Village news
East Leake Mike Elliott 0115 937 6506 elliottnews@btconnect.com
CARNIVAL CROWDS. Thirteen didn’t prove unlucky for East Leake on Saturday as the annual village Carnival - in its 13th year since it was restarted by local shopkeeper Mel Roper – again gathered in hundreds of people to the village centre and eventually on to the Gotham Road sports field, where the main event took place.
Public support for what is the biggest social event of the year for the village was as strong as ever, and with the weather forecasters having got it wrong - it was hot and sunny instead of it raining as they had suggested it would - the sports field was thronged with people, scores taking advantage of the sun and having picnics. Prior to the official opening of activities residents lined both Gotham Road - in many places four or five deep -- and Main Street to watch the parade, itself this year totally without motorised vehicles and just containing walking entrants.
With those taking part, groups and individuals, there were over 400 people marching from the Leisure Centre Car park to the sports field, headed by the 20-strong East Leake Revival Marching Band and then by the Carnival King and Queen, Tony and Joyce Riding, who were transported in an open top car and wearing their ‘Royal’ regalia. Mrs Riding was a teacher the Brookside School in East Leake, having started there in January 1975 and who retired last year. Initially she worked with junior children there before starting in an infant class as their class teacher.
During her stay at the school she worked with all age groups in the infant department until she went on maternity leave in March 1994. Her son Jack was born November 1994 and afterwards Joyce returned to school September 1995 as a job share in Key Stage 2 teaching Year 3.
She later started another job share with Rachel Clark and been a job share staff member with them working together for 18 years . Joyce and Rachel moved to the Foundation Unit in 2005 and she taught in there until she retired. Mrs Riding worked for three headmasters, Mr Dave Flatt Mr Rick Dizon and at the end with the current head, Mr Gary Kenny.
Staff at the school wrote a special song for her and this was performed on her final Sports Day at the school as well as at a special assembly held to mark her 41 years service at Brookside.
East Leake’s fire engine brought up the back of the parade, sporting its blue flashing lights.
There were well over 30 stalls, either representing various activity and charity groups from the village as well as commercial ones, creating a massive range of interest for the hundreds of people who were on to the carnival field. Sue Lewis, deputy clerk at the parish council and who had this year organised the stalls, said they had raised £400 from rents from them.
Once inside the carnival ground the prevailing weather created long queues at the ice cream outlets, those selling drinks and the food bars.
The event was held for the forth year on the Gotham Road village playing field and when the parade arrived there, headed by the Revival Band, it was greeted by many hundreds of people who were already looking at the trade and village charity stalls. The Revival band gave a 15 minute performance as the parade dispersed. Carnival parade wnners Best Float: Brownies / Sarsons Garage; Most Original Float: Brookside/Pinfold Vets; Cutest float: Rainbows / Greengrocer; Best Dressed Man: Tomorrow Project / Vicar / Bevin Dolman; Best Dressed Woman: Hayley / Playgroup / Jess – Toy Story; Best Dressed Child: Orla / Brookside Pinfold Vets
As well as the stalls and on–stage music entertainment, there was again a dog show and entertainment from children from the Brookside School in the village and from East Leake Players –ELAPs--, all inputting a designed effort to ensure those attending the annual event enjoyed their visit to the free activity. Providing the music on Saturday were Kynch, Matt Humphreys and Wilf and the Hullabaloo, all performing on the temporary stage made up by two large articulated lorry backs from British Gypsum.
A recent addition to the day’s programme has been the dog show, and that was again taking place and which drew tremendous interest from both young and old. Pinfold Vets in the village were the sponsors.
Overall winners: Best in show won by Poppy the Dachshund. Reserve best in show- Beth the Labrador. Class winners: Best puppy- Beth the beautiful Labrador. Most beautiful lady - Poppy the darling Dachshund, wearing her frilly polkadot dress!, Most handsome dog- Stevie the stunning Collie. Best veteran, won by Merlin the adorable Vizsla. Dog most like his owner won by Monty the magnificent.
Best rescue dog won by Teddy the terrific. Best trick won by lovely Lola!
The East Leake Coloured Pencil Artists exhibition in the Methodist Church – the 8th time it has been staged – was another big attraction, albeit off the Carnival site. Scores of people visited it and saw some very eye-catching work.
