Wrekin News 205

Wrekin WIN! A HAIR AND

News Established 1999

May 2016 · Issue 205

BEAUTY MAKEOVER SEE PAGE

7

THE REGION’S FAVOURITE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE

LETTERS

CYCLISTS RIDE OUT FOR GEORGIA WILLIAMS TRUST

MORE OF YOUR LETTER S, PICTURES AND NOSTALGIA PRINTED INSIDE . .

FOOD

Eating out at The Barley

SPORT

FREE PLEASE TAKE YOUR COPY

Read George Evans every month in the Wrekin News

CINEMA & THEATRE TICKETS TO BE WON INSIDE! 28

SEE PAGE

Rose Manor

The Great Escape!

Sanctuary

The art of living

Ketley Park Road, Ketley Two-bedroom retirement apartments for the over 55s* Available to rent or buy from only £40,000** Call 0800 916 1444 for more information Sanctuary Group is a trading name of Sanctuary Housing Association, an exempt charity

Front Page.indd 1

*Eligibility criteria applies, please enquire for more information **Price is based on purchasing a 25% share, rent is applicable on the remaining share

25/04/2016 15:11

Wrekin

News Established 1999

Published by: Plus Two Media Limited, Bridge Road, Wellington, Telford TF1 1RY

Wrekin

News WIN! Established 1999

May 2016 · Issue 205

THE REGION’S FAVOURITE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE

A HAIR AND BEAUTY MAKEOVER SEE PAGE

7

LETTERS

CYCLISTS RIDE OUT FOR GEORGIA WILLIAMS TRUST

FREE

MORE OF YOUR LETT PICTURES ERS, NOSTALGAND PRINTEDIA INSIDE . .

SPORT

PLEASE TAK YOUR COP E Y

Read George Evans every month in the Wrekin News

CINEMA & THEATRE TICKETS TO BE WON INSIDE! 28

SEE PAGE

Rose Manor

Sanctuary Group is a trading

name of Sanctuary Housing

The Great Escape!

Ketley Park Road, Ketley Two-bedroom retirement apartments for the over Available to rent or buy 55s* from only £40,000** Call 0800 916 1444 for more information *Eligibility criteria applies, please enquire

Association, an exempt

FOOD

Eating out at The Barley

charity

**Price is based on purchasing

Sanctuary The art of living

for more a 25% share, rent is applicable information on the remaining share

Front Page.indd 1

Please ring for FREE brochure & price list

25/04/2016 15:11

PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW TELEPHONE NUMBER

Tel: 01952 522562 Fax: 01952 522567 Editor: James Baylis james@plus2media.co.uk Editorial Support: Tania Baylis tania@plus2media.co.uk Publisher & Design: James Baylis News Editor: Martin Scholes Contributing Photographer: Malcolm Couzens

01952 457980

01952 522562

Our ʻSpace Saverʼ interior FREE with every wardrobe for readers of Wrekin News

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HOW TO ADVERTISE

Please ring for FREE brochure & price list

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Specialist writers: George Evans, Les Beamond, Rona Harris Sports News: Lez Dean, Fraser Watson

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brochure & price list Every care is taken over the accuracy of material in Wrekin News but the publishers cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. Views 01952 457980 and opinions of contributors, advertisers and interviewees to Wrekin Our ʻSpace Saverʼ interior FREE with every wardrobe for News are not necessarily those of the publishers who cannot accept readers of Wrekin News responsibility for such contributions. © Plus Two Media Limited 2016 - All rights reserved.

No part of the  publication may be reproduced in any form without the prior consent of the publisher.

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02 · www.wrekinnews.co.uk Page 3 Welcome.indd 1

25/04/2016 15:33

Welcome

SUITE EXCHANGE LTD www.suiteexchange.co.uk

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Welcome to the May issue of Wrekin News!

H

OW time flies! Did you know that Wrekin News is now in it’s 17th year of publication?

That’s 205 issues which have included many many thousands of words published from our popular readers letters and hundreds of never-seen-before pictures printed.

You might have noticed a few changes in this month’s issue!

Well I’m very pleased and proud to announce that the Wrekin News is now under the new ownership of Plus Two Media Limited.

Yes, we are a new Telford-based media company but rest assured Wrekin News is in the hands of people who know the product very well.

Advertising Sales Manager Irene Winning joins Plus Two Media and brings with her 12 months experience working

with

James Baylis Editor

with our loyal advertisers.

I myself, have over 15 years of experience working behind-the-scenes on the production of Wrekin News.

We all really hope you enjoy the new look and feel of the magazine and continue to support our advertisers and enter our competitions.

This month we have both theatre and cinema tickets to give-a-way along with a fantastic makeover competition!

Please keep your letters, memories and pictures coming in - we love to print them.

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Page 3 Welcome.indd 2

25/04/2016 15:42

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E-cigarette retailer Ecigwizard has opened its latest branch in New Street, Wellington, the latest of over 35 branches.

They offer hundreds of products for discerning vapers, from top names like Aspire and Kangertech. You can buy Ecigwizards’ own Wizmix e-liquid.

With their displays and try before you buy flavour station it couldn’t be easier to learn about vaping and to find what you seek.

Gary and Julie are vaping enthusiasts themselves. They’ll be available to provide technical advice or answer questions. Visit them for a no obligation chat.

They have a range of e-liquid and hardware for sale and Ecigwizard’s latest branch is well-stocked.

Are you a smoker looking to start vaping?

A vaper looking for something to take your vaping to the next level? Visit them at 42 New Street, Wellington.

The Ecigwizard product range is so vast there’s something for all vapers from newbies to veterans. See the latest hardware and exclusive e-liquids. For novices there are great starter kits.

Everyone can try before they buy with the larger, improved flavour stations, making it even easier to learn what’s available, using hygienic tasting facilities.

And the fantastic Wizpoints loyalty award scheme offers many ways to earn rewards when you shop.

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To learn more visit www.ecigwizard.com, visit them at the shop or catch them on Facebook.

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04 · www.wrekinnews.co.uk 4 Musts.indd 1

25/04/2016 19:16

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Director Nigel Booth says All Floors’n’Rugs decision to remain in Oakengates, but relocate to Market Street, in the old Woolworths store, has now proven itself be the best decision they have ever made.

Market Street, Oakengates has seen a complete makeover over the past few years and is now a very busy and much more attractive retail centre.

All Floors’n’Rugs, who have been trading in the town for over 12 years, have now successfully moved to their new 3,500 sq. ft. store. Nigel says “Such a move has most certainly put us in the spotlight as we continue to build on our great value for money ‘sale beating promotions’. The new store layout has been exclusively designed by Amanda Lowe who has first class retail management experience. The store now magnificently displays samples from every flooring type such as laminates, wood, vinyl and carpets and caters for every customer’s needs ‘whatever their budget’.

Nigel’s has a wealth of flooring knowledge and with over 30 years of experience, including the manufacturing, he can always help you make an informed decision on what would be the right choice of flooring.

Amanda his store manager has over 30 years of Retail experience, a wealth of

customer service skills and will usually be your first point of contact. Amanda will always greet you with a smile and says, “ It’s not about the end sale it’s about looking after the customers.”

So together with their ‘hand picked’ fitters their team can always ensure you receive the very best ‘tailored service’ to achieve your flooring needs.

Nigel says; “ We now have the largest rug department in Telford, as our new location has enabled us to quadruple the number of rugs on display, and a big rug department means we have now become the number one destination for anyone requiring a fabulous new rug for their home” All Floors ‘n’ Rugs have a web site (www.allfloorsnrugs. com) and a new (All Floors ‘n’ Rugs) facebook page. Their contact telephone number is 01952 618191.

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Products such as conservatories, entrance porches, patio doors, internal and external doors and frames, sash and traditional windows, staircases and many more products are all hand made on site.

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A cutting and machining service is available over the counter.

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Most architectural mouldings, cornice, skirting boards, panel mouldings and architrave can be reproduced.

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06 · www.wrekinnews.co.uk 6 All Floors MUST.indd 1

25/04/2016 19:10

a fantastic makeover!

Win In conjunction with Deighton Hairdressing Wrekin News are offering a hair and beauty makeover for one lucky reader!

The makeover will include; cutting, colouring, an appropriate hair treatment and make up by Sara Jackson!

HOW TO ENTER . . .

To enter our makeover competition please send your name and contact telephone number to: Tania Baylis, Makeover Competition, Wrekin News, Bridge Road, Wellington, Telford TF1 1RY or email: tania@plus2media.co.uk (Entrants must be 18 years or older)

Ask our expert

* Terms and conditions apply. By entering the competition you are agreeing to have a before and after photograph published in the Wrekin News magazine.

Our hairdressing expert Barry Deighton is on-hand to answer your questions. If you have a question for Barry please email: jbdeighton@hotmail.co.uk

About our expert Barry . . .

Since the age of eighteen I have dedicated myself to the hairdressing industry. Five year apprenticeships were the normal then, incredibly intensive and very hard work but the rewards were well worth it. Wanting to drive myself forward and become more accomplished, I re-trained the Sassoon way and we were a Sassoon partner salon for a number of years in our Wellington salon that we have run for 36 years.

My work away from the salon has taken me around the UK promoting cutting and colour workshops for a number of companies. I have put together hair and fashion shows and built artistic teams for product companies around the UK. Most recently I

became Education Director for Alter Ego UK putting together a number educational courses for all levels of hairdressers.

I have trained many of the counties leading hairdressers, many who have their own very successful salons, and remain good friends.

I have raised money with hair and fashion shows for chosen charities close to our hearts, with great support from Mr Mayor Leon and lady Mayor Barabara, and I must mention my fantastic staff who are just great!

I am hoping to start a foundation for a fund raiser for leukaemia as sadly my granddaughter has the condition but with the excellent care of the Princess Royal Telford and Birmingham Childrens Hospital Sky is doing amazingly well.

Lisa from Donnington asks . . .

Lisa has a question regarding Chlorine and swimming, Lisa this is a very popular question in the salon especially with summer approaching, there are yes and no answers but I will be more specific and clear your mind.

Anything that contains water has a PH value either Acid or Alkaline the scale goes from 1 to 14, below Seven is Acidic and above is Alkaline and 7 being neutral, this simple chemistry is used in all hair treatments from colour to perm to conditioning treatments, Hair and Skin is between 4.5 and 5.5 making it Acidic and at this level at its happiest.

As we move up the scale towards Alkalinity our Hair starts to react the cuticle will start to open and the hair will start to swell in degrees relevant to the level of alkalinity. In our Eye we have a tear duct that has a PH value of 7.4 making it slightly Alkaline, as i understand a good PH for a swimming pool is 7.4 so the water wont sting our eyes, we all know what its like when it is not Ouch.

Chlorine is a bleaching agent added to the water and to a PH level of 7.4. as it is a bleaching agent, all be it a mild one it will affect the hair more so when your hair is on the side of blonde, it will affect darker hair but it will not be as obvious and no it does not make your hair GREEN, this is caused by copper Hairdressing deposits inchurch yourroadhair and01952 and253367 in the 6 new wellington creative with out compromise poolimaginative itself and is hairdressing a chemical reaction and will vary from person to person May Promotions and pool to pool there are other cleansing agents in pools.

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Barry says . . .

So what to do, shower down your hair apply conditioner tie your hair up if long enough, if your hair has long exposure to chlorinated water use a Chealating Shampoo you should use every time you swim, I would suggest you leave Shampoo on for ten minutes this will pick up and remove chemical deposits and product from your hair shaft, use a conditioner with a low PH to close down your cuticle afterwards hope this helps.

P.S. there is actually a PH diet.

At the salon we have a full range of professional products used prior to swimming and after, maintenance products and treatments for poorly hair. If you need any information you can call the salon or email me at: jbdeighton@hotmail.co.uk

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www.wrekinnews.co.uk · 07

7 Choppin Block.indd 1

25/04/2016 19:40

George

EVANS

More Nostalgia!

Y Do you remember these things? Asks George Evans

ES, I know, you’ll tell me that ‘Nostalgia ain’t what it was.’ But I’m often told by regular readers that what they like best is a bit of nostalgia, so here’s the latest for you. One of the things that surprises me most is that a fair number of readers are not my generation, nor the generation of my sons, but young enough to be my grandkids, two of whom are over 40. So some of the things I’m asking you to remember were out of date before your parents were born. If you do get to wonder about double declutching, or strangulators (chokes) or Klaxon horns, start asking the nearest elderly neighbour or relative. They’ll probably appreciate your company anyway. We ancients sometimes get lonely.

Let’s start with cars, though I expect my friend Eric will ring up to tell me I’ve made a mistake. Pre-war cars were much more exciting (often too exciting). To start one you had first to check that the brakes were on and

the gear in neutral. Next pull out the choke and switch on. Get out, grab the starting handle, making sure your thumb was on the same side as your fingers (to lessen the chance of your thumb or wrist being broken); push in and turn clockwise (hard work, grunts permitted) until the engine starts. Go back in the cab, push the choke in gently and accelerate a little. If the engine stalls (it often did) go back to the start procedure again.

Self-starters were advertised to enable ladies to drive; those handles were hard work for a fit young man especially if the engine ‘kicked back’.

