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Bramham House
Early History
Potted History
Bramham House and Freely Lane
Bramham House as a Childrens Home
Tom Barlows Story
Arriving
Daily Routine
Bramham School
Gardens and Sports
Holidays
Bonfire Night
Christmas
Boston Spa School
Harrogate
Naval Interest
The Royal Navy
Return to Bramham

 

Living in Bramham House

Tom far left Robin Hoods Bay 1952

On the occasions when the tide was in we would all go on long walks when the weather was suitable and of course if the time was appropriate.
We would on occasions walk along the top of the cliffs but because of the constant erosion of the cliff face, one had to be very careful and not go too near the edge.
The other walk we used to do was from the rear of the school and across the grass fields and over the sty's to the roadway and head in the direction of Ravenscar.
This is a headland jutting out to sea between Robin Hoods Bay and Scarborough with castle ruins at the top of the headland.
This walk is about fourteen miles long. We did go to Scarborough for the Scarborough Festival and watched the cricket between Yorkshire and the visiting Australian Test side; this was the final match that Donald Bradman played in.

The Yorkshire Committee bestowed to Don Bradman the honor to be an honorary member of Yorkshire cricket knowing full well that to play for Yorkshire one had to be a bona fide Yorkshire man. After the days play we all went to Peashome Park to watch the evening's show of Annie get your Gun.
The day before our holiday expired it was all hands to the pumps getting the school spick and span and ready for the children to return after their summer break, packing all the suitcases and the buckets and spades ready to board the coach in the morning.
The journey back to Bramham was one full of foreboding and the song we all sang. It's a long way to Bramham House.
It's a long way to go. Farewell Robin Hoods Bay. Farwell Scarborough to the familiar tune of it's a long way to Tipperary wasn't sung with the same gusto as on the outward journey from the home.
Slowly the days passed by and it was back to school to start the autumn term.
The weather was now getting noticeably cooler so it was back to warmer clothing for both boys and girls, also the evenings were closing in getting that little darker as each day passed. 
In the early months the stables were taken over by the West Riding ambulance service and the stables used for garaging the vehicles, to the right of the stables and attached to the stables was a building that was converted into the main ambulance office, to the right of the office you came into the back yard and directly to your left were steps that led up to where the ambulance staff were housed when on duty, this is where they had their meals and rested and was directly above the office.

Turn left from the top of these steps along the pathway would lead to where the pig-sty was. Another set of steps immediately above these steps would take you to the large vegetable garden and was also used by Mrs. Young to hang the washing out on a fine day. The evenings were now drawing in and on my way back from school I would watch the gas lighter ignite the street lighting from his long pole? 

Bonfire Night:
With November approaching Mr. Dickensen the gardener would be busy lopping and cutting back all the dead wood from the trees and bushes ready to build a bonfire on Guy Fawkes Night.
After school on Guy Fawkes Night we all gathered on the forecourt prior to proceeding to the bonfire and some of the younger children were handed a sparkler. With much excitement and noise we set off at about seven o'clock up the long driveway to just before the main entrance gates where out of the gloom you could make out this dark shape of the bonfire.
At the top of the bonfire was the guy, who made it I don't know, probably the staff or the Holmes's daughters.
With much cheering the fire was lit and the various fireworks set off, the Catherine Wheels were pinned to a tree and the rockets placed in an upright empty milk bottle before being set off.
The children were then handed a potato and once the fire was well and truly red hot placed the potato in the embers and then ate them once they were sufficiently cooked.
As previously mentioned we attended the church every Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon and I was invited to join the church choir. I was supplied with a cassock and surplus and we would all change in the vestry.
Before the service commenced the vicar Mr. Shepard would proceed from the altar with the crucifix and I and another boy would walk either side of him carrying a lit candle each, the choir would follow on behind us down the aisle between the rows of pews of the congregation. In later years I became a server.

