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Access
Glossop
Access Glossop was formed in 2001 and has been working since that time to represent the interests of and promote equality of access to goods and services for all disabled people in Glossop and the surrounding areas of Padfield, Hadfield, Gamesley, Simmondley, Tintwistle and Charlesworth.
Glossop is a small market town on the edge of the Peak District, and has a number of old Victorian mills and houses which were never made with accessibility in mind! Two of the mills are in the throes of development, and will eventually become posh apartments for the young and trendy, part of shopping and leisure complexes. The present population of Glossop is approximately 30,000, almost 10% of whom are in receipt of Disabled Living Allowance.
Regeneration of Glossop has recently been boosted by a massive injection of monies from the Liveability Fund, and there has been a period of planning and public consultation prior to work starting this year (2005) and going on into the 2010’s.
It is vitally important for Access Glossop to be involved in these early stages, to ensure that the needs of disabled people are catered for from the outset. To this end, we have been attending both Glossop Town Partnership and Glossop Vision meetings, as these are where the decisions are made as to how the money will be spent.
Transport facilities for the disabled in Glossop leave much to be desired. Only one bus company to date can accommodate wheelchairs and there are a few taxis with the necessary equipment for the disabled. It is possible to get to Manchester on the train in a wheelchair with some forward planning. The Access Glossop group has produced a booklet about the accessibility of local transport services.
Glossop has a rail link to Manchester Picadilly and bus services to New Mills, Stockport and Buxton to the South, and Ashton-under-Lyne, Hyde and Manchester to the North West. Glossop lies almost half way between Manchester and Sheffield on the busy A57 road, which takes in the Snake Pass to the East. In winter time, roads to the North and East – the Woodhead and Snake Passes – are often closed due to deep snow.
Access Glossop meetings are held 1.45 to 3.45pm on the first Tuesday of every month at Glossop Central Methodist Church, Chapel Street. Details can be obtained by emailing us at accessglossop@hotmail.com. Membership is open to any interested individual who is sympathetic to the aims of the group, though the committee must be composed of a majority of people with a disability.
Access Glossop will hold their Annual General Meeting on 1st May 2007, at the Central Methodist Church in Chapel Street, beginning at 2pm
DETAILS OF RECENT ACTIVITIES >>
NEW FEATURE - LOCAL DAY TRIPS >>
Access Glossop AGM 2007
Chair's Report - May 2007
Another busy year for Access Glossop! We have raised funding to help with travel expenses, and have attended meetings all over the High Peak. We have met with other Access groups from the rest Derbyshire at the Forum of Derbyshire Access Groups, with the High Peak ones on a regular basis, attended DCIL and the Small Group Project Advisory Group meetings, as well as participating in the consultation process held by Derbyshire County Council when formulating their Equality Scheme. We’ve had a difference of opinion with Bradbury House over mobility scooter access, which I’m happy to report has now been resolved, and another with HPBC over Manor Park, which has not! At times, it has been hard going, with so few of us in the group, but the few we have are dedicated and I must thank them for the hours they have put in to keep things going. I also thank the remaining High Peak Access groups for their support, and of course, DCIL and High Peak CVS.
It hasn’t all been tough - we have had some fun, too! Funding was raised for what we christened ‘Day Tripping’ – this involved a day out at such places as Chatsworth House, Etherow Park, Hollingworth Lake etc. where we audited the access and facilities for disabled people and subsequently published a report on our website (thanks to Peter, our web master). Some of these trips involved John going places where most people in wheelchairs would fear to go – he was sent down a mine in Yorkshire, and made to climb the stairs in Chatsworth House - and we even have a photograph on our website of him doing that. Not that he looks very happy about it! Our next outing will probably be to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park – a nice easy ride, if we can book him a scooter. Otherwise, we will be needing a volunteer pusher – any offers?
This last few weeks have been very busy, as we have been working on updating our Eating Out Guide, having obtained the promise of funding from Tameside and Glossop PCT. With luck and a following wind, we hope to have the new version printed and ready to launch in a couple of weeks, at the Small Group Project’s Special Event, which this year is being held in Glossop – at Bradbury House!
Plans for the future include formulating a list of accessible venues in the Glossop area. Both the rugby club and the cricket club have been rebuilt, and both now advertise themselves as available for hire. These are just two of the places we will be visiting and auditing some time this year, with a view to putting them on our list. There are many changes in the pipeline for Glossop in the next few years, so Access Glossop can expect to have to work just as hard keeping on top of them in the years to come.