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Model of a North Eastern Railway coal wagon, c 1915

Model of a North Eastern Railway coal wagon, c 1915

1910-1920
Bogie Ballast hopper, made at British Rail Engineering Limited Shildon in 1973, withdrawn from service 2006

British Railway Seacow Ballast wagon, DB982896

1973
Drawing of Hackworth locomotive of 1836 built for the Russian Government

Drawing of Hackworth locomotive of 1836 built for the Russian Government

1836?
Indenture of Thomas Oliver the younger to William Bouch, 1847

Indenture of Thomas Oliver the younger to William Bouch, 1847

1847-04-25
Oral history interview with Jane Hackworth-Young conducted and recorded by Jo Bath in 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 49 minutes. Whereabouts before moving to Northern England, family roots, father was an engineer; great, great granddaughter of Timothy Hackworth, descended from Hackworth’s youngest daughter Jane Hackworth, who married Robert Young, who helped Hackworth run the Stockton and Darlington Railway, father was a civil, mechanical and electrical engineer, family methodist background; [00:02:40] father’s efforts to get Hackworth recognised; Robert Young’s book, Hackworth papers, 1972 Shildon visit, Hackworth’s house, Hackworth statue, lack of Hackworth recognition; Smile’s book on Robert Stephenson, Wylam locomotives; father's lobbying to BBC and Northern Echo; [00:07:20] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, Shildon Town Council request for documentation to help preparations, working with her father to prepare documentation; [00:09:30] further efforts to get Hackworth recognised; support from Michael Kirby, Hackworth buildings and other relics, Hackworth family background, further lobbying, meeting with Shildon Town Council, September 1974 renovation of Hackworth’s house started, gathering of Hackworth documentation; [00:17:00] Robert Young’s book Timothy Hackworth and the Locomotive; [00:17:50] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, Hackworth Museum opening by Queen Mother (17th July 1975), Cavalcade (31st August 1975); [00:19:00] Hackworth Museum, Hackworth House, restored Soho Shed; Sans Pareil replica, Shildon railway works; summer 1980 running of Sans Pareil, Rocket and the Novelty, lack of money and expertise from Sedgefield Council to run museum, restoration of coal manager’s building; [00:23:30] 1984 closure of Shildon Works, impact on Shildon, impact on Hackworth Museum, Walter Nunn; [00:24:50] Hackworth Society (May,1976), activities; [00:25:30] Hackworth Museum, decline, Bowes Museum support, National Railway Museum arrival, opening Locomotion, 2004; personal reflections on museum 1975-2004, possible further developments; [00:28:00] Timothy Hackworth, involvement in Stockton and Darlington railway opening 1825, began own works 1830; [00:29:30] Hackworth Museum; 11th July 1975 opening by Her Majesty the Queen Mother, details of Hackworth-Young family in attendance, details of opening; [00:32:10] cavalcade 1975; [00:35:40] father’s research; blast pipe, importance of “Royal George”; [00:37:00] own involvement with Sans Pareil locomotive replica, Rainhill trials in Wales in 2002; personal views differences between Sans Pareil and Rocket locomotives; [00:39:20] personal views on early locomotive developments, element of luck, Stephenson-Hackworth rivalry; [00:40:00] Sans Pareil history, snow plough, restoration by John Hick in 1864, Rocket and Sans Pareil at the Science Museum, then National Railway Museum, now (2004) coming to Shildon, importance of having historical locomotives in London; [00:42:00] local awareness of Hackworth; growth helped by involvement of local schools, museum visits; NRM at Shildon, Locomotion museum; York and Shildon to complement each other, Hackworth to be an integral part, social side important; [00:45:00] 1975 Cavalcade franking stamp; [00:45:30] Locomotion, Hackworth involvement in rebuild, Hackworth wheels; [00:47:20] work on Hackwork archive [00:49:39] [end of interview]

Jane Hackworth-Young interviewed by Jo Bath

2004
Oral history interview with Colin Howson conducted and recorded by Robert Aitchison on 21 April 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration 15 minutes 30 seconds. Born in Bishop Auckland in 1948; PE teacher training Leeds college; childhood in Bishop Auckland; school and college; starting work Sunderland; sports in Shildon, British Rail Football club, boxing; 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, cavalcade, memories of smell and noise; railway walks in Shildon area; closure of Shildon railway works; mining; politics in Shildon area.

Colin Howson interviewed by Robert Aitchison

2004-04-21
Oral history interview with Harry March conducted and recorded by Robert Aitchison on 31 March 2004, as part of the Time Track oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 38 minutes 43 seconds. Born in 1946 in Shildon; early life; Shildon drift mine; Shildon railway works; wagon repair; overhead cranes; high-capacity wagon building; ballast wagons; Shildon works decline and closure; politics of closure; Beeching Plan; Darlington North Road closure; removal of railway lines; working conditions and injuries; draw bar production; buck eye production; 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary; Locomotion Museum; Timothy Hackworth; sports teams; coal from pits to Shildon railway works; health and safety; injuries; railway family.

Harry March interviewed by Robert Aitchison

2004-03-31
Oral history interview with John Tomlin recorded and conducted by Robert Aitchison on 23 April 2004 as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration 50 minutes 37 seconds. Early life; Shildon railway works; messenger boy; fitter; York carriage works; Tomlin Street; father's drawing of a locomotive; visit to India; Railway Institute; Shildon works band; Italian prisoners of war; World jamboreee of scouts; practical jokes; accidents and fatality; brake assembly; 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, cavalcade

John Tomlin interviewed by Robert Aitchison

2004-04-23
Oral history interview with Mary Wright conducted and recorded by Jo Bath in 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 14 minutes. [Track 01] Born in Shildon, childhood 1930s, father on the railways, leaving school at age 14, shop assistant Bishop Auckland, work at Co-op Shildon, memories of funerals; [00:07:10] Second World War, billeted soldiers, little to eat, rationing, little social life; [00:09:50] work as a school clerk at end of war; evacuees, details of work; [00:13:00] co-op work; boredom, rats at work, dislike of work, left 1945; [00:20:30] secretarial work at Printing Works; break in; [00:23:00] working for police force or at Shildon Works; interview for secretarial work for police; offered job at Shildon railway works; [00:25:40] Newton Aycliffe history, built around munitions factory; [00:26:50] factories built at Shildon; [00:28:00] working life memories; dancing, social life, Spennymoor Rink; [00:30:00] life at Shildon Works; clerical work, monotonous, family members and the War, over staffed, weather of winter 1947; [00:36:30] work in Shildon Works stores; poor quality of work, met husband, few women at Shildon Works, rats in the works, cat at home; [00:46:00] chapel; soldiers used dining room during war, dead rats' story; [00:48:50] further employment; employed 4 years at Works, married, work at Marks & Spencer [00:50:48] [end of track 01] [Track 02] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, “Shildon's finest hour”, provided Bed & Breakfast, marvellous experience, Cavalcade; [00:05:00] Shildon works, “buzzer” story, father at Works during Second World War, 12-hour shifts during war, died at aged 51 years, poor air quality in Shildon, friendly; [00:10:20] views on life now: Shildon “smarter” now, no one “hard up”, comparison with Darlington; [00:13:00] Shildon works closure; [00:13:50] Shildon Carnivals, yearly, revived now, lack of “spirit” now, photographs; [00:18:00] Geest banana factory at Shildon, story of a driver at the factory; [00:23:00] reflections on own family [00:23:41] [end of track 02] [end of interview]

