Village news

Barrow Jane Tindle 01509 414201 Jane.Tindle@outlook.com

BISHOP BEVERIDGE CLUB NEWS. Chair Yoga starts again this Friday, 12 January at 3.15pm for 4 weeks. The one hour session is open to all and costs £5 per week.

Designed for gentle exercise and ideal for those aged 50 and over, who want to learn how to breathe with ease and bring a little gentle relaxing exercise to their daily routine. No need to book. For information call Joyce on 01509 414519.

The Monday Movies is on January 15, and starts at 2pm, door open at 1.30pm. The film is ‘Dunkirk’, telling the true story.

Allied soldiers from Belgium, the British Empire and France are surrounded by the German Army, and evacuated during a fierce battle in World War II. £4 and members, £4.50 visitors, who are most welcome. Cost includes tea and cake.

On Wednesday, January 17, a Fun Quiz will be held starting at 2.45pm, no booking required. Cost is £1.50 members, £2 for visitors who are most welcome. No individual questions, make up a table team of four, or more, or less. Tea and cakes included in the cost, plus prizes for the winning table.

Our social afternoon ‘Give a Book a Home’ will be on Saturday, January 20, between 2.30 and 4.30pm. See later notices for details.

The next Bingo session will be held on Wednesday, January 24, at 2.30pm. Cost is £2, members, £2.50 visitors and there are two prizes for each of the six games. Cost includes a raffle and tea and cake. All very welcome.

There are a number of annual membership subscriptions outstanding, the cost is still £5 per year and can be paid at the Thursday Coffee Morning.

SILVER SPORTS AT THE BAPTIST CHURCH. Join us for table tennis, carpet bowls and other indoor games on Friday, January 12, from 10am – 12 noon in the Gap. This group runs during term time and most school holidays.

GET CRAFTY. At Barrow Community Library between 1:30pm – 3pm on Friday, January 12, come and join this weekly group for knitters, stitchers, crocheteers and other crafters of all ability levels. £1 donation suggested towards library funds. Refreshments available.

CHAIR YOGA. Moon Yoga classes in chair yoga is starting on Friday, January 12, at 3.15pm for an hour session each week.

Designed as gentle exercise suitable for the over 50’s, the cost is £5 per session, no need to book, being held at the Bishop Beveridge Club 22 South Street and open to all.

TUESDAY CAFE. Join us on Tuesdays in term time from 12:30pm for snacks and light lunches in the Gap at the Baptist Church. A great way to make and meet friends.

VIENNESE CONCERT. The Charnwood Orchestra welcomes in the New Year 2018 with our celebration of music from “Vienna & Beyond” on Saturday, January 13, at 7pm in Humphrey Perkins Community Centre, Barrow upon Soar, LE12 8JU.

This will be a concert of popular classics including Bizet – Suite from Carmen; Tchaikovsky – Swan Lake Waltz; Dvorak- Symphonic Dance; Svendson- Violin Romance – performed by our very own conductor and musical director Nic Fallowfield and many Strauss Waltzs, Marches and toe tapping Polkas including Blue Danube, Radetzsky March and other Viennese New Year favourites.

Tickets can be bought via Paypal from www. charnwoodorchestra.org.uk from Barrow’s Paper Shop; by telephoning 07718 153117. Tickets Cost £15, £13 (Conc), £3 under 16s. Please don’t rely on on tickets at the door – the concert was a sell out last year.

MONDAY MOVIE. The film ‘Dunkirk’ is the Monday Movie at the Bishop Beveridge Club at 22 South Street, on 15 January.

Cost for visitors is £4.50, members £4 and includes tea and cake. Doors open at 1.30pm, film start at 2pm prompt. All ages welcome.

KNIT AND NATTER. On Wednesday, 17 January join our Knit and Natter group from 2pm – 4pm at the Methodist Church.

GARDENING CLUB. The first meeting of 2018 for the gardening club is on Wednesday, January 17, at 7.30pm in the Gap at the back of the Barrow upon Soar Baptist Church in Beveridge Street.

We are pleased that Kate Ward is visiting the club again as she always delights with her passion and knowledge of gardening and stunning slides and photographs.

Her talk this time is entitled “Favourite Midlands Garden” so will cover a garden or gardens which are on our doorstep and undoubtedly be inspiring for visits throughout the year.

It sounds as though it will be a very interesting evening and something to look forward to. Everybody is very welcome, guests and visitors on the night just £3.

