Goole history exhibition

 It's been a busy week but very enjoyable. On Tuesday the members and friends  of the local history groups I attend in Goole and Howden concluded our summer visits by coming to Saltmarshe where we have a small museum.  It is in an eighteenth century cottage and we have filled it with all sorts of artefacts ranging from a boot worn by a horse which pulled the lawn mower at Sandhall, my grandfather's adze which he used as a wheelwright at Eastrington and a range of tinplate toys and a wind up gramophone.

We enjoyed tea, scones, jam and cream and also catching up with friends on what was a lovely sunny day.

The following day I met an Australian visitor and his daughter who had come to Yorkshire to look at where their ancestors lived. It is an interesting story about a young man called Robert Donkin, born in 1867 at North Cave to parents William Donkin and Esther Howarth who had married in 1864. 

When he was around 18 Robert emigrated to Australia and took his mother's  maiden surname of Howarth. His descendant had employed an Australian family history researcher to trace his ancestor. Although Robert had never used the surname Donkin he had always said he was born in North Cave in Yorkshire. And armed with that - and eventually DNA  - Robert Donkin and Robert Howarth were proved to be the same person. Why he changed his name may never be known.

My visitors met me in Howden and we enjoyed chatting about what they thought of Yorkshire and its people. They liked us!!

The following day I went to a lovely concert in the Minster organised by Howdenshire Music. https://www.howdenshiremusic.co.uk

The church was full and the young performers very engaging. All concerts are free and draw in large audiences who are always impressed by our town.

And now I am preparing for our Goole Local History group's exhibition in Junction, beginning on Tuesday 22nd August. There will be old photos,  family research help and information about the First World War and waterways heritage. Our theme this year is railways and ships. 

So above is a picture of West Dock - and the water towers- while below from 1967 is a picture of the last steam loco to leave Goole shed.

Whitgift church - and street names

 I began my post last month with a comment about welcome rain. Well,  now I think it has gone too far the other way. My friend has her birthday on July 15th, St Swithin's day and it seems to have rained ever since. The garden is now sodden and it is difficult to find a space between showers to pick soft fruit.

I am looking forward to Tuesday when the local history groups I attend are visiting Whitgift church. Quite a few years ago I wrote an article about the history of the church and have been re-reading it in preparation for talking about it. It is a lovely church  next to the river and also next to where the Whitgift ferry  crossed from  near Metham on 'my' side of the river. This was a major crossing point from north to south, used by Charles 1 on his way from Hull and on several occasions by John Wesley.

The church itself was apparently re built on 1304 after being destroyed in a dispute over tithes.

 In 1247, the new Rector of Adlingfleet was a Franciscan Friar called John le Franceys [sometimes John the Frenchman]. He was originally a Yorkshireman, but he had travelled throughout Europe, becoming a Papal Legate and a King's Councillor. He had great plans for Adlingfleet, rebuilding and enlarging the church, and taking on the dispute with Selby Abbey. When a dispute over the ownership of a weir in Whitgift became particularly acrimonious, John le Franceys decided to get his own back. 

He demolished Whitgift Church and removed the stones to Adlingfleet where he built himself a stone chamber, attached to what was probably a wooden rectory.  This is still there and has recently been restored. John was not popular in clerical circles and when he was stricken in 1252 by paralysis, dying in 1255  he was mourned 'with dry tears' by the monks of St Mary’s Abbey at York and of Selby.

And of course we shall discuss the famous clock with 13 on its dial. Was it mentioned by Lord Haw Haw and how did it come to be?

 
Whitgift church - with clock

Another topic which has come up recently is street names. There have been many new names around Howden on the recent developments, selected by builders from lists suggested by the Town Council. I know that several were names which appeared on the war memorial and it would be good to publicise more about them - maybe a winter project!! I do have a copy of a contemporary booklet about those who lost their lives in the First World War. And how many Howden people know why they have an Osana Avenue?

In Goole there is a newish development called Mulberry Gardens which recalls Goole's contribution to the Mulberry Harbour construction - but controversial as it stands on the site of two former streets - Richard Cooper and Phoenix which many local people felt should have been referenced

And most recently there are new houses being built in the centre of Eastrington. They are to be named Watson Drive. 

