Northumberland Archives is a heritage partner to a National Lottery Funded project, the ‘Northumberland Village Halls Heritage Project’. The project aims to celebrate the history of some of Northumberland’s Village Halls and ensure that records and memories are preserved for future generations. The project was developed by and is managed by Community Action Northumberland (CAN) whose mission is to benefit and help sustain rural communities in Northumberland.
Alison Cowen of Jubilee Hall, Newton on the Moor, has kindly written the following article after going through the old minute books before she deposited them at Northumberland Archives.
The first recorded minutes of the Trustees of the hall are dated 16 March 1961 when a new committee was formed by local residents. They make very interesting reading and give snapshot into village life and how much has altered, although the hall itself remains a constant feature.
In October 1961 as the world listened to Aker Bilks ‘Stranger on the shore’ there was a charge of one and six to view flower arrangements and to buy from a cake stall. Coffee and biscuits were included. In today’s money that would be £1.59p.
As the world mourned the death of JFK in November 1963 in Newton on the Moor you could have won some spectacular raffle prizes to cheer you up. How about a knitted baby jacket, a cuddly toy, chocolates or maybe 50 cigarettes? March 1964 saw the hall redecorated by Aln Painters. Perhaps they were listening to the new Radio Caroline. The ceiling was painted a fetching shade of blue at the cost of £48. After much debate Zephyr pink was chosen for the walls with the wood work being flake grey. The total bill for the work came in at £122 eight shillings and tuppence. This would be just short of £3,000 today.
To celebrate the end of the Harvest in October 1965 a Kirn Supper was held. A ten shilling ticket gave you a meal of ham, lettuce, egg and tomato, a bread bun with butter all washed down with a nice cup of tea. The sweet was a fruit mousse with the very new Birds Dream Topping, which had only come onto the market the previous year. A feast for only 50p.
Christmas was a very popular time in the village. In 1966 as the grown-ups sang along to Tom Jones and the ‘Green Green Grass of Home’, and Action Man made his debut in the toy shops local babies received a squeaky toy. If you were between two and five years old you were lucky enough to be given a large ball. Older children were given a named diary and pen. Everyone received an apple, orange and a bar of chocolate.
By 1979 a decision had been made that only children up to the age of seven would receive a present, although what that was to be isn’t recorded. The older children were to be given an apple and orange together with a 50p piece and a mixed bag of sweets. Perhaps they could have bought the latest Christmas single, ‘Another Brick in the Wall’!
I’m not sure what our local youngsters would make of such delights these days! Of course in the next fifty years I’m sure our current monthly coffee mornings, regular Wine Tasting and Pipers events will raise a few eyebrows as the committee continues to look after the hall for many generations to come.
I can still remember my first day working at the Melton Park Record Office in Gosforth. It was exciting to think that I would be working in a building that was once an Anti-Aircraft Plotting Station – I guess that not everybody can say that! I was given a plan of the building and was told that it would probably take some time before I got used to the layout underground & became familiar with where different classes of records were stored. All I could think was “I am working in a bunker!”
[Click on images to enlarge]
It felt like a bit of a rabbit warren the first time I was left alone underground, but I enjoyed the peace & quiet of it as it was a sharp contrast to the busy room of researchers above. It felt like another world down there and I loved the smell of the archive boxes & old ledgers. Out of all the storage rooms, number six was my favourite as the words Wireless Room were still clearly visible on the door.
Some people found it creepy being underground and didn’t like being alone as there were lots of small rooms & dark corners. I was told that books had flown off shelves and that an airman had been spotted walking around both inside and outside the building. There was also a haunted helmet! I am certainly not a fan of ‘spooky’ things, but I never once felt afraid being on my own.
Within minutes of being in the building I was told to be careful on the stairs. I was in for a bit of a surprise as they were very steep and not very welcoming. I sensed that it was going to be quite difficult carrying heavy boxes and large maps up and down. My mind flashed back to the part of the Job Description that said ‘ability to work with large & unwieldy records…’
It was always a challenge carrying heavy items up the stairs, but I quickly got used to it and my fitness certainly improved. I only worked with the public at Melton Park for a short time before it closed but I was there for the whole of the closure period when we prepared all the records ready for relocation to the new site. By the time we opened at Woodhorn in 2006, I was probably the fittest I had ever been in my life.
The Melton Park building may have been run down and falling apart in places but that added to its charm. I feel very lucky that I got the chance to work there. What was also nice was that we had a lovely little garden area at the back of the office which backed onto the Gosforth racecourse. The tv cameras were often there & we would watch the racing during our breaks. Who knows, maybe each time the horses flew by, a lone airman may have been quietly enjoying the race.
