Round Yorkshire With A Knife: Rummaging In Rotherham

bwperdue said:
However, there are many smaller cities and towns around that, having lost their one or two small mills, have never recovered, and are run down, crime-ridden, and poor.
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Sounds like where I live here in North Carolina, after the departure of the textile mills and the loss of viability in tobacco farming.
 
Thank you for the travel story Jack, I especially enjoy your Yorkshire to English translations!

Some hit close to home too, having lived in the US Rust Belt my entire life, in an area where King Coal has long since died and mine fires burn underneath unabated. Your story reminded me of a town called Carbondale, not far away, that once saw better days...
 
Jack, I loved every word of this tale of your travel to this place seen better days...you made me smile and chuckle a few times with those wonderfully acetic descriptions. I'd love to buy ya' a pint or few and hear you spin a yarn some day...
Thanks :)
 
Thank you once again for all your kind words. I wasn't sure how well this tale would travel, and while I'm glad it did, it's disturbing to hear that what I experienced in Rotherham is more common than I'd thought. The north of England is full of towns that have seen grander days, in South Yorkshire (Sheffield, Barnsley, Rotherham), they are old coal and steel towns, in West Yorkshire (Bradford, Leeds, Huddersfield), they are former mill (textile) towns, which saw their heyday earlier. Some have managed to survive and tread water, even re-structure, but these tend to be the larger towns, while the small towns and villages have not recovered, with the local infrastructure and sense of community destroyed, and two or more generations subject to unemployment. There are pockets of south England, and certainly of the Midlands, which are affected in a similiar way, while further north it's possibly even worse than in Yorkshire. Unfortunately we're not a country that manufacturers much anymore.

bwperdue said:
It sounds like Pittsburgh and the Sheffield area were a lot alike, both fed by coal and steel for many years. The three rivers here - Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio, and even the smaller rivers, like the Beaver - had industry all up and down them for many years, including many mills. Almost all are now gone. Some have become things like water parks, and some just sit and rot.

Mostly, Pittsburgh has recovered, though. After a rough time in the 70's and 80's, the city has rebounded with finance, tech, and healthcare companies. However, there are many smaller cities and towns around that, having lost their one or two small mills, have never recovered, and are run down, crime-ridden, and poor.
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Thanks for this insight Blaine, I'm glad Pittsburgh has largely recovered. The situation sounds very similiar to Sheffield and the satellite towns of South Yorkshire. Many of the small villages were simply built around a coal mine, and once the pit went, the place lost it's entire raison d'etre, and the community lost its financial basis and in many cases, its pride.

Curtis_Lowe said:
Well, there wasn't a lot to see. Though, that was mostly because you couldn't see much. As you might know, we had a little bit of a smog problem. Here's an interesting news story on our historical smog with old pics of the city. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/05/historic-pittsburgh-smoke-control-photos_n_1569252.html#slide=1060138

In all honesty, I've seen a lot worse pictures than those. I've even heard some first hand stories of how bad the smog was.
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Thanks a lot for that. Yes, the industry certainly had its downside too. The buildings and houses of Sheffield were covered in thick black soot and we suffered from smog and later acid-rain. The rivers were so polluted that nothing lived in them, wheras in Rotherham yesterday, there were people fishing in the River Rother right in the centre of town (casting away from the dumped shopping trollies).

zippofan said:
Thank you for the travel story Jack, I especially enjoy your Yorkshire to English translations!.
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Thank you. I did think I needed to add subtitles! :D

sitflyer said:
Jack, I loved every word of this tale of your travel to this place seen better days...you made me smile and chuckle a few times with those wonderfully acetic descriptions. I'd love to buy ya' a pint or few and hear you spin a yarn some day...
Thanks :)
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I look forward to that Duane :) I wish we could all meet up for a pint and share a yarn or two. Thanks again for your generosity and for passing on your own experiences :)

Cheers folk :thumbup:

Jack
 
Jack Black said:
Sorry to hear that Paul. I'd love to hear some more about Pittsburg in its heyday. Was rather depressing visiting Rotherham.
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And the same for Nottingham my home town.
Great tale tho Jack .Cheers.
But to cheer thissen oop a bit you should head down to the Dorset Steam fair -a fair distance I know but to see those mighty beasts (traction engines) rolling round the paddock is to return to the good old days.They were arssum dude.
They also have a huge trash n treasure market.
I saw a really nice lion head brass door knocker for 6 squid. Only had 3 on me so I asked the chappy and he said "naahh sorry mate" .
The wife who was sitting in her deckchair piped up "Do I detect an Ozzy accent? Let 'im 'ave it Burt."
So I scored my new doorknocker for 3squid. Probably Indian as its not marked but i like it-who knows?
The wife then bade me goodbye and proffered this gem of wisdom-"Always ask the woman love,not the man cos they don't know nuffink.Our daughter lives in Brisbane you 'av a good 'oliday."
cheers
 
Nice story Meako, sounds like you had a good holiday :)

Just heard a report on the radio about Nottingham, and apparently its thriving. I visit regularly, have a lot of friends there (even had a couple of girlfriends there in the past) and it's a good place with some great pubs. I carry a souvenir from Nottingham with me always - in the form of the steel rod in my leg, left there after I broke my leg in Nottingham 11 years ago! :D (I can laugh about it now!)

