Fifteen Artefacts Brought in by Members of South Bank Local History Group. Group
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Fifteen artefacts brought in by members of South Bank local history group. On Monday 20 May 2019, we asked members of South Bank Local History Group to bring in and discuss objects that they felt reflected different perspectives on the town. This book contains a selection of these objects accompanied by notes provided by the group. Black Path Press June 2019 #1 Photograph of Michael Mackin and colleagues at Balckow & Vaughan Steel Works Year: Circa 1900 Brought in by: Patrick Mackin Notes/Further Information: Patrick Mackin: ‘The reason why we’re here, the magnet that brought us all together, was the finding of iron in the Eston hills. So people came from Eastern Europe, they came from Scotland, they came from Cornwall, they came from Wales, I should imagine, mainly from Ireland. Like my Grandfather, Michael, the ironworks closed down near Witton Park and so they moved down, en masse on the train, and my father and my grandfather came to Upper Graham Street in South Bank. In the centre of this photograph is my grandfather who was the keeper of the furnace. I think this is around 1900. My grandad was a bright man, he invented a way of gauging the temperature without opening the furnace (which would cause the temperature to drop and thus be inaccurate). He submitted his plans to the management at Balckow and Vaughan, and although he was informed they were not acceptable – we believe they were used were in future developments. Sadly, we cannot prove this. It’s part of the family history, the ingenuity of ordinary men and I’m very proud of this photograph. Tracing your family history from Ireland or Lithuania, or wherever, is amazing. The expertise, the hard work that made millions for the steel industry. What I’m saying is we created a vital community, it’s iconic, it’s something very special. We all should be very proud of our roots’. #2 Printed programme for South Bank Vs Middlesbrough Brought in by: Pete McCarthy Year: 1979 Notes/Further Information: Pete McCarthy: ‘When South Bank hosted local rivals Middlesbrough in a pre- season friendly on 13 August 1979, the clubs were two of the oldest in the world. In 1889, the South Bank club was a founder member of the Northern League, the second oldest league competition still in existence. Prior to that, in 1883–84, they participated in the first ever FA Amateur Cup competition and reached the semi-final in 1885: losing to Old Carthusians, who were beaten in the final by Middlesbrough. The Boro won the cup again before turning professional in 1899. South Bank remained amateur and won the Cup themselves in 1913, by which time Middlesbrough were well established in the professional ranks and competing in the English Football League’s highest division. Consequently, the teams have seldom met in competitive matches over the years, except in the North-Riding Senior Cup – established in 1881 and still being played. Most South Bankers have traditionally supported both teams’. #3 Commemorative teacup featuring an image of South Bank Town Hall & Covered Market Brought in by: Pete McCarthy Year: Circa 1900 Notes/Further Information: Pete McCarthy: ‘This is a china tea cup with an image of the South Bank town hall, which was opemed in 1878. I bought this on eBay as a cup and saucer, and there was also a teapot. I gave my sister Cath the teapot. I thought she might turn up today and I think her teapot would trump my tea cup! I find it fascinating that, and (my dates might not be quite correct here) from about 1855 when they started to build houses in South Bank, that within 20 years all these people coming from disparate places and arriving in South Bank had formed a local government. I think that in itself is quite an amazing achievement. Unfortunately, the town hall had a relatively short life and was hit by several disasters, there was a major fire there in 1901 and it was hit by lightning in 1909. They pulled it down then in 1910. And it was in the place of the square, that we used to call it the Old Man’s Square, King George’s Square’. Patrick Mackin: ‘All the bricks from the town hall are now in Newtown, a builder bought the lot, so if you go to Newtown, you’ll see the red bricks and they all came from South Bank town hall in the market place’. #4 Catalogue for exhibition by David Mulholland Brought in by: Pete McCarthy Year: 1972 Notes/Further Information: Pete McCarthy: ‘David Mulholland was inspired to be an artist when attending Victoria Street School, in South Bank, where he came under the tutelage of Tom