Summer seems here with all spring crops drilled, planted and emerging well, writes Stafford Proctor.

Winter sown crops are growing quickly with the yellow flowering of oilseed rape nearly completed and ears of barley emerging, and wheat not far behind – only another two months until harvest starts!

New lives start every few days as the Lincoln Red cows continue calving.

With the exception of some black grass, the farms in south Lincolnshire look great.

Farmers have recently completed their annual task of reporting to the government what crops we are growing and that we are abiding by the highest environmental standards – the modern equivalent of the Doomsday book!

Agricultural support plays a crucial role within farming businesses and generally satisfies its aims of supporting the broader rural community and maintaining a plentiful supply of low cost food.

Sunday, June 5 is Open Farm Sunday. The website lists your local farms; why not visit one and learn more of what happens on your local farms. In south Lincolnshire, Naylor Flowers are open from 11am to 4pm, at Sycamore Farm, Common Road, Moulton Seas End, Spalding PE12 6LF. It will be a fantastic day with tractor trailer tours of flower fields, children’s activities, flower arranging demonstrations and competitions, machinery, live music, art and refreshments.

Knowing Matthew and his team, it will be a special day, and a great opportunity to have fun, learn and enjoy our farms and countryside!

The introduction of daylight saving – moving the clock forward an hour in the spring – caused enormous confusion when in was introduced in 1916.

Despite all the debate about the change, a Sunday newspaper seller set off for Spalding Station two hours ahead of the ‘old’ time – “it turned out that two people had been operating on the clock independently!”

A “small cowkeeper” on the outskirts of Spalding failed to alter his clock so that when the milk seller arrived the cows were just about to be milked, and the milkman was forced to wait an hour and start late on his round.

The “veteran chairman” of the Spalding Board of Guardians, the Rev J C Jones, refused to alter his clocks or watch, but the report says “we noted he was well in time for the meeting of the Board yesterday”.

A couple from a village a few miles outside Spalding drove into the town on Sunday morning “as usual for divine service” and were “greatly astonished” to be told the clock said 11.30 instead of 10.30. They claimed not to have heard anything about the Daylight Saving Act whereas another couple arrived at Spalding Baptist Chapel an hour too soon.

Some village children arrived at Sunday School an hour late and said their father “wasn’t going to put his clock on for nobody” and a number of children were late for school the following day.

The clock keeper at Spalding Parish Church caused alarm when, uncertain whether he had changed the clock to the correct, new time, the clock was struck.

“To hear a public clock in a prohibited area striking defiantly in the middle of the night so startled a policeman that he hurried to the spot to see what was meant by this breach of the Defence of the Realm regulations.” At another church the bell tolled an hour too soon.

A regular column by Dr Patricia Buck, of Spalding Gentlemen’s Society Museum.

I’ve been looking at the temporary display of prehistoric bones and teeth in our lecture theatre.

The collections represent the story of an ordinary man who managed to have some extraordinary experiences (let us be inspired to adventure!)

The Rev Daniel Cross Bates, for example. Born June 1868 in Spalding, went to the grammar school before moving on to Salisbury Cathedral School.

He visited Australia, was ordained in Newcastle in 1892 and then moved to Invercargill, New Zealand, in 1898.

In the Boar War he became Chaplain-Colonel with the 9th New Zealand Contingent and was awarded the Queen’s Medal, a Territorial Decoration, and the Long Service medal.

Because of an illness affecting his voice, Bates left the church and became a director of the Colonial Museum with responsibilities for climatological work (weather forecasting for the forces and aviation services), eventually becoming director of the Meteorology Office in 1909.

He established the Wellington Zoological Gardens in New Zealand and was actively involved in an array of other social groups and societies.

Daniel came back to Spalding – presumably to visit his father and family. We know this because it was Daniel who presented the bones of the ‘Dinornis robustus’, commonly known as the Giant Moa Bird.

The flightless Moa, of which there were nine species, is believed to be extinct now.

The species represented by the bones in the Spalding Gentlemen’s Society Museum would have stood over 6½ feet high with a long neck that meant it could reach over 11 feet high to graze foliage.

