Please mention “The Arrow” when responding to advertisements
Welcome to the Haxey and Westwoodside Arrow
In early January we experienced a significant cold spell. Temperatures in The Isle dropped to as low as –7ºc with days struggling to reach above 3ºc. Please remember the more vulnerable people in your villages!
Try and keep in touch and offer practical help and reach out. Regularly check on your family, friends and neighbours.
A big thank you to Simon Bolstridge for taking the time to write an article on The Haxey Hood along with some amazing photos. See if you can spot yourself in any of them. Congratulations to Ziggy at The Loco!
Keep the Arrow updated with events for 2025, we have space on the News page to let the community know what’s on in the local area.
The March issue deadline for adverts and content is 7th February. The Arrow will be delivered by the 31st March.
Community News
The folk dances run by local folk dance band Lys St Georges continue this spring as follows:
Thursday 6 February Thursday 13 February
Thursday 20 February Thursday 27 February
Thursday 6 March Thursday 13 March
Thursday 20 March Thursday 27 March
They are all in Westwoodside Village Hall, starting at 2.30pm and lasting till 4pm.
You don’t need a partner nor any experience in country dancing, and these friendly dances will be suitable for all levels of fitness. There’ll be live music and expert tuition. As one dancer said at the end of an earlier programme ‘What's not to like! Live music, gentle exercise, lots and lots of fun and every assistance.’
There’s a small admission charge of £3 for each dance. For more information contact Kate Billmore on 01427 753363 or Peter Barnard on 01427 873937.
Christmas Quiz for Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity News
There was a large number of very good entries this year and after marking 1st prize was shared and awarded to Peter Claughton from Billericay, Essex and Margaret Westwood from Ross on Wye 3rd prize to Steve Young from Epworth
I am amazed that the donations so far have totaled £707. Again a magnificent result.
I would like to thank all those who help me or participate for without their support it would not be possible. Anne Broster (Quiz organizer)
Isle Group of the Lincolnshire
Wildlife Trust British Wildlife by John Gardener Thursday February 6th 2025 at 7.30pm
Our February meeting will be on Thursday February 6th 2025 at 7.30pm when we will be having an illustrated talk on British wildlife, especially wildlife photographed in the Yorkshire area. John Gardener is a superb professional photographer whose main interest is in wildlife, although he does commercial photography for a living. He has visited us before several years ago and we know we will be
in for a treat.
For your diary our future meetings will be:March 6th – Wildlife of the Forest of Dean and the Cotswolds
April 3rd - Wildlife of Florida
May 1st - An evening with Matt Cox
We meet at Belton All Saints Centre (Church Hall), Stocks Hill, Belton, DN9 1PE Everyone is welcome, you don't have to be a member of the Wildlife Trust, so please come along and join us. Entrance fee is £2. There will be refreshments available and a raffle. For further information about the local Trust group and their meetings please contact Tony Lee on 01427 753831 or Chris Trinder on 01427 872051. Details about the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust can be found on their web site.
EPWORTH & DISTRICT WI TUESDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2025
IMPERIAL HALL 7:30pm At our meeting in February Peter Frost, local historian is coming to give us a talk entitled 'A Look at the Epworth Mechanics Institute' and delving into the Epworth Bells archive. Those of you who have heard Peter speak before will know that we are in for a very informative and entertaining evening.
Visitors welcome at £5 to include refreshments and there will be a raffle. Free to members.
Please mention “The Arrow” when responding to advertisements
Fits Alarms
Please mention “The Arrow” when responding to advertisements
Community News
Haxey & Westwoodside Heritage
Society's next meeting is on Thursday, 13th February at 7.30pm in Westwoodside Village Hall. A welcome return visit of local historian and author Robert Fish with a talk "Their Legacy, Our Axholme". Not to be missed, all welcome! £3 including refreshments. The speaker for the March meeting is Eveline Van Breemen with "Boggins and Ploughjags". Catch up with us on facebook
Calling All History Buffs!
Join the Crowle Heritage Society for Upcoming Talks
The Crowle Heritage Society is excited to announce its upcoming meetings, packed with intriguing local history!