There were three forward gears and a reverse. To change down you had to double declutch; that is to press the clutch, engage neutral, accelerate gently, press clutch again, move to the lower gear and release clutch, hoping the ‘revs’ fitted the new gear, otherwise there would be a horrible grinding sound to tell you your gearbox was complaining. Horns were used often, either a

trumpet with a rubber ball you squeezed or a wonderful sounding Klaxon that you thumped on the top. These were great fun.

As I write this my granddaughter told me yesterday she was in a driverless car cruising on a freeway in California. I’d have been having kittens!

Let’s change the subject to ladies’ hats.

Apart from ‘beanies’ they only nowadays wear hats to have tea with HM the Queen or at weddings. In the 1920s and 1930s hats were always worn for church and there was a wonderful variety of them, ranging from simple to frankly plain bonkers. Lots had flowers and most were made of felt. They had to match or ‘go with’ the rest of the lady’s clothes, all of which had to enhance her character, flaunt any wealth she may have, complement her husband’s persona and above all be ‘respectable’. For us young boys they were a source of great amusement and hilarity, though we didn’t dare to be caught laughing out loud. Sometimes we had arguments outside church about who had the daftest hat. These might turn into fights if one of us had to protect his mum, though sisters were usually ‘in play’. Of course almost everyone we knew went to church or chapel every Sunday.

One thing that interested me about churches was missionaries. All the churches sent out missionaries to various parts of ‘The British Empire’ and they came back full of zeal to raise funds so that another journey could be made. Even when quite young I wondered about the value to anyone

The Wrekin’s favourite columnist!

George Evans.indd 1

25/04/2016 16:56

Contact us

H e l p a t Ha nd

If you think we can help you, a family member or neighbour: Call us on

01952 380924 (office hours) Email

helpathand@telford.gov.uk Or write to us at

A service designed around you and your needs. We offer a A service designed range of household tasks to make your around home life easier. you and your needs. We offer

We do the jobs you find difficult to do, a range of household tasks to talk to us about:

make your home life easier.

■ Food shopping - we can take you or we can do it for you!

■ Picking up pensions and/or prescriptions ■ General cleaning - including dusting, sweeping, vacuuming ■ Washing and ironing L et u s h elp mak e you r h om e l i f e e a s i e r.

■ Cleaning internal windows If you think we can help you, aIf family member or help you, a family member or think we can Let us help ■you Making and changing beds neighbour:

Help at Hand Wellington Civic & Leisure Centre Larkin Way, Wellington Telford TF1 1LX

01952 380924 Co n t acCo t uns t ac t H u sel p at H eHa lp nd a t Ha n neighbour:

D2531

Call us on

Contact us

Call us on

01952 380924 (office01952 hours)380924 (office hours)

If you think we can help you, a family

Email

Help at

make your home life easier.

We provide a range serv A service designedof around home to make things easie

A service designed around

H e l p at Han

member of neighbour: Email

you and your needs. We offer you and your needs. We offer

Call us on helpathand@telford.gov.uk helpathand@telford.gov.uk We are available for of a pink faced ‘white man’ telling Africans or Indians that their a range of household tasks toa range of household tasks to as long you need us 01952 (office hours) Or write to us at Or write to380924 us at religion was all wrong and they would have to accept his new Welifedo the jobs youhome findlifedifficult makeayour home easier. make your easier.

- an hour a week, Help at Hand Help at Hand Email one. The missionary often had little idea of their previous religion few hours a month.

Wellington Civic & Leisure Centre Wellington Civic & Leisure Centre helpathand@telford.gov.uk n Food shopping we can ta and certainly seemed to have no respect for it, whatever it was.

Larkin Way, Wellington Larkin Way, Wellington You choose!

Or write to us at But perhaps that was just me being difficult and asking naughty you!

We provide a range offorservices within your o Telford TF1 1LX Telford TF1 1LX Help at Hand questions. So I went along often, just to learn a bit more about the home to make things easier for you. and/o n Picking up pensions Wellington Civic & Leisure Centre world.

L e t u s h e lp ma k e y ou rLheome a s ie t u s hlifeelpema k er. y ou r h ome lif e e a s ie r.

Larkin Way, Wellington These missionaries brought back lots of souvenirs, including n General cleaning including Telford TF1 1LX We do the jobs you find difficult to do, talk- to us abo D2531 in ostrich eggs, palm tree leaves with verses from the Bible written D2531 vacuuming Arabic, Swahili or Punjabi. My grandfather was also fascinated and n Food shopping - we can take you or we can do bought some of these things to give to me and to contribute to the n your Washing and ironing We provide a range of within own forservices you! missionary’s next expedition. I rather think Gramp, as I called him, n Cleaning internal windows home to make things easierup forpensions you. was as interested in geography as I was. He also had a store of tales n Picking and/or prescriptions from his time in the British Army in what was then the North-West n including Making and changing beds cleaning dusting, sweeping, Frontier of India. Then there were Mum’s stories of Jamaica and We do the jobs you n find General difficult to do, talk- to us about: Dad’s odd accounts of Mesopotamia (Iraq). vacuuming h e re n Food shopping - we can take you orI s wet can do s it o m e t h i n g e l s The Great War had only ended five years before I was born and n Washing and ironing w i t h ? Do n ’t b e a f ra i d there were many wounded soldiers on the streets. Wooden legs for you! often just peg-legs like Long John Silver were common. Some had n Cleaning internal windows n Picking up pensions and /or prescriptions lost an arm in the war and others had been gassed. These casualties Making and changing beds were often struggling with life but put a brave face on it and did n General cleaningn- including dusting, sweeping, the best they could. There had been a lot of previous fighting to vacuuming establish the British Empire, upon which the sun never set. Many I s t h e re s o m e t h i n g e l s e y o u n e e d h countries had been conquered and it had become the largest empire n Washing and ironing w i t h ? D o n ’t b e a f ra i d t o a s k ! the world had or has ever seen. Now it’s nearly all gone. Some of the n Cleaning internal windows aims were well intentioned. Some of it had good results, some bad.

Was it worth the killing? n Making and changing beds Some of the missionaries gave slide shows in parish halls, which were usually entertaining, sometimes exciting but occasionally I s t h e re s o m e t h i n g e l s e y o u n e e d h e l p boring. I still remember the smell of the carbide lamps they used w i t h ? D o n ’t b e a f r a i d t o a s k ! in their projectors and the hand-drawn slides showing views of far-away places with strange sounding names and the exotic people with their peculiar clothes. Talking of carbide reminds me that this was used for early car lights, before they were operated by electricity.

01952 380924 01952 3809

H e l p a t Han d

Do you know a relative or friend that may need a Meals-on-Wheels service?

Community Meals

That’s this month’s ration of nostalgia.

What would you like for May? Stop me and buy one.

RAF Veterans Club appeal Wrekin News has been contacted by Shropshire RAF Veterans Club. They are looking to recruit some new members to the group.

The club meets at the Swan Hotel in Wellington at lunchtime on the third Monday of each month and they often welcome a guest speaker. For more information please contact Mrs Georgina Wheeler on 01952 596860.

Call ICare Community Meals

to try a complimentary meal and sweet!

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www.wrekinnews.co.uk · 09

George Evans.indd 2

25/04/2016 16:57

25,554

210

Population of Wellington

Independent businesses in and around the town

1244

The year when the first Market Charter was awarded to Wellington

YOUR WELL

Wellington’s New Town Crier The Town Council is very pleased to announce the fantasic news that Andrew Gordon from Allums Jewellers has agreed to be our new Town Crier.

The historical role of Town Crier is to make public announcements in the streets they carry a hand bell to attract people’s attention, as they shout the words “Oyez, Oyez, Oyez!” before making their announcements. The word “Oyez” means “hear ye,” which is a call for silence and attention.

In Medieval England town criers were the chief means of news

Team Wellington - working together TEAM Wellington was formed in 2015 by Wellington Chamber of Commerce to create a town centre group to help the commercial, retail and economic regeneration of the town. Bringing together retailers, licensees, business owners, market traders, professional & bank representatives with Wellington Town Council, Wellington Markets Company & Telford & Wrekin Council. The aim being to work together to promote, improve and enhance Wellington’s reputation as a shopping destination, support the trading environment and help attract new customers and investment to Wellington town centre. This coming year will see TEAM Wellington activities extended and thanks to the backing of Wellington Town Council, the trade group will be on hand to support independent traders, help organise events, develop promotional town centre materials and help fill empty shops.

Frank Lauriello & Fay Easton operate TEAM Wellington and provide a monthly trader’s event, trader newsletters, social media training for retailers and time spent with commercial agents in the town centre to help bring redundant buildings back to life and more people into the streets.

Frank & Fay work with Wellington Town Council to help organise an annual calendar of activity to increase footfall & create more business for the town centre traders.

For more information on TEAM Wellington or to book a place at forthcoming TEAM Wellington Trader meetings please email either: frank@myddle.net or fay@shropshireenterprise.co.uk

communication with the townspeople, and would announce Royal proclamations, local bylaws, market days and adverts for goods throughout the centuries On a darker note the Crier also escorted the destitute to the workhouse, installed minor criminals in the stocks and administered floggings. During public hangings he read out why the person was being hanged, and helped to cut him or her down – we hope that Andrew will not need to use the stocks, flog or help to hang anyone during this duties.

Grant funding for local organisations A number of Community Groups, Voluntary Organisations, Uniformed Groups, Choirs and Charities are all set to benefit after the Town Council announced nearly £6,000 of community grants. Despite the ongoing need to balance the Town Council’s budget in recent years the Town Council continues to allocate part of its budget to enable the provision of financial support to the Community. The amount of grants that are awarded range from £100 up to in some cases £1,300. Wellington Town Council every year awards Minor Grants to local organisations and charities to assist them to achieve their aims and objectives. The Town Council is keen to assist and support the valuable work these types of organisations undertake in the Parish as they play a vital role in the local community.

Among the Groups that have been awarded Grants are Wellington H2A (Heritage & Arts Alive), Wellington History Group, Maninplace, Home-start Telford & Wrekin, Arleston Resdents Group, Telford Lions Club and a number of sporting Clubs.

Grant funding opportunity The next round of the Tesco Bags of Help grant opened for application on 18th April 2016.

The programme aims to make improvements to open spaces through grants of 8k, 10k and 12k, and the money is raised from the plastic bag charge.

This could be a really exciting opportunity to improve a green space that will really benefit your community. For example a park, nature area, sports area etc. Applications are only accepted from constituted groups or organisations. This is an organisation or group with a governing document (eg a constitution or Memorandum of Articles).

90% of the funding must be used for project costs for the physical improvement of the site.

The application is straightforward and information can be found at the following address https://www.groundwork.org.uk/Sites/tescocommunityscheme/Pages/large-grants-tes

www.wellington-shropshire.gov.uk Wellington Town Council DPS.indd 1

25/04/2016 15:45

ELLINGTON

20th Bayley Mile Road Race

W

ELLINGTON’S annual Bayley Mile is scheduled for Wednesday 11th May 2016.

As you may, or may not be aware, 2016 sees the Bayley Mile in its 20th year.

The Bayley Mile is a historic road race for local children to compete against each other running a linear mile within Wellington.

The Town Council would like to invite you / a representative from your group, to come along and cheer on the children whilst enjoying some refreshments that are kindly being provided by the Buckatree Hall Hotel.

We are very proud to announce that Mickey Bushell MBE will be joining us on the day to present the winners with their special 20th anniversary medals.

Mickey is a Paralympic athlete from Wellington. He won a Gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics for Great Britain in the T53 100m in a time of 14.75 seconds just shy of the world record of 14.47 and was awarded an MBE in the 2013 New year’s honour’s for services to athlete’s Please do come along as a spectator, or indeed a course Marshall, and help assist with the smooth running of the event. There’s even an open race for anyone who would also like to compete on the day! The winners will receive the Philjo shield.

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday 11th May, races start at 13.00hrs in the Swimming Pool East Car Park, next to Wellington Civic Centre. For further details please contact Caroline on 01952 567696.

CCTV at the Bowring Park Work to install high tech CCTV at the Bowring Park has now been completed, it will enable us to provide a safer environment for the public. Sadly this month further mindless damage has been inflicted on the public toilets requiring substantial repairs. We hope the new CCTV system will help to identify the individuals responsible but if you see anything that seems like suspicious behaviour please call the Police Tel: 101 or 999 or the Town Council on 01952 567697.

Bayley Mile

Diary Dates

Wednesday 11 May 2016

> Mickey Bushell MBE will be present on the day to present the winners with their medals.

Eddie “The Eagle Edwards” comes to the Wellington Festival We are all excited at the prospect of meeting Eddie in person and hearing about his escapades as he became the first competitor to represent Great Britain in Olympic ski jumping in 1988. At the time, he was the British ski jumping record holder, the world number nine in amateur speed skier (106.8 mph (171.9 km/h)) and held a stunt jumping world record of 6 buses or ten cars. This year, his story is told in the biographical film Eddie the Eagle telling of his perseverance and achievements all without funding. Look out for Eddie on the Festival Programme.

Royal British Legion Church Parade

Keeping you ‘in the know’

The Wellington and District Branch of The Royal British Legion invites you to attend its Annual Church Parade at the All Saints Church, Wellington, on Sunday 8th May 2016.

Please be seated by 6.20pm for a 6.30pm service.

