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Whickham Winters
From the early nineteen hundreds reaching up to approximately the nineteen sixties Whickham often experienced very severe winters. In the earlier part of the century there was ice and snow which lasted for days, sometimes even weeks.
After one of these heavy snow storms Whickham Council arranged to have a snow plough pulled through the village by several horses. Each horse had its own handler who would sit on its back with a cushion for a saddle. The horses were harnessed up like husky dogs pulling a sledge and always had a great leader.
On one occasion, there were two well groomed and cared for horses, in polished harnesses and shining
brassware. These belonged to the council, but the rest of the horses were supplied by various carting contractors such as Wright and Huston from Whickham, Beasley of Dunston and Oxley from Swalwell. The leading horse was owned by Ord Wright who had a stable on the Croft. It was a big black boney nag with a torn and tattered harness but was regarded as the strongest and most willing horse in the district.
The plough went up Fellside Road where there were drifts of snow up to three feet deep and ten to thirty yards long. The young people followed the plough.
That evening when the roads were almost clear of the normal horse traffic, crowds gathered on Whickham Bank to do a sleigh run from Whickham to Swalwell. This run which was about three quarters of a mile in length took them two or three minutes. Mary Minto remembers doing this run with her friends and family and having to haul the sledge all the way back up the hill.
On one occasion Dora Silcock broke her leg whilst sledging down the Bank and she got into big trouble from her mother, as her mother had forbidden her to go sledging.
Of course there were no fancy sledges in those days. All families made sledges of their own, of varying descriptions.
The sledgers could reach an uncontrollable speed on this run. Steering was by foot alone. Sledgers trailed their feet to guide them one way or the other. There would be a thunderous roar of sledges speeding in the night. It really was a good night's sport if you could achieve two runs.
There were three other places to go sledging. One was just off West Street which was popular being about 150 yards, not as exhilarating as Whickham Bank. Another popular run was down through the Chapel Fields to Swalwell. The third place was named Hilly Howley, a field west of the churchyard wall. It was not as long a run, but was very fast with the hummocks and dips towards Coalwell Cottage.
There was often a brazier at the top of the field, next to the garden wall, which was a great comfort to the sledgers. The boys used to collect coke, fill the brazier up, then roast potatoes which would be ready when they returned.
At weekends during daylight, Carr Pond was the place to be for sliding on ice. The Carr Pond was situated on Windy Hill. Very few people had ice skates in those days. Ted and Betty Kerrigan were said to be quite artistic on ice. Betty, a school teacher, was able to perform a cute figure of eight on her skates.
The code of dress for these activities was trousers for men, women, boys and girls. This would be the only time you would see women or girls wearing trousers. The ladies often had to borrow their brothers pit hoggers (short fustian trousers worn by pitmen) to wear during these leisure times.
All the fields, including the Carr Pond, are now housing estates.
Comments
Is the Mary Minto (now Jones) mentioned the former Wren?
Posted by: norman Grantham at October 20, 2007 7:34 PM