This extensively refurbished executive family home, in a sought-after cul-de-sac location, is on the market at £389,500.

The four-bedroom detached house is at 4 Longcroft Avenue, Dronfield Woodhouse, Sheffield 18.

Set in a desirable residential area, it is within easy reach of amenities including good schools, parks, shops and leisure facilities. It is also close to public transport links to Sheffield, Chesterfield, the motorway network and the Peak District.

The property has undergone substantial refurbishment since 2010, including rewiring and the installation of a high quality central heating system and boiler, and bespoke fitted wardrobes to all bedrooms. It also has uPVC double glazed windows and a new security alarm system.

An entrance porch opens to a spacious reception hall with cloakroom and wc.

The family living and entertaining area is open plan. The kitchen is fitted with cream-fronted shaker-style units and integrated equipment including a Neff five-burner gas hob with illuminated extractor canopy, fan oven, dishwasher, fridge and wine cooler.

The lounge is light and airy, with patio doors to the back garden and to an adjoining conservatory. This is fitted with a hot/cold air conditioning unit.

Stairs lead up to a first floor landing, with oak spindled gallery and access to the boarded loft space. A French door opens on to a balcony overlooking the front garden.

The master bedroom is fitted with a range of wardrobes; matching bedside units are available by arrangement. An en-suite shower room has a white suite comprising pedestal basin, low-flush wc and shower cubicle.

There are three more double bedrooms, all of them with fitted wardrobes and one with en-suite shower room.

The luxurious family bathroom has a white suite comprising double-ended contemporary bath, separate over-sized shower enclosure, pedestal basin and wc.

Outside, a block-paved drive, flanked by planted beds, leads to a large integral garage with plumbing for a washing machine. The private back garden features a lawn with patio, children’s play area and raised borders with dwarf stone walling.

Details: Saxton Mee, Dronfield office (01246) 290992

Sought-after location

Four double bedrooms

Open plan design

Large conservatory

Private back garden

THE Beverley Flower Club February meeting was enjoyed by members, when Joan Woodhead produced floral designs entitled “Especially for You”.

The next meeting takes place at Longscroft Lower School in Beverley on Monday March 4 at 7.30pm, where members will participate in a workshop entitled “Things to do with twigs”.

George Sellars lived in his three-bedroom house in Shiregreen for more than 72 years – before he recently packed his bags to take up a brand new apartment overlooking the cricket field off Sicey Avenue.

After more than seven decades in a house he shared with his sister, was it a difficult decision to make the move?

“Well, I had my memories after so many years,” says George, “but you can take your memories with you can’t you?”

George is one of more than 30 residents who has moved into the new Sicey Pavilion Apartments which are owned and managed Sanctuary Group.

Out of the 24apartments at the scheme, 19 have been taken up by people who have moved from family homes they lived in for many years elsewhere on the estate.

Housing associations like Sanctuary are working closely with local residents to help them find the best housing solutions, whether they need larger homes for a growing family or smaller accommodation in later life.

To help achieve this, Sanctuary which manages 2,500 properties on the Shiregreen Estate following the transfer of homes from Sheffield City Council in 2006, developed new housing specially designed for older people.

Helen Wright, Sanctuary’s head of development for the North, said: “This new scheme was much needed in Shiregreen and will be an important part of the community.

“Developments like this provide residents with a secure and homely environment, but also the peace of mind.

“We know that housing is a high priority for Sheffield City Council and it is great to have the support of the council for this project in Sicey Avenue.”

The location for the new £2.2million scheme was a plot of land of nearly an acre – formerly the site of the Sicey Hotel public house.

As well as providing new housing, Sanctuary wanted to make the development as sustainable as possible and create employment opportunities.

Young people from Shiregreen were recruited by Sanctuary’s construction partner Frank Haslam Milan (FHM), part of Keepmoat, which built the new Sicey development.

FHM successfully employs apprentices on all its schemes, and for its work at Sicey Pavilion Apartments, it wanted to boost employment in the area by taking on talented young people who were looking for work.

George Sellars is 75 and lived in his last house, a three-bedroom home, for 72 years.

He said: “I have an apartment on the third floor so I can see out at the cricket. I am a real cricket fan so it is perfect for me. Not only that but the apartment is warm and cosy and I have the perfect view.

“I am pleased that I am now in an apartment I really like – and that a family is in my old home.”

Councillor Sioned Richards said: “This scheme is wonderful. Let’s hope that Sheffield gets more housing of this type in the future so that older people can move into apartments which suit them – and that families can live in larger houses with more room.”

Nathan Brough, construction manager at FHM, said: “This is a great new scheme for the area and it was a pleasure to work in the Shiregreen community.

“We worked with a number of talented apprentices to deliver this scheme and we felt this was a real community project to be proud of.”

The building meets level 4 of the Government’s Code for Sustainable Homes, which means it has been built to a very high standard of thermal efficiency and includes elements of renewable energy.

Sanctuary is now working on the development of an older persons’ housing scheme in Arbourthorne. With 52 flats and four bungalows, the housing scheme will be affordable – social rent or affordable sale.

In the volatile early years of Tudor Queen Mary’s blood-soaked reign, a Protestant rebellion was an ever-constant threat.

The only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon, Mary’s first act on her accession to the throne was to plan marriage to the Catholic King Philip of Spain, creating a powerful alliance to carry out her fanatical dream of ridding England of Protestantism.

In the second of Barbara Kyle’s colourful and exciting Thornleigh series of historical novels, she takes us to the heart of Mary’s dangerous court where Sir Thomas Wyatt, angered by the prospect of a Spanish marriage, is raising an army to oust the new queen.

Into this maelstrom steps Isabel Thornleigh from an old English family who are no strangers to rebellion and who will become a daring go-between in the ensuing battle.

