 A view of Wolviston Water Mill in the 1950s. Photograph courtesy of Alison Smith |
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
| A view of Wolviston Water Mill in the 1950s. Photograph courtesy of Alison Smith |
I used to go fishing down Norburn Beck in the early seventies for eels and brown trout with my old mates Jim Ayre, Peter Bacon and Timmy Booth. We had some cracking adventures putting night lines out and camping in the woods sitting around the campfire telling ghost stories.
Those where the days.
I came across the comment string below the title “Wolviston Water Mill – 1950s”. I was looking for a reference to Norburn Beck, and came across the string in the search. The last comment is dated 2014. I am almost 80, so 2014 is relatively recent. I am a native of Billingham, now living in Lancashire, but considering a move back.
Starting from the bottom – Stinky Beck did indeed run past the Kings Arms. As a child I once fell in it. It was very stinky!
I remember the derelict mill near Norton being nearly bombed. The bomb crater next to the mill was enormous. If the bomb had fallen in ICI it could have been catastrophic. We called it “The Old Mill”. The theory that it was once called Wolviston Mill has some merit in that compared with Haverton, and Wolviston, Billingham was a backwater until ICI was built in the 20s.
Neil Pallister .and others express doubts about the photo, and its location. I remember there was a building in Wolviston like that shown next to a large horrible stagnant pond. That could be the overgrown pond edge to the left in the photo. Others state that there was no apparent water source, and no sign of a windmill. However there was another type of mill in use locally called a “gin gan”. This consisted of two horses walking in a circle, turning a vertical shaft, connected by spur gears to the grindwheel inside the mill. The gin gan could be outside, but was often in a hexagonal building attached outside the mill.. One such can still be seen at Cowpen Bewerley (lived in nowadays, I assume).
Fred, If you read all the comments below you will see that Wolviston Mill was sited just down from the Golden Gates at Wynyard Hall and the type of grist mill you are talking about was actually called a wynyard barn. It would be a walk down bank across two or three fields and there were water rills everywhere in my youth, wartime and before.
The Billingham Bottoms were water meadows and flooded nearly every year in my young days, the water would then freeze and we skated on it, half of Norton would be on there skating and if you went through the ice it was only a few inches deep. Wolverston had water meadows now built on.
The area has changed beyond recognition now but I still think it a wonderful area to live in.
Frank.
Hi Frank,
You are of course right. Much of the area is now unrecognisable to one who has not witnessed the changes as they happened. I recently walked down Sandy Lane. It is recognisably the same road, but now passes through a tunnel of trees until it suddenly stops in the middle of houses, interrupted by a road to The Kings Arms and Stinky Beck, which didn’t exist at all in my day. Aged about 1 plus, I used to trail behind my Mother singing “Keep Right on to the End of the Road”. A sharp left turn (I think)at the “End of the Road” and we would arrive at The Golden Gates. That almost direct route seems to have been obliterated.
People skating on Billingham Bottoms was another feature you mention. I think there were attempts to grow potatoes there during the war. I went to Manchester Uni in 1957. There were a couple of male cloakroom attendants who had been billeted in Billingham in the forces during the war, and were extremely impressed by the kindness of the people. They commented “Billingham – that’s where they grow potatoes under water”. I assumed they meant Billingham Bottoms – I may have asked – I can’t remember.
Many thanks for your patient and informative reply,
Fred.
Fred, the Wolviston Mill was over the Station Fields at Norton. You mention the Old Mill which was adjacent to Billingham Bottoms and looked over to Billingham which was bombed during WW11
Hi Bob,
Thanks for your reply. I recently walked from Billingham over Norton Station Crossing into Norton and found the route very much changed in the three quarters of a century since I was last there partly due to the presence of “keep out” notices and electric fences giving one the occasional kick, either side of the overgrown old path. The main problem though is the best road infra-structure in Britain crossing and burying once familiar landmarks. Your directions to Wolviston Mill make perfect sense in my memory of what was, but sometime I shall have to start from Norton and walk back over what exists now to sort it out.
Fred.
Wolviston Mill need not have been a water mill, we had several mills in the area North of the Tees and some as with Bellevue where Wind mills. Those mills went back to in some cases Roman times with a Roman Canal built from the Tees into the hinterlands of what we call Wynyard and further.
