Local police teams have seized eight vehicles and reported others for motoring offences as they target uninsured drivers across Gedling borough.
Those caught were hit with a £5,000 fine and six penalty points on their driving licence.
Three cars have been seized over the past two days during incidents in Carlton.
Police officers are keen to stress to the public that ‘no insurance means no car’.
Most of the vehicles were seized by Specials – a team of volunteer police officers, who hold tha same power of the law, wear the same uniform and perform the same duties as their full-time counterparts.
The specials across Gedling were recently singled out for praise by Nottinghamshire Police chiefs. In April alone, the team have already racked-up more than 1,000 hours between them – and responded to over 100 incidents and removing 12 illegal vehicles from the borough’s roads.
A vehicle seized this weekPolice seized this vehicle across the weekend
Special Sergeant Ashley Wagstaffe, who heads-up the team, said: “Many of us hold down full-time and challenging careers already, but policing allows us to give something back to the local community, and that giving back is more important than ever.
“We know how people are feeling due to the current restrictions on their day-to-day lives, but we also know that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
“We’re determined to help keep the borough safe during these difficult times, because we also know that some people will continue to commit crime, often exploiting the vulnerable.
“As a team, we want to be public facing and community-focused, but we’re also keen on tackling those who choose to cause misery across our neighbourhoods.
“Our message is clear: we are behind everyone in the borough but we will target and go after those who do deliberately commit criminal offences, and take any action that is necessary to bring their endeavours to an abrupt end.”
The team come from a range of backgrounds which include a Personal Trainer, a Service Manager, a business owner, policing degree students, and an engineer.
Nottinghamshire Police said the team are trained to an exceptionally high standard, which enables them to see incidents through in their entirety – from initial point of contact, through to prosecution stage, where necessary.
Angie Keyworth is a relative of The Godfrey family, who were wealthy landowners in Carlton at the turn of the last century and were responsible for building Park House. She has been covering their story in Gedling Eye.
I have recently transcribed my Great Grandpa John Godfrey’s diaries, which run from 1894 to 1919 and they are delightful.
John and Emma moved to Holly Bank, on Greenhill Rise in Carlton in 1894 and at the back of the first diary there is a list of new furniture and fixtures and fittings which they bought for the new house.
John’s diaries takes me on a journey through Carlton, family, social and world history.
John died in December 1920.
John had been a very popular figure in Carlton, serving on many committees, including the Missionary Committee, the Nottingham Sunday School Union and he was Chairman of the first School Board. Many photographs in my care, family/church/business gatherings are without a date, but I found reference to many of these events beautifully described by John in his diaries.
A typical fortnight of entries in the diary may include comments on the situation in the Boer War, a visit to the Paris Exhibition, a ride on the Trent followed by tea at Colwick Hall, the children collecting the pears from the garden, the selling of corset lace, the weather, the price of coal, corn and a pair of boots, buying of land and houses in Carlton and the Education Bill. I was enthralled and entertained.
In 1894 John was in partnership with his brother Samuel as Lace finishers, working from premises on St Mary’s Gate, next to St Mary’s Church in the Lace Market. Sadly, although many of the fine old buildings have survived, a few, including the Godfrey building have been demolished and new buildings stand in their place.
In the early 1900’s John and Samuel moved to business premises at 3 – 5 High Pavement in the Lace Market. This building thankfully is in a conservation area and is directly opposite the Pitcher and Piano Pub, the former Unitarian Chapel.
There is an alley to the side of the building which leads to the factory. I can imagine horses and carts delivering goods to the factory collected from the railway station or large lace manufacturing business’ and home workers’ nearby.
When I discovered the building, although I had always known of its existence, it was being renovated. I was able to enter the building from the side and had a look around what would have been the factory.
The photo enclosed is an old picture of the front of the building and more recent photos.
PICTURED: 3 – 5 High Pavement in the Lace Market. Top, as it is today, bottom, as it was in John Godfrey’s day
Graham Godfrey, grandson of John’s brother, Samuel Godfrey remembers 3 – 5 High Pavement well.
He said: “I knew the building well and used to visit my grandpa there. Going in by the front door on High Pavement you meet the large winding staircase that gives access to the three upper floors. There were always rolls of unfinished lace on the floor of the first floor, ideal for a young boy to play among.