For nearly two centuries the King’s Arms has been an institution in the town, and in view of the fact that the death of the owner (Mr Robert Evans) causes it to be again offered for sale we give a few notes on its past.
That it was a flourishing concern in the 18th Century is recorded by Dr Fuller in his History of Berwick (17990. He says of it: “The King’s Arms Inn is situated about the middle of Hide Hill. The buildings are of hewn stone and very strong. The Inn is commodious, and from its being built on the top of the bank encourages the free circulation of air. The mail coach has always stopped here, and it is kept in readiness. The house is also connected with the High Flyer coach, and chaises are kept at this inn.”
In those days the proprietor was one named Mr George Dixon, and about the same time the Red Lion (in High Street), the Black Bull, and the Hen and Chickens (Sandgate) also did a lot of posting. Like its contemporary, the Red Lion (now the Ford Garage), the King’s Arms had large Assembly Rooms, and these in past years were the scene of many memorable gatherings.
BRO 0426-355 Hide Hill, showing the King’s Arms Hotel, Berwick-upon-Tweed
In the early days of last century Berwick’s Theatre was held there, and on the 6th May, 1824, and succeeding days the public were invited to witness a reproduction of Cumberland’s “Wheel of Fortune.” There was no such thing as entertainment tax then, and the charges were:- Boxes, 3s; pit, 2s; and gallery, 1s. After the performance a certain Mr Johnston and others gave comic songs, the whole performance finishing up with a farce entitled “Love-a-la-Mode.” At that period the Mayor of Berwick was Mr David Logan, to whose family the hotel belonged for generations.
In the early “fifties” Charles Dickens, the famous novelist visited Berwick and gave a recital in the King’s Arms Assembly Rooms, we believe, entitled “Greta Expectations, “ which work, however, was not completed until 1857. Later, in the early “seventies,” Penny Readings” were held in the rooms very frequently, and were a most popular form of entertainment, the Assembly Rooms being filled to overflowing. The Landlord was then Mr John Carr (some of whose monogrammed silver plate is still in use in the hotel). His predecessors were Mr Davidson and Mr George Montgomery. Following the Carr family in the hotel came Mr Corrie. Mr Hugo Reneicke, and in June, 1919, the hotel came into the market. It was purchased by the landlord, Mr W. J. Dover, who, in September of the same year, sold the hotel to Mr Robert Evans, of Whitley Bay, a well-known north-country sportsman and hotel owner. Mr Evan’s died rather suddenly during the summer, and as a result the hotel is again being sold.
A number of people in the town are under the impression that Jenny Lind, the famous singer, once stayed at the King’s Arms while passing through the town, but, on authority of an old and worthy resident who died some years ago, we were informed that “the nightingale” put up at the Red Lion some 90 years or more ago, either about the March Hirings or Berwick Fair periods. The Duke of Albany, we understand, did out up for a night at the King’s Arms when passing through at the head of a regiment of horse to Edinburgh about 60 years ago.
Many famous public dinners have been held in the Assembly Rooms, which have been used for a variety of purposes. In the middle of last century the majority of the leading townspeople learned to dance there, when dancing classes and balls were frequently held. Before the Queen’s Rooms were built Mr W. Purves, auctioneer held his sales there also, and since then many estates have changed hands within the same place under the hammer of Mr Bolam, amongst these being in the outlying portions of the Corporation Estate.
The Assembly Rooms, which had fallen into a rather dilapidated state prior to Mr Evans taking over, have been re-decorated and made most comfortable and thoroughly up-to-date. The hotel, too, has been renovated and re-decorated, and in the last few years, under the management of Mr Scott, it had begun to regain some of its old-time glory.
CHILDREN’S COURT
Before T. M. Morrison, R. Boston, T. Purves, W. Hogarth, P.P. Boston, Theo. Bolus, Esqs. and Miss Henderson
DAMAGE BY CHILDREN
Two Tweedmouth boys aged seven and nine were charged with wilful damage to growing turnips, the property of Andrew Martin, farmer to the amount of 3s each. They pleaded guilty.
P.C. Lindsay said he saw the boys come through the “one tunnel” at the embankment. They entered Mr Martin’s field and each pulled a turnip which they stripped of the shaws. One boy ate his turnip and the other put his in his pocket.
Mark Anderson said within the last month damage amounting to £20 or £30 had been done by youngsters pulling up turnips and leaving them lying.