What us kids played in and called the Willowgarth was the remains of that canal which in our time vanished under the railway embankment. Thorpe Beck and many other rills or streams in that area beyond the embankment. Billingham Beck was lower down in the water meadows. The old Canal was later used as the water source for Norton Mill Mr Skelton and his family lived there pre-war and I believe it was still in working condition until a German bomb took out both the water source and the mill, a night I will not forget.
We tend to forget the Roman heritage of this area the old Roman road north going through Sadberge so the canal probably reached that road along the bottoms with its myriad of streams.
A lad I knew bought and refurbished Wolvirston mill, you reached it from a track on Wynyard back lane just before you come to the Garden Centre and it meandered down passing Viewly Hill to almost directly south of the Golden Gates, I would suppose it is still there.
You can visit the Billingham Beck Ecology Park that takes in quite a bit of the water meadows we all once played in, parking on site and a visitors area. Some times it pays to be adventurous and go to look.
The water Mill was 1st refurbished by Jackie Wood who was the son-in-law of Bob Kennedy who owned Viewly Hill Farm. Jack had a bungalow on the farm yard. The work at the Mill was done for his son Martin who eventually lived there. Access to the Mill was gained by travelling through Viewly Hill Farm. I have been down there recently ‘clay pigeon’ shooting and from the land I was on you can see the Mill. The land down there was flooded 3 times last year because of the beck over flowing.
Bob I first knew Jack as an Army Cadet and he was also a first class joiner, the on the bend staircase he made for Martin was a thing of beauty in that I never forgot seeing it being put in place.
Of course the mill was a water mill, looking at the map of the area it is nothing but streams though some of the land was drained. When I passed along Wynyard lane last year even some of the top fields were flooded.
We live among History which does not get told as it should, when people like us and others Bob leave the planet it could well be forgotten.
Frank – there are so many changes there now from when I last visited the area some 35 years ago. It is now filled with small holdings in which one of them my friend lives in. He is an Architect and bought the land and designed and built his bungalow on it. It is called the North Meadows Riding School. Further over is the ‘Clay Pigeon’ shooting field.
Regarding “Norburn Beck” or North Burn to give it its correct name, I went there two or
three years ago from Wolviston village. The duel carriage A19 cut through the old five
field footpath. To finally arrive there I had to cross the road which I managed, but not
a pleasant experience.
With reference to Wolviston Mill, “Norburn Beck” is well North of Wolviston whilst the Mill
is well South and could well have been called Norton Mill as most Norton farms would
no doubt have used it.
Can the public still get to [Norburn Beck]? Years ago I used to go there fishing it was back in the 1960s
I’m very curious about the picture of Wolviston water mill, c 1950’s, sent in by Alison Smith. As a Wolviston lad from that era, I have no recollection of such an installation. To the best of my knowledge there was no power source in the area; tiny “Stinky Beck” to the South and a slightly larger “Norburn Beck” to the North would hardly do the job. Is it possible that this photo is from elsewhere? Anybody recognize it?
Hi Neil, Wolviston Mill was situated well away from Wolviston Village. Wolviston Mill Lane which starts close to the Duck Pond in the village, carries on past the present day St. Pauls Primary School. The road crosses Whitehouse Road at the point which used to be the crossroads of Sandy Lane and Wolviston Mill Lane. The property developers of that part of Wolviston Court have a left a small section of the old road which is still visible today. Unfortunately the old road terminates at the embankment of the A19 Trunk road so it’s not possible to trace it down to The Mill. I believe The Mill was partially destroyed by fire several years ago and was I think given up as a lost cause. The Mill must have been fed by Billingham Beck which is a lot larger than Norburn Beck. The Stinky Beck that you refer to may be Cowbridge Beck which runs past The Kings Arms Hotel.
We sometimes fished “Norburn Beck” back in the early fifties. As young lads 12 or 13 it was a great day
out & I remember catching some very good Roach, about a pound or so, we always put them back.
The beck may have been affected by the A19 road development in recent years but I hope it survived.
A natural & tranquil place, Norburn Beck or North burn Beck.