Uppingham Feast

June 17th – Great buzz of excitement in Uppingham yesterday for Uppingham Feast! Stalls, food, music, drink… and the weather held (just about).  Something for all ages! Congratulations to all organisers and volunteers who made it all happen. A very happy day.

Rutland Scouting AGM

June 9th: Rutland Scouting AGM was held at Oakham Castle today. Congratulations Sean Hickling & Thomas Howe for achieving top Scouting award. Scouts, Cubs & Rangers from all over Rutland were present – Oakham, North Luffenham, Cottesmore, Barleythorpe Thanks to all the adult volunteers – great job.

D-Day 75 years ago

6th June:  Rutland commemorated  the D Day 75th Anniversary with three D Day Rutland veterans: Dennis Wright (pictured with his wife of 65 years), Gerry Wells & John Stokes. It was a great honour to have them join 70+ others in Uppingham Town Hall for a showing of the film ‘The Longest Day’ – the original black and white version.  Gripping stuff. We owe so much!

Thanks to all who joined us;  over £300 was raised, proceeds to the Royal British Legion.

Improvements at Stocken Prison

June 4th – There is a new wing just opened at HMP Stocken.  This increases capacity and, crucially, the opportunity for rehabilitation. It promotes contact with families, outdoor exercise & learning. Rutland should be proud of the job the staff do and pleased that this will enable them to be even more effective. Thanks for having me to open it!

What’s the collective noun for a group of Speech Days?

May 25th – Uppingham School and Oakham School held their annual Speech Days on the same day.  As Lord-Lieutenant of the county I’m ex-officio on the Board of Governors of both schools.  So what do I do?

Fortunately Uppingham’s Speech Day is mainly in the morning and Oakham’s is mainly in the afternoon, so by offering explanations to both and eating a VERY swift lunch I managed to get to the key aspects of both events.

It is very uplifting to see and hear the many achievements of our young people.  So many of them work so hard, and in such diverse ways.  They really do deserve to succeed.  Congratulations to all.

Sadly I was so busy clapping I didn’t manage to get a photo of either!

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.