EUROS AT THE READY

Brigg's continental (or European) market is continuing today in the Market Place, having opened for business yesterday.
There aren't as many stalls today as some of us expected to see, but there's certainly plenty of interesting produce on offer.
A few familiar Brigg Saturday market stalls are also mixed in with those playing host to the visitors.
Hopefully the two-day event will help keep the tills ringing in other town centre businesses, with visitors drawn to Brigg by the continental market also dropping in at other premises while they are here.
This is the second continental market of the year, and I spotted one of the important North Lincolnshire Council officers involved in running this sort of event touring the market early this morning.
We must now await the council's announcement (hopefully in the near future) about whether more are planned for 2009.

'LOCAL' DERBY

Brigg Town Cricket Club first teamers face their shortest away trip of the season tomorrow (Saturday)when they visit Townside Farm to take on East Halton – the only other North Lincolnshire team in the Hull-dominated East Yorkshire Alliance division three.
Only a handful of players on either side will be able to remember when Brigg and East Halton clashed regularly. And none of the present crop will be able to go back to the very first meetings between the clubs in 1975.
One of those games was also at the end of the season, and saw East Halton inch home by a couple of wickets in a tense finish.
In 1979, when Brigg won the Lincolnshire League division three championship by a very wide margin, they lost at East Halton, having posted 232 for seven.
The teams continued to meet quite often – in the Lincs League and then the Humberside Alliance into the early 1990s.
But it was not until this season that the clubs met up again, with Brigg joining the East Yorkshire competition.

DRACULA GOES UNDER HAMMER

Holy Cow Prince of Darkness . . . We’re Under The Hammer!
Thousands of pounds worth of fancy dress costumes and accessories . . . and a life-size model of Count Dracula . . . are to go under the hammer in Brigg this weekend following the collapse of a leading specialist company.
Party Animal, which was based on the High Street in Lincoln, went into liquidation last month. The firm both retailed and hired costumes, party gear, jokes and novelties.
The liquidators now handling the firm’s affairs have consigned the entire stock of the business – including a lorry load-and-a-half of fancy dress outfits – to auctioneers Brown & Co in Old Courts Road, Brigg. It will be sold off in a general auction on Saturday.
Auctioneer Craig Bewick (pictured) said: "The collapse of the firm is another sign of the tough economic times. I guess that when cash is short, parties and fancy dress outfits are amongst the first things to go. Party Animal was a very specialised business and unfortunately their size and high profile location was not enough to save them.
"A part of the firm’s stock has been reclaimed by suppliers but all the rest has been sent to us for disposal.
"We’ve got huge quantities of fancy dress outfits, ranging from Batman and Robin to ballerinas and Darth Vader. There was a strong cartoon and movie theme to the collection. Think of a major 20th century film and the chances are we’ve got costumes in here somewhere.
"We’ve also got all the ancillary bits and pieces such as hats, wigs, beards, moustaches, swords, Charlie Chaplin walking canes, you name it."
Craig added: "The quality of the costumes is extremely high and they are in very good condition. Some of these outfits would undoubtedly have cost hundreds of pounds when they were made.
"Whilst some costumes will be sold individually, for the most part we’ve grouped the outfits together in smallish collections. In all there are 60-70 lots. Prices will probably range from £10-20 up to £100 but there are no reserves and they will make what they make.
"We’re expecting the sell-off to attract a lot of interest, both from private buyers and fancy dress hire businesses. These things should provide a lot of fun and they are not going to break the bank.
"Undoubtedly the hardest thing to value ahead of the auction is the life-size model of Dracula that stood in the shop window. It would have cost hundreds of pounds to create but what it will make when it goes under the hammer is anybody’s guess.
"Will there be any interest? You bet! Statues of the Prince of Darkness don’t come up for auction every day."
In all the sale extends to 750 lots and includes good quality jewellery, silver and china sections, as well as both antique and contemporary furniture.
The viewing sessions are tomorrow (Friday) 2pm-7pm) and on Saturday from 8.30am until the start of the sale at 10am.
Catalogues are available from Brown & Co or can be downloaded from the firm’s website: www.brown-co.com free of charge.
For further information contact Fred Kirkby/Craig Bewick at Brown & Co. Tel(01652) 650172 or email fred.kirkby@brown-co.com OR craig.bewick@brown-co.com

