Tinsley viaduct poem
Horizontal bars,
speeding dots of trucks n cars
From north n south from far n wide
Straggling the hills on either side
On her back, she carried the freight
Under her belly a winding river, canal so straight
to her north a field of cranes
Not so feathered, but red metal frames
To her south, miles of tar
Stretching out, to places afar
Through the city, a river runs out
Thriving n healthy, and jumping with trout
She wobbles, n she bends
In the middle, and at her ends
How long will she last?
She’s had her problems in the past
And in the future too, I’m sure she will
These horizontal bars that look so still
What’s this that’s beginning to thrust
Out of wasteland of rubble n dust?
Now she stands with her trendy friends
Watching over them while she bends
With their fancy shops n fancy bars
She carries the dots of trucks n cars
But old friends in her memory last
Her concrete companions
of the past
Together forever in the cold
Her two lost friends so tall n bold
But gone now are her two cool towers
Replaced by grass n meadow flowers
Now they’re gone but never forgotten
Her nearby friends, she still smells rotten!!
She stands alone now in the dust
Flaking paint n patches of rust
But there’s talk of new friends moving near
Three of them, or so I hear
So, if you’re a dot in a truck or car
Under or over her, or seeing from afar
Give her your thought,
she’s no polished pearl
She helps us along this grey old girl
But she’s still there, maybe overlooked?
That’s our Tinsley Viaduct
Darren Beachell
Wincobank
Local happenings
Dear Ron Clayton
Given your keenness on local happenings, I wondered if you knew anything about the removal on London Road of the upper part of what I consider a splendid old stone wall, which runs from the old Heeley Station up as far as Little London Road, (Lidl store).
The road is being widened here and presently this upper stretch has been removed.
It had in its length an alcove, opposite Valley Road.
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Hide AdDo we suppose that they have reserved the dressed stone for the wall to be rebuilt?
Also I wondered if you had any information as to where the contents of the now closed Cultural Studies Museum are now.
Mrs JB Martin
S8
Ron Clayton’s answers
The letter above was kindly forwarded by the Star and I can reply after carrying a bit of joined-up heritage in action together in conjunction with Howard Greaves of the Hallamshire Historic Buildings Society.
‘H’ as he is known advises that the wall referred to, actually on Chesterfield Road, went over 12 months ago and it’s not going to be returned.
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Hide AdThis is the same as the flagstones removed from Dykes Lane here in Loxley Bottoms, six of which were purchased for £3,000, I was told.
The Cultural Studies Museum is taken to be the former Traditional Heritage Museum formerly on Ecclesall Road and a lot of the contents are in storage under Green Estate’s Discovery Centre at Manor Lodge.
I hope that’s cleared that things up, Mrs Martin.
Ron Clayton
S6
We have already paid
Sheffield City Council’s contract with Amey is worth a cool £2.2 billion.
This number is too big for most people to comprehend.
So what could we do with £2.2bn?
If we spent it on education a new secondary school costs about £25 million.
So £2.2bn could build 88 new schools.
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Hide AdIf it was spent on social housing it could build 36,500 homes.
If the cost was shared equally between the 552,000 population of Sheffield (2011) that would mean a bill of roughly £4000 each (including all the children).
So we are talking about a great deal of money.
Sheffield citizens are right to try to ensure this money is spent wisely.
Unfortunately it is already quite clear that the way it is being spent warrants a full series of Rip-off Britain.
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Hide AdIf I employ a builder to work on my house I check on the work regularly to ensure it is up to standard.
Who checks Amey’s work? Well Amey do, of course.
The council seem completely unable to hold them to account and ensure the work is of a reasonable quality.
Already we are seeing newly laid roads starting to crack.
There are health and safety issues all over the city.
Amey seem totally incapable of scheduling work to minimise disruption to residents resulting in holes in pavements around lampposts left for three months at a time.
This has meant people in wheelchairs in my area have been unable to venture outside.
Then we come to the trees.
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Hide AdWe have been told that the contract includes 14 engineering solutions that Amey can use to avoid felling a tree if it is say, disturbing the pavement or kerb.
We have paid for these solutions and they were not cheap.
Yet the council are unable to show us where these solutions have been used.
Instead they choose to fell any tree that is causing even the most minor disturbance to the pavement.
The mantra that “felling is always a last resort” has clearly been shown to be a lie.
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Hide AdThat is why tree campaigners have been so vociferous in trying to protect the healthy trees.
There is not a good reason to cut them down and more importantly we have already paid for the solutions to enable them to continue providing us with clean air, flood prevention, biodiversity and wonderful beauty.
We, the citizens of Sheffield, are being ripped off but the council seem more concerned about protecting Amey’s profits than they are about protecting the city they were elected to serve.
Graham Wroe
by email