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Kings Bromley Book Club

Published 29 April 2019

The Village Phone Box which was bought from BT by the Parish Council has been converted into a small Book Exchange by the Kings Bromley Book Club and is now open. This has helped us to keep the iconic box in the village when so many are being either destroyed or sold for profit. The idea is to take a book and if you wish replace it with a book that you have enjoyed. The Exchange contains books for all ages and is totally free. The Book Club would like to thank Jack Amberton, Rob Braycotton and Phil Brown for their generous help in converting the box to its new use.
Phone Box

Village news from Helen Price – 2nd May 2019

Published 29 April 2019

Kings Bromley Bowling Club Coffee Morning

Kings Bromley Bowling Club, Manor Park is hosting an event on Saturday 11th May from
10 am till 12 noon. We will be holding a raffle, cake stall and other sideshows. There will also be an opportunity for anyone with a burning desire to try bowling!! Experienced tutors will be on hand to guide you on your way. All are most welcome.
Admission £1 (lucky prize at the end) and refreshments are included.

Jumble Sale

Thanks to everyone who helped in any way with the Jumble Sale in the Village Hall on 6th April, whether donating items, sorting or helping in the afternoon. Thanks especially go to Peter Gee for co-ordinating contributions and for organising the day.

Kings Bromley Village Hall AGM

This meeting will be held at Kings Bromley Village Hall at 8.00 pm on Thursday 23rd May. All Village Organisations welcome.

Staffordshire Community Speed Watch

Published 24 April 2019

Michelle Shaker of CSW reports that there are now 69 active speedwatch teams in
Staffordshire, comprising of 327 volunteers. If you would like to be involved, please contact
Allan Howard. Speeders are first sent a warning letter, then a second, and on a third offence
receive a visit from a Special Constable. The stats below show how the number of letters
and home visits has grown over the last three years:

Full Year 1 st Qtr 2 nd Qtr
2016 2017 2018 2018 2019
Number of 1 st Warning Letters 3317 5270 8191 921 1995
Number of 2 nd Warning Letters 119 189 482 30 135
Number of Home Visits 5 13 54 3 17
The aim of Speedwatch is to stop speeding rather than to catch offenders, and the very sight of hi-vis
jacketed volunteers does make motorists more aware of their speed through built up areas.
The Kings Bromley group is also sending photos of HGVs violating the weight restricted turns on the
A515 to the police through CSW. If you catch any offenders on your phone cameras please send the
photos to Allan Howard at alan.how8@btinternet.com .

Village news from Helen Price – 18th April 2019 – part 2

Published 15 April 2019

Kings Bromley WI

The WI held their April meeting on a very cold and wintry evening. It was anticipated that few would attend; however our membership continues to increase and we welcomed several new members.
The hall was welcoming as it could be due to the renovation works and we offered refreshments early in camping style to keep everyone warm.

We had a very interesting and informative speaker with Ben Wilkes informing us about the Shropshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire Blood Bikes. Ben is a former police officer from Alrewas and many might have known him as a volunteer for the Border Collie Trust in Colton where he now lives.

The Blood Bike volunteers run a 24 hour service supporting the NHS independently with transportation of urgent blood samples, medical equipment and even breast milk for premature babies all over the Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire area. They started out with 2 secondhand bikes in 2004 and now have a fleet of 15 new bikes and continue to recruit volunteers who are experienced motorcyclists. This valuable service helps save lives, promotes motor cycling and gives a positive image to the community. Ben’s talk was very humorous and yet emotional too.

The meeting closed with our traditional raffle, and by reminding members that our next meeting will be held at the Cricket Club on 2nd May, usual time of 7.30pm.

Village news from Helen Price – 18th April 2019 Part 1

Published 15 April 2019

Kings Bromley Historians

Richard Stone, local historian, described Offa, our subject for the evening, as a ‘most gallant youth’ according to contemporary writing. Born around 740, he became king in 757 by overthrowing Beomred, the other contender to the throne of Mercia. His wife, Cynethryth, was the only wife of a king to have her image on coinage. Offa himself established the rate of coinage, 12d to the shilling and 240d to the pound, the practice which existed until 1971.

Offa is best remembered however for his dyke, which stretched for 177 miles, forming a boundary between the Welsh and English. It was approximately 20 feet high and 100 feet wide, including a ditch on the Welsh side and a palisade on top. Different parts of the dyke were built by separate teams of workers using slightly different methods of construction. He died in 796 and is buried in Bedford.

As it happened, our meeting was on the day of the funeral of our founder, Ivy Butcher. We marked the occasion by raising a glass to her memory.

Our April meeting is an outing to Tissington Hall and our May meeting will be preparation for the 100th anniversary of the Kings Bromley Show.

