Three police officers were injured, one of them on consecutive nights, during separate disturbances in Holbeach and Spalding at the weekend.

Two officers suffered bites and one also had a cut eye after a row in Holyrood Walk, Spalding, on Saturday night.

It came just 24 hours after the officer with the cut eye suffered bites and scratches during a disturbance in Hallgate, Holbeach, on Friday night.

The third police officer injured had bites and scratches after a disturbance in Alexandra Road, Spalding, also on Friday night.

Joe Cooper (24 ), of Holyrood Walk, Spalding, was charged with two assaults in connection with Saturday’s incident.

Emma Arnold (32), also of Holyrood Walk, was charged with obstructing a police officer in relation to the same incident and is to appear before magistrates at a later date.

Meanwhile, Carl Stewart Peacock (44) of Hallgate, Holbeach, was arrested for affray and assaulting a police officer in relation to the attack in Holbeach on Friday.

Pocock, who was later charged with assaulting a constable and obstructing an officer, was bailed to appear at court at a later date.

Police also arrested two people in connection with the disturbance in Alexandra Road on Friday.

Kayleigh Anne Hare (24), of London Road, Spalding, was arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer and criminal damage.

Hare has been bailed to appear at court on a date to be set, while an 18-year-old man arrested for a public order offence was fined.

The former headteacher of a boarding school for boys with behaviourial issues has been handed a discretionary life sentence after pleading guilty to a series of sexual attacks against pupils.

Sick Bryan Greenhalgh (63)carried out some of the assaults when he was head of the former Thurlby Manor boarding school in the early 1980s.

He admitted 13 counts of indecent assault and one count of buggery* when he appeared at Norwich Crown Court on March 6.

The case could not previously be reported because of reporting restrictions in the trial of the housefather of another school where the pair worked.

Ken Wells (76), of Bracken Dale, Leicester, was on Thursday found guilty of three cases of indecent assault against a boy at the former Sheringham Court School in the 1970s and jailed for six years.

Wells was found not guilty of four other counts of indecent assault.

The Sheringham school closed in 1980 when it was relocated to South Lincolnshire and became Thurlby Manor, operating until 1983.

The charges against Greenhalgh, previously of Suffield near North Walsham in Norfolk, related to eight male victims under the age of 16.

The majority of the offences took place at Sheringham and Thurlby between the mid-1970s and mid-1980s. Greenhalgh was also sentenced for possession of indecent images on his computer.

Describing Greenhalgh as “a very high risk sex offender” Judge Nicholas Coleman handed him a discretionary life sentence.

Detective Constable Tristan Coull, of Norfolk Constabulary’s Child Abuse Investigation Unit, said: “Greenhalgh exploited his position as headmaster to win over the trust of the boys in his care and subjected them to horrendous abuse.

“He preyed on boys who were at their most vulnerable and who at the time of the abuse felt unable to speak out.

“Through the position he held, it would have been the most basic of expectations to protect these children. Instead he chose to do the complete opposite.”

The Constabulary’s Child Abuse Investigation Unit launched ‘Operation Alamo’ in November 2012 after being contacted by a former pupil alleging abuse at Sheringham Court by Greenhalgh and Wells.

Investigations unearthed seven more victims who confirmed they were assaulted at the hands of Greenhalgh.

Detective Inspector Andy Coller, who led the investigation, said: “It has taken an enormous amount of courage for each victim to talk about the abuse, abuse they have had to live with for decades.

“It is pleasing that the passing of some 40 years has not hindered the legal process. Time may make our investigations more complicated, but it will not stop them. We will robustly investigate any offences brought to our attention, however old they may be.”

*Where charges are brought for historic offences, the law applicable at the time of the offence is used. Hence Greenhalgh was charged with buggery rather than the modern equivalent charge of rape.

Gosberton Youth Club has temporarily shut while it battles to raise a four figure sum for building repairs and finds a volunteer youth worker.

