1962

A HISTORY OF FEATHERSTONE 

 1962

THE COUNCIL

JANUARY  After a spell of freezing weather the council reported it had to deal with 135 burst pipes over the holiday period. Cr J Harper said the tenants of the prefabricated bungalows were complaining about dampness because of condensation. It was decided the surveyor and architect should visit the site with a view to deciding what permanent housing could be provided there if the bungalows were demolished and the site cleared. 

  There were complaints about a number of footpaths being lost to the town. It was decided to send a plan of all footpaths to each member of the council. It was agreed to pay extra for the maintaining of the two public clocks, at the Clock Cafe and All Saints' Church. It would go up from £3 5s a year each to £3 15s for Clock Cafe and £4 for North Featherstone.  

FEBRUARY  The council were concerned at the amount of damage being caused to street lamps by vandals who shot at them with air rifles. An electrician was spending most of his time every day repairing damaged lights. The police would be informed.

  Owing to rising costs over many years at the Lister Baths, the charge for schoolchildren per session would be raised to 4d. It had previously been 3d for those living outside the Urban District and 2½d for those living within the boundary. Because there had been no dancing during the winter months it was decided to open the baths in March - a month earlier than usual.

  A layout plan of 54 houses to replace the 40 prefab bungalows was approved. It was agreed to acquire the site of the demolished Aberdeen Terrace for £150, but not decide yet what to do with it. 

  Cr H Woodcock did not agree with the bungalows being removed. He said although they were only intended to last for ten years there was still years of life in them. He said houses in Short Street and Arundel Street were in a worse condition. Cr A J Davis said the bungalows were in a bad condition compared with modern standards. The surveyor, Mr G F Adamson said if you retain these bungalows for another five years you will have to spend a considerable amount on them. The council decided to stick to their decision.

   A gale had caused considerable damage all round the district. It was decided to prepare a list and deal with repairs in order of priority.

MARCH  After criticism over apparently favouring the prefabs over Arundel Street, the council said the worst properties would be dealt with first. The new sports pavilion and cafe in Purston Park would be ready for the new season. The photo of the sports pavilion is from a Frith postcard. The cafe was at the other side.

 

   The rates were increased by 2s to 22s in the pound, and rents ranging from 2s to 3s 6d per week. The council said it was because of high interest rates, and they had to keep building houses because there were still more than 500 people on the waiting list for council houses.

APRIL  It was agreed to serve notice that numbers 1 to 31 Arundel Street were not fit for habitation, and to discuss with the owners any action proposed.

 MAY   The Ratepayers lost two seats in the council elections, leaving the council at 11 Labour and one Ratepayers' Association. The results were:

East Ward  H Roberts (Labour) 834  A J Davis (Ratepayers) 792

South Ward  H Woodcock (Labour) 668  B Heighway (Ratepayers) 583

North West  H Wright (Labour) 660  A Bingley (Ratepayers) 542

  There were complaints at the council meeting about the number of repairs outstanding in council houses. The surveyor, Mr G F Adamson, said repairs were almost at a standstill because of attending to storm damage. When it was suggested he should employ more staff he pointed out  there was difficulty in getting people to work for the council.

  At the annual meeting Cr Jessie Brabbs was elected chairman for the next year. In his final remarks, the retiring chairman, Cr J Harper, paid tribute to Edward Rowley, a previous chairman, who had died recently, and to the late Mr G O Sylvester whom Mr Harper had succeeded as MP for Pontefract.

JUNE  The council were informed by the county council it was unlikely anything would be done at North Featherstone crossroads this year. 

  A fee of £15 was accepted from Messrs Bradley and Lloyd to provide a children's roundabout in Purston Park every weekend throughout the season, on condition the charge was no more than 3d a ride.

JULY  The British Legion asked if the baths could be reopened for dancing because most of its funds came from dances. The architect said it would not be possible because of the pending repairs and improvements. It was decided to inform all interested parties of the situation. It was agreed all public footpaths would be signposted and farmers reminded of their responsibility for restoring them to their original condition if they are ploughed over.

  Among the draft proposals by the Local Government Commission was that Knottingley, Pontefract and Featherstone should form a new local authority. "We all know our fate" was the comment of chairman Cr Jessie Brabbs at the council meeting.