Kings Bromley Wednesday Club

The Chair began by thanking Gillian for letting us hold this month’s meeting at the Royal Oak and for providing us with tea and coffee.
She then introduced our speaker, Kevin Reynolds, who provided us with an insight into the weird and wonderful world of the Dragonfly – the Devil’s Darning Needle! So called because for centuries people believed that dragonflies came in the night to sew the unsuspecting sleeper’s eyelids together! A similar myth existed in the USA but in this instance, dragonflies would visit those who told lies – sewing their lips together while they slept! An unfair reputation – dragonflies being harmless to humans as they neither bite nor sting.
Kevin went on to explain that dragonflies have inhabited the earth for some 300 million years. Today there are some 6,000 species of dragonfly worldwide with 40 – 50 species here in the UK. Staffordshire is home to some 30 species including one of the rarest in the UK, the White-Faced Darter. He then outlined the life cycle of the dragonfly. A life spent mostly underwater – first as an egg and then as a nymph. They leave the water only to mate and reproduce. Adult dragonflies are supreme fliers with a voracious appetite feeding on midges, mosquitoes, flies, bumble bees, hornets and each other. The males are very territorial chasing and fighting off their rivals.
Kevin concluded by reminding us that while dragonflies are harmless to us, we are harmful to them, and that we need to both protect their current habitats and create new ones.
Next meeting – Wednesday May 1st. Visit to Stratford upon Avon.

Responsible Dog Ownership

Published 12 April 2019

The vast majority of dog owners keep their dogs well supervised, however, at the Parish Council meeting on 10th April, we were made aware of a number of worrying incidents. Firstly, a farmer who farms adjacent to the Trent and Mersey Canal between Handsacre and the canal bridge on Shaw Lane reported that on the 8th April ‘a dog got in with our ewes and lambs and mauled one of our prize ewes to death leaving her lambs now orphan.’ Secondly, on a pavement in Kings Bromley, a dog on a lead was attacked by two unleashed dogs causing the dog and its owner considerable distress. Thirdly, there have been six incidents of customers having been bitten by dogs in the Royal Oak in the last two years causing the owners to ban dogs from certain areas. We would urge all dog owners to make sure that such incidents do not re-occur. On the positive side, we note that there have recently been very few occurrences of dog fouling on our streets.
Kings Bromley Parish Council

Date of next Parish Council meeting

Published 11 April 2019

The next meeting will be on TUESDAY 14th May 2019 not the usual date of Wednesday 8th. Parish Clerk

Village news from Helen Price – 11th April 2019

Published 8 April 2019

Kings Bromley Gardening Guild

The meeting of the Gardening Guild on 18 March started with the AGM. There was a review of another successful year, followed by the re-election of committee members for the coming year. The Gardening Guild welcomes new members and plans to advertise the organisation at the Open Gardens event on 15-16 June. Once the AGM was completed, members enjoyed a glass or two of wine with nibbles and a gardening quiz.
The next meeting on 15 April welcomes Byron Lewis from Lichfield Garden Centre who will be talking about ‘Spring Plants’. All are welcome; the meeting commences at 7.45 pm.

Weight Restricted Turns on A515

Published 5 April 2019

… on the A515 at Yoxall, Kings Bromley and Woodend Lane there has been a significant reduction of HGV traffic on the A515 and A513. The police have taken seriously the monitoring of the junctions but have to rely heavily on the local communities for information. The local Speedwatch team has been out at the A513 and Woodend Lane junctions and sends photographs of offending vehicles to the police through the Speedwatch coordinator. If you could help by taking photos yourself please forward them to Allan Howard on alan.how8@btinternet.com and I will pass them on to the police. An online camera will soon be installed on the Royal Oak which will catch all offenders.

It has been noticed that in order to circumvent the TROs some lorries have been using the A515, A51, Eastern Avenue route to travel between the A50 and A38. At meetings on 5th April with Lomas Distribution and Tarmac, representatives of YTAG (Yoxall Traffic Action Group) and Kings Bromley Parish Council received assurances that their liveried HGVs would be instructed not to use this route which they accept as both unsafe and uneconomic. These companies are then added to a growing list including Wincanton, Shell, Tesco and JCB who have already made this commitment.

Kings Bromley Parish Council

New Councillors

Published 5 April 2019

Seven parishioners nominated themselves for seven Parish Councillor vacancies, so they will be elected unopposed. They are: Steve Browne, Jack Burkinshaw, Charles Cole, Neil Crawley, Janet Higgins, Allan Howard & Gillian Pitchford. Mary Gair, Ian Pritchard and Nigel Lee did not seek re-election, we thank them for their past service.
Voting will take place at the Village Hall on May 2nd for District Councillors.

Forthcoming elections

Published 2 April 2019

If you haven’t already registered to vote at your current address in the past, you will need to do so by 12th April if you want to vote in the parish and district elections that are taking place on 2nd May.

Open Parish Meeting

Published 2 April 2019

.. to this years open parish meeting on Thursday 11th April at 8pm at the Village Hall. All welcome

Village news from Helen Price – 4th April 2019

Published 2 April 2019

Jumble Sale, Saturday 6th April

The jumble sale will be held at the Village Hall at 2.00 p.m. on Saturday 6th 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.

Spring Fete, Saturday 13th April 2019

Kings Bromley Care Home hold their Spring Fete on Saturday 13th April from 3.00 – 5.00 pm. Amongst the attractions will be a tombola, craft stalls, raffle and BBQ. Sounds Familiar provide entertainment.

Entrance is free: do come along and support this local event to raise much-needed funds for activities within our local nursing home. Anybody wishing to volunteer their time and help at the Home, e.g. with activities such as knitting etc. or our garden project, would be warmly welcomed. Please ring Emma on 01283 576145 for further information.

Mobile Library

With effect from April the Mobile Library service is changing its dates and times in Kings Bromley. Starting from Friday 12th April the library van will be calling fortnightly on a Friday from 10.00 am until 11.00 am. It will still be sited in Lanes Close opposite the Richard Crosse School.