MeridenMag Spring 2022

Meriden Mag

Spring 2022

See Inside for Meriden's Planned Jubilee Celebrations, an update on the Fillongley Road Bridge Replacement, Meriden Farm's Children's Pages plus lots more.

We held our own Poetry Week at the start of the new term, where the children read and performed poetry based on famous poets. Year 5 loved performing their rap poems to the beat of ‘Gran can you rap?’ by Jack Ousby, while Year 6 explored the Highwayman by Alfred Noyes. Year 3 explored what was in the 'Magic Box' by Kit Wright and Year 4 read poems from their class novel 'Journey to Jo'burg' exploring themes of racial equality.

In Key Stage 1, we read poems such as 'On the Ning Nang Nong' by Spike Milligan and 'Now I am six' by A.A. Milne and enjoyed putting actions and pictures to the messages and language in these poems as well as looking at rhyming sounds. Lastly, in Early Years, we looked at lots of poems relating to our Space and Planets topic.

Look at our wonderful corridor displays! There is also a video of this work at https://youtu.be/MdpuFk2unL0

We are delighted to announce that we have successfully completed a comprehensive online safety training programme demonstrating our commitment to keeping children and young people safe online and have received a National Online Safety Certified School Accreditation for our whole school community approach to protecting children in the online world. National Online Safety is a multi-award winning digital training provider with extensive resources in online safety, developed in line with the Department of Education’s statutory requirements. James Southworth, co-founder of National Online Safety, said: “Congratulations to everyone at Meriden C. of E. Primary School on becoming a National Online Safety Certified School. By completing our training programme, the school has shown its strong commitment to implementing an effective whole school approach to online safety. It can be increasingly difficult for schools and parents to stay ahead of online threats and ensure that both children and staff are safeguarded from potentially harmful and inappropriate online material. We arm schools with the knowledge they need to understand online dangers and react in the best way possible to any problems.”

School Fundraising News Due to rising levels of Covid last winter, we reluctantly had to alter our planned Christmas events. Due to having restrictions in place stopping non-essential adults coming into school, the Christmas Fayre was organised so that pupils could come and play games in the hall. It was incredibly well supported by our families and with that event alongside Elfridges, a present shop in school, Break the Rules Day where children paid 50p for each rule they wanted to break and then a Christmas Raffle, which was entirely contributed by local sponsors, we raised a staggering £2122.12. In the current climate, that is truly amazing. This money has now been used to upgrade some resources in our Early Years unit and plans are in place to spend the rest on our outdoor environment.

We are also incredibly grateful to Mark Thompson, who, along with the support of the Meriden Mag, created beautiful calendars of Meriden and donated the profits to the children of Meriden School. We were overwhelmed to receive a cheque for £960 which will be spent on developing the outside area to benefit every child at school. Ava and Taylor gratefully received the cheque from Mark in January.

We rely on donations to school as school budgets are so tight - we are incredibly grateful to everyone who helps our children. Thank you!

Anti-Bullying Work We held our Anti-Bullying week in November to highlight the work we do all year round about bullying behaviour and our KiVa programme. Not only did each class work on a different area of bullying and tolerance, but every child was given a white t-shirt on which they printed a red hand and this was signed by children across the school. This signified our message STOP – Several Times on Purpose and Start Telling Other People.

Crucially, the message of supporting others and zero tolerance has been heard – 97% of children would help someone being bullied rather than ignore it. This is the main message of KiVa – people who let it happen are complicit and therefore part of the problem. Let’s stand against bullying together. Take a look at our webpage for more information https://www.meridenceprimaryschool.com/antibullying

STEM Visitor Recently in Year 3 and Year 4, we have teamed up with Alison, an engineer at Jaguar Land Rover who has been leading some fantastic STEM sessions with us virtually. We have enjoyed making paper rockets using straws, paper, tape and colouring pens and seeing how far they can fly! We also made shapes out of paper to see how many books it could hold. We were investigating which shape was the strongest and found that cylinders could hold over 50 exercise books! It was a shame that the sessions were on Zoom, but we had fun anyway! Thanks Alison for the great sessions!

By Darcy and Aleshia

Trip to Gurdwara by Alex Pike, Y4 A Gurdwara is a holy place for Sikhs. All Gurdwaras have one or two flagpoles, which are very important as they show the way to people in case they get lost. When we entered the building, our tour guides took us to the room where they told us all about Sikhism. They explained the facts about Guru Nanak, who is the founder of Sikhs. “Gu” means dark and” Ru” means light, so the word Guru represents “from dark to light”. During our visit we had to wear a “Patka” which is a mini turban, which you wear underneath your actual turban. First, we went to the dining room then we moved to the kitchen. We learned that anyone could help in the kitchen. They showed us all the big pans in the part where they wash the dishes. After this, we were led upstairs and visited a room called “The sach khand”. This is the religious room where the Sikh holy book is kept. This book is called the Guru Granth Sahib. The Holy book is placed under the Manji, which is a Sikh religious administrative unit. It is read on a Manji Sahib. There were a” Tabla” – a type of drum, “Chimta” and accordion. We had a chance to play these instruments. Once we finished with these exciting explorations we returned to the Sach Khand room, where we could taste nice and sweet traditional Sikh dessert. The trip was amazing!

Meriden CE Primary School is looking for a Lunchtime Supervisor to join the team at our happy, caring school and help to ensure our children make excellent progress. We can offer an atmosphere of life-long learning, a supportive and developmental team and the opportunity to make a difference to the lives of our fantastic children, in our unique environment and setting.

Responsibilities include: • Supervising children • Dealing with minor first aid issues • Managing behaviour in line with school policy • Providing a range of activities both inside and outside • Maintaining a positive atmosphere Days of work: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 11:50am – 1:20 pm. Please contact the office for more details and an application pack. CVs are not accepted. office@meriden.solihull.sch.uk 01676 522488 Meriden CE Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and expects all staff to share the commitment. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020. The successful candidate will be subject to an enhanced DBS check, which will be carried out before appointment to any job at the school is confirmed. This will include details of convictions cautions and reprimands, as well as ‘spent’ and ‘unspent’ convictions.

One Resident’s View of the new Cycle Lanes Are the Cycle Routes in Meriden either Sustainable or Safe?

I was disappointed to see, first hand, what SMBC considers to be safe cycle routes for Meriden. The steep routes on Meriden Hill/ Birmingham Road are neither safe nor appropriately segregated. The substantial edging 'traps', placed every few yards, are designed to catch out unwary cyclists. Leaves, gravel and road degradation materials pose additional hazards on routes designed and constructed to be too narrow for mechanical cleaning. Poorly placed plastic indicator poles, left dirty and unmaintained, add nothing to safety and merely add to hazardous and unnecessary street furniture. The new Highway Code legislation suggests two cyclists are safer riding side by side; in this case a single rider is hard pressed to safely use the narrow lanes provided. It was also worrying to note cars parked within designated lanes near the duck pond.

I returned this week with a friend who is a cycling enthusiast. He was, unsurprisingly, appalled and questioned the sanity of Solihull, as the Highways Authority, putting in place what purports to be a sustainable and safe cycle route. Neither could he understand the lack of a cycle lane through the Village where there is a 20mph speed limit and where it would be easy to encourage residents to use a bike to 'pop' to the shops or for children to ride to school. He also pointed out that, to make cycle routes attractive and usable, they need to be completely and safely segregated from other traffic. The cynical view from locals seems to suggest that Solihull, instead of doing the right thing, has taken the easiest and cheapest way out, which is then championed as supporting net zero, the climate emergency and good health.

I use a car out of necessity, as I am disabled, so I can also see the poor design pitfalls for drivers, especially at night, in bad weather conditions such as snow and during rain storms, when the edging strips may be buried, camouflaged or hidden under flood water. Hitting one of the edging strips could be catastrophic for a cyclist struggling uphill or speeding downhill, and also for the unwary driver. It is also obvious that no one has considered the dangers to horses.

In the new Highway Code legislation, cyclists are advised to ride 0.5 metres from the kerb. Cars have to give cyclists a 1.5 metre wide berth and horses at least 2 metres, to ensure safe overtaking. Is it therefore possible for road users in Meriden to adhere to the new Highway Code legislation? Sheila Cooper – Independent Local Green Campaigner

Val and Chris would like to extend a huge “Congratulations” to Doreen Agutter for being awarded an MBE in the 2022 New Year’s Honours List. It is very well deserved and we are extremely grateful for all her interesting contributions to the Mag over the years.

Dates for hoisting the flag on Meriden Green 10th March – Birthday of the Earl of Wessex 14th March – Commonwealth Day 21st April – Birthday of Her Majesty the Queen 23rd April – St. George's Day (St. George's Flag) 9th May – Europe Day 15th May – Cyclists’ Memorial Service

As we’re sure you all know, the Meriden Mag is nonprofit making and everyone involved gives their time for free. The adverts that we include pay for our printing and postal expenses. Occasionally, we have a surplus in our bank account which we like to use to support local good causes. In the last few years, we are very proud to have donated -

£200 to Spencer’s Retreat, Berkswell. £200 to pay for a new bench at Meriden Pool. £500 towards the improvements to Meriden Scout Hut and recently £447 to cover the cost of printing Meriden’s own calendars and their envelopes.

We would like to say a big thank you to all our advertisers, contributors, deliverers, proof reader and you, the readers, for your continued support.

Val & Chris, Co-Editors

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Meriden Surgery

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School House, 200 Main Road, Meriden, CV7 7NG Dr M Bhandal Dr A Carlile Dr T Nadeem Dr R Horsley (Partners) Associates GP; Dr A Omokanye, Dr D Manickam, Dr K Hayes-Lawrence and Dr Hudders

www.balsallcommongrouppractice.co.uk Opening hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 8.30am to 6pm Wednesday 8.30am to 12.00 For details on how to obtain medical help when the surgery is closed, please phone

01676 935000

Welcome to 2022 and let’s hope life starts to return to something that resembles pre-Covid times soon Covid Update The covid-19 vaccination campaign is now beginning to slow with mostly booster doses being administered just once or twice a week. Data as of 1st Dec 2021 showed that the Primary Care Network (PCN) which comprises of Balsall Common, Hamptonin-Arden, Dorridge and Arden had administered over 42,500 covid vaccines. Balsall Common & Meriden administering 13,248 of these which is a massive success which we are very proud to have achieved. This could not have happened without the dedicated Nurses and Doctors, admin staff and the many volunteers who have worked tirelessly to accomplish this in all weathers and varied times of day and at weekends Flu Vaccine Update Balsall Common and Meriden are proud to have been ranked as 3rd out of 155 CCG practices in delivering Flu vaccine to people aged 65 years old and above, and 7th for 50 - 65 years old. This is also a great achievement but it is not too late to book for a flu vaccine as we still have some in stock. Contact us now before stock runs out.

Practice Update Unfortunately the Practice has said Goodbye to Tracey who was a part of our Secretarial Team at the Practice, we would also like to say Goodbye to one of our Nursing Staff Members Claire who is due to depart at the end of February. We would like to wish them both well for the future.

We would like to announce the addition of Tina to our Practice Team.

Tina will be working as part of our Secretarial Team for both the Balsall Common and Meriden Surgeries.

Winter Access Hub We have come together as primary care networks within Solihull to develop a service to improve access and care for patients under Solihealth as part of the Winter Pressures Project.

The service will offer additional same day, urgent access appointments to patients across Solihull. These will be offered to our patients.

The appointments will be a telephone consultation first booked by our Practice Reception team. If required, patient’s will be seen for a face-to-face appointment which will be carried out at Monkspath Surgery in Solihull.

Both surgeries have continued to offer care and support to our patients throughout the whole pandemic; whether by telephone or face to face appointments, as appropriate, to ensure the safety of the patients and our own staff The Meriden surgery continues to administer the vast majority of baby and childhood immunisations, while Balsall Common remains the main surgery for all other procedures and appointments. The management of chronic diseases such as diabetes, respiratory conditions and heart disease have been maintained as well as contraception, cervical cytology, wound care, stop smoking support, essential injections, vaccinations and minor surgery. Phlebotomy plays a large part of our management of diseases and for drug monitoring and diagnosis, as well as ECG and BP assessments.

Now that restrictions are starting to ease and we are seeing more patients at the Surgery we request that when attending you wear a face covering unless you are medically exempt and please social distance at all times. We also request Patients continue to book any required appointments via the telephone. We are aware that Patients are increasingly dissatisfied with their access in obtaining a GP appointment. However as this is a national problem, we continue to offer the best service we can during these difficult and demanding times. Unfortunately our staff are experiencing increased abuse from patients and this will not be tolerated by the Practice. Such behaviour could lead to the removal of such patients from our Practice list.

We are continuing to follow all We are Guidelines continuing to National thatfollow are all Lloyds Pharmacy Meriden Nationalfor Guidelines that areacross provided provided all GP Practices “We just wanted to say thank you to the community of Meriden and surrounding forUK all along GP Practices the UK the with theacross ever-changing villages for your support and understanding in light of our current plight in along with the ever-changing COVID COVID 19 regulations. regards to opening hours and staffing levels. We do continue to have a skeleton 19are regulations.

We continuing with our existing team currently and reduced opening hours will continue for the foreseeable Wecovering are continuing face policy,with this our is toexisting future. face covering policy. to continue to protect our This Staff isand We are actively looking to recruit and anybody interested should apply online at continue protect our Staff visitors thattoare attending the and https://careers.mckessonjobs.uk/vacancies/2610/healthcarevisitors All thatup aretoattending the Practice.

Practice. date Practice partner.html can All up to date Information canPractice be foundInformation on our Thanks again for your patience and we will continue to work as efficiently be found on our website website as possible.” www.balsallcommonsurgery.co.uk www.balsallcommonsurgery.co.uk If you require a Lateral Flow Test, 1 pack (7 tests) can be given without a code If you require 2 packs a code from the NHS is needed

Saturday 19th March 2022 – “No time to Die” (15) We are delighted to announce that the Big Picture Show Team has secured the licence to screen the latest James Bond film. Following a long delay caused by the pandemic, this long-awaited spectacular was finally screened in cinemas in late Autumn 2021. If you missed it, or would like to see it again, please book your tickets early as numbers are limited.