Refreshments will be served in The Plough Inn, King Street, Wellington, after the service, to which all are invited.

The Town Council and the Wellington Market Company have worked together to install two new noticeboards on each entrance of the Market Hall.

These notice boards will be populated with information such as Council Minutes, future events, and community issues that we feel may be of interest to you. Please do take time to read the board as you pass.

www.wellington-shropshire.gov.uk Wellington Town Council DPS.indd 2

25/04/2016 15:45

free your spirit!

GEORGIA WILLIAMS TRUST NEWSLETTER · MAY 2016

CYCLISTS RIDE OUT FOR GEORGIA!

On Sunday 17th April over 160 cyclists took part in the GWT Spring Cycle Challenge. The riders had a choice of three different length rides; the Wellington Cobbler (23 miles), the Little Wrekin (53 miles) and finally the Wrekin Giant (90 miles). The event managed to raise over £2000, of which will be split between the GWT and West Mercia Search & Rescue.

We would like to thank AFC Telford United, Greenhous, Nova Cycles and TCAT for supporting this year’s event. Also a special thank you to all the volunteers who helped on the day, and the ladies who baked hundreds of cakes for our cyclists. Without you it wouldn’t be possible!

Thank you, once again, to Steve Darlington.

We hope to see you all again next year.

The Georgia Williams Diving Scholarship In memory of Georgia, the Immerse School of Diving offer scholarly positions to the Georgia Williams Youth Diving Programme.

Through this it gives a single scholarship place to a young person who has an interest in participating in scuba diving. The course runs for

a year, in which time the person gets the opportunity to be involved in a full scuba diving scholarship. Additionally, there are also two introductory places up for grabs.

The closing date for the Immerse School of Diving application is midnight 31st May 2016. For more information,

please go to http://www.immersediving. com/the-georgia-williams-divingscholarship.html Last year’s scholar, Tom Edwards, recently did a 600ft+ bungee jump to raise money for the Georgia Williams Trust. Thank you for raising a nearly a £1000!

Buckatree Hall Hotel

Tel: 01952 641 821

Sunday Lunch Fantastic Value

£13.95 3 Courses

THE WREKIN, TELFORD, SHROPSHIRE, TF6 5AL Email: reception@buckatreehallhotel.com

Nestled inside The Holiday Inn, The Olive Tree is the perfect dining choice.

Enjoy the finest, locally sourced food, prepared by our talented Chef and his team.

Come and discover the best kept secret in Telford.

To book, please call 01952 527319

The Olive Tree Restaurant Holiday Inn Telford – Ironbridge, St Quentin Gate Telford, Shropshire, TF3 4EH

Events Diary ISKA Competition in Germany The Trust would like to wish Yasmin Lyndsey good luck for May. Yasmin is the most recent grant recipient, and contacted the Trust to her make her goal of competing in the International Sport Kickboxing Association in Germany reachable. We were delighted to be able to help her and look forward to keeping you all updated on her progress in next months’ edition.

The Rock Project The Rock Project is a music school teaching kids how to be Rock Stars. We teach guitar, bass, drums and vocals to students aged between 7 and 18. Rock Project Encore is Rock Project for adults.

We currently run a session on a Saturday morning at The Ketley Community Centre 9am to 11am for 7-11 year olds and 11.15am to 1.15pm for 11-18 year olds.

We became involved with The Georgia Williams Trust last year and were delighted when the Trust agreed to sponsor three scholarships.

Emma won the first scholarship which sponsors her for three years to learn to play the guitar. She has attended regularly and performed at our Christmas concert last year which was held at New College. She will also perform in our annual showcase concert in July this year.

During the summer holidays last year Emma underwent some pretty serious surgery on her legs and spent the holidays in hospital in Gobowen. Whilst recovering in hospital Emma was visited and given the news that she had won the scholarship, and was also presented with a brand new guitar which was bought for her by the Trust.

To apply for this year’s scholarship positions please contact The Georgia Williams Trust directly for information.

Big thank you to Rob (gardener for Telford & Wrekin) who very kindly planted crocuses last year behind Georgia’s bench in Bowring park.

They have started to bloom and are absolutely beautiful− in a lovely heart shape.

England & Wales Registered Charity 1153519

12 · www.wrekinnews.co.uk 12 Georgia Williams.indd 1

25/04/2016 16:00

Allums The Jewellers It’s now spring. Time to renavaite or repair your jewellery For All Your Jewellery repairs; Weekly or Express Ring cleaning & Polishing From White Gold Rings Polished & Rhodium Plated £5.00 From £25.00 Your Local Goldsmith & Silversmith is willing to help with Free Estimates and Advise.

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£399 Order your own combination & colour www.wrekinnews.co.uk · 13

13 Adverts.indd 1

25/04/2016 09:53

Change your habit Change your life Puff in Peace are extremely proud to be celebrating our 4th anniversary of opening in our home town of Wellington. April 2012 seems a long distant memory now, people asking what we sold, asking “what are e-cigs?”, sceptics telling us “that won’t last” and so on. It is amazing what you can achieve with hard work, dedication and a passion for your products, the thrill of getting our customers off cigarettes and seeing the incredible change that happens to them once they have quit. As one of the few authorised distributors of joyetech and e-leaf products in the west midlands our customers can be safe in the knowledge that they are buying 100% genuine products. The rise in fakes and copies is the biggest downside to the industry at present so please be careful and make sure you don’t get caught out!

The range we sell has grown considerably since the beginning becoming better and better with a great variety of flavours all available to try before you buy.

In celebration of this and with the upcoming opening of our 7th store in St Georges, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all our customers for their loyal support by offering every range of our 10ml e-liquid at the incredible price of three for £10 during may. have a fantastic summer, from all at puff in peace.

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14 · www.wrekinnews.co.uk Puff in Peace Advert.indd 1

25/04/2016 09:46

Wrekin News Shop Local Campaign receives welcome from traders

Wellington

Wrekin News out and about in your town . . .

Wellington, a vibrant thriving country market town Nestling, as it does by the historic Wrekin Hill, the town of Wellington is something that it has been for thousands of years.

A vibrant, thriving country market town.

Wellington folk are noted for their indomitable dry sense of humour and their ready wit.

How many people live in Wellington? In 2011 the population was measured at 25,554, making it one of Shropshire’s largest market towns.

It’s estimated a further 60,000 people are regularly

served by Wellington.

So, how old is Wellington?

Although it is said that Wellington’s Market Charter is 772 years old, some experts have stated that the Market Charter granted to Giles of Erdington, Lord of the Manor,

by King Henry III, was actually merely the latest Royal Market Charter, replacing a much older Market Charter.

Wellington was recorded in the Domesday Book as having a priest and a church. This church, All Saints, has been home to a church for over 1,000

The re-launched Wrekin News Shop Local Campaign has received a welcome from traders.

The stance of the Wrekin News is as it has always been. Every Pound spent in a local till generates much needed income for the retailer or business you give your custom to.

This means they can give employment to local people and also spend money with other local businesses.

In as far possible the team behind the highly successful Wrekin News practices what we preach. For example, we have our magazine printed by a local firm, PCP, we buy our office supplies and IT services locally.

It’s reported Wellington serves a community of 60,000 people. If each one of these people spent an extra £1 a week in the shops, restaurants and businesses in Wellington that would be a staggering amount of an extra £3m a year!

“Quite clearly that’s a bit of a pipe dream, but it’s something to aim for. And if even only a small fraction of people are able to participate in the Wrekin News Shop Local Campaign, that’s all to the good as every extra Pound spent really helps keep Wellington a vibrant, thriving town.”

The owners of Eden Candles couldn’t agree more. David said: “We need for Wellington to up its game! We need more people to come into town to participate in all that this wonderful traditional market town has to offer. And if someone would like to take part in the campaign and spend their extra Fiver with us, so much the better! But joking to one side, if you haven’t yet seen our gift and candle emporium in Duke Street, Wellington, please do come down and see what we have to offer!”

years and, in all likelihood, replaced a pagan religious site, a common occurrence at that time, when the old pagan religion was being replaced by the new religion, Christianity.

So Wellington could be several thousand years old, preceding the arrival of many incomers including the Saxons and the Romans.

So, next time you come into Wellington town centre to visit the Market, have a spot of lunch and to do your shopping do take a look around you. You’ll be intrigued by what you see.

Make sure your e-cigarette battery is safe

With any rechargeable battery products precaution should be taken when charging, that they are not left unattended for prolonged period of time. The correct approved charger designed to be used with the battery is used, any damaged batteries or chargers should not be used.

With E-Cig’s there are many different types of battery that are used from the pen style to large square battery mods. They are both safe to use and charge as long as it charged on the charger designed to be used with it and the instructions are followed. Modifications and buying-second hand when you don’t know the history of the product and it accessories can be dangerous.

At Get it Covered 15 Market Street, Wellington we offer warranty with our batteries and charger, so if you have any form of

problem you can bring them back to us. If your supplier doesn’t offer support for their products I would question their belief in their own products.

We pride ourselves in offering help and advice for clients to make sure E-Cigs work for them and help them meet their needs, whether its to replace or reduce tobacco smoking.

We now have Panther Ploomz oil which is specially designed to be used with Sub Ohm large battery mods in strengths 0mg, 1.5mg, 3mg and 6mg all low in nicotine strength but high in flavour and a revolutionising the use of the sub tank.

If you would like any help with making sure your E-Cig is correct for you pop and see Paul or Steve at Get It Covered 15 Market Street, Wellington between Wilko and the Post Office open 9am - 6pm Monday - Saturday.

GET IT COVERED

POSTERS Printed A3, A2, A1 and A0 Printed Mugs with your Picture & Message £6.95 T-Shirt Printing & Phone Cases & Cables Your Photo’s on Canvas from £9.95

!

Wrekin WIN A HAIR AND

News Established 1999

May 2016 · Issue 205

CYCLISTS RIDE OUT FOR GEORGIA WILLIAMS TRUST

SEE PAGE

7

LETTERS

MORE OF YOUR LETTERS, PICTURES AND NOSTALGIA PRINTED INSIDE . .

In the June issue of Wrekin News the spotlight will be on Oakengates . . .

FOOD

Eating out at The Barley

SPORT

FREE

Read George Evans every month in the Wrekin News

PLEASE TAKE YOUR COPY

CINEMA & THEATRE TICKETS TO BE WON INSIDE! 28

Rose Manor

07774 747303 · 15 Market Street, Wellington · 9-6pm Mon-Sat

Electronic Cigarettes

Oakengates feature

BEAUTY MAKEOVER

THE REGION’S FAVOURITE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE

SEE PAGE

The Great Escape!

Sanctuary

The art of living

Ketley Park Road, Ketley 55s* apartments for the over Two-bedroom retirementbuy from only £40,000** Available to rent or for more information 916 1444 information Call 0800 please enquire for more *Eligibility criteria applies, on the remaining share Sanctuary Group is a trading

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rent is applicable on purchasing a 25% share,

If you would like to advertise in the Oakengates feature please call Irene Winning on 01952 522562 or email: irene@plus2media.co.uk

25/04/2016 15:11

Front Page.indd 1

Great Price on Oil! £3.99 each or 3 for £9.95 or 5 for £15.95 ✔ Great taste ✔ 70+ Flavours ✔ 5 Strengths ✔ Veg Oil Base Get It Covered- 15 Market Street Wellington

Bouncy Fun

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www.wrekinnews.co.uk · 15

15, 16, 18 Wellington.indd 1

25/04/2016 16:52

Wellington

Wrekin News out and about in your town . . .

Exciting times for Gymophobics Telford

G

YMOPHOBICS, the ladies only 30 minute workout, has been in Wellington for a good few years now and has not only seen changes in location, but also in the way that they help ladies to achieve their goals. The new holistic approach, with personal programmes and dedicated review times, are all imperative to success and it it all set to get even better with a brand new location!

The larger and more accessible facility will be opened in Market Street, Wellington by Andrea Withers, who already runs a very successful club in Halesowen.

Andrea says ‘I am excited

about taking Gymophobics Telford forward, with not only a lovely, bright, new facility, but also embracing the new approach to weight and inch loss that Gymophobics have recently introduced. We will have increased classes, increased opening hours and a team of knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff to ensure that members achieve their desired results’. Andrea and her club won ‘Slimmer of the Year 2016’ at our National Awards, so you will definitely be in safe hands!

As well as an increased range of classes, including Leg It, Mobility and Pilates, Andrea will be introducing a healthy eating plan and the revolutionary ‘No Diet Club’, but the greatest thing about

Rachel Gillies Slimmer of the Year 2016

Gymophobics is that everyone is welcome as there is no age limit, no fitness required and combined with the VIP attention, no men, packages from £1 a day and results within 10 weeks, you could be enjoying the new shape that hundreds of ladies already have achieved.

Why not try it out for yourself?

During the opening week beginning 16th May, Andrea is inviting everyone to use the club for FREE, so invite your friends and family to come and have fun and see for yourself how easy it is to have a ‘new you’!

For more information please call 01952 872150.

Changing the shape of Ladies only 30 Minute sessions Fast Results No fitness required VIP attention No waiting

Telford

16th - 22nd May 2016 inclusive FREE visitors week Bring a friend FANTAS TIC Just come along and bring your friends too.

