Issue 17     October 2006

 

MELTON ROAD SPEED LIMIT ON THE CARDS AFTER 30 YEARS 

Notts County Council are supporting a move to get a lower speed limit imposed on Melton Road in Stanton on the Wolds. Local County Council member Coun. John Cottee has been informed by Mr Peter Webster the County Director of Environment, that as part of their forthcoming Village Speed Limit review process it is proposed to reduce the speed limit along the A606 through Stanton on the Wolds. A decision on whether this will be 40 or 50mph has yet to be made. Mr Webster has said the whole review is to be subject of a report to the Cabinet Member and he has stressed that in the event of the recommendation arising from the review being approved, due to statutory and other procedures the process involved in making the necessary Orders is a very lengthy one and can take up to a year. Last June the parish council handed in a petition to the County Council signed by several hundred people calling for a limit to be imposed.

Birthday boy admits fly tipping at Stanton

Sharp eyed Chris Barton took decisive action when he spotted a pile of rubbish on land at Stanton on the Wolds. Chris, an inspector on the Streetwise team at Rushcliffe Borough Council was patrolling the area when he found five bin liners full of cans and bottles on Thurlby Lane in Stanton. From his investigations it was discovered the rubbish had been dumped by an 18 year old boy from Bradmore who had organised a birthday party while his parents were on holiday and he wanted to get rid of the evidence. The teenager admitted the offence and was fined and told that he could easily have put the cans and bottles in many of the recycling banks around the borough.

TEST TO BE DE-ELECTRIFIED

The Old Dalby test rail track running through Stanton on the Wolds is to be de-electrified. The track closed in January and was offered to Network Rail and DFT free of charge but was turned by both because of lack of cash to meet maintenance charges of around £1.5m per year. It had been hoped another consortium might take it on as a going concern but this did not materialise and the removal of overhead wiring is now due to take place. The test track – the only high speed test track in the UK had millions of pounds spent on it by Alstom in recent years to enable the testing of the Pendolino trains, but now all the facilities are to be removed and new trains will be tested in either the Czech Republic or France. Alstom were granted planning permission to modernise the test track in June 2000. The work included repairs and maintenance to track, tunnels, and bridges from Asfordby to Keyworth. The 17 km stretch of track was originally the Melton/Nottingham branch line but this closed around 35 years ago. It was first used to test Virgin’s tilting trains.

 HISTORY BOOK SUCCESS

Thanks to the Parish Council, Stanton on the Wolds now has a village History Book – and it is a big hit with local residents. The book became available at a successful launch ceremony attended by 120 residents at the Golf Club in August when council chairman Dennis Hackett thanked all who had been involved in the project and particularly joint editors Alan and Val Hunt who he said had carried out outstanding work. Every household in the village has received a free copy of the 112 page publication. While other copies are available for purchase at £5 from parish councillors, Keyworth Post Office, the Clerk’s office and Keyworth Library. Local Notts County Council member Coun. John Cottee came forward with a cheque for £1000 from his authority to help towards the cost of the publication. And there were two anonymous donations totalling £700. On the night of the launch Mr Hunt mounted a display of local fossils at the Golf Club as an added attraction to the visitors. Coun. Hackett says he hopes the book will be a useful Christmas present adding that the additional sales will help them recoup the printing costs. At its last meeting the parish council endorsed an initiative from Mr Hunt to display some of the book’s photographs of the village on the Notts County Council pictures web site. Anyone with further photographs of the village and is prepared to have them on a web site is asked to contact Mr Hunt on 937 3133. The web site details will be given in a future Newsletter.

PUBLIC INVITED TO PLAY A PART

The parish council are anxious to encourage participation by the public in their meetings and include an item on every agenda which gives the opportunity to make comments. Clerk, Mike Elliott, says that more and more councils now make regular provision for residents to take part in the meetings and at Stanton they are pleased to echo this effort to increase interest in their work.

THOMAS OUSLEY CHARITY TRUST CHAIRMAN

It has been confirmed that Mr John Stockbridge has been appointed chairman of the village Thomas Ousley Charity Trust which dates back to 1718 with Coun. Jim Goodman as treasurer and Coun. Margaret Healy as secretary. The fourth Trustee remains as Elwyn Bradshaw.

“All Saints to be demolished and rebuilt”

By Alan and Val Hunt

SUCH may well have been the headlines in the local newspaper in 1829. The church was apparently in a very dilapidated state owing to considerable neglect for many years. It had last received minor repairs in 1803 when the sum of £15 10s 6d had been spent from the village rate. The population of Stanton in 1821 was 118 but the church had seating for only 50 people.

