Send in your letters to be published here on the Website and in the Warsop & District News warsop.web@btinternet.com
Posted 16th August 2005 - It may only be a tale told by an old man. My grandfather told me that his grandfather, a Russian emigrant, an artist from Paris was commissioned by the Earl of Portland to paint some murals in some tunnels in his abbey or estate or whatever. I am just trying to find out if this is true? Are there any paintings in these tunnels.
The story is-------
This artist a Russian a Mr Ostyack came from Siberia where his father
had been exiled to after the Decemberist Revolution in Russia. There was
an attempt by officers in the Russian army at that time to overthrow the
Zarr. It failed and the officers were either executed or sent to Siberia.
My Great great grandfather was sent to Siberia and lost his land title
and money. He married a local woman from the local tribe. The Ostyacks
and took her name. When the new Tsar came on the throne, he pardoned the
Decemberists and the five sons went west. Four went to America but one
stayed in France and set up a studio. He was commissioned by The mad Earl
Portland and painted some murals in his
tunnels. I would
like to know if this story is true and if so I would love to see them.
Failing that possibility, could anyone possibly verify any part of what
I believe to be my history.
The name was slightly altered,or rather Englified. My Grandfather was Albert Herbert Ostick. My Father was Charles Duncan Ostick and I am Christine Ostick, Now Doxford E-mail christine@christinedoxford.wanadoo.co.uk
Posted 2nd January 2005 - I have been reading all the letters about the litter problem and was wondering if anybody else had noticed that whereever you stand, all around you you can see cigarette ends and I wondererd if the council could do something about this. You see regularly people going into shops and just toss cigarettes down outside the door regardless of other people I think something should be done about this. Yours disgruntled.
Excel Parking - Posted 23rd October 2007 - I am replying to your ongoing saga of Excel Parking Services. I and my fellow colleague Martin Bingley from Mansfield have organised the Portland Retail Park Action Group Against Excel. we have too many instances to regale you with here, but Alan Meale MP has our full backing. We and many other people in the Mansfield and surrounding areas were bombarded with 100 fines in January - some dated back to Sept 06 after which a camera was installed OUTSIDE the retail park and and supposedly caught hundreds of people 'overstayiing' the free 2 hours allowed. Some people had only been there for 20 mins or so but were given so-called photo evidence of having stayed far longer. I was sent 3 demands for 100, never having been sent the original fine for 40 which they claimed were lost in the post! It is still ongoing and Excel are now saying they will take me to court. We had a meeting some time back with Chris Tolson of Knight Frank the agents for owners of the ground and from that action Excel subsequently removed the camera and have now NOT had their contract renewed at the site. They left in September. If you wish to get in touch with me please feel free to email me and maybe we could discuss this problem further. I am amazed that King's Mill Hospital employ these people. They are a terrible company who do not listen to anyone and just try to extort money from innocent shoppers. Regards, Victoria Hetherington-Jakeman VHetherington@linney.com
Excel
Parking - Posted 30th Novemger 2004 -
I thought I
would just let you know that I to have had problems with Excel Parking.
I received a notice from them saying that I had parked my car in Kingston
Hospital car park in Surrey on the 10th April 2002 without displaying
a valid ticket. I received this notice from Excel 2 years later on the
23rd March 2004! I replied to this notice within the 7 days time limit,
in the envelope they provided denying that I parked my car at the hospital
and that I would like evidence of the so called offence. I also stated
that I haven't received anything from them until 2 years later.
I have today received a final demand notice (8 months after original letter)
saying that unless I pay the £100 fine I will be taken to court.
They say that I have not paid the previous notice and have not appealed
against it which I have. I am really confused as to how it has taken them
some 8 months to reply to something that should (according to them) be
dealt with in 7 days. I met all the requirements they asked for and was
waiting for a reply and thought it had been dealt with as I hadn't heard
from them. They are now saying I have missed my chance to appeal. I am
4 months pregnant and this is causing me a lot of additional worry and
stress that I do not need. I have today sent them another letter (which
I have had to send to the payment address as they don't give any of form
of contact details) saying that my car was not parked at the Hospital
and that I don't want to be taken to court for something I haven't done.
