THE STORY OF EASTBOURNE BANK IOP To McMULLEN ROAD 1840 - 2002 MAUREEN SNOWBALL £3.50INTRODUCTION This booklet has been compiled as part of ‘CELEBRATING THE CENTURY, the anniversary year of Eastbourne Methodist Church. I have tried to show the development of the area over the past one hundred and sixty years, through housing, churches, schools, commerce and with memories of some of the people who lived on Bank Top and Eastbourne. My family lived in Lawrence Street from 1924 until 1966 and I attended St John’s school during the 1940's and later Eastbourne Girls’ School. I was a member of East Road Sunday school, Brownies, Guides and the Methodist Youth Club, and have attended the church all my life. So if the ‘Little Park’, Pike's, Carter's ‘ducks & pease pudding’ and Culverwells are part of your childhood, then read on and indulge in nostalgia. Tam indebted to many people for their help with this project; The staff of the Local History Study Centre in Darlington Library Mr Maurice Ayre. Mr Bob Bainbridge Mrs Elsie Bainbridge. Miss Peggy Giles. ‘Miss Nancy Hepper Mr John Carter. Mrs Maureen Hume. Mr Brian Wilcocks Mrs Jean Marr And many others who have shared their memories with me This booklet is not meant to be a definitive study, itis a trip down memory lane. Any errors and omissions are entirely my own. BIBLIOGRAPHY AND COPYRIGHT ON END PAGEChapter One 1840 — 1890 THE EARLY YEARS Chapter Two 1890 — 1940 THE GROWTH OF EASTBOURNE Chapter Three 1940 -- 1990 THE CHANGING FACE 1990 - 2002 LOOKING TO THE FUTURECHAPTER ONE THE EARLY YEARS 1840 1890 The name Eastbourne has nothing to do with a seaside resort on the south coast of England. It comes from bourne, a Middle English word for stream or burn in the east of the town. The bourne runs all through Eastbourne under Cobden Street over Yarm Road and into the fields at the back of the Broadway and Causeway. The stretch of Yarm Road between The Mead and Bright Street regularly flooded in the 1930's. However, the name Bank Top is centuries old, an early mention is made when the Borough Bailiff in the fourteenth century collected the rent from a field on Bank Top as part of his salary; and it is easy to see how it came by its name. Anyone who has cycled or pushed a pram up the long hill from Parkgate can sympathise with the many travellers who may have stopped to catch their breath at "the top of the bank’. In the eighteenth century long before the beginnings of the railway industry, it must have been pleasant to look back over the fields of High and Low Park farms, (now Hargreave Terrace and Park Street). Beyond lay the slow-moving River Skerne, the Bishop's Palace and the graceful spire of St Cuthbert’s church, But it was the coming of the railways to Darlington which led to the urbanisation of the land on the country lane to Yarm. Around 1840 the York Newcastle & Berwick Railway Company began work laying the track which would eventually become the main line from Newcastle to London. Housing was needed for the construction works and the Railway employees and so the first small cramped terraced houses were built next to the railway line at Railway Terrace and Silver Street, Adelaide and Albert Streets. Further along the Yarm Lane, farms were dotted about, Hunden’s, a farm since medieval times, White House, High and Low Firth Moor farms and along the road to Neasham lay Dodmire Farm. Towards the end of the century housing had grown rapidly including St John’s Place (East End Club) St John’s Crescent. Wesley and Peel Streets stood on the north side of Yarm Lane. About a quarter of a mile from “the top of the bank” was the Darlington Freeholder’s Estate. Pupils from St Teresa's Junior school investigated the origins of these streets and I recount their findings. The 1832 Reform Act gave the vote to men whose houses had a rateable value of £10.00 per year. This included shopkeepers and tenants who paid rent of more than £30.00 per year. This had the effect of giving the vote to one in five of the male population. There was no thought of giving women the vote, that would take almost a hundred years and a world war to achieve.Although the Act was a step in the right direction, it did not go far enough to have an effect, on the way governments were elected Henry Pease, John Backhouse and John Harris were all influential Darlington businessmen, as Quakers and reformers they recognised the importance of education and the franchise, The Backhouse’s were a banking family and their bank ultimately became part of Barclay’s Bank. Even today cheques issued from the Darlington branch of Barclay’s bear the words “Backhouse’s Bank”. It was these men then who founded the Freeholder’s Estate. Individuals paid £50 to buy shares entitling them to a plot of land; this enabled them to vote. The plots were not necessarily bought to provide housing but as a means to an end. However by 1857 nine houses had been built on the estate which stretched from Hume Terrace, now part of Yarm Road, to Harris Street and from Bright Street to Cobden Street, including * Pease, Taylor (now Eastbourne Road) and Milton Streets. Houses continued to be built until 1970 when the last plot was sold. The names of Bright and Pease Streets may be seen carved into the stonework of the corner houses. More about this subject may be found in the excellent booklet produced by the girls from St Teresa's school in Harris Street The North Eastern Railway Company was formed in 1854 from The York Neweastle & Berwick Line; The Leeds Northern and other sundry small rail companies. The directors of the Stockton & Darlington Railway reluctantly agreed to merge with the NER in 1863 and although the Stockton & Darlington Company disappeared, Darlington as a railway town flourished There was a station at Bank Top in 1858 with extensive warehouses for goods and coal and lime depots. However, after Queen Victoria criticised the building, the NER built a new one in 1887. Originally called the Central Station, this building was regarded as the finest station in the country. At the outset, Middlesbrough was the hub of railway maintenance and engineering, but by the 1850's Darlington had become the centre of the NER. The numbers of people living on Bank Top and along Yarm Lane had increased rapidly; new housing was being built to accommodate them. Firemen and Guards lived in Wesley and Peel Streets, Engine cleaners and general labourers in Silver and Green Street, but the bay-windowed houses on Stanley Terrace and St John’s Crescent were for the Engine Drivers and clerks. The Terraces stretching eastward from St John’s Church, all had individual names; St John’s Terrace on the south side and Railway and Stanley Terrace on the north side. Law's Terrace ran from Louisa Street to Ridsdale Street, and Hume Terrace from Bright to Cobden Streets. Tt was the 20" century before this became known as Yarm Road. But as the houses spread outwards the area was called Eastbourne. ‘The fact that there was no place of worship on Bank Top concerned the mainly Quaker leaders of the town. The Railway Company provided a warehouse for Sunday services until a new church could be built.Leaders of the Anglican society were also holding Sunday school classes in the premises. The early 1840's saw the population of Bank Top rise to almost four thousand people. Since these people were mainly construction and railway workers they were generally poor. However land was purchased from the Dodmire Farm and on this was built the church, the vicarage and Sunday school premises. The foundation stone for the church of St John the Evangelist was laid on 10 September 1847 by George Hudson MP and Lord Mayor of York, George Hudson, also known as the “Railway King”, was enormously wealthy, but many of his financial dealings were fraudulent, he managed to avoid conviction but was dishonoured and subsequently ruined. The church opened for worship of 3 December 1850. On the square tower of the church may be seen three empty circles, these were meant to have clock faces set in them but when the station provided a station clock it was felt unnecessary to have more clocks. Surely a dedication to Bank Top thrift. By 1887 the population had grown to over 10,000 and it was obvious another Anglican Church was needed, this was St Hilda’s in Parkgate and the dividing line of the two parishes would be the NER line Bank Top continued to expand and soon schools and churches of other denominations were being built. Around