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Rothley Post Sep/Oct 2007 (66)

Pets’s corner

ROTHLEY'S BROOKLEA Nursery has opened a pets' corner for its younger visitors.
There are seven rabbits and seven guinea pigs and our picture shows Harriet Brookes (left) and Emily Matthews giving two rabbits a cuddle.

Centre plans approved

PLANS FOR the new Rothley Centre on Mountsorrel Lane have been approved by Charnwood Borough Council.
The £1.2million project is being led by Rothley Parish Council and will see the construction of a single storey building on land next to Rothley library.
Chairman of Rothley Parish Council Percy Hartshorn said: "I was very pleased to hear the application had been passed and a number of people have told me how pleased they are it is going ahead."
The Parish Council is currently in the process of securing a £350,000 grant from the National Lottery which it expects to have concluded within eight weeks. Construction of the new centre could start in early 2008, with a build period of nine months.
The new centre will contain meeting/function rooms, kitchens and an office, with a gated car park. It has permission to open between 0700 hours and 2400 hours Mon-Sat and 0800 hours to 2230 hours on Sundays and Bank Holidays.
Parking restrictions will be imposed on Mountsorrel Lane in the form of double yellow lines in front of the building and on the junctions of Garland, Woodfield Road and Hornecroft. The bus stop near to the site for the new centre will be designated as a no parking zone. Traffic for parents delivering and collection school children will be encouraged to use the new centre's car park.
The existing Rothley Centre will remain open until the new centre has been completed.

Tax fraud pair fined

A ROTHLEY man and his daughter have been fined and given a 12 month suspended prison sentence for tax fraud.
Roger Kinch (67) and Karon Hollick (40) told the Inland Revenue they had no employees when in fact the firm Roger Kinch Haulage, of which Roger Kinch was a director, had over 30. the pair collected the tax and national insurance from their staff but failed to pass it to the Revenue.
The amount they kept was £186,209 and with interest the loss to the government was £236,439.
The pair were given 12 month suspended prison sentences at Birmingham Crown Court and ordered to repay £236,000 within 28 days or face a two year jail term. Kinch was also fined £25,000 and Hollick £50,000.
The pair were arrested in July 2005 when their homes were searched by customs officers. Both were barred by the court from acting as a company director for five years.
Martin Phillips from Revenue and Customs Criminal Investigation, said: "People who seek to abuse the tax and national insurance system should know they will be caught, prosecuted and punished.
"This sentence, coupled with the fine and confiscation order, will send out a very strong message to those who are tempted to commit fraud."

Big wild read

CHILDREN LEARNED about wildlife and conservation at an event staged at Rothley library.

It was part of the Big Wild Read Summer reading challenge, organised by the library service to develop children's reading.

Thousands support park improvements

MORE THAN 10,000 people have supported the Connect2 plans to improve Watermead Country Park.
The £1.2million lottery bid will see improvements to paths and bridges throughout the park, and is one of several schemes nationwide competing for the lottery money.
All the bids will be decided by a phone vote following a television programme this December. The pledges of support so far have made the Connect2 project the fifth most popular of the competing schemes.
The Connect2 project would create new cycle links from the park to Cossington and Syston and improve existing routes between Thurmaston and Birstall. The bridge at Thurmaston lock would be replaced making it easier to cross and enabling access for the disabled, cyclists and push chairs.

New library open soon

MOUNTSORREL'S NEW Library and Learning Centre is on course to open in October 2007.
Building work at the new centre which started in February 2007 is well underway on the site of Church House, the Green.
The Centre, costing £700,000 will provide a brand new library, as well as a learning centre and community venue for the people of Mountsorrel.
Plans for the new Library and Learning Centre, as well as artist impressions showing what the new building will look like, are on display at the existing library, and any comments and suggestions are very welcome. The plans can also be viewed on Leicestershire Villages website for Mountsorrel www.leicestershirevillages.com/mountsorrel where there is a link for people to feed back comments on-line.
A spokesperson for the Library said: "The new Library and Learning Centre will be a wonderful new resource for the people of Mountsorrel and we have received some very positive comments so far. We are really looking forward to opening in October when we will be inviting local people to come down and see for themselves what's on offer. Computer classes are planned to start after half term and we hope that a range of other activities will soon be available."

