Bramley Area
Bramley - Bramley Lings - Flanderwell - Sunnyside - Woodlaithes
Bramley is to the east of the town of Rotherham and contains the villages of Bramley, Bramley Lings, Flanderwell, Sunnyside & Woodlaithes. The MI8 motorway runs to the east of Bramley giving excellent access to the motorway system. Bramley has an old village centre but is surrounded by massive dormitory estates, mostly to the north of the A631 Bawtry Road.
Bramley Lings
Bramley Lings is the name of a small area of Bramley south of the Bawtry Road which abuts Lings Common. Ling is another name for heather.
Flanderwell
I know nothing about the past of Flanderwell, other than the name means the Flemish Well. Records show that in 1743 a William Dyson was a farmer living at Flanderwell House, which was part of the Bramley Grange Estate. In 1920 the Flanderwell Farm at Bramley was purchased by Frederick Downs and the property was sold at auction on 26 February 1945. It is housing estates now.
Sunnyside
The housing estate called Sunnyside was build about 1921 by the mine owners for the workers at Silverwood Colliery. It came to be owned by the National Coal Board after nationalisation of the mines. I went to school with a girl who lived there and considered it one of the grimmest places on earth.
Perhaps she was unduly prejudiced as Dave has sent this wonderful encomium of the village.
".... The area has very little crime (I have lived here for 10 years and there has been no trouble whatsoever) and the surroundings are wooded, full of wildlife and the views from the edge of the plateau are breathtaking, enabling sight of Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster and Wentworth from several standpoints. The vast sky provides spectacular sunsets and the lack of light pollution means the night sky is particularly full of stars. Please reconsider your entry on the Rotherham Unofficial Website, if necessary by visiting the area yourself to see at first hand the proof of what I've said. Oh, I don't live on the "Woodlaithes Village" estate. I live in the village of Sunnyside, in the parish of Dalton.
All the best,
Dave."
I have found out that the large housing development at Sunnyside was built in the late 1920s by the Industrial Housing Association to house workers at Silverwood Colliery.
Woodlaithes
My A - Z is a bit elderly and still shows nothing but Woodlaithes Farm and Silverwood tip. However part of the tip has been reclaimed and Woodlaithes Village, a collection of large modern houses together with their own lake has been built here.