Haltwhistle History and Heritage - User contributions [en-gb]

Featherstone Prisoner of War Camp

2024-03-21T09:05:33Z

Steve: Further online information about Camp 18 referenced.

'''A summary of the talk given by Colin Mills 13th March 2024'''

Last August, Colin was in the Library when he was disappointed to learn that there was nothing available on the Featherstone Prisoner of War camp. He had ‘stuff’ on his computer from a project, facilitated by the Haltwhistle Partnership in 2013 and led by Alison Higgs, to record and digitise a box of records about the camp. Lots of separate documents were a bit of a jumble and needed to be sorted into a chronology to make a readable narrative. The result was a file of 80 pages of A4 sheets plus photographs!

When the Haltwhistle History and Heritage Group asked him to deliver a talk, it was necessary to condense this material into a 40 minutes talk. Not easy.
If you weren’t living at the time, it is very difficult to appreciate today the circumstances of the 1940s. In post-war Britain, many people had come to hate anything German. Having German prisoners of War on your doorstep was going to be difficult to take. The situation within Germany was equally problematic. Hitler’s Nazi party was discredited and any people who had been closely associated were not wanted back soon– especially Officers, some of whom might have been the enforcers of that brutal regime. Noone was quite sure who was who. What followed is the story of how that dilemma was handled at Featherstone and how up to 5,000 members of Germany’s elite military were persuaded to disown their previous allegiances and adopt the ways of a free, democratic society.

That claim to success was not a bit of British boasting. It is what the camp inmates themselves testified. That was why Colin chose to relate the rest of the story not in his words but in the actual words written by the Featherstone camp inmates themselves. It is their testimony that it turned out to be a life-changing experience.

The camp site was large. There were 302 camps in Britain for 400,000 prisoners, averaging 1,300 per camp. Featherstone was set up for 5,000. In 1943-4, it had been a transit camp for Italian and early German prisoners, then used by American forces during the build up to D-Day.

By 1945 it became apparent that in some of the Camps in Britain, senior German officers had tried to take over control of their camps away from the British authorities by coercing junior ranks into non-cooperation. At Comrie in Scotland they even condemned one of their own to death. Those responsible were tried legally under the Geneva Convention and executed. Against this background, in many camps such officers had to be segregated, then transferred to specialist camps like Featherstone. That is how over 4,000 of potentially “difficult” officers were gathered together at Featherstone along with up to 700 German orderlies to look after them, and the British camp guards. The population of the Camp was bigger than the whole of Haltwhistle!

It was decided to try a re-education programme that was almost unthinkable for those times. Colonel Vickers was brought in to take overall charge of the Camp. In order to be effective, he needed the co-operation of the inmates. You cannot force people to learn. It was necessary to persuade, not compel, and that required sympathetic leadership on the German side. He asked for General Heim to join them. He outranked other German officers and that was important in the German miliary psyche. Heim had been condemned in his own country for ordering his troops at Stalingrad to lay down their arms to prevent useless loss of life. Not a Nazi party activist, he was a soldier’ soldier.

Vickers also asked for Herbert Sulzbach to be the head Camp Interpreter. Sulzbach had also been a WWI decorated German officer who fell foul of the Hitler regime because he was a Jew. He had escaped Germany with his family in the 1937. After war was declared, he was interned on the Isle of Man as an ‘enemy alien’ but was released and had volunteered to join the British army.

These three men devised the rehabilitation programme for the Camp. The programme was designed to promote re-education for the now redundant and unemployed former soldiers, in the hope of changing attitudes. Those in charge were risking their careers and reputations with this approach.

English newspapers were freely available. Films depicting the German atrocities at Auschwitz and Belsen were shown. In 1945, an inmate named Schmitt (ex-1st officer on Uboat 1105) wrote in his diary that this was when most of the Prisoners of War learnt for the first time about what had happened in the concentration and extermination camps.

After their initial interviews, Prisoners of War were graded on their level of risk, determined by how committed they had been to the Nazi regime, of which they had all been at least card-carrying members. Category A prisoners would be the first to go home. We have a 1946 camp audit showing there were about 4% of these I the Camp. They wore white patches.

Category B wore grey patches and were the second to go home. Just over half were of this grade.

Category C wore black patches and were considered the most suspect. There was about 34% of these (i.e.1000+) and they remained at least three years in the Camp.
The government had allocated German-speaking Polish Jews to conduct these interviews at Featherstone. The inmates were unhappy about their attitude. After complaints were made, these interviewers were withdrawn and replaced by a team chosen by Sulzbach. This was a big first step as it showed the inmates that they were being listened to.

Boredom began to take over. Within the camp huts, informal talks were shared and as there was nothing to write on, notes were taken on toilet paper! Gradually, books, theatre, lectures, etc were introduced on a more camp-wide, organised basis.

The inmates produced their own newspaper, written in German, which was printed by the Hexham Courant. It was never censored and extra copies were circulated to other camps and sent back to family in Germany.

In 1946, the new Colonel Hugh McBain approached the officers saying that he couldn’t force them to work but they needed to be fit and healthy when they returned home to help rebuild their country. He needed 1,200 volunteers to bring in the harvest. He was inundated with men coming forward and the exercise was a huge success.

The commandant wanted to show thanks and General Heim asked for a Carol Service in Hexham Abbey. The prisoners were missing their families at Christmas. Despite the logistics involved, arrangements were made. The inmates conducted their own service with their organist, minister and choir of 80. The Abbey was full with about 800 prisoners. Apparently, some inmates admitted to have wept during the singing of Stille Nacht.

As a gesture of goodwill, the massive barbed wire around the Camp was taken down, except for one strand to keep the cows out!

Talks helping to develop decency and a democratic society were given and these were backed up by the locals who, despite rationing and so on, were welcoming and kind. The Germans also saw the older generation doing whatever it took to keep the local community going.

At this time, it was still against the law for British families to invite a German into their home. In April 1947 it was published in the national newspapers that it was now okay as long as they vouched for the Germans and got them back to the camp before dark. By that date it was probably the C grade inmates at the Camp that were mainly affected as many of the A and B grades had returned home or were about to be returned.

One inmate wrote that he it had been so long so long since he had spoken to a woman or held out his hand to a child, his hand shook when he drank tea from a proper china cup.

As the remaining inmates prepared to return home, results of exams sat in the camp were credited in Germany and meant that any subsequent educational qualifications were reduced by one year.

One of the camp’s theatre groups group stayed on beyond their release and performed one of the York Mystery plays at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Ties with the local communities remained and when the locals learnt of the terrible conditions in Germany, some sent clothing parcels to the families.

Some prisoners decided to stay here permanently, and one of these is buried in Haltwhistle Cemetery.

Later, the Featherstone Park Association of former Inmates was formed. Meetings were held mainly in Germany but they retained links with this area. The Associations’ constitution states that its purpose is to foster the Spirit of reconciliation and friendship that flowed from their experiences at Featherstone Camp. The Association also erected a plaque in recognition of the contribution that their Life-President Captain Sulzbach made, and it can still be seen on the remaining gate pillar at the Camp entrance. By the time the Association finally ended as all were getting old, it was clear that the members had become valued citizens in Germany, as ambassadors, judges, city mayors, university professors, making a valuable contribution to the re-establishment of their Country.

Colin’s file is with the Haltwhistle Library, where the Library management is considering how best to make it available for the public to read.

==Notes from the editor==
For further information on General Heim refer to the wikipedia entry at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Heim

There is a very small reference to featherstone POW Camp (Camp 18) on wiki under Featherstone Castle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Featherstone_Castle It is surprising that a more extensive entry does not exist.

One infamous inmate of the camp was Gunter d'Alquen about whom you can read more on wiki at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunter_d%27Alquen The work of Herbert Sulzbach is used as a reference for this entry https://www.jstor.org/stable/43752009 . I can find very little else online about Herbert Sulzbach.

The story about the escape from Camp 18 to which Colin referred is told at Northumberland Archives https://northumberlandarchives.com/2019/02/15/escape-from-camp-18/

A description of hw the camp looked recently can be found here https://fabulousnorth.com/featherstone-park-prisoner-of-war-camp/

The Imperial War Museum has a small online entry here https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/78285

Newcastle University has some images online at https://co-curate.ncl.ac.uk/featherstone-prisoner-of-war-camp/

The main source of information is "War on the Banks of the Tyne" a project and accompanying book from the Haltwhistle partnership. The sub website requires attention but can be found here https://haltwhistle.org/wotbott/index.html

Featherstone Prisoner of War Camp

2024-03-21T08:54:36Z

Steve: Initial article.

Gilsland Spa Hotel

2024-03-21T08:34:54Z

Steve:

By Tony Henderson, Newcastle Journal 24.04.2009

== Remembering a unique birthplace; Hotel became a labour ward during war==

Walkers will take a step back into their wartime babyhood this weekend.

During the Second World War Newcastle Corporation took over the Gilsland Spa Hotel in the village of Gilsland on the Cumbria-Northumberland border. The aim was to provide a refuge for Tyneside mothers to give birth, safe from air raids. More than 4,500 babies were born at the hotel.

Now 15 of the wartime babies will link up on Sunday for a walk which starts and finishes - with tea - at the hotel, which is 700ft above sea level.
The 4.5-mile outing is part of the Haltwhistle Walking Festival and has been organised by Maureen Hart, who was born at the hotel on April 27, 1944. Her mother Sybil lived in Heaton in Newcastle and was 40 when she travelled to Gilsland by train and walked uphill to the hotel. "My mother told me she stayed at the hotel for about six weeks," said Maureen, who now lives in Haltwhistle.

