Norman the telehandler visits village school

A Bardney schoolgirl met the new telehandler she named as part of a housebuilder’s competition.

Chestnut Homes invited pupils at Bardney Church of England and Methodist School to get their thinking caps on and come up with a name for the lifting machine, which is currently based at the company’s Manor Farm development off St Lawrence Drive in the village.

The winner was year 6 pupil Chloe Betmead with her suggestion of Norman.

And the newly-christened vehicle took time out from his busy schedule to pay Chloe and her classmates a visit.

Norman, along with his Chestnut Homes colleague Chris Dowley came to the school to tell the children more about his work at Manor Farm.

As well as having her name printed onto the side of the machine, Chloe also received a gift Voucher for winning the competition.

Garth Hicks, Head Teacher at Bardney Church of England and Methodist School, said: “The school was delighted to be involved with the naming competition, especially given that many of our families live on the Chestnut Homes estate within the village.

“Chloe loved meeting Norman - she even welled up a little. She called her parents when we got back into school and they were incredibly proud of their daughter.”

David Newton, Managing Director of Chestnut Homes, said: “Earlier this year we invested in nine new telehandler machines and had great fun challenging the public to name them.

“As we are building in Bardney, we were very keen to get the children from Bardney CoE and Methodist school involved, and we were very impressed with their entries.

“It was a pleasure to visit the school to present Chloe with her prize and we hope all the children enjoyed getting to meet Norman.”