Voice Magazines - Broadmeadows, South Normanton, Blackwell, Newton & Hilcote Edition - January 2025
We
Boiler Breakdowns
Boiler Servicing
Radiators & Pipes
Tanks & Cylinders
Toilets & Taps
Leaks & Bursts
Showers
Clearing Blockages
Pipework Replacement Gas
Happy New Year Readers,
Perhaps you didn’t recognise me and the mag as it landed on your doorstep with everything being so different!! We’ve overhauled the design and added some new features to give it a fresh new feel for the new year.
Psychologically, I love the changing of the year. It just feels so cleansing and myself and the team very much feel like that with the magazine changes. We thought that as we had so much turbulence last year, why stop there! It’s hard to believe that this little magazine will have been going for 15 years this September, but it has survived all that has been thrown at it so far. We’ve had some wonderful feedback over the last year in particular but we are determined not to rest on our laurels, so we are going to get back to our roots, with a real focus on championing local businesses and community groups.
Our Christmas give away was one example of this and it was a huge success with tons of entries. The winners will be announced in the February edition as this edition has to go to print earlier than usual. But don’t be disappointed if you missed out, we’re planning more special giveaways throughout the year.
More big news… we’ve (finally) got a live website again! It’s been about 6 years in the
making and has evolved so much without ever going live, but we’re really pleased with the end result, and we hope you like it too.
One of my personal traditions is to start each year with some resolutions/targets/bucket list items/whatever you want to call them! Strangely, I don’t think I set any last year as I somehow seemed to know that it wasn’t going to be a goer!! However, this year feels different, I feel more hopeful – so plans are afoot for us! In the meantime, we’re off to see out 2024 in style, travelling at 100+mph face first down a zipwire in Wales! I wonder what 2025 has in store for us all?
Happy Reading,
PS: Don’t forget to mention the ‘Voice’ when you use any of the companies in this magazine Emily x
ONWARDS AND UPWARDS IN 2025
Every great success story starts somewhere, and Voice Magazines is no exception.
The very first edition in 2010 was a 32-page magazine, targeted at a handful of homes in Swanwick, Riddings, and Leabrooks. Fast forward to today, and the magazine is a must-read across 11 editions, from Bakewell to Selston, Ripley to Kirkby and everywhere in between, and reaching a whopping 152,000 residents every month.
But let’s take a trip back to 2010. Picture this: Emily, the founder of Voice Magazine, is staring at her first edition. It’s 32 pages long, and every one of those pages represents blood, sweat, and probably more cups of tea and coffee than anyone should consume in a week. Delivering to 2,500 homes was no small feat either—especially when you’re also holding down another job.
In 2012, Emily took the leap, moving to premises in South Normanton, marking a major milestone. Having an actual office meant fewer late-night sessions at the kitchen table and more room to dream big. From there, things started snowballing (in a good way, not the “rolling downhill in winter” kind).
The magazine’s reach grew, the pages multiplied, and Emily’s vision for Voice Magazine as a community resource really began to take shape.
But everything has to keep developing and changing in order to flourish and grow, and you may have already noticed that this January 2025 issue looks a little different from previous magazines.
Yes, that’s right—Voice Magazine has had a New Year Makeover!
The brilliant covers are still the stars of the show—it’s the inside that has changed. You’ll notice:
• TOP TIP’S (This month on how to stay healthy)
• DID YOU KNOW? (This month has little known facts about health and fitness)
• SPOTLIGHT ON (An advertiser is spotlighted throughout all 11 editions for the month)
• WHAT’S ON? (This month is about Park Runs near you)
I see this New Year, New Voice Mags edition as a gym membership for your brain—packed with all the things you need to kick-start the year without actually making you sweat ��
Voice Magazine’s journey from humble beginnings to a monthly staple is proof that with a bit lot of determination, gallons of tea and coffee, and maybe a few “what am I doing?” moments, you can achieve amazing things.
A small army of people now deliver the 11 editions across 70 towns and villages, and Voice has a team of people all working to create the best magazine they can.
Emily and her nearest and dearest no longer have to do everything themselves. Let’s be honest, even superwoman Emily would struggle to produce and deliver all those mags by herself… although I bet she’d have a go.
So, here’s to (at least) another year of connecting communities, sharing stories, and maybe even sneaking in a few more jokes along the way.
