birstall post (378) january 2015

JANUARY 2015 No. 378

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

Aladdin panto funFACES ARTS, the Birstall based performing arts company,performed their annual pantomime in the run up to Christ-mas in front of an appreciative audience in the PalmerTomkinson Centre at Longslade College.

‘Aladdin’ was the latest in a succession ofperformances from the Faces Arts studentsthis year. Those taking part were agedbetween 11 and 16, and meet every Tues-day after school. This year some of theyounger children from the Tumble sessionwhere also included in the acrobatics

dance pieces.“All the children were quite simply amaz-

ing” said Jody Chesterton from Faces Arts.“They have worked so hard on this production

and the cheers they received from the audienceswere nothing more than they deserved. The level oftalent we see is hugely encouraging. At Faces Arts

we pride ourselves on working withyoungsters in the community and I

would like to thank everyone who sup-ported this year’s pantomime”.

Faces Arts have been established inBirstall for ten years and host a varietyof weekly street dance, drama, acrobat-ics and toddler sessions for childrenaged 18 months -18 years.

Faces Arts also host their TheatreSchool classes on Saturday morningswith children aged from 4 -16yrs. Chil-dren can enjoy a fun morning of dance,drama and singing. Each category istaught by experienced and talented pro-fessionals in a disciplined environment.

For more information on Faces Arts,contact Jody Chesterton on 07971423201 or visit the websitewww.facesarts.co.uk

DETECTIVES ARE investigat-ing following a robbery at atravel shop in Birstall.

Two men targeted Co-op Travel, inSibson Road, at about 4.20pm on FridayDecember 12 where they threatened staffand stole a large quantity of money,including travellers cheques and foreigncurrency. No-one was injured in theincident but staff have been left incredi-bly shaken by the ordeal, say Police.

Travelshopraided

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Both suspects are described as beingblack, about 6ft tall and of slim build.They were both wearing dark colouredclothing and balaclavas. They are be-lieved to have run off in the direction ofWanlip Avenue.

Detective Constable 2129 LukeBrookes, who is investigating the rob-bery, said: “The area would have beenbusy at the time with lots of traffic pass-ing through. If that’s your usual routehome, or you were in the area aroundthe time of the robbery, you may haveseen what happened or saw the suspectsbefore the incident.

“Think back to that night, did yousee two men acting suspiciously? If youdid call us immediately. Equally, if youhave been offered any large amounts offoreign currency or travellers chequesfor sale, or know someone who has, wewant to hear from you.”

Anyone with information is asked tocontact the relevant officer on 101, fol-low the instructions to leave a messagefor the officer and when prompted keyin the officer’s identification number.Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers,which is free and anonymous, on 0800555 111

footbridge/cycleway made of steel andconcrete. The span is 49.5 metres.

It will form an extension of HallamWalk on the western side of the A6 andwill provide a direct link from the devel-opment to the park and ride site. The

bridge will be constructed near to thepark and ride site’s exit road.

Planning application P/14/2187/2.Details can be viewed on the planningpages of Charnwood Borough Council’swebsite.

A BRIDGE over the A6 for pedestrians and cyclists will bebuilt by developers Jelson.

The bridge is a condition of the plan-ning permission Jelson were granted forthe creation of the Hallam Fields devel-opment, to be completed before 750houses of the 900 planned are occupied.620 dwellings were occupied in October2014.

The proposed bridge is a single span

Bridge over A6 forpedestrians

FIGURES THAT show attain-ment in our local primaryschools were released by theDepartment for Education inDecember.

The figures show the percentage ofpupils achieving the expected level –level four or above at age 11 – inreading, writing and maths (3Rs). Thenational average is 79%.Highcliffe Primary School 80%Riverside Community PrimarySchool 84%Rothley Church of England PrimarySchool 95%Richard Hill Church of England Pri-mary School (Thurcaston) 73%Christ Church & St Peters PrimarySchool Mountsorrel 69%

The government’s floor standard is65% and there are six council main-tained schools in the county below thethreshold. The County Council say theyhave appointed an advisor to each ofthese schools.

Primaryschools

Pics: how the bridge will look once complete

Park & Ride

Stonehill

Bridge

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Organised by Birstall Parish Councilthe event was held on the Sibson Roadcar park.

Chair Ann Marshall said: “BirstallCo-op kindly supplied the mince pies,Alyshia Dhakk sang for us beautifully,the Methodist Church’s giant puppetsgave a delightful performance of the

nativity, ‘Claude Greengrass’ contributedto the entertainment and Santa paid awelcome visit. It is gratefully acknowl-edged that all of these people gave theirtime free of charge.”

She added: “Birstall Parish Councilfeels that or-ganising eventssuch as thisgets our com-munity together.We have beenencouraged toreceive a lot ofpositive feed-back from thelarge number ofresidents whoattended.

“I wish you ahappy and healthy New Year from all atBirstall Parish Council.”

BIRSTALL’S CHRISTMAS lights switch on attracted a recordcrowd in December.

THE RIDGEWAY in Rothleyis the street with the mostexpensive property pricesin the Midlands, accordingto the latest research fromLloyds Bank.

The average house price is£1.78million, compared to £1.31million on Tiddington Road, Stratfordupon Avon, which is in second spot.

Grosvenor Crescent in London isthe most expensive street in Englandand Wales with an average houseprice of £16.9million. Belgravia,Knightsbridge and Kensington & Chel-sea are the areas with the higherproperty prices.

According to property websiteZoopla the average house price inBirstall is £201,276, up 6.69% in thelast 12 months. The most expensivestreets are (average property price):

School Lane £565,512Birstall Road £428,916Park Road £350,712Curzon Avenue £340,937Roman Road £318,600The average house price in Rothley

is £334,167 and in Mountsorrel£192,556

Housepricefigures

NEW CCTV cameras in-stalled on the A6 in Bir-stall are being monitoredto assess traffic flowthrough the A6/GreengateLane junction.

Small adjustments have been madeto the traffic light timings and theCounty Council are considering paint-ing a yellow box type marking in thejunction.

County Councillor Iain Bentleyasked for two ‘keep clear’ roadmarkings to be painted to the southof the junction and these were in-stalled in 2013.

Christmas lights

Pic: (top) the puppet performance; (centre)‘Claude Greengrass’ and Birstall ParishCouncil Chair Ann Marshall; (bottom left)singer Alyshia Dhakk

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The houses will be built on landclose to the site of the old Bentley’sRoses and largely in the Parish of Wan-lip – the proposals also include 15 hec-tares of employment land.

The plans are a feature of CharnwoodBorough Council’s Core Strategy whichis currently being examined by a Plan-ning Inspector.

Simon Sansome is the CharnwoodBorough Councillor for the Birstall Wan-lip Ward and he has started a petitionto have the proposals for the ‘Broad-nook Garden Suburb’ removed from theCore Strategy.

He said: “We have to stop this devel-opment as Birstall will amost be con-nected with Rothley and another greenfield area of separation would have dis-appeared placing Birstall’s identity atrisk.”

