oh what a night!

…and what a day as well, really!

While all you lovely readers have been merrily booking tickets on Eventbrite and Tweetvite or what have you, I have been contacting all our contributors to finalise schedules for the 27th (I should have final copy posted here by the middle of next week…)

Anyway, it has, for some time now, been an aim of ours to get the Leicestershire and Derbyshire Constabularies on board for the ConkerTU Local, because rural beats and more particularly county border beats ain’t what they used to be. Moreover, since the Forest Communities Pressure Group wants to explore optimising local resources with perhaps some combined fire and police service based in and around Moira - the fire station is, after all, open until at least other premises are built - as an exceedingly well situated resource, working towards such discussion seemed like a very good idea.

I must say, I could not have met any nicer people than the neighbourhood teams I spoke to today - huge shout outs for Officers Chris James and Trudie Bullick from Derbyshire and Pat McDonald in Leicestershire - all lovely “can do” folk :-) Both constabularies are thrilled at the idea of meeting at ConkerTU and are currently doing everything in their power to organise shifts so as to make this happen. Obviously we’re dependent on a match but it has been a delight to find the will to respond to local demand.

Not bad for a damp evening at the Oakthorpe Leisure Centre, not bad at all! And for future reference, it seems that the hot belly dancers who thrilled all at the Moira Canal Festival last summer rehearse in Oakthorpe on Tuesday nights (you heard it here first, shhhhhhh!).