Because if you can’t laugh at life—or your first attempt at a Park Run—what’s the point?
Dog
Biscuit
Mixed
Bumber
Natural
We
We
Whether
URGENT CALL FOR FOSTER CARERS IN THE EAST MIDLANDS
The need for foster carers in the East Midlands has reached a critical level. Over 3,300 children in care across Derby City, Derbyshire, Nottingham City, and Nottinghamshire are in urgent need of foster homes, yet only half are currently placed with foster families. There is a significant demand for long-term and short-term carers, as well as those experienced in supporting children with special needs. Additionally, carers for sibling groups and teenagers are desperately needed.
To address this demand, Foster for East Midlands, a collaborative regional fostering hub has been established by local councils. This hub supports new and existing foster carers, providing guidance from the initial inquiry stage through to application, and offers continuous support to current carers.
YOUR SUPPORT COULD MAKE A LIFE-CHANGING DIFFERENCE FOR A CHILD IN NEED.
If you’re interested in learning more about fostering, please call 03033 132950, visit fosterforeastmidlands.org.uk, or join us at one of our informal information events Details are available on our website.
This is a sudoku 1 square grid
81 cells
9 3x3 blocks
1 simple rule:
Use all the numbers
1-9, with no duplicates allowed, in any row, column, or block.
These puzzles are devised by the brilliant Professor Rebus. For more of his puzzles visit www.pitcherwits.co.uk
7 SESSIONS COVERING GRIEF
This is for anyone who has suffered the loss of a loved one, even if it was years ago. (There is no charge for this course.) Topics include:
Attachment, separation and loss, The pain and responses of grief, Anger and Guilt, Coping with others’ reactions, Delayed and suppressed grief, Adjusting to Change, Moving forward healthily and Faith questions (optional).
Running soon:
Thrive Building, 39 High Street, South Normanton, DE55 2BP
For further details please contact Email: admin@sncc.uk.com Tel: 01773 687044
Flint’s Florist
COACH TOUR HOLIDAYS
SHAUNS FRUIT &
CARPET & BED STORE
Discover Quality and Comfort at BM Carpet & Bed STORE
Since its opening on August 1, 2023, BM Carpet & Bed Store has quickly become a go-to destination for flooring, beds and mattresses in South Normanton.
Owned by Billy and Maria, proud Hilcote residents, this local gem offers a diverse selection of high-quality carpets, laminate flooring, and beds to suit every taste and need. Whether you’re after luxurious wool carpets, durable hardwearing options, or the sleek appeal of laminate, LVT, or vinyl cushion flooring, BM Carpet & Bed Store has you covered. And now, with their new free home selection service, you can browse their extensive range from the comfort of your living
room—a perfect blend of convenience and personalised service.
Don’t forget about your mattress! Experts recommend replacing yours every eight years. Why? Over time, it can accumulate the equivalent of a bathtub of sweat and a dachshund’s weight in dead skin cells— yikes! At BM Carpet & Bed Store, they’ll help you find the perfect replacement, offering a 5-year warranty on all beds, including electric options.
Support local and visit BM Carpet & Bed Store today for quality Fooring and a better night’s sleep.
CARPET & BED STORE
If you can’t make it into the store, we can offer a FREE home selection service, where we bring the store to you.
Family Business
OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
Monday - Saturday: 9am - 5pm Sunday: 11am - 3pm
CARPETS
Wool, Hardwearing, Soft Touch, laminate flooring, LVT Flooring and Vinyl cushion flooring. Free measuring and home selection service, free estimates, free planning, free delivering and fitting arranged.
BEDS
Our beds are the only approved trading standards manufactory in the UK. All beds carry a 5yrs Warranty. Lots of choice of mattresses, Storage Bases & Head Board also Electric beds.
Pinxton & South Normanton History Group
JANUARY 2025
EVERYTHING EVOLVES SOMETHING ELSE PORCELAIN FROM PINXTON PART ONE
As a local historian seeking the origins of events, I came across a truism first expounded by the ancient Greek philosopher, Parmenides of Elea (515 - 445 BCE):
‘Nothing comes into being because everything must derive from something that already exists. We can speak and think only of what exists’ It has always been assumed that if porcelain had not been produced at Derby, there would not have been a Pinxton porcelain manufactory.
