World War I
Clayton and Davie, Limited
When a ship grows old and becomes uneconomical and a liability to the owners, the shipbrokers of the world offer her for sale to the ship-breakers. Many ships have ended their days at the jetty of Clayton and Davie Ltd., Dunston.
This famous firm, (a founder member of the British Ship-breakers Association), was formed in 1926 by Mr. Herbert Clayton after returning from World War One. A little later Mr. William Alexander Davie joined him by buying into the company.
A German ship waiting
to be broken up.
Torpedo boat "Walrus"
in Scarborough harbour.
Since 1926 many vessels, famous and infamous, including destroyers, German U-boats, frigates, passenger ships, tankers, submarines, dredgers, fishing boats, tug-boats and cross-channel steamers have fallen into the hands of the Clayton and Davie acetylene cutters.
Acetylene torch cutters divided huge sections of steel and other metals. They were then lifted onto the waiting trucks by a crane carrying a lightweight electric lifting magnet, 45 inches in diameter, capable of handling 1,250lbs.of metal in a single lift. Some of this metal was exported to European countries. Some steam railway locomotives were also cut up for scrap in the 1960s.
In the fifties when the yard was fully operational, between 75 and 100 men were employed. Many had worked for the firm since boyhood. When an employee completed 25 years service he was presented with a gold watch from the management. Many watches were presented.
The firm was managed in the sixties by Mr.William Alexander Davie and Mr. Herbert William Clayton
Here are some interesting stories connected with Clayton and Davies.
Killed in action
The ship, which had been in action, had had many casualties, and the emergency repairs necessary to keep the ship afloat concealed the presence of some dead sailors, who sailed in this floating hearse until found by the men at Dunston.
There had to be an inquest, then the bodies of the unidentified were buried in Garden House Cemetery.
Tom Goulbourn tells us that he was on board when the bodies were found and that his father Thomas Thompson Goulbourn was Foreman of the Jury at the Inquest.
Reprieve
The veteran paddle wheel tug 'Eppleton Hall' built in 1914 was bought to scrap by Clayton and Davie in 1967.
The news of the tug's fate reached the ears of Mr. Karl Kortum, director of the San Francisco Maritime Museum in the U.S.A. He told Scott Newall who did a "United States Marine Act" by crossing the Atlantic in haste to reprieve the 'old lady' by buying her from the Dunston firm.
A book, The Eppleton Hall, written by Scott Newall, tells the story of the discovery, restoration and journey from the Tyne to San Francisco of the ship. (Howell-North Books, Berkeley, CA, 1971) and is available from local libraries or second hand bookshops - try the Internet.
The "Eppleton Hall" paddle
steamer now in San
Francisco Maritime Mueum
Mr Scott Newall
Plaque for the "Eppleton
Hall" at San Francisco's
Maritime Musuem
Mr. Scott Newall spent £41,600 to rebuild the tug. Then after many trials and tribulations, set sail on her last voyage on the 16th July 1969 - not to a breakers yard - but to honourable retirement as a show-piece in the San Francisco Maritime Museum. See San Francisco Maritime Museum
The "Eppleton Hall"
at San Francisco Maritime
Museum - picture supplied by
Norman Lees
The "Eppleton Hall"
pictured at San Francisco's
Maritime Museum
The "Eppleton Hall"
pictured at San Francisco's
Maritme Museum
The Cruel Sea
When the film "The Cruel Sea" was being made, the Elstree Studio camera team visited the breakers' yard of Clayton and Davie at Dunston to shoot scenes aboard an ex-Royal Navy corvette awaiting demolition.
Later most of the superstructure of the vessel was sent off to the studio to be re-assembled.
Some of the name-plates of ships of the past hung on the walls of the yard fitting shop which could be likened to a Naval Museum. Names which quicken the heart-beat of a naval man-'Plucky', 'Paladin', 'Linnet', 'Echo' all ships of war. Ships of commerce include 'Thornaby', Hallmoor', 'Lievvroukerk','City of Christiana', etc.
We would be pleased to have more stories about this and of other Dunston Riverside Industries.
Victory Street Party, Athol Steet Dunston, 1918
The adults, then the children, enjoying the celebrations.