The club closed its sports hall two or three weeks ago because of problems with an internal wall, which is moving.

Chairman of trustees the Rev Ian Walter said: “We have been advised it was probably not built quite to specifications when it was originally built. We have got to get it sorted out.”

The club doesn’t yet know how big the repair bill will be although Mr Walters says it will be “a four figure sum”.

He said: “Currently we have got no funds to meet that at all. We are going to be applying for grants like mad over the next few weeks and months and applying to see if any local businesses could be generous to us.”

Mr Walters says the sports hall takes up about half of the youth club building and, since it was closed, numbers attending have fallen.

The club normally closes between July-September, but trustees have decided to close it several weeks early because of the drop in attendance.

The building also houses a playgroup but that is still running.

The club is appealing for a youth worker – or someone willing to train as a youth worker – to step forward.

Mr Walters said the new board of trustees has spent thousands of pounds restoring the building since taking it over in 2013.

“We had rain coming in through the roof, damp in the walls, lights that were broken and many other repairs that needed doing,” said Mr Walters.

He is confident the latest work will get done and says: “We are aiming for a grand reopening in September.”

A 21-year-old man suffered a broken leg after he was hit by a car on the A16 in Spalding during the weekend.

The injured man from Derby was hit by a Volkswagen Sharen while walking in Clay Lake, Low Fulney, at about 2.30am on Sunday.

Paramedics treated the man at the scene before he was taken to Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, for surgery.

The driver of the Volkswagen, a man from Peterborough, was unhurt.

Vandals smashed a show window and bus shelters in North Street, Bourne, during the weekend.

The shop window was smashed overnight between Friday and Saturday, while the bus shelters were damaged overnight between Sunday and Monday,

Meanwhile, a building site in Elsea Park, Bourne, was burgled, overnight between Sunday and Monday, althought there are no details about what was stolen.

Also over the weekend, goods were stolen from an unlocked porch during a break-in in East Street, Rippingale, overnight between Friday and Saturday.

Intruders also broke into other barns and sheds, but nothing valuable was taken.

Finally, police are asking for the public’s help to stop motorbikes being ridden around Elsea Woods, Peregrine Place and Hawk Crescent, Bourne.

One of the bikes is blue, while the other is silver and burgundy, but neither have a number plate.

Anyone with information should call 101.

A Massey Ferguson tractor and trailer have been stolen from land at the former Aveland High School site in Birthorpe Road, Billingborough.

The theft took place between Saturday May 31 and 7.30am on Monday June 2.

Meanwhile, a bicycle, lawn mower and strimmer have been stolen from a barn in Sandygate Lane, Horbling.

It happened on June 1 and anyone with information about either crime should call 101.

Spalding Grammar School are through to their first English Schools Track and Field Cup Final after a superb performance in Derby on Thursday.

Their junior boys team made it through to Bedford after winning the North Midlands regional final by 28 points from Bourne Grammar School.

It was a day of mixed emotions for Bourne, who made the regional final in all four age groups for the first time.

Their junior girls were in superb form to win by 44 points while their inter girls also made it to Bedford but suffered emotional torture along the way.

They were initially announced as winners on the day only for a results error to come to light which indicated they missed victory by a single point.

They returned home dejected only to later learn of another results mix-up which meant they had won after all.

Team manager Jackie Mohan said: “It was an emotional rollercoaster. There were tears and anger on the day after being told they had won, and then that they hadn’t, but I am delighted that we now have two teams through.”

Bourne’s inter boys also went close, finishing third but just seven points behind the winners.

No such frustration for Spalding team manager Chris Crane after the Hughes twins starred in their victory.

Charles scored 54 points thanks to a 12.3 100m and a 34.31m javelin, with William scoring 50 points with a 24.4 200m and a 1.56m high jump.

“We are really proud of the boys for their achievements,” said Crane.

“We are under no illusion that this will be a massive task for the students in the final as there are some fantastic schools going.

“We are just concentrating on our performance and improving our overall score and will then worry about where we finish.