the same time as Anglicans were building their church, a group of Methodist people was meeting over a joiner’s shop on the corner of Peel Street. They probably attended worship at Haughton or Bondgate Chapels but were keen to have their own place of worship on Bank Top. For a time services were held in Bank Top Railway school, until eventually the society decided they could embark on a building scheme of their own. The first chapel was built in 1868 in Louisa Street, a few yards from the road leading east from the town. The church was named East Road Wesleyan Methodist. Four hundred and Eighty people could be seated and numbers were increasing rapidly. It was decided to build Sunday school premises on Law's Terrace between Louisa and Ridsdale Streets and the foundation stones were laid in April 1884. These may still be seen on the front of the building together with stones inscribed with the initials of people who contributed towards the building fund. One of these people was Mr William Robinson the grandfather of a present member of the church. Mr Robinson was an engine driver and lived in one of the bay-windowed houses on Stanley Terrace. He gave one guinea, which was a week's wage, to the building fund, The opening date was set for 14" September 1884 however, the building was not complete. Complaints were made against the builder, Mr Simpson, that “he had considerably delayed the completion of the school premises” So nothing changes! But by the end of the year the schoolrooms were completed, and about three hundred and fifty children attended Sunday schoolIn numbers it rivalled the day schools, and there has been a mis- conception that these premises were once a day school, not correct, they have always been for Sunday school and youth work and remain today part of Eastbourne Methodist Church. Some two years after the first chapel was built, The Darlington Union Workhouse was built just further along the Yarm Lane. On 1% June 1870 one hundred and seventeen paupers were transferred from the Leadyard Workhouse to the new building. Run by the Board of Guardians and the Poor Relief Board, there were places for three hundred people. Architecturally it was a fine building and always had an excellent reputation for care. But to the poor and elderly of Darlington the Workhouse was a great place of shame. Whilst compiling this booklet people from the area have told me how their aged and ailing grandparents would beg “Don’t put me in the Workhouse” With the workhouse next to The Hope Inn the area was known locally as “Faith Hope & Charity”. Funnily enough members from St John’s, Eastbourne and later, St Teresa's, have all claimed this expression as relating to their own particular church. But I have to say the proximity of the Methodist Chapel to the other two places, makes their claim the most likely In the eighteenth century a man named James Bellasis left money in trust to provide housing for eight aged and poor women. Originally the houses were built at Blackwell, but when they were demolished they were re- built in 1858 in Florence Street, older readers may remember their quaint appearance almost like miniature chapels. From 1850 to 1890 there was a great deal of building work being carried out, perhaps that’s why the builders were having such a problem with deadlines! On Bank Top, apart from the housing, there were the two churches, the Almshouses, the Workhouse and the Hospital for Infectious Diseases, known locally as the “Fever” Hospital. The Mayor, Mr Henry Fell Pease, opened this hospital, in Hunden’s Lane, in 1874. Mr Pease referred to the rapid growth of the area, and the overcrowding in some of the houses, stating there was a great need for a hospital of this type in the Town. Some patients would be admitted free, but in certain cases payment “would be demanded”. There were also private wards where the full cost of care and treatment would have to be borne. The total cost of the building was £9,225. Mr James Lawrence was appointed Medical Officer. It was also stated that people from “the humbler walks of life” would have to be persuaded that entering the Isolation Hospital was not like entering the Workhouse, once again the stigma of the Workhouse ran deep in people's consciousness. Mr Lawrence was convinced there was only one way to control infectious diseases, such as Diphtheria, Scarlet Fever and Smallpox and that was by isolation, Later a smallpox unit was built further away from the main building. Local children would dare each other to touch the perimeter walls and risk catching smallpox.‘An interesting fact was told to me by a retired architect that the bourne which runs through Eastbourne is a chalybeatic (sulphur bearing) stream and this is the reason the Fever Hospital was built on this site Known locally as Green Street Engine Sheds, the NER Motive Power Depot covered quite a few acres beside the railway lines. One of the first jobs given to boys wanting a career on the railway was that of an engine cleaner. It was a hard and dirty job, cleaning out the ash and clinker from the smoke boxes in the engines, The engine drivers, the elite of the railway employment ladder, would inspect their engine before taking it out and woe-betide any boy who hadn't done a thorough job. However it was good training and with luck the engine cleaner could eventually become an engine driver. Once an engine cleaner became “passed’ he could become a fireman, and go out on small shunters. When he was a ‘passed’ fireman, he could drive the small shunters around the yards, and on short journeys e.g. Bishop Auckland. It was only when the man was very experienced that he got to drive the big trains, usually when he was middle-aged. Recorded in my own family history is the story of Uncle Ned who began as an engine cleaner, became a pointsman and finally an express engine driver with The York, Berwick & Newcastle Company, unfortunately it all ended rather ignominiously, when he was found drunk in charge of an engine. Family history does not record what happened to him after that! The photograph on the centre pages shows young engine cleaners at Green Street Depot they certainly don’t look very happy at their work. It would be interesting to know how many of them became engine drivers twenty-five years on. The Hinde Brothers opened the Ridsdale Street Brewery in 1871; some years later considerable damage was caused by fire. The Brewery was eventually sold to Smith & Tadcaster. Living, as I did, in Lawrence Street, I can still remember the smell of the beer being brewed. Remembering the Brewery leads us nicely on to the Public Houses on Eastbourne. The Royal Oak stood first of all on Bridge Terrace in 1860, but by 1884 it had moved to the corner of Silver Street and Chancery Street. Earliest mention of The Hope Inn is in 1825; perhaps it was a welcome stopping place for weary travellers on their way home from Darlington Market No one I spoke to knows the origin of the name of “The Hope”, certainly Robert Stephenson had a locomotive named Hope, and an early licensee was Mary Hope. The present pub sign shows a Gloster Bi-plane; one of three named Faith Hope and Charity. So take your pick. 1884 saw the Albion Inn and there were also four or five Beer-houses dotted around the streets. E.D Walkers had a Refreshment Room on Bank Top Station but this would almost certainly be strictly teetotal With the dramatic increase in the population on Bank Top in the nineteenth century, it became clear a school was needed.The Quaker families of Darlington were very interested in Education and gave more generous financial help for this purpose than anything seen in other towns in the north-east. Methodist, Roman Catholics and Quakers were all involved in promoting education and with the newly built Anglican St John’s church, it was obvious an Anglican school should be built. However, the early benefactors of education were not interested in raising the status of the poor, rather in emphasising their lowly status in life. They took as their watchword the verse of the hymn. “All Things Bright and Beautiful” “The rich man in his castle The poor man at his gate God made them high or lowly And ordered their estate” Equality was not on the Victorian agenda. But some education was, it was necessary for employees to be able to read, write and do simple sums. ‘An estimated five hundred children on Bank Top were in need of schooling and in 1860 St John’s National School was