Melbourne Village Voice March 2011

LIBERAL

A MELBOURNE business dating back to the heyday of Victorian England is to close.

The Melbourne Liberal Club and Public Hall Ltd, first incorporated as a private limited company in 1889, is to be offered for sale.

The company, which runs the popular watering hole at the social club, on Derby Road, and the Public Hall on the first floor of the building, was for decades at the hub of the social life of the town.

Within living memory the Public Hall was the venue for formal dances, and has remained to this day a venue for functions and music events.

Only last autumn the venue staged a play for the Melbourne Festival. It still hosts the immensely popular Melbourne Quiz.

It was from the 1920s a meeting place for the parish council, while the local magistrates also sat there in the days when Melbourne had several policemen and a police station.

It has been common knowledge that the business had been struggling for some time. Records, held at Companies House, show that accounts due at the end of January this year were officially designated "overdue".

Richard Robey, who has been associated at the club as steward and manager for many years, said: "I can confirm the business is up for sale, the buildings and

by DAVID BELLIS

the land."

He said full details would be publicised shortly, and he scotched rumours that a sale had been made to a large public house group, thought to be JD Wetherspoon.

The club has about 70 local shareholders.

Mr Robey, who is 62, confirmed that he was the chairman of the businesss and said: "We are in receivership. I do not know what is now going to happen.

“The club will remain open in business for customers. I hope it will continue to be a club, as it is popular at weekends with families and their children".

Mr Robey believed that there were two things that had contributed to the club's failure –the smoking ban and the availability of cheap beer at the supermarkets.

Mr Robey has worked parttime at the club since he was 18, but he has effectively been in charge for the last 25 years.

" The function room is currently doing very well,” he said.

“We are fully booked. We certainly expect that this year's quiz will be completed.”

■ The Liberal club building was built in 1889. The foundation stone was laid by Henry Wardle and by Edmund Salsbury on Easter Monday in 1889.

A new front to the building was added in the early 1970s.

MELBOURNE author Andrew Cope has been involved in a special World Book Day mission, helping to engage one million young people in reading. Andrew had the honour of being chosen to be one of this year’s World Book Day authors.

He was commissioned to write a brand new book, ‘Spy Dog’s Got Talent’ that Puffin have made available for £1.

Andrew and his trusty canine, Lara, have been busy promoting the book in the run-up to World Book Day.

He said: "We’ve travelled to events in

London and recorded lots of interviews and met lots of famous people. I spent World Book Day itself at a huge event in Oxford. I think Lara takes it all in her stride. It’s me who has to keep pinching myself!

"It’s been tremendously exciting to have been chosen to be featured as part of World Book Day. It’s enabled ‘Spy Dog’ to hit number one in the book charts.”

Andrew and Lara are pictured with a group of pupils at Melbourne Junior School during a visit in February.

David Stretton

Severing Link a sad moment for business

THE Government-funded organisation Business Link will cease to exist as we know it in November when it will become staffed by ‘volunteer mentors’ from a range of independent organisations like the Federation of Small Businesses, The Prince’s Trust and the CBI.

Nationally there have been widely mixed views about the effectiveness of Business Link and its team of advisers, but will Business Link be missed in South Derbyshire and how do our local businesses feel about its imminent transformation into a voluntary organisation?

Elizabeth Ward, who runs Breadfirst (artisan bakery and delicatessen) at the Ferrers Centre of Arts and Crafts at Staunton

Power play gives school a boost

Harold, has had a particularly positive experience: "Since before start-up, right through the 2.5 years we have been operating, our Business Link adviser has been a rock. He has supported us through everything, proactively kept in touch and gone way beyond the call of duty, time after time. It’s hard out there, and having our Business Link adviser has made all the difference.”

Solar PV specialist Ray Lacey of Melbourne-based Electric Connections agrees: "Business Link has helped my business by providing useful information, as well as a grant. The local Business Link representative understands local businesses and has a genuine desire to help them move forward. Substituting this quality service with

‘volunteer mentors’ causes me concern. How knowledgeable will they actually be and will they have enough local knowledge to be of real benefit?”

And it seems local businesses from every sector are going to miss Business Link.

Victoria Brown, who runs Weston-onTrent based Victoria Brown Art said: “When I first set up I had a useful mentoring session with Business Link and since then I have found them very good at providing contacts for other local businesses that I could work with.

“I think it will be sad to lose Business Link as it is and we shall have to wait and see if the volunteer mentors can live up to our current service standards.” –CB

BREEDON Play and Learn Pre-School is celebrating receiving an £1,800 grant, from E.ON UK’s Employee Community Fund, to improve its book corner with educational puppets and posters, as well as providing the children with a new selection of books.

Clare Philipson, chair of the Breedon Play and Learn PreSchool Committee, said: "Breedon Play and Learn Pre-School is overwhelmed with the generous donation made by E.ON to support our work.

“The opportunity to invest in an area that will help develop the children's reading will be a great asset to us and

will, we're confident, benefit us over many years to come.

"As a not-for-profit pre-school that exists to serve the local community we rely on the support of companies like E.ON for our continued success and without their generosity wouldn't be able to go on offering this important service to local people and their families."

Breedon Pre-School operates from St Hardulph’s Primary School and you can obtain more information on 07982 630824.

Lynn Gartside is pictured with children in the play group book corner.

Friends score half-centuries

FRIENDS Vivien Taylor (nee Bentley) and Diana Johnstone (nee Child) have just celebrated their 50th birthdays, having been friends since they met on their first day at Melbourne Infant School in 1965.

Diana is older by a few hours and was born at home in Victoria Street, Melbourne, on February 18, a daughter for mother Margaret Child. Following Diana’s birth the midwife went straight to St Bride’s Farm, Stanton by Bridge, for another home birth, this time for Hilda Bentley to deliver Vivien just a few hours later.

Strangely both mothers, Margaret and Hilda also share the same birth date.

The girls’ friendship saw them

both progress through Melbourne Infant School, the new Junior School when it was first built and following their success in the 11-Plus examinations at Parkfield Cedars Grammar School in Derby.

Vivien now lives in Repton and has three children – Sarah, 22, Peter, 20, and David,16 – while Diana lives in Ockbrook and has a daughter, Holly aged 13.

Their separate birthday celebrations enabled them to enjoy both their own and each other's special occasion and continue their 45-year friendship.

The two are pictured together on the eve of their 50th birthday celebrations.

Complaints as blowers cause noise nuisance

RESIDENTS in Melbourne and parts of Kings Newton have been bothered and mystified by a noise.

One resident thought the noise was "just like a grain dryer".

Chairman of Melbourne Parish Council Nigel Collyer, who lives on Station Road, has received several complaints from residents affected by the noise nuisance.

It is believed that the noise has been traced to the treatment works operated by Severn Trent, to the north of the Castle Lane Industrial estate.

Alan Lindsey, Severn Trent Area manager for South Derbyshire and East Staffordshire, said: "It all stems from the works improvement scheme we put in last year at Melbourne. The additional treatment units we installed included air blowers. It is possible that it is the blowers which are the cause of the noise which people are complaining about."

Mr Lindsey confirmed that the blowers operate 24 hours a day and emit a "low level, high pitch" noise.

In the last week of February, Severn

New Members Welcome

Trent engaged an engineering team to put in a temporary noise reduction barrier.