“It will be a brilliant opportunity for these students, and shows the changing status of athletics in the school.”

Jasmine Allen, a Nene Valley Harriers clubmate of the Hughes twins, amassed 57 points for Bourne’s victorious junior girls team.

She ran 27.3 in the 200m and leapt 4.88m in the long jump.

Lauren Brown scored 48 points for the inter girls, improving her five-day-old triple jump PB to 10.32m and clocking 27.3 in the 200m.

Chloe Prentice followed up the defence of her Lincolnshire Schools shot title with a fine 9.79m as Bourne performed well.

A man robbed a shop worker of her mobile phone after she refused to give him cash from the till, Lincoln Crown Court was told.

Ben Courtney (21) walked into the greengrocers shop in Francis Street, Spalding and approached the counter with two apples.

But as he went to pay the 40p he told the assistant: “Just give me all the notes from your till.”

Andrew Scott, prosecuting, said the 20-year-old assistant was taken aback by the request and queried with Courtney what he was saying.

But Courtney responded by demanding: “Give me the notes now.”

Mr Scott said “Bravely she told him she couldn’t open the till but he told her he didn’t believe her and told her to ring through the sale of the apples.

“She maintained she couldn’t open the till. The defendant made for the exit but then came back and said ‘Give me your phone’.

“His hand was inside his jacket and she believed this was being done to make her think he was concealing a weapon.”

Mr Scott said the assistant started to panic and eventually handed over her phone after Courtney told her: “Give me your phone or else”.

Courtney fled but CCTV evidence showed him loitering around the shop and he was arrested just days later when a police officer on patrol recognised him from the CCTV footage.

Courtney, of no fixed address but formerly of Snaith Avenue, Fosdyke, admitted robbery on January 25. He was jailed for 18 months.

Judge Sean Morris told him: “This was planned and it was persistent.

“This was a vulnerable victim. I have a duty to protect the public. They must know that if people rob them, then they will be caught and they will go to prison.”

Neil Sands, defending, said Courtney apologised “unreservedly” for the offence.

He said “He is very sorry. He has accepted full responsibility even though he has relatively little recollection of what took place.

“He was essentially homeless, penniless and desperate. He had just 40p to his name.

“He is not a young man who has a history of this sort of behaviour. He bitterly regrets what he has done. This stands out as a marked change in his behaviour.”

The following decisions have been made by magistrates at court hearings. In all drink-drive cases the legal limit is 35 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, 80 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood or 107 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of urine. Addresses of defendants published here are taken from the legal records held by the magistrates’ courts.

Grantham Magistrates’ Court

June 18

Tarzan Hadzaj (24), of Gladstone Street, Bourne. Driving while using hand-held mobile phone (Spalding). £70 fine, £20 victim surcharge, £85 costs – licence endorsed with three penalty points.

June 17

Kevin Groves (47), of White Cross Farm, Sutton St James. Speeding (Bracebridge Heath). £85 fine, £20 victim surcharge, £85 costs, three points - disqualified 28 days.

Luis Belmonte (35), of Trinity Street, Boston. Speeding (Spalding). £200 fine, £20 v/s, £85 costs, three points – second speeding offence (Spalding) on the following day, same penalty.

Rebecca Duffy (40), of Hoffleet Stow, speeding (New York School, Wildmore). £80 fine, £20 v/s, three points.

Tomas Gebel (37), of Wykes Lane, Donington, speeding in a DAF truck (Crowland). £200 fine, £20 v/s, £85 costs, three points.

Marco Martins (36), of Westlode Street, Spalding. Fail to supply driver ID. £600 fine, £20 v/s, £85 costs.

Anthony McCormick (27), of Langwith Gardens, Holbeach. Speeding (Boston). £120 fine, £20 v/s, £85 costs, three points.

Helen Reed (41), of James Court, Welton, nr Lincoln. Speeding (Swineshead Bridge). £235 fine, £24 v/s, £85 costs, three points.

