HUNDREDS of people attended the Woodford Halse Summer Regatta.

It took place on Friday night and saw a whole host of entertainment for the village.

The boat race saw floats made of some of the most popular cartoon characters.

Other entertainment includes live music, children’s rides and refreshments such as hot food and a Pimms and beer tent serving real ale.

There were also a number of stalls fundraising for charity.

The event organiser Janet Cheshire said: “It went brilliantly, there were hundreds of people that turned up and the most important thing is that it didn’t rain.

“We did a head count at one point and we had more than 800 people attending which was really good.

“Everyone had a great time and all of the charities that turned up made a lot of money which is very important.”

It is the fourth time the event took place and was sponsored by estate agents Tremayne and Belcher.

THE ambulance service which covers Daventry dealt with 120 emergency calls when someone was reported to be drowning last year.

East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) is using the statistic to urge people in Northamptonshire to take extra care around water.

Andy Wright, a Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) paramedic, who are specially trained to deal with water emergencies, said: “It’s not just children who are in danger where water is concerned and more than half of people who drown do know how to swim.

“The majority of drownings can be prevented if people know how to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.”

Last year EMAS responded to 120 calls where someone was reported to be drowning, and together with the Royal Life Saving Society the ambulance service is promoting Water Safety Week.

More information is available by visiting www.watersafetyawarenessweek.org.uk/

A MAN has been given a suspended prison sentence after a fight in Daventry ended with him biting the end of someone’s nose off.

Darren Bird, 36, got involved in an argument with another drinker inside the Dun Cow pub in Brook Street on October 2 last year.

Northampton Crown Court heard on Tuesday that the fight spilled out on to the street. Bird was then captured fighting in the street by the town centre CCTV cameras.

The victim suffered a serious wound to his nose when Bird bit off the tip which required hospital treatment.

Bird, of Countess Road, Spencer, Northampton, pleaded guilty to inflciting actual bodily harm and acted in excess of what could be considered as self-defence.

Judge Lynn Tayton QC sentenced him to eight months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with 200 hours of unpaid work and a year’s probation supervision.

He must also attend 10 days of an alcohol specified activity treatment requirement.

Kevin Barry, defending, showed Judge Tayton the CCTV footage from within the pub and said it had been the victim who was initially the aggressor.

A YOUNG woman who lost her dad to cancer has received a national award for her contribution to charity.

Cancer Research UK’s annual Flame of Hope Awards recognise remarkable efforts in fundraising and volunteering made by people from all walks of life.

And Annabelle Morel, from Hellidon, and her friend Gemma Welsh, from Southam, scooped the young volunteers of the year accolade.

An audience at the Hotel Russell in London heard how the two friends, now 21, have shown exceptional dedication to Cancer Research UK by raising more than £16,000 from a fundraising ball in memory of Annabelle’s father, Myles Morel.

Mr Morel died from lung and oesophageal cancer when Annabelle was 17 and at the age of 18 she decided to organise the ‘best ever’ night out to raise funds for Cancer Research UK so that others would not have to face the same experience as her family.

Annabelle said: “I was bowled over when I heard we had won an award, we had a fabulous day and felt really honoured.

“Losing my Dad was very hard on us all, particularly as I have three younger siblings.

“I am quite a shy person normally and I would never have dreamed that I could do something like this. My Dad would have been proud, and probably quite shocked.”

The friends are now planning a second fundraising event in September 2013 and have joined the Cancer Research UK local action team to help others with fundraising activities.

A CHARITY box to raise funds for the Friends of Danetre Hospital has been stolen from the Daventry Express offices.

The box, which was estimated to have between £30 and £40 in it, was snatched from the Gusher’s reception area on Friday.

The seceretary for the Friends of Danetre Hospital Arthur Pritchett said: “I am disappointed at how low some people can stoop. All they are doing is destroying the opportunities people like us provide.

“Every penny that the people of Daventry donate to our organisation goes back to help provide support for the staff at the hospital. The funds we have raised has helped us give new facilities and equipment.”