She said she loved it there and could look out of the window and see all the primroses. "The hotel is special for me and it would be lovely to know what room I was born in." The walkers will visit the nearby St Mary Magdalene church where many of the babies were baptised.

The walk will be led by Ashley Robson, who was also born at the hotel in 1943. The family home was at Fenham in Newcastle and now Ashley lives in Denton in the city.
He said: "Around 25% of all Tyneside births during the war took place at the hotel, which is amazing. As well as being a safer place for mothers and babies I think they also wanted to free up hospital beds in Newcastle because of the expected casualties from air raids on targets like the big Vickers factory."

"Being born at the hotel is something that we all have in common." From the turn of the last century, the hotel was used as a convalescent home for Co-operative Society members in the North of England but it also welcomed paying visitors as well as the patients.

Today, the Co-op Group owns 95% of the shares in the 93-bedroom hotel, with the rest spread among Co-op societies such as Seaton Valley and Penrith.
General manager Les Thompson said:" The whole building was taken over during the war and at that time it had around 140 rooms and would have been quite Victorian. We have quite a few people who call in and say they were born at the hotel." People can join the walk at 1.30pm at the hotel. There is a £10 charge which includes tea.

==Famous Patient==

The last woman to be hanged in Britain, Ruth Ellis, gave birth to a son at Gilsland in 1944. She was executed in 1955 for shooting her boyfriend.

==Update March 2024==

The co-op sold Gilsland Spa and it may have changed hands again since. It is not open anymore as a hotel.

Gilsland Spa Hotel

2024-01-21T17:22:02Z

Steve: Initial content

== Remembering a unique birthplace; Hotel became a labour ward during war==

Walkers will take a step back into their wartime babyhood this weekend.

During the Second World War Newcastle Corporation took over the Gilsland Spa Hotel in the village of Gilsland on the Cumbria-Northumberland border. The aim was to provide a refuge for Tyneside mothers to give birth, safe from air raids. More than 4,500 babies were born at the hotel.

Now 15 of the wartime babies will link up on Sunday for a walk which starts and finishes - with tea - at the hotel, which is 700ft above sea level.
The 4.5-mile outing is part of the Haltwhistle Walking Festival and has been organised by Maureen Hart, who was born at the hotel on April 27, 1944. Her mother Sybil lived in Heaton in Newcastle and was 40 when she travelled to Gilsland by train and walked uphill to the hotel. "My mother told me she stayed at the hotel for about six weeks," said Maureen, who now lives in Haltwhistle.

She said she loved it there and could look out of the window and see all the primroses. "The hotel is special for me and it would be lovely to know what room I was born in." The walkers will visit the nearby St Mary Magdalene church where many of the babies were baptised.

The walk will be led by Ashley Robson, who was also born at the hotel in 1943. The family home was at Fenham in Newcastle and now Ashley lives in Denton in the city.
He said: "Around 25% of all Tyneside births during the war took place at the hotel, which is amazing. As well as being a safer place for mothers and babies I think they also wanted to free up hospital beds in Newcastle because of the expected casualties from air raids on targets like the big Vickers factory."

"Being born at the hotel is something that we all have in common." From the turn of the last century, the hotel was used as a convalescent home for Co-operative Society members in the North of England but it also welcomed paying visitors as well as the patients.

Today, the Co-op Group owns 95% of the shares in the 93-bedroom hotel, with the rest spread among Co-op societies such as Seaton Valley and Penrith.
General manager Les Thompson said:" The whole building was taken over during the war and at that time it had around 140 rooms and would have been quite Victorian. We have quite a few people who call in and say they were born at the hotel." People can join the walk at 1.30pm at the hotel. There is a £10 charge which includes tea.

==Famous Patient==

The last woman to be hanged in Britain, Ruth Ellis, gave birth to a son at Gilsland in 1944. She was executed in 1955 for shooting her boyfriend.

Tony Henderson, Newcastle Journal 24.04.2009

A link to Ruth Ellis

2024-01-21T17:17:28Z

Steve: Initial content

Clare Andrea (Andy) Neilson Hornby (1944-1982)

Andy was born on 15th September 1944 at the Maternity Hospital, Gilsland, Northumberland. He was the son of Ruth Neilson*, later Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain, then 17, and a married Canadian soldier. He sent money for about a year, and then stopped. Andy eventually went to live with Ellis's mother, Berta (Elisaberta Neilson, née Cothals, formerly Goodall, a Belgian refugee) who was, in 1969, found unconscious in a gas-filled room in her flat in Hemel Hempstead. She never fully recovered and did not speak coherently ever again. This was a most tragic and complex family. His step-father, George Johnston Ellis, descended into alcoholism and hanged himself in 1958. Andy, who was 10 at the time of his mother's execution, suffered irreparable psychological damage and took his own life in a Paddington bedsit on 17th June 1982.

The judge presiding at the trial of his mother, Sir Cecil Havers, had sent money every year for Andy's upkeep, and Christmas Humphreys, the prosecution counsel, paid for Andy's funeral. Ruth Ellis (1926-1955) was the last woman to be executed in Britain. Andy destroyed the marker on her grave at Amersham, St Mary's Cemetery in Buckinghamshire, and it has never been replaced (her remains were interred there following a re-building programme at the prison). Andy had a half-sister, Georgina, who was three when her mother was executed. She was adopted when her father hanged himself three years later. She died of cancer aged 50.

* Ruth's father, Arthur Hornby, was a cellist from Manchester who spent much of his time playing on Atlantic cruise liners. Arthur changed his surname to Neilson after the birth of Ruth's elder sister Muriel (subsequently Jakubait). Ruth was born Neilson and it was as Neilson that she married George Ellis in Tonbridge, Kent in 1950 - hence Andy was given that surname.

[[Category:People]]

MediaWiki:Mainpage

2024-01-06T09:44:57Z

Steve: Created page with "Main Page"

Main Page

History and Tour of Holy Cross Church

2024-01-05T20:43:58Z

Steve: Created page with "''* This information is provided by Colin Mills following a visit he hosted to Holy Cross Church for the Haltwhistle Heritage Group on 4/10/2023.'' ==Introduction== Colin began by recapping some of the information from his talk about King Edward I in August to set the scene: * There are possible connections to St Aidan which survive in the place name ‘Eden’s Lawn’. * The Anglo-Saxon church became large and well endowed. During the reign of King Knut, it was inc..."

''* This information is provided by Colin Mills following a visit he hosted to Holy Cross Church for the Haltwhistle Heritage Group on 4/10/2023.''

==Introduction==

Colin began by recapping some of the information from his talk about King Edward I in August to set the scene:

* There are possible connections to St Aidan which survive in the place name ‘Eden’s Lawn’.
* The Anglo-Saxon church became large and well endowed. During the reign of King Knut, it was included in a lady’s dowry on her marriage to king Duncan of Scotland, and its royal status meant it was protected during the Scottish raids
* The monks of Arbroath Abbey built a ‘new’ church in 1230, which is essentially the building we have today, and sits exactly on the footprint of the original structure.
* It also survived the Reiver raids of late 13th and early 16th centuries with little damage.

Colin suggested that he give a run-down of the history aspects before we each took a look around the church. We could then ask questions about features which were of most interest to us.

From about 1558 to about 1750, only 5 new churches were consecrated in this area of Northumberland. In the following 250 years, driven by the industrial revolution, this number rose to 153. These ‘modern’ churches were warmer and drier. They also had pews which were the same for all, regardless of social standing. Previously, pews were status dominated by the gentry. They were mainly box pews, installed individually by well off parishioners. A haphazard layout resulted over time.

In August 1812, we read that new pews were erected. They were allocated to Rev Hollingsworth’s family (he was rector at the time) and local dignitaries after public auction. The money generated paid for a People’s Gallery in the north-west corner.

In 1869, Canon Lowe became priest at Holy Cross. He realised that the church was being left behind and was badly in need of a makeover. He began to raise funds and make plans to bring about this refurbishment.

Canon Lowe was aware of past local commissions in the parish for John Dobson, the famous architect, who was responsible for the construction of Central Station in Newcastle. He had been involved with projects at Unthank Hall, Bellister Castle and St Cuthbert’s, Greenhead and the Old Vicarage that still adjoins the burial ground to the south of Holy Cross church.

However, Dobson had recently died but his practice in Newcastle had recently been bought by Robert Johnson FIA and his partner. Johnson was well regarded by Sir George Gilbert Scott and so was engaged by Canon Lowe to undertake the redesign, repair and reorganization of Holy Cross.

Johnson’s concept and design was unusual as it did not follow the then current convention to rebuild in the Gothic style that had been fashionable up to this time. As a result, the ‘Early English’ style of Holy Cross was preferred, and all building changes were harmonious.

==The Chancel==

As a minimum, a chancel comprises of three walls (but not the chancel arch), a weatherproof roof and windows glazed with plain glass. It was a Lay Rector’s ancient responsibility in law to ensure that the chancel was fit for the Eucharist to be celebrated.

The Restoration Committee therefore declared that the refit of the chancel was not their responsibility. However, the chancel was not in a good condition; and it would be beneficial to repair the chancel and church at the same time and in a similar style.

The Lay Rector at this time was Sir Edward Blackett. The meeting’s minutes show that after 4 months of negotiation, he agreed “to restore the chancel, in a manner commensurate with the Parish’s intention to restore the nave, for a sum of £350 that would release him from any other claim interest of the works currently proposed.”

