Oral history interview with Garry Huntington, conducted and recorded by Jo Bath over two sessions in 24 and 25 February 2004, as part of the Time Track oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 2 hours 17 minutes. [Disc 1] Childhood, family background, parents and schooling; [00:03:55] starting work at Astraka fake fur factory, [00:05:05] early history of Astraka, its role in the development of fake fur, [00:08:27] breaking into the Russian market, [00:10:55] famous clients, [00:12:22] uniform, diversification and closure; Winter Olympics; [00:15:54] a working day, relationship with designers; [00:18:57] funny mistakes; customer service; making a horse blanket; [00:22:15] working as a trouble shooter and with catalogue companies; [00:24:50] early work in the stores, training and negotiation for better job; [00:28:21] work of the technical department; [00:29:24] lack of union activity or protest; [00:31:03] highs and lows; relations with the directors; [00:34:55] social and sports facilities; [00:37:25] various homes; [00:39:15] the canteen and the estate, damp problems; [00:42:20] staff discount; [00:44:25] career as a councillor, working in housing; [00:48:00] Recent elections and signs of recovery; move towards residential area; [00:53:45] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, cavalcade, love for steam trains; [01:00:00] Shildon railway works, workers coming out of the works, [01:03:51] works open days; [01:05:15] impact of the works closure in 1984, signs of recovery; [01:11:46] sports as a child, meeting his wife [01:14:59] [end of disc 1] [Disc 2] activities and leisure in Shildon, rock and roll, dancing, fashions and culture; [00:07:20] housing then and now, development; [00:11:24] making do, clippy mats; [00:14:00] New Shildon old shopping area; [00:15:40] open cast mining; [00:19:58] carnival, foot running, gambling and cheating; dressing up; [00:24:24] Shildon’s Banana factory, Geest; [00:28:09] the Dunns; [00:30:25] Shildon people, problems with private rents; [00:32:30] poverty as a child, neighbours arguing; [00:36:20] extreme weather, snow in 1947, flooding; [00:42:35] paste eggs, "jarping", holidays, working men's clubs; [00:49:16] the Railway Institute; [00:53:12] boxing, learning to box at Hackworth's workshop, watching fights [01:02:06] [end of disc 2] [end of interview] Garry Huntington interviewed by Jo Bath 2004-02-24
Oral history interview with Maurice Peacock conducted and recorded by Jo Bath in 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes. Born 1917 in Shildon. Childhood; moved to Middlesbrough (1921), Middlesbrough High School; Shildon streets; father a coal miner (Dabble Duck Mine, Shildon), father moved to ICI Billingham; leaving school pre-exams to be an errand boy, brothers on dole, took exams, errand boy, shop manager; [00:03:10] joining Rochdale Police Force (1939); 9 years in Rochdale, periods in army and air force, married 1941, dislike of police work; [00:04:00] further career; ; return to Middlesbrough; general dealer’s shop (4-5 years), fish and chip shop, burnt out after one week, new equipment within a week, commercial traveller until retirement; [00:06:40] childhood, Growing up; father’s work as miner, coal seam under house, brothers farm workers, railway routes near Shildon, no family members became miners; [00:12:40] play location and games as a child in Shildon, goods yard play, friends, Timothy Hackworth School; [00:19:10] Shildon railway works, wagon works; [00:20:00] food in childhood, porridge; [00:21:10] Shildon area; leisure and activities in Shildon, Soho Shed used by band, museum visit, Sunday School, brass band visits, church on Sundays, played during week, groceries paid once a week, lot of shops, wet fish shop, played in recreation ground, lot of railway lines; [00:28:40] family life; first girlfriend 1937, married 1939, widowhood 1998, memories of wife, grandchildren, great grandchildren; [00:31:20] 1926 General Strike, the Great Depression; father and brothers out of work, reduction in amount of food, family memories, what people did during general strike, deaths of young siblings; [00:35:00] Shildon railway works visit, no desire to work in works; [00:36:10] interest in police work, Shildon policeman; [00:38:00] childhood, clothing, coal deliveries, coal house outside, toilets, wash house, washday, father’s miner’s clothes, watching the carnival, bicycle use, grocery deliveries, hand cart use; [00:46:10] agricultural show; showground, rabbits, pigeons; [00:47:30] extreme weather, winter, igloo building; [00:49:40] dinners during General Strike; Salvation Army, soup; [00:51:30] mines around Shildon; lots of pits; [00:52:20] electrified railway; few memories; [00:53:50] cinema, went now and then, “flea pit", not enjoyable, piano played pre-organ, first picture with talk seen in Middlesborough; [00:56:50] social classes in childhood, no issues, no bullying in school; [00:58:00] shoes in childhood; [00:59:00] food, always fresh food in house; [00:01:10] remedies, drugs, medication in childhood, cod liver oil; [01:02:40] favourite things to do; playing out, details, punishment if mis-behaved; [01:04:50] proggy mat making, helping mother; [01:07:10] tricks on neighbours; doorknob tying; [01:08:00] street play; hoop rolling, marbles; [01:10:20] family support; relationship with brothers, sisters, sister’s work; [01:12:40] Army service; visit to London to see sister, army work in a US army camp [01:15:09] [end of interview] Maurice Peacock interviewed by Jo Bath 2004
Oral history interview with Eddy Holmes conducted and recorded by Jo Bath in 2004 as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes. [Track 01] Childhood; moved Yorkshire to Shildon (1968), education, left school September 1946 [00:02:50] first job, telegram boy for 1 month, duties [00:04:07] [end of track 01]; [Track 02] starting work, telegram delivery, grocery job (10 months), reasons for leaving, British Rail (BR) Shildon Works (start August 1947) [00:02:40]; start career at Shildon railway works, office boy (Welding Shop office), machinist, training until 21 years [00:04:10]; move to Smith’s Shop, details of work [00:05:00]; move to Wheel’s Shop, grade 1 machining, details of work; move to Machine Profile Burning (1964); work there until Works closure 1984, Shildon BR “jewel in the crown”, details of wagon building, high-capacity wagon contract (1960’s) saved Shildon, details of high-capacity wagon operation, final 11 years as part-time finished work inspector [00:09:00]; normal working day, working hours; making couplings, drilling machines; salary, wages, piece work, details of different work, work pattern, shift work [00:14:40]; working atmosphere; socialising, holidaying together, good relationships, friendships [00:18:00]; health and safety, machine guards, incident, machine profile burning conditions, ambulance room, personal injury, works fire brigade [00:22:00]; working conditions, dirty work in machine profiling burning, clothing, heat produced [00:25:35]; likes/dislikes of job, relief finished work inspecting, reasons; clocking in/out system, least liked-line drilling, reasons [00:28:40]; cats at the Works, personal views [00:30:00]; Shildon Railway Institute, table tennis, snooker, competitions, talent contests [00:31:50]; singing experience in clubs; details of club work, Empire Theatre Middlesborough, other Shildon singers – Alan Fryatt, John Fryatt (organist), George Remain [00:37:00]; boxing in Shildon, good boxers at the Works, Sid Cottingham (machine burner), Ronny Cottingham, gymnasium at the Works [00:38:44] [end of track 02]; [Track 03] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, few