Shrovetide stayaway earns police thanks
THE people tasked with keeping Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide Football safe have praised the players, fans and followers for staying away from the game this year, after it was cancelled due to the pandemic.
Derbyshire police carried out patrols on Shrove Tuesday at around 2pm, when the game would usually have started in Shaw Croft, to look out for any “unofficial” gatherings forming up. But the force said there were no such incidents.
Meanwhile, the Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide Committee has joined the police in commending players and supporters for their restraint, and for adhering to the first cancellation the game has seen in 20 years.
Inspector John Troup, who leads the policing team in the Derbyshire Dales, said: “The cancellation of this year’s Shrovetide game was hugely disappointing but an obviously sensible decision given the circumstances that we find ourselves in.
“The game is one of the highlights in the calendar and, like everyone who plays, officers love to see the world-famous turn-up of the Shrovetide ball in the Shaw Croft car park and the thrilling game that follows.
“With the game playing such a huge part in the lives of the townsfolk, and all those visitors to Ashbourne, officers were on patrol in the town to ensure that given the current restrictions no groups formed in the area to mark the day.
“I am pleased to report that there were no incidents and I would like to thank the people of Ashbourne for doing their part in the ensuring that the spread of the virus is kept in check.”
The Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide Football Committee sent out an appeal ahead of Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, urging people not to gather to mark the occasion.
This plea, says secretary Steve Jones, appears to have been adhered to.
He told the News Telegraph: “The Shrovetide committee would like to thank all of the players and supporters who followed our request not to meet at any time when the game should have been played this year.
“We really appreciate the support and would like to let everyone know that observing this request was appreciated by the authorities as well.
“We can now start to plan for shrovetide football in 2022!”
The last time the game had to be cancelled was in 2001, following a local outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease, which was sweeping the country.
The agricultural viral disease could be spread by people walking from field to field, and playing the game would have put livestock in the area at risk.
This year, with Shrovetiders facing two very depressing days, former Ashbourne mayor and passionate Shrovetide supporter Ann Smith started collating pictures of past Shrovetide games.
She and her husband Ian complied the images into two montages, which were released on social media on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday.
I would like to thank the people of Ashbourne for doing their part in ensuring the virus is kept in check. John Troup
GROUPS of children have become the latest volunteers to join the local crusade against litter.
Jessica Halls, Joshua Halls, Harriett Barnett and Alice Barnett joined adults from their childcare bubbles to fill up bags of rubbish around the Shires Estate, while Zara and Lexie Jones took on the town’s tunnel.
Jessica, Joshua, Harriet and Alice say they wanted to do something positive and keep their town attractive, while
Lexie urged her father to take her out on a litter-pick after becoming frustrated at seeing it all lying around.
Janet Keyne, the founder of the town’s litter-picking group Proud of Ashbourne, said it was heartening to see youngsters taking their own initiative to tidy their town, at a time when the group is unable to get together for its own blitzes.
THE number of new coronavirus cases recorded in Ashbourne has fallen sharply in the past week.
The current rolling rate – measured per 100,000 population – in the urban Ashbourne South ward is now 53.7. Last week it was at 201.5 and, during the height of the current wave, it had reached 510.5.
Last week the ward had seen 16 new cases in a week, but in the last recorded week there had been just four.
Almost all other neighbouring wards have also seen drops in the number of new cases, barring Wirksworth and Mayfield, Rocester and Bramshall.
The Wirksworth ward saw 10 new cases in the last recorded week, putting its rolling rate up to around the national average of 163.5 and the rate in Mayfield, Rocester and Bramshall is now at 325.2, after 25 new cases were recorded.
Ipstones, Warslow and Hamps Valley, Doveridge, Brailsford and Bradley and Ambergate, Heage and Idridgehay wards have all now dipped below a rolling rate of 50.
In the Ipstones, Warslow and Hamps Valley ward, which encompasses Ilam and Wetton, the number of new cases was too low to measure.
