Village news
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Sutton Bonington Mike Elliott 0115 937 6506 elliottnews@btconnect.com
ANNUAL SHOW. It’s here again – for the 31st time -- Sutton Bonington’s annual Show, well recognised as a leader in this area in its field. Hard work by dozens of people will come to the fore on Sunday when thousands of people will flock to the village Playing Field for what has become the major social event in the life of the village. The event see lots of families all together as sons and daughter who have left the area after marrying but who return back to the village this coming weekend for the show.
Everything is set for what is the biggest event of the year but prior to showday on Sunday
the showground will be busy on Friday form the show dance and again on Saturday when competitors for the Produce Show will be taking their entries in ready for judging before Sunday. They have to be in to the show marquee between 10-30am and 1-30pm, ready for judging later in the afternoon.
The show dance on Friday will as usual be held in the main showground marquee from 7.30 until midnight. It is being hosted this year by Sutton Bonington Playgroup to celebrate its fiftieth birthday. Organisers promise those attending the birthday bash will be provided with a night of live music, dancing and fun times! Local band Kynch and The Mutts Nutts will be providing the music and entertainment. A bar selling real ales and a selection of wines and soft drinks will be operating on offer and any available tickets can be obtained from Sutton Bonington post office, Bonington Tea Rooms and Pasture Lane Stores at £12.50 each to include drinks reception and food. Contact Sarah Walsh (07557 645713) for further details.
Showday activities start at 10am on Sunday morning with a religious service and then will continue non-stop until 5pm when the traditional auction of produce from the flower and vegetable show takes place. Exhibits in the massive show tent will be on view to the public from 11am to 4.45pm, with the presentation of awards timed at 2pm.
The show is in its 31st year and includes the horticultural show which is recognised as one of the biggest and best in the area.
The overall annual event puts Sutton Bonington on the map and it draws hundreds of people to the village. Each year profits are donated to local groups and charities together with a main charity which in recent years has been the Nottingham Breast Institute. Local organisations benefit as do other charities.
The wide variety of things for show visitors to see will as usual include many highquality exhibits, country foods, trade stalls and crafts and much more.
This year’s Show will have a big connection with animals and birds to help it to live up to it being one of the few rural shows in the area that maintains its grass root connections with livestock.
Four legged animals will include sheep, dogs, cattle and rabbits while the two-legged variety will include ducks, Birds of Prey and fowls
The sheep will be part of a very new attraction under the title The Sheep Show which is billed as EDU-tainment at its best. It will involve a live stage show that has appeared at over 120 outdoor shows throughout the country, from the Orkney Isles to the Royal Cornwall.
It is presented in humorous kiwi style, and introduces spectators to nine different breeds of sheep, each with a story to tell and which are welcomed on to the stage by their own theme tune, “Lenny the Lincoln Long wool”, arriving to a great Bob Marley tune, very apt for a sheep that has natural dread locks. Further into the programme, visitors are given a very informative shearing display and the chance to learn more about wool. To add to this already humorous but educational show, the sheep then do The Sheep Show Shuffle – yes, Dancing sheep !!.
The Leicestershire Dexter Society Show will again be an attraction, with Dexters being the smallest British breed of cattle and which are established as a dual-purpose breed with the average weight of a cow being some 350Kgs and standing approximately 36” to 42” at the shoulder.
A number of prize animals will be on show and after judging, the winning animals from each class will be paraded in the main arena and the cups and rosettes awarded.
Dogs again come into the limelight with the Terrier Racing which over the years has become a highlight of the day’s events.
The two-legged variety come in a number of forms, including Meirion Owen’s Quack Pack team which provides hilariously entertaining duck herding demonstrations for the public and corporate clients. The Quack Pack team of border collies and comical Indian Runner ducks provide entertaining, educational and interactive displays at local, regional and national shows in many parts of the country.
The JRCS Falconry Team which has been a regular visitor for many years will be there and they will be appearing in the arena with a spectacular close up flying demonstration and a chance for the public to get involved, close up to the magnificent Birds of Prey.
Exhibits not for auction can only be collected between 4.30pm and 5pm and unclaimed produce will be auctioned off at 5pm.
Mr Frank Clarke, from the produce show committee, says the overall large number of classes -- there are just two short of 100 – provides opportunities for everyone to enter something and advice and hints for showing are included in the schedule.
