birstall post (354) jan 2013

JANUARY 2013 No. 354

the Birstall postY O U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S P A P E R

www.birstallpost.co.uk

THE YELLOW brick road led to Birstall when local dramastudents performed the Wizard of Oz at the Palmer Tom-kinson Centre in December.

It was the latest in a series of pro-ductions by the Faces Arts PerformingArts and Theatre School.

Spokeswoman Jody Chesterton said:“The children were quite simply, amaz-ing. They have worked so hard on thisproduction and the cheers they received

by the audiences were nothing morethan they deserved. The level of talentwe see is hugely encouraging. At FacesArts we pride ourselves on working withyoungsters in the community and Iwould like to thank everyone who sup-ported this year’s pantomime.”

The children were all aged 9 to 15and meet every Tuesday after school.

Faces Arts have been established inBirstall for nearly 10 years and hostStreet Dance sessions, After School Dra-ma and Shake Up toddler sessions dur-ing the week. Faces Arts also host theirTheatre School classes on Saturdaymornings with children aged from 4-16.“Children can enjoy a fun morning ofdance, drama and singing. Each categoryis taught by experienced and talentedprofessionals in a disciplined environ-

PROPOSALS FOR a world-class heritage railwaymuseum on the edge ofBirstall have beenannounced by the GreatCentral Railway (GCR).

Working in partnership with LeicesterCity Council and the National RailwayMuseum in York, the organisation hopesto create a brand new attraction close tothe GCR’s Leicester North station thatwould tell the story of how the railwayshelped Leicester become a thriving in-dustrial city.

The new museum – housing locomo-tives, carriages and other railway arte-facts from the national collection –would attract tens of thousands of peo-ple every year.

Wizard showPic: (l-r) Charlie Hardy as the Tin man, Lauren Burton as the Scarecrow, Charlotte Boyall as Dorothy and Mae Pugsley Birch as the Lion

Continued on page 2

Continued on page 2

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ment” said Jody.For more information on Faces Arts, contact Jody Chesterton on 07971 423201 or

visit the website www.facesarts.co.uk

A series of exhibition halls and gal-leries will have direct access to theGCR’s track, allowing engines and roll-ing stock to move in and out of themuseum – and allowing visitors to getclose to the exhibits and experience theday-to-day workings of a heritage rail-way.

Early plans seen by the Birstall Postindicate that a small area of land of RedHill allotments will be lost, running

parallel to the existing cycleway fromStation Road towards The Sidings. Theland designated for the major part of thedevelopment is marked in blue on themap (this page). It is likely that a newsection of track will be laid south ofStation Road in the blue area to allowengines to access the museum. Howmuch of the currently unused land(marked in red) that will be used isunclear. This is south of the allotmentsand west of the BP petrol station.

City Mayor Peter Soulsbysaid: “This is a really excit-ing opportunity to create aheritage railway centre ofnational standing in Leices-ter.

“The museum wouldhouse items which are ofboth national importanceand local interest, comple-menting the nearby NationalSpace Centre and AbbeyPumping Station and help-ing to enhance the city’sreputation as an importantvisitor destination.

“It would also createhundreds of new jobs, bothduring construction and onopening, while providingtraining opportunities in therail industry for dozens ofyoung people.

“We welcome this pro-posal and look forward toworking with the GreatCentral Railway to helpthem deliver this ambitiousproject.”

A full business plan isnow being developed, but it is expectedthat work on the £10 million projectcould begin within two years, with thecentre opening to the public in 2017.

Managing Director of the Great Cen-tral Railway Bill Ford said: “We aredelighted to announce our plans for anew museum in Leicester. After workingclosely with our partners to develop theconcept, we will now be working up thedetails in a full business plan and identi-fying potential sources of funding.

“The railways played a huge role inestablishing Leicester as a major indus-trial force, opening up vast export mar-kets for goods made in the city.

“This attraction will bring togetherpriceless locomotives and historicalartefacts to tell that story in a way thatwill appeal to both railway enthusiastsand to anyone with an interest in the cityand its heritage.”

Many of the items for the museumwould come from the National RailwayMuseum, which holds one of the largestcollections of its type in the world.

Its main base in York is already sup-plemented by a second collection atShildon in County Durham.

“The prime objective of the NationalRailway Museum is to ensure that thenational collection is properly cared forand is accessible to the public,” saidPaul Kirkman, Acting Director of theNational Railway Museum.

“However, much of our collection isin store, out of sight of the public, ordispersed across various sites due to alack of space. This new centre in Leices-ter, ideally situated in the heart of thecountry, would make it possible for usto share more of our historic artefactswith a much wider audience.”

The project’s joint working party isnow preparing detailed proposals aheadof its applications for funding and plan-ning permission.

It is estimated that the project wouldcreate around 100 new jobs in construc-tion, with around 50 full-time postsrequired to run the new attraction.

The Great Central Railway attracts120,000 visitors each year. Running foreight miles through Leicestershire, itssouthern terminus at Leicester North is astrategically important tourist gateway tothe city.

Museum continued from page 1

Pic: blue area shows land required for themuseum. Red area currently disusedContinued from page 1 Pic: the cast of the Wizard of Oz

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City Council officers have made therecommendation after considering theresults of the consultation exercise thatbegan in February 2012.

Mayor Peter Soulsby is to announce adecision on the officers’ report on Janu-ary 4 (after this issue had gone topress).

Officers are recommending to the CityMayor that the Greengate Lane and RedHill Way sites are both suitable for eitherpermanent or transit sites of up to 10pitches each.

Permanent sites provide residentswith a permanent home and operate ina similar way to Council Housing. Tran-sit sites can operate all year round butonly provide temporary accommodation,usually no more than three months.Facilities are more basic but residentsare still required to pay rent and forwater and electricity.

The proposed site at Beaumont Way,behind Beaumont Leys Police station, isrecommended as suitable for a transitsite of up to six pitches.

The site at Hoods Close, near Trelle-borg in Beaumont Leys, is recommendedas a temporary stopping place, as is anew site on Braunstone Lane East inAylestone.

Mayor Peter Soulsby said: “A hugenumber of people have taken part in thisconsultation and I’ll be taking into ac-count all the issues they’ve raised beforemaking a final decision on where thesesites should be.

“These options havebeen put forward byofficers, but I’ll be look-ing hard at their recom-mendations and makinga decision on how bestto balance residents’views with the need tocreate extra Gypsy andTraveller pitches inorder to help us get ontop of the problem ofunauthorised encamp-ments.”

Birstall Parish Coun-cil objected to the pro-posals and submitted a183 name petition.Chairman of BirstallParish Council, PatCleere, said: “This isdisappointing but comesas no surprise. We willnow wait for the next stage of the proc-ess to make our views known.”

The consultation process involvedpublic meetings and questionnaires andsaw petitions submitted and the forma-tion of the LE4 Action Group whichcampaigned against the plans.

The City Council’s report states that acommon concern raised was the lack ofmanagement and the appearance of theexisting tolerated site at Greengate Lane.This is occupied by one family who havebeen allowed to remain due to theirpersonal circumstances.

The report states: “This tolerated siteis not authorised and is very different inappearance from what an authorised site

would look like. Currently there are onlyvery basic facilities on the site, onlyrunning water. There is little hardstand-ing which means that in poor weatherthe site becomes very muddy. Thiswould be very different from an author-ised site that will have purpose builtwashing facilities, defined boundariesand hardstanding.”

The report also states: “Given that theproposed sites are all less than onehectare each, the provision of facilitiesfor permanent grazing of horses on siteis not viable.”

When the City Mayor met with travel-lers during the consultation they toldhim provision for horses and livestockon the sites was “essential”.

Traffic movements passing in and outof the sites will be minimal, says thereport: “The number of journeys will berelatively low, similar to a housing devel-opment of a similar size.”

If the Mayor supports the officerrecommendations, the City Council willsubmit planning applications for thesites which will be determined by theCity Council’s planning committee.

The City Council’s Gypsy and Travellersite report can be viewed here:www.tinyurl.com/c33ja3h. It contains ananalysis of the consultation findings,officer recommendations and responsesto the main issues raised by the consul-tation.

A SITE on Greengate Lane is being recommended as an au-thorised traveller site by Leicester City Council.

Officers recommendtraveller sites

Pic: the site at Greengate Lane

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Hundreds gathered to watch asLeicester Riders basketball team headcoach Rob Paternostro, helped by Bir-stall Gala Queen Leah Chalmers, pressedthe button to turn on the lights on theChristmas tree on Sibson Road car park.

Rob, who has lived in Birstall forfour years, said: “I’m honoured to turnon the lights, being asked to do it meansa lot to me. I’ve lived in so many placesin my career and Birstall is a uniquecommunity, people have welcomed mewith open arms.”

There was a fun fair on the car parkand visitors also enjoyed many Christmasmarket stalls in the Village Hall. Thefirework display had to be cancelled dueto strong winds.

A BRASS band playing carols, mulled wine and mince piescreated a festive atmosphere for the switch on of Birstall’sChristmas lights.

16 YEAR OLD girl has beencharged with burgling ahouse in Copeland Road,Birstall.

A laptop computer and a bunch ofkeys are alleged to have been stolenin the incident on December 5.

The girl is jointly charged with a17 year old youth of taking an £800Vauxhall Astra without the owner’sconsent on December 6 at OveringClose, off Loughborough Road,Leicester. It was alleged to have beentaken from Oakfield Avenue, Birstall.

