District councillor Michael Booth has given £1,000 from his designated budget to kick-start a new LIVES group in Sutton Bridge.
A dozen volunteers have started training as LIVES first responders so they can give emergency medical aid to people who need it following concerns about ambulances arriving late to emergencies.
Energy company Centrica is promising to continue monitoring a crack that appeared in sea defences at Sutton Bridge after it laid wind farm cables through the embankment.
Sutton Bridge Parish Council raised concerns about a 20mm wide crack on the seaward side of the defences and asked for an assurance that the sea defences will be made good and kept structurally sound.
Councillors are doubly concerned because the sea defence is due to be breached again by the same company when it lays cables for the Race Bank Wind Farm.
Centrica’s specialist engineering company, Halcrow, is monitoring the site and carried out an inspection last month and will reinspect in June.
Emily Walker, from Centrica, told the council: “Halcrow is monitoring the crack on the seaward berm, but it has confirmed that it is not likely to affect the structural integrity of the defence.
“If the crack is noted to have changed at all since the December report, then a further recommendation will be made at that time with this then to be agreed with the Environment Agency (EA).”
She said there’s an agreement for the company to maintain the sea defences to the EA’s satisfaction over a seven year period following the installation of the cables and will do repairs if there are any changes that “constitute an impact on the structural integrity”.
Sutton Bridge Parish Council is being asked to get a move on and find a new burial ground before the village dead have to be buried in Spalding.
There was a warning at last month’s annual parish meeting that the village is running out of grave spaces and criticism of the parish council for letting the search for a site drag on for at least eight years.
Now St Matthew’s Parochial Church Council has written to the parish council to say it is running out of plots.
Parish councillor Michael Booth told council colleagues: “We want to be looking for a site very quickly.
“Probably the nearest place will be Spalding – neighbouring parishes do not have to take the next parish so, please, this has been going on for eight to ten years now.
“Still letting it drag on is wrong. We should be making all efforts we possibly can to get some ground.”
The graveyard had just 20 spaces left in April.
People in Sutton Bridge are “at the end of the line again” following a cut in the number of Citizens’ Advice Bureau sessions held in the village.
Parish councillor David Dewsberry told Sutton Bridge Parish Council that sessions are now being held weekly instead of monthly.
He said: “I came here (The Curlew Centre) this morning before 11am and seven people came in to ask where the CAB was.
“It wasn’t there.
“We are at the end of the line again.
“I am sure we ought to write to them and say that they should bring it back weekly for Sutton Bridge.”
He said it will cost residents’ bus fares if they need to see CAB on another day in Long Sutton.
Councillors decided to discuss the issue at their next meeting.
Entertainment in Holbeach in the 1930s sounds similar to today – in some respects.
Apart from dances and live music, people loved going to the cinema, and there were two in Spalding – the Regent Theatre and the Princess Cinema – and Holbeach had the Hippodrome, where Len’s sister Mary Hall worked.
At that time, The Desert Song was delighting audiences at the Hippodrome and a week later Holbeach Amusements Ltd (H Bancroft and G F Ranger) presented The Ship from Shanghai at the Hippodrome. It was so popular – “A talkie you will talk about!” – that there were continuous performances from 5.45pm to 10.45pm.
Amateur dramatics were also favoured – Holbeach Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society put on a performance of Gilbert & Sullivan’s Iolanthe at the Hippodrome, but by late March of 1931 readers were being exhorted to ‘Take more seaside holidays and less medicine’ as defence against influenza.
An unemployed Holbeach warehouseman’s world record-breaking feat in the 1930s has become the stuff of legend in his family.
Len Hall’s Band broke the world record for non-stop playing in January 1931 when they played dance music continuously for 12 hours at the Park Hall in Holbeach.
The story was relayed to Len’s grandaughter Anne Hoyle about 40 years ago by her grandmother.
It was the first time Anne had heard the tale – and the first and only photograph of him she had seen – because Len died when her mother was still young.
Sadly, the newspaper clipping has been mislaid over the years and Anne approached these newspapers for more information about Len’s feat.
Len (31) and his band played dance music continuously for 12 hours, starting at 11am in the morning in the presence of a few helpers and time keeper Mr C Blackbourn.
They finished at 11 o’clock that night, to the cheers of 600 dancers who had come to support them and twirl around the dance floor to fox-trots, waltzes, one-steps and tangos.
