Bomere Heath Village

Date

Event

2009 March

The Ball Park

During the first three months of 2009 a brand new Ball Park was constructed on part of the school playing field between the School and the Village Hall. The school children will use it during the day and the public can use it in the evenings, on weekends and in school holidays.

The official opening took place on Sunday 10th May 2009 at 3pm when the park was dedicated to the memory of Councillor Brian Rees who was instrumental in getting it constructed.

2009 June 5^th - 7^th

Holy Trinity Church, Leaton 1859-2009 - 150th Anniversary - A Celebration in Flowers, Music and Craft.

2009 Jun 28^th

During the early hours of this Sunday morning from about 1am to 1.45am the village was struck by a severe thunderstorm which resulted in about half the school playing field being under water. Despite the fact that the Fire Service were using two large water pumps to clear some of the water there was still sufficient there in the early evening to make an impromptu swimming pool for many local children. There were also patches of water covering the cricket field and some properties were damaged by water. The Fire Service had been called to one house in the middle of the night and another had all their carpets hanging on railings to try to dry them. The effects of this storm were made worse because there had been another less severe one in the early evening of the previous day.

2009 July 4^th

Bomere Heath School Summer Fayre 2pm-5pm - Fun for all the family.

2009 Aug 6^th

At 7.30pm an evening concert was held in Holy Trinity Church, Leaton to introduce the new Allen digital Organ which has been installed at the back of the church, adjacent to the choir stalls, so that the organist can move easily between this and the original historic chamber organ built by Daniel Gray in 1860 which is listed on the British Institute of Organ Studies (N08073) and was awarded a ‘historic organ certificate’ in 1999.

2009 Aug 22^nd

Leaton Parish Fayre 2.00pm - 5.30pm at Albion Hayes, Baschurch Road.

2009 Sept 5^th

Gardening Club 16^th Annual Show.

2009 Sep

Some work started on the school to improve the facilities for the children.

2009 Sept 13^th

A farewell party was held at The Red Lion public house in Shrewsbury Road by the family who had run the pub for the past ten months.

2009 Oct

The lower part of Brook Road, which had seen flooding on the 28^th June this year, was marked up with several different coloured paint sprays indicating the location of all underground services. Similar markings were also placed at the lowest part of Preston Gubbals Road.

2009 Nov

The Nov 2009 issue of the Bomere Heath and District Parish News included a full page plan showing proposals by Shropshire Council to erect 9 bollards along the footpath opposite the Village Shop to prevent people parking partially on the footpath. In addition to the bollards, on the opposite side of the road, outside the shop, artificial narrowing of the road would be achieved through hatching and edge of carriageway road markings.

2009 Nov

Test drilling was carried out in the small grassed area around the children’s playground in Preston Gubbals Road in preparation for work to alleviate flood risk in the lower part of Brook Road.

2009 Dec

In mid December one of the most prolonged and severe spells of winter weather for about thirty years commenced with many overnight frosts as low as -7ºC and about 1 inch (25 mm) of snow falling on 23/24 December.

2010 Jan

In the week commencing 18^th January the road through the new Pool Meadow estate was given its top surface signalling the near completion of this estate.

2010 Jan 25

Work started in the lower part of Brook Road and the footpath through to Preston Gubbals Road to do some preliminary investigations in connection with the flood alleviation measures which are planned for the area.

2010 Jan

The very cold weather which started in mid December more or less ended in the middle of the month after two more small falls of snow here, but in many parts of the country large amounts of snow caused lots of problems. We did have a further fall of snow at the end of the month plus a night where rain or sleet froze when it landed on the ground.

2010 Jan 31

The village of Bomere Heath consisted of 580 properties including houses, shops, churches and flats over other premises.

2010 Feb

Over several days in the middle of the month a length of Armco Crash Barrier was erected at the side of Huffley Lane around the bend where it runs adjacent to the railway line at Wollascott.

2010 Feb

Since the Cricket Club moved to its new site in 1997 the entrance off the road has looked rather messy but that has now changed with kerb stones being placed on each side of the entrance and a short distance along the road in each direction and the space between the road and the entrance gates has been Tarmaced.

2010 Mar 2^nd

A series of bollards are erected on the edge of the footpath in Shrewsbury Road opposite the Co-Operative Village Stores to prevent customers of the shop parking cars partly on the footpath.