At least two village families were - and are - called Watson.  My own parents, Doug and Joan Watson  were very well-known in the community. My mother, who lived in Eastrington all her life taught at the local primary school and my father, originally from Driffield was evacuated from Dunkirk during the war, spent three years in North Africa and then taught in Howden. Both were involved with the agricultural society and the village hall while my mother regularly played the church organ. She was also for many years on the parish council and fought to get the present nature reserve created when it was proposed to make it into a refuse tip.

I remember Maud Watson who was the village postlady when I was a child. Her father too had been a postman. My grandmother, who lived a little out of the village,  used to wait until she saw Maud arriving and then shout  'Any sickness in the village Maud?' Maud then replied with all the news.

Maud's son Tom was killed in 1944. He was 22 and an air gunner on a Lancaster when it was hit and crashed in Germany. He had a brother Leslie who  lived in the village with his family until his death in 1996.

I think street names represent so much local history and it is interesting to find out more about them.

Sgt Tom Colbeck Watson with Betty Cox who was an evacuee from Hull and lived in Alma Row.

Old pubs of Howden

 I am sitting here listening to the welcome rain. The garden was bone dry and everything was drooping. In particular the potatoes needed the water as the roots we have tried are the size of marbles. Gardening can be very frustrating and I am not best pleased at the moment as I was watching some calabrese and tender stem broccoli in the raised bed and thought how well it was doing. It was well netted but somehow a pigeon got in and in a short time decimated the plants. I am not feeling charitable towards pigeons at the moment.

This afternoon I am going out with the history groups I belong to to visit Nunburnholme church. We plan a few visits over the summer and enjoy learning about new places as well as meeting up with old friends. I am also looking forward next week to a concert in Howden Minster by celebrated young  pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason. It has been organised by Howdenshire Music whose high quality free concerts are really putting Howden on the musical map.

I have spent the last couple of weeks working on a booklet about the old pubs of Howden which is to be published in early autumn by the Howden Civic Society. Geoff Taylor, another member of the society and I  have been researching the various inns and Geoff has been taking contemporary pictures to go with my old ones.

Howden has always been known for having a large number of pubs, inns and beerhouses, largely because it was the centre of the local Howdenshire area where villagers came to visit the shops and markets. And also Howden hosted an annual world famous horse fair where buyers and sellers came from all over the UK and Europe to buy horses for many purposes ranging from hunting, pulling cabs in cities and in particular for use in the army. 

Our booklet is in the form of a town trail and includes 24 pubs - or pub sites. Some of them are a challenge to research as a new landlord often meant a new pub name. Charles Ledsham, for example came to Howden as the landlord of the Black Horse in Bridgegate in the 1820s. Having fought heroically and been wounded at the Battle of Waterloo he renamed his pub  after the battle. But when he moved to new premises in Hailgate the Black Horse reverted to its original name.

Around the same time the White Hart became the patriotically named Wellington whilst the Grapes in Bridgegate became the Britannia.

The civic society will be having a stand at Howden show on July 2nd. Come along and say hello. And if you have any memories or old pictures of Howden pubs you would be doubly welcome!!!!

 The white building on the left was once the Spotted Cow inn. It later was a lodging house and is now private housing.

The Coronation

 Yesterday I was glued to the television as I watched the Coronation ceremony. It was not so much the processions in the rain but the actual events in the abbey that fascinated me. Although as we know there were many modernising touches the historical symbolism and actual artefacts were stunning. As King Charles sat in the wooden Coronation chair I could not but think of the other kings and queens had sat in /on it all the way back to probably Edward I.

But Howden Minster was a good stand in for the Abbey on Friday!  It was beautifully decorated with an  impressive banner by Howden School pupils. The school children processed in and out and sang the National Anthem and the WI ladies served lovely cakes during the day. And in the evening I attended a Coronation concert there - braving a thunderstorm to do so.

I throughly enjoyed the first half,  hearing Crown Imperial on the magnificent organ and the performance of Zadok the Priest with Matthew Collins again on organ with the augmented Minster choir.

The talented Howden School band, The Soleros were up next, followed by Howdenshire Music's Boglarka Gyorgy and Amy Butler on violin and piano playing a very well-received Gershwin arrangement.

The interval gave us the opportunity to chat with friends. After a performance by a gospel choir we returned to the rather wet streets of Howden. 

Howden ladies dressed as queens of the past in 1953 - tentatively named as Eileen Holliday, Mrs Barnes/ Mrs Winn, Noreen Milnes [ hairdresser], unknown, Rita Sheppard [from the White Horse].