Our instructors are waiting to offer you a full PREMIS ES! circuit (so that you can see for yourself how easy it is to get results) and we will discuss your body shaping needs including firming, toning, strengthening, losing inches to leave a healthier, slimmer you!

NEW

CHANGING THE SHAPE OF HALESOWEN

-Its life changing!

No age limit No mirrors Membership from £1 a day

RAND

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56 MARKET STREET · WELLINGTON TELFORD · SHROPSHIRE Tel: (01952) 872150 16 · www.wrekinnews.co.uk 15, 16, 18 Wellington.indd 2

 Ladies only  30 minute sessions  Fast results  No fitness required  VIP attention  No waiting  No age limit  No mirrors  Membership from £1 a day

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51 HIGH STREET, HALESOWEN B63 3BG 0121 448 1743 • www.gymophobics.co.uk/halesowen 25/04/2016 17:09

Building homes and supporting our local communities

T

HE Wrekin Housing Trust has a number of developments in Wellington, either recently completed, under construction or planned for the near future.

By building new properties, they not only provide much-needed affordable homes, but create jobs and apprenticeships, generate huge amounts of money to the economy and support local businesses, schools and clubs.

Work is progressing well on their development of 31 new affordable homes on the site of the old Arriva bus depot. The new homes will consist of one bedroom apartments and two bedroom houses for rent swith their own gardens and parking.

The Trust is working with local partners Telford & Wrekin Council, Wellington Town Council and developer Jessup to complete the project which will go towards meeting the need for affordable homes in Wellington.

These new homes alone will bring additional benefits to the area with the creation of over 71 jobs including apprenticeships, a boost to local businesses and over £7 million generated to the economy. infographic.pdf 20/04/2016 14:20:50 Whenwellington added to the Trust’s1other developments in Wellington, the money generated to the economy overall is over £37 million.

Another significant development is the Trust’s brand new extra care scheme on Holyhead Road which will provide 63 apartments for the over 55s, and which is proving so popular that on opening it will be fully let to local residents.

To find out more about the Trust’s work in the area, or for information on what developments they have coming up, please visit: www.wrekinhousingtrust.org.uk

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17 Wrekin Housing Trust.indd 1

25/04/2016 09:49

superb choice of bathrooms & tiles

Wellington

Wrekin News out and about in your town . . .

Take a stroll to Pandel and check out their kitchen and bathroom ranges!

FREEdesign

Established For 30 Years

pandelbathrooms visit our showroom with over 20 fantastic bathroom displays T 01952 246333 · 19 BRIDGE ROAD · WELLINGTON · TELFORD

Why leave town to find what you require when you can park your car in one of the nearby free car parks and take a relaxed stroll to Pandel to check out their wide range of products?

You can see their range on their website www.bathroomsintelford. co.uk.

They, with justification, can claim to be a first class supplier of bathrooms and kitchens in Shropshire.

Pandel Bathrooms Ltd have been proudly serving Wellington, Telford and beyond for over three decades. You can benefit from their vast experience and excellent track record of top-rated customer service.

They also insist on ensuring their staff are highly trained, professional and very friendly. They are as keen on bathroom and kitchen products as the owners of Pandel are, so they’ll be sure to be able to help you.

As well as bathrooms, Pandel also offer a wide range of high quality kitchen products to suit almost every taste and budget. Although they do, somewhat bashfully, admit that their forte and first love is bathrooms.

They stock and supply quality brands like Mira, Vanity Hall, Roman and Kudos. Either pop into to see them (they are at 19 Bridge Road, just round the corner from several free car parks) contact them from their website or call them on 01952 739409 to see what they can do for you. Their showroom contains a fantastic variety of all you could have imagined and a little bit more, besides. Please mention the Wrekin News when you visit Pandel.

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25/04/2016 16:47

Wellington Showroom

Tel: 01952 265577 2 Haygate Road, Wellington TF1 1SG

Newport Showroom

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www.wrekinnews.co.uk 路 19

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25/04/2016 09:47

Lioncourt Homes Receive 5 Star Quality Award Lioncourt Homes has been awarded a 5 Star Quality rating in the annual Home Builders Federation (HBF) customer satisfaction survey for the second successive year. This is the maximum score that can be achieved and enables Lioncourt to stand out as one of the premier builders in the UK. The survey is designed to provide home buyers with information about home builders approach to quality in order to help guide their purchasing decision. It is also designed to promote excellent levels of service to be delivered by developers.

Colin Cole, Chief Executive of Lioncourt Homes, said ‘Everyone in the business is totally committed to delivering the best possible quality and this approach has resulted in Lioncourt Homes being awarded the HBF 5 Star Status. We are one of only 15 house builders in the country to be awarded five stars again this year.’

The results highlight that over 90% of Lioncourt customers have said that they would recommend Lioncourt Homes to a friend. This is the second successive year that Lioncourt has achieved this accolade.

Colin added ‘We are delighted with these results particularly as everyone in the Lioncourt business places such a high emphasis on the quality of their work, the quality of service and customer satisfaction.

This means that potential buyers can rest assured that they would be making a good decision buying a Lioncourt home.’

Stewart Baseley, executive chairman of the Home Builders Federation, said: ‘The customer satisfaction survey is an excellent way of measuring the level of customer service house builders achieve. The scheme is an independently monitored survey of the people who really matter to our industry, our customers. To achieve such high levels of satisfaction, at a time when there is such a pressure on the industry to increase volumes is great credit to Lioncourt Homes and their team.’

HBF and NHBC (National House-Building Council) launched the latest results at an annual event at the Institution of Civil Engineers in Westminster, London.

Along with this success Lioncourt Homes was recently recognised by the Sunday Times as the 25th fastest growing private Company in the

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20 · www.wrekinnews.co.uk 20 Lioncourt editorial.indd 1

25/04/2016 17:21

UK, as well the fastest growing Housebuilder in the UK. With all this recognition what is possibly left for the Company to strive for?

Well the response from Colin was clear and concise.

He said ‘It is important to be successful but it is equally important to be successful in the right way. We have a rapidly expanding business but this growth is based on quality in everything we do and hence is a fundamental part of this success. Overall, we are only at the start of the Lioncourt story. We have significant growth planned for the period ahead and we have excellent managers and staff developing throughout the business as part of our succession plans and part of the quality ethos.’

The HBF national survey of house builders is a self-completion census completed by the purchasers of new build homes. They are carried out by NHBC and the latest results cover the 12 months from October 2015 to September 2016. The HBF Star Ratings are independent and based on results of the National New Homes Survey. The survey is operated by NHBC, is entirely independent of any builder or builder group and is independently validated by Reading University.

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www.lioncourthomes.com †Calls will be charged at seven pence per minute from a BT landline and may cost considerably more from mobile and other phones. Contact your service provider for more details. *All offers are subject to terms and conditions, please ask our Sales Executive for full details. Photographs show a typical Lioncourt home.

www.wrekinnews.co.uk · 21

20 Lioncourt editorial.indd 2

25/04/2016 17:22

Dea r Editor . . .

Letters

SHARE YOUR SPECIAL MEMO RIES AND PICTURES THROUGH THE MOST POPULAR PAGES OF THE WREKIN NEWS

A lesson from the fox and hounds!

Y OUNG Billy Deakin heard the sharp note of the hunting horn.

The sound seemed to have come from the Purslow Direction, maybe a bit nearer, he guessed.

Probably the Hunt was coming towards Clunbury he reasoned. Not that he was a cold blooded lad or such, the sound and sight of the hounds and horse riders with their bright red coats, the ladies dressed in black with hats, sat side-saddle on their mounts, how they managed to stay aboard their horses amazed the lad.

His farther had, on several occasions, taken him up to ‘The Hundred House’ pub at Purslow to watch the Hunt Meet when they held it there. They would drink a ‘stirrup cup’ offered by the pub landlord to each rider, then quickly all would trot off, hoping for a scent, a chase and to kill Reynard the fox, he being the sworn enemy to most county dwellers, cottagers and owners alike. He was a vicious killer at times when attacking some of their livestock. Not that Reynard was at much of a disadvantage in the chase.

He was cunning enough to mostly outwit his pursuers.

Billy’s grandfather had told him many stories of how the red fox had pitted his brain against those of man. On one occasion he related, a farmer had captured a fox in a snare and had decided to parade his

by Les Beamond

Regular correspondant and friend of the Wrekin News Les Beamond writes with more tales of times-gone-by in rural Clunbury.

captive though the village, before shooting it. The terrified fox pulled and struggled against the rope that was fastened round its neck. Although it soon found that not to struggle was less painful. It then seemed to loose consciousness, falling down flat on the roadway. This angered the farmer he did not want the fox to expire before he had shown his friends this criminal, now brought to justice and for him to carry out the execution before their very eyes. He released the rope and peered down at the lifeless animal.

Reynard had deprived him of his victory. With a few swear words he kicked the fox onto the side of the road. In a trice the fox was up on his legs and was away down the road and out of sight in very quick time. The farmer issued more and louder curses, but Reynard had gone. He did not even have time to raise his

gun and fire at the crafty animals.

One hot summer day, Billy’s grandfather had, he said, been sitting beside the River Clun when a fox appeared just across the river. It pulled some wool off the riverside lower branches of a tree where some sheep had been at some time sheltering or going for a drink of water. With the wool in its mouth the fox went down to the waters edge and reversed very slowly into the deeper water, taking its time until the fox’s head, then only its nose was above the water.

He let go of the wool which floated away downstream with all the fleas off the fox now on the wool. The fleas had, it seems, tried to escape the rising water and moved along the animal’s body until the wool was the only remaining place to go. His grandfather swore and declared this was true, he had seen it with his own eyes he said. He then told of how the fox sometimes used the river to evade the hounds. To put them off his scent, he would travel up or down the river, or crisscross in and out of the water to confuse the hounds. They could not follow his scent and the chasing of him came to an end.

That was all in the past. Because today the hunt was coming towards Billy, he went to meet them. Well he got as far as his favourite tree, an old ash with fork about twenty feet from the ground. He quickly climbed up and made himself as comfortable as can in such a

We love hearing from you!

For 15 years Wrekin News has printed pages and pages of your letters and pictures and we want to publish more!

Please keep our editor’s inbox full and send your letters and pictures to: The Editor, Wrekin News, Bridge Road, Wellington, Telford, Shropshire TF1 1RY or email your contributions to: james@plus2media.co.uk 22 · www.wrekinnews.co.uk Letters.indd 1

25/04/2016 17:45

position as this.

Luck was with him, for the hounds and horse riders passed along the field only a few yards from his lookout post. He felt like a king in his grand castle, with an army of enemy troops passing by, with no knowledge of him being there at all. The teachers had recently told the school class about a similar event, a king who had hidden in an oak tree from his enemies.

It was then that everything went wrong. One of the horse riders had attempted to jump over a hedge and the horses landed very badly on the other side. The rider flew through the air and landed very heavily on the ground. He failed to get up. Several huntsmen gathered round him and tried to revive him. One rode away in a great hurry to get assistance. Billy was getting cramped in his tree position. He descended to the ground and sat on the riverbank.

His view of the accident was not so good from here, but more comfortable.

A loud resort startled him a little. The horse had broken a leg and a revolver bullet had put an end to the poor animal’s suffering.

More voices came to his ears, a larger group must now be assembled at the accident point. After a long time, the whole thing went quiet. The man had been taken away, dead or not, Billy did not know.

He made his way to the spot where it happened. The poor horse was laying there, its eyes still wide open, now sightless. A bullet hole was between those eyes. He noticed that the saddle and tack was still on the horse.

Billy now felt quite queasy. He had not envisaged such a performance as this. Turning to go, something glistened in the sunlight. He went over towards the hedgerow and looked down at the gold pocket watch complete with a chain and fob. It obviously had fallen from the rider’s pocket after the accident.

He was in two minds what to do. To leave it there or take it home! Almost as if to decide, he placed it to his ears. The watch was ticking away merrily. He pocketed the watch and made off home.

That night his father came home. “I heard the Colonel came a cropper this afternoon” he said. “Killed his horse, bad job, he was splendid animal”. Billy then said. “yes I know I saw it happen”. The boy’s father looked surprised.” Not only that” Billy said, “I found a gold pocket watch near by, “here it is”. He offered the watch to his father.

“My God boy!” he exclaimed. “You can for sure be put in prison for this”. “But dad, I only found it laying there, nobody else had seen it, it would get trampled into the mud if I had left it lying there, nobody else had seen it, it would get trampled into the mud if I had left it lying there” the boy reasoned. “Go this minute up to the Colonel’s home and hand it in” his father said.

“No, not yet” his son answered. “He is not well, nor will he be worried about what time of day it might be or might not be. He probably is not yet aware he has lost his watch”.

Billy had know seen both sides of fox hunting and did not like either side too much. He had thought it out in his head and decided that the way of the fox may bring best results. To use the brain rather than physical action.

The Colonel had certainly had a heavy fall from his unfortunate horse. Two weeks later he was much better, although very sore and extremely stiff all over. Worse, he had lost his best horse, but even worse to him, his gold pocket watch had been lost. It was quite valuable, but more of sentimental value. It had been presented to him for services in the Army. Long battles and campaigns were recaptured in his memory by this grand timepiece.

