roundabout december 2014 / january 2015 1 · 2014. 11. 21. · roundabout aims to promote local...

Roundabout December 2014 / January 2015 1


Editorial policy Roundabout aims to promote local events, groups and businesses and to keep everyone informed of anything that affects our community. We avoid lending support (in the form of articles) to any social, political or religious causes, and we reserve the right to amend or omit any items submitted. The final decision rests with the editors.

While Roundabout is supported by Woodhouse Parish Council, we rely on advertisements to pay production costs, and we accept advertisements for local businesses as well as those that publicise charitable and fund-raising events. Brief notification of events in the ‘What’s on’ schedule is free.

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Roundabout needs your input. For guidelines on submission, please see inside the back cover.

Management and production Roundabout is managed on behalf of the community and published by the Editorial and Production Team comprising Roger Berkeley, Amanda Garland, Andrew Garland, Dawn Kirby, Tony Lenney, Rosemary May, Neil Robinson, Grahame Sibson, Andy Thomson and Natalie Ward.

Editor for this issue: Dawn Kirby

Cover: Neil Robinson

Advertising managers: Amanda and Andrew Garland

Desk-top publishing (page layout) for this issue: Roger Berkeley

Printing: Loughborough University Printing Services

Roundabout is available to read or download from the parish council website at www.woodhouseparishcouncil.org.uk/magazine.html

Distribution: Roundabout is delivered by volunteers to every address within the parish boundary – just under 1,000 households and businesses, including all the surrounding farms. Please let us know if any house or business in Woodhouse Parish is not receiving Roundabout, or if you can help out with deliveries.


Contents Page

Editor’s note 5

Parish council news 5

News in brief 7

Remembrance Sunday for both old and young 15

Children broaden their horizons on overseas trip 17

Fearless father’s leap into the blue 18

Codeword 20

The Woodhouse Eaves cinema 21

Twelve halves make a whole challenge 22

Salon owner sails into the sunset 23

Bring back the pub piano 25

We all knead good bread 28

Loughborough Zeppelin raid 31

The good, the bad and sometimes ugly 32

Notes from a cottage gardener 33

Garden matters 35

The last word 37

Contributions to Roundabout Inside back cover

What’s on in December and January Back cover

Deadline for submissions to the February 2015 issue: Saturday, 10th January

Email to [email protected] or hand in at the post office

Editor for February 2015 issue: Natalie Ward


Editor’s note As if in the blink of an eye, the end of 2014 is almost here and the start of a brand new year awaits us. The final couple of months of the year have been busy for people living in the parish, which is reflected by the sheer number of stories crammed into this issue.

We have separate feats of bravery and endurance for the sake of charity from two Woodhouse Eaves men (see pp.18 and 22); children from St Paul’s School head off overseas to immerse themselves in French culture and food (see p.17); and there are faces coming and going as Main Street hairdresser Derek Renshaw retires (see p.23), while Ian Waterland explains his journey from mental health to baking and selling bread for a living (see p.28).

Finally, on behalf of the Roundabout team I’d like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Dawn Kirby

Parish council news Village hall extension project November’s council meetings have moved the village hall extension project on. Grants, donations, funds raised for the project by the scout group, and the income from the new day nursery booking mean that the amount needed to build the extension is only around £20,000 short.

After examining current and future finances, the decision was taken to cover the shortfall with a relatively small loan. The Public Works Loan Board lends to local authorities from Government gilts. Loans are at very low interest rates, and however long the loan period is, the interest rate at the start is fixed for its duration. The council’s view was that it could afford the repayments.

Critical factors in making the decision were that [a] some grants would be withdrawn unless the project began before the end of March; [b] the contractor might start another project and be unavailable within that period and [c] his quote was already a year old and likely to rise. Therefore, although it is not the most convenient time of year, members resolved to go ahead when the contractor was available in January.

Disruption to the car park, village hall and school path is unavoidable because the contractor will have to fence off his working area. Anyone using those areas will need to be patient. We have applied to Leicestershire


County Council to re-route the path for children attending St Paul’s School, and will try to keep all other premises bookings intact. The council has offered to try to find space for scout meetings and the group will need help finding somewhere to store their equipment. The estimated time needed to complete the project is 20 weeks.

Superfast broadband update Leicestershire County Council (LCC) has asked parishes to consider ways in which superfast broadband might be delivered to areas with poor connectivity. The parish council resolved to invite neighbouring small parishes to a meeting with LCC representatives to consider this problem, following helpful advice from local RuralWeb members. The aim would be, firstly, to seek clarification on the present proposals and then to explore possible further developments. Some 18,000 premises across the county could miss out under the current proposals.

Millennium notice board After much deliberation on how to solve the notice board problem, the council has accepted an offer to reduce its size and mount it on the front wall of the village hall. In the 14 years since it was built and erected outside the hall to celebrate the year 2000, its weight gradually caused it to lean


forwards, risking collapse. Hand-crafted from mainly solid oak and with a Swithland slate roof, even re-positioning it in the same place would not prevent the same problem in the future as the uprights had gradually bent under the strain of its weight.

Section 106 (S106) payments scrutinized The parish chair and clerk were able to sit in on a new Charnwood Borough Council scrutiny panel which will consider if its S106 policy works properly. S106 allows borough council planners to insist that developers contribute to help fund the extra burden their development will have on local services such as schools, GP surgeries and play facilities. At the panel meeting borough councillors challenged officers on their implementation of this legislation and will meet for another five or six sessions to work through their concerns. It will publish a report in a few months. Parish councils have similar views and were invited to send questions to the panel.

Ann Irving, Clerk to the Council For more parish council information, including meeting dates and minutes, see http://woodhouseparishcouncil.org.uk/

News in brief Thanks to Remembrance Sunday volunteers Many thanks to all the volunteers who were on duty on Remembrance Sunday and despite the half-hour delay at St Paul's Church, most drivers seemed to muddle through in the end. One overtook a line I had stopped at The Brand junction and was probably the same car that pushed past St Mary's Church as the congregation were emerging. Otherwise, both ceremonies went well.