HEALTHY OFFERING

Health professionals will be taking over the bandstand in Brigg Market Place tomorrow (Thursday) to publicise some important key health messages to the local community they serve, and to celebrate 60 years of the National Health Service.
From 10am to 2pm, health visitors from the Brigg and Kirton Team will be on hand to meet the public and share information and good practice on a number of health-related topics.
The event will focus on the themes Healthier Me, Healthier Homes and Healthier Communities - and information will relate to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer awareness, and emotional health.
Healthcare professionals will be there to offer advice and assistance and there will be free blood pressure checks, free fruit and a skipping challenge for the children. Information and advice will also be available on the NHS Choose and Book initiative.
Humberside Police and Humberside Fire and Rescue Service will also have an input, together with many other agencies including the Community Dental Service, Stop Smoking Service, Independent Living, and Safer Neighbourhoods.
A member of the Health Visiting Team said: "This is an excellent opportunity for local people to pop along, while out shopping or visiting the weekly market, to meet members of their primary health care team on an informal basis, and have a chat about some important health care topics.
"Our main aim is to listen to any concerns the public might have and to offer advice, sign-posting them to relevant agencies where appropriate. We have chosen Thursdays because its market day and lots of people are out and about.
"We really would encourage people to come along and visit us and make the best use of this innovative approach to health care."
For further information contact Phil West on (01652) 251100.

ROCKING AND ROLLING

Friday (Aug 29) sees the latest 1950s rock and roll night being staged at Brigg's Ancholme Inn, Grammar School Road (7.30pm-late).
The Bobcats provide the entertainment, and there will be a Record Hop. The cost is £6 on the door; for further details contact Pete Boston on 07517868903.

LAST ONE OUT PLEASE SWITCH OFF LIGHTS

Residents on certain Brigg streets woke up this morning to find their street lights still switched on.
The affected area includes all, or part, of Yarborough Road, Burgess Road, Churchill Avenue, Kennedy Close, St Helen's Road and O'Hanlon Avenue.
Hopefully it's only a temporary blot on North Lincolnshire Council's carbon footprint but, being bank holiday when most council staff are not at their desks, maybe the problem won't be resolved today.

MORE OIL IN THEM THERE HILLS?

Will the Brigg area ever by revisited by the large energy exploration companies?
Some 20 to 30 years ago there were several applications for licenses to survey the district, in the hope of finding oil or gas deposits.
And now their prices seem to be going through the roof, would it be worth having a second look at raw materials underground, and on our own doorstep?
For a number of years there was an oil well (with Nodding Donkey pumps) not far from Brigg’s Bigby High Road – on the road to Howsham.
Other wells have provided good returns outside Lincoln and Gainsborough.
So clearly Lincolnshire’s geology has the potential to save the country paying through the nose on the world market.
However it’s never as easy as it seems to the layman. Which is why, as Yellowbellies, we have massive deposits of iron ore and coal under our feet but it’s somehow economic to ship such raw materials from the other side of the world to Immingham and then transport them by rail to Scunthorpe (via Barnetby) and the power stations in Nottingham (via the Brigg line).
Only the other day the national press carried a story about an Indian steel giant, with British interests, buying its own ironstone mine in Brazil.
Meanwhile, Lincolnshire has lots of remaining ore in the Lincolnshire Wolds and north of Scunthorpe. Low grade – but surely a commodity worth bringing to the surface, rather than shipping higher quality stuff half way round the world.
To borrow a phrase from Pte Frazer on Dad’s Army: “Pure folly!”

