Archives

Traffic weight restriction update

Published 31 March 2018

Update on A515 and associated schemes

· A515 minor roads experimental Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) – £100,000 has been allocated in the 2018/19 financial year to design and deliver an experimental TRO for weight restrictions/weight restricted turning bans on Wood End Lane, A513 Alrewas Road (between Kings Bromley and Alrewas) and the B5016 Yoxall Road (between Yoxall and Barton-under-Needwood). Amey, Staffordshire County Council’s strategic partner, has already begun preparing the design and seeking the necessary approvals to implement a scheme. The Council is looking to implement the experimental TRO before the end of the June 2018, dependant on any approvals required by from the Department for Transport.
· Yoxall Village Gateway Enhancement – £60,000 has been allocated in 2018/19 to design and deliver improvements in Yoxall, such as:
o 40mph buffer zones on the A515 approaches into Yoxall
o A possible extension of the 30mph speed limit on the southern end of Yoxall
o Gateway features on the entrance to Yoxall to slow traffic
o A possible Zebra crossing in Yoxall on the A515
· Draycott-in-the-clay speed limit review – £20,000 has been allocated towards recommendations arising from the speed limit review report completed by Amey in March 2018.
· B5017 between A515 and Burton upon Trent – there is approximately £200,000 from developer contributions in the local area that could potentially be utilised towards improving the B5017 corridor and discouraging it’s use by HGV through traffic. The Council is currently exploring its options on this.

Steve Brown & Allan Howard, the Parish Councillors who have been attending the Transport Forum and The Transport Forum Working Group meetings add: The County Council estimate that these measures will reduce the heavy goods traffic on the A513 through Kings Bromley by nearly 100% and that on the A515 by 70%. ‘Nearly’ because HCVs making deliveries/pickups in the restricted areas and farm vehicles are exempted and the A513/A515 will continue to be the diversion route when there are problems on the A38. These measures will only be effective if they are properly enforced, and we will press for the police to do this and will be doing monitoring ourselves and through the local Speedwatch group. The Parish Council remain committed to the ultimate aim of getting a weight limit on the A515. However, we recognise that because this is designated as on the Primary Route Network this could be difficult to achieve. Therefore we welcome these short term measures which the County Council are able to implement without lengthy National consultations and/or enquiries.

Village news from Helen Price – 29/3/18

Published 27 March 2018

Kings Bromley Village Hall Refurbishment

The Parish Council displayed draft plans for the refurbishment of the Village Hall at an open morning in the Village Hall on Saturday. Villagers were invited to provide feedback on all aspects of the plans and suggest ideas for future fundraising. There was plenty of interest and many ideas proffered.

The ladies of the WI kindly provided refreshments and, as an added bonus, everyone was treated to two excellent performances from Kings Bromley’s very own Village Harmony Choir.

Church Jumble Sale, Saturday 14th April

The jumble sale will be held at the Village Hall at 2.00 p.m. on Saturday 14th April. Any clothes, small bric-a-brac and books in good condition would be very welcome. Please bring offerings to the hall on the Saturday morning between 10.00 and 11.30 am or ring Peter Gee on 472157 to arrange transport. Offers to help sort and sell the goods would be most welcome; again, please contact Peter Gee.

Tweenies Parent and Toddler Group

The group runs on a Thursday morning in the village hall from 9.30 till 11.30 a.m. Please continue to support this activity which provides so much fun, play and socialisation for families of the village and surrounding areas.
£1 per child and 50p for the raffle. Contact Kerry Helliwell on 07875 367379

Best kept village competition and open gardens 2018

Published 27 March 2018

Best Kept Village Competition
The Parish Council are entering the village into the Best Kept Village Competition again. Please help us to win yet again. The judges like no litter, neat front gardens and the BKV flyers displayed in front windows. These flyers will be distributed to all houses towards the end of April.
Judging takes place during May, June and July. There will be a general clean up on Sun. 29th April at 11a.m. Please turn up with a plastic bag, we usually manage to fill quite a few.

