Editorial

As I stepped inside the Church I imagined I found myself inside an enchanted woodland grotto with natures treasures hiding within. I even espied a tiny bird’s nest complete with eggs, nestling amongst the flowers and foliage.

When we finally sat down for a cup of coffee and delicious home made fare I reflected on how much I had enjoyed the afternoon. Everyone involved in the whole of the festival needed to be congratulated on their sheer hard work and dedication in making it such a resounding success. Forget grand Churches and Cathedrals in big towns and cities, we can feel proud to have such an abundance of talent right here on our own doorstep.

I left for home feeling uplifted and grateful for having experienced a truly magical event.

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Brentwood, Essex
Friday 26^th May 2001

Dear Dennis

…………..Some issues of the Haydon News bring up names and places which revive memories of long ago and you have been doing just that lately, I’m pleased to say.

You have covered most age groups or generations including those who were adults when I was still at school, my generation and of course following generations. I can put a face to most of the names mentioned in “Buy Broom Buzzems” (see May edition of the Haydon News).

I have a mental list of so many residents who through their various trades and professions were the backbone of the village. I have no trouble recalling the names and faces of lads and girls in my class, people who have left their mark but sadly no longer with us. Lloyd, Ozzie, Charlie and Eddie being only a few of my school friends.

We moved to Haydon Bridge in the back end of 1920 to 29 John Martin Street, to a house my Grandfather, Robert Saint, owned. I remember the move. The Low Hall bridge as it is known over Geeswood Burn was hump backed in that year but in the following year it was replaced by a ‘flat’ one.

I would need several pages if I covered my memories as a boy in the village. It would be your fault for submitting “Buy Broom Buzzems”

I think Tom Snowball should have a mention, our neighbour. Round about 1930 Tom replaced his rather ancient BSA motor cycle and sidecar with a new BSA 3-wheeler, a splendid looking job. It had the single wheel at the front with the main body between the two rear wheels so that driver and passenger could sit side-by-side. I never saw another one like it.

My sister remembers attending Mrs Snowball’s in the early 30’s preparing for concerts and the like and also remembers Doreen Brown.

I could keep on about the place I still call MY village. One little snippet. On hot days when the back door to your Granda’s workshop was open, I used to stand and watch them working at their trade, carts of course, and anything agricultural. After all it was the 20’s. The lane running down to the waterside was known as Telfords’ Lane – has it changed?

It’s more than likely there won’t be many people around who remember one of the village carters – Joe Irving who lived up Ratcliffe Road I think. Anyway, he delivered our coal in the 20’s, loose of course, which he’d loaded at the coal cells. Ten shillings for 10 cwt plus one shilling for delivery. I recall Edwin Bowman getting the job as Weighbridge Clerk which I thought was marvellous.

The job situation for school leavers was grim and you were no better off if you went to Hexham Grammar. I remember Eddie Jackson leaving at sixteen years old and finishing up in a Hexham garage which I thought didn’t fit in with his education.

This “memory man” remembers the General Strike and remembers being sent to the signal cabin at the station to ask a man on duty, sometimes Bobby Todd’s father, to ‘phone the engine sheds at Blaydon to see if there was any work for my father, an engine driver.

The job situation was so bad that I took the plunge in October 1935, with the pressure on, to take a one-way ticket to London. I was still in my teens and that was that. So, except for just over six years in the Army, my life has been spent down here.

John Martin wasn’t the only one to spread his wings! But that’s the only comparison I can claim.

However, Dennis, when I ‘phoned you I had something else in my mind. The memory you sparked when you mentioned another village lad a year or so younger than me who brought me great pleasure way back in 1944. Yes!! The War and this memory which has remained undimmed all these years.

My Company had not been on Italian soil very long, early in ‘44. We’d pulled into the side of the road for a break and at the same time a column of servicemen, a common sight, was marching past. I was not even looking at them when I became aware that one of the men had broken away from the column and was heading for me. It was Dan Liddle!

A touching moment. I don’t remember what was said and I still wonder to this day how he managed to pick me out, although at that time I was standing on my own. Anyway, my last sight of him was his race to catch up with his Unit.

About the same time I received a cablegram from home with the news that my brother Joe, a close friend of Dan’s, had been killed in action during the Allies’ attempt to cross the River Sangro. A year elapsed before I was given leave to visit his grave.

