Dear Spurtle
I was surprised and dismayed when told by a friend about the removal of trees and vegetation from the Sandy Hill (as we called the area south of Broughton Road in the 1950s) [see Breaking news, 11.3.14].
As youngsters, the Sandy Hill was our play park. We were never off the hill, building gang huts, playing cowboys and Indians, etc. I remember in the early ‘50s behind Nos 44 and 46 Broughton Road they did major works of installing piles and shoring to retain the hill from slipping. I remember the ground behind the gardens of Claremont Grove had at that time dropped away.
So, the thought of possible housing being built on the Sandy Hill surprises me. Towards the Heriothill Terrace end the hill is very steep and without vegetation is likely to be unstable . Access is next to Nos 56–60 Broughton Road through what appears a wide access, but unless land has been purchased from one of the gardens in East Claremont Crescent, then this narrows down to about 3m wide above a high buttressed wall in the back green of No 58 Broughton Road.
Danny Calaghan
(formerly of 50 Broughton Road)