Traffic Cop Nick Lovatt sacked after committing more than 20 driving offences

Embed from Getty Images

The Derby Telegraph wins our Headline of the Day Award.

On one occasion, the fellow officer who stopped him is reported to have said:

"Who do we think we are, sir? The police and crime commissioner for Nottinghamshire?"

The passenger ferry across the River Soar near Loughborough

Here's something I didn't know. There's a chain ferry that takes foot passengers across the River Soar at Normanton on Soar, where the river forms the boundary between Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

The ferry operates on Saturdays and Sundays from the beginning of April until the end of September. A crossing costs £1 per person, with an additional charge of 50p for bicycles and dogs.

A report on West Bridgford Wire says:

The ferry, which is believed to be the last chain-operated passenger ferry of its kind in the UK, dates back to at least 1770. Estimates suggest a crossing may have operated at the site as early as the 13th century. ...

It was once used by fishermen and people travelling to markets in Loughborough. Newspaper reports from 1977 said the crossing was regularly used during the 1920s, when the fare was one penny.

Some 40 volunteers now operate the ferry during the season. It carries approximately 3,000 passengers each year, with a record of about 140 crossings in one day.

A vanished island in the Trent near Nottingham

Shakespeare knew all about the River Trent's fondness for changing its course. Here's Hotspur in Henry IV, Part 1:

Methinks my moiety, north from Burton here,
In quantity equals not one of yours:
See how this river comes me cranking in,
And cuts me from the best of all my land
A huge half-moon, a monstrous cantle out.
I'll have the current in this place damm'd up;
And here the smug and silver Trent shall run
In a new channel, fair and evenly;
It shall not wind with such a deep indent,
To rob me of so rich a bottom here.

In and around Nottingham, these changes of course often have more to do with human engineering than natural forces.

Our History Underfoot has been investigating. Here he looks for a lost island at Clifton Grove, a few miles upstream of West Bridgford.

Council gives update on investigation into former Sheriff of Nottingham

Following dozens of nominations from oppressed serfs in Sherwood Forest, West Bridgford Wire wins our Headline of the Day Award.

The Major Oak is dead and Phil Harding has discovered another ancient site near Stonehenge

Forget Sycamore Gap: this is real tragedy. The Major Oak in Sherwood Forest is dead.

The Guardian reports:

The Major oak, one of Europe’s oldest, largest and most celebrated ancient trees, has died.

The huge tree, which has grown in Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, England, for at least 1,000 years, failed to produce any leaves this year, after becoming stressed by a series of hot, dry summers.

Thousands of visitors admire the oak each year, with its great age, enormous 11-metre girth and 28-metre canopy inspiring a forest of folklore. Although the oak would not have been hollow in Robin Hood’s day, it was said to have provided a sanctuary for the outlaw and his gang when fleeing the tyrannical Sheriff of Nottingham.

Of course it did.

The paper's report blames the tree's demise on climate change and "well-intentioned historical interventions":

Experts believe that the props that continued to support the tree’s mighty limbs also placed it under strain. Left alone, ancient oaks shed their limbs and “grow down”, retreating into their trunk and thereby requiring less water and nutrients as they age.

There's more on Sherwood Forest and the Major Oak in my post about an old travelogue.

Now the good news. A team of archaeologists led by the mighty Phil Harding has discovered an ancient site close to and even older than Stonehenge.

Harding told the Salisbury Journal:

"In a few days’ time, Stonehenge will be filled with people celebrating midsummer solstice.

"But what few will realise is that 5,000 years ago on a nearby hillside overlooking modern day Bulford, people were doing the exact same thing – revering and celebrating the sunrise on midsummer’s day.

"This discovery is probably one of the greatest finds of my career and what makes it so important is just how early it is.

"Up till now, our knowledge of this ancient feat of astronomy was based on Stonehenge and other monuments of a similar period, but what we’ve discovered at Bulford is 500 years earlier than the famous stones we know so well.

"It makes me incredibly proud to be an archaeologist."

Two railway lines used to cross on the level at Retford station

At Retford the line from Sheffield to Gainsborough and beyond used to cross the King's Cross main line to Scotland on the level. In 1965 a dive-under was constructed so this crossing could be removed.

Our History Underfoot has been to Retford to tell this story and look for traces of the earlier arrangement. If you're interested in Midland railways this is a good account to subscribe to.

