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My memories of Dalton Parva
50s/60s. Taken from the bottom of the Church drive (my local
church John, though "your "Father Mullane would come in and bless us when
he visited the McGanns next door, similar to your Conisborough! story) To
the left stood Ab Waters farm mainly a pig farm, You could get a pint of
milk here even on a Sunday when most shops were shut.
Directly across the
road stood the old Post Office (Dalton Parva) this had been a farm
previously and was owned by the Robinson Family who were relatives of the
Waters. The big house on the right of the picture was the farm owned by Reg and Milly Clegg, they had a mixed farm, arable and dairy, they grew
cereals, had cattle and poultry, owning many acres of land. Cleggs had
their own dairy where the milk went straight from the milking parlour,
the milk then going to Northern Dairies depot at Eastwood to be bottled
and distributed around Rotherham
As a child I used to love feeding the
calves from a bucket full of milk, and also liked custard made from what
was called 'beastings" little did I know at that time it was normal
practice in dairy farming that calves got powdered milk and the
custard milk should have been for them. I like to think this didn`t
happen to the calves I fed.
Mrs Clegg owned a Bendix top loading automatic
washer (like most others we had a tub and scrubbing board) this must have
been the late 50s, this machine was a marvel to me and I always
remembered the name as one day my aim was to be the proud owner of the
like.
Every October half term would be "potato picking week" first you
had to be picked for the job, the boys standing up straight and puffing
their chests out, the girls dressed in their brothers old trousers and
jumpers to look the part. this sorted it was off to the fields , on a
trailer pulled by a tractor driven by Ronnie, who always had a bottle
of tea inside a long wollen sock for his mid morning break ( in 2002 John
Clegg wrote to me that Ronnie was still around, and that Mrs Clegg was
living still in Dalton Parva.)
The money earned from potato picking was
always going to be Christmas money, it was hard earned money so I suppose
everyone had a treat and alas! only the ardent savers ( the ones who could
keep their birthday post office saving stamp books intact with no
withdrawals) kept hold of their money.
(We used to have shows at the
farm my Mother worked for Cleggs and other members of their Family for
many years) and I remember Dr Dibb`s children being there, Mrs Clegg was
Milly King before Marriage, some of them lived in Thrybergh, Nurse King,
was the one who mainly brought the Dibbs children, and Dr Dismeko`s
children from Rotherham, my party piece was "my old man said follow the
van" my cockney cousins accents well remembered brought this little
Dalton Brooker, to my mind rapturous applause, but never a yearning for
the stage ) Sorry I digress.
Where the black gates are this used to be
the orchard, plus the home of the free range chickens. Following the road
around the next house was owned by Sammy Butterworth, this farm had little
land but was a pig farm. Across the road stood Plants farm mainly a pig
farm owned in the 60s by Ron Plant a haulage contractor who was the son of
the previous owner. Right on the corner was Frankie Dawsons cottage the
Dawson` had fruit and veg stalls on Rotherham market.
Back across the
road was the Meadows, down the little slope tricky if pushing a pram, then
into the lush grass, down to the little stream, with a bottle of water,
potted meat sandwich, and for afters a jam sandwich, a good picnic would
be had by all, some prefering to exit the meadows via the
Magna Lane exit this was adventurous as more traffic passed this way ,where walking
on the road through the village (Dalton Parva) you had little contact with
traffic.
Winding around the road you would find Grannie Smiths House/shop, a
dear very elderly lady who would break of from cooking her meal to serve
you with delights from jars, her counter seemed to consist of two wooden
tables, she also opened on a Sunday, after her death the shop was owned by
Mrs Gertrude Bowen ( nee King widow of the late Cecil Bowen) Mrs Bowen
had previously been Manageress of Rotherhams Marks and Spencer, though
keeping more or less to Grannie Smiths way of retailing the shop now took
on a more modern approach, Mrs Bowen being well liked as was Grannie.
Further round stands the
Dene Brook in its day a very modern pub, by the
side was Top Farm where Ronnie ( several of his relatives lived in the
village) and his Family lived, in one half and Mrs Cleggs Brother Jack
King ( Master Plumber) and Family lived.
The next house was the home
of the Church of England Headmaster, Mr Ralf and his Family, then the
small school house was only for Children who lived in the village. Past
the school was an opening to the allotments. mostly cultivated by
residents of the newly built council houses on Brecks Lane, to my mind the
best council houses in Rotherham. big houses ,large gardens and wonderful
views. For many years the one adjoining the farm field ,was occupied by Mr
and Mrs White, Geoff worked at Silverwood.
On then to the last Farm owned
by Jim Talbot, this was also a mixed farm, this farm was just before the
bluebell wood, so most would have passed by here at a pace as the last
push to get to the wood, across the road was the Danes wood it seemed to
be an unwritten rule not to enter ,they did have motor bike scrambling,
and people shooting rabbits over there , whereas the bluebell wood was
peaceful, quiet, and smelt of the thousands of bluebells growing there .
We very rarely ventured any further up Brecks Lane, The Brecks at that
time was a bit more upmarket than Dalton, but I think the thing that
really stopped us was, the Brecks was Rotherham, and only the very brave
or foolhardy would defy Mam and cross over the boundaries of Dalton.
My
Dalton of the 50s and 60s would be regarded as poor people living in poor
conditions by some. I see it as a time we could be free, all our food
was organic, we all drank lots, of water, everyone had loads of exercise,
no pressure to buy the latest designer whatnots, Technology has advanced
but poverty is still within communities throughout Britain, no we
didn't live idyllic lives then , but how many live the dream
now?
Anne Meggitt. |
