeping. Three years later he married Betsy Dixon by licence at Frieston. He expanded the operation in the 1840s when he bought land at Deeping Gate and Maxey. The land was sold by Joseph Woolley, continued >

13

FEATURE a shoemaker of Maxey and consisted of five good tenements with their yards and two roods of land. John pulled down the tenements and built Maxey House; he accrued 25 acres in all. John died at 88 years of age in June 1893, having outlived three wives.

Samuel’s son Edward farmed at Home Farm, Baston, until his premature death at the age of 31 in 1840. His brother William Crutchfield Sharpe trained to be a chemist and druggist, opening a business at St Neots, where he married Anna Fountain in 1838 at the age of 25. The couple had six children but sadly William fell into bankruptcy in 1843 and emigrated to Port Wakefield in South Australia in 1850, where he died in April 1887.

Samuel’s eldest son Samuel Johnson went to London where he qualified as a solicitor, returning in 1825 when he took over the family firm. He was young and enthusiastic and a hard worker and the business covering the Deepings from the law office at his house prospered. Samuel married Elizabeth Gray of Islington at St Guthlac’s Church in 1831 and had four children; one, Elliott, died as a toddler in 1836. The Lord Chancellor appointed Samuel Johnson to be Master Extraordinary in the High Court of Chancery in 1830 and 27 years later he was appointed by the Lord Chief Justice to be a perpetual commissioner for the taking of acknowledgements of married women to the deeds of conveyances for the counties of North and South Rutland, South Kesteven and parts of North Kesteven.

Meanwhile Samuel Sharpe Senior became a money scrivener (arranger of mortgages) and as well as working in the Deepings would ride his horse to Crowland along the High Bank and 14

sit in the saloon bar of the George Inn (now the Abbey Hotel pictured above left) enjoying a glass of beer while waiting for his clients. With a lavish lifestyle, Sharpe was declared bankrupt in November 1827 and his estates in Market Deeping, James Deeping, Newborough and Glinton were sold by auction to clear the debts.

Sarah died in June 1836 and is buried at St Guthlac’s Market Deeping.

Samuel Johnson lived with his family at The Park. In 1851 he was in the house with his wife and two children, his sister-in-law, Diana Gray, and three servants, Susan Perkins from Peterborough, the Cook, Jane Brown from Banthorpe near Stamford, a house servant and John Sewell from Deeping St James, a Groom.

At this time John Clare’s son, Charles, was apprenticed to Samuel Johnson but he died of an unknown illness in 1852 and didn’t complete his indentures. In 1861 the Sharpe’s eldest son, Samuel Bates, now 29, had qualified and formed a partnership with his father. Unfortunately he did not share the business acumen of his father and locals nicknamed the business, Sharpe & Hardly. Nevertheless in 1867 Samuel Bates married Ellen, daughter of William Martin of Kilton House, Worksop, at Christ Church Marylebone, and the couple returned to live in the continued >

Family run company Supply only or supply with installation Free, no obligation design service Siemens and Neff Master Partner

43-45 Bridge Street, Deeping St James Lincolnshire PE6 8HA Tel: 01778 346415 www.devonportskitchensbathrooms.co.uk

FEATURE Market Place, Market Deeping. They had two children, Catherine and George.

The youngest daughter of Samuel Johnson, Georgina had married a solicitor, William West of Lawrence Poultney Hill, London in Market Deeping in 1871, but was widowed shortly after in 1875. According to the 1881 Census she had returned to live with her parents in the Market Place, Samuel Bates and his family having taken over at The Park. The older Sharpes, Elizabeth and her sister Diana died in the early 1880s and were buried in St Guthlac’s churchyard. They were soon followed by Samuel Johnson in 1887. He had been held in high esteem, ‘Sharpe by name, sharp by nature’ and was a Feofee for the Deeping Charity Estates.

On the day of his funeral every shop in the town was closed and all the blinds were drawn in private dwellings.

His will tells of some of the magnificence of his home. He left his daughter Georgina his silver coffee pot, a portrait of Shakespeare in a frame, the hearth rug and tea caddy and £30.

His grandson, George Grindley, received his great-grandfather’s gold watch with three seals attached, two mourning rings belonging to his great-great grandfather, George Grindley, and Samuel’s prize book Thompson’s Seasons, which he had awarded at Richmond school for Latin Verse, an oldfashioned scarf pin and two volumes of Virgil in English. Meanwhile, his granddaughter, Catherine, received the old cabinet belonging to Mrs Bates, a diamond ring which had belonged to Mrs Facons and a silver waiter marked C.D.G and a silver cream jug engraved S.J.S. To his daughter-in-law, Ellen, he left two china pot stands for flowers, the china punch bowl and two goblets. He left £10 to his brother, farmer John, £10 to his clerk, John Metcalf, who became an auctioneer, and his effects of £1,101 12 shillings and nine pence to his son, Samuel Bates, who had to pay death duties on his father’s estate.