Armistice at Whickham
After the Armistice on November 11th 1918, a victory bonfire took place on ground behind Spoor Memorial Chapel, maybe late November. Timber baulks and pit props were supplied by Axwell Park Colliery, and built in crows nest fashion approx. rising from base to 25'-30' column with an apex of 10' diameter, tar and oil was poured over, with straw placed around the base, built by workman from Axwell Park Colliery.
When the oldest inhabitant, Mr W. Buckhurst, who was invited to light the fire, walked forward with his torch, a paraffin rag on a broomstick, the fire blazed up fiercely in 30' flames. Two officials dragged the 92 year old clear.
A large gathering witnessed that great fire.
Florence Wood's Memories of her father in Dunston Hill Hospital
In 1935 my Father was sent to Dunston Hill Hospital. He had been wounded in France and it was thought they would find something to relieve the pain and inflammation. My mother visited him there every week. There were many men in the hospital who lived there all their lives as they had nowhere else to go. Some had relatives, but because they were badly wounded or shell shocked, the relatives would not have them back. All the men wore blue suits in the hospital. After a few months he returned home but wasn't much better, so he was sent back in l937. Again my mother visited him every week, and on one memorable occasion took we three children with her. I remember the train journey to Newcastle and then a bus from Marlborough Crescent to Whickham. We were made a great fuss of by the men as they rarely saw children. One very cheerful man had had his legs amputated at the knees and he could move faster on his stumps than most of the other men on their feet. He would jump from the floor to his bed and then jump from bed to bed around the ward. He had a wonderful spirit and kept the ward entertained with his antics and jokes. Again my father returned home after a few months but never returned to the hospital because of the Second World War. He died in 1958 aged 64, which was quite a long life considering his health and experiences. He and my mother were married 35 years but she was a widow for 45 years as she lived until she was 101 years old.
The old wooden huts now stand empty. There is a new brick built NHS hospital catering for physiotherapy and a hospice ward.
Photographs taken at Dunston Hill Hospital
Dunston Hill (The Pensions) Hospital.
Dunston Hill Hospital (known at one time as the "Pensions Hospital) had many casualties from the First and Second World Wars. Unfortunately this was the place where many would spend the rest of their lives. These old soldiers still wore their distinctive blue suits which clearly marked them out right up until the 1950s.
Ronald Kennedy and Maurice Chevalier
Ron was a teacher at Brandon. When the First World War started all the young men from the school joined the Durham Light Infantry. Ron was the only one of them to return. He was badly wounded and taken prisoner. A German doctor saved his life. While in the POW camp, an officer asked in the Sergeant's mess if anyone could teach a French officer English. Ron volunteered and was introduced to Maurice Chevalier, who was a very good pupil with a good ear, even picking up the Durham accent.
Ron came home, married, and eventually came to Whickham Front Street School as headmaster.
He met Maurice in London and asked him how he got his new accent. Maurice replied "What is the point of being French and speaking like you?".
Maurice came to Whickham in l932 accompanied by his wife Yvonne. At that time Ron lived at Hillcrest at the top of Fellside Road. The house was besieged, there were so many people there that they pushed down the garden wall. Helen slept through the noise but it woke her sister Moyra and there were press pictures of her in Yvonne's arms.
Maurice Chevalier dining
with Ronald Kennedy
Maurice went to America with his one man show, the first person to do this, then in 1952 brought it to The City Hall, Newcastle.
A Maurice Chevalier
programme
Ronald Kennedy with
Maurice Chevalier
Signed photograph of M. Chevalier
The next time Maurice was in London he stayed at the Dorchester and booked the Kennedys in there too.
Ron and Maurice kept in touch all their lives, Maurice died in l972 and Ron in 1975.
William Ritchie.
William Ritchie worked on the railway. He lived in 31 Holly Avenue Dunston and served right through the First World War with the Northumberland Fusiliers. It was a railway battalion equipped by the railway and handed over as a battalion, complete with horses, wagons and men who were all railway workers. This battalion was recruited at York. In 1966 he was Chairman of the Eleven Club in Dunston and was also president of the Dunston branch of the British Legion. He used to spend Armistice day selling poppies in Dunston.