Christmas:
With the advent of Christmas approaching the home was full of anticipation and hope, having never experienced Christmas before I could only surmise what it was all about from other children.
The Hall was the main focus of attention to celebrate Christmas because here was placed the Christmas tree and all the lights and trimmings. The ceiling to the hallway went way up, past the girls' bedrooms so there was plenty of room for a very large tree.
Just in front of the telephone exchange and under the spiral staircase was placed the crib with the figurines of Joseph and Mary and the three wise men and the baby Jesus in the manger.
The main decorations in the hallway were tinsel streamers which looked really nice when the light caught them casting a sparkle throughout the hall. On Christmas morning we all formed into an excitable queue outside the main playroom door which was locked.
Mr. Holmes would then unlock the door and in we would go. Stretching from the full length of the room was a line and attached to the line were stockings with a child's name written on a peg. Inside the stocking one would find an apple orange banana dates and nuts.
I well remember starting to eat the banana skin and all and being cuffed on the ears for doing so. Having never eaten or tasted a banana before I didn't know any difference same with the apple, core and all went the same way. The main Christmas event was Boxing Day because this was the moment you received your main Christmas present.
It was again the same routine of waiting for the door to be unlocked before entering the room and finding your labelled parcel on the floor. I believe all the presents were donated by Dr Banardo's.
The Christmas food wasn't as grand or as plentiful as it is by today's standards as food rationing was in force so one had to be satisfied and grateful for what one had on one's plate. It was however a great improvement to the normal mundane meals.
We would also hold a Christmas service in the hall attended by the vicar and sing Christmas carols around the crib.
With the Christmas holiday over it was back to school once again to start the new term. The weather being very cold and damp meant we couldn't go out to play after school and it was too dark in any case, so it was back to playing games in the playroom. I used to get quite easily bored so I would find other things to do or explore.
I remember in the early autumn months watching House martins fly in and out above the stables and during twilight hour's bats coming to and fro which got the better of my imagination and something I had to investigate. When I thought no one was looking I would sneak out of the back door into the backyard and climb the steps that led to the top rear of the stables.
It was here that I found a small opening that I climbed through and I was in the loft area of the stables that extended the full length of the building. It wasn't long before some of the other boys noticed me disappearing and decided to follow.

My younger sister Olive asked if she could also explore with us and I said no as it was all dark and spooky and there was a ghost up there. Little at the time did I realize how this would affect Olive as she became absolutely petrified and that night in bed she had nightmares.
A member of staff, after talking to Olive reported it to the Superintendent where I was taken up to my bedroom, told to take my shorts and pants down and bend over the bed. I was then given several lashes across my backside with an army belt.
This wasn't the normal type of belt that would hold one's trousers up but the leather strap that army officers wore from their shoulders to their waist on top of their tunic; about four inches in width so one can well imagine the pain. During my seven years at the children's home, three incidents stand out in my mind more than any other.
The first one was the ongoing saga of who didn't empty the sink of the dirty potato peelings from the scullery.
As mentioned previously the potatoes were peeled by three boys and then the peelings would be emptied into the slop bucket ready for Mr. Dickenson to collect and feed to the pigs. On this occasion the peelings were accidentally left in the large sink and end of story as far as we three boys were concerned until we sat down for the evening meal.
No sooner had we all seated when the Matron told us three boys to stand up one at a time and asked us individually who had left the peelings. No one admitted to leaving the peelings so we were told our pocket money would be stopped until someone came forward.
Every morning at breakfast we went through the same humiliation of being told to stand up one at a time in front of all the other children and asked the same question over and over again and this went on for a year with no pocket money. I really used to dread those few minutes at breakfast.
The following Christmas morning one of the foster mothers came to my bed and asked me if I would be brave enough to tell the Matron it was me who was the culprit as this had gone on long enough.
I told her that it wasn't me and why should I take the blame and she said telling just a little white lie would solve everything, you would have your pocket money back and I know it would make Matron very happy so I agreed and she went to get the Matron.
I was hiding under the blankets when the Matron came up to the bedroom and sat on my bed and asked me what it was I wanted to say.
With tears streaming down my face and feeling very scared I said it was me that had left the potato peelings in the sink.
For the first and only time showing compassion, she put her arms around me and said, "I don't really think it was you but thank you for making it a wonderful Christmas present for me so now let's forget all about it and start afresh"

