On Saturday May 11, there will be another chance to get rid of all that unwanted stuff at the ‘Coffee Morning and Table Top Sale’ at Middleton Village Hall – always a popular event.
There are tables available ranging from £2.50 to £5.50 and those interested should contact Lyn Dennis on (01377219500) lyndennis@btinternet.com
The event is part of a series planned for the village hall over the summer.
A crash between two vehicles took place on a main road early on Wednesday morning.
At 7.22am on Wednesday 3 April Humberside Police received a call following the collision which took place on the A614 near Middleton-on-the-Wolds.
A 44 year old man suffered injuries which are not thought to be life threatening.
Following the crash the man was airlifted to Hull Royal Infirmary by air ambulance .
The crash was between a white Ford Transit Van and a white Citroen estate panel van.
A short time before 8am the A614 was closed at the Londesborough roundabout.
At the time of going to press the Driffield Times and Post was aware police investigations were underway into the incident.
The A614 at Londesborough roundabout was still closed.
A parish council has objected to a planning application to build new houses on the site of an old petrol station.
The application, made by Mrs Lucy Rogers, is to build six dwellings on land at the former Nightingales Garage, Main Street, in Beeford.
In the report to the East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s Eastern Area Planning Sub-committee the proposal has been recommended, by the council’s director of planning and economic regeneration Alan Menzies, to be deferred and delegated for approval.
However Beeford Parish Council have registered an objection to the plans and have asked for them to be refused.
The plans refer to two semi-detached dwellings and four detached dwellings and will be heard at the sub-committee meeting on Monday 8 April.
Chairman of Beeford Parish Council David Hammond said: “We did feel that to build the two semi-detached houses would help to fill in that space where the frontage of the garage was, but the rest is definitely a no no.
“What people do not understand is that the area is spring fed, much like Kilham. Even in a dry time the waters are still coming up.
“We would be disappointed if the application was approved but then again the people who own the land will want to make something of it.
“There is the chance of flooding, I think some of the houses facing onto main street have had problems with drainage and effluent coming through the drains.
“It think it is going to be a very tricky situation for the planners.”
Mr Hammond continued to explain the volume of housing planned for the village in the future could not be supported by the village.
“The village can’t cope with new housing because of the sewerage system, it can’t cope if you get a lot of heavy rain so the top water backs up into the sewerage system,” he said.
“I do not think we can stand much more development. We won’t be able to see the Wolds. You can’t buy a view, but there are things we have got to accept.”
A spokesperson for the Forward Planning Unit did not register an objection to the plan in reference to further developments in Beeford.
After consultation, no objections were received from Yorkshire Water, the Highways Agency or the partnership enabling officer Hilary Bardon.
The applicant argues the development would help meet an anticipated short fall in the housing supply and will also make use of the old petrol station site.
However 11 letters were received from residents airing fears including that the land proposed for building on may be contaminated from the previous petrol station.
Mr Menzies, in the report, said: “Beeford is recognised through existing and emerging plans as a centre for new housing development to compliment the urban centres in meeting the housing needs of the area and hence is a sustainable location.
“The provision of both market and affordable housing in this location would contribute, albeit in a small way, to the overall supply of housing.”
For a report of the meeting’s outcome see next Thursday’s Driffield Times and Post.
THE FINAL hurdle for the Beverley Integrated Transport Plan (BITP) has been cleared after a bid for the £22 million was signed off by the Department for Transport.
East Riding of Yorkshire Council, which submitted the plan, can now appoint a main contractor and work will be able to get underway this summer.
BITP will be one of the largest capital investments ever undertaken by the council and will provide a timely boost for the construction industry in the area as well as improving the transport infrastructure of the East Riding.
Tree and hedge removal works along the route have now been completed, with BITP anticipated to be complete by early 2015.
The scheme includes the Beverley Southern Relief Road (BSRR) as well as amendments to the Grovehill junction, Swinemoor roundabout and the Flemingate level crossing.
Whilst traffic volumes on Swinemoor Lane are predicted to increase slightly due to re-routed traffic flows from the BSRR, the main objective of the BITP is to reduce through traffic volumes in the town centre, with streets such as Keldgate estimated to see a decrease of 60%.
In order to ease traffic flows on Swinemoor Lane and Hull Road, BITP includes significant amendments to the Grovehill roundabout, which will be enlarged and signalised with a computerised signal management system that senses traffic flows and speeds to optimise the sequencing, thereby maximising the volume of vehicles through the junction.
