News - Positive talks over memorial (Ollerton)

Agreement between Tesco and Ollerton Town Council over the erection of a miners’ memorial at the former site of Ollerton Colliery is edging nearer after the two groups held positive talks. 

The council is supporting a campaign to have a memorial erected at the roundabout off Forest Road, the former pit entrance. The land is now owned by Tesco.

Two officials from Tesco’s corporate affairs department went on a site visit with council representatives and are due to make a decision on March 6.

Town clerk Mrs Karen Wakefield told a council meeting that Tesco recognised the importance of the issue to the community and that the delay had been because of a proposed extension to the Ollerton store, which could mean the memorial location would cause highways problems.

Mr Stan Crawford said: “They accepted that it needs to go somewhere where it is visible from the high street.

“What they did not want to do was agree to it only to then have to dig it up. They have their own agenda with the development of the store, but we pointed out that there should still be room for the memorial and they accepted that.” 

From: http://www.newarkadvertiser.co.uk/articles/news/Positive-talks-over-memorial

News - Tribute to fliers of lost airport (Doncaster)

A ‘LONG overdue’ memorial to the men and women who served at Doncaster’s original airport has been unveiled.

The monument to honour all the aviators who flew from Doncaster Municipal Airport in peacetime and RAF Doncaster in the war, has been placed on the island at Lakeside, near the site of the original control tower.

It was created and donated by Bawtry memorial mason Stephen Davis and commissioned by South Yorkshire Air Museum, which is housed in one of the old hangars.

Stephen and his team erected the wedge-shaped memorial, depicting the outline of the old airfield engraved on a grey granite plinth.

It was officially unveiled by Doncaster Mayor Peter Davies and retired Air Vice Marshal Alan Johnson after Ian Kingsnorth from the museum welcomed the gathering.

Words of remembrance were read by 98-year-old Eric Clarke, from Carcroft, who was a Flight Lieutenant in the Second World War.

Among the distinguished guests who aid wreaths was Lord Lieutenant of South Yorkshire David Moody and Lord Scarbrough.

The memorial salutes all those civilian and military airmen and women and ground crews based at what was Doncaster’s original airport and RAF Doncaster from 1934 until after the war.

It reverted to a civilian aerodrome until it closed in 1992.

During the war the airport, which had a grass runway, housed a Ministry of Aircraft Production factory where Westland Lysander reconnaissance planes were built. Vickers Wellington bombers were repaired there.

Carl Spedding, spokesman for the museum, said: “This memorial is long overdue.

“It is being erected as tangible evidence of Doncaster’s long association in British aviation history.

“The Aircraft Museum has preserved the history of Doncaster’s aviation in the form of the last buildings of the old wartime airfield, full of exciting aircraft.”

The 616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force Squadron was formed in Doncaster in 1938 but left in 1939 to fight in the Battle of Britain with the Spitfire.

From the beginning of World War Two the airfield became RAF Doncaster housing 271 Squadron, later affectionately christened ‘Doncaster’s Own’ by the local townsfolk.

In the 1970s the pilots’ clubhouse under the control tower became a popular night spot.

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/local/tribute_to_fliers_of_lost_airport_1_3920743

Event - Firbeck Airfield Memorial Unveiling (25 August)

A memorial to the former RAF Firbeck is due to be unveiled on Thursday 25th August at 1pm .

In attendance will be representatives and veterans from the Squadrons, the Royal Air Force Association, Royal British Legion, Soldiers Sailors Airmen and Families Association, Polish Air Force and local Air Cadets. It is also hoped to stage a fly past by a vintage Auster and current aircraft of 654 Sqn and 659 Sqn Army Air Corps.

For further details please visit http://www.airfieldgallery.co.uk/ or http://www.firbeckairfieldmemorial.co.uk/

News - Let’s wangle a sandal! (Edward Carpenter Sheffield)

HE was described by George Orwell, in a barely coded attack, as a “fruit juice drinker, nudist, sandal wearer and sex maniac”.

And – those of a conservative disposition, look away now – a permanent piece of art marking this 19th century man’s life is set to be installed in Sheffield city centre if a newly-formed campaign group gets its way.

Because while Edward Carpenter was undoubtedly all the things Orwell said – and proud to be so too – he was also one of the greatest intellects, political philosophers and libertarians of his age.

Now, the group, the Friends Of Edward Carpenter, are hoping a memorial – perhaps a steel sandal, no less, in Tudor Square – can be commissioned to remember this most remarkable man.