He had an idea. A substantial reward for the return of his watch, this would get the local population searching diligently for his watch. This was done. Almost immediately, Billy and his father made their way to the colonel’s house. The butler was at first not pleased to see them, until the purpose of their visit was made clear to him. He scurried off to tell his master.

They came away from there ten guineas better off. The colonel had been delighted to be reunited with his timepiece, still in perfect working order. He was pleased with the honestly of the father and son. A job was always on offer to them both, if they so wished, he had said.

Billy’s father was pleased how things had worked out. The boy himself had studied the subject of fox hunting in his own mind. He had then applied his own version of running with the fox and with the hounds. It had worked, the boy would surely survive in this world.

Kings Menswear & Suit Hire Tel: 01952 259107

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VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Friends of Princess Royal Hospital is a group of volunteers of all ages who work together to raise funds for the hospital.

Together we run a very busy Coffee Shop within the hospital open 7 days a week including Bank Holidays 1-5pm.

All profits are used to buy equipment for the Hospital Trust and this amounted to £156,000 last year. Departments which have benefited from these funds include A&E, ITU, Ophthalmology and Physiotherapy.

If you have a couple of hours to spare, please get in touch.

Our volunteer shifts offer a variety of duties.

For more information call in and see the Shop Manager.

Tanya Griffin: 01952 641222 Ext: 4721 / 4211 www.wrekinnews.co.uk · 23

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Rona Harris

My youth of yesteryear - it has no comparison today

N

OW to begin with I would like to ask you a question, do you sit quietly sometimes and go back in time to your youth? No! Not your childhood, age from 16 to 26 years!

To me they were good years for those particular times, and I do think there is no comparison to the life style of my own grandchildren today.

In my days if you ‘liked’ a boy then you didn’t tell anyone just in case ‘someone would tell your parents’, and if that did happen then all hell would break loose and I would be banned from everything that meant going out alone, and then for what seemed to be always I had to drag my kid sister with me, and needless to say she hated it all just as much as I did.

Once I had met the man of my dreams (at the age of 22 years) I was allowed to see him when I wanted to, BUT I had to be in at 10.30pm every night, and five minutes after that time I was in trouble, it is strange because even at ‘22’ I had to be in on time.

My parents never really wanted to get to know Dennis in anyway, they decided that he was ‘no good’ for me and completely went out of their ways to make our lives extremely difficult, whereas Dennis’s parents were totally opposite, nice people and always made me feel very welcome into their home.

They lived in Trench at the then Teagues Bridge, it was a small place, like a hamlet with a pub and a few cottages, now it’s vastly overgrown.

There were no main tarmacked roads into Oakengates which again was great to walk to my home with

Letters.indd 3

no-one around to be like big brother breathing down our necks and watching our every move.

Now because we had to part quickly once at my house Dennis wrote a little letter to me every night to read once I was alone, now it was someone singing this particular song the other night that revived these memories and the words of the song went something like this.

Love Letters straight from your heart keep us so near while apart I’m not alone in the night, when I can have all the love you write I memorise every line I kiss the name that you sign, and Darling then I read again right from the start Love Letters straight from your heart.

This was a lovely song and I wonder how many of you remember it?

However we did manage to get married, and a few years later our son was born, and yes we did eventually become divorced and I still believe that without all the bad feelings and interference that would never have happened.

But I decided to just get on with my life, I had a decent secure job in the civil service, so I had a conversation with myself and I said in the good old Derbyshire way in which I had grown up “Put thi barra down wench and ger on wi’it” and that’s what I did.

Would I do the same again? and yes I suppose I would really, there were so many maybe’s but one thing was and still is that I have my lovely son whom I love dearly and I always will.

I must go now and I will write more next time.

Souvenir Coronation programme

O

UR thanks to Hayley Easthope who brought in a pristine copy of the Wellington, Salop, UDC., Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II dated June 2 1953 which she found in the possessions of her late Mother.

The forward was written by the august personage, the Chairman of Wellington UDC, P. Pierce.

He pointed out that it was his privilege and pleasure to write the forward to the souvenir programme (which was priced at 6d) .

Mr Pierce wrote about the many and varied ways that the Wellington UDC had employed to mark this historic occasion, including the creation of a Garden of Rest in the cemetery of All Saints Parish Church which the council had taken over responsibility for in 1906.

Incidentally it is a popular misconception that the remains of those buried within the graveyard were removed when the area was landscaped. The human remains were not removed, only the headstones were removed to be placed around the edges of the cemetery.

Out of respect, pointed out the programme, cycling and the parking of cars were forbidden in the garden of rest.

The council also presented a copy of the Council’s then recently created official Coat of Arms to all local schools throughout the area covered by the WUDC. Children were also granted Testaments and decorated cups.

(EDITOR: Do you still have yours? Please let us know.)

The programme of events consisted of a bowling tournament, a United Church Concert at Wellington Parish Church, there

Looking from Church Street to the Square, Wellington

was a Grand Concert in the Gymnasium of Wrekin College and the Coronation ceremony was shown on a television in All Saints Parish Church Hall. Attendance was restricted to “elderly persons by ticket only.”

There was a Coronation Ball at the Forest Glen and a gigantic bonfire at the summit of the Wrekin, organised by Wrekin Boy Scouts’ Association, with a rocket launched at 10pm on Tuesday 2 June.

There was a children’s fete and gala on lands adjacent to the Vineyard (“by kind permission of T. W. Jones Esq and the Salop County Council.)

There was a special Tea and Entertainment event at the Darby and Joan Hut and the Tan Bank Methodist Schoolroom and a Combined Clubs Cricket Match between Wellington, Wroxeter v St Georges and Shifnal, organised by the Wellington

25/04/2016 17:52

The Buck’s Head ground - home of Wellington Town FC

e

A happy looking Queen pictured on a visit to Lilleshall

Mr Pierce, Chairman of Wellington U.D.C. pictured in April 1953

Cricket club at the Orleton Ground.

There was, on the following Sunday, a concert by school children at the Girl’s High School, in King Street, by “kind permission” of the headmistress, Miss E. Barnes, BSc, organised by M.J.McKelvey Esq, BA, FRCO. Admission was free, by ticket only, with a silver collection.

The programme was supported by local advertisers such as the Wrekin Brewery, Wellington Laundry, the West Midlands Gas Board, Hobson and

Co. Printers, Bates and Hunt Chemists, G. W. Harvey, Jewellers, W. J. Laud, bread, confectionary and groceries, Heaths Bakers (“having served in Wellington under six sovereigns”) Barber and Sons, E. W. Jones TV dealers, F. R. Burton MPS, R. V. Bromley shoe shop, etc.

It also contained the story of Elizabeth our Queen and her family and was illustrate with photographs of the Queen, her family, members of the council and street scenes of Wellington from 1953.

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Letters.indd 4

25/04/2016 17:57

TROTFIELD WINDOWS

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Pictured on 19 August 1966

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Family celebrations and fun at the Wellington Lido John Whittingham is originally from Ketley but now lives in Haygate Road. He has spoken to Wrekin News a couple of times and has brought in this photograph which his cousin gave him.

The photograph shows three young people enjoying what looks like the shallow end of the Lido. In the background you can see the slide and further back is a greenhouse.

John believes the Lido was further up Haygate Road, nearer to Linden Avenue but he used it a couple of times and when he was christened at Christ Church in Wellington, the family then went to the Lido to celebrate.

Your Lido memories . . .

We’d still love to hear from more of our readers about your memories of the Wellington Lido, please send them along with any pictures you might so we can share them . . .

26 · www.wrekinnews.co.uk Letters.indd 5

25/04/2016 18:02

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Letters.indd 6

25/04/2016 18:17

APRIL’S LUCKY WINNERS Congratulations to all of our April competition winners:

Jodie Prenger tickets

Mrs C Statham ARLESTON

Derek Ryan in concert

Mrs Jean Bates OAKENGATES

Arabian Nights tickets

Mr Jim Keen WELLINGTON

Home Building Show

Mr Philip Hughes WELLINGTON

The

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A TRIBUTE TO THE MOODY BLUES

Enjoy the music of the Moody Blues in the company of five legendary musicians, singers and songwriters. Drummer Gordy Marshall and keyboard player Paul Bliss performed together with The Moody Blues for over 20 years. They are joined by current 10cc lead singer Mick Wilson. Leona Lewis and Westlife guitarist Tim Maple plus James Blunt and Joss Stone bass player Malcolm Moore complete the line-up.

It’s a chance to experience impeccable performances of classic Moody Blues hits including Nights in White Satin, Go Now, Tuesday Afternoon, Legend of a Mind (Timothy Leary’s Dead), I Know You’re Out There Somewhere, Question, Isn’t Life Strange – plus Forever Autumn and a show-stealing rendition of Eve of the War from Jeff Wayne’s The War of the Worlds.

The evening is an intriguing insight into the ‘Kings of the Concept Album’ – the Moody Blues.

Relive classic, million-selling albums Days of Future Passed, In Search of the Lost Chord, On the Threshold of a Dream, To Our Children’s Children and more.

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to offer one lucky up with the Theatre Severn Wrekin News has teamed The Sound of Music. reader a pair of tickets to see time telephone is send your name and day All you have to do to enter Bridge Road, s, New ekin nd of Music, Wr number to: Tania Baylis, Sou or email your entry to: Wellington, Telford TF1 1RY tania@plus2media.co.uk GOOD LUCK!

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BOX OFFICE: 01952 382382

WIN THEATRE TICKETS

Wrekin News has teamed up with the The Place Oak engates Theatre to offer one lucky reader a pai r of tickets to see Legend of the Band.

All you have to do to enter is send your name and day time telephone number to: Tania Baylis, Leg end of the Band, Wrekin New s, Bridge Road, Wellington, Telford TF1 1RY or email your entry to: tania@plus2media.co.uk GOOD LUCK!

28 · www.wrekinnews.co.uk Entertainment.indd 1

25/04/2016 15:55

In association with

Bigscreen Welcome

SILVER SCREEN

Unwind and let us lead you into the magical world of film

Odeon, Telford General Manager Carl Fletcher welcomes you to 10 screens of film magic screening stunning RealD 3D. You can treat yourself to an exclusive entertainment experience with our Premier seats, cafe culture at Costa or icy indulgences at Ben & Jerry’s. Parking is available at the cinema for the perfect spot!

film release of the month

Out on

29th April

With political pressure mounting to make the Avengers accountable to someone and rein in their collateral damage, ‘Captain America: Civil War’ brings our heroes to blows over the regulations.

Tony Stark supports the idea of a governing body for the team. Steve Rogers wants them to be independent and able to help people without interference. Having saved the world together twice, these new rules drive a wedge between them and turn the Avengers against each other.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe will never be the same again after ‘Captain America: Civil War’: it’s time for the Avengers to disassemble.

WIN CINEMA TICKETS

the s teamed up with Wrekin News ha e on er off to Telford Odeon Cinema, cinema d ar nd sta of ir lucky reader a pa of your choice. tickets to a film e and telephone m na ur yo Just send ylis, Wrekin Ba nia contact to: Ta , kets, Bridge Road News, Odeon Tic Y or email: 1R 1 TF rd lfo Te Wellington, ia.co.uk tania@plus2med

Entertainment.indd 2

The magic of cinema is timeless. It never ends. This is an imaginative experience that goes on for as long as you’re willing to give yourself over to the world before your eyes.

ODEON Silver Cinema is our series of film screenings for our guests who are over55. Tickets are from £3* each and include tea, coffee and biscuits before your film.

Unwind and catch up with friends over aromatic

tea and coffee and buttery biscuits as you get ready to be transported to another reality. Whether you’re watching a critically acclaimed classic or talkof-the-town new release, we’ll lead you to another time, another place. Relax as we dim the lights, raise the curtain and bring the screen leaping to life. Inspiring biopics. Laugh-out-loud comedies. Ageless romances.

Let us take you there.

NEWBIES

Take time out with baby-friendly screenings of the latest releases

Book your Odeon tickets now

www.odeon.co.uk

WIN CINEMA TICKETS

Wrekin News ha s teamed up with the Odeon Cinema, Telford to offer on e lucky reader a pa ir of Odeon Silve r Screen Cinema tickets to a film of your choice. Just send your name and telephone conta ct to: Tania Bayli s, Wrekin News, Od eon Silver Screen Tickets, Bridge Ro ad, Wellington, Telford TF1 1RY or email: tania@plus2med ia.co.uk

We understand that being a new parent is a rewarding, yet sometimes demanding, experience.

ODEON Newbies are our special film screenings designed for you and your little one. This is a place to leave behind your stresses, escape from the everyday and lose yourself in the latest releases.

Remember, while you’re with us, you’re our guest.

From the moment you get here to the moment you leave, we’ll do everything we can to make you and your baby feel welcome and

comfortable.

These screenings are only for parents and guardians and their babies. So there’s no need to worry about disturbing other guests while your film’s playing.

Softer volume. Ever-soslightly brighter lights. Our special in-screen conditions are a lullaby to your baby.

This is a peaceful setting, where you can gently rock your little one away to the land of nod and ease yourself into the world on-screen. *ODEON Newbies is in selected cinemas only

25/04/2016 15:55

Ticket JUST

Plant Hunters’ Fair Saturday 11th June 11am-5pm

An early summer plant fair surrounded by the beauty of Arley Arboretum...

