Anston Stones Archaeology Update

We have received these photos showing some of the latest finds from Anston Stones where Archaeologists from Durham Uni continue to toil, painstakingly scraping away history one layer at a time!

SPOILERS! If you don’t wish to know about the finds in advance of the talks on Saturday and Wednesday DON’T READ ANY FURTHER!

The left hand photo shows fragments of a pot from the 18th or 19th century, the right hand picture is a quartzite flake and a small Flint flake, both prehistoric probably middle and upper Palaeolithic, they could be tens or hundreds of thousands of years old!

The team has also found a pig jaw, a sheep jaw and some probable Roman pot.

Ceramic pot you understand, no one is accusing the Romans of smoking mari-ju-ana.

Try to make it to the talks, tomorrow at Creswell, Wednesday at Anston.

Archaeology in Anston Stones, Early Signs of Success!

According to early reports we are hearing that Archaeologists from Durham University have made their first finds near Dead Man’s Cave in Anston Stones.

A piece of flint (could it be a tool or weapon, we’ve not heard yet) and pieces of glazed pottery have been found. No details on the pottery but it looks like more than one piece of the same vessel.

More news as we get it, but in the meantime don’t forget there is a photo display in the Parish Hall and an upcoming talk as well!

Professor Mark White of Durham University will be speaking at Anston Parish Hall on Wednesday 13 July at 7pm.

Creswell Craggs will be hosting a presentation on Saturday by Professor Paul Pettit at 1.30pm.

Archaeology has Arrived in Anston Stones

The archaeologists from Durham University have arrived and begun work in Anston Stones!

This is a follow up to previous years and will be accompanied by a talk and photo display in Anston Parish Hall. This is another reminder if we needed one of the significance of the Stones and how lucky we are to have it on our door step.

The Stones and Creswell Crags are remnants from the days when Hyenas, Lions, Hippos and Rhinos roamed our lands!

Anston Parish Councillor Chris Sadler commented:

“Archaeologists from Durham University are digging in Anston Stones from Monday 4 July to Friday 15 July. They can be located by following the top path from Anston Parish Hall car park through the Stones, all visitors including groups will be very welcome.

There will be a presentation given by Professor Mark White of Durham University Wednesday 13 July in Anston Parish Hall at 7pm. Everyone welcome, please come along and join us.

Also in the Hall are information boards about Anston Stones during the ice-age and present day, everyone is welcome to come to the Parish Hall and view these, please contact the office beforehand on 01909 560922 between 9am and 12 to open the doors.

Durham University also have a team at Creswell Craggs digging outside Mother Grundy’s Cave and a presentation on Saturday by Professor Paul Pettit at 1.30pm. All welcome.

We are very lucky to have such wonderful amenity SSSI sites on our door step with the rare Magnesium Limestone 260,000 years old found in very few sites in the UK. Please make the most of this occasion of the visiting archaeologists and the opportunity to learn more about this Ice Age site and animals. See you there!”

SSSI means Site of Special Scientific Interest and is a government designation for important natural landscapes and habitat in the UK.

Anston Parish Council Considers Ban on Mountain Bikes in Anston Stones

In a move of almost “what foot shall I shoot myself in next” proportions Anston Parish Council decided tonight to move forward to study the possibility of banning bikes (of the push variety) from Anston Stones.

Some Councillors thought the idea ludicrous with at least two confirming they took their bikes there regularly. Others thought the sites SSSI protection (Site of Special Scientific Interest) meant that mountain biking was a form of criminal damage.

Deliberately damaging a SSSI is indeed a criminal offence but the gentle erosion caused by cycling (not to mention walking and horse riding) makes this tenuous at best.

One Councillor expressed surprise that groups of twenty cyclists were using the woods at time and wondered what would happen if such a group ran roughshod over a family group in one of the tunnels.

