Paintbrush-wielding volunteers were hard at work sprucing up the area around the paddling pool on Saturday.

Members of Wyndham Park Forum were joined by a number of additional volunteers in painting the pergola around the pool, which will open later this year once renovation work is complete.

Paint was provided by South Kesteven District Council.

Elizabeth Bowskill, secretary of Wyndham Park Forum, thanked the volunteers, including the park keeper, for their help in freshening up the wooden structure. She added: “This was in need of smartening up ready for the summer season.”

A further working party is being put together to continue painting on Saturday, provided it does not rain. Any volunteers wishing to lend a hand would be welcome. Painting starts at 9.30am, brushes are provided.

Information: call Elizabeth on 07840 240854.

This half-term the National Trust are encouraging children in Lincolnshire to get active with their ‘50 things to do before you’re 11¾’ campaign.

Harry Bowell, National Trust Director for the Midlands, explains: “The National Trust launched the ‘50 things to do before you’re 11¾’ campaign in 2012 as part of its commitment to connect children with nature. Over 15,000 children here in the Midlands have signed up and are busy ticking activities off their list. It’s all about encouraging kids to get mucky, discover their wild side and get closer to nature.”

Here in the Midlands, the most popular seasonal activities on the list include climbing trees, building dens, running around in the rain, playing in the snow and flying kites – all great ways of getting back in touch with nature and burning off some energy.

The National Trust wants to highlight opportunities to explore the great outdoors in the area, with Belton House, Tattershall Castle and Woolsthorpe Manor all offering lots of space to run around, fly kites, play games like pooh sticks or try a spot of den building.

Visitors to Belton can also tick off no.1 ‘Climb a tree and no.2 ‘Roll down a big hill from the list.

Children can sign up for the ‘50 things’ challenge on the National Trust website, which lets them track their progress, earn badges and certificates, and collect secret rewards along the way. There’s even a companion app to download as well.

To start planning half-term activities and to find lots of ways to experience the simple pleasures of outdoor adventure, families can visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/midlandsfamilies.

There’s also a new downloadable planner online that shows where families can tick off the ‘50 things’ activities in the Midlands.

A road accident involving one car led to the closure of the B1176 at Old Somerby earlier today.

At 9.50am the emergency services attended an overturned Volkswagen Polo. The female driver is not believed to have sustained life-threatening injuries.

The B1176 was closed in both directions between the roundabout with the A52 at Old Somerby, and its junction with the A151 at Corby Glen, before being re-opened at 12.20pm.

Police have been alerted to the theft of 49 sheep from a field on Fir Tree Lane in Sudbrook.

The sheep were stolen sometime between January 18 and 21.

If you have any details on this incident call Lincolnshire police on 101, quoting incident number 271 of February 17.

A community midwife based at Grantham Hospital has been named Regional Midwife of the Year by Johnson’s Baby.

Karen Swan has been recognised for her dedication and hard work and will be attending the Royal College of Midwives Annual Midwifery Awards in London next month, where a national winner will be announced.

In partnership with the Royal College of Midwives, the Midwife of the Year awards are a special way for new mums to say thank you to those who helped them throughout pregnancy and birth.

Zena Barclay, from Heckington, nominated her after Karen looked after her throughout her three pregnancies. Most recently, she gave birth to Holly, at Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, in December 2013.

Zena said: ”I am delighted that Karen has received this award. Her support to me during my pregnancies and following the births of my three children was reassuring and honest. As a teacher at The William Alvey School, Sleaford I have heard many stories about Karen’s kindness, professionalism and willingness to go that extra mile. I may have made the nomination but it is a reflection of the feelings of many women in our community.”

Karen said: “I feel very honoured to have been nominated for this award and delighted to be a regional winner. I am passionate about midwifery and consider the job we do as midwives to be a real privilege. To have a nomination from a mum and to receive this award is very special. It really is the icing on the cake.”

Various items were stolen in the area last week.

Sometime between February 10 and February 11 a catalytic converter was stolen from a vehicle on Barrowby Road (incident number 260 of 16/02/15).

