Recent Events

Our first meeting back after our summer break was, as usual, held in Rolleston Cricket Club. To start the evening off we were pleased to present the annual awards for the Front Garden and the Basket and Container competitions.

The O.D. Shelly Cup for the front garden award was presented along with a £20 garden voucher to Mr and Mrs D. F. Woodman of 107A Knowles Hill – although Mr Woodman was quick to point out that really, the hard work was all down to Mrs Woodman with assistance from other family members.

The next award, The Forest Shield for basket and container displays was given to Mr and Mrs D. Pusey also with a £20 garden voucher.

Both awards were richly deserved for the hard work and wonderful displays achieved.

A farewell gift was presented to Peter Galloway who after several years on the Civic Trust Committee, primarily as our man in planning, reporting on planning applications, has decided to take a well earned rest and retire from the committee. Knowing Peter’s interest in real ale we decided to present him with a cut glass tankard and a sample of the local brew. Thank you Peter.

The final presentation of the evening came as a surprise to us all – and was given by Mrs Pam Knowles to the Civic Trust. Mrs Knowles father had decided to donate his gavel to a village group – and as members of Rolleston Civic Trust Mrs Knowles and her family chose to present the gavel to our Chairman Peter Barnett for use at the Civic Trust meetings – no excuse for rowdiness now!

We then progressed to the talk of the evening, given by Mr Jeff Bates and entitled Derbyshire Historic Gardens. Jeff is a founding member of the Derbyshire Historic Gardens Trust and a professional horticulturist.

There followed a fascinating and compelling talk touching on some of the great gardens of Derbyshire both past and present, restored and sadly in some cases in need of restoration. The audience, via a series of photographs both old and new, visited the well known gardens of Melbourne Hall, Kedleston Hall and Calke Abbey and the lesser known gardens of Wingerworth, Thornbridge Hall near Ashford in the Water and Renishaw Hall near Eckington to name but a few. All were described by Jeff with passion and enthusiasm.

The second talk of the season was presented by Richard Stone. Richard, a regular speaker for the Civic Trust, is an historian and author with several publications to his name. He is a lecturer in history and is Chairman of Burton Civic Society. Richard’s latest talk for us was called ‘Meet the Pagets’ – an Anglo-Welsh aristocratic family founded by William 1st Baron Paget (1506 – 1563) and now headed by the Marquess of Anglesey. The family has strong connections in Staffordshire and Burton.

Over the centuries the Pagets had a history of scandal, intrigue and good fortune. One of the earliest members of the family, Charles Paget, was a conspirator involved in the Babington Plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth 1st; he was also a double agent working for Sir Francis Walsingham. Charles Paget spent many years exiled in Brussels, only returning to England on the death of the Queen, returning to reclaim his lands in Staffordshire.

A later Paget and probably the most notable for various reasons was Henry 1st Marquess of Anglesey who lead the charge of heavy cavalry during the battle of Waterloo, during which he was hit by the last cannon shot of the day. This resulted in the amputation of his leg. Amazingly he survived and went on to live to the age of 71 years until his death in 1854, having fathered 18 children between two wives. His first marriage ended in a scandalous divorce. His severed leg also went on to achieve distinction, as a monument was erected to the leg at Waterloo – later the bones were disinterred and put on display.

The current head of the family is George Paget 7th Marquess of Anglesey. His father was Mayor of Burton in 1911. The family country seat is Plas Newydd on Anglesey.

Richard explained the history of the Pagets with great relish taking us with him on a journey through five centuries and giving us an insight into lives of a fascinating family.

A Busy Month for the Parish Council

For the village of Rolleston, October has been a busy time, especially for our Parish Council. Two items have been dominating discussion in the Village for some time, the proposed National Planning Policy Framework (see Rollestonian Autumn 2011) and how this will affect Rolleston, and proposals for The Spread Eagle Island.