The girl appeared at LeicesterYouth Court on December 10 andremanded in custody until December31.

“A CUSTOMER told me I’m theonly place that sells corianderin Birstall!” says Dave Keay, thenew owner of greengrocers theFresh Approach on Sibson Road.

With 20 years experience in retail, Davesays he is excited to be running the shop. “Iwant to bring quality fruit and veg back to thevillage” he said. “It’s important that everythingis sparkling clean and all the stock is fresh.”

Dave says he wants to focus on his custom-ers’ needs. “I’m offering a free delivery serv-ice in Birstall – so tell your friends and familyabout the Fresh Approach!”

Festive fun atlights switch-on

Teenageburglar

Pic: (top) RobPaternostro andLeah Chalmersturned on thelights; (right)Birstall Brassplayed carols

Freshapproach


A FULL meeting of BirstallParish Council was held onDecember 10.

PC Richard Carruthers reported thattwo burglars had been arrested andremanded in custody. PC Carruthers ismoving to Rothley on January 8. Bir-stall’s new Beacon Officer will be SgtDes Hernshaw.

Parish Cllr Gerald Hardington hasresigned. There has been no request foran election so the Council will advertisethe vacancy for co-option. Any personwho wishes to become a councillorshould apply in writing to the ParishCouncil by January 25.

The Council agreed a precept for theyear 2013/14 of £356,800. In cashterms this is £22,153 less than the pre-vious year, a reduction of 5.9%

It was reported that the County Coun-cil have asked residents of School Laneto remove boulders from grass vergesoutside their properties. It was agreed toask the County Council for an explana-tion.

It was reported that recent floodingat Watermead Country Park was unprec-edented and had resulted in largeamounts of litter being scattered about.A suggestion was made that volunteersfrom the village could help the ParkRangers tackle the problem.

THE KNITTING Guerrillas ofBirstall (KGB) have returnedto the village full of festivecheer, delivering their mostintricately planned missionto date.

Many local agents were brought to-gether to create a colourful collaborativeeffort on the tree outside the GreengateLane Surgery on December 16.

KGB spokesperson Trout Mask said:“We were touched to receive generouscontributions from many people, includ-ing four generations of the same familyand quite possibly someone youknow!And wereimmense-ly pleasedto bejoined bythree newsecretagents inthe installa-tion, DizzyLizzy, JelliWelli andBlow MyHorn, plustheir youngestmember madea reappear-ance too - thechocolatefuelled Soda-pop. It tookthe mainteam of fivepeople three and a half hours to stitchthe squares onto the tree and add thebaubles – so that’s a whopping seven-teen and a half hours installation time.Some squares were joined in advance,but we really wanted to arrange thepieces in a way that showed them off totheir best on the tree, so on site stitch-ing it was!

“The KGB are often asked why wepartake in this madness, especially as itinvolves spending a great deal of timefreezing in the dark! Well, for the mostpart, we enjoy it – creativity fosters areal sense of wellbeing, and though theworkload has grown along with ourideas, the process of making and eveninstalling gives us some essential timeout, when we’re not worrying about thenastier things in life. When we’re con-centrating on those stitches, we’re in adifferent place, absorbed in the momentand the daily grind can be left behindfor a while. Having something tangible

to see and hold as aresult of this time outis a bonus in this mod-ern time of ‘virtual’accomplishments,when a lot of ourtime is spent online.

“The process oftaking work into thewild and creating

effectively 'art installations' furtherenforces that sense of wellbeing. We’reproviding something different, makingpeople smile and giving them somethinggood to talk about. Huge thanks goes toeveryone who has contributed to ourproject. Each stitch has been made withgood intentions and a wish to raisesmiles. We have seen people taking their

own pictures since the installation andthat makes us smile too - result!”

The KGB are planning another WoolyEgg hunt over the Easter weekend. Tro-sut Mask said: “We are currently selffunded and so we welcome donations ofwool for our agents (we maintain adedicated KGB stash) and we welcomeyour knitted and crochet eggs for inclu-sion, and new recruits to the installationcrew.”

If you would like to get involved withsponsorship for this event, then get intouch via [email protected].

http://kgb-123.blogspot.co.uk/Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/KGBirstall

ParishCouncilnotes

Tree given festive makeover

The Feb issue ofTHE BIRSTALL POST

will be published on Feb 1.The copy deadline is Jan 18.

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TWO STUDENTS from Stone-hill School won prizes fortheir postcard designs in acompetition run by thecharity Sustrans.

Jessica Clarke and Emma Godfrey camefirst and second, in the 9-11 age group,for their designs advising motorists toreduce their speed to 20mph. There were2575 entries from across the UK.

The competition was part of GO 20, anational campaign backed by Sustrans thatis calling for a 20mph speedlimit where people live, work andshop.

The competition was judgedby TV presenter Miranda Kre-stovnickoff. She said: “Jessica’sdesign was a wonderful use ofmaterials and has striking col-ours. It must have taken ages tomake and was beautifully de-signed and created. Emma’spostcard was an amusing poemwith a serious message.”

Jessica’s prize was a weekendfor her whole family at the BrynMeurig Treehouse in Powys, andEmma won a bike.

A FORMER criminal advised residents in burglary hotspotshow to protect their homes from raiders during a Christ-mas crackdown on break-ins.

Reformed offender Phil Ward joinedCharnwood Borough Council and Leices-tershire Police officers to identify vulner-able properties in Birstall, Shepshed andHathern. Phil who now works as a waterbailiff for the Council at CharnwoodWater told residents why a burglar mighttarget their property and officers gavecrime prevention advice to household-ers.

Phil, who has been crime-free for 13

years, said: “If I can help save even oneperson from falling victim to a burglarythen I’m more than happy to help theCouncil and the police on this campaign.“When I was on drugs I had to spendhundreds of pounds every day to feedmy habit. I was desperate for money andI must have burgled hundreds of homesand businesses. I can’t take back whatI’ve done in the past, but I can givesomething back by helping out now. If Ididn’t help, then I wouldn’t be reformedwould I? Burglary is a horrible crimeand I hope that people listen to what wehave to tell them”Pic: Birstall PCSO Mark Butler with Dave Burgefrom Charnwood Borough Council, and Phil Mar-tindale

LEICESTER CITY Council have re-vealed plans for a new £7millionindoor market hall at Leicestermarket.

Architects Greig & Stephenson say theproposals they have produced for theCity Council could see the new food hallrival Borough Market in London andmarkets in Barcelona and Madrid.

The 1970’s indoor market hall wouldbe demolished and replaced with a glassand timber pavilion, connected to theCorn Exchange with a glass roof. Therewill be more space for meat, fish andthe deli stalls.

The indoor market hall behind theCorn Exchange would be demolishedand replaced with a public open spaceframed by trees.

Planning permission will be soughtearly in 2013, with a view to completingwork on the new food hall by Christmas2013 and the overall scheme by the endof the following year

The indoor market hall would not bedemolished until the new food hall iscompleted, ensuring that trading couldcontinue throughout the works.

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Pic: Emma Godfrey

Pic: Jessica Clarke

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Dressed as Santas the trio attendedthe Birstall Christmas lights switch onhanding out leaflets and getting signa-tures on their petition.

Louis Pugsley Birch, Drew Copper-waite and Tom Bates started their Bir-stall Skatepark campaign in Octoberwith a Facebook page and a twitter ac-count.

Louis said: “Our sole aim is to getBirstall a skatepark. While we have thehalf pipe [on Meadow Lane], it is in avery poor condition, not through misusebut just general wear and weather dete-rioration, It’s very small and doesn’t

really constitute a skatepark.“Skateparks are used by skateboard-

ers, BMXs and scooters – it’s a greatoutlet for non-team sports, keeping us fitand out in the fresh air, focused on apositive pursuit”.

In 2010 Birstall Parish Council pre-pared plans for a £70,000 skatepark onthe School Lane playing field but wereunable to find grant funding to start theproject.

Birstall Parish Council Clerk SteveBlackburn said: “I will be pleased tomeet with Louis, Drew and Tom to dis-cuss their ideas and how we can movethings forward. The plans for betterskatepark facilities are not dead butgetting external funding has proved diffi-cult in the last year or so.”

Louis said: “Many villages aroundLeicestershire have excellent facilitiescompared to Birstall. Our next missionis to make a short film that we can useto help us apply for funding and to en-courage the council to get this back onthe agenda so generations to come canenjoy these growing sports in their vil-lage.”

Facebook : Birstall Skate Park Cam-paign

Twitter : @BirstallSk8Park

Ellis Holdaway and Carl Gunns weretwo of 75 people who were nominatedfor the awards, which aim to recognisethe commitment and achievements of theBorough’s sportsmen and women,coaches and volunteers.

Carl Guns, who runs a boxing gym onBirstall Road, received the ‘OutstandingContribution to Sport’ award. He said: “Ireally didn’t think I’d win it, but it is

fabulous to get this award, the 20th thatthe gym has received.”

Horserider Ellis Holdaway won the‘Junior Disabled Sportsperson of the

Year’ award. Ellis (11) is a pupil atRiverside school and rides with the Wen-lo Riding for the Disabled group andwas a winner at the national champion-ships in July this year.

His mum Maria said: “Ellis has dem-

THREE BIRSTALL teenagers are campaigning to get askatepark built in Birstall.

THE FOURTH annual Charnwood Sports Award were held inDecember and two of the 13 winners come from Birstall.

onstrated that with hard work it is possi-ble to achieve great things. He is trulyan inspiration and a fantastic role modelfor other riders.”

