Children’s Puzzles

The Diary of a Local Mum

Any Dream Will Do

Have you ever looked at your kids and wondered what their future holds? What they’ll do when they grow up, where they’ll go, the adventures they’ll have, what they’ll achieve?

Many children’s dreams change throughout their young lives – and, let’s face it, will continue to change throughout adulthood, too (if I’m entirely honest I’m still not sure what I want to do when I grow up!) others seem to be born to follow a particular path, loving to dance, sing or showing a particularly inquisitive mind or caring nature from being tiny tots.

As wide-eyed toddlers, your children may want to be astronauts, pilots, firefighters, zoo keepers, explorers. As they grow and discover more about the world they may be inspired by those they meet to become nurses, teachers, vets, scientists or musicians. They may harbour ambitions to be an Olympian, travel the world, make films, take photographs, write books or create art. As teenagers, they may well acquire a desire to be a You Tuber or a professional gamer, both of which are apparently now viable career options…

But, as parents, what should we do with these dreams? Encourage them no matter what, or rein them in with a healthy dose of realism to prevent future disappointment?

We inevitably want to protect our kids and, in doing so, it’s tempting to shield them from potential failure. It’s hard not to meddle when you think their dreams are improbable or impractical, but you don’t want to rain on their parade and squash their ambitions before they’re even given a chance. Imagine looking back and realising you’re the reason they didn’t follow their heart? Did Charli D’Amelio’s parents advise her to stop wasting her time on TikTok? She’s now got several million ways to prove them wrong! Even if it doesn’t work out maybe we need to let them fall in order to learn how to get back up again? It’s also difficult not to let our own experiences, regrets, mistakes or dreams influence the way we encourage or advise our kids, but sometimes we just have to bite our tongue and watch them take their own journey, with our full support and encouragement regardless. It’s true that not everyone will manage to accomplish their heart’s desires but by following a certain path and doing the things they enjoy, hopefully they’ll find happiness and fulfilment along the way.

I recently heard an interview with stand-up comedian Chris Ramsey, which really resonated. He said his parents encouraged him to have a backup option, in case comedy ‘didn’t work out’. He refused, saying that would have given him a reason to give up … which, given his TV appearances, sell-out tour and award-winning podcast, he clearly didn’t. He had his sights clearly set on success and claims the ‘fear factor’ of having no other option drove him when times were tough. I would probably have advised the same as his parents, but his comments made me rethink my stance. If he’d trained in something else ‘just in case’ would he still have a sell-out stand up tour? Possibly not.

I do believe that, if you want it enough, most people are capable of most things (obviously there are certain caveats, but generally speaking!) and I tell my kids “Don’t believe anyone who tells you you can’t.” I was thrilled to hear cyclist Mark Cavendish echo this exact sentiment in a recent interview after coming back from illness to win the green jersey in this year’s Tour De France, storming to victory in four stages and bringing his overall total to a record equalling 34 stage wins. He well and truly silenced his doubters by proving them wrong.

So, whatever your dreams are kids, you go and chase them. They’re your dreams and there’s nothing too big or too small. Whether you want to open a café, climb Everest, fix cars or become Prime Minister … follow your heart and know I’ve always got your back.

By Helen Young

Belper School Monster in the Village

This is a snippet of Belper School student Herbie Gribble’s upcoming fantasy novel that he is in the midst of creating. In this extract, in the fantasy world, our protagonist finds himself lost in the forest, after wandering off before the harvest festival. Now he faces an unseen and unknown foe…

Movement. In the bushes. Rustle. Rustle.

Nothing. And then the smell hit Dig, like a rotten carcass left out in the summer sun, it invaded his nostrils. He stumbled back away from it, trying to get as far as possible until he fell over a log and landed on his back. He lay there, in the dark, he knew not for how long, but as his terror began to slowly eek away, he became acutely aware of the lack of noise. The village lay silent in the distance, most of the lights out or dimmed and whatever had been hunting him seemed to have left.

Rising to his feet, he made his way through the trees towards the last glimmering lights. As he began to draw near, he smelt the same rotten smell but magnified as though it lay upon the whole village. The sky was still black and there was miasma in the air. The stars still shone down but the stench of death lay heavy on the air.

