Young bookworms at the Peele Community College in Long Sutton had a treat when they were presented with a novel each.

The college has bought nearly 400 popular books and presented them to all 18 forms in Years 7, 8 and 9.

The books, by authors such as Jeff Kinney, David Walliams and JK Rowling, will be read during ERIC (Everyone Reading In College) time every week.

The ERIC scheme has been introduced to support Literacy and encourage students to read.

Pictured are some the the students with their books.

Thousands of schoolchildren got a taste of fairness in just eight days.

Anglia Co-operative has been spreading the message about Fairtrade to no less than 2,366 youngsters across its business area during Fairtrade Fortnight.

It has delivered special assemblies at ten schools – including Market Deeping Community Primary School and Westfield Primary Academy at Bourne.

Pupils were given a free Fairtrade banana and during the assembly heard how children in the developing world do not have the things that we take for granted – like fresh water, schools, hospitals, clinics and roads.

They saw how the sale of Fairtrade products is helping to generate money which can change the lives of millions of people in these poorer countries.

The Anglia Co-operative stores at Market Deeping and Bourne supplied the bananas, and gave the schools a selection of other Fairtrade products to illustrate how sales in the UK were able to reach £1.3 billion in 2011.

Bourne store manager Gavin Price said: “We hope the banana will help the children appreciate just how fortunate they are not to be facing the sorts of things youngsters in the developing world have to contend with.”

Market Deeping store manager Darren Hammond added: “Anglia Co-operative is a passionate supporter of Fairtrade – that’s why we are so keen to spread the word and show how easy it is to help change the lives of millions of people.”

A man has denied two counts of possessing offensive weapons, a 2ft long iron bar and a walking stick, and threatening behaviour in Spalding’s Edinburgh Drive on February 20.

Anthony Holmes (31), of Gosberton Road, Spalding, will stand trial at Spalding Magistrates’ Court on May 16. He was granted bail at a hearing this morning (Thursday).

A 68-year old man was taken to hospital for a check-up following an accident this morning at Low Fulney.

The man, from Stamford, was driving a Porsche when the collision happened.

There were no other vehicles involved.

A court today (Thursday) ordered a psychiatric report in the case of a burglar who left his DNA at the scene of a jewellery raid.

Phillip Malone (36), care of Churchfield Close, Deeping St James, pleaded guilty to burglary and theft of jewellery and ornaments from Market Deeping’s Antiques and Crafts Centre when he appeared in court last month.

Spalding magistrates ordered a probation report, but heard today the probation service is recommending a psychiatric report before Malone is sentenced. His case was adjourned to April 4.

Malone will also be sentenced for theft of vodka worth £64.50 from Baston’s Waterside Garden Centre and two assaults. He has already pleaded guilty to those offences.

A driver flagged down police after hitting another car when he was more than double the legal drink-drive limit.

Igors Butkis was on the wrong side of the road in his red Toyota Avensis when he hit the car where Spalding’s Church Street and Halmer Gate meet, magistrates heard.

Rebecca Ritson, prosecuting, said the accident happened at 2.30pm on February 15.

The woman driver of a black Citroen reported Butkis was on her side of the road when his car hit hers and witnesses confirmed that.

Miss Ritson said Butkis carried on to the Vista car park and flagged down police from there.

Butkis (28), of Medlock Crescent, Spalding, pleaded guilty to driving with 75 microgrammes of alcohol in breath – the legal limit is 35 mcgs.

He was banned from driving for 20 months, fined £280 and ordered to pay £85 costs with a £28 victim surcharge.

Butkis can cut five months off the ban if he goes on a rehabilitation course.

Solicitor Anita Toal, mitigating, said Butkis was not trying to evade detection and flagged down police himself.

She said he can still easily walk to work at Kerry Foods, but his wife doesn’t drive and works five miles away at Morrisons meat plant.

“It is not clear the accident was his fault, but obviously he had been drinking and he accepts that,” she said.

Long Sutton firefighters were called to a car fire following an accident today on the B1359 in Gedney.

The car was a silver Fiesta and as the fire was out on arrival the crew made the vehicle safe.

A 63-year-old woman driver from Fleet was taken to hospital with a pre-existing but not serious condition.

Police stopped a car when a back light was out and found the driver was over the drink-drive limit.

