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SPRINGS UNCOVERED

Contents 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42

Published in 2017 by New Springs Community Project Group, 55 Dorset Drive, Bury BL9 9DN www.newsprings.btck.co.uk Edited by Lucy Cooke (NSCPG) and Rick Walker (Cartwheel Arts) www.cartwheelarts.org.uk Design by Keir Mucklestone-Barnett - www.keirmb.com Photographs by Ali Groves www.alisongroves.com/blog/ and members of the community

Introduction

Springs Uncovered marks the 21st anniversary of the establishment of The Springs Tenant Management Co-op. This book tracks the history of the co-operative, its residents and community. Using archival materials, interviews and storytelling sessions we have captured memories from those who campaigned for the co-operative, tenants who have moved to the estate over the years and members of the New Springs Community Project Group who continue to contribute to the strong sense of community on the estate today. The Springs Tenant Management Co-operative (TMC) was one of the first in the country to be set up under the Government’s Right to Manage legislation. The Springs Tenants Co-op Steering Committee campaigned tirelessly, knocking on doors prior to the week-long vote in September 1995. The borough’s first tenant management co-operative was finally voted in with an overwhelming 85% of the votes - with over 60% of tenants turning out to vote in a powerful display of social action.

“Mary Owen, Gene Burn, Kay Haywood and Francis Alexander were the stalwarts who really steered Springs to independence - all strong women who never had easy lives and turned fires upon making something better for their children.” − Pearl Bugeja, Finance Officer

The Tenant Management Organisation took on management responsibilities from Bury MBC 10 months later, on 1st July 1996. The transition wasn’t without its difficulty, the Springs estate used to be labelled as a high profile no-go area, with crime, neighbour nuisance, vandalism and drug dealing endemic on the main part of the estate. The committee and the newly employed staff persevered and over the past 21 years, the area has become a settled, low crime area with a good reputation as a secure place to live. We now have a diverse community living on the estate: mainly White British, South Asian and Polish who all have their own stories of the area to share. Springs Uncovered aims to commemorate and inform about the heritage of the estate but also celebrate its new heritage. “This community just decided to take their future into their own hands and create a good space and name for Springs, and that’s just what they’ve done.” − Hayley Baguley, Housing Officer

“I never even used to admit I lived on the Springs. I needed to make a home for myself, so I choose to tough it out.” − Wendy Cropper, Community Group Founder

All the news that’s fit to print!

05 The NSCPG Kids Club visited Bury Art Gallery to explore paintings of historic Bury, followed by a session at Bury Archive Service to look at old maps and census records from the Springs estate.

Quotes from children at Archive Service: “In 1910 our house was an allotment, in 1930 our house was a shop” — Majid family, Dorset Drive “My house was a vicarage in 1910” — Mason Todd, East Street “The most interesting fact today – Bury FC was at the top of the table 1909-1920” — Serenity Todd, East Street

New Springs Community Project Group –How it all began 06

Around 20 years ago the Church Urban Fund and Bury Council youth services formed the Springs Project - providing services for the young people on the estate. At the same time two mums, Wendy Cropper and Linda Cairney, who lived on the estate were working with younger children, playing rounders on the fields at the bottom of Gigg Lane, every Sunday. These two mums eventually became the Springs Action Group. As funds dried up at the Springs Project, it was agreed that the two groups would amalgamate and be called the Springs Community Action Group. Under the umbrella of the Springs TMC funding was obtained to fund a Community Development Worker to help and support the Action Group which was renamed the Springs Community Project Group, and later, the New Springs Community Project Group (NSCPG). New Springs Community Project Group (NSCPG) formed it’s constitution in 2000 - there have been a few changes to members and personnel over the years but the aims and objectives of the Group have remained constant throughout. The main aim when the NSCPG was constituted was to have a purpose built community centre something the group achieved in April 2007 when we opened the New Springs Activity Centre as part of Bury East Spoke (formerly part of Sure Start) Children’s Centre on Dorset Drive in the heart of Springs Estate.

