Don’t forget that Geoff’s Crosspool surgery takes place between 12.30pm and 2pm on the third Wednesday of the month (except December) in St Columba’s Church on Manchester Road.
He is also happy to see constituents at other times – contact him on 0114 273 5588, 07581 214783 and geoff.smith2@sheffield.gov.uk. You can also follow him on Twitter at @geoffforcrookes.
A Crosspool house was featured on a BBC TV programme yesterday.
The distinctive new-build home near the top of Darwin Lane appeared on To Build or Not To Build, which was broadcast yesterday morning. You can watch the show again on iPlayer for the next seven days.
The Friends of Lydgate Green are organising a day to work on the flower beds.
This Sunday 2 October, volunteers will be weeding, moving plants, litter picking and tidying up.
They’re inviting anyone interested in helping to come along from 10am. It’s a family affair, the more the merrier – bring your forks, spades, barrows & buckets!
There are gaps to be filled so any spare perennials for donation are also very welcome.
Lydgate Green is on the Lydgate Lane/Lydgate Hall Crescent junction in Crosspool.
Can you solve the mystery of the Crosspool tunnel?
Joe Castle writes:
Digging in his back garden a while ago, the resident of a semi-detached house on the top side of Manchester Road hit a real snag when his spade struck a sizeable stone some three feet below ground level.
Further digging at either side exposed even more stones and, in fact a line of them extending the full width of the garden.
Naturally, very curious, and with some prizing (and fortuitously great care) he was met with an unbelievable sight witnessed by his equally inquisitive 12-year old son who had arrived on the scene. More stones were lifted and there, a yard or so below, several lines of setts were revealed.
Carrying a camera the lad gingerly jumped down into the hole. His, (adult verified) findings were a circular-shaped tunnel, some 20-25 inches in diameter, constructed of irregular shaped pieces of stone and stretching both ways into the darkened distance. There was a covering of silt on the tunnel floor.
A knowledgeable resident told me the tunnel’s two terminals were: at one end The Sportsman and at the other the bottom of Coldwell Lane. Apparently, many residents who had alterations made to their houses (the tunnel passes through the back-gardens of 51 properties) had been made aware of its existence.
Why is it there, anyway? What purpose does or did it serve; any ideas? I’ll put forward my theory in the next issue of the Crosspool Clarion but your views will be very welcome.
I have looked at the old maps of Crosspool and nothing is shown on them to indicate what the mystery tunnel can be. However I do know that there was an adit – an opening to a coal mine – just behind The Sportsman. Maybe it could have something to do with that?
There are coal seams all over this area and several of the people who lived in Clough Fields hamlet were miners. There was a Hallam coal field but where exactly it was I have not been able to find out.
An interesting addition to this is that there was a footpath from Manchester Road up to Sandygate Road- approximately where the gennel is on Manchester Rd, coming out at the top of Ringstead Crescent.
And yes, if you are from Sheffield its a gennel and not a ginnel!
What do you think? Do you have any ideas about what it might be?
Calling all budding writers and especially those that came to the writing workshop during the Crosspool Festival.
Adrian Scott will be starting a new series of workshops in town at Montgomery Arts Centre on Surrey Street in town. He hopes to encourage and enrich writers to tap into their creative abilities and help them to explore different styles of writing.
The sessions are monthly on Monday nights starting on 26 September from 7pm-9pm. They are open to anyone, costing £7 per session or £20 for three.
Call Margaret or Dawn on 0114 272 0455 for further details or look on the website www.macsheffield.org.uk to get a booking form.
We’ve ordered some more bulbs and want your suggestions for places in Crosspool where we could consider planting them. So if you know a bit of land or area that would benefit from a splash of colour then let us know by filling in the form below. We need your ideas by the end of September.
If you’re interested in lending an hour or two of your time to help plant the bulbs in October then look out for details on here.
Our local councillor Geoff Smith has published details of his monthly surgeries.
His Crosspool surgery takes place between 12.30pm and 2pm on the third Wednesday of the month (except December) in St Columba Church on Manchester Road.
The Labour councillor also runs a Crookes surgery between 6.30pm and 7.30pm, on the fourth Wednesday of the month (except December) in the Gilbert Room, St Thomas Church (opposite Crookes post office), Crookes.
He is also happy to see constituents at other times – contact him on 0114 273 5588, 07581 214783 and geoff.smith2@sheffield.gov.uk. You can also follow him on Twitter at @geoffforcrookes.
Crosspool won silver in the Sheffield in Bloom awards
For the second year running, the plants in Crosspool precinct have won silver in the Sheffield in Bloom awards.
The prize was presented to Crosspool Forum chairman Ian Hague at the Town Hall last month.
We’ll be aiming for gold in 2012 and also have plans to feature flags and bunting in the precinct as part of the Olympics and the Queen’s diamond jubilee celebrations.
The silver prize is presented to Crosspool Forum chairman Ian Hague by Lord Mayor Sylvia Dunkley at the Town HallSheffield in Bloom awards at the Town Hall
There is been some good news this week in that the shop is now in the hands of a new owner and will open under a new name, The Farm Shop at Coppice House.
Butcher Mike Kilner is in charge of the business. He has had previous experience of running farm shops and you may also know him as he was once landlord at the Sportsman in Lodge Moor.
Do you know anyone in Crosspool who is a learner with little confidence or who has not used ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) before?
If you know someone who is having difficulty getting to grips with word processing, presentations, spreadsheets, or using the internet and sending emails, why not suggest that they book a place on one of our two-hourly classes?
A laptop is provided and a projector is used to display lessons on to a large screen.
The Crosspool Forum’s next computer courses, for beginner’s and the more advanced, are scheduled to run for a 10 week term from January 2012. Registrations, 9.30am Friday 6TH January, St Columba’s Church Hall, Manchester Road.
To reserve a place in either class, please contact Ian Hague on 0114 335 1674 or crosspoolforum@fsmail.net
Crosspool News - crosspool.info 