SEPTEMBER  Chairman Cr Jessie Brabbs said of the amalgamation proposals "The council has given very careful and serious consideration to the proposals by the Local Government Commission to amalgamate Featherstone with Pontefract and Knottingley. We can see no possible advantage to be gained by our district by such an amalgamation and in some respects Featherstone would be worse off. 

  "In particular we can see no community of interest between between Featherstone and Knottingley and yet community of interest is one of the nine points to which the commission is required to pay regard".

  Broken bottles were continually being found on the children's playground, and a child's foot was badly cut. The park's superintendent was instructed to keep a watch on the position.

  Mr J B Mynett was thanked for the offer of a piece of land at the junction of Church Lane and Willow Lane, North Featherstone, to make it safer for children to cross the road.

OCTOBER  The Ministry of Housing and Local Government dismissed an appeal against the council's refusal to permit an advertising hoarding to be displayed on the gable end of a house at Mill Cottages, Wakefield Road. The council approved a proposal by the county council to erect a two-bay fire station off Andrew Street.

 NOVEMBER  A group of 36 one bedroom bungalows for old folk was completed in Huntwick Road on the Common Lane estate. A warden's flat, a communal room and a laundrette would also be provided. The county council agreed to pay part of the cost of these.

  The council applied to the magistrates for permission to close Middle Lane as a highway. British Railways (whose lines it crossed) said it was rarely used, and vehicles could not use it because garage buildings had been erected across it. The court made an order closing the lane as a highway but reserving it as a footpath.

DECEMBER  The council approved the expenditure of £80 on 16 donkey jackets and six duffle coats for road sweepers and labourers employed in the winter months. Cr D Grey said the council's employees working outside in all weathers had a right to protective clothing.

  The rent arrears was reduced by half after the formation of a rent arrears sub-committee. Cr F G Smith commented about 40 tenants were continually on the arrears list and accounted for much of the total.

l.

THE ROVERS

 The Rovers committee got a shock in January when they found out their coach Harold Moxon had applied for the coaching job at York and he was on the short list. He didn't get the job and there followed a stormy meeting with the committee. He told the Press beforehand that a minority group on the committee wanted him out, that they had criticised him to the point of abuse and pin-pricked him so incessantly as to make his life intolerable.

  No statement was issued after the meeting, but Moxon told the Press "No punches were pulled on either side and I think the discussion did a lot to clear the air". The chairman, My J Jepson said "We both feel plain speaking has cleared a lot of air, and I am delighted Mr Moxon is staying. I am sure steps will be taken to ensure similar circumstances do not arise again". Mr Moxon commented "At heart I never wanted to leave Rovers. I am quite sure things will be different from now on".

 The record attendance for a league game was broken in January when 14,990 packed the ground for the game against Wakefield Trinity. The photo of the main stand is from fevarchive.

  

  At the half-yearly meeting the chairman, Mr J Jepson, said Harold Moxon had signed a new contract and everyone is happy. Not many members turned up for it, and he said he thought the time had come to dispense with it because last year's attendance was no better.

The secretary, Mr R Bailey, said they had just had a club record of 11 games without defeat. The financial secretary, Mr A Greaves, said the supporters had helped enormously with the costs, but even so they were running at a loss of £250 every fortnight because gate receipts were not high enough.

  At the supporters' club dance in the Welfare Hall in February, Pat Tennant of Ashcroft Road was selected as the Rovers' Queen. She received her sash from the retiring Queen, Wendy Banks. The photo was uploaded to Featherstone Bygone Days by Sam Peck.

   In May William (Billy) Williams announced his retirement as the club's masseur. He joined the Rovers as a front row forward in 1912. He eventually became trainer and masseur. After the Second World War the club appointed a coach, but Billy continued to look after the team's fitness assisted by his elder son James Williams.

  At the annual meeting in July a loss on the season of  £3,856 was announced. mainly because of transfer fees. The auditor, Mr E Holstead, said the club faced another season with no money to spend, but a lot to find either from the bank or from some good fairy who comes along.

  The chairman, Mr J Jepson, said we don't get the support we deserve. I know it looks bad but we have been in these straits before and we shall get out of the with your (the supporters') support.

