IN BLOOM - I am sure you have noticed the award winning flower display throughout our village. The Flower Displays, Litter Free Streets, Tidy Front Gardens, Redevelopments, Landmarks School, Junior School, Playing Areas, Woolen Meadow, Sheffield Rd Allotments, The War Memorial, and the New builds are all part of Creswell Village in Bloom, but it’s not just about one day when the judges are taken on a 2 hour tour showing of the best the village has to offer, it’s about all year long, the judges have to be shown proof of what happens the rest of the year in our village. We have achieved Silver in the Small Town section of the East midlands in Bloom competition, and East Midlands Most Improved Entrant 2009; these awards are awarded to the village and are something we can be all proud of. Comments and suggestions from the judge’s are ways to improve next year, this is an area where you can help, and we did lose points because of litter! It would be impossible to have a maintenance man following each person around waiting for them to drop litter on our streets and then pick it up. So please put your litter into the litter bins or take it home with you, this will improve the village’s chances to better this year’s fantastic success.

The Elmton with Creswell Parish Council have, I think for the first year, planted some roadside beds and hanging baskets with winter colour and don’t they look wonderful. Creswell Junior School is again playing its part, Mrs. S Wood arrived with,
Robyn Connolly & Brandon Burns to help plant the Old Horse Water Trough on Mansfield Road with some winter flowers, having planted up the water trough I asked the question, “who knows what type of flowers are these?”, Robyn moved in closer to have a better look at the flower I was pointing to, or this is what I thought, Robyn, then stood up having read the label I had left on the plant and with a big smile announced “Pansy” I am now convinced that perhaps we should leave the teaching of our children to the professionals.
Thank you to Creswell Junior School.  
Creswell in Bloom Committee,
Cllr R H Glassey & Cllr S Smith.

FIRST GAME ON CRESWELL MULTI SPORTS ARENA - Elmton with Creswell Parish Council working in partnership with Bolsover District Council have formed a Creswell Foundation for Sports & Cultural Arts steering committee who are actively seeking funding for Sports & Cultural Arts activities. Under this banner are Creswell Cricket Club who are benefitting from the considerable funding and training made available to them. On the 31st of August 2009 the first game ever played on the newly laid artificial wicket took place.

The sound of willow on leather rung out over the Creswell Cricket Field once again when the reconstructed cricket field, after being neglected  for over 15 years, was put back in use. The Creswell Cricketers have had no home cricket ground and have played their matches on grounds around our area. One year in the making the home ground is now established and the team will be entering it to the 2010 league, but today was all about the enjoyment of playing on our very own home ground. The Creswell Cricket Club annually play a match against a team made up from the surrounding villages in aid of the Ryan Homes Air Ambulance Charity. The two batsmen who had the honour of opening the Twenty20 Cricket Match were Benjamin Bedford and Gregory Searston, Bedford caught for 22 and Searston not out for 27. Abbey Hawkins, who plays for Nottinghamshire Ladies and the England Ladies Indoor Team, turned out for the home side and settled into the crease, scoring ten singles and a two before being caught and bowled by Robert Ashley.
A fine bowling display by the opposition kept the home sides scoring in the low figures, and when No8 David Freeman was run out by Robert Ashley for 16 the lower order were in disarray and quickly surrendered for 6 runs. Posting a target score of 139 all out.

Scott Searston opened for the opposition clearly under orders to open his shoulders. He was caught at midwicket for 3 by John Charlesworth. Roy Pearson and Dean Robinson set up a batting partnership scoring 25 and 26 not out. When the pair were replaced this left the way clear for the home sides bowler’s Ross Ellis and Phillip Lowde to mop up a few cheap wickets leaving the visitors too much to do in the final overs. Dropping behind the rate the visitors finished up with 109 runs, losing by 31 runs.
The man who stood out in this match came from the losing team, he took three wickets for 3 runs and when he was in the crease he scored 25 not out. Roy Pearson was my man of the match.

