Meet the ‘Mary Poppins Gang’ walking baby dolls in vintage prams through Hykeham
‘We all have our own problems at home that we need a break from’
Linda Royle (left) and her husband Barry (right), along with fellow group member Chris (centre) collect vintage prams and reborn dolls. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
A mum-of-three in North Hykeham has created a group dubbed the ‘Mary Poppins Gang’ – who push prams around the streets with lifelike baby dolls.
Linda Royle, 63, is an avid collector previously amassing high numbers of mugs, thimbles and pot dogs, while her husband Barry has a lot of vintage radios.
Over the past decade, Linda has amassed more than 50 vintage prams and pushchairs, as well as around 20 reborn dolls who she goes for walks with, along with her ‘Lincolnshire Vintage Pram Group’. She also had to have a purpose-built shed to house her large collection.
The reborn dolls look very lifelike. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Linda Royle and Chris Perkins walking with reborn dolls in vintage prams. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
After reading a news article around 30 years ago about a woman from Skellingthorpe who made reborn dolls to look like real babies, Linda joked about taking her son Darryl to have one created.
She started her collection in 2011 when she attended a doll show and bought her first reborn doll. When she got home Linda started doing some research and purchased a pram locally, that she said was “similar to the one I had as a child which I adored”.
Reborn dolls sitting in a line in the garden. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Linda had to have a purpose-built shed to house her large collection. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Linda told The Lincolnite: “I then bit the bullet and got a full-size one and then my collection kept growing and I had to have a purpose built shed to house them all.”
Then in 2018 Linda set up the ‘Lincolnshire Vintage Pram Group’ on Facebook which has more than 70 members from across the country, but she wants to encourage more local people from Lincolnshire to join as she doesn’t think there are enough pram days happening locally.
It originally started as a Lincoln group, but she soon met other people on days out and at doll shows who wanted to come and bring their prams, so she changed it to have a county wide focus.
Linda makes blankets and accessories for the prams and dolls. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Linda has around 20 reborn dolls and over 50 vintage prams and pushchairs in her collection. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
More reborn dolls from Linda’s collection. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Linda has more than 50 vintage prams and pushchairs in her collection. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
The group has attended the 1940s weekend at Woodhall Spa, a 40s day in Sleaford, Rufford Abbey, Newark Retro Festival, Nottingham Vintage Fayre, the International Bomber Command Centre, a pram walk in Cleethorpes, and a motorcycle museum in Solihull.
The group’s activities were stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but doll shows are now back up and running again and Linda is hoping to get back out with the prams soon.
She has also hosted events in her large garden in North Hykeham where she raises money, including for Bliss, which is the leading UK charity for babies born prematurely or sick, and for Dementia UK after sadly losing her mum to the condition in 2020. The events also include a raffle and a stall where she sells knitted items.
Linda holding a reborn doll from her collection. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Linda, who has three grown-up sons called Lindsey, Darryl, and Shaun, as well as two grandchildren, said: “My pram and baby collection is still growing but I am not the only mad woman. I would like to find some local ladies as well, and then they will find out when your own children and grandchildren have grown too big for the prams you can still get enjoyment out of them.
“People still love to see them out and about instead of these fold-up buggies. It also gets you out meeting new friends with something in common as we all have our own problems at home that we need a break from, and strangers will stop you and want to know about them.
“Most people admire the prams, but some say they are spooky. We get all sorts of comments. I can’t expect everyone to like them.
“I would be bored stiff looking through someone’s stamp collection, but it doesn’t mean it is wrong to collect them.
“Everybody at some point has been in a pram. It’s not just a mature person’s hobby, it’s a social thing too.”
Linda has been collecting reborn dolls and vintage prams for over a decade. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Linda and Chris going for a walk with reborn dolls in their vintage prams. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
For the vintage prams, she has paid between £100 and £750 on them. She recently purchased a vintage pushchair for £20, and the reborn dolls cost upwards from £150 each. Linda said she knits things and sells them to fund her “addiction”.
Earlier this year a photo of the group was posted on a local North Hykeham Facebook page calling them the ‘Mary Poppins Gang’. When asked about this, Linda added: “Any publicity is good publicity, they could have called us worse.”
Group member Chris Perkins holding a reborn doll. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Fellow group member Chris Perkins, who is from Northampton, has collected five vintage prams and 14 reborn dolls over the past eight years.
Chris had a granddaughter who she initially didn’t think was going to survive, but she did. She then saw a doll that looked like her granddaughter and bought it for her before then purchasing more for her other grandchildren, and the reborn dolls are now in her collection.
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| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
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Lincolnshire Police and Crime Comissioner Marc Jones believes a new Bill giving victims of crime a stronger voice in the justice system will “drive up standards and outcomes for residents at the most critical times”.
The new Bill unveiled by government this week sets out plans to ensure victims are better heard, served and protected under wide ranging reforms.
Once passed by Parliament, the Bill will create the first ever Victims’ Law – guaranteeing greater consultation with them during the criminal justice process. It will also hold agencies such as the police, Crown Prosecution Service and the courts to account for the service they provide.
