Civic Trust News 2000


Winter 2000

WINTER PROGRAMME

Weds 17th Jan Spread Eagle, 8pm - “The Air Ambulance Service”

Sunday 21st Jan 43, The Lawns, 12 noon - Mulled Wine Morning (Ticket event)

Weds 21st Feb Spread Eagle, 8pm - “Commemorative Pottery”

Sat 3rd March Brookside, 2.00pm - “Pancake Races” (with St Mary’s Church) - Teams of four. All welcome.

Weds 21st March Spread Eagle, 8pm - “York” (& A.G.M.)

 

BOROUGH IN BLOOM

Rolleston, achievements this year included the following-

ROLLESTON WARD

Front Garden
Winner Mr P.A.Gould, 10, Marston Lane
Runner-up Mr & Mrs J. Cawser, 11, Beacon Drive

Rear Garden
Winner Mrs J. Mousley, 10 Hall Road
Runner-up Mr & Mrs J. Cawser, 11, Beacon Drive

WEBB CORBETT CHALICE
(best front or rear garden in the Borough)
Highly comm. Mr P.A.Gould, 10, Marston Lane

FRED BREWER CHALICE
(best vegetable garden in the Borough)
Runner-up Mr & Mrs J.Cawser, 11, Beacon Drive

RAY WALKER MEMORIAL BOWL
(best front or rear garden cultivated by organic methods in the Borough)
Winner Mr P.A.Gould, 10, Marston Lane
Highly comm. Mrs J. Mousley, 10 Hall Road

TIME CONSORTIUM SALVER
(best new garden started within two years)
Highly comm. Mr M. Badcock, 1, The Lawns

BUTROTEX CUP
(best six gardens in a ward)
Runner-up Rolleston

Thanks to the following for allowing their gardens to be submitted

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL INVOLVED


Autumn 2000

"ROLLESTONIAN" - Readers may like to know that a complete run of "Rollestonian", from its initial appearance in 1982, has been placed in the Local Studies section of Burton Library.

"STROLLING THROUGH THE HISTORY OF ROLLESTON ON DOVE". - A new edition of Don Coxon's popular booklet has been published by the Civic Trust and is available from the Post Office or Starbuck's at £1/copy. We are grateful to the Craythorne, T.L. Darby Volkswagen, the Spread Eagle and Rolleston Plant Hire for their sponsorship of this edition.

"CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HISTORY OF ROLLESTON" - Idris Bowen, in association with the Civic Trust, has embarked on a series of booklets based on both his research and that of other local historians. It is felt that the production of a comprehensive village history would be too open-ended and that this is the best way to make the information available. Also, it will be easier to update this material when new facts emerge.

The first two booklets are available at the Post Office-

"THE FEUDAL ORIGIN OF THE ROLLESTON FAMILY OF STAFFORDSHIRE" by K.A. Rolston. (£7.50).
Ken Rolston has carried out extensive research into the Rolleston family name and this 77 page publication is the first revision of a booklet originally published in 1995 and is subtitled "An historical interpretation for the period from the Norman Conquest to A.D. 1300".

"THE HISTORY OF THE OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL AT ROLLESTON, STAFFORDSHIRE" by A.W. Eley (£2.80).
Mr Eley, of Station Road, is related to a former headmaster of the Grammar School, appointed in 1819. The 15 page booklet surveys the history of the Grammar School, from its foundation circa 1520 to its closure in 1909, when it was purchased for church use.

"VICTORIA COUNTY HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE"
Some readers will be aware that the V.C.H. Staffordshire is now working on a volume tio cover Burton upon Trent and surrounding villages. This is being edited by Dr Nigel Tringham of Keele University. Dr Tringham and several archaeological and architectural historian colleagues have been fact gathering in the village recently.

 

BEST SUMMER FRONT GARDEN COMPETITION

The judging took place over the last two weeks in July and the first two weeks in August, culminating on 10th August. The judges found the overall standard of front gardens in the village exceptionally high. On their initial list were no less than 20 potential winners, and it proved to be a very difficult task to reduce these to the final list offered below.

First - 11 Beacon Drive - for colour, a variety of heights and features; the general quality of this garden was unsurpassable.

Second - 40 The Lawns - immaculately kept with quality bedding.