Dalton whose art class, and after-school art club, produced many talented artists and provided young South Bankers with an unexpected route into higher education. David graduated with an MA degree from the Royal College of Art in 1971. He had already made a name for himself in London and could easily have stayed there, but told an Evening Gazette reporter, “I have to come back to South Bank. It’s an innate thing because I can only paint what I feel, what I believe in.” His retrospective exhibition at Middlesbrough Art Gallery, in 1972, included over a hundred of his paintings and drawings’. #5,6,7 Invitation to Lower Princess Street’s Coronation Street Party, Photographs of women and children attending the event. Brought in by: Mary Johnson Year: 1953 Notes/Further Information: Mary Johnson: ‘This was my family’s invitation. I can’t really remember going, though I should do as I was 13. They were all the ladies in the street who put the party on and they were all the children. In the middle, in the background of this photograph is Aunt Lil. I don’t know who’s aunt she was but we all called her aunt Lil; she was everybody’s Aunt! The paper crowns were all handmade’. Mary identified the following people in this photograph; ‘Mrs Robson, Mag Richardson (Hayes), Mona Webb (Massey), Mrs Lewis (with baby), Mrs White (with baby), Winnie Lewis, Mrs Drayton, Aunt Lil (Powell), Lily Bainbridge, Mrs Miller, Edie Petford (Hayes), Winnie Shaw (Hayes) (with Lyn), Tina Cornwall, Elsie Bevis (Bainbridge), Mrs Thomas (with Anita), Mrs Clark, Ruby Hayes (Harland), Mrs Renard (Cousins), Mrs Craggs, Mrs Spence. #8 Minute Book for South Bank Conservative Club Brought in by: Eric Taylor Year: Circa 1919 Notes/Further Information: Eric Taylor: ‘I’ve been passed on the minutes books for the old Conservative club. It used to be on Redcar Road. The one I’ve brought along today has an entry for May 1919, so it is almost exactly one hundred years ago. The minutes from this meeting describe an expulsion – a member was kicked out because he was gambling on the billiards table with a gambling machine! The price of beer is discussed, it says ‘seeing as the club is now in a sound financial position it was agreed that all beer be sold at prices marked on the barrel and the minutes from the special meeting held on he 18 October stipulating 40% profit be rescinded in this respect. Someone once said to me, “why on earth was there a Conservative Club in South Bank? It’s a working class community”. But when you think about the amount of businesses and business men in this area – the trustees of the club included Oswald Beedle, Major Ward Jackson, SS Sadler Esquire, Lord Guisborough, Sir Park Gough MP, C Dorman Esquire and Benjamin Talbot, wasn’t he the director of Cargo Fleet works? So they’re just some of the names that were associated with this club in South Bank. It was there from 1908 til about 3 or 4 years ago – when it was called ‘South Bank Cons Club’. Apparently it had a picture of Margaret Thatcher on the wall and the best snooker tables in town!’ #9 Certificate for Britain in Bloom Gold Medal Brought in by: Ted Johnson Year: 2014 Notes/Further Information: Ted Johnson: ‘We formed a group called ‘South Bank in Bloom’ especially so we could start to enter competitions together. 2011 was the first year we entered, where we got a Bronze and that was followed by Silver a year later. This is the certificate for our first Gold Medal in 2014, an act which we repeated the following year in 2015. The judges first visit in April and then they return in June, and we walked them round South Bank and they noted just how much progress we had made! It’s hard work though, besides having a nice show of flowers and colours, you also need to make sure there’s no weeds or grass where there shouldn’t be, no graffiti (I would go round with a pot of paint), no litter (the group used to go round at night keeping the neighbourhood tidy). You have to involve as many residents as possible, we invited shopkeepers to have hanging baskets outside their businesses (we would provide the baskets but they would look after them and water them). I was very disappointed when we only got Silver in 2016. The group dwindled a little bit after 2016 so we stopped entering the competitions – I imagine that none of the towns that win Gold normally have a group as small as ours’. #10 Alamo George Quick Draw Competition Certificate Year: 1982 Brought in by: George Canwell Notes/Further Information: George Canwell: ‘Every Monday, between 1972-82, audiences would dress up as cowboys and cowgirls to visit ‘The Alamo Country Music Club’ at the Normanby Hotel.