I The Magazine For Sheffield 23,000 copies • Est. 1991 • October 2019 • www.grapevinesheffield.net Autumn In Endcliffe Park Open Letter To Voters Eat In Our Barn Treasure Hoard Found I Can Hear The Budgie Conservative Candidate - p.13 And Watch The Cows - p.12 Silver Pennies & Forgers - p.3 Latest Hearing Aids - p.18 Politics Caught Fire We’ll Collect Your Car Corian In Kitchens Sing-Songs At School Election In 1959 - p.24 Then Repair & Return It - p.39 My Seamless Worktops - p.22 Tuneful Nursery Children - p.43 NEW IMAGE SPECIAL OCCASIONS & CASUAL WEAR www.new-image.co.uk SPECIAL OCCASION WEAR PLEASE CALL TO BOOK YOUR APPOINTMENT Outfits for mother-of-the-bride/groom Matching hats, shoes and bags Special occasion wear Cruise wear Casual wear from European fashion houses One-to-one service coffee event Open Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Tues 10am - 7pm 2 n medieval England a terrible fate awaited men and much sought after by Viking invaders, convicted of forging coins. Their right hand was who would demand immense bribes of Icut off... ‘and both testicles beneath’. silver pennies to leave us in peace. Sums I often wish that such a penalty could be paid to those pirates were so vast that it reintroduced. This thought usually occurs when is a wonder longship fleets did not sink parking meters will not accept my pound coins under the weight. It was not unusual for because they are the wrong weight 20 tons of pennies to be handed over at (counterfeit, in other words). one time, yet England did not have any Nowadays, our currency silver mines to speak of - so from comprises eight coins and four where did we obtain all that banknotes, ranging in value from precious metal? 1p to £50. At the time of the Usually it was imported from Norman invasion, people in England had Bohemia, which is now part of the only the silver penny - 2,528 of which Czech Republic. have recently been unearthed in ‘Twenty dozen’ (240) English pennies equalled one a Somerset field by metal detectorists. pound of silver, and until decimalisation in 1971 that Many of these pennies bear the face of was how many copper pennies there were to a England’s King Harold II, who was killed at the pound Sterling. Battle of Hastings in 1066. Others show the visage of That was not the reason. With only one coin Forgers created fake coins, and also shaved silver his nemesis, King William I - formerly Duke William widely available, the only way people could give and from the edges of genuine ones, though there was of Normandy - who succeeded Harold on receive change was to divide pennies - often snipping an easier way to cheat. It was called ‘dusting’. the throne. (Actually, in those days there was them into pieces, which was legal. Pennies would be placed in a leather bag, which was also the mancus, a gold coin worth 30 pence, But these silver coins often wore thin then repeatedly shaken until a residue of silver but circulation of them will have been limited, - and forgeries were widespread - so every six particles could be harvested. and only a handful have ever been found). years people had to hand in their pennies at one of England minted silver pennies in 1066 to mark The hoard of pennies just the many royal mints scattered around England. King Harold’s reign, which lasted barely ten months, discovered contains many that These coins were melted down, and their former ending with his violent death on October 14th. are cut in half, and it has been owners handed freshly-minted ones (minus the Ironically, many of those coins bore a single word suggested this was done to check king’s handling charge - a tax of 10%). on the reverse: PAX. the coins’ silver purity. English coinage was among the best in Europe, Which is Latin for ‘peace’. Grapevine Magazine Ian Macgill editor 421 London Road, Sheffield S2 4HJ 0114 258 3131 www.grapevinesheffield.net Independent Bespoke Bathroom & TILING • PLASTERING • VENETIAN POLISHED PLASTER Wetroom Refurbishment Specialists Free Quotes, Fully Insured, All Work Guaranteed Over the last 13 years we have established a reputation for trust built on our integrity, quality and reliability We provide free, independent advice, excellent craftsmanship, plus 12­month guarantees on work we undertake • Advanced City & Guilds qualified • Our prompt, polite engineers will treat • All aspects of plastering • you, your family and your home with respect, • Venetian Polished Plaster & Microcement • and ensure that everything is left clean and tidy NEW SHOWROOM NOW OPEN NOW TAKING BOOKINGS on Derbyshire Lane by appointment. Owner Chris Shephard FOR INSTALLATIONS FROM OCTOBER ONWARDS We import our materials from Spain, Italy and France. They are 100% organic. Microcement and Venetian plaster can be applied directly over tiles, so there is no need for them to be removed NOW TAKING BOOKINGS FOR Our customers say… OCTOBER ‘Great attention to detail’ Official training ‘The work is nothing less than perfect’ instructor for Owner Craig Welsh holds the Search for Advanced City & Guilds certificate