Mary Wright interviewed by Jo Bath

2004
Oral history interview with Fred Edwards conducted and recorded by Jo Bath on 20 February 2004 as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 48 minutes. [Disc 01, track 01] Born c 1921, leaving County Durham aged 14 to work in a leather factory in Nottinghamshire; joining the Navy aged 17 [00:01:48] [end of disc 01, track 01]. [Disc 01, track 02] joining the Navy, Navy life [00:03:30]; the journey to a posting in China; life on the China sea, the outbreak of World War 2 [00:07:10]; looking for the German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee in the South Atlantic [00:08:40]; fighting the Italians; explosion of the destroyer and escaping the wreckage [00:12:34]; recuperating with rum and cigarettes [00:13:13]; diving for mines in the Suez Canal [00:16:20]; journey back home for leave [00:19:55] home on leave [00:20:58]; HMS Nelson and the Malta convoy [00:22:40]; D-Day and returning to Portsmouth [00:24:41]; meeting his future wife while on leave; his wife [00:31:20]; demobbed from Navy, back to Shildon, career options; joining the railways as a signalman, training school Darlington, postings; Locomotive pub opening [00:35:51]; watching the cavalcade; his grandchildren [00:38:05]; Royal Train [00:39:13]; accident between Simpasture and Heighington, inquiry [00:43:25]; signaling system [00:45:25]; accidentally letting wagons off the end of the tip [00:49:00]; runaway wagons and coal [00:50:38]; an accident and some injured hands [00:52:45]; cows on the line [00:54:25]; ill horses in a wagon [00:56:26]; closure of Heighington station, wagon of new coins sent to the wrong Heighington station [00:58:40]; dealing with multiple trains [01:00:50]; training his replacement; 1984, one day strikes [01:03:40]; theft of brass from axle boxes of new wagons from the works [01:06:27]; following the rules; accident with a chest expander [01:11:33]; his wife mending the banner [01:15:50]; working on trains as a pilot man [01:17:40]; reporting car going through the red light at crossing [01:19:08] [end of disc 01, track 02] [Disc 02, track 01] cars regularly going through the red light at crossing, prosecutions [00:03:36]; visits and escapees from nearby by mental health hospital [00:08:35]; shift system, uniforms; accident inquiry [00:13:34]; first aid; training in Union law at Newcastle University [00:16:51]; breaking signal box windows, reporting [00:20:53]; weather conditions issues, fog and snow [00:26:02] bending the rules [00:27:39] [end of disc 02, track 01] [end of interview]

Fred Edwards interviewed by Jo Bath

2004-02-04
Oral history interview with Les Dunn conducted and recorded by Jo Bath on 14 March 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 7 minutes. Interview recorded whilst walking outdoors around the former Shildon Railway Works site and surroundings. [interview starts 00:01:15] Shildon railway works, site geography, gasworks, railway line, railway horses stables; childhood, born 1923 in Shildon, father’s work as a miner, then coal/goods transport with horse and cart, later also opened a fish and chips shop with his wife; [00:02:51] former surrounding buildings, near Victoria street; [00:03:56] childhood, living near Shildon works, traffic in the goods yard, coal dock; [00:05:49] coal drops for engines, shunting; tanks in Second World War; [00:07:44] leading timber for the railways, seeing railway workers encountering issues with heavy load lifting on tracks; [00:09:05] railway office building, goods clerk work, weighbridge, weighing vehicles, change of weighbridge after incident, collecting coal with horse and cart; [00:12:45] use of cranes, weight and loading goods, coal or parcels; [00:13:45] father gave work to all family members after school years, goods transport or fish and chips shop; [00:14:00] shunting operations observed at the goods yard; coal merchants, station master supplying coal for family business; [00:16:30] big traction engine to Show Fields; Wall Side line, farmers bringing potatoes and hay, sugar beet transport; [00:18:30] loading coal, truck issues; [00:19:28] coal delivery by lorry; coal and other goods delivery in Second World War, family business doing road transport for British Railways; [00:21:19] Shildon gymnasium, boxing, brother was a boxer, LNER box championship 1936, links between Shildon railway works and boxing; [00:23:00] when circus came to Shildon; [00:24:30] types of lorry and wagons used for transport; Bishop Auckland cattle market; [00:25:45] machine used for coal transport; helping father with business as a child; siblings joining both family businesses, coal and goods transport, fish and chips shop, work linked to railways; [00:27:19] parcel delivery, silver delivery to the bank, safety measures; [00:30:05] wages; comparing horse and cart and lorry, care for horses; meeting people in goods yard, helping others; goods yard closure; water pipes and leak in goods yard building; relationship with railway workers in goods yard, Dunn family renting goods yard office; 1925 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington centenary, the Dunns had set lorries for public to watch event in goods yard, loading coal in engines for cavalcade, Green Arrow, Dunn family helping on day of cavalcade; [00:38:15] crane breaking lifting 2 tons; being buried under coal at age 5; childhood caring for horse, working; coal house, equipment, incidents, goods yard playground for children; railway horses, stables; Mr Appleby, station master; [00:43:20] Second World War, presence of soldiers; [00:45:00] plates from Shildon LNER Good Templars, temperance; [00:46:00] horse stables; fish and chips shops, public houses; [00:48:24] usage of church building, housing for homeless people; Soho cottage, station master’s house; [00:51:26] former gasworks and surrounding, weekly coal deliveries; [00:54:10] goods yard closure; bombing in Second World War, anti-aircraft guns (ack-ack); stolen commemorative plate; [00:56:34] goods yard staff; Dunn family transport business, A licence, delivering timber to colliery, different types of licences for railway road transport; deliveries to the bank, shops, fresh goods deliveries; [00:59:13] Geest bananas delivery, using railway weighbridge, Dunn family buying over Geest warehouse; banana road and rail transport; [01:04:20] birds collecting grit from coke piles; Hackworth house, historical railway memorabilia; [01:06:20] childhood family house, living arrangements [01:07:09] [end of interview]

Les Dunn interviewed by Jo Bath

2004
Oral history interview with Tom Strophair conducted and recorded by Robert Aitchison on 23 March 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration 1 hour 5 minutes 7 seconds. Born in 1927 in Witton Park; early life; apprenticeship; army; Shildon railway works; reparation steel from Japan; long shed; motive power shed; electric trains; Shildon works closure 1984; pensions; prisoner of war; 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary; wagon repair; traverser; closure of shipbuilding; closure of pits; Shildon station; railway institute; almshouses

Tom Strophair interviewed by Robert Aitchison

2004-03-23
[Draft letter] 1829 Apr 9, New Shildon [to] Rob't Stephenson, Liverpool / Tim.y Hackworth. [3p. on 1 leaf. Expresses opinions on pulling capacity of various engines, and on the inefficacy of stationary engines and endless ropes on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. On SM negs. 452-4/89]