2010 May 23^rd

Bomere Heath Dash & Dawdle, a fundraising walk and BBQ, raised over £430 for the Friends of Bomere Heath School. The route had left the village by Dobell Lane to Great Wollascott then to Preston Gubbals, Pim Hill and Merrington before returning to the village.

2010 June 5/6th

The sighting of a UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) was reported over Bomere Heath around midnight by a local resident who saw it from their conservatory. See the UK UFO Sightings web site for full details. (Please note this was originally filed incorrectly under Devon, so it may get moved to the Shropshire section in due course.)

2010 Jun 10^th

Shropshire Council receives a full planning application to build five houses (three terraced and two semi-detached) on the land at the rear of the Red Lion Public House, 32 Shrewsbury Road, Bomere Heath. Details and drawings of the proposed development are available on the Shropshire Council web site The application was withdrawn on the 14^th July 2010.

2010 June

Shropshire Council distributes a 20 page leaflet asking for views on Issues and Options for an important Development Plan Document covering the needs for the period 2006-2026 especially with regard to the need for additional housing in various parts of Shropshire. A map on page 10 shows several areas almost all round the existing village of Bomere Heath which are indicated as ‘Sites for Consideration’. See Planning for a flourishing Shropshire

2010 July

A new 6 feet (2 metre) high fence was erected around the south and east sides of the school playing field connecting with existing fencing at each end.

2010 July

Bomere Heath Cricket Club under 12s played their first ever match against a strong Wem U12s team. Wem were the winners.

2010 Sep 2^nd Sat

Gardening Club 17^th Annual Show in the Village Hall.

2010 Oct 14

In the middle of October Shropshire Council temporary signs appeared at each end of the village (Shrewsbury Road and Merrington Road) advising that ‘Resurfacing works starts here from 26^th Oct 2010’. This was welcome news because the main road through the village had numerous patches from trenches which had been dug along and across it over the last few years.

2010 Nov 2^nd

Teams of contractors moved into the village for the day to resurface Shrewsbury Road from the cross roads at Baschurch Road / Preston Gubbals Road to it’s junction with Windsor Lane. For the first time for many years we now have an even surface along the main road through the village.

2010 Nov

We had an extremely mild spell of weather at the end of the first week in November with day and night temperatures reaching 14 degrees C (58 F) but by the middle of the month day and night temperatures were just below freezing and the end of the month saw record cold temperatures and some snow. Shawbury had its coldest November night for twenty five years and whilst Bomere Heath only had about one 1inch of snow (25mm) on two different days at the end of the month some parts of the north east of England and southern Scotland had substantial falls. The very cold weather was predicted to last up to two weeks because a weather system was bringing the air flow in from the north east. The last week in November saw overnight temperatures varying between -2 degrees C (28 F) and -9 degrees C (15 F) with daytime temperatures at zero or below for the last four days.

2010 Dec

In December the overnight temperature only rose above zero on six nights (10^th, 11^th and 27^th -31^st) with the lowest temperature being -13 degrees C (9 F). The daytime temperature remained below freezing point for about half of the month making it the coldest December in the UK since records began. In Bomere Heath we had about one inch (25mm) of snow on the 1^st plus 5 inches (127mm) in the middle of the month followed by another 2 inches (50mm) on the 21/22 so that we had snow lying on the ground over Christmas. It started to thaw on the 27^th which brought some mist and fog.

2011 Jan

There are now 585 houses in Bomere Heath.

2011 Jan

The final section of security fencing around the school grounds was erected along the northern boundary from the Ball Park to the vehicular access near the kitchen and playground.

2011 Feb

Two electronic signs were erected on the approach to the village to remind motorists of the 30 mph speed limit through the village. They light up automatically if you approach them in excess of the speed limit and it is hoped this will persuade drivers to slow down to the legal limit or less. One sign is situated on Shrewsbury Road at the junction with Whitehouse Lane and the other in Merrington Road at the junction with Brook Road (the end near the pumping station).

2011 Mar

A purpose built Bed & Breakfast (B&B) extension has been added to Penn Peel Cottage in Windsor Lane providing two ground floor rooms, one with disabled access. This is the first such venture in the village but there is another B&B at the former Leaton Railway Station which has been running for several years and self catering accommodation in the former outbuildings of the old Leaton Vicarage by the Church.

