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RECENT
HISTORY |
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Acklington Park was a significant township
within the parish. The park, from a very early
period, was attached to the castle of Warkworth
and the noblemen in the area would hunt the
fallow deer in the park. According to the
Northumberland County History: “The rural calm
of Acklington Park was broken in the year 1775
when a firm of speculators, attracted by the
unfailing water power of the Coquet, acquired a
lease of land from the Duke of Northumberland
with liberty to erect a foundry for the
manufacture of tin and iron.” This development
came during a time of increasing
industrialization in the county. |
ACKLINGTON PARK FACTORY
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The ironworks were built in 1776
and at the same time a dam was constructed to
feed water into the millrace that was to supply
the power for the foundry. This dam is now
considered to be the finest 18th century dam in
England! It is a magnificent horseshoe shape
with an unusual vertical downstream face. This
fine dam, however, clearly brought problems for
the salmon population of the river for its 11
feet height defeated many of them. An eccentric
salmon sympathiser, the surgeon and naturalist
Frank Buckland, erected a hand-written notice
for their benefit: “No road at present over this
weir. Go downstream, take the first turn to the
right and you will find good travelling water
upstream and no jumping required. FTB.” A fish pass was eventually
erected in the twentieth century. As for the
ironworks, it proved to be too far away from its
market and by 1791 the mill was being used to
manufacture woollen cloth instead. At the census
of 1891 there was a healthy population of 76 at
Acklington Park and the mill continued as a dye
and bleach mill until the 1930’s. Today the
population in the Acklington Park area is much
smaller (although there is still a significant
deer population in the nearby Acklington Wood)
and the mill has been private housing since the
1980’s.
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THE RAILWAY LINE AND
STATION
As well as its magnificent dam, the
river Coquet boasts an historic bridge
at Brainshaugh
and an historic viaduct built to carry trains on
the east coast main line. Another example of
railway architecture is Acklington Railway
Station and Goods Shed built between 1847-49 in
a mock Tudor style by Benjamin Green. Both the
station and goods shed are now private houses. |
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•A
great snow storm hit the region in 1886.
The snow was so bad that the main London
to Edinburgh railway line was blocked at
Acklington and passengers had to be dug
out.
These two pictures (taken from
wood engravings of the event) were
printed in an edition of the Illustrated
London News, so Acklington made the
national news on that occasion. A
less known story was when a cattle train
got stuck in snow (near to the viaduct)
and villagers carried hay across the
fields to the starving animals.
•Before
moving off the theme of railways the
story of “Tunkle” must be told.
Tunkle lived in a cottage at the
railway station and he had a potato
patch at the side of the line and in it
he placed a scarecrow with an old silk
hat on its head.
The drivers and firemen on
passing trains couldn’t resist numerous
shies with suitable lumps of coal.
This was Tunkle’s deep scheme of
obtaining coal for nothing… and it
succeeded exceedingly well!
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ACKLINGTON SCHOOL
Acklington School was built in 1852 and opened
in 1853, making it one of the oldest schools
still in operation in the county of
Northumberland. The first pupil to register in
1853 was 10 year old Ann Egdele. Since that
time, hundreds of pupils have enjoyed
their early education at the village
school and the community is rightly
proud of the excellent reputation of the
school and the high standards achieved.
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•When
the school was first built it was
actually designed to accommodate 124
scholars.
The maximum number of pupils on
the register at one time was 100 back in
1865
(although this was during World War II
when evacuees from Wallsend
helped to swell the numbers). In the early
days, playing out on the street (outside
the school gates) did not appear to be a
problem.... as this old photograph
indicates.The number of
pupils on roll at the present time is 28.
This small roll, together with an excellent team
of staff, means that the pupils get a
great deal of individual attention and a
superb start to their formal education.
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Mr
Smith
was one of the
earliest (and
longest serving) of
Acklington’s
headteachers.
He served for
30 years.
This picture
of Mr Smith and his
class was taken in
1930.
