A woman was shot with an air rifle at a house in Tennyson Avenue, Grantham, this morning (Saturday).

She was shot in the shoulder with a pellet and taken to hospital for treatment. Police say her injury is not thought to be serious.

Police were called to the scene just after 9am.

A 23-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and is currently helping officers with their enquiries.

A spokesman for Lincolnshire Police said: “Officers would like residents in the area to know that at no point during the incident was there believed to have been any danger to the wider public as the people involved were known to one another.

“Local police will be carrying out extra patrols in the area today to talk to residents in the area and offer them some reassurance.”

Garden lovers are being invited on two special days out by South Kesteven District Council.

Both are at historic locations whose gardening roots go back to the 17th century.

The first tour is on Monday, July 7, at Doddington Hall, an Elizabethan mansion near Lincoln, where gardener Dan Cook will take visitors on a tour of the hall’s grounds starting at 2pm. The gardens have remained faithful to the Elizabethan layout and have been restored and developed.

Free bus travel to London has been organised for the second event, a tour of the Royal College of Physicians Garden in Regent’s Park on Wednesday, July 16, with garden Fellow Dr Henry Oakeley.

With over 1300 medicinal plants, the beds of the medicinal gardens provide a unique insight into the history of herbal medicine. The tours are part of an SKDC Heritage Lottery funded project, Lincolnshire’s Age of Scientific Discovery, whose research will feature at this autumn’s Gravity Fields Festival.

Book tickets at www.southkesteven.gov.uk/newtonheritage

A group of Volkswagen enthusiasts came to the rescue when the limo taking seven students to their prom fell through.

Mum Diane Harris lost more than £400 when the company hiring out the tank limo went bust.

It looked as if Year 11 students Stanley Harris, Kieran Wilson, Alex Morrison-Brown, Tom Harriman, Tom Stammers, Baylee Peck and Alex Carmen would be left stranded.

But then friends suggested Diane should ask for help through Facebook.

Diane, Stanley’s mother, said: “Within minutes we had a huge response and were totally overwhelmed with the help that people were offering or suggesting.”

Members of Grantham VW Club got in touch with Diane.

She said: “In the end, Debbie Rimmington, Paul King, Alex Johnson and Alex Howes turned up with two VW cars and two VW campervans; Debbie with the VW Camper 1977, Paul with the VW Golf Mk4, Alex with the VW Golf Mk5 and Alex with the VW Camper split screen.

“We all, the lads, myself and Glen Wilson, would just like to say a huge thank you for helping them make 
an amazing trip to their prom.”

She added: “They really enjoyed themselves. It was a great night.”

A weathervane which was broken and damaged in bad weather has been restored to its position on the gatehouse of 
Wyndham Park.

Local businessman and former Forces man Dean Ward paid for the repairs to the weathervane which were carried out by Roll and Scroll, of Inner Street.

The company paid for half the repairs. Dean said: “It’s awesome. It’s back where it belongs. It’s just a shame the maker could not see it reinstalled. Let’s hope it stays up there for 50 years.”

The weathervane was made by George Musson, who died earlier this year. It was first installed on the gatehouse in 1990. The weathervane is a memorial to those who fought in the First World War.

Wyndham Park celebrates its 90th year this year and there will be a day of celebrations and activites in the park on July 27.


Irresponsible youngsters have climbing on to roofs of buildings in Trent Road, prompting police to issue a warning.

The Earlesfield area’s neighbourhood policing team said such incidents are on the increase, adding: “This is a very dangerous act and could potentially lead to serious injuries.”

Meanwhile, a bike was stolen from a roof rack on a car parked in Trent Road yesterday (Friday), sometime between 5.10pm and 6.10pm.

Anyone with information on either incident is asked to call Lincolnshire Police on the non-emergency 101 number.

Flying the flag for Armed Forces Day today (Saturday) was the team at Grantham supermarket Asda.

Staff dressed up in costume, wartime music was played and the Last Post was played at the end of the event. Charity Care for Casualties was invited along to do a bucket collection.

Asda worker Karen Guest said: “Asda really flew the flag to support our Armed Forces and gave balloons and flags away to the children. It was a great atmosphere and everyone loved it and commented on the outfits.

“I would like to say a big thank you to my colleagues for dressing up and helping out on what was a lovely day.”

** Did you mark Armed Foces Day? Send your photos to us: comment@granthamjournal.co.uk

A parrot has gone missing from the Barrowby Road area of Grantham.

The parrot, a blue-fronted Amazon, flew from its owners’ home at around 11am this morning (Saturday). It was last seen flying in the direction of the shops on Barrowby Gate.

