Following on from a previous blog about Ponteland Workhouse, this blog looks at the experience of one young girl who was a resident of Ponteland Cottage Homes. The Cottage Homes were built by the Newcastle Board of Guardians to accommodate pauper children away from the workhouse. Each block was supervised by a ‘house father’ or ‘house mother. ‘
In 1905, at the age of nine, Isabella Gardner went to live in the Ponteland Cottage Homes. She lived in cottage number six and her house mother was called Miss Swallow. Isabella states that she enjoyed living there and that Miss Swallow was a lovely lady who she always called mother. Isabella and her sibling were taken to the home after the death of their biological mother. She had owned a shop which sailors used to regularly visit to buy bread. It is thought that she contracted Smallpox from one of the men and sadly died. Isabella’s father suffered from Paralysis so was unable to look after his children. He was placed in the Ponteland Workhouse and once a month they were taken to visit him. He died in the workhouse six years after the death of his wife.
Isabella recalled that nearly every cottage had a pet cat. The Master and Matron had a couple of dogs and some of the ‘house mothers’ also had dogs which made it all feel very homely. The food was good, and she felt very well fed. They would have liver, sausages and tripe and they always had a roast on a Sunday. They grew all their own vegetables and baked their own bread, cakes, tarts and scones. They would pick fruit in the summer holidays and make their own jam.
All the children had chores to do. The floors in the cottage were white wood & the children had to scrub them. This was usually done at night. The children got up about 6am and were woken by a boy blowing a bugle! They walked to school then returned to the cottage for lunch then walked back to school again for afternoon lessons. They had leisure time though and the boys played football while the girls played hockey. Isabella enjoyed hockey and remembers that the ‘mother’ in cottage 4 had a hockey team. There were swings in the grounds and a huge field to play in. Isabella also fondly remembered that the home had a horse and trap which the gardener used to drive. Sadly, the horse was needed and was taken away during the First World War.
Isabella once won first prize for baking bread. She recalls that one Christmas the Lord Mayor came to visit so the Master asked him to dress up in his robes as a treat for the children. He asked them to show him examples of their work so she showed him the bread and won a prize. Unfortunately, she didn’t say what the prize was but seemed very proud of her achievement. It would have been an extra bonus at Christmas time along with the shilling that each child was given on Christmas Day.
The children occasionally went on seaside trips to Whitley Bay with the chapel they attended. All the ‘mothers’ from the cottages would have large hampers & they made pies and cakes so they could have a nice picnic. They went to Tynemouth Palace & had their lunch in the grounds then would always go to play on the sands. She recalls that they once went for tea in a cafe which was run by a retired sea captain. She claimed that he had built his cafe from an old boat!
Isabella remembered a young boy who eventually ended up becoming the shoe repair man for the home. He used to help the repair man when he was a boy. All shoes were made on site. The only time shoes were bought were for the girls who went into service. They also had a dress maker on site. All the clothes were made, they didn’t go to any shops to buy them. All the girls were taught how to sew and work in the laundry. The old master was very careful with money so saved as much as he could. When some of the older boys went out to work in the ship yards, there were women who were on the books of the home who were paid to take in boarders.
For her first two years, Isabella attended the school that was within the grounds then after that she transferred to the Coates school in Ponteland. She enjoyed school and left aged 14 where she then went to the Matron’s house to train for a life in service. When there was a vacancy, girls went to the Matron’s house and trained in the kitchen then upstairs then in the dining room. This training lasted nearly two years and aged 16, Isabella secured her first job as a maid at Ilderton Rectory near Wooler. It was quite a large house with 20 rooms. The week before she started, the Matron took her for a visit then the day her employment commenced, she was taken as far as Alnwick then had to make her own way there. She only stayed for a year and recalls that it was very hard work, but they were very kind to her. However, what she truly wanted to be was a cook. Her next job was at Haughton Castle where she attained the position of scullery/kitchen maid. She was very grateful as during her time there she did have the opportunity to train for her dream job. Isabella also worked at Middleton Hall and was there for 12 years. She believed that her training at the Cottage Homes was a good introduction and very good practice!
Really good article I worked at the cottage home site as the force joiner for thirty years when Northumbria police took it over in 1980 there were lots of stories about cleaners seeing ghosts and I once found a propeller blade from an old bi-planein the roof of the old brick tower wonderful site
Thank you for your kind comment and for the information 😊
My Mother was left here by her father in 1936, and her three sisters were put in these cottage homes after their mother died at the age of 36. I would like any information from anyone who was or knows anything so I could trace my Grandfather. JOHN MCINTOSH.
Grandmother. MARGARET COUTTIE.
Hello, could you please email us – archives@northumberland.gov.uk Thank you
It was interesting to read about the cottage homes and the life of Isabella. It must have been so different for the children coming from the city.
In 1960s the Northumberland College of Education was built on the site incorporating many of the existing buildings. I was one of the first students to study there when it opened in Autumn of 1964. I enjoyed greatly my time there as it was a wonderful setting with lots of wildlife.
Thank you very much for your comment.
From about 1969 when the site was the Collage of Education, there was a dance every Friday night, which we “boys from the village” would try to get into. Depending which security guard was on gate house duty would depend if we got in or not. I recall Hot Chocolate being one of the bands at the end of year dance.
That is great! Thank you very much for your comment
I believe my father and his younger siblings were sent here in 1922, or thereabouts, after both their parents died. Does anyone know where I could find records to check if he actually was there? His name was Richard Darby.
Hello, please email us at archives@northumberland.gov.uk & we will try to assist with your enquiry.
Believe my mother was there and worked at Louisville children’s home as a cleaner for a long time.
Thank you for your comment 😊
I am just reading a novel called- ‘One Snowy Night’ by Rita Bradshaw and it mentions the cottage homes in Ponteland. On reading this I realised it was Northumberland College where I was a student from 1967- 1970. We had known it had been a Children’s home, however did not know its’ history.
I am fascinated to read about experiences there. I revisited when the Northumbria Police were there as part of a College reunion. We all had to be vetted and were given a guided tour and tea in our old common room.. The old homes were given Letters instead of numbers . I was in RH on the left and then RD on the right. I think our Students’ Union Building was perhaps the old schoolroom? Lovely memories, thank you
Thank you for your lovely comment & for your memories 😊
Below is a link to another blog about the experiences of people in the cottage homes.
https://northumberlandarchives.com/test/2022/06/21/more-tales-from-ponteland-cottage-homes/
My grandmother was raised in the ponteland cottage homes from being very young with her brothers and sisters. She went there in the 1930s. She used to tell me stories about it as I was growing up, never a tale of hardship as it was all she knew but how they would have to go down into the air raid shelters when the alarms sounded during the war, the house she lived in with the matron, the work they needed to do, hiding tablets in a hole in the stairs, walking to church on a Sunday. I wish I’d recorded these conversations as I just can’t remember them all. My grandmother died in 2016, she was 82.
Thank you for sharing that information 😊
my relative Albert Edward Ponton was in this home on the 1921 census. what can you tell me about him. We’re his siblings Charlotte and Jane Elizabeth with him
Thanks Eric Ponton
Hello, the material we hold is mainly oral history recordings. If you contact Tyne & Wear Archives in Newcastle, they may be able to help with your enquiry. Their email address is archives@twmuseums.org.uk
absolutely awful place, my granda told of abuse, beatings, and had the scars to prove it