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No 48: July 2014

BARN FIRE A RECENT FIRE fire in one of the old barns on Wype Road was tackled by fire-fighter teams brought in from Stanground and Thorney.

Police are asking for any witnesses to contact them with information on their confidential telephone number: 0800 555111.

BOOK THE EASTREA CENTRE

Telephone: 0845 607 8880

Published by Rothay House, Mayfield Road, Eastrea.

SATURDAY 26 JULY:

FUN DAY FREE FOR EVERYONE LIVE MUSIC, bouncy castles and competitions, Visitors to our weekends have always games, craft stalls, face enjoyed the atmosphere of the painting, hot and cold Eastrea Centre. Come to see us on food with our licensed bar and disco ... this is 26 July for fun, games and music! the way we are planning to commemorate the Eastrea Centre’s first anniversary on 26 July.

Opening at noon (and running on till late) with family games and competitions for everyone; best of all: ENTRY IS FREE!

E-mail:

Family fun is the theme of this year’s celebration day.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESIDENTS

mail@ east rea.n et

EASTREA VILLAGE HALL TRUST has been a registered charity since 1994 and the building was designed with the wishes of all the village residents uppermost in mind. There were several detailed questionnaires taken from door to door which gave the Trust a long list of facilities that local residents felt the building needed to embrace.

Back in the 1980s, the original committee had been in abeyance for many years before the late Mr Peter Frost revived it.

He is the person who organised the first pilot survey which was conducted in the village in 1992.

This positive response was echoed by a further survey carried in 2001, followed by a final study (left) in 2011.

Villagers emphasised the need for a full kitchen, a large main hall with changing rooms for sports and space for serving food and drink. The facilities now fitted in the hall are unique in the district and the open and approachable management style of the volunteers who run the village hall is appreciated by all the users, nearly 12,000 in our first year!.

COATES ROAD resident Mr John Wright, who has attended village hall committee meetings, suggests t her e mu s t b e l o ca l residents with a skill or an interest they would like to teach.

T her e are vac a nt s lo t s d ur i n g the daytime each week and the day classes already taking place include quilting and art. A new class on embroidery is being scheduled for later this year and a new daytime exercise class is now being discussed.

Genealogy, photography, nature study and local history have all been suggested for new daytime activities. If you have a subject you could explain, or a group that you’d like to organise, please phone the Trust and we will do everything we can to help.

Phone us on 0845-607 8880.

Heritage Display for Eastrea

COUNTRY PARK SET TO GO AHEAD HARRIER DEVELOPMENTS of Manea did lose their bid to overturn the planning permission that had been granted by Fenland for a Sainsbury supermarket and country park to be built between Eastrea and Whittlesey.

Mr Richard Sears from the Harrier Developments company presented a detailed objection which the judge at the High Court admitted was ‘erudite’ but it failed to impress. The judge concluded it was ‘totally without merit.’

Sainsbury’s and Whitacre have now put up signboards that announce their final success and, if all goes well, work should soon start in the autumn.

Page 2 ANCIENT MAPS and old charts that record the earliest days of Eastrea will be put on display for everyone to see at a special heritage display marking our anniversary Fun Day taking place on Saturday 26 July.

We can follow the village as it grew from a tiny hamlet to today’s settlement and see new roads as they appeared. The first images date from centuries ago, and we even have a map following the 1773 Enclosure Act that shows the remains of the traditional way of strip-farming that had been carried on throughthe Middle Ages (below, left).

Other displays will exhibit many of the newspaper cuttings recording the story of the campaign to raise money for a village hall in Eastrea. This began with a donation of just £1 in 1945, when the Second World War was still raging across Europe. Compared with presentday earnings, that gift would be now be worth almost £100.

The display has been supported by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to the village hall trust, and means that we will be able to see photos of committee members from previous decades, study plans of the earlier designs for a village hall, and see how the Eastrea Centre came about, developing from a simple model made of cardboard into the superb village hall we now have for all to use.

Village Hall Bookings EASTREA CENTRE bookings cost from just £10 per hour, for a children’s birthday party. This is a well-equipped village hall ready for anyone to book and is full of facilities and inspiration for a wide range of events.

WE OFFER: Full commercial kitchen for you (including 10 gas hobs — imagine that!)

We don’t charge for use of the well-equipped kitchen if you don’t want it.

Our standard hiring rates start from just £10 per hour for small parties.

Half of the fee will be refunded if you have to cancel, no matter how late.

Our cash bar is available for you, fully staffed, for a remarkably low charge.

We can easily seat well over 100 people at tables, and many more in rows.

Our 40-seat boardroom has digital projector, hi-fi digital sound and HMDI. Two shower rooms for sports or changing are included in the hire price.

We have fully fenced lawns for everybody’s safety and their security.

Plenty of car-parking — with an off-site overflow car-park when extra busy.

There is also our south-facing sun-trap terrace with large folding doors.

Extensive open views of fields stretching across our beautiful countryside.

Contact by telephone: 0845-607 8880

E-mail: mail@eastrea.net