Anyone with information is asked to call Andrew and Vicky on 07803 177030.

Local umpiring stalwart Vic Heppenstall has had numerous accolades over the years and received his latest from the hands of another cricket legend – Sir Garfield Sobers.

The former West Indies all-rounder was on a visit to the King’s School where he regaled their cricket teams of his excellent career, before answering questions from the audience and signing bats and shirts.

In the audience was Vic, and head of PE Nathan Whales had arranged for Sir Garfield to present him with a portrait depicting the Grantham umpire at the King’s playing field.

Mr Whales thanked Vic on behalf of the thousands of boys and local cricketers who have benefited from his voluntary work and dedication over the last 30 years, including umpiring home and away matches around the country, and three school tours of Barbados.

Grantham Girls under-14 cricket team enjoyed a sunny Sunday afternoon at Ketton Cricket Club and won the six-a-side hard ball competition involving Ketton, Narborough and Twycross cricket clubs.

All girls performed well and a young side, missing three county players, made a great effort for the club and each other to come out on top.

All games were close and the leadership and batting of captain Lily McKenzie-Blyth were outstanding. They fielded well and Lily Fitch and Libby Wheeler were the pick of the bowlers. Completing the squad were Ellie Bushell, Tazmin Brown, Lily Chow and Eleanor Bailey.

With some girls new to the hard ball game, they did the club proud.

Thank you to the Journal for your coverage of the open gardens for the National Garden Scheme at the weekend.

This was very much appreciated by the garden owners and resulted in a great turnout, therefore raising much-needed cash for our nursing and caring charities and hopefully will be repeated next weekend due to your article.

Margaret Mann

Publicity Officer, Lincs NGS

I would like to thank Cyclesport and Halfords for helping service users of the Grantham Foyer participate in the local Bike 4 Food challenge the local foodbank held on June 21.

Grantham Foyer is a project for 16-25 year olds who are homeless or at risk of homelessness - some of our service users have had to use the Foodbank in the past and they wanted to give back into a charity that had once helped them.

Our young people live off the bare minimum and Grantham Foyer sometimes has to reach out for generous donations.

Halfords donated four cycle helmets for our service users participating in order to make the 20-mile ride safe.

On the morning of the bike ride, one of our service users came across and unexpected problem with his bike, his rear tyre was flat and after several attempts to pump it up it would not inflate.

In a last minute panic we went across the road to Cyclesport, who kindly donated a new tyre and fitted it for us, enabling the rider to take part.

Without the empathy and generosity of these two businesses, we would not have been able to take part in the bike ride.

Name and address supplied

A rock band formed by four youths who grew up in Grantham have recorded an album in America with top record producers.

Matt Grocott and The Shrives is comprised of 19-year-old lead vocalist and guitarist Matt, lead guitarist Josh Horsfall, 19, 18-year-old Tom Shelton on bass and drummer Joe Michelson, aged 20.

They describe their sound as a mix between rock, country, ska and punk, and have already gathered a following around town and in the UK through gigs and social media.

However Matt Grocott and The Shrives have now gone international, with Matt and Josh going over to Jingletown Recording Studios in Oakland, California, in March to put together their debut album.

The opportunity came about as Matt has got to know Billie Joe Armstrong, lead singer of the punk rock band Green Day, after discussing their music and bands online.

Billie Joe who has led Green Day to world-wide fame with hits such as ‘American Idiot’ and ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ was struck by the sound of the Grantham band and invited Matt and Josh out to California.

Mattsaid: “I used to talk to Billie Joe about bands over the internet, and to have someone from Green Day listening to your music is incredible.”

Still reeling from their trip across the pond, Josh added: “We were treated like rockstars.”

As well as hanging out with the Green Day front-man, his son and drummer Joey Armstrong fromOaklandrockers Emily’s Army was also on hand during the recording sessions, and the teenagers are thrilled with the tracks they’ve created together.

The album is not yet available to buy, but Matt Grocott and The Shrives have big plans for the future including a tour this August.

For more information on the band including dates and locations of their tour, go to www.mattgrocott.com

Pupils from Isaac Newton Primary School were not only centre court but in central London last week – playing tennis in front of David 
Cameron, Grantham MP Nick Boles and Sochi gold medalist Lizzy Yarnold.

After coming top out of more than 100 entries in the Lawn Tennis Association’s Road to Westminster video competition, 40 students from the school went to play at special courts set up in New Palace Yard underneath Big Ben.