==The Faculty (a licence or authorization from the diocese to make changes)==

With funding in place, the church’s specific needs could be clarified. In addition to the actual building work, Johnson envisioned that some fixtures in the church (e.g., the pulpit, the font) would be disturbed to enable new flooring and would need to be reset or replaced afterwards.

The faculty stipulated the following:

* The general restoration and repair of the church.
* The necessary work to be funded by public subscription.
* The gallery to be removed.
* Repairs to all windows, inserting appropriate stonework and suitable reglazing with strong, rolled cathedral glass.
* The removal of earth against the exterior church walls (they were very damp).
* The erection of a new bell gable, a vestry and a heating cellar (first mention of this).
* The exhumation and re-interment of (unknown number of) burials within and outside the church as may be necessary to accomplish the restoration. (a lot of discretion here).

The budget for the works was estimated at £3000 to be raised by public subscription.

==The Nave==

It is unusually square, the aisles being integral within the original build and not added later. The same is true for the high clerestory windows giving the impression that this may have been intended as the first phase of a monastic building. None of this was changed by Johnson, who nevertheless removed the rotten sash windows that had at some time been inserted in the wall behind where today’s kitchen stands. He re-styled them consistent with the rest of the church.

==The Pulpit==

Old drawings show that the old pulpit was within the main body of the nave, beside the nearest pillar in front of the present lectern. Before the age of microphones, it was nearer to the congregation. Before electricity, an oil lamp could be hung from the pillar to illuminate the vicar’s sermon notes. The pulpit probably fell to bits when removed for new flooring.

A new pulpit was designed by Johnson himself and cost £25. His new lectern was £10, and the altar rail was £14.

==The Old Stoup==

This is the oldest object in Holy Cross church, possibly of the Anglo-Saxon period. It looks like a crudely carved font or water basin intended by its shape to be fixed to a wall. According to local legend, it was used as a baptismal font by Paulinus. In the rebuild it was preserved and re-sited; and now stands to the left of the vestry door.

==The Font==

The Bowl is probably the original of the monks in 1230. They had high standards. The inside is finely carved, perfectly round and smooth. The rim is well-worn with a patina from much use and shows places where an ornate cover would have been fixed. However, it has a crude exterior that speaks of damage, possibly vandalism during the time of the puritan iconoclasts. The crude restoration, including a Scottish thistle, bears the date and the initials RP of Robert Priestman who was the first priest appointed after that period. (see the list of vicars). Soon after, a minute records a bishop’s visitation ordering that a new cover be made, as it was improper to be without one. It now stands at the rear of the church, reset by Johnson on a Victorian plinth.

==The Flooring==

The old floor was of stone slabs set on beaten earth. These were taken up, internal graves removed, and the ground dug out so that the new interior floor, when finished, would be level with the new paths outside the entrance. The new floor would be raised up, “ventilated” and built of pitch pine. A heating cellar was also installed, and the heating channels can be seen along the aisles. The central aisle in the nave was specified to be finished with red and black Staffordshire tiles.

Two members of the Restoration Committee had been appointed to act with the vicar should any burials be found. They were given approval to reinter he burials without further reference or faculty. Flexibility with discretion!

Likewise, when walls were stripped back and memorial tablets were removed, they could decide which should be reinstated and where they should be sited.

==The West End==

The west end wall pf the church was almost falling down and needed to be rebuilt. This was when the ‘new bell gable’ was erected and the large west window was created with plain, cathedral rolled glass.

==The Stained Glass Windows==

All the windows in the original church and the 1872 restoration were all in plain glass. Only buildings such as Westminster Abbey, York Minster, etc generally had coloured glass, most of which was very old, rare and precious and was symbolic of their status. Parish churches were almost always glazed in plain glass to admit more light when internal lighting was poor.

However, in the late 1880s the newly rich gentry wanted a way to honour their sons who had died and were possible buried overseas following military or diplomatic service. Many stained-glass companies arose. The trend was then taken up as a way to remember local family members. Most of Holy Cross’s stained-glass windows are of that kind and date from that period.

The main chancel windows over the altar are the most striking and were the first to be installed. They are accredited to William Morris Co. and carry his trademark wheatsheaf. There is no panel incorporated in the design to display the name of the benefactor. The date of the faculty is currently unknown.

The Chancel Roof is highly decorated and is a particularly fine piece of art, reputedly designed by Edward Burne-Jones. It is much admired and photographed by visitors who wonder why so much care was lavished on a roof.

The four stained glass windows in the north wall of the nave represent Mary, Elizabeth, Salome and Eunice. The benefactor was Miss Constance Lowe in memory of her mother. The faculty was approved in 1898 with a note: “as attached to the church door”.

The window in the ‘south aisle, east end thereof’ depicts King Edwin and St Aidan. It is a gift from Canon Lowe in memory of his late wife, Elizabeth, who died in 1897.

It would appear that there are no official papers relating to the windows in the west end of the nave. Fortunately, there is a letter of thanks from the committee after the installation. The roundel window high above and rarely noticed shows the pelican of the Blenkinsopp-Coulson family crest. This crest can also be seen in the family memorial tablet on the north wall of the chancel. Two ladies from the family commissioned the window in memory of their late father.

On the right of the altar rail, the memorial slab to John Ridley commemorates the cousin of Bishop Ridley (martyr, 1555) who was born nearby at Unthank Hall.

The reredos behind the altar was a gift of the widow and family members of the late Canon Ives who was vicar for over 40 years. Regrettably, no faculty with further information has been found and the small brass plaque on the north wall is now corroded and unreadable. Strangely, though, a faculty permitting it to be painted is at Woodhorn. This either did not take place or was afterwards cleaned off.

The reredos is unique for the north on England in being of a nativity theme, not the usual Passover or Easter theme. It is complete with a stable, St Mary with the Christ child and Joseph, three kings with gifts, a lamb and a donkey. The figures are in clothing reminiscent of earlier Dutch paintings and could have been recycled, a casualty perhaps that was not considered to fit in and was therefore discarded by e.g., George Gilbert Scott when “modernising” another church into their neo-Gothic style. It is, however, like an early version of our modern Christmas Crib. It is much admired by visitors.

[[Category:Streets and Premises]]
[[Category:Heritage Walks]]

Edward I in Haltwhistle AD1306, and related topics

2024-01-05T20:37:28Z

Steve:

''* Information provided by Colin Mill 2/8/2023 for a talk for the Haltwhistle History Group''

These notes mainly cover the years 1297 to 1307, just ten years.

We have here an itinerary of King Edward I journey across Durham and Northumberland in the autumn before he dies. You can keep these copies if you wish – we can get more copies from the library if there are not enough. The bits that are printed in bold are the official itinerary from the national archives. The other comments are my suggestions about what we might read into the basic data. So this is now available in Haltwhistle and will save you a journey at least to Durham University Library that was the nearest copy I could find for this.

You will see that on September 7th, 8th 9th in the year 1306 King Edward I signed state papers in Haltwhistle.

He is not recorded to have been previously in any of the places in between Durham and Carlisle. His journey was continuous and consistently from east to west with no detours or doubling back. They seem to have travelled on what was left of the old Roman roads. Again, we can estimate the short distances between the various stopping points.

These tend to confirm other evidence that Edward I was a very sick man and could only travel 3 to 5 miles a day, necessarily by the shortest, comfortable route. Marc Morris (wave his book) in his well-researched biography “Edward I, A Great and Terrible King” found evidence (that unfortunately he doesn’t cite) that Edward, after staying 4 nights in Hexham, gave to one of the monks who tended his illness £1 gift as a thank-you. A lot of money in those days. He was clearly suffering; some suggest from a form of dysentery. As a proud man, a military man, who been on three crusades to the Holy Land, he was used to living rough, and riding on his big, charger horse; so it must have been a huge blow to his pride that on some days here he was actually drawn on a litter.

As an aside, Henry Sumerson, (wave booklet) states that before leaving Carlisle for the last time in the Spring of 1307, he had not been seen in public for several days and there were rumours that he was already dead. On hearing this he stubbornly insisted on riding out through the city on his great charger dressed in his full royal regalia. He made it for less than a mile beyond the city walls before he collapsed and had to revert to the more practical mode of travel.

Nevertheless, he still had a lot of work to do. Having been away from London for many months, he still needed to transact national and international business as he went. Normally, on his royal journeys about Britain and in France, a day’s journey would have been at least ten miles; and he was accompanied by the royal train of about 200 people with 20 wagons of gear and supplies. This must have had a bearing on where they would stop overnight. We can use our imagination. There must have been a team of scouts regularly going ahead to find suitable spots for overnight stops. The priority was to find secure, preferably stone built structures for him and his immediate entourage. Others in his entourage were probably being billeted up to several miles around and about. But on horse they could reach the king within half an hour if need be.

Strong buildings in stone were few, very expensive to build, especially in the north of England. Practically the only such buildings apart from the royal castles seem to have belonged to the church, anything from a well-built but humble parish church to large priories, abbeys and cathedrals. Later, while the King overwintered at Lanercost his son, the crown prince, was quartered at Weatherall Priory with his own entourage. That’s how it worked. Again, Henry Sumerson says that when Edward arrived in a city like Carlisle in the following Spring, there were only 4 stone buildings left standing within the city walls, the Castle, the White Friars, the Blackfriars and what is now the Cathedral.

There are a number of other interesting stories that spin off this topic, so as we have a bit of time I would like to just touch on them briefly, because they also link Haltwhistle and Tynedale with other aspects of local and national history at the time.

