Dinnington, Yorkshire

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Dinnington
Yorkshire
West Riding
Location
Grid reference: SK5386
Location: 53°22’0"N, 1°12’-0"W
Data
Population: 9,161  (2001)
Post town: Sheffield
Postcode: S25
Dialling code: 01909
Local Government
Council: Rotherham
Parliamentary
constituency:
Rother Valley

Dinnington is a sizable village in a rural spot in the West Riding of Yorkshire, in the very south of the county, roughly equidistant from Sheffield and Rotherham, and roughly five miles from Worksop.

Dinnington is in the civil parish of Dinnington St John's, and is the principal place of the parish – the parish also includes the small satellite hamlets of Throapham and St John's.

Excavations show Dinnington to have been inhabited since at least Neolithic times, and it has been suggested that the settlement takes its name from a local barrow, though a more traditional interpretation of "Dinnington" would be "Dunn's Farmstead", or "Town of Dunns People".

Dinnington was originally a small, isolated farming community, based around the New Road area of the town. Quarrying in the area helped expand the population, but it was the sinking of the Dinnington Main Colliery in 1905 that led to the real growth of the settlement. The census of 1911 shows a twenty-fold increase in population since 1901, from 250 to 5000.

The coal miners initially lived in a prefabricated shanty town in Laughton Common, colloquially known as tin town but later moved into Colliery-built terrace houses around the central shopping area of Laughton Road.

Dinnington continued to expand throughout the 20th century, largely through the growth of commuter living that followed the Second World War. As the housing estates spread, Dinnington began to merge seamlessly into the neighbouring settlements of Throapham and North Anston. The result is a 2-mile strip of urban development that mainly acts as a commuter base for Sheffield, Rotherham and Worksop, although with closure of coal and then steel industries, the area has saw a rapid decline in the late 1980s and early 1990s and despite steady growth, still had the highest level of unemployment in the United Kingdom in 2001.[1]

Dinnington Colliery was closed in 1992, this damaged the local community, and had a large negative impact on the local economy with initial job losses and knock on effect closures to local business.

Economyest

Dinnington has a large high-street which includes many chain stores of the cheaper sort, but it still has many traditional family owned butchers, greengrocers, and small traders.

The Manor Motorsport team (called Virgin Racing in Formula One from 2010 to 2011 currently running as Marussia F1 from 2012 onwards) was is also based in Dinnington.

Blastrac UK, the road surface specialists are based in Dinnington.

Controversy

Recent controversy has arisen in the village surrounding plans to redevelop the Miners Welfare. The Welfare buildings and sports fields were provided originally for the miners at the local colliery by CISWO in 1926. The proport has been latterly leased to Rotherham Borough Council and was used for Safe@Start programmes up until 2007. It has remained empty since that date and has been subject to vandalism and lack of repairs. The controversy regarding development has resulted in the formation of a local residents group opposing the development plans and asking for the regeneration of the site as an amenity for local people.[2]

Outside links

References