“The thing with Carpenter,” says Rony Robinson, the Radio Sheffield presenter and playwright who is with the group, “is that people are constantly rediscovering him. His works continue to be relevant in so many ways, and we believe a memorial to him would be fitting for the city he loved and called home.”

It would become, the group say, a respectful place of pilgrimage and meditation which would attract socialists and admirers from around the world. If fund raising goes well and the council confirms its support, it could be fitted by 2013.

“It’s still early days,” says Rony. “But we feel there is definitely enough support there. We’re now starting fund raising so when we go to the council it will be with a detailed and costed plan. Essentially, we feel he should be recognised and shouldn’t be forgotten just because he didn’t always lead a mainstream lifestyle.”

Certainly mainstream was never something Carpenter – who was born in Brighton in 1844, went to university in Cambridge and moved to Sheffield in 1880 – could have been accused of.

A homosexual, teetotaller and vegetarian, he set up a commune in Millthorpe in the late 1880s which became a hub of anti-materialism, Hindu mysticism and naked swimming. There, he, his friends and followers – including his lover, former steel worker George Merrill – lived what would these days be termed the ‘simple life’, living off their own fruit and vegetables, making their own music, and wearing clothes, including sandals and woollen trunks, they made themselves.

But Carpenter was more than the sum of his living arrangements.

Recognised as an intellectual giant, he was a prominent advocate of equality, sexual freedom, humanitarianism, woman’s suffrage, pacifism and universal education – “many of the concepts which are considered 20th or 21st century ideals really,” says Sheila Rowbotham, whose 2008 biography A Life Of Liberty And Love, is considered the definitive book on him and who is supporting the campaign.

“In some of the things he was doing and campaigning for he was a full century ahead of his time.”

Indeed Carpenter, who wrote a prolific number of books and essays over 50 years, was also a founding member of the Independent Labour Party, was instrumental in the creation of the Fabian Society and was so respected that on his 80th birthday every member of the new Labour government signed a card.

This year, 2011, marks the centenary of one of his most influential treatises – Non-governmental Society – but, as Rony and Sheila both note, you could pick almost any year and it would be the anniversary of something special he had written.

He passed away on June 28, 1929.

“There is some thought a memorial could go in Townhead Street near where there was a speakers’ corner or Scotland Street where he lived for some time,” says Rony. “But the consensus seems to be at the moment Tudor Square would be more central and perhaps more appropriate for a piece of art. I’m sure it would be a great addition to the square.”

To support the friend’s campaign visit www.friendsofedwardcarpenter.co.uk

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/community/the-diary/let_s_wangle_a_sandal_1_3457857

News - Centenary of mine disaster (Cadeby Miners Memorial)

THE search is on for design ideas for a memorial to mark the centenary of the Cadeby mining disaster.

Some 91 men from the South Yorkshire village, near Conisbrough, died during two underground explosions on July 9, 1912.

It was the ninth worst UK mining disaster of the 20th century.

Now a commemoration team is asking local people and schools to submit ideas for a new £5,000 memorial. It will be installed at Denaby Cemetery where many of the victims are buried.

Proposals and rough ideas should be emailed to jamesbeachill@hotmail.com by June 30.

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/community/centenary_of_mine_disaster_1_3426004

Event - Commemorating the lives of the Canadian Aircrew (Creswell Crags)

On Saturday 21st May the Canadian High Commissioner is paying a special visit to Creswell Crags for a ceremony to mark the unveiling of the memorial stone which marks the tragic loss of life of five Canadian aircrew whose Wellington Bomber crash landed in 1944 close to the site. The event has been made possible through the kind gift by Joseph Plant who, in his will, wished to create a lasting memory of the airmen by erecting a memorial stone in memory of his friend Herbert Keeton.



Gerald Plant from Creswell and a key figure in the Memorial Committee said ‘We have been working hard to fulfil the wishes of my late brother. All of the Canadian relatives of the airmen have been contacted and at least twenty relatives are due to travel to Britain for the event. Earlier in the week we have also arranged for the relatives to visit the graves of the airmen at Harrogate Cemetery and Gamston airfield from where the crew flew.’


Colonel Paul Keddy, Air Force Advisor to the United Kingdom at the High Commission of Canada, said ‘The High Commission is extremely grateful for the recognition this event will provide for our brave Canadian airman. We are especially pleased about the Committee’s hard work to ensure that the relatives of the airman and Canadian veterans in Britain, who will also be attending the event, are able to remember their countrymen in this way.’