  There was the usual proposal to reduce the number of guarantor, which as usual was defeated. The president recalled when he succeeded George Johnson in 1937 the club was bankrupt and he had to find guarantors to keep it going. Is it fair, after all these years, we should sack them. Although there were 12 guarantors to six elected members they had never swayed the committee. Mr E Lee, an elected member confirmed this.

  The Rovers applied for a licence to sell all intoxicating liquors at the club bar at Post Office Road. The secretary, Ron Bailey, told the magistrates the Supporters' Cub had been running a bar for members for ten years. They wanted to be able to cater for supporters travelling to Featherstone. There would be no out-sales, it would only be open for first-team games from one hour before the kickoff until one hour after. The application was granted.

  Because the Lister Hall was not available the Rovers held a dance at Pontefract Town Hall in December.

 

THE GREAT GALES

  There were two severe gales within a few days of each other in February. The first blew down the War Memorial for the second time. A terrace of houses in Station Lane had its roof damaged, several plate glass shop windows were broken including the Co-operative and Asquith's butchers, and there was roof damage at Gordon Street School.

  The second gale wreaked havoc on structures weakened by the first. Station Lane was littered with bricks, broken glass, tiles, slates and wooden beams along most of its length. Worst hit were four terrace houses which completely lost their roofs. The debris landed in the middle of the road and buses had difficulty in getting past until county council workmen cleared it away. The four properties were Daisy Goode's fish shop and the next three. The roofs had been damaged by the first gale, and the second finished them off.

  Windows were broken again at the Pontefract Co-operative Society's shop and other premises, and the roof of the Railway Hotel was seriously damaged.

 

 THE PREFABS CONTROVERSY

  The decision in February by the council to dismantle the prefabs on he Leatham Estate caused upset in Arundel Street. A letter signed by 15 of the residents was sent to the Express saying they should have been rehoused even before those temporary bungalows were built. They pointed out Cr A J Davis knew that houses in Arundel Street were in a far worse condition than the bungalows because he left one 15 years earlier for a new council house. They said they didn't want to take anyone's turn in housing, but what they would like to know is when is it their turn.

  Cr Davis told the Express everyone on the Council realised the houses should be demolished as soon as possible. Plans had been drawn up for replacement and would be put into effect as soon as possible. He said Arundel Street houses were probably the worst in Featherstone and in a deplorable condition.

  He added, the area should be made a clearance area. A long term plan is before each member of the council member for the re-development of Station Lane. It should be pushed forward as soon as possible without anyone making political capital out of it. The council has allowed this piecemeal patching up to go on, and the condition has been known for many years.

  The Express reporting on the conditions said when the snow thawed residents had to use buckets, baths and material to soak up water which had leaked through roofs. Wallpaper and plaster had peeled off walls, and one family had to sleep downstairs. The residents also had to use shared toilets.

  Mrs Florence Green said nobody knows how old they are. Mr Herbert Spenser said they ought to be ashamed to collect the rent. We've paid for them 100 times over.

THE CRICKET CLUB

  The Cricket Club held its annual dinner at the Junction Hotel in April. The president, Mr F Vollans, said while it appreciated the Welfare Committee was giving the Cricket Club all the help it could, without destroying its independence, it seemed they were fighting a losing battle financially. A big blow was the closing of the Lister Hall which meant no annual dance for the club and a cut in the revenue of over £100.  

  He appealed for the old-timers who had had their enjoyment out of the club and asked them and others to face the position that the cricket club was dying. He regretted the senseless vandalism committed at the ground and everyone looked forward to the day when the groundsman would have a house on the ground.

  Mr J Lofthouse, the president of the Ackton Hall Colliery branch of the NUM, said the Welfare Hall was the white elephant at the top of Station Lane. They were pouring £150 a month into it and that was the reason for the cricket club's serious financial plight. The possibility of a club room and caretaker's house on the cricket field to supersede the Welfare was being considered.

   At the Cricket Club's annual meeting in June, the retiring treasurer Mr D Gilding, said something has to be done and done quickly for we can't stand another season like this. His successor, Mr C Toft, said let us put the club first and last, and cut out personal dissension.

  The Express explained when the club sought sustenance from the miners' welfare funds not everyone approved, and in one fell swoop the greater part of a talented team moved on. But now a major obstacle to recruitment was removed with the substitution of a cricket subscription of 10s instead of the welfare subscription of 27s 6d.