CROSSED WIRES

Hearing how Brigg Town Cricket Club members spent a very depressing and sunny August Saturday without either of their scheduled matches taking place brought back memories of similar sporting mishaps.
The cricket club called off its second team away match because of a shortage of players, only to find the team due to visit Brigg the same day had also defaulted on the fixture but failed to inform anyone.
So Brigg could quite easily have fulfilled the second team game…if they had known Hull YPI weren’t going to arrive at the Rec Ground for the first team fixture.
Back in the late 1970s, Brigg Town CC formed a second team on the eve of the season and took over the fixtures of Crowle in the North Lindsey League, as they felt unable to raise a side.
A few weeks into the season, Brigg’s players, and the umpires, were at the Recreation Ground, awaiting the arrival of the Holy Trinity team from Gainsborough.
A good hour after the scheduled start time, and just as everyone was getting ready to set off home, upset Holy Trinity arrived to reveal they had been to Crowle because no-one in the league had told them that Brigg had taken over Crowle’s fixtures!
A few years later, Brigg Hockey Club’s 4th X1 travelled to Woodhall Spa for a Saturday friendly, when matches at that level were still being contested on grass.
Meanwhile, the opposition had driven over to Brigg, as their fixture list gave The Rec as the venue.
Somewhere, in mid-Lincs, the two sets of travelling players must have met each other.
After phone calls were exchanged, it was agreed the match would be played at Woodhall, so their team drove all the way back home.
There was time for little more than half a match before conditions got too dark and the match had to be abandoned.
Just as well we didn’t have to consider the carbon footprint back then!

WALK ON BY

Having decided to burn off a few pounds by taking a rare afternoon cross-country walk, it was a pleasant surprise to find the public footpath to Wrawby, off Brigg’s Churchill Avenue, in very good order, with the grass neatly cut.
After going over the small bridge and past the farmers’ drainage pond, I decided to head off over the fields to Kettleby Lane, in Wrawby, using a public right of way which sees much less use than the main public footpath which leads to Tong’s Farm, and comes out on the hill not far from ‘Jollies’ pub.
Doing so also reduced the considerable temptation to stop off for a pint on a hot day!
The cross-field path was well-kept for some distance, but, eventually I found myself having to cross someone’s garden, near to Kettleby Lane, Wrawby.
And that final section was not very clearly marked, although the woman in the bungalow suggested it was a matter of following a straight line between the markers.
That made sense…but only if you can see both yellow marker signs, or are familiar with the track, which I wasn’t!
Once on Kettleby Lane, it was a question of continuing downhill and over the level crossing to meet up with the A1084 and then walk back to Brigg, passing the garden centre which was enjoying its usual good trade, including a bus-load from the Grimsby area.
A slight detour off the route took me along an uphill track - recently excavated, it would seem, to allow Network Rail to attend to drainage issues alongside the newly-renovated line through Brigg.
The only unfortunate thing about walking this route is the absence of a proper footpath alongside the road near Kettleby crossing, and along the very busy A1084, until you reach the garden centre.
That means either walking on very uneven grass verges or using the side of the road but having to keep side-stepping on to the grass every time a vehicle is approaching – and there are lots of them.

SPECULATE TO ACCUMULATE?

If the number of bookings for sit-down receptions increases, Brigg Town Council may consider installing a dishwasher in the Angel Suite. The situation is to be reviewed next month.

DON'T MENTION THE WAR!

There’s still time for a last look at Brigg’s Pingley Camp.
Work on demolishing buildings at the former Italian and German prisoner-of-war camp cannot start until next month.
However, a sign has already gone up advertising the executive homes which are to be built on part of the huge site.
If you do pop down for a look, do so from the road and don’t be tempted to go round the buildings, which are in a very decayed state.
Better safe than sorry!
If you want to get a good view, take the public footpath which runs off Bigby High Road – it offers a good look from the side and back of the old camp, where many captured soldiers were housed during the Second World War.

PLENTY TO SHOUT ABOUT

Coun Nigel Sherwood has been in touch with an answer about whether there are rules about market traders shouting out information about their wares in North Lincolnshire - an issue raised earlier this week in Brigg Blog.
He has checked with officials, and it's permitted for traders to shout out only on Saturdays - after lunch-time.
So that's the mystery solved for those of us who visit Brigg market.

KEEPING QUIET

The current story in many of the national newspapers about Hexham market, in the North East, begs a few questions about Brigg.
Hexham, like us, has sported a market for 800-plus years. But, up there, they are now cutting back on the amount of shouting stall-holders are allowed to do in an effort to sell their wares to passers-by.
Do we have shouting by stall-holders at Brigg's Thursday and Saturday markets? And if not, why not?
Go round Scunthorpe's covered market and you hearing shouting from behind some of the counters. Especially when closing time is drawing near.
Coun Nigel Sherwood, who represents Brigg on North Lincolnshire Council, is involved in market trader liaison for the council, so maybe he can enlighted us about shouting, and say whether it's ever heard in Brigg, and reveal whether his authority has any rules about it.
Last, but not least, is shouting something to be encouraged, allowed or discouraged at the monthly Brigg farmers' markets, or the continental market coming up next week?

