The Houghtonian Magazine Vol 2 Issue 1 - Houghton-le-Spring

THETHE HOUGHTONIAN | MAR 2012 | VOL 2 ISSUE 1 | ISSN 1757-3890MARCH 2012 | VOL 2 ISSUE 1 | ISSN 1757-3890HOUGHTONIANQUARTERLY MAGAZINE OF Houghton Heritage Society:: MEET OUR NEW PATRON:: THE GILPIN THORN:: A MYSTERY SOLVED!:: HERITAGE THIEVES!:: WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE QUESTS:: AND MUCH MORE!

THE HOUGHTONIAN | MAR 2012 | VOL 2 ISSUE 1 | ISSN 1757-3890CAN YOU HELP?If you have any old photographs of Houghton-le-Spring thatyou would like to share, please contact Paul Lanaganvia www.houghtonlespring.org.ukFACES AND PLACESPhotographs are treated with care and respect and arereturned promptly once they have been copied.Allowing your precious photographs to be copied and sharedensures that they will be around for generations to come.1953 Coronation, 1977 & 2002 Jubilee photos also wantedfor a special commemorative book in 2012!

THE HOUGHTONIAN | MAR 2012 | VOL 2 ISSUE 1 | ISSN 1757-3890www.HOUGHTONleSPRING.org.ukTHE HH WEBSITE IS UPDATEDFREQUENTLY. JUST CLICK ON THEUPDATED LINK ON THE HOME PAGE TO SEEWHAT’S NEW. SOME OF THE UPDATEDPAGES DURING THE PAST THREE MONTHSINCLUDE:WELCOME TO THE HOUGHTONIAN,the quarterly magazine of the Houghton-le-Spring Heritage Society. This is our sixth issue,numbered as Volume 2 Issue 1 and the start ofall things relating to heritage in 2012.TOP OF THE NEWS is the announcement ofactress Penelope Wilton OBE becoming theSociety’s Patron. You can read more on thisinside and in a future edition we hope to have aninterview with Penelope.HOUGHTON HERITAGE SOCIETY is pleased toannounce that it has acquired copies of CyrilArthur Smith’s articles on Old Houghton (shownabove) and grateful thanks are extended toSunderland Antiquarian Society for giving usunprecedented access to their records beyondthe normal level afforded to members of thepublic.WE HAVE ENDEAVOURED to keep this issue tothe 16 page format but it has been particularlyhard to do so following a huge amount ofenquiries and genealogical quests from aroundthe world. We have squeezed in five pagesworth and in future will be reducing the font size.THANK YOU, AS always, for the positivefeedback. I hope you enjoy reading this issue.PAUL LANAGAN BA HONSCHAIRMAN, H-L-S HERITAGE SOCIETY:: Rectory Grounds – many pages have beenupdated and greatly expanded, including: A WalkAround Rectory Park; the Park fountains; Pet doggrave in the Park; the demolished Park toilets;and the Gilpin Holy Thorn and it’s siblings.:: Bernard Gilpin – the fact sheets have updatedto mark the 429 th anniversary of his death.:: Church Magazines – copies of the covers fromSt Michael & All Angels Church magazines for1888, 1944, 1966 and 1971 have been put online.:: Houghton Union Workhouse – the time linehas been updated with extra years plusphotographs of Heath House.:: Houghton Heritage Trail – download your ownprint-at-home free copy of the illustratedHoughton Heritage Trail map and take it with youon a walk around historic Houghton.:: Houghton Feast: Ox Roast Carvers – a newpage with the names of the special few who havecarved the Feast oxen more than once!:: Houghton Hall – time line updated withphotographs of Captain Hutton’s tomb and theSocial Club in 1919.:: The Kay Grave at Houghton Cemetery – thereport of the tragic death of young Horace Kay inan early motorcar accident.:: Sunniside & Homelands Estate – the articlehas been re-written and illustrated with newlyfound photographs.:: Kepyer School - the new time line has beenupdated with information from the Census returnsplus further alumni.:: Dedication Stones - the article has had furthertablets/stones added, including: Bank HeadMethodist Church, Lambton Miners’ Hall,Philadelphia Miners’ Welfare Institute and JoiceyAged Miners’ Homes.* * * * * * * *If you’re reading a printed version of TheHoughtonian and are having difficulty seeing theprint, did you know you can read the online PDF?This can be increased in size up to a whopping6400% in Adobe Reader!FOR INTERNET ACCESS AT HOUGHTON LIBRARY

THE HOUGHTONIAN | MAR 2012 | VOL 2 ISSUE 1 | ISSN 1757-3890THE GILPIN THORNIT IS USUAL for us at this time of year to stop awhile and pay a visit to the Gilpin Thorn whenpassing through the Rectory Park and reflect onits links to the crucifixion of Christ, but asreported in a previous issue of the Houghtonian,the holy thorn was removed from the grounds inearly 2011.EARLIER IN THE MONTHHoughton Heritage Societyannounced that actressPENELOPE WILTON OBEhad become Patron of the Society.Penelope, shown above in a press packphotograph from ITV, is known to millions as MrsCrawley in the popular drama Downton Abbey,while to a younger audience she will be foreverknown as Harriet Jones M.P., defender of theEarth in the BBC’s Doctor Who.Penelope Wilton is the niece of 1940s actress, LindenTravers, who was born in Houghton-le-Spring, and is theGreat-Great Granddaughter of Houghton confectioner,George 'Sticky' Wheatley.According to Wikipedia: ‘She has twice won the Critics CircleTheatre Award – in 1981 for her performance in Much Ado AboutNothing, and in 1993 for The Deep Blue Sea. In 2001 she wasnominated for the London Evening Standard Theatre Award for herperformance in The Little Foxes at the Donmar Warehouse. In2004 she was made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) for herservices to drama.’The Gilpin Thorn article on the HH website hasbeen updated recently with details of the thorn’ssiblings around the world, including: Iona island;Brickendon, Hertfordshire; Herefordshire;Somerset; Buckinghamshire; Cheshire;Washington, USA; Australia; Canada; NewZealand and not forgetting Glastonbury.As many know, the Glastonbury Thorn in thegrounds of the Abbey died in 1991 and wasremoved in 1992, strangely around the sametime that the original Gilpin Thorn died. Anotherholy thorn sibling in Glastonbury, growing onWearyall Hill since 1952, was sickeningvandalised in December 2010; the severedstump has shown some recent signs of life, butsadly from the rootstock and not the grafted holythorn. Thanks to the efforts of the GlastonburyConservation Society and owners of Wearyall Hilla new seedling has been planted nearby – butthis time protected by a large metal cage!The news on the grapevine - or should that behawthorn? – is that a new Gilpin Thorn seedlingis to be planted in the old Rectory grounds. It isjust a shame that the thorn’s removal in 2011could not have waited until the replacement wasready to be planted, thus ensuring that there hasalways been a holy thorn growing in Houghtonle-Spring,uninterrupted, since Bernard Gilpinplanted the first one in the sixteenth century.PAUL LANAGAN

