Midland Road c1960, Royston
Midland Road c1960, Royston Ref: R248015A
Memories of Midland Road c1960, Royston
APPLEYARD or BROADHURST
Please does anyone remember a shop owned by my grandparents in this area, under the name of either BROADHURST or APPLEYARD? I would be very grateful if anyone could recall the names. Winefred Broadhurst was my grandmother born in 1900. Thankyou very much. debasket42@aol.com
Children's Home
I'm looking for photos or info about a children's home in the Royston area, I believe it was called East Riding Children's Home. My dad was placed there as his father Harold Jones who lived on Midland Road couldn't look after him. Any info about both is greatly appreciated, if you know anything please get in touch. marshall.hayes@sky.com
Royston & local memories
Read and share memories of Royston and South Yorkshire inspired by Frith photos.
A Long Line of Pennies
I'm Not sure whether that was the actual date but as a child of five I recall my mother standing on the top step of our home where she would watch me go over the brow of the bridge on Midland Road on my way to school: as I got out of the door and began to walk on the causeway I noticed that there was a glinting on the Kerb and when I focused my eyes, I could see a whole line of pennies which were touching each other, they were to stretch over the brow of the hill, I looked in amazement and was gobsmacked where I could not find words to express what I was seeing. Mother in her broad Yorkshire dialect said "thee leave them alone!" and that's what I did. You must understand, for a child like myself whose parents hardly gave me as much as a penny for sweets and the like, even then I did not as much as take... Read more
Blow up Tanks
I was born in Royston in 1949, some four years after the war. The thing about me I have a very good memory of thing that had occurred within my childhood days, some of which, like everyone else would like to forget. I recall that when I was roughly three years of age, I was to go out of the front door and and amble my way into the fifty acre field, which was some half a mile walk from where I lived on Midland Road. The fifty acre field was somewhat a waste ground which overlooked the Monkton Coking Plant. I had ventured the whole of that distance all by myself. There within the field were strange looking objects, of which I was too young to comprehend in my mind to what they were. For many years to come, my mind had filed all the details and had stored them up. Then one day in the 1960's I recall the events of the day. During the war, the... Read more
The Tiger
My dad once made me what us Royston lads would call a Cadjie! It was a go-cart made from bits of waste wood and two sets of wheels from off an old pram or pushchair. One would control it by its front wheels which were attached to an articulated axle, it was also steered by the feet. Dad had taken five hours to make it up and was quite sturdy to say the least. Most Cadjies were made from big pram wheels but the one which I had had small wheels about five inch. Anyway I was to pull up my Go-cart some 150 yards up a steep hill which was called Lundhill where I sat down and had the ride of my life, it was at least 45 degrees steep with a causeway of which I came down at breakneck speed only I hit a piece of coke with the front wheel which had dropped from off a coke lorry. I lost my steering for about two seconds, and... Read more
The Boundary
If you look at the photograph of The Wells, on the crossroad that leads up the hill to Midland Road, the first shop on the corner used to be Barclays Bank but before then it was a tobacco shop and sweet shop combined. In the 1920s it was considered an offence for young lads and lasses to stay on the street and even if they were not causing bother if they hung around in groups it was more than likely that some Police officer would use his authority and think nothing of prodding the lads with his truncheon; sometimes lads would land up in court. Anyway, the shopkeeper on the corner decided to have something done to stop the Police from moving these lads on. Having checked out what was legal, he had some iron foundry make up a strip of metal with the words 'Boundary Line' wrote in bold letters. This was then placed into the tarmac some 4 feet from his shop window. Now when lads and lasses... Read more
Monkton Riding Stables
Mr Lodge who was blacksmith and farrier to the stable which his daughter Elaine owned would allow me to watch him work at the forge: one day whilst he was fashioning a horseshoe which was white hot, he had placed it on top of the anvil just for a short moment while he stoked up the fire. It was then that a rep. came in order to try and sell some horse nails; anyway this rep. was so occupied in the selling of these nails that he proceeded to turn around and position himself with his back towards the anvil, not noticing a horseshoe that had just come from the forge; he sat put all of his weight on top of the horseshoe. He got up like a shot and on doing so revealed a burned-out patch on his trousers. His bottom bared a branding which I'm afraid would be there for all to see for many years to come.