Daniel Clark was given a three-year ban by Spalding magistrates today (Thursday) because it was his second offence within ten years.

He was fined £200 with an order for £85 costs and a £20 victim surcharge.

Rebecca Ritson, prosecuting, said police stopped Clark on Godsey Lane, Market Deeping, at 1.10am on February 16. He had 61 microgrammes of alcohol in breath – the legal limit is 35.

Solicitor Anita Toal, mitigating, said Clark will almost certainly lose his job as a result of a foolish decision to switch to alcohol rather than drink Coke.

Clark (43), of Pudding Lane, Peterborough, pleaded guilty.

Presiding magistrate Jenny Frere-Cook said there would be no offer of a drink-drive rehabilitation course – which can cut a ban by a quarter – because Clark did not take the opportunity when it was offered for his first offence.

Two of South Holland’s primary school headteachers are stepping down from the hot seat.

Maureen Martin leaves Cowbit St Mary’s on March 27 for “semi retirement” while Heather Beeken will retire from St Paul’s Community Primary School, Spalding, at the end of the summer time.

Mrs Martin has been with her school for almost 16 years and admits leaving will be a wrench.

She said: “I will miss working with the children because children do give a lot of pleasure.

“When you see children progress as people and in terms of educational success, those are the best rewards you can have.”

Mrs Martin hopes to continue working as an educational consultant.

She’s worked in education for almost 30 years, starting out at an upper school in Market Harborough and later working at Boston College, St Thomas’s Primary School, Boston, and as a literacy consultant for the county.

Heather Beeken has been at St Paul’s since 1996 and became its headteacher in 2001.

She has mixed emotions about leaving, saying she will not miss the pressure of hitting targets and “Ofsted inspections and so on”, but will miss the children and the community feeling within the school.

So far she has no work plans lined up.

“I am looking forward to having a bit more me time,” she said.

Mrs Beeken began her teaching career in 1974 in Peterborough. She moved to Shepeau Stow Primary School in 1983 and taught there for about nine years. She then worked at Southview Primary School, Crowland, before joining St Paul’s.

A youth centre which has had an uncertain future is set to get a new lease of life now the county council has secured someone to run it.

The community is being urged to get behind social enterprise company Not All Bad which Lincolnshire County Council has selected to run Bourne Youth Centre in Queen’s Road.

Not All Bad, which currently runs holiday events from the centre, “ticked all the boxes” and can take over the provision of youth services in Bourne and surrounding area.

Bourne town councillor Paul Fellows, a member of the youth centre’s managerial committee, said: “It is necessary for the town to get behind Not All Bad and support them to make it work.”

“Not All Bad seems to be providing a good community service.”

Not All Bad is run by Richard and Liz Nauyokas from Billingborough.

Any money made from subscriptions will, after the deduction of costs, be ploughed back into the service.

The service will be based at Bourne Youth Centre and operate outreach services, supporting the setting up of youth clubs and helping to find volunteers to run them.

Lincolnshire county councillor Sue Woolley (Con) representing Bourne Abbey ward, said: “I am absolutely delighted we have got to a situation where we can have a vibrant, thriving youth centre which is drawing more and more people in.

“The best thing is that the youth workers who are currently at the centre can now get out into the community and work with more children in the 
area.

“So we are going to be in a position where we have more provision of youth services in the area, especially in the villages which has to be a great thing.”

The final contracts and legal issues concerning the takeover of the centre are being dealt with.

At a time when 18 pubs are closing down across the country each week, one historic hostelry at Pinchbeck is fighting back with a magnificent new thatched roof.

Norfolk thatcher David Bennett completed his task last month after working since December in all weathers to totally renew the thatch.

The exterior of the pub – all the responsibility of the Enterprise Brewery – has been painted to match, making a picture postcard scene as the pub nestles in its large garden on the bank of the River Glen.

Tenant Dick Morgan, who took over the pub with wife Fiona last April when it had been empty for nine months, aims to make it a destination pub for good food and a friendly drink in a beautiful setting.

He said: “We’re really delighted with the way it looks from the outside now.

“The pub’s very old and a listed building and the old thatch had started to leak quite badly in all that rain last summer.

“It had to have a new roof and because of the listing that had to be a thatch, but this is a magnificent, proper job.