After leaving active service, James Bond is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. However, the peace is shortlived as his old CIA friend, Felix Leiter, shows up and asks for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology. Daniel Craig does not disappoint in this, his final portrayal of 007 and, as usual, the special effects are gleefully spectacular.

Tickets (£6.00) may be reserved and purchased in advance from Chris Copper by :Telephone - 01676 522645 Message - 07721 342127 or Email - chriscopper42@me.com Future dates for your diary: Saturday 23rd April 2022 Film to be confirmed Saturday 21st May 2022 Film to be confirmed Meriden Mag online.

Just visit www.ISSUU.com In the search box, enter MeridenMag (no space) and you’ll see what we’ve published. We’ve published all issues going back to 2019 but plan to go much further back, to give you a chance to have a walk down memory lane! We’ll keep you posted. Chris (co-editor)

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A Message from Councillor Diane Howell Residents may remember in my last Mag article I reported that Solihull Council had been awarded over £2 million from the HS2 Road Safety Fund. The projects that will receive this funding have now been confirmed and I’m delighted that Meriden will benefit. The approved projects include average speed cameras through Meriden, Balsall Common and Berkswell; improvements to Meriden village centre to facilitate disabled access; safety improvements to Cornets End Lane/Berkswell Rd junction; a feasibility study to explore extending the footpath on Berkswell Rd, and the provision of 2 mobile speed traps for the police to use. This is great news for our community - speeding traffic is a real issue in Meriden and these projects will help enforce the speed limits and act as a real deterrent. The projects are scheduled to be implemented between 2022-24 and I’ll be working with my Ward colleagues and Council officers to ensure that they will meet local need and benefit residents.

Elsewhere in the ward, we received more good news just before Christmas that HS2’s appeal to drive 400 lorries per day through residential roads in Balsall Common had been thrown out by the Planning Inspector. Your Ward Councillors have consistently campaigned against HS2 driving lorries through villages and we have been calling on them to establish a continuous cross country haul route. The Planning Committee had refused permission for this lorry route in the summer, with all 3 of your Ward Councillors submitting objections. As HS2’s appeal was unsuccessful this means that they must abide by the legal limits within the HS2 Act, so the lorries on this route will be 2/3 less than if permission had been granted. HS2 are in the process of acquiring land consents and permissions to enable them to construct a haul route to the Balsall Common construction sites; once this is in place their lorries can use this instead.

Finally, I’d like to thank residents for their patience whilst Fillongley Road is closed. This closure is to enable the old bridge to be replaced and it is hoped work will be completed by August. The Council Officers have worked closely with local residents and all your local representatives to put in place diversions which maintain resident access but inhibit through traffic driving down our narrow rural lanes. These are reviewed regularly to monitor their effectiveness - if you have any feedback on this please let me know. diane.howell@solihull.gov.uk

Minister Rev. Jane Braund Tel: 01676 533737 Please phone to arrange marriages, baptisms and funerals Services: Sunday 10:30am.

In Meriden

Greetings from the Methodist Church I remember as a child my mother quoting the following verse to me: January brings the snow, makes the toes and fingers glow.

February brings the rain, thaws the frozen ponds again.

March brings breezes loud and shrill, stirs the dancing daffodil.

April brings the primrose sweet, scatters daisies at our feet.

May brings flocks of pretty lambs, skipping by their fleecy dams.

June brings tulips, lilies, roses; fills the children's hands with posies.

Hot July brings cooling showers, strawberries and gilly-flowers.

August brings the sheaves of corn, then the harvest home is borne.

Warm September brings the fruit, sportsmen then begin to shoot.

Fresh October brings the pheasant, then to gather nuts is pleasant.

Dull November brings the blast, then the leaves are falling fast.

Chill December brings the sleet, blazing fire and Christmas treat.

Those words supposedly sum up the things we might expect to see during the course of a year. But how true are they? Does it always snow in January? Or rain in July? Is November always dull? And February always wet? Sometimes perhaps, but we can never be certain of what the weather holds from one day to the next, let alone from one year to the next!

And if that's true for the weather it's even more true in our lives. Yet that doesn't mean the future is uncertain, because at the heart of the Christian faith is the confidence that God holds the future of everyone and everything in his hands. How can we be sure of this? We can be sure, because his great love for us took him to the cross. Jesus took the sins of the whole world on himself, was tortured and then nailed to the cross. After he died, he was buried and then three days later he rose from the dead. Jesus did that for you and me - spared himself nothing because of love for us. So, the one thing that we can have absolute certainty in is God's love for us and that whatever the future holds, not only does he know about it but he will be with us through it all.

Please come and hear more about Jesus who loves you with an everlasting love. There is a service on Maundy Thursday at 7.30 pm at the Methodist Church when we remember Jesus' last meal with his disciples before being arrested and killed.

On Easter Sunday we celebrate his resurrection with a service at 10.30 led by Rev Ian Coates. We look forward to seeing you then. With Love Jane

Meriden’s Own Charity Calendar Following the success of the 2022 Meriden calendar we are pleased to announce that we will be producing a 2023 calendar, which will be bigger and better than 2022!! We have already started collating photographs and look forward to seeing your entries for February. As you are aware we raised £960 for Meriden C of E School who are using the money for a sail to protect the children from UV rays when they are playing outside. The calendar pictures were of local scenery taken by our very own talented group members and each month they were uploaded to Meriden News and Views on Facebook and the rest of us (liked) voted for our favourite picture. We look forward to seeing your entries in the following months, just a reminder pictures must be in landscape format and be reflective of the month in question.

We haven’t decided yet which local cause will benefit from the calendars this year.

Please look out for the posts each month on MERIDEN NEWS AND VIEWS Facebook page

Meriden United Charities Could you use a little help…?

Charities have existed in Meriden for hundreds of years.

Originally set up to help the poor of the Parish with the cost of fuel, food and education, funds are still generated today by the investments of the original benefactors and the occasional donation.

The days of the elderly and impoverished needing coal and education being viewed as outside the means of many may be a thing of the past, but there are still folk in need of the very basics of life. The funds aren’t huge, but we can help in small ways where people are in need.

Examples of assistance we’ve given are, helping with transport, education, trips and clothing, as well as sending a little gift to those in difficulty following illness or bereavement.

If you are a resident within the Parish of Meriden and you, or someone you know, are in need of a little help, please get in touch. We may not always be able to help within the remit of the Charity, but we can certainly help a good many folks. If you’d like to know more, you can meet us at the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebrations on June 5th.

Contact us on meridenunitedcharities@gmail.com

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A Message from Councillor Tony Dicicco A lot has happened since I wrote my previous article for the Mag. The hope for 2022 for all of us is that we can finally move on from the damaging effects of Covid-19. In common with almost every other major nation, it has taken the UK some time to get to grips with the virus, but the signs are good that we have at last started to get on the front foot. It is amazing to think that it is only just over a year since the mass vaccination programme started. Since then, over 120 million doses of the vaccine have been administered, which is a considerable feat. Praise must go to all the people working in the NHS, national and local government and the armed forces who have worked hard to make this happen. I think the evidence shows that two doses of the Covid vaccine plus the booster is protecting people from serious illness: although the Omicron variant has led to a very high number of cases, the number of hospitalisations and deaths has not risen significantly.

One of my roles as a local councillor is as Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care & Health, responsible for ensuring good social care and public health in Solihull. I have seen first-hand the dedication and hard work of council officers and employees to maintain high standards of care. The work of the Public Health team in helping to contain the Covid outbreak, providing services such as testing and vaccination, has been exceptional and they deserve our gratitude.

The work of council employees often goes unnoticed: we usually only contact the council when we have a problem such as potholes, fly tipping, planning or waste collection issues. Solihull Council does so much more, and I know that there is a real desire to do a good job and keep Meriden as one of the best places in which to live in the UK. As residents, we can all play our part. A good example is the work of local litter picking groups who regularly go out and collect litter and fly tipped rubbish. It is a considerable challenge and there are a number of hotspots which always seem to have litter regardless of how often they are cleared! One of these is the layby on the Kenilworth Road approaching the Hampton/Meriden traffic island from the South. This seems to be a regular dumping area for drivers and others who seem to be meeting up there to drink and hang out. I have asked the council to install more rubbish bins there and hopefully people will use them instead of scattering rubbish in the grass verges and hedges around the layby. I recently went out to clear as much of the mess as I could and the range of items that I found was interesting to say the least!

It will always be a challenge to keep these areas and our more rural roads and lanes litter free. The council is helping to address this challenge by installing cameras in sensitive areas to try to catch offenders who thoughtlessly discard their waste, mainly from cars. We are determined to catch and penalise offenders. If we all work together, I believe that we can solve these issues and make Meriden a better place.

Finally, I would like to pay tribute to Alan Lole who died recently. I had the pleasure of working with Alan to raise money for good causes: he did an excellent job for our local community, and he will really be missed.

If you wish to comment on the issues in this article, or any other local issues, then please contact me at tony.dicicco@solihull.gov.uk.

Stay safe, Cllr Tony Dicicco.

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Classes include : Pilates at every level, Yoga Stretch, Stretch and Relaxation, Dancefit and High Intensity Interval Training.

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Please be aware that the entrance from Shepherds Lane is closed. This means that motorists from Meriden need to drive to the Stonebridge Island and U-turn back towards Meriden to access us from the A45.

LOCKSMITH Lee Clements & Sons 01676 578278 Full Mobile Locksmith Service All locks changed supplied and fitted

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1st Meriden Scout Group and Explorer Unit - News from the Green Hut 1st Meriden Cubs said a fond farewell to another Akela in December. Andy Ruthven hung up his woggle after six years with Meriden Cubs. We thanked Andy for his hard efforts with keeping Cubs going but also for helping around the hut with those odd jobs. Hopefully we will still see Andy around as his successor isn’t quite as handy with a tool box contents!

So, January brings more challenges, but as ever a Scout will face them head on and with a smile on their face. A new temporary leader is appointed, new Cubs arrive up from Beavers and hopefully soon the mask and “wash hands for 20 seconds” will be a thing of the past!

Baking Welsh cakes, stop motion filming along with learning about the solar system, constellations and moon gazing have kicked off the new year. One Cub brought his super telescope to pack night and let all the others have a close up look at the moon. There are some very keen astronomers at 1st Meriden. Did you know at least 207 of the 312 pilots and scientist selected by NASA have been identified as having been a Scout or active in Scouts, wow!

Meriden may be famous for people like Lady Godiva and some pretty cool motorbikes but one day, inspired by their scouting background we might have one of our own up in space!

Trips planned are the usual, getting a Cub as muddy as we can before returning them back to Mum and Dad by 8pm.

February sees the Cubs and leaders off down to the farm to watch the spring lambs being born, by kind permission of Charlie Beaty and family, rubber gloves at the ready and I’m sure there will be some funny noises from the Cubs if they are lucky enough to see one being born.

Money skills follows in March. This is the newest to the Cubs’ hoard of activity badges, teaching them about making the most of their assets and keeping safe online. Again very thankful to parents and friends of Meriden Scouts with helping us out with many of our activities.

Scouts We had our first Scout camp in quite some time at the end of Oct’21, with three patrols of Scouts camping down the HQ, buying their own food then cooking for their patrols over open fires. Saturday evening was spent playing games and working towards the Entertainer badge.

We joined in with the groups’ themed Bonfire Night in November, with all of the Scouts donning the Viking helmets they’d made over previous weeks and singing along to the burning of a Viking ship in lieu of a guy. And spent a few weeks looking at the Local Knowledge/Heritage badge. I think some of the Scouts were quite surprised on some of the historic facts about Meriden.

We closed out the year with a couple of weeks constructing and painting some soldiers, kindly provided by the Games Workshop, for the Scouts to complete their Model Maker badge, before finishing the year playing a giant game of Cluedo. The board, rooms and equipment represented items, rooms down the Scout hut and everyone dressed up as keen sleuths, detectives or murder victims.

We started the New Year off with some simple cooking challenges. Cooking cakes in a mug. Lots of different recipes from Rocky Road cake, Triple Choc, Peanut Butter, Black Forrest and many more. We have since moved on to looking at camp layout and how you should select the best pitch for your tents. This should ensure the next time we go camping they don’t wake up to rain blowing into their tents.

Mapping challenges, cooking on open fires, basic first aid and a number of camps are all on the horizon to keep the Scouts challenged over the coming weeks and hopefully cheer us all up after the COVID years.

If you think Scouting’s for you get in touch or pop along on a Tuesday evening and give it a try. If Bear Dares why don’t you.

HELP! Fundraising and New Leaders. We have a new fundraising group who are helping to raise extra money for planned improvements at the hut. If you are interested in helping this action group please email below.

And finally. We need new leaders to come forward. Meriden is one of the biggest groups in the district but we have one of the smallest number of leaders. We need more adults to grab a necker and woggle and help inspire this next generation of Scouts coming through.

Please Email:1stmeridenscouts@gmail.com – Lynda Spratt (please see our Beetle Drive advert on the events page)

Entry Entry£3 £3 £3to to toinclude include include Entry Entry £3 to include Beetle BeetleDrive Drive Drivegames games games Beetle Beetle Drive games

Please Pleasejoin joinususfor forour ourfirst firstfamily familyevent event

Beetle BeetleDrive Drive Saturday Saturday13 13ththMarch March2.00-4.00pm 2.00-4.00pm

At Atthe theScout ScoutHut Hut For Formore moredetails detailscontact: contact:- -07790348726 07790348726

Teas, Teas, Teas,coffees coffees coffeesand and and Teas, coffees and Tuck shop Tuck Tuck Tuckshop Shop Shop

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS BUSINESS SPONSORSHIP Thank you to Lord & Lady Guernsey, NRS Wastecare, A & A Recycling and H D Ricketts for their generous sponsorship of Meriden’s Christmas lights. The sponsorship enabled new lights to be purchased for the Memorial Oak on the roundabout and Sports Park tree nearest the children’s play area.

Sports Park Tree and Roundabout Oak Tree

The display was wonderful and very much appreciated by Meriden’s residents and visitors when entering from village gateways and shopping at the Green. The sponsorship is for 3 years initially, and the local community look forward to continued business support for their Christmas festive displays.