memories, volunteering details, details of event, details of visitors, what was seen [00:03:20]1950 event, no memories [00:04:15]; Union membership, NUR, AEU, AEU shop steward, details of shop stewards and convenors [00:06:00]; works closure, 1982 demonstration to keep Works open, reason for demonstration, House of Commons visit, success at keeping Works open until 1984, politics linked to closure, gradual workforce decrease, low morale, protest involvement, meeting with MPs, blame for closure, questioning reasons for closure [00:12:00]; work after Works closure, machine profile burner at Shildon Forge, works committee, dismissal, disputing dismissal, colleagues support, good relationship with management [00:26:00]; further employment details, Cleveland Bridge at Darlington CN machine operator (9 years), retirement 1967 [00:27:55]; views of other Shildon works employees after closure, majority wanted another job, not a lot of other work, works reduced from 25000 men, some transferred elsewhere, hard for older employees, town has recovered from the closure [00:32:16] [end of Track 03] [end of interview] Eddy Holmes interviewed by Jo Bath 2004
Oral history interview with Bob Murton conducted and recorded by Jo Bath in 2004 as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 18 minutes 38 seconds. Childhood (born 1909); parents occupation; his role as an apprentice patternmaker at Shildon works; scholarship to Newcastle College; interviewed by Nigel Gressley; draughtsman at the works; retired 1972; world war 2 at the works; women employed; different trades in the works; changes in his role over time; exhibition in the works of progress made with technology Bob Murton interviewed by Jo Bath 2004
Oral history interview with Aubrey Clethero conducted and recorded by Jo Bath in 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 17 minutes. Born 1928 in Shildon, childhood, education, first job at 14, tobacconist; office job at Shildon railway works, 1942, sorting and delivery mail; move to joiner’s shop, apprentice joiner; [00:03:50] career overview, leaving Shildon works, private joiner’s firm, work at Shildon Council, redundancy, joiner’s jobs at Darlington, Newton Aycliffe, Bishop Auckland, return to Shildon Council (1957), woodwork teacher at Cotton Hill School, Bishop Auckland, teaching evening classes in joinery, teaching qualification, Woodhouse Secondary Modern School for 24 years, retired at 55 years of age, now helps neighbours; [00:08:10] Father’s career, miner at Dabble Duck Mine, First World War soldier, milk business after war, during the Great Depression kept pigs and hens for sale, labourer at Shildon Works, various jobs until retired; [00:11:00] mother’s career, labourer at Shildon Works until son started at the Works, mother looked after house, livestock and allotment, work in axle box plant at the Works, previously worked as a dress maker, mother into the work to help the war effort in Second World War, war effort armament production; [00:16:20] further details of Father’s lorry work; photograph described, earth closet cleaning, rubbish disposal, use of clinker, coal man, ended at the Great Depression; [00:19:40] first day at Shildon works: aged 14 years, worked in general office, messenger boy duties, arrangements for carrying parcels; [00:22:50] extreme weather, hard winters, 1942 whilst working as apprentice, lost milk cart story; [00:24:00] childhood, mince pie story, black out activities; [00:27:50] Second World War impact on Shildon works, air raids, no bombs dropped, munitions at Works; [00:29:20] Italian prisoners of war at Shildon works, camp at Harpley; [00:30:50] cats at the Works, cat in most workshops, father got a kitten from the works, cat in works and home; [00:31:40] Shildon Works: flooring, enjoyment of working there, piece work, NUR involvement, leaving works; [00:34:40] life after leaving Shildon Works; good career, evening classes, Further Education teaching (1953), more money; [00:36:10] working at Shildon Works; got on well with others, did simple tasks, examples, practical jokes, Uncle worked at Works, no clocking on, never ill; [00:41:00] joiners shop work; check-in system, pay check system, few accidents, sawmill accidents, personal accident; enjoyed work; first aid system at the works, ambulance room, works’ ambulance; [00:47:45] Second World War, volunteering as a patient for first aid courses for women at the Railway Institute; [00:49:30] Railway Institute facilities; church choir member, became leader of church youth club, youth club committee meetings, no Works social activities during War, Works Band, Works cricket club; [00:54:40] Shildon works, Fire Brigade, difficulties of working in the forge, heat and dirt, welding work, lot of local boys got jobs in the Works, Works provided a lot of experiences; [00:58:10] impressions of working in Shildon Works, comparison with Darlington, paid board and lodging at home, given pocket money; [00:59:20] father buying first television; [01:01:00] Shildon works, views on what the site is now (2004); neighbours; memories of lots of men entering and leaving Works each day; [01:05:30] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, cavalcade; [01:07:10] 1930’s carnival; involved through All Saints’ Church, Sunday School, Redcar Annual outing, train travel to Redcar; [01:10:40] Shildon works lunch arrangements; came home, canteen mainly for men from Bishop Auckland, tea making, 10 am breaks; [01:13:20] social classes distinctions at the works [01:17:42] [end of interview] Aubrey Clethero interviewed by Jo Bath 2004
Oral history interview with Joe Wild, conducted and recorded by Robert Aitchinson in 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 52 minutes. Born in Shildon mid 1920s, all life in Shildon; started work at Shildon Works in 1941, fitter, aged 21 years went into Production Section, promoted after 4 years, move to Machine Shop for rest of career, retired on Works closure in 1984 [00:02:00]; work during World War 2, moved to different sections of Production Section [00:03:00]; post War, new wagons production, 32 wagons a day completed in one Shop alone, describing different wagons, Consett Steel Works wagons trains, Darlington Rolling Mills wagons; working conditions [00:08:10]; salary, first wage 27 shillings, 47pw hours worked, good working conditions; Father, a miner until 1931, Eldon Colliery closure, unemployed until 1938, depression years [00:10:10]; family background, five children in family, two left now, eldest sister’s Belgium husband story as a pilot; life before marriage, moving to new Shildon when married for 9 years, lack of houses, dislike for New Shildon, unfriendly except miners, present house 23 years, second marriage, single life [00:16:10]; meaning of works to people; closure had large effect, entitlement to 1 year's dole money, had poultry as well, limited closure effect, wife and daughter’s home baker business [00:18:40]; 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, well organised, much appreciated by people, disappointment for lack of 175 years celebration, personal views [00:20:30]; 1975 Repair Shop closure; repair work described, 300 wagons repaired per week [00:22:00]; 1960s development of high-capacity coal wagon, still operating with higher capacity [00:23:20]; Shildon works closure, JW almost 65 years old, limited chance of further work, effect on younger people and Shildon population, lots of people left town, mines had closed; drift mine story [00:25:50]; camaraderie at the Works, good relationships except with Darlington men [00:27:10]; political details of area, strong Labour area, locally Liberal/Independent [00:28:40]; drinking habits, teetotal; strong Unions at Shildon Works, becoming Union member, management fair, low wages below average, free passes, privilege tickets [00:31:30]; public transport; better then than now, bus timings were good, father was porter on the railway in 1938, was a good train service compared to now, examples of train services [00:36:30]; decline of Shildon Works, changes in working practice [00:40:50]; canteen at Shildon Works, run by local people and then franchised out, cost [00:42:20]; leisure and entertainment in Shildon, concerts during war, organisation, cinemas, views of TV viewing now [00:44:10]; reading habits, newspapers, Northern Echo reader for 70 years, decline in quality, JW considers his lack of reading has been a limiting factor [00:46:50]; education, Shildon Council School, school life, no sports involvement [00:47:50]; getting a job, to get a job at Works father needed to work there [00:48:20]; Industries history in Shildon, Fur Factory (Astraka) built on an early industrial estate (Dabble Duck), other industries [00:51:59] [end of interview] Joe Wild interviewed by Robert Aitchison 2004
