©Kirton News 2023

The Editors Letter

Here we go then. All hold your hands in the air ‘cause we’re not scared and we're not holding on in the roller coaster ride into BREXIT (Even if it does sound like a breakfast cereal!) Mother Theresa may not be putting the bins out but she might like to re-consider her own back yard. Let’s hope she realizes what we have with our multi-cultural community as it has developed (over many centuries); and concludes that, what ever opinion may hold sway in the short term, it should be educated, maintained and grown to everyone’s advantage.

As a rural community, and historically reliant on seasonal, peripatetic labour, we have considerations that the financial and political centres may not be conscious of - or at least conveniently ignore. We in Lincolnshire are very much on the front line of many issues that can spiral out of significance on a national or even global scale, but remain supremely relevant. You have to look at economics in a wider perspective than just the ‘Immigration issue’ which - in my opinion - was the single consideration for many to vote “Leave”.

Now the creep on whose shoulders we should squarely lay the blame for this current mess is, of course, David Cameron, our erstwhile late Etonian PM.

Thinking he could get an ‘easy’ in to the next Parliament by offering a referendum, that’s just what he did, imagining that in no way would the British public vote to leave the EU. But he told us nothing except it would be a straight “YES” or “NO”.

The irony - I think - is that had he [and his gnomes] spent a few more weeks putting a more informative case together and telling ‘His People’ exactly what a can of worms might be opened with such a chosen path, or even offering re-negotiations instead of an exit strategy, then he could still be in his cushy number as First Lord of the Admiralty. When it went wrong he bailed out. And doubtless took the more lucrative multi-boardroom option.

What a prat. But we ‘May’ have been saved!

An equally urgent issue should be to control the rise and rise of the ‘Supermarket’. The assassin of the corner shop; the grocer; the ironmonger; the butcher; the baker and, as importantly, the pub.

Stand by what used to be the Stag and Pheasant and look south with thirty year-old eyes.

It’s a local tragedy but a national malaise.

I feel I should redress the political balance now and be totally Corbin.

Let’s face it. If we were all a bit less concerned with our own lot and thought about others a bit more. If we all realized that others may be going through this pain - or worse - and we might be able to help. If those who ‘earn’ (and I use the word cautiously) far more than they would ever need could distribute that wealth more evenly. If you could just turn to the person next to you on the bus (or, I suppose, tube or high speed rail network - if you’re nowhere near the East Coast) and say “Hello”.

Wouldn’t it be a bit special? Wouldn’t it be better?

You don’t have to run an economy on greed or think that, just because you may be on top, you deserve the lion’s share. Consider the steps you have trodden on to get to your dizzy height. Beware sudden attacks of Vertigo. Here comes Summer.

Sam

Calling all runners & joggers in Boston and the surrounding villages

Boston Community Runners are a fun, friendly and informal running group for the Boston area catering for all abilities. With a mission to promote and encourage running within the local community and surrounding villages for everyone, from beginners who are new to running, to the more experienced and performance-based runner and by setting up regular meeting venues in Boston and the villages to bring people together to jog, run and enjoy great company within the community around them. Through fundraising ideas we hope to be able to promote and support local needy causes whilst keeping fit, healthy and happy. We have just held our first fund raising campaign to get the final few hundred pounds needed to purchase a defibrillator for Boston parkrun. You may have seen our flyers on social media. It feels great to be able to help out as a group, and all those that walked, jogged and ran got themselves a fabulous bespoke medal too.

Our members love to run around this part of Lincolnshire but they also participate in a wide number of events such as organised races both locally and nationally, social get-together runs, charity runs and parkrun too. In Boston we are lucky to have our very own parkrun which is an invigorating way to start the weekend and a great way of meeting like minded folk. Many runners have started at parkrun by walking and steadily progressed from there. If you are thinking about getting fitter, want to lose a few pounds or even try something different then you will usually find some of us at parkrun and we will help you get started from a walk through to running....and that wont cost you a penny!!

Regular exercise takes motivation and after a hard days work, the first thing you want to do is sit down and the last thing is to go out running. Belonging to a group of similar minded people helps to give you that extra “push” to get out, and once you have done just that the most common statement is “I’m so glad I came out”. The buzz you get is great.

Set up by friends who were bought together through running and jogging and who realised that the good folk of Boston and the surrounding villages did not have a dedicated club, or a community, where runners could come together. This area of Lincolnshire seems to have many runners, you will see them everyday on your travels and looking at social media there are many more people in areas such as Kirton, Wyberton, Fishtoft and Sibsey asking “Does Boston have a running club?”

There’s no better feeling than that feeling of belonging. To wear a top with your home town on gives you a sense of pride and achievement. Boston is a fabulous town, our villages are traditional and friendly. Through running our aim is to get folk out and about, to help and take pride in the community around them, to raise awareness and promote the good that surrounds us whilst getting fit, making friends and loving life! Whether you are a seasoned runner, a speed king, a mile muncher, a jogger or a plodder, we’d love you to be part of the community.