First, Planning Policy

The Parish Council issued a call to arms; Rolleston Needs You, with an appropriate pointing finger; and called a meeting in The Old Grammar School on Monday 3rd October to debate the production of “The Village Plan”. Barry Edwards. The Chairman of The Parish Council, had clearly expected a good attendance as was evident by the number of chairs provided, but was totally overwhelmed by the response from the village and promptly moved the meeting to the Church. What followed was a difficult meeting for Barry as some there thought the meeting was solely concerned with development of the Old College Playing Fields, including. so it appeared later, did The Burton Mail.

Barry finally managed to focus people’s minds on the need to review the planning needs of Rolleston as a whole, to perhaps counter the proposals put forward by ESBC in their draft Core Strategy for East Staffordshire and to ensure that Rolleston is well prepared when new planning legislation becomes a reality.

The meeting culminated in the formation of a Neighbourhood Development Plan Steering Group composed of Members of The Parish Council and of interested Villagers, including The Civic Trust, who are charged with the preparation of The Village Plan.
The first meeting of this group was held on Thursday 20th October when John Morris agreed to act as Chairman. The Village was well represented and the group appears to cover all areas of the village and all ages with willing workers. Many constructive points were made and Terms of Reference were agreed. This is a good step forward for a new committee.

One fact was clear from the basic information provided to the new group and from the work already carried out to assist. The Parish Council, under the Chairmanship of Barry, ably assisted by The Parish Clerk, Heidi, have done a lot of work over the past months to prepare Rolleston for the future, including facing an unhelpful ESBC who appear to have put their own wishes before those of the local community. For this the Parish Council deserves our thanks.

The Group meet again on Thursday 3rd November.

Second, the Spread Eagle Island

Following the request from The Parish Council for proposals for improvements to the Spread Eagle Island, the Public were invited to an open session held after the Village Liaison Meeting on Monday 17th October. This meeting was also well attended with the furniture being hastily reorganised to accommodate all.

It was clear from the start that all did not see eye to eye but after much discussion it became obvious that the majority did not wish to see the Island stripped of all its trees, or the fencing removed. At one point The Civic Trust were asked to read out their proposals for The Island and this resulted in a proposition from The Parish Council that this proposal be adopted. This proposal was seconded and was voted to be accepted.

Our Spring 2012 Programme

Wednesday 18th January
David Wood – Master Thatcher

Sunday 22nd January
Mulled Wine at Apple Acres
From 12noon, Ticket Event
By kind permission of Mr & Mrs S Richardson

Wednesday 15th February
Andy Parsons – The Social History of Claymills Pumping Station

Saturday 18th February
Pancake Races on The Croft (2pm)
then in Rolleston Club, Burnside

Wednesday 21st March
Jeff Bates – Herbaceous Plants and Borders
Followed by the Annual General Meeting

Recent Events

Our Summer ‘Walk and Talk’ this year was a study of the National Memorial at Alrewas. For anyone who hasn’t visited this site, the Arboretum is large, attractive, interesting and very moving. What’s more, despite the threat of rain, not a drop fell! Everyone should pay at least one visit. The group rounded up this pleasant evening by transferring to the William IV in Alrewas for refreshment – also well worth a visit!

Our next meeting, at the Cricket Club, was very different: a talk about Jane Austen, who was born in the Rectory at Steventon in Hampshire. She was the seventh child, but only the second daughter of Revd. George Austen and his wife. The literary atmosphere of her home and family – no school – proved a good upbringing for her. Her writing was known only to her closest family. However, she participated fully in the neighbourhood’s social life, with balls, dinner engagements and long visits to family and friends in other parts of the country and in Bath. These activities, of course, created the chance for her to use the formidable powers of observation demonstrated in her books. She completed the first versions of Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice during this time.

Her father retired to Bath in 1801 when Jane was 25, where they lived for only 4 years. Mother and daughter then settled into their lives together. After revising her first three novels for publication, Jane wrote more – Mansfield Park, Emma and Persuasion. Sadly, she died in 1817.

