51 bus service over Christmas 2011

First will run a reduced 51 bus service over the holiday period
First will run a reduced 51 bus service over the holiday period

First South Yorkshire has announced most of the timetable for the 51 bus route over Christmas and new year.

  • Normal services will finish early on Christmas eve and new year’s eve
  • No buses will run on Christmas day
  • A special timetable will operate on Boxing day and new year’s day – details to be confirmed on www.firstgroup.com
  • Tuesday 27 December and Monday 2 January: Sunday service
  • Wednesday 28 to Friday 30 December: Saturday service

Full details are on the First South Yorkshire website:

Christmas and new year First bus services (2011/12) in South Yorkshire

Further break-ins at Hagg Lane allotments

Around 20 allotment plots at Hagg Lane were broken into on Thursday 15 December.

Padlocks were cut and smashed from both gates and sheds in order to steal property, according to The Hagg Lane and District Gardeners’ Allotments Society. The society’s website says:

We have again been advised to let as many people as possible know who have suffered individual theft/damage to contact the Police (telephone 101) so they can quickly link all the reports together.

No one else can report on a plot holder’s behalf and it is very important that everyone affected contacts them and gains a crime reference number to help build the full picture of the above incidents.

The incident last week follows a break in at the same allotments back in October.

Break-ins at Hagg Lane allotments

Children’s Christmas canvas competition

Check out the Children's paintings in GT News
Check out the Children's paintings in GT News

If you happen to be in the Crosspool precinct over the next two or three weeks, have a look in the right-hand window of GT News.

You’ll find a display of pictures painted by year six children at Lydgate Infant School.

Although they are all commendable, your choice will be decisive in determining the winner of a competition to find the best. You can record your favourite with the GT News sales staff.

The child with the most votes by the 4 January 2012 will be presented with a £20 voucher.

Children’s Christmas Disco a big success

The Children's Christmas Disco at St Columba's
The Children's Christmas Disco at St Columba's

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.

Church services this Christmas in Crosspool

The four local Crosspool churches have announced their programme of services for the Christmas season:

St Columba’s Church of England

18 December 10am Family Communion; 4pm Festival of Angels Carol Service
24 December 4pm Candlelight Nativity Service; 11.30pm Midnight Communion (joint service with Beacon Methodist at Stephen Hill church)
25 December 10am Christmas amily Communion

Tapton Hill Congregational Church

18 December 2.45pm Candlelight Service
25 December 10.15am Christmas Day

St Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church

24 December 4pm Children’s Nativity Service (not Mass); 8pm Christmas Night Mass
25 December 10am Christmas Day Mass

Beacon Methodist Church at Stephen Hill

18 December 4pm Carol Service
24 December 4pm Children’s Service with Christingles; 11.30pm Midnight Communion (joint service with St Columba’s)
25 December 10am Worship For All Ages

Tapton student given special cross country award

Crosspool's James Gray winning the South Yorkshire Championship
Crosspool's James Gray winning the South Yorkshire Championship

A Tapton student, James Gray of Crosspool, has been awarded a special award from the Sheffield Federation of School Sports for his outstanding contribution to schools cross country running over the last seven years.

Eighteen year old James, who represented Yorkshire and South Yorkshire, and has been Sheffield and South Yorkshire champion for most of those seven years, was presented with the award at a ceremony attended by Councillor Dr Sylvia Dunkley, Lord Mayor of Sheffield, at the Sheffield United FC Bramall Lane on 24 November 2011.

He is also due to receive another honour in January from the South Yorkshire Schools Federation.

Angels return to Crosspool this Christmas

St. Columba's church, Crosspool
St. Columba's church, Crosspool

This Christmas, St Columba’s church in Crosspool is celebrating its second Angel Festival, using large willow angel figures created for the church by local artist Lesley Warren.

The word angel means “messenger” and community groups have been invited to create an angel that expresses the message of their group this Christmas. The host of angels will be exhibited at St. Columba’s over the weekend before Christmas. The exhibition is open from 10am-2pm on Saturday 17 December, with hand bell ringers at 11am.

On Sunday 18 December, the exhibition is open 3-4 pm with an Angel Carol Service at 4pm. Refreshments will be served and donations received in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, who have been a huge support to a local family.

51 bus: First responds to comments regarding frequency and reliability

51 bus service: First has responded to questions about frequency and reliability
51 bus service: First has responded to questions about frequency and reliability

At the last Crosspool Forum Open Meeting, residents raised the issue of the frequency and reliability of the 51 bus service. Our local councillor Geoff Smith has contacted First and asked us to publish the response he received.

He appreciates that it does not take us any further but thought our readers should know what was said. He has also contacted Stagecoach about running a service on the 51 route as well but has not received a reply yet.

South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive has a role in keeping bus companies to their advertised timetables. However, they need specific examples to take any action. If you have a specific example you wish to bring to their attention then you can do so by using pam.horner@sypte.co.uk or 0114 221 1452.

Response from First to Councillor Smith’s email:

Dear Councillor Smith,

Thank you for your email in relation to the problems passengers are receiving in Crosspool on Service 51.

Firstly, I am sorry to hear that passengers are unhappy with the service being received. There have been a number of timetable changes in recent times all with the objective of improving punctuality.

I have received feedback from our Scheduling Department as follows;
We have been analysing data for each journey over a period of a typical month and adjusting the timetable to account for known and predictable delays. For example, the slow queue up to Broomhill at the afternoon peak period, delays at school start and finish times etc. This has resulted at certain times in scheduled and published breaks in the timetable of slightly longer than the general frequency of 10 minutes. It’s the unexpected that can cause unscheduled breaks and there can be a variety of factors outside of our control.

There should be the facility for passengers to text “Your Next Bus” at the bus stop, if they have a mobile phone and this should provide the customer with an estimated arrival time of the next bus.

We can’t really draw comparisons between different services. It was always the case that different areas merit different frequencies and solutions. The population density along the 52 route is much stronger and so are passenger numbers. And another bus company has chosen to operate alongside First on the 52 route.

I hope the information provided is of assistance to you, however if you have any further questions then please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely
Amanda Maybury
Lead Customer Service Advisor
Subject: Update – 51 Bus Service

First snow of the season arrives in Crosspool

Snow on Watt Lane this morning
Snow on Watt Lane this morning

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.

Crosspool precinct this morning
Crosspool precinct this morning