East Leake
BRA WALK. East Leake on Saturday this weekend, May 19, will be, it is hoped, a sea of national colours as the second annual Bra Walk take place and for which the organisers have asked those taking part to be wearing as much red, white and blue as possible to tie in with the Royal Wedding between Prince Prince Harry and Meghan Markle who will be getting married on the same day, at noon.
The couple will tie the knot on the High Altar of St George’s Chapel, a 15th Century church in the grounds of Windsor Castle.
The day will be a busy one for many people in the village, watching the wedding and the scenes afterwards, watchjng the FA cup final at Wembley between Manchester United and Chelsea at three o-clock and then turning the streets of the village into a sea of national colours as those taking part in the Bra Walk have been asked, along with those watching the event, to show national colours.
As the Bra Walk is on the same day as the Royal Wedding Mrs Jenny Mellors, for the organisers, says they have decided that this year it will have a red, white and blue theme, and face painting will be available on the night for a donation. Such was the success of the first event last year there were immediate calls for it to become an annual attraction and within a day it had been decided by the organisers to heed to the calls and the aim is now for it to become an annual fund raiser. .
There were 195 people and a dog walking in the first effort last year and this showed to the organisers the strength of the support for the event.
One of the leaders of the event, Jenny says they have decided that this year’s Bra Walk will be walked in memory of a truly inspirational lady who was a close friend of the Bra Walk organisers.
Wendy Fearnside was often seen wearing a high viz jacket and helping out at village events such as The Carnival, The Santa Sleigh Ride and last year’s Bra Walk. She helped run the local youth club and Rainbows group and therefore she was a worthy winner of Rushcliffe’s Good Neighbour Award for everything she gave to the community of East Leake. Wendy was first diagnosed with breast cancer 14 years ago she was given the all clear twice but unfortunately in 2015 the cancer returned for the third time, but this time it was different, the cancer had spread and Wendy and her family were given the devastating news that it was terminal. Throughout this time Wendy remained committed to helping others before herself and was dedicated to raising money for cancer charities. Wendy sadly passed away in November last year and will be greatly missed by all those whose lives she touched and half of the money raised at this year’s Bra Walk will be going towards Cancer Research UK the charity of Wendy’s family’s choice.
The other half of the money raised will be put towards sponsoring the book ‘Mummy’s Got a Poorly.’ When Sarah West from East Leake was diagnosed with breast cancer aged 34 she found it really hard to talk to her two young girls and explain it all to them, she couldn’t find any books that were suitable for their age group so she put pen to paper and wrote the book ‘Mummy’s Got a Poorly’ to help others in the same or similar situation to hers. The money raised will go to The Osborne Trust so they can distribute the book to families going through what Sarah and her family are currently going through.
Tickets available from Jenny at Newton Fallowell Hartleys in East Leake and Mel at The Greengrocers. It’s £5 per person to enter and £3 for children aged 12 and under with 100% of this going to Cancer Research UK and The Osbourne Trust. Money towards the decorations have kindly been donated by Newton Fallowell Hartleys and The Round RobINN. The Card Shop are very kindly providing the balloons and bunting. Registration starts at 6.15pm outside Newton Fallowell Hartleys and the walk will commence at 7pm.
SPATE OF VEHICLE CRIME. There has been a spate of spate of vehicle crimes in Rushcliffe with police saying there have been several reports of vehicles being targeted by thieves in both the East Leake and Gotham areas over a three day period last week.
A car had a window smashed and a laptop removed whilst it was parked at Leisure Centre at Eas5t Leake and in another incident there were three vans that were attacked on St Marys Crescent overnight on Tuesday which included a number of tools being stolen.
A spokesman for the police said it would appear the offenders had a device to unlock vehicles.
In a separate incident and in Gotham two vans parked on Nottingham Road were broken on Wednesday night last week while on the same evening a van was targeted whilst parked in the Co-op car park at East Leake at around 7pm.
A dark coloured Volvo was seen near the vehicle at this time.
Police have said they hope everyone will be vigilant, remove any high priced items from their vehicles and report any suspicious activity to them immediately
DO WANT A STALL AT THE CARNIVAL? As the date for this year’s East Leake Carniva, June 23, approaches, the organisers are saying anyone wanting a pitch or stall on the day is asked to please contact Sue at The Parish Office for a booking form - email parishclerk@east-leake.gov.uk
The Carnival itself is the biggest social event in the village and attracts several hundred people to the streets to see the parade as well as to the Gotham Road playing field where it actually takes place.