Interview - Wendy Cropper

The make-up of the estate is still changing but I would never move. My eldest son has bought a property here and we make the most of what we have. I got myself involved in the setting up of the Co-op because that’s what you do if you want to be part of change. By putting your heart and soul into it consistently you can demonstrate to others what it takes to make a close supportive community. I remember the day we found our campaign was successful we had a big party at the office with lots of dignitaries everybody felt really empowered right across the community. In the early years the community group was church funded and when that money run out we became the Springs Community Action Group. We started things like rounders for the youngsters and it grew from there. I believe if you catch them early and you give the so called ‘latch key kids’ somewhere to go it instils a sense of belonging and responsibility.”

Wendy Cropper Chair Person 1998-2016, Founder of NSCPG

“When I first moved here 1985 this was a no go zone, my parents did not want me to move here there were bonfires in the gardens, people throwing cans and you did not want to go the shops. No one really wanted to come out after six pm. The new build began to change all this, it was pretty scary before.

Key Events

1994

1997

2000

The Housing (Right to Manage) Regulations were brought into place.

The early years were far from smooth sailing for Springs TMC. A month after opening the new office on Dorset Drive vandals threw concrete slabs through the windows. Opportunists also took to squatting in empty buildings on the estate. Council security presence and police patrols had to be stepped up.

New Springs Community Project Group (NSCPG) formed it’s constitution.

1995 Springs Tenant Management Committee (TMC) established. Vote takes place on the estate with 85% of votes in support.

1996

The Tenants Group During these years the estate was in a state of decline, with turnover of residents rising and no one wishing to settle. With the threat of ring-fencing the estate Kay and Mary were voted onto the housing committee through Bury Federation. The ladies travelled to Rochdale for training and visited other estates to learn from them. They were informed of Government Grants to help with training and to gain better knowledge of the options available to them. They travelled to Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Hull and Burnley to visit other groups, learning about Co-ops and Estate Management Boards. These visits informed a vote to decide the next stage for the group and the estate. Voting took place at home with the votes brought to the usual Monday morning meeting - the committee of 12 voted unanimously in favour of becoming a Co-op. This formed the steering group moving forward.

1974 The tenants group established − led by Mrs Hilda Moorcroft

1986 Inauguration of TMC

1989 Mrs Kay Heywood and Mrs Mary Owen joined the group later becoming Treasurer and Secretary respectively.

The Tenant Management Organisation took on management responsibilities from Bury MBC on 1st July.

1996 Phase 1 and 2 of regeneration works saw the pre-war flats on Alfred Street, Cornwall Drive and Rutland Drive demolished to make way for 81 new properties, 3 blocks of flats and eight refurbishments. The scheme also included the Co-op offices and landscaping across the estate.

1997 A Community Worker was employed on a trial basis. The TMC allocated a vacant flat to be used as a meeting centre and set up a separately constituted Community Project Committee, which also included representatives from the wider community.

2007 Following a partnership with Sure Start the Community Group moved into the Children’s Centre on Dorset Drive, dispensing with the cramped flat.

2010 Launch of annual Community Awards – which recognise the achievements and good deeds of Springs tenants.

2000 TMC extended the Community Programme with help from Bury’s Single Regeneration Budget Funding. Following the completion of the fund TMC decided to self-fund the Community Development Worker.

2017 21 years since the establishment of Springs TMC the estate is a settled, low crime area with a good reputation.

Meet the Springs TMC team

Hayley Baguley Housing Officer, 2009—Present

Pearl Bugeja Finance Officer, 1996—Present

This is very close community, people have real pride in their homes and they look out for one and other. I think its size helps it be so connected.

I am the finance officer, rents are generally paid on time and that really helps to keep the engine running smoothly. I was actually given a personal alarm by my brother when he learnt I had a job here. However as soon as I came for an interview I saw through the gossip and stigma that the place was being unfairly labelled with … here everybody literally knows everybody, not just on their street but right across the estate. It reminds me of how things used to be when I was a kid; doors are always open for a brew and a chat. People look after one and other and I like that.

In my role as a housing officer the most rewarding job I find is allocations. We get a lot of folks who can’t afford private, so when you give someone the keys and help them settle and take pride and become part of this wonderful community it’s personally enriching.

