Contributions - Sixty Scintillating Stainforth Snippets

1.	Hatfield Colliery now employs around 200 people, but in 1930 it employed 3,600 people.
2.	Dr R.M.L Anderson played rugby for Yorkshire in 1946
3.	There were 40 founder members of Stainforth Democratic Club (The Waverley) when it opened in November 1928.
4.	Professor George Porter, who was born in Stainforth, was the joint winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1967 for research into, "Studies of extremely fast chemical reactions, effected by disturbing the equilibrium by means of very short pulses of energy".
5.	Floradora was presented in the Welfare Hall by the Stainforth Musical Society in 1934
6.	The Welfare Hall was opened in December 1928, and was demolished in 2000.
7.	The first Stainforth vicarage was built in 1885 on East Lane. (East Lane House).
8.	Eric Nash, the Hatfield Main wicket keeper, made 110 in 45 minutes against Goole Town in May 1953.
9.	When Stainforth Athletics Track was examined in 1973, it was found to be only 399.314 metres long, about 27 inches short. The Contractor responsible was ordered back to replace the missing inches!
10.	2,000 spectators watched the Hatfield Main Colliery internal football competition at the Welfare ground between 40s stall and 273s stall in May 1932.
11.	In August 1941 there were 64 Evacuees on roll at Stainforth Boys Secondary School.
12.	Fifty years ago, it was common for half of the boys from the Boys Secondary Modern School to take up employment either at the local Colliery, or in local farming. No wonder employment is a problem in the area today!
13.	The sinking of Hatfield Colliery’s shafts commenced in November 1911.
14.	In January 1925, Joe Davis, undefeated World Snooker Champion, played at the Pit Club.
15.	There were rumours about Stainforth and Hatfield becoming an Urban Council in 1927, but Hatfield were not keen on the idea.
16.	The Commemoration of Stainforth Parish Church occurred on March 17th 1934 at 3 p.m.
17.	Stainforth Salvation Army celebrated 21 years service in July 1945.
18.	Alick Jeffrey, professional football player, became Landlord of The Fox in March 1974.
19.	The present Stainforth Railway line opened in September 1866.
20.	The Bishop of Sheffield in 1993 said in his book "Kings, Canals and Coal", that he hoped the changes to the Parish Church would be undone, especially as the Parish still owned the land behind the church where one day a hall could be built..
21.	Hatfield Main cricket player, Charlie Redmile, who won the Doncaster Cricket League Bowling Averages in 1966, played for the club against Hatfield town in 1988 at the age of 75!
22.	The King George Hotel was opened in December 1922.
23.	Hatfield Main Colliery Brass Band was formed in 1947.
24.	Richard Caborn (Minister for Sport) opened East Lane House in October 1998, but it closed in March 2001.
25.	Hatfield Main Colliery originally provided 1,471 houses for it’s workers.
26.	Stainforth Amateur Swimming Club had 300 members in 1932, when an open air swimming pool was opened in an old sand quarry on Oldfield Lane.
27.	Stainforth residents Brian Davis and Steven Spriggs became professional football players. Brian played for Sheffield Wednesday in the 1960s, and Steven played for Huddersfield Town and Cambridge United in the 1980s.
28.	Unusually, Jimmy Walker of Hatfield Main Cricket Club won the Doncaster Cricket League 2nd Division Bowling Averages in 1942 and the 1st division Bowling Averages in the following year, (1943).
29.	St. Mathew’s Parish Church was opened in 1819 on the site of the present Field Road Surgery, but it was demolished in the late 1960’s.
30.	In 1855 the South Yorkshire Railway were ordered to build a drawbridge, not a fixed bridge, across the canal at Stainforth. (A fixed bridge would have been cheaper!)
31.	Stainforth Lock at the canal basin was closed in 1939.
32.	The South Bank Golfing Society were formed in 1975.
33.	Stainforth Speedway Track was opened on Easter Monday 1930.
34.	The present vicarage was completed in November 1956.
35.	The St. John Ambulance building on Emerson Avenue was opened in 1965
36.	The Catholic School on Thorne Road was opened in 1963.
37.	Stainforth singers won a section at the Welsh Eistedford in 1926.
38.	The Peacock Public House was opened in December 1959. It was demolished in July 2002.
39.	A cricket match took place between the Gentleman and Ladies of Stainforth at Ramskir Park in 1918!
40.	Stainforth Labour Rugby League team played Pilkingtons in n1928.
41.	Stainforth Swimming Pool opened in 1962, and closed in the 1980s. A play park now occupies the site.
42.	Stainforth Cinema on Emerson Avenue opened in 1922 and was demolished in 1996. Pat Phoenix, a.k.a. Elsie Tanner of Coronation street fame visited in the mid 1960s to open the Bingo Hall which was situated in the cinema building.
43.	C Marsh & G Nash made an opening stand of 244 for Hatfield Main against Thorne Town in the Doncaster Cricket League in 1936.
44.	The present Stainforth Junior School building was opened in 1937.
45.	It was possible to ice skate on the canal in 1917.
46.	Stainforth cricket team played games against Edenthorpe and Moss in 1881.
47.	Kevin Jones, the present Headteacher of Hall Cross Comprehensive (the old Doncaster Grammar School) was born and educated in Stainforth.
48.	Stainforth Hall was built in 1690 at a cost of £1,300
49.	The 1st Vicar of Stainforth, Rev Smith, died in 1893 due to food poisoning caused through eating tinned tongue.
50.	The Wesleyan Church on Church Road, opened in 1925, was made of Accrington red bricks and cost over £8,000.
51.	Stainforth Mortuary opened in October 1932.
52.	Stainforth Old folks Centre was opened in 1958 by Mrs. E Perry and cost around £7,500.
53.	Stainforth Catholic Church opened in September 1956.
54.	Stainforth Clothing Factory (Stainforth Fashion Industry, or S.F.I.) opened in October 1971 and closed in February 2000.
55.	The 1st Headteacher of Stainforth School, Mr. George Jenkinson, died in 1904 from blood poisoning caused from an insect bite.
56.	In 1894 Stainforth got it's water partly from the canal and partly from shallow wells.
57.	In 1937, 37 boys from Fishlake and Sykehouse attended the new Stainforth Senior Boys School.
58.	560 men were transferred from Thorne Colliery to Hatfield Main in 1956.
59.	Stainforth football team played against Wheatley United in October 1900......... and lost 6-1.
60.	The present River Don Bridge was built in 1768.