Ushaw Moor Memories

ALLAN DUNN

Allan Dunn was born in July 1945 and attended Ushaw Moor County School before going to the new Ushaw Moor Secondary Modern School in early April 1959. I remember his friendship, as well as his sporting pursuits, but the reason for his nickname ‘Jocker’ is unclear to me. I am almost sure that he had a brother called Douglas.

Allan played at left back in the     Modern School team and although his positioning was a little faulty at times –his calm temperament was [sometimes!] an asset when our defence was under pressure. He always attempted to play to the rules of football, which contrasts with the professional game. Professional defenders often tug shirts to hold players back and to be honest they look rather pathetic when they do that. Allan also played cricket and I recall that one day our schoolmaster Harry Barlow invited both of us to open the innings for Brancepeth Cricket Club, even though we were both only 14 or15 years old at the time!

When Allan left school he went to work for an employer in Durham City, together with Alan Burns. Sometime later he bought their employer out - although I am not sure whether that made him managing director or an entrepreneur.

A few years ago Robert [Bob] Moore, who has been very helpful in supplying me with facts about Allan, informed me that Allan had saved a cat from certain death by insisting that a group of boys desist from drowning it. I like that story because it says so much about Allan’s character.

Very sadly, at the age of 28, he died during a holiday with his wife in the south of England [Torquay I think it was].

Allan died at a young age but his achievements were not inconsiderable during his time on this planet. I recall him with great affection.

ALAN BURNS

Burnsey was a friend of mine in the second half of the 50s. He was a good wing half for Ushaw Moor County school football team - being tidy and calm – essentially doing the simple things well; I suppose he was the schoolboy equivalent of John McGovern, the old Hartlepool, Derby and Nottingham Forest wing half. I bet he has never been told that before!

Alan was placid, had a fashionable hair cut and never seemed to swear. I recall that some nights our small group would be outside the houses drinking ice cold Pepsi Cola and listening to Cliff Richard and the Shadows, as well as Tommy Steele.

We covered many miles during our football sessions on the Bracken Court grass and no doubt we were all very fit. We also played cricket on that green, as detailed elsewhere. I used to get set like Geoff Boycott or Hanif Mohammed and would be happy to bat for hours - but one day Alan and Neil Davies hatched a plot which involved Neil appealing for a catch behind the wicket. The catch that never was. I responded, after considerable conversation, by throwing my toys out the pram i.e. I took my bat and went home. Alan can still recall that.

The last I heard was that Alan was semi retired, no longer living in Ushaw Moor, but still residing in County Durham.

Submitted by Wilf Bell 02/07/07 

Let me start with some details of a 1936 local derby. Ushaw Moor travelled the short journey to Esh Winning on 09/05/1936 to play the hosts. The scorecard for the game is as follows:

Esh Winning:
J Rowlands run out 5
T Kirk  run out 10
G Turnbull bowled C Sargeant  1
C Grey caught C Sargeant bowled J Sargeant  22
T Dove bowled R Wilson 31
S Willis bowled R Wilson 0
F Hallam bowled R Wilson 1
S Crosby caught Hope bowled Spikings 2
H Grey caught Gibson bowled R Wilson 11
R Pinkney lbw bowled Spikings 4
T Rowan not out 0
Extras 10
Total 97
Ushaw Moor:
R Hope bowled C Grey 23
J Ross bowled Hallam 1
J Sargeant lbw bowled Hallam 11
J J Gibson caught H Grey bowled C Grey  21
J Rodgers caught Willis bowled Dove 6
C Sargeant caught Turnbull bowled C Grey 10
J F Spikings not out 5
W Seed not out 1
Extras 20
Total 98 for 6 wickets
Ushaw Moor won by four wickets

Batting can be dangerous and in about 1940, during a Friday night cup game against Annfield Plain, Harry Gillespie lost sight of a delivery in the sun and he was quite badly injured, or as Norman Hope reported some years later, ‘ Harry was very ill’.

Dickie Hope invited Donald Albone to umpire a friendly away match at Bearpark during the Second World War. Don gave three or four Bearpark players out lbw. After the game Dickie was keen to ask Don whether he was available the following week – his keenness to do so was understandable!

