Did you Know?

As another year comes to an end, it is a time to reflect, remember and regret. While national and international issues dominate the press it is the sometimes small local issues that really impact upon our lives.

Change is often slow, almost insidious, until something makes you look back at how things once were. Bungalows metamorphose into houses, gardens into flats, roads and pavements disappear under parked cars. High gates and spiked fencing springs up in front of properties - fortress Dore? Trees and hedges are lopped or vanish. Views from the recreation ground and your own window change.
Yet things that we want to happen such as improvements to road safety take an age. Procrastination and delay eat into the very funds which are supposed to be in short supply. School land will be sacrificed and future liabilities created for the sake of PFI and a new secondary school building. Now even our old peoples homes are under threat from inadequate funding, forcing those in need of sheltered accommodation to move even further afield.

Nobody should be against progress, but does it have to be piecemeal or by chance? The government is busy promoting elected Mayors, but we don't even have a community voice or plan.There must surely be a better way of managing development for the benefit of the community as a whole.

Maybe when I wake from my winters hibernation the real needs and wishes of our society will have been addressed. I wish!

Doremouse

Ryecroft Farm

Following the concern created a year ago by the massive unheralded tipping associated with the creation of a riding circle, issues around further unsightly tipping on the farm have been raised with the Council as both landlords and as the relevant planning authority.
Reassurances have been given over the landscaping of one area and the imposition of further restraints on the tipping activity sadjacent to Dore Road.

Quiet Lane et al

In our May edition we reported that the Dore Village Society had approached the Council to consider whether Whitelow Lane should be designated as a 'Quiet Lane' under new government legislation and the speed limit reduced accordingly. We are now told that no progress can be made without this being part of a wider 'Speed Management Strategy' for all roads in Sheffield. (Very relevant!) This it would seem is unlikely to be completed and approved in less than a year, involving a study contracted to consultants.

Meanwhile there have been no developments on the area-wide speed management scheme for Dore, heralded in our last issue and in the local press. Work has yet too start on the Causeway Head Road crossing or the yellow lines at the bottom of Dore Road, although an undated notice about the proposed lines is on display at Dore Station, but without a closing date for comments.

One piece of good news is that, following a quick reaction to the appearance of two sets of new sign posts on the green space in front of Whirlow Gardens, we were able to get one for Sheffield Airport removed, and the other distance sign to Rotherham moved further down the road to the bus stop area.

Finally we formally approached Planning, Transport & Highways in September asking for a meeting about road safety issues on Hathersage Road, following the number of fatal accidents in recent years. We will let you know when this happens.

News in Brief

The £150 proceeds from the charity auction at this years enjoyable Dore Show were donated to the Sheffield Wildlife Trust.
Netherby Grange nursing home on Dore Road has closed.

Castleton Christmas Lights will be switched on at 4.30pm on Saturday 24 November, then daily from 3.30pm to midnight until 3 January 2002.
A team from King Ecgbert School came out top from schools across the country in a citizenship quiz held at Doncaster's Earth Centre in October.

David Williams

After 9 years, David will be taking his last services on November 25th, having accepted a post at Christ Church Winchester, from January 2002.

It was soon apparent that, to him the title "Vicar of Dore" encompassed more than the care of church members. David's ministry has been in every area of the community. To say that he threw himself into activities was sometimes physically true as well, the Gala Tug of War being one. Long in my memory too will be a happy scene after Evensong - David in full robes, chasing the ducks home at dusk past the Hare and Hounds.

To write about the many projects driven by his dynamic personality is impossible in one article. Two of the building projects - The Ark at the Church Hall and the Old School Extension, might never have taken off without his vision and optimism- the latter in his role, very much a working role, as a member of the Old School Trustees. Both were the result of David's commitment to the growth of youth work (children's groups now numbering nearly

90) to encouraging talents and confidence. This motivated the need for extra space and a chance to benefit all other local groups. Many more adults are now actively engaged in Sunday worship, Alpha courses, house groups, weekday toddler groups and organising social events.

At the other extreme from the picnics and the fun, David was also the man when crisis struck. Never one for delay, he would cross Sheffield in the middle of the night to deal with a suicide and also spend hospital hours supporting families of the critically ill. Services following national tragedies have often been dramatic and moving; the opportunity again for witness and support. The ministry team has stronger participation in the local schools, Old Folks Homes and Aldine House, whilst the larger lay ministry cover home visits.
The Church serving the community is also very visible in the large number of christenings and weddings at Dore. David's great gift for people shows itself in the hundreds of names he carries in his head on these occasions and an instinctive grasp of the dynamics of those families. Also of abiding interest, the old village families, their tales and feuds!

Needing a larger sphere to work in, it was appropriate that he became Area Dean in charge of 13 churches. He was the first vicar of Dore to be entrusted with that responsibility and also the youngest.

There have been many other firsts; first Passover meal, first Parish Office, first church in Sheffield to have 5 Sunday services, first weekend away for the whole church, and the first vicar not to follow this post with retirement.
We acquired the first "curate's house" and with Matt and Emma Ineson, Sheffield's first jobshare married curates. As we hope to hear exciting news of the Williams family in Winchester we think of Matt and Emma and wish them well as they take charge of Dore parish during the interregnum.

And to the " Man in a Hurry" we're grateful that he stayed with us so long.

