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7th May

Bulwick VE Day Celebrations will be flying high

The Bulwick Belles are delighted to welcome the Tiger Club Turbulent Display Team who will be performing their amazing aerial display over Bulwick at 2.30pm. The team of four is led by Alan Garside and he is backed up by pilots Julie Garside, Colyn Randal and Richard Meredith.

The Tiger Club based at Headcorn in Kent encourages all forms of sporting flying and offers tail wheel aircraft to widen a pilots experience. The pilots are all amateurs in the pure sense of flying for fun but their display is highly professional in execution and great fun to watch.

The planes being flown on Saturday are Turbulent Druine D31’s designed in France during the 1950’s and then produced by Rollason aircraft from 1958 onward. The Tiger Club bought several and have used them ever since for fun and display flying. The Turblulents are truly light aircraft, the empty weight is 400 Lbs similar to a large motor bike. Powered by VW Beetle engines of 1600 cc the plane is highly manoeuvrable. The wing span is only 14 feet and the speed range is from 40 to 110 knots.

The Tiger Turbulent Team Aircraft

The first Tiger Club Turbulent Team display was in August 1959 at Fairoaks and the team has been a regular part of the display circuit ever since. The number of aircraft has varied from between three to nine and they have performed all over the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Ireland.

The Druine D31 Turbulent was designed by Roger Druine, a French aircraft designer during the 1950's. Rollason Aircraft took up the design and after some modifications started to produce the aircraft in 1958, many of these were given to the Tiger Club. The Club immediately started using them for formation and stunt flying due to their splendid manoeuvrability. At an empty weight of 400lbs the Turbulent weighs little more than a large motorbike. Each Turbulent acquires its own unique colour scheme.

G-APVZ The Red Turb

This aircraft was restored to perfect condition over the past 3 years and is flying with the Team for the first time in the 2008 season.

When work was being done the opportunity was taken to make the instrument panel a little higher which makes it easier for pilots with long legs to get in and out.

G-ARMZ The Yellow Turb

This aircraft flew for the first time in 10 years in 1998 after having been found by a Club member in Lincolnshire in 1996. It had an eventful early life having only completed 17 flying hours when a Jodel taxiied into it and it required a new fuselage before flying again. RMZ was operated by the Tiger Club for some years before Rollasons the manufacturers sold it to its new owner Mr. N. Minchin at Fairoaks, Surrey.

John Day at Chessington rebuilt the aircraft in a year and it is again part of the team it flew with over twenty five years ago. It also sports its original colour scheme and was bought by the Tiger Club in August 2005 from Club members John Mickleburgh and David Clark.

G-ARGZ The Light Blue Turb

First flown in March 1961 it was with the Tiger Club for a couple of years before being sold and moving to Biggin Hill in 1963. The aircraft re-appeared at Redhill in the early 80's when John Watkins bought it and flew with the Turbulent Team, it was painted yellow and black at the time. It was then sold again and ended up at the back of Rochester's hangar after an accident. The wreck was bought and moved down to Devon and rebuilt before the Club purchased RGZ again in 1998.

15th April

Bulwick VE Day Celebrations are getting into full swing!

Preparations for the VE Day Celebrations in Bulwick are well and truly hotting up! We’ve now got some fantastic new additions to the day’s line up including the attendance of This Breed of Men re-enactment group and the famous Forties Family. Both will be in full costume and are bringing lots of fascinating memorabilia and genuine 1940’s equipment including a 1942 Bedford OY canvas backed military lorry, period civvy and military bicycles and some jeeps.

Thanks to the generosity of Mr Howard Buchanan we will also have a genuine 1939 Rover Tickford drophead coupe built in the Salmons works at Newport Pagnell (now the Aston Martin Service Dept.) to the special order of Colonel R.B.S. Reford of Hawley Lodge,Blackwater,Surrey.

We are also delighted that we will be joined by the Crown Court of Corby Carnival - Queen Megan, Princess Kerrie-Ann and Princess Megan. They will be arriving at 12.30 in full ceremonial dress and as well as mingling and selling our commemorative newspapers, they will also be at the children’s tea party and helping to judge the best children’s fancy dress competition.

Following Winston Churchill’s speech to the nation at 3pm the bells in St Nicholas’ church will ring replicating the events of VE Day when church bells were rung following the Prime Minister’s speech for the first time since the war began.

We’ve also got a traditional ice cream van provided by Rossi’s Ice Cream and a dedicated children’s party at 2pm with lots of activities provided. You will need to pre-book your child’s place at the tea party on arrival and it is open to 4 to 10 year olds at £3 a head. Children must be supervised by parents but there will be lots of games to play with a delicious afternoon tea and a hat making competition. We even have a face painter in residence for the afternoon.

If you live in the village then dig out your best bunting and balloons as Local Living (publishers of Stamford Living, Nene Valley Living, and Rutland & Market Harborough Living) are sponsoring a Best Decorated House competition with a bottle of champagne on offer for the winner - definitely the day to keep up with the Jones’!

