GCR weekend
A WORLD War II weekend saw the Great Central
Railway transformed, with Birstall station in occupied France
controlled by German forces.
Visitors looked on from the platform as Allied soldiers tried
unsuccessfully to capture a German position in a skirmish laid
on by the more than 500 re-enactors from the UK and abroad who
took part in the event.
The stations at Loughborough, Quorn, Rothley and Birstall each
had their own attractions at the event, held over the weekend
June 16 and 17.
Rothley was an Axis forces camp, complete with a Tiger tank,
which was attacked by Allied forces.
Music of the period was performed at Quorn station by the Beeston
Swing Band where there was also a 40s sing-a-long.
Rothley Station Master John Beadsmoore, speaking on the Sunday,
said: "It has been an amazing, record breaking day, so many
people have turned out and are enjoying an exciting event in
glorious weather."
Event co-ordinator from the GCR Bob Tomsett said: "We have
done very well and the trains today are running at full capacity.
Today's event is living history that paints a picture and gives
a flavour of what those times were like."
Tesco or not Tesco?
TESCO have indicated they have no plans
to open a store in Birstall.
The Birstall Post first contacted the leading supermarket chain
10 weeks ago after hearing the now widespread rumours about a
Tesco Metro opening at 139 Sibson Road. At that time a spokesman
in Tesco's press office said they did not comment about rumours.
The planning application for the site, submitted in 2006, was
made by Mr T Lunn and the agents are Nottingham based Marchini
Curran Associates. The documents refer to "a major retailer"
but no supermarket group is named.
In June, a Tesco press officer told the Birstall Post: "Our
procedure is to put in planning applications in our own name
and not use a third party. If you want to find out who this retailer
is I suggest you look further afield - Tesco shouldn't really
be a part of this story."
Marchini Curran Associates declined to comment when contacted
by the Birstall Post.
The Birstall Post understands that contractors on the site have
told several people including neighbours Birstall Dental Practice
that the store will be a Tesco Metro that will open in November.
The planning application is for two shop units on the ground
floor and two flats above.
Fireworks finale at gala
BIRSTALL GALA celebrates its eighth anniversary
this year.
In 2000 a few of Birstall's Parish Councillors got together and
decided to held a promenade concert on Birstall Park to celebrate
the Millennium. Since then, despite the original intention that
this should be a single event, the Gala has now become a regular
feature of Birstall life.
The original event has steadily grown from an evening 'Proms
in the Park' to a two day event with something for all the family.
Since the first Gala started in 2000 it has been organised by
a few willing helpers from the parish council and they have been
supported financially by local businesses, whose generosity makes
the event possible.
This year's Gala Committee Chairman Simon Castleman said: "There
will be a range of attractions over the two days including live
music, fairground rides, side shows tug-of-war as well as a boxing
exhibition and of course a beer tent, tea and coffee and food
will be available".
The free Gala starts at 1pm on Saturday July 7 on the School
Lane playing field and features nine live local bands playing
a range of music from Beatles and rock covers to pop and their
own compositions. Many of the artists and bands performing are
well known around Leicestershire and further afield.
On Sunday July 8, Gala day starts at 10am with a combined church
service which will be followed by different entertainments and
side shows. The two days will culminate in a 'Proms in the Park'
concert which will end with a firework display.
The fireworks finale has been made possible this year thanks
to the support of pupils from Highcliffe, Riverside, Stonehill
and Longslade schools. Each school held its own fundraising event,
including sponsored walks, a non-uniform day, a balloon race
and 'wear a hat' day. Proceeds were split between the gala and
the schools' own projects.
Simon said: "We know we will get a lot of support from the
people of Birstall and we would also like to welcome those from
further afield to join us at what proves to be an enjoyable annual
event."
For more information about the gala please contact Jennie at
the Parish Council on 0116 2676191 or email jennie@birstallpc.org.uk
There is still time to book a stall for Sunday July 8. Jennie
said: "Why not have a fun day out and raise some money for
your favourite charity or just have a stall and raise some cash
for yourself." To book, contact Jennie on the number above.
