Many of you will be aware of my Arksey history project, through the site Arksey Village, A History. During the course of researching and collecting images, I have also amassed quite a lot of information and photographs on the history of Arksey's nearest neighbour, Bentley.
It was always my intention to include some Bentley history on the Arksey site, but as that site is quickly filling up with articles, images and collections, I feared Bentley would become a little lost to the casual visitor. Therefore, I felt Bentley deserved it's own space, and I set this site up as a sister project to Arksey Village, A History.
Where is Bentley?
Bentley is approximately 2 miles north of Doncaster in South Yorkshire. Originally a rural village, it is more of a sprawling township now, made up of two parts, Bentley West End, closest to Doncaster, and Bentley New Village, closest to Arksey. Bentley's size can be attributed to the large coal mine which dominated the village throughout the twentieth century.
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| Map of North Doncaster |
What this blog is not
This blog has been produced as a hobby project, I am not a trained historian. So please be
aware that while I have endeavoured to check that the information I have
written is correct, it was not always possible to do this, so please feel free to let me know of any mistakes.
The old photos on this site have either
been found on other websites, or posted on my facebook pages.
Contact Me
I am
always looking for new stories, memories or photos of Bentley. So if you
have anything of interest to share, or have an enquiry, please use the contact form on the right sidebar, or email arkvillhistory@yahoo.co.uk
If you are wanting information about locating a grave in Arksey's cemeteries, please refer to the page 'Arksey Cemetery A - M'.
If you are wanting information about locating a grave in Arksey's cemeteries, please refer to the page 'Arksey Cemetery A - M'.
Join My Facebook Group
The Arksey and Bentley Bygone Years group was set up to allow anyone to share photos, stories, memories and ask questions. Simply use the link and click 'join group' to be added.
Hi. Was wondering if you could tell me more about the Dr Joseph Walker Memorial at Winnipeg Rd, Bentley. Many thanks. Nigel (I was once a resident of Toll Bar).
ReplyDeleteHi Nigel, thanks for your enquiry. I'm afraid I haven't had a chance to look into the memorial properly yet. I'm busy with other things at the moment, but if you keep checking, I'll post something as soon as I can. You could also post your query on my facebook group (if you do facebook), someone may be able to answer this quicker than I can. Thanks again, Alison.
ReplyDeleteGeorge Ashmore was my granddad and would be greatful if you could provide the contact details of the person who provided the photograph. Regards, Mel. Ashmore
ReplyDeleteHello Alison, I wish to congratulate you on your website.
ReplyDeleteI worked at Bentley Colliery for only a few weeks in the summer & Xmas of 1991 when I was a Mining Scholar - I was receiving practical and management training from the Coal Board (then known as British Coal) whilst I undertook degree studies at the University of London.
Because I was only at the Colliery for a few weeks & I was actually carrying out a "Time & Motion" study of the colliery's pneumatic air system which also tied into my engineering Degree I unfortunately did not get proper time to get to know any of the miners well, and in fact I only remember my mentor Pit Mechanical Engineer Peter Newman and Colliery Training Office Bern Juredgko (may have mispelt there) - both of whom were kind gentlemen to me.
The only other people I remember at the pit where the very friendly and bubbly canteen ladies - they had the best Cornish pasties that I have ever tasted there!, which was always a treat with chips & gravy ����.
I used to have a wee (freezing cold during the winter) office in the same block as Bern's where I used to work hard (honest��!!) compiling my T&M observations.
My abiding memory of the engineering side of things at the pit though was when I traced an air-line to shaft side of where the coal ascended to the surface - I remember the thrill of finding a "nook" in the broken ground (former miners would understand what I mean here & for the uninitiated, the nature of the underground with forcing passages through masses of rock which are still subject to their subterranean forces means that broken pockets of ground appear regularly either through the creation of the passageways or after as the earth "does it's thing" - which was within an unguarded or lightly guarded foot in length away from the edge of the shaft; and then the "tub" (again, after 30 years I've forgotten the technical name☹️ - which used to hold upwards of 50 ton of coal I think) would suddenly appear from the darkness of the shaft and whoosh past - as an engineer or any bloke/ person I would challenge anyone not to be impressed by that sight & the "feel" (the air "shook") of the massive "tub" whooshing past - I can hardly think of a comparable occurrence apart from the railways where someone could get as close to such a heavy moving object passing them at such speed and being so close to it essentially unguarded/ unrestrained (different "Elf and Safety" in those days - or perhaps as a 22yearold I possibly (who me?!?!) crossed a barrier or two to get so close to a potentially lethal location) & the way it suddenly "burst" out of the darkness and ascended past me within a second or 2!! THAT was SOMETHING ELSE!!
Again Alison, GREAT JOB!!
Any former miners who worked at Bentley or elsewhere (I also worked at High Moor, where I did my Coalface Training and Markham Main) who want to get in touch my email address is nick.quartey@gmail.com
Cheers, Nick Quartey, Northampton