CLAD ALL OVER

Have you noticed the walls of the Spring's Parade shops/offices are seemingly being re-rendered?
Back in the early 1980s there was a lot of excitement when it was announced one of the buildings which survived the felling of Spring's factory would be converted for retail use. It attracted some new firms to the town, and created a few jobs along the way.

STEAMING BACK IN TIME

Memories of trainspotting days at Bigby Park (these days, the Davy Memorial Playing Field) came flooding back the other day during a walk down King's Avenue. The crossing gates were across, in readiness for the arrival of the freight train. Back in the mid-1960s we would suspend our games of cricket, or football, to dash up the bank, onto Bigby Road, and watch a B1 4-6-0, WD 2-8-0 or 9F 2-10-0 chuff by. If it was a diesel-hauled train there would be hoots of derision. I haven't spotted any young trainspotters since we got regular trains back through Brigg. But that's not to say there aren't any. However powerful, the modern Class 66 diesels do not have the same appeal as the motive power of the steam era.

MORE THAN 500 TAKING PART

A big summer football tournament is being organised by Brigg Town Juniors FC on the Sir John Nelthorpe School playing field.
Now in its third year, the event will cater for age groups under-nine through to under-16. Some 576 youngsters will be taking part, approximately 100 of whom belong to Brigg Town teams alone! There will be just as many enthusiastic family members present watching the youngsters in action.
Saturday, August 30 will see the under nine, 10, 12 and 13s playing, while the following day will see the under-11s, 14s, 15s and 16s taking to the field.
The action starts at 10am, running through to approximtely 4pm on both days.
Spokesman Paddy Ellis said: "Entry for the watching public is completely free and there will be food, hot and cold drinks, ice cream and a team/action photographer.
"Anyone willing to give a hand with numerous tasks on the two days - car parking, registrations, refereeing, etc will be more than welcome. Just turn up on the day from 8am onwards.
"Brigg Town Football Club is the most senior and well-established organisation in the area. We offer excellent coaching of young boys and girls, from the ages of seven right through to 18, and give them the chance to play competitive football in well-established leagues in and around not only the Scunthorpe area but also the Grimsby leagues."
If you are between these ages and are interested in playing football, or if you are a budding coach and wish to get involved in junior football, contact Paddy Ellis on 07889443248.

NOT OUR QUIETEST

The police helicopter circling Brigg in the early hours of today, plus the freight trains rumbling by, hardly made for the most peaceful night's sleep.
On a previous occasion, some months ago, the police 'copter was reported to be looking for poachers near Cadney Road. But, at present, I can't give you the reason for last night's visit.
Anyone have any thoughts?

WORTH CONSIDERING

When Brigg's town centre public seats are repaired, perhaps it will be possible to include one or two others a little further afield.
There's one outside the cemetery on Wrawby Road (adjacent to the bus shelter) which no-one would dare sit on, for fear of it collapsing under them.
The town council has agreed to give North Lincolnshire Council - responsible for town centre 'street furniture - about £2,000 for the unitary authority to carry out repairs and replacements. But it's not just the main streets, and the riverside, where seats are in need of some improvement.

BREAD AND BUTTER DECISION

Planning permission has been granted to Cooplands, the bakers, for alterations to an existing shop, including new shop front, at 70 Wrawby Street - the former Shoefayre premises.
The go-ahead was given by North Lincolnshire Council planning officers.
The former shoe shop is currently being converted, with Cooplands moving across the road from their current town centre premises, now being advertised for re-use to another retail concern.

ANYONE FOR TENNIS?