Saturday July 7
On stage from 1pm: Simone Swift, The Nowhere Men (Beatles Tribute),
Sweet Lady, Junk, Neil Hill Band, To Be Confirmed, Reborn (Dan
Leake), SKP Steve Howgill, Myriadsonix
Sunday July 8
Attractions include
10-10.30am Opening by His Worshipful the Mayor of Charnwood,
Councillor Joe C Tormey. Combined service from the churches of
Birstall & Wanlip; 10.45-11.45am Junction 21 Band; 12noon-12.45pm
Tug of War - Pubs in Birstall; 12.45-1.45pm Birstall Brass Ensemble;
2-3pm Fosse Swing Band; 3-4pm Children's Dance Routine, The Bianca
School of Dance; 4-5.30pm Out of the Shadows Band, 7.00 for 7.30pm
Last Night of the Proms, 10pm Fireworks
Match to remember
ENGLAND CRICKETER Paul Nixon brought along
his Leicestershire team mates to play Birstall Village Cricket
Club as part of his benefit year.
Pic: Paul Nixon, Andy Corbett &
the Birstall Village
cricket club team
A large crowd enjoyed an entertaining game in warm sunny weather,
with refreshments provided in the club's beer tent and a hog
roast laid on by J Michael butchers.
Doug Topley, Chairman of Birstall Village Cricket Club, said:
"It was a great night, everyone enjoyed themselves - it's
an honour for the club to play the Leicestershire side."
He added: "Thanks to all our sponsors, without them it would
be impossible to hold such an event. Special thanks to Krusty's
for supplying the teas and to David Michael for the hog roast."
Pic: Paul Nixon presents a miniature bat signed
by the Leicestershire players to Birstall's Josh Saye who this
season recorded the highest ever score for a batsman at Birstall:
152 runs
The twenty 20 game was won by Leicestershire with 195 runs, Birstall
reaching 165. Vice chairman of Birstall, Andy Corbett, played
in the game. "Paul Nixon said we played well and that it
was nice to see some juniors in the side. It was a great occasion
and I'm pleased the public came out to support us" he said.
Plough’s gift to Tom
A YOUNG father to be from Birstall was
partially paralysed after breaking his neck in a friend's garden.
Pic: Rebecca George (left) receives
a cheque from the Old Plough.
Twenty two year old Tom Underwood was play fighting at a birthday
celebration - the friends had hired inflatable sumo wrestling
suits for the party.
Tom broke his neck in three places and has damaged his spinal
cord. A screen printer, Tom will spend the next six months in
hospital and it may take up to two years before he can walk again.
He is now in a specialist unit in a Sheffield hospital.
Girl friend Rebecca George (18) is three months pregnant and
feels devastated by the accident. "Tom is trying to put
a brave face on about it" she said.
Tom is a regular at the Old Plough on Front Street. The pub organised
a fundraising day that raised £225 and with the management
team making up the difference, the pub presented Rebecca with
a cheque for £400 to buy a laptop for Tom so he can communicate
by email with friends and family.
Landlord Nick Langton said: "Tom is a regular here, very
well mannered, just a great lad and we wanted to do what we could
to help him. We wish him well and I'm looking forward to pulling
him a pint when he gets back to Birstall."
Rebecca said: "It's amazing what the Plough have done, I
wasn't expecting it, it's very generous. Tom was always in the
Plough and he's obviously well loved here."
Watermead: the Connct2 bid
THE CONNECT2 project aims to create new
pedestrian and cycle links between Watermead Country Park and
the surrounding villages and improve access to bridges within
the park for the disabled.
The County Council have provided these answers to the most frequently
asked questions about the project.
Q: What is Connect2?
Connect2 is one of six projects which will compete for £50
million from the Big Lottery Fund through an ITV show in December.
All the other projects propose to spend the money in one single
location, whereas Connect2 would spend the money on 71 different
schemes the length and breadth of the country.
