There was a day when I had a meeting in Leeds followed by a meeting in Wakefield and some spare time in-between. An ideal time to have a quick look round South Elmsall to see if there were any clues as to where the stories I was looking for might come from.
Following the road signs into the town, I entered the car park next to the market. I was delighted to see I could park for two hours - lockdown meant I had no loose change, so this was a good start.
I had no idea who I would speak to or how the time I was going to spend was going to unfold. Markets are usually a good meeting point and are one of my favourite locations for street photography - but this day was not market day. Then I saw a cluster of four people at the edge of the car park. One had a camera and was taking a photograph of the high street. Men with cameras talk to other men with cameras, so I grabbed mine and went across. I caught his eye.
Imagine I'm from outer space, I said. Who could tell me the stories of this place? The man gestured to another fellow to his left. Steve can tell you all you need to know, he said.
Steve and I started to talk about what I was after and he said I should cross the road and walk up the hill opposite for a few minutes. I would find a community centre and I shoud ask for Councillor Bob Hayhurst. Five minutes later, I was chatting to Bob who I have since found out was a former miner, born in 1933.
Councillor Bob Hayhurst. Image © Jonathan Straight 2021
As we chatted, I felt that I had struck gold. Bob told me that he had founded a historical society in the 1980s and that they had published four books about the area. All of these books were out of print but there were copies in the library. He felt that the library would also be a good place to speak to local people and offered to help me going forward if I needed him to.
South Elmsall Library. Image: © Jonathan Straight 2021
I was interested to flick through South Elmsall in the Making published 30 years ago or South Elmsall a Family Village . Bob also mentioned South Elmsall Pictorial Memories and another book, the title of which he was not sure about. But not only was it not market day, it was not library day either. The building was closed with the shutters down. No matter, I knew that had been a lot of work had been done already which would help me in my search for some great stories.
So, now time to plan another visit when both the library and the market are open. Looking forward to it!
UPDATE DECEMBER 2021
I later found copies of all four of the books that Bob had published through the Westfield Local History Group. The final one was called South Elmsall Volume IV - Leisure, Pleasure and Pastimes. All ofthe books were very useful in scoping potential people of interest for this project. Bob was also a great help generally. I spoke to him several times as he attempted to find photographs of long-demolished buildings that I was interested in.
Bob worked in the mines, specifically in the wages office at Frickley. Everyone had a "check number" and Bob could still recall the numbers associated with any of the names of former colleagues he mentioned to me.