Madeleine ribbons removed

THE THOUSANDS of yellow ribbons at Cross Green, tied there to remember the plight of missing Madeleine McCann, have been removed by the McCann family.
Madeleine's great uncle Brian Kennedy, who lives in Rothley, was reported as saying: "We want to keep Madeleine in everybody's thoughts and minds, but we feel that we must slowly begin to return to normality. We understand that the ribbons cannot stay there for ever and we know that people will understand this too, and be happy with what we are doing.
"It is everybody's Green, not just ours, and we do not want people to become tired of having ribbons tied all around the village."
A lantern beside the gates to the War Memorial will remain and be lit every night as a symbol of hope.
To keep in touch with the latest developments visit www.bringmadeleinehome.com

Sporting manifesto

A FORMER Birstall Parish Councillor has been asked by Gordon Brown to write Labour's sporting manifesto.
Andy Reed, Loughborough's MP since 1997, will oversee the creation of a comprehensive 10 year plan for sports from the grass roots upwards, running up to the 2012 London Olympics and beyond.
Mr Reed said: "After Gordon took over I had a meeting with him at number 10. He knows of my interest in sports and he asked me face to face of this would be something I would be interested in.
"I'm pleased to have been asked, as you can imagine, it's nice to be a part of it."
Andy Reed was educated at Birstall schools, was a parish councillor from 1987 to 1991 and is President and a player at Birstall Rugby Football Club.

Parish Council notes

A FULL meeting of Rothley Parish Council was held on July 16.
Councillors commented on the problems of speeding on Swithland Lane and Mountsorrel Lane, that have been raised by residents. On Mountsorrel Lane residents are concerned that the carriageway is not wide enough to accommodate parked cars and two way traffic.
It was agreed that these issues be raised at a Police forum on July 23 and at a meeting with the County Council to discuss the traffic implications of the new Rothley Centre.
The County Council intends to reverse the one way on Howe Lane, following a request from the Police, Emergency Services and the Parish Council.
The Parish Council continues to employ a dog warden to address the problem of dog waste. The warden approaches dog owners and asked if they are carrying bags for dog waste. If they are not she reminds them of the fixed penalty fine for not clearing up and gives them a free bag.
It was reported that the planning application for the new Rothley Centre next to the library had been granted approval by Charnwood, subject to a number of conditions/restrictions. The council agreed to contact Rothley School to discuss drawing up a School Road Safety Plan to ensure the safety of children travelling to school.

A FULL meeting of Thurcaston and Cropston Parish Council was held on June 21.
PC Steve Rhodes reported there were four reported crimes in Thurcaston between May 1 and June 4 and in Cropston, six reported crimes between April 27 and June 1.
PC Rhodes reported on two incidents in June when a man in a white van approached teenagers in the parish.
The parish's new Borough Councillor Peter Osborne introduced himself to councillors.
The clerk reported that Mrs M Gillham had consented to remain as Tree Warden for the parish.
The Council agreed to allocate £500 to the All Saints appeal for an extension to the Thurcaston church building.
It was reported that Charnwood has agreed to replace a damaged waste bin in Jubilee Park and resite a bin nearer to the main entrance at no charge to the council.

Care home owner jailed

A ROTHLEY woman has begun a prison sentence for stealing from the disabled residents of the care homes she owned.
Caroline Jane Rice (54) of Cossington Lane was sentenced to 12 months in prison after being convicted of stealing from residents with learning difficulties at Dove House in Kirby Muxloe - one of the three care homes she owned.
Rice was also ordered to pay £1,245 in compensation and £2,500 in legal costs.
A former nurse, Rice was arrested in August 2006 after an employee at Dove House discovered money was missing from residents' bank accounts. Rice's defence was that the money was taken by a mystery employee but the jury at Leicester Crown Court found her guilty of three counts of theft and eight counts of false accounting to conceal thefts.
Sentencing Rice, Judge Philip Head told her: "The wickedness of what you are convicted of …is out of all proportion to the total sum of money involved.
"The public must have unqualified confidence that when they entrust vulnerable people to the proprietor of a care home, such residents and their property would be absolutely respected. I conclude that your offences were such dreadful breaches of trust that no sentence other than immediate custody is possible."

Tesco store in Birstall?