I know for a fact that Dan and I had had little contact from my leaving school in 1930, so he’d obviously kept a picture of me in his mind. Truly amazing!

I’m going to call a halt now Dennis and as I do names and faces from my Haydon Bridge past flash across my mind. I’m very lucky to have these memories.

Sincerely

[ And we are very lucky that Harry is able to recall these wonderful memories and is willing to share them with us! ]

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Mr Veitch’s ancestors had a wool mill at Chollerton and a view of the mill was carved into a unique headstone to his Great Grandfather, John Saint, who died in 1827. This headstone can still be seen in St. Giles’ Churchyard.

Alistair Burrowes provides more information and a photograph in the 2001 February/March edition of “The Northumbrian” magazine. Alistair’s articles are well worth reading, if you don’t already do so!

My own first recollection of Tom Snowball’s vehicular transport was of a small car. I think it was probably an Austin 7 or maybe a Singer. I’m sure that someone will remember it and let me know, Oh! and was it black or grey?

Tom kept the car in a wooden garage down the waterside on the south side of the river. As a very small child this garage was like a treasure trove to me. Every possible joint, fitting, tool or length of pipe required by a plumber or water engineer was packed in immaculate order around the sides. Maurice Armstrong tells me that Tom had to get out of the car and push it into the garage as there just wasn’t room to open the doors once it was inside. We’re not sure how he got it out again!

The lane running down to the waterside and officially designated for “coals in and ashes out” is still Telfords’ Lane and my Grandad’s and Father’s workshop with its ’backdoor’ onto the waterside remains to this day. Not surrounded now, as it was up until the late 1950’s by bogies, carts, cartwheels and the like but the craftsman’s tradition is still maintained there through Basil Young’s joinery activities.

One of the biggest changes to this part of the waterside over the years is the amount of land that has been lost to the River Tyne as its course has changed and its width increased. In days gone by you could walk right up past the ‘Scotch Arms’ and ‘Haydon Hotel’ on a narrow river bank. There is no doubt that without the constant tipping over the years of garden waste to support the bankside the ‘back door’, its connected workshop and the main sewer which runs alongside it would have disappeared long ago.

Sadly, Bobby Todd passed away on 3^rd March this year and a crowded Methodist Chapel was testimony to his popularity in Haydon Bridge. Bobby’ father James, mentioned in Mr Veitch’s letter, spent his working life employed by the North East Railway Company until he retired in July 1941.

James Todd started work on the railway line as a lamp cleaner and for thirty-one years before his retirement, he had been in the signal cabin at Haydon Bridge. To mark his retirement he was presented with an inscribed walking stick and a fountain pen. Mrs Todd received an umbrella. The gifts were presented by the Station Master, Mr F. M. Lawson. Mr Todd had served under eight Station Masters and until his retirement, a member of the Todd family, including Bobby’s Great Grandfather, had been a signalman at Haydon Bridge ever since the opening of the railway.

Dan Liddle returned home from the RAF in 1946 and is fondly remembered by his contemporaries and those of us with whom he shared his life through the Methodist Chapel and its Sunday School, until his premature death in 1968.

Dan’s widow, Eileen, still lives with us in our village of course and continues the Christian Fellowship they both shared, while Dan’s memory lives on through their children and grandchildren.

I will end this month’s ‘Notes’ with another one of life’s intriguing coincidences, as recalled by Eileen.

Dan, while driving in Italy, saw a sign indicating Allied War Graves and decided to stop and pay his respects to his fallen colleagues.

Their last resting place turned out to be the Sangro War Cemetery, and one of the graves Dan came across was that of Joe Veitch. His young friend at Haydon Bridge and our correspondent Harry Veitch’s brother!!

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Proceedings began with an apology. A presentation by the “2 Castles Housing Association” which was due to take place had to be postponed until a later date.

1. Representatives from the Youth Club which now has the room upstairs in the Community Centre offered their thanks to the Parish Council for paying the rent. The club was going fine having a Pool table, Coffee Bar, CD player, TV/Video set and a couple of couches. A very comfortable set-up enjoyed by about a dozen folk.

2. Ongoing saga of the Dog Bins. Any progress? The Clerk responded by saying that correspondence had been received giving some answers. To be dealt with later in the meeting.

3. Lamps on the Old Bridge. Were they permanent or temporary? Cllr. Philp indicated that much needed to be done with regard to these as placings and style were not satisfactory.