Eighteen miles to the south of Retford, the King's Cross main line still crosses another line on the level. This is at Newark, where it meets the Nottingham to Lincoln line. The proximity of the River Trent to the crossing means that a similar dive-under cannot be constructed there.

The photograph below is taken from Newark Castle station on the Lincoln Line, and you can see a train speeding by on the King's Cross line. Note the reassuring red signal.

The Joy of Six 1462

"America has become a place where it is no longer entirely safe to speak freely. Where criticizing the Government can get you into trouble, perhaps even cause you to be fired from your job, or deported. Where engaging in public protest can get you arrested. Where every day you wake up with a clenching stomach, wondering what new Government outrage has happened overnight." Alexandra Hall Hall on living in the US today.

Thomas Lockwood says Robert Jenrick's Newark constituency "is now is now a live laboratory test for the future of the British right – and for the fragmentation and reinvention of British politics".

Zoe Crowther talks to Imran Ahmed, the British-born campaigner against online hate who is threatened with deportation from the US. He fears the "tendrils of Big Tech" have already reached Westminster.

Foluke Ifejola Adebisi reflections on the life and death of Patrice Lumumba. "We often decry our current African leaders, their incompetence, corruption, complete lack of willingness to stand up for the good of their countries or their people. But while we decry them – and we must do that with all that we have – let us not forget that we sometimes had leaders who gave their all to the struggle. Their blood, their lives, their spirit, their souls. Let us not forget what happened to them." 

"This myth of 'boy books' does real harm. It narrows reading down to one-dimensional stories built around aggression or dominance. The overwhelming message boys receive is that reading is fine, as long as it reinforces orthodox masculinity and does not ask you to feel too much or think too deeply." Louis Provis on the wrong way to encourage boys to read.

"Hayley Mills was quickly growing out of her childhood film roles and this was an ideal production that helped transition her into more mature teen roles." Silver Scenes celebrates The Moon-Spinners (1964).

Bridging Loughborough Gap to create an 18-mile heritage railway

I once described the the Great Central Railway – Nottingham as 

a bit of a mystery to those of us in Leicestershire. Rather like the Eastern Roman Empire.

Since then I've visited Constantinople and written three posts about it: Rushcliffe Halt, Above the Brush Works and Ruddington Fields.

The GCR in Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire are separated by 500 yards of missing bridges and embankments at Loughborough. In this video Tim Dunn looks at the project, already well under way, to close that gap.

When it's done, there will be an 18-mile heritage railway running from the edge of Leicester to a transport museum near Nottingham.

Arrest after £5k found stuffed in man's underpants

BBC News, as so often these days, wins our Headline of the Day Award.

Bunny councillor hops away from the Conservatives

Andy Edyvean, a former deputy leader of Rushcliffe Borough Council, has left the Conservative Party and now sits as an Independent, reports BBC News:

In an email to colleagues, Edyvean said he took the "difficult decision" over a "worrying decline in the standards" at a council he "was proud to serve".

One point of interest here is that Edyvean is the councillor for Bunny ward, which wins our Ward of the Week Award. Bunny is a village a few miles south of Nottingham.

I have a memory that the conversation between Brian Clough and the chairman of Nottingham Forest, in in which the former agreed to become the club's manager, took place as they walked round the boundary of Bunny cricket ground, but I can't find any mention of this online.

Nottinghamshire councillor Tom Hollis told his criminality is "not normal" after sheep eviction trial

The Nottingham Post wins our Headline of the Day Award.

Cllr Hollis, the deputy leader of Ashfield District Council, is a Zadroznyite – a member of the Ashfield Independents, whose leader Jason Zadrozny almost won the Ashfield constituency for the Liberal Democrats at the 2010 general election.

In search of the Lost Gunthorpe Toll Bridge over the River Trent

Gunthorpe Bridge on the A6097 is the only road crossing of the River Trent between Nottingham and Newark. Built in 1927, it replaced an earlier toll bridge that opened to traffic in 1875.

In this video, Trekking Exploration – subscribe and like, my pretties – goes in search of the toll house and of the bridge's abutments on either side of the river.

Former nun Emma Smith's 101 days buried alive in Skegness

There's a sad and fascinating story in today's Guardian about Mick Meaney, and Irish labourer who in 1968 was buried alive in a coffin under a Kilburn builder's yard. 

