Summer fun in Sutton on Sea to tackle elderly isolation
Activities will include carpet bowls, arts and crafts, quizzes, balloon volley ball, and a concert. There will also be trips out.Mr Collins said the idea for the annual event came about after churchgoers became aware of others who felt isolated.He added: "People find it a huge benefit."While there is no age restriction, organisers said activities will be tailored towards those aged over 70.Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
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BBC News
12 hours ago
- BBC News
'No hope' for Alford Windmill as volunteer group disbands
A volunteer group which had spent years campaigning for funding towards the restoration of a Lincolnshire windmill has disbanded after the "fight for its future was futile".Doug Robinson from the Alford Windmill Trust said he had experienced a "difficult and challenging" few months after £1.2m of government funding was withdrawn by East Lindsey District Council (ELDC).Councillor Graham Marsh from ELDC said some money was still available to fund the outbuildings at the site but the authority needed "a level of guarantee" the county council would fund the repairs of the County Council (LCC) said it was looking at "different options" for the windmills it owns. According to Mr Robinson, the windmill trust started four years ago and aimed to manage the windmill and outbuildings as a "thriving tourist attraction".ELDC had promised money for a new café, visitor centre and shop after the authority successfully received £1.2m of levelling up money had been allocated from an £8m government grant for the Lincolnshire Wolds Culture and Heritage December 2024 funding was withdrawn by ELDC. District Councillor Graham Marsh said funding was reallocated to Alford Manor House as the grant had to be spent by September said it became "quite clear" restoration work for the outbuildings at the site could not be completed in time. According to Marsh, £800,000 was still available to fund work on the outbuildings but the district council needed "level of guarantee" of funding from Lincolnshire County Council to repair the windmill. "Without a working windmill there, there is no prospect of that being a viable site," he said. In a joint statement, Councillor Natalie Oliver, LCC's portfolio holder for culture, and Councillor Liam Kelly, the authority's portfolio holder for property, said: "As a new leadership team, we've come into the council with a fresh pair of eyes and have asked officers to present the different options and costs associated with the various windmills owned by the county council. "Protecting our heritage assets is important, as is making sure we are using taxpayers' money to the best effect. We'll be considering the options for windmills at a meeting later in the year." 'No hope' Mr Robinson said the trust had explored "every avenue"."We've got to a stage that we can do no more," he said."There's no funding, there seems to be no hope."Mr Robinson said although the trust had disbanded, their doors were still open."Alford is about the windmill, everyone talks about the windmill," he said."We just hope the councils will come back to us with really good news."Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Telegraph
The offshore wind turbines destroying Britain's fishing trade
When Ken Bagley led a convoy of fishing boats into battle against the UK's first wind developers two decades ago, his hope was to save something of the fishing industry that had supported his family since the 1890s. Bagley's convoy sailed in front of the barges attempting to install the first turbines in the rich fishing grounds off Skegness, halting work and infuriating the contractors trying to kick-start Britain's entry into the world of green energy. 'They were installing that turbine into one of the richest mussel beds in the region, so I led 22 boats into the construction area and halted the work. We thought it was a great victory back then,' recalls Bagley, who is chairman of the Boston Fishermen's Association. Twenty years later, he sees it as a hollow victory: 'The wind farms are still stealing our fishing grounds from us.' Now aged 84, Bagley still fishes out of Boston harbour in Lincolnshire – as did his father and grandfather. His son and three nephews have followed their forefathers, each with their own boats. But where he used to steam daily up to the fishing grounds north of the Wash, hunting for cod, sole and whiting, he now motors out, waits for low tide and then hand-rakes the sand for cockles and other shellfish in the areas so far untouched by wind farms. 'We can't go into the areas between the turbines,' he says. 'If we towed our fishing gear through a wind farm we'd be snagging on something in no time. And with the tidal currents and winds we get round there it'd get really dangerous.' Around Britain's coast other fishermen tell similar stories of exclusion from fishing grounds where they and their forebears once reaped rich harvests. Their problem is that the same relatively shallow waters that are ideal for finding fish are also perfect for turbines – and the wind farm developers are taking over. In theory, fishermen are still allowed to fish between the turbines, but the threat of snagging or collision means few do. Back in the early 2000s there were only a handful of turbines in UK waters – the first two arrived in 2000 off the coast of Blyth in Northumberland. Since then, about 3,000 of the giant machines have been installed across nearly 50 wind farms that now cover thousands of square kilometres of ocean. The largest so far is Hornsea 2, which covers 462 square kilometres of the North Sea. Far larger ones are on the way: Dogger Bank, a joint venture between Equinor, Vårgrønn – both Norwegian – and SSE, is being built across a shallow area of the North Sea once among Europe's richest fishing grounds. It will cover around 1,300 square kilometres once complete. Construction is already destroying the local fishing industry, says James Cole, who fishes out of Whitby in Yorkshire. He's head of the Whitby Commercial Fishermen's Organisation. 'The cables being laid from Dogger Bank plus the carbon capture pipelines that are also being laid out to sea are hugely disruptive,' he says. 'We can't fish in areas where they are working but this is the crab and lobster season, which is the time when we earn most of our income. 