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Grantham Journal letter: Pensioners get raw deal

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Before Grantham MP Nick Boles and many of his coalition cronies grab anything else off hard-pressed pensioners they should perhaps consider a few home truths.

Not least the fact that a large majority of current senior citizens and their families, whatever their standing, have dedicated their lives to this country both in war and peace.

Grantham is no exception and most workers followed the late Margaret Thatcher’s advice to make adequate provision for their retirement, only to see their pension pots decimated by Gordon Brown’s government’s policies and others such as irresponsible bankers, still not truly punished by the current regime.

The coalition has already stuck its grasping claws into easy targets like the elderly and infirm with its ideologically motivated over-zealous austerity measures.

Now it’s dreaming up another scam, which doesn’t appear to ring true, especially in our area, where the facts don’t seem to add up at all.

When we use our bus passes, which we do regularly, our fellow passengers include students who already appear to have free transport at the taxpayers’ expense.

Even on the railways where pensioners are only able to take advantage of various reduced fare schemes, students, in particular, seem to travel free.

Back in Grantham, even more than some other towns I visit, I wonder how hard-up 18-25-year-old unemployed, students and low paid workers can afford to run their anti-socially loud boy racer cars during the current recession?

They can’t all have wealthy, benevolently minded parents.

Grantham College students in particular clog up streets around their campus by parking legally and, in my opinion, some illegally, while presumably at their lectures. Can’t the college provide adequate parking facilities on campus?

Many senior citizens can’t even afford to run cars in the current economic climate or have had to use more of their pension provisions to do so.

And this at a time when those much needed nest eggs are already being reduced due to austerity measures.

Another thing which comes to mind is that young people in general are much more capable of ‘doing a Tebbit’ and getting on their bikes than the elderly.

That’s how most of us pensioners had to get around when we were in the youth bracket. It actually improved our fitness as well as being a much better economic option for both us and the NHS.

While we’re at it, I wonder how the total cost of old people’s bus passes compares with the now ‘legalised robberty’ perpetrated by MPs claiming undue expenses?

All this and I haven’t even mentioned the potentially appalling cruelty faced by needy old folk in a district like South Kesteven, trapped in their remote homes for days on end if their bus passes were to be withdrawn.

Care in the community? Come on Nick. Let’s have a bit of compassion in this current age of rampant money mania!

Peter Clawson

Welham Street, Grantham


Slideshow: Party in the Park, Grantham Festival

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A slideshow of photos from this year’s Party in the Park.

The musical event was a highlight of this year’s Grantham Carnival.

Carnival committee chairman Roy Wright described the night as “sensational”.

Grantham Journal letters: Thank you

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On behalf of the committee I would like to thank everyone who supported the Breathe Easy tombola in the Isaac Newton Centre on Saturday, June 8.

We raised £251.

Irene Webb

Chair - Breathe Easy Grantham

Barrowby Scouts would like to thank everyone who supported their table-top sale and the sponsored litter pick in aid of Scout Community Week.

As a result, £48.82 will be donated to the Development Grants Board of the Scout

Association.

Sara Mathieson

Barrowby Scouts

Lord Coe to attend schools’ “Olympic games” at The Meres, Grantham

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The chairman of the 2012 London Olympic Games, Lord Coe, will be in Grantham on July 1 to attend a massive gathering of students for their annual sports day.

Lord Coe, an Olympic Gold medallist, will be at the Summer Cup, an event organised by the David Ross Education Trust which recently took on Charles Read Academy and saved it from closure. Students from the Corby Glen Academy will compete against other secondary schools within the Trust at The Meres leisure centre. More than 800 pupils are expected to take part.

The event will feature an Opening Ceremony, authentic Olympic torches from London 1948 and 2012. A number of professional athletes are also expected to be there.

Competitions will be held in a variety of sports including table tennis, hockey, rugby, athletics and swimming.

Charles Read principal Ali Story said: “The Summer Cup is a fantastic way for our students to get involved in Trust activities and fell part of a wider network. There is definitely a real air of excitement about competing in front of Lord Coe and students are feeling confident they they can achieve some great results.