A stump grinder and trailer were stolen from Sudbrook Heath, Ancaster overnight between February 11 and 12 (incident number 78 of 12/02/15).

During the same night a Landrover defender pick-up VRM P477JNH was stolen from a driveway in the village of Gelston (incident number 77 of 12/02/15).

At some point during February 14 there was a break-in at a property on Westry Corner, Barrowby, but nothing was taken (incident number 356 of 14/02/15).

If you have any information on these incidents contact Lincolnshire Police on 101 quoting the relevant incident number.

Seven swimmers from Grantham were selected to compete for the Lincolnshire team at the second annual Junior Inter-County competition at Luton.

Eleanor Lythgoe, Molly Colbert, William Hawkes, Maddie Barnes, Freya Colbert, Harry Fowler and Abbie Phillips joined the county’s best looking to prove their worth against some of the country’s top performers.

Molly Colbert swam a superb 100m front crawl, not only winning her heat and achieving the fastest time in Grantham Swimming Club’s history for the event, but most importantly she broke the county record.

William Hawkes swam two individual races, winning the 100m breaststroke event and finishing second in 100m front crawl. Both times were close to his current club records.

Although competing against regions with more developed swimming infrastructures and facilities, Lincolnshire once again proved that when it comes to producing some of the best swimmers in the country, it has not lost its touch.

Lincolnshire clubs have developed swimmers to Olympic level for more than 20 years, despite the lack of international-standard swimming facilities, and only through the support of local volunteers and organisations.

With a total of 10 first place finishes and a further 10 second place,s Lincolnshire finished a close third overall, missing out on second spot by a solitary half-point due to two competitors finishing with identical times.

Lead coach Andy Mason was impressed with the talent and commitment shown by the young swimmers who grew in confidence as the competition progressed and many of whom swam personal best times.

Two players from Grantham Tennis Club performed well in their very first tournament, part of the Wheelchair Tennis Development Series at Loughborough University.

In the main draw, Paul Singleton reached the quarter-finals before losing to the eventual winner of the event, Scott Smith of Shropshire.

In the doubles event, partnered by Nottingham’s James Shaw, he gained some revenge by beating Scott and his partner Craig Nicholson in the semi-final, coming back from a set and a break down to prevail 14-12 in the third set tie-break.

In the final, Paul and James were beaten by Mehboob Hussain and John Lambert from Birmingham.

In the second draw, Daren Whitlock had to have a pit stop in his singles semi-final, as the tyres on his wheelchair were down to the canvas. He maintained his composure to beat Darren Mitchell from Reading 4-2, 5-3.

Darren also made the doubles final with Carl Sanger of Loughborough, who found themselves up against Robert Houghton and Kim Singh of Birmingham who they defeated to claim their maiden title.

After a short rest, Darren found himself up against his double partner Carl in the singles final. Darren managed to take a very tight first set lead, including one service game that had an incredible 12 deuces.

After securing a 5-3, 4-0 victory, Darren confessed he was unsure how to celebrate: “I wanted to scream ‘get in, yes!’, and throw both arms in the air, but settled for a handshake across the net.”

l Wheelchair tennis is really taking off at Grantham Tennis Club, with new players joining every week.

If you are interested, or know someone who may be, ring Grantham Tennis Club on 01476 591391 or pop into the club at Arnoldfield in Gonerby Road, Grantham.

The first challenge in a group fund-raising initiative, launched by a Grantham woman to coincide with her 40th birthday, was completed on Sunday.

Running together at the annual St Valentine’s 30k race in Stamford, was Ruth Dunstan and her fellow ‘Ruthsfab40’ charity challenge participants, Wendy and Marc Tremain, Wendy Hobson and Nikki Carr.

Together they are fund-raising for Mind, Combat Stress, Barnardo’s and Grantham Home Start, after Ruth from Belton Lane had the idea to enlist 40 friends in her 40th year to collect as much money as possible for the four causes.

“It went really well,” Ruth said after completing the run. “It was really hard though as an undulating and testing route.”

Like Ruth, many of those involved in the charity challenge are members of Grantham Running Club, who plan to take part in as many fund-raising runs this year as possible.