The Ghost
My dad, even though married he was one for playing the field. Mother was taking care of my brother's kids (his wife had died, he was a Flight Sargent), Mother was miles away and Dad played about. One afternoon he had picked up a woman and took her home to our house. Passion was running smooth as they were in the kitchen. Suddenly heavy footsteps came up the twenty-odd-feet passageway towards the kitchen door. The sound of footsteps were heavy and distinctive. The woman began to pull up her pants fearing that it could be Mother. Dad explained to her that they were the ghostly footsteps of an old Collier who'd come home from the pit from the day shift in his pit clogs and that when he had got to the middle door, he had just managed to get his hand on the brass knob handle where he then collapsed and died and that the door would not open. Dad told her not to worry and wait and see... Read more
A Cock no More
At Royston Senior school, I was a young lad of 14 and although the lads did not know it, I was quite strong and could do a man's job such as lifting heavy sacks of grain and humping bails of hay. Although I was a quiet lad and never sought out wanting to fight with anyone let alone pick a fight, there was a time when a lad by the name of John Cadman had been trying to interest some of the lads in the school in having a fight with him. Many a lad the same size of him would lose every time, making it impossible for anyone wanting to tackle him. There was no doubt about it, John had some good strong biceps about him which put him into the category of the school 'Cock'. John was in the mood for having what he would call a sparring partner and, being refused all around, John - all six foot of him - came up to me - a mere... Read more
The Pike
Many years ago in the late 1960s there was a stretch of canal down by old Royston. The local fishing club would spend hundreds of pounds on replenishing the fishing stocks with rainbow trout - the only problem with this idea was that being farmed trout and not knowing about predator fish like the pike, they'd simply swim by a pike and would be eaten up as fast as the canal had been filled with trout. I was not interested in trout fishing and would hope I could capture a pike just like my brother Peter had once trapped within a shallow reed bed. He had taken it home and wrapped it up within his towel (he'd been swimming the canal), he filled up a long zinc bath with tap water and then put the pike within the bath. It lay in the bath almost motionless, only to move its gills. That was until I had put my finger some three feet away from the nose of the pike, it... Read more
Monkton Riding Stables
There was a young lad a year younger than I whose father was a bookie: not many lads liked him because of his spoiled nature. Anyway I was to meet him on the street where he begged and pleaded for me to go with him to the riding stables which were at Monkton some three quarters of a mile from Royston. He offered to pay for my ride, and on getting there, the proprietor Elaine Lodge asked me if I had ever rode a horse before: to which I replied that I had rode many horses! It was then that Elaine said ''Oh that's good, you can ride Target!". Not wanting to show myself up, I was to watch all the other riders get upon their mounts. There was Janet Shown, Linda and Diane Barlow and Elizabeth Wadsworth and some other girl whose name I do not recall. I was to watch them all mount their ponies where I was to follow on. Off we went through the yard gate... Read more
Blacksmith's Shop, Daddy Thornton And Church School, Farmer Archie Hill
I was born in Staincross, a stone's throw from Royston but in 1950 they seemed much further apart.
Royston
It seems like forever ago that I lived in Royston. I remember it with fondness, Notton woods, the long summer days lasting forever, riding our motorcycles down the lines. I will cherish living there all my life.
My Great Childhood Days in Royston
I lived at number 2 Church Street, Royston, in a rented house owned by the Co-op. I went to Midland Road Primary and Junior School. As a small child I was taught to play the violin by Tom Wright. My father was the manager of trhe Co-op hardware store on Midland Road. My entire family on my mother's side lived in Royston. Their surname was Ward. My best friend was David Musgrave whose parents ran the butchers shop in Church Street. After 1953 my family moved to Blackpool.