Earlier in the day the Creswell CC held a bowling competion for under 16's. The winner of this was Aaron Beech from Creswell.
Match Report by Cllr R H Glassey

10/08/09 BISHOP AT CRESWELL - Bishop Alastair who is the Bishop of Derby came to Creswell on Sunday the 26th July to dedicate the new church hall at St May Magdalene’s Church. The Reverend David Hull set about fulfilling a promise when he came into office at Creswell that he would oversee the building of a new church hall. The Reverend David Hull quickly ruled out the first option of extending the church to facilitate the new church room within the church grounds, after a feasibility study and an estimated cost of £600,000. The second option was a total refurbishment of the existing church rooms; the estimate for this was £60,000.  He chose to undertake this ambitious project with Jumble sales, coffee mornings, concerts and generous donations from the congregation, money came in but problems with the build meant the project spiralled upwards to £92,000. To date he is still looking for £9,000 to clear the total cost of the build. The hall will be used by local groups for meetings and events. The old wooden hall started life as a schoolroom some 100 years ago when the only heat was from a coal fire at the teacher’s end of the room and the further down the classroom you were the colder it got. The new hall with all it’s up to date facilities, state of the art kitchen, new heating installed, new seating and tables, car parking, new toilets and a bright new main hall is far cry from the old wooden church rooms it is replacing, it was constructed around the old structure and residents were given the opportunity to have a brick with their names built into the outside walls. The Reverend David Hull retires at the end of the year. David has driven other Church projects in his parish, he has never been found wanting when it comes to a challenge!

26/07/09 - FUN DAY ON THE MULTI SPORTS ARENA - August Bank Holiday Sunday 30th & Monday 31st. On The Old Colliery Cricket Field from 10am until late evening both days we are having a Fun Weekend to mark the formation of Creswell Sports & Arts Foundation. Entrance is free so bring the family for a great day out there will be:- Athletics – Archery - Air Rifle Shooting - Talent Contest - Disco - Dance Demo’s - Football Competition - Local Stalls- Cricket Match - Hog Roast - Ball and Refreshments - Live Band and much more. Look out for the posters around the village

26/06/09 - CRESWELL CRAGS OFFICIAL OPENING CELEBRATION - MP Dennis Skinner & TV presenter David Bellamy performed the Official Opening Ceremony while Local councillors and VIPs were on hand to witness the long awaited launch of the Creswell Crags Education & Visit Centre.

Creswell Crags was honoured to announce that Sir David Attenborough will be opening the brand new visitor centre at a celebratory launch on 27th June 2009. The respected TV presenter will be at Creswell Crags to declare the centre open for the public. To mark the opening of the new building, a host of free activities have been planned to take place throughout the day.
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David Bellamy was on his knees giving thanks to all who made this Education & Visit Centre possible. The tourism market will have a beneficial impact on the surrounding villages. The Crags are now just a few steps away from World Heritage Status. The project would not have been possible without the generous support of Heritage lottery Fund, The East Midlands Development Agency and the European Regional Development Fund. The project has also received support from the British Museum, the Garfield Western Foundation, Lafarge Aggregates, Viridor Waste, Derbyshire Environmental Trust, Museumaker, the Natural History Museum, the Manchester Museum, Cliffe Castle Museum,
Creswell Crags are managed by the Creswell Heritage Trust, supported Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire County Councils, Bolsover District Council, Lafarge Aggregates and the Universities of Sheffield and Nottingham Trent. David finished of by reminding the locals how lucky we were to live close to one of Europe’s most important archaeological landscapes. Creswell Junior School choir entertained an appreciative audience during the launch, which was one of the highlights of the day.

16/06/09 - CRESWELL MULTI SPORTS GROUND

The grass has had a light cut. The experts are in control we are informed on the care and aintenance and rest assured this will be a first class ground.The new retaining wall at the pit end of the ground will be completed within the next three weeks; the intension is to backfill with subsoil and top of with topsoil, landscape with plants and shrubs, giving a pleasant softening feel to this end of the sports ground. The ground next to the Multi Sport ground has had a make over, weeds killed off, stones buried, rolled and reseeded. Another area brought up to standard. Elmton with Creswell Parish Council are planning a grand opening day August Bank Holiday, all will be invited, and there will be sports and events on the day, the details are yet to be finalized. Look out for the posters.