“David took down at least two of three old thatches to start more or less from scratch.

“When we moved in we redecorated throughout as the interior’s our responsibility.

“We were starting from scratch too to build up custom .

“Pubs are suffering at the moment but we’ve had some great support from the locals since we arrived and also from customers at our old pub in Cowbit.

“There are five darts teams now – a couple of them from Cowbit – we have live music once a month, and last summer we held a beer festival which was a massive success.

“Our 2013 beer festival will be in the last weekend of July for three days.

“We’re lucky too that the restaurant has 60 covers and seats 120 for a buffet, so functions like wedding receptions are a big focus for us and we have plenty of bookings for the summer.

“The new roof is a vote of confidece and this one’s going to last for a good 25 to 30 years.”

Dick and Fiona Morgan and their two sons moved to live at The Ship from Ye Olde Dun Cow in Cowbit, a free house which they bought empty and ran for eight years.

Fire crews from Spalding were called out to a washing machine on fire last night.

The alarm was sounded at 9.30pm in Johnson Avenue, Spalding, but the fire was out when fire crews arrived.

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue said the cause was an electrical fault.

A man escaped with minor injuries to his hand when his car ran off the A152 Main Road at Quadring on Wednesday evening.

The Nissan Micra ended up on its side in a garden.

Police say the driver was a 27-year-old from Peterborough.

Magistrates on Thursday adjourned two theft charges involving a Spalding man.

Benjamin Chapman (29), of Medlock Crescent, is accused of stealing a moisture sensor worth £41.98 from the town’s B&Q store on January 24 and of stealing a bike worth £50 on February 11.

No please have been entered. Spalding magistrates granted bail.

Council tax payers in Bourne and The Deepings face a hike in their bills as South District Council moves to protect ‘front line’ services this year.

It works out at £5 a year for Band D properties or just under 10p a week.

The majority of people live in Band A properties and they will pay an extra 6p a week.

The council says the extra cash will help it maintain key services after a two-year freeze on council tax and a cut in funding of £2.4million.

Council leader Linda Neal said: “This was not an easy decision for us but if we make a small increase now it will mean that in future years we will not have to make as large an increase as we might otherwise have to.

“We have managed to maintain all our front line services despite a huge loss in funding and a very small increase in council tax will allow us to continue to do so.”

South Kesteven is pressing ahead with a £2.14million regeneration project in the heart of Bourne, which will see new retail units and homes available in a few months’ time, as well as projects like better street cleaning

The council is also investing £536,000 to deliver super fast broadband across the district and target so-called “white spots” where there is virtually no cover.

The authority has made savings by streamlining management, cutting back office costs and looking at different ways to deliver services. A further £1.4million will be saved during 2013/14.

Fire crews were called to a suspected bus fire in Bicker Road, Donington, shortly before 10am today (Friday) but it turned out to be a false alarm.

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue said a build up of carbon in the air filter system made the bus backfire.

Residents are gathering in Sutton St James over concerns about plans for a 50m wind turbine on farmland near their homes.

The application to South Holland District Council has been made by Ogden Energy, who want to put the turbine on land associated with Fendyke Farm.

A special meeting is being held on Monday night to discuss the impact of the plan and what action to take.

According to one resident who lives opposite the proposed site, there are about 17 properties in the surrounding area where residents could lose views of open countryside.

Paul Hinks, who is also a member of the parish council, said: “I will look out right at it - and there are seven or eight other residents who will be directly affected like this.

“Most people are in favour of renewable energy but not when it’s not far away from their houses.”

In 2011, Jane and Julian Davis reached an out-of-court settlement after a five-year battle over alleged noise nuisance from the wind farm at Deeping St Nicholas.

Mr Hinks said: “We can’t say how we would be affected by the turbine, but in Deeping people have had a lot of noise.

”Farmers are getting substantial returns for having wind turbines on their land.

“Energy companies are catching on to the fact that when they are planning an energy park with several turbines it is causing a lot of upset in local communities, so they are now trying to get farmers to have just one.

“The outcome will be an area dotted with single turbines that is, in effect, one big energy park.”

The meeting will be held in the village hall at 7.20pm. Residents can comment on the application on the SHDC website and it will also be discussed at the parish meeting on March 21.