The joint winners of the ‘Seniorsportsperson of the Year’ award wereOlympians Nicola White and LauraUnsworth, members of the Great Britainhockey team.

Councillor David Snartt, CharnwoodBorough Council’s Cabinet Member forNeighbourhood Services, said: “Theseathletes, coaches and volunteers arerarely recognised and this is a greatchance to say thank you.

“Charnwood is a centre of sportingexcellence in the UK so it is very impor-tant that we, as a borough, come togeth-er to recognise the achievements andhard work or our sportsmen and wom-en.”

BIRSTALL BOWLING Club’s John Jenkins has beeninstalled as Leicestershire Junior Vice President.

In 2015 John will be LeicestershirePresident and this coincides with the

70th anniversary of the establishment ofBirstall Bowling Club, meaning doublecelebrations at the club.

A club spokesman said: “This is atremendous honour for both John and

the club and should ensure that countyfixtures and the latter stages of thecounty competitions will be played onthe Birstall green, which was re-laid atthe end of last season, in the nextthree years.”

Birstall pair winsports awards

Pic: Ellis Holdaway with Cllr David Snartt

Pic: Carl Gunns

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DANCE, DRAMA,song and mu-sical solos allfeatured atLongsladeCollege’sChristmasconcert,staged in thePalmer Tomkin-son Centre

THE SLIMMING World class that meets at Birstall VillageHall has been re-launched.

Its new consultant is Emma Wil-liams from Rothley. Slimming Worldfirst helped Emma when she neededto lose weight before a back-pack-ing holiday around India and Nepal.

She said: “Three months laterand one stone lighter I headed offon my own, something I wouldnever have had the confidence todo before.”

After returning to the UK Emmafound her Slimming World consult-ant was leaving, and decided to takeon the role herself.

The group meets in Birstall Vil-lage hall on Tuesdays from 5.30-7.30pm

Longslade College students’Christmas concert

Pics: (above right) Hayley Taylor, ZoeCluley and Kaiman Cheung; dancingwith hula hoops: Venne Foil; dancerOliver Andrews & singer Josh Taylor

Slimming class

Pic: Emma Williams


We would like to say a big thank youto the shoppers at the Co-op who donat-ed to the ‘CLIC’ Cancer Charity on De-cember 8. You helped us raise anamazing £258.56 which will go to help-ing children and young people who arediagnosed with cancer and their fami-lies.

Sheila & Bill Alexander, Marga-ret Warner and Joan O’Brien

from one thing. THE LIGHTS.The tree, which looks very nice, Is

not the biggest we could have, and is alittle disappointing when it should have alittle of the wow factor.

As a suggestion I would say we couldmake more use of the natural trees thatare around the Sibson Road car park,adding lights to these trees and having abigger Christmas tree with more decora-tions and not just lights.

Having said the above, my familythoroughly enjoyed the night. Thespeech by Rob Paternostro (Riders headcoach) was very complimentary of ourcommunity, the fair and stalls in thevillage hall were excellent and it was avery good, family atmosphere.

Let’s use this year as a spring boardto make each year better than the last.

Michael Boden

opposite the allotments, leaving acci-dents to happen in the dark, fortunatelythey didn’t, as far as I know!

Why wasn’t planning permissiongranted, or even applied for the BMXtrack before soil was dumped, when myson and builders did our granny annexwe had to get planning permission andinspected at every stage. We could noteven have a side window cause it mightoverlook my neighbour’s garage so thedining lounge is very dark having tohave lights on all day! Not very ecofriendly!

I totally agree with Mr Julian Howe,we are not against the youths of todayhaving fun but not on an old quarry andwaste tip, being soft earth. Its a disasterwaiting to happen, who would foot thebill if anyone was injured?

It would need very high public liabili-ties insurance. Why wasn’t School Laneplaying field suggested for the trackwhere the ground is more solid. Regard-ing Meadow Lane field, the youths con-gregate at nights and weekendsespecially, leaving broken bottles, rub-bish, drug needles plus beer cans, hav-ing no respect for dog walkers, childrenand all the wildlife. Anyone been downthere in the evenings and experienced it?Plus seen the mess on Saturday morn-ing, so a BMX track would encouragemore violence and graffiti!

What about the mess on the vergeopposite the allotments, it is a quagmireat present. JCB came, levelled the soilonto the verge with no quarry waste orhard core underneath, whose idea wasthat? More expense. No one can park onthe ground, too muddy, so the football-ers and parents park in the car parkleaving no room for the regular countrypark dog walkers and bird watchers topark.

I in all experience think the BirstallParish Council needs a good shake up, Icould not afford to waste money likethey do! Mind you, it is not their moneythey are wasting.

Anita J Gamble

In reply to K I Reid, who respondedto a previous letter of mine published onthis page, I am glad that somebody elsecan see the folly in the spending madeby the Birstall Parish Council.

In the October issue, Steve Blackburnsaid he could remember replying tosomeone regarding the bus shelters inBirstall, I can assure him that he did notrespond to me. And to state that itwould be inappropriate for the Councilto replace them in the current economicclimate seems somewhat ludicrous afterrecent expenditure on a Union Jack flagand pole, many months after the Queen'sJubilee (which I assume was the pointof its erection) and which most peoplehave forgotten about.

The bus shelters are a scruffy eye-sore, some without seats and most withgraffiti, or, permanent scratch markswhere graffiti has been removed. As Ihave mentioned before, these were un-wanted cast offs from Loughborough busstation, and are not meant for a village.

I will again stress what a differencethe pleasant rustic bus shelters thatother Charnwood villagers have thepleasure of using would make to ourneglected village centre. Not only wouldthey look better, they would providebetter shelter and would be more diffi-cult to graffiti on. In the event that thisdid occur this could be easily coveredover with creosote.

Also I am sure that Mr Jelson wouldrather his funds have been spent in amore appropriate way that would benefitBirstall people than that ridiculous metaltree that fronts the Park and Ride - notto mention the thousands earmarked forits maintenance.

Replacement bus shelters would sure-ly have been a more beneficial and pref-erable use of funds in the currenteconomic climate than a belated jubileeflag. Bus shelters are used by most peo-ple in Birstall at some stage, if onlyinfrequently, but would make the villagelook better for all who shop there.

Does anyone else agree?A Godby

YOUR SAY...

The Birstall Post welcomes your viewsand opinions on any subject. Letters,which must include your name andaddress, (though not necessarily forpublication) can be posted to: The Bir-stall Post, Longslade College, WanlipLane, Birstall, Leicester LE4 4GH, orhanded in at Birstall library or email:[email protected]

I feel I must comment on the recentlight switch on in Birstall. Many yearsago my family went to the light switchon, which then was at the old Krusty cobshop, and there was only a very fewpeople there. Only the few trees abovethe shops, and nothing else.

Over the last few years the switch onevent has gotten bigger and better apart

Birstall Methodist Monday LadiesGroup would like to thank all those whojoined us in the Methodist Church onFriday December 7 for a wonderfulevening with Anne Hughes and herchoir. It was certainly a warming anduplifting coming together of people andwe raised £582 for our charity – MotorNeurone Disease Association.

Margaret Briggs

As you haven’t had a letter from mefor a while, I think it is now time to airmy views. Being registered disabled Inow have the time to get rid of my frus-trations.

Regarding the Birstall Parish Coun-cil’s waste of our money: the BMX Trackon Meadow Lane Sports Field.

Who was responsible for letting theHGV on to soft ground on the sportsfield, getting stuck costing over £700 totow it off.

Plus £300 to Birstall Bowling Clubfor the old top soil and turf, which wasleft in huge humps on Meadow Lane

Once again we can be proud, thepoppy total outside McCalls in Novemberwas a healthy £437.42

We did remember them.Many thanks to you all, see you next

year along Sibson Road, well done.Val Joyce, vice president Bir-

stall Royal British Legion women’ssection

May I through your pages offer a bigthank you to readers for their generouscontributions once again in 2012 to theRotary Club of the Soar Valley’s charityappeal.

Each year, members and friends ofthe Soar Valley Rotary Club accompanySanta around local villages and this yearwe included visits to Tesco in Sileby, theCo-op in Birstall and Budgens Mountsor-rel. The proceeds help us to supportmany good causes including LOROS,Rainbows and Wishes4Kids.

We are grateful to everyone whobraved the cold weather to see us andcontribute to the £5,300 collected.

Our thanks also to Loughborough Kiain Mountsorrel, for providing mecha-nised support for Santa and his rein-

Thanks

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deer.We look forward to visiting friends

again next year, meanwhile to find outmore about our Club and the work wedo, please visit our websitewww.soarvalleyrotary.co.uk or Facebookpagewww.facebook.com/SoarValleyRotary.

Graham Martin, President

Mountsorrel Methodist Churchpresents the first in the twelfthseries ofSunday Night @ Eight

Organ RecitalsSaturday January 20at 8 pmby Martyn NobleOrgan scholar atSouthwark CathedralAdmission freeDonation for theDevelopment FundBuffet from 7.30pm

Film NightSalmon Fishing in the YemenA British romantic drama starring

Ewan McGregor and Emily BluntIf you missed it when it first cameout, or enjoyed it so much youwould like to see it again, thencome along toSt James Church, Church Hill, Bir-stallOn Friday January 25 at 7pmNo charge, refreshments availa-ble.