 

DEATH OF ERNEST BULLOCK

  Ernest Bullock died in April. This is an extract from a long obituary notice in the Express.

  Mr Ernest Peter Bullock, who started business with horse charabancs, provided Yorkshire with some of its earliest motor buses in 1909, and developed one of the largest privately owned bus companies in the North of England - B & S Motors - died at his home in Houndhill Lane, Purston.

  He was 89, and 70 of those years were spent in the transport industry, in which he remained active until recently. Only a year ago this paper reported that as chairman of South Yorkshire Motors Ltd of Pontefract and Wakefield, he still travelled to business at Pontefract every morning by bus.  

  He began in the transport business in 1891 when he supervised his father's horse carriage business. Before that he had worked at Featherstone Station. He had the first motor charabancs in Yorkshire, and during the First World War his vehicles carried workers to Barnbow and other munitions factories.

  After the war he increased his first fleet of buses and started regular services in the area. He left B & S Motors in 1929 after a family dispute and bought South Yorkshire Motors which he developed into a large concern. A leading Methodist worker and philanthropist, Mr Bullock was also a noted flower grower. Though born in the Midlands he was Yorkshire by adoption. The photo is from the Commercial Motor Archive.

  

THE GALA

  The Council broke with tradition for the annual gala held in June in Purston Park. For the first time children watched a circus instead of taking part in sports. The reason was not every child could take part in the sports, and so interest was limited, but a circus could be watched by everyone. The open-air events featured the Carmello Troupe from France  

  The attendance was below previous years, but the proceeds from programmes, stalls and competitions raised about £150 for the Featherstone and District Hospital Comforts' Committee.

 On the Sunday the Ackton Hall and Snydale Collieries Workmen's Band gave concerts in the afternoon and evening. 

PRESENTATION DINNER

  Featherstone Rovers held a reception at Don Pollard's Hotel in Leeds in June for the first, second and under 19s teams in recognition of their performances last season, and also to make a presentation to masseur Billy Williams.

  Club chairman John Jepson congratulated the players and the coaches - Harold Moxon with the first team, Arthur Street with the second team, and Keith Goulding, Norman Mitchell and Eric Stott with the juniors.

  Mr Jepson handed to Mr Williams an inscribed wristlet watch and stressed his outstanding service to the club. He said he was a remarkable man, and one to whom many players were indebted. 

  Mr Williams, expressing thanks, referred to the many changes he had seen - all for the better- since 1912. He recalled the days when he took the first team to away matches by himself, with 16 half-crowns to pay for dinners and teas.

  Mr Moxon, who said he had played under Mr Williams as well as coached with him, spoke of his remarkable judgment and said the club owed him more than anyone realised. 

SHOT WITH AN AIR RIFLE

  Peter Conboy age ten told Pontefract Juvenile Court he was playing in a field with some friends in August when some other boys told them to clear off. He was running away when he was shot in his leg. He showed the magistrates the wound. Francis McGuire age ten of Alexander Road gave similar evidence and said there was no reason for Conboy to be shot.

  PC Bolton said he interviewed a 14 year old schoolboy (not allowed to be named) and it was established he was the only one with a gun and he said "I told these kids to get out of the way or I would shoot them. I pointed my gun at a lamppost and heard the slug whistle through the grass".

  He told the court he was target practicing in his garden, and Conboy and his friends were actually in the road. He did not want them to come near the target, so he fired at a telegraph pole to scare them off. The distance from where the shot was fired to the centre of the road was 50 feet.

  The magistrates granted him a conditional discharge on payment of costs and warned him guns were dangerous things to play with, and these incidents of shooting at other people had to be stopped.

DR GARDNER RETIRES

  In September Dr Thomas Gardner announced he would be retiring at he end of the month. A native of Leicester, he came to Featherstone in 1934. He entered partnership with Drs W Steven, Marjorie Steven and J Duncan at the old surgery  opposite the Clock Cafe in Wakefield Road. In 1960 the surgery in St Thomas Road was built where he practiced with Drs J Duncan, J Gatecliff and H Harland.

  He recalled when he came to Featherstone about a quarter of the men were out of work. During his years in the town he saw it change from a depressed area into a prosperous one.

