Although slightly outside our usual geographic boundary, Northumberland Archives have recently enjoyed sharing some fantastic images from one of our photographic collections with the residents of Washington, Tyne and Wear. As part of the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of Washington New Town, we worked alongside Washington Heritage Partnership, Wessington U3A and Washington History Society on a project celebrating Paul Hindmarsh’s images of Washington.
Paul Hindmarsh worked as a commercial photographer throughout the northeast and his photography collection of 10,000 negatives is held at Northumberland Archives. He captured images of Washington at various stages of the New Town’s development and provided a photography service for the Corporation’s architects.
As part of the project, we held a series of workshops in the town and invited local history societies and members of the public to view a selection of the Washington images. Attendees were encouraged to share their memories and stories of the New Town’s development and to vote on their favourite images. The most popular images were then turned into a digital exhibition alongside some of the stories that were captured.
The finished exhibition was on display at Washington Arts Centre and Washington Old Hall. It is also available to watch on Northumberland Archive’s Youtube channel
Do you have memories of your families’ allotments? Do you have your own? Maybe you started gardening during the lockdown period of the pandemic? That wasn’t the first-time allotments have offered a green escape for us with research from the National Allotments Society showing a significant increase in council allotments during the pandemic (1). In this blog we’re exploring stories which offer a window into how we have utilised allotments for our own well-being in the past.
In conjunction with National Allotments Week, we have been exploring the records we hold about allotments here at Northumberland Archives. Allotments have existed for a long time, dating back to the late Anglo-Saxon/ early medieval period but it wasn’t until the General Enclosure Act of 1845, making it possible for the landless poor to gain ‘field gardens’, that these parcels of land became the allotments which we are so familiar with today. Later, the ‘Small Holdings and Allotments Act’ of 1907 and 1908 made Councils responsible for providing allotments if there was a demand for them (2). This is how many allotments are still run today, but how have the past 100 years shaped their future in the North East of England?
Allotments in War Time
Image: NRO 02076/4 Boys helping on an allotment c.1930s.
The stories featuring in this blog are taken from the ‘Voices from the North East’ podcast, who kindly donated three recordings about Allotments in Ashington, Northumberland from the 1920s – 1980s. In one episode, Jacqueline shares that her father owned an allotment next to the railway line through Ashington and remembers waving to the passengers on the train from there. She creates an image of her father and the other allotment owners; dressing similarly with caps, corduroy trousers and boots. Some of the owners next to her father were very old and had served during the First World War – she said they would share their stories and she couldn’t believe what they talked about.
Image: 3rd Edition OS map of Ashington showing the allotments near the railway line, 1920. Disused railway land was ideal land for the council to re-use as allotments.
During the First World War, allotments gained popularity especially amongst soldiers returning from the front-line. Not only had allotments been encouraged by the government due to food restrictions and rationing but they gave ex-service men the opportunity to process the return home along with traumatic memories. In a registration book of war charities exempted under the 1916 war charities act, the Corbridge Soldiers Allotment Fund was exempted on the 6th of May 1918. Such charities allowed soldiers from with lower incomes to afford the rent and costs of running an allotment.
Image: Q/C/W/2/1/84 Register of charity applications of exemption for the war charities act, 1916.
Jacqueline mentions that the allotments were the pride and joy of many men, and they offered huge community which was very important to them. The podcast creator’s mother talks about her grandfather, in another episode, describing the importance of allotments as a ‘green lung after 12-15 hours down the mine’. Her grandfather owned an allotment on Woodhorn Road during the 1920s where there are still some left today. She recalled he owned a Goose to scare intruders away from the allotment and kept a pig which was very common for the time.
– 3rd Edition OS map showing allotments on Woodhorn Road, Ashington, 1920.
Many allotment owners kept animals for meat including pigs, rabbits and chickens. This was popular from 1920s – 1950s, as the country faced the effects of two world wars and unemployment. During the Second World War there was a huge increase in allotment usage due to more food shortages and rationing. The Dig for Victory Campaign from the government helped create 1.3 million tonnes of food from around 1.5 million allotment plots (2). The government even encouraged the public to keep pigs or join a pig club, a group who bought, fed and looked after pigs, to supplement meat rations (3). Allotments were very important to the war effort with increased food restrictions – the government had the power to cultivate land to create wartime allotments, demonstrated in the council letter pictured below. Charges against allotment related crime could also be very severe. In the Morpeth Herald from the 16th August 1940, a man was sentenced to three months in prison for stealing food (including two chickens) from an allotment whilst drunk.
Above, NRO 04869-2-12 Correspondence from Seaton Valley Urban District Council to Backworth Collieries Ltd about use of land for wartime allotments. Below – LNU/G/1/280a Plan of a rabbitry for M. Callan’s allotment in Newbiggin.