Mr Lindsey confirmed that the contractors had started erecting a noise barrier made of straw bales. This temporary barrier was being put in place to evaluate the effectiveness of a sound reduction barrier. If it is effective, Severn Trent said it would erect a permanent barrier.

Severn Trent would value feedback from local residents as to whether the straw noise reduction barrier has reduced or eliminated the noise nuisance.

Group gets under way

EASE Your Mind is a new support group for those living with cancer, their families and friends.

The group held its first meeting in the Thomas Cook Memorial Hall, Melbourne, and follow-on meetings are planned for March 4, 18 and April 1 between 2pm and 4pm.

The group is pictured at its first meeting with organiser Elaine Dunnicliffe fourth from left, who can be contacted on 07779220847 for more details.

Enjoy Sunday lunch in style

What better place than The Priest House to spend your Sunday afternoon. With its relaxed atmosphere, excellent food and wines, served by our friendly attentive staff.

Traditional Sunday Lunch

Choose from a selection of starters, main courses and some exquisite desserts. £21.95 per person for three-courses including coffee, children under 12 years dine for half price, children under 3 years dine free.

Book one of our private dining rooms and enjoy an intimate lunch, at no extra charge when choosing from our restaurant Sunday lunch menu. For parties of 12 to 80.

Q: WHAT’S mandatory, only takes a few minutes and will help us get the services that we need?

It’s Census time again Country Living with

A: The Census. With a reputation for being a time-consuming process that just provides random statistics to the Government, the Census process is misunderstood.

For each person, filling in the form (now also available on-line) should take around 10 minutes and that information will be used to plan school, bus service and many other future community requirements. 2011 Census Area Manager Helen Bralesford said: “The Census information is a vital part of the country’s long-term planning process. Among many other uses it supports transport decisions and the demand for school places. If you have difficulties in completing your form, there is plenty of help out there. In Melbourne, the library staff are happy to help, or you can drop in to see Community Care.”

Census day is March 27 and you will need to complete the questionnaire on or around that day. For more information log on to www.2011.census.gov.uk or call the Census helpline (charged at local call rate) on 0300 0201 101, where you can access help in English and more than 50 other languages. All households should receive questionnaires by the middle of March.

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A NEW Cabinet Office Foresight report called “ The Future of Food and Farming: Challenges and choices for global sustainability” has recently been released outlining options towards 2050.

Some very startling facts are revealed in the report. More than 900 million people in the world today are ‘experiencing hunger’ and a further one million are obese.

The population of the world will increase to ‘nine billion’ by 2050 from its seven billion today. All these extra people will need to be fed from the same land area as today, so some intensification of agriculture will be essential. This is incredible as the exact opposite is happening at the moment in the western world, particularly the UK where we are still encouraged to take land out of production. Of course there is no hunger or real poverty here.

The report says we will have to embrace GM technology to overcome problems of shortages of water and plant nutrients so as to enable crops to be developed which can manage without chemical-based fertilisers. Food production via animals must be

Robert Parker

reduced as this is very inefficient in terms of conversion of resources into human food.

Food waste will also have to be addressed as almost 25 per cent of food ends up being dumped in the more affluent countries. All the above is very much ’food for thought’ and I’m glad that it won’t be my problem.

■ The area of South Derbyshire seems to have been the dividing line this winter to a weather phenomenon.

Although we did have the extreme frost before Christmas we had very little snow and so far this year not really a lot of rain. Friends living five miles north of Derby tell me they had over a foot of snow in December compared to our three to four inches. A few weeks ago, in one weekend, Matlock had three inches of rain in 48 hours and, despite forecasts to the contrary, we had none. Only the last few days of February saw any substantial falls. This is all very unusual for a winter where, at all points of the compass, the country suffered violent extremes of snow, frost and rain. Let’s hope we don’t take a battering in the next few months to balance it out

Power station full steam ahead

THE NEW Willington power station has been given the final go-ahead by government Energy minister Charles Hendry.

The project has been under discussion for several years, a replacement for the previous coal-fired power station. The building of this new facility will create more than 2,000 jobs over the next three years, and permanent jobs for more than 100.

The developers, RWE Power, reckon it will inject annually £10m into the local area. It is expected to be fully operative by 2015.

The Energy Minister, who visited the site on Friday, March 4, said: "This new plant will secure electricity supplies to millions of homes, as well as bring jobs to South Derbyshire. Gas plants like the new Willington will become a central part in the country's energy mix."

Spring time at Calke

The house and garden are now open Saturday to Wednesday 12.30pm - 5pm!

The restaurant and shop are open daily 10.30am – 5pm. Calke Park & National Nature Reserve is open daily.

Forthcoming events

Lambing Time

Mid March to Mid April

Come and see the young lambs with their mothers in the park.

Midlands Free Time

Saturday 19 & Sunday 20 March

See our other featured advert for more information on our FREE entry weekend!

Kite Flying

Sunday 27 March 11am – 4pm

Join us for our annual kite flying day. The Midland Kite Flyers will thrill you with their skill. Bring your own kite, buy one here or make one in our workshop.

Calke Alive 18th Century

Sunday 27 March

Sir John and Dame Catherine Harpur invite you to their new house to meet some of the characters who lived and worked at Calke in the 18th century.

Normal park admission applies to all visitors

For more information on what’s on at Calke please visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/calke or telephone 01332 863822

Musical contest

FOR several years, Melbourne Rotary Club has organised the Young Musician competition, for young people aged between six and 19.

Last year, 27 young people took part, from almost beginners to seasoned performers of astonishing ability.

This year the competition will take place on Saturday, March 26, at Melbourne Leisure Centre. Entry forms should be obtained from Douglas Keith on 862722 and returned no later than March 15.

Admission to the public is £2 and the competition will continue into the evening.

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Chairman looks back on a successful year

I’M ASHAMED to say that I’d never been to a Melbourne Parish Council meeting.

For those of you in the same boat, let me tell you what I now know.

Meetings are open to the public, held on the first Tuesday of each month and take place in the council’s meeting room at the back of the leisure centre.

A list of the council chairmen dating back to1895 adorns the wall, as does a framed photo of the Queen and a piece of original artwork by Melbourne artist Laura Donaldson.

This month’s agenda began with the Annual Parish Meeting where the chairman, Councillor Nigel Collyer’s remarks noted that over the next 12 months he had aspired to see the restoration of the Castle Square monument, conclude the future of the leisure centre and see the developments surrounding the Melbourne Sporting Partnership.

The four committee chairmen reported back with a summary of activities over the past 12 months. What interested me most were the following:

n Cllr Brendan Freeman noting that a project to transfer the cemetery records to computer has resulted in a CD of the records being available for purchase by the general public.

n Cllr Paul Willmore outlining the latest plan of action to tackle the dog-fouling issue – which included the Highways Committee’s desire to get a conviction.

n Cllr Andrew Jackson’s disappointment that the request to hold two sessions of the summer sports programme on the Junior School playground had been declined. The Wheels Mobile will now be held at the Scout HQ. The rest of the Summer sporting activities will be held at the Recreation Ground.

n Cllr Rose Minifie, reporting on behalf of Cllr Christopher Howard, noting that consultants had been funded to help with the development of the Leisure Centre proposals and that the intrusive survey has been completed. The public raised issues included a request for an update on action taken to secure works to improve the roads in multiple locations, an idea to make the Packhorse Road phone box into a tourist information point following its acquisition by the council, and an invitation to council members to judge a Civic Society award in March.