Councillor Stephen Parnaby OBE, leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said: “Final sign off by the DfT for the Beverley Integrated Transport Plan is excellent news and is a significant milestone passed in this important scheme’s delivery.
“As well as providing a boost for the local economy and improved highways for Beverley, the scheme also represents excellent value for money. The council will now appoint a contractor and begin work on site this summer.
“One of the immediate benefits of the scheme will be the involvement of local businesses in its delivery, safeguarding jobs in the construction industry and its supply chain. It will also provide an opportunity for local young people to gain valuable work experience and improve employability and skills.
“While there will be some inevitable short-term disruption, unavoidable due to the nature of the scheme, the end result will be significantly improved transport infrastructure for Beverley, the benefits of which will be enjoyed for decades to come.”
East Riding of Yorkshire Council has teamed up with Beverley Town Council to launch a new Energy Savers Scheme, which aims to save local residents money through making their homes more energy-efficient.
The new Energy Savers scheme will support local residents affected by recent rises in energy bills, making sure they are in a better position to access any funding schemes and advice on how to make their homes more energy efficient. They can also find out more about what support is available to install renewable energy systems.
Councillor Symon Fraser, the council’s portfolio holder for the environment, housing and planning, is encouraging residents to sign up. He said: “The Energy Savers Scheme will help to ensure that local people in Beverley are informed about what support is available to help them keep their homes warmer and keep their bills lower. Once residents have signed up, they will be sent regular emails from the Council outlining what energy-efficiency opportunities are available.”
Beverley Town Council mayor Councillor Margaret Pinder said: “We are pleased to be able to work together with East Riding of Yorkshire Council to publicise this scheme and I would encourage residents to sign up to receive all the information available about how this may help them meet their energy bills.”
There are three ways to register:
• Complete the online registration form at www.eastriding.gov.uk/energysavers
• Call East Riding of Yorkshire Council on 01482 393939, quoting the ‘Energy Savers’ scheme
• Complete the form attached on the leaflet, available a number of public sites across Beverley, and send it to the free post address given.
A councillors has demanded answers over proiposed school closures across the East Riding.
Speaking at East Riding Full Council meeting, Labour Councillor Josh Newlove added his voice to the many concerns of parents and staff at local schools that could face closure.
Parents, staff and children of one of the schools, Dunswell Primary, also came to lobby councillors prior to the meeting, in addition to questioning the possibility of merging head teachers as one way to cut costs and increase efficiency.
Councillor Newlove sought assurances and confirmation from the leader in asking that the current consultation on certain local schools “is not the beginning of a rolling programme of closures.”
The response was that it is a case of ‘looking into a crystal ball’ and ‘nothing was certain yet’.
Speaking afterwards, Councillor Newlove said: “It was also made clear in the second response that with more funding from central government, potential closures such as at Dunswell may not have to happen. With this government wrecking local communities and hitting families hard as it is, I would be glad and supportive of any measure they could possibly provide to stop any closure happening”.
HULL and East Yorkshire CAMRA’s upcoming real ale and cider festival in Holy Trinity Church will be the biggest in its 35-year history – after organisers doubled the beer order.
Such was the popularity of last year’s event, beer lovers drank the church dry, hours earlier than expected. Now organisers have responded to the demand.
The festival, which kicks off on April 18, will now include 120 real ales, 25 ciders and 16 world beers.
Everything about this year’s ale extravaganza will be on a bigger scale with the entire church building now being made available to festival-goers, and more community involvement with a digital history project being displayed by students from Hull College.
Festival Organiser, Stewart Campbell is confident of having enough beer to see the event through until closing time at 8pm on Saturday, April 20.
He said: “Last year’s overwhelming success posed us problems which we hope we have overcome by providing the discerning drinkers of Hull and East Yorkshire with twice as many real ales as 2012. This year we are pleased that three of our sponsors are brewing beers for the festival: Yorkshire Brewing Company are launching Hull Brewery Mild as well as brewing a special for Holy Trinity Church aptly named Holy Trinity, the proceeds of which will be donated to the church. Great Newsome Brewery are launching a new beer brewed especially for the festival called Ale-Elujah whilst Big River Brewery has produced a 5.5% cherry mild in memory of Maggie Morris, a CAMRA member who passed away last summer.”