The ceremony will take place following the High Commissioners arrival at 10.55am and will be concluded by a Lancaster Bomber fly past by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight at 1.50 pm
 

From: http://www.creswell-crags.org.uk/News/2011/5/

News - Women of Steel will get lasting memorial (Sheffield)

COUNCIL bosses have allocated funding towards a permanent memorial for Sheffield’s Women of Steel, after a successful campaign by The Star.

Despite funding squeezes, councillors say they have found £28,000 from efficiency savings to pay for a monument in Barker’s Pool.

They are now asking businesses to donate funds to make up the estimated £150,000 total cost of the memorial.

The announcement follows a long Star campaign to win recognition for the hundreds of women who braved Nazi bombing raids to keep the city’s steelworks going during World War Two.

As part of the campaign, last year the women received thanks from former Prime Minister Gordon Brown during a visit to Downing Street, as the Government finally officially recognised their contribution to the war effort.

Kathleen Roberts, Kit Sollitt, Dorothy Slingsby and Ruby Gascoigne, each aged between 87 and 90, were received at Number 10 after working with The Star to give the campaign momentum. The whole campaign was triggered after Kathleen contacted The Star and it met a fantastic response, with hundreds of women calling in to tell of their wartime experiences.

Now Sheffield Council has decided there will be a permanent, lasting monument to their heroic work.

Paul Scriven, Liberal Democrat leader of the council, said: “I’m delighted that through making efficiency savings in-year, we’ve been able to locate these funds for this vital project. We’re confident that the commitment we’ve made will encourage donors to come forward.”

Originally four ideas were proposed for the monument, including an abstract, contemporary sculpture at the top of Howard Street, commemorative plaques as part of the seating on Howard Street, and a garden of remembrance.

But after consultation with the former foundry workers, it was decided a memorial in Barker’s Pool would be the best way of marking the women’s efforts.

Designs have yet to be finalised, but the council has launched a fundraising drive to get the cash together, and hope their initial pot of £28,000 will soon swell to the total amount.

Coun Scriven said: “These women made great sacrifices for the war effort and it’s important that, as a city, we recognise their contribution.”

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/lifestyle/the-star-says/women_of_steel_will_get_lasting_memorial_1_3301128

 

News - Move for memorial to mark sacrifices in Blitz (Sheffield)

Campaigners fighting for a permanent memorial to those who died in the Sheffield Blitz have appealed to the public to give them ideas on how they would like to see the victims commemorated. Neil Anderson who wrote Sheffield's Date With Hitler to mark the 70th anniversary of the attacks and Terry Deary, creator of the multi-million selling Horrible Histories series, are behind the project.

Their campaign has already attracted hundreds of names on a petition, won cross party support at the Town Hall and the pair are now exploring ways of raising funds as well as planning a future competition for the public to come up with design ideas.

Mr Deary, who has just published a children's fiction novel, Put Out The Light, set in the Sheffield Blitz, said: "I've been amazed how little there is to mark the Sheffield Blitz and the sacrifices the city and its people made in December 1940.

"Those two nights totally changed the course of the city's history and profoundly affected the lives of everyone here.

"We need a memorial to show our respect for those who died and to create a focus for those who live to pause and reflect for a moment in our busy lives."

Mr Deary and Mr Anderson said they were keen to get the thoughts of the public on what they would like to see and build on a petition which was launched at the special Sheffield Blitz commemoration event held on The Moor, an area of the city centre that was devastated by the first night of the raid.

Mr Anderson said: "Ideas we've had to date include a high-profile Sheffield Blitz Trail with plaques on key sites around the city centre.

"Many people want a highly visible memorial.

"There are many ideas which all have cost and time implications and we want to get the views of Sheffield people."

The public are invited to sign the online petition at www.acmretro.com and leave their comments regarding what they would like to see as a fitting tribute.

 

From: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/localnews/Move-for-memorial-to-mark.6707464.jp

 

War Memorial Desecration

I heard on Hallam FM this morning that one of the plaques of Denaby Main's war memorial has been stolen. The plaque which covered one side of the memorial has been taken leaving a unsightly gap that will probably take thousands of pounds to replace. With Remembrance Day being only days away it would be impossible to fix in time. I'm guessing the local inhabitants are outraged by this mindless desecration and hopefully these ignorant people who have taken it will return it to the community.

So not only are our churches being ripped apart by these money grabbing scum but now our countries brave heroes who died for our freedom are no longer respected. I'm not sure which names have gone but a complete list of the names on the memorial is available at http://joseflocke.co.uk/heritage/memorial.htm

If you have any information relating to this burglary please phone the local Safer Neighbourhood Team on 01302 385178 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
http://www.hallamfm.co.uk/Article.asp?id=2006936&spid=25619