The draft Victims Bill includes measure that will:
Give victims the right to attend Parole Board hearings in full and submit questions about an offender’s suitability for release
Ensure police and crime commissioners have the power to convene criminal justice partners to improve standards and outcomes for victims of crime
Give Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) lawyers a new duty to arrange a face-to-face meeting with each victim of crime before cases come to court
Increase the victim surcharge paid by offenders by 20% in a move forecast to raise an additional £20million by 2025. This will be spent on rape support centres and other measures to help victims
The Parole Board will have to consider victims’ concerns before making a decision
Lincolnshire PCC Marc Jones, as chairman of the commissioners’ national association, has been at the forefront of talks with ministers to create the new legislation.
He said: “I am absolutely committed to ensuring that anyone who is affected by crime in Lincolnshire and beyond receives the support they need.
“At a time when people need faith in the justice system they often feel further victimised by procedures that can be confusing and frustrating – we must build trust in the system by putting victims at the centre.
“This new legislation will place locally elected and accountable police and crime commissioners at the centre of the service victims receive. It will drive up standards and outcomes for residents at the most critical times.
“I will continue to work with government to ensure the Bill delivers real and lasting improvements for the victims of crime.”
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said: “No victim should feel lost in a faceless system. We’re amplifying victims’ voices, boosting their rights at every stage and making criminals pay more to help victims recover.
“We’re doing this because it is morally the right thing to do to strengthen the care for victims, but also because it is operationally critical to drive up convictions – and keep our streets safe.”
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has “only worsened the situation” of NHS dental access in rural counties including Lincolnshire as the profession reaches “breaking point”, according to the Vice Chair of the Lincolnshire Local Dental Committee.
A recent survey from Healthwatch Lincolnshire, which gained 236 responses, found that 45% had no access to an NHS dentist while one person said they were being forced to ‘self medicate’.
To find out the exact extent of the issue in Lincoln, we contacted 10 local dental practices to find out whether or not they are taking on NHS patieny, and here’s what we found out.
West Parade Dental Care, Newland Dental Care, Bupa Dental Care (both The Strait and Doddington Road), Lincoln Dental Care, Genesis Dental Care, and Brant Road Dental Practice ARE NOT taking on new NHS patients
Guildhall Dental Care are only taking on new child patients on the NHS, but not adults
Carholme Dental Practice is accepting children on the NHS, but only private and practice plan for adults
When Cathedral View Dental Practice on Burton Road was asked if it was taking on new NHS patients, it said it was unable to comment
Appleby & Associates in North Hykeham were also contacted, who said it was mainly private but did usually take children on the NHS, but currently had no spaces for this.
In addition, Treeline on Lincoln High Street, which is run by JDSP Dental Limited, is registering military patients on the NHS, but has no other capacity to take on NHS patients. However, it can take patients on privately.
The practice also says within its automated message before you get through that it is in the process of contacting former patients from Powell and Associates, which closed its doors after 140 years last summer.
Each practice has a UDA quota, which is the unit of currency for measuring the type of clinical activity expected from a dentist within a 12-month contract for a certified financial value. The value of this varies from practice to practice, but it is understood that Lincolnshire has historically low values and could be another reason why recruitment is getting even more difficult.
Responding to the issue of dental access in the county Andy Fenn, Vice Chair of the Lincolnshire Local Dental Committee told The Lincolnite: “NHS dental access was an issue for rural counties including Lincolnshire before the pandemic and the impact of this only worsened the situation, such that urban areas are seeing the same issues once the peculiarity of rural areas.
“The reasons are multifactorial, not least the crisis in recruitment, the like of which we have not seen before. The loss of EU graduates, accelerated by Brexit and the stalling of the ORE process (although this has now been resurrected) severely impacted this together with a paradigm shift where new graduates were reported to be far less keen to undertake NHS work instead, in many cases opting for higher training, working in private practices or hospital settings.
“Additionally the desire to work less hours, with more part time work being sought has become the norm. Added to this we have seen dentists from the baby boomers group retiring, taking with them a previous commitment to the NHS, typically founded on the previous ‘item of service’ contract.
“The pandemic restrictions have typically resulted in backlogs of work, along with staff burnout, staff shortages and low morale with increasing mental health issues being seen amongst team members. On top of this the NHS UDA system which was deemed to be problematic from its inception in 2006 has failed to deliver for patients and the dental teams.
“A thorough review carried out by Prof Jimmy Steele in 2008-2009 highlighted the need for reforms and identified the model familiar to graduates, which would facilitate the delivery of dentistry in line with how undergraduates had been taught at dental school.
“Unfortunately, even with a series of pilots and prototypes since that time, the failed NHS contract is still being used to provide dental care for patients despite the acknowledged shortcomings on both sides of the House and in the Lords. Contract reform has been promised since the time of the coalition government but here we are in 2022, without any real plans of substance. The profession is at breaking point with the NHS contract.”
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