Each year, among their many individual pieces of artwork, the artists create a large composite picture dedicated to a local organisation or business, put together by Robin Borrett
This year for the first time they had two pictures approximately 1.2m x 1m,
one celebrating British Gypsum’s centenary year and the other paying tribute to Wicksy and The Knights of Nottingham.
Joint MC’s for the afternoon were first-timer, Brookside school teacher Lisa Waterfield – taking over from Mum, Tracey, who is on a cruise holiday celebrating a special birthday -- and Haley Masom, and they kept the hundreds of people watching them very well entertained as the results of the judging of the parade entrants was awaited. The two MC’s put on a stirring spell of fun and commentary from the British Gypsum lorry stage.
Lots of message have been seen on the websites covering the village this week singing the praises of those involved with organising the event, with words such as ‘wonderful’, ‘super’ and ‘amazing’ being repeated time after time.
Event organiser Mel Roper, looking resplendent in the Snow Queen dress used in the ELAPS panto last year, said they had been delighted at the turn out of people for the event on Saturday, including she thought some new faces, being the people moving into the village into the many new homes currently being built.
CONSTANT REMINDER OF LOVE. East Leake St Mary’s parish church, welcoming worshippers for over 1,000 years continues to offer services for all ages, and continues to be a constant reminder of the unchanging love of God in an everchanging world.
The Vicar, the Rev Tim Parker, says every day the church is open for the village and everyone is most welcome to drop in and find their space with God.
Tim adds: “Each Sunday we have two main services. At 9:15am, a Traditional Anglican communion with hymns and choir. Then at 10:30am, Contemporary morning worship with music group and children’s ministry starting with coffee and refreshments.
“In our services, we worship together, share communion, pray and explore the Bible’s message about the hope found in Jesus Christ for life today. People at St Mary’s are of every age and background and whether you’ve been a lifelong worshiper or are just curious about faith, we’d love to welcome you.
“Throughout the week, there are lots going on with home groups, youth work, coffee morning and much more. Why not check out what’s happening this month and drop in?”
CAR PARK EXTENSION. The extension to the Health Centre car park at East Leake has brought great pleasure to parish councillor and chairman of the council amenities committee Mel Roper.
Presenting her annual report, Coun. Roper comments on the ‘many projects’ they have been working n in the last 12 months and says the completion of the extension of the car park – by increasing its size by almost 25 per cent, and enforcing a maximum stay of 4 hours – helped towards their aim to free up much needed parking spaces for those using the Health Centre.
The committee chairman says preparatory work is being constantly undertaken towards the extension of the Gotham Road car park – plans have been drawn up and planning permission received – and so work should commence later this year.
The Rest Garden in the village centre has had a makeover. “Removal of self-seeded trees and overgrown bushes has really opened up this space,” said Coun. Roper’s report. “We recycled some of the fencing from the Recreation Ground to secure the boundary. We were lucky enough to receive funding from the Tesco Bags of Help Fund --we are grateful to anyone who voted for East Leak -- and thanks to some very kind volunteers, members of the Parish Council and staff, the new planting took place during the Autumn and is now starting to flourish.
A bench, kindly donated by Mollie Jacques in memory of her husband Dr Paul Jacques has enhanced the garden further. “We are about to place an order for a shelter to be positioned at the back of the garden – this will benefit shoppers if caught out in the rain and provide shelter for youngsters in the evening,” added Mel.
“The Glebe has also been the subject of major work by the grounds staff. The area has been opened up by the removal of some of the larger shrubs and by cutting tunnels through the large trees along Bateman Road, general tidying and colourful planting in the flower beds has brightened up the area and that will be added to further in the future,” she said.
On the Recreation Ground, the chairman said the Skate Park has been repainted. “And what an amazing piece of artwork this now is!” she added.
The chairman said that Streetwise continue to inspect the ramps to ensure it is fit for purpose and keep us advised of any work that needs to be carried out. Two new benches have been added to the boundary of the new play area and we have purchased some new litter bins. CCTV is now up and running on the area.
