Melbourne Village Voice December 2017

CHRISTMAS is nearly here, and Melbourne looks as pretty and twinkly as a picture. The parish council works hard to put up all the Christmas trees lining Derby Road and the Market Place ready for December, creating an absolutely lovely festive atmosphere.

We hope that the Christmas season is a happy and successful one for our local shops and businesses. Let’s show them we value our independent high street by buying local for friends and family this year.

The staff at the Village Voice wish all our readers, distributors, advertisers and correspondents a very Merry Christmas. And here’s to a Happy New Year, too.

CHURCH GETS £590K LOTTERY LIFESAVER

By Lucy Stephens

VILLAGERS have been handed a Christmas present to remember with the announcement that their historic church has been saved from closure thanks to more than half a million pounds in Lottery funding.

The news comes after three years of work by the Friends of St Wilfrid’s Church in Barrow-on-Trent to secure funding in order to keep the building going

As reported in The Village Voice at

the time, the campaign first started in 2014 with an emotional plea to residents in the village newsletter, warning that the old church may have to shut if something was not done to secure its future

Now it’s third time lucky for the hard-working Friends who have finally secured a “first round pass” from the Heritage Lottery Fund for £597,400 –after two failed bids

“I am so delighted that we can manage to keep the building going,” said church warden Anne Heathcote, adding that her father, two grandfathers and great-grandfather had all fulfilled that role before her, and “ it was over my dead body that the church

was going to close!”

The money includes an initial development fund of £34,700, which allows The Parochial Church Council to progress their plans

The idea is to develop St Wilfrid’s so it can be used by the whole community while still enabling Sunday worship

The project aims to carry out essential conservation and repair work, making it a welcoming place for users and visitors; restoring, enhancing and transforming the church both to conserve it against potential terminal decline but also to enhance the building’s suitability for wider community use

St Wilfrid’s is an Anglo-Saxon parish church given to the Knights Hospi-

tallers in 1165

The Knights made extensive extensions to the building, and it survives today in its structurally unchanged state since the dissolution of the order in 1540

The project will provide an opportunity for all to explore various aspects of medieval life with workshops and activities inspired by the period

Jonathan Platt, head of the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for the East Midlands, said: “We are delighted that, thanks to people who play the National Lottery, we’ve been able to support these innovative proposals

“St Wilfrid’s is a wonderfully historic site, and a treasured community asset,

and we look forward to seeing the final plans in due course ”

Heritage grants programme applications are assessed in two rounds A first-round pass, such as the one given to St Wilfrid’s, is given when HLF has endorsed outline proposals and earmarked funding

Detailed proposals are then considered by HLF at second-round and, as long as plans have progressed satisfactorily and according to the original proposal, an award for the project is confirmed

The next church fund-raiser is an auction of promises to be held at Brookfield Social Club on December 15, at 7 30pm

EDNA BRAME

The family of Edna Brame would like to thank everyone who sent cards, letters, flowers or visited us following Edna’s recent death. Special thanks to Reverend Steve Short, Reverend Margaret Jacques, the Very Reverend Doctor John Davies, John Springthorpe, Jose Raine, Andy and Sheila and Melbourne Assembly Rooms for their services and support during this sad time.

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Paul takes on new rural crime role

A NEW police post has been created in South Derbyshire to tackle rural crime

PC Paul Russell, who was appointed Rural Crime Officer in November, said he was looking forward to the opportunity to address some of the specific types of crime that impact on the more remote and isolated parts of the community He is heading up a small team with other officers who will have the rural crime role bolted onto their current responsibilities

“Initially, it will be about improving communications and targeting specific types of offending,” he said

Paul brings a wealth of experience from 25 years in the police, including specialised training in surveillance and intelligence

He has been a wildlife crime officer for a number of years and is particularly keen to tackle crimes, such as hare coursing or poaching, which impact directly on the

rural community

He appreciates that there may be a reluctance to report suspicious activity, as there is a perception nothing will be done, but he is keen to reverse that and encourage people who live in the countryside to be alert to any suspicious behaviour and report it

“There are high value crimes too, with thefts of tractors and equipment by well organised criminals, and the public can help by being alert to suspicious activity,” Paul said

His remit includes protection of habitats, such as for badgers, bats and birds: “It encompasses a very wide spectrum,” he said

There are many ways to report incidents, including calling 101, or 999 if a crime has been committed, and there is the Derbyshire Constabulary website (www derbyshire police uk/Contact-Us/) and a twitter account for Melbourne Safer Neighbourhood Team – Frank Hughes

EVERYONE loves a quiz, and this one was all for a good cause

‘The Dream Team on Tour ’ were this year ’s winners of Aston-onTrent’s annual village quiz The brain-teasing occasion was held in the village’s War Memorial Hall with the clever questions provided by quizmaster Robin Sedgewick and his wife, Ann Participants enjoyed fish and chips courtesy of George’s Tradi-

l ‘The Dream Team on Tour ’ being presented with the quiz trophy by Councillor Mike Stanton, his wife Heather, plus quizmasters Robin and Ann Sedgewick, with Barbara James and Sandra Bayliss, of Recreation in Aston.

tion of Long Eaton, and the David Smith Memorial Trophy was presented to the winning team by South Derbyshire District Council chairman councillor Mike Stanton with his consort, wife Heather

All proceeds from the evening will go towards the refurbishment of the Aston-on-Trent Recreation Centre

HAVING A BALL FOR CHILDREN’S

A GLITTERING ball at Amalfi White raised £7,000 for a children’s cancer charity.

The occasion was held by the Howard-Hull family from Melbourne, in aid of Children with Cancer UK.

This is the second year that the HowardHulls have held the event to raise money for the leading national charity fighting children’s cancer

Nearly 100 people donned their finest to attend the occasion, each wearing something scarlet in keeping with this year ’s red theme

With a raffle, DJ and auction, it was a fabulous night for everyone who went along.

Kim Howard-Hull said: “The evening was a great success – everyone was very generous ”

The charity is particularly close to the hearts of the Howard-Hull family as their son Oscar is being treated for leukaemia, and is part of a trial funded by Children with Cancer UK

The family were recently featured on Sky News to talk about the work of the charity to achieve kinder, safer and shorter cancer treatments for children

n YOU’RE never too young to learn DIY – and these children from Melbourne Infant School showed that when they got out brushes and paint to spruce up the friendship bench in their playground

The bench has been transformed from yellow to all the colours of the rainbow by the youngsters, to mark World Kindness Day as part of friendship week

The idea of the bench is to provide a “friendship stop”

where anyone can go who is looking for someone to play with, and the school’s playground buddies will help out.

The brightly coloured new rainbow bench was officially “opened” by school head Charlotte Gibbs, who did the honours by cutting a ceremonial ribbon.

Reception class teacher Jonathan Simpson said: “This is an important part of our school’s ethos for creating a safe and happy place for children.”

Christmas tree is damaged yet again

VANDALISM has marred Melbourne’s Christmas tree – for the third year running.

The latest meeting of Melbourne Parish Council, held at the Assembly Rooms on December 5, heard how the tree had only been lit up for the festive season for just under five hours when the lights went off

Parish council clerk Jacqui Storer told the meeting how the lights had been switched on at 6pm but by ten to 11 – not quite five hours later – someone had collided with the tree and damaged the lights

It is believed the person responsible had been drinking

This is the third year in a row that damage has been done to Melbourne’s Christmas tree

In January last year we reported how the lights to the Market Place tree were badly damaged in two separate incidents on either

Roads? We’re happy with ours

IT’S official people in Derbyshire are more pleased with the state of the roads than anywhere else in Britain

Derbyshire County Council says a recent repair drive has led to an 80 per cent reduction on pot holes.

The body also says its routes have been ranked best for user satisfaction out of the whole of Britain’s county council areas.

Latest figures show that at the end of October there were 539 defects to highways, including potholes, sunken ironworks, damaged kerbs and gullies – this was compared to 2,515 faults awaiting repair at the same time in 2016

Council chiefs have ploughed an extra £6million into their road maintenance budget in a bid to keep on top of the problem

side of Christmas Day

This year ’s incident has been captured on CCTV and the image has been shown to police The lights were off for a short while, during which time an electrician conducted repairs

“The only way we are going to stop this year on year is naming and shaming, otherwise we end up having no tree, which isn’t an option; we can’t keep paying out £300 or whatever for new lights each time,” commented Cllr

Jane Carroll

The idea of putting fencing around the tree was briefly discussed and then dismissed – Derby’s Christmas tree having attracted widespread ridicule this year for having a wide “exclusion zone” for the stated reason of public safety

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Responding to the criticism, Derby City Council removed the wider barriers and just kept a section of fencing next to the tree, accepting it had been “over cautious” –

One-woman show a fascinating film star insight

MELBOURNE in November seems a very long way from Hollywood in California, but Bette Davis on the Edge managed to transport the attentive audience across both space and time

Christine St John, playing the iconic movie star, was superb in a one-woman show at Melbourne Assembly Rooms, providing a fascinating insight into the triumphs and anxieties of one of the greatest names from the golden age of Hollywood

The story opens at 4am back in 1962 after the opening night of “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane”, with Bette waiting up for the first press notices to see whether the film has had favourable reviews

The tension is palpable as her future career hangs in the balance The head of Warner Brothers has already dismissed it as a certain flop

Bette reminisces over a career of more than 30 years, covering early hurdles – most notably her unglamorous looks, her contract battles with Warner Bros, her loves and marriages, her successes and disasters Along the way Christine convincingly acts out the conversations with Bogart, Jack Warner, Joan Crawford, to name-drop just a few

The play also references Peg Entwistle, who committed suicide from the letter H of the Hollywood sign by leaping to her death from it, and how the Oscar was sonamed

Resplendent in midnight blue gown costume, Christine gave a highly convincing and compelling performance in the drama she wrote herself based on true events

Produced by Nik Panic, the show under the Live and Local banner was of excellent quality and the only disappointment was the relatively small audience for such a good play

