George Dodds

I cannot tell you much, and I presume you do not live in the locality now? My family came from the Concrete which was on a hillside across from Chapel Avenue, but only 80 yards away; both places were on a hill. At the bottom of Chapel Avenue was what we called the low road, and at the top of Chapel Avenue was the main road, where there were some shops, the 4 shops I think it was called, a butchers on the corner, a PO, a hairdresser maybe, and a large beerhof run by the Smiths. Across the road was the Chapel, and a road went either side of it, Dearne Rd, full of mining houses with grey splashed concrete on the side, whereas those on Chapel Avenue were a nice brick red. The school was just above the houses, and at the very top on that side of the road was the Co-op store. I went to school at Cortonwood, then Brampton, before going to Wombwell. Many family including my grandad, great grandad, and uncles, and many mates worked at the Mine. I used to run past at on my 3 miles runs around the pit and the canal. I seem to recall the name you mentioned, but I never worked there. Cause of the Strike, so lots of history. If you are looking for knowledge, I am in the middle of a book called How Dark is my Valley by a P Hargreaves, a Wombwell lad, but he writes about the whole Dearne Valley in relation to the mines, and issues in the people's lives there. There is the history groups at Wombwell library, NUM in Barnsley who have an archivist there, Cortonwood working men's club is still open, so there would be someone there who knew your ancestor, grandad. There used to be a Cortonwood community group too, if you addressed any correspondence to The Chapel, Chapel Avenue, Brampton, S Yorks. I do not know if they still have a parson, they used to. I buried my father there, or at least had the funeral service. The last time I met his family, all Bramptonians, although Cortonwooders would be more apt. Or Concreteters. Let me know if you find anything, as I rcently decided I am going to write about the area. Not sure what yet, but certainly linked to the Co-op movement, the mines, the tight community spirit, and the way they were destroyed by the rich elite, which opened the gates for 'casino capitalism'. Rather like the US Cavalry opened the gates for the white settlers to invade the native lands, and misuse and abuse them, through greed and gluttony. Same kind of things all around the world, causing hurt and deprivation. I'll say this for the miners-they were a very tight unit, and put up some great scraps down the years against all the odds, versus Govts and rich mine-owners, who usually saw them as barbarous, and cannon fodder, especially in war. The working-class are dead now, but whether your grandad would agree to be one of them I do not know, but most managers did. I started on the management, but it was very cut-throat, so I left. Now I wish to write about it all. All the best, hope you find what you are looking for. Ohh, by the way, there were allotments on the slopes by the almost mile long Pit Lane, some dug, others had pigeons, the coal mined there was the highest quality coking coal, which could only be matched by S Wales, where it could not be mined, due to the Mts, and geological issues. A river and train track ran by its side, and coal could be ferried to either the East coast or the West, East on the Dearne and Dove Canal, then the Manchester Ship Canal, East-same canal, then the R Don, then Ouse and Humber. Trains ran locally from Wombwell to either the west and east, or a second station south and west. The east west track has not been used since around the 60s, even 50s. I have some research to do myself!!! I aways thought it was a beautiful little spot around Cortonwood, although some said the Concrete was rough, and also some of the houses near where your grandad lived, where mine lived too, were rough streets too. Atypical NCB houses, half gray concrete used as masonry, and all looked rough inside. Much better now, many painted, sold them off cheap, although some get rich quick locals bought some to rent, sadly. The area is one of the most depressing in the country, but there is still some community spirit left, but many who can work in good jobs tend to leave the place. All the best.