James Goulbourn, 1871-1955
James, a butcher by trade, was a very well-known and well-respected personality in Dunston at the beginning of the century. He was very involved in many aspects of the community and died aged 84 after a very active life.
As a young man he could be seen riding his bicycle around Dunston. He was still riding his bike at the age of eighty. He was the instigator of many organisations and events in the local community.
Here are some of his activities as told by his grandson Tom Goulbourn. As well as running his own butcher's shop he was; 21 years on Whickham Urban District Council, Captain of the first Dunston Fire Brigade, Captain of The Lord Collingwood Rifle Club, Founder of The Dunston Mechanics Institute (1913) which he always referred to as the "abode I love" (known locally as the Abode of Love) and founder of the now extinct Eleven Club.
He was a Special Constable from 1914 to 1945 when he was awarded a long service medal with two bars.
On the outbreak of the First World War he formed the Dunston Rifle Club into a company. This was the same as the Home Guard in the Second World War. He used to march them up and down Cloddy Lonnen, near where The Metro Centre is now. He led them on a pony, whilst a conveyance followed behind with a barrel of beer. They attended a rifle range to practise shooting.
James had a medal made for each of the members.
When they met in the Mechanics Club to celebrate the Armistice in 1918 James suggested they should form The Eleven Club which would meet each November the 11th to commemorate Armistice Day.
He also owned a horse drawn charabanc and a pony and trap. He used the charabanc to transport various groups around the district and on occasions decorated it for the Dunston Carnivals.
Gallery - James Goulbourn
Whickham U. D. Council 1910
Fire brigade 1904
Rifle Club
Rifle club Challenge cup
Garbutt Cup Certificate
The caravan
Carnival 1928
Carnival Certificate 1928
James Goulbourn and friend
Florence Wood's Memories of her father and of Dunston Hill Hospital
My father, William Henry Thompson, was born in West Hartlepool on the 31st March, 1894, the eldest of six children. He left school at 14 and went to live and work on a Yorkshire farm.
When the First World War broke out in 1914 he volunteered immediately and joined the Green Howards. He was in the second contingent to arrive in France, when the first army arrived, the Kaiser, when informed of the number of men in it, said 'that contemptible little army', these men then became known as the 'old contemptibles'.
The second army was much bigger so no comment was made about them. The second army marched across France to the front line, with full pack. They became tired and thirsty and so stopped at street pumps for water, only to find that some of the French had chained these pumps so the British army could not get water. They continued tired and thirsty until they reached their camp for the night.
Sometime in 1916 my father was wounded in the leg and after being sent to the field hospital was sent to England to recuperate for a few weeks and then sent back to France. In 1918 he was wounded in the arm and while he was lying semi-conscious in a shell hole with his arm outside it, a stray bullet hit him in the wrist. This time during his recuperation in England the war ended, so he did not go back to France.
At some point during the war, the Germans sent gas over the British lines which badly affected my father's lungs . In later years because of his weakened lungs, he developed pleurisy every winter and pneumonia a few times. The doctor informed my mother that his body was at least 20 years older than his age because of what he went through during the war.
It was then found that his arm, wounded at the elbow, had not been set properly at the field hospital, so the ends of the bones did not join completely. The ends of the bones not joined together began to decay and so he had inflammation and great pain for the rest of his life. The wrist and leg wounds healed completely but bits of shrapnel worked their way out of his leg right up to the year he died.
In 1935 he was sent to Dunston Hill Hospital as it was thought they would find something to relieve the pain and inflammation. My mother visited him there every week. There were many men in the hospital who lived there all their lives as they had no-where else to go. Some had relatives, but because they were badly wounded or shell shocked, the relatives would not have them back. All the men wore blue suits in the hospital. After a few months he returned home but wasn't much better, so he was sent back in l937. Again my mother visited him every week, and on one memorable occasion took we three children with her. I remember the train journey to Newcastle and then a bus from Marlborough Crescent to Whickham. We were made a great fuss of by the men as they rarely saw children. One very cheerful man had had his legs amputated at the knees and he could move faster on his stumps than most of the other men on their feet. He would jump from the floor to his bed and then jump from bed to bed around the ward. He had a wonderful spirit and kept the ward entertained with his antics and jokes. Again my father returned home after a few months but never returned to the hospital because of the Second World War. He died in 1958 aged 64, which was quite a long life considering his health and experiences. He and my mother were married 35 years but she was a widow for 45 years as she lived until she was 101 years old.
