Melbourne Village Voice September 2018

n The annual Pram Push and the second Melbourne Produce Show provided plenty of entertainment for visitors

Full

NEW BAR PLAN FOR OLD GYM BUILDING

by FRANK HUGHES

MELBOURNE will get an exciting new venue if a planning application to turn the former Picture of Health gymnasium on Derby Road into a “high quality bar and restaurant” gets approval

The proposal is aimed at bringing the building, which has stood empty for almost two years, back up to a high standard with a good aesthetic appearance If approved, it will be known as The Cobblers Arms, recognising the heritage of the shoemaking factory on the premises

The design incorporates ‘a minor extension and alteration’ to the building, and the plan – by award-winning architects Bi-design –“would result in a high quality and sympathetic conversion of the existing building which seeks to protect and enhance the character of the area”

Only two of the three floors would be used, with the ground floor mainly a bar or eating area with access to a new front and rear terrace

The old carriage door entrance would be en-

hanced, to provide better access The first floor will be dedicated mainly to ‘fine dining’ and will house the kitchen The top floor will be used only for storage

The development will have the potential to provide employment for local construction, local retailers and service providers and will create 12 new jobs

Opinion is clearly divided on the proposal, with social media split between those who think it will bring additional benefits to the village, with others, particularly living close by, who are very concerned about the additional traffic problems, disturbance and noise

Pegasus Group, responding on behalf of their clients, have made the following comments on these particular issues: “On parking, a transport statement was submitted with the application which considered the impacts of the traffic generation associated with the proposed restaurant

“It concluded that the development would not have an unacceptable impact on the local highway network and that there is adequate public

parking provision in the village for example, the public car park approximately 200m south of the site ”

On noise they responded: “A noise survey has been carried out and as a result, mitigation measures have been incorporated including areas of covered outside seating, rebuilding a 2 5 metre

high wall to the rear of the property; restrictions on plant and machinery noise levels etc ”

In respect of noise generated from patrons leaving “we are liaising with Environmental Health at SDDC with a view to controlling operating hours either through appropriate planning conditions or through licensing to minimise any potential for disturbances”

They added that a 20-year lease has been secured on the building and “the tenant is prepared to invest hundreds of thousands of pounds in bringing this 100-year-old building back to life”

The tenant operates another business in the area and employs local people who are all encouraged to walk to work

They also pointed to the closure of several establishments in the area, and that this venture seeks to secure a sustainable long-term function

Public consultation on the application ended on September 6, with a target date for a decision at the end of the month

n Melbourne Parish Council’s take on the plan – Page 3

Artist’s impression of the Cobblers Arms.

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Greenhouse made of plastic bottles

TEN green bottles … and several hundred more have made a new eco-friendly greenhouse at Melbourne Junior School for pupils to harvest fresh fruit and veg.

The project to create a bottle greenhouse was the idea of Katherine Parrish, and other parents were asked to save up their plastic bottles over the course of many months to create the finished structure.

Just under 1,000 bottles – the Village Voice has calculated 948 to be exact, although we are ready to be proved wrong – were used to create the greenhouse, which was finally completed in the summer term of this year.

Helpers turned out on several weekends to put the greenhouse together, with school head teacher Jane Whirledge saying it had “already been very productive”

Peppers, a cucumber and tomatoes had all been harvested before the school holiday

“It is a great way to recycle plastic bottles,” she added Katherine Parrish is pictured saying hello from the new greenhouse.

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MORE than 7,000 people had their say on the future of local libraries – which affects Melbourne – when they took part in a consultation launched by Derbyshire County Council

The council’s proposals for the future running of its libraries include a suggestion that Melbourne’s should be transferred to community management

Melbourne is one of 20 libraries across Derbyshire which is subject to a community management proposal, with a three-month consultation about the cost-saving measures launched by the county council finishing at the end of July

The council reported that 7,197 questionnaires were filled in about the proposed changes – this amounted to more people taking part in a single Derbyshire County Council consultation than ever before

The council also held 49 drop-in sessions at libraries so that members of the public could talk to officers face to face

Council leader Councillor Barry Lewis said:

“It’s been really important to us that we get as

many views as possible and I’d like to thank the thousands of people who have got involved and given their views

“I have said that no libraries will close while I’m at the helm at the county council and I remain confident that these proposals will secure the future of our library service

“We’ve received some interesting views and ideas during the consultation and we’re now taking time to look at and consider what people have said before preparing a report to be considered by our Cabinet later this year ”

As well as proposals to transfer 20 libraries to community management, other ideas include a reduction in weekly opening hours across the library service, a reduction in the materials fund (books, audio books, eBooks, eMagazines, eAudio, online resources including newspapers), considering the future implementation of Smart libraries and stopping the DVD hire loan service

The Derbyshire Public Library Strategy ‘Libraries for Derbyshire’ and more information can be found by going to www derbyshire gov uk/librariesforderbyshire

Slide No.2 ko’d

FIRST one piece of play equipment was out of action in Melbourne, then another but this damaged slide was vandalised so it could be used as a skate ramp, the Village Voice has learned

While the playground in Lothian Gardens in Melbourne is the responsibility of the parish council, the village’s other public park on Coronation Close off Queensway is looked after by South Derbyshire District Council

This slide was discovered taped up during August, and when the Village Voice contacted the district council to ask about the damage, we received this answer:

“South Derbyshire District Council is responsible for the maintenance of the park at Coronation Close, Melbourne

“We are aware of the damaged slide and are in the process of getting it repaired as soon as possible

“Our Inspector says that it would appear that the wooden pieces have intentionally been removed from the slide, laid on the ground and used as a skate ramp ”

The Village Voice also asked whether there was any intention to replace any of the equipment at the park in Coronation Close, but we were told there was not

Parking a problem for new bar idea

CONVERTING a former factory into a bustling bar and restaurant could be a great way of preserving a heritage Melbourne building and bringing added vibrancy to the village – but only if parking issues are resolved and neighbours respected, a public meeting heard.

The latest meeting of Melbourne Parish Council, held at The Assembly Rooms on September 4, heard a lively discussion about the proposed new “Cobblers Arms” conversion of the former shoe factoryturned gym on Derby Road

The view expressed by many at the meeting was that the proposal could breathe fresh vibrancy into Melbourne while maintaining a key heritage building – but that as it stands, issues with parking and proximity to neighbouring properties need further looking into before the parish council will support it

Three local residents turned out to give their views One, Claire Heeks, said that while she supported the idea of turning the now-derelict building into something, she had several concerns about parking, poten-

tial noise, privacy and the way the design of the proposed bar could impact on neighbours

“We’re not against it in principle,” said Claire “We think it’s really good It’s been derelict for about 18 months; it’s quite nice that there’s something going in there, we’re quite keen to see it used for something ”

But she said the transport statement which accompanied the plans had some issues, in particular the fact that there was no mention of the situation regarding parking in the close-by North Street, South Street and Alma Street

“We all know there’s issues with parking,” she said

“We already have issues with emergency services – we called an ambulance which was delayed because it couldn’t get around the corner ”

Councillors agreed that parking was a serious issue

“I think the impact of parking will be massive,” said Cllr Wendy Earp

“There’s just no street parking available in that area and nobody is going to park in the car parks that are available in Mel-

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bourne and walk, because they don’t do that currently ”

But councillors also said that it was good to see a plan to convert the heritage building

Cllr David Smith said: “What we have got to remember is that Melbourne is ever changing I would support this application

Melbourne needs to be vibrant, it needs to change with the times ”

He added: “There’s no question about it, the centre of Melbourne is suffering ”

Parish councillors voted that as the application currently stood, they would not support it

But they then voted (unanimously – with one councillor abstaining having declared an interest) to support the proposal IF certain conditions could be met, which were that the transport statement accompanying the proposal should be looked at again; that the car park opposite should be for the bar ’s exclusive use; there should be consideration for neighbours on issues such as noise and that outside drinking should not go on too late

Lucy Stephens

l Children at the Melbourne Methodist Church holiday club, which took place over a week in August. The theme for this year ’s club was “superheroes”.