“It’s important to us that we get students involved in sport and help them to see what they can achieve. The Summer Cup is a great way to inspire them to be active and aim for the top.”

Meanwhile, Wendy Marshall, Chief Executive of the David Ross Eduction Trust, said that they would welcome back any students who had left Charles Read since it was proposed to close the school. About 70 pupils have left. Ms Marshall said she was confident that numbers would increase at the school because demand in the area was there.

Colsterworth Primary School makes “immense” improvement

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A village school has improved “immensely” in the last few years with a “good” Ofsted report this month.

Colsterworth Primary School received a ‘good’ rating with some outstanding elements as well.

The report said that achievement of pupils, quality of teaching and leadership and management in the school were all good. It also said that the behaviour and safety of pupils were outstanding.

Headteacher Lesley Tapssell said the it was a “huge achievement” for the school following the last report in 2010 which said the school was “satisfactory”.

She said: “Standards of achievement have risen and the quality of teaching is now consistently good or outstanding and the commitment shown by all the staff is fabulous. Of course, we will continue to refine and improve our practice so that this upward trend is sustained.

“It was apparent to the inspector that the school has a strong creative focus. He was highly complimentary about the wide range of beautiful artwork, imaginative use of ICT and the opportunities for music and dance.

“Creative expression has been a particular focus for us to build self-esteem and to ensure that pupils have a chance to shine and develop their individual talents.”

Grantham writer sees return of comic masterpiece Rising Damp

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He’s credited with writing a television masterpiece, a comedy loved by viewers and critics in equal measure – yet Eric Chappell may never have created Rising Damp had it not been for his wife and the boredom she expressed when reading his terrible novels.

“They really were bad,” Chappell winces, “and my wife Muriel used to yawn as she read them.”

Confidence battered by yet another publisher’s rejection, the young Chappell pledged to change tack. “I got the brainwave of writing plays instead.”

Mrs Chappell read these too, he smiles, and immediately saw the improvement. In fact, his second attempt, The Banana Box, was so good it went into London’s West End in 1973 and would become the TV sitcom Rising Damp which is returning to its theatrical roots as part of a UK tour.

Chappell, who lives in Barrowby, may well be ITV’s most successful writer of situation comedy – other hits include Duty Free and Home to Roost – but it doesn’t stop him feeling a tad nervous about the revival.

At least he doesn’t have to play Rigsby. That challenge will fall to Stephen Chapman, taking on the role made famous by Leonard Rossiter, who died in 1984.

Twenty-two of the 28 episodes made of Rising Damp featured Richard Beckinsale, who was well-known on television, but the show catapulted Rossiter into the big league.

Cast as Rigsby (or Rooskby as he was in the original play), Rossiter was already a much admired stage actor and his astonishing energy, brilliant timing and powers of observation turned him into a household name.

Comparisons are inevitable for whoever plays the role next but Chappell is more worried about the rewrites he has sent and how they might be received by cast and director (namely Don Warrington, who played the original Philip, the ‘African prince’).

Chappell met the actors for the first time at the read-through recently. He had no hand in the casting but trusts the judgement of show producer Classic Comedy Productions which has also toured stage adaptations of TV series including Birds of a Feather and Dinnerladies.

“Certainly you have to be a brave soul to take on these parts,” Chappell says, “but I thought they were charming people. And I have seen Rigsby done by other actors – people who could do it in different ways and I’ve said to them, ‘don’t think of Len, think of the character’.

“Audiences are not stupid, they know it’s the characters they’re going to see, not the original actors.”

Strictly speaking though, Beckinsale and Rossiter were not ‘originals’ themselves.

Manfred Mann singer Paul Jones was cast as Alan in the West End run of The Banana Box while, two years earlier, the Rooksby part had been taken by Wilfred Brambell, shedding his senior Steptoe skin, in the ever staging of the play at The Phoenix Theatre, Leicester.

Chappell remembers Brambell doing reasonably well as Rooksby: “though physically he was a very different actor to Len.”