Thanks - Alison Meldon alison.hazlehurst@brabnerscs.com
Excel Parking - Posted 29th September 2004 - I work for Fifth Gear, the Channel Five motoring programme. We are undertaking some initial research for the Autumn series and the issue of private parking tickets has come to our attention. If this is a growing phenomenon, we think it is an issue our viewers should be aware of. We wonder if you know of anyone who has been the subject of a fine whilst displaying a legitimate ticket, or a similarly unscrupulous practice? If they would be prepared to talk to us it would give the item the validation it needs. Furthermore, if you have any general information you think might be of use, I would be very pleased to hear from you - Regards - Ian Bayliss - North One TV (0121 697 1904) email ian.bayliss@northonetv.com
Excel Parking - Posted 7th September 2004 - I have just come across comments on your webpage re Excel Parking. I am a resident of Sheffield and our local car park has just been handed over to this company.
Having parked my car
and paid and displayed my ticket I proceeded to do my weekly shop. On
returning to my car I had received a
parking fine. My ticket had fallen from the windscreen onto the floor
of my car (it was an extremely wet day and I assume the
inside of my car was slightly damp). Not being too concerned I forwarded
the proof of payment to Excel with an explanatory
letter. Within days I received a reply from them to the effect that the
£40 fine was still in place and if I didn't pay up
quickly it would rise to £60. I WAS LIVID - not only had I paid
and displayed, but I had proved it and confirmed that the ticket
was on my car windscreen when I left the car.
I am refusing to pay
the fine and am now awaiting a letter informing me that they will commence
court proceedings - let them - I
will not pay this unfair fine. I
was also angry to see that the telephone call which I had made to them
was charged at a premium rate of 50p per minute. - Janet Goulding
Posted
16th September - To
keep you informed re my previous letter to your webpage. Excel Parking
have been in touch and informed me that my second appeal was successful.
It is certainly worth fighting this company if you feel that your fine
is unjust. Janet
See other letters about Excel Parking >>>
WHY BLAME US? - Posted on Thursday July 8, - IMPOSSIBLE is the word to describe the position we are faced with. I am the owner /licensee of the Bargain Booze store in Warsop, and am getting angry with the bad publicity we are receiving regarding under age drinking. We at Bargain Booze know there is a problem in Warsop and are doing our very best to deal with it. In our store there is a policy of no I D no booze to anyone who is or appears to be under 18,but what happens is adults are buying it for them, it then goes onto the Carrs in our carrier bags, they get left behind and HEY PRESTO we have sold it to them. DON'T THINK SO.
Only last Friday i
refused to serve two 19 year olds with booze because i had reason to believe
it wasn't for them, within 2 minutes of them leaving the store my van
was damaged,complete with large footprint on the front wing. Luckily that
time it was my van that was damaged, next time it could be me or one of
my staff. Our log book is nearly full of "refused to sells".
If you get a minute you could come and see the amount of Beer/ Cigs and
Gas we refuse to adults and children.All our staff are trained to examination
level just to make sure the kids of Warsop are not sold booze from our
store. We also offer a reward of £200 to anyone with information
on anyone who supplies kids with booze, to date we have had no response.
At BARGAIN BOOZE we know there is a problem and are doing as much as we
can, and more.
MR GRAHAM POWER, BARGAIN BOOZE, 16 SHERWOOD
ST, WARSOP
MEDEN SCHOOL UNIFORM - Posted on: Tuesday, May 11, 2004, 04:33 PM - Today my daughter came home from school complaining to me about an issue which occured at school. As from september the meden school will have all years from 7-11 in the same uniform despite the past years of year 11 being allowed to keep the old tradition of a different uniform. Not only has this happened but one student has been excluded permanately for possesion of cannabis and another has had the same punishment for setting off a fire bell and a fine was issued. I would like to see meden school clean itself up but it wont do this by handing out harsh punishments to other year groups who dont even deserve it.
What do you think about this issue? Are Meden School being too harsh on their pupils?