Reaching the edge of the treeline he stopped dead in his tracks, the houses of the village were in a state of decay, wood was rotting, and stone walls were falling apart in a state of disuse. There was not a sound to be heard apart from that of a building collapsing in the distance as its supports gave way. Of the villagers there were no signs and the lights Dig had seen seemed to have long since gone out. Walking slowly past the decaying houses Dig found himself in the centre of the village. Strewn about the ground next to one of the still smouldering bonfires were bones. The bleached skulls of the men and women he had known stared up at him as he stood there stupefied. There was no flesh left clinging to their bones and they were not charred by flame. Dig then remembered, of the stories he heard in the inn that told of horrors that were once men. Horrors that feasted on people’s flesh and wore decay about them like a cloak.

He looked away and turned to the looming cliff and there, almost indistinguishable stood a monster. It was faceless and stood like a person but yet was horribly different from one. The same low groan-that-was-a-screech reverberated off the cliff wall. It had no face, no sign of there ever being eyes or a nose however a mouth cut across its face like a scar. Surrounded by crimson blood and filled with needle teeth. He blinked and it had gone, the groan-that-was-a-screech cut short.

Dig stood where he was for the rest of the night, expecting at any minute a cold, hard hand against his throat. It never did come. When the golden eye bathed the land in light the next day, he finally overcame his paralysis. Looking around the village Dig found nothing he could use, if not for the embers in the fires it would seem as if the village had been abandoned decades ago.

As the eye reached its zenith Dig decided there was nothing left there for him. He could act upon his dreams of seeing the world, although the reason of his departure was not as he imagined it would be. Setting his back towards the granite wall he left his village for good, knowing that its people now lived only in him and in the heavens with the Dragons.

By Herbie Gribble, Year 11

Parenting

Teaching Kids to Be Savvy Savers

Most of us have made mistakes with money at some point. Help your children to avoid the same financial pitfalls by giving them the knowledge and skills to build on in the future.

Teach them the value of money

Rather than buying your children sweets each week, give them pocket money, some of which they can use to buy sweets and some of which they can save for a bigger treat. It’s good for children to earn at least part of their pocket money by doing chores. They’ll learn that money doesn’t come for nothing and be less likely to waste it. To make life easier, you could use an app and debit card like RoosterMoney or Go Henry, which were created to help children get to grips with their finances and earn money through chores.

Help them to budget

Encourage children to save up for something they really want rather than just waiting for Christmas or their birthday. You could start by explaining how much they’d need to save each week to achieve their goal. Younger children tend to need quicker results, so start with a small goal that can be achieved in a few weeks rather than months.

Give them responsibility

Part of appreciating the value of money is learning through mistakes. It’s tempting to step in and stop your child from spending their pocket money on things that you know they will quickly discard. Offer advice but let them make their own decisions on low-value items. They may well then think twice next time they want to buy a blind bag or an expensive Tshirt. When older children are ready, you could give them more responsibility for budgeting for the things they need by giving them an allowance for clothes, school dinners, travel expenses, toiletries, days out and so on, and helping them to work out a monthly budget. Again, they can earn more through chores if they want to save up for high-value items.

Discuss money

Don’t be afraid to talk about money with your children. You could share how much you’re setting aside each month for next year’s holiday for example, and talk about your own experiences with money. You can also help your child to see that, while it’s good to shop around for the best price, cheap doesn’t always mean best value. However, try not to make your child worried about family finances. It’s fine to talk about not being able to afford something or how you’re saving up for a big purchase, but you don’t want your child to lose sleep worrying that you won’t be able to pay the bills.

Learn from the experts

Make the most of children’s love for online games. MyBnk is a UK charity on a mission to help children build good money habits. It has created a series of fun online courses for ages 5 to 21. You can access them for free at learning.mybnk.org/ our-courses.