16

Samuel Bates retired to London, returning annually on 1 October to catch the first pike of the season, staying at the New Inn (now the Stage). In November 1858 he became the clerk for the Deeping and Morcott Turnpike Trust, promising to attend weekly meetings in Stamford. Ellen his wife died in 1889 leaving £1,662. Samuel remarried in the following year at St Stephen’s in Dulwich, the bride being the widow of Sir John Milton C.B., a former Accountant General in the Army who had left just under £20,000 to his wife, Lady Blanche Milton (née Beaufoy of Brighton). Samuel returned to The Park and carried on the solicitor’s business until 1892 when it was acquired by Richard Wade.

Maxey House

Samuel and Blanche returned to London and lived in some style in Streatham with ten servants. Blanche died in 1901, leaving just £1,925, a fraction of her inheritance. Samuel lost no time and in 1902 married Mary Campbell, eldest daughter of the late Charles Vaudin at St Aubyn’s, Jersey. The couple returned to London where they lived at 166 Bloomfield Terrace, Paddington. Samuel died in 1916 at Bedford Row, Worthing, leaving £577 to his wife Mary who was living at 4 Cromwell Road, Bayswater. She died in the Middlesex Hospital Marylebone in 1926 leaving £306.

So ended the long relationship of the Sharpe family with Market Deeping. Georgina, Samuel’s sister, had died in Worthing in 1918, leaving a good quantity of Great Western shares to her nephew George who had emigrated to farm abroad. Eventually he returned to England to live and died in London in 1965.

Research : Joy Baxter Words: Judy Stevens Pictures: Ian Baxter, Dorothea Price, Steve Webb and Emma Shearman Smith of Athena Antiques.

Do you value your time?

Let us take the stress and strain away

Landlords

- do you have the time to manage your property with all the new regulations coming into force as well as existing ones?

We are just a phone call away.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

Contact us on 01778

341658 17

PROFILE FEATURE

Gyles Brandreth Gyles Brandreth’s mellifluous tones wrap you in a blanket of comfortable good humour punctuated with stories of his life, of his love of literature and language and of his interest in the 1890s, a period in history ‘close enough to touch’.

Known for his many TV appearances, in the late eighties Gyles hosted TV-am with Anne Diamond and Nick Owen and he is now a regular on the One Show but not many people know he is also a prolific author, and his ‘Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries’ allow him to soak in the Victorian world where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker and writer Robert Sherard would meet together in smoke-filled coffee houses or at the Langham in London’s Portland Place. Gyles advocates sampling afternoon tea in the Palm Court to recreate that moment in time.

Michele, Brandreth’s wife, claims that the raconteur, author and erstwhile politician has spent the last 50 years doing what he loved to do in his youth. He was a school librarian, edited the school magazine and held mock elections.

He actually became an MP representing the City of Chester in 1992 and during his five years’ tenure he was a government whip which he describes as fascinating, primarily a human resource role where it was necessary to understand both the system and individual personalities. He later published two books of the diaries he kept during this time, the first by a Government whip, ‘Breaking the Code’ and ‘Something Sensational to Read in the Train’ and he broadcast some of his reminiscences of his time in office on BBC radio as ‘Brandreth 18

on Office’ and ‘The Brandreth Rules’. He is proud of two of his achievements as an MP, one of which was identifying the empty fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square as a place for the installation of artworks, which at the moment, hosts a huge thumbs-up by artist David Shrigley. He was also responsible for the 1994 Private Member’s Bill which became the Marriage Act, allowing weddings to take place in different venues.

Just a Minute is the radio show that could have been designed with Gyles in mind and he is a frequent panellist and protagonist of the show where he is encouraged by host Nicholas Parsons to talk for 60 seconds without hesitation, repetition or deviation. He savours language, embraces its evolution and admires the internet for expanding our vocabulary. He understands those that lament the passing of time but he insists that ‘if you resist change it is very difficult to be happy’. His one man show ‘Word Power’ is an ‘uproarious and unexpected magic carpet ride around the awesome world of words’. His book, ‘Word Play’, explores the treasure chest of language, unearthing puns, malaprops, tweets and euphemisms along with the longest, oldest, wildest, oddest words in the English language. His after dinner talk to be delivered here in Deeping on 29 April will be a mix of his show and book with anecdotes and quips, illustrated with reference to his enthusiasms.

One of these is the prized collection of teddy bears amassed by Gyles and Michele over the years and which has moved from Stratford on Avon to a purpose-built home in the

grounds of Newby Hall in North Yorkshire.

The collection includes the original Sooty, the earliest Paddington, Fozzie from the Muppet Show, Children in Need’s Pudsey, Superted and Winnie the Pooh.

You might have guessed that such a fierce defender of the English language would favour Scrabble and you would not be wrong; Gyles founded the National Scrabble Championships in 1971 and is now President of the National Association of Scrabble Players. With one of his two daughters, Saethryd, and grandson, Rory, he is the author of a compendium of family games, ‘The lost art of having fun’. You do rather think that to this family having fun is not a lost art!

