Latest news with #Tiptree
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
'Outstanding' Tiptree childminder helps children 'flourish and thrive' says report
A CHILDMINDER says it was an incredible moment to receive the highest grade possible from a government watchdog. Melissa Ford, 38, of Tiptree, runs Mel's Childminding, which has been rated overall outstanding in an Ofsted report published this month. The inspection took place on July 8 and saw the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management categories all rating outstanding. Its last inspection was six years ago in 2019 when it was previously rated good. In the latest report, Ofsted inspector Daniella Adams said: 'Children flourish and thrive in the childminder's care. Mel's Childminding - the garden area (Image: Mel's Childminding) 'They form the most loving of bonds with her and each other. 'The childminder fosters children's individual personalities, she shows them high levels of respect and is an excellent role model for them to copy.' Youngsters at Mel's Childminding develop 'high levels of listening and attention skills'. They 'thoroughly enjoy' Mrs Ford's reading as she 'brings stories to life by creating different voices for the characters with sound effects and props'. She also adds mathematics into everyday activities, where children learn simple adding and subtracting when playing. Mel's Childminding - another outside play area (Image: Mel's Childminding) Mel's Childminding 'designs and implements an ambitious and forward-thinking curriculum' for the children she looks after which are aged between zero and eight years old. The childminder also supports the children's mental health and emotional wellbeing by giving them a 'safe place to express their emotions and learn to understand how they feel'. A sense of independence is also encouraged, and children have an 'excellent understanding of the world around them' thanks to the 'extensive range of activities'. Children dig up vegetables, learn what they need to grow them, learn to care for animals and investigate insects in the onsite garden. Mrs Ford has been a childminder for eight years and previously worked as a private nanny. Mel's Childminding - youngsters exploring under the supervision of Mel's Childminding (Image: Mel's Childminding) Happy - childminder Melissa Ford (Image: Mel's Childminding) She said: 'People often perceive childminders as glorified babysitters yet we follow the same curriculum as any nursery and preschool, running our own business and often working long hours. 'I have a real passion for the great outdoors, encouraging children to learn through play and in the natural world around them. 'Being awarded outstanding in my inspection was an incredible moment for myself and my career and confirmed to me that the setting I provide for the children in my care doesn't need to be complicated, it is simple and of the highest quality.'
Telegraph
07-07-2025
- Telegraph
The best places for cream tea in Devon
In the home of cream teas, you're never far away from a good scone. But how to tell the good from the bad? The perfect scone is crumbly, feather-light, warm, and served with fruity jam and clotted cream so thick it sticks to your spoon. Stay clear of anywhere that serves scones with butter, or toppings in tiny packets – they know not what they do. So important is this Devonshire tea-time ritual that science has dedicated itself to working out the perfect formula. The 'hedonic breakpoint' – the optimum level of sweetness – is a 4:3:3 ratio of scone, cream and jam, with cream applied first to ensure an even spread of toppings. For further Devon inspiration, see our guides to the city's best hotels, restaurants, pubs, beaches and things to do. Hotel Endsleigh, Milton Abbot For all-out decadence, nothing beats Hotel Endsleigh, an ever-so-English Elizabethan mansion house on the edge of Dartmoor National Park. Freshly cut finger sandwiches, delicate pastries, just-baked scones, mounds of clotted cream and glass jars of Tiptree fruity jams come with fragrant loose-leaf tea served in bone china cups. Tuck in by the open fire in the wood-panelled lounge, on the sunny terrace or parterre overlooking the River Tamar. Work off the calories with a stroll around the hotel's Grade-I listed gardens. Otterton Mill, Budleigh Salterton The scones at this café-cum-music venue are made daily with organic flour ground in the on-site working water mill, which dates back to 1068. Free tours offer a taste of the flour as it emerges fresh and warm from the chute. The café is set on the banks of the peaceful River Otter, so the keen-eyed might spot kingfishers, otters and beavers, recently reintroduced as part of a rewilding programme. Fingle Bridge Inn, Drewsteignton Cream teas are best enjoyed after a countryside ramble, and few walks work up a better appetite in Devon than Fingle Gorge, in Dartmoor National