COAL 'oles in Cudworth are still standing after 100 years.

The coal houses and outside toilets are still a feature of some terraced houses on Kings Road, Clifford Street and Princess Street, although some have been knocked down to make space for cars.

There are three different makes of metal doors in Cudworth, some with F.T Salmon & Co on them, some with JF Brown & Co Brighouse and some with no name at all.

Alan Curtis, 70, of Poplar Avenue, Shafton, lived in Clifford Street until he was five, when he moved to moved to Kings road in 1942.

He began researching local history when he bought his computer.

He said: “I think it’s just interesting to research this kind of thing.”

Mr Curtis found that Frank Thomas Salmon & Co built the houses in partnership with John Stothard and Sons about 1900 and that the 19 houses in Princess Road had been built for about £1, 900, which is £100 a house.

He remembers helping his parents to shovel the coal into the coal house when it arrived.

He said: “Coal was used for everything: cooking, keeping the house warm, everything like that was done by coal.”

Mr Curtis remembers needing the right aim to get the coal into the hole and how there was trouble if any of the ‘black diamonds’ were spilled.

He recalls how in winter, a fire was sometimes lit to keep smaller rooms warm and it was not uncommon to see frost on the inside of windows.

He added: “There was no central heating in those days, everything was done by coal.”