When the production fizzled out, The Banana Box went into storage for two years until it was picked up again, this time leading to a tour and then a West End run with Rossiter as the miserly landlord.

Set in a boarding house in the late 1960s in a northern town, Rising Damp was not just about love, frustration and loss of youth but asked questions of what it is to be British.

Although it only played at the Shaftesbury Avenue Apollo for four weeks, life was changing for Chappell who, by now, had resigned from his job as an Electricity Board auditor in Grantham and had given himself two years to make it: “I had a wife and two children to support and it was a gamble, but it wasn’t much of a gamble because the job was badly paid.”

Luckily, television executives had sat up and noted the Chappell trademark – finely drawn characters, strong plots and crackling dialogue.

Offers were suddenly on the table to make not one sitcom, but two. Yorkshire TV bought The Banana Box, with Rossiter firmly on board, and ATV said yes to Chappell’s series about office politics, The Squirrels.

And while we now remember Rising Damp, of course, as classic comedy, when they set out to make it there were one or two knotty problems to sort out first – not least the name of the main character, and even the title itself.

The dilemma came about following Rossiter’s acclaimed stage performance as a Hitler-like character in Brecht’s The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui.

Chappell recalls: “We were going to call the show Rooksby on TV but Len had said in an interview ‘If you liked Hitler then you’re going to like this Rooksby’. But a real Mr Rooksby, who happened to be a landlord – and I think he was a Quaker as well – heard about it and said ‘I can’t face this’. We were told he was considering legal action unless we changed the name.

“And that’s what we did. I literally went through the telephone book and wanted a name that sounded sleazy but was close to Rooksby.”

Rigsby it was.

But that wouldn’t do for a title, and a solution was only stumbled upon after Yorkshire TV pressed Chappell for a name just before filming started. He only said “Rising Damp” as a joke, but Rossiter loved it and his endorsement was enough.

Much has been written about the actor Rossiter, calling him: genius, perfectionist, driven, difficult.

Actor Christopher Strauli, who was drafted in for the 1980 film version following Beckinsale’s death the previous year, says: “Rossiter wanted me to play it like Richard would have done.”

But, he adds, writing on his website, he didn’t want to copy Beckinsale and wasn’t able to anyway. He praises the rest of the creative team but says: “Mr Rossiter managed to make the whole experience one of the unhappiest of my whole career.”

So what does Chappell remember of Rossiter?

Firstly, just how good he was. He was “sensational”, both on camera and in rehearsal, utterly dedicated to achieving the very best he could offer, s0 much so that he was exhausted by the end of filming.

Even in rehearsals he gave it everything – “but a difficult guy to work for,” Chappell recalls.

“At the read-through we never had a laugh because he was in total control. He was looking for things that were not working. Me as the writer, I was one of the first to be examined, then others as well.

“He took no prisoners but to be fair he was fiercely loyal to the show.”

Chappell pinpoints an occasion when faced with simultaneously writing scripts for Rising Damp as well as episodes of his other hit at the time, The Squirrels.

“I’d got four shows to write in three weeks and on this one occasion I threw the pen down and said I’m not going to be able to finish it. They (Yorkshire TV) wanted to get other writers in and Len said: ‘no, I agreed to do it with Eric as the writer’. So they listened to him and paid everybody to go on holiday for four weeks while I wrote the episodes.”

That ability to deliver would sustain Chappell over a television career in which he created nine situation comedies for ITV, totalling 200 scripts in 20 years.

Writing would normally start at home at 6am and he would do this for two or three hours before driving a few miles into Grantham town centre. There he would polish the scripts in a rented office above a firm of solicitors.

It was a production line that produced hit after hit – one or two were modest successes but many, like Home to Roost, Duty Free (with Jean Warr) and Only When I Laugh, enjoyed number one ratings with 18 million viewers regularly tuning in.

The scripts were bashed out on an Olympia typrewriter that would last 50 years, but as the typewriter grew older, Chappell sensed that the television landscape was shifting.

His final sitcom – Haggard, based on Michael Green’s book and aired in 1992 – was given no chance, he says, as it was scheduled at: “children’s hour on a Saturday evening and it never did very well”.

