Voice Magazines - Sutton-in-Ashfield and Huthwaite Edition - February 2025
Hello Readers, Vole is in the air this month…..ooops, I mean Love!!
As you may have noticed, we’ve been playing with our front covers of late and this month had us all in stitches because you can’t help but read ‘Vole’. We considered this deeply and thought it was too amusing to change and as such, as the famous song now goes, “Vole is all around us”!
We hope you all enjoyed your Christmas and New Year and our new look magazine. The feedback on the street is that it looked so different in Jan, you didn’t recognise us (in a good way of course)!! Hopefully, our spangly new website tickled your fancy too – all feedback is welcome!!
Anyways, I’m not usually one to talk about TV with you guys but what do we all think to ‘The Traitors’ on BBC 1? Apart from the walking fringe, which has me manically swooping my hair back from my eyes (I honestly don’t know how it doesn’t annoy her!), is the herd mentality irritating anybody else? *Spoiler alert* A good half of the Faithfuls had enough evidence to be able to get Linda out far earlier, but because some of the more ‘extroverted’ in the group spoke loudly about how they ‘felt’, with little to no evidence to back it up, the others got carried along with the crowd and it resulted in the eviction of multiple Faithfuls instead. I suppose the resounding message is that sensible people prevailed in the end but at what cost? I honestly don’t know why I watch this programme, it is not good for the blood pressure. Bring back ‘Bake Off’ it’s much gentler for the heart and soul!
So, I’m off to declutter some more (new years resolution, you’ve got to haven’t you!!). See you in March when it’s hopefully a lot less cold and we see much more of the yellow shiny thing in the sky!
Happy Dearing…..ooops ….. Reading!
PS: Don’t forget to mention the ‘Voice’ when you use any of the companies in this magazine
The Language of Flowers For Valentine’s Day & Beyond
In the Victorian era, flowers were more than just beautiful gifts. They were a secret language, a way for people to express emotions and sentiments without speaking a single word. Known as floriography, this “language of flowers” gave symbolic meanings to different blooms, creating a romantic and subtle form of communication.
Roses: The Eternal Symbol of Love
Among the most iconic flowers, roses carried a multitude of meanings based on their colour. Red roses signified passionate love, making them the timeless favourites for romantic gestures such as at Valentine’s Day. Pink roses conveyed admiration and gratitude, while yellow roses represented friendship or jealousy, depending on the context. White roses, often called bridal roses, stood for purity and new beginnings.
Daisies: Innocence and Purity
Simple yet charming, daisies symbolised innocence, purity, and loyal love. Their association with youth and honesty made them popular tokens of affection among close friends and family. To receive a daisy was to be reminded of someone’s genuine and heartfelt care.
Tulips: Deep Affection and Perfect Love
Tulips, especially in red, symbolised deep affection and perfect love. Their elegant shape and vibrant colours made them a bold choice for expressing devotion. A bouquet of tulips was often a declaration of sincere and lasting feelings.
More Floral Meanings
Floriography extended far beyond romance, capturing a wide range of emotions and messages.
Ivy: Fidelity and eternal life, a symbol of strong and enduring bonds.
Lily of the Valley: Sweetness, humility, and the return of happiness.
Forget-Me-Not: True love and remembrance, a simple yet powerful sentiment, and the reason the flower is the symbol of Alzheimer’s UK.
Peony: Prosperity, romance, and good fortune.
Lavender: Devotion, calmness, and purity.
Snapdragon: Strength or grace under pressure.
Less positive emotions were also expressed through flowers:
Yellow Carnation: Rejection or disdain.
Marigold: Grief or jealousy.
Anemone: Forsaken or fading hope.
Though the practice of floriography has faded and few of us these days are aware of the meanings ascribed to flowers, its charm endures. Today, understanding the meanings behind flowers can add a thoughtful touch to gifts for loved ones. Whether it’s a bouquet of roses for a partner, daisies for a friend, or tulips for someone you admire, the language of flowers offers a unique way to communicate emotions.
But be aware, during Victorian times, the way you presented flowers also mattered. Giving flowers upside-down could reverse their meaning entirely, turning a romantic gesture into a rejection! Who knew a bouquet could carry so much weight?
This Valentine’s Day, why not bring a little floriography into your life? Share a bouquet with someone special and include a note explaining the symbolism of each flower.
After all, flowers speak a language all their own—and it’s one worth reviving. Just be careful to choose the right flowers for the emotion you are trying to convey. Sending a loved one a bunch of yellow carnations may not necessarily be a good move!