Students
Rev Matt Woodcock, Holy Trinity’s pioneer minister, says they are delighted to host the festival again. ‘Last year’s festival generated an incredible atmosphere and buzz in the church and we made a whole load of new friends who have never been inside Holy Trinity before. This year will be even bigger as we are opening up the large nave area so real ale lovers can enjoy more of our majestic building while enjoying their pint. We are thrilled that Hull College students will also get the chance to show off their talents.’
The college’s second year games design students will display a digital artistic interpretation of how Trinity Square may have looked during the 14th century. The project utilised modern games design methods and technologies in order to produce a three dimensional environment which encompasses the whole of trinity square as well as the Holy Trinity Church while still under construction.
Local cider producer Moorlands Farm Cyder from North Newbald will have their ciders and apple juice available from the cider bar and Budweiser Budvar will be supplying their unpasteurised yeast lager for the World Beer Bar.
The festival opening hours will be:
Thursday: 12.00noon - 11pm.
Friday: 12.00noon - 4.30 pm and 6 pm - 11pm. (Closed between 4.30pm and 6pm)
Saturday: 12noon - 8pm.
There will be an admission charge of £5 after 6pm on Thursday and Friday. Entrance includes a £1 refundable glass deposit and one beer token. There will be no advance tickets this year and entrance will be restricted to a maximum of 500 customers at any time. Entrance is free at all other times and to card carrying CAMRA members at all times.
Need an escape from the unseasonably cold spring weather? Take a leaf out of Kate Forster’s warm and lively new book and head for the most sought-after postcode in London.
There you will find Willow Carruthers, British Oscar winner, style icon and mother of three, who is facing a crisis of mega proportions – she’s broke, her rock star husband has done the dirty on her leaving her a single mother and, if the banks have their way, she’s about to be homeless.
Yes, we’re back on the fun-filled, sun-drenched and vastly entertaining home ground of Kate Forster whose witty, sparkling novels are starting to leave other chick-lit authors in the shade.
Forster transfers the bright sunlight of her base in Melbourne, Australia, to this very contemporary and compelling story about life in the more artificial limelight, and the unlikely friendship between two women as they head off to a heaven-sent rural haven.
The Perfect Retreat opens up a world of celebrity with its portrayal of wealth beyond the comprehension of ordinary mortals, but it also peers into the darker corners of life – messy divorce, the fear of loneliness, the troubling aspects of autism and the impact of parental separation on children.
Willow and husband Kerr were rock star royalty but, looking back, her first big mistake was not signing a prenuptial agreement. Now he’s walked out on her and the money has all gone... on cars, homes, castles, a vineyard, an olive grove, a luxury yacht, works of art and, of course, bucketloads of jewellery.
The best Willow’s lawyer can suggest is to get a job and the tabloid press is having a field day. And as if things weren’t bad enough, her eldest child, Lucian, is five and still not talking.
Thank goodness then for her loyal nanny Kitty MIddlemist who has been her rock for three years now and is adored by the three children.
But Kitty, a down-to-earth girl with shadows in her past, is facing problems of her own and is desperate to keep her job so she offers a despairing Willow the perfect hideaway – Middlemist House, her crumbling ancestral home on a hilltop in the Bristol countryside.
To both women in their hour of need, the Victorian mansion proves to be the perfect hideaway and a welcome balm for troubled souls... until Kitty’s older brother Merritt, a garden designer and writer, returns home unannounced and turns their cosy lives upside down.
Forster takes us on an enjoyable and emotional rollercoaster ride in this captivating story about the price of fame, the importance of family and the joys of friendship. There’s fun and action aplenty but there’s also Forster’s own special brand of good, old-fashioned, heart-warming romance.
(Avon, paperback, £6.99)
Check out the latest edition of The Winning Post which provides top tips ahead of this weekend’s Grand National.
The show is presented by Andrew Hutchinson (@AndyHutchYEP) with horse racing tipster Lee Sobot (@LeeSobotYEP)
How often do we hear reports in the media that the English education system has nothing to teach our European counterparts, and often much to learn?
Well, Driffield School and Sixth Form has been bucking this trend by working with a group of Dutch secondary schools.
In a recent visit, Dutch headteachers Pascal Van de Ven, Eric Van de Pol and Anne-Marie Juli were particularly interested to learn about the strategies we use for problem solving in a large school.
They also focussed on the benefits of our two week timetable and how it operates in practice, using teaching assistants to support the classroom learning and differentiation in the classroom - education speak for how to make learning accessible to all students, whatever their ability or learning style.
