Nottinghamshire County Council will soon be drafting a Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) for Nottinghamshire and Nottingham, in collaboration with the county’s bus operators.

This stems from the government’s recently published National Bus Strategy (called ‘Bus Back Better’), which requires all English local transport authorities to work with bus operators to come up with bold plans for improving their local bus services and encouraging more people to use them.

Government has pledged £3 billion in funding across the country to help deliver these plans, and Nottinghamshire and Nottingham are aiming to secure a fair share of that funding.

As an important input to the plan, Notts CC want to find out what people think would improve local bus services and what would make them use local buses more. They are keen to hear from people who already use buses and from those who currently don’t.

They also want to hear from public, private and voluntary organisations who have an interest in making our bus services work better.

You can make your views known by taking part in its online survey which you can access by clicking the link below:

Bus service improvement plan survey.

In addition, the County Council are planning to host an online Drop In session at 2pm on Tuesday 24th August providing stakeholders with an opportunity to reflect on the issues in more detail; any Parish Council that responds to this survey will be invited to attend.

Your views will help us shape our plan, so thank you for taking the time to complete the survey.

Regards

Elliott Mizen

Facilities & Partnerships Manager
Nottinghamshire County Council

1. Hand sanitizers will be stationed at the entrance to the Old School so please use these. These facilities are also available in the toilets and kitchen.

2. A track and trace sheet and QR code card will be left on each table for you to enter your contact details and we will be checking to ensure that everyone has completed this.

3. Please wear a face mask (if possible) until you are seated at your table. There will be waitress service as usual. When you leave your table it's probably best to replace your mask.

4. The one-way system is still in use in the Old School so enter by the automatic door on the left-hand side of the building and exit through the back door.

If the weather is still good, we may be able to have a few tables set up on the lawn.

I'm sure you will agree that adhering to the suggestions above is a small price to pay for the opportunity of getting together once again after this dreadful episode in all our lives.

Let's hope this is the first of many more such occasions to come.

Look forward to seeing you next Saturday.

See poster in 'Events'.

As we make our way down the final stretch of Nottingham Road, we are getting closer to St Giles Church and so the most ancient part of our village. Of course, the buildings that occupied the street a thousand years ago have long gone and left no trace - except, maybe, the gentle curve of the road. Why is it curved, I wonder.

For all we know, some of the stones in the walls of buildings or street walls, may have once been part of the home of a 14th century farmer or merchant.

If ever you see the road being dug up (it often is) look closely at the spoil heap and contemplate the cart wheels and feet that once trod those stones and dirt.

Other Street Stories have already covered some of the buildings ahead, including Yew Tree House, The Methodist Chapel, the Butchers shop and Mill Lane, but what of the others?

We will look first at the homes and then the businesses, before exploring the sites close to The Turn – the space in front of the church which earned its name from vehicles turning around there.

The Butchers

The Turn

The Turn, that is the junction of Fern, Church and Nottingham Roads, has probably looked the same, more or less, for centuries. Evidence for this comes from maps and documents.

The invention of photography, and its eventual use in Cropwell Bishop about 120 years ago, changed all that.

Now we are able to compare photos taken since that time, and search for changes ourselves. We don't have to rely upon the fallible memory of humans.

Nevertheless, the dating of old photos often relies on some detective work and can be an imprecise art.

The Wheatsheaf Inn

At one time, there were five pubs in Cropwell Bishop and The Chequers Inn and The Wheatsheaf Inn are the oldest. The Wheatsheaf is many centuries old, and the present building was almost certainly built on the site of a previous one.

Nowadays, we call it a pub, but before the days of motorised transport, it would have been a genuine inn – somewhere for you and your horse to rest overnight.

It would also have been an important meeting place for village folk. To appreciate why, you have to imagine what life was like for working families a hundred years ago.

You and your partner lived in a two-up, two-down house with as many as 8 children. Your cooking range was fired by wood, or maybe coal, and the only other heat in the house might come from a single open fire in the living room. Your toilet (in some form) and wash-house were out back, and you fetched fresh water from a spring or the canal.

Imagine a long, dark, cold evening in winter when your only lighting is from candles and the flames of a coal fire. Putting a fresh lump of coal on the fire could be distressing: it was like burning money. I recall my own grandfather putting a brick or two in the fire-grate to make the fire smaller and burn more slowly - and so save money. And he was an ex-coal miner who received a free coal allowance.

