Reports from 2019
January 2019
Deserted Medieval Villages
Our speaker, Allan Colman, explained that the mediaeval period is now considered to stretch from as early as the 6th century to the end of the fifteenth century, including the Anglo Saxon and Viking settlements of Britain, as well as the Norman era and the later Middle Ages up to 1485.
Allan started with a general overview of life during those Middle Ages relating to details of housing, religion, animal husbandry, food, socio-economics, clothing, education, and more. The most powerful local men and their families, who under the Normans were ‘lords’ who held one or more ‘manors’, had often substantial houses, comprising a great hall with high narrow windows, for which glazing was an expensive luxury few could afford, and a gallery at first floor level. Decorative tapestries, also acting as insulation, might adorn the walls. The ground floor of stone was strewn with rush matting. The peasantry survived in very basic, unhealthy, damp and smoky huts, and later in cottages. Most buildings had roofs of local thatch, very prone to destruction by fire. (Indeed, in far more recent times, many of Northumberland’s smaller market towns, including Wooler, suffered severe destructive fires spread by heather thatching.)
The church had great influence both socially and economically, its religious traditions having a huge impact on life: for example, it was forbidden to eat meat on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and no eggs could be consumed in Lent. Most households kept a pig, much smaller than current breeds. Sheep provided meat and clothing, while laying hens did not provide sufficient flesh to be worth slaughtering for food.
The wealthier classes got their income from the land, the law, the church, trade and warfare. The Norman Domesday book didn’t cover Northumberland, but it shows that the proportion of freemen and the unfree peasants, including villeins, bordars and cottars, varied in different areas of the rest of the country. There were many highly skilled trades, and we can still admire the work of , among others, medieval metalworkers, embroiderers and stonemasons. The villeins, bordars and cottars were obligated to work for the lord of the manor and scraped by, cultivating their small share of strips in the ‘open field’ system and using the common for grazing any livestock. The right to gather firewood for fuel was also granted by the Lord of the Manor. Dress was highly regulated and very much denoted status.
We heard that following a warm climatic period in the 11th and 12th centuries when vineyards thrived in Britain, and Greenland was colonised, the weather began to cool in the 1300s in what we now call the Little Ice Age; life would have become even more of a struggle, sometimes leading to famine.
In Glendale, many once thriving, more populated villages (owned by known baronries) have been largely deserted over time; we now know them as hamlets. They include: Humbleton,
Akeld (where a bastle house may still be found), Ancroft (with Saxon origins), Doddington (with its later, 16th century bastle ruins), Ewart, Lanton, North Middleton, Pawston, Old Yeavering, Weetwood, and Duddo (with remains of a tower or pele).
The early settlement of Ad Gefrin at Yeavering, which later moved to the more fertile Milfield basin, is now represented at Maelmin where interpretation boards describe life in the Anglo-Saxon period.
The causes of depopulation include changes in the climate limiting food production on marginal land, and particularly the Great Plague or Black Death which swept through the country killing almost a third of the people.
Glendale Local History Society’s members will enjoy a tour of several of these deserted sites in the often-warmer weather of late March
February 2019
Wallington Hall and its Residents
A talk by Elizabeth Finch, a volunteer speaker from the National Trust.
Buildings consist of more than stone and mortar. Over time they absorb an essence from occupants and events to become imbued with ‘a Spirit of Place’.On 13th February Elizabeth Finch, a volunteer speaker from the National Trust, gave a talk to in which she brought the spirit of Wallington Hall to life – a spirit of politics, intellect, learning and enquiry.
The story of Wallington is essentially a story of three families – the Fenwicks, the Blacketts, and the Trevelyans – which runs from the late 17th century to the present day. Between them these families provide a cavalcade of the local and national life of that period.
Sir John Fenwick, third baronet, came of a landowning Northumbrian family of ancient lineage. He acquired Wallington by succession in 1676. He was an MP and Jacobite who plotted against William III. Financial difficulties forced the sale of Wallington to Sir William Blackett in 1688. Money was not the only thing Fenwick lost – his machinations against William led, in 1697, to the loss of his head.
Sir William Blackett was responsible for building the hall that we see today. The Blackett family was prominent in trade in Newcastle and were Jacobites/Tories. Sir William’s son, also a William, started as a Tory then later stood on a joint interest with Matthew Ridley, a Whig. This may have been because he was heavily implicated in a failed Jacobite plot and, threatened with arrest on a charge of treason, he kept a low profile for the rest of his time!
The next incumbent was William’s nephew, Sir Walter Calverley Blackett. A gentle character, he loved his dogs, his tenants and his estate, and brought about many improvements both in the agriculture of his estate and the living conditions of his tenants, including building Cambo village. In contrast with the rumbustious political antics of his forebears, he was the epitome of an enlightened country gentle man. He also employed a young neighbour in his gardens – a young man who went onto greatness as ‘Capability Brown’.
After the Blacketts, ownership passed to the Trevelyans.
The Trevelyan family is the one that put the greatest of that spiritual input into the building. As a family renowned for their intellect and independence of mind, they were not afraid to put their beliefs and political principles down on paper or into public service.
Charles Edward Trevelyan was a reformer who believed in the free market and the operation of natural causes. It is this last point that has caused much controversy because he was the government minister responsible for famine relief during the Irish potato famine: his role in that event has left a legacy that is still argued over, overshadowing his considerable reforms of the civil service and public administration.
His son George Otto gets a more even press. A historian, classical scholar, Liberal MP, writer and statesman, his political career lasted for thirty years, serving in all of William Gladstone’s administrations. He died at Wallington in 1928 aged 90.
George was succeeded by his eldest son, Charles Phillips Trevelyan. Handsome, intelligent, wealthy and of high social position, he was described by his friend and fellow socialist Beatrice Webb as “a man who has every endowment”. He sat for Newcastle Central in the House of Commons and served in Labour’s first governments in 1924 and 1929. His chief interest was education. He died in 1958 aged 87.
Wallington Hall and the estate then came into the ownership of the National Trust under an arrangement made by Charles in 1942.
Wallington stands today as a vibrant living testament to values that can seem somewhat anachronistic. Knowledge for knowledge’s sake, and the notion that those who have wealth are custodians and that privilege brings with it great responsibilities are ideas that, in a more cynical and materialistic time, are often overlooked.
After Elizabeth’s talk her audience was left with the feeling that those Blacketts, Fenwicks and Trevelyans would have approved of what the house has become.
March 2019
The Northern Pre-Raphaelite: William Bell-Scott and his Art
Michael Thomson spoke on this northern artist, who showed the history of the North-East through his art.William Bell-Scott was born in Edinburgh in 1811. He was the seventh son of Ros Bell, an artist and sculptor, and Robert Scott, an engraver.The Edinburgh scene at the time was dominated by empire builders. Realism and New Science was very popular in the Victorian era, for example, advances in geology proved that the Earth was much older than had been previously estimated.Bell-Scott rejected the classical realism of the French School of painting, and was influenced by the realistic British painting. The ‘dark satanic mills’ of industrial Britain were widely featured in the art of the time, as were the Arthurian legends.In 1843 Bell-Scott was residing in London. He entered some of his sketches into a competition for decorating the interior of the recently rebuilt Houses of Parliament. They were rejected, but the Board of Trade were sufficiently impressed with his work to offer him a job as Director of the Government School of Design in Newcastle upon Tyne. He remained in this post from 1843- 1864. As well as lecturing he was very influential in the art of the North.As a northern Pre-Raphaelite he mixed with Ruskin and Rosetti. Rosetti was particularly fond of wombats and introduced them to his friend Bell-Scott, who produced a sketch of Rosetti holding one of his beloved wombats.