How then did porcelain come to be made at Derby?
Most people, if asked who was behind the Derby porcelain manufactory will say, William Duesbury! If this was the case, why was Duesbury name the last of three people who founded the factory?
The Derby manufactory was founded on 1st January 1756 by three men. The order of appearance on the Agreement were John Haslem, followed by Andre Planche and lastly, William Duesbury. However did it all come about?
Andre Planche was the son of a French Huguenot by the same name, who had come to England when The French
Monarchy and Government, which was mainly Catholic, expelled the Huguenot Protestants and Andre Planche and his wife relocated to London. Here Planche Snr. was involved in a little known and short-lived porcelain manufactory on London Docks, called Limehouse, which was making blue and white wares according to advertisements in the London newspapers. Planche Jnr. was apprenticed for seven years to a London jeweller.
When Limehouse closed Planche Snr. relocated to Staffordshire and found employment at the little known Longton Porcelain Manufactory. His son relocated to Derby which, at the time, was one of the main jewellery centres in the country.
Planche Junior founded a sizeable business and as a side-line he was producing small porcelain animals and birds, presumably with the recipe he had been given by his father. These he was firing in the kiln of a nearby pipe maker.
When his business expanded, he required his own kiln and approached the local Derby Bank owned by the Heath
brothers, John and Christopher, and their brother-in-law John, the eldest and main partner, inspecting Planches account book, discovered that Planche was selling his wares to William Duesbury who was decorating them before selling them. As an entrepreneur, John Heath realised that by forming a business partnership with both Planche and Duesbury, he would realise a double profit margin. He already had a commercial interest in The Cockpit Hill Pottery in the centre of Derby. They also purchased the land on which the porcelain factory was to be built.
The influence and importance John Heath had was evident in the Partnership Agreement as Heath’s name was first, followed by Planche then Duesbury.
Just two months into the new business, Planche got himself into trouble and was obliged to leave Derby. It was Heath who negotiated a settlement and obtained Planche’s porcelain formula, plus a written undertaking that he would not in future make porcelain in competition with the new Derby manufactory.
Next time: The Heath brothers connection with South Normanton, The Reverend D’ Ewes Coke and the Pinxton Porcelain Manufactory. Monthly meetings 7.15 pm Third Monday at South Normanton Post Mill Centre. All welcome.
D.M. FURNISHINGS
All our BRITISH MADE sofas, chairs & recliners are made to order and normally delivered within 6-8 weeks. Choose from over 2000 fabrics and leathers.
Only 100% genuine leather used on all our Italian suites, which are made to order in any colour and normally delivered within 8 - 10 weeks
Reupholstery, repairs & cushion replacement service available - call for appointment
9-11 Outram Street, Sutton- in- Ashfield, Notts, NG17 4BA (Next door to Wilko’s and with Asda car park directly behind us)
Slimming World Recipe
Pasta Cauliflower Cheese
1. Preheat your oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6.
2. Put the pasta in a large bowl, pour over 800ml boiling water then set aside to soak.
3. Put the cauliflower florets and sage in a non-stick ovenproof dish (about 23cm x 20cm), spray with low-calorie cooking spray and bake for 15 minutes. Add the cauliflower leaves and roast for 5 more minutes.
4. Drain the pasta and add to the cauliflower along with 100ml of the stock. Stir well and cook for another 5½ minutes.
5. At the same time, put the cottage cheese in your food processor and add the remaining stock and half the Parmesan. Season lightly and blitz to form a smooth sauce, then add the egg yolks and give it another quick blitz.
6. Stir the spinach through the cauliflower and pasta and put the dish back in the oven to cook for 2 minutes. Give everything a good stir, then pour over the sauce and mix well.
7. Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan on top and return to the oven for a few minutes to brown. Divide between 2 plates and serve with a mixed salad.
Ingredients:
• 200g fresh fusilli pasta
• 1 small cauliflower, cut into little florets, small leaves reserved
• 10 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
• Low-calorie cooking spray
• 1 vegetable stock pot, dissolved in 150ml water
• 300g fat-free natural cottage cheese
• 60g grated fresh Parmesan cheese or vegetarian alternative
• 3 egg yolks*
• 100g baby spinach
*Pregnant women, the elderly, babies and toddlers are advised to choose eggs showing the British Lion stamp if eating raw or partially cooked eggs.