Anyone attending the church service planned to herald the start of this year’s show will as usual have to pay to enter the showground - but their fee will be returned if they leave the ground within thirty minutes of the end of the service. The service will start at 10am and as usual will be held in the Horticultural Marquee.
Other attractions on Sunday will be the Sheaf Tossing Championship event and which has taken place at every Sutton Bonington Show and is still as popular today as it was the first year. The best throwers compete in the Grand Final at the end of the afternoon for a cash prize.
The ever-popular Rachel Green Chef Demonstration is expected to attract scores of people to it and watch the various demonstrations she gives. With cookery so well to the fore on many TV channels Rachel’s attendance at the show is even more popular and she herself has several television series under her belt - from ITV Yorkshire’s “Flying Cook” and “World on a Plate”, to “Kill It Cook It! Eat! on BBC3 and “Farm of Fussy Eaters” on UK TV Style.
Terrier Racing is an event which has, over the years, become a highlight, of the day’s events. Anyone is welcome to enter their Terrier into either the flat racing or the hurdles. Qualifying takes place for each event towards the end of the afternoon followed by the finals.
The Dog Agility event is open to anyone who wishes to test his or her dogs’ and their own agility around an obstacle course. The course has different types of jumps to test the fitness of both dog and owners. There will be lots of prizes and a special prize for the fastest time.
There will be a wide selection of vintage vehicles on show with the display including commercial vehicles from days past, vintage motorbikes and cars. Kegworth Tractor Club will have farm machinery on display.
Admission details are– Adults £6p, children (5 to 16) and OAPs £4. Car parking is free.
PLAN APPROVED. Rushcliffe Borough Council have given the go ahead to plans for an existing garage at the West Wing of Sutton Fields House on Station Road at Sutton Bonington the go ahead – but not before the applicant voiced concerns at some previous commentS of opposition to his plans from the parish council. The applicant, Mr Shariff, spoke to a meeting of the parish council and expressed his concern that he had in the past made two applications and had not had favourable response on either occasion from the parish council.
Mr Sharriff explained the history of the property and stated that his current and latest application was being made to enable him to move his parents into the property. The applicant said he felt that the Parish Council had treated him unfairly by objecting to his previous application when a precedent had been set by other garage conversions in that area.
Comment from the parish council for the latest application was that they did not object subject to the application not infringing on Rushcliffe Borough Council policies regarding development in the curtilage of a listed building. They said they Ccnsidered it a sympathetic development in the area.
POLICE REPORT. Police are investigating four crimes in Sutton Bonington that occurred in July. A JCB vehicle parked on Main Street at Zouch - the same police area - was stolen on the 18th and two days later there was a vehicle parked on Pasture Lane at Sutton Bonington - with the keys left in it – stolen and on the same day a burglary at a house on Melton Lane, where entry was gained by breaking a window. On July 26 an industrial unit on Station Road was broken into.
NO OBJECTION. Parish councillors at Sutton Bonington have raised no objection to a planning application submitted to Rushcliffe Borough Council for a single storey front extension and a new entrance porch for the property at 9 Charnwood Fields in the village.
REQUEST REFUSED. A request to Sutton Bonington parish council by Kegworth Cricket Club for a refund on the hire charge for use of the council’s recreation ground due to their first match being called off because of weather conditions, was refused.
DEFIBRILLATOR. The defibrillator positioned at the Kings Head public house in Sutton Bonington is back on site after repair work was carried out to it. And a new battery has been placed in the unit at the Star Inn. WHIST. With Quality Street sweets, runner beans and thirteen prizes to be won, there was plenty on offer at the Whist Drive held on Monday 21st August, 24 players taking part.
Whist winners were; Maureen Johnson 170, Brenda Stainsby 168, Doreen Wright 168, Mike Grout 166, Joan Kyle 165 and Marian Hopewell 165.
Highest Half winners were Colin Stinchcombe and David Ockley. The consolation prize, a packet of Jaffa Cakes, was won by Dorothy Winfield.
Raffle prizes were won by Pat Knight, David Ockley, Colin Stinchcombe and David Gee.
