Little Eaton Parish Council

15/06/2026

Unfortunately a few Articles were omitted from the Spring Newsletter and so are included below. Apologies to the organisations affected.

LITTLE EATON W.I.

We are now getting into Summer programme and well into our Carnival preparation. Our members are getting creative with this year’s carnival float building, but we will keep you guessing to our theme! I hope you have also seen the post-box toppers which have been changing with the seasons and topical events.

Since the last newsletter went out, we celebrated our 104rd birthday and in April we presented Derbyshire Rural Chaplaincy with a cheque for £1500 from our fundraising. Thank you to our WI members who have raised this fantastic amount over the last year, fundraising at events we organise in the village which many of you attended, including our annual Quiz and Chips evening in November.

In May we hold our Annual Meeting and elect a new committee, but you can join us at any time throughout the year. If you would like to join a local ladies group for friendship, interesting speakers and other activities, please get in touch. You can just turn up to one of our evenings and pay a guest fee of £4 before deciding whether you would like to join.

Our reading group continues to meet in the Queens Head once a month, also an informal knit and natter group, cinema & theatre trips, meals out, craft evenings to name a few of our usual activities. Anything you wish to do,
we’ll do our best to organise it!

Here are some of the things organised for the next few months…
Wednesday 10th June – The Potty Plotters
Wednesday 8th July – Frauds and Scams – Kim Selby from NatWest Bank
Wednesday 12th August – Picnic on the Park (subject to weather)
Wednesday 9th September – Erewash Walks – Rachel Scott

We usually meet at 7:30pm in the Village Hall and will be organising lots of events for members and non-members to join in. To find out more keep an eye on the village noticeboards for events, also Little Eaton Women’s Institute page which has all our information and latest news.

Visitors are made most welcome to join us and can become a member at any time through the year.

For information contact President: Lynne Siddons – 01332 834834, Vice President: Barbara Adams – 01332 832267
Email – [email protected]

15/06/2026

Unfortunately a few Articles were omitted from the Spring Newsletter and so are included below. Apologies to the organisations affected

LITTLE EATON IN BLOOM
TIME FOR CHANGE

About 2011 the Chairman of East Midlands in Bloom passed by Croft Corner as a group of volunteers were helping to plant up a summer display sponsored by the Parish Council. He asked if we had ever thought about entering the competition. Blank looks all round! Fast forward to 2012, I started up a Gardening Club which was the right place to discuss the possibility of entering the competition.

Brenda Shore and I took on the task of organising a committee starting with a Chair Person, a Treasurer and a Secretary plus finding willing volunteers. Money had to be found and we did this with the help of Parish Council, the Produce Show, Carnival, Little Eaton Community Association, Fund raising and private donations.

In early 2014 we held our first committee meeting and started planning. We entered the competition that summer which earned us a Silver Medal. The years 2015 and 2016 took us up to the level of Silver Gilt medals. This took a lot of hard work by everyone, but so satisfying.

We then decided to concentrate our efforts in continuing to improve the look of our village. A restructure of the long bed at Croft Corner took place, more containers purchased or donated, more bulbs planted into verges and fresh displays organised for Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter.

As a committee, we feel it’s time to hand over to a new team and this will be led by Esther Jennison-Boyle who will be Chair Person. Many of our volunteers are still willing to help and it’s been a pleasure to have been part of the whole process.
Huge thanks to all who help in the village and a big thank you to Brenda Jennison who has been so helpful to our success.

I wish the new organisation all the best and look forward to seeing their fresh ideas come to fruition.

Moira Hutchison
Esther Jennison-Boyle’s mobile number. 07886 705339

15/06/2026

Unfortunately a few Articles were omitted from the Spring Newsletter and so are included below. Apologies to the organisations affected.

Little Eaton United Reformed Church:

Sat. 27th June – Strawberry Tea
Sat. 25th July – Cheese Brunch
Sat. 29th Aug. – Coffee & Cake on the Patio
All our Social Events are held at 11.00 – 1.00 pm

Home Baking, Preserves & Freshly made Marmalades will be on sale

Hope to see you at the Village Carnival when we will be holding a Tombola and selling our various marmalades & fancy goods. Proceeds from all events will benefit; Derby Umbrella & Mansfield Cat Rescue.

Our service of worship is each Sunday at 10.30 am & everyone is welcome.

‘Forget me nots’ continue to meet alternative Monday after noon at 2.00pm for games & chat to benefit those with memory loss, dementia or alzheimer’s.

Ring 558336 for any information. Carers welcome to stay too.

11/06/2026

Street Meet Little Eaton : Mon 15 Jun 18:00

Your local Safer Neighbourhood Team will be hosting a ‘Street Meet’ at the Co Op, Alfreton Road, Little Eaton.

Please take this opportunity to raise any concerns you may have and to find out what we are doing to tackle the issues that matter to you.

Everyone is welcome and it would be great to see you.

04/06/2026

Litter pick this Sunday. All welcome. All equipment provided. Sunday 7th, 10-11am. Start and finish at Croft Corner (opposite the Co-op). Pick your own route

The next Parish Litter Pick is scheduled for Sunday 7 June. Please meet at Croft Corner at 10am. All welcome

31/05/2026

Don't forget tomorrow is the Defibrillator Awareness Session - Monday 1 June, Little Eaton Village Hall (upper hall), 7-9pm.

20/05/2026

🚨 Defibrillator Awareness Session 🚨

Learn how to use a defibrillator and perform life-saving CPR with Belper District Community First Responders.

A fun and informative session covering skills that could help save a life.

📅 1st June 2026
🕖 7pm - 9pm
📍 Little Eaton Village Hall

Everyone welcome
Come along and learn something invaluable.

20/05/2026

***Help Needed***

We are looking for any builders who can help provide quotes to:
▪️Reconfigure public toilets in a public building
▪️Install a public accessible disabled toilet in a public building

If you can help please contact the Parish Clerk ([email protected])

19/05/2026

The roundabout is back. Freshly renovated and with the bearings cleaned and greased it’s spinning beautifully.

Originally bought by the parish council in October 1933 for £34, 8 shillings and 9 pence (referred to then as a merry-go-round). We have found the original parish council minutes that show it was bought from Messrs Wicksteed & Co of Kettering and assembled on the park by a Mr Bates.

Interestingly it was agreed that the roundabout would be padlocked on Sundays and ash paths would be laid for access.

Wicksteed are still making playground equipment today, they opened Wicksteed Park in 1921 which is recognised as the birthplace of modern playgrounds. In fact our slide and main swings are also Wicksteed’s although we believe they are not quite as old as the roundabout.

Ironically history is repeating itself as in these same 1933 minutes the council move from discussing the new merry-go-round to the dangerous state of the swings (wooden back then). This mirrors our current predicament where we have a newly renovated roundabout but a corroding slide.

The earliest photo that the Little Eaton History Society has of the playground is from the 1950’s and the roundabout can be seen in its current location with the huge oak tree in the background.
The parish council are delighted to be able to give this roundabout a new lease of life and you’ll be pleased to know we have no intention of locking it up on Sundays! It would however be great if H&S rules would let us get away with laying ash paths, that would save us a fortune!

We will continue to renovate the playground through 2026 but we are doing as much of the work as we can ourselves, so that our limited funds can be directed towards new equipment and facilities. We appreciate your patience.

18/05/2026

The Annual Parish meeting takes place this Wednesday 20th May at 7pm. All are welcome to attend and hear about what we have achieved as a Parish Council this year and our plans for next year.