Co-op store in Daventry robbed again

Yet another branch of the Co-op’s local stores in Daventry, was robbed during an early morning raid.

On the third occasion in less than 12 months Police are appealing for witnesses following a robbery on Sunday morning at the Co-op in Edinburgh Square, just after the store opened. Police were called at 7.10am after offenders went into the store and threatened staff. They then made off with a quantity of cash. Police want to hear from anybody who saw any suspicious activity in the area this morning, or any cars being driven suspiciously. The offenders are described as three white youths in their late teens or early twenties, wearing black clothes (possibly tracksuits) and balaclavas. Witnesses to this incident, or anyone with information, should call Northamptonshire Police on 03000 111 222 – alternatively, information can be given anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

East Haddon’s Margaret Wrathall dies as she herds cattle

The family of Margaret Wrathall, a 74-year-old widow, who lived in East Haddon, near Daventry, was still grieving yesterday after she tragically died in a freak accident.  The accident occurred on Tuesday (1 September) evening at about 5pm on her smallholding

Margaret, described as a hard-working village churchwarden died herding cows. This was something she did on a regular basis and it is thought one of the animals broke loose and knocked her to the ground. An air ambulance was called to the scene hover she died almost immediately at the scene from her multiple injuries.

Ian Barnett, a villager and chair of the church council, told the Northampton Chronicle & Echo that, “Margaret Wrathall’s sudden and tragic death has shocked her many friends, particularly in her village of East Haddon where she was born and lived almost all her life. Margaret had a great love and enthusiasm for all aspects of rural life and particularly her horses and livestock as well as those of all ages who lived in the village. Our whole community feels a great sense of loss and she leaves an enormous gap in so many parts of our lives.”

Mrs Wrathall had four grown-up daughters and six grandchildren. In a statement issued by her family yesterday said, she was a keen equestrian, a good show jumper and rode with the Pytchley Hunt. She was also an instructor for the charity Riding for the Disabled for 40 years.

A spokesman for Peterborough Diocese said: “We were very shocked to hear of Margaret’s tragic death.

“She had been a faithful and hard-working member of the church in EastHaddon and in the wider Spencer Benefice for many years.

“She had a great gift for getting things done and for mobilising and encouraging others, and she will be sorely missed by all who knew her.

“Her family, friends and the community she served are in the thoughts and prayers of many people, including both our bishops and the Archdeacon of Northampton.”

The Rev Sue Kipling, Rector of the S

The family of Margaret Wrathall, a 74-year-old widow, who lived in East Haddon, near Daventry, was still grieving yesterday after she tragically died in a freak accident.  The accident occurred on Tuesday (1 September) evening at about 5pm on her smallholding

Margaret, described as a hard-working village churchwarden died herding cows. This was something she did on a regular basis and it is thought one of the animals broke loose and knocked her to the ground. An air ambulance was called to the scene hover she died almost immediately at the scene from her multiple injuries.

Ian Barnett, a villager and chair of the church council, told the Northampton Chronicle & Echo that, “Margaret Wrathall’s sudden and tragic death has shocked her many friends, particularly in her village of East Haddon where she was born and lived almost all her life. Margaret had a great love and enthusiasm for all aspects of rural life and particularly her horses and livestock as well as those of all ages who lived in the village. Our whole community feels a great sense of loss and she leaves an enormous gap in so many parts of our lives.”

Mrs Wrathall had four grown-up daughters and six grandchildren. In a statement issued by her family yesterday said, she was a keen equestrian, a good show jumper and rode with the Pytchley Hunt. She was also an instructor for the charity Riding for the Disabled for 40 years.

A spokesman for Peterborough Diocese said: “We were very shocked to hear of Margaret’s tragic death.

“She had been a faithful and hard-working member of the church in East Haddon and in the wider Spencer Benefice for many years.

“She had a great gift for getting things done and for mobilising and encouraging others, and she will be sorely missed by all who knew her.

“Her family, friends and the community she served are in the thoughts and prayers of many people, including both our bishops and the Archdeacon of Northampton.”

The Rev Sue Kipling, Rector of the Spencer Benefice, which includes East Haddon, said: “Margaret was a wonderful Christian woman whose faith underpinned all she did.

“She was dedicated to the village and the church community, serving as a church warden for many years.

“She welcomed me so warmly as the new Rector, introducing me to her broods of ducks, hens and bantams. If she felt anyone was in need of support, she would be there, perhaps with new-laid eggs or a jar of homemade marmalade.”

