Chronicle & Echo newsclips
27^th August 1987

Nursery set to celebrate

A DAY nursery set up in Rushden celebrates its first birthday on Tuesday.

The Jack and Jill day nursery in Grove Road was started in an ambi­tious plan by former infants school teacher Mrs. Mary Hamilton.

"Eighteen months ago, the premises in Grove Road was in a sorry state, the pipes had burst, the wiring was dangerous and the plaster falling from the walls.

"With the help and imagi­nation of my husband Jim, the place was transformed to provide a modern nursery with a variety of large and small areas for outdoor acti­vities, creative work and the quieter enjoyment of books", Mrs. Hamilton said.

When the nursery opened, it had only six members of staff and 38 children, now there are 38 children per half-day session with 15 members of staff, who are qualified teachers or qualified nursery nurses.

"It has been hard work but worthwhile," said Mrs. Hamilton.

To celebrate its first birth­day, a tea party is being held at the nursery on Tuesday for past and present nursery children.

25^th March 1988

Go-ahead for bigger nursery

A DAY nursery in Rushden is to be expanded to take in more children.

The go-ahead was given by East Northamptonshire planners last night for the first floor area of a house in Grove Road to be used for additonal day nursery facilities.

The number of children attending the nursery could now be increased from 40 to 50.

In a report to the committee, the council's director of technical services Bob Seery said it provided a much-needed facilitv in the area.

Meanwhile a playgroup in another part of town is having to close down because the church hall it used is being knocked down.

Councillors agreed that St Mark's Church Hall, in Highfield Road, Rushden should be knocked down to make way for a house or flat with the loss of the Highfield Road playground which has been using the hall for its meetings on four mornings a week.

Five letters of protest had been received by the council from people objecting to the demolition of the church hall on the grounds that it would mean the loss of the playgroup.

The committee was told the Parochial Church Council had been concerned about the cost of the upkeep of the church hall.

Mr Seery said it was a fact of life that with property prices rising so high everyone with land was making the most of it to sell at the best price.

29 March 1988

SO MANY mums in Rushden want to leave their toddlers at the Jack and Jill nursery while they work that it is expanding to cope with demand.

Mrs Mary Hamilton, who gave up her job as deputy head of the town's Hayway Infants School two years ago to set up the Grove Road nursery, said: "Rushden is an expanding area and more mums are now having to go out to work.

"There is nowhere catering for two-year-olds because they are too young to go to playschool, so I fill the gap and take two to four-year-olds," she said.

Mrs Hamilton has been given planning permission by East Northampton­shire District Council to use the first floor of the nursery to take in more children.

"Although I have more than 100 children on the books, I am only allowed to have 50 per session, either morning or afternoon.

"There are some mums who want to bring their children every day to the nursery but I just do not have the facilities," she said.

Mrs Hamilton has recently bought a Sherpa minibus and installed 10 children's safety seats so she can take parties on trips to the fire station, to farms or other places of interest.