Dunsdale

A Memory of Dunsdale.

My maiden name is Mowbray. My two sisters (Sheila, Barbara) and I attended Dunsdale School under the guidance of Miss More a formidable spinster of large proportions to a small child!! I have a picture of myself and Susan Weighell sitting at our desk and taken during the 1950's. The corrugated sheet building that was the school - with it's outside toilets, stood to the right as you face the garage and where there has been a playground for several years. We lived on Redcar Road and the view from the back of the property looked towards the old 'Soapwell Lodge' that was demolished years ago. I remember way too much to fill this space but I do remember the shop on the corner house where New Row meets the road and remember seeing the water well underneath the boards where the customers stood. I remember the Falls Field - all smoothed out by a tip during the 60/70s; the Easter Banks where, as a family we rolled our Easter Eggs; the badgers sett in the Blue Bell Wood; the water tap behind New Row that was used when the water supply failed. I remember the entrance to Dunsdale Mine at the far end of 'the tunnell' where we used to catch Bullheads next to the Lodge. I remember the massive group of ferrel cats that used to take us by surprise now and again and how they frightened us. I remember the school 'taxi' that took us to Yearby School when Dunsdale closed. I recall a Mr Tyreman from Guisbrough, a relation of our neighbours who used to cycle over on a Sunday afternoon and give the village children sweets - the Goodie Man; I remember the milk churns standing at the road near the entrance to Home Farm (where incidentally my Gt Grandfather farmed); and 'spud bashing' (potato picking) at Thornton Fields Farm (also where the Mowbray family farmed, but before my time. I remember playing canon in the back street; learning to cycle round the perimeter of the old school.
I was so interested to see pictures of the mine/people recently in a booklet, it answered some questions I have always had about the layout of the overgrown land round Dunsdale. Not sure if anyone out there would be interested in all of this but I can go on and on. I am very interested in my Family History.

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