MALC RIPLEY sparked a lot of interest recently in local history by sharing his knowledge and memories of places and characters in the town.
We’ve given Malc the opportunity to share some more of the same with us today.
Please do let us know if you find this of interest, or have additional memories or information to share (particularly any old photographs).
Looking back to around the World War 2 years and afterwards, about and in Hedon.
A little more regarding Hedon shops, businesses, families, but not especially in any particular order.
Some of the readers may wish to expand, correct, or to add to this article, please feel free to do so – I shan’t be offended.
Residents up Sheriff Highway, prior to Staithes Close being built, going on from there and on the left hand side of the road: The families remembered include:- Smailes, Morrosse – a Greek family, Kelsey, Craven, Marshall, Brewster, Long, ( my cousins) (Jack) Hill, & Kellington. Herbert Johnson & Son, Corn & Straw Merchants situated where Woodmarket Gate is now.
In the front of Weighbridge House, home of the Jeffersons (then Wilf Hall), there was this item, for public usage, long since removed, just across Sheriff Highway lived the Stimsons, in a bungalow and in the old cottage that stands back, now renovated, lived the Billy Simpson family, he was a well-known Coal Merchant, his stock of coal being taken from a big pile, that was situated near the Haven (Borough) Arms. These ‘black diamonds’ were transported up the Haven by barge on a regular basis.
About that time George Head, was another of four Coal Merchants, his family lived in St Augustine’s Gate. The others being Len Kirby and another Simpson – John. (This business going onto belong to Ken Winter then Cec Fuller). Coal also came by LNER wagons to Hedon Station.
Mr George Jackson, had Harbour Farm, close to the Haven Arms, before his son Norman took it on (he sadly died recently). These two had the task of regularly winding up the mechanism which lifted the sluice to the Haven Basin (now filled in), the outwash of water flushing out the silting mud of this ancient waterway, again filled in about 40 years ago. Teenagers used to swim in the Haven, jumping off near the old warehouse which used to stand directly opposite the pub.
From what I recollect, the last barges to be used transported timber, which was unloaded and collected by a firm based at Saltend, called Evan’s Wood Merchants Ltd. Incidentally, I have picked my cousin Pete’s brain to record that the Landlord, in my earlier’ Blog’ comments, of the Shakespeare Pub was a Mr Mainprize. One that I don’t remember!
Continuing on Sheriff Highway, and on into Sheriff Hall, the Clarksons occupied this lovely l old residence, before the Lamberts, the former’s son Frank played for South Holderness Cricket Club and farmed near Burstwick, the last time I saw him a couple of years ago at the Hull Veterans weekend, Frank had a number a stationery Steam Engines on display. It was great to renew our Hedon memories!
‘Rask’ Fred and Mary Hopper lived in a tied cottage nearby, Rask was their Gardener/odd-job man, whilst his wife kept house for their Clarkson boss. Rask still is a unique bowler for the local Club, being the only bowler ever to return a hundred wickets in a season, his 102 victims in a very late 40’s season will never be surpassed, even though all this was in the age of “friendly” cricket. More than 70 summers onwards, no one has even recorded a haul of 80 victims!
To follow these people, facing easterly, Westwick was part of Alan Markham’s farm yard, (years before it being the Keel Inn) (also the Wilkinson’s) on the corner, before the Cripps, Bertha Hunter, another Calvert, the Sigworth’s, and Cyril Markham, continue on to find Lambert House, lived in by the Emmerson’s, Col J Dalton White before Major H Campell Johnson. For years it has been the BP Chemicals Guest house.
This leaves the twelve semi’s occupied by the Smith family, Shepherd, Hoggard, Rusling, Marshall (then Howden), Fred & Millie Smith at No.36 – my Godparents – (after that the Cripps’ son), across Lambert Park road to the Ripley’s, Stead, (Hood, Stobbs), Tristram, (Green), Underwood, Hepworth (Riley), and Fred and Renee King, this was No 24. Gordon Hepworth founded the Paull Shipyard of that name, prior to it being sold to JR Rix & Son. These houses being built by a William Batty, just prior to World War 2. The Ferris family lived first in the newer detached house next door. The land of the Borough Garage, now containing Spencer Close, where Ted North, and the retired Grocer Guy & Kay Dossor lived later.
The Borough Garage was run efficiently for a long time by Ron Dickens and Eric Lacey, with Rob Hopper working there. Adjacent was the British Legion long wooden building, also used to show films after the War, being two shillings to go in. A Mr Arthur Dent was the proprietor of the portable film show, from Hull.
A large, white-painted farm house, Bucknall’s farm, once adjoined Middle Lane.
This brings to mention the inhabitants of Lambert Park Road, beginning on the left, adjacent to Fred Smith’s, the Gardner’s, Ford, Bunting, Sanderson, Farr, Stokes, then Webster, John Simpson, Pickard , Woods, Garbutt, Vickers, Eastburn, Johnson – moved to Baildon, (David) Hill, Ted Crane, Morrison, Hewetson, Hunter – (Tom & Jack), Gardener, Heptonstall, Powell and Higgingson.
Ernie Gardner worked at BP Chemicals, also being a dedicated Secretary/Manager of Hedon United AFC (now defunct) of Far Bank, before him Tom Hunter being in charge, prior to George Wilkinson taking over, then JK Richardson, before George & Harold Hunter.
Tom Ford was an Electrician, Mont Bunting and his wife Muriel also took over the Royal Oak at Paull for some years. Albert Sanderson was a Barber prior to him also working at BP. Ted Crane worked for Pockley’s, Rufus Hewetson was a joiner and wood turner, Fred Higgingson also worked at Shell Mex with my Dad Arthur.