First: The itinerary merely gives a location and we have to guess where he stayed. In Haltwhistle, the church was by far the most outstanding and secure building at the time.

It was the same size then as it is today. There are many traces of the original stonework that confirm that it is on the same footprint. (Peter Ryder’s survey, 2005/6). We know there was an earlier Anglo-Saxon church in the town. We don’t know exactly where it was, or how big it was, but it was still the most important Church in this area, and it was rich. In the reign of King Canute, or Knut as he is now called, (and this was before 1066 and the Norman conquest) King Knut wished to confirm a peace with a Scottish king by the name of Duncan; so in 1021, a marriage was arranged. They often did so in those days. Pity the poor ladies who had little choice. Incidentally, mention of this King Duncan reminds me that he was the one murdered by Macbeth in the Shakespeare play. Bet you never thought there was a Haltwhistle connection with Shakespeare! But to come back to the main story, King Duncan was obliged to marry the sister or near female relative of the Earl Siward, who was the powerful military governor of all of Northumberland and Yorkshire. He guarded the kingdom’s northern border and charged with keeping things quiet. With Knut’s approval, the bride from Earl Siward’s family brought to her royal husband King as an acceptable marriage dowry in such circumstances a portfolio of English property, That comprised the 12 townships of South Tindale and Haltwhistle Church. If you didn’t already know them, the 12 townships are now generally accepted as Haltwhistle, Kirkhaugh, Knarsdale, Thirlwall, Walltown, Plenmellor, Melkridge, Ridley, Thorngrafton, Whitfield, Ouston, Elrington and significantly also the Church of Haltwhistle. So even then, that earlier church in Haltwhistle must have become large and rich enough with substantial revenues from tythes and rents to have been a worthy part of a royal dowry. All of that property now passed officially to the most powerful of the three Scottish Kings that operated in those days.

In was customary that a man always took over and managed his wife’s property. Several generations later, one King William the Lion of Scotland wanted to found his own royal abbey at Arbroath, it needed funds; so he endowed it with his gift of 23 well-off churches that he owned, including Haltwhistle. The deed still survives, and I have seen the name Hautwesyl in a digital copy of the list in the surviving chartulary of Arbroath Cathedral. The monks of Arbroath then set about building a new church on a grand scale. It was finished and dedicated to the Holy Cross about 1230. It was strong, sound and structurally intact when Edward I came by about 76 years later.

Now, I said the church was intact. That brings me to introduce you to another snippet of information. Walter of Guisborough was monk at an abbey on the North Yorkshire moors with Scottish connections on the Baliol side. He had access to information on both sides in the Scottish wars. His passion was recording history and through his numerous church contacts he amassed a vast amount of detail. Some called him a latter-day Bede. His account of the late 1290’s and early 1300’s is so valuable because he and his correspondents were, between them, virtually eyewitnesses. I have a printed copy here. It’s still in the original Latin.

He records the Scottish raids on the north of England in 1297/8 in great detail from the sack of Carlisle town, Berwick, Rothbury, Alnwick, Cumberland, Allerdale, Derwent, Cockermouth, Durham, Annandale and Hexham and the burning of Hexham. He even recounts the conversation between William Wallace and the monks who returned next day to try to perform t their daily Eucharist in the smouldering ruins. So what’s the point? Nowhere in these months of attacks is there any mention of attacks on Haltwhistle town or its church. Probably because it belonged to a royal Scottish Abbey and the Scottish King would have been very displeased with Wallace and his leader, the Earl of Moray, if they had done so. So, another good reason for thinking that Haltwhistle church was almost certainly intact and in outline very much like it is today when Edward I chose to stay there. By the way, staying in a church was not a sacrilege. Only the chancel and the burial ground counted as holy ground. Many non-religious community activities took place in the nave of a church.

One last aside. In Scotland, Haily means holy. Holyrood is the modern spelling of the Haily Rude, the Holy Cross of calvary. Here in the borders we have many words used in common on both sides. We have locally the Haily Mary spring near Staward Peel in Allenbanks, also in the Halley Pike lough. It has nothing to do with Halleys comet or fishing. It is very old and means the lough by a holy hill that probably had a cross on it.

In Edinburgh today, Holyrood Park, that is also site of Holyrood Abbey (now long gone), Holyrood Palace (the Scottish official home of King Charles when he visits), and the building that today houses Scotland’s Parliament, all derive their name from a couple of incidents. Queen Margaret (later to be Saint Margaret of Scotland) was given a relic of the Holy Cross of Calvary by the monks of Waltham Abbey when she travelled north to marry a Scottish King Malcolm. So, each of the later Scottish Kings owned it. King David I decided to build his first new Abbey in the park as a thanksgiving for a miraculous recovery from a hunting accident on Holy cross day in the park. Symbolically, he presented the abbey with the relic of the Holy Cross and they dedicated the abbey with that name. The holy relic became a place of pilgrimage and even drew pilgrims away from St. Cuthbert’s shrine in Durham. It also became customary to dedicate new churches in Scotland to the Holy Cross, it having royal approval so to speak.

Edward I was a religious man and sort of acquired relics from the peoples he conquered. Conquerors tend to do that. He held the Black Rood, the holy cross of the former princes of Wales. When he conquered Scotland in 1296, at the same time as he removed the coronation stone of Scone to Westminster Abbey, he took possession of the Haily Rude of Scotland. With his acquisitive nature, he had taken possession or been given a host of other religious objects. After he died in 1307, his household staff at Burgh-upon-Sands had to make an immediate inventory of all his personal possessions that had become the property of his absent son King Edward II. In a wooden box with a cross on the lid they found 72 holy relics that Edward I took with him everywhere on his travels. It included the same, now famous relic of the Holy Cross of Scotland. We can read the full inventory in Latin and English here in Henry Summerson’ booklet. The list now makes it virtually certain that when Edward I stayed in Haltwhistle church on 11th -14th September 1306, he had with him inside our church the very relic that gave the church its dedication and name. None has previously made that connection. You are the first to hear it. They say that what goes around comes around. Strange that!

I have no intention of publishing this paper; and as my personal notes I now share them with you being fellow members of the private Haltwhistle History Society. If others wish to pursue this subject, it might give some clues as to where to start; but they are advised to check everything for themselves and acknowledge any copyrights of items that they verify and intend to use in a public context.

[[Category:People]]

Edward I in Haltwhistle AD1306, and related topics

2024-01-05T20:37:02Z

Steve: Created page with "''* Information provided by Colin Mill 2/8/2023 to a talk for the Haltwhistle History Group'' These notes mainly cover the years 1297 to 1307, just ten years. We have here an itinerary of King Edward I journey across Durham and Northumberland in the autumn before he dies. You can keep these copies if you wish – we can get more copies from the library if there are not enough. The bits that are printed in bold are the official itinerary from the national archives..."

''* Information provided by Colin Mill 2/8/2023 to a talk for the Haltwhistle History Group''

These notes mainly cover the years 1297 to 1307, just ten years.

We have here an itinerary of King Edward I journey across Durham and Northumberland in the autumn before he dies. You can keep these copies if you wish – we can get more copies from the library if there are not enough. The bits that are printed in bold are the official itinerary from the national archives. The other comments are my suggestions about what we might read into the basic data. So this is now available in Haltwhistle and will save you a journey at least to Durham University Library that was the nearest copy I could find for this.

You will see that on September 7th, 8th 9th in the year 1306 King Edward I signed state papers in Haltwhistle.

He is not recorded to have been previously in any of the places in between Durham and Carlisle. His journey was continuous and consistently from east to west with no detours or doubling back. They seem to have travelled on what was left of the old Roman roads. Again, we can estimate the short distances between the various stopping points.

These tend to confirm other evidence that Edward I was a very sick man and could only travel 3 to 5 miles a day, necessarily by the shortest, comfortable route. Marc Morris (wave his book) in his well-researched biography “Edward I, A Great and Terrible King” found evidence (that unfortunately he doesn’t cite) that Edward, after staying 4 nights in Hexham, gave to one of the monks who tended his illness £1 gift as a thank-you. A lot of money in those days. He was clearly suffering; some suggest from a form of dysentery. As a proud man, a military man, who been on three crusades to the Holy Land, he was used to living rough, and riding on his big, charger horse; so it must have been a huge blow to his pride that on some days here he was actually drawn on a litter.

As an aside, Henry Sumerson, (wave booklet) states that before leaving Carlisle for the last time in the Spring of 1307, he had not been seen in public for several days and there were rumours that he was already dead. On hearing this he stubbornly insisted on riding out through the city on his great charger dressed in his full royal regalia. He made it for less than a mile beyond the city walls before he collapsed and had to revert to the more practical mode of travel.

Nevertheless, he still had a lot of work to do. Having been away from London for many months, he still needed to transact national and international business as he went. Normally, on his royal journeys about Britain and in France, a day’s journey would have been at least ten miles; and he was accompanied by the royal train of about 200 people with 20 wagons of gear and supplies. This must have had a bearing on where they would stop overnight. We can use our imagination. There must have been a team of scouts regularly going ahead to find suitable spots for overnight stops. The priority was to find secure, preferably stone built structures for him and his immediate entourage. Others in his entourage were probably being billeted up to several miles around and about. But on horse they could reach the king within half an hour if need be.