The rest of the annual meeting consisted of formalities like signing off the financials and confirming that the council was on budget to finish the year with a small surplus.

The monthly parish council meeting that followed, in the most part, was carried out without contention –with the exception of a tense discussion on a motion to form a working party of three council member roles to attend meetings with SDDC and the Melbourne Community Group about the future of the leisure centre.

Cllr Cliff Crawford led the objections, citing illegality as his key issue and the concern that other councillors were being excluding from the proceed-

Cats

ings. This argument was countered by Cllr Collyer, who noted he had checked this issue with the National Association of Local Councils and he stressed that the nomination of only three council committee roles was to ensure that the partnership meetings ran efficiently, adding that the three attending members would not have any powers to make decisions or to take a vote.

The motion was eventually carried, although not unanimously as three objectors remained.

Other business

n Cllr Jim Hewlett will be distributing yellow cards in Chapel Street and surrounding areas that will encourage people to report dog foulers.

n Cllr Hewlett was pleased to report that SDDC had an average recycling rate of 48%, which was the highest in Derbyshire.

n SDDC has announced it will be saving an estimated £2.2 million over the next five years by creating a new management structure. Slimming down of senior roles means that two directors will become one, heads of service will be culled by 50 per cent and six principal officer posts will be reduced to three.

n Cllr John Harrison noted that there had been two accidents at the site of the recent changes to the Derby Road/Kings Newton Lane junction and he had raised this issue and more signage was being considered.

n Cllr Harrison wanted to assure residents that there were no planned changes to parking restrictions in the Market Place or on Church Street, despite the rumours. There would be some weight restriction signs being installed however.

n The planning application for the new Restaurant Zeerah on Derby Road to deliver hot food was approved after the proposal was received with more than 180 supportive signatures.

n The council wished its clerk, Norman Hill, a speedy recovery from his illness and wanted to thank him for continuing to produce the financial reports in the interim.

And finally ... the parish council website has had nearly 70,000 hits this year.

CLARE BAMPTON reports from

Melbourne Parish Council

IN 3 DAYS

It’s a dream come true for the new headmistress

AT five foot three, it’s great to feel like a giant. It doesn’t happen often; in fact, it hasn’t happened at all until now, but stood in Barrowon-Trent’s Sale and Davys C of E Primary School amongst the little chairs and tables, I am to those children what Nicole Kidman is to me (rather tall and not very interesting).

Called into the headmistress’ office, I automatically stand up straighter and remember the first time I ended up in such a place – when I got the slipper for talking in assembly.

What a surprise, in trouble for talking ...

I’m greeted by headmistress Sarah Briggs and her warm smile and enthusiastic handshake immediately put me at ease. Talking to Sarah I can easily understand how she was appointed head teacher here.

Born in Barrow, Sarah attended Bishop Lonsdale College in Mickleover, (now the University of Derby), and trained to be a teacher. After one year at a school in Alfreton, she headed home and became a class teacher at Barrow’s Sale and Davys.

Eight years ago Sarah became part of the school’s senior management team and, four years later, deputy head.

September 2010 saw Sarah promoted to head teacher for the school that currently has 101 pupils, a 2008 OFSTED ‘Outstanding School’ rating and a “very strong” PTA. Sarah is clearly qualified to do the job, but

Clare Bampton meets Sarah Briggs (pictured below), the head teacher at Sale and Davys School

that’s not what I see as her most important assets. She is clearly immersed in the local community and the children are at the heart of all her decisions. Whatever I quiz her on, the answers always recognise others’ contributions and always put the children’s interests first.

"The school doesn’t belong to the head teacher," Sarah tells me.

“You can’t be outstanding on your own, everyone plays a part in supporting our teaching and learning. We have a huge amount of parent and grandparent help, an exceptional PTA that raises money for our theme weeks as well as ‘bonus’ activities and, of course, all of our past and present staff that do such a good job and act as positive role models.

"The whole community rallies round the school, we have a lot of local businesses that help out too – from donating materials to clearing up leaves!”

And it’s not just a one way street, it’s obvious that the community loves Sarah too –she got married in the village church and schoolchildren and their parents went to the wedding.

Combining this full-time job with raising three children (aged 9,7 and 2) must be a challenge, but one that Sarah seems to really thrive on.

"It’s my dream job,” says Sarah. “I’m very lucky to be given the opportunity to make a difference to children’s lives, especially when that opportunity is in Barrow.”

‘I’m very lucky to be given the opportunity to make a difference to children’s lives’

Bob’s Bits are all the rage at quizzes

ASTON on Trent resident Bob Neill was the quiz master with a difference when he visited the Melbourne Wednesday Club with his 'Bits and Bobs ' quiz.

Bob has been doing his fun sessions for about 12 years. He takes a box of 25 items, many of them inherited from his grandfather's shop and house in Anglesey.

"We had a shop a bit like the one featured in 'Open All Hours', said Bob.

"I still have my grandfather's ledgers with lists of various goods we delivered to outlying farms and that was back in 1905."

Bob now has 25 boxes of Bits which he takes to a variety of groups in the community, such as Round Table, Probus and Inner Wheel.

He says that many of the elderly think it's a great session because they remember many of the items from their younger days. It also works well for groups with blind or partially sighted members, enabling them to use their sense of touch.

Distance seems to be no barrier for Bob and his quiz travelling all over the Midlands to Oakham, Melton Mowbray, Newark and as far as Bletchley. The items you may find in a

box of Bits are fairly small handheld items such as something to sharpen a razor blade with or something ... but we don't want to give too much away because you might go along to one of

quizzes and take part yourself.

Rose rings the bell in move for new school

A CALL to arms has been sounded to anyone willing to help investigate the setting up of a new secondary school in Melbourne.

Local mum Rose Minifie is organising a meeting this month to establish if there is support for starting one of the Government's new “free schools” in Melbourne.

The Government's flagship scheme enables local groups such as parents, teachers, charities, faith organisations or private companies to set up schools which will be taxpayer-funded but operate outside local authority control.

Groups all over the country are applying to the Government to set up free schools, with the first expected to open its doors in September. Mum-of-two Rose supports the idea for Melbourne and is asking for anyone else “seriously interested” to go along to a meeting at the Bill Shone Leisure Centre on Wednesday, March 16, from 7.30pm to 9pm.

“I'd like anyone who is willing to give their time, knowledge and effort to this to come along to the meeting,” she said.

“That's not just parents and teachers, but also any professionals who might be able to help. The evening will not be a general information session, but will be to establish a group to look into the idea. If we can establish a core group to find out how we would go about establishing a school, the aim would be to hold a general public meeting at a later date so that people in Melbourne and the surrounding villages can come along and ask questions and we can then find out if the idea is supported locally.”

Anyone who cannot attend the meeting but who would like more information or to be involved can contact Rose on roseminifie@gmail.com.

Crime figures

PC DEB Croxall, of the Derby South Safer Neighbourhood Team, has reported the February crime figures, which are shown as numbers of crimes/reported incidents: Melbourne 6/6, Ticknall 0/0, Smisby 1/1, Swarkestone 0/0, Ingleby and Stanton by Bridge 0/0, Barrow on Trent 4/0, Weston on Trent 0/1, Aston on Trent 0/9, Shardlow 5/0.

Bob’s

Bob is pictured with Wednesday club members Sheila Blood, Mavis Booth, Betty Bateman and Lindsay Usher.