ADDITIONAL FILM SHOW. The Bishop Beveridge Club will be holding a further film in January on 29, at 2pm. This is a documentary The Eagle Huntress.

This spellbinding documentary follows a 13-year-old nomadic Mongolian girl who is fighting to become the first female eagle hunter in twelve generations of her Kazakh family.

Through breathtaking aerial cinematography and intimate verite footage, the film captures her personal journey while also addressing universal themes like female empowerment, the natural world, coming of age and the onset of modernity.

Cost is £4 members and £4.50 for visitors and includes tea and cake.

Willoughby on the Wolds

EVENT TO SUPPORT HOMELESS. An event to support the homeless charity Framework is being held at Willoughby on the Wolds on Friday January 28.

The effort, in the way of a sponsored sleep-over in the church, is being held in support of Framework Homelessness Sunday on January 18.

Those willing to support the event are being asked to take a sleeping bag and join others involved. More details and sponsor form are available from wotwchurch@gmail. com or 01509 880932

EVENT TO MARK END OF GREAT WAR. Organisations in Willoughby on the Wolds are being asked by their parish council to join forces to organise an event in November to commemorate the centenary of the ending of World War One in 1918.

Communities throughout the United Kingdom are being encouraged to organise events to mark the milestone date and the parish council at Willoughby want as many people as possible to be involved in their event to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, which falls on Sunday 11th November 2018.

Parish clerk Mike Elliott says the Parish Council feels that the village should join this national commemoration, and it is keen that events on that day should be as inclusive as possible, giving all members of the community an opportunity to take part.

“The Parish Council is therefore seeking to form a steering group made up of representatives of organisations of all kinds within the village,” adding that the members feel it to be particularly important that village events on that day are appropriately coordinated with any services and Acts of Remembrance held by the church.

A meeting is now to be held in the village hall on Monday, January 29, and the council is inviting each village group to nominate one, or two, representatives to join the steering group. The meeting will start at 7.30pm.

Long Whatton and Diseworth

Mike Elliott 0115 937 6506 elliottnews@btconnect.com

WHATTON WAILERS. The popular Whatton Wailers singing group would welcome any new members who are interested in joining them.

The group, based at the Falcon Inn on Main Street in Long Whatton, meet there on Monday evening from 7pm. They are a small sociable group with members loving to sing. They recently recorded a charity single to raise money for Framework, the charity helping the homeless.

Male and female vocalists are welcome to join wanting to sing popular music for fun. The group perform at numerous local venues throughout the year and at pub nights. There is no form of audition to join.

Contact for the group is Fay who can be reached on 0789 649 707

GREAT SCALEXTRIC CHALLENGE. Plans are being finalised for an event to be staged by Diseworth Village Hall in the form of the 3rd Diseworth Great Scalextric Challenge, billed as a drop-in event for all the family.

The challenging comments from the organisers asks if those interested fancy their chances of being a Champion racing driver or can they negotiate a lap of the track in the fastest time?

“Enter the competition, test your skills on one of the circuits set up for you, bring your own set or just turn-up to join the fun” is the message.

The event takes place on Sunday, January 14, in the Village Hall from 10am to 4pm

Entry fee: is £2.50 per person plus £1 for competitor timed laps.

Sutton Bonington Mike Elliott 0115 937 6506 elliottnews@btconnect.com

THE LAST WHIST. The Christmas Whist Drive held on December 18 was the last one to be held by Tony Howse and his team.

They have been running them to support St Michael’s and St Anne’s churches since October 1997, just over 20 years.

Thirty three players attended and there were 36 prizes to be won. As usually happens not every one won a prize.

Whist winners were; David Ockley 176, Tony Howse 171, Freda Blyth 171,

Dorothy Winfield 176, Aileen Marden 169, Janet Goddard 168, Brian Tipper 167,

Pat Knight 167, Joan Bull 163, Mike Daly 163, Marian Hopewell 163, Mike Grout 160, Sheelagh Stafford 160, David Gee 159, Audrey Chambers 159 and Henry Everett 158.

The Consolation prize, a packet of Sprouts, was won by Audrey Lakin.

Spot prizes, a mini Christmas Pudding, were won by Pat Knight, Brian Tipper,

Aileen Marden and Alan Kyle.

Raffle prizes were won by; David Ockley, Freda Blyth, Alan Richardson,

Doreen Wright, Maureen Johnson, Sheelagh Stafford, Marian Hopewell, Anne Castle, Christine Cadwallader, Chris Goadby, Audrey Chambers and Pat Knight.