THE

Wonderful days out at Arley Arboretum

to the Entry in ardens , ir G Plant Fa oretum r and A b £2.50 Adults n £1 Childre ) 3’s Free (Under

Follow us on Facebook for

events, news & offers!

k www.arleyarboretum.co.u *Some events on select days only. Some features are an additional cost. Please check website for more info. E&OE. The Roger & Douglas Turner Charitable Trust. Reg. No. 1154467

For gardeners on Saturday 11 June from 11am to 5pm there’s the early summer plant fair. As it’s surrounded by the beauty of Arley Arboretum, it’s truly the perfect day out for all plant lovers!

Combine a wonderful walk round their arboretum with a visit to the plant hunters fair to fill you with inspirational ideas, which you can enact in your own garden.

All the nurseries at the fair are experienced growers. They’ll be happy to give specific information based on their real experience. No fly-by-nights and supermarket plant there!

Instead you’ll find RHS medalists and National Collection Holders, keen plants growers, designers and artisans.

Above all, people who love plants and are passionate about what they grow.

Every line up of nurseries is selected and planned to ensure each stall is different with its own unique specialty.

Entry to fair, gardens and arboretum is just £2.50 for adults and £1 for children.

Find out more at www. planthuntersfairs.co.uk.

But what about the Vikings? Did you know the Vikings made raids into

Shropshire, destroyed Wenlock Priory and ruled part of the area under the infamous Danegeld system?

If you would like to learn more about the Vikings visit Arley Arboretum on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th June from 11am to 5pm.

Telford’s Raudr Vagr Viking group will set up camp on the Arboretum’s front lawn. They’ll re-create the lifestyles of the Viking and AngloSaxon peoples.

Raudr Vagr has an impressive Living History encampment, with numerous authentic period tents, where they demonstrate a variety of Viking Age crafts, skills, games and pastimes.

They also provide combat displays, where our warriors fight equipped with a variety of weaponry. Raudr Vagr members will talk to visitors, answering any questions and share knowledge of the Viking Age. Usual admission prices apply. £5 per adult, £2 per child.

Learn more at www.spanglefish. com/raudrvagrvikings Also as Sunday 19th June is Father’s day they’ll give Dad’s who pay to come in a free bacon buttie.

Father’s day

Sunday 19th June FREE BACON BU TTIE* for all

dads who visit wi th their children, big or small!

The Vikings are to Arley arborComing etum!

FREE with Gener al Adm ission*

Saturday 18th - Sunday 19th June 11am-5pm The Raudr Vagr Vikings will be setting up camp and re-creating the lifestyles of the Viking and Anglo-Saxon peoples. Enjoy demonstrations of Viking Age crafts, skills, games and pastimes... Plus combat displays!

events, news & offers!

Follow us on Facebook for

k www.arleyarboretum.co.u *Free bacon sandwich valid with adult admission into the Arboretum. Some events on select days only. Some features are an additional cost. Please check website for more info. E&OE. The Roger & Douglas Turner Charitable Trust. Reg. No. 1154467

MAY 2016 Sunday 1st - Diamond Head & 10 supports 2pm start Thursday 5th - Koncept, Wolff, 14 Pieces & Disbeliever Friday 6th - The Dreaming Tree Saturday 7th - Guns ‘N’ Roses Tribute Band Friday 13th - The Zoobs Saturday 14th - Ska Burst Friday 20th - Velvet Tardis Saturday 21st - The Cracked Actors & support Thursday 26th - Scripted Youth, Trilogy & Jack In A Box Friday 27th - Nirvana Tribute Band Sunday 29th - Air Ambulance all day charity gig 2pm start

UT!

ISS O DON’T M

26 HAYGATE RD, WELLINGTON, TELFORD, TF1 1QA - 01952 247333 FACEBOOK.COM/THEHAYGATE

IN W PAIR OF A TICKETS!

30 · www.wrekinnews.co.uk Just the Ticket.indd 1

25/04/2016 17:27

t Get Ouwith t & Abourekin the W s New

To advertise in

JUST THE TICKET

THE MID-SHROPSHIRE VINTAGE CLUB PRESENTS…

Please call Irene on 01952 522562 or email irene@plus2med ia.co.uk

4th & 5th June 2016

Vintage weekend of fun!

The Mid-Shropshire Vintage Club is presenting a very special weekend of fun for all the family on the weekend of 4th and 5th June.

There really is fun for all the family. See tractor pulling, a bouncy castle, the amazing Mr Hairy, is he a man or a giant, talking doll?

You see him, you decide!

Thrill to the sounds of the Wirral Marching Band, marvel at the live chainsaw woodwork demonstrations.

You can also enjoy Ashley’s Gallopers, and indulge your passion for beautiful things at the craft and retail stalls.

There’ll be a great selection of food, a bar, candy floss and icecreams.

On the Saturday there will be an Auction of Vintage Machinery and Tools at 10.30am.

It’s at the Greenhous West Mid Showground, Shrewsbury, SY1 2PF. Saturday 9.30am to 5pm Sunday 9.30am to 4pm.

To buy advance adult tickets at £8 visit: midshropshirevintageclub. com Or £10 on the gate. Under 16s are free.

To learn more @MSVC www.midshropshirevintageclub.com

IN W IR PA OF A TICKETS!

THE 29TH ANNUAL VINTAGE SHOW A colossal display of all your favourite vintage vehicles…

Steam engines, tractors, cars, Land Rovers, military vehicles, horses and lots more for all the family!

Returning in 2016 Tractor pulling!

Plus family attractions - bouncy castle, Mr Hairy (lifelike talking doll), The Wirral Marching Pipe Band, live chainsaw woodwork demos, Ashley’s Gallopers, craft and retail stalls.

A great selection of food, a bar, candy floss and ice-cream

At The Greenhous West Mid Showground, Shrewsbury, SY1 2PF Saturday 9.30am to 5pm Sunday 9.30am to 4pm To buy advance adult tickets at £8 visit: midshropshirevintageclub.com

Auction of Vintage Machinery and Tools at 10.30am Saturday @MSVC

www.midshropshirevintageclub.com

Or £10 on the gate Under 16’s are FREE! shropshire vintageshow

Win a pair of tickets to the 29th Annual Vintage Show! Send your name and daytime contact number to our address (see page 2) or email: tania@plus2media.co.uk

Sugarcraft Guild celebrates The British Sugarcraft Guild is celebrating its 35th Anniversary by holding an International Exhibition at the Telford International Centre on Saturday and Sunday, 21 & 22 May 2016.

Visitors to the exhibition will be able to see some first class competition work and sugarcraft displays by BSG branches, colleges, groups and individuals. Some of the leading traders and experts in sugarcraft will also be showcasing their work. Visitors will be able to book to see demonstrations by well-known sugarcrafters. A workshop programme is also available for prebooking. Throughout the weekend the British Sugarcraft Guilds’ own Accredited Demonstrators will be offering a continuous programme of free demonstrations for visitors to watch, and there will be make and take sessions for both adults and children.

The latest equipment will be available from trade stands where many traders will be demonstrating how to make best use of this equipment. There will be a tombola with sugarcraft related prizes and the Grand Draw with cash prizes.

Free Wi-Fi will be available for visitors to the exhibition so that they can keep in touch with activities and friends. Food and beverages can be purchased from the on-site cafe.

Further information about the exhibition, including the full programme of demonstrations and workshops and advanced price tickets, can be found by logging onto www.bsguk.org.

Tickets can also be purchased on the day, although to avoid disappointment it is advisable to pre-order demonstration tickets.

The latest exhibition updates can be found on the BSG Facebook page.

Win a pair of tickets to the exhibition! Send your name and daytime contact number to our address (see page 2) or email: tania@plus2media.co.uk

www.wrekinnews.co.uk · 31

Just the Ticket.indd 2

25/04/2016 17:27

Advertise your event, gig or function email - tania@plus2media.co.uk or call 01952 522562 Sunday 1 May Day Celebrations Museum opens 10am - 5pm daily, Blists Hill Join the Town’s residents as they celebrate May Day and the arrival of spring in Victorian style with maypole dancing, music and a parade led by the May Queen.

Museum entrance fee including a voluntary Gift Aid donation £17.95 adults; £13.75 for 60 plus and £11.85 for children (up to 18 years and in full time education), under 5s free For details call 01952 433424 or visit www. ironbridge.org.uk Tuesday 3, 10, 17 and 24 May Jackfield Tile Museum, Jackfield, Tile Decorating Workshops Museum opens 10am - 5pm daily, drop-in tile decorating workshop between 10am and 3.30pm and try the tube lining technique to produce your own ceramic masterpiece. Activities vary dayto-day; tiles cost from £5 each and can be fired and sent home later for a small extra charge for P&P. It takes up to 11/2 hours to decorate your tile so last admission to the workshops is 2pm. Museum entrance fee including a voluntary Gift Aid donation £9.75 adults; £8.75 for 60 plus and £6.25 for children (up to 18 years and in full time education), under 5s free For details call 01952 433424 or visit www.ironbridge.org.uk Wednesday May 4 Telford Tinnitus Group to meet at 2.00 at The Cafe in Wellington Library.

Saturday 14 May Enginuity, Coach Road, Coalbrookdale, Museums at Night A free family evening event

Event Guide MAY 2016

produce a tile featuring your own design and choice of colours.

Activities vary from day-to-day; tiles cost from £5 each and can be fired and sent home later for a small extra charge to cover P&P. It takes up to 11/2 hours to decorate your tile so last admission to the workshops is 3.00pm. Museum entrance fee Wednesday May 18 Wellington including a voluntary Gift Aid donation £9.75 adults; £8.75 for History Group, Wellington 60 plus and £6.25 for children Library, 7.30 pm, Wellington Library, Shrewsbury and Newport (up to 18 years and in full time education), under 5s free For Canals, a talk by Bernie Jones.

Free entry, but donations always details call 01952 433 424 or visit www.ironbridge.org.uk gratefully received with fun workshop sessions in Enginuity’s state-of-the-art Fab Lab design and manufacture facility, part of the national Museums at Night initiative.

Free admission and participation 5.30pm - 9pm For details call 01952 433424 or visit www.ironbridge.org.uk

Friday 20 May Blists Hill Victorian Town, Dementia Awareness Day, Museum opens 10am - 5pm daily To mark National Dementia Awareness Week, Blists Hill is inviting those living with dementia and their carers to enjoy a visit to the Town at a special price of £5 per couple on Friday 20 May 2016.

For details call 01952 433424 or visit www.ironbridge.org.uk Sunday May 22 Antique and Vintage Fair, Collectibles, including furniture, jewellery and vintage clothing and more Maws Craft Centre, Jackfield, near Ironbridge, 10am to 4pm free entry, free parking. 07828 129824 Saturday 28, Monday 30 and Tuesday 31 May (bank holiday weekend and half-term) Jackfield Tile Museum, Jackfield, Tile Decorating Workshops Museum opens 10am - 5pm daily. Join a fun drop-in tile decorating workshop and try the tube lining technique to

Saturday 28 - Tuesday 31 May (bank holiday weekend and half-term) Blists Hill Victorian Town, Madeley, near Ironbridge TF7 5DU Queen Victoria’s Birthday Museum opens 10am - 5pm daily. See the Town dressed with flags and bunting to honour Queen Victoria’s birthday.

Throughout the week join-in candle-dipping workshops and follow the Queen Victoria and the Empire Trail. On Sunday 29 May there will be special birthday celebrations including

street games, entertainment and a patriotic parade. Museum entrance fee including a voluntary Gift Aid donation £17.95 adults; £13.75 for 60 plus and £11.85 for children (up to 18 years and in full time education), under 5s free For details call 01952 433 424 or visit www. ironbridge.org.uk Saturday 28 - Tuesday 31 May (bank holiday weekend and half-term) Enginuity, Coach Road, Coalbrookdale, near Ironbridge TF8 7DQ Crafty Clocks Workshops Museum opens 10am - 5pm daily Discover the history of clocks and how they have developed over thousands of years then join a drop in workshop to decorate your own clock to take home; sessions 10.30am to 3.45pm.

Activities vary day to day and some carry an extra charge.

Museum entrance fee including a voluntary Gift Aid donation £9.75 adults; £8.75 for 60 plus and £7.65 for children (up to 18 years and in full time education), under 5s free For details call 01952 433 424 or visit www. ironbridge.org.uk

The Little Theatre, Donnington presents

Bazaar & Rummage A comedy with music by Sue Townsend

Thursday 19 - Saturday 21 May · 7.30pm ALL TICKETS £6 To book tickets: www.littletheatredonnington.co.uk Tel: 01952 407959 email: boxoffice@little-theatre.org.uk

Catering for all tastes Planning your summer? Then you should plan to include The New Dun Cow Bar and Grill and Indian Restaurant in Trench Road, Trench, as a lot will be happening there over the next several months.

Especially now that Wetherspoon has decided to stop doing Sunday lunches, other pub restaurants like The New Dun Cow are expecting to see an increase in people who want to enjoy a traditional Sunday lunch with family and friends in convivial surroundings.

Bal runs the pub with his

two sons. “We used to run a pub over in the West Midlands called the Red Cow. It’s a pleasing coincidence that my family and I are running a pub in Trench called The New Dun Cow!” Bal went on to say: “Over the last couple of months we have already seen a fantastic increase in the number of diners who are joining us for their Sunday lunches, even before the Wetherspoon chain took the decision to cancel their Sunday Lunch Club meals.