Members' Surgery

Councillors: Patrick Murray and Michael Stanton

Saturday, 26 March, 2011 10.00am - 11.00am

KENDRICKS CLOSE COMMUNITY ROOM, REPTON ROAD, HARTSHORNE

Contact also welcomed by e-mail pat.murray@south-derbys.gov.uk Tel 01283 219687 or michael.stanton@south-derbys.gov.uk Tel 01332 862044

Car-nival honour for local garage owners

THEY have been selling, repairing and filling cars in Melbourne for nearly half a century – now they will be riding in one to open the 2011 Melbourne Carnival.

Dove’s Garage owners Norman and Rosemary Jackson (pictured) will be the guests of honour at this year's summer spectacular.

“We hope the carnival's a great success and they have great weather for it,” says Rosemary. The couple, 72 and 68, have been at the helm of the High Street business since 1976 when they took it over from the Dove family.

One of Melbourne's best established family-run businesses, it was originally a 19th century blacksmiths.

“It started off as a blacksmiths,” says Norman. “It was gradually moving over to car repairs but there was still a

blacksmith after the war. In the early 50s it moved over to motors, repairs and car sales.”

Norman first joined it as a partner in 1967, having trained as a mechanic in Kennings of Derby after leaving school.

The family tradition is still going strong with the couple's children, David and Eleanor, now running the garage. Over the course of its history it has also been a Rover dealer, and it now sells second hand cars, carries out repairs and encompasses the Texaco filling station.

Rosemary and Norman are originally from Kings Newton and have known each other all their lives. They live in the attractive 18th century Close House adjoining the garage, which was once a bakery.

The couple have been asked to open this year's carnival in recognition of their long-standing service to the community. They will be in one of the

lead cars in the procession, along with the lucky girl who has been crowned this year's Miss Melbourne and her attendants.

Once at the carnival they will declare the event open from the main stage.

“It's nice that people get together for the carnival,” says Rosemary.

“You see people that you've not seen for a while – some people come back to Melbourne specially for it.”

For more information about this year's event or to organise a float for the procession, contact carnival chairman Rose Minifie email roseminifie@gmail.com or 07795 362936.

Anyone interested in running a stall can get in touch with site and stalls organiser Rachel Hill on melbournecarnival@hotmail.co.uk.

Jazz band swings inDancing in the street

THE Hot House Big Band will be performing a concert of jazz and swing in Aston-on-Trent on March 26.

Formerly known as the East Midlands Youth Jazz Orchestra, they will be remembered for their sell-out performances at the Melbourne Festival for the last four years. They are a nationally renowned youth jazz ensemble who, as well as playing regularly around the East Midlands, have had several successful tours of Europe and the USA.

They will be playing a wide range of accessible jazz, including classics from the swing era by the likes of Count Basie and Glen Miller, well-known songs from the heyday of the Rat Pack and even some pieces specially composed for them.

The concert is at All Saints’ Church in Aston-on-Trent and starts at 7.30pm. Tickets can be obtained by calling Derby 701108.

YOUNG people living in Melbourne are being invited to show off their smooth moves at street dance classes.

A qualified instructor will be hip hopping her way to the Athenaeum in Potter Street between 5pm and 6pm on Saturday, April 9, for the first session. Available for 10 to 16 year-olds, the sessions are to be held on a weekly basis and will cost £2 per person.

Toni Jantschenko, Village Games Co-ordinator for South Derbyshire, said: “Street dance covers so many positive areas. It’s a way of getting fit, it helps with team building, it helps develop creative skills and above all, it’s terrific fun to be involved in and it’s a great spectacle to watch.”

The sessions have been organised by South Derbyshire District Council, the Village Games project and the Athenaeum.

Further information is available by calling 07874 684150.

Melbourne set for Jubilee party time

PUT this date in your diary: Saturday, June 2, 2012.

That is the day Melbourne, in traditional style, will celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

A meeting led by parish council chairman Nigel Collyer supported by several parish councillors, but with a rather sparse attendance of other residents, agreed the date, and made tentative plans for this great national event.

The Diamond Jubilee will be celebrated nationally over four days – from June 2 through to June 5, the Monday and the Tuesday being public holidays.

There was general agreement about a venue for a great celebration, a street party, in Castle Square, over the afternoon and evening, with bands playing and food and drink stalls.

There was also discussion as to whether

in the afternoon the annual Fete and Carnival could be brought forward by six weeks from the usual mid-July.

The Government apparently has promised to "sweep away all the bureaucracy and red tape" that has in the last few years hobbled many local events with problems over licences and insurance.

A round robin is to be circulated to local groups and organisations to consider what contribution they can make towards creating a great day for all tastes and ages.

The letter will be sent to invite representatives to attend a meeting on Monday, April 18, at Melbourne Leisure Centre at 7.30pm.

At this meeting, it is hoped to create a steering committee to plan the events and bring ideas forward to finalise plans and or-

ganise the event in detail.

"It will be a crying shame if Melbourne does not have a royal celebration," said Cllr Collyer.

Certainly there has been a long history of locally celebrating royal and national events: many will recall events in 1977, at the Silver Jubilee of the Queen, and the celebrations of VE day in 1995.

It was agreed that there would be no organised event to celebrate the forthcoming royal wedding, as the time was too short.

■ Kings Newton has traditionally celebrated royal and national events since at least the end of the Crimean War in 1855.

For the Diamond Jubilee, Kings Newton will be holding its village celebrations on Monday, June 4.

MINSTER EXHIBITION FOR MICHAEL

FORMER pupil at Chellaston School and now a professional painter, Michael Cook will be holding an exhibition of his work at Southwell Minster in Nottinghamshire in the lead-up to Easter.

The exhibition, March 12 - April 15, consists of 13 paintings that explore the theme of the Garden of Gethsemane. The focus of a large number of his canvases is on the flora and fauna to be found in the garden.

Michael’s aim is not to illustrate this famous story in a literal way but to evoke and suggest certain emotional states and atmospheres surrounding Christ’s period in the garden.

A typical example can be seen in his painting called “Honesty in Moonlight”, as Michael points out when he says: "The transparency of the plant suggests honesty, but there are many associations with money too because of the coin-like shape of the seed heads; 30 pieces of silver, falling coins and the tragedy of Judas."

Michael, who now lives and works in Derby, is steadily building up a reputation as a painter of religion-based art with a growing following of dedicated collectors. He regularly exhibits his art at the Melbourne Festival and the Ingleby Gallery.

info@melbournelets.co.uk

www.melbournelets.co.uk

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Fromthesmallestblind toyourdreamhome...

HAVING only been started in September of last year the 1st Weston Rainbows presented a £20 note to Geoffrey Salt, treasurer of the League of Friends, Derbyshire Children's hospital.

The girls collected the money from acting out a modern day Nativity Play in December. It was first performed in the parish church of St Mary the Virgin at Weston on Trent, on December 5. The girls enjoyed taking part so much they decided to repeat it again for those

members of the community who could not attend the service at church. They all thought it was a good idea to donate the proceeds to the children's hospital.

Mr Salt (above) visited the Rainbows to collect the donation and enjoyed a drink and biscuits with the pack, saying that the money would be put towards the making of a new DVD, to inform children what happens when they have to attend hospital for an operation.

