Profile

Doug Tidey

Anyone who has walked down Rose Lane in the summertime has, I am willing to bet, stopped to admire Doug Tidey’s colourful garden. It is a mass of colour – and there is usually a very contented black cat, Eric, lounging somewhere nearby.

Doug was born in Newmarket – they were a ‘horsey’ family as his grandfather was trainer to Dr Boyce Barrow – a Harley Street surgeon. His son, Doug’s father, was a jockey until he had an accident and fractured his skull. He lay unconscious for 10 days, but he was under the care of Boyce Barrow and eventually made a good recovery although he was not able to continue racing. He became ‘Head Lad’ for Joe Orbell and then when Doug was about three years old the family moved to Old North Road in Royston and he became Head Lad for Basil Briscoe. The stables were situated in the centre of the town in King Street and I was amazed to learn that between 80 and 100 horses were stabled there before the Second World War. The string would be led out along Heath Avenue to the gallops on the Heath – I reckon there were some good opportunities for collecting manure for the roses along that route! In 1927 Basil Briscoe, along with the eccentric philanthropist Dorothy Paget, bought a young horse called Golden Miller and recognising the potential, Doug’s father broke him in and trained him to become a Grand National winner, one of the greatest steeplechasers in racing history. Doug had two older and one younger brother and although they had ponies and rode a lot they all grew too tall to become jockeys.

When the war came, Mr. Tidey could not join the forces because of his previous injuries and as there was no racing at that time, he became a driver on the airfields. When the war ended he went back to work for Willy Stevenson and had a hand in the training of Grand National winner ‘Oxo’ and the Derby winner Arctic Prince. Doug’s uncle Les Tidey was the ‘travelling Head Lad’ and he ‘travelled the horses’ often accompanied by his young nephews.

From the age of 8 or 9 Doug had worked as an errand boy for Marsoms in Queens Road and during the war he delivered meat to Bassingbourn on his bike. When he was 14 his father got him a seven year apprenticeship with Pepper and Haywood to become an electrician. At the end of this time he did his deferred National Service where he was put in the Halton No.1 School of Cookery and learned the art of cooking! Leaving the RAF behind, he spent a couple of years as a chef at The Bull and then The Banyers in Royston and when Anglia Television started he sometimes worked as an aerial rigger too! It was whilst he was on a roof fixing an aerial that he first saw his wife-to-be Pattie delivering bread and gave her a wolf whistle!

Doug’s best friend was the jockey Dennis Ryan and they used to ride out together on Sunday mornings. Doug had got engaged to a local girl but Dennis stepped in and stole her away. ‘I suppose you want to punch me on the nose?’ he said – to which Doug replied ‘No fear, I’ve just lost my girl I don’t want to lose my best friend as well!’ But a marriage never happened with that young lady (she kept both rings, by the way) for Doug went on to marry Pattie and Dennis married Willy Stevenson’s daughter Marshella, who is still a great friend. Their son who attended Melbourn Village College went on to become a jockey and rode the Derby winner Benny The Dip.

Marrying at the age of thirty and with new responsibilities Doug set up as a self employed electrical contractor, living in Water Lane. His business was very successful and Doug says that when he drives around the area there is not a street in any village where he cannot say ‘I worked on that house’. Being an electrician can be a somewhat dangerous business, and it did happen once that he cut a live wire with un-insulated snippers. The violence of the shock threw him onto his back and he lay twitching and wondering if he were going to die! He was so relieved at his recovery that the following Sunday he decided to go to church to give thanks for his narrow escape. When he appeared at the church door Jeff Puddock the Churchwarden was so surprised that he dropped his pile of hymn books! Added to which, as he left the vicar shook his hand and asked if he was a visitor! After a couple of years in Water Lane one of his customers, Miss Rhodes, offered him the cottage in Rose Lane which they rented and later bought. Pattie worked at the well known dress shop Jane’s of Newmarket and is well remembered as a very stylish lady who always drove a racy sports car. They had one son

A reminder of the multitude of challenges such a campaign will inevitably have to contend with had little impact on the group’s enthusiasm. A website for the campaign is now being established and an A10 Corridor Cycle Ride planned for 19 May. Please do get in touch if you’d like to know more or get involved in any way, and thanks again to all those who have given us such a great start. Practical Solutions Group

The ‘PSG’ continues to be active, liaising between different community groups and working especially to support activities for young people.

Our regular meetings bring together Melbourn Village College staff and students, councillors, police and representatives of various village groups.

The PSG is also dedicated to helping out where there are problems between people, through identifying those in a position to help. Minutes of the group’s meetings are posted on the village website for anyone who’d like to learn more. Susan van de Ven, County Councillor, Telephone 261833 susanvandeven@yahoo.co.uk Questions for your County and District Councillors?

We hold a drop-in advice surgery at Melbourn Library Access Point (in the green portable cabin adjacent to the entrance to Melbourn Village College) on the first Monday of the month, 2:30pm–3:30pm.

If this is not convenient for you and you’d like to make an appointment to meet at another time or closer to home, please let us know. County Councillor Susan van de Ven, 01763 261833 www.susanvandeven.com District Councillor Jose Hales, 01763 221058 jose@josehales.me.uk

Melbourn Area Youth Development (MAYD)

In response to the County Council’s withdrawal of funding for open-access youth clubs in 2011, a number of parish councils got together to create the Melbourn Area Youth Development (MAYD). This is a unique case of a cluster of parishes working together to support positive activities for their collective community of young people.

Launched in May 2011 the project was set-up to maintain the long-established weekly County-run open access youth club held on the premises of Melbourn Village College. This is the main financial cost to MAYD and is borne by the participating parishes. The club is open to all children from these parishes and others, encouraging its use by groups of friends.

