When I was growing up, I often wondered how many famous, or infamous, people came from Doncaster. I thought that, because of the railways and the A1, most people just passed through on the way to somewhere more inspiring. It comes to something when the Great North Road and the East Coast Main Line are seen as inspirational, and in both directions … yes, including the South!
I’m not sure whether people from Doncaster tell it how it is because they are straight-talking and honest, or because they don’t know any better.
Whatever the reason, Doncaster is full of characters. Some of them were born in the town, some of them visited and just fit right in.
Most of them had something to say.
Stuff said by People who were Born in Doncaster
Jeremy Clarkson
How hard can it be?
Jeremy Clarkson was born in 1960 in the Yorkshire town of Doncaster in the North of England, an area renowned for its loud shouting and rampant exaggeration. He went to Repton school but didn’t really pay attention and then got a job with a local newspaper where he was famed for stories such as ‘Literally 50 billion people visit cake sale’. Probably. A chance meeting with a BBC producer saw him cast in the hit show Top Gear and the rest is history. Except for jet packs, which are the future.
– IMDb Mini Biography By: The Grand Tour Team
Roy Clarke OBE
Phwoar! This stuff shouldn’t be available on the the internet where anybody can see it.
Roy Clarke was born in Austerfield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire in January 1930, and from an early age wanted to be a writer. He would write in his spare time whilst trying his hand at a number of careers – policeman, teacher, salesman, taxi-driver – until, in 1972, the BBC invited him to write “The Last of the Summer Wine”, a sitcom about the exploits of three pensioners approaching their lives in a manner that old men seldom do! It was filmed in Holmfirth but was apparently based on three old men who lived in and around Moss, near Doncaster. Characters from some of his other series were also said to be based on real people in and around the Moss area. I used to go to school with a “Ducket” and Hyacinth is said to be based on a lady that used to live in Braithwaite.
Brian Blessed
The greatest danger in life is not taking chances. There are so many negative people wanting to grind you down, but you can’t let them. If people say you are mad, you know you’re on the right track.
Brian Blessed was born in 1936, in Mexborough, South Yorkshire. Mexborough is about 8 miles from Doncaster Town Centre, but I’m from Doncaster and I was brought up 10 miles away so I guess it counts. His father, William Blessed was a coal miner at Hickleton Main Colliery … and a socialist. Brian attended Bolton on Dearne Secondary Modern School before completing his National Service and enrolling at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Phil Morehouse
Stuff said by People who Moved to Doncaster
Douglas Bader
Doncaster
Doncaster is a large metropolitan borough in the North of England, blessed with a population of over 300,000 and built alongside the River Don. The Romans lived here, in Danum, on the way up North.
There are markets and shopping centres; there is a Minster and a Museum. There is now a college and there is an Airport.
Photo by Emilia Czarnota from Pexels