Frank Hughes

Sing is a noteworthy novel from Stephanie

MELBOURNE village life has been thinly disguised in a new work of fiction by local resident

Stephanie Hill

Her first novel, Sing, has been four years in the making and is now available, published on Amazon She has dabbled previously with “a children’s book, a recipe book and memoirs of life in the 1950s for family” she said, but “working and bringing up four children precluded the self-indulgence of writing for publication until now ”

She has also written magazine articles

The book, which falls into the romance genre, is based around a fictional Somerset village choir, with more than a passing resemblance to Melbourne’s A Choir ’d Taste It circles around indiscretions and marriages in crisis against a backdrop of rehearsals and concerts

The Mark Twain quote about writing what you know is most apt, as Stef was instrumental in setting up the local mixed voice choir after organising several ‘Come and Sing’ workshops at the Festival

“Music has always been a passion and I have sung in choirs all my life I chose the theme of a village choir because it is a microcosm of society – individuals with all their idiosyncrasies and problems,” she said Stef grew up in the west country

and had a career in teaching, specialising in literacy

“Writing comes very easily,” she said “I can sit down with a pen and paper and suddenly darkness has fallen and hours have passed It’s totally absorbing and great fun ”

Local readers will recognise many Melbourne references in the book –the high beamed village hall, which has a cold rehearsal room, a Sky sports pub and the ‘Royal Oak’ nicknamed as God’s waiting room where men go to escape wives and talk politics

Choir members will recognise the references to musical pieces and sayings laced with innuendo from musical directors Resemblances to actual people and places are entirely fictional, of course

She got much support and encouragement from a writers group she joined at the Derby Quad, sharing ideas and knowledge with other authors

“I encountered many pitfalls which beset a novice writer and have learnt an enormous amount about the craft of writing I am still learning and hope the next book will be more accomplished ”

Whilst she would be delighted for it sell well, her main driving force was “only to hold my own book in my hands” –

Frank Hughes

We’ll be back, say broadband engineers

CONTRACTORS working in Melbourne laying underground fibre optic cables along Potter Street are set to stay until around a week before Christmas – but they will be back

The engineers from Ashmac Construction Ltd are working on behalf of telecoms provider CityFibre, to give local businesses better broadband

The Village Voice contacted Ashmac to discover how long the works were likely to be going on for and we were told they would probably be here until around a week before Christmas

Ashmac is then set to return in the New Year when staff will be working on Derby Road, Station Road and Chapel Street

However, concerns have been raised

about the fact that the contractors are using the triangular green between Station Road, Packhorse Road and Castle Street as a base for their equipment

That area of Melbourne is the site of an historic stone washpit – one of the village’s old public wells which was used to wash vegetables from the fields before sending them to market

A grade two listed building, it is much older than the village’s market gardening industry and dates back to the 17th century

Speaking at the latest meeting of Melbourne Parish Council, district councillor Jim Hewlett said that the washpit itself appeared to have been “securely fenced off” by contractors

But there were still concerns that the daffodil bulbs planted by the Melbourne Civic Society on that patch of ground may have been affected by the works

The chairman of Melbourne Civic Society, Paul Grimley, said: “Over several years, Melbourne Civic Society has planted large numbers of daffodils on the Washpit Green, paid for by the society and planted by members So every spring people enjoy a really impressive flower display

“We fear that next year our bulbs may not survive the ongoing works and we have asked councillors to ensure that the contractors fully restore the green area and commit to a daffodil replanting scheme next October ” – Lucy Stephens

Kiss of new life for damaged gate

Country Living with Robert Parker

Dairy days are drawing to a close

2018 will see me entering into new territory as I cease to be a dairy farmer This is going to be very strange after 50-plus years tied to the apron strings of a herd of bovines.

Sixty-five years of drinking unpasteurised milk straight from the churn at the start, till later out of a refrigerated storage tank

Some health experts would say I should be dead or massively obese after all this time of drinking this fat laden drink. (Can’t say I feel on top of the world, but I’m still alive).

Incidentally, a little quiz question for you at the festive season: can anyone tell me what the fat percentage is of raw milk? Answers on a postcard to Derby Hills Farm.

The rundown at the moment is that we are selling cows as they have their calves as that is when they are most valuable.

This is rather like a lingering death as we are only running about 30 cows through the milking parlour

a day and most Tuesdays some more disappear to Leek Market to find new homes

I find myself in the same situation as I was all those years ago when I started, in that I’m doing all the milking at the moment.

That was fine when I was 20, but not very pleasant at my advanced age.

Things can only get better and by mid-January we may be able to finally stop sending milk away.

We shall still have quite a lot of cattle on the farm as we are rearing on the calves that are born here.

We are also increasing our herd of suckler cows – for the uninitiated these are cows that just rear one calf per year which is reared on for beef.

Not sure if this is the right thing to do as there is little profit in this type of enterprise, but I don’t want to farm without cattle

Wish us well – and a happy festive season to all.

A MUCH-USED kissing gate on Melbourne’s Penn Lane is as good as new after it was found damaged

Three members of the Melbourne Footpaths Group spent four mornings repairing the gate after three of its support posts were found sheared at the base Group members used materials funded by Melbourne Civic Society to repair the gate, which was originally built for the society by Heaths in 1988

Now the group is hoping the gate will last another 30 years before it needs attention again

Meanwhile, walkers are invited to join the footpaths group’s New Year linear walk on Thursday, January 18

The walk will begin by taking the bus from Melbourne Market Place at 9 45am to Coal Lane

The walk itself is around six and a half miles and will take in the Meeroak bridleway, going over the Pistern Hills to Heath End and on to Ticknall, from where walkers will return to Melbourne by bus

Then, on Thursday, February 15, the group will welcome walkers for a five-mile circular walk setting off from Ticknall Village Hall car park at 10am to explore the Ticknall Tramway, on which ponies once pulled loads of coal and lime to and from the Ticknall lime kilns

Melbourne Footpaths Group welcomes a donation of £2 from walkers to help towards its work and running costs

PATH PROTEST

Walkers plan to demonstrate over 10-year wait for a safe Causeway crossing solution

WALKERS are planning a demonstration in the New Year on the perilous Swarkestone Causeway as a protest against the fact they have now been waiting for a new footpath for 10 years

The protest is being organised by Melbourne Footpaths Group who say they are “truly sick” of “continuing bureaucratic delays” to the creation of a new path that would avoid walkers having to take their life in their hands on 300 metres of the causeway

The group says the issue is so serious there will be a fatal accident if it is not dealt with Chairman of the Melbourne Footpaths Group Paul Sturges said: “Walkers are truly sick of h nuing bureaucratic det mean there has been on the work is despite an agreement the council (DerCounty Council) and Commissioners (The Commissioners –ers) to put in the new Walkers still have to negoti300 metres of the causeway re they can join the existing path that goes south from Swarkestone to Stanton by Bridge

“Increasing traffic on the causeway and the total lack of a pavement make this so perilous that sooner or later there will be a fatal accident ”

The campaign for a new path through the meadows parallel to the causeway was started by Melbourne Civic Society in 2008 It is now headed by the

Melbourne Footpaths Group, who say they regard the county council and the Church Commissioners as equally responsible for all the hold-ups to the process

It is believed that the current delay is because of a scheme to drain the meadows to the south, through which the existing path passes, which has been linked in a single project with the creation of the new path to the north

Now the group is calling for walkers to join them at 10am on Saturday, January 20, to walk the disputed 300 metres of the causeway

Professor Sturges said: “Let Melbourne Footpaths Group install the necessary gates and way markers We have done this free of charge for the county council on many other sites

“The drainage can wait It will keep walkers’ boots dry, but they can put up with that The new path is urgent because it will save lives ”

A Derbyshire County Council spokesman said: “We’re aware that the current footpath is not suitable and we’re planning to improve safety for walkers by building an alternative route

“This project has been complicated by the fact that we do not own the land But we’re continuing to negotiate with the landowner and tenant to get the work done as soon as possible and by April next year ”

The protestors are meeting in front of the Crewe & Harpur at Swarkestone where marshals in hi-viz jackets will organise the event Placards calling for the path to be taken off the causeway will be welcome

Lucy Stephens

l Footpaths Group members John Sheppard and Stuart Mansfield next to the repaired kissing gate on Penn Lane

Balancing ponds poser

SERIOUS doubts have been raised over the effectiveness of “balancing ponds” on new local housing developments

A public meeting in Melbourne heard how they were designed to cope with a one in 100-year level storm plus a 40 per cent increase in climate change – but local video footage suggested otherwise

Many modern housing developments contain a balancing pond, sometimes known as an attenuation pond, as part of a SUDs (Sustainable Urban Drainage) design

The system is designed to cope with heavy rainfall by storing excess water before it is released slowly into the surrounding watercourses

In the countryside, water can soak into the ground during heavy rainfall from where it can then filter into streams, ditches and rivers

But in towns there are a lot more hard surfaces which mean water is pushed straight into the drainage system unless artificial engineering is put in place to slow down that process

Recent housing developments in Melbourne containing balancing ponds include those at Station Road and Kings Newton Lane

Plans in the pipeline from building developer Miller Homes for 34 houses on Jawbone Lane in Melbourne also include an attenuation pond as part of the layout

But at the latest public meeting about village flooding, held at the Assembly Rooms on November 15, questions were raised to officials from the county council and Severn Trent Water as to whether these ponds actually work

Jess Long, from Kings Newton Residents’ Association, showed the officials video footage showing flood water pouring out of the drain and causing localised flooding down

Kings Newton Lane during heavy rainfall – despite the presence of a balancing pond on the nearby Persimmon Homes development

She said: “None of these communities are really going to have any faith in these balancing ponds – we just don’t believe the design ”

An official from Derbyshire County Council told those present: “The whole system (of balancing ponds) is modelled to (cope with) a one in 100-year

storm plus 40 per cent climate change – no surface water should really leave the site ”

The Miller Homes development has been sent to South Derbyshire District Council’s planning department after the houses were allowed by the planning inspector on appeal

A spokeswoman for the developer said it would not be appropriate to comment on the attenuation pond before a planning decision had been made