Len was thumping the piano while his fellow record breakers were carpenter Mr W Tatam (banjo), Long Sutton fruit grower Mr H Howes (drums) and chauffeur Mr H Cook (violin).
Len drank no more than one cup of water while the rest of the band were sustained by cups of Oxo.
Len’s younger sister Mary and dance partner Eileen Keight started dancing at 11am and danced continuously until 5.20pm when Mary had to go to work at the town’s Hippodrome.
Eileen continued dancing with Arthur Hallam, described as “the popular Holbeach RAC Scout”, and they danced until 8pm, by which time she had danced nine hours without stopping.
Inspired by this, Miss L Cox and Mr F Larrington began dancing at 5pm and kept on until 11pm when the band retired, to rousing cheers from the dance floor.
The reporter of the time was clearly impressed, describing Holbeach as a “go ahead little fenland town”. He caught up with Len the next day in Mr Blackbourn’s chocolate and sweet shop in Holbeach.
The reporter was even more impressed to learn Len and the band were playing at a dance at Whaplode the night before the challenge until after midnight and had been out at dances in the district each evening during the week.
BREAKING NEWS WEDNESDAY 6.15PM: Firemen using cutting gear have freed three people after a two-vehicle crash in Weston Hills today.
Crews from Spalding were called to Austendyke Road just after 5pm where the accident happened and used hydraulic cutting equipment to release three people trapped in their vehicles.
A Spalding Guardian reader has posted a message on our Facebook page stating that paramedics and a Lincolnshire/Nottinghamshaire Air Ambulance are at the scene and the B1165 Austendyke Road is blocked in both directions at its junction with Delgate Bank.
A Latvian man has denied unlawfully killing a Spalding man who died on Christmas Day.
Guntars Gansons (26) is charged with the manslaughter of Martins Lipsis in Winsover Road, on December 25, 2012.
Speaking through a Latvian interpreter Gansons spoke only to confirm his name and to enter a not guilty plea to the charge when he appeared at Lincoln Crown Court.
Mr Lipsis, of Broad Street, died in hospital following an alleged confrontation between the two men.
Judge Michael Heath granted Gansons, of Pennygate, Spalding, bail until he next appears at Lincoln Crown Court for his trial in October.
The trial is expected to last a week.
Judge Heath told Gansons:”I am going to adjourn your case for trial. That trial will take place on October 28 this year.”
Southfield Nurseries at Morton – Cactusland – has been awarded Gold and the Lyn Downes Best in the Floral Marquee Award, for the third year running, at the Malvern Spring Flower show.
Their success comes on top of the Premier Gold Award received at the Harrogate Spring Flower Show.
A new NHS group is inviting people to a public meeting to find out more about its work.
South Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group is the new NHS body responsible for planning and buying health services for around 157,000 people in and around South Holland and Wellandd.
It will hold its next public meeting on May 15 at Johnson Community Hospital, Pinchbeck, starting at 1pm in the Seminar Room.
Gary Thompson, chief officer for South Lincolnshire CCG, said: “It’sour vision for the 157,000 people of South Lincolnshire to live longer and healthier lives.
“Our governing body meets on a monthly basis and members of the public are welcome to attend and listen to the discussions.”
Items on the agenda for the May meeting include financial and performance updates.
Meeting papers will be available at www.southlincolnshireccg.nhs.uk before the meeting.
Lincolnshire County Council leader Martin Hill has agreed to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats and several Independent members.
Conservative Coun Hill said: “I’m delighted that we have been able to reach this agreement.
“This will give us a firm foundation for the next four years, so the council can continue to focus on the issues that matter most to local people.
“I look forward to working alongside my new colleagues. I’m sure that together we can achieve things that benefit all our local communities.”
Weston Hills Primary School pupils got some fresh air into their lungs while working hard to find out more about the natural world around them.
Youngsters experienced pond dipping, mini beast and insect hunts during an activity day at the school’s outdoor area this term, with help from Sarah Grant and Corrie Melvin of Freiston Centre for Environmental Education. The centre and school worked to improve the area during the winter. (Pic supplied)
Members of the public have labelled the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Panel a ‘shambles’ after they were inadvertently excluded from an extraordinary meeting this afternoon.