Letter, Timothy Hackworth to Robert Stephenson, 9 April 1829

1829-04-09
Oral history interview with Aubrey Clethero conducted and recorded by Jo Bath in 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 17 minutes. Born 1928 in Shildon, childhood, education, first job at 14, tobacconist; office job at Shildon railway works, 1942, sorting and delivery mail; move to joiner’s shop, apprentice joiner; [00:03:50] career overview, leaving Shildon works, private joiner’s firm, work at Shildon Council, redundancy, joiner’s jobs at Darlington, Newton Aycliffe, Bishop Auckland, return to Shildon Council (1957), woodwork teacher at Cotton Hill School, Bishop Auckland, teaching evening classes in joinery, teaching qualification, Woodhouse Secondary Modern School for 24 years, retired at 55 years of age, now helps neighbours; [00:08:10] Father’s career, miner at Dabble Duck Mine, First World War soldier, milk business after war, during the Great Depression kept pigs and hens for sale, labourer at Shildon Works, various jobs until retired; [00:11:00] mother’s career, labourer at Shildon Works until son started at the Works, mother looked after house, livestock and allotment, work in axle box plant at the Works, previously worked as a dress maker, mother into the work to help the war effort in Second World War, war effort armament production; [00:16:20] further details of Father’s lorry work; photograph described, earth closet cleaning, rubbish disposal, use of clinker, coal man, ended at the Great Depression; [00:19:40] first day at Shildon works: aged 14 years, worked in general office, messenger boy duties, arrangements for carrying parcels; [00:22:50] extreme weather, hard winters, 1942 whilst working as apprentice, lost milk cart story; [00:24:00] childhood, mince pie story, black out activities; [00:27:50] Second World War impact on Shildon works, air raids, no bombs dropped, munitions at Works; [00:29:20] Italian prisoners of war at Shildon works, camp at Harpley; [00:30:50] cats at the Works, cat in most workshops, father got a kitten from the works, cat in works and home; [00:31:40] Shildon Works: flooring, enjoyment of working there, piece work, NUR involvement, leaving works; [00:34:40] life after leaving Shildon Works; good career, evening classes, Further Education teaching (1953), more money; [00:36:10] working at Shildon Works; got on well with others, did simple tasks, examples, practical jokes, Uncle worked at Works, no clocking on, never ill; [00:41:00] joiners shop work; check-in system, pay check system, few accidents, sawmill accidents, personal accident; enjoyed work; first aid system at the works, ambulance room, works’ ambulance; [00:47:45] Second World War, volunteering as a patient for first aid courses for women at the Railway Institute; [00:49:30] Railway Institute facilities; church choir member, became leader of church youth club, youth club committee meetings, no Works social activities during War, Works Band, Works cricket club; [00:54:40] Shildon works, Fire Brigade, difficulties of working in the forge, heat and dirt, welding work, lot of local boys got jobs in the Works, Works provided a lot of experiences; [00:58:10] impressions of working in Shildon Works, comparison with Darlington, paid board and lodging at home, given pocket money; [00:59:20] father buying first television; [01:01:00] Shildon works, views on what the site is now (2004); neighbours; memories of lots of men entering and leaving Works each day; [01:05:30] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, cavalcade; [01:07:10] 1930’s carnival; involved through All Saints’ Church, Sunday School, Redcar Annual outing, train travel to Redcar; [01:10:40] Shildon works lunch arrangements; came home, canteen mainly for men from Bishop Auckland, tea making, 10 am breaks; [01:13:20] social classes distinctions at the works [01:17:42] [end of interview]

Aubrey Clethero interviewed by Jo Bath

2004
Oral history interview with Garry Huntington, conducted and recorded by Jo Bath over two sessions in 24 and 25 February 2004, as part of the Time Track oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 2 hours 17 minutes. [Disc 1] Childhood, family background, parents and schooling; [00:03:55] starting work at Astraka fake fur factory, [00:05:05] early history of Astraka, its role in the development of fake fur, [00:08:27] breaking into the Russian market, [00:10:55] famous clients, [00:12:22] uniform, diversification and closure; Winter Olympics; [00:15:54] a working day, relationship with designers; [00:18:57] funny mistakes; customer service; making a horse blanket; [00:22:15] working as a trouble shooter and with catalogue companies; [00:24:50] early work in the stores, training and negotiation for better job; [00:28:21] work of the technical department; [00:29:24] lack of union activity or protest; [00:31:03] highs and lows; relations with the directors; [00:34:55] social and sports facilities; [00:37:25] various homes; [00:39:15] the canteen and the estate, damp problems; [00:42:20] staff discount; [00:44:25] career as a councillor, working in housing; [00:48:00] Recent elections and signs of recovery; move towards residential area; [00:53:45] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, cavalcade, love for steam trains; [01:00:00] Shildon railway works, workers coming out of the works, [01:03:51] works open days; [01:05:15] impact of the works closure in 1984, signs of recovery; [01:11:46] sports as a child, meeting his wife [01:14:59] [end of disc 1] [Disc 2] activities and leisure in Shildon, rock and roll, dancing, fashions and culture; [00:07:20] housing then and now, development; [00:11:24] making do, clippy mats; [00:14:00] New Shildon old shopping area; [00:15:40] open cast mining; [00:19:58] carnival, foot running, gambling and cheating; dressing up; [00:24:24] Shildon’s Banana factory, Geest; [00:28:09] the Dunns; [00:30:25] Shildon people, problems with private rents; [00:32:30] poverty as a child, neighbours arguing; [00:36:20] extreme weather, snow in 1947, flooding; [00:42:35] paste eggs, "jarping", holidays, working men's clubs; [00:49:16] the Railway Institute; [00:53:12] boxing, learning to box at Hackworth's workshop, watching fights [01:02:06] [end of disc 2] [end of interview]

Garry Huntington interviewed by Jo Bath

2004-02-24
Oral history interview with Lesley Wilson conducted by Jo Bath on 24 March 2004 as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 29 minutes. [Track 01] Born in Shildon, family background, grand-father worked at Shildon railway works, father’s bricklayer, education, being a pupil and now (2004) teacher at Timothy Hackworth school; 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, Shildon Wesleyan Youth Club, Gerody’s Pinker group, Iron Road song for anniversary, local singing performances, studio recording of Iron Road, relationship with group members now; performing on day of cavalcade, Cleaveland radio broadcast, event security; [00:05:46] Iron Road song played at opening the Timothy Hackworth Victorian Railway Museum in Shildon by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, 1975; Iron Road disc record; cavalcade event, crowds, Shildon people offering bed and breakfast, static engines display, Shildon works; [00:09:00] Shildon works visit as a child, noises, meeting her grandad when he finished work; [00:11:00] parents, father’s choice to not work for Shildon works; school, children of Shildon works workers had extra holiday; 1975, youth group, helping churches, special services, churches offered catering and sleeping arrangements for visitors to 1975 celebrations, Timothy Hackworth memorabilia [00:14:07] [end of track 01] [Track 02] teaching trip to India, bringing posters about Timothy Hackworth; childhood, learning about Timothy Hackworth; teaching about him at Timothy Hackworth school now (2004); group singing performance for Thimothy Hackworth museum opening 1975; reflecting on Iron Road song, performing at Royal Albert Hall in London; childhood, youth group, churches activities; [00:05:38] Shildon now (2004), hope with new museum (Locomotion), local community involved with local heritage, new housing; younger generations rarely coming back to Shildon after university, different sense of community in Shildon compared to childhood; [00:08:00] Shildon railway works closure, marches against closure, impact of closure, people moved to Doncaster and Eastleigh, impact on community; starting career with office work, becoming a teacher after having a family; 1975 celebrations, excitement for the events and having a lot of people visiting; [00:12:00] childhood, children of parents working at Geist banana factory bringing insects at school; hot summers in childhood, playing on grass bank with friends [00:15:02] [end of track 02] [end of interview]

Lesley Wilson interviewed by Jo Bath

2004-03-24
Educational film about coal and coal wagons. Filmed in locomotion with the Friends of the National Railway Museum (North) explaining the importance of the MGR wagon at Locomotion

DVD-R 'The MGR 'Hi-Cap' Story'