4. Wheelie bins. Contact the helpline if there are any problems ( 01 434 652 418 ). One resident had a wheelie bin delivered without wheels! These wheelie bins are for the village only. Outlying areas will join the scheme later.

5. Pavements in Church Street. Confusion reigns supreme. Workers think that they are finished and will return at the end of the year. Cllr. Philp disagrees saying that funding is in place for the jobs specified to be done.

6. On the more positive side – the trees are looking nice now having been worked on.

With regard to the Church Street and Old Bridge project to regenerate the area, Cllr. Parkin was appalled at the apparent lack of any co-ordination. Should not the Architect behind the scheme not see it through to completion? Cllr Philp would appear to be taking a lot of flak over this project but the problems lie with the contractors and with County. For example, work on the Old Bridge is being put back because of the Foot & Mouth crisis! Why? Because County wants the workers on the F&M sites! Cllr Philp cannot understand this because of the forward planning agreed. She suggests that a very strong letter be written to County informing them of our discontent over the whole saga. It seems that the village is being overlooked again.

Minutes of the previous meeting were deemed accurate.

Matters Arising: Cllr. Philp said that a notice in the station, informing the public of the telephone and its use should a query arise over the punctuality of a train arise, was now ready only waiting for it to be laminated.

Village Appraisal: This must get underway very soon because there has to be a follow-up review carried out in three months time! So far about half-a-dozen people have expressed interest in being part of the group. Need more. See page 8 for more details and a first meeting has been scheduled for the evening of WEDNESDAY 18^th JULY in the Community Centre starting at 7.00pm. This will be an OPEN meeting for everyone interested.

Foot & Mouth: Testing on at least nine properties are awaited so ‘D’ notices cannot be lifted.

Spa Well subsidence crack: No further contact with the concerned agencies yet.

Fencing by the ‘Disabled’ bungalow: It was reported that the bushes have been cut back but that the fence has been repaired.

Tynedale Council Minutes: Nothing to report but maybe a report had been received regarding the development at the Inner Haugh? A road widening scheme which will incorporate straightening and re-alignment has been submitted. All objections to the scheme would seem to have been resolved. Now there will be easier access on to the A69 but a ’race track’ run into the village! Surely the 30 mph zone will be extended along with all the necessary signage. A copy of the recent plans will be published in July’s edition of the Haydon News.

The development at Middle Lipwood is not now going ahead.

John Martin Project: Perhaps the Parish Council might endorse the work currently underway with the ‘Friends of Haydon Bridge’ Cllr Mitchell indicated that there was an excellent article in the current ‘Hexham Courant’. (see also page 10 in this issue)

Traffic Restriction at Ridley Hall: No traffic will be able to use the Crowhall – Greentree road (C287) from 10.00 pm on Saturdays until 8.00 am on Sundays starting 7^th July and lasting until 29^th July. Work is to be carried out on the bridge over this road which carries the railway near Ridley Hall. Diversions will be in place. There will be NO alternative route for vehicles over 3 tonnes.

Highways/Bypass: No reply from the Office as yet. Cllr Charlton suggested that the project to get a group together to take forward planning for tourism was set to go ahead.

Strother Close: Road gutters are in a deplorable state with weeds. Need the ‘wire brush’ treatment from the Council.

Planning Applications: Rear porch at 57 Ratcliffe Road and Greenhouse at Lipwood Hall. Both deemed OK.

Correspondence: Quite a lot had been received. Briefly these included; Integrated Transport Plan; Countryside Agencies dealing with small communities; The Environment Act 1995 concerning contaminated land; West Northumberland Primary Care Group; Tynedale Council Partnership.

Dog Bins: Answers to the query raised earlier. The collector of the waste has indicated that the bins were not full as was reported!! Perhaps the collection chute had become blocked thereby giving the impression that the bin was full. This was greeted with some disbelief! However, the PC has agreed to buy another bin. Also it was suggested that the First School should have a proper sign fixed to the Field Gate warning against Dog Fouling.

Village Projects: The Millennium Tree will be well protected thanks to Mr Westall who has made a really wonderful fence to surround it. Cllr Garrow wondered whether a First School pupil could come to the Church Yard before the end of term to plant the tree. A plaque to be provided also?

Appraisal: Questionnaire will be needed.

