Interview with Margaret Hepworth of Prudhoe, 22nd May, 2015.
Margaret’s parents were John and Frances Clarence. John was from West Mickley and Frances from Prudhoe. At the time of Margaret’s birth in 1937, in Corbridge maternity hospital, they were living in a house in West Mickley, which would be her home for the first ten years of her life. They actually occupied the two front rooms of the house, which they rented from the owners, who lived in the two rear rooms. The family got on well with the house owners, and when there was the occasional air raid warning, they would go into their neighbours’ living room, and down the steps into the basement for safety. Their own living room had an open hearth fire which was used for cooking, and the family shared the one bedroom. When Margaret was three, a second child was born – her brother Frank. This meant that, when her father returned home from fighting in World War 11, there were four of them in the one bedroom. In the yard, there was an earth closet and a wash-house. The house was lit by gas, and was not plumbed for water. Inside there were two buckets, one with clean water obtained from the wash-house cold water tap, and the other was for “slops.”
Young Margaret attended Mickley School, where she learned to write with chalk on slate, until she eventually graduated to using a pencil. Some teachers were kinder than others, and not every school day was a happy one. She dreaded spelling tests when she knew that, if she didn’t do well, she would be caned. Because it was war time, all children had gas masks, which were occasionally checked. She feared the sight of the dentist’s caravan parked in the yard, and children coming out with cotton wool soaked in blood. Feet were occasionally measured, and she wished that hers were bigger, so that her parents could have been given extra coupons.
One of her wartime memories is of the soldiers who were billeted in army huts at the top of Edgewell Bank. Her grandmother and other local residents would invite them into their homes for meals and cups of tea.
She often went to the cinemas in Prudhoe and Mickley, although she was always dragged out by her mother before a film was finished, so that they could catch the bus back to West Mickley.
Margaret remembers when the War ended. Some friends had lost their fathers, and they were given special gifts by a benevolent society. Being a young child, she envied them, not thinking how lucky she was to still have a father.
When her father returned from the war, he started work at the ICI fertiliser factory at Low Prudhoe. His first job had been as a window cleaner, and he and his brother used to wash windows on Stocksfield’s Park Estate. Her mother had worked as a cook for a family in Riding Mill until her own children arrived.
Flower shows were popular occasions at Prudhoe and Mickley, and Margaret particularly remembers sitting on the bankside at Mickley watching the gymkhanas as local horse riders competed for prizes.
In 1947, the family moved to Prudhoe, where they had been allocated a prefab on Errington Place. Life was so luxurious! They had running water, electricity, a fridge – and a stove which warmed the whole house. They now had two bedrooms, one of which she shared with her brother. 1947 was “the year of the snow,” and the children regularly sledged down Errington Place towards the main road. Despite the cold weather, they no longer had to break the ice on a bucket of water before they could wash in the mornings. She now attended Prudhoe West School, but after six months, she reached the age where children were transferred to Prudhoe East (now the East Centre), and it was here that she sat the 11+ exam, which she unfortunately “failed.” She was really distressed about this, as she had so wanted to go to grammar school. At the age of 13, she and her classmates returned to the senior school section of Prudhoe West, where she completed her education at the age of fifteen.
Methodists, like Margaret’s family, did not go shopping on Sundays, but she remembers one Sunday when this rule was happily broken. It was announced that sweets were no longer “on ration,” and her grandmother gave her permission to visit her local confectioner. This involved joining a long queue of shoppers down Edgewell Road.
She remembers the “street” party to mark the Queen’s coronation in 1953. By this time the family had moved to Oaklands estate, and she was 16. Because it rained on the big day, the party was actually held in her family’s house. Her father had bought a television, so the ceremony was watched on the small black and white screen!
On leaving school, she had started work in the main office of West Wylam and Prudhoe Co-op, where she earned £1.12.6 per week. 2/5p of this was deducted as a national insurance payment. Her main work was the calculation of customers’ dividends, and she enjoyed visiting other branches – sometimes travelling in a Co-op funeral limousine – where she would give customers their “divi.” Pen and paper calculations eventually ended when an automated system was adopted. This involved use of the binary system of punched cards – the forerunner of today’s computers. By the age of 21, she was in charge of that process.
She and her husband George were both 21 when they married in 1958. George was still doing his National Service. They had to apply to Prudhoe Urban District Council for a prefab home, and had to “live in” with someone for two years in order to qualify. She lived with her parents while George completed his time in the army. George’s grandfather owned a house in Ovingham , which was let out to a tenant. On the day that George was demobbed, the tenant died, and it was decided that they would move into that house, and Ovingham became their home for the next 40 years. It was here that their two children Wendy and John were born.
George had served his apprenticeship at the Co-op garage, and he returned there for some time after his National Service. He taught car maintenance at evening classes with work colleague Billy Smith, working on an old Hillman car which he had bought for £50. Following its makeover, this car was used by the family for many years. He then worked at the Caterpillar Tractor factory in Birtley until it closed down, and he moved to the Kimberly-Clark paper tissue factory at Low Prudhoe. In his spare time, he worked on his two allotments at Ovingham and Castle Dene. The excellent leeks he grew were shown at leek shows at Ovingham’s White Swan pub, and at Prudhoe’s “Big Club” and “Tory Club.” In 1968, they moved to a larger house in the village. It was leek show weekend, and George asked what Margaret would like as possible prizes. “Anything but bedroom furniture,” she replied. He won three first prizes – all bedroom suites! Luckily, they were able to change them for items they really wanted.
Margaret was happily involved in local village affairs such as the PTA and WI committee, as well as being Parish Clerk. She had a number of jobs over the years, then eventually took on work at Kimberly-Clark, which was expanding its production, and employed 1000 workers. She worked as an engineering buyer, and helped to develop a new computerised system of stock control.
Although they were happy in Ovingham, where their children had been born and educated, Margaret always wanted to return to Prudhoe where there were so many more amenities. In 1999, they rented, then bought, the house where Margaret still lives on the edge of Bewick Grange. She remembers the eve of new year’s day, 2000, when the whole family was able to see spectacular views of bonfires and fireworks right across the valley. She had a wonderful feeling of wellbeing to think that they were all together at the turn of the century! After simple existences in their early years, they were able to enjoy many good holidays abroad, particularly in Europe, but also in USA and the Canadian Rockies. When they were young, such places had just been positions on a map, and they were so pleased to be able to experience them for themselves.
Sadly, George was diagnosed with cancer in 2010, and he died just three months later, in November. They had had a good marriage of 52 years, enjoying their children and family life, and had many friends in the locality, having always lived within three miles of their Prudhoe home.
Margaret is an enthusiastic needlewoman, producing highly artistic artefacts and works of art, and she is happy to use these skills in the production of costumes for Prudhoe’s Dragon Tale Theatre Group.