built. It opened with a tea party and a concert but only 97 children attended. Perhaps we should remember that at this time work was available for boys of ten and eleven years. They were employed in the mills and engineering works. Many parents relied on their wages to supplement the family income. Education was seen as a threat But numbers grew and by 1863 there were 119 boys attending school However, there were still many children not receiving any lessons, apart from Sunday school. The Bank Top Railway School was opened in St John’s Place, (a little further from where The Grey Horse Public House now stands). Looking back to Victorian times we sometimes have a picture of well-behaved and disciplined children, it would appear to be incorrect. Apparently the children of Bank Top were particularly badly behaved. A government inspector visiting the Bank Top School reported: “Order and discipline was not very good and scholarly attainment was poor.” By the end of the nineteenth century education for all children was free and available. Ina later chapter we shall look at schools in the nineteen thirties and forties. Some of the headteachers of those days certainly knew plenty about discipline! Darlington Corporation decided to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Railway, after a suggestion was made by Mr Henry Pease.The committee agreed that an exhibition of locomotives, beginning with Locomotion No 1, should be held at North Road Station. A statue of Joseph Pease, as “Father of the Railways”, would be unveiled on the High Row. A sum of money was provided and the Jubilee day was to be a general holiday. There would be a banquet inside a marquee in Victoria Road, and “an avenue of Venetian pillars” would decorate the road. Bank Top station was decorated with flowers, bunting and banners proclaiming “Welcome to Darlington” Typically the British weather rather spoilt things with heavy rain and gales. The marquee designated for the banquet was damaged, likewise some of the tents, However, the sun broke through and the first procession left Bank Top at 1.30pm for North Road works, carrying the directors of the NER, the Lord Mayors, and Mayors of various towns and cities. The Lord Mayor of London arrived at Bank Top at 3.28pm having left Kings’ Cross at 10.00am. He donned his official robes, but there was a delay, it appeared the Lord Mayor's trumpeters, who had travelled with him on the train had disappeared, and it was thought they had been carried on to Newcastle. Long serving Railwaymen were given a half-day holiday with pay and a “substantial plain dinner’. The statue to Joseph Pease was unveiled to the vast crowds and remains a landmark to this day, but not in its original position, Altogether the celebration was a great success; but wouldn't it be lovely to know what happened to the trumpeters! [hope to include in each chapter something about the personalities and characters who lived in Eastbourne, I have only one for this early period. Rev W.H.GStephens, vicar of St John’s from 1856. In 1884 Reverend Stephens was presented with a handsome clock with Calendar and Barometer, also with five pieces of silver including a vegetable dish, entrée dishes, breakfast dish and a tea kettle. Mrs Stephens was presented with a gold bracelet. Parishioners and friends had subscribed to an amount of £203. Rev Stephens came to the Town from Bishop Auckland and was curate at St Andrew’s before coming to St John’s. He said that Darlington was then a small country town with little industry except linen and wool trades and a population of thirteen thousand, it was now a large commercial town with a population of one hundred and thirty five thousand people.CHAPTER TWO THE GROWTH OF EASTBOURNE 1890 1940 The end of the nineteenth century saw big changes on Bank Top. Housing spread along Neasham Road, and King William and King Edward Streets were built behind St John’s Crescent and Yarm Road. Lawrence and Ridsdale Streets were developed and houses built behind Stanley Terrace. Possibly the most important development was the Darlington Railway Plant and Foundry which was opened in 1899. Built on an engineering site originally owned by Mr John Hackworth, the factory employed one hundred men at the beginning. The Railway Plant was equipped with the best machinery to produce work of the highest quality. The factory made switches, buffers and crossings for railways around the world, as well as castings for the foundry. Readers may remember the clock on the Hunden’s Lane wall of the building Other engineering firms were extending along the railway line on Neasham Road, W. Richardson & Co. Cleveland Bridge, Tinsley’s and Simpson's Maltings. However not all of Eastbourne was smoke begrimed factories, Eastbourne Recreation Park, known to all the children as “The Little Park” was opened in 1902. The Deputy Mayor said in his opening speech that this was the seventh open space to be opened in Darlington, there was one more planned, North Lodge Park, and the Town was now substantially provided for, and he hoped “the people of Darlington would now be satisfied”. The Park had Tennis courts, Putting and Bowling Greens, which the “Parkie” (Park-keeper) patrolled rigorously to ensure no children strayed anyway near his pristine green. There was also a children’s play area. Hunden’s Lane Park was opened in 1924 and also had Tennis Courts, Bowling Green and swings for children. At the end of the First World War, the members of East Road Chapel decided to purchase land for playing fields. They bought eight acres at Lingfield Lane, where Cummins’ Factory now stands. It was a splendid site with Tennis courts, Cricket Ground and Football and Hockey pitches, it was opened in 1923 and trees were planted in memory of the young men of the church who had lost their lives in the war. Later a pavilion was opened and for many years an annual Fete was held on the land. Tommy Crooks’ Park was opened in 1936, but there is more of this famous Eastbourne character later. The Primitive Methodist Society began meeting in houses along Neasham Road, and eventually they felt able to build their own chapel. This was opened in 1897 in Florence Street.East Road Chapel in Louisa Street which had been built in 1868, was now deemed to be unsafe and the trustees had to decide upon building a new church. It was a huge task to raise the £3,500. Estimated for the building. ‘They had a total of £150. in hand. But full of faith they went ahead; and the foundation stones were laid in 1900 by Mrs Lloyd Pease, and Mr Pike Pease MP. One of the most influential men at East Road was Mr Arthur Henderson, he was secretary of the fund-raising and it is doubtful that without his hard work and enthusiasm the church would have been built. Arthur Henderson went on to achieve great things and more will be told about him later in this chapter. We should remember that at this time the chapel was on the edge of the town, from Cobden Street there was just a country lane. Mr Maurice Ayre’s father lived at Low Firth Moor farm, which was on the lane from Cummins’ roundabout to Neasham. He walked the two miles from here to chapel every Sunday but the area was notorious for footpads, (we would call them muggers today), and he always carried a stout stick with him. Eventually he married Miss Ethel Robinson from Stanley Terrace and they lived for a time on Law's Terrace next to the newly built schoolrooms. There is a charming story about Miss Robinson. When she was four years old, she played amongst the builders’ sand, and when the builder discovered her name, he named the street Ethel Street The new church building, on the same site in Louisa Street, was opened on 29% October 1901, and could seat eight hundred people. A new organ was commissioned in 1906 at a cost of £600 but one of the church leaders Mr. Charles Hinks persuaded the famous philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie to donate half the sum. ‘After the Great War ended the mood of the nation was to provide facilities for its youth and East Road had Brownies, Guide and Scout companies and an ever-expanding Sunday school, The Royal Agricultural Show was held on Hunden’s in June 1920. It was opened by the then Duke of York, later to be King George VI. The Northern Echo reports road were “choked with motor vehicle and the Market Place was converted into a temporary garage” On the first day some 21,000 people had passed through the turnstiles by Tlam. Trains and charabanes were crowded and the crowds increased to 51,500. Many people, my Grandmother included, took in lodgers, her lodger was a newspaper reporter. He slept on the settee in the front room and was given a packet of ham sandwiches and a hot meal at night. But I don’t know how much he paid for this luxury. While the Duke was visiting the show, he noticed young patients at the “Fever Hospital” furiously waving flags, he asked to meet them and apparently made “cheering remarks” to the nurses and children Tommy Crooks was Mayor of the town during the Royal visit and he made a great impression on the young Duke, who particularly enjoyed talking to the Engine Driver Mayor. It is reported that when bidding the Duke farewell he said to him.