St James Day Centre200 clubDecember winners:Christmas bonus – Mrs GailO’Byrne1st – Mrs Jenny Burton2nd – Miss Katie Ball3rd – Mrs Barbary Healey4th – Connie Nagle

Birstall RoyalBritish LegionJan 5: Lauren Rose (F/V)Jan 12: TBCJan 19: Sharna (F/V)Jan 26: Pete Lewis (M/V)Dancing every Sat night with liveentertainmentBingo, free beer raffle and notforgetting Open the BoxEvery Tues night Bingo starting at9.15pmQuiz nights Sunday Jan 13 & Fri-day Jan 27 starting at 9pmAcoustic night Sunday Jan 20Rock & Roll nights Wed Jan 2 & 16Food available every Sat 12-2pmOpen Bank Holiday Lunch– families welcomeWakes/Birthdays etc catered forA Happy New Yearto all ourmembers

The ladies fromBirstall BagsWould like to invite you all to our

Annual Disco/BandNightSaturday February 23 at the Bir-stall Social ClubTickets on sale in JanuaryTwo live bands/raffle/discoFor more details please visit ourwebsite www.birstallbags.co.ukPlease come along and supportyour local charity

Birstall & DistrictLocal History SocietyOur New Year meetings start onThursday January 10 at 7.30pm inthe Birstall Village Hall, BirstallRoad, BirstallWe commence with our AGM fol-lowed by a talk entitled“Birstall as others saw us. Thepress and the people” given byMike SmithWe look forward to receiving newmembers on this our enrolmentevening and any other visitors aremost welcome to join us.

Birstall BirdwatchingClubpresentsPriory Waterby Steve HoughtonSteve is a popular speaker at ourmeetings and this evening he willtell us about the development andwildlife of Priory Water, just offthe Melton Road near AsfordbyTuesday January 8alsoLife on the Edgeby Michael WebsterMichael enjoys trying out his new

Now that the Remembrance Servicehas been competed, I would like tothank the public for their kind responseto our efforts in selling poppies to markthe event. Last year we raised a littleover £17,000 and look like coming upwith a similar amount this time.

Many people will be aware of theorigins of the sale of poppies to markthe end of the First World War, but nottoo many will know that it started with apoem written by a Canadian medicalofficer, Colonel John McCrae, who wrote“In Flanders fields, the poppies blow”.

When he died of pneumonia in 1918,his fellow officers laid a wreath of pop-pies on his grave and this news got backto a young American girl who sent artifi-cial poppies to a YMCA Conference inParis.

Madame Guerin saw these and sentthem to the Legion as a method of fundraising and the rest is history.

Last year The Royal British Legioncollected £30 million nationally and thisgoes a long way to support the £1.7million which is spent each week of theyear on servicemen and their families byour efforts.

Among the welcome efforts this yearwe had Mrs Simes of Curzon Avenuewho raised a remarkable £250 by knit-ting poppies ( she promises to try hard-er next year) and a member who madea facsimile of his Father’s Paratroop capbadge in silver which was auctioned andraised a similar amount.

We obviously need to continue thiswork and would be pleased if the publiccould assist us in this practice.

Finally, many thanks to all my troopsfor their efforts, you are greatly appreci-ated.

Gilbert Nall, Chairman BirstallRoyal British Legion

My daughter and I were walking ourdogs along Elmfield Ave Birstall on Sun-day morning November 25 when ourdogs were attacked by a stray dog. Wewould like to give huge thanks to thepeople who stopped to help us. Sadlyone of the dogs died from her injuries.

Name and address supplied

I attended a Parish Council Meetingon November 12 being concerned re-garding the treatment of two representa-tives from Birstall Allotment Society whohad been ejected from the Council Offic-es the previous week. They were ac-cused of being aggressive. It was madequite clear that the Council are unwillingto listen to any grievances the AllotmentSociety have, such as why were incorrectletters sent to holders who diligentlywork their plots claiming that the plotshad not been cultivated. The Council’sresponse was that due to poor signagethey were unable to identify the correctplots. Do they not have plans of thelayout?

I have it on good authority that officestaff are to have training on dealing withaggressive behaviour! One councilloreven made comment that if she was toattend a meeting with Birstall Allotmentsociety she would have to wear “riotgear”! Nothing could be further from thetruth.

Furthermore, it appears that the Clerkto the Council is retiring soon and thatthe Deputy Clerk would take over. Whilstnot disputing the ability of the DeputyClerk surely this position should beadvertised internally and externally. Bir-stall surely is entitled to the best availa-ble candidate. The people of Birstall paythe wages of both the Clerk and DeputyClerk, and elect the Councillors whorepresent the residents who voted forthem.

I hope these matters can be resolvedsatisfactorily for all concerned.

An allotment holder

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talks at our club and tonight hewill uncover the magnificence ofthe UK’s marine environment andthe dilemmas for conservationTuesday February 12Both evenings at 7.30pm at TheRothley Centre, Mountsorrel Lane,RothleyVisitors welcome £2Contact Ken Goodrich 01162674813

Leicester Symphony Orchestra

Northern LightsSaturday February 97.30pm at the De Montfort HallSibelius: Karelia SuiteGrieg: Piano OrchestraSibelius: Symphony 2Conductor John Andrews, PianoCharles OwenFull price £11/£14/£17 Childrenage 17 & under £3Concessions availableTickets available from De MontfortHall Box Office 0116 233 3111Leicester Symphony OrchestraTicket SecretaryNigel Moore 07971 991662E:[email protected]

Film PresentationsFrom Thurcaston & CropstonParish Council‘Salmon Fishing in the Yemen’

Friday January 11 (107 mins)In our first British romantic come-

dy of the new year, Ewan McGre-gor stars as a British civil servantwho is unwilling coerced into anincredible scheme to introducesalmon to the Yemen desert. Har-riet, played by Emily Blunt, alsohopes to encourage better Angle-Arab relations by realising theimpossible dream of the Sheikh.‘Anna Karenina’ Friday February 8(130 mins)

In 19th century Russia, leavingone’s husband was morally irrep-rehensible. The aristocrat, AnnaKarenina, played by Kiera Knight-ley, embarked on an illicit loveaffair with Count Vronsky andfound herself trapped by the con-ventions of her high society, Thisis Leo Tolstoy’s take of love andbetrayal.‘Hope Springs’ will be shown onFriday March 8.Thurcaston & Cropston ParishCouncil will be showing thesefilms at Thurcaston Memorial Hall.Starting at 7.30pm, tickets cost£4.50 and concessions are £4.The price includes refreshmentsand a lucky prize draw.Advance tickets can be purchasedvia the parish office, 01162367626 or at the door

Charnwood Orchestra

Strictly VienneseA Strauss concert recreating theatmosphere of 19th century Aus-

triaJan 19 at 7pmHumphrey Perkins CommunityCentreCotes Road, Barrow LE12 8JUFree glass of bubbly or fruit juiceSing-a-long to the waltz ‘Voicesof Spring’£12 (£10 concessions), £3 under16Tickets from Paper Shop, Barrowor 07718 [email protected]

Leicester SketchClubCall for ArtistsMeets first Wednesday of themonthAll artistic media embracedNew members welcomeMembership Secretary: Bob Morley0116 2704649www.leicstersketchclub.co.uk

Vacancy for aCouncillorBirstall Parish CouncilApply in writing to Birstall ParishCouncilDeadline : Jan 25, 2013Eligibility : 18 years plus, live orwork in the ParishFor fuller details of eligibility andthe work a Parish Councillor does,go to www.tinyurl.com/bqmwadh

Lost!Engagement RingVilma from Henry Smith & Hamyl-ton Opticians has lost her engage-ment ring in the Birstall areaIt holds great sentimental valueand she would be deeply gratefulif anyone were to find it, to handit into the HSH Practice on SibsonRoadTel: 2671770Any help would be more than ap-preciated

Open Your Garden?Birstall Methodist Church GardenTrail – June 2013The 2013 Garden Trail will beheld on June 8 & 9 in the Blenhe-im Road/AllingtonDrive/Worcester Avenue/ NewtownDrive areaA number of residents have al-ready kindly agreed to open theirgardens. If anyone else would liketo join them please telephone theGardens Co-ordinator on2671420. Proceeds for the 2012Garden Trail were shared with theprostate cancer charity ‘ProstAid’and the church

The 2013 event proceeds will beshared between the Church and ayet to be agreed charity. Home-owners participating in the eventare being requested to identifypotential charities that they wouldlike to see receive a donationfrom the event

THE FUNERAL service ofWalter Cockerill was held atBirstall Methodist church onChristmas Eve.

His son-in-law Rev Prof KeithStraughan joined with Rev Rachel Par-kinson in taking the service of thanksgiv-ing.

Apart from the 5 years in the RAF,when he served in India & Ceylon, Wal-ter had lived in Birstall for almost the 92years of his life. He spent most of hiscareer in teaching, becoming headmas-ter at one of the first primary schools inLeicester. He was very involved with theGuideposts charity which opened housesin both Leicester and Birstall. He wasinstrumental in setting up of the CoffeeShop and the Luncheon Club at theMethodist Church where he was a loyalworshipper.

Leicester Tigers acknowledged that hewas the longest serving member. Heleaves his wife Sheila, Daughter Christineand two grandchildren.

WalterCockerill

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THIEVES STOLE a laptop containing irreplaceable photos of anewborn baby when they burgled a house on LoughboroughRoad.

