School Life, BlackBerry Picking, The HOP. .. Wilf Bell
One of my aunts [she has no objection to the article but I respect her wish not to have her name splashed all over the laptop] moved from New Brancepeth to Ushaw Moor in the 1930s and by 1940 she was almost nine years old. Her parents did not think it was necessary for her and her brother to transfer to an Ushaw Moor School. They cycled and sometimes walked to and from New Brancepeth School. That was a very healthy thing to do. These days most parents would consider that to be a risky arrangement: for one thing there is far more traffic on the roads now.
My aunt loved school and recalled that each school day started at 9.00am and finished at 4pm. The lunch break was taken from midday to 1.30pm.Her form teacher was a Mr Trotter and she felt he was a good teacher. He taught most of the subjects himself e.g. arithmetic, geography, history and art, but gardening and cookery were taught by other teachers. There was no streaming of classes and no external examinations. Of course there were reports at the end of each term and invariably my aunt had an above average placing. The headmaster was Mr Aitcheson and my aunt recalls that he was middle aged at the time and more of an administrator than a teacher. She could not recall any incidents of bullying by anyone at school. School lunches were not provided at the school so it was a case of cycling home for a meal and then back to school. There was a hilly element to those journeys so she had to be quite fit.
My aunt struggled to recall just how long the school holidays were during the summer but had a strong feeling that they were less than six weeks! During each summer her family holidays were often based in boarding houses in places such as South Shields and Redcar. The fresh smell of the sea and teeth threatening sticks of rock are evocative memories.
Other activities in the early 1940s included: blackberry picking, potato picking at Hankey’s farm New Brancepeth, dancing at “The Hop’’ which was situated near Ushaw Moor Cricket Club and going for walks [sometimes past Ushaw College and on other occasions to and from Brandon].
It cost four old pence to get into “The Hop’’. Music for it was provided in the form of a drum, piano accordion and a trumpet played by Ebenezer Shuker. As an aside “Eb’’ become mayor of Durham in 1984 and had a period as Overman at Ushaw Moor Colliery. Apart from customers from Ushaw Moor some were also attracted from such places as Brandon, Bearpark, Langley Park, Esh Winning and New Brancepeth. This dance venue had its competitors, for example, The Memorial Hall at Ushaw Moor, Bearpark Institute and St. Margarets in Durham City.
It was only when she started her first job that my aunt felt that she could afford to go to the Empire cinema at Ushaw Moor.
As a complete and probably unnecessary aside, a high explosive [but thankfully unexploded] bomb dropped into an Ushaw Moor churchyard at 11.pm on Monday 22/03/43.Can anyone remember that?
My aunt loved school and recalled that each school day started at 9.00am and finished at 4pm. The lunch break was taken from midday to 1.30pm.Her form teacher was a Mr Trotter and she felt he was a good teacher. He taught most of the subjects himself e.g. arithmetic, geography, history and art, but gardening and cookery were taught by other teachers. There was no streaming of classes and no external examinations. Of course there were reports at the end of each term and invariably my aunt had an above average placing. The headmaster was Mr Aitcheson and my aunt recalls that he was middle aged at the time and more of an administrator than a teacher. She could not recall any incidents of bullying by anyone at school. School lunches were not provided at the school so it was a case of cycling home for a meal and then back to school. There was a hilly element to those journeys so she had to be quite fit.
My aunt struggled to recall just how long the school holidays were during the summer but had a strong feeling that they were less than six weeks! During each summer her family holidays were often based in boarding houses in places such as South Shields and Redcar. The fresh smell of the sea and teeth threatening sticks of rock are evocative memories.
Other activities in the early 1940s included: blackberry picking, potato picking at Hankey’s farm New Brancepeth, dancing at “The Hop’’ which was situated near Ushaw Moor Cricket Club and going for walks [sometimes past Ushaw College and on other occasions to and from Brandon].
It cost four old pence to get into “The Hop’’. Music for it was provided in the form of a drum, piano accordion and a trumpet played by Ebenezer Shuker. As an aside “Eb’’ become mayor of Durham in 1984 and had a period as Overman at Ushaw Moor Colliery. Apart from customers from Ushaw Moor some were also attracted from such places as Brandon, Bearpark, Langley Park, Esh Winning and New Brancepeth. This dance venue had its competitors, for example, The Memorial Hall at Ushaw Moor, Bearpark Institute and St. Margarets in Durham City.
It was only when she started her first job that my aunt felt that she could afford to go to the Empire cinema at Ushaw Moor.
As a complete and probably unnecessary aside, a high explosive [but thankfully unexploded] bomb dropped into an Ushaw Moor churchyard at 11.pm on Monday 22/03/43.Can anyone remember that?
Which churchyard?
Wilf Bell.
Sue Toogood
(Comment this)
On the night of22/3/43 one lone German bomber dropped
2 oil bombs into the cemetry [ situated on the right
side of the road going toward BROOMPARK.
These oil bombs
or fire bombs did contain a small explosive charge and were designed to spread fire over a wide area.
Late in
the afternoon of the 22nd an old mans coffin had been
placed in a grave but due to the lateness of the hour it
was decided to only partially cover the grave and to complete the job the next day.The two bombs exploded in
close proximity to the grave but did not not ignite
however the blast partially lifted the coffin and came to
rest standing on end. My father, myself and two other
young boys from Alum Waters walked to Ushaw Moor to
see this strange sight, many other people had the same
idea which made my father comment < its like big meeting
day.
The target was thought to be the coke works at
New Brancepeth which was built by a German company the
bomber was believed to have been shot down at South Shields on its return flight to Germany.
Regards,
Geoff. Turner.
(Comment this)