The concerns of Mr H C Huet (Spalding Guardian, May 12) and other residents regarding infrastructure to support the large housing developments proposed for Holbeach are rightly justified.

Unfortunately, planning permission given for a new surgery in Church Street does not necessarily mean it will ever happen.

Over the last two years, together with councillors Rita Rudkin and Peter Copeland, I have had meetings with officers from NHS procurement and, while they acknowledge these and other concerns, they have no plans for Holbeach while the two surgeries can continue to accept patients.

This, of course, creates problems for the planning department when considering applications as there is no statutory requirement regarding the NHS to show how the health of a growing population will be accommodated. We continue to fight the good fight.

Former Conservative party leader and cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith has described today’s (Saturday) Vote Leave campaigning in Lincolnshire as “fantastic”.

The Vote Leave battle bus toured the county, with Iain Duncan Smith leading the campaign in Grantham, Boston and Lincoln.

He said: “We’ve had a fantastic reception, things have gone really, really, well.

“A lot of people have been lining up. We’ve been to Grantham, we were in Boston, we’ve been here [Lincoln].

“This has been a phenomenal reception from the people.”

Speaking about the reaction in Boston, Mr Duncan Smith said: “Fantastic. We went to the market there, which was great, absolutely great, loads of people coming to us saying they want to join the campaign.”

And we asked him how leaving the EU would benefit a rural county like Lincolnshire.

He said: “We get back our money. We give £350m a week to the European Union.

“In agriculture subsidies alone every year we give £5bn to the European Union, we only get £2.9bn back. It means £2bn goes off to somebody else.

“We’ll be able to help communities like this in a much better way and more directly as a result of us having our own money.

“And border control means we’ll be able to control migration so you don’t have the pressure on many of the communities in this area.

“The third one - 60 per cent of our laws are now made by unelected bureaucrats in Brussels, and we’ll get that back.”

Vote Leave is the official campaign for a ‘leave’ vote in the EU referendum and aims to ‘take back control from the EU and negotiate a new UK-EU deal based on free trade and friendly co-operation’.

I found the article in the Guardian on the accident blackspot (A16/B1166 junction at Crowland) very interesting, and similar to a spot where I live on the A159 near Laughton in West Lindsey.

Since the 1960s, I have repeatedly asked various representatives at the highway department to carry out some positive action to control traffic on the road. Double white lines down the centre of the road would restrict overtaking, while a slower speed limit would help bring the number of accidents down.

By my reckoning, there have been three deaths on this section of the A159 over the years, yet nothing positive has been carried out to send a message to drivers.

As far as I am aware, the county council should have a duty of care to the public in ensuring our roads are as safe as possible.

One wonders how staff can carry out their duties with a mind free of guilt by just trotting out the same well-trodden excuse of not having enough money.

Preventive maintenance is far cheaper in the long term, but I fear the amount of road miles suffering from a quick fix is growing ever longer with every week that passes.

The council appears to take the same approach to road repairs as authorities did in the 1940s, when a lengthman would push his wheelbarrow around with a couple of hundred weight of tar-coated material.

No doubt, there are quite a few readers who can relate this to an area not too far from their own home.

We, the British public were, in 1975, conned by the then Prime Minister into joining the common market.

He said we would all be better off. Of course, in the 1970s, we did not have an immigration problem as we do now. That brings huge problems to our everyday life.

The fact is that now we are being told by David Cameron to believe the same old lies that Harold Wilson told us then.

That we will face mass unemployment, higher food bills and all the uncertainty of a future outside the common market.

Mr Cameron is peddling the same scare tactics. Do not be fooled and conned a second time.

If we vote to stay in, The European Union will have us in a grip of iron forever.

The bureaucrats who head up this organisation will impose more red tape on our government. In other words, they will continue to tell our Government what to do and we will not be able to do anything to change it.

We will have to keep on taking more and more immigration into our already overcrowded island and all the problems that brings.

Our own people will suffer from paying more and more to the dominant EU and won’t have a say about our future.

In short, if we vote to stay in the EU, we will hand our children and grandchildren an uncertain future. We have been lied to for too long.