“Meadow Park continues to be expertly maintained by the ‘Friends of Meadow Park’ and our grounds staff. I would like to thank all the committee members and their volunteers for all their hard work, it really is a delightful area and we are very lucky to have it.”
Coun. Roper said anyone can become a Friend of Meadow Park by paying a minimum yearly subscription of £3.50 per person – which raises vital funds for planting and purchasing tools.
“Thanks are also extended to those volunteers who help maintain the St Mary’s Church Yard.”
YEAR 11 CELEBRATION. East Leake Academy Year 11 Celebration Morning takes place on Thursday this week, June 29, where the students will be able to sign their shirts and the Year Books and Leavers Hoodies will be distributed. Students will be served refreshments and pastries, before going into the Main Hall for the ceremony.
Today Wednesday June 28, the Academy have their Sixth Form Induction Day.
ORDINATION OF NEW CURATE. The ordination of East Leake St Mary’s Church new curate, Michael Allen will take place at 11am in Southwell Minster on Sunday this weekend, July 2. An invitation has been given to everyone in the East Leake benefice of churches attend. There will also be a Joint Benefice Communion service at 10.30am at St. Mary’s, East Leake for those not going to Southwell.
There will be tea and cake at 4.00pm at The Rectory to welcome Michael, Beth and his family to the Benefice. “Please make every effort to come and say ‘Hello’, even if you can’t stay for long,” says the Rev Tim Parker, Rector at East Leake.
Michael and his wife Beth and their two children. Florence and Henry, say they are thrilled to be moving to the village.
Says Michael: “I am very much looking forward to working with the local churches and communities during my curacy, learning and growing myself as well as teaching and encouraging others.”
Michael grew up in rural Essex and then in a village outside Cambridge, and met his wife-to-be when they both at University in Norwich.
“We subsequently worked for the same church before getting married in 2011. Since then we have worked in a variety of settings. Beth was a support worker with adults with learning disabilities and then in A&E, and then a medical secretary in the cardio-thoracic department in Oxford. I also worked with adults with learning disabilities before spending time working in a rehabilitation role at a secure psychiatric hospital. It was during this time that I felt called to ministry, and I started training at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, in 2014”.
Michael said the last couple of years have been very interesting and says Oxford is a great place to live. “But we are all looking forward to getting back out of the bubble of the college and university. We all love being in the countryside -- Florence does an excellent impression of a cockerel!--, so the beautiful surroundings to East Leake are a real bonus – we cannot wait to find some good walks and some good pubs along the way! I am also hugely passionate about sport – I grew up playing just about everything involving a ball. I now limit myself to the occasional round of golf, although I would like to make the most of the (relatively) close proximity of Trent Bridge and Welford Road as a spectator.”
The Curate says East Leake is clearly experiencing many changes with the new housing developments, and it is an exciting time to be moving into the area. “The churches and villages of the benefice are already in our prayers, and we look forward to joining you,” he added.
FIVE THEFTS. Police in East Leake dealt with nine incidents last month, including five thefts.
Police Officer Kelly Carlile says a building site was broken into on Kirk Ley Road but it appears nothing was stolen but batteries were stolen into another incident on the same road.
Cigarettes were stolen in an incident involving a shop on Main Street in the village while on Jackson Crescent a van was entered but nothing stolen.
A headlamp washer unit was stolen from a vehicle parked on Northfields Way while a laptop was taken after a vehicle on Lantern Lane was broken into.
Items of meat and alcohol were taken in a theft from a shop on Main Street.
MALE VOICE CHOIR CONCERT. Special visitors are booked to attend at St Mary’s Church at East Leake, on the first day of July.
The hugely popular and successful Radcliffe on Trent Male Voice Choir will be those visitors, under their Director of Music Paul Hayward
Ticket prices for the concert on Saturday this weekend ,July 1 at 7.3pm are priced at £8.00 (adult) with accompanied child free and which includes light refreshments in the interval. Book in advance – tickets from S Barrow, tel: 01509 856202, or A Barlow, tel: 01509 853700 and from Choir Members.
Tickets may be available at the door only if not all sold in advance. http// www.radcliffeontrentmalevoicechoir.org
The evening will feature Clarinettist Mathew Glendenning, the 2015 Nottingham Young Musician of the Year.