TESCO HAVE applied for a licence to sell alcohol from 139 Sibson Road, Birstall, but have not confirmed they intend to open a store at the site.
The Birstall Post, the Rothley Post's sister newspaper, asked Tesco to explain whey they had indicated that they were not opening a store, as reported in the last issue of the paper. They issued us with the following statement: "Tesco is often in negotiations for new sites that sometimes never materialise. Therefore until an agreement is reached or a Tesco application made we would not confirm or deny. Negotiations can be with landowners, landlords or property developers. Quite often we acquire a site with planning permission from developers. The details are being reviewed."
Charnwood Borough Council has confirmed that the fact that Tesco have applied for an alcohol licence does not mean that they are the owners or developers of the Sibson Road site.
But sources contacted by the Birstall Post suggest it is extremely likely that a Tesco Express store will open at the site.
Some local shops are concerned about the impact Tesco will have. Butcher Mark Patrick said: "It will knacker us all - when they open, the small shops will go to the wall and when the shops go Birstall will change. If people don't use the small shops they'll lose them."
He added: "What baffles me is how they got planning permission. It's a busy crossroads and there's no parking for customers, deliveries or the upstairs flats."
Teresa Wakefield at Pete's Fruit & Veg said: "There are enough alcohol licences in the village already, we don't need any more, there are loads of windows smashed on Sibson Road as it is. I think it will close village shops."
Gwen Ward from Krusty's said: "Our sandwich and cob side will be really affected, it will cut down business. And where will the parking go."
Hasmukh Shah from Birstall Jewellers said: "It's wonderful news, it's needed and it's a good food shop. My customers are telling me they are not happy with Somerfield and have to go outside the village to shop, but if Tesco opens here it will bring shoppers to Birstall."
A 27 name petition has been submitted to Charnwood opposing the application to sell alcohol from the site, made up of 22 businesses and five individuals.
Concerns have been expressed about the lack of customer parking and the access for deliverers to the store. A county Council transport spokesman said: "The developer asked the County Council to move the bus stop, to allow access for deliveries. Following a site visit, county council officers have suggested replacing the existing stop with one nearer the A6, with a clearly marked bus pull in. We are now awaiting final comments from the developer and the Parish Council before deciding how to proceed."
The details of the planning application can be viewed at charnwood.gov.uk, go to the planning section, the application number is P/06/2741/2
Stop Press: Tesco has now withdrawn their application for an alcohol licence

Rothley charity cricket

ROTHLEY CRICKET Club hosted a charity match in glorious summer sunshine this August.

A Leicester Tigers XI captained by Andy Goode played the Sporting All Stars side captained by Darren Maddy at Rothley Park Cricket Club, to raise money for the Matt Hampson Trust.

Pic: Freddie Tullagi leads his team in a haka

Club spokesman Steve Thomason said: "It must have been the best Sunday of the summer weatherwise and with a record crowd it was a very successful event.
"Visitors enjoyed a relaxed atmosphere, many families had brought a picnic, and we all enjoyed some entertaining cricket."

Pic: Jeremy Simpson with Matt Hampson

Pic: umpires Gordon Jones and Paul Carroll

England players Paul Nixon and Stuart Broad were joined by Rothley's Rob Toone in the All Stars side. Rob's was the highest bid for a place in the team that the club auctioned on Ebay.
The result on the day was a Tigers victory by a narrow margin. The Club are planning another charity match next August, to raise funds for the 2009 Special Olympics which will be hosted by Leicester.

