Remembrance day, and a grand turn out by the village. What a pity the police were unable to spare one officer to control traffic for the short while we were at the memorial. The same thing happened last year and after a letter to the chief constable we were told it would not happen again. The service was up to Rev Middleton's usual standard and was well attended with scouts and guides and members of the public. A very moving day, simply to remember those who gave their all for us.

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,

England mourns for her dead across the sea.

Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,

Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal

Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.

There is music in the midst of desolation

And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,

Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall not grow old, as we who are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We shall remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;

They sit no more at familiar tables of home;

They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;

They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,

Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,

To the innermost heart of their own land they are known

As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,

Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,

As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,

To the end, to the end, they remain.

After many complaints about the dangers of spiked railings, the war memorial railings will have their spikes removed today. It will all be finished and tidy for next weeks Remembrance day service. Perhaps we can now persuade NK to do something about the remainder of the railings along the roadside.
We seem to have got away without damage to dog bins this year, I don't think we have had any blown up by fireworks. Perhaps they are waiting until the new ones are fitted?

We have a feeler from NK about using space on St John's square for housing. Does the village need more? Will the infrastructure stand more? The amount of recreation space in the village is below the recommended amount, to reduce it even further does not seem to me to be a good idea. Or, cynic that I am, does this deflect attention from the old hospital site?

Youth club again, it now seems that they are meeting on Wednesdays and Thursdays, there is no volunteer available for Tuesday which I recall was for the younger group.

St. John's
A bit of controversy over the proposals for the old hospital site, 250 new dwellings are planned, 150 in the old buildings and another 100 completely new builds. There are plans for only 230 parking spaces, according to the builders, that will comply with government guidelines.
No one seems to have given much thought to the school, it's already full, where will any new children go? It seems that there could be a time when children living a certain distance from the school will not be allowed there. There are no plans for new school buildings. There will be a presentation by the builders on 8th November in the village hall. Expect fireworks!!

Gala 2005

Report by Alan Clark; photograph by kind permission of Tom Cryer:

Gala Day 2005 — held as ever on the recreation ground

To decide what to write — it’s been six years and six gala days, only made possible by every last one who helps out. The necessary preparation and everyones’ work being needed — not just on the day but long-term, be it preparing tombola tickets, or a splat-the-rat stand, or ... Everything linking and depending on something or someone else.

It’s a real team effort and as this is a bloggers page it has less detail than published in the Parish Magazine, or the report to the Parish Council.

There are endless names and help-teams who, on Gala Day work from 6.30 am till night. Marquee and quiet tent; seeing to the 101 jobs including car-parking signs, helping others erect gazebos; the tea-ladies team, the barbecue; and the raffle — all providing money to part-meet the running costs.

The day itself — 2005

— Bill Rawson declared the Gala open. The Waddington Pipe Band and Dancers followed — splendid; the fancy dress competition and amongst them we found: White Rabbit; Pinnochio; Robin Hood; a Mermaid; Cinderella; Star-Wars characters; Sleeping Beauty; and Crazy Frog.

A fun item of the egg and spoon race. Majorettes from Metheringham, the Starlight Twirlers. Vintage and Classic vehicles. 1922 Morris Cowley 1923 Bentley, Hillmans, Fords, a Road-Car bus from the Vintage Vehicle Society and others. 17 vehicles in all.

Flypast of the clipped-wing Spitfire of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

School Paintings. Our school children each contribute a painting and prizes are awarded.

The Ambucopter stayed most of the afternoon.

A Karate demonstration by Heighington Bushido Kai — a consuming performance watched by everyone.

Tug o’ war — won by the Blacksmith Arms / or was it John Bull against a somewhat formidable Hunter’s Family Butchers team.

1237 Squadron ATC did the impressive and necessary job of organising the car parking.

Goodwill and willingness from everyone carried us through. Thank you. We still remember those who could not be there, or have helped so much in our previous years.

And finally our thanks to the Recreation Ground Committee and the Parish Council.

Redhall Lane, that is to say, the metalled road and a strip of land either side, is owned by the Parish Council, Redhall Drive is not.
I was asked about the St. Barnabas shop which is due to close tomorrow, the nearest ones to BBH are on Brant Road and the Forum, Nth Hykeham, at the moment it is only the BBH shop that is closing.

Checking the CCTV this morning, it appears the youth club did start yesterday. Still no word from them to the booking secretary.

We had a rec ground meeting last night, still no word from the youth club. We were asked a couple of weeks ago if storage could be found but that was the last we heard. We reckon it's time to start charging them anyway, the hall is being kept free for them but they are not using it. There have been a few times when others want to use the place.
On a brighter note, there will be a football training session by a qualified coach each Saturday morning for juniors, outside obviously if the weather is OK but inside to discuss tactics during bad weather. A good idea that seems to be all ready to go, why is the youth club so behind?