13 Ray Wallis Estate Director, 2009— Present I manage the organisation, report to the (Springs TMC) committee and oversee the community development role. My favourite bit is what you might called the sexy side - community development! We have a lot of amazing activities, fantastic volunteers and a really strong committee. One of my proudest innovations is a community awards night; it’s a glam and glitzy affair. We had the Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Housing down to visit recently. They were that impressed they said they would highlight it at the next portfolio meeting as a model of good practice. This estate is very desirable nowadays. Our waiting list is through the roof and turnover is low, so we are focused on building on this successful formula.

“This is our second home” the story of Bury Polish club 14

Bury Polish Social Centre is universally referred to by members as ‘the Club’, and indeed on Facebook it is Polski Klub w Bury. The building consists of the Catholic chapel upstairs and the club downstairs. The function room, which is the second largest in Bury after the Elizabethan Suite, features two magnificent murals painted by Wincenty Dutko. The original club opened in 1962 following months of fundraising and voluntary work by members of the Polish community, and the current building was completed in 1969 on the site of the former bowling green. The chapel was established later following the closure of the Chapel at Holy Cross Convent which had served Polish churchgoers for many years. We were invited to meet older members at their Thursday lunch club, with Adam Carter from Bury Archive Service. Adam showed lots of material, including maps, newspapers and census returns, which members found fascinating, while members talked about their memories of Bury and the changes in community life. To our surprise perhaps a third of the group are not Polish, but Italian. The Italian community is smaller and arrived later, in the 1960s, to work in local industries. They have been made welcome by their Polish hosts, both in the club and the chapel where mass is celebrated in Italian once a month. There are surprising links between the communities since some Polish

members spent time in Italy, even marrying and having children there, as part of their hazardous wartime journey from eastern Europe to Britain. Both groups sense that their communities are ageing and losing their identity. However many have children and grandchildren who live locally, and the Polish community has seen the recent influx of a new generation coming to work in Bury - so much so that the church is being extended to accommodate new worshippers!

“To jest nasz drugi dom”

Dom Polski pod nazwą ‘Orzeł Biały’ w Bury jest zwanym “ nasz klub” przez członków, a na Facebook pod nazwą Polski klub w Bury. Budynek składa się z kaplicy katolickiej na piętrze a na parterze klub gdzie między innymi jest duża sala która z kolei jest druga po Elizabethan Suite w Bury. Na Sali tej znajdują się dwa cudowny murale malowane przez malarza z polski Wincenty Dutko. Oryginalny klub został otwarty w 1962 r. po długich miesiącach zbierania funduszy i pracy dobrowolnej przez społeczność Polaków. Obecny budynek wybudowano 1969r na terenie ‘bowling green’. Kiedy została zamknięta kaplica w konwencie Holy Cross, z której j korzystała polonia przez długie lata, zdecydowano przerobić piętro klubu na kaplicę. Zaproszono nas i Adama Carter z Bury archiwum do klubu polskiego gdzie emeryci, nie tylko Polacy ale włosi i Anglicy biorą udział w klubie emerytów w każdy czwartek. Adam pokazał, między innymi, stare mapy ,gazety i spis ludności z miasta Bury. Członkowie byli zaskoczeni materiałem i wspominali swoje życie w Bury i zmiany w Polskiej społeczności. Zaskoczyło nas że jedna trzecia członków emerytów byli ze społeczności włoskiej , która nie jest tak liczna jak społeczność Polska. Włosi przyjechali do Wielkiej Brytanii w latach 1960 tych do pracy w lokalnych przemysłach. Polacy Ich przygarnęli do siebie w klubie jak i w kaplicy gdzie jest msza święta celebrowana raz w miesiącu w języku Włoskim.

The Polish journey to Bury

Wielu Polaków w czasie drugiej wojny światowej po niebezpiecznej ale musowej tułaczce po wschodniej Europie, znaleźli się po wojnie we Włoszech gdzie mieszkali w obozach, brali śluby i zakładali rodziny.

The stories of how the older generation of Poles arrived in Britain vary greatly, but amongst them are some extraordinary tales of hardship and danger. Many of the Polish community arrived from a refugee camp in Crewe in 1958, having spent 10 years there. Children had grown up and attended school there speaking only Polish, so struggled at their new primary schools in Bury. The community faced discrimination and outright racism.