He hoped the stunt would bring him riches and fame, but he was swindled by his manager and returned to Ireland with nothing to show for it:

No Guinness Book of Records representative recorded Meaney’s feat and a rival burial artist named Tim Hayes, who spent less time underground in a regular-sized coffin, disputed his champion credentials. Later in 1968, a former nun named Emma Smith had herself buried beneath a fairground in Skegness for 101 days.

I just had to look up Emma Smith in the British Newspaper Archive, and found this front-page photograph from the Daily Mirror (18 September 1968). You can read more about her on the Skegness Magazine blog. She came to no harm, unlike Harold Davidson, the Rector of Stiffkey, who was mauled to death in the town by a lion called Freddie.

Emma Smith's record lasted until 1981, when it was broken by an American who lasted 141 days in his coffin. In 1999 a man stayed buried under the garden of the Railway Inn, Mansfield, for 147 days to win the record back for Britain. He was Emma's son Geoff.

Southwell Minster: England's most mysterious cathedral?

How it's pronounced is the least interesting thing about Southwell. For what it's worth, one of my history teachers came from the town and said Suthull not South-well, so I do too. But just as in Shrewsbury, it doesn't matter.

The video is right: Southwell Minster is one of England's least well-known cathedrals, but it's one of the finest. We don't even get to see it's glory: the medieval stone carving ("The Leaves of Southwell") in the Chapter House. Look below for an example.

And it's a fine little town. I believe that when the Minster became a cathedral in 1884, Southwell was legally a village and so could not become a city. The local football club refuses to be distracted by such technicalities and calls itself Southwell City.

A victory for free speech as Reform UK drops its ban on the Nottingham Post

Faced with the threat of legal action, Reform-run Nottinghamshire County Council has backed down and scrapped its ban on journalists from the Nottingham Post.

The Guardian reports:

Nottinghamshire county council, which has been led by Reform since the local elections earlier this year, said it was “committed to the principles of openness” after lifting the sanctions it had placed on journalists from the Nottingham Post and its website, Nottinghamshire Live.

The newspaper will now again be invited to public council events and will be added to the council’s distribution list for press releases. The ban had been in place for more than a month and had been condemned by Keir Starmer and local MPs.

And the newspaper goes on to quote Natalie Fahy, Nottinghamshire Live’s editor:

“I’m pleased this unprecedented ban has been lifted and the situation finally resolved so that we can continue to get on with our jobs as we always have done.

“That means asking questions of elected council officials, having access to publicly funded information and events and holding them to account on behalf of our communities in Nottinghamshire.

“This sends a firm message that journalists will not back down if our freedoms are attacked.”

The ban was put in place because the council's leadership was annoyed by a report the Nottingham Post published about tensions within Reform over the reorganisation of local government in the county. So chalk this up as a victory for the freedom of the press.

Nottingham Post launches legal challenge over Reform UK council leader's refusal to talk to its journalists

Nottinghamshire Live, the online version of the Nottingham Post, has launched a legal challenge against the refusal by the Reform UK leader of Nottinghamshire County Council to speak to its journalists.

A report on the Live website says:

The authority's leaders have until Thursday (October 2) to respond to the legal letter, which warns further steps may be taken if the council does not respond by reversing the ban.

The letter, sent to the county council by CMS LLP on September 25, sets out the position adopted by Reach Midlands Media Limited, the publisher of Nottinghamshire Live and our print title the Nottingham Post. The letter, written in conjunction with Nottinghamshire Live's in-house legal team, sets out the belief that the decision to issue the ban was without legal basis "due to its irrationality".

The letter, it goes on to say, also suggests that the council leader's decision is in breach of local government regulations, Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights and Nottinghamshire County Council's councillor code of conduct.

As I said when the ban was first imposed, it is a reminder of how much Reform politicians admire Donald Trump. I hope this challenge succeeds: there's little enough political coverage in many local newspapers as it is.

Leicestershire Reform's cabinet member for children and families is a full-time student

Photo by Grant Davies on Unsplash

Leicestershire. Northamptonshire. Nottinghamshire.

The carousel of stories about East Midland Reform-run councils goes round and round, and the painted ponies go up and down.

So it's back to Leicestershire and a reminder from the Leicester Mercury that Reform UK's cabinet member for children's and families' services, Charles Pugsley, is about to start the second year of a computer science degree at the University of Nottingham.

Does Pugsley, who was 19 when he was appointed in May, have the time for both these roles? His Conservative predecessor in his cabinet position, Deborah Taylor, has her doubts:

"I know how demanding being lead member for Children Services is. I did the role for five years.