The Prime Minister congratulated the children who were also overall winners of matches played on the day, and have been rewarded with £150 worth of tennis equipment, T-shirts, and a day out at the National Tennis Centre.

Grantham Tennis Club’s Paul Kennedy and Richard Edgeley were also there due to their support of Isaac Newton, along with Chair of the LTA Cathie Sabin.

Isaac Newton’s headteacher Paul Hill said: “We’re thrilled to have won the competition and to bring some of our pupils to play in such an iconic location.

“The children really love playing tennis at school and thanks to the support of the Tennis Foundation we have equipment which means that we can play indoors and outdoors whenever it suits.

“Playing tennis keeps the children healthy and also keeps their minds focused so they perform better in the classroom too.”

Sweet peas, swallows, meadows and cream teas – the essence of summer at Easton Walled Gardens and the focus of Sweet Pea Week which begins today (Sunday) and ends on July 6.

You can find over 85 types of heritage, modern, scented, striped, flake and bicolour varieties at Easton, near Grantham, displayed across the pickery, vegetable and cottage gardens.

As well as homegrown sweet peas, visitors can also see summer roses rising up through the long meadow grass and enjoy light lunches – made using ingredients grown in the historic grounds.

There will be a history trail dotted throughout the Pickery, showing the evolution of the Sweet Pea. A fixed display will guide visitors around the 85 varieties, including this year’s new varieties (Watermelon, Purple Pimpernel, ‘bounce’ ground cover and others) while Easton’s team of gardeners will be on hand to answer visitor’s questions throughout.

The Telegraph recently chose Easton Walled Gardens as one of the UK’s top 10 walled gardens, as well as one of its top 25 gourmet garden centres. Directed by Lady Ursula Cholmeley, the ‘lost’ Gardens date back to 1592, and have been revived to their former glory during a decade-long restoration process, after being left abandoned for more than half a century.

Open daily from 11am to 4pm, tickets cost £6.75 for adults and £2.75 per child. Call 01476 530063 or email www.eastonwalledgardens.co.uk for details.

On behalf of South Lincolnshire Blind Society I would like to say a huge thank you to the Rotary Club of Grantham Kesteven for the magnificent effort in raising such a fantastic amount at their 12th annual charity golf competition.

Without a doubt this was and will be a fantastic help to our services provided for blind and partially-sighted people living within our area and we are extremely grateful for being selected as the main beneficiary by the club’s president.

I am delighted at the manner in which the Rotary Club of Grantham Kesteven continues to give vital support to our charity, not always in terms of money, but, always with a willingness to help those less fortunate than themselves.

The club should be proud of this achievement.

Malcolm Swinburn

Chief executive, SLBS

Gravity FM has been broadcasting since 2008, and its director, Doug Hough, won the Contribution to the Community Award at the Grantham Journal’s business awards.

Doug told the Journal what listeners can expect when they turn the dial to 97.2FM.


What did it mean to win?

It was a fantastic experience. It gave the entire team a big boost to be recognised and since the awards we have begun to develop strong links with Grantham Business Club, Grantham Retail Association and others.

At a personal level it is nice to know your efforts are appreciated. It is easy to get caught up in the day-to-day challenges of managing an organisation and lose sight of the significance of the achievements that have been made.

Your time and efforts are always focused on the problems and an award like this forces you to find time to celebrate the achievements as well.

What does Gravity FM bring to the community?

In a rural community it can be difficult for people to keep in touch and find out what is going on, particularly for the elderly, infirm and residents in outlying villages. Through our broadcasts, Gravity FM provides this communication.

To our volunteers, we provide development opportunities and support including help reading and completing forms, use of our computers to find and apply for jobs, help with budgeting and a host of other things most would consider unrelated to a radio station.

Also with the Gravity Youth Project young people provide valuable support to the station and community whilst receiving support in exchange. It is much more than just providing an activity to keep them off the streets as they learn vocational skills, gain confidence and support community groups and events across South Lincolnshire, North Leicestershire, and East Nottinghamshire.

Our record of success in this area includes Ross Garrigan leaving our presenting team this summer as he takes up a professional post with Lincs FM Group having progressed from the basic skills he learnt with us. Ben Morrison was rewarded for his efforts having become an East Midlands Regional Winner in vInspired National Volunteering Awards this year and Andrew Kidd is shortlisted in the final five for the Lincolnshire Media Education Awards this July.

These achievements are tribute to the great calibre of volunteers we have involved in the station but also reflect the support and encouragement the organisation provides in allowing them to aspire to and achieve their full potential.