Recordable MD minidisc with green plastic case, branded 'TDK FINE 74 recordable MD'. Recordable MD minidisc circa 1998
Recordable MD minidisc with dark blue plastic case, branded 'TDK FINE 74 recordable MD'. Recordable MD minidisc circa 1998
Recordable MD minidisc with black plastic case, branded 'TDK MD 74'. Recordable MD minidisc circa 1998
Recordable MD minidisc with blue plastic case, branded 'TDK MD 74'. Recordable MD minidisc circa 1998
Recordable MD minidisc with yellow and grey plastic case, branded 'TDK MD 74'. Recordable MD minidisc circa 1998
Recordable MD minidisc with grey plastic case, branded '74 XS-iV'. Includes white paper label reading 'VICTORIAN CONFERENCE 15/7/2007 "Civilising and Educating" David Vincent + Jonathan Rose'. Recordable MD minidisc circa 1998
Oral history interview with Mary Wright conducted and recorded by Jo Bath in 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 14 minutes. [Track 01] Born in Shildon, childhood 1930s, father on the railways, leaving school at age 14, shop assistant Bishop Auckland, work at Co-op Shildon, memories of funerals; [00:07:10] Second World War, billeted soldiers, little to eat, rationing, little social life; [00:09:50] work as a school clerk at end of war; evacuees, details of work; [00:13:00] co-op work; boredom, rats at work, dislike of work, left 1945; [00:20:30] secretarial work at Printing Works; break in; [00:23:00] working for police force or at Shildon Works; interview for secretarial work for police; offered job at Shildon railway works; [00:25:40] Newton Aycliffe history, built around munitions factory; [00:26:50] factories built at Shildon; [00:28:00] working life memories; dancing, social life, Spennymoor Rink; [00:30:00] life at Shildon Works; clerical work, monotonous, family members and the War, over staffed, weather of winter 1947; [00:36:30] work in Shildon Works stores; poor quality of work, met husband, few women at Shildon Works, rats in the works, cat at home; [00:46:00] chapel; soldiers used dining room during war, dead rats' story; [00:48:50] further employment; employed 4 years at Works, married, work at Marks & Spencer [00:50:48] [end of track 01] [Track 02] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, “Shildon's finest hour”, provided Bed & Breakfast, marvellous experience, Cavalcade; [00:05:00] Shildon works, “buzzer” story, father at Works during Second World War, 12-hour shifts during war, died at aged 51 years, poor air quality in Shildon, friendly; [00:10:20] views on life now: Shildon “smarter” now, no one “hard up”, comparison with Darlington; [00:13:00] Shildon works closure; [00:13:50] Shildon Carnivals, yearly, revived now, lack of “spirit” now, photographs; [00:18:00] Geest banana factory at Shildon, story of a driver at the factory; [00:23:00] reflections on own family [00:23:41] [end of track 02] [end of interview] Mary Wright interviewed by Jo Bath 2004
Oral history interview with Cliff Howes conducted and recorded by Jo Bath on 4 March 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. The interview includes contributions from the interviewee’s wife, Marjorie, also present during the interview. Duration: 1 hour 19 minutes. [Track 01] Born 1924 in Leeds, move to Bishop Auckland 1938, start railway career 1939, lad parcels porter, signal lamp lad [00:50:48] [end of track 01] [Track 02] 1946 back in Shildon, after serving in army during 1939-1945 Second World War, signalman training, Shildon North, Sim Pasture Junction, Darlington locomotive department; [00:02:00] incidents at Dunns, Berwickshire, express crash at Beale, railway bridges collapsing in heavy rain, Aydon; driving Mallard A4 locomotive; [00:06:10] 1952 joining British Transport Police (BTP), Darlington, 32 years BTP career, uniform, career progression and ranks occupied within BTP; [00:10:00] theft from night parcels train in York, arrest of railway staff; [00:12:43] commendations received when in post in York, catching copper thief; parcels thieves at Darlington [00:14:46] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, inspector of Shildon railway works, policing the cavalcade, BTP team dispatched for event, enjoyment attending the event; July 1975 Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother opening the Timothy Hackworth Victorian Railway Museum in Shildon, being in charge of the Royal Train, interaction with the Queen Mother, allowing for children to see the Royal Train; [00:19:15] 1975 cavalcade, crowd, safety on train journey between Darlington and Shildon, queues; [00:21:35] fatalities on railway lines around York, suicides, impact on service and vehicles; [00:26:51] accident at Darlington, train collision; crashes at Parkgate Cabin when working as signal lad; [00:31:00] night shift at Sim Pasture Junction, shunting coal wagons, runaway wagons, accidental coal wagon spill; [00:32:38] arresting delivery driver stealing parcels; [00:35:56] (contribution from Marjorie) how busy ticket office was during Second World War, special train from Gateshead for Shildon railway works; [00:39:38] (contribution from Marjorie) work at ticket office, communicating with Sim Pasture signal box about livestock on the line, relationship with Shildon works, privilege passes, holidays, Saturdays, travel passes; [00:42:15] (back to Cliff) BTP experience, anecdote taking statement from driver after accident with a van; [00:43:47] arrests at Shildon works, brass theft, wagons bearings, working with the works security and fire officer (Jack Watson), confronting thief; [00:46:50] many thefts at Shildon works, night watch for thieves, chasing thieves; [00:49:43] other thefts after lines closure; [00:54:15] timber theft, Sim Pasture; [00:56:16] arrest of wagon brass thief, Shildon; [00:58:40] making model railway; [01:00:37] work at Shildon North cabin, safety issues Shildon tunnel, anti-theft measures for coal; [01:04:00] Alan Pierce, making models; [01:07:38] former stables near museum; Locomotion museum development; Shildon gasworks, Brusselton reservoir; [01:11:16] (Cliff and Marjorie) Timothy Hackworth; [01:12:26] accidents and deaths at Shildon works; [01:14:00] extreme weather, snow in winter 1947, snow in 1943 [01:17:54] [end of track 02] [end of interview] Cliff Howes interviewed by Jo Bath 2004-03-04