Jack
 
Great tale Jack. As sad as it is to hear of the ROT in Rotherham, it was a great read, made me chuckle once or twice too.

I did wonder about your choice in guides though! Was surprised to see it didn't cost you a pint or two....or even a bag of chips ;)
 
scruffuk said:
Great tale Jack. As sad as it is to hear of the ROT in Rotherham, it was a great read, made me chuckle once or twice too.

I did wonder about your choice in guides though! Was surprised to see it didn't cost you a pint or two....or even a bag of chips ;)
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Thanks mate. Think yourself lucky you missed the place in person! Scooby has a definite aversion to spending money, even when it's someone elses! I can generally get him to have a bag of chips, but a pint or two would definitely be out of the question! :D
 
Great story, Jack! Very entertaining. I suggest next time actually looking for the muggers as they are sure to have some old Sheffield or Rotherdam steel for a few squid.;)
 
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To the south there lies a cave... the cave of Creswell Crags with its excellent Museum and Heritage Centre. The northernmost site of Neanderthal man s occupation during the ice age.
But heed ye my warning.Do not pass through the town of Clowne....yes that's Clowne. For it is a dire place.There is an inn which touts "Wifebeater" (stella artois) 2 quid a pint.Out side the inn stands a man clad in awful pungent polyester garb of clashing hues. He dances and gestures as if bewitched. He is alone in his world at the edge of reality.Have no fear for him for he will still be in the exact same place on your return journey.The history of Clowne tells of fatal coal mine disasters and the world wars. "Time has passed by this historic borough" and so should you.
Your quest for the grrrail will take you south O Jack to a sunnier clime say for instance ... oooh i dunno ..Bolsover?
 
meako said:
Tim%2Bthe%2BEnchanter.jpg

To the south there lies a cave... the cave of Creswell Crags with its excellent Museum and Heritage Centre. The northernmost site of Neanderthal man s occupation during the ice age.
But heed ye my warning.Do not pass through the town of Clowne....yes that's Clowne. For it is a dire place.There is an inn which touts "Wifebeater" (stella artois) 2 quid a pint.Out side the inn stands a man clad in awful pungent polyester garb of clashing hues. He dances and gestures as if bewitched. He is alone in his world at the edge of reality.Have no fear for him for he will still be in the exact same place on your return journey.The history of Clowne tells of fatal coal mine disasters and the world wars. "Time has passed by this historic borough" and so should you.
Your quest for the grrrail will take you south O Jack to a sunnier clime say for instance ... oooh i dunno ..Bolsover?
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LOL! Aye, Clowne is off the map, as indeed is Bolsover. I've been north today, and will go west tomorrow :thumbup:

johnwobble said:
Great story that was Jack, Les Dawson would have been proud of that one !
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Thanks John :D
 
Westward Ho ! but list! go ye Not to Bradf....ah what the heck! yer gunna go there anyway aren't you?
I'm beginning to think that even if the quest proves fruitless for me as far as the knife goes I've seen and learned more of Yorkshire from your outstanding ,informative and witty travelogues than most people who live there.
Its a win win situation AFAIC.
cheers.
 
Man, Jack, are the photos of the horrible weather and flooding in England anywhere near you? It looks horrible. Hope you guys are doing alright.
 
meako said:
Westward Ho ! but list! go ye Not to Bradf....ah what the heck! yer gunna go there anyway aren't you?
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Nah, elsewhere! ;)

silenthunterstudios said:
Man, Jack, are the photos of the horrible weather and flooding in England anywhere near you? It looks horrible. Hope you guys are doing alright.
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Thanks Dan, we've had it relatively easy in hilly Yorkshire. It's not stopped raining since December, but the bad flooding has been in the south. Another severe storm on the way this weekend.
 
I love when I see another rummaging story posted by Jack Black. I always hope you find some piece of treasure on every trip, but I enjoy every story so much at the end of the day it doesn't really matter what the outcome is. Thanks Jack for posting these!
 
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