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Weekly market plan a step closer

A PLANNING application to install a weekly market in Melbourne is expected to be submitted shortly

The latest meeting of Melbourne Parish Council heard that an application to start up the market on Thursdays in Melbourne’s Market Square is expected to be lodged with South Derbyshire District Council’s planning department soon

Parish councillors were asked if they would like to suggest an alternative venue for the market – should the proposals not be given the green light – but it was felt that the Market Square was the best location since the benefit would be to revitalise the centre of Melbourne

An alternative location in Castle Square was not felt to be practical

We’re losing the loos for a while

MELBOURNE’s public toilets next to Lothian Gardens are to be closed – but work on the new ones is expected to start this autumn

The latest meeting of the parish council heard how the public toilets “were not showing Melbourne in the best light” and the decision was made to shut them, ahead of a long-running plan to create new toilets for the village, as part of the neighbouring development at Ward’s garage

The meeting heard that work was expected to start some time this autumn, and it was agreed that the existing toilets would be shut in the meantime

n A TELEPHONE kiosk on Nettlefold Crescent in Melbourne has been sold by Melbourne Parish Council for £100, with work to reinstate the pavement thrown into the deal

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BRAS THAT BRING CUPS OF CHEER

IT IS a truth universally acknowledged that all women need a good bra – and when you’ve lost weight, you need new ones that fit the new you properly

That’s why these women from Melbourne’s Weight Watchers group were only too happy to give away their old poorly fitting bras having shed the pounds through attending the group

But rather than chuck them in the bin, they donated them to a Scottish charity which provides free underwear to women and children in Africa

The charity, Smalls for All, was conceived by founder Maria Macnamara and, in the

words of its website, helps “ those living in orphanages, slums, Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps and schools as well as providing underwear to hospitals to help those suffering from medical conditions like obstetric fistula”

The website goes on to say: “While people living in Western Society tend to have easy access to underwear and take it for granted, in many more remote or poorer parts of Africa, that is far from the case Underwear is a luxury that many people just cannot afford or it isn’t easily available ”

Providing pants for teenage girls also helps them complete their education – as

without them girls have to miss school every month due to menstruation

Melbourne’s Weight Watchers group collected their bras during their August meetings and managed to send a grand total of 120 to the charity

“It felt very personal to us all and we had so much fun collecting them,” said group leader Heather Evans

Smalls for All collects new pants, plus new and “gently worn” bras Find out more on http://www smallsforall org/ Melbourne’s Weight Watchers group meets on Wednesdays in the Senior Citizens Centre at 6 30pm

Jo sees her cards going global

IF YOU want to say “Penblwydd hapus” to your Welsh granny, or “Gie it laldy” to your Scottish cousin, Dandelion Stationery in Melbourne is able to sort you out

After starting the business on her own doing wedding stationery as part of Melbourne Print, Jo Wilson has seen her card business flourish and is now supplying more than 450 UK stores, exporting right across the globe, and translating her greetings cards into several languages

She is evidently very proud of being a small local business in a highly competitive market: “Having access to our own printing equipment through Melbourne Print, we are able to provide a unique service, with smaller print runs that the bigger firms struggle to compete with We don’t need to hold as much stock, as we print all our cards on-site, and we can react quickly to new trends”

Remarkably, the business has also grown to support a small team of four employees, more than 20 local outworkers who do some of the hand-finishing and packaging; and she now has the thorny issue of whether to seek more space to expand into

Although art and design was not her background, which was mainly in HR with Bombardier, Rolls-Royce and Ernst and Young, she has always had a creative side, and loved drawing Her designs are quirky and fresh with inspiration coming from almost anywhere

The idea for the Welsh cards came from a distributor in Wales, and Jo then posted on Spotted Cardiff for help in translating some common Welsh greetings

That then spread to Canada, where there was a demand from the French-speaking community,

“ then at a trade show a French distributor approached us to design for the market in France”

Right now she is looking at designing for the Japanese market, partly because of the Toyota Derby connection, and for Germany and Norway Meanwhile, she currently regularly exports to USA, Australia and Singapore, as well as France and Canada

“It is also about innovation,” she confided, “keeping the designs constantly refreshed ” Just recently, for instance, they have invested in a machine to enable foil printing, giving the cards a vibrant metallic style

Having lived and raised her family in Melbourne, Jo is committed to trying to keep the business local

“It is always a bit of a juggle to manage a business and family life, but being on hand to go to school assembly or school concerts makes it easier ”

And, as it seems that the greeting card industry is continuing to grow too, with us still buying nearly 100 million Christmas single cards and spending a cool £1 75 billion on greeting cards every year, it looks like Jo’s business is in a healthy part of the economy

And if you are still wondering what Gie it Laldy might mean – well send one to your Scottish cousin and find out! – Frank

Hughes

Pram push wheels in £700 for charity

THE weather may have been less than delightful, but the spirit more than made up for it as the annual Melbourne “pram push” took place over the August Bank Holiday Event organisers reported a good turnout this year despite the miserable weather, with 11 teams entering into the spirit of things

Winners were Ollie Page and Alex Dawson, with the ladies’ fancy dress prize carried off by Jenna Lynn and Bev Crowley

The men’s fancy dress was won by Wayne and Dean, portraying the A-Team

The day raised £744 for local charities, and organisers would like to say a big thank you for all help on the day and to pubs for donating the beer

BELL RINGING CONTEST

A NEW bell ringing competition will be staged at Melbourne on Saturday, September 22

Called the Robert B Smith Trophy, the competition is in honour of a local record-breaking bell ringer

A long-standing and highly respected bell ringer from Melbourne, Robert B Smith conducted and rang in the record-breaking 18-hourlong peal of all of the changes possible on eight bells back in 1963, and rang thousands of other peals

Robert was also a founder and director of Eayre & Smith Ltd, Bellhangers

Eight teams from across the country will be competing for the trophy, including Reading, Sheffield, York and a home team from Melbourne They will be ringing the 12 bells at the church of St Michael with St Mary Competition organisers say: “People are welcome to come along to hear the glorious sound of the bells and chat with bell ringers to find out more about this fascinating activity ”

Melbourne to Derby in 25 mins – in 1868!

SUMMER holidays are over and many commuters will not be relishing grappling once again with achingly slow journey times over Swarkestone Causeway –but 150 years ago this month a railway service between Melbourne and Derby was launched that gave passengers the chance to make the trip in a cool 25 minutes!

Incredibly, that was in 1868, with an updated service in 1899 having streamlined the journey down even further to 21 minutes, offering four services a day with two stops on the way Melbourne-born local historian David Smith has delved extensively into the history of local railways, with public transport more than 100 years ago offering a quicker service than it does today – a bus from Melbourne to Derby in 2018 takes 50 minutes

In 1899 you could also get a train from Derby to Ashby with a stop at Melbourne; today, anyone who wants to get to Ashby locally has to go by car

As for commuters trying to get over the causeway, at busy times in the morning it takes around 40 minutes to travel this route from Melbourne to Derby – around twice what it would have taken by train back in 1899 with four services a day

“Today, in the early morning and late afternoon, starting from Melbourne, it can take 21 minutes to reach Stanton and once on Swarkestone Causeway it is a ‘white knuckle ride’ experience if you are unlucky enough to meet one of the heavy lorries which illegally uses the bridge,” said David

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“To try to get to the front of the queue from Melbourne to Stanton on the A587 (Stanton Gutter), cars often go down Breach Lane – a narrow lane and part of Melbourne’s countryside which is not really intended for high volumes of traffic – and turn right at the tee-junction with the Stanton to Ticknall Road so as to rejoin the queue at the junction by Stanton Wood This adds to the frustration of the drivers who have queued sensibly along Stanton Gutter

“Derbyshire County Council is aware of the problem and there have been suggested solu-

ABOVE: Traffic queues along Stanton Gutter heading for the Swarkestone Causeway

LEFT: One of the 1899 services between Ashby and Derby.

tions although, as always, funding seems to be the problem Even if money were available, all too often when a new road is built, it seems to move the traffic problem to another location ” n The days trains steamed into Melbourne – Pages 1213.

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Country Living with Robert

Parker

It’s green for go in

THE few days of rain at the end of August have done wonders for us down on the farm. Grass soon changed from brown to green and is now starting to sustain some animals again and the promise of some more silage to cut before winter closes in

Unfortunately, there are still some massive holes in farmers’ feed budgets after a very severe drought, and for some this is going to be a difficult winter.

Lots of super quality straw has been baled and I think there will be plenty of that around. I don’t think I’ve seen a single field that hasn’t been baled up, and travelling west on the A50 I saw at least 20 lorries still travelling that way today

n The Brexit process lingers on and if you’re like me you’re heartily sick of the whole affair

Politicians of all parties seem to have their own hidden agendas and want to make as much capital out of the issues no matter who it affects

The non-elected bureaucrats in Brussels seem to be completely awkward to any sensible approach and just want to make the UK suffer as much as possible

A common sense approach is needed, and most businesses – either large or small – just want to get on and move forward.

I’m still convinced that we should just walk away as soon as possible! The EU are going to need us to buy the same goods we do at present and we want to sell them our products

It’s just as simple as that.

n Some fruits and nuts have thrived this year but not all

On older hedges a massive load of berries is there and the birds are already eating them

Some of these best blackberries are there for the taking but chestnuts on our trees around the farm seem very poor. Why is that, when their nearrelative, conkers, are seen in abundance?

A RARE breed hogget from the Calke Estate in Ticknall has won a top food prize

The hogget from the Portland rare breed sheep at Calke won the Overall Food Award at the National Trust’s annual Fine Farm Produce Awards, presented at BBC Countryfile Live at Blenheim Palace.

Sold as hogget at one to two years old, producers say the meat has developed a grassy aroma, great texture and a deep, gamey, buttery mutton flavour which impressed the food

judges and received the highest food score overall

Bill Cove, countryside manager at Calke Abbey, said: “Portland sheep have been associated with Calke Estate since 1760

“Letting the lambs mature into hogget is a real investment in time compared to selling them as lamb, but pays dividends in terms of flavour

“The meat is butchered on site too and profits go straight back into the estate here.”