Down at the Rec Ground on Sunday afternoon I was approached by a woman! No, not what you might be thinking, she was a former resident, now living away, who had come down with a youngster interested in a game of tennis.
She wanted to know why the grass courts had been removed, and why the adjoining hard-surface ones were not in use.
Like many of us, she could remember the time when you could turn up 'on spec' at the old farmhouse, where the groundsman lived, and book a court, there and then.
I explained that, due to vandalism, North Lincolnshire Council no longer considered it economic to keep the remaining courts in good order.
She was interested in the grand plans to revamp the entire Rec Ground, although I expressed doubts it would ever happen.
She seemed disappointed to learn Brigg's remaining courts at Sir John Nelthorpe School are not available for public hire.
In the days of Brigg Urban District Council (pre-1974)the Rec Ground offered football, cricket (on a good quality, well-tended square), putting and tennis (hard surface and grass). You could hire gear, there and then, and there was even a shop serving ice cream, soft drinks and sweets.
That was all run by a very small council. Since then we have been through the era of Glanford Borough Council (which at least built the new changing room block) into the current ownership of North Lincolnshire Council (1996 onwards).
No tennis any more, no putting, no shop and no facility to book your games on-site, just by turning up if you and a few friends fancy a spot of healthy exercise.
Remembering the Rec Ground as it was years ago, Sunday's lady visitor seemed unimpressed by what she found on her return visit. Do you blame her?

HANG ON TO OUR PHONE BOXES

Andrew Percy, Brigg and Goole's Prospective Conservative MP, makes an interesting point in his latest emailed newsletter, under the heading: No More Phone Boxes?
"It seems like everyone has mobile phones nowadays, but that doesn't mean that no-one needs phone boxes anymore," he says. "Especially when they are the traditional red boxes which are such a great symbol of Britain.
"Unfortunately, BT is starting to remove more and more of them. I'm letting local people know about some of the ways they can try and save the phone boxes in their villages, such as applying for heritage status. If there's one near you that you think might be in danger, let me know."
That's a fair point made by Andrew. But does he realise that when the public phone box at the top of King's Avenue, Brigg, was removed, the first our town councillors knew about it was when this Blog tipped them off?
I seem to recall the red post box in the Market Place being afforded listed status some years ago, but as BT has long removed most of the old-fashioned ones and replaced them with the modern silver-coloured variety, there's no chance of any of them being made listed structures. Which makes their removal all the more likely.
BT, of course, is a business. And if phone boxes take very little income but still need maintaining and repairing (if vandals have struck) you can't blame the company for reviewing the situation.
However, if it wants to get rid of any more in our town, it should ensure Brigg Town Council and North Lincolnshire Council are informed, so our elected representatives can let the public know - and fight the plans, if that's thought necessary.
If you want to get in touch with Andrew Percy's newsletter, the email is
newsletter@andrewpercy.org

MINER LEAGUE OPPONENTS?

Brigg Town Cricket Club 2nds are in action at Brigg Rec this afternoon, as they continue their battle to lift the East Yorkshire League division four title.
Providing opposition will be the interestingly-named Hull Ionians Coal Exporters 3rds.
The match starts at 1.30pm, and we gather the Brigg side will be captained by wicketkeeper/batsman Paul 'Azzer' Harrison, standing in for Phil Dewfall.

GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

Although Brigg Town Cricket Club has been going continuously since 1974, local amateur football teams have not generally been long-running, with the exception of stalwart Geordie Fox's Brigg Servicemen FC and Adrian Gibbons' Briggensians (in more recent times). Brigg Town FC, of course, are on a different level.
Brigg Amateurs could once boast three Saturday teams, and Wrawby Athletic used to play their home games at Brigg Rec.
Sundays saw (at varying times) Ancholme Wanderers, Brigg Royales, Ancholme Valley Royals, Black Bull, White Hart and Falcon Cycles. Perhaps you can add a few more to that list.
Back in the mid-1980s, derby matches between Black Bull/Ancholme Valley Royals and Falcon were fiercely contested, with the Cyclemen always on top...if only narrowly.
Can anyone recall whether Bowness and Gray were a Saturday or Sunday side in the 1960s? I seem to recall they played in claret and blue, as worn by West Ham and Aston Villa, among others.