Spencer Benefice, which includes East Haddon, said: “Margaret was a wonderful Christian woman whose faith underpinned all she did.

“She was dedicated to the village and the church community, serving as a church warden for many years.

“She welcomed me so warmly as the new Rector, introducing me to her broods of ducks, hens and bantams. If she felt anyone was in need of support, she would be there, perhaps with new-laid eggs or a jar of homemade marmalade.”

Towcester man jailed for £70,000 falcon egg smuggling

Towcester man Jeffrey Lendrum, 48, from York Close in Towcester, is starting a 30 month sentence in prison after being found in possession of 14 peregrine falcon eggs when he was detained on 3 May.

Lendrum was arrested at Birmingham Airport as he waited for a flight to Dubai, where he was detained after being caught with the eggs, valued at £70,000 on the black market.

An air port cleaner raised the alarm when Lendrum was seen acting suspiciously. The former member of the Rhodesian SAS had wrapped the eggs, which had been stolen from a nest in south Wales, in socks before taping them to his chest to keep them warm.

Abseiled from helicopter

After they were seized by police, 11 of the eggs were successfully hatched and the highly protected chicks released back in to the wild, Warwick Crown Court heard.

Investigators described Lendrum as “the highest level of wildlife criminal” and said the case was one of the most serious of its kind in decades.

Lendrum admitted one count of trying to export the eggs and another of illegally stealing them from a nest on the side of a mountain in Rhondda.

The court heard officers also found thousands of pounds of cash on Lendrum when they arrested him.

At first he claimed they were chicken eggs he had bought at Waitrose before trying to fool police by saying he used them to treat his bad back.

Police subsequently searched one of his properties in Northamptonshire where they discovered equipment for egg hunting, including incubators, a GPS system and walkie-talkies.

Lendrum had previous convictions in Zimbabwe and Canada for stealing rare eggs. He once abseiled off a cliff to reach a nest, while on another occasion he lowered himself from a helicopter in Canada to reach his prize.

Daventry Leisure Management firm throws in the towel

Soll Daventry Limited a charitable company who manage the Daventry Leisure Centre on behalf of Daventry District Council, are ceasing to trade due to money problems.

Soll Leisure operates separate charitable companies for each of its businesses with voluntary boards of trustees drawn from the community and businesses across Northamptonshire and neighboring counties.

Daventry District Council has been notified that SOLL Daventry Limited will cease to operate Daventry Leisure Centre and Daventry Sports Park within the next month.

The Council, as owners of the leisure centre in Lodge Road, sports park in Browns Road, tennis courts at New Street and sports pitches at Fishponds, Headlands and The Hollows, will ensure that all sites remain open and operational.

Residents are reassured that although the management of these facilities will change within the coming weeks, all services, including existing memberships and bookings, will not be affected and will continue as usual.

SOLL Daventry has managed the facilities on behalf of the Council since November 2006. Factors such as the recent recession and continuing economic challenges have contributed to increasing financial issues at these sites.

Daventry District Council’s Managing Director Simon Bovey said: “We appreciate hard times face us all. However the delivery of sports and leisure services are of paramount importance to the Council and residents should be assured that the operation of services will continue at all sites.”

Mark Jaggers, Managing Director of SOLL Daventry Limited said: “SOLL Daventry Limited has been managing the facilities for the last 3 years and would like to express our gratitude to the staff and customers during this time.Participation have increased significantly from 225,862 visits in 2006 to 345,701visits in the last year. Improvements in service have been reflected in Sport England Quest quality accreditation and gaining Investors in People status. With the Council and SOLL’s commitment to invest and SOLL’s management, the centres and service have been transformed over the past three years.

“SOLL operates on the basis of separate charitable companies for each of its businesses with voluntary boards of trustees drawn from the community and successful businesses across Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire. These will continue unaffected by the decision in Daventry. SOLL Leisure Group will still be operating 6 leisure facilities with over 200 staff and a turnover of over £3m.”

Clamping fine victory for driver – Road Transport

Egg on Face – I got it wrong!

Okay, we woz robbed. That Chris Heaton-Harris scraped through by the skin of his teeth winning the seat for Daventry, fouling the other candidates at every opportunity……..

No he didn’t, he romped home taking not just half the vote but raising it to 57% pushing Labour into third place and Liberal Democrats moving up into second. The only fouling was by running a very effective and efficient campaign leaving nothing to chance; despite only the smallest margin, he could lose this one hundred year old Conservative safe-seat.