Dunston British Legion
Dunston British Legion
committee post-war: 1950's.
Photo on wall is Joe Harvey,
captain of Newcastle United
with the F.A. Cup.
Front 2nd from right: William Ritchie.
Back far left: Jimmy Goulbourn
Back right and 2nd right:
Wappat brothers.
Front row, 2nd from right
Billy Dodds.
Centre front: Mr Wappat.
Third from left: Billy Dixon.
Far left: Mr Hawe.
Back far right: Billy Little.
Dunston British Legion Show 1948.
Billy Ritchie: Front right, Mrs Howitt:
Front left. Mrs Cooper.
back right. Mrs Massey: back left.
Dunston British Legion
Show 1948
Dunston British Legion
Armistice parade -women's
section Parade passing
Hexham Road Presbyterian
Church, 1950's.
Mrs Hilda Ritchie
(partly hidden by
Mrs Massey at front left).
Left: Billy Ritchie,
Jessie Robinson, third from left, Principal Boy
Mr W Prince in evening dress
(had Plewes ships' chandlers).
Nelly Marshal, 5th from left
Mr Robeson 2nd from right
(father of lady 3rd from left)
The show was Sinbad the Sailor
Dunston British Legion Show
Mrs Ritchie 2nd right and
Mrs Cooper 2nd left.
Dunston British Legion parade
coming up Dunston Road
passing Gunn Street near
Four Lane Ends.
Mr D Ritchie, right,
black overcoat, 1950's.
Dunston British Legion parade
passing Dunston Hill School.
Dunston Brass Band at the
Cenotaph in November 1966.
In centre, William Ritchie,
president of the Dunston
British Legion at that time.
A Son Killed in Each War
Ann Keen nee Scott Remembers
I know a great deal about Mr & Mrs Robert Scott's sons, even although one was killed twenty years before I was born and the other was killed when I was three years old. You see one was my Uncle Fred and the other was my Dad, Robert "Bob" Scott. My Granny, Margaret Humble Scott nee Elfert, kept their memories alive for me. In the days of large families my grandparents had only two sons.
Killed in Action WW1
Frederick Ernest who was born in 1894 was a great scouter. He was a member of the 19th Dunston Christ Church Boy Scouts and had the distinction of winning the Silver Wolf. This is the highest award a Scout can win and he was the first boy in the North of England to obtain this much-coveted honour. It was not until 1979 that anyone else in the Gateshead area was awarded this honour.
He served in the 1st (Northumberland) Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, in the First World War. He died on Thursday 24th October 1918 aged 24 and was buried with honour at Abbeville Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, France. [View Memorial on Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.]
Killed in Action WW2
Robert Norman was born in 1903 and served in the Merchant Navy, rising to the rank of Chief Engineer. He died on Wednesday 13th November 1940 aged 37 and was buried with honour at Swalwell (Garden House) Cemetery, Co Durham. [View Memorial on Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.]
I last saw my Father at Greenock, where his ship was in dry dock being fitted out against the magnetic mines laid by the Germans. His ship sailed for Falmouth where it was blown up by a different type of mine, which a German submarine had laid during the night.
My Granny hated the Germans. They killed both of her sons. The ironic part of this is that her Father, Christian Ernst Frederic Elfert, was a German who at the age of sixteen had run away to sea and ended up marrying Mary Francis Humble of North Shields.
Remembrance Sunday, Dunston
On Remembrance Sunday people would gather on Barry Street to begin the walk up Wellington Road and Dunston Road to the War Memorial. The Scouts, British Legion, and the St John's Ambulance Brigade used to march to the drum beat. On one occasion in the thirties there were seven drummers with just a glimpse of wreaths and banners behind the five buglers in the front row: In the late fifties Pipe Bands lead the way to the War Memorial with the British Legion Banners right behind them.
In 1936 the then vicar of St Nicholas asked if any motor car owners would collect men from the 'Pensions Hospital' Dunston Hill Hospital, to bring them to church on the 8th of November, this was to allow the old solders to Commemorate the death of their fellow servicemen who had been killed in the First World War.