THE HOUGHTONIAN | MAR 2012 | VOL 2 ISSUE 1 | ISSN 1757-3890WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?Can you help solve theseGenealogical & Heritage Quests?FROM DOWN UNDERG'Day Paul from Down UnderAustralia. It was with great interestand excitement that I stumbledacross your amazing web site. Tothe extent that thanks to you Ihave been up all night reading andwill look like a zombie for the restof the day. It is hot here today tooso a hot old tired blonde will betrying to stay awake all day. Myreason for writing is to sincerelythank you for your amazingwonderful Houghton Heritage site.My beautiful mum Greta Robson(nee Charlton) was born in Potteryyard on 24th June 1932 and willcelebrate her 80th Birthday thisyear. I have been trying to obtainany information about PotteryYard and if available anyphotographs that people may havehidden away that I can puttogether for mum for a special gifton her birthday. She remembersso much about her childhoodthere, the people, shops, StMichaels church (she was baptisedin the Font) and still speaks sofondly of her childhood memoriesthere. I came over in 2009 andtook lots of photos of the church(a lovely lady kindly opened thechurch for me whilst there) butsadly I learnt Pottery yard hadbeen demolished some yearsearlier. If you know of anyone thatmight have some photos that theycould email to me I would be soextremely grateful. My mother’sfather was John Charlton (akaPep), married to Lily Charlton,they had James, then Marian, thenVera then my lovely mum Greta.They moved to Slough when mumwas quite young but sheremembers so much. If anyonerecalls them this would be theicing on the cake for mum. Thankyou so much Paul for what youhave created here.I hope toreturn to the UK again this year orearly next and I hope you won’tmind if I email you earlier to takeyou out for a coffee (might evenget them to throw in a biscuit)Alternatively if you travel toMelbourne come and meet mum.Would love the opportunity toshow you OZ. Cheers and thanksagain.Helen (the bleary eyedone) RobsonMelbourneHOUGHTON AT WARDoes anyone remember the waryears and going into the air-raidshelters at night ,we had whatwere called siren suits and worethem to bed so that if the warningwent off we were ready they werelike jump suits of today. I slept inthe shelter many a night it wasbuilt at the bottom of our yard.Shirley RamsbottomLAING FAMILYSome time ago, Mel Baines toldme, by e-mail that some of mybranch of the Laing Family wereburied in New Herrington. Shealso said she had a list or a bookrecord containing the names ofpeople buried there. A short timeago my old computer died andwith it my e-mails so I have lostthe information. Does anyone elseknow about the book or list? I shallbe visiting HLS in the next monthor so and would like to gather asmuch information about my HLSancestors as I can before I arrive.Raymond LaingTHE MANOR HOUSEDear Mr Lanagan, I amresearching my family tree andhope that you can help me. Mypaternal grandmother NorahMartin was born at "Manor House,Penshaw" (according to her birthcertificate) in 1899 and her fatherCornelius Martin died there in1903. I am trying to find the exactlocation of this building. I visitedthe area a few days ago andbelieve that the Manor House waswhere the Northern Electricbuilding now stands.Do youknow if this is the case? Or is thechildren's services building"Penshaw House" actually thebuilding I am looking for, or am Icompletely wrong and it'ssomewhere else entirely?If Penshaw Manor House wasdemolished, do you know whenthis was and are there any picturesof it prior to demolition?Thank you for any help you cangive me. Yours sincerely,Ruth Taylor-DurantSWEET SHOPPaul do you remember a sweetshop that used to be beside thepark? It was up the road fromwhere Collings is now and I thinkit's been changed back into ahouse - I seem to remember goingthere as a kid.Jill NimmoHoughton-le-SpringPAUL LANAGAN REPLIED:It was called Ferguson's. Othershave shared memories of buyingfishing nets there to use in RectoryPark.GREY HORSE LANEHi I have an old pic of my dadGeorge Hamilton, written in pencilon the back is the address - 4,Grey Horse Lane, Houghton LeSpring, Co Durham, and the dateJuly 10th 1934 - he would havebeen 13 at the time. Do the roadand the address still exist?Thanks.Neil HamiltonPAUL LANAGAN REPLIED:Grey Horse Lane became knownas Robinson Street. It wasdemolished when much ofHoughton was redeveloped.QUARRY ROWDo any photographs exist ofQuarry Row? It had 2 roomsdownstairs and 2 up one of therooms downstairs was kept forbest or if visitors came we all hadto live in one room where we atecooked and when the weather wasbad washing strung across theroom the fire blazing it was like asauna in there.Margaret RitcheyA PREVIOUS QUESTHello Paul, how do I get in touchwith Mal Shearer asking about theShearer family on your web-site, Ihave all the information about thisfamily? Regards,Anne PerryPAUL LANAGAN REPLIED:Thank you, Anne. Your detailshave been passed on to Mal.ALLAN WOODHello Paul, I would love to find anyinformation regards an AllanWood b 1881 in Leeds and movedup to Houghton in the early 1900swith wife Minnie Beatrice (Teague)b1883. He was a miner in Leedsand moved to Houghton again tobe a miner which is the puzzle! Helived at 5 Abbott Street and had atleast 4 children Arthur b1904 -Charles Frederick b1906 - JosephBenjamin b1911 and John Vb1912. Thank you.Brian SpinkLeedsSUNNISIDE MININGSETTLEMENTMy Grandad Tot Orrell deliveredSunday papers to Sunniside andat Christmas time I had to go andfind him because every housewould offer him a Christmas drink- he never made the end of theround! Tot and I walked over toOutram Street where my twoaunts lived and he explained howhe was lowered down on a ropewith his pick to work on HoughtonCut. Whether this was initial workor improvement I don’t know. Itmust have been in the 1930s -does anyone know when the Cutwas first done?David AnnandPAUL LANAGAN REPLIED:100s of years ago. Though I'm notconvinced (yet) of the perpetualmyth that it was carved by FrenchPrisoners of War following theNapoleonic Wars (c1803-1815). Ihave seen no evidence whatsoeverin searching the Archives in 12years. I have a book from c1850sabout the history of Houghton andthere is no mention in there. As aroadway, it is clear it was a naturalcleft in the rocks. It's welldocumented on OS maps fromc1856 to modern times. Theearliest photograph I have of it isaround1880 with various views ofthe opening and subsequentroadworks to widen it. I will tryand get some online.* * * * * * * * * * *Keep reading formore Quests!