A village funeral

It's gardening time now and we have managed to get in some onions and potatoes. I still have tender stem broccoli and Swiss chard in the greenhouse but today it has turned colder and drizzly and  it's not encouraging to spend a lot of time outside.

Yesterday afternoon I attended the funeral in Eastrington church for Dolly Atkinson,  a lady I had known all my life. She was 98 and the church was full as we celebrated her life. Like probably everyone there I had eaten her famed teacakes and we heard how, after growing up and working on the family farm she had moved to a bungalow in the village and had been a stalwart supporter of both church and the village hall. It was both a comforting and uplifting service.

 In the [old] village hall. From left Greta Atkinson, Betty Hoggard, Dolly Atkinson, Mrs Wilburn 

 
A winning Eastrington school choir in 1936 on the steps of Hull City Hall. Dolly Atkinson with fringe and wearing a summer dress is on the extreme left. My aunt Jean Nurse [Sellers[ is  on the front row, left of the boy with a short sleeved shirt.

On Easter Monday I gave talks and tours at what turned out to be a very popular Howden Minster open day.  There is a lot of history to cover [!!] so I just  mentioned the highlights ranging from John who sat up in his coffin at his funeral to the possible visit of Parliamentary troops to the church in 1644, the collapse of the choir roof in 1696 due to lack of maintenance and the disastrous fire of 1929. And of course we looked at the Coronation window which was installed in 1953.

Then last week I gave two talks - on the same day - about the history of the Saltmarshe family and the village.  The first was to the ladies of Hook WI who were having afternoon tea in Saltmarshe hall. They were a very friendly and lively group. In the evening it was the monthly meeting of the Boothferry history group in the Courtyard in Goole. It was a challenging start as the overhead projector there failed to work - and not for the first time - but I had brought my own projector just in case and after setting that up all went well.

Tonight I am attending a concert in Snaith  Priory church by the Beverley Male Voice Choir which also includes performances from Shakespeare by local poets. Should be a good evening.

Dorothy Bartlam

 Last week  was  International Women's Day and a local facebook post mentioned Goole born  film actress Dorothy Bartlam. Dorothy starred in several films in the late 1920s and early 1930s and there is much information about her film career on the internet.

The local history group that I attend on Thursday mornings had talked about her and one of our members has carried out a lot of research on Dorothy and her family and her Goole connections.  So I thought I would include a brief summary of his work here.

Dorothy Ezard Bartlam was born 8th November 1897 at Leighton, 2 Airmyn Road (then known as 173 Boothferry Road), Goole and baptised on 25th November at St David's, Airmyn. Her parents had married in the same church 1st June 1895, her father having recently come to Goole to enter into an ironmongery partnership with George Thompson. 

Her father, Charles Ruby Bartlam, had come from Ironbridge, Shropshire, where he had been an assistant in his father's ironmongery. Dorothy's mother was Henrietta Ezard, who had been born in Earswick Station House. Her father was the station-master. Henrietta was the younger sister of Herbert W Ezard. In 1913, when Dorothy was around 6, the ironmongery business was dissolved and the Bartlam  family moved to Torquay where Charles opened his own ironmongery. 

As a young woman, Dorothy won several beauty competitions and found casual employment in the film industry as a "crowd extra." It did not take long for her to be cast in more prominent roles and soon to become a "star." Film reviews in the national press sometimes referred to her as “the girl from Goole” or “the Yorkshire actress.”When she married David Rawnsley, the film art director, in September 1933, the wedding photo appeared in the Sunday newspaper "The People."

As Mrs David Rawnsley, her portrait was shown in the National Portrait Gallery, she was featured on cigarette cards and appeared extensively in advertisements for Pond's Cold Face Creams 

This is  Dorothy Bartlam (1907-1991} as shown on a  cigarette card from Modern Beauties, 4th series, issued by the British-American Tobacco Company.

Some extra information which might be interesting

Bartlam and Thompson were in business at 106 Boothferry Road. The partnership was advertised in 1901. After the Bartlams left Goole George Herbert Thompson continued the business at 106 as ironmonger and plumber until at least 1920. 

Bartlam and Thompson had their shop at 106, Boothferry Rd in the block on the left

Before he married George lived with his widowed mother Martha at 186 Boothferry Road. She died in 1933

Dorothy Bartlam's mother Henrietta Ezard was the sister of enterprising shipowner  Herbert W Ezard. He  lived at 'Haxby'  [4 Airmyn Road/ then 175 Boothferry Rd] which he built in 1907. His initials HWE are over the door.