Gary Robinson (48), of Middle Road, Whaplode. Speeding (Atterby - A15 northbound). £125 fine, £20 v/s, £85 costs, three points.

Zoe Starbuck (38), of Ousemere Close, Billingborough. Speeding (New York School, Wildmore). £240 fine, £24 v/s, £85 costs, three points.

Steven Wilkinson (48), of Postland Road, Crowland. Speeding in a lorry (Osbournby). £100 fine, £20 v/s, three points.

June 16

Alan Needham (70), of Tannery Lane, Folkingham. Threat to kill, indecent assault on a female, three charges of sexually touching young girls – sent on bail for trial at Lincoln Crown Court on June 30.

Noll Porter (26), of Maxey Close, Market Deeping. Driving with excess alcohol, taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent, driving dangerously, driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence – sent on bail for trial at 
Lincoln Crown Court on June 30.

June 10

David Reynolds (69), of Hannam Boulevard, Spalding. Speeding (Deeping St James).£35 fine, £20 victim surcharge, £85 costs, three points.

Emma Stier (35), of Michael Moses Way, Swineshead. Speeding (Spalding). £65 fine, £20 v/s, £85 costs, three points.

Boston Magistrates’ Court

June 2

Susan Tulip (34), of Bennett Street, Long Eaton. No insurance (Kirton). £150 fine, £20 v/s, £85 costs.

Colin Avison (55), of Brora, Sutherland. Speeding (Swineshead Bridge). £200 fine, £20 v/s, £85 costs, three points.

Niell Priest-Fletcher (43), of Earlham Court, Norwich. Speeding (Swineshead Bridge). £200 fine, £20 v/s, costs £85, three points.

Lee Whyatt (28), of Brewers Lane, Newton, Wisbech. Driving without due care (Gedney Hill). £500 fine, £50 v/s, £85 costs, six points – no separate penalty for a passenger seat belt offence.

Imar Kokorevics (46), of Creaseyplot Lane, Swineshead. Driving otherwise than in accordance with licence (Swineshead). £55 fine, £20 v/s, costs £85, four points.

Clifford Johnson (87), of Roman Road, Moulton Chapel. Speeding (Spalding). £200 fine, £20 v/s, £85 costs, three points.

June 4

Paul Skobodinski (31), of Ayscough Avenue, Spalding. Theft of whisky from Aldi (Spalding). £120 fine, £20 v/s, £85 costs - two assault charges were withdrawn.

Mark Watson (50), of Woodgate Road, Moulton Chapel. Assault (Sutton Bridge). 12 week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, restraining order until June 3 2016, £100 compensation, £80 v/s, £85 costs.

Mantas Norkunas (29), of Park Road, Spalding. No insurance (Spalding) – case dismissed.

Skegness Magistrates’ Court

June 3

Piers Angove, of The Square, Kirton. Insurance offence (Boston). £200 fine, £20 v/s, £110 costs.

Michael Brigdale (28), of Coronation Avenue, Throckenholt. Insurance offence. £200 fine, £20 v/s, £110 costs.

Alistair Greig (60), of Boston Road, Sutterton. Insurance offence (Boston). £200 fine, £20 v/s, £110 costs.

Jack Harman, of Pilgrim’s Way, Spalding. Insurance offence (Skegness). £200 fine, £20 v/s, £110 costs.

Claire Ingham (42), of Guy’s Head Road, Sutton Bridge. Insurance offence (Spalding). £200 fine, £20 v/s, £110 costs.

Andrew King (42), of Harwood Avenue, Holbeach. Insurance offence (Grantham). £200 fine, £20 v/s, £110 costs.

Durhand Moore (32), of High Street, Gosberton. Fail to notify change of vehicle ownership (Gosberton). £200 fine, £20 v/s, £90 costs.

Lee Rawshaw, of Swineshead Road, Wyberton Fen. Insurance offence (Boston). £200 fine, £20 v/s, £110 costs.