Obydwie grupy czują że Ich społeczność się starzeje i tracą tożsamość. Natomiast Ich dzieci, wnuki, którzy mieszkają lokalnie, plus napływ z Polski nowej generacji do Bury wymagało żeby powiększyć kaplicę aby umieścić wiernych.

The story of how Czeslaw and Jerzy Krupa come to be in Bury is typical of many. Their mother had died and in 1940 their father went to fight in Italy while they, aged 7 and 4, made the perilous journey with their brothers and sisters via Siberia. The family was reunited in England in 1948. They both worked in paper mills including Transparent Paper and New Bury Paper Mill in Gigg Lane. Polish families tended to buy houses near to one another and this area was cheap. The brothers started their own engineering business making eyelet tools for the leather trade. Their factory was near the CIS building in Manchester and a block of flats called the Krupa Building now stands on the spot. Jerzy’s son-in law is still in business as Krupa Brothers and Son. Ryszard Krzyworaczka was born in Tranii in Italy in 1945. His father was a prisoner of war in Russia and when an amnesty was offered allowing Polish soldiers to leave for Egypt to join a Polish Corps as part of the British 8th Army. He went, and fought in the Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944. Ryszard’s mother made the perilous journey to Italy via Ukraine, Siberia, India and Africa. After the war the Polish troops were offered the choice

of setting in England, the US, Australia or back in Poland. The family lived at Husband Bosworth camp in Warwickshire until its closure in 1956 when they moved to Leeds. Ryszard moved to Bury in 1967 when he met his wife Kazimiera. He worked as an electrician for Mr Tomaszewski at Univeral Electrics on Rochdale Rd, and later on the markets selling lingerie and menswear. His final job before retirement was with Silletts Funeral Directors.

Old and New Springs

18 “The Catholic church is very important. It was part of how we all met. I have one son, who lives in Bury, and he comes to church with me every Sunday. The community is the only important thing to me. I come to the club every week, sometimes twice. I have been coming for 52 years.” − Tersa Gotkowicz “I came from Germany like a refugee in 1960. My mother was here. She came in 1948. She came here to work, first in Oldham then in Bury. I like Bury very much. I never went back to Germany as it was destroyed. We have nothing in Poland either. I have a big history. I was in a concentration camp. My husband was Polish – I met him in Germany when I was 17.” − Hannah Ijzikowski For Bury’s Italian community the journey may have been less traumatic, but many of the issues faced were the same. “I was born in Italy in 1942. I arrived in Bury in 1962 and began to work in the cotton mills. After one year we bought our first home. It was small and cost only £550 but it was so difficult to pay! After my three children were born I couldn’t work at the mill any more, but I worked at home sewing bags. Bury has changed so much over the years. There used to be so many good industries. Now I am retired and have 5 grandchildren and they’re all fine.” − Anna d’Amato

“It was very hard when we moved here. When we went shopping we would hold out our hands with the money in the palm – and hoped they would be honest!” − Filomena Bruscia The history of these communities is a microcosm of wider change. The women mainly worked in the textile mills and the men in the paper mills and other heavy industries, for the most part long gone. Generally their children have integrated much more successfully than they did, and the group have mixed feelings about this. But for all of them Bury is home.

The first Springs TMC team. From left to right: Christine Smith (Housing Officer until 2011), Ian Embley (Estate Director until 2009), Terry Drennan (Handy Man until 2010) and Pearl Bugeja (Finance Officer).

Interviews with Gill Eagle Cooper and Gail Cuncarr

Gill Eagle Cooper (Chair of NSCPG 2016-Present)

Gail Cuncarr (Springs TMC Committee Member)

The NSPCG mainly talks about what the project is doing and makes sure everyone is in the loop and working well together.

I came to Springs 25 years ago, and have sat on the Springs TMC Committee for 12 years. I love volunteering with the group – it’s really rewarding. I have raised money for just about everything – even for the TV in the activity centre. It’s a great estate with lots of activities for all. We have done a great job clearing up all the vandalism and improving the estate. I’ve never had an argument with anyone on the estate!

I love the community spirit here especially on our street, we have regular street parties; we have all sorts on our street! Community to me means people pulling together doing things for each other.