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In 2007
the School Governors
agreed that the school
headship could be a job
share position and Mrs
Suzanne Connolly was
appointed to share the
role with Mrs Nichola
Brannen. This meant that
Acklington C. of E.
First School became one of
the few innovative
schools in the country
to have two headteachers.
They have since moved on
and the present head
teacher is Ms Effie
Fenton. |
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significant building in the parish is
the church of St John The Divine in
Acklington Village. It was erected in
1861 and is one of the largest buildings
in the parish. The stones of which the
church is built were tooled and dressed
within the walls of Alnwick Castle. All
the woodwork was also prepared there.
For this is one of the churches built by
Algernon, fourth Duke of Northumberland,
in the last few years of his life. When
the stones were ready, and the woodwork
was fashioned, masons and joiners were
sent from the castle works to Acklington
to set them in their appointed places.
The Duke & Duchess were
present at the consecration which was
performed by the Lord Bishop of Durham. |
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THE CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE DIVINE, ACKLINGTON
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•
Both the church and the old
vicarage were built from the
designs of Mr. James Deason. The
church is in the early English
style and is a fine Victorian
Gothic building with a plain
exterior and an unexpectedly
pleasing interior. Some good
modern woodwork includes an
altar and reredos and
communion rails, given as memorials to various
members of the Milburn family of Guyzance.
The oak Lych
Gate itself is very
attractive and interesting.
It was opened in 1921
as a war memorial dedicated
in honour of those from this
district who took part in
the Great War 1914 – 1918.•
There
was quite a ceremony which
was attended by His Grace
the Duke of Northumberland.
The Lych Gate
was renovated on the
occasion of the coronation
of Queen Elizabeth II on
June 2nd 1953.
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MINING
Coal has been mined in the parish since the 18th
Century. In 1902 Acklington Colliery was at full
production and employed 347 workers (288 miners
below and 59 surface workers). There is now no
sign of the colliery but it was situated close
to the present “Coal Houses” site. In the 1970s
and 80s coal was extracted from large areas of
our parish by means of open cast coal mining to
the south and the east of the village. The last
coal was extracted from the Chester House site
in 1991 and all the land in the parish that was
scarred by this form of mining has now been
restored and returned to farmland. At the
present time, however, the landscapes to the
south and east of the village still remain
somewhat immature as a result of the mining. In
1997 there was an application to mine coal and
fireclay from the Cavil Head area along the
northern edge of the village but this was
successfully opposed by members of the parish
and permission for the mining was refused. |
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THE MART
A cattle market has been at Acklington for
over 100 years. It is owned by a company of
Alnwick Farmers (North East Livestock Ltd) and
is one of the main auction marts in the north
east, employing over 20 workers and achieving a
turnover of over 17 million pounds per year. The
mart sells prime cattle and sheep to every
corner of the United Kingdom with the main
weekly auctions taking place on Mondays and
Thursdays. From time to time other livestock and
farm produce are auctioned, including horses and saddlery, poultry, eggs, plants, fruit, fresh
vegetables and farm machinery & tools. The
railway used to be used in the transportation of
animals to the mart but now all livestock
arrives in cattle wagons. The mart has its own
canteen, which is always well used by the
farmers. |
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ACKLINGTON AIRFIELD
It was in 1916 that the first biplanes touched
down on a small field just south of Acklington.
The site was called Southfield and 36 Squadron
operated there until the end of the First World
War. Although peacetime arrived the aerodrome
was soon expanded and became known as RAF
Acklington.
The airfield really came into its
own during the Second World War when Acklington
was well and truly put on the map. Hurricanes of
No. 43 Squadron were stationed at the base for
coastal patrol duties and RAF Acklington made
its first mark upon history when three No. 43
squadron pilots shot down the first enemy
aircraft to crash on English soil in 1940. They
were led by Flt Lt Peter Townsend, whose name
was later linked with Princess Margaret. In June
1940 spitfires flew out of Acklington and
assisted in the evacuation of Dunkirk. On August
15th 1940 Acklington’s fighters, together with
aircraft from other airfields on the east coast,
enjoyed their greatest ever achievement by
shooting down 15 Luftwaffe aircraft in a head-on
clash over the North Sea in a raid which turned
out to be one of the Battle of Britain’s most
significant encounters.