David Sones (54), of George Avenue, Gedney Drove End. Insurance offence (Spalding). £200 fine, £20 v/s, £110 costs.

Rafal Wesolowski (34), of Wygate Road, Spalding. Insurance offence (Spalding). £200 fine, £20 v/s, £110 costs.

Lee Whittingham (41), of Tydd Road, West Pinchbeck. Insurance offence (Skegness). £200 fine, £20 v/s, £110 costs.

Christopher Noyce, of Church Street, Deeping St James. 
Keeping a vehicle on a public road after making a statutory off road declaration (Deeping St James). £500 fine, £90 costs and ordered to pay £163.34 back duty.

Holbeach St Johns man Andy Poole returned home on Sunday after flying to Spain to attend the funeral of his twin sister, Kelly Stacey.

Andy was struggling to get his passport renewed – and was first offered an appointment with the Passport Office on the day after Kelly’s funeral service.

But The Spalding Guardian stepped in to help, contacting the Home Office, and a fresh appointment was made and a passport was issued in time.

Andy has brought home Kelly’s ashes, which will be buried beside the grave of their younger brother at Gedney Hill, following a service here.

He said 50-55 people attended the cremation service in Spain. Former Geest employee Kelly had been working as an interpreter with hospitals in Spain.

Frognall business Garford Farm Machinery Ltd has been awarded the Gold IMMA Award for its Robocrop Spot Sprayer.

The award, for Innovation in the Sprayer category, was made at Cereals 2014.

The competition rewards companies that have produced machines that show particular innovation, effectiveness and value, and Garford’s Robocrop Spot Sprayer was seen as an emerging innovation.

The Robocrop Spot Sprayer is the latest in the Garford Robocrop Family to use the Robocrop imaging system – the machine firstly defines the position of the crop and then looks for clumps of weeds growing between or amongst the row, which it then targets with a special jet of weedkiller, avoiding contact with the crop, and with minimal chemical use.

Export sales manager Chris Lunn said: “This honour follows many years of building high quality precision weed control machines for the professional farmer.”

A local cat owner wants to warn others about the dangers of lily plants in gardens, after her own cat became ill having ingested pollen from one.

Georgie Clarke’s two year old cat, Bert, was critically ill, and being cared, for at Alder Veterinary Practice in Spalding, after he rubbed up against a lily, which left pollen on his fur which, it is thought, he then licked off.

Bert, who was allowed to go home last Thursday, was suffering with acute kidney failure and had been on a drip constantly and fed by a syringe for nearly two weeks because he was so weak.

Georgie said: “I would hate for this to happen to anyone else – it has been one of the hardest things to witness.

“I feel that there should be a label on every lily when purchased from a market or a florists to say how toxic these plants are because people just don’t realise.

“It isn’t that the plants cause your cat to be under the weather, it can result in their death.”

Cat’s Protection say that many types of lilies are very toxic for cats, including Easter lilies, tiger lilies and rubrum lilies as well as some species of day lily.

A spokesman said: “All parts of the lily plant are considered toxic to cats and consuming even small amounts can cause severe poisoning.

“If you see a cat eating lilies, contact a veterinarian immediately.

“If emergency treatment is begun within six hours of consumption, then the chances are good that the cat will recover.”

Villagers have turned out in Sutton St James to support plans for the county’s biggest renewable energy park.

The meeting was held at the village hall, with organisers claiming more than 50 out of 65 people have confirmed their support for the project.

Hosted by B E Renewables Limited, the solar developer in charge of the plans, Deborah Wright, who owns the land on which the park would be developed, also attended.

Deborah said she wanted the park for very personal reasons: “After losing my husband, Robert, in 2006 I decided I would try to continue with farming as I wanted to give my boys, then four and six, the opportunity to go into farming, should they wish to in the future.

“I chose to diversify into solar as it is a clean, carbon friendly, naturally produced energy – it has been designed to provide a low visual impact.

