Doug Braybrooks, in his book Spalding Flower Parade The Golden Years, says that on June 23, 1958, a meeting was held involving representatives of South Holland Horticultural Association, the NFU and the Tulip Time Committee.

It was decided to form a sub-committee that “could organise events to stimulate the interest of the national press and television coverage”.

Among the suggestions were a national flower arrangement competition or “a parade of decorated floats”.

In July 1958 the first meeting of the publicity sub-committee of South Holland Horticultural Association was held. Involved were Dick Heath, Horace Braybrooks, Eric Casson, Len van Geest, Cliff Vivian and Francis Hanson.

Doug writes: “It was agreed that some form of spectacle was necessary and it was decided that the spectacle should take the form of a procession of floats.”

On May 9, 1959, the first flower parade took to the streets of Spalding, consisting of floats, decorated cars, bands and the local Vespa club, and was declared “a great triumph for growers”.

Thieves stole a GPS tractor control system, a receiver dome and two fertiliser control boxes from a farm in East Bank, Sutton Bridge.

The raid on the John Deere tractor happened between 8pm on Wednesday and 8am on Thursday.

PCSO Ben Harrington is appealing for witnesses to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

A shared “back-office” administration company run by South Holland and East Lindsey district councils has won a top accolade.

Compass Point Business Services was named as the Lincolnshire and Rutland Skills Employer of the Year.

The award recognises companies that show commitment to excellence in skills development by giving high quality training to their staff, including apprentices.

Compass Point chairman and South Holland District Council deputy leader Paul Przyszlak said: “It’s a great achievement for a young company and I’m proud that Compass Point has been recognised for its approach to apprenticeships.”

Spalding police inspector Jim Tyner is the guest speaker at Thursday’s meeting of Spalding Business Club.

Insp Tyner will give a presentation on community policing for the 21st century.

The breakfast meeting starts at 7am in The Punchbowl pub, New Road, Spalding.

Anyone wishing to attend should book their place today or tomorrow by contacting Moore Thompson on 01775 711333 and give their job title, name of employer and names of any guests they would like to take along.

Breakfast meetings cost £8 with £7.50 paying for the meal and the remaining 50p going into the kitty to pay for future speakers’ breakfasts.

The club is run on a not-for-profit basis and provides an informal, relaxed atmosphere in which to make contacts and refer business locally.

People who attend can take along any information about their business – for more club details please visit www.spaldingbusiness.club.co.uk

• Anyone interested in becoming a guest speaker can also contact Moore Thompson.

Students from the University of Lincoln have started work on analysing the findings of a public survey on plans to recruit up to 1,000 volunteers for the county’s police force.

The survey is a crucial test for Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner Alan Hardwick whose plan to train volunteers to work alongside the police in both frontline and office roles is estimated to cost £1.5 million over a three-year period.

Parish councillors from Crowland and Holbeach have raised questions about the plan, claim that council tax payers were already providing considerable funding for the police.

But Mr Hardwick said: “We’re getting a steady stream of interest of people who, I know, do a lot of good work already.”

Two youths have been bailed in connection with a “vicious attack” on two men who had been out at a Spalding nightclub.

The men, both Lithuanian, were attacked in Double Street before 3am on Sunday and one of them was taken to hospital with serious head injuries.

Two youths from the Spalding area, aged 17 and 19, were arrested shortly afterwards and have been bailed pending further enquiries.

One of the injured men was taken to Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, then transferred to Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham, for further treatment.

Insp Jim Tyner, community policing inspector for Spalding, said: “This was a vicious attack on two young Lithuanian men who had been visiting a local nightclub.

“Thankfully, the condition of the victim with the head injury has improved and he is now talking to detectives.”

Police arrested 11 suspected illegal immigrants who arrived in Pinchbeck in the back of a lorry this morning.

All 11 men are now in custody at Boston Police Station and will be dealt with by officers from the UK Border Agency.

Spalding police went to DP Packaging in Northgate at 10.50am today following a report that the men were in the back of a truck.

No further details are available at this stage.

People are living longer which means there will gradually be less working people compared to an increasing number of retired people.

