Review Of The Year (part one) -- news that made the Chad headlines in 2022

Vivid images that made 2022 a memorable year, and not all for the right reasons.

It was another turbulent, tumultuous year. We smiled, cried, raged or despaired as 2021 brought us the rail and nurses’ strikes, the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee weekend, the Qatar World Cup, Matt Hancock in the jungle, Just Stop Oil protests, soaring energy bills, the return of ‘Top Gun’, the triumphant England Lionesses, the climax of ‘Peaky Blinders’, Wagatha Christie, Elon Musk’s Twitter, three Prime Ministers in seven weeks, ‘The White Lotus’, booming inflation, England winning cricket’s T20 World Cup, Volodymyr Zelensky, ‘Derry Girls’, ‘Big Boys’, David Beckham queueing, Holly and Phil not queueing, Boris Johnson telling Parliament: ‘Hasta la vista, baby’, Harry and Meghan on Netflix, the crowning of Lionel Messi and the demise of Cristiano Ronaldo.

What’s more, although we tried so hard to get rid of them, Covid-19, Brexit and Donald Trump all lingered for longer than we anticipated.

But what of 2022 in Mansfield and Ashfield? What kind of year was it for us? In this four-part Review Of The Year, we take a look back at the most-read news and sport stories that made the Chad headlines, starting with January to March.

JANUARY

TRAGIC ACCIDENT – the year begins badly with the deaths of popular Sutton businessman Dan Woodcock and his young son Lewis in a road accident near Pleasley Hill in Mansfield. Emma Cheney, a friend of the family, sets up a GoFundMe page to help Dan’s wife Caroline with funeral costs, and it raises almost £1,000 in just a few hours.

MURDER OF PENSIONER – detectives arrest a man on suspicion of the murder of Freda Walker in Langwith Junction. Mrs Walker, aged 86, and her 88-year-old husband, Ken, are found at their home on Station Road. Ken, a serving member of Shirebrook Town Council and a former Bolsover councillor, is seriously injured and rushed to hospital. He died seven months later.

MBE FOR BUSINESSMAN – a Mansfield Woodhouse businessman thought it was an “elaborate joke” on hearing he is in the Queen’s New Year Honours List. Gary Jordan, 62, is made an MBE for services to the local economy and community. During the first Covid lockdown, he helped to ensure that 110,000 items of PPE reached frontline workers in NHS and social care settings.

FLOOD VIDEO GOES VIRAL – a video showing a Lamborghini attempting to cross the flooded Rufford Mill Ford goes viral, racking up 27 million views around the world. It was shared by Alexandra Mary Hirschi, known online as Supercar Blondie, who is an Australian social media celebrity based in Dubai, after the setting up of a Facebook group by local friends Ben Gregory, Tom Sunderland and Nick Owen.

BOXER NICO TURNS PRO – in sport, Mansfield boxer Nico Leivars moves one step closer to his dream of becoming world champion and contesting a big fight on the pitch of his beloved Mansfield Town Football Club after turning professional for 2022. The 22-year-old bantamweight signs for legendary management team MTK Global, who look after the likes of Tyson Fury.

FEBRUARY

BEAUTY QUEEN DOCTOR – a doctor-cum-beauty-queen from King’s Mill Hospital in Sutton finally takes a break from the stresses of her job to enjoy a holiday to Mauritius that she won when crowned Miss England in 2019. Dr Bhasha Mukherjee, 26, had been forced to put the six-day trip on hold because of the Covid pandemic and its associated travel restrictions.

RATS NEXT TO DREAM HOME – a family from Ollerton describe how their dream home has become a nightmare after a neighbour’s property on Stephenson Close was plagued with rats. Mother-of-two Nicola Green, 34, films the rodents roaming free and scurrying through rubbish, broken furniture and children’s toys dumped in the neighbour’s garden. Videos are shared on social media.

FISHING SPOT REVIVED – a popular angling spot, Sherwood Forest Fishery in Mansfield, is given a fresh lease of life by new owners hoping to make it bigger and better for future generations. Paul Harding, 57, comes out of early retirement to take over the 20-acre site and turns the project into a family affair with his son Danny and Danny’s father-in-law, Kevin Dawson.

BECKY BACK HOME – Olympic swimming star Becky Adlington opens a new pool for under-11s at Portland Retail Park in Mansfield. She says she believes the pool will end up being her biggest legacy in her home town.

MARCH

FIRE AT HISTORIC MILL – police urge people to avoid the area and nearby residents to shut all doors and windows after a large fire breaks out at 3 am in the derelict, grade II listed Hermitage Mill in Mansfield. At its height, 20 fire engines tackle the blaze from the outside as parts of the building collapse.

RALLYING ROUND FOR UKRAINE – thousands of people in Mansfield and Ashfield step up to donate items to send to Ukraine after the invasion of Vladimir Putin’s Russia. In a fantastic show of community spirit, drop-off points are organised in the area for lorries to be loaded with donations of food, toiletries and first-aid items. Much of the operation is co-ordinated by Sutton firm, Taylors Transport.

DESSERT SHOP TASTES SUCCESS – Mansfield’s Pop n Roll Desserts shop on West Gate opens to a great fanfare, with its owners, Ali Rashid and Mohsin Hussain, determined to show off their baked desserts and famous rolled ice cream. Both have huge followings on social media. Ali is a motivational athlete known as @lionarofficial, while Mohsin is a food blogger known as @beardedmo.

FOOTBALL CLUB’S CENTENARY – proud Rainworth Miners Welfare Football Club prepare to celebrate their centenary season. The highlights of their history were an appearance at Wembley in 1982 for the FA Vase final and six successive Notts Alliance titles between 1977 and 1983.