Recruiting now! No experience is necessary

BUSINESS people, opinion-formers, community groups and even the parish councillors themselves have all put out a plea to the residents of South Derbyshire to consider running for the parish council when elections take place on Thursday, May 5.

With uncontested positions for more than a decade, the local area needs new, enthusiastic people to stand for election.

Melbourne Parish Council chairman Nigel Collyer says: “The parish council should be representative of the people who live and work in the area. I would like to lay waste to the idea that we enjoy being uncontested councillors and if anyone is considering running, I would be happy to talk to them about it.

“Often prospective candidates are concerned about the amount of time that they will need to dedicate to their duties. However, in reality, they need to attend two meetings a month, 11 months of the year.”

Time commitment isn’t the only issue for local people when making a decision to put themselves forward. Local Conservative group chairman Jim Hewlett says: “Often it is assumed that you have to have strong political views or be part of a political party to run for parish elections, but in fact there is very little relevance of national party politics at this level. What our parish council needs is level-headed people who are prepared to give their time

TO contest an election the candidate must:

● be over 18

● be on the electoral register

● have lived or worked as a British / Irish / Commonwealth / European citizen or owned property in the area for at least the past 12 months.

To stand as a candidate in a parish council election two people (a proposer and seconder) will need to sign the nomination paper.

Nominations cannot be submitted before March 25 but nominations must be submitted no later than noon on April 4. Date and time are strictly observed.

Nomination papers can be obtained from SDDC (http://www.south-derbys.gov.uk).

to help run the village.”

No previous experience is necessary, so if you would like to get involved submit a nomination before noon on April 4.

Into cricket? Run out and catch a copy of this anniversary book

“HE DOVE ‘n’ ketched it!” – sub-titled The History of the Melbourne Town Cricket Club – is being published to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the club.

Written by Andy Heafield, the publication has been made possible with the help of the Derbyshire Cultural Services and was recently featured on the Colin Bloomfield sports show on Radio Derby when it was described as “a great read, full of rich characters and colourful stories”.

The book has a foreword from club patron Lord Ralph Kerr and congratulatory letters from the Lord Mayor of Melbourne and the chief executive of Melbourne Cricket Club in Australia.

There are chapters on village cricket, cricket humour, classic captaincy together with the history of the club and more than 50 unique illustrations. The book is a balance of the historical and hysterical and will appeal to anyone with an interest in cricket and local history.

The author has selected his greatest Melbourne XI of all time, delved into the cricket archives and pays tribute to the Melbourne legends of cricket.

He also writes about cricket development through the decades and looks at the many social changes that affected the game locally, from its Victorian origins, through the Edwardian era and right up to the modern day. One section pays tribute to the appeal of local cricket and in particular to the cricket clubs of nearby rivals Ticknall and the now sadly disbanded Breedon on the Hill club.

The book is being officially launched on Tuesday, April 19, at 6pm in the Royal Suite, Melbourne British Legion.

The photographs shown on the front cover of the book are clockwise from top left: Derbyshire fast bowling Les Jackson and Melbourne umpire George Ensor; 1907 Melbourne team; Jim Horsley, Melbourne and Derbyshire cricketer; Melbourne 2nd XI in the 2010 Harry Lund Cup Final.

The 1907 championship-winning team are: (rear, left to right) A E Andrews, J W Blood, J H Knipe, E Tivey, J F Andrews, Albert E Andrews, A J Hatton;( front, left to right) R C Tivey, S E Tivey, E Salsbury, F J Illsley and F Wilson.

Poppy Appeal thanks to pub landlord Denis

LANDLORD of Ticknall pub, The Chequers, Denis Hylton was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation from the Royal British Legion for his support for the Poppy Appeal over a number of years.

The most recent contribution in 2010 was for £750 raised from customers' contributions to the swear box and funds raised from a competition to guess how much money the box contained.

The certificate was signed by Melbourne RBL president Richard Heath and Sue Potts, local Poppy Organiser for the last 17 years.

Denis is pictured with Sue and Terry Potts being presented with his certificate.

book up quickly – if the centre is not open please leave a message on the answer

Council boss talks of efficiency drive

FRANK McArdle, chief executive of South Derbyshire District Council, provided an overview of his authority's budget at the Quarterly Area Forum.

With less Government funding and South Derbyshire one of the fastest growing districts in the UK, balancing the books was going to be challenging and cost savings through improved efficiencies was a keynote theme.

“The net running costs of the council are £13million and reductions of just under 15% in 2011/12 and 11% in 2012/13 from the Government require a major focus on how the council can deliver a budget that will provide services that are expected by the community,” said Mr McArdle.

Hit by economic factors, like all of us, in fuel, low interest on investments, the council is focussing on efficiencies, and Mr McArdle said that “to date, savings are in the region of £675,000, and include improvements such as sweating assets longer and harder, entering partnerships, for example bringing in companies to provide the back office with staff transferring”.

With the additional Council Tax freeze invoked

by the Coalition Government it’s going to be a challenging year for Mr McArdle and his colleagues, no doubt similar to the rest of the population.

Sgt Andy Sutherland provided an update on area crime with news that there has been a 6% fall on figures from April 1 to January 31, compared to the same period in 2009/10 – “a cut that’s good to hear about”.

Two areas of increasing crime were noted: assaults up from 38 to 49 and burglaries from 21 to 36 in the area. Now Melbourne is back on the police radar, monitoring anti-social behaviour after an increase of eight reports in January around the Market Place/Lamb Inn area.

Cllr Peter Watson also continued his seemingly ‘one-man crusade’ on A50 signage to prevent HGVs from utilising the Swarkestone Causeway. Suggesting that the county council had approved alternate route signs, he had seen no further action. The Highways Agency is responsible for the A50 and Cllr John Harrison advised he would endeavour to obtain a response.

– SB

Airport hoping willow farm will take off

AFTER the launch of the first UK airport willow farm in March last year, East Midlands Airport has now begun the first steps to ensure that the crop is at full strength for its first harvest in 2013.

The airport enlisted the expertise of T H Heath Contracts Limited, a local agricultural con-

tractor, to carry out the technique known as coppicing.

Using the traditional method encourages the trees to grow more shoots and enables them to grow healthily for up to 30 years.

The willow will be used in a bio-mass boiler, which will be situated in the terminal build-

ing in 2012 to coincide with the airport’s commitment to be carbon neutral by 2012.

The next phase of planting is planned to begin this month with the total 26 hectares to be completely planted by 2013.

The willow farm is expected to produce around 280 tonnes of wood fuel annually.

Barry’s been boxing clever

BARRY Thomas of Melbourne has been engaged in a very worthwhile and painstaking activity for the last five months, which he has now completed. Barry has been sorting through the parish council records that have been saved since 1894. His prime interest when starting the task was to locate information relating to local public footpaths but once he had started he realised that there were other things he could do at the same time. He has now archived, indexed and loaded onto a computer database the information which is contained in 23 boxes and 10 tubes of maps and plans.

“The parish council was very active in keeping footpaths open until 1960 and I’m delighted that we have been able to access these records,” said Barry.

“Responsibility passed to the county council in the late 1950s and they in turn have been very helpful in providing copies of the definitive maps of all local footpaths.”

From the information he has obtained, Barry (pictured with the boxed records) will be writing a history of the local footpaths for the Melbourne Historical Research Group.

DROP-IN INVITATION FOR RESIDENTS

A SECOND wave of drop-in events with communities in the area has been organised by South Derbyshire District Council this month.