With a diverse background, a forebear, Jeremiah Brandreth, who was the last man in England to be beheaded for treason, known for his eclectic taste in jumpers, acclaimed books about both HM Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, and Prince Charles, to his name, and recently a high-profile account of the vagaries of his digestive system published in the Daily Mail, the Deepings looks set for a roller coaster of a ride when Gyles rolls into town at the end of April.

www.deepingsliteraryfestival.co.uk

19

Stove and Gas Fire Installation Specialist

MARTIN DAVIES

Martin Davies Novelist Martin Davies will look at how a book gets its cover when he visits the Deepings as part of the Literary Festival.

Here he gives us a taster of his musings on the craziness of cover art.

The talk is an irreverent and light-hearted look at the business of book covers. It’s packed with images, all of them striking, but not all of

them striking for the right reasons. Is it true that we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover?

Or perhaps we should fall back on a different saying: the cover betrays the book? Using examples from Emily Bronte to PG Wodehouse by way of 50 Shades of Grey, he’ll be looking at how the covers of some very different books end up looking so alike - while different editions of the same book can end up totally different.

Drawing on his own experience with publishers and book designers, he’ll be showing how covers evolve from rough

ideas to finished perfection - and sometimes back again. He’ll range from 16th Century Persia to 21st Century New York, from the Bible to David Jason, from FlyFishing to 50 Shades of Grey. He’ll be attempting to answer some peculiar questions: What links Emma, Lady Hamilton with Bella from Twilight?

What does Africa look like? And what really is the most inappropriate book cover of all time? continued >

21

MARTIN DAVIES

Which one would you choose? Martin will be talking about how covers for the same book can end up being so different.

About Martin Martin is a best selling novelist based near Grantham. His first novel was published (in Dutch, bizarrely) back in 2004, and six further novels have followed since then. His UK debut, The Conjuror’s Bird, includes various Lincolnshire settings and was a massive Richard & Judy Book Club hit. Its successor, The Unicorn Road received rave reviews and was named as one of The Times/WH Smith top paperbacks of 2009. The Year After, set in the English countryside in the aftermath of the First World War, is a book-club favourite and is that unusual thing: a book about the devastation of the Great War in which the fighting itself is barely mentioned. His latest novel, Havana Sleeping, an espionage thriller inspired by events surrounding an unsolved murder in Cuba in the 1850s, was shortlisted for the 2015 CWA Historical Dagger award.

In addition, Martin’s Holmes & Hudson Series, about Sherlock Holmes’ housekeeper, is now being published (in English!) by Canelo. The third in the series, Mrs Hudson And The Lazarus Testament was published in 2016.

New Season Arrivals from Seasalt

New season Fiorelli! For Mothers Day! For You!

Beautiful soft wool and quality jersey. Layered looks from Seasalt Cornwall

5 Market Place, Market Deeping 01778 347007 www.muranosilver.com molly@muranosilver.com

Giftwrapped free!

Ruffles Hair Design 3 Halfleet, Market Deeping PE6 8DB

Cloudnine Gift Shop Market Deeping, 8 High Street

01778 344677 At Ruffles we have a highly skilled team of creative stylists, in a very welcoming environment.

Contact us on 01778 344677 to book in for your Ruffles experience.

Also at 3 Halfleet you will find

Ruffles

Dress Agency 01778 344677

where you can buy or sell your top quality garments... Mother of the Bride/Groom, Prom Dresses, Eveningwear, top end daywear, bags, hats and shoes... Pop in for a browse

DBS AWARDS : RETAILER OF THE YEAR & OUSTANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE

Cloudnine Gift Shop

01778 348703 23

Now dolls houses and miniatures at

APPLE TREE MINIATURES Market Deeping Antique and Craft Centre Stockists of Dolls House Emporium & Streets Ahead If we don’t have what you are looking for browse our catalogue and we will order the items in for you.

Made-to-measure curtains, Roman blinds & soft furnishings.

Your own fabric made up or choose from my books.

Free home visit to measure and advise.

Tracks, poles, accessories & fitting service available.

50-56 High St. Market Deeping t: 07984788254 nathanpatchwork@hotmail.com

madebybeck.com

01778 550015

  @madebybeck

5 5

10 1 1 1 6

Happy Mothers Day! with flowers for all pockets and all tastes from Valeries.

Plants & Flowers for all occasions

Paula Meeks: 07747 393 940 Cambridge Weight Plan Paula Meeks 2015 Regional Awards Winner - Above & Beyond

paula.meeks@btinternet.com 24

Birthdays - Anniversaries - Funerals - Weddings a speciality!

Call Natalie for your free consultation e: valeriesflowers@outlook.com

01778 346949 | 5 Market Gate, Market Deeping

Mothers Day Gifts

Appletree Miniatures Market Deeping Antiques and Craft Centre

Ruffles Dress Agency Wide selection of Radley and other quality handbags and scarves. 3, Halfleet, Market Deeping

Blackcab Studio Cards, unique art and glass birds hand made by artist Robyn Coetzee ( £11 - £15) 5 Church St, Deeping St James.

