Birstwith In The Early 1950's

A Memory of Birstwith.

I lived in Birstwith, not yet school age - 1952'ish - and have very clear memories of my short time there. My father's - Albert Wilkinson - job was to keep the mill water run free from weeds, our home was one of the two cottages on the road side and "tied" to his job. In the cottage joining ours lived Mr & Mrs Stott, he was a cobbler, she had a special tin of toffees in the sitting room cupboard we sisters occasionally were handed the tin to choose from - this was in the days of rationing!

My parents made friends with the Gibson family (parents Charles & Adelia and their children James, Linda, Caroline and Olive) who also worked for the mill owner and lived in a cottage on Wreaks Road. James was the only child of school age. Our families remained friends into the mid 2000's. I recall the village shop being a dark gloomy place entering by steps, but then that was the way of all shops no doubt. My mother was a townie so never really settled, I recall times we boarded the train in Birstwith to visit her family in Darlington.

At a Christmas party at the 'hall', probably for the children of staff employed there, presents were given to all those attending from an ornamental chicken's rear, there being one short I was given the chicken as my gift. I recall my mother being furious and returning the gift.

I now live in Australia, in 1991 I met a man (20 years my senior) who's girl friend in the early 1950's lived at Darley he often drove over with her to the Station Hotel Birstwith for a drink, we were intrigued to think he would have passed by my home to get there and I may well have been playing in the garden.

Getting to Church we had to walk up what seemed to me a long hill, often I was piggy-backed up by a spinster who we regularly walked with.

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