St Peter’s church will be open from around 1 pm until 5 or maybe later if needed on Monday and Tuesday afternoons for folk to enjoy the cool. This afternoon the church stayed at a steady 20 degrees despite it being 31 degrees outside.
Everyone is welcome, and welcome to bring anything to pass the time, books, games, knitting even comfortable seating! Or just come to explore the church history.
I will be there and will provide drinks – hot and cold, and chocolate biscuits.
There is also an assortment of games in church – chess, scrabble, uno, dominos and packs of cards.
Let’s use this building to bring relief from the heat.
Thornton residents opened their gardens ‘for real’ this year, after two years of Covid lockdowns when only ‘virtual’ open gardens were available; with residents filming their own gardens and forwarding to organiser, Lis Muller, who then edited, set to music and uploaded to YouTube. A great success, but not as good as the real thing. (See the results below).
There were 14 gardens open for visitors for 5 hours, from 1pm to 6pm on Sunday 10th July.
253 people bought programmes (at a cost of £3 per person) and walked round the village on one of the hottest days of the year, taking refreshments at various stopovers, including in the lovely cool of the church and the village hall, where there was a roaring trade in cream teas.
The amount raised was £1144.54 by the Friends of St Peter’s who fund raise for the maintenance, restoration and improvement of our beautiful historic church.
If you wish to donate to this very worthy cause – then please get in touch and we will tell you how.
The event was considered to be a great social event with many locals getting to know one another on walking around the village. Â
The organisers would like to thank local firm, the Garden Design Company for supporting their event – http://www.thegardendesignco.co.uk
The Royal International Air Tattoo is returning for 2022, better than ever! From 15-17 July, RAF Fairford will be buzzing with 170,000 excited visitors and the Cotswolds will echo once again with the thrilling sights and sounds of several hundred aircraft of all shapes and sizes, from all eras and countries of the world, gathering for this unique adrenalin-fuelled occasion.
Join us for a special celebration to mark the United States Air Force’s 75th Anniversary and help us look to the future with our operational theme ‘Training the Next Generation Air Force’.
What has the show got to do with Thornton you may ask – well read on…
Thornton resident Eve Mills sent the following email with information for inclusion on the village website : –
“My daughter Joanna, will be performing at the Air Show this coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Â I was wondering if a mention could be made on the Village Website. Just so that if any local people are there perhaps they could give her an extra loud cheer when she sings.
Joanna was born in Loughborough and now lives in London after moving there to continue her singing career. She was the person who found us our lovely Thornton home over 12 years ago and visits regularly. Loving the peace and quiet as we all do. It’s her haven from the hectic life in London.
My husband Tim died last October and Joanna lived with us for most of his last 12 months to cheer him and to help care for her beloved ‘Pops’ as he became more poorly, until he passed away at home. With 2 years of lock down and such things as Festival and Air Show cancellations, Joanna is pleased to be able to pick up her career again.
Joanna’s stage name is Bunny Nightingale – more information can be found on Joanna’s website : –
Late Wednesday evening, on the 7th July, 7 residents from Thornton and 2 from Botcheston, gathered at the lychgate of St Peter’s church, Thornton to meet with bat expert Peter Proudlove from the Leicestershire and Rutland Bat Group to talk about the various bat species that we can expect to find in our area.
After a short talk about the habits and habitats of bats the group set off through the churchyard armed with bat detectors.
Having decided there was little activity in the churchyard the group made their way down to the reservoir for a short walk. Here the group members were treated to an aerial display from many bats, skimming the water in search of food; the bat detectors going into overdrive as the bats chattered away to each other.
Thank you Shirley for organising and providing good weather too.
Copyright – Gillatphotography
If you are interested in attending one of these events then email : – batevents@outlook.com.
Each walk is free to bat group members or £3 for non-members.
What a fabulous turn out at the Community Centre to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on Saturday. For most of the afternoon the hall was full, with residents (and a few visitors) coming and going with family, friends and neighbours. Everyone enjoyed a free cream tea and a goodie bag (courtesy of the Parish Council). The visitors were able to have a natter whilst enjoying a back drop (over the stage) of the Queen’s Jubilee Trooping of the Colour and other celebratory events projected on the new big screen (purchased from a grant given to the Centre by Forterra brickworks) a great addition to the hall facilities. The younger children were able to have fun drawing and painting tiles also provided by the Parish Council.
Jane from the Thornton Club laid on a bar in the meeting room in the afternoon which stayed open during the evening whilst the live bands (Godaddydaddy and the Boodons) played music from the stage. (Courtesy of a grant made by the Community Centre trustees).
Bar in the meeting room – copyright Gillatphotography
Although the event was entirely free to all – there was an opportunity for those that could, to make a donation if they wished – which they very generously did – raising £208 for the Friends of St Peter’s.
Huge thanks to all the ladies involved for all their hard work in making the event happen; from putting up the bunting, collecting the food, putting out tables and chairs and serving the teas – not to mention the big tidy up afterwards; and to regular visitor to the village, Ann, who helped with the bunting and took photographs of residents with the Queen.
Thank you – Mary, Maureen, Liz, Paula, Gill, Ann, Jane, Coral and family (and the Fox family for helping to tidy the Centre borders) apologies if I missed anyone.
The photographs can be viewed on the gallery page (a sub heading of the ‘about the village page’. I tried to make sure all were asked for permission to publish the photographs on the website – apologies if I missed anyone. If you are not happy with your photograph on the website let me know and I will remove it. Likewise contact me if you would like an original copy and I will obtain a digital one on email for you.
Commemorative tree
The Parish Council have given the Community Centre Trustees permission to plant a Platinum Jubilee commemorative tree at the rear of the Centre. I have contacted the National Forest to see if this could be a joint venture with them and had a promising reply. They hope to receive National Lottery funding for schemes/requests such as ours and will be in touch.
Thornton 