Kyle, a Canadian writer with her eyes and heart set firmly on Tudor history, has perfected the art of melding fact and fiction, creating a nucleus of imaginary characters to play out thrilling adventures amidst real-life figures and real historical events.

The first book of the series, The Queen’s Lady, was set at the court of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn and here again, romance and drama take centre stage as warring factions get to grips with a country dogged by religion, dissent and politics.

As Queen Mary prays for good weather to send Philip of Spain to England’s shores, 19-year-old Isabel Thornleigh is making plans for her own wedding to the handsome Martin St.Leger.

Isabel had an unconventional upbringing in the Netherlands and longs to escape from the quiet, dull lives of her staunchly Protestant parents, wool merchant Richard Thornleigh and his wife.

England is in turmoil, with various plots being hatched to overthrow Mary and bring her sister Elizabeth to power, but Wyatt’s rebellion appears to be gaining the greatest momentum.

When her father is imprisoned as a Protestant heretic, Isabel courageously agrees to act as a messenger for Wyatt but none of the secrets Isabel discovers compares to the truths hidden in her own family.

Only the enigmatic Spanish mercenary Carlos Valverde, with whom she has forged an unlikely and romantically perilous alliance, can help her. And with the rebellion and England’s future at stake, Isabel is prepared to risk all to change the course of history...

The King’s Daughter is an all-action thriller, bringing to life the passion and perils of the Tudor period as well as delivering a romance laced with mystery and authentic history.

Another fascinating chapter in the entertaining Tudor saga...

(Canvas, paperback, £7.99)

PICTURED here by Stephen Armishaw Photography are Natalie Acton and Sean Hanley, both of Beverley, who were married and held their reception at Rudding Park before enjoying a honeymoon skiing in French Alps.

http://www.stephenarmishaw.co.uk/

THE DEBUT exhibition of a Nafferton photographer was on display at a private viewing last weekend.

Josh Harrison, 28, of Nafferton captured images of wildlife in the arctic during a trip in 2010 and saw them exhibited last weekend.

The show, attended by over 100 people, was organised by Robin and Victoria Small of William Gibbons Fine Art Limited, who offered the use of their home in Nafferton to display the images.

Josh, who works as a commercial photographer, said: “Going to the arctic was certainly an experience. It was not like anywhere else I had ever been.

“We were incredibly lucky as we found a whale carcass freezing in the ice and there were about 15 polar bears around the bay feeding on it.

“It is nice to see all my work displayed for a change because normally I just see them on the computer.”

At the exhibition a charity collection raised over £200 for two charities, including the World Wildlife Fund for Nature.

For more information visit joshharrisonphotography.co.uk or williamgibbonsfineart.co.uk

“SHE was one in a million” - that is how a man has described his partner of six-years killed in a car crash at Fraisthorpe.

Jennie Stone, 28, had been overtaking a truck on the A165 at Fraisthorpe just minutes after dropping her nine-year-old son off at school when she was involved in a collision with another car before hitting a tree.

Jennie died at the wheel of the blue Peugeot 206 she had been driving, devastating her loved ones who only last summer buried her brother, Private Gregg Stone, 20, who was killed in action while on a mission to rescue a senior Afghan police chief.

Tomorrow Jennie’s family and friends, including parents Angie and Bob Stone, of Hornsea, will hold a funeral service for her at her home town’s St Nicholas Church - the same church where Gregg was laid to rest with full military honours last June.

Now her partner Dave Parker, 45, has spoken out about the loss of his “soul mate” paying tribute to Jennie as a loving, caring person who always had a smile on her face.

“Jennie changed my life completely and utterly. She brought out the best in everybody, she genuinely did.

“She never had a bad word to say to anyone and was not the type of person to ever fall out with anybody, she always saw the good side in people and would help anybody, it didn’t matter who,” said Dave.

“I loved everything about her. She was stunning, kind, considerate, one in a million. It’s easy to say that when you have lost someone but that’s genuinely what she was like,” he added.

The couple first met when they lived next door to each other on Cross Street, in Skipsea and had talked about getting married in the future.

Dave said Jennie’s parents were struggling to cope with this latest tragedy but were trying to stay strong for the sake of her little boy Charlie.

Jennie had been studying at Lincoln University’s Hull campus to become a social worker and was due to qualify this September.

In the wake of two sassy, contemporary novels, Aussie author Toni Jordan moves up a gear in a cross-generational story which opens in Melbourne in 1939 as the world teeters on the edge of war.

Her romantic comedies Addition and Fall Girl won much acclaim but Nine Days, an ambitious, multi-layered saga featuring one family, nine narrative voices and a critical day in each of their lives, takes Jordan’s beautifully spare, descriptive writing to a new level.

It was inspired by a single photograph, seen here on the book cover, of an unidentified couple whose picture is included in the State Library of Victoria’s Argus newspaper collection.

From their emotional, evocative farewell, Jordan has woven a complex story of a tragedy and the ripples that spread out from it for over 70 years. Packed with recurring themes and motifs, clever structural connections, disparate but linked characters and with a moving and compelling story at its heart, this is a book that teases, impresses and entertains.

It’s 1939 and deep in the working-class Melbourne suburb of Richmond, 15-year-old Kip Westaway, failed scholar and stable hand, is about to live through the most important day in his young life.

A lively, witty lad, Kip is keenly aware that his family’s fortunes have seriously changed since his drunken father fell from a tram. His mother Jean is struggling to make ends meet, twin brother Francis is proving to be an academic and older sister Connie is trying desperately to map out her future.

Connie is destined to cross paths with next door neighbour Jack Husting, a young man recently returned to Australia with his parents, but war is only a heartbeat away and what happens during the next 24 hours is the catalyst for momentous events strung across eight more moments in time – love and deception, near-misses and misunderstandings.