We listened to this biography with considerable interest. Gill Marchment of the Jane Austen Society, Midlands Branch, gave much more detail than provided here. I’m sure Jane Austen’s literary legacy will live for a long time.

Well – the Civic Trust starts again in September.
See our autumn programme

Civic Trust Cheese and Wine Evening

Despite the ever constant worry over the vagaries of the English summer and heavy rain the day before, Saturday June 25th turned out to be warm and dry. Just right for drinking and eating al fresco (and in a marquee). A great time was had by all, with lots of good food, wine, beer and friends. Helen and Simon Richardson once again kindly loaned us the use of Appleacres for this annual summer event – the ideal setting for our main activity of the year.

Although we had quite a slow start, the sales of tickets suddenly took off very late in the day and we had final numbers in excess of 60. A raffle was held during the evening with the proceeds of £119 being donated to Rolleston Brownies to help them with their well dressing for the Jubilation event next year.

Our Autumn Programme

Wednesday September 21st
Derbyshire’s Historic Gardens
Jeff Bates, Lecturer & Chair of ‘East Midlands in Bloom’ Cricket Club at 8.00pm

Wednesday October 19th
Meet the Pagets
Richard Stone Cricket Club at 8.00pm

Wednesday November 16th
Vernacular Architecture, the history of domestic housing in England
Janet Spavold Cricket Club at 8.00pm

‘Planters on Burnside’ Project

Rolleston Civic Trust and the Parish Council got together recently for a scheme to add a little more summer brightness to the roadside and brook in Burnside. A small sub-Committee drawn from the two organisations agreed to share the costs of mounting seven planters on the railings adjacent to the Croft and Spread Eagle opposite the Club. Following County Council approval, plans were made for purchasing the containers and arranging other details of the scheme.

John of Rolleston pupils at work on the planters

In order to make it a truly village project, the sub-Committee decided to seek the help of schoolchildren from JoR Primary School to plant up the tubs prior to installation into the planters. Great enthusiasm was displayed on 19 May (see below) with much wheelbarrow activity, relaying of buckets of planting compost and careful transferring of young plants. The Horticultural Team from ESBC were on hand to provide expert advice at this Planting Up at the school and afterwards generously provided their greenhouse to allow the plants to bed-in before dropping the tubs into the planters on-site on 8 June. Since then, with regular watering, Rollestonians will have noticed the containers have filled out nicely.

The Civic Trust has heard much approval from those passing by. It’s planned to make this an annual feature of the middle of our village.

Spread Eagle Island – Parish Council Proposals - The Position of the Civic Trust

By the time this edition of the Rollestonian is distributed around the village it is anticipated that some initial decision will have been made on the proposals put forward by the Parish Council to update the Spread Eagle Island.

The Civic Trust’s stance on the proposals is that, rather than wholesale removal of existing mature trees, a programme of maintenance and additional planting be undertaken which would also retain the railings, memorial anvil and the flag pole.

The Trust feels that this area of the village is a historic focal point and as such, requires more than a scheme which resembles an urban park. The mature Blue Cedar although not one of the best examples of its type is an important back drop, and has a softening effect on a large open area.

The Civic Trust is arranging a separate assessment of the condition of the trees on site, by an independent tree consultant. By the time of publication, this should have taken place and the results will have been put forward at the September Parish Council meeting.

It has become clear that many residents are not at all happy with the current proposals - particularly as all three options include the removal of all the trees and the railings. We believe we are representing these views and as such we will continue making representations to the Parish and Borough Councils.

The island is within the Rolleston Conservation Area and as such, any alteration is subject to planning permission from East Staffordshire Borough Council. This includes any work carried out on the trees on the island, whether that is for maintenance or removal.

As requested by the Parish Council please make your views and suggestions known. This can be done by contacting the Parish Clerk – Mrs Heidi Light by email or letter, these addresses can be found in the Rollestonian or on the Parish Noticeboard.