Bell-Scott’s best-known works are to be found at Wallington, where his murals and paintings adorn the magnificent central hall. His series of paintings, produced between 1857 and 1861, mainly depict Northumbrian history and the iron and coal industries. Some of his works also feature members of the Trevelyan family, who had inherited Wallington. There was apparently an element of competition between the Trevelyans and the Armstrongs of Cragside. One of the Armstrong’s daughters is portrayed by Bell-Scott reading a Mathematics book, indicative of the major part that scientific progress played in their lives. After the ground floor was completed in 1861, he had to wait two years before he was commissioned to paint the upper section with the story of the Battle of Otterburn from the Border ballad ‘Chevy Chase’. His most significant work includes ‘The Death of Bede’ which is full of symbolism and based on one of Bede’s letters.
Bell-Scott liked to express things in the context of the time, to create an image as realistic as possible. He painted an iconic image of Hadrian’s Wall at the time of the Roman occupation, and a very accurate portrayal of Tynemouth Priory, and of Grace Darling on a rescue mission in a lifeboat with the Farne Islands with birds swooping. In later years the Newcastle shipping industry is featured in his work.
Towards the end of his life his eyesight deteriorated and he started to write odes to sonnets and medieval-style ballads. He died at Penkill Castle in Ayrshire in 1890.
This talk gave us a fascinating and informative insight into the life and works of this northern artist.
March 2019
Deserted medieval villages outing
A group of 12 members and visitors went on a tour of four villages in the Glendale area, lead by Allan Colman as a follow-up to his talk on deserted medieval villages in January.The first port of call was Doddington. The name ‘Doddington’ is Anglo-Saxon and probably means the ‘ton’ or township of ‘Dod’s’ people. or else it was named after nearby hill, Dod Law.
Fine weather prevailed as we walked around the village, now much reduced in size from earlier times. We started by the tower and bastle house within the thick and high stone walls of the now South Farm, then passed by a former smithy and a corn mill to reach the church.
The main church building dates from the early 13th century and retains a Norman font. There was originally a school room on the west side. In the 19th century the church was renovated, unusually with the altar facing west; this may have been arranged by Horace St Paul who used the old road from his Ewart Park mansion, built on the site of a substantial medieval village, to attend church. As he came from the west, he would have crossed Cuthbertson’s hog-backed stone bridge, which sadly collapsed in March this year. The churchyard has a watch-house to guard against Edinburgh body-snatchers.
The group continued onward to pass the Victorian school house in Drovers Lane. On the southern side of the village is a large area of desertion with substantial earthworks of former tofts and crofts, and evidence of ridge and furrow cultivation. We passed the former large mill pond of South Farm on the left, now a modern housing development, and proceeded back to the main road. On the eastern side is the former toll house, the market cross of 1846 adjacent to the ‘Dod’ Well, then another area of desertion and the remains of the old Cock Tavern hidden in the undergrowth.
We then headed north to the village of Ancroft, our arrival coinciding with that of a vigorous cold front that brought squalls of rain and plummeting temperatures. Ancroft possibly gets its name from Aidan’s croft. St Anne’s Norman church was built by the monks of Holy Island around 1145, possibly on the site of a former Saxon church. Although the church is much altered, the original Norman entrance can still be seen along with the 13th century pele tower, unusual in that it is attached to the church, and also a projecting medieval buttress. Inside the church there is plenty to read on the history of the village, church and farming practices.
Ancroft was laid waste by the Scots in the 14th century then rebuilt to the south of the church in a field now known as Broomey Field. This post-medieval village was burnt to the ground following a severe outbreak of plague in the 17th century, the bodies of the victims being covered in broom then set-alight along with their houses in an effort to contain the disease. A hollow-way and substantial earthworks are still to be seen.
The village expanded again in the 18th Century, specialising in shoe and clog making for the army and navy, with no metal parts that could spark and ignite gunpowder. Legend has it that the line of trees at the back of the Broomey Field commemorates these cobblers. At the western end of the village beyond Town Farm was once a large limestone quarry, which had fallen into disuse by 1890.
We then drove via Duddo and Greenlaw Walls to the ford at Etal. We passed the castle which was the former home of Robert de Manners who obtained a licence to crenellate in 1341, to help repel the border raiders. Etal Castle was taken by James IV, the Scottish King, on his way to the battle of Flodden in 1513. The English deposited his colours at the castle following his death on Flodden field.
We looked at the sites of the old Etal ferry, the weir, the corn mill and suspension bridge, before proceeding along the carriage drive to the remains of the 12th century St Mary’s chapel on the right bank of the Till, where travellers using the river would have stopped to pray for safe passage onwards. Adjacent to the chapel are some pipes and derelict buildings associated with the spout well, a former water source for the village which originally lay on an east-west axis between the 18th century manor house and the castle. The route of the old road, diverted during the early 19th century, can be discerned along a lime avenue, passing much closer to the manor.
The tour finished at Maelmin, on the outskirts of Milfield, where in worsening weather we visited the reconstructed dark-ages house, and looked at the open field on Milfeld Plain which is the site of the large Anglo-Saxon settlement and royal palace which moved from Ad Gefrin in the 7th century.
A good lunch was enjoyed at the Maelmin Café at the end of the tour.
April 2019
The King's Shilling: Old English folk musicians
In the last meeting of our season of talks, on 10th April Glendale Local History Society members were treated to a presentation by the folksong and history group, Old English. They described the experience of those who took ‘The King’s Shilling’ by joining the Army in the 18th and 19th centuries and of those who recruited them.
Using a mixture of talk and song, the Group gave us a feeling for the ‘Recruiting Officer’, a common figure in the period. In contrast to the Navy, which required capable seaman, army recruiters just needed able bodied people. Recruiting parties went round the country, enticing people with the offer of the King’s Bounty, worth much more than the pay of a farm labourer, and, according to the sales patter, with a freer lifestyle and access to ‘wine, women and song’. Some recruits were attracted by the thought of escaping family obligations, and unattractive apprenticeships. Yet despite this, the Army was not popular. It had a reputation for corruption. Some army recruits were put off by the calibre of others. So the Recruiting Officer had to work hard at the arts of persuasion. They dressed in a colourful way, cultivated a good sales talk, and went to many of the less respectable places of the time in search of recruits. Not surprisingly, the character of the Recruiting Officer featured in folksongs and in plays of the time, usually as rumbustious figure of fun.
Life was not so easy for the army recruit. The reality of army life was not quite as the Recruiting Officer described. Many folksongs are laments about leaving loved ones behind. There were a good few deserters. One song described a roguish piper from Rothbury, who signed up, then deserted, and then signed up again, a repeated pattern which allowed him to get the King’s shilling each time he signed up. But many were killed and, unlike the world wars of the twentieth century, there were no war memorials to remember them. Reflecting the class divisions of the time, the ordinary soldier was disposable manpower. Only casualties of the officer class were remembered. At times of great need of army recruits, especially during the Napoleonic wars, additional volunteer infantry militias were created. The Duke of Northumberland’s tenants were expected to join the Percy Tenantry Volunteer Infantry. But the more affluent could buy their way out of this commitment by paying someone else to take up their obligation. This practice was greatly resented by the poorest groups, especially as these militia were deployed after the Napoleonic war to put down riots and other disturbances among those experiencing the high cost and scarcity of food supplies.
The Old English group illustrated the talk with slides and with many songs, encouraging us to sing the choruses. This proved a very enjoyable way to end our season.
May 29th 2019
Wooler’s new oak tree ─ commemorating sacrifices made by many during WW1
Glendale Local History Society hosted a celebratory gathering following the planting of an Oak Tree to commemorate the end of World War 1 and the coming of peace at that time.