PC Nathaniel Lockley, the investigatingofficer, said: “The camcorder and laptopcontained precious photos of the victims’new born baby daughter and the parentshave been left heartbroken by this incident.Images like this cannot be replaced.

“I would like to appeal to anyone whohas been offered any items matching thesedescriptions or who was in the area at thetime and say anything suspicious to contactus.”

Anyone with any information is asked tocontact PC 2062 Nathaniel Lockley on 101,follow the instructions to leave a messagefor a police officer and when prompted keyin the officer’s identification number 2062.Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers, whichis free and anonymous, on 0800 555 111.

WOULD YOU like an allot-ment in Birstall?

The Parish Council is inviting resi-dents to put their name forward for anallotment on one of its three sites:Meadow Lane, Worcester Avenue andGreengate Lane.

There are currently only four peopleon the waiting list, compared to 38 in2008.

Sue Coulson from Birstall ParishCouncil said: “We want to actively pro-mote allotment gardening and encouragepeople to put their names on the waitinglist. New allotment holders find that theyquickly develop new skills and knowl-edge and many plot holders see thedevelopment of their allotment as part ofa positive lifestyle choice.

“Allotments are a good of producinghealthy delicious fruit and vegetables ata relatively low cost and you can pro-duce them organically if you want to.They are also a good way to makefriends with people who share your

BIRSTALL METHODIST Monday Wom-en’s Group presented a cheque for£2367.67 to LRI’s ‘Our Space’ unit.Money was raised from coffee morn-ings, raffles, book and cake sales,members’ donations and numerousother events. The charity chosen for2013 is Motor Neurone Association.

interest in gardening.”If you are interested please contact:

Sue Coulson, Birstall Parish Council,Council Offices, Birstall Road, Birstall,Leicester LE4 4DH. Tel: 0116 2676191or email: [email protected] orcomplete the online form on our web-site: www.birstallparishcouncil.org.ukThe incident took place between

12noon and 2.15pm on Monday, Decem-ber 10. Entry to the house was gained byforcing the rear patio doors.

A quantity of jewellery was taken includ-ing a silver Tag Heuer watch with a blackface, a silver square faced Diesel watchwith a green face, a silver DKNY watch, aplatinum ring with diamond shoulders anda central pearl, an engraved gold chain andgold pendant, a fine gold chain set withblue stones, a delicate silver necklace witha small diamond encrusted heart, a pair ofoblong earrings with diamonds in the cen-tre and a silver box engraved with flowers.

Also taken was a black Apple iPad, asilver Apple Mac Book Pro laptop, an Ap-ple TV, a silver Bose radio, a white Xboxand JVC silver camcorder.

MORE THAN 1,300 homes areset for a £5.76million cash in-jection over the next fewmonths as part of acceleratedplans to improve council prop-erties.

Charnwood Borough Council’sCabinet has given the green light toupgrade kitchens, bathrooms, heating,electrics, roofs and doors at 1,305properties by March 2013 under theDecent Homes programme. The mon-ey is part of an £11million packagesecured by the Council in 2011 fromthe Homes and Communities Agency(HCA) and was meant to be spreadevenly over four years. The Councilsays that by March 93% of the Coun-cil’s 5,845 properties will meet theDecent Homes standard.

The Council will have £13millionto spend on improving homes in2013/14 and £10million in 2014/15.Charnwood Borough Council recentlytook over the management of its hous-ing stock from Charnwood Neighbour-hood Housing (CNH).

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As a result of committing to make theenergy saving measures which includedtopping up loftinsulation, turn-ing off runningtaps when brush-ing teeth andreducing time inthe shower it isestimated that intotal the homesshould savesome £2000between them aswell as 6600kgreduction incarbon dioxideemissions.

The groupwishes to thankeveryone whohelped make thecampaign such asuccess be itthrough helpingto spread the word, volunteering to helpat one of their events over the last yearor by participating in the energy chal-lenges. Volunteer Kate Watson said: "See-ing those cards in the windows meant alot to us as we tramped the streets, afterthat’s what it’s all about …. Birstall issuch a big village, it can be difficult toget a feeling of doing something togeth-er. Greening Birstall is an idea thatcould help – and do our bit to savemoney and the planet!”

Earlier in the month the group’svolunteers worked with the staff at Bir-

stall Library todeliver energyand waste advicedrop in sessions.The sessionshelped morethan a dozenlocal people withenergy and wastesaving adviceincluding sign-posting to freeloft insulation,tips on reducingwaste and dis-tributing variousfree goodies forthe young andold alike.

“The group islooking forwardto continuing itsactivities over the

coming year and wishes the residents ofBirstall & Wanlip a very happy and pros-perous 2013!” said group spokesmanPeter Ashford.

More information about the groupand the Greening Birstall campaign canbe found atwww.greeningbirstall.weebly.com byemailing [email protected] orby phoning Peter Ashford on 07961050592.

APART FROM the New Year resolu-tions, which you do or don’t make,the tendency in the first week of Jan-uary is to look back over the yearthat has just gone.

For older people the first thought isoften “where did the year go to?” But2012 is perhaps more likely even thanthe Millennium year to linger in thememory. On the positive side, mostpeople will recall with pleasure theQueen’s visit to Leicester, the eventsleading up to and taking place for theQueen’s Diamond Jubilee, and all theexcitement and pride surrounding theOlympics. More negatively, we will recallthe awful weather, the increasing effectof the recession on all our costs of liv-ing, and the terrible outbreak and esca-lation of violence and warfare in theMiddle East.

Over most of these events we havelittle or no control, but we do havemuch to be thankful for in the smallthings of life: for the joy of children, forthe kind neighbour who, when theweather is bad, offers to do the shop-ping, or the welcome one receives inour churches. This is something, overwhich at St. James Birstall and at OurLady and St. Nicholas, Wanlip, muchthought and re-thinking has been takingplace. Gone are the days when astranger attending a service could per-haps hope to have a word with the Vicarat the end, but would otherwise departhaving spoken to no-one else. With thecreation of additional space for socialgathering at Birstall and the newly re-stored Church and Community Centre atWanlip, there is much more opportunityto chat with friends and get to knowvisitors over a cuppa. Anyone who at-tended the Carol Service at Wanlip orthe Carols for All at Birstall will haverealised that!

Other things to rejoice over in thelast year are the setting up of the Chris-tians against Poverty (CAP) to advise onmoney matters for people who findthemselves in trouble over debt: thesuccess of the changeover to 10am forthe principal morning service at St.James, and the truly family occasion thatthe All Together service on the firstSunday of the month has turned out tobe. This month it will be on SundayJanuary 6 at 10am and the theme will beEpiphany (the coming of the Wise Men,also called Twelfth Night). Another suc-cessful first to be repeated is the FilmEvening in St. James. This will feature

“Salmon fishing in the Yemen”, anotherfeel-good film for which admission isfree, on Friday January 25 at 7pm –refreshments will be available at theinterval.

From Beryl McHugh, Parish Church

THE END of a busy month for the Greening Birstall Groupsaw nearly 70 homes in Birstall & Wanlip committing tomaking energy savings over the next year as part of theGreening Birstall Campaign.

Churchnews

Luncheon ClubAfter 32 years serving lunches to

elderly, and some lonely Birstall folk,our weekly Luncheon Club served its lastmeal in December. The church is grate-ful to all the volunteers who helped anddrivers too, and especially Diane Hend-erson who has been the cook for the 12years. The church will continue to keepthe situation under review.Cinderella

The 2013 Pantomime with its all-malecast takes to the stage in half-term week,February 12 to 16. As usual it will betraditional, and very suitable for folk ofall ages. Tickets are £5 and availablefrom Deborah Tel 2122513.Garden Trail In June

This years’ Garden Trail will be in theWorcester/ Allington/Blenheim areas ofBirstall and will be on June 8 & 9. Theorganisers would be pleased to hearfrom any garden owners who would liketo open their garden for the two after-noons of the event. Phone Sylvia on2671420 for more details.Annual Covenant Service

At the beginning of each calendaryear, those who see themselves as partof the Methodist Family, and many otherChristians, follow the practice laid downby John Wesley in making an AnnualCovenant, or promise. Put very simply itcould be seen as the Christians ‘NewYear Resolution’. This year our AnnualCovenant Service will be led by Rev TonyPick on January 6 at 10.30am.Action For Children

For the last 14 years there has been acollection box for this childrens’ charityon the Coffee Shop counter. In Decem-ber the charity awarded the coffee shopthe ‘Stephenson Award’.

The Stephenson Awards, named afterAction for Children founder Rev ThomasBowman Stephenson, are presented tostaff, volunteers and supporters of thecharity who have shown extraordinarycommitment and who have played a vitalrole in supporting theUK's most vulnera-ble children and young people. Over the14 years over £700 has been raisedsimply by Coffee Shop customers puttingsmall change into the collection box.

From Tony Moore, Birstall Methodist Church

Thank youWe would like to give you a big

‘Thank you’ for your support at thevillage’s Christmas Market, where wewere selling craft items made by theLodge Trust. The Trust started over 28years ago to provide a Christian envi-ronment where adults with learningdisabilities can choose to live andwork, knowing that their Christianlifestyle is respected and encouraged.They currently have up to 30 resi-dents, who live on the 20-acre site inthe Rutland village of Market Overton,with work opportunities also open tothose who live in the surroundingarea. In addition to the crafts, horti-culture and customer service training,there are courses for developing life

Green resolutionsfor New Year

Continued on page 15

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skills and a wide range of recreationalactivities and supervised holidays. Thepermanent staff members are joinedby international volunteers and arecent quartet came from Sweden,Germany, Uganda and Hungary.