As for home entertainment, there would have been none, unless you made the effort to create it. But then, you were tired after 10 hours hoeing the fields, mining gypsum, or making bricks. Or tired from doing the housework, mending clothes, and cooking for everyone in the house.

For men, at least, the attraction of escaping to a pub with heating, lighting, drinks and the company of others must have been irresistible. For housewives, it was not an option.

The Wheatsheaf is a stones-throw from St Giles, and so the go-to place after church events, like funerals. And not just funerals. A newspaper report of a hundred years ago describes an inquest being held at The Wheatsheaf.

Then there were the Hunts, with horses, dogs, riders and followers who would gather in the field opposite (now a car park). All good trade for the landlord.

Indeed, being the landlord of a pub could be an attractive and profitable occupation. The photos we have from the 1930s when a Percy Brown was landlord, appear to support this idea.

Similarly, wealthy farmer Robert Smith had the Lime Kiln Inn built in 1840 and appears to have made it highly profitable.

More recently, successful footballers were also attracted to the idea of running a country pub after retirement. Tommy Lawton, a star international player with Notts County in the 1940s, took over the Magna Charta pub, in Lowdham, in the 1960s.

Pubs, everywhere, face a challenging time. Life has changed in every respect since their heyday, and it will need imagination, courage and investment to ensure their future. Our two surviving pubs are no exception.

The Wheatsheaf Inn – in the 1930s

The July edition of Cropwell Bishop News has been printed and will arrive through your letterbox in the next week few days.

In it, there is an article about the future of our Memorial Hall: this was referred to in the website article that appeared on 12/7/21.

If you can't wait for your copy of Cropwell Bishop News to arrive, the article about the Memorial Hall is reproduced below.

No one is claiming that everything is back to normal, but things are starting to happen again in the village.

Click on the Events tab to see what you can look forward to in the next couple of weeks.

Tony Jarrow

The July edition of Cropwell Bishop News is about to be printed and will arrive through your letterbox in the next week or so.

In it, there is an article about the future of our Memorial Hall and a request for feedback from Cropwell Bishop residents.

The article makes reference to a Feasibility Study and several Structural Reports.

Whilst it is not possible to supply printed versions of these documents, you can view or download copies by clicking the links below:

Feasibility Study

Structural Report 2004

Structural Report 2013

Structural Report 2020

The article provides contact details for making comments and, for your convenience, they are reproduced below:

Cllr. M. Beazley, 11 Cropwell Butler Road, Cropwell Bishop. NG12 3DD
Mrs C. Herrington, 10 Newberry Close, Cropwell Bishop. NG12 3DY
email: consultationmemorialhall@gmail.com

Cropwell Bishop Methodist Chapel

Our Methodist Chapel was built in 1842.

A hundred years earlier, there were no Methodist chapels anywhere. John Wesley had only just started preaching his alternative approach to the Christian religion.

Wesley's ideas on Methodism attracted a growing number of people and, in 1802, its seed was sown in Cropwell Bishop.

Robert Hopewell, a farmer living opposite the Chequers on Church Street, registered his house with the Archbishop of York, as a place of public worship.

The number of villagers to join him was small at first, but steadily grew, until his house was no longer big enough for the congregation. No matter, he had a solution.

In 1817, he converted a barn into a chapel and registered that with the Archbishop of York.

Methodist ministers included this makeshift chapel on their Circuit and over the next twenty years, the congregation continued to grow.

The need for a more worthy place of worship led to the opening of a ‘subscription list’ – a list of people willing to invest their money in a scheme to build a chapel.

There were 250 subscribers on the list and it included several prominent local names like: Hopewell, Shelton, Squires and Clifton, who gave up to £20 each. The smallest amount a person offered was 3 pence.

They soon had the money to buy a suitable piece of land from a Mr J. Bell of Hickling – who also happened to be one of the subscribers.

In early 1842, they paid £156 for the land on which the Chapel now stands – including the building that we now call, the School Room.

At the time, the building contained two cottages, and this is still evident in the brickwork.