The repercussions of that day on the cusp of conflict will affect the lives of the Westwood family, even those not yet born, including another pair of twins who will help us to piece together the past.

Spiky characters, staccato sentences and Jordan’s sharp observations on the minutae of ordinary people and their ordinary lives transform Nine Days from a standard war novel to a work of distinct and delicate precision.

War, abortion, religion, class and age-old tensions between duty and desire all have parts to play but love in all its many forms is the star role and the glue that binds together both the Westwood family and this warm, wise and inspirational story.

One wonders where Jordan will go next...

(Sceptre, hardback, £16.99)

Letters to parents telling them the outcome of their applications for secondary school places for September will be sent out on Friday, March 1.

Nearly all parents in the East Riding of Yorkshire got places for their children at their preferred school.

Of the 3,058 applications received, 3,001 (98.5 per cent) got places at their first choice school and 3,048 (99.7 per cent) got places at one of their three choices of school.

Only 10 children have had to be given places at schools for which their parents did not express a preference.

In all 10 cases, the child has been given a place at their catchment area school.

A total of 318 children living in other local authority areas have been given places at schools in the East Riding, with the largest number (236) coming from Hull.

At the same time, 171 East Riding resident children have been given places at schools in other local authority areas.

Three secondary schools in the East Riding have filled the places they have available. They are Beverley Grammar School, Beverley High School and South Hunsley School.

Nearly nine out of 10 children in the East Riding (86 per cent) will be going to their catchment area school - emphasising the strong links that still exist between the schools and their local communities.

East Riding of Yorkshire’s Homelessness Strategy 2013 - 2018 sets out how the Council and its partners will work together to tackle the causes of homelessness and meet the needs of people without access to a home of their own.

This new strategy builds on the work of the last Homelessness Strategy published in 2008. It has been developed after consideration of the findings of an independent homelessness review (undertaken in August 2012) and utilises a range of data sources including official statistics and stakeholder surveys.

The number of households accepted as being owed the main homelessness duty by the Council has been increasing year on year, with 463 homelessness acceptances in 2011 compared to only 337 in 2009.

Despite a slight fall in numbers in 2012, there are concerns that people are increasingly facing difficulties in managing their income and housing costs as a result of the continuing economic downturn and this is likely to be exacerbated by the changes to housing benefit from April 2013 and the introduction of Universal Credit from October 2013.

Recognising the importance of early intervention and prevention to reduce homelessness, the Council and its partners have identified the following three priority outcomes.

The first is to prevent households from becoming homeless through effective partnership working. Vulnerable individuals at risk of homelessness will be identified at an early stage of their housing need and their underlying problems addressed before they reach a crisis point. Key to this will be effective information and advice services and the Council will work with the voluntary sector to improve the quality and accessibility of housing advice provision across the East Riding.

The second priority outcome is to ensure that there are effective pathways into housing for people that are homeless. This will help to prevent repeat homelessness and make the goal of independent living more attainable for vulnerable people at risk of homelessness. It will also help to ensure that there is sufficient movement through schemes to promote the availability of supported and temporary accommodation for those that need it most.

The third priority outcome is to secure access to safety net services and support for those in crisis to manage a transition to settled accommodation. Alongside the housing pathway set out in outcome two, this outcome will ensure that there are sufficient support services for the most vulnerable groups including people that are sleeping rough and young people. This will help the Council to achieve the Government’s No Second Night Out aim. This aims to ensure that any person that is new to the streets is contacted within 24 hrs and offered support and assistance including access to emergency accommodation.

Comments on the draft strategy are invited up to 15 March 2013 which can be viewed at www.eastriding.gov.uk/say Following the consultation period, the strategy will be taken to Cabinet for approval.

A MAN has been arrested for allegedly spending counterfeit cash in the pubs around Driffield.

Police launched an investigation after counterfeit £20 notes were passed over the bar at Hooters and Original Keys during the New Year Celebrations.

A police spokeswoman said: “During the evening of December 31, while celebrating the New Year, the suspect attended at Hooters and passed three counterfeit £20 notes over the bar.

“He also went to the Original Keys public house and passed six counterfeit £20 notes.

The spopkeswoman added: “The suspect later that morning crashed his vehicle and was found in possession of 47 further counterfeit £20 notes bearing various serial numbers.

“He was arrested at the time for being over the prescribed limit and he tried to throw the notes out of the vehicle window when the police arrived.

“The notes where discovered and taken with suspect to police station.

“He has recently been charged with passing counterfeit notes as genuine.”

The Driffield Branch of Hull and East Yorkshire Credit Union (HEYCU) has moved to a more central location in the town centre.

After operating from Driffield Community Centre at West Garth for the past eight years, the branch is relocating to the Town Council Offices at 2-4 Market Walk, Driffield, as from Wednesday March 6.

The new site is handier for people visiting the main shops and the market and will be much more visible to passers by.

The Credit Union is also taking the opportunity to change the opening times to make it more convenient for the local members and anyone interested in joining.

The new times are Wednesdays 11 am to 1 pm and Thursdays 9.15 am to 11.15 am.

Mr Billy Briggs, Chairman of the Driffield Branch Members’ Committee said: “We have been very happy at the Community Centre over the years but we felt the time had come to bring our Credit Union to the notice of more people, which we will now be able to do from our more prominent site.

“The branches in Hull, Bridlington and Goole have all increased their membership considerably after taking up High Street locations and we hope to do the same in Driffield. We hope local residents will pop in and see us on a Wednesday and Thursday and find out more about our trusted not-for-profit financial services.”

HEYCU has around 700 members in the Driffield area, including about 200 children who save up with its First Saver clubs in half a dozen local primary schools.