Strong buildings in stone were few, very expensive to build, especially in the north of England. Practically the only such buildings apart from the royal castles seem to have belonged to the church, anything from a well-built but humble parish church to large priories, abbeys and cathedrals. Later, while the King overwintered at Lanercost his son, the crown prince, was quartered at Weatherall Priory with his own entourage. That’s how it worked. Again, Henry Sumerson says that when Edward arrived in a city like Carlisle in the following Spring, there were only 4 stone buildings left standing within the city walls, the Castle, the White Friars, the Blackfriars and what is now the Cathedral.

There are a number of other interesting stories that spin off this topic, so as we have a bit of time I would like to just touch on them briefly, because they also link Haltwhistle and Tynedale with other aspects of local and national history at the time.

First: The itinerary merely gives a location and we have to guess where he stayed. In Haltwhistle, the church was by far the most outstanding and secure building at the time.

It was the same size then as it is today. There are many traces of the original stonework that confirm that it is on the same footprint. (Peter Ryder’s survey, 2005/6). We know there was an earlier Anglo-Saxon church in the town. We don’t know exactly where it was, or how big it was, but it was still the most important Church in this area, and it was rich. In the reign of King Canute, or Knut as he is now called, (and this was before 1066 and the Norman conquest) King Knut wished to confirm a peace with a Scottish king by the name of Duncan; so in 1021, a marriage was arranged. They often did so in those days. Pity the poor ladies who had little choice. Incidentally, mention of this King Duncan reminds me that he was the one murdered by Macbeth in the Shakespeare play. Bet you never thought there was a Haltwhistle connection with Shakespeare! But to come back to the main story, King Duncan was obliged to marry the sister or near female relative of the Earl Siward, who was the powerful military governor of all of Northumberland and Yorkshire. He guarded the kingdom’s northern border and charged with keeping things quiet. With Knut’s approval, the bride from Earl Siward’s family brought to her royal husband King as an acceptable marriage dowry in such circumstances a portfolio of English property, That comprised the 12 townships of South Tindale and Haltwhistle Church. If you didn’t already know them, the 12 townships are now generally accepted as Haltwhistle, Kirkhaugh, Knarsdale, Thirlwall, Walltown, Plenmellor, Melkridge, Ridley, Thorngrafton, Whitfield, Ouston, Elrington and significantly also the Church of Haltwhistle. So even then, that earlier church in Haltwhistle must have become large and rich enough with substantial revenues from tythes and rents to have been a worthy part of a royal dowry. All of that property now passed officially to the most powerful of the three Scottish Kings that operated in those days.

In was customary that a man always took over and managed his wife’s property. Several generations later, one King William the Lion of Scotland wanted to found his own royal abbey at Arbroath, it needed funds; so he endowed it with his gift of 23 well-off churches that he owned, including Haltwhistle. The deed still survives, and I have seen the name Hautwesyl in a digital copy of the list in the surviving chartulary of Arbroath Cathedral. The monks of Arbroath then set about building a new church on a grand scale. It was finished and dedicated to the Holy Cross about 1230. It was strong, sound and structurally intact when Edward I came by about 76 years later.

Now, I said the church was intact. That brings me to introduce you to another snippet of information. Walter of Guisborough was monk at an abbey on the North Yorkshire moors with Scottish connections on the Baliol side. He had access to information on both sides in the Scottish wars. His passion was recording history and through his numerous church contacts he amassed a vast amount of detail. Some called him a latter-day Bede. His account of the late 1290’s and early 1300’s is so valuable because he and his correspondents were, between them, virtually eyewitnesses. I have a printed copy here. It’s still in the original Latin.

He records the Scottish raids on the north of England in 1297/8 in great detail from the sack of Carlisle town, Berwick, Rothbury, Alnwick, Cumberland, Allerdale, Derwent, Cockermouth, Durham, Annandale and Hexham and the burning of Hexham. He even recounts the conversation between William Wallace and the monks who returned next day to try to perform t their daily Eucharist in the smouldering ruins. So what’s the point? Nowhere in these months of attacks is there any mention of attacks on Haltwhistle town or its church. Probably because it belonged to a royal Scottish Abbey and the Scottish King would have been very displeased with Wallace and his leader, the Earl of Moray, if they had done so. So, another good reason for thinking that Haltwhistle church was almost certainly intact and in outline very much like it is today when Edward I chose to stay there. By the way, staying in a church was not a sacrilege. Only the chancel and the burial ground counted as holy ground. Many non-religious community activities took place in the nave of a church.

One last aside. In Scotland, Haily means holy. Holyrood is the modern spelling of the Haily Rude, the Holy Cross of calvary. Here in the borders we have many words used in common on both sides. We have locally the Haily Mary spring near Staward Peel in Allenbanks, also in the Halley Pike lough. It has nothing to do with Halleys comet or fishing. It is very old and means the lough by a holy hill that probably had a cross on it.

In Edinburgh today, Holyrood Park, that is also site of Holyrood Abbey (now long gone), Holyrood Palace (the Scottish official home of King Charles when he visits), and the building that today houses Scotland’s Parliament, all derive their name from a couple of incidents. Queen Margaret (later to be Saint Margaret of Scotland) was given a relic of the Holy Cross of Calvary by the monks of Waltham Abbey when she travelled north to marry a Scottish King Malcolm. So, each of the later Scottish Kings owned it. King David I decided to build his first new Abbey in the park as a thanksgiving for a miraculous recovery from a hunting accident on Holy cross day in the park. Symbolically, he presented the abbey with the relic of the Holy Cross and they dedicated the abbey with that name. The holy relic became a place of pilgrimage and even drew pilgrims away from St. Cuthbert’s shrine in Durham. It also became customary to dedicate new churches in Scotland to the Holy Cross, it having royal approval so to speak.

Edward I was a religious man and sort of acquired relics from the peoples he conquered. Conquerors tend to do that. He held the Black Rood, the holy cross of the former princes of Wales. When he conquered Scotland in 1296, at the same time as he removed the coronation stone of Scone to Westminster Abbey, he took possession of the Haily Rude of Scotland. With his acquisitive nature, he had taken possession or been given a host of other religious objects. After he died in 1307, his household staff at Burgh-upon-Sands had to make an immediate inventory of all his personal possessions that had become the property of his absent son King Edward II. In a wooden box with a cross on the lid they found 72 holy relics that Edward I took with him everywhere on his travels. It included the same, now famous relic of the Holy Cross of Scotland. We can read the full inventory in Latin and English here in Henry Summerson’ booklet. The list now makes it virtually certain that when Edward I stayed in Haltwhistle church on 11th -14th September 1306, he had with him inside our church the very relic that gave the church its dedication and name. None has previously made that connection. You are the first to hear it. They say that what goes around comes around. Strange that!

I have no intention of publishing this paper; and as my personal notes I now share them with you being fellow members of the private Haltwhistle History Society. If others wish to pursue this subject, it might give some clues as to where to start; but they are advised to check everything for themselves and acknowledge any copyrights of items that they verify and intend to use in a public context.

[[Category:People]]

A Town Walk – through the past, shops, Reivers, streams and Pigs

2024-01-05T20:34:17Z

Steve:

On Thursday 31st August 2023 a town walk organised by the library was led by Maureen Hardcastle and Lorna Silverstein along Westgate from the library and main street as far as the Wappings. Everyone, new to the town or born there, would have learned something from these two lovely ladies and we had great fun on the walk as well to make this a great experience, finishing with coffee at the Centre of Britain Hotel.

Living in the area for only 30 years meant I (Editor Steve Gibbon) learned a lot. I provide some brief notes below but the topic deserves a much more extensive record with a lot more pictures so I will look to do this in the winter with possibly a dedicated website.

So the first thing I learned was the derivation of the name Wappings – Saxon for a wet place. In fact, the Wappings at Haltwhistle is the site of a stream, now culverted under the road and house on the South side.

We started at the library, once the Mechanics Institute for the improvement of the education of miner’s (and others) children. Here the original façade still exists with the new modern library behind it.

The next building on the same side of the road is the Methodist Church (see more about this in the main text above) where I was surprised to learn that the basement could hold up to 200 children. The basement is no longer used.

In Scarth’s Yard there is a Nissan Hut – the last from the PoW Camp at Featherstone. At the entrance to the yard there is a loading bay on the right which was once the loading bay for Oliver and Snowdens Agricultural Merchants.

The shop currently available to rent which was previously Kasteale café used to be Normans Butchers. It was closed on Mondays as that was killing day in the days before animals had to be taken to an abattoir.

The antique shop used to be a Greengrocers and then a Post Office. Tynerede Accountants used to be the gent’s hairdressers. The current opticians on the corner was Boots the Chemist ran by Mr. Watson.

Next to the opticians is Aesica Road (named after the route the roman fort at Aesica?). This was formerly Physic Lane (so called because of the chemists) and before that Quaker Lane (Editor: Is there a link to a quaker meeting house in the road?).

Crossing Aesica Road brought us to a unique gate post made of clay leftovers from the pottery up the burn in years gone by. There is an even more unique pottery structure in the garden nearby, but we could not see that on the day.

Further along is the current Post Office which in the past had been Timothy Whites the Chemist then Bells (Was everyone ill? We seem to have been blessed with Chemists!)

Standing opposite what is now Karbon homes we learned that these premises used to be a coffee shop and butchers then hairdressers. Look up in any town to see the windows and building facades – this helps date the premises. Haltwhistle had two major expansions in Georgian and Victorian times and the windows help date the buildings. There was a window tax at one time and to reduce the tax burden people often bricked up windows. You can still see evidence of this today.

