Editorial policy Roundabout aims to promote local events, groups and businesses and to keep everyone informed of anything that affects our community. We avoid lending support (in the form of articles) to any social, political or religious causes, and we reserve the right to amend or omit any items submitted. The final decision rests with the editors. While Roundabout is supported by Woodhouse Parish Council, we rely on advertisements to pay production costs, and we accept advertisements for local businesses as well as those that publicise charitable and fund-raising events. Brief notification of events in the ‘What’s on’ schedule is free. Copyright in any articles published is negotiable but normally rests with Roundabout. We apologise for any errors that might occur during production and will try to make amends in the following issue. Roundabout needs your input. For guidelines on submission, please see inside the back cover. Management and production Roundabout is managed on behalf of the community and published by the Editorial and Production Team comprising Richard Bowers, Evelyn Brown, Amanda Garland, Andrew Garland, Dawn Kirby, Tony Lenney, Rosemary May, Neil Robinson, Grahame Sibson and Andy Thomson. Editor for this issue: Dawn Kirby Cover (a May bug): Neil Robinson Advertising managers: Amanda and Andrew Garland Desk-top publishing (page layout) for this issue: Richard Bowers Printing: Loughborough University Printing Services Roundabout is available to read or download from the parish council website at www.woodhouseparishcouncil.org.uk/roundabout.html Distribution: Roundabout is delivered by volunteers to every address within the parish boundary – just under 1,000 households and businesses, including all the surrounding farms. Please let us know if any house or business in Woodhouse Parish is not receiving Roundabout, or if you can help out with deliveries. 2 Roundabout May 2014 Contents Page Editor’s note 5 Parish council news 5 News in brief 11 Easter bunnies appear early on Beacon Hill 16 The last years of the local bakery 19 Sharing more memories of yesteryear 24 Superfast broadband update 26 Swarming – a perfectly natural phenomenon 29 Learning all about the lilies 31 Garden matters 32 May codeword 33 The last word 34 Contributions to Roundabout Inside back cover What’s on in May Back cover Deadline for submissions to the June 2014 issue: Saturday, 10th May Email to [email protected] or hand in at the post office Editor for June 2014 issue: Natalie Ward Roundabout May 2014 3 4 Roundabout May 2014 Editor’s note With the weather warming up and sun finally shining, more and more people have been out and about. This issue of Roundabout features a round-up about The Beacon Easter Bunny Fun Runs (p.16) where hundreds pulled on their trainers to race around the beautiful country park while raising cash for charity. Woodhouse Eaves’ resident beekeeper Kyle Veitch (p.29) tells us about bee swarms, which are typical for May, and what to do if you should spot one. We also take a look back into the past with tales from the parish’s final baker in the third article in Evelyn Brown’s fascinating series looking at the priceless video interviews captured by Jim Matthews (p.19). Clifford Newton also shares his memories of life as a youngster in the parish during the 1940s and 50s (p.24). Parish council news European Parliament elections on 22nd May 2014 The list of candidates is on local notice boards and on the parish council’s website. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) might seem very remote, but much of what they do has an impact on our community. Some MEPs are able to send you regular updates about what they are doing and, of course, will listen to what you have to say. Our current MEPs for the East Midlands area are Derek Clark (UK Independence Party), Bill Newton Dunn (Liberal Democrat), Roger Helmer (UK Independence Party), Emma McClarkin (Conservative) and Glenis Willmott (Labour). You can see much more about them at http://tinyurl.com/po54xr7 Each has their own website with a tab to link to what they have been doing and saying in the European Parliament during the past five years. The 2009 results are available at http://tinyurl.com/pg9k7kr New-look parish council website The new-look website is now live. We decided to move from our contract via Leicestershire County Council to go direct with the website providers instead, as they offered extra features that won’t be available through their existing contract with the county council. If you consult the website a lot, you will notice a change to the structure, with fewer headings in the margins and a running newsfeed across the Roundabout May 2014 5 screen. From an administrative point of view, the site is better because it includes a document management system which provides one place for our documents and avoids