Ready in: 40 Minutes
John Moody Bsc (Hons) Podiatry
HCPC registered Podiatrist/Chiropodist
Member of the Royal College of Podiatry (RCPOD)
Over 13 years of international, NHS and private practice experience.
We specialise in:
General foot healthcare
Diabetes and high risk foot conditions
Muscularskeletal conditions
Blood flow and nerve assessment
Calluses / Corn / Verruca treatment
Ingrown toenail management
Walking and running assessment
Insoles supply
**Parking is available at the premises
AMBER VALLEY RUGBY CLUB
Why slog it out in a gym when you can tackle your fitness goals on the rugby field?
Rugby is the ultimate workout—cardio, strength, and teamwork, all while having fun. At Amber Valley Rugby Club, rugby is for everyone, whether you’re looking to get fit, make friends, or try something new.
This season has been full of excitement. Our men’s team has battled hard in some gripping matches, while the women’s team continues to grow and thrive, showcasing skill and camaraderie. Meanwhile, our Minis and Juniors are having a fantastic time learning the game and building confidence. A special shoutout goes to Lewis Terry, named November’s Men’s Player of the Month, sponsored by the Seven Stars Pub in Riddings, for his outstanding commitment on and off the field.
At Amber Valley Rugby Club, we’re more than a team - we’re family. Join us in 2024 and tackle your goals with us!
Interested in having a try call Stuart on 07966 867 946 for the men, Gareth 07595 520 537 for the ladies and Paul 07790 403 043 for the Minis and Juniors.
More than just a club, we are the #ValleyFamily.
Don’t forget
Lewis Terry
@Prioritystairlifts /prioritystairlifts
Local Installation, Repairs and Servicing of Stairlifts
Mr Jonathan Harper BSc(Hons) Podiatry. HCPC registered Podiatrist/Chiropodist, Member of the Royal College of Podiatry (RCPod) 20 Years NHS/private practice experience treating foot and ankle disorders for adults and children.
• Offering treatment for the following:
• Corns, calluses, other problematic skin problems. Thickened/fungal nails
• Infected ingrowing toenails ingrowing (Nails surgery under local anaesthetic available)
• Verrucas and warts (hands and feet)
• Fungal skin and nail infections
• High Risk group foot care and diabetic foot assessments
• Foot and ankle pain and sports injuries including injection therapy avpodc@outlook.com
Week day and Saturday appointments available. See our reviews on yell.com
37 Mansfield Road, Alfreton. DE55 7JJ (Formerly James Matthews Chiropody Clinic) FOR ENQUIRIES PLEASE CONTACT: T: 01773 831433/07554 010033
A dogs Day out
This walk is a true Classic! We first featured the walk in 2016 but since then they have built a new Visitors Centre at Sherwood Forest. Well behaved dogs (what’s one of those?!) are permitted in the cafe.
The walk takes you past the Major Oak, a true beauty itself but there are many other beautiful old, gnarled and majestic oaks to see. A real treat for dendrophiles!
6-MILE CIRCULAR FROM EDWINSTOWE VIA THE MAJOR OAK
A moderate walk for you and your dog! This walk is fairly flat and should take around 2½ hours to complete. There is a range of terrain, with some possibly muddy and uneven sections. There are a few sections of road, so take plenty of care. And, as always, follow the countryside code.
Starting Point: Jubilee Park, Trinity Road, Edwinstowe. Notts. NG21 9RW.
To find the car park take the first right-hand turn off Trinity Road, just before some flats. Pass through the flat’s car park into the ‘Jubilee Park’ car park.
1. From the car park take the tarmac path heading towards a recreation ground and passing by a sign board on your left reading ‘Jubilee Park’. Follow the tarmac path until reaching a circular children’s play area directly in front of you. Follow the tarmac path around to the left of the play area and at the far side bear right along a path until reaching a gap in the hedge.
2. Pass through the gap and onto a lane. Turn left along the lane and continue until the lane bears sharp right. Continue around to the right and now continue straight ahead with a hedge on your right.
3. Continue until you reach some trees and then pass by a yellow marker post on your right. Continue straight ahead with trees on your left and open fields on your right.