2011 Mar 11th

At 2.46pm (local time) on this date a massive magnitude nine earth quake struck Japan having been centred some miles offshore. It was the most powerful for a thousand years and lasted for about five minutes causing considerable damage but this was nothing compared to the damage caused by a tsunami which struck the coast about twenty minutes later. This was so powerful that it placed cars on top of three storey buildings and completely destroyed some towns and villages washing buildings and everything else away in front of it. The final death toll will probably never be known for certain but is likely to be in excess of 20,000. To add to all this the tsunami also damaged some nuclear power stations on the coast creating even more problems.

2011 Apr 29th

No doubt many people living in the village joined an estimated 2 billion people worldwide to watch the wedding of Prince William and Catherine (Kate) Middleton at Westminster Abbey in London. Some towns and villages held street parties to celebrate the wedding but we didn't have one in Bomere Heath however the Red Lion pub organised a special day for their customers.

2011 Apr 30th

After a particularly cold winter April was remarkably dry and warm with only about 13mm (half an inch) of rain for the whole month and that all fell in the first half.

2011 May 4th

More than 50 people attended a public drop-in event in Bomere Heath Village Hall organised by National Grid in connection with the possible erection of electricity pylons and 400kV overhead power lines from the existing line which runs just west of Bomere Heath to a new Sub-Station and wind farm which is being planned for Mid Wales. It is far from certain that the new power lines will come anywhere near Bomere Heath with at least two other link-up locations being considered.

2011 May 8th

The second Dash & Dawdle event which was organised by the Friends of Bomere Heath School was even more successful than the first event held last year managing to raise over £600, a fifty percent increase on last year. The money will be used to provide extra facilities for the children at the school.

The 2011 route made an anti-clockwise loop starting from the village and going to the west and north west, crossing the Baschurch Road then continuing north west to Old Wood then north east to Merrington and then east to Pim Hill before turning south and returning to the village.

2011 May 12th

Two brand new street lights were erected in Brook Road to replace the old lamps which had been there since the estate was built in the 1970's. The new lamps are of a revolutionary design with LED's instead of bulbs so they use much less energy but also produce a much better spread of light around them. A vast improvement on the previous lights.

2011 June

The Garage on Merrington Road, Bomere Heath finally ceased trading after a gradual decline during the early months of this year. Whilst car servicing had been carried on to the end MoT tests had not been done here for about the last two years. The village has lost another familiar sight.

2011 June 1st

The Met Office announced that we have had the driest and warmest spring for 101 years.

2011 June 19th

The Churches Conservation Trust launched the Edible Churchscapes Project at St Martin's Church, Preston Gubbals between 12md and 3pm on Sunday 19th June 2011. The aim at Preston Gubbals in 2011/12 is to bring people together in the special historic environment of St Martin’s and learn techniques that will produce a local space for everyone to enjoy and eat!

2011 June 25th

Summer Fayre organised by The Friends of Bomere Heath School was held on the school field between 2pm and 5pm to raise funds to help the school.

2011 July 3rd

The Dragons of Merrington - a chance for everyone to visit Merrington Green between 10.30am and 3pm to discover some of the ancient and amazing creatures with a professional guide, Ian Cheeseborough co-author of Dragonflies of Shropshire. This was a free event run by Shropshire Council Countryside Ranger Sian Edwards.

2011 Aug 20th

Leaton Parish Fayre on the School Field, Bomere Heath from 2pm to 5pm.

2011 Sep

In some parts of the UK, including Bomere Heath, we have had the driest summer for 35 years but round here it was not particularly good.

2011 Sep

During the summer the Red Lion pub on Shrewsbury Road was repainted on the outside and new signs erected.

2011 Sep 3rd

Bomere Heath Gardening Club 18th Annual Show in the Village Hall from 2pm to 4pm.

2011 Oct

The Bomere Heath CofE Primary School secured a unit in the Charles Darwin Shopping Centre in Shrewsbury town centre during October to display the beautiful hand crafted class banners created by the children at the end of the summer term. The display was available for viewing during normal shopping hours throughout October 2011, on the top level of the Darwin Centre, opposite Marks & Spencers and next door to Boots Opticians. Members of the public could just walk in and look round the children's art work.

2011 Oct 1st

The last week of September was exceptionally hot with the highest September temperature for many years. The 1st October saw the highest recorded October temperature (since 1985 in Cambridgeshire) of 29.9 degrees C (85.8 degrees F) in Kent. Our local temperature was not far behind and was very pleasant.

2011 Nov

Bomere Heath was the featured village in the November 2011 issue of the Shropshire Magazine with photographs of several local people and their stories about life in the village.

2011

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