PARK IMPROVEMENTS TO CHILDRENS PLAY AREA Thank you to the local community for their patience during the 3-day closure of the children’s play area, whilst Wicksteed made repairs to the zip wire, seesaw and basket swing. We are delighted to advise that funding was secured from the National Lottery Community Fund in November 2021 to provide an inclusive roundabout with the removal of the TeaCup. There will also be further groundworks undertaken to extend the soft surface beneath the roundabout, improve accessibility, including relaying paving to enable level surface and extend the pathway from the gate entrance to the new Swirl roundabout for wheelchair users and those less ambulant.

We understand Wicksteed is working towards an install date of 4th April 2022, and there will be a need to close the play area once more for approximately 5 days, but of course we will keep the community up to date via Facebook and our website nearer the time.

The new roundabout will hopefully be installed in April, ready for the Children of Meriden to enjoy!

YOUR LOCAL PARISH COUNCIL NEEDS YOU! ELECTIONS MAY 2023 MAKE A CHANGE BECOME A PARISH COUNCILLOR To find out more contact Barbara Bland

Should you wish to contact the Parish Council, please contact the Clerk to have a private chat to address local community issues or visit our website where you can access a wealth of information.

Clerk: Barbara Bland, 55 James Dawson Drive, Millisons Wood, Coventry, CV5 9QJ T: 01676 522474 M: 07767 162423 E: clerk@meridenparishcouncil.org.uk

UPDATES

PLATINUM JUBILEE

THANK YOU The Parish Council would like to thank members of the public for bringing to our attention local issues such as potholes, rubbish on roads, HS2 lorries and HGVs. Please continue to do so, as we are continuing to talk to the responsible officers at SMBC, quarry operators and HS2 to get the work done, and to ensure HGVs adhere to the appropriate routing agreements in place.

WARM HUB

…. has reopened! Anyone is welcome to pop in for a cuppa and a chat every Tuesday 10.30 to 12.30 in the Pavilion at the Sports Park. Any resident is welcome.

TRANSPORT The Parish Council has been involved with TfWM continually raising community needs for transport.

Please read the exciting update from TfWM in this issue!

GREAT BRITISH SPRING CLEAN 2022 We are looking forward to once again supporting the Great British Spring Clean, a two-week nationwide campaign by Keep Britain Tidy, which aims to tackle litter around the country and encourage more people to take pride in where they live.

STONE BENCH UPDATE Meriden’s stone seat on The Green was sadly demolished by a car. This is being investigated by our insurance company and it will be rebuilt.

This is a memorial bench to Walter MacGregor 'Robbie' Robinson (died 17 September 1956).

He was also known as 'Wayfarer' and had a major The dates of the seventh annual #GBSpringClean and role in promoting cycle touring for the general #GBSchoolClean are 25 March to 10 April 2022, so we public in the UK, from the 1920s onwards through invite you to put them in your diary and get involved! th MERIDEN LITTERPICKING IS 25 March @ 11am in the writing, giving lectures and as a cycling role model. The bench was installed by the Cyclists' Sports Park. Other dates include 23rd April and 28th Touring Club.

May. We were successful in securing a speed camera to be installed in ROAD SAFETY Meriden, funded from the HS2 road safety fund. Footway improvements IMPROVEMENTS oftoan will aid disabled residents and a survey will be undertaken establish if FUNDING the Berkswell Road footpath can be extended. The likely costs of an In partnership with extension will also be identified.

SMBC Highways From Left to Right: Cllr R Weaver BEM (Chair) Cllr J Barber Cllr A Eburne Cllr J Hughes (Vice-Chair) From Left to Right: Cllr M Woollard Cllr B Kipling Cllr M Nunn Cllr C Smith

Little White Ducks by Julie Hyde 1. Lightly draw the ducks. You can mask out the head and majority of the inside edge of the body with masking fluid (use a little soap on your brush first to protect your brush). Or you can just be very careful around the edges when you wet the background.

2. Background Get salt and cling film ready. Mix puddles of: Ultramarine Blue Lemon Yellow (pale Yellow) Cadmium Yellow (warm yellow) Alizarin Crimson (pinky red) Ultramarine Blue + Cadmium Yellow (light green) Prussian Blue + Burnt Sienna (strong dark green) With a mop brush and clean water, wet the paper all over, apart from the ducks. Add the colours with a large round brush, keeping them lighter around the edges and stronger near the ducks. Add a pinch of salt at the top and cling film at the bottom while this is still wet. Let it dry 3. Background 2. When it’s dry, take off the Clingfilm. Add a suggestion of leaves behind the duck with a weak green that you used before, on to dry paper. Where you want it to merge into the background, add a little water first to where you want it to fade away. LET IT ALL DRY (Time for a cuppa!)

4. Ducks. Wet one duck at a time and add the shadows with: Cadmium Yellow (weak) Alizarin Crimson + Ultramarine Blue (weak pink purple) Ultramarine Blue + Alizarin Crimson (weak blue purple) Let it dry and then repeat with the other duck.

5. Leaves. On to dry paper, add a few extra leaves over the duck’s body at the bottom. Where you want the leaves to merge into the background at the bottom, wet the paper first and then add the colour.

6. Beaks. Wet the beak first with clean water and then add:-

Cadmium Yellow Cadmium Yellow + Cadmium Red Burnt Umber Leave a little white on top of the bill.

7. Legs. Add a hint of leg with a little: Cadmium Yellow + Cadmium Red 8. Eyes. Add the eyes with a little: Ultramarine Blue + Burnt Umber

Look For Arty Julie on YouTube for watercolour videos!

Julie is running regular weekly classes in watercolour painting on Zoom. For more information email Julie on jph300@hotmail.com . There is also an Art Club running on a Thursday 11:00-1:00, £5 - in the Scout Hut in Meriden, Pop in and see what that is all about or phone 01676 523357.

Created by Julie Hyde

Copyright © 2022

PUZZLE PAGE – No. 11 Battleships 1 4,1 2 1,2,1 1,1

BATTLESHIPS - HOW TO PLAY: - The numbers around the grid indicate the no. of occupied squares in the row/ column. E.g., 1,3 means the row contains one occupied square, then at least one space, then 3 consecutive occupied squares. Fill in the grid so that the numbers tally and it contains 3 cruisers (4 squares long), 3 launches (2 squares long) and 3 buoys (single squares). Boats are always horizontal or vertical in the grid and may touch.

1,1,1, 1,1,2 1,4

1

1,1,1

1,1,1

1,2

WORDBUILDER

N

H

T

4,1

1

WORD LADDER: -Change one letter at a time, but not the position of any letter, to make a new word on each rung, from top to bottom, using the exact number of rungs

Using these 9 letters, can you answer the clues? Every answer must include the letter G. Which word uses all 9 letters?

6 LETTERS Alter Faint Trace Earned, won Fenced in Hurting Flexible joint Representative Playing a part Taking food Whinny

5 LETTERS

I

G

A

C

D E

BOXWISE – Place the three-lettered blocks in the grid so that adjacent squares, marked by arrows, reveal a 6 letter word. E.g. 2 and 5 make a 6 letter word but not 5 and 9. One has been filled in to start you off.

BAL CLE CRU DER KEN LAD

LIT MUS NCH SIL SUN VER

F

O

O

T

B

A

L

L

7 LETTERS Aiming (for) Engraving Warming

8 LETTERS Deceiving Instructing

MISSING LINK – Fit 10 words into the grid so that each one connects up with the words on either side.

E.G. WISHING – WELL – DONE. Read down the letters in the shaded squares to spell out a word associated with wealth and success

BUNGEE AMUSEMENT

AUCTION

BAIL BENCH SERVICE

CHAT

BOAT

FLAT

DOCTOR

TAX We hope that you enjoy doing these puzzles. If you ever want the answers, just email me (Chris, the co-editor) at chrisbannister56@aol.com If you’d like to offer any puzzles for inclusion in future issues, just send them to me. Thanks.

Word Ladder

CHANGE OPEN

END LEVER GAMES

PARADISE

CAUSE

JELLY

BOOM

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FACT OR FICTION? Whatever you write….

Balsall Common Writers welcomes new members and invites you to join us We hold evening sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Balsall Common * Please contact info.bcwriters@gmail.com *by zoom until restrictions lifted

All our training is adapted and tailored around your dog’s individual needs. Individual or group classes are available by appointment and are fully flexible. Take a look at our Facebook page

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Public Liability Insurance: Simply Business MHGB2291989XB

Telephone Paul on 07889 789110 or 01676 521661 “Love is like Measles – much worse when you are older !”

BREATHE EASY COVENTRY We are now returning to meetings 2nd Friday of every month until October 2.00-4.00pm at the Central Hall, Methodist Church, Warwick Lane Coventry CV1 2HA All chairs are well spaced and we ask you to still wear a mask please Phone Janet (Chair) on 024 7646 0081 to see if we can be of any help. “Keep well”

Oak View Logs Established providers of premium kiln dried firewood within the local North Warwickshire area.

Our logs are a bespoke blend of hardwoods, cut to an approximate size of either 8" or 10", ideal for home burning.

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Berkswell & District History Group Wednesday 20th April - Wallis Simpson and the Abdication Crisis. 1936 - The year of Three Kings and ‘That Woman’.

“Too rich, too thin, too American; a bewitching, vulgar, Yankee huntress”.

But was she a benevolent woman caught up in a situation from which she could not extricate herself?

A presentation by Roy Smart. A Naval Officer, Fleet Air Arm Pilot and Air Director of many great national memorial services.

This presentation will be preceded by a brief AGM. Refreshments will be provided at this event.

Meet in the Village Hall, Station Rd., Balsall Common. Please arrive by 2 p.m. for a 2:15 start.

Entry is £5 for non-members and free to members.

Why not join the History Group? Membership is only £15 per annum and you can join at any meeting.

Have you looked at our web site? www.berkswell-history.org Our programme for the rest of 2022 is available there.

Meriden Blinds Call now for an appointment to see our latest stunning range of samples for Verticals, Romans, Rollers, Metal, Wood Venetians, and Perfect fit.

CALL US ON: 01676 523642 For a friendly, free, no obligation quote.

AMS Pest Control Services ‘Experts in Protected’ Wasp Nest Treatment £60 Rodent Control Insect Infestation Treatment Discreet unmarked vans Same day service available

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Indi Sangha Window Cleaning and Jet Washing Services All prices quoted include measuring, fitting, and VAT. If you know the measurements, I am happy to give you a quote by email. Please send your details to:

Serving Meriden and Millison’s Wood area for over 20 years Call 07949 227402

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All Together Café 2 Friday of the Month Meriden Sports Pavilion Any time between 2pm and 4pm nd

11th March 08th April 13th May Drop in for tea, coffee, cake and chat.

Meet your neighbours. Various board games too. We had a splendid time in September, October and November.

Do join us soon – call 01676 522666 if you would like transport.

unit

Contact numbers Sue 01676 522540 Carol 01676 522888 Easter Greetings from Sue, Carol and the Meriden Committee!

The Committee hope this edition of the magazine finds you fit and well and looking forward to enjoying a relatively normal lifestyle. As Spring emerges and our collective sap rises, we hope that at last we may be able to devote more time to raising funds for CRUK. As many of you know, due to Covid concerns we cancelled our Christmas event at the Club; so our last fundraising activity in 2021 turned out to be Christmas cards and those cute little hand knitted stocking fillers that so many of you kindly bought or received. Many thanks to you all for your support and to our amazing band of knitters and stitchers - believe it or not we sold over 870 individual knitted items – the little robin being by far the most popular!

Our first social event for 2022 is a regular favourite – a Fish & Chip supper night at The Heart of England Social Club on Friday 25th March. After the supper there will be music from Keith Slater (vocalist/multi -instrumentalist and former lead singer with Vivo), lots of dancing and a bumper raffle. Tickets cost £12.50 for this event and are available from Sue, Carol, the committee and the Club.

During the month of March we are hoping that lots of Meriden folk will support CRUK in the “Walk All Over Cancer Community Challenge” This is a personal fundraising challenge, but with the motivation of being part of a team, to walk 10,000 steps every day for the month, alone or buddying up with friends to share the steps and to persuade as many of your friends and family as you can to sponsor you. Hopefully by the time you are reading this you will already have seen the promotional material around the village or on Facebook and will have signed up to join the Meriden Community Challenge (or sponsored someone!), but if you haven’t and are interested please contact Sue or Carol for further information.

In April Tesco will turn Pink, as they do every year, in their support of Cancer Research UK and we will be at Cannon Park rattling our buckets collecting as much spare change from shoppers as we can. Raising funds for CRUK is so important as currently 1 in 2 of us will get Cancer at some stage during our lifetime and in the 1970’s only 1 in 4 survived their disease for 10 years or more. Today it is 2 in 4 and CRUK’s ambition is to accelerate progress so that by 2034, 3 in 4 of us will survive by 10 years or more.

We are planning many more events for later in the year. Look out for details in the next edition of this Magazine, together with posters and on social media. If you would like to become more involved in any of our fundraising activities Sue and Carol would love to hear from you. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the Spring flowers, sunshine and showers and the ever-increasing list of tasks to do in the garden!

Christmas Knitted Novelties

CAMEO – Come and Meet Each Other Our December meeting was well attended, safe and a very good time was had by all. Margaret and Tom Oliver entertained us with keyboard and flute. We sang songs and carols, even though we were wearing masks and we enjoyed festive food and chat. It really put us in the mood for Xmas.

Spring Meetings are planned as follows: March 25th - Lunch at the Lake at Barston. We always had a good time there. There is nothing nicer than sitting down to a meal with friends.

April 22nd - We are hoping to have the choir ‘Simply Purple’ come to entertain us, which we always enjoy.

May 27th - Celebrations for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Bring your memories of the Coronation in 1953, any photographs you have, any memorabilia or anything you may think we would all like to hear about. It should be a lovely afternoon. A nice time to share, that only people of a certain age will remember.

At our January meeting, also wellll attended, d d Roger Cragg, a retired civil engineer, enthralled us with slides of canal and packhorse bridges, aqueducts, canals and roads - all in this area. We may have passed some of them many times and not really noticed them! We have a link to Thomas Telford who, in 1810, created Meriden Hill bypassing the old road passing the Queens Head which was far too steep. Who knew that? We had a lively Q&A session afterwards and all learned a lot.