Family’s dream to boost hospital waiting areas

MOVE over Nick Knowles – a Melbourne couple are planning to transform patients’ experience at the Royal Derby Hospital in memory of their beloved daughter

The Staley family, who featured on TV’s Superhospital series, are continuing to raise funds in memory of their daughter, Lyra Grace

After being voted Sainsbury’s Local Charity of the Year 20182019 by the people of Melbourne, the couple have grand plans to radically improve the waiting areas in Fetal Medicine and the Pregnancy Assessment Unit (PAU) at the hospital

Alison said: “It’s a personal dream of mine to improve patient experience in these areas I spent 15 months under the Fetal Medicine department and the waiting area is not ideal It’s small, cramped and very clinical The ladies that are seen in this department are coping with lots of uncertainty, complicated pregnancies and often face devastating news about their babies

“Our aim is to create a soothing environment and look at ways in which we can help heavily pregnant ladies sit more comfortably ”

Alan and Alison run a successful heritage and conservation building firm and see this project as a ‘DIY SOS meets Challenge Anneka’ type affair

Alan said: “Obviously it’s very different from the projects we usually undertake but it’s something very personal to us We know we’ll face difficulties with red tape and it’s a challenging site in terms of access and fitting around the long hours these departments are open but we are confident that we can achieve something really special ”

As Alison engages with the hospital’s estate

Everyone has a tale to tell

ASTON-on-Trent Local History

Group has just completed a yearlong community-inspired project by celebrating with an open day for villagers

The project, ‘Telling Tales: Sharing Stories: Growing the Archive’, was grant-funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund to create a written and oral record of residents’ recollections of the village within living memory Residents were asked to write or record their stories of everyday life in Aston and came up with a treasure trove of colourful characters, amusing incidents, past events and how life had changed over decades in the sociable village

More than 50 people wrote stories while a further 20 digitally recorded their memories, allowing the history group to publish a book which it reports “is selling like hot cakes”

Part of the project also recorded current perceptions of the village by primary school children and teenagers, which will provide a fascinating glimpse of today by tomorrow’s generation of Astonians and historians

A further publication, ‘The Roadways of Aston on Trent’, explained the origins of street names

management personnel, local interior design fir Gloss Interiors have measured up and are no busy brainstorming with their team Keeley from Gloss Interiors said: “We are ho oured to be asked to be a part of it The space the moment is imposing and cold so we’ll be loo ing at layout, colour and how to make it fe lighter as well as looking at options to help hea ily pregnant women sit more comfortably ”

The Staley family’s charity year was launche at the Melbourne branch of Sainsbury’s with visit from the hospital’s new mascot, Lambie Th event raised £81 20 –

Lucy Stephens

IT was a sell-out performance at Melbourne Assembly Rooms when folk rock duo Sound of the Sirens played their hearts out. The duo, who are Abbe Martin and Hannah Wood, have been championed by Chris Evans, who declared himself “blown away” by their stunning vocals Sound of the Sirens brought the crowd to their feet on a night that was part of Melbourne Festival, with Melbourne Assembly Rooms and Village Folk

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Emily Kent, Paul Marshall and Friends in cabaret

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Highlights From Grace - The Lighthouse Girl

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Cream Tea and Poetry from the Trenches

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Wil Pearson Live in Cabaret Assembly Rooms, High Street Melbourne DE73 8GF

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A Choir’d Taste in Concert with London Camerata String Quartet. Assembly Rooms, High Street Melbourne DE73 8GF

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LIVE JAZZ at Melbourne Parish Church with trombone virtuoso Annie Whitehead.

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in the village The project also funded the digitisation of the group’s extensive archive

Around 100 people attended the open day (above) to explore the upgraded archive, browse through photographs and scrapbooks and chat –which brought forward even more stories from the past

John Holloway, committee member, said: “This has been a tremendously exciting project and we’ve merely scratched the surface of fascinating reminiscences of ordinary lives So, whilst the Heritage Lottery Fund project has finished, we shall continue to collect stories from this rich seam

“Everyone has a tale to tell and if we can capture these stories for the future we can help to keep the village heritage very much alive ”

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l Michelle Lyons with Lambie and Alison Staley and daughter Seren

Under

The day that five people saved Alan’s life

WHAT does it take to save someone’s life?

Five passers-by in Smisby found that out when they all worked together one day this summer, to save the life of a man they had never met Many things could have happened differently on June 27 when 61-year-old retired brewery manager Alan Thompson was going for a bike ride through Smisby with his brother, David

For one thing, it was the first time in 30 years that he and David – both keen cyclists – had chosen to ride through the village

For another, the defibrillator that was to become a vital life-saving piece of equipment had just been serviced the day before

Alan was approaching the T-junction going out of the village at around lunch time when he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest

At the same time, Laura Redfern and Nicola Abell, both of whom work at Smisby Day Nursery and had – again by chance - popped to Tesco in their lunch break to check the tyre pressure on Laura’s car, were just returning to work and turning into the village by car

“We just saw him fall and collapse on to the ground,” said Laura “I said to Nicola, ‘something’s wrong’, and we got out of the car ”

Things then happened fast The two women, who have both regularly completed first aid courses as part of their nursery training, quickly bent down and saw that Alan had stopped breathing While David called 999, Nicola phoned nursery owner Ian Higginbotham – a former firefighter – who rushed to the scene and took over from her by performing CPR

The three were joined by Tony Louca-Weston who administered mouth to mouth, while Laura

raced down the road to the public-access defibrillator outside Smisby’s Village Hall – its installation having been instigated by local doctor Ruth Green

A further passer-by, Mike Cuming, followed the instructions on the device to deliver a shock to Alan Ian and Tony continued the CPR and rescue breaths until the next analyse; it was at this time that Alan began breathing again – five minutes before ambulance crews arrived

He was taken to Royal Derby Hospital where

he had two stents fitted, and emerged only days later – despite having actually stopped breathing for 10 minutes after his cardiac arrest

“I’m just incredibly lucky,” Alan told The Village Voice “If I had to have picked a location to have a cardiac arrest, I could not have picked a better place The sense of wonderment just doesn’t diminish, there were so many sliding doors moments that put me in that place at that time ”

Ian said: “The most important thing is, it does-

n’t matter how much training you do, nothing prepares you for the reality, for that moment in time when someone is dead and that’s the truth

People are scared to get involved – if Nicola and Laura hadn’t rushed as they turned that corner, seen how serious it was, they could have just driven by and thought he had just come off his bike

“My message to people is at the point that someone has had a sudden cardiac arrest, they are dead Nothing you can do will make the situation worse – even if you have never done CPR, it doesn’t matter what you do, get in there ”

Now the five passers-by have been given British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) CPR Hero certificates for their quick-thinking courageous actions The BHF recently announced it would be launching a new initiative in partnership with Microsoft and the NHS, to map defibrillators across the UK This will allow 999 call handlers to direct bystanders to their nearest defibrillator when someone suffers a cardiac arrest

Sara Askew, Head of Survival at the BHF said: “For every minute that passes without CPR and defibrillation, a person’s chances of surviving a cardiac arrest falls by around 10 per cent

“We encourage all communities and schools to learn life saving CPR skills and know the whereabouts of their nearest public access defibrillator, so that they are equipped with the skills and knowledge to help save a life "

In Melbourne, there is a defibrillator on the public toilets near Lothian Gardens, plus two more at Melbourne Sports Park: one on the main building and another at the artificial grass pitch – Lucy Stephens

LIFE-SAVERS: Pictured with Alan in the blue jacket and white shirt, are (l-r) Ian Higginbotham, Mike Cuming, Tony Louca-Weston, Nicola Abell and Laura Redfern.

TOP: Thumbs up from Alan in Hospital

SMILES ALL ROUND ON GCSE EXAMS RESULTS DAY NEWS

TEACHERS, parents and pupils opening their GCSE results envelopes in this area were wreathed in smiles as schools reported significantly higher grades than in previous years

Both Chellaston Academy and John Port School said grades achieved by 16year-olds were well up on last year

That was in line with a national upward results’ trend, despite a tough new GCSE regime that saw the alphabetical grading system replaced with new numerical scores

That was not the only change, with what was widely felt to be a much tougher course content and a far greater emphasis on exams rather than coursework

Under the new grading system, a score of nine is the highest possible while five and above are now “strong passes”

At Chellaston Academy, the number of pupils scoring this new higher pass for English and maths – grades 5-9 – was 65 per cent, which head teacher Kevin Gaiderman told The Village Voice represented an increase of eight per cent on 2017 The number of pupils achieving what is now known as a “standard pass” – grades 4-9 – in English and Maths was 80 per cent

Mr Gaiderman said: “They’ve (the GCSEs) been much, much harder The content is much more difficult In terms of the set of results, we are very, very pleased I’ve had a big smile on my face!”

