Battle Ground

At the end of the English Civil War there was a minor skirmish here. It is an ancient bit of land (or course most land is ancient, unless you are building airports in Hong Kong or something) called Camping Close and is the subject of a fair bit of annoyance in our village.

The land was bought by the local authority for the school to use as a playing field (they don't have one), the school did not fence it off and have always allowed free access, last year when the school proposed fencing the top third off so the children could have a safe play area the Parish Council claimed it for a Village Green, ignoring various facts (like the actual ownership).

It is a shame really as the only people losing out at the moment are the small children from the Infants school, and they are probably the people who would enjoy it most.

The Parish Council have conveniently neglected to maintain it and it is growing wild and whilst that might look nice (apart from the broken bottles and rubbish), it hardly makes for a good place to kick a ball or clear up after a dog!
Apparently they are blaming the school, which is a shame as the school have offered to allow access (the school has the only access).

I'm aware I'm going on a bit.... sorry ;)