Members of the Society, together with invited guests from Lilburn Estates and Wooler Parish Council, heard Professor Patsy Healey OBE, newly elected chair of GLHS, thank all concerned “… for bringing this project to realisation over the past year”, Lilburn Estates for generously providing, planting and guarding the fine Quercus rubor standard tree and Wooler Parish Council for agreeing the planting site on their riverside land beside the A697. Patsy hoped, “The tree, in time, will grow into a stately feature in the landscape” and with the plaque (thanks to retiring chairman, Mike Allport) to remind and remember sacrifices made by many during WW1.
Society Secretary, Pam Ratcliffe, explained the consequences of WW1 ─ dubbed “The war to end all wars” – and discussed how it had shaken Europe and the long-established order of European life, hostilities on 11th November 1918 with the hope for lasting peace. She explained the Paris Peace conference, which lasted 12 months, proving a huge investment to make the world a better place for 27 countries, all with competing claims and complaints and with seemingly intractable problems. The four Allied heads of government present for 5 months (cf summits such as the G7 now) were from France (Clemenceau), USA (Woodrow Wilson), Italy (Orlando) and Britain (Lloyd George); Japan’s prince absented himself from matters not directly relevant to Japan.
She highlighted international legislation – e.g. on waterways, railways, aviation, finance. The League of Nations was formed to resolve international disputes, by considering when nations have a right and duty to intervene and to validate and resolve competing claims for territory where there are groups of mixed identities. The conference also had to deal with bolshevism, actual & threatened revolutions, ethnic nationalism, public opinion, reparations and immense change in the social and economic systems, including labour, class and the role of women, plus the then current problems: violent strikes, revolutions (Russia, Hungary, Bavaria) and threats of revolution (Romania, Ireland). The ratification of treaties took time e.g. the Treaty of Versailles: Germany - 28th June, St Germain: Austria - September 1919, Neuilly: Bulgaria - November 1919; treaties with Turkey and Hungary were finally agreed in 1920. Pam concluded by giving the audience an imaginative mental image of end-of-war celebrations held in Wooler, by describing details from an original programme ─ “a procession of floats decked as ‘Allies’, a fancy dress competition, an evening fancy dress ball, all concluded with a much later evening, hilltop bonfire”.
Finally, before refreshments were enjoyed, the reading of three poems, by members of the Society (Eileen Lyons, Allan Colman and Frank Mansfield), reflected on remembrance of wartime and the coming of peace.
July 4th 2019
College Valley Memorial Event
Glendale Local History Society had the pleasure of joining with the Rothbury and the Aln & Breamish societies at an all-day event at the College Valley Cheviot Memorial, which commemorates those who lost their lives in air crashes during WWII, together with the shepherds and a sheep dog who rescued survivors.
On a fine summer’s day, members were welcomed with coffee and cakes to nearby Cuddystone Hall. Air Vice Marshall Sandy Hunter OBE presided over the day’s events and introduced three excellent speakers.
Group Captain Tim Willbond DL gave a fine, illustrated talk, explaining that in 19 crashes involving 16 different aircraft, 58 airmen from 7 allied nations died and only 16 survived. All the crash sites are clustered around high ground: the Cheviot, Hedgehope and Alnham Moor hills. Tim gave a superb description of the conditions for the crews in World War II aircraft, telling just how uncomfortable and noisy the planes were ─ and without heating (or toilet facilities) for long hours. The pilots and crew had rudimentary navigational equipment and received only basic training. Tim also explained why the large US Boeing B-17 bomber aircraft had come to grief on Cheviot’s summit.
There were no formal search and rescue teams, instead responsibility fell on the local hill community to be vigilant and to alert the authorities of unexpected events; however communication was difficult, usually entailing a bicycle ride to the nearest public telephone. Many shepherds were involved in rescuing airmen, including Archibold Guthrie, John Goodfellow, Joe Douglas, Arch Bertram, and John Dagg and Frank Moscrop who, searching in appalling winter blizzard conditions, managed to rescue men from the B17 bomber. The two shepherds received BEM awards, and John Dagg’s collie dog Sheila, who found the survivors, was later awarded the first civilian Dickin Medal for animal heroism.
Group Captain Tim Willbond explained that the original memorial had been built by a group of choir boys on top of Cheviot in 1968 to mark the spot where the B17 bomber had crashed. In 1995 a memorial was erected on the current site then, owing to weathering, it was refurbished in 2018.
The second speaker was GLHS member Squadron Leader Chrys Murphy MBE, who spoke about the crash sites and the walking trails which have been devised in conjunction with Northumberland National Park. The trails can be viewed and self-guided via a smart-phone app, View Ranger, which gives detailed historical and route information.
Meanwhile, Chrys has been taking young people from schools, scouts, cubs and Duke of Edinburgh Award candidates on the hill trails, giving exercise, information and thought- provoking questions whilst simultaneously enjoying the beautiful hill scenery.
At noon, a piper led us all to the memorial and a short service, led by Canon Reverend Jeffry Smith, remembering those who lost their lives “for our tomorrow”.
After a picnic lunch, 26 people enjoyed the guided walk which Chrys Murphy led to one of the crash sites and the rest of us were entertained by an enlightening and humorous talk by Charles Baker-Cresswell. He focused on the College Valley itself, mentioning its pre-history, its ownership and its management ─ past, present and future – aiming to preserve this special, precious, peaceful landscape as a peaceful retreat for people and wildlife. His foresight, wisdom, advice and management, while chairman of the trust for College Valley Estates was very much ahead of its time, since it is currently anticipated that (? post Brexit) landowners will be rewarded for environmental protection and public benefit.
This summary is but a brief account of a moving and enjoyable day with the memorial as a focus of hope for lasting peace.
September 2019
Outing to the Breamish Valley
A guided walk around the historical sites of the Breamish Valley with archaeologist John Nolan, who specialises in the Medieval Period and onwards. Many of the sites we visited linked with Peter Topping’s talk 2 weeks before about the Wether Hill excavations.
Deserted Medieval Villages
Our speaker, Allan Colman, explained that the mediaeval period is now considered to stretch from as early as the 6th century to the end of the fifteenth century, including the Anglo Saxon and Viking settlements of Britain, as well as the Norman era and the later Middle Ages up to 1485.
Allan started with a general overview of life during those Middle Ages relating to details of housing, religion, animal husbandry, food, socio-economics, clothing, education, and more. The most powerful local men and their families, who under the Normans were ‘lords’ who held one or more ‘manors’, had often substantial houses, comprising a great hall with high narrow windows, for which glazing was an expensive luxury few could afford, and a gallery at first floor level. Decorative tapestries, also acting as insulation, might adorn the walls. The ground floor of stone was strewn with rush matting. The peasantry survived in very basic, unhealthy, damp and smoky huts, and later in cottages. Most buildings had roofs of local thatch, very prone to destruction by fire. (Indeed, in far more recent times, many of Northumberland’s smaller market towns, including Wooler, suffered severe destructive fires spread by heather thatching.)
The church had great influence both socially and economically, its religious traditions having a huge impact on life: for example, it was forbidden to eat meat on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and no eggs could be consumed in Lent. Most households kept a pig, much smaller than current breeds. Sheep provided meat and clothing, while laying hens did not provide sufficient flesh to be worth slaughtering for food.
The wealthier classes got their income from the land, the law, the church, trade and warfare. The Norman Domesday book didn’t cover Northumberland, but it shows that the proportion of freemen and the unfree peasants, including villeins, bordars and cottars, varied in different areas of the rest of the country. There were many highly skilled trades, and we can still admire the work of , among others, medieval metalworkers, embroiderers and stonemasons. The villeins, bordars and cottars were obligated to work for the lord of the manor and scraped by, cultivating their small share of strips in the ‘open field’ system and using the common for grazing any livestock. The right to gather firewood for fuel was also granted by the Lord of the Manor. Dress was highly regulated and very much denoted status.