“Tha mun come agen lad” and when the Duke returned some five years later he requested to meet once again 'The Engine Driver Mayor” It was to the Railway Centenary Anniversary that the Duke and Duchess of York returned to Darlington. An extensive procession of locomotives was organised to celebrate the one hundred years anniversary of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway in 1825. The LNER Company planned to celebrate the occasion in great style. Delegates from all over the world were also to attend an International Railway Congress and to fit in with this the anniversary date was changed from 27% September to 2 July. The Duke & Duchess left King’s Cross at 10.00am with the Flying Scotsman following as closely as possible behind. Arriving at Bank Top at 2.45pm eight cars were waiting to transfer the Royal party to Faverdale where the main exhibition would be held. The drivers of the motor cars were given strict orders; “No laughing or loitering No overtaking No big noises from cars” The locomotives had all been overhauled in readiness for the big day, engines from LMS; GWR and Southern would all take part as well as LNER. Trains carrying spectators left Bank Top at short intervals for Dinsdale, then later the line was closed to allow for the procession. This could be seen anywhere along the line from Stockton to Fighting Cocks, An 1822 Hetton Colliery Locomotive led the way followed by S & D Derwent, Fifty four engines followed and bringing up the rear was Locomotion built by Robert Stephenson in 1825. Replica wagons came behind filled with men and women in period costume and the LNER Silver Band. My uncles James and Herbert Wilson were among the bandsmen. The Mayor of Darlington gave all school children a tea party and a commemorative medal. However the Northern Echo reported on the day of the centenary that all railway staff would have their wages cut by 5% and this would make a saving of six million pounds per year. Naturally the Directors of the Railway Company were not very happy that this news had been released on that particular day. Railway enthusiasts wishing to know about all the Railway Anniversary celebrations should read The Dalesman Publication ‘Stockton & Darlington Railway' by K. Hoole. ‘A June night in 1928 was a date no one on Bank Top and Eastbourne, or indeed, the whole of Darlington would ever forget. This was the night a Newcastle to Darlington goods train collided with an excursion train from Scarborough to Newcastle. The excursion train was non-stop to Newcastle at 45mph, but when the driver saw the lights of the goods train he jammed on his brakes. The crash forced the goods train 60 yards back down the main line, the engine was derailed, but the excursion carried on, the coaches rocked and finally telescoped to a stop.The noise of steam, twisting metal and cries of pain and terror filled the night. An army of rescuers poured in, fifty people were injured, eighteen women, three men and a schoolboy were killed, a man and a woman died the next day. But the full story of this terrible night was even more tragic, eighteen members and friends of the Mothers’ Union in Hetton-Le-Hole had been on the excursion to Scarborough now fifteen of them were dead. One of the rescuers that night was Mr Ernest Giles, an engine driver himself, Mr Giles woke with a start and knew immediately something was wrong at the station. He lived in Geneva Road and set off to run all the way to Bank Top where he helped with the rescue. Mr Giles and his wife were life-long members of St John’s church; their daughter Margaret (Peggy) will be remembered by many former pupils from Eastbourne Girls’ Secondary School where she taught for many years. Some six years after the rail crash Mr Giles was once again at the centre of an incident at the Railway Station. As a driver for the L.N.E.R, he was waiting on the crowded platform when the Edinburgh to London was due. When it appeared he realised it was going too fast to stop, as the engine passed he saw the driver slumped over the controls. He leaped onto the engine and stopped the train. The driver had had a heart attack. Mr Giles got help for him then went home for his tea. Next morning he was summoned to the office to be congratulated on his bravery in saving many lives. Then he and Mrs Giles were invited to an Hotel in York for dinner. Mrs Giles was presented with flowers and Mr Giles with a beautiful chiming clock and a Certificate of Merit for bravery. In spite of the fact that most people on Bank Top in the early part of the twentieth century had had very little schooling, there were some very notable people. Few people may have heard of Arthur Henderson, yet at his funeral in Westminster Abbey in 1935, such people as Ramsay McDonald, Clement Atlee and Anthony Eden were present. King George V and the Prince of Wales sent representatives, Ambassadors from America, France, Belgium and many other countries were present. So what was special about this man from Bank Top? Born in Glasgow in 1863, Arthur Henderson came to live and work on Bank Top. He became a leading light in the Methodist society at East Road and it was largely due to his efforts that the church in Louisa Street was built. He was elected to the council in 1898 and served on Durham County ‘Council until 1905, A staunch Liberal he was Mayor of Darlington in 1903. Originally agent for the Barnard Castle MP Mr Joseph Whitwell Pease, Arthur stood as a Labour candidate in the by-election caused by St Joseph’s death in 1903. He lost that election but was returned as their MP in 1906 and thus began an illustrious career in the Labour Party. When Keir Hardie resigned as Chairman of the Labour Party Arthur Henderson took over the role. From 1914 he took over leadership of the Labour Party after Ramsay McDonald and was included in the wartime coalition governments of Herbert Asquith and David Lloyd-George.*In the 1920's the Labour party was becoming the major opposition party and in 1924 sweeping gains were made. Ramsay McDonald was invited to forma government and Arthur Henderson was appointed Home Secretary and later Foreign Secretary. It has been said that he was the finest Foreign Secretary this country ever had. Another familiar figure to people on Eastbourne was Tommy Crooks. An engine driver he originally lived in Wesley Street then moved later to Milton Street. Another devout Methodist he was also a strict teetotaller. Born on a farm he was entirely self-educated with just Sunday school lessons to give a grounding in reading and writing. He began work with the railway and eventually became an Engine Driver. He served on the council for thirty- three years becoming Mayor in 1920 where he welcomed the Duke of York to the town. Tommy Crooks retired from work aged forty nine and when asked how he could afford to do that, he explained he had once heard a lecturer say that if a man earned one pound per week he should live on nineteen shillings and save the rest. Tommy took this as good advice. Older people have told me how they remember him riding his bike, an old ‘sit-up-and-beg’ machine, and if it was raining he would carry his umbrella whilst riding it. In the days when smallpox immunisation was compulsory, it was necessary to get a JP to sign an exemption note. Mrs Elsie Bainbridge remembers taking her son Howard to see Mr Crooks, and asking for the note. No charge was made, but a charity box was placed prominently in front of her. He was a great horticulturist, and Miss Nancy Hepper remembers being presented with a Dictionary as a prize for essay writing, whilst a pupil at Dodmire Junior School. Mr Crooks had set the title. ‘The South Park’ it must have given him great pleasure to