Police have now urged anyone with information about the theft to come forward.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

TRAFFIC officers are to ‘monitor’ the M1 near Daventry following a spate of serious crashes.

Earlier this month, firefighters battled for four-and-a-half hours to free a female lorry driver after a collision on the southbound carriageway of the M1, between junctions 16 (Flore) and 15a (for the A43).

The crash saw the southbound carriageway closed for almost 12 hours, while the northbound carriageway was also closed to allow the air ambulance to land.

The crash comes after another lorry driver died following a crash on the northbound carriageway, this time between junctions 14 and 15.

The lorry driver, from Birmingham, was the fifth fatality between junctions 15 and 13 of the M1 since the end of March.

A Highways Agency spokesperson said: “Safety is a top priority and we work with road safety organisations and the police to ensure that our road network is among the safest in the world.

“We will continue to monitor the M1 between junction 13 and 16 to ensure that our road network is safe and free flowing.”

A FUN family circus event will be held in Boddington this weekend.

The event will run on Saturday from 3pm in the village hall.

Attractions will include a circus skills workshop for children teaching them how to juggle, spin plates and ride a unicycle.

There will also be a fancy dress competition with a raffle, barbecue, beer and Pimm’s stall.

To book tickets, contact Sharon Ward on 07785 774386.

Daventry District Council (DDC) and Northampton Borough Council (NBC) are to impose penalties on contractor Enterprise Managed Services (EMS) Ltd following continued concerns about the company’s performance over recent months.

The contract for EMS to provide environmental services for both councils began on June 6, 2011.

NBC has agreed that it would undertake a review after 12 months, which will begin shortly. The review will be carried out by independent experts and will look at how the contract is operating in Northampton, the quality of service being provided to local people and how this is being managed and monitored. Issues and opportunities for improvement identified by the review will be addressed and implemented.

However, ahead of the review, both councils have decided to implement payment penalties for the months of April and May after continuing complaints from the public and poor performance in areas such as missed bins and boxes, and dealing with fly tipping and graffiti.

Both councils have also told EMS that they expect performance to improve immediately.

DDC leader Cllr Chris Millar said: “Quality of service is of great importance to us and at the 12-month stage of the contract it is clear from the feedback we continue to receive from residents that standards are falling short of the level of service we expect.

“If agreed performance targets are not being met by the contractor, it is in the interests of our residents that we seek to redress this using the methods available to us within the contract.

“Any financial deductions made as part of this contract will be used by the council to assist with the future provision of services while maintaining our low level of Council tax.”

NBC leader Cllr David Mackintosh said: “When the contract began last year it marked a major change. We expected teething problems and were prepared to be tolerant. We believe that the contract represents good value for money when it is performing well.

“But one year on, we are still hearing far too many complaints from local people and we have made it clear that we cannot put up with this poor performance.

“The priority is that current problems are dealt with but we want to review the way the contract is operating and ensure that we see the long-term improvements that people have a right to expect.”

Both councils will continue to monitor the contract and impose further penalties if required.

A 91-year-old man from Daventry is believed to be the oldest person in the county to be convicted of a criminal offence after he admitted harassing his wife.

Ernest Thallon, of Spring Gardens, appeared at Northampton Magistrates’ Court after he was charged with plotting a campaign of harassment against his wife of 65 years, Beatrice, aged 84, who lives in Briar Hill, Northampton.

The court heard that over a three-week period in May, Thallon had let down the tyres on his wife’s car, jammed the lock on her front door and padlocked her garage shut. Thallon, a former rent collector, was arrested by police on May 22 and admitted that he had harassed his wife because he wanted a set of keys to the house.

Hayley Kempneer, defending, said Mr Thallon had become concerned about his property inside the house as he believed his wife had a gambling problem.

She said: “Mr Thallon says his wife lied about the alleged assaults. He says she has a gambling problem which began when she starting going to bingo. He was worried about the safety of his property which was rightfully his.”

The court heard on Thursday that Mr and Mrs Thallon had been estranged since 2009 after an allegation of assault was made by Mrs Thallon against her husband.