“It was also used as a packing area and office. This is where my father Wilfred worked. Access to the second floor was by a large staircase situated in the centre of the room. It was there that my grandfather had his office. The top floor was occupied by three ladies who worked as finishers.”
The following is taken from a eulogy for John Godfrey which featured in the United Methodist Magazine, dated March 1921. It includes an insight to his mother and father, John and Ann Maria Godfrey. It seems John and Samuel’s parents played a large part in encouraging a good work ethic in their two boys.
On the photo of workers’ in the warehouse. Harold Godfrey is wearing the white waistcoat.
The eulogy read: “Mr Godfrey owes much to his parentage. His father was kind and gentle, reverent and devout, while his mother embodied in herself the practical, shrewd and industrious. I think of her now, at over eighty years of age, scorning the help of tram or car, in making her journeys to and from Nottingham.”
Considering that John’s mother was living at the post office in Carlton Square, it was a jolly good walk up Carlton Hill to Nottingham. One very determined great-great grandmother indeed!
John and his family moved to Park House in 1909, although they had been very happy at Holly Bank.
Part of the reason for the move was that John was getting older and he thought of owning a carriage which Holly Bank couldn’t accommodate.
There was ample room on the Park House site for two cottages, one of which was for the gardener and there was also a stable which was used for two ponies but as far as I know John never did own a carriage.
John and Emma did however take a drive out in a motor car in 1910. A diary entry read: “Emma and I had a lovely drive with Mr and Mrs J Grove today in their motor. Went to Charnwood Monastery . Farmhouse for tea home again soon after 7 o’clock, It is wonderful how far you can get in 4 hours.”
Taken from John’s diary on December 5, 1904… “I bought a field from Thomas Huckerby to be conveyed to me on 25th March 1905. A little over 5 acres.” This extract followed in March…
March 25th 1905 Took possession of the field. Put in hedge at the top.”
This is the field and orchard which was behind Park House. It appeared any man of means owned a field.
There is still a Huckerby Field near the Carlton Academy. My Mum’s maternal Grandma was a Huckerby.
There was also an aviary, a tennis court and two summer houses at Park House. Emma enjoyed taking afternoon tea in the summer houses. The house had many stained glass windows. The glass came from Vienna and tiles and mosaics came directly from Italy.
When Emma left Park House in 1929 she sold the park land for building. This is where Redland Avenue is today.
John told me in his diary of his wish to see his children and grandchildren live in the house, but it wasn’t to be.
A hospice in Mapperley has set up a new dedicated helpline offering swift support to those affected by coronavirus deaths.
GriefLine – which went live on Monday and will be fully operational from next week – will take calls from anyone affected by grief during the pandemic. A team of trained advisers will provide a supportive ear before signposting callers to other services if appropriate. Each caller will receive a guaranteed call back within two hours.
The hospice – approached to set up the GriefLine service because of their expertise and experience in bereavement support – aims to support those who have lost family or friends due to the virus or through other causes during the pandemic. It will also support healthcare workers and care home staff who have seen large numbers of deaths over a short time span.
Nottinghamshire Hospice Chief Executive Rowena Naylor-Morrell said: “There’s an unprecedented need for support due to the volume and speed of death being experienced. This is immediate support capable of responding to intense sorrow and sadness being caused by the speed of Covid-19 deaths.
“We are in extraordinary times and we are hearing daily that people are alone and can’t find help at the immediate point following death. The deaths themselves are overwhelming, for families and loved ones and for NHS colleagues and care home staff. One care home alone reported 20 deaths last weekend.
“While support may be out there, it is disparate, uncoordinated and difficult to find in the moment of grief. GriefLine will triage and connect those who need help with those able to give it.”
People phoning the helpline will only need to make one call and will receive a call back within two hours from someone from an appropriate agency or a member of Nottinghamshire Hospice’s Bereavement and Carer Support team.
“GriefLine is a rapid in the moment service to help people in that moment of crisis. Most of those using the service will then be able to move into the natural grieving cycle without further support, but those seeking extra bereavement support will be signposted to relevant services,” Rowena added.
PICTURED: Nottinghamshire Hospice
“Without our support, during this crisis, patients would have no alternative, the NHS is stretched to breaking point and relies on a network of providers to ensure bereavement support is in place for support and care in usual times. Our services prevent families experiencing extended mental health issues following a death.”
