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Birstall Post November 2005 (268)
Cub awards
George Muller (pictured) is one of a group
of boys from Birstall 53rd Cub Scout group who have earned their
Chief Scout silver award.
George passed his kayaking one star badge at the Leicester Outdoor
Pursuits Centre. Luke and Daniel Alford chose swimming and Daniel
Chapman ran a tag rugby session.
The Cubs have recently taken part in boating, camping, climbing
and archery. They all had to complete a personal challenge as
the final part to gaining the silver award. George said: "I
wanted to set myself a different challenge and decided I would
learn the sport of kayaking." He trained with Paddle Plus
through the summer months to achieve his goal
Spokesman Ted Sessions said "Well done to all the boys and
I hope they continue to achieve in the scout group."
There are a few places for boys between 8 and 10 years of age
wishing to join Birstall Cubs, for details call Vic Dolby on
2671465.
Hallamfields art
THREE ARTISTS have been shortlisted to
provide public art on Hallamfields and readers are being invited
to help consultants Orange Dot make their final selection.
Lucy Banwell and Paula Moss of Orange Dot have devised the project,
which will involve a sculptor working with developers Jelsons
and Birstall residents to make a series of small scale sculptures
for the site.
Lucy Banwell said: "Our intention is that the selected artist
will spend some time getting to know the area and its people
before starting work. We also hope that the artist will later
create a large landmark feature for the site, which will be a
work that reflects the spirit and history of Birstall.
To help them make their final selection from the shortlist of
three artists, Orange Dot would like Birstall residents to put
questions to them about their work and working methods. Lucy
said: "For example, you might want to know how they plan
to involve local people, or what materials they usually use,
or find out more about the artists and their careers to date.
We will use the artists' responses to your questions when we
make the final selection to choose the artist who will work on
the project."
The artists' responses to questions will be published in a future
Birstall Post. Send your questions to The Birstall Post, c/o
Longslade college, Wanlip Lane, Birstall Leicester LE4 4GH, email:
editor@birstallpost.co.uk or you can put them via the website
www.hallamfieldspublicart.co.uk, where you can find more details
about the project.
The three shortlisted artists are:
Hamish Black
The three sculptures although seeming very different in finish
and material all revolve around a sense of place.
'Thames' is a pair of sculptures developed from, as the name
suggests, the river's north and south banks. Each riverside profile
is help upright and rotated through 360 degrees and is then cut
from tons of strip steel to form a series of circular turbines,
which stack around a central column. The spaces between each
element defines the low water mark, and the viewer walks between
the two pieces to enter the building.
With 'Westminster Double' (again for a site in central London)
I took another map, this time of Westminster. The boundary profile
is held at an oblique angle and rotated around a central void
through 360 degrees, with the appearance of a thick record. At
the top a shallow 'V' is removed to reveal the butterfly image
of the map and coincidentally a mirror image of a woman's face
and a chalice in the space between.
Both 'Thames' and 'Westminster Double' use local maps of a place.
'Afloat' takes a world globe and pushes the north and south poles
together to form the 'doughnut' with the other major continents
set adrift as negative removals into its surface. This 2.5m bronze
is sited on a stone promontory out into the sea at Brighton.
It frames a view between the sky and sea of our world, seen through
our world.
Michael Fairfax
My work, the way I approach a project is always about the place,
the materials of the place, the way people interact with the
place.
Hallamfields is new, an opportunity to help create markers, an
identity for the new environment, a feeling of pride and quality.
My work can be small and intimate, integral to its space, or
large; a marker, a demarcation for a site. Its resounding quality
is that it will be right for the space it inhabits.
I work/design in any material and if I can't make it I will get
somebody or a company who can. If possible, I like to use local
companies; this creates sustainability and employs local people,
which also creates local pride.
Martin Heron
My work is a direct response to each site and a reflection of
the spirit of the people who live nearly. Ideas can come from
the area's history, nature, and industrial heritage as well as
local people's hopes and expectations for the future. I think
that working with local people is the key to making sure the
artwork resonates, and enables people to build new connections
with the place where they live.
For example: the bears were made for a street in Hull, on a spot
where there used to be a Victorian zoo, with two bears who climbed
poles for treats. The design of 'Celebration' (for a site in
Northern Ireland) responds to the theme of identity and local
people informing me they wanted to celebrate the future, not
focus on history. An exhibition of objects cast by local people
was made for Cambourne in Cambridgeshire, and has influenced
three sculptures for the area.
Work can be subtle or dramatic, bold or poetic and will always
be a focal point for communities and add to a sense of pride
about who we are and the landscape we inhabit.
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Krustys are top team
STAFF FROM Krusty's bakery on Sibson Road
have been presented with awards for their success at raising
sponsorship.
They completed a sponsored walk in May for Leicester Combined
Children's Charities and in September were presented with trophies
for the most collected by a team (£1100); the most collected
by a child (£150 by Claire) and Paul Johnson for the most
collected by an adult (£450).
Edith Murphy remembered
A BIRSTALL woman who gave away millions
to charitable causes died in October.
Edith Murphy was buried in Dromintee, Ireland. Her funeral service
was held at St Theresa's Church, Birstall on Sunday October 23.
In 1992 Mrs Murphy set up the Edith Murphy Foundation and since
then has given away more than £3 million, mainly to medical
and animal causes.
The Foundation has provided funds for medical research into diabetes,
dialysis machines at Leicester General and helped to fund the
Breast Cancer unit at Glenfield Hospital.
In Nottingham, the Foundation paid for a wing of a holiday home
for disabled people and provided vehicles for the home.
The Foundation has also paid for kennels at Animal Aid in Huncote
and the training of nurses at the PDSA.
In Birstall, Mrs Murphy bought the old supermarket on The Crossways
and donated the site to the Parish Council for a car park. The
foundation also donated £5000 to Birstall United Juniors
Football Club.
Mrs Murphy has lived in Birstall since 1960 and served as a Parish
Councillor from 1979 to 2002.
In 2005 she was awarded an MBE for her charitable work. She was
born in 1916.
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Five years for dangerous driving
THE DRIVER of a car that crashed killing
a 15 year old boy from Birstall has been convicted of causing
death by dangerous driving, and sentenced to 5 years detention.
Lee Hampson (16), of Whatton Oaks, Rothley, caused the death
of Jamie Yendall by driving dangerously on the A6 last December.
Jamie was the front seat passenger in the car driven by Hampson.
It span out of control and crashed into a lamppost, almost splitting
the vehicle in two, on the A6 in Birstall near the A46 roundabout.
Jamie died at the scene.
The driver had bought the car, a Ford Escort XR3i 10 minutes
earlier, and had no MOT, no insurance and no formal driving experience.
Judge Jeremy Lea banned Hampson from driving for 6 years and
said the case graphically illustrated the kind of tragedy caused
by underage drivers illegally using the roads. At Leicester Crown
Court, Judge Lea said: "Giving evidence in your trial, you
exhibited arrogant belief in your ability as a driver. You believed
you could drive as well as anyone else when you hadn't lawfully
driven on a road before."
A 17 year old rear seat passenger in the car suffered severe
leg injuries but survived the accident, which happened on December
2, 2004.
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