We caught up with several students who were delighted with their results, including Lydia Billington, from Aston-on-Trent, who is now going on to undertake an ap-

prenticeship in the accounts department of George’s Tradition

Other pupils we spoke to were going on to study for their A-levels in Chellaston Academy’s own sixth form

It was an emotional day for many parents who went to school to cheer their children on as they opened their envelopes

Paul Fletcher, from Melbourne, whose son Will was collecting his results on August 23, said: “It’s an incredibly proud day and great to see Will and his friends all so happy and celebrating ”

Meanwhile, John Port School reported record GCSE results – a remarkable turnaround for the school which at the end of last summer was deemed inadequate by Ofsted

The school was then taken over by the Spencer Academies Trust and an experienced “turnaround” head, Karen Squire, appointed

This year the school reported a 15 per cent increase for higher grades GCSE passes (grades 7-9), with 77 per cent achieving a standard pass in both Maths and English

Principal Karen said: “I am very proud of our students’ success this year Staff and students have worked incredibly hard and it is amazing to see their hard work pay off John Port Spencer students have shown real dedication and commitment throughout the year, despite the new and more challenging GCSE qualifications

“Our thanks go to the staff who have worked through new courses and internal change to ensure success for all students ”

Amani off to university –in the Netherlands

AROUND 2,300 students across Derbyshire picked up their Alevel – or equivalent – qualifications on August 16, but one student from Chellaston Acad-

emy went further afield than most as she headed off to university

For Amani Ahmed, who gained Alevels in geography, history and English language – as well as doing an extended project qualification on NATO – a degree at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands made perfect sense, not just academically but financially too

The first pupil from the academy to go abroad for her degree, Amani is studying for a bachelor of science degree in International Relations and Organisations at Leiden’s “Den Haag” political science campus

Having got the grades she needed, Amani headed off to Leiden on the very day she got her results, as the course was due to start straight away “I’ve always enjoyed being independent so going abroad for university was always an idea,” she said

“As I did more research I found the Netherlands to be very interesting, the universities ranked highly and language barrier isn’t a problem as most people speak English

“I liked a few universities across the Netherlands, and visited them on holiday in 2017, but ultimately the course at Leiden was the most intriguing I then attended the open days and experience days late last year and absolutely loved it Also, the campus I am at teaches political science subjects all in English, so that was a big plus ”

Financially, Amani’s decision also made good sense as the tuition fees are only €2,060 a year – as opposed to a degree at an English university currently capped at £9,250 a year – plus, the Dutch government recently halved fees for first year European students for their first year

After her degree Amani hopes to complete a masters and has already been chosen to be part of the Leiden Model UN programme, partnered with Cambridge University

Meanwhile, there was more success at Chellaston with head teacher Kevin Gaiderman reporting results on a par with last year and two

in brief

New homes selling fast

MORE than half of the properties in the new Miller Homes housing development on Melbourne’s Jawbone Lane have now been snapped up Victoria Gardens is still scheduled for completion in June next year, and the developer has said that 18 of the total number of houses have now been sold or reserved

That leaves seven still available and eight that have still not been released for sale

Maisy’s next charity do

A GLASS of fizz, a charity quiz and a bowlful of pudding sounds like a great night – and it will be for a great cause, too

The latest charity event by Maisy Hayward from Aston-onTrent is a “Prosecco and Puds” night It is being held in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support and is happening at Aston’s new Recreation Centre on September 28, at 7pm

Anyone who likes the idea and wants to go along is asked to let Maisy know either by email: maisyh@live co uk or phone: 0779 424 8767

students heading to Oxford and Cambridge universities: Patrick O’Keefe to Cambridge to read Economics, and Clodagh Holmes going to Oxford to study medicine

At John Port, 54 per cent of A-level grades were A* and B with the school registering an increase of just under five per cent in A* and A grades – which accounted for more than a quarter of the total

Nine students received the highest grades across the board, including Niamh Garrett and Lucy Stokes, who have both secured places to study medicine

Principal Karen Squires said she was delighted with the ‘excellent’ results, saying they would “open doors for students for years to come,” and offered “huge congratulations to hardworking staff and students”

Lucy Stephens

l Amani Ahmed outside the University of Leiden

The Richmond (Plot 24), our beautiful 4 double bedroom family home featuring a large kitchen with adjoining dining & family rooms, separate lounge, downstairs cloakroom & utility room, with a walk-in wardrobe & en-suite to the master bedroom, and an en-suite to bedroom two, from £547,950, available with Part Exchange. New

Centenary concert for Legion Poppy Appeal

THIS month will see a major, free community concert organised by the Royal British Legion to mark the centenary since the end of the First World War

The parish council and local businesses have supported the concert which starts at 3 30pm on Castle Square, Melbourne, on Saturday, September 22

The concert will finish with a choir of around 120 people and band with a Drum Head Service, starting at 7 05pm to coincide with the sun setting, with the parish church bells set to be rung

Special commemorative pro-

grammes will be sold to raise funds for the Poppy Appeal

Performers are giving their time for free, and all profits after staging costs will go to the Poppy Appeal

People are invited to go along, taking blankets and picnics to enjoy the occasion

A road closure order will be in place on Castle Street from 2pm to 8pm while the concert is going on

Further information is available from either Brendan O’Neill on 01332 988750 or Andy Heafield at the Melbourne Assembly Rooms on 01332 863522

Husband’s illness gives Gemma food for thought

WE ARE what we eat, so the saying goes, and one mum from Kings Newton is looking for volunteers to help show just that.

Gemma Barnes is studying for a degree in nutritional therapy, a path she went down to help her husband regain his strength while he was being treated for cancer at the young age of 31

The Barnes family were living in Long Eaton and about to move house when Gemma found a lump in her husband Chris’s neck, which after three doctor visits was diagnosed as Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

“It was a really difficult time,” said Gemma “He had 12 rounds of chemotherapy over six months – you basically end up living at the hospital

“The staff at the hospital are amazing; they look after you every step of the way – you just get told where to be and when ”

It was when Gemma, who loves to cook, was trying to think of what meals to make for Chris while he going through chemotherapy that she ended up considering undertaking a degree in nutritional therapy

“I thought, ‘what can he eat that’s going to make him feel strong enough for this?’

“I thought there must be something we can do, and that’s how it ended up with me delving into all this,” she explained

The family – Chris, Gemma and children Owen and Lucy – are now living in Kings Newton, and Chris has run several marathons since ending his treatment

Gemma is in her fourth year studying for a BSc in nutritional therapy which is the year she undertakes clinical practice

The course, she explained, is not simply about food but also about lifestyle choices and environmental toxin exposure such as tin foil and plastic that food is often wrapped in

It is also a huge eye-opener when it comes to things like the amount of hidden sugars in many foods, a topic that is now seeing more media coverage

She is seeking “willing and motivated” participants to volunteer for free consultations while she is supervised by a fully qualified nutritional therapist

It would involve talking to Gemma about diet

and any health problems, which may lead to a recommendation for further tests

Nutritional therapy works alongside conventional medicine to help with a range of chronic conditions such as arthritis; cardiovascular health; diabetes prevention and management; irritable bowel syndrome; weight issues; fertility issues; stress; depression; thyroid health, chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia

If anyone is interested in participating in Gemma’s clinical practice year, they are asked to contact her on:

gemmalbarnes@yahoo com

– Lucy Stephens

GARDEN PARTY PROVES A GREAT DRAW

n FROM folk art to magazine collages – there was something for everyone at the annual art show held by Dame Catherine’s School in Ticknall

The show featured artists Sue Prince and Kirstie Adamson demonstrating their work, while the third featured artist Frances Gibson gave a collage workshop for visitors

Over the weekend, £18,500 of art work was sold, with pieces ranging from £12 to £1,200

Organisers also held an auction featuring original pieces of artwork, mostly postcard sized, donated by artists; this raised £620 for the school’s Special Projects Fund, which is this year aiming to refurbish the nursery playground.

Pictured are (left) school governor and parent Amanda Harmer and (right) teacher Deb Bates.

● Beef chilli with lime rice

● Gnocchi and chicken with basil roasted tomatoes

● Italian ragu with wholewheat spaghetti

● Lamb tagine with pomegranate cous cous

● Chicken pork and chorizo paella

● Chicken and spinach lasagne

● Lasagne al forno

● Cottage pie

● Smoked haddock chowder

● Beef in ale with herby dumpling (All served with seasonal greens)

● Chicken jalfrezi

● Malaysian beef rendang

● Sweet potato and spinach curry

● Thai green chicken curry (All curries served with basmati rice and Indian bread)

6 meals £30

10 meals

14 meals £60

Delivery

l The Barnes family: Chris, Gemma, Lucy and Owen with Flora the dog.

A trio led by Sean Daly played music to entertain the crowd, with a buffet served along with plenty of

Chairman Margaret Hagues said: “The afternoon proved to be most enjoyable and the weather stayed dry despite

That’s

The days trains ste into Melb

THE railway came to Melbourne on September 1, 1868, with a double track line running from Derby to Melbourne via Chellaston. The opening of the line was announced in the Derby Mercury newspaper with a rather quaint drawing of a train above the timetable.

The construction of the line continued with a single track section to Worthington via Tonge and the service to these became operational on October 1, 1869

The service to the line’s final destination – Ashbyde-la-Zouch – was added on January 1, 1874

Travellers from Melbourne visiting Ashby must have been in awe as they viewed the Ashby station’s beautiful neo-classical design, which is now a grade 2 listed building

By 1899, the service had been increased to four trains a day and the journey time from Melbourne to Derby, including stops at Chellaston and Peartree, was 21 minutes!

The service’s timetable had been integrated with the Trent to Birmingham via Castle Donington and Weston-on-Trent service With Peartree being so close to the Baseball Ground stadium (Derby County’s home for 102 years before the club moved to Pride Park) some Derby County supporters used the train in the 1920s to get to the match

The arrival of a bus service, however, led to a steady decline in the number of passengers, and in 1930, the passenger service came to an end The line was still used to carry freight and, up until the Second World War, there were numerous excursions for local people at the weekend and in the evening

A day trip to Blackpool, I am told, was priced at five shillings (25p) and two sisters – residents of Melbourne – going on one excursion met their future husbands – two lads from Worthington – on the train

There were often evening excursions There was, for example, a trip to Trentham Gardens Without doubt, however, one of the most popular evening excursions was the trip to the long ago demolished Holly Bush Inn at Cloud Hill, Worthington

And it was not just excursions from Melbourne

There were also trips to Melbourne with, for example, excursions from Derby in 1899 to the Melbourne Flower Show and to Melbourne’s Wakes in 1906 The return fare price of these was 9d, which would be equivalent to £3 37 today

During the Second World War, the portion of the line between Chellaston and Ashby was used by the British Royal Engineers and their American allies

Roger right), Ronald row), Brian Ha and David Sm tons’ market g ther ’s car whic

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ABOVE: The Ashby railway Buckley).

