Today we gather to honour and celebrate the life of John Cookson. A proud miner and a true gentleman who dedicated his life to the wellbeing of his family.
John was born on the 12th April 1933 to William and May. He was the youngest of 13 children. As with most families at the time they didn’t have much but they made do. Hazel, one of his sisters, acted like a second mum to him, for which he was forever grateful. He grew up in Jump, or as he liked to call it, God’s little acre. He was a choirboy at the local church. Not because he was religious, but because he liked to sing. He left school at 15 and went straight down the pit at Elsecar. He worked hard and got his qualification as an electrician. John had a lot of friends down the pit. He always spoke very highly of Lloyd, and he was big friends with George Martin who he had been friends with since school, as well as Philip Ardron and Clive Adams. He loved to tell tales of his time as a miner. In later years he enjoyed talking to Mick, Jill’s husband, and share stories about their time underground. One of his favourites was how he used to feed the mice with bits of his lunch. Being a miner was everything to John and he hung up his hard hat for the final time at the age of 55.
John’s true love was Joan. John met Joan at Sunday Night at 8 and they walked home together with a couple of friends, on reaching Victoria Street Joan left the group and walked home without John realising. John came looking for her the next day and they’ve never been apart for over 70 years. John and Joan got married on Christmas Eve in 1954 at Jump Church. They first lived with John’s sisters Hazel and then Margaret, before moving to Welland Crescent, which was the family home until 1999 when they moved to Weir Close. They have 3 children, Jill, Jenny, and Peter. who have all said how wonderful it was growing up. The whole family would be in the garden as often as they could. Concrete garden in the back for the kids so they could play in all weathers, a nice side garden with a pond for the parents to relax, and a veg patch for John to grown what he could. He would grow potatoes, and cabbages which were always full of caterpillars, and rhubarb where a big toad would hang out. The pond had golden orf and a catfish in it. Although it didn’t stop Peter shooting the liner out of it. Years later John set up targets in the garage for Peter’s son Bradley to shoot with his air rifle and a ricochet came back and hit Bradley, maybe it was revenge… who knows! Jill found a stray cat and adopted it much to John’s dismay. One day the cat pooed in his slipper which he put on. Needless to say, the cat was launched out of the house. The family would go for walks in the woods. Sometimes going to Wentworth, setting off Jenny’s hayfever because John loved to walk through the farmer’s fields. In Bluebell Woods they made one of the trees their own. John carved a special symbol into the tree which signified 4 J’s and a P. Keep an eye out for it, it’s at the top of the woods where there are 4 trees together next to a pond. They would all go together to collect wood for the bonfire parties they held. John would do the fireworks and cook potatoes in the fire. Joan would dish up her delicious pie and peas. Some of the neighbours used to come round and join in. It was a wonderful time. As time went by the family expanded. They welcomed their grandchildren Vicki, Melissa, Bradley, and Lauren. As well as Ryan and Wade the great grandchildren. He loved them all and cherished spending time with them.
John was never money orientated and was only ever happy if everyone else was happy. Which they were because of the love that John showed. What John did like to collect was old war medals. He taught the kids valuable skills. He was very good at DIY and built some incredible wardrobes for them all to use. During the miner’s strike in the 70’s John and Joan made the kids Christmas presents. Joan made felt dolls, while John made an unbelievable miniature car garage and sweet shop for them to play with. John enjoyed country music and went to see Johnny Cash and Garth Brooks, John and Joan would watch country road on You Tube most evenings…
Holidays and day trips were always special occasions. When the kids were little, they would go on holiday to Scarborough. John would traipse the huge suitcases up to Walkers Newsagents to store them the night before as they didn’t have a car. They would go on the penny slots, play on the beach, and go to Peasholme Park. Although it wasn’t always without incident. One year Pete burned his feet, so they had to stay in. Luckily, they were staying in a flat overlooking the cricket ground where Yorkshire were playing against Australia as a warmup for the Ashes, so John was happy. One year John got stung by a jellyfish. Then there was the time that Joan couldn’t work out which way to row in a boat and ended up going further out to sea than coming into shore. One time when they went to Blackpool for a change Jenny insisted on going for a swim in the sea at night. John went with her. They walked for miles, but the water never got above knee height, so John made her get down and have a quick splash before heading back. He probably wished he had been flying kites in Stanley Park. It was never a dull moment on a Cookson holiday. John loved to take the family to watch the air shows at Finningley. He loved to watch all the displays. One time when the American Blue Angels were performing, he got to meet them after the show. Although there seemed to be a language barrier as they didn’t understand John’s strong Yorkshire accent. Thankfully Jenny was on hand to translate. One of his favourite planes was the Vulcan, which Pete had John’s name added to the wing of the one at Doncaster Airport. When the kids had grown up and flown the nest John and Joan enjoyed man adventures together. Going on bus trips across Scotland and Cornwall. Joan also drove them on many cottage holidays to the North York Moors, Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District. Joan’s favourite times were the Sunday walks in Derbyshire they would go on regardless of the weather. It didn’t matter if it was sun, rain or snow, they would always go and have a picnic. One of Joan’s favourite memories was one time they were caught in a thunderstorm over Winnats Pass. They took refuge under a rock and watched the storm roll by.
I’m going to end John’s story there on that special moment that he and Joan had together. Please can all who are able to stand as we sing the hymn How Great Thou Art. As we sing along, I want you all to think about John and the times you had together and remember just how great he was.
Funeral Service was conducted at Grenoside Crematorium at 10:00am on 17 April 2024.
Chris Platts - Professional Celebrant 