In October the Government introduced new legislation to get more people saving for their future. This means employers will have to automatically enrol certain employees into a pension scheme and make contributions on their behalf.

Automatic enrolment and the employer duties will be a big challenge for employers and both employees and employers will need to know the rules and benefits.

The main employer duties have been introduced in stages from October and employers need to identify their staging date to determine when the duties first apply and this also sets the date for automatic re-enrolment.

Most employers will have to set up and contribute to a pension scheme suitable for automatic enrolment. They must assess their workforce to determine which type of worker they employ as workers can be categorised as eligible jobholders, non-eligible jobholders or entitled workers.

Employers will have different duties depending on the types of worker they employ and they’ll need to enrol some workers into an automatic enrolment scheme and arrange membership of a pension scheme for others.

Employers will be responsible for the ongoing maintenance of the scheme and have an obligation to keep certain records.

These new employer duties are not optional and The Pensions Regulator will ensure employers comply. Although their approach will be to educate and encourage compliance, employers will face substantial fines or even imprisonment if they don’t adhere to the rules.

While this may seem daunting for employers and their staff, it is a great opportunity for employees to have contributions paid for them by their employers and therefore improve their retirement income, in many cases significantly.

By taking specialist advice and planning in advance, all parties can be ahead of the game, not fall foul of the rules and most importantly, people have the chance to improve their quality of life in retirement.

A woman and two men have been arrested on suspicion of possessing drugs after a police operation in Holbeach.

Officers with sniffer dogs raided a house in West End and a member of the public also claimed that a green car had been searched by the police.

All three people arrested were given police cautions for possession of controlled drugs.

Exhibiting at Chelsea will hold particular significance for Linda and Bryan Goodey this year.

It will be the 25th show for the couple who run Southfields Nurseries at Morton, known as Cactusland, and the biggest cactus nursery in the country.

It is also the 100th Chelsea Flower Show.

Linda said: “We don’t shout about it, but at the last 24 Chelseas we’ve won a Gold Medal, so it would be nice to win our 25th this year.”

The couple have over 800 varieties at their nursery, including 200 they have bred themselves.

The cacti are protected from frost during the winter months by gas heating which is kept at six degrees centigrade. They are not watered during this time when they are semi-dormant.

Going to Chelsea involves weeks of work for the Goodeys, but they are hoping this year they will be able to sell some of their home-grown varieties during the show, and not just on the final day.

Let’s hope they are also rewarded with a 25th Gold.

Making teaching “inspirational” and achieving a good Ofsted score are some of the aims of Kirton Middlecott School’s new head teacher.

Julia Garwood admits to being “confronted with challenges” to improve upon the school’s “satisfactory” status it received from its last three Ofsted inspections.

“I know we have a journey to go on as a school but we are up for the challenge,” she said.

“My role is to get us to ‘good’ with Ofsted, but there are some changes that have to be made first. The results are already on track to be better this year. In my heart I want happy students, happy staff and happy parents, but in my head I say ‘we have got to get ready for Ofsted’.”

This is her first role as a head, having been in teaching since 2006. She previously worked at two academies in Cambridgeshire.

Praising Middlecott, she said: “The staff are very positive and the students have been very supportive.

“It’s a lovely school – very clean and tidy, with excellent facilities.”

Her “list of 20 things” to look at in her new job includes launching a new website where parents can access real-time reports about how their children are getting on at school.

One of the things Julia brought to the school on her first day, was to issue staff with hi-vis vests. She added: “It’s a safe-guarding measure to ensure there are enough staff on duty and so students can easily see where a member of staff is.“

There are probably not too many people who can boast that they have the prime minister’s phone number and other high-level politicians on speed dial.

But South Holland District Council leader Gary Porter can – and he believes that means the district can punch well above its weight in the national political arena.

That kind of political influence isn’t usually enjoyed by leaders of small district councils in “rural backwaters” like South Holland.

We have it because Coun Porter has expanded his own political career beyond the district’s boundaries.

Recently he has come under fire through our letters’ pages for his othertwo roles, one of which is paid, – with one letter writer claiming residents are being short-changed because Coun Porter is unable to “effectively engage with residents’ issues when he is carrying out so many paid responsibilities”.

