Mexborough & Swinton Times – Saturday 10 May 1924
The Miners’ Welfare Fund
The Denaby Scheme Explained
Small Supplementary Scheme For Conisbrough Advocated
At the Conisbrough Castle Club on Sunday evening, Mr. A. Roberts, J.P., C.C., addressed a very large audience on the Miners’ Welfare Scheme and its relation to Conisbrough. He stated that there had been some discontent regarding what had been done for Conisbrough. The Miners’ Welfare Fund was provided for by Act of Parliament, and the functions of the committee were limited. Criticism as to what should have been done was being levelled at the scheme while it was nearing finality. It was not possible to have a scheme on everyone’s doorstep, and the best for the district had to be considered. The site was valued at £400. There had been an alternative site offered at £200, but the site chosen was more central.
When the scheme was formulated the allocation per head was fixed at 10s., but in the Doncaster district 35s. per head was now available owing to the increase in output. He hoped that the fund would not be continued in 1925, but that it could be carried on to provide pensions for miners and for other reforms. He showed how the scheme catered for men, women and children. Arrangements had been made with the West Riding Education Committee whereby all children over seven would be able to use the bath twice per week to learn swimming. Women would have rooms set apart for themselves, and they were to be given a chance to fix a day per week for the exclusive use of the swimming bath. Men at the pits would be admitted for 2s. per annum, stopped at 6d. per quarter, which would give free admission to all cricket matches. Wives of miners would pay 1s. per year.
This applied to wives of miners living in this urban district, even if their husbands worked at other pits than Denaby and Cadeby. There were 190 men in New Conisbrough and 230 men in Conisbrough working at Yorkshire Main, who would be members at the same rates as Denaby and Cadeby workers.
The site had been criticised, but the committee had looked years ahead, and had decided that Conisbrough would develop towards Hill Top, and that probably in ten years there would be 1,000 houses, accommodating 4,000 persons. A deposit had been paid on the purchase of the Crofts, and there would be four football fields over them.
Regarding the contention that Yorkshire Main workers should not come in with Denaby, this project had to be taken from the point of view of citizens, not of workers at pits, for it was definitely laid down that there could not be more than one scheme in one district. This week only had it been proved that Yorkshire Main miners’ share could not go into the Denaby scheme, so now a further scheme to embrace eight pits could be advanced. Rather than have dissension, he hoped that Yorkshire Main men would formulate a scheme of their own and accept full responsibility. He would endeavour to assist any scheme propounded.
He referred to the Goldthorpe and Bolton districts, where there were seven pits and five schemes had been advanced. Now two had been dropped and the others had not come up to expectations. Considering the limitations of the Act, he thought a central scheme was best.
He hoped that the children would get more benefits out of the scheme, in the shape of recreation grounds, to keep them off the streets and minimise the risk of accidents. It was also hoped to benefit the hospital. £250 had been set aside to provide power for the X-ray apparatus and to light the fuller room in hospital. In providing swimming, concert rooms, tea rooms, billiards rooms, bowling greens, tennis courts, cricket pitches and football grounds, the local committee had put the widest interpretation upon the Act permitted. (Applause.)
Mr. G. Starr, who since the inauguration of the Miners’ Welfare had championed a separate scheme for Conisbrough, made a short speech in which he told something of Conisbrough’s efforts. Conisbrough had been definitely told that it was impossible to split the scheme, but only last Thursday night it had been learned that there was £1,640 available as the Yorkshire Main miners’ portion. He wanted a scheme for Conisbrough.
Mr. Roberts, in reply, stated that the Central Committee had now admitted their mistake, and that Edlington’s quota was not included in Denaby’s. Questioned regarding the cost of the scheme, Mr. Roberts stated that it was estimated at about £17,000. He also stated that the charges for games would be: cricket, an additional 2s. 6d.; bowls, an additional 2s. 6d.; tennis, an additional 10s.; and combined games, an additional 12s. 6d.