THE HOUGHTONIAN | MAR 2012 | VOL 2 ISSUE 1 | ISSN 1757-3890REF NO: HLS1854161475THIS MONTH’S PHOTO FOCUS looks at Houghton Hall in the early years of it being used byHoughton Social Club. Pictured is Anthony Widdowfield, steward of Houghton Social Club (centre),with other members outside their premises, circa 1919. The old Hall had been purchased byHoughton Social Club for £1,030 0s 0d in 1917.OUR SECOND photographshows the staff of WilliamFish’s grocery shop at 42Holly Avenue, circa 1960.Pictured, from left, are:Freda Fish, Maureen Blairand George Fish. The shopwas built in 1935 and wasowned by the family until1983. The premises weredemolished, along with therest of Holly Avenue, around2006.REF NO: HLS1854161476With thanks to Lena Inch forsharing these photographs.MORE PHOTOGRAPHS AT www.HOUGHTONleSPRING.org.uk

THE HOUGHTONIAN | MAR 2012 | VOL 2 ISSUE 1 | ISSN 1757-3890HARRICK CUTHILLHello Paul, Have you been able tofind Harrick Edward Cuthill'sgravestone for me? I have sincefound out that poor Harrick mayhave died as an infant and mayjust have been added at the foot ofwhatever grave was available.Thank you very much forsearching for me, but if nothinghas been found so far, I realisethat knowing that he is somewherein Hillside Cemetery is as far asthe search can go. All bestwishes.Elizabeth RobinsonEssexFAMOUS WILLIAM SHANKSThe town of Houghton-le-Springhad a famous resident in the1800's by the name of WilliamShanks. Shanks calculated thevalue of the mathematicalconstant PI to 707 decimal places.This calculation was later found tobe in error from the 528th placeonward. Can you email me the*exact* 707 digits that Shanks gotas the result of his calculations? Ican get the *actual* value of PIfrom many places, but I want the*erroneous* value that Shankscalculated. Thanks much inadvance!Charles RichmondPAUL LANAGAN REPLIED:Hello Charles, please see myarticle on William Shanks which ison the HH website in the Articlessection. William’s 1853 bookmight help you; it was called:‘Contributions to mathematics,comprising chiefly the rectificationof the circle to 607 decimals etc’.FEAST TIMEI always know when it is comingup to Houghton Feast time, eventhough I now live in Andalucia inSpain How do I know this? ThePomegranate trees are at burstingpoint and they were always in theshops in Houghton at the Feast!Happy memories!June BrownleeAndalucia, SpainWHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?Can you help solve theseGenealogical & Heritage Quests?STONES BUTCHERSA descendant of the Stone family(Katherine Bond) has kindly givendetails of the family in a recent"Houghtonian" (2011, Issue 3).Kathleen tells us that Conrad(born in Germany) and AnnaSteinbrenner started their porkbutchery business in the early1900s. Interestingly, the Indicesgive Anna's surname beforemarriage as Goetz. The interest isthat a Frederick Goetz appears inthe Newbottle Street 1911 Censusas a pork butcher with a ScheduleNo near to that of No1 Wheeler St.Perhaps Frederick was thenalready trading at 36 Newbottle St(very near to 1 Wheeler St)?Perhaps Anna was a relative ofFrederick, and Frederickemployed Conrad when Conradfirst came to England? A furthercomplication is that neitherConrad nor Anna appear in the1901 or 1911 censuses. Whateverthe course of events, it seemsprobable that Conrad & Anna(who were in Germany throughoutWW1) came to (or came back to)36 Newbottle St soon after WW1.Soon after their return theychanged their name to Stone.They had five children. I can findno record of the births of theeldest two, Renee and Greta.Ronald was born in 1921, Eric on30 November 1923, and Maureenin 1928. Conrad and Anna bothdied in 1957, Conrad aged 73 andAnna aged 69. The family waswell liked and respected. Reneemarried (Morris Rabin?) and livedin Wheeler St. Greta marriedFrank Bond, and begat a sonColin S Bond, the father of theaforementioned Katherine Bond.Ron joined the RAF straight fromschool and rose to the rank ofGroup Captain. Eric was wellknownto me. We often playedtogether, sometimes in theabattoir at the back of theNewbottle St shop! He marriedOlga Meer in 1950, ran thebutchery business after his father'sdeath, and died aged 66 in 1989.Dr Jack MorleyPORK BUTCHERSGood evening! I am researchingpork butchers from the Hohenlohearea of Germany and I cameacross your very interesting website. In one of your magazinessite. In one of your magazines(unfortunately cannot tell youwhich as I am now having troublewith downloading them) CatherineHall tells her story of theSteinbrenner family running a porkbutcher’s shop in NewbottleStreet. The Steinbrennerschanged their name to Stoneapparently. My own greatgrandparents were from theHohenlohe area and ran a porkbutcher’s shop in Rotherham,Yorkshire after emigrating to GB.There is a very interesting storyabout the Hohenlohe butchers inthat they were really masters oftheir trade and attempted (in manycases extremely successfully) toset foot in England. I see thatthere were dozens of them in theDurham area. Such names asVogtherr,Kaufmann,Steinbrenner, Kuch, etc.appearwhen researching. A friend ofmine in Germany has done somevery interesting research on thepork butchers from Germany inEngland, particularly Sheffield,Liverpool, etc. and I have nowfound that Durham containedmany pork butchers from theHohenlohe area. Would it bepossible for you to contactCatherine Hall and give her myemail address? I could a well sendyou an article on the PorkButchers from the Hohenlohe areawho settled in Britain from about1830-1910, maybe. I now live inSwitzerland, but was born inCheshire and my grandfather,Louis Christian Pfisterer, was bornin Rotherham, Yorkshire, toMargarethe Brück and JohannFriedrich Hermann Pfisterer ofKocherstetten / Künzelsau, in theHohenlohe district of Germany.Christian Louis changed his nameto Chris Fisher after 1904 as mymother was born as a Pfisterer.I think this could be the beginningof a very interesting subject, and Ilook forward to hearing from you.Gillian SchulerSwitzerlandNEWBOTTLE ST SCHOOLHi Paul, have you got a photo ofNewbottle Street Infant Schoolaround 1958 as my mam thinksshe is on one of them?Julie WildeHoughton-le-SpringCOLLIERY FOOTBALLHi, Not sure if you can help? Mygrandfather William Robson(1916-2002) lived in Houghton allhis life worked at and playedfootball for Herrington Colliery FC(and played semi-pro forWashington Colliery later) in the1930's and won a northern leaguecup in the 1938/1939 season. Iunderstand there was a photo ofthe winning team in an oldphotograph book of Houghton LeSpring released in the 1990's andI'm trying to track down either thephotograph, book or newspaperclippings. Have you any ideawhere can I start looking? I've triedAmazon but there's nothingobvious. His father (RobertRobson) was also the clubmanager/coach and lived inNewbottle.Any help would begreatly appreciated. BestRegards.Streven TurnbullPAUL LANAGAN REPLIED:Dear Steven, The photograph youmention is found in 'H-L-S & H-L-H in Old Photographs' by KenRichardson, 1989. In theHerrington Burn section, locatedon page 141 is a photograph ofLambton Engine Works SportsClub Associated Football Clubteam and officials in 1938. W.Robson is listed as being in thefront row.FEAST FEEDBACKHello Houghton Heritage, Ithoroughly enjoyed our HoughtonFeast weekend from 7th – 9thOctober, especially the localhistory displays.My wife and Ireally enjoyed the history side ofthe Feast and particularly enjoyedthe display of miners’ banners inthe Sports Centre. We wish youevery success with planning nextyear’s Feast. Thank you,John MarlowDerbyshire* * * * * * * * * * *Keep reading formore Quests!

