Welcome to Bradninch!
A message from the Mayor May 2026
Hello everyone. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Stephen Birley (‘Steve’ to many and ‘Biggles’ to a lot of people at the local Cricket Club).
At the May 2026 Bradninch Town Council meeting I was both humbled and truly honoured to be asked by the Council to continue for a second year as the Mayor of Bradninch.
When I say (or rather write) – absolute honour – I do so mean that. For those that don’t know me, I live in Townlands with my wife Donna who is probably even more of a Bradninchian that myself. Donna was born in the Town while I was born in Hong Kong and have been associated with our wonderful Town since I was a ‘babe in arms’ when my late Mother (Jeniffer) brought me back to Venleigh, our family home then.
My late Grandfather was Lt Col WT Bird – he passed away in 1992 at the grand age of 101 – and my dear Mother passed in 1999 after an eight-year battle with that evil condition Alzheimer’s.
The point I think I am making is that I am Bradninch through-and-through and so it really is an absolute honour to hold the title of Mayor for another year.
The 12 months that run from May 2026 to the end of April 2027 will no doubt throw up plenty of challenges to us here in our beautiful town.
The local bus service continues to cause severe angst to many – it’s a matter that your Town councillors deeply regret, but, alas, the matter is effectively ‘out of the Town Council’s hands’ and we can only hope that the situation improves over the next 12 months.
We also have the ‘monumental news’ of the Duchy’s ‘withdrawal’ from the Town – again I would like it to be known that, like the thorny issue of the ‘lesser spotted’ 1A bus (that description is very much a personal view), the Town council will continue to fight to hopefully get the very best ‘deal’ we can for the benefit of all of us Bradninchians.
We have much to be so proud of in the Town. Be that our superb Primary School and Pre-School, all the various clubs – too many to list individually – but whatever your interest, be that from Morris Dancing to allotmenteering and playing bowls, football, cricket or tennis to organising and running a Coffee Morning – then Bradninch has something for you.
Notwithstanding the aforementioned, we also have our fabulous annual Music Festival, a 12th Night event not to be missed, we have the Bradninch Rocks, Musical Gardens, a couple of Pubs and other splendid ‘watering holes’, and, if you’ve not yet sample the Central Dairy then you don’t know what you are missing!
We also have St Disens Church, the Community Church (formerly the Baptist Church), BradTog (Bradninch Together), Sustainable Bradninch, a fabulous Twinning Group – celebrating in 2026 a half century of friendship with the French Town of Landunvez – a thriving Scout Group, a wonderful WI group, and so many more…….
So, there we are, a Mayoral message, written specifically for our website. I do hope the year ahead is a good one – for us all.
Steve Birley, Town Council Chairman and Bradninch Mayor. May 2026