He says that additional houses willput additional pressure on local schoolsand have an impact on local traffic.“Speaking to a number of residents onthe Greengate estate, it can take them20-30 minutes to get from their drivewayto the main A6 during rush hour” hesaid. “1500 houses will bring at least1500 more cars adding to our alreadycongested traffic in the villages.”

He added: “Action needs to be takensooner rather than later to protect Bir-stall from further development. Becauseof this I have set up an online petitionon change.org and there are many shopsand pubs in the village where you cansign the petition.”

Comments from those people signingthe petition include:

• I am signing because I like theway Birstall is at the moment andfurther development in this areawill ruin this village.• As a lifelong resident of Birstall,I can see the massive changes thatother recent developments havebrought to our "village". Thou-sands of extra houses withoutshops/schools/green areas/roadimprovements have rendered thevillage centre to a standstill atweekends & caused traffic chaoson the main A6 on weekdays.Surely without the above, devel-opers cannot be serious in addingeven more dwellings? This newplan must NOT go ahead withoutcareful thought to the extra pres-sures it will bring to a communityalready on the edge.• I live in Birstall and am vehe-mently against the proposal todirect traffic from the A46 throughWanlip. There are already TWOschools on that road (which iswhy they put traffic calming meas-ures on there years ago) and nowthey want to push even more traf-fic down there. Simply unbelieva-ble. What idiots are coming upwith these ideas.• Not only will this affect my fami-ly and friends in Birstall with ad-ditional traffic, waiting lists atDoctors and Dentists and notenough spaces at the local schoolsthis will also affect the commuteto work from all local villagers.

We have lost a lot of fields recent-ly with the area now unrecognisa-ble. The additional houses willcause problems with the floodingin the area as there will be nowhere for the water to drain. Wehave had enough new builds inthe area, please find another ar-ea.Birstall Parish Council submitted its

objection to the proposals when theCore Strategy was in its consultationphase. The Council’s statement said:“Traffic along the A6 continues to in-crease, particularly at peak times. Thissignificantly impacts on our communityand its quality of life. The increase inpollution and great difficulty for resi-dents trying to access the A6 from theirhouses is already generating complaints.

“The building of 1500 homes and upto 15 hectares of employment land alongwith four travelling show people siteswill only add to an already overloadedA6”

The Parish Council identified that theplans would increase traffic throughWanlip village and along Wanlip Lane. Itconcluded: “The residents of Birstalldeserve that Charnwood Borough Coun-cil considers their quality of life. Weurge Charnwood to consider other op-tions. Birstall people already feel thatCharnwood Borough Council disregardstheir views.”

A PETITION has been started to stop plans for 1650 homesbeing built at ‘North Birstall’.

THE CONSTRUCTION of 1650 newhomes in ‘North Birstall’ couldstart in 2015.

Details of the planned developmentat ‘North Birstall’ have emerged fromdocuments submitted to CharnwoodBorough Council by thelandowners/developers.

The ‘Broadnook Garden Suburb’ ispart of Charnwood’s Local Plan whichis still at the draft stage, currently be-ing examined by a planning inspector.

• the houses will be built close tothe site of the old Bentley’s Roses

• the land is owned by the Palmer-Tomkinson Trust, the Cooper familyand Leicester City Council

• the landowners are working inpartnership with housebuilders Bar-wood Homes and Davidsons Homes

• the development will include ‘lo-cal day to day shops and services’ and‘a range of new employment opportu-nities’

• there will be bus routes throughthe site and the potential for a rail halton the GCR line

• a wide choice of homes for allincome levels will be provided

• land within three of the fourquadrants defined by the A6/A46 in-tersection is expected to be includedin the application proposals – northwest, north east and south east

• the majority of the land to be de-veloped is in the Wanlip parish bound-ary but some falls within Rothley andThurcaston

• there will be at least 1500 homes– up to 1650 – and 15 hectares ofemployment land in the north westquadrant

• a primary school with a capacityof 420 pupils is planned

• the ‘Broadnook Centre’ will in-clude local shops, small scale employ-ment uses and a community centre, aswell as restaurants, takeaways, anddrinking establishments

• outdoor sports facilities will in-clude a bowling green and tenniscourts

•allotments and an arboretum areplanned

• residential dwellings will be most-ly two or 2.5 storey with “three storeyfor emphasis at appropriate locations”

• the build period will be 11 yearscommencing in 2015, subject to plan-ning permission.

Shops and pubs where you can signthe petition:The White Horse, Age Concern, ThePosy Bowl, Loros, Birstall Fisheries,Dan’s Gents’ Hairdressers, BirstallPost Office, Silly Prices, Peter Astill &Co Solicitors, The Plough.

Pic: Red line shows maximum extentof land within which the planningapplication boundary will be defined

Petition calls forplans to be scrapped

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AFTER SERVING 16 years as a Birstall Par-ish Councillor Neville Mays has decided tocall it a day.

Neville (80) of Barngate Close was first elected on July6, 1998.

“It is the community of the council I’ve enjoyed, therehave been some lovely people” he said. “We’ve had ourmoments, there have been difficulties, but we have over-come them.

“We all like Birstall, we believe in Birstall and we wantto do the best for Birstall, and being a councillor has beena pleasure.”

Chair of Birstall Parish Council Ann Marshall said: “Weare all sad to see Neville go but understand his health willnot allow him to carry on. He has been a very loyal servantof the council, has contributed to all council activities andis a thoroughly nice man.”Pic: Fellow councillors and office staff say goodbye to NevilleMays, pictured centre with Birstall Parish Council Chair AnnMarshall

Julie Smalley’s son Josh, now 19 andat Leicester University attended High-cliffe, Stonehill and Longslade schools.

“He gained in confidence as he pro-gressed through the schools and his post16 years really saw him come into hisown” she said.

“The teachers at Longslade for Josh’ssubjects were some of the best and werealways there and available to offer adviceand guidance when he needed it, recog-nised Josh wanted to learn and weremore than happy to help him achievethe success he has gained.”

Josh obtained eight A* GCSEs and twoat A grade and his A-levels in summer2014 were in Maths, Chemistry andPhysics, all at A*. He is now studying fora degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry atLeicester University and hopes to go intoresearch and drug development.

Josh said “I enjoyed learning here[Longslade]. All of my GCSE teacherswere helpful and made lessons interest-ing. This made choosing my A levelsubjects more difficult, but if I’m honestthe best times were during maths andscience lessons and these teachers, par-

ticularly Mr Reed in Chemistry, were theinspiration for me wanting to progress

A BIRSTALL parent is singing the praises of Birstall’sschools after seeing her son achieve academic success.

Birstall studentexcels at Longslade

further in the field of chemistry.“The opening of the new Palmer

Tomkinson building for post 16 reallymade the student experience the bestyou could want. I can still pop in therenow and my teachers have always gottime for a chat.”

Josh recently received a LeicesterMercury Young Achiever award for hissuccess at A level.

Longslade College is in SpecialMeasures and mum Julie says the schoolgets a bad press. She said: “Despite thebad press and three changes of principalJosh still achieved these grades. Thisshows that no matter where the schoolis the exam papers are the same and ifyou are prepared to work you canachieve great results. We are Birstallpeople and it would be great if morepeople in Birstall supported their localschools.”Pic: Josh Smalley with his Young Achieveraward

Councillor retires after 16 years service

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Harold White (Jim) lived in Birstallfor 33 years and was a familiar figureand friend to many people. He diedsuddenly in Exeter on Nov 29, 2014.