These include 61-year-old Paul Durham from Lime Grove, Grantham, who this weekend will be taking on an obstacle course near Melton Mowbray known as The Beast, and then do 10k every day for 40 days, before tackling Leicestershire’s Farmageddon and The Great North Run.

The four charities were selected by Ruth, who as a mental health therapist with 20 years experience, knows the difference they can make to people’s lives.

She explains: “With our pressures and demands we don’t always have the time to reach out and help. However we can support these four amazing charities which directly and indirectly improve and save the lives of so many people.”

The aim of ‘Ruthsfab40’ was for each of the 40 participants to raise £100 each, but with £550 already collected by the group to date it looks like they are well on their way to exceeding this target.

Ruth has created a website with details of the challenge and those involved, at www.ruthsfab40.co.uk

There is also a Just Giving page where you can donate at www.justgiving.com/teams/RuthsFab40

United Counties League

Premier Division

Harrowby United 0

Holbeach United 7

Harrowby United endured a difficult chilly Tuesday evening at the Environcom Stadium when they endured a seven-goal mauling by the ‘Tigers’, Holbeach United.

With only 13 minutes gone, Harrowby turned defence into attack as Sam Weatherstone blocked a goalbound Jamie Clarke effort in the six-yard box and mounted a counter-attack. Good work down the right from Tom Potts saw him lay off to Joe Clarke whose low rasping shot flew just wide.

That was as good as it got in the first half as Holbeach took control of the game and effectively had it won by half time.

On the quarter hour mark, Jake Duffy fed Livo Dube down the right and the Tigers striker moved the ball on for Lee Beeson to cross to an unmarked Craig Parker who converted from six yards out.

Duffy doubled the advantage after 26 minutes, curling a shot past Arrows keeper Jack Drury from the edge of the box after being set up by Dube.

Parker scored his second after 35 minutes when another cross from the right saw him arrive late into the area and smash the ball into the roof of the net.

Three minutes later, Dube made it four when Harrowby conceded possession cheaply in midfield and the ball was moved quickly forward to the ex-Oadby forward who smashed a great right foot strike past a helpless Drury from the edge of the box.

Harrowby stemmed the flow of goals for the first 20 minutes of the second period but the Tigers drew blood again in the 65th minute when a fine save from Drury was not cleared and Stacey Cartwright picked up the loose ball to shoot home from inside the six-yard box.

Two minutes later, it was six when a ball into the box found its way to substitute Matt Nolan who, in acres of space, had the simple task of rolling the ball into the net.

Harrowby’s best effort of the half came in the 77th minute when a great run down the right from Sam Weatherstone ended with a teasing cross in the direction of Lee Shaw who, stretching, was just unable knock the ball home.

Holbeach added a seventh goal three minutes into stoppage through Gary King when a poor clearance from Drury went only as far as Jamie Clarke. He played the ball through for King, who had earlier hit a post, to finish from close range.

Harrowby United: Drury, Weatherstone, Clarke, Moore, Stubbs, Potts {Currall 63}, Harper, Bolland, Webb, Motson {Tittensor 50}, Shaw. Subs not used: Peberdy, Daykin, Watson.

Coaches and players at Grantham CC are making the most of the excellent facilities at the new Mark Fell Cricket Centre in Dysart Way, with training and registration for the forthcoming season already underway.

Former England under-19 coach and current coach of Lincolnshire County Cricket Club, Mark is joined at all Grantham CC training sessions by at least three level 2 qualified player/coaches from within the club.

The most recent addition to the coaching team is Karanjit Bansal, a Lincs CCC player who has signed up to join Grantham this year.

The club will be fielding four teams on a Saturday and two on a Sunday in the forthcoming season, as well as junior teams at under-10, under-11, under-13 and under-15. An exciting addition will be mini cricket for ages five to eight, starting on Saturday mornings at Gorse Lane in April.

Indoor training will continue until after Easter, on Monday nights for junior girls, Tuesday nights for junior boys, and Wednesday nights for seniors (players aged 15 and over).

New members can enjoy a free nets session before signing up for club membership.

For more information, phone Mark Fell on 07834 906759 or club secretary Jo Green on 07885 283548. Alternatively, check the club’s website at www.granthamcricketclub.co.uk for training times.

