East Elrington memories
Here are memories of East Elrington and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of East Elrington or a East Elrington photo.
There are no Memories posted yet for East Elrington - why not be the first!
- Add a Memory for East Elrington
- Add a Memory to a East Elrington photo
- Start another search
- See East Elrington homepage
Memories of Northumberland
WARTIME MEMORIES
Evacuated to Langley on Tyne in 1940 as an 11 year old, my memories relating to this peroid remain undimmed. It was a strange world to me, coming as I did with many other children escaping the war. I was taken into care by a farming family.
I missed having children to play with and found it lonely and was unhappy attending the local school placed approximately 2 miles away (no school buses then). The elderly male teacher, Mr Heslop, was an absolute horror to me at least. His favourite was an older boy, the school bully, who hailed from Gosport.
I returned to my parents before the end of the war. My best friend throughout my stay was Miss Chrissie the farmer's daughter. Often I think of her now.
Headmaster's Son Remembers
I was interested to read the memories of those who attended this school during the war years because the headmaster, whose name was mentioned, was my father, Bill Scott. At that time, the school was operated by Newcastle upon Tyne Education Committee. My father, arrived there with the first evacuated children in May 1940, and he remained in charge until the end of 1944, when it was closed down for an indefinite period. Some names of houses were mentioned. The full list was: Poplars, Oaks, Hawthorns, Chestnuts and Beeches. Each house had its own hut. Another hut was used as a medical centre and called Sycamores - a little bit of humour in those grim days. However, the atmosphere of the camp, as I recall it, was anything but grim. I am biased of course, but my father was known as a tough but fair man, and ways of maintaining discipline have of course changed greatly over the past 70 years. Over the years, I've run across men who were... Read more
Dukeshouse Wood Camp School Hexham (part One)
My school was one of the first to go to Dukeshouse Wood Camp School just outside Hexham. This was in November 1945 shortly after the Second World War with the lads from Gateshead at Alexandra Road school. Our dormitory was named Poplars at the top left, next to Oaks. On the opposite side was Hawthorns, Chestnuts, Beeches and the hospital Sycamore. The games room was next to Sycamore where we could play table tennis and other indoor games. There was usually a dance held at least once in this building when we were there organised by I think teacher Mr Chicken. Other teachers at the camp were Mr Simpson, and Mr Speed, both from our school. The meals area was at the bottom. At the very top was a playing field where I recall our lads representing Gateshead played South Shields lads in a football match. We got hammered 5-0. The headmaster at the camp then was Mr Mighalls who incidentally became headmaster at our school less than two years... Read more
The Cross Country Run
One of my main memories of camp is a cross country run, no ordinary run this one, it was November, it was freezing and pouring with rain, nonetheless we had to run, but the only kit we were allowed to wear was sandshoes and shorts, no socks and no tops. Anyway, away we went. It wasn't long before myself and another lad called Peter Jarvis were lagging behind, walking most of the time, to make matters worse one of my sandshoes came off in the clarts never to be seen again. By the time we got back I was in a sorry state but the other lad wasn't too bad. Now for the good bit, the camp had a nurse called Miss Montgomery who all the lads had a crush on, she took me in to the sick bay and put me into a nice hot bath, unfortunately she then left the room and came back some time later with some clothes, my imagination still runs wild to this day.... Read more
Dukeshouse Wood Camp School (part Two)
My recollection of a dance that was arranged in the sports hall made me and another lad George Bishop decide to abstain from the proceedings as I think at the time, in fact I am sure about myself that I was very self concious about contact with the opposite sex in those days. We both decided to hide away in the toilets until after the event. However there was an informer in our midst and we were both summoned on stage in front of the entire camp at the dance hall. Mister Tait the camp headmaster who I wish now that I could meet up with but he has been gone for many years. Mr. Tait the Gateshead Labour party official decided that the punishment was to humiliate us by laying in with his leather strap. He didn't want to know any mitigating circumstances. So much for the compassionate Labour party to which in later years I was invited to join but rejected the notion for several other reasons which... Read more
Memorybank total
We're very pleased and excited by your response so far to our "Share your Memories" community.
You've shared 28,866 memories of 5,949 towns & villages across the UK - keep them coming!
Find Memories
Simply search for your favourite places to read others' memories and share your own.
Tips & Ideas
Not sure what to write?
It's easy - just think of an important place in your life and ask yourself:
How does it feature in your personal history?
What are your best memories of this place?
How has it changed over the years?
How does it feel, seeing these old photos of your favourite place?
Do you remember stories about the local community, its history and people?
Start now!
It's easy to add your own memories and reconnect with your shared local history. Search for your favourite places and look for the orange "Add your Memory" icon to begin.
Places this week
Here are some of the places you've shared memories of this week:
- Taxal, Derbyshire
- Newcastle, County Down
- Figheldean, Wiltshire
- West Hartlepool, County Durham
- Greasbrough, South Yorkshire
- Amble, Northumberland
- Raby, Merseyside
- North Coates, Lincolnshire
- Oadby, Leicestershire
- Langley Park, County Durham
- Maidenhead, Berkshire
- Weaverham, Cheshire
- Severn Beach, Avon
- Southgate, Greater London
- Knypersley, Staffordshire
- Watford, Hertfordshire
- Easington Colliery, County Durham
- Cononley, West Yorkshire
- Banstead, Surrey
- Sedlescombe, East Sussex
- ... and lots more - Browse this week's memories now.
Your memories
To jump straight to the memories you have added already to the Community, click here
I Remember When...
This stunning compilation highlights some of the best stories selected from the thousands contributed here on the
Frith website. The result is an absorbing chronicle of British life from the Second World War to the mid 1960s.
A colourful treasure trove of memories, "I Remember When" is an
irresistible mix of personal stories and recollections that affectionately reveal the detail of everyday life in Britain.