The only way we can leave future generations of this great country of ours a chance to be great again is to have the courage to vote to leave on June 23.

So don’t listen to the doom makers and the chief scaremonger, the Prime Minister. He is wrong and he knows it.

So be brave, vote leave for a better future.

The mood in the camps of two local Lincs Premier Division teams couldn’t be more different right now.

While Market Deeping maintained joinnt-top spot with an ultimately comfortable five-wicket win at Nettleham yesterday (May 21), Bourne were losing by 53 runs at a Grimsby team that started the day in the bottom two.

Raw opening bowlers Josh Smith and Dan George each claimed two early wickets to leave Nettleham reeling at 33-5 before the home side made a partial recovery to 129 all-out. Tidy off-spinner Meli Adatia (3-23 from 13 overs) ensured the rdest of Nettleham’s batsmen never managed to break free.

Deeping wobbled slightly in reply once Dan Bendon was dismissed for 34, but from 80-5 wicket-keeper Dave Sargeant took charge to steer Deeping to victory without further loss, in partnership with Adatia whose 10 not out occupied 62 balls.

Sargeant struck seven fours as Deeping kept pace at the top with Grantham who won by six wickets at Skegness.

Bourne are sixth, 23 points behind the leaders, after performing well below par at Grimsby. Grimsby limped to 20-3 before Steven Crossley (80no) and Joe Farmery (52) counter-attacked and pushed the home side up to 209-8 in their 50 overs. Opening bowlers Matthew Kidd and Colin Cheer took three wickets apiece for Bourne.

Bourne also started poorly - they were 37-4 - but didn’t recover anywhere near as well. Captain Peter Morgan struck a six and six fours in his 19-ball 33, but only Matthew Kidd (38 from 33 balls) and Tom Dixon (29 from 28 balls) contributed much in a team total of 156 all out.

Scores

GRIMSBY beat BOURNE by 53 runs

Grimsby 209-8 (S. Crossley 80no, J. Farmery 52, C. Cheer 3-49, M. Kidd 3-56, B. Collins 2-51)

Bourne 156 (M. Kidd 38, P. Morgan 33, T. Dixon 29, D. Carr 5-72, M. Cocks 4-25)

NELLTLEHAM lost to MARKET DEEPING by 5 wkts

Nettleham 129 (M. Adatia 3-23, J. Smith 2-21, D. George 2-23, D. Bendon 2-24).

Market Deeping 132-5 (D. Sargeant 40no, D. Bendon 34).

To leave or not to leave, that is the question.

The decision over the UK’s continued membership of the faltering European Union is not a matter of transitory adjustment to change, if any, but the long-term issue affecting our lives and those of succeeding generations.

The clearly stated aim of the EU is ever closer political union between 28 extremely diverse nations, all with different languages and religions, different cultures, histories and mindsets, different geographical locations and economies – all orchestrated by a huge number of career bureaucrats in Brussels.

What we have to decide is whether we want to submerge our independence and individuality in this polyglot mix, and then decide whether the attempt to build such an empire has any chance of success.

My answer to the first question is an unequivocal no. This is not to say that we should be anything other than good friends or that we shouldn’t co-operate when there are mutual benefits to be had.

My opinion on the second question is that there is no chance that this idea can be successful.

Since the world was opened up a few hundred years ago, the history of mankind has been that of the rise and ultimate fall of empires brought about by the wishes of member countries for independence and self–determination.

There is nothing to be gained by taking part in this doomed exercise.

We should vote to leave in order to protect our independence and our growing economy.

Fire crews were called out to a barn fire off Bridge Road in Long Sutton yesterday afternoon (Saturday, May 21).

The alarm was raised at 4.54pm and crews from Holbeach, Spalding, and Wisbech attended.

More updates to follow.

I’m sure that John Hayter is correct when he comments that the current EU single farm payment system is complex, but life is complicated.

I’m also aware that payments to our farmers are being delayed and am prepared to accept the EU fine figures he quotes.

But isn’t that the result of our Rural Payments Agency’s failure to employ people that are capable of successfully understanding EU legislation?

