Ushaw Moor Memories

Here are a grumpy old man’s thoughts about the 21st century which he then contrasts to Ushaw Moor in the ‘old days’. The sun always shone in days gone by but it always rains now. Yes well…

21st CENTURY
We have over choice, complicated appliances, Rap masquerading as art, greedy football and bad manners. And there is a lot more to moan about [I have noticed that it is fashionable to start sentences with And - so I thought I would write one].

Weekly shopping brings me near to paralysis because of the over choice and it is reminds me of the immense poverty in many countries, which is an absolute and largely unnecessary scandal.

Rap - I cannot get my head around this - I do not find it very entertaining although many people gather and pay to witness it so maybe they think it is. Some people find it creative,cultural, a useful tool of communication, and a release of feeling but I would not pay a pound to go and listen to it; the lack of diction that often accompanies it would render it incomprehensible to me anyway.

I would not go to watch Arsenal or Derby County [yes I know that is going from the sublime to the currently ridiculous] if the charge was thirty pounds or more - even if they were playing half a mile away from me. I could buy two excellent history books for that amount. Supply and demand, as well as wealth backers, have distorted the ‘people’s game’ to the point where it begins to look like a pig’s trough.

Now and again, when I am walking down a pathway, I meet several people who expect me to move aside and on to the main road - even though I am clearly about forty years older them, have a bit of a hearing problem and there is unseen traffic from behind.

So many of a washing machine’s options are, at times, baffling and almost as hard to understand as mathematics. My wife has no such problem but ofcourse women are generally cleverer then men. Women can do three things at once whereas men can only do one and even then they sometimes do that one task badly.

Whilst there are many bank employees that adopt a professional approach to their work the banks themselves, in the main, have lost the right to be classed as professional towards their customers. Fail to read the small print at your peril.

Watches that cost in the region of a thousand pounds are sometimes less accurate than watches that are much cheaper. I know because I have compared them. I suppose the attraction is the brand label that gives the financially poor a perception that they have joined the beautiful and glamorous people.

The popularity of tee shirts and pullovers, with messages on them that have no real connection with the wearer, really puzzle me. Examples are ‘New York Yankees 1947′ or just ‘47′. It is weird.

USHAW MOOR IN THE OLD DAYS
Working class loyalty was self evident. People made their own entertainment and enjoyed it in the company of like people - whether it was around a piano in the pub or at home with the kids.They helped each other out during hard times. Yes there were exceptions.

Chatting outside was a familiar sight and done mostly by women; often it turned out to be for the benefit of the wider community.

The bank manager was a kindly man or woman but it was difficult to get any money out of the manager.

The sweet smell of freshly mown grass, and the Ushaw Moor openers coming out to bat, was often an overture to an Ushaw Moor victory.

Children down the beck and bluebells in the wood, Sun in the sky followed by blackberry pie….

Sunday usually meant best clothes, lovely Yorkshire puddings and maybe later on a couple of Quality Street chocolates from nan.

A REALITY CHECK

Most of the work at the colliery was horrendous and dangerous for coalminers. Too many were maimed or died. They did not have the facility of pit baths at Ushaw Moor although some mines did. How many people, these days, will argue that Ushaw Moor was better off with its coalmine?

Money was in short supply for education and many, but not all, of the miners’ children suffered. Parental and teacher expectations were low. Now, comparatively speaking, money is thrown at education and if used wisely it is a magnificent development.

Women were not fully emancipated in the 1940s and 50s despite earlier efforts by Mrs Stopes, the Suffragettes and others.I know that some women became more independent by virtue of war work but Society was still very conservative [with a small c]. That has now changed to a large extent and should be celebrated and protected. There is still a lot to be done however, for example, in the area of equal wages for women.

By Wilf Bell

An article was published in the New York Times today [!] regarding the visit. It comes from that paper’s archive. As it is subject to copyright I will merely explain how you can read it on the Internet.
1 Use Google search engine
2 type: Queen Mary Ushaw Moor in the search box
3 Mouse ‘view in full’
It is revealing of the period and I would be very interested to hear if anyone can identify the Ushaw Moor ladies quoted in the story.
Best Wishes
Wilf Bell
————————————————————
“editor”

click for BIGGER image

This article mentions about 90 people and has about 1,500 words - hopefully that should increase the chances of a response!

The very early 1900s

Many families were attracted to County Durham from elsewhere because the breadwinners could take advantage of employment in its mines. It has been said that County Durham was one big coalmine.

