SOUTH YORKSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGY DAY

This looks a very interesting event with a talk on The History and Archaeology of Sprotbrough Mill - as well as a number of others.

It is on 22 November, 10 am to 4 pm, at the Showroom Cinema, Paternoster Row, Sheffield.

Fee £12, Concessions £6, including tea, coffee and biscuits.

Contact 0114 273 4791 for programme and further details.

VOLUNTEERS WANTED

  VOLUNTEERING

Unemployed?

Just retired?

Looking for something to do?

Want to ensure the Don Gorge remains unspoiled?

Want to have a say in the future of the Don Gorge?

You can do this by getting involved with the Don Gorge Community Group

Our Conservation Volunteers meet at the

landing stage at Lower Sprotborough once a fortnight on a Tuesday between 10 am and 3.30 pm and work with the

Canal & River Trust, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and Doncaster MBC

Our committee meets once a month at the Martinwells Centre, Edlington, and there is still room on it for anyone willing and able to contribute.

For further details, contact Liz Reeve, Secretary,

Tel: 01302 313030

Email: lizreeve@dongorgecommunitygroup.com

SPROTBOROUGH LOCK OPEN DAY - SUNDAY 16 FEBRUARY 2014

What a fantastic day. Beautiful sunshine and lots of visitors made the Sprotborough Lock Open Day an event which will be remembered by many, both young and old. To be able to go down into such a deep lock and talk to those who are responsible for renewing the gates was a tremendous opportunity. 

Thanks to everyone who helped out at the Don Gorge Community Group gazebo where a great many people looked at our display and where Sprotborough friends and acquaintances from many years ago made themselves known to me again.

SPROTBOROUGH FISH AND EEL PASS

These are the first photographs of the new fish and eel pass taken yesterday evening, following the removal of the piles which were holding the river back.  It is still not possible to access the site as fencing has not yet been installed and the ground is extremely muddy.

When it is complete, it will be possible to walk over the eel pass (shown in green) to look into the fish pass.

The official opening is expected to be sometime in March.

Our volunteers will be working in the area below the fish pass on Tuesday 18 February in a big clear up operation with members of the Canal & River Trust, the Environment Agency, the River Stewardship Company and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust in anticipation of the opening.

New volunteers are always welcome to join the group which meets on the landing stage in the Gorge on alternate Tuesdays.  They will be supervised by Canal & River Trust staff until June.  Please note it is necessary to wear appropriate clothing, ie strong boots, and to bring a packed lunch.

SPROTBROUGH HISTORY GROU[

Sprotbrough History Group

Presents

A Slide Presentation Evening

Doncaster Grand Theatre

Past and Present

by

Margaret Herbert

Tuesday 18^th February at 6 PM

Tickets on sale at Sprotbrough Library 01302 782436

£2

MERELIZ COTTAGE RESTORATION

INTERESTED IN LOCAL HISTORY 

AND PROPERTY RESTORATION?

Mereliz Cottage is located in the Don Gorge at Lower Sprotborough and was renovated between 1999 and 2002.  We believe it was built as part of a barn in the 17th or 18th century, was transformed into a cottage in the 19th or 20th and was then used as a garage for a private car for 50 years.

Towards the end of 1999 work began on restoring it when many interesting features were discovered.  A photographic record of the restoration was made and this has now been made into power point presentation which will be shown for the first time on Thursday 27th February 2014 in the hall at Sprotbrough Methodist Church.   All are welcome to attend.

CHATROOM  4  THURSDAY

A get-together for anyone and everyone

to meet others and make friends

Thursday 27 February 2014

2.00 to 4.00 pm

MERELIZ  COTTAGE  RESTORATION

at 

Sprotbrough Methodist Church 

Park Drive,  Sprotbrough

UPDATE

I have been reminded that it’s been too long since I wrote anything about the group's current situation, and I consider my knuckles rapped, but there has been good reason as so many changes have been under way that it was difficult to know what to say that wouldn’t have changed by the time it had been published.  

The Don Gorge Community Group does, however, still exist and our conservation volunteers are proof of that if nothing else.  They continue to do a great job in the gorge, albeit now under a different framework and with Ken Green, one of the long-serving members of the team taking on the admin/liaison role. 

The cuts have made a great impact on many voluntary groups and we have not been the exception.  In May 2012, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (YWT) told us about the Lower Don Partnership (LDP) and we were invited to join.  Many of the agencies represented on the Don Gorge Strategic Partnership (DGSP) were already on this Steering Group so, after considering all the options, we agreed and the DGSP was disbanded.  We had already lost the DGSP co-ordinator and felt we had no real choice.  

The LDP is now called REVIVAL and consists of two sub-groups: one for biodiversity issues and one relating to communities, now known as the ‘People’ Sub-group, of which we are a member.  The aim of this group is to increase access to the river Don by way of extending footpaths and increasing awareness of places of interest along its length.

There is currently a list of 26 projects up for consideration, but only 7 are in development and 4 of these are in the Don Gorge: the fish pass; parking on Nursery Lane; creation of a heritage trail, incorporating the Copley Pump; and towpath maintenance.  The remaining 3 are: creation of an Arksey History Trail; creation of Bentley Park Community Garden; and a public rights of way (PROW) study.   However, Revival is basically an information exchange group and not one which involves itself directly in the work of its members. The result has been that, if the community group wants anything to change, it has to be more proactive and use its own human resources which is not always easily done.

The next thing to hit us was the loss of support from DMBC’s countryside warden, as our conservation volunteers have worked with Dennis Roe since the group was first formed.  Fortunately, YWT (which now manages much of the woodland in the Don Gorge) and the Canal & Rivers Trust (C&RT), (previously British Waterways, which has now become a charity), have agreed to organise and oversee the volunteers’ work in future.

From the Revival projects listed above, I can report that work on the fish pass, minus the hydro power plant, has now commenced and should be completed sometime in the new year; the proposal to have a car park at the top of Nursery Lane, to stop people parking on and spoiling the grass verges, is at an impasse as the owners of the land do not feel that we as a group can fulfil the legal requirements considered necessary; the heritage trail is a longer-term aim, into which the Copley Pump will be incorporated; and the erosion of the river bank is not our responsibility, except for reminding the C&RT that it is getting worse.  Beyond these, we are still investigating the possibility of a visitor centre at The Boat Inn and a possible ‘Right Up Our Street’ art project.  Enough to be going on with I think.

Many of these needs have recently been discussed with councillors and officers of DMBC and we are hopeful of their support as a result.

In the meantime, the work on the disappearing footpath near the landing stage has been completed, as has the work on the river bridge which necessitated traffic lights for a few weeks.

An advanced notice:  the lock gates are being replaced in the new year and an Open Day is planned for Sunday 16^th February 2014 when access into the lock itself should be possible.  Put this date in your diary now, as it will be a very rare event; more publicity will be available in due course.

Lastly, just a reminder that new volunteers are always needed and will be made very welcome.  See our noticeboard at the landing stage or contact me for details of dates, etc.

Liz Reeve

lizreeve@dongorgecommunitygroup.com