We heard that following a warm climatic period in the 11th and 12th centuries when vineyards thrived in Britain, and Greenland was colonised, the weather began to cool in the 1300s in what we now call the Little Ice Age; life would have become even more of a struggle, sometimes leading to famine.
In Glendale, many once thriving, more populated villages (owned by known baronries) have been largely deserted over time; we now know them as hamlets. They include: Humbleton,
Akeld (where a bastle house may still be found), Ancroft (with Saxon origins), Doddington (with its later, 16th century bastle ruins), Ewart, Lanton, North Middleton, Pawston, Old Yeavering, Weetwood, and Duddo (with remains of a tower or pele).
The early settlement of Ad Gefrin at Yeavering, which later moved to the more fertile Milfield basin, is now represented at Maelmin where interpretation boards describe life in the Anglo-Saxon period.
The causes of depopulation include changes in the climate limiting food production on marginal land, and particularly the Great Plague or Black Death which swept through the country killing almost a third of the people.
Glendale Local History Society’s members will enjoy a tour of several of these deserted sites in the often-warmer weather of late March
February 2019
Wallington Hall and its Residents
A talk by Elizabeth Finch, a volunteer speaker from the National Trust.
Buildings consist of more than stone and mortar. Over time they absorb an essence from occupants and events to become imbued with ‘a Spirit of Place’.On 13th February Elizabeth Finch, a volunteer speaker from the National Trust, gave a talk to in which she brought the spirit of Wallington Hall to life – a spirit of politics, intellect, learning and enquiry.
The story of Wallington is essentially a story of three families – the Fenwicks, the Blacketts, and the Trevelyans – which runs from the late 17th century to the present day. Between them these families provide a cavalcade of the local and national life of that period.
Sir John Fenwick, third baronet, came of a landowning Northumbrian family of ancient lineage. He acquired Wallington by succession in 1676. He was an MP and Jacobite who plotted against William III. Financial difficulties forced the sale of Wallington to Sir William Blackett in 1688. Money was not the only thing Fenwick lost – his machinations against William led, in 1697, to the loss of his head.
Sir William Blackett was responsible for building the hall that we see today. The Blackett family was prominent in trade in Newcastle and were Jacobites/Tories. Sir William’s son, also a William, started as a Tory then later stood on a joint interest with Matthew Ridley, a Whig. This may have been because he was heavily implicated in a failed Jacobite plot and, threatened with arrest on a charge of treason, he kept a low profile for the rest of his time!
The next incumbent was William’s nephew, Sir Walter Calverley Blackett. A gentle character, he loved his dogs, his tenants and his estate, and brought about many improvements both in the agriculture of his estate and the living conditions of his tenants, including building Cambo village. In contrast with the rumbustious political antics of his forebears, he was the epitome of an enlightened country gentle man. He also employed a young neighbour in his gardens – a young man who went onto greatness as ‘Capability Brown’.
After the Blacketts, ownership passed to the Trevelyans.
The Trevelyan family is the one that put the greatest of that spiritual input into the building. As a family renowned for their intellect and independence of mind, they were not afraid to put their beliefs and political principles down on paper or into public service.
Charles Edward Trevelyan was a reformer who believed in the free market and the operation of natural causes. It is this last point that has caused much controversy because he was the government minister responsible for famine relief during the Irish potato famine: his role in that event has left a legacy that is still argued over, overshadowing his considerable reforms of the civil service and public administration.
His son George Otto gets a more even press. A historian, classical scholar, Liberal MP, writer and statesman, his political career lasted for thirty years, serving in all of William Gladstone’s administrations. He died at Wallington in 1928 aged 90.
George was succeeded by his eldest son, Charles Phillips Trevelyan. Handsome, intelligent, wealthy and of high social position, he was described by his friend and fellow socialist Beatrice Webb as “a man who has every endowment”. He sat for Newcastle Central in the House of Commons and served in Labour’s first governments in 1924 and 1929. His chief interest was education. He died in 1958 aged 87.
Wallington Hall and the estate then came into the ownership of the National Trust under an arrangement made by Charles in 1942.
Wallington stands today as a vibrant living testament to values that can seem somewhat anachronistic. Knowledge for knowledge’s sake, and the notion that those who have wealth are custodians and that privilege brings with it great responsibilities are ideas that, in a more cynical and materialistic time, are often overlooked.
After Elizabeth’s talk her audience was left with the feeling that those Blacketts, Fenwicks and Trevelyans would have approved of what the house has become.
March 2019
The Northern Pre-Raphaelite: William Bell-Scott and his Art
Michael Thomson spoke on this northern artist, who showed the history of the North-East through his art.William Bell-Scott was born in Edinburgh in 1811. He was the seventh son of Ros Bell, an artist and sculptor, and Robert Scott, an engraver.The Edinburgh scene at the time was dominated by empire builders. Realism and New Science was very popular in the Victorian era, for example, advances in geology proved that the Earth was much older than had been previously estimated.Bell-Scott rejected the classical realism of the French School of painting, and was influenced by the realistic British painting. The ‘dark satanic mills’ of industrial Britain were widely featured in the art of the time, as were the Arthurian legends.In 1843 Bell-Scott was residing in London. He entered some of his sketches into a competition for decorating the interior of the recently rebuilt Houses of Parliament. They were rejected, but the Board of Trade were sufficiently impressed with his work to offer him a job as Director of the Government School of Design in Newcastle upon Tyne. He remained in this post from 1843- 1864. As well as lecturing he was very influential in the art of the North.As a northern Pre-Raphaelite he mixed with Ruskin and Rosetti. Rosetti was particularly fond of wombats and introduced them to his friend Bell-Scott, who produced a sketch of Rosetti holding one of his beloved wombats.
Bell-Scott’s best-known works are to be found at Wallington, where his murals and paintings adorn the magnificent central hall. His series of paintings, produced between 1857 and 1861, mainly depict Northumbrian history and the iron and coal industries. Some of his works also feature members of the Trevelyan family, who had inherited Wallington. There was apparently an element of competition between the Trevelyans and the Armstrongs of Cragside. One of the Armstrong’s daughters is portrayed by Bell-Scott reading a Mathematics book, indicative of the major part that scientific progress played in their lives. After the ground floor was completed in 1861, he had to wait two years before he was commissioned to paint the upper section with the story of the Battle of Otterburn from the Border ballad ‘Chevy Chase’. His most significant work includes ‘The Death of Bede’ which is full of symbolism and based on one of Bede’s letters.
Bell-Scott liked to express things in the context of the time, to create an image as realistic as possible. He painted an iconic image of Hadrian’s Wall at the time of the Roman occupation, and a very accurate portrayal of Tynemouth Priory, and of Grace Darling on a rescue mission in a lifeboat with the Farne Islands with birds swooping. In later years the Newcastle shipping industry is featured in his work.
Towards the end of his life his eyesight deteriorated and he started to write odes to sonnets and medieval-style ballads. He died at Penkill Castle in Ayrshire in 1890.
This talk gave us a fascinating and informative insight into the life and works of this northern artist.
March 2019
Deserted medieval villages outing
A group of 12 members and visitors went on a tour of four villages in the Glendale area, lead by Allan Colman as a follow-up to his talk on deserted medieval villages in January.The first port of call was Doddington. The name ‘Doddington’ is Anglo-Saxon and probably means the ‘ton’ or township of ‘Dod’s’ people. or else it was named after nearby hill, Dod Law.
Fine weather prevailed as we walked around the village, now much reduced in size from earlier times. We started by the tower and bastle house within the thick and high stone walls of the now South Farm, then passed by a former smithy and a corn mill to reach the church.
