Articles

I read with interest the letter sent in last month by Glynn Tunneycliff concerning ‘The Railway Arms’. This prompted me to get in touch as I recently acquired a copy of the Leicester Evening Mail newspaper dated Tuesday October 16^th 1962. The front page showed a photograph of Mrs Florence Barratt saying farewell to her customers at The Railway Arms in Kibworth Beauchamp. Florence and her late husband George ran the pub together for 16 years, having taken up the licence in 1946. Sadly, George passed away in 1954. But Florence took over the business and continued to run the establishment in her own name.

Would an Electric Car Club work in our community?

At our March meeting, the Kibworth Art Lovers had the pleasure of welcoming watercolour artist, Janet Mayo, who demonstrated her work with several useful tips. Janet has a number of awards to her name, as well as being a member of the Nottingham Society of Artists. She has held many solo and joint exhibitions in various parts of the East Midlands. In addition, she is known as a former broadcaster, notably as a news presenter and journalist on BBC East Midlands Today. Janet now spends much of her time in Gozo, Malta, where she paints and sells her work.

The French novelist Marcel Proust famously said (paraphrased slightly), “Real voyages of discovery consist, not in seeking new landscapes, but in seeing with new eyes”.

Illston- on-the-Hill WI welcomed Holly Norvill to our last meeting. She attempted to get us creative! We made beautiful coasters and plaques. Holly had brought all the gear with her, including flowers, leaves and bits of shrubs. We had to roll out some clay, select what picture we wanted to make, depress the bits into the clay, including some berries which came out beautifully. Then put a mould over our creations, pour on plaster of Paris, leave to dry, remove the outside mould and clay, seal off the disc and paint. What could be easier? Hope you are all still with me. You would be surprised how much of an issue some of us made!

Great pictures and some suggestions…

The Platinum Jubilee Orchard, which is near Kibworth Primary School on Warwick Park, consists of 33 trees, all of which are varieties of Apple originating during the reign of the Queen.

We are flying high at The Lighthouse having won the Leicestershire Tourism Award for Best Casual Dining. What a joy!

If you happen to be in The Grammar School Hall and hear lots of laughter, it will be us rehearsing ‘Allo, Allo’. Things are now really moving on apace with sound, lighting and set starting to take shape. Director Kevin Gilbert said that he is really pleased with how things are going.

Osteopaths care about all of you, from the top of your head to the tips of your toes.

Following the ongoing disaster in Ukraine, all funds collected during the Illston Open Gardens’ Day will be donated to the Ukraine Appeal.

For this special year the Foxton Community Choir will be performing a concert to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

The ribbon has been cut on the revamped Central England Co-op store in Kibworth. It has been transformed with a major investment to create a more modern and sustainable local community food store. Its transformation has created a contemporary store to meet the shopping needs of customers and members.

A rhyme of ten old men enjoying longevity.

Look at most Kibworth street maps,
look carefully, search hard.
You’ll find School Road and High Street
but wither Bakehouse Yard?
Where Callaghans did bakery,
and Tomlinsons cut hair,
the ladies’ broken biscuit shop
a D.I.Y. It’s there!
Just opposite the chapel
you’d find him, oft with hat,
maybe some tidying, gardening,
perusing this and that.
The weather didn’t matter -
in sun. in rain, hot, cold
He’d time to chat with passersby,
the young. middle-aged, the old.
You knew when Thursdays came
because you’d hear the trundling sound
of wheelies being put in place
for Friday morning’s round.
A pair of hands that could fix faults,
repair or fill a hole,
would also travel Desborough way
a game or more to bowl.
Once at the Kibworth Gas Works,
once in the Kibworth Band,
with Harborough Council planners
not afraid to make a stand.
My word, he knew his Kibworth
both history and myth.
Please God, into your loving arms
The no- show Roland Smith.
Anon