Mrs Kempneer said Thallon, as co-owner of the property in Jubilee Close, believed he should be given a set of keys to the house but he had realised that his behaviour was “childish” and he regretted his actions.

She said: “Mr Thallon is extremely upset now that he has been convicted of this offence as he doesn’t like the idea of passing away with a criminal record. Mrs Thallon has never made a complaint, it was only by way of his own admissions to police that this matter has proceeded to court.”

Thallon, who pleaded guilty to harassment on May 31, was given a 12-month supervision order and a restraining order banning him from entering Jubilee Close or directly contacting his wife.

Thallon said he thought “the law was an ass” after he was convicted of harassing his wife.

The pensioner, who served with the RAF during World War Two, said he just wanted entry to his home so he could check that his belongings were being looked after by his wife.

He said he knew that it had been a “terrible thing” to jam the locks but he wanted his wife to know what it felt like to be unable to gain entry to the house.

But Mr Thallon said he had been the “happiest man on earth” for most of his marriage.

Hayley Kempneer, who represented Mr Thallon, said it was the most unusual case she had ever been involved in.

Mrs Kempneer said: “He is certainly the oldest person I have ever represented.”

ALTHOUGH Preston Capes were comfortably beaten in this fixture, they will be considerably heartened by the first team debut of 14-year-old Chay Kalym.

The youngster twirled his arm with great control turning the ball in both directions to leave Greens Norton batsmen befuddled and bewildered as they trudged back to the pavilion following dismissal.

Kalym finished his 12 over spell with seven-46 and if this was not enough to raise eyebrows, batted with confidence to belie his age.

He expressed great timing in his strokeplay to reach 35 only to be last man out with one ball remaining.

Kalym’s individual efforts should not overlook an otherwise dismal performance from the home side.

In chasing 166 for victory, Preston Capes struggled to double figures and lost wickets steadily until Kalym came to the crease.

However, they were never in the chase and finished 89 all out to record a third consecutive defeat.

CRICK Colts U9s (current year 3s) urgently need more players so they can continue to play in the NDYAL League next season.

Coach and manager of the U9s Ian Gidley, said: “The minimum squad size for the U9s increases to eight this year and partly due to one player emigrating, we need a minimum of three additional players.

“We are a friendly bunch and the team has bonded so well that they even go to each others’ birthday parties!”

The deadline for registering players with the league is July 17.

Crick Colts FC, a FA Chartered Status Club have just celebrated their 25th anniversary and are one of few clubs in the league with a team at almost every age group.

Paul Lane, chairman of Crick Colts, said: “We are a proactive club and have plans for a new first class facility in the near future.

“The club ensures all coaches are FA qualified and CRB checked.

“We adopt the FA’s Respect policies and welcome girls and boys of all ages and abilities. Due to small squad sizes, players are guaranteed plenty of match play which is the best way to learn football.”

Crick Colts train at Crick playing fields on Wednesdays at 6pm or can be contacted via Ian Gidley on 01788 824346 or e-mail igidley@btinternet.com

A PROPOSAL to redetermine a planning application for new homes in Long Buckby was thrown out last night (Wednesday).

A motion to rescind the decision to turn down an application for 107 homes in Station Road was refused at a meeting of Daventry District Council’s planning committee.

The meeting also saw potential plans for a school on the Monksmoor estate approved. The new school will now be built before the 300th home is occupied.

There was also celebrations for The Grange School in Daventry who were given planning permission for a new school playing field.

For more on these stories, see next week’s Daventry Express.

THERE will be 14 bands over two days as musicians visit Napton Festival.

Toploader, famous for their 1999 hit Dancing in the Moonlight, are the headline act at the festival which also features Daventry band A Trip to the Sun.

The festival takes place on Friday, July 6 and Saturday, July 7.

Toploader was formed in 1997 and the four-piece band have accumulated more than two million album sales and made regular appearances in the UK top 20.

Tickets, if booked before the festival, cost £25 for adults and £15 for young adult between 16 and 18.

Entrance and camping for children under 16 is free if they are accompanied by adult.