If there is concern that extreme grief which poses a threat to life, calls will be transferred to emergency mental health services or 111.
Dawn Tomlinson, of Nottingham, whose mother passed away in a care home last week, said: “Losing a parent is terribly sad at any time, but grieving at a time like this is especially hard. It was heart-breaking not to be able to see my mum in the days approaching her death. I was able to visit the day before for 15 minutes wearing head to toe PPE so I got a chance to hold her hand and say goodbye.”
Other family members said their goodbyes through the window, and one family member who lives abroad has not been able to travel to the UK during lockdown, so could only communicate via Facetime.
“There will be so many people feeling intense grief and other distressing emotions at the moment, so having a phoneline to ring with a listening ear on the other end of the phone will help people,” Dawn added.
Nottinghamshire Hospice was approached to set up the helpline because of its track record in supporting families through terminal illness and death. They have compiled a directory of organisations to refer people to ranging from Age UK Silverline, the Children’s Bereavement Centre to Wellness in Mind and the Samaritans. Also on the list are faith groups and the Nottinghamshire Coronavirus Community Support hub.
Mr Andrew Taylor, Consultant Trauma Orthopaedic Surgeon at Nottingham’s Queens Medical Centre, said the Grief Line would be a welcome resource for members of the public and healthcare workers alike.
“A single point of contact for people to go to when they are experiencing any type of grief as a result of the pandemic will be helpful to many people who are confused about where to turn. Nottinghamshire Hospice are experienced in grief and bereavement support so are well placed to offer this service.”
Mr Taylor, himself on the mend after contracting Coronavirus last month, added: “Several of our team are now seconded to the Covid-19 wards. I know they are finding it difficult. Caring for patients who are so unwell, many of whom will not survive their illness, can be extremely stressful.”
GriefLine is currently staffed from 7am to 10pm but due to be a 24-hour service from next week. The number to call is 0800 1114451
Police have carried out two warrants in Bestwood to tackle drugs supply.
The enforcement action took place in Aidan Gardens today (5 May) as part of Nottinghamshire Police’s ongoing commitment to tackling the production and supply of drugs across the county.
As this footage shows, a large police presence arrived in the area to carry out the warrants on two addresses in the same street. Tactical support vans and police cars arrived in the area before officers visited the houses.
Neighbourhood Policing Inspector for the area, Chris Pearson, said: “I hope activity like this shows that for us, it’s business as usual and we’re still getting stuck in to proactive police work despite the lockdown.
“If anything, people who are dealing drugs are standing out more at the moment – and we’re doing what we can to put them out of business.
“The community is wanting to tell us more and more about drugs supply. It’s a priority for local people and it’s information that we always act on, whether that’s straight away or we have to do work behind the scenes first.
“Drugs are often the root of other crimes and so the impact they have on an area can be huge. That’s why Nottinghamshire Police is committed to tackling drugs supply and work like today’s warrants is continuing during the coronavirus outbreak.
“I urge local people to continue to tell us about their concerns and pass on any information they may have about drug dealing in their area. I can assure you that something will be done about it.”
No one was arrested as a result of the warrants but a substance was seized for testing.
Nottinghamshire Police’s Neighbourhood Team for Gedling, Operational Support and Neighbourhood Search Units were all involved in the enforcement action.
One of the largest development projects in Nottinghamshire is set for a significant infrastructure boost next week, as £3 million is expected to be committed to upgrade surrounding roads.
The Top Wighay Farm development just to the north of Hucknall – and west of Linby – is expected to take up to nine years to complete.
It is hoped to create up to 1,000 jobs with around 800 homes, and a new ‘neighbourhood centre’ complete with a new school and possibly a medical centre.
In the words of Councillor Chris Barnfather who represents Newstead on the county council, said the project had “been on the horizon for many, many years”.
However significant upgrades were needed to the infrastructure around the development in order to make it commercially viable.
Now, regional development agency D2N2 is expected to commit a further £3 million towards the project.
At a meeting next week (Monday, May 11) the D2N2 Investment Board is likely to add its financial backing to the scheme, which already has the backing of Homes England and Nottinghamshire County Council.
