Annie Blackwell
Annie nee Strong Blackwell
Annie was born on March 7 1915 and grew up with her elder sister Margaret and their parents in a house in a street behind the High Street. When she left school Annie, like many girls from the village, went into service. Her ‘place’ was in a tall Edwardian Villa in the then gentrified area of Manningham Lane in Bradford.
Annie was working there at the time of her twenty first birthday. With the missus away Annie took the weekend off and travelled to Cornforth to celebrate her birthday. A friend gave her a lift home on his motorbike. Annie knew that she would be a knock out at the celebration as she was going to be wearing one of the Missus’ stylish dresses that she had ‘borrowed’ for the weekend. It was 1936.
Annie had a great weekend, her dress was much admired. The dress was returned safely to the Missus’ wardrobe and no one was any the wiser.
Annie was a ‘maid of all work’, she lived in, and earned her keep by helping the Missus manage the household. Her earnings were about £10 a year. Part of Annie’s wages were sent home to her family and she saved the rest of her earnings for when she was married and had her own home.
In Manningham Lane Annie was responsible for cooking for the whole house and became very skilled. Not much fazed her. On one occasion a carefully prepared dish of pease pudding was accidently knocked on to the kitchen floor on its way to the table. Annie scooped it up from the floor without missing a beat, popped it in a new dish and served it to the Missus and her guests. Again, the Missus was none the wiser.
Many years later, while on a catering job, the precariously balanced four tier wedding cake crashed to the floor minutes before the bride and groom were to make their entrance. Annie retrieved the cake announcing ‘I’ll just have to clag it together’. Clag it together she did, though the sugar bride and groom a top the cake were not quite as straight as they might have been.
Richard ‘Dick’ Blackwell and Annie Strong were married early one morning in 1939, by special licence, in Holy Trinity Church West Cornforth. Annie was 24 and Dick 28. Annie and Dick had a day away and came back to 19 Glebe Villas to start their married life.
Pauline their first child was born in 1942 followed by Anne in 1945. Dick was working in the Weighbridge at the pit and Annie used to walk the girls past the office to wave at him. Shortly afterwards when he was just thirty five Dick had to finish work because of ill health. Annie stepped up; caring for Dick, looking after her children, her elderly father who lived in the Aged Miner’s homes and going out to work.
Annie had several jobs at the same time; cooking dinner every day for a local butcher and the men who worked in the shop and on the van round, she helped other members of the family in their homes, and was also part of the regular ‘catering team’. Annie was an honorary member of the butcher’s family; especially adored by the children. Capable, straightforward, direct but very kind Annie’s sense of fun and love of life was infectious.
Annie was a long standing member of the WI and was as whole hearted about that as everything else. Everyone waited for her entrance in the pantomime when she was usually dressed as a dashing bloke. Her best part was as Buttons. Dressing up was not confined to the stage in the Miner’s Welfare Hall. Annie and her friends often took to the street in costume, spreading the love.
Glebe Villas was a great place for the girls to grow up. Many of the couples who lived there had moved in like Annie and Dick as newly-weds. They all became mams and dads at the same time. There were always children to play with in the street. The Blackwells had a huge shed which was requisitioned by Pauline and Anne who used to get all the children together and put on concerts. They were egged on by Annie of course, who could always rustle up a costume or two.
Dick worked from home. He was a skilled watch and clock mender much loved by them all.
Pauline had finished at Grammar School and was working, Anne was almost finished school with ambitions to be a hairdresser when Dick had a stroke. He was forty six. It was devastating for them all. Very slowly with love and Annie’s care Dick began to recover though he did not achieve full mobility again.
Pauline’s wedding was a joyous event, meticulously planned. Annie and Pauline went to Leeds to choose Pauline’s wedding dress. It was a wonderful day. Annie was justifiably proud of her beautiful daughters; Pauline was a stunning bride and Anne a gorgeous bridesmaid. The wedding was a red letter day but it was surpassed some time later by the arrival of Annie’s grandson Paul. Being a grandmother and great grandmother made Annie very happy.
Anne succeeded in securing a place as an apprentice hairdresser. Apprenticeships incurred a ‘bond’ to cover the cost of the training. It seemed like a fortune but Annie got it together. Anne made the most of the opportunity and had a very successful career; eventually opening her own shop in the village. The highlight of Annie’s week in those days was when the shop shut and Anne zoomed her off to Stockton in her sports car.
Annie meant so much to so many people. Her contribution to the WI was recognised when she was asked to go to Buckingham Palace to the Queen’s Garden Party; she really did the village proud that day.
Holidays and time away were few and far between. Dick’s illness made travelling difficult for him and Annie did not like to leave him. Annie managed to organise things so that she could go on the annual weekend away with the WI. A friend who went on one of the trips remarked that Annie had walked all the way to Blackpool. Annie had walked up and down the bus chatting and carrying on from leaving home to arriving at the seaside.
In the late nineteen sixties Annie got her dream job; as lunchtime supervisor at West Cornforth Primary School; she was in her element. ‘Strong Annie’ continued her lifelong friendship with the butcher and his family, helping with the catering jobs, babysitting the grandchildren as she had his children and did so until she was well in her seventies.
Annie’s beloved Dick died in 1992. Annie died in 2001; she was eighty six; a much loved mam, Grandma, Great Grandma, aunt and dear friend to many.
Pauline Aggerburg to Julie Leitheiser 2017