Assistant headteacher Mrs Towse, who organised the visit, said: “We often assume that countries like the Netherlands are way ahead of us in terms of their education systems, but this isn’t actually the case in many areas of school life.
“The Dutch headteachers were very impressed with the benefits of our vertical form groups and keen to learn more about how we deliver performing arts and vocational subjects. It’s quite an accolade for Driffield School and Sixth Form to attract this kind of interest from schools on the continent.”
The Women’s World Thai boxing champion came to Driffield School and Sixth Form to show students ways to develop their physical education.
Rachael MacKenzie was invited into the school as part of an initiative by the Sky Sports Living for Sport and the Youth Sports Trust.
Students were trained in personal development with regard to sport and education, and even got to try out Thai boxing.
Driffield School teacher Martin Shepherd said: “I have worked with Rachael on a number of occasions now and she is a fantastic role model for anyone wanting to develop in sport and follow a dream no matter what stands in the way.”
Life saving surgery was performed on a man suffering from kidney cancer who has now expressed his gratitude to the doctors who treated him.
Jeff Goodbody, 63, of Nayfield Road, Driffield, was operated on in March to remove a fist-sized tumour from his kidney - just days after being diagnosed with cancer on his birthday in February this year.
In December 2012 an initial visit to see Dr Jeorge Alegria at Park Surgery, Eastgate North, Driffield with flu-like symptoms led Mr Goodbody to a series of scans and tests, resulting in surgery to remove the life-threatening growth, within the space of three months.
Mr Goodbody, who works for Caledonian Modular, in the Kelleythorpe Industrial Estate, said: “The consultant showed me the scan of my left kidney, and then my right kidney which looked like a deflated rugby ball. I was told there was a fist sized tumour in the kidney and it needed to come out as soon as possible.
“My wife and I both went into shock. A week and a day later I was in hospital - this is how utterly fantastic it all worked.”
The surgery took place on Wednesday 6 March at Castle Hill Hospital and by Sunday 10 March Mr Goodbody was discharged.
He said: “To Dr Alegria I would just like to thank him for his diligence - that he wasn’t put off by something he couldn’t see. He knew there was something more to be looked at than he could originally see and he didn’t just leave it.
“I am a very emotional guy and I went to shake his hand, but I just wanted to give him a hug. The NHS have worked from January to March, three months, and I have been diagnosed, had my operation and I am out and walking the dog now.
“We are so lucky to have our health care system, that is what we do not understand. We get this for nothing while others have to have the insurance and if you do not they do not want to know - you are dead.
“Here it doesn’t matter if you are the poorest guy or the richest guy, once you are in that machine you will be treated equally. We take so much for granted and I just can’t thank them enough.”
Jeff’s wife, Rita Goodbody, said: “I thought if they get the cancer now you have got a chance. I was so relieved to know that the problem was being sorted so quickly. When I saw the scan I knew it was pretty bad, but I knew he was in good hands.”
A depraved paedophile, who committed sickening acts towards children in Hunmanby over two decades, has been brought to justice.
Richard Marshall, of Eastgate,Beverley, who was branded the village idiot growing up, is now starting a 14-year jail sentence after he after he returned to the village where he carried out his crimes - after three decades away.
His victims, some as young as five, claim warped Marshall ruined their lives, after carrying out a string of sickening sexual assaults on them.
And police believe Marshall would never have been brought to justice had he stayed away from the small community he devastated in the late-1970s and 80s.
Depraved Marshall, now 53, was told to leave the village on the North Yorkshire coast when he encountered one of his many victims when he visited in 2002.
The meeting led to his accuser being cautioned for harassment after shouting “paedophile” at the former travelling fun fair worker when he saw him in the street.
Marshall returned to live in the community eight years later, and there was another clash with the victim - who this time told police about his abuse as a child.
Five more people - boys and girls at the time - came forward or were traced, and Marshall faced a string of sex charges at a trial at Teesside Crown Court.
Despite being convicted on overwhelming evidence, the one-time farm worker - described by his barrister as a Walter Mitty character - continues to claim he is innocent.
Glenn Parsons, mitigating, told Judge George Moorhouse that Marshall was a figure of fun in the community, and added: “He was regarded by many as the village idiot.”
He said: “He was someone who was prone to fantasise, and people referred to him as a Walter Mitty. Perhaps he was less sophisticated than other people his age.”
