Hemsworth...

...has a population of 15,350 and has the luxury of it's very own bus station.
Even has it's own page on Wikipedia which is quite informative.
Apparently, Elton John once described the water park as 'not bad' and the bat which Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off was born in nearby South Kirkby.

 

I got heckled in Hemsworth for the crime of reading the Guardian. Or it may just have been for the crime of reading.

 

Is the water park still there and in decent nick?

 

Someone once nearly considered throwing a tomato at me, in Hemsworth, for wearing a T shirt that innocently had the slogan 'Dennis Thatcher's Mrs Is Quite Fit'.

 

It's still there. Not sure about the being in decent nick part though

 

I went to junior school there, on Hamel Rise, near where a certain Mr J Saville lived for a short time. Another place that's struggled to recover since the miners strike in many ways. Learned to play tennis and golf at Vale Head Park in the summer holidays, before the water park was built. The 9 hole course looks like it will be developed, it's now overgrown and you can't even tell it was a golf course now.

 

Water park isn't very well looked after for me. I know BMBC get some stick, but wakefield council have a lot to answer for. The litter and the state of the lake is very poor.

 

It is mate.

 

Bang right Mr Darfield. Legend has it that there's a bronze statue of some cricket umpire lurking in the depths, and a Sheffield United tie was washed up on the man made beach late this afternoon.

 

All the WF9 area is the same. Wakefield council doesn't seem very interested in our area.

I think they'd sooner shove us into south Yorkshire.

We talk funny compared to the rest of west Yorkshire as well.

 

I think it's Hemsworth Town Council who are responsible for it at present. Haven't been for years, both the Water Park and Vale Head Park used to be immaculate. I'm sure budget cuts via WMDC have had an impact.

 

My lad played an U12s match at Minsthorpe (neighbouring village) last Sunday and got a rough ride off a couple of centre backs with beards who both had a cig at half time.

 

I also honed my tennis skills at the park, largely before the golf course was created, indeed before the water park got off the ground.

I can remember large crowds using the paddling pool in the grounds. It used to be nice in summer. The water tap round the back of the pavilion kept us alive some days.

 

Does it have a big Tesco and a dog track?

 

The Tesco is ranked as the 113th largest in Britain, and although the dog track is technically in Kinsley, occasionally a dog can escape the arena and head towards Hemsworth where it is likely to be taken in, well fed and renamed Marc Roberts.

 

The council is run by those representing pretty much exclusively from the 5 towns! its no co-incidence Castelford got a Rubgy ground but Wakefield are still struggling to get approval. Nor is it a co-incidence that the Xscape complex is in.....Castleford.

Leader – Cllr Peter Box - represents Castleford ward
Economic Growth and Regeneration (Deputy Leader) – Cllr Denise Jeffery - represents Castleford ward
Transport and Highways – Cllr Matthew Morley - represents Stanley and Outwood East
Culture, Leisure and Sport – Cllr Jacquie Speight - represents Castleford ward
Adults and Health – Cllr Pat Garbutt - represents ward in Ponty -
Children and Young People – Cllr Olivia Rowley represents a ward in Wakefield!!! The only one.
Environment and Communities – Cllr Maureen Cummings - Ward in Crofton, Ryhill and Walton
Corporate Services – Cllr Les Shaw Ward in Airedale and Ferry Fryston

 

Was it Maureen Cummings that booked a Bay City Rollers tribute act for her 50th birthday and claimed it on expenses?

 

The village of Hemwsorth was twinned with Roy Castle back in 1982.

 

Roy Castle, coincidentally, once presented a Record Breakers Christamas Special live from Hemsworth, where a chap called Roy (I think) attached 43 clothes pegs to his penis.