THE HOUGHTONIAN | MAR 2012 | VOL 2 ISSUE 1 | ISSN 1757-3890MYSTERY SOLVED!Regular readers will recollecthow in Volume 1 Issue 1 ofthe HOUGHTONIAN we weresearching for the location ofthe twins’ tombstone whichhad been placed in thechurchyard during renovationwork in 1857/58. We arepleased to say that thetombstone, now in twopieces, has been spotted –alongside Bernard Gilpin’stomb in the south transept ofthe Parish Church. Our otherongoing mystery, of theunidentified house, continuesto provoke much discussion inour popular Facebook group.THIEVES STRIKEA new mining memorial wasunveiled in Concord on March31 st 2012, depicting a motherwatching her son pass hisdad, a miner, his bait box.The special unveiling of thememorial was attended by alarge gathering, includingWashington Councillor DianneSnowdon, pictured left. Dayslater metal thieves attemptedto hack down the £100,000statue, causing damage to thelegs of the boy.Anyone with any informationis asked to contact police on101 ext. 69191.ON SCREEN SOONA new production from theBBC is set to film at LambtonCastle over the summermonths. The Ladies’Paradise, a rags-to-richesstory set in the 1890s, hasbeen written by Bill Gallagherand will be based on the novelby Emila Zola.Members of HoughtonHeritage Society andHerrington Heritage Societyvisited the Lambton Estate in2011.

PAUL LANAGAN REPLIED:Dear MichaelThank you for your emailregarding the old clinic onTHE HOUGHTONIAN | MAR 2012 | VOL 2 ISSUE 1 | ISSN 1757-3890WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?Can you help solve theseGenealogical & Heritage Quests?THE OLD CLINICDear Paul, I have just recentlyfound the Houghton Heritage siteand found it most interesting andwondered, if you had time,whether you could clear up acouple of points for me. I’moriginally from South Shields butin the early to mid sixties I workedwith what was then DurhamCouncil’s Health & WelfareDepartment and for about two orthree years I was based inHoughton: I was certainly workingthere during the big freeze-up in1963 when getting into Houghtonwas difficult - and getting outalmost impossible. What puzzlesme is just where our office wassituated and I cannot find anytrace of it on any map, old or new.My now hazy recollection is thatthe building was probably an oldclinic and it was down a short laneon the left hand side of the roadas one headed north towardsNewbottle. My hazy recollectionalso summons up the name‘Gasworks Lane’ but I could wellbe wrong there and guilty ofmixing it up with something out ofCoronation Street! I have had ago on Google Earth but what I seebears hardly any relationship tothe Houghton I can vaguelyremember from forty-five yearsago. I can recall one local name:the nurse or health assistant wascalled Mrs Parsons and I think herfather was a local councillor. Mypurpose in getting in touch is justto try to find out some basicdetails which I hope to include in awrite-up I am doing for the family.Was the clinic where I think Iremember it to have been and wasit really called Gasworks Lane? Isit still there masquerading assomething else or did it go a longtime ago? I hope this isn’t toomuch trouble. I gather that I reallycouldn't have chosen a busier intime in Houghton to send in myquery! I have lived in a village inScotland for forty-odd years andknow how these fetes can takeover one's life but I'm glad to knowthat my memory is still more orless intact. I shall look forward togetting the images. Meanwhile,enjoy the Houghton Feast. Bestwishes.Michael LawrensonScotlandPAUL LANAGAN REPLIED:Dear Michael, Thank you for youremail regarding the old clinic onGasworks Lane, also known asSunrise Lane on modern maps.This road was an offshoot at thenorthern end of Newbottle Streetand ran west down to thegasworks. The clinic, which was asquare-shaped J, and can still beseen on Google Maps. Indeed, itis listed as Sunrise House, SunriseLane, Houghton-le-Spring, DH45AL. Most people's recollectionsof the building have negativeconnotations - teeth extractionand sunlight treatment - have alook at the postings in the HHFacebook group! I have attacheda photograph which was taken inSeptember 2011. The buildingnow appears to be in use ascommercial premises. I hope thisinformation of interest to you. Iwould be interested to hear of yourrecollections of working in thebuilding, such as the snow in1963, as I will then be able to addthem, with the recent photos, tothe HH website.BEADLE ABOUTDear Houghton Heritage Society,My grandfather John WilliamBeadle, I believe was interred atHillside Cemetery September1919. Born 21 st March 1880married 7th may 1906. Anyinformation you can supply wouldbe gratefully received. His wifewas Elizabeth Ann beadle, NeeLeckenby. Looking forward toyour contact.John W. BeadleVictoria, AustraliaTHE KEPIER 1927Hi all, just found your siteresearching the family tree. Mymother, Elsie Spearman, was bornin St Michael’s Kepier in 1927.Daughter of Ada and JimSpearman. Ada's mother, MaryWatson nee Fatherley washousekeeper at the Kepier. Iunderstand if I go back ageneration Michael Fatherley waspublican at the Black Boy Inn inNewbottle. Does anyone have anyinfo?Richard CravenMR THOMAS HUSBANDHello Paul, While looking throughthe Houghton Colliery Bannerspage on the Houghton Heritagesite, I came across the name"Thomas Husband". This mademe remember a Thomas HusbandStreet in Houghton, but for the lifeof me I can't think where it was. AGoogle search has thrown upnothing, except for references to adevelopment there, which makesme think that the original streetmay no longer exist. It may havebeen near a North Street and aSouth Street - Google searchesshow plenty of these (in EastRainton, West Rainton andNewbottle, for the former at least),but none in Houghton.With thanks to LenaScarborough,Inch forN.Yorkshiresharing these Quests photographs only in the and Houghtonian many more.Havethese been redeveloped, too?Best regards.Steve HowarthPAUL LANAGAN REPLIED:Dear Steve, Thank you for youremail. Thomas Husband Streetwas located between SeahamRoad and Kirklea Road, next toRyhope Street and Earsdon Road.You can see the modern locationon Google Maps. You may haveread my recent article aboutHoughton's seven colliery banners,where I mentioned the 1923banner had Thomas Husband'sportrait on. What I hadn't linkedin, until I read your email andchecked my Houghton CollieryTime Line, was the 1921 incidentin which Thomas Husband waskilled at Houghton Colliery. WhenI get time during the week I willensure this reference is added tothe Banners article. Thank youonce again for mentioning this.BURIED AT HILLSIDELooking for information relatingto: John Atkinson; GeorgeAtkinson; Ernest Lawson; RalphLawson; and Samuel Paisley, allpossibly buried at HoughtonHillside Cemetery.Mr Geoffrey AtkinsonHoughton-le-SpringQUEST FEEDBACKHello Paul, I trust that you are well. Ihave found the latest 'Houghtonian'and there are a few points that I canmake that may help you. TheLindens - when I remember it MrPatterson (of Patterson Lamps atTeam Valley Trading Estate, makersof miners safety lamps) lived there.Houghton Miners Project - you willneed to remember that, followingnationalisation, Houghton Collierywas also the location of a MiningTraining Centre for which therewere classrooms on the surface anda mining training galleryunderground in the Main Coal andFive Quarter seams. I spent threemonths there in 1950, I think thatthere were 20 or 24 of us there intwo groups at that time. Adultsspent one month there. Thetraining centre closed at the end of1964. Hole Lot of Trouble - I am abit puzzled by this. The informationthat I was given three weeks agowas that the houses concernedwere in Station Avenue South, yourarticle says Station Avenue North, Iam wondering which is correct.The article also says that theproblem has been caused byLambton D pit Shaft No 4. Iworked at Lambton D in 1955 andthere was no shaft No 4 and there isno such shaft shown on the miningplans. Can you enlighten me anyfurther please? Do you know thenumbers of the houses that areaffected by any chance? JunctionRow - the houses are no longerthere however the name lives on. Itwas the location of three roadsalthough the name is taken fromthe 'Junction engine'. It is at thejunction of the road leading fromthe Bee Hive PH at Fence Housesthat leads towards Herrington Burnand Shiney Row. A road then leadsoff from this and goes throughSuccess and then on passing theCity of Sunderland College and toHerrington Burn.Another roadleads away from Junction Row andcomes out on the A183 road thatruns from Bournmoor to ShineyRow. Regards.Alan VickersSunderlandKeep reading for more Family Tree