There were times during the second half of the 40s [and the early 50s] when the club nearly folded, probably due to difficult finances and / or a lack of sufficient players. However, having said that, during the period soon after their 1947 title win [detailed elsewhere on site] Dickie Hope had ambitions for the club. He tried to get it into the Durham Senior League, which was the best in the county. An inspector from the Durham Senior League came to inspect the facilities but found that the toilets and drainage were not up to the required standard for the senior league, so the application was rejected. Money was tight at the club and Dickie often spent periods of an hour, cap in hand, looking for lost cricket balls.

Amos Thompson was a batsman for the club and liked a drink or two [fair enough]. The problem was that he often left it to the last moment to leave the working men’s club in time to report for the game. In fact Dickie Hope sometimes had to delegate someone to go and get him!

Dickie Hope had the idea of getting a concrete practise pitch and this was implemented. He also successfully devised a match day routine of seven players practising and the remainder rolling the wicket. He also possessed the MCC [governing body] book of cricket rules and was a stickler for abiding by them.

Thomas Burnham [a coal face worker] watched Dickie in about 1951/2 and likened him to ‘Stonewall Jackson’. Thomas only later understood the value to a team of an opener who ‘sees off’ the opening bowlers. At one time the club’s annual presentations took place in the Catholic school hall.

According to my notes the gate receipts for the1960 season amounted to twenty five pounds. The following year they increased by three pounds. I suppose I must have got that information from the club records in 1998.

W Bell

This is a bit of a mixture, being a list of some of the Ushaw Moor traders in the year 1914 and a request for information about an Ushaw Moor cricketer.
I suppose lists can be a bit boring for the general reader but, if your family have lived in the area for generations and you are into family history, they are potentially useful.
Here is the 1914 list:

Albion House Club [Edward Hogg secretary]
Benjamin Beach - fruiterer
Mrs C Bell - farmer at Cockhouse
Broughs store
William Brown - general smith and horse shoer plus agricultural implements repaired
Arthur Busey insurance agent
Robert Bone Cawthorne - confectioner
Mrs Cicely Elish Chandler - milliner
George Chilton - fishmonger
Charles Christie - shopkeeper
Arthur Cooper bootmaker
George Craig - hairdresser
Crook Co-op - Ralph Pearson - manager
William Davidson - Station Hotel
Mrs Mary Ann Davis - grocer
Dimambro and Co - confectioners
Empire - W Hogg - manager
Empire Meat Company - Thomas Kirkup - proprietor
Thomas Gates - hairdresser
Thomas Gouden - hairdresser
Mrs Sarah Alice Hayes - draper
Henry Charles Herdman -Station Road - English and American dentistry - [what was the difference?]
Richard Hope -refreshment rooms - a retired miner - my great great grandfather
Gabriel Innes - joiner and undertaker - also at Bearpark
Mrs Sarah Ann Plant - confectioner
L R Rossi - confectioner
Robert C Russell grocer and Post Office
Albert Swithenbank - watch maker
There were others but I am not wanting to take up too much space.

Now - the cricketer - elsewhere on site I paid tribute to Jack Joice who was very helpful to me with his knowledge of Ushaw Moor.Actually I have lost the plot regarding the spelling of Jack’s surname. Was it Joyce or Joice? I think it was the latter.I have a newspaper cutting of an Ushaw Moor Horner Cup match against Easington played in the middle of June 1947. An extract shows the following:
M Robinson bowled Jones 0 [Michael Robinson I think]
J Joyce bowled Copeland 0  [I know that newspapers frequently spell surnames incorrectly]
T Buxton bowled Jones 2
F Hume not out 0 [Fred]  My cousin’s father
So would that, probably irregular, first team player be Jack the historian, who certainly lived in Whitehouse Lane later in life? I would appreciate some help to resolve it.

Having had the privilege of writing many articles and procuring a few, for Paul Clough’s site I now declare that my little era is over.It has been an absolute pleasure to express my thoughts and memories on your community site but, as a so called retired person, my  committments are such that in future I can only occasionally dip into the site. If needs be I will respond to articles from time to time, but my article writing is now put to rest!

One last point - Paul works hard to keep the site fresh and informative - but what will happen if he moves away? In that situation, if the site is not transferred to someone else, will the paper records of the history of Ushaw Moor be offered to the Durham Records Office? If you are in a position to do so, please support Paul and submit an article - however brief.Neil Davies and the like, where are you?