Lincolnshire Senior Shield

Semi-final

Stamford 2

Grantham Town 0

The Gingerbreads conceded a goal in each half to go out of the county competition to The Daniels at the Zeeco Stadium on Tuesday night.

Ryan Robbins put Stamford in front in the 37th minute and the lead was doubled by Richard Jones 20 minutes into the second half.

Att: 200

Details of the most excessive speeds recorded on the roads around England and Wales in 2014 have been revealed, and one of the worst speeders of all was clocked on the A1 near Grantham.

The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has lifted the lid on the worst examples of excessive speeding caught on safety cameras after making a Freedom of Information request for the statistics to be released.

Staggeringly, there were five incidents of motorists speeding in excess of 140mph, and one of those was caught on camera hurtling north bound on the A1 at Great Ponton at 141mph, 71mph above the 70mph speed limit.

John Siddle, communications manager with the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership, said: “The incident on the A1 involved a stolen vehicle, so, while it is still of concern, it is not the norm. However, we do get incidents of vehicles travelling at speeds in excess of 120 and 130mph in the county and excessive speed is one of the main factors in road collisions.

“It is often a question of thinking time. If you are travelling at between 90 and 120mph your thinking time is significantly reduced.

“It would be great if we all had the reactions of an F1 driver, but we don’t. We often see collisions where there have been no brakes applied at all due to the excessive speed.

“Our enforcement regarding speed is robust. We target areas where a death or serious injury has occurred, or where there are local concerns about speeding vehicles.”

“Our enforcement is very visible. All our cameras are yellow and there are warning signs on the approach to cameras, which are there to give the driver another chance to alter their speed.

“If you miss all of the indicators and are still speeding, it’s fair to say the ticket coming your way is well deserved.”

A European eagle owl remains missing from an Allington home after her aviary was discovered ajar on Friday.

The owl named Tash stands at approximately 2ft tall and has a wingspan of about 5ft.

On Friday, Malcolm and Christine Robbins who live just off the A1 at Allington, discovered that Tash’s aviary was open and that the bird was nowhere to be found.

They attended two reported sightings that day, but at the first location there was no sign of her and at the second the bird spotted turned out to be a buzzard

Christine said: “She has large orange eyes. This makes her very distinctive and unlike any wild bird people would see.”

People may also differentiate Tash from wild birds by the rings and jesses she has on.

Malcolm added: “She is quite friendly, but should anyone see or find her they are best calling us.”

If you see Tash please call Christine’s mobile on 07828 619812

The Sportshall East Midland Combined Final took place at The Meres leisure centre on Sunday, with 23 athletes from Grantham AC representing the Lincolnshire county team.

A sterling performance was put in by all the Lincs athletes who were up against the larger counties of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire.

The under-11 team had 24 athletes, eight of whom were from Grantham AC. They were Rachel Justice, Mary Justice, Alexia Johnson, Erin O’Flaherty, Lucas Atkinson, Danny Yates, Kattie Atter, and Marrianne Jallow. Both the boys’ and girls’ teams finished in fourth place.

The under-13 girls’ team of 10 included Amy Hunt, Scarlett Armstrong, Helen Braybrook, Isabel Hobday and Jessica Oates from Grantham AC. The team came equal fourth with Northamptonshire.

There was an outstanding performance came from Amy, finishing first in the four-lap race and runners-up in the shot putt.

The under-13 boys’ team of nine included Gareth Lee who qualified for the four-lap race final, finishing in fifth place.

The under-15 girls’ team were all Grantham AC members and they finished fourth in a close fought final. The team consisted of Hannah Sharp, Florence Ireland, Molly Colbert, Jemima Nambo and Francesca Wilson. Jemima had an outstanding performance in the standing long jump with 2.21m, which gave her a ranking of 16th in the East Midlands.

The under-15 boys’ team of six finished third and included four from Grantham AC. They were Ethan Richards-Cole, Sam Cartwright, Rhys Potter and Ben Whinney.

The outstanding performance was from Sam with third in the speed bounce and third in the standing long jump, ranking him fourth in the East Midlands and just missing out on the national final at Manchester.

