LAST ORDERS AT THE SPINNERS ARMS AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN ......

The tragic story of a local pub that appears to be in its death throes continues today. It marks the final day of tenure for current landlords Paul and Debbie who have tried to make a go of the business for the past 18 months - quite long by recent standards. The skip to the left of the photo is evidence of their imminent departure.

For they are the tenth set of landlords to have taken on the business this century and the tenth lot to leave. Yet prior to that John and Dot Kirk ran the local hostelry very profitably for nigh on 20 years. So what's gone wrong?

Well as we all know there is a national trend of pub closures due to the fact that more and more people drink at home to avoid the £3 pint, which is fairly common these days, though not quite that at the Spinners. Also with many more people subscribed to Sky, going to a pub to watch sporting events has become less of a necessity. There are also those who argue that the recent smoking ban has taken a heavy toll as well.

So why is it that some pubs continue to thrive whilst others go to the dogs and seem unable to compete? Well, never having run a pub (although my parents have) I'm not in a position to speak from experience but as a customer and casual observer of the pub in question I do have my own opinion which I will share with you, for what it's worth.

It seems to me that John and Dot had a simple recipe for success which the eleventh landlord would be well advised to emulate (- yes the brewery have found someone new and the pub will re-open shortly after tonights finale).

Quite simply the Spinners is in the heart of a heavily populated residential community. As such it has a potentially large customer base on its doorstep. John and Dot tapped into this by providing well kept and well stocked ale, alongside a well run and well ordered kitchen that had a good chef and served fine food. People enjoy that and come back for more.

There was a bit more to it than that of course. Whilst Dot managed the food side of the business John ensured that the tap room was equally busy through involvement with mens and womens darts and dominoes teams that were part of the local league and had a football team to boot.

Subsequent landlords have had grandiose ideas about how they could run it better. Live music, which was expensive and unjustifiable on business grounds and drove more people away than it attracted. Attracting a younger clientale, which drove out the bread and butter regulars that every business needs and an inescapably loud jukebox that drowned out conversation, which in my opinion is what most people go out for.

The Spinners Arms is now a shadow of its former self. On my last visit there some months ago, youths drinking from bottles and with their feet on the seats were bleating out expletives to each other. It was sad, it was also embarrassing and not the place you could take a spouse or girlfriend. There was a menacing air about the place and I certainly didn't feel safe there. Perhaps it's just me or maybe I picked a bad night but I doubt it and never returned.

I don't speak as a business rival or as someone with an axe to grind but as a former customer who would need to see wholescale changes both in the way the place is run and to the clientele before I would spend another penny in there.

I truly hope contestant No. 11 can emulate John and Dot, run a steady ship and keep the place afloat. If not it would be better to put it out of its misery and turn it into a dwelling. Residents on Queen Street have been having a hard time of it with regular visits by the Police to the establishment and they would certainly not miss it were it to go forever.

SATURDAY 28TH JUNE IS TINTWISTLE GALA DAY AND CHAPEL LANE FUN DAY

A great day in the calendar for local kids as Saturday 28th June is both the Annual Childrens Gala day in Tintwistle, whilst Friends of Chapel Lane are staging a fun day in Chapel Lane Park.

In Tintwistle the event begins with a carnival parade from Conduit Street at 1.00pm ending at Sexton Street where a fair will be held all afternoon. At tea time there is a childrens kareoke at the Conservative club and traditionally there is a fun run round the reservoirs for the adults.

In Hadfield, Chairman of Friends of Chapel Lane, Edward Siddall claims there will be lots of things to do, including a barbecue, coconut shy, children's games, a colouring competition, a dog show and a bouncy castle.

Funds raised will help to pay for play equipment for local children and the event will run from 12.30pm until 3pm.