Marshall was convicted of four indecent assaults, five charges of indecency with a child and five counts of buggery.
His victims - aged between five and 13 at the time, while he was around 18 - told in statements how Marshall had ruined their lives, and they still suffered.
Judge Moorhouse also ordered Marshall to sign on the sex offenders’ register for life and banned him from having unsupervised contact with children indefinitely.
A prosecution source said last night: “He is very likely to have got away with these crimes had he not gone back to the community where they were committed.
“None of the victims had come forward in 30 years so there is every chance they would not have, if only Marshall had stayed away. That was his downfall.”
The court heard how he systematically abused the children and got them to join in sex acts with him at places such as a renovated house and church toilets.
Mr Parsons described some of the pervert’s activities as “exhibitionism in front of children” and said his “stock in trade” was to expose himself.
Detective Constable Kate Peet, of Scarborough CID, ran the investigation which led to Marshall’s conviction and sentencing. She said: “I am extremely satisfied with the sentence handed down by the court. It is a reflection of the seriousness of the offences and the devastating affects they had on the victims.
“Marshall is a calculating predator who took ruthless advantage of his victims’ age and innocence for his own sexual pleasure.
DC Peet added: “I would like to take this opportunity to praise and thank the victims for the their courage in coming forward to report the abuse.
“We know that this is not an easy subject for victims to deal with. As such we have specially trained officers who will support them from their initial report and throughout the progress of the case.
“I hope that this case shows that even if abuse occurred many years ago, victims don’t have to suffer their pain in silence and justice can be done.”
‘If any one faculty of our nature may be called more wonderful than the rest, I do think it is memory.’
Jane Austen’s observation from Mansfield Park lies at the heart of Judith Kinghorn’s exquisite new novel, a sensual and visual feast of a story, and a powerful follow-up to last year’s enthralling debut, The Last Summer.
The Memory of Lost Senses is a mesmerising book of finely wrought words, the evocative tale of an elderly woman for whom the past is both a comfort and a tyranny, a place that holds unutterably beautiful memories, and painful events that torment and haunt.
With her life and strength ebbing away in the hot summer of 1911, can the notoriously enigmatic Cora, Countess de Chevalier de Saint Léger, finally confront the demons of her colourful youth?
Kinghorn’s languorous journey into the past takes us from a small, rural English village to the glamour of Paris and to 19th century Rome when it was still a small city, ‘shrivelled within its walls,’ a place of scattered ruins where ‘cows and sheep grazed about the tumbled pillars of ancient palaces.’
Beautifully descriptive, intriguing and full of emotion-packed, slow-motion snapshots, Cora’s life unfolds through a series of vivid flashbacks teased out by her own bewildered and bewildering memories and by the characters who cross her path during the long summer days.
‘Never look back,’ Cora’s aunt told her nearly 70 years ago and for a very long time, she only looked forward but now, back home in England forever, she is burdened by secrets and lies which thrash about on the periphery of her thoughts and lie heavily on her conscience.
She has experienced grand passion of such complete abandonment that ‘only the senses were alive’ but she has also met with betrayal, suffering, death and madness.
The ‘holding-in’ has become too much and her handsome grandson Jack Staunton, the only living member of her lost family and her legacy to the world, must not be damaged by her foolishness, pride, pain, sorrow and regret.
Meanwhile, no one is more intrigued than Cecily Chadwick by the mysterious, elderly countess who has arrived to live at Temple Hill, the large, deserted house on the edge of the sleepy Hampshire village of Bramley.
The young schoolteacher, who has caught the eye of Cora’s grandson Jack, is feeling suffocated by the constraints of her unchanging village life and is bowled over by rumours of Cora’s exotic life spent criss-crossing Europe and senses ‘something of unutterable tragedy’ lying at the heart of her past.
What Cecily doesn’t yet know is that an anonymous threat has been made to reveal Cora’s ruinous secret and it will be the job of Sylvia Dorland, a successful novelist and Cora’s close friend who has come to stay at Temple Hill, to put the record straight.
As Cecily’s romance with Jack blossoms and the past is unearthed, we learn that memories – and the truth – can be more surprising than one could ever have imagined.
Thoughtful, delicately crafted and imaginative, The Memory of Lost Senses is a page-turning, atmospheric mystery story but with a powerful, all-consuming love affair burning deep at its core to direct the action ... and steal our hearts.
(Headline, paperback, £13.99)
There’s a spring in the step of authors and illustrators at Macmillan Children’s Books as they celebrate a new season of exciting reading.