Chimes Great range of Yankee Candles this one £15.50 Market Deeping Antiques Centre Murano New season Fiorelli!

Market Place, Market Deeping

Riverside Crafts Fabulous selection of beautiful beads. Gift vouchers also available. Market Deeping Antiques & Craft Centre

Beauty Retreat Raindrop Massage including Scalp Massage £30. Gift voucher boost buy £20 add extra £5 on.

122 Church St., Market Deeping

Valeries Flowers Floral gifts for all tastes and pockets.

5 Market Gate Market Deeping

Ruffles Hair Design Matrix Biolage Sugarshine System. Vouchers also available. 3, Halfleet, Market Deeping

Felicity Range of gifts from Seasalt, White Stuff and Brakeburn 22 High Street, Market Deeping

Cloudnine Something different for home, friends and family.

8 High Street, Market Deeping

• Happy child friendly studio • No time constraints on shoot • Many many satisfied customers • Relaxed stress free environment • Family shoots/sessions just £50 (all photos supplied on a disc prints available for small extra charge).

• Children Party Shoots just £60 (bring birthday cakes, party poppers, balloons, props and any ideas • Music and video available.

TOM CLARE PHOTOGRAPHY 07827 225812 01778 346128 tomclare@live.co.uk www.tom-clare.co.uk Godsey Lane, Market Deeping

Try a new Craft - pop in for a workshop leaflet needle & wet felting, card making, scrapbooking and jewellery making, with all the craft supplies you could need on your doorstep!

NATIONAL WINNER Field to Fryer 2014

REGIONAL WINNER

/

Best Independent Take-Away East Midlands 2014

Next Charity Crafting Dabble Day Sunday 4th March Market Deeping Antiques and Craft Centre

www.riversidebeads.co.uk t: 01778 344550 26

Planning for the future with help from Braeburn Lodge At this time of year many people start to consider care for themselves or a loved one.

At Braeburn Lodge Care Home we know planning for the future can be a daunting process and we’ll do everything we can to help.

Our dedicated team are always on hand to show you around our home and answer any questions you may have.

Nursing Care • Residential Care • Dementia Care • Respite Breaks Thousands of families trust Barchester Healthcare to care for their loved ones. For advice on planning for the future, pop in and pick up one of our free guides, or call our friendly team:

Call: 01778 752 517 Braeburn Lodge Care Home, Braeburn Road, Deeping St James, Lincolnshire, PE6 8GP 28

STOCKS

After the Act of Parliament of 1405 every town and village was required to mount and maintain a set of stocks. These were used to punish a variety of minor offences from drunkenness to prostitution to non-attendance at church. Some of the more regular occupants of the stocks were shopkeepers and market stallholders who cheated their customers, for example, in giving short change or measures. Here the punishment was often made to fit the crime. A fishmonger who sold rotten fish would be pilloried with the offending product tied round his neck. An alewife who watered down her beer would have it poured down her neck while she sat in the stocks. Certainly justice was seen to be done.

The stocks in Deeping St James were on the west side of the Cross and according to newspaper reports were last used in 1817: In August 1817 two boys one aged ten the other eight were caught by the Parish Constable on a Saturday and brought before the magistrate for stealing a neighbour’s apples in Deeping St James.

The punishment given by the magistrate was that the Parish Constable to give each boy a lash of the whip at the Cross Deeping St James as an example to others. While he was attempting to execute this office the father and mother of the youngest boy living close by flew at the constable and an affray began in which the officer got knocked down and had his staff taken from him before he could produce assistance. On arrival of other Constables and assistants such a tumult commenced, both parties recruiting their numbers and a battle royal ensued and broken heads became the order of the day and for a full hour uproar lorded it loud. Eventually the Constables restored order and got the father into the stocks but owing to a terrible broken head it was not deemed advisable to leave him there. The children escaped punishment that evening but the elder was whipped on Monday the younger on Tuesday and the father stands bound over to the sessions for the assault.

In October 1809, when Charles Dye of Deeping St James left his

continued >

29

STOCKS wife and children, an advert was placed in the Stamford Mercury asking for notification of his whereabouts by the Overseer of the Poor of the Parish, offering a reward. He was found three months later living and working in Peterborough. He was brought back to the village by the Parish Constables and put in the stocks for a day in January 1810. He was then taken before the magistrate and ordered to pay costs to the Parish for the upkeep of his wife and family in his absence.

The Stocks in Deeping St James have long gone but it is still possible to see some locally, as in Oakham and at Witham on the Hill they have been preserved. The Witham Stocks (pictured previous page) are of uncertain age and could accommodate two people. The shelter demonstrates skilful woodwork and immaculate tiling, showing a high degree of craftsmanship.

The stocks are next to the 13th-century church and the old village school built in 1847, bearing the inscription, ‘Train up a child the way he should go.

When he is old he will not depart from it.’

