A HISTORY OF FEATHERSTONE
1977
THE COUNCILS
JANUARY The Wakefield MDC's list of sites receiving treatment in their degradation of land programme which were substantially complete, were Ackworth Road land adjoining the Junction Hotel, Leatham Park Road, Pretoria Street, Wakefield Road adjoining George Street School, and West End Avenue and Sewerbridge Lane, Ackton.
FEBRUARY The Featherstone Allotments Federation said they had had problems since the Wakefield Council was running them. They wanted to run the allotments themselves, and a meeting was arranged with the town council to discuss the matter
MARCH There were complaints at the town council meeting about lorries leaving Ackton Hall Colliery that were causing a mess by leaving mud on the roads. Cr Terry Barraclough said there are washing facilities in the pit yard, but they are not using it. A spokesman for the NCB said there are facilities for washing and they are being used. The heavy rain is making the situation more difficult.
Traffic lights at North Featherstone were approved in principle by the county council.
APRIL A list of public swimming baths needing attention from Wakefield Council included the Lister Baths which required essential repairs plus work to ensure the building's long term future.
MAY The voting for the Featherstone seat on the county council was:
K Wilson (Labour) 1.962
T D Hirst (Conservative) 1,164
K H Lambert (Ratepayers) 1,127
JULY After a traffic survey failed to show the need for lights at North Featherstone Crossroads it was decided to repaint the "slow" and hazard warning signs on the roads.
OCTOBER At the Featherstone Town Council meeting Cr Norman Longbottom set out again the reasons he was concerned about North Featherstone Crossroads. This was after a letter had been received from West Yorkshire County Council saying the question of traffic lights at the crossroads had already been decided against, and there would be no point in submitting it again. Cr Longbottom said that with more traffic and children using them than ever before they would not be safe until there were traffic lights. The council agreed and decided to send a strong letter of concern to the county council.
NOVEMBER The Town Council would not give up on the crossroads problem even though the county council said the matter was closed. Cr Longbottom said it must be the only crossroads in the country where you have to come 12 feet into the middle of the road to see if the way is clear.
THE AMDRAMS
The Featherstone and District Amateur Musical and Dramatic Society put on Naughty Marietta at St Wilfrid's School in February for a week's run. The Express critic said after early hesitancy the cast of 50 demonstrated its adequacy for Victor Herbert's delightful music in the colourful setting of eighteenth-century New Orleans, attractively suggested in excellent costumery. The photos are from the Express.
146 They also put on Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Civic Centre in Castleford in June. Mrs Jeni Townsend told the Express "It was decided to try a new venture and stage a summer show because our main production, Naughty Marietta, was so early in the year and because we created so much enthusiasm among the younger members. Joseph is entirely different from anything we have attempted before.
The Express said it was lively and appealing and done with a vigour that could only be achieved by youth, nearly all the members of the cast being young.
After the success of Joseph it was decided to put on another two performances on a Saturday in July. In August in was announced the next production would be My Fair Lady at Castleford Civic Centre next February.
ALL SAINTS' BELLS
Mr Dennis Greenwood of Huddersfield was a historian interested in bells. In January he arranged to look at North Featherstone's All Saints' Church ancient bells and he considered they were deteriorating. Other experts were called in to check, and they agreed. The treble bell had been worn thin and was in danger of cracking.
It would cost £5,000 to remove the bells from the tower, transport them to London for repair and then rehang them. The vicar for 18 years, Revd R A Nelson, started an appeal to raise the money. He said he was confident the town's people would not let the bells fall into a state in which there were beyond repair. Whenever they had asked for help in the past they had got it. The contractors were the Whitechapel Bell Foundry Ltd of London, who were also responsible for York Minster bells.
The bells were removed in June and the fund had reached £3,200. They were expected to be returned in September. They arrived a month late in October by which time the fund had reached £4,500.
Revd Nelson said the bells would be rehung and would chime on November 1, All Saints' Day. The ringers would be a group of young men formed from the members of All Saints' Church trained by Mr W Moreton, the head bell-ringer of Wakefield Cathedral. The photo of the returned bells is from the Express.
CLEARANCE ORDERS DISPUTES
Wakefield Council had issued clearance orders for houses they considered were unfit and the improvement of which would not be justified. They were 38 houses at the top end of Station Lane, and 69 comprising Granville Street, Andrew Street, Girnhill Lane, Pontefract Road and Hartley Terrace.
Some residents resented their homes being dubbed unfit for human habitation, which meant they would only get the value of the land and nothing for the house. So a public inquiry was held in Wakefield in February by an inspector from the Department of the Environment, Mr C F Hyams.
For the council, Mr D I Johnson said all the houses were in a state of disrepair, showed evidence of dampness, and the majority were without hot water and indoor sanitary conveniences. Replying to the inspector he said part of the Station Lane site was proposed for residential development. There were no plans for the remaining land but the council would landscape it and not allow it to become an eyesore.
Objections were heard from 11 householders who all felt their property could be remedied at reasonable expense. Mr Hyams said he would visit the properties himself and submit his findings to the Secretary of State for the Environment.
Also in February, a decision was made by the Minister of the Environment about 17 homes on the south side of Wakefield Road. The inspector at an inquiry last October said 15 houses were unfit, but Nos 18 and 32 were fit for habitation and should be transferred from part 1 to Part 3 of the schedule. The Minister agreed with this and confirmed the compulsory purchase order.