I reckon it’s something [the cooperative] that could be good for lots of communities. All you need is a bunch of good people up for some hard work.

Kids Club

The NSCPG Kids Club has grown from a rounders club, to a small group meeting in a vacant flat, to an over-subscribed club hosted during every school holiday. The Kids Club is run entirely by a volunteer force made up by committee members, parents on the estate and local young people. The club runs Monday, Wednesday and Fridays during school holidays, with trips organised every Friday. These vary from trips to the cinema and bowling to bigger adventures to the zoo or kayaking. The club is kept affordable for parents with trips subsidised by grants and fundraising by NSCPG. The children give back to the local estate with regular litter picks and garden tidy-ups. Highlights of the year are the four week Summer of Fun activities, Halloween party and Christmas party.

Kids Club Trip Out

In April the Kids Club travelled on the East Lancashire Railway to learn more about the history of the railway and surrounding countryside. They stopped at Irwell Vale to walk alongside the River Irwell and railway line all the way to Rawtenstall. The day was captured by the children on disposable cameras.

Interview - Sharon Branagan

I used to bring my oldest daughter Kayleigh to the Kids Club. I started volunteering and still do. We have the Summer of Fun during the summer holidays but also run activities at half term. It was funded by the Lottery in the past. We charge £1 per session, from 11 – 3, and the kids bring their own lunches. Where else can you get childcare for £1? Kayleigh now works in doggy day care in Whitefield and wants to get a flat on the estate. When I was a kid we moved away for a while but Dad was always here and we used to come at weekends. He still lives across the road and we are surrounded by uncles and other relatives. We used to hang out all over the estate. I remember there being a picnic area under the trees before the centre was built. People new to the estate don’t integrate as much as I would like. The Asian kids come to Kids Club, which is great, but we don’t seem to have any Polish kids. There used to be a café in the centre which cooked for the

luncheon club. When it moved on me and Wendy decided to do it ourselves. Now it’s too much for Wendy but that’s OK. We rotate the menu – cold buffet one week, hot the next and then a trip out. I do this, Kids Club and bingo/darts on Monday nights. I feel like I live here! But I enjoy doing it. Some people didn’t know one another before Anne started the luncheon club 5 and a half years ago. Lots of people have made friends. The most popular lunch? Cheese and onion pie!

Luncheon Club reflections

The Over 50s Luncheon Club has been running since 2011 after initial pilot funding from Tesco. There are 15 long standing members who meet fortnightly for a home cooked meal in the activity centre. They take trips quarterly, and visited Ramsbottom on the East Lancashire Railway and Bury Art Gallery and Archive Service as part of Springs Uncovered. Carol Unsworth

Hilda Hardman

“I lived here first time round for about 5 years, moved away for 7 or 8 years and then came back. Before the tenant co-op was set up there wasn’t much to do. When I moved back my friends had got involved with the community centre, which to start with was just a 2 bed flat. When this centre was built the council told us that the big room belonged to us and we would have a café. That all went by the bye. It’s cramped but the kids love it.

“I came to Springs in 1975, I am one of the longest residents here. The best place for entertainment is The Fishpool Liberal Club - always something good there. I love a drink and a dance on a Saturday and Sunday.

I bring football cards to every session, to fundraise. (Several My advice for life is go out members commented on the ‘subtlety’ with which they were enjoy yourself but keep your invited to choose their football teams on the card.) I do the wits about you.” table decorations for the Community Awards, which is a big day on the estate. We have it at Fishpool Liberal Club because so many people come. We have dignitaries come, such as the Mayor, councillors and the sponsors of the awards, many of them companies who work on the estate. I love it me – I know most people. The kids have grown up here and then they wanted to live on the estate and they do. Sharon and Michelle are on Cornwall Drive and Anthony is on Rutland Drive. I enjoyed our trip on the East Lancs Railway. It was the first time I had been and I enjoyed it so much I took the grandchildren a couple of weeks later, and they loved it too.”

Luncheon Club trip on East Lancashire Railway 30

Every quarter the Luncheon Club go on a trip for their regular meet up. As part of ‘Springs Uncovered’ they travelled on the East Lancashire Railway from Bury Bolton Street to Ramsbottom, enjoying lunch in Ramsbottom. Prior to their train trip the group heard about the history of the railway from an ELR volunteer – rekindling memories of travelling on the railway and steam-powered travel.

