Rawmarsh In The 1950s

A Memory of Rawmarsh.

I was born and lived the first ten years of my life in Pottery Street. '2 up 2 down' terraced houses with outside toilet. Across the road lived Horace Murfin, a bookie who could always be seen around on his bike collecting betting slips. You could be guaranteed to watch a fight outside his house on Saturday nights after a card school incident. They were the first house in the street to get a television, around 1952. Next door to him lived 'Rag' Elsie and her lodger Johnty, she made a living collecting old clothes and selling pop and sweets from her front room. She used to go round to the Green Lane Tavern every night with two empty pop bottles to be filled with beer.

It used to be common practice that when the bailiffs were coming down the street the people at the top end would start banging the fire back with their poker so warning the neighbours. This was passed on all the way to the bottom, a sort of bush telegraph. Anyone who had had "bums Papers" were then alerted and so locked their doors.

Lots of the lads used to go trainspotting down Aldwark, standing on a wooden fence across from the LMS station. The station master was a woman, Mrs. Wood who was always chasing us away from the platforms. We sang a song about her...Morning Mrs. Wood, is 4pence any good for a sniff of your old jam roll ... I can still remember seeing a loco going down the drift mine shaft at Roundwood after running through the sidings.

I went to Netherfield Lane school, Mr. Jepson was the headmaster. Discipline was very strict, you were caned just for having a blot on your schoolbook. Imagine caning eight year olds now!