Fight for village hall
A group of Bridgnorth residents has launched a campaign to safeguard the future of an historic community hall in danger of closing its doors.
It is feared the building, currently owned by the Oldbury branch of the Women’s Institute, could be left standing empty after it was announced the WI was disbanding due to dwindling numbers.
Villagers are now joining forces with hall users in a bid to take over the running of the 80-year-old premises in Old Mill Lane, used by a variety of organisations from across the town.
Campaigners say the building is subject to a preservation order to prevent it from being demolished and a covenant stipulates it can only be used for community purposes.
Members of artists, Pilates, quilting and mum and toddlers groups are among those in talks over how to breathe new life into the facility and ensure it remains open for use for generations to come.
A public meeting, held recently in conjunction with officials from the Community Council of Shropshire, based in Shrewsbury, was judged a success after a strong turn-out.
Names of residents and other willing members have now been put forward to the CCOS in the hope of forming a village hall committee by March, when the lease on the building expires.
Resident and mother-of-three Karen Cotton, who is currently co-ordinating the campaign, says there is great support among locals to take on the commitment of running and maintaining the hall.
“The WI hall is extremely important to Oldbury. For many years it has provided a popular place for people to meet, socialise and enjoy community events,” she said.
“It is the heart of the village and not to try and safeguard its future would be unthinkable,” she said.
Treasurer of the Oldbury WI, Val Rockett, who has lived in Oldbury for 17 years added: “It has been of great value to the village since around 1930 and it is to be hoped that it will continue to be a major feature of our village for many years to come.”
Down but not out
BRITAIN clawed its way out of recession in 2010 but the effects of it, and the squeeze on leisure spending by families are reflected in the passenger figures for 2010 released by the Severn Valley Railway.
The Kidderminster to Bridgnorth steam tourist line carried 225,570 passengers during the year, down by some 23,000 on 2009, although conversely, the 2009 figures, achieved earlier in the downturn, were within touching distance of an all-time record.
“The reality of recession always comes some time after the fact,” said SVR general manager Nick Ralls.
“We have to take it on the chin, and draw encouragement from the fact that the leisure and tourism market has slowly started to edge back towards stability.”
Taken against the railway’s average passenger figures over the last 10 years – 230,400 – last year’s result is only 5,000 down, representing five or six fewer passengers per train over the 12 months.
The SVR is now promoting a big programme of special attractions for 2011, including a three-day ‘Swinging Sixties’ event on 20, 21 and 22 May.
It will re-open for business this year on Saturday 12 February, following major civil engineering work and trackbed renewals at both Bewdley and Arley.
All engineering work is expected to be completed for the running of the full 16-mile line between Kidderminster and Bridgnorth on Saturday 26 March.
Town clerk quits
Bridgnorth’s town clerk, Rachel Humphries, has left her post with the local authority.
Mrs Humphries, who had worked for the town council since June 2008, has been on maternity leave since last April, and it was indicated that she would be absent for a year. However, a recent announcement from the organization confirmed that she would not now be returning to her office.
“Rachel Humphries has left her employment and the council wish her all the best for the future,” the statement said.
“In the meantime, a locum town clerk will be in post until arrangements for a permanent replacement can be made following Mrs Humphries’ departure.”
Locum Anne Wilson, who has been temporarily covering the clerk’s duties for the past few months, has had her contract extended until September this year.
New mayor is named
Bridgnorth Town Council has nominated Councillor Connie Baines to be its new mayor.
Mrs Baines, who was deputy mayor, will succeed Val Gill.
The new deputy mayor will be Norman Cottrell, who was nominated by Councillor Adrian Tacchi at a recent meeting of the authority. Mr Tacchi said Mr Cottrell was born and bred in the town and had been a well respected businessman and chamber of trade chairman.
Fabulous felines pride of park
The pride of white lions at West Midland Safari Park has been named as one of the attraction’s greatest animal exhibits in its 37-year history.
The big cats were first introduced in 2004 and represented the biggest single animal investment that the Park had ever made.
Interest in the four white lions – one male and three females – was immense from the start with enquiries about them being received from as far as Australia, Canada and South Africa.
In 2006 four cubs were born at the Park, the first ever to be bred in this country.
Further births have resulted in a total pride today of 15, comprising two males and 13 females, representing the largest collection of rare white lions in the UK.
The shape of things
Bridgnorth residents who answered a questionnaire, which will help shape the future of the town, have been thanked for their responses.
The Bridgnorth Town Plan steering committee is currently drawing up a blueprint. A total of 1,600 people filled in the document. Committee chairman Ray Gill said members were grateful to householders for their replies.
“The response rate approached 25% from people in the town itself,” he said. “The next phase of the project, the analysis of the date, is now under way.
“The committee is determined to complete this as quickly as possible but recognising that it is a major task, which must be done well, it will not be cutting corners to seek an early completion. We will keep the town informed as the process progresses.”