An open invitation is available for residents in Aston, Bar-

row and Weston on Trent, Shardlow and Boulton Moor to attend the All Saints Heritage Centre in Aston on Trent on Tuesday, March 22, between 3pm and 7.30pm.

The sessions have been lined

GOOD FOOD SERVED EVERY DAY

Open 12 - 8 Sundays

Every lunch until 3.00pm Evenings 6.00pm - 9.00pm Saturday morning breakfast buffet from 9am

FRIDAY 18th MARCH

Comic Relief Pyjama Party - Charity Auction and Disco

FRIDAY 29th, SATURDAY 30th APRIL AND SUNDAY 1st MAY

Royal Wedding Beer Festival Weekend

FRIDAY 27th MAY - Kids Street Party

FRIDAY 27th AND SATURDAY 28th MAY - Live Music

SUNDAY 1st MAY Open Mic / Karaoke

up to get people more involved in deciding how to plan for future development and improved community facilities in their neighbourhoods.

Planners from SDDC will be on hand to discuss issues.

Book now for Mothers Day on Sunday 3rd April

Sunday

Starters

Tomato & basil soup (v)

Classic prawn cocktail

Chicken liver parfait, homemade brioche

Goats cheese & red onion tart, rocket salad (v)

Smoked salmon roulade, pickled cucumber & brown bread

Mains

Traditional roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roasted potatoes & vegetables

Slow cooked lamb shank, aromatic cous cous & green beans

Roasted salmon & crab tagliatelle

Mushroom & blue cheese tart, spinach & new potatoes

Pan fried chicken, gratin potatoes, carrot purée

Dessert

Sticky toffee pudding & toffee sauce

Apple crumble & homemade custard

Bakewell tart & clotted ice cream

White chocolate crème brulée & orange biscuits

Stilton, celery, grapes & crackers

3 courses £21.00

EVELYN ANDREWS

1911-2011

THE UNITED Reformed Church (URC) was full for a Service of Celebration for the life of its member, Evelyn, who was born almost a century ago in Church Street, Melbourne. She was the Hulse family’s seventh child, not all of whom survived.

LANE Patricia Ellen of Melbourne.

Wife of the late Colonel Charles Lane, loving mother of Peter, Timothy, Jane and Sarah, a grandmother and great grandmother, passed peacefully away on Saturday 5th February 2011 at home, aged 95 years.

The funeral service was held at the crematorium on Friday, 11th February. Donations if so desired for either the Donkey Sanctuary at Sidmouth or the P.D.S.A.

Any enquiries may be made to JP Springthorpe & Co. Funeral Directors, 17 Potter Street, Melbourne DE73 8DX Tel: 01332 865511.

Her father was a blacksmith and her mother, a high quality tailoress, who taught Evelyn to “cut her coat according to the cloth”.

When Evelyn was five, the family moved to 17 Market Place, where there was no tap water, so they used to “take a white bucket to the pump for lovely spring water”. She remembered a Zeppelin flying over and the man at the King’s Head shooting at it with an air rifle.

Evelyn worked at the Tivey and Andrews shoe factory on South Street until it closed and there met Bert Andrews whom she later married at Melbourne Baptist Chapel. She also worked in the stockroom at Marks & Spencer in Derby, making a number of lifelong friends.

Evelyn was a good cook who was a caring person, loved company, a chat and was always smart. A dainty, nimble lady, she used to enjoy dancing with her husband.

Evelyn was attending coffee mornings and lunches and enjoying outings with the URC into her 90s.

OBITUARIES

In 2000, Evelyn was interviewed for Melbourne Historical Research Group’s first project on the Clearance Areas of ‘New York’ and ‘The Puzzle’. Poorer times were described: means testing, wooden huts for people suffering from consumption (TB), buying greens from people’s back doors and the packaging for a cucumber being its leaf. Although people didn’t have a lot of money, she saw them as happy and her own family always managed to have a good dinner: leg beef, all the veg and a suet pudding, steamed in a cloth. “Nothing fancy at teatime: bread and home-made jam.”

During recent years, Evelyn had been able to continue to live in her Melbourne home, supported by the constant devotion and care of her family. She was predeceased by her husband and daughter Ruth, a ‘blue baby’, who only lived a few days. Evelyn is survived by daughters, Shirley and Judith, four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. – Jean

Grimley

DOROTHY JOAN MALONE 1927- 2010

DOROTHY, who died peacefully at her home on New Year's Eve, spent a happy childhood in North Yorkshire. She was an only child.

She met her husband Joe after the war, and they moved to Long Eaton in 1973. A career move took the couple out to the Middle East in the late 1970s, and they spent a happy and interesting time out there for almost 20 years. Dorothy was sadly widowed in 1991.

In 2000 she moved to Melbourne to be nearer her dear friends, Linda and Colwyn Lee, of Swarkestone. She loved her life in Melbourne, made many friends and became busy and involved in the activities and social life of the town. She joined the bowls club and became vice-captain and fixtures secre-

tary. She became a member of Melbourne WI, took on the role of treasurer and was an active member of several of Melbourne’s churches, especially the United Reformed Church, where her funeral was held. It was well attended by many of her friends, old and new. A collection was taken with approximately £500 being raised, which has been given to the WI in her memory.

The WI is to have a bench dedicated to her. It will be situated in the garden at the senior citizens centre overlooking the bowls club. The remaining monies will be donated to Derbyshire Leicestershire Air Ambulance.

A Dorothy Malone trophy, donated by her god daughter Claire, is to be awarded each year to a WI member. She will be sadly missed by Linda and Colwyn, their family, her two god daughters, Alex and Claire, and her three stepsons, Anthony, Keith and Ken, their children, and all her friends.

Village Voice Postbag

I SLEPT easy ever since assured by Griselda Kerr that a proper forum existed in Melbourne for parking concerns (cf Village VoiceSeptember).

This was until – out of the blue and to the surprise of all the residents of the Market Place – a county council official arrived to inform us that, after five years' peace, parking restrictions were to be reinstated on the stretch of road opposite the bus stop.

Not only this, but the polite lady told us that 'if we had a problem we shouldn't live in old houses without drives'.

That – as far as she was concerned – was the end of the debate.

During the last five years there have been no major problems; the stretch of road has serviced the needs of the retailers and residents alike without notable incident or complaint. We have all co-existed as responsible adults – so why the need to change?

There are many good reasons why one should not change. For instance, the re-introduction of restrictions on this stretch will push residents' parking further down Church Street, where additional pressures have been created with a new development that was approved without off-street parking.

The county council hasn't been able to explain why it wants to reapply restrictions. A cynic might suggest it's simply to justify the existence of under-employed, loss-making parking attendants.

The attitude of the county council official hurts most. Why should we not live in the centre of Melbourne and enjoy reasonable access to our properties?

Surely the unique quality of Melbourne Market Place is defined as much by the beautiful Georgian properties that surround it as by the retailer presence. Indeed, there are many more residencies than there are retailers.

However, these last five years have demonstrated sound co-existence and the real social value of laisser faire. Furthermore. if it ain't broke why allow some ignorant bullying jobsworth from Matlock to tell us how to live our lives.

– Bruno Rost

County council official’s attitude really hurt Outstanding result

I HAVE just heard through a friend that Kangaroos pre-school which runs from the Wesley Hall has been given an ‘outstanding’ rating by Ofsted.

