Welcome to this new feature
for Barrow Voice where we
have the opportunity to put
the spotlight on one Barrow
family. Our first family lives near the
river and I contacted them because
Logan (aged three) was one of the
youngest contributors to the rainbow
pictures in our Coronavirus Issue
back in June. So, meet the MoseleySarsfields: Steph and Jamie, Logan
and eight-month-old Adelynne.
Some of you may recognise the ‘Sarsfield’
name. Although Steph herself grew up in
Long Eaton, both her parents are from
the village and her maternal granddad,
Bill Boettcher, was the village bobby.
Her other grandfather was the man who
started the Swimming Survival Awards
and badges that we still use to this day.
Steph and husband, Jamie, feel that their
lives have coincided in many ways with
the previous generation. The two of them
met at the Packe Arms (in 2008) which
turns out to have been the place where
her parents held their wedding reception.
Then, after marrying in (2015) they moved
to their current home in Barrow.
Steph studied equine management and
equine sports massage therapy and was
originally a groom at a yard in West
Hallam, travelling to many shows with
the horses. She is currently a full-time
mother to Logan and Adelynne, not an
easy job at any time but particularly
difficult during lockdown and restricted
family visiting. She hopes to resurrect
her massage therapy business when the
children are older. Jamie studied history
at the University of Sheffield and had
originally intended to become a Navy pilot.
He received gliding and flying scholarships
from the Royal Navy, but an eye problem
later barred him from this career, and he
turned to teaching. He now really enjoys
his work as a primary school teacher in
Loughborough, especially the new and
innovative ways he is learning to teach.
It’s a challenging job but even more so
given the new challenges faced in keeping
with the guidelines and providing remote
learning provision.
Adelynne was born in February – just
before lockdown so she has not known
anything different, but Steph has really
missed the support of being able to attend
the range of mother-and-baby groups
that she went to with Logan. She’s found
the last few months with a new baby to
be very isolating. Jamie used to be able
to take Logan to a local group called ‘Who
Let the Dads Out?’ which gave Steph some
time to herself, but that ‘luxury’ has gone.
And what about our artist – Logan? Well,
he loves diggers and tractors and going
on his scooter or trike to Mill Lane or
King George V parks. He’s really enjoying
his pre-school days at Fourfold where
he plays with his best friends, Max and
Charlie. His favourite ‘hero’ is Woody in
Toy Story. Logan seems to have coped
with the unprecedented circumstances
extremely well, yet Steph and Jamie are
a bit concerned about the long-term
impact of all this on the children with
restricted play, no Halloween, fireworks
or Remembrance Day parade.
Their biggest concern at the moment is
being able to have some kind of family
Christmas with parents and grandparents
able to be involved.
Karisa Krcmar
Thank you to the Moseley-Sarsfields for their time and for agreeing to be Barrow’s first Featured Family. If you would like your family to be featured, please do get in touch with the editor@barrowvoice.co.uk. You may have been in Barrow for generations or have moved here recently. You may be a big family or be just one or two. It doesn’t matter. You live in Barrow and it will be fun to build a picture of everyday families in the village.