rothley post (94) may 2012

MAY/JUN 2012 No. 94www.birstallpost.co.uk

Brookfield Farm:more houses & a new school?

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THE ROTHLEY POSTY O U R F R E E C O M M U N I T Y N E W S P A P E R

CHILDREN FROM Richard HillPrimary School in Thurcas-ton recently took part in amorning of fun and activityin an Easter Workshop or-ganised by the school PTA.

The children spent a happy Saturdaymorning making Easter baskets andEaster crowns, decorating biscuits, andplaying Easter games. They alsosearched for eggs in an Easter egg huntand finished the morning with somelively Easter songs, with plenty of ac-tions, followed by a reminder of the realEaster story from the local vicar, RevDavid McDonough.

Members of the PTA would like tothank everyone who gave up their Satur-day morning to help at the event. Thesum of £90 was raised towards PTAfunds.

PLANS FOR 170 new homes on the site of Brookfield Farm havebeen given the go ahead and now the developer has announcednew plans for a 420 place primary school within the site and 20additional dwellings.

Developers Charles Church’s schemeto build 170 homes was refused byCharnwood Borough Council. The devel-oper appealed and in march a PlanningInspector ruled that the developmentcould go ahead.

The Inspector ruled that:• Charnwood Borough Council have

not identified a sufficient number of sitesto provide the housing required in thenext five years and this site is available,suitable and achievable

• the site is in a sustainable location• there is localised flooding in Town

Green Street, Town Green and alongHallfields Lane but there is no evidencethat this arises as a consequence ofsurface water run off from the appealsite, or that the proposed measures to

Continued on page 2

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MAY 2012THE ROTHLEY POST2

control surface water … would not beeffective

• proposed modifications to the RedLion junction and Hallfields Lane willmitigate the impact of increased traffic

• there is pressure on spaces in localprimary schools but the 106 developercontributions for education would miti-gate this.

• the development would be unlikelyto have any significant adverse impactson the intrinsic landscape character ofthe area in the short term with enhance-ment likely in the longer term as plant-ing becomes established.

• enhanced access as a result of thenew links within the development andthe creation of new rights of way wouldallow the public to have a greater appre-ciation of the surrounding countryside.

It has now emerged that the develop-er Charles Church approached RothleySchool in 2011 to discuss the provisionof a new school within the Brookfieldsite.

The plans would see a 420 placeprimary school costing around£5million built within the site. The de-velopers would pay the full cost. Theplaying fields would go up the hill to theboundary with Wanlip. New allotmentswould be provided next to the playingfields and 62 houses would be built onthe current allotment site with accessfrom the existing allotment access onLoughborough Road. The new plansshow a total of 190 dwellings for thesite.

As part of the proposed deal, CharlesChurch would get the existing RothleySchool site. The school would be demol-ished and the developer is proposing tobuild 20 executive homes with a gatedaccess.

A County Council spokesman said:“The County Council has entered intodiscussions with Charles Church andRothley Temple Estates [the landowner],following an initial approach made bythe company to Rothley primary school

in 2011.“These discussions are necessary

because the current school site does nothave the capacity to take the anticipatedincrease in primary pupils that may arisefrom the Charles Church developmentproposals.

“Discussions are still at an earlystage, but have explored the options andpotential locations on the BrookfieldFarm development for a new school withCharles Church and representatives ofRothley Primary School.

“The next step is to formally consultwith parents, staff and governors fromthe school, the C E Diocese and thewider community of Rothley to seektheir views. Plans for the consultationare currently being drawn up.”

The spokesman said that the newschool would initially provide for 420places covering reception to Year 6, butwould have the capacity to expand fur-ther in future years if needed. The fullcost of the new development will be metby Charles Church.

Chairman of Rothley Parish CouncilPercy Hartshorn said: “I am disappoint-ed but not surprised by the Inspector’s

A FULL meeting of Rothley ParishCouncil was held on February 20.

The County Council has agreed toinstall a number of gritbins in the vil-lage, subject to the Parish Council fund-ing them at £200 each.

It was reported that a NeighbourhoodPlan questionnaire would be circulatedin Rothley and Mountsorrel.

A full meeting of Rothley ParishCouncil was held on March 19.

It was agreed to ask the CountyCouncil to install a barrier to preventvehicles parking on the grass verge atthe junction of Howe Lane and TownGreen Street.

It was agreed to install a Blue Plaqueon North Street to commemorate thebirthplace of the sculptor and teacherRobert Jackson Emerson (1878-1944).

It was agreed to arrange for a con-tractor to undertake a deep clean of theVillage Hall over the Easter period.

decision. The lack of a five year supplyof housing in the Borough and the factthat Charnwood has not prepared itsstrategic plan were important factors.

“I am a bit sceptical about these newplans for 190 houses and a school. Whywould a developer pay £5million for aschool and only increase the number ofhouses by 40? [20 at Brookfield Farmand 20 on the existing school site] Iwould have expected a significantly high-er number. Is this the total developmentor is there another agenda?”

He added: “The new school wouldhave some positives – Rothley school isnot big enough and is bursting at theseams. But the new school would not bein the centre of the village and wouldmean there would be more car journeysto the school and even more traffic inRothley.”

Rothley school declined to commentat this stage.

Developers Charles Church have ar-ranged a public exhibition of their pro-posals at Rothley school on MountsorrelLane on May 9 from 6-8pm and May 12from 11am–4pm.

A FULL meeting of Thurcaston & Crop-ston Parish Council was held on No-vember 17.

Two parishioners complained aboutthe problem of parked cars along thepavement on Station Road, Cropston. CllrWise said she would take up the matter.PC Rhodes reported that the police hadcirculated leaflets in the area about theissue and the problem would be closelymonitored.

The council agreed to spend £2700on alterations to the stage at the Memori-al Hall and £1995 for the restoration ofthe hall’s floor.

A full meeting of Thurcaston & Crop-ston Parish Council was held on January19.

PC Ed Stephenson reported that heworks by himself in five villages, with hisbike as transport. It was reported that amotorist was injured when young peoplethrew rocks from a bridge on LeicesterRoad, Thurcaston onto the A46.

The council agreed a precept for theyear 2012/13 of £32,000, the sameamount as 2011/12.

A full meeting of Thurcaston & Crop-ston Parish Council was held on February16.

It was agreed to spend £540 on workto sycamore trees in the cemetery.

It was agreed to recommend to Charn-wood Borough Council that the MemorialHall not be included in the ConservationArea.

ParishCouncilnotes

Continued from page 1

Pic: the original plan for 170 homes

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The City Council initially identifiedthree possible sites at Greengate Lane,Beaumont Way and Red Hill Way. TheGreengate Lane site would contain 10pitches on the site that is currently beingused by a traveller family.

Residents and councillors have voicedconcerns about erosion of the GreenWedge, litter and traffic pressure onlocal roads.

The City Council say the sites arenecessary if they are to satisfy the statu-tory obligation to provide sites for travel-lers. They have received £1.5millionfrom the government to create new sitesin the city.

A local action group has been formed

to campaign against the proposals. TheLE4 Action Group has collected 2140names on a petition, meets every twoweeks and has organised meetings withcouncillors and MPs Stephen Dorrelland Liz Kendall. For details go towww.LE4.moonfruit.com

Responding to pressure from localresidents, in April the City Council re-leased details of the 350 sites it said ithad considered before arriving at itsshortlist of three. It has now added afurther five possible sites, making a totalof eight. Seven are in Beaumont Leysand one in Aylestone.

The five new possible sites are:• land to the west of Thurcaston

Road, Beaumont Leys• Tilling Road, Beau-

mont Leys• Strasbourg Drive

open space, BeaumontLeys

• Montrose Road South,Aylestone

• Heachem Drive,Beaumont Leys

Leicester City Council iscarrying out a consultationon the proposals. Resi-dents can complete anonline questionnaire orpick one up at Birstall

Parish Council in the Village Hall. Fordetails to gowww.leicester.gov.uk/gypsyandtravellersites. Also on the site are plans of theproposed sites, details of the 350 sitesthat were considered and answers tofrequently asked questions. The consul-tation period ends on Friday July 13.

Thurcaston & Cropston’s CountyCouncillor David Snartt said: “I am total-ly opposed to the proposal by the CityCouncil to situate an authorised gypsyand traveller site adjacent to GreengateLane. Recent planning guidance releasedby the Government states that “localplanning authorities should strictly limitnew traveller site development in theopen countryside.” Therefore, in myview, this proposal not only goes againstnew Government guidance but does notfit with the City Council’s own criteria,outlined at a recent consultation meet-ing.

“My main concern about the Green-gate Lane site is the particular impact onlocal residents living in nearby villagesespecially linked to the 3,000 new dwell-ings on the Ashton Green just a stone’sthrow away from the proposed gypsyand traveller site. I also fear for theimplications these plans will have forresidents with regard to the environ-ment, infrastructure, including highways,schools and community safety.”

HUNDREDS OF residents have attended public meetings toexpress their concerns about proposals to create travellersites in Beaumont Leys, including one on Greengate Lane.

Angry response totraveller site plansat public meetings

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and planning. She said: “What I findmost rewarding is making a differencefor people who live in your patch, itcould be showing them a way forwardor being a facilitator and putting them intouch with the right people.”