A member of the Royal British Legionand Birstall Social Club he enjoyed or-ganising socialactivities as acommittee mem-ber over the years.

His passion wasantiques and hetravelled extensive-ly, buying andselling, makingnew friends alongthe way.

In Derbyshire, Jim liked to followvillage events and walk in the countrywith me, his ‘other half’, at every oppor-tunity, from our caravan home. Jimleaves five sons and two daughters,grandchildren and great grandchildren

and will be sadly missed but happilyremembered as a proud English gentle-man RIP.

His family would like to acknowledgewith thanks the many messages of sym-pathy received.

Chris Greaves

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, Unit 109 Greenacres, TheSidings, Leicester LE4 3BR, or handed inat Birstall library or email:[email protected]

Well here we go again I find myselfhaving a good laugh at the article re-cently regarding what was laughinglycalled a "New and improved" bus serviceto Birstall by Centrebus.

I live on the Greengate Estate andalso a working person, having to get towork for 9am. The 22B should be atWoodgate Drive at 8.05. Sorry I nowfind myself laughing out loud again atthe "new and improved service" The8.05 should give us plenty of time to getto work, or you would have thought so.I can assure you it does not.

Since the "new and improved service"came into being (about 5 weeks) I havelost count as to the amount of times ithas not arrived on time. Indeed it hasnot turned up at all on three occasions.Each time we have been sold the line ofthe bus breaking down. I repeat threetimes in just five weeks. Quite clearlythe old rolling stock is not up to thejob.

I have yet to meet anyone who thinkthe "new and improved service" is work-ing indeed I am led to believe the nextbus after the 8.05 which is 9.10 is veryrarely on time either.

Is it now time we campaigned to geta decent bus company to get the busroutes in Birstall, one that does not takethe paying customers for complete idiotsand starts treating them with respect.Something Centrebus fail to do and quitehonestly have failed to do since they gotthe route.

It seems to many of us on the 22Broute just take the subsidary from thecouncil and them to hell with the farepaying passengers.

Time for a change me thinks.Sue Hitchcock (miffed bus traveller)

In the spirit of the season, good willto all men, I wish to offer my warmestthanks to all the volunteers who providewell run and vital services. Without thesecheerful, generous and courteous volun-teers what facilities would there be inBirstall?

Once Birstall had a pool, paid for bythe hard work and goodwill of the com-munity, now sadly Birstall has no pool –council run or otherwise. Despite peti-tions and grants for the pool it wasallowed, unprotested by the authorities,to close. Thanks to Councillor SimonSansome for raising the issue of the poolagain.

Once there were grit bins near thelibrary, Meadow Lane and Dalby Avenue,now much to the cost of three people(maybe more) including myself, whohave fallen and injured themselves onAllington Drive, Dalby Avenue, and Blen-heim Road. Does the council really wishto wait until someone is badly hurt – orbe sued – before returning the grit bins.Yes, I realise grit bins are frequentlyused as rubbish bins but with regularmaintenance this problem could beovercome.

Once we heard rumours of the provi-sion of bus shelters, but these don’tseem to be forthcoming. Again thanks toCllr Simon Sansome for campaigning.Despite the current cold and wet weath-er no bus stops have appeared.

Finally, congratulations to the BirstallMethodist Church who have raised near-ly £8,000 from the Church Festival.Thanks also to the generosity of theBirstall people who supported this – andthe hard work of volunteers not beingpaid a wage. I wonder if Birstall Galamade a profit? If not, why not, clearly itcan be done?

PS How about a regular neswletterfrom the Parish Council telling us oftheir future plans for Birstall. Also whereour money is spent and how these deci-sions are reached.

Concerned member of the public.Christine Howe

I hope the person who let her/hisdog foul the area around the post boxon Wanlip Lane feels proud of them-selves. They obviously didn’t think of thepoor postman who had to empty thebox. Why didn’t you clear it up? Thereseems to be a lot more dog fouling inthis area, if you can afford a dog youcan afford poo bags.

Fed up resident(name & address supplied)

Birstall Flower Club28th January 2015, 7.15pmBirstall Village HallAGM and Giant PicnicQueries to Sylvia: 0116 2674206or Mary Linnett: 0116 2672247

Charity Whist Drivesorganised by Derek Farr will beheld at 7.30pm on Thursdays 8thJanuary, 5th February 5th March atthe Rothley Centre, MountsorrelLane, Rothley. Admission £2.00.All players welcome

Birstall & DistrictLocal History SocietyOur 2015 meetings commence onThursday 8th January with ourAGM followed by a talk given byNick Marshall on the subject of"Medieval Peasant Life".The evening commences at7.30pm in the Birstall VillageHall, Birstall Road, Birstall LeicsLE4 4DH.All visitors are very welcome.There will be available parking forcars through the School Lane en-trance of the Birstall PlayingFields.

Alan Ayckbourn’s comedy thriller

It Could Be Any OneOf Us!will be presented byRatae Co-Operative Playersat the Leicester College of Per-forming Arts,Garden Street, Leicester LE1 3UAWednesday 11th to Saturday 14thFebruary 2015 at 7:30 pmTickets £7 (conc.£6) Tel: 01664420157

Birstall Royal BritishLegion3rd Instant Replay (Duo)10th Neil James (M/V)17th Jimmy Needles (M/V)24th Steve Raffles (M/V)31st Laura Ashby (F/V)Dancing every Saturday night withlive entertainmentBingo, Free beer raffle and notforgetting Open the BoxEvery Tuesday night Bingo start-ing at 9.15pmQuiz nights Sunday 11th and 25thJanuary starting at 9pmAcoustic night Sunday 18th Janu-ary at 8pmFood available every Saturday 12-2pm (kitchen closed 24th)Wakes catered forNew outside seating areaWi-Fi available

CLASH 2012Exercise sessions for individualswith Arthritis and other MSK con-ditions.Tuesday 1.00 - 2.00pm - GeneralFitness

Noticeboardall details printed free

Oh my goodness we did so well. Youdid not fail, the total collected at thisyear’s Poppy Appeal outside McCall's isan incredible £603.60

Not a competition but hey one happylady, oh and I did not see the poppiesout side the tower of London but it musthave been quite a sight and will stay inour memories for such a long time tocome.

Almost £200 up on last year. We doknow it was a special year this year butso very pleased thank you all. We didremember them, see you next year. Itmade it all worth while, wow.

Val JoyceVice President of the Royal British Le-gion Women’s section

On Tuesday December 9, I fell in thecar park of the Co-op Supermarket. Iwould like to thank most sincerely twogentlemen who picked me up, one ofwhom put a dressing on my forehead,the manager and staff who made mecomfortable in the store. I thank myfriend Ian who happened to be in thestore who took my car home for me.Thank you all very much.

