JUNE

stretch of the highway would need to be dug up again to fit a gas main. Council bosses said they were “disappointed” at the unfortunate timing, but it was beyond their control.

The green light was given to

Central England Co-operative convert a former motorhome showroom into a new convenince store.

Tissington Well Dressings was blessed with fine weather, and more than 5,000 people came to see them on the first day alone, with tens of thousands more turning up throughout the weeklong festival.

JCB looked to be having a good year, despite growing fears over the impact of Brexit, as it emerged chairman Sir Anthony Bamford’s fortune had risen to £3.6 billion - rising by £300 million in just a year.

And it was announced by Severn Trent that some of the households worst affected in March’s week-long water shortage would receive up to £95 compensation.

Ofsted inspectors heaped praise on to QEGS, following a recent inspection. The Green Road school, they concluded, was still in “good” shape. It was revealed £25,000 had been set aside to install new grass reinforcement on the Fishpond Meadow overspill car park, off Park Road. Council bosses promised this work would take place “immediately after” the busy May Bank Holiday weekend.

A new bar and beer shop was given permission to set up in a former antiques store in Church Street called Maison Du

Biere and a three-wheeled sports bike burst into flames in Station Road during very hot weather. Former Mayoress Sue Bull took on the chains of office at Ashbourne Town Council and Ashbourne Radio was celebrating its 10th anniversary of broadcasting live across the town from its studios in Windmill Lane. THE town’s ornate Memorial Gates had been restored to their former glory - with plenty of time to spare for the forthcoming centenary of the end of World War One.

Volunteers at Church Street’s Cornerstone Café celebrated their 20th anniversary and former Ashbourne mayor and mayoress

Ian and Joan Bates celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary.

A barn conversion was badly damaged and several homes were left without telephone lines or electricity in Mugginton after a bolt of lightning struck overnight.

There was carnage in Station Street after a lorry ploughed into seven parked cars, writing some off. Residents living near to the accident made fresh calls for an A515 bypass and said it was an “accident waiting to happen”.

Henry Prince First School, which had survived a threat of closure earlier in the year, announced plans to become a primary school from September 2019.

Shocking statistics were published in the Sunday Times which suggested that, of 355 burglaries committed in the Derbyshire Dales, not one perpetrator had been arrested. Derbyshire police said the figures were at odds with their own records but admitted a drop in detection rates was linked to a lack of “boots on the ground”.

Work on Ashbourne Town

Hall’s crumbling facade finally got under way after months of wrangling and debate among town councillors and a phenomenal community-made display of 5,000 clay figurines depicting Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide was laid out in St Oswald’s Church.

Sally Montague’s new flagship salon and spa was officially opened in Horse and Jockey Yard and it was revealed that March’s Beast from the East, which was followed by a sudden thaw, had landed the county council with a £600,000 pothole repair bill.

We rounded off the first half of the year with news that a controversial site proposed as a possible new home for a family of travellers, off

Watery Lane, lost its planning consent – effectively ruling it out of ever becoming used for travellers.

And with the sun beaming down on the town at the start of what was to be a fabulous summer, we welcomed the arrival of the first ever

Festival of the Artisan at St Oswald’s Church and, of course, one of the annual highlights – Ashbourne Streetfest. Ashbourne Festival followed this stunning curtain-raiser and was to be another storming success.

JCB’S fortunes rose, along with owner Sir Patrick Bamford, now worth £300m more in a year

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