Memories
From Wood Lane to Well Lane
I do remember Wood lane very well, even after 53 yrs being in Australia, my
first recollection of my life started when we lived on Mill lane, I was three yrs old
and lived next door to the Howley family, two doors up was Arthur Moore, and
across the road was my aunty Rene Haynes, who's son lives at Fence.
We moved up to the new estate on Well lane about the time I started the infant school. In regard to the Naylor family, I did go through school with Joan Naylor too Annie Pashleys class, that would have been the end of 1953, before that it was Dot Tunnacliffes class.
My late grandparents, Thomas and Fanny Haynes lived all their married life's at 90 Wood lane, Tom was the brother of Albert Haynes who lived on Mill lane, both of them were born at Canary Island near Woodhouse Mill.
My late mother Lily was born at number 90 in 1916, her siblings in order of birth, Thomas, Nellie, Violet and Harold, Lily, Arthur. About another 4 children that Fanny carried died at birth.
I spent quiet a lot of time at Colleys Yard with my aunty Violet and uncle Alan, along with their son's Gerald and Graham, they moved into the house in the yard that the Bloom family had. The Bloom family were born and lived on Wood Lane, It was Roy and June that lived in Colleys yard after they were married. Other families in the yard were, Chapmans, Naylors, Spencer's, Smithhurst and Adsett's.
Before the war, my mother worked for Mr Batty, and would jump the wall into the yard to have her
dinner with Violet, I remember the Chapmans and the Smithhurst's in Colleys Yard.
In 1950 my grandmother Fanny died, not long after, Violet and family moved into number 90 with
my grandfather Thomas, I spent a lot of time going between Wood lane and Well lane until we left
for Australia in 1954.
I used to pal about with a lot of the village lad's, Lenny Parker, Brian Chapman, Brian Middleton., Eric Street, the Brumfield brothers - Peter and Philip and Peter Baxter.
Quiet a lot of people recalled their memories to me when I came back in 1994. In 1951 I set fire to a haystack behind the old barn over the road from the school, I was 6 yrs old then and I'm still reminded of it to this day.
I can still remember the families of Arrowsmith's, and Gudes on Woodlane, and every one would remember Doctor Evans, who fixed my fingers after some bricks fell on my hand.
Apart from being related to the Walker and Haynes families in the village, I did know quiet a few other families through my late mother. My late father at one stage in the early 50's ran a taxi from Well lane where we lived, and took fares into Sheffield etc. He was also involved in the British Road Service later on, and ran two or three tipper type lorries before that, I do recall a chap by the name of Bill Hurdly, or similar sir name working for my father, and they also carried for the British Coal Board back then. My father also did work for the Foers family with his lorries, and I can still remember him fitting a snow plough to the front of one of them to clear the roads around the village. In those day's, a very young Frank Aveling helped my father with some of his working contracts.
In my earlier days on Mill lane, I remember the now late Josie Howley, Josie
married into the Moody family, and it was in 94 that I met John and Josie at
the Moody farm, walking along Flatts lane after 40 odd years seemed like it
was only a few days, the only differance being, Bole Hill was no more.
Treeton to me is part of my heritage, and I'm very proud of it, there's many memories I could go on about, Bole Hill, Moodys farm on Flatts lane, the Hillyfields and the Dyke, Treeton Wood, the iron bridge down Mill lane, and the once life source of the village, Treeton Pit.
I've learnt of the history before it became a pit village, my family were hard working miner's, my uncle Alan lost a leg in an accident down pit, no matter how much the village of Treeton changes, it's memories will live on and be told, by those who are proud to have called it home.
I hope that this can give some idea of my life back then and my family back ground, by the way , I'm still a Yorkshire man, Australia's a good country to grow up in, but one has to be born here to say he's an Aussie.
Jimmy Mitchell, June 2007