She added: “As Mayor I am lookingforward to getting round as much of thearea as I can, representing the Counciland the people of Charnwood. It will bea busy year.”

The Mayor of Charnwood is alsoChairman of the Council and chairsmeetings of the Council. Chosen annual-ly, the Mayor attends around 500 en-gagements each year.

Diane Wise will take up her positionon May 14, replacing the Borough’scurrent Mayor, Bernard Burr. Diane’sconsort will be her husband, Harold.Pic: Diane & Harold Wise

The Open Gardens event, organisedby Richard Hill School PTA, takes placethis year on the weekend of June 30/July1.

Spokeswoman Linda Bennett said:“There will be a number of gardensopen across the two villages of varioustypes: a water garden, an oriental gar-den, family gardens, the school gardenand many more! Thank you to all thosegardeners who have kindly responded toour plea for gardens and have offered totake part in this year’s event.”

Gardens will be open from 2-6pm onboth days; tickets will be £4 each (ac-companied children and wheelchairusers free) and will be valid for bothdays. They can be purchased on the dayfrom any of the Open Gardens or, fromMonday June 18, from the Richard Hill

School Office, Anstey Lane, Thurcaston,Mon to Fri 9pm-3pm.

Linda said: “Proceeds from thisweekend will go to the School’s PTAfunds which help pay for a number ofthings around the school. Currently weare trying to raise enough funds for anoutdoor classroom which will facilitatethe children’s learning in the outdoorenvironment.

“Why not put the date in your diarynow then come along, with your familyand friends, and support this great com-munity event? We look forward to seeingyou.”

For more information about thisevent please have a look at our website:www.tcog.org.uk or contact Linda on0116 2363872 or email:[email protected].

THE NEXT Mayor of Charnwood will be Rothley’s DianeWise.

Diane, of Cossington Lane, has livedin the village for 15 years and was elect-ed a Borough Councillor in 2007.

She said: “I feel honoured to becomeMayor, it’s a position of trust and a bigresponsibility.”

Before she retired in 2005 Diane wasa teacher – her last position was teach-ing young people with learning difficul-ties at Leicester College.

She moved to Rothley with her hus-band Harold 15 years ago, buying theCossington Lane bungalow where theystill live from Jack Moore, a formerMayor of Charnwood himself.

“Shortly after we moved in Jack cameround to ask my help in delivering leaf-lets” said Diane, which began her in-volvement in local politics.

A Conservative, Diane was elected theBorough Councillor for Rothley andThurcaston in 2007. She has served onseveral committees including licensing

GARDENS IN THURCASTON and Cropston will again beopened to visitors this summer.

Charnwood’s nextMayor from Rothley

Summer stroll inparish gardens


A ROTHLEY teenager with a passion for football spent aday shadowing Cardiff City’s manager.

13 year old Rahul Karia, a pupil atStonehill school, was a winner in npow-er’s ‘What’s Your Goal’ campaign, whichaimed to find enthusiastic young peopleand provide them with work experienceroles in football.

Rahul spent the day with Cardiff man-ager Malky Mackay and his coachingteam as they completed their daily activi-ties at the club, including taking part ina post-match manager’s interview.

Rahul said: “I have had such a bril-liant day at Cardiff City Football Clubshadowing Malky Mackay. I was able totake a peek behind the scenes at achampionship side and really learn howto develop my leadership skills andmanagerial qualities.

“Spending the day with Malky and theCardiff team has been an amazing expe-rience, and fun too! I am so glad that Iwon, it really has been a once-in-a-life-time opportunity and a brilliant way forme to make my football dreams cometrue.”

Malky Mackay said: “It’s been a realpleasure spending the day teaching Ra-hul how to lead an established champi-onship side and showing him what ittakes to be a manager. I have beenimpressed with Rahul’s determination,professionalism and a real instinct forthe role, I hope we’ve been able to givehim a leg-up in his quest to a footballmanager. npower’s What’s Your Goalcampaign is a brilliant way to engagewith the game’s next generation and will

inspire them to explore the vast careeroptions in the football industry.”

GREEN-THINKING Charnwoodresidents have been praisedfor helping the Councilachieve record-breakingreductions in the amount ofwaste sent to landfill.

New figures show Charnwood Bor-ough Council is on course to hit an alltime high recycling rate of 51% nextyear – the current rate is already arecord 48%. In 2007/08 the Council’srecycling rate was 39%.

Customer satisfaction with recyclingservices provided by Charnwood Bor-ough council is steady at 97.6% Aspokesman said the success is down tothe Council’s introduction of new recy-cling bins last autumn which has madeit easier for residents to recycle house-hold waste.

As well as reducing waste to landfill,the Council is generating more revenuethan expected through its recyclatescontract with Viridor. The money isgenerated through the sale of so-called‘dry’ materials such as glass, plastic,aluminium and steel cans, mixed paperand cardboard.

Viridor won the contract in May 2011to transport and sort the 16,000 tonnesof mixed recycled waste produced in theBorough each year.

Record recycling

A GRANDFATHER has been hit witha bill of more than £300 after be-ing found guilty of throwing a ciga-rette end from his car.

Edward McGovern of FreeholdStreet, Quorn was prosecuted byCharnwood Borough Council atLeicester Magistrates’ Court over acharge of littering. A Council streetwarden was on patrol outside Brad-leys shop on Station Street, Quorn onApril 20, 2011 whe he saw McGoverndrop the cigarette out of his car.

Magistrates fined McGovern £100plus £220.38 costs and ordered himto pay a £15 victim surcharge.

Ambitious teen’sday shadowingfootball manager

Thrown fagcosts £335

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DID YOU work at the BritishUnited factory in Belgrave?

A local historian is aiming to create abook or website of the memories of thepeople who worked there to show howthe BU affected people’s lives, at workand at home.

Burt McNeill said: “Over the lastthree years I have become good friendswith an elderly man living in Birstallwho spent virtually all his working life atthe BU and through talking with him, aswell as a growing interest in local histo-ry, I decided to launch this project.

“Although there are one or two histo-ries of the BUSM, there didn’t seem tobe any record from the point of view ofpeople who worked there. Consideringover 4000 people were employed backin the 1960s it struck me as importantthat these memories of the BU and lifearound it, a way of life, were remem-bered.

“I hope to collect memories from anumber of people to record them orallyor on paper, along with images of thefactory and the Belgrave area from thosetimes and to eventually present the col-lection as a book and or website for

posterity. A piece of history.”Burt has organised a meeting on May

14 at 2pm, Belgrave library, CossingtonStreet. Burt said: “I hope the meetingwill be an opportunity to present andshare some of the memories and be achance to socialise and start, or restart,

friendships.”If you would like to contribute your

memories, or have any old photos, filmor artefacts, contact Burt McNeill. Tel:075 25 714 915email:[email protected], 8Greenhill Road, Leicester LE2 3DJ

MAINTAINING THE separa-tion between villages andenlarging the local schoolwere two concerns thatemerged following a ques-tionnaire circulated inRothley by the ParishCouncil.

The consultation was part of thecreation of a Neighbourhood Plan byRothley and Mountsorrel Parish Coun-cils. Once adopted this plan will beconsulted by Charnwood BoroughCouncil when it considers future plan-ning applications, and will be incorpo-rated into its planning strategy for theBorough.

139 questionnaires were completed,representing 8.5% of households. Re-sponses revealed concerns about localinfrastructure being inadequate, park-ing problems, and doctors and dentistslacking capacity. Opinion was dividedon whether more new housing is need-ed, with 38 comments saying morehousing is not needed and 22 sayingaffordable starter homes are required.

Rothley Parish Council ChairmanPercy Hartshorn said that forthcomingmeetings with the Primary Care Trustwould provide further information forinclusion in the plan. He said: “Weneed to put this plan together and thenput it out for further consultation. Butwe can’t do that until we get the hous-ing figures for the area from Charn-wood. We are still waiting for theseand have been told they should beprovided in September.”

• Plans by Jelson to build 350homes on Halstead Road have beenrefused by Charnwood Borough Coun-cil

• Plans by developersRadleigh/William Davis to build 250homes on land off Mountsorrel Lanebetween Walton Way and the old A6,and the construction of a link road areprogressing. The developer has organ-ised a public exhibition of the plans atthe Rothley Centre on May 16 from2-8pm. A formal planning applicationis expected to be submitted in July.