I
don’t know the reasoning behind this new policy. Will it make the pupils
behave better? Will they suddenly change? Will they apply themselves better?
I think it will create a lot of ill feeling amongst the pupils. At the
end of the day the main reason children go to school is to learn and I
think somewhere along the line this has been forgotten. I think the time
spent even thinking about this new policy could have been time spent doing
something more constructive. As for the expense of buying a new uniform
for this last year doesn't bother me in the slightest. Every year I have
to buy new blouses, skirt, trousers etc because of the constant wear and
tear of the school year. I hope someone sees sense and stops spending
precious teaching time making up trivial policies.
26/03/04 - I don't want to come across as a party pooper on the Wood Street grand opening day but what is the point of a one way street coming out of the area??? I am told that the full two way road plans were scuppered due to technical problems but surely the one way system should have allowed traffic in not out. The reason for the work was to "open up" wood street to help regenerate the area, all this work has done is provide another escape route to get OUT of the area, what is the point in that??? - Dave (Victor Meldrew) Drury
What do you think? Do you share Dave's opinion? Send in your comments>>
28/03/04 - Yes I agree with 'Warsop resident' it would certainly have made more sense and a much safer option to have the traffic entering Wood Street than exiting from it. - June Boyer
06/03/04
I thank all the friends I made at the Warsop Town Hall InfoTech Centre
for making me so welcome in the three months that I was visiting my mother,
Mrs Maud Cook. It was great to be able to 'drop-in' on Tuesdays Fridays
and on one occasion Wednesday and keep honing my computer skills with
lots of help from the 'helpers' who volunteer their time to teaching and
troubleshooting everyone's problems.
I hope to see you all again in the not too distant future - regards -
June Boyer
This evening Connie rang me and said she now has a book that contains a picture of the trees. I am going tomorrow and hopefully will obtain a useful copy of the picture. I will also take details and perhaps get the same book from the county library. I am now very pleased that this project is coming right. - Cheers for now. Read the follow up >>
I
have also just found out that they used a debt collecting agency to credit
check me behind my back! Andrew Green - Northwich - Cheshire
See
also Excel Parking letters below >>>>
John Mann, MP for
Bassetlaw wants to hear your stories about Excel Parking - visit
his website
12/01/04
- I found your website whilst looking for information about some Beech
trees in Thoresby Park. But I'll come to that later. First of all I would
like to congratulate you on your excellent website, full of interesting
news and information. It really makes visitors feel welcome, and makes
me hopeful that help may be at hand.
Which brings me nicely back to the question of the Beech trees. A friend
of mine has asked me to search for any photographs of an avenue of Beech
trees that formed massive archways (possibly 3) into Thoresby Park, in
fact it was called Beech Avenue. I believe they were felled around 1949.
The timbers were transported to an old steam sawmill at Rufford and cut
up into large cubes. These cubes were then machined and turned into tool
handles. I was wondering if anyone out there had any photographs of these
Beech trees, and the archways that they formed. They were very large trees
and must have been around for a long time. Indeed the locals were not
very happy about them being felled and my friend says that he and his
mates were constantly being told off. Unfortunately, he was one of the
workers who cut them down. With what's happening on Debdale Lane now I
think they would have had a lot more trouble if they were cutting them
down today.
Hopefully you may be able to point me in the right direction. However,
I totally understand if you are not able to help and apologise in advance
for any inconvenience.
Regards - Dave Marsh. E.mail
- - Read
the conclusion to this letter >>
31/10/03
- At long last Warsop is to realise its full potential and regain its
lost respect with the re-opening of Wood Street!
For far too long the Royal Estate has deteriorated to become the shame
of a once proud and happy community. Far too much crime and national shame
has evolved from this segregated area. Shops and industries have abandoned
the area and potential development opportunities have been ignored. Residents
abandoning life investments in their property. People no longer had the
desire to live in this part of Warsop have shamefully moved away. Those
who stay pay council tax for the priviledge of being an ignored community.