TV was tiring of shows like his, he says, and it became “easier and cheaper to make other sorts of shows.”

So as game shows and reality ruled, what would a comedy writer do for the next 20 years? Chappell’s answer was to go back to the theatre. He has written 25 plays since 1993 which have consistently toured in the UK and abroad, as well as being performed by amateur companies up and down the country.

He said: “As we speak, at any one time twenty to thirty people are learning my lines. I’ve always wanted to do more theatre and the success in TV has allowed me to do that.”

Rising Damp national tour continues until July 20. See: risingdampontour.com

A day in the life of a Grantham Red Cross Volunteer: “I help people get back to normal”

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A day in the life of Teresa Wright, a British Red Cross volunteer

It’s a Thursday morning and, much like most Thursday mornings, I put on my Red Cross workwear and prepare myself for the day’s various volunteering assignments.

I am a volunteer for the First Call service of the Red Cross and also do some work for the Red Cross Tea Bar at Grantham and District Hospital. I was honoured and surprised earlier in the year to be awarded the Diamond Champion Jubilee Award for my 
volunteering.

Today I am visiting three clients in the Grantham area and so my day starts early. My first visit is to a new client Margaret that I haven’t met before and so I am meeting them with one of the First Call Project workers Tommy Morrisroe.

Tommy has already given me some background information and so I know that Margaret is just out of hospital following a hip replacement. She lives alone and like many in a rural area such as Grantham has no close neighbours who she can easily call on.

Loneliness is a common factor amongst many of the people that I meet and a friendly face can sometimes work wonders. I agree to help her by providing some companionship and also helping her with her shopping. I will do this for up to 12 weeks by which time she should be fully recovered.

The visit lasts for just over an hour although there is no stipulated time set down by the Red Cross and I agree to see her again next week.

The Red Cross helps thousands of people following a short stay in hospital and prevents unnecessary hospital admissions by providing extra support and care at home. The support offered by volunteers can smooth the process of settling back into a normal routine and enable people to regain their confidence and independence. As the First Call title indicates, it is a first stage support intended to bridge the gap between the initial crisis stage and the provision of a long term support solution that may involve a number of agencies and often takes some time to put in place.

Having said goodbye to Margaret (and Tommy), I then go to see David who is receiving a service called therapeutic care which helps individuals in stressful situations and times of personal crisis by promoting a sense of well-being and relaxation through gentle massage.

The therapy of hand and arm, neck and shoulder massage, given through clothing, can also assist in pain and stress relief and help to promote a feeling of well being.

Of course, nothing is undertaken in isolation and David and I have time for a cup of tea and a chat as well as providing the massage therapy and I still have time for my afternoon appointment with Brenda and her husband.

Brenda has just been diagnosed with a recurrence of her cancer and is receiving palliative support from her Macmillan Cancer Support nurse.

The Red Cross has recently joined together with local Macmillan Nurses to run a one-year pilot programme to support cancer patients. This Macmillan support pilot provides all the support of the First Call service but, in addition, can provide support to carers. In this case, I am allowing David time away from the house for a while.

I volunteer because I get enormous satisfaction from being able to be of practical help to people in the community, and it provides a lot of variety in the people who I meet and in the needs that I can support. In addition, because the type of projects undertaken changes regularly, I am constantly facing new challenges in ways of supporting the community.

l If anyone would like refer themselves or somebody else to these services, ring the Grantham office on 0845 054 7171 or e-mail firstcall@redcross.org.uk.

The Red Cross also would like to hear from anyone who would be interested in becoming a volunteer like Teresa.

Driver injured in crash which closed A1 between Grantham and Colsterworth for five hours

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A driver has been taken to hospital following a crash involving two cars on the A1 southbound at about 5pm this evening.

The accident happened near Colsterworth and was attended by fire crews from Grantham, Corby Glen, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire who used cutting equipment to release the injured driver from his vehicle. Firefighters made the car safe.

Diversions have been in progress along the A607 and A606. Police said they hoped to re-open the A1 by 10pm.