The meeting, held at East Lindsey District Council’s Manby HQ, was organised to enable the panel to agree to form a taskforce to investigate the suspension of chief constable Neil Rhodes in February.
But when the meeting closed drama ensued as members of the public were brought into the chamber at 1.15pm, moments after it had been drawn to a close.
Alan Waddington described the events as a ‘shambles’ after travelling 33 miles from Metheringham to watch.
“Nobody came for us, the press were invited upstairs and that was it,” he said.
“I think it was an essential meeting that the public ought to have been admitted to.
“The whole thing is just a shambles.”
Another man labelled the events as a ’disgrace’ and ‘a joke’.
Chairman of the panel Councillor Ray Wootten of South Kesteven District Council tried to calm the situation, apologising to the furious members of the public for the error. He tried to recap the meeting for those who had missed out.
“I can only apologise that you were not in the meeting,” he said.
The meeting was swiftly organised after the suspension of Neil Rhodes by Police and Crime Commissioner Alan Hardwick was quashed in High Court, however neither were present at the meeting on Thursday.
At the meeting, which lasted just 15 minutes, a taskforce was created which will be led by Coun Chris Cook, an independent member of the panel.
The taskforce will look at the events surrounding the suspension and scrutinise the actions of the commissioner and will be report back in full on September 6.
Also on the panel will be Coun Ian Cartwright of North Kesteven District Council and Anne Welburn of West Lindsey District Council.
Cheryl Warwick from Saltfleetby, near Louth, said after the meeting: “We’d sat all that time waiting to get into what is an important meeting and they forgot about it, I think it’s a total disgrace.
“Not to have heard the proceedings, especially how important the subject was, makes me very disappointed.”
Watch the video to see Councillor Ray Wootten addressing the angry members of the public after the meeting.
A “virtually undiggable” plot is going to be transformed into a community garden if Sutton Bridge In Bloom manages to raise £5,000.
The Bloom team are applying for grants so they can create a new garden in the grounds of The Curlew Centre, in Bridge Road.
It will have a six-seater bench, three pathways, mature planting and greenery to create year-round interest so it becomes a place for people of all ages to sit and unwind.
The site is next to an outdoor mural created to celebrate London 2012 and hasn’t been developed so far because it’s proved almost impossible to dig.
In Bloom member Janet Blundell said: “The idea behind the project is to make something that is available to the whole of the community.
“It will be somewhere where people can relax and take the weight of their feet, a place where a range of plants and shrubs will provide colour and focus throughout the year.
“The planting will be a blend of shrubs, grasses, perennials, bulbs and annuals to give all year round interest, colour and fragrance.
“In addition two new trees will be planted and will be especially chosen for the small space.”
The plot will also feature new artwork with a montage of Sutton Bridge landmarks.
Mrs Blundell said it’s hoped professional gardeners will do the spade work because the Bloomers themselves found the digging too hard going.
She said: “We did about a couple of feet but it was just too much.”
Sutton Bridge in Bloom has approached five different contractors to help with the work, including hard landscaping.
Meanwhile, the Bloom team has some planters on the site to add a splash of colour.
• To join In Bloom or help it projects please call chairman Roxane Freezor on 01406 359827.
New research for the Dying Matters Coalition shows that the majority of people in Britain have not discussed or made any plans for when they die, and are risking not getting appropriate end of life care and making it harder for their families to deal with bereavement.
The British Social Attitudes (BSA) research released to coincide with Dying Matters Awareness Week (May 13-19) finds encouraging signs that older people are increasingly taking action to make their end of life wishes known but that most people are leaving it too late to face up to their own mortality. This is despite the fact that almost two-thirds of us have been bereaved in the last five years.
The study reveals that although 70 per cent of the public say they are comfortable talking about death, most of us haven’t done anything to discuss our end of life wishes or put plans in place:
l Only just over one in three people (35 per cent) have a will, down on 39 per cent in 2009 – with the impact of economic pressures being a possible cause of this decline.
l Fewer than a third of people (28 per cent) have registered as an organ donor or have a donor card – although the number of organ donations after death has risen by 50 per cent since 2008, more than 1,000 people on the transplant waiting list die each year (NHS Blood and Transplant figures).
l Only 11 per cent of people have written down their funeral wishes/made a funeral plan.
The research also reveals a major mismatch between where people want to die and current trends in terms of place of death.