A D2N2 report on the funding states: “The Top Wighay Farm site is located just north west of Hucknall, Nottinghamshire and has been allocated for housing and employment development since 2005.
“Several attempts have been made to bring this forward but the private sector has failed to deliver the site due to the infrastructure requirements.
PICTURED: Farmland will be used for the new development outside Linby
“The site is currently posed to bring forward the accelerated delivery of 805 new homes as part of a sustainable urban extension.
“Alongside housing provision, the site will encompass employment space, a primary school, a local centre and surrounding areas of open space.
“The site requires major highway and utility infrastructure, these include:
“The expansion of a roundabout on the A611/Annesley Road to accommodate traffic requirements to access the site.
A new signal-controlled junction to manage traffic flow and support the pedestrian cycle access.
A new three metre wide shared use footway and cycleway along the A611 for flexible and environmentally friendly public access to the site.
“The overall cost of the works is £10.3m, £5.8m has already been confirmed by Homes England.
“A precondition of the Homes England funding is that the public sector fills the remaining funding gap which is the basis of the application for D2N2 funding.”
Should the D2N2 funding be approved on Monday, the rest of the £10.3 million needed for the infrastructure upgrade will come from £1.5 million from Nottinghamshire County Council.
D2N2 has also given an update on the expected time table for works – which are to be carried out by Balfour Beatty, but warned that all dates are likely to be impacted by covid-19 restrictions.
It says currently the plan is to complete the infrastructure by March next year, and for work to start on the housing development in December 2021, with practical completion of the whole site by September 2029.
Councillor Jenny Hollingsworth is the portfolio holder for growth and regeneration at Gedling Borough Council, and represents the Gedling ward for Labour.
She said: “We welcome the news from D2N2 that they will be providing funding to the developers, Nottinghamshire County Council, for this site, to create the infrastructure needed for such a large development.
This list contains only the roadworks considered to be most likely to cause delays on key routes as well as those involving road closures and temporary traffic lights.
The list is not exhaustive and does not feature some minor or emergency repairs that come up after publication. Other roadworks may finish or start before schedule or be cancelled altogether.
All information from Highways England, local authorities and utility companies.
GEDLING
A612 Trent Valley Road
May 11 – December 20
Delays likely due to diversion route
A6211 Burton Road
May 11 – December 20
Delays likely due to road closure from its junction with the A612 to the bus turning circle
Stoke Lane
May 9 — 10 May
Delays likely due to road closure during level crossing testing. Hours of works 23.00pm – 6.00am
Labour Party members in Trent Valley have been putting their time on lockdown to good use by manufacturing protective visors for NHS workers in Gedling borough.
Trent Valley branch members have created a pop-up workshop to create the protective visors which are being given out for free to medical and front-line care workers who work or live within the area of Burton Joyce, Stoke Bardolph and parts of Gedling.
The first few masks have now been shipped and now the volunteers are hoping more people on the frontline will apply to receive one.
Branch member and Burton Joyce resident Lee Garland said the group were pleased they could play a small part in protecting frontline workers during the coronavirus crisis.
He said: “We were very keen to attempt to produce PPE, specifically visors, within the branch if we could.
“A laser cutter and the materials were purchased, which were funded by branch members and we are now in a position to supply visors free of charge, on a hyper-local basis to medical and front-line care workers who live or work within Trent Valley.
The first batch of visors have been sent out
This video shows the laser cutter in action
“Whilst we would love to extend the offer further, due to the voluntary and restricted method of production we want to assess local demand in the first instance.
“This is very much a cottage industry effort rather than commercial production, so we don’t want to over-promise, but feel able to supply those locally who are dealing either with no alternative supply or need to bridge gaps in official deliveries.
“We have been able to make our first supply via the practice nurse of a village surgery and have several requests within minutes of sharing the link to our online order form. We aim to deliver these as soon as possible this week.
He added: “It is not anything like the scale of the amazing efforts the Wilkins Group for instance have been producing, but we wanted to play our own small part in protecting our amazing frontline workers too.”
All production takes place in a sterilised area with the operator wearing a facemask and disposable gloves.
The design itself was created by Nottingham Hackspace who have shared their design online so that micro-production by volunteers around the country and beyond can be carried out by anyone with a laser cutter. They also have a visor design for 3D printing, and fabric patterns for face masks and medical scrubs.