You may like to visit The Lodgeand see what they do for yourself.Their Spring Garden Party is sched-uled for Saturday, May 18, 2013 (12noon to 4.00 p.m.). They have anexcellent Country Café which is openTuesday to Saturday from 9.30am to4.30pm (open also Bank HolidayMonday) and adjacent is an enjoyable9-hole Crazy Golf course. The café issituated in the 10-acre Country Park,where two log cabins are available forhire and there is a small Camping andCaravanning Club Certified Site.January services

After the school holiday break, wereturn to our normal services at theCommunity Room at Highcliffe Prima-ry School (LE4 3DL) on Sunday, Janu-ary 13, 2013, at 10.45am, when ourvisiting speaker is Roger Hitchingsfrom East Leake. You will be mostwelcome at any of our services.

For further information please ring0116 2214883.

From Anne Taylor, Birstall Independent BaptistChurch

LONGSLADE COM-MUNITY Collegehosted its firstCareers Event inNovember to pro-mote strongerlinks betweenlocal employersand the college.

The event took placein the Palmer TomkinsonCentre and aimed toencourage students togive serious thought totheir future career choic-es.

A wide range of em-ployers were presentincluding SWA Manage-ment Consultancy,

Day Centre, Royal Air Force/Royal Navy,Welbeck Defence Sixth Form College,Flexpress, Reed, CITB – ConstructionSkills and Leicester Outdoor PursuitsCentre.

“Students had the opportunity to talk

to the company representatives and toask questions about what employers arelooking for in potential employees andhow to make themselves more employa-ble. The event was a great success andwill hopefully be repeated again nextyear” said a College spokesman.

Bradgate Bakery, Parish Alternative Edu-cation, Brooksby Melton College, ColesNurseries, Next, Shapes Hairdressing,Abbeyfield, British Army, Leicester CityFootball Club, Bray & Bray Solicitors,Mattioli Woods PLC, Birstall St James

BIRSTALL’S MANY clubs, groups and societies are beinginvited to showcase their activities at a special weekendthis April.

The event is being organised by Deb-bie and Andrew Shephard from St JamesChurch. Debbie said: “Over the last fewyears, Birstall has grown and changedalmost beyond recognition, and we feelthat it would be nice to provide a plat-form for all the groups and societies thatmake up the fabric of the village toenable them to showcase what they of-fer.

“It will be an opportunity for thevillagers to come along and chat to theleaders or members of various groupsall under one roof. There will be a pro-gramme of events, starting on the Fridayevening, which will include demonstra-tions and contributions provided by thevarious participants. There will be a caféfor refreshments throughout the week-end.”

She added: “Initial response has beenvery enthusiastic, we have had somewonderful feedback, and we are lookingforward to a very exiting and interestingevent. We are, however, very aware thatwe are working from old data. Some ofthe groups that we have written to nolonger exist, and we fear there may beothers out there that we do not knowabout and would love to hear from.”

If you are a leader or member of agroup associated in any way with thevillage and haven’t had a letter from theorganisers yet, get in touch using any ofthe contact details below: St James the

Great Church, Church Hill, Birstall, LE44DN.

T: 0116 2671797 E:[email protected]

Website: wwwbirstall.orgThe event is planned for April 5, 6 &

7, 2013.

TICKET PRICES are beingreduced at Birstall’s parkand ride this January.

Until January 26 day tickets will bereduced from £3 to £2, group daytickets from £3.50 to £3 and weeklytickets from £14 to £9.50.

From January 28 the County Coun-cil are making changes to the servicethat they say will improve reliability.The Enderby/Birstall services will beseparated and run using separatebuses, avoiding cross-city traffic.

The Birstall service will run to thecity centre via Haymarket and Cause-way Lane every 15 minutes.

www.quicksilverbus.co.uk

Longslade hosts careers event

Village clubs &societies invitedto open weekend

Ticketsreduced


Don’t be a strangerAre we in danger of becoming a

village of strangers? So many changesseem to be taking place in and aroundBirstall that it is easy to see why people

might start to suffer from a sense of lossof community and identity and this isturn can impact on both emotional andphysical health. Make a point of gettingto know your neighbours and if youhave new neighbours who have movedin then why not make a point of wel-coming them to the neighbourhood.

We all lead such busy lives that it ishardly surprising that many neighboursremain virtual strangers to each other.Get to know your neighbours: for in-stance find out what they do for a living;what their schedules might be like, andso on. This might sound incrediblynosey but this is the sort of informationthat would alert you if something waswrong. It is important to communicatewith your neighbours and to be aware ofyour surroundings, as well as theirs.Keep your eye on anyone you don'tknow acting suspiciously around yourneighbour's property. Burglars like easyopportunities and most burglaries hap-pen during the day. When in doubt, callthe police so they can quickly curtail anycriminal activity. If you hear of anyneighbourhood news such as events,crimes, changes to refuse collection daysetc. then make an effort to pass theinformation on.

Above all, establish a good relation-ship with your neighbours. Sometimes,you can remedy problems before theyeven start; for example practice parkingetiquette. When you park your vehicle,be sure not to block anyone's access, ormake them have to pull out of a verytight spot. Don't over-rev the engine ofyour car or motorcycle early in themorning or late at night. Park in front ofyour home, not theirs. Avoid slammingyour doors or shining your headlightsinto your neighbour's windows late atnight. Being on bad terms can makeyour life frustrating, day after day, buttaking the time to establish a good rela-tionship with your neighbours has nu-merous benefits. The community will befriendlier, the neighbourhood safer, andthe area a nicer and more comfortableplace to live.

Finally, don’t forget to safeguardthose lovely new Christmas presents youreceived. The NHW advice shop will beopen on Saturday January 19 from10am-12noon at the old council officesnear the Triangle. Here you will havethe opportunity to have your valuablesengraved or to purchase Smart Water orultra-violet pens.

More information at:www.villagewatch.co.uk

email: [email protected] tel:0116 267 6397

From Birstall & Wanlip NHW

NHW news& crime report

Crime Report: Nov 11-Dec 10, 2012Assaults 7, harassment 1, burglary 7,

burglary non-dwelling 5, damage 2,damage to motor vehicle 3, drugs 2,fraud 3, theft 3, theft of motor vehicle 3,theft stores 2.

Burglaries have risen but a numberof suspects have been arrested followingPolice enquiries. Suspects driving awayfrom the Shell petrol station withoutpaying have been identified from CCTV.PC 1276 Keith James is off work due toan injury.

From PC 2139 Richard Carruthers

A BIRSTALL man has beengiven a suspended prisonsentence for possessingillegal images of children.

Owen Saunders (36) of CurzonAvenue admitted possessing the imag-es after Police seized computers fromtwo addresses.

Leicester Crown Court was toldSaunders had accessed 781 images atlevel one – the least serious categoryon a scale of one to five. He alsodownloaded five images at level threeand a film clip at level four. The ma-jority of the images were of girls agedbetween 11 and 14.

The defendant also admitted pos-sessing 58 prohibited “pseudo” imag-es of sexual activity not involvingchildren.

Sentencing, Judge David Pugsleysaid that although the offences merit-ed a custodial sentence, the case“desperately” called for the interven-tion of a treatment programme.

Saunders was given a four monthjail sentence, suspended for two yearswith supervision, and is required toattend a sex offender treatment pro-gramme.

Saunders will have to enlist on asex offender register for seven yearsand was placed on a sexual offencesprevention order, enabling the author-ities to monitor his future computeruse.

A MARATHON Zumba ses-sion at Longslade raised£315 for Great OrmondStreet hospital.

Zumba teacher Lisa Cluer’s ‘Zum-bathon’ was held at Longslade Col-lege. Lisa said: “Thanks to all thosewho donated. My new classes starton January 15 at Highcliffe School soplease come and join the party toshake, wiggle and giggle your wayinto 2013.

THE FLOODING at Watermead Country Park caused by the wet weather has beenthe worst for many years. Reader Steve Humphreys sent us this pic of theflooding on the Whiles Lane riverbank.

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A COMPLAINT against ParishCouncil Chairman Pat Cleerehas been rejected by Charn-wood Borough Council’sMonitoring Officer, AdrianWard.

The complaint was made in Decem-ber 2012 and involved allegations ofpotential failures relating to compliancewith the Council’s policies and the con-duct of meetings.

A spokesman for Charnwood Bor-ough Council said: “Having undertaken afact finding review the Monitoring Offic-er decided that the complaint did notmerit a fuller investigation, as the mat-ters raised related to issues other thanthe code of Conduct.

“This view was supported by one ofthe independent persons appointed bythe Borough Council, who the Monitor-ing Officer must consult with in reachingdecisions about complaints relating tothe conduct of councillors.

“A recommendation was made thatthe Parish Council should ensure thattheir own policies and relevant bestpractice requirements are followed. TheMonitoring Officer made no judgementas to whether or not there had been anybreach of those, and neither did herecommend that the Parish Councilneeded to investigate any element of thecomplaint themselves.”

A FLY-TIPPER has beenprosecuted after beingtraced by a Council’s enviro-crime unit.

Matthew Charles Bindley, 29, of Man-or Road, Loughborough was ordered bya court to pay £635 after he admittedfly-tipping on the Archery Field, MeadowLane, Birstall in September 2011. Charn-wood Borough Council enforcementofficers were called to the scene andspoke to witnesses who had seen a vehi-cle turn up and dump a pile of wastewhich included bush cuttings. Officerstraced Bindley through DVLA recordsand he was prosecuted.