duplication. The cost to the parish council is the same as before. If you want to receive alerts about news and events in the parish you can sign up to our Twitter account @WoodhousePC Planning: changes to what you can do The parish council considered ten planning applications in April – four of which were for work to trees. In the parish’s three conservation areas, all trees are protected so you must ask Charnwood Borough Council for permission to work on them. Recent changes to the planning laws mean that we expect to see more ‘permitted developments’ (where planning permission is not required from the borough council) for such things as loft conversions, small extensions, garage, shop and barn conversions. However, those looking to carry out work to their homes in conservation areas will still need to make sure they have Charnwood Borough Council’s permission. 6 Roundabout May 2014 For any of these works you should also contact the borough council’s Building Control Service to make sure any work is properly designed, safe and meets building regulations. Details of all local applications are on the parish council’s website. Echo Honours Awards Woodhouse Eaves resident Ann Humphreys received a certificate from the Mayor of Charnwood, Councillor Sandie Forrest, at a ceremony organized by the Loughborough Echo to celebrate the work of local volunteers. If you use a bus in Woodhouse Eaves, you can thank Ann for an accurate timetable at the bus stop because she lobbies Centrebus and Kinchbus regularly until they provide the information and arrange a display at the bus stops. Both companies have altered their start and finish stops and on some occasions, Ann has rescued passengers waiting in the wrong place. At the start of the new school year, after children and adults were left standing in both villages because there was not enough room on the bus for them, she asked Centrebus managers to provide a larger vehicle and monitored the passenger numbers until she was sure there was a good match between the size of the bus and passenger demand. Congratulations and thanks to Ann for helping so many local people to get to and from their destinations. Orchard now has a community logo When you go to see how the fruit trees are growing at Broombriggs Farm you will see a display board identifying the organizations that have helped to create this community resource. One of the volunteers who helped to plant the trees was local resident and professional designer Philippa Lurcock, who has designed a logo for the board. She has also created a visual record of the venture on her website which you can see by visiting www.itsniceout.com/gatherings/broombriggs-community-orchard At its April meeting, the parish council offered its thanks to Philippa for this lasting contribution as well as to all the volunteers who turned out in some poor weather to plant all the trees. None of this would have happened without the involvement of our heritage and tree wardens, Cathy, Kate and Maggie, who enthused and gathered the volunteers and helped to plan the orchard design. At the same meeting, the council also thanked the scout group for their successful rummage and book sale which raised more than £1,600 for scout funds. Roundabout May 2014 7 8 Roundabout May 2014 Update on the village hall extension project We have selected a contractor on the recommendation of the project managers. Keller Construction might be able to start work around July, but first we have to raise the remaining sum of money and re-submit a planning application to reflect minor alterations to the size of the building. For example, the original length would make the emergency exit too difficult for anyone in a wheelchair to negotiate; the building will now be be shorter so that the pathway out of the building is less steep. We have also decided to move the rear of the building away from the wall behind to improve access for maintenance. There are still some further details to discuss but the project is moving as fast as possible. Once the work starts there will be some disruption to all users of our premises, we will have to divert the school path and we will lose some car parking spaces. If the new nursery group goes ahead, bookings for the annexe will be disrupted until the new building is ready. Please be as patient as possible and please carry on helping us to raise the money we need. Next meeting See ‘What’s on’ for details. The May meeting marks the start of the council year and as always, you are all welcome to attend. Ann Irving, Clerk to the Council For parish council information, including meeting dates and minutes, see http://woodhouseparishcouncil.org.uk/ Roundabout May 2014 9 10 Roundabout May 2014 News in brief World Book Day celebrations Pupils at St Paul’s School in Woodhouse Eaves marked World Book Day with a plethora of workshops and activities.