36th Rotherham St Mary's Scout Troop

A Memory of Swinton.

I lived all my early days in Jackson Crescent, Monkwood with my parents Margaret and Fred Scaife and my brother Roger. Sadly my mother passed away on 12/12/12.

I recall attending Haugh Road Secondary Modern School and detested every minute. I was a student there when the roof of the central hall collapsed due to a fire. I see it was never rebuilt.
I was very keen member of the 36th Rotherham Scout Troop under the excellent supervision of the group scout master Herbert Simmonite and Harry Dolphin and his wife. I went from being a wolf cub as they were then known, up to being a senior scout before joining the army after a short spell at the disgustingly dirty South Yorkshire Chemical Works as a wages clerk. I will never forget the huge coal file I had to sit in front of all day.
In 1967 I went to the Army Apprentices College where I excelled in all aspects of military and trade training. This was remarkable after the lack of achievement at school. I served with the Corps of Royal Engineers in Northern Ireland and West Germany where my first daughter was born. On leaving the army I had a year driving Sheffield buses before becoming a police constable in South Yorkshire Police at Hillsborough, living at Deepcar. In 1986 I joined Thames Valley police and served at Milton Keynes, Bicester and Banbury as a police sergeant. I resent work at Bassetlaw District Council.
Not a bad innings for a non-achiever at school.