Harry Croft quarry, Kiveton canal

Here's some more interesting and informative memories of Kiveton, these by Harry Caudwell, ex of kiveton (incidentally his son Mike sent the photos of Kiveton Junior school 1909):

Memories of life in Kiveton before and during the Second World War by Harry Caudwell

I have been fascinated by the contributions made to your site, in particular the memories of living in Kiveton before the WWII. The article by the Rev Bill Mellor also brought memories although I never met him. I often heard his name mentioned because I was born at 25 Railway Terrace which was the house he left when he emigrated to America in 1926. I was born there in 1927 and our next door neighbour spoke of him though it meant little to me at that time as I never knew him. Mrs Ivy Eddershaw was our neighbour at No. 24. She had a fish & chip shop in the kitchen of her house and made the best fish and chips in the world! She became a second Mother to me and cared for me when my own Mother was ill with Rheumatic Fever.
Ron Scott gave an interesting layout of the village as it appeared in the 1930s, and it brought back memories of Kiveton as it was pre war. I am sure that there are still a number of people still living who could also relate to his Walk through Kiveton and like me can add a bit to it.

My sister Margaret was born in 1930 and by the early 1940s we needed a house with three bedrooms. We were allocated a house in the Old Rows at No.8 Park Terrace. By this time I was a pupil at The Woodhouse Grammar School. It was a much longer walk to the railway station than when I lived in the Little Rows. Many times I had to run to catch the train. Often I was overtaken by another pupil, Bob Toseland, who was much more athletic than me. Could it be that the young James Toseland who figures so often in the national news is a descendant of Bob?

Ron Scott has a good memory of the shops etc. on his walk through the village but appears to have over looked the names of the shopkeepers. The Doctor on the right hand side of the road when walking towards the station was Dr Baker. He retired and went to live at Winterton in Lincolnshire. Shortly afterwards he invited us to a local Fete and a coach load went and had a wonderful day. A Dr Jago followed on after Dr Baker. The next house along belonged to my Uncle Sam who kept about 500 hens in the field behind his house. During the war he and my father built a pig sty on this piece of land and raised 28 pigs each year. His house has now been demolished to give access to the small Housing Estate on the land where he had kept his hens and pigs.

A little further along and across the road we found Prestidges Shop. This shop was double fronted, with a drapers on the left side and a newsagent and sweet shop on the right side. The shop next door was Pinders the Butcher. We then came to Springfield Terrace which had two small shops. The first was Hoylands which I think was a kind of haberdashers and next was Lancashires sweet shop. Immediately past the end of Springfield Terrace was another sweet shop owned by my Great Uncle Sid Leech. Alongside his house was the lane leading down to the cricket field. Further along on the same side of the road were two shops. The first one was a greengrocer and the second one a fish and chip shop. When I was a child the fish & chip shop was owned by a Mr. Webster. I do not remember who owned the greengrocers. Later, Mr Webster sold his shop to a Mr Dawson and took on the greengrocery. I often collected fish from Mr Dawson for Mrs Eddershaw.

Next we had the Little Rows on the left hand side. Down nearest to the railway was Railway Terrace. This consisted of two rows of terraced houses. I think each row had 14 houses. Then, above Railway Terrace was Albert Terrace. This consisted of three rows of houses. The first two also had 14 houses in each row, but the third row only had 10 houses. There are no prizes for guessing what we called this row. It was The Ten House Row. The last rows of houses were nearest to the road. They were called Victoria Terrace and were three rows of 14 houses.

Across the road from the Little Rows was The Miners Welfare and Institute and a little further along was Birkins shop. This was a grocers and subsequently became Walkers when the Birkins daughter married into the Walker family. A row of houses followed then we came to Grahams Hardware shop and the Co-op Drapery which was managed for many years by a Mr Wyatt. Next came Wesley Road and here we had Newbolds sweet shop on the right hand side and the Co-op Butcher on the left hand side. On the main road we had the Co-op Grocers. This was the only Grocers shop of any size in the village and just about everyone used it regularly. We all had a Co-op number which was quoted whenever we made a purchase. This was used to determine how much each family had spent there and the amount of dividend they were entitled to. Dividend day was very important and the money obtained was a godsend.

Next came the schools, the Infants on the right hand side and the Big School on the left. I well remember the infants school. The Head Mistress was Miss Thorpe and a teacher who I still remember with affection was Miss Rogers. I only spent a short time at the Big School because I was fortunate enough to pass the exam for Woodhouse. But I do remember the Headmaster Mr Bolton and one of the teachers Mr Snell.

We now come to the railway station and the Pit Lane leading down to the Colliery. Ron Scott mentioned there being two doctors serving the village and surrounding areas. One I have mentioned, Dr Baker. The other was Dr McKenzie. Dr McKenzie had a surgery just inside Wales. It was the bungalow just above where the Wales sign is located at the top of the hill.
He also held a surgery in the front room of a house in the Pit Lane. A queue formed on the pavement when his visit was due and sometimes we had a long wait if he was busy at his main surgery or had an emergency to attend to. We had no mobile phones in those days and had no way of knowing when he would arrive. There was no waiting room and we had to stick it out whatever the weather. In the window of his surgery was displayed three bottles with different coloured liquids. They were Yellow, Red and Green if my memory is correct. I was occasionally sent by Mrs Eddershaw for a bottle of the Red medicine. The others did not help her problem she maintained. Nobody had heard of a placebo in those days and Dr McKenzie gladly supplied her needs at sixpence a time. Of course we had no National Health Service in those days and had to pay for medical services. Each week a portly gentleman called Mr Banks would knock on the door and walk into the kitchen where he would collect sevenpence (3p) to cover basic health care and enter it in the book which was alongside it. If anything more than basic care was required the doctor would ask if we could afford to pay him some extra.

Just over the railway bridge we had Mrs Wigmores drapery followed a bit further down by Turners bread and cake shop. I dont remember if they made the products on the premises. Towards the bottom was a small sweet shop and Powiss hardware shop.On the other side of the road, where we now have the Co-op, was the Methodist Chapel followed by a shop called Bonfett and Garforths or some such name. I believe that they sold electrical goods. Then there was a shoe shop and Smiths butchers shop. That was where the electrical shop now is. Through the archway was an abattoir and we children often watched the animals being slaughtered. How times have changed. A bit further up the road was Mr Fairburn the Chemist and Fittons sweet shop where I think there is now a dentist. In my early days we only had a peripatetic dentist who rented a room somewhere across the road from the chemists shop. He was a fearsome looking man with a waxed moustache and I had to visit him on a few occasions. A bit further on we had the Village Hall where we had social gatherings and Saturday evening dances. On the upper floor was a Billiard room with two tables. One was a full sized table and the other was three quarter size. Because of the shortages in the war years no upkeep of the table was possible and the cloth was in a terrible state. But it was better than nothing. While waiting for an opportunity to have a game, the caretaker a Mr Thomas would teach those of us who were interested how to play chess and draughts. I often thought of him in later years when I played chess. I dont think I ever saw him beaten at draughts. He was brilliant at the game but it didnt stop us from trying.

We have nearly reached the end of the road. Where the Public house is now located we had the Regal Cinema and just below it was Allisons fish and chip shop. What would we have done without those fish and chips shops during the war years.
Perhaps these few reminiscences will trigger some other persons memories which they would like to share with us through your 1st Class web site. I now live at Filton in South Gloucestershire on the outskirts of Bristol since retirement in 1985. If anyone reading this remembers me I would be delighted to hear from them.
My email address is harry.caudwellATblueyonder.co.uk. (replace the AT with @).