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

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

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