4. After some time you will reach a T junction with a lane. Turn right and go gently uphill along the lane. At the top of the hill pass some stables on your left and then ‘The Archway House’ on your right. After, continue straight along the lane for some distance until reaching a main road.
5. Cross the road diagonal left, pass through a gap and then turn immediately right along a trail signposted for ‘Sherwood Forest’. For a short distance the trail runs parallel with the road and then a very short distance after passing over a crossroads of paths the trail bends sharp to the left.
6. Follow the trail around to the left and then continue for some distance and pass over a crossroads of paths signposted for ‘bridleway’ and ‘Sherwood Forest’.
‘Visitor Centre’. Ignoring all other footpaths to the left and right continue for a long distance following the signs for ‘Major Oak’. Upon reaching a T junction of paths turn right and pass by The Major Oak on your left.
8. Follow this path staying close to a wooden fence on your left. Continue ahead along the path, following signs for the ‘Major Oak Trail’. Continue straight ahead and eventually pass the cricket ground on the left and the Visitor Centre on your right. Continue straight to pass through a small car park and onto a road.
9. Turn left along the road until reaching a T junction with a main road. Turn right along the main road and continue straight ahead to pass through a set of traffic lights onto Edwinstowe High Street.
10. Continue straight along the road for some distance until crossing over a river bridge. A short distance after the bridge turn right along ‘Mill Road’. Continue along Mill Road for some distance and then just prior to a ‘national speed limits’ sign and railway bridge turn right along a signposted ‘Bridleway’.
11. Continue along the bridleway with a river on your right. After some distance cross over a wooden river bridge and then continue straight ahead until reaching a hedgerow directly in front of you. At this point turn right along a lane and continue with the hedge on your left.
12. After a very short distance the lane bends sharp to the left. Follow the lane around to the left and continue straight ahead until reaching a gap in the hedge on your right. Pass through the gap and back into Jubilee Park. Retrace your steps back to the carpark.
7. Continue straight to the top of a hill and then at a crossroads of footpaths turn right signposted for
This walk is for illustrative purposes only. Voice Magazines Ltd takes no responsibility for anyone who chooses to follow this route and encourages all walkers to obey all byelaws and signs and to respect the area they are walking in, ensuring they pick up all dog mess and obey the countryside code at all times.
BOOK REVIEW
UNRULY - DAVID MITCHELL
If you’re looking for something funny and clever to wake your brain up after a diet of Christmas telly, turkey leftovers and too much mulled wine and chocolate, you could try a dose of Unruly by comedian David Mitchell
This book, subtitled A History of England’s King and Queens, is for anyone who sat, bored out of their mind in school history lessons through turgid recitals of battles, civil wars, princes, beheadings and revolting peasants.
Mitchell studied proper history at Cambridge, but as he says, the past is largely unknowable, - an
infinity of former “nows,” And so if you think of how little we today really understand about what’s going on now… Plus we always have to look at who related the stories – and what purpose they were serving.
Described as Horrible Histories for grown-ups, it’s funny and sweary, full of narcissists and crazies and interesting and amusing analogies to the present day – from their now to our now. It will be interesting to see what the history books will say about us in 400 years’ time, but we can only hope they have a sense of humour.
All Around the Shire
WINTER MORNINGS
In the days before central heating, fitted carpets and double glazing, it was a hard job heating the house in the cold months.
Bedrooms were chilly and ice often built up on the inside of windows during the night to greet us on winter mornings.
Continental quilts were a distant invention and we made do with sheets, blankets, eiderdowns and sometimes coats over the bed. Children often slept in the same bed for warmth. Topping and tailing was not unknown. We would sometimes snuggle in with mum and dad in the middle of the night when the hot water bottle had lost its heat.
Only the living room was heated. The front room only at Christmas. My memories involve early mornings when we children were brought downstairs and bundled up on the settee under a blanket watching mum light the fire. She would roll sheets of newspaper into either log shapes or doughnut rings around her hand and place them in the grate with a firelighter to kindle a flame. She would then gradually add sticks and bits of coal to build up the fire.
The spectacular part was when she held up a sheet of newspaper to draw the fire and create a blaze. Sometimes, she wasn’t quick enough to pull away the paper and it caught alight.