Clicking away through the Houghton Heritage site andthe memory gets a nudge now and again. That snap ofSunderland FC travelling through Houghton after thecup win in 1973 reminded me I was at Wembley thatday. But I also have snatches of memories of the onebefore that in 1937 (that Raich Carter again).Apparently my old dad heard that you would be able tohear a commentary of the match on one of these newfangled wireless sets. So, knowing a fellow member atthe Comrades had an interest in an electric shop,arranged to buy one for about sixpence a week. ForTHE HOUGHTONIAN | MAR 2012 | VOL 2 ISSUE 1 | ISSN 1757-3890HOUGHTON-LE-SPRING REMEMBERED IS YOURCHANCE TO SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES ANDMEMORIES OF HOUGHTON IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS.HARRY SMITH SHARED THESE MEMORIES OF HIS FATHER, WILLIAM SMITH (PICTUREDBELOW WITH THE CHILDREN) BACK IN 2010. HARRY’S MEMORY OF OLD HOUGHTON –AND HIS WIT – ARE SECOND TO NONE. WE ARE SURE YOU WILL ENJOY THESERECOLLECTIONS OF THE MINING SETTLEMENT AT SUNNISIDE.THE PHOTO OF North Row back street pressed thememories button again. In that snap of our back streetone of the least interesting bits might seem to be thosebig poles with the cables strung across. Really thesewere monumental in the history of, if not Houghton ingeneral, then Sunniside in particular. These lumps ofwood and wire brought electricity to North Row about1951 or 1952, just as television reached this far flungoutpost of the Empire. A couple of the swanky ones inthe street actually had their TV-sets in before theelectricity was switched on, but I'm not mentioningany names. It was no secret though, as you needed anaerial nearly as big as the Angel of the North attachedto your chimney. All this mind, when, a few yards awayacross that back street, Homelands had electricity fromday one in1938 or so!Those hatches built into the back walls of North Rowwere there so loads of coal could be shovelled into thecoalhouse. One of the better perks of being a minerwas the allowance of coal they got. Every few weeksthe coal motor dropped about 15 cwt of coal under thathatch. Us kids could make a bit of pocket moneyshovelling it in. I must have shifted a few cwt. in mytime at about tuppence a ton.Also in the wall, lower down, those patches of newishlooking bricks were where the metal shutters were, togive access to that house's midden. Before flush toiletswere fitted just before the War, all household waste,including human, went into these middens. Then everyweek or so the ‘midden man’ came down the backstreet with his horse and cart to empty them. I don'tknow why, but us kids would stand as close as the manwould let us, as he opened up the shutter, andshovelled this ‘moras’ from the midden onto his cart.Then as he shut the shutter with a loud clang the horsewould take a few paces forward then stop at the nextone. Someone had to do the job I suppose, but thinkingabout the washing facilities available at the time andthe lad at going home at the end of his shift to hismissus, the term ‘true love’ springs to mind.Apparently my old dad heard that you would be able tohear a commentary of the match on one of these newfangled wireless sets. So, knowing a fellow member atthe Comrades had an interest in an electric shop,arranged to buy one for about sixpence a week. Foryears I thought the word hire, in hire-purchase, was‘higher’ and so this was a posher way to buy stuff.I do remember this great big box with loads of knobsand dials and two great big batteries being delivered toour back gate by a lad on a motor bike and sidecar withhalf the street out to watch. I do remember during thatcommentary crawling under the kitchen table whenPreston scored first. I can't remember crawling backout, but I must have done or I wouldn't be sat heretapping away. However, in the weeks after the matchwith little else on except news and Bing Crosby singing‘Pennies from Heaven’, father must have got a bitbored with it and so didn’t bother paying thosetanners.Soon the lad on the motorbike and sidecar was back atour back gate to take away the wireless.And yes, the whole street was out to see this.HARRY SMITH, 2010

