News that Rachel Vidler of Linchfield Community Primary School in Deeping St James was a finalist in the Most Inspirational Teacher (Primary) category arrived by text from headteacher Andy Fawkes.

Winner Rachel said: “I didn’t expect it at all. I love capturing the imagination of children. It’s all about hooking into whatever they look.”

The award was presented by David Gratton, director of Spalding Office, Duncan and Toplis, the category sponsors. Judges were impressed by the way Rachel helped transform “a pupil’s dislike of school into a love of learning”.

Other finalists were Katharine Saywell of Gosberton House School for “building trust and confidence with students having severe learning needs” and Amanda Brooks of the Willoughby School, Bourne, for “working with pupils and staff to give the best possible education to children with special needs”.

Previously...

Out with the old, in with the new at Linchfield

Linchfield and Drove End are schools champions
School gets back to normal after flood clear-up operation

School’s song sounds just right for no.1

It had been an emotional night for South Holland and the Deepings MP John Hayes when he took the spotlight briefly to give the closing speech.

The school governor since the age of 18 with two children in local schools paid tribute to the work done to inspire students across the district.

He said: “What a superb opportunity to celebrate achievement, endeavour and success. The reason I’ve been passionate about education for so long is that it has the chance to change people’s lives and life choices. From the acorns we plant as educators in our fine schools, oak trees will grow.

“Some of you may become teachers, some of you may go into the nursing profession. Someone out there might even be a future MP for South Holland and the Deepings - but don’t think that is going to happen any time soon!”

Mr Hayes paid tribute to guest speaker Chantilly Milverton. He said: “The greatest thing of all is to know that the truest kind of fulfilment is what we do for others, not what we take for ourselves.”

Parents could be allowed to hold their children’s school start date by a year following a government study.

Children are allowed to go to primary in the September following their fourth birthday, but official figures showed that by the time they were aged 11, August-born children were 50 per cent more likely to be labelled “special needs” - meaning that thousands of teenagers could be placed in this category when they are merely young for their year group.

A study by Stanford University found that “a one-year delay in the start of school dramatically reduces inattention/hyperactivity at age 7”.

Aside from the unfortunate mis-labeling of youngsters, there’s no concrete evidence of any improvement in terms of exam results, but this hasn’t stopped parents from “redshirting” their offspring - named after the US practice of keeping players out of a sports team for a year to mature.

Recently, schools minister Nick Gibb said that children born between April and August would be allowed to go into reception a year later if their parents felt they were not ready for school. The Department for Education is keen to have parliament approve the changes to the rules as soon as possible.

All the attackers in the Paris terror atrocities, in which more than 140 people are feared to have been killed, are believed to be dead.

There were two suicide attacks and a bombing near the Stade de France stadium, shootings at restaurants and a massacre inside a popular music venue in a night of terror in the French capital.

French president Francois Hollande said he was closing the country’s borders and declaring a state of emergency after the “terrible ordeal”.

LIVE updates from our international team here {http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/live/daily?1300800|click here|live event}

The authorities are still searching for possible accomplices following the attacks, Micheal Cadot, the head of Paris police, said.

Officers stormed the Bataclan concert hall where hostages were being held but attackers, wearing suicide belts, blew themselves up, leaving at least 100 people dead.

One official described “carnage” inside the building, saying the attackers had tossed explosives at the hostages.

The national football side was playing a friendly match against Germany at the Stade de France when two suicide attacks and a bombing took place nearby.

Tens of thousands of people fell silent at the stadium on Friday night in tribute to those killed and injured.

Officials said shots were also fired in at least two restaurants, with 11 people killed in the 10th arrondissement.

Witnesses of the attack at the Bataclan described the scene as “carnage” with “blood everywhere”.

Marc Coupris, 57, who had travelled to Paris to watch the concert, told the Guardian: “It was carnage. It looked like a battlefield, there was blood everywhere, there were bodies everywhere.

He added: “Eventually, when a few gendarmes came in slowly we began to look up and there was blood absolutely everywhere. The police told us to run.”

Prime Minister David Cameron said he was “shocked” by the attacks and the UK “will do whatever we can to help.”

The Foreign Office said it was in “close touch” with the French authorities and it was “urgently investigating” whether there were any British victims.

