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Dinnington
Dinnington is a small town situated in the rural reaches of South Yorkshire, and although it technically is a part of the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham it is most closely associated with Sheffield even though it lies an equal distance from Sheffield and Rotherham. It is also close to the town of Worksop making it an ideal home for commuters who do not mind the journey into one of the larger cities to venture to work each day. As a rural town Dinnington makes up a major portion of the civil parish of Dinnington St John's along with St John's and Throapham. As with many of the towns and villages in the area evidence suggests that they have been settled since pre history by our ancestors, and we can say with a large degree of certainty that since Neolithic times there has been habitation in the region, perhaps a farmstead or similar.
Modern records show that Dinnington as we know it today began life as a small farming settlement, however the demand for more stone for the construction of houses and fortifications meant that many quarry workers began to move into the area helping Dinnington grow. By the early 1900's a local colliery had helped triple the population and Dinnington saw by far its largest period of growth in all of recorded history, with the census from 1911 reporting that the population had increased from 1901 by twenty times. Housing for early miners was not comfortable, originally a shanty town sprung up to accommodate everyone, however when the colliery terraced houses were finished all miners were reloated into these and a modern (for the time) shopping area was constructed to allow people to spend their wages. With the boom in commuter living and working from home emerging after World War II Dinnington made a name for itself as something of a beautiful and idyllic place to live, especially for those commuting each day from the surrounding cities.
Although the 1992 closure of the colliery devastated the local economy the redeveloped site now boasts a commercial sector and this has helped the area recover somewhat. Since 2003 Dinnington has declared itself a town rather than a village even though it is sized more like the latter, this has helped attract trade and industry to the area and the new Formula One Virgin Racing team are now based in Dinnington. All of the amenities a resident may require are just a short distance away and the town is well catered for by supermarkets, shops and other facilities, and of course Dinnington enjoys the benefits of a commuter town and any resident can simply take a short journey to be back in the big city again.
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