Month: <span>April 2015</span>

Hodnet & District Garden Club May 2015

Hodnet & District Garden ClubRobert Barlow from North Staffordshire Hostas will be the speaker at the next meeting of the Garden Club, Tuesday 19th May, 7.30 pm at the Lyon Hall, Hodnet. His talk is entitled ALL ABOUT HOSTAS.
Robert will talk about the history and development of these interesting plants. There are over 7000 different varieties, from 1” to 36” tall. We will hear how to grow them and he will demonstrate how to divide them. He will bring some plants for sale.
Visitors are most welcome to come along. Light refreshments will be served at the close of the meeting. Entry fee for guests is £2 per person, or annual membership only £12.

Fibre Broadband: Little Bolas gets connected

ConnectingShropshireApproximately twenty premises in and around Little Bolas on the southern edge of Hodnet parish have become the first in the area to be able to connect to fibre optic “super-fast” broadband. However, many of their neighbours will have to wait until the end of next year to see any improvement in their internet connections, and even then many local homes and businesses will only be guaranteed a 2mbps connection speed.
Recently ‘Connecting Shropshire’ have contacted the Parish Council with the news that one of the cabinets in Great Bolas (Great Bolas 1) was upgraded to fibre-optic cable in early April and it is now live and accepting orders for fibre broadband. They added that in order to connect to the faster fibre broadband, people will need to contact their chosen internet service provider to upgrade their broadband package. They advised that broadband speeds won’t automatically increase as a result of the new cabinet’s installation without users taking out the additional service.
People in the area concerned should visit Connecting Shropshire’s website to check which exchange area and cabinet serves their premises and to check the availability of fibre broadband.
Plans are being put in place to upgrade the Hodnet telephone exchange, which has three cabinets serving about 550 premises and 100 premises on exchange-only lines. At present it is hoped that this work will starts by the end of 2015, though Connecting Shropshire states that it is too early to provide any firm details. Not all premises connected to the Hodnet exchange will benefit from the upgrade due to the long line lengths of copper cable, even if all three cabinets are fibre-enabled.
Hodnet is expected to benefit from a share of an additional £1,454,257 that was awarded to Connecting Shropshire in 2014 to provide over 1,000 additional rural premises with access to faster fibre broadband. This funding will extend the coverage of fibre-based broadband in Hodnet Parish to 114 more premises, in addition to those which will be reached as part of the main Connecting Shropshire programme. The work to bring fibre broadband to these additional premises is likely to be carried out during 2016.
Additionally, eligible businesses can apply for a connection voucher worth up to £3,000 under a scheme which is being administered by Digital Birmingham on behalf of Connecting Shropshire. More details available from voucherapply.com or with specific queries on the vouchers please email.
For those too far from an exchange, the outlook is less encouraging. The best Connecting Shropshire can offer is a commitment to provide all premises in their programme area with access to at least 2mbps by the end of 2016. This means that residents of Peplow, who are close neighbours of Little Bolas, will not be able to share their access to fibre broadband technology. Peplow is on the borders of three exchange areas: Childs Ercall, Great Bolas, and Hodnet. Premises in the south of the area are connected to Great Bolas cabinet 3 which Connecting Shropshire is not planning to fibre-enable. Even it is upgraded by Superfast Telford the premises in Peplow are on the whole more than 3Km from the exchange and this is beyond the technical limit for a fibre broadband service. A similar difficulty stands in the way of those connected to the Childs Ercall exchange and almost certainly to those in Peplow linked to the Hodnet exchange.
Anyone who wants to try and improve their connection can check out Ofcom’s Practical tips for improving their broadband speed. Alternatively, there is a possibility of subscribing to a satellite or wireless broadband service. Information about these is available on the ‘useful links‘ section of the Connecting Shropshire website.

A Successful Evening with the Retrospectives

Chris and His RetrospectivesA crowd of over 50 people gathered for the Peplownians’ first major event on Sat. 18th April. The main attraction was two sets of songs by local band Chris and his Retrospectives. The group from Fauls, led by Chris Ridgway (guitar, mouthorgan & vocals), ably supported by his Joyce Chidlow (keyboard, saxophone, harmonica, tambourine & vocals), Chris’ son Dan (base guitar & drums) and Bob Wiltshire (guitar, drums and vocals as well as local vicar), worked their way through melodies of songs from the 1950s and 60s.
The play lists brought back memories of their younger days to many, but not all, present. The audience had been asked to bring their own drinks, but in the interval they were served with an excellent Beef Bourguignon followed by apple pie and cream. Everyone present seemed to enjoy themselves, with a number dancing in the aisle by the end of the evening.
Peplownians was launched earlier in the year and is hoping to establish a new community group in the south of the parish. Regular and one-off events are already taking place, with more being planned for the future. See their web page for further details – this also includes more pictures of this event.
Chris and his Retrospectives
Peplownians

Regular Events Section Expanded

Hundred House LogoOur ‘Regular Events’ page has now been expanded to a multi-page section to include monthly as well as weekly and fortnightly events.
If you attend or organise any regular events in the Hodnet area and would like them listed on this website please let the webteam know by using this form.
At present we have weekly and monthly events listed.

Wollerton's Ryder Cup

Wollerton Bowls ClubOn Saturday 4th April around 20 members of Wollerton Bowls and Social Club gathered to mark the start of the new outdoor bowling season with a novel competition.
The idea was suggested by Richard Twining who organised an afternoon of light-hearted practice based on a similar format to golf’s Ryder Cup. The two teams however were not drawn from different continents, but literally picked out of a hat on the day. All the matches were played to a limited number of ends across three rounds; the first round was 4 wood doubles, the second featured more traditional 8 wood doubles and the afternoon was rounded off with 10 singles matches. Perhaps fittingly the team captained by Richard Twining came out as the winners.
The afternoon had begun with a presentation to the club of a new bench in memory of Reg Frost, a highly respected member who had died just twelve months earlier (see picture). His widow Sylvia was joined by their sons Mark and Nigel and their families. A plaque on the bench reads, “In loving memory of Reg Frost, this is where he came to rest 2nd April 2014”
To find out more about the club please see their web page or telephone Jenny Morgan (01630-685251) or Gordon Smith (01630-653362).

Local Road Closure 13 to 15 April 2015

Shropshire Council LogoAccording to information posted on Shropshire Council’s, “Latest Roadworks and Road Closures” web page, a local road will be closed for three days from 13 to 15 April.
The side road from the A53 junction by Lodge Farm through to High Hatton (see map below) will be closed between 08.00 & 16.00 each day to allow maintenance of the roadside ditches.
Pedestrian/dismounted cyclist/dismounted horse rider’s access through the closure area will be available.
The signed diversion route will be via the A53 (south) and next side road on left or vice versa.
Updated information will be available from roadworks.org.

150413 High Hatton Road Closure
Diversion map from Shropshire Council

Antiques Valuation Day – May 2015

From 10.00am – 3.00 pm, Thursday 14th May, at The Bear, Hodnet.
Free valuations of collectables, jewellery, ceramics and other antiques.
Hansons and The Bear both support the Midlands Air Ambulance Service and donations can be made on the day.
Items can be accepted into forthcoming Hansons Auctions.
For more information please telephone 01630-685214 or email