Donald

Jim White

Good laugh

Thanks

Thanks

Fouling

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Wednesday 1.00 - 2.00pm - Chairbased exercise sessions.Sports Hall, Peepul Centre, Or-chardson Avenue, Leicester, LE46DP. Call Karen for further infor-mation on 07954584402. Pleasenote that there will be a weeklycharge of £2 per session for nonmembers of CLASH 2012 attend-ing the above exercise sessions.CLASH 2012, a UK Online Centre,provides basic computer trainingat its After School e-learning ses-sions held in the Palmer Tomkin-son Centre at LongsladeCommunity College - Thursday3.30pm-4.30pm term time only.During the period of January -March 2015 we will be holdingmini iPad e-learning basics, work-shops for 10 weeks.For further information pleasecontact Mark on 07801718908 orConrad on 07919844629CLASH 2012 Monthly Meeting -Wednesday 14th January TrusteeMeeting.

New Year - New StartWant to get your money in order?Budget. Save. Spend.FREE CAP Money Course(www.capmoney.org)Wednesdays Jan 28, Feb 4, Feb 117:30pm at St. James Church, Bir-stall LE4 4DNSupported by Charnwood GrantsContact Gill: 0116 2120236 or0783 229 9671

Old Nicks Coffee ShopWanlip Church & Community CentreTuesday January 20th10.00am – 12.30pmFed up sitting at home on yourown?Want to sit and chat over a cup oftea/coffee?(Biscuits/Cakes will be available)Come and join us on the 3rd Tues-day of the month

FreemasonryThe Order Of Freemasonry ForMen And Women Is Opening A NEWLODGE In Leicestershire.If you are already a Mason (maleor female, current or lapsed) butwould like a change, or interestedin finding out about Freemasonrywith a view to joining, please con-tact the Secretary by email [email protected]

Birstall & District ArtSocietyTuesday January 13 at 7pmYou are invited to join us at thePalmer Tompkinson Centre atLongslade College to watch re-nowned artist Andrew Geeson giv-ing a demonstration ofwet-into-wet watercolour paint-ing. As well as being a consum-mate professional, Andrew alwaysmakes his demonstrations enter-taining and you will come awayfrom this evening with a smile onyour face. Demonstration to endat 9pm. Members £1, Guests £3.

Free raffle. Ample parking andwheelchair access.

‘Sounds of Vienna’Charnwood OrchestraSaturday January 17 at 7pmHumphrey Perkins CommunityCentre, Cotes Road, BarrowStrauss waltzes etcTickets £12 (£11 concessions)children £307718 [email protected]

Mountsorrel Methodist Churchpresents the first in the 14th se-ries ofSunday Night @ Eight

Organ Recitalson Sunday January 18 at 8pmby Edward McCallDirector of Music at Ratcliffe Col-legeAdmission freeDonations for the Church’s Devel-opment FundBuffet from 7.30pm

Charnwood ConnectA Loughborough based partner-ship of advice agencies that canhelp with:Debt, housing, benefits, domesticabuse, going hungry, homeless-nessVolunteers always neededContact 01509 221 200www/charnwoodconnect.org.uk

Councillor SurgeryLast Sat of every month10am to 12noon10 Sibson Road, Old Council OfficeTalk to your District & CountyCouncillorsto discuss any issue of local con-cern

13 Students stayed overnight in thehall with just a sleeping bag to keepthem warm, and no electrical deviceswere allowed.

Katherine Baker, Head of Sciencesaid: “I am very proud of my form 9KBfor raising such a substantial amount of

money for Centre Point, a charity thatfocuses on providing young people withshelter, especially at the time of yearwhen there will be a lot of young home-less people in the cold at Christmas”.Pic: sleepover students in Stonehill schoolhall

A SPONSORED sleepover in Stonehill school’s hall hasraised £513 for a homeless charity.

Sleepover in Stonehillschool hall

The Birstall Posthas a newaddress & phone number:The Birstall Post, Unit 109,Greenacres, The Sidings,Leicester LE4 3BRTel: 0116 4422067

The February issue ofTHE BIRSTALL POST

will be published on Jan 31.The copy deadline is Jan 16.

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The Great Central Railway has bid for£10million to the Heritage Lottery Fundto build the museum. Working in part-nership with Leicester City Council andthe National Railway Museum in York,the railway plans to open the new attrac-tion at its terminus at Leicester North in2019.

The new museum will be filled withrare locomotives and hundreds of arte-facts from the national collection.

Managing Director of the Great Cen-tral Railway Bill Ford said: “We hadsome really constructive feedback fromthe Heritage Lottery Fund Trustees fol-lowing our last bid and we are confidentwe have made this visionary project evenbetter! Not only will the museum help

people reconnect with their railwaystory, sitting right alongside our thrivingheritage line it will be a unique attrac-tion. We're confident tens of thousandsof people will visit every year.”

Work is already underway with localschools and community groups to en-sure the project engages with everyoneacross the city and captures railwaymemories that might otherwise be lost.

300 short-term construction jobs willbe created while the museum is builtand 9 full-time posts once open. As partof the bid process an economic impactstudy has been carried out which dem-onstrates the museum and railway willbe worth £43million for the local econ-omy over five years. In turn this addi-

tional spending could create more than900 jobs in the area.

Annual visitor figures for the railwayand museum combined are expected toreach around 230,000. The total cost ofthe project is expected to be around£16 million. £6 million of match fund-ing would be required alongside thelottery grant.

City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said:"This is a really exciting opportunity tocreate a railway experience of nationalstanding in Leicester. The museum willhouse items which are of both nationalimportance and local interest, comple-menting the nearby National Space Cen-tre and Abbey Pumping Station andhelping to enhance the city's reputationas an important visitor destination.

It will also create hundreds of newjobs, both during construction and onopening, while providing training oppor-tunities in the rail industry for dozens ofyoung people. We're fully committed tothis project and will be working with theGreat Central Railway to help them deliv-er this ambitious scheme.”

A striking building is planned to sitright alongside the Great Central Rail-way's Leicester North station, close tothe Greenacres centre. Steam hauledpassenger trains will arrive right along-side the exhibition halls.

The museum will be connected to therunning lines to allow displays to be

changed, locomotives and carriagesmoved and operated over the tracks ofthe Great Central. Star exhibits will in-clude V2 class steam locomotive 'GreenArrow' and the sole surviving GCR pas-senger engine "Butler Henderson" Astylish wooden carriage which is morethan a century old will be actively re-stored in front of visitors demonstratingthe craft skills necessary to keep Brit-ain's railway heritage alive.

The Director of the National RailwayMuseum is Paul Kirkman. “We're de-lighted to be part of this project. Leices-ter had one of the world's earliestrailways," he said. "It was also a hub ofthe Midland line. When the GCR openedin 1899 it was a key calling point on thehigh speed railway of the time. We wantto put key parts of the national collec-tion on display at the heart of the coun-try for the first time, but just asimportant we hope to inspire a newgeneration to get involved in our nationsrailway story.”

The project partners will learn ifthey've been successful in April 2015.Initially a small grant will be releasedallowing the plans to be developed fur-ther. A successful second round applica-tion would see the full grant unlockedwith the museum expected to be openaround summer 2019.

GCR’s bid formajor railwaymuseumA LOTTERY bid for a major railway museum on the edge ofBirstall has been re-submitted to the Heritage Lotteryfund.

