South Yorkshire Times, July 3, 1943
New Canteen Opened
To Serve Denaby Miners
Substantial hot meals, rivalling in quality the best hotel lunches of pre war days, are being served at the new canteen which was officially opened on Monday for miners at Denaby Main.
For 2s.1d. miners have generous helpings of potatoes, vegetables and meat, a sweet and a cup of tea or coffee. All miners at the pit are having one free dinner to test the quality of the meals provided. The canteen has cost about £5,000, which has been met by the Miners’ Welfare Commission, and one or two extras such as the tiled floor have been paid for out of profits from the Colliery snack bar. The spacious kitchens are equipped with modern cooking machinery, and heated storing cupboards keep mid-day dinners hot and appetising for late diners. There are tables each seating eight, with stools, and 156 meals can be served at each sitting. Mr. F. Worth, of Mexborough, who is in charge of the snack bar, will also manage the canteen, and there is a staff of 18 working shifts to provide meals at all times.
The Denaby Main Pithead Baths Canteen Committee, which runs the canteen, is: Management representatives, Messrs. N. Hulley (agent), J. Halford, C. J. Pickett and T. Hardy; men’s representatives, Messrs. J. T. E. Collins, A. Mee, F. Bramley and A. Milnthorpe. Mr. Hulley is chairman and Mr. H. R. Lapidge secretary of the committee.
Presiding at the opening ceremony, Mr. Hulley gave the Loyal Toast and welcomed the guests – 60 representatives of the management and men at Denaby and Cadeby Pits. He said it was a unique occasion in that they had an excellent canteen, but were at present deprived of the use of the pithead baths. They had been told by many people that canteens were not a success where there were no pithead baths, but the committee felt that with the excellent canteen they had they could make it very popular in spite of the fact that the baths were not operating.
The architect (Mr. B. D. Thomson, Worksop) and the builder (Mr. G. H. Smickersgill, Wath) had between them turned out a first-class job. Charges for the good meals provided were: 9d. for the main course of meat, potatoes and vegetables, 3d. for sweet, and 1d. for a cup of coffee or tea, making a total of 1s. 1d. Mr. Hulley thought the committee could be well satisfied with the result of their work and added thanks to the staff for the splendid way they had worked. He particularly thanked Mr. Lapidge, who had put in a tremendous amount of time for the canteen.
Declaring the canteen open, Mr. B. H. Pickering, General Manager of Amalgamated Denaby Collieries Limited. congratulated the staff, committee, secretary, architect and builder on their work. He said the war prevented completion of the pithead baths. It gave him great pleasure to be present at the opening with the Union secretaries, checkweighmen and committees, because he could assure them that he had the greatest respect for all of them with whom they had tried to work “hand in glove” for the betterment of the industry. Saying he considered the canteen as good if not better than any in the district, Mr. Pickering mentioned that only about 40 per cent of the men were using the canteens at the company’s other pits at Rossington, Maltby and Dinnington. This was rather a low figure and he hoped the maximum number of men would dine at Denaby’s canteen, which was for their own good.
Mr. J. Humphries, Chairman of Conisbrough U.D.C., considered that if the meals provided were similar to what they had had that night, Denaby miners would not be backward in dining at the canteen.
Moving a vote of thanks to Mr. Pickering, Mr. E. T. Hardy, Chief Engineer of Denaby, Cadeby and Maltby Pits, said the canteen was for the benefit of the workpeople, with which Mr. Pickering was deeply concerned.
Seconding, Mr. R. H. Shepherd, President of the Y.M.A., said how grateful the men would be to use the canteen.
Mr. Collins, secretary of the branch and vice-chairman of the Pithead Baths Committee, submitted “The Visitors,” and said that in their efforts to get more food for local miners they had been told that this could only be done by getting a canteen. As it was a pleasure to be in the canteen so it would be a pleasure for the men to use it. His only regret was that the pithead baths were not functioning owing to the war. He hoped that after the war not only would the canteen belong to the men, but the pits also.
Mr. Hulley: I am looking forward with a certain amount of pleasure to the Times when the day suggested comes. I think I shall be secretary of the local branch committee then (laughter).
Responding, Mr. D. Cowburn, Agent at Cadeby Main, congratulated all connected with the canteen which, he said, ranked with some of the best in the county. Work was proceeding on a new canteen for Cadeby miners, which he was told would be ready in about six weeks time.
Mr. D. Sheldon hoped that their canteen at Cadeby would be even better than the beautiful structure they had at Denaby. He praised the excellent labour-saving devices in the canteen’s kitchens.