THE HOUGHTONIAN | MAR 2012 | VOL 2 ISSUE 1 | ISSN 1757-3890WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?Can you help solve theseGenealogical & Heritage Quests?THE TANK BANKSHello, I am researching the TankBanks of 1917-8 which raised fundsfor the War Bonds campaign. I havecome across a reference to therebeing a tank bank in Durham in earlyApril 1918. By 4th April £206,000had been invested. Then I found outthat the tank (named Nelson 130)went elsewhere. However, there wasalso information on a tank "Egbert"141 coming to Houghton on the4,5,and 6th April 1918. I waswondering if it was possible thatinformation from the local newspaperare available on microfilm? If so,could this information be provided if Isent a cheque to cover the amount? Ido have photographs of these tanks,should you want to swap theinformation?I look forward tohearing from you in due course.Thank youRichard PursehousePAUL LANAGAN REPLIED:Dear Richard, Thank you for youremail. I had hitherto unheard ofTank Banks, though I had been wellaware of Houghton's WWII efforts,e.g. Warship Week, however youremail triggered a memory of aphotograph of a tank in Houghton-le-Spring, simply described 'a tankoutside Robinson's Brewery duringthe First World War'.I have hunted it out and it is indeedEgbert. Policemen, some militaryand civilians stand in front of it. Ihave just discovered a Wikipedia pagewhich contains an image of Egbert.It matches up perfectly with the H-L-Stank photograph, in fact you canclearly make out several of thepainted white letters of the wordEGBERT. Without your email I wouldnever have been able to decipher theword. I suspect that many of thenewspapers covering Houghton-le-Spring are housed at DurhamRecords Office, perhaps also DurhamClayport Library - such as theDurham Chronicle and DurhamAdvertiser.See:www.durham.gov.uk There may be amention in the Sunderland Echo(which is still in circulation), copies ofwhich are housed and indexed bySunderland Library's local studiessection. Houghton, of course, wasn'ta part of the Borough of Sunderlanduntil 1974, but you still get the oddsnippet and juicy nugget in the oldernewspapers.HOUGHTON ROVERSHi Paul, Just looking at the photosof Houghton Rovers, pretty sure mygrandfather is one of the players,standing behind the man who hasthe cup in front of him. John Miller,small man, he talked about playingfooty and kicking the ball out of thestadium. Pop was also very involvedin a gymnastic club of some sort forboys, he was always a very fitperson. John emigrated to Australiaaround 1926, he lived in LowerPottery Yard during this time withhis family. His brother Tom Milleralways lived in Newbottle to myknowledge. CheersRobyn WebsterBAPTISM RECORDSHi there, I wonder if you can help. Iam looking for the baptism of LucyGarvey, 1842/1843 in Houghton leSpring. I have spoken to Father atthe church regarding the baptismregisters and he informs me thePRs are deposited at NewcastleArchives. I have phoned them todayand they don't have the years I aminterested in. Would anyone fromyour Society know the whereaboutsof the Baptismal Registers for1841-1844? The Archives hold1831-1840, they have a gap andthen 1845-1863. Maybe these yearshave not survived, but, if anyoneknows their whereabouts, I wouldbe delighted to hear from them.Kind regards.Carol HirdHOLE IN THE WALLWith all this reminiscing I havestarted my family tree - it's moreaddictive than this site and in thelast couple of hours I have foundmy great great grandfather who wasborn in 1818. But somethingintrigues me, in 1881 mygrandfather is listed in the censusas living at Hole in Wall Yard inHoughton le Spring - does anyonehave any idea where this was?Val MilnesHOPPER ST BOTTLERDear Mr. Lanagan, Greetings fromIowa. I have a bottle that I am tryingto research (and it may also be ofinterest to you). It is a very oldbottle and these are the particulars:bottle and these are theparticulars: Vintage: guessing1840’s-1870’s Type: most likelywater or soda Color: Black glasswith olive green hues Condition:Slight wobble when standing; nochips, cracks or repairs; heavilywhittled, thick and substantial.Size: 10 3/8” tall (263.5 mm)Weight: 1 lb. 6.75 oz. (645grams) Holds: 2 1/3 cups (550ml) Lip: 1 3/8” (35 mm) outerdiameter; has threading on theinside for a screw top closure(long gone). It also has an appliedcollar under the lip (not surewhy?) Neck: tapered Body: 95/8” (244 mm) circumferenceMold Line: stops approx. 2” onone side and approx. 4” on theother side Comments: Difficultto photograph, but if you wantanother view, send me a messageand I will email it to you.Embossing: Boldly embossed…WM THOMPSON HOPPER STHOUGHTON LE SPRINGBottom Embossing: none Pontil:Looks like a cup bottom mold orpost base mold? Meanwhile, Iwelcome your comments.Respectfully,Michael SagnellaDecorahIowa, USAMISSING MEDALSI would love to be so lucky to findmy Grandad's medals. He servedin the First World War and waswounded and discharged. Yearsago his medals were loaned tosomeone to wear in theRemembrance Parade in FenceHouses and they were neverreturned. His name was FredMoore and he served with theGreen Howards then the RAMC.One day, maybe his medals couldbe returned?Christine RamshawPRE-BETHANY CHURCHHas anyone got any oldphotographs of Nesham Place? Iam trying to find out what was onthe site before the nursery wasbuilt but before the BethanyChurch. Thanks.Hazel ScotterHoughton-le-SpringMYRE HALLHi folks, I've been trying to find aphotograph of Myre Hall for a fewyears now, but with no success.The building that stood beforethey built the sheltered housing.My family moved to Hall Lanewhen I was 6½ years old and theold Myre Hall building stoodempty. That was summer 1971. Iknow that it was demolished andthe current building was openedin early 1978 because mypaternal grandfather moved in.Does anyone else remember thisbuilding - or better still have anyphotos? It looked like astereotypical haunted house.Helen DaviesHoughton-le-SpringIN THE PAPERSHi, my name is Sophie Hardy andI am a student journalist at theUniversity of Sunderland. I amcurrently writing an article aboutHoughton Feast and was wantingto know a bit of backgroundinformation about the event. If itisn't too much trouble, would I beable to ask you if 2011 differedfrom previous Feasts? Have therecent government cuts affectedthe event at all? And what do youthink was the highlight of thisyear's Feast? I would beextremely grateful if someonefrom your team could reply to thisemail. It will not be published, it isjust a university assessment andwill only be seen by myself andmy lecturer. Thank you for takingthe time to read this email.Sophie HardySunderlandHAIL HAIL ROCK N ROLLI would like information on thefollowing people: Richard Hailes;Jane Hails; Mary Hails; ThomasHails; and Richard Hails. Thankyou.Lynda MinarzickTexas, USA* * * * * * * * * * *Keep reading for moreFamily Tree Quests.