The second incident was when I came out of the Ablutions and witnessed my sister Pat screaming and being literally lifted off the floor by her ears. I stood back absolutely petrified and then followed the staff member down the kitchen stairs shortly afterwards, making sure the member of staff hadn't seen me.
I dashed into the scullery and picked up a frying pan and went back up the stairs and waited with the frying pan behind my back. When the said persons head was at my level I belted them on the head with the frying pan let go and just ran.
I don't know what happened after that, where I was found or what punishment I received because I was just so upset I can't recall.
The third incident happened much later. One of the girls happened to have a weak bladder and consequently was nearly always wetting the bed.
On the way to school one morning the girl was in a distressed state and walking past one of the cottages which was at the bottom of the pathway and on the Great North Road, the state of the girl was noticed by the lady who lived there, she took her indoors to see what the matter was. After talking to her the lady walked with her to school and spoke to a member of the school staff.
As it appeared the girl was in a lot of pain it was decided to examine her, it was then noticed that her back was covered in heavy bruising. As far as I can remember it was reported to the welfare services and at sometime they paid a visit to the home.

With the early passing of the years and the country slowly recovering from the war, things gradually began to improve and the activities at the home were getting better.
A trip to London to see Buckingham Palace, another to Blackpool to see the lights and to Manchester's Bellevue. It was during this visit to Manchester's zoo that we met the singer Johnnie Ray; he was sitting on top of an elephant doing a photo call for the press.
At the time he was the biggest star in the singing world with his record 'Walking My Baby Back Home ' the number one selling record throughout the world.
He followed this up with the smash hit 'Just a walking in The Rain'. In 1951 and at the end of the Spring Term and approaching my 11th birthday in the August, I left Bramham School.

Boston Spa School:
After the usual holiday at Robin Hoods Bay I started to attend lessons at my new school in the village of Boston Spa which is about a two mile journey. Those of us having left the junior school could now make our own way from the home to the bus stop without any supervision.
On the way to school it was usual for me to call into the sweetshop to buy sticks of liquorices. I'd hand over a penny and receive four sticks; a farthing each .The shop was more or less opposite the Red Lion pub and near the village pump. I would also take an occasional swig of water from the pump if I felt rather parched.
The school bus stop was just past the intersection of Clifford road and Bramham New road and looking down the road towards Clifford you could see the bus approaching from quite a distance. One thing I couldn't stand was to hang about in queues I'd get bored and restless (I still have this trait today) so if the bus wasn't in sight I'd run to school depending on the weather of course.
The school at Boston Spa was a Secondary Modern school which was divided into two sections as the main road to the village passed through the centre. The main buildings consisted of prefabricated classrooms where we did the main lessons.
The other section of the school, you had to cross the main road to do outdoor activities such as sport and gardening.
I don't know any history about the school but having been in the armed forces myself I should imagine the school may have been used as billets during the war; they certainly were reminiscent of that type of usage.
What I really liked about this school was to play cricket on grass as I'd always played on concrete.
The school at Bramham just had a concrete playground and at the home we played on the forecourt so playing on grass was heaven to me. It was a different ball game now as I could really bowl flat out on any length of run up without any restrictions and playing on grass you could use the conditions, weather, pitch, wind etc to exploit the batsmen.
The other sport I played a lot of was football; although I enjoyed playing in a match I wasn't all that good. In 1952 the nation was in mourning at the sudden death of King George the 6th, although he had been ill for sometime it still came as a great shock. The month of June was the Coronation of Princess Elizabeth and after we had finished breakfast that morning and finished all the usual work we were all told to assemble in the dining hall.
All the tables had now been removed to the rear and all the chairs arranged in seating rows to the other end of the room. Sitting on top of a small table in front of the chairs was a wooden box which we were told was a Television which we could view the Coronation as it actually happened.
This to us was amazing, unheard of, how on earth could an event taking place in London come all the way to where we were sitting as if we were actually there, although it was only in black and white it was still magic. The Television was only there for that one day, probably hired by the West Riding but our first taste of the future of broadcasting.
At about this time, there was quite a lot of work going on when I was on my way to catch the school bus, mainly on the street lighting. All the old gas lights were being replaced by electric ones and the water pump was being taken away. During the early months of the year I would continue playing the usual games in the woods of the premises but now that much older I would further my exploits by bird nesting and collecting eggs.
There were quite a lot of wild birds that nested in the woods and which we unfortunately don't see today unless one is very lucky, the Bull Finch, Song Thrush and Thistle Thrush and the Shrike to name but a few. In the surrounding wall crevices there was the Yellow Hammers and in the meadow grass Cowslips with their yellow flowers another rarity today.
Another activity was to see which of us boys could climb to the top of the highest tree and the winner would carve their name at the bottom.
Little did I realize at the time that the summer of 1953 would be the last time I would go to Robin Hoods Bay from the children's home? After this summer holiday and the weekend off after school I was introduced to a lady called Mrs. Curtis, after chatting with her for a while I was excused and carried on with whatever I was doing.
It so happened that my brother Arthur and two sisters Pat and Olive were also introduced to the lady so I became somewhat curious surprised and apprehensive. Several weeks passed and then Mrs. Curtis paid a return call to the home and spoke to Arthur and myself and asked us if we would like to visit and stay with her and her husband at their home in Harrogate for the weekend and the following weekend it would be my sister's turn.