The stocks in Oakham intriguingly have five leg holes and are housed in the medieval Buttercross, set in an open courtyard in front of Oakham School, and are a Grade 1 listed building.

h Half.qxp 10/08/2016 11:00 Page 1 h Half.qxp 10/08/2016 11:00 Page 1

Creative Touch Half.qxp 10/08/2016 11:00 Page 1

Creative Touch Creative Touch INTERIORS & & DESIGN DESIGN INTERIORS INTERIORS & DESIGN

BESPOKE SOFT FURNISHINGS, MADE IN OUR OWN WORKROOM BESPOKE SOFT FURNISHINGS, MADE IN OUR OWN WORKROOM BESPOKE SOFT FURNISHINGS, MADE IN OUR OWN WORKROOM

LIGHT UP YOUR HOME LIGHT UPLIGHT YOUR HOME UP YOUR HOME 10 Saville Road,

Beautifully Bespoke Curtains, Blinds & Accessories, Wallpaper, Paint, Carpets and Lighting...

Beautifully Bespoke Bespoke Curtains, Curtains, Blinds Blinds & & Accessories, Accessories, Beautifully 01778 345777 Wallpaper, Paint, Carpets and Lighting...

Wallpaper, Paint, Carpets and Lighting... www.creativetouchinteriors.co.uk | info@creativetouchinteriors.co.uk

01778 345777 www.creativetouchinteriors.co.uk | info@creativetouchinteriors.co.uk

www.creativetouchinteriors.co.uk | info@creativetouchinteriors.co.uk

30

Visit TheThe Largest Independent Visit Largest Independen Lighting Showroom Visit The Largest Independent Lighting Showroom in Cambridgeshire Lighting Showroom

Cambridgeshire ininCambridgeshire

T: 01733 T: 01733264391 264391

10 Saville Road, Westwood, Westwood, 10 Saville Road, Westwood, Peterborough PE3 7PR 7PR Peterborough,PE3 E: sales@tlsw.co.uk E: sales@tlsw.co.uk (Next door Party www.thelampshadewarehouse.co.uk (Next doortotoThe The7PR PartyPlace) Place) W: Peterborough,PE3 W: www.thelampshadewarehouse.co.uk E: sales@tlsw.co.uk

T: 01733 264391

(Next door toOpen The Party Place) Opening Times Times Tuesday to Saturday W:Opening www.thelampshadewarehou Open Tuesday Tuesday to Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm Free car park

to Saturday

Open Tuesday toFree Saturday car park Free car park

Tuesday to Friday Saturday 9.00am to9.00am 4pm to 5.00pm Saturday 9.00am to 4pm

Opening Times Tuesday to Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm Saturday 9.00am to 4pm

The Deepings Carpet Centre

Acorn Joinery & Kitchens For top quality bespoke joinery Domestic and commerical clients catered for.

Kitchens, Staircases, Doors, Windows Free no obligation quote contact 01778 342517 e-mail: keith@ajkltd.com www.ajkltd.com

We supply carpets and floor coverings from all the leading manufacturers and also have the largest fully stocked local showroom.

We have been supplying and laying floor coverings in the Deepings and surrounding areas for over 30 years. We offer a personal and friendly service with the original pattern book facility.

Showroom: Unit K, Bentley Business Park, Blenheim Way, Northfields Ind. Est., (opposite Inside outside store) Open Mon-Fri 9.00 - 4.30 Sat 9.00 - 2.00 Tel: 01778 346918 www.homechoose-carpets.co.uk

Are your 8 years up?

Widely understood to be the healthy life of a mattress!! Don’t worry we can help! We offer years of expertise, friendly advice and we have a full range of beds and mattresses in stock for same day delivery!

We offer FREE DELIVERY on all beds and mattresses within a 25 mile radius We offer FREE DISPOSAL of your old bed We offer a large selection of beds in stock that we can deliver SAME DAY Please come and see our fantastic range of beds instore today! Call us: 01778 347961 48 High Street, Market Deeping, Peterborough, PE6 8EB 31

WindowDoctor

Whatever Your Problem - It’s No Problem

For all your Repairs to Windows, Doors and Conservatories • Patio – Not Rolling • Door Dropped • Misty Units • Broken Hinges • Draughty Windows • New Locks • Sticking Tilt & Turn Windows • Extra Security • Broken Handles • Leaking Conservatory

Ring For A FREE Consultation On 01778 343865 Email: windowdoctor1@aol.com

www.windowrepairslincs.com

ADAPTBUILD

Welcome to the Cow Shed Cafe at

For all your building requirements & maintenance.

Over 20 years experience

• Extensions • Conversions • Refurbishments • Renovations

• Maintenance & repairs • Conservatories & orangeries • Paving and patios etc • All work guaranteed

DBS certified IPAF

IOSH

First aid

Call 07855 847 209 / 01778 348 909 adapt.builders@outlook.com

Be sure of a warm welcome by our wood burning stove. Also available to hire the the Red Magnolia Room ideal for business meetings, clubs, childrens parties and more.

Tel: 01778 343340 Car Park on site Junction of Outgang and Linchfield Rd.