The widespread drop in cases in Derbyshire Dales wards means the district’s rolling rate has finally dropped below 100 again, for the first time in weeks. It now sits at 95.4.
East Staffordshire’s rolling rate is now at 217.1 and the Staffordshire Moorlands rate is at 91.4. Amber Valley and South Derbyshire are still above 100, with rolling rates of 130.3 and 186.5 respectively.
The county’s rolling rate is now 161.6, slightly higher than Staffordshire’s overall rate of 149.1 – this represents a decrease of 70 per cent from the January peak, six weeks ago.
This has brought case levels down to where they were when Derbyshire emerged from the nation’s second lockdown at the start of December.
In the week to February 19, Derbyshire recorded 1,583 new Covid cases, down from a peak of 5,161.
When the county last saw that level of weekly cases, it came out of lockdown only to be plunged into Tier 3 restrictions – then the highest restrictions available.
Weeks later the county was put into a newly introduced Tier 4, followed by a third national lockdown.
Derbyshire is now seeing fewer than 250 cases per day, down from a high of more than 900.
While these reductions are welcomed, health chiefs say they would like to see the level of infections fall much further.
Case numbers in the region of 50 per week are where they would like things to get to before test, track and trace operations are manageable and efficient enough to quash outbreaks and prevent wide scale spread of the virus.
Case levels would need to fall by a further nearly 97 per cent for this to be achieved, showing the scale of what still faces us, despite significant reductions in cases.
Schools across the country are now set to reopen from March 8.
There are still more Covid cases per week than the county saw in the entire of month of September (1,297 cases) when schools reopened after the first lockdown and a summer largely free of virus outbreaks.
What followed schools reopening was a litany of temporary closures with many year groups, largely at secondaries, spending weeks at home due to outbreaks. October then saw a huge increase in cases.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson hopes that rapid lateral flow tests, made in Derbyshire, which produce a result in 10 minutes, will make the difference this time and allow schools to open safely and stay open.
On Monday, he said: “Our priority has always been getting children back into school which we know is crucial for their education and wellbeing.
“Our decisions will be made on the latest data at every step, and we will be cautious about this approach so that we do not undo the progress we have achieved so far and the sacrifices each and every one of you has made to keep yourself and others safe.”
The progress made in Derbyshire has been reflected in the latest data from the area’s hospitals, where numbers are still high, but starting to decrease.
Derby and Burton’s hospitals have now discharged their 4,000th Covid-19 inpatient, nearly a year into the pandemic. This comes just over a month after the hospital trust discharged its 3,000th Covid-19 inpatient from Royal Derby Hospital in early January.
The University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, which oversees Royal Derby Hospital and Queen’s Hospital in Burton, discharged its 2,000th Covid patient in late November while its 1,000th Covid patient was discharged from Royal Derby in July.
1,568 Covid patients - 39 per cent of admissions, just more than one in every three - have died at the trust since the start of the pandemic, some of whom had worked at the organisation itself and were treated by their colleagues.
However there are now fewer Covid-19 patients in Derby and Burton’s hospitals than at any time since early November, though there are still scores on wards due to the virus.
As of Monday there were 196 Covid positive patients at Royal Derby Hospital and Queen’s Hospital in Burton.
This is down 60 per cent from a pandemic high of 524 Covid-19 patients five weeks ago, which may show the impact of both lockdown and vaccine uptake.
Royal Derby Hospital has seen a dramatic reduction in the number of Covid patients it is treating. Its staff were caring for 128 patients with the virus on Monday, down from 182 last week and an all-time high five weeks ago of 388, a reduction of 67 per cent.
The 128 Covid patients at Royal Derby represent a level of inpatients with the virus that is now lower than its first high. Staff at Royal Derby are treating 12 Covid patients in intensive care, down from 19 last week. The hospital’s ICU high was seen during the first wave and saw nearly 30 patients in ICU.