On blocks for Olympic run-up
Abraham Darby's iconic bridge, symbol of the Industrial Revolution, and gateway to the historic Ironbridge Gorge Museum
THE IRONBRIDGE GORGE MUSEUM TRUST will be hosting an exciting series of activities and exhibitions as part of the West Midlands’ Cultural Olympiad celebrations in the build up to the 2012 London Games, with the generous support of Renaissance West Midlands.
The multi-site Science, Sport, Life Festival will run from April 2011 to July 2012, featuring events at Blists Hill Victorian Town, the Enginuity design and technology centre and Coalbrookdale Gallery. Additional activities will also take place during the 2011 Cultural Olympiad Open Weekend on 23 to 24 July.
Enginuity will provide the main focus with its Science of Sport exhibition, which will use the museum’s collections and loan items to demonstrate the science behind modern, high-performance sports. Running from April to the end of February 2012, a highlight will be the Olympic gold medal-winning eight rowing boat from the Henley River and Rowing Museum.
Chuck the Eco Duck will be teaching children how to be environmentally friendly.
The Coalbrookdale Gallery will draw on the attraction’s diverse collections and photographic sources to stage Sporting Life, a display of images ranging from football, cricket and quoit teams to rowing clubs and coracle racing.
Blists Hill Victorian Town will also stage its own period version of the world-famous Community Games.
More immediately, the museum has partnered with Ultra Green Films and Fun Kids radio to introduce a new environmentally-friendly character, Chuck the Eco Duck, to Enginuity this month.
Ironbridge, best known as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, is also regarded by some as the location where global warming started, with the mass use of fossil fuels.
In recognition of this, the trust aims to make the Gorge one of the greenest inhabited World Heritage Sites in the world.
A new story has been commissioned, Chuck and the Big Bridge, which captures the duck and his friends on their first visit to the town in a unique photo story, and shows youngsters all the fascinating sites and museums around the Gorge.
This will be screened to the public for the first time during the February half-term break.
Its launch will also coincide with the grand opening of a new themed soft-play area in the centre, featuring Chuck and all his friends.
The Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.
To mark the occasion an exhibition will take place from mid April to mid November, celebrating the Gorge’s prestigious status.
It will be staged in the Footprint Gallery at the Jackfield Tile Museum and will consist of a range of historic images of the region along with community memories of the Gorge. For further information visit www.ironbridge.org.uk
Doctor’s orders
A Bridgnorth shop owner is on a mission to cure the winter blues with chocolate remedies especially formulated to perk up his customers.
Tim Palmer of I Love Chocolate, in Central Court, has renamed himself Doctor Truffle and aims to cure all ailments with his selection box of
weet pick-me-ups.
”I’ve developed my own delicious treatments to help you deal with life’s little ups and downs,” said Doctor Truffle.
“If you are feeling a little down in the dumps or have had a bad day at work come and visit my ‘surgery’. My chocolate prescriptions are guaranteed to make you feel better,” he urged.
Dr Truffle’s special sweet treatments include First Aid Kits, pills and emergency bars in tempting guises.
The store, which opened in November, supplies quality artisan and other Fairtrade products, including Bridgnorth chocolatier’s Louis Barnett’s Bite Back bars.
Cave tourism plan
Bridgnorth action group wants some of the town’s historic caves to be turned into tourist attractions.
The Low Town Action Group has put forward an idea to mount a static display showing how people would have lived in caves halfway down the Cartway. The sandstone structures were used as dwellings until 1856 and are now bricked up.
Similar caves in Kinver have been turned into a National Trust museum which allows visitors to walk around and uncover what conditions would have been like for their occupants Edward Marshall of the group said:
“The idea is that the walls be taken down and some sort of static display, maybe featuring a mannequin and other items, be put into the caves showing how people used to live.”
But first the group needs to find out who owns the structures.
Council in bus ban call
BRIDGNORTH TOWN COUNCIL HAS JOINED the call for a ban of buses on Whitburn Street.
Since the road was narrowed as part of Shropshire Council’s £600,000 improvement scheme there has been growing concern over the safety of pedestrians.
Large vehicles have been forced to mount the pavements to get around delivery vehicles which cannot park in loading bays correctly because of their design, it is claimed.
The town council, which has received numerous complaints from local residents, has now written to Shropshire Council to ask for action to be taken to halt buses driving up the one-way system.
Town mayor, Councillor Val Gill, said the authority wanted to see more use of the relief road being made after CCTV footage had confirmed the extent of the problem.
Recently, a Whitburn Street butcher had the canopy ripped off the front of his store after a bus mounted the pavement.
Arriva communications manager Keith Myatt said the company was working closely with its partners Shropshire Council by revising routes in Bridgnorth to avoid the street.
Pounds for £s!
BRIDGNORTH ROTARIANS HAVE ANNOUNCED THAT proceeds from the 2011 new year sponsored slim will go towards two leading cancer charities.
The annual event will help boost the coffers of Breakthrough Breast Cancer and The Prostate Cancer Support group.
The weigh-in session for the 22nd annual slim took place on Saturday, 8 January, with the weigh-out being staged at Bridgnorth Leisure Centre on Saturday, 19 February.
