Kiveton Park - Todwick - Wales
Kiveton Bridge - Wales Bar - Waleswood
These villages are situated in the south of the Borough of Rotherham. The villages of Wales and Kiveton Park with Kiveton Bridge are settlements along the B6059 which connects the Mansfield Road to the west with the Worksop Road to the east. Todwick is a nuclear village just north of Kiveton Park. These villages use the post town of Sheffield and have Worksop telephone numbers but are none the less in the Borough of Rotherham.
There are some sparse remains from Roman times in the area. By Anglo-Saxon times it was a settled, farming area of no importance in the history of England, let alone the world. This changed in the 1770s when the Chesterfield Canal, designed and built by James Brindley was built to the south of the villages. Although the primary purpose of the canal when it opened on 4 June 1777 was to transport coal from Derbyshire it soon had other uses. Stone was quarried at Kiveton Park; indeed the stone to rebuild the Houses of Parliament was transported from here down the canal system to London. Later the railways came through, massive collieries were developed there were iron and steel works. Todwick, being just north of the other villages avoided most of the Industrial Revolution.
Useful Information
"We meet twice a month and our next meeting will be on the 3rd September 2011 after the summer break, when we shall be having a General Evening and Bring and Buy. Our meeting after that will have a speaker, hopefully Stephen Gay, a VERY popular speaker (and almost an unofficial member!) He gives the most interesting talks about Lost Railways, the Woodhead Tunnel and tours us all over England without having to leave our seats'! (We have also had him at our History Society Meetings). Other meeting will take place on the 1st and 15th October and 5th and 19th November, ending the year with our Christmas Party on the 3rd December. We have interesting outings and speakers and have visited many interesting stately homes from the East Coast to Derbyshire. A few of us will be attending the Annual Conference of the National Association of Women's Clubs on the 16th September at Cheltenham, going down on Friday and returning Saturday afternoon."For more information contact Margaret Gibson Email gibsonmeglenathotmail.co.uk (remember to replace at with @). They meet at The Cricket Club on Stoney Bank.
Village Links
"Founded in 2005 the group aim is to foster the art of painting and drawing and to provide help, encouragement and tuition to all its members in whatever painting or drawing media chosen."Visit the website at sites.google.com/site/walesartgroup/home.