Blog 130207 The "LIFE OF BRIAN" Part3

BLOG 130207 - The “LIFE of BRIAN “ - Part 3 of 10

(Still “OUTSIDE THE BOX“?)

My Grandparents on both my mother and father’s side, several uncles, aunts and cousins also lived and worked in the “Queen of Villages” - not that we saw much of any of them, other than my Grandfather Alvey, who used walk the couple of miles to visit us every Sunday morning about 11.00 o’clock .

We lived in a row of 10 terraced Midland Railway Cottages- Number 5 to be precise, quite a way from the main centre of the “Queen of Villages” - (6 Bus Stops ) - my mother always insisted we used the description “Midland Railway Cottages” as our address, this gave our home a little cudos and differentiate us from the group of terraced houses , named Midland Terrace ( One Bus Stop away). These two separate developments of Railway houses were well removed from all other civilisation - there were no other houses within 4 Bus Stops of us and the “Queen of Villages” centre or the next village - Bolton upon Dearne, . You should note here that both WATH and BOLTON were in fact “- upon- Dearne“ which is the local river !!!! The river is named “Dearne” ( pronounced simply as “dern“) - which brings me to the annual highlight of my early childhood.

The River Dearne flowed within 1 Bus Stop (Oh! go on then - 400M - in New World speak) of our home and each year in the rainy season, our ten terraced Midland Railway Cottages, plus the detached Station Master’s House actually became an island - Yes!, the water flooded all the fields to the front, rear and came over the only road, which ran alongside the Cottages, to all sides, cutting off access in all directions around the small rise in round where the Railway Cottages were situation. We were only reached by simple rafts constructed by the parents they were made up from old discarded Railway Sleepers, or by being carried “ piggy back” by adults wearing long waders ( you know the ones normally seen worn by deep sea fishermen). I swear this flooding happened every year ( well thro my child eyes, it seemed like every year). I guess the nearby LMS Railway embankment must have been created by scraping and collecting all the local earth/and fill, to build-up the high embankment on which the railway track was sited (some 25 foot high and at least 4 rail track widths wide). This obviously left our adjoining fields below the level of the only road to and from the “Queen of Villages” and to the next village Bolton-upon-Dearne, which was not even a “Princess of Villages” this was probably why Midland Railway Cottages and detached Station Masters House were susceptible to regular and repeated flooding. I should add that, fortunately, we had permanent mini flooding in the fields to front and rear of our home. Why fortunately? Well, most of the time this was not a problem, the flooded areas had reeds, willows and bull rushes, and were quite pleasant to look at and play in. However, most importantly, they provided a source for eggs - courtesy of the water fowl (during the war years Mum could only buy dried egg powder), and the water invariably froze over most winters, providing instant ice rinks, People came from miles around to slide, sledge and play in the fields. Kids and families had to come from miles around, remember, - we were 4 Bus Stops away from other houses and kids - we did not include “Midland Terrace” as other housing

Look out for Part 4 of 10 in the "LIFE OF BRIAN"
from the - "ALVEYS of BURTON JOYCE" research

If you have an issue you would like to get “off your chest” or discussed as a “One to One“,

e mail; wetwo@brianalvey.co.uk