Love learning locally Autumn 2021 Courses

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Education & Skills Funding Agency

School Information

Ambergate Primary School Anthony Gell School 01773 852204 01629 825577

Belper Long Row Primary

01773 823319 Belper School 01773 825281 Breadsall CofE VE Primary School 01332 831328 Codnor Community Primary School 01773 742537 C of E Controlled Denby Free C of E Primary 01332 880416 Ecclesbourne School 01332 840645 Fritchley CE (Aided) Primary 01773 852216 Heage Primary School 01773 852188 Heanor Gate Science College 01773 716396 Herbert Strutt Primary 01773 822771 Holbrook C of E Primary 01332 880277 Horsley C of E Primary 01332 880782 Horsley Woodhouse Primary 01332 880403 John Flamsteed Community School 01332 880260 Kilburn Infant & Nursery School 01332 880449 Kilburn Junior 01332 880540 Langley Mill (CE) Controlled Infant School & Nursery 01773 713429 Little Eaton Primary 01332 831471 Mapperley CofE Primary School 0115 9325386 Meadows Primary 01332 840305 Milford Primary 01332 841316 Morley Primary 01332 831295 Pottery Primary 01773 823383 Richardson Endowed Primary School 01332 880317 Ripley Junior School 01773 742281 St Andrew’s C of E Primary School 0115 9324252 St Benedict 01332 557032 St Elizabeth’s Catholic Primary 01773 822278 St John’s CE Primary, Belper 01773 822995 Stanley Common Primary School 0115 9322437 Street Lane Primary 01773 742717 Swanwick Hall School 01773 602106 Turnditch CE VA Primary 01773 550304 William Gilbert Primary 01332 840395

School Terms 2021/2022

All dates taken from www.derbyshire.gov.uk Term 1: Thursday 2 September 2021 to Friday 22 October 2021 Term 2: Monday 1 November 2021 to Thursday 23 December 2021 Term 3: Monday 10 January 2022 to Friday 18 February 2022 Term 4: Monday 28 February 2022 to Friday 8 April 2022 Term 5: Monday 25 April 2022 to Friday 27 May 2022 Term 6: Monday 6 June 2022 to Friday 22 July 2022

Local History

Belper People of the Past

Fanny Finnerty Hall 1866 - 1909

If you happen to go for a stroll in Belper Cemetery, the gravestone of Fanny Hall can hardly escape your notice. This impressive memorial stands in the central area opposite the funeral chapels and commemorates Fanny, her husband Albert and their son Henry.

Fanny Finnerty spent her life among travelling show people. She was born in Birmingham in 1866 and her father was a confectioner and a showman. At 5 years old she was with her family in Chesterfield lodgings and the next information I could find was when Fanny married Albert Hall at Duffield Church in December 1888, as shown on their marriage record.

Like her father, her new husband was described as a confectioner whose own father Henry was the landlord of The Grapes, but the Halls were also showmen and very much involved in the funfairs which travelled round the Midlands. In 1891, after their first child Nelly was born, the family were in a caravan in Derby where Albert ran a rifle shooting saloon. The Hall family partly owned the fairground site at Derby’s Morledge where Fanny and Albert lived with other travelling showmen. Co-owners of the site were the Proctors (of Belper Fair fame) and the two families were close and connected by marriage.

1901 finds Fanny and Albert living in a caravan at West Bars, Chesterfield and by now they had three children Nelly, Henry and Ernest. Albert was again running a rifle saloon. Fanny would have been extremely busy helping her husband in the fairground business, most likely keeping accounts and organising their lives on the move as well as bringing up their three children. Tragically their son Henry died at the age of 16. On the grave stone he is described as “a jewel lent to us”. Fanny died a year later at the age of 43, her life was all too short and life-expectancy at that time was not high, but who knows? She might have died of a broken heart after losing Henry. By 1911 Albert had settled down in Belper with his two remaining children as landlord of the Nag’s Head on High Pavement, following in the footsteps of his publican father.

If the family wanted to give Fanny and Albert a splendid memorial, they achieved their aim.

It stands close to the path, my attention caught by its light-coloured stone and her name in full view. There must be many women like her who lie in unvisited graves and I don’t want her to be completely forgotten for who, as a child, has not enjoyed a visit to the fair?

Next to Fanny’s grave are other members of the Hall family who have been fairground people for hundreds of years. Today Halls are still in Derbyshire with the Merry Go Round café, amusements, fish and chips, coffee, donuts and sweet shop in Matlock Bath.

Belper is inextricably linked to the fair and if anyone wants to know more about this aspect of our history there will be a new book in the autumn. I am looking forward to “Belper’s Fairground Heritage” by Neil Calladine who is our town’s own local historian of fairs and show people.

By Viv Scott