Views from the church tower
The first view looks towards Park Ave. with High Street in the foreground and Clarel Street in the
distance. Starting with the next one, these scans are original photographs which were taken for the 1958 Penistone Almanac. My scans show much more than the almanac pictures, as they were heavily cropped. I have carefully 'cloned' details over thin white cropping lines, to make them disappear. The Park Ave. picture below and the NorthWest picture lower down link to better pictures than before. Out of interest, I plucked out a detailed area of the scan showing Scholes Ave. for the third picture. It shows what looks like a row of allotments behind the houses. They were very popular in those post-war years.
Notice all the washing poles and outhouses, which probably contained the functions of coal-house, wash-house, garden shed and outside toilet. Washday was always Monday. For people without a washing machine, the weekly wash would have been done in the wash-house using a 'copper' gas boiler, galvanised dolly tub, posser (a kind of plunger) and little 'dolly blue' bags containing an inky substance to whiten the wash. They would have cranked a mangle's handle to squeeze out excess water and, if the weather was not suitable to hang out washing, an indoor hoistable rack would have been used to lift the washing up to the kitchen ceiling. And then there was the ironing to do. Washday was not the quick and easy non-event it is now.
Back to the main picture, the tall building in the left foreground is the Rose and Crown, which had a sign advertising Hammond Ales. The colour picture was taken in 2000. Notice that trees are very much part of the landscape in modern times.
Next below, two views for comparison to the North. The 1957 picture (left) shows Wellhouse Lane in its centre and Water Hall to its left. The road crossing left to right is Wentworth Road before most of the houses arrived. It was not tarmacked but very rough with glass-like foundry spoils and diabolical to ride a bike on. These days the lane down to Water Hall has a tall conifer edge down its left side, garden fences down its right, a snicket leading to Shelley Close and a fair covering of 'rural tarmac' from horse or pet. You can't see these details in the wider 2000 view (right), as trees obscure most of it. Emley Moor transmitting tower is on the horizon of the RHS pic, at the extreme left. Notice the huge increase in housing over the years.
The next line of pictures are all based on the LHS picture view to NorthWest. This is a very interesting picture with much detail. Just to the left of the 'P' is an advertisement sign. On the pavement to its left was a very convenient 'Gents' urinal. The railway line (electrified dc catenary system) going to Manchester is now part of the Transpennine Trail for walkers and riders. The second picture shows a close-up of a building being constructed on Talbot Road, which might or might not be St. Mary's RC Church. A guestbook entry from John Wright says that St. Mary’s was built in May 1963 and that the land was purchased in 1919 by the priest of St. Ann’s, Deepcar, a church which will be 150 years old in 2009.
Just right of the railway catenary in the centre is the current Police Station building on the corner of Talbot Road. Huddersfield road is at the top, with Netherfield old folks home on its bend (also see RHS picture). That was the workhouse in the old days and is now Penistone Grammar School's sixth form annexe. The actual school is higher up the road, obscured by trees in this shot. The graveyard of Netherfield church is just visible left of the trees. Gravestones used to gleam in those days. They don't gleam now.
Slightly right of centre is a 'toast rack' bus, which looks like a Baddeley's Bro's. of Holmfirth (enlargement above). See if you can find it in the big picture. Baddeley's was a bus company with personality, memorable for their busses tearing down Cubley hill at breakneck speed without slowing down for the vinegar brewery dog-leg. The road was straightened after the brewery was demolished. In those days, Penistone to Holmfirth passengers would patiently wait as the driver had a couple of pints in the Flouch Inn. I once saw a Baddeley's bus fully decorated with Christmas trimmings.
Overheard remark from 'South Yorkshire Bus Co.' bus conductor about their rivals:
"Little pigeons in the street,
Yorkshire Traction potted meat."