Hadfield Play Improvement Project

The Hadfield Play Improvement Project was first blogged on 12/05/08 when it was at consultation stage. You can read the post by clicking here . As a result of that consultation (or possibly in spite of it, who knows!) proposals have been drawn up and are available to view on Thursday 26th June, at Hadfield Youth Centre, between 6.00pm and 8.00pm.

Never heard of Hadfield Youth Centre? Neither have I but through going along to the consultation I can tell you that it the first annex on the right as you enter the Newshaw Lane Campus - the one that is used as a Polling Station.

CLICK ON LEAFLET BELOW FOR FULL SIZE READABLE IMAGE
CLICK ON LEAFLET ABOVE FOR FULL SIZE READABLE IMAGE

LIGHTING THE WAY - BLOGGING TIP (2)

Another quick and hopefully useful tip for all you blogging newbies, like myself.

Sometimes it can be hard to find the site you're looking for on the web when there are millions of them around. However, if you know that you are specifically searching for a blogspot such as this, as opposed to a website (a blog will have the word blog or blogspot in its url address ie: the bar right at the top of your screen) then consider using a dedicated blogsearch tool such as http://blogsearch.google.com/

By using this facility, to ignore websites and search only for blogs you will find what you are after so much quicker.

If, for instance, you were to search for let's say 'Tintwistle Residents' and you googled it in the usual way at http://www.google.co.uk/ then you would currently find us at the bottom of page 1, sometimes on page 2.

By being more specific and using http://blogsearch.google.com/ you will find that typing in exactly the same search words, ie: 'Tintwistle Residents' brings us up at No1 in the list.

So you've arrived at your chosen site but now you are looking for something quite specific within the blog. How can you find your target without randomly clicking posts in hope?

Simple. At the top left there is a space to type in your search words and immediately to the right of this are the words 'SEARCH BLOG'. So if you want news about Station Road, for instance, just type those words in, click on 'SEARCH BLOG' and you will find that it brings up items on Ron Gregson's retirement and C.C.T.V. cameras. Similarly if you type in 'Post Office' it will find two blogposts on the subject for you.

As a blog develops and more and more posts get added, it becomes difficult and time consuming to search the blog manually, so searching in the manner suggested will bear fruit for the future.

One other time saving device on the same subject before I go.

If you find yourself searching for a website as opposed to a blog or you just don't know whether you're looking for one or the other, then instead of using a single search engine like Google or Yahoo, why not use a site that searches them all at once?

Yes such a thing exists and is a very useful tool to have. I personally use http://www.searchy.com/

Searchy will return results from 15 different search engines in the blink of an eye and list the top searches from each. It gives a greater variety of search because some sites might not be listed on Google or Yahoo but could still be picked up by other sites like MSN or Alta Vista for example. Happy searching.

ANYONE SEEN MY @#!!@#** DIGGER ?!!

HELLO, HELLO, HELLO, WHAT HAVE WE GOT HERE THEN?

A better question might be "What haven't we got here then?".

The answer is one of these:
Amazing but true. On Friday 13th June workmen downed tools to enjoy the weekend after laying the foundations for a new classroom at Hadfield Nursery School on Hadfield Road. The view in the picture is taken from Queen St, near the entrance from whence it was stolen.

Thieves managed to disengage the metal gated entrance that acted as the only line of defence, before putting it in the boot of a car and driving off at speed. Mmmm or maybe not.

So how do you make off with a digger and conceal it in such a way that no one notices for a whole weekend? Answers on a postcard to Derbyshire Police.

RETIREMENT RON's NEWS FINAL

Heard the latest news? Well, from tomorrow, you'll no longer get it from Gregson's Newsagent. That's because the family run business are calling it a day after 22 years service at the Station Road shop.

Ron decided a year ago that retirement beckoned and has been looking for a buyer ever since. On Friday June 6th, he concluded a deal with brothers Nas and Arfan Hussein and today marks the fiiiiiiinal - fiiiiiiinal - shift for Ron, his wife Pat and daughters Elaine and Karen.