  Mrs Gardner was known to hundreds of Featherstone mothers for her work at the weekly child welfare clinic in Albert Street, with which she was always connected. They were to live at Eastbourne on the South Coast. The photo is from the Express.

 PUBLIC HEALTH REPORT

   The council's public health inspector published his report for 1961 in October. He deplored the attitude of property owners who did not take advantage of the Standard Grant Scheme to improve their tenanted houses. He said 56 houses were improved during 1961, but 42 of them were owned by the National Coal Board, and the other 14 by one person. He wrote "As soon as the NCB programme is completed I have no doubt improvements to tenanted houses will revert to the usual low numbers.
   During the year a total of 65 new dwellings were built and 20 houses and two caravans were demolished. Nineteen families were re-housed from unfit dwellings, and five overcrowded families were re-housed.
   He noted there were 10 catering places, three bakehouses and 146 other food shops in the district, and the increasing use of prepackaging and refrigeration, together with regular deliveries of small quantities, was enabling the smaller shopkeepers to offer a wider variety in competition with the larger multiples.

 

 THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION

  The Boundary Commission's draft report in October recommended joining together Knottingley, Pontefract and Featherstone. Featherstone Council objected and produced a document of which the following is an extract.
  The Council strenuously contest the Commission's claim that some local authorities cannot attract or afford adequate staffs because of a lack of size and resource. It is a serious and unwarranted reflection on the officers of the council's concerned.
  The new area would have a population of 51,000, far short of the 60,000 which would entitle an authority to delegation of education, health, welfare and planning services. This would provide no benefit to any of the three towns.
  Featherstone is supplied from a different water board from Pontefract and Knottingley, and charges for water are different. This would mean two scales of charges in one district.
  How can a proposed county district measuring some ten miles from east to west be convenient? What possible community of interest can exist between parts of a "local" authority which are ten miles apart?
  How have the wishes of the inhabitants been sought by the Commission? The council possesses evidence that those wishes of the inhabitants are against the proposed amalgamation. No advantage could be gained by residents of the present urban district in the Commission's proposals.
  The council is therefore forced to register the strongest possible objection to these proposals and to suggest that Featherstone Urban Council be left in its present form. The three coats of arms below are from the internet.

  A NEW WAR MEMORIAL

  The original 1924 War Memorial had been broken twice by gales. The council decided a new column was the best way forward. It was ready for the parade on Remembrance Sunday in November. 

  Well over 100 people, headed by the Ackton Hall and Snydale Collieries' Band, marched from Cressey's Corner to Ackton Hall Colliery yard where a short service was held at the miners' memorial, and then down Station Lane to the new memorial. Revd I O Jay conducted a dedication service for the memorial and then the Remembrance service. The photo of the new thinner memorial is a personal one.

 

1962 NEWS ITEMS

JANUARY The North Featherstone Lane Working Men's Club (known as The Rat Trap) moved across the road to new premises next to the old United Methodist Chapel. The photo is from the Dr Gatecliff Collection.

    On January 10 the Featherstone Post Office ceased to be a Crown Office.

  

  Cr Joe Harper of Leatham Crescent was chosen to be the Labour candidate in the forthcoming by-election in the Pontefract Division. He was chairman of the council, the delegate at the Snydale Colliery branch of the National Union of Mineworkers and a magistrate. He was also involved with committees for education, the crematorium and hospitals. The photo is from the Express.

FEBRUARY The system of individual headphones for patients at Ackton Hospital installed by the Featherstone and District Hospital Comforts Committee was handed over to the hospital management committee. It was agreed to discuss with Pontefract Rotary Club the question of providing broadcasts of rugby football matches and racing to hospital patients and also a record request programme.

   Reg Bettley age 61, retired after 30 years as joiner and undertaker in Green Lane which he had taken over from Sam Akeroyd. The business was to be carried on in his name by Mr Granville Brooks.

MARCH Joe Harper was an easy winner in the Pontefract by-election. The result was:

Joe Harper (Labour)  28,461

Paul Dean (Conservative and Liberal)  6,633

Russell Ernest Eckley (Independent)  1,146

 

APRIL  Mr and Mrs L Harrison of the Junction Hotel gave a new television set to the Featherstone and District Hospital Comforts Committee for Ackton Hospital. Joe Harper MP attended the official switch on. The committee agreed to provide Easter eggs for the children in Ackton Hospital and Headlands Hospital, Pontefract.

