Massive blaze leaves 200 without work
BAXTERGATE Fire 1938: Buildings were evacuated and 200 people left temporarily out of work when a major fire ravaged Baxtergate in 1938.
The blaze started in Baxtergate at 7pm on Friday May 6 1938, with an outbreak in the cellar of milliners Verity and Sons Ltd.
There were about 60 customers and staff in the shop, though all escaped safely.
The blaze spread to the adjoining Carlton Hairdressing Salon with FO Barnfather's dental surgery above, and at one time appeared as though it would involve the whole of the corner towards St George Gate.
The slight breeze which had fanned the flames in that direction then changed, and the blaze spread to Woolworths. This latter fire soon became a raging inferno and the premises of George Mason Ltd, provision merchants were slightly damaged.
In addition to using the street mains, the fire engines drew water supplies from as far away as the River Don.
Doncaster Fire Brigade had the whole of its available resources on duty, and help was also given by brigades from Rotherham, and neighbouring Edlington and Bentley collieries. ARP volunteer firemen also helped.
Dense crowds congregated at either end of Baxtergate and in St George Gate, and the police had difficulty in keeping them clear of falling debris.
At one point a high parapet above Woolworths' premises threatened to collapse, which would have brought many tons of masonry into Baxtergate.
To stop the possible dangers caused by rubble falling one the trolleybus wires, the electricity to this section of the system was cut off. The normal trackless service on the Wheatley Hills and Beckett Road routes was suspended, and motor-buses were used as substitute, taking an alternative route via Grey Friars Road.
When the fire assumed dangerous proportions, important documents were removed from the office of the Magistrates' Clerk, which was in the nearby Guild Hall in French Gate.
Professional firms who had offices in the vicinity hurriedly transferred documents and papers to a place of safety.
The staff of one firm, which had its business on the top floor of a St George Gate building, dropped packages of papers into the street below to helpers.
They carried them to other premises.
The fire was brought under control in the early hours of Saturday morning, although contemporary witnesses state that it was still smouldering until Monday. The fire caused an estimated 100,000 damage and in the short term put 200 out of work.
Beckett Road: IT may be one of Doncaster's longest routes - but it has only been around since the late 1800s.
Beckett Road must comprise one of the town's longest routes, extending from Holmes into Wheatley.
READ MORE ON NEXT PAGE
Have you got a view? Add your comment below.
READ MORE
Main news index
Your letters
Features
South Yorkshire's environmental news
Kids Zone
More business news
More Rotherham news
More Doncaster news
More Barnsley news
Latest sport Yet the 1852 Ordnance Survey map, reveals no indication of the development which was to take place over the ensuing century.
All that can be seen is a short footpath, which skirted the edges of several fields and came to an abrupt halt at a field boundary.
The path was made into a proper road in 1884 when landowner Major AH Browne decided to develop his Wheatley estate.
The work was carried out by loal architect Benjamin Shaw Brundell, and the new road stretched from the Holmes to Avenue Road, which had been laid out in the late 1860s.
Eric Braim in his article Wheatley and its Methodist Churches, published in the Doncaster Civic Trust Newsletter Number 62 of November 1990, mentioned how the road may have acquired its name.
He said St Mary’s Church, built on Beckett Road during 1885 was the work of amateur architect Sir Edmund Beckett QC, who apart from designing Big Ben at Westminster, had played a part in the design of St George’s Church, St James’ Church and the Doncaster Grammar School.
He added: “He gave 200 towards the cost of the church, his sister, Miss Beckett Denison gave 100 and the Beckett’s bank gave 500. It was not surprising that the new road to the church on the line of the old footpath, was named Beckett Road.”
The Plans Register suggests house building on Beckett Road began around 1888.
n My book Streetwise published in 1993 by The Star is set to be reprinted with new information and photographs. If any reader has some exciting old pictures they believe may not have been seen or heard before please let me know. I am particularly looking for pictures of Green Dyke Lane, Wheatley Lane, Beckett Road, Frances Street, Oxford Street, Jarratt Street and Catherine Street so please contact me on 07709844109.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: East