Twyman Financial Solutions Ltd Mortgage, Protection & General Insurance Advisers 01733 609500 07912 494778 james@twymanfs.co.uk

Your local Mortgage & Insurance broker Thinking of moving home, Existing Mortgage deal Ending or want to review your life / other insurances?

Give us a call for a no obligation initial chat We offer a comprehensive range of mortgages from across the market and insurance policies from a range of insurers.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

We may charge a fee of up to £195 for advising on and arranging mortgage business.

32

Relax and unwind at Salon Jessica!

Offering a range of beauty treatments including Massage & Reflexology, Makeup, Waxing and Tinting, Manicure, Pedicures and Facials.

Local, professional therapist with over twelve years experience.

Come and be pampered and revitalised in this local salon where only the best brands are used; Dermalogica, Jessica and Jane Iredale.

Visit www.salonjessica.co.uk Call 01778 346767 Email jess@salonjessica.co.uk

Treat your Mum for Mothers Day!

Spring is in the air! Walking boots on, deep breaths and take to the highways and byways with Sue & Roy Stephenson.

WALK

This is a walk around a neighbouring village with long and short options and a refreshment stop en route!

• (1-2, 84m). Leave the Town Hall and cross the road bearing right to the corner.

Then walk a few yards towards the bridge over the Welland. The Old Coach House is on the left.

•

(2-3, 1030m) Walk along the path towards Peterborough. Maxey House is on the left.

•

(3-4, 740m). At point 3 leave the main road and follow a path and then the old Lincoln Road towards Northborough.

•

(4-5, 590m). At the crossroads at 4 keep straight ahead going down Lincoln Road towards the centre of Northborough. Note the pub on the left called The Pack Horse and the old house across the road called Northborough Manor.

Northborough Manor House.

Built by Roger de Norburgh in the early 14th century. Bought by James Claypole in 1572. Claypole’s great grandson married Elizabeth Cromwell during the civil war. Oliver Cromwell visited regularly and Cromwell’s Closet can be seen over the south porch. There are also links with America and George Washington.

It is a fascinating street with many old buildings and well worth walking its length before continuing.

•

(5-6, 940m). Cross the road to the Manor and bear right before turning left after a few yards still heading south.

•

(6-7, 830m). Cross the Maxey Cut at this point which is known as Nine Bridges and turn first left onto a small road and then left again onto the bank of the river. Follow the track up to a footbridge.

• (7-8, 660m). Cross the bridge and head across the fields and then along a track which is called Paradise Lane to point 8. Opposite is Pasture Lane which follows the route of the old Car Dyke.

•

(8-9, 450m) Turn left along the main street and note all the fine buildings on the way to point 9 at the school. John Clare, the poet, lived in a thatched house on this street. He was the son of a farm labourer seen as a major 19th century poet writing about nature, the countryside and his rural childhood. continued >

33

WALK

• (9-10,1042 m). Turn right here and walk by the left hand side of the school.

This path now weaves through the estate but ends up at the playing fields and the village hall if you go wrong.

When you go round the school and come to a road go straight across and follow the track behind the houses before coming out onto another road. At this point turn left and then right before seeing the playing fields on the left.

Walk across the fields to a small bridge over a ditch. Turn left onto the track and head to the road at 10.

• (10-11, 600m) This is the Deeping St James road and you turn right on the footpath at the side of the road and head towards Deeping St James.

St Andrew’s Church This is a Norman Grade 1 listed building. There are links with the Cromwell family and with John Clare’s.

•

(11-3, ). At 11, leave the road and turn left on the track called Bridgegate Lane to return to point 3 on the Peterborough Road.

•

(3-11, 1124m) Retrace your steps back to the Town Hall.

Winter Service and MOT from £94.95

34

V

rn tu it e R is

Tower House Hotel Bournemouth

July 1st - 8 days by coach Bed, breakfast & evening meal entertainment and bingo 2 full day & 2 half day tours £450pp incl local door to door pick ups

PAS

SPO RT

Warners Thoresby Hall, Nottingham

We provide a kind, safe and reliable care service to promote individual wellbeing and independence in your own home.

We offer assistance with: •

Specialist senior care, companionship, encouragement, chaperoning

•

Personal care, medication prompting, meal preparation, respite for carers

We support people of all ages in the local Deepings area and in the surrounding villages of Lincolnshire and North Cambridgeshire.

•

Post-operative recuperation, convalescent support, disability enablement

•

Pregnancy care, confidence with a new baby, support for busy families

All our home care practitioners are qualified and experienced in providing personalised non-medical support.

