About Us - Goxhill Gander

Spring 2024
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The Gander  started in 1987 as a leaflet to provide details of the eighteen  candidates standing in Parish Council elections that autumn. From the  very beginning the intention was to be fair to everyone and represent  the people of the whole village. There may be less voting going on  today, but we still aim to cover all the issues concerning Goxhill right  now and encourage residents to get involved.

Back in 1987, once it was clear a village newsletter was a good  idea for Goxhill, the leadership team’s first task was to find a name  for the publication. Numerous ideas were suggested, but eventually ‘THE  GANDER’ was chosen at the suggestion of Alan Gould, based on his  entirely erroneous belief that the word ‘Goxhill’ had evolved from an  earlier name of ‘Goose Hill’. Only later was it pointed out that one  early Saxon name for this village had been ‘Gouzle’, but by then the  paper had been named ‘THE GANDER’.

A number of cardinal principles were laid down at that time for  THE GANDER. It was to be a quarterly newsletter; it would be delivered  free to every dwelling in the parish; it would be financed by the  advertisements it carried; it would be open for any resident or  voluntary group to participate in; it would be owned by the village’s  residents; it would be free and independent of any financial, political  or statutory bodies and it would hold Annual General Meetings. These  principles hold to this day.

The first editor of The Gander was Laurence Boxer, with Carol  Thornton the advertising manager and Alan Gould, Group Secretary.  Michael O’Leary followed shortly after to begin his long and reliable  contribution as Treasurer. Ten A4 pages were typed on to duplicator wax  skins and 600 copies were rolled off on Alan’s ancient Roneo duplicator.

Now, with Mike Gathercole co-ordinating, Adam Ellis as editor,  and John Noton the treasurer, the newsletter relies on much more  computer expertise and printing is done professionally by Newton’s of  Barton-upon-Humber. Every three months 1,100 copies are published and  delivered free by a dedicated team of volunteers; it is a reliable gauge  of opinion and a first stop for any villager wanting a phone number or  the latest information about the village.

With the addition of this website, we hope to come even closer to  the ideals long championed by those involved with the Gander for the  last 20-plus years. We hope Goxhill residents past, present and
future will use us to learn and teach more about this corner of North Lincolnshire we call home.

Whatever changes come our way in the next few years we will be  here, on paper and online - and we’d love to hear from you.
info@goxhillgander.com
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