Already regeneration has begun, a warden is to be appointed to liaise
with community, but this was a project marred by a lack planning of necessary
access roads. With the re-opening, the segregated community of Warsop
will be reunited. Emergency and public services have easier access when
vitally required. Industry and shops will return to the area. The Town
Hall again proudly at its centre.
As Wood Sreet is re-opened there is the potential to successfully re-develop
the area to make it a truly Royal Estate. The actual cost of the whole
project will fade into insignificance compared to the returns that the
council and a lost community will realise.
Graham Tinker (ex-Warsop resident)
27/10/03 -
Hi my name is Rick Dye i am currently serving in Baghdad with the Royal
Air Force and haven't really bothered with the internet up until being
out here, where i found Warsop and District Web site which i was most
impressed with i
also agree with many of the people that have e-mailed you and believe
that the improvements to the town centre are more than overdue. I am quite
pleased with the progress over the last 6/7 months and it's also nice
to see new business in Warsop i think the town is a beautiful place with
a very large amount of potential, keep up the good work.
I could not resist adding my two pence worth. I think the town centre improvements are well over due, I'm sure most folks would agree. Surely the whole idea behind the improvements is to promote and encourage pedestrianism, for those worried about turning left at the bottom of the High street, try leaving the car at home, catching the bus, walking or simply not driving down the high street in the first place. (wayne shutt's letter)
If you must drive down the high street why not park to the left (opposite the co-op) car park, get out and walk? The only vehicles that need to go down the high street are delivery vans, police cars, buses and folks with disabilities. I know it is easy to jump in the car and park outside the shops, but we cannot all do that. The sheer volume of traffic made crossing the road before the improvements an arduous task.
I
have to cross the main road running through Warsop, even though they have
central reservations it can be quite frustrating. I can only feel for the
old folk who are not so nimble. The zebra crossing now looks safer, both
for drivers and pedestrians alike, it was only a matter of time before an
accident occurred there. The road now seems a lot tighter all around the
improvements, this will force all traffic to slow down and be more aware
of the surrounding area. We must all stop and think, "do I really need
to drive down the street?" If you walk down the street you won't have
to battle through the traffic, you will be a lot safer due to the new road
system, you are getting some exercise and fresh air and you will be doing
your bit for the environment. - Andrew.
25/4/03 - Town Centre Improvements?
I think the improvements look very nice and do make the centre of town look a lot nicer. The only problem I can see is that they have created a traffic nightmare if you are coming down high street and want to turn left but get stuck behind traffic. Before you could get through on the inside but now it is impossible and you can be sat there 5-10 minutes when it's busy. It looks like the same is going to happen the other way too. The other main traffic problem is outside the Hare and Hounds where the pavement is lower. This is all well and good but the bollards stick out in the road a good 8-10 inches with no warning and I can see countless accidents occuring here.
I would rather see the money spent on facilities to get kids off the street corners causing trouble - Wayne Shutt
What
do you think of the Town Centre improvements? Let
us have your comments.....
27/9/03 - We refer to your letters section and in particular 19/03/03 ARE KINGS MILL PATIENTS & VISITORS READY FOR EXCEL PARKING? Written by Dave Drury.
We thought you would like to know of our problems with Excel Parking. We also thought you might be interested in an excerpt from the Parking Doctor website regarding further problems with Excel. - Kind regards - Elizabeth Reep, Chairman of the Bawtry Business & Residents Committee
I read with interest about the new parking arrangements at Kings Mill Hospital and feel it necessary to warn people about "EXCEL PARKING" the company that has been chosen to run the car park. I am particularly interested in the claim that offence notices for expired tickets will be revoked if you send evidence of a further valid ticket to cover the time. With my experience of them I find this very hard to believe.
At the beginning of February my wife parked her car in an EXCEL run car park near to where the old Police Station is in Mansfield. On returning home She discovered a notice on her windscreen demanding £40 for not properly displaying her ticket. As She had returned home before finding the notice it was impossible to know if the ticket had actually been disturbed whist She was parked, it was placed on the dashboard. She sent a letter to EXCEL explaining that She had in fact bought a ticket and enclosed the ticket as evidence. EXCEL replied stating that despite the fact She had bought the ticket the £40 fine still stood because it had fell over on the dash board and was not visible to the attendant at the time.