A BIT OF A STINK

Sometimes seemingly trivial items come up for discussion by Brigg's elected representatives and provoke heated responses.
Such was the case at a recent meeting of the town council's property and services committee when Provision of a Nappy-changing Table ended up on the list.
Councillors heard someone using the Angel Suite had pointed out there was no set-aside area for nappy-changing of babies by those attending functions and events.
The town council has had to spend a lot of money on the Angel Suite in the past couple of years, meeting all the requirements on health and safety and disabled access (including proper signs) and even getting the lift repaired.
So when Coun Jenny Bell saw the cost of a wall-mounted changing table 'would be £150 upwards' that proved to be the last straw. She felt the table to be totally uneccessary expenditure and a waste of money.
However, others pointed out the council was keen to stress the Angel's Suite's suitability to hire for family functions, so proper changing facilities were necessary.
And Coun Jackie Brock successfully proposed the town clerk, Jeanette Woollard, should be authorised to buy 'a basic model' to be fitted to the wall in the disabled toilet. Her suggestion was seconded by Coun Ben Nobbs, and was carried by five votes to two.
Perhaps, in view of the item under discussion, the official council phrase 'MOTION CARRIED' has rarely been more appropriate!

TRAIN OF THOUGHT

The railway line through Brigg - recently given an expensive upgrade - is now taking diverted freight trains morning, noon and night (but mostly evenings, it seems).
They would have taken the Barnetby-Lincoln line but the city's railway infrastructure is currently being revamped.
If you live not far from the Brigg line, as many of us do, the heavy trains rumbling by wake you up, from time to time. But, then again, the line's been there since 1848...and we knew we were moving near it when we took out our mortgages.

HAWAY THE LADS

Brigg Town Cricket Club's annual tour took the boys, and a few guest players, to the north-east, where matches included one against Bedlington - perhaps more famous for its footie team The Terriers. Our picture shows Brigg batsman Ollie Reid in action.
Full tour details, with a team picture, will appear in my Scunthorpe Telegraph's Tuesday In A Spin cricket column, courtesy of all-rounder and tour organiser Jack Richards.

WATER REFLECTIONS

Brigg Town Council's decision to look into refurbishing the town's communal pumps, which survive in Grammar School Road South and on Bridge, Street, interested Blog reader Ken Harrison.
He says St Helen's Well is a Victorian ediface (in a field between Brigg and Wrawby) to which access can be gained via a local farmer, and it's interior is tiled!
Ken adds: "I believe the water pumps were the communal outlets from St Helen's Well. Water was gravity-piped to these pumps - plus a tap in the graveyard. I think the graveyard's supply pipe burst in the 1930s and caused severe flooding. Beneath these pumps, I understand, are water tanks, which are waterproofed from the water-table's ground water, from which water is obviously pumped. I understand that the more excutive homes in Brigg were piped directly from St Helen's Well.
"Fresh water for a time helped to improve health conditions..but very quickly the below-ground tanks were contaminated with overflowing sewage (the poorer houses did not have any effective drains) and water-borne diseases affected the population of Brigg.
"The pumps were no longer used and in time St Helen's Well ceased to function as Brigg's water supply.
"In contrast, the well for Sargeant's Brewery (located beneath an iron lid in the passage between the brewery tower and the brewery manager's house and now protected by a metal entrance gate) drew water from the high water table.
"Any contamination of this water was eradicated during the brewing process.
"Here endeth me local history lesson on the water pumps and the like...

HERE AT LAST

Bus timetables have now been put up in the glass display cases at the main Cary Lane stop in Brigg, and will prove a big help to travellers who have been without a direct source of information for a long time.

TASTY OFFERING

Fresh Start's visitors will be joining residents of Tennyson Close, off Albert Street, today for a coffee morning, followed by a fish and chip lunch and afternoon bingo. The fun starts at 11am.
Serving the over-50s, Fresh Start's Tuesday craft group has now finished for the summer, as has the Brigg Writers' Group.

LET'S GET BACK ON TRACK

What on earth has happened to our new cycle lanes?
Twice, in recent months, we've had updates from North Lincolnshire Council suggesting the safety features were coming on Bridge Street, Brigg, and Scawby Road, Scawby Brook.
On the second occasion there was even talk of a new zebra crossing outside the leisure centre.
But the cycle lanes have yet to appear. And if the powers-that-be don't hurry up, the best of the cycling weather will have gone, and we will be into autumn.
Maybe someone can enlighted us on exactly what has put a spoke in the wheel of this development.