Armstrong’s on the South side of the road was previously Bells Bicycle Hire and boarding rooms. Armstrong’s on the South side was the gentleman’s store whilst Armstrong’s on the North side (now the café and Partnership Office) was the ladies store with Bridal Wear on the top floor. The name Armstrong is a corruption of the Viking name for strong arm. As an aside the Vikings would not live in Carlisle which they thought to be an evil place, so they lived in villages nearby (‘out by’) which took Viking name endings such as Upperby

The Cumberland Building Society used to be Miligans.

Look up again at the roof of the buildings. Prior to the railways coming which enabled the transport of slate for roofs most roof construction was of stone. Look at the roof of the old Jethros and the Haltwhistle Tandoori for evidence of stone roofs.

In the marketplace in 1590 a local girl was hung for marrying a Scotsman.

We passed the previous premises of Foster and Robisons (haberdashery) and Walter Willsons (supermarket chain, now the new Jethros).

Looking opposite at the lane to the Black Bull we see a cobbled lane with larger sets running as tracks in the lane. These were of the harder wearing Whin Sill stone which gave better grip to the cartwheels. The Whin Sill had been too hard for the Romans to use so this is a relatively ‘modern’ use of the stone.

In front of what used to be the Blacksmiths there is a stone ‘wheel’ set in the ground. This used to function as the form to make the iron rims for cartwheels. Peek in the building which used to be the Blacksmiths and you can still see the tools hanging from the forge.

[[File:TownClock.jpg|frameless|left|alt=Image of the Town Clock in the Market Square|Image of the Town Clock in the Market Square]]
The town clock above Billy Bells was erected by the Carnival committee 1954 nearly 70 years ago.

The current Laundrette used to be a wallpaper and paint business (the owner also owned the Gem cinema when it closed) and before that another optician.

There is a tunnel between the Centre of Britain Hotel and the Manor House then the Church as these all used to be fortified Bastles or buildings and this provided a means of escape. The entrance to the tunnel is viewable in the Centre of Britain hotel. The Manor House used to provide stabling for stagecoaches through the arch to what was Heads and Tails. Heads and Tails used to be Murrays the ‘pop’ factory.
There was a Drapery at what is now the Old Drapery Self Catering accommodation.

The fish and chip shop used to be a Fruit and Veg shop.

This area has the highest concentration of Bastles and Towers anywhere in the country. These include the Centre of Britain (look to the roof to see the corner of the Tower, see inside to see the staircase within the two-metre-thick walls and look at the East end of the roof to see the cannons embedded on the side of the roof wall), The Lucky Palace and the Manor House.

The Centre of Britain used to be the Red Lion.

At the corner of St. James Lane (used to be known as Squashy Eels Lane) there was a pie shop at one time.

We moved on to the Wappings. Wappings beck used to be open and forded where the road now is and just a few years further North you can see where it was channelled into the edge of the road.

Here on the first day of Spring there was a ‘Hiring’s Fair’. A straw in your mouth meant you were already spoken for. People used to travel up from London to hire maids etc.
No. 2 on the south side opposite the Comrades used to be a General Dealer and Sweet Shop. The Treatment Room was a paper shop.

MW Bells garage was Potts Garage with the house to the west being the parts shop.

The magnificent building now housing Georgie Girl Hairdressers was the Town Hall and Police Station with cells. The Blue Bell pub was opposite now a private house. ‘Taliare’ was Taylors House.

The end cottage to the East of the Town Hall was a butcher. Crescent Cottage was a slaughterhouse and the grassy bank near to Hillside Cottage was where the pigs were held awaiting slaughter.

Here ended the walk (another part to be arranged for a future date) and we finally learned that Northumberland has the largest number of prehistoric forts in England.

Thanks to Lorna and Maureen for a very interesting and informative guided walk.

[[Category:Heritage Walks]]

A Town Walk – through the past, shops, Reivers, streams and Pigs

2024-01-05T20:33:34Z

Steve:

A Town Walk – through the past, shops, Reivers, streams and Pigs

2024-01-05T20:31:56Z

Steve: Created page with "On Thursday 31st August a town walk organised by the library was led by Maureen and Lorna along Westgate from the library and main street as far as the Wappings. Everyone, new to the town or born there, would have learned something from these two lovely ladies and we had great fun on the walk as well to make this a great experience, finishing with coffee at the Centre of Britain Hotel. Living in the area for only 30 years meant I learned a lot. I provide some brief note..."

On Thursday 31st August a town walk organised by the library was led by Maureen and Lorna along Westgate from the library and main street as far as the Wappings. Everyone, new to the town or born there, would have learned something from these two lovely ladies and we had great fun on the walk as well to make this a great experience, finishing with coffee at the Centre of Britain Hotel.

Living in the area for only 30 years meant I learned a lot. I provide some brief notes below but the topic deserves a much more extensive record with a lot more pictures so I will look to do this in the winter with possibly a dedicated website.

So the first thing I learned was the derivation of the name Wappings – Saxon for a wet place. In fact, the Wappings at Haltwhistle is the site of a stream, now culverted under the road and house on the South side.

We started at the library, once the Mechanics Institute for the improvement of the education of miner’s (and others) children. Here the original façade still exists with the new modern library behind it.

The next building on the same side of the road is the Methodist Church (see more about this in the main text above) where I was surprised to learn that the basement could hold up to 200 children. The basement is no longer used.

In Scarth’s Yard there is a Nissan Hut – the last from the PoW Camp at Featherstone. At the entrance to the yard there is a loading bay on the right which was once the loading bay for Oliver and Snowdens Agricultural Merchants.

The shop currently available to rent which was previously Kasteale café used to be Normans Butchers. It was closed on Mondays as that was killing day in the days before animals had to be taken to an abattoir.

The antique shop used to be a Greengrocers and then a Post Office. Tynerede Accountants used to be the gent’s hairdressers. The current opticians on the corner was Boots the Chemist ran by Mr. Watson.

Next to the opticians is Aesica Road (named after the route the roman fort at Aesica?). This was formerly Physic Lane (so called because of the chemists) and before that Quaker Lane (Editor: Is there a link to a quaker meeting house in the road?).

Crossing Aesica Road brought us to a unique gate post made of clay leftovers from the pottery up the burn in years gone by. There is an even more unique pottery structure in the garden nearby, but we could not see that on the day.

Further along is the current Post Office which in the past had been Timothy Whites the Chemist then Bells (Was everyone ill? We seem to have been blessed with Chemists!)

Standing opposite what is now Karbon homes we learned that these premises used to be a coffee shop and butchers then hairdressers. Look up in any town to see the windows and building facades – this helps date the premises. Haltwhistle had two major expansions in Georgian and Victorian times and the windows help date the buildings. There was a window tax at one time and to reduce the tax burden people often bricked up windows. You can still see evidence of this today.

Armstrong’s on the South side of the road was previously Bells Bicycle Hire and boarding rooms. Armstrong’s on the South side was the gentleman’s store whilst Armstrong’s on the North side (now the café and Partnership Office) was the ladies store with Bridal Wear on the top floor. The name Armstrong is a corruption of the Viking name for strong arm. As an aside the Vikings would not live in Carlisle which they thought to be an evil place, so they lived in villages nearby (‘out by’) which took Viking name endings such as Upperby

The Cumberland Building Society used to be Miligans.

Look up again at the roof of the buildings. Prior to the railways coming which enabled the transport of slate for roofs most roof construction was of stone. Look at the roof of the old Jethros and the Haltwhistle Tandoori for evidence of stone roofs.

In the marketplace in 1590 a local girl was hung for marrying a Scotsman.

We passed the previous premises of Foster and Robisons (haberdashery) and Walter Willsons (supermarket chain, now the new Jethros).

Looking opposite at the lane to the Black Bull we see a cobbled lane with larger sets running as tracks in the lane. These were of the harder wearing Whin Sill stone which gave better grip to the cartwheels. The Whin Sill had been too hard for the Romans to use so this is a relatively ‘modern’ use of the stone.

In front of what used to be the Blacksmiths there is a stone ‘wheel’ set in the ground. This used to function as the form to make the iron rims for cartwheels. Peek in the building which used to be the Blacksmiths and you can still see the tools hanging from the forge.

[[File:TownClock.jpg|frameless|left|alt=Image of the Town Clock in the Market Square|Image of the Town Clock in the Market Square]]
The town clock above Billy Bells was erected by the Carnival committee 1954 nearly 70 years ago.

The current Laundrette used to be a wallpaper and paint business (the owner also owned the Gem cinema when it closed) and before that another optician.

There is a tunnel between the Centre of Britain Hotel and the Manor House then the Church as these all used to be fortified Bastles or buildings and this provided a means of escape. The entrance to the tunnel is viewable in the Centre of Britain hotel. The Manor House used to provide stabling for stagecoaches through the arch to what was Heads and Tails. Heads and Tails used to be Murrays the ‘pop’ factory.
There was a Drapery at what is now the Old Drapery Self Catering accommodation.

The fish and chip shop used to be a Fruit and Veg shop.

This area has the highest concentration of Bastles and Towers anywhere in the country. These include the Centre of Britain (look to the roof to see the corner of the Tower, see inside to see the staircase within the two-metre-thick walls and look at the East end of the roof to see the cannons embedded on the side of the roof wall), The Lucky Palace and the Manor House.

The Centre of Britain used to be the Red Lion.

At the corner of St. James Lane (used to be known as Squashy Eels Lane) there was a pie shop at one time.

We moved on to the Wappings. Wappings beck used to be open and forded where the road now is and just a few years further North you can see where it was channelled into the edge of the road.