“This project will help me to support the rest of my farm and keep employing local people by creating local jobs.

“My eldest son in particular has farming in his blood, therefore I wish to keep it sustainable to give him a chance to have a go in a few years’ time.”

Resident Jennifer Garbet (67) has “no problem” with the plans for the energy park using 81 acres of land in the Old Fendyke area and thinks the park will benefit residents.

Jennifer said: “To be honest, my generation probably won’t benefit too much from this but the younger generation will.

“There are going to be problems with electricity in the future and – as I certainly don’t fancy nuclear power – it would be awful coming home one day to no electricity.

“Obviously nothing’s infallible, and things do go wrong, but I believe that solar panels are a good thing.”

Jennifer says that there has been a lot of tension in the village regarding the plans.

She said: “Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion and, of course, some people aren’t going to be very happy about the plans.”

Deborah said: “The meeting went very well and we had a very positive response.

“A lot of people came down to draw their own conclusions about the scheme and the presentation showed people how they will benefit from the farm, including the community benefit fund, which could be up to £18,000.”

Education changes lives by changing life chances. It is, as the great Conservative statesman Rab Butler said of his landmark 1944 Education Act, ‘the spearhead of social reform’. This week MPs from all political parties came together to mark the 70th anniversary of that Act, which made secondary education free for all for the first time.

Butler’s reforms broadened the horizons of the whole generation that came of age after the Second World War through the creation of a tripartite system of secondary schools based on aptitudes and ability.

South Holland is one of only a handful of places left in the country that has rightly retained the 11 plus, the result being schools of which we can all be proud. The 11 plus has also benefited our primary schools – raising standards across the board.

I am personally proud that my young sons attend two of our excellent local state schools. I’ve always taken the view that what’s right for the people I represent is right for me and my family.

Technical schools were the largely unfulfilled element of Butler’s tripartite system, providing an advanced vocational education, as due to the austerity of the post war years, very few were ever built. As a consequence, young people with practical aptitudes were denied the opportunities available in countries like Germany.

Now all this is changing, thanks to another great reforming Government. Locally in Holbeach the academies programme, started by the last Government and hugely expanded by the present one, has allowed the creation of schools such as the excellent University Academy Holbeach – which celebrates vocational as well as academic achievements – and through its partnership with the University of Lincoln benefits from shared resources and expertise.

There can be few towns the size of Holbeach with such superb facilities.

The Government has also set up University Technical Colleges (UTCs) which are essentially the technical schools Butler envisaged in 1944. All UTCs must have strong links to local employers, giving their students the opportunity to advance to skilled employment.

I am pleased to have been able when Minister for Skills to have greatly expanded the apprenticeship system, so giving far more young people the chance to learn skills in the workplace. Remarkably, up to two million apprenticeships will have been created in this Parliament alone, an unprecedented increase which is transforming how we see education and learning. For too long we undervalued vocational skills. Now, at last, by elevating the status of practical learning we are building a more just and cohesive society in which everyone has the chance to realise their potential – being their best by doing their best.

Rt Hon John Hayes MP

Traders and councillors have welcomed the decision to throw a “notorious repeat offender” jailed for breaking into a Spalding shoe shop out of the UK.

Lucasz Jalocha (26) was deported back to Poland on June 9 on “public policy” grounds after he admitted burgling Revills Shoe Shop in Francis Street last September.

Police also revealed that Jalocha had been repeatedly arrested over the last four years in connection with other burglaries, thefts and drug-related crimes in the Spalding area.

Spalding community policing inspector Jim Tyner said: “People from within the European Economic Area who have been in the country for longer than three months have to be working, studying or self-sufficient in order to have a right to stay, as required by European Union law.

“Those who don’t have any genuine prospect of doing so are expected to return home.

“Those who choose not to do this voluntarily or who have adopted offending behaviour, as was the case with Jalocha, can be forced to do so under a number of powers.