Welbeck Defence Sixth Form College ceremony in Woodhouse was also well-attended and there seemed to be a fair number of family groups visiting local hostelries afterwards. In addition to sending 25 young people to the Albert Hall and the Cenotaph, Welbeck students supplied young buglers to Swithland, a group to Loughborough, some to Quorn, and of course some attended the military ceremony at St Mary's Church in Woodhouse alongside distinguished current and past officers from the three armed services who visit us each year with the Garats Hay branch of the Royal British Legion. Our poppy wreath supplier, taxi-owner Noel Bertram, was a standard bearer at the Albert Hall.

Thanks are also due to Le Fevres and Woodhouse News for lending their display stands, to police for sending two officers and several police cars


and to Charnwood Borough Council for clearing leaves around both churches. It's a lot of work but residents appreciate it and parading children are able to travel to and from St Paul's Church more safely. Thanks again.

Ann Irving

Ministerial praise for phonics achievement Pupils and staff at St Paul’s School in Woodhouse Eaves have been celebrating after their recent phonics check put them in the top five per cent of schools in England. At least 95 per cent of pupils in year one achieved the expected standard in phonics (a method of teaching children to read using sounds) and the school received a letter from Nick Gibb MP, minister for school reform, congratulating them on their success. Across England, 74 per cent of pupils achieved the expected standard in the check.

He said it was a ‘tremendous achievement’ and praised the school for ensuring that every child in year one ‘has a firm foundation for reading, from which they can develop further reading skills and become increasingly sophisticated readers’. Headteacher Cal Hurst said that the school was ‘delighted and proud’ to have received the letter and added, ‘well done to the children and staff for this fantastic achievement’.

Dawn Kirby

Woodhouse Eaves Cricket Club update With the season now ended, the club tidied up the loose ends recently with a combined awards presentation evening and annual general meeting.

The first team awards went to Nick Collins (batting), Paul Oliver (bowling) and a special award went to Nick Stovell for his 8/18 bowling performance against Stoke Golding. Asif Vahallwala scooped the second team and the Thursday XI’s Player of the Year awards. The Sunday XI’s awards went to Elyas Kara (batting) and Nilesh Dave (bowling).

Illyas Bhayat was presented with the Matt Pearson Fielding Award, Martin Palmer received the Mick Payne Trophy and Steve White won the Reg Allen Trophy for Clubman of the Year. Congratulations also go to Nick Collins who won the League’s Divisional Batting Award for his 693 runs at an average of 49.5.

There were no changes to the club’s administration team following the meeting, but there were some exciting appointments on the playing side. The club remains under the shrewd guidance of John Gillingham with other key jobs staying in the safe hands of Steve White and Martin Palmer. It is


worth noting that the club is still short of a social secretary – is anyone out there interested in taking the post? No cricketing experience is necessary.

On the playing front, Andy Stovell stood down as club captain after three successful years to be replaced by Paul Gleaves. Interestingly, Paul will be supported by two vice captains – Nick Collins and Illyas Bhayat. Suhayl Patel and Santhan Achunala have taken on the responsibility for both the second and the Thursday teams, while Steve White and Mo Sadar are looking after the Sunday friendlies.

Don Bennett

Swinging success A jazz supper organized by Marsha Blissett of Woodhouse, Bridget Dimblebee of Woodhouse Eaves and Maureen Sumner was held at Swithland Village Hall on 1st November. We were delighted to sell all 80 tickets and to make £2,260 for LOROS Hospice.

The Hiss and Boo band played for our entertainment and a wonderful supper was cooked by Jackie Benford, who was helped on the evening by her sister Jane, daughter Georgina and her mum Janet. We were very grateful for their help. Ian Waterland, of Knead Good Bread, Woodhouse


Eaves donated 80 bread rolls and Richard Dimblebee, of the Wheatsheaf Inn, donated some fizz to start the evening with a sparkle.

Marsha Blissett

Returning to poo... A couple of people asked me, after my previous article about the problem of dog poo around the village was published (see Roundabout, October 2014), why I didn’t mention the lack of poo bins in the area? In my defence, I did make an appeal for more facilities but it was omitted in the edit.

A bin somewhere on Mill Road, below the windmill, in Woodhouse Eaves is desperately needed for those using the lower Broombriggs circular path.

The existing bins in Broombriggs car park and near the Maplewell Road entrance are not sufficient. Many bags are instead being deposited in the rubbish bin by the gate leading from the mill field or, worse still, are being left in the verges above Mill Road. A Birdhill Road resident has also pleaded for another bin there. I know folk should take poo bags home but the fact is they don’t; so I would appeal to the parish council to exert pressure in the right quarters to remedy this unsavoury situation.

Mark Temple

Open grounds at The Brand Exploring ponds and rocky quarries, identifying trees and birds, and finding a natural treasure trove were all the order of the day on 12th October at an open day at The Brand. The well-established gardens at The Brand cover over 40 acres. All but three acres are wild with a network of pathways leading visitors to discover streams, follies and the three disused slate quarries which now form small lakes.

Volunteers worked extremely hard to erect marquees and to signpost trails around the grounds for the day. There was an informative botanical walk led

One of the disused quarries at The Brand.


by Botanical Society of the British Isles’ members and visitors were shown how to use a hand lens and to identify wild plant species. Two walks were also led by local bird enthusiasts. It was a glorious day and refreshments were served al fresco in the sunshine, quite an achievement for October. Maggie Morland donated a beautiful autumn painting to the raffle and children’s activities included leaf art and a treasure trail.

The Charnwood Group of the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust would like to thank everyone who came along and the generosity of Colonel and Mrs Martin for welcoming us to explore their beautiful grounds. Over £1,000 was raised which will be invested in local wildlife projects.

Kate Moore

Afternoon tea triumph On 25th October the upstairs room of the Methodist Church in Woodhouse Eaves was buzzing with tables being laid and balloons and bunting being strung around the room in preparation for the 75 people who had booked for an afternoon of eating cakes, sandwiches and scones with cream.

The tea was organized by us as a family because our granddaughter Eloise was born with a little heard of chromosome disorder known as 22q 11.2 (a sort of postcode for where the gene is missing) sometimes called DiGeorge Syndrome. Children with this may have complex heart defects, digestive disorders, poor immune systems, speech and language difficulties and learning difficulties. Our family has been greatly helped by the Max Appeal charity, which supports those affected by this condition, so we took the opportunity to eat cake and raise much needed funds for them. We are fortunate to live in an amazing village with such a caring community and were overwhelmed to raise £690.