There is also camping and parking facilities and a selection of one day tickets available.

Other musical acts performing at the festival include The Total Stone Roses, a tribute to The Stone Roses, Rugby-based The Jelly Heads and a tribute act Guns2Roses.

New for this year’s festival is a separate marquee which will be playing reggae and ska music throughout.

For further information or to buy tickets for the festival, visit www.naptonfestival.co.uk.

For your chance to win one of two pairs of tickets plus camping and parking at the festival, see this week’s Daventry Express.

Saturday June 30 and Sunday July 1

Saturday

l Daventry Working Men’s Club: live music, 9.15pm-11.30pm

l Naseby Village Hall: Kung Fu sessions, 4pm

l Newbury Drive, Lang Farm, Daventry: Park Training System run by Glen Frank, 8am

l Fridays, Daventry: Big Saturday night, open until 1am

l Milton Keynes Theatre: Sister Act musical, 2.30pm, 7.30pm

l Kilworth House Theatre: Open air production of the musical Me and My Girl, 2.30pm, 8pm

l Royal and Derngate, Northampton: Save the Last Dance For Me musical, 2.30pm, 7.30pm

l Daventry Country Park: Car Boot Sale, sellers, 8.30am-9.30am, buyers, 9.45am to 1pm

l Braunston Village Hall: Film screening of Midnight in Paris, 7.30pm

l Brodie Lodge Playing Field, Flore: Marquee party, 7pm

l Byfield Village Hall: Men’s breakfast event talk, 8.30am

l Joy Mead Garden, Farthingstone: Beatles tribute act Accrington Stanley, open from 4pm

l Boddington Village Hall: Fun Family Circus event, 3pm

l Northampton Chronicle and Echo printing press rooms: The Bacchae play, 7.45pm

l Royal and Derngate, Northampton: Performance of Blood Wedding, 3pm

l St James Infant School, Daventry: Olympic themed summer fete, noon to 2pm

l Weedon Bec Primary School: School Fete, noon-2pm

l Falconer’s Hill Infant School: Summer Fete, 11.30am-2pm

l Brodie Lodge Playing Field, Flore: Flore Jubilee Live, 7pm

Sunday

l Fridays, Daventry: Happy hours, 5pm-7pm; Pub Quiz, 8.30pm

l The George, Kilsby: Pub quiz, 8.30pm

l Newnham Turn Farm, Dodford: Car Boot Sale, 9am-1pm

l Kilworth House Theatre: Open air production of the musical Me and My Girl, 2.30pm, 8pm

l Long Buckby Community Centre: Long Buckby museum open, 2pm-4pm

l The Saracens Head, Little Brington: John Dunmore’s Trad Jazz Band, 2pm-4pm

l Royal and Derngate, Northampton: NMPAS Summer Festival of Music, 2pm, 7.30pm

l Delapre Park, Northampton: Miniature Railway operated by Northampton Model Engineering Society, gates open 1.30pm

l Royal Oak, Eydon: Quiz, 7.30pm

l Long Buckby Community Centre: Long Bucky Museum, 2pm-4pm

l Long Buckby Library: K’Nex competition, 1pm-4pm

l St Martin’s Church, Welton: Cream Teas, 2.30pm-4.30pm

l Sulgrave Manor: Independence Day event, 11am-5pm

BARBY fielded three teams this weekend for only the second time ever.

The club are keen to have a third team and are looking for new players and clubs to play.

If you are interested contact Barby CC on Barbycc@hotmail.co.uk

The third team were away to Oakfield and with a mixture of the young and the not so young Barby won the toss and fielded.

Oakfield batting first and the runs followed freely.

D Marshall hit 86 and S Fernando 107 for Oakfield. The only successful bowlers for Barby were Matthew Beagley one-10 Paul Adams one-40 and John Hardbottle one-33. The innings finished on 276-three.

In reply, Barby struggled to cope with the Oakfield bowlers and quickly slumped to 16-five.

The innings struggled on thanks to 49 not out from Rory Long but no one could support him and the innings finished on 84.