The main church building dates from the early 13th century and retains a Norman font. There was originally a school room on the west side. In the 19th century the church was renovated, unusually with the altar facing west; this may have been arranged by Horace St Paul who used the old road from his Ewart Park mansion, built on the site of a substantial medieval village, to attend church. As he came from the west, he would have crossed Cuthbertson’s hog-backed stone bridge, which sadly collapsed in March this year. The churchyard has a watch-house to guard against Edinburgh body-snatchers.
The group continued onward to pass the Victorian school house in Drovers Lane. On the southern side of the village is a large area of desertion with substantial earthworks of former tofts and crofts, and evidence of ridge and furrow cultivation. We passed the former large mill pond of South Farm on the left, now a modern housing development, and proceeded back to the main road. On the eastern side is the former toll house, the market cross of 1846 adjacent to the ‘Dod’ Well, then another area of desertion and the remains of the old Cock Tavern hidden in the undergrowth.
We then headed north to the village of Ancroft, our arrival coinciding with that of a vigorous cold front that brought squalls of rain and plummeting temperatures. Ancroft possibly gets its name from Aidan’s croft. St Anne’s Norman church was built by the monks of Holy Island around 1145, possibly on the site of a former Saxon church. Although the church is much altered, the original Norman entrance can still be seen along with the 13th century pele tower, unusual in that it is attached to the church, and also a projecting medieval buttress. Inside the church there is plenty to read on the history of the village, church and farming practices.
Ancroft was laid waste by the Scots in the 14th century then rebuilt to the south of the church in a field now known as Broomey Field. This post-medieval village was burnt to the ground following a severe outbreak of plague in the 17th century, the bodies of the victims being covered in broom then set-alight along with their houses in an effort to contain the disease. A hollow-way and substantial earthworks are still to be seen.
The village expanded again in the 18th Century, specialising in shoe and clog making for the army and navy, with no metal parts that could spark and ignite gunpowder. Legend has it that the line of trees at the back of the Broomey Field commemorates these cobblers. At the western end of the village beyond Town Farm was once a large limestone quarry, which had fallen into disuse by 1890.
We then drove via Duddo and Greenlaw Walls to the ford at Etal. We passed the castle which was the former home of Robert de Manners who obtained a licence to crenellate in 1341, to help repel the border raiders. Etal Castle was taken by James IV, the Scottish King, on his way to the battle of Flodden in 1513. The English deposited his colours at the castle following his death on Flodden field.
We looked at the sites of the old Etal ferry, the weir, the corn mill and suspension bridge, before proceeding along the carriage drive to the remains of the 12th century St Mary’s chapel on the right bank of the Till, where travellers using the river would have stopped to pray for safe passage onwards. Adjacent to the chapel are some pipes and derelict buildings associated with the spout well, a former water source for the village which originally lay on an east-west axis between the 18th century manor house and the castle. The route of the old road, diverted during the early 19th century, can be discerned along a lime avenue, passing much closer to the manor.
The tour finished at Maelmin, on the outskirts of Milfield, where in worsening weather we visited the reconstructed dark-ages house, and looked at the open field on Milfeld Plain which is the site of the large Anglo-Saxon settlement and royal palace which moved from Ad Gefrin in the 7th century.
A good lunch was enjoyed at the Maelmin Café at the end of the tour.
April 2019
The King's Shilling: Old English folk musicians
In the last meeting of our season of talks, on 10th April Glendale Local History Society members were treated to a presentation by the folksong and history group, Old English. They described the experience of those who took ‘The King’s Shilling’ by joining the Army in the 18th and 19th centuries and of those who recruited them.
Using a mixture of talk and song, the Group gave us a feeling for the ‘Recruiting Officer’, a common figure in the period. In contrast to the Navy, which required capable seaman, army recruiters just needed able bodied people. Recruiting parties went round the country, enticing people with the offer of the King’s Bounty, worth much more than the pay of a farm labourer, and, according to the sales patter, with a freer lifestyle and access to ‘wine, women and song’. Some recruits were attracted by the thought of escaping family obligations, and unattractive apprenticeships. Yet despite this, the Army was not popular. It had a reputation for corruption. Some army recruits were put off by the calibre of others. So the Recruiting Officer had to work hard at the arts of persuasion. They dressed in a colourful way, cultivated a good sales talk, and went to many of the less respectable places of the time in search of recruits. Not surprisingly, the character of the Recruiting Officer featured in folksongs and in plays of the time, usually as rumbustious figure of fun.
Life was not so easy for the army recruit. The reality of army life was not quite as the Recruiting Officer described. Many folksongs are laments about leaving loved ones behind. There were a good few deserters. One song described a roguish piper from Rothbury, who signed up, then deserted, and then signed up again, a repeated pattern which allowed him to get the King’s shilling each time he signed up. But many were killed and, unlike the world wars of the twentieth century, there were no war memorials to remember them. Reflecting the class divisions of the time, the ordinary soldier was disposable manpower. Only casualties of the officer class were remembered. At times of great need of army recruits, especially during the Napoleonic wars, additional volunteer infantry militias were created. The Duke of Northumberland’s tenants were expected to join the Percy Tenantry Volunteer Infantry. But the more affluent could buy their way out of this commitment by paying someone else to take up their obligation. This practice was greatly resented by the poorest groups, especially as these militia were deployed after the Napoleonic war to put down riots and other disturbances among those experiencing the high cost and scarcity of food supplies.
The Old English group illustrated the talk with slides and with many songs, encouraging us to sing the choruses. This proved a very enjoyable way to end our season.
May 29th 2019
Wooler’s new oak tree ─ commemorating sacrifices made by many during WW1
Glendale Local History Society hosted a celebratory gathering following the planting of an Oak Tree to commemorate the end of World War 1 and the coming of peace at that time.
Members of the Society, together with invited guests from Lilburn Estates and Wooler Parish Council, heard Professor Patsy Healey OBE, newly elected chair of GLHS, thank all concerned “… for bringing this project to realisation over the past year”, Lilburn Estates for generously providing, planting and guarding the fine Quercus rubor standard tree and Wooler Parish Council for agreeing the planting site on their riverside land beside the A697. Patsy hoped, “The tree, in time, will grow into a stately feature in the landscape” and with the plaque (thanks to retiring chairman, Mike Allport) to remind and remember sacrifices made by many during WW1.
Society Secretary, Pam Ratcliffe, explained the consequences of WW1 ─ dubbed “The war to end all wars” – and discussed how it had shaken Europe and the long-established order of European life, hostilities on 11th November 1918 with the hope for lasting peace. She explained the Paris Peace conference, which lasted 12 months, proving a huge investment to make the world a better place for 27 countries, all with competing claims and complaints and with seemingly intractable problems. The four Allied heads of government present for 5 months (cf summits such as the G7 now) were from France (Clemenceau), USA (Woodrow Wilson), Italy (Orlando) and Britain (Lloyd George); Japan’s prince absented himself from matters not directly relevant to Japan.
She highlighted international legislation – e.g. on waterways, railways, aviation, finance. The League of Nations was formed to resolve international disputes, by considering when nations have a right and duty to intervene and to validate and resolve competing claims for territory where there are groups of mixed identities. The conference also had to deal with bolshevism, actual & threatened revolutions, ethnic nationalism, public opinion, reparations and immense change in the social and economic systems, including labour, class and the role of women, plus the then current problems: violent strikes, revolutions (Russia, Hungary, Bavaria) and threats of revolution (Romania, Ireland). The ratification of treaties took time e.g. the Treaty of Versailles: Germany - 28th June, St Germain: Austria - September 1919, Neuilly: Bulgaria - November 1919; treaties with Turkey and Hungary were finally agreed in 1920. Pam concluded by giving the audience an imaginative mental image of end-of-war celebrations held in Wooler, by describing details from an original programme ─ “a procession of floats decked as ‘Allies’, a fancy dress competition, an evening fancy dress ball, all concluded with a much later evening, hilltop bonfire”.
