Spondon Village Improvement Committee
Past and planned events
 | |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
2005 events
Our events in 2005 were mainly fund-raising
to support our
"Spondon in Bloom" initiative.
On Saturday 26th February we
ran a stall at St Werbugh's table top sale in the Village Hall. On Saturday 9th April
the Hall was packed for the Spring Fayre (see right) with an opportunity to buy plants
and check the progress of our entry in "Britain in Bloom". It also
included a popular "Gardener's Question Time" hosted by Eddie Spencer
with questions answered by Jeff Bates and Lucy 
Clemson,
both members of the Royal Horticultural Society (see left).
We also held an Autumn Fayre on Saturday 29th October, in conjunction with the Derby branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society.
May Day Fayre 2004
This
was held in and around the Village
Hall on Monday 3rd May, and again attracted a large number of people
(despite an unpromising start weather-wise). All the organisations running
stalls reported good "business" and the Village Improvement Committee
raised some £500 to help its bid for Spondon to win the "Derby in
Bloom" competition.
Pictured above is Judith Flack of the Derby & Sandiacre Canal Society, demonstrating some "canal craft" to Dave Hayes of the Community Association.
Summer and autumn events 2004
| West Park Meadows Nature
Reserve clean-up: In conjunction with the management committee, the VIC
helped to
clean up the Nature Reserve at West Park Meadows all day on Saturday 27th
September.
|
As part of our “Cleaner, greener Spondon” campaign, we joined with Sarah and the management committee to hold a “Clean-up
Day” on Saturday 27th September. A small band of stalwarts
spent a very mucky few hours clearing a lot of old tree debris, plus the odd
bike, computer and skateboard! At the same time, we planted some wild
flowers and had a general clearing of litter.
June/July 2003 events
In
June, the VIC organised or co-ordinated a series of events, starting with the
annual SCA midsummer walk, when around
two dozen people (numbers varied as people joined and left at various points)
took part in the SCA's annual midsummer ramble. The picture (right) shows some
of them negotiating one of the trickier bits! Totalling 10 miles, this circular
walk started at the Vernon Arms, Spondon, through Locko Park to Dale Abbey
(pause at Carpenter's Arms) and Ockbrook (er, Royal Oak). The more enthusiastic
(or still thirsty) managed to complete the circuit back to Spondon in time for a
"last pint" at the Malt Shovel.
During the following week, the Adult Learning Service ran a series of "bite size" taster courses. This culminated on Saturday 28th June, with a display which was part of the Open Day in the Village Hall.
|
As well as the "conventional" venues and courses, there were a number of other options - the story of real ale (given by the chair of Derby CAMRA), salsa dancing and a walk along the Derby & Sandiacre Canal. |
Also
on the Saturday, the revamped village
history trail was officially opened by the Mayor of Derby, after which there
were guided
walks by the Historical Society and an opportunity to see around the
Homestead, by kind permission of Mr & Mrs Rutherford.
The new history trail was covered by the Derby Evening Telegraph, as well as Radio Derby.
On
Saturday July 26th, members of the Derby
& Sandiacre Canal Society led a walk along the towpath from Spondon to
Sandiacre (pausing only for refreshment at the Navigation Inn, Breaston!).
Pictured left: Derek Walker (standing, on left of picture, chair of the Canal
Society) explains progress to date at Borrowash Bottom Lock.
Kick off Christmas in Spondon 2002
The Village Improvement Committee ran a successful series of events to start off the Christmas season
|
The first event was St. Werburgh’s Church successful Christmas Fayre which took place in the Village Hall on Saturday 23rd November. | ||
|
A success repeated from the Jubilee weekend was the return of the fabulous “Anything Blows” band at the Village Hall on Friday 29th November | ||
|
As hoped the Christmas lights proved
to be better than ever!
Building on the success of previous years, Spondon Community Association joined with Borrow Wood Infant School to make Christmas in Spondon even
more special this year. They were switched on at 6pm on
Tuesday 3rd
December. In addition to the previous lights again on the Lilac tree in the precinct,
there were additional lights at the entrance to the village hall and
library. A large crowd of about 400 people thronged the village centre to
take part in the excitement.
| ||
|
"Winter Warmer" - the Spondon Methodist Praise Band repeated their success of the Jubilee weekend with this evening of celebration and worship for the start of Advent, led by Reverend Stephen Greasley. It took place in the Village Hall on Friday 6th December. |
Jubilee weekend 2002
| This weekend launched the Village Improvement
Committee upon an unsuspecting world!
A series of events culminated in the Potter Street market, then an "open day" in the Village Hall with organised walks around the village. |