Cllr Arthur Wright BEM

Reported in the Pontefract and Castleford Express
When Cllr Arthur Wright, of  Leeds Road, Methley, handed his riding check in at Savile Colliery last Friday, he ended 52 years of service there. In fact, he had worked at no other pit since the day he left school and took his place on the screens at Savile.  Later he moved into the blacksmiths shop and then at 18 he went to the coal face as a ripper.  That was his work until his recent retirement.   From 1933 until the present time he served the National Union of Mineworkers as Delegate.   He has been a member of Rothwell UDC as a representative of the Methley Ward since 1946 and was Chairman in 1955.  He was awarded the British Empire Medal in 1956 in the Queens Birthday Honours List. His other voluntary interests included the welfare of the elderly, he was also a member of the National Playing Fields Association Council.

Bram Russell 1908 - 2001

Bram, born in Mill Lane was the thirteenth of fifteen children.  He started work at Savile at the ripe old age of 13, at the time a small boy for his age.   The Manager of the pit, the diminutive Freddie Adams said ‘ tha’s as big as me lad, and so tha’s good enough’.  Bram remained at the pit until his retirement in the early 70’s, during that time his involvement in the well being of his fellow workers led to him becoming Secretary of the Savile Branch of the NUM working with Arthur Wright, a position he held for some 25 years.   He was also a long standing member of the Mineworkers Welfare Institute Management Committee.
He involved himself in local politics (he was in the labour party when I joined for a short spell) and as a local councillor played a constructive role in improving domestic housing conditions along with others in insisting on the speedy introduction of water closets at the end of the war. Perhaps his most notable achievement was in collaboration with Ezra Taylor (Mr Castleford) when they were able to obtain central funding for the construction of the new bridge over the river Calder to Castleford whilst a councillor on the Transport group.
Bram continued his role in public service after retirement being a prominent figure in the Darby and Joan Club

Amos Illingworth 1837 - 1909

Amos Illingworth, builder of Woodrow, Methley followed on in the family tradition of building, his father William had built the kitchen wing of Methley Hall.    Amos built many properties in the village but two of note were the Albert Place and the Rose & Crown public house.
His wife to be, Elizabeth Siddall, worked in service at Methley Hall.  On their wedding day (26th January, 1868) at St Oswalds, the bride walked from the Hall, through the woods and met up with the bridegroom who was building the houses in the Albert Place.  They walked down to the church, were joined together in holy matrimony, they then walked back and parted company to enable Amos to carry on with his building work. Elizabeth continued back to her work at the Hall.
Their house was one of the cottages at the top of Fleet Lane.   Amos had his builders yard off Station Road which backed onto the Albert Place.  This was the disused site with stable, storerooms, slates, ridge tiles and drainage pipes that was used as a playground by kids from Woodrow for years.     We never came across the well that was reportedly in the yard (B Robbins) It would like all the other wells in the village been filled in following the installation of mains water pipes in the 1880/90’s.  August 2002  Will Illingworth E-mails me to say that the well was partly under the wall dividing the yard with the first small cottage (Mattinsons).  Will isnt sure that Amos used this yard although his Father Sid Illingworth worked in it whilst working for Mexborough Estates.  The well was in good use up to WW2 producing putty lime and hair lime plaster for use on lathed ceilings, will adds that his Grandmother made her pin money making and selling buckets of lime at 1p for painting ceilings before distemper came in.  Dulux beware.

Ronald Lewis

Born in Methley at St Margarets Road, the family later moving to the ‘newer’ houses on Savile Road.  Ron attended Mickletown School from 1931 to 1937 and then on to Normanton Grammar School until 1943.   I wonder if he ever thought when he was kicking his heels as a youngster near the bus shelter built into the Landsale at Savile Pit (as he must have done at some time) that one day he would get to be Colliery Manager there.
He joined the St Oswalds church choir by pursuasion when, after being caught trespassing with his mate Ken Smith near Shann House.   The tenant, Bob Farrer who was the choirmaster said ‘Now then what are you two up to?’   To which the feeble reply was ‘We’re only looking for wild flowers’.   ‘Wild flowers! Wild flowers!’ exclaimed Farrer ‘If you come to choir practice on Friday I’ll not take the matter any further’.   This was to be the start of a long association for the pair of them as choristers and later bellringers at the church.

After leaving school, an unsuccessful spell at County Hall, Wakefield prepared the way for him to go for a proper job as an electricians apprentice at Peckfield Colliery, Micklefield. I’m not sure how he managed, biking it 8 miles there but the return journey which included the downhill Mary Pannel hill would have been a tad quicker.   Luckily for him, Lewis Snr. was appointed to the job of Enginewright at the same pit where they secured a house virtually in the pit yard, ending his 3 year (4,000 miles /year) trek.    That additional travelling must have provided an incentive to ambition, because after getting his electricians papers he went on to qualifying as a Mining Engineer in 1953.
This enabled him to get on the ladder - as a shotfirer at Methley Junction Pit, which brought him back to Little Church Lane Methley (No more biking) with subsequent stints at Whitwood and Primrose Hill as Undermanager and Fox Pit, Altofts as Colliery Manager.

So there he was, 1966 and driving in past that old bus shelter at Savile Landsale no doubt looking forward to a warm welcome from some of his old schoolmates.      He got one from Ted Portman, Fred Howson, Jimmy Gee and the colliers of No.3 Panel Beeston seam.   He was also President of the Miners Welfare (Stute), inheriting a not uncomplicated responsibility there that went with the job.    His term at Savile was clearly  successful, productivity had increased greatly during his stay and he left to become manager at superpit Kellingley.  Now treading the retirement boards, he tells me among other things he likes to look at this web site.