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Birstall Post Sep 2001 (218) cont.

Thurcaston traffic calming

TRAFFIC CALMING measures planned for Thurcaston have been welcomed by the Parish Council.
Mr Mike Bradford from Leicestershire County Council presented the proposals at a meeting of Thurcaston and Cropston Parish Council in June.
The scheme includes:
• Speed tables on Leicester Road, Rectory Lane and Anstey Lane. These will be a standard 65mm high.
• Chicanes at the north and south entrances to the village on Leicester Road
• A mini-roundabout at the junction of Rectory Lane and Leicester Road.
• Four pedestrian refuges and carriageway widening at The Wheatsheaf crossroads.
Formal consultation with residents will be carried out with a leaflet drop and a public exhibition in the autumn.
Responding to questions from councillors, Mr Bradford said speed cameras were not available, no funds were available to include Mill Road in the scheme, traffic signs would be improved, it was not intended to include any alterations to speed limits in this scheme and that a footway on the church side of Anstey Lane would be considered.
Chairman of Thurcaston and Cropston Parish Council Mrs Audrey Flower said: “I welcome the scheme, something has to be done in the village to reduce traffic speed, especially along Leicester Road”.
Senior Technician at Leicestershire County Council’s Planning & Transportation Department Mr Carl Taverner told the Rothley Post: “There are problems with speeding vehicles in Thurcaston. The proposed measures will help to reduce that speed to 30mph”.

HATS founder, Rosemary Gibson (left), and present chairperson, Elaine Hunt cut the 10th anniversary birthday cake

HATS birthday

IN SEPTEMBER 1991, the Highcliffe Amateur Theatrical Society was born. For our 10th anniversary, members and friends banqueted in May with a bit of murder, mystery and mayhem to suit our theatrical tastes. Oh, yes we did!
For those of you who don’t know us we operate, as the name suggests, at Highcliffe School near the top of Greengate Lane, Birstall and we put on a pantomime at the end of November and a play in March or April.
Look out for our panto offering for later this year. it is ‘Panto at the OK Corral’ by Jim Sperinck and promises all the traditional pantomime ingredients except that it is set in the wicked Wild West - don’t miss it! There’ll be plenty of opportunities to sing along with some well-known songs, to boo the dastardly villain, laugh at the loony jokes and find out if you really can get a man with a gun. Yee hah!
So get your diary out and make a note for Nov 29, 30 and Dec 1. Evening performances are at 7.15pm and there will be a matinee on the Saturday at 2.30pm. Tickets for the panto will be available from the middle of September but you can reserve yours now by phoning Rod on 0116 2216019. As usual there will be a reduction for group bookings.
For next spring we are planning an evening of one-act plays to be performed over three consecutive evenings. This will be similar and hopefully as good as our ‘Three for the Price of One’ show back in 1997.
As usual, we would love to see more people from Birstall and the surrounding area coming to see our shows or actually joining our happy band of thespians. We would still welcome more help for this year’s pantomime, both on stage and off, in particular help with costumes and scenery.
So, if you have a couple of hours or more to spare each week, why not phone Rod on 0116 2216019 or Elaine on 0116 2201235.

Goscote gold

A LOCAL nursery are celebrating after having won one of the most prestigious awards in gardening at their first attempt.
Goscote Nurseries in Cossington were awarded an RHS Gold Medal and were judged Best in Show at the Hampton Court Flower Show in July.
Kasia Walker of Goscote Nurseries said: “It felt absolutely fantastic. So many people try for years to achieve this, and here we are doing it at the first attempt”.
A team from Goscote Nurseries spent four weeks creating the garden to a design provided by Courseworks, a Nottingham design company.
Sponsored by Mitsubishi, the garden had a modern design with wooden and metal decking, slate obelisks and a water feature with silver balls. There were raised borders, a gravel drive and traditional, soft coloured plants.
Goscote Nurseries has been established for over 35 years and has more than 2000 varieties including many rare and unusual plants.
Kasia said: “We feel that it is important that people can have specialist plants, quality designs and service locally and that Leicestershire has as much to offer as London and the surrounding areas. We are plantspeople who are keen to give advice to all who walk through our doors, from choosing plants to plant problems”.
Goscote Nurseries also offer a design and build service. They are on Syston Road, Cossington, telephone 01509 812121. www.goscote.co.uk.