The attacks come after the Charlie Hebdo atrocity, which took place in January and saw 12 people killed after gunmen stormed the offices of the satirical magazine.

US president Barack Obama told a press conference that the violence in Paris “was an attack on all of humanity”.

He said: “Those who think they can terrorise the people of France and the values they stand for are wrong.”

Eyewitness Ben Grant said he was in a bar with his wife when the gunshots were fired and he had seen six or seven bodies on the ground.

He told the BBC: “I heard gunshots. People dropped to the ground. We put a table over our heads to protect us.

“We were held up in the bar because there was a pile of bodies in front of us.”

Television cameraman Charles Pitt said he was outside a cafe in the city’s 11th arrondissement where people were shot at around 9.10pm local time.

He told BBC News: “I had literally gone about 30 metres when, I thought it was a firecracker to start with, and then it went on and it got louder.

“It went on for a minute. Everybody dived for cover thinking it was gunfire. Then there was a pause for about 15 seconds and then it all started up again.

“Then it calmed down a bit and I walked back to the front of the cafe and there was a whole pile of bodies, probably about seven on the left-hand side and four that had been sitting on the tables outside on the right-hand side, and a lot of injured.

“I saw a woman who had obviously been shot in the leg.”

Gregory Goupil of the Alliance Police Nationale said there were at least three dead in the attacks near the stadium. He said the explosions went off simultaneously.

Pictures on social media showed hundreds of football fans had spilled on to the pitch at the Stade de France after the game ended.

The Bataclan concert hall had been due to host a concert by US rock band Eagles Of Death Metal.

The band’s management said they were “still currently trying to determine the safety and whereabouts of all our band and crew” in a statement posted on the group’s Facebook page.

A brother of the band’s drummer Julian Dorio from Atlanta was quoted by the Atlanta Journal Constitution saying the band members had all escaped unharmed.

Mr Hollande has cancelled his trip to the G-20 meeting in Turkey and is due to visit the Bataclan site.

The Foreign Office advised Britons to “exercise caution in public places” following the attacks and people with concerns about British friends or relatives in Paris can 0207 0081500 for assistance.

A leading vegetable supplier in Lincolnshire has created a new version of a popular potato.

Growers for Produce World, which employs several hundred people in Peterborough, Sutton Bridge, Wykeham, Swinderby and Chatteris, have created an organic version of the versatile Maris Piper potato.

Gemma Hodgson, fresh produce buyer at Waitrose, said: “Maris Pipers are one of our shoppers’ favourite varieties.

“So it seems a little strange to be talking about innovation when it comes to such a well-known potato. Our growers have been working hard to make an organic crop a reality as Maris Pipers are a particularly tricky variety to produce so we are particularly excited to see them on our shelves for the first time.”

Produce World’s agronomy manager Simon Faulkner said: “When growing organically we can’t use fungicides to prevent blight. This particular variety is late maturing and prone to that disease, but thankfully this season there has been low blight pressure.”

He added: “At the same time we had to plan carefully to get just the right location that provides good fertility and availability of water, while reducing the risk of blight. This means avoiding growing our organic Maris Piper in close proximity to other potatoes.”

THOUGHTS OF A FRUITCAKE: By Carolyn Aldis

So, the John Lewis advert caused quite a stir in our household this week. I asked my daughter before we watched it if it was sad and she shrugged and shook her head...I now know that answer only applied to her as I was holding back the tears by the end (I struggle to read the inside of greetings cards in the shops without crying). Whoever made it should be proud of themselves…to draw us into the unrealistic scenario of a man living alone on the moon, being watched by a little girl, who tries to make contact and in the end sends a telescope to him so that he can see her…it’s done well. The message is that some people, particularly the elderly are lonely at Christmas. The tagline “Show someone they’re loved this Christmas” implies that we should buy something, preferably from John Lewis, for our friends and relatives.

Showing people that they are loved is a far more complex experience than buying a gift, or sending money. Technology has changed in such a way, that we seem to have lost the art of simply being together. We have “friends” on Facebook, followers on Twitter and Instagram pals that we type messages to, saying things we wouldn’t normally say to each others’ faces and pretending when we next meet up, that nothing has happened. We project an image of our lives that is not always true and share quotes, and think this is enough.