If you’ve been put off by running clubs, thinking they are too fast for you, or too regimental then worry no more. You’ve just found the relaxed, informal and fun enviroment of Boston Community Runners where we can show you its fun to run without the pressure!

So, if you are looking to start running, or whether you are looking to simply keep fit, meet new friends and have a bit of fun, run your first 5k/10k/half marathon or full marathon, improve personal performance or enter competitive races then why not join our laid back Community? We simply love to run, and never be afraid of being too slow or think you can’t do the distance. You are never left behind.

Please take a look at our website and ‘like’ our social media pages to keep up to date and do drop us a message or email.

The Kirton Church Fund

The May draw takes place on Sunday 28th and the winning numbers will be printed in the July/August magazine.

The June draw takes place on Sunday 18th and the winning numbers will be printed in the September magazine.

Please note the earlier than usual date for the June draw – this is because of our Flower Festival the next weekend!

No first time winners again this month – both our lucky winners have won before, twice for number 13 and three times for number 3. Well done and congratulations to you both.

Prize money has now gone up with the two new members that joined last month. The prize fund each month is 1/4 of the money taken each month. The rest of the money goes to Kirton Church. (Over £650 raised so far this year! Well done everyone.)

The more people that join the higher the prize fund and the more money we raise for the church.

Could you be as lucky in our monthly draw? You won’t know unless you join in. Remember you have to be in it to win it! Anyone over 18 may take part. There is plenty of room for more members (and a very good chance of winning).

Registration forms are available from Fay, please ring 01205 723529, or for more information about Kirton Church Fund please give Fay a ring.

April 2017 Winners

1st PRIZE - £40.24 - TICKET NUMBER: 13
2nd PRIZE - £13.41 - TICKET NUMBER: 3

Letters to the Editor

Well, not exactly a letter but more a report of a few communications I’ve had, by post but also ‘phone and e-mail, from some of you out there sharing a couple of subjects which are of import.

Firstly that regular apparent gremlin “The Skate Park”.

People do appreciate that it’s great for the youngsters to have such a facility to get them out in the fresh air and exercise and enjoy themselves. But, as usual, a few are spoiling it for the many. Reports come in of, what appears to be a regular ‘gang’ of older individuals who are running up people’s driveways, intimidating pets as well as older residents in the area, trampling gardens creating unnecessary noise and mayhem - and generally making life miserable for locals. Enough to prompt one to write:

“It’s nice for the young ones to have somewhere to go instead of watching TV or their i.pads but it has been trouble from when it first opened so it should be taken away and the Park closed down.”

Is there a positive solution? Let me know what you think kids. I would like to hear what Ryan thinks; after all, he really got the ball rolling back in 2013. He’ll be n-n-n-n-nineteen by now.

And another thing... Could anyone advise me just what the local rules are about bonfires please?

Several moans about washing being out on the first sunny day for ages and someone up the road lights a fire! I am sure there are set rules and regs. about such performances but it would be good to clear up exactly WHAT they are.

Thanks (Ed.)

Kirton Kids Club

Kirton Kids Club is a charity run childcare facility that was set up nearly nineteen years ago!

The workforce in Kirton wanted a childcare facility for their children – each end of the school day – so they could continue to go to work but know that their children were happy and cared for while they did – so Kirton Kids Club was ‘born’.

We help to extend the school day for many parents and their children and we work together with Kirton Primary School.

It is not just working parents/carers that use the facility thought. It is open to any child between nursery and fourteen years.

There have been hundreds – if not thousands – of children through our doors in the last nineteen years. I hope they will continue to do so for many years to come too.

All money raised through fees or donations is put back into the daily running of the club itself.

We are open for breakfast at 7.30 am and we close after school at 5.45 pm.

Breakfast club is £3.50 per child per session and after school is £5.50 per child per session.

We have an ‘Aladdin’s Cave’ of toys and equipment for your children to enjoy while they are with us.

Breakfast club includes a hot or cold menu each day and after school includes a ‘high tea’ in the price.

For more information please phone 07583 762072.

Battle Of The Sexes

On Sunday June 25th, the 3rd Annual Guys v Girls Charity Netball Tournament is back for a day of on court action and family fun between 10am-4pm at Kirton Middlecott Sports & Fitness Centre. 

This year, organisers Rachel, Lindsay, Ellen, Clare, Kate & Laura wanted to do something specifically focused on male and female health so every penny raised at the event will be going to Breast Cancer Care & The Movember Charity, who offer support to men suffering from testicular cancer as well as male mental health issues.  There will be a promise board on the day where people will be encouraged to take a selfie and pin their promise to the (‘Boobs & Balls’) wall to raise awareness on the importance of checking your body. 

Food and refreshments will be on hand from Dunhams BBQ and Huskys Ices as well as tea, coffee and other sweet treats.

Families can have a go on a variety of inflatables and enjoy face painting, a surprise visit from a Minion and Peppa Pig and performances from AJ Dance.  Have a go on the turbo tombola and if you’re feeling lucky buy a strip or two on the raffle.