– Lucy Stephens

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l Water pouring down Kings Newton Lane during heavy rainfall – the housing development next door contains a balancing pond.

l THESE children from Melbourne Junior School were getting into the festive spirit of giving when they packed 25 shoeboxes destined for some of the world’s poorer countries The boxes were collected by Margaret Sharp and Kate Dumelow from Rotex, as part of Operation Christmas Child

Police in fatal road crash appeal

POLICE are appealing for witnesses after a pedestrian in his 70s died after being involved in a collision with a car in Swarkestone

The incident happened around 4 30pm on Tuesday, November 28, on Barrow Lane at its junction with Lowe Lane

The man, 73, died following the collision with a black Audi

Q5

The driver was travelling along the A5132 Barrow Lane from the A50 direction towards Barrow-upon-Trent

Police closed the road at the Lowe Lane and Swarkestone Bridge junction with Barrow Lane, which was also closed at its Sinfin Lane junction

Anyone with information is asked to call the Collision Investigation Unit for Derbyshire Constabulary, quoting incident 613 of November 28

Air ambulance is called out

AN AIR ambulance was called to a road collision on the outskirts of Melbourne at the end of November

East Midlands Ambulance Service attended the crash on Breach Lane just outside the town at 7 44am on November 29

An air ambulance arrived at the scene, but in the event a patient was taken to Royal Derby Hospital by paramedics in a road ambulance

Tina clicks with her Village Voice photograph

A STRIKING shot which accompanied a Village Voice feature earlier in the year has been included in a major exhibition featuring some of Britain’s best known photographic talent – and it was taken by our very own snapper Tina Baker

Tina’s picture of Daniel Hardy (left) was taken over the summer at a Krav Maga session held in Milton Village Hall

Our feature was about instructor Duncan Hogg’s free self-defence sessions for the disabled, and Tina took this photo of Daniel concentrating during the class

Now it has been included in a major exhibition held in London’s trendy Shoreditch, called ‘Photography On a Postcard’

Featuring the cream of Britain’s photographers including the renowned Martin Parr, Tina’s shot of Daniel was in the ‘reportage’ segment of the exhibition, held to raise money for the Hepatitis

C Trust

“I’ve never entered before – I was over the moon, I couldn’t believe it!” said Tina, pictured right

“I was pleased with my picture; when I met Daniel I was really impressed with just how confident he was at his self-defence classes I was trying to get an image that reflected his confidence ”

REMEMBRANCE DAY PARADE MARRED

WHILST the Remembrance Day parade this year will be remembered for the superb turnout and organisation, another incident directed at one of the safety marshals marred the occasion

In a statement the parish council said:

“Each year the Melbourne branch of the Royal British Legion organises the Remembrance Day parade on behalf of the parish council

The organisation and the event itself is excellent; the parish council wishes to thank the branch for its superb organisation, which over the years, has resulted in the Melbourne Remembrance Parade being the largest and most re-

spected within the district

“Over the last few years there have been isolated incidents of motorists being abusive to the marshals and, whilst unpleasant, these incidents have not been pursued; but sadly, this year the level of abuse to the marshals reached a peak

“Not only were several motorists determined to drive to their desired location irrespective of any possible consequences, but such was their determination that the level of foul language used was wholly unacceptable

“This was surpassed, though, by a motorist who allegedly caused an injury to a marshal whilst lawfully going about his duty The incident has been captured

on CCTV and the police have been informed ”

At the time of writing the police are in the process of interviewing witnesses and deciding whether there is a case to answer

It is understood the incident took place at the top of Potter Street when the parade was returning from the war memorial service, and the young marshal suffered minor injuries

Looking forward, the parish council is making it clear that any such behaviour will not be tolerated

“Next year will be the 100th anniversary of the end of World War 1 and the Remembrance parade will be larger and more involved, specifically to mark the

occasion In the future, any form of bad behaviour will be reported to the police,” the council said

Cllr David Smith, chair of the Highways, Recreation and Amenities Committee whose remit covers the Remembrance parade, said: “We will wholeheartedly support the Royal British Legion in their organisation of the 2018 anniversary parade by continuing to offer support and encouraging participation

“In looking to ensure that next year ’s parade passes without incident, the parish council together with the Royal British Legion, will review this year ’s event and any outcomes from the police ”

Frank Hughes

Guides grill Question Time guests

WILL Jeremy Corbyn ever make Prime Minister? Why doesn’t Melbourne have a secondary school?

How will today’s young people of Melbourne ever be able to afford to buy a house here? Why isn’t there more for teenagers to do locally?

These were just some of the posers put to a local panel of guests as 1st Melbourne Guides marked UK Parliament Week with their own take on the BBC political show Question Time

Guests Jess Long, from Kings Newton Residents Association; district councillor John Harrison; parish councillor Jane Carroll and Liberal Democrat candidate John James turned out to Melbourne Scout Hut to answer testing questions put to them by the guides group, in an event organised by leader Michelle Lewis

Asked why Melbourne did not currently have a secondary school, Cllr John Harrison – formerly also a county councillor – said that he had in the past tried to convince the authorities that one could be built on land at the bottom of Derby Road and Cockshut Lane

“They decided it wasn’t big enough to

accommodate a 600-pupil school,” he said This being in the days when the Melbourne Sports Park was still in the planning stage, he added that he had told the powers-that-be that by the time the school would be built, the village would have “first class sporting facilities” that pupils could have used –but it still did not happen

The question as to why there were not more facilities for teenagers in the local area also met with a series of interesting answers

“Melbourne has expanded hugely and there’s a dearth of things for young people to do – unfortunately I can’t see that improving in the near future,” responded John James, while Cllr Carroll had this to add: “I have to say I’m very pessimistic on that front if you talk about the future, maybe 10 or 20 years – I can’t see that we are going to be able to get any more money to build anything else ”

Cllr Harrison pointed out that there was some local provision for teens, with the Athenaeum on Potter Street and regular bus services to Swadlincote –which he said had been “transformed”

over the past 10 years and was now a “modern, vibrant community with modern facilities” including a swimming pool and climbing wall

Jess Long answered the question in a different way, recalling her own experiences as a teenager when she might not have necessarily wanted to take part in things provided by the older generation

Instead, she suggested that young people should work out what they wanted and how to get it, with a great number of local venues that were available to hire

One thing was for sure, unlike many politicians appearing on the real-life Question Time, at no point did any member of the panel fail to answer the question – Lucy Stephens

Bakery on the move

MUCH-LOVED Melbourne bakery

Birds is on the move – but only over the road

Birds has been occupying its current spot on the Market Place since the 1970s, but the store is now heading to a much larger premises next door to Blatch’s TV & Electrical

The deal was signed off at the beginning of December and the bakery is expected to be in its new place by mid-February at the latest

Birds head of retail Mike Holling said: “The bakery’s existing unit is extremely tight and not easily acces-

Refurbishment work almost complete……..

Huge selection of fabulous new ranges due in soon - See in-store for more details!

FABCO are excited to confirm that the new expanded sales area is almost complete - just a few final ‘finishing touches!

There will be an exciting new line up of the 2018 Sealy Naturals collection, along with fabulous new bed ranges from Gainsborough - pure hand made luxury, traditional quality, and exuding style!

All new home furnishing ranges from Voyage Maison, cushions, throws, mirrors ands lots of ‘quirky’ interesting items to browse…..and coming in January 2018 - DURESTA…Pure English Luxury! There really is nowhere quite like FABCO, so why not pop in for a coffee, a chat and let them turn your dreams and ideas into a reality! They are open 7-days a week and are located next to Aldi, opposite Pets at Home and Wickes. Large free car park on the doorstep, so no parking hassle here!

1JS 01530 564 864 fabcoltd.co.uk

sible This will allow us to have a lovely shop which will be part of the community – in this day and age bakery shops are evolving all the time

“The shop will be much more spacious and a better experience ”

“We are very committed to Melbourne and the community and we hope the good people of Melbourne will enjoy seeing a bigger Birds!” said Mike

Birds is a family-run bakery based in Derby that will celebrate its 100th birthday in 2019

l Jess Long, Cllr John Harrison, Cllr Jane Carroll and John James face the questions.

THE FLOORING AND BED COMPANY ..…the home of quality flooring, sofas, beds and home furnishings Dents Road, Ashby-De-La-Zouch. LE65

New freight firm at EMA

EAST Midlands Airport has welcomed a large new business in the form of European cargo operator West Atlantic

The express freight company has leased 43,151sq ft of hangar space close to its key customers DHL and the Royal Mail

The move is driven by a need to find increased space to accommodate its recently expanded fleet of B737 aircraft, and the fact that many of West Atlantic’s customers are already based at the airport

East Midlands Airport is the UK’s second busiest cargo airport after Heathrow, and the country’s most important airport for dedicated freight aircraft

Last year, £9bn worth of goods were exported on behalf of UK business to 200 countries in Latin America, Asia, North America and the Middle East

Nigel Hiorns, managing director for West Atlantic UK Ltd, said: “We had outgrown our Coventry facility as it could no longer meet the demands and needs of our business A new base is required due to the rapid expansion of our fleet, and our in-house maintenance capabilities especially as we prepare to launch new converted Boeing 737-800 freighters in February 2018

“East Midlands Airport is the perfect solution for us as it’s a prime site for our customer network and it will offer us a convenient solution for the maintenance of our larger aircraft ”

Lynda Shillaw, CEO MAG Property which managed the move, said: “East Midlands Airport, with its excellent access to the UK motorway network and with 89% of England and Wales within a four-hour truck drive time, makes it a natural choice for air cargo operators That is why we are seeing a rapidly expanding cargo community around the airport ”

Shed loads of Lottery cash for pre-school

HALF a century and still going strong – the popular pre-school at Aston-on-Trent celebrated an impressive milestone as the ribbon was cut on its brand new Lottery-funded shed!

