A MEMBER of Avon Glen Pipes and Drums was injured in a freak accident at Whitchurch Village Fete.

A MEMBER of Avon Glen Pipes and Drums was injured in a freak accident at Whitchurch Village Fete.

A gust of wind lifted two gazebos from their moorings and they flew through the air towards the band who were playing in the arena.

One of the gazebos knocked Pipe Major Bill Plenty, 81, to the ground.

The former fireman limped from the field, and Mr Plenty, of Whitchurch, who has been in the band for 50 years, said: “The wind caught the gazebo and it took off and decided to clump me.

“I saw it coming towards us and I turned to yell a warning to the band and it hit me.”

He suffered bruising to one of his legs.

It was not the only incident to mar an otherwise successful event, as vandals struck at the flower tent on Wednesday night, causing nearly £1,000 worth of damage.

The fete committee then had to fork out £150 for fencing around the field to prevent any further problems.

The same night, vandals damaged fencing at Whitchurch allotments and superglued the locks at the church hall.

Committee member Peter Edwards said: “The money that we will have to spend to replace the panels in the hired tent comes out of the money that we give out every November to deserving causes and groups in the Whitchurch area – it’s so frustrating.

“It is fortunate that Michael Eavis, who runs the Glastonbury Festival, and Bristol International Airport gave us £500 in sponsorship. If it hadn’t been for them we would have been in trouble.”

Around 3,000 people attended the fete, launched by villager Ashton Broad.

His daughters Sam Parsons and Kimberley Broad are on the flower show committee and his son Oliver also helps out.

The horse show made a welcome return this year and there was also a dog show, birds of prey, a climbing wall and alpacas.

John Silverthorne won the cup for the best overall horticultural exhibit for his tomatoes and he also won first prizes for the largest marrow, best potatoes and single rose. Marcia Devonald won first prize for runner beans.

Libby Brown won the Bert Keep Cup for the best overall children’s exhibit for her painting of a tree.

Whitchurch Village Fete Princess was Emily Payne, 10, and her attendants were Ellie Marshall, nine and Ella-Mae Parsons, eight.

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/Flying-gazebo-hits-Pipe-Major-81/article-2586780-detail/article.html

On 28 July 2005, parts of south Birmingham were devastated by a freak tornado.

Five years on, residents and emergency services remember the frightening moment it struck.

Nasir Akhtar was putting up shelves in his home in Alder Road, Balsall Heath, when a loud banging noise began outside and the sky darkened.

“I could hear materials banging against the door,” the 29-year-old teacher said.

“When I looked outside I could actually see debris flying and it went totally dark within about five minutes.

“You could hear car alarms going off and cars had been flung around.

“The windows upstairs popped first, the wardrobe and bed started flying towards the door.

“Then the front window popped downstairs.

“I grabbed my brother-in-law and we ran into the pantry downstairs – it was the only place where there wasn’t glass.

Alder Road in Balsall Heath was one of the worst affected areas

“There was so much noise. I had no idea what was happening. It was so quick our brains could not comprehend it.”

The tornado lasted just a few minutes but caused an estimated £40m of damage in the Moseley, Kings Heath, Balsall Heath and Sparkbrook areas of the city.

Twenty people were injured and taken to hospital as the tornado reached speeds of up to 130mph.

It travelled over a one kilometre path, past 4,400 homes and 617 businesses, lifting off entire roofs and uprooting trees.

There were no deaths – it was about 1430 BST and most people were not at home.

Alder Road in Balsall Heath was the worst affected area.

Mr Akhtar and his family, along with many others, had to evacuate their home and were only able to move back in 13 months later.

The roof had been ripped off and needed to be replaced.

The house has since been redecorated and has new furniture – the only item the family managed to salvage was a bed.

Caroline Ward, owner of the Jon Carrie nursery on School Road, Moseley, was taking care of 23 children aged between two and four, who were playing outside when the tornado began.

“All I seem to remember is that the light went peculiar, it was a peculiar light, it was almost dark but it was not dark,” she said.

“I got worried and got all the children in.

“Within two minutes it was like watching a version of the Wizard of Oz, with the whirlpool going round.

“It took all the toys in the playground – the big plastic house, the trampoline, slides – and the six-foot high fencing.

“I was just very thankful we got the children in because it would have taken the children.”

Firefighters Sean Moore and Rudy Parkes, international search and rescue specialists, were called to help look for casualties.

