Little Aston is a village in
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
, England. It is located within the
Lichfield District
Lichfield () is a local government district in Staffordshire, England. It is administered by Lichfield District Council, based in Lichfield.
The dignity and privileges of the City of Lichfield are vested in the parish council of the 14 km ...
and is approximately south of the city of
Lichfield
Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...
. Formerly a separate settlement, it is in modern times contiguous with the built-up area of the neighbouring town of
Sutton Coldfield
Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south ...
.
At the
2011 United Kingdom census
A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...
the population of Little Aston
ward
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
was 2,920 people living in 1,104 households. At the last
UK census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
there were 935 homes in the village, well over 10% of which were multimillion-pound properties, and the village is known for its
footballers
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
and successful businesspeople.
Location and boundaries
Little Aston is located in the very south of
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
.
Little Aston is contained within four corners, formed by local landmarks:
Blake Street Station rail bridge in the east, by Little Aston Golf Club's grounds to the west, the Little Aston
Severn Trent
Severn Trent plc is a water company based in Coventry, England. It supplies 4.6 million households and business across the Midlands and Wales.
It is traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Severn Trent, th ...
sewage treatment works to the north and the Rosemary Hill Road/Thornhill Road traffic island in the south.
At the south is the
Sutton Park, with over of wild grasslands, forested areas, lakes and wild ponies, all accessible though the bordering Streetly Gate. In the north is th
Little Aston Recreation Ground winner of the 2015 Most Improved
Fields in Trust
Fields in Trust, is a British charity set up in 1925 as the National Playing Fields Association (NPFA), by Brigadier-General Reginald Kentish and the Duke of York, later King George VI, who was the first president, which protects parks and green s ...
Award. This community funded play field with over 3000 trees serves as a community hub with annual events.
Little Aston is twinned with the French village of
St. Georges sur Baulche in the Burgundy region, south-east of Paris and from Little Aston.
Former residents
*
Graham Taylor
Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln C ...
,
England football manager
The role of an England national football team manager was first established in 1946 with the appointment of Walter Winterbottom. Before this, the England national football team was selected by the "International Selection Committee", a proce ...
lived in a gated community off Rosemary Hill Road whilst managing
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
and
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
*
Roy Hodgson
Roy Hodgson (born 9 August 1947) is a former English football manager and player.
He managed 22 different teams in eight countries, beginning in Sweden with Halmstads BK in the 1976 season. He later guided the Switzerland national team to th ...
,
England manager lived on Little Aston Park Road when managing West Bromwich Albion
*
Pepe Reina
José Manuel "Pepe" Reina Páez (; born 31 August 1982) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Villarreal.
The son of famed Barcelona and Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina, Pepe Reina began his ca ...
,
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
winner and
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
winning goalkeeper, lived in
Little Aston Park whilst playing for
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
*
Peter Schmeichel
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
, voted the greatest
goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...
of the 20th century.
*
Mark Bosnich
Mark John Bosnich (born 13 January 1972) is an Australian former professional footballer, who played as a goalkeeper, and sports pundit. He played in England for Premier League clubs Aston Villa, Manchester United and Chelsea. He also played in ...
, double
league cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
winning international goalkeeper, owned one of Little Aston's numerous mansions during his time at
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
football club.
*
Ugo Ehiogu
Ugochuku Ehiogu (; 3 November 1972 – 21 April 2017) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre back from 1989 to 2009. He was the coach of the Tottenham Hotspur U23 team until his death in April 2017.
He played in the Prem ...
,
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
and international footballer, lived in Little Aston during his English career.
*
Mark Kinsella
Mark Anthony Kinsella (born 12 August 1972) is an Irish football manager and former player, currently a coach at Drogheda United after previously being both the manager and assistant manager. He played as a central midfielder for most of his ca ...
, Captain of the
Irish football team and former
Irish Footballer of the Year, owned one of the village's mansions while playing for
West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...
.