At our February meeting, Clare Davis, a volunteer gardener for Marie Curie, came to tell us what her work entailed. What a lovely thing to do. We all love our gardens and like For more information on our meetings at the Village Hall to hear about other people’s gardens.

On the 4th Friday afternoon of each month at This made it a particularly nice meeting.

2 – 4 pm please contact Joan Tel: 01676 523507

Meriden Libraryy News

Please note, all information is accurate at the time of writing in January 2022.

Opening Hours Monday 10am – 1pm, 2pm – 5pm Tuesday 10am – 12:30pm Thursday 10am – 12:30pm Meriden Library continues to offer an increased service to its users. Please visit www.solihull.gov.uk/Libraries or www.facebook.com/meridenlib for latest news and opening times.

Free Computer and Internet Access If you have a library card, you can use one of the public computers at the library. If you’re not yet a member, joining the library is free, easy and quick.

Members get 2 hours free internet access and computers are available until 15 minutes before the library closes with staff always on hand to help if needed.

We also offer printing and photocopying facilities (charges apply), Scanning facilities and Wi-Fi access.

Easter Craft Packs Celebrate the season springing into bloom by picking up a craft pack to take home and make at any time.

We’re open in the school holidays from Monday 11th April. Craft will be suitable for ages 4+.

Home Library Service If you can’t get to the library yourself, our Home Library Service is still on hand. When you get in touch, a member of the team will contact you by phone to assess your individual needs and circumstances. They will explain how the service works and answer any questions you may have. They will also find out what sort of books you enjoy – this will help staff to choose items for you. We’ll then arrange a time to visit. If this is something you think that you or someone you know may benefit from, do call the Home Library Service team on 0121 704 6947 or email libraryarts@solihull.gov.uk and we will take it from there.

Keep up to date with news from Meriden Library by liking us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/meridenlib

111 Places in Coventry that you Shouldn’t Miss

By Rob Ganley The launch, this year, of Coventry’s “City of Culture” has attracted much publicity by the local Media... There has been wide coverage of light shows, concerts and parades, as well as the promotion of The Creative Arts in general to mark the event.

However, there has been little of note to celebrate the industrial and geographical culture on which so much of the city’s heritage is based.

This hand book is a gem. Written and compiled by Rob Ganley, a “Coventry Kid “ who, following his education at Woodlands School and university, embarked on a successful London career in publishing. He has now returned to his roots and has written this very readable volume, describing wellknown and rarer places of interest in the city.

Each location is described in a single page, accompanied by beautiful full-page colour photographs by Ian Williams. Way beyond the Cathedral, there are descriptions of artisan brewers, niche bookshops, quirky and little known facts about Coventry’s historical and industrial heritage as well as blue plaques a-plenty.

This is a perfect gift for yourself or others. There is much to learn and hopefully encourage visiting some of these places – right on your doorstep - whether you are a long-time “Local”, a more recent resident or a visitor to the area.

In his Foreword, Ganley says “For me, writing this guidebook has been a nostalgic and inspirational journey. I hope it reads as it is intended – a heartfelt tribute to the city of my upbringing – and that you, too, find inspiration in its pages” Chris Copper

Readers’ Circle Meetings Wed 9th Mar – Books bought/received for Xmas Wed 6th Apr – Contemporary Crime fiction (20th century or later) Wed 11th May – A Seafaring Story For further information and the venue, please call Peter Moss on 01676 523590

WALKING PAGE – “Getting Started”

by Chris Bannister We started walking when our children were young. We kept the walks short and local, so all we really needed were some trainers that we didn’t mind getting muddy, and some sweets to keep the kids motivated! Most of our local footpaths go through woods and fields and can get pretty muddy at times, so wellies might be a good investment. However, you can still have a decent, enjoyable walk keeping to our local roads.

After our children left home, we became a bit more adventurous and started driving out to start our walk further afield. We are so lucky living in the Centre of England. We can drive for up to 75 mins to get to many beautiful walks in Warwickshire, the Cotswolds, the Peak District, Shropshire, Herefordshire, the Wye Valley or even the Chilterns. Many are much hillier than the walks around here, so you get the additional cardiovascular health benefit and there can also be spectacular views as a reward. We usually do between 4 and 6 of these walks every month, weather permitting. There’s nothing better than walking on a crisp, cold, sunny day to make you feel alive! If you’re not confident, then you can always start with a guided walk. Join the Ramblers, then sign up for one of their guided walks or sign up for a ‘Walking for Wellbeing’ walk.

If you do fancy doing this kind of walk, then you need to be prepared. This is what I recommend…

Boots - A sturdy pair of waterproof boots is essential. I prefer the fabric ones, as the leather ones give me blisters, but leather boots generally will last longer. I also look for good ankle support so prefer boots that come higher up.

Map - An Ordnance Survey map is another essential. When you buy one nowadays, you can also download it to your phone, but you can’t beat a paper one for planning the walk. The Explorer maps are best for walkers, as the map scale gives just the right level of detail. It shows every building, road, footpath, river etc. and you can see which bits are steep. We like to highlight on the map, all the walks we’ve done. You could also pay about £25 per year for the OS App on your phone. This gives you access to the whole of the UK, but may not work if you have no phone signal. The App shows you where you actually are, so is really helpful if you think you are lost.

Pole - Many people won’t want to use a walking pole, but I won’t walk without one. It helps me go uphill, prevents me from going too fast down a steep hill and acts as a ‘third leg’ to help me keep my balance! Some people use 2 but I like to have one hand free. They’re great too for testing the depth of mud or water.

Rucksack – Essential to keep all your stuff together. One with a few different pouches is best.

You need to keep hydrated so take plenty of water, more in the summer. If you’re tackling a long walk you’ll be out for several hours, so will no doubt want something to eat too. We take a flask of tea, sandwiches, fruit, some Border biscuits and always have a packet of Werthers to hand too! Some rucksacks have water pouches built in, but I don’t like them, after I got soaked once when bending over!

Tip – put a large plastic box in your car for your muddy boots.

Other EquipmentCompass - for checking you’re going in the right direction. The top of a map is always north.

Whistle - to alert other walkers if you get into trouble.

Mat - One of the best presents I was given was a mat to sit on.

Brilliant when you want to sit down in a field or on a wet bench to have a cuppa or some food. They are really lightweight and fold up.

First aid kit - to deal with minor injuries.

Clothing – layers are important here, as you may want to remove some if you get too hot. I always wear a base layer with a fleece on top, then a light waterproof, windproof jacket for the summer and a more padded jacket, woolly hat, scarf and gloves in the winter.

Good socks will prevent blisters, especially if you wear liner socks as well. In the summer, wear some sort of cap and don’t forget the sunscreen.

Where to buy stuff? This may all sound daunting, but you can build up your walking gear as you get more adventurous, and go for cheaper stuff until you get more hooked on walking. My first port of call is usually Go Outdoors at Canley.

They have most of this stuff and usually offer a good range of quality and prices.

With thanks to Charlie Beaty For these lovely pages Spring is easily my favourite time of year. The bluebells bloom, the trees are green and there are newborn lambs jumping about in the fields again. We start lambing our ewes at the end of February (this year we started on the 21st February) and by mid-March they’ve usually all given birth and are out in the fields with their lambs. If you’ve walked the footpaths running through our fields behind Strawberry Fields, you’ve probably seen them, hopefully frolicking about in the spring sunshine. If you take your dog with you when walking across the countryside, it’s VERY important that you keep it on a lead. Your dog may spook the sheep, causing ewes and their lambs to get separated. Springtime is also breeding time for much of the UK’s wildlife, including endangered birds such as lapwings, which nest on the ground.

You may have also noticed that the ewes and lambs all have numbers spray-painted on their sides too – do you know why?

Before the ewes and lambs are first turned out into the fields, we mark them all with a number. The number on the lamb matches the number sprayed onto their mothers. This is so that if there is a problem, we can identify and catch them if need be.

We also have calves being born in the spring. Out of the 85 breeding cows we have, around 55 will give birth this spring. Hopefully, by the end of April we’ll have also turned the cows and their calves out into the fields.

Our sheep and cattle are reared for their meat, although we do keep some of the females for breeding from. Our livestock graze in fields that we are unable to grow crops, such as wheat. But that’s okay, because our livestock convert grass (that humans can’t eat) into a nutritious and sustainable food source for people to eat.

This lamb has its number and is ready to go out in the fields!

Below, sometimes the ewes need a little help to give birth; help is always at hand

Daffodil Daffodil

Bee Bee

Ewes Ewesand and Lambs Lambs

Woodpecker Woodpecker

Birds BirdsNest Nest

Butterfly Butterfly

(You (Youmay mayhear hearthis this one, one,instead insteadofofsee seeit!) it!)

(but (butdon’t don’tdisturb disturbit!) it!)

Worm Worm

Blossom Blossom

Tractor Tractor

Feather Feather A cow and her newborn calf.

When walking in the countryside, you shouldn’t walk close to cows and young calves. You may want to avoid walking through fields with them at all, especially if you have a dog

with you.

HS2 NEWS: - HS2’s works near Meriden - High Speed Two (HS2) is the new high-speed railway for Britain. Early works for HS2 are carried out by a joint venture between Laing O’Rourke and J. Murphy & Sons known as LM, and main works are carried out by a joint venture between Balfour Beatty and VINCI known as BBV. Until approximately summer 2022, LM’s closest works to Meriden will be concentrated near the A452, A45 and M42, which surround the site of the future HS2 Interchange Station. The direction of travel for road users around Northway Island (over the M42) has now permanently changed and, depending on your direction of travel, you may be redirected from the island along the B4438 and back. Off-peak temporary lane closures will also be installed occasionally in the area and we will carry out several temporary weekend road closures on and around Northway Island before our programme concludes in the summer. BBV will continue activities east of the M42 in the Interchange area, mainly concentrated on HS2 land. This will include the completion of a the earthwork BBVA45, compound off preparations for both the Bickenhill cutting and the construction of the A452 link road to the new M42 bridge. We will also be completing utility diversions on the East Way which will involve narrow lanes being in place near the Stonebridge Island. Throughout the route, we will continue with ground investigation works to enable our construction throughout 2022 and beyond.

If you would like to receive updates from HS2 please sign up for email notifications at engagement.hs2.org.uk/joinmailing-list. You will be asked to confirm your email address as part of the process.

If you have any questions about these changes or would like some help signing up to email updates please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team, available all day, every day on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

Heart of England High Speed Railway Action Group - Richard Lloyd (Chairman) "Public servants advise and politicians decide" - but the recent antics of our national elected representatives give little confidence we are in safe hands. Is there any similarity with government at a local level? If the bins are emptied, the litter swept once in a blue moon, and the roads tarred in the run-up to the May elections, do we assume all is well? You can't go far without encountering the HS2 works, and these are going to intensify in the near future. Solihull Council gives the impression that nothing must stand in the way of the project. "For the greater good". In the early secret stages, the Council was complicit in getting our "local" station placed in a vacant piece of Green Belt, rather than in the heart of Solihull, or at an expanded Birmingham International. When Arup drew a straight line across the map, maximising the disruption (and cost) - not a murmur. When people argued for a tunnel to reduce the impact, the support was too little and too late. What we did get - 7 years ago - was a legally binding Agreement between the Council and the Government. The Council would back-off from opposing the HS2 Bill, provided the Government did a number of things: & "Minimise the loss of mature trees, established woodland, and trees generally in the vicinity of the Kenilworth Greenway". That went well! & "In good time, prior to the commencement of the HS2 Works ... further Hedgerow Planting to provide additional mitigation". Can we stop holding our breath? & "Diversions of cycleways and public rights of way communicated to affected communities in good time, prior to the commencement of the HS2 Works". We must have blinked.

Most of the items in the agreement had come from the petitioning by parish councils, amenity societies, and individuals, coordinated by HHAG. It feels like construction is going on forever. And so it might. Avanti have cut the London-Birmingham and London-Manchester services to 1 per hour, a third of what they used to be, so the Treasury is in no hurry to run more empty trains. The subsidy per passenger-journey reached £100 during lockdown, totalling £16 billion.

Civil servants have their hands tied, as the resources and the policies are beyond their control. Only when things get desperate, is there any opportunity for professional judgement. National politicians don't have the focus to be concerned by the £100 billion going on HS2. It's the same at the local level. Complaints generated by Solihull Council's hands-off approach, end up on the desks of officials who have to bat them away with evasion and denials, not with the councillors who direct them. Construction traffic generates endless complaints. Campaigners in Balsall Common won the refusal of one of the proposed HGV routes on the grounds of safety, disturbance, and pollution.

HS2 Ltd lost the subsequent planning appeal, but they carry on sending hundreds of trucks down the route, on the pretext they're allowed 24 movements to each of 5 sites.

This is despite local people giving up days of their time to monitor the traffic, and seeing the trucks all going into just the one. A Balsall Common Haul Route campaigner is remorseless in trying to pin down the facts and responsibilities, but she's yet to find a way through to the inner workings that are far-removed from the real world in which the rest of us live.

07904 239 365

Fillongley Road Bridge Replacement Works Progress Fillongley Road was closed on 4th January 2022 and we were immediately made aware of some drivers not following the signage. We have made some changes around the local diversion to help promote compliance and we encourage all road users to adhere to the layout installed for everyone’s ultimate safety.

As far as the bridge itself, services have now all been diverted out of the bridge deck and old vehicle barriers, kerbs, footpath and tarmac surfacing have been removed. Underneath, we have moved sections of the vehicle barriers on the A45 central reservation to make some space for demolition vehicles to turn, a crane to be positioned and scaffolding to be erected.

By the time you read this, the bridge deck should have been removed, in the middle of February, under a full closure of the A45, the waste materials removed from site and recycled where possible and we’ll have started to prepare the remaining elements to receive the new bridge deck.

A45 Central Reservation Clearance

Bridge Deck Clearance

What’s Next?

The abutments and pier will remain but need altering for the new bridge so, following the demolition, we will erect scaffolding around the structures for access and carrying out saw cutting, breaking and hydro-demolition. This will be quite noisy but will be kept to daytime working.

