Kirkby on Bain and Roughton Cameo Club
October 2022
Horncastle Ghost Walk
From Jill Russell
Ghost Talk and Tour of Horncastle by Paul Scott
We all met in Market Square at 7 o’clock on a cold, clear night with a deal of trepidation, apprehension and excitement. There was a great turn out of 25+ members plus some welcome newcomers.
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We set off from the surprisingly busy market place and Paul described a number of buildings, shops, and old pubs together with some of their history sprinkled with murder and the odd ghost. He told us about Bridge Street, the Old Lunn, the Dodson building and the Joseph Banks centre which play host to the Grey Lady who floats across the first floors, through walls, possibly heading for the Fighting Cocks pub where she has also been observed.
We went through St Mary’s old church yard where Paul explained about the ancient yew trees which are planted there and regularly found in churchyards. He told us tales of burial rituals, plague, black eyed children and red eyed hounds! As we listened, I got a feeling that the numbers in our group were increasing! Perhaps some ghouls were tagging along to check Paul was getting his stories right!!!
Detailed descriptions followed of Marward’s long drop, a longer hanging rope to mean a quick breaking of the neck when being hanged. We left the churchyard and headed for the old Horncastle News building to hear about the haunting of Eddy Shah. Further along Wharf Road witchcraft, The Devil, and ducking stools were described, giving a backdrop to 16th century Horncastle. Perhaps one of the town’s most important buildings (now lost) was possibly the oldest urinal in Lincolnshire, a useful stopping point after strong ale at the famous horse fair. Paul told us about Tom Thumb’s house which is a miniature lead house resited on the roof of Bell’s Estate Agent’s building which was for the Devil and witches to reside in and not the main dwelling. He explained that most of the pubs in the town have some stories about strange goings on, the Ship, Bull, Kings Head and Admiral Rodney to name a few. Horncastle High Street down to the Bull Ring is another area of disturbance with many buildings hosting ghosts and even a poltergeist!
Tales of footsteps being heard and doors slamming, with no one there and people refusing to be alone in buildings after their experiences. One building was the home of Arthur Thistlewood who was the ringleader of the Cato conspiracy which came nearer to destroying the government than Guy Fawkes. His reward was a grisly execution at Tyburn. The Growling Lady at the old Memorial Hospital set hairs rising on the back of the neck, and sad tales of the ladies of the pave (prostitutes,) and the constable’s efforts to control the riotous town brought us to the end of the walk, finally finishing with traces of children employed in the brickyards of the town. Paul showed us three tiny finger impressions in the wall of the alleyway which took us back to the market place where we had begun.
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We thanked Paul for his informative and interesting tour. He was asked if he had ever seen any ghosts. He said: ‘No, but I have heard and felt their presence.’!!!
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Most of the group then retired back to Roughton Hall for tea, coffee and biscuits and a good chat about what we had experienced and just a general good get together. Raffle and 50/50 were drawn and reminder about the Christmas Meal on 15th Nov.
Louise also reminded us of the table top sale on Sat Dec 3rd at Roughton Hall and asked for volunteers to help with serving tea and coffee.
​Next meeting is Tuesday 15th November at 7.00pm for our Turkey and Tinsel Christmas Meal.
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Reporter Jill Russell
September 2022
Talk on Pilates by Kate McConnon
From Jill Russell
Kate burst into the hall, energetically, to give us a talk on Pilates and certainly gained our attention immediately. Our group had various experience and knowledge of the exercise art of Pilates and we were all keen to hear her talk!
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Kate began by giving us a brief snapshot of herself. She lives in Woodhall Spa and has been giving Pilates sessions for 32 years and teaching for 43 years plus being trained and working as a health professional. She wanted to reveal the benefits of taking part in Pilates sessions and explained to us about it and its history. Joseph Pilates, a German/Austrian initially introduced it as a treatment for
invalids to aid recovery. He opened a studio in New York to treat dancers. Firstly treatment on machines then by free movement.