It seems ironic that we have all these devices to help us stay in touch with each other and yet the use of them causes us to lose connection. So many times I have been out, and seen parents “spending time” with their children, while staring at a phone the whole time… What are they so worried about missing out on? Because the reality is, life is passing by, the children grow up into adults and if there is no real depth of relationship and we’re not careful, we will be left, like the man on the moon, alone.

Meeting up with families and friends, hugging, eating together, sharing experiences and offering advice and support are the best ways of showing how much we care and no amount of messages online makes up for it. We need each other.

There is an elderly man who lives down the road from me…I often see him out and about, walking slowly due to his arthritis. For the last couple of years, I have taken him Christmas dinner on Christmas day, aware that he might not see anyone otherwise. I love baking Christmas cakes and giving them out…it doesn’t cost the earth and it means so much to the recipient. A neighbour of mine had someone in to paint his house and he mentioned to them that a slate was loose on his garage roof. Days later, he was pleasantly surprised when he climbed up to fix it to find that the painter had fixed it for him, without charge.

So, at the risk of sounding like a TV advert…what can you do to show you care?

Donington farmer Chris Wray joined the Lord Mayor’s Show on Saturday to help get across the message that farming is a modern and futuristic industry.

Chris was one of five young farmers – the epitome of modern farming – to join the London parade with the NFU, John Deere and the Worshipful Company of Farmers.

Chris, the NFU’s county vice-chairman for Holland (Lincs), will be helping to demonstrate how farming has transformed itself into a modern, forward-thinking industry and adopting cutting-edge technology.

That is contrary to the view of the majority of adults surveyed in a YouGov poll – only 43 per cent considered the industry to be high-tech.

Chris is an arable farmer and co-operatively farms 2,000 acres with two neighbours.

Chris Carter’s family has been growing sugar beet for nearly 90 years, but he won’t be growing next year when he is being offered just £20.30 per tonne.

So that’s it, we’re done. The last of this year’s sugar beet crop has left the farm.

It’s a bit early but we’ve long felt that keeping beet in fields during the damp winter months leaves us a very small window to establish a decent following crop. So this year it was felt best to get next year’s wheat in the ground in good time to enable it to establish properly before the much anticipated ‘hard winter’ arrives.

This year we’ve taken, for us, a momentous decision, one which troubled me greatly at the time – not to grow any sugar beet next season. British Sugar appears to believe that their crop is the one that farmers cannot do without and while their parent company records ever greater profits year on year, their remit appears to be to progressively reduce the price paid to farmers. They maintain that crop science has ensured that average yields over the last 20 years have increased massively. While this is indeed partially true, what other industry has to put with persistent price cuts over the years coupled with repeated brinkmanship and refusal to meaningfully negotiate?

I have looked through our farm accounts and the earliest entry I can find relating to sugar beet is in November 1927 when we were paid £1,424 by the Anglo Scottish Sugar Beet Corporation. At one time we had a 12,000 ton contract which meant with beet yields averaging 15 tons per acre we must have grown around 800 acres of sugar beet. When I first started making farming decisions in the early ’90s the price was £38 per tonne; next year we have been offered just £20.30.

At that price we can make no meaningful return and thus we are now ‘ex sugar beet growers’ after growing the crop continuously for nearly 90 years. Will we grow again? I don’t know, that’s for the NFU negotiators to deal with. As I say, for the moment we’re done!

HAYES IN THE HOUSE: By MP John Hayes

The Canadian Army officer, John McCrae, wrote a poem during the Second Battle of Ypres that has come to define how we commemorate the terrible events of the First World War. McCrae wrote ‘In Flanders fields’ after helping to bury a friend killed on active service, and having seen poppies blooming around the graves of the war dead. 
His poem opens with the now famous line ‘In Flanders fields the poppies blow/Between the crosses, row on row.’

A century has passed since McCrae conjured that evocative description. Some people may ask why we still commentate an event that has gone from living memory. Indeed, with many who fought in the Second World War having passed away, the Guardian columnist Martin Kettle suggested recently that the day will come when ‘we will begin to let go of these rituals. One day, the head of state will no longer lay a wreath at the Cenotaph in November for the long-distant dead.’

