I was born in the Manor House in May 1946, went away to school in 1959, married in the church in 1969 and moved away to Oxfordshire after that.
I had a very happy childhood with lots of freedom, living on the farm and in the village.
I have two elder brothers who went away to school. My paternal Grandmother lived with us as she was crippled with arthritis. She lived at Manor House since her marriage in 1894 until she died in 1965 except for four years when my parents, Alan and Doreen Smith married. During this time she lived up the High Road and came back to Manor House in 1941 so that she would not be on her own during WW2 which they believed would not be very long. After that she never left! She is buried in the churchyard.
The Farm – I loved living on the farm with all the animals, collecting eggs with my father and helping milk the ‘house’ cow. I had pet lambs, rabbits, cats and ponies. I even used to ride up the High Road on my pony to visit my other Grandmother in Stockton ! I also went cubbing and hunting regularly in the winter but never on the farm side of the river. We used to have foxhounds “on walk” and they would wander all over the village, getting into trouble and scavenging! I often had to take presents and apologise to the people for what they had pinched ! The farm land went up to the golf club at Eaglescliffe which my father owned.
We usually went riding on the farm and down ‘Almonds’ which was a field down by the river. Every field had a name but sadly most have now gone. ‘Almonds’ had woods in the shape of an “M” that could be seen from the Friarage the other side of the river in Yarm , when the Meynells lived there. When they moved, the house was occupied by the Scropes and brother David went riding with them. I sometimes went riding with Stephanie Holt whose parents owned the shop in Yarm. I can remember there being cart-horses but they were no longer used to work the land. I learnt to drive on a little grey ‘Fergie’ tractor and help lead bales in during the harvest at the age of ten ! Also I remember corn stooks and hay cocks, before the advent of bales, and used to make dens in them, also the binder before the advent of the “combine harvester” Threshing days were always busy and my mother would give the workmen iced buns and tea for 10 o’clock’s, a cooked lunch and tea. I was always amazed how one workman was able to chew meat without a tooth in his head ! I did not like the men killing the mice and rats with sticks as they ran out of the stacks when they were threshing. The sheep used to be “dipped” near the stables and clipped in the shed by the cow byre. My father had hunting stables, loose boxes and workhorse stables where we kept our ponies. The stack yard was behind the stables and he built a Dutch barn there. There was a village tip on the farm at the end of the orchard opposite Pond Hill (Devil’s Hill). It was good for digging up old bottles. My father must have sold milk around the village and around the area. My brothers still have some of the original bottles (there were crates of them in the byre) and I still have some tops. He stopped supplying milk when pasteurised milk was introduced.
Manor House – Manor House comprises a big farm kitchen with a kitchen range, back kitchen or wash room. The pantry and a playroom have now been taken in by The Grange. There is also a dining room, cellar and a drawing room on the ground floor. On the first floor accessed by the front staircase, there is a master bedroom with toilet and wash room en suite, another large bedroom, nursery, dressing room and bathroom. This could also be accessed by the back staircase. The maid’s bedroom, apple room and bacon room have now been taken over by The Grange. I did not like the bacon room as sometimes maggots would fall off the meat that was hanging in there! There are two further bedrooms and a box room at the top of the house.
The Old Hall – The Old Hall, now sadly in decline, was occupied by the cowman Mr Wallanger and his wife. Mrs Wallanger would ploat and dress chickens for us. Before the war there used to be another cowman, Mr Ward but unfortunately he was killed by a bull. It was said that there was a secret passage in the Old Hall. The main chimney was inset from the outer wall and the passage was behind it and apparently came out by a large stone in the Friarage garden on the other side of the river!! The Old Hall became derelict after the council banned the use of it as a dwelling due to its proximity to the cow byre and animals.
Pump Row – Wells Cottages or Weavers Cottages used to be known as Pump Row. The Rabeys, he was our gardener, lived in the first house and the Hydes in the next. Mrs Hyde used to help in the Manor House. After Mr Rabey died my mother, who owned both of the houses, had them knocked into one.
The Green – I can remember the lamp lighter who came round on a bike and had with him a very long pole to help light the gas lamps. He had a very odd eye. He must have been blind in that eye and as a young child was very frightening to look at.
Also from time to time there was a knife sharpener who came to the top of the Green and people queued up to get their knives sharpened. There was also a rag and bone man with pony and cart and “Robert the fish” and his wife Edna who came round the village once a week with a fish van. They lived in the village up Church Road on the right hand side. Before the war, three of my aunts each planted a walnut tree round the Green. Not a lot happened on the Green except on 5thNovember each year there was a bonfire lit by old Mrs Faber who lived in The Cottage on the left by the Hall entrance. Once she became too frail to light the bonfire the privilege was taken over by my mother. There was also a sport’s day on the Green on Coronation Day.