So, they bought the land early in 1842 and on 8th September 1842 the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel held its opening service. That is fast work, and the workmanship was sound: the Chapel still looks good after nearly 180 years. The total cost, including the land, was £516.

It was calculated that the Chapel could accommodate 400 people. That should have been plenty large enough for a small village. Or, at least, you would have thought so.

Much was made of Chapel Anniversaries, and on the second one in 1844, people even came from neighbouring villages to attend the last event of the day, the evening service.

There were so many people that only half of the congregation could fit inside the Chapel!

A temporary platform was quickly erected at the chapel door and the preacher used it to address both the people inside the chapel, and those outside on the grass.

In 1859, a harmonium was purchased for the Chapel but 13 years later a pipe organ was bought to replace it.

The same organ is still there today although it was enlarged in 1929 and now the blower is electric.

In the 1890s, a large number of improvements were made for the benefit of both the congregation and children.

Until then, the Chapel had also been used as a meeting place for the Sunday School and this, it was increasingly being felt, was far from ideal.

In the 1850s, over 100 children attended Sunday School and, for some, this was the only schooling they had, this being the time before free compulsory state education.

In 1893, the decision was made to adapt the two cottages to form a Schoolroom. This was done using voluntary labour at no cost to the Trust funds.

In 1897, the interior of the Chapel was upgraded by members who removed the interior fittings and then created a different layout with new pews and a rostrum – which are still there today.

The cost was £134 but this sum was raised by fundraising efforts so that no debt was incurred by the Trust.

In 1899 the Chapel was licensed for marriages and many marriages have taken place since then.

You will no doubt have noticed that the Schoolroom has an extra bit of building on the end of it. It wasn't there when they bought the land:, so where did it come from?

It was in 1922 that the decision was made to build this extension to accomodate a classroom and a kitchen. Think of it as a modern addition: only 100 years old compared to the Schoolroom which is about twice as old.

Methodist Chapels were visited by ministers and preachers who called on the chapels on their ‘circuit’. Cropwell Bishop was originally on the Newark Circuit.

These people did not, in general, live close to the chapels they served, so were not available to consult members in the same way as, say, a local vicar.

As a consequence, every chapel had its class leaders. These were people who the congregation looked upon as spiritual leaders.

They were not preachers, but facilitators – someone who could organise small meetings of followers and also look after day-to-day practical affairs, including the state of the Chapel, its finances, and the welfare of the congregation.

Class leaders played an important role in Chapels and it is interesting to note who took on the task in Cropwell Bishop during the early days.

Initially, they included Robert Hopewell, who held that first meeting at his home in 1802, and John Squires, who served as a class leader for nearly 50 years.

Then there was: William Knight, Richard Barlow, John Cumberland, William Parkin, Herbert Simpson, Harold Smith, Ernest Smith, Leslie Simpson, plus a host of others over the years. Many of these characters we have come across in other Street Stories.

People who served the Chapel in other ways, include all members of the Heaselden family. Sam Heaselden took an interest following his arrival in the Village in 1903 and his son, Herbert, became its Steward in 1917 – and continued in that role for 35 years.

Most of the class leaders and stewards also gave substantial financial support to the Chapel.

George Smith supported the Chapel in different ways. For 54 years he played the organ. Then, in 1953, he used his wood-carving skills to carve the frame of the War Memorial plaque that hangs in the Chapel.

George's brother, Harold, preached at the unveiling ceremony, and Harry Smith (son of George and a Sunday School Teacher), laid a wreath. Quite a family affair, it would seem.

The prime concern of Methodism may well be the souls of its members, but it doesn't neglect their material welfare.

Just a few months after the Chapel was opened in 1842, its officials launched a 'Friendly Society'.

The object of the Society was to give financial assistance to its members in times of sickness, bereavement or death. The entrance fee was 5 shillings (25p) and membership was not limited to Methodists.

This venture clearly filled a need in village life and it prospered. In 1886 there were 120 members and the account had a credit balance of £534.

The Society also owned two fields of allotments which it let to members. One of those fields is, today, occupied by the Cropwell Bishop Allotment Society.

Now, in the 21st Century, the days of large congregations and crowded Sunday Schools, seem a distant memory.

Nevertheless, there are still occasions when a large number of people go to the Chapel for a wedding or a funeral.

