Book - Alan’s recollections of a Grimesthorpe long gone

MUCH has changed in Grimesthorpe since Alan Billam was a lad.

But now, at the age of 84, his memories of the place he grew up are etched as deep as the River Don.

So clear and fond are those memories they have inspired him to put pen to paper and write about Grimesthorpe as it was in the 1930s and ’40s.

His book - Recollections of Grimesthorpe and Beyond - is one man’s love story for a place many will never forget, and also serves as a an introduction to life as it was for those who never knew it.

It’s a tale of Grimesthorpe brimming with life, industry and characters, combining history, information and pictures.

Alan said: “I have always had a keen interest in local and family history. I always wanted to write about my birthplace as I remember it, along with some of the characters, buildings and the tricks us kids got up to.

“Grimesthorpe has gone through many changes since I was young. There is little left of the area which was once a thriving community. Much of the surrounding area is unrecognisable.”

Alan, who now lives in Lincolnshire, has devoted the book to his late wife Muriel.

The father-of-three, grandad-of-eight and great-grandfather-of-four - soon to be five - hopes his book will give younger readers an idea of how things were. And, for those old enough, he hopes to remind readers of the Grimesthorpe of their youth.

“I hope my book gives an insight into what life was like for an ordinary lad growing up in Grimesthorpe and that I haven’t made it boring.”

Recollections of Grimesthorpe and Beyond by Alan Billam is for sale in The Star shop, York Street, Sheffield, for £12.99.

From: http://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news/alan_s_recollections_of_a_grimesthorpe_long_gone_1_4292081