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"When I went to school, Mr Booth was the head teacher.
He excelled in music and was very kind. I recall, when we
were down and out, he would take us into his kitchen and
give us our breakfast, rather than miss school, and we were
not the only ones to receive his compassion. Miss Awc1iffe
(Hendcliffe?), a spinster, was in charge of the Infants. She
lived just past our home and she begged my mother to let me
go to school. That is how I commenced school at the age of
2½ years. Consequently, commencing school so early, I was
on my own for my final year." "The police sergeant lived in Main Street and he had been a fireman. He was the first one to organise a fire brigade in Barwick . Opposite his house was a sort of cupboard, built onto the wall, where the equipment, hoses, etc. were stored. We used to train on the Potterton Hall grounds, where they had water laid on. He had a stop watch and would time each one. Each hose was 100 feet long. We were only lads, not men, and I often wonder what happened to them, because I left for Australia a year or two later. I eventually became Fire Chief at Ceduna in South Australia. They had water laid on some 300 miles and I was the only one in the area who. knew anything abaut a fire brigade. I could fill a book an this subject, but I claim to be one of the first members of the Barwick Fire Brigade." "Roly Lovett, Joe Balderson and I were the Berwick bell ringers. We had to learn the hard way, as all the senior bell ringers had passed on. It was decided by the Church Council that we should have a reserve ringer in case one of us was unable to carry on. So John Thorpe, a churchwarden, agreed to act as a stand-in." "We arranged to practise one night. Joe was not there, so Roly was No. 1, I was No. 2 and John was No. 3, on the big bell. We explained to John that if the bell got out of control, he should let go of the rope. Well, it did go over too far and broke the stay, and kept going over and over. John tried to hold it back and was lifted to the next floor, the clock chamber, about 20 to 30 feet up. The rope disappeared and John fell down and landed on the stone portion of the window, He was bleeding and, as he was bald, it was a shocking sight. I remained by him, while Roly ran to. Fred Lumb's store/post office. He rang for the doctor to Garforth or Aberford, there being no doctor in Berwic. John was in hospital for a lengthy period." "The Lumb family were really great. Mrs Lumb was a real mother, in every sense of the ward. Fred Lumb helped the cricket team financially when times were tough. He was known as "Mr Awful" as he had a habit of saying, "Isn't it awful" when anything happened in a bad way." . "The photograph of the threshing machine was interesting for me. Father kept a pig or two, in Mrs Pinder's garden and we used to get what they called "pulls", that is short bits of straw, which the farmer had no use for. So I knew a few things about the threshing machine. After I had been on the farm in Australia for a few years, a new harvesting machine was being used with a comb in front and an elevator, I worked that machine an the farm and later an, when working for a firm called Betts, one section of my work duties was an farm machinery. They called me their expert. It was certainly tough going as most of the land had tree stumps in the ground and breakdowns were frequent." "The sheep shearers shown in "Bygone Berwick" must have been real amateurs, according to Australian rules. I learned the hard way, in only a few months after departing England for Australia. It would be difficult to shear a sheep, without being on something solid, like boards, and without a wrist band for the shears." "An unusual character in the village was "Pea Nary". She used to live opposite the Sunday School and cook peas in the evening and was said to provide a little wine to wash the peas down. Every Tuesday evening we went to the Band of Hope meetings and the Superintendant of the Sunday School was in charge. Joe Gelderd was his name and he lived down a lane halfway to Garforth. He was very much against strong drink, in fact he was dynamite. We heard all about the devil and Hell, but not much about Jesus and Heaven. We sang one song every time we had Band of Hope meetings : "My drink is water, from the crystal spring". He would open the door so that Pea Mary could get the message. "I recall the Brambam Hunt. Once a fox went to ground in the Hall Tower field, to the left of the hill, on Daddy Hewson's side. There was a rise in the ground with some burrows in it and the fox went down one for cover. Lord Lascelles was the Master of the Hunt and he was not at all happy with the locals. They were on the side of the fox! They got a fox terrier to get the fox out, but it came out faster than it went in. After that, Lord Lascelles became Lord "Boot" Lace-holes! Once between Scholes and Stanks, the hunt set up a fox on the Barwick side of the railway line. The fox kept ahead till it got to near the very high ground near Stanks Bridge and then it was "Goodbye Fox" when it hopped over the top." "When I revisited Berwick in 1931, I was asked to give a display of boomerang throwing from Hall Tower Hill. I threw it towards the workhouse. It came back O.K. and then passed me and finally dropped into Helm's garden, which at that time was a hen yard. Francis Hewitt was feeding the fowls and the boomerang almost landed at her feet, with the fowls flying in all directions. I was pleased that no harm was done. I presented the boomerang to the village school. It was a genuine one made by an Australian aborigine." "The most famous poacher in my memory was Teddy Collett. He was the wicket keeper for the local team and always had a grin on his face, more so when he had picked up a wicket. The powers that be had tried to capture him for a long time and they eventually did when he used a different colour of wire. He could smell a rabbit. I have known him, when walking through the fields, stop suddenly and dive into the hedge and pick out a rabbit. His crowning glory was when a hare was being chased by dogs up Main Street. If bolted into Collett's yard and Teddy was there to welcome it. It took a long time to get the grin off his face." "There was a broken down shed at the back of the Gascoigne, "Helm's shed". We would go in there when it rained. There was a stone wall at the back, then a gap to the roof. Some men were gambling in there and Tom Robshaw, nick-named " Tom Tit", decided to scare them. From the Dramatic Society's collection, he got a policeman's helmet, and then strolled up and down till someone noticed the helmet. This resulted in a hasty scattering of the gents inside, leaving Tom Robshaw rolling with laughter. He was a real Yorkshire bumorist. The other Tom Robshaw "Master Tom", was the best billiards player in Barwick at that time." "I have a photo of the Avenue of beech trees where the "Willy wagtails" built their nests in the crevices in the wall and where you could see a squirrel occasionally. I remember when last in Barwick that some of the pleasant walks I knew were no longer used. I recall strolling along those paths and becks with Connie Lumb, Marion Braithwaite, Roly Lovett and Cousin Horace. I kept watch over the others, as I was the senior one of the group. I spent many hours roaming about the countryside, I knew where to find mushrooms, hazel nuts, crab apples, plums, honeysuckle, water cress, dog daisies, meadow sweet, violets and cowslips," |