DRAFT National Planning Policy Framework

July 2011 has seen the publication of The Government’s Draft National Planning Policy Framework, this weighty document is available on line and I suggest you read it, it is the biggest change to Planning Authorisation for a long time. It is a fundamental change to the control of planning in our Country. The document proposes to provide transparent, effective and efficient planning to ensure the Publics interests are protected. The system will be based on, and I quote :-

“National Policies which set out the Governments requirements for the planning system and how these are expected to be addressed.

Local and Neighbourhood plans which empower local people to shape their surroundings

Development management which allows planning applications to be considered on their merits within National and Local Policy Framework”

The order of precedent between National, Local and Neighbourhood is not stated but you can see a pattern.

Sustainable Development, i.e., “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” is a phrase used throughout the document. An English translation is not currently available.Sustainable Economic Growth is also a buzz word. “Planning should act as an encouragement to growth and not act as an impediment”. I don’t think that needs a translation.

The whole process appears to hang round plans for development made Nationally, Locally and at Neighbourhood levels. These plans will be authorised by an Independent Inspector o ensure they are sound. Again I wonder what precedent will apply. One does wonder if all the “Plans” prepared over the past few years will be scrapped and new plans developed. Or is that wishful thinking.

These plans will cover Housing, Business, Infrastructure, Minerals, Defence and National Security, Environment, Health and Wellbeing.

Down at Neighbourhood level we are introduced to “Neighbourhood Development Orders” and “Community Right to Build Orders”, It is envisaged that local groups and interested citizens will meet, referendums will be held and majority decisions will control planning at the neighbourhood level. Do not confuse the term Local Level with Neighbourhood. Local Level for us means East Staffs Borough Council.

The Framework sees these Neighbourhood groups being involved in the total planning process including preparation of The Neighbourhood Plan and Planning Management. It will be a very capable and hard working group. Who will they be?

One key phrase is “Decisions taken at every level should assume that the default answer to development proposals is yes”.

About turn everyone.

The Civic Trust intends to be involved with this process. Through our membership of Civic Voice we are receiving helpful advice and clarification. If anyone is interested in being more involved themselves please contact us.

Peter Barnett, Chairman

The O.D. Shelly Cup: Civic Trust Front Garden Award

The 2011 Civic Trust Front Garden Competition was judged over a period of twelve days at the beginning of July. As well as the Front Garden Award the Judges were also seeking to find the most attractive and varied container or hanging basket display, in order to award the Forest Shield.

Judge’s Remarks: Our overall impression of the village was that it was very tidy and well kept, giving a good impression to any visitors that the residents have a real sense of pride in the appearance of their homes and their surroundings.

Front Gardens

The winner of the Shelly Cup and a twenty pounds garden voucher for the Best Front Garden are:
Mr & Mrs D.F.Woodman , 107A Knowles Hill
A large garden, in front of a property situated in a commanding position on the outskirts of the village, offering an eye-catching view. The garden is well designed, including a fine selection of shrubs and perennials, displayed to excellent effect, all set off with a top quality lawn. A worthy winner

The runners up are:
Mr & Mrs D Aspinall, 44 Hall Road
This corner site has been well laid out and stocked with a variety of trees, shrubs, roses and plants. The two lawns at the front and side complement the sizeable area and there is some pleasant screening of the garage at the far end of the site.

Highly Commended:
Mr & Mrs A. Roberts,Greenridge, Anslow Lane
A thoughtful choice of flowers, shrubs and trees to give a display throughout the seasons.

Mrs Wheeldon,101 The Lawns
Neat, colourful garden, interestingly offset with a gravel section, giving a complete ornate show. A good lawn on the side elevation.

Mr D Rose,19 Shotwood Close
The large corner site has a lawned area, with borders and a collection of containers and flower baskets, all planted in a range of vibrant colours.

The Forest Shield Civic Trust Container Award

The winner of the Forest Shield for The Container /Hanging Basket Display and a twenty pound garden voucher is:
Mr and Mrs D Pusey, 4 Marston Lane
This display has five baskets, with flowers of attractive matching colours. The overall effect can be admired both from the outside the property and at a distance from the main road at the entrance to the lane. The selection of this entry was a close call with the second one in this class.