Tell us about the volunteers.

Gravity FM no longer employs any paid staff - everything is done by volunteers. Besides the presenters, co-presenters and technical staff we have an army of volunteers who contribute thousands of hours of their time every year.

As part of our annual reporting we tried to put a value on this using national average wages for the role performed and found it exceeded £325,000 annually.

We also require more volunteers as we extend our work with other organisations. We are developing an exciting new partnership with Grantham Town FC to provide match coverage and stadium entertainment.

With the second Gravity Fields Festival just around the corner we are working with organisers to expand radio involvement.

What can listeners expect?

Gravity FM is music-led with local news, information and chat. During the day there is a range of music leading into more specialist broadcasts in the evenings. These include the internationally respected “Global House Session” on Wednesday evenings with Steve Watts and the popular Marcus Wesley with “Everything 80’s” every Friday evening.

Our Key Commitments to OfCOM require us to reach out to under-represented sections of the community so we also now include “Falar Portugues” or Portuguese Speaking every Monday evening.

This is a dual language broadcast in Portuguese and English exploring international Portuguese speaking culture and matters of interest to the migrant community.

We are very pleased to be able to provide this service thanks to a partnership with a locally based international Portuguese language broadcaster.

Not wanting to give too much away at this stage, the station is undergoing an upgrade and we are working on a project to introduce a more modern, livelier and even more professional sound. If all goes well, this will be launched in August.

How can people get involved?

The easiest way is to join The Friends of Gravity FM for just £25 per year (and you can pay in instalments). You will find out about the station and have an input in developing our broadcasts and projects. To volunteer drop us an email at admin@gravityfm.net

You can also call Gravity FM on 01476 573300 or visit their website www.gravityfm.net where you can listen online.

A pedestrian has suffered a serious injury to her foot after it was run over by a car in Grantham this morning (Monday).

The woman was taken to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham following the incident in Avenue Road, Grantham, just before 8am.

The driver of the Volkswagen Passat received no injuries.

Police closed a section of the road for half-an-hour. No arrests have been made.

Grantham Dramatic Society is inviting people interested in joining it to an open evening tomorrow (Tuesday) and also to casting sessions for its next production of Blackadder Goes Forth.

Anybody interested in the society’s activities on or off-stage is invited to the open evening which starts at 7.30pm at Unit 19, The Old Malthouse on Springfield Road.

The open casting sessions will be held on July 8, 10 and 15 from 7.30pm at the society’s rehearsal rooms at The Old Malthouse.

Show director Helen Pack said: “We host an Open Evening every couple of years. It’s a relaxed and informal way for people to get a feel for the group, without any commitment. We’ll have displays about all the different aspects of putting on a play and members will be on hand to chat through any questions you may have. There’s so much to do to stage a production, from set-building to hair and make-up so new faces are always welcome.”

Free drinks and nibbles will be provided at the Open Evening.

The casting sessions for Blackadder Goes Forth will help to fill at least nine parts for male actors and two for women.

Helen added: “There are lots of parts up for grabs from the leading role of sarcastic Captain Blackadder, through to soldiers who will appear as extras. That means there’s something for all levels of confidence and experience, whether you’re experienced or never been on stage before. We always welcome new members, and this show has a lot of challenges so we think it’s a great opportunity to find some new talent.”

For more information and character profiles visit www.granthamdramaticsociety.co.uk

Blackadder Goes Forth, the classic sitcom first aired on the BBC in the 1980s, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.The production has been planned to commemorate the centenary of World War One. By turns hilarious and deeply poignant, this TV classic parodies the conditions of the battlefields in Flanders. The show is set to be on stage at the Guildhall Arts Centre, Grantham, from November 26 to 29.

Firefighters were called out to a sounding fire alarm in Great Gonerby yesterday (Sunday).

A crew from Grantham attended Old Great North Road just after 6.30pm to find there was no fire, and that the alarm was caused by a system fault.

No action was taken.

An event aimed at small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will form part of the upcoming Gravity Field Festival.

On Tuesday, September 23, an insight into support and funding for local and regional SMEs will be given at Alive Church, in Avenue Road, Grantham.

It is a free event aimed at highlighting the governmental support and help that is available. The event programme will include an informative keynote speaker, networking and presentations focused around business support, innovation platforms and transport challenges.

The business event will take place between 9.30am and 4pm. For more information, or to book a place, email charlotte.watson@southkesteven.gov.uk

{http://www.gravityfields.co.uk/|Click here for more information on Gravity Fields 2014, Grantham’s arts and science festival.}

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