Data entered will only be used to organise delivery of the visors; contact information is seen by one person organising the production and delivery, and then deleted.
Construction work is set to start on Gedling Access Road, which were put on hold last month due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Works on a new traffic signalled junction with the A612 were paused back in March due to the uncertainties of the coronavirus outbreak but are now set to begin on May 11.
The works will require the closure of a section of Burton Road for approximately seven months to allow for the new junction to be constructed.
This closure will see a diversion route in place via the A612 Trent Valley Road and the A6211 Colwick Loop Road to Sheering Hill, with only buses able to use Stoke Lane as a through route to maintain journey times.
PICTURED: Visualisation of how Gedling Access Road will look once completed
While works on the Burton Road closure and junction construction were paused, other works on site have remained ongoing including earthworks and drainage along the 3.8km route of the GAR.
Councillor John Cottee, Committee Chair for Communities and Place at Nottinghamshire County Council said: “We are pleased that we are now able to move forward with this key stage in the construction of the Gedling Access Road.
“The decision was taken to pause works in March to ensure the safety of staff and residents, and this will be closely monitored once works begin.
“The dry weather throughout April allowed us to make significant progress on other areas of the construction which are crucial to the project timeline.
“We appreciate that the closure of Burton Road will cause some disruption to motorists and local residents and we would like to assure that every effort to minimise disruption throughout the project is being made.
Sometimes I fear for my life, not because of the virus, but due to the demands of my brood.
I’ve turned into a mid-19th century maid, bowing my head and tilting my imaginary cap, muttering under my breath ‘yes master, yes miss’ in fear of the repercussions if I don’t fulfil their demands within a matter of seconds.
The repetitiveness of each day is taking its toll. Little things are becoming big issues.
I’ve learnt cheese is no longer acceptable cut into cubes, it has to be slices, I dare not overcook pizza or chips – a stable diet of ours at the moment, quick easy and ‘fresh’ from the freezer. I am literally a snack servant for five mini-humans, and when I say snack, it roughly translates as 24 hours of constant munching.
Thank God for Joe Wicks the online PE guru who puts us through our paces every morning at 9am. A good looking body coach, who makes us all feel very unfit and inadequate. We, as a family, managed to join this live online phenomenon, er, twice.
After the first week or so on lockdown, we have all become tired and lazy. My dressing gown has become my best friend – simple.
Joe Wicks would be lucky if we even had one eye open at 9am, let alone up, all dressed in lycra, jumping around the living room, tearing muscles we didn’t know we had while trying to not knock ourselves out on the far too close furniture.
My oldest two offspring are the worse: Cov19 has turned them into slugs, only coming out of their dark hole for food, barely seeing the light of day, up all night leaving a trail of crumbs, empty crisp packets and abandoned half-drunk cups of tea around the house for me to discover in the morning after cavorting online all night with other types of said nocturnal teen age beings.
And the home schooling…don’t get me started.
All I can say is, I tried, I tried again, and again, and again…and I failed. It’s safe to say I certainly did not miss my calling as a Teacher; my father was one for around 30 years and I have a new found respect for you, Dad! Trying to motivate five kids to sit down and ‘work’ from five varying year groups, I’d rather have a root canal.
Supermarket shopping is another stressful time
I must have had around 357 texts and e-mails about what to do, what platform to access, how to show the work on line, log on here, then attach this, please join our class, show my homework, here’s you new user ID, TT rockstars, class dojo, purple mash, remote learning, online support for parents.. and so I go on.
I am only just coping with the amount of laundry and housework the brood create being home 24/7, let alone having to ‘teach them’. I’m pulling my hair out, I never sit down, (who needs Joe to stay fit when you have five kids) there is always hoovering to do, tantrums to calm, arguments to level, soggy biscuits to scrape off the floor, piles of discarded towels or undergarments to be carefully picked up and washed.
Shopping, another stressful time. Seeing as I’m not in the vulnerable category, I can’t get a delivery slot until August 3rd 2025! When I do need to venture out into the unknown, it’s like getting ready to go into outta space or off to perform a frontal lobotomy: I don my mask, gloves, hand gel, bank card and four bags for life, folded into perfect squares – which is a new talent of mine I didn’t know I had. Pre-lockdown, bags were just shoved in a box, now they are all neatly folded,
Also shops don’t like cash as I discovered when handing over a £20 note two weeks ago. The cashier looked at me like I was the devil – a look I never want to see again.