ROCK FALL UK DONATES 172 PAIRS OF SHOES TO SHOE AID
As part of our initiative emphasising the importance of community and giving back, Rock Fall UK has once again donated 172 pairs of shoes to Shoe Aid, a charity dedicated to providing footwear to those in need. This contribution of footwear not only showcases Rock Fall’s commitment to social responsibility but also highlights the vital role footwear plays in enhancing quality of life, especially for vulnerable populations.
WHY SHOES MATTER
Footwear is often taken for granted, yet it is a crucial element of everyday life. Proper footwear can prevent injuries, provide comfort, and even boost self-esteem. Unfortunately, many individuals, particularly those facing financial hardship, lack access to suitable footwear.
Shoe Aid is a UK-based charity that collects and distributes shoes to those in need, including children, the homeless, and refugees. With a mission to ensure that everyone has access to appropriate footwear, organisations like Shoe Aid work tirelessly to bridge this gap, ensuring that everyone has the footwear they need to thrive.
Shoe Aid is continually grateful for business support. “Expressing gratitude for the work that they do in the UK and in supporting communities both locally and abroad”. They emphasised, “without the support from companies like Rock Fall, Shoe Aid would not be able to make the impactful changes in people’s lives that they do”.
Rock Fall UK, renowned for its high-quality safety footwear, has always prioritised the well-being of its customers and community. This donation is part of a larger effort to engage with and support charitable causes. By consistently donating footwear to Shoe Aid, year after year, the company reaffirms its dedication to making a positive impact on society at large.
Rock Fall UK, Wimsey Way, Somercotes, Alfreton. DE55 4LS
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Derwentside Belper
Buttercup Fields Belper
The Standings Crich
Outseats Farm Alfreton
Sutton Heritage Society
FEBRUARY 2025
MEMORIES OF KINGS MILL
My first acquaintance with Kings Mill Hospital was through my piano teacher Mr Baugh. I am vague as to his age, but assumed he was retired. I think he had probably worked down the pit, but had served in the war earning the Military Medal.
He carried a souvenir with him in the form of a piece of silver shrapnel that moved up and down under the skin of one finger. How he acquired his musical qualifications, I don’t know. However, he took on a job as caretaker of Kings Mill Hospital. Some suggestion must have been made to my aunt (who also had piano lessons) and I, that he should show us round his place of work. The Americans had built the hospital during the war. Situated alongside was a prisoner of war camp for Italian prisoners.
My memories are extremely sketchy. I think what I remember best was the operating theatre which seemed to still have its huge circular light. One’s main impression was of a long corridor with wards extending on both sides. The whole place was deserted and very ghostly.
Over the years I had fortunately no necessity to visit Kings Mill either as a patient or a visitor. It came as a big surprise to be actually offered a job there. But so it happened. In 1975 I had been teaching in the hospital school at the City Hospital Nottingham for nine years. My pupils were all on the orthopaedic wards, and were according to the nature of their complaints hospitalised then not for days, weeks, months, but actually years. It follows that provision had for a
long time been provided for them in hospital. Harlow Wood was a similar orthopaedic hospital, so when the deputy headship there became vacant, I applied for the position. I was unsuccessful, but a few weeks after I was asked if I’d like a job at the school being opened at Kings Mill.
A teacher had already been seconded there from Harlow Wood. I would work alongside her, but at the other side of the campus – a good steady twelve minutes’ walk away in fact.
I rather envied her her ward at the top of the Dukeries block with its beautiful big windows and its nice view looking across the reservoir to Hamilton Hill. I didn’t envy her when I later learnt how hot that ward could become.
By Nancy
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Resolve Your Civil Disputes with Elliot Mather LLP: Your Trusted Legal Partner
Are you facing civil challenges? Elliot Mather LLP is here to guide you toward solutions. As your local solicitors, we specialise in achieving the best outcomes for our clients. Our expertise covers a wide range of civil matters:
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BOOK REVIEW
If you’re looking for something different, fast paced, funny and richly well written, you could do worse than Irishman Kevin Barry’s The Heart of Winter.
Set in Butte, Montana in the 1890s, it’s the story of Irish immigrant workers in the pretty wild Wild West, but it’s also a crazy love story between a poetic young chancer living in the town and a bride shipped in from the east coast for another man.
Shockingly - but not too surprisingly, considering that the man the young girl is destined for is a 60-year-old religious nut with a penchant for
self-flagellation – the star-crossed young lovers are soon fleeing with a stolen horse and stolen money and with a posse of mad Cornish gunmen in hot pursuit.
Mad as it sounds this is a beautifully written, sometimes funny and sometimes savage little book, which also contains brilliant descriptions of the harsh Montana winters. It’s a cracking story but one you can’t ignore and one which definitely won’t bore you.