“This case is about using the immigration laws to our benefit and dealing effectively with those who have a harmful effect on our communities.”

A statement from the Crescent Traders Association, which includes Revills Shoe Shop, said: “We support the action of Insp Tyner who has worked hard to get a notorious repeat offender sent back to Poland.

“Spalding residents and shopkeepers need protecting from people like this, so well done Lincolnshire Police.”

Jalocha was deported after a joint operation between Lincolnshire Police and Home Office Immigration Enforcement which is normally applied to people from European Economic Area countries such as Austria, Croatia, Germany, Latvia, Poland and Romania who are jailed for two years or more in the UK. South Holland District Council leader Gary Porter said: “The local police should be congratulated for their work on this because if we are to get people to accept the benefits of inward migration of economically active people, then there must be a robust way of dealing with those who come into our community and refuse to abide by our rules.

“This case shows that our local police, and now the Home Office, are doing their bit in a way that all of us appreciate.”

Alison Spowage, assistant director for Home Office Immigration Enforcement East Midlands, said: “This case shows that we work closely with Lincolnshire Police to take strong action against those who engage in serious or persistent criminality and abuse our immigration laws.”

The site for the dig, off Herring Lane in Pinchbeck, was first discovered by local landowner Ivan Healey, when as a young boy he noticed a stone wall at the base of a drain that had just been cleaned.

Nothing further happened for many years, until John Lyon and his company MJL Skipmaster became involved, John metal detecting the field with the late Alex Tyler, and financing further surveys of the field.

Research has uncovered links between the site and a man who John describes as once being “the second most powerful man in England”.

Humphrey de Bohun, once the Constable of England and married to Elizabeth, the daughter of King Edward 1, owned a manor at Pinchbeck in the 14th century. A licence for a market and fair had been granted in 1318 and the large quantity of coins recovered by metal detector prior to excavations began suggest the site was the market place.

John, who says items that only a knight would have used have been uncovered over the years, said: “Humphrey de Bohun was the lord of the manor, but we wanted to know where the occupation was.”

Most people would be looking for silver and gold and certainly Casey Nurse thought he was hunting for treasure.

But John Lyon’s imagination was fired some years ago by an idea thrown up by an old map that showed Pinchbeck once had a manor house.

So, naturally, John was on site at Pinchbeck during the latest dig, hopeful that the archaeologists would uncover something that would confirm the suggestion.

“We were a bit disappointed,” admits John, who feels so passionate about local history that he actually funded the dig by Allen Archaeology – and is chairman of Pinchbeck History and Archaeology Group.

John had been hoping for signs of the remains of Ogle Manor on the site close to the River Glen in Pinchbeck, as shown on the 1789 map, which also points to nearby ‘ruins’.

John may have been disappointed, but the archaeologists on the site were enthusiastic – as was 13-year-old Spalding Grammar School pupil Casey Nurse.

Casey’s mum Amanda said her son, who has an interest in history, had responded to an appeal for volunteers and was given clearance by his school to spend two days on site as an educational visit.

“He absolutely loved it,” said Amanda. “He was really thrilled. He thought he was digging up treasure, but he says it wasn’t about that.”

Project manager Mike Wood explains that nine trenches were dug and while they may not have thrown up treasure or John’s manor house, they revealed a lot about the late medieval fenland landscape.

Mike said: “When you look at the fenland now it is a flat landscape, but it’s all been created by modern agriculture and drainage works.

“The late medieval landscape would have looked very different. Rather than managed dykes and drainage systems, there were quite a lot of natural streams and creeks. That’s the biggest difference and why it’s so fertile.

“Going back 400 years, in particularly bad years you would get flooding over the landscape. People would have starved to death after a few years of bad harvests and it would destroy communities.”

Mike says by the late medieval period people were living on the site they were digging and, because there were no waste disposal or recycling systems then, some of the ditches revealed domestic rubbish.

