Ushaw Moor Memories in the Forties and Fifties part 2

Before I continue with my memories of  the village in the forties and fifties I have been looking at Kelly’s directory’s entries for Ushaw Moor up to 1938 when unfortunately they come to an  end and I thought you might be interested in some of the entries connected with the businesses I have already mentioned.

In 1902 Ushaw Colliery Post office was  run by Mr. Frank Proctor , whose family came to have a close connection with the village in my time.The Russell family had the post office in 1910 and still had in the early sixties.The Bell family ran Cockhouse farm from 1902 with Mr. John Bell running the farm as bailiff to Pease and Partners who owned the colliery.Henry Watson,presumably the forerunner of Stan Watson’s,had a stationery shop in Station Road from 1902.Lizzie Hope established the fishop in Temperance Terrace by 1934 after first opening a grocer’s shop there.Joe and Fred Lowery,Fred Parkinson and Mr. Alderson were all in business by 1925 and Surtees,the greengrocer’s ,was operating as early as 1921.With regard to Joe and Fred I wonder if they took over the business of  the well known local firm of Dimambro who had a shop in the village in 1914.I also noted that back in 1910 Richard Hope had “refreshment rooms” -any link to you Wilf?

I got as far as the Club Hall in my previous account.Behind the club was the “Rec” where we used to pay football and cricket as teenagers.It was a case of using jackets as goalposts and then getting on with a game.When younger the appeal was the swings or the roundabout or the seesaw.There was also a “horse” which as far as I can remember never worked. The best item,however, was something which was basically a plank of wood with provision for seats with steel supports linked to a frame and it was worked by by 2 people,one at either end who forced the plank backwards and forwards through the air and at times it seemed as if it was about to take off.I don’t know what it was called -it was not a “shuggy boat” -all I know it was exciting.Children came from all parts of the village to play there.There was also a community hall in the grounds of the “Rec”.I seem to remember it was a green, wooden hut and I always link the “Over 60’s” with its use.Mr. and Mrs. Jones who lived in Oakridge Road were two prominent members.I never dreamt I would reach an age when I could have joined, but I suppose it is better than the alternative.However,all these facilities have now gone and replaced by a housing estate.I remember there were protests when the housing estate was first mooted but to no avail.It seems that the protests failed on a technical point.In my opinion they were justified as the basketball court which is now there is to me a poor substitute.We did like to play football on the Catholic school field which had proper goalposts but were usually chased off by each and every priest throughout  the years I lived in the village,but we did live in hope we could get away with it!

The “Rec” was separated from the Recreation Ground proper by a fence so you had to go back out and enter via Highfield Terrace.The first thing to note as you went through the gate were two hard court tennis courts which were overlooked by the community hall.You walked down past these to where the groundsman had his office.I remember two groundsmen,firstly Jackie Towns  who I think lived opposite us in Hunter Avenue and  then his successor Billy Ayre,father of Raymond and Valerie. Here you paid for the use of the tennis courts or for a round of putt or a game of bowls.In the late 50’s the bowling green was converted into grass tennis courts as at Wimbledon.Tennis was most popular at the time of the Wimbledon championships.They seemed to encourage people to get out and play.I usually played with friends Robert Clarkson,John Burke and Alan Grainger, but there was an older set consisting of my brother George,George Cowper, who went on to be mayor of Durham, Kenny Snaith, Duggie Dunn, Albert Whitfield, Greta Turnbull,Barbara Shuker and Audrey Wood.The girls who went to the grammar school were always the best turned out,dressed in their whites-Val Cook, Valerie Wilson, Gwen Lewis and Marion Mountain all come to mind..After a game we usually had a small bottle of  Wood and Watson’s pop which was kept in the office.I can’t say we were brilliant players  even though  we imagined ourselves to be Lew Hoad or Ken Rosewall or Pancho Gonzales but we really enjoyed it.The summer of 1959 was one of the best  on record and the tennis went  on through September.The office was at the back of a large hut which also was the cricket pavilion with changing rooms.These were also used for football teams and were entered from the front.There was a ladder to the upper floor where the scorer sat and one of the minions,sometimes me,put the numbers out onto the scoreboard.John Hope,my next door neighbour in Hunter Avenue, was scorer for a while.Mention has already been made of the cricket team on this site but the players I remember best were Gordon Thompson, the professional, Alf Gillespie, George Graham,my cousin,big Frank Proctor and John Mcdermott , who I think modelled himself on Fiery Fred Trueman and really hurtled the ball down.The football team has also had extensive coverage on the site and suffice to say they had very good team for much of the time and drew big crowds in the post-war years.One fixture sticks in my mind when Sunderland “A” team came to play and I found my allegiance stretched.John McSeveny ,who played some games for the Suderland first team,played in the fixture.There is just one last thing to mention in this section and that is the grossly smelly gents’ toilet which was tucked away on the left as you looked down at the pitches.I am not surprised it has gone!

Coming back from the ground we come to Arthur Lough’s shop and workshop where we could buy shoes and have repairs done.The workshop was at the back and I see it is all bricked up now.The shop is now the Chop Suey.Arthur’s business did very well as people could not afford to buy many new shoes so it was a case of do and mend.Lough’s business was operating here as early as 1910.His daughter Rosemary was in my class.

Going down Staion Road we come to Mr. and Mrs.  Luke’s fishop.The daughter was called Violet and apparently her parents came up on the football pools in the late 50’s but i don’t know if this was true.

