tyburn mail page 4

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Mail, Lower Ground Floor, Topcliffe House, B35 6BT

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KAYS HISTORYA monthly series of ancient facts by local history enthusiast Kay Hunter who lectures on his subject in Birmingham and West Bromwich. Kay also broadcasts on 107.5 Switch Radio.

opinions expressed on the letterspages are published in the inter-ests of free speech. they do notnecessarily reflect the views oftyburn mail.

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The River Thames, Londons flow-ing artery, was not always asnow. But in 1684, it was frozensolid.In England 1684 was particular-ly harsh, with ice between 11inches (28 cm) and 18 inches (43cm) thick on its frozen surface.However, this gave a welcome

and unexpected boost to the localeconomy.

Market stalls, food sellers,

booths, puppet shows, of variouskinds were hastily constructed,giving local tradesmen the addi-tional opportunity to sell theirwares.Pamphlets were printed and soldas souvenirs of the occasion.The last recorded frost fair on

the Thames was in 1814-15.

frozenthames

Closed Frankie andBennys restaurantsite to be demol-ished to makeroom for more carparking space forJaguar workers:

John MilesIt will be sad to see thisrestaurant go, but weare surrounded by manyother reasonably pricedplacesto eat. I think jobs andthe expansion of Jaguarhas to take priority.

LeanneWhats the point thejaguar workers donteven park in the carparking space they parkon residental propertiesinstead. Absolute dis-grace

AnonymousI think its about time weas residents are issuedwith parking permits asmyself im sick of beingblocked in and I dontthink they would appre-ciate a knock on theirdoors at 5 am

Mandy KelleherWe have the same prob-lem on Kingsbury Rdwith lorries and carsblocking our drives bythe public who want tovisit the shops or thecafe near to tyburnisland

Mad ManI see them parking atthe junction of Cobham

close and YatesburyAvenue every morning atleast 3 cars park everyday and take up resi-dents parking spaces.We dont need parkingpermits,we need theemployer of these peo-ple to warn them againabout not parking on ourestate and if they contin-ue,then sack them..I say the employer ofthese people becausethey could be agencyworker or employees ofJLRwhich everway,they all are wearingJLR high vis jackets

AnonThe drivers causingthese problems areworkers on the Jaguarsite regardless of whothey are actuallyemployed by. Jaguarneeds to take action tostop their employeesand contractors fromcausing this nuisance.Parking restrictions arenot the solution as thiswill just push the prob-lem elsewhere. Yes,Jaguar have createdjobs, but they still needto show more considera-tion to nearby residentsand businesses.

NemesisI was under the impres-sion that the only pub-lic roads on the Vale arethe main ones likeTangmere Drive andFarnborough Road. Allthe rest are part of theestate, therefore resi-dents have priority for

parking. paying road taxdoesnt give the right tocause nuisance andinconvenience. I agreewith Leanne. Sheer self-ishness.

A shoplifter hasbeen put on a cur-few and told toattend a thinkingskills and angerm a n a g e m e n tcourse

The EqualiserA curfew, thinking skills,anger management?.what does thisskiprat have to do, to getlocked up ? We shouldntbe wasting valuableresources and time onhuman detritus likethisthrow the keyaway.

Castle Pool opening hoursAdamAs a user of the pool anda person whose childrenwork with the pool usergroup, I would like toTHANK the pool usergroup for your tirelesseffort and hard work inkeeping the pool open,without the group it waslikely the pool wasgoing to be closed dueto council funding cutbacks.Support, dont criticise;lets all make this worktogether for the sake ofthe Castle Vale residentsand their children!

