Village sign
A VILLAGE sign for Birstall is being planned,
to be erected on the Triangle roundabout.
Birstall Parish Council invited Birstall and District Art Society
to produce a design, after the local history society suggested
that the sign should incorporate the Saxon beast of Birstall
and the Cedar of Lebanon tree in Roman Road.
President of the Art Society Norman Sims took on the job, and
added a representation of Birstall lighthouse to create a more
balanced composition. “I think all the elements are identified
with Birstall. I added the lighthouse as a symbolic element as
it’s a recognised symbol that’s used in other Birstall
societies’ logos” he said.
Birstall lighthouse has been attributed to three sites in the
village; an early radio tower on Park Road, the Birstall Sands
(at the bottom of White Horse Lane) and the junction of Front
Street and Wanlip Lane.
The beast of Birstall is a Saxon carving in St James Church and
the Cedar of Lebanon tree was planted in the 18th Century in
the grounds of Birstall Hall, built in 1763 and demolished in
1923.
The sign will be carved in wood. Norman said: “I hope the
village will react favourably to my design - I have tried to
produce something that represents the essential character of
the village.”
HATS Spring 2001 production, ‘A Fly
in the Ointment’ by Derek Benfield.
Buy one, get four free!
THE HIGHCLIFFE Amateur Theatrical Society’s next production
is Holiday Snaps by Jim Sperinck. The play is actually five short
one-act plays all with the theme of holidays.
‘Burst Tyre’ looks at the problems encountered by a
young girl trying to get help in a remote Greek village. In ‘Interminal
Chat’ we meet some slightly odd characters in the departure
lounge of a busy UK airport. ‘Taut Canvas’’ sees
two girls spending a night in a tent for the first time. In ‘Holiday
Snaps’ two couples get together to look at the photos of
the holiday they have just spent together and finally, ‘Cabin
Class’ is the tale of a couple holidaying on a cruise ship,
who get involved with a surprise passenger.
It’s all happening on April 25-27, 2002 at Highcliffe Primary
School, Greengate Lane, Birstall. Doors are open at 7pm and the
curtain goes up at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £4 (£3 for
concessions) and can be booked in advance by phoning Jenny Garner
on 0116 2128757.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who
came to see ‘Panto at the OK Corral’ and bought raffle
tickets. We raised £188 over the four performances and
were pleased to donate the money to the Mayor of Charnwood’s
charity, the National Eczema Society. We hope that you will all
come and see ‘Holiday Snaps’ at the end of the month
and have a really entertaining evening as well as helping us
to help local and national charities.
Parish Council Notes
A FULL meeting of Birstall Parish Council was held on Monday
March 11.
Cllr Chris Clarke questioned the accuracy of the minutes of the
last meeting, saying that several of the remarks he had made
had not been recorded. Chairman Nigel Coleman replied that not
every remark made at Council meetings could be minuted.
Cllr Neville Mayes reported that some young people gathering
at the junction of Ambergate Drive and Castlegate Avenue were
causing a problem for some residents. Cllr Pamela Martin commented
that there was a need in the village for more facilities for
young people.
The Council agreed to support an initiative, being led by Longslade
Youth Tutor Trevor Wise, to establish a Youth Council in the
village.
Councillors discussed a design for a village sign, which has
been produced by artist Norman Sims following a consultation
with Birstall and District Local History Society. The Council
voted to support the design, subject to a final consultation
with a word carver to establish whether the design is feasible.
The Council voted to support a proposal from a mobile fishmonger
who is seeking permission to set up a mobile fish stall somewhere
along Sibson Road. Councillors suggested the area outside the
video shop and the parking bay outside the Crossways car park.
The Council is consulting with young people in the village aged
12-16. It was suggested that they did not want a youth club but
would prefer some activities in the summer.
It was agreed to purchase goalposts for Harrowgate Drive playing
fields at a cost of £436.
The Council have erected three metal seats in the play areas
on School Lane and Meadows Lane. Five new dog bins have also
been installed, four at School Lane and one on Whiles Lane.
Four No Motorcycle signs had been sited at School Lane playing
fields, a Parking for /Cemetery Visitors Only sign at cemetery
entrance and two No Parking on the Grass signs at Whiles Lane.
It was reported that several shrubs used to form a small hedge
had been stolen from the School Lane playing fields.