Post-war allotments
Towards the end of the Second World War there was concern about the potential decline in allotment use – a short article within the Berwick Advertiser from the 3rd of April 1945 stated that the ‘Chief Executive Officer to the War Agricultural Committee expressed alarm at the increasing number of people who believed that because the end of the war was in sight there was now no necessity for them to continue cultivating their allotments and gardens.’ After the Second World War, many wartime allotments were kept until possession of the land expired, with many keeping permenant allotments throughout the 1950s. In one of the podcast episodes, Neil and Eleanor talk about their father and grandfather having allotments during the 1950s. Eleanor’s dad owned an allotment on Green Lane, Ashington where he kept pigeons but didn’t train them. Many other allotment owners in the North East kept pigeons for racing and formed societies across the region.
Another popular past-time on the allotments in the North East was leek growing. Competitions were held across the region with prizes for the best vegetables in the show. Neil remembers his grandfather’s allotment and that he was a keen leek grower. He recalls Newbiggin allotments being the best protected from ‘leek slashers’ and some men sleeping with their leeks to protect them. He talks about how popular these leek shows were across the North East and jokes ‘it’s the only place your marra (marrow) can win a leek show!’
Image: NRO 08073/1 Hirst East End W.M. Social Club Ltd Leek Show.
1970s to present day
With a focus on housing and rebuilding post-war Britain, allotment usage fell into decline, however, usage in the North East along with leek shows and pigeon racing seemed to remain popular. Nationally, the decline slowed during the 1970s with TV shows like the BBC’s ‘The Good Life’ inspiring interest in food production and self-sufficiency (2).
In another episode, the podcast creator’s father talks about owning his allotment in the 1980s, situated behind Hirst High School in Ashington. He wanted to grow organically without chemical interference and discusses the resourcefulness of allotment owners at the time. He says that allotment owners were often innovative and ‘hands on,’ being naturally good at recycling materials. One example given is the use of old windowpanes to replace panels in greenhouses or even build a greenhouse from scratch using them. He also used to attach old doors to the fence around his allotment to prevent too much wind from getting to the plants and they created bedding for plants using old railway sleepers.
It seems since the 1990s there has been a steady increase in allotment usage with waiting lists now more than two years long. Allotments seem more important than ever today with their many benefits to the environment, climate change and mental health. Should we create more space for allotments to secure a greener future? With the theme of allotment’s week being biodiversity, keeping an allotment can not only help your own health and wellbeing but can also create biodiversity for wildlife in the North East, defending us against climate change. The past 100 years have shown an increase in climate change, but according to research by the University of Sheffield, allotment land has declined by 65% since its peak in the 1940s – 1960s (4). Will allotment usage ever reach the level it once did? Can we turn back time to protect our future?
This blog has been researched and written by Dee Love, one of the volunteers on our maternity care project. Project volunteers are researching maternity care in Northumberland with particular focus on Castle Hills Maternity Home, Berwick, and Mona Taylor Maternity Home, Stannington. The blog is based on wider research exploring maternity provision in Northumberland.
Until the establishment of the NHS in 1948 maternity care in Northumberland was provided by small, local units and when plans were announced in the 1960s to centralise maternity care in the new General Hospital in Ashington, the transition was not universally popular. Questions were asked in Parliament. There was an outcry in Blyth over the proposed closure of Beulah House. Northumberland County Council had been asked to take over the running of The Mona Taylor Unit until it’s closure and they complained bitterly that the Newcastle Regional Hospital Board did not communicate sufficiently with them.
However, in Ashington and the surrounding villages, where there was no local provision, the decision was whole heartedly welcomed. As far back as 1948 there were calls for a maternity unit in Ashington which would also benefit nearby villages such as Newbiggin and Lynemouth. The Morpeth Herald reported on 26 February 1948 that a 1000 signature petition had been raised in Ashington protesting that the town needed a maternity unit as the nearest facility was the Princess Mary Maternity Hospital in Jesmond, Newcastle.
A meeting held at the Park Modern School in Ashington, which had been sponsored by a branch of the Communist Party, was poorly attended and the Morpeth Herald quoted a Mrs. Charlton saying that the question had been mooted from time to time with no result. Mrs. Clay of Newbiggin, urged local women to demand this much needed service for the district. She quoted statistics from The Northern Area Medical Association to support the need for women in Newbiggin, Ashington, Linton, and Lynemouth areas to have a local Maternity facility. “Have we got to stand in the same position as regards the welfare of our women for years and years to come? I am not speaking as a Communist or a Socialist but as a Humanitarian who wished to see a Maternity Hospital where there is need.”
Mrs. Clay also criticized the cost of £3 for ambulances to take women to and from Newcastle. “We want the best care for expectant mothers. Now is the time when this new bill is going through the House of Commons, for the women of Ashington to press for a Maternity Home”. The meeting ended with a decision to ask the County Council to meet a deputation and in the meantime, efforts were being made to obtain more names on the petition. The women of Ashington were to wait another 19 years for a Maternity Unit which was part of the redeveloped General Hospital opened in 1967.