The AprilTyburn Mailwill be

published onWednesday 29th

April

Comments fromTyburn Mails online news site

Dear Readers,Having had a 20 mile speed limit intro-duced on the estate for road safetyreasons which I can understand, then

schools should start teaching childrenhow to use the road and zebra cross-ings.Also CVCHA should send someonearound the estate to stop people park-ing on corners.On a few occasions I have almost runpeople over just because I could notsee them when turning the corner.Concerned driver.(details supplied)

Dear Editor

Firstly, thank you forbringing the publicconsultation to myattention. Withoutyour article on page 15of the February editionof the Tyburn Mail Iwould not have knownthis "public consulta-tion" was taking place. I received my copy ofthe Tyburn Mail onSaturday 21 Februaryand the "public consul-tation" was taking placeon Monday 23 Februarybetween 3:00pm and6:30 pm.I do not believe that

Greenwood Academy orCVCHA can call this a"public consultation"when they have onlyadvised parents andcarers of pupils whoattend GreenwoodAcademy. Castle Valehas been through manychanges over the yearsthat I have lived here;27 years so far, and hasalways consulted theestate as a whole. Thebuilding of a new schoolimpacts on every mem-ber of the Castle Valecommunity and this

consultation is notengaging with thewhole community. Itherefore believe this isnot a meaningful publicconsultation as it is notengaging with thewhole community.This is not just a simpleplanning application;this is another bigchange to the estate.Not only will we lose our

last bit of remainingpublic open space butwe will most likely gainmore housing on theexisting site. Do thecommunity want this?They should be giventhe opportunity to havetheir say. I urge GreenwoodAcademy, the CVCHAand anyone elseinvolved in this to fullyengage the local com-munity.Regards

Nichola ShandleyBrabazon Grove

Kay is now running a monthly local history groupat Castle Vale Library in Spitfire House.The group meets each month, starting on 24thMarch from 2-4pm.Entry is free. All welcome.

Dear All, We have heard a lot lately aboutSpitfire island with all the road worksetc. and I was reminded about the realSpitfires that used to fly from the air-field that was here on the Vale andhow they helped to defeat the enemy

in World War 2. Many years back Jesus was crucifiedand lifted up on a Cross and defeatedthe powers of darkness (includingdeath) by being our sin bearer. He rose from the grave and ascendedto heaven and lives (one day He'scoming back)! All who follow Him believe he will takeus to be where He is when we depart. Hallelujah for Easter! Happy Easter everybody.David TownsendCastle Vale

Dear ReadersI would like to thank colleagues, cus-tomers & all those who collected instore for the Royal British LegionPoppy Appeal in raising 9871.06.

Special thanks to Gerry and Ann fororganising the event again this year.Kind regardsSheila HylandSainsburys, Castle Vale

Dear Editor/Readers,

l want to express my sincereacknowledgement at the ultimatelevel to Greenwood Academy forcoming out on top, the highest inthe GCSE results for the year 2014among the secondary schoolsserving the Tyburn Ward area.As we are all aware of the negative andinferior press this school had not longago, l would say a few years back andit would be definitely and absolutelylogical for parents and guardians toponder if its the best and wisest idea tosend their children there to pursue theirsecondary education, rightly so.Now there are remarkable improve-ments in the GCSE results and goodstatus recognition for the Office ofStandard in Education (OFSTED) andfrom my observation and knowledgegetting a good status praise from OFST-ED the entire school has to be workingwell in all or as many areas as possibleso l want to commend Mr Harry French,Principal and all the members of staffunder his command at all level in theCastle Vale institution for working verydiligent, shrewd and clever to yieldthese results of satisfaction. l strongly believe in academic improve-ment at all ages for individuals, espe-cially for the children, as it is definitelya way of making our city of Birminghambetter as well as the United Kingdomand the world at large.l am looking forward to even furtherenhancement for the year 2015 forGreenwood Academy in education and lam confident that Mr Harry French andhis staff will continue to deliver andraise the status bar for Castle Vale com-munity, for the parents and children tobe confident, also to increase atten-dance from within Castle Vale and thewider Tyburn area.

Sincerely yours,R O MuschetteCastle Vale

Greenwoodsuccess isgood newsfor all of us

Public should beproperly informed

Eastermessage

10k of poppies

20mph andstill not safe