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The Village of Thrybergh
visited by Stu Charmak
 It was 1984, the year George Orwell predicted totalitarianism, the rewriting of the past and all-seeing telescreens. The road sign for Thrybergh flashed up on the television screen and a friend in the Midlands reached for the phone.
He had just witnessed a fierce confrontation between police and miners outside Silverwood Colliery. The road sign had featured in the report and, as we lived in Thrybergh at the time, he rang to find out if we were alright. Contrary to some reports there were no running battles in the streets of Thrybergh during the Miners’ Strike. There were, in effect, occasions of humour between the two sides of the dispute. Thrybergh used to be the home of a car hire company called Smith Self-Drive. A number of times both miners and police stood side by side in that company’s office vying for as much transport as possible for their respective battalions. The banter was friendly but the pressure occasionally got to the beleaguered manager who was once heard to mutter that if he could pull minibuses out of thin air (A paraphrase of what he actually said!) he would be a millionaire!
Incredibly that was almost a quarter of a century ago, but Thrybergh has a history far longer than that; some say longer even than Rotherham. The village lies on the main Rotherham-Doncaster road. The Romans inhabited both towns, although there is no evidence that the A630 is a Roman road, but the village would have made an ideal resting place for travellers.
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 Thrybergh appears in the Domesday Book. It was given to William the Conqueror’s chief aide, William de Perci, in gratitude for his help during the Conquest. This William became the founder of the great Percy family, one of the greatest land owning families in the country. During the 14th and 15th Centuries they were so powerful, particularly in subduing the Scots, that they gained the unofficial title of ‘Kings of the North.’
Travelling in from the direction of Doncaster, on the left-hand side before the road sign, lies Thrybergh Country Park. Kept in brilliant condition by a team of rangers the park is a sanctuary of unpolluted peace. There is a modern visitors’ centre providing information, souvenirs and fishing tackle, a caravan site, and tasty homemade food is the order of the day, whether winter or summer, from the Lakeside Cafe.
The countryside rangers lead school visits, explain the environment, supervise tree-planting, give guided walks and produce information packs. They also monitor fish stocks in the jewel of the park, the reservoir, or ‘reser’ as it is known locally, and the resident ducks and swans. Constructed in 1880 the reservoir was meant to supply Doncaster with water. However, leakage through the filter beds eventually made it nonviable and Rotherham Borough Council bought it for a nominal £1 exactly 100 years after it had been completed.
There is a good pathway all round the reservoir, making for a relaxing walk in the peace and quiet of the park. Strollers, some with buggies or dogs on leads, now and again have to move over for joggers or runners, but there is little inconvenience and it all adds to the reputation of a community park. In the winter the eastern footpath is closed off so that migratory birds, who nest there, are not disturbed.
 Apart from the 200 species of birds in the park there is an abundance of wildlife with over 170 species of wildflowers and plants and 20 species of mammals. Fishing is allowed, predominantly fly-fishing, but anglers must have a permit; would-be anglers can also get involved in a novel way of fishing called ‘Float Tubing.’ This year Thrybergh Country Park won another prestigious Green Flag Award which designates it as having high environmental standards and being an excellent recreational green area.
In the Domesday Book Thrybergh was known as Triberge, which was derived from the Old English for Three Hills. Around 1200 the village passed out of Percy hands and into those of the Normainville family. They relinquished the tenancy to Sir Adam Reresby in 1316, who became Lord of Thrybergh. The Reresbys held on to the village for 400 years, their name commemorated in a number of roads and one of the local pubs.
In 1809 the Fullerton family inherited Thrybergh Park from a Judith Finch. The acres of parkland had much dense woodland and in 1814 the new owners sold off a large amount of the timber. The income generated allowed them to build a magnificent residence. This is now the prestigious clubhouse of Rotherham Golf Club.
Created in 1903 and set amidst the still glorious views of wooded parkland, the club was originally a nine hole course, then increased to 18 in 1906. The par for the 6,327 yard course is 70, but the record score of 62 is held by Simon Coumbe of Pontefract who hit it during a round of the Lee Westwood Trophy in 2005. The club also boasts the No. 1 world amateur golfer in Daniel Willett, who is a member of the England Elite Squad.
 Further in towards the centre of Thrybergh, rising above the trees is the tower and spire of the 14th Century parish church of St. Leonard’s. The chancel has been restored with a new arch and windows. There is a stone portrait of Radulphus Reresby from 1526, a 16th Century wall monument to Lionel Reresby, and one to John Fullerton’s wife from 1818. There was also a list of parish priests stretching back to the 11th Century.
Across the road and back towards the ‘reser’ is the cemetery. A chapel, erected around 1911, once stood near the entrance. The walls are now gone but they have left an open, pleasant place to spend some quiet time. This is also true of a stroll up the track between the graves. At the top of the track is a well-kept area where newer graves are set in a circle. It is obviously well-tended with immaculate headstones and a profusion of flowers.
St Leonard’s has a sister church in the village, St. Peter’s on Oldgate Lane, popularly known as Whinney Hill. There is also St. Gerard’s Catholic Church at the top of the hill on Doncaster Road. In the 1930’s and 1940’s, collieries and steel mills (Thrybergh Bar Mill is situated at the bottom of Whinney Hill) attracted workers from all over, some walking from as far away as Stoke. Those who were Catholic built a school on Park Nook where Mass was also celebrated until the church was built in 1950.
The village is big enough to support three other schools; Thrybergh Primary, which was completely rebuilt a few years ago, Thrybergh Fullerton Primary, which has also had substantial additions to its structure, and Thrybergh Comprehensive. Alongside the latter is Thrybergh Sports Centre with its four badminton court sports hall which also caters for archery, aerobics, basketball, competitions, concerts and parties. The basic ethos of the Centre is to create opportunities and enhance sports provision in the community.
 Two warehouses belonging to the Foster family almost surround St. Peter’s Church. One is where the still fondly remembered Fosters Supermarket used to be, although it closed over 20 years ago. It was renowned for its prices, especially on its beers, wines and spirits, which drew customers from miles around every Christmas. Its closure, after staying open through the traumatic times of the Miners’ Strike, came because of the financial advantages given to both Morrisons and Hillards (now Tesco) to attract them to Rotherham. There is more about Fosters of Thrybergh in a further article in this magazine.
The village has two clubs; Thrybergh Working Mens’ Club round the corner from the post office, on Hollings Lane, and the British Legion down Whinney Hill. The two village pubs are on Vale Road, both of them named after former lords of the manor, the Reresby and the Fullerton. In the heydays of the mines, Silverwood Colliery being just up the road, it was hard to find a seat at weekends in any of these establishments. It is not so now. Since 1985, government actions and the subsequent demise of the pits, communities like Thrybergh have suffered tremendously and so have the businesses within those communities.
Close to Silverwood Colliery, within the woods, there once stood a monument to those who had fallen in the two world wars. However, over time it became neglected. Some years ago concerned citizens mounted a campaign and the stone column was taken down and rebuilt, with a light at its head, and now stands proudly as the village cenotaph at the side of the parish hall.
History has shaped Thrybergh; it has seen bad times and good times. But new housing developments have started to spring up and with these, the country park and its other amenities, the future for the village is perhaps not as bleak as once thought, both for visitors and for those who live there.
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