Mr Porter quickly wrote his own letter to the Lincolnshire Free Press disputing the claims.

He says there is now such a good team in place – and effective systems – that he can trust things to run smoothly without his input in every aspect of the day-to-day running of the council.

It gives him the time to promote the district’s interests in a bigger arena.

Most recently he was elected as chairman of the Conservative Councillors’ Association –to which all Conservative councillors across the country belong.

But more importantly to South Holland, it earns Gary a place on the Conservative Party Board.

He said: “It means that every month we discuss issues concerning all aspects of the Conservative Party.

“The role gives me a voice to raise issues with any Government department, such as the Home Office, DEFRA and Department of Education.

“So far I have only been to one board meeting and as it was my first, I really just went to listen rather than speak. But there are a lot of influential politicians involved, so for us to have a seat at the table gives us the chance to have an influence on what’s happening.

“If there’s an issue, I always look at it with South Holland tinted glasses. I always look at what the benefit is to South Holland, then Lincolnshire and the East Midlands.”

Gary’s other job, which he took on in June 2011, is leader of the Conservative group of the Local Government Association, also holding the title of LGA vice-chairman.

As well as allowing him to be heavily involved in new policies – he played a large part in drawing up the advisory proposals for the new National Planning Policy Framework – it also gives him regular access to the likes of Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps, planning minister Nick Boles, Brandon Lewis and Eric Pickles, of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Gary said: “All these people are on my speed dial and I’m on theirs.

“I don’t want to waste their level of influence, but I can go straight to the top and ask the Prime Minister if it’s important.

“In terms of South Holland it means quite often when a piece of policy would have an impact on us, I can have input on it and I always do it through South Holland tinted spectacles.

“For example we recently received some extra Government money for carrying out weekly refuse collections.

“I was one of the voices saying it was a good thing to do because it suited us and what we are already doing in South Holland.

“South Holland is at the heart of everything I do because without it I wouldn’t have these jobs and the opportunity to raise the issues.

“The jobs are all paid and I am not hard up but I will never be a millionaire and it’s not about the money anyway,

“I love what I do and I wake up every morning and say ‘yippee’. This isn’t what I would call hard work.

“But all policians have a limited shelf life. I am still relatively young but with a lot of years in the job and I still think I’ve got something to offer.

“While I’ve got that I’ll continue to do my best for South Holland. When I no longer believe that, the fun will have gone out of it and I’ll stop.”

Police have condemned those responsible for setting off fireworks in a Spalding phone box and outside a number of houses.

It happened in Matmore Gate where a fire crew from Spalding used a water hose to put out fire which started in the phone box at about 3am on Saturday.

PCSO Kirsty Taylor of Spalding Estates Neighbourhood Policing Team said: “There have been a number of similar reports over the night time period elsewhere in Spalding and I do not need to stress how incredibly dangerous this is.

“The offenders are lucky that no one was injured or killed and we need to find those responsible to prevent anything like this happening again.”

Anyone with information should call police on 101 quoting incident number 52 of April 27.

A couple were left terrified when a man they gave sanctuary to pulled out a gun, Lincoln Crown Court was told.

Sam Walker knocked at the door of the couple’s home in Holbeach St Johns at 6 am asking for and saying he was being chased by dogs.

Chris Gabbitas, prosecuting, said Walker, who was soaking wet, was allowed into the living room while police were called.

“As the woman contacted police the defendant went down on his hands and knees and pulled out a gun.”

The woman, who was speaking to the operator, shouted out: “Oh my God, he’s got a gun,” believing the weapon was real and Walker was about to use it.

Moments later the woman’s husband came into the room and persuaded Walker to place the gun onto a tea towel and it was then put in the microwave until police arrived.

After Walker was detained his car was found nearby with the engine still running and the lights on.

He said he had abandoned it after hearing a ticking noise and he feared a bomb was about to go off.

Two more replica guns were found inside the car along with a large hunting knife.

Mr Gabbitas said that Walker was subsequently taken to hospital where he was assessed by the mental health duty team.

When he was eventually fit enough to be interviewed he said he had taken illicit drugs and a legal high which had a bad effect on him, causing hallucinations.