Allan Howard

Open Gardens
Kings Bromley Open Gardens will take place on Sat. 16th and Sun 17th June, from 12 noon to 5 p.m. So far we have 9 confirmed gardens, including 4 that have never opened before.
The WI will be ‘yarn bombing’ again and providing teas in the village hall on the Saturday.There will be ‘fairy finding’ for the kids and there might be some musical entertainments – watch this space!
At a preliminary meeting it was decided that the profits would again go to the Village Hall Refurbishment Fund; so far the Open Gardens has contributed £4,000 to this worthy effort.
If you would like to open your garden, please contact Alison Howard before the end of April.

Allan Howard

Village news from Helen Price – 22/3/18

Published 19 March 2018

Kings Bromley Village Hall Refurbishment Project

A campaign has commenced to raise funds for a major refurbishment of the lobby, toilets and kitchen areas in the village hall. Donations have already been received from a number of local organisations, for which we are very grateful. However, a substantial amount of money is still required before we can commence work. A small team comprising members of the Parish Council, assisted by the Chairman of the Village Hall Committee, will be exploring funding opportunities and any funding ideas will be welcome. Alternatively, if anyone has skills they feel they may be able to offer to the project, we would be pleased to hear from you. One idea already proposed is the sale of a limited number of bricks inscribed with the names of individuals and organisations who are willing to offer a donation. All funds raised will be lodged in a separate account to be used solely for the refurbishment project.

Plans and representational images have been drawn up to show the improvements we wish to make and these plans will be on display in the Lobby of the Village Hall on Saturday 24th March, when they will be “launched” between 10.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. Everyone will be welcome and refreshments will be provided. In the meantime, if anyone would like to discuss the project with us, please contact one of the members of the team:-
Mary Gair 473544, Charles Cole 472423, Julie Bamber 473339, Steve Browne 472931, Jan Higgins 07912 855626 or Nigel Lee at mrnigellee@gmail.com.
Refreshments will be provided by Kings Bromley WI with entertainment by Kings Bromley choir.

Wednesday Club

This month’s speaker, Colin Bagshaw, a geologist and lecturer, took us back in time to 1896 and the beginning of one of the greatest gold rushes in history.

The Alaska Gold Rush began on August 16th 1896 when an American prospector George Carmack, his brother-in-law Skookum Jim and his nephew Dawson Charlie struck gold in Rabbit Creek, a tributary of the Klondike. News of the find spread quickly to other mining camps in the Yukon Valley and very soon the whole of Rabbit Creek, renamed Bonanza Creek, was staked out with claims. Richer sources of gold were then found in Eldorado Creek and claims quickly registered there too. The outside world, however, remained largely unaware of the news and it wasn’t until Spring 1897 when the “Portland”, docked in Seattle laden with gold that what became known as “the stampede” began. It is estimated that between 1896 and 1899 100,000 prospectors began making their way to the Klondike of whom 30,000 arrived.

Many of these prospectors travelled via Skagway where they were required to buy one year’s worth of equipment and supplies which then had to be transported over mountains to the lakes and from there down the Yukon River to the gold fields. Queues formed to join the mountain trails each man trudging hundreds of miles back and forth moving their gear from cache to cache. Once at the lakes they built boats to float their equipment down river to Dawson City and the Klondike. Sadly, after all their efforts to reach the Klondike, many thousands started for home within months – penniless. Although mining continued in the Klondike the “stampede” was over almost as quickly as it had begun and while some became wealthy the majority journeyed in vain.

Next Meeting: April 4th at 2.30pm in the Village Hall when we will be “Tracing Paper Skeletons” with Marion Armstrong.
NB. May 2nd. Outing to Matlock Bath. £12.00 per person.

Village Hall refurbishment – launch date

Published 15 March 2018

A campaign has commenced to raise funds for a major refurbishment of the Lobby, Toilets and Kitchen areas in the village hall. Donations have already been received from a number of local organisations, for which we are very grateful. However a substantial amount of money is still required before we can commence work. A small team comprising members of the Parish Council, assisted by the Chairman of the Village Hall Committee, will be exploring funding opportunities and any funding ideas will be welcome. Alternatively, if anyone has skills they feel they may be able to offer to the project, we would be pleased to hear from you. One idea already proposed is the sale of a limited number of bricks inscribed with the names of individuals and organisations who are willing to offer a donation.
All funds raised will be lodged in a separate account to be used solely for the refurbishment project.
Plans and representational images have been drawn up to show the improvements we wish to make and these plans will be on display in the Lobby of the Village Hall from Saturday 24th. March, when they will be “launched” between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Everyone will be welcome and refreshments will be provided. In the meantime, if anyone would like to discuss the project with us, please contact one of the members of the team:
Mary Gair 01543 473544
Steve Browne 01543 472931
Charles Cole 01543 472423
Jan Higgins 07912 855626
Nigel Lee
Julie Bamber 01543 473339