Our many thanks go to Beth Clarke and Dotty Howse for providing some lovely halftime refreshments, to the many people who generously gave prizes and to all those who helped make the evening so enjoyable.

The “13 Kitty” remained intact from the previous Whist Drives and it was decided to spend the money on a present to Freda Blyth and Beth Clarke in recognition of their work in providing the weekly halftime teas over recent years.

Finally the Revd Michael Brook thanked the players for all their support over the years and wished all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. He then handed over to David Etherton, Chairman of the PCC, who as a thank you from the PCC presented a lovely bouquet to Dotty and a bottle of winter warmth to Tony.

A total of £153 (less the hire of the hall) was made on the evening and this will go, as usual,

towards maintaining our two lovely village churches.

It is hoped that the Whist Drives will continue in the New Year but run by another village organization.

VILLAGE HALL REFURBISHMENT. Progress is being made on plans for another phase of refurbishment work for Sutton Bonington Village Hall.

Coun. Rob Ereminowicz, chairman of the parish council and who is leading the hall project, says that the next work they are going to undertake will be the fourth phase of their overall refurbishment plan.

“This involves a refurbishment of the store rooms and the outside entrance including the front part of the Village Hall,” he says, adding they have already received an award from ‘Awards for All’ for the sum of £10,000 and with Village Hall funds and a small fund from Rushcliffe this will complete the work on the store rooms.

The work that is now planned will involve insulating and plastering the walls, new doors, new windows, suspended ceiling, new flooring, new electrics and painting and decorating.

Coun. Ereminowicz says the work on the store rooms will start on January 30 it is hoped to finish the work in about 4 weeks.

“Functions and bookings can carry on as normal as the chairs and tables that are kept in the store rooms will be moved to the Committee Room during renovation,” says Rob.

“We have also applied for more grants to undertake the work on the front of the property,” he says adding that this work involves constructing a dwarf wall or kerb stones either side of main entrance to retain land between the building and the road, installing timber handrails either side of steps and replacing old slabs at front with new ones.

Rob says this work will proceed once funding has been granted.

Work that has already been completed on the project aimed at making the hall one of the best in the area has included totally new decor which has brought lots of praise.

Says Rob: “The work has gone very smoothly and the refurbishment that’s been done looks great with the new décor, plastered and painted walls and ceiling, the beams have been sand blasted and taken back to the original wood, new doors, sanded and lacquered floor, new LED lighting, new electrics throughout the Main Hall and entrance corridor, new curtains, new front aluminium doors as well as a false ceiling in the entrance corridor.”

The Village Hall Committee received a grant of £41,000 from WREN to do the refurbishment for the Main Hall and entrance corridor but this did not include the electrics and the movement of gas and water pipes.

“With the electrics and pipe work the committee had to partly fund this amount of £10,000 through their own Village Hall funds but we did receive partial funding from Rushcliffe Borough Council and 2 other charitable organisations.

Adds Rob: “Other expenses were incurred, namely hiring and purchasing of equipment but this was paid for out of our Village Hall Funds. The building firm that undertook the work PPM, a Loughborough based firm have taken on the project with a professional and friendly approach and have kept to the time schedule.

“The Village Hall has undergone three phases of work so far. The first was refurbishment of the toilets five years ago which included a disabled toilet. Phase Two was the re-roofing including insulation, re-felting, new batons and repairs as well as new guttering all round.

The Village Hall Committee invited residents and others interested to an open morning about a year ago to view work that had been carried out.

The hall was originally built in 1914 but there has over the years been changes including additions added and now is a modern and super facility for the village.

“Some of the present users were able to use part of the Hall whilst work has been in progress, namely in the Library area and the Kitchen. The work has gone very smoothly and the refurbishment that’s been done looks great with the new décor, plastered and painted walls and ceiling, the beams have been sand blasted and taken back to the original wood, new doors, sanded and lacquered floor, new LED lighting, new electrics throughout the Main Hall and entrance corridor, new curtains, new front aluminium doors as well as a false ceiling in the entrance corridor,” said Rob.

Rob says he is confident everyone agrees that all the work has been to a very high standard.

Phase three was the recent work which brought that stage of the improvement issue to a close, with the carpeted entrance hall giving a nice warm feeling for visitors arriving.

The Village hall is used by organisations and societies within and out of the village and a village hall user survey identified many weak areas of the facilities.