In the late 1940s and
early 1950s Acklington became the main RAF
armament training base with various units
passing through to brush up on their air-to-air
firing accuracy. It was a host to gliders as
well as more modern jets. After budget cuts in
1956 the jet fighters had to share the station
with helicopters from Search and Rescue.
The
glory days for the airfield were over by the
time the site was designated as a prison in
1969. The three runways were ripped up in 1974
and the remaining helicopters moved up the coast
to Boulmer in October 1975.
Disused buildings
and structures associated with both world wars
are now considered to be of archaeological
interest. In Acklington Parish, a World War II
anti-aircraft artillery site survives which was
built to protect RAF Acklington. The gun has of
course long gone. While the remnants of the
airfield also disappeared during the extensive
opencast mining in the 1980s and 1990s, a
lasting legacy is the housing created for the
officers and airmen of RAF Acklington which now
makes up the eastern end of the village and is
still often locally referred to as the “married
quarters”.
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CLICK ON
THE BADGE OPPOSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION
ABOUT RAF ACKLINGTON |
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PRISONS
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Mention Acklington to a criminal or a
prison officer and they of course will
immediately think of the gaols we have
here. HMP Acklington, on the edge
of the parish, has been developed since
1972 on the 40 acre site of the former
RAF station.
Within the North East Area it is
the only Category C establishment
catering for men.
There is accommodation for up to
882 prisoners, 216 of the places are
reserved for those who are deemed
vulnerable by the nature of their
offence, or inability to cope in the
mainstream prison.
• In
January 1983 HMYOI Castington was
also opened also on the old airfield
site.
Castington houses 240 offenders aged
18-21 and a further 160 offenders from
as young as aged 14-17. The
full range of criminal offenders is
housed in the two establishments and
there is almost no restriction on the
type of offender that is likely to be
received.
Both the establishments house
inmates serving all sentences from as
little as nine months to life.
The prisons are by far the largest
employer in the area with over 900 staff
(uniformed + others) working within the
two establishments. A good number
of the staff live in Acklington Parish.
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THE RAILWAY INN
There have been a number of village
pubs in the past making valuable
contributions to the economic and social
activities of the area.
We have had
the “Three Horse Shoes”, “The Plough”
and "The Railway Inn" but only the
latter still survives.
The Railway Inn is a small rural pub
which has quite a history. It started
life as a two up, two down farm house in
the mid 1800’s and then the enterprising
farmer decided to add some more rooms
and take in guests. It actually became a
“hotel” in the 1890’s with landlords
staying for many years before moving on.
The Marsh family had the hotel before it
was taken over by Mr and Mrs Webb and
family. From 1923 to 1954 the Webb
brothers ran the pub and Tom Webb
trained racehorses along the fields
adjoining the main railway line. Some
nice winners were stabled at the Station
Hotel, none grander than “Pickle,” who
won the Cumberland Plate. Photographs of
some of his winners can be seen on the
lounge walls of the pub today. The hotel
in the early days was patronized by
sporting folk, foxhunters, otter
hunters, gamekeepers, farmers and
shepherd’s, etc. Special social evenings
including “Badger Suppers” were very
popular at the time— but remember this
was over 70 years ago, before the
protection of many of our wild animals.
Before, during and after the second
world war, when Acklington RAF site and
airfield was just a couple of miles down
the road, many airman and officers
visited the pub regularly. Included
amongst those frequent visitors was Flt
Lt Peter Townsend who was reputed to be
Princess Margaret’s first love (we even
now have a “Townsend Court” in the
village). So as well as pictures of fine
racehorses, there are also photographs
of the old RAF camp displayed on the
walls of the pub today, a nice reminder
of Acklington’s proud history.