Generations of little ones from the village have been through the doors of the village’s pre-school – or ‘playgroup’ as it was known for many years until the mid-90s

The group began life in 1967 and was run for some 20 years by local resident Astrid Smith, who was on hand to cut the ribbon on its 50th birthday

Several on the pre-school’s current staff-roll were themselves looked after by Astrid, who was at the helm in the 1970s and 80s, having also set up the playgroup in Weston-onTrent

“Weston was on Monday and Friday mornings and Aston on Tuesday and Thursday mornings,” remembered Astrid

“Mothers or fathers used to give their mornings – I’d do a rota I enjoyed every minute of it!”

Aston-on-Trent pre-school has now moved into the larger room in the Aston-on-Trent Memorial Hall but lots of things have stayed the same, including the presence of deputy manager Vanessa Earith and staff member Louise Anderson, who both attended themselves as chil-

dren

“It doesn’t seem as big as it was then!” said Vanessa, who has now been on the staff for 17 years

“I enjoy it, I really do – we have a very good team, we all get on ”

“It’s an amazing place,” said Louise “My daughter came here, which is why I wanted to work here

As soon as there was an opportunity I applied straight away ”

The pre-school, a registered charity, has recently benefited from just under £10,000 in Lottery funding, which has paid for a new outdoor storage area – the old shed’s floor having rotted away – new technical resources to keep up with the de-

mands of Ofsted, a climbing frame plus new toys for children

Business manager Michelle Gascoigne said: “This gives us such a boost, enabling us to replace lots of things Children do play and they do break things! We can’t thank the National Lottery enough ”

Lucy Stephens

–

l Astrid Smith, Michelle Gascoigne and staff members from Aston-on-Trent Pre-School with children at the opening of their new Lottery-funded shed

Supper fund-raiser

A MIDDLE eastern banquet held in Melbourne was a feast for the eyes and the taste buds, and it all raised money sent directly to people caught up what is now regarded as the worst humanitarian crisis of our time

The Syrian Supper was organised by Jan Rosa Lee, whose personal connections with Syria have been previously documented in The Village Voice

Around 40 people enjoyed the sumptuous buffet at the United Reform Church Hall on November 11, the church having donated the hall free of charge

The food was provided by Jose Raine with authentic desserts

New MP for Aston?

hand-made by a Syrian baker now based in Nottingham

The occasion also welcomed some very special guests – a Syrian family who have been relocated locally

The evening raised £638 with donations from people who could not attend contributing to Jan’s charity box in Heaths farm shop where she works

The money has gone directly to Jan’s contacts in Syrian villages where it will be used to provide essentials including helping with heating costs during the freezing winter

You can still contribute towards Jan’s fund-raising for Syria via her charity box in Heaths

Parents step in to save Scout hut

GUIDE and Scout groups in Melbourne WILL be able to carry on in the New Year after a successful last-ditch appeal for parents to take on the running of the scout hut

Up to 400 children go every week to the groups in Melbourne, but the future of the movement was in jeopardy locally because there was no-one to take on the maintenance of the building

The previous committee had retired and the job was being taken on by Guide and Scout leaders themselves as an interim measure before new volunteers could be found

Apart from the fact that leaders have plenty on their hands with their voluntary commitments to running the groups in Melbourne, it was not constitutionally appropriate for them to be running the building as well

Without a committee, the Scouts and Guides would not have been able to use the hut

An appeal was sent out to parents asking for a committee to come forward to help run the extremely well-used building –otherwise, it was feared that there would be no more guiding and scouting movement in Melbourne which would have led to disappointment for hundreds of

local families

Around 30 people turned out to the meeting on November 23 and volunteered to form a committee to run the building, which is also used by Puddleducks Pre-School

The committee is needed to manage aspects of the hut such as ensuring it complies with health and safety standards; cutting the grass; keeping it properly maintained and conducting financial affairs such as paying bills

Jane Radcliffe, leader of one of the beaver groups, said: “We held a meeting on November 23 which was well attended and some very willing volunteers stepped forward

“It’s a huge relief for the leaders that there’s somebody else to take responsibility for the hut now

“Scouts and Guides work well together in Melbourne – nobody wanted to stop ”

If anyone feels they would like to offer their services, they can get in touch with the team on melbournescoutandguidehq@gmail com

Melbourne’s Scouts and Guides said they would like to thank all the people who stepped forward to run the hut

– Lucy Stephens

Causeway traffic increase

NEW figures have emerged that show the daily average number of vehicles across Swarkestone Causeway has increased by three per cent from last year

Between May and October this year, the daily average number of vehicles crossing the causeway was 15,561 compared with 15,062 last year

As reported in last month’s Village Voice, the number of overweight vehicles has gone down by nearly 20 per cent

RESIDENTS of Aston-on-Trent could have a new MP representing them under boundary change proposals currently on the table

The proposed changes to parliamentary constituencies would see the ward of Aston-on-Trent fall under a new area of Derby East

The South Derbyshire constituency is planned to still follow the district boundary, not including Aston, taking in addition the Derby ward of Mickleover

The consultation on the changes was due to finish on December 11

The Chatsworth Collection

This classically styled British made collection has something for everyone and sits comfortably amongst either older or more modern furniture.

Crafted using traditional furniture making techniques and retaining features such as dovetailed drawers and solid wood construction throughout means each piece has a reassuring solidity.

The unique shaping and features on the cabinets, plinths, tops and frames all add to the elegant and attractive styling of this classic collection for the bedroom, living room, hall and kitchen.

Santa Lights Up The

IT WAS beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Melbourne with the red-suited wonder himself putting in an appearance to switch on the town’s lights

The big switch-on occurred at 6pm sharp on December 1 with shops and businesses staying open late to welcome shoppers for the annual event heralding the festive season

With lots of stalls selling festive goodies, hot chocolate from the Bittersweet Chocolate Company, food courtesy of Wayne Spiers and Tori & Ben’s, and carols played by Melbourne Town Band filling the crisp night air, it was enough to get any-

one in the Christmas spirit

One business which opened its doors specially for the festive shopping night was Andra, a new nutrition, physiotherapy and pilates business that has opened up in the former Ashley Adams premises on Derby Road

Andra is so named because it means “change” in Swedish, and that is what directors Rose Smith, Simon Foskett and Paul Scothern want their business to be all about –helping people make changes in their lives

With physio rooms and a pilates studio on the top floor, it’s an inter-

Andrew Johnson Joins Howkins & Harrison

After ten years of providing exceptional service and support to the people of Ashby de la Zouch and surrounding area, Andrew Johnson & Company are delighted to have merged with Howkins & Harrison - a rm of Estate Agents, Chartered Surveyors and Auctioneers.

Established in 1888, Howkins & Harrison have a long history of supporting homeowners, landlords and landowners with regional o ces in Rugby, Northampton, Lutterworth, Daventry, Atherstone, Ashby de la Zouch and Towcester, as well as Henley in Arden and London. They o er the complete package of property, land and estate services to residential, commercial and rural clients.

Robert Eaton-Jones (Managing Partner of Howkins and Harrison) said “we have been seeking to strengthen our presence in Ashby de la Zouch for some time and what better way to do it than merge with Ashby’s market leading estate agent, Andrew Johnson & Company”.

Andrew Johnson will continue to spearhead the Ashby o ce and his team will continue to provide the high levels of personal, local service that they are proud of and renowned for. Andrew is con dent that the move will only strengthen their high service standards saying “Howkins & Harrison have a long established o ce presence that we can use to the advantage of our customers, o ering a far wider coverage than we have been able to do in the past. I believe this is a very positive step for us and our customers”.

We look forward to celebrating this merger with you soon.

IT’S TIME FOR A CHANGE

Providing total

We would like to welcome Phil to our team. Phil worked in Melbourne twenty years ago and is pleased to be returning.

Walk in Opening Times with Phil

Monday 18th 9am – 5.30pm

Tuesday 19th 9am – 5.00pm

Wednesday 20th 9am – 5.30pm

Thursday 21st CLOSED

Friday 22nd 9am – 6.30pm

Saturday 23rd 8.30am – 12 noon

Pat’s Opening Hours are as normal but she will not be working Saturdays as of January 2018.

For more information call...

Pat, Louise, Emily or Phil 01332 862369

56/58 HIGH STREET, MELBOURNE

Jack & Linda Iliffe would like to wish family, friends and clients, good health, peace and happiness for Christmas and the New Year and we thank you very much for your custom.

BRENDA JONES

would like to send family and friends best wishes for Christmas and the New Year

Alfred Ransome wishes all his friends and neighbours a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

JOHN WALL sends greetings and best wishes for a Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year to all my friends.

Father Christmas celebrates the switching on of the lights in Melbourne.

Pat, Louise, Emily & Phil would like to wish all their clients and friends a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you for your custom.

Town for Christmas

esting new use for the building – and at least two of the directors will be practising what they preach as far as health and fitness are concerned: partners Rose and Simon plan to conduct their morning commute from Stanton-by-Bridge with a gentle jog to work

As for Rose, it’s back to her roots with the new business – she grew up locally and has returned to live in these parts over the last 10 years

The three are excited about the new venture, which will offer one-toone or group pilates sessions along with nutrition and physio expertise

Another relative newcomer to the Melbourne business scene is Dawn Merrett, of Studio Home and Interiors on Derby Road, who took on the shop a few months ago

“It’s a lovely atmosphere,” she said on the night

“We’ve been very, very busy today,” said Kirsten Bridge and mum Janet, from neighbouring Lily & Lime, while Mark and Sandra Dunn from Melbourne Deli just down the street got into the spirit of things by donning Santa hats for the occasion, as their shop was packed out well into the evening

ABOVE: On the festive stalls.

ABOVE LEFT: The Town Band in full flow

LEFT: Emma and Lewis Saunders with daughter Ruby enjoying a Prosecco break

ABOVE: Carol singers get into the Christmas spirit.

BELOW: Katherine Parrish from Whistlewood Common

RIGHT: Sandra and Mark Dunn

l Simon Foskett, Paul Scothern and Rose Smith from Andra

n WE all know that Santa Claus comes down the chimney on Christmas Day – but at Swarkestone Nursery, he does it every weekend as well!