THE HOUGHTONIAN | MAR 2012 | VOL 2 ISSUE 1 | ISSN 1757-3890A RECIPE FROM THE THOMPSON FAMILYThis recipe makes a pan of pease pudding, which goes nicely with a hamsandwich made with stottie cake! The recipe was shared by Nicola Thompson,who said: “We never measured anything, just used our own judgement as to howmany split peas to use.” The photo below shows St Michael’s Roman CatholicChurch on Durham Road, around 1910. More recipes from the Taste ofHoughton series can be found on the HH website.INGREDIENTSYellow split peas x a quantity ofHam shank x 1Dried gelatin (if required)METHOD1. Soak the split peas in cold water for about 12 hours, overnight if possible.2. Strain the split peas into a cloth and place in a pan with a ham shank and cover with coldwater.3. Bring to the boil and cook until the meat is tender enough to fall off the bone.4. Remove the ham shank, tip the split peas out into the ham water and continue simmeringand stirring (to avoid burning), until the mixture thickens.5. Meanwhile, add a few small pieces of the ham from the shank.6. The general idea is to use the gelatin that boils out of the ham shank bone to set the peasepudding, but if enough gelatin has not been generated in the boiling just add a couple ofteaspoons of dried gelatin.REF NO: HLS1854161420REF NO: HLS1854161341

THE HOUGHTONIAN | MAR 2012 | VOL 2 ISSUE 1 | ISSN 1757-3890WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?Can you help solve theseGenealogical & Heritage Quests?HOUGHTONIAN ISS 3Many thanks for the copy of the'Houghtonian' - much appreciated.Two responses regarding 'Who doyou think that you are' : The photo ofthe choirboys singing on the top ofthe tower - that is Mr Shentonconducting the choir. He actuallyplayed the organ for our wedding in1958. Regarding Joe Graham - Iknew him and he was the same ageas me. He lived at Chilton Moor and Ithink that his father was called DickGraham but I may be wrong on that.His uncle was Eddie Graham wholived further along the road from theChurch. Regards.AlanRALPH IRONSIDEHi Paul, I wonder if you are aware ofthe references to Houghton le Springto be found in Elizabeth Grant's"Memoirs of a Highland Lady"?www.archive.org/details/memoirsofhighlan0 0smituoft Of particularinterest to me is the description givenon page 18 (36 of the PDF) of thearea around the entrance to Ironside's"estate". This would be where my 9thGt Grandfather, Ralph Ironside (1560)was born and spent his childhood.He attended Kepier School, and wassponsored to go to Oxford byBernard Gilpin.It would be reallygreat to be able to identify the area,and even the houses if they still exist,that Elizabeth Grant described in1803. I see from Google Earth thatyou have a street named NeshamPlace. Elizabeth's grandmother was aNesham whom she mentions living"just across the street" from theIronsides. I do realise that modernplace names may not be a preciseindication of location of previouslyowned property. Similarly, of course,with Ironside Street. Best Regards,and good luck for this year's "Feast".Mike I EdwardsTHE DAVISONS OFHOUGHTON-LE-SPRINGHi Houghton Heritage, I am lookingfor burial records at Hillside cemeterybelonging to the Davison family.Thanks & regards.Alan DavisonAustraliaTHE WHEATLEYSPaul, Thank you for responding tothe request for info on the Wheatleyand Moore families. My greatgrandfather George Moore (fromLeamside) worked the Pit until 1926and then came to the UnitedStates. I am searching for anyfamily connections to the Mooreand Wheatley families. My Greatgrandmother Josephine (fromHoughton-le-Spring) and Georgewhere members of St. Michael andAll Angels. That is all I have to goon. Thanks for welcoming me tothe group. George Moore was bornin 1884 and Josephine 1899.Josephine's parents were ThomasWheatley (b. 1878) and MaryFrankland (b. 1877). George'sparents were Thomas E. Moore (b.1845) and Mary Jane Moore (b.1854). I am afraid my branch ofthe tree was cut off once we cameto the United States. I am trying toreconnect and planning a trip overby 2013. Ever thankful to God foryou.Pastor Chris BowenVirginia Beach, USATHE WINSKILLSI have an old photograph of agentleman with this address on theback of dated 15/04/1947, to a MrsWinskill, who is my nan (neeJames).She was married toThomas William Winskill in 1937.They had two sons Stanley andThomas, Stanley being my fatherborn 24 April 1945. I have recentlyrequested BMD certificates forvarious people in the family butanyone with any information wouldbe great.Melanie WilsonFEAST REMEMBEREDI remember as a child thefairground in the Lake then stallsalong Broadway, up Church Street,and down into the Market Placewhere there was more shows, stallsalso came out of the rear of theLake and up the side of thePresbyterian Church.Richard LeadbitterNewbottleGEORGE JOHNSTONDear Mr Lanagan, Firstly may Isay how impressed I am with yourweb-page Houghton Heritage andall the work it must have taken. Iam writing to ask if you can shedany light on an ancestor of myhalf sister Jacqueline who lives inMichigan USA. I have beenresearching her family tree andher great grandfather GeorgeJohnston b.1879 a CoalminerHewer was living with his wife andchildren at 11 Hopper Street,Houghton-le-Spring with hisfamily as listed in the 1901Census. George had a brotherAndrew Johnston b.1891 andliving in 10 D'Arcy Street,Houghton-le-Spring with hisparents William and BarbaraJohnston and his siblings Wiliamand John, again as listed in the1901 Census. In trying to find thedate of Andrew's death, in the UKSoldiers Died in the First WorldWar 1914-1918, I came across anAndrew Johnston a Private withthe Warwickshire Regiment 9thBattalion who died inMesopotamia on the 29th June1917. Also on theCommonwealth War GravesCommission web-page there is anAndrew Johnston, again a Privatewith the Warwickshire Regiment9th Battalion who died on 29thJune 1917 and buried at KirkleeCemetery near Bombay (Mumbai)India. Also, from information Ifound on your Houghton Heritageweb-page there is an A Johnstonlisted on the Cenotaph in St.Michaels churchyard and alsomentioned on the roll of Honourinside the Church. I amassuming that all these referencesare for the same AndrewJohnston but unfortunately nonelist his date of birth, age at deathor names of parents. Are you, orany of your readers of theHoughtonian Magazine, able tohelp me confirm that this is thesame Andrew from 10 D'ArcyStreet that I have on the Johnstonfamily tree? There appear to havebeen quite a lot of Johnstonfamily members living inHoughton-le-Spring during the1800's and if anyone has anyfurther information regarding theJohnston family I would be verygrateful. I was born in Thornabyon-Teesand now live in Spainand for medical reasons it is notpossible for me to travel to visitHoughton-le-Spring personally.Yours in anticipation,Ana Foxand for medical reasons it is notpossible for me to travel to visitHoughton-le-Spring personally.Yours in anticipation.Ana FoxSpainPOTTERY CRESTHi Joan, My name is WilliamGilpin. I live in Canada and haveread the first issue of theHoughton Newsletter. I found thearticle about the Gilpin Boarinteresting.Joan, was yourmother a Gilpin? And are theremore than one issue of theHoughton newsletter? I believethat there is another Gilpin crestthat has been put out by someheraldry company, giving also thehistory of the name. I believe thatit's related to the poem that waswritten about Richard the Rider.William GilpinCanadaKEEP SMILINGHello, I'm from Pennsylvania USA.My ancestors, brothers Thomasand Walter Smiles, emigratedfrom Houghton-le-Spring toPennsylvania in the 1840s. Longtime ago, I know. But I wonder ifthere are still some Smilesfamilies there. We are very rareover here.Jack SmilesAN EPIDEMIC?Hello Paul, have you any idea ifthere was an epidemic in theHoughton or Hetton in the 1880s,more so about 1883? I have triedevery avenue but got nowhere.The reason I am asking is I amresearching my family tree andfive members of the same familystem died all within a few weeksor days of each other and all werechildren. Many thanks.Lynn PerryTyne & Wear* * * * * * * * * * *Keep reading for moreFamily Tree Quests.