P/12/0879/2: 10 Whatton Oaks, Roth-ley – attached single storey garage tothe side of the houseP/12/0776/2: 942 Loughborough Rd,Rothley – erection of a detached doublegarage to front of dwellingP/12/0711/2: Land to r/o 36 NorthStreet, Rothley – erection of two dwell-ings and alterations to accessP/12/0504/2: Rothley Baptist Church, 3Woodgate, Rothley – erection of singlestorey extension to front of buildingwith new roof over entrance and disa-bled access rampP/12/0614/2:56 Swithland Lane, Roth-ley – erection of two storey extensionand porch to side of dwellingP/12/0533/2: 67 Swithland Lane, Roth-ley – erection of two storey extensionsto both sides of dwellingP/12/0435/2: 30 Grangefields Drive,Rothley – erection of single storey ex-tension to rear of dwellingP/12/0842/2: 88 Swithland Lane, Roth-ley – fell 16 conifer trees and one silverbirch, remove 2 branches to Cedrus (ce-dar) tree. Tree works in a ConservationAreaP/12/0450/2: Park Farm, 81 TownGreen Street, Rothley – replacement ofroof tilesP/12/0451/2: 88 Swithland Lane, Roth-ley – 30% crown reduction to 2 Aescu-lus (horse chestnut) trees. TreePreservation OrderP/12/0893/2: 166 Station Road, Crop-ston – erection of single and two storeyextensions to sides of dwellingP/12/0652/2: 180 Station Road, Crop-ston – erection of extensions to front,side and rear of dwelling and detacheddouble garage to frontP/12/0548/2: 16 Latimer Road, Crop-ston – erection of single storey exten-sion to front and side and two storeyextension to rear of dwellingP/12/0446/2: 47 Anstey Lane, Thurcas-ton – works to 1 sycamore tree and 2ash trees. Felling of 2 ash trees.

A PE SPECIALIST from Rothley School ranthe Paris marathon in April and raisedover £3000.

Alex Palmer (pictured right) was running in aid ofLOROS and in memory of Sarah Stonehouse, a teach-

er at Rothley school who died fromcancer in 2011 aged 39.

Headteacher Fiona Parr said: “WhatAlex has done is mind blowing. All thechildren really got behind him and gavehim their support. They designed thevest he ran in and organised their ownfundraising in groups doing face paint-ing, a raffle, selling cakes – they cameup with all the ideas.”

Alex (31) has been with the schoolfor five years and ran the course in 3hrs 45.

Marathon runin memoryof teacher

Historian seeks BU memories

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BACHMANN EUROPE PLC has handed over a cheque for£5,600 to the Great Central Railway as athank you for allowing the company toproduce models of its dis-tinctive Rothleystation.

Valley Railway and Shillingstone Stationwhich is being restored by the NorthDorset Railway Trust”.

Richard Patching, General Managerfor Great Central Railway, said: “We havethoroughly enjoyed working with Bach-mann and as a leading firm in the mod-el railway world their choice of GCR andRothley station has clearly proved apopular one. We are delighted to besharing in their commercial success;their commitment to us only goes toillustrate just how dedicated they are toassist in preserving our steam railways.We are sure the N scale range will provejust as popular, the announcement of itsproduction was wonderful news!”

The handover of the cheque coin-cides with the launch of the N scale

Model of Rothley station

David Haarhaus, European Sales andMarketing Manager for Bachmann, said:“The distinctive Great Central buildingshave proved popular and we have re-cently announced them in N scale. Wehave built good relationships with herit-age railways and locomotive owners inrecent years and handing over thischeque today allows a successful compa-ny like Bachmann to plough somethingback into the heritage railway communi-ty. The buildings have been superblyrestored by the railway and need to bekept in excellent condition for us all toenjoy. An added benefit is that aftervisiting the station you can recreate it inminiature. We are also working withother heritage lines on building rangesincluding the Bluebell Railway, Severn

versions of Rothley station which arenow available from the shop on Lough-borough station.

The Great Central Railway’s LondonExtension was opened in 1899 and allstations were built using island plat-forms. These were accessed from a road

bridge and all stations on the extensionwere built to this design. South of Cal-vert in Buckinghamshire, the railwayjoined with the Metropolitan Railway andlater the Great Western Railway for theremainder of the journey into the newLondon terminus at Marylebone.

Pic: Dave Allen (left) Stationmaster at Rothley with David Haarhaus from Bachmann & (top), the model

TWO PARISH Councils arelooking for volunteers tohelp them provide a foot-path from Thurcaston toAnstey.

Thurcaston and Cropston ParishCouncil and Anstey Parish Council areworking together to provide a footpathbeside Anstey Lane from ThurcastonParish Church to the junction with Crop-ston Road.

Pedestrians using the route includeschoolchildren and parents taking chil-dren to playgroups – one mum submit-ted a petition asking for a pavement tobe provided.

The County Council say providing apavement would cost £80,000 and thatthe amount of use would not justify thecost.

The two parish councils have suc-cessfully applied for a sum of £9,000from the County Council’s Big SocietyFund and plan to provide a footpathconsisting of compacted road planings.They have also each committed £1,000of Parish Council money and haveformed a joint committee to progressthe work, chaired by Cllr Richard You-nie, the chairman of Thurcaston & Crop-ston Parish Council.

The project is currently waiting forapproval from the County Council High-ways department. The work will involvetrimming some hedges, using a JCBdigger to prepare the route, spreadingthe planings and then compacting themwith a vibraroller machine.

Cllr Younie said: “We have identified10 volunteers already but will be lookingfor more. They will be raking level thefilling along the path, working in shifts.

We expect to be working eight hourdays for a week to complete the job andhope to start in June.”

Anyone interested in volunteering cancontact Thurcaston and Cropston ParishCouncil atwww.leicestershireparishcouncils.org.tel: 0116 2367626,[email protected]

Path linking villagesneeds volunteers

THE ROTHLEY and District RoyalBritish Legion are organising acommemorative evening compris-ing a traditional supper followedby entertainment, to celebrate HerMajesty Queen Elizabeth’s jubileeyear.

The event will take place on Tues-day, May 29 at the Rothley Centre,Mountsorrel Lane, Rothley and all areinvited. Doors will open at 7pm for a7.30pm start.

Spokesman Norman Pratt said:“Following the meal a participatoryevening of songs from yesteryear willcommence. Vera Lynn favourites andsome Old Time Music Hall classicsintermingled with humour will makethe evening fit the occasion. Banned isthe current pre-occupation with badnews and dismal pronunciations. Thefuture is what we make it and we aregoing to make the final year of theQueen’s reign as memorable as thepast. Come and join us!”

To book your place, please calleither John Leake on 2303858 orNorman Pratt on 2375254.

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GARDEN TRAIL

In aid of Prostaidand Church Funds Sponsored by Birstall Garden Centre

Adults £3.00 in advance (passports obtainable fromlocal retailers or telephone 0116 2677576)

£3.50 on the dayAccompanied children (16 & under) free

Plant Stall, TombolaChildren’s Treasure HuntRefreshments, Ices, Raffle

Saturday and Sunday9th and 10th June 2012

2.00pm – 5.30pm


Spring has well and truly arrived hereat Brookfield Farm. The cows are calv-ing and the arable work becomes moreintensive. Crop spraying and fertilizerspreading has to be fitted in arounduncertain weather conditions. The spray-ing has to be carried out when theweather is dry and without too much

wind, whereas the liquid fertilizer needsto be applied when the ground is damp,but not too wet. The weather forecasthas to be closely monitored as rainshortly after spraying can completelydestroy the application. Farming hasalways been weather dependent, and this

has by no means altered withmodern farming techniques.

During the spring monthsthe maize seed is sown un-der a plastic film to aid thegermination process. Thisphoto-degradable and bio-degradable film raises thetemperature of the groundwhich results in a higheryield, with a longer growingseason as the maize appearsabove the ground morequickly. We are then able toharvest the crop earlierwhich brings us in line withsouthern European countriesand enables us to re-sow thenext crop of wheat earlier inthe year.

The maize crop is nor-mally made into silage forfeeding dairy and beef cattle.However, the remaining1500 tons of maize from lastyear’s crop has just beenpurchased by a customer foruse in an anaerobic digester

for the production of electricity. This isbecoming far more common with themove to green energy.

Many of you will have heard that theowners of Brookfield Farm have beensuccessful in their application for plan-ning permission for house building onthe farm. We will be continuing to farmat Brookfield for approximately the next12 months. As Bill and his family havebeen tenants on the farm for over 50years there have been many amusingand significant events that have takenplace. Over the next few months I wouldlike to share some of these stories withyou.

We have always been aware of thedifficulties of the tractors trundlingthrough the village, but when Bill wasabout 16 he caused more than the usualdisturbance. He was following a schoolbus along North Street with several teen-age girls waving at him from the backseat of the bus. Bill, naturally, lost hisconcentration and waved back. The busstopped suddenly, but unfortunatelyBill’s mind had wandered from tractordriving and to avoid hitting the bus heswerved and braked, but drove into thefront of one of the terrace houses on

North Street, doing some considerabledamage to the house and the tractor.Fortunately no-one was hurt, but Bill’sfather Jack was not pleased and madeBill do the morning and evening milkingfor a week. This was a job that theyoung Bill particularly disliked. Thesedays it is Bill who is always remindingthe drivers to slow down and concen-trate, particularly driving through thevillage.

Life on the farmLiving & working at BrookfieldAS YOU drive down Hallfields Lane in Rothley many peoplehardly notice the farm gate which leads to BrookfieldFarm.

There has been a farm on this site for many years, long before many of the hous-es which now make up the village of Rothley.

Today Bill and Sarah Wright live at Brookfield Farm on Hallfields Lane. In thisand future issues of the Rothley Post, Sarah will be writing about life on the farm:

FREE SWIMMING for under16s has been re-intro-duced at the three swim-ming pools run byCharnwood.

The new free sessions at Mountsor-rel’s soar Valley, Loughborough andSouth Charnwood Leisure Centres, willbe held during the general swimmingtimes.

