WHAT’S THA UP TO? A YORKSHIRE “BOBBY” LOOKS BACK
Memories of a Yorkshire bobby (policeman) by Martyn Johnson
A nostalgic look at the days of being a bobby on the beat, by Martyn Johnson. First Published by Wharncliffe Local History (2010), an imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd. Republished by Sphere and reprinted in 2011.
Eeh by gum, a glossary fer tha!:- please note this is popular local dialect! Find out for yourself what it means!
Yorkshire has produced two literary bobbies come authors who have opted for such variety in their choice of book titles, one by retired copper Martyn Johnson and the other Fictional Heartbeat manages a weak pun but then tends to wear out its story lines. We want to know what has happened to David, Ginna, Bernie and even Oscar.
Martyn Johnson is an Author, Metal Detectorist and Historian. He lives in the beautiful village of Wentworth (which houses the building with the biggest front in the UK – Wentworth Woodhouse – wider than Buckingham Palace) in South Yorkshire. He was born in Darfield, some five and a half miles north east of Wentworth and is the son of a coal miner. He left school at the age of fifteen and took up employment as a blacksmith. His work changed dramatically four years later when he joined the Sheffield City Police where he served as a ‘beat bobby’ at Attercliffe in the east end of Sheffield, until 1969. A two year spell in the CID followed but, missing grassroots policing, he returned to the beat for a further seven years. Martyn is a well known metal detectorist and has appeared on many BBC Radio Sheffield programmes talking about his hobby with his big, big pal the late Tony Capstick who was a well known and loved radio presenter and actor. Martyn,being a long-time resident of Wentworth village, assisted and advised Catherine Bailey when she was researching her best selling book, Black Diamonds, regarding the mining industry and the aristocracy of the area.
Martyn and his wife Christine have three children together – a boy (Richard) then a girl (Sally) then another boy (Paul) . He and his fiancée – before she became his wife, apparently witnessed flying saucers (UFO’s) together and formed an irreversible bond coming from similar areas and being very well matched.
Martyn’s account of his time as a policeman in the South Yorkshire area includes many challenging episodes, including bodies under trains, stolen coal, a motorbike which came and went through the middle of a house only causing one minor piece of damage, having to work with an officer he referred to as P C Pretentious, and many interesting accounts of driving as well as walking as a policeman, including mysterious swaying carriageways which were designed to do just that – or similar. His beat included immigrant areas where he made friends with immigrants and they gave the family their own local delicacies in exchange for help with mastering the local mother tongue of English.
The 248 page book of Martyn Johnson’s life as a bobby on the beat with all the extras of family life and liaisons with friend,s criminals and neighbours is a pleasure to read and I am sure you will race through it with possibly the same thoughts that I had – these stories would be great made into a film/TV series. There does seem to be somewhat of an insatiable taste and hunger for police/public stories such as anything from Z Cars, Dixon of Dock Green, Heartbeat, Midsomer Murders, The Bill etc., so if this nifty book with all its anecdotes catches the eye of a keen and established film maker, watch this space for further developments. The Sphere copy of the book retails at £5.99 – a song compared to some tomes! Good reading! Let us know if you find a different price or if your views differ from ours at The Saturn Herald.
Penny Nair Price