Wednesday, April 13, 2011

April 13th - Road to Hell

For those who don't know my dim and distant past, I grew up in Church Road, Rolleston, the house had two addresses, the other one being Hall Grounds. We never really used this address, not being lifelong residents, but the Newsagent always did. Hall Grounds has a dubious past. It was the ancestral home of the Mosley family. The history lesson: John Bull, the farmer and symbol of an English gentleman farmed here and over to Lichfield. He was a livestock breeder by the name of Toland Mosley. The family were great benefactors of the village building a village hall, keeping the church afloat etc. Sadly his great grandson, wasn't such a charmer, Oswald, and his great great grandson was Max Mosley,  the great flagellator and Formula 1 Chief.

The pub in the village is named after the eagle on the family crest - a Spread Eagle - those awful reminders of Nazism still exist.

Anyway, back to the point. Rolleston has a link to Christchurch New Zealand. On the outskirts on Christchurch is a village called Rolleston, which at some point I hope to visit, just beacuse I'm there. This was formed by one of the founding fathers of Christchurch, William Rolleston, who was an Anglican who built a model English Town there with a cathedral, park, town square etc. The Rolleston family albeit from Yorkshire, had in the dim and distant past, some links to Rolleston village.

Obviously being a village, like all English villages, the Council Tax payments go into the local town for the greater good. Hmmm.....No one ever considers the silent majority in these things. Consequently, we have rising bollards, roundabouts that aren't big enough, pelican crossings with lights, everything to stop the motorist getting into 4th gear and reducing his carbon footprint. The rising bollards are an entertainment though, as cars that tailgate buses get speared. I've yet to see it happen, but I live in hope I will see it, as it will be one of the most exciting things for me to see Burton in a long time. And Church Road Rolleston, which was declared 'dangerous' to drive on in 2000, by the Council remains unrepaired. Miraculously 5 years ago, the Council, which probably didn't have any money, decided that it was fit to drive on, around the time they placed speed bumps on it. (Rant no 1: If you flattened the tarmac out, the road might be driveable - morons.)

Overheard in the Newsagents recently, was a conversation between someone who was in Christchurch when the earthquake hit: Question: What state were the roads in? Answer: I live in Church Road, I didn't notice the difference.

At the moment, I'm excited. Station Road is under going 11 weeks of roadworks. At the moment, this seems to have consisted of spraying white and blue paint on the road, and red on the pavement. This has been followed by kerbs being dug out and replaced with new ones. This is good because on one corner when the few buses that come through the village (nothing after 5.30pm - thanks Arriva - we are all tucked up in bed by then) it has become badly damaged. Council solution is to take the kerb further out into the road, to make it even more difficult for the bus to navigate. Genius. Luckily this Government is getting rid of the economic departments in the regions to give power back to the councils, and I'm being made redundant. With such a fantastic record of common sense, I can't wait to see what they come up with.

For those who didn't spot the musical link - it is a bit obscure as it hardly classes as music - Road To Hell - Chris de Burgh!!!

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