CELEBRATIONS took place to mark 40 years since the opening of Grafham Water. When the attraction opened, The Beatles were taking the world by storm, Barclays had just introduced the credit card, and England was about to win the World Cup. In July 1966,

CELEBRATIONS took place to mark 40 years since the opening of Grafham Water.

When the attraction opened, The Beatles were taking the world by storm, Barclays had just introduced the credit card, and England was about to win the World Cup.

In July 1966, 2,400 acres of farmland in Grafham was flooded to supply water to thousands of new homes in Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire.

Without Grafham Water, Milton Keynes could not have been built. The project also marked a new practice of using reservoirs for recreation.

Kenneth Saxton, formerly chief engineer of the Great Ouse Water Authority, was the man who oversaw the venture.

He said: "The work we did at Grafham attracted national and international attention."

It also attracted royalty to its opening as Prince Philip was the guest of honour.

A DECISION was taken to delay any possible movement of hazardous waste from a landfill site at Warboys, in spite of the possibility that it would remain a risk to the community for more than 1,000 years.

New owners of the site - a company specialising in decontaminating land and returning it to productive use - said they believed they had the experience and technology to remove any potential problems within years.

Dr Henry Clemmey, of the Lancashire-based Woodford Group told The Hunts Post that he had had experience of far more difficult sites. He implied that, with proper management, potential pollution at Warboys could be dealt with comparatively simply and quickly.

A PETITION with more than 1,100 signatures was sent to Huntingdonshire District Council opposing plans to extend Huntingdon's Riverside Car Park.

Residents expressed their anger at the plans, which they said would take away one of the town's best-loved green spaces.

Valerie Ramsey, who lives opposite the car park, collected the signatures in just five hours and told The Hunts Post: "I'm very angry. I just can't believe the council would even consider taking away what little green space is left in Huntingdon to turn into a car park."

The council said its plan would provide much needed additional car parking for the town and were part of a larger scheme to improve the riverside area.

A COURAGEOUS mother of two died just 11 hours after marrying her partner while she lay in her hospital bed.

Lynn Hutchison and Geoff Marchant, who met working for St Neots Town Council, were married in Hinchingbrooke Hospital.

The couple, each marrying for the second time, had planned to marry in Bedford's Swiss Garden but Lynn, 42, was diagnosed with leukaemia in February 2005.

Geoff said: "It all happened so quickly, her condition had deteriorated in just five weeks.

"I asked the doctors if Lynn would make it to our wedding day and they said no. I told my daughter I had to get married that day.

"I asked Lynn if I could pull off a miracle, would she marry now. She smiled and said, 'Yes please'. My daughters Katie and Sally and Lynn's sister, Clair were amazing. They arranged it all and managed to get a registrar to marry us that evening."

He added: "She dug so deep to muster the strength to say her vows - she must have been in pain and she must have been scared, but she never showed it or stopped smiling.

"In the early hours of Sunday morning, Lynn was wide-awake but getting weaker by the hour. She looked at me with her beautiful eyes and spoke but I couldn't make out what she'd said. I asked her to say it again and with each shallow breath she said "I love you."

"Those were the last words Lynn spoke. She slipped into her lasting sleep."

Geoff said he held his new wife in his arms until she died.