Foxton (five-20) was the pick of the Oakfield attack with Marshall picking up two wickets for no runs at the end of the innings.

Both Barby league teams took on Pickwick.

The first team being at home and having won the toss decided to bat first.

Runs were very hard to come by and only Tom Gleghorn found run scoring easy. He hit 79 and his main support was Dan Dury with 25.

Barby struggled to set a decent total and were bowled out for 135. S Khan four-41 and A Mahmood three-37 being the chief destroyers.

In reply, despite a couple of early wickets Pickwick never really looked in trouble.

Stev Stipanovic continued to bowl tightly and took two-31. He was supported by Dave Knightbridge one-15 and Will Sinclair two-43.

But Pickwick reached their target with six overs to spare finishing on 136-five. This result saw Barby move down the table but the league remains tight and they are not too far off second place.

The second team were away and were looking to consolidate their position in the league.

But having lost the toss Barby batted first on a drying wicket.

Disaster struck as the first two batsmen were run out.

The innings never really recovered from this and wickets fell regularly. Only Hancock who batted 38 overs for 26. The only support was from Adam Shay 24. The innings finished on a disappointing 96, Rehman four-23 and Singh three-17 took most of the wickets.

In reply Barby took an early wicket, but runs flowed freely with Mehmood hitting 52 and Ali finishing on 37 not out.

Pickwick reached 97-two off just 22 overs.

Despite this heavy defeat the Seconds remain in second place in Warwickshire Division One Reserves League.

A MAJOR refurbishment of Daventry Leisure Centre costing half-a-million pounds starts next month.

It follows on from Everyone Active taking over the running of the leisure centre on Sunday from Daventry District Council (DDC).

The changes will see improvements to the customer service area, redecoration of wet side changing village, dance studio, kids activities and the cafe. The gym will double in size and there will be a new cycling studio and a wide range of new equipment.

For more on this story, see this week’s Daventry Express.

DAVENTRY is to enter this year’s Britain in Bloom contest.

But with the announcement made this week, just a fortnight ahead of judging, the town could have its work cut out.

The move was announced by Daventry District Council and its environmental contractor Enterprise.

Both admit this year will be a ‘learning experience’, but will be something to build upon in future years.

For more on this story, see this week’s Daventry Express.

YOUNGSTERS at Campion School have thrilled with their recreation of a famous dance routine.

A flashmob dance was organised to recreate the famous video of the Michael Jackson’s classic pop song Thriller.

Staff and students at the secondary school in Kislingbury Road, Bugbrooke donned make up and copied the famous dance routine on Monday lunchtime. It was also three years to the day since the pop star died.

The day also saw a number of Olympic-themed activities at the school which saw a visit from paralympian Mark Fosbrook who awarded medals and certificates at a mini Olympics event held at Sixfields in Northampton

THE first game this week saw Wheatsheaf Braunston at home to newcomers The Olde Sun.

The home side got off to a great start when Swanny (135, 125, 100, 102f) and Tommy Kendall (121, 100 x 3) took the pairs game 3-0 over Andy Ziadi and Dale Collins (148s).

The away side hit back by taking the first two singles games when Barry Green (125, 116) beat Paul Hankinson 3-0 and Rory Smallbone (100 x 2) beat Gavin Taylor (112, 100) 2-1.

But from then on the home side dominated with wins for Glen Thompson (140, 100) 2-1 over Glenn Kilgar (114), Tommy Kendall (119, 100 x 4) 3-0 over Pete Mullen (100 x 3) and Swanny (180, 132, 101, 100, 152s) 3-0 over Dale Collins (100 x 2, 138s). This gave Wheatsheaf Braunston an overall 12-6 success.

DWMC B hosted Long Buckby FC in game two. The away side took the pairs game thanks to a 2-1 win for Ian Bow (100 x 2, 160s) and Pete Shirley (180, 123, 100) over Rich Ludlow and Dave Keating (135, 125, 120s).

The home side took the opening singles when Dave Keating (100 x 3) beat Ray Feasey 3-0 before Ian Bow (100 x 4) kept the away side in it with a 2-1 win over James Taylor (120, 100, 112s).

