Latest news with #Irthlingborough
BBC News
07-07-2025
- BBC News
Nene Wetlands sand martin nests vandalism sets back wildlife plan
Police have appealed for information after vandals destroyed two bird nests and specially-created nesting artificial sand banks for sand martins were damaged at Nene Wetlands nature reserve in Irthlingborough, banks cost Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire Wildlife Trust £3,000 to build three years ago and conservationists were delighted when the birds started to nest there last vandals smashed panels off the bank and threw sand-filled nesting tubes in to a lake, which the trust has said "sets back our ambitions" to create a larger sand martin colony. Matt Johnson, the trust's conservation manager for Northamptonshire, said it had been "very distressing". "Disturbing a bird nest is a wildlife crime," he said."As a wildlife charity, we are here to create space for nature and protect species, so to have to deal with criminal behaviour and harm to birds in this way is quite shocking. "We hope those responsible will think very hard about what they've done and the loss of these beautiful birds to the Nene Wetlands."He said the trust would do its best to repair the damage, but it should be looking after different areas of the reserve martins were once rare at the wetlands, leading to the installation of the facilities at Otter Lake. The attack has been the latest in a spate of vandalism, with arsonists also twice recently targeting the site, according to the trust. PC Emerson Knights, from Northamptonshire Police's rural crime team, said the incident on 24 June was a "mindless act of criminal damage that has harmed defenceless birds and caused a lot of upset for trust staff and visitors". Sand martins fly from Africa to breed in Europe during the summer and feed on farmland and wetlands along rivers and lakes, according to the dig burrows in sandy cliffs, river banks and gravel pits to nest in. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
08-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Irthlingborough remembers on 80th anniversary of VE Day
Many faces of those who remember the end of World War Two have now gone, but communities across the UK - including in Northamptonshire - have been marking the 80th anniversary since guns fell silent in Irthlingborough, the stillness of the early morning was broken by the plaintive sound of bagpipes on Parsons strident tones of town crier John Farrar were then heard, delivering a VE Day 80 was pleased that "quite a lot of people have turned up - it shows that people are still remembering and are still interested and it means something to them". Among those watching the commemorations were two people who remembered how Irthlingborough marked the end of and Pamela Ward were aged eight and seven on 8 May 1945. Mrs Ward had found the war to be a frightening experience. She said: "We lived down Nicholas Road and there were all fields at the back. One day, they must have been doing an exercise and I thought the Germans had come."I was absolutely terrified. I remember my Mum drawing all the curtains so I needn't look." When the coming of the Germans was no longer a threat and peace came, streets across Irthlingborough were filled with happy Ward remembered "the older people putting trestles on the old green in Abington Road and they had newspaper cloths on the tables."They all brought out jelly, fish paste sandwiches and we had a big party. As kids, we really loved it." The unbridled joy of 1945 has given way to more reflective commemorations in 2025, but later on Thursday Irthlingborough residents are being treated to a fish and chip supper while listening to a singer and a of peace are also due to be lit and the Last Post will be sounded from the church tower, as a reminder of the sacrifices of the war and of people across the world still striving for mayor, Tracey Walton, said: "People have been saying that this one [anniversary] is probably going to be the most significant event for VE Day because we are losing our veterans now, so to be able to pass that on to our youngsters and make sure they carry that forward is really so important. It's part of who we are." Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