It was reported that an application for the provisional grant
of New Justice’s Off Licence for 95 Sibson Road (formerly
Hobbits) had been successful. The outlet will be part of the
national chain Bargain Booze.
Police seek driver
OFFICERS FROM Syston local policing unit are appealing
for witnesses following two incidents in the Birstall area.
The first incident occurred at about 9am on Monday February 25,
2002, at the junction of Ambergate Drive and Greengate Lane,
when the driver of a small red car gestured to two 11-year-old
boys.
On Thursday, February 28, 2002, at about 8.30am at the junction
of School Lane and Birstall Road, the driver of a small red car
approached a 10 year old boy and tried to entice him into her
car. The boy protested and ran off. He was not hurt during the
incident.
The driver of the vehicle is a white woman who is short and thin.
She was wearing a fed, fluffy woollen type hat with a red and
black bow on the front and a red coat bearing a black motif.
DC Stuart Frobisher of Syston CID said: “This woman has
been seen behaving suspiciously on two occasions in the Birstall
area. We are keen to speak to anyone who saw a woman fitting
this description in the area at the time and anyone who may know
of her whereabouts.”
If anyone has any information about these incidents or the woman,
they should contact DC Stuart Frobisher on 0116 222 2222 ext
4253 or Crimestoppers, which is free and anonymous, on 0800 555111.
Village Watch news
THIS MONTH the Police are launching an initiative to cut
down the crime of house burglary.
This has been prompted by an increase of this type of crime for
January to nine offences. PC Kevin Palmer our local beat bobby
is offering crime prevention advice for residents of Birstall
and Wanlip. This will include a survey of their homes by officers
who are able to offer advice on the best methods to stop this
type of crime.
The Watch will be pleased to help with this, give your name and
address to your co-ordinators or a committee member or telephone
the Watch 2676397 or visit our advice shop. Our next advice day
will be on Saturday April 20 at the Old Council Offices, Sibson
Road, Birstall. From 10am until midday.
The Watch will have on sale, shed alarms, personal alarms and
low energy electric light bulbs, which switch on at dusk and
go off at dawn. These items are old sold at cost.
Theft of cars still gives concern again this month, eight have
been stolen and damage has been caused to two others. Please
remember to leave your car secure when you park it. Don’t
leave it unlocked even for a second whilst you just do that quick
errand. Do you lock it when you fill up with petrol at the filling
station, and go into the kiosk to pay? It’s a gift for a
thief to jump in and drive off and he’s got a full tank
of fuel to get him on his way. Remember there’s a thief
about, lock it and keep it.
From Peter Allen
Birstall Crime Figures
February 18-March 18
House Burglary 2, Burglary Other 2, Theft from Person 2, Theft
of Motor Vehicles 5, Theft from Motor Vehicle 0, Damage to Motor
Vehicle 3, Criminal Damage 5
Good News: Beaumont Leys male charged with committing 15 house
burglaries in Birstall; Local Youth arrested for damage to property
on Meadow Lane
Open for tennis
IF YOU think that belonging to a tennis club is all about
eating salmon and cucumber sandwiches and ‘talking posh’,
then think again.
Birstall Watermead Tennis club is keen to build up the sport
at grassroots level in the village. So, with this in mind, the
club is to hold an open morning on Sunday May 19.
Everyone will be welcome to come along to find out more about
the club, which is based at the Co-op Sports and Social Club
on Birstall Road, where members play on three all-weather courts.
In a positive and ambitious move to upgrade facilities and attract
more members to play both social and league tennis, the club
is planning to resurface its courts as well as install floodlighting.
This is an exciting project, which it is hoped, will be driven
on with the help of loan funding from the Lawn Tennis Association.
Meanwhile a reminder to those who like to participate in junior
coaching at the club - the sessions will be held on six Sunday
afternoons, organised with a qualified coach, and begin on May
12.
Anyone interested can contact Bev Hallett on 2201725.
Computer courses
IF YOU need to pick up computer skills the new summer term
courses at Longslade will help.
Web page design is becoming a new skill for many people with
little previous experience. An introduction to using Front Page
98 software is provided in five Monday evenings for only £20.