12/06/09 - COMMUNITY PAYBACK TEAM

The Derbyshire Community Payback Team have been working on the cricket grounds clearing weeds and debris. The payback teams have done valuable work throughout this parish anything from painting fences, cutting hedges, weeding, cutting grass and general clear up . These teams have worked at our church, cemetery, schools, cricket field and on our streets. This working partnership is a win win situation

08/06/09 - WOLLEN MEADOW

Wollen meadow is a registered wildlife site. It is a rare example of a lowland fen in a limestone area. This meadow is a rare survival of a wet area in the Southern Magnesium Limestone only found in a few places in the UK.Elmton with Parish Council is working in partnership with Derbyshire County Council & Bolsover District Council to maintain this site; today the meadow is valued for its environment qualities. The local authorities are working to keep it safe for the future. This takes effort by both professionals and volunteers like the Friends of Wollen Meadow. Jeff Bates chairman of East Midlands in Bloom paid Creswell’s Village Committee an advisory visit last year and one of the suggestions he made was this car park would benefit from a development such as Annual Floral Meadow mix. “Start with the corner area” he recommended, a “British wildflowers and Cornfield mix would brighten up this area”. The council thinks it’s important to encourage and include school children in this type of conservation project. A hands on approach to environmental and conservation issues is a valuable lesson learned and I’m sure these pupils will be telling all their friends about what they have achieved today. I would like to thank Councillor D McGregor for contacting the controlling councils to get permission to plant in this car park area with wild flowers, and thank also for the corporation from the heads of the schools for releasing Family Resource Worker for the Infants & Junior schools Mrs S Wood & Miss Abby Pridgeon.The Children from Creswell Junior School were, Brandon Burns, Bobby May Goodwin, and Ocean Haywood. Children from the Infant school were Callie Wood, Joseph Dodd and Tom Meredith they did a tremendous job. Report by Councillor R H Glassey

25/03/09 - CRESWELL MULTI SPORTS GROUND

The cricket square is established and will be ready for its first cut shortly. The outfield has been stone buried, rolled and seeded. Again the outfield grass will be ready for cutting shortly and probably light use later on in the year. The planning application for the multi sports clubhouse and changing rooms have been submitted to the council. The clubhouse will have two changing rooms, toilets; showering facilities, officials changing room, a small kitchen, and a club room. A leaflet has been circulated to every household in the parish inviting the residents to register their interest. Meetings are being held with all the interested parties’ Derbyshire PCT, Bolsover Police, Bolsover District Council, Creswell Junior School, Creswell Cricket Club and any Clubs in the Village showing an interest. You must agree things are moving on at a pace now; the Parish Council is working through each stage by stage methodically, be patient the foundations have been laid for this fantastic sporting facility, and when completed it will be an asset to be enjoyed by all.

24/11/08 - A FEW PHOTOS FROM THE REMEMBRANCE PARADE

17/11/08 - FOX GREEN REMEDIAL WORK

Fox Green Flooding

The council have responded to complaints and installed drainage to ensure that the green is open to the public all year round. The pond has been cleaned out, this hopefully will contain the water from the flooding area

16/11/08 - CRICKET FIELD RESTORATION WELL UNDERWAY

Elmton with Creswell Parish Council conducted a survey to ascertain the cultural and sporting needs of the residents of our parish. We are now acting on the results. Area’s that were highlighted in the survey were better playing fields, sporting facilities and a cricket field. We lost the cricket field shortly after the pit was closed.