Let’s sort out our own government agencies before placing all our troubles and woes at the feet of others.

In the meantime, how many farmers will go to the wall as a result of our Rural Payments Agency not being fit for purpose?

I cannot believe that Bourne Academy wants to take over the Sir John Gleed School.

I was so horrified, I went online to vote to stop the academy’s bid.

All schools have their own problems, none more so than the school I attended when I was a boy, which I won’t name. I would have loved to have gone to the Gleed.

Bourne should keep its hands off this school.

It’s time they left the Gleed alone and let the teachers get on with teaching the children.

The headmaster should be given time to turn the school around.

I would urge all parents and interested parties to go online and vote against this takeover.

Foodie James Waller-Davies shows us how to make a ‘quintessentially British pudding’ to fool your guests.

However, just to muddy the waters a little further, if you follow the European Union classification, rhubarb is indeed a fruit…but only when it’s used to make jam. Glad we’ve cleared that up.

I’m going to admit to some personal bias here. I love rhubarb. Along with wild autumn blackberries, this sour and scented ‘fruit’ is one of my absolute favourites. Rhubarb, along with swallow, is no better sign that the cold days of winter are going and the summer is coming over the horizon. Indeed, the very colours of early rhubarb, the shades of subtle pinks and oranges, are the very colours of a May sunrise over the Fens.

Rhubarb has an interesting history. Originating in China, rhubarb takes it name, via a few etymological twists and turns, from the Greek meaning “stuff the Barbarians eat” - ‘rhu-for-barbs’.

By the nineteenth century, rhubarb had found its way into the hurly-burly of the Opium Wars between Britain and China, with China threatening to kill every man, woman and child by constipation resulting from a rhubarb embargo. Shortly after, the Chinese realised the error of their plan and went for a tea embargo instead.

By the late nineteenth century, Yorkshire’s ‘rhubarb triangle’ was producing 90 per cent of the world’s early forced rhubarb, ‘forcing’ the young rhubarb in the dark in forcing sheds. This gives rhubarb is one other claim to fame: it is the only British fruit you can actually hear growing.

This classic Rhubarb Fool is a quintessentially British pudding. I use just cream, though some variations use custard as well. A practice I’m yet to be convinced of as ‘rhubarb and custard’ is another great dish all on its own. You don’t need to place anything alcoholic in the base, but that little extra punch makes any pudding a bit more adult. Champagne, sparkling elderflower, ginger or whisky liquors are all good, but I find vodka adds a bit of oomph.

OLIVER

By SADOS at the South Holland Centre, Spalding

Thursday, May 19, 2016

The great comedian WC Fields once said: “Never work with children or animals.” But Lionel Bart ignored that advice when turning this Charles Dickens classic into a musical and, nearly 60 years later, audiences in Spalding have been thrilled by its songs and storyline.

Collaborating with children from The Biz Theatre School in Boston for the first time, this timeless musical theatre classic about the boy who dared to ask for more really entertained a packed house.

Directed by Brett Moore and produced by Charles Long, stand-out performances came from Nigel Hancocks as Fagin, Freddie Fitzpatrick as Artful Dodger, Liam Exton as Oliver and Daisy Ivatt as Nancy. But there were no duff lines or bum notes in a first class performance.

Nigel really did illuminate the stage as Fagin and it was hard to believe he was singing to an audience for the first time.Eleven-year-old Freddie strutted with a confidence that belied his age and a smile fitting for Hollywood, and Liam, also 11, was sweetness personified and the perfect Oliver.

Daisy’s performance as Bill Sykes’ tragic lover Nancy was great... and her whole-hearted singing even better, while Pete Williams was extremely convincing as the frightening, larger than life Bill. His pet dog Lola won over the audience too, as Bullseye, and received affectionate cheers after an unscheduled journey across the stage to check if the “dying” Nancy was okay!

Paul Coleman gave his usual assured performance as Mr Bumble and Noah Claypole made you feel genuinely sorry for Oliver with the realism of his bullying bravado.