There will be two more weekend closures of the A45 on the horizon, currently programmed for the weekends of 08th April 2022 and 06th May 2022 to install the bridge deck beams and precast edge beams respectively. These dates are subject to change and we’ll update via our various channels closer the time.

Where can I find out more?

Please visit the projects website at www.solihull.gov.uk/Roads-pavements-and-streetcare/FillongleyRoadBridge or using the QR code below. Here you will find details on the project, diversion routes and our frequently asked questions. You can also contact us directly at email fillongleybridge@solihull.gov.uk.

Ďĝęč ĔėĒ ĕĊē ĆĞ After a break due to Covid-19, we were able to open up and welcome visitors to Heart of England Sixth Form as Year 11 students consider their next steps after GCSEs. Our online booking system enabled us to host all students who wanted to attend, including external students.

The evening started at 4.30pm on Thursday 10 December and began with D WRXU RI WKH 6L[WK )RUP /HYHVRQ EORFN which included teaching, study and social spaces which the students use GXULQJ WKHLU VWXGLHV LQ 6L[WK )RUP After each tour of up to 24 people consisting of at least eight prospective students, there was an opportunity to visit the courses fair in the main school hall. Here, course tutors were on hand at displays and resources to talk about their subjects, ready to answer questions from the future students.

“The atmosphere was calm and purposeful as students and their parents/carers spoke to staff to help WKHP PDNH GHFLVLRQV RQ WKH QH[W stage of their journey with us at Heart of England School,” said Mrs Theay, Head of Post 16. “Our current students

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FRQGXFWHG WRXUV RI /HYHVRQ EORFN and many parents commented on the honesty of our students during these tours, and felt they were genuine when they spoke about how happy they were to have made the choice to stay with us.”

Throughout the week online content featuring various aspects of essential and useful information for students and their families was released on the website. At the start of the week, we launched our new 2022 Sixth Form Prospectus which gives a good overview of what we offer post-16 as well as areas of study and our entry criteria.

On Tuesday the focus was on the courses we offer with feature videos on the &RXUVHV 9LGHR 3URÀOHV page – a great way to get an overview of the subjects available. They have been very popular with plenty of views on our YouTube channel playlist.

The following day there were further promotions of Videos Presentations from Head of Post 16 Mrs Theay, the Head Students and the Principal Miss HughesWilliams.

Mrs Theay talks about how we support Heart of England students during their

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studies with us and on for their onwards MRXUQH\V DIWHU 6L[WK )RUP ´2XU VWUDSOLQH is valid,” she says, “we do create futures.”

The Principal, in her presentation said: “A key statement from our latest Ofsted UHSRUW VWDWHV ¶7KH +HDG RI 6L[WK )RUP prepares students well for their futures EH\RQG VFKRRO · 7KDW H[WHUQDO YLHZ UHÁHFWV P\ RZQ MXGJHPHQW RI RXU KHDG RI 6L[WK )RUP µ 7KH ÀQDO GD\ RI WKH Open Week event we opened the application process with WKH SXEOLFDWLRQ RI WKH $SSOLFDWLRQ )RUPV OLQNV IRU WKRVH ZLVKLQJ WR MRLQ XV IRU 6L[WK )RUP LQ 6HSWHPEHU 7KLV \HDU LV WKH ÀUVW \HDU RXU DSSOLFDWLRQ SURFHVV KDV been completely electronic and online, making the whole process simpler and quicker. Applications are now closed but all the material is still available for reference and for those interested in ZKDW JRHV RQ LQ 6L[WK )RUP “The combination of our virtual and face to face open evening meant that we could give prospective students as much information as possible to make the most informed choice as to their future destination,” said Mrs Theay.

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ĆėĊēęĘǯȀ ĆėĊėĘǯ ěĊēĎēČĘ One of the most familiar school events that everyone will know is Parents’/ Carers’ evenings. That time of booking appointments, overrunning slots and WU\LQJ WR ÀQG WHDFKHUV LQ WKH FURZG DUH the memories that many of us have.

Well, such stresses are a thing of the past at Heart of England with the adoption of virtual consultations on

SchoolCloud where parents/carers can speak with teachers online from the comfort of home, work or even the car!

We had to use this system during the lockdowns but it has proven such a hit with everyone that we have adopted it on a permanent basis.

Parent/Carers can book appointments using the system and their allocated slot

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LV VHFXUHG ZLWK WKH WHDFKHU :LWK D À[HG appointment, there are no overruns or missed slots and users can logon to their session from any convenient location, using a phone, tablet or computer.

There have been many changes we have all had to make over the last few years but this one seems to be one for the better.

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The Orme School of Dancing Meriden Branch Methodist Church Hall

Tel: 02476 467331 www.ormecoventrydance.co.uk

n Classes in Ballet, Tap, Modern Jazz, Gymnastic, Contemporary Dance and Musical Theatre.

Aged 2 ½ years upwards

email:ormedance@gmail.com

Principals - Jennifer and Samantha Faulkner F.I.D.T.A BA.Hons

Barkers Butts RFC Pickford Grange Lane Coventry CV5 9AR

Contact David Morris. 07557343639 Our facilities are 1st class and all our coaches are RFU Qualified and CRB checked

We also have 4 Adult sides 1st XV to Vets

There is now a new and exciting women's team coached by an experienced group of players led by Emma Sly

Fellowship Teaching Degree Dip A.B.R.S.M

Beginners Adult Tap Classes Especially for beginners. Monday evenings at our Meriden Venue 7.15 – 8.00pm Any age, any shape, 2 left feet.

Everyone will be very welcome.

You just need a big smile and a good sense of humour!!!

Come along to A warm welcome with Candy at Meriden Village Hall

Zumba Thursday evenings 6.00pm £5.00 per session

11 Mini & Junior age groups from 6-16 years Girls teams U/11 U/15 U/18 Under 18 Colts Side

Contact Emma on 07557521495

T’aiChi Chi T’ai Pilates Thursday evenings 7.00pm £5.00 per session

Enjoy both sessions for £8.00 ZUMBA Zumba is a fun Latin inspired dance/exercise class suitable for all levels

andand MeditationandandRelaxation Relaxation Meditation Come and discover how the beautiful flowing movements of this ancient art can improve your wellbeing. Relax and enjoy simple calming relaxation and meditation techniques.

Mondays 9.30-10.30am

PILATES style conditioning A slower paced class for all over body conditioning to improve muscle tone, strength, balance and flexibility

Meriden Village Hall

Please ring 07828 709650

07703 345210

Call Jacqui on

For more information The perfect start to your day ……….

** Seed potatoes and onion sets and a large selection of summer bulbs now available **

No photo copies accepted

We were desperately sorry to cancel our re-arranged Christmas concert, but like so many events this winter it fell foul of Covid.

Happily we are now able to report that we are looking forward, hopefully, to a better summer.

We were delighted to be asked to sing at the Party in the Park on Sunday 5th June to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and are also planning a Summer Concert at the Manor Hotel on Sunday 12th June.

Future concerts are planned for 18th September and 11th December, more details in future issues of the Mag. If you enjoy singing and would like to join us, you would be made very welcome. We rehearse at Meriden Village Hall between 7.00 and 9.00pm on most Friday evenings. We sing a good selection of popular songs and songs from musicals and film scores There are no auditions and you do not have to read music,

For more information, please give me a call Valerie Martin 01676 522963

SUPPORT IN SOURCING GOOD QUALITY CARE AT THE RIGHT TIME. IS THERE REALLY SUCH A SERVICE OUT THERE?

Yes there is, and it’s local to you too.

Senior Care Support Services offer an empathetic and tailored approach to your individual needs, holding your hand throughout the whole process.

I am Geraldine Davies, a local senior care specialist, with many years’ experience working with older, frail adults. My knowledge of local care homes and domiciliary care agencies can be invaluable when finding the right care home, or domiciliary care in the home, for you or a loved one.

Just having somebody there who understands how the care system can work for you or a family member, can be invaluable, whilst also cutting the amount of hours you spend speaking with the wrong people.

Why not have an initial, confidential chat to see whether I can be of help to you, and take a look at my website for further information. www.seniorcaresupport.co.uk. information. www.seniorcaresupport.co.uk.

Call meDavies on 01564 743067 Tel. Geraldine on: 01564 743067 or email or email at: info@seniorcaresupport.co.uk info@seniorcaresupport.co.uk

My Meriden History for 75 years (by local historian Doreen Agutter) TheInterest ShaftesinSpringe Much to my amazement, in December, I received a letter from the Cabinet Office saying that I had been recommended by the Prime Minister to Her Majesty the Queen for the honour of MBE in the 2022 New Year’s Honours List, after an independent assessment process. The citation said,’ for services to the history of Meriden and Warwickshire’. I still cannot believe it.

The late Grace Tuckey often urged me to write my autobiography. I always said it would be of no significance to anyone, but I must go back to my childhood and adolescence in the village to tell you what sparked a keen, then constant, interest in Meriden’s past: my studies, writings and publications.

When I moved to Meriden as a little girl, a fellow school pupil remarked to me, ’Meriden? That’s the Centre of England isn’t it?’ and I suddenly felt a great pride in the unique status of my new home. So I would like to share with readers of the ‘Mag’ something of my desire to enhance its fascinating history and events that have shaped its reputation or development.

I cannot recall when History was not my favourite subject, in and out of school. Somehow, I became interested in local history, then quite a new study. I remember my mother cycling with me to the Green to look at the old market cross, then in a different position from today, and visiting St. Laurence’s church. Woe betide anyone who misspelt the saint’s dedication! I was told by adult villagers that the original village name was ‘Alspath’ with its centre on the hill top around the church. When we moved to live on the Green in early 1952, I began dropping in on neighbours, asking questions over a cup of tea about the village’s past. I assumed they had lived there from birth, but most had not! For the first time since the age of 7, I had access to a public library, a wonderful resource for a poor girl with few books. The young librarian, only a few months my senior, showed me a copy of the Victoria County History (VCH) of Warwickshire, Volume 4, recently purchased and with a whole chapter on Meriden. ‘Sorry you can’t borrow it,’ she said, ’it’s for reference only, but you can read it in here.’ The actual information was scant in the VCH, but other books told far more of the story involving Gerard Alspath and an aristocratic prisoner, Roger Mortimer. With growing excitement, I read that, in 1323, Mortimer, helped by friends like Gerard of Alspath and servants such as John Wyard, engineered his escape from the Tower of London where he was imprisoned for treason, after aiming to depose or murder King Edward II. I knew it was exceptional for anyone to escape from the Tower, so Gerard’s family must have been powerful and resourceful.

Further research enabled me to discover that Gerard was Deputy Lieutenant of the Tower. The Chief Lord of Alspath was the Lieutenant, so indicating how Gerald got his post. Gerald drugged the guards and procured the keys to open essential exits. A rope ladder helped the men to abseil down the outer wall. Roger’s actual nail-biting escape read like a thriller, with the Authorities not far behind him on his frantic journey to freedom. They crossed the Thames in a hidden, hired boat, followed by a frantic ride on horseback to the south coast and finally got away to France. Returning to England, he suffered a grim end but the story once more involved this area, with his body buried in

Coventry, it is said. Gerard of Alspath probably owned what was later known as the Meriden Hall Estate, its land running up to and over the Berkswell boundary, still defined by the brook in the dip near Wad Barn farm before you climb the hill to Four Oaks. The Estate included a medieval moated site known as ‘Giants Den’. On this site, a significant building once stood in the fields to the west and behind the present stone cottage on Berkswell Road. I have written before that I believe ‘Giant’s’ to be a corruption of the surname we now write as Wyard, but pronounced in medieval French more like ‘Gyart‘.

Compare this with the place name Meriden. Meri means pleasant, while den or dene is a valley. The alabaster soldier lying in the south aisle of St. Laurence’s church was John Wyard. He had a like-named grandfather, body guard to Gerard Alspath, mentioned in the rescue of Roger Mortimer.

Did this earlier Wyard live in the moated site? Was he confused with his grandson?

I could not contain my excitement, telling the village GP that I proposed writing a new history of Meriden. His answer was ‘you will find there is no history to write’. I went home rather glum, but not agreeing, and told my mother of my idea. She said nothing to discourage me, though she must have known it was a formidable objective. I am glad she lived long enough to see my two volumes, equal in length to two doctorates, published.

In 1961, I founded a Local History Group in the village. It lasted till 1965. I was too nervous to give talks despite being a secondary school teacher but Margaret Argyle persuaded me to give one to W.I. I have never stopped giving lectures or talks since, until the Covid restrictions from Spring 2020. I used to take groups around Meriden, and occasionally elsewhere. My books came much later and at least one more is needed. Since Meriden Mag’s creation, I have been able to write something not previously in print for almost every edition. The citation says ‘and Warwickshire’ but there is not enough space today to explore that topic. I have no idea who suggested my award. The doctor’s prediction was so far from the truth and there is still more to discover …..

Doreen M. K Agutter ….and for once….. BA (Hons) Lond; PGCE. (Birm), MBE

Doreen, aged 15, in the large garden of her house (Elm Tree Farm) on The Green. The house was pulled down 5 years later and rebuilt as the property where The Hutch is now.

Meriden Rotary Santa Fun Run 2021

On the 30th November, we held an interclub Darts Evening at The Hare & Hounds, Keresley. After a meal of fish and chips, the matches commenced and Meriden became the event winner. It was an enjoyable evening and raised £280 for Parkinson’s Society. Thanks to all who attended and organised it.

The Santa Sleigh collections began on Friday 3rd December when Santa switched on the Christmas lights in Hampton in Arden. The Sleigh was out almost every night and weekend leading up to Christmas despite Santa’s Tyre problem. Thanks are due to all members, friends and the Sea Cadets from T S Stirling for making this possible. We raised over £3000 for Parkinson’s Society and other Rotary charities.

The last event of 2021 was the club Christmas party. The new Covid Variant, Omicron was announced the weekend before and understandably, some members and guests were wary about mixing indoors, not wanting to risk spoiling another family Christmas. The Manor Hotel needs to be thanked for accepting a substantial number of last-minute cancellations and still providing an excellent socially distanced event.

Sadly, we had to cancel the Burns Night celebration due to the potential risks from rapidly rising Covid numbers.

