The Ramblings Of An Old Tintacker [Intaker]

A Memory of Intake.

I lived in Devonshire Road from 1941 to 1962 and when we first arrived Intake ended with Warwick Road, Argyll Avenue and Cumberland Avenue for those of us that lived on this side of Shaftesbury Avenue. From any of those roads a lad could walk in a straight line to Armthorpe Water Tower or Sandal Beat Wood.The only cultivated lands were owned by Mr Trinder at Flint Farm and Eddie Magner whose farm and racing stables were behind the Racecourse. Mr Magner farmed not only the fields behind the course but also two large fields on the other side of the Straight Mile Road which are now occupied by football fields and a large school. During Race Week, a Gypsy camp would be set up on the tracks adjoining his fields and horses would be tethered [or sometimes roam free] on the land. Meanwhile Mr Trinder's farm extended from what is now Flint Road to behind Warwick Road. During the Second World War, some of the land behind Warwick Road was compulsary taken for allotments to provide more home-grown food, but nevertheless Mr Trinder grew his own crops on the remainder for a good few years after the war ended. He also had a large orchard full of apple, pear and plum trees which unfortunatelly was guarded by some very sharp eared and noisy dogs, thus thwarting many a raid by us local lads. The farmhouse was so called because the outer walls were covered in real flint which sparked if you struck two pieces together, and because Mr Trinder's son Alan was in our class at school, sometimes he would fetch some to school and hand it round for us to play with. In the late 1940s, those big empty spaces began filling up with badly needed houses. A swathe was cut through the trees that bordered Cumberland Avenue so that Shaftsbury Avenue ccould be extended to where it now finishes. A large area of Rhododendron bushes was uprooted to make way for the Westminster Club and car park and the Flint Wood or Fir Wood was trimmed back to make room for more houses, and Intake began to develop to what you see today. Even in those days, Intake was a residential backwater. The only entertainment was provided by the Lonsdale Hotel or the Intake Social Club. For any other form of enjoyment, the residents had to go to town.The only factory that Intake ever had was P.A. Mudds, Boilermakers and Welders, that was situated on Leicester Avenue and is now a Learner Driving Centre. The saving grace was that we had the Bus Terminus so that we could spend more time in Doncaster and catch the last bus which came from Sheffield to carry us home.