Relief at last

IT’S been a long time coming — decades, in fact — but there is relief at last for people living alongside the route of the old A46. The misery caused by heavy traffic thundering past their homes was consigned to history when the latest stretch of the new A46 opened to traffic on Friday.

Traffic no longer passes within yards of homes on Fosse Road, and East Stoke, too, has been bypassed.

The constant roar from tens of thousands of vehicles a day is no more.

“The noise and vibration from the commercial vehicles was just becoming too much, both night and day,” says Mr Paul Dachtler.

“It is so quiet, it’s wonderful,” says Mrs Rae Elliott.

They, and their neighbours, are reaping one of the obvious benefits of the new road.

For them, silence really is golden.

o-o-o-O-o-o-o

The demise of the Newark Half-marathon gives real cause for dismay.

What was a hugely popular fixture on the sporting calendar for 30 years has become unviable, say the organisers Newark Athletic Club.

As well as the escalating cost of staging such a big event, a number of long-standing volunteers also decided to step down from their roles.

The end of the half-marathon is absolutely no reflection on their decision.

Indeed, without them it would not have gained the outstanding reputation it had in the athletics world.

There are plans for a new event in 2013. If it is half as successful as the half-marathon has been, it will be a winner.