RIGHT:

THEN AND NOW: Tonge Bridge, as it was and as the Cloud Trail today.

when eamed

LOCAL historian David Smith is writing a book about the Derby to Ashby railway service.

David was born in North Street, Melbourne, in 1947 He spent a happy childhood in “traffic-free streets and open countryside”. He remembers one glorious afternoon in 1957 spent fishing in Ramsley Brook, seeing beautiful kingfishers flying up and down with fish in their beaks, and waving to the engine drivers as they steamed past.

That memory led to David photographing the whole of the Cloud Trail, which starts at Worthington and goes all the way into Riverside Gardens, Derby, via Melbourne

You can see the photographs and

find out more by visiting www melbournederbyshire co uk

If anyone has any memories of Melbourne Railway Station or the old line from Ashby to Derby, they are asked to get in touch with David via the contact button on his website

A commemorative postcard showing a facsimile of the Midland Railway’s 1868 timetable for trains running between Melbourne and Derby is available from Wayne Spiers Family Butchers in Melbourne

Here is his potted history of the time when you might regularly spot a plume of steam in the local countryside.

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demolition and rebuilding of railning and maintaining a railway stock

the line’s main use was that of stone from the Cloud Hill quarry New Lount Colliery This did not om Ashby to Worthington, and in tinued

ABOVE: Chellaston and Swarkestone railway station (photos courtesy of Chellaston History Group)

RIGHT: Railway

The last passenger train to use this stretch of the line for the return journey from Derby to Ashby is believed to have been a rail tour that took place on Saturday, June 28, 1952

All through the 1950s and most of the 1960s, the trains rolled through Melbourne In 1968, the colliery at Lount was shut and the number of trains decreased It was only the Cloud Hill quarry that now

used the line But there was one final encore when one evening in June, 1971, a rail tour completed the return journey from Derby to Worthington; this was a railcar not a steam train

By the 1980s, the line had become completely overgrown and in 1988 the track was raised and the portion between the Trent and Mersey Canal became part of the Cloud Trail

SOUTH DERBYSHIRE has lost one of its most charismatic and influential political figures, with the passing of Cllr Robert (Bob) Wheeler in August

As Councillor for Linton Ward and Leader of the Council since May 2011 until he stood down in January this year, he successfully represented the people of South Derbyshire not just in his own ward but across the entire district

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Bob and wife Heather, MP for South Derbyshire, lived in the area for 30 years and he had a long career in marketing and sales, mostly with Bass in Burton-on-Trent

He was first elected in 2007 and twice reelected in 2011 and 2015 During that period he put his stamp on the council’s approach, ensuring that through challenging economic times more services continued to be delivered whilst minimising the burden on local tax payers He was closely involved too in bringing major projects to completion, including the Melbourne Sports Park, Midway Community Centre and a new council depot

South Derbyshire Conservatives made the following announcement: “It is with great sadness that we must announce that Cllr Robert Wheeler passed away on Saturday 11th August 2018 at the Royal Derby Hospital following a battle with cancer

Bob, as he liked to be known, had a long career in marketing in brewery businesses and gained

ROY RICHMOND DUNNICLIFFE

1938 – 2018

A PACKED church attended Roy’s funeral at St Peter ’s, Chellaston, which was followed by burial at Elvaston churchyard

Born and bred in North Street, Melbourne, Roy was the second of Louisa and Frank’s three children A promising student at Melbourne school, he later served an apprenticeship and became an Estimator with British Rail Engineering, working there, through its various guises, including privatisation, until he took early retirement in 1993

Roy married Margaret Billups in 1966 at Boulton St Mary and the couple moved to Chellaston, where they raised their three children, Rachel, Richard and James Roy was an active member of St Peter ’s Church, Chellaston, serving as Church Warden, Chair of the Fabric Group and on the PCC After Margaret’s early death from cancer in 1994, Roy found happy companionship with Stella Ward

Having a great affiliation with Melbourne, Roy was a founder member of Melbourne Historical Research Group and a Melbourne Male Voice chorister; he also helped Roger Kington form the Melbourne Parish Church Archives

Health club fund-raiser

BREEDON PRIORY Health

Club hosted a fund-raising coffee morning in aid of Melbourne Community Care, supported by volunteers from Community Care, Angie Cooke and Margaret Whitehead Angie said: “Together we planned the event with the gym and asked for donations of cakes and tombola prizes The local residents and businesses again supported us very well ” Donations for the event included a hamper from Wayne Spiers, bottles of wines and spirits from volunteers, vouchers from local businesses, a hamper from Melbourne Deli, a signed

many friends there over the years He loved his involvement with local Masons, devoting much time to the charitable side of this community work

His other passion was local politics and Bob was elected to the Linton Ward on South Derbyshire District Council in 2007

In 2010, he was elected by the Conservative Group to be their Leader and so Leader of the Council, a post he held until January 2018, having taken the decision to step down before Christmas ”

Bob's wife, Heather, said in a statement: "It has been a roller coaster ride since Bob was diagnosed with cancer less than four months ago

“Our family wants to thank all the NHS staff at the Newhall Surgery, East Midlands Ambulance Service, Queen’s Burton Hospital and the Nightingale Macmillan Unit at the Royal Derby Hospital for the care and devotion shown to Bob Everyone we came into contact with has been so professional and showed great compassion

“To my daughter, Harriet, and I, Bob was everything He worked hard to provide for us and it was wonderful that only a few weeks ago he managed to walk Harriet down the aisle and make his father of the bride speech

“After 32 years of marriage there will be a huge gap in my life and I would like to thank everyone for their kindness and help during the last few weeks " –

Frank Hughes

With friends, Roy was one of the infamous Melbourne lads who whipped in for the Oakely Foot Beagles in and around Leicestershire

After retirement Roy undertook a Master ’s Degree in Local History at Nottingham University and became a member of Derby Historical Research and Chellaston History groups, contributing much to several local publications

Roy traced his family tree back to the 1640s, always tremendously excited to discover another bit of the jigsaw As a member of the Guild of One Name Studies, Roy became the go to person for information on the Dunnicliffe Family The first Worldwide Dunnicliff(e) Reunion took place in America in 2010 Three years later the venue was Australia, and in 2016 Dunnicliff(e)s from around the world converged on Melbourne, when Roy hosted the event

Roy was a true gentleman, kind and helpful, with a gentle sense of humour, and a fount of knowledge on a host of subjects He loved to walk, hill climb, cycle and drive, having an adventurous and inquisitive spirit

Roy was pre-deceased by his two sisters and is survived by his three children, their spouses, five grandchildren, and a ‘step’ family of 19

framed painting from regular swimmer Henry, a handmade beer bottle opener from the team at The Workshop@Padley Centre, stationery from Toyota UK, many cakes from Rosemary Jackson of Doves Garage and the Gates family on Potter

Street, alongside many wonderful cakes made by the gym staff, families and gym users Angie added: “It ran from 8 30am until 1pm and the sun shone perfectly all morning Finally, we raised an amazing £500 in total ”

It’s marvellous what you can find in the garden

FOR most people, digging the garden on a hot summer ’s day would be more a chore than a pleasure But for Ticknall Archaeological Research Group (TARG) a dig around the back of a house on The Green, in Ticknall, is a fabulous way to spend the day uncovering hidden secrets of local history

The finds were piled up in about nine crates full of fragments of pottery, ‘squeezes’ of clay, bone, clinker, drainage pipes and shards of glazed earthenware which will now need to be washed, sorted and catalogued

“A lot of the work starts when the scraping with a trowel has finished,” as one of the TARG members put it ‘Squeezes’ are small grabs of clay used to hold pots steady in the kiln, and eerily still bear the thumb and finger shapes of the potter hundreds of years later

Chairman of the group Janet Spavold and secretary Sue Brown formed the research group in 2010 after successfully applying for a Heritage Lottery Fund grant

They had been researching the local pottery industry around the area since 1990 and, with backgrounds in history and in family history research, they decided to set up a group to investigate its archaeology, history and location

Some eight years on, they have found

the base of an ancient kiln at Ivy Leigh (just on the corner of Harpur Avenue) along with a huge amount of pottery dating back to the 1500s They have conducted numerous other smaller digs, surveys and a lot of field walks The membership has also grown from the small beginnings to around 50, and they are often called on to give talks and demonstrations

Janet and Sue explained that pottery was a major occupation for many families around Ticknall and dates back to at least the 13th century

“In around the year 1500 when the population was about 250, about a sixth

would have been engaged in making pottery,” they said

Family history records show names such as Hyde, Marriots, Hills, Smiths and a dozen or so more were involved in what was primarily a cottage industry

“It was a seasonal occupation too, combined with farming, as it would have been too cold to do it in the winter,” Sue explained

One of the newer TARG members is Jeff Morris, a professional archaeologist, who supervises all the digs to ensure everything is done correctly to the exacting standards

Janet said: “To have him on board is a

–

Chance to quiz cops

huge advantage ” As they were packing up for the day, covering the two square metre plot, dug to a depth of 20cms, Jeff said it had been a good day with quite a lot of interesting finds “Excavations,” he explained “ are unrepeatable experiments,” so it has to be done thoroughly