We all want to say a huge thank you to everyone who supported us in any way, from making cakes to eating them and those who did neither but still


contributed. It was suggested by a few people that this could be a regular event so perhaps we will look at doing it again sometime when we have recovered from baking fatigue.

Gill Thompson

Art to bring the parish’s countryside to life Artists who meet every week in Woodhouse to paint and draw together and be inspired by the beauties of the parish will be among those bringing the area to life via art at an exhibition.

Charnwood Drawing and Painting Club meets every Tuesday at Beaumanor Hall in Woodhouse from 10.00am to 12.00pm. One of its members, Jill Whitehouse has been fascinated with art from a young age saying ‘I’ve always done art; I’ve found it interesting and relaxing’. Since joining the club 12 years ago she has found a local outlet for her talent, which has seen her specialize in watercolours and pastels.

Describing the Woodhouse group as ‘friendly’, their Tuesday morning sessions are very popular and members go to relax and paint looking at each other’s work to get ideas. In the summer they head out into the parish sketching and being inspired by the countryside. The club also runs an exhibition in the summer in the village hall annexe to coincide with Woodhouse Eaves Open Gardens.

Jill will be presenting her pastel work, Bird of prey at the Charnwood Exposed exhibition running from now until 4th January 2015 at Charnwood Museum, Loughborough. Each work in the exhibition has a link with Charnwood and she chose the work because of the amount of birds of prey you can see while walking through the countryside. For more information visit charnwooddrawingpaintingclub.com

Dawn Kirby

Dreaming of a green Christmas We are coming to the time of year of turkey, plum pudding and hopefully presents all wrapped up in pretty paper; but what to do after the presents have been opened and you have a mass of cardboard and paper to deal with? As always, you can put extra recycling material out with your green bin but it must be in clear plastic bags. This is so that the collectors can see that it is recyclable material and not ‘black bin’ stuff.

Jill’s work Bird of prey.


You can recycle paper, cardboard and plastics (types one, two, four, five and six but not type three – you can see the type it is inside the ‘recycle triangle’ on plastic packaging). However, you cannot recycle metallised paper, crisp packets, polystyrene blocks or foam trays. Large cardboard boxes can be left beside the green bin, so long as they have been collapsed. One tip I would give is to fold them inside out so that you are not advertising that you have a new, expensive item in your house.

Now, what if you have a real Christmas tree? On the first brown bin collection day after twelfth night, real (i.e. compostable) trees will be collected. The tree must be stripped of all ornaments and cut down to lengths of no more than one metre. If you do not have a brown bin, but you have a neighbour who does, you may leave your tree beside their bin to be collected. For this once you do not have to subscribe to the brown bin collection service, but you do have to leave your tree beside a brown bin.

As a general comment, you can always ask Charnwood Borough Council for a second green bin as long as you can justify it. You can also downsize your 240-litre black bin to a smaller 180-litre bin at any time. This may be of particular interest to those with little black bin waste but who are forever tripping over a nearly empty black bin. If you want another green bin, or to exchange your black bin, call the council on (01509) 263 151 and talk to the people in the waste and refuse department.

Revised waste collection dates over the Christmas holidays will be shown on www.charnwood.gov.uk/pages/domestic_refuse_collections

Have a happy, recyclable Christmas!

Bertil Schou

Remembrance Sunday for both old and young Remembrance Sunday was marked across the parish with ceremonies to commemorate those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country in war. Mervyn Greenhalgh writes about how his father-in-law, Harold ‘Batch’ Batchelder, shared some of his wartime experiences with the next generation at Welbeck College. Ed.

Remembrance Sunday at Welbeck Sixth Form Defence College in Woodhouse was a very special day for two war veterans; D-Day veteran Stan Clark (father of Martin Clark, who runs the newsagent in Main Street, Woodhouse Eaves see Roundabout July/August 2014) and Harold ‘Batch’ Batchelder, who presented a wreath at the college’s ceremony on behalf of the Royal Air Forces Ex-Prisoners of War Association. At 94, Batch values his association with the college’s staff and students highly and he wanted to


share some of his wartime experiences.

At 20, he captained a Halifax bomber in the Second World War, was decorated for bravery, subsequently shot down and spent three years in various prison camps, including Stalag Luft III in Poland – the camp made famous for the ‘Great Escape’ – and finally, he survived the horrendous Long March toward the end of the war.

Prisoner of war exhibition An exhibition was set up at the college and we are indebted to the daughter of Roy Kilminster (a prisoner-of-war friend of Batch's) as she loaned precious memorabilia that belonged to her father, who was a forger and made amazing identity documents for escapees and a radio which picked up the BBC news.

Harold ‘Batch’ Batchelder laying a wreath at the Remembrance Sunday ceremony at Welbeck.


As part of the exhibition, Batch loaned sketches actually drawn in the escape tunnel ‘Harry’, copies of the handwritten daily camp newspaper which gives an insight into camp life and photos of theatrical productions which became the spring-board for several well-known West End actors.

Finally, the exhibition featured dramatic memorabilia of the Long March. In January 1945 the Germans force-marched 20,000 prisoners of war over 1,000 miles from Poland into Germany ahead of the advancing Russian army. It lasted three months in conditions of 30 to 40 degrees below freezing. They were made to live off the land as they had no food or water. Batch survived but he weighed only five stone.

Batch would like to thank Major Fiona Hollas, Jim Crookes and all at Welbeck for giving him the opportunity to pay his respects to those who gave their lives for us and to those whose lives who have been forever affected by war.

Mervyn Greenhalgh Major Hollas, Vice Principal Military at the college, said they were grateful to both Mr Batchelder and the family of Roy Kilminster for the loan of ‘these priceless pieces of history from the Great Escape’. She added that it was ‘a humbling experience’ to welcome Mr Batchelder to the Remembrance service and assist him in laying the Prisoner of War Association wreath. Ed.

Children broaden their horizons on overseas trip Trailblazing youngsters from St Paul’s School left Woodhouse Eaves behind for a few days to experience the culture, language and food of France. They stayed at Le Château du Broutel in Rue, northern France and thanks to the wonders of the internet, parents of the 25 year six pupils were kept up-to-date with their activities through regular postings on the school’s website.