Results: U13 Girls – Amy Hunt 4LR 51.4 1st, Shot 8.48m 2nd; Scarlet Armstrong 6LR 1.35 10th, VJ 45 8th; Helen Braybrook 2LR 26.2 7th, SLJ 1.74m 7th; Isabel Hobday 6LR 1.34 9th, STJ 4.28 10th; Jessica Oates STJ 5.48m 6th.

U13 Boys – Gareth Lee 4LR 52.8 5th, VJ 41 9th.

U15 Girls – Hannah Sharp 4LR 56.6 12th, SB 62 12th VJ 56 4th; Florence Ireland 2LR 25.6 8th, Shot 5.97 10th, VJ 52 7th; Molly Colbert 2LR 27.3 11th, Shot 6.79 8th, SLJ 1.93 11th; Jemima Nambo 4LR 56.1 11th, SB 69 10th, SLJ 2.21 2nd; Francesca Wilson 4LR 54.2 9th, SB 72 9th, SLJ 2.00 10th.

U15 Boys – Ethan Richards-Cole 4LR 52.4 9th, SB 72 5th, STJ 6.36 8th; Sam Cartwright 4LR 48.6 4th, SB 78 3rd, SLJ 2.40 3rd; Rhys Potter 2LR 23.3 3rd, Shot 6.29 10th, STJ 5.90 10th; Ben Whinney 4LR 55.2 11th, SB 60 11th, SLJ 1.84 11th.

Sixty year nine students at Walton Girls’ High School and Sixth Form built weight bearing towers and wind turbines as part of day of activities encouraging Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

The day was arranged by The Smallpeice Trust, which provides young people with hands-on engineering experience and is particularly keen to attract more girls into engineering by developing STEM.

Working in teams of six, the first task tested whether with just three sheets of A3 and A4 paper they could build a tower strong enough to support a 100N weight for ten seconds. Most groups succeeded but the winners - Lucy Appleton, Elysia Chettle, Millie Lamming, Jasmine Richardson, Kitty Smith and Zeta Hoyes - set a new record by building a 97cm tall tower.

The main activity was to construct a model wind turbine that could generate electricity. With a range of materials of different costs to choose from, the girls had three hours to build the turbine that could produce the highest voltage, within a £100,000 budget, as well as prepare a sales presentation.

In the end it was a draw between the creators of ‘Trevor the Turbine’, capabale of producing 1.523 volts for £94,500, and ‘Turning Turbines’ which produced 1.781 volts and came with an impressive sales pitch, but was over budget at £123,000.

The school thanked Tolulope Olajide from The Smallpeice Trust for a very productive day.

Ann Farrow said that she ‘doesn’t feel like 100’, but that is how old she turned today, surrounded by family and friends.

The centenarian celebrated with an appropriately big party at Kings Court nursing home, where she has been a resident for the last four years.

She was joined by her daughter Susan and sons John, Trevor and Alan, as well as some of her many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and even great-great grandchildren who had travelled from far and wide to see Ann on her special day.

During her 100 years she has also made many friends, including hairdressers Ann Moulsher and Diana Walkers, who each at different points cut Ann’s hair on a weekly basis back when she was living in her longtime home of Bottesford.

They said: “She is very family-orientated - very proud of her family. She liked to show us her photos and point them all out to us.”

Born in the village of Wheatley Hill in County Durham, Ann came to the area to work as a pastry cook at Aveling-Barford. Her first husband Charlie was killed in the Second World War, with whom she had a son, Derek, who has also sadly passed away.

With her second husband George, Ann had four children. The eldest, Susan Hall, said: “She has always been there for us, no matter what has happened. And through everything, the loss of each of her husbands and her son, she has remained a positive person.”

Asked how she felt about her momentous birthday, Ann said: “It doesn’t feel like I’m 100. I feel younger.”

Residents and staff at Kings Court joined in with the celebrations, including carer Kim Jackson who said: “She is a lovely lady, who knows what she wants and is no trouble.”

Indeed many at the party described Ann as a determined lady who knows her own mind, although few would blame her for that after 100 years.

