NEWSLETTER: 21 JUNE 2020

Get active to fight plastic
Every year an estimated 14 million pieces of plastic end up in and around our canals and rivers. Why not join the Canal & Rivers Trust’s  Plastics Challenge?

It is a bit last minute, but now that restrictions are being relaxed, we have decided to pick up this challenge by doing a litter pick this Friday 26 June, meeting at the container by the lock at 9.30 am, though I feel sure someone will be near the car park on Nursery Lane to distribute sacks and litter picking equipment for anyone who turns up. 

The CRT’s interest is particularly in relation to canals and rivers, so I expect it will concentrate on the Trans-Pennine Trail, the Island and around the Fish Pass.  However, picking anywhere within the locality will be greatly appreciated.  The more helpers that turn up, the better, so tell all your friends.

Hello again everyone. 

Can you believe it’s the longest day today!  It seems only a short time since I wrote last February and yet so much has happened in the meantime, with the Coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown since the end of March.  On a personal level, it has been horrendous, with break-ins, thefts and further damage being caused to our home and those of other residents at Lower Sprotborough, so that we now worry about starting any renovation due to the possibility of further criminal activity.

None of that, however, has had any impact on the popularity of the Gorge as visitors have flooded in (no pun intended) on a daily basis since before the lockdown, regardless of social distancing, and the parking has been worse than ever, not helped by the Boat Inn car park being unavailable.  On several occasions cars have been parked all the way up Nursery Lane and on double yellow lines from the car park to the Boat Inn entrance, including inconsiderate parking across the access to the lane to the woods, so that residents have been unable to get in or out.  It is also unacceptable for cars to park in front of the gate to the river bank when the turning space may be required for the farmer and delivery or workers’ vehicles involved in the cottage renovations.

DGCG AGM

This was held in March and we welcomed Ian Carpenter as our new Chairman.  I feel sure he is going to prove to be an excellent choice and will lead us on to better things.  Cllr Alan Bennett, representing Warmsworth Parish Council, was elected Treasurer and other committee members are Cllr Cynthia Ransome, representing S&C Parish Council, Steve Swift and Paul Allot of Sprotbrough and  Mark Whittaker of Warmsworth.

Free Trees

Just to update you on this.  The trees were planted and it is hoped they are now growing well, though I must admit I personally haven’t been able to go and check.

Co-op Community Fund

This fund is progressing very nicely and we have already received nearly £3000 from donations from Co-op members, so a big thank you goes out to all those lovely people who have chosen our group as their designated charity this year.  The final grant will come in October, so there is still time for anyone who shops at the Co-op to become a member and choose us.  There are shops at Askern, Cantley, Doncaster and Edlington, including funeral parlours.

“Sprotbrough Oral History: From Rural Estate to Real Estate”

Unfortunately we had to cancel meetings during the lockdown, but the ‘home-time’ has given me space to make good progress with the book and I am now just waiting for the last three contributors to send in their final amendments.  I am also hoping that we will all soon be able to meet again for a group photograph for the book, which has been impossible so far.  It will then go out to a few ‘readers’ for checking before going to the printers.  I am now hoping it will be out around the end of July. 

Liz Reeve

Secretary

Emails:

lizreeve@dongorgecommunitygroup.com

and

soh.lizreeve@gmail.com

Website: www.dongorgecommunitygroup.com/

Blogs:

http://dongorgecommunitygroup.blogspot.com

and

 https://sprotbroughoralhistory.blogspot.com/

Tel: 01302 313030

Mobile: 07918124040

SPROTBROUGH ORAL HISTORY: From Rural Estate to Real Estate

Won’t be long now. 

The Sprotbrough Oral History project will soon be ending and the book, 

‘Sprotbrough Oral History: 

From Rural Estate to Real Estate’ 

should be available by Summer.

 It tells about life in the village from cradle to grave, from 1925 to 1965, and contains the history of the village, as well as biographies of some of the oldest families living there and of some of those who were able to purchase land to build their own homes after 1925. 