He died in 1938 and his obituary is below

1938 DEATH OF H. EZARD Former Goole Shipowner and Local Preacher The death has occurred of Mr Herbert Wm. Ezard, aged 68, of White House, Stepney-drive, Scarborough, a former Goole shipowner, and for many years a promiment local Methodist. Mr Ezard was only 21 years of age when he formed his first shipping company, the Goole and West Riding Steamship Company. Later he became managing director of the Yorkshire Coal and Steamship Company, and was also a principal the firm of H. and C. M. Ezard, shipbrokers and coal exporters. For years he was a lay preacher, and while at Goole was closely associated with the North - street Methodist Church. He had been twice married, and leaves a widow and two sons. The funeral took place at Goole Cemetery.

In later years Dorothy turned to writing and her first novel was published in 1931. She seems to have retired from acting following her marriage in 1933. The divorce was in June 1936. The 1939 register describes her as "divorced writer," living at  Mockham Down, Brayford, Devon {a large detached rural property}.She seems to be living there alone.

She married Maurice Gleeson in 1946 (in 1939 he was described as "chef and waiter") and remained Mrs Gleeson until she died. Whenever she was mentioned in any newspaper article (usually in connection with dogs) she was just Mrs Gleeson.

Our Thursday morning group  is very friendly and we never know where our researches are going to take us. We have never yet run out of things to talk about! And it is fascinating to find out more the many interesting people of Goole.

Howden Minster open day

Last night I gave a talk to Gilberdyke WI and on the way home, through thick fog, saw a badger run across the road in front of me. I know they are around but only see them infrequently and was surprised at how fast this one ran.  The only other wildlife out was  a solitary rabbit. It was good to get home although I didn't need supper as the ladies of the WI provided a lovely buffet.

I am busy at the moment refreshing my knowledge of the history of Howden Minster. I am taking tours around the church on Easter Monday, 10th April when the Minster is having an 'open day'. The idea is to show off the church to everyone, young and old, locals and visitors. There will be old photographs, archaeological discoveries, refreshments from That Tearoom, musical interludes on both piano and organ and activities for children including brass rubbing.

Howden Minster has always been at the centre of the town and driving home its beautiful lantern tower and green roof are the signs that you are nearly there. Many travellers in the M62 are attracted by its beauty and increasingly are stopping off to visit both church and town.

What follows is a very very brief summary of the church history - come along on Easter Monday to find out more.

It is believed that there was a church here in Saxon times although the written evidence is a little uncertain!  A twelfth century chronicler, Gerald of Wales wrote several centuries later that

"In the north of England beyond the Humber, in the church of Hovedene, the concubine of the rector incautiously sat down on the tomb of St. Osana, sister of king Osred, which projected like a wooden seat; on wishing to retire, she could not be removed, until the people came to her assistance; her clothes were rent, her body was laid bare, and severely afflicted with many strokes of discipline, even till the blood flowed; nor did she regain her liberty, until by many tears and sincere repentance she had showed evident signs of compunction."

Osred was king of Northumbria and died in 716 AD . There is nothing more known of Osana beyond this mention but it does suggest evidence of an early church at Howden.

We are on more certain ground with the knowledge that the church was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 and eventually, when Howden became associated with the bishopric of Durham it became very important.

In 1267 the church became collegiate - ie a college of priests was set up and thereafter much building took place until a magnificent church, with a beautiful chapter house and its own song school dominated the landscape. Around 20 priests lived in Howden, some in separate prebendal residences on Churchside and some in the bedern [like a sort of hall of residence] which was where Parson's Lane is now. And there were too regular visits by the bishops to Howden when they stayed in their palace and where at least two kings  [ Edward II in 1312 and Henry V in 1421] were hosted

The church became a place of pilgrimage after a supposed miracle took place at the funeral Mass of John of Howden in 1275 when he apparently sat up in his coffin to receive the Host. He was an eminent poet and philosopher and had been chaplain to Queen Eleanor of Provence, the wife of Henry III

Although never officially created at saint he was held to be one and of course St John Street leads directly to the Minster. His shrine was in the centre of what is now the ruined choir

So many pilgrims  visited Howden that enough money became available to build a new choir and raise the height of the nave. We can still see the old roof lines both from the Market Place and inside the church.