Oral history interview with Jane Hackworth-Young conducted and recorded by Jo Bath in 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 49 minutes. Whereabouts before moving to Northern England, family roots, father was an engineer; great, great granddaughter of Timothy Hackworth, descended from Hackworth’s youngest daughter Jane Hackworth, who married Robert Young, who helped Hackworth run the Stockton and Darlington Railway, father was a civil, mechanical and electrical engineer, family methodist background; [00:02:40] father’s efforts to get Hackworth recognised; Robert Young’s book, Hackworth papers, 1972 Shildon visit, Hackworth’s house, Hackworth statue, lack of Hackworth recognition; Smile’s book on Robert Stephenson, Wylam locomotives; father's lobbying to BBC and Northern Echo; [00:07:20] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, Shildon Town Council request for documentation to help preparations, working with her father to prepare documentation; [00:09:30] further efforts to get Hackworth recognised; support from Michael Kirby, Hackworth buildings and other relics, Hackworth family background, further lobbying, meeting with Shildon Town Council, September 1974 renovation of Hackworth’s house started, gathering of Hackworth documentation; [00:17:00] Robert Young’s book Timothy Hackworth and the Locomotive; [00:17:50] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, Hackworth Museum opening by Queen Mother (17th July 1975), Cavalcade (31st August 1975); [00:19:00] Hackworth Museum, Hackworth House, restored Soho Shed; Sans Pareil replica, Shildon railway works; summer 1980 running of Sans Pareil, Rocket and the Novelty, lack of money and expertise from Sedgefield Council to run museum, restoration of coal manager’s building; [00:23:30] 1984 closure of Shildon Works, impact on Shildon, impact on Hackworth Museum, Walter Nunn; [00:24:50] Hackworth Society (May,1976), activities; [00:25:30] Hackworth Museum, decline, Bowes Museum support, National Railway Museum arrival, opening Locomotion, 2004; personal reflections on museum 1975-2004, possible further developments; [00:28:00] Timothy Hackworth, involvement in Stockton and Darlington railway opening 1825, began own works 1830; [00:29:30] Hackworth Museum; 11th July 1975 opening by Her Majesty the Queen Mother, details of Hackworth-Young family in attendance, details of opening; [00:32:10] cavalcade 1975; [00:35:40] father’s research; blast pipe, importance of “Royal George”; [00:37:00] own involvement with Sans Pareil locomotive replica, Rainhill trials in Wales in 2002; personal views differences between Sans Pareil and Rocket locomotives; [00:39:20] personal views on early locomotive developments, element of luck, Stephenson-Hackworth rivalry; [00:40:00] Sans Pareil history, snow plough, restoration by John Hick in 1864, Rocket and Sans Pareil at the Science Museum, then National Railway Museum, now (2004) coming to Shildon, importance of having historical locomotives in London; [00:42:00] local awareness of Hackworth; growth helped by involvement of local schools, museum visits; NRM at Shildon, Locomotion museum; York and Shildon to complement each other, Hackworth to be an integral part, social side important; [00:45:00] 1975 Cavalcade franking stamp; [00:45:30] Locomotion, Hackworth involvement in rebuild, Hackworth wheels; [00:47:20] work on Hackwork archive [00:49:39] [end of interview] Jane Hackworth-Young interviewed by Jo Bath 2004
Oral history interview with Lesley Wilson conducted by Jo Bath on 24 March 2004 as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 29 minutes. [Track 01] Born in Shildon, family background, grand-father worked at Shildon railway works, father’s bricklayer, education, being a pupil and now (2004) teacher at Timothy Hackworth school; 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, Shildon Wesleyan Youth Club, Gerody’s Pinker group, Iron Road song for anniversary, local singing performances, studio recording of Iron Road, relationship with group members now; performing on day of cavalcade, Cleaveland radio broadcast, event security; [00:05:46] Iron Road song played at opening the Timothy Hackworth Victorian Railway Museum in Shildon by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, 1975; Iron Road disc record; cavalcade event, crowds, Shildon people offering bed and breakfast, static engines display, Shildon works; [00:09:00] Shildon works visit as a child, noises, meeting her grandad when he finished work; [00:11:00] parents, father’s choice to not work for Shildon works; school, children of Shildon works workers had extra holiday; 1975, youth group, helping churches, special services, churches offered catering and sleeping arrangements for visitors to 1975 celebrations, Timothy Hackworth memorabilia [00:14:07] [end of track 01] [Track 02] teaching trip to India, bringing posters about Timothy Hackworth; childhood, learning about Timothy Hackworth; teaching about him at Timothy Hackworth school now (2004); group singing performance for Thimothy Hackworth museum opening 1975; reflecting on Iron Road song, performing at Royal Albert Hall in London; childhood, youth group, churches activities; [00:05:38] Shildon now (2004), hope with new museum (Locomotion), local community involved with local heritage, new housing; younger generations rarely coming back to Shildon after university, different sense of community in Shildon compared to childhood; [00:08:00] Shildon railway works closure, marches against closure, impact of closure, people moved to Doncaster and Eastleigh, impact on community; starting career with office work, becoming a teacher after having a family; 1975 celebrations, excitement for the events and having a lot of people visiting; [00:12:00] childhood, children of parents working at Geist banana factory bringing insects at school; hot summers in childhood, playing on grass bank with friends [00:15:02] [end of track 02] [end of interview] Lesley Wilson interviewed by Jo Bath 2004-03-24
Oral history interview with Olive Connor, conducted and recorded by Jo Bath in 2004, as part of the Time Track oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 3 minutes. Childhood, born in New Shildon in 1921, school in Shildon; Work, farm work in Piercebridge, return to Shildon where remained; [00:02:15] 1926 General Strike, father’s work during strike as boiler man, breaking wagons, tiredness; [00:05:10] father’s work in wheel gang, incident story; [00:06:50] memories of Shildon Works men; walking speed, meeting father at Works gate, streets of houses round the Works; [00:09:00] move to British Rail house; house description, questions why demolished?; [00:10:00] mother and fortune tellers, fortune teller’s house, weekly visit; [00:12:30] summer holiday, Piercebridge Farm; food eaten in childhood, ate well, father had a garden and hens; [00:14:10] work following farm work; live-in house maid for dentist with 4 children, then housekeeper (8 years), married dentist at age 24; [00:16:00] married life for 27 years, age difference; Second World War, called to help, excused her for childcare purposes, children’s life details; having a secret wedding; [00:20:40] father, member of Working Men’s Club, Sunday School teacher, pigeon fancier, father singing; [00:22:50] eldest brother electrician at Shildon Shops, started in “dipping shed”, then office work, night school leading to becoming an electrician; [00:24:00] other brother failed to get into Works, became a plumber, Navy in Second World War, post war worked at Darlington Rolling Mills until retirement; [00:26:00] further household details when married, large house, garden, livestock, fruit trees; [00:27:00] Second World War, almost self-sufficient, Shildon plane crash, air raid shelter, tunnel under house; [00:31:10] pits in Shildon, only work choice was pits or Shildon Shops; [00:32:10] work for women, little except housework, few women worked until WWII, work at the church; [00:33:20] sewing, sewing class, sewing for four children, knitting during the war; [00:36:30] Health Care memories; Senna Pod “memories”, generally healthy family, whooping cough, Hannah Hauxwell story; [00:41:00] dental work experience, helped in 1960’s, paperwork, workshop, surgery; [00:43:10] activities in spare time, church group, little social life, group day trips; [00:45:00] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, cavalcade, watched from street, Locomotion building; [00:48:50] visits to Shildon Railway Works open days; 1927 walking through Royal Train, visit to Locomotion (pre-opening), no memories of 1950 anniversary; [00:52:40] Shildon Agricultural Show, large famous event, lots of visitors; [00:53:30] Shildon Carnival, jazz bands, decline; [00:54:30] crafting, lots of brass in Shildon, made in Shildon Shops, mat making; [00:59:00] extreme weather, heavy snow events [01:03:22] [end of interview] Olive Connor interview by Jo Bath 2004
