Recreation Grounds & Playing Fields
There are recreation grounds and playing fields all over the Borough of Rotherham. Every pit village had its field where you played football in the mud every winter and cricket in the mud every summer. Some of these have gone but most are still around though not always as well used as they used to be. This is not a full guide by any means and, sorry, but as one bit of grass looks much like another I am not about to undertake an exhaustive survey of this subject.
Herringthorpe Playing Fields
The area that is now Herringthorpe Playing Fields was once part of Brook Farm (the farmhouse is now the Homestead). Part of the fields were used as a race course from 1889 to 1901. The fields were purchased by Rotherham Borough Council in 1928 with further areas of land being purchased in the early 1930s making an area of almost 35 hectares. Football, cricket and hockey pitches were provided together with changing rooms off Boswell Sreet. The athletics stadium was developed in 1960. This is a well used facility and was modernised by upgrading the hard porous running track with a new synthetic surface in 1989. Herringthorpe Leisure Centre was built to provide state of the art indoor sporting and leisure pool facilities in 1974. Current facilities include 12 football pitches, 4 cricket pitches and 2 rugby pitches. There is regular organised sport and the site is now home to the Herringthorpe sports village project, run by the council's Sports Development Team.
The changing rooms were subject to repeated acts of vandalism over the years and were demolished in 2007. Temporary facilities are available. The Leisure Centre was closed in 2008 and has now been demolished.
In places the land here is very boggy indeed and despite several attempts to improve the situation, continues to be so. For as long as I can remember youths on motorbikes used the fields unhindered and pitches have been left with deep ruts. There has also been damage from cars being raced over the field. In 2006 after many complaints work was undertaken to keep off the cars and motorbikes by the installation of boundary fencing and gates. New metalled walks, improved lighting and other improvements have been made.
Land at the rear of The Lanes was used as a council nursery to supply bedding plants to the parks throughout the borough. My records indicate that this was opened in 1980, though I thought there was a nursery there before so it might have been privately run. The nursery ceased to be used in the 1990s and after repeated vandalism was demolished in 2006. In 1994 the council granted a long term lease on part of the land which was formally part of the Herringthorpe horticultural nursery. This land is now occupied by the Rotherham Hospice and provides pleasant views across the field. Other areas of land associated to the playing fields included the former 'boss's garden' which next to Rotherham Hospice. This area was used as a paddock for the donkeys which provided daily summer rides in Clifton Park and was later developed into a horticultural training garden for the apprentice gardeners in the 1980s.
The playing fields were also used for various events, including Rotherham Show during the years RMBC charged entrance, Rotherham Motoring Weekend and Tattoo from the late seventies up to the late nineties, spring fairs, pop concerts and circuses.
Herringthorpe Playing Fields is one of the 5 key sites identified in the council's playing pitch strategy. It is hoped the area will be developed as one of the major sports hubs for Rotherham providing higher quality facilities to enable sports clubs to continue to develop. As I understand that the area of Herringthorpe Playing Fields was left to the people of Rotherham for recreational purposes. Some years ago the spectre of the council selling off part of the field for housing development raised it's ugly head. Admittedly it is a bit of the field that is really little use for sports. At the time there was a great outcry and nothing came of the plans. In 2006, like all good spectres, this one has resurrected itself.
In 2010 RMBC are determined to sell off various parts of the playing fields for development as housing and use the money to fund the improvement of sporting facilities at Herringthorpe. It is planned that these will include:-
- A 1000 seater grandstand for the athletics stadium.
- New football pitches including all weather pitches.
- New car parking facilities.
- Play area and multi-use games area.
- Tackling the drainage yet again, and levelling the bumpy bits. Now that will really take the fun out the game.
In 2008 a campaign was started to save Herringthorpe Playing Fields and Leisure in Rotherham Centre but the website address has a message that it has been hacked so I have removed it. A 6500 name petition against the building of new properties was presented to the council. Many people objected to the selling off of what is actually land owned by the ratepayers of Rotherham to line the council's coffers. So the latest proposals are a case of the old "You scratch my back; I'll scratch yours" syndrome, meaning you let us sell the plots for housing and we'll use the money for better facilities on the remaining part of the site (rather than just getting frittered away in the general expenses). This will doubtless buy the support of many.
Greasbrough Playing Fields
There are also large playing fields at Greasbrough which seem to be largely official football pitches and unofficial golf ranges.