Amongst the brilliant books sitting at the top of the class is an enchanting new series from Gwyneth Rees, a qualified child psychiatrist turned author. Aimed at girls aged seven and over, My Super Sister (Macmillan, paperback, £4.99), features Emma and her mischievous little sister Saffie who like having superpowers but must learn to make important compromises.
The adventurous sisters discover it’s fun making your dolls come to life, teaching Dad’s shoes to dance and playing Frisbee with the garden gnomes but that it isn’t always easy to keep your superpowers secret. And things are even more difficult for Emma when wickedly wayward Saffie can’t help using them in the naughtiest of ways.
Amongst a list of playful pranks, Saffie makes the new nosy neighbours’ garden shed come to life and hop over the hedge, and it’s left to Emma to cover their tracks before it’s too late.
Being a big sister, she soon discovers, has never been so tough, and so heroic!
Full of warmth and magical mischief, Rees’ stories serve up innocence and nostalgia with magical twists and knockabout humour as well a gentle insight into the concerns and dreams of real children. Themes of friendship, family and sibling bonds are all neatly wrapped up in a fun, fantasy story brought to life by Ella Okstad’s charming illustrations.
And don’t miss the second book in the series, My Super Sister and the Birthday Party (Macmillan, hardback, £7.99), in which Emma and Saffie stay with their grandparents for the summer to learn how to use their superpowers. Emma brings a doll’s house to life but all Saffie wants is to cheer up Grandpa and decides to throw him the best party ever. What could possibly go wrong?
For younger children, there is a wonderful new series Let’s Talk About, first experience photographic books aimed at toddlers, pre-schoolers and their parents. Informative and funny, the series marks a departure from existing books of this kind by reflecting young children’s and their parents’ actual experiences.
Real backdrops and real domestic situations are played out using an authentic toddler’s narrative voice, accompanied by useful and sometimes wry information and advice for parents and children.
In Let’s Talk About: My New Baby by Stella Gurney and Fiona Freund (Campbell, hardback, £5.99), we meet Jack. He’s two and soon he’ll be having a new baby brother or sister. While Jack narrates what is going on around him, simple, funny cartoons show his perceptions of how his mummy will ‘have’ the baby, how he will share her with the baby and his real feelings about the baby when it finally arrives.
Featuring breastfeeding, tears, telly and an invaluable guide through the minefield of jealous siblings, this is a new baby book with a difference!
Meanwhile, Poppy Cat, the very special puss whose adventures have been turned into a brilliant TV series based on the original books by the late Lara Jones, returns in two new bright and colourful picture books, Poppy Cat: Birthday Treasure and Poppy Cat: The Mystery Trail (both Macmillan, paperback, £5.99).
In Birthday Treasure, poor Alma is really upset when she realises she has lost her new necklace, but Poppy Cat has a brilliant idea to make her feel better – a hunt for buried treasure! And in The Mystery Trail, dressing up as detectives proves to be great fun until one of Owl’s books goes missing and Poppy Cat has a real mystery to solve.
The warm, lovable animal characters, all illustrated so vividly and colourfully, are ideal for babies and toddlers, and their adventures are fun and action packed.
This pussy real is the cat’s whiskers...
On a more creative theme is Star Paws: Pirates sticker book (Macmillan, paperback, £3.99), an animal dress-up sticker book ideal for children aged three and over who will love getting to grips with the least dastardly and fluffiest pirate crew in the world. Little hands can use over 200 stickers to dress the animals in their pirate best, with hats, peg-legs and bushy beards, and get them ready for a swashbuckling adventure.
Adorable pet pictures are combined with colourful, easy-to-handle stickers and some quirky, comical quips to raise laughs as well as keep little hands busy. With a cute puppy called Cut-throat Colin and a knife-wielding cat called Tiddles McNasty, this is the craziest crew this side of Smugglers’ Bay!
For older children, award-winning designer Donna Wilson’s Creative Creatures: A Step-By-Step Guide to Making Your Own Creations (Macmillan, hardback, £12.99) is a fun and inspiring craft book to brighten up those rainy days
Wilson’s knitted creatures and quirky home accessories and designs have a huge following and now children too can get creative with the help of Donna’s woolly friends Charlie Monkey, Big Ted and Wilbur, Mitten Kitten, Cyril Squirrel-fox, Olive Owl and Ralf and Rill.