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Kate explained there are 91 training bodies and that these are not regulated so she stressed that, although she is a clinical standard trainer, some may not be as professional so we needed to take care when choosing a practitioner. As a health professional, Kate knows all about the problems of the body. These are exacerbated by people being less active than a generation ago and posture is poor, with people lacking in core strength. She says movement is medicine, physiotherapy to music. Kate is passionate about her work and was very happy to give advice.
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She then gave us some practical advice and examples of what she does in her sessions. Core muscles hold up our skeleton and spine like a tree and, as we age, we start to sag and the rib cage will start to drop onto the pelvis. This may cause mental as well as physical problems so Pilates can help: ‘making you the best you can be’.
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Kate then gave us some exercises to help the pelvic floor strengthen which she amusingly said was important to help prevent drips from our three down pipes which she refers to ‘ Tiddle, Tampon, Trump’!!!
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She got us to breathe in, then squeeze in when breathing out. Then use our fingers as if making pastry, pulling up and down. Also when standing up, put hands either side of pelvis and peel heels up alternately while squeezing in. Important to breathe normally. She told us Pilates is learning to respect and protect our skeletons, putting the body back in balance. Important to bend knees when lifting heavy objects, prevention of injury being better than cure. She claims 6 weeks of an hour’s session a week and we would see a difference. Basically to get our bodies to have the best quality of life. Kate demonstrated with Louise, our chair, who attends one of Kate’s classes, how to raise her arms properly by improving her posture.
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Altogether the talk was a laugh and gave us food for thought about how we use or misuse our bodies.
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Kate said to phone or email her to learn about appropriate sessions either led by her or one of her team in the area. Prices range from £8 – £12.
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Kate’s booking website: https://bookwhen.com/katemcconnonpilates
Mobile: 07909697556
Thanks and bouquet of flowers given to Kate by Louise to thank her for an enjoyable talk given for free! There followed tea/coffee and biscuits, raffle and 50/50 draw won by Alison.
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Next meeting is Tuesday 18th October 7.00pm for a Ghost Walk around Horncastle Town Centre with guide Paul Scott. We are meeting in the Market Square at 7pm for a 1 hour walk and then back to Roughton Parish Hall for some hot refreshments.
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Reporter Jill Russell
August 2022
Games Night
From Jill Russell
Chair Louise and Secretaries Alison and Sarah took on the task of organising a Games Night for the club. They led three activities: Magnetic Darts, ‘Play Your Cards Right’ and Pictionary.
The magnetic darts was an experience and very amusing as each member had six throws each with no idea if the board would be hit, whether the darts would stop securely, or slide down to a totally different position! Jocky Wilson would be turning in his grave!!! It was very nerve wracking but a laugh. The top six scorers had another six throws then the top three had three darts to get the final positions.
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1st: Sarah Hennesey, 2nd: Jill Russell, 3rd: Sue Wright
For ‘Play your cards right’ there were some giant cards and the members were split into two large teams who had to shout out ‘Higher’ or ‘Lower’ to predict the next card in sequence. There were two games with Team 2 winning both.
Tea and Coffee followed with yummy Victoria Sponge made by Louise.
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Games continued with Pictionary.
Each team nominated a person to draw on a white board the pub names picked from a hat. Julie for Team 1 and Jill for Team 2. A time limit of 1 min was put on the drawing and guessing. Both teams managed to guess the pubs apart from Team 2 who got stuck on ‘Coach and Horses’, giving loads of different contraptions apart from ‘Coach’!!!
As a result a tie break question was needed as both teams had won one each of the main games. Team 1 was the quickest to answer the question and won the prize of toffees!
Thanks particularly to Alison and Sarah for leading the activities and Louise for handing out the darts. I think we all had a good laugh and a fun evening was spent. The evening was concluded with the raffle and 50/50 draw which Sue Carroll, as organiser of the draw, winning it for the first time.
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Next meeting is Tuesday 20th Sept 7.30pm at Roughton Village Hall where there will be a talk on Pilates with Kate.
Reporter Jill Russell
June2022
Jolly Jubilee Feast and Queen's Quiz
From Jill Russell
‘Tea in the Afternoon’ in the Evening!