DID HORSE REALLY DRINK IN WOOLIE?

It's passed into Brigg folklore, but some people claim to have been there, or know someone who was.
That's the famous occasion when travellers led one of their horses into the Woolpack Inn, through the rear of the premises, on horse fair day. It didn't do the carpet any good!
Certainly the fair was held near The Woolie for some years (1980s?), on the stockmarket site. A great story, but is it true? If you have any information, or views, please email nigel.fisher@gsmg.co.uk
Just a reminder there's an extra attraction if you are popping into the town centre on Thursday.
To get us in the mood for tomorrow's horse fair, here's a picture from our archives showing one about 20 years ago, when the venue was the old stockmarket, off Cary Lane (where Tesco's store now stands). On the left are two well-known Brigg lads, 'Fitz' and 'Tank' Driscoll. In the distance is the rear entrance to the Woolpack, but there's no suggestion this was the horse taken inside for a cooling drink!

HORSES FOR COURSES

Seeing travellers/gypsies parading their horse-drawn buggies through Brigg in recent days will have reminded many townsfolk of 'oss fairs past.
We are expecting Tuesday (August 5) to be the date chosen by the travellers for this year's buying and selling spectacle in Station Road (mid-morning onwards).
In the Telegraph archives there are super images of horse fairs in bygone days - some held outside the White Horse Inn (on Wrawby Street).
A few years ago, Brigg Amateur Social Historians (BASH) had some of these pictures enlarged and used them in an exhibition at the White Horse, which proved very popular.
The travelling community went along and one or two (then middle-aged men) spotted themselves (as boys) in the images from the early 1970s.

SPACED OUT

A space, or piece of punctuation in a sentence, can make all the difference in the world to the meaning, as an item at Brigg Town Council’s meeting in the Angel Suite demonstrated this week.
Councillors were discussing who might attend the forthcoming Action for Market Towns National Convention. It was left with interested members to contact the clerk afterwards, if they wanted to go.
I came away with the impression ANYONE from the councillors' ranks could put their name down. Or did the person who drafted the motion actually mean ANY ONE (note the space between the words).
Splitting hairs, I know, but the first definition could mean as many as 19 councillors putting their names down to go; the second would mean only one of them might do so.
I don’t suppose for one minute the town clerk has had a stampede of members wishing to attend. We will endeavour to find out if anyone has, and let you know who.
It is anticipated the Town Mayor, Coun Mike Campion, will be representing the town at this important get-together of people from similar towns round the UK.
The convention is in Skipton, North Yorkshire, on October 1 and 2.
Brigg Town Council is intending to take advantage of major discounts available through the Early Bird booking scheme.
The costs, inclusive of convention, dinner and one night’s
accommodation are:

* Action for Market Towns member £285
* Non-member £425
* Early Bird discount £175
* Additional nights available at £80.

Convention only - two-day passes
* AMT member- £220
* AMT member - Early Bird - £95
* Non-member - £360

Convention only - one-day pass
* AMT member £120
* AMT member - Early Bird - £60
* Non-member £190

Study tours available to delegates include:
* On the waterfront - regeneration of Skipton’s
Canal.
* Market Towns Going Green
* New uses for old buildings, promoting town vitality:
the Broughton Hall business park
* Art in a Cattle Mart; making the arts work for the
town
* How large businesses can work in small towns -
Skipton Building Society
* Snapshot of Yorkshire and Humber Market Town
Renaissance.

Workshops available to delegates include:
* Smarter working: developing your partnership’s
skills
* What makes an effective town partnership
* New ways of delivering affordable housing
* Get healthy: The nine-month programme for a fitter
town
* Prosperous business, prosperous towns: How
healthy business, retail and services lead to
vibrant town centres
* Working smartly to deliver cost-effective rural
services
* Making the most of technology
* Car parking: Making it work for your town.

That last one - about car parking - will certainly interest whoever goes from Brigg. For North Lincolnshire Council's re-imposition of car parking charges has become a major political 'hot potato'. We also have a problem with on-street parking in many areas in, and near, the town centre, resulting from charges being brought in.