Walker (21), of Nealsgate Road, Holbeach St Johns, admitted three charges of possession of an imitation firearm and possession of a bladed article as a result of the incident on October 17.

He was given a 12 month jail sentence suspended for two years and ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.

Judge Michael Heath told him: “By your own account you were frightened for your life and developed a psychotic disorder.

“The fact that you had taken drugs does you no credit whatsoever.”

Alistair Munt, defending, said Walker was genuinely scared for his life.

He said a psychiatrist assessed his client as at low risk of reoffending as long as he stayed away from drugs.

He said Walker had learned his lesson from the incident and was sorry for what he did.

A new tactic in the fight to win more cash for Lincolnshire Police is to be used after talks between the Home Office and the man in charge of policing the county.

Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner Alan Hardwick held talks with Home Secretary Theresa May and Policing Minister Damian Green in London last Tuesday where the issue of funding was one of the items up for discussion.

The fact that Lincolnshire is one of the lowest funded police forces in England was a hot topic in last year’s Police and Crime Commissioner elections and Mr Hardwick echoed other candidates in pledging to argue for a better deal for the county.

Mr Hardwick has now invited Mrs May to visit Lincolnshire to meet himself and senior police officers in a bid to show how the county’s £65 million grant from the Government is used to fight urban and rural crime.

“I attended a specially convened ministerial meeting last Tuesday at the Home Office where a huge range of subjects were discussed, including funding,” Mr Hardwick said.

“It wasn’t possible for Police and Crime Commissioners to approach the Home Secretary independently to press their own cases, although she was left in no doubt whatsoever by us that we were all struggling and, quite frankly, that we all could do with a bit more money.

“But we were all left with the impression that we will have to do more with less in the future.”

Mr Hardwick claimed that, as a percentage, Lincolnshire council tax payers contribute more per head towards policing than any other force area in England, despite the fact that Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Dorset all get an even lower Government grant.

He said: “I regard Lincolnshire Police as exemplary because we are, I think, the most cost-effective and efficient police force in the country.

“So I decided that, because we are a success story, the Home Secretary really needs to come to the county to talk to myself and police officers.

“I’ve invited Mrs May to a meeting in Lincolnshire and even though I don’t expect her response to be immediate, I’m encouraged in my ambition to get her to come to the county and talk with us about its challenges.”

Mr Hardwick’s efforts are backed by South Holland and The Deepings MP John Hayes who said: “I’ve been pressing successive governments to get more funding for Lincolnshire Police for many years and I’ll continue to make the case with this government, based on a better measurement of our needs.

“We’re not asking for more of the Government’s cake but a different slice of the cake.”

The long-term future of Moulton Community Centre and Village Hall rests in the hands of villagers, trustees who run both venues have warned this week.

Leaflets appealing for people to get involved as volunteers at the centre and hall are being delivered to every home in the village by members of Moulton Community Association which faces a drastic drop in numbers.

Several trustees, including chairman Roger Seal and lettings officer Margaret Geary, are set to leave the association in the next few months and concern is growing that unless people to replace them are found, both venues could close.

An extract from the leaflet said: “Moulton is reckoned to be one of the best places to live and it has so much going for it, particularly its activities and facilities.

“The community centre and village hall are right up there among Moulton’s principal assets and they are yours to enjoy, but they need people to run them and that is how the community association comes into it.

“It exists solely to keep the buildings going for everyone but, right now, the management team is shrinking and several key people have left or will soon be leaving, including the secretary, lettings officer and chairman.

“The whole operation needs new people to join and share the tasks, otherwise it could just stop functioning and the buildings would then close.”

People are being invited to a meeting at Moulton Community Centre on Monday, May 13, at 7pm to find out how they can get involved by taking up either administrative or more practical roles.

Mr Seal said: “Moulton Community Association has been entrusted with the responsibility of running the community centre and village hall for the benefit of the village and there’s a lot happening in both of them.

“They are buildings to be proud of but without the volunteers to help run them, there’s a significant risk of the association folding and the buildings being lost to the community.

“The situation is not just critically important but urgent and it’s up to the people of Moulton to rally to the cause and do something about it.”

Leaders from two of Spalding’s main churches have backed a new report warning that changes to welfare benefits by the Government will hit the most vulnerable hardest.