Pic: how the new museum will look

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A FULL meeting of BirstallParish Council was held onDecember 8.

Cllr David Gaskell reported that workto extend and refurbish Riversdale Courtsheltered housing had begun and wouldtake one year to complete.

Councillors discussed the precept forthe year 2014/15. Any increase of 2 percent or more will require a referendum.It was agreed to defer a decision untilthe January meeting.

It was reported that the Edith MurphyFoundation had paid for a new bath atthe Age Concern Day Centre in the Vil-lage Hall.

The Council has agreed rises in thefees it charges for the use of the sportspitches, to bring them in line with othercouncils in the area. The increases willtake effect in April 2015. It was agreednot to increase the hire charges for theVillage Hall. It was agreed to increasecemetery fees from April 2015.

It was agreed to spend £1342 on theinsulation of the loft at the Age ConcernDay Centre.

The council is considering installing aclock on the front of the Village Hall tocommemorate the anniversary of WorldWar I.

Despite poor weather earlier in theday, a big crowd turned up and enjoyeda display that lasted over 20 minutes andthe biggest bonfire in Birstall. Therewere some small fairground rides forthe younger children.

The firework display was sponsoredby Braunstone Crossroad Motors andperformed by a team of professionalsfrom Leicester Fireworks.

One of the event organisers, PhilHughes, said: “On behalf of the club lwould like to thank the event sponsorsand all the volunteers who helped makethe night a huge success. We were a bitworried at 4pm that no one wouldcome, because the weather so bad, butluckily it stopped raining just in time

and the people of Birstall turned out inforce to support their only junior foot-ball club.

“Judging by the comments we re-ceived on social media sites, the generalconsensus seems to be that peoplethought it was a great display and greatvalue for money. The money raised onwill go towards improving the facilitiesat the club for the kids of this village.”

The 2015 fireworks display will takeplace on Friday November 6 and theclub hope to make it bigger and betterthan 2014.

“The event is open to the whole vil-lage, not just club members, and so weask your readers to put that date in theirdiaries now” said Phil.

ParishCouncilnotes

A HOUSE was burgled inBirstall in the early hours ofTuesday December 23 andcash and jewellery weretaken.

The incident happened at approxi-mately 2.45am in Westgate Avenue. Theburglar, who was wearing a black hood-ed top, gained access to the housethrough the front of the property.

The suspect left the property whenthe victim, an 80-year-old woman,awoke and shouted at the burglar toleave.

Detective Constable 1340 PaulBurchell, who is investigating said:“While we realise the burglary happenedin the early hours of the morning, weare appealing for any witnesses, so ifyou saw anyone acting suspiciously inthe area at the time, we would like tohear from you.

“The gold necklace that was stolenhas a distinctive ‘circle of life cross’pendant and, if you are offered the itemfor sale in suspicious circumstances,please get in touch.”

Anyone with information is asked tocontact the relevant officer on 101, fol-low the instructions to leave a messagefor the officer and when prompted keyin the officer’s identification number.Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers,which is free and anonymous, on 0800555 111.

OUR PICTURE shows Revd Rachel Parkinson (left) & Chair of Birstall ParishCouncil Ann Marshall beside Birstall’s second defibrillator, which has just beeninstalled at Birstall Methodist church.

Rachel said: “The Methodist Church is delighted to host this defibrillator, so manypeople come into this building and many are old and vulnerable.”

Birstall Parish Council has paid for the devices: another is planned for the Kings-gate Avenue area and a fourth at Hallam Fields. “They are so important as they couldsave someone’s life” said Cllr Marshall

Fun firework nightA CROWD of over 1200 people watched the Birstall UnitedJuniors FC fireworks display held on Friday November 7.

A SURVEY of patients hasranked Leicester Royal Infir-mary’s Accident and Emer-gency department as one ofthe worst in England.

Watchdog the Care Quality Commis-sion (CQC) carried out a survey of45,000 patients nationwide. Leicester israted in the bottom 10 out of 142trusts examined.

850 patients in Leicester were givena questionnaire in January, Februaryand March 2014 and 267 responded.The questions aimed to find out howpatients rated the service they receivedas safe, effective, caring and respon-sive.

Leicester’s A&E was rated as averagein eight of the 10 categories examined,and below average in two: the way staffspoke to patients and how they con-ducted medical tests.

Patients rated their experience over-all as 7.9 out of 10, in line with thenational average.

The CQC said of the national results:“The survey shows an encouragingpicture of patients’ overall experienceof A&E. Most patients (80%) told usthat their overall experience of attend-ing A&E was good, rated it at seven orabove out of 10.

“However there is still a long way togo to ensure that patients have theinformation they need when they leaveA&E. It is not acceptable, for example,that 42% of patients receiving newmedications were not told about possi-ble side effects or that 22% were notgiven any information or not enoughabout their care and treatment.”

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Good-bye to 2014As 2014 passes into history, what will you

remember most from the year?For many, it may be the commemoration

throughout the country of the start of theGreat War in 1914. An amazing number of

people made the trip to London to see theriver of poppies at the Tower of London, andmany more took part in local services, as wedid in Birstall, to remember the fallen of thatterrible war. This Christmas in many schoolsyoung children took as their theme the fa-mous football match in the trenches, whenGerman and British soldiers forgot their en-mity for the sake of fellowship on ChristmasEve, and when for a brief few hours itseemed that peace was possible. Sadly, as weall know, that vision of peace on earth, whichwas the Christmas message, is no nearer now.We still hear constantly of fighting and hostili-ties throughout the world, if not in WesternEurope, as in the two world wars.A clean slate

A new year always brings the possibility of“wiping the slate clean” and starting all thethings you meant to do last year. Perhaps youhave already made some good resolutionsand perhaps broken them! Holiday offers fillthe TV screen at this time of year too. Plansare already afoot for another of the church’spopular parish holidays in July (contactSandra on 2677238 if you want to knowmore).

Our social committee is offering two inter-esting evenings to cheer up the dark nights ofwinter: at St. James on January 23 at 7pm thefilm “One Chance” will be showing, the storyof a young man whose life was changed afterwinning the TV programme ”Britain’s GotTalent “. There is no charge for this andrefreshments will be served at the interval.On February 27 at Wanlip, there will be an-other fascinating, illustrated travel talk, thistime on Poland, by Sue Ablett, again refresh-ments are included.

Whatever your plans for 2015 may be, thepeople of our two churches wish you a happyand peaceful New Year.