From 1954 to 1985 the pub was run by
Kitty Absalom, a name still well known
in the area. The present occupants,
Peter and Linda Osborne, took over in
1988 and since then they have had the
old stables and outbuildings converted
into three self-catering cottages which
are well used by holidaymakers to
Northumberland. In the winter months the
pub, with its cosy bar, is open at
weekends only. In the summer months
meals are served in the restaurant five
nights a week and at Sunday lunchtimes.
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ACKLINGTON VILLAGE HALL
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•Acklington
Village Hall is a very
significant building.
It has always been extremely well
used for meetings as well as for
sporting and social events.
It is also the venue used by
various local clubs and it continues to
be one of the main centres of social
activity in the parish. Before
the hall was built meetings took place
in the school.
They had what they called “Parish
Meetings” and it appears from the
minutes written at the time that most of
the discussions concerned:
the
state of the footpaths; the water
supply; scavenging; safety of bridges;
road-signs; parish celebrations (e.g.
Jubilee / Coronation) and the provision
of a village hall.
The Village Hall was originally due to
open in February 1924 but it was
completely wrecked by a gale just a few
days before the official opening
ceremony.
The following extract is taken
from a newspaper article written at the
time.
NEW BUILDING COLLAPSES IN GALE
A gloom has been cast over the village
of Acklington by the blowing over of its
newly erected War Memorial Hall early
last Saturday morning, by the terrific
gale which swept over the district. The
hall only needed some slight painting
inside for completion, and was to have
been handed over to the Committee on
February 5th, Monday first, when the
opening ceremony was to have been
performed by Sir Leonard Milburn.
At midnight on Friday, when a constable
passed the building, it was all right,
so that the catastrophe must have
occurred at some time between that hour
and 7 o’clock on Saturday morning, when
the hall was found to be in ruins by Mr.
J. K. Waggot, who lives at the Post
Office, the next building to the hall.
The hall is almost completely raised to
the ground, only the gable ends
remaining. It was in a very exposed
position, and stood broadside on to
Friday night’s gale, which is declared
by the keeper of the Coquet Lighthouse
to be the severest experienced in the
district for a considerable time.
Early on Monday, a party of Acklington
men and lads commenced helping the
builders to make order out of the debris
on the site of the building, removing
broken slates and clearing bricks, etc.
The damage is estimated at well over
£400. A lucky circumstance was that £30
worth of chairs, which had just been
purchased, had not been put into the
hall.
The cost of the hall was £800 and the
money was raised from public
subscriptions, whist drives, bazaars,
entertainments, etc. Mr Turner, retired
schoolmaster and secretary of the
Memorial Hall Fund, said he was quite
satisfied the workmanship was all right.
The fault lay with the night.
We can
only imagine how it felt for those in
the parish who had worked and laboured
for years to raise funds to get that
hall and then found that just when their
hopes were going to be realised that the
whole structure was lying in ruins.
Thankfully they decided that the
hall had to be rebuilt and they set
about raising yet more funds.
The committee gave instructions
for a building of much greater stability
that the original one and in June 1925
all their efforts were rewarded when
Lady Milburn officially opened this
hall.
It has been extremely well used
ever since.
•Throughout
the sixties there was a great deal of
maintenance work done (redecoration, new
heating system, toilet repairs, new
furniture, etc.) and discussions about
such items dominated the village hall
meetings, as recorded in the minutes.
•Village
hall activities during the
seventies included:
ballet lessons, keep fit
classes, Whist Drives, coffee
mornings, Youth Club evenings,
dances, as well as regular
meetings of the Parish Council /
W.I. / Young Wives Group / Bowls
Club / PCC / Autumn Club.
The school also used the
village hall during a period of
school alterations.
•The
kitchen and supper room were
altered and modernised during
the eighties. Working parties of
prison inmates helped to clear
up the village hall grounds.
An active village
badminton club ran throughout
the eighties.
The number on the village
hall committee was increased to
12.
•In
2001 a group calling themselves
ACT (Acklington Community Team)
was formed and organised
numerous events for the
community…. as a result the
village hall was used nearly
every day and given a new lease
of life.