Oral history interview with Maurice Peacock conducted and recorded by Jo Bath in 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes. Born 1917 in Shildon. Childhood; moved to Middlesbrough (1921), Middlesbrough High School; Shildon streets; father a coal miner (Dabble Duck Mine, Shildon), father moved to ICI Billingham; leaving school pre-exams to be an errand boy, brothers on dole, took exams, errand boy, shop manager; [00:03:10] joining Rochdale Police Force (1939); 9 years in Rochdale, periods in army and air force, married 1941, dislike of police work; [00:04:00] further career; ; return to Middlesbrough; general dealer’s shop (4-5 years), fish and chip shop, burnt out after one week, new equipment within a week, commercial traveller until retirement; [00:06:40] childhood, Growing up; father’s work as miner, coal seam under house, brothers farm workers, railway routes near Shildon, no family members became miners; [00:12:40] play location and games as a child in Shildon, goods yard play, friends, Timothy Hackworth School; [00:19:10] Shildon railway works, wagon works; [00:20:00] food in childhood, porridge; [00:21:10] Shildon area; leisure and activities in Shildon, Soho Shed used by band, museum visit, Sunday School, brass band visits, church on Sundays, played during week, groceries paid once a week, lot of shops, wet fish shop, played in recreation ground, lot of railway lines; [00:28:40] family life; first girlfriend 1937, married 1939, widowhood 1998, memories of wife, grandchildren, great grandchildren; [00:31:20] 1926 General Strike, the Great Depression; father and brothers out of work, reduction in amount of food, family memories, what people did during general strike, deaths of young siblings; [00:35:00] Shildon railway works visit, no desire to work in works; [00:36:10] interest in police work, Shildon policeman; [00:38:00] childhood, clothing, coal deliveries, coal house outside, toilets, wash house, washday, father’s miner’s clothes, watching the carnival, bicycle use, grocery deliveries, hand cart use; [00:46:10] agricultural show; showground, rabbits, pigeons; [00:47:30] extreme weather, winter, igloo building; [00:49:40] dinners during General Strike; Salvation Army, soup; [00:51:30] mines around Shildon; lots of pits; [00:52:20] electrified railway; few memories; [00:53:50] cinema, went now and then, “flea pit", not enjoyable, piano played pre-organ, first picture with talk seen in Middlesborough; [00:56:50] social classes in childhood, no issues, no bullying in school; [00:58:00] shoes in childhood; [00:59:00] food, always fresh food in house; [00:01:10] remedies, drugs, medication in childhood, cod liver oil; [01:02:40] favourite things to do; playing out, details, punishment if mis-behaved; [01:04:50] proggy mat making, helping mother; [01:07:10] tricks on neighbours; doorknob tying; [01:08:00] street play; hoop rolling, marbles; [01:10:20] family support; relationship with brothers, sisters, sister’s work; [01:12:40] Army service; visit to London to see sister, army work in a US army camp [01:15:09] [end of interview]

Maurice Peacock interviewed by Jo Bath

2004
Oral history interview with Eric Brass (session 1 of 2) conducted by Robert Aitchison on 25 February 2004 as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Original duration: 41 minutes, however there are many distortions throughout the recording, resulting in 28 minutes of audible recording via the digital access file. Education, All Saints School (left 1948); career start, clothing factory, Shildon Works; served 2 years National Service, returned to works; following Shildon works closure stayed for 8 years with new owners until aged 60 years; [00:01:00] apprentice fitter, new wagons, repair side, promotion, jig and tool work, charge hand for drilling machines; [00:02:00] after Works closure, company who took over the Works until final closure; impact of Shildon Works closure, personal impact, devastated although still had a job, impact on town, hard times for the town, some younger men transferred, loss of small businesses; [00:03:20] working conditions, improved as times went by, forge example; Works stories; relationships, friendly, managers; protest march against closure in Thatcher era, Works was closed even though they were the best, reduction in Union power, bitterness, closure spoilt lifetime of working at the Works; [00:06:20] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, on duty, great event, thousands of people; living in Shildon; hard times at start of War, parents ensured family had sufficient food, post War “boom” time at Works, family members at the Works; list of shops in Shildon, picture houses; [00:09:20] population of Shildon, decreased a few thousands since closure, during “boom” time every family had some connection to Works; Shildon Works, where it was, office building site, biggest sidings; [00:11:10] personal views on new museum, good, questions longevity of museum and visitor target numbers; importance of Shildon Works, valued in near area, men employed from wide area, good comradeship, views of Darlington railway works workers; [00:13:00] memories of first museum, visited in early days, housed in “boxing” family's house, visited with father from 5-6 years old; personal views on politics of area and local people engagement with politics; [00:14:50] National Service, 1955-1957, armourer, glad to get it over; [00:15:40] employment at Shildon Works, example of how keen men were to work at the Works, comparison with other local workplaces; first wage, first job in the office delivering mail, little money when serving his time, followed father who was employed at the Works, pride in products; [00:18:00] Merry-go-round wagons, local haulage firm involvement, good local firm involvement, other product production; [00:19:30] Shildon works, further details, maximum of two and a half thousand men, caused town population increase, best times 1960’s and 1970’s, closure 1984, unclear why closure occurred, overseas competition; [00:22:20] Second World War, women worked, Italian prisoners of war, 5 years old when War started; scalding accident, hospital treatment; interview interrupted [00:28:05] [end of interview]

Eric Brass interviewed by Robert Aitchison (session 1 of 2)

2004-02-25
Oral history interview with Bill and Joan Trusler conducted and recorded by Jo Bath in 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 2 minutes. Shildon railway works, female rivet heaters in Second World War, colleagues, relationship with supervisors; Joan later worked for other factories Flymo lawnmower factory, Geest banana factory, worked until family, wages comparison at Newcastle Tea Company and for railway, gender pay gap; [00:05:45] journey to work, pay token, weekly wage; Bill’s father a riveter for railway, common in Shildon for sons to follow fathers in railway career; Bill first job tea boy at age 14; [00:10:15] work straight out of school; Second World War, Shildon Railway works, female staff, toilet/rest room, lack of break facilities; cats at the works; medical facilities, ambulance rooms at the works, safety, fire brigade (fire watchers); no bombs for Shildon surprisingly; blackout; no air raid warnings; [00:16:30] work at Geest banana factory, grading by colour, sorting bananas for shops, location of factory, ripening room, hard work; [00:19:45] Flymo lawnmower factory at Aycliffe; rivet heating was favourite job, riveting work; [00:22:50] leisure and activities, Bill played drums with dance band, boxing at gymnasium, dance rehearsal room, boxing championship, Darlington fight; [00:29:15] Railway Institute facilities and activities; railway unions, NUR; Christmas, summer holidays; marriage; where they went on holidays; [00:34:40] Shildon works, different shops, blacksmiths shop, repair, relationship between workers, love affairs and scandals during Second World War; using the works facilities to make tools for home; thefts at the works; [00:40:35] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, cavalcade; Railway Carnival, one year a Railway Queen from Shildon, crowning in Manchester; [00:44:40] spiders in Geest banana boxes; extreme weather, snow in winter 1947; stuck in Aycliffe no buses; Shildon Carnival used to be a big event, comparison since railway works closed; events at Shildon Carnival, running and boxing, agricultural show; [00:49:35] coal use at home, coal fires, coal merchants and horse troughs; Brusselton; engine houses; childhood, play in the street, Timothy Hackworth school, Tintacks; [00:55:00] Shildon shops, Mr Pitts coffee shop, Bennison paper shop, Gordons wallpaper shop, Hunter’s sweet shop, grocery shop, London and Newcastle tea shop; miners not known; pit chimney knocked down; father lost fingers in pit; [00:59:45] earliest childhood memories, Timothy Hackworth school, punishments [01:01:54] [end of interview]