Gillian Farnsworth

Stepping Out

The Dore Village Society offers an occasional programme of walks, mainly in the area around Dore, for both members and visitors. Recent outings included an enjoyable and interesting walk & visit to three Halls in the Totley area during September and walking the line of the Totley Tunnel to Grindleford (returning by train) in October.

Forthcoming walks include an inaugural Wassail Walk on 27th December and a bracing stroll on the 5th February, both starting at 10am from the Old School.

Letters

Dear Sir,
On behalf of the Greentop Community Circus Centre in Sheffield I would like to thank the people of Dore for their generous donation to the work of this small, local registered charity. Earlier this year the collections taken from the village well dressings were distributed to three charities and this year Greentop was selected to be one of them.
Greentop is located in a converted church in the Brightside area of Sheffield. The centre aims to act as a multi purpose venue for the local community and to teach human circus skills to adults and children. (Human Circus skills include trapeze, juggling, stilt walking, acrobalance and clowning.) The premises are regularly used by a number of groups including one that uses our equipment to give exercise to severely handicapped adults.
The centre has recently been awarded a National Lottery Grant of £24,000 to provide out of school activities to local children, many of whom come from families where parents are unemployed. We also have financial support from the local council and, in the past, we have been supported by other organisations such as the South Yorkshire Police. The donation made by the village has been targeted to help refuge children to integrate into their new communities. Greentop will teach these children, alongside local children, skills where language is not a bar to achieving success and where co operation and fun can help to build self esteem and friendships.
Without financial support the centre would not be able to provide the range of activities that it does.
Once again 'a big thank you' to everyone in Dore from everyone at Greentop.

Caroline Veal, Fundraising
Co ordinator, Greentop Circus Centre

Dear Sir,
I was interested to see the photograph on page 3 of the Autumn 2001 edition of Dore to Door relating to Dore Avenue in California.
During a recent visit to south west Herefordshire, I was reminded of the name Dore given to the river that drains the Golden Valley. At the valley head lies the village of Dorston whilst lower down, not fat from the confluence of the rivers Dore and Monsow, is the small village of Abbey Dore (west bank) and Dore Court Gardens (east bank). The remains of the Cistercian, Dore Abbey are situated nearby.

Paul Williams

Dear Sir,
Since the Mercia Building of King Ecgbert's School on Furniss Avenue was built some forty years ago a great number of former pupils will now be scattered far and wide.

I understand that the school is now to be re built, enlarging the present Wessex site off Totley Brook Road and the Mercia building site being sold off for housing development. I am concerned about the fate of the amphibians who use the small pond situated in the centre of the Mercia building for breeding.

A friend has been told by a third party that prior to the Mercia site being built around 1957 60 a house stood on the site and the pond was in existence then. The owner of this house also kept a shop in Dore village. The school was built around the pond to preserve it and I have been wondering if this was a condition for planning permission being granted and if this was so I fail to see why this cannot be retained.
I have good reason to believe that the goldfish presently in the pond were introduced in about 1980. Goldfish and breeding newts are not an ideal combination!

If any former pupil can recall when the pond was built and why I would be most grateful. Also, because the specific type of amphibians cannot be physically identified until they return to breed, if they can recollect what species of frog, toad and newt use the pond for breeding. Perhaps they could contact either myself or the edoitor with this or any other information.

Albert T Smith
251 Totley Brook Road

Dear Sir,
"The autumn leaves come falling down"..... and in a hilly village, unless 'somebody' does something about it, they will block the drains and cause the roads to flood.

I have been interested in this matter for years and have often taken a strong stick and cleared the leaves covering the surface of a blocked drain. On 50% of these occasions, this has been enough, and whoosh- all the water has gone down there and then and the road flooding below has ceased. If you do this, be very careful not to lose hold of the stick. (In some cases, the drain is already full up with leaves and it would take the old fashioned drain ladle to cope with it.)

I tackled the owner of one large establishment about this matter this week. There was a real flood outside the property. The response was 'I am too busy to deal with that. It is the council's responsibility.'

Yes, but the leaves all over Sheffield come down at the same time. The council cannot be everywhere. I do feel that if citizens would keep an eye on the road drain by their property, these problems would be minimised. Also if the able bodied could (as many already do) sweep up the pavement leaves regularly, at this time of the year, instead of letting them accumulate in great piles to blow about, the problem could be halved "upstream".

"Observer"

Dear Sir,
With regard to the name, Abbey Dore is interesting. It lies in the Golden Valley about twelve miles south west of Hereford and has an active 'Friends' Support group. Built during the time that Norman French was the official language of the country, it was of course originally Abbaye d'Or. Lovely!

Muriel Tompkins

Dear Sir,
(This letter was recently sent to local MP Richard Allen and copied to us)

I recall that earlier this year you considered organising a survey of the No.50 bus service. In the past few weeks delays and omissions have highlighted what a poor service is being provided. Two of the reasons for the delays are the increased traffic and the number of cars and vans parked on the route.

Every new house in Dore and Whirlow seems to entail two more cars. These will be used in preference to buses if these are infrequent and unreliable in both collection and delivery times. A vicious spiral of deterioration can only be reversed by an improved bus service and a marketing campaign.

Meanwhile, all plans for further dwellings in Dore and Whirlow should be suspended, and all applications should be resisted, on the grounds that there is an inadequate infrastructure of public transport.

Tom Umpleby

Ed. Issues here for the review of Sheffields U.D.P. - see article. Is it coincidence, or is my impression correct that the route only gets buses in the worst possible physical condition?

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