Reflections 2019: Richard Wright – A year of big change

Danny and Nicky Cowley are back working in Lincoln, but they’ve swapped football coaching for inspiring university students.

The brothers, idolised across the city for their influential spell in charge of Lincoln City Football Club, will be working with the University of Lincoln to inspire and motivate students with live-streamed Q&A sessions.

They will be streamed on the University of Lincoln’s Facebook and YouTube pages, as well as their website, starting weekly from 3pm on Wednesday, January 27.

Within the three scheduled sessions will be different topics, ranging from management and leadership, to maximising performance and sport psychology.

During their time as manager and assistant at the Imps, Danny and Nicky guided Lincoln to two promotions, a Wembley win in the Checkatrade Trophy final, and a miraculous run to the FA Cup quarter finals.

Now, the tactics boards and training sessions have been replaced with motivational speaking and words of wisdom for aspiring young people in the area.

They will be joined by education experts and academics, using A-Level curriculums for each of the topics discussed to bring the world of football to life.

Danny Cowley, the legendary former Imps manager. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Danny Cowley said: “We wake up every single day with a desire to improve and help people be the very best version of themselves.

“If you are open minded, willing to learn and keep growing, anything is possible in this world.

“For Nicky and I, working with the University of Lincoln is a great opportunity to help young people, who are currently stuck at home to think beyond their current walls and aim high.

“Lincoln is an amazing place and the University is at the forefront of innovation and new ways of learning.

“Both Nicky and I are really excited to be part of these sessions and we’d love as many young people as possible to get involved.”

The three talks will be:

• Wednesday, January 27, 3pm-4pm: Management, leadership and decision making
• Wednesday, February 3, 3pm-4pm: Factors affecting optimal performance in physical activity and sport
• Wednesday, February 10, 3pm-4pm: Sport psychology

A building project for a giant Dutch barn-like house in South Holland (Lincolnshire) that featured on Channel 4’s Grand Designs impressed many viewers, but some likened it to a crematorium.

Nathan and Ayme Marshall modelled the ambitious project understood to be near Spalding on Dutch barn style houses, influenced by the history of the agricultural heritage of the area.

The home also boasts a 5,000-tile armadillo roof and a wing for Nathan’s teenage children and a two-bedroom annexe for his mum and step-dad.

Meet Nathan and Amye – they’ve set themselves a budget of £400,000 to build a cutting edge, multi-generational home in the South Lincolnshire countryside 🌳

And with a disagreement over the number of bedrooms, we could be in for some fun with this pair! 😂 #GrandDesigns pic.twitter.com/x9Rjx5deLT

— granddesigns (@granddesigns) January 20, 2021

It featured in the third episode of the latest series on Wednesday, January 20. So what did people think of the Lincolnshire property?

Helen Lincoln said it looked “amazing and such a lovely living space for their family and his parents across from them”, while Andy Rogers praised the “cracking commitment and a fantastic end result”.

Tess Hewitt said it reminded her of a beehive shape, but Anna Rose felt it “looked like an office building inside and out”.

Andy Cooney said: “This series is epic, considering we are still affected by COVID, what people have been able to achieve has been spectacular. It must have been challenging to film also, so well done Team Grand Designs.”

The couple modelled the ambitious cathedral-like property project on Dutch barn style houses. | Photo: Channel 4

Take a look inside. | Photo: Channel 4

Nathan and Ayme with Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud. | Photo: Channel 4

Lincolnshire born Nathan has never moved far from his home town set up building, pub and microbrewery businesses where he grew up before meeting Amye five years ago, who is a teacher from Ireland.

The couple want to finish the build in just a year, but the project didn’t get off to the easiest of starts as excavations collapsed and a 36 tonne crane sank into the mire.

You can still catch up on the show here.

Developers have submitted plans for the next phase of a 1,100-home development in a Lincoln village.

Countryside Properties has applied to North Kesteven District Council to build 70 houses as part of the major proposals in Witham St Hughs on land east of Camp Road and north of Hannah Crescent – the masterplan of which was approved in 2016.

The latest section, which would include shared ownership and affordable rented properties, would be built in a 1.81hectare section noted as “Cell 2B” and would include a mix of 31 two-bedroom, 35 three-bedroom and 4 four-bedroom homes.

In documents before the authority, the developers said the plans would “create housing choice and new amenity spaces for the existing and new community”.

The master plans courted controversy in 2018 when councillors approved £500,000 health contributions for the 1,100 houses and 150 retirement homes despite concern about having no healthcare facility in the village.

The masterplan for the development in Witham St Hughs.

At the time, Lincolnshire West CCG released its strategy for Witham St Hughs, in which it said a small GP surgery in the village would be unviable and unattractive to any potential provider.

The strategy revealed that the NHS would use the applicant’s money to create a community care hub at the Richmond Medical Centre in North Hykeham.

Where the latest phase fits into the masterplan.

In the end, council bosses agreed that the demand for a surgery in the village would “not be sustainable”.

A full list of demands in the end included hundreds of thousands of pounds towards education, bus services and community facilities, as well as the provision of playing fields.