We have listened to some interesting speakers, including an insight into the immigration process from someone who has been through it and the brilliant team from Heart of England School who will be entering the Rotary “Youth Speaks” Competition. We have continued with the weekly food collections for the Salvation Army and the Christmas Eve collection for Coventry charity “Open for Christmas”.

If you would like to listen to any of the forthcoming speakers on Zoom or at The Manor Hotel, you can find details of the programme on the club website www.meridenrotary.org.uk.

It is with sadness in January that we heard of the death of Honorary Member Alan Lole who was well known in Meriden and raised over £75,000 for Marie Curie and Macmillan, as well as organising the Midsummer Draw and the Meriden Tree of Thought at Christmas.

I must thank members for supporting my first six months and I look forward to working with you the rest of the year.

Charlie Perry President

Balsall Common Country Market Market is held every Saturday from 10am-12 noon 1st Saturday of the month in the British Legion.

Other Saturdays in the Jubilee Centre.

We have lovely home baking, preserves, plants, seasonal vegetables, crafts and home-made cards.

Hampers can be ordered and delivered countrywide

Contact 01676 523007

As you all know, we had to cancel this event at short notice. The Health and Safety of runners and walkers is our top priority and we were not able to hold the event and maintain our usual high standards of safety.

We only received confirmation at a late stage that the Fillongley Road bridge would still be open, which delayed preparation. Then, of course, there were Covid security concerns requiring additional measures which we had to clear with Solihull Council.

But, in the end, it was traffic management concerns that triggered the decision. Our contractor, who year after year has provided the traffic management service completely free of charge to us, found that he had serious staffing problems due to a clash with other commitments and we were left with no choice.

We were very sad to disappoint our regular runners and we ourselves were disappointed not to go ahead after a big effort in preparation and promotion by our team.

The good thing is that, due in large part to our generous sponsors and those who donated their entry fees, we still made the expected level of net proceeds. We have distributed those proceeds to Marie Curie and other charities which are desperately needing our help this year.

What of next year? We will undertake a thorough review and hopefully be able to go ahead, possibly using an alternative nearby venue.

Many thanks to all our supporters whether runners, walkers or sponsors.

Tony Hill

MERIDEN AGUAFLAME UK

Boiler servicing and repairs Boiler replacements New radiators and valves All plumbing work carried out g Fully qualified in Natural gas and LPG

Under floor heating New Bathrooms

01676 523192 home 07970 119142 mobile email: aguaflameuk@gmail.com Terry Griffiths

Sweet peas I know some people have great success with sweet peas but here are some tips on how to grow them. There is an enormous choice of sweet peas. Some packets have just one colour and some are mixed. Sow annual sweet peas in either October-November or late January-April and plant them out in April.

Find a sunny spot with some space for the plant to either climb or bush out (depending on its habit). A little light dappled shade is also okay.

Harden off seedlings sown indoors for 10-14 days before planting out to prevent cold shock.

Prepare the soil, ideally at least four weeks before planting, by mixing in soil improver such as garden compost or manure. Sprinkle some general-purpose fertiliser such as Growmore, Vitax Q4 or blood, fish and bone into the intended planting area, following the recommended dose on the pack. Water your plants before planting so that the roots have been fully wetted.

Ease seedlings out of pots or modules, taking care not to crush or snap the stems.

Space plants 20-30cm (8in-1ft) apart. Position climbing plants close (within 5-7.5cm or 2-3in) to their intended support, with two plants at the base of each cane if growing up a wigwam. Water again immediately after planting to settle the soil around the roots

Tie new shoots of climbing plants to canes, pea sticks, netting, trellis or shoots of shrubs they will be growing up, using garden twine or sweet pea support rings. Tendrils in contact with supports will naturally begin to grip on but keep tying in new shoots if they are wayward or in danger of breaking.

Plants won’t flower so well if they dry out, so check those in the ground every 3-4 days in dry weather and those in pots daily. Pour on enough water to wet the full depth of roots each time you water.

On light or infertile soils, apply a high potassium liquid fertiliser, such as tomato feed, once or twice a week.

This helps maintain flowering, especially with annual sweet peas. When flowering begins, pick or remove dead flower heads as often as possible. This is particularly important for annual sweet peas (which will stop flowering if seedpods are allowed to develop.) Thanks to Margaret Argyle for this colourful page.

This is the season for picking rhubarb, here are some ideas on how to use it Boozy Rhubarb gin Fill a large Kilner jar with chopped rhubarb to within 2cm of the top.

Add 100g sugar give the closed jar a good shake and leave in a dark place for 48 hours giving the jar another shake after 24hours.

Add a bottle of cheap gin.

Leave for 8 weeks. |Strain and bottle the liquid.

Enjoy!

Baked rhubarb with blueberries Serves 2-3 people Set the oven to160c/Gas 3 140g rhubarb 200g blueberries 2 tbsp caster sugar 2 tbsp water.

Put oven on at 160C / gas 3.

Trim rhubarb and cut into short lengths.

Place in an ovenproof dish, add the blueberries, sugar and water.

Bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour. Serve warm or thoroughly chilled

Rhubarb chutney 1 kg rhubarb Juice of 2 lemons 25g crushed garlic 25 g root ginger 1kg brown sugar 500g sultanas 1tsp curry powder ½ tsp cayenne pepper 600 ml vinegar

Slice rhubarb finely and place in a In a large pan Add lemon juice Crush ginger root and place in a muslin bag with the lemon skin.

Place remainder of ingredients in pan and bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.

Simmer gently until the desired consistency is reached.

Remove muslin bag. Pour into warmed jars.

Cover when cool and label.

A very quick sweet is to stew some rhubarb and sweeten to taste.

Liquidise to a pulp. When cold mix with a small tub of custard and an equal amount of natural yogurt.

Hey presto you have a version of rhubarb fool for two people

Memories of Christmas

On a fine evening on Saturday 18th December many people turned out for Carols on the Green. The evening was led by Jonathan Douglas, Church Warden at St. Laurence Church and the Bulkington Silver Band provided the music

Dedication of the Tree of Thought Christmas 2014.

Alan with the children from Meriden Primary School Photograph Courtesy of Jessica Marie (Facebook)

Santa was able to resume his journeys around Meriden this year, with a little help from Members of Meriden Rotary Club

Some of the Cancer Research Committee knitted novelties, waiting to be put into Christmas stockings

In memory of Alan Lole

Village Life in Colour

Escape from Meriden!

At midnight on Friday 12th November about 180 intrepid contestants gathered on Meriden Green. The object was to see how far away they could get on foot in 24hrs.

Everyone was equipped with a tracker to ensure fair play.

We believe this year’s winners manged to get somewhere South of London!

This is an annual event and attracts entrants from as far away as Holland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Isles. Just to make it a little more difficult some couples competed chained together!

We are always indebted to our wonderful deliverers who ensure that everyone in the village receives a copy of the Mag. Here Alex Pike is doing his share.

“I’ll eat them quickly while no-ones looking!”

Many congratulations to our own Charlie Beaty who featured on the front cover of the January edition of Midland Farmer.

Charlie won the inaugural Young Farmer Award.

Below one of Charlie’s beautiful photographs

Fillongley Bridge demolished Courtesy of Paul Zinkus Facebook

YOUR LOCAL ARCHERY CLUB IN MERIDEN www.meriden-archery.org.uk A shorter update from Meriden Archery Club this time. Whilst many archers continued to train and shoot during the winter months, the most challenging aspect for most was how to keep warm outdoors during the cold and dark winter evenings.

However for those who did turn up with good intentions to shoot, they were welcomed with an excuse to stay indoors as the archery club seemed to turn into an impromptu jigsaw club - presumably due to a few donated puzzles from Christmas! On a more competitive side, some archers also continued to shoot competitions indoors and fly the flag for Meriden, with great success as always. Congratulations must go to our junior archers Emelia Hughes and Edward Gray who both made their debut shooting for England at the Junior National Indoor Championships in December, and to Daniel Bowman for winning the junior Handicap Improvement Medal for 2021. As the outdoor season opens up, we hope to bring you more news in the next edition, but in the meantime if you’re interested in finding out more or just fancy helping us with a jigsaw pop along and have a chat. Please check out our web site for details.

Meriden Flower Club Meetings are held at Meriden Village Hall 7.30-9.00pm on the third Monday of each month except for the Xmas meeting. Doors open at 6.30pm and entry fees are paid on the door. Guests are always welcome. For more information, please email

meridenflowerclub@hotmail.com

Three times a year Meriden Flower Club hold a practice class, for members and guests to learn new skills and practise old ones.

The November class was taught by local demonstrator Barbara Collins, the title being ‘Autumn Design’. Barbara showed members how to fashion coloured aluminium wire into large leaf-like shapes and cover with sheer fabrics. These were then added into the flower design. This was a new technique for the members and produced some beautiful results.

The Christmas meeting is always a time for ‘A sparkling Christmas’’ and the December meeting did not disappoint. Jayne Edmonds showed the members and guests a beautiful selection of festive designs. There were some very happy faces when the winners of the raffle took designs home.

The Flower Club are always happy to welcome new members. The doors are now open at 6.30pm for light refreshments and a chat, before the meeting at 7.30pm. Come along and just relax watching a lovely demonstration.

QUEEN’S HEAD A friendly, traditional, local pub in historical middle England.

We offer a full range of traditional ales, beers and lagers as well as wines, spirits and soft drinks.

Pub lunches are served Mondays to Saturdays from 12noon till 2.30pm.

Look out for our great value daily specials, from only £5.

We show many major sports events on our big EATCome IN, TAKEAWAY screen. and watch theorSixDELIVERED Nations Rugby matches.

12:00 NOON TILL 2:30

CallQueen's - 01676 522256 Jubilee We are having an old time sing-a-long on 4th June. More details in the Summer Mag.

Thursdays 12:30 till 3pm @ the Sports Pavilion.

Bring along whatever craft you do, sit and chat with others, share hints and tips and enjoy a cuppa.

If you have any questions please contact Debbie Barber on 07455 829340 or email d.barber69@btinternet.com

Used Stamps Wanted A charity called Medical Missionary News would be very grateful to receive the used stamps off your envelopes. Please leave at least 1” all around when cutting them. Please hand them in at Lloyds Chemist on the Green. The money raised will be used to buy medical supplies for wartorn countries overseas. Thank You.

Alan Lole 1944 - 2022 Alan was born in Longford, Coventry in 1944 and was an only child. After he left Bablake school, Alan had various jobs eventually working as a buyer for Chrysler. In 1979, he started his own business under Lole Associates. He moved into Meriden village in 1989. In 2002, he had a massive stroke which had a huge impact on his life. Alan worked tirelessly to create a sense of community in Meriden village, whilst raising support for McMillan cancer support and Marie Curie hospice through his Meriden Tree of Thought. When speaking about the Meriden Tree of Thought, Alan said it struck him that Meriden was deserving of a special Christmas tree - it is, after all, the historical centre of England. Alan lost his mother, Olwen, to cancer in 2007 and he said that she was so proud of the Meriden Tree of Thought, which meant a great deal to him. So far, the tree has raised over £75,000 and Alan described this project as the best thing he had ever done. Alan felt a great pride in what has been achieved. Alan hoped that the tree will continue to shine in the Meriden village for years to come and that the people of Meriden will continue to support a project that has raised so much money to help people affected by cancer.

Alan’s Funeral Thursday 3rd February Many Meriden Residents assembled on the Green to give Alan a good send off. The Rev Lynda Lilley accompanied by Michael Deeley, funeral director, walked in front of the hearse until it reached the Tree of Thought, where they paused and there was a round of applause from the waiting villagers, to honour a man who had raised so many funds for Cancer support charities. Alans’s funeral was held at Canley Crematorium. Donations in Alan’s memory to McMillan and Marie Curie charities to be sent to J Deeley and Son Balsall Common Editor’s note we would like to add our voices to this tribute, Alan was a very regular contributor and supporter of the Mag, his articles were always on time and relevant and we were proud to publish his news about the Tree of Thought, and advertise Meriden’s own Christmas cards. Val & Chris.

Please see colour pages for a lovely picture of Alan with the Tree of Thought

Ada Smith aka “Buz” 1928-2021 Ada and her husband John and two children, Ian and Jonathan, moved to Meriden in 1970, from Sheldon, Solihull. Some knew Ada as Buz, which was John’s name for her. The origins have never been clear, but one theory is that John had had several girlfriends and in order to avoid confusion, called them all by the same name!

Ada had been a librarian in Birmingham from the age of sixteen.

When she came to Meriden, having had a career break, she became librarian here, starting in a temporary classroom at the school before moving to the current location near The Green.

Working as a librarian suited Ada, being sociable and enjoying helping people.

Ada enjoyed going dancing with her husband, John, despite his two left feet.

She loved gardening and could often be seen spending long hours in the garden, especially after her husband’s premature death in 1993. For those that might remember him, John had been Chair of the Parish Council and was instrumental in the resurrection of Meriden Pool from what had been a small muddy pond in around 1980.

When Ada’s health started to fail and she very nearly died of a major heart attack, eight years ago, she moved from Meriden to Harper Fields in Balsall Common. There, she was always known for her smiling, laughing face and Ada was always very keen to help other people. She also very much enjoyed returning to visit her friends in Meriden. She died in November 2021, but leaves behind family and friends who have fond memories of their time with her in Meriden.

ST. LAURENCE CHURCH NEWS Priest in Charge: Church Wardens:

Vacant Jonathan Douglas 01676 522455 Carol Clarke 07500 700679 churchwarden.meriden@gmail.com Church Website: https://stlaurencemeriden.wordpress.com Find us on Facebook: St Laurence Church Meriden

Spring Service Details Date 2nd Mar 6th Mar 13th Mar 20th Mar 27th Mar 3rd Apr 10th Apr 15th Apr

17th Apr 24th Apr 1st May 8th May 15th May

22nd May 29th May

Service * Ash Wednesday Service 7:00 pm Holy Communion Morning Prayer Holy Communion Mothering Sunday Service Holy Communion Palm Sunday Service Good Friday Meditation Service 12:00 noon Easter Sunday Service Morning Prayer Morning Prayer Holy Communion Cyclists’ Memorial Service Village Green 11:00 am Holy Communion Baptism Service

All services are at 10:30 am (unless otherwise stated) * Holy Communion services are subject to availability of a minister.

