At Longhill Skatepark anyone can decorate the walls and hoardings.  Artists plan their work in great detail and come from as far as London to add their contributions.  One of the Youth Team has a photographic record of all the art work.

Bracknell Forest Council Heritage website www.bfheritage.org.uk is currently undergoing reconstruction.  When completed, it will be possible to send in photos for everyone to access.

Visit 'Crossway House' on 'YouTube' posted there by Paul T Horgan of Crowthorne.  He is concerned that some of Bracknell Town Centre should be preserved and welcomes comments.

Twelve new play sites for older children will be opening  in the Borough.

Notice from Bracknell Forest Council that its draft Streetscene Supplementary Document (SPD) is available for public consultation until 5th July.
Visit www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk

New entrances to the northern villages

 To book the newly refurbished Bullbrook Community Centre, which has new facilities, phone 07749 547 452.

More leaders are needed to help with the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme run by the Borough Council.  Phone 01344 464 727

Volunteers are urgently needed to help run the Look In Community Café. 
Please phone 01344 383515

NHS Carers Direct would like carers to be aware that there is free information, advice and support   Freephone 0808 802 02 02    www.nhs.uk/carersdirect

Richard Price of Crowthorne informs us that there are plans to clear and signpost the Devils Highway track which runs from the Look Out to Winchester and Salisbury.  It is an ancient Anglo-Saxon route taken over by the Romans.

Youngsters in Years 11, 12, 13 can take the very worthwhile Morrisby Profile Assessment at Connections, Charles Square, to help them decide on their future career. www.connections-berkshire.org.uk

The National Heritage Lottery grant for the restoration of the grounds of South Hill Park is now in place. 
Richard.scrivener@bracknell-forest.gov.uk or on 01344 351758.

South Hill Park Mansion
Chris and Deb (BCC)
(Bracknell Camera Club)

Blue Plaques
Please give us information regarding any site which qualifies for a Blue Plaque.   You may have some knowledge that nobody else knows about.  Your ancestors could have handed down facts from the past.

The Bracknell Ball and the Bull Pub
Ruari Cumming - Bracknell Camera Club

Photo BRP

The Britain in Bloom judges arrive in Bracknell Town Centre

To give your views on your local open spaces visit www.greetstat.org.uk and complete the questionnaire.

Jo Legg and Pat Kennewell are helping to organise a very exciting initiative which is bringing different groups together.  The Birch Hill and Hanworth Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG) has created the 'Partner and Youth (PAY) Scheme: Working Together' where 25 children aged between 12 and 15 can sign up for five projects over the summer.  The scheme is backed by Thames Valley Police (who have given a £500 grant), Bracknell Forest Council rangers and road safety officers, the Heritage Lottery Fund restoration at South Hill Park, the Friends of South Hill Park Grounds and the Birch Hill and Hanworth Community Liaison Group.  Phone 07746 456 236 to get involved.

A 60 foot long picnic table has been installed at Lily Hill Park in Bullbrook.

Earlier this spring, schools across Berkshire participated in a performance of ‘Songs of the Earth’ with many choosing to illustrate their performances with hand-crafted banners.  Bracknell Regeneration Partnership is proudly hosting a display of 15 of the beautiful banners in Princess Square. The display will be on show for the summer, so visitors can enjoy the efforts of the schools involved.

Consultations are taking place in Crowthorne over the best place for the HOPEZone youngsters to meet. 

Two new bus services will be running on Sundays and Bank Holidays:

• 175a Binfield, Bracknell Bus Station, Harmans Water, Sports Centre
• 175b Bracknell Bus Station, Tesco, Priestwood, Binfield, John Nike Ice Rink

If ‘bracknellforestc' is keyed into a search engine, the council YouTube site appears.  Click on Sandhurst Parks to see the Green Flag area the Society visited recently.

Bracknell can be viewed on Google Street at www.maps.google.co.uk

LawWorks at   www.lawworksiea.org.uk  offers non-profit making organisations free legal advice.

Daffodils at the Coffee Spot, Sandhurst

Lee Spindlow, sports coordinator at Bracknell and Wokingham College, is very keen that local teenagers make good use of the wonderful new sports facilities there and has planned many activities for them.

South Hill Park Mansion
Chris and Deb (BCC)

South Hill Park - Ruari Cumming (BCC)

Bracknell Forest

• came 46th out of 434 Local Authorities in a list of the most popular places to live and work in England
• came 4th in the top 20 affluent areas of Britain
• has more graduates per head of population in the Borough than in any of the other surrounding towns
• has the headquarters of 46 multinational companies
• has twice as many green open spaces per capita compared to other towns.
• 20% of its total area is made up of forest and another 20% is designated as conservation areas

Crocuses at Bracknell Station

• Lily Hill Park has won a prestigious Green Flag award, along with Pope's Meadow, Carnation Hall, Shepherd's Meadow and Sandhurst Memorial Park
• is the safest place to live and has the lowest crime in the whole of the Thames Valley and the third lowest in the UK
• has a colony of firecrests in Swinley Forest. These birds are extremely rare
• has over 80 parks and open spaces - and over 27 play parks plus 77km or 48 miles of public rights of way
• has four birds of prey: peregrine falcons on the 3M building, buzzards, kestrels and red kites. www.berksbirds.co.uk
• has 70% of its households online
• has 254 listed buildings
• has more deer in the Borough now than during the time of the Norman Conquest
• is one of the areas with the lowest unemployment in the country
• has the lowest number of job seekers in the South East
• is one of only three areas to show an increase in house prices - 3.5% last quarter
• has probably the highest numbers of cars per head of population in the country

Apart from a small settlement in Tasmania (pop 358) we are the only Bracknell on the planet. This is very useful when 'Googling'.

The Rev Michael Bentley, our Chairman, visited Tasmania in January 2008. The settlement consists of a crossroads and a few houses. Cllr Bob Wade, the former Mayor of Bracknell Forest, has discovered that the settlement was established to serve the needs of the forestry industry but is now a centre for the local farming community. Its economy is based on mostly dairy, livestock, and poppy production for the pharmaceutical industry. All the streets in Bracknell are female names. Bracknell has a post office, a take-away and a community hall.  It is suggested that we could be twinned.

A hotel in the Kerala region of India has been called the Bracknell Forest Hotel.  The manager explains that they chose the name because Bracknell Forest, Berkshire . . . . is a nature-protected place in the south of England . . . . and the location of the resort is relaxed and calm like Bracknell Forest.

Eric and Gillian Simms of Roman Wood found a ball fountain in the Botanic Gardens, Singapore, similar to the 'Bracknell Ball' outside The Bull Pub in the High Street.

All content © The Bracknell Forest Society 2008.  Website design: MIP Websites
 

Site last updated:
26 July 2010