Welcome to the Village of Great Bowden
The beautiful village of Great Bowden lies on the edge of the Welland Valley and has a past history dating back to Anglo Saxon times.
Great Bowden still enjoys a village way of life and to this day has retained itself by largely remaining within its ancient boundaries. Surrounded by attractive countryside and separation of settlements land, Great Bowden has a unique relationship with its larger neighbour, Market Harborough.
The village’s picturesque centre consists of beautiful greens, shops, pubs, the village hall and our historic church.
With a population of approximately 1000, Great Bowden has an active Parish Council, a variety of services, a host of clubs/groups, a pre-school and a primary school.
If you would like to know more about the history of Great Bowden and its Heritage, please go to Groups. The Historical Society or Archaeological & Heritage Group can provide a wealth of information.
Please view current Village Newsletter which includes articles and news items from local residents.
GREAT BOWDEN NEWS - click to view
Sutton Road & Dingley Road
Select event for venue & further information.
Add forthcoming event Information/reports
News & Information
Great Bowden Heritage
Archaeology in Action - Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th July 09
Click image to enlarge Poster
Core Spatial Strategy
Open Public Consultation for the development of future housing within the district.
Deadline for response is JULY 20th
We strongly recommend you download a copy of the document in full.
For more information and dates on the remaining HDC exhibitions & 'Have your say' meetings, please see:- www.harbrough.gov.uk/corestrategy
Great Bowden Planning page including further CSS & SHLAA information
Calling All Local Artists
The Great Bowden Visual Arts Group is holding its fourth annual art exhibition on Saturday & Sunday the 17th and 18th October in the Village Hall.
All forms of visual art welcome: paintings, textiles, ceramics, sculpture, woodwork, jewellery, photography etc. We look forward to welcoming you, whether you're a regular exhibitor of a new artist.
Last year's exhibition, as part of the village festival, was a great success. The Village Hall was once again bursting at the seams with a wonderful variety of local art and buzzed with over 500 visitors. The Hall is such a lovely venue that many visitors lingered to chat, making it a very social event.
The closing date for applications is Friday 18th September. For further details and an entry form please contact Karen Harrison on 01858 463893 or Kay Carpenter on 01858 464216.
LRWT/ Great Bowden Group
LRWT/Natural History page with news & events
Although the initial thought was to form a stand-alone group it was subsequently decided to become a local link for Leics. & Rutland Wildlife Trust. This group comprises a few village enthusiasts, who are keen to develop the local interest in the flora and fauna of the surrounding area.
The group will provide the platform for LRWT local events, which during the winter will involve monthly talks from visiting speakers in the Village Hall, Great Bowden and during the summer will switch to outdoor events, such as visits to local nature reserves. In addition help will be provided to the LRWT, which is planning the development of the Borrowpit, a SSSI site near the village now owned by the Harborough & Bowdens Charity.
For the moment the future programme reads:
| 1 July | 4.30pm Egleton Centre Rutland Water Osprey Boat Outing |
The event begins with refreshments and an introductory talk at the Anglian Water Birdwatching Centre. At 5.15 p.m. the group move off to Whitwell Harbour, where they join the ‘Rutland Belle’, leaving at 6 p.m. for a 1 1/2 – 2 hour cruise. Individuals book their own seats (£17 / head, £10 / under-16s), Lyndon Centre 01572 737378, reference for this group ‘1708’. Hopefully the weather will be fine and the ospreys will be active, feeding themselves and their young. The ticket price includes the day permit, so you could arrive earlier and wander around the Egleton Reserve, ensuring you arrive at Anglian Water Birdwatching Centre by 4.30 p.m. |
9 July |
2pm Lyndon Centre Rutland Water – mainly Ospreys! |
Hopefully the Osprey nest site in this area will be active; a walk to the relevant hide is some 20 minutes from Lyndon Centre, which also provides a viewing screen of the nest. Depending on the size of our party we may need to splinter into smaller groups, each taking a turn at the osprey hide and using the remaining time looking at other parts of the Lyndon reserve area. This group is not being organized by the Lyndon Centre, although we shall enjoy their facilities. 'Please note that for the above visit to Rutland Water, if you don't possess a Rutland Water permit (or Anglian Water pass), you can purchase one on the day for £4 or £3 concession.' |
Local Village Hall Triumphs at UK Environment Awards
click image to enlarge
The recently completed Great Bowden Village Hall was announced as the Overall Winner at the Biffaward Awards 2008 - a prestigious national awards ceremony held on 09 October, on board HMS Belfast, London.
Great Bowden Village Hall’s successful application to Biffaward for £50,000 formed part of a larger project to build a safer and modern village hall, improving the environment for existing users and attracting future users. Against stiff competition, the project was chosen to go forward to the final round of the annual Biffaward Awards. Great Bowden Village Hall competed against six other projects to become the winner of the Buildings for Community and Culture category, receiving an exclusively designed trophy and a prize of a further £2,000 towards its work.