The Credit Union provides savings accounts, affordable credit, bank accounts and lots of other services with the aim of helping people to manage their money wisely.

Its loans carry a low interest rate which is capped by law, unlike other lenders.

Any surplus is given back to members as a dividend at Christmas.

AN ACTION group has challenged East Riding of Yorkshire Council over changes made to an application for a biomass plant at Fimber.

The biomass power plant, which will generate 17.5 megawatts of energy - enough to power 10,000 homes, is proposed for land at Gameslack Farm, Beverley Road, Fimber.

The Gameslack Opposition Group, formed of 10 residents from Fimber and Wetwang, were sparked into action after the applicants, East Riding Power Ltd, resubmitted the proposal with amendments which would see the site doubling in size.

The initial planning application was submitted in March 2010 by East Yorkshire Power Ltd, and the amendments were presented to the Council’s planning committee on January 24 2013.

Martyn Hill, spokesperson for the Gameslack Opposition Group, said: “We believe East Riding Council should have requested the developer to resubmit the plans because of the increased size. We want it to go back to committee.

“They did not consider the archaeological aspect to the site. Overall we feel that the visual impact the increased size of the development will have was not properly addressed.”

A report by the Humberside Archaeological Partnership states the biomass site lies on land of prehistoric archaeological importance and is 200-metres from the ancient monument Blealands Nook.

Mr Hill, who is a building surveyor and has lived in Fimber for 15-years, said: “We are not against biomass, we are not against the principles of renewable energy but we have always maintained it was the wrong development in the wrong place.”

A spokesperson for East Riding of Yorkshire Council said: “The application was resubmitted and has been deferred pending completion of a section 106 legal agreement.

“We have now received a letter with various observations and we will be responding to it and we will be making our own observations on it. The application is not finally approved.”

The section 106 agreement will secure a community fund, improvement to site facilities for electricity connections to the National Grid, retention of buildings for office or educational facilities and contribution to the road signage scheme.

POLICE are probing criminal damage to a garden wall on St. John’s Road, Driffield, which happened between 3.30pm and 4.30pm on Sunday February 17.

A male approached the front of a semi detached dwelling at the beginning of St John’s Road and using physical force knocked over a four foot brick built pillar, causing damage. He then made off from the location on foot - limping. Anyone who witnessed this crime call the police - reference 1958235.

A funeral service was held at the Parish Church, Driffield on Monday, February 18 for Mr George Henry ‘Paddy’ Arnold, of Northfield Road, Driffield, who died peacefully in Scarborough Hospital on February 5. He was 77,

The service was conducted by the Rev Malcolm Exley and the organist was Mr Martin Salter.

George Henry Arnold, or Paddy to most people was born in July, 1935. He lived with his mother Annie and his father George in Tullynagardy just outside Newtownards, County Down. Following the death of his mother when he was nine years old the family moved to Warrenpoint as the war ended. He passed his 11+ with a scholarship for 2 years but his father could not afford the fees so at 14 he started his first job as an errand lad for the local grocers.

He later went to Leeds to live with Harold and Maxine and their children Derek and Hilary. After a short spell working in a garage, National service beckoned and his love of aircraft drew him to the Royal Airforce, but being a true Irishman he found himself working on boats as part of the Marine Craft Section. After sailing round many of the Southern ports and the Mediterranean Sea Paddy found himself stationed at Bridlington working on RAF rescue boats.

He met his wife Thelma Weir at a dance at the Town Hall in Driffield and they married on the 29th March, 1956 at the Parish Church in Driffield.

Paddy left the Air Force and they went to live with Harold and Maxine in Leeds to work in Harold’s butchers business although they regularly scootered back to Driffield to see Thelma’s family at weekends. After a while they returned to Driffield to be near Thelma’s family, Paddy went to work at Bradshaw’s Flour Mill and they lived nearby at Bell Mills, they later moved to Westgate, Eastfield Road and finally Northfield Road. They went on to have two children Shaun and Gavin and when Thelma’s sister died Paddy became a father to Craig and brought him up as his own.

Despite being kept busy he still found time for his hobbies and loved taking his three sons on boating trips to air shows and football matches. For many years he managed the local boys’ football team, Driffield North End. Paddy and Thelma loved going dancing at the Pegasus Club and the James Last concerts in Bridlington. After a time the children grew up and left home and started their own families and Paddy took an active part in the lives of his grandchildren Ruth, Hannah, Becky, Hayley, Zoe and Brogan, caring for them and taking them for days out.

Paddy and Thelma loved to travel and spent many holidays in and around the Med. Their particular favourites were Malta, Venice and Yugoslavia. After 20 years as a postman in and around Driffield Paddy retired to spend more time with Thelma, although she was forced to retire due to ill health, Paddys love for her never waned and he devoted himself to her care. They still enjoyed meeting and being with people and they regularly attended the local Rendezvous and Extend Groups.

They celebrated their Golden Wedding in March 2008 at the Bell Hotel with their family and friends. Sadly Thelma died in July 2009.

Paddy made a lasting impression on people with his politeness, patience and caring and his lovely nature, he was a true gentleman who would always go out of his way to help people and he will be greatly missed by his family and friends.

Family mourners: Shaun Arnold & Rosie Brown (son & partner),Gavin & Carol Arnold (son & daughter in law), Craig Ellis & Julie Elvidge (son & partner),Ruth & Alex Hayward (granddaughter & husband), Hannah Arnold & Dan Cooke (granddaughter & partner), Becky & Jamie Wilson (granddaughter & great grandson), Hayley Harris, Zoe Ellis, Brogan Ellis (great granddaughters), Derek Sleight & Michelle Dixon (brother & partner), Laura & Kieran Sleight (niece & nephew), Helen, Matthew & John Tordoff (niece, husband & great nephew), Hilary & Alan Ossitt (sister & brother in law), Mr & Mrs Peter Dawson rep the family, Janet & Paul Deering, Mike Lewis, Janet & Steve Lewis, John Lewis, Brian & Ann Lewis, Helen Lewis, Ashley Woodruff.