Unveiling of Dunston War Memorial 1923
You will see from the date that some time had passed between the end of the war and the building of the memorial, a simple Celtic Cross. It took a while after the deprivation and horrors of the war before local committees could begin the fund raising necessary to finance memorials. The Celtic Cross was typical of the memorials built by smaller towns and villages.
The ceremony for Dunston war memorial, was conducted by the Reverend W .D. Macintosh (Vicar of Dunston from 1904 to 1933). He was probably responsible for the siting of the memorial as he had chosen the adjoining site for the first St. Nicholas Church that opened in 1929.
Dunston - Peace Sunday 1919
A service was held at Christ Church Dunston on Sunday July 6th,1919 to celebrate peace after the Great War.
War Work
1914-1918, Rev. C.E. Little polished shell casings as his contribution to the war effort. He used machines supplied by Vickers Armstrongs. These machines were powered by a single cylinder gas engine. His helpers were mainly 13 and 14 year old scouts. After the war the engine was used to help the church organ.
Reverend Little's Helpers
Back Row John Nevin, Alf Pyle, Harry Jackson, Eddie Goffin, Ned Redpath
Middle Row Charlie Thompson, Mrs Inglethorpe (daughter), Rev Little
Front Row Sammey Proud, Harold Proud, Jackie Bell
Florence Wood's Memories of her father
My father, William Henry Thompson, was born in West Hartlepool on the 31st March, 1894, the eldest of six children. He left school at 14 and went to live and work on a Yorkshire farm.
When the First World War broke out in 1914 he volunteered immediately and joined the Green Howards. He was in the second contingent to arrive in France, when the first army arrived, the Kaiser, when informed of the number of men in it, said 'that contemptible little army', these men then became known as the 'old contemptibles'.
The second army was much bigger so no comment was made about them. The second army marched across France to the front line, with full pack. They became tired and thirsty and so stopped at street pumps for water, only to find that some of the French had chained these pumps so the British army could not get water. They continued tired and thirsty until they reached their camp for the night.
Sometime in 1916 my father was wounded in the leg and after being sent to the field hospital was sent to England to recuperate for a few weeks and then sent back to France. In 1918 he was wounded in the arm and while he was lying semi-conscious in a shell hole with his arm outside it, a stray bullet hit him in the wrist. This time during his recuperation in England the war ended, so he did not go back to France.
At some point during the war, the Germans sent gas over the British lines which badly affected my father's lungs . In later years because of his weakened lungs, he developed pleurisy every winter and pneumonia a few times. The doctor informed my mother that his body was at least 20 years older than his age because of what he went through during the war.
It was then found that his arm, wounded at the elbow, had not been set properly at the field hospital, so the ends of the bones did not join completely. The ends of the bones not joined together began to decay and so he had inflammation and great pain for the rest of his life. The wrist and leg wounds healed completely but bits of shrapnel worked their way out of his leg right up to the year he died.
Mrs E. Kempton remembers Swalwell School During WWI
As Emily Ryle, I began Swalwell School in April 1915 and as many of my contemporaries will recall, we had a lovable, but firm, teacher in the reception class. Miss Ada Morrison was "mother" to generations of Swalwell children. This was during the First World War and we were taught at a very early age to knit double khaki scarves for the soldiers. Food was in very short supply and I well remember queuing, before school, for meat and jam. What a thrill it was to get a large jar of rhubarb and ginger jam! I remember clearly the day when Mr Sutcliffe, headmaster of the "big" school, paid a visit, dressed in his officer's uniform.
Part of the Peace Celebrations was a fancy dress parade by scholars in the schoolyard and on this occasion, each boy and girl received a Peace mug, which I still treasure.
[Mrs Kempton's mother, Emily Home, taught in the Infants Dept. at Swalwell School from 1895-98.]
Dunston - Memories of World War One
"I remember the Zeppelins coming up the Tyne. You see the Germans used to work here in peacetime. They knew where the works were and how to cause damage so sent the Zeppelins but they got turned back."
"We learned to knit. I knitted socks and gloves. The boys knitted hats. We used to have a penny a week school collection to buy cigarettes for the soldiers. When the soldiers came home what a welcome they got."