The atmosphere rackets along, the language is rich and it’s wonderfully dark and pulls no punches. Rambunctious winter reading.
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Slimming World Recipe
Teriyaki Chicken Bake
Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 220°C/fan 200°C/gas 7.
2. Put the teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, spring onions and vinegar in a large mixing bowl, then add the chicken and mushrooms and toss well. Tip it all into a non-stick roasting tin (about 30cm x 20cm), spray with low-calorie cooking spray and roast for 15 minutes.
When I saw this recipe was a ‘one pan’ meal I was all in... simple to prep, easy to bake and tasty to eat... the perfect bake/fakeaway!
3. Add the pak choi, edamame and sesame seeds to the roasting tin and return to the oven for 5 minutes, or until everything is cooked. Stir through the carrots and mint and serve with the lime wedges for squeezing over.
For more information visit www.slimmingworld.co.uk
Serves: 2
Syns per serving: 3
Ingredients:
• 4 level tbsp teriyaki sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 spring onions, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar or cider vinegar
• 300g skinless and boneless chicken mini fillets
• 200g exotic or chestnut mushrooms
• Low-calorie cooking spray
• 2 pak choi, roughly chopped
• 250g frozen soya beans (edamame)
• 2 level tsp sesame seeds
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and shredded lengthways
• ½ small pack fresh mint, leaves picked
• Lime wedges, to serve
Ready in: 30 Minutes
A dogs Day out
This walk is perfect for this time of year as it makes really good use of quiet country roads and paths such as the Linby Trail and the area around Newstead Abbey to combine beautiful scenery with a good leg stretch and more reliable terrain.
7 MILE CIRCULAR FROM NEWSTEAD VIA NEWSTEAD ABBEY AND THE LINBY TRAIL
A moderate walk for you and your dog. This medium length walk should take around 2½ - 3 hours. There may be some sections of uneven terrain depending on the weather and there are a couple of road sections, so take plenty of care and make sure you wear appropriate footwear for the conditions. And, as always, follow the countryside code.
Starting Point: Car park adjacent to the Newstead Centre, Tilford Road, Newstead Village, NG15 0BS
1. Walk back through the car park entrance, turn left and then immediately right to cross over a level crossing. After the level crossing take the first road on the right.
2. Continue along the road until it bends sharp left. Continue around to the left, pass under a bridge pass by a metal gate and between two stone pillars. Continue straight for some distance and pass between two more stone pillars. Continue straight to eventually pass a pond and waterfall on your left.
3. Further on you will pass Newstead Abbey on your right and then a car park on your left. Continue straight and cross over a crossroads. After a short distance turn right onto a footpath.
4. Continue into the woods along the path until reaching a tarmac road. Turn left along the road and continue straight for some distance.
5. Upon reaching a large pair of metal gates directly in front of you, take a footpath to the right of the gates and continue straight with a tall hedge on your left. Continue to pass through a metal gate and then continue straight along a farm track for some distance, ignoring any farm roads off to the right until reaching a junction with a main road.
6. Turn right along the road signposted for ‘Village Centre’. After the road bends sharp right and then sharp left, turn immediately right along a tarmac lane signposted for ‘Linby’.
8. Continue to pass through a metal gate, over a stone bridge and pass by a pond on your left. Continue along the path until reaching a road. Turn right along the road into Linby village.
9. Pass the Horse and Groom pub on your right and continue along the road until reaching a roundabout. At the roundabout, turn right and join ‘Linby Trail’.
10. Continue along the trail for quite some distance until eventually passing a wooden signboard on your right reading ‘Linby Trail’. After the signboard, continue straight to cross over a bridge and then after a short distance bear left away from the trail and onto a playing field.
11. Head diagonally across the playing field towards the clubhouse building, near the clubhouse pass through a wooden gate onto a road. Turn left along the road and cross over a level crossing back to the car park.
7. Pass by a large wooden gate and then before reaching a double metal gate take the first wooden gate on the left and follow the path until passing through a gap in a hedge and then turn immediate right onto another footpath.
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.
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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.
It’s that time of year when coughs, colds and sore throats are all around us.
My grandad used to ward them off by always having a packet of Victory Vs in his jacket pocket. Invented as a throat lozenge in 1864 in Lancashire, they originally contained Ether, Liquorice and Chloroform. No wonder both lozenges and gums were popular.
The following year, again in Lancashire, Fisherman’s Friend were developed. Menthol and Eucalyptus Oil were the main ingredients to help fishermen with respiratory problems when enduring savage winter trips on the North Sea. Many versions are now available and in numerous countries. They are easily identifiable as the packaging has remained essentially the same: a paper packet bearing the image of the trawler Cevic. Recognisable to a small girl rummaging around in her grandfather’s suit pocket.