At one level it is sad to see the shop change hands after such a long stint, but Ron and Pat have put in the hours and done their time and are now looking forward to a long and happy retirement - who can blame them for that?

It seems hard to recall now that the shop wasn't always principally a newsagent, this was a side of the business that the Gregson's built up. As the sign at the top of the picture indicates, it was previously better known as a sweet shop, selling confectionary and also cigarettes (which it still does of course) but daily newspapers and gift cards were developed during the reign of Ron and family.

So it's goodbye from me and goodbye from him, her and them.

Join me in wishing them a 'Happy Retirement'.

If you're quick, there might just be time to nip to Gregson's to get them a card!

Mottram-Tintwistle Bypass Public Inquiry Update

Today I'm bringing you an update (in so far as it's possible) on the meandering Mottram-Tintwistle Bypass Public Inquiry. The Inquiry website can be found here. The latest activity, if that's not too strong a word centres on the Inspector's rather innocuous, yet rather important questions to the Highways Agency:

Q1. Does the Highways Agency still intend to submit revised evidence to the Public Inquiry?

Q2. If the Highways Agency still intends to submit revised evidence to the Public Inquiry, when does it intend to do so? Click here to see the document.

These questions were submitted on 4rth June and the Inspector gave them seven days to reply.

It took the Highways Agency the full seven days to give this brief response:

A1. It is the Highway's Agency's current intention to submit revised evidence to the Public Inquiry.

A2. Our current developing programme still indicates that revised evidence will be available in 2008. view document here

I openly invite people to comment on how they feel about this and you can do so by clicking the comments link at the foot of this post. For me there are three brief points I should like people to note.

1. The fact that the Highways Agency used the full extent of the time allowed to to give such a brief response, seems to me, to be utterly disrespectful to Inspector Watson, who has been more than patient in dealing with the sheer incompetency of the Highways Agency and their constant interruption of proceedings.

2. The response to Q2 seems rather wishy washy and far from definite 'our current developing programme still indicates' ! It seems as if they are saying to the Inspector "we hope to be ready by November but if not you'll just have to wait, matey". Again, thoroughly disrespectful.

3. An immediate response to the Inquiry on 11th June (published on Persona website 16th June and available to view here ) by participant John Hall makes the same point about their disrespect to the Inspector but goes further.

He quite rightly points out in a roundabout way that all participants in an Inquiry have the right to be treated equally and wonders whether the same luxury of a six to nine month break, for himself, to prepare a response to their eventual figures would get the same hearing.

It appears to me to be a truism that were the Peak Park or C.P.R.E. to turn up, unprepared, with their figures not standing up to any sort of scrutiny, then they would have been dismissed as a laughing stock. The Highways Agency would have wiped the floor with them and the Inquiry would have seen a speedy conclusion.

I don't believe for one moment and nor does anyone else that opponents of the scheme would have been granted an inordinate amount of time to go back to the drawing board, whilst everyone else has to reschedule their lifes and their own working timetables to accomodate these blundering buffoons.

In the same e-mail John Hall has requested that the Inspector files an immediate report to the Transport Secretary of State "to condemn this continuing deplorable situation". I don't think that sounds like an unreasonable request.

The author over at http://www.nomottrambypass.blogspot.com/ has also got harsh words to say but reserves them more for Inspector Watson. You can read the post here but the gist of the argument is that the Highways Agency rather than the Inspector are controlling the Inquiry and that it is therefore time for him to resign.

Whilst I agree that the delays are doing nothing for his career prospects or his integrity, perhaps a better option that would enable him to restore both at the same time, would be to tell the Highways Agency that both their time and their game is up. Let's remember that the initial timetable that the Highways Agency set themselves for their revised evidence was May 2008.