Village news from Helen Price – 15/3/18

Published 12 March 2018

Bowling Club Whist Drive

Whist drive takes place on Tuesday 20th March in the Village Hall, 1.30 for a prompt start at 2.00 pm. All are very welcome.

Kings Bromley Gardening Guild

Our speaker for February unfortunately had to cancel, so Allan Howard stepped into the breach to give his talk planned for the August meeting on ‘Serendipity in the Garden’. Serendipity was voted the nation’s favourite word and could be defined as ‘Happy accidents’; in the garden, Allan defined it as plants which appear without being specifically planted by the gardener.

Allan showed pictures of many examples of flowers which can appear in the garden, such as different varieties of poppy, honesty, foxgloves, aquilegia, teasel, cornflower and of course the well-named forget-me-nots. He wanted to encourage gardeners to be more tolerant of serendipitous plants, as they are often very good for wildlife. There was discussion at the end of the talk on the problems of plants which become too widespread, such as Japanese knotweed, Himalayan balsam, buddleia and Rosebay Willow herb.

The next meeting of the Gardening Guild to be held on 19th March will be the AGM, with wine and cheese, followed by tips for preparing the lawn in spring and a light-hearted gardening quiz.

Village news from Helen Price – 8/3/18

Published 4 March 2018

Helen Price
01543 472203

Kings Bromley Open Gardens, Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th 2018
If anyone from the village would like to open their garden this summer to raise funds for much needed village causes, please contact Alison and Allan Howard on 01543 472720. We will be meeting at 36 Alrewas Road on Tuesday 13th March at 8.00 pm to discuss plans.

Kings Bromley Historians
The Lichfield to Hatherton Canal
1954 could have gone down in history as marking the closure of the Lichfield Canal (opened in 1794) and Hatherton Canal (1841). That it didn’t has been the result of the continuing innovative and ingenious work of the Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust (LHCRT).

The double-hander presentation by Bob Williams (Director – Finance) and Peter Buck (Director – Engineering), showed how much work has already been completed. “There are still major projects to undertake. Our latest appeal ‘Tunnel Vision’ has a target of £1million. It’s another ‘Suchet Appeal’ and will see the Lichfield Canal run under major crossings, like the new Southern Bypass on the A461 and the railway”.

Restoration of the Lichfield Canal began 20 years ago, combining work by volunteers and by contractors for the more difficult sections under roads and railway lines. Importantly, the two canals are at the centre of what leading canal engineer, James Brindley, called the centre of The Cross linking the four main estuaries of the country – Liverpool, Hull, London and Bristol.

Like the original navvies, the Charity continues to show real grit and determination assisted by all its volunteers, and donors to re-establish what in its heyday was a commercial success. Huge amounts of coal from the Cannock Coal Mines were transported. A single slide during the presentation amply illustrated the significance of this one cargo.

The Charity’s aims of reclaiming derelict land, job creation and economic regeneration, recreating a living waterway for leisure and wildlife, and promoting tourism have remained its core values. “Donors make a real contribution to restoring our canals by helping to fund these major, essential tunnels”. Significant progress has already been made by the charity’s volunteers, in completing the rebuilding and renovation of many of the derelict or destroyed sections of the two canals.

Major fund-raising spearheaded by actor and canal champion David Suchet CBE, Vice President of LHCRT, has enabled the completion of major construction works enabling the ‘new’ canals to be reconstructed. Already new sections are passing under and over major obstacles that cut through and destroyed the original routes

The latest restoration works now include a Heritage Tow Path Trail with sections already opened and attracting increasing numbers of visitors.

More information on the work of the Trust can be found at lhcrt.co.uk and @LHCRT

Drop-in cancelled

Published 1 March 2018

The drop-in surgery scheduled for this evening has been cancelled due to the bad weather and will be re arranged for April.