She sent another letter explaining that the date and time that the attendant stated on the notice was within 90 SECONDS of the ticket leaving the machine as per the issue time stated on the ticket, surely this was sufficient evidence that She had bought the ticket. EXCEL were not interested and they again demanded the £40 or threatened to take court action.
My wife sent another letter asking how EXCEL could be certain that the attendant had not made an error as there could have been several tickets on the dashboard She also asked if the attendant was on any form of commission for how many tickets were issued. Considering that the attendant logged the offence within 90 SECONDS of the ticket leaving the machine you would have to suspect that he had stood and watched the ticket being purchased and was very keen!!
EXCEL again demanded the £40 with the threat of court action. A couple more letters came and went then they decided to tell her that they had photographic evidence! Why had they not stated this in the first place and ended the matter? My wife wrote again and asked for a copy of the photograph to give her the peace of mind that She had been properly fined and on receipt of the photographs She would send the money, She even offered to travel to them to see the photographs.
EXCEL wrote back stating that the photographs would be made available in court and that we could still pay the discounted fine of £40 if paid within 7 days. She wrote again asking why EXCEL wanted us to go to court to see the photographs, why couldn't they be shown to avoid going to court ?
The next letter had copies of the photographs enclosed, this was after 5 letters of appeal. She reluctantly posted a cheque for the £40 and was glad it was over….or was it? She had another letter today from EXCEL thanking her for the £40 but demanding a further £20 because the cheque was received outside the 7 days from the issue of the notice. She has written again but doesn't hold out much hope of anything but court action unless She pays the extra £20. That makes it £61.00 for 25 minutes parking with EXCEL PARKING.
At the end of the day, She bought the ticket, EXCEL PARKING know that She bought the ticket but they are having a minimum of £40 from us and now it seems another £20 unless we go to court to try and fight it.
Make no mistake, EXCEL PARKING are a private company with the aim of making money and they have proved to me that they will go to any length to get it. I never did get a reply as to whether their attendants are on a bonus for how many tickets they issue but if I was a betting man …..be warned.
Make sure your ticket is properly stuck to the FRONT windscreen, technically they can fine you if it is stuck to the side windows, read the small print on the ticket!! .
How
confident do people feel about Kings Mill's new parking arrangements now?
You may as well park on double yellow lines outside the hospital, there's
far less chance of the police spotting you than EXCEL PARKINGS profit chasing
attendants. - Dave Drury
John Mann,
MP for Bassetlaw wants to hear your stories about Excel Parking - visit
his website
23/02/03
- SCROOGES - It is a shame that Scrooges are living
up to their name! I hear that they're doing really well, opening new stores
further afield and what have you, but why can't they re paint the front
of the Warsop store? Now I'm not exactly well known for my eye for detail!!,
I tried to get a pint at the Dog on Friday, but how can you miss that shop
front! it is absolutely mingin. What a welcome to the centre of Warsop!!
Come on Nobby, Dave, get it sorted out. - Dave Drury
23/01/03 - Like many of the folk of Warsop, it's nice to see that at long last something is being done to tidy up the face of Warsop. At long last the boarded up shops on Sherwood Street are coming back to life after so many years of the well known sheets of hardboard masking on their fronts. Being a Warsopian all of my 52 years, I've seen a lot of changes to our market town, the last major one being the introduction of a new road that split Warsop apart in the mid seventies. This meant that the old part of Warsop was separated from the main shopping area, which meant many of the older residents who lived their, had to cross this dangerous road.
Wouldn't it be better to put a mini roundabout at the junction of the old Town Hall? This would open up the old part of Warsop bringing it back into the main shopping part of the town. Many of my family lived in the old part of Warsop, in fact my mother was born on Alexandra St, along with eight of my Aunties and Uncles. Many a fine folk were born in those now derelict building shells that where once family homes. They would all turn over in their graves to see the burnt out, drug ridden ghetto that has replaced it. For a long time the council had turned their backs on it. Ok, they are now proposing new alterations but it's long been overdue.
