WEEK 42

Ward & Sons, Swinton

This business, located on Market Street, was established by Charles Jackson of Bridge Street and A. & C. Derwent, initially in Crossland Street in 1870 which became the ‘Bala Water Company’ in 1874. William Ward established ‘Mineral Water Works’ circa 1900 and ‘Ward & Sons’ began bottling ale for Bass and Worthington breweries.

Ward & Sons possibly ceased trading in 1982, when operations were moved to Bass Charrington’s brewery in Sheffield. Much of the factory was demolished, some of it quite recently, but an old dilapidated looking section of it remains that is accessed from White Lee Road. This surviving, storage part of the factory where bottles etc. were kept, was taken over by A.C.R. Packaging who named it Ensign House. A.C.R. Packaging packed greetings cards etc. and possibly stored sweets too. It most recently appeared to be trading in furniture and a gym occupies/occupied the rear of it.

111 Queen Street, Swinton

This property is now a private residence, but it had previously belonged to Mr. Knowles who was a Scottish newsagent. I’m not sure exactly when Mr. Knowles took ownership, but it was probably in the late 1960s or early 1970s.

My earliest memories of this shop are from when I started attending Queen Street Primary School across the road in 1980; my mum would walk me to school and buy me crisps from the shop for my break time.

In later years, I worked for Mr. Knowles between 1990 and 1993, delivering the Rotherham Star newspaper daily at tea time, six days a week, with an additional delivery on Saturdays for the ‘Green ‘Un’. For this, I received £5 per week. After a few months, I switched to a morning round that paid £8 per week, which was £1 more than the other morning rounds due to it being longer. After a while, I switched to a shorter round that paid £7.

Mr. Knowles taught us to how fold a newspaper properly and always insisted that we posted the papers all the way through the letterboxes – very basic skills, but ones which most current newspaper deliverers don’t appear to have. Saturdays and Sundays were the hardest days with the various newspaper supplements and we’d either have to carry two bags or go back for the second one. Monday to Friday was a 07:00 start, Saturdays was a 07:30 start and on a Sunday we’d have a lie in as we didn’t have to start until 08:00. I think the only day we had off was Christmas Day, writing of which, Christmas was always a good time for tips; I’d usually make around £25.

Mr. Knowles didn’t say much (what he did say was hard to understand) and perhaps even came across as grumpy, but he was cheerful in his own way and was pleasant to work for. He’d always have a pipe in his hand and the shop had a permanent odour of pipe tobacco smoke. I never remember Mr. Knowles being ill, but around March 1993, when we arrived at the shop one morning, it was closed and we couldn’t get in. It transpired that Mr. Knowles was ill with bronchitis and had to be taken away to a hospital. I never saw him again. I was told, some years later, that he’d gone into sheltered accommodation in Rotherham and died just a few years later. He’d always seemed like an old man to me and he must have been in his 80s by the time he’d left the shop.

After Mr. Knowles, a lady bought the business and ran it for maybe three or four years. I believe it then changed owners again; I remember in late 1997, it was opening later and I think it was even selling alcohol. The last time I remember patronising this shop was in late 1999 and it ceased trading shortly after.

Prior to Mr. Knowles, the shop was owned by a Mr. Redditt who was also a newsagent and general dealer.

24 Bridge Street, Swinton

24 Bridge Street is currently the location of ‘Meraki Hair’. In earlier years it had been occupied by Harold Lowe and at the back was a slaughterhouse. Before or after Harold Lowe, it was a Chemist’s shop. Later, it became a motorbike shop belonging to Peter Cresswell. Pete was fond of dogs and even owned a black Labrador that would suck a dummy outside of the shop on the pavement. When Pete died in 1989, many people attended his funeral on motorbikes. Pete’s wife, Margaret, kept the shop open for a few more years. Until last year, the building was occupied by ‘Barrons Hair Salon’.

Queen Street Junction, Swinton

2 Church Street is currently occupied by ‘Deb’s Barber Shop’. Previously, a very well known Swinton barber had traded from there who was known as ‘Mad Ron’. Ron was quite a character who anybody having had their hair cut by him knows. Before Ron, there was another eccentric, Scottish, barber trading from the same premises, called Joe Alexander, who lived on Queen Street and would sometimes make cat-like noises whilst cutting hair. Mr. Alexander’s shop was once robbed but the Police caught the culprits on the top deck of a bus on Racecourse Road.