Here on the first day of Spring there was a ‘Hiring’s Fair’. A straw in your mouth meant you were already spoken for. People used to travel up from London to hire maids etc.
No. 2 on the south side opposite the Comrades used to be a General Dealer and Sweet Shop. The Treatment Room was a paper shop.

MW Bells garage was Potts Garage with the house to the west being the parts shop.

The magnificent building now housing Georgie Girl Hairdressers was the Town Hall and Police Station with cells. The Blue Bell pub was opposite now a private house. ‘Taliare’ was Taylors House.

The end cottage to the East of the Town Hall was a butcher. Crescent Cottage was a slaughterhouse and the grassy bank near to Hillside Cottage was where the pigs were held awaiting slaughter.

Here ended the walk (another part to be arranged for a future date) and we finally learned that Northumberland has the largest number of prehistoric forts in England.

Thanks to Lorna and Maureen for a very interesting and informative guided walk.

[Category:Heritage Walks]

File:TownClock.jpg

2024-01-05T20:31:16Z

Steve:

Image of the Town Clock in the Market Square

MediaWiki:Sidebar

2024-01-05T20:27:05Z

Steve:

Castles

2024-01-05T20:26:33Z

Steve: Created page with "Local Castles include: * Bellister * Thirlwall * Blenkinsopp * Langley * Ridley Hall * Haltwhistle * Featherstone * Unthank * Willemoteswick There are many uses of the word castle for various buildings ranging from hunting lodges, fortified buildings and mansion houses, through to castles authorised by the Crown. Not all of the above buildings are actual ‘Castles’ authorised by the Crown. Little is known about Haltwhistle Castle because other than some possible fo..."

Local Castles include:

* Bellister
* Thirlwall
* Blenkinsopp
* Langley
* Ridley Hall
* Haltwhistle
* Featherstone
* Unthank
* Willemoteswick

There are many uses of the word castle for various buildings ranging from hunting lodges, fortified buildings and mansion houses, through to castles authorised by the Crown. Not all of the above buildings are actual ‘Castles’ authorised by the Crown.

Little is known about Haltwhistle Castle because other than some possible fortified bank remnants little remains although we do have Castle Hill and Drive.

You can find out more on wiki and elsewhere about almost all of the other sites:

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellister%20Castle Bellister]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirlwall_Castle Thirlwall]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blenkinsopp_Castle Blenkinsopp]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langley_Castle Langley]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridley_Hall,_Northumberland Ridley Hall]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Featherstone_Castle Featherstone]
* [https://haltwhistle.org/wotbott/index.html Featherstone PoW Camp]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unthank_Hall Unthank Hall] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unthank,_Haltwhistle Unthank, Haltwhistle]
* Willemoteswick No significant entry found

A full list of Castes in Northumberland can be found: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_castles_in_England here] - scroll down the page until you reach the County of Northumberland.

There is a brief introduction to the history of Haltwhistle here: [https://northumberlandparishes.uk/haltwhistle/history Haltwhistle History] and here: [https://www.visithaltwhistle.com/turbulent-past Turbulent Past]

[[Category:Streets and Premises]]

Churches and Chapels in Haltwhistle

2024-01-05T20:15:15Z

Steve: Created page with "==The Quaker Meeting House, Coanwood== The Meeting House was built in 1760 and is historically important as it has not been modified since it was built. It is a Grade II* listed building and is currently owned and cared for by the Historic Chapels Trust. However, the Trust is soon to relinquish this responsibility so there are steps being taken to preserve the future of this delightful building. The Meeting House is open every day between 10:00 and 16:00 (as of Septembe..."

==The Quaker Meeting House, Coanwood==

The Meeting House was built in 1760 and is historically important as it has not been modified since it was built. It is a Grade II* listed building and is currently owned and cared for by the Historic Chapels Trust. However, the Trust is soon to relinquish this responsibility so there are steps being taken to preserve the future of this delightful building. The Meeting House is open every day between 10:00 and 16:00 (as of September 2023) but accessibility may be more limited in the future.

The Quakers differ from other religious groups as they have no minister, services, baptisms, etc. They also refused to pay tithes and were often put in prison for debt. They feel strongly that they should improve the lives of those less fortunate. An example of this is that the rear of the building was used as a lending library which supported local literacy and education.

Quakers were not permitted to be buried in Church of England graveyards as they had not been baptised. If they were buried in Quaker ground, they did not have memorial stones. Interestingly, there are memorial stones, and these belong to members of the Wigham family. The Meeting House was built on a plot of land donated by Cuthbert Wigham.

The existence of the Meeting House implies that there was a Quaker presence of some strength and wealth in the local community at that time. John Hodgson (1779 – 1845) a notable author of the time wrote in 1840:

''“Haltwhistle. There is in it a manufactuary (sic) of coarse bays (sic) belonging to two worthy Quakers; their fulling mill finished and approved of by trial, 17th September 1762; pleasure and cheerfulness appearing in every face on the occasion; giving a prospect of better bread to the industrious poor.”''

Further research by Alison Higgs has confirmed that two gentlemen, Messrs. Coates and Reay were owners of mills on the Haltwhistle Burn and were also members of the Coanwood Quakers.

==The Salvation Army==

The citadel was situated close to the Grey Bull and what is now the Wapping Garden.

Maureen Hardcastle said (September 2023) that her mother was a member as she was musical but was unsure which instrument she played.

==Tin Mission==

This was a Baptist Chapel, an offshoot of the Primitive Chapel. There were claims that the organ and singers could not harmonise at the Primitive Chapel!

The Tin Mission was situated off West End, in what is now the Wildflower Meadow of Riverside Park. When working on the area, the volunteers found what they believe to be the red brick foundations of the building. It was demolished after being hit by a lorry. (A photograph of this is on the Old Haltwhistle Website). Apparently, a gas pipe was also hit in the accident and local folk had to be evacuated whilst it was sorted out. (Editor: I understand that the lorry swerved to avoid a youngster who had himself stepped in the road to avoid something.)

Maureen Hardcastle said (September 2023) it was the best church in Haltwhistle as it was so joyful. Others who remember attending agreed with her.

==Elam Hall==

This was a small Baptist Chapel situated in Park Road and later became an undertaker’s office. Steve Palmer’s father was the minister there so it is possible that Steve could provide further information. The floor of the chapel could be rolled back to expose a lead tank used for baptisms.

==Methodist Chapels==

The Methodist way of worship was an offshoot of the Church of England and it was known that worshippers from Haltwhistle originally met in people’s houses at Townfoot. Christine said that she had been told that in Mill Lane, the first house on the left was once a Methodist Chapel.

==Methodist Church==

When the numbers of the congregations began to decline, the Wesleyans amalgamated with the Methodists. The building in Westgate dates from 1882. The Castle Hill Methodist Chapel amalgamated with the Westgate congregation in 1972.

The area beneath the church could accommodate 200 children. There used to be a Youth Club there. Maureen informed us that Onward, Christian Soldiers was a very popular tune to dance the One Step to!

==St Cuthbert’s==

This was a Presbyterian chapel, positioned just off Fair Hill. It was up for sale in 1991 and in order to view it, the keys had to be collected from Eddie Webster.

==The Primitive Chapel==

This is now a private home, situated at the top of Castle Hill. It was bought by Jet Kendrew.

==St Wilfrid’s==

This is a Roman Catholic church situated in Main Street and is the successor to a church built in the east end of Haltwhistle in 1865 and dedicated to Holy Cross. It became known as St Wilfrid’s in 1920.

As the congregation grew, the church transferred to the west end of the town and moved into the United Reform building in 1991. The church was shared by both denominations. When the United Reform congregation numbers declined, the building was purchased for the sole use of Roman Catholic worshippers in 2010.

==General information==

As the town expanded, the churches and chapels gave the opportunities for the miners, mill workers, etc to worship.

Many of the religions supported the idea of temperance. The mine owners, in particular, were in favour of this as they wanted a sober workforce and sponsored many of the chapels. ‘Pop’ became very popular and a ‘pop’ factory was established in the area beside Hextol Cottages. (Editor: It was once known as “pop” because it was sold in bottles with a marble in the neck. When you pushed the marble down, it would pop and release the carbonation, making the drink fizzy and refreshing. Today, most lemonade is still carbonated, but you can also find still varieties that are equally delicious.)

[[Category:Streets and Premises]]

Tinsmith

2024-01-05T19:58:15Z

Steve:

From wikipedia, the full encyclopaedia online. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinsmith More details can be found there].

A tinsmith is a person who makes and repairs things made of tin or other light metals. The profession may sometimes also be known as a tinner, tinker, tinman, or tinplate worker; whitesmith may also refer to this profession, though the same word may also refer to an unrelated specialty of iron-smithing. By extension it can also refer to the person who deals in tinware, or tin plate. Tinsmith was a common occupation in pre-industrial times.

Unlike blacksmiths (who work mostly with hot metals), tinsmiths do the majority of their work on cold metal (although they might use a hearth to heat and help shape their raw materials). Tinsmiths fabricate items such as water pitchers, forks, spoons, and candle holders

[[Category:Occupations]]

Tinsmith

2024-01-05T19:55:33Z

Steve: Created page with "From wikipedia, the full encyclopaedia online. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinsmith More details can be found there.] A tinsmith is a person who makes and repairs things made of tin or other light metals. The profession may sometimes also be known as a tinner, tinker, tinman, or tinplate worker; whitesmith may also refer to this profession, though the same word may also refer to an unrelated specialty of iron-smithing. By extension it can also refer to the person who..."