The participating villages are Melbourn, Meldreth, Foxton, Fowlmere and Shepreth, all of which feed into Melbourn Village College, the designated secondary school for the area. This is a natural clustering as participating children are likely to mix in their school lives and hence to develop social ties across the villages.

MAYD helps on a number of programmes for young people and supports ideas for new ones. It encourages an ethos of community support for young people. Working with Royston and District Community Transport (RDCT), MAYD set up a transport scheme to ensure that any child wanting to attend Youth Club was able to do so. RDCT is on standby to provide transport to any special activities on offer. In the summer of 2012, it provided transport for an arts programme for students, based at MVC and in conjunction with the Wysing Arts Centre. A series of summer holiday sessions were run in each of the participating parishes, with an Olympics theme.

Volunteer community support is encouraged by MAYD to enable additional after-school clubs at Melbourn Village College. It actively sponsors the MVC Basketball Club which is student-coached and run and in its third year. This consists of a core group from the cluster of villages (Melbourn 2, Meldreth 3, Shepreth 3, Foxton 2, Chishill 1).

MAYD sponsored the Bike Bank pilot project, a bicycle maintenance course teaching employable skills and providing participants with a free, refurbished second-hand bicycle upon course completion. Cambridgeshire Police are committed to supplying free bicycles from their stock of unclaimed stolen bikes. The course is aimed at young people at risk of becoming NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training). The first six-week course ran in Summer 2012 and was delivered by Outspoken and funded with a grant by Young Lives. Further sessions are now being planned.

Transitions funding has been received from Cambridgeshire County Council to enable it to employ experienced administrative support to help oversee the development of its youth club programme and other potential opportunities.

The existence of MAYD as an organisation dedicated to youth development facilitates access to county council support for anti-social behaviour problems that occur from time to time.

Melbourn is overwhelmingly the largest village and bears the lion’s share of MAYD costs, while MVC provides the premises for the youth club to meet.

needed to help

before, during and after this year

’ s Melbourn Fete & Music on the Moor on Sat 29th June 2013 Please spare us an hour or two

If you would like to get involved contact: volunteers@melbournfete.co.uk or Paula Froggatt: 07402 273527

Melbourn Village Fete - 20 years supporting our community

A New Generation of the Saunders at The Sheene Mill!...

The Sheene Mill Restaurant and Hotel was once the ‘place to go’ in Melbourn but since Sally & Steven Saunders (Fellow Master Chef of Great Britain & Former Celebrity Chef) left the business in 2006 it slowly began to decline.

Watching the beautiful picturesque building become shabby and unloved was something that my partner and I could not let happen.

With a background in hospitality, a real passion for good food and lots of support from family and friends, we really believe that The Sheene Mill will be the huge success it deserves to be.

Our vision for The Sheene Mill is very important but also quite simple… Fantastic food, excellent service and a warm, friendly atmosphere. So what will be changing….

We have big expectations and big plans to put the venue back on the culinary map. The food will speak for itself. We have created a truly spectacular menu using the finest local ingredients, cooked to perfection. The menu is imaginative and encapsulates everything that The Sheene Mill is about.

A full decoration programme has already been put into full force, re-training of our staff, introducing new and exciting menus and most importantly, gaining back the trust of the local people.

We have plans to improve the exterior of the venue too, from that much needed lick of paint to the gardening. In the summer we will be building a beautiful outdoor seating area next to the lake.

You can expect Jazz nights, 80’s band nights, wine tasting, cheese tasting, book clubs, luncheons… The list goes on and on! (Please keep an eye on our Website for the latest upcoming Events).

We don’t just want The Sheene Mill to be somewhere that you visit once a year for a special occasion. We want it to be a place you can come for a light bite to eat, a drink with your friends or simply just to relax and enjoy afternoon tea/ a Burger!... Or indulge in a memorable fine dining experience.

Local Support…

We have only been at The Sheene Mill for one month and have already received lots of support from our family, friends and all of the local businesses. Thank you! Please come to see us at any time. Campbell who has emulated his father by becoming Executive Chef at Darwin College. Doug has three teenage grandchildren.

His chief hobby nowadays is, of course, gardening – which he learned from his Dad who was a very keen vegetable grower. Although it is only a small garden it is very productive, with runner beans, tomatoes grown in the greenhouse, soft fruit and of course, the riot of colourful flowers. He still enjoys watching horse racing and occasionally has a small bet but he says it is a well known fact that the only person to gain from the betting habit is the bookmaker!

When he was younger he was very keen on motor racing and went every Saturday to the Jim Russell Driving School at Snetterton with Michael Cook, the owner of The Royston Crow. They would spend the whole day learning the circuit although they never did get to do any actual racing.

When Pattie was alive they enjoyed lovely holidays in the Mediterranean, sometimes cruising and visiting most European countries. But sadly Pattie died four years ago from a particularly nasty form of cancer. The photograph shows Doug and Pattie on their first proper date at the Farmer’s Ball. Doug told me that once again Dennis tried to muscle in – but Doug told him very firmly, no. You’ve done it once but you are not going to steal this one. She’s mine!

They both loved cats and when I arrived to do this interview Eric accompanied me into the house. His companion Ernie (of course) died a couple of years ago. Ernie was a feral cat whom the neighbours had been feeding but could never approach. However, soon after Pattie died Ernie adopted Doug and before long Doug was able to take this wild animal to the vet to be treated and even managed to get him to wear a collar!

Whilst obviously still grieving for his wife, Doug gives the impression of being a contented man and I left him in his neat and cosy house with the black cat purring round his legs. Mavis Howard