Another five week introduction on Thursdays will cover Email
and the Internet for beginners. Interest in these techniques
has spread to all age groups including great grandparents staying
in touch with distant family members. A separate day course on
Email and Internet will run on Saturday May 18 for £15.
Organising your computer files and your ‘desktop’ opening
page will make life a lot easier. Two Saturday morning courses
on ‘File Management and Organising Your Desktop’ will
provide you with the techniques to tidy up your files and operate
much more efficiently. Saturday May 18, £9 each course.
Exercise and fitness opportunities continue with Bums, Tums and
Thighs on Mondays and Wednesdays, Fitness Yoga on Mondays, Tai
Chi on Thursdays and Line Dancing at Rothley on Wednesdays.
Try bowls
THE NEW Bowls season starts this month and Birstall Bowling
Club are hoping for another successful year.
There is an open evening at the club on School Lane playing fields
on Tuesday May 7 from 6-8pm for anyone who would like to try
out the game. All you need is a pair of flat shoes or trainers.
For further details contact Andy on 0116 2677100.
The junior club is also being run again on Friday nights starting
in May. The exact date will be confirmed in May’s Birstall
Post. For more information please call Jan or Rick on 0116 2122578,
or Diane or John on 0116 2675457.
TG news
THE GUEST speaker at the February meeting of the Townswomen’s
Guild was Mrs Linda Robinson, who gave a light hearted look at
the life of a WI Market producer.
Her explanation of “Another Fine Mess You’ve Got Me
Into” was her willingness to always saying “Yes!”
At first she was a plant producer but then progressed to other
skills and then to organisation. The evening ended with a raffle.
The speaker at the Social Studies group in March was Mr Tony
Roe. As an officer of the Leicestershire & Rutland Parish
Council, he endeavoured to explain the work of the Parish Council.
It has a long history, but in the last 100 years the Parish Council
has hardly changed, even though small villages have expanded.
He ended his talk by reminding members that the TG was formed
after the suffragettes, therefore the interest in participating
on local issues is to be represented on the Parish Council.
The next meeting of the TG will be on Tuesday April 16 at Highcliffe
School, Birstall at 7.30pm when the guest speaker will be Dr
J B Smith. His topic being ‘Good Girls & Bad Girls’.
Visitors welcome.
A reminder to the Social Studies Group that there is no meeting
on April 1 as it is Easter but it will be held on April 8.
Anne Boden
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Doll making classes
A THRIVING porcelain doll enterprise has transferred from
a shop in Birstall Road to Longslade’s Design department.
Linda Lowe, formerly of Delyna Dolls, will be running three classes
on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and on Wednesday afternoons
from April 9 onwards. These 10 week courses will cater for beginners,
covering the process of making the doll from a mould to dressing
the finished product.
Linda expects a large number of new students to join the 20 established
doll makers already familiar with some of the skills. Eventually
students will combine all the techniques of mould pouring, cleaning,
painting, assembling and costuming. Potential students wanting
more information can telephone Longslade 2673389 or the tutor
Linda Lowe, 2765934. For course times and enrolment see the New
Adult Courses advertisement.
WI news
Mr P Maloney once again inspired members of Birstall &
Wanlip WI to join him in a session of Tai Chi at their March
meeting.
After a very interesting and enjoyable session of Tai Chi last
year, Mr Maloney was invited to come again and this time there
were several visitors to the meeting as well as an almost full
complement of members. Tai Chi is highly to be recommended as
a relaxing and gentle form of exercise and Mr Maloney was warmly
thanked for coming again by Joan Merrick.
During the business part of the meeting a card was signed by
everyone to send good wishes to President Dorothy Gregory who
had the misfortune to fall and break her hip recently. A note
from Dorothy was also read out wishing everyone a happy meeting
and with thanks for cards she had received.
Final arrangements were made for attendance at the ACM on March
20 and other notices were read out of other future events.
The competition winner was Mary Marvin who thought that ‘flush
toilets’ were one of the most important inventions of the
20th century. This feeling was heartily endorsed by other members!
After the draw for the raffle which was won by Mrs Cynthia Olin
the meeting closed.
April 8 is the date of the next meeting with Mrs Diana West demonstrating
reflexology and a competition to find out who could make the
most words out of the title ‘Home and Country’. This
will be at 7.15pm at the Hall Extension at Highcliffe School,
Greengate Lane, Birstall.