The Community in action

Roy Frost and Janette McKenniffe

Joan Jones

We volunteer with the Kids Club. We do Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in the holidays. We are both on the TMC committee. We like to give something back. We are grateful for what people have done for us – you can’t fault them, they’re brilliant. The estate is really good, there’s very little anti social behaviour. The people before us worked so hard. Here at the centre we used to have two toilets, which meant we could have 45 kids. But the council had to close the corridor connecting the different parts of the building. So now we only have one toilet and can only accommodate 25 kids. We have some inside doing crafts and others outside doing rounders, football and cricket. On Fridays we have a trip, perhaps to the cinema where the kids can pick the film. The final Friday of the summer is the big one. Usually it’s Blackpool Zoo, but this year they went kayaking at Elton Sailing Club. They were so frightened – you wouldn’t believe the change in them. They’re keen to go again next year. The youngest was only 5!

I’ve lived on the estate nearly 50 years, after moving up from Birmingham with Antler. Our factory in Birmingham was going to be demolished. It was the best move we ever made. We couldn’t get over the cobbled streets. People still say ‘you don’t come from round here, do you?’. Ray died in 2014 and I’ve no family up here. The club has been a godsend – they’ve looked after me. Ray and I were always together and it has been lonely. But I love Bury – we both did.

Any hairy moments? Nothing beyond cuts and bruises – they’re watched too well.

I worked for Antler for 13 years – 10 in Birmingham and then 3 at Pilot Mill. I was the only woman to move up out of a dozen workers. I left because of ill health but then worked for another 29 years at TRM on industrial sewing machines. We were on Cornwall Drive for 28 years in the bad old days, then moved to a ground floor flat in a nice quiet side street. I’ve really enjoyed living here. The office staff have been so good to us. I said to them ‘I don’t care where you put us, but I don’t want to move off the estate’.

Pilot Mill

The industry peaked in 1912, producing 8 billion yards of cloth. The Great Probate evidence from the 17th century and the remains of War halted the supply of raw 18th century weavers’ cottages show that domestic textile cotton, and Lancashire never production was important to the local economy. Bury’s textile regained its markets after the industry was dominated by woollens and the domestic war. The Lancashire Cotton production of yarn and cloth. Corporation was set up in 1929 to save the industry. The establishment of Brooksbottom Mill in Summerseat in Pilot Mill was one of 104 mills 1773 by the family of Sir Robert Peel marked the beginning of the cotton industry in Bury. By the early 19th century cotton bought by the LCC. It passed to Courtaulds in 1964 and was the predominant textile industry with the rivers Roch and in 2010 to Antler Luggage. Irwell providing power for spinning mills and processing Many local residents worked water for the finishing trades. for Courtaulds and Antler. The town was linked to the canal network by the Manchester After cotton, the mill lost its Bolton & Bury Canal in 1808. There were seven cotton mills in chimney and the decorative Bury by 1818 and the population grew from 9,152 in 1801 to top to the water tower. 58,029 in 1901.

Pilot Mill, built in 1905 as a spinning mill, sits on the edge of the Springs estate – a reminder of the area’s industrial past.

Following this, railways opened, linking the town to Manchester, Accrington Bolton and Rochdale. Other industries which thrived included paper–making, calico printing and light engineering. The town expanded and districts such as Freetown, Fishpool and Pimhole were transformed from farmers’ fields to terraced housing, beside the factories and mills.

A call out on social media to local residents returned many happy memories from the Antler era of the factory: “I worked in the office at Antler from 1966 to 1971. They introduced the first computer while I was there. It was enormous, in a room the size of half a ballroom. This first one was a Honeywell and was soon replaced with an IBM. The same room housed the “punch girls”. All data had to be punched onto cards and then fed into the computer.” — Carol Simpson

Celebrate Springs Fun Day

NSCPG hosted a community fun day in March 2017 to celebrate the anniversary of the TMC and to collect memories from residents about their time on the estate. Activities included willow weaving, storytelling, cookery workshops, a tombola, face painting and a bouncy castle.