The Rev Robert Sheard, of Spalding United Reformed Church, and Rev Anthony Walker, minister of Spalding Baptist Church, are both in support of the report jointly produced by four of Britain’s major churches.

The Lies We Tell Ourselves: ending comfortable myths about poverty is a 32-page report by the Baptist Union of Great Britain, Methodist Church, United Reformed Church and the Church of Scotland attacking the Government’s welfare cuts as unjust and based on misconceptions about the poor.

Benefit changes were introduced by the Government on April 1, including a £26,000 cap on the amount a household can claim, a new personal independence payment to replace disability living allowance and a so-called bedroom tax where people with spare bedrooms have their benefits cut.

An extract from the report said: “Collectively we have come to believe things about poverty in the UK which are not grounded in fact.

“We need to develop an understanding of the depth and breadth of UK poverty that is compatible with the evidence available.

“Just as importantly, we need to match the language of public debate with the reality of people’s lives.”

Commenting on the welfare cuts, Mr Walker said: “Realism and compassion need to go hand-in-hand with regard to the Government’s latest benefit changes.

“Realism insofar as we all recognise the necessity of bringing bills down and compassion in that some will genuinely be hit hard, without there being any Government estimates for those who may be affected by two or three of these cuts at once.”

Mr Sheard said: “These welfare changes will affect many of the most vulnerable in our society but the Government seems to be making out that all poor and unemployed people are lazy.”

A family escaped through an upstairs window when fire broke out at their home in the early hours of this morning (Wednesday).

Flames had engulfed the wooden staircase when rags soaked in flammable floor oil ignited spontaneously.

Fire crews from Long Sutton and Holbeach attended just before 2.45am.

Firefighters wore breathing apparatus to tackle the blaze at the house in Gedney Road, Long Sutton.

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue say there was severe damage by fire to the staircase, an under-stairs cupboard and its contents.

There was severe damage by smoke to the entire property.

Eleven suspected illegal immigrants arrested at Pinchbeck on Monday are facing questions in a Home Office immigration detention centre.

The men come from Syria, Pakistan and Morocco and are likely to be deported.

They were arrested at Pinchbeck firm DP Packaging, in Northgate, after being found in the back of a lorry.

Spalding police inspector Jim Tyner said police were called in at 10.50am on Monday and all 11 men were “safely contained and arrested by local community patrol officers” and there was no violence at the scene.

It’s not known how the men got into the lorry, but the driver was questioned by police.

It was the second police swoop on suspected illegal immigrants in four days.

Three men were arrested in Cowbit at 8.45am on Friday and taken to Spalding Police Station before being handed over to the Home Office Borders and Immigration Department, formerly known as the UK Border Agency.

One Pakistani was found to have the right to reside in the UK and was released, but a second Pakistani and an Afghan were transferred to immigration detention.

A Home Office spokesman said: “When suspected illegal immigrants found on lorries are arrested by police, we respond quickly.

“We work closely with police to tackle illegal immigration.

“Where someone is found to have no legal right to remain in the UK we will take action to remove them.”

Michael Featherstone jokes that he has had the longest summer vacation job in the history of casual labour.

In 1977 his grandfather Jim suggested he spend the summer working on the family farm at Quadring, Barholme Farm.

It was meant to be a stopgap until he considered what he wanted to do with his life.

He ended up working with his grandfather and then, when he retired, his father Norman.

Now Michael is running the 90-acre farm, growing corn, sugar beet and brassicas, such as cauliflower, cabbage and brussels sprouts.

He runs it single-handedly, with help from retired local farmers at busy times such as the spring drilling programme that had just finished at the time of our visit.

Michael said: “It’s been a horrendous season with the amount of rain we have had and a lot of fields were flooded. It’s amazing how well the land has worked down this year, better than we thought it would do. We have had a lot of frosts and that helps to get in the soil and work it down.”

The greens are planted right through the season, although Michael found it impossible to plan a planting programme last year, and many of those that were planted were flooded and went purple and blue because the nutrients had been washed out of the soil.

Most yields were poor though the corn and spring barley didn’t fare as badly as Michael feared they would.