MAY  The police were looking for someone who had been shooting at street lights between North Featherstone Crossroads and Ackton Hospital. The damage was estimated at £60.

 

  The West Riding County Council Education Committee reported the Ministry of Education had accepted a tender of £362,427 submitted by F Shepherd and Son Ltd of York for the erection of St Wilfrid's Roman Catholic Secondary School at North Featherstone.

JUNE  About !,500 people went to Cleethorpes on the Green Lane Club's annual outing. All the children, including 30 from the Carleton Homes, travelled free and were given £1, sweets, crisps and minerals. Old age pensioners paid half fare.

  At the annual meeting of the Featherstone Amateur Musical and Dramatic Society it was reported the last production, The White Horse Inn made a substantial profit mainly because the women's section worked throughout the year making costumes. The next year's production would be The Country Girl.

 

  The Featherstone and District Hospital Comforts' Committee decided to install a new 21 inch television in Ackton Hospital, and to replace electric razors with new ones.

 

JULY  At the annual meeting of the Featherstone and Streethouse Tenants and Ratepayers' Association it was announced they had received 46% of the votes at the last election. The had about £100 in hand after the election expenses and were planning an intensive membership drive.

  The first Chapel of Rest was opened by Harold Sawyer, undertaker, at his premises in Ackworth Road, Purston. A second by Reg Bettley of Green Lane was to be opened by the end of August.

AUGUST  A short circuit cause a fire at the home of Mrs Elsie Lancaster of Alexander Crescent. Neighbours tackled the blaze with garden hoses until the fire brigade arrived.

  The Featherstone and District Hospital Comforts Committee staged a push-ball competition on the Rovers' ground in aid of the funds. A fairly large crowd turned up to see it won by the Featherstone Miners' Welfare Rugby League Club. There was also a wheelbarrow race through the town.

 

  The fourth annual early show of the Featherstone and District Horticultural Society was held in the Clock Cafe. There were 272 entries but the organisers were disappointed by the poor support of the public. Mr S Emery won the Raybould Cup for gaining most points in the show. 

 

SEPTEMBER  The Clean Air Act required all authorities to move towards clean air zones. Mr J F Ellison, the council's public health inspector, said little progress had been made domestically, (because of miners' home coal) but most council houses built since the war were fitted with appliances for smokeless fuel.

 

OCTOBER  Featherstone Road Club won the team prize at an event on the 1,000 yards climb of Holly Lane, Ambergate in Derbyshire. The team was  K B Lycett, L A Grayson and C M O'Rourke.

 

NOVEMBER   Granville Brooks Ltd opened a chapel of rest at their premises in Green Lane. Cr Jessie Brabbs, chairman of the council, performed the opening ceremony, and Revd W F Harrower, Featherstone's Methodist Minister, conducted a service of dedication. The chapel of rest would be known as the Malvern. The photo is by Betty Longbottom.

  

   The Featherstone and District Hospital Comforts Committee said the Rovers Joint Supporters Committee had offered to pay the £28 rent for the broadcasting system being installed to give patients at Ackton Hospital running commentaries of Featherstone Rovers home matches.The Rovers players had contributed £5 10s. Christmas gifts would be distributed to hospital patients at a cost of £150. 

 

  The Featherstone Road Club held their annual cyclocross event which was five laps of the track past Featherstone Main Colliery, round the muckstack, and the bottom part of Green Lane. This time it was in the snow. The photos are from the Express.

 

DECEMBER  Michael Gilbert and his family lived in Leatham Avenue. At 3am when Mr Gilbert was at work, a neighbour, Bill Hollis, saw smoke and flames issuing from a coal store. He roused the wife and children who were asleep upstairs, and Colin Hollis ran to the nearest phone box for the fire brigade. Pontefract and Featherstone firemen, wearing breathing apparatus because of the dense smoke, had to break down the front door to reach the fire. The fire in the coal store, which was incorporated in the building, burnt the floorboards in the bedroom above.

 

  A new trunk water main was planned by the Wakefield and District Water Board to improve the water supply to Featherstone and surrounding districts. It would be a 21 inch pipe where it started at Ryburn and would have reduced to 12 inches when it reached Castleford.