The Village Voice was on hand to take this snap of Santa with a couple of cheeky elves at the nursery’s Christmas fair in November

The busy man has been visiting the nursery every year and on Saturdays and Sundays during December he makes an appearance down the chimney at around 2pm, with children able to pay him a visit for free

Fisheries festive fund-raiser

UNICORNS, owls and Santa himself all of that will be on offer at a Christmas fund-raiser at Springwood Fisheries on Ashby Road, Melbourne

The Christmas fair is being held from 6pm to 9pm on December 16, and tickets are being sold across Melbourne at a variety of locations including Dove’s Garage, the Spar shop and Melbourne Deli

The event is ticket-only and people who go along will have the chance to see an owl display, enjoy a hog roast provided by Melbourne butcher Wayne

n A LIVING advent calendar in Aston-on-Trent is now in its second year, giving villagers the chance to enjoy the run-up to Christmas in a more unusual way.

The idea involves different organisations within the village decorating a window on an advent theme

On each day during December, one more window is lit up for people to walk around and enjoy, so that on Christmas Eve there are 24 atmospherically decorated “living” pictures

This snap shows how The Malt pub decorated their window on December 2.

Spiers, plus see willow weaving and friction fire demonstrations

There will be a cake stall, café serving hot drinks, gin and mulled wine bar, stalls, a raffle plus a cheeky elf or two

The lights are being switched on at 6 15pm and all proceeds are going towards Rainbows Children’s Hospice in Loughborough

A previous charity fishing match held at the fisheries raised £865 for the children’s hospice

THIS month’s history pictur of Melbourne Infant School, Claus himself in his salad d ing visit.

The photograph is of th driving in a carriage and w of the school, showing the s ished Adult Education Cen ground.

More detail, however, is here is our Christmas chal lage Voice: can anyone tell u picture?

l These Kings Newton residents were enjoying the lights on a new Christmas tree outside the H a r d i n g e Arms Locals were invited to celebrate at the pub on the occasion organised by l a n d l a d y Rachael Griffiths with Monica Heath Pat R o b e y switched on the lights

HARDWOOD LOGS NEW AUTUMN AND WINTER YARNS NOW IN Robin, Hay eld, Stylecraft, James C Brett, King Cole Tinsel and Glitz DK now in.

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ristmas past

e comes courtesy and shows Santa days paying a flyhe mystery man as taken in front oon-to-be-demolntre in the backnot known – so llenge at the Vils more about this

Does anyone recognise anyone in the photo, or could anyone give us an idea of when it was taken?

It seems that in those days Father Christmas included the infant school in his route –perhaps he had been specially invited to a children’s festive party, or maybe he was just enjoying a breath of fresh air while on his way back to the North Pole to wrap up a few more presents.

Readers, over to you Any information would be joyfully received at this email address: news@melbournevillagevoice.co.uk

Wrapping up 1,212 gifts for children

IT’S beginning to look a lot like Christmas – but while most of us might spend a few hours decorating our homes ready for the big day, the festive season at a big National Trust house takes a lot longer

At Calke Abbey, staff and volunteers will be helping elves wrap up 1,212 gifts for good boys and girls, and in order to stock the wine cellar more than 100 wine bottles will be collected

Back in October, a team of 30 volunteers were busy upcycling 93 baubles to decorate the tree, and there were also 25 Advent windows and doors to be decorated, ready for the Christmas trail

Decorating the Elizabethan Hardwick Hall takes 50 staff and volunteers two weeks, with 20-foot trees to adorn, a thousand handmade paper flowers to make and more than 2,000 sweets to put on the traditional Hardwick gingerbread house!

Meanwhile, at Kedleston Hall, volunteers spent weeks creating a model of the entire estate out of paper Genevieve Pearson, visitor experience consultant at the National Trust, said: “It takes a lot of hard work and planning to get ready for Christmas Most places start planning 10 months in advance, and it involves all teams pitching in

“We begin by creating an over-arching theme, inspired by the unique spirit of the place Each team develops its own distinctive approach to Christmas and attention to detail makes all the difference it’s the small things that really contribute to the warmth and festive atmosphere

“As a charity we have many brilliant volunteers who are a big part of making this all happen It’s with their skills, and the support of our members and visitors, that we’re able to share Christmas past and present with everyone ”

Melbourne Infant School

OPEN DAYS

Prospective parents and children are invited to look around the school - rated as outstanding by Ofsted Thursday 4 January 1.30pm

Wednesday 10 January 9.00am

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• High quality teaching & learning

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Tel: 01332 862325 to book your visit www.melbourne-inf.derbyshire.sch.uk

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l Volunteer Helen Shannahan upcycling a bauble to decorate the Calke Christmas Tree Picture © National Trust Images/Gillian Day

Postbag

Reporting the lorry offenders

WITH reference to your article about Swarkestone Bridge (Village Voice, November 2017) readers may wish to know that lorries exceeding the 7 5 tonne weight limit on the causeway may be reported to Trading Standards at County Hall, Matlock – telephone 01629 580000 x 6184, email kim percival@derbyshire gov uk

You will need to provide registration number, date, time and direction of travel A photograph would be valuable supporting evidence

Paul Grimley Chairman, Melbourne Civic Society

Double white lines plan ‘catastrophic’

CONCERNS have been raised over parking along Cockshut Lane on the outskirts of Melbourne, because of a suggestion that double white lines are to be added there

The issue of parked cars at the entrance to the Melbourne Sports Park has been raised on several occasions at the village’s parish council meetings because of fears they cause a danger to pedestrians

The problem arises on busy weekends at the Cockshut Lane facility when matches

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are being played and there are not enough spaces available in the car park

That means that cars then park outside the entrance along the pavement, which causes passing pedestrians, including parents with pushchairs and people in wheelchairs, to risk walking along the 40mph road

The issue has been bubbling away for some time and the latest meeting of Melbourne Parish Council on December 5 heard that the county council now plans to put double white lines along the middle of the road

The team at Melbourne Sports Park had wanted double

yellow lines along the side of the road at the entrance to the sports park This would have prevented cars parking there, but not prohibited parking along the rest of Cockshut Lane

The concern is that if double white lines are painted down the centre of the whole of Cockshut Lane, this will prevent any cars parking down the length of the road – in the Highway Code it is prohibited to park a car on a road which has a double white line in the middle; only dropoffs or pauses to load/unload are permitted

Melbourne Sporting Partnership chairman John Harrison

n SHE made her name baking incredibly intricate creations for the Great British Bake Off – but the 2013 winner of the hit show was cooking up something rather different at Swarkestone Nurseries

Francis Quinn, who won the show back in 2013, was devoting her culinary expertise to delectable insects at the nursery’s annual Food and Drink Fair as part of filming for BBC One’s Inside Out East Midlands

The baking star was at the fair with Crunchy Critters, the UK’s leading supplier of internationally sourced edible insects, which are based at Ilkeston. This year ’s fair had more than 50 stalls selling artisan food and drinks

Pictured (l-r) are: BBC Presenter Mike Dilger, Nick Copper and daughter from Crunchy Critters and Francis Quinn

OBITUARY

July 7 1926 – November 4 2017

EDNA was born in Openwoodgate, Belper one of two children born to Harriet and John William Wright, with a sister, Joyce She married Harry in 1948 and, after living in Derby, they eventually arrived in Melbourne in 1952

Edna had wanted to be an English teacher but a spell in hospital as a child caused her to leave school to work for Hampshire's, later to become Reckitt and Coleman With excellent typing and shorthand skills and with the war on, she soon became PA to the managing director – a job she loved

After she moved to Melbourne she worked as a legal assistant at H Pipes & Co

Together with Harry, a fireman, she had four children –Ian, Gill, Cheryl and Sally Ann Later in life she dedicated herself to care for Harry as his health deteriorated

Paying tribute to Edna, John Davies, former rector in Melbourne and now Dean of Wells, wrote the following: “I always saw Edna in three contexts: at the parish church, in the midst of her family, and in the heart of this community of Melbourne “Edna’s activity and care was key in the life of the parish church for several generations:

said in the meeting that double yellow lines at the entrance and exit to the park were important for safety reasons – pointing to the dangers of the A42 road outside Ashby Rugby Football Club

But he added that anything that had the effect of preventing any parking on Cockshut Lane would be “absolutely catastrophic”

He said: “(we need to) restate the demand for double yellows on either side of the entrance and exit”

The issue is being sent back to the county council for further consideration –

Lucy Stephens

Mothers’ Union, fund-raising, hospitality, the bookstall, Churches Together, verging for funerals, Edna was always present, always engaged, always busy She wasn’t afraid of graft: if Edna (and a team) had cleaned and tidied the church on a Thursday morning, then by Thursday lunchtime it looked and smelt perfect, a joy to see and be in!

“But all Edna’s activity arose out of devotion The cleaning on a Thursday followed the 9 15am Communion Service And Edna (with Harry) was always in place for the Parish Communion and Evensong Stalwart is a word that comes to mind!

“Then Edna in the midst of her family When Harry died, I

remember the funeral Edna was, as she always had been, right at the heart and centre of the Brame family Most modern families know times of tension, times of pressure But, amidst all the challenges and at the high points too, Edna was the loving and accepting, compassionate one who held everyone together She did it perfectly “And Edna in the heart of the wonderful community that is Melbourne Two examples: Edna at the Senior Citizens’ Centre, with all its associated activities; and Edna as Citizen of the Year, very modestly, chuffed to be so recognised ” She was also instrumental in the building of Melbourne’s new Scout and Guide Hut

To her nine grandchildren, seven great grandchildren and one great-great grandchild she was quite simply, grandma Her family described her as kind, helpful, generous, funny and with a big smile regardless of what was happening All the family have many special memories of her and will deeply feel her loss

Underpinning her entire life was a great faith in Jesus Christ Jesus was the rock on which Edna built her life and she encouraged all the family to embrace her faith for themselves

EDNA BRAME

The County Councillor for the Melbourne Division, Linda Chilton, sends her best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy, healthy New Year to all constituents.

n MELBOURNE Parish Church was the dramatic setting for a concert given by two choirs as local school children sang in public for the first time

The concert was given at the parish church by Melbourne Male Voice Choir and Melbourne Junior School Choir

The audience was treated to a full and varied programme from both choirs who alternated taking the stage

The male voice choir ’s set included traditional Welsh melodies, musical favourite Some Enchanted Evening and some deeply atmospheric spirituals during the singing of which you could have heard a pin drop

Melbourne Junior School gave the audience eight songs, including When I Grow Up from Tim Minchin’s Matilda, My Favourite Things from The Sound of Music and a particularly beautiful rendition of No Wars Will Stop us Singing by Debbie Wiseman, which they sang so well they performed it again as an encore.