Headteacher Cal Hurst said the aim of the trip was ‘an opportunity to immerse the children in French culture and language. Our aim was to engender a love of France and the language before the children head off to secondary school’. She added that she hoped it would become a regular fixture for the school’s year six pupils who returned ‘with social skills, confidence and team spirit fired up for the year’.

The youngsters at Le Château du Broutel.


Sweets, baguettes and pêtanque Their first full day in France saw the children visit the Becasuc sweet factory in Boulogne where they watched the confectioner make both hard-boiled and soft-jelly sweets in the traditional fashion. They learned about the different ingredients required, some children had a go at helping to pour the sweet, sticky liquid into moulds before watching the machine at work shaping and then cooling the sweets. All of the children enjoyed tasting the end product.

After enjoying a baguette for lunch, they walked on the beach collecting pebbles before visiting the old town in Bologne and the Basilica Notre Dame. They then stopped at a crêperie where the children could practise their French ordering either a lemon or chocolate crêpe.

The next day they explored Rue learning more about the history of the town’s château, which had been occupied by the Nazis during the Second World War, and visiting the local churches and shops before heading into a café to order hot chocolates. The trip’s chocolate theme continued with a visit to a chocolate factory.

On the last day of the trip they visited the bustling market in Abbeville where traders were selling meat, fish and vegetables. This was an excellent opportunity for the children to practise their French. Later, they played pêtanque and volleyball back at their accommodation, and for dinner the children had the chance to try some traditional French cuisine including frogs’ legs and snails. Lots of the children had a go and some even said that they enjoyed them.

Dawn Kirby

Fearless father’s leap into the blue When it comes to raising money for charity, people turn to the wacky antics like sitting in tubs of baked beans or to feats of endurance like marathons or even to growing facial hair – all with their feet strictly rooted on terra firma. Mike Harrison, of Paterson Drive, Woodhouse Eaves decided to go a step, or even a leap, further by jumping out of a plane in October.

Surprisingly, the father-of-four admits that he has always been interested in doing a skydive ever since he’d heard, many years ago that our heart rate

The children at the crêperie


‘never goes faster than when going into the blue yonder’ and he thought ‘that must be quite a buzz; I must try it’.

Skydiving opportunities don’t just fall out of thin air and his only previous, sky-related exploit was a sedate hot-air balloon ride with his wife Rachel, so it was several years before Mike was able to fulfil his ambition. In his role as the Diocese of Leicester’s director of mission and ministry he suggested doing a skydive as part of this year’s clergy and laypeople training programme. Two others took up the challenge alongside Mike who explained that ‘as I put it on I thought I’d better do it too’.

Into the blue Sat at 13,000 feet in a very small Cessna plane with around 10 people onboard, Mike found the experience ‘very thrilling’. Doing a tandem skydive he was strapped to a 15-stone instructor and just before the jump, he had to sit on the edge of the plane looking out into the vast sky, legs tucked under fuselage before he was pushed out of the plane.

The first five seconds of the skydive were in free fall where Mike was travelling at 140 to 150 miles per hour (mph) and he said ‘I couldn’t really work out if I was the right way up or upside down; all you could see was blue’. When the parachute was deployed, his fall slowed to a mere 90mph which ‘felt like we were floating down’. The whole jump lasted around five minutes but as Mike explained there were plenty of sights to take in:

You get to see some amazing things. The sun was behind us and had formed a circular rainbow on the clouds. Then I saw blackness on the rainbow and I realized that it was our shadow coming through it.

But as well as fulfilling a longstanding ambition, Mike has also managed to raise around £800 for the Valparai Indian girls’ hostel. It is a place where girls from nearby poor rural areas can receive an education, but it needs funding to provide security to protect them while they are there. For more information visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/StuartBurns

Dawn Kirby

Mike Harrison.


December and January codeword A codeword is like a crossword puzzle, but the letters in the grid have been replaced by numbers. Each number represents a letter of the alphabet and all 26 letters are present. As in any crossword, the words used can include proper nouns and even common phrases. Can you solve the puzzle? We have given you some letters to help you get started. The solution can be found on page 35. (Andy Thomson)


The Woodhouse Eaves cinema When a volunteer film group was set up at the end of 2010, the aim was to organize regular film screenings in Woodhouse Eaves Village Hall in conjunction with Centre Screen Leicestershire and Rutland, thereby providing an evening’s good entertainment in friendly surroundings without having to trek into Loughborough. We hoped that this non-profit-making facility might be welcomed by residents who lack private transport, especially as the parish now lacks an evening bus service. We are grateful to the parish council for offering to underwrite the shows, as a service to the community; fortunately we haven’t yet had to take up the offer.

The good news and the not so good news The first film, From Time To Time shown on 2nd March 2011, attracted a good-sized audience and though not all of our choices proved popular, we broke even financially at the end of the year. Our second year, however, was hugely successful with audiences averaging around 90 and three films – The Help, The Artist and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel topping 100 and attracting people from outside the parish.

We tried having an afternoon showing as well as an evening showing of some films, hoping that daytime viewing might be more attractive to some older residents, but the outcomes were mixed. Although The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel had an attendance of 118 across the two screenings, The King’s Speech had only about 25 attendees for each performance. As we had to pay the full price for each screening, we made a significant loss for The King’s Speech and so feel double screening is a risk we can’t afford to take in future.

The social side of the film shows (free tea/coffee and biscuits afterwards plus optional bring-your-own refreshments while viewing) continues to be an attraction with people happily talking for up to half-an-hour after films have ended. Sadly, though, despite the organizing group’s best efforts to choose films to appeal to our local population, we have seen attendances fall dramatically since autumn 2013, with a record low of 26 in September 2013 for the John Lennon ‘biopic’ Nowhere Boy, and attendances to the end of September this year averaging only 33.

Help of all sorts Thanks to the success of 2011, our finances are not yet in the red, however, and so we are planning a programme for 2015, trying to standardize as far as possible on the last Wednesday of a month, and showing films monthly


during autumn, winter and early spring, instead of in alternate months throughout the year. We will also continue the offer of a pick-up service for people who would like to attend a film but can’t manage the walk to the village hall; please telephone (01509) 890 050 if you need a lift. The organizing group works hard to make film evenings pleasurable but would welcome a few more volunteers to help on the night and to bring their own thoughts about films that might go down well. Please call me on (01509) 891 319 if you would like to join us – we are a friendly lot.