From wikipedia, the full encyclopaedia online. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinsmith More details can be found there.]

A tinsmith is a person who makes and repairs things made of tin or other light metals. The profession may sometimes also be known as a tinner, tinker, tinman, or tinplate worker; whitesmith may also refer to this profession, though the same word may also refer to an unrelated specialty of iron-smithing. By extension it can also refer to the person who deals in tinware, or tin plate. Tinsmith was a common occupation in pre-industrial times.

Unlike blacksmiths (who work mostly with hot metals), tinsmiths do the majority of their work on cold metal (although they might use a hearth to heat and help shape their raw materials). Tinsmiths fabricate items such as water pitchers, forks, spoons, and candle holders

[[Category:Occupations]]

Cordwainer

2024-01-05T19:54:12Z

Steve: Created page with "Information from WikiPedia A cordwainer is a shoemaker who makes new shoes from new leather. The cordwainer's trade can be contrasted with the cobbler's trade, according to a tradition in Britain that restricted cobblers to repairing shoes. For a full description of Cordwainer see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordwainer Wikipedia here]. Category:Occupations"

Information from WikiPedia

A cordwainer is a shoemaker who makes new shoes from new leather. The cordwainer's trade can be contrasted with the cobbler's trade, according to a tradition in Britain that restricted cobblers to repairing shoes.

For a full description of Cordwainer see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordwainer Wikipedia here].

[[Category:Occupations]]

MediaWiki:Sidebar

2024-01-05T19:52:00Z

Category:Heritage Walks

2024-01-05T19:50:41Z

Steve: Created page with "This is a holding category for future walks and drives providing a self-guided heritage walk or tour of the area within Haltwhistle's catchment."

This is a holding category for future walks and drives providing a self-guided heritage walk or tour of the area within Haltwhistle's catchment.

Category:Occupations

2024-01-05T19:49:08Z

Steve: Created page with "This page contains a list of all occupations described in this Wiki. Many occupations may seem obvious and current, if not imprecise, e.g. railway worker, but some occupation names have fallen out of disuse e.g. Cordwainer, hence the use of this category."

This page contains a list of all occupations described in this Wiki. Many occupations may seem obvious and current, if not imprecise, e.g. railway worker, but some occupation names have fallen out of disuse e.g. Cordwainer, hence the use of this category.

Category:Streets and Premises

2024-01-05T19:47:49Z

Steve: Created page with "This Category does what is says on the Tin and provides a list of all the Streets and Premises covered by the Wiki. A page will only appear in this list if it is a full description of the Street or Premise, e.g. Cruddas Terrace, rather than a specific place within a street e.g. 1 Cruddas Terrace. To find a specific page either conduct a search e.g. '1 Cruddas Terrace' (no commas note) or go to the 'Cruddas Terrace' Page and use the links to the individual houses listed t..."

This Category does what is says on the Tin and provides a list of all the Streets and Premises covered by the Wiki. A page will only appear in this list if it is a full description of the Street or Premise, e.g. Cruddas Terrace, rather than a specific place within a street e.g. 1 Cruddas Terrace. To find a specific page either conduct a search e.g. '1 Cruddas Terrace' (no commas note) or go to the 'Cruddas Terrace' Page and use the links to the individual houses listed there.

Welcome to the WIKI Pages for Haltwhistle Heritage and History

2024-01-05T19:47:05Z

Steve:

Here we present stories and memories from the present and past describing the heritage and history of Haltwhistle and the surrounding area.

If you have any additions or corrections please email [mailto:steve@stevegibbon.co.uk steve@stevegibbon.co.uk], thank you.

==Accuracy==

We have taken every care to ensure accuracy of this wiki content. Where possible sources of information are referenced. However, as is inevitable in the collection of people's memories and even in documented 'evidence' such as newspaper articles, the accuracy of information can vary and even stray towards the anecdotal. Please bear this in mind when using this wiki.

If you find any information which you think may be inaccurate we would be pleased to hear from you at [mailto:steve@stevegibbon.co.uk steve@stevegibbon.co.uk]. Please let us know the corrected information and sources if at all possible. Thank you.

If you are using this site for family history research purposes (once that data becomes available) there are a number of things you could try:

# Use the search box on a full or partial name - try surnames first. Our main biographical pages use the format Surname, Forename e.g. 'Scott, Jane'. Other references within pages will use the more common terminology 'Jane Scott'.
# Go the the [[:Category: People|People Category]] page where there is an alphabetically sorted list go biography entries. We have endeavoured to use married names but have created cross-link entries from maiden names as much as possible so you can look for e.g. 'Scott, Jane' or 'Rochester, Jane'. Both will take you to a full biography.
# If you have an address search on that e.g. 'Cruddas Terrace' or more specifically '1 Cruddas Terrace' (no commas).

==Disambiguation==

In the case of family history particularly locally, you will often come across several individuals with the same name e.g. George Armstrong. On this WIKI we differentiate these common names in the following manner.

# The first instance of the name encountered in our research will be recorded under the page 'Armstrong, George'.
# This will not always be the oldest recorded instance - just the one we first came across.
# Subsequent variations of the name will use the birth year to differentiate the page title e.g. 'Armstrong, George b 1879'.
# Further methods will be used to differentiate beyond that as required.
# If you are therefore searching for 'George Armstrong' it is suggested you use the [[:Category:People|People Category]] to search for and examine all instances of 'George Armstrong' until you are satisfied you have found what you want.

==Categories==

The following categories are utilised on this Wiki:

* [[:Category:People|People]]
* [[:Category:Streets and Premises|Streets and Premises]]
* [[:Category:Occupations|Occupations]]
* [[:Category:Heritage Walks|Heritage Walks]]

==Most Recent Pages==
{{Special:newpages/20}}

Main Page

2024-01-05T19:46:33Z

Steve: Steve moved page Main Page to Welcome to the WIKI Pages for Haltwhistle Heritage and History: New main page

#REDIRECT [[Welcome to the WIKI Pages for Haltwhistle Heritage and History]]

Welcome to the WIKI Pages for Haltwhistle Heritage and History

2024-01-05T19:46:33Z

Steve: Steve moved page Main Page to Welcome to the WIKI Pages for Haltwhistle Heritage and History: New main page

<Here we present stories and memories from the present and past describing the heritage and history of Haltwhistle and the surrounding area.

If you have any additions or corrections please email [mailto:steve@stevegibbon.co.uk steve@stevegibbon.co.uk], thank you.

==Accuracy==

We have taken every care to ensure accuracy of this wiki content. Where possible sources of information are referenced. However, as is inevitable in the collection of people's memories and even in documented 'evidence' such as newspaper articles, the accuracy of information can vary and even stray towards the anecdotal. Please bear this in mind when using this wiki.

If you find any information which you think may be inaccurate we would be pleased to hear from you at [mailto:steve@stevegibbon.co.uk steve@stevegibbon.co.uk]. Please let us know the corrected information and sources if at all possible. Thank you.

If you are using this site for family history research purposes (once that data becomes available) there are a number of things you could try:

# Use the search box on a full or partial name - try surnames first. Our main biographical pages use the format Surname, Forename e.g. 'Scott, Jane'. Other references within pages will use the more common terminology 'Jane Scott'.
# Go the the [[:Category: People|People Category]] page where there is an alphabetically sorted list go biography entries. We have endeavoured to use married names but have created cross-link entries from maiden names as much as possible so you can look for e.g. 'Scott, Jane' or 'Rochester, Jane'. Both will take you to a full biography.
# If you have an address search on that e.g. 'Cruddas Terrace' or more specifically '1 Cruddas Terrace' (no commas).

==Disambiguation==

In the case of family history particularly locally, you will often come across several individuals with the same name e.g. George Armstrong. On this WIKI we differentiate these common names in the following manner.

# The first instance of the name encountered in our research will be recorded under the page 'Armstrong, George'.
# This will not always be the oldest recorded instance - just the one we first came across.
# Subsequent variations of the name will use the birth year to differentiate the page title e.g. 'Armstrong, George b 1879'.
# Further methods will be used to differentiate beyond that as required.
# If you are therefore searching for 'George Armstrong' it is suggested you use the [[:Category:People|People Category]] to search for and examine all instances of 'George Armstrong' until you are satisfied you have found what you want.

==Categories==

The following categories are utilised on this Wiki:

* [[:Category:People|People]]
* [[:Category:Streets and Premises|Streets and Premises]]
* [[:Category:Occupations|Occupations]]
* [[:Category:Heritage Walks|Heritage Walks]]

==Most Recent Pages==
{{Special:newpages/20}}

Welcome to the WIKI Pages for Haltwhistle Heritage and History

2024-01-05T19:45:45Z

Steve: Steve moved page Welcome to the WIKI Pages for Haltwhistle History and Heritage to Main Page: revert

Category:People

2024-01-05T19:42:57Z

Steve: Created page with "his page contains a link to pages which provide biographies of individuals - not just a reference to them."

his page contains a link to pages which provide biographies of individuals - not just a reference to them.

Welcome to the WIKI Pages for Haltwhistle Heritage and History

2024-01-05T19:42:05Z

Steve: Initial Page Creation

Welcome to the WIKI Pages for Haltwhistle Heritage and History

2024-01-05T19:36:45Z

Steve: Steve moved page Main Page to Welcome to the WIKI Pages for Haltwhistle History and Heritage without leaving a redirect: Renaming of default initially generated main page

MediaWiki has been installed.

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