Winter 2004

Editorial

This is always a busy time of year for most of us in the build up to Christmas and the New Year. Buying presents and planning family gatherings takes time. We are lucky in Bradway that we still have a good range of local shops, whether you are ordering a turkey, looking for sweets or treats, a bottle of wine, a Christmas tree or ideas for presents. When it comes to local shops it is a truism to say that it is a case of ‘use them or lose them'.

This year for the first time, the shops at the top of Twentywell Lane are staging a special Christmas Event on Sunday 12th December , with lots of seasonal activities and offers. I hope to see you there!

I'm not one for looking back over the year, but I cannot resist two comments. In the past the weeks around November 5th have been punctuated by deafening explosions, often late into the night. Whether it was the new legislation or the fear of it, it seems that this year there were far fewer random firework incidents. Great!

My second comment is about the appointment of a Council Traffic Manager. The state of Sheffield's roads and the extent of its traffic problems are two of the main negatives to living in the city. It is a sad reflection then, that the creation of this post is only because of a government directive, not local foresight, that the initial appointee is an existing Sheffield Council employee, and that published comment so far has suggested enforcing current restrictions rather than taking a radical/practical look at what actually impedes traffic flows!

Now another new year beckons, and with it the chance for new resolutions and commitment to change.

When we launched the Bugle we talked to as many local people as we could, in order to find out which local issues were causing concern and what people wanted from a community magazine. Over the last seven years the magazine has grown in size and circulation. But I am sure it could be better, so we would still welcome your ideas and comments on what we could change in the future. Any magazine is only as good as its readers, so let's hear from you!

As for the past, we already seem to have stirred some memories (see the letters in this issue) and generated some causes for debate. But we have only scratched the surface of Bradway's history and I am sure there are lots more memories, photos and information out there to be found. So lets look forward to another year of discovery.

Whatever your plans for Christmas, a quiet break, family gathering, or a trip away, we hope you enjoy it!

Seasonal good wishes to you all!

John Baker, Editor

Post Box

Dear Sir,

When are the Council going to do something about Tinkers Corner. Vehicles coming from the direction of Holmesfield and turning right onto Bradway Road are driving out of the junction without looking or slowing down.

Vehicles on Bradway Road turning right down Prospect Road (who are incidentally on the main road) are forever having near misses with other vehicles on this corner. Will it take a serious accident before this corner is made safe?.

We need the road signs re-painting and perhaps a large sign putting up just before the junction on the Holmesfield part of the road, drawing drivers attention to the halt sign and dangerous corner. I am sure many motorists think they are on the main road which is why they drive straight out of the junction.

K.L.Mettam

Dear Sir,

Beauchief Gardens

After a most enjoyable visit to "Art in the Park" at the Botanical Gardens, (what a delightful outing, so much to see and lovely weather), we stopped to feed the ducks at the Beauchief Gardens on the way home.

It is such a pity that, although the grass had been cut fairly recently, the shrubs and general appearance of the lovely little gardens was so run down. The lone wire refuse basket was more than overflowing with debris, cans, paper etc.

As we left, my daughter noticed the plaque near the gate commemorating the gift of the park and "sheet of water" to the public of Sheffield by that great benefactor, J G Graves. I had not realised the lovely little oasis was his gift, and it would be so good if it could be tidied up. The parts of Sheffield are, or could be, a great asset, much admired by local residents and visitors.

Mrs D Styles

Ed. We need to thank the "The Friends of Millhouses Park" for taking up the challenge.

Dear Sir,

Since you mentioned dog mess on the pavements of the Everard/Rosamund estate at Bradway, things have got a lot better. There are still a few turds around, but it is hoped that eventually even they will carry plastic bags and clean up after their pets.

B Terrier

Dear Sir,

I always find John Kirkman's letters most interesting. His knowledge of environmental issues, locally, nationally and no doubt internationally is considerable to say the least.

I wholeheartedly agree with the final comments of his letter in the last issue regarding alterations to gardens in the area, though I'm sure the problem is a national one. When our wildlife is struggling so much, the huge acreage of British gardens could make such a difference if people understood the benefits of natural gardens.

There is much that could be improved in our garden but we do follow organic principles, and plants in the last few years at least have been chosen with wildlife in mind rather than for show. Plants that seed themselves are mostly allowed to grow where it suits them and everything that can be composted becomes a fine and superb mulch which returns the nutrients to the soil, and with very little effort.

