Crosspool News – crosspool.info
The Crosspool community website run by Crosspool Forum
For this summer’s Crosspool Festival week, we’re hoping to decorate the precinct shops with bunting.
Are you able to make bunting – or could you spare some fabric?
Please contact Sally on sallytoby@talktalk.net if:
Dancers from the June D Gill School of Dance will be performing the Poppins at Sheffield City Hall in June.
Playing Mary Poppins is Alicia Smith was born and bred in Crosspool and attends Tapton school.
Tickets are on sale now for the shows on 25 and 26 June. There’s also a Supercalafragalistic Children’s Disco on Saturday 7 May.
The group meets locally and hosts events at Stephen Hill Church in Crosspool.
Ann is one of four sisters and was born and brought up in Sheffield, England. She has three children, eight grand-children and two great-grand-children.
She started out as a Sunday school teacher in her early years, before progressing on to work with university-aged students and then in later years went on to work as a dinner lady in Crosspool.
How long did you work at Lydgate Lane Infant School and what are your memories of your time there?
I worked as a lunchtime supervisor for eight years at Lydgate Infant School and loved every minute until I retired last year.
I have some lovely memories of working with the little children and telling them my stories in the playground before they went in for their lunch. There was never a dull moment and I got so much enjoyment from seeing the look on their faces as they listened so intently to whichever story I was telling them.
Also I have great admiration for all the teachers and staff who all have so much patience with the children and do their very best to make this school such a lovely friendly and happy place for the children to be.
Do you live local to Crosspool? What do you like about it?
I was brought up in Crookes and lived there until 1982 when I moved to Crosspool. I have lived in Crosspool ever since.
I like Crosspool because it is on the edge of the countryside and we have some fabulous walks around us.
What is your inspiration for your stories?
My inspiration for some of the stories I wrote came from my grandchildren. I wrote the Red Man and Green Man stories when my little grandson who was about three years old, was waiting with me to cross the road and quite innocently asked me if Red Man and Green Man ever came out of the traffic lights to play.
Another story Tom on Robot Island was written for my other grandson Tom who was about seven years old, when he asked me to tell him a story about a robot.
Also the idea for the Grumpy Grandad stories was because I actually live with a Grumpy Grandad and the mole really did dig up our garden which he still grumbles about today.
I’m sure most of the local children will know the rock on the Bolehills that looks like a ship. I have lived locally all my life and have stood on that rock many times as a little girl pretending it was a ship that sailed away in the dead of night. Hence the idea for the story Alex and the little people.
All the other stories are ones I made up for my eight grandchildren and whose names are all in the stories.
Why did you decide to set up Playtime Books?
I hadn’t really thought about having the stories published as I just liked writing stories for my grandchildren. I had done such a lot though that my son came up with the idea that we ought to publish them on the internet under Playtime Books. He had CDs made and illustrations for the discs at first.
What formats do you publish your stories in and how can people get hold of them?
We have moved on quite a bit now and the stories are available on CD, book, Kindle, and ACX downloads from Amazon under Playtime Books or Ann Twigg.
If you would like to purchase any of the books in CD format then please email joannelouisegraham@outlook.com.
Also Grumpy Grandad can be followed on Facebook, YouTube, my website which is www.playtime-books.com and also @ann_twigg on Twitter.
The confirmed dates for the 2016 festival are Friday 24 June-3 July, with the Summer Fayre scheduled for Saturday 2 July.
Here’s an update on this year’s festival from the organising committee:
This summer we have entitled the festival Carnival a summer party with great activities happening on the streets to coincide with this year’s Olympics in Brazil, the queen’s 90th celebrations and more besides.
We hope it will be a colourful and exciting week for the community to get out and about, meet the neighbours, make new friends and try new activities.
Some of the old favourites return such as Open Gardens. Why not share your garden this year? No one expects an immaculate garden, but we all enjoy looking at what each one of us has been doing on our patch.
It’s a great way to be motivated to tidy up your garden and a good time to invite the neighbours round to share a hobby or a fabulous view over a cuppa. And you can make a bob or two for your favourite charity as all proceeds will go to the charities of your choice.
So whatever the size and maturity of your garden, whether you are a beginner or have been opening your garden for many years, if you would like to join the gardeners open day, please get in touch. We will need your name and details by Friday 18 March 2016 in order to prepare the brochure for printing.
