Everton, view from the Church Tower c1955

Land Resettlement

My parents moved to Pottonin 1937 on the Land Resettlement Scheme from Sunderland. As I was only 18 months old at the time and we were not there long, my memories consist of photographs only and these are of members of my family working the land. Shortly before the Second World War broke out we moved to Bygrave in Hertfordshire. During our time there we had avacuees staying with us and Canadian forces were billeted in the village. My father was sent to work at Cammel Lairds in Birkenhead and we moved to Wallasey in 1942. I now live in north Wales.

Henry Tingey - Ancester

My great grandfather Henry Tingey, was born November 18, 1819, in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire.  He was the son of James Tingey and Elizabeth Boniss.  James and Elizabeth, and family later moved from Bigglewade, Bedfordshire, and moved Lower Caldecut near the 46th milestone from London in the perish of Northhill.  The family of father and mother and two boys and four sisters were in the business of raising wholesale vegatable and garden seeds and were very successful.  
In 1849 the missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, (Mormons) told their gospel message to Henry and his wife Ann Young, (daughter of James and Lucy Young).  Henry and Ann joined the Latter-Day-Saint church and migrated to America in 1849.  They spent three years in St Louis, Missouri and then traveled by oxen and wagon train to Salt Lake City, Utah arriving in September 1853.  Henry became a very devote follower of the Mormon Church.  He settled in Sessions Settlement (now Bountiful, Utah), and later moved to Brigham City Utah, where he was in the garden and fruit business.  He was named Bishop of the First Ward in Brigham in 1877, and set apart by Brigham Young, who was the president of the LDS church at that time.  Henry Tingey was given a blessing that his family would be numerous.  This blessing was fulfilled as Henry lived during the time of polygamy and he married four wives and fathered 31 children.  Henry Tingey passed away at the age of 77, on February 14, 1896 in Brigham City, Utah.  He is essentially, the father of the well known, Tingey families in Davis and Box Elder Counties, in Utah.  Almost all of his children, grand children and great grand children, and great grand children (as of December 2007) number into the thousands and have been pillars, leaders and devote members of their community, and of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Henry Tingey was truely regarded as noble man and respected citizen in Brigham City, Utah.  Biggleswade, England can be proud that such a good man was born in their city.  It is astonishment, that such a young man as Henry Tingey, could come from humble circumstances in England in 1849, and accomplish what he did as a pioneer in the American West,.   

Lord Astor

I grew up in Wrestlingworth between 1966 and 1978. In the late sixties and early seventies we often used to see a rather distinguished gent driving a stately car, a Riley I think. He had silver hair and always waved in a benign manner to us youngsters. I got it into my mind that he was Lord Astor who lived at Hatley St George. We were even more impressed at this.
We also used to see the Co-op van in the village. In those days not everybody had cars and the older residents couldn't always get to Biggleswade or wherever. So its arrival was always noticeable if only because of the people who would gather around.
One day I wandered over to the van to see what was on offer. It came as something of a shock to see the aforementioned Lord Astor serving from behind the hatch. What a generous chap I thought. And how socially enlightened to provide such a valuable service to the old folks in the village.
Flushed with warmth and feelings of excitement at such a revelation I couldn't wait to explain to my family that which I'd learned.
Well, it came as something of a shock to discover that the man from the Co-op wasn't Lord Astor at all, just an ordinary chap. I felt embarrassed, confused, and not a little stupid.
Thereafter, I never could quite look at the smiling gent with the same degree of automatic respect and deference!

The RAF and Cardington

As RAF children, all three of us were christened in the picturesque church in Cardington, which is the unofficial 'favourite' church for RAF personnel! I obviously don't remember my own christening and wasn't about when my older brother was held over the font, but I do remember my sister's christening because she's nine years younger than I, so the memory is quite vivid. I also remember making much earlier visits to the charming old pub - as far back as when I was only two years old, in fact! - before we were posted to Cyprus. Not allowed into the pub itself, the kids would play outside, rain or shine, but I was awaiting heart surgery and so could only sit and watch, unfortunately! I enjoyed the lemonade and packets of crisps with the ltitle twist of salt in blue paper, but I never ate the pickled cockles that the grown-ups would bring out to us on the jar's lid. Yugh! I've no idea if the area has changed - I haven't been back there in over 40 years! It was so beautiful, though, even with the huge barrage balloons overhead.