Unwanted woody stems are stacked in hidden places to rot down, providing shelter to hedgehogs and a tree trunk, laid at the top of the garden, has developed its own ecosystem and over the years has disappeared. In that quiet shaded area of the garden there are always birds foraging about. Leaves collected also make an excellent mulch if left in a plastic bag for a year or two.

Our garden is by no means pristine and bird feeders and water dishes need constant refilling and regular disinfecting but the rewards are great. We enjoy a wide range of local and visiting birds through the year including flocks of greenfinches and goldfinches and most of the tit family, often queuing up for their turn on the seed and nut feeders, especially in winter and the breeding season. Wrens, robins, blackbirds and dunnocks have their own soft bill and insectivorous foods, and some seed is sprinkled down for ground feeders.

The regular visit of a greater spotted woodpecker is a particular delight and we were quite pleased with the number of baby sparrows, some raised in our box and rooster pockets in the conifer hedge, considering their drop in numbers nationwide. A few have been lost as the neighbourhood sparrowhawk has been dropping in for a meal now and then, but he is magnificent and just part of the ecosystem.

We have a vixen around at present, though she may not last much longer knowing the speed of traffic on our roads. The hedgehog and frogs have helped keep slugs at bay, the latter sitting idly under the carpet on top of the compost heaps helping themselves to the slugs worms and insects. By allowing the lawn to grow a little longer and not using weedkillers we have a pretty sprinkling of buttercups and daisies and bees enjoy the flowers on the clover.

To return to John Kirkman's comment. There is a need for more off road parking and people should enjoy relaxing with their families in the garden but I think that increasingly too much garden is covered over in some way when it should be enhancing the house and helping wildlife.

Finally, when British gardens in many different ways can look so beautiful, why do people buy those spiky Mediterranean and desert plants, palm trees and pampas grass. They look good in their natural habitats but are out of place here and some are quite unattractive. I would imagine that they are not very beneficial to our wildlife. Surely until climate change gets the better of us we should cherish native plants and those that work well here at present, but especially those that help wild life the most.

Marian N. Tiddy

Light or dark?

Do you miss seeing all the stars at night? Have you noticed the orange glow over Sheffield?

Light pollution is a major environmental problem, yet street lighting doesn't have to contribute and the CPRE suggest you can help make sure it doesn't.

Keep an eye out for proposals in your area that include street lighting. When reviewing the proposals, try to ensure that the lamps being considered are full- cut-off or semi-cut-off lamps. The full cut-off type has the bulb surrounded on three sides by the casing, with a flat horizontal glass below, and emits no light at all above the horizontal. The semi-cut-off lamp is similar, but may have a shallow bowl or optics, emitting the light more to the sides.

County, district or unitary councils are responsible for lighting the great majority of roads in this country, but the Highways Agency is in charge of lighting ‘A' roads and highways. The local authority will have a lighting engineer who should be following the guidelines of the Institution of Lighting Engineers, which recommends minimal upward and sideways light. Lamps doing so are easy to purchase and are being used by authorities around the country.

Fighting light pollution means more than just reacting to proposals. One way to proactively tackle the problem of light pollution is to find out when the council is planning to replace its street lighting - and to suggest it uses full-cut-off lamps when it does.

Councils usually have a schedule of lamp replacement. Chances are, there are street lights near you that will soon need to be replaced. Over 60% of England's street lights are more than 20 years old and 27% are over 30 years, even though the design life of most types of lighting column is only 25 years.

Find out more by going to www.cpre.org.uk/campaigns or the Campaign for Dark Skies' website, www.dark-skies.org.

Risky drivers

Beware of Natasha, a likely crasher, and avoid Lloyd unless you want to end up on an insurance claim. The insurers esure claim that first names and the colour of car that drivers choose can make a big difference to how likely they are to make a claim on their car insurance.

Almost a third of men called Lloyd are likely to make a claim over the course of a year, and the record is even worse for women called Natasha. Over a third of them (35 per cent) emerge as claimants.

Though it may not seem the riskiest of colour choice, brown scores the highest proportion of claims, supplanting pink, which headed the table last year.

The riskiest men's names, with percentage making claims last year were:

Lloyd 30.0% Sam 28.2% Leon 28.0%

Phil 28.0% Rob 26.0%

Highest-risk women's names

Natasha 35.0% Shelley 31.0%

Juliet 30.0% Natalie 28.0% Justine 27.8%

The worst car colours were:

Brown 22.6% Pink 21.3% Black 20.9%

Yellow 20.8%

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