What's going on in Grimethorpe then?

Another once thriving town with a great high street and a river running through it. To be fair, they are doing a good job to spruce the place up but there is no real industry anymore. Huge drug problem, extremely violent and one of the highest murder rates in the country.

 

Did part of my teacher training at Willowgarth school. Absolutely loved it.

 

My dad taught there for many years and also loved the place.

 

Is this still on abart Darton?

 

Don't be cheeky, she's only 55

 

Cheeky bugger!

 

You can sod off anorl.

 

It was in the 90s, too. Walking to the ‘village’ (high street area), the roads were always littered with needles. I completely regret living there, when I see the opportunities the kids get at the school I work in now (to be fair, it’s one of the best non private schools) it makes me so sad to realise that how I grew up wasn’t normal. Growing up in Grimey was a time of a lot of fear: getting broken into constantly (mostly sheds but also car stolen and an old lady down the road broken into and murdered); taping up letterboxes as people were posting fireworks through on ‘mizzy night’ (god I hated that night!); Red City on White City fights if you dared to stray one street too far in the wrong direction; no one ever allowed to deviate too far from the norm whether that’s haircuts or clothing or whatever without getting picked on; houses down the village that we could see out of our back windows set on fire with flames coming out of the roofs almost daily; the small gym we used to use being burned down; my mates being so poor and malnourished and treated violently by their parents at times. There were obviously times of real happiness but there’s plenty of things about growing up there I would change.

 

My overriding memory of grimethorpe in the 90s was that one street completely boarded up except for one house right in the middle

 

Went to school there in the early 90s.

 

Played against Willowgarth School for Hemsworth. Early 70's.

Best player I saw on the same pitch when playing schoolboys football was Ian Arkwright, from Shafton, who played for Willowgarth.

Which is saying something, given that my own team's fellow central defender was Phil Wilson, who went on to play in the top English division (Bolton). And there were one or two other decent players too.

 

I work 6 days a week I’m grimey, and I absolutely love the place. Does it have its bad bits? 100% but I can guarantee you this, you won’t find a better set of people. They are the finest people I’ve ever met, Infact most of them have treat me like one of their own in my ten years of working there.

The grimey I hear a lot of you speak of is certainly not the case nowadays. Of course there’s issues, but nothing like it once was.

 

Its just like anywhere else.

 

Well said

 

Ian Awkwright was a excellent player, signed for Wolves on leaving school before having a decent career at Wrexham