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Carpet
bowls is a social occasion provided and supported by the village hall
committee and open to anyone. (Photo by Margaret Bairstow) See 'Local Services and Groups' for more information |
Old Dalby News 2003 Archive
January
Happy New Year. During 2002 over 2,450 visits were made to the Old Dalby web site. Thankyou for your support. The site is still run by the parochial church council, and our vision remains to safeguard this community web portal for the village of Old Dalby, through which we can all share information and give support to our village church.
The Quorn hunt met at the Crown Inn on the third Saturday of the month. Have a look at 'The Crown Inn' page for the photos.
The Church at Old Dalby held a Parish Funding evening on Thurs 23rd Jan. Sixty one people showed their intention to attend. Patrick Calkin (Church Warden) set out the annual cost of maintaining a vicar and the daily running costs of the village church. Rev John Hooley and Cannon Peter Burrows, who is the diocesan funding officer, assisted Patrick in his explanation. They explained that the congregation and local community planned giving should ideally amount to a minimum of £12,000 per annum to cover running expenses, fabric maintenance, worship and pastoral care, and the parish share. Seven people from the village volunteered to visit anyone interested in contributing, to explain the scheme more fully. An excellent buffet was provided.
Old
Dalbys Burns night celebrations took the form of a supper and celebrity
auction.. Sixty guests were greeted by the piper Colin McAlpine at the door
of the Village Hall and then enjoyed a welcoming drink. The village hall was
decked out in Tartan and the tables decorated with tartan runners and greenery.
The menu was Vegetable soup, The Haggis, neeps and carrots (clapshot) and
tatties then followed by whisky trifle. Vegetarian alternatives were
provided.
Graces were said by Dougie Bryce and Isabel ( Jock ) Hargreaves, and
the 'address to the haggis' given by Duncan Bennett. During the meal the piper
played Scottish melodies and both he and Duncan recited poems. There then
followed the Celebrity Auction after which the evening ended with more
music and Scottish Dancing.The
Burns supper contributed approx £500 to the church restoration fund and a good
night was had by all!
Following
on from the supper a Celebrity
Auction was held. In order to prepare for this, people had been asked in
the preceding months to write to somebody famous and ask if they would donate
something for sale. Items received ranged from single, autographed, postcard
photographs up to fully illustrated, autographed books. On the night 37 lots
were auctioned and, thanks to the huge generosity of those present, £775
was raised for the Church Restoration Fund. The “Pop Idols Programme” had a
high reserve price on it, since it was believed to be of greater value. It did
not reach this reserve and so was withdrawn to be offered for sale elsewhere, in
the hopes that it would bring in a greater sum. (News
item e mailed by Joan Revill and Rhiannon Bennett)
February
In previous years
February has always seen the fruition of weeks of work by Duncan Bennett and
Angela Fairman in the form of the 'clever clogs quiz'. This year was no
exception , other than the fact that Duncan created the quiz on his own (Great
effort by Duncan!). The quiz was held in the village Hall and loads of teams
turned up. Duncan was ably supported by Paul Griffiths who kept the scores. The
eventual winners were 'The Wise Prankers' .
The Members were:
Pam Pollin age 21+, Bob Pollin age 21+ but a heart of a 10 year old, Shanti
Patman 21+, Jenny Patman 17,Nikki Schmidt 17, and Jim Patman (who couldn't be
bothered to send in a team photo to the web site.) Not only that....his
team won despite him not remembering that Geoff Hurst scored a hat trick
in the 66 world cup final. In fact this fact led to a serious degree of ridicule
from other team members with whom he plays football!. All Jim can say is, as a
true English Sportsman,...."its not taking part its the winning that
counts". He does seriously say however, that they could never have done it
without Serious knowledge from Pam and Shanti !!
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Carpet
bowls is a social occasion provided and supported by the village hall
committee and open to anyone. (Photo by Margaret Bairstow) See 'Local Services and Groups' for more information |
March
After months of individual practice and rehearsals 'the pantomime of the year' was held in the village hall. For the first time four performances were planned and even then, the Friday and Saturday nights could have been sold out twice over. A fantastic effort by everyone involved, especially the writer and producer Denise Tewson.
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After many successful years
of Music Hall it was decided that in 2003 we would try something a little
different. A pantomime - in fact 'Cinderella'. We are now an
independent group 'Old Dalby Music Hall and Pantomime Group' and Cinderella was
our first stand alone production. Once again we had a huge success on our
hands. The village hall was packed to capacity for four performances including
our first ever matinee. An outstanding cast was supported by an absolutely first
class back stage department and costume department and the results spoke for
themselves. Everyone agreed it was hard work but well worth the effort. £100
was sent to Rainbows Hospice in Loughborough. It has been decided to alternate
our productions and for 2004 we will be providing a Music Hall for your
enjoyment............... Denise Tewson
April
| Following a very dry first three weeks of April, and then a few very heavy showers during the last week, the bluebell woods at Old Dalby were a mass of flower and scent. |
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Seldom does the village Hall at Old Dalby see the likes of Wham, Madness, Ah Ha, and Steps, but this month they were all there thanks to the fantastic efforts of Sam Baines and James Freeman, who organised 'The best 80's and 90's disco ever' in aid of the church restoration fund. The old fogies were left in the kitchen and behind the bar for a change....Well done to Val Anderson for cooking all the main course, Angie and Catherine for washing hundreds of pots, and all the folks who provided gateaux, which were wolfed down, and Beryl (the raffle) of course. |
Sadly again we report a spate of vandalism in the village this month. The play-park has been attacked again as has the fencing around the 'fishermans' car-park; the cricket club have had the toilet door broken, a large pane of glass (costing £80 to replace) broken, the practice nets vandalised and divets taken out of the playing area.The village notice board has been stripped, the bus shelter broken and the main seat by the green bus stop smashed. A red rover has often been seen during the past week racing round the village in a reckless way. These incidents have been reported to the police. WE DO NOT HAVE A LOCAL POLICE OFFICER. If you are not happy with this state of affairs then come to a meeting at the Village Hall. (see the Neighbourhood Watch page for more details).