The Northumberland County Council Welfare Committee minutes (1962 -1965) record in letters dated April, May and June 1948 and June 1959 the long running discussions between the County Council and The Newcastle Regional Hospital Board about the management and future of the Mona Taylor Maternity Home at Stannington. Northumberland County Council had been asked to accept responsibility for the administration of Mona Taylor Maternity Home until the Wansbeck Hospital Management Committee was able to do so itself. The Management Committee had expressed their gratitude to the County Council and recognized that the assistance of the County Council had been needed for longer than they had originally anticipated.
In 1962 Wansbeck Hospital Management Committee indicated that it was ready to play a greater part in the administration of the Mona Taylor Maternity Hospital under its NHS obligations. The minutes record the following list of responsibilities that the Management Committee would take on going forward.
1. Wansbeck Hospital Management Committee would be the managing authority for the Mona Taylor Unit and would be entirely responsible for the care and welfare of the patients in the hospital.
2. They would also be responsible for the appointment of staff for the purposes of the Mona Taylor Unit and for the payment of salaries and wages and the implementation of recognized conditions of service.
3. Staff appointed by Wansbeck Hospital Management Committee would be directly responsible to the Wansbeck Hospital Management Committee.
4. Wansbeck Hospital Management Committee will set up a subcommittee to act on its behalf for the day to day domestic administration of the Mona Taylor Unit. The County Council could appoint a representative as a liaison between the two hospitals.
5. Northumberland County Council should continue to provide and maintain the following services for The Mona Taylor Unit and Thomas Taylor Homes. Payments will be at an agreed basis and arrangements are to be agreed between appropriate Officers of the Authority:
Cleaning
Lighting
Heating
Domestic hot and cold water
Laundry
Maintenance of buildings and grounds.
6. Wansbeck Hospital Management Committee and Newcastle Regional Board will consult with Northumberland County Council on any developments, improvements and adaptations to the hospital buildings which are proposed.
7. The effective dates of the new administration are to be arranged and mutually agreed.
8. £30,000 of alterations and improvements are planned.
In March 1960 the County Council were still struggling with communications with the Regional Hospital Board. There had been very little progress with discussions regarding the future of the building housing the Mona Taylor Unit. The Regional Hospital Board repeatedly told the County Council that it was not yet in a position to meet them. Finally, in the same month, the Regional Hospital Board was ordered to meet representatives of the council. The County Council sent a list of questions relating to the termination of the use of this accommodation to the Regional Hospital Board on 27 October 1960. Communications between the two committees was still painfully slow.
The Committee Minutes dated 2 November 1960 report a meeting took place at Walkergate Hospital on 27 October 1960 between the Regional Hospital Board and Northumberland County Council to discuss the future of the Mona Taylor Unit.
The Board’s representative outlined proposals to increase the number of maternity beds in the Wansbeck Group. At that time there were 13 in Beulah House, Blyth, and 26 in the Mona Taylor Unit. The proposal was to provide 45 more beds in 3-4 years with further additions within 7 years in Morpeth and Blyth. The Board considered it necessary to retain the use of the Mona Taylor Unit until such time as the beds in Ashington, Morpeth and Blyth had been provided in order to bring the number of beds in the Wansbeck Group to the percentage thought essential in a population of 150,000.
On 13 March the following year, Will Owen, the M.P. for Wansbeck, asked the Minister of Health in the House of Commons about the provision of a maternity unit in Wansbeck Hospital. Mr. Owen asked if the Minister would make a statement. He was told that the Regional Board had included a maternity unit in its plans for the next phase of development of Ashington Hospital. Mr. Owen “Yes, but as I am informed that plan was included in the Regional Hospital Board’s submission in 1954. At the moment, taking the available facilities, at the Mona Taylor Home and Beulah House, Blyth, over a period of 13 years, the additional facilities have been six beds. There is an urgent need again for some intensive development for this service in this area.”
The Welfare Committee minutes for January 1961 state that The Mona Taylor Unit will be returned to Northumberland County Council not later than 3 months after the new Maternity Unit is brought into use.
In Blyth similar concerns were being raised about the future of Beulah House and The Thomas Knight Memorial Hospital. In October 1962 at a meeting of The Blyth Hospital House Committee fears were expressed regarding a newspaper article which reported that there would be considerable changes to the functions of both Beulah House and Thomas Knight Memorial Hospital. The secretary of the Committee stated that these reports did not emanate from any official source and could, therefore be disregarded. The minutes also reported that the members of the House Committee who visited Ashington Hospital on Saturday 15 December reported an interesting and worthwhile tour.
In June 1972, the House Committee at Thomas Knight complained, as had the County Council, that the Hospital Management Board did not communicate with them or “take the House Committee into its confidences.” They recommended that planning for a small general hospital incorporating a maternity unit to replace the existing hospital was required. A statement in July 1972 from The Hospital Management Board said that the possible closure of Beulah House would be considered in the light of the service now being provided at Blyth and the available Obstetric services at Ashington Hospital.