Smaller still were liquorice imps. Teeny tiny black squares of strong liquorice laced with menthol. A mighty assault on your taste buds. Advertised as beneficial for singers “For clarity of voice” was the slogan.
Sweet shops would stock bronchial mixture sweets, Army and Navy, Tunes, Halls and Hacks. There was something for everyone.
In our latest talk by All Around the Shire, we will be covering these splendid little pieces of social history. I am sure our audiences will have lots of stories about these and many other winter warmers.
Janet and Paul Barrass are All
A COLD SNAP AND HEAVY SNOW BRINGS THE BIRDS IN
I wrote previously about the birds in autumn ranging around the countryside, particularly along woodland edge and hedgerows, but by December being drawn back to garden feeders. Although we had a generally mild, damp autumn and early winter, the suddenly plunging temperatures quickly pushed smaller birds back into gardens and to garden feeders. Indeed, the early mornings following a particularly cold night have been characterised by feeding frenzies and birds feverishly stocking up on food in order to replenish their vital stores of body-fat. The ability to keep warm relates to body mass and surface area so that a larger bird has more mass and greater surface area, but in proportion by comparison to a smaller bird, the ratio of area to mass is less. With a greater area to body mass ratio, small birds lose heat very rapidly and overnight can burn up their body-fat levels to a point which is critical. In severe circumstances, run out of energy and you perish! So, feeding becomes of the utmost urgency, and early morning after a nighttime chill is a key time when competition for space on the feeders is at a premium.
The result of the above is more birds visiting gardens and a greater variety of species. I have had eight or more male greenfinches along with several females, and similar numbers of goldfinches. These have been joined by a pair of chaffinches and of bullfinches, and a host of blue tits, great tits, and coal tits, all eagerly seeking the
peanut holders, sunflower heart dispensers, and fat-balls. More occasional visitors have included a female blackcap, the only one so far this winter, a pair of collared doves, a single stock dove, and a reasonably regular nuthatch. They have been joined, mostly on a mixed suet dumpling and fat-ball dispenser, by a male great spotted woodpecker. This latter visitor comes over from the nearby woodland to the big oaktree and then down to the feeders. Sometimes joining the communal feasting are magpies and these are occasionally in flocks of twenty or more, but also a carrion crow and a jackdaw, both of which struggle on the hanging feeders – simply because of their bulk. They are noticeably cagey and watchful and tend to leave as soon as the camera is pointed their way. Or maybe they are just shy. Our visiting jay is now quite regular too.
Another major change in recent weeks was the sudden appearance of a good numbers of migrant blackbirds with up to eight males, three or four females and two or three of what look like immature males. I do wonder if the latter were latefledging birds because of the climate-induced, extended summertime. These migrant birds may be from northern Britain, but mostly they will have come here to escape the deep-freeze in northern Continental Europe. These individuals are relatively comfortable with flocking together whereas our resident, breeding pairs are on territory and quite aggressive to intruders.
COCK HOUSE SPARROW
MALE BLACKBIRD
MALE GREENFINCH
Gardener’s Calendar
Top Tip:
Some of us will have been gifted houseplants – or have used them to cheer the house during the winter months, so they deserve a little TLC to keep them fit for the rest of the year.
Amaryllis are a particular Xmas favourite, but you don’t need to throw them after just one season. Deadhead the flower, and let the stalk die naturally. If you keep feeding and watering you may actually get a second flowering in summer and they should flower again next winter. Azaleas don’t like tap water – use rainwater if possible. Indoor cyclamen can be very sensitive to the wrong kind of watering. Always water from the bottom – i.e. from the saucer. Don’t ever overwater – their stems rot very easily, if the plant has not drawn water from the saucer in an hour, it doesn’t need it so empty the saucer... And finally don’t leave any houseplants behind a curtain on a windowsill at night. Frosts can be deadly even through glass. If you missed the boat and didn’t get round to planting allium bulbs in autumn, it’s not too late now. They will flower a bit later – late spring/early summer, but they’ll still give a good show. Likewise with lilies. Plant the bulbs about 8 inches deep in fairly light soil or compost. But remember they are poisonous to cats.
Strawberries are hardy, so to give them a good start for this year and clear away dead foliage. If you cloche them they’ll give you an earlier crop.
From the 1st April 2025, the amount you pay in Stamp Duty is changing. The amount you pay depends on: when you bought the property? how much you paid for it? whether you’re eligible for relief or exemption.
