Rotherham man recalls happy childhood summer 1950s days trainspotting

During the summer of 1958 I was supposed to go on holiday to Guernsey with my school, Spurley Hey.

I’d paid weekly through 1957/8 but just after I’d paid up I had to go into hospital for a major mastoid operation on my left ear. The specialist told my mother I shouldn’t go on the holiday so I was able to get my money back.

So to compensate my mother took me to town in Rotherham, where I got a new push bike, my Raleigh Golden Wraith, which led to a new hobby, trainspotting.

A few of my classmates were trainspotters and the favourite spot was “down Roundwood”. If you know the road that connects Rotherham to Parkgate, at Aldwarke Road/Wash Lane, you might have known about the lane halfway across that took you down to Roundwood with farmer’s fields on both sides, before the new steelworks and offices were built in the early 60s.

The lane ends at the railway bridge under which the LNER line to Doncaster runs. A grassy slope faced the LMS line where we could sit and watch the trains on both lines and easily get the numbers on the locomotives.

When it was a hot day I would go to a shop that sold Jubblys. I’d get two or three and put em in my saddle bag.They stayed frozen quite a long time and were still cool when thawed.

Sometime a bottle of pop or water would suffice. A sandwich or bar of chocolate came in handy.

We didn’t just trainspot down Roundwood – there were a couple of other places in Parkgate where some of my classmates went as they didn’t have bikes.

On board the Flying Scotsman footplate

There were special days when we went to Doncaster, catching the train from Rotherham Central and staying until we were told to get out from the platforms. Then we would walk round to ‘Jimmy’s Bridge’.

A road/bridge to the left of St James’ Church goes over the railway lines from Rotherham and London, on which the ‘Streaks’ came up from the south.

We all had our Ian Allan trainspotting books that contained the numbers of all the trains.

There were also repair shops the other side of Doncaster Station. The only way to get to them was by sneaking along the bank of the river and hope to sneak close enough to see the locos. I never managed to get in.

A couple of times we caught the train from Rotherham Central to Sheffield Victoria.

Crewe was the Mecca for trainspotting. When I told my mother, she said I couldn’t go, too far away. Come Saturday morning I was up early and got my paper round done and then left a note saying “going to Manchester again”.

Another thing spotters try to do is ‘footplate’ a train, climbing into the cab of the loco with the driver. I was lucky to footplate the Flying Scotsman at Crewe. The only other time was down Roundwood where a loco would be in the sidings.

My trainspotting days only lasted about three-and-a-half years as I left school in summer 1960 at 14 years of age. I’d got a job to go to at Parkgate Iron & Steel Works.

Happy days, lovely Jubbly.

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