The Crosspool Clarion is the official newsletter of Crospool Forum. It is a free, quarterly publication, with over 2,500 copies delivered to local households.
To read PDFs on your computer, you may need to first download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.
This means that you’ll be able to wave a pre-pay card, or debit/credit card in front of the machine to pay your fare. The new system will also have the capability to accept payment via mobile phone.
The new-style paper ticket issued on the 51 bust
It doesn’t look like the new contactless payment systems aren’t yet active on the 51 route, so in the meantime you’ll still receive a paper ticket when paying by cash.
Snow arrived in Crosspool on Saturday afternoon, causing problems on local roads and delays to public transport services.
Saturday lunchtime: snow starts to fall in Crosspool precinct
Major roads were gritted in preparation for the snowfall, which was over 10cm deep on some areas by the morning.
By Sunday afternoon the 51 bus service was back to normal and most of the main roads through Crosspool were passable. However, surface snow and ice on side roads were continuing to cause trouble for cars, with evidence of at least one minor accident in the neighbourhood.
The thaw appears to have already started and no further snow is forecast over the next few days. However, as temperatures remain low, any lingering snow and surface water may turn to ice so drivers and pedestrians are advised to take care – particularly on Crosspool’s hilly roads.
Do also check up on your neighbours who may feel isolated and vulnerable during the bad weather.
Sunday lunchtime: main roads through Crosspool such as Watt Lane were clear
This year’s Stephen Hill Youth pantomime is Hansel and Gretel. It runs from Wednesday 15 February to Saturday 18 February. Tickets, at £4 or £3 for under-12s are available from Bob Hodges on 0114 230 3207.
Get your tickets now for the Stephen Hill pantomime Hansel and Gretal
At the request of one of the younger members of our community, Crosspool Forum was proud to organise a Children’s Christmas Disco party.
As a result on Sunday 4 December, 35 young children enjoyed a party atmosphere in St Columba’s Church Hall.
Local children danced to the amusing music of Fabio’s Disco, enjoyed the excitement of playing musical chairs and were thrilled to pass-the-parcel, whilst their accompanying relatives relaxed with a cuppa and a bite to eat. With all this exertion, it wasn’t long before the children became thirsty and enthusiastically consumed the refreshments of drinks and nibbles.
At around 3.15 in the afternoon, little faces lit up when Santa arrived with gifts for all the children.
Thank you so very much to those who made the afternoon a great success and in so doing supported our endeavours to ensure that the children of Crosspool had a wonderful time, a smile and above all, happy memories.
Last night the first snow of the season settled in Crosspool.
By this morning the pavements and roads were lightly covered. At 8am, it had turned to slush on the main road through the precinct and on Manchester Road. Some light snow was still falling.
There is no snow on the ground once you get past Shore Lane, however it is still very wet and quite slippery so be careful if you are heading out.
The Crosspool Clarion is the official newsletter of Crospool Forum. It is a free, quarterly publication, with over 2,500 copies delivered to local households.
To read PDFs on your computer, you may need to first download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.
After delivering milk to the residents Crosspool for the past 45 years, local dairyman, Ian Mosley, has decided to retire.
Ian and his two brothers, Peter and Keith, following in their father’s footsteps, have farmed in the Rivelin Valley all their lives. The family herd of dairy cows can be seen grazing on the hills visible from S10. Their milk was unique in this area in that it was produced, processed, bottled and delivered by one family, M.G. Mosley and Sons.
In 1966 (when England won the world cup), at the age of nineteen Ian started to deliver milk to the Crosspool area. He did this seven days a week until eight years ago when he had to take three months off work after undergo major heart surgery, retuning to deliver six days a week all year round including all bank holidays except Christmas Day and new year’s day.
Memories
Ian has many fond memories of Crosspool spanning the last 45 years. He remembers the first winter, when he was ‘young and daft’, running far too fast one Saturday morning and slipping on ice. He was outside Diane’s hairdressers (now Direct Travel) and fell, cuffing his hand on a broken bottle.
He went to Mrs Senior at the newsagent (now La Dolce Vita) to ask for a plaster. “You don’t need a plaster, you need a hospital” she said. By luck, Mr Jacob of Dransfield Road was also in the shop and offered Ian a lift to the Royal Hospital. Four stitches later, Ian caught a bus back to Crosspool and finished the milk round.
Winter weather
MG Mosley & Sons milk float in the snow last December
Rain, sleet, hail and snow have never stopped the daily delivery. One bad winter the tractor was needed to overcome the icy hills. The Fuller family of Barnfield Close ran a tote betting what time Ian would manage to reach them. Simon Fuller won the bet – it was 7:30pm that Saturday night before he made it!
Boxing day 1970 proved a great day for sales. After delivering every drop of milk over 30 customers were still awaiting their milk. Never known to give up, Ian returned to the farm, persuaded the cows to be milked again, persuaded his brothers to bottle the milk and then returned to deliver to the remaining customers. (That’s what you call fresh milk!)
As the round expanded Ian needed extra help. Customers and staff fondly remember his first full time assistant, Alix Hickerman, who sadly died in 1997. He has employed many milk lads over the years and in 1983 Ian was nagged by a “troublesome boy” who begged for a job as a milk lad. Ian finally relented: that boy was of course Alex Elwood.
Whilst Ian was at the frontman, bringing milk to the doorstep, his two older brothers were working hard, running the dairy and caring for the cows. The farm supplied milk to local restaurants and nursing homes and also to other milkmen in the area, thus ensuring that fresh farm milk was available to the entire district of S10.
Keeping milk local
In the 1990s supermarket sales hit the business hard as cheap milk was used as a loss leader. However, attitudes have changed in recent times as people realise that the re-use of glass bottles is the most environmentally friendly process available: better even than re-cycling. Customers have also become aware that supermarket milk can be as much as four days old before reaching the shelves; often having travelling in huge tankers for hundreds of miles across the country.
Ian set up his family home on a farm only ten minutes from Crosspool where he and his late wife Hazel found time to raise two daughters. Ian’s father, Milson, continued to deliver milk until the ripe old age of 86 when a stroke forced him to retire. Ian intends to spend his retirement working (full time) on the farm, so he only has another 21 years of working on the farm to equal Milson’s achievement.
Crosspool’s current milkmen
Crosspool residents are fortunate, in so much as, they still have a choice of two dairy men delivering milk in the area.
Robert Gray will be taking over Ian’s milk round, so the service shouldn’t be interrupted. Robert has worked for M.G. Mosley & Sons for the past ten years. They still have a herd of cows, but no longer have the plant to process the milk.
The other milkman serving Crosspool is Russell Lister. Russell and Ian had an understanding with regards to milk deliverers, and neither delivers milk on the same roads.
Ian sends thanks and best wishes to all in Crosspool for their friendship and acquaintance. Crosspool Forum wishes Ian a long and happy retirement.
A local scout and cub group was victim to wood thieves last weekend.
Timber pallets were delivered to Stephen Hill Scout Group last Friday afternoon in preparation for their fundraising bonfire on Sunday night in Calver Field, off Hagg Lane.
But between Friday and Sunday the wood went missing, forcing organisers to go ahead with fireworks but no bonfire.
The annual event raises valuable funds for the group.
Crosspool News - crosspool.info 