Mike says: “Of most interest was a long pit backfilled with charcoal and fired clay, probably representing an industrial site. Other pits and ditches near the road produced food waste – animal bones and shellfish, as well as broken cooking pots, glass bottles and clay tobacco pipes.

“All these finds and environmental samples have been sent for specialist analysis and we expect to get the full story soon.”

Much of the UK’s wildlife depends on farmland, according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

The organisation is working with farmers to find and share practical wildlife-friendly farming techniques.

According to the RSPB, three-quarters of the land in the UK is farmed – providing vital food for the nation.

However, agriculture is equally important for wildlife, providing breeding and feeding habitats for birds and other animals and plants.

The RSPB says: “Agricultural can be good or bad for the environment, depending on the land management. For example, the soil on a farm can be managed so that it stores, filters and recycles carbon, rainwater and nutrients or so that it erodes, loses fertility or compacts, losing its value.

“Hedges can give food and shelter for birds and other wildlife, or be barren and sparse. The fields themselves can be managed to provide food and habitat for farmland wildlife at the same time as producing crops or livestock.”

Lincolnshire Bat Group members Colin and Annette Faulkner from Spalding were at the recent Lincolnshire Show trying to spread the word about wildlife conservation – and bats in particular. They were showing two rescue bats, a pipistrelle and noctule, to interested visitors.

Sutton Bridge and Long Sutton look their beautiful best thanks to the efforts of In Bloom teams who are adding the magical ingredient of flower power.

Now artist Rihards Amirov plans to brighten up some of the public buildings in Sutton Bridge by painting murals with the help of youngsters.

Rihards (30), known as Richard, has sketchbooks filled with local landmarks, but plans to go a step further by applying a drop of paint to buildings.

He said: “I was thinking ‘how could I use my art to make something better, change somebody’s life maybe?’.”

Richard is talking to the parish council to see which buildings could become canvases and to the youth club to find volunteers happy to wield a brush or two to create something amazing.

Scenes to be painted will be decided in collaboration with young volunteers.

Richard has been commissioned for projects, including family portraits, but relies on a full-time job for his living.

He said: “I just decided not to concentrate too much on the commercial side of it because it takes you away from the pureness of art.”

There’s already a public art work, celebrating the London 2012 Olympics, overlooking the wonderful community garden in Memorial Park, Sutton Bridge.

The garden was created by Sutton Bridge In Bloom with cash help from the Lottery Fund.

Aside from the community garden, the team also plant and maintain a further five garden beds within Sutton Bridge.

The Bloomers have also planted more than 30 containers and a number of wall and hanging baskets around the village.

Kay Jenkinson chairs Long Sutton in Bloom and says none of the success achieved in East Midlands In Bloom competitions would be possible without the hard work of a dedicated band of volunteers.

So far this year, each of the 20 strong group has averaged four hours a week working on their big passion – making an already beautiful small town even more beautiful.

Long Sutton has won several golds in East Midlands in Bloom and last year was the small town category winner with a silver gilt.

This year the team has adopted a gold theme for hanging baskets to celebrate 50 years of East Midlands in Bloom and red, white and blue for other displays to mark the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of WW1.

The NFU has said the industry must do all it can to teach youngsters about where their food comes from.

The direction follows research showing 84 per cent of five to eight young olds said they would love to visit a farm.

The figures were revealed as part of British Nutrition Foundation’s Healthy Eating Week, which saw the NFU hosting a live ‘webinar’ teaching children about farming that was tuned in to by the 4,400 schools signed up for the campaign.

NFU vice-president Guy Smith said: “We are thrilled that so many youngsters have said they do want to know more about where their food comes from and they would like to get down on to a farm.

“Farming is already well-received by the public, and popular with children. You only have to look at times when we open our doors to the public.

“But the industry is in a great position to be able to do more to fulfil this need. By connecting with Farming and Countryside Education (FACE), pupils and teachers will be able to understand the work that goes into producing top quality food from this country.

“Our farmers welcome the opportunity to open their farm gates and celebrate what’s great about great British farming.”