Welcome Sandyford and Goldenhill Residents Association (S.A.G.E.)
Welcome to our website
A residents association uniting the two villages of Sandyford and Goldenhill since 1999
An organisation that aims to improve the environment and lifestyle for all its residents who live in our community
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David Wood’s story continues with the 1950’s Telegram and concludes with 21st century You Tube technology.
David says, urgent messages were delivered by telegram because very few people had telephones and this was the quickest way to do it. The telegram boys rode little red motorbikes and fairly whizzed around the city, in fact everyone looked if they saw one because it usually meant bad news for somebody.
Police Constable Joe Smith was the man who steered us in the right direction, it worked Joe, but then again you know that, because we have met up a few times socially over the years since then. Thanks Joe.
My religious background is slightly complicated. My mum’s family all attended the Dale Street Methodist Chapel and had done so since time began and my dad’s family belonged to the Latebrook Baptist Chapel. It was agreed by our parents that we would be dedicated, that is named, as Baptists, in the hope that we would be fully baptised when we became adults. The other part of the deal from our mum’s point of view was that we would attend the Methodist Sunday school.
The Baptist chapel closed around 1956 and we outgrew the idea of Sunday school when we were teenagers. The strict chapel upbringing certainly didn’t do us any harm; in fact it gave us both a good basis for our future lives. The school rooms belonging to the Methodist chapel were further along Andrew Street towards the fields. Quite a few pantomimes, dances and social evenings took place there.
Jack Rhead’s brother Cyril, who was quite tall, played the part of the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk, it must have had an effect on me because I never looked at Cyril in the same light again. One year I was volunteered to read a monologue and I chose “The Lighthouse Keeper“. Follow the link to read it in all its literary splendour.
http://monologues.co.uk/Tall_Stories/Lighthouse_Keepers_Story.htm
The monologue was a humorous rendition of an imaginary lighthouse keeper’s bravery, as told by himself and it was to be performed in front of an audience in the Sunday school hall. Little did I know when I volunteered that there were fourteen verses which had to be learned and recited without the help of the script.
I think I was about thirteen or fourteen when this was a happening, I do recall that it was totally nerve wracking, but the sense of achievement was fantastic. There were another couple of similar performances, but modesty or embarrassment, prevents me from telling them here. What a pity we didn’t have You Tube then, I could have been preserved for posterity, well perhaps not.
Because there was very little in the way of alternative entertainment, we looked forward to evenings like those.
David talks about Police Constable Joe Smith earlier in the story and I am pleased to say that Joe is still going strong at the age of 80 and he still enjoys community life as the Chairman of Sandyford & Goldenhill Residents Association (S.A.G.E.).
Until next time please enjoy the reading of these interesting stories by clicking on the local memories tab.
Sandyford & Goldenhill Residents Association (S.A.G.E.) is pleased to announce an exclusive story that Dr Chandra Kanneganti, General Practitioner at Goldenhill Medical Centre has purchased the former City Council’s Heathside House Residential Care Home in Goldenhill.
 Heathside House, Goldenhill Dr Chandra Kanneganti upon talking to S.A.G.E. has said that he is looking at reopening the care home within the next 12 months.
Dr Chandra went onto say that he regularly visits the S.A.G.E. website and when he read a recent website article on the sale of the old care home and it said “it is hoped that whoever it is who purchases the property is mindful to helping with the regeneration of the city and especially for the local residents who live in Goldenhill and Sandyford” that it was that comment, which finally persuaded him to buy the property.
Dr Chandra commented that at the auction there were prospective buyers from other parts of the country and the land/building could well have gone to them with the possibility of further house building in the area.
Dr Chandra added that the reopening of a residential care home in Goldenhill would offer much needed jobs to an ever increasing unemployment situation across the city.
Sandyford & Goldenhill Residents Association have discussed the recent purchase made by Dr Chandra and have said that they are very pleased that someone who lives in the area has taken the time and trouble to put money back into Goldenhill.
S.A.G.E. believe that by offering extra residential care back into the area and giving that much needed boost of additional employment will also help the local community to develop itself even further.
A gunman is being hunted after a shot was fired at a property in Broadfield Road, Goldenhill.
A part of the road was petitioned off for the most of yesterday whilst the police made house to house enquiries.
Chief Inspector Adrian Roberts of the Stoke-on-Trent North local policing team said “At this stage, it would appear this was a targeted incident and would like to reassure local residents of this”.
Neighbourhood officers are in the area offering support to local residents and anyone who has concerns can speak to them.
It is good to report to local residents that no one was hurt in the incident.
