Tributes paid to man who taught village to take pride in its heritage

COMMUNITY CHAMPION PETER DIES, AGED 85

FOOTBALL fans are to hold a minute’s silence in memory of a community champion and heritage campaigner.

Former Burbage Parish Council chairman Peter Hall has died after a short illness. He was 85.

During more than 40 years contributing to his community, he was also a Hinckley and Bosworth Borough councillor, a governor at Hastings High School, Burbage, and founder and first chairman of Burbage Heritage Group.

He was among a group of parents who, while their children attended a playgroup in Burbage in the 1970s, began to discuss potential improvements for the burgeoning village in Hinckley and Bosworth district.

Their discussions led to the reestablishment of the Parish Council, inactive since before the war, with Mr Hall as the first chairman.

Fellow councillor David Bill, chairman of Bosworth Liberal Democrats, said: “Peter was the driving force behind the parish council, together with our friends David Wood and the late David Inman.

“He was determined, in his roles as a parish and borough councillor, to protect the heritage of the Burbage area and in particular the fields to the south of the village and Burbage Common.

“If it were not for him, we would have lost much of the character of the village and we would not have amenities such as the Millennium Hall and the Horsepool nature area.”

To mark the start of the millennium, a local Heritage Watch group was established, with Mr Hall as its first chairman.

Fellow member Sylvia Whitworth said: “Peter signed up to be the first heritage warden and also a tree warden, which he had unofficially worked at for many years. His first job was to single-handedly record all the mature trees of note in the parish and he became responsible for many now being protected with tree preservation orders.”

As a governor at Hastings High School he was responsible for the planting of a large number of trees at the edge of the playing fields.

He also initiated the planting of trees around the parish in 2012 to commemorate the Queen’s diamond jubilee.

One of these is in Pughes Paddock, which had been restored as a focal point for heritage and remembrance some years earlier through his efforts.

Together with his son, Robert, he helped in saving the ancient Horsepool nature area in the village centre in 2002 and later drew up a series of circular walks which were to contribute to the Burbage Heritage Trail in 2009.

A keen gardener at the Burbage allotments, Mr Hall was also a supporter of Leicester Road FC, in Hinckley, where a minute’s silence in his memory will be held at the next home game, on Saturday February

15, against Coventry Copsewood.

A celebration of his life is to be held at the Millennium Hall, Burbage, on Wednesday, February 5, at 11am, to which all his friends are invited.

Councillor Bill said: “If you want to see Peter’s legacy, look around Burbage. He did so much good work around the village and was always protective of its character.

“He did his utmost to protect both the natural and the built environment of our village.

“I have lost a good friend, as so many of us have, and we all feel his loss as a hard blow, especially because we know what a great contribution he made right up to the end.”