To give a sporting analogy, if a team is losing, it is not within their remit to take hold of the referee's whistle until such time that they manage to get ahead. The ref himself, in this case Inspector John Watson, must be in charge of the watch and the whistle. By my analysis, we should be deep into injury time by now. In fact some opponents have run onto the field....they think it's all over.....

Look at the watch John. It's whistle blowing time.

A full summary of the proceedings so far, along with a more detailed map and further stories can be found by clicking the following link http://www.glossop.com/bypass.htm

Websites featured on both this and on previous posts can be found on the sidebar for ease of use. For those of you not accustomed to cyberspeak, this is known as the 'blogroll'.

HADFIELD AND TINTWISTLE SAFER NEIGHBOURHOOD TEAM

Hadfield and Tintwistle Safer Neighbourhood Team have a crime prevention event at the Parish Hall, Sexton Street, Tintwistle on Wednesday, June 18 between 4.00pm and 8.00pm. You can meet police officers, councillors, housing officers and Neighbourhood Watch members, gain crime prevention information and have items of property, such as mobile phones, marked.

The Team also have a website which you can view here and here

TINTWISTLE POST OFFICE JOINS HIT LIST

Postal users in our communities have suffered a double whammy.

In addition to the 90 day closure notice that has been put on Hadfield Sorting Office, with the implication that this has for the future of Hadfield Post Office itself, we are now told Tintwistle Post Office is under imminent threat of closure.

It is one of five postal offices within High Peak that face the axe as part of a national cull under the ominously named Network Change Programme. The other four are Birch Vale, Chapel Town End, Dove Holes and Peak Forest.

A full analysis and comment will follow in an imminent blog but for now it will suffice to say that it will form the main topic of discussion at our next Residents meeting, which will be at the New Lamp, Bankbottom, Hadfield on Monday July 7th at 8.00pm.

In the meantime you can click onto the Post Office website, here where you can comment online until 21/07/08 and here's the story and picture from the front of this week's glossop advertiser

HADFIELD POST OFFICE- Sorting Office Closure Threat -

CLICK ABOVE FOR FULL SIZE READABLE IMAGE

Today is June 10th, the day that the Post Office unveil their proposals for our area. According to Andrew Bingham, prospective Conservative candidate for the area, the proposals will be published on their website at http://www.hpca.co.uk/ as soon as they are available. I proffer this address as the only one I am aware of that offers to provide the said information and not out of any political bias. You may notice from our description at the head of the blog that we are an independent organisation with no political affiliation.

Given that postal workers and their union the C.W.U. took the step of delivering thousands of the above leaflet to households in the area, during the last week, it seems fairly obvious, even before the formal announcement, that Hadfield Post Office, at least the Sorting Office aspect of it, is set for imminent closure.

It will take a huge backlash from the public backed up by some action from the postal workers themselves and some leverage from our local politicians to reverse this purely financial decision.

It seems to me that there are three issues at stake here:

1. The level of service being provided is set to diminish.

2. Postal workers, (most of whom live in and around the Hadfield area) will be in the ridiculous situation of having to travel to a different county in order to get to work. At this time of morning public transport is not even available. They will then be driven back to Hadfield to deliver their local round!

One presumes they will then be driven back to Hyde to pick up their cars, so they can drive back to Hadfield!!

Yes it beggars belief yet seems to be symptomatic of the crazy world we live in, where very little makes any sense at all unless it is viewed from a purely financial perspective.

3. The future of Hadfield Post Office itself is at stake.

I will deal with these issues in turn but first let's look at what the politicians say.

First leaflet through the door, even before the one above (and perhaps therefore the first one to know?) came from Tom Levitt. Admittedly his mention of local Post Offices came in a general leaflet in the aftermath of May election disaster but this is what he has to say:

"Continuing to campaign and support our local Post Offices remains a top priority (his own emphasis). That's why I support the government's investment of £1.7 billion into the Post Office Network, unlike the Tories who admit they would not match or support such an investment. This threatens 7,500 post offices with closure! Don't believe the Tories opportunistic warm words on funding. Their sums never add up; one minute they promise tax cuts, the next more money for public services - you can't have both."