They have left the plot ready for a further, and deeper excavation at a future date as there is undoubtedly more to uncover

After each excavation there is the job of washing and identifying all the finds

All the helpers get involved, taking a tray or two to sort through “We also publish a leaflet or a report after a dig, which details all of the finds ” They are available to buy from TARG on request

Other finds, from field walking, have included Mesolithic and Neolithic flints, evidence of life in the area dating back thousands of years, Roman Greyware as well as plenty of items from the Middle Ages

The group is always interested in finding new members to join and details are on the website (www ticknall-archaeology co uk) There is the exciting promise of a bigger dig coming up in the very near future but to protect the location details will only be released just before it goes ahead

Frank Hughes

LOCAL residents will get a chance to quiz police as well as other officials on public safety matters at the next round of area forums

The meetings start at 6 30pm and the Melbourne area forum, which covers Melbourne, Barrow-upon-Trent, Stanton-byBridge, Swarkestone, Weston-on-Trent, Aston-onTrent, Thulston and Ambaston, is taking place at Melbourne Sports Park on Tuesday, October 23

The Repton area forum, which covers Calke, Findern, Foremark, Ingleby, Milton, Smisby, Ticknall and Twyford, is being held on Wednesday, October 10, in Ticknall Village Hall

Meanwhile, a public meeting where people will get the chance to quiz an official from Derbyshire County Council about traffic proposals for Melbourne is being held in The Lounge at Melbourne Assembly Rooms on Wednesday, September 26, at 7 30pm

It will give people the chance to talk through the council’s proposals, revealed earlier this year, which involve a one-way system and extra double yellow lines for Melbourne, in an attempt to ease traffic congestion

HELP YOUR FAMILY BY MAKING A WILL

It’s top of the at the Produce

THE long hot summer of 2018 may have been bad news for gardeners, but that didn’t deter the growers of Melbourne and Kings Newton from coming up with a bumper crop at this year ’s produce show

This is the second year of the Melbourne Produce Show, in its latest guise organised by Melbourne Garden Club, with local growers coming out in force to the Senior Citizens Centre to show off their largest onions, longest runner beans, most perfect hosta leaves and even most amusingly shaped vegetables!

“I think it’s a great community event for all ages,” said Karen Winfield, who won a first prize for her carrot cake “It’s great to see everybody here as well ”

With classes for many different types of fruit and veg, flowers, bakes, beverages, jams and a children’s section, there was plenty to inspire people to give the produce show a go

Prominent among the winners were four generations of the Dowell family, who took away no fewer than 11 first prizes – including for three trimmed and tied leeks, a magnificent cabbage and an absolutely enormous pumpkin – eight seconds and four third prizes on the day

Fred Dowell, now 90, has been growing vegetables since he was 13 and for many years he and his wife, Vera, ran a local market garden

Together with their daughter Anne, they grew their entries for this year ’s competition in their garden and allotment on Blackwell Lane

Vera, who was at the show accompanied by younger generations of the family, told The Village Voice that she remembered a produce show being held in Melbourne many years ago in a shed behind the former Packhorse Inn, with poultry and rabbits also shown by local owners

The youngest members of the family to come away with prizes were Fred and Vera’s greatgrand-daughters Sophie and Aimee Bush, aged 9 and 6, who took several slots in the children’s section for their home-grown flower arrangements, fruit characters and drawing

Best in Show in the children’s section was 11year-old Carrick Fraser, whose “family of ginger-

bread biscuits” impressed judges, with younger brother Gethin, six, also recognised for his “pizza face” made with grated white chocolate instead of cheese

The overall Most Outstanding Entry prize was sponsored by Fred Dowell and awarded to Ann Harrison for her damson gin; she said the Produce Show was “brilliant It’s got better, more people are here this year – it will grow and grow”

But growers also reported tough gardening conditions this year due to the prolonged weeks of hot sun

“The ground has been rock hard,” said Melbourne Garden Club chair Lesley Hough “It’s been really dry, cracking up Early on it was too wet, it’s been hopeless for root vegetables I’m really pleased with what we have got ”

Norman Williams, who won Best In Show in the fruit category for his dessert apples and has been growing produce in Melbourne for nearly 40 years, also reported a different weather-related problem which particularly affects apple trees: large quantities of wasps

But for honorary Melbourne Garden Club president Griselda Kerr, who was on hand to present the prizes, this year ’s Produce Show was still better than ever

“It’s a very jubilant feeling in here,” she said “So many things are good I’m so pleased that Melbourne has got focused

again on produce and on gardens, and on children doing things and growing vegetables ”

After the prizes were given out and growers had taken away the entries they wanted to keep, the remaining produce was auctioned off

Among the bidders were Lesley’s proud parents, who had come along to assist on the day

They went away with a large bag full of locally grown produce including peaches, plums, damsons and apples, happy in the knowledge that they had supported their daughter, her garden club and the Senior Citizens Centre – Lucy Stephens

l Aimee (left) and Sophie Bush with their prize-winning floral displays

crops Show

OPPOSITE PAGE: The overall prize for Most Outstanding Entry, sponsored by Fred Dowell, is awarded to Ann Harrison for her damson gin Ann is seen receiving her prize from Griselda Kerr

RIGHT: Brothers Gethin (left) and Carrick Fraser, 6 and 11, showing off their entries in the children’s section. Gethin’s is a “pizza face” and Carrick’s is a family of gingerbread biscuits.

BELOW: Visitors to the produce show admiring the floral entries

l Vera Dowell with the family’s prize-winning pumpkin

n HOW to make the Melbourne Produce Show 2018’s prize-winning damson gin: You will need –1lb of damsons

1lb of sugar (white)

Bottle of gin

A kilner jar, and empty bottle(s)

1 Wash and prick your damsons

2 Put damsons in the kilner jar with the sugar and gin

3 Shake the jar every day until the sugar is no longer visible.

4.Leave for as long as you can – a good few months, the longer the better as it will enhance the flavour.

5.When ready to drink, strain the fruit through a muslin.

6.Pour the resulting gin into the empty bottle – you will probably need two.

7.Enjoy!

On the trail of some more Festival delights

IT’S September, so it must be time for the Melbourne Festival. Director Sharon Brown talks readers through the delights of this year ’s “Art & Architecture” Trail

Melbourne Festival got off to a roaring start last week but it’s time to focus on the Art & Architecture Trail It’s hard to miss the banners and bunting but this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, September 15-16, the Art & Architecture Trail is finally here!

The trail opens at 10am and the early bird gets to look around before the crowds arrive! As always lots of Melbourne residents have opened their homes and gardens for the trail

Look out for the children’s artwork in local shop windows and follow the red bows towards Melbourne Pool to see the fruits of Melbourne’s labours this summer: 4,680 poppies are displayed in many shades of red, all different, but all for the 4,680 Grenadier Guards who lost their lives in WW1

Alongside is one aluminium poppy, by Festival Artist Matthew Warburton, for Frank Green the Pool Cottage resident who inspired the project More poppies are displayed at Pool Cottage

alongside work by young artists from both Melbourne schools

This year nearly 150 artists are taking part in the trail, including a number of local artists as well as many of the best artists from the East Midlands

If you are looking for a few suggestions of who to visit we have a few recommendations for you On the subject of Melbourne artists, travel and wildlife photographer Amanda Dawes is at Amalfi White and Kay Taylor is transforming Emma’s Retreat into a pop-up branch of The Rhubarb Tree for the weekend, selling individual gifts

Karen Worrall will be in the garden at Roebuck House with her beautiful glass, all made in Melbourne; look out for her poppies and wall plaques commemorating the centenary of the end of WW1

Popular Melbourne artist Laura Donaldson is exhibiting her colourful oils in Church Street alongside ceramic artist Sujata Aten whose beautiful ceramics are inspired by her childhood in India and her Melbourne allotment Drop in to see Barbara Bagley with her quirky Melbourne paintings – we challenge you not to succumb to at least a card! Next stop is the Dower House to see Melbourne stone sculptor Ross Danby exhibiting with talented metal sculptor David Turner

If you are visiting with children you can find their artwork at Pool Cottage and the fire station The Vicarage garden is home to two days of Teddy Bears’ picnics with Tracey Ridley from Music Time and story time with The Tiger who came to TEA! A perfect place for a picnic and five minutes rest for children or grown-ups

Finally, don’t forget that when the trail is over the concerts really get going! For full details look out for posters around the trail, pick up a leaflet, visit www melbournefestival co uk or call 07765 819428 There is a lot to look forward to!

FILM CLUB’S PREMIERE

A NEW film club is starting at Melbourne Assembly Rooms on September 30 – with a two for one offer

The club is planning to show Finding Your Feet, a Brit comedy starring well known names such as Imelda Staunton, Celia Imrie and Timothy Spall The second film on the double bill will be Journey’s End, a drama set during World War One

Finding your Feet will show at 5pm and Journey’s End at 7 30pm

To comply with licensing arrangements, those interested will be asked to sign up either in ad-

vance or on the night, to the MARS film club, which will give the entitlement to see both films, or only one for those who do not wish to stay for the double bill The bar will be open in between both showings for refreshments

The cost of the club will be £30 for the first six months, which will entitle members to go to at least six film shows during that period The plan is to hold the film nights on the last Sunday of each month, but the club may fit in extra showings depending on demand

Members will also have an opportunity to say what films they might like to see shown

l Karen Worrall in her studio

l Sujata Aten and Laura Donaldson with some of their work.