The “13 Kitty” again had a near miss and moved onto £13. It is there to be won, if not won beforehand, at our next Whist Drive, which because of a Parish Council Meeting, will be held on Monday 11th September starting at 7.30pm as usual.
Wysall
PLEA. Wysall and Thorpe Parish Council - formed in 1952 -has made a renewed plea for minutes books recording their early history.
Currently the council clerk Mike Elliott holdes no books prior to 1970 and so there are 18 years of history and records missing and it is for those missing minutes that the appeal is being made.
“It is important that we find them if they are still in existence because they record the history of the council in the opening years and in five years time the council will be 70 anmd wan ts to look to do something to mark the milestone. And hopefuilly thje minutes might reflect some of tbhe activities hneld in the village to mark the Coronatin of ouir Queen in 1953,” says the Clerk.
The council does have in its possession minutes of the Parish Meetings held in the village from 1894 when parish councils were first formed, but Wysall did not establish its until 1952. The 1894 parish meeting was chaired at the opening of it by Mr William Bryans and dring the meeting Mr William Eggleston was elected the permanent chairman. He held office until 1897 when Mr Henry Hollingworth took over to be followed in 1899 by Mr John Derrick.
The council is appealing for anyone who may have knowledge of the missing minutes to contact the clerk on 0115 9376506 or any member.
STRAWBERRY FAIR. Profit for Holy Trinity Church at Wysall from the annual Strawberry Fair earlier this year has been given as £2,320. The event was held on a lovely sunny day and organisers said more people attended than in previous years and several stalls made record profits. This money raised will support go to the church fabric fund and cover the general expenses of the church next year.
A Fashion Show is being held in church on Wednesday September 6: with this being the third such event organised by the church.. The show will begin at 7.30pm. The ticket price remains the same as last year at £15.and will include canapes, both savoury and sweet, and a glass of fizz.
The annual Harvest Festival service will take place on Sunday 17 September. Any fresh, tinned, dried or bottled items can be donated as all the produce will be given to the Friary in West Bridgford.
SOUTH AFRICA TRIP. Sixteen year old Seth Harris of Wysall has recently home returned from South Africa having spent two weeks touring with his school hockey team and has described it as something he will never forget.
Says Seth: “We spent a week in sunny Durban where we played three tough matches against very strong opposition. Aside to the hockey, we visited an orphanage where we presented them with a computer and full football kit so they could set up their own team. This visit was rewarding on many levels, particularly spending time with the children individually made me realise how fortunate I am.”
The Wysall teenager said they had also visited the local marine conservation agency where we learnt about their work in protecting the marine world as well as attending a shark dissection, learning about the anatomy of the shark.
“Later we enjoyed some downtime zip wiring across the Sampoya River before heading to the Dumazulu Cultural Village where we witnessed the traditions of the Zulu Kingdom -- African bush elephant, Black rhinoceros, African Cape buffalo and a Lion -- which was a breath taking experience. To conclude the visit, we visited a Cheetah Outreach project where we saw the great work the project provided.
Seth said that missing out on seeping a leopard wasn’t perhaps surprising. “Our guide hadn’t seen one since New Years Eve last year!”
“The second week of our tour saw us move down to Cape Town where we played our last four matches, again, against very well drilled schools. The facilities available at each school, especially in Cape Town, were second to none.
“However, one match was played with the local children of Langa Township where it made us really appreciate the life we had back in UK. This game was also rewarding for many of the older boys as we were able to see the results of our charity work completed back at school; the new clubhouse and pitch looked brilliant in the shadow of Table Mountain. Towards the latter stages of our tour, the weather became very British and so benefitted the team. We won most of our matches playing in the rain! Fortunately, the weather cleared enough for us to visit Robben Island and the cell of Nelson Mandela before tackling the 2hr 30 walk up Table Mountain the next day. The views at the top were amazing and will certainly stay with me for many years to come, as well as many of the activities I undertook on the tour.“
The Wysall teenager added: “The whole tour was certainly a once in a lifetime experience not to be forgotten. Coupled with the support of the Wysall and Thorpe Bowls Club Educational Trust, the tour was one of the most memorable things I’ve done. I’d like to thank the committee members for helping me to get to South Africa, definitely a trip of a lifetime.”
Seth’s late father Phil was chairman of Wysall and Thorpe Parish until shortly before his death.