Please check the web site.

For any enquiries about Baptisms and Weddings, or pastoral needs, please contact the church warden: Carol Clarke 07500 700679 churchwarden.meriden @gmail.com

It’s a bit early to say “Happy Easter” but, by the time you’re reading this, it will nearly be the season of Lent which leads up to Easter. Pancake Day is the 1st of March this year, so Ash Wednesday is the 2nd and that begins the 6 weeks of Lent. Easter doesn’t have a fixed date (that’s a very long story), and it’s late this year (17thApril), so Spring will be well under way by then.

Normally, as a Christian writing about Easter, I would go on about the Resurrection and how Jesus, on the cross, bought our salvation from sin and so forth, but maybe you find that a bit weird, too awful, and too supernatural to take in?

Well imagine there was someone trying to teach you to live really well, not selfishly and with your own personal luxuries. I don’t mean that sort of ‘well’. I mean trying to teach you to live so that you care for others and put strangers, enemies and anyone else you come across, before yourself in your priorities. Someone who showed you what it means to have genuine internal kindness welling up from within, to improve and brighten the lives of everyone you encounter. Maybe you’d think someone like that was a bit tedious, but I’m sure you’d try to see their point of view as at least ‘a good thing’?

What if they said to you “No! This way of life is more important than life itself!” You’d probably be a bit taken aback, but it would be difficult to argue with a person like that. Most people take that sort of teaching and think they can live ‘well enough’, without ultimately giving themselves up to a life of real charity (and real clarity!). What if this teacher wanted to impress on you how ‘more important than life itself’ the expectations from their teaching really are? What if they put themselves in a situation where they could help a particular person or group, but it was a very, very dangerous place to work? What if they died because of that danger? Would that make you take notice of what they’d been saying to you? I’m sure you’d certainly want to honour their sacrifice, and maybe, as you took on board the weight of what had happened, you’d feel the spirit of that teacher inspiring you to live that better way, and live for all those others who need YOU to be living for THEM. It’s not that hard to imagine really. If you ‘get it’, it feels like this every day, and it’s completely liberating to know that you’re living the best way possible. Soon it won’t be too early to say “Happy Easter!”

St. Laurence Church is a bit out of the main part of our village, but there’s a warm welcome for anyone and everyone who’d like to get know more of what we’re going on about!

Jonathan Douglas

Services on the Village Green 15 April – Sing some Good Friday Hymns then walk up to St. Laurence Church for the Good Friday Meditation Service at 12:00 noon. th 15 May – Cyclists’ Memorial Service 11:00 am th

Message from Saqib Bhatti MP We have all faced immense challenges over the last few years with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite there being numerous challenges on the horizon, I hope that Spring will bring us a fresh start and I am keen to continue working to improve the lives of the people of Meriden. I must admit, throughout Christmas, I worried about the Omicron numbers, but I pay tribute to all the people involved in the vaccination effort. In particular, I pay tribute to the emergency personnel, the NHS staff, the staff at Solihull MBC and the volunteers who made sure we all got boosted.

One of the key issues that has consistently concerned me is that of fly-tipping. During 2020/2021, 849 incidents of fly-tipping occurred on council-owned land, increasing from 524 in the previous financial year. There has also been a growth in the number of complaints – 4,114, increasing from 2,562 in 2019/20. Although this problem was exacerbated by the COVID-19 lockdowns, I know that this is a problem that residents have been battling against for many years. The Government has also launched a consultation on proposals to tackle fly-tipping and reforming the waste industry. By introducing mandatory digital waste tracking, it means that regulators can go further in tackling fly-tipping by tracking the criminals that dump waste.

I am committed to tackling the issue of littering and fly-tipping through the Keep Meriden Tidy initiative. As your local Member of Parliament, I want to make sure our constituency is a clean and environmentally friendly place to live.

Although there are many volunteers who do an amazing job in clearing up the local area, unfortunately littering and fly-tipping is commonplace. I know that we all take immense pride in our local community, and we can all do our bit to keep Meriden tidy. If you would like to get involved with this initiative, please visit my website.

The Council have recently allocated HS2’s Road Safety Fund to multiple locations throughout the constituency to improve the safety of roads, footpaths and pedestrian crossings. I will not let up in continuing to hold HS2 to account and this fund is designed to help increase safety for residents. If you would like any further information about the HS2 Road Safety Fund Allocation, please do not hesitate to contact me by email or by phone (details at end).

Finally, I want to thank everyone who attended my Careers Fair on Thursday 13th January. We had hundreds of attendees who had the opportunity to hear from 20 companies and universities from across the West Midlands such as the University of Birmingham, Crimson, Barclays, and Solihull Council. We also hosted seminars from Aston University about Degree Apprenticeships and Google who spoke about finding career goals and writing CVs and Cover Letters. The Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, also came along to talk to attendees about their future plans. I want to thank Solihull College and University Centre for their help in hosting us and keeping everyone safe during the Fair. As we continue to focus on recovering from COVID-19, I am determined to make sure my constituents have the best opportunities in life. I look forward to hosting another event next year and I hope to see you all there!

Best wishes and stay safe,

Saqib Bhatti MBE MP

saqib.bhatti@parliament.uk

0207 219 3423

ACE GARAGE RADFORD 02476 597879 email: service@acegarage.co.uk Mot Service

Tyres Exhausts

Courtesy car, collection & delivery options.

Call Brendan McManus on 07958 518924

We service, repair and care for your vehicle.

Gary Franklin & Andy Hawkins Family Funeral Directors Extending a hand of friendship and support We understand that every family is different and we will tailor all arrangements to suit your needs, requirements and budget.

The Acorn Funeral

*Traditional and Themed funerals* Private Chapels of Rest *

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*Will Writing Service * *Help and Advice with DSS and Social Fund; both happily accepted*

02476 47 3000

333 Tile Hill Lane, Tile Hill Coventry CV4 9OU

With branches in Tile Hill and Marston Green we are ideally situated to serve the communities of Coventry, Solihull and the surrounding areas.

0121 779 5577 50 Station Road Marston Green Birmingham B37 7AU Available 24hours a day 365 days a year

Web site: www.franklinfunerals.co.uk Email: info@franklin funerals.co.uk

Mobile Dog Groomer * Dog Walker* Cat Sitter DBS Checked, Insured & Pet First Aid Qualified Email: tilliestailwaggingwalkies@gmail.com Website: www.tilliestailwaggingwalkies.co.uk

Mobile Dog Grooming, Solo & Group Walks, Puppy Visits Contact Dawn NOW to book your dog in Telephone :07825 684 539

Richard Naughton Bespoke Joinery *WINDOWS*

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Traditional and contemporary bespoke work Free quotes Call 07836 338814 and leave a message

richardnaughton@live.co.uk Tippers Hill, Fillongley CV7 8DJ

Lavender Hall Lane Berkswell CV7 7BN 01676 530 299 / 07949 119 436 Cafe open to the public from 8.30am – 1.30pm 7 days a week Serving hot and cold food Specialising in an all-day Breakfast

We look forward to serving you all again in our Covid safe environment Welcome Back !

Gates open at 7.30am close at dusk

Heart of England Social Club BERKSWELL ROAD MERIDEN CV7 7LB. Call Steve on 01676 522430 We would like to thank most sincerely Pertemps Meriden Ltd for their generous sponsorship off our Motor Neurone Charity Fundraising Night which took place on Friday 11th February. Details of the night will be put in next edition of the Mag. UPCOMING EVENTS UPCOMING EVENTS Bingo each Friday night, first game starts 8.00pm Bingo each Friday night, first game starts 8.00pm Friday 18th March St Patricks Karaoke night, free entry Friday 18th March St Patricks Karaoke night, free entry in the bar. in the bar.

Friday 25th March, Cancer Research Charity Night & Friday 25th March, Cancer Research Charity Night & Fish & Chip Supper.

Fish & Chip Supper.

Sunday 17th April, Easter Egg Hunt & Family Sunday 17th April, Easter Egg Hunt & Family Entertainment.

Entertainment.

Saturday 14th May, Big Screen Horse Racing Night & Saturday 14th May, Big Screen Horse Racing Night & Other entertainment £2.00 Other entertainment £2.00 Room Hire: Book your special event, party or meeting in our ROOM HIRE function room. We offer *Room Dressing* Catering* and Book your special event, party or meeting in our function Entertainment * Call our friendly staff for details or to view room. We offer *Room dressing* Catering and *Follow us on Facebook Heart of England Social Club* *Entertainment* Please–call to arrange a viewing.

Room Dressing and catering available for your Party or Function. Contact Steve

Lovely safe outside space

Meriden Women’s Institute 1918 – 2022

Meetings held 1st Monday of the month 7:30pm at Meriden Village Hall, Main Road CV7 7NG Games Mornings held 3rd Thursday of the month 10am - 12 noon, Sports Pavilion

The WI has been part of the Meriden Community since 1918. As part of the WI, you will forge friendships, learn new skills and make a difference in your community by joining the largest women’s organisation in the U.K. In December, we joined together for an American style buffet evening, conversation, Secret Santa and lots of laughs. Our January meeting saw all the ladies participate in debate on the resolutions the WI are looking to support nationally in 2022. The topics ranged from Appropriate Sentencing of Non-Violent Women Offenders to Equality in Law for the Menopause. We then, as a group, decided to give our support to Tackling Digital Exclusion.

We have recently started a monthly Games Morning at the Sports Pavilion from 10 to 12 and we also have regular local guided walks.

Dates for your diary:7th March – West Midlands Fire Service 17th March – Games Morning 4th April – tbc 14th April – Games Morning 9th May – AGM

We will be updating our Meriden WI Facebook page in February, so please keep an eye out for the notifications and news of other events and activities that we will be hosting over the coming months. For more information, please contact us via email meridenwi@hotmail.com or call Samm Bain on 07739 972046 or Della Mannix on 07920 014909

Public PublicTransport TransportininMeriden Meridenjust justkeeps keepsgetting gettingbetter! better!

Transport for West Midlands, in partnership with City of Coventry Council and the University of Warwick, have launched a new innovative bus service (‘West Midlands On-Demand’), which will provide residents of Meriden and the surrounding villages with connections to services and opportunities never before seen in the area.

Launched around the University of Warwick Campus and south-west Coventry last Spring, the service currently covers Kenilworth, Balsall Common and Meriden. More than 7,500 rides have been taken. From Tuesday 1st February the new ‘West Midlands On-Demand’ service has operated Monday to Friday between 0700 to 2000, to provide journeys between any locations covered in the map below. The service is available to anyone and will offer direct journeys from origins to destinations across the mapped area, including, but not limited to, shopping or leisure activities in Coventry City Centre, the University of Warwick campus, University Hospital, the Doctors surgery at Balsall Common, shop mobility etc. and other key locations across Coventry. This builds upon the service that has already been operating in the area, but will provide more journeys over a larger area with more vehicles, meaning the service will open up new destinations and for car free travel. The service can be booked by all passengers, by either downloading the West Midlands On-Demand app, or by telephoning a dedicated booking line on 0345 034 8670. Trips can be booked, subject to availability, up to five days before intended travel, or for immediate travel. Fares vary and are based upon which zones you travel in or across. They range from £1 for local trips up to £4.50 for trips across three zones. If you have a concessionary travel pass, this will entitle you to travel for half price on all trips. For groups of two, three or four booking the same trip there’s an extra £1 per additional person.

If you require more information about the service or want to discuss it in more detail, then please contact the TfWM team on 0345 034 8670 or visit https://www.tfwm.org.uk/plan-your-journey/ways-to-travel/buses-in-the-westmidlands/on-demand-buses-in-the-west-midlands/#

Changes to the Meriden Community Bus This new ‘WM On-Demand’ service will replace the current Meriden Community Bus which currently takes passengers to Coventry Shopmobility and local facilities in Meriden. This service will no longer operate after 25th February 2022.

We would like to thank Community Transport for their efforts and high-quality customer service during the course of operations. The new ‘On-Demand’ service will be able to provide all of the journeys and more than the community bus currently does. Unlike the existing service, which only operates for very specific trips on three days per week, this new service will give you the opportunity to make a much wider variety of trips at a time that suits. Also, rather than being restricted to a specific group of passengers, this service may be used by any passengers, regardless of age or mobility. All drivers have undertaken full customer service training, with a specific focus on helping passengers who require a little extra assistance.

Jon Hayes, Head of Bus at Transport for West Midlands said “We are delighted to introduce this service that secures transport for our customers across Meriden and the wider area. We have listened to customer comments around the need to provide better access to Balsall Common Medical Centre and the Eaves Green Homes Park site, and believe that this service gives the best way to do this. The opportunity for wider travel on more days of the week, and for everyone, will greatly help to open opportunities for everyone, and allow them to consider car free transport options”.

Towards a New Centre for Balsall Common

By Andrew Burrow – Working Group Chairman Many Meriden residents visit Balsall Common, mostly to visit the doctor, railway station or for shopping. I was pleased to see that quite a few gave feedback to our Exhibition last July of draft proposals. We have now finalised the plan which is designed to enable Balsall Common centre to thrive for the next 30 years. We aim to make it a place that people will want to visit and where they will spend money. This will then create an environment where business will flourish; maybe not the exact shops of today, but businesses which can exist in the age of the internet and discount supermarkets. Residents may not be aware that both Aldi and Lidl have made planning applications for supermarkets at the north of Balsall Common and most of us know people who do most of their shopping online.

Most residents wanted a centre which was less dominated by vehicles, but was still easy to find a parking space. They also wanted it to be physically attractive and safe. By taking advantage of the planned relief road, we could, if we plan it well, take the majority of traffic out of the centre.

We have done our best to incorporate the ideas from a wide range of public consultations conducted by independent consultants. Some suggestions were contradictory and we have tried to get a best fit.

The key Changes: - On the opposite page, you will see a plan and each of the key features referred to below is shown by a letter on the plan.

A.

A wide pedestrian area on the north (sunny side) of Station Road will provide space for seating areas, a small occasional market; a place for small community events, just meeting friends or similar uses. It will reduce car dominance.

B.

9 additional completely safe parking spaces and new long terms spots near the library on the Kenilworth Road. The main road will be much quieter with the planned bypass.