Houses Round the Green – Jimmy and Mrs Wallanger retired and lived in one of the Ivy Cottages. Their son, Maurice and his wife Connice, lived in the corner cottage at the top of the village next to “our Jean” Hardy who lived in the post office and shop run by the Misses Doughty, two rather plump sisters. I think they were Jean’s aunties. It was always dark and gloomy in the shop. Rose Cottage was at the bottom of the village and was where the Binches lived and who ran the market garden. Miss Coulson used to live in the last cottage on the left going into Pump Row and I used to do little errands for her.
Mrs Dukes and Mrs Hale lived in two houses beyond Ivy Cottages and were keen W.I. members. My mother was a founder member of the Egglescliffe W.I. and they were very keen on acting and used to rehearse the plays at Manor House. Mrs Jackson, the school headmaster’s wife, produced them.
Church Road – Village Farm was then owned by Arthur and Mrs Almond. There was an open field beyond Village Farm before the pub.
The Pub – The pub is called The Pot and Glass and was mainly frequented by the locals some of whom were workmen from the farm and consequently my father did not go in! In fact he never went into any pub unless he was going in to eat in the restaurant.
The Outlook – The Outlook was a house down past the pub and the Hirds lived there. Pamela, the elder of the two daughters, and I used to play a lot together. Her father ran the skin yard in Yarm. ‘Mad’ Harriet used to live beyond the Outlook and she used to clean the church. She never missed a service and that included our wedding.
The War Memorial – This was perfectly placed over-looking the river Tees and Yarm. Among those listed on the Memorial is my Uncle Freddy who was killed in action flying in the first world war.
Stoney Bank – Stoney Bank went down to Yarm with Bob Banks on the left which was just scrub land before getting down to Almonds. You could stand (and still can) in the middle of Yarm bridge with one foot in Yorkshire and the other in Durham.
Butts Lane – There used to be fields all down the north side and I used to get a bus to school in Eaglescliffe and it used to cost one penny.
Church – I can remember Mr Fenning, the vicar, who baptised me, a large man with a beard. In 1969 Mr Nelson was the vicar and it was he who married me to Robert. A tradition in the village was to tie up the wedding gate and the groom would have to scatter money (coins) to clear the children from the gate whilst he untied it. The funeral gate was opposite the school whilst the wedding gate was opposite the pub!! There was a family pew which was right under the pulpit. There is also a window in memory of John Joseph Smith in the Aisleby aisle
The Vicarage – I was in the Brownies and we used to meet in one of the rooms of the vicarage. There was an annual fête in the Vicarage gardens. The W.I. had a very popular stall selling jams and cakes and made a lot of money. The school children danced around the Maypole and there was a mini train to have rides on around the garden. One year I was chosen to present the bouquet to the lady who opened the fête and spent ages practicing how to curtsey!!
The School – The W.I. met in the school as there was no village hall. The school is now the Village Hall !! There was a wooden hut next door which was one of the classrooms. I can remember waiting in there in fancy dress on Coronation Day and brother, David, won the best fancy dress, dressed up as a fairy!!
Miss Crisp’s derelict house, which was full of all sorts, was between the school and the Hall. It was often a place to go and play.
Back Lane – There was an unmade-up road behind the Hall off Back Lane. There were fields along it and I remember skating in the flooded fields one year along with other village children. There was a footpath through the Duel’s farm that came out on the High Road opposite Newsome Road. The allotments were on the right of the path behind a field owned by Binches. Eastbourne Avenue was on the right down the Back Lane and comprised new houses in the village. The sister of Miss Chalmers, the head mistress at Cleveland School, Eaglescliffe, lived there as did the Burrows family. Their daughter, Catherine also went to my school in Eaglescliffe and we often played together.
The school used to have a week off for potato picking in October and I used to help my father pay them at the farm gates. The older pickers used to hide potatoes, which they had pinched, in sacks up the Back Lane.
Rose Cottage – Also known to our family as Luke’s Cottage belonged to the farm. Luke was my father’s foreman and he was known by Luke as ‘the gaffer’. I used to visit his house a lot and I remember he had gas lights and a bath in the scullery. Ada, his daughter, was my nursemaid. The house was opposite the farm entrance and Walter, his son, was my father’s groom.
Ben’s Cottage – Ben, Luke’s father, lived in the house opposite the front entrance to Manor House and he too used to work for my father, but he was very old!!
The above information was provided by e-mail in the absence of a recorded interview.