Church clock may be chiming the time again

PLANS are afoot to get the historic church clock in Ticknall chiming again –after all, it had been sounding out the hour in the village for more than 200 years

The clock on St George’s Church in the heart of the village still keeps good time after arriving in the village in 1813

Over all that time it has been lovingly wound up by generations of local parishioners but a couple of years ago stopped chiming

Now plans are afoot to fund getting the mechanism working again so the chimes can be heard

Interestingly, St George’s Church is in fact younger than the clock The previous church was blown up by gunpowder because it was not deemed big enough, and the atmospheric stone remains still stand in the graveyard

The clock pre-dates this dramatic episode and is believed to have probably been installed in the previous church before being moved to the current one, built in 1842

The firm that has been approached to investigate repairing the clock is Smith of Derby, renowned clockmakers dating back to 1856 who are responsible for the Swiss Glockenspiel in London’s Leicester Square amongst others

It is thought the clock was originally made by well known Derby engineers Whitehurst, and could have been one of the last they ever made

The cost of the repairs is estimated to be around £18,000, which will include an electric mechanism so it no longer needs to be wound up by hand

The parochial church council has agreed to the works and is looking for funding to restore the clock to full working order

Homes appeal withdrawn

A PLANNING inspector will not be called upon to arbitrate as to whether up to 150 homes can be built between Aston and Weston-on-Trent

Gladman Homes had applied for permission to build the homes but it was resoundingly turned down by South Derbyshire District Council’s Planning Committee earlier this year

The developer had appealed against the decision and a hearing was to have been held in December, but the appeal has been withdrawn

Wallace finally gets gravestone

A MELBOURNE market

gardener who died of wounds inflicted in the First World War has finally been given a gravestone – nearly a century later

Wallace Hatton had been recommended by local researcher Adrian Earp to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to have a headstone honouring his sacrifice

Wallace was born in Melbourne in 1896, the only child of market gardener William Hatton and his wife, Lizzie

Records tell us that by the time he was 15 he was employed as a gardener himself and was living in Commerce Street

He joined the Notts & Derby Regiment of the Sherwood Foresters right at the start of the First World War in 1914 and made it all the way to 1918 when he was injured in the eye on the first day of the German Spring Offensive – having been previously hospitalised in 1916

Taken as a prisoner of war, he was operated on in Germany for shell splinters in both eyes, shoulders and left arm But it wasn’t until the following year, 1919,

Melbourne Male Voice Choir practises every Friday evening at the Wesley Hall on Potter Street at 7 30pm, with rehearsals starting back on January 5. The choir is appealing for new members and has stressed that anyone who wants to have a go does not have to be able to read music, and that uniforms are also provided

that Wallace finally died

He had been repatriated to Great Britain, awarded the Silver War Badge signifying honourable discharge and was being treated at the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary when he died from septicaemia caused by the splinter in his eye

Wallace had married in 1916 and had a son, William – who was himself Melbourne’s first Second World War casualty when he was killed in France in 1940

In October of this year, 98 years after his death, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission placed a headstone in Melbourne Cemetery marking his final resting place

Up until then a simple urn had been all that marked the spot, although we do know that he was given a full military funeral in Melbourne’s Wesleyan chapel and that his grave may have at one time been marked with a wooden cross

(Photo: Martin

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Lunch from 11.30am

Afternoon teas served daily

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Meeting room available for hire Closed Mondays Only - Except Bank Holidays

VILLAGERS REMEMBER THE FALLEN

IN THE year before the centenary commemorating the end of the First World War large crowds gathered in local villages to mark this year ’s Remembrance Sunday on November 12

In Melbourne, around 400 people took part in the parade, with a crowd estimated to be more than 1,000 gathering at the cenotaph to mark the solemn proceedings

Meanwhile, in Aston-on-Trent, after a short service at the War Memorial Hall, the parade went on to All Saints’ Church where a full service was conducted

The parade was fronted by the Derby Midshipman’s Band and is organised each year by the Aston & Weston Branch of the Royal British Legion in conjunction with the parish council and All Saints’ Church, in order to honour the fallen servicemen from both Aston and Weston who made the ultimate sacrifice fighting for their country in the 20th century’s two world wars

The parade is supported by all the village groups including the Women’s Institute and many youth organisations, such as the Scouts and Guides

FRENCH TUITION

MUSIC TUITION

UKULELE CLUB

FOLK DANCE

French taught to all ages and abilities

Guitar, ukulele, ddle, keyboard & melodeon

The ukulele club is a fun, sociable evening of song and playing. We also do barn dances and maypole

Bryan Dawson 01332 702386 or 07949 108037

bryandawson@hotmail.co.uk

ABOVE:

LEFT: The Remembrance Sunday Parade in Aston on Trent led by Parade Marshall Duncan Wallis

RIGHT: These poppies were made by Maria Picken and ‘planted’ outside St George’s Church, Ticknall.

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l The huge crowd gathered around Melbourne Cenotaph.

FAR RIGHT: Paul Yates hoists a new flag on top of the tower at St Mary and St Hardulph Church, Breedon-on-the-Hill

Cathy Worrall playing the Last Post and Reveille in Melbourne.

Chef Ig cooks up a book for kids

HIS career has taken him all round the world, cooking for some of the globe’s most famous names including the Queen, Kirk Douglas and Elizabeth Taylor Now a locally grown chef has branched out in a surprising new direction: children’s fiction Ig Oliver, whose parents live in Ticknall, started out his globe-trotting career as a chef in some wellknown local h o s t e l r i e s i n c l u d i n g T h e H a r d i n g e Arms in Kings Newton and the Crewe & Harpur in S w a r k estone before his talents in the kitchen took him all around the world from the mid-1980s

Now 55 and living in London where he still works as a private chef, the dad-of-two has just published his first children’s book, which he has also illustrated himself, a fantasy for six to 11-year-olds called The Butterfly Bee Lady and the Bee Ig said he had often turned to painting to help him relax after a

hard day in the kitchen while working abroad, while the story itself grew from a tale told to younger daughter Indiana at bedtime

“I wrote a sci-fi book and it got lost – ever since then I always wanted to write a story; and, because I’ve had children, it went in that direction,” he explained

“I used to make up lots of stories for my daughter; one night she asked me to tell her a story and then it went on every night after that for a whole week – eventually I wrote it down for her ”

The story is in fact part one of a trilogy, with part two set to hit the public next year

But fiction writing for children is all very different from the world of fine dining amongst the world’s jetset

Head chef at the British Embassy in Moscow in the 1990s, a private chef for millionaires in various glamorous hotspots across the world, he has fed former Prime Minister John Major, the late King Hussein of Jordan plus the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh

Ig recalls one particularly memorable encounter while at the British Embassy in Moscow While he was just enjoying a few moments of quiet by himself in a room overlooking the Kremlin, in walked Her Majesty the

Queen “She just walked in and started chatting to me,” he said “It was completely surreal She’s really nice You’re just standing there with the Queen looking out of the window and she turns around and she says ‘they’ve got a nice view haven’t they’?”

Or there was the time in America’s Palm Springs when famous actor Kirk Douglas mistook Ig for his son Michael as the pair looked alike

In one of his many jobs, Ig was working for Asher Edelman, the Wall Street financier who was one of the inspirations for Gordon Gekko –Michael Douglas’s character in the 1987 film Wall Street

As for Ig’s mother, Rosemary, of Ticknall, she could not be more proud of her son for his latest achievement: “I’m absolutely thrilled to bits – this is such an unusual and brilliant children’s story, it takes in so much of what a child’s imagination can work on ”

So will Ig continue to put pen to paper? For him, the art of cooking and writing are not too dissimilar after all: “Food should be fun, books are a door to your imagination, and art is part of the result of both – so hopefully I'll keep painting and drawing!”

n LIBRARY users in the local area will be able to find out more about environmental issues – from gardening to having a sustainable home – after a local group donated more than £200 in reference books

Melbourne Area Transition, an environmental body that is working to help this area become more sustainable in preparation for the negative effects of climate change, donated the tomes to Melbourne Library to give readers the chance to find out more without having to fork out themselves.

The 20 donated books include Forest Gardening in Practice, A Hedgerow Cookbook and Edible Perennial Gardening

FLOODS STUDY

ENGINEERS are finishing off a large study into how Melbourne copes with storms by handing out questionnaires to local residents

The latest meeting in which members of the public got the chance to question officials from Severn Trent Water and Derbyshire County Council took place in Melbourne Assembly Rooms

David Nightingale, from Severn Trent Water, told how 44 special monitors had been put into Melbourne’s water works from the summer as part of an exercise to establish why the village floods in a severe downpour

The work included putting monitors into Carr Brook next to the homes around Sweet Leys Way, which have been badly affected in two separate severe storms over the past few years

The work is due to be finished off with engineers knocking on doors in homes along Derby Road, Station Road and Beech Avenue giving residents questionnaires so that officials can get a more complete picture about where the bad flooding areas are

Gift for all of us

‘A LONG TIME AGO IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY….’ are words found at the beginning of each new Star Wars film and, accordingly, have always been guaranteed to grab my attention.

An apology to those of you not (yet) involved with the Star Wars universe –please bear with me! Readers of the Village Voice will know that I am just slightly keen on Star Wars and so am just slightly excited by the impending release of the next Star Wars instalment on December 14 (coming soon to a cinema near you )!