Oral history interview with Bertha Pallister conducted by Jo Bath on 28 January 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 4 minutes 45 seconds. Born 1908 in Shildon, childhood, Shildon shops; food; pets and animals; kitchen equipment; knitting; health; making wine; first world war; church; zepplin and bombings; knitting for soldiers; moving to Blackpool; caretaking Masonic Hall, Shildon; recession; working in a bakery in Bishop Auckland; Ellisons bakery; working for free; uniform; travelling to work on the train; 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary; making dinner for visitors; degeneration of shops; supermarkets; Shildon hayday; courting, meeting her husband; going to dances; going to pubs; returning to Shildon. Bertha Pallister interviewed by Jo Bath 2004-01-28
Oral history interview with Bob Robinson conducted by Jo Bath on 22 April 2004 as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 12 minutes. Bob worked at Shildon railway works from 1946 until the closure in 1984, primarily as a welder. Family background; 1900 brass model of an engine [00:04:00]; father moving to find work; [00:06:15] getting work and almost becoming an engine driver; [00:08:00] work at blacksmiths shop at Shildon railway works; National Service; [00:10:47] team work on axle boxes, practical jokes, nicknames, [00:15:50] starting work, meals, workplace camaraderie, rivalry; [00:20:46] work at blacksmith shop; childhood, games played, engine sheds and river woods as playground; [00:26:33] Second World War, brothers’ army careers; air raid, Shildon and surrounding areas, air raid shelter at the engine sheds; [00:30:13] working as a welder, welding wagons; [00:33:30] accidents; industrial illness; health and safety equipment, PPE; [00:38:00] working part-time as inspector; [00:41:00] help from fire fighting team looking for cracks; [00:43:23] reactions to Shildon works closure, impact of closure; [00:51:48] clocking system at Shildon works; [00:53:40] leisure and activities, Shildon Railway Institute, dances, meeting his wife, playing football; relationship with miners; unions; [01:00:20] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary; [01:05:08] cats at Shildon works; [01:08:30] enjoying working on patent wagons, costumed one-off jobs; work atmosphere at Shildon works, sense of community [01:12:18] [end of interview] Bob Robinson interviewed by Jo Bath 2004-04-22
Oral history interview with Fred Edwards conducted and recorded by Jo Bath on 20 February 2004 as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 48 minutes. [Disc 01, track 01] Born c 1921, leaving County Durham aged 14 to work in a leather factory in Nottinghamshire; joining the Navy aged 17 [00:01:48] [end of disc 01, track 01]. [Disc 01, track 02] joining the Navy, Navy life [00:03:30]; the journey to a posting in China; life on the China sea, the outbreak of World War 2 [00:07:10]; looking for the German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee in the South Atlantic [00:08:40]; fighting the Italians; explosion of the destroyer and escaping the wreckage [00:12:34]; recuperating with rum and cigarettes [00:13:13]; diving for mines in the Suez Canal [00:16:20]; journey back home for leave [00:19:55] home on leave [00:20:58]; HMS Nelson and the Malta convoy [00:22:40]; D-Day and returning to Portsmouth [00:24:41]; meeting his future wife while on leave; his wife [00:31:20]; demobbed from Navy, back to Shildon, career options; joining the railways as a signalman, training school Darlington, postings; Locomotive pub opening [00:35:51]; watching the cavalcade; his grandchildren [00:38:05]; Royal Train [00:39:13]; accident between Simpasture and Heighington, inquiry [00:43:25]; signaling system [00:45:25]; accidentally letting wagons off the end of the tip [00:49:00]; runaway wagons and coal [00:50:38]; an accident and some injured hands [00:52:45]; cows on the line [00:54:25]; ill horses in a wagon [00:56:26]; closure of Heighington station, wagon of new coins sent to the wrong Heighington station [00:58:40]; dealing with multiple trains [01:00:50]; training his replacement; 1984, one day strikes [01:03:40]; theft of brass from axle boxes of new wagons from the works [01:06:27]; following the rules; accident with a chest expander [01:11:33]; his wife mending the banner [01:15:50]; working on trains as a pilot man [01:17:40]; reporting car going through the red light at crossing [01:19:08] [end of disc 01, track 02] [Disc 02, track 01] cars regularly going through the red light at crossing, prosecutions [00:03:36]; visits and escapees from nearby by mental health hospital [00:08:35]; shift system, uniforms; accident inquiry [00:13:34]; first aid; training in Union law at Newcastle University [00:16:51]; breaking signal box windows, reporting [00:20:53]; weather conditions issues, fog and snow [00:26:02] bending the rules [00:27:39] [end of disc 02, track 01] [end of interview] Fred Edwards interviewed by Jo Bath 2004-02-04
Oral history interview with Les Dunn conducted and recorded by Jo Bath on 14 March 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 7 minutes. Interview recorded whilst walking outdoors around the former Shildon Railway Works site and surroundings. [interview starts 00:01:15] Shildon railway works, site geography, gasworks, railway line, railway horses stables; childhood, born 1923 in Shildon, father’s work as a miner, then coal/goods transport with horse and cart, later also opened a fish and chips shop with his wife; [00:02:51] former surrounding buildings, near Victoria street; [00:03:56] childhood, living near Shildon works, traffic in the goods yard, coal dock; [00:05:49] coal drops for engines, shunting; tanks in Second World War; [00:07:44] leading timber for the railways, seeing railway workers encountering issues with heavy load lifting on tracks; [00:09:05] railway office building, goods clerk work, weighbridge, weighing vehicles, change of weighbridge after incident, collecting coal with horse and cart; [00:12:45] use of cranes, weight and loading goods, coal or parcels; [00:13:45] father gave work to all family members after school years, goods transport or fish and chips shop; [00:14:00] shunting operations observed at the goods yard; coal merchants, station master supplying coal for family business; [00:16:30] big traction engine to Show Fields; Wall Side line, farmers bringing potatoes and hay, sugar beet transport; [00:18:30] loading coal, truck issues; [00:19:28] coal delivery by lorry; coal and other goods delivery in Second World War, family business doing road transport for British Railways; [00:21:19] Shildon gymnasium, boxing, brother was a boxer, LNER