From Beryl McHugh, Parish Churches

on Wanlip Lane during Half-Term week. Thefirst evening performance will be on TuesdayFebruary 17, then nightly until Saturday 21. Amatinee will be performed on Saturday after-noon at 2.30. The mens’ pantomime hasbrought many hours of happiness to Birstallfor nearly 70 years. Originally, the late JohnValentine wrote and produced this annualstage performance. For a time his wife Jeanwas the producer. Now his daughters are veryinvolved in the productions. Tickets are stilljust £5 tel Deborah on 2122513 to bookyours.Christmas Festival Result

The Methodist Church in Birstall is grate-ful to all who helped in so many ways at theChristmas Festival. The displays in the churchwere, as ever, very creative. Following atheme of ‘Christmas Traditions’, the displayswere a delight to browse around and admire.Financially, almost £8000 was raised, - al-most £500 more than last year.Churches Together In Birstall And Wanlip

The Christian churches with premises inBirstall have, over many years, worked togeth-er in unison. This has usually been with ‘unit-ed services’ in one form or another. It was afew years ago when Christians in Birstall tookthe bold step of sharing bread and wine alltogether as they remembered the Last Supperthat Jesus shared with his disciples. The HolyMass of the Catholics, The Holy Communionof the Methodists and the Eucharist of theAnglicans came together as one. Sadly, thiswonderful sharing has now lapsed but manypray it may be revived one day.

Unity, however still works, but in differentways. Recently those giant puppets were cre-ated by members of the Methodist, Anglican& Catholic communities in Birstall.

On Sunday afternoon January 18 at 3pmin the Methodist Church there will be a serv-ice of celebration for Churches Together inBirstall. All are welcome of any denomination– or none.

From Birstall Methodist Church

the funds raised to further their work withadults with learning difficulties. We wouldalso like to say how lovely it was to see thoseof you who joined us for the Carol Serviceand, from the collection, we were able tosend a donation to help needy people in theMiddle East.Proposed meetings

During the visitation in the village, a fewpeople have indicated that they would wel-come an introduction to the Bible course. Ifyou would like to join these meetings, whichare open to individuals of any denominationor religion (or none) and are free of charge,then please contact the phone number givenbelow. We propose to start with answeringthe questions: how did the Bible come to bewritten; is it trustworthy; have there beenchanges and are there contradictions? Wewould then move on to what the Bible actual-ly says, the content tailored to the needs ofthe group.Sunday services

Our services are held in the CommunityRoom at Highcliffe Primary School, GreengateLane (LE4 3DL), starting at 10.45am. We aredue to return to the school from January 11,2015. You can be assured of a warm wel-come. All at BIBC wish you a very happy NewYear and every blessing for 2015.

Further information : please ring 01162214883.

From Anne Taylor, Birstall Inde-pendent Baptist Church

BIRSTALL AND Wanlip WImet on December 1 for theirfinal meeting of 2014.

It was a truly festive occasion with aSecret Santa, mince pies and the makingof Christmas wreaths. Using evergreenbranches, holly, cones and bows JulieTinley showed us how to make a foilcovered potato into a beautiful wreathand supervised us all as we tried torecreate her example.

Some of us went to see the excellentCurve production of the Sound of Musicon December 2 and we enjoyed a Christ-mas dinner together at the Red Lion inRothley on December 11.

Maxilyn Geary, Christine Warren andBeverley Blackburn have been busymaking and selling crafts and haveraised over £450 for three charities.Following this success we hope to ex-pand to include all our members in craftmaking for charity in 2015.

Our next meeting at Highcliffe Schoolis on January 12 at 7pm.

From Birstall & Wanlip WIPic: WI members enjoying Christmas lunchat the Red Lion in Rothley

Church news

Pantomime Tickets‘Aladdin’ will be presented by the usual

‘all male cast’ at the Methodist Church Hall

Thank youWe would like to thank all of you who

supported our sale of Lodge Trust goods atthe village Craft Fair at the beginning of De-cember; the Lodge was very appreciative of

BIRSTALL’S MP is steppingdown next May after 35years in parliament.

Conservative MP for Charnwood,Stephen Dorrell (pictured above) wasfirst elected in 1979. He was healthsecretary during the BSE crisis and aTreasury minister on ‘Black Wednes-day’ when the UK pound crashed outof Europe’s ERM.

As a bank bench MP he served aschairman of the Health Select commit-tee between 2010 and 2014.

On December 1 he took up a roleas a senior advisor with KPMG UK’sHealthcare and Public Sector Practiceon a part-time basis.

In his letter to the CharnwoodConservative Association announcinghis decision not to stand at the 2015General Election he said: “I have de-cided in consultation with my familythat this role represents a great op-portunity to carry forward the com-mitment to improve public serviceswhich has been a major part of mylife in politics.

“This is a bitter sweet moment.While I look forward to working withKPMG, it has been an enormous privi-lege to serve in parliament since May1979, first as the MP for Loughbor-ough and more recently as MP forCharnwood.”

Stephen Dorrell’s majority at the2010 election was 15,029.

MP tostep down

WI news

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Now that Christmas is over it is an idealtime to make sure that your valuables arekept safe and secure.

There are many ways that this can bedone, including some very simple measures.There has been an increase in thefts fromvehicles, some vehicles were insecure anditems were left on show. Please make surethat you lock your vehicle at all times, even ifyou are only going to be a few minutes. Donot give an opportunist thief a reason to takeyour belongings and put items either in theboot, or take them with you.

This applies to sheds and garages as well,keep them locked and put all of your itemsaway. Burglars will often use items left lyingaround as an easy way to gain access to yourproperty, don't make it easy!

Also, keep ladders in your shed or garage,or chained and locked. Timers for lights arean ideal way to help protect your property ifyou are out at night, by making it look likesomeone is home. Remember, if your cur-tains are open and no lights are on it is obvi-ous that nobody is home. You can registervaluables at Immobilise.com, where you canadd photographs of your items for free.

Obviously, it is better to keep them safeand secure than suffer the distress of havingyour belongings stolen. We offer free codingof cycles at our monthly advice shop (thethird Saturday of every month 10 until 12).Our next advice shop will be on January 17 atthe old council office on Sibson Road carpark. Please pop along for advice and securi-ty products all sold at cost price.

From Birstall and Wanlip NHWcommittee.

reported in November compared to just 6 inOctober. Please ensure that you are not leav-ing items on display when you park yourvehicles as in several cases they were brokeninto in order to steal cash and small electri-cal items that had been left on view. Alsoplease make sure that your vehicle is secureat all times, even if only left for a minute orso.

Lead thefts continue to be a problem asthese accounted for 4 out of the 9 ‘othertheft’ offences that were reported in Novem-ber (the other 5 were thefts of fuel from thePetrol station). You may have seen on thenews recently that a number of churches inthe Leicestershire area have been targetedand had lead stolen from their roofs and Iam saddened to report that the Church atWanlip has recently fallen victim to this also.On a positive note however, two males havebeen arrested and questioned in relation tothis theft and the others that have occurredthroughout the County and they are currentlyon Police Bail whilst enquiries continue.

In the last week officers have been outdelivering advice letters, leaflets, windowstickers and property marking pens to around300 homes on the ‘Gates’ estate. This is inresponse to three break-ins on this estateduring the month, one of which actually oc-curred during the day when the homeownerwas present. This was obviously a very fright-ening experience for the victim although I amkeen to point out that it is very rare forsomeone to actually break in whilst a houseis occupied. Enquiries are ongoing to try andidentify the male responsible for this incidentas we are obviously keen to find out who heis so that he can be prosecuted.

Make sure that you report any suspiciousbehaviour or activity to the Police on 101 oryour local Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordina-tor.

PC 1759 Dave Jaeckels, PCSO’s 6611Mark Butler, 6048 Adam Loydall and6391 Fiona Lacey.