Regrettably, such comments disregard Remembrance Sunday’s symbolic significance. Not only does this occasion mark the sacrifice of all those who gave their lives in the Great War, it has also come to denote our respect for the men and women who have served our nation in the hundred years since, including, of course, those who continue to do so now.

Last year I was delighted to work with the Ayscoughfee Hall museum, the Spalding Royal British Legion, the Western Front Association and others to raise funds to restore the memorial in Ascoughfee Gardens, so ensuring that we honour those whose sacrifices have allowed us to live in the peace they couldn’t come home to enjoy.

For many years now on Remembrance Sunday morning I have joined veterans, local youth organisations and others to lay a wreath at the war memorial in Spalding, before, in the afternoon, joining the Holbeach Remembrance parade to lay wreaths of poppies at the war memorial outside All Saint’s church.

This year, like last, I also had the honour of laying a wreath on Armistice Day at London’s Cenotaph at the invitation of the Western Front Association.

It’s right that we commemorate those who gave their lives for our country; these solemn acts of remembrance, symbolised by the poppies worn on our jackets and coats, serving as a reminder of the debt we owe to those who have gone before us.

Truly, they are the ‘the glorious dead’.

Previously...

From Britain with love...

Local men serving with the Lincolnshire Territorials were displaying “distinguished gallantry” in the field of battle in 1915.

That was according to a message printed in these newspapers from the Major-General commanding 46th Division, E Stuart-Wortley. His division included the 1/4th and 1/5th Battalions Lincolnshire Regiment.

It was the actions of the men, at that time serving with the British Expeditionary Force, in a recent attack on the enemy’s position that had spurred the major-general’s glowing praise.

He added: “I trust that the result of their gallant efforts may be to bring every able-bodied man into the ranks.”

By this time in the war people were paying a heavy price for that gallantry, with a growing list of war dead as well as those who were missing or captured.

A hundred years ago this newspaper carried the photographs of eight men who were prisoners of war.

They were Lance-Corpl Norman T King, who had written to family in Surfleet to say he had been wounded and was a prisoner of war.

Pte F Merrill, of Albion Street, was one of four Spalding men to enlist in the 8th Lincolns at the same time, and all were prisoners of war in Germany.

Lance-Corpl Walter Barnsdale, of Donington, had been taken prisoner in an attack made by the 8th Lincolns on the German lines.

George Samuel Tinkler, of Gedney Drove End had been taken prisoner, as had Pte C Woods.

Signaller W Evans had managed to get a postcard to family in Mill Lane, Spalding, to say he had been captured, but Mrs Baxter, of Seagate Terrace, Long Sutton, actually received a photograph of her son in a prisoner of war camp looking “in the best of health”. Pte G Illett, of Bourne, was also a prisoner of war in Germany.

Read more... People in Spalding send food parcels to prisoners of war

People are being warned about the dangers of leaving candles and incense unattended after a house fire in Spalding this afternoon.

It happened in Severn Road where a fire broke out at about 3.40pm, leaving damage to an incense holder, coaster and table.

A ventilating fan was used to remove fumes from the living room which suffered some light smoke damage

A Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue spokesman said: “Breathing apparatus was used by crews as a precaution and a positive pressure ventilation fan was used to ventilate the house.

“The cause of the fire was incense left unattended on a flammable service and we would advise householders never to leave burning incense or candles unattended.”

SATURDAY NOON: Hedge and fence fire in Whaplode

Firefighters have been called out to a hedge and fence fire in Whaplode on Friday night

A conifer hedge and fencing were alight in Stockwell Gate, of the A151 High Road, just after 8pm.

One fire crew from Holbeach used a water hose reel to put out the blaze which started when hot ashes were thrown away near the hedge.

Earlier this week, firefighters from Spalding were called to a JCB that was ablaze in West Marsh Road on Wednesday.

The crew wore breathing apparatus while using a water hose reel to put out the fire which broke out after an electrical short circuit in the engine compartment of the machine.

Guests at the Spalding Guardian Christmas Day lunch and party can expect a little ‘Buble’ festive magic at this year’s event.

Local crooner Phil Wigger has volunteered to help entertain the elderly who will be joining us for a free meal and fun at the Ivo Day Centre in Spalding.