Funnily enough, I don’t remember ever feeling cold even when trudging through snow to school. We must have had a lot of love to keep us warm.
Janet and Paul Barrass are All Around the Shire. Find us on or email: oldfield512@btinternet.com
ON EVERY JOB
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✓ Superb ATTENTION TO DETAIL from time-served flooring installers.
✓ FREE estimates, with no obligation to buy.
✓ PROFESSIONAL quality fitting service with clean and tidy workmenship.
✓ Full manufacturer’s GUARANTEE.
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DOMESTIC & COMMERCIAL WORK UNDERTAKEN
Mike’sMusings
Our resident muser has the mike...
Mike is always glad to hear from you at : mike.musings@outlook.com
To continue where we left off - if I was Prime Minister I would……...? (Part 8)
After last September’s offering, I reckoned this particular series of articles had run its course. I was wrong! Wendy, from Alfreton, has been in touch, with a number of observations about the current practices of concert goers.
Wendy recently saw the Drifters on tour, and despite being astounded by the number of walking sticks and other mobility aids within the auditorium – to be honest, I thought she was a bit naïve with that comment. After all, what age group were listening to this sort of music as they grew up? - enjoyed the show. She would have enjoyed it even more, however, were it not for what she described as the selfish actions of others.
Firstly, and this makes me wonder if Wendy has not been out and about much over the past 25 years, she couldn’t believe how many of the audience were videoing parts of the performance on their mobile phones. She describes the lady in front repeatedly lifting her phone up to get a clear view, partly obscuring Wendy’s. As a result, she could only see part of the stage, albeit supplemented by a fuller picture from the miniscule screen in front.
The question Wendy asks, and she’s probably not alone in this, is do these people go home and regularly watch the video footage that they’ve taken? I reckon we all know the answer to that. The other point Wendy makes is, why don’t these people just give the act some respect and simply enjoy the show?
The solution is easy claims Wendy. All attendees are warned in advance that this practice will not be tolerated. To back this up, seats at concert venues will be individually electrically charged, and a member of staff detailed to operate a high flying and silent drone to look out for audience members filming the performance. Once spotted, the offender receives a mild electric shock, is brightly illuminated and subsequently shamed as their transgression is made public.
The other complaint that Wendy raised was the disruption caused by people getting up to go for drinks during the show. She has no problem with people bringing a drink into the auditorium, providing it is kept safe – although I do! - but thinks it unreasonable if the audience member has to then go to buy a ‘refresher’ while the act is on stage. What exacerbates the problem, she says, is that invariably, before the show ends, these people are repeatedly having to go to the toilet. Now, who’d have thought that?
Wendy is convinced that she’d be less inconvenienced if a) there was a pre-show announcement, ten minutes before the start, along the lines of ‘Who needs the toilet?’, and b) anyone leaving the auditorium during the performance, not be allowed back in until the interval, or indeed at all, should they leave during the second act. She accepts that it’s a bit draconian but is convinced it would have the desired effect.
What do you think?
Guess the words and Fill in the crossword !
Pitcherwits® are crossword puzzles where some of the clues are in pictures. Sound easy? It’s not called “Pit-your-wits” for nothing! The mixture of cryptic and picture clues, combined with Professor Rebus’ unique sense of humour, will keep you entertained for hours.
Across
5 Foolishly ran out of bean curd three times! (5)
7 Pet to turn ‘quiet’ (5)
11 Bothering to get rid of tedious article (3)
12 Brief invitation (on paper at least) to burgle? (1,1,1)
16 They have a thousand containers of seasoning (5)
17 Tree, say, where the sunworshippers are? (5)
Down
2 Last ‘ouch’ to bestow (5)
3 Ill-fitting, and/or gassy! (5)
10 The injurious bits of a credit (3)
14 Teacher, talking about a bit of silica (5)
15 From the 26th onwards, bear can be African ‘horse’ (5)
13 Bubble bath for Jack? Who’s he to talk? (7)
18 Hoarder hits out at Terriers (11) Down
Entrances have gasket twice replaced (6,5)
1 Preparation, 2 Urn, 3 Inn, 4 Glad tidings, 6 Excited, 7 Beeline, 8 Rejoice, 14 Art, 15 See. Across 1 Raw, sea-green ingredients that bring in the bacon? (4,7) 9 Relaxes as weathered by wind and sun (7)
STUNNING HOLIDAY COTTAGE IN WARKWORTH, NORTHUMBERLAND
Treat yourself to a luxury break at the 4* Gold Award winning Little Red Hen House. An elegant and cosy holiday home just a 7 minute drive from award-winning and dog-friendly Warkworth beach.
