Children In The 1940s

A Memory of Cudworth.

I was born and raised in Cudworth and lived in Church Street. There was a large field behind our house and most of the children in the area used to play games there, especially cricket or football. We used to have matches between the children in our immediate area and the children in Churchfields area. My good friend at the time was Kitty Archer. I wonder where she is now??
My mother was a teacher at the local primary school and at Pontefract Road Primary. I went to Snydale Road school and remember the now Sir Michael Parkinson was there at the same time. He was a year below me but due to the shortage of teachers in wartime, there were 2 years in one. Our teacher in the last year was a Miss Lee. We children used to wonder if she would get her backside burnt as in winter she used to perch atop the fireguard effectively keeping the fire off us!
We still had gas lighting and our Headmaster was Mr. Douglas who often showed us movies of Charlie Chaplin as well as educational / geographical ones.
Thoses were good days. I left Cudworth in 1952 for University and never really got back there. I married a Barnsley lad and we emigrated to Australia in 1970 and settled in Western Australia where we both taught in various schools in and around the Rockingham area.
I wonder how many of you out there are from those times and have similar memories?
There was Teasdales Chemist, Stockdales greengrocers, Hodgsons greengrocers, Schorahs for confectionary and cigarettes, Gills Pork Butcher, etc. etc. Sheltons for greengrocery and The Globe or The Co-ops for groceries etc.just to mention a few.
There was The Rock cinema and Hiram Morrison used to bang and shout when the kids at the kids shows became too noisy.
In lower Cudworth there were streams and fields to explore as well as blackberry bushes. The stream I think was part of the River Dearne.
I expect by now there will be far more houses and far less room for children to play as we did!
Wendy Dennis (nee Brown)

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