The recent publication of the Denton Dream Boys Calendar has attracted a lot of media interest with coverage on TV and Radio.
Denton was in the news again this morning but, this time, it was all about one of the "other" Dentons.
As recorded elsewhere on the Website,
Denton in Greater Manchester has a special claim to fame. It boasts the railway station with the lowest passenger numbers in the country.
It thus featured on this morning's "Today" programme on BBC Radio 4, with a live report from the station on the arrival of the 8.42 service. Needless to say nobody got off and nobody got on.
As keen readers of the November Parish News may have noticed, our Rector, Chris Hutton, has recently taken on another role.
During a special service at Earsham Church on November 6th he was Licenced by the Bishop of Thetford as the Rural Dean of the Redenhall Deanery.
He stays as our Rector, and still covers the rest of the Earsham Benefice, but now takes on a supervisory role for the Redenhall area. This comprises: six Benefices, 30 Parishes and 36 Churches.
Good for Chris, but we hope it will leave him enough time for other important matters, like the DVC's Panto.
The Village Hall Management Committee have announced dates for two important events in the New Year.
Courtesy of the Grants, the Annual Village Quiz is to be held on Saturday, January 25th, and
Courtesy of the Whitemans, the Annual Village Table Tennis Tournament will take place on Friday, March 7th.
Members of the Denton Art Group staged their Annual Exhibition at the Village Hall yesterday.
The Show was very well attended and the works on view were highly praised by visitors who came from far and wide. Several of the paintings were sold at bargain prices. The refreshments were also much enjoyed.
Recent activity at the old Village Pond has attracted a lot of interest. The pond, on the East side of Norwich Road near to the Village Hall, used to be the village well pond, with a pump installed for communal use.
Situated on land controlled by the Winter family, the parish council agreed that it would be a good idea to rejuvenate it, as over the past few decades it had become silted up and overgrown. Norfolk Wildlife Trust agreed this was a good idea (especially for great crested newts) and offered the funding to do it. A handy man with a digger was available.
Pond restorations always look stark at first. Even so, the pond was found to be much deeper than expected. Digging had to keep going until the clay lining, was revealed. This meant pulling out all the decomposing silt and smelly organic matter that had built up over the years. If it had been left in there, it would have been very dangerous for anyone/thing venturing in, as they could have sunk and disappeared in the mud. Furthermore, it would not have been great for wildlife as the water would have soon become smelly and stagnant again.
Nature has an incredible way of restoring itself and it is expected that, by next summer, the pond will have greened up, with clear, clean water and be humming with insect and bird life. The coppiced/cut hedge will soon bounce back too. A “Deep Water” warning notice is planned.
A few people suggested stocking the pond with fish but the advice from Norfolk Wildlife Trust was not to do so as fish will eat the eggs of newts, frogs, toads etc. and they can also stir up the sediment and make the water murky.
We will all enjoy watching this pond come back to life.
Many thanks to Emily and Martin.
Saturday night at the Village Hall saw the "unveiling" of a very ambitious project to raise funds for Addenbrooke's and Papworth Hospitals.
The idea of Paul and Karen Wilby, it involved the creation of a Calendar for 2025 carrying, each month, a very discreet picture of one of Denton's most desirable Gentlemen.
Needless to say, Mark Richards did a great job taking the pictures.
Part of the Front Page, the less revealing part, appears below. Of course, if you want to see rather more of these very special men, copies of the complete Calendar can be obtained from Paul Wilby on 07775 865738, olddairydenton@btinternet.com.
We are pleased to report that, following recent problems with our long-standing local communication system, DentonTalk, it has been decided to replace it with a replacement - DentonTalk24.
All members of the old system should have either been transferred to the new list or invited to request to join it.
It seems some of the invitation messages have been treated as Spam. If necessary please check.