Doseley

A Memory of Doseley.

When my dad Derick John Jones was born in 1944 he lived in a row of houses called Dill Doll Row or Dill Da Row as some people called them, they were situated at Sandy Bank, Doseley, just behind the Cheshire Cheese pub at Doseley. My dad lived there with his mum Lily Oliver, his stepdad Billy Lee and brother Pete Lee, these people have all since passed away. It would be lovely if anyone has any memories of my family especially Lily Oliver as she died before I was born. In his teenage years my dad worked at the Johnston pipeworks at Doseley, he had his photograph taken with a group of other people, some had retired and had received clocks, this photo can be seen in the Dawley Book. For a short while my dad also lived in what is known as the squatters cottage which was built on pit waste ground at Burroughs Bank, Little Dawley, dating from 1830, his uncle Johnny Round and a lady called Gladyss Griffiths lived there. The cottage is now at Blists Hill open air museum. In the early 1960s my other nan and grandad Lucy and William Dudley lived at the Lower Doseley train station level crossings, my grandad opened the gates for the trains to go through. By the time I was born in 1966 they had moved to St Luke's Road, Doseley, they lived in the house situated first left from the railway bridge with the Cheshire Cheese pub on the other side of the enbankment. They are now both buried at St Luke's church graveyard just across the road from where they lived. I remember as a little girl walking with my nan up Sandy Bank as this was a short cut to Little Dawley, I remember walking past Dill Doll Row houses, by then they were empty and run down. I would love to see any old photographs of these houses as I have many fond memories of Doseley and the surrounding area.
Angela Mathison, nee Jones.