be able to present to the town the Recreation Park on Yarm Road, which bears his name. Tommy Crooks was not the only Mayor with Bank Top origins, there were at least three more. Mr J.D. Hinks was born and lived on Stanley Terrace the son of yet another engine driver. Born in 1874 he attended Bank Top school, Beaumont Street and the Grammar School. Politically he was a Liberal and was Mayor from 1930-31. A staunch Methodist he was a life-long member of East Road Chapel and also a Local Preacher. President of the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School he had the distinction of being the first old boy to become Mayor of the town. Princess Mary, Countess of Harewood and daughter of King George V, visited Darlington in 1931 to receive contributions for the YMCA. A total of £2314 was given to her. Mayor Hinks escorted her around the town and when saying goodbye remarked; “Next time you come, bring the bairns”. His son founded the well-known Darlington firm of solicitors.Teddy Hudson was Mayor of Darlington from 1935-36, the son of a railway guard, he lived on Stanley Terrace where so many of the stalwarts of Methodism lived. A life long member of East Road Church, he was managing director of Parkin Ness & Co. Chemical Manufacturers. Mr Henry Wilcocks, the third engine driver Mayor, lived in Cobden Street and was Mayor in 1940. He was also a JP and was known as “The Railway JP” It would not be possible to write the story of Bank Top without mentioning William Carter, founder of the Butcher's shop on Yarm Road. William came to Darlington from Sunderland at the turn of the century. It was acknowledged at the time that German Pork Butchers were the best and William went to work for Mr Ernest, a German who had the very first shop at No 2 Yarm Road right next door to St John’s Church. The shop was a purpose built Butchers with a unique system of keeping meat cool Pipes above the front window let a continuous stream of water down the window thus keeping the window display cool. This was in the days before reftigeration. The shop was also fully tiled. In 1905 Mr Carter took over the shop and moved to the present premises on Yarm Road in 1921. Originally the shop was just two houses, he paid £179 for one and £169 for the second At first just No 58 was the shop but later it was enlarged. ‘The present owners John and Barbara Carter are the third generation in the shop. Perhaps, like me, you can remember ‘old’ Mr Carter with his tobacco stained moustache and then ‘young Billy’. John recalls how at ten years of age he was working in the shop learning the butcher's trade, using very sharp knives for boning out, no worries about health and safety officials in those days. At Christmas Carter's window was a picture, always decorated and with a fully dressed pig’s head. John remembers working forty-eight hours virtually non-stop over Christmas in the early days. Surely everyone on Yarm Road had Carter's ducks and pease pudding? But why ‘ducks’ does anyone know where the name comes from? John would dearly like to know, if you have any idea please call into the shop and tell him. The family firm is in safe hands with John and Barbara’s daughter Teresa working in the shop and learning the ropes. The schools on Bank Top may have got off to a rocky start but by the early twentieth century St John’s school had an excellent reputation. In 1902 cight hundred and eighty names were on the register with an average attendance of over seven hundred. Maurice Ayre’s mother and father had originally lived on Law's Terrace but Mr Ayre soon got the tenancy of a farm at Blackwell. They wanted their children educated at St John’s and Maurice went from Blackwell to Yarm Road every day. He passed the scholarship at eleven but the council would not award him a place at the Grammar School because their farm was just outside the Borough boundary, he would have to go to Stockton. Mr Ayre senior was not to be outdone and moved a hedge in an attempt to get his son accepted for the Grammar School.Unfortunately the council would have none of it, but they did offer at place at the Technical College which Maurice believes was the better choice for him. However, his brothers and sisters had to attend Stockton High School, Boys who did not have a chance for the Grammar School stayed at St John’s until they were fourteen; girls went to Beaumont Street. As the houses spread along Neasham Road, and more were built on the Freeholder’s Estate, a new school was built at Dodmire. Parents now had a choice of two excellent schools. There was an open-air school on a field at Dodmize, in 1910. This consisted of a tent-like construction open on four sides and was intended for delicate children who would benefit from the fresh air, Unfortunately no one seems to have taken the north-east weather into consideration and after one year the school closed due to constant rain and cold winds. With the outbreak of World War 1, the Workhouse was used as a hospital for wounded soldiers. It was the first non-military hospital in Britain to do this, and in October 1914 one hundred ‘and six men were transferred from Neweastle Infirmary. The Northern Echo reports “many Darlingtonians visited the men and entertainment was provided on a daily basis.” Most of the men had returned from the front, many without even a shirt, the Echo ran an appeal for them and one hundred shirts were provided by the Darlington people. The men were said to be “happy and contented and eager to get back to the Front” Now officially known as the Municipal Institute (but still called the Workhouse) the building gave shelter to the Jarrow Marchers when they stayed overnight in Darlington. They arrived on Wednesday evening 10" October 1935 and were taken to the workhouse where a meal was arranged for them. The Mayor of Jarrow addressed a public meeting in the Co- operative Hall and said the men didn’t want charity but the right to work, The next morning the marchers set off along Blackwellgate and Grange Road for Northallerton. Two medical students went with the men and attended to blisters and sore feet. They had a kitchen canteen bus, which was useful, but kept breaking down on the hills. These years were known as the ‘Hungry thirties’ and there was a lot of unemployment and poverty on Bank Top and the surrounding area. Mr Tommy jackson had a Butcher's shop in Louisa Street and every week he would make a huge amount of soup which was given free to any family out of work. I have been told this soup was delicious, perhaps they would agree with Don Quixote that “hunger is the best sauce”. Apparently Tommy Jackson employed many of the people around Louisa Street and another member of the Ayre family was a butcher's boy. Each Saturday evening, when the shop closed for the weekend, usually around 9.00pm, Mr Jackson would send the young lad with the left over pies and saveloys to his slaughterhouse in Bright Street where he kept pigs. But the pigs never got the pies; the boys ate them long before they reached Bright Street. Bob Bainbridge told me this story as he was one of the lads, and he added; “But the pigs never said anything about missing out.”I rather think Tommy Jackson knew very well what happened to the pigs’ supper! A lady in Florence Street also made soup and sold it from her front room, and the baker on St John’s Terrace sold pork sandwiches for 4d. Bob Bainbridge couldn’ afford these delicacies so had to make do with a ‘penny dip’ from Carter's, this was a bread bun dipped in gravy. But there were plenty of Fish & Chip shops on Bank Top and a penny bag of chips made a hot treat. Mrs Scribbens had a home-made sweet stall in her back yard in Fern Street and children would rush round with a penny for some toffee Have you heard of Dolly Molly? She was new to me, apparently she pushed an old pram round the streets of Eastbourne collecting cast-off clothing. The children would run after her and call “Dolly Molly, Dolly Molly”, but always from a safe distance. During the 1930’s Roman Catholics on Eastbourne were part of the parish of St Augustine. Their numbers grew to nearly four hundred and it was decided to hold a mass in the area. The Railway Canteen in Green Street was the venue and the first mass as said in 1986. A short distance behind the canteen ran the main railway lines and quite often engines would be parked alongside letting off steam, this usually brought the sermon to an abrupt close! Later in 1940 permission was