A cause for debate - May 1998

Before 1935, Dore, Totley, Bradway, Greenhill, Norton and part of Beauchief were all part of Norton Rural District Council; a separate local authority in Derbyshire. Should we not campaign to recover some form of separate identity, perhaps as parish councils within the City of Sheffield. Some areas such as Stocksbridge still have their own parish councils even though they are part of Sheffield.

oday, Bradway has approximately 1850 dwellings within its original boundary, some 6500 people, larger than the population of Bakewell, twice the size of Baslow. Take all the other areas within the old Norton Rural District Council jurisdiction and we have a very sizable town. If it was still in Derbyshire it would almost certainly be the third largest settlement in the county, larger than Buxton, larger than Ripley. Don't we of the Norton Rural District area deserve some small amount of local control, such as people have in Bakewell, Baslow and Buxton?
If there was some form of local council identity perhaps more pride would be taken in looking after our area, the little things that do not cost a lot of money to deal with, just the will to care and act.

For example, Sheffield trumpets itself as a city of tourism; but how does it greet the tourist. Well, imagine we are strangers. We have driven up from the south, along the Dronfield by-pass and we come to the big roundabout at Meadowhead. We are looking for directions to show us where to go and the first signboard we come to in Sheffield has the left hand third missing, (for well over a year). It is to the left where we want to go, so immediately we are confused.

Well, let's make the best of it. We know we want to be in a westward direction and we head off down the Greenhill Parkway looking for direction signs. At the next roundabout our hopes are raised, a signboard, but then we see on this one that the right hand two thirds are missing - so no help from that. And yet another signboard missing (judging by the empty frame) as we leave the roundabout. Carry on. We know we want to be roughly in the direction of Dore and Totley, we come to another signpost (we locals know it as the top of Twentywell Lane) but we travellers sense there is something wrong because the sign to Dore is pointing over a green field (in the opposite direction to Dore).
We muddle on, not thinking much of this city of tourism that cannot bother to keep road signs in order to help the visitor. We are lost, but then see some signs saying 'Abbeydale Hamlet'. We've heard of this place. It is world famous - let's call in and see it - we get there but its all closed up - permanently. Again, no one cared enough to cover over the signs.

Never mind, we have been driving a long way and we desperately need a toilet. We are going down Abbeydale Road South to the junction with Abbey Lane. At last we see a 'toilet' sign on a lamppost. We are at traffic lights. We have to drive on some way before we can park and it's a long walk back. Oh despair. They are all bricked up. No one cared enough to remove the sign when they closed the toilets. We travellers are feeling pretty disenchanted about this City of Sheffield.

If I were the visitor to Sheffield, I would give up at this point: if it is like this on the outskirts, what is the main city like?

My point in saying all this is that if there were branch council offices (representing Parish Councils) on the ground, with an involvement for smaller individual areas, some sense of pride and care may be engendered. Local people, seeing problems such as I have related above, would have a human sized local contact point to talk to. We might start getting the local pride and interest in our local town areas that people in Bakewell, Baslow and so many other small towns seem to display.
Remember 'Norton Rural District Council'!
Tony Smith

Ode to the pub - May 1998

If like me, you love your traditional English pub, the opening of the revamped Fox House last month will be seen as another nail its coffin. Not so long ago the Dore Moor Inn, originally built to serve stagecoach traffic on the new Hathersage Turnpike, suffered a re-vamp and Disneyfication of its Inn sign. Now the brewery has gone one step further, taking its pseudo period format into another historic building.
I can understand the logic of restoring the out-buildings as bedroom accommodation, and even the need to give the building a lick of paint. But to spend £1.2 million? Just think how many pints or overnight stays will be needed to recoup that!

And why change the inside so radically? Now it is aimed fair and square at the motorised tourist, ironically just when drink driving rules are being tightened. If however you are a walker or dog owner, your dirty boots and hound are no longer welcome here. Surely it wasn't beyond the imagination of the brewery to accommodate these traditional customers. As a result numerous walking guides to the Peak Park will need to be rewritten. Still no doubt the National Trust shop and cafe on the Longshore Estate will benefit from an increase in trade, as will the Grouse Inn towards Frogget, now the nearest civilised pub for walkers and their dogs.

