The other day, for no great reason whatsoever, I was musing on what ten buildings I would think of that were the most iconic in Winteringham. Buildings that would say ... "This is Winteringham" without anyone having to say "Now where's that?"
Why only ten buildings? Again, no reason, other than "The Ten Top ..." stories seem to be all the rage in newspapers at the moment, so why not the ten top of something for our village?
The first building I suppose has to be the Church, seeing as it is so old, and is of course unique. But what about some others, less imposing perhaps?
The Bay Horse ... the first building people spot as they come from Winterton; the Old Chapel in West End - so imposing on raised site; or the old Temperance Hall (ah yes - I forgot to say that my list could incluse any building that I have seen!); perhaps the barn at Manor House - now hotel rooms for Winteringham Fields; the old Post Office with its bay windows like all those featured on Christmas cards!
Maybe you'd go for the Pong Shop - its name justifying a place on any such list surely; Sutton's Farm, or West Farm, or Spring House, or Potts Shop? Maybe the Station, or Waterside House, Scarbrough House, or (perhaps my favourite) the tumbledown cottage on Silver Street now almost restored?
Then there could be the old Maltkiln, and surely a place for the National School? How about the old Headteacher's House, or Towler Place, or Dick Newbourne's House "Humber View."
I could go on, and doubtless you'll surely think I've missed out loads of others that scream "this is Winteringham, and I am a unique building!"
Maybe that's what makes the village so interesting.
I went well over the ten! But can you get just the ten I tried to start off with?
Friday, October 2, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Thinkers Needed!
My current project is to put some shutters on our house. With those on the windows and doors hopefully the worst of the winter weather will be held a bit further at bay, and it will be our bit for the environment if we save some fuel because of it. Currently, I only have one pair of shutters up and working, whilst hopefully the others will be made next week. There's a reason for this ... generally speaking I make a few errors on a piece of wordwork, or see something that I could have done better, or more elegantly, and so it is with the shutters. Make one pair, see what I did wrong, or not as well as I could, and then make sure the rest are made better.
It's a bit like studying history. I love it. We can learn a great deal from how other folks worked or thought, so that we don't make the same mistakes over and over.
As I write this, there is quite an argument raging about cuts to education, as well as the arguments that have been on the front burner ever since Prime Minister James Callaghan announced his "Great Education Debate."
I'm no fan of Ofsted inspections, SATs, league tables, and a compulsory national curriculum. My view has always been that they are contrary to children's best interests.
So what has the current debate on education to do with Winteringham?
In July I came across this report in the Hull Packet newspaper of 16th January 1881. It makes fascinating reading ...
WESLEYAN BAND OF HOPE. – On Monday, the 5th inst., a lecture was delivered by the Rev. J. Whitely, principal of St. Augustine School, Hull, in the National Schoolroom, kindly lent by the Rev. C. Knowles, who presided over the meeting. In the course of his lecture, which lasted a little over an hour, the lecturer spoke of the benefit of total abstinence, which had been proved by many present for muscular energy, and by himself for brain work. The parents and friends of the young were strongly urged to help forward the movement. After speaking of the self-sacrifice of One whose example all were urged to follow, who so looked at our interests as a race, that He gave His life a ransom for ours, instances of heroic conduct and self-sacrificing courage in the history of our country were placed before the minds of the people. The rev. gentleman went on to show the danger in the present educational policy of our country of cramming rather than opening the intellect of our youth, and concluded with a warm appeal to the young men and women present to become thinkers, and thus general benefactors of their village and nation. The audience was large, and listened throughout with rapt attention, broken only by frequent bursts of applause, which demonstrations were loud and long. We are glad to learn that the lecturer has promised to pay the village another visit during the coming season.
Fascinating eh? The 5th January 1881, and in our very own National School was an eminent Headteacher from Hull railing against the kind of educational regime imposed on our children now!
By 1885, the Victorians had decided that teaching children to pass a test, a national curriculum, and an intense inspection regime, was not serving children or the country ... and yet a century later it was thought of as the best thing since sliced bread!
If only our politicians read history ... or better still - read the history of Winteringham!
It's a bit like studying history. I love it. We can learn a great deal from how other folks worked or thought, so that we don't make the same mistakes over and over.
As I write this, there is quite an argument raging about cuts to education, as well as the arguments that have been on the front burner ever since Prime Minister James Callaghan announced his "Great Education Debate."