It isn’t always easy to make the right choice: sometimes a film has been so popular that everyone’s already seen it but our biggest worry is that a film will appear on television at the same time as it’s on at the village hall.

Evelyn Brown (on behalf of the organizing group)

Twelve halves make a whole challenge To complete one half-marathon is a feat in itself but a father-of-two has dusted off his trainers and is planning to run 12 half-marathons over the next 12 months in memory of his wife and to raise money for charity.

David Gregory from Woodhouse Eaves has just completed the Leicester Half Marathon and has 11 more lined up in his sights including half-marathons in Milton Keynes and Edinburgh. His late wife Sharon would have turned 40 on 15th December and David is doing the runs to mark this birthday and to raise funds for LOROS. The 41-year-old’s daughters, Amber and Chelsea, are fully behind their dad thinking it’s a good way for him to lose a few pounds and help a worthy cause.

Sudden loss In October 2012 Sharon suddenly felt unwell while dropping the children off at school so she saw a doctor at the walk-in centre who referred her to hospital for tests. She was diagnosed with a rare peritoneal cancer and within nine days of the diagnosis she was told the cancer was terminal and she had between 24 hours and a fortnight to live.

Thanks to the care and treatment provided by the LOROS Hospice in Leicester she was able to spend as much time as possible with her family

David Gregory with his daughters Amber and Chelsea.


and friends. David said that the staff provided ‘amazing care and treatment’ even allowing them to fulfil one of Sharon’s final wishes, for the family to enjoy a special day trip through Bradgate Park in a Hummer Limousine. Sadly, Sharon died aged 37 on 7th November 2012.

Since then David and his friends have been busy, raising more than £11,000 as a way of thanking LOROS Hospice for its care. For more information visit www.justgiving.com/David-Gregory6

Dawn Kirby

Salon owner sails into the sunset Derek Renshaw, owner of Elite Hairstyles by Derek in Main Street, Woodhouse Eaves, takes the opportunity to say thank you and farewell as he sails off into retirement. Ed.

After 41 years of both living and working in Woodhouse Eaves, it is with much sadness and anticipation that I am leaving to retire.

At the age of 15, some 47 years ago, I can remember being interviewed by Alexander Scott Demaret, one of the leading hairdressers of the time, in the hope of working in his salon, Alexander’s Hair and Beauty. Unfortunately, he had no full-time vacancy for me but he did offer me the chance to work with him on Saturdays. It was a good way for him to see if I was up to the role.


Alex advised me the year before apprentices had paid for their own training, which is very different to the situation today. The expectation was for me to work at his new salon in Biggin Street, Loughborough but thankfully, I came to his salon in Woodhouse Eaves. It was only later I went on to work and then manage the Loughborough salon for 18 months. During this time, Alex had sold his Woodhouse Eaves salon.

Moving to Woodhouse Eaves It had always been my ambition to own my own salon so it was exciting to hear the shop at Woodhouse Eaves was on the market. I had been happiest in the village during my work for Alex so I was delighted to buy the salon in October 1973 and start on a journey that at times was difficult and at others very rewarding.

Less than a year later I married my wife Sue, who has been my support over the years, and we moved into the flat. Our daughter Lisa was born a few years after and has been involved in the village community and continues to do so. Back then, I could not have foreseen the miners’ strike, with the subsequent three-day week due to lack of coal to run the power stations. On the other hand, there were many occasions when we decorated the salon to celebrate joyous times such as the Queen’s Silver Jubilee or joined in village fetes and parades. It has always been a privilege to live and work in Woodhouse Eaves. I would like to thank all my customers past and present for their support, many of whom have now become friends.

We have a touring caravan and we are looking forward to travelling across Europe. I also enjoy sailing, golf and swimming, so there are lots of activities to keep me occupied in retirement. I wish every success for the future to the salon’s new owners Liz and Sam and their team who are very experienced.

I would like to thank the people at Roundabout who give their time freely, keeping us well-informed and up-to-date with what is happening in the area. You are very lucky to have so many essential businesses in the village and my wish is for you to continue to support them, which will ensure ongoing success for them and for the community.

Derek Renshaw sailing.


We would like take this opportunity to wish you all the seasons’ greetings and every happiness for 2015 and beyond.

Derek and Sue Renshaw

Bring back the pub piano Mark Temple shares his memories of music lessons at Maplewell Hall School in Woodhouse Eaves and how he feels pubs should have a piano. Ed.

Clearing out some old files recently I was reminded of the fun I had several years ago in music lessons with Maplewell Hall School students. At this time, John Bennett, the deputy head, was the school's only pianist but as he was often pre-occupied with management duties there was no obvious person to take on the teaching of music in the school. Rather than deprive the students of music classes, a colleague and I took over the task of teaching music. Our efforts would be unlikely to satisfy today's national curriculum requirements but we did provide students with the opportunity to both hear and make music.

We decided to base many lessons around group singing, encouraging the kids to sing along to the sort of songs they would be likely to hear in pubs


and parties. Yes, we inserted the odd contemporary pop song here and there but most of the time we used songs from the past, from the stage, the cinema and music hall, which we strung together in medleys accompanied most of the time by guitar. It wasn't ideal and we soon coerced a retired piano teacher to come and play for us.

The enthusiasm generated was tremendous and most students relished the experience of taking part in Christmas pantomimes which contained dozens of these songs linked by snippets of dialogue. We did 17 Christmas shows in all from 1978 until our final show in 1995.

Bring back the pub singsong Apart from feeling nostalgic about those Maplewell shows, I think it is rather sad that these days communities rarely have the chance to come together to enjoy an old-fashioned singsong. In the past, pubs often hosted such evenings and although we do have clubs holding karaoke nights these are quite different – they may give budding Tina Turners or Barry Manilows the chance to strut their stuff with friends but these aren't sing-alongs.

I remember, as a Loughborough student in the 1970s, calling in a couple of town-centre pubs where they still had an old upright piano in one corner and where for 20 minutes or so, twice a week, an enthusiastic local would sit down and reel through a repertoire of old songs. Specifically I remember, Mr Clarke at the Old Packe Horse (now the Organ Grinder).