Highly Commended
Mrs Julie Goodfellow, Black and White Cottage, Chapel Lane
Another very pretty display comprising of very full, ball like baskets of white and purple/pink trailing Petunias.

The Civic Trust would like to express their thanks to the judges for their time and deliberations.

It is hoped to make the presentations to the winners of the Shelly Cup and the Forest Shield at the Wednesday 21st September 2011 meeting of the Rolleston Civic Trust to be held at Rolleston Cricket Club at 8.00pm. The guest speaker for the evening will be Mr Jeff Bates with his talk on “Derbyshire’s Historic Gardens”. Mr Bates is a founding member of Derbyshire Historic Gardens Trust, a professional horticulturist and the Chairman of East Midlands in Bloom.

Recent Events

If you missed the Mulled Wine event, at Apple Acres, you missed a treat! So, with the new year well in swing, Sue Fraser’s introduction to Venice came with such style that even those of us who may ourselves have been to the Celestial City learned about it on a quite different basis. Sue’s advice on how to find new delights to enjoy included leaving behind those great items that everyone visits at least once (St Mark’s Square, the Doge’s Palace, the Rialto, and a few others).Get lost in the back alleys, she advises, but if you must include one more central site take the lift up to the top of the campanile (the Bell Tower) to revel in the splendid view. People who lived in Renaissance Venice would still find their way through the back alleys – it really hasn’t changed significantly. Sue herself is a church lover and told us that there are many excellent ones to visit. There are lots of gondolas, of course; they’ve been around since the eleventh century. The major change has been that those early ones had a central ‘cabin’ where ‘a lover and his lass’ could enjoy a secret rendezvous. She also reminded us that modern Venice is no longer an island. By railway or by bus, you can travel straight to the city. The airport isn’t far away either and a water taxi can take you direct to your adventure.

Annual General Meeting

21 members attended the March AGM including 8 of the current 9 officers and committee members. After voting and accepting the present membership, the major item was a long discussion on Brook Hollows. Unfortunately, it seems very unlikely that ESBC will provide the finance necessary to clear the pool.

Our speaker on the evening was David Jones, our ESBC Neighbourhood Watch Manager. He told us that the idea had been developed during the early 1980s and was considered to be one of the best ideas in the UK. Success relies on all of us; we should pass relevant information to the police. A good ‘centre man’ in Rolleston is John Wyers. Good advice from David is that we should not risk using workmen in doubtful situations and that we should always remember scams that may reach us via post, phone, etc. etc.

On 20 April, our monthly meeting in the Cricket club introduced us to Keith Blood. He is a professional Blue Badge tourist guide who has made a study of ‘Farmhouses Through Time’. A wide range of them have a 2000 year continuous history, but no particular rules of design and style exist as these depend on individual farmer’s requirements. Just a few of the many we learnt about included monasteries that often had farms managed by junior monks that were sited away from the main Abbey. Single buildings that had one end for habitation and one for housing of stock. We also saw an illustration of a Celtic Long House with centuries of modification.Closer to home is Haddon Hall which gradually changed and grew through the ages. Once it was a large Saxon hall, in which all the household lived.Another specialty was the Peel Tower. When the Scots were raiding cattle, the stock would be put in the ground floor of the tower wile all the people went up above through an inaccessible door high above the ground. We often think of these towers as being close to the England/Scotland border there is one at Fenny Bentley, near Ashbourne!

Civic Trust Award 2010

At the AGM in March, we welcomed Mark and Lesley Taylor, the owners of the Dower House. Annually, the Civic Trust chooses one village property, which it considers to be the best improvement during the previous year. The Dower House was this year’s choice. Mr & Mrs Taylor expressed their thanks and accepted our Plaque.