And for those of us who have someone special they would like to remember we will be holding a memorial balloon release at 4pm. Visitors will be able to purchase a red helium balloon and write a message on the tag for a lost loved one and release into the sky.

To help us raise more money for The British Legion we will be running two traditional Tombolos as well as a raffle. So far the raffle prizes include 2 tickets to Dad’s Army showing at the Key Theatre in Peterborough, a Merry Wives programme signed by Dame Judi Dench, a selection of theatre flyers signed by Penelope Keith and an authentic 1945 newspaper. We are getting new prizes in every day so it is definitely worth buying a ticket or three on the day.

As word has spread about the VE Day Celebrations the number of stalls is increasing. We now have The British Legion and WI stalls, as well as a range of delicious preserves from The Pickled Village, a memorabilia stall, a sweet and toffee apple stall, a plant stall, and a stall selling beautifully decorated cards. And if you own chickens then you will love our posh chicken house stall! We still have a couple of spots available so if you would like to join us then do please get in.

And don’t forget we have the Red Hot Chilli’s Band and the String of Pearls choir providing entertainment throughout the afternoon, we also have DJ David to make sure that the swinging sounds never stop! The Queens Head will be running an outside bar to ensure you don’t get thirsty and DDW Catering of Weldon will keep you well fed with their traditional Hot Pork Rolls. If you fancy something a little more refined, Camille from Bulwick Village Stores is also running a “Tea on the Green” behind the store.

And for those who are interested in what Bulwick was like in 1945 we have been busy interviewing locals on their personal experiences of the war and VE Day and you will be able to see and hear for yourself what it was like in our Photography Exhibition in the Village Hall. If you have any stories you would like to tell us or pictures that we can display then we would love to hear from you.

Keep your eyes open for the Corby Carnival girls selling our commemorative newspaper The VE Day News Advertiser. As well as a programme of the day’s events and a map of the village showing you where everything is you will also be able to read all about rationing, life in the war, 1940’s housewife tips and laugh and the good old fashioned humour of the day.

We also have some fantastic games for you to play including Coconut Shy, Hoopla, Hook a Duck and Sponge Stocks so make sure you try your skill and luck for a chance to win some great prizes. The village will also be home to some genuine vintage military vehicles for the afternoon.

So as you can see it will be a fantastic day out for all the family as well as helping us to raise much needed funds for The British Legion who work tirelessly to provide financial, social and emotional support to millions who have served - and are currently serving - in the Armed Forces, and their dependants. For further information on The British Legion visit www.britishlegion.org.uk.

1st March

Bulwick VE Day Celebrations

The Bulwick Belles invite you to roll back the years to 1945 and commemorate VE Day and the end of World War II. From midday to 6pm on Saturday 10th May, Bulwick Village will go back in time to celebrate this momentous occasion with a traditional street party and an afternoon of good old-fashioned entertainment.

Entry to the event is £1 and DDW Catering Ltd of Weldon will be selling traditional Hot Pork Rolls and an outside bar will be run by the local pub, The Queens Head. Entertainment will be provided by popular Weldon choir String of Pearls who will serenade us with all the old sing-a-long classics and we will also have traditional big band music by the Red Hot Chili's Band to really get visitors into the swing of things! In addition, DJ David will ensure that all the big hits of the 1940's will be played throughout the afternoon.

Time-honoured games such as Coconut Shy, Hoopla Hook a Duck and Sponge Stocks will be there as well as stalls set up throughout the village selling everything from lemonade and cakes to toffee apples and boiled sweets. We will have stalls from the The British Legion, the Women's Institute and a preserve stall from the Bulwick Village Store. Also taking place during the afternoon will be a Tea on the Green. We will be holding an auction with some fantastic prizes along with a Tombola where you can win some ‘post war’ goodies. Even Winston Churchill will be putting in a special appearance and you will be able to hear his speech to the nation at 3pm. Old village photography and interviews with local villagers on their personal VE Day experiences will be exhibited in the Village Hall. Parking will be available in Bulwick Park and access to the village will be limited.

Helping to take us back to 1945 will be a display of Vintage Military Vehicles and a traditional Green Goddess. We will also be having a fancy dress competition so please feel free to come dressed in your best forties finery to really help bring our VE Day celebrations to life! If you live in the village we will also be having a competition for the best decorated house.

Money raised from the event will be donated to The British Legion which provides financial, social and emotional support to millions who have served - and are currently serving - in the Armed Forces, and their dependants. For further information on The British Legion visit www.britishlegion.org.uk.

1st February

Burn’s Night Supper

The Bulwick Belles raised over £600 for Labrador Rescue at their Burn’s Night Supper held at Bulwick Village Hall on Saturday 25th January. Guests were greeted by a Scottish piper and black Labradors Fern and Belle on arrival before enjoying a three course traditional Burn’s Night Supper.