Cooler heads pointed out that cycling has been going on there for decades and it’s not happened yet (as far as anyone seemed to know)

It transpired that this all came about via an email sent to the clerk. A group of 20 (horror!!) cyclists were recently making their way through the wood and one of them ran out of talent on a tricky descent. An ambulance had some difficulty getting to him and were helped by a local contractor familiar with the layout of the Stones.

This led the Council to ponder whether the woods are suitable for cycling at all and they resolved to go away and fact find before bringing it back to a future meeting.

They also resolved to consider:

1. Banning fishing in Anston Stones
2. Banning Dogs from pay areas and playing fields on the rec ground.

This led to further questions about how such bans would be enforced and what could be done about the sheer amount of dog poo littering the local area. As the meeting ground to a halt no one had any answers but they resolved to meet again soon and discuss.

What do you think about banning cycling from the Stones?

Do you ride there? Have you ever sliced a family in half with your front wheel?

What about fishing?

And do you clean up after your dog? If so well done, if not a plague on you and your house!

Please feel free to comment below.

 

Early Election Results! Labour Party Legs it in Dinnington and Anston!

Yes we know the elections are in May, but all candidates have now declared and there are insufficient numbers for Anston Parish Council and Dinnington Town Council.

What does this mean? Anyone who nominated themselves is now a Councillor and the big news is that the Labour Party has done one in Dinnington and Anston, they have vanished!

Labour big guns like Iain Saint John, Judy Dalton, Jo Burton, Dominic Beck and Simon Tweed have stood down leaving the field clear for a mass of mainly independent candidates.

Ralph McIver has also chosen not to continue as Dinnington’s chair, is no longer on the Council and no longer a member of the Labour party.

Indeed as has been pointed out even former Labour Cllrs who have re-joined do not seem to be describing themselves as Labour.

Anston Parish Council will be John Ireland (current chair and Borough candidate), Gordon Jarvis (current Cllr) and Philip Matthews for South and Clive Jepson (current Cllr and one of the few independent Borough Cllrs in South Yorkshire), Ivan Machin, Myles Manship (campaigner for Anston Skate Park), Christine Sadler, Drew Tarney, Stuart Thornton (current Cllr) and Paul Vernon for North.

Dinnington Town Council will be Leslie Clarke (Salvation Army), Pauline Davies (Former chair), Brian Lewis (Political agitator crossed with a flying picket!), William Loftus, Andrew Milner, Roy Mugglestone (current Cllr), Paula Russell (current Cllr), Steven Scott (Current Cllr) and Dave Smith (current Cllr, former NUM President and politico at large for Dinnington).

Why has Labour rode off into the sunset? A few theories doing the rounds:

1. After the CSE scandal in Rotherham the knives were out (metaphorically) for certain Labour councillors who had held responsibility in the past for child protection. Possible.

2. Shame? Never stopped them standing before?

3. Parish and Town Councillors don’t get paid? Probably the favourite explanation for the withdrawal of former Borough Cllrs! Many Borough Cllrs used the Parish and Town as a platform to drive their personal priorities and fiefdoms, now with these people stepping down from the Borough due to the problems in Rotherham, Parish and Town level does nothing for them.

4. They just got tired. There has been a lot more scrutiny of their actions over the last few years and many of them were conscripts and not battles hardened. Basically they ran away.

If anyone else has further theories, however wacko just leave a comment.

Judy Goes on a Walk

Our very own Anston Councillor Judy Dalton has discovered a new walk she’s enjoying recently, no it’s not a one trip she is planning on coming back, despite being a key player at Rotherham Council which was described as “not fit for purpose” recently.

Apparently Judy’s walk was “heralded by birdsong” unlike her job as Taxi Licensing supremo which has been heralded by the arrival of government commissioners sent to replace her and her colleagues. Taxi’s were highlighted in the recent reports into RMBC child protection failings as ace facilitators to the child trafficking trade, ferrying victims around Rotherham and to cities beyond.

Well we’re glad Judy had a nice walk and her dog enjoyed itself, but with hindsight wouldn’t it be better if she’d spent the morning tightening up on background checks and other licensing matters?

