November

PARKING may be a problem, but planning permission has been granted for a new bar and restaurant in Melbourne.
A £500,000 conversion of the former gym and shoe factory on Derby Road got the green light from South Derbyshire District Council planners following an hour-long debate. Councillors decided that the bar would bring vibrancy to Melbourne and be a good use for an important heritage building, outweighing the concerns over parking in the area.

Another plan that has received the okay will see a new spa and holiday lodges built at Wilson's Breedon Priory Gym. The old golf club house will be knocked down to make way for the large scale scheme, which is expected to create between 30 and 40 jobs.
Hoping to be given the nod for its £3million project is Chellaston Academy, which wants to create a new sports hall and classroom block. That proposal is to be lodged with Derby city planners.

There is a nostalgic flavour to our November edition. We look back at 100 years of Melbourne Wakes, which has been run by five generations of the Holland family; and, with the water level at Staunton Harold Reservoir dropping significantly, Philip Heath writes a fascinating feature on the structures that have come back into view.

Plus we take a last look inside L Ward ironmongers on Derby Road, Melbourne. The doors have finally closed on this reminder of a bygone era, which was in the same family's hands for 150 years.

Together with photographic spreads on Hallowe'en, Poppies tributes and this year's Wakes alongside pages of all the latest local news, it is an edition with something for everyone.