Harrogate:
This was wonderful and exciting news to us and of course we all agreed. We were told on this first weekend with them that they would like us to refer them as Auntie Laura and Uncle John. From the beginning I could tell they were a kind and caring married couple.
They would talk to us about their time in South Africa where they ran a Missionary and although very religious they didn't impose or preach religion to us. On the Sunday morning we would go to church with them which we were used to anyway but it was so different to a Church of England service that it seemed alien to me. It was a Methodist church that was conducted by a Pastor who didn't wear the robes of a vicar and when he preached members of the congregation would sometimes chant 'Alleluia' and 'Save us Lord' which made me start giggling out loud, I just couldn't help myself as it was so out of character to what I was used to, obviously I apologized to Auntie Laura.
After several weekend visits it was then asked of us if we would like to be fostered out with Mr. and Mrs. Curtis together as a family. So it was that we said our goodbyes to our families of children at Bramham House and started our new life at Harrogate.
I joined a new school not far from where we lived. I didn't like the school at first because of course all the other children were strangers and it was a boys only school which I wasn't used to. No sooner had we all settled down to family life when the unexpected suddenly happened. During a Saturday night when everyone was in bed, Uncle John became ill with severe head pains.
The doctor was summoned but he died that Sunday morning of a brain haemorrhage. He was just forty eight. With the sudden death of Uncle John it was inevitable that circumstances would change and so it turned out to be that Arthur and I would return to Bramham House and Pat and Olive would go to a girl's home in Knaresborough.
We had only been back in the home but a short while when out of the blue Mr. and Mrs. Holmes suddenly left. There was no prior warning as far as I remember, no goodbyes, just here one minute and gone the next.
We had a caretaker person for a short while until the appointed new Super and Matron were introduced. From the very beginning the first impression one got from Mr. and Mrs. Turner was their friendly approach and smiling nature, one felt at ease immediately.
We were introduced one at a time and told from the very beginning what was expected from each of us, good manners, respect and good behavior and any problem or doubt one had, not to bottle it up but to talk it over with them. Within a few weeks the atmosphere in the home changed because of the freedom we were given. We were now allowed to play football and cricket outside the boundary of the home.
This was in a large playing field at the top of the main exit drive to the home and I'd spend many an hour up there just bowling at the stumps after everyone had gone back after a game. Mr. Turner always encouraged us to better ourselves, he would even join in with the games we were playing and also ask the ambulance staff to join in.
Mrs. Turner would sit outside with some of the girls on a warm day and teach them how to knit. When the village cinema was showing a film we were allowed to go and see it, this was unheard of before they arrived. I used to love the old comedies like Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton, Fatty Arbuckle, Old Mother Riley and George Formby and of course not forgetting the cowboy films like Tex Ritter, Roy Rodgers, Gene Autry and Hop along Cassidy.
All films in those days were of course only done in black and white.

