Nostalgia: LOOKING BACK - August 13

August 9, 2007: 'Disgusted' over council tax bill

A woman was left ‘disgusted and upset’ after she was sent a letter asking for her mother’s outstanding council tax, a year-and-a-half after her death. Kim Drinkwater was shocked to receive a letter asking her to either pay her mother’s outstanding council tax or write to say there was no money in the estate. Mrs Drinkwater claims she hand-delivered a letter to the district council explaining there was no money in the estate at the time of her mother’s death in December 2005. Mrs Drinkwater was later told by Daventry District Council that she would not have to pay the bill.

August 6, 1992: Pressure to fit fir detector pays off

Constant badgering from his teenage daughter to fit a smoke alarm paid off for a Staverton man whose home was engulfed by smoke. Alan Lacey and wife Margaret had finished their Sunday breakfast when the smoke detector was triggered. He dashed upstairs to see smoke and flames coming out of the airing cupboard in his bedroom. He shut the door and got his wife and daughter Emma outside to safety before calling the firebrigade. Emma was responsible for buying the alarms three years prior and had been pestering her father to fit them for several months before the fire.

August 12, 1977: Guest children arrive

Daventry welcomed the arrival of 35 children from Belfast for a fortnight’s holiday. The boys and girls, both Protestants and Catholics, were invited by Rev John Latham, the priest in charge of the Grange estate. £1,000 in donations was raised by the Daventry community and offers of accommodation were also put forward. The largest contribution came from Brian Merry at the Junction Service Station on London Road, who promised to donate a penny for every gallon of petrol sold over a given period. The total came to £400. The children visited Gosgrove Lodge Park, Twycross Zoo and Burton Dassett Park.