Duck race

Karen Brewin & Doreen Stirk
On Sunday August 12 the good folk of Birstall saw the 10th Annual Duck Race take place.
It was without doubt the wettest day that we have had in some time, but did that dampen the spirits of the racegoers, of course not. The fun started at 10am. People with umbrellas of all sizes and colours mingled with wet dogs and soggy hot dogs to enjoy the attractions. There were raffle stands doing a roaring trade, games for everyone included the Higher & Lower Card Game, Splat the Rat and of course there was a stand doing Hook-a-Duck.

Duckmaster John Green
In the midst of all this was the largest dog that I have seen in a long time, he was called Charley, a breed known as an Old English Mastiff. His part in the proceedings was, people were being asked to guess the weight of this beautiful dog. He was very popular with one and all. Music was supplied by the popular Hiss and Boo Band.
A dynamic rocket launched the start of the actual duck race. It was great fun. Young and not so young lined the river banks to see the sight of many yellow ducks floating along the water. Who says the British are eccentric! We just can’t allow the weather to prevent us from having fun, and when you happen to be raising much need funds for a very worthwhile cause we just get on with it.
I am pleased to be writing this article in so much as despite the rain a lot of people showed their support. A big thank you goes to Duckmaster Johnny Green and his team of helpers for all the hard work that it takes to organise an event such as this, I for one will be back next year.
Of course, at the moment, I do not know how much was raised for LOROS. The only thing that I know is that a doll’s house that was made by a local man and was raffled separately raised over one hundred pounds, so that is a promising start to the total.
From Jill Maxine Harris

WI news

IN SPITE of it being holiday season there was a good turn-out of members at the August meeting of Birstall & Wanlip WI.
As there had not been a July meeting there was quite a lot of business and correspondence to be considered. Mrs Janet Hudson, our link member from New Barkby WI gave a report of the I.G.M. in Cardiff and told us how the voting had resulted. Names were taken for various WI activities taking place in the coming months and a date for a coffee morning at the home of Mary Marvin was announced to be our effort towards the ‘Make and Bake 2001’ in September.
Mrs Chandon Patel was once again the speaker and this time she talked about Asian cooking and brought some samples of various vegetarian and sweet dishes. Questions were asked as the talk proceeded and members learned of the time consuming preparations for some of the dishes. A vote of thanks to Mrs Patel was given by Mary Marvin.
The next meeting will be on September 3 when David and Dorothy Gregory will tell of their trip ‘Across Canada’. The competition will be for a small flower arrangement.

TG news

IN JUNE the Townswomen’s Guild held their National Council Meeting in the Royal Albert Hall, London.
Birstall was represented by Mrs Alwen Skinner (Chairman) and Mrs Joan Johnson who had the honour of carrying the federation flag for Leicestershire.
At the July meeting Mrs Skinner reported to members, with some humour, about various aspects and agendas of the National Council Meeting. During the interval members enjoyed strawberries, shortcake and ice cream and the evening was rounded off with a musical quiz compered by Mrs Jill Bailey, one of our members. A donation was made to Jill’s favourite charity, LOROS, for which she has worked very hard in raising £20,000.
On August the Social Studies group enjoyed a picnic and performance of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ in the beautiful surroundings of Tolethorpe Hall, Stamford.
The next meeting will be on Tuesday September 18 at Birstall Highcliffe School at 7.30pm and will include a Harvest Supper.
From Mrs Anne Boden

Skilled dancers

PUPILS OF the Monica Osborne School of Drama and Dance have been enjoying success around the world.
Gemma McNeil has joined a dance troupe in Madeira and Zoe Mundell has recently appeared in the Australian soap ‘Neighbours’.
Rebecca Lambert has been chosen to dance at the Haven Holiday Complex and Joanne Tomlin, Ann Lowe, Daniel Oates and Thomas Walton are joining the Leicester Performing Arts Ballet Company. They will appear later in the year in a production of La Sylphide at the Concordia Theatre, Hinckley.