One of these is the Watermead Country Park scheme which would
get around £700,000 share of the £50 million. Further
funding by local organisations including Leicestershire County
Council, bring the total project cost to over £1 million.
The scheme is led by Sustrans (national cycling charity - responsible
for the National Cycle Network) and brings together the City
and County Councils, Charnwood Borough Council, local Parish
Councils and local groups such as the ramblers and Mosaic.
We need to contribute to demonstrate public support for the project
which can be done by logging on to www.sustransconnect2.org.uk
or by phoning 0845 058 l3 73.
Q: How much support is there for the scheme?
So far we have had over 300 pledges of support through the Sustrans
website, which puts us in the top ten of the 71 projects nationwide.
This figure is in addition to the Leicester Mercury's supporting
petition which already has hundreds more signatures.
Q: What sort of things would be happening as part of the scheme?
There are several ways into the park, but at the moment many
of these are difficult to use except in cars. Some of the paths
and bridges are not accessible to all sections of the community,
for example the bridges at Thurmaston and Birstall locks. The
bridge at Thurmaston is incredible steep, impossible for someone
using a wheelchair or with young children to negotiate. Even
someone who normally has no difficulty walking would find it
particularly difficult in icy weather. A small number of paths
within the park will be tarmacced to make getting around easier
for all park users.
Q: Are you going to tarmac loads of paths?
We are proposing to tarmac more of the paths to make them more
serviceable. However the majority of the paths that are being
tarmacced are existing gravel paths, which are not only very
difficult for people with mobility difficulties to negotiate
but quite costly to maintain, and not particularly environmentally
friendly as they need re-gravelling about three times a year.
There are a few 'new' paths being created, but these are on existing
grass paths which get churned up and eroded from the amount of
use they get. The tarmac paths we already have, have attracted
very few complaints and have blended in to the landscape very
quickly.
Q. Won't the new paths encourage motorcyclists/scooter riders
to turn the park into a
racetrack?
We don't anticipate that additional routes within the park will
change the current situation. As part of the Connect2 project,
if we get the money, we will be looking at various options to
address the issue. We are also always looking at how this has
been done in other areas to ensure that we are providing an appropriate
balance. There are several types of antimotor cycle barriers
available, though experience elsewhere suggest that higher use
by legitimate users deters most of the motorcyclists.
Q. Are you going to put street lighting in the park?
We have not yet put together any proposals for street lighting
to go with the project. However, if streetlighting does become
a part of the plan, it will be kept to a minimum in the park
to avoid disturbing its wildlife. For reasons of personal security,
lighting will be required on a single route across the park (between
Thurmaston and Birstall). It would not be near to any housing
so will not affect residents. In summer, the streetlighting will
not be on at all, but during the winter months (October to March)
the lights will come on in the morning until it is light and
at dusk until about 8pm (ie commuter period). Winter lighting
of this sort is not expected to have any damaging effect on bird
life.
Q. What happens if you don't get the money? A lot of work has
gone into the proposals, will all this be in vain?
If we don't get the money, we cannot go ahead with the plans
initially. However, the work put into this indicates our ambitions
for the park, and while only some of the aspects of the scheme
can be done short term, in the longer term we can look at other
avenues for funding. What we will have done is raised the profile
of the park and the issues it faces. This can only help us if
we go for other funding, as we have amassed plenty of evidence
to demonstrate the huge amount of public support. We have also
had additional suggestions of improved routes to the park that
we are also pursuing as a separate issue.
Find out more about the Connect2 bid at www.sustransconnect2.org.uk.
The organisers are also urging residents to visit the website
to pledge their support for the scheme at Watermead Country Park.
It currently ranks ninth in the table of 79 schemes that make
up the bid, in terms of the number of messages of support received.
Drivers fined
THREE DRIVERS were fined and three points
added to their licences after police conducted speed checks on
Birstall Road.
A further five drivers were stopped and given warnings.
Police have made speeding a priority issue after widespread consultation
with residents and will be conduction more speed checks in the
village.
