Our Home . .

Our meetings are held at The Ruddle Centre, Doncaster Road, Braithwell, Doncaster, which is a very short drive from Maltby.

It's on the B6376 that runs between Braithwell and Edlington. Look for the sign turning you left as you leave Braithwell. Travelling from Edlington, it's the very first right turn as you arrive in Braithwell.

We moved to here in mid-2007 following the closure of our then home the Centenary Hall at Hellaby, an event that you will find well documented elsewhere on our site. We've been made very welcome here by all concerned.

The centre has a main hall, meeting room, fully equipped kitchen, toilets, and is wheelchair and disabled friendly. On top of that we've been allocated some space in a utility room to set up a shack, and we're looking at the possibility of installing some aerials in the loft space.

The grounds, which back on to farm land, are big enough for a football pitch. Having said that, come to think about it, there IS a football pitch!

So, plenty of scope for long wires outside on warm summer evenings, not to mention a barby or two.

So, if you're in our neck of the woods on a Wednesday evening, drop in and say hello. The kettle will be on and we might even manage to prise funds from our treasurer for a couple of biscuits!

 

Why Ruddle ?

THE RUDDLE PIT
Hand-coloured aquatint by Robert Havell from 'The Costume of Yorkshire' by George Walker, published 1814 by Robinson & Son of Leeds

Ruddle is another name for Hematite, or Ochre, which is what often  causes soil to look red in colour. In the 18th & 19th century, it was mined in the Micklebring area, close to Braithwell, near Doncaster. It was obtained by a sort of open-cast method.  A shaft of about twenty-three feet deep, and around five in diameter, would be dug, passing through layers of limestone and gritstone. Immediately under this would be found a band of ruddle, about nine inches deep, imbedded in the middle of a six foot deep layer of clay.  The miner would go down the shaft, and, from a sitting position would use a short axe, similar to that of the lead miner to excavate about four yards from the centre of the shaft. Any further than this would be dangerous as the clay could not easily be supported. At this point, he moved on. A new shaft would be sunk near to the other, and the process repeated.

 

Once mined, the ruddle was then taken to the mill. Here it was ground to a powder; mixed with water then reground. The resulting slurry was run into a settling pond, where the ruddle sunk to the bottom, and the water was allowed to evaporate. The now solidified ruddle was cut into small squares, packed up in casks, and sent to Hull and London to be exported. The price was about £5 per ton. How much the hard working miner got is anybody's guess!

The Ruddle was mainly used as a dye, especially for painting, such as carts and wagons, and was  also used by carpenters for marking

Now for the sex bit. Sheep farmers need to know when a ewe has been err....serviced! So, they fit a marker to the underside of the ram, and when he mounts the ewe it leaves a coloured patch on her back. Although modern synthetic dyes in all the colours of the rainbow have now taken over, the original dye used was ochre, or ruddle, from which was derived the name "raddle" for the marker attached to the by now well happy ram!

Anyway, back to story. Where did Braithwell come into the ruddle story? Well, the mill that processed the ruddle was just down the road from the centre of the village, close by Ruddle Dyke, and not far from where the Ruddle Centre now stands.