South Kirkby
South Kirkby photos (6 available)
South Kirkby maps (2 available)
Map of West Yorkshire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
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Personalised maps
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South Kirkby books (23 available)
Harrogate Town Walk Guide
Paperback
- 1 photos on South Kirkby appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of South Kirkby
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on South Kirkby and West Yorkshire
South Kirkby memories
Read and share memories of South Kirkby and West Yorkshire inspired by Frith photos
Sinking feeling
My grandad used to work at South Kirkby pit for many years, so growing up I was forever hearing stories of his days down the mine. Being a very inquisitive child I would spend hours exploring, even though my grandad used to tell me how dangerous it could be round the colliery. He used to also live on the Northfield estate, which was also known as Little Wigan. I am told this is because of the miners that moved from that area. I was staying at my grandad's this one day waiting for my tea. I'd been in all day as it was raining heavy, so when the rain stopped I couldn't wait to get out. My grandad said 'don't be ...read more here
Contributed by Mark Adams
West Yorkshire memories
Sinking feeling
My grandad used to work at South Kirkby pit for many years, so growing up I was forever hearing stories of his days down the mine. Being a very inquisitive child I would spend hours exploring, even though my grandad used to tell me how dangerous it could be round the colliery. He used to also live on the Northfield estate, which was also known as Little Wigan. I am told this is because of the miners that moved from that area. I was staying at my grandad's this one day waiting for my tea. I'd been in all day as it was raining heavy, so when the rain stopped I couldn't wait to get out. My grandad said 'don't be ...read more here
A memory of South Kirkby contributed by Mark Adams
John Eaton
John Eaton (1832-1914), my great great grandfather, is buried in St. Helen's churchyard along with his wife Jane (Siddall). The memorial stone was originally near the gate and surrounded by iron railings, which were most likely removed during WW II as part of the 'war effort', and is now located near the right hand boundry of the church yard.
There is a stained glass window in the church dedicated to John & Jane Eaton.
John Eaton was a renowned Mining Engineer responsible for the 'sinking' of many mines throughout the country and particularly in Derbyshire and Yorkshire. He was a churchwarden and vice-chairman of the Parish Council.
Anne Giles (nee Eaton).
A memory of Thurnscoe contributed by nigel giles
Vincent Terrace
I was born at Vincent Terrace in my grandmother's house in 1949, opposite the pit. Have some happy memories of Thurnscoe, my grandad always went to the {Corrie} for a drink on Sunday afternoon, I still have his membership card as a keepsake.
Found lots of old pics of neighbours who were friends, Kath and Nick and Mrs Mellor, I would love to send them the pics, if you know them let me know.
We lived with my grandparents until my parents got a house in Highgate. I went to Highgate School then to Goldthorpe until my last year, then we moved to Wigan.
I remember the pit lane and going to the baths and going to the skating rink at ...read more here
A memory of Thurnscoe contributed by joy calderbank
Extracts From South Kirkby & West Yorkshire books
The newly-cut village green at South Kirkby, near Hemsworth, gives a neat, urban appearance to this former West Yorkshire mining village. In the background is the Travellers Inn, a popular village hostelry.
An extract from from"Yorkshire Living Memories".
Looking towards the Bull Ring from Union Street, we
see (right) the rebuilt Strafford Hotel and the former
shops, now a café bar. At the centre is the magnificent
Cloth Hall building at the head of Cross Street. The Bull
Ring is now partly pedestrianised, offering a relaxed
starting point for a walk to the cathedral.
An extract from from"Wakefield and the Five Towns Living Memories".
The Market Place was renamed the Bull Ring in 1910, to recall the ‘sport’ of bull baiting a century before. In the centre of
the Market Place, a busy intersection even before cars were invented, was the Toll Booth (demolished 1857) and the Boy
and Barrel Inn (removed 1898). The dominant row of shops has been modernised, but the bus station (centre right), which
opened on September 1952, has now been moved a hundred yards to the east.
An extract from from"Wakefield and the Five Towns Living Memories".
At the head of Cross Street the market
cross once stood, from 1707 to
1866. Cross Street is now traffic free
down to the cathedral and Kirkgate.
The magnificent Grand Clothing
Hall, left, remains. Designed in an
Italian Renaissance style by Percy
Robinson (1879-1950), it opened in
1906. Robinson also designed the old
Leeds Fire Station. Hartley Shaw’s
household furnishings emporium
(right) is now an optician’s, but
the Black Rock next door, its name
commemorating the coal industry,
is still a thriving pub. The café at the
end of the row is also flourishing.
An extract from from"Wakefield and the Five Towns Living Memories".
This scene is little changed in forty years. Market Place still contains Cresswell’s, a seafood shop (left), and a coffee bar
beyond. The Shakespeare, right, is ‘as we like it’ these days, a charity shop. The Market Hall, (centre), opened on 23 April
1964; it cost £289,000 and holds 87 stalls, and replaced the old one which was in use from 29 August 1851.
An extract from from"Wakefield and the Five Towns Living Memories".