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To celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee members were asked to bring in some handmade craft or item, to do with the Queen, to be entered in a prize draw to be held on the night. Contributions came from: Rose Kimberley, Sue Carroll, Jill Russell, Margaret Dewrance, Glynis Briscombe, Diana Perie, Jacqueline Perie and Alison Davis. The exhibits ranged from a royal teddy, crafted queen, corgis and beefeaters to a painting of a corgi on the coronation chair. It was fitting that Rose won the draw as she had suggested the idea in the first place!
Before the treats, Jill Russell had set 40 fiendish questions, all to do with the Queen, ranging from historical facts such as: What year was she born? and When did she marry Prince Philip? to What was the name of her first corgi? to What is her favourite colour? There were six teams mostly consisting of fours. Teams found it challenging but I think enjoyable? After going through the answers and score sheets marked, Jill checked through totals while we all tucked into very welcome splendid sandwiches, scrumptuous cakes, drinks.
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After refreshments the winning team was announced. It was extremely close.
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Runners Up – The Horsington Wanderers 20 points
Winners – Ladies in Waiting 20 ½ points
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Team – Tonia Roche, Sarah Hennessey, Katrina Gadsen and Alison Davis.
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Chair Louise Roberts continued with Cameo business. The Air Ambulance is to be our charity this year and a donation of £50 to go to Kirby on Bain School Garden Project. Louise gave out a questionnaire to ascertain interest or not from members for future talks and experiences in meetings.
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The evening concluded with the 50/50 draw won by Bessie Major and several raffle prizes were won donated by Roughton Jubilee Day .
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All in all an extremely enjoyable evening!!!!
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Next Meeting Tuesday 19th July at Baumber Walled Garden 6.00pm start.
Reporter Jill Russell
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May 2022
Cameo Club Meeting
From Jill Russell
Cameo Club of Kirkby on Bain and Roughton – Meeting 17th May 2022
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In addition to completing the AGM, we welcomed Paul Scott from the Joseph Banks Society, who gave us a very interesting talk on Sir Joseph Banks, 1743-1820, English naturalist, botanist, explorer, patron of natural sciences, his life and achievements.
Paul first told us that, although Banks was very much linked to Lincolnshire, he was actually born in London and moved to Reveseby Abbey when he was one. He spent a lot of time in the Wolds and Fens gaining his love of nature. His father had gone to Horncastle Grammar School but he was sent to Harrow at nine years old, which he hated, and then Eton. He took part in sport but became interested in botany. He attended Christ Church College, Oxford but got no degree. He wanted to be taught botany so a Mr Israel Lyons, a professor of Maths, was paid to come to Oxford to do just that.
Banks moved to London and started identifying plants by the genus method. He was interested in the Chelsea Physic Garden which had plants from overseas. He attended the British Museum where he met up with David Solander who became his friend and they went round England plant hunting. He also had an interest in lock building. Then started his journeys overseas to start recording people, plants and animals found in far off lands, on the Fisheries Patrol Mission to Newfoundland on the HMS Niger, arranged by Constantine Phipps. Sydney Parkinson, an artist was included to paint and record all findings.
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After Bank’s father died he became very wealthy, with an inheritance of £6500 a year plus many other assets. This enabled him to continue his career in Natural History. In 1766 he was elected to The Royal Society of London for his skills in botany.
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He set sail on The Endeavour with Cook in August 1768 to Tahiti to witness the Transit of Venus. George the Third put £6000 towards the trip, Banks put £10000. Again artists were employed to record what they found: Solander, Parkinson, Buchan and Reynolds.
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Paul described how dangerous this journey was and how the locals were not always treated with respect. From Tahiti they went on to explore New Zealand, Australia, Java, South Africa. Almost half the crew died before their return but this voyage was seen as a great success with over 6,000 species documented and many new ones. They used proofs of Milton’s work ‘Paradise Lost’ to dry and press specimens which can still be seen today. Artist, Parkinson was first to paint by numbers so he could record colours quickly. These were transferred to copper plates eventually to be printed off by Chinese craftsmen.