School head with no children to teach

IT’S back to school this September, but one local head is starting her new job without any children to teach!

Chellaston Fields Spencer Academy hasn’t actually been built yet, but earlier this year it was revealed by Derbyshire County Council that children from the school will feed into Chellaston Academy alongside those from this area

Here we catch up with new school head Laurie Baczynski

Hi Laurie – so, what is your teaching background?

I’ve been teaching for nearly 16 years and worked in Nottingham City before moving to Fairfield Primary Academy, which is now part of the Spencer Academies trust I worked at Fairfield for 14 years and became deputy principal five years ago

You’re now head of Chellaston Fields – but there aren’t any children yet, is that right?

I am now working as principal designate, planning for the new school, meeting with the build team, marketing the school and meeting with prospective children and parents As well as this, I am currently working alongside other principals across the trust schools supporting in school development and developing teaching and learning

What’s the catchment area for the new school?

The catchment area for the new

school as decided by Derbyshire County Council (DCC) is the new Chellaston Fields Housing development at Regents Place

However, as with all schools we will accept children from outside the catchment area if there are spaces in each year group

It has been confirmed by DCC that Chellaston Fields Spencer Academy is part of the Chellaston Academy normal area and this will mean that our children will feed into the academy

Village Voice Postbag

Yet another super show

WE ATTENDED the Songs from the Shows by Melbourne Operatic Society (MOS) at the Melbourne Assembly Rooms with a feeling of excitement and expectation and were not to be disappointed

The show started with ‘There’s No Business Like Show Business’ and ended with ‘Time To Say Goodbye’ with an excellent performed show in between, with each presentation whetting our appetites for more

Examples of this impressive show were ‘Shine Through My Dreams’, a beautifully performed solo by Les Plimbley and ‘Standing On The Corner ’ sung by the men’s chorus, which awoke memories of when I was a small boy

There was superb harmony and musicality from the whole choir singing ‘Hushabye Mountain’ from the show, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Audience participation was not forgotten with the songs ‘Sunshine’, ‘It’s A Long Way’ and ‘Pack Up Your Troubles’ thoroughly enjoyed

The centenary of WW1 ending was also not forgotten with a super rendition of ‘In Flanders Field’ by the chorus

‘Roses Are Shining In Picardy’ was so good, the audience couldn’t fail but to join in and the clarity of soloist Paul Blackmore singing ‘Stars’ was a further enjoyment

We even had an offering of Melbourne Operatic Society’s Got Talent with an audition involving choir member Barry Riley He started his performance so well but deteriorated very quickly into an abyss but was hilarious

My thoughts would not be complete without a mention of what, on balance, was my favourite song ‘Only Remembered’ from the show War Horse, sung by soloist, Les Plimbley and the chorus and was a perfect example of the continued professionalism of this very talented amateur local group who love to entertain

To sum up, many thought this was the best MOS show ever; nothing more needs to be said other than ‘thank you’!

Colin Barker

During the next year we will be inviting parents and children to follow the progress of the school on the website and twitter feed which will be regularly updated I am also writing a regular principal’s blog which will include all of the exciting things that are happening throughout the year

We will be inviting the local community, parents and children to join us on our summer events such as tree planting, designing and planting the forest schools area, sporting events, summer BBQ and fete and many more

Until the build is ready, we will host our transition visits and meet the teacher events at Wyndham Primary Academy to allow the children to meet their peers and build relationships with their teachers

When are you expecting your first children to arrive?

We’re taking applications now with the details on our website, and the school will open initially in September 2019 with spaces for a full reception class of 30 children, 30 spaces in KS1 (year 1 and 2 class) and 30 spaces in lower KS2 (Year 3 and 4 class) and 15 children in Year 5 We will not be taking applications for a year six class in the first year of opening

Once the school is built and ready, we will hold a grand opening event and then showaround events for parents and children to visit and become familiar with the school building Are you looking forward to it?

It is such an exciting opportunity to grow and shape a new school and allows the school to be exactly as we want it to be for our children and the local community The building will be state of the art and have new resources and equipment for the best learning opportunities for our children

Local History Cafe for Calke

OVER-50s are being invited to join a “Local History Café” at Calke Abbey, which starts this month

The scheme is part of a Leicestershire-based social enterprise which offers the chance for local residents aged 50 and over to get together, listen to a speaker and discuss interests

The enterprise, called Crafting Relationships, works with heritage and community organisations and is for over-50s experiencing social isolation and loneliness

Crafting Relationships director Katherine Brown said: “Local History Cafes offer an enjoyable way for community members to get together with others interested in history and heritage in a supportive environment Sharing of information works both ways, and there have been many ‘aha’ moments at existing cafes where someone has provided a missing piece of an information jigsaw!

“There are many, many different reasons someone may be feeling lonely, and we want people to know they are very welcome to join us ”

Alison Thornhill, of Melbourne Community Care, said: “We’re very pleased to be a member of Local History Cafes and look forward to welcoming visitors old and new to Calke Abbey We play an important part in our local community and relish the opportunity to do even more ”

The Local History Café at Calke Abbey starts on Tuesday, September 11, from 10 30am to 12 30pm and runs through till January next year There is a small charge, and places must be booked by emailing calkeabbey@nationaltrust org uk or telephoning on 01332 695310 There is some funding for transport for anyone needing help getting there and back, available on a first come, first served basis It is possible to join after September

The rollout of Local History Cafes in the East Midlands has been made possible by funding from Museum Development East Midlands, who support the improvement and sustainability of museums and heritage sites around the region

l An artist’s impression of the new school.

l Laurie Baczynski (left) with Angela O’Brien, primary director of Spencer Academies Trust.

SPORTS SHORTS

Having a ball

...

MELBOURNE Tennis Club is hosting an Autumn Ball to raise money for its three new proposed artificial grass courts

The ball is being held on September 29 at Radisson Blu, East Midlands Tickets include a meal plus half a bottle of wine per person, and there will be music provided by local East Midlands band The Functionals

For details and tickets, contact Sallie Allen on sallie allen@hotmail co uk

Promotion double

GOOD news for bowlers at Kings Newton Bowls Club – both the club’s ladies’ teams have won their respective leagues this season, while the Monday mixed team have finished second in theirs, earning them a promotion

Melbourne Dental Practice

TEXT MESSAGING SERVICE

To try and reduce the amount of clinical time lost due to missed appointments and late cancellations, the practice is now o ering a text messaging service. Any patients who wish to receive these will need to complete a text messaging consent form, available at reception. Please note, we cannot o er this service unless a consent form has been completed.

Tony’s memory is alive and kicking

MELBOURNE Sports Park played host to the Tony Coffey Reunion, an emotional sporting memorial to a muchloved Melbourne football coach who nurtured many young players back in the day

Tony’s family, friends, players he coached and the community turned out in numbers to celebrate the memory of a wonderful man

The day kicked off with boys and girls of all ages enjoying some coaching from both Derby County and Melbourne Dynamo coaches

The main event started with a minute’s applause for Tony ‘Tony’s 11’ played their hearts out against some of the current Melbourne Dynamo side – finally losing out to youth 6-3

The auction/raffle raised much more than expected, which was certainly due to

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the incredible generosity of people in the community, local business, from those who sponsored, donated and, of course, those who were there to enjoy the day

The band ‘Kings Ov Leon’ hosted the evening and those brave enough danced the night away to some of Tony’s favourite oldies!

The organisers would like to thank all those involved in making the day such a memorable event The near £2,000 raised will give Melbourne Dynamo youth players the opportunity to take part in first aid and life support courses

‘The Tony Coffey Memorial Shield’ was unveiled on the evening The family are looking forward to hearing the great things that our youngsters are doing and to presenting the trophy to someone for the first time next year

It was never in doubt that Tony’s life

lived on within the community and Melbourne Dynamo Football Club We love you Big Toe!

A few quotes: “I remember when Tony and Alan ran our youth team (the best team Melbourne has ever seen I’d like to add) Not only did they let us enjoy and succeed in our football but we learnt a respect and dignity in our life then and for the future, the influence Tony had on my life not only as our coach but as my second father, I have never forgot Love you always xx ”

“Tony was a big part in mine and our success at Melbourne Along with you all it was a blessing looking back at what we had as youngsters They gave us the chance to play and enjoy the game of football, follow our dream and keep all us young lads in check Much respect and kudos to both Tony and Alan for this experience ” – Don Miller

Tom to play in New Zealand

A 13-YEAR-OLD member of Ticknall Cricket Club is travelling all the way to New Zealand to represent England next month.

Tom Kent-Smith, who first picked up a bat at the age of five, plays for Ticknall’s junior and senior sides and has also represented Derbyshire since he was nine as a batsman and bowler

He said: “At the age of 11, I was introduced to indoor cricket, playing at Willows in Derby town centre There I was invited to trial for the U13 England squad The two stage trials were held in Birmingham where I was successful, and now join the 12-person squad to

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represent England in Christchurch, New Zealand, this October in the World Series Tournament

“The squad meets every week in Birmingham at Action Indoor Sport, where we have an intensive training programme.”