Park. Perfectly positioned for hungry hikers, family-run Fingle Bridge Inn is set on the banks of the River Teign, with a sunny terrace making the most of the riverside views. It's not gourmet, but is excellent value and the idyllic location by an age-old buttressed bridge more than makes up for it. Dartmoor Llama Walk Devon's quirkiest cream tea is carried by llama and eaten on top of a tor (granite-topped hill) in the wilderness of Dartmoor National Park. Dartmoor Llama Walks run circular guided cream tea walks for groups throughout the summer. Hikes take three hours. Book in advance. Rosemoor Kitchen Garden Set amongst the rose beds, orchards and arboretums of RHS Rosemoor near Torrington, RHS Rosemoor's Wisteria tea room is in the house of Lady Anne Palmer, who donated the house and garden to the RHS in 1988. Jams are made from fruits picked in the award-winning kitchen garden, scones and cakes are baked on-site and the tea is Cornish-grown Tregothnan. Admission to the restaurant is free. Eat on the Green, Exeter It's a tourist hotspot, and for good reason – this half-timbered Tudor restaurant and tearoom has the best view in town from its terrace and first-floor restaurant, overlooking Exeter Cathedral and green. Traditional scones are baked daily and served warm with Dorset-made clotted cream and fruity strawberry or blackberry jam. Gluten free versions are available, along with vegan and gluten free cakes. Look out for the original bread oven and ship's flooring. Hele Corn Mill Set just 300m away from the stunning Hele Bay Beach, the owners of this mill and tea room must be Devon's most experienced scone makers, with 75,000 under their belt. Everything is baked by the miller's wife daily, often using stone-ground flour from the on-site watermill, which dates back to 1525. Seating is in a pretty covered courtyard looking onto the mill. Gluten free and vegan options are available. How we choose Every restaurant in this curated list has been tried and tested by our destination expert, who has visited to provide you with their insider perspective. We cover a range of budgets, from neighbourhood favourites to Michelin-starred restaurants – to best suit every type of traveller's taste – and consider the food, service, best tables, atmosphere and price in our recommendations. We update this list regularly to keep up with the latest opening and provide up to date recommendations. About our expert Epic scenery, cosy pubs and a strong community spirit drew Suzy Bennett from East London to a remote village on Dartmoor over a decade ago. She travels everywhere with her dog, Ziggy.
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Strawberry-picking robots being trialled at world famous Tiptree jam farm
Next-generation strawberry-picking robots are being trialled on a Tiptree farm. The £1m project, led by Dr Vishwanathan Mohan from the University of Essex, is funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The tests have been conducted on Wilkin and Sons' vertical strawberry farm in Tiptree, as part of an attempt to solve labour shortages across the agricultural sector. The robots use artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify, pick, and package ripe strawberries in mere seconds. Wilkin and Sons' farm is trialling strawberry-picking robots (Image: Simon O'Connor) Dr Mohan, who is from the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, said: "The focus has always been on speed, precision, and the cost to build a commercially viable product. "This season we will, for the first time, begin trialling second and third generations of robots. "At the same time, we plan to deploy the robots to harvest other crop types and labour-intensive tasks to demonstrate their versatility." The second-generation robot costs around £20,000 to build, a fifth of the cost of the first-generation prototype trialled last summer. Dr Mohan said this new prototype has retained its performance level while reusing the 'vision-action-decision-making' software from the original. The plan is to build five strawberry-picking robots by 2027, each smaller and less expensive than its predecessor. Read more In pictures: Wilkin and Sons hosts its 21st Strawberry Race in Tiptree Colchester zoo issues update on male cheetahs "settling in well" at African reserve Dr Mohan said: "The ambition is to bring the cost of an outdoor rover for AgriTech applications to the same price as a laptop. "We want to make cutting-edge agri-robotics accessible to everyone around the world." This research has also resulted in the creation of AgriTech spin-out company Versatile RobotX, co-founded by Dr Mohan. University spin-outs enable academics to commercialise their research when transferred into real-world settings. Wilkin and Sons' farm grows a wide variety of traditional English fruits, including strawberries, raspberries, mulberries, Morello cherries and more.