Unsurprisingly, I am also extremely excited at the thought of celebrating Christmas – the cosmic drama of God becoming one of us in the form of a tiny, vulnerable baby ‘a long time ago in a manger far, far away’, we might choose to say

December is, for all of us, extremely busy with so much to do, so many presents to buy, so many sprouts to boil (well, hopefully) and certainly for me, quite a few Christmas dinners to be eaten as I joyfully live out a kind of real life ‘Vicar of Dibley’ episode

December is also the culmination of months of preparation for our friends in retail (who I also hope and pray get some rest

at some point) where, in some cases, Christmas decorations have been for sale since the August Bank Holiday!

It is difficult, increasingly so, to sustain

"IN comes I" – the Melbourne Mummers are returning for their sixth year of Christmas Capers.

The troupe will be touring the pubs and inns of Melbourne and Ticknall on December 22, raising money for the Shelter charity.

Mummers member Brian Crosbie says: “After six years

Seasons

Paul, Lisa, Sarah, Tamara, John

that kind of focus for such a long period of time

It would be a real shame if, by the time we got to Christmas Day, that there was a sense of relief that it was almost over for another year (or at least until the next August Bank Holiday)

Also a few years ago now, Roy Wood screamed out those now famous words ‘I wish it could be Christmas every day ’

At one level, he has a point Christmas was never intended to be just for Christmas

The baby in a manger grew up to change the world in a way that few had ever expected The adult Jesus ruffled a few feathers and rightly so, but he also made a promise – ‘I will be with you always, yes, even until the end of the age’ (which also sounds like a line from Star Wars)

I hope and pray that Christmas for you will be filled with joy, love and peace –whatever situation, good or more challenging, you may find yourself in

But I also hope that Christmas will be filled, for all of us, with a child-like wonder that flows from a baby gifted to you and to me, lying in a manger, all those years ago

I think we're becoming a bit of a Christmas fixture In that time we’ve raised a great deal of money for charity thanks to the generosity of folks ”

Those not familiar with the work of the mummers are advised to make sure they attend their local pub on the 22nd where they will be in for a treat

This year ’s Village Voice Christmas message comes from Rev Steve Short, of Melbourne Parish Church.

CHRISTMAS is nearly here, and it’s also time to remember those who are no longer with us

Melbourne Parish Council has now put up the Remembrance Tree in the chapel at the cemetery, giving residents the chance to put a tag on the tree in memory of a loved one

The tree already had plenty of tags when The Village Voice visited on December 5 to take this photograph

It is the third year the Remembrance Tree has been put up in the chapel

n MELBOURNE will be filled with the sounds of carol singing on the evening of December 21

This year ’s Carols Round the Christmas Tree will be happening at 6 30pm Taking place in Melbourne Market Place, the event is accompanied by Melbourne Town Band, organised by Rotex, and this year will also include a PA system

n THE weather may have been distinctly wintry, but these 10 members of Melbourne Civic Society turned out to help spruce up the area with their bi-annual litter pick Members picked up litter outside the central core of the town and each came back with full bags of rubbish The civic society’s next litter pick will take place in the spring of 2018

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Metro region ‘fantasy land’

A RECENTLY published report has urged faster progress towards a unified DerbyNottingham “Metro” region which, potentially, could incorporate adjacent districts, including South Derbyshire.

The detailed study by Metro Dynamics, commissioned by the two city councils, hails the progress made to develop joint services since the strategy was first adopted, but urges greater collaboration between organisations which extend beyond the two city boundaries

Titled “The Economic Case for the Derby-Nottingham Metro” the report points out that the two cities and surrounding districts already have many of the characteristics of a “metro economy”, with a population of 1 4 million in the area

Without pointing directly to local government reform, it goes on to say “ the metro area exists within two county areas, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, along with seven district councils [ ] the core principles for any new arrangements should be partnership and collaboration”

It also recognises that despite having a high GVA (Gross Value Added – a measure of the value of goods and services provided in an area) the cities suffer from high levels of deprivation meaning their growth fails to benefit many residents and many of its wealthiest earners live outside the city The local authorities surrounding the cities are also more likely to be home to managers, directors and professionals and is reflected in lower property prices in the cities

The report has prompted an angry reaction from other councils, however, and has been slammed as a “fantasy land”

In Nottinghamshire, council leader Kay Cutts

said “ residents living in the county should be alarmed by this plan – and not just because of the underhand way it has been put together or that it has cost £100,000 of public money to commission

The report highlights that people choose to live in the county because of better educational standards, greater access to services such as libraries, day centres and youth centres and the overall quality of services This report puts those things at risk”

Councillor Barry Lewis, on behalf of Derbyshire County Council, said: “This really has come as a bolt out of the blue It’s extremely disappointing that county and district councils whose residents would be affected by these proposals weren’t invited to be involved in the development of the plans

“Residents will see through plans for a ‘metro’ authority for what it is – a land grab to take funding from county towns and villages to pump into the cities ”

Speaking on behalf of both South Derbyshire district councillors, John Harrison described the plan as “ kite flying on the part of Derby and Nottingham City Councils without any prior consultations whatsoever with either of the county councils

“Clearly, this is not the best way of winning friends and influencing the key support needed from the other parties involved, including SDDC and the other 14 district councils It's a case of watching this space until full details are disclosed, debated and agreed by the affected parties, followed by meaningful public consultation " –

Frank Hughes

Quiz entries closing date

THE 2018 Melbourne Charity Quiz is being held at the Royal British Legion starting at 7 30pm on Friday, January 12

Entry forms can be obtained from Paul Fox at pfswingwell@gmail.com, Dick and Jo Carlier at richard carlier123@btinternet.com or Ann Williams at

twmwilliams@btinternet.com.

The closing date for entries is Wednesday, January 3

This year ’s chosen charity is Treetops Hospice at Risley. All spectators are welcome and all profits raised will go to this very worthwhile cause.

Party time for couple married for 75 years

AN INCREDIBLE 75 years of married life were being celebrated by this pair from Richmond Villages in Aston-on-Trent – with the Queen herself joining in the congratulations

Victor and Dorothy Noble marked three-quarters of a century of wedded bliss with a party at the retirement village

The couple met in Heaton Park in Manchester in September 1939 where Victor spotted Dorothy sitting on a bench reading a book “I simply said hello,” he said, “and offered to walk her to the park gates where I plucked up the courage to ask her out the following day

“Our first date was to watch the Halle

Orchestra in Manchester the following afternoon The concert halls were all closed during the evening because of the war and I can remember as we walked together we had to carry our gas masks with us!”

Dorothy added: “We met on September 15, 1939, got engaged at my mum’s house on November 1, 1941, and were married on November 6, 1942, at Salford Registry Office

“Our first baby, Thea, was born in November 1943 followed by Peter in 1946, Patrick in 1949 and young David in 1952 ”

Remembering Kathy

THIRTY-ONE members of the Breedon-on-the-Hill Women’s Institute started their meeting by singing Jerusalem together – dedicated to former member Kathy French, who has sadly passed away

The meeting, also attended by five visitors, included discussion of the forthcoming centennial meeting with Oadby Brookside, the new WI website, the Christmas party, Carols on the Green, the skittles match and the local U3A

An interesting Breast Cancer Fly Fishing day was put forward, and a reinstatement of the Knit & Natter Community morning was advertised to commence on the second Thursday of each month at the Holly Bush

In the new year, competition voting will be done by all members by putting a 20p piece on their chosen entry, with the most coins winning and the accrued pot of money kept till the end of the year

Winners of the meeting’s competition – ‘Suffragist A4 Banner ’ –were Jill Cooper (first), Sue Calendar (second) and Jill Schofield (third)

Guest speaker Dr John Sutton gave a presentation talk entitled “Suffragettes” This was the history and timeline of Votes for Women, the difference in Suffragists and Suffragettes, both local and national

Members said the talk was inspirational, historic and thoughtprovoking, and included Clare Balding’s documentary film evidence of the Epsom Derby death of Emily Davison Sue Clarke gave a heartfelt vote of thanks

Both served their country during the war before Victor ’s career as an engineer took them to Cairo for three years

Celebrating their anniversary, Victor played tribute to his wife saying: “After 75 years together, each day just gets better!”

Village manager Jo Wilson, who was joined by staff and residents, said: “We are honoured and delighted to be spending this very special occasion with you, and wish you many more happy years here with us ”

To make it extra special, the Queen sent a card congratulating the couple

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The burglars then went off in the owner ’s silver Citroen DS4 which was later found in the Sinfin area

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GIRLS ARE SPOT-ON TO WIN TROPHY

THIS football side from Melbourne are Derbyshire county champions after keeping their cool in a penalty shoot-out

The Melbourne Junior School girls’ team won the county final on November 9

This is the second year running that Melbourne Juniors qualified as one of the top ten in Derbyshire to compete at county level – and this year the school were also county champions for girls’ cricket, as reported in The Village Voice in the summer

The competition involves schools from across Derbyshire playing other schools within their districts in order to qualify for the county finals

Throughout the competition, the girls did not concede a single goal in open play, and as with the district finals and the county semis the match ended with a penalty shoot-out

PE and School Sport co-ordinator Jim Jenkinson said: “We couldn’t be prouder of them all With the majority of the squad being year five it bodes very well for next season Our year six girls lead the team with such positivity and skill It was another terrific team MJS effort ”

MAKING HIS MARK

STAUNTON Harold sailor Mark Harden has been rewarded for his outstanding commitment to the sport He was presented with an Royal Yachting Association Volunteer Award by Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal, at the RYA's annual awards ceremony at One Great George Street, London

The award was given in recognition of Mark’s outstanding contribution to Staunton Harold Sailing Club, including most recently to developing the club s Sailability section

Lesson in finishing for rugby club

MELBOURNE faced Burton in a local derby and had a lesson in taking chances Despite being competitive throughout, Melbourne were punished by clinical finishing, eventually losing 55-19

