A.O.S.A. 2005 ANNUAL REPORT

This Magazine
Contents
All Magazines 
Contents
Homepage

It has occurred to me that there are many people now living in Great Ayton who would be interested in hearing something of the village as it was over 70 years ago when my parents removed here from Bishop Auckland in 1841. This was only 3 or 4 years after the opening of the first railway for passengers, the Stockton & Darlington Railway - as it was then called - the carriages for 3rd class passengers were similar to the coal trucks of these days - passengers stood inside, there were no seats and no cover. Middlesbro’ was our nearest station, the town was then not so large as Ayton is now, with a population considerably under 1,000. Before this time anyone coming to Ayton from the South took the Coach & Four from Northallerton which travelled via Guisbro’ to Whitby. I once had the privilege of travelling with it, walking over the moor as far as Warpley, where it stayed for a change of horses - Ayton must at one time have been a resting place as there was for sometime the ruins of a hotel where the Marwood Schools are now built.

I presume all Ayton people have heard of Captain James Cook who lived at Ayton with his parents as a boy and attended the only school there was then in the village. The property, which is still standing was given to the village by Michael Postgate, the lower part was used as poor houses and the upper part, approached by stone steps, was the school room and room for the Master. The last to hold the office was a Wm Sanderson, The British School being built about 1846 and the Marwood School a few years later ~ the former might have been called the Richardson School as it was built almost entirely at the expense of Thomas Richardson. These schools were supported by the payments from the children varying from 1d to 6d per week - with the help of subscription, Michael Postgate stipulated when he made over the old school to the village that 12 children should be educated free of charge. This was continued until education was free, when in lieu of this, £5 is paid over to each School per annum. When Thos. Richardson died he left several shares in the Stockton & Darlington Railway, now the North Eastern, to maintain an undenominational School in Ayton. This money, about £70 per annum, has been so far spent over alterations and improvements in the British School, but will in future be used for scholarships. The aforesaid Thomas Richardson was a native of Ayton - his parents were in moderate circumstances. He got a situation in London as an office boy in a Bank, and by perseverance and frugality rose by decrees until he became a partner, it was his own want of education that made him anxious to help others. It was by his generosity the Friends’ School was established at Ayton. The property belonged to one Joseph Heselton and consisted of a gentleman's house - the portion with the steps and pillars - the next buildings were two thatched cottages - which were pulled down and the first part of the School proper was built - then the wing to the South - then a house bought of Philip Heselton was added and altered - now a fourth addition is being made. There is an oil painting of Thomas Richardson hung up in the School dining room which is true to life. About 1846 Cleveland Lodge was built on a portion of the School farm.

It is astonishing how little things stick to one’s memory. A labourer at the building named Michael, of course an Irishman, used to buy cockles - and roast them on a fire. Several times he let me share (remember I was only 6 or 7 years old) and thought them delicious. I remember him bringing me some bats which were pulled down with the thatch where they were hibernating for the winter. All this work must have made the village very busy. There were then only two shops of importance if I may use the word, one on the High Green connected with the public house, the Green Oak, and the other where the Unionist Club is now. The former belonged to Tom Wilson, a very portly man, but, like a large number of people, unable to write even their own names. There was a story that Tom Wilson had a scheme of his own for his book keeping. On one occasion he informed one of his customers that he owed him for a large cheese, he said, "nay it was a grindstone he owed him for. "Ah," says Wilson, "so it was, I forgot to put the prop in the middle". I remember when Mrs. Wilson bought eggs she always put them in water when those which were not fresh-laid swam while the others sank - they were then sometimes 28 and even 30 for a shilling. It reminds me of the story of a woman who was selling eggs 30 for the shilling and, asked if they were fresh laid, assured her customer she could vouch for that as they were all laid by one hen.

Go to page two

Return to:
Homepage