Finally, before refreshments were enjoyed, the reading of three poems, by members of the Society (Eileen Lyons, Allan Colman and Frank Mansfield), reflected on remembrance of wartime and the coming of peace.
July 4th 2019
College Valley Memorial Event
Glendale Local History Society had the pleasure of joining with the Rothbury and the Aln & Breamish societies at an all-day event at the College Valley Cheviot Memorial, which commemorates those who lost their lives in air crashes during WWII, together with the shepherds and a sheep dog who rescued survivors.
On a fine summer’s day, members were welcomed with coffee and cakes to nearby Cuddystone Hall. Air Vice Marshall Sandy Hunter OBE presided over the day’s events and introduced three excellent speakers.
Group Captain Tim Willbond DL gave a fine, illustrated talk, explaining that in 19 crashes involving 16 different aircraft, 58 airmen from 7 allied nations died and only 16 survived. All the crash sites are clustered around high ground: the Cheviot, Hedgehope and Alnham Moor hills. Tim gave a superb description of the conditions for the crews in World War II aircraft, telling just how uncomfortable and noisy the planes were ─ and without heating (or toilet facilities) for long hours. The pilots and crew had rudimentary navigational equipment and received only basic training. Tim also explained why the large US Boeing B-17 bomber aircraft had come to grief on Cheviot’s summit.
There were no formal search and rescue teams, instead responsibility fell on the local hill community to be vigilant and to alert the authorities of unexpected events; however communication was difficult, usually entailing a bicycle ride to the nearest public telephone. Many shepherds were involved in rescuing airmen, including Archibold Guthrie, John Goodfellow, Joe Douglas, Arch Bertram, and John Dagg and Frank Moscrop who, searching in appalling winter blizzard conditions, managed to rescue men from the B17 bomber. The two shepherds received BEM awards, and John Dagg’s collie dog Sheila, who found the survivors, was later awarded the first civilian Dickin Medal for animal heroism.
Group Captain Tim Willbond explained that the original memorial had been built by a group of choir boys on top of Cheviot in 1968 to mark the spot where the B17 bomber had crashed. In 1995 a memorial was erected on the current site then, owing to weathering, it was refurbished in 2018.
The second speaker was GLHS member Squadron Leader Chrys Murphy MBE, who spoke about the crash sites and the walking trails which have been devised in conjunction with Northumberland National Park. The trails can be viewed and self-guided via a smart-phone app, View Ranger, which gives detailed historical and route information.
Meanwhile, Chrys has been taking young people from schools, scouts, cubs and Duke of Edinburgh Award candidates on the hill trails, giving exercise, information and thought- provoking questions whilst simultaneously enjoying the beautiful hill scenery.
At noon, a piper led us all to the memorial and a short service, led by Canon Reverend Jeffry Smith, remembering those who lost their lives “for our tomorrow”.
After a picnic lunch, 26 people enjoyed the guided walk which Chrys Murphy led to one of the crash sites and the rest of us were entertained by an enlightening and humorous talk by Charles Baker-Cresswell. He focused on the College Valley itself, mentioning its pre-history, its ownership and its management ─ past, present and future – aiming to preserve this special, precious, peaceful landscape as a peaceful retreat for people and wildlife. His foresight, wisdom, advice and management, while chairman of the trust for College Valley Estates was very much ahead of its time, since it is currently anticipated that (? post Brexit) landowners will be rewarded for environmental protection and public benefit.
This summary is but a brief account of a moving and enjoyable day with the memorial as a focus of hope for lasting peace.
September 2019
Outing to the Breamish Valley
A guided walk around the historical sites of the Breamish Valley with archaeologist John Nolan, who specialises in the Medieval Period and onwards. Many of the sites we visited linked with Peter Topping’s talk 2 weeks before about the Wether Hill excavations.
Eleven of us met up with John on a perfect autumn day, with sunshine, a light breeze and glorious views. We all enjoyed exploring the very rich evidence of prehistoric and later civilisation that the landscape offers. The numerous settlements that this valley has sustained over different periods contrasts markedly with the sparse population of residents and the transient population of visitors and holiday makers today.
The hills here are a scheduled Ancient Monument, and since the 1990s there have been numerous productive archaeological digs. Much of the valley is owned by Northumberland Estates. There is one large working farm where the Wilson family have been working the land since 1949, now diversifying into bird rearing and venison production as well as traditional sheep farming.
Our circular walk of approximately 4 miles took in Ingram Hill, Turfe Knowe, Ewe Hill, Middle Dean Hillfort, Cochrane Pike and Wether Hill. We started in Ingram, passing the church of St Michael’s and All Angels of 6th century origin; the rectory, now holiday accommodation; an 19th century Victorian post box, still in use; and Old Ingram Farm and cottages. We then took the track towards Alnham Moor and onto Ingram Hill, from where we were able to scope the landscape. We saw prehistoric terracing on several hills, these used for cultivation up until the 18th century; medieval rig and furrow, running downhill and superimposed on the terracing; and Ingram hill fort, which has been excavated three times – it was originally a palisaded settlement, much later fortified by Iron Age stone buildings, and then occupied from the 6th to the 13th centuries, possibly by the Saxons. Looking down we could see a rare survival in the form of an intact, occupied shepherd’s cottage, dating to 1860, with a netty, coal house, pigsty, byre and no electricity.
At Turfe Knowe there are two Early Bronze Age (2400BC) burial cairns, much older than the hillforts, and a triradial sheep shelter (possibly medieval). We moved on to Ewe Hill, which yielded stunning panoramic views and where we saw a memorial to Sarah Wilson and her parents. Sarah had written an excellent social history of the valley (Reflections: The Breamish Valley and Ingram published by Northern Heritage in 2005).
Further on we came to the sizeable Middle Dean Hillfort, sited on the edge of a steep ravine and now largely under bracken. The ravine forms a natural boundary with the Cochrane Pike Hillfort, our next destination. There are relics of some tree stumps, probably from the early 1800s nearby. A cross ridge dyke, originally almost 2m deep, formed a boundary between Cochrane Pike and Wether Hill. The well-preserved Bronze Age Hillfort on Wether Hill has evidence of a large settlement with two outer walls and early palisades. There is also a Bronze Age ring cairn, which was found to be full of Medieval pottery. A nearby pit, when excavated, was found to contain a beaker within a box made from oak charred planks. The beaker is now in Breamish Valley Museum.
We returned to Ingram and the museum, with interactive displays and some excavation finds on display. After an invigorating walk exploring ancient landscapes, we happily fell into the Ingram café for very good refreshments.
The Prehistory of the Breamish Valley
On 11thSeptember 2019, Peter Topping gave an engaging and informative talk based on his long experience of working at the Wether Hill multiperiod site in the Breamish Valley. Peter is a Multiperiod Landscape Archaeologist and, alongside the Northumberland Archaeology Group, he has been involved with the excavations there for over 20 years.
He started by outlining the multiperiod approach, taking account of layers of prehistory, medieval and post-medieval period. Prehistory was then further categorised into Mesolithic (9000–4000BC), Neolithic (4000–2400BC), Bronze (2400–800BC) and Iron (800BC–43AD) Ages. All was illustrated by abstracted slides which homed in on evidence of Prehistory and there were some excellent aerial photos.
The Wether Hill site has some Neolithic evidence in the form of a pit with food vessels contained in a stone cist, but there is little evidence of any settlements. There is a very well, preserved Bronze Age hill fort, one of the best in the area. On the Alnham side is a cross ridge dyke, a defensive feature, and alongside the dyke is a much later ditch. Both the fort and the dyke date to approx. 450BC. The hillfort was abandoned around 60BC.