The secret to cracking musical theatre is great songs, sung well, and you’d be surprised how many of these smashing tunes you already know. ‘Food, Glorious Food’ (sung by the kids from Biz), ‘Consider Yourself’ (Freddie and Liam), ‘You’ve Got To Pick A Pocket Or Two’ (Nigel) and ‘I’d Do Anything’ (Freddie, Daisy, Liam, Holly Whittaker and Nigel) all come from this masterpiece. Which brings me to the musicians, who were superb, conducted excellently by Anthony Grunwell, who was also musical director, assisted by Colette Coleman.

Mark Hancock’s convincing set really did transform the Centre’s stage into Victorian London, and he was assisted as stage manager by Jake Merrill.

You know you’re always going to enjoy a SADOS show, but with this once they really raisedt he bar. Well done.

Spalding Police have reported that youths threw stones at an ambulance on Friday evening.

The incident happened in New Road, Spalding, while the crew was treating a patient.

Thank you to everyone who voted for me as the UKIP candidate for police and crime commissioner.

Lincolnshire gave the closest result for UKIP in the whole country, getting almost 25.5 per cent of the vote, going through to the second preference stage and snapping at the heels of the Conservative winner.

Naturally, I am disappointed that we did not win, but the results show our support is growing in Lincolnshire.

We now have a huge fight on our hands to get out of the EU, which I will be campaigning hard for.

With a no vote, we will be able to control our borders and boost our economy by opening up huge new trade opportunities with the rest of the world.

Police arrested a man on suspicion of murder when his alcoholic partner was found dead after falling down their stairs.

But medical tests proved Linda Bradley (47) died from alcohol poisoning because she had nearly six times the legal drink-drive limit in her blood.

Forensic experts and doctors who examined Ms Bradley decided her injuries were consistent with her falling down the stairs rather than the result of any kind of assault.

It was also revealed that Ms Bradley’s partner, Lee Spicer, had dialled 999 and followed ambulance service instructions on resuscitation after he came home to find Ms Bradley unconscious on the floor in the hallway of their home in Elizabeth Crescent, West Pinchbeck.

Dr Murray Spittal, assistant coroner for south Lincolnshire, concluded Ms Bradley died on April 26 last year as a result of ethanol (alcohol) toxicity but said a head injury resulting from her fall may have contributed to her death.

Dr Spittal read statements from police and doctors at an inquest held yesterday (Wednesday) in Boston.

A statement from Det Chief Insp (DCI) David Cox said Mr Spicer had dialled 999 at 4.12pm and followed ambulance service instructions on resuscitation. East Midlands Ambulance Service paramedics arrived at 4.18pm and Ms Bradley’s death was confirmed at 4.28pm.

DCI Cox said the bulb was missing from the landing light, windows were covered with towels – which stopped daylight getting in – and Ms Bradley was found to be wearing loose fitting, woollen slippers.

He said police had investigated a report of a domestic assault by Mr Spicer on Ms Bradley in March 2014, but that did not result in any charges.

DCI Cox said, when interviewed, Mr Spicer referred to Ms Bradley shortly before her death as going through a bout of heavy drinking, which he described as a “bender”.

A pathology report showed Ms Bradley had 466mgs of alcohol in blood – more than 5.8 times the drink-drive limit – and that reading is within the range associated with fatalities.

Grantham and Market Deeping remain the early frontrunners in the Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League, still locked on equal points after both picked up 20 against Skegness and Nettleham respectively.

Skipper Dan Freeman put in a man of the match performance for Grantham with the day’s top bowling figures of seven for 31 and an unbeaten 61 while James Dobson hit 53 in their side’s six wicket win.

And Market Deeping bowled Nettleham out for 129 and went on to win by five wickets.

Lindum continue their progress up the table, moving into third after beating Boston in a hard fought game.

Tom Poole made 51 for Boston while Matt Rutherford took five for Lindum, who had only two wickets in hand when the winning runs were scored.

But it was Bracebridge Heath who made the biggest jump, going from eighth to fourth after recording the highest total of the day with 236 for eight at Sleaford.

Nick John hit 73 and Kit Spence 64 and despite 82 from Tom Shorthouse, Sleaford were all out for 143, Alex King ending the home side’s innings with a hat-trick.

