Reclaiming our community

Roc newsletter

Issue 1

August 2007

Blooming marvelous

This year’s summer floral competition was a great success. “Many homes exhibited beautiful displays and picking a winner was a real challenge.” said Steven Healy this year’s judge. Steven, from Victoria Road Homewatch Committee, was entrusted with the task of independently judging the displays on the morning of Saturday July 28th. After ranking the exhibits based on first impressions to overall appearance it was Bill and Irene Corns of 40 Trafalgar Road who came out on top and won £50. Second place went to David and Jo Lees of 3 Osborne Road who won £30, whilst third place went to Cllr Janice Heywood and her husband Eric. Cllr Heywood wanted her prize money of £20 to be passed on the 4th place entry. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all who entered.

Irene Corns with her winning entry

Meanwhile ………….

While the results of the floral competition were being judged, some committee members thought the time appropriate to carry out some maintenance work which was needed on the areas already improved at the ends of Devonshire and Trafalgar Roads.

Inside this issue:

Competition	1
Gardening	1
Bentcliffe Park	2
Street Trees	3
The Subway	3
Collections	4
Your Newsletter	4

Summer Floral Display Competition
1st—Bill and Irene Corns (40 Trafalgar Road)
2nd—David and Jo Lees (3 Osborne Road)
3rd—Eric and Janice Heywood (12 Osborne Road)
4th— J. Johnston (6 Devonshire Road)

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Roc newsletter

Our future lies in the past

Since the 1600’s there have been buildings on this site named Bentcliffe in one guise or another. Further research uncovered a map of 1848 showing mostly open space and huge mansions and a house on this site named Bentcliffe Hall. We located another map (1893) below,, clearly showing the road we all know as Devonshire Road as Higher Bentcliffe Park on which can already be seen, The Red House.
There is confirmation of this phenomenon; No. 9 Devonshire Road has etched on the original gatepost “Bentcliffe”. Nos 42 and 44 Trafalgar Road share an original gate post which shows “Bentcliffe Villas” and there is probably further evidence around.
Recently we were asked for name preferences for our area, but at that time we were unaware of “Bentcliffe”. Having discovered the above it is the Committee’s view we should be known as “Bentcliffe Park” and will advise the Neighbourhood Manager, unless anyone has any strong objections. To firmly establish this, it is vital that every household uses the new name; just ensure your house number, road name and post codes are all in tact. We propose to alert Royal Mail of this addition, pending any objections.
The Red House was one of the first buildings to be erected on Bentcliffe Hall land which was built and lived in by a renowned architect of the day, Henry Lord. He designed such places as Salford Lads Club, Stowell Memorial Church and The Royal Technical School and many others.
It is for this reason that we propose approaching the Heritage Officer at the Council to ascertain if an appropriate plaque could be placed on the front wall of The Red House. This, together with our new name, Bentcliffe Park, can only add to the reputation that our area is a good place to live!

Our area circa 1893

Issue 1

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Trees will make us streets Ahead

We are still pressing ahead for street trees in our area. The trees used will be specifically for planting on footpaths and consequently would not pose any threat to footpaths or indeed foundations.
Unfortunately, despite continuous chasing, the person who deals with these matters is notoriously slow and we have to firstly ascertain if any funding is available and so we .

Computer generated image of Osborne Road with street trees

will have to be patient. But rest assured once any progress is made we will contact EVERYONE for their views on whether they wish a tree near to their property, and if so what sort of tree they would like..

The subway

As many of you may recall during a Community Committee forum, we opted for the possible closure of the subway to be replaced by a surface crossing. Much to the regret of those living with this, it has proved impossible due to the prohibitive costs involved.
Nonetheless, some funding has been

secured from Community Committee via Participatory Budget for Improvements to the subway and surrounding area.
We have requested full consultation with the Council prior to any commencement of work as we wish to ensure all residents, particularly those directly affected, are taken into account. Therefore we

Would e extremely grateful to receive any ideas and comments as soon as possible as we are keen to get this moving and are chasing the Council for a meeting.
Also, if anyone wishes to be directly involved in the consultation process, please let us know

Reclaiming our community

Chairman David Lees 789 4680
Secretary Pat Nightingale 281 2775
Treasurer Sam Nightingale 281 2775
Assistant Treasurer Eric Heywood 281 2459

ROC is dedicated to safeguarding our future by continually striving to improve and protect the collective interests and local environment for the benefit of all residents by preserving and enhancing the quality, character, safety and unity of our neighbourhood while working to improve communication between residents and local governments.
ROC will constantly work for our community in order for it to be one of the safest and most desirable residential communities on the basis of maximum resident involvement and multi-agency partnership where vision, uncompromised commitment and use of imagination is key.

YOUR NEWSLETtER

We hope you like your new style newsletter, but in order for us to be able to fill it every time we are reliant upon you to let us have any snippets you think your fellow residents should be aware of. Needless to say, these can range from items of information to funny anecdotes – it’s entirely up to you!
Also please feel free to tell us about events in which you are involved and which you wish publicised.

Collections

It is proposed to recommence the collections in the very near future. Schemes are in hand, as you know, re tree planting and redressing the areas already greatly improved but also to make some improvements, such as floral displays, to the hospital fence on Devonshire Road.
We shall of course ask them for a contribution, but suspect most will be provided by ourselves.