THE HOUGHTONIAN | MAR 2012 | VOL 2 ISSUE 1 | ISSN 1757-3890CENOTAPH REPAIRSIt has taken nearly two longyears to reach this stage, but,finally, the trial re-carving of asample of names on Houghton’sFirst World War memorialin St Michael’s church-yard, hasbeen completed. Results aregood, as can be seen from thephoto-graph, so now Kath andDennis are turning theirthoughts to how the re-carvingof the rest of the faded namesmight be funded. Officers areinvestigating the possibility ofapplying for a grant from theWar Memorials Trust.Text from: Houghton Ward Edition,Councillors’ Update, March/April 2012WAR MEDAL FOUNDThe Sunderland Echo reportedon February 15 th 2012 howMarie Holmes found a DurhamLight Infantry regiment medalon the floor of the NISA Storeon Morton Crescent,Fencehouses. The medal wasfound in August 2011 and Mariehas advertised the discovery inthe shop’s window, contactedthe police and also visited theDLI museum in Durham in thehope of tracking down theowner – all to no avail! Themedal is engraved with thewords ‘George V Britain’ andwas awarded for bravery. Ifyou know who it belongs tocontact the Echo on (0191) 5017208.THE BIG 1 HUNDREDThe Lambton Miners Hall onLambton Lane, Fencehouses,celebrates its 100 th anniversarythis year. It was erected byDurham Miners Association in1912 and has two housesattached on either side - NorthHouse and South House -former residences of thecolliery officials. When thenearby colliery closed in 1965,the premises were used as asports hall by the YMCA, whichstood just down the road. Theyare now used by BarronsContracts & Custom Interiors.

THE HOUGHTONIAN | MAR 2012 | VOL 2 ISSUE 1 | ISSN 1757-3890IN MEMORIAMwww.zazzuk.comTEL 0191 584 0764To join the HH Group onFacebook simply click thelink from the main websitethen follow the directions tojoin!NOW ON KINDLEOX ROASTING:A BEEF HISTORYwww.amazon.co.ukPETER TATE1946 - 2011Houghton Heritage Society was sad torecently hear of the passing of PeterTate on November 14 th 2011. PaulLanagan, Chairman of HoughtonHeritage Society, said: “I was actuallyon composing a letter to Peter about hiswork on the Gilpin Thorn when I heardthat he had sadly passed away back inNovember. It came as a great shock ashe was one of my Heroes of Houghton.”In the 1990s, the original Gilpin HolyThorn was in a sad and sorry state – atone point it was vandalised – Peter, aforestry officer with Sunderland Council,took some seeds, froze them andplanted them – and a couple ofseedlings grew! They were planted onthe land between the old Rectory andHoughton Area Office and the GilpinThorn tradition continued, as shownabove in the photograph from theSunderland Echo. Pat Taylor, amember of Houghton Heritage Society,left a small tribute on the Society’sFacebook forum: “Peter was a nice lad,one of the best.” You can find out moreabout the holy Gilpin Thorn and its linkto the crucifixion of Christ in theRectory section of the HH website:www.houghtonlespring.org.uk/parkHOUGHTON PARISHCHURCH is open dailybetween 11:00AM and1:00PM from April untilOctober. It is the idealtime to visit and seesome of Houghton’soldest heritage,including memorials,plaques, stained glasswindows, interpretationboards and historicalremains.POSTCODE FOR SAT NAV:DH4 4DNThe next issue of the HOUGHTONIAN will beavailable to download in June 2012. Send us yourdetails and get a copy sent directly to your Inbox!

THE HOUGHTONIAN | MAR 2012 | VOL 2 ISSUE 1 | ISSN 1757-3890I would like to support the work of the Houghton-le-Spring Heritage Society andinclude a donation of £____.____I WISH TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS.I WOULD LIKE TO RECORD THE FOLLOWING IN THE REGISTER OF BENEFACTORS:NAME [please tick] Mr Mrs Miss _______________________________________ADDRESS ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ POSTCODE _________________________CONTACT NUMBER/EMAIL __________________________________________________ThankYouCHEQUE SHOULD BE MADE PAYABLE TO:Houghton-le-Spring Heritage SocietyCOMPLETED FORM SHOULD BE RETURNED TO:Houghton Heritage Society, 120 Burn Park Road, Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne & Wear, DH4 5DQBOOKS, DVDS& CALENDARAVAILABLEFROMwww.HOUGHTONleSPRING.org.ukTHE HOUGHTONIANPUBLISHED BY BOOKS OF THE NORTHCOPYRIGHT © 2012VOL 2 ISSUE 1 MAR 2012ISSN 1757-3890V002IS01VE03No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a mechanical retrieval system, ortransmitted, in any form or by means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,without written permission from the publisher. The publisher has made all reasonable efforts tocontact copyright holders for permission. Any errors that may have occurred are inadvertent andanyone who for any reason has not been contacted is invited to write to the publisher so that a fullacknowledgement may be made in subsequent editions of The Houghtonian. Articles andinformation are presented in good faith, occasionally based on people's recollections and memories,which can be fallible. While every effort is made to ensure the content is accurate and up to date ,some errors may exist, such is the nature of recording local history, therefore no responsibility can beheld for any errors contained herein. Thanks are extended to the following supporters/contributors:Sunderland Antiquarian Society; Lena Inch; Dianne Snowdon; Lambton Estates; Harry Smith; NicolaThompson; Kath Rolph; and as always, Penelope Wilton OBE, for being our Patron.