Phil – whose repertoire includes songs by Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, Matt Munro and 60s and 70s favourites, as well as Michael Buble – has appeared at Macmillan charity and other events in the area.

He has also written two Top 20 hits – the UK British entry for Europe in 1983 ‘I’m Never Giving Up’, sung by Sweet Dreams; and the Brighton FC anthem ‘The Boys in the Old Brighton Blue’.

His musical career has seen him tour with Billy J Kramer, Carrie Grant of Fame Academy, songwriters Jan Pulsford, Biddu and Ron Roker, film composer Anne Dudley and actor Tony Head.

Excited about joining our party, he said: “I just want the people that are going to be there to have a great day, and if I can help make this happen, then it’s all worthwhile.”

More guests are signing up to come along to the party each week and our volunteers list is growing, too.

Rolling his sleeves up to help is the vice-chairman of South Holland District Council Rodney Grocock, who is coming along with his wife, Christine.

He said: “We normally have Christmas with our daughters but our grandchildren are grown-up now and we thought it would be nice to do something to help the community. We’ll be there, ready to do anything where we can help.”

There is still plenty of time for elderly people or couples who might otherwise be alone on Christmas Day to book. Transport will be provided. This year we would like to run a raffle, so gift donations would be welcome. To book, call the Spalding Guardian on 01775 765415 or email chrissie.redford@jpress.co.uk

Read more:

Community rallies to make Spalding Guardian Christmas party special

Following your paper’s report regarding the crash near Bourne last Friday that left a 19-year-old man in hospital with serious injuries, I felt compelled to write to say that my husband, an off-duty firefighter, was actually one of the first on the scene and pulled the man to safety from the car in the water-logged ditch.

I am very proud of him because this is typical of his selflessness.

Those who work in our emergency services and armed services act with social conscience and are dedicated to their communities and country, yet the Government treats them so badly.

Cuts are pushed through regardless – the firefighters’ pension changes, policing cuts and now the junior doctors’ hours and pay are just some examples.

The real targets to help with the UK’s deficit should be large corporations that don’t pay tax, not the public sector which always seems to be the easy target.

We are constantly told we’re all in this together – rubbish.

If you are sick and unable to work you could be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay.

If you are off for four days in a row or more and you earn more than £112 a week, you will be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).

SSP is money paid by employers to employees who are away from work because they are sick. It is the minimum amount you can be paid when you are off work because you are sick. Your contract of employment may give you extra rights to more sick pay than this (contractual sick pay). Check your contract to see what you are entitled to.

Most workers may qualify for SSP, including part-time workers, workers on a fixed-term contract and agency workers.

SSP can last for up to 28 weeks. Contractual sick pay may last for longer. Check your contract to see if this applies to you.

If you cannot get SSP, or if you have been off sick for more than 28 weeks, your employer will give you form SSP1. You can use form SSP1 to claim Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) from your local benefit office if you are not entitled to either SSP or contractual sick pay.

You will be paid either SSP, or, if your contract of employment gives you more pay when you are off sick, you will be paid what it says in your contract. This might not be your normal rate of pay, but it should not be less than SSP. This is £88.45 a week.

You cannot get SSP for the first three days you are off sick. For these three days you will only be entitled to sick pay if your contract of employment allows for it.

After this, you should get the daily rate of SSP for each day you are off sick when you would normally be working.

If SSP is your only income you may be able to claim other benefits such as Housing Benefit. To find out what benefits you may be entitled to, you can get free face-to-face advice at your local Citizens Advice Bureau.

If you do not tell your employer that you are off sick straight away, you could lose some or all of either SSP or contractual sick pay, unless you have a good reason for not telling them.

Your employer can refuse to pay you contractual sick pay for the days you are off and do not call in sick.

Read more... New website is a lifeline for parents and carers

Before the local councils

South Holland District Council

Foysters Transplants, The Vicarage, Church Walk, Holbeach. works to TPO.

Rollins Electrical, Homefields, Jarvis Gate, Sutton St James. Temporary portable building for use as site office during development.

M and Mrs D Hart, The Burrells, Stockhouse Lane, Surfleet.

Abbey Country Gardens, land Baulkins Drove, Sutton St James. Three bedroom house, office and change of use of land to wholesale nursery.