Additional Bronze Age features include, a cairn with a surrounding low wall. Excavations revealed the centre of the cairn to be filled with shards of green glaze pottery from the 13thcentury, so the cairn was plundered long since, perhaps in the Middle Ages. There are outlines of many timber houses and palisade slots for enclosures, some Bronze Age and some Iron Age which point to a substantial mid Iron Age timber palisaded settlement.
Hartside Hill has a well-developed field system showing prehistoric boundaries, suggesting its use as farm land. Evidence of cord rig strip cultivation can be seen, the strips much narrower than those produced by medieval rig and furrow cultivation. Some remnants of sheep teeth suggest animal- as well crop-farming. The acidity of the Cheviot moorland soils leaves very little evidence of organic matter, so the crops which were cultivated are hard to identify. There is evidence of later, stone roundhouses and all is overlaid by medieval and late medieval development and settlements.
October 2019
Cross Border Crime in 18th and 19th centuries
Members of Glendale Local History Society were intrigued to hear the meticulously researched accounts of Northumbrian criminals who, having crossed the border to commit their crimes and who, once apprehended, faced the wrath of the Scottish courts – which were presided over by Scottish Law Lords.
Speaker archivist, Margaret Fox, had studied hand-written, ancient, dusty papers and minute books, concerning 18th and 19th century criminal records and court cases, thus enabling case histories to be built. These historical records are to be found at the Scottish National Archives, Edinburgh (www.nrscotland.gov.uk). This well-known Adam building, we were told, had its foundation stone laid in 1774 and was the first Record Repository in the world!
Margaret explained the process by which an apprehension led to a conviction and then possibly to a sentence. Initially, the Lord Advocate (Crown Prosecution) prepared his papers for a prosecution case, sometimes requiring medical reports ─ or post mortem findings if injuries had led to a death. Circuit judges travelled to courts held at Edinburgh, Inverness, Glasgow, Ayr, Dumfries, Peebles, Jedburgh, Selkirk, Roxburgh and Berwick. Those on trial were not necessarily tried at the closest court to their crime or abode: travel, with poor roads, was difficult in that era.
Various examples of crimes ─ such as sheep stealing, illicit trading, “irregular marriages” (bigamy), theft, being drunk and disorderly, assault and homicide ─ led to an equal variety of sentences, ranging from imprisonment, hard labour, and banishment from Scotland to transportation to Australia, or execution (by hanging). Many of these sentences left the remaining families destitute. Occasional escapees received a sentence of “fugatitation” for absconding and, if insufficient evidence made cases “not proven”, suspects were let off.
Margaret illustrated her talk and gave added interest with many examples of individuals who came from this locality: Wooler, Chatton, Doddington, Kirknewton, Rothbury, Alnwick, Berwick, Coldstream (a Tweed Bridge incident), Lamberton (activities at an irregular Marriage House). One example: in 1770 two individuals (from Rothbury and Alnwick respectively) were convicted of sheep stealing, imprisoned at Jedburgh Tolbooth for a month, tried by Lord Hume and sentenced to death by hanging.
A further fascinating example, in 1831, involved three lads, one of whom was a teenage sailor from Berwick who had survived a ship-wreck off the north-east coast of Scotland. Whilst making his way south, and homeward, he met with two brothers… They were apprehended in Cupar, Fife, and tried in Perth by jury but having no defence they were convicted of “Theft of Housebreaking”. This had involved the stealing of three silk handkerchieves, one pair of silk stockings, three shillings and half-a-crown. Their sentence: transportation to Tasmania for seven years. Initially they were held, with 221 other convicts, caged in a hulk – languishing in unsavoury conditions – until the ship was ready to sail. Not only did our speaker discover the facts of that crime and subsequent sentencing but she followed it up with a search and found what had happened to the deportees in Tasmania and, it was noted, that according to the ship doctor’s medical journal one had died in transit from tuberculosis.
Our speaker, shared details of many other individual criminals and their subsequent sentencing, revealing how much the subject linked to the social and economic history of the era. Being an Archivist, involving precise investigation of facts, must compare with being a police detective!
November 2019
POW CAMP 105 (WOOLER), including murder, music and reconciliation
On 13th September, Philip Rowett gave a fascinating talk about the Prisoner of War (POW) camp in Wooler. The camp first housed Italians, who lived under canvas while they erected buildings and who carved the lions which now adorn the school gateposts. From 1944, 600 German POWs replaced the Italians, later rising to 1500.
After D-Day, German POWs were transported in barges across the Channel to Portsmouth or Southampton, then by train to one of the many camps which were built across the UK (many expressed surprise at travelling in carriages rather than cattle trucks).
Most German soldiers spent some time in captivity, and at one time there were over 400,000 POWs in the UK, more than the number of Allied troops at home
After serious violence between prisoners with different allegiances, it became policy to allocate prisoners to one of three different categories of camp , based on an assessment of their loyalty to Hitler and the Nazis: ‘white’ – those hostile or with no allegiance to the Nazis; ‘grey’ – members of the Party it was thought could be rehabilitated; and ‘black’ – zealous Nazis. Unsurprisingly there was a shortage of specialised accommodation at first (some POWs were sent to Canada) but camps were built across the UK, the camps for ‘black’ prisoners in the remote Highlands. Camp discipline relied on a ‘white’ leader maintaining order and communication.
A variety of regimes were used, but most POWs were employed – building roads and houses, clearing bomb damage and working on farms – at rates of pay acceptable to the relevant trade unions; the POWs had the same working conditions as the UK population except for freedom of movement and access to firearms. At one time POWs were a quarter of the UK workforce.
No. 105 German P. W. Working Camp had several out-stations, including Chatton, Hetton House, Cornhill, Weetwood, Craster, Rothbury & Whittingham. It was a relaxed regime housing ‘white’ prisoner, many of whom worked on local farms, often staying at their place of employment overnight. The farmer was their employer and they were under his command, with visits from a camp supervising officer.
In their free time, prisoners were busy growing vegetables, making toys, reading (the camp had a 1000-book library), giving and attending lectures and concerts, attending Lutheran & Catholic church services, and playing sport, especially football and boxing.
The high standard of musicianship was widely appreciated. The camp choir, the 12-piece orchestra and the camp band performed across North Northumberland: for example, leading the carol singing in Wooler Market Place in 1946 and a Grand Concert at Lucker in August 1947. Exceptionally gifted was Kurt Burghaus, who had been twice wounded on the Eastern front and later captured on the Western Front. He led among others the Berwick Choral Union & the Eyemouth Choral Society. He married a local singer, Vera Dryden, and when they left Northumberland for him to take up post as organist at St. Andrew's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Glasgow he wrote of ‘the great kindness and friendship we’ve received’ from the ‘warm-hearted people’. He featured in a 1951 BBC Light Programme national broadcast of community singing from the cathedral.
Initially POWs were viewed with distrust, but their good humour & hard work was matched by the goodwill of the local community and they were accepted: for example, it was common for prisoner-workers to be welcomed by the farmers’ families, to eat together and at Christmas exchange home-made gifts. In the severe winter of 1946–7, 20 POWs volunteered to help the Skirl Naked shepherds rescue sheep trapped in deep snow; also in 1947, prisoners helped a West Horton farmer save 250 tons of hay from a barn fire. Several POWs married local women and stayed in the area.
The murder to which the title referred was of a German POW who was beaten to death in a surprise attack and his body discovered by the River Till. Another prisoner was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.
All UK camps were subject to inspection by the Swiss Red Cross. By July 1945 their reports showed the huge disparity between the conditions in Germany and in POW camps. At the end of the war, POWs could expect to spend a year as rehabilitation before being released. (Those whose home was in the Soviet zone faced imprisonment if they returned, so became Displaced Persons, some housed in the Land Army hostel, now a Youth Hostel.) Local farmers, who faced a labour shortage at the same time as high demand for food production, objected when the prisoners went home!
The camp was dismantled in 1952–3, and the site used for the middle school.