*
Andy Gray, Scottish footballer and former Sky Sports presenter, during his time at
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
football club.
*
Gabriel Agbonlahor
Gabriel Imuetinyan Agbonlahor (born 13 October 1986) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward; he mostly played as a central striker, but he was also capable of playing on the wing. He spent his entire professional ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
footballer lived on Roman Road during the peak of his career
*
Ranjit Singh Boparan
Ranjit Singh Boparan ( Punjabi: ਰਨਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਬੋਪਰਨ, born 24 August 1966) is a British businessman, and the founder and owner of 2 Sisters Food Group with his wife Baljinder Kaur Boparan. Known as the "Chicken King" in ...
, "The Chicken King" owner of the UK's largest food company, lived on Roman Lane
*
Tony Xia
Tony Jiantong Xia () is a Chinese businessman. He is the chairman, CEO and owner of Recon Group.
Early life and education
Xia was born in Quzhou, Zhejiang. At the age of 14, he left home to attend university in Beijing. He was amongst the fir ...
former owner of
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
had a residence in
Little Aston Park
*
Trevor Eve
Trevor John Eve (born 1 July 1951) is an English film and television actor. In 1979 he gained fame as the eponymous lead in the detective series '' Shoestring'' and is also known for his role as Detective Superintendent Peter Boyd in BBC telev ...
, English actor
*
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 19 ...
owned and took residence in a property on Rosemary Hill Road in the mid 80's when in the area.
Residences
Little Aston's small community is divided between nine main areas: Little Aston Park, Claverdon Park, Rosemary Hill Road, Little Aston Lane, Forge Lane, Walsall Road, Aldridge Road, Little Aston Hall and Lady Aston Park.
Little Aston Park
Located in the south of the village is
Little Aston Park. Often referred to as "Millionaire's Row" - with Roman Road being th
most expensive streetin
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
- it is a privately maintained estate, consisting of around 100 unique, architect-designed houses and include
Birmingham's most expensive house ever sold at £7.5 million It also contains one of the village's championship golf clubs
Little Aston Golf Club and
St.Peter's Church. The park is located in a woodland setting around the historic
rhododendron
''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...
-lined Roman Road which closely follows path of the ancient Roman
Icknield Street
Icknield Street or Ryknild Street is a Roman road in England, with a route roughly south-west to north-east. It runs from the Fosse Way at Bourton on the Water in Gloucestershire () to Templeborough in South Yorkshire (). It passes through Alc ...
.
Claverdon Park
Claverdon Park is a private estate consisting of 82 large detached houses and bungalows. It is accessible only through the Little Aston Park's private road and gate network. Whilst often confused as being part of the Little Aston Park, it is in fact
separate entitymanaged by Claverdon Park Management Company Limited. Claverdon Park is not subject to the same high standards of development and woodland setting as its neighbouring Little Aston Park is, and is not part of Lichfield Council's designated Little Aston Park Conservation Area.
Roads within Claverdon Park are: Claverdon Drive, Stonehouse Drive, Roman Lane, Roman Park, Barns Croft and Alderhithe Grove.
Rosemary Hill Road
Rosemary Hill Road is a public road with many private gated driveways leading off the highway and gated houses alongside, particularly on the more exclusive Lichfield District side which borders the
Little Aston Park. The west side of road is part of Little Aston (Lichfield) and the east side is in Four Oaks (Birmingham).
Little Aston Lane
At the heart of the village is Little Aston Lane (A4026). Running opposite expanses of fields and the grounds of Aston Wood golf course, the lane consists of around 50 large, detached houses. A recently constructed, landscaped recreation area also runs parallel to the lane, managed by the Little Aston Recreational Ground Association.
In addition to the lane's own housing, it also contains the entrance to ''The Grove''. A
cul-de-sac
A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac (, from French for 'bag-bottom'), no through road or no exit road, is a street with only one inlet or outlet.
