Julie Sweeting
Women of Cornforth
I was born at my grandmother’s house in Framwellgate Moor and went home to West Cornforth soon afterwards. Dad was a butcher and we lived on the premises. The kitchen and living room were downstairs and the sitting room and bedrooms were upstairs.
One of my earliest memories is of standing on the table having my hat fastened and being taken down the street by Pauline who came on a Saturday to do the messages.
Another possibly earlier memory is of being in the church slightly confused because the seats seemed to be the wrong way round. I realised that this must have been my brother’s christening. Jackson was born at the end of November 1951 so it must have been early 1952. As a family we could not be described as church going.
My grandparents lived at one end of the road on Middleham Road and my grandfather had a butcher’s shop at 18 High Street. We lived at 70 High Street part way between grandad’s shop and his home. We saw him most days and I spent a lot of time at his house. Our place was always busy with people coming and going. My aunty Joy had a hairdresser’s shop next to dad’s shop. I thought aunty Joy, the first wife of my dad’s eldest brother Tom, was amazingly beautiful. Her hair was long and unnaturally blonde. Aunty Joy was Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Diana Dors all rolled into one. We saw a lot of Aunty Joy as she came in to use the upstairs bathroom and to have coffee which even as a small child seemed exotic to me. My Aunty Joy had a small two ounce tin of powdered instant coffee in her shop that she measured out carefully and savoured while all around her were drinking tea.
We had a van which was used for hawking. On fine summer evenings we’d all pile in and go off on a jaunt to Seaton.
As a quite small child I used to spend time at my grandparents’ houses in Cornforth and Framwellgate Moor as well at aunty Peg and uncle Phil’s house in Chilton. My grandfather Jackson Sweeting became very ill. His bed was brought downstairs and I remember visiting him with dad in the room where we used to play dominoes in front of the hearth. Granda Sweeting died shortly afterwards. It was a sad time especially for my grandmother. Dad’s eldest brother; uncle Tom, his second wife, Margaret and family came to live with my nana Sweeting.
I loved staying with aunty Peg and uncle Phil, Beulah their dog, ginger the cat and my dear cousin Jane. I was devastated when they all moved to Kent. I never saw uncle Phil again as he died shortly after they moved. Aunty Peg and Jane returned to Cornforth and stayed with us in the flat above the shop until 18 High Street was refurbished as a bakery.