Weather report

JULY WAS the wettest in Leicestershire since 1932 and therefore continued the frequent downpours that began in May.
155mm or over six inches of rain fell in Mountsorrel which is three times the usual total with Barrow upon Soar catching 130mm. Since May a staggering 400mm or 16 inches of rain have fallen in the three month period, this amount of rainfall should have fallen in seven months. It has been the wettest May-July period ever recorded since records began in 1786. Over 580mm or 23 inches have fallen so far this year and I would expect that total by October and we look to be heading now for one of the wettest years on record. July was also cooler than average, the first such month since March 2006 and this illustrates how warm it has been in the last 12 months. Afternoon temperatures averaged 19.6c, 1.6c below the norm. Night time temperatures of 12c were close to normal. It was also a duller month than usual with 164 hours of sunshine being recorded about 7% below normal. The jet stream during the last three months has been much further south than its usual summer position and this has been responsible for the amount of rain and cooler temperatures than normal.
Our main river the Soar was regularly in flood to very severe levels too, which is very unusual for the summer and this caused traffic problems on many local roads. Our top temperature of 23c was the lowest I have had in July in my 10 years of records and to compare last July saw the 26c mark crossed on 17 occasions bringing us the warmest July every recorded but this one was the coolest nationally since 1993. Sunshine totals were very poor until the last few days and there were four days where none was recorded at all. The last three days of the month did see a change in the weather as high pressure began to build in giving us a warn and sunny last couple of days to the month with 14.5 hours of sun recorded on the last day of the month. So for the third month running it was very wet and this July was also very cool. Let's hope that August gives us a change in fortunes!

Monday club news

AS USUAL the summer months for The Monday Club, Cropston and Thurcaston have been busy and successful - starting with a coach trip in May to Henley-in-Arden and continuing on to Hatton Country World.
Although the weather was indifferent at the start of the day, the clouds passed away and presented with beautiful sunshine, strong enough to discard coats and consider sitting and admiring the countryside around Hatton, after having spent the odd copper or two in the clothing stores!
June's meeting took the form of a delightful strawberry cream tea, held at the Griffin Inn, Swithland for both members and friends. The strawberries and cream were delicious; the scones topped with strawberry jam and cream, scrumptious, and the pots of tea refreshing and very welcome after all those calories.
In July our meeting was a DIY, as unfortunately our speaker was incapacitated through a hip operation. Mrs Elizabeth Chittenden, who is a member, had experienced a very traumatic hospital stay, amounting to 78 days, before she was able to have the operation. The club wishes her a speedy recovery now that she is back home.
Members enjoyed a busy meeting during which they had to guess the baby photos belonging to the committee and a quiz to guess celebrities. A song worded about the deficits of old age to the tune of 'My Favourite Things' was hilarious and further ditties kept the mood going. After all this hard work, the meeting closed with a cup of tea and delicious cakes made by our member, Mrs Diana Whatton, in the form of cream meringues and chocolate eclairs!
From Ann Farndon

WI news

FOR MANY of us, remembering when to plant out and when to prune has to be left to the pages of one's diary, the gardening magazines, TV ads, friends and neighbours or just the state of the garden itself!
But once Christmas is over most of us are aware that we need to think about doing something in the garden. However, for guest speaker Linda Robinson at Rothley Women's Institute July meeting, there is not a problem.
Linda, a member of the Royal Horticultural Society and daughter of a florist does not in any way, shape or form allow the 'grass to grow' under her feet! Obviously by the lovely photographs shown to us in Linda's slide show to illustrate her talk 'A Plant Diary' her time is well and truly self disciplined. Her slide show began with the garden in January and proceeded through the year to December. Organising the huge greenhouse, pruning, planning, planting and replacing in the beds and borders for such a large garden is very time consuming. Bur for Linda this is not only an enjoyable hobby but a dedicated business and the members were very pleased to see a delightful array of examples from her garden that she had very kindly brought with her to demonstrate her expertise and for the members to purchase at very reasonable prices at the end of her presentation. And for those of us who are of the 'not so keen' variety of all-weather gardeners this certainly brought a breath of fresh air and a renewed enthusiasm, much needed with the downpours we have experienced this summer.
We are delighted that three visitors who came along to our June meeting returned in July and are now new members and it was also a pleasure to meet three more visitors though our doors. We will always continue to extend a warm welcome to visitors to our meetings, even if you only feel you would like to pop in for a chat and a cuppa.
We do not have an official meeting in August but some of our members enjoyed a trip on a canal boat and an informal 'Mid Summer Social' afternoon.
Our next meeting is on September 5 when our guest speaker will be Ian Rogerson, who will be asking us to 'Smile Please'!
Don't forget, first Wednesday each month, Rothley Centre, Mountsorrel Lane, Rothley, 2-4.30pm. We look forward to meeting you.
From Mo Bulmer

THE SPEAKER at the July meeting of Thurcaston & Cropston WI was Joyce Godfrey who gave a talk entitled 'Magic of the Ballroom'.
From the age of 10 when she first saw Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing at the cinema, Joyce fell in love with dance. Very soon she had persuaded her mother to pay for weekly ballroom dancing lessons. She worked hard over the years and won many medals and competitions. When she was 18 she had the opportunity to train as a Dance Teacher and enjoyed working in that role for many years. Memories of what it was like going to a dance at the Nottingham Palais in the 1950s were recalled. The talk was interspersed with poetry about dance.
This trip down memory lane was enjoyed by her audience.
Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, August 2 at 7.30pm at the Memorial Hall, Anstey Lane, Thurcaston when Felicity Austin will give a talk entitled 'History of the Seaside Holiday'.