L05 – Birstall Office, Leicestershire Policehttp://www.leics.police.uk

Tel: 101 or 0116 2677355 (Please note this isan advice line only – Please use 101 to reportcrime).

Charnwood Borough Council is creat-ing 29 high-quality flats for elderly peo-ple at Riversdale Court in Birstall.

Councillor Jane Hunt, Cabinet Mem-ber for Housing and Regulatory Servicesat Charnwood Borough Council, said:“We are delighted to be upgrading thesehomes for our residents.

“This represents a significant invest-ment for us, but we are committed tomaking council homes better for ourtenants. I am particularly pleased thatwe are helping to improve the quality oflife for some of our elderly residents. Ilook forward to seeing the completedflats.”

The existing scheme of 25 flats andbedsits will be refurbished and remod-elled. Eight new units will also be built,creating 29 one-bedroom flats. Two ofthe flats will be wheelchair friendly whilethe car park will also be expanded.

The work is being carried out byWillmott Dixon Housing.

A spokesman for Willmott Dixon said:“We are delighted to be working on thisimportant project to provide qualityhomes, tailored especially for people inretirement.

“Where possible we'll use local com-

panies to help us build the new develop-ment.”

Work is expected to take a year tocomplete and residents will be fullyinvolved in choosing the kitchens, bath-rooms and colour schemes. Previoustenants of Riversdale will be able tochoose their own flat.

Mayor of Charnwood Paul Day wasinvited along to the site in RiversdaleClose to cut the first piece of turf tomark the start of building work.

NHW news& crime report

Recorded crime has remained aboutthe same as in October with 45crimes being reported this month.

The main reason for this is a rise in theftfrom motor vehicle offences with 12 being

Crime Figures for Birstall & Wanlip :Nov 2014

Assaults 1, burglary dwelling 5, burglary nondwelling 5, damage 1, damage to motor vehicle 3,public order 1, theft 9, theft cycle 3, theft frommotor vehicle 12, theft of motor vehicle 2, theftfrom store 3.

A £3MILLION project to refurbish and expand a shelteredhousing complex in Birstall has begun.

A RESIDENT of RomanRoad is worried about theincreased volume of trafficsince speed bumps wereinstalled on Birstall Road.

To avoid the bumps, vehicles arenow using Roman Road and CurzonAvenue to get to and from Red Hillcircle.

Mrs Dympna Clifford said: “I spoketo a number of residents and everyoneagrees, elderly people with grandkidsvisiting and young couples with chil-dren, that due to the speeding trafficwe are an accident waiting to hap-pen.”

Mrs Clifford wrote to LeicestershireCounty Council with her concerns. Itsaid the parked cars along the roadacted to reduce vehicle speeds as“drivers take more care in a confinedsetting” and that there had been nopersonal injury accidents on RomanRoad in the last five years.

Pic: the Mayor of Charnwood, CllrPaul Day digging the first section ofturf at Riversdale Court with StuartKerr, Operations manager of WilmottDixon. Also pictured are Riversdale residents, local councillors andrepresentatives from Charnwood Borough Council and Willmott Dixon.

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Christmas festivalat Methodist churchBIRSTALL METHODISTChurch’s ChristmasFestival featured doz-ens of festive displayscreated by local peo-ple.

Visitors also enjoyed a Christ-mas market featuring hand craft-ed gifts, homemade cakes,pastries, preserves and Christmasdecorations. The event raised£8000.Pics: (top) encouraging oneyoung visitor to hook a fish areCarmen Bradshaw (left) andBrenda Cobb

A PRESENTATION by CarlGunns at County Hall helpedhim secure a £525 grant forhis boxing gym on BirstallRoad.

Carl took four young people fromthe gym with him who took part inthis two minute pitch for a CountyCouncil Shire Grant and finished top,with 80 per cent of the votes.

“I was astonished when they toldme no-one had got as much as 80per cent of the vote before” saidCarl.

The money will be spent on newgloves and ropes.

The gym has now been open for13 years and is attended by around120 young people a week. Carl said:“Two men have really kept the gymgoing, to be honest. They are ColinPole and Jim Garner. Everyone at thegym owes them a big thank you.”

THE BIRSTALL Post invitedLeicestershire County Council toprovide detailed answers to anumber of questions about pri-mary school places in Birstall.

These included: what is the number ofadditional places required, where will theybe accommodated, how much will be con-tributed by developers Jelson, will the De-partment for Education be providing anyfunding.

The original plans for the Hallam Fieldsdevelopment included the provision of aprimary school on the site.

The County Council’s response was: “Weare involved in ongoing legal discussionswith the various parties involved in the sec-tion 106 agreement for primary provision inrelation to Hallam Fields. We’ll be able toprovide an update when the discussions,which will clarify how many primary placesare needed, where they would be providedand the funding arrangements, are com-plete.

“We are keen to resolve this as soon aspossible and will continue to press for anearly resolution.”

Gymsecuresgrant

Primaryplaces

DAVE HUTCHINGSGENERAL BUILDING & HOME REPAIRS

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Tiling • PlasterPatching • Fencing etc

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ALANCHAMBERS

PAINTER &DECORATOR

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Tel: 0116 2941336Mob: 07989 451048

39 Copeland Rd, Birstall


VOLUNTEERS, INCLUDING somefrom Birstall and Thurcaston,visited health units in Tanza-nia and saw how the work of alocal charity is making a dif-ference.

Eleven self funded volunteers fromSyston based charity Inter Care made thetrip and visited 13 health care units tomonitor the usage of the medical aid sentby the charity.

It also gave volunteers the opportunityto experience first-hand the differencetheir efforts here in the UK really do makein rural Africa.

John Winter, who hasvolunteered for Inter Care fornearly two years, said: “Forme, the trip showed me thatthere’s nothing quite likeseeing a shelf in a ruralhealth centre that would beempty of medicines if itwasn’t for the work we do inSyston, to see that what we doreally does save lives andrelieve suffering.”

This year the charity cele-

brated its 40th anniversary. Ithas over 60 volunteers help-ing recycle and donate sur-plus medicine to health unitsin Africa. The cost of packag-ing and distributing the par-cels to Africa is the charity’sbiggest expense.

Some of the volunteershave given talks to local clubsand societies about theirexperiences of volunteeringfor Inter Care and visitingclinics in Africa. If you would

like to arrange to have an Inter Carespeaker or find out more about fundrais-ing please [email protected]: Inter Care volunteers in Tanzania (l-r): Sue,Vince, Tom, Pete, Ruth, Mercy, Elvis, Jo, Char-lotte, Clementine, Carol, Ruth, Sam, Lesley, Col-in, Judith and John

A DAY trip from Birstall tothe Palace of Westminsterwill include a tour of theHouse of Commons and theHouse of Lords.

The trip, which departs by coachfrom Birstall on Monday March 16 at7.30am, costs £25 and tickets areavailable on a first come, first servedbasis.

Organised by Birstall Conservatives,the trip is apolitical and all are wel-come. [email protected]

Trip toParliament

BIRSTALL ALLOTMENT Socie-ty organised an open morn-ing in September.