Talking about all things in the garden, we would love to hear from you if you would enjoy some sort of gardeners’ community to be formed. We are thinking of gathering together like minded people to enjoy a natter, a helping hand or a word of advice a couple of times a year
If you would like to be involved in this in any way, or have thoughts about how such a group could be helpful within the community, please get in touch.
Also coming again is the popular scarecrow competition. Entry forms will go out through the schools and will also be available from the shops at £3/entry. Scarecrows will be on show all week and will be judged by local sculptor, Noel Lockley. Prizes will be awarded to the best scarecrow makers in recognition of their ingenuity and creativity.
The competition theme is Carnival and Olympics to fit in with the festival theme, so bright and colourful like the amazing costumes some of the carnival goers wear, fantastical animals, sportsmen or something completely different – have fun with that! For further details please contact beckiegreenuk@yahoo.co.uk.
Another great activity that is now established is the well dressing. In case some of you don’t know what this is, a well dressing is the unique Derbyshire tradition of elaborate pictures made for the most part of individual flower petals pressed onto clay covered boards which seems to date from Victorian times to celebrate the blessing of water in any given village.
Why do it in Crosspool? It is a great opportunity to be creative with flowers and to celebrate life itself in our community. So if you are looking for a new venture, why not try your hand at this old craft? The team is looking for new helpers. Instructions given, so no need for previous experience. Just a few hours the week before the festival is needed to be involved in this. If you want further information, get in touch.
We are also looking for a few more volunteers to help with a new history activity, a new photo competition and general helpful bits and pieces. No previous experience necessary. If you think you could spare a few hours to help or would like further information, please get in touch as soon as possible.
Contact Lindsey on lindseybeagles@gmail.com or phone 0114 230 1041.
Do you have any unwanted prizes, gifts or bric-a-brac that might be suitable for the Crosspool Forum Summer Fayre tombola or one of the stalls?
If so, please get in touch on g.m.drinkwater@btinternet.com. We can collect if necessary, or they can be dropped off locally.
A new monthly evening group for local writers starts next month.
Crosspool Writers Group will meet in Nest cafe, the newly re-opened coffee shop in the precinct. The idea is to share each other’s writing – all varieties, from autobiography to science fiction – and to give and receive feedback in a constructive and supportive environment.
The first meeting is on Wednesday 9 March, 6-8pm. It is free to attend – tea and coffee will be on sale.
For more information contact wendy.bradley.42@gmail.com or call in at Nest.
The Crosspool artists group has a vacancy for one more member.
Crosspool artists is a group of 12 people who meet at Stephen Hill Church on Mondays from 2-4pm.
They range from beginners to proficient, and no tuition is given but the artists help each other. They pay £3 per week which is paid at the beginning of each term.
If you are interested in joining them please contact Judith Hanson on 0114 268 1505.
Tapton Congregational Church on Manchester Road is hosting two upcoming events.
A short course by St John’s Ambulance providing Basic First Aid advice. The cost is £30 to non-church members. Contact Darryl Lomas 0114 230 8191/ Mobile: 07971 408809 to reserve a place.
Everyone welcome whatever your singing prowess or otherwise, just come along to the church.
You’re invited to come and support the young people of Crosspool as they perform the 48th annual youth pantomime at Stephen Hill Church next week, The Little Mermaid.
The show promises to be perfect half term holiday fun and includes lots of traditional pantomime laughs – custard pies, comedy sketches, singing, dancing and plenty of audience participation. This is your chance to support the fantastic effort put in by the young people living in and around Crosspool.
Tickets are still available for the Wednesday night show (10 Feb), Thursday night show (11 Feb) and Friday night show (12 Feb) – curtain up at 7.30pm!
Tickets are £5 (£4 for those aged 11 and below) and are available online or from or Bob Hodges on 0114 2303 207.
Do you have any unwanted prizes, gifts or bric-a-brac that might be suitable for the Crosspool Forum Summer Fayre tombola or one of the stalls?
If so, please get in touch on g.m.drinkwater@btinternet.com. We can collect if necessary, or they can be dropped off locally.
The dates for the 2016 festival are Friday 24 June-3 July, with the Summer Fayre scheduled for Saturday 2 July.
Crosspool News - crosspool.info 