GCR’s first profit

THE GREAT CENTRAL Railway has made a profit for the first time in its 30 year history.
The GCR recorded a profit of £62,000 for the 12 months period from February 1, 2006. The previous 12 months had seen a loss of £35,000.
The profit comes two and a half years after major board level and management changes at the railway

NHW news and Crime Report

THE NEIGHBOURHOOD Watch Scheme in Rothley is now very active in the area close to the boundary with Mountsorrel after a spate of thefts from cars.
Residents in Kiln Garth, Halywell Nook, Alvis Dale, Merlin Close, Whatton Oaks and Oldfield Lane all now have schemes in place to share information about crime and how to prevent it. Some homeowners have now installed their own CCTV cameras.
All the schemes were set up in June this year with the help of PBO Steve Rhodes and PCSO Susan Hall and have been enthusiastically backed by all the residents. With so many eyes now on the lookout and every resident knowing how to get immediate police help, potential criminals beware.
For more information about setting up a scheme in your area of Rothley please contact me, the Neighbourhood Watch Village Co-ordinator, Marion Vincent on 0116 2303405 or vincent,vangogh48@virgin.net
From Marion Vincent
There have been several good arrests over the past couple of months, mainly as a result of members of the public ringing the Police when they see suspicious people or vehicles.
On June 6, one person was arrested for the theft of cable on Loughborough Road, Rothley. On June 12, two people were arrested for burglary on Swithland Lane. On June 23, two people were arrested for burglary on Swithland Lane. On June 23, three people were arrested for burglary in Fowke Street and on August 1, two people were arrested for a burglary in Thurcaston, on August 1 there was also an arrest for an attempted burglary.

Crime Report : Rothley July 2007
Theft of vehicle 1 (Woodgate), theft from vehicle 2, theft 3, damage 2, burglary 2.

Crime Report : Cropston June 1 - August 13
Theft 3, assault 3, damage 3, theft from vehicle 1, burglary 1 (Station Road)
Crime Report : Thurcaston June 1 - August 13
Burglary 2 (Rectory Road, Leicester Road), burglary other 1
PC Steve Rhodes 0544
PCSO Susan Hall 6646
Voicemail : 222 2222

Dance school’s success

THE PILBEAM Academy of Dance has just had another 100% successful term, culminating in a hectic four days in July.
150 entrants took part in three Exam sessions, at three different venues in front of three separate examiners. 100% results for the students with many of them from four years to 17 years, coming away with top category marks - a fitting reward for Mrs Antonia Pilbeam (EDDA) and her assistant teachers.
The new autumn term starts on Monday September 10 at the Rothley Village Hall on Mondays and Tuesdays and at the Rothley Baptist Church on Wednesdays. This term a further lesson in National Syllabus Dance has had to be inserted into the timetable to cater for the large number of students interested in the subject. Several new pupils are already joining us for the new term, but a very few vacancies still exist.

