East Leake
SECURITY MEASURES. Generous donations have enabled volunteers on the Great Central Railway at East Leake to install anti-vandal security doors at a signal box at Hotchley Hill that was attacked twice in three weeks by teenagers.
The currently disused signal box is in the process of being restored by volunteers on the heritage railway.
The signal box which is Art Deco in style replaced the original Great Central signal box when nearby sidings were extended in the late 1940s
An appeal for £600 for security doors was launched after the vandalism destroyed equipment and floorboards.
On the Great Central Facebook page, it says: ”An extremely generous donation, combined with a number of others, has completely covered the cost of purchasing security doors.”
Two steel security doors have been fitted by volunteers, with mortice locks and additional bolts.
The appeal for funding was so successful that “we’ve sailed through the next target too, which was the purchase of an appropriate reproduction downpipe and fittings for the front of the building. Huge thanks to everyone responsible.”
The reproduction front downpipe cost £150
Following the installation of the security doors and the downpipe, the volunteers will be turning their efforts to the large upstairs windows in the signal box and there will be an opportunity to “sponsor a window.”
After the vandalism, police in Rushcliffe appealed for information about the “mindless destruction” of the heritage railway signal box.
A police spokesperson said: “At around 14.30 on Saturday, August 22 three white male teenagers aged 14 to 15 years, two with bicycles, were recorded on CCTV walking along the railway line from the station at Gotham Road to the railway signal box.”
A door was forced on the ground floor followed by “mindless destruction of items” in the ground floor room. The intruders then went up to the first floor and removed boards leaving
“dangerous holes in the floor.”
The activity was recorded on CCTV at the British Gypsum factory which is adjacent to the site of the signal box.
On September 6 a second break-in occurred. A police spokesperson said: ”Heavy floorboards were unscrewed and removed leaving a very deep pit open.”
A screwdriver left at the scene by the offenders was examined for fingerprints and DNA and the police also examined CCTV of the incident.
Police said: “There is currently no electricity or lights at the signal box so the removal of the floorboards could easily have caused serious injury or death to one or more of the volunteers.”
Although officially classified as a heritage line, the Great Central line is still used by the local British Gypsum factory at East Leake. The police spokesperson said: ”It is therefore, like all active railway lines, a very dangerous place for anyone to trespass on.”
Local residents in East Leake and the surrounding area were asked to help to identify the youths involved in these incidents
The police also asked local parents and carers to remind their children of the dangers of trespassing on railway property.
Passenger and goods traffic on the London extension of the Great Central which ran from Annesley, through Nottingham Victoria, Leicester and Rugby to London Marylebone began in 1899. A much-reduced line was finally closed by British Rail in 1969 and the Great Central as a preserved heritage railway rose from the ashes of its closure during the 1970s.
A project has been running to re-unite the two sections of the Great Central Railway – the northern section from Ruddington through Rushcliffe Holt and East Leake and the southern section from Loughborough to Leicester North via Quorn and Woodhouse and Rothley - involving already installed bridges over the Midland mainline railway at Loughborough and over the canal. Fund-raising for a factory flyover at Loughborough is continuing.
ACADEMY EVENT. Prospective sixth form students at East Leake Academy are being encouraged to take part in an on-line open evening in November.
In different times prospective students would be invited to visit the Academy but due to the Covid-19 epidemic this year’s event for future Sixth Formers will be held online.
The event will take place on Monday next week, November 9 from 6-6.45pm on Microsoft Teams Live.
To find out more about the virtual open evening and to book a place, prospective students and their families are asked to visit the Academy’s sixth form events’ page.
FOLK CLUB. East Leake’s popular Folk Club (ELFs) continues to be affected by the Corvid 19 situation and currently all club meetings remain suspended.
In a statement the club say it is with great regret that in order to comply with the latest government advice, we are suspending all meetings of the Folk Club until we receive an all clear from the government in the future.
The Folk Club meet at The Bull’s Head from 8.15pm on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month. They are a group of people, mainly from the village who get together because they all enjoy playing and singing traditional and other music .” We’re a very informal bunch who have allowed our folk nights to evolve and grow according to the needs and expectations of those who participate.”
The Club was formed so that amateur musicians could get together and sing and play music in an informal, stress-free environment. Since their inception all of the members have increased in confidence and proficiency and it was decided in 2013 to introduce an ad hoc sing around session part way through the evening so that those who wish to play solo/ duo will have the opportunity to do so. Most of the time they all just play and sing together – very informally. The club have the words and guitar chords for a large number of songs, including all the songs they regularly sing at the club.