Man dies after A1 crash at Colsterworth

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A 75-year-old man from Lancashire has died following yesterday’s accident on the A1 at Colsterworth.

The accident involved a collision between a Honda Civic and a Vauxhall Corsa just after 5pm. The driver of the Civic was taken to Peterborough Hospital where he later died. The driver of the Corsa, a 30-year-old Lincoln man, suffered minor injuries. A child in the Corsa was also taken to hospital but is not thought to be seriously injured.

Police closed the southbound carriageway. It was reopened about midnight. Anybody who witnessed the accident or saw the vehicles before the collision should contact the collision witness hotline on 01522 558855.

Slideshow: More from JJ Youngster at the Grantham Carnival Party in the Park

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Blues rock band JJ Youngster formed part of the line-up at this year’s Party in the Park.

The musical event was part of the 2013 Grantham Carnival.

Here is a selection of pictures taken during the band’s set.

Slideshow: Photos taken during Grantham Carnival 2013

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Here is a selection of photos taken during this year’s Grantham Carnival.

They show the fantastic turn-out, and all the fun that was to be had.

See if you can pick out any familiar faces.

Grantham Journal letter: We need to calm down speeding

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This concerns speeding vehciles of all kinds, from sports cars to ordinary cars, motor scooters and motor bikes.

Many of these drivers appear to be putting their foot right down on the pedals from the Alma Park estate and on Harrowby Lane to the bottom of Belton Lane; also at the corner shops on Cherry Orchard and New Beacon Road and the corners of Elliott Close, Dryden Close and Edinburgh Road.

We need traffic-calming humps to slow all vehicles down at those locations.

Police action is also needed on the race tracks from Watergate along the High Street, around St Peter’s Hill, London Road and Wharf Road and St Catherines Road.

And can anything be done to ban the thud-thud, beat-beat or high pitched music being blasted out of cars?

If not, why not? It happens every day.

Alan Robinson

Dryden Close, Grantham

Village News: What’s been happening around Grantham...

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Here’s a look at the goings-on in villages surrounding Grantham of late.

Meeting

Barrowby

The parish council will hold its annual parish meeting on Tuesday in the Reading Room, Church Street at 7.30pm.

The agenda for the meeting is displayed on its website (http://parishes.lincolnshire.gov.uk/Barrowby) three days prior to the meeting.

Diary dates

Buckminster and Sewstern

On Sunday, Morning Prayer was held in St John the Baptist Church, Buckminster, led by Lay Reader, Jean Lee. Readers were Alan Burrows and 
Michael Goodacre.

A Patronal Festival Holy Communion service will be held in Buckminster Church on Sunday at 10am.

On Monday, bellringing will take place at Buckminster Church from 7pm to 8pm. Also on Monday is a whist drive in Buckminster Village Hall at 7.30pm.

The 3Cs meet in The 
Studio, Buckminster School on Tuesday at 3.30pm.

Evening Prayer will be 
held at 5.30pm on Wednesday in Holy Trinity Church, 
Sewstern. Zumba classes 
will take place in Sewstern Village Hall on Wednesday at 6.15pm.

Tomorrow (Saturday) there is bingo in Sewstern Village Hall at 7.30pm.

Fun dog show

Folkingham

The village fete will take place tomorrow (Saturday), between 2pm and 4pm on the Millennium Green. Entry is free.

Among the attractions is a fun dog show, £1 per entry. There will also be a duo dancing dogs display.

Dance

Great Ponton

A midsummer dance with local band and live music from The Kilburns, will be held in the village centre tomorrow (Saturday) from 8pm to midnight.

There will also be a bar, raffle and food.

Admission is £5, payable at the door.

Camping and caravans are welcome (hosted by Lincs BCC) on the sports field.

For further information contact Gordon (Tel: 530482) or Sybil (Tel: 530220).

Proms

Harby

An event is being held tomorrow (Saturday) to raise funds for the new village hall.

‘Proms in the Park’ will be held on The Leys, School Lane, with classic proms music played in the open air by Nottingham Concert band, with gates opening at 6pm.

