HCSW project team were delighted to see this posted on our Facebook page by Lynn Breen
My sister Sandra Hunter posted this photograph on another page, and I thought this group may be interested. My brother-in-law was Eddie Hunter.
“Photo of Douglas Vernon (centre front) and I think his management team of Consett Iron company. Date approximately 1967/8. My husband was one of the first group of personel to form the Work Study Dept in Consett Iron Company. He’s not on this photo but for some reason I have this photo. My husband really idolized Mr Veron, as he was a great boss. I can’t ask my husband about this as he passed away 3 years ago, but knew he so respected this opportunity and start in management”
The learning of a trade through apprenticeship, in which a young person was placed with and formally bound to a master, has roots way back in medieval times. By the 16th century it was generally accepted as a means of providing technical training to boys and a very few girls in a wide range of occupations.
Before the introduction of this legislation, apprenticeships were regulated by the guilds of trades and craftsmen.
An apprentice, often starting as young as 10 or 12, would learn his trade over a period of years — often seven, but it could be longer or shorter than this — with his master being responsible for his board, lodging and clothing as well as teaching.
The 1563 Act was abolished in 1814, as the popularity of apprenticeships waned “due to conditions in factories and exploitation of young apprentices”, according to a House of Commons research paper from 2009.
Apprenticeships in certain trades, particularly those which required practical skills, remained popular in subsequent decades.
There were around 340,000 apprentices per year in the early twentieth century, according to an Institute of Directors (IoD) policy paper from 2003.
By the mid-1960s — “the high water mark for apprenticeship in Britain” according to the IoD — roughly 35 per cent of male school leavers aged 15 to 17 went on to do an apprenticeship.
Pictures of School Steelworks Walk guided by Rob Moran in this case for a class from Lanchester EP School
The History of Consett Steelworks (HCSW) project team would like to extend an invite to all local schools to get in touch to discuss arranging a School Steelworks Walk
Rob Moran from our project team has now guided two walks for classes from Lanchester EP and is ready to guide more children to give them a tour of Steelworks site
The walks are FREE and are part of the ethos of the project to pass on the memories and history to the next generation, who hopefully be the next custodians and volunteers
A republication of a book detailing many of the former northeast brickworks, is to be available at the end of next week and orders can be placed at the Path Head Watermill website.
An account of Templetown Brickworks is included in the book.
The History of Consett Steelworks (HCSW) project team are honoured and proud to be the Custodians for recording and cherishing the industrial heritage which was the life and times of the Steelworks at Consett
Plans are being made to attend events and share some of the wonderful items that the community have kindly donated to the project so that as many people as possible can “enjoy” them
We also hope that in due course there could be Derwentside/Consett Museum for permanent display and from which guided tours like in Durham for example could go from
Being Custodians is about allowing us to enjoy the heritage now but also to make sure future generations can too
If you or family have possible items to discuss donating we would be delighted to hear from you
Did you or family work/volunteer on the old stable barn rebuild in the 1960’s if so please do comment or get in touch with the HCSW project team
This following paragraph is from the Minsteracres website
The students then moved to other centres and Minsteracres became a novitiate house. At the same time another dream was realised, namely to open a retreat house. In order to achieve this, the old stable block was converted into residential accommodation, mainly with the help of volunteers from the Consett area who generously gave their time. The retreat house was opened in 1967.
Minsteracres was the former residence of the Silvertop family, built on a hilltop site approached from the north up a long avenue of Giant Redwood trees.
The Silvertops were devout Catholics, persecuted for their faith, who made their fortune from control of coal mines in the Ryton and Chopwell areas. The original L-shaped house dates from 1758. A second floor was added under the stewardship of John Silvertop (1748-1801) who inherited the estate in 1789. Subsequent large additions followed, including an extension designed by John Dobson.
On John Silvertop’s death the estate was inherited by his son George who travelled widely, bringing back exotic plants and trees for the grounds, and works of art for the house. On his death in 1849 the estate passed to his nephew Henry Charles Englefield, who took the surname, Silvertop. He build a private chapel adjacent to the mansion, which was to become the parish church for the local Catholic community, dedicated to St Elizabeth and opened in 1854.
His heirs all died young, several in the Great War. Minsteracres was used during the Second World War as a base for fire service training and shortly after, Charles Arthur Silvertop sold the house, church, stables and 60 acres of land for use as a Passionist Monastery. The remainder of the estate, including 15 farms, cottages and 5,000 acres of land was sold to Tyneside industrialist Charles Cookson.
Friar Colum Devine of the Passionist Order, with the help of local volunteers, transformed Minsteracres into a monastery, and the derelict stables and coach house into a retreat centre which opened in 1967.
Minsteracres: Peaceful retreat marks 250 years – Hexham Courant, Tuesday 17 February 2015: Link
I have some wonderful memories of nights out in Consett in the sixties.
There was a pub called the Masons Arms run by Kevin and Ina Kearney and the barmaid Jenny, I think. It served the most beautiful beer in the world or so we thought, Tuckers ales.
On a weekend it would be filled with all sorts of characters, Army Sam, Wilf Patta, Vince Blacky, Willy Dicken, Phil Terry, all supping those big creamy pints, and the girls would join us as well – Julia, Celia, Fred, Cath, Angela – I could go on but they were special.
The juke box would be blasting out Beatles, Stones, Dylan, Animals and a few Irish rebel songs Kevin had secreted in the juke box under different names.
Such happy times. From there to the Brit , same thing only the beer was Vaux {yuk]. A few in there and then on to the Mount Pleasant as long as Jenny let you in.
The occasional band would be playing, mostly rubbish but you did get the odd one that was good but by that time of night who cared.
The final port of call was that trendy night club opposite the Freemasons, Bottos. There were always fights on in there but that was part of life in Consett and woe betide anyone from Stanley. A taxi home and do it all again the next day. Happy memories God bless, Sam
Source a memory added to Francis Frith website – see link
Peter Brabham shared on Flickr this great image with notes below
Unknown 9F on Consett Iron Ore train near Beamish in March 1966 by John Wiltshire
A gem of a shot scanned off a 35mm Kodachrome slide in the John Wiltshire collection. I worked about a mile away from this spot in 1984 and saw the odd class 37 going up to Consett which had just closed at that time.
18 years earlier it was one of the greatest spots in the Uk to watch the heavy Iron Ore trains working up gradient to Consett Steel works high up on the Moors pulled by the 9F heavy freight locos and often banked at the rear by another loco.
Picture from the John Wilshire Collection shared by Peter Brabham on Flickr ( if sharing seperatly please credit both sources)
So what images do you have hidden away in albums or drawers?
The HCSW project would be delighted to see and share them both on the website and our social media groups. We will also share with other local Heritage group
These types of images are social and industrial history, we are only the custodians we need to share them for us all now but also for future generations to come
History of Consett Steelworks 