box championship 1936, links between Shildon railway works and boxing; [00:23:00] when circus came to Shildon; [00:24:30] types of lorry and wagons used for transport; Bishop Auckland cattle market; [00:25:45] machine used for coal transport; helping father with business as a child; siblings joining both family businesses, coal and goods transport, fish and chips shop, work linked to railways; [00:27:19] parcel delivery, silver delivery to the bank, safety measures; [00:30:05] wages; comparing horse and cart and lorry, care for horses; meeting people in goods yard, helping others; goods yard closure; water pipes and leak in goods yard building; relationship with railway workers in goods yard, Dunn family renting goods yard office; 1925 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington centenary, the Dunns had set lorries for public to watch event in goods yard, loading coal in engines for cavalcade, Green Arrow, Dunn family helping on day of cavalcade; [00:38:15] crane breaking lifting 2 tons; being buried under coal at age 5; childhood caring for horse, working; coal house, equipment, incidents, goods yard playground for children; railway horses, stables; Mr Appleby, station master; [00:43:20] Second World War, presence of soldiers; [00:45:00] plates from Shildon LNER Good Templars, temperance; [00:46:00] horse stables; fish and chips shops, public houses; [00:48:24] usage of church building, housing for homeless people; Soho cottage, station master’s house; [00:51:26] former gasworks and surrounding, weekly coal deliveries; [00:54:10] goods yard closure; bombing in Second World War, anti-aircraft guns (ack-ack); stolen commemorative plate; [00:56:34] goods yard staff; Dunn family transport business, A licence, delivering timber to colliery, different types of licences for railway road transport; deliveries to the bank, shops, fresh goods deliveries; [00:59:13] Geest bananas delivery, using railway weighbridge, Dunn family buying over Geest warehouse; banana road and rail transport; [01:04:20] birds collecting grit from coke piles; Hackworth house, historical railway memorabilia; [01:06:20] childhood family house, living arrangements [01:07:09] [end of interview] Les Dunn interviewed by Jo Bath 2004
Oral history interview with Joe Chaplin conducted and recorded by Jo Bath in 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes. Born in 1923 in Binchester, move to Shildon at age 5, parents from Shildon; father’s occupations, electrician, Shildon colliery, electricity and mines, difficult to find work, father moving for work; having a big family [00:05:10] 1929 father worked as electrician at Dean and Chapter colliery, move to wooden fronted colliery houses; Westcott Terrace colliery houses, condition of houses; starting work, coke ovens, cleaning bricks, bricklayer at the mines, bellman at the pits Dean and Chapter, 1947, night classes; [00:11:30] shortage of trades, trainee electrician at Eldon drift, 1947, mines nationalisation (National Coal Board, NCB); working at Black Boy colliery until 1960; [00:15:25] transfer to Middridge, mechanised drift mine, different method of working, oil lamps, cap lamps, pits closure 1966; [00:18:00] vacancies, move to area pumping team; submersible pumps; ventilation of pits; furnace ventilation; enjoyment down pit; go down pit or leave home; recruitment; [00:24:30] difficult work, undercutting coal; stone in tub of coal; check wayman system and identified who filled tub; method of working and payments; full tub to screen and washery; empty tub back to pit; shifters made roadway easy to work, wynnings; [00:31:00] water in pits, issues with water levels, pumping water, issues with land water; Usher Moor produced water for local use; working day, repetitive work; [00:37:00] change in technology, work on signals, change from direct current (DC) (Leclanché cells) to alternate current (AC), introduction of Bell transformer; Dean and Chapter fully mechanised; ways of working; oil lamps, Davy lamps, safety regulations, use of naked lamps in the pits, more safety conscious after nationalisation; [00:42:50] accidents at Dean and Chapter mine, first aid, ambulance room; start work in 1937, accidents in pits then, NUM union book on men killed in County Durham mines, buzzer system, buzzer used when danger or accidents in mines; [00:47:05] first day down the mines, the Windy district, the landing area, bridge collapse, white fungi, damp atmosphere; [00:50:30] stables, mining horses, pit ponies, ponies behaviour, how ponies worked, how they knew shift timing and where to go, veterinarian when accident, well looked after, show pony at each pit, best pony Shildon show; horse keepers work; [00:56:00] brother’s work as a blacksmith, other brother’s work as banksman, stopping tubs on incline; mine work, boys picking stone off conveyer belt, Phoenix mine at Bishop Auckland, how coal was taken out of shaft, winder (hoist), safety measures, speed limit; [01:04:00] steam winders at Dean and Chapter mine, mechanisation, electric winders; [01:05:50] least favourite pat of job working on main draft ventilation, cold; comparison between working clothes at start of career and after nationalisation, National Coal Board supplying PPE; brother worked as geologist at Durham University, other brother electrician; gas power during Second World War, electricity at home after the war; [01:09:35] electricity generating plants at mines, permission to connect home to nearby mine’s electricity plant, taken over by electric boar; [01:11:20] mines in Shildon area, family members worked at mines, grandfather’s job as mechanic at South Shildon drift mine in 1929 [01:14:59] [end of interview] Joe Chaplin interviewed by Jo Bath 2004
Oral history interview with Diane Bolton and Diane Elliot conducted by Jo Bath on the 4th February 2004. Duration 41 min. 36 sec. Factory Workers for Astraka Fur; Childhood; parents jobs; education; working at the Fur factory; machines; roles; sewing coats for the 1980 winter Olympic team; Uniform; social side of work; break rooms; average working day; singing at work; protesting closure of shops; accidents; wages; paying parents 'board'; closure of factory; nightlife; Diane Bolton and Diane Elliot interviewed by Jo Bath 2004-02-04
Oral history interview with Bill and Joan Trusler conducted and recorded by Jo Bath in 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 2 minutes. Shildon railway works, female rivet heaters in Second World War, colleagues, relationship with supervisors; Joan later worked for other factories Flymo lawnmower factory, Geest banana factory, worked until family, wages comparison at Newcastle Tea Company and for railway, gender pay gap; [00:05:45] journey to work, pay token, weekly wage; Bill’s father a riveter for railway, common in Shildon for sons to follow fathers in railway career; Bill first job tea boy at age 14; [00:10:15] work straight out of school; Second World War, Shildon Railway works, female staff, toilet/rest room, lack of break facilities; cats at the works; medical facilities, ambulance rooms at the works, safety, fire brigade (fire watchers); no bombs for Shildon surprisingly; blackout; no air raid warnings; [00:16:30] work at Geest banana factory, grading by colour, sorting bananas for shops, location of factory, ripening room, hard work; [00:19:45] Flymo lawnmower factory at Aycliffe; rivet heating was favourite job, riveting work; [00:22:50] leisure and activities, Bill played drums with dance band, boxing at gymnasium, dance rehearsal room, boxing championship, Darlington fight; [00:29:15] Railway Institute facilities and activities; railway unions, NUR; Christmas, summer holidays; marriage; where