Anyone wishing to attend should take along their own chairs, picnics and picnic blankets and there will be a licensed bar. Tickets are £7 per adult, children under-16 free, on the door.

For further details contact Justine Cline (Tel: 01949 860480).

Friendship club

Harlaxton

Mrs Jill Collinge gave members a talk about the Curiosities of the County, with stories of how features like the Lincolnshire Imp came to get their names on, and in, famous buildings in the county.

The club will hold a cream tea afternoon from 2-4pm in the village hall on Saturday, July 6. Entry will be 50p, cream teas cost £2 plus 50p for an extra scone. There will be craft stalls, cake and garden produce stalls and a tombola. Ring 01476 564709 for details.

Gardens open

Stoke and Gelston

Two gardens will be open on Sunday to raise money for the national gardens’ charity.

The Victorian Stoke Rochford Hall, with 28 acres of formal landscaped gardens and parkland, will be open 10am-6pm, admission £4 adults, children free. From 2.30-5pm, the impressive two-acre garden at The Long House, Gelton, will be open; £3 adults, children free.

Around Town: Clubs share their news

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A peek at what clubs in Grantham have been up to.

Winners

Bridge Club

Last week’s winners were Terry Measures and Denis Manton on Monday, and Rebecca Ronan and Judy Hulland and Charu and Sobhag Shah on Tuesday.

Previous week’s winners were Tracey Bridges-Webb and John Nolan and Rebecca and John Ronan on Monday, and Rebecca Ronan and Judy Hulland and Eileen Cooper and Terry Hyde on Tuesday.

The club meets at the Sports Pavilion, Barrowby on Monday and Tuesday with play starting at 7.15pm. Anyone interested in playing should contact Irene Pacey (Tel: 01949 843138).

Walk

Ramblers

Last Thursday, 14 walkers enjoyed a walk starting from the swimming pool car park in Sleaford. The walk followed the River Slea to Evedon, where they saw lots of wildlife along the way.

After a short break they continued towards Kirkby la Thorpe, passing fields of alpacas, and turned off the road at The Spinneys to head straight back to Sleaford through the fields.

The group’s next walk is on Sunday, starting in Castle Bytham at 10am, and will cover eight miles. Everyone is welcome to join the ramblers on this walk and should take a packed lunch and wear suitable clothing/footwear for countryside walking and weather.

For more details ring 01476 561684.

Open meeting

St John’s Fellowship

At the June meeting members enjoyed a visit to Ropsley Church, followed by a meal at The Fox and Hounds public house at Old Somerby.

On Tuesday, July 9 at 7.30pm, there will be an open meeting, when the speaker will talk about Support Dogs for the Disabled. Everyone is welcome to attend.

There is no meeting in August.

£100 raised

Mayor loses weight

Former Mayor of Grantham Ian Stokes has raised an additional £100 for his chosen charities by shedding weight. At his mayor-making ceremony in May last year, Coun Stokes invited guesses on how much weight he would lose in 12 months. Some 50 people guessed, with Pat and Ginny Dixon from Barrowby correctly stating 5kg. They received a bottle of wine and box of chocolates.

Disability event

Sports for adults

A special event is being organised in Grantham for adults with learning disabilities from across the county.

Sue Harris, a swimming coach at The Meres Leisure Centre, is holding a fun sports day on Friday, July 26, between 10am and 3pm.

Already, over 100 adults are attending, with Grantham MP Nick Boles, a supporter of Sue’s work to provide activities for disabled adults, as special guest.

Various sporting organisations will be taking part, including Lincoln City Football Club, Lincolnshire County Cricket and English Netball. Other organisations joing in the day include South Kesteven District Council and The Prince’s Trust.

In order to make the day a success, Sue is calling for help from the community to put on a barbecue and drinks. Anyone that can help is asked to e-mail Sue on swim.grantham@leisureconnection.co.uk

Independents say

Survey due Monday

A shop owner is taking to the street on Monday in an attempt to find out what people in town think about independent retailers.