Shephard ‘We can’t recommend the Cimentart Sheffield in wall & floor tiling Plumbing service enough’ & Heating Ltd ABBEY DELL Call Chris on 07908 898 827 0773 274 4188 (0114 262 0031after 6pm) www.abbeydellplasteringandtiling.co.uk Integrity, Quality & Reliability www.shephardltd.co.uk Grapevine Magazine 421 London Road, Sheffield S2 4HJ Tel: 0114 258 31 31 3 4 Charlesworth Landscapes of Bents Green • Fully Insured Landscaping Paving Lawns & Turfing • Brickwork • patios • paving • • Patios & drives etc • pressure washing • walls • concrete • • Lawns • turfing • stonework • rockeries • • drives cleaned and re-sanded • • seeding • planting • Tree surgery Fencing Overgrown Garden All aspects: • felling • pruning • All types of fencing supplied • Clearance and One-off tidy ups • • Hedges trimmed or removed • and erected • All garden rubbish removed • Office: 0114 263 0720 Mobile: 07710 772 087 We are a family-run business based in Sheffield, providing high quality weatherproof and maintenance-free roofing systems, made to last a lifetime THE FIBREGLASS SPECIALISTS PERMANENT SOLUTION TO YOUR FLAT ROOF PROBLEMS • No seams, cracks or leaks • No stones, moss or lichen • Tough enough for balconies • Available in a range of colours • Can incorporate insulation to reduce heat loss • We supply a superb product guaranteed to last • 30-year durability (rated by the British Board of Agrement) EXPERTS IN ADVANCED FIBREGLASS ROOFING SYSTEMS Call us to arrange a FREE no-obligation quote 0114 236 2333 www.wraggroofing.co.uk POLYROOF 185 SYSTEM 4 Grapevine Magazine I Power To The People With Dave Borden of Borden Electrics Lights For Hallowe’en Clocks will go back a few days before Brexit, and as the nights lengthen many people will realise their outside lights are on the blink, which is when Team Borden can shine bright ook, I’m not one to terrify people “We have,” he says, “been using the services with crazy stories, writes Dave of Borden’s for almost three years. The first job Borden, but Hallowe’en this year is they did for us was swopping halogen spotlights going to be really, really scary, and in our kitchen for LEDs - which are supposed to Lthe last thing you want is to be walking up last a very long time. Unfortunately, one your garden path in total darkness. stopped working after only 18 months, so If that outside light has conked, ask Team Borden’s replaced it free of charge. They later Borden to fix it. If you don’t have outside put LEDs in one of our two bathrooms”. lighting, you definitely need some, because The light on Peter and Ruth’s on October 31st we won’t only have to outhouse was very useful because it contend with trick-or-treaters, witches, illuminated steps to the pavement, vampires and werewolves lurking in the but kept switching on every time roses shadows... there’ll also be Brexiteers dangled in front of its sensor, which hallooing as they run around wearing was located separately. The couple fitted Boris Johnson or Nigel Farage masks a low wattage bulb, hoping to lessen the (assuming we leave the EU on schedule). problem, but it didn’t. Then Team Borden The problem with some sensor-operated was sent for. On the outhouse we installed outside lights is that they can cause a lantern with a built-in sensor that a nuisance for you and neighbours by switches on the light only when flickering on and off all night long - activated someone approaches. by cats and swaying foliage. We recently “Borden’s electricians,” says Ruth, “are quick, fitted a new lantern-style light to an pleasant, and efficient. I wouldn’t use any other outhouse at the Ecclesall home of Dr. Peter firm of electricians.” White and his wife, Ruth. Peter was for We specialise in fixing minor electrical many years a senior lecturer in micro- problems, so do give me a ring if you need biology at the until his sockets changing, LEDs fitting, etc. University of Sheffield, Peter and Ruth White pictured retirement in 1996. near the lantern we fitted for them 384 Sharrow Vale Road, Sheffield. www.bordenelectrics.co.uk0114 267 1778 Grapevine Magazine 5 (-' GSAILRDVEEN RSEDRVAICLEES Specialists in all aspects of professional tree surgery •Trees re-shaped/felled •Gale-damaged trees $/-,0 •Stump removal made safe & grinding • Pruning & dead-wooding • Hedges & shrubs cut, •Firewood logs & wood -.,"0 reduced, or removed chippings for sale $%%& % &!& & %% • Garden & site clearance •Gardens tidied %% &!%&% &%#$%&&$!%" •Section felling •Grass cutting • Garden rubbish removal #%&%#$"%&& %%"&!$&% • On site log splitting %%%"& &&#&# &#%&#&#" !"&$!&#&#!$&$%"&#!"$%&%%" "$&%!" $%%&$$%&$ ! %"&#$& "#%& $%&!"$! # &%&#% $%& %& Card payments accepted % &$!%$%" #&%%$&!& %# For a free price estimate contact Bill Bingham %"%&&&&& #&%# %& 0114Fully insured 236 & safety 0592 conscious !&!& %#$ &$%%& $&%" !!"& %#$& Specialist in Digital Aerials, Satellite & CCTV Installation GREAT TV AERIALS Installation & repairs RECEPTION! James Fearnehough is the owner of Aerials Above, $%%0%00$0 and always on the same wavelength as %0%% 0$ his customers.