Editorial policy Roundabout aims to promote local events, groups and businesses and to keep everyone informed of anything that affects our community. We avoid lending support (in the form of articles) to any social, political or religious causes, and we reserve the right to amend or omit any items submitted. The final decision rests with the editors. While Roundabout is supported by Woodhouse Parish Council, we rely on advertisements to pay production costs, and we accept advertisements for local businesses as well as those that publicise charitable and fund-raising events. Brief notification of events in the ‘What’s on’ schedule is free. Copyright in any articles published is negotiable but normally rests with Roundabout. We apologise for any errors that might occur during production and will try to make amends in the following issue. Roundabout needs your input. For guidelines on submission, please see inside the back cover. Management and production Roundabout is managed on behalf of the community and published by the Editorial and Production Team comprising Roger Berkeley, Amanda Garland, Andrew Garland, Dawn Kirby, Tony Lenney, Rosemary May, Neil Robinson, Grahame Sibson, Andy Thomson and Natalie Ward Editor for this issue: Natalie Ward Cover: Neil Robinson Advertising managers: Amanda and Andrew Garland Desk-top publishing (page layout) for this issue: Andy Thomson Printing: Loughborough University Printing Services Roundabout is available to read or download from the parish council website at http://www.woodhouseparishcouncil.org.uk/magazine.html Distribution: Roundabout is delivered by volunteers to every address within the parish boundary – just under 1,000 households and businesses, including all the surrounding farms. Please let us know if any house or business in Woodhouse Parish is not receiving Roundabout, or if you can help out with deliveries. 2 Roundabout September 2014 Contents Page Editor’s note 5 Parish council news 5 News in brief 7 The Old School 11 ‘Thingy’ lived there 13 ‘We were all in the same boat’ – Marion Kirk shares 15 memories a year from her centenary Woodhouse Eaves scout camps 19 The Hives of Woodhouse Eaves: Part 2 23 A walking tour through the Woodhouses 25 September Garden Matters 27 May codeword 28 The last word 30 Contributions to Roundabout Inside back cover What’s on in September Back cover Deadline for submissions to the October 2014 issue: Wednesday, 10th September Email to [email protected] or hand in at the post office Editor for October 2014 issue: Dawn Kirby Roundabout September 2014 3 4 Roundabout September 2014 Editor’s note Hopefully the glorious sunshine means our gardens have produced a glut of produce ready for the Woodhouse Eaves 24th Horticultural and Craft Show this month (see What’s on on the back cover), and fingers crossed the good weather will continue for the Woodhouse Eaves scout camp (p.19). People always say it is those who live in a village that really make it what it is and Woodhouse Eaves is no exception; Mark Temple looks at famous locals, past and present (p.13), while Evelyn Brown and Tony Lenney explore the fascinating lives of two of our female residents (p.23 and p.15). Natalie Ward Parish council news New councillor – Jim Horne Jim Horne was welcomed to the council in July, but was previously a councillor for four years in the early 1990s, leaving to focus on his increased work at Loughborough University, where he had established an international reputation for sleep research. Jim remains a professor at Loughborough and the University of Leicester, alongside other part-time appointments. Jim’s council interests are likely to lie in widening the participation of young people and increasing village hall usage. More housing? The recent housing survey – the third in this parish – again identified a need for more homes, especially affordable ones. Richard Mugglestone of Midlands Rural Housing who commissioned the survey, realises that the challenge is now to find suitable land for new homes and plans to scour the area for it. (You can read more about the survey results on page 9 .Ed.) Good financial management Auditors gave the council another clean bill of health for managing its money in 2013/14, thanks to the Responsible Financial Officer, Emily Rowley. Councillors receive financial statements before each council meeting. Any resident can now make an appointment to see the council’s financial records and accounts. Bridleway diversion – Brook Road to Loughborough If you walk or ride a horse along this road you may know that a public hearing about the proposed diversion was halted a few years ago owing to measuring errors. These have been corrected and the Planning Roundabout September 2014 5 Inspectorate is considering the proposals again and examining the objectors’ statements. The essence of the objections is the width of the diverted path, especially for horse riders and