"It was full-time and more, and you need to show up for our children and be there. It is not a role you can do at arms length. You either fully commit or you don't do the role.

"There is nothing worse than not showing up and not caring for our vulnerable children. They need stability, a familiar face, and be their trusted adult for them to turn to whenever you are needed."

Pugsley's reply, quoted by the Mercury: is:

"I am fully committed to children’s services and will continue to undertake this role and give it the attention and time it requires alongside continuing into the second year of my degree."

The second year of a degree course tends to have fewer exam pressures than the first of third, but we shall see if this proves possible.

Liberal Democrats call on Nigel Farage to sort our Nottinghamshire's Reform UK council

NEW: 'No idea, genuinely': Watch as Reform economic chief gets confused over existing relationships between Notts County Council and regional leaders.

Cllr James Walker-Gurley, a new Reform cabinet member in Notts, sat down with us last week. It didn't go well.@laurenamonaghan pic.twitter.com/6SjvTFtejL

— Andrew Topping (@AToppingJourno) June 23, 2025

Today's Guardian reports that the Liberal Democrats have written to Nigel Farage to demand that he steps in to reverse the "dangerous and chilling" decision by Nottinghamshire's ruling Reform UK group to stop talking to local newspapers and the BBC.

The Lib Dems, says, the paper, have suggested that the move may breach local government’s code of conduct, which calls on elected officials to "submit themselves to the scrutiny".

But why has the Reform leader of Nottinghamshire County Council ordered his councillors not to talk to journalists?

The Guardian suggests there are two reasons. The first is an interview the new Reform cabinet member Cllr James Walker-Gurley, a new Reform cabinet member, gave to Notts TV in June. You can see it above.

The second reason is a story in the Nottingham Post about disagreements between Reform councillors on the reorganisation of local government within the county.

Well, it's not the media's fault if a cabinet member appears not to be on top of his brief, and the Nottingham Post story was a perfectly reasonable one for a local newspaper to run.

Incidentally, Notts TV, a local television station, is closing down tomorrow, but that's not Reform's doing.

The Grantham Canal from West Bridgford to Cotgrave

A walk with Towpath Treks along the western half of the Grantham Canal. We see where the canal joins the Trent at West Bridgford and then follow it as far as the former mining town of Cotgrave.

Although it has been closed for the best part of a century, the canal looks eminently restorable. The major obstacle will be that the route near West Bridgford has been lost to a road scheme, so a new way of reaching the Trent will have to be found.

And then there are the bridges. In the 1950s, 46 of the 69 that cross the canal were lowered as part of road improvement schemes.

So though it looks possible, restoration will be expensive. See The Grantham Canal Society site for the latest news.

Nottinghamshire's ruling Reform UK group is refusing to talk to the local media

Nottinghamshire County Council's ruling Reform UK group has cut off all contact with the Nottingham Post and the related Nottinghamshire Live website. Because this policy includes Local Democracy Reporting Service reporters, the BBC and other local newspapers are also affected by it.

Oliver Pridmore writes on the Nottingham Post site:

What has prompted this unprecedented turn of events? It was my recent article on the ongoing discussions about local government reorganisation (LGR).

The article included a claim that two Reform UK councillors said at a public surgery that they could be suspended from their county council group if they did not vote for Councillor [Mick] Barton's preference of a bigger Nottingham council covering Broxtowe and Gedling.

The article repeatedly referred to the fact that this was merely a claim and noted who that claim had come from. We also went to both Councillor Barton and the two Reform UK councillors concerned ahead of publication and explicitly told them about the claim.

Councillor Barton did not wish to comment on the claim directly, whilst the two Reform councillors who allegedly made it both sent identical messages which did not explicitly deny the claim. The article was published on Thursday (August 21) and news on how Reform have decided to react was confirmed on Tuesday (August 26).

The news comes just a couple of months after Reform's Ashfield MP Lee Anderson launched a dangerous attack on Nottinghamshire Live for running too many "negative" stories about his party. A piece on the cost of a by-election caused by a Reform councillor resigning days into office prompted Mr Anderson to describe some forms of public scrutiny as "pointless" and to disparage local journalism as not being a "proper job".

These bullying tactics are a reminder of how much Reform politicians admire Donald Trump. Yet we saw only yesterday the important role the local media can play in exposing wrongdoing by local councillors - in the case it happens that it was a Reform councillor involved.