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

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