“And people keep coming back to dine with us, sometimes

the tipple!

bringing other friends and family members with them, so we feel this speaks for itself.

And if someone is feeling in the mood for a nice steak or a tasty curry, our grill menu is available from 4pm onwards. So we do cater for all tastes!”

Bal added: “I know that the current building is about 50 or so years old, but I do know that there was a much older Dun Cow that this building replaced. I’d love to know more about the history of this pub.”

If you can help please contact us with any memories and pictures.

Hi, Sue here, I’ve been asked by the Wrekin News to provide my thoughts and opinions on adult beverages and entertaining. Since I usually have an opinion on most things this may be unbolting the stable door!

W

HERE to start? For the last twenty-one years I have been involved with the homebrew trade in Shropshire and the West Midlands with BrewGenie both retail and online. We aim to encourage brewers to produce excellent beers, wines and spirits and to dispel some of the myths and alchemist practices unearthed.

I am also delighted to be asked for the third year, by the Shrewsbury Wine circle, to judge the wine show within the Shrewsbury Flower Show.

Soon, thoughts will turn to barbecues and dining al fresco. Here are a few of my suggestions for a delightful day.

First the great leveller, the weather. The sun shines, the heat rises and everything goes to plan. Or not. The recent habit of naming our storms seems to have made them more dramatic. Ensure all planned food can be cooked and served indoors; Number of bums equals number of seats; don’t leave chairs needed in the shed until the last minute, it may be pouring or they may need a wipe.

Remember dietary requirements, non-meat eaters and teetotallers are cheaper guests to please.

If you are stuck indoors, don’t rely on the telly, fish out board games or teach the younger generation card games.

Playing for copper or silver can focus wandering minds beautifully.

Forgotten something?

Phone your guests for extra milk, chairs, outdoor or indoor games. They will be pleased to contribute to the fun of the day.

If the event is a celebration, Birthday, anniversary (new dog, new carpet) then a few bottles of fizz, champagne, Cava etc always lifts the mood. Don’t forget to chill in good time.

For younger guests, lashings of ginger beer goes down well.

And, of course, properly made, a pot of tea.

by

Sue Ladds

Like us on facebook facebook.com/Wrekin-News 32 · www.wrekinnews.co.uk Wine and Dine.indd 1

25/04/2016 16:28

The Barley

Fabulous Food

The Barley is at 62 High Street Newport, call 01952 820810 or visit their website:

www.thebarleynewport.co.uk

A real community hub

N

ewport’s The Barley is a modern pub with a very bright future under the skilled guidance of the owner, Nigel Senior.

Nigel’s background is not the typical route to the profession of pub landlord. Nigel’s original career was that of a social worker. This has, perhaps, informed Nigel’s management style of the Barley, in the six years that he has been there.

It is a traditional market town public house that serves foods during lunch time, but yet at the same time, it is so much more than that.

The pub is quickly becoming a much valued hub of the community of Newport.

There is a Leisure Room with soft, comfortable seating which is much used as a meeting place for a variety of local groups such as the Newport in Bloom committee, the local history group and a church group.

It is ideally positioned at 62 High Street, Newport and it is open from 10am ‘til 11pm.

Food is served from 10am to 3pm, with an extensive breakfast menu from 10am. There’s even a vegetarian option.

The lunchtime menu is also well-populated with many tasty dishes, from TexMex to jacket potatoes, salads, sandwiches and the famed Barley Burgers. You’ll find a choice of BBQ Chicken Melt, Mexican or Veggie.

Main courses include rump steak, beef chilli, grilled chicken or scrumptious crispy battered haddock. Sides are available and there’s a special extensive children’s menu, too.

Our team of food reviewers looked through the enticing menu and decided upon the “highly impressive” Stacker Burger (with chips, of course!) and a CBLT, which is a cunning variation on an old classic the BLT, the Chicken Lettuce and Tomato sandwich. Incidentally, no main costs over £10.

Both were declared: “Superb and truly excellent.” This is hardly surprising, seeing that the Barley employs as its kitchen manager and Chef, Amanda Busby.

If you are a fan of the rugby, then you’ll find the live rugby matches featured in the convivial surroundings of the Barley.

And if you are over 60 and find yourself in Newport on a Tuesday afternoon between the hours of noon ’til 3pm, if you visit the Barley you’ll be able to indulge yourself in Treat Yourself Tuesday, when there will be 50% off. (Please check for details).

If you are single and over 50, every Monday to Saturday you can meet in the Leisure Room. Food and drink will be available, with specials on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

On Friday nights DJs play music ‘til late for the young crowd and once a month there is live music.

On the Third Wednesday of the month there is a special Help the Aged Lunch club, with a two course set menu and a drink. It’s a great opportunity for a social get-together, plus fun activities.

The Barley · 62 High Street, Newport · 01952 820810 · www.thebarleynewport.co.uk The Barley Food Review.indd 1

25/04/2016 15:57

Busy lambing season for Severn Edge Vets

By Farm Vet

ghan

Gerard Calla CV

BSc BVSc MR

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T

his year we have been busier than ever with the lambing season.

We have delivered more lambs and had more problem lambings than in previous years, plus we’ve seen disease causing problems in young lambs that are struggling with the wet conditions outside or exposed to infection inside farm sheds due to lack of space.

We tend to have sheep brought into the surgery for ewe dystocia (difficult lambing) as it means we can have clean condition should a Caesarean need to be carried out. Generally the issue is malpresentation, i.e. the lamb has a head or leg back and therefore cannot be passed through the birth canal. This usually can be corrected and a good outcome is the norm.

However, this year the majority of lambings have been due to large lambs. Farmer are very careful not to over feed the ewes prior to lambing to avoid this situation but we think they’re been caught out this year with the warm wet winter allowing early grass growth. Large lambs result in more Caesareans being carried out especially as lambs and ewes are valued a bit better this year.

The disease issues usually related to either metabolic disease in ewes or lambs picking up infections. The metabolic problems can be calcium, magnesium or energy related and once again can be countered with good management. Blood samples or a post mortem will reveal the cause and allow treatment and management changes to be made. The lamb infections are usually due to infection building up as the season progresses. It enters the body through the wet navel or orally via soiled teats so management to keep the lambing pens clean and ewes in good condition is vital to avoid it. It’s the same as all infections, a battle of pathogen load versus immunity levels, so a healthy lamb with lots of good colostrum from its mother will fight off infections especially if it has iodine on its navel and kept in a warm dry environment. Unfortunately this spring has been neither warm nor dry…

Once the lambs are outside they usually forge ahead and can be seen gambolling in the fields.

They still need to be monitored for worms and respiratory infections as this can be fatal in a short space of time. Farmers are adept at noticing the signs and we are advising vaccinations and Faecal Egg Count to aid in the matter.

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Live longer.

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34 · www.wrekinnews.co.uk Severn Edge Vets.indd 1

25/04/2016 16:03

Grate Ideas Advert.indd 1

25/04/2016 09:50

Courageous Connor a true inspiration

Express Denture Repairs Same day denture repairs(usually about an hour) ‘Good as new’ renovations Copy Dentures

New

HOME TOOTH WHITENING SYSTEM!

8-10 Haygate Road, Wellington TF1 1QA TEL: 01952 253522

Now open in Bridgnorth 27 West Castle Street, WV16 4AD 01746 764334 Wrekin News spring 2016 - half page.pdf 1 24/02/2016 16:49:03

B

RAVE TCAT student Connor Holbrook will have his name added to Telford’s ‘walk of fame’ after being hailed as an inspiration to other young people.

Connor, 16, from Warrensway, Woodside, is pursuing his dream of becoming a teacher, despite being diagnosed with cancer of the blood and bone marrow.

He has been chosen to receive a Telford Tommy award - and to have his name added to the ‘walk of fame’, an avenue of trees displaying the names of award-winning young people, in Telford Town Park.

He was nominated by PCSO Chris Jones, who witnessed Connor’s hard work during his time at Lakeside Academy, where he was continuing his studies whilst dealing with his condition.

Connor recently added his name to a tree, and receive his medal, at a ceremony in Telford Town Park visitor centre.

“He knew he couldn’t sit his GCSE exams due to needing a lot of time off school, but any day he wasn’t having treatment, he’d be at school and still

Connor Holbrook at TCAT with two local PCSOs, Lee Bethall (left), and Max Jones

offering support around the school as Head Prefect.

The teenager now balances his BTEC Level three Business studies at TCAT with a part-time job at the Ramada Telford.

He says: “I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, cancer of the bone marrow and blood, in February.

“But I spend a lot of my time studying towards my qualification. The college course helped me to mature - TCAT has given me a lot more opportunities than other colleges.”

Connor has been chosen to receive this year’s individual special award, for an outstanding young person.

To find out more about BTEC Business courses and other options at TCAT, call 01952 642237, or see www. tcat.ac.uk.

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36 · www.wrekinnews.co.uk 36 Community.indd 1

To book a FREE home demonstration please call 01952 217151 www.watchalarms.co.uk 25/04/2016 19:02

Paul scoops top learner award

> Paul Clarke with his award

A catering assistant at a Telford care home who started working there as a volunteer has been named as one of Shropshire’s most dedicated learners.

“I am really grateful to for Coverage Care giving me the opportunities it has.”

Paul Clarke began volunteering at Chillcott Gardens in Madeley, Telford six years ago after being made redundant from his factory job and being unable to find work.

Two years later he was taken on as a part time kitchen assistant and has worked his way up to become a catering assistant in the Coverage Care complex.

Paul, who is 50 and lives in Hadley, is close to completing his NVQ Level 2 Diploma in Food Production and Cooking through North Shropshire College. He was nominated and won the title of Food Prep Star Apprentice by his assessor Alison Phillips in the college awards.

Carol McPherson, manager of Chillcott Gardens, said the award was well deserved.

“I have never met anyone who has shown more dedication and determination than Paul to progress. It is really nice to meet someone who is so keen to work their way up and is enjoying their role,” she said.

“Paul has worked really hard to get on and build a positive future for himself after being made redundant. He has gone into a completely different career and faced learning new skills.”

Carol added: “Paul is now completing important qualifications such as food and hygiene certificates and infection control via e-learning which is also a milestone as he had never been near a computer before. We are very proud of him.”

Paul said: “I am really pleased to have won the award for most dedicated learner – the only certificate I’ve ever had before is one for football!”

Discover near you

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locations to feel at home.

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Barclay Gardens Donnington Tel: 01952 605 321

Farcroft Wellington Tel: 01952 223 447

Cottage Christian Newport Tel: 01952 825 557 www.wrekinnews.co.uk · 37

Coverage Care MUST.indd 1

25/04/2016 09:40

ROTARY CLUB NEWS . . .

Rotary offers free blood pressure checks in Wellington to combat stroke

R

OTARY International in Great Britain and Ireland and the Stroke Association have teamed up to help people in Wellington take a moment and get their blood pressure tested. They will be hosting free blood pressure tests at The Square, Wellington on Saturday 4th June between 10am and 4pm to raise awareness of the link between high blood pressure and stroke.

Over half of all strokes can be caused by high blood pressure. As well as having a blood pressure check, local residents in Wellington will also receive advice on steps to keep it under control and reduce their stroke risk.

Tom Taylor, of the Rotary Club of Wellington, said: “Having a stroke can be devastating but people can reduce their risk significantly by paying attention to their blood pressure. Rotary is proud to support the Stroke Association’s Know Your Blood Pressure campaign because it is both simple and effective. The test takes a moment to do and potentially, it could save your life. Last year we held 1680 events around the country and this year we are keen to reach even more people.”

Alexis Wieroniey, Deputy Director of Policy and Influencing at the Stroke Association, said: “Having a regular blood pressure check is so important.

Estimates suggest there could be almost seven million people with high blood pressure who are undiagnosed and at risk of having a stroke. Many people have high blood pressure without realising it because it often has no symptoms. High blood pressure is far more common than you would think and it can be deadly, but it is treatable. With events like this, together we can conquer stroke.”

In addition to the events taking place in June, there will be blood pressure checks throughout the year.

To find your nearest blood pressure event, you can visit www.stroke.org.uk/kybp.

Join the conversation and follow Wrekin News on Twitter . . .

@wrekinnews1

Get out in your

Garden Beware of those cold nights in May . . .

T

HIS can be a dangerous time in the garden. Good weather will encourage us out to do work in the garden, but if we have sunny days we are also likely to have cold nights and, if we encourage plants to grow they may well be damaged by the cold.

This is especially true for the bedding plants, they have been available for a few weeks now and in good weather it is tempting to start planting them out but should we get a cold snap, and it is all too likely during May, they will be, at best, severely checked if left exposed. We only plant our annuals out towards the end of the month and are always prepared to cover them if cold nights are forecast.

If you can protect them then troughs and hanging baskets can be planted up, being close to the house can, in most circumstances, give them sufficient protection, but if a frost is forecast be prepared to take them into a shed or greenhouse over night before returning them to their position the next day.

Magnolias, camellias and early dwarf rhododendrons, even the easily damaged yellow variety, have been glorious this year, having been undamaged by frosts in March. Both these plants are large growing and, in modern gardens, they soon become over baring, carefully pruning can, however, control their size.