More details later 

If anyone is interested in buying a copy, advance orders are now being taken: please email me at

SOH.lizreeve@gmail.com. Thanks.

A MESSAGE FROM HEALTHWATCH 4 APRIL 2020

CORONAVIRUS: COVID 19

I hope all our Friends are keeping safe during this difficult time.

I have been asked if I would circulate the following information regarding Helplines which can be accessed within the Doncaster area.  

Please feel free to use them or keep a regular check on the Healthwatch website or Facebook site to keep your eye on any changes which might come into force over the coming weeks, as they are updating both on a regular basis with  key information and links:

www.healthwatchdoncaster.org.uk/coronavirus    and our social media channels are sharing regular updates:

www.facebook.com/hwdoncaster   

www.twitter.com/hwdoncaster  

There is also regular information and updates shared through Doncaster Council’s website:

www.doncaster.gov.uk  

and through a Doncaster official Coronavirus Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/CovidDoncaster

To access help and support from Doncaster Community Hub call 01302 430300, email  enquiries@dncommunityhub.org.uk   online chat  www.dncommunityhub.org.uk   

The Local Hub based at the Dome is providing:

A Helpline  7 days a week from 8.00am to 8.00pm – anyone can ring this if they are vulnerable and have no other support or if they know of someone who needs help

An email service to access and request support

An online chat service daily from 8.00am to 8.00pm

Practical support such as urgent food supplies, shopping, collection of medication and checking up on vulnerable people

Signposting and connecting people to others in the local community and ideas for ways to keep well during this difficult time such as exercising at home, keeping connected; to friends and family or just finding someone to talk to  

A place for those who want to volunteer and help to co-ordinate this with existing voluntary and community organisations

You can also access the following for more information

     

www.nhs.uk

       

www.gov.uk/coronavirus

NEWSLETTER 10 FEBRUARY 2020

NEWSLETTER 10 FEBRUARY 2020

Sorry it’s taken so long to get this newsletter out, but circumstances and holidays have got in the way.  I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and wish you all a great 2020.

CHRISTMAS MEETING - FRIDAY 29 NOVEMBER 2019, 2.30 PM

Friday 29 November 2019 was Black Friday, one of those days when everyone rushes out for a bargain and clogs the town up with vehicles, all queuing to get in and out of car parks attached to shopping outlets.

Black Friday was indeed a relevant name for the day as far as we were concerned, as I started off the day with a heavy nosebleed and the need to contact the emergency health number and speak to a nurse who advised going to hospital.  However, I decided we had far too much to do, visiting several stores to change the delivery date of appliances as our  moving date into 18 St Mary’s Walk had to be changed from the beginning of the week until 28 November as well as preparing the our meeting.  We just about did it all, but my nose bleeding began again at the start of the meeting and thankfully Cynthia was able to take over. 

We had a change of venue this month as St Mary’s Christmas Fayre was being held the next day and they needed to prepare, but the Methodist Hall proved quite adequate and I think everyone who intended coming found their way there.

Food for the party was provided by Meryl White who produced cakes and biscuits from bygone days and Cynthia brought some appropriate cordials as alcohol is not allowed on Methodist premises.

We then had a few photos of babies or children (of those present) to see if anyone could guess who they were (not very successfully) and a pass the parcel which took us back to our own parties as children.  A quiz was also completed, but with varying degrees of cheating and fishing for clues going on.

All in all it was a lovely afternoon with lots of laughs along the way as usual.

FRIDAY 31 JANUARY 2020

This was our first meeting of the new year and I had to admit that I had done very little preparation for it as we were just back from holiday and had to face the prospect of sorting our temporary home out.   Fortunately Cynthia and I had had a long chat about it a few days before and so we had a few ideas to work with.

Cynthia reminded everyone that our planned end date for the project was April 2020 and that we should establish what there was left to do and make plans accordingly.   A list had been produced, which was circulated to everyone there, and which is reproduced below for those who weren’t.