Organiser Mel Roper says the theme for the muchlooked-forward-parade this year is to be Holidays and hopes this will be a popular choice taking into account it takes place on the verge of the holiday season.
Anyone – groups or individuals -- can take part in the parade and Mel asks to be kept posted once anyone or any group have chosen their idea so they can try and avoid duplication. Mel says she can easily be contacted by email at mel. roper@hotmail.co.uk and urges those interested to let her know of anyone or group who intends to be taking part so she can keep them informed of arrangements and more importantly to get them on the judging form.
WILLERSLEY WEEKEND. Plans are in hand for the 2019 Willersley Weekend organised by East Leake Sty Mary’s parish church, for members and for those from the other churches in the Benefice.
It will take next year from March 1 to 3.
The construction of the venue for the annual weekend event --Willersley Castle -- in began in 1790, commissioned by Sir Richard Arkwright, the great industrialist who developed the Water Frame which revolutionised the cotton milling industry in this country and all around the world.
In only its second year a fire broke out at the premises causing severe damage to part of the interior of the Castle, a major setback in construction. The damage was repaired, but sadly Arkwright died in 1792 before completion of the building. His son, also named Richard, moved into Willersley Castle with his family in 1796 and the family continued to live there until 1922.
Many of the original features can still be seen today. The most striking of these is the Well Gallery, an oval gallery with a glass dome situated in the centre of the building, with cantilevered galleries on the first and second floors. An Adams archway leads through the building towards the Well Gallery, whilst the Music Room, Drawing Room and Dining Rooms all contain their original Adams fireplaces.
In 1927 a group of Methodist businessmen bought Willersley Castle as a Methodist Guild Holiday Centre, and opened its doors on the 5th May 1928.
It became a popular location for young Methodists, with its tennis courts, bowling green, games field and organised excursions in the Peak District proving a real success.
During the Second World War the Castle was used as a Maternity Hospital by the Salvation Army, which had relocated from Clapton in the East End of London. Over four thousand babies were born at Willersley between 1940 and 1946.
Willersley Castle still is a popular hotel. In addition to providing holidays, Willersley also caters for residential conferences, day conferences, coach parties and group meals.
MEET YOUR VILLAGE EVENT. Membership of the thriving Friends of Meadow Park group at East Leake is up from 149 to a new record of 202, members have been told. The uplift in figures is put down largely due to recruitment drives at the Meet Your Village event and the Carnival.
The group say it is clear that those able to help in the regular Saturday mornings have done an excellent job – areas tidied, hedges laid, benches installed flowers and trees planted.
Social media has proved an important tool in publicising Meadow Park. Mel Roper has posted on Facebook regularly, as have others, and we now have a strong following and receive some very nice comments on our efforts, for example several people thanked us for the installation of the new benches in the Play Field.
WOODGATE REFUSAL. Rushcliffe Borough Council have refused a planning application involving 4 Woodgate Road in East Leake for a two storey rear extension, additional window on front dormer, recladding of the existing dormer, internal alterations, and a render finish to external walls.
CHRISTIAN AID FUNDRAISER. The Methodist Church at East Leake will host a special fund raiser for the annual Christian Aid Week funds on Saturday this weekend, May 19 – Royal Wedding Day.
The event will be between 10am and 12pm where there will be a cake stall in aid of Christian Aid.
This year there is no plant stall as part of the event which does as usual include a coffee morning .
BIG BUILD HOILDAY CLUB. St Mary’s Big Build Holiday Club at East Leake took place last month and attracted over 50 children on each of the three mornings. The staff included eight teenage helpers and a number of adults doing a variety of tasks.
The children attending the event met together as a big group to sing songs and hear the Bible passages through drama and DVDs.
Following the drama and DVDs, the children then worked in small groups where they built a child size empty tomb (John 20), three life size people representing the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24), and a BBQ fire to represent the breakfast on the beach – Jesus and Peter (John 21).
Other club activities included, small craft work, drama, games and denbuilding in The Rectory garden.
Thanks have been offered to all who prayed and financially supported the Holiday Club and to everyone who gave of their time before, during and after the Holiday Club. “It was wonderful to see so many children in church, catching a glimpse of Jesus.” said Brenda Knight