Grimsby moved above Skegness into eighth place with a win over Bourne after some steady batting from Steve Crossley brought him an unbeaten 80 and took his side to 209 for eight.

David Carr then took five wickets and Matthew Cocks four as Bourne were all out for 156.

Louth claimed their first win of the season at Woodhall Spa, restricting them to 170 for nine of which Prasanna Jayawardene made 50.

Laurence Scott’s 61 and Richard Bell’s 65 helped the visitors to a three wicket win but they failed to move off the bottom of the table, a position they now share with Boston.

Woodhall Spa have yet to claim an outright win this season but still lie sixth equal with Bourne.

Results: Boston 175-9 (Poole 51, Rutherford 5-44), Lindum 176-8; Bracebridge Heath 236-8 (John 73, Spence 64), Sleaford 143 (Shorthouse 82, King 3-25 - hat trick); Woodhall Spa 170-9 (Jayawardene 50), Louth 171-7 (Scott 61, Bell 65); Nettleham 129, Market Deeping 132-5; Grimsby Town 209-8 (Crossley 80no, Farmery 52), Bourne 156 (Carr 5-72); Skegness 193 (Freeman 7-31), Grantham 195-4 (Dobson 53, Freeman 61no).

Boston 2nd have been joined by Spalding on equal points at the top of the South Lincolnshire & Border League Premier Division after Spalding scored a 10 wicket win over Grantham 2nd, while Boston missed out on maximum points when they failed to bowl out Stamford Town.

Lower down the table, Jake Burton took six wickets for Long Sutton in their nine wicket victory over Woodhall Spa 2nd.

But for Bourne 2nd, in what promised to be a high scoring match against Billingborough, it was the weather that won with just 18 overs of the second innings completed.

It was a similar story at Moulton Harrox in Division One where Skegness 2nd made 150 for nine and the home side were in hot pursuit on 108 for five, Matt Barnett making 53, when rain stopped play.

Moulton now lie third in the table behind Freiston who scored a 35 run win over Welby Cavaliers.

Spalding 2nd lead the division following a 10 wicket victory over Billingborough 2nd, Julian Wilson taking six for 12.

Claypole head Division Two, having beaten Grantham 4th by five wickets, with Graves Park in second following their seven wicket victory over Burgh & District.

Boston 3rd, who beat Belton Park 2nd by eight wickets, are third with a game in hand on the top two and are closely followed by Spalding 3rd who beat Pinchbeck.

In the South Lincolnshire & Border League Cup, which is sponsored by Dewhurst Trophies, Baston scored a convincing victory over Long Sutton 2nd, three of Baston’s batsmen hitting half centuries.

Results:

Premier Division: Stamford Town 152-8 (Holland 64), Boston 2nd 153-4 (Morley 81no); Grantham 2nd 169-9, Spalding 173-0; Woodhall Spa 2nd 88 (Burton 6-10), Long Sutton 89-1; Belton Park 95, Sleaford 2nd 99-0; Billingborough 200 (Pullum 55), Bourne 2nd 100-3 - abandoned, rain.

Division One: Billingborough 2nd 52 (Wilson 6-12), Spalding 2nd 53-0; Freiston 193-8, Welby Cavaliers 158 (Ingram 50); Skegness 2nd 150-9, Moulton Harrox 108-5 (M Barnett 53) - abandoned, rain; Heckington v Timberland - cancelled.

Division Two: Belton Park 2nd 79, Boston 3rd 81-2; Grantham 4th 136-7, Claypole 137-5; Burgh & District 51, Graves Park 55-3; Spalding 3rd 143-8, Pinchbeck 83.

SLBL Cup: Baston 257-3 (Davies 77no, Richardson 74, Tickler 71), Long Sutton 2nd 106-9.

The A151 Bourne Road in West Pinchbeck remains closed following a three-vehicle road accident.

Emergency services were alerted about the accident at 7.27am.

Two cars and a van are believed to have been involved.

Road closures are currently in place while the people involved in the collision are assessed and vehicle recovery is carried out. Motorists are asked to avoid the area.

More as we get it.