Mr Bingham's response in a leaflet entitled 'High Peak matters' came just a couple of days after the C.W.U. notified us that Royal Mail intended to close the Sorting Office in 90 days time. Quick work Andrew.

Now whilst I don't often agree with Tom Levitt, I have to admit that the leaflet which shows Andrew Bingham outside a local Post Office and a caption underneath that reads 'Andrew Bingham outside a local Post Office' is nothing if not opportunistic.

Nevertheless, he does go on to make some good factual points. For starters Labour have already closed 2500 Post Offices across the country, with a further 4,000 having an uncertain future. (I guess he means that 2500 have closed whilst the government has sat back and watched without intervening in any way. Technically speaking it is the Royal Mail not the government itself that closes Post Offices but point taken).

He also claims that whilst the Conservatives proposed a halt to the closure programme, Tom Levitt, who described the future of Post Offices as 'bleak' during a House of Commons debate, refused to support the halt.

The Tory solution is to give Post Offices more opportunity, by extending the range of services they can offer, enabling them to operate on equal terms and thus to compete and survive.

That's the story so far but to understand where it leaves us, let's return to the three issues I listed above:

1. Service delivery. This will clearly worsen. Whilst the Royal Mail are denying the closure of the Sorting Office would affect parcel collection even Tom Levitt who has spoken to them directly is admitting "the public would notice a delay in local mail deliveries and it would be highly inconvenient to delivery staff". In other words in order to deliver mail in an efficient manner you need a local sorting office! That probably explains why we've always had one then!!

2. Postal workers will be in a ridiculous situation. Tom has already admitted to this too (see above). Whilst the stupidity of the situation is bad enough, local postal workers by virtue of having their local workplace forcibly removed and switched to Hyde, will now have to travel to work. At such an early hour, one would presume it means having to get there by car.

When set against the backdrop of rising fuel prices, dwindling fuel supplies and the perceived goal of reducing car usage, it is difficult to even conceive an economic case for this decision.

3. Hadfield Post Office itself, regardless of what the Royal Mail or dear old Tom or anyone else tells you, is threatened by this assault on the Sorting Office and there is a simple reason why I can say this with certainty.

My sources tell me that the sub-postmaster receives approximately £35,000 per annum for leasing out the sorting area. Now that is an awful lot of money for a small business to lose and a lot of money to have to recuperate year on year just in order to stand still.

Of course, if the sorting office does close and if the sub-postmaster has the cash to invest, coupled with the will to re-furbish and expand and puts a business plan in place, then it is possible that the preferred Tory scenario could prevail.

That is to say there is an opportunity to extend the area of the post office itself in order to provide more services, which might ultimately lead to the upgrading of the Hadfield site, such that we don't have to traipse over to Glossop every time we need something more than a stamp and an envelope.

It is a mouth watering possibility in theory but in practice the Post Office only seem to be interested in closures and this looks very much like a closure via the back door to me. Will somebody please tell me that I am wrong?

The leaflet at the top of this post suggests three things you can do to make your voice heard. Please take a look. I will expand on these suggestions in a later post. Rest assured that the Residents Association will lend its full support in fighting this proposed closure.

What you can be absolutely certain of is that not a single Post Office has ever been saved by an M.P. or a prospective M.P. having their photograph taken outside a threatened Post Office. Only action can do that. Service users and postal workers in a united action with support from our politicians might do the trick but it remains to be seen if that action is forthcoming. END

I

LIGHTING THE WAY - BLOGGING TIP

Hi Readers

I know that some of our audience are new to blogging and don't feel that comfortable with finding their way around the Internet. So from time to time I will do a short post by way of lending a helping hand - a tip or two (no not the Rossington Park type of tip) to help guide people along.