•

Short, flexible or long-term commitment to suit your personal circumstances - contact us to arrange a free initial consultation

www.mulberryhomecare.co.uk or call 01778 343 060 Registered Manager: Dr Pamela Byrd

Call 01778 701594

Professional Carpet Cleaning

www.dailypoppins.com

RT

PO PASS

It doesn’t have We can provide a regular daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly or one to be spring to off cleaning services to meet with your needs spring clean BOOK TODAY TEL. your home 01733 286305 ...we poppin so you can pop out

P R I N T E R S

www.dailypoppins.com

Æ

For aLL yoUr PrINTINg NEEdS

The Langtoft, Deepings & Districts Branch Royal British Legion’s

“Great beers, great food and a great atmosphere”

Saturday 27th June

John Eves Field, Market Deeping (opposite Tesco) 10am - 4pm

GEORGE FORMBY TRIBUTE ACT 1940’S DANCERS

Traditional pub food but so much better!

Hair Design

BATTLE OF BRITIAN MEMORIAL FLIGHT LICENCED BEER TENT Opening Times MILITARY CONV0Y Monday - Closed Tuesday - 9.15am to 4.00pm + DISPLAY Wednesday - 9.15am to 6.00pm CONNECT FM Thursday - 9.15am to 7.00pm Friday !- 9.15am to 6.00pm + MUCH MUCH MORE

5JAYS DOG DISPLAY PETERBOROUGH HIGHLAND PIPE BAND BOUNCY CASTLE

Celebrate Mother’s Day at The Bluebell.

Sunday 26th March

See our website for more details

Book Online

Available

G R AY T O N E S

Traditional Sunday Lunch 12.00-5.00pm Afternoon Cream Tea 3.30-6.00pm

November 24th - 4 days by coach Bed breakfast and evening meal entertainment day and evening Tribute Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers £260pp incl local door to door pick ups

Price Guide

Saturday - 9.15am to 4.00pm

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT

Times may vary. All Stylists are self-employed.

Cash Payment only.

FREE ENTRY

3 Halfleet, Market Deeping, Peterborough. PE6 8DB

ON SITE PARKINGCar parking available.

For more information visit: Te: 01778 344677 www.langtoftdeepingdistrictsbranch.co.uk Supported by the Goat Inn Frognall & The Five Horseshoes Barholm Registered Charity 219279

www.bluebellhelpston.co.uk

Business Cards, Appointment Cards, Price Lists, Letterheads, Compliment Slips, Leaflets, Brochures, Funeral Service Sheets & Invitations.

Unit 17 King Street Ind. Est., Langtoft, Peterborough. PE6 9NF T: 01778 560261 E: mail@graytones-printers.co.uk www.graytones-printers.co.uk 35

Are you struggling to come up with options after GCSE's/A-Levels?

Why not study an traineeship/apprenticeship or full time course with Riverside Training. We provide various short and full time qualifications which will suit your interests.

Riverside delivers high quality courses in the following subjects: - Early Years - Supporting Teaching & Learning in Schools - Business Administration - Customer Service - Health & Social Care - Team Leading - Management

For treatment of back, neck and joint pain, sport injuries and any musculo-skeletal conditions...

www.piperphysiotherapy.co.uk 01778 380191

A wide range of classes for everyone and all abilities...

Do not be shy, give SPINROOM a try!!

Did you know....

The studio also offers

To find out more information contact us now: - enquiries@riversidetrainingspalding.co.uk - 01775 710945

SPINROOM Sports Massage and Therapy 07850 304120 or 01778 218181

NUTRAIN Resident Personal Trainer and Nutritional Advice 07725 332817

JILL WAGNER Hypnotherapy and Counselling 07779 272409

SMART QUALIFICATIONS Fitness Leisure Training Provider 0800 0433600

ÂŁ5 PAYG OR MONTHLY OPTIONS AVAILABLE. ONLINE BOOKING NOW AVAILABLE

36

SWIMMING CLUB

Image: Tony Baskeyfield

Forty years ago when the Deepings Leisure Centre was shiny and new the Deepings Swimming Club was set up by a group of parents. Now the Leisure Centre is not so shiny but the Club has 150 members from 7 - 75 years old and a continuing cache of shiny medals and a legacy of successes to its name.

There have been some notable luminaries; paralympians, Rob Welbourn, winning gold in both 2004 and 2008 in the 4x100 metre freestyle events and Will Holland-Leavens, now a coach also representing the City of Salford and Jordan Clark. The Club has been designated as one of the Disability Hub Clubs for the East Midlands and recently 11 year old Miki Lin-Gao represented the Deepings Club at the East Midland Disability Meet. She is ranked 2nd on the British Junior Age Group rankings and is on the British Para Swimming Spotlight programme for future Paralympians.

The Club though remains small and friendly, now in the capable hands of Chairman, Martyn

Reynolds. He has notched up 27 years with the club getting involved when his son Karl swam in the Nationals. Martyn follows on from such local people as Bill McDonald, Brian Scotney, Pete Griffin and Steve Smith and is part of a committee of twelve. Martyn was proud to be President of the Lincolnshire Amateur Swimming Association from 2104-16, the first from Deepings Swimming Club to have taken on the role. Since being made redundant from his job as a Civil Engineer he has embraced swimming as a full time occupation and is now also a Swim School Teacher at Stamford Endowed Schools. However, he pays tribute to the parents of the children in the Club who through their support employ a paid coach as well as volunteer coaches for whom the Club are highly appreciative.