Extra activities
included: sports club, history
club, toddler group, ceilidh’s,
sales, treasure hunts, “village
tidy” days, dance classes, quiz
nights, pantomimes… all of which
helped to increase revenue for
the village hall committee.
At the present time the hall
continues to be used almost
every day for meetings,
functions and club nights.
It is a real focal point of the
community. The village
hall committee has recently
improved the village hall by
installing a disabled toilet and
redecorating throughout.
They plan to enhance the
facility even further with a
rebuild of the back room and the
development of a community
garden & play area alongside the
hall.
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If
the Village Hall is one of the most
used buildings in the parish,
Guyzance Hall is definitely one
of the grandest. In 1892, J.D.
Milburn – a Newcastle Industrial
entrepreneur and shipowner – bought
the estate of Barnhill (and much of
Guyzance) and converted Barnhill
Farm into a fine residence.
The residence was completed in 1905
and became known as Guyzance Hall.
Brainshaugh House (pictured
right) is also one of the finest
dwellings in the parish.
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•Pearson's
Garage may not be anywhere near so
grand as the illustrious buildings
above, but it never-the-less serves a
very useful function…
•Pearson’s
Agricultural Garage started life as a
Builders Yard – specialising is sand
(from Alnmouth) and gravel. Then
it became Acklington Motor Company –
with buses and such like.
•Since
1980 it has been Pearson’s Agricultural
Garage – serving not just local farms
but farms throughout Northumberland
(e.g. Wooler / Hexham). Most of
the garage's business (80%) is about
repairing tractors and farm machinery….
but they also sell and hire new and
second hand machinery.
•Between
five
and eight staff are employed at the
garage and they are busiest during
harvest time (combine harvester
maintenance) and on mart days.
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THE
VILLAGE PUMP
Acklington village pump
often catches the eye of
visitors passing through the
village.
Strangers are told
that the little roof over
the pump is to keep the
water dry when it rains.
The pump sadly no
longer works but when it did
the water was said to be
sweet and cool, coming from
seven little springs below.
•When
this newspaper picture (top
right) was taken in 1932 the
local authorities had been
discussing the water supply
for Acklington for almost 30
years.
But nothing had been
done and, as this photograph
shows, the villagers were
still drawing buckets of
water from the pump despite
the water being condemned.
• Behind
the pump the two cottages
(“Pump Cottage” and “Rookery
Nook”) are over 400 years
old.
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ACKLINGTON POST OFFICE
The old postcard (pictured left)
shows Acklington Post Office in 1916
when it was situated at the west end of
the village.
•On
the 7th October 1920 a daring robbery
took place in Acklington which made news
headlines throughout the country.
The North of England Daily Paper
“Illustrated Chronicle” devoted its
whole front page to pictures of what it
referred to as “A Mail Robbery
Sensation.”
Page 2 of the paper then went on
to give the full story of the robbery,
including witness accounts, diagrams and
statements.
Here is just a small part of the
report from that paper…..
•Acklington,
the quiet country place between
Newcastle and Berwick, was the venue
of a scene reminiscent of an act in
a Wild West drama, yesterday.
In the early hours of the
morning, the local postman was
surprised, taken to a hut near the
railway, and bound, gagged, and
blindfolded.
• Three
men are implicated in the
sensational affair, and so far as
the facts can be pieced together,
their objective appears to have been
some valuable which was in transit
through the post.
•At
any rate the men seized the mail
bags which, according to custom, had
been thrown into the net provided
for the purpose by a passing mail
train.
After a search of the mail
bags, all that was taken was a
parcel of registered letters, the
other letters being left strewn on
the floor of the hut.
• Beyond
the natural shock of his rather
terrifying experience, the postman
suffered no bodily injury.
He appears to have comported
himself with commendable bravery,
but, of course, taken unawares, was
no match for three assailants.
Unfortunately he is unable to
give any description of the three
men.
•I
t was only when, some time later,
the post-man from Amble called for
his letters at the Acklington Post
Office that something was found to
be amiss.
Inquiries were at once set on
foot.