The term "dead end" is understood in all varieties of English, but the official terminology ...
within Little Aston Lane, The Grove contains 51 large, detached homes, similar to those on the lane itself.
The Little Aston Village Hall, is also on the lane, providing services and facilities to the small community. A crown green bowling club and a tennis club are on the Hall site.
Many residents have complained to the local MP and county council regarding excessive use of the village roads by HGV tippers and artics, exposing young children walking to school to great risk. There is a bizarre situation where there is a 7.5-tonne weight limit in one direction of the road, but not in the other, and Staffordshire County Council's explanation that imposing the limit in both directions would burden the neighbouring Birmingham Council's road network with excessive traffic.
Forge Lane
![Forge Lane - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Forge_Lane_-_geograph.org.uk_-_911500.jpg)
Running out of the
Little Aston Park and into the surrounding countryside is Forge Lane. It is lined by around 40 detached and semi-detached houses, situated on both sides of the road. The village's Little Aston Primary School is located on the lane. Forge lane also contains the entrance to Little Aston's recreation site, a large area of landscaped grassland, popular for dog walking and sports activities. In addition to this, the entrance to Little Aston's vicarage is also in the lane, which has been the home of many of the village's vicars.
Forge Lane is a continuation of Roman Road which is directly opposite across Little Aston Road. Roman Road is the old Roman, Ryknild Street part of which can be seen within the confines of Sutton Park which is at the opposite end of Roman Road from Little Aston Village by Rosemary Hill Road. The lane derives its name from the forge mill and adjacent cottages which stood over bourne / footherley brook which can be found further down the lane from the village. The mill and cottages were built around the mid-1600s by Thomas Foley whose name was used for the Foley Public House in Streetly. The mill was initially a hammer mill for iron smelting and ingot production, as the surrounding area has deposits of iron stone which were used in the mill. The mill use was changed sometime in the early 1800s to become a flour mill up until it was destroyed by fire in 1903. The mill cottages remain to this day and are residential homes, with the oak beams used in its construction still in place in the ground floor rooms and upper floor ceilings.
The mill pond that lay in front of the cottages which feed the mill wheel is no longer there having been filled in sometime after the first world war, but its outline can be seen within the adjacent Footherley Wood and the small piece of open land beside the bridge over the brook. It has been said but not proved that the fields to the side of the cottages were used by Oliver Cromwell as a camp site on his way north to Chester during the Civil War. The Chester Road being not more than a half a mill from the cottages.
The present day Little Aston Primary school which stands on the lane is not more than 100 yards from the former school which are now residential homes but if you inspect the buildings you will see the school boys and girls entrances detailed in the brick work of the buildings. These buildings stand opposite the blacksmiths old forge which is at the top of the lane close to Little Aston Road. The Blacksmiths forge is sometimes thought to have been why the lane was called Forge Lane, this is not correct as it was the forge mill further down the lane that gave rise to the lanes name. The blacksmiths forge was not only a forge but the site of the production and building of horse / farm carts and cart wheels. The blacksmiths forge stopped being used as a forge sometime during the 1950s, but today is back in use as a design studio and bespoke carpentry company.
Walsall Road
Running from the Rosemary Hill traffic junction to Forge Lane, this public road is adjacent to and borders the
Little Aston Park. There are around 30 large detached houses on the roadside, and private gated communities such as Beechwood Croft and Woodside Drive where houses are multimillion-pound.
Aldridge Road
![Upmarket Motor Dealer on A452 Nr Little Aston - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Upmarket_Motor_Dealer_on_A452_Nr_Little_Aston_-_geograph.org.uk_-_279413.jpg)
Continuing on from Walsall Road, Aldridge Road begins on the junction of Forge Lane and Roman Road ending at the A452 Chester Road. It is lined by around 170 houses both detached and semi detached. At the junction with the Chester Road is the former Evans Halshaw Porsche dealership, once a petroleum filling station which later became a Bentley dealership, then a Ferrari and Maserati dealership, and a classic car dealership. Currently the showroom is a Mercedes used car specialist.
