South Yorkshire Times May 1,1965
FROM NEW ZEALAND
Our Denaby Correspondent this week received a letter from Mr. and Mrs. J. Hector MacFarlane of Henderson, Auckland, New Zealand, who had spent a holiday with a friend who is a dairy farmer.
They were some 16 miles from the nearest town and he states, “The shopping is done by telephone and then delivered by vans who also deliver the mail,” wrote Mr. MacFarlane. He states that both he and Mrs. MacFarlane were well and wished to be remembered to friends in the district.
They keep in touch with the local news through his sisters Esther and Alice, and the “South Yorkshire Times”. He refers to the news in the “Times” some time ago of the deaths of Amos Broom, Joe Clare and Wally Smith, who, with Herbert Clare, were his school pals, and he adds, “We were a happy crowd and went to Sunday school together and really enjoyed the good old days and the Sunday school outings to Edlington Woods.”
Mr. MacFarlane continues, “I spent some happy childhood days in Denaby Main but I am afraid I cannot recall those “big gates” that you recently wrote about in your Notes, at the top of Tickhill Street. I was too young to recall that episode, but I remember many other incidents to which you have referred over a period of months and they bring back many memories of the village and its people.”
He continues: “Our local new Church is well on the way and it is hoped to be completed this May. The cost is about £25,000 but this will be a small Church compared with Denaby Main Parish Church. We have lived in New Zealand for 17 years and my wife says we are “Kiwis” now. I hope your ‘Golden’ which I hear you celebrate this year will bring back pleasant and happy memories,” he concludes.