Crime Report April 17 - May 15
Burglary dwelling 5, burglary other 3, damage 20, theft of motor
vehicle 1, theft from motor vehicle 7, damage to motor vehicle
9, theft 10
Glorious gardens
BIRSTALL'S ANNUAL Garden Trail in June
was popular with visitors who enjoyed gardens in Park Road, Cliffe
Road and Henson Close.
Pic: garden owners Robet &
Cate
Boulton of 86b Park Rd
The event is organised each year by Birstall Methodist Church.
Garden Trail spokesman John Kilby said: "Despite the wet
weather on Saturday, the Sunday was very good and expressions
of thanks are to be passed on to all those who helped in any
way."
£3,600 will be shared between the Methodist Church and
Macmillan Cancer Support. John said: "People did enjoy walking
round the gardens and there was a noticeable sense of social
friendship. Special thanks go to the committee, the many stallholders
and helpers and also the forty folk who acted as stewards and
welcomed the visitors.
Pic: Seated in the garden at 18 Park Rd is
the
Patel family - Jayan (6), Reena, Maya (9), and Mukesh
"Very special thanks to the garden owners for all the work
they achieved, and to the Minister, Edward Sakwe and his family
of friends who helped to arrange the two main tea events. Once
again we were grateful to the Birstall Garden Centre for their
continued help."
Pic: Serving ice cream to Freya Biddles (3)
& mum
Natalie are May Goodwin, Rosalie Kilby & Sheila Wilson
A presentation is planned for Sunday evening July 15 when a cheque
will be handed to the Macmillan nurses. The Methodist church
have now organised 17 Annual Garden Trails and the social benefits
to the community continue to be the most pleasing aspect, say
the organisers. John said: "On a financial basis we have
over these years, since 1991, raised over £20,000 for other
charities besides helping our own church financially."
|
Parish Council notes
A FULL meeting of Birstall Parish Council
was held on June 11.
Chairman Stuart Jones introduced the new Parish Clerk, Brenda
Thomas, who will be appointed on July 3.
Gwen Ward, the owner of Krusty's on Sibson Road, urged the council
to provide CCTV cameras along the Parade. She reported that her
shop window had been broken twice in three weeks and that a replacement
cost £1000. Other shops are also being targeted, she said,
and the damage usually occurs around 12.40am on Fridays/Saturdays.
Cllr Pat Cleere said any scheme would have to cover all the shops
on Sibson Road and questioned whether this was affordable or
could be considered the responsibility of the Parish Council.
Chairman Stuart Jones said the problem was the lack of police
on the streets at night and urged shopkeepers to write and complain
to the police about the lack of policing in Birstall.
Cllr Jim Garner said he would raise the matter at the next meeting
of the Police Action Group.
PC Chris Falle said he would back CCTV but that it is "not
as good as people think it is". It can provide helpful information
such as how many are involved, what vehicles are used and what
age the offenders are. It can also act as a deterrent, he said,
but it is difficult to obtain evidence sufficient for a conviction.
PC Falle said Saturdays at 1am were one of their busiest times
and that there was not the manpower to patrol Birstall at that
time as much as he would like to. PC Falle explained that the
Charnwood LPU had 20 villages to cover and that on any given
shift, five officers were on duty and three vehicles on patrol.
The current hot spots were Anstey, Mountsorrel and Birstall,
in that order.
PC Falle reported there had been 12 incidents of criminal damage
in the last 28 days, a drop compared to the last few months but
nine more than last year. There were four burglary dwellings
with arrests made for two.
There were three robberies including one incident near Lambourne
Road when a knife was drawn on a 14 year old boy. The boy ran
away after being punched. There were two acts of indecency: an
individual exposing himself to women on Watermead Country Park.
Other crime figures for the last 28 days were: theft 7, theft
from motor vehicle 5, theft of motor vehicle 2, theft store 1,
burglary other 6, assault/harassment 14. There were no drug offences.
Three persons have been charged for graffiti in the last few
months.
PC Falle said that a group of around 15 youths from Beaumont
Leys had caused an "enormous amount of problems" one
Friday night at the end of May including assaults and damage.