The free swimming was continueduntil last summer by Charnwood Bor-ough Council, following the withdraw-al of government funding in July 2010,but the new scheme will be funded byFusion Lifestyle, who run the centresfor Charnwood.

They are available for all under 16yr olds living in the borough. Youngpeople with a 50 per cent discountWildcard, or Activ8 card, will be ableto access free swimming at any timefor general and family swimming ses-sions.

The new timetable is available atthe centres and onwww.charnwoodleisure.com.

To apply for the free swimmingsessions, under 16s just need to fill ina form available from any of the lei-sure centres and show proof of ageand where they live and they’ll begiven a Free Swim membership card,Activ8 and 50 per cent Wildcard hold-ers can simply show their card.

Daren Wlliamson, general managerat South Charnwood Leisure Centreadded: “We noticed quite a drop offwhen the free swimming stopped sowe’re really keen to welcome peopleback, and hope to see a growth in thenumber of young swimmers.”

Pic: a new born calf

Pic: Flint the dog climbs on some maize

Kidsswim free

R.E. MILLS

0116 2302295

34-36 Town Green StRothley LE7 7NU

MOTTESTING

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We are currently registeringnew NHS & Private patients

If you would like to

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please phone us on

0844 3879877to make an appointment

or come & visit us:

534A Loughborough Rd, Birstall, Leicester LE4 3EG

email us at [email protected]

Early morning, late evening and Saturdaymorning appointments available


A THRILLER set in the Charnwood villages is thefirst novel by Barrow author Kay Nicholls.

Kay, 69 has set the bookin the locations in which shegrew up including Rothley,Mountsorrel, Barrow andQuorn.

‘Ethereal Tenant’ followsthe life of young Adam Roweand is told through the voiceof Jack Latimer, a semi-re-tired forensic psychologist.

Kay said: “It’s the story ofa boy who, in a dire situa-tion, develops astral travelas a survival mechanismthat although saving him,also threatens to destroyhim.”

Kay has been writingsince she was a child andhas written children’s

winning onions, leeks, potatoes, carrots,brassicas beetroot and tomatoes, lookingat varieties, pests, cultivation, feedingand harvesting for each vegetable.

Finally David pointed his audience toother sources of information, and en-couraged us all to keep growing andshowing. So, come and see the fruits

of all our labours at the Thur-caston and Cropston Produceand Gardening Show on 1st

September 2012.But before that, why

not come to our nextmeeting:

Wednesday 9th May,7.45 pm – Pests andDiseases – Jeff Bates

The membership fee is£12 for the year (pro rata) or £3.00

per meeting. Why not come along andgive it a try? We meet at the MemorialHall, Thurcaston.

If you would like more information,please call Dave Haddon on (0116) 2359758

From Thurcaston and CropstonGardening Club

stories, short stories and poetry.“Writing is mum’s passion” says daughter Angela,

“and my sister and I have grown up with her stories. Ithink this is my favourite though, because it is so excit-ing and fast paced.”

‘Ethereal Tenant’ is available online atwww.amazon.co.uk and can be downloaded to PC, iPadand kindle for £1.97.

THE THURCASTON and Cropston Gardening Club Annual Pro-duce Show isn’t until September 1, many months away,but if the attendance at the March meeting is anything togo by competition will be very tough.

Regular members, new members andvisitors attended the meeting to hearDavid Thornton’s talk on growing prizewinning vegetables. David, secre-tary of the Na-tional VegetableSociety, talkedabout the histo-ry of the localproduce show -a traditionacross Eng-land;

with numbers currently on the increase.David also talked about the skills anddedication needed to win prizes at anational level. The EastMidlands is a hot bedof prize vegetablegrowing and show-ing, and many of thecountry’s nationalchampions live in thearea, including Davidhimself. So plenty forlocal gardeners to aim

for!Growing vegetables to

enter for any show isn’t aflash in the pan; it can bea year round occupation.David took us throughthe year: giving adviceon getting seeds germi-nated, even using anelectric blanket forunder bench heating;feeding with nutrientsto ensure healthygrowth, and the use offertilizers. He warnedagainst pest and diseas-

es, and their introductioninto our greenhouses.

Simple precautions and goodhygiene (capful of bleach in twogallons of water to spring cleanyour greenhouse) are essentialfor prize winning entries.

David led his captivated audi-ence through the intrica-cies of growing prize

First novel setin Charnwoodvillages

Pic: Kay Nicholls

Prize winning vegetable grower

Pic:DavidThornton

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MEMBERS OF SAIF AND NAFD

LET OUR FAMILY LOOK AFTER YOUR FAMILYFOR FREE ADVICE AND GUIDANCE

The Trustees of the Charity invite those under age 25 yearswho are attending or have attended the Richard HillSchool to apply for a Grant to assist with educationalactivities (including social and physical training) nototherwise provided by the Local Authority.

Richard Hill’s Church of England School Charity

Applications should be made to the Clerk, Mrs. Ann Stringer, [email protected] or tel. 0116 234 0625 before the end of Junefor consideration during the month of July. Grants ranging from £100 to £1,000 will beawarded to applicants who meet the necessary criteria.

Lodgewood Ave, Birstall, Leicester

ALL TYPES OF DOMESTIC& INDUSTRIAL WORK

Extra PointsAlarmsRewiringSecurity LightingElectrical TestingPart P Registered

Control Electrics LtdTel: 0116 2682910

FREE ESTIMATES

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LOCAL AND LONG DISTANCEALL AIRPORTS ETC


The Bark Foundation

Coffee MorningSaturday June 23, 10am to 12noon

Birstall Methodist Church Centre‘Recycled’ costume jewellery, raffle

and tombolaProceeds from both events support

HOTPEC Orphanage in Cameroon• • •

Birstall Methodist Church

Garden TrailThis year’s garden trail will be during

the weekend ofSaturday/Sunday June 9 & 10 from

2-5.30pmThe area this year is in the Walker

Road, Goscote Hall Road, Went Roadand Fielding Road area

Passports (£3) will be available atretail outlets in Birstall from mid-

May• • •

Diamond Jubilee

Music in the ParkWistow Hall

Saturday June 9, 5.30 for 7.30pmBring your own picnic

Music from swing band Junction 21and the all female brass band ‘Boobs

and Brass’Finale & grand firework display at

10pmTickets £12.50, 12-16 yr olds £5,

under 12 freewww.wistow.com0116 2318431

• • •The Annual White Horse

Duck RaceBank HolidayMonday May 7

Event starts 12noon,Duck Race at 2pm

White Horse Lane riverbank andWhite Horse pub car park, Birstall

Face painting, Peppa Pig, cake stalls,tombola, donkey derby, hook a duck,

canoe experiences, bell boat racesIn aid of local Scouts/Guides/Boys

Girls Brigade/Birstall Special NeedsPlaygroup

Buy your duck now at Lily&Grace, Re-vive, or the White Horse

• • •

Secret Gardens ofCossington

Bank Holiday WeekendSunday and Monday, May 6 and 7

11am – 5pm each dayPassport to Open Gardens

Adults: 3.50Children and car parking free

Village gardens open, art exhibitionin church, displays, plant and other

stalls, tombola, raffle, quiz, refresh-ments, Pimm’s tent, hot dogs, chil-

dren’s activity and much moreFor more info contact: 07754 892842

or email:[email protected]

All proceeds towards church repairs,extension and refurbishment

• • •

Coffee ShopRothley Methodist, Howe Lane

Every Tuesday morning, 10-11.30amCome rain or shine

Now open : Book exchangeEveryone welcome

Tea, coffee, biscuits, toasted teacake

Proceeds for the Methodist Church• • •

Are you employed/self employed andsigned off sick?

Get free, impartial, 1-2-1 supportand advice on the issues preventing

your return to work.

Ask your GP to refer you to Leicester-shire Fit For Work

Leicestershire’s Fit For Work Service0116 2851710

www.leicesterfit4work.org.uk• • •

SKYDSSyston Kids and Youth Drama Society

Calling all children aged 7-12Bored on a Friday night?Then come and join us

at the Old Chapel, Church Street, 6-7.30pm

to try your hand at some drama.It is an informal group that enjoys

playing games and working on vari-ous types of performances that are

then put on for the enjoyment of par-ents and relatives. The group allowsyou to build your confidence and per-forming skills and it’s a great way to

meet new people.Come along and try us out, only costs£1 per week plus annual membership

Everyone welcomeFor more info contact Mark Smith

[email protected]