AOB. Cllr Mitchell raised the issue of a children’s play park for the south of the river. He suggested an area adjacent to the Showfield houses. The PC has authorised the Chairman to enter into negotiations with the owner of the land.

Cllr Charlton thought that thanks should be proffered to the person who has done a good job on the Post Box.

Cllr Gilhespy raised concerns over the way in which the birds are having a field day with the litter bins. Are there any other alternative styles?

Cllr Parkin queried when will the Brown Signs indicating the facilities available in the village be arriving. They are part and parcel of the Tourism Project mentioned earlier.

Barnado’s New Families, through a new Outreach Programme is seeking to find families for children in Northumberland – these families will be as varied as the children.

This new project is aiming to raise awareness within the community of the need for adoptive and foster parents. The project will do this by concentrating its efforts within specific geographical areas, targeting as many opportunities for poster display; leaflet distribution; display stands; meeting with individuals, groups and organisations who wish to find out more and who may be able to contribute to raising awareness within their community.

ARE YOU ABLE TO SUPPORT THIS WORK?

Children like us need families like you.

Did you know that there are 10,000 children in the UK waiting to be adopted or fostered long-term?

Did you know that only 5% of children available for adoption are babies and that 95% of people coming forward for adoption want a baby?

Pretty tough odds if you are a child or a set of siblings looking for a loving home!!

Barnado’s – New Families project encourages enquiries and applications from families of all religions, races and cultural backgrounds. You may be married, single, living with a partner, or living with a same-sex partner; employed or unemployed; own or rent your home; be disabled yourself; and you may or may not have your own children. Our priority is to find the fight family for the child, and meet their needs.

Barnado’s – New Families is a specialist adoption and fostering project whose purpose is to help children find a permanent substitute family in the North East.

* Children with emotional and behavioural difficulties need consistent care and time to settle and adjust to the idea of permanence in their family life.

* Children who are disabled need carers who can provide a loving and secure home, and can help that child develop a positive self-identity and reach their individual potential.

* Black children need Black carers who are able to reflect their own race and culture and so understand their needs and help them to overcome the prejudice that they are likely to encounter.

* Siblings need the opportunity to stay together as a family group, each child needs to be treated individually and helped to develop positive relation ships with their siblings.

Adopting or fostering a child can be hard work but Barnado’s – New Families project will provide you with full training and support throughout the entire process of assessment and beyond. Previous carers claim it’s the best thing they have ever done and can be extremely rewarding.

If you would like to make a difference we would be happy to help you find out more about adoption and fostering, please phone our friendly team or write to us at the address above.

With best wishes

Jo Turner
Outreach/Development Worker

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15^th June 2001
To: The Editor - Haydon News

Dear Sir

In the past few issues of the Haydon News, a number of articles have induced reminiscing. The village shops with their owner-characters and the 1^st Haydon Bridge Scout troop, being most prominent.

Recently I was walking near Pooley Bridge and crossed farmland where the Scout troop once spent a summer camp which set me thinking of my first camp at Talkin Tarn in 1949. Memories of transport from John Wilson’s home at Parkstile, with scouts perched on top of the ‘gear’ in Harry Watson’s lorry and remembering the popular song of that summer – “Ghost Riders in the Sky” which was blaring out from a ‘jumble sale’ battery radio.

In the early 1950’s, a patrol of Haydon Bridge Scouts won the local competition in scouting skills at Dilston Camp Site with each member of the patrol being presented with a HAND AXE!

It would be nice to read more about Haydon Bridge history, but I understand readers need as much information about the present and future in the publication too.

I appreciate some books about Haydon Bridge have been published by Mr L. C. Coombes. However, written records of other village events and activities could form the basis of future Haydon News articles, should their existence be divulged.

The records and artifacts of HAYDON BRIDGE FLOWER SHOW or HAYDON BRIDGE SILVER BAND may reveal hitherto unknown interesting facts about the village and its inhabitants.

Finally, may I indulge in sharing an abiding memory of HAYDON BRIDGE CINEMA.

As the first feature drew to a close, a light came on in a room, at the end of the passage to the right of the screen, thus affecting the quality of the picture being displayed. This light was a signal for the stampede to begin, first from the six penny (6d) benches followed, in a more sedate manner, by those in the 9d and 1/6d seats.

It was ice cream time – ah! Happy days.