Thank-you to the Parish
Magazine for circulating, on the day of publication, a stop press which
reads ' It is with great sadness that we record the death of our vicar, the
Rev. John Hooley, on Tuesday the 29th April. In his short time with us at Old
Dalby he became a well respected member of the community and an inspiration and
driving force in the church. He will be greatly missed.'
If anyone would like to add their personal message as to Johns' dedicated work
here in Old Dalby, then please go to the forum page and enter whatever you wish.
The churchwardens have been asked for a dedication to John to be published on
the church pages.
May
Colin Brown the owner of Belvoir Brewery in Old Dalby has just purchased 'The Sugar Loaf' licensed premises at Ab Kettleby. Colin said "We hope to introduce our locally brewed beers as soon as possible and create 'a real ale' atmosphere in the pub"
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Medieval Banquet, planned by the church restoration committee, was due
to take place on 'The Green', however the English weather had the last
say. So a great big thank-you to Joe Morley for offering his barn to
enable the function to go ahead. Thanks also to all those folks who
helped in anyway to transfer the venue at the last minute and make the
evening such a success, raising nearly £750.
Thanks to Melanie Sallis for e mailing the pictures
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The fire -eater entertains on his bed of nails
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 Robin
Hood and his 'band' turned up to 'croon' a bit. |
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Jousting' on the slippery pole |
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June
James Freeman and Sam Baines, helped by a load of other folks from the scouts organised a terrific day for the family down on the school playing field. It was Old Dalbys version of 'Its a knockout' Seven teams took part and the eventual winners were the junior cricket team.
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The slippery slope |
You cant see it but there is half a metre of water beneath the greasy pole. |
After last years Open Gardens day success, Liz Stenson took on the responsibility of organising another one this year. There are lots more details about the organisation of the day on the open gardens page. A couple of people from Vancouver in Canada searched for 'open gardens' on the internet and came up with 'Old Dalby Open Gardens Day'. They did no more than organised their U.K. holiday around it. John Lincoln met them both on the day and said 'How about this then! we had a lady from Vancouver with her Czech sister in law looking around our garden. They found out about the day from the village web site, and had stayed in Melton overnight and walked to Old Dalby across the fields.' (I wonder how many other people 'walked across the fields' to get here). A particular thankyou has to go to all the people who helped out with the wedding dress display in church. Especially Maureen Goodnman and Nora Parkes who pulled it all together. You can read some words of thanks from Liz Stenson on the Open Gardens page.
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July
No news submitted
Come on people of Old Dalby send us some news!
August
Old Dalby Day seems to get bigger and bigger each year. This year a record number of people came along, with many folks from Nottingham hearing about, and taking advantage of, the best free August bank holiday day out in the east midlands. Some £2840 was made for village funds, but this does not include the thousands of pounds made by individual organisations on the day. The Scouts in particular worked hard to benefit financially. The classic and vintage car and tractor rally attracted record entries as did the horticultural show. Pictures and events winners can be seen on the Old Dalby Day pages.
September
On Thursday, 4 September at approximately 12.35pm there was an attempted robbery at Old Dalby Post Office. The postmistress was beaten on the head, but refused to give up any money. Did you see a white youth aged around 17 wearing dark jeans, neatly pressed, a dark top and a dark baseball cap. He was average height, had black hair and dark eyes and was carrying a baseball bat. He ran off in the Croft Garden direction. If you think that this crime is despicable and you think you know this youth call crime-stoppers on 0800 555111. The message you leave will be completely anonymous.
October
Linda Endall and Becky Woodcock start their mega sponsored slim in aid of the church restoration fund. They are aiming to loose .... (a lot of lbs)...and all before Christmas....click here to find out more.
AN ENJOYABLE NIGHT OF CURRY & SLIDES
Church Restoration was helped along by a lively evening of tasty Indian dishes followed by an equally tasty slide talk about ‘Indian Birds, Beasts, Buddhists and the Big Hills of the North’ - in the Village Hall which was decked out with Indian prayer flags, on October 4th.
Seventy five people came, each being welcomed with a glass of fresh lime-juice, though stronger beverage was to follow, served at the bar by Joe Bartrop and aides. In true Indian fashion the ladies were given a flower for their hair and the gentlemen each a buttonhole.
Bob Holdsworth acted as MC in his usual polished way. The menu - quite gently spiced for more delicate digestions - was coconut rice with southern style chicken, dahl, sweet & sour aubergine, yoghurt chutney, followed by shrikhand & fresh mango, then gulab jamun. All was given, prepared, and served by the Book Group Ladies who were were cheerfully directed and dressed in saris by Chris Lott.
Bob introduced the speaker, Dr Eric Lott, who showed and spoke about just a small section of his many slides of India’s wildlife and culture taken during thirty years working there - mostly as Professor of Indian Religions (!) in Bangalore. The beautiful Fairy Bluebird seemed to elicit the greatest number of oohs and aahs! Eric dedicated a shot of a 32lb Mahseer fish caught by his son to our friend Ron Bazely who had died suddenly the day before. David Revill gave a nimble vote of thanks. The sum of £730 was raised, and a jolly evening was had by all. (Submitted by Eric Lott and Val Anderson)
November
No news submitted
December
No news submitted
Everyone
came in some great costumes including Denise Tewson and Claire Gamble.
(who incidently made all the jousting knights tabards)