Rothley History Society

IN APRIL Alan Clayton lived up to his reputation as being a most interesting and informative speaker.
The title was 'News from the Past' and was a trip through the Naughty Nineties and Nineteen Noughties which took us from the turn of the 19th century to the 20th century via Alan's presentation of news from both local and national newspapers. After his talk we were at liberty to inspect and read for ourselves from the dozens of newspapers he had put out for us. Would you believe it, he has several thousand newspapers? This proved a fascinating talk and was thoroughly enjoyed by all our members.
Now on to our May meeting - WOW - what a sensational meeting this proved to be. We never quite know what our members/open meeting in May and November will present to us. This May was a real coup. As no doubt you are aware The Grange in Fowke Street is destined to become a new housing development, but at the moment archaeologists are digging merrily away in the grounds.
Two of the archaeologists visited us for the evening and told us so very much about the site. Did you know that they have found over 230 skeletons? These have now been taken away for analysis, so we are looking forward to knowing more in the future. The archaeologists have found evidence of three walls of a Roman villa, evidently a very prestigious villa with mosaic tiles and under floor heating.
After this fascinating talk there were artefacts to pick up and inspect. These included Roman tiles and bricks, even a piece of the heating ducts, pieces of glass and pottery (again Roman). What I liked best were the tiny little Roman coins, one was near perfect and we could quite easily see the wreath-crowned head of the Emperor. This has been dated back to the 4th century. What a fantastic opportunity to learn about the (Roman) past history of Rothley. We are hoping to arrange for our archaeologists to return to tell us more when the excavations are complete. So do watch our news page for future announcements.
On June 13 we had our evening outing to Staunton in the Vale. We had an excellent meal at the Staunton Arms, then met up with Mr Staunton who took us round his home, Staunton Hall, and the church. What a very interesting visit we had to this delightful and old family home, and its lovely 14th century church.
Our speaker in June was Felicity Austin whose talk "Oh I do like to be beside the seaside!" brought back many happy memories of our childhood and the holidays to our English seaside resorts. Her presentation charted the development of the seaside holiday over the past two hundred years, not that any of remember quite that far back! Felicity sang songs, read poems and showed us old fashioned swimming costumes, and thoroughly entertained us all.
On August 7 our outing took us to the lovely little town of Stamford, where we enjoyed a guided walk. Our guide, who was delightful and very knowledgeable, told us so many interesting tales about the town. So just a few to relate to you: the name Stamford is derived from the Saxon word meaning stony ford. William Brown, one of the wool merchants in Stamford and a great benefactor built the first Alms Houses in the 13th century. The wealth of the Stamford wool merchants is reflected in the many lovely old houses. Stamford was an important staging post between London and Edinburgh with a great number of hostelries. The first provincial Assembly Rooms were opened in Stamford, and their theatre is the second oldest in the country.
Some of us had lunch at the George Hotel, which at one time could accommodate 86 pairs of horses. After lunch, we travelled on for our visit to the Prebendal Manor House, the oldest settlement in Northamptonshire. A Norman house built on the site of a timber manor house of the Saxon king Canute. We had a very interesting tour round the house, and learnt that, amongst much fascinating information, was that before King Canute the site was an Iron Age settlement.
This is a wonderful place to visit, for not only is the house quite delightful but also the garden, which as Alan Titchmarsh describes it: "a stunning example of a recreated medieval garden". I didn't know that yellow roses did not come into England until the 18th century, and were introduced from China. What a great deal of new information we acquired from this outing.
We were very lucky with the weather, a lovely sunny day, quite perfect for our wanderings. We ended our day with afternoon tea at the Manor House.
Don't forget we now have our own website: www.Rothleyhistory.co.uk and of course you are most welcome to come along to any of our meetings. We start the autumn months with - Fiona Ure who will be telling us all about the Loughborough Ladybirds - remember those lovely Ladybird books? Well, come along and find out more. This meeting is on Wednesday, September 19 at 7.30pm at the Rothley Centre, Mountsorrel Lane, Rothley. All our meetings are at this venue and are on the third Wednesday of the month.
From Rothley History Society