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✽ 2 small to medium dogs welcome (3 upon request)
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✽ Perfect for exploring the stunning Northumbrian Heritage Coastline
✽ Close to a range of dog friendly pubs, cafes & restaurants in stunning Warkworth
✽ We have fast fibre Wi-Fi and smart TV’s
• Secure storage units & Workshop rentals available now
• Low prices and short term leases
• Great location
• Secure & alarmed yard with CCTV
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• 20ft container available now from £30+VAT per week
Gardener’s Calendar
Local authorities will usually collect for their garden composting schemes, but you can also chop it into bits and stack it. It will rot down and disintegrate in a couple of years but in the meantime provide a good habitat for wildlife. Compost the decomposing stems of perennials and cut the leaves of hellebores back so you can see the drooping flowers more clearly. Upright hellebores are on the market if you’re looking to replace established ones, but a judicial trim can have a similar effect. If any of the hellebore leaves have black spots, bin them, otherwise the disease will spread.
Hardy dwarf fruit trees such as apples can be planted now. The advantage of dwarf fruit trees is that you can get a good crop in a couple of years –and that you can plant them in a good-sized pot and they don’t take up so much garden space. But make sure they are genuine dwarfs. Always plant where they can stand in full sun.
WINTER ROBINS BRING SEASONAL CHEER TO THE GARDEN
The humble robin is perhaps the most quintessentially ‘Christmas’ bird in the garden. Both male and female hold territories throughout the winter and therefore both sing, and the song is subtly different from that of spring and summer. Associated with Christian Christmas celebrations, the red breast is supposedly symbolic of Christ’s blood on the cross. In a more mundane, day-today connection, the robin soon learns to follow the gardener around the garden in case a possible prey item is disturbed and easy pickings become available. From such behaviour, the garden robin easily adapts to taking food if offered, and quickly will come to bird-food such as dried mealworms or calci worms for example. Given such treats as bait, they learn to come when called and if you make a twittering noise with pursed lips, it works a treat. In recent years, I have also noticed how robins are adapting to different types of feeders, including hanging dispensers of sunflower hearts or peanuts, and especially fat-balls and suet dumplings. Whilst not yet accomplished feeders like say blue tits and great tits, they are nevertheless becoming more daring. Another adaptation to modern living is their habit of nipping indoors during cold weather, and favoured places seem to be garden centres and other glasshouses. I have seen this in both the more commercial big store style garden centres and in the more focused horticultural premises. Do let me know if you have observed this too.
However, when I go in the garden and ‘talk’ to my favourite robin whilst offering mealworms, there is an evolutionary background to the behaviour. So, whilst I like to think the bird understands me, and the neighbours probably think I am barking, the real reason is that the robin reacts to me as a large animal blundering through the bird’s natural forest habitat. A grazing herbivore disturbs vegetation and soil which makes insects and other min-beasts available to the sharp-eyed robin. In other words, when a robin follows you around the garden it is adapting its long-evolved behaviour to the modern world and the opportunities afforded by our twenty-first century lifestyles. At this time of
year, the availability of food can be a vital matter for insectivorous birds such as robins, and a prologued cold snap means two things. Firstly, if weather is frosty then available food is in short supply, and secondly, particularly overnight, the smaller birds lose body heat and therefore stored body-fat. Then, if they cannot replenish the lost energy source, they can easily die. The food put out in our gardens across the region then makes a huge difference to survival rates of these and of other garden birds. As I mentioned earlier, mealworms, calci worms, and either suet dumplings or fat-balls, are ideal. A lowcost food can be made with vegetable suet, lard, and birdseed. Also, during cold weather a frequent cause of death in smaller birds is a lack of water when the usual source are frozen solid, and so provision of available water is important.
Professor Ian D. Rotherham, researcher, writer, broadcaster on wildlife and environmental issues in the Peak District and elsewhere, is contactable on ianonthewildside@ukeconet.org.