I'm no fan of Ofsted inspections, SATs, league tables, and a compulsory national curriculum. My view has always been that they are contrary to children's best interests.
So what has the current debate on education to do with Winteringham?
In July I came across this report in the Hull Packet newspaper of 16th January 1881. It makes fascinating reading ...
WESLEYAN BAND OF HOPE. – On Monday, the 5th inst., a lecture was delivered by the Rev. J. Whitely, principal of St. Augustine School, Hull, in the National Schoolroom, kindly lent by the Rev. C. Knowles, who presided over the meeting. In the course of his lecture, which lasted a little over an hour, the lecturer spoke of the benefit of total abstinence, which had been proved by many present for muscular energy, and by himself for brain work. The parents and friends of the young were strongly urged to help forward the movement. After speaking of the self-sacrifice of One whose example all were urged to follow, who so looked at our interests as a race, that He gave His life a ransom for ours, instances of heroic conduct and self-sacrificing courage in the history of our country were placed before the minds of the people. The rev. gentleman went on to show the danger in the present educational policy of our country of cramming rather than opening the intellect of our youth, and concluded with a warm appeal to the young men and women present to become thinkers, and thus general benefactors of their village and nation. The audience was large, and listened throughout with rapt attention, broken only by frequent bursts of applause, which demonstrations were loud and long. We are glad to learn that the lecturer has promised to pay the village another visit during the coming season.
Fascinating eh? The 5th January 1881, and in our very own National School was an eminent Headteacher from Hull railing against the kind of educational regime imposed on our children now!
By 1885, the Victorians had decided that teaching children to pass a test, a national curriculum, and an intense inspection regime, was not serving children or the country ... and yet a century later it was thought of as the best thing since sliced bread!
If only our politicians read history ... or better still - read the history of Winteringham!
Friday, August 7, 2009
Winteringham Open Gardens
Great weekend, hopefully in every respect including the weather, for Winteringham's Open Gardens event this Sunday (August 9th) and the exhibition of a number of internationally-renowned artists. All info will be available from the Village Hall from noon on Sunday, and it is at the Village Hall that the artists will be exhibiting too. It's also the site of teas, plant sales, and car-parking.
By one of the happy coincidences, the annual flower service of 1885 was held on the exact same day of the year, and when the service was over, they were sent over to the hospital in Hull for the patients.
By one of the happy coincidences, the annual flower service of 1885 was held on the exact same day of the year, and when the service was over, they were sent over to the hospital in Hull for the patients.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Two and a half times round the world - with a barrow!
Yesterday I came across one of those news items that used to be in the category of "And finally ...." It was a small piece about the British Library publishing local newspapers on-line. Not all that many perhaps, but all from the 19th century.
The nearest to Winteringham was the series under the general title of the Hull Packet ... which I reckon is a pretty good play on words for a paper of Victorian times and earlier. Anyway, as a search was free, I had a quick gander to see if the word "Winteringham" might crop up, and sure enough it did, though folks have to remember that Winteringham can refer to people, other places, and both in the case of Grimsby. Plus of course a few still spelt Wintringham without the 'e', even for our village.
At £9.99 for up to 200 page views in seven days, the cost of a few researches wasn't bad, so I invested and searched. Naturally I drew a dud for a start! Looking up a page of adverts, up popped Winteringham the Sailmaker at Grimsby!
But it wasn't long before some real gems were found. A race between Winterton coal carts from the Bay Horse to Waterside, with a bit of skulduggery for good measure, and admonishment from the Bellman with threats of prosecution! Then on more or less the same stretch of road, a bit of an accident to one of the leading lights of the village! A few crimes, some youthful larking about, a 15 year old boy absconding from his master because he was overworked, and the apprehension of an escaped female prisoner from Kirton Lindsey gaol, all good stuff. So far though, I think my favourite is of the man who walked seven miles every day bar Sundays with his barrow for 30 years ... and all with the same barrow he started with. Now I make that the equivalent of pushing a barrow round the world 2½ times! Perhaps the story poses more questions than it answers, but what a story - eh?
I can't wait to get back to more of the same. Who knows what gems will turn up. Oh "turn up" ... that reminds me of turnips! We had a couple of enormous ones in the village in the 1860s you know!
Right - back to those papers!