Mountsorrel railway

IN THE LAST issue we reported on a book currently being researched about the Mountsorrel Railway.
Local resident Steve Cramp and national railway magazine editor and GCR director Nigel Harris are recording the history of this once-extensive private railway which linked the Great Central Railway at Swithland Sidings to the granite quarries of Mountsorrel and then on to the Midland Railway main line at Barrow Upon Soar.
We caught up with Steve to see how the project is progressing.
"We had a tremendous response to the articles published in the Mountsorrel Post and the Rothley Post" says Steve. So thank you very much to all who responded - in total we received 15 new leads from Mountsorrel and four from Rothley. We also had several phone calls and emails of encouragement and support. If you thought about giving us a call but never quite got round to it then please do, there is still time! We want to be sure that we have recorded everything we can. It would be very disappointing to publish the book only for someone to then come forward with extra information or pictures."
Steve went on to reveal some of the nuggets uncovered so far. "Much new information has been unearthed. Stories of trains getting stuck on the steep gradients…the mass of lines that crossed Wood Lane at the entrance to Buddon Wood…stories of accidents involving the railway, including, sadly, one fatality. There's evidence of the part the railway played in local life transporting local goods and supplies other than quarried stone. There is lots more - but you will have to read the book to find out the rest. We don't want to spoil the surprise or enjoyment!"
So, where will the project go from here? "I still have leads to follow up and I am attempting to uncover more detail about the Barrow Upon Soar end of the line. The main area were we are really lacking is old photographs of the railway. So far we have managed to obtain around 70 photos. Most of the shots we have are of the railway in or around the quarry. It would be great to have some shots of the line out to Swithland Sidings, Barrow and the small branch that used to run to what is now the Buddon Wood quarry.
Steve added: "This is where I am hoping that your readers can help us again. Any old photos of the railway that may be buried in a drawer or in the attic could make a big difference to the thoroughness of this book. They say that a picture speaks a thousand words and we would like to include as many of them as possible."
Can you help Steve? If so he can be contacted on 0116 2301374 or by email at smcavalon@yahoo.co.uk

History Society news

Thurcaston & Cropston Local History Society
Following his talk to us last year on the Arts & Crafts Movement, Ernest Miller gave a fascinating and varied tour of Loughborough University on July 15. It is a very large campus to explore on foot and Ernest's wife Shirley kindly ferried some of our less mobile members by car between the points of interest.
The University originated in 1909 as a technical college located in Loughborough town centre. It flourished under Herbert Schofield, who was Principal from 1915 to 1950. His empire also included the secondary and further education in the town and he controlled every detail of the enterprise. He first built up the college by training women to work in the armaments factories during World War 1 and afterwards taught practical skills to engineers and craftsmen. Tutors included Peter Waals and Edward Barnsley, who were prominent members of the Arts & Crafts Movement.
In the 1930s the college began to acquire land on the site of Burleigh Hall which became the current campus. Schofield made good use of his students' skills, requisitioning the civil engineers to level the playing fields and dig a swimming pool, while the craftsmen were required to spend half a day per week working on furniture and stained glass for the new halls of residence, much of which still remains in the splendid Art Deco interiors. One bench bears a bullet hole dating from 1945, when the halls were in use as an RAF rehabilitation centre and a jealous serviceman shot his girlfriend at a dance.
Burleigh Hall itself was allowed to decay and was eventually demolished but the walled gardens remain, as does a 16th century gardener's cottage. On the hilltop within the campus there can just be discerned the banks and ditches of an Iron Age fort, which is possibly the 'borough' referred to in the name of the town. All around, academic buildings have continued to be built from the 1950s to the present day, including a large amount of student housing at about the time that the college became a university in 1966. Our tour ended with some of the impressive modern sports facilities, notably the Olympic size swimming pool with its variable depth floor and the HIPAC Centre with its vast, undercover space for track and field athletics.
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday September 18 at 7.30pm at Old School, Thurcaston when Brenda Hooper and Margaret Greiff will talk about 'The Luddites'.
From Jennifer Kennington

Horticultural news

THE SUN welcomed members of Thurcaston & Cropston Horticultural Society to the village of Gaddesby for an evening visit to Pine House the home of Mr & Mrs Milward.
They have lived there for thirty years inheriting a garden in a state of neglect. After a brief introductory talk and with map in hand we meandered through the beautiful garden.
The vine house was a lovely place to visit, the vine itself bore an abundance of grapes but an attractive feature was the deep mauve passion flower, which had entwined itself around the vine, the owners use the vine house as an outdoor dining room in the summer, what a lovely place to sit. A variety of new trees had been planted to replace those which had been lost due to disease or being blown down, to name a few, mulberry, tulip tree, oaks, white beam, handkerchief tree etc.
A water garden in the spinney which is fed by a natural spring was an attractive feature. Mrs Milward is very interested in topiary and a dragon is being created in the yew hedge by the drive. The evening concluded with welcome refreshments including home baked fruit cake, and a look at the unusual plants on sale.
Wednesday October 10 is the next meeting in the Memorial Hall 'Plants of the Season - Autumn Interest' is the talk by Anita Thorpe. You are very welcome.
From Pam Mason