There was a similar outcome for the demolition of Station Lane north of the railway lines. Mr and Mrs B Matthewman of No.146 successfully claimed their house was not unfit for habitation, Ken Varley won his claim that No.196 was a betting shop and not a house; and Mrs O Newsome of No.202 also won her claim that the corner shop was fit for habitation.
THE QUEEN'S SILVER JUBILEE
Street parties were held all over the district in June to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee. The actual anniversary date was February 6 but it was considered better to hold the parties in the summer. There was also one at the Methodist Church where the Sunday School Queen, Eileen Roberts, presented a Jubilee crown to 65 children.
This party was at Church Lane, North Featherstone. Photo - the Express.
This Express photo above was taken at the one for Ravensmead and Houndhill Lane, and the one below is Kinsley Avenue.
A special service was held at Purston Church which included the members of other congregations in the town, Methodists, Roman Catholics and Salvation Army.
A QUESTIONAIRE
Wakefield Council sent out 5,000 questionnaires to Featherstone households in July and only received 124 answers. The main problems listed were:
Greater provision for playing fields and children's play areas
More housing because of the long waiting list
Attracting employers rather than improving transport to take workers out of the town
Providing a diversion to take traffic out of Station Lane
A pedestrian crossing in Wakefield Road
Making the railway subway more attractive
Allow an open market
Planned maintenance of the becks.
THE GALA
There was a large crowd in hot weather for the Gala. Amanda Fletcher was the Queen. Tetley's Brewery sent along their famous shire horses. The recently revived St John Ambulance Brigade attended and treated ten minor causalities.
The Express photo shows Paul Carter, Michael Grice and Trevor Cowper at the Army display.
THE ROVERS
The Rovers' committee voted unanimously in July to sell the social club which was losing £200 a week.
The Rovers won the League Championship for the first time in their history, but at the annual meeting in August a loss on the season of £6,303 was announced by the financial secretary Jim Reed. He said it would be the worst start to a new season the club had ever had.
The secretary, Mr Hobbs, said although there is more glamour and more money attached to the various cup competitions, there can be only one reward for all-round consistency - that of being dubbed League Champions.
GOUGH 'S SHOP
Reginald and Amy Gough had a corner shop in Wakefield Road which was at the junction with Chapel Street. When that was demolished in a clearance scheme, they moved to another corner shop at the junction of Andrew Street and Wakefield Road.
They decided to close down in December because of repeated break-ins. Mr Gough said they had lost £300 this year in goods and damage. He told the Express "I think sometimes things have got to come to an end. I have always enjoyed my job - I've been working since I left school at 14. I think it's time I had a rest". The shop is shown on this detail from a Dr J Gatecliff photo taken from land cleared in George Street for the new school.
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METHODIST CONCERT
There was a capacity audience in the Methodist Church for two evenings in December for a concert. The main artiste was Rita Morris of radio and television fame. She had five changes of costume during her performance and was accompanied by pianist David McCarthy. She also played two piano duets with him. He also played classical pieces on the organ. The Featherstone and District Male Voice Choir was in attendance. The photo is a still shot from Those were the Days, a BBC production at City Varieties Music Hall, Leeds.
1977 NEWS ITEMS
JANUARY There was a heavy snowfall which caused problems for the buses. Some were unable to complete their rounds or even return to the depot. The Methodist ladies' annual dinner was short of a lot of members who couldn't get, and those who arrived left early to ensure they could get home.
FEBRUARY Thieves broke into a house in Houndhill Lane and stole watches and other valuables estimated to be worth £340.
AUGUST Brian Daw of Albert Street, aka Bonni Golde, played an electric organ which was submerged in a steel tank in the car park of the Fryston Hotel, Castleford, in front of a large crowd and the Yorkshire Television cameras. He was up to his waist in the water dressed in a tee-shirt and shorts. He gave up after an hour because the water was too cold. The effort was to raise money for Anthony Nolan of Ashford, Kent, who suffered from a rare bone marrow disease. The Express photo shows him with well-wishers before his attempt. Pictured are Caroline Parker, Sue Birkett, Eileen Sampson, Pauline Parkinson, Moira Booth, and his wife Joyce.
OCTOBER Vandals broke into Regent Street School. Drawers and cupboards were overturned, and cards and toys scattered all over the floor. In the nursery, windows were broken, and, in the kitchen, eggs were smashed, and cocoa thrown all over the place. The only things of value stolen were a pound note, a penknife and some cheese, but the damage was estimated at £100.
NOVEMBER Purston Park lake was smelly according to some residents. Also, the boats had been discontinued. Mr L L Davies, for Wakefield District Council, said it would be drained and refilled during the winter. There were suggestions it should be filled in and turned into a skateboard area. Featherstone Town Council originally supported the skateboard idea, but after a public outcry decided to keep the lake.
The town council considered the park was not being looked after properly by the district council. The bowling green was not played on after being vandalised, the pavilion was covered in graffiti and rubbish was thrown into the lake.
There was the usual Remembrance Parade from the Welfare to Purston Church where there was a combined service by Featherstone, Purston and Methodist Churches, the Roman Catholic Church and the Salvation Army. There was also a service at the memorial. The poppy collection raised £409.
DECEMBER Mr Rudi Richter of Normanton View made cakes as a hobby. He made one of the Bradley Arms, and it was raffled off there in aid of the Old People's Fund. It raised £25 and was won by Mr Stanley Fenton who decided to give it to the Carleton Children's Home. Photo - the Express.