The majority of Aldridge road borders the northerly side of the Little Aston Golf Club, although it is hidden by trees. A long stream running alongside hole 12 and 13 of the golf course runs underneath a small bridge on Aldridge Road which was struck by lightning in the mid 80's causing the closure of Aldridge Road for many months. The stream runs into and through a 2-acre private Wood to the rear of a section of properties on Aldridge Road which is owned and maintained by one Aldridge Road resident.
Little Aston Hall Estate
This small area of residence is situated within what used to be the grounds of
Little Aston Hall. Seven blocks of superior apartments were constructed on the site during the mid-1980s, each containing six luxury living spaces. The complex is set back from the road on a private gated drive and situated in many acres of grassland and landscaped gardens.
Lady Aston Park
Lady Aston Park is a recent development of around 50 gated luxury apartments, aimed exclusively at the over 55s. The community borders the Little Aston Hall development, and is alongside the Bupa care home and private hospital. The estate is managed by the Lady Aston Park Management Co. Ltd which is in the ownership of the apartment owners. Day-to-day management is in the hands of an elected committee of residents.
Administration
Electoral ward
Little Aston is one of
Lichfield
Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...
's
electoral ward
A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...
s, although it is separated from the city by open country and is in Tamworth Parliamentary Constituency. Little Aston's current Member of Parliament is
Christopher Pincher
Christopher John Pincher (born 24 September 1969) is a British independent politician and a Conservative Party member, who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamworth since 2010. Pincher previously served as Government Deputy Chief Wh ...
.
Parish
Little Aston is a part of the
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
of
Shenstone. It became a separate ecclesiastical parish in 1874 when St Peter's Church was built at the expense of, and on land donated by, Edward Swynfen Parker Jervis (1815-1896), son of
Edward Jervis Jervis, 2nd Viscount St Vincent
Edward Jervis Jervis, 2nd Viscount St Vincent (1 April 1767 – 25 September 1859) was a Viscount in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.
Early life
Jervis was born Edward Jervis Ricketts, the second son of William Henry Ricketts and Mary Jervis. ...
.
The new church was designed by architect
George Edmund Street
George Edmund Street (20 June 1824 – 18 December 1881), also known as G. E. Street, was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex. Stylistically, Street was a leading practitioner of the Victorian Gothic Revival. Though mainly an eccle ...
.
Recreation and education
Little Aston has two golf clubs: the championship
Little Aston Golf Club
Little Aston Golf Club is an 18 hole members golf club located within the Little Aston Park Private Estate in Sutton Coldfield, England which has hosted a variety of leading professional and amateur tournaments including the Schweppes PGA Clos ...
and the ne
Aston Wood Golf Club A private
BUPA
Bupa , legally British United Provident Association Limited, is an international health insurance and healthcare group with over 38 million customers worldwide.
Bupa's origins and global headquarters are in the United Kingdom. Its main countrie ...
hospital is located on the former
Little Aston Hall's estate and Little Aston also features a residential estate,
Little Aston Park. Little Aston also has its own primary school, Little Aston Primary School, and next door is the Little Aston Recreation Ground. Located at the village hall is the tennis club and bowling green.
Commerce and transport
Within the boundaries of Little Aston, there is only one independent newsagent, one gourmet butcher and one drink store, all located on Little Aston Lane. However, a wider ranges of local mini-supermarkets, hairdressers, fish and chips shops, restaurants and pubs are available in neighbouring Burnett Road
Streetly
Streetly is an area in the county of West Midlands, England which lies around to the north of Birmingham City Centre. It is uniquely located within the borders of Birmingham, Lichfield and Walsall district authorities, and is part of the West M ...
and The Crown
Four Oaks all half a mile (800 m) away, plus a wide range of trendy restaurants and major supermarkets in
Mere Green a mile (1.6 km) away. A comprehensive high street is in
Sutton Coldfield
Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south ...
town centre.
