Hallowe'en notes

I am writing this entry on Hallowe'en although where I live we do not have trick or treaters as it is quite remote. When I was a child we did not celebrate Hallowe'en at all. The big night was Bonfire Night but the night before was Mischief Night when children did just that. They swapped people's gates round and rang doorbells. Nothing too serious and most people took it in good part as they had done the same in their childhood.

I was very upset on Saturday morning when I went to feed my pair of little bantams and found that the fox had torn his way in through the wooden back of their ark and they were gone, leaving just a few feathers. I had had them about three years and had thought they were safe as they were in an enclosed pen and wooden hut.

I have been working on my website and have added a page about my new book, Goole, a Pictorial History Vol. 4.

I have also added some new pictures onto my old photo pages.

Molly is still growing and learning! She comes back most of the time when I whistle but is sometimes distracted by all the lovely smells. Also she does not seem to have grasped the idea that the clocks have gone back an hour. No lie in on Sunday for me.

Goole, a Pictorial History, volume 4

Today I have sent my last correction to the printer and now all I have to do is wait for my book to become a reality. I have been working on it for several months and so am suffering withdrawal symptoms as I have now nothing more to do.

It is the fourth book that I have written about the history of Goole, telling the story of the town through pictures. This volume roughly covers the 1940s and includes some 80 old photographs  as well as a lot of contemporary reminiscences about life in Goole.

The book should be ready for sale by the first week in November. It will be available from Chappelows newsagents in Goole and I also hope to sell signed copies at Goole library on 12th November when there is a family history day.

It will cost £7.95 and will also be available to order by post through my website - although until I have a copy to weigh I am not sure how much P&P will be.

This is the front cover - on the front is a Richard Cooper Street party celebrating the coronation in 1953. Sadly the street has recently been demolished.

Whitgift ferry, Molly and RIP Norman

This has been a busy week. My book about Goole is now in proof and should be, when I have made the corrections,  printed by the end of October.  I hope I have noticed all the mistakes but there are always some that slip through the net.

On Wednesday night the fox got the chickens. I was a bit late going out to drop the hatch on their hut and when I looked inside the hut was strangely empty. Then by the light of the torch I saw what was left of poor Norman the cockerel lying nearby. The hens I have never seen again. But on Thursday I met a friend in the supermarket and her daughter had a cockerel and two light Sussex hens which she kindly gave me. I am looking after them very carefully.

Today has been sunny and we have been out with the camera taking pictures for a presentation I am giving at the Beverley Treasure house on Thursday 20th October at 6pm. It is about the changing face of Howdenshire and so I needed some pictures of the area as it is today to compare with my old pictures.

This is the Ouse riverbank at Metham where the Whitgift Ferry landed such passengers as John Wesley and Charles I. Molly is being taught to walk on a lead

Molly is queen of the castle

Lep in Goole

I am writing a book at the moment about Goole, using lots of old pictures, dating from the 1930s and 40s. One of the pictures is of the Lep depot down Fifth Avenue and this has led to all sorts of interesting information emerging about what Lep in Goole did during the war.

With the help of local people I have been finding out about the hundreds of Canadian vehicles assembled in the town down South Street and possibly Dutch Riverside. Also about Lep using the old Adelphi warehouse - not quite sure what for yet and about Lep vehicles towing giant recovery trailers called Queen Marys  and going out to pick up crashed planes. These were then put into wooden crates made in a Lep shed off Rawcliffe Road

It is an aspect of Goole's wartime role which has not been much talked about but I hope to find out more

Stanley Oughtibridge of Swinefleet

In the WEA local history class I run in Goole - new members always welcome - we discuss all manner of subjects Goole related. This morning topics included the history of Fisons, once Goole Tillage, the role Lep played in the war assembling military vehicles and Stanley Oughtibridge.

I am not sure how we came to talk of him but he was one of Goole's characters. He was in fact from Swinefleet and began his career looking after lions in a circus. He then spent many years working in the music halls mainly in the north of England.

He was for many years a familiar figure in Goole, usually immaculately dressed and sometimes wearing spats.

This picture of Mr Oughtibridge, taken in 1989, was provided by Gilbert Tawn.

