Yesterday I went to Peterborough. 

I had offered to drive Andy to a meeting there.  His workload has increased recently, and my driving would give him an extra 6 hours work in the car.  Needless to say he took me up on the offer.

This visit gave me the opportunity visit to the Central Library in Peterborough, to find the building and to see what resources they held.  The Local History section has many modern books on the city and area and there is also a section for older publications such as trade directories, books on notable citizens, etc.  The do not hold a comprehensive list of directories but amongst those for Huntingdonshire, are odd ones for Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.   There are also some card indexes listing citizens, some obituaries, villages, etc.  The main items the library holds are the local newspapers on film, but they also have on fiche the Wills and Probate Calendar.

Although I cannot guarantee when my next visit will be, it would be worth my regular clients being aware that I can offer this occasional service, let me know if you need any research done in this area for the next time I visit Peterborough to do some “shopping”.

On my return last night I was “chuffed” to find a certain piece of paper on my doormat.  It was a poster to put in my window informing any passersby that my front garden had been awarded a ‘Good Garden Award’ this is a local scheme “in recognition of those gardens that make a positive contribution to the appearance of the street.”

The “competition” covers the Bristol areas of Southville, Ashton and Bedminster, and really encourages people to invest a little time in making their front gardens and therefore their streets more attractive.  This is the second year running I have received an award, and to be honest I did not think I would be in the running. I was so impressed with my roses 2 weeks ago that I took a photograph (see below), I took a photo this morning (also below) so you can see why I doubted my getting anything.  Having said that the lavender looks lovely and so do my pots. 

My neighbour, Sue and I both try to keep our gardens tidy and hopefully blooming.  We were both receipents of the award last year, I have yet to find out if she received one too, fingers crossed.

If you would like to know more about the Southville Good Garden Award, follow this link http://www.frontgarden.org.uk/

Happy hunting and gardening.