Even more tidying up around the village. Today the drains on Grantham Road were pumped out, the first time since the road surface was renewed last year. To lift the covers the men had to chip the tarmac away with a crowbar. I also saw someone going round with a sprayer, presumably to kill off the weeds in the gutters. Either the Queen is due to pay a visit or Councilor Talbot has blown in someone's ear! I reckon thanks are due to her.
This seems to be a bit of a complaints spot but here goes. There is a lot of rubbish, mainly grass clippings and garden waste, being thrown over the cemetery boundary fence and some even further in, also along the woodland walk. Now, it's obvious who is doing some of it, since it is just dumped over the fence and you would have to be on their property to do it. Some of the rubbish would probably have been barrowed in from over the road. Ideas anyone?

There seems to be a little confusion about joining this blog. Send me an e-mail, blank if you like, I need your e-mail address. Then when you receive an "invitation" from blogger, just follow the instructions. You will then be a contributer.

Still no news from the Youth Club organisers, I wonder who is getting the blame for the delay? I have heard nothing about the meeting a week ago and the kids are due back to school next week, so much for keeping them occupied during the school holidays.

We still seem to have a problem with Wiggins, or whoever now owns the place, grass cutting is done only when we complain, and then usually the bit you can see from the road. I notice someone has cut an area of turf from the cemetery, I wonder if they realise they have part of someone's grave in their garden?

Having just got a litter picker at last, I saw someone, presumably a District or highways employee, picking litter on Sleaford Road. It's the first time I can recall seeing anyone doing the job. There were six or eight bags of rubbish at the side of the road waiting to be picked up. Perhaps we are expecting a Royal drive past.

Edit at 6.15.
Sure enough, the bags have gone. Oddly, they were printed
South Kesteven District Council.

Rec ground again. We had a quote from the tennis court installers, around nine hundred pounds a year to deep clean the surface as we are getting a lot of mud thrown on the courts, ( 'nothing to do' syndrome again ). After the recent heavy rain it seems the courts are pretty much self cleaning, so we may not have that cost to find.
The climbing wall was in use again in the Blackies car park, kids everywhere all in blue safety helmets. Its a lot higher than I thought it might be!

I saw the youth club organizer, they hope to have a meeting next Thursday to finalise the setting up of the youth club.
There was a training session run by Lincoln City for the kids in the village, quite a few were there, with a bit of luck it will stimulate a bit of interest in the football clubs and maybe the youth club. Its good to see the field being used, even the tennis courts are in regular use for tennis and not bike riding!

The skateboard park seems to be a bit more popular this time, the kids using it are a bit younger, perhaps up to eleven or so, but they seem to be enjoying it.
The rec ground meeting got no further with the youth club, no one turned up to represent them and we stil have no confirmed bookings for using the pavilion. It seems they all turn up on wednesday evenings and congregate outside, playing rounders or football if they can cadge a ball off the football club.
The meeting point seat has become a target for stone throwing, when I walked across the field last night there were about four or five youths throwing the stones from the car park, when they hit the meeting point roof it makes a nice "ting". That acounts for the number of stones on the field, just right for the mower to pick up too.

So, the mobile skate park is here. I went to have a look and there were 8 kids there, a bit better than last time.
We've got a rec ground meeting tonight, with a bit of luck the youth club will get off the ground and that will be one more thing for the kids to do at night. All they need to do now is set a firm time for the club to be open.

The mobile skate park is due to return on Monday, so I put up a few new signs at the rec ground just to remind the kids about it. I found them all torn up the next day. Last time the mobile skate park was here for five days, at the end of the fourth day I asked the attendant how many had used it, "What, alltogether" he said, "you mean since Friday?", "Yes, just a rough idea will do" I said. "Well, we've had ten". So I guess the permanent park is not going to happen.

The Rec ground has seen a few changes in the last year, with the new tennis courts paid for by BBHPPFA, and a meeting point seat for the youngsters.
The usual cry of "we've got nothing to do" was what started things off. When I became Chairman of the Parish Council I wrote in the Parish mag asking for ideas to amuse the young people of the village. Not one reply was received but it seems from the evidence of the tennis courts and the meeting point that all we would have to do is supply them all with a bucket of stones to throw, and a felt tip marker to draw graffiti. Still, its their choice, and I suppose the decorations aren't too bad. The tennis courts seem to have met the need for somewhere to skid around on bikes too, so the money has not gone completely to waste.