given to hold mass in Dodmire School hall. There is more about the further development of the church in the next chapter. White House Farm had given way to The Stray, The Causeway, the Crossway, and the bottom half of The Broadway. On the south side of Yarm Road Geneva Road had spread well towards its Neasham Road end. When Miss Peggy Giles went to live in Geneva Road there were only a few houses built, it was all fields. Further down the road was another Farm where people bought eggs and milk. ‘Also by the 1930's the Trolley bus service ran from the town to Cobden Street, but no further, earlier, in 1904, trams had run on the same route with a ten minute service until the ‘rush hour’. Trolley buses were introduced in 1926, and Darlington was one of the first towns in Britain to have them. 1 remember as a child during the war, longing to be a conductor and to be able to change the overhead wires just before the station. Diesel buses replaced Trolleys in the nineteen fifties and it was 1957 when the last trolley bus ran. Bob Bainbridge remembers falling off his bike after getting his wheels caught in the tracks of the old trams under the station cut. The curling pond was a place of attraction for many children; it was on the fields at the back of Hundens and the Fever Hospital. Later it became a model Yacht club and some people had beautiful model boats. Looking at the picture of the pond, I think the houses in the background could be The Causeway. (The pictures may be found in the centre of this booklet.) ‘As the population increased outwards it became clear another Anglican Church was needed for the people in this area. The name chosen was St Herbert’s and this was believed to be the first church in Britain to bear his name.New schools were needed to cater for the numbers of children now living on Eastbourne and so in 1936 Eastbourne Senior Council School was opened, Costing £25,000 it was considered one of the finest secondary schools in the country. Mr Oliver Stanley, President of the Board of Education said that: “There was hardly a man or woman in the country who could not read the result of the 3.30 but that is not quite all that reading means.” Mr Stanley was particularly impressed by the school library, stating it was the finest possessed by any elementary school. The school was mixed boy and girls aged from eleven to fourteen under the headship of Mr. George Welford. The school was extended and divided into single sex schools and Miss Nora Fenby became its Headmistress. George Welford was born in 1894, he attended Pickering Grammar School and later St John’s College, York. Headmaster at Eastbourne for more than twenty three years he was a strict disciplinarian. Men now in their sixties have told me how they were caned for forgetting to underline the date, or moving one step in the playground after the whistle had gone. Mr Welford retired in 1959 and Mr Foxon became Head in 1960. By now there was a softer approach to discipline. It would not be possible to talk of Eastbourne School without mention of Miss Fenby. Nora Fenby was born in 1899 and after teacher training in Guildford, returned to Darlington to teach at Beaumont Street School. Moving to Eastbourne School when it opened in 1936 she became Headmistress of the girls’ side in 1939. Many women now pensioners will remember the morning assemblies when a fainting girl would be rebuked because “she’s had no breakfast” Small in stature Miss Fenby could instil fear in seven hundred girls with those morning assemblies. Many years later when I was talking to a former member of staff, she told me how few people ever realised just how much good Nora Fenby did privately whilst Head of the school. Certainly those words of warning about “going into air-raid shelters with boys!” or “wearing elastic belts to cinch in a 16” waist,” or “sitting on a bus whilst an adult was standing” were engraved on the hearts of girls in the 1950's, There was no cane used at the girls’ school Miss Fenby ruled with a rod of iron and sheer force of personality. When her father, Alderman Fenby became Mayor in 1947, Miss Fenby was Mayoress. Reporting her death in 1969 the Darlington & Stockton Times recorded “Miss Fenby was always very forthright!” Memories of Head Teachers would not be complete without Mr John (Jack) Stokoe. Head of St John’s School for many years in the 1930's and 40's, he was another strict disciplinarian. A member of St John’s church he served on various committees, and one lady told me how, when delivering a note to his house, the note was returned to her with the grammar corrected. Before Eastbourne School was built girls who did not “pass the scholarship” went to Beaumont Street at eleven, but boys stayed at St John’s until they were fourteen,The entrance to the senior boys’ school was down the back lane from Yarm Road. Mr Stokoe would wait, cane in hand, at 9am to catch any latecomers, and they would receive a crack across the shoulders with the cane. But fourteen year-old boys are crafty and they would run in groups of four or five on the chance that only one pair of shoulders would catch the cane, Born in Eggleston he lived in Milton Street and was a councillor and alderman of the town, An old boy of the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School he fought against its closure, but was defeated and the school became the Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College that we know today. Many people living in the workhouse at this time were simply unable to look after themselves, perhaps they were ill or elderly and had no family to care for them. The Institute also looked after ‘gentlemen of the road’ they were given clean clothes and food, but were expected to chop sticks or do other odd jobs. As children we were always a bit scared of these men. Perhaps the saddest of all were the unmarried mothers who had been abandoned by their families and lived there with their babies. Retrospectively the regime sounds harsh and cold, but it was not meant to be, it was carried out with the best intentions. One lady remarked to me how she hated the ‘pudding basin’ haircuts women were given and their drab clothes, it marked them out in the town and took away their individuality. ‘The Wheatsheaf Public House was demolished in Skerne Row and re-built on Yarm Road in 1936. The Ordnance Survey map of 1919 shows the site as being Firth Moor Farm opposite the brick works where Aldi and Iceland supermarkets now stand. The Isolation Hospital had an ambulance known as the ‘Fever Van’, it caused much consternation when arriving in a street, schoolbooks would have to be burnt and the whole house fumigated. Miss Nancy Hepper remembers being in the Isolation Hospital with two of her brothers with suspected Scarlet Fever, their mother was not allowed to see them, but went every day to read the progress reports printed outside the hospital in Hunden’s Lane. In 1928 there was a smallpox outbreak, Eastbourne Doctor, Dr Dawson called it a “Joathsome disease”CHAPTER THREE CHANGING FACE OF EASTBOURNE 1940 1990 For the second time in the century Britain was at war with Germany. Air-raid shelters were built in school playgrounds and on the playing fields at the newly built Eastbourne. When air-raid sirens sounded, teachers would shepherd their pupils into the shelters and try to continue their lessons. Children were very afraid during this time, not only of the threat of the cane, but the threat of German bombers and, as my friend reminded me, boys would tease small girls with “ghosts” in the shelters. Evacuees came to Darlington from London, mothers and babies were based in Eastbourne School. The Library was turned into a dormitory and the cookery teachers provided meals. Miss Giles remembers her mother volunteering to look after the children. At East Road Chapel the Sunday Schoolrooms were requisitioned by the army and the Methodists had to hire rooms from St John’s to continue with their Sunday School work. Huge concrete slabs protected the stained glass windows in the Chapel. Mrs Elsie Bainbridge remembers watching out of the bedroom window in Milton Street, as enemy planes went on bombing raids to Hartlepool and iddlesbrough. Evacuees were also held in Geneva Road Baptist Church until homes could be found for them. One day in April 1945 a Canadian Pilot, William McMullen, was returning to his base at Middleton-St-George with his damaged Lancaster on fire. He waited until his crew had