Official Handbook to Rawmarsh, West Riding of Yorkshire : issued by the Urban District Council, c1948
One of the many 'official guides' or 'handbooks' issued under the auspices of almost every UK local authority duringt he Twentieth Century and that included details of local administration, services, amenities and industries for both residents, visitors and prospective residents and investors. It is fair to say that this splendidly honest cover, showing the two main industries of the Yorkshire UDC of Rawmarsh, was not particularly aimed at holidaymakers!
The town, adjacent to the River Don, and situated close to Rotherham, into which borough it was amalgamated in the 1974 local government reorganisation, and was unashamedly built on coal, steel and chemicals. The major employer was the large Park Gate Iron & Steel Company, whose many products included colliery roof supports - important to the other major extractive industry. The works would continue to expand during the mid-20th Century with the development of the adjacent Aldwarke site. Another major steel company was that of Wm. Oxley of the Park Gate Steel Works.
The guide includes some photos of the town that show the trolleybus overhead of the rather unusual local undertaking the Mexborough & Swinton Traction Company (they had abandoned the word Tramways in the title when they converted the system in c1927) and the wholly single deck fleet continued in operation until 1961 when motor buses were substituted. It was the first and last private company to operate trolleybuses in the UK.
The cover is remarkably bold - the iron & steel works in the background, the colliery and colliers in the forground and even the telephone wires and gas lamps are silhouetted!
Official Handbook to Rawmarsh, West Riding of Yorkshire : issued by the Urban District Council, c1948
One of the many 'official guides' or 'handbooks' issued under the auspices of almost every UK local authority duringt he Twentieth Century and that included details of local administration, services, amenities and industries for both residents, visitors and prospective residents and investors. It is fair to say that this splendidly honest cover, showing the two main industries of the Yorkshire UDC of Rawmarsh, was not particularly aimed at holidaymakers!
The town, adjacent to the River Don, and situated close to Rotherham, into which borough it was amalgamated in the 1974 local government reorganisation, and was unashamedly built on coal, steel and chemicals. The major employer was the large Park Gate Iron & Steel Company, whose many products included colliery roof supports - important to the other major extractive industry. The works would continue to expand during the mid-20th Century with the development of the adjacent Aldwarke site. Another major steel company was that of Wm. Oxley of the Park Gate Steel Works.
The guide includes some photos of the town that show the trolleybus overhead of the rather unusual local undertaking the Mexborough & Swinton Traction Company (they had abandoned the word Tramways in the title when they converted the system in c1927) and the wholly single deck fleet continued in operation until 1961 when motor buses were substituted. It was the first and last private company to operate trolleybuses in the UK.
The cover is remarkably bold - the iron & steel works in the background, the colliery and colliers in the forground and even the telephone wires and gas lamps are silhouetted!