'These foreign wind companies are just forcing British fishermen to move away from their traditional fishing grounds. We are being pushed around by big business and useless politicians.' Dogger Bank is, however, just a fraction of what is to come. The UK's 3,000 offshore turbines have a capacity of about 16 gigawatts – but last week Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, confirmed plans to triple that capacity by 2030 with even more by 2050. It means thousands more turbines, collectively driving Britain's fishermen into ever smaller areas. Livelihoods 'under threat' Mike Roach, deputy chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations, says: 'The greatest impact of offshore wind on fishing is displacement. There is an assumption that fisheries are infinitely relocatable, but the fish species we target do not exist everywhere.' If wind turbines built on the seabed are a threat, then the floating wind farms now being deployed will be a far bigger disaster for fishermen according to experts. Such machines are designed for waters too deep for conventional turbines. In theory they offer a way to encircle the entire British Isles with wind farms – with official maps showing planned construction already approaching this level. Elspeth Macdonald, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation, says each floating turbine will need to trail multiple mooring and power cables down the water column and between machines. 'These structures will be anchored to the seabed with complex and extensive subsurface infrastructure, which will make it impossible for mobile fishing gear – trawls et cetera – to fish within the windfarms,' Macdonald says. 'Fishing will be displaced to areas that are less productive, and there will be greater competition for space to fish.' A study by Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) published in March found that the majority of UK fishermen feel their livelihoods are being threatened by the rapid expansion of offshore wind, with the impact felt across all vessel sizes and fleet sectors. The key impacts included being pushed out of traditional fishing grounds, damage to nets and other gear from subsea cables, and the destruction of seabed habitats vital to their target species. 'Fishermen across all fleet sectors are experiencing social, wellbeing, and economic impacts from offshore wind developments,' says PML researcher Claire Szostek. 'While a small minority identified potential benefits, most fishermen feel their fishing grounds and livelihoods are under threat.' The economics of the two industries show why fishermen are struggling to be heard. The UK fishing industry, with 4,269 active vessels and employing over 6,800 fishermen in 2021, generated a turnover of £802m and a profit of £222m, the PML study found. That means it is already dwarfed by offshore wind, with trade body RenewableUK claiming the industry employs 55,000 people – and that number is set to increase. Such claims need to be treated with caution. Many of the jobs reported by RenewableUK will be temporary, linked to initial construction of wind farms, so once they are built some jobs are likely to fall away. Szostek emphasises that while offshore wind may exceed fisheries in monetary value, these figures omit the cultural heritage value of fisheries, which are vital to many coastal communities and important in fisheries policy development. Politicians 'know nothing' Stuart King, of West Coast Sea Products, based in Kirkcudbright, Scotland, runs five scallop fishing boats that operate around UK coasts, generating jobs for 135 people including 35 crew. He points out that the UK's fisheries minister, Daniel Zeichner, represents landlocked Cambridge. Zeichner's boss is Steve Reed, the Environment Secretary – who is MP for Streatham and Croydon North in south London, also far from the sea. 'Our politicians are making decisions about fishing based on nothing more than watching a David Attenborough documentary,' King says. 'They know nothing. Not only are we excluded from wind farms but there is a growing hazard from the cables taking power ashore. These are often covered in rocks and if we snag them it's a serious safety hazard. These cables are closing off large areas of our fishing grounds.' RenewableUK rejects such claims. Ana Musat, its policy director, said offshore developers worked collaboratively with the fishing industry to ensure fishing could continue. 'Offshore wind farms are specifically designed to enable coexistence,' she says. 'Where there are temporary disruptions to fishing, for example due to construction safety requirements, developers provide cooperation payments for loss of earnings. 'Offshore wind developers are always willing to listen and take on feedback.' One of the least expected problems could turn out to be among the most important. The massive armoured cables laid from wind farms to convey their power back to shore are not just a problem for fishermen, but potentially also for marine species. That's because, in the total darkness of the sea floor, many species rely on the Earth's magnetic field to navigate – but the powerful electrical currents passing through the cables generate far stronger fields. Scientists have reported some species like crabs becoming mesmerised, while some fish larvae become less active. Some fishermen see that as a metaphor for the behaviour of politicians, so obsessed with climate change and cutting emissions that they are destroying one of the most traditional of British industries. Bagley said: 'We are just being pushed out. We have to ask: where are we going to be able to fish? Everything is being taken off us.' A government spokesman said: 'We are working closely with the Crown Estate to ensure the seabed is strategically unlocked for offshore wind, while minimising impact on fishing. 'We are supporting the next generation of fishers with our £360m Fisheries and Coastal Growth Fund, alongside bringing thousands of skilled jobs to coastal towns through offshore wind projects.'
The Sun
3 days ago
- The Sun
Woman dies after getting into difficulty in sea off popular UK beach despite desperate rescue attempt
A WOMAN in her 60s has sadly died after a lifeboat rescued her from the sea. The RNLI raced to the scene as a major search was launched for the woman. An air ambulance also scrambled to Skegness beach in Lincolnshire. She was rescued from the water at about 5pm and brought back to shore yesterday. However Lincolnshire Police said she was unable to be saved and sadly died. A spokesperson from the RNLI confirmed a lifeboat was launched and CPR carried out on a person at the beach. Skegness has previously been referred to as a "vulgar hellhole" but now a £23 million development is set to upgrade the visitor experiences. The Lincolnshire town has been described as a "terrible place" with a "brown sea", even ranking among Britain's "worst" seaside towns. Which? Magazine readers voted it bottom of the poll of seaside resorts in 2023. The following year Skegness placed fifth, with only Bangor ranking lower. As part of the survey, 120 UK seaside towns were rated on various features such as the seafront, noise levels, food and drink, and shopping. Skegness scored just one star for its scenery and noise levels in both 2023 and 2024. It achieved a slightly higher two stars for its food and drink, shopping, and tourist attractions. And with a recent rail upgrade announced by East Midlands Railway (EMR), high-end transport is sure to become a draw for the area.