In fairness, we didn’t say Chris would lose the election but there was a real fear that with the rise in the Liberal stock, then this could have seriously eroded the Conservative margin. I raised the fact there was a remote possibility we could elect someone who had not seemed a serious contender only a few weeks ago and denying us the experience of an A-list conservative candidate.

Even my other half did not buy this logic. I debated the issues how unhealthy I thought it was for Daventry to have Conservatives running both the Local Council and at Westminster with such strong majorities. I showed her my article in idaventry and then foolishly, in what I realize now was a desperate move, took hold of her index finger and bent it back to make her agree. Only resulting in her knee locking and with a karate style kick I only just averted a serious injury to a very private part of my anatomy, ending the discussion.

So, Chris Heaton-Harris – welcome to you as Daventry Constituency’s newest MP. The sixth in a line stretching back to Daventry’s first Conservative MP Edward FitzRoy who died on the job after serving for 25 years. He was Speaker in the House of Commons and to date the longest serving MP we have had. The Daventry constituency abolished for some reason in 1950 and later on reinstated in 1974 has had four more MPs, Reginald Manningham-Buller, Arthur Jones, Reg Prentice, (who crossed the floor from Labour to Conservative) and most recently Tim Boswell winning the seat in 1987. Only another couple of years and Tim would have beaten Edward FitzRoy in time served.

I have never met Tim Boswell and can only judge from his record how successful he has been. Member of a local farming family he was perhaps an ideal choice for a large rural constituency like Daventry in the Thatcher era. If you were a visitor from 1790 accidentally caught in a time-shift vortex landing on Tim Boswell’s farm near Banbury, you would not immediately suspect you had arrived in a different time zone. Welcomed by Tim, learning he is a farmer and MP, it would all make complete sense to this 18^th century person. Local Squire, MP, surely all quite normal our visitor from the past would muse.

His record in Parliament and even during the great expenses scandal of 2009 left our MP unscathed. Voting record, attendance, all not bad at Westminster, claims for expenses modest compared to many other MPs from all persuasions. During his last year at Westminster he did perform below average but then he was leaving.

Having spoken in only eight debates in the past 12 months, he voted in 65% of votes. Strongly against the hunting ban, not hugely in favour of Labour’s anti-terrorism laws, and in favour of the Iraq war whilst also in favour of an enquiry into the reason for the war.

He has a keen interest in the environment and in favour of reducing carbon emissions cleaning up the environment. Many constituents writing to Tim will have been pleasantly surprised at receiving thoughtful and considered replies in a perfectly reasonable time scale. I have seen one letter sent to a colleague addressing his concerns related to renewable energy. Tim’s response was intelligent and proactive linking him to a very senior peer of the realm.

On the expenses topic, I was amused to see Tim declared presents that included a £5 bottle of wine and a couple of tickets for Silverstone Grand Prix. An honest man who carried out his duties in the way he saw fit. Things have changed since 1987 and perhaps this is the perfect time to step down handing the baton over to someone new. Therefore, over to you Chris Heaton-Harris, our best wishes and the best of luck for all our sakes.

By David Raven Editor of idaventry.com

A view on the Daventry 2010 election from across the pond

UK Elections: Boredom at the Ballot Box

“where I’ve stayed before. The village is in the Daventry constituency, where in 2005″ By Jonathan Raban writing on the New York Review of Books website

After the short-lived tornado of “Bigotgate” on April 28, and the final televised prime ministerial debate the next evening the British opinion polls have been all over the place. They agree that David Cameron’s Conservatives will win and Gordon Brown’s Labour party will lose, but everything else is shrouded in fog. Either the surge of support for the Liberal Democrats under Nick Clegg is holding steady, or it’s fading to the point where the Lib Dems will come in third in votes after Labour (whatever happens, they will certainly come a poor third in seats). Either the Conservatives will have an overall majority, as most of the people I’ve been talking to are now anticipating without relish, or there’ll be a hung parliament, in which case Cameron will have to strike some kind of deal with Clegg. Each poll confidently suggests a different outcome on the long night of May 6.