11 December 2019
Climate Change: past and future
At the December talk, Glendale Local History Society members were treated to an informative talk on Climate Change: Past, Present and Future, by member Allan Colman, who has a specialist interest in meteorology and climatology. Looking back, he reminded us that many thousands of years ago, our area was completely covered with ice. Looking forward, he warned us that this could happen again, but possibly sooner rather than later, and only after complicated swings and roundabouts of several factors affecting how our climate changes. To see tendencies in climate change, climatologists have to chart an average path through the annual fluctuations which we are all aware of. He took the audience through past patterns since the ice retreated. Globally temperatures reached their highest point since the ice age around 4 to 5 thousand years ago, and then cooled again. The classical period was significantly warmer, followed by a cool period, with our planet warming again during the times of Viking expansion to Iceland, Greenland and their voyages to Vinland. Then, from around 1300 AD, what is known as the little ice age set in, with particularly severe winters in the 18th Century. Now, however, global temperatures have nearly reached those early high temperatures.
However, these global trends lead to different patterns in different parts of the world. Some parts of the world are warming much faster than others, with particularly fast changes in northern latitudes of the northern hemisphere. Many of us remember winters in the mid-twentieth century, when harsh temperatures and long periods of winter snow seemed common compared to recent years. Our speaker explained that the 1940s to the 1970s was a time when global temperature was fairly stable, after a period of warming from 1900. Since the 1970s, however, there has been a steep rise.
What causes these changes? They are not the result of a single factor, but of many factors, operating on very different timescales. Some of these work to cool global temperatures, others work to increase them. Some are cosmic in origin, some the result of global geology and some the result of changes in the mix of gases in the various layers of our atmosphere. These all affect the formation and melting of ice caps, the flows of oceanic currents of different temperatures and our planetary ecology. These in turn affect regional patterns of air and sea temperature, cloud and rain formation, and how far gases can be held on the ground, in tree cover for example. Humans contribute to these changes through their impact on both the ground cover, by deforestation, for example, and by the gases we pump into the air as we cultivate animal stock and consume fossil fuels.
Cosmic changes include the changing way the earth tilts on its axis and circulates round the sun. These cycles operate in timescales of many thousands of years. Their effects are sometimes warming and sometimes cooling. Geological changes can be produced by volcanic explosions which pump masses of ash and gas into the air, cutting out the sun and having a generally cooling effect, but over a timescale of a few years. In North West Europe, we are particularly vulnerable to explosions from Iceland’s volcanoes, and we were warned that the great Icelandic volcano, Katla, is overdue to have a massive explosion. And we are all aware through so much recent publicity just how much humans have been contributing to global warming in recent years, and continue to do so. Collectively, the effect of all these impacts at the moment is steadily upwards. The impact of this trend is increasingly being experienced in different parts of the world. Some areas are affected by drought, others by storms and hurricanes. Some places are afflicted by forest fires, others by warmer seas, damaging coral reefs and affecting marine ecologies, and, as glaciers melt ever faster, sea levels are steadily rising in many places.
Our speaker provided us with a well-illustrated and balanced account of the trends which climate scientists have now identified. What then about the future? Likely global warming will continue for a good while, perhaps changing all too quickly, causing serious challenges as ways of life in different parts of the world are undermined. In our area, we may benefit from the warming for a while, but cooling could set in again in a few lifetimes hence, due to changes in the flow of ocean and air currents. So what should we humans now do, after ourselves becoming a significant cause of the problems we face? Is there a ‘techno-fix’ to allow us to carry on as we have done, or do we all have to change how we do things and show more care for our planetary environment? And what can we do in our own local area to try to make a difference to what happens? By the end of the talk, we all felt we needed to go on talking about these issues for much longer!
The next GLHS talk will be on January 8th, 7.30pm at the Cheviot Centre, Wooler, when Jessica Turner will talk on the Bamburgh Ossuary and the Anglo-Saxon context.
Patsy Healey
Climate Change: past and future
At the December talk, Glendale Local History Society members were treated to an informative talk on Climate Change: Past, Present and Future, by member Allan Colman, who has a specialist interest in meteorology and climatology. Looking back, he reminded us that many thousands of years ago, our area was completely covered with ice. Looking forward, he warned us that this could happen again, but possibly sooner rather than later, and only after complicated swings and roundabouts of several factors affecting how our climate changes. To see tendencies in climate change, climatologists have to chart an average path through the annual fluctuations which we are all aware of. He took the audience through past patterns since the ice retreated. Globally temperatures reached their highest point since the ice age around 4 to 5 thousand years ago, and then cooled again. The classical period was significantly warmer, followed by a cool period, with our planet warming again during the times of Viking expansion to Iceland, Greenland and their voyages to Vinland. Then, from around 1300 AD, what is known as the little ice age set in, with particularly severe winters in the 18th Century. Now, however, global temperatures have nearly reached those early high temperatures.
However, these global trends lead to different patterns in different parts of the world. Some parts of the world are warming much faster than others, with particularly fast changes in northern latitudes of the northern hemisphere. Many of us remember winters in the mid-twentieth century, when harsh temperatures and long periods of winter snow seemed common compared to recent years. Our speaker explained that the 1940s to the 1970s was a time when global temperature was fairly stable, after a period of warming from 1900. Since the 1970s, however, there has been a steep rise.
What causes these changes? They are not the result of a single factor, but of many factors, operating on very different timescales. Some of these work to cool global temperatures, others work to increase them. Some are cosmic in origin, some the result of global geology and some the result of changes in the mix of gases in the various layers of our atmosphere. These all affect the formation and melting of ice caps, the flows of oceanic currents of different temperatures and our planetary ecology. These in turn affect regional patterns of air and sea temperature, cloud and rain formation, and how far gases can be held on the ground, in tree cover for example. Humans contribute to these changes through their impact on both the ground cover, by deforestation, for example, and by the gases we pump into the air as we cultivate animal stock and consume fossil fuels.
Cosmic changes include the changing way the earth tilts on its axis and circulates round the sun. These cycles operate in timescales of many thousands of years. Their effects are sometimes warming and sometimes cooling. Geological changes can be produced by volcanic explosions which pump masses of ash and gas into the air, cutting out the sun and having a generally cooling effect, but over a timescale of a few years. In North West Europe, we are particularly vulnerable to explosions from Iceland’s volcanoes, and we were warned that the great Icelandic volcano, Katla, is overdue to have a massive explosion. And we are all aware through so much recent publicity just how much humans have been contributing to global warming in recent years, and continue to do so. Collectively, the effect of all these impacts at the moment is steadily upwards. The impact of this trend is increasingly being experienced in different parts of the world. Some areas are affected by drought, others by storms and hurricanes. Some places are afflicted by forest fires, others by warmer seas, damaging coral reefs and affecting marine ecologies, and, as glaciers melt ever faster, sea levels are steadily rising in many places.
Our speaker provided us with a well-illustrated and balanced account of the trends which climate scientists have now identified. What then about the future? Likely global warming will continue for a good while, perhaps changing all too quickly, causing serious challenges as ways of life in different parts of the world are undermined. In our area, we may benefit from the warming for a while, but cooling could set in again in a few lifetimes hence, due to changes in the flow of ocean and air currents. So what should we humans now do, after ourselves becoming a significant cause of the problems we face? Is there a ‘techno-fix’ to allow us to carry on as we have done, or do we all have to change how we do things and show more care for our planetary environment? And what can we do in our own local area to try to make a difference to what happens? By the end of the talk, we all felt we needed to go on talking about these issues for much longer!
The next GLHS talk will be on January 8th, 7.30pm at the Cheviot Centre, Wooler, when Jessica Turner will talk on the Bamburgh Ossuary and the Anglo-Saxon context.
Patsy Healey