Askern
Askern maps (2 available)
Map of South Yorkshire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
See this old map of South Yorkshire
Personalised maps
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Askern books (23 available)
Askern memories
Read and share memories of Askern and South Yorkshire inspired by Frith photos
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You can also read memories of nearby places in South Yorkshire below.
South Yorkshire memories
Conisborough Castle
I lived in Rawmish, and as a special treat my dad's mate Tony Williams got his mate the caretaker to let me have my own personal look roun't castle. My dad used to work at the pit offices in Denaby. When I used to go and see my dad in't olidays I'd go train spotting to the station and then ride home making sure I went via the castle.
A memory of Sprotbrough contributed by steve wright
Cricket on the green
I was brought up in Tennyson Avenue off Sprotborough Road and at weekends in the Summer would cycle 20 or so miles all around south Yorkshire. If on the way to Conisbrough, Barnbrough or the River Don we would pass the Ivanhoe Hotel which, to a 14 year old in 1950 looked to be a very grand place indeed. If a cricket match was taking place on the large field at the back of the hotel we would often abandon our planned bike ride and watch the game. I believe that some very famous YCC players appeared in Yorkshire League matches at this ground.
The Hotel was the original venue for the meetings of the ...read more here
A memory of Sprotbrough contributed by Terence George Flinders
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
Old Thorne
In 1851 my Grandfather had a sixty acre farm at 109 Finkle Street in Thorne. His name was also Richard and his wife's name was Harriet. Is there anyone in Thorne that could share any information with me about the Watson family in Thorne.
The earliest Watson I have found in Thorne in my family line was John Watson, born about 1740, and married Ann Glew about 1770 in Thorne.
A memory of Thorne contributed by Richard Watson
Extracts From Askern & South Yorkshire books
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".
Here we are at the lower end of Kirkgate, all car-free today. Behind us is the long established Woolworth’s store, and the shop
buildings on the right are also long-standing, with only cosmetic changes - like the removal of the chimneys and dormers
from the central building.
An extract from from"Wakefield and the Five Towns Living Memories".