Others present: Rita & Richard Wadsworth, Karen Gooding rep Mandy & Steve Jordan, Mr & Mrs Peter England rep Mr & Mrs Michael Chambers, Mildred Sleight, Trudy Metcalfe, Maisie Craven rep Stephen, Mrs Sheila Hood rep Ray & family, Mrs Barbara Noddle rep family, Phil Barron rep Simon Barron, Marcia & Geoffrey Roughly, Peter Smith, Robert Lowery, Mrs Sheila Brown, Mrs Brenda Ellis, Heather Reed rep Extended Group, Lucy Shingles, Evelyn Brough, Sue Mellonby rep Brian Mellonby, Derek Pickering & Harold Raines, Pauline Baker, Amy Cockburn, Mr P Bowman, Edith Goodwill, Betty Naylor, Margaret & Ray Ward, Alison Moore, Anthony Whitwell rep Paul Whitwell, Julie Roe, Chris Naylor, Kath Taylor, Marlene Robson, Jennifer Taylor rep Alan, Carol Denman, Maurice & Lynn Hardy rep Jane Turner, Pete Sowersby, David Sowersby, Jean Sanderson rep Tony & Joan Cooper, Mary Cowley, Jim Barron, Frank Meek, Ron Ellis, Phil Wright, Liz & Brian McCauley, Mrs C Coleman, Bridget Coleman, Mary Fothergill rep the family, Angela Cawte, Adele Currie, Peter Makey rep Paul, Tina Cintron, Brian Kitt, Steve Duggleby.

A funeral service was held at the Parish Church, Driffield on Wednesday, February 20 for Mrs Dorothy Bowser, who died on the February 11.

The service was conducted by Curate Stuart Grant and the organist was Mr Martin Salter.

Dorothy was born on 1st July 1, 1926 in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, the second eldest child and only daughter of the late Florence and Sydney Lawlor, sister to Sydney, Leslie and Peter.

She spent her young life in Driffield where she attended school there until the age of 16. After leaving school she enrolled as a cadet nurse at Broadgates Hospital in Beverley. She trained as a Registered Mental Nurse, and at the age of 21 years became a nursing sister. Over the years she worked in Brandesburton Hospital, East Riding General in Driffield and the Delapole Hospital in Willerby. Nursing was her life which she spent well over 50 years doing before retiring in her late 60’s. After her retirement she helped her daughter run her residential home for the elderly and helped look after her own mother and brother Peter who lived there until their passing in the early 90’s.

In her younger days she loved ballroom dancing, she was interested in many things such as bingo, tv soaps, strictly come dancing and Alfie Bouer singing the old classics. Madame Butterfly was her favourite opera and she loved the song ‘One fine day’.

She met her husband Harry Bowser in her late 20’s and had 4 children and 5 stepchildren. They sadly separated. Her children and grandchildren were the most important people in her life, she loved being with her family, spending hours with them any chance she could. She was a great cook and provider, always preparing lovely home cooked meals. When she was younger she would always have a never ending supply of food, her apple pies were amazing!

At one time she set up and ran the Nafferton Slack Café where people would come for miles to taste her dinners until the Driffield Bypass came and it closed. She went on to work at the Rex Club serving food. She liked to meet all the stars who appeared there, collecting autographs.

Dorothy loved life and was always out and about. She moved to Hull when she retired to be near her two sons, the shops and her favourite bingo halls. She passed her driving test at the age of 50 and drove all over the country.

One of her greatest pleasures was Hull Fair and she visited it last October.

She was a wonderful mother, grandmother, auntie and friend and will be greatly missed by her family and friends.

Chief mourners: Susan & Charles Warren (daughter & son in law), Jed & Charlotte (grandchildren), Paul & Maxine Bowser (son & daughter in law), David, Kayleigh & partner Scott,, Abbie & Lewis (grandchildren), Vanessa & Tony Russell (daughter & son in law), James, Matthew & Johnathan (grandsons), Nicholas Bowser (son), Josie Chippendale stepdaughter), Lyndsey (stepgranddaughter) Stacey Cleal (stepgranddaughter) Abbie, Holly Jacob & Liam (step great grandchildren), Robert Bowser (stepson), Michael Bowser (step grandson),

Others present: Benjamin Brown, Lavinia Kirk, Stephen Dixon, Lynn Stonehouse, Wendy Sammon, Kay Cox, Dennis Cox rep Miss Edie Ashton, Jackie Rugg, David Rugg rep Nancy Rugg, Mike Kirby, Annette Waites, Hilda Waites, Cynthia Sharp, Lynda Cox, Ray Grant.

A Funeral service was held at the Church of our Lady and St, Edward, Westgate, Driffield, on Thursday, February 21 for Mrs Sheila Chambers, of Northfield Manor Nursing Home (formerly of Hutton) who died at Northfield Manor on the 9th February, She was 80.

The service was conducted by Father David White and the organist was Mr L Burtenshaw.

Sheila was born in Horton, Bradford in August, 1932. She attended secretarial school, became a competent shorthand/typist and then worked as a personal secretary for a solicitor in Bradford. She met Harry at a dance in the Connaught Rooms and they were married in July, 1952. They lived in Acomb, near York, then Cuddington in Cheshire before finally settling in Hutton where they lived happily for 46 years.