Bill and Joan Trusler interviewed by Jo Bath

2004
Oral history interview with Cliff Howes conducted and recorded by Jo Bath on 4 March 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. The interview includes contributions from the interviewee’s wife, Marjorie, also present during the interview. Duration: 1 hour 19 minutes. [Track 01] Born 1924 in Leeds, move to Bishop Auckland 1938, start railway career 1939, lad parcels porter, signal lamp lad [00:50:48] [end of track 01] [Track 02] 1946 back in Shildon, after serving in army during 1939-1945 Second World War, signalman training, Shildon North, Sim Pasture Junction, Darlington locomotive department; [00:02:00] incidents at Dunns, Berwickshire, express crash at Beale, railway bridges collapsing in heavy rain, Aydon; driving Mallard A4 locomotive; [00:06:10] 1952 joining British Transport Police (BTP), Darlington, 32 years BTP career, uniform, career progression and ranks occupied within BTP; [00:10:00] theft from night parcels train in York, arrest of railway staff; [00:12:43] commendations received when in post in York, catching copper thief; parcels thieves at Darlington [00:14:46] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, inspector of Shildon railway works, policing the cavalcade, BTP team dispatched for event, enjoyment attending the event; July 1975 Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother opening the Timothy Hackworth Victorian Railway Museum in Shildon, being in charge of the Royal Train, interaction with the Queen Mother, allowing for children to see the Royal Train; [00:19:15] 1975 cavalcade, crowd, safety on train journey between Darlington and Shildon, queues; [00:21:35] fatalities on railway lines around York, suicides, impact on service and vehicles; [00:26:51] accident at Darlington, train collision; crashes at Parkgate Cabin when working as signal lad; [00:31:00] night shift at Sim Pasture Junction, shunting coal wagons, runaway wagons, accidental coal wagon spill; [00:32:38] arresting delivery driver stealing parcels; [00:35:56] (contribution from Marjorie) how busy ticket office was during Second World War, special train from Gateshead for Shildon railway works; [00:39:38] (contribution from Marjorie) work at ticket office, communicating with Sim Pasture signal box about livestock on the line, relationship with Shildon works, privilege passes, holidays, Saturdays, travel passes; [00:42:15] (back to Cliff) BTP experience, anecdote taking statement from driver after accident with a van; [00:43:47] arrests at Shildon works, brass theft, wagons bearings, working with the works security and fire officer (Jack Watson), confronting thief; [00:46:50] many thefts at Shildon works, night watch for thieves, chasing thieves; [00:49:43] other thefts after lines closure; [00:54:15] timber theft, Sim Pasture; [00:56:16] arrest of wagon brass thief, Shildon; [00:58:40] making model railway; [01:00:37] work at Shildon North cabin, safety issues Shildon tunnel, anti-theft measures for coal; [01:04:00] Alan Pierce, making models; [01:07:38] former stables near museum; Locomotion museum development; Shildon gasworks, Brusselton reservoir; [01:11:16] (Cliff and Marjorie) Timothy Hackworth; [01:12:26] accidents and deaths at Shildon works; [01:14:00] extreme weather, snow in winter 1947, snow in 1943 [01:17:54] [end of track 02] [end of interview]

Cliff Howes interviewed by Jo Bath

2004-03-04
Four glass black and white slides, 3 plastic-mounted colour and 1 card-mounted colour slide illustrating British Railways workshops and Shildon Wagon Works. Surplus slides from G. H. D. Mackie's lecture on Shildon of April 1964 (2004-7910) and the illustrations for his report "Impressions of British Railways Workshops" (2004-7909).

Impressions of British Railway Workshops / Shildon Works - unused slides (supplied title)

1960s
Oral history interview with Bob Murton conducted and recorded by Jo Bath in 2004 as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 18 minutes 38 seconds. Childhood (born 1909); parents occupation; his role as an apprentice patternmaker at Shildon works; scholarship to Newcastle College; interviewed by Nigel Gressley; draughtsman at the works; retired 1972; world war 2 at the works; women employed; different trades in the works; changes in his role over time; exhibition in the works of progress made with technology

Bob Murton interviewed by Jo Bath

2004
Oral history interview with Oliver Lockwood recorded and conducted by Robert Aitchison on 27 May 2004 as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 23 minutes 44 seconds. Cinema’s in Shildon; films shown; poverty; bike for £3-17-6; film stars of the time; [00:05:00] Musicals seen in Newcastle; father had job at Shildon railway works; no paper but school used slates; suit for 8 guineas; father went to war, Second World War; [00:10:00] first TV in 1954 for £100; mortgage on house; first car Hillman Minx [00:15:00 ] still driving aged 80; radio shows listened to; black and white minstrels [00:20:00] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, cavalcade, engines [00:23:44] [end of interview]

Oliver Lockwood interviewed by Robert Aitchison

2004-05-27
Oral history interview with John Sowerby conducted and recorded by Robert Aitchison on 7 April 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 21 minutes 30 seconds. Railway family, father's railway career, Shildon Railway Works; interviewee's own career, Shildon works from 1939, apprentice electrician, foreman, plant engineer, technical services manager; early life in Shildon, childhood, school; impact of closure of Shildon railway works; 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, cavalcade; Locomotion Museum; social life in Shildon, leisure activities; impact of Shildon works on health; diet, regional dishes; fur factory in Shildon (Astraka)

John Sowerby interviewed by Robert Aitchison

2004-04-07
Oral history interview with Joan Ellwood conducted and recorded by Jo Bath in 2004 as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 48 minutes 54 seconds. Joan was the daughter, sister and wife of railway workers. Railway family. Family background, parents and their employment; own career start in 1949, post office, career choice, options and reasons, working hours, work clothes, normal day work [00:05:00]; living with family, pocket money; marriage 1961; leisure, entertainment, dance, Darlington, Johnny Dankworth and other big bands; went and came back on train; met husband at Majestic Darlington [00:08:00]; teenagerhood, World War 2, dances at scout hall, youth choir concerts; wartime, air raids and shelters [00:13:00]; Father work at North Road Darlington, worked for 51 years; husband work at Shildon forge, worked for 37 years at railway works, health and safety, accidents, deafness forge workers, working hours 07.30- 17.00 [00:18:00]; brother was engine driver, went through the grades, driver at Thornaby, had accident on a bike, end of driver career; house full of clothes being cleaned, smell of the works, showering at works was compulsory; love for Shildon, personal health, stroke recovery, community support [00:22:00]; differences in Shildon over the years; town square and park; future uncertain; pigeon droppings in town and on bandstand; worst time when works closed, not completely recovered; protest against closure in 1984, to London on trains, marched over London Bridge, hope it would keep going; used pass to go on holiday to Brighton; works holiday 2 weeks [00:29:00] looked for another job not found one; Tuesday market at Doncaster; Shildon’s market closed during war; went at 6 a.m. to queue for biscuits in Shildon; Father’s allotment, grew vegetables, participation to agricultural show, leek club [00:35:00]; 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, cavalcade [00:39:00]; travelling to Redcar with pass, journey details with trolley, visit to Redcar; using travel pass with companion after suffering stroke; went to Newcastle at Christmas; did not like using trains in dark [00:45:00]; Shildon in 1975, busier but not too crowded, works were open, visited forge where her father worked, guided tour, creation of Hackworth Museum; enjoyed blacking grates and making beds; thought the forge was like Black Hole of Calcutta, father was proud to work there [00:48:54] [end of interview].

Joan Ellwood interviewed by Jo Bath

2004
Filmed by Chris Hogg / Rushes / Erection of 'Light engine' public artwork by Peter Freeman, also other shots showing construction across the site

Master MiniDV 'Locomotion Public Artwork'

2005
14/07/2004 / Filmed by Chris Hogg / Loading at carriage works siding

Master MiniDV ' Deltic to Locomotion'

2004-07-14
Plaque, wood, steel, embossed image of Dandy Cart in a wooden frame.

