Author: Graham Wright

Ruddington Convenience Store Closure

Graham Wright

If you’ve been along Wilford Road over Dutton’s Hill this week, you may have noticed that Ruddington’s convenience store has shut again – with all the shelves emptied. Happily we can report that this closure, which started today (Monday 26th February 2024), is only a temporary one – with the business set to reopen in just over a week’s time following refurbishment and rebranding. Reuben Grice’s former shop at 12-14 Wilford Road was empty for several months in 2010/2011 before being refurbished and fitted out for a Sainsbury’s Local, which traded there…

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An Invitation from the ‘Green Doctors’

Graham Wright

Unless you’re fortunate enough to live in one of Ruddington’s recently built and therefore (by law) much more energy-efficient houses, the chances are your home is probably losing rather a lot of precious heat at this time of year. Not only do older and more traditional properties generally use more energy, resulting in higher fuel bills, it means they also have a greater impact on our planet. This is at a time when many villagers are increasingly concerned about the effects of ‘Climate Change’. Thankfully, help is at hand for Ruddington…

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2024/2025 Ruddington Council Tax Rises

Graham Wright

Ruddington residents now have a better idea of how much more we’ll need to budget for from this April, following our County Council’s annual announcement today (22nd February 2024). During the full Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) budget meeting at County Hall it was agreed their Council Tax precept (the biggest share of the bills we pay) will rise by 2.84%, making it one of the lowest increases in the country. NCC has even created two handy pie charts (below) to show where the Council’s budget comes from and how it is…

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Final Call for ‘Rudd Awards’ Nominations!

Graham Wright

Have YOU nominated a deserving Ruddington trader, group or person for a ‘gong’ yet, to show your appreciation for what they do in our village?  If not, there’s still time… just! Launched by Ruddington Village Community Partnership (RVCP) in 2022, the ‘Rudd Awards’ are back again this year for a second time. With seven categories, these awards are designed to recognise and celebrate those businesses, community groups and individuals that contribute to making Ruddington a thriving place to live, work and enjoy. Nominations for the 2024 awards in six of…

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£336k of Ruddington Schools’ Cash to Expand Edwalton Academy!

Graham Wright

Late last year we reported how Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) had indicated the expansion of Rosecliffe Spencer Academy in Edwalton (top photo) would be the focus of its efforts to accommodate an increasing population of Ruddington children, rather than creating more school places here. This has now been confirmed in a ‘response’ from NCC to last summer’s petition by village resident Katie Santana on behalf of aggrieved parents in Ruddington. To their surprise and dismay at the time, a number of families living here found their children couldn’t get a place…

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Church’s Fundraising Milestone for Ugandan School

Graham Wright

St Peter’s Church in Ruddington is celebrating raising £6000 to allow the completion of a four-classroom block for a school in an impoverished area of Uganda. The target was achieved by a mixture of donations and fundraising events over a ten-month period, culminating in a Beetle Drive event in the church at the end of January 2024 which raised £763. As RUDDINGTON.info has previously reported, St Peter’s has been supporting the Aminit High School in Teso since 2019, aiming to establish secondary education in an area in which none was…

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New Crossing Plans Revealed

Graham Wright

Eagle-eyed villagers who’ve ventured down Clifton Road during the past couple of days may have wondered why men in fluorescent jackets were digging up a perfectly good pavement!? Well, we can reveal it’s part of ‘exploratory’ excavation work to determine the depth of utility services there for ‘design purposes’ for the installation of a proposed ‘Toucan’ pedestrian crossing.  As well as workers digging up the pavement area outside ‘Victoria Court’ (see photos) they’re also digging on the opposite side of Clifton Road in the grass verge and on the pavement adjacent…

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New Pentecostal Church for Ruddington

Graham Wright

The original timing for announcing the launch of a brand new type of worship in Ruddington was rather unfortunate, to say the least. It was back in February 2020 – just a month before the COVID-19 ‘lockdown’! Edwalton-based ‘The Rock Church’ managed to host only ONE of its Pentecostal-style services in St Peter’s Rooms before further plans had to be put on hold due to the virus. Undeterred, its members returned to our village last summer, led by Ruddington’s new ‘Location Pastor’ Cathy Appelbee (famously the owner of Wilbur the Cat), for a further ‘trial’…

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Kids’ Fun Run Turns Ten

Graham Wright

It’s hard to believe that Ruddington’s free, weekly park run for children aged 4 to 14 and their families is now a decade old! When Rushcliffe Junior Parkrun was launched in Rushcliffe Country Park, at 9am on Sunday 2nd February 2014, it was only the eighth junior event to be set up in the world – and yet it managed to attract 118 participants and 20 volunteers for the very first one. This 2k ‘fun run’ was set up to encourage kids, families and friends to enjoy exercising in open spaces,…

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Historic Footbridge Closes Again

Graham Wright

Less than five years since it was last closed for repairs, one of Ruddington’s railway landmarks is currently undergoing a little more TLC following new safety concerns raised by the increased number of pedestrians who now use it. ‘Fifty Steps Bridge’ over the Great Central Railway line was constructed well over a century ago (circa 1899) and still survives as a functioning footbridge to this day. This is despite the passenger line beneath it becoming a victim of Dr Richard Beeching’s cuts in 1963, and nearby Ruddington Station subsequently being…

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