Ironville & Codnor Park Newsletter Local news, events, articles and more. March 2017 Welcome to Issue Number Six We hope that you continue to find our village newsletter of interest and enjoy its articles and other contents. If you would like to get in touch or send in articles* please write to Andy ([email protected]) or text Tracey (07957663876). This Newsletter comes to you via “Unicorns,” a local voluntary group celebrating and promoting the rich heritage and culture of our village through social events and effective communication. For further information why not visit our web site: http://unicorns.netne.net/Index.htm News From Ironville and CODNOR CASTLE EVENTS 2017 Codnor Park Primary School Open every second Sunday of each month 11am until 3pm 01773 602936 ALL WELCOME. There will be guided tours on most open As always we have been really busy at days to help learn about the history of the castle and the Ironville and Codnor Park Primary School. At the start of this term, our younger chil- powerful De Grey Family who lived there. There is a toilet dren in Wrens and Robins discovered an facility and refreshments are available. (No Parking). alien egg had landed on the school field! A Victorian Heritage Weekend: 27th - 28th May - 11am - 4pm week later the egg hatched and alien With parking (£3). The cowboys are coming to footprints were found in Wrens class and then Mrs Thurman managed to take some Codnor Castle! Yellow Ribbon Re-enactment photographs of the alien running around group, re-enact wild west living history and the school! The children skirmish around the time of the Little Bighorn - have been thoroughly not to be missed! Heritage stone mason, craft stalls, guided enjoying this topic and it tours and much more. Enjoy light refreshments in Castle farm. has given them a real ‘thirst for learning’. Admittance: Adults £2; Children £1 Our older children in Kestrels and Eagles have been learning about the local area as Heritage Weekend: 9-10th September - 11am-4pm part of their topic called ‘What lies be- With parking (£3). A wonderful historic weekend with neath’. Eagles class became history de- guided tours. A feast of Historical fun! tectives when they went on a walk around Claymore battle-re-enactment, bonny prince the village to discover areas from the past. Charlie! Team Falcion medieval battle All of the staff in school have been working tirelessly to improve the standards since re-enactment. Crafts, pottery displays, the Ofsted inspection in October and there guided tours and so much more! has been vast improvements in many Admittance: Adults £2; Children £1 areas. As a school we are really proud of Ghost Walk: 21stOctober - 6pm-10pm. what we have achieved. Spooky autumnal fun. Stories and tales from our resident Don’t forget to keep up to date with ghosts told beside a crackling fire and more. everything the school is doing by read- ing our weekly newsletter which you will St. Nicolas Christmas Fair find either on the school website or on 3rd December No Parking. the school Facebook page . Web site: www.codnorcastle.co.uk Parish Council Report by Sheena Trower (Clerk & Responsible Financial Officer to Ironville Parish Council0 At the last meeting of Ironville Parish Council held in January the following community matters were discussed- Queries were raised with regard to the renovation of the Grade II Listed Building Ironville House on Cinder Bank. The Chairman agreed to liaise with the Planning Department at the Borough Council to provide an update on the improvement works being undertaken. Annual budgets and precepts for the Borough, County and Parish Councils were discussed. The Parish Council precept for the commencing financial year 2017 – 2018 will remain unchanged from the previous year at £15,000. Staff reductions at Futures Homescape noted and this would impact on the community services available. County Councillor Paul Smith reported on the measures in place to remedy the excessive surface dressing on Bullock Lane and Greenhill Lane. Residents were requested to report street lighting requiring attention directly to the Derbyshire County Council either through the website or contact 01629 533190 with the column number (painted on the outside of the column) and the location of the post. Update on the DCC proposal for Restricted Byways along New Lane and part of Monument Lane. The status has been now been defined and officially approved as ‘bridleway’, i.e. open to pedestrians, cyclists & horses to use this route. (See page 8 in June 2016 Newsletter). Ironville Allotment Site on Meadow Street. A lottery Awards for All grant in the sum of £5,700 was approved for the site, to provide new metal mesh fencing to the top of the site, polytunnel, new secure container for storage, tree pruning and minor