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As we watched the film it showed scenes of snow and ice, deep cracks in the ice and
how the parties made their way to the pole. I remember Dr Fuchs had bright red or orange vehicles called Sno-Cats that ran on four tracks and looked a bit like a van with a long nose (I believe that the Armed Forces
of today have a similar type of vehicle that is smaller.)
With help I have found that Edmund Hillary had a more down to earth type of transport in the form of none other than the Ferguson TE20 Tractor, Yes
the little grey Fergies that we were used to seeing on the farms as children and now at local fetes and shows having been lovingly restored by their owners. The ones used in the Antarctic had kits that formed tracks
for them that were easily added or removed and a canvas cabin. The Fergies were even driven on
their standard tyres during parts of their journey and were able to climb slopes that were difficult for the men to walk up these were left at the US base for their use when the expedition left the pole and headed back to the coast. We sat upstairs in the balcony and I remember at the interval we were allowed ice-cream and I had mine in a tub.
Cave Boys and Girls!
Another School trip placed us in Matlock in Derbyshire where we had dinner in an
upstairs room where the windows overlooked the park and river in what could have been a theatre or cinema. After dinner we rejoined the bus which made its way to where it parked and we climbed our way up the pathway
to the Heights of Abraham, where we made our way into the caverns there with a guide who explained about the mining for lead that went back to Roman times. I can't remember where we went from there, but a visit to
the village of Eyam was made which was infected by the Great Plague in the 17th Century when fleas carried it from London in cloth for the tailor. Where today the pretty cottages and their beautifully kept gardens
give testament to how the villagers survived by imposing quarantine on themselves with the hope of containing the Bubonic Plague. No one entered or left the village as arrangements were made for food and other
requirements to be left at the outskirts of the village where the coins for payment were left in a bowl of vinegar to sterilise them.
Another School visit saw us visiting Castleton and the Blue John Mines at
the Treak Cliff Caverns. The entrance to these mines and caverns are part of the way up the hillside where the gift and coffee shop stands. On our arrival I remember one of the people in charge telling us about
safety and told us not to mess around with the large rocks that were scattered around, as he stated that a party of students had been messing around and dislodged one of them and it had rolled into and through the
shop front.
Personally I think he was joking and was his way of getting us to follow the rules. While we were there we were also asked not to touch any of the stalactite formations as they could easily break off.
We passed through a what looked like a garden shed door and into a dim passage that after a few yards opened up into one of the caverns that were rather wet as water ran down some of the walls and dripped from the
roof. Passing along the pathway there were pools of water that had what looked like knobbly pillars with rounded tops sticking up other, parts looked like buckets of cold porridge had been thrown at the cavern walls
repeatedly and it had just stuck there these were what is known as stalagmites even these pillars wee growing from the floor they owed their existence to the stalactites above them and the minerals in the water
dripping down over them. After many, many years the two may end up joining together and continue to get thicker. There are many different sized stalactites hanging in the caves from the thickness of a mans arm
to ones as thick as a drinking straw. In one of the caverns as we stood there listening to what the guide was saying the lighting was switched on that illuminated a spectacular display of stalactites that looked
like the pipes of a Church Organ. As we passed through the caverns the guide explained about the product that was mined there and how the caverns had formed. Moving deeper into the hill our attention was drawn to a
large pillar the miners had left that was made completely of 'Blue John' stone which is a form of flourspar (calcium) that was holding up the cavern roof. The mineral is used to make jewelry, vases and bowls.
When we stood in one of the caverns the guide gathered the group all together and told us that we were in the Witches cave and when the lights were dimmed another set of lights were switched on and the head of a
witch was seen in the roof looking down on us with her long nose and pointed hat. With the lighting back on we were shown a path leading into a tunnel and we followed it to its end where a door let us back out onto
the hillside where our tour ended not far from where we had entered the caverns. A look round the gift shop and presents bought for home, our way was made to the bus and into the village of Castleton for dinner and
afterwards a walk round it with our teachers so that people who had not bought presents yet could do so. From here I am not sure if we went to somewhere else or we made our way home.