On a different topic Molly the puppy is growing by the day. She is, like most Labradors, keen to eat almost anything including so far a plug off a lamp, a library book cover and any unwary feet. She is not sure whether to chase chickens or run from them but seems to take most new events in her stride. I only wish her day did not start quite so early!!

Book fair and a new puppy

This has been a busy weekend. On Saturday I went to the local history bookfair at Beverley which was held at the Treasure House. I had a stall and met lots of old friends and some new ones. I managed to sell some of my books about Eastrington and Gilberdyke and had a display of some of my old pictures.
Then yesterday we went to fetch Molly, our new puppy. She is almost 9 weeks old and is a black labrador. She is settling in well although does not like being left on her own and  howled last night. Poppy, our cat remains aloof and suspicious. So far she seems to like eating raw apple and playing but has little idea of using the newspapers we have provided!

Here is Molly.

Local history classes - Howden, Eastrington and Goole

Now that autumn is here with winds and rain it is time for the new term of WEA local history classes to begin.

I teach three classes - one in Howden, one in Eastrington and one in Goole. All three classes have been running for some years and are very friendly. You don't need any experience and you won't be asked to do written work but you do need to be interested in the area where you live.

The class at Howden starts on Monday afternoon, 19th September at 1.30 pm and is held in the meeting room above the East Riding Customer Services building in Howden. This term we shall be looking at the history of the town and studying some original documents. There are frequent Powerpoint shows of local pictures.

The class at Eastrington starts on Tuesday afternoon Sept 20th in Eastrington Village Hall, again at 1.30pm and will look at Eastrington and other villages. Again there will be Powerpoint presentations about the villages.

The Goole class meets in the Ilkeston Ave Community centre at 10am on Thursday  22nd Sept and this term we are looking at the industries of Goole.

The fees are £55 per term [ 10 classes] and £3 for claimants. You can come to the first class and see whether you like it before joining.

Do contact me if you would like more information.

Regency Halifax

My friend Prudence Bebb, with whom I taught many years ago now, at Howden School, has recently published the latest in her acclaimed series of books on towns in Regency Yorkshire.

This volume, Regency Halifax,  deals with the woollen town of Halifax in Regency times. It looks at the lives of the people from  John Greenwood and Michael Pickles who were hanged for theft to  the Rawson family who were eminent bankers. The Rawson  family home and bank still exists in Halifax, now restored as Somerset House and available for weddings.

Prue  has already written about Regency York, Poppleton, Harrogate, Scarborough, Whitby, Beverley and Bridlington. This latest addition to the series is beautifully produced and contains several colour pictures.

An old photo of Whitgift cricket team

I have countless old pictures, many of them old press pictures but others lovely old pictures which people have given me over the years. The biggest problem however is that many of them have no names. At the time everyone knew who was in the photograph and what the occasion was. But no - one thought to write this information on the back.

So here is a picture of a cricket team. On the back is written T Halkon, Whitgift.  Does anyone recognise any of these players, or where the picture could be taken. I know it is a long shot but someone may have this very same picture with all the names on!!

Eastrington church

Now back from holiday and the temptation of the Hay on Wye bookshops I have plenty to do. The garden is becoming overgrown with all the rain although not as much fell here as at Goole where there was severe flooding.

We are eating green beans and courgettes at every meal and the poor damson tree has been pulled down by the weight of fruit. Unfortunately the damsons are not really ready and so I am leaving the tree alone and then will prune it after picking the crop.

I am busy now writing my fourth book on the Pictorial History of Goole and hope to have it ready  by autumn - lots of work to do but it is very interesting to write.

The exhibition at the Beverley Treasure House by the Victoria County History will feature three boards of my old photographs about Howden, Eastrington and Newport. It opens on 17th September, the same day as the local history book fair. I am having a stand there so will be able to sneak along and listen to comments on the exhibition!!

I am looking forward to the afternoon of Wednesday 31st August when I am giving a talk to a group made up of the Howden U3A and my WEA students at Eastrington church. This is my 'home' church where my family have worshipped since at least 1680 so I always enjoy sharing it with others.