From Mrs M Belton
Methodist news
FUNDRAISING continues for our Vision 2000 project. The
original estimates for the work was £83,000.
So far, including the legacy money, funds raised, and the anticipated
two small grants, we have £77,000 in the fund, leaving
£6000 to be raised. However it is possible the estimates
for the work have increased slightly. Some explanation of the
work was detailed in last month’s Birstall Post. The church
is grateful to the many friends in Birstall who have supported
our fund raising events.
Recent events included a concert by the Ratcliffe Chorale (mainly
ladies) and in the same concert a Welsh Male Voice Choir from
the Mountain Ash Rugby Club Singers. It was a musical spectacular
from both the ladies and the gentleman and raised £432.
The Murder Mystery Evening “Who Killed the Very Rev Toby
Spoon?” had all the audience guessing, but at the end about
a third of those watching had worked out that it was ‘Lavinia
Hawkmoth’. If you missed the evening we found the story
on a website www.pbs.org/cgi-bin/wgbh. Alas the website doesn’t
include the drama that was added. There was ample food. In fact
there was so much left over that it was taken to the Night Shelter
in New Walk. So apart from a good evening, with good food, rounded
off with a quiz, and a ‘good deed’ to the night shelter;
£345 was raised for the Vision 2000 project.
The funds for Arumba, in the Gambia stand at almost £6,000
and are part of the same Vision 2000 project.
Pens and pencils, items that we take so much for granted, are
a scarce commodity in the local schools in The Gambia, and in
March there was a collection of these for this part of Africa.
They were taken out to The Gambia by a friend.
Another link with the African Continent has been made by our
Minister’s eldest daughter. Deborah Gray (age 21) flew out
to Senegal, in West Africa on March 4 to undertake a dictionary
compilation project to aid literary studies for a tribal language.
Her original posting to Papua New Guinea had to be changed because
of unexpected difficulties in obtaining a work permit. The project
is part of the Wycliffe Bible Translators based in High Wycombe,
where Deborah has been training for this work since September
last. Friends have contributed to the Wycliffe organisation to
enable this work to continue. Deborah is due back in Birstall
just before Christmas.
One group that has been going for 75 years is the ‘Bright
Hour’. A group for ladies (and the occasional gentleman)
of more mature years meets on Tuesday afternoons at 2.30pm. This
happy group is led by Mrs Shirley Harrison (tel: 2676769) who
would be happy to give more details for anyone who wishes to
join.
The preachers who usually take our Sunday services come from
around the local area. April is unusual in that, with one exception,
all the services are taken by preachers who live in Birstall.
Our notice board gives details, and all are welcome to our Sunday
Services.
From Birstall Methodist Church
WEA news
THE BIRSTALL and Rothley branch of the WEA invites you
to enjoy country walking in Leicestershire’s fine and varied
Country Parks and admire the views in the company of fellow enthusiasts.
They will be visiting Beacon Hill, Bucks Hill and the Outwoods,
the Altar Stones of Markfield, Bouskell Park, Blaby and Wistow
Park. The walks will be about 3 miles long, at a gentle pace,
and walkers are advised to wear strong shoes or boots and carry
waterproofs. The five walks will be on Monday evenings starting
on April 22, meeting at Broombriggs car park at 7.15pm. Pre-enrolment
is essential for this course as all the sessions are ‘in
the field’. For further information pick up a leaflet from
the library phone 0116 2675086 or 0116 2675212 or visit our web
site www.birstallandrothleywea.org.uk
Drum masterclass
ROCK LEGEND Carl Palmer the famous drummer and one third
of the famous Emerson, Lake and Palmer, will be presenting two
masterclasses for drummers in Thurmaston on Sunday June 9.
The first class will be for beginners, with the second focusing
on more advanced techniques. Both classes will be held during
the day. Carl, who is a Vice President of Drummers Incorporated,
the UK’s leading society for drummers and the organisers
of this event will teach for 1hr 30mins each class. After each
event he will sign autographs for those taking part. Seats are
limited to 20 per class and tickets are £20 each.
Anyone who would like more information about the masterclass,
Drummers Incorporated and drum tuition should contact Tony Bingham
on Leicester 2640618 or E-Mail drummersuk1@btopenworld.com
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