|
My wife, Gill, and I moved to Nottingham
in 1964 and we lived for five years on the Nottingham University campus. During
that time we occasionally visited colleagues who lived on the quite new and
very attractive Bramcote Hills estate, and I remember being impressed with their
gardens which seemed to us to be large and more varied than those on other housing
developments in and around Nottingham. The feeling of space and colour was enhanced
by the extensive rose gardens on either side of Derby Road. Sandy Lane was at
the edge of the estate and beyond the houses were the roses that also covered
the land on the other side of the A52, presently known as the Lake District.
It all seemed to distance Bramcote Hills from the busy City.
In August 1969 we moved to Arundel
Drive. Ruth, our daughter, started at Bramcote Hills Primary School where Mrs
Pat Baker was Head teacher, and many of the families living around us had young
children. Indeed our introduction to the Community Association at that time
was through the very flourishing babysitting group which operated on a 'points'
system. A point was gained for each hour that one sat, and a point deducted
for each hour of a babysitter's time that one used. The extremely good
organiser of the group was Mrs Judith Bentley, who lived in Seven Oaks Crescent
at that time, and her job included keeping a tally of each member's points.
I was always very happy to act as a baby-sitter as there were invariably generous
coffee-making facilities available, and once the children had gone to bed one
usually had an uninterrupted evening.
In the early and mid-1970s our son,
David, played for the Bramcote Beavers football team, which was co-ordinated
by Terry Bentley whose sons James and Stephen also played. Each Saturday morning,
before away matches, some of the fathers would meet outside the post office
with their cars and provide transport for the team. Junior football at that
time made a substantial contribution to the corporate life of Bramcote Hills
and the two cub packs, Bramcote Beavers and Bramcote Badgers, were very active.
I used to referee matches and I rapidly became aware of the enthusiasm and sharply
focused allegiance of the parents who supported their sons' teams, since any
decision that was deemed questionable was likely to be challenged vigorously.
At that time we were all aware of the contribution to local youth football made
by Harry Wall, who was a noted referee in the area. There was a great sense
of loss when Harry tragically died of a heart attack in 1971 while refereeing
a match and a cup was donated in his name. It was played for each year in a
keenly contested match between the Badgers and the Beavers. It provided a fitting
tribute and was a much prized award.
Through the late 1970s and the 1980s
Gill and I kept in touch with the Association mainly through the annual dinner
dances, and then in 1992 I joined the Committee and was Chairman for the years
1994 and 1995. Over the years the Association had changed in a number of ways
in response to the changing needs of the community, as was illustrated for me
by a notice in the Autumn 1995 Newsletter asking for any members who would be
interested in reviving the now defunct babysitting group to let the committee
know. The absence of any response indicated that the need was not a strong one.
Another interesting trend of the early
1990s was reflected in a notice that appeared in the Summer 1992 Newsletter
... "the number of burglaries in our area continues to represent a disturbing
feature of life in our community" ... and the growing concern that was
being felt resulted in Neighbourhood Watch being increasingly valued. John Law's
work over a period of eight years as coordinator of Neighbourhood Watch
on Bramcote Hills was notable. At the beginning of 1994 the Association had
an approach from a private security firm which, at a cost of £10 per household
per month, would set up a patrol system around the estate using trained staff
The committee considered the proposal, and their discussion is set out in the
Minutes of the Meeting held on 11 May 1994, but decided that a more appropriate
response on behalf of the Association to the anxiety being felt about vandalism
and burglary would be to encourage and support Neighbourhood Watch, and to liaise
closely with the police.
One of the continuities recognisable
in the life of Bramcote Hills is the opportunity for young people to play football.
The two cub packs no longer have teams playing regularly, but an entry in the
Newsletter of Autumn 1994 is interesting .... "The Bramcote Football Club
has enjoyed a quite astonishingly successful season ... seven teams from the
under 10's to the under 16's competed in the young Elizabethan League and the
Nottinghamshire Youth League, and between them they won no fewer than 12 trophies."
The manager and coach of the club, Wilf Wheeler, is to be warmly commended both
for the opportunities that are provided for young people, and for the success
they achieve. The BHCA Committee derived great pleasure in recommending Wilf
for the Mayor of Broxtowe's Award for Service to the Community, and were delighted
when the Award was presented to him by the Lord Mayor in the Council Chamber
in April 1998.
To have enabled, over the years, large
numbers of people to keep in touch with each other is no small achievement.
Hopefully the BHCA will continue to do that in ways that are appropriate for
the particular time. |