There is also a senior group for ages12+

They are currently having fun workingon an Elvis Murder Mystery. They

have in the past worked on musicals,pantomimes, talent shows and shortplays. All new members are welcome,

come and give us a try.• • •

Charity WhistDrives

organised by Derek Farrwill be held at the Rothley Centre,

Mountsorrel Lane, Rothley7.30pm on Thursdays, May 3, June 7,

July 5Admission £2

All players welcome• • •

Highcliffe Amateur Theatrical Societypresents

‘Free and Easy’by Bill Cronshaw

at Highcliffe School, Greengate Lane,Birstall

Thurs, Fri and Sat, May 17,18,19at 7.15pm

Tickets £6 (£5) from box office tel:0116 2671181 or on door

• • •Birstall Methodist Thursday Group

Coffee MorningSaturday May 26, 10am to 12noon

at the Coffee Shop, Wanlip LaneIn aid of Alzheimer’s Society & Renal

Unit, Loughborough.All the usual stalls – home made

cakes, tombola, books & puzzles etcEveryone welcome

• • •

Open ChurchFor tea and cakes

At St Leonard’s Church, SwithlandSaturday and Sunday May 12/13

2-4.30pmDonations in

aid of Church Funds• • •

Charnwood Conservative Association

Spring Fairat the Rothley Centre

Saturday May 12, 10am till 12noonRt Hon Stephen Dorrell MP will be

attendingAdmission 50p

Raffle, tombola, books, plants, pro-duce stalls, games, cakes & bric-a-

brac• • •

The Parish of Birstall & Wanlip

Fifties EveningTo celebrate the Queen’s Diamond

JubileeSaturday June 22

Birstall Village Hallat 7.30pm

Music provided by the KB BandPrize for ‘Best Fifties Outfit’

Quizzes/Games/RaffleTickets £8 inc supper (children under

10 free)Tel: 2676550 or 2677238

• • •Rothley Bowls Club

Mountsorrel Lane, behind Library

Open DaySunday May 13, 2pm

Prospective new bowlers welcomeAll ages, membership free for 1st year

Come and try bowlsPlease bring flat shoes

Geoff Hall 2303266• • •

Farm Open DayOn Monday May 7

at Pick’s Organic Farmat King Street, Hamilton Grounds,

Barkby Thorpefrom 10am until 4pm

to help raise funds for Soar ValleyMusic Centre, a music charity based

in LeicesterLive music from students and staff ofthe music centre, craft stalls, cream

teas, barbecue, games, a bouncy cas-tle, animals and lots more to enter-

tain the whole familyFree entry & parking

For more info on the Farm Day, tel:0116 2693548, more info on the Mu-

sic Centretel: 0116 2664153 or see the web-

site www.musicentre.co.uk• • •

Ladies PamperEvening

in support of LOROSMany stalls offering mini beauty

treatments, beauty products, jewel-lery, gifts, cakes and much more

Quorn Village HallJune 15, from 7-9.30pm

Tickets £5 each and include a compli-mentary Pimms or soft drink

First prize in the raffle is a Spa day atEden Hall

All enquiries for stallholders or tick-ets purchase at

[email protected] phone Susan on 07837712001

• • •

Noticeboardall details printed free

CHURCHVIEW

NURSERY

0116 269 5505

Specialists inHome Grown

Hardy Perennials& Bedding Plants

OPENING HOURSMon, Tue, Thur, Fri 9.30am - 6pm

Wed & Sun 9.30am - 1pmSat 9.30am - 5pm

QUENIBOROUGH ROAD,BARKBY, LEICS. LE7 3QJ

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DE MONTFORTMEMORIALS

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37 - 39 Station RoadCropston, Leicester

0116 2362363


Mountsorrel Methodist ChurchPresents the 5th in the 11th Series of

Sunday Night @ Eight

Organ RecitalsSunday May 20

At 8pmBy Dr Simon Ainge

Admission freeDonations for the Church’s Develop-

ment FundBuffet from 7.30pm

• • •

Queen’s JubileeNostalgic Supper

Tuesday May 29, 7pmRothley Centre, Mountsorrel LaneSupper followed by entertainment

organised by Rothley & District Brit-ish Legion

All welcomeTo book call 2303858 or 2375254

• • •

Rothley HistorySociety

Wednesday May 16Mel Gould, Chairman of the Carillon

Tower & War Museumtalking about the ‘History of Lough-borough Carillon & War Memorial’

Wednesday June 20Bob Bracegirdle will be talking about‘Bells & Their Music and Bellfounding

at Taylors of Loughborough’The meetings are at 7.30pm in theRothley Centre, Mountsorrel Lane,

Rothley£3 for visitors, £2 for members

All will be made welcome!• • •

Wreake Valley RotaryBeer Festival

Thursday May 3, 5-11pmFriday May 4, 5-11pm

Saturday May 5, 12noon-11pmSunday May 6, 12noon-3pm

The new venue for this year’s eventwill be

Syston Social Club, 36 High Street,Syston, Leic LE7 1GP

• • •Return to Work while

BreastfeedingA workshop for mums

Provided by Charnwood BRASInformation on practical issues liketransporting breastmilk and on Em-

ployment LawWednesday May 9, 10am to 12noon

Mountsorrel Children’s Centre,Mountsorrel School

Admission freeTo book call 07583 041054www.charnwoodbras.co.uk

• • •

Open WeekendMay 19-20, 10am to 5pm

A Celebration of Outdoor Adventure!at Leicester Outdoor Pursuits Centre,

Red Hill Island, Leicester£1 entrance fee (refundable on com-

pletion of a questionnaire)FREE activities including archery, ca-noeing, the City Skylines Aerial Chal-lenge, Olympic sports & much more!

Competitions & Prize draws

Food & refreshmentsFor more information visit:

www.lopc.co.uk/openweekend0116 2681426; www.lopc.co.uk;

[email protected]• • •

Thurcaston & Cropston

Open Gardens 2012Weekend June 30/July1

2-6pm both daysTickets £4, valid both days, from any

open gardenAccompanied children and

wheelchair users freeProceeds to Richard Hill School PTA

funds• • •

Guildhall AntiqueFairs

are proud to announcetheir new venue

Palmer-Tomkinson Centre, WanlipLane, Birstallfor their next

Antique and Collectors Fairon Sunday July 15, from 9am to 3pm

Admission £1.50For stall bookings and enquiries

please call 0116 2321966or visit our website for details

www.guildhallantiquefairs.co.uk• • •

The Charnwood Orchestra

Annual SummerConcert

June 30, 7.45pmat St James the Greater Church, Lon-

don Road, LeicesterSchumann Genoveva Overture

Wagner Wesendonck Lieder – soloistMarie Vassiliou

Elgar Symphony no.2Tickets £10 (£8 concessions), £3 for

accompanied children under 16.Available from the Box office: 07718

153117 or email:[email protected],

from members of the orchestra or onthe door

There will be an interval bar sellingwine, Castle Rock Brewery real ale

and fruit juice• • •

The first ever

Saddington OpenGardens

Saturday/Sunday June 23 & 24From 11am to 5pm15 gardens open

Saddington is a small tranquil villageset in outstanding countryside situat-

ed near Kibworth Beauchamp andFleckney LE8 OQY

View gardens never seen before –small or large, each one with its ownunique character and many with stun-ning views over the valleys and res-

ervoir, thenenjoy refreshments whilst you sit andadmire the peaceful surroundings ofthis picturesque conservation villageProfits to St Helen’s roof repairs &

other local charitiesAdults £3 (accompanied children un-

der 16 years free)Refreshments and cream teas (ve-

gans catered for)Art sale, stalls, plant sales, chil-

dren’s treasure hunt and much more!Disabled access limited (assistance

will be given where possible)Free parking

Sorry, no dogs allowed in the gar-dens

www.opengardens.co.uk• • •

Film PresentationsFrom Thurcaston & Cropston Parish

Council ‘My Week with Marilyn’ Friday May

11 (99 mins)In 1956 Marilyn Monroe came to Pinewood Stu-dios to make a film co-starring Lawrence Olivier

and Dame Sybil Thorndyke. Although Marilynwas the greatest movie star in the world, thererose a clash of culture with Olivier’s intensityand punctuality. Played in our memorable filmby Kenneth Branagh, Olivier quipped “Teaching

Marilyn is like teaching Urdu to a badger!”‘The Iron Lady’ Friday June 8 (105

mins)In 1975, grocer’s daughter Margaret Thatcher

became the first woman to lead a major UK po-litical party. Four years later she became Brit-ain’s first female prime minister. This film is apoignant character study that revisits key mo-ments in Margaret’s career as seen through the

eyes of this lady in her eighties.‘The Artist’ Friday September 14

Thurcaston & Cropston Parish Councilwill be showing these films at Thur-

caston Memorial Hall. Starting at7.30pm, tickets cost £4.50 and con-cessions are £4. The price includes

refreshments and a lucky prize draw.Advance tickets can be purchased viathe parish office, 0116 2367626 or

at the door.• • •

Wanlip FairSat May 26 between 10am and 1pmat Wanlip Hall, next to Wanlip ChurchProceeds towards the ongoing im-provements of the hall. Adm free

Stalls include plants, cakes, tombola,raffle, bric-a-brac etc

Light refreshments available• • •

Birstall Rugby Football Club

President’s DayStonehill School playing field

Sunday May 6, 12.30pmEveryone is welcome for a fun day

which includes two exhibition games,a BBQ, and fully licensed bar!