That’s it for now!
Malc Ripley.
Anyone remember my dad, John Hockney…
My husband, Pete Bucknall, is loving these stories from the past. He remembers many of the names mentioned and was also brought up on Bond Estate, or Nanny Goat Island, as it was also known. He lived at Yattonville with his Gt. Grandmother Elizabeth Shann, who mostly brought him and his brothers up, with the help of his Grandma Anne Lee and her husband Herbert.
sir, we lived in what i think was called bond street,before you entered there were was a generel store and behind the store was a garage across the road was a very large oak tree which as a child we used to climb into as its center was hollow, also an onion pickiling factory, these memeries,come flooding back,our name was kirkham reginald being my father,marion rose singleton,my mother,my mother passed away,when i was 5/7 years old in hutton cranswick my father was jack of all trades,and farmer,would be interested in a reply
JIM,
Really interesting, and certainly great memories too!
Yes, the old Assembly Rooms could be a place for a bit of a knuckle sandwich apparently, as you say, after the ale had flowed. A few were chucked out, I gather……..!
I ought to have mentioned the popular Wally Everingham too, my Dad bought a wireless/radio gram from him, but didn’t pay for it there and then as Wally said settle up with me later!
He did cough up of course eventually, but Wally never repaired the old one that Arthur had taken in, its probably still there?
My two Uncles Albert Robson and Fred Long used to go to chat, and ‘help’? Wally, which usually ended in the early hours especially on a weekend, it was rumoured that WE
didn’t go to bed until almost morning. He was that kind of a well loved character. Certainly good days, when you didn’t have to lock your doors either, anyway as usually the key was hanging on a long string inside the letterbox…………………………
This has been sent in from former Paull school lad, and now Inmans resident, Jim Uney:
I was a Paull lad at the time of the Forties that Malcolm is describing but I knew of many of the people living down Lambert Park Road as I left my bike at Mr George Garbutt’s or Monty Bunting’s while I went to night school in town three nights a week, no day release in those days from your work place, also parked the bike there when going to dances in The Assembly Rooms which wasn’t very often, sited to the rear of The Kings Public House, I recollect the dance floor was up a flight of stairs with a viewing balcony attached. It was not unknown for a fracas to break out, especially after 10pm, when the pubs closed, with bodies coming down the stairs or through the balcony railings, rather distracting whilst one is doing The Military Two Step!
Barber Albert Sanderson, who lived down Lambert Park Road; did he carry on his trade to a lesser degree after his move to work at Saltend? Well, it was rumoured that from time to time from one of the upper open grated floors of building S1 or S5, through beams of afternoon sunlight, showered glistening, falling remains of someone’s short back and sides!
I remember that on the road at the Paull side of Haven Basin Road corner, near the site of the present Hedon Town Notice Board were two six foot high cubes of solid concrete placed one in front of the other but one at the other side of the road, the distance between must have enabled traffic to proceed but at a much reduced speed. These were Anti -Tank measures and would have been demolished at the end of the war.
The only time in which I possibly could have seen these was when along with eight or nine other Paull Primary School scholars we cycled to the Market Hill school one Saturday morning to sit a version of the eleven plus exam, so, in my case that would be 1942.
After showing obvious signs of distress, when studying the Algebra or Logarithm questions, Mr ST Johnson prodded me in the back saying,
“if you cannot do that question, leave it and come back to it later”
“I can’t do any of them sir” I told him,
the result of which, he asked other Paull children if they were the same, needless to say we were all home for dinner. We had not seen anything like it, somebody said they thought it was Egyptian as they had seen something like it in a book once!
Ofsted would now be throwing a wobbly at the amount of time we lost at school due to being so inconvenienced by the German Luftwaffe during that period, and more so again when on April 7th 1943 an exploding barrage balloon removed our school roof just after we finished singing “All things bright and beautiful” and caused a six week holiday!
I did not recognize the photo of Cricketer Mr Reg Skinner, posted on the ninth of January by Malcolm, even though he became a teacher at Paull School, but after I left in 1945. He moved locally to Preston later.
Malcolm also mentions Eric Smailes cycle shop, opposite the site now of Customer Services, the gable end of the shop has an Oval wooden framed window, now in real need of a coat of paint, this is from where I bought my fiirst bike. A drop handlebar green Raleigh Lenton with four speed Sturmey Archer gears no less, fitted with a front wheel hub dynamo, I was made up for doing as much cycling as I liked, the only thing was that it was heavy, my mate Ian Mallory had a fixed wheel Vindec Sports so we spent most weekends in the summer going to places roundabout like Bridlington, Scarborough, Whitby, and Cleethorpes
Malcolm hasn’t mentioned Wally Everinghams shop which was on the opposite side to the Town Hall, but I cannot place it exactly, Before that site he had his shop where Frames are now in Soutergate. Wally, a quietly spoken gentleman, was in the electrical repair business and his record keeping must have been the most advanced system known to mankind for although the place looked as though a bomb had exploded ,Wally could find things without much trouble.
Sometime he recharged Accumulators, a thick glass sided device with dilute sulphuric acid inside and fitted with a metal carrying handle, this was in the days that radio’s used valves and the like, I have a photo of one.
Jim Uney.
I love reading these posts. Please keep them coming. Does anyone have any old photographs?
What was it like in Hedon during the war ?
Lots of blasts from the past keep them comong
Grahame – your welcome – any time!
Enjoyable reading Malc thanks.