Latest NHS figures show that more than half of us die in hospital. Yet, research shows that just seven per cent of us say we would prefer to die in hospital, compared with 67 per cent who would prefer to die at home.
One of South Holland’s leading spas is celebrating two years of helping customers relax, unwind and feel beautiful with a special open day this weekend.
Oasis Beauty and Day Spa in Little London, Spalding, marks its second anniversary in business this month, and is inviting customers old and new to join in the birthday festivities at the open day on Saturday.
People will get the chance to see everything the salon has to offer, and try out some of its treatments with a number of different taster sessions running throughout the day.
There will also be physic readings, a barbecue, cakes and refreshments, stalls and every customer will also get to take home a goodie bag.
Spa director Jo Barrett-Osborne said: “It will be a great day to try out some treatments and meet the team; we’re really looking forward to it.”
Jo worked as a beauty therapist in the Spalding area before opening her successful venture in 2011, and people will also know her as the masseuse for Spalding Rugby Club.
The spa, which has just undergone a refurbishment, has three spacious treatment rooms in which a large array of treatments are carried out, including everything from facials, massage and waxing to teeth whitening, Botox and the very latest Lava Shell massage using Tiger Clams from the Philippines.
There are also dedicated manicure, pedicure and nail stations, an infrared sauna, retail areas, and a relaxation lounge for customers to sit back and relax between treatments – with complimentary refreshments.
The spa opens Monday to Friday from 9am to 7pm, and Saturdays from 9am to 5.30pm, although Jo will open outside those hours by appointment, and she also offers a unique at-home service for anyone unable to get into spa itself.
Jo said: “If my customers can’t make it into the salon within the opening hours or at all, I will do everything I can to see them at a time that suits them.
“I wouldn’t be here without them at the end of the day.”
UPDATE FRIDAY 4PM: A 56-year-old woman from the Market Deeping area is in hospital with serious injuries after a collision between a car and bicycle in the town today.
It happened in High Street at about 8.35am when a Renault Megane collided with the woman cyclist who was taken to Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, with head and other injuries.
A Lincolnshire Police spokesman said the injuries were not thought to be life-threatening and the road, which was closed for several hours while investigation work was carried out, has now been reopened.
FRIDAY 10.30AM: A cyclist has been flown to Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, by air ambulance after a collision with a car in Market Deeping High Street this morning (Friday).
The woman is believed to have suffered head injuries in the crash with a silver Renault Megane close to the junction with Godsey Lane, which happened just after 8.30am.
The road was expected to be closed until around 11am.
A man who fled from Tesco with eight cans of Carlsberg Special Brew might have escaped conviction but handed himself in at Holbeach Police Station.
Verdon Brown dropped four of the cans in the supermarket’s car park as he outran a security guard on the afternoon of April 15, Spalding magistrates heard.
Rebecca Ritson, prosecuting, said Brown picked up the lager worth £16 and placed it inside his zip-up hoodie.
He realised he was being followed and ran out of the exit door.
The four cans that were dropped were recovered, but Miss Ritson said there was nothing on her file to say whether they were damaged after Brown had dropped them.
She said Brown attended the police station, apologised for the theft but was “alcohol dependent” and had no money to pay.
Brown (36), of St Matthew’s Close, Holbeach, was conditionally discharged for six months when he pleaded guilty to theft.
He must pay £45 costs, a £15 victim surcharge and £8 compensation.
Solicitor Anita Toal, mitigating, said: “He handed himself in at the police station. It would have been difficult if not impossible for him to be convicted had he not done that.”
A man has been hurt after a crash between a car and a motor bike in Holbeach today.
It happened on the B1168 Fen Road where a BMW motorbike collided with a Renault Clio at about 7.25am.
The bike rider, a 54-year-old man from Holbeach, suffered bruising while there are no reports of injuries to the driver.
A blaze which severely damaged a barn and about 10 tonnes of firewood in Langtoft Fen was caused by sparks from a nearby bonfire, it has been confirmed today.
Fire crews from Holbeach, Bourne and Market Deeping were called out just after 6.30pm on Thursday and firefighters used hose reel jets and a water carrier to tackle the blaze.
Embers from a nearby bonfire were blown into the barn by strong winds and both the barn and firewood kept inside it suffered fire, heat and smoke damage.