Councillor Jane Hunt, the Council’sCabinet member for Regulatory Services,said: “The council has been running theDon’t Muck Around campaign to raiseawareness of the penalties of fly-tipping.In this case witnesses gave our officersthe suspect’s registration details so wewere able to trace him and take action.The Council takes its responsibilitiesvery seriously and does not tolerateenvironmental crime. Where appropri-ate, we will take enforcement action.”

At Leicester Magistrates’ Court onNovember 16, 2012, Bindley pleadedguilty to a fly-tipping charge and ex-pressed his remorse. He said that hehad been given permission to dumpgreen waste at the site but was not re-sponsible for plastic and other wastewhich was found at the scene.

Taking into account his means andearly guilty plea, magistrates fined Bind-ley £320 and ordered him to pay £300towards the Council’s costs plus a victimsurcharge of £15 was imposed, bringingthe total sum to £635.

A COUNCIL led three monthcampaign targeting ‘enviro-crimes’ saw a 63% reduc-tion in dog fouling and a44% drop in cigarette lit-ter.

Charnwood’s Don’t Muck Aroundcampaign ran for three months fromSeptember 2012 and targeted Loughbor-ough town centre, Shepshed, Syston, theOutwoods and the Quorn and Hastingsward of Loughborough.

Officers monitored hotspot areasbefore and after the campaign to seewhat impact the education and enforce-ment work had on the number of inci-dents.

115 fixed penalty notices were issuedduring the campaign, which also includ-ed some areas in North West Leicester-shire.

The campaign also aimed to raiseawareness of the issues by presenting an‘ash mob’, a dog show, a fly-tip inLoughborough town centre and workingwith schoolchildren and local business-es.

Cllr Jane Hunt said: “The results ofthe campaign are absolutely incredible.Not only have we made inroads intoraising awareness, but the campaignteam has been able to significantly re-duce incidents in hotspot areas througha combination of education and enforce-ment.”

In 2011, the campaign won an awardfrom Keep Britain Tidy

BIRSTALL VILLAGE CricketClub are in early prepara-tion for the 2013 season.

We are looking for any new playersfor the senior team to contact AndyMerry 07708473308.

We are looking for a Junior Co-ordi-nator to help with our junior under15/17 teams. Anyone who is interestedplease also contact Andy on the numberabove.

Pre season nets training will be start-ing soon, please check out our websitebelow for up to date information orFebruary’s edition for dates of pre-sea-son training.

www.birstallvillagecc.co.ukFrom Birstall Village Cricket Club

STAFF AT the White Horse in Birstall wore Christmas jump-ers as part of Save the Children Jumper Day.

A collection in the pub raised £142. Landlord Charlotte Foy said: “We heardabout the Save the Children Christmas jumper day from a neighbour and thought whynot get involved. The staff really enjoyed dressing up and customers were extremelygenerous in making donations to this very worthwhile cause.”

Flytipperfined

FIGURES RELEASED by theOffice for National Statisticsin December reveal how thecity of Leicester and thecounty of Leicestershire arechanging.

The number of people employed inmanufacturing has fallen by 34.4%,those employed in the retail/service sec-tor has risen by 5.3%.

The data, which comes from the 2011census, shows that the number ofcars/vans in Leicestershire has risen by16% to 54,000 since the last census in2001.

1.9% of people in the county do nothave English as their first language. Thewhite British population has decreasedby 3.9% to 88.9%. In the city of Leices-ter the white British population is50.5%. The Asian population now repre-sent 37% of city residents, up from 30%in 2001.

65% of Leicester’s population wasborn in England. 6500 city residents(1.9%) are Polish.

The population of Leicester is333,000, an increase of 50,000 since2001. The City Council have welcomedthe publication of the figures as they saythe government has used inaccuratefigures for the last ten years, resulting inreduced government funding for Councilservices.

Censusstats

Pic: James Toone, James Turner, Rob Mckay, James Foy, Paul Clements and Holly Benfield

Pub’s jumper day

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YOUNG PEOPLE from Birstall Spaceclub were presentedwith awards by the Mayor of Charnwood, Diane Wise.

LAS VEGAS arrived in Rothley whentwo local musicians performed a se-lection of well known rat pack songsat the Rothley Centre.

The Christmas Cracker event was organ-ised by the Charnwood Branch of CancerResearch. Chair Jan Gaskell said: “Jonathanand Paul led us through a sing-a-long ofall time festive hits and our thanks go toJonathan who although he was battlingwith a cold was determined to give us anevening to remember.

“While we were all scoffing mulledwine and mince pies, he was drinkingLemsip and eating cough lozenges, but hisperformance, despite this, was brilliant.”

Jonathan is a former pupil of HighcliffePrimary School, Stonehill High School andLongslade Community College and is now ateacher at a school in Rugby.

Jan added: “Our thanks go also to ourmany supporters who joined us at theRothley Centre. Your outstanding supporthas helped us raise over £6,000 duringthe past year. We hope you will continue tosupport us in our work for Cancer Re-search which we believe is the key to find-ing more ways of saving lives.”

VILLAGE SHOPS and PostOffices in rural areas arebeing offered grants of upto £3000 to help themsurvive the recession.

The Village Shop Support Schemehas been set up by LeicestershireCounty Council. It also offers freeadvice.

One venue that has benefited isWoodhouse Eaves Post Office whichhas developed a thriving art gallery.

Jennifer Cox, who runs the Galleryat the Post Office, said: “I’d encour-age other traders to get support fromthis scheme – the council has beenvery helpful.

“We got a grant to convert a spareroom into a gallery, where we displayphotos, paintings, prints, sculpturesand scarves from 40 different artists,mainly from the local area. over thelast three months our takings havetrebled.”

Lesley Pendleton, Cabinet memberfor rural affairs, said: “Our villageshops and Post Offices are the life-blood of our local economies andwe’ve launched this scheme to helpthem survive and thrive.”

The scheme is prioritised forshops selling fresh food in communi-ties with a population of less than7000.

For more details go towww.oakleaves.org.uk

BIRSTALL AND Wanlip WIheld their last meeting of2012 on December 3 atHighcliffe School.

Although it was a bitter evening 28ladies braved the cold for a wonderfulevening of pastel painting magic. IanRisely a self taught artist recreated abeautiful pastel painting of Meg the JackRussell puppy before our very eyes. Hekindly donated the completed picture toour group and we then held an ad hocraffle for the picture and raised £21which we will donate to the charityHearing Dogs for the Deaf.

Mr Risely even made us believe thatwe too could create a masterpiece, sowe hope to arrange a workshop withhim in the New Year.

Our programme for 2013 was distrib-uted and as usual there are plenty ofactivities to look forward to next year.Each month we donate our loose changeto the WI Pennies for Friendship collec-tion and from March we learned thatthis money will go towards training 20disadvantaged women in income generat-ing skills in the village of Arambakkam.

‘Santa’s Helpers’ distributed giftsduring the evening and mince pieswarmed our cockles at coffee time. Eve-ry one was wished a Happy Christmasand a safe New Year and those who willbe meeting again before Christmas at theCurve were told not to forget their HelloDolly tickets. Our next meeting is onJanuary 14 when our speaker will be BillWells who will be talking to us about'Fire Safety with a smile' and our compe-tition is ‘Red Hot Ideas for our 95thbirthday’ in 2013.

From Birstall & Wanlip WI

WInews

The club is for people aged 13-25with mild to moderate learning difficul-ties and meets at Birstall Youth Centre.

Club members were presented withtheir ASDAN awards and attendancecertificates, having completed 30 hours

of activities on health, citizenship, fi-nance and community.Pic: (l-r) Emily Wigg, Brandon Charlton,Adam Sergent, Johnny Kershaw, MarkMensley, Mayor Diane Wise, Julian Fosber-ry, Adam Collins, Joe Phillips and Thomas

P/12/2650/2: 2 Mill Close - Carport in front of existing doublegarageP/12/2582/2: 520 LoughboroughRd – erection of 2 storey side andsingle storey rear extension

BIRSTALL PARISH Council’sprecept for the year2013/14 is £356,800.

This is a reduction of £22,153 on theprevious year or 5.9%. The reduction isa result of one-off items of expenditurein 2012/13 that inflated last year’s fig-ure, such as replacement fencing onSchool Lane playing field.

Work budgeted for the forthcomingyear includes resurfacing a park on theSchool Lane playing field, laying a trackfrom Meadow Lane alongside the BUSFCground, internal re-decoration of theVillage Hall including new curtains,provision of a new vehicle and the newHallam Fields play areas.

The Parish Council precept consti-tutes 6% of residents’ Council tax bill.The remaining 94% is made up by theBorough and County Councils, the Policeand Fire Authority.

ParishCouncilbudget

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Retirement Boosts Physical And Men-tal Well-Being

• More men retire in December thanany other month

• Half of people take up sport oncethey retire

• A quarter say they are mentallymore active since retiring

• A third say retirement has madethem more fulfilled

More men retire in December thanany other month and many people arereporting that retirement has improvedtheir physical and mental well-beingleaving them more fulfilled. Research bySaga Health Insurance shows that half ofpeople (49%) take up a sport afterretiring, a third (32%) say they feelmore fulfilled and another third (31%)say they are more physically active thanwhen they were working.