Below Luke’s my memory is rather hazy.Obvious places stand out like the Salvation Army Hall which was built in 1910.The Salvation Army had a strong following and I remember most Sunday mornings the band would be playing in some part of the village.George Cowper and his dad were prominent members as were Mr. and Mrs. Smith who lived opposite us in Oakridge Road.Mr. Stuckey was listed as treasurer to the Salvation Army in 1925.

Other businesses were the Albion House  which was in operation in 1910 and the Station Hotel which was open in 1902.Across the road was Brough’s which as operating in 1914 as “Brough and Sons” so it too was a long  established firm.My cousin Alf worked here in the fifties on deliveries and another cousin Vera Graham also worked there.Sid Brown’s bakery was just up from there.He had a son called Derek.Near there was also a sweetshop.

There was also a blacksmith near the railway station and had been as early as 1902.I remember that in the Forties he made me and other boys a “booler” and “hook”i.e a metal hoop which we controlled with the hook and ran everywhere with it.They have these at Beamish Museum but there the hooks are fixed to the hoop which to me makes them more difficult to manage or it could just be old age.Anyway I loved my “booler” and hook and when I describe them to people down south they shake their heads but I don’t know whether it is in wonder!!!!!!!!The blacksmith also had plenty of work supplying horseshoes as businesses still used horses to conduct their trade.We even had people coming around with horse and trap offering short rides to children.
I would have a better memory of businesses at the bottom of  Station Road if the passenger railway had not been closed in October 1951.My ambition was always to go the”tec” in South Street, Durham after my brother George passed the 11 plus to go there in 1945.The attractions were to wear” a satchel on my back”,to learn German and to go by train to school.The train used to come down from Waterhouses,pick up at Esh Winning and then at Ushaw Moor where pupils from New Brancepeth also joined.You can imagine my disappointment when after only  six or seven weeks the train was taken off and we were taken to school by Kingsway buses from Langley Park.This only lasted until 1954 when the new school was built at Crossgate Moor(about to be demolished) and we had to get the number 43 service bus as we lost our entitlement to a free service since the new school was closer to Ushaw Moor.The fares were low but still a sizeable chunk from the  equally low wages at that time but I don’t remember any protest which I think would happen now.

Coming up Station Road, past Ushaw Villas we arrive at “The Empire”.It was defintiely my favourite cinema.It had an adjoining sweet shop and you went down steps to the box office.There was a downstairs and an upstairs where I only went as I got older,The back row was reserved for courting couples but I never actually got there.The most poular showing was “second house” on a Saturday evening and you often had to form a queue which went along the front of the sweetshop and down the back opposite Lowery’s the drapers.Certain films come to mind like “The Wizard of Oz” and “Gone with the Wind” and I have written already of my love of cowboy films, but I ought to mention Tarzan films as they were very popular ,especially with Johnny Weissmuller and not Lex Barker.If our parents were short of money we used to collect pop bottles which had a deposit on them and take them back to the shop to get the deposit back to pay our entrance money-once again environmentally friendly-no plastic bottles then!Like the Club,Lowery’s and the old school it is a shame to see them all go  as they were part of our heritage and no douibt the cleared sites are awaiting some housing development when the market picks up again.In the meantime they look a mess.

Lowery’s the drapers was a long established business and continued through to the eighties.My cousin Vera worked there many years. I can only think of one other  business at the time and that was Walter Wilson’s in Oakridge Road which was in a prefabricated building ,just behind Chestnut Grove.The store was opened by Len Shackleton, the so-called “Clown Prince of Soccer”, and a footballing genius.

Further along Esh Road road was and still is the Baptist Chapel where I was christened.I went to Sunday school there for years and the highlight of the year was Anniversary Day when relatives came along to hear a recitation of a “piece” which we had learnt off by heart,usually a piece of poetry or perhaps a religious text.We all had clothes which were dubbed the “Sunday best” which were reserved for Sundays.I stayed at the chapel until I joined the Church Lads’ Brigade and switched allegiance to the C. of E.I really enjoyed the brigade with all the activities on offer at the Church Hall which was next to St. Luke’s.We also had a very smart uniform which we wore with pride especially marching along Esh Road behind the bugles and drums.Sundays were usually very quiet in Ushaw Moor ,as anywhere else.About the most energetic thing was a walk up to the college.I liked going to the cinema but I never went on a Sunday until the late fifties as it was not the done thing and when I did I felt really guilty.

Then we come to the “Tute”(Institute) based in the Memorial Hall where we played snooker and to a lesser extent table tennis.Snooker had a very bad image then but I enjoyed playing.We had real bats and a net for the table tennis as opposed to playing at home where we piled up books in the middle of the drop-down table to use as a net and used books as bats.It sounds sacrilegious but it worked.It’s a game I have returned to in the last few years to keep fit-it is a good “cardiovascular exercise” in the modern parlance .Bob Bell was in charge and he was very strict but I suppose he needed to be.

Leaving the village was Bell’s farm and the “chapel on the hill” which has been written about elsewhere on the site.Myself and my friends enjoyed going out to Broadgate where we spent many a happy hour catching “tiddlers”.Mr. Osborne ran a farm there until very late in life.

There was,of course, Ushaw Colliery, which I know very little about.My cousin Alf would be able to tell some good tales about the housing and people there.All I know is  from my father that the rentman there was a German . When he knocked on the doors and shouted”rent” the people used to shout “caal back”.

Sorry Alf about the mags going down.

John Graham