If I recall he had a gravelly voice which he used to launch most songs, he rarely had any sheet music and songs were strung together with smooth dexterity. Irish melodies were integrated with music-hall ballads and wartime hits with everything from Ivor Novello to Buddy Holly. Occasionally soloists would be encouraged to lead a verse or two while the audience waited eagerly for the chorus.

Re-emergence So, what has happened to this very British tradition? I heard on the radio a few weeks ago that a group in London (I think they were called Pianos in Pubs for Sing-alongs or PIPS) were trying to re-introduce pianos and pub sing-alongs into a couple of city pubs, citing the fact that out of nearly 1,000 London pubs surveyed only seven still had pianos used regularly to accompany community singsongs.

I read in a magazine last year that in the Richmond area of Yorkshire, two students, just for a little bit of beer money in the summer holidays, were trawling around a number of willing inns with an old piano in a trailer simply


to provide the locals with an opportunity for a good old-fashioned singsong. What about in our area? I doubt there is any pub in the county that still has a piano available on the premises to be used in this way (I'd love to be corrected). It is very sad that this should be the case, more-so given the fact that one local lady, back in the 1960s, became a national treasure when her particular style of pub-piano playing hit our television screens. I'm speaking of course of Hathern's Mrs Mills.

I am no fan of jukeboxes or canned music playing incessantly in bars or restaurants and, personally, I shy away from pubs where football is screened. Surely once a week a few minutes of live music, played by an enthusiastic amateur, would add something positive to the ambience and community spirit of any local hostelry.

On a trip to London recently I was pleasantly surprised to see that in the busy concourse in St Pancras and King Cross stations several brightly-painted upright pianos had been installed to allow members of the public to play. While sitting in one of the station cafes we heard several people playing a wide variety of pieces. The only time we get close to sharing anything like this is when a few locals get invited along to sing a few carols each Christmas. Such a pity, for back in the 1980s I recall going into the Curzon on more than one occasion to be entertained by a local amateur pianist and joining the locals in such standards as You are my sunshine, Pack up your troubles and forgotten classics like You can't keep a horse in a lighthouse. They don't write 'em like that anymore.

Mark Temple

We all knead good bread Ian Waterland shares with us the rather unusual personal journey from mental health care to baking bread as a vocation. Ed.

A copy of Roundabout a few issues back (see Roundabout, May 2014) resonated with my recent journey from working in mental health for 28 years into the world of bread. The fact that Woodhouse Eaves used to have its own bakery, coal-fired and running seven days a week and its subsequent demise, is due in no small part to the British invention of the Chorleywood Bread Process in the 1950s. This combined heat, chemicals and machines to create a very fast method of producing bread. Over 80 per cent of bread consumed in the UK is still made with this method.

In the last couple of years ‘real’ bread, which is made without chemical additives and chemical processing aids, has made a resurgence as people


realize the amazing health benefits and flavour of bread made slowly. There is even a Real Bread Campaign organization promoting this change.

A bread-baking journey As a child I ate wholemeal and white loaves made by my mum. They were basic loaves without added ingredients. Saturday was baking day and they tasted fantastic, especially if we were allowed to eat some fresh out of the oven, although they were often destined for the freezer to use in the week.

Over the intervening years, lots of them, I flirted with making bread, with bread machines, different techniques and different flour. I was okay at it, without ever really knowing what I was doing or why. Occasional trips to France and inspirational bakeries and bakers here and there, made me fantasize about being a baker and making amazing bread.

My random and wandering career up and down the ladder of management in mental health care led me, while working in the NHS, to complete a degree in Advanced Mental Health Practice in 2012. I studied stress vulnerability, mindfulness and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Towards the end of these studies, I came to the realization that giving people something fruitful and productive to do, improving diet and exercise were probably just as important as any other strategies in improving health. I realize that this is not news, but I felt like I had actually found what I believed in. I imagined combining my experience of working with people and making bread.

At around this time I came across The School of Artisan Food and bought a one-day patisserie course as a present for my ever-supportive wife. It sounded amazing and on her return she said what a great place it was and, half-jokingly, said I should sign up for the full-time, one-year diploma in bread baking. A few short weeks later I was signed up and raring to go, leaving the NHS and the security of permanent employment behind.


The course has been amazing, full of experiences and learning that have developed my baking, led me to understand what I am doing and given me the confidence to pursue my dreams. Those two dreams are to open a micro-bakery making and selling bread in Woodhouse Eaves and to teach people how to make bread and be healthy.

Setting up business After a huge amount of preparation and some problems along the way, I am delighted to say I have launched my micro-bakery selling bread under the name Knead Good Bread. My aim is to sell locally, direct to people, two or three times a week. You can find me parked up near the village hall on a Wednesday at 3pm selling tea-time treats and a Thursday at 5pm selling a range of real bread. One of the most satisfying aspects so far is that adults and children alike love the taste and texture of the bread.

Bread baking on a larger scale is challenging at times, it takes me two or three days to make each batch of bread and there are lots of variables to control to produce great bread. If you see me walking down the hill looking worried I probably have misbehaving sourdough at home.

In the future I will be developing opportunities for people to learn how to make bread and also hope to do more work with people who have mental health problems, learning and other disabilities, to discover how making bread can change their world. Seeing people walk away with a fresh loaf of healthy bread they have made themselves is a genuine thrill.

Ian Waterland


I have lived in the village a relatively short time (about nine years) and through involvement with playgroups, St Paul’s School and Scouting I have become very attached to village life. I love the area and run and cycle around Broombriggs and the Beacon regularly as part of my personal stay healthy life balance. I hope Knead Good Bread will become an established part of the vibrant village we are lucky to live in.

Ian Waterland

Local History Group October meeting: Loughborough Zeppelin raid On 14th October Mel Gould, of the Loughborough Carillon and War Memorial Museum, gave a superb talk to the Woodhouse and Woodhouse Eaves Local History Group. His subject was the Zeppelin raid on Loughborough during the night of 31st January and 1st February 1916.

First he explained the origins and basic principles of Zeppelin airships and outlined the use of these huge, lighter-than-air machines during the First World War, primarily by the German Navy. He gave a fascinating insight into how their crews were drawn from the cream of that service and explained how propaganda on both sides of the conflict cast its shadow over them. In


Germany propaganda greatly exaggerated the impact of their hazardous missions and it also turned them into figures of hate in Britain.