Two of Grantham Tennis Club’s mixed teams enjoyed mixed results at the weekend.

Grantham 4th travelled to The Park, in Nottingham, hoping to keep their unbeaten run going. The side consisted of captain Lorraine Walton and David Todd, Colin Walton and Sheena Gordine, and Martin Garratt and Katy Dines.

The match was very closely fought and played in great spirits by both sides, with Grantham taking a great 64-44 victory to remain unbeaten in the league in four games.

With two games remaining and the season coming to an end, Lorraine’s team will be hoping to get good results to seem them promoted back into Division Eight of the Nottinghamshire League, having been automatically moved down from Division Nine to allow in a new team.

l Grantham’s mixed second string lost to West Bridgford in the Indoor League, despite fielding a strong team.

The 46-15 defeat was not a complete surprise as the Bridgford side are known to be a powerful team. Grantham fielded Jackie Wilson, Mel Milner, Karel Meuwissen and Ivo Marsik, and expected to give Bridgford a tough game, but on the night they were blown out of the water.

Every year the Belton Park seniors nominate a charity or charities to receive monies from their fund raising efforts.

Seniors captain Bill Brogan nominated St Barnabas Hospice as his charity for 2014. Throughout the year the seniors raised a total of £1,095.

Last Wednesday, Bill (pictured) presented a cheque on behalf of Belton Park seniors to Tina Dingley, corporate fundraiser at St Barnabas.

The money will be used to purchase a new hospital bed for the new unit at Grantham hospital.

l Forty seniors turned out to compete for the Nick Craft Trophy last Tuesday.

Of the 13 teams only two failed to return their yellow ball. The scoring was far higher than last year’s winning score and congratulations go to the winning team of Dave Newton, Colin Farrington and Willie Badraun.

Results: 1 John Newton, Colin Farrington and Willie Badraun 132pt, 2 Dave Jackson, John Clarke and Steve Wight 129, 3 Tony Robinson, Dave Dobney and Tony Davies 126.

The Yellow Ball winners are pictured with Nick Craft and seniors captain Trevor Collis.

Ladies

Last Tuesday’s fourball stableford aggregate was won by Josie Short and Lucy Morley with 78 points.

Runners-up with 75 points were Kathleen Bell and Julia Bishop, with Donna Hayle and Sheila Mason third on countback with 73.

STOKE ROCHFORD

Seniors

Played in drawn teams of three, last week’s Stoke Rochford seniors’ Winter Warmer was a best two from three on par fours, all to count on par threes, and best one on the two par fives.

Winners with 84 points were the last group out, seniors captain Mike Nixon, Brian Ayto and Peter Gill. Runners-up with 83 points were Phil White, Barry Gaunt and their sleeping partner Ray Elsome. Vice-captain Graham Manton, Keith Dugmore and Barry Coop were third with 81 points.

Overall leader is Brian White with 43 points, from Phil White (38), and Alan Dolby.

SUDBROOK MOOR

A month on from victory in January’s event, Paul Brough won again from a field of 52 with a spendid Stableford scorecard of 43 points.

The result warranted another new handicap and puts Paul near the top of the Order of Merit Sword of Achievement with 50 points.

In the parallel ladies’ Stableford event, Amanda Roberts also followed up her January win with a February card of 36 points. She too will be amongst the top places in the Sword accumulator.

Steve Davis consolidated his third month as leader in the Sword after he carded a very solid 35 points to finish ninth on the day.

Overall runner-up on the day was Dick Marshall with 41 points, who received a handicap cut from 21 to 20.

Others in the prize frame were Pete Martin (40pt), Andrew Dolby (36), Paul McCarthy (36), Paul Leachman (36), Jeff Ward (36), Alex Doig (35) and Yvonne Geach (34).

The twos sweep was shared between Keith Maclachlan, Dick Marshall, Graham Ritchie and Jeff Ward.

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue attended a chimney fire at a house in Swinstead yesterday.

A crew from Corby Glen were called out at 5.54pm to attend the fire at a house on Park Road, Swinstead.

The damage was contained to the chimney breast, caused by a build up of soot.