Chuckle Brothers: Campaign to rename Rotherham park in honour of Paul and Barry

Independent Councillor Michael Bennett-Sylvester says a consultation will ask residents for their ideas to rename Oldfield Road Play Area, in a bid to honour the Chuckle Brothers who hail from the area, and inject some pride into East Herringthorpe.

Paul and Barry Chuckle were born in Masbrough then lived in East Herringthorpe until their early twenties.

Councillor Bennett-Sylvester says the current working name is Chuckle Park, but would he like to hear input from residents on the name, and any other ideas for the park.

“We’ve secured some funding to renew the play area. East Herringthorpe is probably one of the most deprived, run-down areas in Rotherham, it falls in the most deprived one per cent of neighbourhoods in the north of England,” said Councillor Bennett-Sylvester.

“It’s incredibly poor for facilities, especially for young people, there’s nothing on the estate, but we’ve got this one play area – we’ve secured some funding to do some improvements to it.

“I’ve asked, as part of the consultation, that we look at renaming it in honour of the Chuckle Brothers, who grew up on the estate.”

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Councillor Bennett-Sylvester hopes that the tribute to the Chuckle Brothers will encourage youngsters in the area to work hard and achieve their dreams.

“The Chuckles have given us lots of joy. It’s to make a statement that if you’re a young person and you work hard and apply your talents, these are the kind of things you can achieve.

“We need inspirational stories sometimes, we need to take that bit of pride in areas,” he added.