Wednesday 29 October 2025

Visit to see John Doble (Dobby)

 

There would be six of us today rendezvousing at Sunnyview House and today’s visitors were John Howarth, Glenn, John, Derek, Russell and Colin. 

However, before entering the Care Home we bumped in to our old friend Roger Backhouse and it was lovely to see him. 

Sunnyview House is a care home in Beeston where our dear colleague John Doble is a resident and has been for approximately four months. 

He did tell us that he was in a state of flux as to whether to return home at some point or throw his lot in at the care home. He commented on the fact that everything was done for him and it would be hard to go back to looking after himself after all the kindness shown at Sunnyview House!

We were made to feel very welcome by the staff with a cup of tea and the all staff were very friendly, chatty and pleasant. 

Dobby looked well and certainly more relaxed than he did whilst working at Chas. F. Thackray. He was a very talented man and had a wide range of skills that made his job extremely varied over his time at work starting at the company around 1962. 

There was a lot of reminiscing as you can imagine but Dobby  had an excellent memory and remembered nearly all of the names that were mentioned so after a good hour and a half it was time to leave as dinner was now being served.

We said our goodbyes to Dobby and John Howarth who had come by car leaving the care home at about 12:30 and we made our way to Park Fisheries for a lovely lunch sat outside in a little seating area integral with the Chip Shop. Saying our goodbyes to Russell who had also come by car. After this we made our way through Cross Flatts Park and discussed all the things that had disappeared over the years like the Park-keepers hut and Cross Flatts Park Annex that was for the pre-school years before they eventually went to the big school at Cross Flatts! The school is now called Park View and is a new build. The old school building was demolished and a new single story building now stands there. 

There was a big greenhouse and a Band Stand that had also gone. 

We wandered right through the park and met a lady who knew some of John Hey’s colleagues and knew where John lived on Town Street and the gardens overlooking the railway lines  

We passed the park shop where we all used to buy our sweets from when in and around the park. 

We then caught our respective buses back home with John going towards Leeds and Derek, Glenn and Colin crossing Dewsbury Road and catching the bus to The White Rose Centre, Colin alighting at Barkly Road. 

A lovely day out and meeting our old colleague John Doble (Dobby) was a lovely bonus. 

Best regards Colin

Colin Hendrick Ward

Lofthouse Lope

On Wednesday 22nd October, the intrepid gang set off for their latest trip out. John, Brian, Colin and Mark met up at Leeds rail station for the short journey to Outwood. On alighting the train they were met by their friend Glenn on the platform. The group immediately set out behind the platform for the walk. We would be doing a circular walk of at least 22 steps (!), which would take us through the former Lofthouse colliery. This colliery was the scene of a fairly recent tragedy, which took place just over 50 years ago in 1973 when the mine flooded and trapped seven miners.

Sadly, despite several desperate rescue attempts lasting several days, the miners could not be saved. This was of course a major news item at the time, and one we could recall well. We continued our walk in bright sunshine, which showed the stunning autumnal colours of the trees to full effect. Just over an hours walking brought us to one of our favourite eating places, Cafe 509 on Ledger Lane, where we were met outside by our friend Derek. An excellent lunch was enjoyed, which was also superb value. Much of the chat while we were eating was dedicated to planning our forthcoming Christmas lunch. At around 1.30 it was time to head back to Outwood station so we bid farewell to Derek and headed off for our transport home, Glenn heading back towards Wakefield Westgate and the rest of the group taking the opposite platform to head back to Leeds, with both our trains arriving almost simultaneously at 2.00pm.

A Different Blog

      Dave’s Analysis 

For almost the last decade I have been playing with this team

I got a free transfer from a local none league side, they said my

playing days were over. But this new team were happy for me to

join them.

At first they had to find out where was most suitable position for 

me to play, upfront, midfield or filling in at the back.

It didn’t take too long for me to find my most preferred place in this well

established side, they had been so close to promotion on numerous occasions

and were hoping for more success with me in the team.

As the seasons came and went our team visited lots of different grounds

taking them all in their stride. Obviously some more challenging than others 

A lot of memorable one’s as well, we did overcome one rather difficult highflying side

much to our surprise, that was a feather in our cap so to speak.

