Local children enjoy time off school

The closure of local schools due to the snow provided the opportunity for children to make the most of the weather and time off on Granby hill.

REMEMBRANCE DAY PARADE

The Granby, Barnstone and District branch of the Royal British Legion assembled on a cold but bright morning. The event was tinged with sadness because the long standing Chairman Les Fahy had recently passed away. Les, a WW 2 aircrew veteran, had rarely missed parades in his long association with the branch. We are fortunate that we are always well supported by the Nottingham Branch of the Grenadiers Guards Association. Their members are always immaculately turned out and set the highest standards in drill. The Scouts, Cubs and Guides were well represented and it is encouraging to see the ATC contingent in good numbers and enthusiastic participants in the occasion. A senior “Grenadier” was parade marshall and on his command the standard bearer Reg Stanley moved off escorted by Tim Tomblin and Tim Chamberlin. The contingent moved safely into a packed church and appreciated a moving service and the opportunity to sing 'O Valiant Hearts', a long standing favourite with the Legion! After the service the column marched past the local dignitaries and then repaired to Barnstone Country Club for well deserved refreshments.

Tim Chamberlin

Granby Coffee 'Shop' and Book Swap The Saturday coffee mornings continue to be popular. The next coffee shops will take place on the Saturday mornings of 7th March, 4th April, 2nd May and 6th June from 10.00 to 11.45 am.

All Saints Church News

Over Christmas a congregation of 80 people, including many children, enjoyed a wonderful atmosphere at the candlelit carol service. A group of residents turned out for carol singing in the village on a December evening before Christmas. The sum of £178 was raised for church funds.

Our spring lunch will take place on Sunday 15th March at the village hall 12.30 for 1.00pm. Members of All Saints will prepare a hot lunch. Everyone is welcome, including children of all ages and those new to the village. Tickets are £9.50 for adults and £3.00 for children. Ring Mark 01949 850231, Brenda 01949 850331 or Angela 01949 850064 for tickets.

Thank you to Granby Motors Garage for the generous donation of the Christmas tree in the church yard (see photo)

Brenda Preece

Gardening Club

The gardening club continues to meet monthly, usually in the Marquis of Granby. At the December meeting Erika Humphreys gave an informative talk on 'the garden in winter', making a range of suggestions to keep an interest in the garden over the winter months. Her talk was enhanced by excellent photographs and plant samples from local gardens.

On the 2nd February Steve Lovell presented a talk on 'Roots and shoots' at the village hall (see photo). The next meeting is scheduled for 3rd March at the Marquis 7.30pm. The speaker will be Mike Davey on the topic of 'vegetables for all seasons'. During the summer months the group plan to arrange garden visits.

Footpath Action Group

For those of you who enjoy walking the local footpaths around Granby and Sutton, you may be interested to know that we are starting a local footpath action group. This initiative came out of the parish plan consultation. The aim is to audit, maintain and enjoy the numerous footpaths around the two villages. We already have 21 volunteers for this group but would welcome more support. The idea is that a small group of people 'adopt' a particular footpath and keep an eye on access, signage and maintenance issues. For further information contact Andy Betts on 01949 851974 or andybetts629@btinternet.com (copy and paste)

A long-standing problem on the footpath passing through Granby Lodge has been resolved following a diversion application submitted by the landowner. Granby footpath 4 which passed close to Granby Lodge has been unavailable along the correct line for a number of years. The diversion takes the path onto the southeast side of the river Whipling meeting footpath 3, from Barkestone to Sutton, by the bridge over the river. A small diversion of footpath 3 avoids the cross-field section beyond the bridge. These diversions will allow the landowner better use of the land and will make walking the paths far less of a challenge. Why not fulfil that New Year's resolution, get your boots on and take a walk to explore the fields around your home.

The map below shows the new line of the paths in a solid green line the paths now closed are crossed in red,

Looking for a good book? The Nottinghamshire County.Council mobile library has a good selection of adult and children's books and CDs. The staff are very helpful and will obtain any book for you. The van comes fortnightly on a Friday afternoon - usually green bin Friday! Dates: February 13th, 27th. March 13th, 27th. April 24th. May 8th, 22nd. June 5th, 19th. and so on. Times: Sutton Highland Farm 2.15   Bruncott 2.25   Poplars Farm 2.35   Woodbine Cottage 2.50   Belvoir Vue 3.00 Granby Sutton Lane Green 3.10   Wooden Sheds, Main St. 3.25 to 4.00 This is an excellent facility that is very underused and will surely come under financial scrutiny in these harder times. It may be another example of 'use it or lose it'.

Thank you Loz, Su and family would like to publicly thank everyone for their good wishes, cards help and support during Loz's recent illness. A special thank you to the very kind persons (they know who they are) for their generous gift. It was much appreciated by us all.

Post gets through

The heavy snow fails to prevent Catherine Lee delivering the mail.