Great Bowden Village Hall then went on to be chosen as the Overall Winner, and receiving a further exclusive trophy, and a cheque for £5,000. Judges praised the project for its high levels of community involvement and sustainability.
Biffaward, which is managed by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, distributes landfill tax funding to environmental and community projects across the UK. Since 1997, hundreds of communities and wildlife habitats have been awarded funding. Its annual awards ceremony recognises the achievements of the diverse projects which have used their funding to make a real difference.
Tim Lowth, Chairman of Biffaward, was guest speaker at the ceremony. He said: “The Biffaward Awards is an opportunity to applaud those who have had the determination and commitment to make a real difference to their local communities and environments and I congratulate everyone involved in this project.
2008 celebrates the landmark of £100 million in funding awarded through the Landfill Community Fund. This has gone towards hundred projects, and winners like Great Bowden Village Hall are excellent examples of funding going to support local communities in improving their environments.
Biffaward supports a huge range of projects the length and breadth of the UK and we gain a great deal of satisfaction from providing funding which can help to improve people’s lives and environments in so many different ways. This year’s winners will provide inspiration for even more groups to benefit from this funding in the future.”
Lorries Using Village Centre
It is noticeable that heavy lorries are continuing to use the village as a through-route and in particular ignoring the lorry restriction on Dingley Road. The only way for the village to make an impact on this problem is to complain and the more people that do so the better the effect.
All that is required is to provide in written form to the Police Inspector, MH Police Station is a short note providing:
Date/time of incident
Description of lorry: type / colour of vehicle, owners name and if possible the registration number.
Direction of Travel: from or to Corby
Road being used: particularly Dingley Road
Please be active.
Compiled by John Hunt
Great Bowden Cemetery Project
Alf Herbert, resident of Great Bowden has spent over a year raising awareness of the flooding and poor maintenance of the cemetery in Dingley Road.
Clearing of undergrowth, Ivy and planting of a wildflower area, recording and collating information about the site has been undertaken by Alf as well as help clearing the undergrowth and ivy by very kind volunteers including members of the Parish Council.
The District Council are also involved in helping to improve the situation.
All information gathered can be viewed on the link below as well as all the photographic evidence taken.
Great Bowden Cemetery Project - Link
If anyone would like to help in anyway please do get in touch via the website's contact page or email greatbowden@aol.com
Mobile Library - A Valuable Service
FREE Internet Access, Free book loan including bestsellers for all ages and Talking Books as well as Videos/DVDs to rent
Every other Tuesday, The Green, Great Bowden 3.15 – 3.45pm
2009 dates so far are:
| January - 6 & 20 | February - 3 & 17 | March - 3, 17 & 31 |
| April - 14 & 28 | May - 12 & 26 | June - 9 & 23 |
| July - 7 & 21 | August - 4 & 18 | September - 1, 15 & 29 |
| October - 13 & 27 | November - 10 & 24 | December - 8 |
Main Library in Market Harborough is
Pen Lloyd Library, Adam and Eve Street, Market Harborough, LE16 7LT
Tel: 01858 821272, Fax: 01858 821265
Email: marketharboroughlibrary@leics.gov.uk
Market Harborough Library web page
For further information please contact 0116 3053627
10 Years On - Historic Information Article - Village Appraisal 1998
Link to 'A Brief History of Great Bowden' and 'A Great Bowden Chronology 1086 - 1998'
Information taken from Village Appraisal book 1998
A Brief History by Prof. H Arthur Jones
Chronology compiled by Michael C Brown
Snowmen of Great Bowden 2009
February 2009 brought snow and the snowmen builders!
View up Station Road
* Population figures taken from the 2001 census give a total of 954 residents within Great Bowden Parish. Since 2001 new properties have been built on the site of the old Countryman pub as well as on Langton Road and more recently the conversion of Bishops House into apartments. Great Bowden Parish 2001 Census of Population.
The Village Web site
Great Bowden’s village web site was created by volunteers who are members of the Compass Group.
Information has been provided by groups and individuals within the village as well as suggestions which have shaped it into the web site we have today.
www.greatbowden.org hopes to provide information on groups and services within the village as well as information or links to, travel, tourism etc which may be of use. The much loved Village Newsletters are also available to view.
News items on meetings and events may be submitted to the details below for inclusion.
We endeavour to ensure the information on the site is up to date and accurate but if you do discover that there is a broken link or an error with information provided, please do let us know so that it can be addressed.
Contact us here or email greatbowden@aol.com
Documents available to download on this site are saved in PDF format. You will need Adobe Reader to view them. Click the link below to download the software.