The nearest to Winteringham was the series under the general title of the Hull Packet ... which I reckon is a pretty good play on words for a paper of Victorian times and earlier. Anyway, as a search was free, I had a quick gander to see if the word "Winteringham" might crop up, and sure enough it did, though folks have to remember that Winteringham can refer to people, other places, and both in the case of Grimsby. Plus of course a few still spelt Wintringham without the 'e', even for our village.
At £9.99 for up to 200 page views in seven days, the cost of a few researches wasn't bad, so I invested and searched. Naturally I drew a dud for a start! Looking up a page of adverts, up popped Winteringham the Sailmaker at Grimsby!
But it wasn't long before some real gems were found. A race between Winterton coal carts from the Bay Horse to Waterside, with a bit of skulduggery for good measure, and admonishment from the Bellman with threats of prosecution! Then on more or less the same stretch of road, a bit of an accident to one of the leading lights of the village! A few crimes, some youthful larking about, a 15 year old boy absconding from his master because he was overworked, and the apprehension of an escaped female prisoner from Kirton Lindsey gaol, all good stuff. So far though, I think my favourite is of the man who walked seven miles every day bar Sundays with his barrow for 30 years ... and all with the same barrow he started with. Now I make that the equivalent of pushing a barrow round the world 2½ times! Perhaps the story poses more questions than it answers, but what a story - eh?
I can't wait to get back to more of the same. Who knows what gems will turn up. Oh "turn up" ... that reminds me of turnips! We had a couple of enormous ones in the village in the 1860s you know!
Right - back to those papers!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Here we go round the Mulberry ...
Maybe as long as 55 years ago, a travelling salesman came to the back door of Elim House, and persuaded my parents that the encyclopedias he was offering were the key to knowledge, wealth, happiness, and all round success. OK, they were expensive, but they certainly provided hour upon hour of reading, and there was a wonderful pull out diagram of the inner workings of a steam engine, which I pored over for many an hour. Actually, I should use the word "was" as I still have the whole set, and still occasionally open a page or two!
Now one photo that fascinated me all those years ago was of the building of one of the "caissons" for the Mulberry Harbours" used immediately after D-Day. There seemed to be thousands of rods of steel pointing into the sky, and a base of concrete, totally beyond my comprehension.
Fast forward from the fifties to the nineties, and as we holidayed close by Arromanches the sight of many of the Caissons still in the same position they had been laid in 1944 seemed incredible. They are still there now - minus some that were taken off to become the foundations in the Dutch sea wall, or other major sea defence work in France. The French even tried to recover the steel from some of them in the early 1950s when there was a shortage but gave up and those particular caissons are still visible at low tide now.
Tomorrow, we'll be off again to Arromanches, where the Mulberry Harbour will provide a spectacular backdrop to the D-Day commemorations. But there are a couple of Winteringham related questions that remain unanswered....
Eastwood's Cement Factory was almost brand new at the time, and we know that it provided 75,000 tons of cement for the major building work at Rosyth. But did it ever provide material for the Mulberry Harbour? With Britain's economy so dedicated to the war effort, it seems more than likely that in those caissons still lying off Arromanches, there's a bit of Winteringham and South Ferriby standing as a sentinel to the greatest ever seaborne invasion.
Secondly, of course - is some of the steel in those from Scunthorpe, and perhaps produced with the help of Winteringham men and women in those dark days?
An early start in the morning may mean the websites are not updated as usual, but there'll be at least one person in France thinking of Winteringham when he looks out over the Mulberry Harbour, designed for ten weeks use, and still there 65 years on!
Now one photo that fascinated me all those years ago was of the building of one of the "caissons" for the Mulberry Harbours" used immediately after D-Day. There seemed to be thousands of rods of steel pointing into the sky, and a base of concrete, totally beyond my comprehension.
Fast forward from the fifties to the nineties, and as we holidayed close by Arromanches the sight of many of the Caissons still in the same position they had been laid in 1944 seemed incredible. They are still there now - minus some that were taken off to become the foundations in the Dutch sea wall, or other major sea defence work in France. The French even tried to recover the steel from some of them in the early 1950s when there was a shortage but gave up and those particular caissons are still visible at low tide now.
Tomorrow, we'll be off again to Arromanches, where the Mulberry Harbour will provide a spectacular backdrop to the D-Day commemorations. But there are a couple of Winteringham related questions that remain unanswered....
