Growing Up in Tickhill

Betty Hill Remembers

Betty Hill, née Rawson, was born in Tickhill in 1915 and grew up in the family home in Westgate with her parents, Ethel and John, her sister Joan and brother Roger. The Rawsons were a long-established firm of builders, employing many local people and building in brick and stone, including undertaking repairs to St Mary's Church. A permanent reminder of this building work is in the naming of Rawson Road with its mixture of council and private houses built by the Rawsons. Various members of the Rawson family in the 19th and early 20th Centuries also played leading roles in local life.

When she reached school-age, Betty went to the small private school run by the Misses Goodwin on Northgate, then at age eleven she moved to Doncaster High School. In 1936 Betty married Ronald (Ron) Hill who had also grown up in Tickhill. In 2009 Ron's memories of his schooldays in Tickhill were published posthumously in this Occasional Paper series. It is with great pleasure that Tickhill and District Local History Society now publishes Betty's own memories providing a different perspective to Ron's and revealing many aspects of life in Tickhill with great clarity and humour.

After reflecting on her time in primary school, Betty describes leisure time often spent with her friend Molly Fullwood then outlines job opportunities for local people and general living conditions in the 1920s. She finally returns to the theme of how spare time was spent with a great deal of live entertainment and sport. Local landmark events provide a backdrop to some of Betty's memories from the coming of electricity in 1926 and mains water the following year to a terrible explosion at Maltby Colliery in 1923 and the miners' strike three years later. Each section of Betty's memories is illustrated with photographs.

This photograph shows Betty's family home at 16 Westgate, built by the Rawsons for Betty's parents to move into when they married in 1912. Betty's uncle and other relations lived next door in the much older property at 14 Westgate. The family's builder's yard was nearby at 20 Westgate. Betty's home had a garden beyond which was a field (the croft) stretching to Pinfold Lane. It was on this land bordering Pinfold Lane that a modern house was built where Betty's sister, Mrs Joan Wilcox, lived.

Copies of the full text of this paper are on sale in KSM Dry Cleaners priced £2.00 or click the link below to read the article on line.