From time to time some of the regular members will give performances, usually for charity organisations or to raise money for charity.
Anyone interested can email Ray at
CHURCH. Although St. Mary’s Parish Church in East Leake is unable to hold its usual charity Christmas card event because of the current pandemic, some of the cards which would have been on sale are now available to buy.
Chris O’Nions, one of the Licensed Readers at the Church, has samples of this year’s Children’s Society cards (call 01509 853385 to order or arrange a socially distanced viewing). Mothers’ Union cards and gift catalogues are also available from Judith James (tel 01509 853126) or online www. mueshop.org
HELP OTHERS. Well known East Leake resident Coun. Mel Roper is asking people in the village to think on about the effects of the current UK coronavirus pandemic situation on anyone who might be particularly affected.
In a message on Facebook Mel, a parish councillor, proprietor of the village greengrocery shop, and organiser of the annual village carnival and Christmas lights event, says if everyone thought a summer lock down was bad for people already struggling with mental health, a winter one is going to be 10 times worse.
“Please keep a look out for your family, friends and neighbours that are struggling. The relapse and overdose rate has increased by 30% since March 2020. Mental health issues related to our lock down and the pandemic are especially hard for people who already have depression or anxiety.”
Mel reminds residents that MIND has a helpline on 0300 123 3011 Mon to Friday 9am to 6pm.
“Now, I’m asking my small corner of FB to follow suit: Could any two of my Facebook friends just copy and repost to share the helpline far and wide? Just two. Any two. Say done.”
ONLINE LEARNING. On-line learning plans have been made at Brookside Primary School in East Leake in case of partial or full closure due to an outbreak of Covid-19.
Headteacher Mr. Gary Kenny has told parents in the school’s latest newsletter: “I am certain we are all aware that a bubble closure could occur at any time once school resumes after half term. I wrote to you in a September newsletter about how worthwhile it is to contingency plan for such an event.”
One of the school’s teachers Miss Waterfield, the Year One and Year Two teacher and the school’s computing subject lead has prepared a set of directions about using the children’s Microsoft ‘ Teams’ log-in to access the online learning that will occur in the event of a bubble closure – a bubble may be a class or a year group.
Miss Waterfield has explained to parents: ”In the event of a bubble lockdown, your child’s work will be placed on the same Teams account that was used to set up Parent Evening meetings.”
She has asked parents to familiarise themselves with Teams as a learning platform during a bubble lockdown
She says: ”Each day, there will be a live video check in with the teacher. This will occur at the start of the day and will be an opportunity for the teacher to outline the tasks for the day and give your child the opportunity to discuss any questions they might have with their learning. It will be age appropriate, the content and communication will be quite different for our Y1 & 2s
compared to that of our Y5 & 6s. • Please use this link to
follow guidance of how to access your child’s work each day.”
The video was created by Andy Sawford, Deputy Head at Heymann School in West Bridgford, one of Brookside’s partner schools within Equals Trust with whom they share lots of collaborative work
Mr. Kenny said that during the period of full lockdown, the school was able to help a small number of families who had difficulty accessing a screen, PC or tablet for their child to be able to see their work.
He continued:” If you feel that this applies to you, please contact the school office – we continue to have a small number of hardware pieces that we will be able to loan.”
Miss Waterfield has told parents:” All of us at Brookside are hopeful that we do not experience a bubble lockdown and that we do not have to use Teams as an online learning platform. I am sure you recognise that it is important that we are prepared for the possibility of a bubble lockdown. Using Teams as a learning platform, our aim is to provide every child with the opportunity to have regular contact with their teacher and for their work and activities to be shared with their teacher.”
For a child who self-isolates due to symptoms within the family, work will continue to be set through the school website. Teams as a learning platform will be used in the event of entire bubble lockdown.
MOTHERS UNION. Despite Covid-19 restrictions, the Mothers’ Union at St. Mary’s Parish Church in East Leake are continuing their activities and an early Advent Anthology is planned.
The next gathering of the St. Mary’s branch is at 2.15pm on Monday, November 9. Organisers say the Advent anthology is a little early but they want to follow a pattern with a Christmas anthology in December and an Epiphany meeting plus a brief annual general meeting in January, 2021.
The Advent anthology will include readings, poems, a little recorded music and prayers. Members will be sociallydistanced with face coverings in the Covid-secure space at St. Mary’s.
There will be a limit of 16 people at the meeting so people wishing to Attend will need to book a place.
There will be a waiting list and organisers say they will rely on people to let them know if they have been given a space but are unable to attend. Anyone missing out will be top of the list for the next meeting.