The Coronation ceremony to mark His Majesty King Charles III’s ascension to the throne took place at Westminster Abbey in London on Saturday May 6, 2023. To mark the occasion an extra bank holiday took place across the UK on Monday May 8, 2023 which provided an opportunity for communities and people throughout the United Kingdom to come together to celebrate the Coronation.

The weekend’s events in Eye started on Saturday evening with a free community disco at Manor Farm Community Centre and at 9pm the new beacon* at Manor Farm Park was lit. A few words where first said by Adrian Martin, Vice-Chairman of the Parish Council before by Chairman of Eye Parish Council, Andrew Short lit the beacon for the first time. Over 150 attended the nights events so thank you to everyone who made it a great night.

Monday saw the popular Big Lunch at Manor Farm Community Centre with a picnic and best crown competition.

* The Parish Council obtained and installed the beacon in Manor Farm Park for this and future events. Beacons or fire beacons were originally lit to warn local people of the approach of an enemy but have become a traditional way of marking major royal events. An estimated 3,500 Jubilee Beacons were lit throughout the United Kingdom for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee last year.

Thank you to Eye resident Dale McKean for the photos.

Do you want to help in the creation of the Eye neighbourhood plan and be involved in the future development of our village?

Following our recent engagement event come along to the first meeting of the Neighbourhood Plan Team on Tuesday, 25 April at 7pm in the Leeds Hall.

All residents interesting in developing the village’s neighbourhood plan are welcome.

Read more about the neighbourhood plan and why we are doing it…

Census 2021 data has been released for parishes. The census happens every 10 years and gives a picture of all the people and households in England and Wales. The resulting information helps organisations make decisions on planning and funding public services in the area, including transport, education and healthcare. Figures for the 2021 census are rounded to the nearest 100.

According to census information on the ONS website the population for the parish of Eye in 2021 was 5,400 an increase of 24.4% over the 2011 census figure of 4,340. Over the same time period the population for Peterborough has increased from 183,600 in 2011 to 215,671 in 2021, an increase of 17.5%. For England the population in 2011 was 56,075,912, in 2021 59,597,542, a 6.3% increase.

The number of homes in the village has risen from 1,799 in 2011 to 2,300 in 2021 although car ownership is slightly down.

One of the big changes is to the number of people working from home which the 2021 Census shows it as 29.8%. This is up from the 4.9% shown in 2011.  Of course this has to be taken in context of the COVID-19 pandemic although does show a shift in the ways people are working.

Further metrics can be found on the ONS website. You see can previous census population statistics dating back to 1801 on the website’s population page.

From 4 May 2023 you’ll need to show photo ID when voting in person in some UK elections or referendums. Continue reading →

Today the fabulous new Eye village sign was installed. After 40 plus years and one renovation in 2008, the Parish Council decided it was time for a new village sign and depict another chapter in the history of Eye. The previous sign dated from the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977.

The new sign pictured with Chairman of the Parish council Andy Short, Parish Councillor Andrew Smith and Vice Chairman of the Parish Council, Adrian Martin.

While it has been quite a long process getting the new sign to this stage we hope you agree with us that the final result has been worth it, and we now have a sign that everyone can be proud of.

Andy Short, chairman of Eye Parish Council said: “It’s fantastic to see the new sign up at last. The Parish Council have been working on getting the sign to this stage for some time after the previous sign was damaged in poor weather in 2020. Former chair of the parish council Michael Holmes who sadly died in April 2022 was actively involved in the project and we hope he would of been pleased with the outcome. Thank you to everyone who was involved, we hope it will be a great feature for the village for many years to come.”

Andrew Smith, Eye Parish councillor said: “The Parish council looked at lots of historical photographs and narrowed it down to some of the industrial aspects that have impacted the village alongside the beauty that was and has since been preserved, for example the Church and the brick pits and their reinvention. Finding a traditional sign maker these days is quite a challenge but a husband and wife team near Thetford in Norfolk agreed to take a look. The deputy chair of the parish council, Adrian Martin and myself paid them a visit and afterwards we all agreed these were the people to use. The sign was cast in a hand crafted mould and the final result was achieved by an artist who hand painted the scenes.”

Adam Miller who came up with the design said “I sent my design to the Parish Council when I heard they where looking at installing a new sign. It’s only one part of the process but I was pleasantly surprised when they decided to use it. Having lived in the village for the majority of my life I was really happy the Parish Council wanted to capture some of the recent history of the village in the new design. The railway was something I’ve always been interested in, even though it closed some time before I was born. I also wanted to capture the swans and the nature reserve as they’ve become such an integral part of today’s village.”

You can read more about the sign here.

Thank you for to Dale McKean for the photos.

The renovation of the floor in the Leed’s Hall is now complete. The previous floor was looking a bit tatty after years of use so it’s great to see it looking as new again. Normal opening and events can now resume. Thank you for your patience.

To find further details on how to hire the hall visit this page.

We currently have vacancies for parish councillors. If you are interested in becoming a Parish Councillor for Eye then please contact the parish clerk below: eyeparishcouncil@btinternet.com

Why become a councillor

By becoming a parish councillor you become someone your community may look to for help, guidance and support – a community leader with the power to influence decisions for the benefit of the people you serve.

You can read more about the history of the parish council on this website. There is also a code of conduct parish councillors need to follow.

The council usually meet on the third Thursday of the month in the Leeds Hall in the village for two or three hours depending on what needs to be discussed. Meetings are open to the public.

If you’ve never been a parish councillor or been to a parish council meeting we do recommend you come to one of our meeting  and sit in the public seating area before applying to see what happens.

Peterborough Community First Responder (CFR) Group is looking for additional volunteers. Community First Responders are volunteers who are trained by the East of England Ambulance Service to attend certain types of emergency calls in the area where they live or work. Their aim is to reach a potential life-threatening emergency in the first vital minutes before the ambulance crew arrives.

Anyone can become a community first responder but you must:

• be physically fit
• be aged between 18-70
• agree to a disclosure and barring service check (DBS). This was previously known as criminal records bureau disclosure or CRB.
• have a sympathetic, caring nature
• agree to undertake training, which is provided
• have a full driving licence and access to a road worthy car.

For further information please visit: www.eastamb.nhs.uk/join-the-team/community-first-responders