Minutes of the Ecclesfield Conservation Group meeting of 2012-05-21 (Monday) at 19:30 in the Stocks

[This document was last amended on 2012-06-07. If there are any comments or corrections, please Email JP on jim AT ...]

Attendance

[a] John Ellis (JE)  chaired the meeting.

[b] 11 people attended this meeting including JP, JE,. JH, SB, GW, PB, ID, NB, SP, and guests Mel and Joan Jones. In addition, CT, LQ, KF, RT, KG, and MM. sent their apologies. A total of 33 people currently receive emailed agendas and minutes.

Ongoing matters, or "things still to be done"

[z] The next meeting of the Conservation Group will be on Monday 2012-06-18 at 19:30 in the Stocks [Subsequently changed to Tuesday 26th -JP].

[the following items are in order of increasing completion date - or decreasing urgency]

[5] JE said that Angela Marsden had done a lot of work to organise a "Picnic in the Park" on Monday 4th June at 12:00. The event will be staged near the Bowling Green, so toilet facilities should be available. There will be a Zumba dancing demonstration to music, circus skills training for all ages, balloon modelling, craft activities, and refreshments. Our April meeting decided to lend the event our pagodas, but they also need lots of extra person-power. [Wednesday's Jubilee meeting discussed 4 pagodas, 10 tables, 50 chairs and lots of bunting, flags, balloons, and signage, all of which need moving on to the site, and erecting or laying out. The work is likely to start at 9:00 since all moving vehicles are required to be off site by 11:00. Even then, further volunteers (some bringing scissors etc.) are required, to ensure that all guide ropes are flagged by bunting, and to lay out the information tent with leaflets (including Heritage Board etc. Conservation Leaflets). Volunteers are also required to help tidy everything up when the event ends at 4pm - JP]

[4] JE welcomed NB of both "Sheffield International Venues" (Hillsborough Leisure Centre/Concorde), and our meeting place (I.e. The Stocks). NB showed us the completed application form for a Northern Community Assembly "small grant" covering the costs of organising a welcome for the Olympic Torch. The torch is due to pass down Church Street to Yew Lane, perhaps as early as 16:30 on Monday 25th June. The grant application described various activities, some for youngsters, and some with a sporting theme to take place on The Square and the land adjacent to it. A possible bouncy castle, live music, plants, and distribution of swimming vouchers was mentioned. The application was approved for sending off. [This grant has since been approved (although without the swimming vouchers, so anything like that will have to be funded some other way) - JP]

[y] JE brought up the subject of the Gala, saying that a stall would cost £30, and a double £50, with proceeds going to MacMillan Cancer Support. It was agreed that we should take part, and that we could share with the in-bloom group. The Gala starts at 12:00 on Sunday 2nd September.

[3] JE Welcomed Mel and Joan Jones. JE explained that he had sent in a grant application earlier in the day, following Tegwen's email saying that EPIP funding was due to end on March next year. The application was for two boards, and 2,000 copies of the two corresponding leaflets. Quotations had been obtained, compared with those of the first board, and thought to contain a satisfactory discount for ordering two boards at the same time, and for increasing the number of leaflets. The intention was to link the boards into a heritage trail, and Mel passed round a list of 11 possible heritage sites, described each site in turn, and explained that it basically took the route of the "unnamed" brook coming down from Whitley Hall.  JE asked for comments on the items on the leaflet which were...    
 
No.
 Location
 Historical Activity
1
 The Thomas Parker Wing in Whitely Hall
 Water-powered scythe making
2
 Ecclesfield Dam Cotton mill / paper mill behind Ecclesfield Working Men's Club
3
 Rollem/Aldi
 Water-powered flour mill
4
 Hall & Pickles, Hydra works
 Wire mill, machine shop, and laboratories
5
 Smithy Wood
Coking plants
6
 Nether Corn Mill or Oats Mill / William Green's / Morrisons
Foundry manufacturing stovegrates
7
 Parker's Excelsior Works
 File cutting
8
 Floodgate area
 Rope, twine, auger, and joiner's tool manufacture
9
 Brightside Foundry
 Oliver or Wragg Wheel making forks
10
 Hartley Brook
 Fork making
11
 Hallam Bros at Butterthwaite
Mark Davy & Co
 Hackle pins & gills
Drain pipes, tiles, and bricks

There were questions about public access or visibility of some of these sites, including Ecclesfield Dam. If anybody has any information on these sites, or wants to suggest another site, then they are asked to please get in touch with the Conservation Group or Mel Jones. Other sites already suggested include "Wallet End", and the "Stanley Tools" works on The Common.

Possible locations for the board were suggested, including Ecclesfield Park, and PB recommended that we keep both boards on the Park so that the necessary permissions were easier to obtain. The result of this would be one board at each of three entrances to the park, which seemed ideal. JE said that he had already been in touch with the Parks Department about the possible new boards, and although the Council were in the process of combining departments, there were no objection so far. PB said that no planning permission is needed because the boards would be less than 1.5 square metres in area.

Mel Jones said that the accompanying leaflets would be made up of panels which were corrugated or folded out sideways so enabling walkers to reveal new panels without the leaflet being blown away.

Possible additional venues for leaflet dispensers were suggested, including Whitely Hall. Again, if any organisation or venue wants to host some of the original or new leaflets, just let us know.

Possible venues and dates for the launch event were suggested, and the Bowling Pavilion in Sept/Oct was generally favoured.

Since PB could not be present at the last meeting, JE took the opportunity to thank him in person for doing the work on the previous board.

Completed matters or "things we have now done"

[c] The minutes of the previous meeting were accepted for publication. [A copy of these can now be found at... http://conservation.ecclesfieldgroups.com/minutes/2012-04-16.minutes.html.]

[1] MM (as well as expressing apologies for this meeting) expressed an interest in the post of treasurer. This was therefore put to the vote, which showed that She would have unanimous support in that post.

[2] JE reported on his attendance at the second meeting for voluntary groups at the Parish Council Offices. The meeting was well attended, with groups from Grenoside, High Green, Burncross, and others. The groups resolved to try to avoid the unnecessary clashing of dates, and discussed common events such as the Diamond Jubilee. ID noted that High Green suggested producing a calendar of events for the area [perhaps including the events on Ecclesfield's http://ecclesfieldgroups.com - JP].
 
[6] SB and GW brought two large bound ledgers to the meeting, and discussions took place between them and Mel Jones. Having already documented something of the Ridge family on our Heritage Board and mentioned them in his address at the unveiling, Professor Jones was extremely interested in these (said to date from 1903) and took them away with him. Although there were ledgers and photographs, there were no actual examples of Mr Ridge's work, so if anybody has any such tools, or other information, we would be interested to hear from them.

[x] All the planning applications listed in the Agenda were examined. No objection was raised to the application for a waste transfer station on Station Road Industrial Estate after it was noted that it involved non-hazardous waste, which was thought to exclude asbestos. The meeting also expressed support the application for a canopy in the newly cleared part of Ecclesfield Park [Unlike the previous one, the Council's new web site does not allow "late" comments. I was therefore unable to use it to support the canopy. To avoid this happening again, we might have to go to a fortnightly application search - JP].

[y] ID said that he had followed up RT's question on the footpath across "Andrew's field" between Town End Farm and Yew Lane, and found the path clearly marked on a 1:25,000 map of the area.

[y] It was decided to delay any change in our regular (3rd Monday of each month) meeting day until it becomes possible to move without replacing one set of clashes with another. It looks as if we could move to a Tuesday, from October 2012.

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