Nearby junctions with the
A38,
M5,
M6,
M6 Toll
The M6 Toll, referred to on signs as the Midland Expressway (originally named the Birmingham Northern Relief Road or BNRR), and stylised as M6toll, connects M6 Junction 3a at the Coleshill Interchange to M6 Junction 11A at Wolverhampton with ...
and
M42 give easy access to the north-east, north-west, south-west and south-east towards London. High speed trains towards Manchester and London are available from
Lichfield
Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...
and
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, with connections available from
Blake Street.
National Express West Midlands
National Express West Midlands (NXWM) is a bus operator in the West Midlands that operates services in Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, Wolverhampton, and Solihull, as well as limited routes outside of the general area of Birmingham, su ...
service 6 also runs through Little Aston every 30 minutes between
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...
and
Sutton Coldfield
Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south ...
via
Aldridge
Aldridge is an industrial town in the Walsall borough, West Midlands, England. It is historically a village that was part of Staffordshire until 1974. The town is from Brownhills, from Walsall, from Sutton Coldfield and from Lichfield. ...
and
Mere Green.
Air incident
During a school fete organised by the Sutton Coldfield Town Middle School Parent-Teacher Association, which was held in fields at Little Hardwick Road, Little Aston on 7 July 1973, a parachutist, 21-year-old RAF Sergeant Kenneth Cornwell, who was part of a five-man display team, became tangled in 275,000-volt overhead power lines.
Attempts by the local fire brigade to reach him proved fruitless, as their
turntable ladder
A fire engine (also known in some places as a fire truck or fire lorry) is a road vehicle (usually a truck) that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to an ...
was too short.
A
British Army Air Corps
The Army Air Corps (AAC) is a component of the British Army, first formed in 1942 during the Second World War by grouping the various airborne units of the British Army. Today, there are eight regiments (seven Regular Army and one Reserve) of ...
'
Westland Sioux AH.1 helicopter, registration XT238,
of the
16th/5th Queen's Royal Lancers was diverted from an appearance at another fete, at nearby St. Augstine's Church,
Rugeley
Rugeley ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cannock Chase District in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the north-eastern edge of Cannock Chase next to the River Trent; it is situated north of Lichfield, south-east of Stafford, nort ...
. It lowered a harness to Cornwell, but the helicopter was caught by wind and the rescue line wrapped around its tail rotor, severing the line. Cornwell dropped 40 feet to the ground, narrowly missing a tarpaulin that was being held for him to land on. The helicopter crash landed in a nearby field and burst into flames, but the two-man crew evacuated without serious injury. Cornwell—who by that time had been suspended for an hour and a half—survived with a broken wrist, broken pelvis, and both elbows broken and dislocated and was taken to
Good Hope General Hospital, Sutton Coldfield.
A spokesman for the
Central Electricity Generating Board
The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) was responsible for electricity generation, transmission and bulk sales in England and Wales from 1958 until privatisation of the electricity industry in the 1990s.
It was established on 1 Januar ...
, who operated the power lines, criticised the parachute display for its "danger of interference to the overhead transmission lines and to those taking part" and said they would have opposed it had they been consulted.
It transpired that Cornwell was instructed to make jump with a type of parachute that he had not used previously. His instructor, Sergeant B. Anderson, was reprimanded by the Safety and Training Committee of the British Parachute Association and had his advanced and approved instructor ratings suspended.
The helicopter was subsequently written off.
See also
*
Listed buildings in Shenstone, Staffordshire
References
Further reading
* {{Cite book , publisher=Storm Publishing , isbn=978-0-7467-0010-5 , last=Hiscock , first=Ted , title=Gone are the days: a History of Little Aston and Surrounding Area , year=1986
External links
Official websiteLichfield District Council's Little Aston Neighbourhood Plan, 2015-2029
Lichfield District