JULY edition...

THE long-running Puddleducks Pre-School finally shuts its doors this month after caring for Melbourne children for 35 years.
Generations of youngsters have enjoyed their pre-school years at the much-loved nursery through its various homes.
Owners Angela Beardow and Mandy Rotherham said it had been “an incredible journey” but the time had come to enjoy their retirement with family and other projects. You can read more on this in the July edition of Village Voice.

And you can read why celebrities Alan Titchmarsh, Gyles Brandreth and Rupert Everett were all at the Melbourne Hall Gardens at the end of last month.
Staying on an horticultural them a major conservation and cataloguing project on one of Calke Abbey’s lesser known collections will start this month.
The National Trust owned abbey’s 19th century herbarium is being brought into the spotlight and visitors will be able to see the conservation work in action.

It has been an eventful few weeks in our area with the Download festival rocking into action at Castle Donington, Aston-on-Trent celebrating its hugely popular traditional well-dressing and Melbourne Carnival entertaining hundreds of local people in glorious sunshine. We have full reports and pictures on all three.

And you can find out why a couple from Australia flew all the way to Melbourne for their wedding. The clue of course is in the name.

In an action-packed issue there is the story of a memorial to a 1940s maritime disaster that claimed twice as many lives as the Titanic being unveiled; an idea to install cameras on Swarkestone Bridge following two incidents that forced lane closures; and the disappointing news that Melbourne has missed out on being shortlisted for UK Town of Culture.

All this plus the usual features and sport that go into making the Village Voice the best read around.