Noticeboard

Crime figures

Birstall Crime Figures July 2001
Burglary Dwelling 3; Burglary Not Dwelling 10; Theft of Pedal Cycle 4; Theft from a Motor Vehicle 11; Theft of a Motor Vehicle 4; Theft from a Garden 2; Criminal Damage 8.
Young people on motor bikes riding recklessly are a concern in Birstall. I would appreciate any details of such incidents preferable with a Reg.No. and times and locations of the incident. Appropriate action can be taken before serious injury is caused.
Thefts from motor vehicles are still a problem especially in more remote car parks, request that people remember to remove handbags etc from public view before they leave their cars.
From PC Kevin Palmer
Tel:2485675 #1639

Planning applications

Mr & Mrs Jones - erection of conservatory to rear of semi detached dwelling. 11 Westgate Avenue
Mr & Mrs J Briers - erection of single storey extension to rear of semi detached dwelling. 17 Goscote Hall Road
Mr & Mrs B Pile - erection of single storey extension to rear and side of detached dwelling. 17 Kilby Avenue
Mr P Patel - change of use from shop to residential. 32 Went Road
Mr N Myatt - erection of extension to front of detached dwelling to provide double garage and studio in roof space. 237 Birstall Road
Mr P Hodson - erection of single storey extension to side of detached dwelling, 42 Curzon Avenue
Mr & Mrs A Clarke - erection of two storey extension to side of semi detached dwelling with porch. 163 Wanlip Lane
Mrs Gagin - change of use from shop to cafe. 95 Sibson Road
Mr Currall - erection of two storey extension to side of semi detached dwelling with conservatory to rear. 457 Loughborough Road
Mr N Merry - erection of single storey extension to rear of semi detached dwelling. 94 Elmfield Avenue
Mr D Wragg - erection of two storey side extension to semi detached dwelling. 18 Newton Drive

Your Say...

Readers' Letters

By the time this letter is published it has been planned that a new bathing system will have been installed at St James Day Centre.
Instead of having a static bath, fixed at floor level with a manual hoist for the seat unit, the new system is a height-adjustable bath with a transfer chair unit and hoist all operated by electricity. Also having a shower unit, the whole system is specially designed for the bathing of elderly or disabled people. The height of the bath can be raised to suit the bath nurse and for her it will make the task of bathing people less strenuous and less stressful and it is anticipated that at the same time this will create a calmer, more relaxing and reassuring environment for those having baths.
Thanks to Birstall Parish Council which is funding the wages of the bath nurse, St James Day Centre is, at the moment, the only day centre in the county able to provide a bathing service. The day centres at Melton Mowbray and Earl Shilton (as indeed happened at Birstall) have had funding for their bath nurses withdrawn by Age Concern Leicestershire and Rutland from April this year because of the urgent need to prioritise its expenditure for other services and those bathing services have had to cease.
Apart from many people in the groups who attend St James Day Centre from Monday to Thursday being able to have a supervised bath, it is possible for a few people in Birstall and Wanlip who do not attend any of the groups, to go to the day centre to have a supervised bath by making prior arrangements. (For further details please contact Jill Smith, Mon to Thurs 9.30am - 4pm, tel: 2677023). The cost of a bath is £2.50.
The new system (called the Malibu and of Swedish design) is a very costly piece of equipment and an application has been made for a grant for this. We shall not know until sometime in September whether the application has been successful but even if it is granted, there are incidental expenses and we are continually trying to increase our financial resources to be able to purchase a new minibus in a few years’ time and perhaps to carry out further improvements at the day centre. Therefore it is hoped that many people in the village will support our fundraising event at the Methodist Church Coffee Shop on Saturday, September 29 from 10am to 12noon.
Mr J Woods
Chairperson of Age Concern Birstall & Wanlip

The ‘663’ Ensemble is now in its 32nd year of fund raising for charities and over the years has been instrumental (no pun intended!) in making many friendships. Guest soloists this year include Ann & Paul Connolly who were Birstall residents some years ago. As we were married in St. James in ‘51 we thought it appropriate to hold this year’s charity concert at the church and hope that many people will come and enjoy a pleasant evening of Light Music on September 22.
Cynthia (Director of ‘663’ Ensemble) & Norman Coltman