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57 Clement Street - Life on a Northern Terrace (1911-1938)

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  Based on extracts from “A Yorkshire Lass” memoirs of Joyce Gill (in italics ). With additional information and editing by Jonathan Blackburn. By 1910 the new development of Clement Street in the district of Birkby, Huddersfield was almost complete. It consisted of 55 stone built houses in two terraces either side of the street. The even numbers side only went up to 30 as the Birkby Council School intercepted the end of the street. The odd numbered side reaching 79 before it terminated. Although they were still terraced houses, designed for the burgeoning workforce of Huddersfield, they were a step up from the previous generation of workers cottages. The ceilings were higher and they had front and back gardens instead of opening directly onto the street. A big step forward was sanitation as toileting facilities were now integral to the house, instead of an outhouse in the back yard. 1911 Census 57 Clement Street, Birkby - Number of Rooms Schedule – Signed by Rowland Blackburn It w...
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Betrayal – Fred & Beatrice – (1915-1920)

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  Fred’s thoughts turned from disbelief to sadness and quite quickly to anger. He couldn’t believe what he was being told at first. He couldn’t understand why she would do such a thing, and become well known for it! They hadn’t been married much longer than a year in September 1917. Fred had been away in the army for a year, but so had most young men in that time period. Beatrice had grown up in the Paddock area of Huddersfield and was well known around Luck Lane which linked to the Marsh district and then on to her new marital home in Birkby. Luck Lane was where he was told Beatrice had been seen committing adultery, on many occasions. The ultimate indignity and horror for Fred was for this to culminate in her having a miscarriage at their house in Corby street. The fact that the potential father of the child was unknown only compounded the sordid nature of this event. The actual cause of the miscarriage was not known but with the doctor having been called to attend meant it c...
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Location: Huddersfield, UK
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Stewart Blackburn War Story - Fleet Air Arm (1939-46)

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  To Be Involved-  In 1939 Stewart Blackburn started work as a clerk at Eaton, Smith & Downey, a firm of Huddersfield solicitors. On September 3rd  of that year the Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain declared that Britain was at war with Germany. Inevitably the war began impacting ordinary peoples lives and there was a feeling of wanting to be involved and to “do your bit”. During the nights of the early 1940s Stewart volunteered as part of a Fire Watch. A team which sat in various town centre buildings and provided early warning of the effects from incendiary bombs. During 1940 Stewart’s father, Percy, gave up Tailoring for the war duration and became a Progress Clerk at Hopkinson’s engineering works as part of their war production effort. While sister Annie had taken two evacuated students into her household. Huddersfield wasn’t totally untouched by direct enemy action during these years. German bombers attempted to hit David Browns factory at Lockwood, but...
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Location: Hinstock, Market Drayton TF9, UK
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