BBC News
24-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Maldon & Tiptree target promotion as owners transform club
Manager Kevin Horlock has warned his Maldon & Tiptree squad they will "have a target on their backs" next season following major investment by the club's eighth-tier Jammers, who finished 13th in Isthmian League North Division last term, were bought by the Drewitt-Barlow Organisation in February from Richard Cowling, brother of Colchester United owner chief executive and co-owner Barrie Drewitt-Barlow has challenged former Manchester City, West Ham and Ipswich midfielder Horlock to win the title in 2025-26, the first full season of his second spell in charge."With the budget we've had and the players we've got in the building and the backing we've got off Barrie and Scott (Drewitt-Barlow), for me it's got to be champions," Horlock told BBC Essex."We'll still take it if we get promoted through the play-offs, of course. Anything less than that would be a step forward position-wise for the club but it would be failure with everything we've been given."As well as renovating the club's 20-acre stadium, the owners have already transformed Horlock's squad with six new signings brought include forward Freddie Sears, who was still a teenager when he marked his Premier League debut for West Ham United with a goal in a 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers in March career also took him to Crystal Palace, Ipswich Town and Colchester United and now 35, he has joined Maldon & Tiptree after scoring 21 goals for Chatham Town last season. Horlock won 32 international caps for Northern Ireland during his career and guided Maldon & Tiptree to the play-offs when he was first manager from left then-National League North club Needham Market in February to drop two levels and return to The Jammers following the takeover in what the Drewitt-Barlow Organisation said was a "multi-million pound deal".The 52-year-old said: "Players I bring in have got to be good enough to go on a journey with us. It isn't just this year, it's the bigger picture - we want to get out of this division and we've got the budget to match that. "I needed players to come in with the ability, but with that composure, and that know-how to handle the pressure because we've got a target on our backs, there's no doubt about that. "People are going to want us to fall flat on our face and teams are going to raise their game to try and beat us." Maldon & Tiptree only lost three of the 13 games which Horlock was in charge for at the end of last season, but the new owners want silverware in 2025-26."I don't want to finish number two or number three - I want to finish at the top of the league and I want that automatic up," said Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, who along with ex-husband Tony became known as Britain's first gay dads after fathering a twin boy and girl through has been working to make the club a 'community hub', which he says is delivering a six-fold increase in revenue."I'm just dangling my foot in this at the moment. The potentials are there."What I can say is that we've made more money in the last two months than the club has made in the whole of the last year, which means it was very under-used previously."
Times
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
What I've learnt about other parents on the annual class camping trip
Ah, the class camping trip, one of those parts of modern life that didn't exist for centuries and is suddenly ubiquitous. These range from vast events in which schools take over whole campsites and lay on axe-throwing and humiliating talent contests to independent ones organised by mums and dads with varying degrees of success. The kids all know each other well, of course, and are used to rubbing along together, the odd Haribo-fuelled barney aside. The parents, though — that's where the sparks fly. You may chat amiably outside the school gates but what happens when you're wrestling guy ropes in a rain-lashed field near Tiptree? All of human life is here, from the divorced dads who screech up in Porsches and blow half the food budget on wagyu steak, to the car-free couples who come via a train, two buses and an Uber, armed with just a pack of Co-op value veggie burgers. Some tents have bed linen and lighting fit for Claridge's; others have the post-apocalyptic vibe of a zombie hunters' camp in 28 Years Later. One spartan dad shrugged that he didn't need any kind of mattress — 'I like to feel the earth underneath me.'
