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A crowd of around 2,000 people enjoyed bands including Uptown Funk perform during the open air concert held in the field at the back of the Rolleston Scout headquarters, in Station Road, Rolleston. Further details can be read in the Burton Mail article here.

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A South African singing group kicked off the festival. Many people were able to see the church decorated with beautiful and unusual flower arrangements in a variety of wicker baskets. Janet Stone masterminded the festival and planned all the decorations with proceeds donated to the St Mary's Church Fabric Fund. Further details and pictures can be seen in the Burton Mail article here.

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On Saturday 27 June at the Gardening Festival in the Market Hall, Burton, Rosemary Baker received, on behalf of the Rolleston Engineering and Transport Society (TREATS) Station Project Group, a Burton in Bloom award – the highest category “Outstanding”. The project’s display stand, showing in particular the items of history discovered by Delia Wyers at the Kew National Archive Centre, was present on the balcony and was visited by the Mayor and Mayoress amongst other interested people, many of them with memories of the railway at Rolleston. On two evenings recently the Brownies and Guides came to the site and carried out various tasks – weeding, tidying and creating a bug’s hotel. Normally the first Saturday of each month sees a working party at the site and Saturday 4 July will be no exception. The main tasks are to continue bricklaying with the remaining available bricks, and also possibly replenishing the chipping paths with fresh chippings.

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The Jinnie Inn, in Rolleston's Station Road, has been named as the best pub restaurant of the year for the East region, in the Marston's Pub of the Year awards. Further details can be read in the Burton Mail article here.

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A wet community day raised an incredible £4,500 that will be used to purchase a set of iPads. Further details and pictures can be seen in the Burton Mail article here.

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The blue tits hatched on 14 May. They fledged 3 June (what was left of them). The parents didn't appear to feed the smaller ones enough and only the two strongest siblings survived.

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Douglas Wood, who was evacuated in Rolleston during the war (some may recall he featured in a TV documentary in 2009 'The week we went to War') was once more filming around the village on 10 April. He writes 'It was a beautiful day on Friday and the filming went well. A free lunch at the Spread Eagle, courtesy of the BBC TV, was very welcome!!. I enjoyed the experience and will now be interested in seeing how many minutes I am actually on the TV compared with the several hours of filming. St. Mary's will be much in evidence I am pleased to say. It is always such a pleasure to revisit the lovely Church and to imagine the faces of the congregation that I knew, as I sit in the choir stall which I occupied in the early 1940's! The programme went out at 7.30pm on Monday 11th May on BBC 1 (West Midlands). An extract can be seen here.

Evacuated from Billesley, Birmingham from February 1940 to November 23rd 1944 Douglas Wood shares his ‘Wartime evacuee down on the farm’ story below:

In February 1940 at the age of 4 years 3 months, I was evacuated to the lovely village of Rolleston-on-Dove near Burton-upon-Trent. I was very fortunate to be chosen by an elderly lady . . . Auntie Edith...who lived with her elderly maiden Aunt (Auntie Kate) in a big roomy semi detached Victorian house. This was sheer luxury to the Birmingham terraced Council House in which I had spent the first few years of my life. I had my own bedroom! There was a big garden with fruit trees vegetables and chickens. .. . fresh eggs!

The two dear ladies had relatives (Tom and Ethel Swain) who owned a farm at Rosliston, not far from Burton, where we often spent several days’ holiday during the summer.

What lovely memories I have of those wonderful adventurous days! A little boy’s paradise!

I remember helping with the haymaking when carts drawn by beautiful shire horses were used and I was even allowed to ride on their backs -- providing I held on tightly ..

Most of the farm labourers were Italian prisoners of war from a nearby prison camp. I recall that they had large circles of brightly coloured cloth sewn on the front and backs of their denim jackets. These were the aiming points for their armed guards in case the Italians tried to escape. Frankly they obviously did not want to leave because they were having such a pleasant and easy life which was much preferred to being in a war-zone.

The farmhouse was old but cosy, with log fires in the hearth. The toilet facilities were in the typical ‘thunderbox’ at the bottom of the garden. You thought twice about going visiting there in the dark, although strategically placed chamber pots were available for emergencies.

Another interesting spectacle for a little boy on the farm was the tail-docking of the little new born lambs amid a cacophony of sound from them and their distraught mothers.

Why was it that those days were always long warm, and sunny?

Yes, I had some wonderful childhood times at the farm and this contributed to the very happy time that I enjoyed during my almost five years as an evacuee.

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Beryl Toon was re-elected as the Borough Councillor for the Rolleston on Dove Ward with 1389 votes.

• Parliamentary - Declaration of results
• Declaration of results Rolleston on Dove

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The Chair of the Parish Council, Cllr James Toon, was delighted to be able to present Clive and Rosemary Baker with the Rollestonian of the Year for their work and leadership of the Station Project at the Annual Parish Council Meeting on 16 March. There were many worthy nominations this year and it was a very tough decision for the Councillors to make. The Parish Council thank those taking the time and effort to nominate and recognise the efforts of fellow Rollestonians.

Clive thanked all the volunteers and individuals for their hard work on the station project, and whilst the award will sit on their sideboard, he saw it as an award for them all.

There is an article in the February 2015 edition of Derbyshire Life and Countryside by Clive Baker 'More than just a nature trail' about the preservation of a piece of local history the Rolleston-on-Dove railway Station which also contains photographs. The village website has some details about this wonderful project here.

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On Saturday 21 February families wrapped up as they braced the cold but sunny weather as children took on the challenge of being the first one over the finish line. Later many enjoyed a selection of refreshments and fresh pancakes at Rolleston Club. The proceeds of the pancake races will be split between both St Mary's Church and the pre-school. More pictures from the Burton Mail can be seen here.

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Congratulations to the winners of Robin Skinner’s Royalty Quiz to mark 2014’s festivities. The worthy winners were
1st Mrs Lesley Beer - 97.5
Meadow View, Rolleston
2nd Mrs Diane Stacey - 97
Dorrington St. London
3rd Mrs Barbara Bolton - 95.5
Ruston Road, Wilbarston
4th Nick & Sue Willmot - 95
Rolleston Road, Burton
It is amazing how far these quizzes travel. Well done. Thank you for supporting our church.

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