The morning included a best vege-table competition – there were 12categories and each winner wasawarded with a Birstall AllotmentSociety rosette.

The Society recently presented£200 to the County Air AmbulanceTrust. The money was raised from thesale of produce at the allotment openday and raffles at society meetings.

The sale of horse manure suppliedby Kevin and Maria Holderway andfamily has raised over £600, with theproceeds going to a charity called‘Wenlow’, a riding school for disabledchildren.

Allotmentsociety

GUESTS AT Birstall MethodistLuncheon Club enjoyed a perform-ance by Riverside school choir attheir Christmas lunch, followed bya visit from Santa.

LunchwithSanta

A PIPE band based in Birstallperformed in the BirminghamInternational Tattoo in No-vember.

The Seaforth Highlanders (Leicesterbranch) practise at the Birstall SocialClub every Wednesday evening between7.30-10pm. The band teaches all as-pects of highland piping, drummingand dancing. Spokesman Keith Childs

said: “We have a solid reputation forproducing quality music and dancingand participate in parades, events,competitions and tattoos from Leices-ter, around the Midlands and in toEurope.”

The Seaforth Highlanders formedpart of the Massed Pipes and Drums atthe Birmingham International Tattooand were part of a cast of up to 1000performers playing in front of 9000people.

If you would like to contact to theband and consider joining, please con-tact [email protected]

Local charity working in Africa

Pipe band

We offer a ‘FREE FIRST LESSON’to enable prospective students to

come and join in and have a look round.

Nowenrollingnew studentsin allage groups:

Tel: 0116 2355495Email: [email protected]

BABY BALLET - 2-4 YEARSBABY STAGE - 5-7 YEARS

JUNIOR STAGE - 8-10 YEARSINTER STAGE - 11-14 YEARS

SENIOR STAGE - 15 AND OVER

Weekly classes in the followingsubjects: Classical Ballet, ClassicalGreek, Modern Jazz,, Lyrical, Tap,

Speech & Drama, Acrobatics, Stage,Musical Theatre, National &

Commercial

Starlight Theatre SchoolHadrian Road, Mowmacre Hill,

Leicester LE4 2PQ

ALL TYPES OF DOMESTIC& INDUSTRIAL WORK

Extra PointsAlarmsRewiringSecurity LightingElectrical TestingPart P Registered

Control Electrics LtdTel: 0116 2682910

FREE ESTIMATES


Cancer in the UKBirstall BAG’s want to start 2015 by

setting the cancer scene and also en-couraging you to do something positivefor your own health while raising moneyfor your chosen charity at the sametime!

There are over 200 different types ofcancer and here are some basic UKstatistics related to the disease:

· More than 331,000 people werediagnosed with cancer in 2011 inthe UK, that’s around 910 peopleevery day.

· Every two minutessomeone in the UK isdiagnosed with can-cer.

· More than 1 in 3people in the UK willdevelop some formof cancer duringtheir lifetime.

· The risk of devel-oping cancer up to theage of 50 years is 1 in 35for men and 1 in 20 for women.

· Breast, lung, prostate and bowelcancers together account for over half ofall new cancers each year.

· Cancer can develop at any age, butis most common in older people. Morethan a third of cancers are diagnosed inpeople aged 75 and over.

· Less than one per cent of all can-cers occur in children (aged 0-14).

· Less than one per cent of all can-

cers occur in teenagers (aged 15-24).· Overall cancer incidence rates in

Great Britain have increased by morethan a third since the mid- 1970s, withalmost this entire rise occurring beforethe late 1990s.

· Cancer incidence rates in GreatBritain have risen by 23% in males andby 43% in females since the mid-1970s.

· There have been large increases inthe incidence of many cancers

strongly linked to lifestyle,such as kidney, liver, skin

(malignant melano-ma), oral anduterine (womb).

· In malesover the lastdecade stomach

cancer incidencehas decreased byalmost a third,and lung cancerincidence has

decreased byaround a seventh.

· In females over the lastdecade in the UK, stomach cancer

incidence has decreased by more than aquarter, and ovarian cancer incidencehas decreased by around a tenth.

· Worldwide there were estimated tobe around 14.1 million new cases ofcancer in 2012, with incidence ratesvarying across the world.

· In Europe, there were an estimated

3.44 million new casesof cancer in 2012. TheUK incidence rate is15th lowest in Europefor males and 8th high-est for females.

· Cancer is thenumber one fear forthe British public,feared ahead of debt,knife crime, Alzheim-

er’s disease and losing a job.

Reducing your riskHow about reducing your risk by

taking up the Cancer Research Uk Dryat-holon Challenge. Learn more fromhttp://www.cancerresearchuk.org/support-us/find-an-event/charity-challenges/dryathlon. You can be a Dry-athlete throughout January. One month,no alcohol. You and your mates. Feelfitter, clear your head, save money andraise funds to help a charity!

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

Contact the BAG’s by [email protected] or text mobile07734 212102 .

Thank you all for you ongoing sup-port.

TELEPHONE EXTENSION Socketsfitted by ex-BT engineer. Cable,BT and digital TV. Over 25 yrs ex-perience. John 2675132, mob:077 91788331

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

GREEN GOOD condition girls/ladiesRaleigh bike, £35. Tel number07887398411

Birstall BAG’s cancer corner

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.

Small Ads

P/14/2386/2: 3 Lambourne Road –creation of one dwelling

P/14/2424/2: 12 Fieldgate Crescent –the erection of a single storey rear ex-tension extending beyond the rear wallof the original house by 4.0m, with amaximum height of 3.0m, and height tothe eaves of 2.4m

P/14/2401/2: Longslade CommunityCollege – lower ground floor refurbish-ment, single storey extension and over-cladding to the existing library buildingto create an admin/reception area. Crea-tion of a new visitor parking area to thefront of the building with a new pedes-trian route alongside the existing accessroad

P/14/2389/2: 483 LoughboroughRoad – formation of driveway access tofront of dwelling

THE BIRSTALL POSTYOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER

Unit 109, Greenacres,The Sidings, Leicester LE4 3BR

Editor: Mr Jerry Jackson

Editorial/Advertising (Tel & Fax)

0116 4422067Correspondence, news etc

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

Unit 109, Greenacres, The SidingsLeicester LE4 3BR,

[email protected]

Planning

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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

Tel: 0116 2375577Mobile 07969 953958

www.bishopsappliancecare.co.uk

APPLIANCE REPAIRS & SALES

Electric Cookers & HobsWashing MachinesTumble Dryers • DishwashersCooker Hoods

proSP CSeyewear

at the best pricesQuality spectacles

visit our showroom

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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

An EnergyPerformance

Certificate (EPC)is still required if youare selling or renting

out your house.

Call David Jackson on0781 5519490

to arrange your EPC

Plumbing & HeatingEst 1968

Tel: 0116 2692167Mob: 0792 1703 765

211637

General PlumbingBathrooms & TilingLandlord CertificatesPOWER FLUSHINGNew Installations & UpgradesGas Boilers/Fires Serviced & Repaired

LOCAL BUSINESS • CALL GARY ON

Elliott & Ball

birstall post (378) january 2015

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