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Banks became a close friend of George the Third and became Director of Kew Gardens. He played a key role in horticulture and the spread and efficient cultivation of plants. Collections are in the British Museum and British Library.
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Paul informed us that Banks became president of The Royal Society from 1778 – 1820 and he had enormous influence being a friend of the king. At this time trade was expanding rapidly to include increasing amounts of plants 3,400 – 11000 and Banks suggested growing some species for food/drink in different countries eg Breadfruit from Tahiti to West Indies, tea in India. Banks funded many voyages including the ill fated Captain Blythe’s.
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It was Banks who suggested convicts were sent to Australia, partly because the state of British prisons was so poor and also to acquire and claim Australia for England, mistakenly claiming it was an ‘empty land’, not recognizing the existence of the aboriginal people. He also smuggled Merino sheep from Spain and took them to Australia to begin that massive trade from there. He continued to fund voyages round the world including Matthew Flinders round Australia.
Paul finished by telling us about his works closer to home with canal building at Horncastle and canal linkage with Kirkby on Bain to principally transport gravel and grain. Also the draining of the Fens. There is a Joseph Banks town house in Horncastle to which he actually never went.
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On his death he wanted little ceremony and no statue, but certainly he achieved a lot and contributed greatly to our understanding of the world, its people, plants and animals. He was alive at a time when England was increasing its international influence through trade and dominion and dubious practices such as the slave trade at that time seeming acceptable, whereas now not so.
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All in all Paul gave us a detailed picture of the man and the massive part he played in history.
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Thanks were given to Paul after a brief question and answer session.
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Next Meeting 21st June 7.30pm Roughton Hall: ‘Tea in the Afternoon’ in the evening to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee.
April 2022
Cameo Club Meeting
From Jill Russell
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CAMEO CLUB of KIRKBY on BAIN and ROUGHTON
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We welcomed Ian Carroll, resident of Kirkby on Bain, who came to deliver a talk on his work as a LIVES responder, what to look for when someone is experiencing a heart attack or cardiac arrest, what to do and how to make use of a defibrillator.
He started by relating how LIVES was set up by two Lincolnshire doctors, Dr Harper Smith and Dr Cooper 50 years ago when they realised that if they went quickly to the scene of car accidents, they could save many lives. So doctors started to go to accident scenes.
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LIVES stands for: Lincolnshire, Integrated, Voluntary, Emergency, Service.
It then expanded to include cardiac arrests and in 1999 the idea of First Responders was begun in Woodhall Spa with 10 members each raising £100, then spread countrywide. Non medical volunteers trained to go only to cardiac alerts at first with defibrillators. Now lots of equipment and they are called out to anything except maternity or mental health. Before covid there were 700 responders but have gone down in number when it restarted. Recruitment being actively pursued as it takes 6-12 months to train a responder.
Ian explained how LIVES has grown tremendously from the beginnings.
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There are three Falls ambulances which go to non injury falls to save using emergency teams. Also two emergency cars which have a doctor on board to treat patients in their home. There are three critical care doctors who can perform operations at the roadside, plus 12-13 critical care paramedics. Training is based in Horncastle, Boston Road and a new site planned by Lincs showground. 20,000 jobs are covered a year, 1000 breathing difficulties, 900 road traffic accidents, 637 cardiac arrests. Lincs boasts a higher success of getting an arrested patient alive to hospital than nationally. 40% rather than 10%!!
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Ian then explained the difference between heart attacks and cardiac arrests. A heart attack is caused by an artery blockage which causes extreme pain in the chest, becoming pale and sweaty and having a sense of doom. Ring 999 and someone from LIVES will arrive. While waiting keep patient still sitting in W position and give aspirin or their own spray but sparingly as it is strong.
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Ian then went on to explain the importance of CPR as if you can be got to Lincoln hospital it has one of best heart centres in the country. 70% of cardiac arrests take place in the home but 65% of cases NO CPR is attempted mostly because people are afraid to do it in case they cause harm. Ian accentuated the point that: “You can’t hurt someone who is dead!”