Step by step, children can learn to make banana bunting, an owl kite, a sausage dog draught excluder, a sock monster and many more wonderfully offbeat designs that will be loved by all the family.
Creative Creatures encourages creativity and craft hobbies, using materials which are easily sourced and accompanied by simple and clear instructions. Once made, each project can be kept and played with at home or given away as a gift.
Using items like old socks, pieces of felt, pipe cleaners, sticky tape, string, tissue paper, glue, ribbon, old gloves and elastic, children can set about making simple but ingenious masks, kites, finger puppets, key rings, paper clothes, dolls and bunting.
Easy-to-follow instructions, full colour diagrams and helpful tips ensure creative and imaginative fun for all the family. No experience is necessary and step-by-step guides make the crafts accessible for all, even those who claim to be impractical!
Fun and games at your fingertips...
And hands up those who want to be a brilliantly brainy supergeek? If you do, Glenn Murphy’s amazing new book has all the answers... and more! Murphy is a dinosaur expert and this man really does know how to think BIG!
Supergeek: Dinosaurs, Brains and Supertrains (Macmillan, paperback, £5.99), aimed at children aged nine and over, features 300 fun science questions and answers, all chosen by Murphy to test how much we REALLY know about the science that matters.
Do you know where your blind spot is and do you know how many taste buds are on your tongue? What kind of animal was a megalodon, how long could you survive with only half a brain and how large would an asteroid have to be to wipe out all human life on the planet?
This is the quick and witty way to find out all about dinosaurs and prehistoric life, blood and guts, brains, senses and feelings, weather and climate change, natural disasters, trains, planes and transport, and lots, lots more.
And as an added bonus, there are instructions at the back of the book which allow you to ‘play’ the book too, on your own or in a group.
Murphy sets the questions and gives all the answers, and he promises faithfully that there are no boring bits. Even parents will want to play this game and, who knows, all those young supergeeks out there might even beat them!
And if it’s quirky history you’re after, Tony Robinson’s Weird World of Wonders: World War Two (Macmillan, paperback, £5.99) fills in all the gaps in those conventional, wartime history books.
True to form, Robinson takes us on a headlong gallop through time, pointing out all the most important, funny, strange, amazing, entertaining, smelly and disgusting bits about World War II, giving us a history lesson, but not as we know it!
Find out everything you need to know in this brilliant, action-packed, fact-filled book, including just how useful mashed potato is, how the Battle of Britain was won, what it takes to be a spy, how D-Day was kept a surprise and which medicine carried by soldiers was called the ‘Magic Bullet.’ Inquisitive youngsters can also discover why children were evacuated and how to detect poison gas.
With the incredible Tony Robinson as your guide, you’ll never be short of fascinating facts, fun-filled games and weird but wonderful gems from history.
And for more sophisticated and discerning teen readers, S.D.Crockett’s One Crow Alone (Macmillan, hardback, £12.99) revisits a world ravaged by a perpetual winter which we first encountered in the author’s thrilling and highly acclaimed debut After the Snow.
One Crow Alone is a superbly atmospheric and adrenalin-fuelled prequel with the action taking place ten years earlier as the winters begin to grow longer and harsher, and a state of emergency is declared across Europe.
In Poland, desperate communities are subject to frequent power cuts and fuel shortages. After the death of her grandmother and the evacuation of her village, 15-year-old Magda joins forces with the arrogant, handsome Ivan and smuggles her way onto a truck bound for London where she hopes to find her mother.
But London, when they reach it, is a terrifying and nightmarish world, and far from welcoming. Riots are commonplace and the growing chaos is exploited by ruthless gangs of criminals and terrorists.
Magda’s mother appears to have disappeared and as the lost girl struggles to come to terms with her changing, increasingly dangerous situation, she eventually becomes friends with a rag-tag group of travellers planning a new home and future.
But they will need all the cunning and know-how they possess as the frozen, outlying wilderness of Britain becomes just as lawless as the big city.
Crockett’s evocation of a dystopian, anarchic and violent country run by freewheeling gangs and at the mercy of climate change is truly chilling. Written in powerful but uncomplicated prose and with fast-paced action and believable, standout characters, One Crow Alone is both topical and thought-provoking.
With now only three weeks to marathon day my training schedule, which I had managed to follow religiously, is well and truly out of the window!
Since running the East Hull 20 feeling under the weather I have paid the price of not listening to my body, spending most of the last fortnight laid up in bed with flu!