As a parent this is great news as we now have a pre-school that is outstanding; an infant school that is outstanding; a junior school that is good with outstanding elements; and a secondary school that is outstanding.

What more could we ask for?

I daresay you have been passed this news already but I just wanted to make sure you know as I thought it was great when I heard it.

–Melbourne resident and parent

Canon photograph

IN response to several enquiries to the Village Voice we can advise that the picture used in conjunction with the obituary for The Reverend Canon Robert Ralph Honner published in the February edition was copied from a painting by Lady Marie Claire Kerr of Melbourne Hall.

IT’S NOT often that the conversation in a pub starts with comments of approval about flowers but at the John Thompson at this time of year it’s quite common. “That’s a magnificent display of snowdrops in the centre of the village” (Ingleby) is a quite commonplace remark from customers.

Ann Redfearn who lives in Ingleby is the person responsible for the display. She decided some years ago that the village needed a sign that spring was on its way and she planted over a 1,000 bulbs that now generate the warm appreciation of villagers and visitors alike.

Melbourne Dental Practice

REPAIRS

New shooting club gets on target

THERE is a new target shooting club in Melbourne whose objective is to provide facilities for, and to encourage and promote participation, in the sport of six yard bell target shooting using air rifles.

The club is located at the Royal British Legion Club.

The intention is to develop and form one or more teams of marksmen to compete in shoulder to shoulder competitions with other six yard bell target clubs in the Midlands area.

The club boasts a friendly atmosphere of air gun enthusiasts, many of whom are particularly interested in spring powered air guns, including collectable pistols and rifles and earlier type target air rifles – mainly of UK and German manufacture.

The action takes place in the comfortable surroundings of the club's Royal Suite and the weekly Thursday meeting is an opportunity for members to shoot, compete and talk about their particular shooting interests.

Talks/presentations are given by volunteer members of the club on various aspects of the sport such as the history and develop-

ment of airguns for sporting and competition shooting, and there are weekly target shooting competitions. Anyone interested in joining should go along on a Thursday evening or visit the web

site for contact information www.melbournemarksmen.co.uk

Three-year plan for the town’s sports project

THE scheme aimed at providing Melbourne with the sporting facilities it craves could take as long as three years to come to fruition.

"This is a very big, ambitious and long-term project indeed," said Douglas Keith, secretary of the Melbourne Sporting Partnership.

"It will take perhaps as long as three years to build and complete the sporting facilities which Melbourne needs and deserves."

It is an ambitious scheme to provide Melbourne with sporting facilities in Cockshut Lane which everyone in the town will be proud of, and which will provide state of the art facilities which will last for decades. It will provide good options for football, rugby, cricket, tennis and bowls, as well as the social amenities so essential in the modern sporting world.

The scheme is being helped along with professional consultancy advice paid for by the South Derbyshire District Council, and is being monitored by a top district council officer, Stuart Batchelor. Mr Batchelor said: "This is a difficult, but exciting project, which will take time to reach fruition, and requires close and continuous

working together by the various sporting clubs involved. Certainly, the various partners to the project have worked well together with the consultants, putting together a feasibility study, which will address many of the detailed factors involved in the creation and running of a multi sports club".

The major study is well in hand, and should report to the district council by the end of March.

Mr Keith emphasised that the "building blocks" were being thrashed out - the layouts of each club's playing areas, and the basic constitution of a multi-sports club.

He said: "The clubs are certainly working well together, under the guidance of the consultants, Transition Ltd, represented locally by Julian Pagliaro. The issue of the capital funding necessary for the project – possibly £1.5million – depends on the outcome of this consultantcy process.

"Another issue to be considered is the capacity to cover running costs when the projects are completed, so each club is now making realistic assessments of membership cash receipts."

Mr Keith said: "The project, backed by the Melbourne Parish Council, and in the last resort dependent on cash and goodwill from the district council, will require enthusiasm, and patience by everyone involved, working closely together, and recognising that the whole multi-sport club is greater than the sum of the parts." –

DOB

Naomi Fry BDS & Associates, Helen Baker BDS, Manal Muneer B.D.S

Pictured lining up for a spot of target practice are (left to right) John Shinn, John Watson, Daryl Hart and Dave Hart.

Rugby Club holds on to seCond spot in table

MELBOURNE Rugby Club first team continue their winning ways, but came unstuck against Dronfield. However, they do maintain second place in the league.

First saw an away trip to Southwell, a side comfortably beaten at Cockshut Lane. Melbourne continued their form of January and picked up a bonus point with a 29-6 win. Tries from Ash Stringer (2), Olly Page and Jacob Watts were accompanied by nine points from skipper Euan Holden’s boot.

Another away trip saw the side travel to Ashfield and again they picked up a bonus point win with a 29-13 victory. Four tries were scored from Stringer, Will Judge, Ben Wigger and Jacob Watts, with Holden again kicking nine points.

The final game of the month saw the visit of Dronfield, who currently occupy fourth place in the league. Played in very difficult conditions, on a boggy, wet pitch, Dronfield’s bigger pack controlled the game to run out 15-10 winners.

Melbourne’s running style of play was negated by the pitch and Dronfield took advantage. The first 20 minutes were even and scoreless with Melbourne disrupted by the loss of Matt Smith and having to re-organise the pack.

Dronfield took a 3-0 lead with a penalty and immediately scored a try, following a dropped pass by the Melbourne winger.

The second half saw Dronfield put huge pressure on the Melbourne pack and they eventually scored another converted try to lead 15-0.

Melbourne finally woke up and scored a penalty from Euan Holden. Ash Stringer then scored a try from a cross field kick converted by Holden. This left the game poised at 10-15. However, Melbourne could not force another score.

Handling errors (understandable in the conditions) and indiscipline did not help Melbourne’s cause, again playing with 14 men for 10 minutes after Will Judge was sent to the sin bin. Final score was 10-15, with Melbourne picking up a bonus point.

Melbourne retain second spot in Midlands Three East, 10 points behind leaders Notts Casuals, with two games in hand. The series of league games continue throughout March, with difficult away trips to Ashfield, Dronfield and Grimsby.

MELBOURNE Seconds had only one game in February, with another two being postponed. Matlock Thirds visited Cockshut Lane for a Pennant fixture. The corresponding fixture at Matlock was a close affair

and saw Melbourne lose by only three points, so Melbourne were confident of turning the tables at home.

However, it was not to be. Matlock arrived with an unrecognisable side from the first fixture, with a mixture of colts and experienced players in the side. Dave Lowson skippered the team in the absence of Steve Wales and they were disrupted by the late arrival of the hooker, which resulted in a reshuffle in the pack.

The Melbourne pack was under pressure all game but performed very well in the lineout. Two errors from Melbourne gifted Matlock with a couple of scores. Neither sets of backs got much ball, but when Melbourne did Rob Foster (returning from injury) did well to get the side going forward. Half-time was 0-12.

The second half saw Melbourne up their game with Jake Oxspring, Pete Ilott and Belly constantly testing the defence but, despite almost 20 minutes camped inside Matlock’s 22, they could not cross the line. Matlock scored three more tries, two close range efforts and a long range effort from their fullback.

Final score was 0-29 and Melbourne seconds currently occupy third place in Pennant league 5.

Chiefs are able to show who is boss

IN VERY windy conditions Melbourne Minis Under 12s travelled to Derby RFC and struggled to match the physicality of their opponents. The rucks and mauls were disorganised and scattered which suited the frantic and disruptive style of the home side. Derby scored a try in each half to run out deserved winners 10-0.