You will recognise tips by the LIGHT BULB image at the start of the post.

To begin with, we now have some regular readers who come back to the blog every day to see if a new post has been created. I have to admit that a daily post as a minimum is the aim but due to time constraints that is proving difficult. However, once we have a few other people on board to post up news as it happens, it is something we will achieve.

Aah! But what has all this got to do with the tip you promised? - I hear you cry. Simple. Whilst I do encourage viewers to return to the site on a regular basis, there is an easier way to detect when a new post has been added.

On the right hand side of the blog there is a blue rectangular box that says "Subscribe via e-mail" at the top. Here you will find a space to type in your e-mail address. By doing this you will get an e-mail alert every time a new post is added without actually having to visit the site.

Go on, try it. It really works and it's free, so nothing to lose.

SPOTTED A BLOT ON THE LANDSCAPE?

CLICK ON PHOTO BELOW TO SEE FULL SCREEN TECNICOLOUR GLORY

CALL 08456 058 058

IF YOU'VE SPOTTED A BLOT ON OUR LANDSCAPE

The front page article of the most recent copy of Insight (Derbyshire County Council's own newspaper) encourages us to tackle 'green' crime by spotting blots on the landscape and reporting them. The article begins quite boldly by stating the plain fact that 'dumping rubbish is a crime.'

Quite right. So I'd like to report High Peak Borough Council and more specifically their 'Planning Department' for knowingly allowing hundreds of concrete pods to be dumped at Bridge Mills, Tintwistle, courtesy of SCC Ltd and allowing hideous tin sheds to be dumped on the opposite bank of the Etherow at Rossington Park

The article goes on to describe the effects of said rubbish : 'it looks horrible can damage our health and it costs a lot to clear it up' . Here, here. Consequently, DCC are prepared to go so far as to take finger-prints and DNA samples to track down the culprits.

Steady on. No need to go that far - we know who they are. Culprit No.1 is Adrian Fisher, Chief 'Planner' and Culprit No.2 is his sidekick and 'Regeneration Officer' his holiness the Dai Larner.

If anyone has pictures of these green criminals please send them and I will add them to the post. It should make it easier for those nice people at DCC to identify these environmental vandals, who face huge fines - up to £5,000 for individuals but up to £50,000 or 12 months in jail for businesses.

Come on Derbyshire County Council - bang them to rights and let's see some real justice. Justice for the hundreds of residents who fought HPBC and their rubbish tipping in this area, in the name of 'regeneration' and justice for the environment itself.

Remember this: DCC 'need your help to make it really work. We want you to report the crime' (haven't we already done that?!) twin blots on landscape

'So if you see someone dumping their rubbish...or...you've spotted a blot on our landscape that needs dealing with call us too'. 08456 058 058 is the magic number to call folks.

CLICK ON PHOTO BELOW TO SEE FULL SCREEN TECNICOLOUR GLORY

CALL 08456 058 058

IF YOU'VE SPOTTED A BLOT ON OUR LANDSCAPE

NEXT RESIDENTS MEETING

Hi Everyone

Just a quick blog to make viewers aware that our next meeting is tomorrow evening at the usual time and venue (The New Lamp, Bankbottom, Hadfield at 8.00pm) As a general rule we meet the first Monday in each month, except when there's a Bank Holiday. All welcome.

If you live in Hadfield, you may be aware by now that the Post Office sorting depot is threatened with closure. Postmen themselves delivered the devastating news to virtually every household in Hadfield, putting in a shift to deliver thousands of leaflets after their own shifts finished last Tuesday and Wednesday. A copy of the leaflet and further details will be available in a following blog.

Whilst not the only lively local topic, it is one that we obviously need to discuss, with a view to helping reverse what appears to be an imminent threat. Officially the list of proposed closures will be unveiled on June 10th but the fact that union reps have acted so swiftly in getting out warning leaflets suggests very strongly that Hadfield is on that list.