This brings me to a point that I want to make. On travelling by Warsop along the once new road, the only two entry points to the main shopping centre, people are met with boarded up shops. One, being the "Dukeries Bathroom and Kitchen Centre". Surely the council could re-glaze the said shop, the windows were put in by vandals who were running riot through Freddy Woodheads old shop, which was left derelict by the council for years. So come on, dig deep into your pockets and let's see the shop re-glassed. The second entry into Warsop, you are met by two rundown properties on High St, one being the old pet shop (Kirks), the other was once a sweet shop. Both are boarded up and would be a deterrent to what could be new shoppers to our once lovely town of Warsop. - Fezz Lambert
21/12/02
- The Face of Market Warsop Hi, My family and I visited Warsop in
July/August and the one thing that we were all upset by was the horrible
litter everywhere, especially along the backstreets. Doesn't anyone care
about this once beautiful little village? Also, I am always concerned that
there are no audible crossing signals near 'The Plough Inn' and the Town
Hall where residents of the aged bungalows have to cross the road to the
shops. My mother 90yrs and quite a few of her neighbours are of limited
sight or blind and have to rely on other people crossing to follow over
the very busy roads.
Hoping that someone reads this that can do something about making a 20 pound
fine for litter and make safer crossing for the aged. - Regards June
Boyer
8/12/02 - I too live in Warsop born and bred and would like to see more positive action to tidy up our little town. Have you thought about introducing a forum to the web site to discuss local topics and ideas to help us all get something out of living in Warsop and also put something into it. I'm sure it would be beneficial to all with access to the site.
I for one would like to voice my opinion on quite a few subjects that should arise, not just negative side to town life but also the positive. If for instance con men are operating in the area there is no faster way to spread the word of warning than the internet.........
Don't
get me wrong I'm no moaning old git with nothing better to do (35 this year)
it's just that I feel strongly about certain things and I am proud to live
in Warsop as I have done all my life, I would like to see more of a community
spirt and maybe this could be introduced by weekly topics chosen by the
people for the people of Warsop.
Thanks for taking the time to read to read this e-mail. I would also like
to say that Mrs Dori Bonsall should be remembered for all the work she did
for the Warsop area. - Alan Hawkins
Thanks Alan, it's nice to know that others feel
the same as I do about Warsop.
Five people turned up. As I commented at the time 5 people picked it up after 15,000 people had thrown it down. The situation since then has got worse. Goodness knows what strangers to Warsop think of us on walking through the litter -strewn streets and past the boarded up shops which are also such an eyesore.
Why not, through the Warsop News and this Website, have a concerted effort to try to make the people of Warsop more litter conscious. Youngsters are among the main culprits although they are not set a very good example by the adults. I would imagine that a start could be made by asking every householder to make sure that the front of his or her premises are litter free.
I often
wonder why shopkeepers don't do this as a matter of course. Their discarded
packaging is what one sees most of scattered about. I would have thought
it would be in their own interests to make their own frontages were clean
and tidy so as to make each shop a welcoming place to enter. This would
at least ensure that the centre of Warsop was kept in an acceptable state.
It might also persuade youngsters and others to dispose of their rubbish
in more appropriate places than the roads or pavements when they can see
that their rubbish is the being thrown into clear streets.
This would leave those parish or council employees whose job it is to try
to keep pace with the litter problem to concentrate on the gardens, car
parks and boarded-up shop fronts.
I like Warsop. I was born here but I have become very embarrassed of late
with the state of the place. I know other people feel the same. What is
needed however is a campaign to try to make everybody aware of how bad it
looks to be knee-deep in rubbish. We need a vigorous campaign to change
ingrained habits so that Warsop can once again be the sort of place that
is a pleasure to walk and shop in and I look to you and other organisations
to lead such a campaign to this end. - David Fenton
There
are many people who are proud to live in Warsop and who are prepared to
act positively to improve our small town. If you are interested in similar
issues and would like to add positive input please visit the PS
Forum >>>>
Send in your letters to be published here on the Website and in the Warsop & District News warsop.web@btinternet.com