The Club however is not resting on its laurels and continues to nurture future talent. Alex Wray competed with Team GB last year at the European Junior Swimming Championships in Hungary having qualified for the 2016 Olympic Trials. Alex took part in the Target Tokyo Finals and is now

training to compete in the 2020 Olympics.

Not all Club luminaries are young, Linda Griffin (65) competed along with other Masters swimmers from the Club in the European Masters Championships at the Olympic Park in London in 2016 and was placed eighth in the 50metre freestyle event.

Now the Club are united in their next challenge to raise ÂŁ10,000 to replace their now obsolete 20 year old Electric Timing Board. On 2nd April they are taking part in a Channel Swim Challenge at the Deepings Leisure Centre with swimmers assisting in completing the equivalent distance as if they were swimming across the English Channel and back. This is represented by a monumental 2832 lengths of the 25 metre pool. You can get involved in supporting your local swimming club by visiting the link below or by sponsoring any Club swimmer.

Visit: http://justgiving.com/Deepings-Swimming-Club 37

Five tales from the

riverbank

Barn owls Drive along the Deeping High Bank at dusk and you will almost always be rewarded with the sight of a ghostly barn owl silently flying along the drains looking for voles on which they prey. Theirs is the screech in the night and so they are sometimes known as screech owls. Owl towers are being built in the countryside to replace the habitat which is being lost.

Think before you fell that tree, will you be taking the home of one of the most precious of birds?

Little Egret Great Crested Grebes Fine looking birds who prefer diving to swimming, these are clumsy on foot and so will not often be found on the riverbank. Instead they build nests harnessed to acquatic vegetation.

They are exotic looking birds with long dagger like bills and rise up out of the water in a magnificent courtship display.

38

This ladylike small white heron has pretty white plumes on its crest, back and chest. With black legs, yellow feet and a black bill it is an attractive addition to the riverbank. First arriving in large numbers in this country in 1989, it first bred in Dorset in 1996 and now both breeding pairs and winter visitors elegantly grace the riverbank and surrounding fields.

Buzzard The comeback kids of the bird world, Buzzards were hunted to near extinction by gamekeepers in the 1900’s protecting their pheasants. Now there are thought to be 68,000 breeding pairs in the UK and they can be seen wheeling through the air, the male putting in a magnificent display to attract females and ward off rivals.

Along the riverside here you can spot them on fence posts.

Saturday 25th March 12.00 - 16.00

By Appointment Afternoon cream tea

Curlew With their distinctive long slender down curved bills and mottled brown plumage Curlews feed on mud or soft ground searching for worms and other invertebrates.First recorded by Piers Plowman in 1377 ‘Fissch to lyve in be flode ... be corlue by kind of be eyre.’ This one was on the Welland but a rare sight here.

Sunday 26th March 12.00 - 16.00 Bookings only Sunday Lunches

St Nicholas House Main Road, Deeping St Nicholas 01775 630366 39

what’s on

Deeping I’d rather be in

Mothers Day Tea and Craft Fair March 26th

Bring your Mum for afternoon tea at the Cow Shed Cafe, Swines Meadow Farm Nursery 1- 5pm just £5 and buy her a hand crafted gift from one of our carefully selected crafters!

To book call 348859 or email idratherbeindeeping@gmail.com

Charity Craft Dabble Day Sunday 5th March Deepings Community Centre. 10 am to 3 pm. Entry Fee: £6 for three Dabbles or £10 for six Dabbles. Refreshments are available All proceeds to Sue Ryder, Thorpe Hall, Peterborough

Events calendar at www.deepings.co.uk 40

Exhibition of botanical watercolours John Clare Cottage, Helpston. Fri, Sat and Mon 11am - 3.00pm.

Until the end of March

Music at the Priory 7.30pm Friday 31st March Priory Church, DSJ Choral music for Lent and Passiontide including music

by Bach, Noble, Bruckner, Lauridsen and Purcell sung

by Britain’s only fully ordained vocal ensemble. Tickets £8 to include light refreshments Tel: 01778 343860

Murder Mystery Western

The Bad, The Worst and The Awful

Held in country house grounds with marquee and bbq

£45 incl bbq

Sat 24th June

18.30 - 22.30

St Nicholas House, Main Road, Deeping St Nicholas

01775 630366 41

BIRD WATCH

Winter Bird Watch at Vine House Farm Magnificent views across a fenland landscape, stunning birds and an informative commentary by famer Nicholas Watts whose MBE is for his outstanding contribution to farming and conservation.

Greylag Geese Stonechat

Lapwing

Further bird watching walks will be held at Vine House Farm on May 14 (tree sparrow walk), May 20th, June 17th, August 5, 12, 13 including a barbeque of local produce.

42

01778 218 269

DT Stoves keeping you warm this winter

58 High St., Market Deeping info@dtstoves.co.uk

www.dtstoves.co.uk

Tues - Fri 10.00 am - 17.00 pm Sat 10.00am - 16.00 pm