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Thorpe
Thorpe maps
Historic maps of Thorpe and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Thorpe maps
Thorpe photos
We have no photos of Thorpe, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Rothwell| Morley| Wakefield| Ossett| Altofts| Batley| Normanton| Horbury| Leeds| Dewsbury| Birstall| Heckmondwike| Headingley| Kirkstall Abbey| Garforth| Farsley
Thorpe area books
Displaying 1 of 28 books about Thorpe and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Thorpe
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West Yorkshire memories
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.
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
Chesters
l lived in Chester Place with the little veg shop on the corner. Across the road was another street (I don't know what this was called), it had a undetakers tucked away in the corner. We would hang the washing out across the road, l remember trying to get the kids' nappies dry and having words with the woman next door as l put some out on a Sunday morning, not to her liking ah ah. Our house was the only one in the street that relay tv put a box up, don't know what it was for but gave up £2 a year for it. Trudie O'Hara.
Beeston School
I used to go to Beeston school and remember happy days. My teacher was called Mrs Spencer, she was really strict and used to scare me. There was also a teacher called Mr Shipman, a bit of a tonge twister. I have been looking for a picture of the school, can anyone help me?