 View from the Market Place showing the ruined choir and the older roofline

But then came the Reformation and Howden became an ordinary parish church. No one repaired the choir and in 1696 the choir roof and walls collapsed in a storm. The chapter house roof went the same way in 1750. But the choir was totally ruined and it is hard to imagine what the church must have looked like when it was complete.

Many repairs were made to the church in the nineteenth century and then in 1929 a disgruntled farm worker set the tower on fire. A lot of damage was done both by the fire and by the water used to extinguish it by the firemen. The alarm was said to be have been given by a sea lion from a circus parked in the Market Place. It took three years for the repairs to be complete.

  The dramatic and awful sight of the tower on fire in 1929

There is lots to see inside the church today, some lovely stained glass and statues as well as memorials to many Howden families.  And do not forget to visit Peter de Saltmarshe, lying in his armour in the centre of the Saltmarshe chapel with a dog at his feet to symbolise loyalty.

This  is a picture of the Minster choir in 1982.

 

Farming, Ropewalk and Skating

 It is cold and foggy today but I hope we are soon going to see the last of the hard frosts and the chickens will not then need jugs of hot water twice a day. Our snowdrops are just showing white and the daffodils are well up. The woodpecker is busy hammering in the large ash tree seemingly all day and last night I  heard two owls calling. So nature at least thinks we are heading for spring.

On the history front too the new year is off to a very busy start.  I spent one Wednesday evening at the Wellington in Howden speaking to a large group of  Howden Young Farmers.  My talk was about local farming and how it has changed over the last hundred years. I have always been interested in particular about how cleverly nineteenth farms were designed with, for example, stables facing east so that horse lads could see what they were doing -feeding and preparing the farm horses for work as the sun rose.

And on Monday afternoon the local history group resumed meetings in the Scholfield Memorial hall at Skelton. There was a good attendance and my pictures of Eastrington went down well I thought. The next meeting will be about Portington, Ousethorpe, Hive, Sandholme and Gilberdyke. If you are interested in coming please contact me on howdenshirehistory.co.uk

Then at short notice I was asked to stand in at the meeting of the Howdenshire Archaeological Society as the speaker was unavailable. Not being an expert on archaeology I talked instead about how Howden has changed over the years.

But perhaps one of the most interesting meetings I have been to this month was the small research group which meets in Goole on Thursday mornings. Earlier this year the Goole museum publicised an album of old photos they had been given which showed some lovely Victorian photos of Goole.

This was not new to me as a friend and I had been shown the album some years ago and had been given permission to copy it. But the Thursday morning group had not seen the pictures and so we have spent a couple of weeks looking at them

The earliest picture shows the newly built Pomfret and Goole lifeboat visiting Goole in December1865 before being put on station on the mouth of the Tyne.

Some of the pictures are taken from the top of the water tower and one shows the town rope walk and how therewas no direct connection then between Bridge Street and the town centre. Goole has changed a lot.

We have also been trying to find out who took the photos but with no definite results. But we do have  some dating evidence. An extract from a photo of the old Goole Times shop [beautifully coloured by my friend] dated 1896 shows some of the pictures for sale - look at each side of the main windows.

Another of the photos showed Carlton fish ponds and we discussed how they were used well into living memory for ice skating. By coincidence some lovely pictures on the same topic have been added to the Snaith facebook group and here is one, with acknowledgement to Chris Robinson - in the pram!!

  

 

Happy New Year

 I am writing this on a gloomy Saturday afternoon, the last in 2022 and the last day of the year.  We have had great heat and extreme cold - I hope that 2023 will bring calmer weather. My snowdrops and daffodils are well up  and, as my mother used to say when she wrote Country Notes in the Goole Times. every day is ' a cockstride lighter'.

I am looking forward to seeing friends in both Skelton and Goole history groups which resume in a few days but in the meantime  I have been busy sorting out old photos.  I have put 60 of them into a slideshow which I hope will work.  They are a varied selection from some of the local villages - some coloured and others left black and white. They are by no means all I have of the villages included but I hope they will entertain on this New Year's Eve. 

Best wishes for 2023.

Eastrington

 Now it's November and although the leaves are still on the trees it is time to light the log burner in the evenings.  We are still picking up windfall apples- which the pheasants are enjoying too - but soon surely we will have a frost and they will get frozen.

This blog post is about Eastrington, the village where I was brought up and my ancestors inhabited for  well over 350 years.