they went on holidays; [00:34:40] Shildon works, different shops, blacksmiths shop, repair, relationship between workers, love affairs and scandals during Second World War; using the works facilities to make tools for home; thefts at the works; [00:40:35] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, cavalcade; Railway Carnival, one year a Railway Queen from Shildon, crowning in Manchester; [00:44:40] spiders in Geest banana boxes; extreme weather, snow in winter 1947; stuck in Aycliffe no buses; Shildon Carnival used to be a big event, comparison since railway works closed; events at Shildon Carnival, running and boxing, agricultural show; [00:49:35] coal use at home, coal fires, coal merchants and horse troughs; Brusselton; engine houses; childhood, play in the street, Timothy Hackworth school, Tintacks; [00:55:00] Shildon shops, Mr Pitts coffee shop, Bennison paper shop, Gordons wallpaper shop, Hunter’s sweet shop, grocery shop, London and Newcastle tea shop; miners not known; pit chimney knocked down; father lost fingers in pit; [00:59:45] earliest childhood memories, Timothy Hackworth school, punishments [01:01:54] [end of interview] Bill and Joan Trusler interviewed by Jo Bath 2004
Oral history interview with Peggy Dunn conducted and recorded by Jo Bath on 23 March 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 48 minutes. [Track 01] Born in 1924 in Sunderland, work at munition factory Second World War, move to West Hartlepool for nursing training, meeting husband, marriage 1945, moved to Shildon, living with sister-in-law, National Service, husband demobilised [00:02:34] [end of track 01] [Track 02] home in Shildon; parents-in-law occupations, father-in-law worked as a miner until witnessing accident at pits, starting coal home delivery business with horse and cart, running coal business and fish and chips shop, family business, the members of the Dunn family and their roles, own son managing business; [00:05:10] contract with Shildon railway works, verbal agreements custom; changes in Shildon, loss of houses in the area; [00:07:35] Shildon works, crowds of working people in morning and evening, closure of the works, impact on workers and Shildon, noises of workers going to the works; [00:09:40] relationship with neighbours, watching people grow, people used to know each other; [00:10:45] gala weekend, carnival in Shildon; children playing in the street; [00:13:50] work in the fish and chips shop, collecting coal money, door-to-door; [00:15:40] coal family business, where coal was collected from, how it was stored and transported; [00:18:30] her children, their current situation, still involved in family business, no jobs in Shildon for newer generations; Dunn family and the Salvation Army, a way of life; [00:22:50] Geest banana factory taken over by Dunn family business, less works for wagon works as factories closed in Shildon, diversification into warehousing; [00:25:20] horse and carts, transport of coal and groceries, the horses looked after by the family; family dedicated to the business, hard workers; [00:30:10] little local pits at Shildon, open cast; hopes for the museum impact on Shildon; [00:32:30] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, Salvation Army’s canteen on wheels during event, police presence, cavalcade, engines coming into the wagon works, public enthusiasm; [00:34:15] Shildon streets environment, grit and dirt in the air, washing lines on the street, getting used to the noises of Shildon cinema, Shildon works hammer at night, people didn’t complain about noises, comparison with now (2004), newer generations; [00:38:55] Shildon being a nice place to live, low crime levels, comparison with now (2004); hope for future of Shildon; inviting for breakfast people camping outside for cavalcade 1975, trusting people, 1975 celebrations was highlight [00:45:20] [end of interview] Peggy Dunn interviewed by Jo Bath 2004-03-24
Oral history interview with Bill Baldry, conducted and recorded by Jo Bath on 25 February 2004, as part of the Time Track oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 13 minutes. Childhood, born mid-1920s, family background, father was a railwayman, progression through Shildon railway works; [00:03:28] career start at Shildon works in 1940; [00:06:35] apprenticeship and promotion; [00:09:18] being the boss, the family atmosphere, camaraderie, relations with unions and managers; [00:15:45] making different wagons., exports and high capacity wagons; [00:20:09] a typical working day; looking after foreign students training there; [00:23:00] accidents, first aiders, fire brigade; [00:26:34] Second World War, women workers, Italian prisoners of war; water troughs; [00:32:47] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, running a stall for the widows and orphans fund; [00:39:00] unofficial help to the community and individuals stemming from the works; [00:43:47] Shildon works closure; [00:47:10] working hours; leaving-do; [00:57:05] catching brass thieves; [01:01:57] Shildon carnival, holidays; [01:08:10] cats at Shildon works; [01:10:35] meeting famous people in 1975 [01:13:38] [end of interview] Bill Baldry interviewed by Jo Bath 2004-02-04
Oral history interview with Joan Ellwood conducted and recorded by Jo Bath in 2004 as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 48 minutes 54 seconds. Joan was the daughter, sister and wife of railway workers. Railway family. Family background, parents and their employment; own career start in 1949, post office, career choice, options and reasons, working hours, work clothes, normal day work [00:05:00]; living with family, pocket money; marriage 1961; leisure, entertainment, dance, Darlington, Johnny Dankworth and other big bands; went and came back on train; met husband at Majestic Darlington [00:08:00]; teenagerhood, World War 2, dances at scout hall, youth choir concerts; wartime, air raids and shelters [00:13:00]; Father work at North Road Darlington, worked for 51 years; husband work at Shildon forge, worked for 37 years at railway works, health and safety, accidents, deafness forge workers, working hours 07.30- 17.00 [00:18:00]; brother was engine driver, went through the grades, driver at Thornaby, had accident on a bike, end of driver career; house full of clothes being cleaned, smell of the works, showering at works was compulsory; love for Shildon, personal health, stroke recovery, community support [00:22:00]; differences in Shildon over the years; town square and park; future uncertain; pigeon droppings in town and on bandstand; worst time when works closed, not completely recovered; protest against closure in 1984, to London on trains, marched over London Bridge, hope it would keep going; used pass to go on holiday to Brighton; works holiday 2 weeks [00:29:00] looked for another job not found one; Tuesday market at Doncaster; Shildon’s market closed during war; went at 6 a.m. to queue for biscuits in Shildon; Father’s allotment, grew vegetables, participation to agricultural show, leek club [00:35:00]; 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, cavalcade [00:39:00]; travelling to Redcar with pass, journey details with trolley, visit to Redcar; using travel pass with companion after suffering stroke; went to Newcastle at Christmas; did not like using trains in dark [00:45:00]; Shildon in 1975, busier but not too crowded, works were open, visited forge where her father worked, guided tour, creation of Hackworth Museum; enjoyed blacking grates and making beds; thought the forge was like Black Hole of Calcutta, father was proud to work there [00:48:54] [end of interview]. Joan Ellwood interviewed by Jo Bath 2004