Sherwood Forest was
another school trip made while at school from this trip I remember the bus calling at a large building similar to Normanby Hall with a statue of Robin Hood firing an arrow outside it where we had our meal but no
more this may have been at the castle remains at Nottingham. After our meal we rejoined the bus and was taken to Sherwood Forest where we walked along the paths until we reached the oak tree known as The Major
Oak where legend says Robin Hood hid inside its trunk from the Sheriff of Nottingham and his men this was where we rejoined our bus for the trip home.
Another trip we made was to Chatsworth House in Derbyshire this is the home of the
Duke and Duchess of Devonshire's home but this is one of the memories where only parts of it is remembered like the fountains and the waterfall outside. Inside I remember either a large stone foot or toe reputed to
have belonged to a giant. The collection of guns and bayonets and been able to stand between two closed doors due to the thickness of the walls.
Drinking Up Time!
When the children of Winteringham attained the age of eleven they left the village
school and either went to the Secondary Modern School in Winterton like I did or the Grammar School in Scunthorpe. This meant that we had to travel by bus to our respective destinations. During my days at the
big school, as we called it, there were trips to various destinations but most were more than my family could afford. There were two trips I did go on that were under the supervision of Mr Harris who at the time was
our Form Master and lived in one of the new houses on Western Green in Winteringham and who would supervise the boys, along with a young lady who taught French to supervise the girls when the need arose.
The pupils who went on these trips joined the Youth Hostel Association as we were to stay at their establishments at night.
The bus picked us up from the School in Winterton and took us to a point on
the west bank of the Lady Bower Reservoir where we could see the dam I believe used by 617 squadron of Dam Busters fame to practice their attacks on before flying to Germany for the real thing.
With the bus
emptied of our party and all our equipment it headed back home leaving us stood at the side of the road with trees on one sise and water on the other. A short way back down the road was a junction with a small
road leading to a fence or gate and beyond it disappeared into the reservoir. Not far from this point we started to make our way up the path between the trees and on to the climb up Kinder Scout.
Our path
took us up to the Trig Point at the highest part of our climb. This was where the height above sea level was recorded, also on the top of it was a brass disk with the surrounding mountain and valleys etched
into it and a pointer to show which way was North. Even though it was a lovely fine sunny day at this height there was a breeze blowing and cloud or mist below us in some of the valleys. From there we made our way
over the plateau sometimes walking on stone others on peat where in places there were deep dike-like formations cut into it where water had run after heavy rain or snow fall. We walked on until we were above the
village of Edale where to get down to it we had to descend a very steep slope down to the valley floor and then into the village.
Once in the village we stopped at the shop that had a telephone box outside
where purchases were made and those who had telephones rang home, others posted hastily written post cards to let our parents know we were safe and well.
To reach the Youth Hostel at Edale we passed the
public house and made our way about a mile and a half down a track through a farm yard parallel to the rim of the plateau high above us to our left.
Upon reaching the Youth Hostel we were Welcomed by the
people in charge and shown our bunkhouse and washing facilities and our claims were staked on the bunks that were allotted to us. Our bunks then made up and back packs stored under them we returned to the main
buildings where we joined the other hostelers for our evening meal. When this was eaten volunteers from each group were allocated for the job of washing up, drying and putting away the pots.
This done the rest of the night was our own until lights out.
The night still being warm and sunny a group of us decided to make our way back down the track to the village where some of us older lads tried
to get a pint at the pub.
We nearly got away with it but as we stood outside with our pints talking a woman who I think was the landlady came storming out and gave us a right telling off and made us pour our drinks away. I had only been lucky enough to drink part of my glass. Only one lad got away with it as he was not as tall as the rest of us and been stood behind us managed to drink his pint before being spotted.
Being away from home and big lads and not known we thought that we would be able to
get away with it, but we had no such luck as someone was on the ball.