Plaque featuring image of Dandy Cart

Cold chisel, Shildon Works Co., small metal chisel stamped SWCo DEW 62. Dimensions: 4 1/4"x3/4"x1/2"

Cold chisel from Shildon Works Co

Oral history interview with Ray Goad recorded and conducted by Robert Aitchison on 7 May 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 42 minutes 25 seconds. Left school at 15, apprentice welder at Shildon Railway Works, working conditions, night school, wagons, wages, [00:02:00] axle box plant, working day; informal training, details of production line; [00:04:00] office boy, wages office, tricks played by workers, wages; [00:06:00] night school; apprentice pattern maker, working conditions, details of pattern making; [00:10:00] wagons works, repair of wooden-sided wagons, details of work carried out, patterns, plaster of Paris, steel cavity, ‘monkey tails’, woodworking; [00:14:00] banana vans, fish vans, guard vans weighted for braking, underframe and wheels made at Shildon, wooden sides made at Darlington; [00:17:00] wages; tools, cement wagons; [00:20:00] inter-department cricket; day release and Higher National Certificate (HNC) qualification, procedure for attendance at college; [00:22:00] castings in Press Shop, brake van stoves, LMS design, producing LMS patterns, patterns store, coke wagons; NUR strike 1955; ‘monkey tail’ forging; [00:26:00] apprenticeship in drawing office experience; [00:28:00] noise in works, Health & Safety, poor conditions, forge, welding, welding brackets for containers; fire in repair shop and Works fire engine; [00:32:00] father witnessed a death; 1957 introduction of clocking in and out machine; [00:34:00] details on apprenticeship, trainee draughtsman, production details for coke wagons; [00:36:00] 1958 leaving Shildon Works, National Service; return from National Service, no job at Shildon, trainee draughtsman at Darlington Locomotive Works; [00:40:00] lived in Shildon, Darlington, York; Inspector of Materials for British Rail; Shildon works closure, worry for father’s job [00:42:25] [end of interview]

Ray Goad interviewed by Robert Aitchison

2004-05-07
Oral history interview with Walter Nunn conducted by Robert Aitchison on 18 February 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 46 minutes. Family history, early life, childhood in Shildon; career at Shildon works, blacksmith shop; National Service, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), other Shildon works workers; first day at Shildon Works, different jobs and machines in the works, competition from other manufacturers; closure of Shildon works, impact on population; 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, cavalcade, David Shepherd, Eric Treacy; Hackworth society; health issues, Shildon works impact, safety in Shildon works; railway poetry

Walter Nunn interviewed by Robert Aitchison

2004-02-18
Edited Information film about the history and importance of the Shildon site. Footage of Locomotives being shunted into Locomotion. Interviews with staff explaining why The National Railway Museum wanted to merge. Footage of the renovations. Audio a bit quiet. Duration: 00:12:57

DVD-R 'NRM at Shildon'

2002-2004
Oral history interview with John Dowson recorded and conducted by Robert Aitchison on 8 June 2004 as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 32 minutes. Childhood, lived in West Aukland; career start, Shildon railway works, start aged 15 in information office; plugs in telephone exchange; after technical school got a pattern maker’s job; took Charlie Marshall’s job; wood turning lathe to start; [00:05:00] friendship with Trevor, liked hands-on job, Trevor’s jokes; wheelwrights work described; carved out if mahogany; dye blocks; went on to produce model on board; fibre glass dyes; [00:10:00] making model in two half's; family working in works; relatives would get job at works or being good at sport or bandsman; closure of Shildon works, then aged 43; [00:15:00] work after closure, no foundry work; joined another pattern making firm; no future for pattern- making; job at Shildon Forge making models, closure of forge; [00:20:00] new job, high performance windows in mahogany; then onto pvc windows; moved to St Gobain; no timber but then moved onto making timber crates for last ten years; [00:25:00] leisure, entertainment in Shildon, clubs in Shildon had big names; moving to live in Shildon; railway memorabilia; statue of Timothy Hackworth deteriorated; added a tailors dummy and formed a decent head; [00:30:00] plaque on Hackworth House; other plaques made [00:32:19] [end of interview]

John Dowson interviewed by Robert Aitchison

2004-06-08
Oral history interview with Rose Hails conducted by Robert Aitchison on 29 January 2004 as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Original duration: 1 hour 15 minutes, however there are many distortions throughout the recording, resulting in 16 minutes of audible recording via the digital access file. Buildings remaining in Shildon; Railway Institute; [00:01:40] childhood, family background, maiden name (Rosena Wardle), born in Shildon, mother born in Shields, father a joiner in the pit, parents’ house, tin bath, larder, no cockroaches trouble, grandmother baked every day, one big meal per day, ate garden produce, livestock, plain food, little meat; [00:05:50] health aids, cod liver oil; [00:07:00] traders in Shildon; allotments, most had an allotment, well in garden; [00:08:30] Recreation Ground, in New Shildon, shops, cinemas; [00:10:30] housing, flat, open toilet, kitchen straight out into the yard, cleaning out toilet, gas lighting, two bedrooms; [00:12:40] other memories; able to read, learning to play piano, piano teacher, grandma had an organ, deaths in family [00:16:10] [end of interview]

Rose Hails interviewed by Robert Aitchison

2004-01-29
Oral history interview with Walter Nunn recorded and conducted by Robert Aitchison on 2nd June 2004 as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour. Set up in Shildon after the second World War; cost of living; canvassed for labour party; other industries in Shildon as well as railway; use of horses; loss of jobs at Shildon railway works; [00:05:00] competition from Newton Aycliffe; communities; lack of running water; Darlington Rural covered part of Shildon; effect of tuberculosis on housing list; [00:10:00] points system for housing list; social problems; welder affected by overcrowding; queue jumping; [00:15:00] new towns; industry needed; closure of works influenced new plans; school leavers; [00:20:00] Shildon works holidays; British Railways Touring club; travel abroad; deckchair story; timetables; good behaviour; [00:25:00] no burglaries until 1970’s; anti-social behaviours; looking after your mates; collecting money for poor people from poor people; [00:30:00] personal views of 1950’s, 1960’s 1970’s as a time for opportunity; socialist principles; methodist preacher; [00:35:00] personal views on Tory party; levels of poverty, general health, vaccination in 1960’s; [00:40:00] retirement housing, bungalows, Shildon; peel potatoes or go to church service; sermon about bucket of ink and water; [00:45:00] leisure, entertainment in Shildon, Hippodrome Magnet Cosy, sound effects at cinema, different film every night of week, first films named, radio in 1920’s and 1930’s; [00:50:00] nightingale bird singing across Europe; Monday night at 7 or 8; listening to Larry Adler; first stretch of motorway; test card C on television; [00:55:00] cinemas dropped off; amateur pantomime and musicals; personal views of television; relationship with neighbours [00:59:52] [end of interview]

Walter Nunn interviewed by Robert Aitchison

2004-06-02
43 colour plastic-mounted and 7 black and white glass slides used by G. H. D. Mackie for his lecture "Activities in British Railway Workshops - Shildon Works" of April 1964 (for a copy of the script see 2004-7908). The slides illustrate the British Railways network, Shildon's place within the network, the layout of the works, interior views of the workshops, various repair and construction processes, "before and after" pictures of wagons requiring repair, examples of wagons constructed at Shildon, "Operation Face-Lift" to improve the works, etc. The lecture was probably written in conjunction with Mr. Mackie's larger report "Impressions of British Railway Workshops" (2004-7907). At the time he wrote the lecture, Mr. Mackie appears to have been working at Inverurie Workshops.