For the past month, I’ve been following the election in my home country from a 5000-mile distance. My house in Seattle is littered with mint copies of the skinny national edition of the New York Times that are still in their blue plastic sheaths, while I’ve been reading online the Guardian, Independent, Telegraph, Times, Sun, Daily Mail, and News of the World. I’ve been listening to BBC Radio 4, and watching as much British television coverage of the election as the annoying copyright restrictions that prevent US viewers from tuning in live to Sky News, ITN, and the BBC will allow.

There’s a big flaw in trying to read the election in this way. One joins a virtual community of fellow political junkies—the journalists and pollsters whose interest in the proceedings is at least as avid as my own. If I could only pop down the road to the newsagents’ or the pub, or stand in line at the checkout counter in Waitrose, I’d be brought face to face with the single largest factor in the election: the boredom, indifference, disillusion, and cynicism (“They’re all as bad as each other”) of a great swathe of the electorate.

In our community, every slight shift in the polls looks like a near-religious conversion of thousands of people from one side and its policies to another. In reality, it probably means that in the five minutes that people spent watching the last debate, they took a shine to Nick Clegg’s face or were embarrassed by Gordon Brown’s painfully contrived smile. Then they changed the channel. Then the pollster called.

For many if not most people, a general election isn’t a thrilling event, charged with great consequence, so much as an annoying intrusion on the regular patterns of their lives, about as welcome as a seasonal pledge drive is to NPR listeners. It gets in the way of the football or the cricket, it causes traffic chaos on the High Street when a senior politico comes to town. For a lot of voters, no real thought or choice is involved: they’re “Labour” or “Conservative” by social and family tradition—tribalists who pencil their X on the ballot paper beside the party that their parents and grandparents always voted for. Does a Catholic have to decide on a Sunday morning which church to attend? At the last British election in 2005, 38.6 percent of the electorate failed to show up at their local polling stations. After the prime ministerial debates this time, a stronger turnout is expected, but it probably won’t exceed 70 percent.

I’m flying to England on May 3 to watch the election and its aftermath on the ground, and have booked a room for my first night in a village pub near Northampton where I’ve stayed before. The village is in the Daventry constituency, where in 2005 the Conservative candidate walked away with 53% of the vote, but retired at the end of the last parliament. Six candidates are standing there this time. I’ve made a bet with myself at 1/9, odds-on, that when I walk into the bar of the Coach and Horses the talk will be about anything but politics. If I lose, I’ll be surprised but happy to donate £50 to the collection box for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution that stands beside the beertaps on the bar, and a further £25 if, during the course of the evening, Nick Clegg’s name is mentioned once. (And “that Liberal bloke” won’t count.)

Be careful who you vote for…it may come true!

Dave Raven, idaventry editor struggles with who to vote for..

After just three appearances on the box by party leaders, we find ourselves dealing with quite a lively and completely different election campaign in 2010. Brown, Cameron and Clegg all look shattered after touring the country shaking hands, between making public gaffs trying to shore up the regions they hope to win.

Now however, in Daventry, traditionally regarded a safe conservative  seat, could this be about to change?

Unless I’m mistaken few people in the Daventry constituency have had more than fleeting contact with any of the candidates.  Maybe someone has phoned whilst I have been out and I missed the call – unlikely in this age of mobiles and call forwarding. I have seen leaflets hastily thrust through the door at the last minute and noticed Tory posters loyally popping up on the headlands of fields outside Daventry, but apart from this you could easily be forgiven not noticing the election taking place in our area.

At idaventry, we have received information from candidates by email and I searched their websites for pictures, nevertheless, the only people who seem serious about getting our attention are the organizers behind conservative candidate Chris Heaton-Harris, not leaving anything to chance and especially now.

Other candidates will have done their homework based on past results and a simple fact that since 1918, Daventry only ever elected a Conservative Member of Parliament. Even the Labour victories of 1997, remained Tory wins for Daventry, despite the 11% fall in their share of the vote. So that’s why they can be excused optimism in 2010 and we must assume other candidates have viewed these past results with equal amounts of pessimism.

After the 97 swing from Conservatives, the 2001 election did see their share of the vote increased by 2.6%. By the 2005 election; conservatives saw another positive swing of 3.6%, then three weeks ago, something happened. Coming out of the blue, or perhaps yellow, the Clegg factor arrived.

Nearly as fast as Susan Boyle became an international superstar, Clegg became a new household name and member of the big boys club in politics. From then on the 2010 election dynamics changed forever.

At idaventry, we looked at three sets of opinion polls published on the BBC’s website on 1^st May. Applying these predictions to Daventry, a new picture emerged which, even after taking account of changes to the Daventry constituency coming into effect this year, alters the odds for all three main candidates.

