Category: News

Waxwings have featured in a previous Nature Note. From time to time a successful breeding season coincides with a poor crop of seeds and berries. The consequence is that large numbers of birds leave their forests in northern Europe and head south to seek food in non-traditional areas. If such an irruption occurs at the same time as a period of easterly winds, large numbers of birds reach the UK. These become known as ‘Waxwing Winters’ and following a gap of several years 2023-2024 is such a winter.

Going Live
Crossing the ‘Tin Bridge' the electrification of the Midland Main Line from Kettering to South Wigston is getting closer to completion. Soon the installation of the sections of the pedestrian bridge will be installed - timetabled to be in March- however new signage has now appeared on the Tin Bridge warning everyone that the wires are now live.

Just a few examples of the results are listed below:

Patients are playing a more active role in managing their health and care. The drive to improve patient empowerment has been gaining momentum in recent times and providing visibility of their health information is a part of this movement.

Local volunteers met with representatives from the mill owners (The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings), Historic England and two experienced millers to work through the snagging list, following completion of the extensive repairs completed last year.

For all those people who have subscribed to the service of having their garden waste disposed of by HDC, the last collection for this year is in the final two weeks of November/Early December. 

Many British dragonflies have names that remind us that they are fearsome predators of other insects. Most that can be found in our area are either: Chasers, Darters or Hawkers.

The boating season is well under way now. Numbers are still down on past years, when 40 through the locks on a high-season day was not unusual. New boats are still flooding into the system, many of them wide-beam (over 7ft). Although spacious for living on, they can cause problems on our rapidly narrowing canal, vegetation is encroaching on all sides. Meeting one with passenger boat Vagabond (10ft 6”) can be quite interesting.

One hundred years ago on 23 April 1923 royalty gathered in Westminster Abbey. They came to witness and celebrate the union between HRH Albert 2^nd son of King George V and Queen Mary with Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, daughter of the Earl of Strathmore. The happy couple were later to become King George VI and Queen Elizabeth following the abdication of Prince Albert’s elder brother King Edward VIII in 1936.

The re-opening of Kibworth Harcourt Post Mill has brought a spark of excitement and creativity.