For more details on this story, follow the link.
http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/Gunman-flees-firing-shots-house-Goldenhill/story-15342280-detail/story.html
Pictured is the Swan Inn Public House in Goldenhill, which was taken in April 1913.
 Swan Inn, High Street, Goldenhill 1913 The decorated public house shows crowds of people standing outside and waiting to see if they can catch a glimpse of King George V along with Queen Mary.
In 1913 King George V would have only been on the thrown for 3 years after the death of his father King Edward VII.
The Swan Inn used to be located next to St John’s Anglican Church, which is on the High Street in Goldenhill.
Unfortunately, the Swan Inn was demolished in the 1960’s, possibly 1967.
Follow the link for British Pathe News of King George V and Queen Mary’s Silver Wedding in 1918
http://www.britishpathe.com/video/king-george-v-and-queen-marys-silver-wedding-proce
Alan Clewes says thanks for the memories, I used to live in the jolly colliers, I was born there and left when I got married and then went to live in eccleshall in 1963.
Yes I remember the Uffers, used it many times for snooker and the weekly rave-up upstaires, I also remember the pub knock-outs which as a lad I had the pleasure of playing and the jolly colliers won that year I played ahhhh the good times eh, thanks again.
It has been reported that on the evening of the 22nd February that a lady received a call from a male claiming to be from SKY requesting details from her including bank details. Fortunately she had the presence of mind not give out any details which in turn caused the male to become abusive. The lady has checked with Sky this morning and they confirm they did not make the call. REMEMBER under no circumstances shoudl you give out your pesronal details particularly any of your bank details to anyone over the phone. If you are unsure, refuse your details and ring the company from a phone number found by yourself to confirm the identity of the caller.
David’s story this time starts with 1950’s & 60’s haircuts in Goldenhill, how times have changed. David also reminds us of the emergency services when the vehicles had bells ringing, how we forget the good old days.
Anyway, David’s story starts by saying, I used to have my haircut at Bill Eardley’s, for the little boys he placed a piece of wood across the arms of the chair to raise you up to a working height. You knew you were growing at last when you just sat in the chair and didn’t need the wood to lift you up. When my dad was poorly Bill used to nip across the road in his lunch break to give him a shave and a haircut, that was definitely good village life.
One of the most confusing things to happen in my childhood was to go to the pictures on a summer evening and come out into broad daylight. It was a real anti-climax because you usually went in at dusk and came out in the dark. So the problem was, did you go home and go to bed or did you play out for a while, mum usually decided.
In those days we had the main film and a lesser film, usually called the B movie and don’t forget the Pathe news. That was exciting, was it not, to be able to see news reels in black and white which were about three months old, but this was before television so actually it was quite good. The B movies were usually Hopalong Cassidy or some other old cowboy short films.
Who could ever forget, Laurel and Hardy, Abbot and Costello, The Bowery Boys, Old Mother Riley, Roy Rogers, The Durango Kid, Tex Ritter, Gene Autrey, The Marx Brothers, The Three Stooges, George Formby. I know that our Super Cinema didn’t open on Saturday mornings for the Chum’s Club, but we had some fantastic times at The Ritz and Barber’s Palace in Tunstall.
Lane’s chip shop next door to the Lord Nelson was the one we used the most, Friday night was pudding night and they had to be ordered by Thursday at the latest, with chips or new potatoes, what a decision to have to make. If you took a week’s supply of Sentinels you would get a free bag of chips. Buckley’s butchers specialised in Savoury Ducks, I don’t know what was in them but they had never been near a duck, that’s for sure.
 1960's Ford Anglia Police car As young boys we were taught to stop and remove our caps if a funeral went past in the High Street. The earliest police cars were the panda cars, pale blue Ford Anglias or Morris Minors, with a little blue dome light stuck on the top. The ambulances had bells not sirens.
What an interesting article it was this time David, I can’t wait until next time. So until then keep reading David’s other stories on the local memories tab at the top of the page.
Safety of the children who attend St Joseph’s Primary School in Goldenhill is now a top priority.
Since Steve Shaw, Vice Chair of Sandyford & Goldenhill Residents Association saw the problems arising from vehicles collecting and dropping their children off outside the school and it causing the area to become unsafe for everyone, it was then that he decided to do something about it.
Steve whose children attend the school approached the Head Teacher and started a campaign to address the problem. Steve gained sponsorship to make people aware of the problem through posters etc and he borrowed some cones on a temporary basis to place outside the school to deter motorists parking there.
