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Lofthouse
Lofthouse maps
Historic maps of Lofthouse and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Lofthouse maps
Lofthouse photos
We have no photos of Lofthouse, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Rothwell| Wakefield| Altofts| Normanton| Morley| Ossett| Horbury| Batley| Dewsbury| Kippax| Leeds| Featherstone| Garforth
Lofthouse area books
Displaying 1 of 28 books about Lofthouse and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Lofthouse
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West Yorkshire memories
My Early Years in Rothwell
I was born in Rothwell in 1949 and have lived there all my life and remember when it was a picturesque village where everyone knew each other. What changes have taken place over the years.
I remember going to the Corn Mill with my dad on a Saturday morning to get corn for dad's pigeons. We had to go over a foot bridge, across the mill pond, past the big water wheel and into the storage shed. Being very small, dad would lift me up to get the corn out of one of the big barrels and nearly always pretend to let go of me, so I thought I would fall in. Tommy Barret owned the mill and he was a great big man, who always wore a dirty brown apron and scared me to death. Going back over the footbridge we would stop to watch the swans and in springtime the May blossom would fall and cover the water.
My best friend was... Read more
Memories of Rothwell in The Sixties
I lived in Rothwell from the age of 5 leaving to come to Australia in 1969 at the age of 16. I think regularly now of how the village would have changed so much since I left. I remember being a bridesmaid at the Trinity church and still have photos of coming down the path through the gate.
I drew a picture at school of the church; we had to do this in charcoal and wish I had kept it. We used to wander around and look at the old gravestones.
I remember the fairs that used to be held every year when we used to celebrate Childrens' Day and have races in the park, and the scary fireworks display at night standing on the hill thinking they were going to land on me. I attended the Church school in the main street and remember the new shopping centre being built. We used to call into one of the shops and buy a bag of broken biscuits for a... Read more
My Child Days
I was a child in the Rothwell children's home and went to the the church you mentioned.
Seanor Match Works
Actually this memory via my father and grandfather go back further than 1860. My great-great-grandfather, Richard Seanor, got interested in match making and went to London to find out the process etc. He then came back to Rothwell and started his own matchworks factory. He then went on to make the small match that we use today and of course the match box, which was made by children around 10 years of age.
Quite a few times the factory burnt down, and later when his son Jabez took over, he opened a factory in Bootle, Liverpool, but in 1904 or thereabout Jabez sold the business to Bryant and May, the match makers we all know but who have now moved to Sweden.
I have been to Rothwell a few times and met some of the people there who knew of my great-grandfather (Jabez) and of course Richard my great-great-grandfather. I have also been to the old church to visit their grave sites, and found out about the adopted... Read more
First 24 Years
I was born and lived all my life till 24 in Oulton. It was then a small village and everywhere I went someone knew me or a family member. Back then we could play in the street and roam all over the village. One supermarket Grandways which closed many years ago now. My mum still lives in Oulton and three uncles live in Woodlesford. I however moved to Castleford and have been there for 20 years. I go back all the time but never see anyone I knew from school. Guess we all grew up and moved on. However there is a new supermarket and more houses with a lot more people that you never see and no one plays out any more.
School Days
I remember moving from a one up one down back to back house in Hunslet at the age of approx 4 years to a brand new council house in Newhall Road, Belle Isle. I had a great time, my father borrowed a pony and trap, and we went back to Hunslet to dig up our privett hedge to transport it to the new house, my sisters weren't allowed only me because I was a man (4 years old). I was born 1952 so this would have been 1956/57. I remember walking to school, infants and primary at Windmill Road School, which was a distance for little legs. Summer seemed to be forever and we were never indoors, always out playing in the cornfields, exploring the streams, damming them up, building dens around Middleton old colliery and the land towards the woods. I stayed there until 1967 when the family moved to Doncaster, because of my father's work.
Exleys Pie & Pea Shop (front For A Betting Shop?) in The Springs
My grandad had a pie & pea shop in The Springs, evidently it was the front for a betting shop. My mum who is now 84 tells me she used to work in the shop and that my grandad Exley was quite a penny watcher and would not let her use hot water or soap to wash up. I would dearly love to find a photo of the shop and preferably with my grandad in it. Most of my relatives either have dementia or have sadly passed away now and so I don't know the name or location exactly of the shop and think it was the 1940s but it may have been another decade. I believe the shop was eventually sold to Heptinstalls (Eppys) and that it then moved and became a night club but am not so sure of that. My dad Tip (Ronnie) Exley and his brothers Norman and Charlie were his sons and there was a daughter but that was not discussed as I think something... Read more