Skegness:
In the summer of 1954 we went for our summer holiday to Skegness

On the beach at Skegness Arthur Tindall seated centre rear with Miss Myers and Mr. and Mrs. Turner

After the holiday I was asked by Mr. Turner if I would like to earn some extra pocket money by going out potato picking which I thought sounded like a good idea. I was told to be up early and ready to meet the tractor at the bottom of the road by half past seven.
The cook had prepared me a packed lunch with a thermos flask of hot tea and away I went. There were about five women on the tractor trailer besides myself and with the farmer driving we set off up the hill past Bramham Road crossroads to a field about a mile and a half away.
Although the work was back breaking I enjoyed myself because the farmer on the second day taught me how to drive the tractor in a straight line between the rows of potato's and dig them up.
This work lasted about eight days before we cleared the whole field and by time we'd finished my back was killing me, I could hardly move. Going back to school after the summer break I mentioned to a school pal of mine that I could now drive a tractor. He lived on a farm up Wetherby road on the left hand side just a short distance past Bramham School, his name was John Watkins and he asked me if I would like to visit their farm and have a drive on their tractor. Obviously I jumped at the chance and after clearing it with the Super I visited the farm.
This tractor was much bigger than the Fergie, it was a Fordson Major heavier and more powerful but after a bit of practice I got used to it and really enjoyed my time there. With Christmas approaching some of the children were encouraged to take part in school Christmas plays as the photo below shows.

School Play

The Navy:
In the November of 1954 coming back from church I saw something that would change my life, as I was walking towards the war memorial I saw a sailor who was obviously paying homage and immediately was struck by his appearance.
I thought how smart and neat he looked in his bellbottom trousers and blue collar, it just wasn't the sort of thing you would see in the middle of a Yorkshire village miles away from the sea and it was at that moment that I decided I wanted to join the Navy when I left school.
During the Easter holiday period of 1955 Mr. Turner took me into his office to discuss what my intentions were on leaving school in the summer and I told him I would like to join the Royal Navy. I got the impression from what he was saying to me that he thought I ought to pursue my cricket interests first and if that didn't work out, then have that as a second option.
He himself had served in the Navy during the war and it wasn't all fun and games, it was a hard life and once you had joined, there was no going back. Nothing he said changed my mind so an interview and exam was arranged for me in Wetherby late that May.
After the exams it was a case of waiting for the result to come through and when it did I was informed that I had been successful and would be informed on the date to attend my medical. The end of July I said my farewells to Boston Spa school, I enjoyed my school days there.
In August we all had another holiday in Skegness where I had my 15th birthday and after the holiday it was back to school for the children at the home. I think during this period I would have had long conversations with Mrs. Young and the lady cook who was a large jovial lady from Greece.
Early in October I received various forms and detailed instructions to get to my destination and also a railway ticket to Manchester for the pre-medical for a two o'clock examination on the 10th. Early that morning before I left I was given a brand new set of clothing and for the first time a long pair of trousers, handed my railway ticket and with Mr. and Mrs. Turner wishing me luck made my way to the village bus stop.
What my feelings must have been at this stage I really don't know, as I walked across the forecourt, took the all familiar left turn and down the path through the woods and to my right that tree with my name on it. I probably gave it a cursory glance and would I have stopped at the bottom of the path and glanced back. I doubt it .
You see I was free.

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