I have always been interested in local history and some few years ago now wrote a comprehensive history of the village which I have sent all over the world to descendants of Eastrington residents. I still have plenty of copies for sale. You can buy them either from Chappelows in Howden or the hair salon in Eastrington

 I have recently kindly been given a lot of pictures by Mrs Doreen Wilde who has moved away from Howden and wished her pictures to 'stay local'. Mrs Wilde, before her marriage to Frank, was Doreen White and was brought up at Eastrington brickyard. Her parents, Cecil and Louie lived there and Cecil ran the brickyard, succeeding his father Walter.  

The brickyard at Eastrington had come into being when the Hull and Selby railway was built  [it opened in 1840] and  a seam of clay was found during the construction. The land, Stone bridge close, which  became the brickyard, had once belonged to my ancestor George Wise Nurse who built and lived in The Laurels.

An early owner of the brickworks was Richard Graves, a Broomfleet brickmaker who built two cottages on the 10 acre site. He sold it to John Watson in 1855 who was the older brother of George Slater's wife Jane. George and Jane  already lived in one of the cottages and  lived at the brickyard for the rest of their lives.

The brickyard remained in the extended Watson family until it was bought by another brickmaker Johnson Ducker of Melton in the parish of North Ferriby.  Johnson's daughter Elizabeth had fallen in love with a young railwayman, originally from Devon called Walter White. The young couple married in 1896 and their son Stephen Ducker White was born in 1897, followed by Maria and Dorothy.

Walter was still working as a signalman but soon afterwards his father in law bought the Eastrington brickyard and the family moved there with Walter Cecil and Catherine being born at the brickyard.

Then came the First World War and Stephen joined up. He was awarded the Military Medal as reported in the Hull Daily Mail of  29th December 1917.

EASTRINGTON'S FIRST MILITARY MEDALLIST. Bombardier Stephen White, R.F.A., M.M. son of Mr and Mrs W. White, Stonebridge House, Eastrington, who lias been awarded the Military Medal for gallantry in action, is the first of Eastrington's sons to win distinction in the field. 

Bombardier White, who has been attached  to the Battery as gun layer since May, 1916, and was early in present promoted, has been for many months in the thick of the fighting, including  at Cambrai. Writing home, he says: 

"We have had all awful experience, and I thought we had already seen all the horrors of battle; but it was nothing in comparison to this. Really, I had no time to think until was over. The following day the C.O. came whilst  I was working the gun, and said he had selected me to go to artillery school down the line, where 1 should get rest from this for a while. Whilst on parade a few days later the officer called me out and toldme J had won the Military Medal for devotion to duty and work done on November 30th."' 

Bombardier White was educated the Hull Grammar School, and at the time of joining H.M. Forces 1915, was hon. secretary of the Eastrington Wesleyan Sunday School. He was drafted to Ireland, where he went for examination in  gun laying, and out of ten candidates he was the only one who obtained t.he maximum marks of 100. He is  a grandson of the late Mr Johnson Ducker, of North Ferriby.

Stephen later settled at Newland where his family still live today. 

Walter White built four houses on the north side of Howden Road for his family and the brickyard supplied bricks and tiles for many local building projects as well as drainpipes for local farmers.

It eventually passed to Walter's son Cecil and then when he retired it was bought by the Howden Rural District Council and used as a refuse tip. This became something of a problem as there was often a pall of smoke from it over the village and it became a magnet for  scrap dealers who swarmed over the tip and parked in the lanes nearby.

In 1976 the council proposed buying the old railway ponds to dump more rubbish in  and  there were many objections.  At the time my mother, Joan Watson, was both a local teacher and parish councillor. She often took her classes on nature walks down Westfield Lane and I remember her, with the other councillors,  showing representatives from the then Boothferry council round the site and proposing it as a nature reserve.

And of course it is now a very popular local amenity.

Walter White and his family were staunch supporters of Eastrington chapel which sadly recently closed. Its history will be the subject of a later post.

If anyone is interested in seeing a slide show of the village I shall be showing pictures in Skelton village hall at 1.30 on Monday 21st November to the small local history group which meets there. If you would like to come please contact me for details on howdenshirehistory.co.uk as it is only a small hall!!!

 Eastrington brickyard

 
Eastrington brickyard

 
Walter and Elizabeth White

Taken on the lawn at Eastrington brickyard
Catherine 'Girlie' White, Phyllis Patchett, Cecil White, Jack Heald, Dorothy Heald, Dorrie White, Marie White, Barbara Brown
Front : Ethel Louise White, Johnson White