Princes Food Ltd, Bridge Road, Long Sutton. Refurbishment of offices and extension to form staff canteen and changing facilities.

R K Wilson Builders, site adj 4 Swapcoat Lane, Long Sutton. Terrace of three houses.

C Bailey, Seas End Hall, Hall Lane, Moulton Seas End. Change of use of agricultural land to formal gardens, paddocks and cricket pitch.

V Broadbent, 14 Ludlow Gardens, Quadring. Works to trees in preservation order.

J Godwin, 25 Farrow Road, Whaplode Drove. Bungalow.

Tony Scrapyard, land The Bungalow, Oxcroft Bank, Moulton Chapel. Scrap yard.

Mr and Mrs A Cockram, The Old Ship Inn, Beck Bank, Gosberton. Self contained annexe (re-submission).

Mr and Mrs A Wattam, 69 Delph Road, Long Sutton.

Tidy Rentals, rear of 34 and 34a Cowbit Road, Spalding. Semi detached dwellings.

G Knight, adj Foremans Cottage, Stockwell Gate, Whaplode.

Turpins Wine Bar, 46 Market Place, Long Sutton. Extension, alterations and refurbishment (modification).

P Roberts, Lakeside Farm, Town Drove, Quadring Fen. External lighting.

Mr Callow, Dizzy Heights, Weston Hills Road, Spalding. Garage store and studio (re-submission).

C Bowles, 96 Stonegate, Spalding. Replacement extension.

E C Andrew and Son Ltd, adj 72 Risegate Road, Gosberton Risegate. Dwelling.

Nigel Morris Builders, 9 West End, Holbeach. Demolish former watch repair shop and construct pair semi detached two bedroomed houses.

P Ransome, Crossways, The Ramper, Spalding. Extensions.

N Trawford, Double Street, Spalding. Works to trees in conservation area.

Postland Properties Ltd, Sunny-Brae, Churchgate, Whaplode. Extension (retrospective).

Boston Borough Council

Furness, Nattonhall Cottage, Main Road, Wigtoft. Extensions, front entrance porch.

South Kesteven 
District Council

Lauchlan, 92 High Street, Billingborough. Extension.

A councillor is urging Donington residents to express their views on whether the village is big enough for a new major development of 69 new homes.

Coun Jane King has already expressed her intention to object to the homes should they reach the planning stages.

She said: “Our schools are 
already over-subcribed and we have no doctor’s surgery.

“It would be good for the businesses, but I don’t know how the village can support an influx of more families.”

Residents can have their say about the plans at a public exhibition taking place at the Ruby Hunt Centre on Monday, November 16, from 4pm to 7pm.

Representatives of developers Fisher German will be there to answer questions and reassure residents of any concerns.

They hope to win public approval for the homes, which they are planning to build between Lawley Road and Malting Lane, on the site of the former E & S Forklift Lincs Ltd company.

Liberty Stones, of Fisher German, said: “Donington is a settlement with large areas for development.

“Residents will be able to see the plans and we will be asking their views.”

TRISH TAKES FIVE: By award-winning blogger Trish Burgess

Do you remember an episode of Only Fools and Horses where Del Boy enters an old painting of Rodney’s into a competition? Rodney wins and his prize is a family holiday in Majorca. Unfortunately he has to pretend he is 14 for the duration of the holiday and join in with all the Groovy Gang activities.

This came to mind when I was asked to review two Beaches Resorts in Jamaica over half term for my travel blog. My son, Rory, had been invited to go with me but as he is now at university I suggested my husband was the ideal teen substitute.

The luxury all-inclusive resorts, part of the Sandals group, are located in Ocho Rios and Negril. We’ve tried all-inclusive holidays before but nothing prepared us for the amazing facilities on offer: several gourmet restaurants, premium brand drinks, a huge variety of land and water sports plus high quality kids clubs.

Dougie made a bee-line for the Pirates Island Waterpark in the hotel grounds in Ocho Rios where numerous slides were on offer. He entertained an audience of watching mums with his rocket-like exit from the steepest slide and even persuaded me to ricochet down the long, twisty slide on a rubber ring. My pretend teen had several goes and loved every minute of it. We sent Rory a little video of his dad’s exploits and he was suitably impressed in the way our children usually are when we act like fools.

