Newsletter

THORNTON LE FEN PARISH NEWSLETTER SPRING 2026.

'No winter lasts forever...'

Welcome to the Spring edition of our village newsletter.  It may be true that  'No winter lasts forever' but my goodness...this last one felt like it just might.  It seemed to go on and on and on. So much rain!  Thank goodness we seem to have turned a corner with some sunshine!  

It has been lovely to see the spring bulbs popping up by the bus stop.  One of the plans in the future is to plant more bulbs around the village...How would you feel about helping?  The Parish Council would supply the bulbs. If you could spare a little time to pop some in, we could welcome next year with even more cheerful colour. 

Easter is such a wonderful time of year.  In Lincolnshire it was sometimes referred to as 'Crow day'.  A day that people had something new to wear...even if it was just a new hanky. A child that was unfortunate not to have something new was in danger of having the 'Black birds dirty on them' Perhaps a bird pooping on you wasn't always a sign of good luck!

If you have any ideas or suggestions to help improve our lovely Parish, please let us know!

Kind regards.  Liz.  Chair of Thornton Le Fen Parish Council.

Introductory offer for our local pub “The Malcolm Arms”

Hello from The Malcolm Arms! We’re Anita and Richard and we’d love to introduce ourselves. Although we’ve owned The Malcolm Arms for the last 10 years, we’ve recently taken the exciting step of running it ourselves.

As a local family with young children, this is a big commitment for us and something we are incredibly passionate about. You may have already seen or heard that we’re currently working hard to improve all aspects of the pub – from the food and service to the overall look and feel.

So far, the kitchen and top bar have undergone improvement and we are continuing to work our way through the rest of the pub, including the pool room, Garden room restaurant and toilet facilities. The changes are ongoing, and we truly appreciate your patience and support as we continue to develop and improve. Our vison is to create a welcoming, high-quality pub that serves a s a true hub for the local community – somewhere you can enjoy excellent food, drinks and a friendly atmosphere.

We look forward to welcoming you and hope you’ll enjoy being part of the next chapter of The Malcolm Arm

Gipsey Bridge Academy

Hello from Gipsey Bridge Academy! My name is Georgie Case and I am delighted to introduce myself as the new Headteacher. It has been wonderful meeting members of the community already and I look forward to getting to know many more of you over the coming months.

At Gipsey Bridge Academy we are proud to support events within the village and wider parish. Pupils have taken part in community events such as the village Remembrance Day service and the Live Nativity, where it was lovely to share coffee and cake together afterwards.

Our pupils have also enjoyed being involved in wider national and international opportunities. In January, some of our children travelled to Sheffield to perform as part of the Young Voices concert, joining a choir of over 5,000 children. Earlier this month, six pupils also had the exciting opportunity to take part in a visit to Italy.

In school we have continued to support a range of charities including Children in Need, the Royal British Legion, Tiny Tickers and Heart Link, alongside fundraising for our wonderful PTFA who provide additional resources and opportunities for the children at Gipsey Bridge.

Learning at Gipsey Bridge is enriched with many additional experiences. Class 2 recently visited Flag Fen, we enjoyed a whole-school reading event, celebrated World Book Day with dressing up, and took part in Science Week with many curious challenges to explore.

Over the coming terms we are looking forward to even more opportunities, including a Swimathon, sporting competitions with local schools and, of course, the exciting build-up to our traditional Sports Day.

Thank you for your continued support of the school. We greatly value our links with the wider community and look forward to sharing more with you in the months ahead.

Best wishes, Mrs. Case.       

Gardening jobs for spring/summer (The ramblings of a gardener!)

After what has seemed like an eternity, spring is finally here! I hope you managed to see the lovely crocus, snowdrops and daffodils planted around the bus shelter (see the image above), a very cheerful sight. The daffodils might have been and gone, but fear not; their vibrant and cheerful yellow glow can be replaced by growing your own sunflowers very easily and these are also great for sowing with children and grandchildren too! Packs of seeds are relatively inexpensive, so why not have a go, have some competitions about who can grow the tallest!

Other easy flowers to sow are cosmos, cornflowers, poppies and zinnia for a lovely show of summer colour. If planting lupin seeds, soak them for 24 hours first, this aids germination. Sweet peas are also fabulous and have a gorgeous fragrance. Initially, grow these in deep individual cells and then grow on at the base of bamboo canes for them to climb up. So much can be grown from seed, flowers, veg and herbs, just follow the packet instructions and away you go!

April is perfect for summer bulb planting such as lilies, gladioli and dahlia, my personal favourite with a huge variety of colour and styles and these will last right through to the first frosts. Remember to dead head regularly during the flowering season and they will reward you with more and more blooms. Watering regularly also helps.

Hydrangeas are shooting madly now, so if you haven’t already, cut out last year’s dead heads t the nearest set of new leaves and give a feed. Keep an eye out for aphids on your roses too, they love fresh, new growth! A spray with a diluted solution of washing up liquid works well in place of chemical pesticides, just rub the aphids off after spraying to avoid a major infestation!

If you are lucky enough to have a pond, a general tidy up might be required. Check and clean pumps and add/replace aquatic plants like iris and water lilies.

Lawns – mine isn’t the best kept, more weed than grass, but the bees like it! Regular mowing, blades set high for the first few cuts, feeding now and re seeding any bald patches will make a huge improvement. I’m a big fan of ‘no mow May’ and June and July, encouraging bees and insects.

Lastly, enjoy your garden, take a moment and admire your hard work, coffee, tea or glass in hand…and relax!

Speeding and traffic in our parish

Hello, let me introduce myself, my name is Phil Perryman, and I live in Antons Gowt.

Some of you may already know I download the information stored in a number of speed radar monitoring units that can be found in the local area, and I take that information to generate presentations that are used in some of the local Parish Council meetings.

Since I moved here in September of 2021 from town life, I have been very passionate about the driving habits, especially when it comes to speeding, which I understand is a major concern for many households, plus the effect that that can have, with some homes vibrating as heavy vehicles pass by.

As far as any form of enforcement, there is only the Police Camera van that is occasionally parked up by the small BT building on Main Road near Langrick Bridge. It so happens that last January I was delivering a number of copies of the Traffic presentation to Dave in the Langrick Post Office, I saw the van and decided to stop and give a copy to the operator. To my surprise he was surprised at the content, the number of vehicles speeding and the shocking top speeds measured for 30mph roads, the upshot was that he took the data to his managers who run the “Staying Alive team” that operate the vans.

About 3 weeks later I received a 5-page email outlining what the team was about, how they operate and some technical information about the radar monitors units used. At this point I did not think that anything would come of it,but…  a few weeks later a Police van appeared on Armtree Road much to the delight of some of the residents. I am hopeful this is the start of things to come, it now shows that we have been heard, let’s hope it continues into other areas.

If anyone would like to see a copy of the presentations I create or more information, send me an email at Phil.Perryman@googlemail.com and I will forward a copy to you.

Below a history table that shows speeds etc. for the Gipsey Bridge area

Dates and events at Gipsey Bridge chapel.

Regular coffee mornings are held in the chapel at Gipsey Bridge, 10 – 11.30 am and all are welcome, upcoming dates are April 18th, May 16th, June 20th, July 25th, August 15th and September 26th.

A church service and Sunday school take place in the afternoon on the Sunday following each coffee morning, Harvest festival this year will be September 27th.

A bingo night is planned for 7pm on May 27th, eyes down, all welcome!

Please keep an eye on the Gipsey Bridge Facebook page and on the noticeboards throughout the parish for additional dates and events.