Activities in British Railway Workshops - Shildon Works

1960s
Rushes / 23/09/2006

Master MiniDV 'Locomotion, 2nd Birthday steam gala'

2006-09-23
09-10/2004 / Filmed by Chris Hogg / Last minute preparations for opening by National Railway Museum staff (21/09/2004), Opening day (not official - 25/10/2004)

Master MiniDV 'Locomotion preparation for opening'

2004
Rushes / Tape 2 / 05-07/2003 / Filmed by Chris Hogg / Welcome interior, car park, lighting, Welcome roof repair (07/05/2003), Welcome interior and roof plus windows, brickwork, goods fitting lift (06/06/2003), Welcome interior and exterior LNER shed repair (11/07/2003)

Master MiniDV 'Shildon Locomotion construction-2'

2003
15/07/2004 / Filmed by Chris Hogg / On the A1 at Scotch corner, entering Shildon town, into Locomotion

Master MiniDV 'Deltic to Locomotion, 2'

2004-07-15
Oral history interview with Gary Cook conducted and recorded by Robert Aitchison on 22 April 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 30 minutes 30 seconds. Apprenticeship (last apprentice at Shildon railway works); apprentices pecking order; end of apprenticeship, pneumatic braking, testing brakes, new construction, voluntary work in Kenya, soda ash wagons [00:05:00]; work conversion, social sciences Master course at Sunderland college; move to [Nutgen]; unemployment, work as machinist at forge, work at Milton Keynes; travel permits, destinations to anywhere [00:10:00]; Margaret Thatcher on railways; freight on motorways; gaffer brought in to shut down Shildon works [00:15:00]; apprentices were craftsmen; saddle makers; made injury worse; social network at works; Shildon railway works, most efficient works in Europe [00:20:00]; Michael Foot visited; friends at works; good wage for 16 year old; trained at Newton Aycliffe; basic training then decide trade; family influence in getting job at Shildon works; measure a square piece of metal [00:25:00]; comparison with Derby railway works; social service qualification at Sunderland college, teachers, socialist learning at college [00:30:31] [end of interview]

Gary Cook interviewed by Robert Aitchison

2004-04-22
Oral history interview with Eddy Holmes conducted and recorded by Jo Bath in 2004 as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes. [Track 01] Childhood; moved Yorkshire to Shildon (1968), education, left school September 1946 [00:02:50] first job, telegram boy for 1 month, duties [00:04:07] [end of track 01]; [Track 02] starting work, telegram delivery, grocery job (10 months), reasons for leaving, British Rail (BR) Shildon Works (start August 1947) [00:02:40]; start career at Shildon railway works, office boy (Welding Shop office), machinist, training until 21 years [00:04:10]; move to Smith’s Shop, details of work [00:05:00]; move to Wheel’s Shop, grade 1 machining, details of work; move to Machine Profile Burning (1964); work there until Works closure 1984, Shildon BR “jewel in the crown”, details of wagon building, high-capacity wagon contract (1960’s) saved Shildon, details of high-capacity wagon operation, final 11 years as part-time finished work inspector [00:09:00]; normal working day, working hours; making couplings, drilling machines; salary, wages, piece work, details of different work, work pattern, shift work [00:14:40]; working atmosphere; socialising, holidaying together, good relationships, friendships [00:18:00]; health and safety, machine guards, incident, machine profile burning conditions, ambulance room, personal injury, works fire brigade [00:22:00]; working conditions, dirty work in machine profiling burning, clothing, heat produced [00:25:35]; likes/dislikes of job, relief finished work inspecting, reasons; clocking in/out system, least liked-line drilling, reasons [00:28:40]; cats at the Works, personal views [00:30:00]; Shildon Railway Institute, table tennis, snooker, competitions, talent contests [00:31:50]; singing experience in clubs; details of club work, Empire Theatre Middlesborough, other Shildon singers – Alan Fryatt, John Fryatt (organist), George Remain [00:37:00]; boxing in Shildon, good boxers at the Works, Sid Cottingham (machine burner), Ronny Cottingham, gymnasium at the Works [00:38:44] [end of track 02]; [Track 03] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, few memories, volunteering details, details of event, details of visitors, what was seen [00:03:20]1950 event, no memories [00:04:15]; Union membership, NUR, AEU, AEU shop steward, details of shop stewards and convenors [00:06:00]; works closure, 1982 demonstration to keep Works open, reason for demonstration, House of Commons visit, success at keeping Works open until 1984, politics linked to closure, gradual workforce decrease, low morale, protest involvement, meeting with MPs, blame for closure, questioning reasons for closure [00:12:00]; work after Works closure, machine profile burner at Shildon Forge, works committee, dismissal, disputing dismissal, colleagues support, good relationship with management [00:26:00]; further employment details, Cleveland Bridge at Darlington CN machine operator (9 years), retirement 1967 [00:27:55]; views of other Shildon works employees after closure, majority wanted another job, not a lot of other work, works reduced from 25000 men, some transferred elsewhere, hard for older employees, town has recovered from the closure [00:32:16] [end of Track 03] [end of interview]

Eddy Holmes interviewed by Jo Bath

2004
Oral history interview with George Bellas (session 2) recorded and conducted by Robert Aitchison on 11 May 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 13 minutes 14 seconds. 1960s, cinemas in Shildon, first films shown, Bond films, Shildon Railway Institute, cinema club night, local comedian; 1960s at Shildon railway works, merry-go-round wagons; workers from pits coming to Shildon works after pits closure; [00:04:45] leisure activities in Shildon, dancing, live music; arrival of television, impact on local entertainment; pubs, public houses in Shildon, social life, West Auckland, impact of Shildon works closure on pubs, railway works workers going to the Forge at Darlington; [00:10:15] workers lunch, butcher’s pie, pub, what was nearest to the works; comparison Shildon of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s; temporary workers at Shildon works merry-go-round, high capacity wagons [00:13:14] [end of interview]

George Bellas interviewed by Robert Aitchison (session 2 of 2)

2004-05-11
Oral history interview with Peggy Dunn conducted and recorded by Jo Bath on 23 March 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 48 minutes. [Track 01] Born in 1924 in Sunderland, work at munition factory Second World War, move to West Hartlepool for nursing training, meeting husband, marriage 1945, moved to Shildon, living with sister-in-law, National Service, husband demobilised [00:02:34] [end of track 01] [Track 02] home in Shildon; parents-in-law occupations, father-in-law worked as a miner until witnessing accident at pits, starting coal home delivery business with horse and cart, running coal business and fish and chips shop, family business, the members of the Dunn family and their roles, own son managing business; [00:05:10] contract with Shildon railway works, verbal agreements custom; changes in Shildon, loss of houses in the area; [00:07:35] Shildon works, crowds of working people in morning and evening, closure of the works, impact on workers and Shildon, noises of workers going to the works; [00:09:40] relationship with neighbours, watching people grow, people used to know each other; [00:10:45] gala weekend, carnival in Shildon; children playing in the street; [00:13:50] work in the fish and chips shop, collecting coal money, door-to-door; [00:15:40] coal family business, where coal was collected from, how it was stored and transported; [00:18:30] her children, their current situation, still involved in family business, no jobs in Shildon for newer generations; Dunn family and the Salvation Army, a way of life; [00:22:50] Geest banana factory taken over by Dunn family business, less works for wagon works as factories closed in Shildon, diversification into warehousing; [00:25:20] horse and carts, transport of coal and groceries, the horses looked after by the family; family dedicated to the business, hard workers; [00:30:10] little local pits at Shildon, open cast; hopes for the museum impact on Shildon; [00:32:30] 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, Salvation Army’s canteen on wheels during event, police presence, cavalcade, engines coming into the wagon works, public enthusiasm; [00:34:15] Shildon streets environment, grit and dirt in the air, washing lines on the street, getting used to the noises of Shildon cinema, Shildon works hammer at night, people didn’t complain about noises, comparison with now (2004), newer generations; [00:38:55] Shildon being a nice place to live, low crime levels, comparison with now (2004); hope for future of Shildon; inviting for breakfast people camping outside for cavalcade 1975, trusting people, 1975 celebrations was highlight [00:45:20] [end of interview]