Sheila was involved in the local community for many years, helping at the Hutton Cranswick Playgroup and serving Meals on Wheels. She joined the Beta Sigma Phi group where she made many lifelong friends. She was an active member of the Church of Our Lady and St Edward and helped with the cleaning of the church and organising events for church funds. She was a founder member of the Driffield branch of the Catholic Women’s League and she was their first secretary. Sheila received a certificate from the ’ Association for the Propagation of the Faith’ in recognition of devoted service to the cause of the Missions of the Church throughout the world.

Many people will remember Sheila’s skills as a cook and hostess as she and Harry hosted many parties over the years at the family home. They loved to travel and had many holidays all over the world, especially in their favourite country, France.

Although Sheila suffered from ill health for a long time, she was a very determined lady and carried on with courage and dignity. She missed Harry greatly after his death in 2010 but they are now reunited.

She was a much loved mother, grandma and great grandma and will always by remembered by the family.

Chief mourners: Elaine & Trevor Pymm (daughter & son in law), Andrew & Jane Chambers, Michael Chambers & Jo Cox (sons & daughters in law),Richard & Teresa Pymm (grandson & wife), Nick Pymm & Jessica Sinclair (grandson & fiancé), Katy Pymm & James Hague (granddaughter & partner), Emily & Tom Dines (granddaughter & husband) rep Ethan Dines (great grandson), Peter Chambers & Naomi Lane (grandson & fiancé) rep Joshua Chambers (great grandson).

Others present: Mrs Breda Pymm rep Mr & Mrs M Pymm & Mr & Mrs J Pymm, Lilian & John Finch rep Catholic Women’s League (Middlesborough Branch), Joan Shawcross, Brenda Cooper, Jane Rounce rep Andrea Napier & Catherine Greenway, Cynthia Jackson, Ray Jones rep Middle 8, Janet Parker rep Ivan & Margaret Dodds, Joan Stabler, Hilary Pick rep the Ad Hoc Singers, John Quinney rep Middle 8 Singers, Anne Sinton rep the family & Mrs Mary Serginson, Mrs K Bentley, Barbara Peckitt, Lynn & Roland Wooldridge, Mr & Mrs Gerard Conlin, Alan & Marie McClelland, Peter & Margaret Grant rep Middle 8, Jeremy & Angela Ashcroft-Hawley, Muriel Curtis, Alison Boynton, Mr & Mrs F Naylor, Elaine Hawkins, Margaret Ridley, Mrs H Toon, Mandy Marsden rep Mally’s Taxis, Mr & Mrs S Pymm, Shirley Franklin rep Mr & Mrs C Wiles, Susan Smith, Una Walker,Jean Gardiner rep Joanne Wilson, Donna Watkinson, Tracy McNellis rep Northfield Manor, Janet Park rep Dialysis Unit, Mrs M Hulligan, Mrs M Whitfield, Mr & Mrs B Shaw, Mr & Mrs R Jeffrey, Mrs K England rep John & Mary O’Donaghue, Mrs W Pymm, Mr & Mrs C Gosley, Paula Burke rep Mr Steve Burke, Ken Lipton, Meg Richardson, Audrey & Peter Mell, Molly Steer, Mrs Margaret Meacock, Ann Williams rep Bob Williams, Janet Millborrow rep Alice Ross, Frances Leyden, Charles, Colin & Jonathan Grant,Adrian & Gill O’Connor, Maureen Heckman.

The guest speaker at our February luncheon meeting, held at Tickton Grange, was Professor David Raffaelli of the Environment Department at York University, who chose as his subject : “Yorkshire in 2030: what kind of world will we be living in?” An awesome topic, and one which gave us much to think about, and not a little to be concerned about.

David is currently Director of BESS (a research project into Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability!) this is a UK-wide project 50% sponsored by the Government looking into what the future may hold in the ways we manage the land and what it produces. The landscape will change dramatically. At present, it provides food, recreation, beautiful scenery etc. It stores carbon, provides good quality water, and does much to regulate flooding. But there is pressure to increase crops and livestock production, which would adversely affect the other aspects.

The question for us is: how will Yorkshire change , and how will we respond? There will be changes in social attitudes, as the UK population is set to increase by 9 million to 70 million. Yorkshire’s population will go up by 650,000 to 6million. Most of the increased population will be in the Leeds area (sighs of relief in Beverley), and more people will be living alone. World food supplies will need to rise by 40% by 2030, and by 70% by 2050.

There will also be climate changes, with the growth of off-shore wind farms, which Hull is well placed to service.The sea level is set to rise by 30-50cm, and there will be more storms, larger surges, and more coastal erosion. A half-metre rise in the sea level will increase surges to 1 in 10 years, instead of the present 1 in 100 years. In the face of these predictions, the UK Government has decided not to defend our coastline. For us, these climate changes will mean more extreme winters and more flooding. Summers will be baking hot, and food production will be faced with big problems without intense irrigation. By 2080 there will be 90-100 more days in the growing season along the coast….but much less coast!

Social attitudes to food production methods are also changing. Post-1945 food production enjoyed a high priority, but modern farming methods are under attack (e.g. GM crops; the “super dairy” at Nocton). Yet by 2030 we shall need to produce 40% more food. Not an easy problem to solve.

There is also a changing attitude to landscape, with the new idea of “wilding Europe” gaining more acceptance. But can we turn the clock back, and is there room for re-wilding when we need to provide a secure food production system? In 1992 the EU issued a directive asking countries to examine the possibilities of re-introducing recently extinct species (eg: beavers, lynxes, wolves). But we have no areas large enough to sustain a wolf pack (25 wolves are needed to form a wolf pack). Beavers have been re-introduced on a small scale, and lynxes offer possibilities. In Switzerland, farmers have responded reasonably favourably to lynxes, as they are given compensation for any sheep killed by them!

So, lots of problems looming, and not many solutions so far.