Mel Gould also outlined just who the English victims of the raid on Loughborough were, how and where they died, and precisely where the German bombs fell. His listeners were fascinated by the chance and almost random nature of the bombing, which reflected the fact that Zeppelin commanders rarely, if ever, knew where they were when flying at night in winter. This was because of the extremely primitive navigational aids available at that time.

His talk concluded with a look at the fate of the Zeppelin crews, including that of the airship L20 which actually bombed Loughborough. The latter's commander Franz Stabbert had been under the impression that he had attacked a battery of anti-aircraft guns east of Sheffield, before dropping more bombs on Burton-on-Trent in the belief that this target consisted of blast furnaces north and south of Sheffield itself.

David Nicolle

Local History Group November meeting: the good, the bad and sometimes ugly Leicester people A most interesting and amusing talk was given to the Woodhouse and Woodhouse Eaves Local History Group by Blue Badge guide Robert Gregory on 10th November 2014 entitled ‘The good, bad and sometimes ugly, naughty and nice Leicester people’.

The good One of the characters Robert described was Edward Vaughan, a former vicar of St Martin’s Cathedral. The cathedral porch was erected in 1896/7 and paid for by public subscription to honour the work of Edward and his three sons. They were instrumental in providing education for working people, particularly framework knitters, and established Vaughan College in 1862. Frederick Goodyear was Chief Constable in 1836 and lived for many years in a cottage built next to the Mayor’s Parlour in the Guildhall. His salary was £125 per year and he did much to stamp out corruption in local politics with cells built next to his cottage.

The bad Albert Hattersley was the only man who escaped over the wall of Leicester Prison – this has the highest prison wall in the country being 40-foot tall, 16-foot thick at the base and six-foot thick at the top. He managed to get onto a


train to Nottingham later that day but was arrested at the station because a passenger had left a copy of the Leicester Mercury on the train with his picture on the front and he was recognized immediately.

While George Davenport, who lived in Wigston, was Leicester’s most notorious highwayman. He was originally a framework knitter in the late 1790s but, due to his athletic build, he was able to escape detention many times saying ‘catch me if you can’. He was eventually caught, convicted and hanged at Redhill.

The ugly Daniel Lambert was famous for his obesity, weighing 53 stone and having a waist measurement over nine feet. He worked in the county jail in Highcross and saw the 4th Earl Ferrers of Staunton Harold, said to have a violent temper, who murdered a servant with a pistol. The earl was held in the Tower of London, tried in the House of Lords where he pleaded insanity but was convicted and hanged at Tyburn before a large crowd in 1760.

Robert gave many interesting anecdotes about all these historical personalities and will be welcomed back for further tales in the future.

Stuart Tyler

Notes from a cottage gardener December in the garden – even the hardiest of gardeners can find the inclement weather will keep them indoors during this festive month.

For me, December is a month for planning ahead and making the most of what a winter garden has to offer. Although spring bulbs will have already been bought and planted it is a great time to start studying seed catalogues for next season’s plants and vegetables. There is nothing I like better on a cold wet day than putting my feet up with a nice cup of tea and perusing


new varieties of annuals and vegetables. Seed catalogues are also a great way of saving money on both new varieties and plant quantities – growing plants from seed is easy with a greenhouse or even a sunny windowsill and you can always swap any surplus plants with friends.

Winter makeover Being kept indoors by the weather can be hard, but it’s a good time to study how your garden looks in winter and plan some changes to improve your design. Incorporating points of interest into a garden can create focal points when the rest of the garden is dormant; a winding path marked with clipped evergreen box or staddle stones, a carefully-placed statue or tree can draw the eye and provide interest in winter.

Think about shadows and shapes which become accentuated by the sun low in the sky or the silvery carpeting of a frost. Choose trees such as silver birch or Persian ironwood for their stunning winter bark or dogwoods for their red and gold-spiked branches. Leaving the seedheads on perennials such as Acquilegia and Phlomis can create dramatic silhouettes against a wintery sky. Using variegated plants in your design will also give additional light during winter.

Keep the feeders topped up Looking after the wildlife in your garden is most important during the winter. A well-stocked garden will provide a certain amount of food and shelter, but a well-placed bird feeder or shelter will not only house and feed but guarantee a welcome spectacle of birds and other wildlife. My feeders hang in the apple tree outside by patio doors and I swear there is always a group of blue tits waiting in the branches for me to supply breakfast each morning.

There are plenty of insect houses and other wildlife shelters on the market but you can just make do with a pile of rotting logs and other garden waste in a corner to provide a welcome shelter for insects and mammals. Do be extra careful though if you decide to burn or move your compost at this time, there may well be a Mrs Tiggy-Winkle sleeping away the winter.

Christmas trees On a seasonal note, here are a few tips for those of you who love to decorate the home with a real tree at Christmas. If you have worries about the effect on the environment it might be worth considering that, in most cases, you can assume that for every tree cut down for decoration at Christmas at least one or more are planted in its place. One way to make sure buying your tree is eco-friendly is to buy from a local grower. Trees


imported from Europe contribute to our collective carbon footprint and also deprive British growers of business. You may think that buying a container tree is the answer but beware; don't be fooled into thinking you will be able to plant it out in the garden after the festivities. Container trees have simply been placed into a pot for re-sale; they have little or no root ball and would be unlikely to survive if planted.

If you do want to buy a container tree make sure it has been grown in a pot from a sapling. You can then recycle it by keeping it outside and bringing it in again the following year. This is better than planting it out and then digging it up each year which will place too much stress on the root system. Keep your tree in a north-facing spot and feed once a year.

Jo Poultney

Garden matters for December and January 1. It is the time of the year to get the mower out, give it a good clean and

either replace the oil and check the spark plug or take it in for repair. 2. On a nice crisp day get outside and give the borders a good clear out.

Remove dead leaves and fork between the plants. 3. Get the seed catalogues out to order next year’s plants or seeds and

give something new a try. 4. Work on the allotment and turn over all empty parts of soil as it is best to

get ahead before the weather stops you. It is always good to get into spring with the soil ready for action.

5. If you have fruit trees take out any branches crossing each other. Take out a good third of currant bush branches and open up the centre of gooseberry bushes. Feed all of the above with a general fertilizer.