That will certainly be a lesson to me.
I am not invincible and need to look after myself.
After all – at 45 I am no spring chicken!
A younger person may well have fought the virus more effectively.
Initially I felt that my first illness in six years couldn’t have come at a worse time – but actually it could if I had fallen ill closer to race day with no time to recover.
At least now I am back in training and I comfort myself in the knowledge that I had built in an extra two weeks training with my marathon campaign starting a few weeks earlier than needed – thereby affording me a contingency.
But many of you will appreciate that every day you don’t train you fear you are quickly losing fitness.
Fighting the mental battle is as difficult as fighting the flu bug!
BY Benita Jones
Easter Dash
Driffield’s WoldsWay to Health had many runners in the weekend’s Easter Dash at Sewerby
And they also had the winning ladies team, with Zoe dale finishing first, Alison Crellin second and Katherine Felgate fifth.
Little Driffield 1
Flamborough 2nds 4
It was Little Driffield who opened the scoring and ended a run of games without a goal.
J. Berriman challenged well against the keeper from a Pickering corner with the rebound falling to M. Berriman who smashed the ball into the roof of the net after 10 minutes.
The visitors then caught Little Driffield out with two long balls in which their striker latched onto and scored.
D. Blair then hit the cross bar from 25 yards with a fierce effort.
Into the second half the cross bar again denied Little Driffield an equaliser when M. Blair headed from six yards.
Flamborough then made sure of the win with two late goals.
Firstly a Flamborough player had a free header from a corner and then in the dying seconds a poor clearance fell to the feet of a Flamborough player to strike into the bottom corner.
Little Driffield will take some positives out of the game as they head into a difficult month of games with eight scheduled games to play to catch up and will hope several players will be able to make their return to the squad.
Team: Long, Pickering, J. Berriman, M. Raines (Clarkson), Oxlade, Hilmi (Beston), Palmer, D. Blair, M. Blair, Whatling, M. Berriman (c)
Little Driffield are sponsored by Paul Berriman Double Glazing, Chris Gray Ltd Plumbing & Heating and M.B Electrical.
You can email your football match reports to andy.stabler@yrnltd.co.uk by Monday 11am.
A recreation club has requested Nafferton Parish Council take over running its facilities due to declining membership.
At the Annual Parish Meeting, in Nafferton Village Hall on Wednesday 1 May, the plan to adopt the recreation club will be presented to the parish council.
The meeting will serve as a public consultation into the proposal, and residents are being encouraged to attend and discuss the future of the recreation club.
The club is a charity comprising of football pitches, tennis courts and bowling greens along with many other facilities.
The meeting will begin at 7.30pm and the council will also deliver its annual reports.
Driffield police are investigating two separate incidents of criminal damage to agricultural land in the area.
Between Sunday March 31 and Tuesday 2 April a steel barrier on agricultural land at South Lane, Burton Fleming which gives access from a back field to the road was damaged.
The field was entered by unknown offenders in a vehicle and was then driven around.
A police spokeswoman said: “The owner’s wife believes she heard a vehicle with a loud exhaust driving round the area at approximately 11pm on Sunday 31 March but by the time she had got out of bed the vehicle had gone.”
If you saw any suspicious vehicles in the area around this time please contact Humberside Police on 101 and quote crime reference 1965950.”
Between 7pm on Sunday 31 March and 4am on Monday 1 April agricultural land at Pockthorpe, Kilham was subject to criminal damaged when a vehicle was driven onto the field, causing damage to crops.
The owner of the field suspects poachers are responsible for the incident which is being investigated by Humberside Police.
A police spokeswoman said: “The owner believes that the person responsible would have been poaching and went onto the farm land in a vehicle and drove around causing damage to approximately half a ton of corn valued at £100.
“The damage was noticed the morning of Monday 1 April when dthe owner was driving past. The land had been fine the day before but the crops were paddled flat.
“It is not known what type of vehicle was used but it has left narrow tracks, so said it is not the usual Landrover type.”
If you saw any suspicious vehicle in the area around this time please contact the police on non-emergency number 101 and quote crime reference 195961.
Volunteers are needed to join the Yorkshire Ambulance Community First Responder Team in Driffield and Hutton Cranswick.
Following the donation of a full responder kit by Driffield Town Council the team is able to extend its life-saving cover further.
For more information contact Trish Kilner, community defibrillation trainer on 07789 271071 or patricia.kilner@yas.nhs.uk