• • •

Patient Information DayAdvice and discussion on aspects of

travel for the stoma patientThursday May 31

10am to 12.30pm approxLoughborough Town Hall, Victoria

RoomRefreshments available

Ring 0116 2585184 to book a place(need to book to attend)

• • •St Petersburg Blagovest Ensemble

conductor: Olga Kozlova

An Evening ofRussian Choral Music

Sacred and FolkAt Mountsorrel Methodist Church

LE12 7JBSat May 12 at 7pm

Tickets £5 obtainable from GeoffWainwright, 0116 2376979

[email protected]• • •

Birstall Watermead Tennis ClubOpen Days to be held onWed June 13 from 6pm

Sunday June 17, 9.30am-1pmAll welcome, juniors and adults, all

levels of abilityAt the Co-op Sports & Social Club,

Birstall Road• • •

Rothley Parish Council

Annual Parish MeetingFriday May 11, 7.30pm

Rothley Centre. All Welcome

M&G PlumbingServices

All Plumbing& Heating work

undertaken

0116 267790507834 600384

Sycamore Rd, Birstall

FOOT MEDICS (UK Ltd)

R Palahey, Registered Podiatrist/Chiropodist BSC (Hons) Podiatry MChS SRCh

80 Sibson Rd, Birstall

Keeping youmobile & comfortablewww.footmedics.co.uk • (0116) 2675527

Gait Analysis & Musculoskeletal assessments Nail surgery using local anaesthesia

Acupuncture • Verrucae Treatments Bespoke Orthoses • High Quality Chiropody

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Foot Health Checks • Footwear Advice

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INTERIOR & EXTERIORPAINTING

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General Building


“HELPING HEDGEHOGS” was thetheme of March meeting of RothleyWI, brought to us by Colleen Powellwho began taking in distressed andinjured hedgehogs and then posted aplea for help in the local press whichbrought her a wave of poorly, pricklylittle creatures, many of them or-phaned to be cared for in Colleenshome.

Nursed back to health the hedgehogswould be released back into their habi-tat and with help from numerous sourc-es and much fund raising this veryworthwhile group of willing volunteerssoon helped launch The LeicesterHedgehog Rescue some twelve yearsago. Colleen proceeded to explain tomembers about the development ofLeicester Hedgehog Rescue and how thework of her dedicated team of helpershas grown along with the numbers of

these small creatures now being caredfor.

The history, lifestyle and habitat ofhedgehogs was enthusiastically related tous along with a photographic displayand a personal introduction to one ofColleens residents, an adult femalehedgehog who had required major sur-gery resulting in amputation of her leftback leg and who has been lovinglyrehabilitated. In order to understand thelifestyle and the fascinating history ofhedgehogs, for they go back millions ofyears even known to be older than sabretoothed tigers, Colleen’s presentationshowed us how they survive for a goodnumber of years. We heard about therisks of damage and disease to them intheir habitat and how we all can help toprotect them. The members of RothleyWI would certainly recommend to you, avisit by Colleen Powell and her profes-sional, educational and highly absorbingpresentation.

Leicester Hedgehog Rescue can becontacted at:[email protected]

Wednesday April 4 this year beganwith a sudden and exceptional downturnin our weather of almost 20° C with galeforce winds, torrential rain and in someparts very heavy snow, so it was a pleas-ant relief for the members of Rothley WIto welcome guest speaker Steve Brooksof Glenfield Travel, who very soonturned the meeting to have the memberswarming up to Steve’s entertaining pres-entation on the ‘The Funny side of Trav-el ’.

It was not long before there werechuckles all round as he proceeded toexplain about his school days accompa-nied by a sense of humour, a memoryfor jokes and long humorous stories’relating to a fairly wide variety of holidaydestinations, organised by his own travelcompany based in Station Road, Glen-field. Having been educated in localschools he began his working life atLeicester Post Office progressing in 1981to Proprietor of Glenfield Travel. He hasthoroughly enjoyed his 31years of help-ing organise many holidays for happyand appreciative clients. Steve’s agreea-ble presentation was certainly enjoyed byour members at that cold afternoon

meeting and would be recommended toany community group meeting.

Rothley WI meeting for May is Reso-lutions, the June meeting brings theRSPB’s, ‘Birds in your Garden’ by ChrisAndrews. Anyone interested and wouldlike hear this talk, please pop into Roth-ley Centre, Mountsorrel Lane Rothley,LE7 7PR , you can be sure of a warmwelcome and cup of tea/coffee. 1.45pm.Wednesday June 6, 2012. See you there.

Rothley WI meets the first Wednesdayin the month, 1.45pm.

Rothley Centre, Mountsorrel LaneRothley, LE7 7PR

From Maureen Bulmer, Rothley WI

crystal trophy with an internal engravingof a race helmet.

This year he is competing as a seed-ed driver in the national British SuperOne Series, the premier kart racingchampionship. He also hopes to race onthe continent this summer. George iswith Langford-Line Motorsport and is theIntrepid UK Kart Team Works Driverdeveloping the new Italian chassis andtelemetry systems.

Anyone interested in sponsoringGeorge can contact him [email protected]

A KART racer from Thurcaston has wona trophy at a competition in Cumbria.

George Line (16), a pupil at Longslade College, wonthe prestigious Northern Easter Racing Festival, winningfive of the six heats and both finals in this two day event.

George said: “Leading in both finals was difficult asthis technical circuit demands commitment to the racingline to ensure fast laps, but this can leave the leaderopen to challenge.”

George, driving in the Junior Rotax Class, received a

Georgetakesracing line

AT OUR March meeting Penny Hodg-eson gave an excellent talk entitled“A Skeleton in the Cupboard”.

She told us about the experiencesshe encountered in tracing her familyhistory. She also warned us that we mayfind some unexpected surprises aboutour ancestors, which may not always beto our liking!

Refreshments were then served;members had provided a deliciousarray of cakes and savouries for theevent.

Finally, a competition was held formembers to make a hat out of newspa-per. This resulted in an amazing arrayof stylish hats. The winner of the com-petition was Mrs Anne Allison.

At our April meeting Mrs Jenny Ash-er gave a talk on ‘The Benefits of AloeVera’.

We were told that this plant, whichcan be easily grown on a window ledge,has many important healing properties.The benefits of its use can be found inshampoos, creams and even toothpaste.Different samples were passed aroundthe room for the members to try. Mostsurprising of all, was the Aloe Veradrink, which can help with a variety ofinternal problems. A very interestingand enjoyable evening.

Our next meeting will take place onThursday May 3 at the Memorial Hall,Anstey, Thurcaston when the memberswill discuss Resolutions

Anyone interested in finding outmore about the Women's Institute arewarmly invited to attend.

From Thurcaston & CropstonWI

WI: hedgehogs & skeletons

RUSSIAN MUSIC is comingto Mountsorrel

The St Petersburg Blagovest Ensem-ble is bringing part of a rich Russianmusical tradition to the area this May,with a concert to be held at Mount-sorrel Methodist Church, LE12 7JB, at7pm on Saturday May 12.

Local organiser, Geoff Wainwright,said: “The programme contrasts sub-lime, intensely spiritual Russian Ortho-dox church music with the zest for lifeand humour of Russian folk songs.

“The Ensemble contributes to arenewal of a tradition of Russian un-accompanied singing going back athousand years, which with its distinc-tive melodic patterns holds a uniqueplace in the musical culture of theworld. The singers are St Petersburgconservatoire trained and their fivevoices fill an auditorium. On previousUK tours they have enchanted audienc-es with echoing harmonies that ap-pealed to a range of ages and musicaltastes. This year they are bringingtheir music to many places that havenot experienced it before.

“We are really looking forward tohearing them. It is a talented groupwho sing wonderful music to a profes-sional standard and are sure to giveus an evening to remember.”

Tickets, £5 each, are now obtaina-ble from Geoff. For further informa-tion he can be contacted by telephone– 0116 237 6979 or by e.mail:[email protected]

Russianconcert

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Mrs Brenda Mary Hewett passed awayafter a long illness on February 23, 2012aged 79 years.

Her headteacher Miss Pamela Brittsaid of Brenda: “We will all have manyhappy memories of such a very kindlady and a wonderful friend. She was anexcellent teacher and Deputy Head, soloyal and supportive at all times. Chil-dren, staff and parents all thought sohighly of her and she made such a valu-able contribution to Rothley School life.Children were given a very sound educa-tion as well as some fine experiences inart and nature study. Her Christmasplays were very wonderful.”

As a gift to the school on her retire-ment in December 1990 after teachingat the school for 11 years, Mrs Hewettcommissioned a weather vane for chil-dren to learn about the four points ofthe compass and wind direction. It re-mains a feature of the school building

and is situated on the older part of theroof.

Her daughter, Mrs Sue Tranter, whocurrently teaches at Rothley C of E Pri-mary School said of her mother: “Shewas a dedicated teacher who was alwaysat her happiest when working withyoung children and was able to bringout the best in them. She is particularlyremembered by her colleagues for herwonderful Christmas plays which werewritten and directed by herself, the fan-tastic artwork she enabled children tocreate, and her love of nature which wasalways evident and on display in herclassroom.”

Mrs Hewett leaves her husband, threechildren, seven grandchildren and sixgreat grandchildren.Pic: Brenda Hewett, centre, with some ofher colleagues and her two daughters onthe day of her retirement in 1990.

A FORMER Deputy Head of Rothley Primary school hasdied.

DO YOU want to play a partin the greatest show onearth?

Charnwood Borough Council is offer-ing the chance of a lifetime to residentsto join its pool of volunteers and helpout during the Olympic Torch Relay.

The council is playing a pivotal rolein organising and providing stewards forthe torch relay which will snake throughQuorn, Loughborough, Hoton andWymeswold on Tuesday July 3, 2012.