The bench retired to consider the case, and on their return the Chairman said they would be bound over in the sum of £5 for six months, the parents to pay costs 4s 3d. The Chairman said there was a lot of destruction going on and parents were really responsible for not exercising proper control. In future cases parents would be held responsible and the sentence would be a heavy one.
Another little Tweedmouth boy was charged with a similar offence. He pleaded guilty, and similar evidence having been led, the boy was bound over, his father being ordered to pay costs 4s 3d.
WILFUL DAMAGE TO SPITTAL SHELTER
A Spittal boy aged thirteen was charged with wilful damage to a wooden shelter at Spittal, the property of the Sanitary Authority, to the amount of £2 5s. He pleaded guilty.
The Promenade and Sands at Spittal
Ellen Jamieson and Mary Sykes gave evidence that three boys were there. One of the boys took another boy’s foot and cracked a wooden panel, and defendant then took his foot and put it through the panel.
Mr Burn, joiner, said he estimated the damage at £2 5s. It certainly would take that to put the woodwork right.
The Bench retired, and on their return the Chairman said he wished it to be known that the Bench intended to put these cases of wilful damage down. He was ordered to pay the damage £2 5s, fined 5s, and costs 4s.
FEAR OF POVERTY
FARMERS AND FARM WORKERS’ APPEAL
The National farmers’ Union have addressed an important letter to employers’ representatives on Agricultural Conciliation Committees whose agreements are due to expire at an early date. It states that a conference had taken place between representatives of the Union and those of the National Union of Agricultural Workers, and the Workers’ Union and all present appreciated that “The position of agriculture is disastrous, alike to the farmer and the farm worker, and it was realised that unless some alleviation can be found, poverty and misery face many whose livelihood has in the past been drawn from the land.
“It was agreed that a committee consisting of representatives of the Union and the two unions representing the workers should meet forthwith to consider the position generally and endeavour to formulate proposals to place before the Government for the relief of the industry.
FUTURE WAGE RATES
“It was further agreed that the Conciliation Committees should be asked to adjourn the consideration of the fixing of future wage rates and to recommend the payment of existing rates until September 30th in order that the joint committee of the organisations may have time to explore the serious problems which they will have to consider.”
It was pointed out that the letter had been shown to the representatives of the National Union of Agricultural Workers and the Workers’ Union, and the hope is expressed that the employers’ representatives on the Conciliation Committee will fall in with the suggestion, and that everything will be done to influence a united policy between the three unions.
SPORTS, AMUSEMENT, &C. SWIMMING
SCHOOL SQUADRON CHAMPIONSHIPS
The annual School’s Swimming Gala had to be postponed last Thursday afternoon on account of the bad weather. On Saturday afternoon the School’s squadron championships were decided, and weather conditions were much more favourable, and the water not too cold. There was a great muster of headmasters, teachers, scholars and others interested, and the encouraging cheers of the youngsters lining the banks or squatting on the roof of the bathing hut made the rocks ring with their heartiness. There were six teams entered for the boys “Askew Challenge Shield,” which St. Mary’s School held, but only three for the girls’ “Sergt. Major Hamilton Challenge Shield, “also held by St. Mary’s. Berwick Grammar School won easily in their heat and also in the final, when they beat St. Mary’s “A” team by fully two yards. The winning team included R. B. Richardson, who went up to the Grammar School this year and who swam in St. Mary’s winning team last year. The final was an excellent race, though the British School were handicapped by only having two representatives, one of the boys having to swim the pond twice. St. Mary’s made a fine effort to retain the shield, but Richardson was a little too much for Borthwick in the last lap.
Berwick Grammar School, Golden Square, Berwick-upon-Tweed, 1927
The girls were very excited, and were off the mark before the signal was given, and owing to the cheers of their supporters were almost halfway across the pond before they heard the starter calling them back again. When they got going again it looked as if the National School “A” team were likely winners till the last journey across the pond when, amid great excitement. Peggy Richardson overhauled the National School girl only just in time to retain the shield for St. Mary’s for another year, winning by about a yard. She is a sister of the boy who swam for the Grammar School.
Mr Brotherton acted as honorary secretary in place of Mr T. Oliver, who was unable to be present, and also acted as starter. The Rev. S. E. R. Fenning and Capt. D. Hebenton acted as judges. At the close of the races the shields and prizes were presented by Mr Fenning, who was thanked for his services by Mr. A. Leach, headmaster of St. Mary’s School.