Cardiac arrests occur when heart beat becomes unbalanced causing it to stop. CPR then so important to keep action of heart going pumping O2 around the body. Ian then explained what to do if you find someone collapsed.
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D – Danger. Check you are safe.
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D – Response. Shout loudly “Open your eyes, can you hear me?” Inflict pain by pinching trapezium muscle between neck and shoulder.
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A – Airway. Get patient on back and open up the airway, tilt head back by putting two fingers on bony part of chin. Look for obstruction in mouth. If they are being sick pull them over towards you.
B – Breathing. Listen for breathing and put hand on chest for rise and fall. Count 10 secs and there should be two breaths. Don’t count too fast. Think one monkey, two monkey etc.
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C – Call 999. The operator will tell you where the nearest defib is and the code to retrieve it. Send someone to get it. First ambulance will arrive then second plus responder.
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Ian then went through CPR which is vital to do until the ambulance team arrive.
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If on your own do NOT go to get the defib as CPR needs to be done! Casualty should be on the floor and any outer coat off. Heart is just below the sternum(breastbone). Locate centre of chest in male between nipples, in female go from just under arm and across to middle. Kneel close to casualty, interlock your hands and using heel of lower hand press down with straight arms. Go down at least third of chest in regular beats giving chance for chest to rise each time. Swap with someone else, if they are there, to get rest as it is very tiring. Importance of not stopping as keeping blood going to the brain.
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Ian then showed us how to use the defibrillator if one was available.
Check it says OK. Open it up and get stickers out. Remove any clothing which might have metal in it like bras. There are scissors in the box. Place one pad on left of chest and the other lower on right of body. Follow instructions. It will check for heartbeat so keep loved ones and pets away so not to confuse the signal. If needed it will shock. It will continue to monitor if and if no response and will call for further shock. In between keep doing CPR.
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Ian asked for a volunteer to have a go and Sophie went through the procedure very well! We then had a chance to ask questions and one was about children or youngsters. CPR with one hand and babies two fingers. Also a worry about making a mistake and Ian said just follow the commands by the machine and again that you can’t hurt someone who is dead. He explained that breaths are not required now as people were squeamish and compressions were the most important action. He warned that gloves provided can stick to the pads!
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We thanked Ian wholeheartedly and realised the importance and fantastic job and service the LIVES team provides in helping us all when the need arrives.
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Tea, coffee and biscuits followed with raffle and 50/50 game.
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Next meeting May 17th 7.30pm Roughton Hall. Brief AGM followed by a talk on the life and work of Joseph Banks, given by Paul Scott from the Joseph Banks Society.
March 2022
Cameo Club Bounces back after Covid!
From Jill Russell
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CAMEO CLUB of KIRKBY on BAIN and ROUGHTON
CAMEO (Come And Meet Each Other!) CLUB is Back!!!!!!
Our first meeting since before the pandemic took place on Tuesday 15th March at Roughton Village Hall from 7.30pm. It was marvellous to meet up with many members we had not seen for ages and welcome lots of new members from the surrounding villages. The purpose of this first meeting was to socialise and get the club back up and running.
The existing committee members introduced themselves:
Louise Roberts – Acting Chair
Rose Kimberley – Treasurer
Maura Dormer – Secretary
Janet Holden- Raffle
Sue Carroll- 50-50 game
Jill Russell- Reporter
Carmita Booth- Standing down from Chair
Gill Roberts
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Maura went through the suggested programme so far and Louise went through the history of the club and the types of talks and activities we get up to. We very much welcomed new faces and there was an excellent buzz around the room. Sue explained the 50-50 game and that monies raised along with the raffle and entrance fees to go to a charity of the club’s choice. There followed games of bingo led by Louise interspersed with refreshments and lots of chat. Really yummy cake provided by Louise, thanks very much to her!
Next meeting is on 19th April at 7.30pm. Ian Carroll from LIVES will demonstrate how to use the defibrillator and go through warning signs to look for if and when it might be needed.Then refreshments, 50-50 and raffle. Reporter Jill Russell