Other successful results were achieved at Coastal Grounds along with a couple of 

Midland Derbys. We’ve had cup ties in the Capital along with a rare trip to Wales

But most of our games these days are much nearer home, a great relief to some of 

our elder members, last couple of seasons have seen the addition of some younger 

players which as proved worthwhile to some extent, they were all for a new strip

but the rest of us are quite happy with the one we have

Bold Stripes and Dark Blue Shorts

Our Trophy Cabinet as room for a few more Treasures

So we will keep endeavouring to achieve success.

UP THE ROVERS 

Roger Wadman visit at South Elmsall

Our latest trip was to see our old compadre Roger Wadman, now living in a home in South Elmsall. The intrepid travellers met at Leeds rail station, although short in numbers due to circumstances. Don, Sam, Coiln, Brian and Mark caught the 10.21 train to South Elmsall, disembarked and walked up the hill to Warde Aldam. We arrived to be met by Russ, who was in the car park. We were taken through to meet Roger, who was in good spirits and pleased to see us. We chatted with him for a time, asking and answering questions about the old days. Roger seemed tired so we said our farewells and took our leave. We tried to get in at the cafe down the road but there was a queue, so we just went for the 12.38 train back to Leeds, arriving back in Leeds at 13.15....

Ambling at Anglers

 Wednesday 8th October 2025.           Ambling at Anglers

For today’s adventure the Lads have decided to pay a return visit to a local beauty spot situated on the outskirts of Wakefield. The location is known as Anglers, a manmade lake just beside the village of Wintersett. It would be seven of the gang taking part this pleasant morning, those being John, Brian, Colin, Mark , Derek, Dave and Keith, several ways of getting there were undertaken, both by public transport and personal car journeys, all meeting up at about 11:30 on the lakeside footpath.

Their intention today was to circumnavigate the lake with a stop off at the cafe as they travelled along, both taking pleasure from their interesting surroundings and the wonderful countryside views. 

Some 30 minutes into their walk they were now approaching the on site cafe, so time for a spot of early lunch and the usual conversations about upcoming events etc, Christmas meal was top of the agenda and how many would be participating this year, eventually a decision was formulated with Keith taking our small deposits and going ahead and booking our places. Thanks Keith. 

Some 45 minutes later and we resumed our walk, the underfoot conditions were far superior than on previous occasions, hardly a puddle to have to negotiate this time, so our boots were far less muddy. 

We found ourselves back at the nearby bus stop with time on our hands, this was partly due to a cancellation in the schedule, so we spent some 30 minutes sat chatting amongst ourselves while our returning bus turned up. By now it was a few minutes after 2:00 pm as we climbed aboard the number 196 heading for Wakefield ,almost all of the Lads were ending this bus ride close to Sandal/ Agbrigg railway station in order to catch a train heading for Leeds and then their respective journeys home.

Upon reflection today’s outing did us all some good, just being out there together and enjoying each other’s company was great. 

Cheers Everyone.

Otley Outing

 Wednesday 1st October 2025.              Otley Outing 

The Lads embraced the start of a new month with a return visit to Mark’s hometown of Otley, joining him there will be , John, Derek, Dave, Brian, Colin, Glenn, Russ and Don. A meeting time of 11:30 at the Bus Station was scheduled, with the Lads travelling there by either bus, train or car. Early arrivals treating themselves to either tea or coffee in a nearby cafe. 11:30 came and the lads were all assembled anticipating in what direction they would explore this old market town, the decision to take the riverside walk was the general consensus of opinion, so off they set, firstly through the market square then over the road and down a alleyway leading them on to Bridge Street which they followed for about 100 yards before crossing the river by means of the newly erected footbridge, this had been put in place while urgent repairs are being carried out to the very old road bridge etc.

 

Once they had crossed the river they now followed its flow downstream taking them through and past Wharfemeadows Park for almost a mile and a half before they crossed over the river again, then they took the pathway heading towards Gallows Hill nature reserve and the nearby garden allotments before joining the main road again that would eventually lead them back towards the town centre and their intended lunchtime venue, that would be the Maypole Fish and Chip establishment ,they have frequented this place on past visits to Otley and really enjoyed their choice of meals etc.

Throughout our walking today as you can  imagine, various conversations were struck up with each and everyone as we ambled along taking in the sights that were on offer here in Otley, the weather was in our favour and we covered just under 4 miles, we eventually said farewell to Mark and his hometown as the rest of us headed for the bus station to take our respective journeys home.

Cheers Everyone for a great day out in Otley.