But indoor cricket in the UK is an unfunded sport, so Tom has to find £3,485 plus travel expenses to take part in the tournament in October

To help, his mum has set up a Just Giving Page. Anyone who wants to help him get there should visit https://www justgiving com/crowdfunding/Alison-Kent-Smith

THE PLAYERS (back row l-r): Michael Coffey, Andrew Smethurst, Callum Hill, Matt Fowles, Adam Smith, Dan Toon, Ben Anderson, Colin Topliss, Ryan McLaughlin, Gavin Salsbury, Tom Hanson, Mark Hatton, James Wetten, Rob Turton, Joe Shadbolt, Alan Scott, Don Miller, Toby Foxon and Ash Smith Front (l-r): Lee Scott, Duane Mclellan, Harry Foxon, Finn Charles, James Benjamin, Andy Mackin, Gary Croake, Reuben Gosling, Christian Dolman, Tom Barton and Nathan Cooke

MELBOURNE Tennis Club had a busy month of August as numerous teams push for promotion

The men’s first team, playing in the Burton League, claimed a 40 win against Lichfield and followed this up with a 2-2 draw away to Barton B This leaves Ian Ward’s men needing just a draw from their last game, which is again against Barton B, to claim a second successive promotion

The men’s second team in the Burton League completed their season’s fixtures with a hard fought 2-2 draw with Alrewas at home as the Andy Fleming/John Mayers partnership won both of their sets to leave the B team in a very creditable fourth spot in their division

Tennis teams’ busy push for promotion Fancy that ... the nurses win!

The club’s ladies first team in the same league are also pushing for promotion as they lie in third place, needing two wins from their last two games to also clinch a second successive promotion They beat CURC 3-1 with the Pat Milham/Pam Oliver pairing winning both their sets along with Leslie Heath/Emma Guest, who claimed a vital win to clinch the victory

The club’s ladies B team have a great chance of winning their league as they still have five matches left and remain unbeaten, They won all three of their matches in August, beginning with a 31 away win against Ashby Castle as Laura Clarke and Emma Guest won both of their sets with Mair Vater and Nicola Tomlinson winning one too

It was the same score when they played Ashby Castle at home but this time Vater/Tomlinson won both their sets and Clarke/Guest the one

The B team ended the month in style with a convincing 4-0 win against Netherseal with Vater/Tomlinson and Guest/Sallie Allen winning all four sets they played

The club’s mixed A team in the Burton League had an easy win versus Etching Hill with Pat Milham/Simon Middlebrough partnership winning both their sets as did Karen and Simon Brenchley in a 4-0 win But that was followed by a 3-1 defeat away at Lichfield

The men’s A team that compete in the Derbyshire League were well beaten 6-3 away to Rolls-Royce but moved up to fourth in the table with a convincing 7-2 home win against Duffield

The mixed Derbshire League team have struggled and lost 63 and 5-4 to Derby Tennis Centre away and at home

BILLED as “possibly the greatest fancy dress football tournament in the world,” the Jack Radley Cup – held at Melbourne Sports Park on September 1 – was said by all to have more than lived up to expectations

With 16 teams of young players dressed in a range of outfits from nurses, sheikhs, men in frocks, babies and grass skirts, the competition was fierce but in the end the nurses ran out winners

In between bouts there was also much re-fuelling of energy in time-honoured way and in the packed bar later in the day, master of ceremonies Jules Raine, dressed himself in a sequinned, sparkly frock – with obligatory baseball cap – tried to keep a lid on an exuberant crowd, while drawing lots

for amazingly generous raffle prizes

As Jules said afterwards: “The day as a whole went better than any of us could have anticipated! It was a very smooth operation, and that’s entirely down to people who turned up and pitched in on the day, from people manning the BBQ, cheering on the football, to going round picking up all the litter at the end – dozens of people just helped out, without anyone asking them! It was incredible!”

He added: “It was an amazing experience, and like I say, the youth of Melbourne can sometimes, and in some cases rightly, get a bit of a bad rap in Melbourne, but there is no doubt that Saturday went down in history as being one of those times that the youth of Melbourne shone; and I think

it goes to show that the future of this community is in great hands!”

As previously reported in The Village Voice, the Jack Radley Cup is held in honour of 25-year-old Jack Radley who suffered from a stroke while on the trip of a lifetime to South America last summer but is currently recovering after many months in hospital This year ’s event is the second held, with the day’s proceedings raising £2,117 for ward 3 of the Kings Lodge London Road Community Hospital in Derby and the Neurological Outpatient Therapy Service, both of which organisations were instrumental in helping Jack on the road to recovery Organisers say next year ’s event will be even bigger and better than ever

Cup returns to The Grange

ALONGSIDE a tight race for the Derbyshire League title, Ticknall and Spondon cricket clubs played off for the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire Premier Cup at the beginning of September

Having lost their league fixture to Spondon off the last ball the day before, Ticknall bounced back with an inspired 137 from Wayne Madsen leading the home side to a score of 292-9 from their 50 overs

After falling to 80-5, Spondon rallied late with scores of 81 to Nick Rigg and 48 to Matt Madeley But they ultimately fell short, being bowled out for 276 in the 49th over

So the cup returns to The Grange, Ticknall after having first won it in 2015

BOB Rowe and daughter Anna Wright, members of Melbourne’s Weight Watchers group, ran the Derby 5k race 90lbs lighter than when they started attending the weekly meetings

Aiming to raise a pound in cash for every pound in weight they lost, they jogged each other round the course raising £202 for cancer research

l Melbourne Town Cricket Club third team (back row, l-r) Alex Blackhall, James Hayes, Tom Blackhall, Oliver Dawson, Tony Papas, Harry Potts; front row (l-r) John Collins, Bruno Rost, Andy Holden (captain), Alex Roome and John Mayers

Promotion first for Town’s third team

MELBOURNE Town Cricket Club had a huge reason to celebrate in August as its third team secured a first ever promotion.

They began the month with a narrow two-wicket defeat away to Kings Bromley seconds Town scored a lowly 145 all out with only Sunny Dhiman coping with the home attack by top scoring with 33

Three wickets for Naveen Jospeh-Matthew plus two each for Sam Barker and skipper Andy Holden gave Melbourne hope, but Kings Bromley edged home

The next day, at home to Castle Donington seconds, the visitors scored 222-5 off their allotted overs with Harry Potts taking a creditable 2-15 In reply the third team held on for a well-earned losing draw with Alex Blackhall scoring 71 as they finished on 151-8

A week later Andy Holden’s men claimed the full 27 points as their opposition Ashbourne seconds failed to raise a side; this hap-

pened again in the third team’s last game of the season against Draycott seconds, leaving Melbourne in second place on a huge 332 points and a promotion spot from division 10 south Melbourne Town firsts had a difficult month as they slipped from third to seventh, losing three games on the trot, beginning with a huge 177-run defeat at home to top of the table Rolleston seconds

The visitors scored a massive 280-9 despite 4-80 from Waseem Sajid and 3-74 by Adam Swain In reply Town were all out for just 103

Melbourne’s batting let them down again a week later as they were bowled out for 86 away to lowly Dunstall seconds and the home side knocked them off for just three wickets down Trentside first team were the next team to beat Melbourne, this time by 94 runs as they scored 248-8 despite 4-65 from Muhammad Nadeem and 3-62 by James Hogwood In reply Mark Rossi (37), Alex Slater (33), Matt Briers (32) and Matt Grimmett (25) all batted well but Town were bowled out for just 154

The first team ended the month with a much-needed win to keep their promotion chances alive as they recorded a comfortable sevenwicket win away to lowly Hilton Adam Swain (4-49) and 3-22 by Lee Tallis helped bowl the home side out for just 134 and in reply Mark Rossi (37), Russ Allaway (34) and Lee Tallis (32 not out) took Town to a priceless win

Melbourne Town second team also had a difficult time in August, losing three of their four league games and falling to fourth in the league going into September

A narrow one-wicket loss away to top of the table Burton seconds was tough on Dan Marshall’s men as they scored 225-3 off their allotted overs Sam Adcock top scored with 61 not out, ably supported by Julian Humpidge (50) and Lee Tallis (46 not out) as Adcock and Tallis put on an unbeaten 102 for the fourth wicket Figures of 4-45 from Tallis plus 2-8 by MTCC legend Mick Meakin, who came out of retirement for the game, took Town to the brink of victory but Burton’s final pair scored the necessary runs for success

The seconds returned to winning ways a week later at home to Lullington Park thirds as 4-15 by Ranjit Rathore and 3-35 by James Hogwood bowled the visitors out for just 132, An unbeaten 56 by opener Simon Fletcher plus 47 from Sam Adcock took Melbourne home for a five-wicket win

A disappointing batting display away to lowly Hilton seconds followed as only Fletcher with exactly 50 scored any runs of note as they were bowled out for just 141 Despite 3-44 from Sam Barker the home side won easily by six wickets

Melbourne ended the month with another narrow defeat, this time by just one wicket at home to Allestree seconds Melbourne scored 163-9 off their allotted overs with Alex Blackhall (37), Julian Humpidge (36) and Simon Fletcher (32) all batting well and in reply Blackhall took 4-34, Ranjit Rathore 2-26 and Sam Barker 2-28 But Allestree’s last pair scored the runs needed to give the seconds their third defeat in four games, leaving them needing three wins from their last three games to claim a promotion spot

The club would like to thank all its matchball sponsors for the month of August: Albert Wood, J P Springthorpe & Co, A R C, Crane & Walton Solicitors, Lion Court and Acres Engineering