The Vice Chair of S.A.G.E. was always aware the cones needed to be returned to the City Council but with help from Councillor Martin Garner to purchase 36 traffic cones from his ward budget will certainly help the school to keep on top of the problem and ensure the children are being kept much safer.
Councillor Garner informs S.A.G.E. that the new heavy duty cones will be delivered to the school next week.
Well done! everyone.
Three men from Stoke-on-Trent have now been sentenced after they admitted their involvement in preparing for acts of terrorism. A fourth man has pleaded guilty to possession of an article for terrorist purposes.
The four were part of a wider network of nine, including men from Cardiff and London. Four of those men pleaded guilty to a preparing to detonate an explosive devise at the London Stock Exchange.
This outcome has been in no small part down to the many members of the local Muslim community who, a number of years ago, raised concerns with us about the activities of these individuals. Hopefully, we have gone some way to repaying their initial trust and confidence in us. We would like to thank the community for this.
Staffordshire Police played a key part in this investigation which was coordinated by the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit in partnership with the Security Service, CPS and the Metropolitan Police and South Wales police forces.
The fact that the four Stoke-on-Trent men pleaded guilty to the charges they faced demonstrates the robustness of the evidence put in front of them and the rigour of the prosecution case.
Three of the Stoke-on-Trent offenders have received an indeterminate prison sentence, this means they must serve the full minimum term of at least 8 years, before being considered for release. At this stage if it’s believed they still pose a danger to the public they will remain in custody.
It’s important to re-iterate that our initial suspicions about the activities of these men came about as a direct result of concerns from members of the local Muslim community.
Whenever concerns are raised by members of the community, Staffordshire Police has a duty to respond and to ensure public safety.
Three of the defendants had their houses searched in July 2008 as part of Operation Aragorn. The fourth was closely involved in the group but did not have his home searched.
Operation Aragorn was a complex case and we carried out a thorough, proportionate and professional investigation to establish the facts.
During our initial searches we recovered a considerable amount of information which we examined carefully and methodically for its evidential value. This consisted of over ½ million computer files and other printed and electronic material which was pain-stakingly reviewed and assessed.
At the time, we worked closely with special case lawyers at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). They reviewed all of the evidence and advised that there was little likelihood of a successful prosecution. As a result the matter was dropped. However, without going into too much detail about our tactics and methods, our interest and close
monitoring of the group did not stop, it very much continued.
It was acknowledged in court that other projects had been discussed among the wider group – including the possibility of targeting pubs in Stoke-on-Trent. However, these plans were not in any way considered to be well developed and no specific targets were ever agreed.
It’s also important to remember what the four Stoke-on-Trent defendants pleaded guilty to. Three admitted involvement in a plot to set up a terrorist training camp overseas or assisting others to travel abroad to engage in training for acts of terrorism and the other to possession of information for a terrorist purpose.
When we took action to make the arrests in December 2010, it was on the basis of an imminent concern for public safety but this was not related to any targets in Stoke-on-Trent.
Our local police officers and staff work on a daily basis alongside our local communities to address the concerns and issues that affect their lives. These strong community links help us to listen to the views of local people to deal with their concerns.
We can only make it more difficult for extremists and terrorists to operate by working closely with our communities. While we plan and prepare, the public can play their role by remaining calm and vigilant and reporting anything suspicious to the police.
Local neighbourhood officers are already speaking to members of our communities across Stoke-on-Trent to give them reassurance and our ongoing commitment to them to continue our work to keep our communities safe.
Thank you for your ongoing support
Chief Inspector Adrian Roberts- Local Policing Team Commander
http://www.staffordshire.police.uk/news/news_releases/120210_21_terrorist_sentencing/?view=Standard
Police Community Support Officers (PCSO’s) in Staffordshire, which includes Sandyford & Goldenhill have new powers to help them deal with everyday policing issues.
Some of the PCSO’s new powers will enable them to seize drugs and alcohol, detain suspects, search for alcohol and tobacco, issue fixed penalty notices for disorder offences and disperse groups and take under 16s home.
Tom Simpson, Secretary of Sandyford and Goldenhill Residents’ Association welcomed the move.
He said: “Times are really difficult in every walk of life, especially with all the cutbacks. I suppose it could be seen as getting something done on the cheap.
“But in Sandyford and Goldenhill, we’ve noticed a real difference by having PCSOs. Anything that gives them extra powers, especially to deal with drugs and anti-social behaviour, is welcome.”
Follow the link for more on this top story
http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/PCSOs-granted-20-new-powers-Staffordshire/story-15146807-detail/story.html
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