Round-Up: The Victorian Fayre, Wolds Words, Ambulances and Cycling

September 26th 2012

Lincolnshire Day

Sunday 30th September is Lincolnshire Day. There will be tree planting in Hubbards Hills, at the meadow opposite the stepping stones. This takes place after the Kings and Queens fancy dress competition, which will be judged at 12 noon.

Costume prizes

October will see a wealth of cultural events in the local area, and further opportunities to dress up. The Victorian Fayre on 21st October is organised by Louth Town Partnership, and this year they are keen to get more people into the spirit of the event. They are offering prizes for the best shop window with a Victorian theme, as well as giving awards for the best costumes in four categories: the best dressed man, woman, boy or girl. The Fayre is set to be bigger than ever, extending down from the Market Place into Eastgate, with around 100 stalls. It's time to dig out those caps and poke bonnets.

Wolds Words 2012

The literature festival will be headlined by Mark Foster, a former Olympic swimmer turned BBC presenter. Mark Will be hosting a question and answer session at 7.30pm on Saturday 20th October, at the Riverhead Theatre.

It's the festival's 11th year. There are writing workshops, stories for children, talks, films, shows and more, taking in a range of local venues. Full details are available on the Wolds Words website. There are also fringe events that start from October 3rd, so there isn't long to wait. For writers one of the more involved events will be a whole day writers' retreat with Paul Sutherland at the Trinity Centre, focusing on love stories. There's also a free all-day workshop in stop motion animation for young people on Sunday 21st at the Trinity Centre. It's called Animation Nation and it looks like a lot of fun for the relevant age group.

Ambulances

I've had a look at the consultation document from East Midlands Ambulance Service entitled "Being The Best". Five ambulance stations to cover the whole of Lincolnshire isn't my definition of the best, which is what's on their proposal. There are currently 18. The nearest full station to Louth will be in Skegness. This means Louth and area would be served by community ambulance posts, whatever they are. According to the relentlessly upbeat brochure they'll have "facilities for frontline staff, including toilets, an area to make hot drinks and a seating area where they can rest and have a meal break". For all we know that could mean a tent, a kettle and a portaloo.

The consultation runs until 17th December, and EMAS want to implement their changes in around April next year. There will be a consultation in Louth at the Meridian Leisure Centre on Wednesday 10th October at 2pm. If you can't make that meeting you can print out the consultation document through the EMAS website, and that gives a way to leave your views.

New cycling group

Louth Velo is a new cycle club that has recently been set up. Unlike the Louth Area Mountain Bikers, this group focuses on road cycling. They meet on Sundays at 9.30am outside the Woolpack on Riverhead Road, and they aim to cater for riders of all levels of experience. They're looking at doing a 30-50 mile ride, with a tea and cake stop part way through. So if you're interested in the social side of the sport, or if you think you'd feel safer riding as part of a group, it's worth looking into.