Melbourne dominated the early stages, but conceded two long range tries followed by three more to have a half-time deficit of 33-0 They fought back strongly in the second half scoring three tries of their own from Watts, Page and Stringer before conceding two late tries, chasing their own bonus point

A bottom of the table clash against Camp Hill was played in front of a decent crowd following a past players luncheon at the Melbourne Sports Park

However, Melbourne never really got started Conceding a soft try within two minutes, they chased the game for the full 80 minutes, only really coming alive in the last 10 minutes

Jack Percival made his debut after signing from Loughborough Euan Holden slotted an early penalty, but saw two drift wide in the strong wind

Chris Stark suffered a nasty-looking leg injury to add to the squad’s lengthening injury list

The second half saw Melbourne concede a penalty try against a strong Camp Hill pack, who smothered Melbourne’s pack for most of the game Jack Percival scored a try and had another disallowed Final score was 7-14 with a bonus point at least

Next Melbourne travelled to high-flying Dudley With three debuts and 11 positional changes, an injury-ravaged Melbourne were well beaten 59-0 by a side playing great running rugby Page, Watts and Percival all played well

The final Saturday of November saw Hereford travel up to Melbourne The game was played on a cold damp day Melbourne started strongly with Coyne going over

after three minutes

The first 30 minutes were dominated by Melbourne with Coyne adding a second Hereford hit back with two tries to make it 14-14 and then Melbourne had yellow cards for Coyne and Percival

Hereford scored again after the break but after that it was all Melbourne Further tries for Benstead, Fisher (making his first start for a year) and Percival saw Melbourne take a 33-21 bonus point win Captain Holden kicked four conversions MOTM Jack Percival

The 2nd XV took a bare 15 to Loughborough seconds again, losing 12-58 Bilson scored a try and a conversion The next Pennant game saw the short trip to Moderns seconds and a 41-29 victory, with debuts for Fisher and Sam Stuart Tries came from Ilott, S Stuart, Bilson, Foster, Moorcroft and Thompson

A friendly against Derby thirds saw a bare 16 face a strong 27-man Derby squad Melbourne dominated early with two penalties from Bilson and tries from Ballington and Foster Derby hit back with three tries Captain Foster then coolly slotted a penalty for a

hard earned 23-21 win

l Melbourne Rugby Club’s new electronic scoreboard unveiled before their game against Hereford

Pictured are Ben Miller, of sponsor Crest Nicholson, and Melbourne president Dave Smith.

The seconds then faced Loughborough thirds, winning 43-15 with tries for Mallett (two), Woollard (two), Bancroft, Vincent and Martin, with Foster converting four

The 3rd XV had a trip to East Retford seconds in the Pennant and came away with a bonus point 28-20 win Tries for Bilson (two), Wiseall and N Hoyle

Kesteven seconds arrived at Cockshut Lane and a weakened thirds lost 5-33 with Connor Hooper scoring Lincoln thirds arrived at Melbourne for a Pennant game and, in an entertaining encounter, Melbourne thirds prevailed 34-12 Tries: Williams, Callaghan, Richardson, Vaughn and Chandler, with Perry scoring nine points with the boot

The short trip to West Bridgford resulted in a 24-32 defeat Tries from Alison (two), T Morris and Moran, with Perry converting two

The Academy had a morale boosting 427 win at Matlock, followed by a 26-7 win against Chesterfield Melbourne gave three players to Chesterfield for this game, which shows the growth of the squad since the start of the season – Peter Ilott

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United youngsters impress

MELBOURNE United under-10s football side showed off some impressive skills when they were invited to play an academy side from Nottingham Forest

The evening consisted of three 25-minute games on the academy pitches, against a very well-drilled and skilful Forest team

Coach Paul Duffy was extremely pleased with the Melbourne lads’ performance: “Following a close first encounter, which ended 21 to Forest, we settled into the environment and produced a 1-1 draw in the second and a 1-2 win in the final game ”

Goals came from Harry Foster (two) and Fin Duffy, rounding off a very impressive team display

The defensive partnership of Stan Spencer

and Archie Mardon had the Forest attack in their back pockets for long periods and linked well with a disciplined yet creative midfield trio of Charlie Smith, Fin Duffy and Henry James

Harry Foster provided the focal point up front, working well with his compadres as they continually pressed the Forest backline

Man of the match Ethan ‘The Cat’ Clint was called on continually between the sticks and did not disappoint

The games were filmed and highlights can be seen on the Melbourne Utd Facebook page

The team would like to thank the staff and players at Forest for their warm reception and the opportunity to play against some amazing young players

DOUBLE SUCCESS FOR SCHOOL

TWO table tennis teams from Melbourne Junior School showed off their skills with a double victory at the county finals.

The school sent a boys and girls team to compete in the Derbyshire table tennis finals in Chesterfield

Both emerged victorious, which means they will now go on to compete in the zonal finals in January

Before the finals took place, pupils at the school competed internally to be in with a chance of selection The boys were in a strong group, which included last year ’s champions, Dronfield Juniors

They won their group by scoring 30 out of 32 points, with the girls scoring 32 out of 36 points in their group

During the finals both teams conceded only three points between them

Both Simon Price, from Burton Uxbridge Table Tennis Club, and Nigel Webster of Melbourne Swifts Table Tennis Club – who coach most of the players – were present to see the youngsters

perform so well

The junior school pupils are pictured with their trophies on one of the new foldaway tables recently purchased Nigel Webster said: “Thanks to the support of the head teacher and her staff, particularly Mr Jenkinson, the school has achieved notably with recent success in many sports, table tennis being the latest to capture the children’s interest

“Weekly sessions have helped to hone the skills of the boys and girls The recent purchase of two new indoor tables, to complement the outdoor tables installed in 2016, means the school is well placed going forward ”

Councillor Linda Chilton

Councillor John Harrison

Councillor Jim Hewlett

Melbourne, 11am to 12 noon

Saturday 6th January

l Members of the Melbourne Junior School table tennis teams pictured with their county finals trophies.

Putting Melbourne on motorbike map

HIGH profile sports people including world superbike rider Alex Lowes plus British superbike riders Jake Dixon and Leon Haslam have all been spotted in Melbourne – but why?

The biking stars have been receiving attention from local physio Stuart Warnock, based at the Melbourne Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Clinic

South Derbyshire is a popular location for the riders to live, being central in the UK and just down the road from Donington Park

Motorbike racing places extreme demands on the body and requires optimum physical fitness; riders must train for several hours each day, and require regular treatment to maintain fitness and keep niggling injuries at bay

Catastrophe struck for Dixon at the end of 2016 season, when a nasty accident resulted in a broken hip

Stuart worked with Jake, both at the clinic and at his home, to get him back to full fitness, for the first race of 2017 at Donington

Dixon then went on to participate as a ‘Wildcard’ in World Superbikes at Donington later that season

Stuart was there to support and treat Dixon, Lowes and Leon Haslam, who was also racing as a wildcard

Stuart is currently working closely with Haslam, following his accident in the last race, where he sustained various injuries including a broken ankle Stuart has also attended races all over the county, including Oulton Park, Cadwell, and Brands Hatch, putting Melbourne on the motorbike map

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We can help with marketing, promotions and recruitment needs for businesses big and small. To discuss your advertising requirements or how we can help you, please contact Nicola Mortimer on 07584 025 852 or email ads@melbournevillagevoice.co.uk

l Kings Newton Bowls Club members are pictured at their presentation evening Mike Smith, of Cedar Financial Plan-

ning, went along to present the club with the trophies

(l-r) are:

Everyone a winner for the Dynamo

MELBOURNE Dynamo FC continued their decent form into the month of November as both teams won all their games and progressed in their respective Derbyshire Cups

The first team had only two cup games in the month, which they started by entertaining Allestree in the quarter-final

An exciting match saw it end 5-5 after extra time with a hattrick from Adam Ross, along with goals from Isaac Gosling and Dave Worger Dynamo came out on top on penalties 4-3

The first team then had a remarkable afternoon away to Castle Donington Dynamo needed to score four goals and win by three to go through to the league cup semi-finals

All looked lost with 30 minutes to go with the Melbourne team 3-2 down, but they hit five goals to end up winning 8-3

Adam Ross led the way with four goals, ably supported with strikes from Jack Goodband, Michael Tristram, Carl Allsop and Toby McCabe

Dynamo Reserves continued their charge in the 2017/18 season,

winning all four of their games in the month They began with a hard fought 3-1 home victory after extra time against Wirksworth Ivanhoe Reserves in the Derbyshire Cup with a Joe Shadbolt hattrick taking Dynamo through

A week later the reserves went top of the division two table as they thrashed Derby Athletic 6-0, with goals from Shadbolt, Josh Burton, Alex Slater and screamers from Vinny Hallifield and Reuben Gosling completing the scoring

Away to South Normanton Utd the following week, Dynamo won 7-1 with a Toby Foxon hat-trick leading the way, ably supported by his brother Harry, Andy Shephard, Josh Burton and leading scorer Joe Shadbolt

The Reserves ended the month winning through to the Derbyshire Cup semi-final as they beat Derby Athletic 4-1 at home in a hard fought game with a double from Harry Foxon plus a Josh Burton strike and a header from skipper Adam Dolman – Alex Slater

Cricket club’s 2018 season plans

MELBOURNE Town Cricket Club begin preparations for the 2018 season with winter practice starting at The Gateway Centre, the Derbyshire county ground, on Sunday, January 7, from 2-3pm

Everyone is welcome at the practice sessions as the club prepares for the new season with all three teams looking for promotion and with exciting plans for a non-turf pitch to make a second ground at the Melbourne Sports Park These are exciting times for the club

The club’s junior winter training times will be confirmed next month

Anyone interested in any aspect of the club should contact Alex Slater on 07966933583 or alexslater72000@yahoo co uk for more details

Pictured

Steven Raine, Bert Maddock, Rob Philipson, Pat Philipson,

Neil Hill, Alan Holbrook, Pete Barton, Jean Perkins, Janet Jardine, Roger Timmins, Dave Lyons, Gayle Summerlin and Terry Summerlin