A home win for Tony Leedham (127) 2-1 over Ged Berrill (140, 100) was followed by an away win for Mick Feasey (100 x 2) 2-1 over Rich Ludlow. This took the match into the final game where a 3-0 win for Gav Taylor (121, 105) over Joe Gammidge (100) gave DWMC B an overall 11-7 victory.

Game three saw Wheatsheaf Weedon A at home to their B side and the A team made a great start when taking the pairs 3-0 – thanks to a win for Brian Farmer (100) and Debbie Farrant (100, 85) over Pete Steel and Paul Marsh (100). This was followed by a singles win for Ozzy (123, 100 x 2) 2-1 over Pete Steele. The away side took a win when Dave Bangs (100 x 3) beat Brian Farmer (135, 101, 100 x 2, 100s) 2-1 before home wins for Bully (145, 140) 2-1 over H (103, 83), Debbie Farrant (125, 85, 84) 2-1 over Thomas Babbings (140, 100 x 2) and finally Max Murray (139, 125, 100) 2-1 over Paul Marsh (100) gave Wheatsheaf Weedon A an overall 12-6 win.

In game four defending champions Slim Jims were at home to Caseys. The home side took the pairs game when Dave Harris (137) and Rich Denis (140, 100 x 3, 100s) beat Dave Summerfield and Chris Gay (140, 111, 100) 2-1.

The away side made it level when Nigel Turland (157, 100) took the first singles game with a 2-1 win over Rachel Harris (115, 100, 81 x 2, 83s x 2). But home wins for Andy Teale (100) 3-0 over Gary Birch (121, 100 x 3) and Sam Harris (100, 99, 95, 83, 80) 2-1 over Mark Taylor put them in control.

An away win for Dave Summerfield (100 x 2) 2-1 over Burtie (125, 100 x 3) was followed by a 3-0 home win for Rich Denis (125, 110, 100 x 3, 100s) over Chris Gay to give Slim Jims an overall 12-6 victory.

The final game saw The Peppermill visit Con Club. The away side made the perfect start with a 3-0 win for Paul Butler (140, 118, 100 x 2) and Alex Miller over Simon Adkins and Ivan Lester (140, 116, 100) followed by a 3-0 win for Clive Hart over Robin Peasland (140).

The home side hit back when Ray Hobrow (136, 100 x 3) beat Stuart Marshall (133) 3-0 but away wins for Troy Miller (100) 2-1 over Stuart Coe Snr and Paul Butler (120, 100) 2-1 over Ivan Lester (100 x 2) meant a 3-0 home win for Simon Adkins (140) over Keith Chapman in the final game was all in vain as The Peppermill took a narrow 10-8 overall win.

Performances of the week came from Swanny (180, 102 finish and 152 start), Dale Collins (148 and 138 starts), Pete Shirley (180), Ian Bow (160 start) and Dave Keating (120 start).

JACKSON Grundy Bowls Northamptonshire Women’s Section entertained Huntingdonshire ladies in the Inter County Johns Trophy at Irchester BC.

In a confident manner they controlled the match from beginning to end and won by 15 shots.

The county ladies quickly built up a lead of 13 shots over the first quarter with the two rinks skipped by Sharon Tansley and Sharon Hall being particularly dominant at that stage.

The next five ends saw a huge increase in the lead to 25 shots with four rinks winning well and two rinks losing by just one shot each.

In the second half of the match the Huntingdonshire ladies did stem the flow against them quite effectively and made inroads into the deficit.

At 18 ends across the green they were only seven shots adrift with a possibility of making the necessary ground.

But this was not to be as the county ladies dug in deep and limited their opposition to just nine shots more while picking up 17 shots themselves.

Four winning rinks, one drawn and just one losing gave the county 19 points to three points conceded.

Top winning rink for the county was that skipped by Sharon Hall which won by nine shots after an impressive performance from all.

The final score was Northamptonshire 119 – Huntingdonshire 104 shots.

The County finished the 2012 campaign on a high, with a total of 38 points from the four matches played.