Perhaps the most positive change ispeople's mental well-being - over aquarter (27%) say they feel more men-tally active since leaving work, comparedto just 16% who say they are less so.This could be due to the number ofpeople who take up new hobbies orembark on learning new skills in retire-ment.

Stress levels also drop dramaticallyupon retirement. Over half (52%) saythey feel less stressed than when theywere at work, with men more likely tosay this (58%) than women (42%).

Interestingly, it seems that womenfind it harder to mentally adjust to lifeafter work. Over a quarter (28%) ofwomen report that their stress levels gotworse after retiring, compared to 13%of men, women are also more likely tosay that they are less fulfilled - 28%,compared to 20% of men.

Walking is the most popular newexercise people take up in retirement,with a quarter (26%) saying they take itup as a sport, swimming is the nextmost popular new activity, with one inten retired people taking the plunge.

Roger Ramsden, chief executive, SagaServices, commented: "Some peopleapproaching retirement may have con-cerns about what life after work maymean for them, but the truth is that fora great many people, retirement is achance to get active, both mentally andphysically and enjoy new activities theydidn't have time for before."

The free online Saga Health Club canhelp over 50s monitor the benefits of ahealthy and active lifestyle. By joining atwww.sagahealthclub.com people canaccess a health assessment which pro-vides an accurate and scientific evalua-tion of their lifestyle and looks at theirfuture risk of developing diseases suchas heart disease, stroke and diabetes.All people have to do is fill out a simplequestionnaire about their health, familyhistory, eating and exercise habits. Thehealth club can then provide them witha 12 week action plan and regular up-dates with useful information such asexercise and nutrition tips to help themimprove their health.

Pain over speed bumps in the diag-nosis of acute appendicitis: a studyof diagnostic accuracy

The presence of pain when travellingover speed bumps is associated with anincreased likelihood of acute appendici-tis, among patients coming into hospitalwith abdominal pain, finds a study in theBMJ Christmas issue and published on-line today.

Clinical diagnosis of acute appendici-tis can be difficult and yet it is the mostcommon surgical abdominal emergency.There is no specific clinical diagnostictest for appendicitis, and removing ahealthy appendix - which happensoften - is best avoided. Similarly, missingappendicitis when it's present can bedangerous.

Although some doctors have routinelyasked about pain travelling over speedbumps, this practice was not previouslyevidence-based.

Researchers from the University ofOxford and Stoke Mandeville Hospitaltherefore carried out a study on 101patients who were referred to hospitalfor suspected appendicitis. Testing tookplace in 2012 and patients were between17 and 76 years of age.

Patients were classed as “speed bumppositive” if they had a worsening of painwhilst travelling over speed bumps or“speed bump negative” if their painstayed the same, if they were unsure, orif their pain improved. All participantswere questioned within 24 hours of theirjourney to hospital.

Sixty-four patients had travelled overspeed bumps on their way to hospital.54 of these (84%) were “speed bumppositive”. 34 of the 64 had a confirmeddiagnosis of acute appendicitis of which33 (97%) had worsened pain overspeed bumps.

Seven patients who were “speedbump positive” did not have appendicitisbut did have other significant problemssuch as ruptured ovarian cyst or diver-ticulitis (bulging sacs or pouches mostcommonly found in the large intestine).

Clinical questioning about pain overspeed bumps also compared favourablywith the well known signs of appendici-tis.

The researchers conclude that anincrease in pain over speed bumps isassociated with an increased likelihoodof acute appendicitis. They add thatalthough being “speed bump positive”does not guarantee a diagnosis of ap-pendicitis, the study does suggest that itshould form a routine part of assess-ment of patients with possible appendici-tis.

Dr Helen Ashdown of the Departmentof Primary Care Health Sciences at theUniversity of Oxford said: "It may soundodd, but asking patients whether theirpain worsened going over speed bumpson their way in to hospital could helpdoctors in a diagnosis. It turns out to beas good as many other ways of assessingpeople with suspected appendicitis."

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WHEN MAKING your New Years resolu-tion the BAG’s would like to chal-lenge you once again to think about ahealthier lifestyle. For those of usthat are still smoking, sorry but thisis our target in this article.

Thanks to years of research, the linksbetween smoking and cancer are nowvery clear. Smoking is by far themost important preventable causeof cancer in the world.Smoking accountsfor one in four UKcancer deaths, andnearly a fifth of allcancer cases. Inthe UK, smokingkills five timesmore people thanroad accidents,overdoses, mur-der, suicide andHIV all put together.Which cancers arecaused by smoking?

Smoking causes more thanfour in five cases of lung cancer.Lung cancer has one of the lowest sur-vival rates of all cancers, and is the mostcommon cause of cancer death in theUK. The good news is that most of thesedeaths are preventable, by giving upsmoking in time.

Smoking also increases the risk ofover a dozen other cancers includingcancers of the mouth, larynx(voice box),pharynx (upper throat), nose and sinus-

es, oesophagus (food pipe), liver,pancreas,stomach, kidney, bladder, cer-vix and bowel, as well as one type ofovarian cancer and some types of leu-kaemia. There is also some evidencethat smoking could increase the risk ofbreast cancer.How does smoking cause cancer?

Tobacco smoke containsmore than 70 different can-

cer-causing substances.When you inhale

smoke, thesechemicalsenter yourlungs andspread aroundthe rest ofyour body.

Scientistshave shownthat these

chemicals candamage DNA and

change importantgenes. This causes cancer by

making your cells grow and mul-tiply out of control.Giving up makes a difference

Thanks to research, health campaignsand new policies, the number of smok-ers in the UK has halved in the last 50years. Because of this, the number ofpeople who die from lung cancer hasalso halved. Clearly, giving up smokingsaves lives.

But there is still a long way to go.

Lung cancer isstill the secondmost commontype of cancer inthe UK and killsover 35,000 peo-ple every year.And there aresigns that thenumber of peoplewho are quitting

is starting to match the number who aretaking it up.

If you are a smoker, giving up smok-ing is the best present you can giveyourself. There are many techniques youcan try to help you join the increasingnumbers of smokers who are quittingfor good. To find out more about theservices offering support with giving upsmoking, talk to your doctor or pharma-cist, or call the NHS Smoking Helpline:0800 022 4 332

Birstall BAG’s continue to fund theBirstall Time Out Group held the 2ndand 4th Wednesday of each month at theVillage Hall and are delighted to confirmthat thanks to your generosity and sup-port we recently presented the UniversityHospitals of Leicester with £8231 tohelp with the new Cancer InformationCentre at the Leicester Royal Infirmary.For more information:

Macmillan Cancer Support free phonehelp line 0808 808 000 Monday – Fri-day 9am-8pm.

University Hospitals of Leicester Can-cer Information Centre on 0116 2586189.

To reflect the interest and support ofthe local community Birstall BAG's seeksto be inclusive of all cancers and thegroup welcome villagers to support themany events they organise each yearwithin the local community.

For more information on the fundswe have raised, projects we support andforthcoming events seewww.birstallbags.co.uk

Birstall BAG’ s cancer corner

THE BIRSTALL POSTYOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

Longslade College, Wanlip Lane,Birstall, Leicester LE4 4GHEditor: Mr Jerry Jackson

Editorial/Advertising (Tel & Fax)

0116 2674213Correspondence, news etc

can be handed in at:Birstall Library or to our office in the

Youth Centre,Longslade College, Birstall

[email protected]

Small ads are 25p for the first 16 words. 17-32words: 50p. Enclosing payment, post your ad to us orhand it in (inside an envelope) at Birstall library.

Trade/business rates for small ads are 25pa word. You are liable for the trade/businessrate if you are offering a service for which youare asking for payment, or if you are advertis-ing new goods for sale. All text will be printedbold. Box outline £1 extra. Max 50 words.Phone numbers count as one word.

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For an honest, reliable & promptservice please call us today

proSP CSeyewear

at the best pricesQuality spectacles

visit our showroom

Unit 3,Victoria MillsFowke St,RothleyEasy Parking

Top quality lenses including Varilux, Nikon, Zeiss

Contact Mike or Teresa Keily on 0116 237 6098DESIGNERFRAMES

GET A QUOTE FROM US BEFORE YOU BUYYOUR NEXT PAIROF SPECTACLES Same day service on most plastic lenses

• Sales, Repairs & Upgrades• Wired & Wireless Networking• Branded & Custom Built PCs• Laptops, printers, peripherals & accessories• Server Installation & Support• On-site Maintenance & Remote Support• Original & Compatible Cartridges/Toners• Buy Dell products through our store

C o v e r i n g L e i c e s t e r s h i r e0116 2672583

Mob: 0796 7 191975www.ntlcomputers.co.uk

3 The Meadway, Birstall LE4 4NG

The ideal venue for forWeddings • Parties

Christenings etcLarge Function Room with use of Kitchen

Separate bar for that quiet moment

Car Park with CCTV coverageDisabled facilities

Mid Week Functions takenGive us a call at Birstall Rd on

2674059 or 07837 690287

The Midlands Co-OperativeSports & Social Club

Birstall Road

Advertise in

The birstall post47 x 59mm £26 • 47 x 120mm £4498 x 59mm £44 • 98 x 120mm £78

CALL 2674213 for an advertising rate card,or view online at www.birstallpost.co.uk

The prices above exclude VAT

1) Decide what size you want2) Send us a sketch of your ad3) We design, publish

& sendyou thebill

SEXYWednesdays£26This Size

+VAT

birstall post (354) jan 2013

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