Meanwhile, protestors are continuing their battle to protect barn owls on farmland in the Crowland area threatened by Peterborough City Council’s plans for an energy park.

Last month, Spalding Young Farmers added their support to the campaign and spoke of their concern at the loss of livelihoods of tenant farmers.

An e-petition launched to protect the barn owls now has more than 100 signatures. Visit http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/45692

When Hilary Healey says she has been collecting information on local history for years, it is no exaggeration.

For instance, Hilary, a former art teacher turned archaeologist and local historian, has been researching Fenland gravestones since the 1960s.

Hilary, of Bicker, has decided it’s “high time” she got some of this work into print, and first to get the treatment necessary to produce a publishable book is Pinchbeck Windmills.

It’s research that started as a project by the late Joyce Curtis when she attended Hilary’s WEA class on Pinchbeck history in the 1980s.

Hilary says: “Joyce collected photograph and looked at old editions of local newspapers for information on the sale of mills.

“There were a surprising number of mills in Pinchbeck and I think that’s what got her hooked. In the middle of the 19th century, there were five working mills, as well as one or two that had gone for various reasons.”

Since Joyce died, census records have become available and so Hilary has been able to glean information from these, as well as from works by Rex Wailes, who wrote about windmills in the 1950s, and Karl Wood, who drew and painted windmills in the 1930s.

“The Lincolnshire records from these two are very important,” says Hilary, who says the book will be published by the Society for Lincolnshire History & Archaeology later in the year as a compilation.

“Windmills have always been popular because they stand out in the landscape.

“The early ones were wooden post mills and so they didn’t last very long. Some of the wooden parts of the post mills were recycled from the old drainage mills that the Fens were full of.

“These are corn mills and the book is a chronological history of the mills and the families living there. From the census records and the sale adverts you find out who the millers were and, like a lot of trades, they did inter-marry quite a bit so you get one family carrying on and then you find someone from that family is an apprentice at another mill down the road.”

Hilary believes there were so many windmills because Pinchbeck was a large parish and a lot of cereals were grown locally.

For various reasons, windmills were no longer in use by the 20th century.

Pinchbeck Windmills will be available from Bookmark, Spalding, and elsewhere.

There are still two windmills in Pinchbeck, Northgate Mill and Glenside Mill.

The Sellers family was at Northgate Mill from 1861 to 1901 and Hilary has a picture of miller James Sellers and all his employees standing in the yard.

On land close to the current Johnson Community Hospital near Vernatt’s Bridge stood one of Pinchbeck’s windmills – Sharpe’s or Coxell’s Mill.

The Sharpe family were there in the 19th century but the mill didn’t survive long into the 20th century.

In Rotten Row, close to the site of the railway station when it existed, was Rotten Row Mill. The Hill family was associated with the mill for many years, starting with Hardwick Hill in 1786, who was a miller and baker. The Hill family went right through to 1901 and the last miller, Simon Hill.

Finally, the Horse and Jockey Mill was a late brick-built mill constructed in 1820-30 in Small Drove Lane in Pinchbeck.

Holbeach is on the road to being the focus of world-wide interest in the arts.

A £2.5million project is being launched in the town in May - and local business owners are being called together to make sure they reap some of the rewards.

South Holland and Boston Creative People and Places Arts Consortium made the bid to the Arts Council to take art to areas where such access is limited.

The theme is ‘Transported’ with an event planned for Carters Park on Sunday, May 5 - as well as individual craft and art displays taken to any empty shops in the town centre.

Nick Worth, county councillor for Holbeach and South Holland District Council deputy leader, said it was an exciting opportunity for the town.

He said: “The art will certainly be something completely new. There could be a helium balloon with performers entertaining from the basket in the park - but an ice-cream van could turn up in a street and instead of ice-creams the residents could be given a performance.

“The fact that it is being launched in Holbeach means we could look at holding an annual sustainable event there.”

Holbeach Business Forum is holding a special meeting tonight (Tuesday) at the University Of Lincoln (Holbeach Campus) in Park Road at 6.30pm.

Reformation of the forum is on the agenda, as well as presentations from Spalding Chamber of Commerce, Spalding Shopwatch Scheme and Transported Arts.

Forum chairman Dave Hudson said: “The event in May should put Holbeach on the ‘art’ map so it’s important people attend.”