A number of gardening books will tell you that pruning is not to be done, but this is not wholly accurate. Both these plants can be pruned, but may sulk for a year or two during which time flowing will, at best, be sparse on the branches affected. Due to this it is advisable to only prune a small part of the tree/bush in any one year hence leaving the remainder to produce flowers as normal. Many other shrubs should also now be coming into flower and as they finish any necessary pruning can be carried out.

While plants are actively growing it is also a

Written by

Robert Hudson of Lilyhurst Plant Centr

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good idea to check any ties to ensure that they are not too tight and hence restricting growth.

Climbers which can send out long shoots need to have these fed into their supports as they grow to prevent the plants from becoming top heavy.

If these long ends are left unchecked the top can quickly grow out from its support and overhang other plants or even become entangled within their neighbours.

Once this has happened a drastic cut back will be needed to regain control and if done late in the season may reduce, or at worst, remove all of next year’s flowers.

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38 · www.wrekinnews.co.uk Gardening.indd 1

25/04/2016 17:18

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www.wrekinnews.co.uk · 39

Gardening.indd 2

25/04/2016 17:19

LOCAL TRADER SPOTLIGHT . . .

Copeland’s care Copeland Electricals is a caring company. This is because the owner of the business, Dave Copeland, is a caring sort of a person.

Copeland Electricals are a long-established, highly professional firm of qualified, time-served electricians.

They can cover all domestic requirements, no matter how small or no matter how big.

They will replace a single socket or do a full domestic rewire.

In fact, you’ll be pleased to know they specialise in small jobs.

Dave Copeland told the Wrekin News: “We specialise in small jobs, even the ones that no one else wants to do!

“Just give us a call and you will not be disappointed. We provide excellent customer service.”

Pensioners, in particular, highly value the type of personal and friendly service that Dave Copeland offers.

Why is this? Because when you talk to Dave Copeland his

absolute passion for providing pensioners with a good, honest and affordable service absolutely shines through.

Does he provide the high levels of service that he would wish to be provided to his own elderly relatives? I think this may well be a part of the story.

These are just some of his customer testimonials “Very prompt service on a Sunday.

Professional, honest and reliable.

Thanks - James, TF1” “Very good, sorted issue very quickly - Nicola, TF2” “Great advice and help and no charge!! Called Copeland electrics in emergency the guy was very helpful and informative and helped me out of what I thought was going to be a costly job whilst on the phone to him. Job sorted. Thank you so much, much appreciated. Will store your number for future reference. - Rachel” “Excellent service. Arrived very quickly and rectified the fault easily - William, TF7” To book a service call 01952 404635 or 07866 455993.

Bereavement Taking care of your loved ones Meticulous care and dedication from Frank Painter & Sons Now in the fourth generation of the Painter family, Frank Painter & Sons are widely known and respected for the meticulous care and dedication given to the families in and around Shropshire.

Mr Frank Painter launched the undertaking-as it was then known-side of the business in 1939 following the purchase of premises in Frankwell.

His Sons, Alan and Brian, joined the business in due course, thus ensuring a genuine family service to the bereaved families who came to them.

This foundation of family values has been further enhanced

by Frank’s grandsons Chris and Mike and more recently as great grandsons Alan and Ben have joined the family firm.

Ever since the outset in 1939, all at Frank Painter & Sons have sought to offer heartbroken families the greatest reassurance, kindness, comfort and utmost professionalism at all times. A relationship of trust is built, with some families however sadly, returning to find that reassuring help in their time of need.

The traditional values of one local family remain a beacon of comfort and kindness to those whose own family light has just been dimmed.

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Dear Reader, thank you . . . . . . for picking up your free copy of Wrekin News the region’s favourite monthly lifestyle and news magazine. We really do hope you have enjoyed reading our exciting mix of news and new features.

Please don’t forget to enter our great competitions and support the advertisers who are supporting Wrekin News.

NEXT ISSUE

The next issue of Wrekin News will be in all of our usual distribution outlets on: WEDNESDAY 1 JUNE 2016

40 · www.wrekinnews.co.uk 40 Bereavement.indd 1

25/04/2016 16:44

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Ams’ Peter represents UK Armed forces Last week in Kilkenny, Wellington Amateurs midfielder, Peter Williams, represented the UK Armed forces in a representative match against the Defence Force of the Republic of Ireland.

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42 · www.wrekinnews.co.uk 42 Home Services.indd 1

25/04/2016 18:46

What have you got to lose?

Y

OU may have seen in the news recently that the Financial Conduct Authority are looking at setting a deadline for new PPI claims, and I would urge you to make it one of your new year resolutions to make sure you do not miss out.

Are you intrigued by the Newspaper, Radio and TV adverts, or sick to death of the barrage of phone calls, text messages, and emails asking “HAVE YOU GOT PPI?” Have you wondered how your relatives, friends and neighbour’s have been affording new cars, and expensive home improvements over the last few years?

Why choose Acorn Claim Assist?

I will fight your case to the very end, even if it has been rejected by the lender.

I will make sure I seek the best possible outcome for my clients each and every time. As a small local business I can keep clients updated throughout the PPI claim process. Unlike some, I have never charged upfront fees. I operate a transparent service from start to finish and am always No Win, No Fee , so if your claim is unsuccessful I won’t charge you a penny!

I appreciate that many people no longer have the relevant paperwork, however wherever possible I can use years of experience to get the information you need to make a claim from the lenders.

PPI Facts An estimated 20 million PPI policies were sold on loans, credit cards and mortgages, going back in many cases as long as 26 years.

The banks have already paid out an estimated £26 billion.

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Using the knowledge I built up as a Senior Manager with a major high street Bank, over a 32 year career, I have been able to help more than 400 local people get back everything that is due to them since establishing my business in 2012.

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www.wrekinnews.co.uk · 43

43 Acorn.indd 1

25/04/2016 18:33

Test Road

A machine of brilliance S

by Wrekin News motoring journalist Anthony Yates

INCE 1997 over 750,000 CR-Vs have been sold and it’s already one of the most popular compact SUV’s in the world. Those figures are not to be sniffed at either, because as I found out in my recent test, the CR-V is a brilliant machine.

Engine: The1.6 Litre i-DTEC (160PS) with 350Nm of torque is a fantastic little diesel engine. This version is one of the best I have come across so far this year and I am happy to say that because the engine feels very refined and has bags of torque available isnmost gears. You won’t be visiting the pumps much either as the CR-V is able to return a combined 55.4mpg.

Also – the CR-V range is very comprehensive including two 1.6 diesel variants (120PS & 160PS) and a 2.0 petrol option (155PS). Both manual and automatic gearboxes are available as well as 2WD and 4WD variants.

If I was going to choose one of those it would be the 1.6 diesel with a manual gearbox. > On the road: A good ride height is a big plus point for the CR-V as is the feel on the road. The suspension is well set up for all sorts of surfaces

and around the corners it feels well planted to the road ahead. As with all Compact SUV’s it does feel top heavy – but then so does every other SUV you may care to mention.

If you do have to go offroad – don’t expect the CR-V to come to a sudden halt as soon as you hit the grass either.

Honda have managed to do a very good job of the (4WD) system and it is able to do more than most compact SUV’s when it comes to going on the slippy stuff.

Also, when I get a car to test, I always take a preset route that can take me up to 200miles away from my starting point which for me is a good test of how tired or relaxed I feel after that drive. Well I have to say – because the driving position and the engine were so refined – I arrived back home as fresh as daisy. > Inside: The interior is of a good standard and its controls are well set out and all the dials are clear.

Space inside is good – better than most I have come across. You would easily fit in a very large family and the mother in law along with a couple of dogs if the need was there. Plus – everything

Honda CR-V 1.6 i-dtec ex manual Price: £33,060 OTR not including fitted options Top speed: 125mph 0-62mph: 9.6 sec Economy: 55.4mpg (combined) emissions g/km (133) Engine: 1.6 DTEC Power: 160PS at 4000rpm Torque: 360Nm at 2000rpm Gearbox: 6-speed manual

My Verdict: 5 stars ***** inside the CR-V feels well put together. There is also no corner cutting when it comes to quality either – Honda really have gone the extra mile to make it feel very upmarket inside. Boot space inside is also good with a seats up capacity of (589 litres) and seats folded flat capacity of (1146 litres) Standard equipment in the EX model range is good with equipment such as, heated front seats, full leather upholstery, 18” alloys, power tailgate, keyless access and start, panoramic glass roof, driver/passenger and side airbags along with ABS and vehicle stability assist.

The list keeps going when it comes to entertainment too – the Garmin navigation system is one of the best I have ever used, along with the brilliant Honda Connect System that includes a 7” touch screen with CD/radio/DAB with USB support and internet browsing.

To sum up: A brilliant machine – If you are looking around for one of the best compact SUV’s currently on the market – then you need look no further than the Honda CR-V. Go and join the other 750,000 or so people who have also made the right decision across the globe.

44 · www.wrekinnews.co.uk Motoring.indd 1

25/04/2016 15:47

Caseys May.indd 1

25/04/2016 09:42

email your sports story to james@plus2media.co.uk

PICTURE BY JAMES BAYLIS

We’ve done it!

AFC Telford United’s Sean Clancy celebrates after scoring in the 2-0 win against Worcester City at the Bucks Head. A win that secured the club’s Vanarama Conference North status for next season.

Tigers getting set for next season

by James Shaw Telford Tigers defenceman Sam Zajac insists Telford Tigers have the core of a team to challenge for the English Premier League title next season.

Zajac was a standout performer for Telford last term, culminating in him winning four awards at this month’s presentation evening.

The 26-year-old will remain in Shropshire after signing a two-year deal last year, and believes coach Tom Watkins has the spine of a powerful side.

He said: “I think we’ve got a really strong team, although obviously it will need a few tweaks. A few guys may come and go, but Tom has a core of good players.

“If we can build around that core and add the right pieces, I expect the team can get back to challenging like we did last year. We are really excited and I don’t think a huge overhaul is needed.”

Watkins, currently in Croatia with Great Britain at the world championships, is yet to release his full retained list for the new campaign.

Telford finished fourth in the league last season, before losing to Milton Keynes in the play-off quarterfinals.

Zajac added: “I think if we make small gains in certain areas, that will make a big difference.

“As a team, we all pulled together during the season. There were some trying circumstances, with injuries and maybe not performing as we would have liked sometimes.”

picture by Steve Brodie

Sport WREKIN NEWS

GREAT ESCAPE!

T

HE dramatic revival that AFC Telford United produced throughout the month of March was enough to see boss Rob Smith capture the division’s manager of the month award. Whilst the run, which included five consecutive wins, lifted the New Bucks Head club out of the bottom three it was not enough to guarantee a permanent place above the relegation line.

For that Telford would need at least another three or four

Lez Dean reports as Bucks boss Rob Smith masterminds his sides’ ‘Great Escape’ from what seemed like certain relegation.

> Josh Wilson in fine scoring form for the Bucks

points and games were beginning to run out.

Having seen their seven match unbeaten run come to an end with the 3-0 reverse at home to league leaders Solihull Moors, they travelled to North Ferriby United in search of those elusive points. North Ferriby were quick into their stride after the restart and were soon ahead, Danny Clarke profiting following a Dwayne Samuels error and in the closing minutes Ferriby broke through again. It was Clarke who scored his second as Montgomery was left exposed.

It seems every game for the past three months had carried the tag of a ‘must win’. But the visit to Brackley Town was most definitely the most important of them all. Defeat in Northamptonshire would have seen the home side leapfrog the Bucks and take the fate of Smith’s men out of their own hands. This was to be a nervy encounter and one which was to produce very little in the way of quality. Brackley sqandered a glorious chance to score when Steve Diggin hit his penalty weakly allowing Montgomery to save well. A let-off for

Telford and a point shared.

Telford knew a win over Worcester City might be enough to secure their safety if they bettered Brackley’s result against Curzon Ashton.

News that Brackley were winning filtered through and the Bucks became more desperate for some inspiration from somewhere. It came thanks to the dancing feet of Connor McCarthy with fifteen minutes to go. McCarthy stole down the left and pushed a dangerous ball across the face of goal where Wilson nipped in to touch home. The stadium erupted and the excitement was cranked up further with five minutes to go as the news came that Curzon had levelled.

Now all the Bucks had to do was hold on. They did more than that as in injury time a cleverly worked free-kick found its way to Sean Clancy who curled the ball into the corner of the net.

As confirmation that Brackley had finished level filtered through the celebrations began.

Remarkably the great escape had been achieved and the Bucks were safe.

46 · www.wrekinnews.co.uk 46 Sport.indd 1

25/04/2016 15:50

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abo k s a

ut

CALL: 0800 916 1444 www.sanctuary-homeownership.co.uk

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helptobuy@sanctuary-housing.co.uk

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On-site facilities include: • sta ra t a af • ral ro r stor • air r ss rs a a t salo • o al lo

• a • ti a • La

s roo a iti s i l i a so t s a ar

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• Lifts to all floors • st s it for fa il a fri s

Sanctuary Group is a trading name of Sanctuary Housing Association, an exempt charity.

Sanctuary Group.indd 1 Advert V4.indd 1 01060025 Rose Manor February

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