In the very early 1900s the population of Ushaw Moor was about 900 [if you strip away Hill Top and Ushaw College].It was a village of mostly young people. Over a quarter of the residents were under ten years old! Some of the youngsters still learning to toddle with confidence were: William Chilton, John Braithwaite, Ada Simpson, Elizabeth Vasey, Sarah McGurk, Annie Jones, John H Brown, James Clark, Flora Hayward, Olive Longstaff, Dora Brunskill, Joseph Hind, George Lambton, Isabel Ellis, George Lowery, Thomas W Jackson, George Trotter, Joseph Surtees and William Wilson.

Very few residents had reached the age of 70. Margaret Steel, Ruth Reed, Thomas Harrison and Rosina Collins were some that had reached that milestone.

Overall there were just a few more males than females in the village and perhaps the balance might have been partly tipped by male colliery workers who boarded at homes in the village.

Local colliery officials in the early 1900s included: Francis Hunter, Christopher Smith, Morgan Crawford, Thomas Conroy, Benjamin Mills and James Hudson. John Nightingale was an Under Manager.

If you were looking for a foreman mason Thomas Seed was your man but if you wanted a blacksmith you might have turned to Tommy Russell or Henry Forster. If on the other hand you fancied a railway engine trip James Stoddart was one of the drivers you might have turned to.

Elizabeth Stephenson and Esther Griffiths were school caretakers and no doubt showed much respect to John Spears an assistant school master.

All of the above is very well but what if you wanted yeast? The answer was to go to Richard Thompson. Young children would have no interest in yeast and would rather look out for William Lamb the travelling confectioner, not that there was much money about for that. Groceries were far more important and perhaps you would have relied on Mary Ann Davis or Robert Russell for such provisions.

1908

Samuel Dickinson Crooks was born in Bearpark on January 16th. He was a very well known footballer in his time and was capped 26 times for England. There is a little more about him later in the article.

1911

It is fairly well known that in 1911 Samuel Cody landed in a field near Pit House reservoir but perhaps fewer people can relate the landed plane’s location to a modern map. Today the plane would be located on the outer edge of Vicarage Flats which are adjacent to Silver Court at Brandon Hill. Not far away is Sawmills Lane [source Durham Records Office]. I note that no one has yet responded regarding the identity of the New Brancepeth couple who provided Mr Cody with breakfast. Incidentally I believe that he was a friend and admirer of ‘Buffalo Bill’ not an actual relative.

1914/1918 and 1939/1945 World Wars

The nation owes a great debt to villages like Ushaw Moor because not only did they provide coal to fuel the world wars they also supplied cannon fodder in the shape of courageous men. As another reminder of those Ushaw Moor men here is a small selection of them from the memorial – bearing in mind of course that those not listed here are to be equally exalted: Edward Dunn, Joseph Vickers MM, Joseph Bone, Joseph Johnson, Robert Pringle, William H Pringle, Thomas Walton and Nathaniel Walton.

We can see that Mr Vickers received the Military Medal. The medal was awarded to NCOs and men of the army for individual or associated acts of bravery. As a result of the 1993 review of gallantry awards this award has been replaced by the Military Cross [MC] which is now available to officers and other ranks. Have you any knowledge of Mr Vickers and his medal?

1930s Depression

During the 1930s quite a few men were transferred from Ushaw Moor Colliery to Thorne Colliery - which was situated near Doncaster. It had opened in the early1930s and lasted until 1956.The workforce was subsequently transferred to neighbouring collieries. Dick Hope spent some time at Thorne. A few of the Ushaw Moor miners expected favours from him because he and they were from Ushaw Moor - however he was fair minded to all and would not have any of that. During its time there had been a history of strained labour relations at Thorne. In the 1980s significant efforts were made by Harold E Taylor, NCB South Yorkshire Area Director, to develop the colliery but eventually coalfield strikes in his area inhibited his enthusiasm for it.

1940s

Well yes we had the Second World War but that is well documented.

1945

I know that there are still some relatives of the late Sammy Crooks living in Bearpark. I wonder if they all realize that they can see Sammy and also hear him on the Internet. To do so:
1 Go to www.itssource.com and press enter
2 Type Sammy Crooks in the box that is near to Entire Archive and press enter
3 mouse [that is click] ‘exit cricket – enter football’ [it’s in the middle of the screen] and finally
4Mouse [click] ‘view the story’.

Make sure your loudspeaker is switched on – if you have that facility- and listen to and see ‘Bearpark’s own’ interview the then Arsenal manager. Sammy appears ill at ease and seems to be using a cue card. He might not have been a media expert but his feet could talk for him. He was a brilliant footballer.