Eastwood's Cement Factory was almost brand new at the time, and we know that it provided 75,000 tons of cement for the major building work at Rosyth. But did it ever provide material for the Mulberry Harbour? With Britain's economy so dedicated to the war effort, it seems more than likely that in those caissons still lying off Arromanches, there's a bit of Winteringham and South Ferriby standing as a sentinel to the greatest ever seaborne invasion.
Secondly, of course - is some of the steel in those from Scunthorpe, and perhaps produced with the help of Winteringham men and women in those dark days?
An early start in the morning may mean the websites are not updated as usual, but there'll be at least one person in France thinking of Winteringham when he looks out over the Mulberry Harbour, designed for ten weeks use, and still there 65 years on!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Treated like a King
Keep fit with Katy
Katy Wilkinson is running two one-hour-long keep fit sessions a week in the Village Hall. She describes the classes as "Fun classes for everyone" including different levels of impact, toning and relaxation.
You can check out the details here.
Lindsey Cottages
Having commented on the fascinating "sampler" yesterday that recently sold on Ebay for over £140, there's now a copy of a postcard on the same site today. The post card is entitled "Lindsey Cottages, Winteringham" and very neat the cottages look too with roses round the doors, and a neat fence in front. The windows in most of the cottages are open, suggesting that it's a lovely summer's day, but breaking the rural tranquility of the scene is a steam engine crossing the road towards Scunthorpe, pulling some passenger coaches, and making a delightful scene.
Only once did I ever see a train on the line, and it was in exactly this position. The line had been closed for years before we moved to the village, but the tracks were still down, and wagons were stored on the line towards Whitton. I reckon I was probably about 6 at the time, and suddenly heard the whistle of a steam engine from our house next to the Chapel in West End. Running as fast as I could to watch the locomotive in action I had just about reached Spring House when the engine raced across the unguarded level crossing of Marsh Lane, and disappeared in the direction of Scunthorpe. And that was that! I never did see any action on the line again before the rails were lifted.
But I am also reminded that before the line closed to passengers, special trains were known to travel from Winteringham - to such places as Wembley. Alan Frost told me about these when I regularly spoke to him in the seventies. Whether the "specials" simply took the passengers to join the train at Scunthorpe, or were through trains, I never found out.
If you wish to check out the auction, the photograph is Ebay number 370209668595.
Corrie
No! Not that one! The real one!
As it's the anniversary of the Coronation 56 years ago (it was also a Tuesday), I wonder if anyone can remember the details of what went on in the village? My sister and I were treated to a front seat at Elaine Ogg's house, where the TV showed the scenes in London. We didn't have a TV then, so the invitation from Elaine's parents was very kind, and especially the cakes and drinks we were plied with at regular intervals. There were also sports and games in Seeds Field, when we all were given a box of Cadbury's Chocolates, and at some time - I think on the day of the Coronation - we were also given a commemorative teaspoon from the school, which I kept for years and years, but which has done the same disappearing act that all spoons seem to do in our house.
Maybe others with better memories than I have could put some flesh on the bones?
Katy Wilkinson is running two one-hour-long keep fit sessions a week in the Village Hall. She describes the classes as "Fun classes for everyone" including different levels of impact, toning and relaxation.
You can check out the details here.
Lindsey Cottages
Having commented on the fascinating "sampler" yesterday that recently sold on Ebay for over £140, there's now a copy of a postcard on the same site today. The post card is entitled "Lindsey Cottages, Winteringham" and very neat the cottages look too with roses round the doors, and a neat fence in front. The windows in most of the cottages are open, suggesting that it's a lovely summer's day, but breaking the rural tranquility of the scene is a steam engine crossing the road towards Scunthorpe, pulling some passenger coaches, and making a delightful scene.
Only once did I ever see a train on the line, and it was in exactly this position. The line had been closed for years before we moved to the village, but the tracks were still down, and wagons were stored on the line towards Whitton. I reckon I was probably about 6 at the time, and suddenly heard the whistle of a steam engine from our house next to the Chapel in West End. Running as fast as I could to watch the locomotive in action I had just about reached Spring House when the engine raced across the unguarded level crossing of Marsh Lane, and disappeared in the direction of Scunthorpe. And that was that! I never did see any action on the line again before the rails were lifted.
But I am also reminded that before the line closed to passengers, special trains were known to travel from Winteringham - to such places as Wembley. Alan Frost told me about these when I regularly spoke to him in the seventies. Whether the "specials" simply took the passengers to join the train at Scunthorpe, or were through trains, I never found out.