Plant Swap 2011

At the plant swap held in April at The Old Grammar School, we were fortunate enough to have wall to wall sunshine, attracting large numbers of eager green fingered villagers ready and raring to swap their plants for a small donation. We had a generous supply of shrubs, annuals, perennials and biennials and much, much more. Refreshments were also available with some lovely home-baked cakes to accompany, supplied by the Civic Trust Committee and members.

Many thanks to all who purchased, made donations or just joined us for coffee and cakes. The Civic Trust has been able to donate £193 to the St Mary’s Fabric Fund, from the money raised

Front Garden Awards 2011

The judging for this year’s Front Garden Award will take place during the middle of July, with the preliminary round of judging taking place between 4th and 8th July and the final selection being made between the 10th and 15th July 2011.

As in previous years all front gardens will be considered unless specifically withdrawn. Observations will be made from the pavement / public highway and will not encroach on private property. Front gardens not visible from the pavement / public highway will not be included in the competition unless requested otherwise.

In addition to the Front Garden Award we will once again be awarding the Forest Shield to the best / most interesting and varied container garden or hanging basket. These too will have to be visible from the pavement / public highway as the judges are instructed not to enter onto private property. The winners will be notified in due course and the results will be published in the Rollestonian and placed on the village notice boards. The judge’s decision will be final.

Our Summer Programme

Wednesday June 15th
Jane Austen: The Social Milieu, given by:
Gill Marchment of the Jane Austen Society. In the Cricket Club at 8.00pm

Saturday June 25th
Summer Event – Cheese & Wine
At Apple Acres (see advert)

Wednesday September 21st
Derbyshire’s Historic Gardens
Jeff Bates, in the Cricket Club at 8.00pm

Recent Events

Let’s hope that winter is past its worst and that we can all begin to enjoy improved weather. Keep your fingers crossed!

Our last formal meeting of 2010 was Arnold Burston’s illustration of ‘The Lych Gate War Memorial’. This was a description of some of the local men whose lives ended during the 1914-18 War. Arnold believes that our memorial is probably the first in the country, bought by public subscription in 1919.

December, of course, was reserved for Christmas festivities. January’s presentation was by Mike Wardell who has been studying the census history of Rolleston since he moved here. Records on this started in 1841 and he described some interesting details up to the early 20th century. We hope there will be more to come as his studies are expanded.

January also included the Mulled Wine Party at Apple Acres. This convivial couple of hours of conversation and comparison about how the New Year was developing was again a splendid way of moving into the New Year. Raffle proceeds went to the Royal British Legion.

Front Garden Awards 2011

The Rolleston Civic Trust would like to announce that its annual Front Garden Award is to take place again this year. The competition, as usual, will be judged over a 4 – 5 day period, this year at the beginning of July. As in previous years the winner of last year’s competition will not be eligible for the next 5 years.

In addition to the Front Garden Award we are also awarding the Forest Shield to the best, most interesting and varied container garden or hanging basket display. These will have to be visible from the public highway as the judges are instructed not to enter private property.

There is no need to apply for entry to this competition; all front gardens will be automatically considered – unless specifically withdrawn.

Judging dates will be announced in due course in the Rollestonian and also on the village notice boards. The judge’s decision on the award will be final. We hope this notification will give you all plenty of time to prepare your gardens and hanging baskets for the summer judging.

Our Spring Programme

Wednesday March 16th
This meeting combines the Civic Trust AGM with
An introduction to Neighbourhood Watch by:
David Jones, the Co-ordinator for East Staffs.
In the Cricket Club at 8.00pm

Sunday April 17th 2-4pm
Annual Plant Swap
School room, St Mary’s Church. Refreshments available.
Please bring any surplus plants to either swap or sell in aid of the
Church Fabric Fund. Please bring any plants from 1.30ish if not staying for the sale.

Wednesday April 20th
Farmhouses though Time
Keith Blood, in the Cricket Club at 8.00pm

Wednesday May 18th
The Summer Walk and Talk
The National Memorial Arboretum, Alrewas – 6.15pm for 6.30pm start.
Refreshments at a local hostelry. Ticket event (limited numbers!)

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Last updated: 30 December 2011