The conservatives who normally expect to poll half the votes, could see their share reduced to dangerous low levels, whilst both Labour and LibDem enter higher up the frame.

Remember these are our predictions based on three sets of national opinion polls. In the 2005 election, the Conservative result in Daventry was 1.2% lower than the national figure and the Labour result was lower by 2.7%. Liberal Democrat polled higher than the national did by the combined losses of both Labour and Tory (2.9%) a sign five years ago of what was to come. The combined vote of the other parties was 1% higher than national.

idaventry predicted results for 2010

Conservatives – 36%

Labour – 30%

Liberal – 28%

Other – 4.7%

* idaventry predictions for the voting share for Daventry in 2010 based on three national opinion polls published on 1^st May, 2010.

If these polls, published only 5 days before the 2010 election, are anywhere near correct then we are going to see a very much closer election result here in Daventry. What is amazing is that for the first time in many years both Labour and Liberal could be in with a real chance of winning. If by some miracle the Liberal Democrats for example, increased their voters by another 10% between now and May 6, then we would have a Liberal MP in Daventry for the first time in our history.

When Labour, Liberal and the other Daventry candidates were selected, not one of them in their right mind had expectation of winning. Just do the math based on past results. Labour’s candidate Paul Corazzo will have predicted how many votes he is likely to win based on winning about half the votes polled by Chris Heaton-Harris. In fact, the party officials at Labour head office, never expecting him to win, will have selected Paul on this basis. The same must apply to the Liberal Democrats who will have selected an appropriate candidate with little chance of him actually winning.

In the case of the Conservatives it’s the opposite argument. Chris Heaton-Harris has been given what was deemed to be a very safe seat. He is on the Conservative Party A-list and will almost certainly be invited to join David Cameron’s first cabinet should they win the general election.

Incidentally, Chris Heaton-Harris must be well acquainted with Nick Clegg, since both became MEP’s in 1998/1999. Clegg retired in 2006 and later on elected as a Westminster MP whilst Chris stayed as an MEP until 2009.

Personally I feel the other major parties; Labour and Lib Dem have given me a problem. Whilst welcoming the improved chances for all the other parties in Daventry, it is a concern that because expectations have been low, party bosses will not have fielded their best candidates available.

From their CV’s Paul Corazzo for Labour and Chris McGlynn for the Liberal Democrats look like honorable and energetic politicians, and the same goes for Alan Bennet-Spencer (English Democrats) Jim Broomfield (UKIP) and Steve Whiffen (Green Party) who will all work hard for Daventry.  But (there is always a but) are these good men the very best calibre representative we have to send to Westminster?

This question is aimed more at Labour and LibDem party officials since hand on heart – did you choose the very best people available to represent Daventry, when the expectations of them winning were very low, or did you reserve the best candidates for constituencies where you had a higher chance of winning?

My heart wants me to vote to narrow the gap between the conservatives by jumping on the LibDem bandwagon, making this more of a democratic competition. My head tells me that Daventry will be better served by a person with wide experience at an international level and the prospect of serving in the government……..It was not meant to be this hard!

Listen to Daventry Candidates manifestos

Courtesy of the BBC Northamptonshire listen to the prospective parliamentary candidates for Northamptonshire.

Interested in finding out more on prospective parliamentary candidates in your part of Northamptonshire?

Well BBC Northampton have produced one minute manifestos with the candidates across Northamptonshire.

Click on your constituency to find out where they stand on issues that affect you in your area.

Daventry Hockey club win award

Daventry Hockey Club has received a prestigious award in recognition of its high coaching standards and development.

Clubs First is an England Hockey Board accreditation in national recognition of clubs that are committed to providing a safe and friendly hockey environment.

The award reflects the dedication of the club’s members to move Daventry Hockey Club forward, and has been achieved with the support of Daventry District Council’s Sports Development Team and England Hockey.

The club now wants to set up formalised school-club links with the South Northants and Daventry School Sport Partnership to help create further opportunities for young people to take part in Hockey within the partnership.

Shaun Waite, Sports Development Officer at Daventry District Council, said: “Daventry Hockey Club should be commended for achieving this accreditation.

“The award can be used to assure potential new players and their parents that exacting standards in welfare and coaching are being maintained at the club, and Daventry District Council was pleased to be able to lend its support.”

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