David’s talk was one of the most stimulating and thought-provoking that we have heard for some time, and led to many earnest and interested observations and questions

Any retired professional or businessman interested in joining the Club is invited to contact the Secretary, Mike Welch (tel: 01430 872797). We meet for lunch at Tickton Grange on the 3rd Wednesday of each month, and at the same venue, with our partners, for coffee on the 1st Wednesday.

A funeral service was held at St Peter’s Church, Hutton on Monday, February 18 for Mr Christopher Foley, of Orchard Lane, Hutton, who died peacefully in Hospital on February 5. He was 53.

The service was conducted by the Rev Brian Lees and the organist Mr Peter Maw.

Chris was born in Driffield, the only son to Cliff and Elsie Foley. He lived in Tibthorpe before moving to Bainton Balk Farm, Bainton then he lived in Kilham for a short while and settled in Hutton Cranswick to start married life. He attended Middleton school and then Driffield School. He then attended Bishop Burton College. Chris met Sally through YFC and they married in Howden Minster on the 14th November, 1987, this year being their silver wedding. James came along in 1992, the only son to Chris and Sally. Chris was proud of his family and a devoted family man.

Chris worked for JSR Farms for 24 years. He was well respected for his agricultural skills and farming knowledge which he shared with his colleagues. He had an interest in farm machinery, cars and lorries. He enjoyed eating out and being with his family.

Chris will be sadly missed by all who knew him.

Family mourners: Sally Foley (wife), James Foley (son), Olive & Don Eyre (mother & father in law), Rachel & Rob Ives (sister in law & nephew), Pat & James Stabler (auntie & uncle), Ian & Paula Stabler (cousin & wife), Elizabeth & David Waterman (cousin & husband).

Others present: Phyliss Hopkinson, Mr & Mrs P Richardson, Colin & Lesley Whitehead, Mrs Dinah Rosier, Mrs Sheila Lovel, Andrea Knotley, Mrs J Gladstone, Sarah Triffitt, Rob Stones rep Mike Dee, Philip Grice rep Jean Grice & Helen Jones, Lady Nelson, Molly Hepton, Paul Goodlass, John Hodgson rep the family, Audrey Hodgson, Susan Pinder, Catherine Williams, Linda Hall rep John, Mrs N Fetches rep Howard & Sandra Fetches, Mr & Mrs D Palmer, Julie Dean, Karen Foster, Keith Brocklesby, Rob McTurk rep Sewards, Graham Monkman rep Sewards, Maria Height rep Edwin, Donald Plowman rep Kathleen, Clive Blacker, John Aspey, Ted Beaulah, Pat Owen, Steve Longney, Colin Lakes, Lynne & Richard Knight rep Chris & Sarah, William & Susan Edmond, Tim Noble rep Charlie Lamb, Roy Thompson rep Sue Thompson, Liam Thompson, Tracey Atkinson, Andrew Morton, Lynn Sygrove, Ian Griffin, Ernest & Shirley Tether, Sheila Curtis rep Richard, Mick Brown, Dan Curtis, Mark Richardson, Tom Mcormack, Alan Suddaby, Audrey Johnson, Richard Benwell, Malcolm Bayes rep Mrs Bayes, Callum Langton, Steve Albinger, Richard & Helen Stones Manor Farm Shop, Ian McFarlane, David Taylor, Sarah Hodgson rep Gary Hodgson & Thomas Monkman, Jane Cardwell rep Mrs J Green, Becky Foreman, Melissa Clark, Pam & Keith Harrison, Paul Lacy rep Gill Lacy & Frontier, Neil Pratt rep Dave Fuller, Keith Smith, Neil Smith, Colin & Kathleen Roe, Julie Collins, Chris Foreman rep Christine, Rob & Elaine Leason rep Graham Wood, Grant & Julie Hood, Caroline Lees, Zoe & Tim Rymer, Philip Huxtable, Mr & Mrs M Hodgson, Alan Wilson rep Carol, Alan & Margaret Botham, Mr & Mrs K Brown, Sue Foley, Elaine Watson rep Katrina, Peter & Tara Lock, Elaine Baker, ELIFF & Hutton Cranswick Playgroup, Noel Robinson rep Paul Dandy, Mr & Mrs Dennis Harrison, Chris Lewis, Bev Gibson, James Saunders, Graham & Carol Sissons rep Chris & Joyce Saverton, Mark Pratt, Molly & Malcolm Clark, Tony & Glenis White rep The McGills, Mavis Kitching rep Andrew, Phil Naylor rep Paul Hudson, Clive Tomlinson rep the White Horse, Rosemary Crawford rep Zoe Howe & the Sanderson family, Mark Addinall, Len Smith, Jane Rymer, David Hornshaw, William Pexton, Kevin Dean, Janet Foreman rep J H Foreman Ltd, Lisa & Leslie Atkinson, David Dodgson, Tom Dodgson rep Andrew & Lynne Dodgson, Robert Dodgson rep Andrew & Simon Megginson, Susan Frankish, Jane & Keith Holmes, Mr & Mrs Harry Berriman, Caroline Etty rep Jenny Holtby, Beth Pettinger, Simon Pettinger, Joanna Pettinger, Neil McKie rep Caroline & Keith Jeffries & family, Joan Stabler, Neil & Karen Butler, Jane Axup, Anne Jamieson, Mr & Mrs S Berriman, Mrs G Hyde rep Peter Hyde, Ben Hoggard, Richard Swift, Sue Peacock, Mr & Mrs J Walgate, Anna Walgate rep R Walgate, Duncan Lambert, Zoe Jackson, Cath Jackson rep Belle Hair & Beauty, John & Paula Smith, Jill Appleyard, Mr A Massam, Rita & Alan Marson rep Joanne Marson, Wendy Nelson rep Paul Nelson, Sarah Fetches rep Heidi Gowthorpe rep Mr S Moate, Mr & Mrs Geoffrey Maltas, Wendy Lambert, Tom Lambert, Alex Lambert, Gavin Ray rep Tim Burdass, James Means, David Thirlwell, Shaune Henderson rep Hadrian Lowe, George Byass & Heidi Palmer, Mrs Chris Warkup rep Mr Chris Warkup, Ron & Gillian Hall, Mr & Mrs A Barton, Richard & Caroline Hanson, Aly & Jenny Wilson, Keith Thompson rep Scurf Dyke Farm, John Sowersby, Geoff & Callum Mountain, Jan Bednarczuk, John Fordon, Anthony Shipley rep Anita Shipley, Richard Harris rep Stuart Stephenson, Bruce Bentley rep family & Bainton YFC Past Members, Alice King, Anne Stainsby, Richard Albingar, Amy & Carol Kellington, Stuart & Julie McFarlane, Anthony Smith, Jonathan Girling, Graham Storey rep Maria, Sandra & David Robinson, Elaine & Stuart Atkinson, Hector Robinson, Jonathan, Emma & Barbara Smith, Matthew Hayward, Sandra Sims rep Ward 31 Castle Hill Hospital, Neil Smith rep Jack Wiles, St Paul, Andrew Thompson rep Philip Meadley, Sam Gladstone, William (Sam) Lisseter, Harry Boxhall, Daniel Sach, Mike Sach, Daniel Cole, Maxine Edeson, Mrs Carol Rymer (J S R Farms), Keith Smith, Tracy Wilmot rep Nigel Wilmot, Annette Drury rep Chris Drury, Mr P Watson rep Miss Kirsty Watson, Mr John Bollingham rep Tim Lazenby, Gerald Gowlett, James Dean, Mr & Mrs David Hairsine, Mr Rob Heron, Chris Smith rep Darren Sullivan, Linda Woodall rep Keith Woodall, James Christian, Clive Wood rep Lesley Wood, Caley Sackur rep Donovan Sackur, Mr & Mrs B Briggs rep Nicky Suggitt, Liz Bentley rep Nigel Pritchard, Shirley Newlove, Sue & Pete Buck, Keith Abel, Ivan & Margaret Dodds, Ian McIntyre rep James McIntyre, Julie & Neil Dowson rep Mr & Mrs C Dowson, Neil Jackson, Peter Smith rep Katie & Jane Smith, Andrew Marr, Mr Nicholas Suggitt, Adrian Benson, Mark Flint rep Bainton Young Farmers, Helen & Steve Laycock, Mr & Mrs C Holmes, Ian chandler, Mike Smith, Gary Massey, Sue Barwick, Nigel Sier, George Snowden

