Cottages At Thurgoland Bank

A Memory of Thurgoland.

First a little bit of history.
There is a double cottage on Thurgoland Bank overlooking Cheesebottom, it was built by my Great Grandfather John Tufft around 1880. He was a Shingler at Wortley Lower Forge, having moved his family down from Tipton some years earlier.
He brought up his family here, seven children in all. After he died in 1920 and my Great Grandmother died in 1921 the cottage was occupied by my Great Aunts Matilda, known as Mant, and Gertrude, known as Gertie. It passed from the family around 1975 upon Gertie`s demise.
It has always been a mystery to me how a Forgeman was able to built his own house, retire at around 50 (as the story goes ) bring up seven children, and this in days of no state pension. My aunt Gertie taught at Thurgoland school all her working life.
One of the highlights of my childhood was the occasional Sunday afternoon in summer when my Mother and Father would take my brother and myself to visit the two old aunts at Thurgoland. After the usual conversations with the two old dears " My, haven`t you grown " comes to mind, my brother and I would charge off down Cheesebottom.
What a joy, running down that field to the River Don at the bottom, that magnificent viaduct, that sense of being in the country, pure bliss.
This seemed another world to us, these two old Ladies were born here and died here, I think Mant was in her late eighties and Gertie well into her nineties.
All the water was drawn from the well, they had never seen a tap flowing hot water. The toilet was outside the house, just a shack with an ashpit, and, vegetables were grown in the garden.
When we called one Sunday, Gertie, who at the time was around 92 was up a ladder being held at the bottom by Mant, putting slates back on the roof. I never heard of either of them ever being ill.
My Great Grandfather, Great Grandmoher Sarah, Mant and Gertie all lie in the same grave in Thurgoland Church Yard.