Rob said they had conducted a survey of every household in the village and user organisations. The survey identified, as they had suspected, a dissatisfaction with the toilet facilities which they had now addressed.

The survey also identified dissatisfaction with the main hall, lighting, fixtures and fittings as well as lack of carpeting and it also indicated a need for general redecoration and renewal and replacement of doors and the smaller committee room updating and that has been carried out.

TIME RUNNING OUT FOR PRIMARY PLACES. Parents of children who want to go to Sutton Bonington primary school from September this year are running out of time to make an application for a place for them.

Headteacher Mark Brumwell says anyone who has a younger child due to start with us next year (i.e. will he/ she be 4 by 31st August 2018) needs to make their application.

“The application window is now open and will remain so until January 15th. You must apply in this time, even if you have another child already attending school. Applications must be made through the county you reside in. You can do this online through the appropriate authority: www. nottinghamshire.gov.uk/ admissions or www. leicestershire.gov.uk/ admissions.”

Mr Brumwell says it is also possible to ring 0300 5008080 to make a telephone application or to request a paper form.

The outcomes of the admissions process are released on National Offer Day, 16th April 2017.

COMMUNITY ORCHARD. Sutton Bonington’s popular and highly acknowledged Community Orchard is, the parish council have been told, in a healthy condition

Julie McMullen-Kerr is to become the principal contact between the Council and the Community Orchard. The Parish Council have agreed to some Nut trees being planted there.

prking outside schools. Nottinghamshire County Councillors have agreed plans to bolster parking enforcement outside schools - by agreeing to fund a second CCTV road safety car. The move comes after high demand for the current vehicle – which has been helping enforce ‘keep clear’ markings outside schools since March 2016. Dangerous and inconsiderate parking can seriously jeopardise road safety for children and it is a significant source of complaints and requests for parking enforcement. Latest figures show that 951 penalty charge notices have been issued to motorists from December 2016 to September 2017 for parking dangerously and inconsiderately on ‘keep clear’ markings outside schools (718) and on bus stops (233) This type of parking can potentially block or prevent a bus from stopping there and cause congestion behind the bus if it is unable to move. In addition, it prevents passengers with mobility problems or pushchairs getting on or off the bus at the raised kerb edge. The number of PCNs issued to date is 1290. Plans to purchase a new vehicle were agreed at the County Council Community and Place Committee

Councillor John Cottee, who chairs this Committee said: “This decision is part of our commitment to road safety around schools in the county and will help to address this genuine problem of dangerous or inconsiderate parking in many areas around school drop off and pick up times. “We are keen to be able to meet the high demand we have had from schools, parents and others in local communities who have got in touch requesting this car to visit their area to help address these issues – so a second vehicle is essential for this. “Our county has approximately 330 schools, spread across rural and suburban locations, so traditional enforcement on foot can be inefficient. “I must make clear that our purpose in using a car-based enforcement system is not to raise revenue, in fact the existing CCTV car runs at a slight financial deficit for the Council. Our aim is to improve safety and stop dangerous and inconsiderate parking near schools and bus stops, which we know causes a great deal of concern.” The new vehicle will cost £45,000 including the camera and software costs as well as maintenance costs for the first year. The vehicle is due to be purchased before the end of the year, so it can start operating after Easter 2018.

The area around Sutton Bonington Primary School is frequently the cause of concern because of the n umber of drivers who park near it when taking or collecting their children from the school.

SUTTON BONINGTON HALL APPLICATION. Plans for the creation of two new openings in existing garden wall to create vehicle access and exit, and inclusion of use of kitchen garden for car parking at Sutton Bonington Hall at 88 Main Street submitted to Rushcliffe Borough Council have not been opposed by the parish council.

SCHOOL STAFF TRAINING DAY. Sutton Bonington Primary School is to have a staff training day on January 15, and has given apologies for the shorter-than-usual notice for it.

Says headmaster Mr Mark Brumwell: “We have just confirmed a staff training day for Monday next week, January 15 so school will be closed to children on that day.”

The following Inset day will be on Friday 16th February. “That leaves us with one more training day to schedule later in the school year, which we’ll let you know about as soon as it’s set.”

SANTA FLOAT TOTAL. The Rotary Santa Float completed it’s tour of the villages before Christmas and thanks to the generosity of local people, more than £4,000 was raised which will be distributed to local and international charities and worthy causes. Look out for more news.