Who can forget the French princess Katherine de Valois who sparred playfully with her future royal husband after his victory at Agincourt in Shakespeare’s Henry V?

The reality was very different. Katherine’s tenure as wife of England’s magnificent warrior king was far from joyful and incredibly short lived. Her final destiny lay not with the English Plantagenets but with an ambitious young man from Wales, and together they would become founders of England’s most famous royal dynasty... the Tudors.

The teenage girl who was married off to a king to seal his claim to rule both England and France gets a mesmerising makeover in Anne O’Brien’s new novel, an epic and yet intimate portrayal of a pivotal female figure in English history.

O’Brien, the masterful mistress of medieval historical fiction, has taken to her heart marginalised women of the Middle Ages and turned their stories and scandals into rich, romantic tales full of intrigue, drama and passion.

In The King’s Concubine, we learned more of Alice Perrers, infamous mistress of Edward III, Virgin Widow introduced us to Anne Neville, wife of the ill-fated Richard III, and here we get to the heart of another of history’s innocent pawns.

Katherine had an inauspicious start. Daughter of King Charles VI of France, noted for his madness, and his wife Queen Isabeau, notorious for her ‘wanton lewdness,’ the young princess was packed off to a convent by her scheming mother to be raised under the rigours of Dominican discipline.

Now she is the jewel in the French crown, locked up and kept pure as a prize for the English King Henry V who is slaughtering her kinsmen on the battlefields of Agincourt. No matter the cost, Isabeau is determined to deliver Katherine into the loveless arms of the iron-willed Henry V.

Henry does take Katherine as his bride, not for her personality or her beauty but as a prize, a spoil of war and as a means to take the glittering French crown itself.

For Katherine, an innocent abroad, England is a lion’s den of greed, avarice and mistrust and her marriage to cold, calculating Henry is a dry and arid place. Only months after their son, the future Henry VI, is born, Henry dies and leaves 21-year-old Katherine a widow and a prize ripe for the taking.

But her enemies are circling and would have her remain a Dowager Queen, forbidden to remarry and eking out a loveless life with prayers and charitable works.

However, there are three men who would have her as their wife; Henry’s ruthless brother Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the flamboyant Edmund Beaufort from one of the foremost families in the land, and Owen Tudor, master of her household and a young man with an air of ferocious efficiency who says little and achieves much.

All are ambitious, all a force to be reckoned with. Who will have her and who will stop her?

As always, O’Brien’s grasp of the historical period, its politics and its leading players is superb. But The Forbidden Queen is essentially an exquisitely imagined and character driven love story which puts the focus firmly on a fascinating and resourceful woman who dared to challenge her medieval masters by breaking the bounds and marrying where her heart lay.

After her death, Katherine was sidelined by her royal Tudor descendants because of fears over their possible illegitimacy. Happily, O’Brien’s sympathetic and credible portrayal restores both her image as the founder of a dynasty and her breathtaking courage in the face of formidable odds.

(Mira Harlequin, paperback, £7.99)