parachuted to safety and he was clear of Darlington, but it was too late to save himself. The blazing Lancaster bomber came down close to Lingfield farm. The farm's Dutch barn was set alight and it was feared the house would also go up in flames. Wilfrid Dunn, of Yarm Road, was one of the first men on the scene and tried to save the pilot, but the cockpit release catch wouldn’t operate. The Northern Echo reported an eye- witness account from Mrs Cissie Pigg who lived on Malim Road. Standing transfixed at the sight of the huge bomber coming towards her she recalls; “The engine was a ball of fire, suddenly the plane swung into the field, ammunition was popping all the time.” William McMullen died giving his life to save others. There is more about the story of this brave man later. With the end of the war children could enjoy school and everyone watched in delight as a romance developed between Mr. Watson and Miss Dibbs at St John’s School, we collected photographs of Princess Elizabeth's wedding and learned our tables parrot fashion.Rev J.G. Stephens was the vicar at St John’s church and Deaconess Irene Bell ed the Sunday school. Deaconess Bell would call at the house if children missed Sunday school for two weeks. Miss Owen another teacher from Eastbourne School also led in the Sunday school, she was a lovely gentle lady and was also deputy head at the senior school. The Girls’ Friendly Society was also run from St John’s Church Mr Stainsby the Chemist was organist and later Mr Nattrass, now the very talented Andrew Christer is organist at the church, By the end of the war it became clear that the Roman Catholic people on Eastbourne needed a church of their own, after the services held in the Railway canteen, Dodmire school allowed them to have the use of the hall for mass and for youth activities. Eventually a P.O.W hut from the First World War was erected on land behind the Presbytery in Bright Street. This was a Nissan hut and was bought from an army camp. The presbytery was a big old damp house and there was a wooden hut that led through double doors to the church. A youth club was held and there was a team of Irish Ceilidh dancers. The priest, Father Bryce asked the young people to visit the residents of the Workhouse, this they did and I have been told that all the churches in the area encouraged their young people to visit Easthaven. The litte ‘tin church’ served the community until land on Harris Street was bought in 1970 and the present new church was built. The new church was opened on a warm September day, however underfloor heating had been installed in the new building and this had been set the day before. The Sunday turned out to be a perfect sunny afternoon and many of the one hundred children waiting to be confirmed were overcome by the heat, relays of fainting children had to be carried out and revived. In later years the heating system was changed to a more reliable one. The church was dedicated to St Teresa of Lisieux. Perhaps you remember some of the shops on Bank Top during the 1940's; Pike's whose cream buns were delicious; Jenny's wet fish shop. Culverwell’s to spend our pocket money on sweets, if you had the coupons; and if not, well a ha'porth of Kali and a ha’ porth of Spanish would do. Mr Walker with his off-licence on the corner of Stanley Street; the Co-op stores at the top of the bank where I had to go for the *rations’ no “two for the price of one’ or “buy one get one free’ in those days, and can you still remember your Mother's check number? Right opposite St John’s Church stood Mr Stainsby's chemist shop, his bottles of mixture’ were a sovereign remedy for coughs and ‘nerves’. On the other corner of Green Street was Wrigglesworth’s, was it a pawn-shop or just second-hand? Robson's Fish & Chips, the Royal Oak, where people living opposite watched the fun and games at closing time! Bedford’s newspaper shop where boys delivered papers for half a crown per week (12.1/2p) On Saturday morning there was the matinee at the Regent cinema. The Regent opened in Cobden Street in 1939 and the first film was “Angels With Dirty Faces’ starring James Cagney. The programme changed midweek and was excellent value. The 1950's saw the arrival of cinemascope, “The Robe”, “Ben Hur” and “Spartacus’The coalman still delivered from a horse and cart and Cliff Penrose sold fruit and vegetables round Eastbourne from his Horse-drawn cart. The horse lived on a field next to the allotments opposite The Hope Inn and Cliff lived next door to The Hope. Early in the 1930's a group of Roman Catholic mothers from Eastbourne, which was still part of St Augustine's parish, attended a meeting at the Town Hall. This was to discuss the possibility of a catholic junior school. One mother who attended the meeting said to her husband, “well the new school should be ready for the baby”. But the new school wasn’t ready “for the baby”, however she did attend St Teresa’s School many years later as a teacher. The school was finally opened in 1958 on the site in Harris Street where, for many years, the annual Fair was held. Eastbourne Junior School was built in The Broadway, and in 1966 The Infant’s School was added. The name was changed to Heathfield and remains to this day. The time had come for St John’s School to be demolished, the building was over one hundred years old, and a new school was built on the new Lascelles Park Fstate. With the addition of Firth Moor Junior School the children of Eastbourne now had a choice of five schools. The school leaving age was raised to sixteen in the 1960's and the selection by scholarship system (11-plus) was thought to be socially divisive and so the Comprehensive system was introduced in Darlington schools. ‘The end of the war brought prosperity to Eastbourne when Patons and Baldwins built their factory on Lingfield Lane. The West Riding knitting yarn firm bought land in 1947, The site covered 140 acres and at its peak employed three thousand people. It was said to be the largest knitting wool plant in the world. The buildings spread over forty acres and fifty acres were designated for sports fields and gardens. It was an impressive building and anyone entering the main reception office could not fail to be impressed by the magnificent staircase. Work in the factory was hard; Maureen Hume worked from 7.30am to 5.15pm with half an hour dinner break. The noise in the factory was horrendous, the company was very paternalistic, with an excellent staff canteen, a resident medical sister and the factory doctor visited regularly. There were Christmas parties and pantomime visits for the children and a social club for the adults. The Beehive Ballroom was a beautiful place and I have danced many times to the Big Bands of the day there. The company built the houses at the top of the Broadway for key workers brought from Wakefield, Halifax and Scotland Sadly the factory had to cut back its workforce when sales of knitting yarn dropped, due to cheap imported goods and the fact that women no longer hand-Knitted their children’s jumpers. The 1970's and 80’s saw redundancies until eventually just the warehouse was left. At last the old Victorian houses of Silver Street and Chancery Street, were demolished. They had all been built around the coal depots and the engine sheds and it must have been a dirty and smoky atmosphere to bring up a family. Mr Stokoe apparently told one mother she deserved a medal for turning out her children so well for school in such difficult circumstances. The houses were replaced with prefabs in 1946. Council housing was now being built in Fenby Avenue and some people were re-housed thereWhen the Railway Plant closed in 1978 the factory had been in production for seventy-nine years and with the closure of The Wire Mills on Albert Hill three hundred and ninety five jobs were lost. When the site of the old factory was cleared new houses were erected including sheltered housing for elderly people and houses and flats for families and single people. The old names were carried on with Wesley Court, and Stanley and Carlton Streets. A transport theme was given to the streets off Hunden’s Lane with Robert's Walk, Trevithick, Telford and Rennie also being remembered in street names. New industries, however, were coming to the town. The American motor company, Chrysler Cummins was built in 1964 costing two and half million pounds to build and equip. HM Queen Elizabeth 11 opened the plant ‘on 19% October 