Third Equal - 10 Marston Lane, 37 Hall Road

Fourth Equal - 42 The Lawns, 20 The Lawns

Highly Commended - 43 The Lawns, 72 Hall Road, 11 Caravan Park and 12 Croft Close

 

AUTUMN PROGRAMME

Wednesday 20th September Spread Eagle 8pm - "Burton Abbey" by Dr Trotter

Wednesday 18th October Spread Eagle 8pm - "Orchids", by Mr Richard Haynes

Wednesday 15th November Spread Eagle 8pm - "The Grounds & Gardens of Rolleston Hall (and bits about their owners)" by Tom Martin

Friday 1st December Ticket event

Annual Dinner - details to be announced.


Summer 2000

Pancake Races, 11th March

There was another strong village turn-out for the races this year with 3 adult, 10 junior and 2 infant teams. The Civic Trust managed a clean sweep, with the winning team in each section.

The street collection and profits from the Pre-School Parents pancakes provided over £150 for St Mary’s Fabric Fund.

Spring Garden competition

The judges for this year’s competition thought that the standard of gardens in the village was very good.

This is a difficult competition to judge as over the Spring period gardens change dramatically. Some start the season off beautifully with snowdrops and aconites only to fade as the polyanthus, primroses and daffodils take over. Others are spectacular two months later with mixed beds of wallflowers and tulips. Throughout, the spring flowering shrubs form a steady background offering both colour and scent.

The winners for 2000 were;

1st 8 Knowles Hill – for colour and form - Mrs I.M. Taylor
2nd107A Knowles Hill – beautifully maintained - Mr & Mrs Woodman
3rdRedroofs, Anslow Lane – nice splash of colour, Mr & Mrs Sheffield

Highly Commended

40, The Lawns Mr & Mrs Howard
96, Hall Road Mr & Mrs Jones
72, Hall Road Mr & Mrs Pipe
64, Beacon Road Mr & Mrs Wright
9, Croft Close Mr & Mrs Chapman
11, Home Park Mr &Mrs Leydon
15, Glebe Close Mr & Mrs Bennett

Congratulations to all. The judges look forward to enjoying the summer gardens in our village, which will be judged in July.

CIVIC TRUST SUMMER PROGRAMME

Wednesday 21st June 7.00pm Ticket event £6 - Guided Tour of Ashbourne & Pub Supper

Saturday 15th July Ticket event - Millennium "Bangers & Mash" Evening

Wednesday 20th September Spread Eagle 8pm - Talk on "Burton Abbey" by Dr Trotter

Electoral Review of East Staffordshire

The Civic Trust, along with many other village residents and organizations, had raised strong objections to the changes to the village electoral boundary, as proposed in the initial consultation document.

The Local Government Commission has obviously listened to our collective view in rejecting the proposed changes. Although this will mean a reduction from two to one Borough Councillor representing Rolleston Ward we believe this is the preferred way forward. We shall be endorsing the Commission’s proposals in the final stage of the consultation process.

Future of "The Forest" site

The Civic Trust has reviewed Burton College’s proposals for redevelopment of this site.

We consider that the planning application is

1. inadequate & lacking detail for constructive comment

2. premature in relation to the current revision of the local plan

We also believe that the site still has an educational function given the pressure on existing secondary school facilities in the area.

We shall be supporting the Parish Council’s requests for a fundamental assessment of local education needs and the impact of alternative development on village services and amenities.


Spring 2000

Review of Electoral Arrangements for Staffordshire

The Civic Trust has sent a detailed response to the Borough Council and the Local Government Commission, rejecting the Council’s proposals for changes to Rolleston Ward boundaries. We consider that the proposals show an abysmal lack of understanding by the Council of both the geography and the community ties within the ward. The Council appears to have made no changes to their consultation document as a result of our submission and we now await the LGC draft proposals. We will continue to put our case if these proposals do not reflect our views which are shared by many affected individuals and village organisations.

Brookhollows

The flowers this year on the snowdrops planted along the Lawns side of Brookhollow have shown that this is a suitable site for establishing these bulbs. We shall be purchasing a further supply "in the green" this spring to extend these colonies.

Civic Trust Spring Programme

Sat 11th March 2.00pm Brookside

Wed 15th March 8.00pm in Spread Eagle

Wed 19th April 8.00pm in Spread Eagle

Wed 17th May Ticket Event

Wed 21st June 7.00pm Ticket event


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Last updated: 8 December 2001