Goole Fields
The area around Goole was originally penetrated by tides but silting began and gradually swampy land started to emerge above the water level, hence its name of "Marshland". Huge drainage ditches were built to manage the land and a lot of these survive around Goole Fields. There is a windmill and an old smithy left in Goole Fields, but the rest is all rich farmland.
The road between Old Goole and Swinefleet is extremely bendy and full of motorbikes on a Sunday afternoon. Never cycle down this road during the night as you will hear a strange dog-like creature running after you but can never be seen.
Visitor Comments
Posted by Lucy on 25/09/2008
WOW! What an AMAZING place not!
Posted by John on 23/11/2008
I am looking for any info on my grandad Harry (Henry) Oldridge. Born approx 1881, died approx 1976. He was the youngest of nine, born in Eastoft, had a brother Jim(?) who had something to do with Goole Hall and a sister Ada (married name Bristow) who lived at Westwoodside. My grandfather eventually came to live and work in Scunthorpe. He died in 1974/75 aged about 93.
Posted by Polo on 20/03/2009
Goole Hall was in possession of the Oldridge family and was sold in the 1980s and turned into a nursing home. Descendants of Mr Oldridge still farm the land around the hall.
Posted by Sue on 09/09/2010
Hello to anyone who may have known of my great-grandmother's (Ada Mary Oldridge) either brother or uncle. I think they may have lived in Goole Hall many years ago (early 20th Century). My dad seems to think the name could have been Samuel Oldridge, he remembers them visiting in the 1940s. Dad also believes that the Hall is now a nursing home and that the people now have a restaurant in Goole, he thinks it's called the Capricorn? I wish he had a better memory for these things!
Thanks once again from British Columbia. The Brits really used to get around didn't they?
Posted by Sam on 13/09/2010
The name of Oldridge still lives on at Goole Hall.
You are correct about the Hall house being a nursing home, it has been for many a year now. The site is split into two separate businesses, the farm and the nursing home. Both businesses are not related. The one I know most about is the farm enterprise which is owned by John Oldridge. John does not actually live at the farm but on Main Street at Reedness.
The Oldridge family are well known in the area and if you track them down they will no doubt be able to fill you in with lots of family history.
Posted by Sue on 14/09/2010
Interesting to hear about the old hall still being part of a working farm which is great. I know farming is such an important part of my families' history but something sadly I have had little experience of apart from a hobby farm with sheep and goats when we were in Australia. I will make a point of catching up with John next summer when I visit Goole with my dad.
Posted by Paul on 30/08/2012
Goole Hall is listed Grade II* and was built in 1826.
Posted by Colette on 19/04/2011
The last photograph is the mill and blacksmith's shop. My dad, Edmund Wressell, was blacksmith here for over 40 years, first working for Mr Harold Hodgson (a huge man with hands like shovels) and then taking over the business until his retirement. The blacksmith's was a focal point on Goole Fields, a meeting place for lots of old characters who brought farm and domestic goods for repair. Dad has many funny stories about the people he met and worked with - a fine bunch of folks.
Posted by Sam on 13/07/2011
The old blacksmith's shop was certainly the place to be on Goole Fields, just to know what was going on in the locality and to hear some of the tales and ribbing that were told around the anvil by some of the farming characters. Absolutely fascinating stuff to a young lad. Having just left school and working on a small farm at Swinefleet, I was able to visit the blacksmith's shop pretty often (usually because I had broken something). Knowing both Harold and Eddie was a privilege as they were true gents in every sense.
When I left the farm and went selling farm machinery, I would often deliver parts for them to save them the trek to Epworth most nights. The last time I passed the old shop it looked a bit worse for wear but if only those walls could speak what a tale they could tell. Sadly things move on but you never forget such good times.
Posted by Lucy on 21/12/2011
The mill at Goole Fields used to be my grandad's and I love it so much. I never got to meet my grandad as he died before I was born but he would be so proud of it!
Posted by Taz on 26/12/2011
I remember Mr Phillipson and his horse and cart often seen down Bridge Street in the 1960s and early-1970s. I couldn't remember his first name but there was an interview in this Saturday's Yorkshire Post "Country Week" supplement with Eddie Wressell, the former blacksmith mentioned in a previous correspondence. Eddie mentions shoeing the last working horse in the area owned by Albert Phillipson, local farmer, who used to transport between the docks and the shipyard. To make the local connection complete, the YP interviewer was Lucy Oates, whose great-grandfather and grandfather farmed in Swinefleet at Quayfields(?) Farm where Richard Oldridge farms now.
Posted by Sam on 29/12/2011
I also read with interest the article on Eddie Wressell. No doubt he makes an interesting warden with his vast knowledge of all things countryside and beyond and will make things even more interesting with the sincere and quiet manner in which he puts things across. I reckon Mr Phillipson's first name was Albert but I will stand corrected on that one if someone knows different. The guy who always rode as shot gun with him though was a Mr Taun who lived down Morley Street.
They used to cart all sorts of stuff around from the shipyard in Old Goole and any rubbish they unloaded on the tip down the side of the Dutch River at the back of the old Fisons works where the road forks to either go to South Airmyn Grange farm or St. Helena farm. I reckon the tip site is now a scrapyard?
Had to laugh at the mention of Mr Oates. I, like you, will remember me once ditching a pea-cutter in his barley field early one morning when the chain came off the drive wheel. Possibly wouldn't be writing this now if it had gone the other way off the road though. Happy days!
Posted by Taz on 30/12/2011
As I remember, you were trying to keep up with my slightly faster machine and yes, the barley field was a better option than the deep dyke on the other side! Trouble was once a drive chain broke you didn't have an option!
Posted by Lucy on 10/05/2012
It's nice to read some of the comments/memories of my grandad. Yes he was called Albert. I never met him, would have loved to, but will get the chance one day. Miss u grandad xx
Posted by Paul on 30/12/2011
We bought the windmill at Goole Fields nearly two years ago now and we are restoring the mill and building an extension to the rear. This is a true self build where literally everything is been done by ourselves.
We absolutely love the mill and the area and would welcome any information on the history of the mill. Interestingly the date stone says 1871 TB (Thomas Burke) but it appears on an Ordinance Survey map of 1805? Please get in touch if you have any info, no matter how small. Thanks.
Posted by Peter on 08/06/2013
The mill at Goole Fields was owned by Thomas Birks and was built for him when his original mill was demolished by the A&CN to make way for the docks in the 1820s. His son Thomas Birks Junior was the miller at Goole Mill after his father retired. He married a sea captain's daughter Annie Woodhead, and he was an important amateur botanist. He was an expert on the fauna of the moors and river and was a leading light in the Goole Scientific Society.
Posted by Charles on 08/07/2016
My great-grandma lived in at Home farm with my great-granddad Alfred Walduck. Great-grandma Sarah (Skern) died in 1979. I went to her house once and she had no electricity and an outside toilet. She lived well into her 90s.
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