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Blackford
Blackford maps
Historic maps of Blackford and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Blackford maps
Blackford photos
We have no photos of Blackford, although we do have photos of these nearby places:
Longtown| Carlisle| Mill Hill| Burgh-By-Sands| Scotby| Gretna Green| Warwick Bridge| Cummersdale| Wetheral
Blackford area books
Displaying 1 of 10 books about Blackford and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Blackford
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Cumbria memories
Early Childhood
After retiring from the RAF, my father was with Air Ministry Constabulary and we moved to Stanwix in 1938 when my father was posted to 4 MU. We lived in Knowe Park Avenue and I attended Stanwix School. My sister attended the Margaret Sewell School for Girls. I was five years old when we moved to Stanwix and ten years old when we left. World War 2 began soon after we arrived but we did not have many air raids there except when the Lake District was bombed. My childhood years in Stanwix were very happy and I loved the school. After we left Stanwix, we moved back down south to Middlesex. I met up with my childhood best friend from Stanwix when we were both in our fifties and we reminisced about those happy times.
Margaret Sewell Girls' Selective School, Carlisle
A cousin of mine, Winifred Dogherty, was appointed Head of this school in 1933 and I believe stayed there until her death in 1952. She lived at 3 Beech Grove North, Stanwix. Some of her family joined her in 1937/8 and seemed to stay until after the War, when they moved in stages to Surrey, the last to leave being her mother, Annie Dogherty, wife of John Edward Dogherty, Headmaster in Newcastle upon Tyne from 1895 to 1924 at the same school as his father had run from 1864 to 1895. This man became President of the National Association of Headmasters in the 1920's. Does anyone know any more about this lady and her career, or about the school?
Mossband Camp
My father was a serving soldier, serving at the RAOC camp until 1948. We lived in the YMCA building in the camp itself and it had a large functions hall attached where one of our officers once entertained the children at Christmas with a magic show. I remember the huge and long-lasting snowfall that stayed around for months into 1948 and the glaring red sunsets over the Cumbrian hills. I went to school in Gretna, three miles away on the bus, and remember the prefab houses on the Solway - Mum said they would be replaced with proper houses when they got round to it. I also remember the parade that was held in Carlisle with Field Marshal Montgomery riding through the streets in an open car waving to the people lining the street. I can only remember one child's name from those many years ago - a little girl called Yvonne Glendenning who was a classmate and I often wondered what happened to her. There was also a Doctor... Read more
Mossband And Gretna High School
I lived in Mossband in the 1950s, I left there 1958. I went to school in Gretna and remember Miss Davidson the English teacher and Mr Glasspool the science teacher and his wife too, Pop Liddle was the headmaster. We lived on the green at Mossband, my dad was a war department policeman and we used to go in a truck to see films in Longtown army camp. They were all RAOC or Pioneer regiments.I loved the halfpenny licorice from the shop. We did our shopping at Gretna Green, at Henrys. I would love to hear from anyone else who lived there, such as Sam Wallace, David Franklin and people in Gretna. Thank you,
Francess Jones (I was Francess Daugherty then)
Golden Days
I lived in Mossband and went to Gretna Township School, later known as Gretna High. Times were hard but we enjoed our time there and kept ourselves occupied potato picking in Rockliffe and Todhills, rose hip collecting, and I remember the troops going to the Suez was a sad time. We had lots of friends in Gretna and Mossband. I went back few year ago, everything gone. Gretna is the same except for the shopping mall, the air up there was refreshing and we had very bad winters but we coped. I remember in front of the grate having our wash in the tub. I always think of great times there and would love to hear from anyone, there was Sam Wallace, David Franklin, John Crozier, Armstrongs, Hulme, Pearsons etc and Borthwick, maybe some of you remember me. And we used to love to watch the troops, Pioneers versus RAOC in football. We were rationed in them days but were healthy and not idle, our dad used to... Read more
My Memories of Mossband
I lived with my parents at 28 The Green, Mossband from around 1942 (when I was one year old) until 1949, when my Father, Edward Lovie (a WD constable) died from throat cancer. My memories are all fairly traumatic and include: a fatal train accident by the signal box in 1944. (date confirmed) Going to Gretna school and one day seeing the aftermath of one young lad who had been fatally run over outside the school. Nearly being run over myself in Carlisle. A bomb disposal that went horribly wrong. But more pleasantly - learning to ride a bike round the Green and only stopping by ending up in a hedge. "Marrying" Evelyn Borthwick (who lived a couple of doors down The Green) at Gretna Green, conducted over the anvil by the Smithy. (She was about 6 and I was about 5 - but we're not bigamists, the "marriage" was never consumated!) Hunting for birds eggs along the Esk river. Fruitless fishing near the border bridge. (I told my mother... Read more
School Days in Mossband And Gretna
I recall the Suez crisis, my dad was a constable in Mossband and all the troops went to Suez and we sang "Lay Down Your Arms". We used to collect blackberries down Black Bank and go to the army pictures. We'd climb a tree with a rope and swing on it. I went to Church Elims in Gretna with my friends Moira Porteous and Mary Pearson. We were happy kids that never had a lot but had a great childhood in Mossband. I have a sister Kath, Lorraine, and brother Alex. We went potato picking in Rockcliffe and Todhills. Please if anyone remembers us, get in touch. We had friends at Railway Cottage, the Mitchells. Mossband has gone now. We used to go to the Solway Firth for firewood with Dad and scrumping for apples. Happy days. I know Evelyn Borthwick x