1967, Rothman’s took over much of the Paton & Baldwin's site. A new industrial estate was built on Allington Way with a retail park and more factories including Torrington’s and Hutchison Telecom. ‘The Cleveland Bridge Company moved from its old site next to the Railway line and built a new factory next to Cummins Engines. Mrs Donna Barber arrived at Teesside airport in June 1985; she was the daughter of the heroic Canadian pilot, William McMullen, Mrs Barber arrived to begin a twelve-day visit organised by the Mayor of Darlington, Mr. Phillip Stamford Bewley. Mrs Barber unveiled a painting in her father’s honour in Darlington Rugby Club, Lingfield Lane was re-named McMullen Road and a memorial stone was placed on the corner of Allington Way. The visit coincided with a reunion of the Canadian and British Airmen based at Middleton-St-George during the war. William McMullen was buried at Harrogate alongside other Canadian servicemen. In April 1965 a new Youth Club annexe was opened at Eastbourne Methodist Church, the premises on Yarm Road had been extended to accommodate a sports hall, coffee bar, showers and toilets. Members of the Tokyo Olympic Team, Miss Joy Grievson and Mr Geoff Thwaites opened these new premises. A full-time youth leader ran the new Youth Centre. A further increase was made to the membership of Eastbourne when forty six people were transferred from Victoria Road Chapel. Sadly, however, by 1977 a decision had to be made and in February 1979 the fine Edwardian church held its last service as a Methodist Chapel. Originally built to cater for eight hundred souls, average attendance was now around forty, the cost of maintaining the building had become prohibitive and so it was put on the market for sale. An offer was made on the building from the newly emerging Sikh community in Darlington, for a Temple. The congregation was pleased that their beloved church was still to be a place of worship and not a warehouse. ‘A smaller modern church was built on the Yarm Road premises and incorporated the stained glass windows from the original church. The Sikh community invited the members of all the Christian churches in Eastbourne to attend one of their services, and a good relationship between people of all faiths has existed ever since.On Sunday mornings Sikhs in their beautiful and colourful costumes greet Methodists on their way to worship with the usual comments about the British weather! One hundred and fifty years after the start of the first public Railway, it was time once more for Anniversary Celebrations. The star attraction would bea steam cavalcade on 31 August 1975, with my family I stood at the site of the old engine sheds on Bank Top and watched about thirty magnificent steam locomotives pass by, Sir Nigel Gresley, Mallard, The Flying Scotsman among them, it was a magnificent sight. For many years Locomotion the engine George Stephenson had driven on that memorable day in 1825, had stood with Derwent at Bank Top station, now, however, a new railway museum would be opened at North Road Station and Locomotion was moved here, The Duke of Edinburgh opened the museum in September 1975. Sadly plans for a celebration of steam to be held in 2000 had to be cancelled. The railway network had been nationalised in 1948 and re-named British Rail. The last steam engine ran in 1968 and a host of highly skilled men were made redundant, the Diesel engine had arrived. But in 1979 a Conservative government privatised the railways B.R was replaced by G.N.ER and other private companies. Electrification came in the 1980's and today Virgin Trains, GNER, Arriva Northern, and Arriva Trans Penine operate trains through Bank Top. The old Bank Top was changing, houses with pretty floral names, Marigold, Violet, Larkspur, now stood where the Fever hospital had once been. The old workhouse, despite its various name changes was never accepted as a hospital and was finally demolished, leaving a large grassed area between Yarm Road and Eastbourne Road. The Regent cinema, at one time became a Bingo Hall then it too was pulled down and a Nursing home now stands at the Top of the old Freeholder’s Estate in Cobden Street. The railway footbridge, which once went from Albert Street to Pensbury Street, was altered to make room for car parking. Children would stand on that bridge watching the huge smoky steam engines run through, a train-spotter's dream. Some schoolboys were lucky enough to get an engine driver to show them the engines in the sheds on Green Street. The bridge over the main line is all enclosed now, possibly to stop vandals throwing things onto the line. Bank Top station celebrated its centenary in 1987. The Victoria Road entrance and the clock tower were given a face-lift and an electrification mast was planted to celebrate the station's history. It was the 13,000" mast to be erected in a three million pound project to electrify the East Coast line. Electric trains were expected to be running between London and Leeds by 1988, but it was 1991 before work at Darlington was complete.THE FUTURE 1990 2002 So what does the future hold for Bank Top and Eastbourne in the new millennium? Small industries occupy the site of the old railway sheds, the terraced housing of 1850, and the prefabs of 1946, Traditional Fish and Chip shops have given way to international restaurants and takeaways, The once narrow country lane to Yarm is thronged with buses, cars and lorries, The magnificent steam engines have given way to soulless electric and diesel trains with hooters instead of whistles. The road stretches to Cummins’ roundabout and McMullen Road, past Orange and Cleveland Bridge now under a new name, onward to the new development of Morton Park. Once more on the outskirts of the town a new hospital has been built, privately owned and with all the latest technology. A huge supermarket, Morrison’s where shoppers can pile their trolleys with goods unimagined by the Co-op stores fifty, forty or twenty years ago. The B&Q warehouse supplies home improvements and garden requisites undreamed of by those engine drivers on Stanley Terrace. The Mecca of every schoolchild today is McDonald’s where a free gift of the current craze is given with every ‘Happy Meal’. ‘A new hotel is being built on the south side and ‘Brewster's restaurant on the north. And so we arrive at the A66. David Machin’s sculpture ‘The Brick Train’ stands alongside the road taking traffic from the south to Teesside and bypassing Darlington. The train echoes Darlington’s railway history, and although the Ad engine it depicts was never produced here, they steamed their way over the bridges at Bank Top hundreds of times. The country lane that was the local lovers’ lane, first called Airey Lane, then Lingfield, and finally McMullen, has lost its country image. Car salerooms line both sides of the road as the town spreads eastwards to Stockton. The country lane I walked along to Middleton-St-George and “Middly” is unrecognisable now as traffic heads towards Teesside Airport. Very soon there will be a new football stadium. New housing will be built on the old workhouse site. Bourne Close and Pond View have been built on the land of Hundens fields and there is a public sports complex at Eastbourne school. But some things don’t change; St John’s Church is still the place for many people to get married or buried. Trains still rattle through Bank Top. station, the Hope Inn stands much the same as ever. The Methodist schoolrooms still echo to the sound of children’s voices and, of course, you can still buy Carter's “ducks and pease pudding”A turn of the Century celebratory event at St. John’s ChurchOutside St. John’s Vicarage, Neasham Road. James and Herbert Wilson (the author's uncles) in costume for the 1925 Railway Centenary CelebrationsBIBLIOGRAPHY Rey. Dr Gerald Bostock Vera Chapman George Flynn Ken Hoole Chris Lloyd Gordon Plummer Clifton Stockdale St Teresa's Junior RCS St Teresa’s Junior R.C.School Eastbourne Methodist Church Rural Darlington The Book of Darlington Stockton & Darlington Railway Memories History of Church of St John ‘The Evangelist. A Century of Elementary Education in Darlington The Freeholders’ Estate Silver Jubilee 1958 - 1983 Photographs by kind permission of Mr Gordon Coates LMPA Copyright. Northern Echo. Northern Despatch Darlington & Stockton Times. Maps reproduced from 1858 and 1919 ordnance survey maps. Technical assistance by Mrs Carol Moore, Mrs Jean Usher, Miss Helen Snowball