If you wish to check out the auction, the photograph is Ebay number 370209668595.
Corrie
No! Not that one! The real one!
As it's the anniversary of the Coronation 56 years ago (it was also a Tuesday), I wonder if anyone can remember the details of what went on in the village? My sister and I were treated to a front seat at Elaine Ogg's house, where the TV showed the scenes in London. We didn't have a TV then, so the invitation from Elaine's parents was very kind, and especially the cakes and drinks we were plied with at regular intervals. There were also sports and games in Seeds Field, when we all were given a box of Cadbury's Chocolates, and at some time - I think on the day of the Coronation - we were also given a commemorative teaspoon from the school, which I kept for years and years, but which has done the same disappearing act that all spoons seem to do in our house.
Maybe others with better memories than I have could put some flesh on the bones?
Creases and Creaseys
Welcome to the first web blog for the Winteringham family of websites.
One of the most fascinating Winteringham-related Ebay auctions ended on Sunday. It was of a “sampler” - one of those pieces of needlework that was so in vogue for young girls in the nineteenth century and probably well before that. This one though was by eleven year old Winteringham girl, Evalina Evratt, who included her age (11), the date of the sampler (May 14th 1878) and crucially the fact that she was at Winteringham National School. We can find her in the parish registers for both her baptism in December 1866, and her marriage to Charles Altoft when both she and the groom were 24.
I have no idea what price one might expect for a sampler, though this auction rapidly reached into the mid £40 mark, and then gradually worked its way up to £97. And there it stayed until seven seconds before the close when the price suddenly shot up to £141.07, and then £143.07!
I couldn’t help musing what young Evalina would have thought had she known the sampler she crafted so carefully would fetch a price roughly equivalent to what an agricultural labourer of her day would earn in THREE years!
We received an interesting email from Australia this week. It was from a descendant of one of Winteringham’s bobbies - PC 124 Jack Creasey, who apparently was the first policeman to live in Elim House, and who had five children - Joyce, Miriam, Jack, Betty and Geoff. Having lived in the house in the 1950s, I was able to send a few old photos of the gardens as they had been then, because I doubt that they had changed much from the late 1920s to the early 50s. By today’s standards it was a large gardens, some of it very productive, but the Hewde Lane end decidedly stony (giving me an excellent mental picture for Miss Brown’s telling of “the seed that fell on stony ground”!
If anyone has any information at all on Jack Creasey, his wife, or their five children, then it would be most welcome!
Finally today, a reminder that tomorrow (Tuesday 2nd June) sees the June Council Meeting in the freshly revamped Village Hall. Members of the public are always welcome. The meeting starts at 7:30pm.
One of the most fascinating Winteringham-related Ebay auctions ended on Sunday. It was of a “sampler” - one of those pieces of needlework that was so in vogue for young girls in the nineteenth century and probably well before that. This one though was by eleven year old Winteringham girl, Evalina Evratt, who included her age (11), the date of the sampler (May 14th 1878) and crucially the fact that she was at Winteringham National School. We can find her in the parish registers for both her baptism in December 1866, and her marriage to Charles Altoft when both she and the groom were 24.
I have no idea what price one might expect for a sampler, though this auction rapidly reached into the mid £40 mark, and then gradually worked its way up to £97. And there it stayed until seven seconds before the close when the price suddenly shot up to £141.07, and then £143.07!
I couldn’t help musing what young Evalina would have thought had she known the sampler she crafted so carefully would fetch a price roughly equivalent to what an agricultural labourer of her day would earn in THREE years!
We received an interesting email from Australia this week. It was from a descendant of one of Winteringham’s bobbies - PC 124 Jack Creasey, who apparently was the first policeman to live in Elim House, and who had five children - Joyce, Miriam, Jack, Betty and Geoff. Having lived in the house in the 1950s, I was able to send a few old photos of the gardens as they had been then, because I doubt that they had changed much from the late 1920s to the early 50s. By today’s standards it was a large gardens, some of it very productive, but the Hewde Lane end decidedly stony (giving me an excellent mental picture for Miss Brown’s telling of “the seed that fell on stony ground”!
If anyone has any information at all on Jack Creasey, his wife, or their five children, then it would be most welcome!
Finally today, a reminder that tomorrow (Tuesday 2nd June) sees the June Council Meeting in the freshly revamped Village Hall. Members of the public are always welcome. The meeting starts at 7:30pm.
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