Peggy Dunn interviewed by Jo Bath

2004-03-24
Oral history interview with Connie Jameson conducted and recorded by Jo Bath in 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 52 minutes. Born 1920 in Darlington, childhood, moving to Shildon at age 2, leaving home age 16, nursery nurse training; Second World War, deployed in Shildon war nursery; [00:02:00] childhood play and railways, play on the ballast, Hackworth Museum cottages, railway still working, details of playing on railway properties/land, play on reservoir; [00:07:40] Timothy Hackworth’s house; contrast with cottages, played there, primitive Methodist Chapel brownies/guides; [00:10:30] childhood, homemade games, felt safe, walked to Timothy Hackworth School, details of games/mischief, Sunday School at St. John’s, band on Sunday afternoon, watched goods trains go past, cinema matinees; [00:15:30] other memories of Shildon, little knowledge of Soho Shed boxing, Astraka fake fur factory history, play in railway tunnel drain, fur factory sales; [00:20:00] shops; green grocers, Crookes groceries, no packaging, no plastic, chemist, post office, Mr. Hunter’s sweets shop, Mr. Pig’s shop, knitting wool shop, Spooner’s electrical shop; [00:26:30] father’s work at British Railways wagon repair shop, disliked job, walked to work, unemployment and redeployment; [00:30:00] pocket money spending, Mr. Hunter’s sweet shop; [00:31:20] further shop details, Lamb’s fruit and vegetable, overall self sufficient; [00:32:20] food when young, everything homemade; [00:33:10] kitchen; scullery, black range, gas lighting, electricity in (12 years old), coal fires; [00:35:50] the Dunn family; [00:36:50] marriage in 1943, husband in army, own home after war; [00:38:20] Shildon during Second World War, little effect on town, people drawn together, queued for everything, no air raids, air raid shelter, war nursery; [00:42:20] other Shildon memories, trees planting as a child, play equipment, Shildon Show, carnival, original statue of Timothy Hackworth; [00:46:00] little knowledge of mines/miners in the area; [00:47:10] brother’s work, Co-op delivering, air force; [00:48:10] no memories of electric railways; [00:48:30] Shildon Celebrations, missed 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, memories of 1925 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington centenary [00:52:00] [end of interview]

Connie Jameson interviewed by Jo Bath

2004
Oral history interview with Alan Whitehead conducted by Robert Aitchison on 24 March 2004 as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Original duration: 1 hour, however there are many distortions throughout the recording, resulting in 25 minutes of audible recording via the digital access file. Childhood, school, Royal Ordnance Factory Spennymoor: army and war years; railway family; need for wagons after Second World War [00:05:00]; Shildon railway works, night shifts; wife’s death 1984 due to angina; [00:10:00] health issues; no family; merry-go-round operations; axle box shop; [00:15:00] change at Shildon works over years; no memories of 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary; [00:20:00] time and motion at Shildon works; no strikes; sense of family at Shildon works [00:25:00] [end of interview]

Alan Whitehead interviewed by Robert Aitchison

2004-03-24
Oral history interview with Joe Chaplin conducted and recorded by Jo Bath in 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes. Born in 1923 in Binchester, move to Shildon at age 5, parents from Shildon; father’s occupations, electrician, Shildon colliery, electricity and mines, difficult to find work, father moving for work; having a big family [00:05:10] 1929 father worked as electrician at Dean and Chapter colliery, move to wooden fronted colliery houses; Westcott Terrace colliery houses, condition of houses; starting work, coke ovens, cleaning bricks, bricklayer at the mines, bellman at the pits Dean and Chapter, 1947, night classes; [00:11:30] shortage of trades, trainee electrician at Eldon drift, 1947, mines nationalisation (National Coal Board, NCB); working at Black Boy colliery until 1960; [00:15:25] transfer to Middridge, mechanised drift mine, different method of working, oil lamps, cap lamps, pits closure 1966; [00:18:00] vacancies, move to area pumping team; submersible pumps; ventilation of pits; furnace ventilation; enjoyment down pit; go down pit or leave home; recruitment; [00:24:30] difficult work, undercutting coal; stone in tub of coal; check wayman system and identified who filled tub; method of working and payments; full tub to screen and washery; empty tub back to pit; shifters made roadway easy to work, wynnings; [00:31:00] water in pits, issues with water levels, pumping water, issues with land water; Usher Moor produced water for local use; working day, repetitive work; [00:37:00] change in technology, work on signals, change from direct current (DC) (Leclanché cells) to alternate current (AC), introduction of Bell transformer; Dean and Chapter fully mechanised; ways of working; oil lamps, Davy lamps, safety regulations, use of naked lamps in the pits, more safety conscious after nationalisation; [00:42:50] accidents at Dean and Chapter mine, first aid, ambulance room; start work in 1937, accidents in pits then, NUM union book on men killed in County Durham mines, buzzer system, buzzer used when danger or accidents in mines; [00:47:05] first day down the mines, the Windy district, the landing area, bridge collapse, white fungi, damp atmosphere; [00:50:30] stables, mining horses, pit ponies, ponies behaviour, how ponies worked, how they knew shift timing and where to go, veterinarian when accident, well looked after, show pony at each pit, best pony Shildon show; horse keepers work; [00:56:00] brother’s work as a blacksmith, other brother’s work as banksman, stopping tubs on incline; mine work, boys picking stone off conveyer belt, Phoenix mine at Bishop Auckland, how coal was taken out of shaft, winder (hoist), safety measures, speed limit; [01:04:00] steam winders at Dean and Chapter mine, mechanisation, electric winders; [01:05:50] least favourite pat of job working on main draft ventilation, cold; comparison between working clothes at start of career and after nationalisation, National Coal Board supplying PPE; brother worked as geologist at Durham University, other brother electrician; gas power during Second World War, electricity at home after the war; [01:09:35] electricity generating plants at mines, permission to connect home to nearby mine’s electricity plant, taken over by electric boar; [01:11:20] mines in Shildon area, family members worked at mines, grandfather’s job as mechanic at South Shildon drift mine in 1929 [01:14:59] [end of interview]

Joe Chaplin interviewed by Jo Bath

2004
Oral history interview with Bill Raine (session 1 of 4) conducted by Robert Aitchison on 9 February 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 1 hour 17 minutes. Born in Shildon; early life; apprentice at North Road Locomotive Works, Darlington; National Service; Shildon works; wagons built and repaired; merry go round wagons; closure of Shildon works; boxer Charlie Raine; famous visitors; marching banner; Hackworth House; North Road Station, Darlington; 1975 celebrations; Freedom of City of York.

Bill Raine interviewed by Robert Aitchison

2004-02-09
Oral history interview with Bill Raine (session 4 of 4) conducted by Robert Aitchison on 21 June 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration: 25 minutes 49 seconds. Shildon railway works; working relationships between shop floor workers and foremen, pranking foremen [00:06:00]; works fire brigade, fire brigade dance, wagons shunted during the night when workers were not around, pranking workers on breaks, pranks on the shop floor, pranking foremen [00:10:00]; comparison how people work now and how people get jobs; at Shildon, that they were not afraid of the ‘bosses’ and would not have stood for how people are treated now [00:14:00]; locomotive fitter at North Road, Darlington, railway enthusiast, interest in classes and numbering of locomotives, Flying Scotsman [00:16:00]; renumbering of locomotives after World war 2 and after privatisation [00:18:00]; work at North Road Darlington, two locomotives at a time, two weeks on each, testing locomotives on a Friday, testing routes [00:20:00]; back-up pilot engines on turntable, V2s, if a locomotive was in trouble, the driver would make a particular whistle sound to tell the signaler, who would then let Darlington know, so that they were ready to swap engines when the train arrived [00:22:00]; signal boxes around Darlington; if there were issues such as leaves on the line or snow, would put another engine on the back to help push; how engines were changed on a journey up the East Coast Mainline [00:24:00]; use of corridor tenders on non-stop journeys, spare crew sitting in the first carriage; taking up water on non-stop journeys by scooping up from a trough between the lines; when this was happening, had to close carriages windows or else passengers got wet from spray [00:25:49] [end of interview].

Bill Raine interviewed by Robert Aitchison (session 4 of 4)

2004-06-21