Rotary Club News

The Vale of Belvoir Rotary Club would like to thank everyone who gave so generously to our Christmas Float Collection. This year we raised almost £3500 and we also extend our thanks to the generosity of shoppers at M&S who donated an additional £1800 for our chosen charities.
As Rotarians we have no administration charges to apply and so 100% of your contributions will be used to support both local and international need (although we do ensure that money collected on the Christmas float collection will be used to assist in the local community).
Our current activities include the piloting of a Dictionary 4 Life scheme with primary schools in the area (check out our web site for more information), providing much needed equipment for a young disabled adult, donations to Air Ambulance, Wish Upon a Star and MacMillan Nurses, and the purchase of “Shelter Boxes” which provide emergency equipment for families in 'disaster areas' of the world.

Stan Taylor

Granby lights up

New street lights in Granby have made the dark evenings less gloomy over the winter months. The improved lighting was installed in November.

Nottingham Samaritans Needs YOU!!
(but not to answer phones!)

Well, that's not entirely true. You've probably heard of Samaritans. We're the only confidential support service in the area of emotional health that's available for everyone, everywhere, all the time. We're a charity that always needs volunteers to answer the phones and listen to callers – and to do other jobs too. In these times of financial crisis Samaritans is more important than ever. We support people by listening in confidence in a safe arena to help alleviate feelings of distress and despair – feelings which could lead to suicide.

Many people support Samaritans work. Not everyone feels able to listen to callers but would still like to volunteer with the organisation. If that's you then we need you too! We need 'non-listening' volunteers to:
• Devise Publicity Materials
• Arrange a Samaritans Presence at local Festivals
• Liaise with the Local Media
• Devise Fundraising Activities
• Distribute Publicity Material
• Establish a Plan for Getting Samaritan Information into Schools
• And many more important tasks!!

We plan to have monthly action meetings, where we can work as a group to progress our promotional plans. Our next group meeting will be at 3pm on Saturday March 14th at the Samaritans Offices. It would be great if you could join us on that day. If you want to get involved (even if you can't make March 14th) contact Pete Sturgess to be updated about the group's activities.at pxsturgess@hotmail.co.uk (copy & paste) or by phone/text on 7980631820

Yoga and Pilates

The daytime yoga class is doing well (each Wednesday 11.15 a.m. in the village hall). New members are always welcome. We are planning an evening Pilates class to start later in March. Contact Carole Headland for information (01949 850940). Places are limited so you are advised to respond as soon as possible.

Village Hall Floor

Have you been to the village hall recently and seen our newly renovated and much improved floor? It is not new, but it has been sanded down and re-varnished but still retains its old character. The floor looks much better than before and will be easier to keep clean.
The work was done on a voluntary basis and the parish council would like to thank Martyn Powell who gave his expertise, time and energy to get the work completed over a weekend in January. Thanks also to Stan Taylor who stood in at the last minute and gave up a whole day to help us.

Christmas Cheer
&
Music Hall

The Christmas Cheer production took place in the church in December and proved to be very successful evening of light songs such as 'Little Donkey' & 'Mary's Boychild', humorous readings, including a response by the recipient of the gifts for the 12 days of Christmas and more serious reflections such as an account of Christmas in the trenches in 1914. The audience of 60 people participated enthusiastically in the songs and enjoyed mince pies and coffee. £110 was donated to church funds.

The proposed 'Music Hall' that was scheduled for February will now take place in May and anyone intertested in singing, dancing or reciting monologues etc should contact John & Isabel Daw 01949 851212 or johndaw6@aol.com (copy and paste)

Here's a chance to recycle your old curtains! (and other fabrics) Granby cum Sutton Music Hall can use them for their costumes for their forthcoming performance in May Donations can be given to Isabel Daw 01949 851212 or Linda Brockway 01949 843572

Government Service Information

Did you know that the Directgov website provides user-friendly, 24/7 information on all government services –including education, transport, tax, crime, the environment, employment – all in one place and in plain English. As well as being available on the website www.direct.gov.uk, which now attracts more than 11million visits a month, it can now also be accessed on any internet-enabled mobile phone, and on digital TV.

LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES Granby-cum-Sutton Parish Council www.parish.council.freeuk.com Chairman Richard Watchorn Mill Lodge, Sutton Lane, Granby 850516 Vice Chairman Andy Betts Keeper's Cottage, Church Street, Granby 851874 Members Erika Humphreys Woodbine Cottage, Old Forge Lane, Granby 850239 Christine Lineker The Hedgerows, Sutton Lane, Granby 850322 John Miles Orchard House, Sutton cum Granby 851480 David Preece Longacre, Sutton cum Granby 850331 Philip Straw Manor Farm House, Plungar Road, Granby 851556 Clerk Ken Brockway 1 Main Street, Redmile 843577 Rushcliffe Borough Council www.rushcliffe.gov.uk Cllr John A Cranswick The Eaves, Dragon Street, Granby 01949 850770 Nottinghamshire County Council www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk Cllr Martin Suthers The Manor House, Main Street, Flintham 01636 525554 Member of Parliament The Rt. Hon. Kenneth Clarke, Q.C., M.P. Rushcliffe House, 17/19 Rectory Road, West Bridgford NG2 6BE 0115 9817224 PARISH NEWS is published by Granby-cum-Sutton Parish Council and delivered free to every household in the Parish. Editor: Councillor Andy Betts Printed by John A Cranswick The Eaves Dragon Street Granby Nottingham No responsibility will be accepted for any errors or ommissions