Cllr Paul Harley, Charnwood BoroughCouncil’s Cabinet member for Leisureand Culture, said: “This is an excitingyear for Charnwood and let’s face it, itdoesn’t get any bigger than playing apart in the Olympics.

“We’re delighted to be able to offerthis exceptional opportunity to residentsto join our volunteer pool which willhelp us manage crowds who we expectwill line the relay route on July 3.

“Full training and briefings will begiven by our expert staff so there is noneed to worry about lack of experience.If you’re over 18 and would like to addthe Olympic Games to your CV, pleaseget in touch!”

Volunteers would be required be-tween 7am and 12noon for the big day.

If you are interested in taking part inthis event and are 18 years or aboveplease contact Penny Hopkins on 01509634673 or email:[email protected] beforeJune 15.

Crime UpdateI’ve received a number of reports

of children playing in and aroundroads which is obviously dangerous soplease be aware of what your childrenare up to. We have also had a numberof reports of youths causing damage,particularly on the park so pleasereport anything seen.Good News

In March there were NO reports ofhouse burglaries which is excellentnews. People still need to stay awareand make sure windows etc arelocked – particularly if we get anywarm weather over the summermonths.How to contact us

You can contact your local neigh-bourhood policing team – PC 2029 EdStephenson – by telephoning 101,selecting option 2 and when prompt-

ed, tap in iden-tificationnumber 2029,to leave me amessage. I willget back to youas soon aspossible. Youcan also sendme an email bylogging onto

the website at ww.leics.police.uk andclicking on the ‘Neighbourhood Polic-ing’ icon. I am also on Twitter soplease follow me for up to date info –Charnwoodwest

From PC Ed StephensonCrime Report: Rothley, Feb 1-Mar31

Burglary dwelling 2 (Garland, Hall-fields Lane), burglary non-dwelling 2,theft 3, damage 6, theft from motorvehicle 2, fraud 2, assault 1

The first talkgiven in Januarywas on ‘ModernChina’ and thesecond was onthe ‘MiddleEast’, an area ofthe world de-scribed by Nor-man Pratt, theorganiser, as a complex melange ofstates, religions, cultures and languages.

Norman said: “The talk, which lastedjust over an hour, attracted a mixedaudience of all ages with some comingfrom as far away as Boston in Lincoln-shire, and a great deal of praise wasforthcoming for both the content and the

‘KNOW THE Past to Understand the Future’ was the intriguing banner headlinethat was sent out to attract a local audience to a second talk given by DrMichael Lynch, a retired Modern History Lecturer from the University of Leices-ter at the Rothley Centre, in Rothley.

presentationby Dr Lynch.The audiencewere left witha better un-derstanding ofthe back-ground toattitudeswhich prevail

in the region and were better placed tocomprehend any future activities whichmight result, especially in terms of West-ern intervention. The questions asked atthe end of the session were penetratingand well directed. The evening was agreat success and future talks in thesame format will be announced shortly.”

Torchrelayhelpers

Middle East talk

NHW news& crimereport

Brenda Hewett remembered

Home CarersRequiredAre you a caring person?Like varied work & job satisfaction?Join our team of carers in the Mountsorrel,Cropston, Quorn, Sileby, Syston, Birstall &Wymeswold areas.Flexible shifts, 10-40 hrs per week, & morn-ings, evenings and weekends available.No experience required as all training will beprovided.Up to £7.25hr, plus travel expenses. Tele-phone essential. Ring Debbie between8.30am & 4.30pm for more information on0116 2696247 (quoting reference BP)

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At the annual Charter Dinner Dance,held at Birstall Golf Club in March, LionPresident Ruth Johnson presentedcheques for £2500 to David Lindley ofLOROS, and Sophie Stevens from theDerbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland AirAmbulance Service, £3000 to JennyPearce from Vista and Rainbows’ repre-sentative Jennifer Leach received acheque for £4250.

The funds were raised by the Clubfrom a range of activities throughout theyear, including a 10K Road Race aroundRothley village and a golf tournamentorganised jointly with Leicester Charn-wood and Thurnby Lions.

Guest of Honour at the event wasLion District Governor Robin Dukes,accompanied by his wife Rosemary, whocongratulated the Club on their successand generosity, not only to those localgood causes in attendance, but also to

several international campaigns organ-ised by Lions Clubs International, suchas Sight Savers and Water Aid. He wasimpressed by the range of other benefi-ciaries which had received support dur-ing the year, including Children withCancer, Diabetes UK, English Federationof Disability Sport, Marie Curie CancerCare and Wishes4kids.

Lion President Ruth then presentedRosemary with a cheque for £500 forthe district Governor’s wife’s chosencharity, the National Autistic Society.

Following the presentation, Lions andguests danced to the music and beautifulsinging voice of entertainer Jackie Lee,who had insisted that her fee should beincluded in the cheque given to Rain-bows, her favourite children’s charity.Pic: David Lindley, LOROS, Jenny Pearce,Vista, Jennifer Leach, Rainbows, LionPresident Ruth Johnson, Sophie Stevens,DLR Air Ambulance Service.

ON THE evening of March 20, we werethoroughly entertained by the excel-lent presentation given by PeterCousins, who was clearly greatly in-spired by the subject of his talk –“The Life and Times of Orson Wright1853 – 1913”.

Orson Wright, who came to beknown as the “Champion of the People”thanks to his numerous entrepreneurialventures, was born in the village of Dun-ton Bassett on 23rd July 1853.

Orson left school in 1861 at the ageof eight years and initially had a varietyof jobs, including working as a farm-hand. In 1871, he was working as acarpenter and joiner, havingundertaken the relevant appren-ticeship – these were the skillswhich later enabled him to pur-sue a career in building. At thistime, he was living in lodgings inBirstall Street, Leicester, and wasmarried to Ada Harris. By 1875,he was in business partnershipwith his brothers, but unfortu-nately, the business failed andthey were declared bankrupt in1878. Despite this setback, hewas not deterred and, only threeyears later, with the purchase ofland in Wigston, he was able toestablish his own building busi-ness, known as “PerseveranceWorks”.

The phrase “the sky’s thelimit” comes to mind when con-sidering the phenomenal growthof Orson Wright’s business from1881 onwards! He became aprolific builder and, as demandfor houses grew, he establishedhis own brickworks to ensure aregular supply of his company’strademark red bricks. He built rows ofterraced properties, with shops at eachstreet corner to supply necessities forthe local residents. Streets were oftennamed after his own family members, ofwhich there were many, including hisown children (he and his wife had atotal of ten children, four of whom sadlydid not survive to adult life). His ownmagnificent and stylish home, calledAshbourne House, was purpose-built toaccommodate his large family – after hisdeath, this property was demolished tomake way for a 20th century, less archi-tecturally-pleasing row of shops!

Orson went on to build hotels, in-cluding the Grand Hotel on Canal Street,Wigston, and the former Grand Hotel onGranby Street, Leicester, as well as facto-ries and warehouses to cater for bur-geoning local industries. His businessacumen knew no bounds and in 1887he bought the whole parish of New-foundpool - at the time of this purchasethere were only seven houses in theparish, but in the next eight years hebuilt homes to house over four thousandpeople! In 1890 he bought the KnightonFields Estate for more building projects.He diversified into other enterprises,such as boot and shoe manufacture, ahat and cap company and by 1907, atthe age of fifty three years, he becameinvolved in the construction of the twen-ty eight miles long Derwent Valley Aque-duct. Apart from all these activities healso held a variety of public offices.

For a man who came from truly

humble beginnings, his ambition andachievements to improve the lot of thepeople of Leicester were incredible. Atthe time of his death, aged fifty nineyears, on the 10th April 1913, he washeld in such high regard, that when hisfuneral took place on 14th April, fifteenhorse-drawn carriages carrying familyand local dignitaries followed his hearse,plus around two hundred people joinedthe procession on foot. Both he and hiswife Ada, who had predeceased him,share the same grave in Wigston ceme-tery. His will was ten pages long and heleft a legacy to the value of almost£8million in today’s money. In 1927,

Orson’s and Ada’s children paid forcommemorative stained glass windowsto be erected in St. Thomas’s Church,Wigston, in honour of their parents.

The next time you are shopping inLeicester, do take the time to look up-wards to see some of the legacy of Vic-torian architecture still in evidenceabove the shops. An example of OrsonWright’s work is to be found at the cor-ner of Market Street, opposite to Fen-wick’s, and another in the form of amagnificent crest atop the former GrandHotel.

Our next meeting will be in All Saints’Church on Tuesday May 15, at 7.30pmwhen there will be a presentation onchurch organs and an organ recitalgiven by David Gabe. All welcome.

From Jennifer Kennington, Thurcastonand Cropston Local History Society

ROTHLEY & SOAR Valley Lions Club marked their 35th anni-versary by distributing gifts of cash to local charities.

ROTHLEY’S VIC Parker came eighthin a competition to find Charn-wood’s strongest man.

Vic (71) of Templar Way, said: “Idid all right. I lifted 190kg in thedeadlift but the bench press let medown as my shoulder’s not so good.”

The event took place at Loughbor-ough Leisure Centre. The overall win-ner was Jeremy Lewis who lifted230kg in the deadlift, 152.5kg in thebench press and 210kg in the squat.

