I was very sad to see that Eastrington chapel had been forced to close. The last service was on 25th September and I know of at least one lady who had been attending for well over 50 years. I have been given a collection of pictures by Mrs Doreen Wilde whose family, the Whites had been involved with the running of the chapel for at least three generations. The Bell family of Portington, friends of John Wesley, had supported the chapel in earlier times. It is said that Wesley spent his last night in Yorkshire at Portington.
On the general history front I seem to be juggling topics like plates. I have been researching a Hull family for a local lady and have become entangled with a vast number of branches of a family called Purdon.
And nearer home I have been looking at the history of Howden. The Howden civic society is holding an exhibition in the Shire hall on Saturday and Sunday, 15th and 16th of October about the heritage of the town. I have been printing out a lot of my old photographs in preparation.
It is surprising how much Howden has changed in my time. Last evening I gave a talk to the members of Howden WI which I entitled The changing face of Howden and found that around half the audience had moved into Howden within the last ten years and were fascinated to see pictures of what Howden looked like before some of the newer developments. Examples are the demolition of the police station on Bridgegate and its replacement by the PA building; the site of the workhouse later the site of the ambulance station on Knedlington Road, now new houses and the Marsh as it was with its newly dug ponds but with no trees or bushes.
And not forgetting the history of Goole. Maybe not as old as Howden but our small research group has been looking at why Jackson Street and Montagu streets are so called.
Plenty then to keep me busy when the clocks change and the evenings are darker.
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Howden marsh  |