PC Falle reported that he routinely confiscates alcohol from
minors, that in a three day period 75 youths were stopped and
questioned and that Trading Standards officers had tested several
outlets for the sale of alcohol to minors.
It was reported that the number of bedrooms in the planned Travel
Lodge on Hallam Fields had increased from 60 to 72 but that the
external dimensions of the building were unchanged. There will
be an 80 space car park, an HGV fuel stop and parking, coach
parking, a domestic fuel forecourt, jet wash, car wash and a
picnic area.
It was reported that the Edith Murphy Foundation had provided
a donation towards the conversion of the old bowling green opposite
Birstall DIY into a car park.
Junior football at Birstall United
THE LEAGUE season may be officially over
but the success keeps coming for Birstall United.
Pic: Birstall Utd Vixen Under 10s
The girls under 10s took on the might of Leicester City Vixens
in the League Cup Final in May and took the silverware in some
style with a 3-0 victory. Georgia Harris and Emily Gunn did the
damage to the much-fancied favourites and Georgia was also voted
player of the final.
At the same presentation day the under 12s team was awarded the
league's Fair Play trophy as voted for by the opposition over
the season. The girls celebrated by returning with the cup to
the Old Plough in the village, who have supported them throughout
the season, providing after match buffets and a warm welcome.
Pic: (l-r) Georgia Harris, Jordan Scragg and
Rosie Rushin with the County FA Fair Play award
More good news followed for the girls when they were awarded
a Barclays Spaces for Sports grant to provide them with much
needed training equipment. And following a successful funding
bid, the Football Foundation has awarded the club a grant to
replace its goalposts with new safer ones.
It has been a fantastic first season for the Vixens and this
was highlighted at the Leicestershire & Rutland County FA
Charter Clubs Awards night held at Holmes Park on June 20. Vixens
under 10s coach, Cathy Scragg was nominated for Club Coach of
the Year and was ultimately awarded the runner up position being
presented with training equipment for the club from the sponsors
Umbro.
"Also at the awards the Vixens were awarded the County FA
Fair Play Award for all Girls Football. This indeed is an accolade
that all concerned should be proud of and leaves the girls looking
forward to season 2007/08 with high hopes" said the Club's
Development and Promotions Secretary, Karen Klein.
The season also finished positively for the under 8 Foxes with
a win in the Echo's Grass Roots competition. They were rewarded
with 15 'Hurricane' kits for the team comprising of rain jackets
and trousers which they were presented with at a presentation
ceremony in Coventry.
The club's most successful season ever ended with the annual
international football tournament during the weekend May 26-27,
which saw their friends from Etoile, France visit for the 29th
year for the under 13s tournament. This festival of football
also saw the club host mini soccer tournaments for the under
8 minors, under 8s and under 9s along with 'Girls only' competitions
for the under 10s and under 12s.
Karen said: "The weekend was a great family event with bouncy
castles etc to keep those not involved in the football happy
and even the rain that poured down all day on the Sunday did
not spoil the event for all those who took part. The international
tournament was won by Syston Town, but our own under 9 Foxes
and under 10 Vixens took the winning trophies in their age groups
while the newly formed under 10s Birstall Belles came in as runners
up."
Pic: Zachery Cochrane enjoying his ice cream
in the pouring rain at the recent international tournament.
The club also wishes to congratulate Jonathan Gaydon for earning
his 150 appearance award this season.
Karen said: "The club is now busy preparing for the 2007/08
season which promises to be busier and hopefully more successful
than ever. The girls under 13s will step up to play 9-a-side
football while the girls under 11s will have two teams in the
league as the Belles take up competitive football for the first
time."
The Vixens are always looking to develop girls football in the
village and the club is inviting girls between 7-12 years of
age to come down and join in the fun. Training is on a Saturday
morning and Tuesday evening at Meadow Lane.
For more details about the club, look at the Club website: www.birstall-united-juniors-fc.co.uk
or contact the secretary on 0116 2216855.
|