1947

That was a very cold winter and Mr Mcloughlin refers to it in his article, dated 26/01/06: ‘I remember waking up to find the snow drifted up to the bedroom window’. That year Don Albone’s journeyed from the south to New Brancepeth to start a new life with Lilian, the daughter of Richard and Ethel Hope. His bus from Newcastle took a long time to get to Durham owing to the amount of snow and ice on the roads. His journey from Durham to New Brancepeth was even more difficult. He had a southern accent, which contrasted sharply with the Durham accent, but the people of New Brancepeth took to him.

1948

That was a very important year for the UK but it never realized it. Reginald Brian Hemstead was born! He was great company and a good workmate. He was to enjoy punk music three decades later [without being an actual punk] as well as watching good tennis. He had something in common with George Bernard Shaw: like Shaw he preferred the second forename given to him at birth. Brian knew much about how the world worked. After a few pints we were both willing to suspend disbelief regarding the number 42 in relation to the meaning of life! For those that might be puzzled by that comment it is a reference to the book ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’. Brian died in 2005.

1953

The Durham Miners’ Gala [The Big Meeting] was a big experience for me and that year I remember the lovely weather, joyful dancing, tartan uniforms worn by a few of the bands, the fact that I wore an Indian headdress, and the ridiculous price for a glass of ‘fruit drink’ offered by a street vendor -it was little more than coloured water .I was only eight years old then but 54 years later I still recall being ‘done’ by that street vendor.

1959 Christmas Picture

The picture number 4 on gallery 5 [or put another way the first on the left middle row] which is accessed from the original historical site, is of form 4a during their Christmas school party at Ushaw Moor Sec.Mod. I can identify most of the pupils as follows:
Left to right:
Top row
x, Margaret Crooks, Audrey Thompson, Ann Mountain, a guest destined to be the late Tommy Wilkinson’s wife, Margaret Ayre, Gloria Race?, Margaret Wilkinson, Sandra Forster, Maureen Trelford
Second Row
Gillian Cruddace, Norma Linsley, Lorna Bone, Pat Bowery, Hazel Dickinson, Ruth Atkinson, Edith Smith, Pauline Newman
Third row
Robert Moore, Neil Crawford, John Mole, Dennis Pinkney, Malcolm Gibb, Wilf Bell, Brian Wilkinson, Arthur Snaith
Front unseated
Tom Patterson, Brian Rowland, Allan Dunn, John Hall, Norman Brunskill

Notes re above: [1] I apologize for forgetting the guest’s name [2] Gillian’s forename might have been Jillian [3] Norma Linsey or Linsley? [4] The spelling of Tommy’s surname - Pattinson or Patterson?
[5] Ruth Atkinson sadly died a few years ago. I was privileged to speak to her several times during the last year of her life. Her battle with serious health problems was truly inspirational and I will never forget her. During her life she was a successful business woman in the field of hairdressing. She went on to teach that subject at college and I am sure that the students were fortunate to have someone of her calibre to teach them.
Of the unseated boys at the front only Brian Rowland and Norman Brunskill remain on this planet. Of course Dennis has gone as well. They were lovely lads.

Please support Paul’s site by writing an article or commenting on the contributions of others.

Best regards,

Wilf Bell

During WW2 my grandmother Jane Chicken [nee Mahan, nee Hansom] and her second husband Benny chicken lived in station road Ushaw Moor, I have been told that sometime during the war they were “sent to the Coventry area” to work in the munitions  factory, would you be aware of any local records being kept regarding this, I assume that they were not on there own in this move.

 

REGARDS

 

LOU MAHAN

Whilst talking to family members at ernies wake , our elsie (ellis) remembers looking after The Nelson' kids.This photo was taken at Victoria Court in ushaw moor.

We are led to believe there are still plenty of the Nelsons 

about so maybe someone can put names to faces.

Managed to add a lot more names to family tree , found out

ida hope was one of 13. 

Once i get a pdf doc sorted; i'll make available to those who may want moreinfo.

Also hoping to get up to ushaw and esh in September

Matt

 

Hi saw your blog on ushaw moor.

Ernest Hope Ellis (10 Oct 1939 - 27 Jun 2007 )

my father law Ernie recently passed away , and worked in the mine till it

closed in 1960,

and eventually followed the mine work to Calverton in Nottingham.

i saw the name HOPE mentioned by several families.

so i’am assuming Ernie is a relative to someone.

Ernies parents were George Henry Ellis and Ida Hope( born 17 May 1916).

Ernie has two brothers Bill and Ronald Ellis , and a sister Elsie.

If anyone can help me fill in some more blanks , it would very interesting

Thanks

 

Matt