While out shopping I remembered my roots are showing – a lot! I don’t remember what my natural hair colour actually is; I was surprised to see that’s its actually an acceptable shade of light brown, none the less. I broke the rules and purchased a hair dye, non-essential shopping that makes me a bad person. I happily dyed away the real me once again, along with my neck and parts of my ears, which are now a nice shade of mahogany red; my skin will shed soon, it’s not a problem.
My children’s hair is also growing. For the girls it’s not a problem but for the boys, it is. They have a certain barber they used to regularly visit and they love their barber and how he does it. They do not love their mum when she shouts, “I’ve found the clippers, boys, come on downstairs for a hair cut”. They arrive at the bottom of the stairs, pale and shaking a little from what I remember. It was a bit of a blur of panic, a million questions and instructions on how ‘Jake’ does it.. Well, I’m not Jake, I’m not trained, and I’m as nervous as they are. After a couple of youtube tutorials, I did their hair, and, as I’m able to write this, you will see I am still alive. So the outcome was acceptable..ish.
As much as this situation has made me find a new love for my children, seeing tiny things in them I’ve never noticed before, it has also taught me I really have no patience at all. It is ok to not like your children sometimes; it is ok to cook the same dinner three times in a week, as it’s all you’ve got in the freezer.
Its taught me that we actually only use one toilet roll a day, in a house of 6, not bad going that!! It has taught me I do have an imagination, entertaining a three and four-year old all day, everyday.
I take comfort in knowing I’m not the only mum struggling with, well, everything. I get up feeling positive, plan to do lots around the house, then spend most of the day, telling my kids to ‘not do that, please, we cant go to hospital at the moment’, or I follow them around tidying up the trail of devastation they leave. My house is not my home; it’s a four-walled bundle of mess and stress.
It’s tough, we are all in the same storm, but sailing it differently. Some are in a boat on their own lonely, some are in a boat that’s overcrowded, some swim to shore to risk their lives on a daily basis, then return to their safe boat each night… this storm will pass. Stay strong and support one another.
Our kids future will not be defined nor affected if we cannot complete the schooling tasks. Eating chocolate for breakfast, as Mummy was only allowed to buy two milks and they’ve gone, is ok too.
We are in this together. Stay safe. Stay home. Save lives.
Residents in Mapperley have been showing their creativity during lockdown by making some brilliant scarecrows.
The creations are part of the new Mapperley Scarecrow Festival, which is now in full swing and has been put in place to give the community ‘a positive way to come together during lockdown for COVID-19,’ said organisers.
The organisers are three Mapperley-based mums: Maria Narducci, Natasha Williams and Natalie Hallam.
Maria, who is also a Co-op member pioneer for Mapperley Co-op, told Gedling Eye: “We’re encouraging members of our community to use their imagination and create a scarecrow with things they have in the house, then display it in their front garden or window.
“Our community can enjoy them whilst on exercise walks or journeys to work or shopping. People who are shielding can also enjoy the scarecrows via social media as we’ll be sharing photographs on Facebook.
PICTURED: Entrants in te Mapperley Scarecrow Festival
“We also hope it will be enjoyable for key workers such as post and delivery people and the refuse collection teams who are working on our streets.”
The festival was also created to enable local businesses who are currently closed to join in and display a scarecrow in their window.
A number of businesses have now joined in by placing scarecrows in their windows and many others have also donated generous prizes to enable the competition to have a variety of prize winning categories – Best Dressed, Best Use of Recycled Household Items and Most ‘Likes’.
The Fruit Bowl on Mapperley Top is also handing out and displaying colouring sheets to support the Festival.
There is also a downloadable Mapperley Scarecrow Festival colouring sheet created by local illustrator Evie Warren. This can be downloaded from social media, coloured in and displayed in windows or taken to the CO-OP on Mapperley Top or the CO-OP on Westdale Lane (Mapperley end) where they will display it in their window.
Maria added: “We thought this would be a fun way to bring together the local community in such a difficult time. It’s important to see positive stories on our social media feeds and to see things that make us smile on the occasions we do leave home.”