6. Protect any tender plants from hard frosts, check any terracotta pots that are not frost resistant before they crack and split.

Woodhouses Garden Club meets monthly from February to November.

Neil Roberts

Solution to codeword


The last word Hot-air balloon lands in jail Two sisters on a hot-air balloon ride in India were in for a shock when instead of getting a better view of the animals at a local fair, they ended up getting a close-up view of a prison barracks.

The tourists sparked a major security alert when their pilot lost control of the balloon and had to land it inside a jail. Despite two hours being questioned until the authorities accepted it was an accident, the pair were undaunted and later seen taking an elephant ride instead. – news.sky.com, 5th November 2014.

Flower-pot ‘goalpost’ actually worth £668,000 Just to show how something lying around the house could be worth a fortune – Terry Nurish revealed that an old ‘jardinière’, picked up by his father at a house clearance sale in 1946, was used as a goalpost in his children’s indoor football games.

This was before it was identified as an important piece of French ‘Japonisme’ made by Christofle for the Paris Exhibition in 1874 valued at £10,000 by the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow in 1991. When auctioned recently it sold for £560,000 but with fees added it reached £668,000. – express.co.uk, 24th October 2014.

Have a messy Christmas While it is important to recycle and tidy up after Christmas, remember the wise words of American writer Andy Rooney: ‘one of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas Day. Don’t clean it up too quickly.’ – cited on goodreads.com

Sheepdog rover Paying tribute after his beloved sheepdog Floss died, one farmer went beyond the call of duty by giving the family car a canine makeover. Dave Isaacs spent £2,000 making a car-sized replica of his dog from his Peugeot.

Surprisingly, the car can reach speeds of up to 40mph and can herd sheep, having lights for eyes and an exhaust for a tail. Mr Isaacs said ‘sheep aren’t known for their intelligence and they didn’t seem to notice the difference so they were quite happy’. – metro.co.uk, 6th November 2014.


Contributions to Roundabout We publish items of interest to the communities of Woodhouse and Woodhouse Eaves, such as news of local events, groups and businesses in accordance with the editorial policy (see inside front cover). We can write up people’s stories for those who prefer to talk, rather than write. We do not publish notices of births, deaths or marriages. Most articles are under 800 words and we think they should be!

Format: electronic copy in ‘Word’, using ‘Arial’ font, is most useful, although we accept hand-written items that are legible. Pictures are welcome; digital if you have them, otherwise prints.

What’s on: brief notification of events in the ‘What’s on’ schedule is free. Send event details to Roundabout at the addresses below. Note that we normally include only ‘in parish’ events, may abbreviate the details and are not obliged to include all items submitted.

Adverts: requests for further publicity, even for charities, incur a charge per issue of £8.50 for a quarter page or £17.00 for a half page. Full-page advertisements are not normally accepted. Contact the advertising managers, Amanda and Andrew Garland, on (01509) 890 839 or via the methods listed below.

Copy deadline: please see the bottom of page 3. Send any material by email to [email protected], or by hand or post to, Woodhouse Eaves Post Office, 45 Maplewell Road, Woodhouse Eaves.

What’s on in December and January (continued) January Wed 21st 7.30 WI, ‘A vicar’s tales’, Rev. Trevor

Thurston Smith. Comp: an interesting religious artefact.

Village Hall

Sat 24th 7.00 – 9.00

An evening of Irish dancing. BYO refreshments. Kirsty on 07846 977865.

Village Hall, £2

Wed 28th 7.30 Film show, The Book Thief, starring Emily Watson & Geoffrey Rush. Light refreshments or BYO.

Village Hall, £4 newsagent or on door

Check for more local event details on these web sites: www.woodhouse-eaves.co.uk www.leicestershirevillages.com/woodhouseeaves/local-events.html

What’s on in December and January

December Mon 1st 7.00 Woodhouse Parish Council meeting. Village Hall Tue 2nd 10.30 Woodhouse Society Christmas coffee

morning including stalls. Community Hall, Forest Rd

Thu 4th 7.00 Welbeck students’ Christmas concert. St Paul’s, £6 Fri 5th 6.30 –

8.30 Pie night at Beaumanor Hall. Booking advised, tel. (01509) 890 119.

Beaumanor, pie £9.95

Sat 6th 1.00 – 5.00

Christmas Bazaar featuring craft stalls, refreshments, a raffle and carols.

Maplewell Hall School, 50p

Sat 6th 1.30 – 3.30

St Paul’s Church Christmas Bazaar (see advert on p.30).

Village Hall, 50p

Mon 8th 7.30 Local History Group, ‘Leics. & Rutland ghosts and legends’, David Bell.

Methodist Church

Wed 10th 7.30 Leics. & Rutland Wildlife Trust, ‘Land of ice and fire’, wildlife photographer Danny Green’s insights into Iceland.

Village Hall, £2 members, £2.50 visitors

Fri 12th 12.30 Woodhouse Christmas lunch. For more tel. Marion on (01509) 890 812.

Community Hall, £15

Wed 17th 7.30 WI, ‘Talking rhythms’, Simon Stokes and members’ participation. Comp: a home-made tree decoration.

Village Hall

Wed 31st 8.00 – late

New Year’s Eve party with music by Rip The Sky (see advert on p.38).

Village Hall, £10

January Sun 4th 10.00 –

4.00 Abbey Fairs’ Art Deco Nouveau fair (see advert on p.31).

Beaumanor Hall

Mon 5th 7.00 Woodhouse Parish Council meeting. Village Hall Fri 9th 7.00 –

10.00 Twilight Challenge at Beaumanor Park. Min. age eight and height 1.15 metres. Tel. (01509) 890119.

Beaumanor, £25 adult, £15 under 16

Wed 14th 7.30 Leics. & Rutland Wildlife Trust, ‘A fascination with insects’, Dr Ray Morris, microbiologist.

Village Hall, £2 members, £2.50 visitors

Mon 19th 7.30 Friends Of Charnwood Forest, ‘Ernest Gimson and Stoneywell’, Ernest Miller.

Village Hall, £3 non-members

Continued on inside back cover

roundabout december 2014 / january 2015 1 · 2014. 11. 21. · roundabout aims to promote local...

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