It remains a bright, spacious and attractive building which people enjoy visiting during Village Celebration Weekends. And the Schoolroom is a handy place for people to have a meeting, sell craft items, or just enjoy tea and cakes.

It will be interesting to see how the future pans out.

Thanks to Anne Terzza for help with this article.

Tony Jarrow

Thanks to Colin Bryan for the photos.

At Highways England, we believe in a connected country, and our network makes these connections happen. In the East Midlands, we strive to improve our major roads and motorways, to keep people moving today and better tomorrow.

I’m writing to let you know that we’ll be continuing our timetable of essential carriageway maintenance work to the A46, between the M1 at Leicester and the A57 Carholme Roundabout at Lincoln that started on 12 July 2021.

What work will you be carrying out?

We’ll resurface sections of the carriageway and some of the slip roads, refresh road markings and renew road studs. Once completed, all road users will benefit from improved road safety and a smoother carriageway.

To minimise disruption to the local community and road users we plan to deliver our scheme in phases, working overnight while the road is less busy, Monday to Friday between 8pm and 6am excluding Bank Holidays. This will also ensure that our road network is as free-flowing as possible during the day as the carriageways will remain open outside of our working hours.

When will the work take place?

Our next phase of work is planned to start on Friday 30 July 2021 and is scheduled for completion by early-November 2021. To maintain a safe environment for our workforce and customers we will need to close various sections of the A46, along with the adjoining exit and entry slips.

As the dates for each phase are confirmed we will notify you although they may be subject to change.

During the closures we’ll put in place a diversion route which we’ve agreed with the Local Authority.

Maintaining safety during Covid-19

All our sites have strict safeguarding measures, in line with Public Health England guidance, to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and none of our sites are open to the public. All projects are closely monitored, and the situation is kept under constant review.

Contact us

If you have any queries about this work on behalf of your community, please contact the Public Liaison Officer, Karen Reeve, as follows:

• Email: EMADcomms@kier.co.uk
Alternatively, you can also keep up to date directly by contacting our Highways England Customer Contact Centre as follows:
• Email: info@highwaysengland.co.uk
• Telephone: 0300 123 5000
• Twitter: @HighwaysEMIDS

Yours faithfully,

Matthew Carruthers
East Midlands Operations Directorate
Highways England

Your Opinion Matters!

Which is why the questionnaire is quick to complete with only 10 short questions and is completely anonymous. The questionnaire can be found online at: https://tinyurl.com/ynrnhxeh (click here).

The closing date is 20 August 2021.

The Parish Council is seeking the views of Cropwell Bishop residents (aged 18 and over) to see if there is community support to create trails, hop-scotch and other simple/traditional path games for young children on several of the public pathways which intersect the green amenity space at the back of Cooper, Brownhill and Newberry Closes.

This could make a fun children’s activity space without being intrusive to the residents whose properties border this green space.

This short video was posted to social media and is attached as an indication of what the Parish Council has in mind, click here.

Your views will be included with other considerations such as permissions and funding before the Parish Council makes its decision whether to go ahead or not with the project.

Questionnaire Information

If you are happy to take part in further research on this topic, then please include your contact details at the end.

If you have any questions, email Jan Towndrow, the Parish Clerk or call the parish office: 0115 9894656.

A questionnaire and interview participant information sheet can be found by clicking here and the interview participant consent found by clicking here.

Questionnaire results and non-identifiable quotes from interviews will be published to the Parish Council website click here, the Parish Plan website click here and in the Cropwell Bishop News.

The installation of two new substations on Hoe View Road & behind Newberry close, are all part of a network reinforcement scheme to improve the distribution system for Cropwell Bishop as part of our obligations as distribution operator.

There are multiple contributing factors, having been assessed by our design engineer, to reach the solution – such as balancing the network, fault restoration timescales, network configuration to enable back feeding, and existing apparatus is aging/inaccessible.

As part of the reinforcement to connect these substations, the cable lay involved along the highway will be the routes shown on the outline plans below.

All excavation and reinstatement will be carried out by our contractors, Network Plus.

At present, having spoken to the technician coordinating the scheme, dates are to be confirmed, but is anticipated July/August.

Heather Pynegar
Western Power

(Thanks to Councillor Colin Bryan for obtaining this information)