Celebrate Springs Poems

A number of residents shared their memories and experiences with poetry, some of which we have chosen to share in the book… I soft-landed on this welcoming planet

We want more

called Springs

We want better

I was just six and filled with freedom’s fire

We’ll all pitch in though

Goodbye open-air prison

We’ll involve all the

Springs did not look like much yet felt like home

neighbours

I knew I would make much of it

We are in this together

I made Lexie Star the light of my life

We’ll be positive examples to

I made friends till the end and maybe beyond

discourage the behaviour we

- who knows?

don’t want here

Sometimes the best things are born from

SPRINGS ROCKS!

the bosom of the worst

—Natasha Lewington

— Unknown

It’s all going on at the centre

Reiki and Monday Club In addition to the Luncheon Club and Kids Club NSCPG also host a popular Monday night social club; and Thursday afternoon reiki group.

Community Awards

Since 2010 NSCPG have run an annual community awards for residents on the estate to nominate friends The Monday social club offers a place for residents to socialise and neighbours for a variety whilst playing bingo, darts and poker. The group are selfof recognition awards. These sustaining, and fundraising efforts from Carol Unsworth with her range from ‘good neighbour popular football cards have helped the group to buy equipment of the year’ to ‘most improved over the years, including most recently a new bingo machine. garden’ and two ‘rising star awards’ for young people. The reiki group celebrated their 5th birthday in 2017. Reiki is The nominees are celebrated a Japanese healing art which works with the energy fields in at a glitzy award ceremony and around the body. A reiki practitioner aims to change and balance these energy fields to help on a physical, psychological, in the autumn, where representatives from the emotional and spiritual level. Our reiki practitioner, Sheila police, council and mayor’s Davey, started out alongside the Monday social group to trial office are invited, along the popularity. As the group grew they began running their with the NSCPG and Spring sessions fortnightly on a Thursday afternoon. TMC committee members. The awards are a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the Springs community.

St Luke’s Primary School — “hopes for the future” 40

Writer Chris Jam spent a day with Year 5 at St Luke’s Cof E Primary School, looking at their views of the neighbourhood, their aspirations, what they like about living and going to school here and their concerns and the issues they feel strongly about. Many thanks to Miss Bolton from Year 5A and Miss Dytch from Year 5B for their help.

Here are some poems we were really impressed by: If I ruled the world’ If charities were not needed, All the poor were feeded, If all were treated equally,

If I won the general election, my country would become a better place. The whole nation has smiles on their face. Horrible boy bands would leave planet earth. Tedious homework would be gone, gone, gone.

I would feel like I ruled the world.

School would last as little as a morning.

If no one had conflict,

Racism would be chucked out the window.

If everyone got along, If no one was killed or injured, I would feel like I ruled the world.

The sad, tragic homeless would find refuge. The community would stick together.

Coming together and caring for each other. Our community will run around the world. More and more of us will be rich. Making everyone come together. Unity will always exist. Never give up, but try again. In every place everyone is safe. The Bury Times will never end.

Walk across the street you will see glowing smiles, giddy faces all around greeting you. Chubby babies giggling at weird new sounds, happy perfect lives without any pain. It’s impossible to get mad or sad, there will be no death or destruction.

I would feel like I ruled the world.

When I win the general election.

You will always stay great Bury!

But this is only a good dream, life will never be like that it seems.

- Hassan Anwar

- John Holt

- Sana Irfan

- Zahira Nahaboo

If peace and harmony always occurred,

Round off … looking to the next 21 years of the co-op 42

Thank you to everyone who contributed their stories, poetry, photos and memories to Springs Uncovered. This book has only scratched the surface of the history of the estate and it’s residents, but hopefully goes some way to highlight the powerful social impact a group of determined individuals had on an estate in Bury that had become a “no-go” area. Springs is now a safe and welcoming estate with a thriving community, and with the support of it’s residents we look forward to celebrating another 21 years and beyond! Special thanks to Diane at the Polish Club for her translation, St Luke’s Primary School for welcoming us, and Bury Archive Service for providing a lot of historical context and hosting numerous groups. In addition to the book we have established a website to continue to archive stories, photos and creative works coming from the Springs estate: springsuncovered.wordpress.com