The Chiefs were keen to take to the field against Derby B and provided lots of possession resulting in a five-try haul in the first half. The second half saw a perfectly good try disallowed but from the resulting scrum a sixth was added to the tally. With all six converted, the Chiefs sealed their excellent performance with a convincing win 42-0.

The Chiefs travelled to take part in the Leicestershire Triangular with mixed results, two wins and two losses. The wins against Mkt Harborough B 10-0 and Leicester Forest East B 10-5 compensated for the two losses against Leicester Forest ‘A’ going down 15-0 and a combined Leicester Forest ‘A/B’ 20-0.

The Chariots saw eight players score tries in their game against Oakham, helping them to secure a 40-20 win.

Melbourne Chariots travelled to Wolverhampton to take on two of Staffordshire’s top clubs – Wolverhampton, who had won all their

fixtures this season, and Stafford, who are a renowned club at the top end of Staffordshire Rugby.

Melbourne prepared well, hit the ground running and pulled off two champion wins by beating Wolverhampton 20-0 and Stafford 155.

The Melbourne Chiefs were less successful in their game against Sutton Coldfield A, going down 45-7.

The U12s finished the month in splendid fashion with both Chariots and Chiefs running amock in their devastating wins over the visiting opposition. The Chariots hosted Hinckley and allowed them only one try to their 12 posting a final score of 60-5. The tries came from James Askew, Joe Travers, Ollie Cope, Joe Nalty, Jack Slater, Henry Kaczmarcyk (2), Ben Goddard (2) and Jack Bull (3).

Not to be outdone, the Chiefs took on Leesbrook and won by an even greater margin, achieving a final score of Chiefs 78, Leesbrook 14 with tries from Dan Bostock, Ezra Tate, Lito Cahilig, Charlie Tomlinson, Derice Laing, Peter Hobbs, Joshua Bowesman-Jones (3), Jack Brough (3) and conversions from Charlie Tomlinson (2), Dan Bostock, George Simpkins, Joshua Bowesman-Jones (2) and Ezra Tate (2).

Jamie picks up british judo title

JAMIE Spencer-Pickup has just been crowned a British judo champion.

Jamie, a pupil at Aston on Trent Primary School, competed in the Junior British Judo Championships at Crystal Palace, fighting in the under12s under 38kg weight category.

After successfully winning his pool fights he found himself in the semi-finals and subsequently then on to the final. Jamie’s winning streak continued with him winning the final to become the British National Under 38kg Champion.

Jamie, a member of the Ryecroft and Long Eaton judo clubs, continues to pursue his other interest in soccer as a member of the Notts County squad. He is pictured proudly sporting his medal at Crystal Palace.

Robbie returns to defend fun run title

THE Melbourne Fun Run, now in its fourth year, takes place on Sunday, April 10 . The format this year is unchanged from last year's successful event, with a single lap of the course for the "Funny Bunny Run" (5.6km), and two laps for the "Rabbit Race" (11.2km).

The event headquarters is once again at the Senior Citizens' Centre, on Church Street, close to the race start point at Melbourne Pool. The two-lap Rabbit Race starts first, at 11.30am, followed five minutes later by the fun runners, with both races finishing at the Senior Citizens' Centre.

Local runner Robbie Kerr, who won last year's race by over two and a half minutes, will be returning to defend his title, as part of his build-up to the following week's London Marathon. Louise Insley, who finished eighth overall to win the women's race last year by an even bigger margin, will also be hoping for a repeat victory.

The event website, www.melbournefunrun.org.uk, has an extensive photo gallery of the 2010 event, along with all the results, and entry details for this year. Runners can enter on-line, or ring the event organiser, John Burney on 01332 862225 for an entry form.

Entries in advance close on April 4 and cost £10 for seniors or £5 for under-16s; late entries will be accepted on the day, at £12 and £6 respectively. Second and subsequent children from the same family can be entered at the concession rate of just £3.

The event is organised by Melbourne Rotary Club, and again the emphasis is on sponsorship. All runners are encouraged to raise money for their own favourite charities or for the Rotary Club's nominated charities, the D.L.R. Air Ambulance and Rainbows Hospice.

A total of over £5,000 has been raised by the fun run over the last three years. Sponsorship forms can also be downloaded from the website, or obtained from the event organiser.

Five-a-side glory for junior school

Cup setback in a bad month for Dynamo

MELBOURNE Dynamo had another disappointing month, going out of the Challenge Cup and drawing their only league game.

They began at home to Wirksworth Town and were soundly beaten 5-0 with a very poor team performance.

This was followed by a home game with Belper United. Dynamo were leading 3-1 with 20 minutes to go thanks to goals from Matt Brian, Danny Guild and a Lee Scott penalty, but the away side scored two late goals to leave the final score-line 3-3.

MELBOURNE DYNAMO RESERVES fared even worse, losing both their games. Away to Rowsley Reserves, Melbourne went down 2-1 with Matt Brian getting the consolation goal.

This was followed by a 3-2 away defeat against Punjab United with Dave Dunhill

and Steve Bryam getting on the scoresheet.

TICKNALL RANGERShad a superb month winning through to another semifinal and winning their only league game in dramatic style. Away to Shobnall Athletic, a superb team performance earned Ticknall a 2-1 victory with strike duo Alex Slater and Matt Smart getting the all-important goals, although special mention must go to Ben Newton, who saved a last minute penalty to secure Ticknall’s passage to the semis.

In the league at home to AFC Stapenhill, Ticknall found themselves 2-1 down with seven minutes to go but a Craig Hall headed equaliser was followed by a last-minute finish from skipper Kev Earp to give them all three points.

This victory takes Rangers into fourth place and, with games in hand, they could possibly go nine points clear at the top.

AFC STREAMLINE had no luck in February and lost both their league games. They began with a match against Beeston VC and goals from Paul Tebbatt after just 15 seconds and a superb lob from Ali Findlay gave them a 2-0 half-time lead.

A strong wind pushed the visitors on and Streamline ended up 7-2 losers.

A last-minute penalty miss by Colin Pope summed up the team’s performance. At home to West Hallam, Streamline took the lead through an own goal after good work by Phil Evans – but two late goals saw Streamline having to push for an equaliser. They were denied a blatant penalty in the last minute.

THE BLUE BELL had just one game in February going down 3-1 to Spondon Dynamo Seniors with Dan Robinson getting the consolation.

THE five-a-side soccer team from Melbourne Junior School is celebrating after winning the indoor league against other South Derbyshire schools. Games have been played since November in weekly fixtures at Greenbank Leisure Centre, Swadlincote.

Coached by Marcus Radcliff and organised by Mrs Rachael Graham, the team played 16 matches, winning 14 of them. The team also had the biggest goal difference.

Mrs Graham said: ‘We are very proud of our boys. They played well together and showed excellent sportsmanship throughout the competition. We are looking forward to our next round against the winners of the Derby City competition."

TICKNALL RANGERS: (back row, l-r) Mark Nixon, Matt Smart, Jon Hallam, Dean Tivey, James Wetton, Ben Newton, Kevin Earp (capt), Craig Hall, Ben Dale, Steve Greenhaigh; (front) Keith Palmer, Nathan Cook, Paul Lakin, Alex Slater (player-manager), Vinny Hallifield and Steve Byram.