Use them or lose them
To Whaplode Drove villagers and surrounding areas.
If you have read the recent National Newspapers you'll see pubs and social clubs are closing at an alarming rate.
Whaplode Drove is a large village and catchment area, there is a Post Office and shop, garage, church, social club, function halls and fishing lakes.
I'm writing on behalf of The Elizabethan Social Club committee. Over the last year we have arranged charity events, children's, Easter, Halloween and Christmas parties, live music shows, quiz nights, outdoor open events and barbecues. We have darts, pool teams, crib nights etc.
All the events are advertised in the local papers and on notice boards.
The interior is in the process of being updated, The patio area as been tidied up.
There is no membership charge.
We are open seven nights a week plus weekend dinner times.
What more do we need to do to get you, the Whaplode Drove residents and area, to support the social club. This is the only watering hole for nearly six miles... most of the other pubs have shut due to lack of customers and running costs.
Do you realise without the social club it could mean, No Bowls Club, No Football Club, No Badminton Club, No Children's Play Area and No Function Hall.
We are a very small committee crying out for help and your support.
We are proud of our social club and our members want to see it thrive in coming years. Sadly, as running costs rise, it can be a very difficult proposition for any organisation to survive but I'm sure that with all that's planned for the rest of this year our numbers will swell.
David Barfoot
Vice chairman
The Elizabethan Social Club
Thanks to everyone who helped us win gold
Thanks to everyone who helped Spalding win an East Midlands Gold Medal for fourth year running
Spalding in Bloom would like to thank everyone who helped this year in all the various initiatives with litter picks, clean ups and weeding to make our town more attractive. Especially all the volunteers who joined in when we had ‘Clean ups’ in the Spring and 'Spruce ups' throughout the year.
Special thanks to Monkshouse Cubs and Beavers, 4th Spalding Cubs, 1st Spalding Cub, Jack McLean and his Spotless Spalding group and many individuals who joined in and those who regularly go out in their areas with their own litter picker and bags to clean up. Not forgetting Dan and his team at Ayscoughfee who maintain the beautiful gardens to such a high standard. And its free to go in!
Also Richard Knock and Jim Harvey and the South Holland District Council grounds maintenance team.
Special thanks to all the shops and businesses who sponsored hanging baskets, troughs and tubs around the town. They have made those individual premises much more attractive, colourful and inviting.
The East Midlands in Bloom Judges, who visited in early July were impressed with their programme which included visits to:
* Springfields Exhibition Gardens and Retail Outlet's fantastic floral gardens;
* Southfields House Care Home to view specially constructed troughs to allow wheelchair users easy access to plant and maintain flowers;
* St John the Baptist Primary School to view their allotments and outdoor teaching area (Awarded a Silver Gilt certificate);
* Horseshoe Road allotments- where we saw Liz and Malcolm tending their plots, which were judged to be in ‘very good condition’.
* Mr and Mrs Rowe’s Best Front Garden;
* Ayscoughfee Hall and Gardens, meeting Dave Rodwell of the environmental team who gave an overview of the council weekly refuse and recycling schemes, energy saving initiatives and update on the green waste pilot scheme, and
Dan, the head gardener, gave a tour of the gardens;
* The Crescent and Francis Street traders, noting the floral decorated windows at Adams Butchers Shop, done by children from Muchkins Nurser;
* Walking through The Sheep Market, Victoria Street, Pied Calf Yard and Swan Walk to view massive support from small independent traders;
* Punch Bowl pub, meeting Pete, Steph and Ben who showed us their truly remarkable ‘hidden garden’. Not seen from the road but worth going in for a coffee or drink just to sit for a while to enjoy the numerous novel containers! Awarded Gold Certificate and best pub garden in the East Midlands;
* Ben Williams. The judge met our Man Friday, who puts up all our brackets, checks them before new baskets are put up each season and hangs and takes down our baskets.
* Spalding Station to see work in progress to transform the derelict flower beds and platform shelter, meeting George Scott and Kevin and a group of station adopter volunteers who had manually carried over six tonnes of soil in bags over the footbridge. Noting sponsorship by The Butters Group, Bourne Skip Hire, Baytree Nurseries, Spotless Spalding, Spalding and Peterborough Transport Forum and Springfields Garden Centre.
Thanks also to Lilford Nurseries of Gosberton who filled our baskets and troughs, and Neame Lea Nurseries for donating and filling the barrier troughs in Swan Street, and giving us plants for beds alongside the water taxi station.
The Bloom Group also thanks our local press for being very supportive throughout the year and Ian Oliver of South Holland District Council communications team for helping produce our much admired brochure.
A huge thank you to all sponsors and volunteers.
Special thanks to George Slinger of Birchgrove Nurseries. George and I have been part of the Spalding in Bloom Group for 29 years and this is our last year of doing Spalding Bloom. We appreciate all the support we have been given and, on the whole, it has been very enjoyable.
Angela Newton
Chairman Spalding in Bloom