HISTORY FEATURE: The story of the rise of the Ascension — a church to meet the miners’ needs

This sharp growth — from a little over 1,500 people to more than 7,600 — brought extra housing, not least the Model Village housing for miners.

Religious requirements were also addressed, as the Church of the Ascension was included within the circular street pattern of the new estate.

It was completed in 1912, the first of four churches in the area and followed by New Edlington’s St John’s, St Philip & St James at New Bentley and St Luke’s in New Rossington — all by 1916.

The South Yorkshire Coalfields Church Extension Committee commissioned architect F Norman D Masters, who came up with the designs for all four.

“They were all very similar, Romanesque or Byzantine style, with round arches,” said Thomas Best, chairman of Maltby Local History society.

“Maltby was the first one he did, and he probably added little bits to the others once this one was done and successful.”

A church is usually dedicated to a suitable saint but the Church of the Ascension was dedicated on Ascension Day — May 17 — in 1912, hence its rather rarer name.

Dedication duties were carried out on that day by the Archbishop of York, Cosmo Gordon Lang, as there would be another couple of years before the Diocese of Sheffield came into existence.

The first priest was Douglas Crick — later  to be Bishop of Chester — and the youngsters of Maltby would get at least the morning off school to attend if Ascension Day fell in midweek.

Thomas (86) is among the most qualified people to talk about the Maltby miners’ church as his family were among the Model Village’s first residents.

His grandad George had been an overman at Cadeby Colliery when the family moved to Deacon Crescent, one of the new streets for pit officials. George’s wife Eliza Jane was a member of the Mothers’ Union at the Church of the Ascension when it first started.

Thomas began to learn the organ there at a young age, and would later play at St Bartholomew’s in Maltby and St James’ in Braithwell.

“Up to the late 1940s, the organ at the Church of the Ascension had to be pumped by hand,” he said. “In about 1949 or 1950, an electric blower was installed.

“Prior to this, someone had to be employed to ‘pump’ the organ whenever it was in use.

“The last person to do this was John Barry Gibson, the eldest son of the organist, Mr A Gibson. He took over from Freddie Trueman — Fiery Fred — who held the job for several years.”

The organ was ‘pumped’ by the use of a 20ft wooden beam in the choir vestry, which operated two bellows sending air into a main reservoir inside the organ.

Thomas said: “When the organ was played, air went from the reservoir to the pipes to produce sounds.

“The air had to be maintained at a steady level in the reservoir and the person pumping had to keep his eye on a ‘telltale’. This was a lead weight connected by a cord and a system of pulleys to the top of the reservoir.

“As the air was used, the telltale moved upwards and the person pumping had to try to keep it in its lowest position.”

Among the features at the church was a memorial window installed behind the alter following the colliery disaster in 1923.

The pit actually ended up lasting longer than the church — but the link between the two remained strong through the decades.

In 1998, a special service was hosted to mark the 75th anniversary of the underground explosion which claimed 27 lives.

Rev Hilary Hotchin said at the time: “It will be a low key service for people to remember the dead and we will pray that such a disaster will not happen again.”

The first wedding was Barbara Drakett and Les Davies in the 1920s and the last was Clair Gormley and Stephen Stancer on September 26, 1992.

Famous organist Robinson Cleaver — a relative of Barbara’s — played the church and returned for its 50th anniversary celebrations.

A rumoured spectre at the Church of the Ascension was also linked to the wedding licence there.

Thomas said: “Very few people know this bit the church was reported to have a ghost. It was a bride.

“My sister was in the choir there. They were waiting outside the church once and they said they saw a figure, a bide, go to the entrance and then turn around and walk away.

“It was always said that it was because the church was not licensed for weddings at this time, and the bride was going away disappointed.”

Millicent Square hut was acquired by the Church of the Ascension, which used the former First World War building as its social centre.

“It was quite a thriving place,” said Thomas, now a retired physics teacher still living in Maltby.

“The hut had scouts, guides, a youth club all meeting there. For a time, there was a Saturday night old time dance group.

“The dance band had Aaron Gibson playing piano, violinist Florence Jenkins, Billy Broad on the cello and on drums a certain Thomas Best... me!

“It was very well organised, and must have gone on into the 1950s. We would probably get 70 or 80 people there.

“The other thing they did was a pantomime, which was usually put on at the Silver Dollar club in Maltby.”

The final service at the Church of the Ascension was conducted by the Bishop of Sheffield, Rev Jack Nicholls, on May 12, 2001.

Among those in attendance was Ethel Fletcher, who had attended the service of dedication all the way back on Ascension Day in 1912.

Congregation numbers were down and maintenance costs up by the end of the 20th century, so the decision was taken to turn the church into housing.