In Beaches Negril the vast seven mile stretch of beach was ideal for watersports. We took a kayak out for a short time, though there was much bickering from the back seat driver who seemed to think I wasn’t pulling my weight. Later in the week, on a Reggae catamaran cruise, Dougie tried his hand at snorkelling, under the watchful eye of the Island Routes professionals and his fretful wife, who remained firmly onboard. When asked later what fish he saw, he told me ‘yellow ones and purple ones.’

I kept Dougie away from the Xbox play lounge and teens hangout room, Trench Town, but our itinerary did include breakfast with the Sesame Street characters that are an intrinsic part of the entertainment for younger children. Far from feeling embarrassed to be attending without any children of our own, we happily posed for photos and Dougie even coloured in his table mat without going over the edges.

Whilst I enjoyed relaxing by the pool with a rum cocktail or two, I was keen not to let my grown-up kid have all the fun. I signed up for the Scratch DJ Academy and got into the groove. It was a fantastic session, learning the techniques of scratching and mixing plus I received a cool T-shirt and some dog tags to wear. I’d like to say I was a natural though I’m sure it was because the other kids had never used a record player before. Sometimes it pays to be middle-aged.

Check out my blog - www.mumsgoneto.blogspot.com - for more information and photos from our Jamaican jaunt.

Double glazing company EYG is poised to move into the popular family-run Baytree Garden Centre in Weston.

EYG, which employs 30 staff at its branch in Commercial Road, Spalding, is opening a conservatory village at the visitor attraction, which spans 16 acres in Weston.

EYG sales director John Waugh said: “I am thrilled the garden centre has given us the go-ahead to install a conservatory village at the centre.

It will feature six fully-constructed conservatories, showing off a range of roofs. There will be large display of the firm’s extensive range of windows and doors.

The new project will initially create one job and the size of the investment has not been revealed.

EYG is taking over the half-acre pitch from November 16 and the conservatory village will be completed early next year.

Mr Waugh said: “This is an exciting opportunity for us.

“Baytree is a prestigious and popular garden centre. It is a fantastic opportunity for us.

“We have a showroom and offices in Spalding, so this further strengthens our ties within the community. Our Spalding office is one of the best performing branches that we have, and we are looking forward to this being a similarly successful new venture for our business.”

Nigel Wallis, the centre’s general manager, said: “We’re pleased to welcome EYG as our newest franchisee, we’ve been impressed with what they can offer customers.”

The countryside alliance this week vowed to continue in their efforts to see a repeal of the hunting act.

In a letter to this newspaper, Alliance chief executive Tim Bonner claims evidence shows that using more dogs is ‘potentially more humane’ than current methods.

Prime Minister David Cameron promised amendments to the hunting act in the Conservative manifesto, but a vote was cancelled following opposition from many MPs.

Tell us your view: Is hunting for sport a cruel and outdated practice, or is the hunting community right in its view that dogs are the most humane way to control the wildlife population?

Full letter below:

November marked the start of the new hunting season for the 289 registered packs of hounds across Britain, which provide an important service for farmers and landowners by lawfully managing the population of foxes, hare and deer.

The Hunting Act means that many of the packs of harriers, foxhounds, beagles, bassetts and mink hounds now follow a trail, but most also continue to carry out wildlife management under the exemptions put into the Hunting Act by MPs who realised that populations of some mammals have to be controlled.

We had hoped that the new season would have been marked by small amendments to the Hunting Act were to have come before Parliament in July. These would have varied the number of hounds allowed to be used by hunts when flushing mammals out to be shot. However, despite evidence showing that being able to use more dogs is more effective, and potentially more humane, and the support of a majority of MPs in Government, the vote was called off.

There is no justification for the Hunting Act and it will be consigned to history. So the hunting community starts the new season in good spirits determined to continue hunting, under the law, and fighting for repeal.

Tim Bonner

Chief executive

Countryside Alliance

Police have released description of a number of vehicles suspected of being linked to reported hare coursing in South Holland this morning.

A white Nissan Torreno, with registration number AR51 NWP, a white Mitsubishi Shogun (LF65 XEV), a white Toyoya Hi-Lux (LR15 XXL) and a grey Mitsubishi Shogun (R130 FAD) are being traced by police.

Anyone with information should call 101.