farmland owners. More information can be found at: www.ctc.org.uk/sites/default/files/leicestershire_bridleway_woodhouse_eav es.pdf Police changes Budget reductions mean more changes to policing with officers covering a wider area, so expect to see new faces. Police Community Support Officer Chris Kendall will stay, but will be helped by new colleagues. Village hall extension project and use of the annexe Earlier in the year, when the council thought it would reach its fundraising target this summer, it accepted a booking for use of the annexe each weekday up to 6.00pm. Unfortunately, the new extension is not yet in place so the council has helped the existing daytime users to find temporary accommodation. The new daytime booking started in August with evenings and weekends remaining available as usual. After a number of residents raised concerns at the council’s July meeting, the council wrote back with its responses. To see these written responses please ask the clerk. 6 Roundabout September 2014 Annual Parish Award 2014 Another worthy recipient of the council’s prestigious award, for ‘a significant contribution to the life of our community’ will be presented with the trophy at the Woodhouse Eaves Horticultural and Craft Show. The presentation will take place during the evening auction of produce in the village hall on Saturday, 5th September, starting at around 7.00pm. Next meeting: A week later than usual: Monday, 8th September at 7.00pm in Woodhouse Eaves Village Hall. Ann Irving, Clerk to the Council For parish council information, including meeting dates and minutes, see http://woodhouseparishcouncil.org.uk/ News in Brief Unwanted spectacles – new total Many thanks to everyone who handed in exactly 100 pairs of spectacles and sunglasses this month, bringing the total for this year to 494 pairs. Please do have another look at the back of your drawers to see if we can raise another 100 pairs which can be handed into the Oakwood Pharmacy, Woodhouse Eaves. Eric Alsopp Clarification concerning salon article In the previous Roundabout issue (on p.28, July/August 2014) we incorrectly stated that a Harley Street Skin Care nurse called Lesley Reynolds provided treatments at Gabbi Hairdressing in Woodhouse Eaves. We would like to clarify that Lesley Reynolds has never worked there and the service described is currently unavailable at the salon. Dawn Kirby Woodhouse Eaves Cricket Club report The club has had mixed fortunes since our last report with the first team winning three matches, losing one and being involved in two winning draws and one losing draw. The second team have won three matches and lost four, while the Thursday XI have turned in some good performances, marked by good wins over Newtown Linford, Shepshed Town and Ibstock. The 1st XI were winners against Young Muslim Association, Gracedieu and Quorn II. The first winning draw was against Newbold Verdon when we Roundabout September 2014 7 scored 217/8 but could not get the last wicket as our opponents held out at 162/9. The club posted 201 against promotion-chasing Stoke Golding who ended on 152/5 for a tame draw. The losing draw was against Hathern Old who rattled up 256/7; after a bad start it was left to veteran Mervyn Mapp to marshal the tail to leave us on 194/7. The less said the better about the only loss as we batted very poorly against Leicester Ivanhoe who were untroubled in reaching their target of 100. The 2nd XI collected valuable points with successive wins over Stoke Golding 2 and Barrow and Burton 4. The other win was over Appleby Magna. There was a close loss against Fatana CC who left us to chase 241. At 105/6 the situation looked bleak but Safwan Patel, with 55 not out, and Santhan Achunala with 46, took the team to within ten runs of what would have been a remarkable win. The highest score of the season so far was posted by Sam Blanksby with 131 in a Sunday match against Loughborough Greenfields. In that match the team rattled up 311/3 with another large contribution of 81 coming from Vijay Ranganath. Don Bennett 8 Roundabout September 2014 Superfast broadband is getting closer You may have noticed the two recent sets of roadworks centred on Rawlins Close and Forest Road respectively. These activities are the first outward signs that superfast broadband will soon be available to certain parts of our villages. So what’s happening? Openreach (part of BT) is installing new street cabinets which will be connected to the telephone exchange by fibre optic cable. If your telephone line is currently connected to one of the old cabinets this should mean that you will be able to register for superfast broadband once all of the work is completed. For further information visit the Ruralweb group website at www.ruralweb.org.uk Andrew Garland Housing Needs Survey Residents of the parish may recall being sent Midlands Rural Housing’s (MRH) Housing Needs Survey in March/April this year.