The council’s priority was to install a fence around the perimeter of the field. This had the benefit of securing the playing area from the attentions of unwanted guests. Work has commenced on replacing the cricket square and cricket practice area. The football field will be situated adjacent to the cricket square in the cricket outfield. The cricket square and cricket practice nets area have been marked out and excavated, filled with the special loam, seeded and rolled. The outfield area has been cleared and rotovated. The next stage is the stone burying machine before the whole area is seeded in the New Year

09/11/08 - BONFIRE NIGHT

It rained all day and most of the night but it did not stop the residents with their families turning out to enjoy the fireworks display at the Social Centre. At the Social Center after the fireworks display the bar staff where in character (hubble, bubble, toil and trouble) to serve the public with their favorite tipple, there was also a disco/entertainer for the children

7/11/08 - FORMER OLYMPIAN LAUNCHES EVERYDAY SWIM AT CRESWELL

Customers, children and staff at Creswell Leisure Centre enjoyed a fun day with swimming legend Duncan Goodhew MBE, as he launched the centre as the Everyday Swim Site for the East Midlands. Goodhew, who attended the revamped leisure centre’s first birthday party back in 1992, joined a group of old age pensioners in the pool for a leisurely swim who were all happy to meet and chat with him, before taking a tour of the leisure centre. The leisure centre is set to receive £30,000 from the Everyday Swim scheme to help refurbish the changing facilities and produce a marketing strategy. Creswell was chosen as the East Midlands site because of the good working relationship with the team at the centre who are open to new ideas and are very enthusiastic. The age of the centre also fitted the bill for some minor capital works and operational changes.Duncan said, “Swimming is the best all round form of exercise. As we become older swimming is an excellent way of increasing all important quality of life. 14% of inactive people say the one sport they would like to do is swimming. Every Day Swim has a crucial part to play in getting inactive people to become active”. Bolsover District Council Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion, Councillor Ann Syrett said, “It was a real pleasure to welcome Duncan back to Creswell after all these years. For a relatively small facility, Creswell Leisure Centre has big ambitions and to be chosen as the East Midlands site is a very proud moment. We see this as an ideal opportunity to improve the facilities we have and the activities we provide to help both the young and old keep active and enjoy swimming for years to come.”

The aims of Everyday Swim are to:
• Increase participation in the project areas by 2% per annum.
• Closely monitor what works, what doesn’t and why in achieving this target.
• Demonstrate real change to encourage others to emulate successes.
• Share the learning across the country to ensure the benefits of the project are felt beyond the project areas

For further information about the Everyday Swim Site please telephone 01909 721371 or email enquiries@bolsover.gov.uk

OCTOBER 2008 - PUMPKIN CARVING COMPETITION

The Parish council donated a £5 Token to each entry, £10 token to the two winners, one from the Infant school and one from the Juniors.

The pumpkins were grown in his allotment and donated to the Infant school and the Junior School by Parish councillor S Smith.

P Richardson handed out the tokens to the school children and presented the Infant School their silver gill certificate from the Britain in bloom competition held earlier in the year.

19/05/08 - Dancebiz 2008 We Have Talent

It was a full house at Dancebiz 2008 dance show which was held at the Acorn Theatre, Worksop. The show was a massive success, the Creswell Disco Diva's performed sensational magical routines. The 33 performing dance crew aged from 4 through to 18 danced with a passion and devotion even through the heat of a very hot May 'summer' evening they all made their parents/guardians very proud. The Diva’s had fantastic support from the costume team which brought glitz and glamour to Worksop!   All of the Diva's were presented with a small gift from the principal, Angela School of Dance and a rose from Elm Tree Florist, but the best gift is the support they all receive from the parents/guardians.

It goes without saying that the Dancebiz 2008 was so successful because of the dedication of the volunteers, the hours and hours the volunteers put into the whole show was phenomenal.

The support doesn’t stop now, the DVD production team and the Photographic team from Lazypics (yet more volunteers!) are busily putting the Dancebiz 2008 DVD together. Want to be a Diva? For more information regarding classes at Creswell give Angela a call on 07899-041-549 or email at angelaschoolofdance@googlemail.com

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20/02/08 - Monty tutors Creswell golf prospect...