History society news

Local Lions share cashat annual dinner dance

Strong man


Verity Graham and Jackie Johnstoneof Quorn, run Jabberjacks, a children’sparty franchise. Their website wasshortlisted at the national FranchiseMarketing Awards and was up againstmajor brands such as McDonalds andMolly Maid.

Jabber-jacks now hasnine franchisesthroughout the coun-try, which deliver children’sparties and pre-school classes using aunique blend of music, actions, dance

A MUM from Rothley was shortlistedfor an award for the franchise shehelps to run.

and acast of col-

ourful characters tocaptivate young imaginations.

Verity and Jackie started their Jab-berjacks journey by running their ownchildren’s party and pre-school classfranchise before taking on the entirecompany in 2010.

For more information about Jabber-jacks, please visitwww.jabberjacks.co.uk, call 01509413873 or [email protected]. You can alsofollow Jabberjacks on Twitter @Jabber-jacks.Pics: (top) fun and games at a Jab-berjacks party and (inset) VerityGraham (left) and Jackie Johnstone

LEICESTERSHIRE POLICE hasachieved a 4.3% reduction incrime for the year 2011/12 com-pared to the previous year. Thefigure has been achieved despitea £34.5million reduction in theForce’s budget following the gov-ernment’s Comprehensive Spend-ing Review (CSR).

A total of 68,151 crimes occurredin 2011/12, 3,083 fewer than lastyear. The Force reduced total crimeby 4.3%, narrowly missing the 5%reduction target set by the Leicester-shire Police Authority last year. In2011/12 all user satisfaction ratesstayed above 86%, with the rates forburglary victims above 91%.

The Policing Plan, released onMarch 30, 2012, laid out plans toachieve 88% satisfaction for all usersin 2012/2013.

Chief Constable Simon Cole ofLeicestershire Police said: “Protect-ing our communities is our coreaim. The 4.3% reduction in crimehas been achieved by working inpartnership with local people, re-sponding to what they tell us aboutcriminality and incidents of antisocialbehaviour in their neighbourhoods.”

The latest 4.3% reduction incrime continues a five year series ofyear-on-year crime reductions forLeicestershire Police. The 2011/12results include:• all crime reduced by 4.3%, or3,083 fewer offences• assault with less serious injuryreduced by 9.7% or 522 fewer of-fences• criminal damage reduced by 8.0%or 1,027 fewer offences• domestic burglary reduced by or3.7% or 162 fewer offences• robbery increased by 19.1% or150 more offences• serious sexual offences reduced by10.4% or 77 fewer offences• serious violent offences reducedby 2.5% or 8 fewer offences• theft from a vehicle increased by2.8% or 140 more offences• theft or unauthorised taking of avehicle reduced by 18.9% or 288fewer offences

Compared to five years ago, allcrime has reduced by 22.7% withdomestic burglary down 17.7%

ROTHLEY HAS a new Police Com-munity Support Officer.

PCSO 6595 Alex Bierne has joinedPC 2029 Ed Stephenson on the Roth-ley beat.

HATS SPRING production is a comedy with music called ‘Freeand Easy’ written by Bill Cronshaw.

Do you remember the sounds of the60s – ‘These Boots Were Made ForWalking’, ‘Downtown’ and many more?If so, come and re-live these sounds andfollow the possible demise of the ‘LastDrop’ public house, famous for its Free& Easy nights, now subject to the devi-ous plans of Dodgy Ron.

Will they survive to entertain theirregulars again or fall prey to his evil

plans to close the pub and turn it intoan entertainment centre? Full of fabulous60s songs and not forgetting those fa-mous miniskirts! Come and re-live youryouth or find out what it was like inMum and Dad’s youth!

Performances are at HighcliffeSchool, Greengate Lane, Birstall onThursday 17, Friday 18 and Saturday 19May at 7.15pm.

Please note that there issome adult humour in thisproduction.

Tickets are £6 (£5 con-cessions) and can be ob-tained in advance byphoning the box office on0116 2671181 or writing to14 Fielding Road, Birstall,Leicester LE4 3AJ or email:[email protected]

From Highcliffe Ama-teur Theatrical SocietyPic: some of the cast re-hearsing a scene

Fallingcrimefigures

Jabberjacks website praised

HAT’s spring play

NewPCSO

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THE NEW Captains at Roth-ley Park are looking forwardto the golfing season.

The new Men’s Captain is RobinLaurie who lives in Rothley. Robinmoved to Leicester from Glasgow in1971 and played County golf during the1970s. He joined Rothley Park in 1996and since 2006 has played for the Coun-ty senior golf team. He has a daughterand three sons who played junior golf atRothley Park.

“I have been playing golf for over 50years, as a single figure handicap golferfor 47 of those, but believe me I am stillable to make silly mistakes along withthe best! I am delighted to be appointedMen’s Captain and I am looking forwardto an enjoyable and successful year.”

Ladies Captain this year is AlisonMarsh, who also lives in Rothley. Shejoined Rothley Park as a junior member38 years ago and has been a key singlefigure handicap player for the ladiesdivision over the years. The club is veryproud that Alison has also been appoint-ed the 2012/2013 Leicestershire CountyFirst Team Captain.

She said: “As Rothley Park LadiesCaptain for 2012 I am currently reallyenjoying the off-season 9-hole fun com-petitions. Once the season begins inApril we start to play our club competi-tions and matches against other clubsthroughout the County. I am lookingforward to a busy golfing year and rais-ing money for our chosen charity for

2012, Multiple Sclerosis.“We are always delighted to welcome

new lady members to Rothley Park andwill be organising events during the yearfor ladies and junior girls to come andsee what a great ladies section we have.There are now opportunities for workingladies to enjoy evening and weekend golfas well as our regular Tuesday ladiesday. If you’re interested in taking upgolf or are a golfer who has moved tothe area, we’d love to hear from you.Just ring the club and they will forwardyou on to me.”

Junior Captain, Steve Shellard, isanother Rothley resident and is a studentstudying a Sports Diploma at Loughbor-ough College. Steve has been playinggolf since he was 12. “Golf is becominga very popular sport with kids and teen-agers because they are now identifyingwith the young tour professionals whohave a strong image. It’s a great sportand requires a high level of skill to play

at the top level” he said.If you would like information about

joining Rothley Park Golf Club pleasephone 0116 230 2809 and ask for ClubManager, Danny Spillane.

AMLI DESIGN Architectural Consul-tancy. Plans drawn and submitted.Extensions, conversions, newbuild. David Ives B.Sc.(Hons)FBEng MCIOB 0116 2674395 /07974807111www.amlidesign.co.uk

REIKI TREATMENTS at Blue Moon.First visit half price. Vouchersavailable. Visit www.rainbow-therapy.net for details

THE ROTHLEY Post is delighted toreceive contributions from residents.You can send us:

Details of a community event such asa rummage sale, fete or coffee morningfor free publication on our ‘Noticeboard’page.

Items of news - we’re interested ineverything: club and society news,prizewinners, charity events, churchnews, complaints, praise, new projects,new facilities, trips, sport, crime, any-thing that concerns or interests you.

A letter for our letters page - wewelcome letters on any issue, local ornational. All letters must include thesender’s name and address (though notnecessarily for publication).

Photos - we particularly welcome oldphotographs giving an insight into localhistory.

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Email: [email protected] or Fax (0116) 267 4213Hand in your items at Rothley Li-

brary, Birstall Library or Rothley PostOffice on Woodgate.

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words. 17-32 words: 50p. Enclosingpayment, post your ad to us or hand itin (inside an envelope) at Rothley li-brary or Rothley Post Office onWoodgate.

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Pic: (l-r) Robin Laurie, Steve Shellard and Alison Marsh

LEICESTERSHIRE based buildingmaterials firm, Lafarge, is backinga major new project to unearth thecounty’s history.

Lafarge Aggregates & Concrete UK,which has its headquarters in Systonand operates a flagship granite quarryat Mountsorrel, has donated £500 tothe Charnwood Roots Project.

The initiative, run by the Leicester-shire Victoria County Trust, aims toresearch the history of 27 towns andvillages in and around the CharnwoodForest area of Leicestershire – Mount-sorrel, Syston, Rothley and Quornamong them.

Local people will be invited to getinvolved and help with archaeologicaldigs, document research, building andlandscape surveys and oral historygathering.

A major development grant of£19,100 from the Heritage LotteryFund (HLF) enabled the venture to getoff the ground while other donations,including the money from Lafarge, hasdemonstrated local support.

A condition of gaining the lotterygrant, the local fundraising means theTrust can apply for further HLF back-ing to support what organisers hopewill be a four-year project involvinghundreds of Charnwood residents.

Angus Shedden, site manager atMountsorrel Quarry, said: “Leicester-shire contains important sources ofigneous rock which have been quar-ried since Roman times so quarryingis a major element in the history ofboth the county and of CharnwoodForest.

“Lafarge is proud to be part of thisheritage and proud to be able to sup-port such a pioneering project whichwill really bring the community to-gether to delve into the past and en-sure it is recorded for future

New captains looking forward

Villagehistory

The next issue ofTHE ROTHLEY POST

will be published on July 7.

The copy deadline is June 22.

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