Thursday, March 13th: A Nostalgic Journey Through Crowle's Past Dust off your old photo albums! This month's meeting invites you to share a glimpse into Crowle's history through cherished photographs. Bring along any photos you have and share them on the big screen with fellow history enthusiasts.
Thursday, April 10th: Unveiling the Story of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry with David Wroe
David Wroe will be our guest speaker in April, delving into the fascinating history of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI). Meetings & Membership
All meetings are held at the Crowle Market Hall (above the Library) in Crowle Market Place at 7:30 PM.
Become Part of Our Heritage Family!
The Heritage Society is actively seeking new members to join our ranks and contribute to keeping Crowle's history alive. If you're passionate about preserving the past and planning exciting events, we encourage you to get involved! Contact Us
For more information or to inquire about membership, please contact Angus Townley at angus@townley.com or 07739 921835.
Please mention “The Arrow” when responding to advertisements
Please mention “The Arrow” when responding to advertisements
Please mention “The Arrow” when responding to advertisements
It was a very busy autumn term for the children and staff at Haxey CE Primary Academy, with lots of exciting learning experiences taking place. Here is a snippet of what we got up to: Reception children learnt all about different festivals, celebrations and special days, such as Diwali, Bonfire Night and Remembrance Day.
Children in Year 1 and Year 2 visited the local park as part of their geography units of work. Year 2 had great fun in Design and Technology (DT) by creating their own pieces of playground equipment!
In Key Stage 2, Year 3 visited Norrmanby Hall experiencing life as Nomadic hunter gatherers as part of their Stone Age topic, whilst Year 5 children took part in an Anglo-Saxon day at Perlethorpe Environmental Education Centre which included them being given Anglo-Saxon names and being dressed in tunics. Year 4 became scientists over the course of the term, which included testing the ‘viscosity’ of different liquids and a very popular melting investigation which involved chocolate! Year 6 have took charge of their own learning with a focus on different ways that they could showcase their work; the outcomes of which have been fantastic!
We were also honoured to be invited to the Remembrance Service at the war memorial in Haxey on Monday 11th November. Our School Councillors represented the school phenomenally well, showing ultimate respect and making us all very proud.
The Haxey Hood is one of the most unusual and enduring folk traditions in England, held annually in the village of Haxey, on Twelfth Night (January 6th). This ancient event, which dates back at least to the 14th century, involves a chaotic, and sometimes violent, game that sees hundreds of participants battling to move a large leather "hood" to one of four local pubs (Westwoodside's The Carpenters Arms, and Haxey's The Duke William, The Loco, and The Kings Arms).
This year’s game began, as usual, with the procession in which a long leather tube, known as the "Hood," was carried through the village of Haxey, prior to "smoking The Fool" (the ceremony marking the start of The Hood). Once the Fool had been ceremonially "smoked", the Hood was led onto the Hood field, where the competition began. Despite being bitterly cold, and with a freezing wind, the 2025 Haxey Hood was very well attended - by those wanting to join "The Sway" (the rugby scrum-esque throng who attempt to sway or push the Hood to their choice of pub), and by those wishing to revel in the festivities. The Hood field quickly became extremely boggy following a day of snow, and lots of rain, but even this couldn't deter.
And so, the contest began... The Sway pushed, heaved, shoved, stalled, started again, and "quickly" found its way across the fields towards Haxey - three hours later finding itself along Haxey High Street heading towards the Haxey pubs. The competition ends once The Sway manage to get The Hood to one of the four Landlords/ Landladies who stand at their respective pub doorway, ready to take receipt of The Hood as it is swayed past their pub; Grabbing the hood is no easy feat.
And so, this year’s winner, after Ziggy the pub's landlord took receipt of The Hood as it was swayed along the street, is Haxey's The Loco.
Want to see The Hood hanging proudly in The Loco? Then pop along for a warm welcome. And don’t forget the other pubs - all lovely welcoming venues, proud of their tradition in this fabulous annual event/ game and always sure to welcome you for a pint or two!
Please mention “The Arrow” when responding to advertisements
Haxey Hood 2025
Misterton Primary and Nursery School
Spring term has started and we have welcomed in our new nursery children and parents. The children have enjoyed exploring the Early Years environment and the Under the Sea reading book corner is a hit with everyone. The cold spell gave us the opportunity to have our Walk a Mile as a school on the field, which is always the best place for this to happen. Four laps of the field is equal to a mile and the crunchy snow and the ‘gliding’ the children experienced brought lots of laughter and fun.
