WEEK 42

Herbert Mollekin (centre)

Herbert Mollekin, my great grand uncle, and his wife, Bertha, had a very large family. They had sixteen children, although two died in infancy. Such a large family necessitated a large house. Around 1921, the family moved into The Grange at Maltby, just off Rotherham Road. The family remained there for about ten years.

Below is a newspaper article pertaining to the planned demolition of The Grange, which was used by Maltby Council after the Mollekin family had left it. It even had a morgue,

THE ADVERTISER, FRI., JULY 17th, 1970

Aged people’s bungalows to be built on site of former council offices

The Grange

Maltby Urban District Council’s former offices at The Grange, Rotherham Road, are to be demolished and aged people’s bungalows will be built on the site.

The Grange, now empty and suffering from the attention of vandals, was bought by the council in 1931 from the Maltby building and contracting firm of C. Mollekin Ltd. It was used as Council offices until March, 1967, when the Civic Centre was opened.

Demolition work is expected to begin in the next few weeks and the building of bungalows will take about eight months to complete.

Carr Lane (site of The Grange)

In all, 12 units and a communal centre will be provided. But other aged people in the Rotherham Road/Rolleston Avenue areas will be allowed to use facilities as well. A similar system applies on the Cliff Hill Estate.

Mr. B. W. Ellis, clerk to the council, said the scheme would enhance the appearance of the particular part of Maltby. The nearby Maltby dyke would also become a much more pleasant stretch of water with the completion of the Abbey Lathe sewage scheme.

The council will go ahead with the scheme despite the financial restriction imposed by the West Riding County Council with regard to old people’s warden’s schemes.

At present, there are three warden’s schemes in operation in Maltby, and another four are envisaged.