David Charles, of Grantham Computer Centre, will be undertaking a small survey. He will be at the Isaac Newton Centre, his wife, Julie, on the High Street near NatWest and Josh Shield near The Goose. They will be wearing white T-shirts with Support Local Business on the front and back.

“My idea is the gauge people’s views on shopping with local indepdent retailers rather than big chains or supermarkets,” he said. “And to find out how to get more support for independents.”

Grantham firefighters tackle blaze in Long Bennington motorhome

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Two fire crews from Grantham were called out to a fire in a motorhome in Long Bennington.

Firefighters used two hosereels and breathing apparatus to extinguish the fire just after 8pm yesterday in Costa Row.


Man dies in Long Bennington house fire

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A 68-year-old man died following a house fire on Saturday afternoon in Long Bennington.

The man was taken to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham suffering from severe burns and died of his injuries later that day. Emergency services were called to the house on Fen Lane at 1.35pm.

Police say there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the fire. The coroner has been informed and an inquest will be held.

Grantham court: Breach of a restraining order

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A man who admitted breaching a restraining order received a conditional discharge.

Glynn Baker of Dysart Road in Grantham broke an order which prevented him from contacting his former partner.

The offence arose when Baker took his daughter to her mother’s house to pick up some socks and, while there, moved a chicken coop.

Daniel Pietryka, prosecuting, said Baker then threw a piece of wood at the complainant’s car before shaking his fist and “displaying the w***er sign”.

Baker, defending himself, denied throwing the wood or making obscene gestures but admitted the breach because he parked on the complainant’s drive.

He said: “I only did it for the safety of my daughter.”

Baker, 47, was sentenced to a 12-month conditional discharge. He must also pay costs of £85 and a £15 surcharge.

Grantham court: Knuckle duster caution

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A 33-year-old man charged with possession of an offensive weapon in public may have the case dealt with via a caution.

Lee Cooke of Vickers Avenue, Pontefract, is accused of being in possession of a knuckle duster in Leadenham.

However, an application was made to subject Cooke to a caution so the case was adjourned until a later date.

Grantham court: Accused of cheating public revenue

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A man accused of conspiracy to defraud the Department for Work and Pensions was told his case must be heard at crown court.

Dennis Eastwood, also known as Dennis Troubridge, of Great Close, South Witham, is also charged with cheating the public revenue, making untrue statements to procure a passport and making false statements for the purpose of an entry in a marriage register.

Eastwood, who has yet to enter a plea to any of the offences, will appear at Lincoln Crown Court on July 1.

He was bailed with the conditions he does not contacted co-accused, Poppy Bowling, and he resides in Great Close, South Witham.

Grantham court: Man gave dad’s details to deceive the police

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A son who was questioned by police “panicked” and gave his father’s details instead of his own “to deceive police and evade conviction”.

Adrian Gowen of Harrowby Road in Grantham was spotted by police standing next to his car in Gorse Lane on December 19 of last year.

Gowen told officers he had a full driving licence but in fact only had a provisional licence and when asked for his name, Gowen told officers he was John Gowen of Avon Close in Grantham.

He was told he must present proof of his licence at Grantham police station but when this was not forthcoming a letter of warning was sent to the address in Avon Close.

Daniel Pietryka, prosecuting, said John Gowen, Adrian’s father, contacted the police after receiving the letter “refuting all of the allegations against him”.

Gowen Snr told the officers they were probably looking for his son, Adrian.

Mr Pietryka said Gowen then came clean and admitted what he had done.

Mr Pietryka added: “He said that it was done in a bid to deceive the police and evade conviction.”

Chris Pye-Smith, defending, said: “It was a spur of the moment decision to give the name, which is similar to his own name.

“He gave his own date of birth so I think it was inevitable he was going to be discovered sooner or later.”

Mr Pye-Smith said Gowen cannot explain his actions.

He added: “He is sorry about making that decision. He doesn’t know why, he just panicked and once he did it he could not undo it at that point.”

Gowen, 46, admitted obstructing a police officer, driving without a licence and driving without insurance.

He was fined a total of £256 and must pay £85 in costs and a £20 surcharge. He also received six points on his licence.

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