On Monday there were 68 Covid-19 patients at Queen’s Hospital in Burton, down from 91 last week (a quarter) and down more than half from its all-time high of 151 three weeks ago.
Staff at Queen’s are treating eight Covid patients in intensive care. The hospital’s peak ICU admissions for Covid was 12 three weeks ago, a particularly significant level for a noncity hospital.
Gavin Boyle, chief executive of the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust welcomed the “steady” reduction in Covid inpatients. He said: “Over the last two weeks, we’ve thankfully started to see the numbers of Covid-19 patients in our hospitals begin to fall steadily, which is a welcome relief for us all.
“This is evidence that the sacrifices that we’ve all been making during the latest lockdown are working but I can’t stress enough just how important it is that none of us get complacent now.
“Our hospitals are still under considerable pressure, which means this is absolutely no time to lower our guard and to let our standards drop.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our amazing staff who have been absolutely phenomenal over the last 12 months and have once again stood up to the challenge at the start of this year.
“We were absolutely delighted to be able to discharge our 4,000th patient admitted with Covid-19 at the start of last week, which is testament to the incredible efforts of our colleagues and the mammoth task we’ve all been faced with.
“Sadly, we have also recently lost two more of our own colleagues with Covid-19 and this has provided a painful reminder to us, if anyone needed it, that we’re not out of the woods yet in the fight against this dreadful illness.”
DERBYSHIRE police officers have returned to our TV screens in a new series of Traffic Cops.
The show, which gives an insight into the working life of police patrolling roads across the UK, started a new series on Channel 5 on Monday.
It follows officers from Derbyshire police as they deal with incidents and catch criminals on our county’s roads.
To get first-hand footage of what police have to deal with, TV crews followed the movements of officers for several months.
This has now been collated into the form of 15 new episodes to be shown on Monday nights.
Derbyshire police were previously featured on the show in both 2019 and 2020, with other places featured in the past including South Wales, Sussex and Hertfordshire.
In a post on Facebook, Derbyshire police said the series would follow a number of teams that work on the county’s roads.
It said: “Tune in and see some familiar faces … and a few new ones: 8pm, Channel 5, every Monday.
“Keep your eyes peeled on our social pages, before and after each episode, to get involved in the action.”
The show, which has been narrated by Jamie Theakston, was first broadcast on the BBC from 2003 to 2016, before moving to Channel 5 in 2017.
THE first of a block of high-end luxury apartments in a newly built complex overlooking Ashbourne are now ready to go on the market.
The Mount, in North Avenue, features 14 apartments, including two lavish penthouses, are up for sale with prices starting from £465,000.
The new building, which is set in 1.5 acres of landscaped lawns, gardens and mature trees, set behind electronic gates, has replaced a former late 19th century house which stood at Number 4, North Avenue, and was bulldozed to make way for the complex.
A spokesman for Pillars, the property firm that built the apartments, said: “We are very proud to complete this unique, customisable development on the edges of the famously beautiful Peak District.
“With few smaller homes or high-end but budgetconscious accommodation, Ashbourne was a tough market for those looking to downsize or seeking strong yet affordable rental investment opportunities.
“Offering A-class structural warranty on each apartment and grounds that are zero maintenance, The Mount fills this gap in the most sumptuous yet hassle-free way.
“I’m not surprised that a handful were already reserved, even before launch.”
The development features underground parking and lift access to the two and threebedroom apartments.
According to the sales brochure, they offer practical layouts, luxurious amenities and an elegant finish, with large, double-glazed windows, timber floors and plush carpets as standard.
The living spaces are designed to be bright and roomy, kitchens are quality fitted and master bedrooms are adjoined by ensuites and dressing rooms.
The homes range in size from 1,260 sq ft, with the two-bed apartments up to 1,583 sq ft, and three-bed apartments to the largest penthouse suite of 2,085 sq ft.
Customers will be invited by Pillars to customise their home further with three interior packages to suit diverse tastes.