We are planning our library visits for each class and our Wellbeing Week. In this week, we will keep our Take 5 breathing techniques going, with our Take 5 ambassadors. The children will be learning about how we Take Care of ourselves, each other, our school and our learning. A busy week that we are really looking forward to.
Please mention “The Arrow” when responding to advertisements
East Lound enjoyed a visit from Santa on Sunday 8 December, courtesy of the Lions. The kids all received a selection box and their decorations were displayed on the tree in the Pinfold.
Please mention “The Arrow” when responding to advertisements
DONCASTER CANCER DETECTION TRUST
We are happy to report that the Memory Tree last November/December made £1,747. Thank you to everyone who gave so generously and it was also lovely to see so many messages on the Christmas tree. We would like to sincerely thank our volunteers who always give their time so cheerfully during this busy season.
The Charity Christmas Concert at Doncaster Minster on 14th December raised a wonderful £2,023 for us. We are so very grateful to Dot Miller and the Doncaster Wheatsheaf Singers and also the Hatfield and Askern Colliery Band for making the evening such a resounding success. We would also like to thank the Co-op for providing refreshments during the interval. It was testament to all their hard work that the concert was a sell-out!
Should you wish to get in touch with us our contact details are: 22 Wood Street, Doncaster DN1 3LW (passageway to the right of “The Grumpy Goat Coffee House”), first floor (lift available), Room 104. Tel. 01302 325029. Email: info@dcdt.co.uk. Website: dcdt.co.uk. As the office is not fully manned it is best to Email or telephone in advance if you are thinking of coming to see us. As we have to send in our items for publication early the previous month it is not always easy to bring you up-to-date with news regarding our charity, but we will do our best to let you know what is happening as soon as possible. In the meantime, we would like to thank you all for your continuing support.
CROWDS TURN OUT FOR LIGHTS SWITCH-ON
Despite a mixed weather forecast, residents turned out in force for Misterton Parish Council’s annual Christmas lights switch-on (Friday 1 December). Harworth Brass Band got everyone in the mood for the count-down when Santa switched on the lights. He then holed up in his grotto with plenty of ho-ho-hos! In the Parish Church were a bumper 19 entries to the Christmas Tree Festival. The winner of the best-dressed tree was Misterton Gardeners Club. Pictured is Chair of Misterton Parish Council, Cllr Peter Marsden, who judged the entries, with the winning tree. There were so many excellent entries that a last-minute addition of a second prize went to Misterton Bowls Club Congratulations to all entrants – such was the quality of entries, next year there will be more prizes.
The raffle raised £240, to be divided between the Parish Church and Misterton School. Many thanks to all who donated prizes, had a stall –and just turned up on an otherwise miserable evening.
Please mention “The Arrow” when responding to advertisements
A huge THANK YOU to the Haxey Pantomime team - they have kindly donated a portion of the proceeds raised through their raffle and we could not be more grateful. Together, with our committee, we will put this money to good use for our children.
A total of £520 was raised and shared between Haxey Pre School and The Haxey Food Share Project.
We would highly recommend going along next December to see their next Christmas Panto!
1st Isle of Axholme BP Scouts January 2025
Christmas at Scouts is always a lot of fun. In their final session in the hall, Beavers made Christmas decorations and played games. Cubs had a baking and decorating challenge session with lots of delicious items to take home. The scouts competed in a Christmas bake-off competition. The standard was incredibly high with so much time and skill on display we were grateful for external judges. There were homemade chocolate cakes, mince pies and shortbread, croissants and cakes and even an iced Christmas cake with fondant penguins. A delicious evening!
Our final session was spend at Go Bounce! All 3 sections bounced together and then shared a party tea to finish the year. Roll on new adventures in 2025
Sections all meet at the Westwoodside Village Hall: Monday (Cubs, Scouts and Senior Scouts) meeting at 6pm (Cubs), and 7pm (Scouts & Senior Scouts), and Tuesday evening at 6pm (Beavers).
Remember, we are still looking to recruit more leaders/ helpers for all sections. Please get in touch if this is something you would like to do.