Despite the fact that every
possible avenue was investigated by
the police, no trace of the thieves,
who are said to have made their
escape in a motor-car, could be
found.
Up to a late hour last night
no arrests were reported, but the
police are stated to be trying to
trace a blue motor-car.
•For
20 years the Post Office was in
the centre of the village
(beside the Post Box &
Noticeboard) and the
postmistress was Vera Taylor.
Here she is pictured with
Alan Beith opening the new Post
Office and Norman Petty (Head
Postmaster in Morpeth).
• Not
just a PO it was a village shop
as well – and a community
meeting place.
•During
her time as a postmistress Vera
qualified for a special award.
She
got this for “giving a top rate
service to your customers” and a
“successful performance in nil
error accounting (in other words
she didn’t make any mistakes
with the books).
• Her
bosses went on to say
“You have set an example
which we hope others will
follow.
The consistency of your
performance is something we are
all aiming for and you have
proved it can be done.”
•Dave
Charnock took n the Post Office
for a while but sadly in 2000
the PO closed for good.
Current news suggests it
looks like the end of the road
for small Post Offices, which is
a great pity.
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GUYZANCE
VILLAGE
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The attractive village of Guyzance
remains largely unspoiled.
There is no church, school, shop
or pub but this rural hamlet provides a
peaceful haven for residents and
visitors alike.
When Guyzance Hall was built at
the end of
the 19th century
and the estate
developed, it created new
jobs and brought more people to the
area.
In those days there was a
schoolroom (shown in the centre of the
Guyzance picture above) that dated back
to 1852.
There was also a joiner’s shop
and a blacksmith’s at West House.
•During
the war the schoolroom was used
regularly for whist drives, to raise
money for the Red Cross, and the
occasional dance complete with
squeezebox and fiddle.
How did they manage with so
little room?
Although the area around Guyzance
remains mainly agricultural, tourism is
increasing and this part of the parish
has become a popular holiday spot.
Some of the houses on the estate
have become holiday homes and people
come from all over the country to enjoy
this beautiful part of Northumberland.
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A disused
mill stands on the bank of
the river Coquet opposite
Whirley Shaws hill.
There has been a mill
on this site since 1336 and
the weir on this stretch of
the river dates back to
1350.
The weir can be seen
today, although its main use
now is to provide a fishing
spot for the herons that
visit this part of the
river.
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THE RIVER COQUET
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The jewel
in the crown as far as our parish is
concerned must be the River Coquet.
It has meandered through the centre
of our parish throughout its history and is
absolutely beautiful.
Like all rivers, however, it can be
dangerous at times.
The Guyzance Tragedy, summarized below, is a
very sad story which all parishioners should
know about.
• Towards
the end of the 2nd World
War, thousands of eager young conscripts
were in training (back in England)
hoping for the opportunity to serve
their country.
•In
January 1945 there was such a group of
boys (from the 10th Duke
of Wellington’s Regiment and the Durham
Light Infantry) billeted in Felton and
they were carrying out a river crossing
exercise in this parish.
•A
four-man canvas boat only just managed
to cross and the section leader, Frank
Milburn, tried to warn the following
vessel – a ten-man craft.
The order was given to proceed.
•All
10 men were weighed down with full kit.
Their boat was swept over the dam
and capsized.
They didn’t have a chance!
The disaster was hushed up so as not to
affect morale and the survivors were
quietly dispatched to different parts of
the country.
•It
was just over 10 years ago that these
monuments were erected – largely thanks
to local historian Vera Vaggs who
carried out the research and a Felton
man Charlie Dick who carved the names
onto a piece of solid oak.
• Moving
riverside ceremony with veteran
survivors as well as relatives of the
dead.
Almost 100 people attended and
wreaths were laid.
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TREES
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| Trees are
the oldest living things in the parish.
The Yew and the Black Poplar (pictured
left) are thought to be the oldest.
Thirty years ago the road through
Acklington Village was lined with mature
trees. Sadly a lot of these have
been taken down and as a result the
village has lost some of that character
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