In fact Judy, rather than having the cheek to walk round Anston and campaign for re-election in May with Sir Kevin Nutkin it might be better if you just kept on walking…!

Anston Parish Council Meeting 24th September

Anston Parish Council sinks deeper into its quagmire of incompetence, rudeness, bickering and despair.

Video from the meeting, Part one and Part two, apologies for the poor quality, I was a bit late and couldn’t set up properly!

Some high(low)lights;

1. The Council are installing their own system to record meetings, but it’s not quite finished.

2. Stuart Thornton is under investigation for various things as usual, for balance I would have to add the allegations are all from Labour Cllrs or their supporters. The local Police have told me that Labour party Cllrs have made statements against him despite not actually seeing the incident they were giving a statement about. Interesting…!

3. Cllr Burton will not be resigning despite spending quite a few years scrutinizing child protection in Rotherham.

4. Cllr St John likewise (he was a borough Cllr) and major at the time much of the abuse and trafficking was going on.

5. Many Cllrs stayed away from the meeting.

6. A local lady thinks the Anston Wells may be making children ill. I’ve been drinking it all my life and it’s never hurt me!

Anston Parish Council Watch Launches in Anston

The title says it all and this group obviously means business when it comes to scrutinising the activities of the Parish Council. More here.

Response to Cllr Judy Dalton

Our Response to Councillor Judy Dalton’s letter to the local papers.

I would like to respond to Cllr Judy Dalton who said in the local papers last week that she no longer wants to attend Council meetings because members of the public are being disruptive, rude and abusive.

In the interest of free and open debate I thought it might be helpful to supply a bit of background information about the goings on at Anston Parish.

Firstly Parish Councils should not be run along party lines and it is quite unusual to have the situation at Anston where two groups, Labour councillors and Independent councillors + their supporters are constantly at each other’s throats.

This situation and the huge amounts of complaints attracted the attention of Rotherham Borough Council who are responsible for Anston Parish’s conduct and they have had to send in an “Independent Person” to sort things out. This independent person did recommend training for the councillors as Judy says.

Training would certainly help as councillors currently struggle to understand briefing notes from RMBC, meeting procedures and even their own accounts. Regular attendees and independent councillors gradually became frustrated at this situation and began to push for more openness, transparency and scrutiny of the Councils affairs. Many awkward questions were asked and Labour councillors responded by battening down the hatches and pretending it wasn’t happening.

Frustration grew on both sides and meetings became more and more unwieldy, on one occasion two Police officers were summoned to throw out one pensioner who refused to sit down when the councillors ignored a letter he’d wrote.

Judy was present at this meeting and could have stepped in as an experienced councillor and shown a bit of leadership. She did not.

I would like to reiterate some of the suggestions I have made in the past to improve things:

1. Start dealing efficiently and openly with real issues that affect the most vulnerable people in Anston. Instead of carping on about hanging baskets let’s start to tackle the pockets of unemployment and deprivation in Anston and Dinnington. Let’s push for a decent bus service to the big centres of employment, Sheffield and Meadowhall. This would improve everybody’s quality of life as it would also help tackle crime and ASB.

2. Please Councillors get some training in the basics of budgets, planning and the other matters that come from RMBC. If members of the public challenge you challenge them back to suggest a better course of action.

3. Please start to work together with Dinnington Town Council, we are essentially one big community, joined at the hip. Let’s work together, this would allow us to get a much better deal when putting a case forward to bodies like RMBC. Let’s present a united front.

4. Film council meetings. It’s amazing how much more civilised people are when they know what they say might end up on YouTube. The government agrees with this and has asked councils to adopt this approach.

5. Let’s try and encourage more people to attend council meetings in Dinnington and Anston. If we start to tackle bigger issues more people will get involved.

Judy, Anston and Dinnington deserve better, so instead of threatening to take your ball in, get back in the game!

 

Councillor Judy Dalton in the Local Papers!