Joint oral history interview with husband and wife, Kathy and Walter Nunn, conducted by Jo Bath on 24 March 2004 as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 2 hours 3 minutes. [Disc 1, track 01] Kathy, born 1920. Walter, born 1919 or 1920. Kathy’s family background, childhood, moving around as a child due to father’s work as electrician in mines, school; moving to Shildon when married; [00:04:40] childhood, Shildon shows, Shildon shops, family in Shildon, uncle was street lamplighter; [00:09:45] family members worked at the pit, miners; sunk Datton pit; pumping station for pit waters; pit family; shared house with miners; hygiene, baths at pit before bath in front of fire; [00:14:20] types of food in childhood; Kathy’s job in canteen at Spennymoor, Second World War, wages; different types of jobs in mines, electricians, blacksmiths, unemployment in 1920s, interwar period; [00:20:40] washing day; manager at Ferryhill; colliery houses, knocker-up job, slate on house with time for waking up knock; [00:25:00] health, illness, doctor’s visit; compensation scheme for miners; accident; [00:30:00] Second World War, call to war effort; Sid Chaplin worked for Coal magazine then books on pit stories; pit closures; sounds of different pits; [00:35:00] extracting water from Datton pit; wood boats; Shildon mines and railways; friends intermingled; [00:40:00] changes in population in 1920s, people leaving, Leicester, poverty, 1926 the General Strike, the Great Depression, soup kitchens; coal from heaps; drinking cocoa; [00:45:00] labour party, secretary; National Coal Strike 1912; National Railway Strike 1911; Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers; [00:50:00] workers from Wales coming to work at the mines; miners strike; observation on birds of prey seen in Shildon now (2004); [00:55:00] health and safety, vaccination, diphtheria, tuberculosis; Methodist area; 1936 slum clearance; points system for houses; health, tuberculosis, before National Health Service, ambulant nurse, cleaning the street, gangrene; labour party; [01:01:30] mining equipment re-used in homes, tokens in mines; trained welders; only after leaving the pit could they eat and sleep; [01:05:00] open cast mining, comparison with Egypt, Eldon Deep mine, safety; friendships [01:14:59] [end of disc 1, track 01] [Disc 2, track 01] Geest banana warehouse in Shildon, no sidings for railway traffic, redundancies in area [00:05:51] [end of track 01] [track 02] brief mention of torpedoes in Second World War [00:01:01] [end of track 02] [track 03] miners exemption to serve in Second World War, trades occupied in war; miners health, illness, pneumoconiosis from pit work; social classes distinctions in childhood, interwar period; [00:04:25] The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists novel, brother was a painter, died age 28, use of lead paint; [00:07:00] unions in 1930s; different jobs; socialist action; working with bricks; joining union; wages; [00:15:00] welders and fitters' practices; miners' strike; Arthur Scargill story; miners on strike; [00:20:00] few pits around here; miners movement; Hackworth society; works band; [00:25:00] boxing, football and bandsmen; practiced where Locomotion museum is now; Egyptian Gazette mentions Shildon as centre for football teams; instructor came from South Bank; Slaggy Island named after iron industry; [00:29:00] ships on Tees; Shildon sidings with wagons for different destinations; gas house; cattle slaughterhouses in goods yard; line by coal drops; [00:35:00] Photographs for history; tunnel was double line; George Reynolds dug water channel and tunnel; memorabilia [00:41:59] [end of disc 2, track 03] [end of interview] Kathy and Walter Nunn interviewed by Jo Bath 2004
Oral history interview with Jean Borrowdale recorded and conducted by Jo Bath in 2004. Duration: 18 minutes 3 seconds. Childhood; Job at transport company in Middlesborough; Job at Hineton Station; Nursing career; Second World War; Goods transport; Coal in Shildon; Lord Burghley visiting Timothy Hackworth; Work atmosphere; the station master; Free rail passes; relationship with Shildon works; 1947 winter snow; War effects on working life; making clothes for soldiers; life as a working housewife; workhours; Homing Pigeons; Pay; 1975 celebrations; Jean Borrowdale interviewed by Jo Bath 2004
Oral history interview with Connie Jameson conducted and recorded by Jo Bath in 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 52 minutes. Born 1920 in Darlington, childhood, moving to Shildon at age 2, leaving home age 16, nursery nurse training; Second World War, deployed in Shildon war nursery; [00:02:00] childhood play and railways, play on the ballast, Hackworth Museum cottages, railway still working, details of playing on railway properties/land, play on reservoir; [00:07:40] Timothy Hackworth’s house; contrast with cottages, played there, primitive Methodist Chapel brownies/guides; [00:10:30] childhood, homemade games, felt safe, walked to Timothy Hackworth School, details of games/mischief, Sunday School at St. John’s, band on Sunday afternoon, watched goods trains go past, cinema matinees; [00:15:30] other memories of Shildon, little knowledge of Soho Shed boxing, Astraka fake fur factory history, play in railway tunnel drain, fur factory sales; [00:20:00] shops; green grocers, Crookes groceries, no packaging, no plastic, chemist, post office, Mr. Hunter’s sweets shop, Mr. Pig’s shop, knitting wool shop, Spooner’s electrical shop; [00:26:30] father’s work at British Railways wagon repair shop, disliked job, walked to work, unemployment and redeployment; [00:30:00] pocket money spending, Mr. Hunter’s sweet shop; [00:31:20] further shop details, Lamb’s fruit and vegetable, overall self sufficient; [00:32:20] food when young, everything homemade; [00:33:10] kitchen; scullery, black range, gas lighting, electricity in (12 years old), coal fires; [00:35:50] the Dunn family; [00:36:50] marriage in 1943, husband in army, own home after war; [00:38:20] Shildon during Second World War, little effect on town, people drawn together, queued for everything, no air raids, air raid shelter, war nursery; [00:42:20] other Shildon memories, trees planting as a child, play equipment, Shildon Show, carnival, original statue of Timothy Hackworth; [00:46:00] little knowledge of mines/miners in the area; [00:47:10] brother’s work, Co-op delivering, air force; [00:48:10] no memories of electric railways; [00:48:30] Shildon Celebrations, missed 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, memories of 1925 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington centenary [00:52:00] [end of interview] Connie Jameson interviewed by Jo Bath 2004
Recordable MD minidisc with red plastic case, branded 'TDK FINE 74 recordable MD'. Recordable MD minidisc circa 1998
Recordable MD minidisc with red plastic case, branded 'TDK FINE 74 recordable MD'. Recordable MD minidisc circa 1998
Recordable MD minidisc with green plastic case, branded 'TDK FINE 74 recordable MD'. Recordable MD minidisc circa 1998
Recordable MD minidisc with yellow plastic case, branded 'TDK FINE 74 recordable MD'. Recordable MD minidisc circa 1998
Recordable MD minidisc with grey plastic case, branded '74 XS-iV'. Includes white paper label reading 'VICTORIAN CONFERENCE 15/7/2007 "Civilising and Educating" 2 Alan Richardson Andrew Miller (read by Yofie Prins)'. Recordable MD minidisc circa 1998
Recordable MD minidisc with dark blue plastic case, branded 'TDK FINE 74 recordable MD'. Recordable MD minidisc circa 1998
Recordable MD minidisc with green plastic case, branded 'TDK FINE 74 recordable MD'. Recordable MD minidisc circa 1998