C.

Parking on the south side of Station Road is only marginally reduced, mainly to provide 3 proper disabled spots with access to both sides and the rear of the car. This side of the road will provide for those popping in to buy the odd item or post a letter.

D.

There will be no parking on the north side of Station Road but there will be 3 waiting areas for delivery trucks and vans, so they do not park in spaces for shoppers or block the carriageway.

E. F.

Other current parking on Station Road will be moved around the corner onto Kenilworth Road or into a redesigned library car park. A bit further to walk but not much. Good if you need to stay a bit longer in the centre for serious shopping, getting your hair done etc. All existing private parking on Station Road, Kenilworth Road and the Coop remains.

A formalised link from Station Road to the Co-op with its car park, but placed away from people’s homes. The future of the Co-op rests on its convenience and links to the centre.

G.

The current width of the Kenilworth Road encourages speeding. It will be totally redesigned with a central reservation with trees and cross-over points, with narrow carriageways and highway design “tricks” to slow traffic. You can see this at work in Dorridge.

H.

Significant traffic calming on Station Road including a new mini roundabout at the Green Lane/Station Road junction with pedestrians given safe priority. Cyclists and pedestrians will be encouraged by road and pavement design and a 20-mph speed limit to get through traffic to use the relief road.

Finally, we will have lots more trees and planting. As Balsall Common expands, it is our aim to ensure that it remains a great place to live and an attractive thriving centre is part of that.

It is hard in a short article to cover a plan of this magnitude. Many questions and concerns might come to your mind. There is much more detail which will be posted on the web site www.bccentre.co.uk on 12 February. I think you will find almost everything has been covered.

To Meriden

To Berkswell Station

To Kenilworth

BALSALL BALSALLCOMMON COMMONU3A U3A rd Thursday March––AAconcert concertby by the the very very popular Thursday 3rd3 March popularU3A U3ASwing SwingDivision Division th April– –“Oliver “OliverCromwell Cromwell and and his – A–talk

by Howard Robinson Thursday Thursday 7th7April his Contribution Contributiontotoour ourDemocracy” Democracy” A talk

by Howard Robinson th Thursday th May – “Back Room Stories from the Birmingham Rep” A talk by Linda Hisgett and Angela Maloney Thursday 1212 May – “Back Room Stories from the Birmingham Rep” A talk by Linda Hisgett and Angela Maloney All meetings are held in St. Peter’s Hall, Holly Lane, Balsall Common at 2pm. There is no charge and prospective All meetings are held in St. Peter’s Hall, Holly Lane, Balsall Common at 2pm. There is no charge and prospective members are welcome to attend. members are welcome to attend.

Please also look at our web site to see all our interest groups and what they are doing – there’s something for Please also look at our web site to see all our interest groups and what they are doing – there’s something for www.balsallcommonu3a.org everyone. everyone. www.balsallcommonu3a.org

The Village Diary - How lucky we are to have so much going on DATE Every Monday 1st Monday of the month Every Monday

Every Monday

Every Monday 3rd Monday of the month Every Tuesday Every Tuesday Every Tuesday Every Wed (in term time)

EVENT

VENUE

TIME

CONTACT

Tai Chi

Village Hall

9:30-10:30am

Jacqui Fisher 07703 345210

W.I. (May meeting is on 9th)

Village Hall

7:30pm

Samm Bain 07739 972046, Della Mannix 07920 014909

Scout Hut

6:30-7:30pm

Eleanor Willis 07762 823050

Beaver Scouts (boys and girls aged 6-8) Explorer Scouts (male and female aged 14-18) Beginner Adult Tap Classes

Scout Hut

7:45-9:45pm

Mark Jones 07801 773352

Methodist Church Hall

7:15-8pm

02476 467331

Flower Club

Village Hall

7:30-9:30pm

meridenflowerclub@ hotmail.com

Sports Pavilion

10:30am-12:30pm

01789 777986

Scout Hut

7-9pm

Mark Jones 07801 773352

7pm

www.meridenrotary.org.uk

Chattybus (warm mobile hub) Scouts (boys and girls aged 10.5-14) Rotary Club Meeting Playgroup

Manor Hotel or Zoom Methodist Church Hall

9:30-11:30am

2nd Wed of the month

Readers' Circle (April meeting is on 6th)

call Peter for venue and time

Every Thursday

Art Group

Scout Hut

11am-1pm

Julie Hyde 523357

Every Thursday

Craft and Chat

Sports Pavilion

12:30-3pm

Debbie Barber 07455 829340

Every Thursday

Zumba & Pilates

Village Hall

6pm & 7pm

Candy 07828 709650

Scout Hut

6:30-8pm

Lynda Spratt 07790 348726

Sports Pavilion (usually)

10am-12noon

Samm Bain 07739 972046, Della Mannix 07920 014909

CAMEO

Village Hall

2-4pm

Joan Russell 523507

All Together Café

Sports Pavilion

2-4pm

522666

Firebird Singers

Village Hall

7-9pm

Val Martin 522963

Every Sunday

Church Service

Methodist Church

10:30am

Rev. Jane Braund 533737

Every Sunday

Church Service

St. Laurence Church 10:30am

Jonathan Douglas 522455

Big Picture Show Litter picking Litter picking Big Picture Show Big Picture Show Litter picking

Village Hall Sport Park Sport Park Village Hall Village Hall Sport Park

Chris Copper 522645

Every Thursday

3rd Thursday of the month 4th Friday of the month 2nd Friday of the month Every Friday

19th March 25th March 23rd April 23rd April 21st May 28th May

Cub Scouts (boys and girls aged 810.5) W.I. Games Morning (April date is 14th, May details tbc)

Peter Moss 523590

7.30pm 11:00am 11:00am 7.30pm 7.30pm 11:00am

Chris Copper 522645 Chris Copper 522645

The season is well under way and both the competitive and non-competitive teams are playing regular matches. The weather has been very wet. However all teams have been able to fulfil most of their fixtures with only a small number being cancelled.

Little Lions continues to go from strength to strength with more Lions coming along each week. The next step for some of the Little Lions will be to start playing in a team and we are hoping that we can get enough volunteers to make this happen. Please get in touch if you are interested in helping at the club.

The Under 10 Whites have been a joy to watch and coach, the football they are playing is exceptional and their game is being developed around a pass and move philosophy. The players are really enjoying being part of a team and the team spirit and camaraderie is a joy to see.

The team got their rewards for all their hard work and moved up to the next tier following some outstanding performances up to Christmas. The step up to the new tier since Christmas has gone well and we are enjoying having a more difficult challenge and meeting and playing new teams.

Under 10 Navy The team are continuing to develop both individually and as a team and the results are reflecting this. The enjoyment, effort, and continuing improvements at training and on match days has been a joy to watch. We are passionate about playing the game the right way and we are ensuring that the players can learn how to play the game properly. The team is in its first season and is improving each week.

The U13s continue to adapt to life on a full-size pitch and goals at the Sports Park. The change has been a big step up for the team but with the brilliant support and coaching from Bryn and Andy, the players are starting to get used to the changes. The team have had a mixed bag of results.

However there is no doubt that each of the players on the team are improving with every game and enjoying playing together. Over recent weeks the team have started to get some more positive results and that is testament to their hard work.

The team is still on the lookout for a couple of players to complement their squad so please get in touch if you know of any budding footballers who would be interested in joining the team. Please contact Bryn 07867486720.

Our under 15 team have continued their strong start to the season. All the new players have settled in well and are enjoying being part of a team and developing as footballers.

Since the last update the team have gone on a great run of form and now found themselves in and around the top end of the league. This is a great achievement and is down to the players’ and coaches’ hard work and dedication Establish New teams and grow Meriden Lions We are keen to establish additional teams at various age groups and would love a girls’ team. We would encourage anyone who has an interest in coaching a team or just helping out to get in touch. All the support, guidance and advice will be given and we are a friendly bunch and want to ensure the club can grow For further information on Meriden Lions or to discuss sponsorship opportunities please get in touch with Phil Burrows (Chairman) or Bryn Williams (Secretary) at Meridenlions@outlook.com

Trees of Meriden and Millisons Wood Meriden Pool – the Willows and Wildlife

b If there’s one tree most people can identify it’s probably the weeping willow, although there are several species known as that. Around Meriden Pool there is a bevy of willows with the scientific name salix babylonica, a species native to northern China but cultivated for millennia in Asia and introduced into England from Syria in 1730. The subspecies name “babylonica” comes from confusion about the species referred to in psalm 137, “By the Rivers of Babylon …. We hanged our harps upon the willows...”. The trees growing in what was Babylon along the Euphrates River are the Euphrates poplar which has willow-like leaves on long, drooping shoots. The elegant sweeping branches of weeping willow are often associated with the edges of water, damp to wet ground being where they grow best, and where their extensive root systems help to prevent soil erosion. Each tree has either male or female flowers which appear around April/May and are pollinated by bees. The “fruit” develops as an inch long cluster of fine cottony seeds, similar to dandelions. Their long narrow leaves are light green on top, with silvery undersides until they turn yellow in autumn. Willows grow Willows behind Meriden Pool

rapidly up to about 12m in the UK, but have a relatively short life span of 40 to 75 years; the trees around the pool are probably nearing the end of their lifespan. With age the bark becomes rough, grey, and ridged. Willow stems are very flexible and are used in basket making as well as furniture and toys. Dyes made from willow are used for tanning leather.

Willow Catkin

Willow Seeds

Coot

Moor Hen

Black Headed Gull

The painkiller aspirin is derived from salicin, a compound found in the bark of salix species and it had many uses in traditional medicine; it was used in China to make a disinfectant and antiseptic wash for abscesses, ulcers and skin diseases.

In many parts of Europe the bark was chewed for pain relief associated with a headache and toothache.

All willows were seen as trees of celebration in biblical times, but this changed over time and today willows are more associated with sadness and mourning. Due to its bowing stance, it’s also seen as symbolising humility. In China, willow is a symbol of immortality and rebirth. Elsewhere in the world the willow features in mythology and literature symbolising water and, due to the lunar influence on water, the moon.

Water like Meriden Pool always attracts wildlife and weeping willow trees offer shelter, nesting sites and food. In addition to bees, other insect pollinators are attracted to the catkins, particularly butterflies and moths whose caterpillars will feed on the trees' foliage. These insects will attract birds that will in turn feed on them. Of course, the most easily seen birds are those that live on and around the water. Amongst the ducks and geese, there a few other residents, Willow on the Island in Meriden Pool including the coot and moorhen which are both members of the rail family. They are omnivores, and will happily eat a wide variety of vegetable material and small aquatic creatures. If you get a chance, have a look at their feet! Moorhen have large feet, which spreads their weight enabling them to walk on floating vegetation; they are unwebbed helping them clamber about on branches. Coots’ feet have large scalloped lobes which make swimming more efficient but they are clumsy on land. Black headed gulls are also a common sight; their “black” heads can be seen in summer although in fact are dark chocolate brown turning mainly white in winter. A visitor I haven’t seen since the pool was tidied up is the heron, which found the (now removed) “No Fishing” sign to be the perfect perch to do just that!

Heron fishing on Meriden Pool

If you’re interested in our trees, local wildlife and conservation in general, it would be great to hear from you.

Collaborators very welcome! Or visit the Facebook page Meriden and Millisons Wood Trees. Dates for conservation work parties in Millisons Wood are also notified there.

Sarah Sharland meridentreewardens@gmail.com

Meriden and Millisons Wood Trees

Spring events

Help us raise funds for the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts Please join us for our first family event

CANCER RESEARCH UK MERIDEN PRESENTS

Beetle Beetle Drive Drive Saturday 13th March 2.00-4.00pm

At the Scout Hut Entry £3 to include Beetle drive games Teas Coffees and Tuck Shop For more details contact: - 07790348726 email 1stMeridenscouts@gmail.com

FORMER LEAD SINGER WITH

VIVO

What can you do to help?

Does your company fund match? or give to charity?

MUSIC Raffle and Tombola

Friday 25TH MARCH 7.30pm Heart of England Club Tickets £12.50 Available from SUE 01676 522540, CAROL 01676 522888, COMMITTEE MEMBERS & THE CLUB

Big Picture Shows at the Village Hall Saturdays 19th March 23rd April 21st May

Are you part of a local sporting, recreational or leisure Association/Communit y to help? group that needs a small financial grant If so the Meriden Sports and Recreation Trust may be able to assist by providing a small grant. They’re designed to support non-commercial groups and their members with financial assistance in order to develop their sporting, recreational and leisure projects for the benefit of those living in or close to Meriden.

Applications may be made that support a wide range of leisure and health-based activities, across all age groups and sections of the community, that promote exercise, well-being and leisure.

We have helped local groups such as The Firebird Singers, Centre of England Arts, The Scout Group and Cameo to name a few. For more info, please visit our website www.meridensrt.org.uk

Sunday 27th March British summer time begins Don’t forget to put your clocks forward one hour

Bickenhill Waste disposal site Pre booked slots only To book go to www.solihull.gov.uk Phone 0121 704 8000 Dates to remember Cyclists’ Service Sunday 15th May 11.00am on the Green

Deadline for the summer 2022 issue is 1st May with delivery around 1st June Val Martin (co-editor and treasurer) 01676 522963 val.simon@btinternet.com Meriden Primary School Chris Bannister (co-editor and Meriden Library advertising) 07789 903021 Meriden Surgery chrisbannister56@aol.com Lloyds Chemist Meriden Methodist Church Distribution Paul Green, Meriden Village Hall bookings Mavis & Ken Edwards Member of Parliament Sue Riley & Steve Chance Parish Council Proof reader Sue Fuller Methodist Hall bookings Advertising costs £22 per 1/4 Solihull M B C page and £11 per 1/8 page.

Solihull District Councillors

Views expressed by the contributors are not necessarily those of the coeditors. We are unable to print anonymous letters but will withhold name and address on request.

Meriden Scout Group Post Office Rural Police Sector

Whitsun Bank holidays 2022 Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd June To celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Mrs L. Anderton

Rev. Jane Braund Valerie Martin Saqib Bhatti Barbara Bland Alan Gabbitas Ken Allsopp Diane Howell Tony Dicicco Gerry Russell Sue Harper

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