improvements to the overall condition of the site. An update was received from the Chairman on the work carried out by Friends of Cromford Canal. Due to the amounts of waste regularly collected from the canal, the local authority was unable to continue to remove the deposits free of charge. However, a bin would be provided for regular ser- vicing. Further work by the group was noted including review of the trees on the route to Pinxton Arm. Ironville Breakfast Club for the young people had been taken over by Oscari and was functioning well. Ironville Community Centre, a grant award from County Councillor Paul Smith in the sum of £19,000 would provide an updated building for community use, with work to commence in the near future. Skip Initiative took place on King William Square on Saturday 14th January 2017. The Parish Lengthsman reported a very successful day with a full skip. Working Party update received from Cllr Clark confirming the schedule of works including donation of tools by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. Recording of the area through photographs underway. Costs for providing village signs to be sought for consideration at the next meeting. The design would incorporate the heritage of the village. The Chairman provided a summary of the Christmas Event December 2016 and received the sup- port of the meeting with agreement that the festive lighting was very effective. The next meeting of Ironville Parish Council to take place on Monday 20th March 2017 commencing at 7.00 p.m. (change to the usual sequence of meetings due to Chairman’s Borough commitments). Members of the public are always very welcome to attend Parish Council meetings and bring their concerns and matters of interest to the meeting. (Parish Council Minutes can be found on the Unicorns web site). Safer Neighbourhood News Residents in our locality are encouraged to be responsible pet owners Dog owners are being reminded to be responsible when out and about with their pet. The advice has been issued after residents and local farmers have raised concerns with their local Safer Neighbour- hood policing team about people not keeping their dogs under control, especially around sheep and livestock. PCSO Meikel Miller of the Somercotes and Riddings Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team said: “Concerns have been raised from members of the local community about dogs being let off the lead and chasing sheep in the area, and there have been incidents in the past where sheep have been attacked and injured, or killed. “Whilst most dog owners are responsible, some dog owners need to be reminded that they must not allow their dog to chase or attack livestock. In a field containing sheep, dog walkers must always have the dog either on a lead or under close control as it is an offence to allow a dog to worry livestock on agricultural land.” General advice for dog owners is to: * Keep dogs on a lead around busy roads * If you know your dog is not good with other dogs then avoid letting them off the lead where there are other dogs around. * If you are in an area where there are farm animals or wildlife, make sure you keep your dog under control, particularly during lambing season when you should keep them on a lead. * If you allow teenagers or youngsters to walk the dog, make sure they would be able to control them while out walking. * Encourage and reward good behaviour- teach your dog commands such as sit, stay and to come back when called. * Always clean up after your dog, carry ‘poop scoop’ bags and dispose of the waste in a litter bin. PCSO Miller added: “Incidents of this nature are distressing to the animals, upsetting and also costly for farmers. Please make sure you keep your dog under close control or on a lead when near to sheep and other livestock.” The Kennel Club offers advice on the countryside code for dog walkers, visit www.thekennelclub, or for the full code visit: www.gov.uk You can also contact your local Safer Neighbourhood policing team by calling 101 or emailing from the website at www.derbyshire.police.uk Please support “village litter pick day”- Sunday 12th March - See page 21 Geoffrey Griffiths LMS Stanier Pacific -4 6-2 No 46233 'Duchess of Sutherland' is in full flow as the train approaches the site of Codnor Park & Ironville station (closed in 1967) with the 'York Yuletide Express' (Ealing Broadway - York), running some 45 minutes late on 17th December 2016 Codnor Castle - The Ironville Connection By Trevor Middleton Codnor Castle has a long and varied history: dating back, indeed, to at least the thirteenth century. That history is rich with connections to the villages of Codnor, Loscoe, Heanor and Langley Mill, which lay to the south of the Cas- tle, and were partly bounded by its deer park.