The Rev. George Randolph was appointed Rector in 1827 and he must have been somewhat disappointed with his new position. He remained at in his current position as Vicar of Eastry, near Sandwich in Kent, while he set about raising funds and drawing up plans with the Southwell architect Richard Ingleman. On the 10^th September 1828 he submitted his plans to “The Incorporated Society for Promoting the Enlargement, Building and Repairing of Churches and Chapels. London” under application no 1110. These plans proposed the complete demolition of the existing church. The new church that would arise on the same site was designed with seats that measured 28 x 16 inches per person and would accommodate 94 worshippers. The size of the proposed seats seems extraordinarily wide by modern standards but they were probably designed to accommodate the voluminous skirts of the Georgian and later the Victorian ladies. The estimated cost of demolition and the rebuilding was calculated at £619 7s 7d. The plans were submitted to Archdeacon Eyre of Nottingham but his death caused the plans to be resubmitted to the Rev.William Barrow, the new Archdeacon of Nottingham at Southwell, where they received approval on the 26^th April 1830.

The formal application for assistance to “The Incorporated Society…” was for a grant of £319 as the parishioners had raised £100 and the Rector, the Rev. George Randolph had also contributed£100. A further£100 had been contributed by a close relative of Rev. Randolph who had recently ceased to have property in Notts. George Randolph’s father, Dr John Randolph, Bishop of London, had died in 1813. Perhaps this close relation was George’s brother, the Rev. Thomas Randolph who was Rector of Much Hadham in Hertfordshire and who had recently been the owner of the Manor House in Stanton. A series of letters were exchanged over the next few weeks between W. Johnson, the Society’s Recorder, and the Rev. George Randolph who was still residing in Kent, over the proposed number of seats. The Society said it would grant £100 towards the proposal provided that the remaining £200 was found locally, but the inability of the parish to contribute further meant the collapse of the whole project. On the 12^th June 1830 the Society forwarded “Dilapidation Money” – a cheque for just under £50 for the repair of the chancel. There is no evidence that the Rev. George Randolph ever took up his position at All Saints preferring to leave the day to day running of the church in the hands of the curate, the Rev. T. Smith, who conducted all the marriages, christenings and interments. The Rev. George Randolph resigned from All Saints in 1836 and continued as Rector of Eastry in Kent until 1841, when he took up a new position as Rector of Coulsdon in Surrey. Unfortunately, there are no known copies of the plans in any of the archives, so we will not be able to envisage what was actually considered as an appropriate replacement.

PLANNING DECISIONS BY THE BOROUGH COUNCIL

06/01108/FUL Mr Hallam: Two storey side extension; 61A Stanton Lane. Grant permission.

06/00337/FUL Mr & Mrs Roe: Formation of vehicular access drive; 21 Browns Lane. Grant permission.

06/01174/FUL Mr Foot: Increase height of roof to form first floor accommodation including provision of dormer windows; 118 Melton Road. Grant permission.

Bits and bobs

Notts County Council have advised of a diversion in connection with Footpath No 7 in the village. No objection has been made by the parish council.

The parish council have asked the County Council to replace a missing Thurlby Lane sign and repair the other one that is there at the Widmerpool end.

Advice Centre sessions are held at the Methodist Church on Selby Lane at Keyworth each Friday from 2pm to 4pm and Mondays 7pm to 9pm when free confidential advice is available. Phone number is 937 4000

Councillors Dennis Hackett, Mrs Margaret Healy and Alan Jackson hold keys for the council boards in the village.

YOUR LOCAL POLICE BEAT MANAGER:

Is PC Emma Thacker whose work mobile phone number is 07753 309748 Emma may also be contacted at Keyworth Police Contact Point on 01159 455 999 ext.6271. Beat surgeries are held at Keyworth library.

 YOUR LOCAL CHURCHES

Stanton on the Wolds Parish Church: associate Priest-Rev Trevor Kirkman, tel 01664 822270.

Catholic Church, Willowbrook: Fr Gregory Tobin, tel 01159 814271.

Methodists: Rev Peter Green, tel 01159 212146.

Baptists: Rev Neil Brighton, tel 01159 147449.

United Reformed: Rev Chris Ford, tel 01159 375086.

 

CALLING ALL READERS

We would welcome an input into this newsletter from any resident in the parish. Items for inclusion can be Emailed to elliottnews@btconnect.com

Thought for the month

Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can read.

 

And finally the next meeting of the parish council will be held on Wednesday November 8th 2006 in the parish church at 7:30pm.