The pain that Rutland Water once caused

June 6th – Don’t Drown our County is a traveling exhibition sharing memories and photos of the creation Rutland Water. Well done to all involved. The exhibition opens up the beauty of an area of Rutland that is now under water and gives insight into the pain behind creation of the Water, which is now such a famous and popular Rutland feature.

Look around and think.  With hindsight, do you think the protesters were right, or were they misguided?

Rutland Show 2019

June 4th – Was Sunday’s Rutland Show the best ever? Something for all from longhorn cattle, goats, sheep, pigs & hens to demonstrations of emergency rescues, hair raising motorcycling, carriage riding, tractor pulling…& more! Great shopping, local food stalls. Thanks to all!

Mummy and baby.  Both VERY well groomed!

‘The Grainy’ and D-Day preparations

June 1st – two D Day veterans Gerry Wells & Dennis Wright joined the regular Vererans’ Breakfast at The Grainstore this morning. Thanks for coming, it makes preparations for the D Day celebrations very real. I hope many people will join us at Uppingham Town Hall on June 6 (the 75th anniversary of D Day) at 7pm when we will meet for a drink & watch the film ‘The Longest Day’ – the original black and white version!

Polling day!

May 24th: Visited Rutland Council to see 35 people hard at work verifying our Rutland votes ready for the count on Sunday. Many had been up since 5 am & worked long hours yesterday and are still recovering from previous election. Big thanks to all for making democracy work.

An amazing NGS charity success!

May 19th: Thanks to all visitors to the Old Vicarage garden Whissendine, which we opened for NGS Open Gardens! Thanks also to BBC Gardener’s World and Monty Don – the television appearance the previous Friday meant we had 900 visitors (over twice the usual number). £4565 was raised for NGS charities.  Delicious tea and cakes from the team at St Andrew’s Church made a further £2,000 + for the church. Brilliant!

BBC Gardener’s World visits my garden!

I had a visit from BBC Gardener’s World on 8th May! Our Rutland garden, the Old Vicarage at Whissendine, will feature on Gardeners World this Friday and will be open to the public with all funds going to charity as part of the National Gardens scheme on Sunday – all very exciting!

Music from pupils of Uppingham School

May 12th: Chamber music of a very high calibre was brought to the church in Morcott  this afternoon by pupils of Uppingham School.  The programme included  Williams’ music for Schindler’s List, which was amazing.  So too was Gounod’s Petite Symphony.  Thanks to talented players & all organisers.  The cake was excellent as well!

New facility for bird sanctuary

May 12th: I was invited to open a new shallow water double-decker hide at Rutland Water near Lyndon.  It provides the best view of an osprey nest. Thanks to a donation in memory of Helene Arnold by partner Mike Gale & grants  from Augeanplc Kingscliffe & Thornhaugh environmental association. And hard work from Leics Wildlife.

Guiding Awards

May 12th: Great achievers – Guides gain confidence & skills & have fun. It was a pleasure to present the awards, including D of E gold.  Congratulations to all.

Queen’s Awards training

May 8th:  We believe Rutland has great businesses but not enough applicants for an award which can ‘turbo charge’ a business. The Queen’s Award for Enterprise is the most prestigious business award. Rutland Lieutenancy is determined that great Rutland businesses learn how to apply well.  The Lieutenancy organised a ‘how to do it’ meeting at Barnsdale Lodge Hotel on how best to apply, with contributions from QAE officers and recent local winners – Fairfax Saddles, Photocentric, Anglian Water, Welland Power. Thanks to all speakers and attendees.