“To be honest, I thought it was a little bit of a joke at first,” said Mr Moore, from West Midlands Fire Service. “You just don’t get tornados in Birmingham.

“As we made our way there we saw huge great trees lying on the roads which started to hammer home to us how serious it was going to be.”

More than 100 firefighters were deployed, along with 25 fire engines.

“I just could not believe we did not have any deaths,” he said. “If it had been in the middle of the night, we would have had a huge number of deaths for sure.”

More than 160 people were moved to temporary accommodation as Birmingham City Council began a clean-up operation.

Ladypool Road, a busy high street at the heart of Birmingham’s ‘Balti Triangle’ – famed for its Asian cuisine – was hit badly, with many shops and restaurants left in need of urgent repair.

A £1m fund to help these businesses was set up by the council, which included a marketing campaign to encourage people back to the area.

It took Khalid Rafiq, who runs Royal Sweets on Ladypool Road, almost two years to get his business back on track.

The shop has been fully restored and customers have returned but business is still tough.

“I have nearly recovered but it’s not like before the tornado,” he said. “The tornado came and within seconds it took the business down.

“Once you have gone down a bit it takes time to come up again.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-10762750

It is possible the starlings were trying to flee a predator

The deaths of 75 starlings which appeared to fall from the sky and crash land on to a driveway in Somerset has mystified the RSPCA animal charity.

The birds were spotted falling onto the entrance of a house in Coxley in Somerset on Sunday 7 March.

Animal welfare officer Alison Sparkes, who was called by police, said: “It was a remarkable sight, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

There is no evidence the birds were ill or poisoned before they hit the ground.

Predator theory

Ms Sparkes said: “Onlookers said they heard a whooshing sound and then the birds just hit the ground.

“They had fallen on to the ground in quite a small area, about 12ft (3.6m) in diameter.

“They appeared to be in good condition other than injuries that they appear to have suffered when they hit they ground.

“Our best guess is that this happened because the starlings were trying to escape a predator such as a sparrow hawk and ended up crash landing.”

She said that the birds had suffered broken beaks, broken legs and wings and abdominal injuries.

Five of the birds survived the fall but had to be put down because of their severe injuries.

Story from BBC NEWS:

© BBC MMX

Great video on on U-Tube of a “Fallstreak Hole“.

FREAK weather conditions have been blamed for causing paint to rain down on vehicles in the car park of a Chester shopping centre.

Contractors spray painted level 3A at the Grosvenor Shopping Centre on Tuesday morning.

But a rapid increase in humidity later that day caused freshly-sprayed paint to drip down from the beams, damaging around 50 vehicles as they drove through the level to get out.

One driver from Mold, who did not want to be identified, had parked her Nissan Qashqai on one of the upper floors at 12.50pm and only discovered she had paint on her car when she got home.

She said: “It was only when I got home that I realised I had paint on the car. They had given me a ticket for valeting, which is fine – but I have to go back to Chester to use it.

“It’s horrendous really, I think it’s appalling. I won’t be using this car park again. They should have been stopping people coming in.”

But Bill Brereton, also from Mold, said the contractors did all they could: “They are washing the cars so what more can they do? I’m just pleased they are doing something about it.”

Though unwilling to be identified, one painter – who has more than 30 years experience – admitted he had never seen anything like it before.

“We were wiping paint off the beams with brooms,” he said.

“But as fast as we were doing that, it was dripping again behind us. It was raining paint.”

Builders had to down tools and set up a jet washing station, leaving a queue of irate customers waiting for up to 40 minutes to get out.

One of the builders, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “It was chaos. I washed a brand new £180,000 Bentley – the driver said he had just bought it.”

Terry Budd, site manager for contractors Concrete Repairs Ltd (CRL) offered his apologies to customers, but added that the situation was out of their control.

He explained: “The level was sprayed and drying before 9am.

“But the humidity level went up suddenly that afternoon and by the time we realised there was a problem there were 40-50 cars on the upper levels.

“We set up a wash station right away and had staff here until after 8pm sorting it out.”

Julie Webb, general manager of The Grosvenor Shopping Centre said: “Contact details were provided to customers unable to utilise the car wash station at that time. We will obviously be dealing with these customers in an entirely appropriate manner.”

http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/chester-news/local-chester-news/2009/10/08/paint-rains-down-on-to-cars-at-chester-s-grosvenor-shopping-centre-due-to-freak-weather-conditions-59067-24878315/