As usual there will be some great prizes up for grabs including an Eden Hall Spa Day, Afternoon Tea for Two, meal vouchers and more donated from local business’ and individuals.  Fingers crossed for sunshine!!!

Teams can expect to pick up trophies for being the Best Guy or Best Girl of the tournament as well as the coveted Bad Boy Award and Wooden Spoon for those bringing up the rear.  Will last years Team Sass retain their title? Will Kiss My Pass be back for a second bite of the apple? Or will a new team sneak in from the sidelines?  Pick your side ...

If anyone would like to enter a team, help on the day or donate to the event please email: GuysVGirls@outlook.com or call 07920573421 to speak to one of the organisers.  All help would be greatly appreciated.

Sponsored by: Kirton Middlecott Sports & Fitness Centre - S.M.Kent Roofing & General Building - Taylored Security Services Ltd - Carl Dunhams Family Butchers. First Aid provided by LIVES.

Time goes by for Andrew

Time plays a huge part in all of our lives but local businessman Andrew Skiba has spent more time with ‘time’ than most of us. Clock restorer and owner of the familiar “Old and New Times” in the centre of Kirton he has been marking time for some thirty eight years. But tempus has a nasty habit of fugit-ing for us all and he has decided to wind it up and take a well-earned retirement. (So many potential puns... so little - time [?])

He invited me in for a chat a few days ago and told me a little of his own history. The shop is, of course, full of mechanisms and contraptions of all description. But there is something of a sense of supreme comfort and surety about the hypnotic tick-tock in this womb of a room that is almost organic. And I’ll bet he knows every single tick and tock, chime and cuckoo personally.

Andrew has been dealing with the public for over 48 years. Apprenticed to his Father’s clock making business in Oundle he learnt his craft from a master. His older brother had bought premises in Kirton and having finished his apprenticeship he decided to move here in 1979 and opened the shop and workshop in the building now occupied by the Tanning Rooms next to the Peacock. Some five years ago he took the decision to “down–size” and moved down the road to the old Lloyds Bank building.

Always a people watcher he says he has seen time pass in many ways other than the instruments he has worked on so lovingly and skillfully for so long.

“I’ve seen the cherry blossom in the church yard come and go. The leaves fall and come again over so many years.” He says.

“I’ve seen the young mothers taking their children to the Primary School. Then those children with their offspring. And doubtless those children with theirs. But there comes a time when you feel you want to take a rest.”

When I entered the shop he had another customer (more likely a mate as well) talking motor bikes. Another of Andrew’s passions. “I’ll miss the people as much as anything” he says.

At times it seems he’s almost a therapist. There to listen to peoples gripes and problems as much as fix their clocks. But that’s what happens in a true community and with his departure the Village will have lost one more binding thread. It will be a poorer place for it.

\With an incredible knowledge about the history of clock making over the centuries, much specific to this area, he will also be a loss in a more academic sphere. So much such fragile schooling goes un–recorded and slips away with the individual. But, there we are; such is the passage of time.

Andrew plans to publicize a grand sale of stock from mid–July onward and will - definitely - call time on the business in November.

We wish him well in his next phase.

News from Frampton W.I.

The previous press secretary and author of the WI article, Vanessa Jameson, has now been elected as President of Frampton WI, and so the task has fallen upon me to keep you informed of what we do at our monthly meetings. Vanessaís witty remarks and amusing writing has made her a hard act to follow, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can keep you up to date and interested!

Last month our ladies thoroughly enjoyed the talk by our speaker Harry Wright, about his career as an acupuncturist ñ the benefits of acupuncture and the types of conditions it can help with. One lucky (?) lady had her name pulled out of the hat and volunteered to have a brief acupuncture session in front of our members. I think she almost changed her mind at the last minute, but she bravely carried on and let Harry put the needles in the appropriate places in order to try and ease her hayfever.

She said that afterwards that it wasnít painful, and although the session only lasted about 15 minutes, I heard on the grapevine a few weeks later that it had, in fact, eased her symptoms and she hadnít needed to take her hayfever medication for at least a few days afterwards. I look forward to asking her at our next meeting if the hayfever was still improved. Well done, Alison, we applaud you for being brave!

Following that we all enjoyed lovely refreshments provided by Alison (hayfever free after her acupuncture!), Carol and Gillian.

Please note, that for one night only, our June meeting will be held at the Scout hall at the end of Tytton Lane, as it coincides with the general election, and our usual venue of Frampton Village Hall will be in use as a polling station. Normal service will be resumed in July!

If you are interested in joining the WI, please do come along and give it a try. We are a friendly group and you will be made most welcome. We meet on the second Thursday in each month at 7.30 pm and your first visit is free. For further information, please contact Vanessa Jameson on 01205 723891, email: vanessajameson@btinternet.com Carol Pattrick on 01205 722879, email: c.pattrick@tiscali.co.uk or Janice Cotgreave on 01205 724617, email: janice.cotgreave@btinternet.com