Don’t forget to check our Events Diary for more information on events in all our villages and surrounding area.

The Hollowell Bonfire 2025 was an extraordinary structure which took 5 weeks to build. Towering 42ft high, 65 ft wide and 60ft deep, this edifice of wooden pallets and donated bits and pieces looked akin to an ancient pyramid, atop the Teeton Road, with the reservoir below. This was one of the biggest bonfires the local volunteers had ever constructed and on the night the conditions for conflagration were perfect.The weather was dry, the wind a gentle breeze and somewhere close to 8 thousand people came along to see it go up.The sky glowed orangey-red for almost an hour and the fireworks display that followed was as glorious as anticipated.Many thanks to all the volunteers and organisers for producing such a splendid event.

Image credit: John Thompson

All fired up and giving back - Hollowell Steam Rally donates £55K to local causes

The culmination of each Hollowell Steam Rally is a "Give Away" evening in October when the money raised at this traditional country fair, is donated to local charities. It is always a moving occasion.

All the beneficiaries assembled with eager anticipation, under the roof of the Tractor Barn wedding and events venue, on the edge of Guilsborough.

The 2025 evening was led by Rally Chairman Neil Byrd and Vice Chair Jim Hollowell, who in 55 minutes presented £55,000 worth of cheques to just over 55 organisations and charities.  All these organisations had either provided support and volunteers back in July, to run the Steam Rally weekend, or carried out their community work within a 20 mile radius of the Rally field.

When the final donation had been made, Rally Commentator Peter Godwin stood to thank Neil and the Rally committee for all their hard work.

Mr Godwin explained that he commentates at 20 steam shows each year, but that Hollowell "stands head and shoulders above the rest" for its amazing work for the local community. Bravo to all.

Village Hall Lotto Winners

September Draw:

Lee Gane, Ron Morrell, Viv Benjamin, Andrew Captainino, Bill Douglas, Sue Mc Cubbin, Stephanie Roberts, Elaine Litchfield, Richard and Robyn Bristow, Tracy Doran, Eddie Litchfield

October Draw:

Allan Ullah, Nick Mount, Claire Morrell, Hugh Mesquita

Goodbye from two of Hollowell’s longstanding residents

Annie and Nic Woods have lived on Church Hill in Hollowell for 28 years.  Annie, a retired district nurse and Nic, a retired electrician were often to be seen walking their elderly grey hounds along the Teeton Road.

Their adult children Lorna and Liam went to Guisborough school, with Lorna becoming a guitar teacher and Liam working for a company erecting sheds.

In December 2015 the couple suffered a house fire when their immersion heater caught fire and they were extremely grateful for the support of the village at that difficult time.

Annie and Nic are leaving Hollowell and wanted to send the following message:

“It is with great sadness that we are moving out of the village. We would like to thank all of those people who helped and supported us when we had our house fire. It was truly overwhelming.

Wishing you all the very best and good health in the future.”

Annie & Nic

BIRDING NOTES - Pectoral Sandpiper at Hollowell

With this year’s largely dry weather, water levels at Hollowell Reservoir have been favourable for wading birds, with extensive areas of exposed muddy shoreline. Late summer and early autumn – usually the peak period for waders - were however rather quiet. It was therefore pleasing in the first week of October to find a notable wader in the form of a Pectoral Sandpiper.

On the morning of October 2nd, I had completed the first half of a lap of the reservoir when I spotted a wader standing in the water, apparently asleep, just north of Guilsborough Bay Point. On first impression I thought I was looking at a Ruff, based on size, general shape and structure; I’d also seen a few of these over preceding weeks at Hollowell and Pitsford Reservoirs. I was at this point looking south in poor early-morning light, so the view wasn’t good enough for a conclusive ID. I moved around to my right, across the grassy meadow and skirted around to get a view in better light.

From my new vantage point, I could now see that I was looking at a juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper, a rarity in Europe. I’d only ever seen one before, also at Hollowell Reservoir in August 2009.

The bird had by now started to feed along the shoreline, but seemed settled, so I put the news out on the relevant channels and headed home to start my working day. The bird ended up remaining until October 29th and seen by many local birders and some from further afield. During its stay at Hollowell It was generally faithful to the north-west shoreline but was also often seen feeding in the mat of weedy vegetation some distance from the water’s edge and made a few forays to other parts of the reservoir shoreline. At times it was highly visible but could also be lost to view as it hunkered down among tree roots and other debris exposed by recent low water levels.

Pectoral Sandpiper is a rare or scarce bird in the British Isles and is generally viewed as an American species. Its breeding territory in fact extends from Northern Siberia eastwards through Alaska and northern Canada as far as Hudson Bay. Trans-equatorial migrants, most of the population spends the winter in South America, with small numbers making it as far as Australia and New Zealand. The North American birds which turn up in Europe are thought to be affected by wind drift as they head south, perhaps getting caught up in Atlantic weather systems and carried across to Europe and the British Isles. Although a scarce / rare bird in the UK, this occurs often enough to make this species the commonest North American vagrant to be found here. It is also thought that some of the Siberian population may also head west pass through Europe in autumn, potentially on their way to wintering grounds in Africa.

Jon Cook