As for the new sign! Are future generations to believe that foxes lived in cute kennels with weather veins on top? This current obsession by breweries to misrepresent or change pub names, is destroying our past heritage. Many of our pub names go back to Medieval or even Roman times. Thus the White Hart recalls the emblem of Richard II, The Dog & Duck, Charles II's hunting of mallard with spaniels, and The Crown & Anchor was the badge of Royal Navy petty officers who retired to become landlords. Nearer to home in the eighteenth century, the Marquis of Granby set up his soldiers as inn keepers when they left the army.
So a plea to all brewers. Keep you new names and ideas for new pubs, and leave the old well alone. John Baker

Editorial - February 1998

Love them or hate them, dogs are here to stay. Anyone who has owned a dog will confirm they really are man's best friend, and if they are honest, that the problems they sometimes cause are really down to the owners themselves. A well trained dog is not likely to be a threat to anyone or to leave its business on footpaths. Ironic then that all these dog loving owners are the very people that give dogs a bad name. A little thought, and carrying a plastic bag, could make a world of difference.

Unfortunately the thoughtlessness of some dog owners has led to the passing, earlier this year, of new by-laws within the Peak District National Park requiring dogs to be kept on a lead at all times on open access moorland. While the dogs right to roam is curtailed, their owners could face a fine of up to £500 for slipping the lead.

Nearer home, it seems that with the increasing modernisation of pubs and their conversion to "eating houses", the traditional walk to the pub with the dog is threatened. Food Safety Regulations (1995) specify that food (including drink) on sale to the public in food shops, restaurants or bars, must be protected from risk of contamination. Many establishments assume that this means dogs cannot legally be allowed on their premises. If fact no court has given a specific ruling and no law says that dogs can or cannot be brought into such premises whether or not food and drink is being served. Ultimately the management of the establishment makes the rules.
How often I wonder, is this decision based on the past action of one inconsiderate dog owner, or an assumption that "people" think dogs should be excluded. Somehow a family friend on the pub floor seems little threat to food on a kitchen surface. Yet it seems that once again the dog is to be separated from its pack leader. It's a dogs life.

Editorial - May 1998

Launching a new magazine is certainly an experience! Somehow, everything that can go wrong does - and frequently. On the other hand, it provides a unique opportunity to make new friends, find out information about the area, and the reward of providing something people really welcome.
To those readers for whom this is the first edition you have received, we apologise. We were badly let down by the organisation which was contracted to organise the delivery and it is clear they missed out some houses and flats. This time the editor, his family and friends are doing the delivery!
Those who did receive the first edition will notice some changes, not least that it is larger thanks to increased sponsorship from advertisers - please be sure to tell advertisers where you saw their services advertised. There is also a new mast head, courtesy of pressure from my daughter to be more modern!
Before launching the Bugle we talked to as many local people as we could, in order to find out which local issues were causing concern. Also peoples hobbies and interests, and what they would like to see in a community magazine. Hopefully we managed in our first edition to cover some of these, but we would still welcome ideas and comments on what we could include in future.
As for the past, we already seem to have stirred some memories (see the letters in this issue) and generated some causes for debate. One thing to come to light is that there was a previous local magazine. We would be particularly interested to see copies of this, or to make contact with anyone involved in publishing it. Can you help on this?
Finally an observation from talking to people over the last 3 months. What comes across strongly is a sense of isolation from Sheffield proper. Whether it is inadequate public transport, poor maintenance of roads, or lack of local services, there is a feeling that Sheffield Council as a whole disregards the area. A call for more local democracy is made by Tony Smith in this issue and is endorsed by this editor. Alternatively we can only hope that the increased Liberal Democrat representation on the Council will make the ruling Labour group more aware of the public's wish for them to concentrate on local issues, rather than grandiose schemes.
Which reminds me of a quotation that seems to aptly apply to Mike Bowers recent departure - "It is easy to differentiate between the true leader and the professional politician. The first lives for politics; the second lives off politics" [Mariano Grondona].

John Baker, Editor

Post Box

Dear Sir
'Supertram fiasco' - Once we had a good subsidised bus service in Sheffield, paid for by high rates, but from which we all benefitted. Now it looks as if we will face increased council tax charges for supertram. - only we don't benefit in this part of Sheffield!
Equally we did not elect the councillors who committed us to this expense. So why should we pay any increased charges, shouldn't it be those councillors or the people that are supposed to benefit - not us! Justifiably aggrieved

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