1.      Transcribe a few interviews/meetings which have already been done for summarising and gleaning good information for the book. (Liz)

2.      Complete interviews with the Burleys (Liz), Watsons (Liz), Arthur Radford (Liz), the

Williamsons (Cynthia and Liz), Philip Hardy and Cynthia (Eunice), and Phil Cunningham (?). 

Anyone within the project who hasn’t been interviewed and would like to be included should let me know or simply submit a short family history with the main highlights and anecdotes included.

3.      Make a basic plan of the old part of the of the village in the 1950s, from the Lodge House to the Station House and Lower Sprotbrough, with the corresponding list of family names.  (Arthur?)

4.      Submit good quality family photos (jpegs), including g/parents, parents and children if possible.

5.      Submit good quality photos (jpegs), depicting village life as it happened, eg farming, events, etc

6.      Take individual or group photos of all participants, involved in the project, including dates of birth, so that we can put them in the book.

7.      Obtain permission from Orchard School for their Copley Medal project to be included in the book.

Anyone who can help with any of the requirements listed above should get in touch with me as soon as possible or bring them along to the next meeting.

The next meeting will be on Friday 28 February, a very special day as it happens, so we hope to see you all there. 

Liz

Email: soh.lizreeve@gmail.com

Tel: 01302 313030

CHRISTMAS MEETING - FRIDAY 29 NOVEMBER 2019, 2.30 PM

Dear All

Please note that our ‘Christmas’ meeting will be at Sprotbrough Methodist Church Hall as St Mary’s will be preparing for their Christmas Fayre. 

As most of you know, we have been flooded out and life is a bit difficult with regard to planning meetings of any sort.  I have had to get a new computer, which I don’t really understand, but am doing my best to keep in touch.  I hope this reaches most of you and I will put a message on Facebook for those who aren’t on emails.

As this is our Christmas meeting and we won’t be meeting again until the end of January 2020, we thought we would try to create a more party atmosphere.  Meryl has agreed to bring some food and Cynthia is providing a fruit punch and coffee, tea, etc.  We will be talking about anything to do with our Christmases in the 1950s, but wondered about including a few party games.

So, would everyone try and bring a photo of themselves in childhood to see if others can identify them.  If you all bring them to me in secret when you arrive, so that no-one else sees them in advance, I will put them up around the room.  

I think musical chairs or spin the plate might be a bit much, but we could have pass the parcel! Any other remembered games welcome.

A Sprotbrough quiz might be possible if we can think of any questions!

I am a bit worried that this will not reach everyone in the group as my contact list seems to be non-existent at the moment and hope you will spread the word.  

Liz

NEXT MEETING - FRIDAY 27 SEPTEMBER 2019

REMINDER

Just a reminder that the next meeting of the SPROTBROUGH ORAL HISTORY group will be on Friday 27 September at 2.30 pm as usual.  Please check when you arrive whether we are in the hall or the stable. 

The topics to be discussed are Entertainment and Holidays.

See you then.

THE DON GORGE CALENDAR 2020

Our Calendar is now under production and should be available soon.  If ordered by 31 October, the price will be £5; those purchased later will cost £5.50.  As I will be away from mid-December, I am hopeful they will all be distributed by early December.

We have decided to try a different format this year.  Several people have said they would like a bigger space to write diary appointments in and so this year, the calendar will be long and narrow, rather than A4.  I hope everyone will like it and find it useful.

A big thank you goes to Simon Roe who has provided photographs from his Wild Life in the Don Gorge collection.  We are always looking for contributions from others and hope you will remember to send in any good Jpegs for consideration for 2021.

This is an example - our January picture.

Orders can be taken by me by
Telephone on 01302 313030 or
Email: lizreeve@dongorgecommunitygroup,com

As we have had good support from you in the past and been complimented on our photographs, I look forward to hearing from you again.

Many thanks.

Liz