As Goldthorpe merges into Bolton upon Dearne to the south, so too does it merge into Thurnscoe – our next stop – to the north. Like its two neighbours, Thurnscoe was originally a farming village, and dates back to Roman times. It is referred to in the Domesday Book (as Terunsc) and its name derives from the Old Norse for Thorn Tree Wood. Also like its neighbours, it was changed irrevocably by the coal mining industry when historic small scale mining in the area was superseded in 1894 with Hickleton Main Colliery discovered the Barnsley seam. New housing was built for the miners, especially on the east side of the village, and although – as across all of South Yorkshire – the coal mining industry has gone, it has left its mark on the village, as we shall see. Thurnscoe also shares with Goldthorpe a somewhat dubious reputation locally: of late, bus services have stopped serving the village in the evening due to attacks by gangs of feral, knife-wielding youths rumoured to prowl the area throwing stones at vehicles. In broad daylight however, Thurnscoe feels no more or less dangerous than anywhere else and has a handful of interesting sights to see.
Thurnscoe Railway Station opened in 1988 in response to increase demand passenger demand for services between Leeds and Sheffield, and therefore unsurprisingly is a fairly bland affair with two platforms and little else. But it serves its purpose and we leave it onto Station Road, before turning right and then right again along Holly Bush Drive. We stay on this as it becomes a track and then a footpath running between the railway track and a new housing estate, then on reaching a footbridge over the railway track on the right we cross to the other side and enter Thurnscoe East. As noted above, this area expanded due to demand for housing for miners and their families, and so this first section of walk takes us through early twentieth-century housing as we bear slightly right and follow a footpath to Deightonby Street, then turn right. Next, turn left into Roman Street and at the end of this turn left along Briton Street. When Hanover Street appears on the right, take a short detour to view the Church of St. Hilda’s, which was built in 1935 to serve the new estates, and was deconsecrated in 2017. Currently disused, it remains a solidly built and handsome building. Hilda incidentally, is a Saint from Yorkshire: born circa 614, she was the founding abbess of the monastery of Whitby in North Yorkshire, which we will be visiting on a future walk.
Returning to Briton Street, we continue along it until it ends at Chapel Lane. Here, turn right and follow the lane until it becomes a footpath, then bear right again to cross a grassy open space to reach Thurnscoe Reservoir Pond. This former reservoir is now used for fishing, and is a pleasant oasis on the edge of Thurnscoe East. Follow a path clockwise around the edge of the pond, and on reaching the bottom left-hand corner turn left and follow footpaths to Lidget Lane. Turn left and follow this, looking out for the Hickleton Main Colliery memorial on the opposite of the road; like the colliery memorials we have seen previously on the Meadowhall and Kiveton park walks, this includes a pit wheel, albeit a much smaller one than those two. Continue along Lidget Lane, and when the junction with Chapel Lane appears on the left, turn right and enter Phoenix Park.
Phoenix Park.
Phoenix Park, like Bentley Community Woodland, is a country park created on the site of a colliery, in this case the aforementioned Hickleton Main. The colliery closed in 1988, the shafts were filled in between 1991 and 1994, and the park opened in 2001, owned and operated – like its relatives in Bentley and Kiveton Park – by the Land Trust. In keeping with Bentley Community Woodland, it has an inchoate feel, with artificially tidy copses of trees that have yet to attain the feeling of established woodland. Nevertheless, it is a pleasant place for a stroll, with expansive views across the surrounding area (the ferro-concrete Church of St John and Mary Magdelene at Goldthorpe in particular stands out from here) and numerous sculptures designed by people from the community. We walk past a couple of these, as we straight ahead along a footpath to a junction of paths, then turn left and then right, and follow a path downhill towards a bridge, passing a one such sculpture on the top of the park’s main hill. At the next two junctions, continue straight ahead, with the path gradually curving right to reach a crossroads of paths with another – much larger – sculpture next to it. Continue straight ahead, then turn left across another bridge and follow a path clockwise around a pond, which is one of the park’s bets features, and has been well colonised by wildlife. At a fork in the path bear left, and continue straight ahead to exit Phoenix Park on Barrowfield Road, passing two more sculptures by the exit.
Cross the road and continue straight ahead along a path, shortly passing underneath a railway bridge and in so doing entering Thurnscoe’s older western half. On the other side of the bridge, turn left and follow an alleyway to Lindley Crescent, then turn left and then right along Crossgate and follow this to Thurnscore Bridge Lane. Cross over and pass through a kissing gate, bearing right between bungalows to reach Chestnut Grove. Look left here for a view of Thurnscoe Hall, one of the village’s handful of Grade II-listed buildings, which was built between 1670 to 1701 as a private residence and is now a nursing home. At the end of the Chestnut Grove, turn left and follow High Street, then turn left again along Derry Grove. Turn right through a gate into a play area and walk straight ahead to a fence, then turn left again and follow a public footpath that soon leaves the houses on either side and runs downhill across a field. At the bottom of the hill, turn right and follow a tarmac path that follows the line of a disused railway line, another branch the Dearne Valley Railway that we previously crossed on the Goldthorpe walk.
At a crossroads of paths, turn right and walk to Pagnall Avenue. Continue straight ahead along Southfield Lane, then turn right through a gate to enter Thurnscoe Cemetery, then turn left and follow a path along the edge of the cemetery to a dilapidated red-brick cemetery chapel. As noted on the Bolton upon Dearne walk, we shall encounter many cemetery chapels as explore Yorkshire, but this is one of the unhappiest. From here, turn left through another gate to exit the cemetery and regain Southfield Road, then follow this to High Street, then turn right, and at a junction turn right again (still on High Street), passing the Church of St. Helen on the left.
The Church of St. Helen.
The Grade II-listed church is Thurnscoe’s oldest and most historic building, although sources differ as to its exact age. The Historic England listing says that it has a tower dating from 1729, with the rest of the current building dating from the nineteenth century, but other sources claim that the church was originally built by the Angles in 812 and rebuilt by the Normans in 1087, with parts of the tower’s interior dating from 1329. Regardless of its exact age, it has several interesting features, including a solid oak font which is one of only two in the world, with the other located in a church in London.
Continue along High Street, shortly passing the Butcher’s Arms (the only pub on our walk) on the left, and when the road bends right, turn left to enter Thurnscoe Park. Cross the park, bearing right, passing the War Memorial (built in 1920 and topped with a statue of a soldier) and then leaving via another gate next to a play area. Continue straight ahead along Welfare Road, and at the end turn right along Houghton Road. Follow this to a roundabout, then continue straight ahead along Station Road, finally turning left to return to the railway station.
There are stations further north along the branch of the Wakefield Line that includes Bolton upon Dearne, Goldthorpe and Thurnscoe, but we will leave them until we heard further into the West Riding. Before that, we will continue our exploration of South Yorkshire by retracing our journey all the way back to Meadowhall and then north again along the Hallam Line, another railway route linking Sheffield and Leeds, this time via Barnsley. On route to that town, we shall stop at three more stations, beginning with one serving another suburb of Sheffield…
Σχόλια