This adventure having been a failure we returned to the Youth Hostel and played
shove halfpenny and the other games that were there until bed time when we retired to respective rooms with the girls in one and the lads in the other with the teachers rooms dividing the two and were soon asleep.
Beanz Meanz Linez
The following morning some of the lads woke at daybreak with the sun starting to
shine into our room. After a couple of us had visited the toilet we returned to our bunks but did not fall back to sleep I noticed that the bottom of the bunk above me was plywood do I started to drum on it
with my fingers which woke the occupant sleeping in it but he was unable to work out where it was coming from or what it was. This started one or two of us chuckling to our selves. The best was yet to come as
in my bag I had a small tin of Baked Beans which I rolled across the floor to one of the lads at the other side of the room he in turn rolled it back to me the sound of the tin clicking as it rolled over the tiles
started us off again with the chuckles and giggles that resulted in Mr Harris coming in to see what was going on. There was nothing to see so he left and I rolled the tin again but he was still close enough to hear
and then see the tin moving across the floor, this in turn resulted in a telling off and the tin being confiscated and apologies being made later in the morning for waking almost every one up.
Breakfast over,
and it was time to wash up and I am sure that we were volunteered for the job due to the lark with the tin of beans earlier in the morning. Then we set off on the next leg of our journey that would take us from the
Youth Hostel back through Edale village to the summit of Mam Tor that was a hill fort at one point in time. To me the climb to the summit was endless just as you thought that the top had been reached the hill
started to rise once again. At one point we passed a farm in our climb and some of us were walking on the grass at the side of the path when the farmer started shouting and waving his arms at us to get off the grass
as it belonged to him and he was fed up with people not using the correct paths. During one of our breaks in the climb as we looked back over Edale the white smoke from the engines entering or leaving the railway
tunnel with their carriages in the distance could be seen.
On reaching our goal another break was taken and from this high vantage point we could see the road into Castleton and the cavern entrances that
were opened to the public and what looked to me like a number of burial mounds a short way from the road at its base which due to landslides is now blocked and beyond repair.
Rest break over it was only a
short walk to where the path started its descent down into the Hope Valley and the road into the village of Castleton. Our path joined the road not far from the entrance of the Treak Cliff Cavern which meant that we
missed the Blue John Cavern/Mine as it was behind us on the road that ran round the base of Mam Tor, so a visit was made to the caverns closest to us.
This was my second visit to them with different schools. Not every one in our party liked the idea of going underground. Those who wanted to do so, after storing our backpacks out of the way so they could not be tripped over, joined with other people that were waiting to visit the spectacular sights that would be seen once into the caverns. One of the strangest things to me once in the caverns was the lack of sounds that could be heard or not and how a person's voice sounded to be slightly muffled when they spoke. Back out in the light again and our back packs retrieved, we regrouped and made our way back down the path to the road and onto the village of Castleton, passing another set of caverns/mine. This one was called The Speedwell Mine, a set of flooded caverns and passages that the public have access to and travelled in boats to see what they contained. Our destination was the Youth Hostel where we would be staying overnight. The dormitory that the lads from our party were to stay in was quite large and we would be sharing it with other male hostelersN With our bags stowed away we we went to see what one of the converted building in the grounds held as it was for playing games or just sitting relaxing listening to music. From the door of this building was a view of the cliff face of Mam Tor which I was told a Victorian climber scaled to prove that it could be done but as far as I know he was the only one to do it and then people watching him thought he was mad.
Once again after our evening meal volunteers were required for the washing up and drying of the pots then our time was our own until lock up. With the fine weather some of us went for a walk around after
watching the performance of the Morris Men's dances that was just across from the Hostel. Walking down the path at the side of the Youth Hostel we came to the entrance to the Peak Cavern which at that time of day
was closed so we watched the fish swimming in the stream just over the wall at the side of the path before returning to the games room for the rest of the night. The morning saw breakfast followed by the washing up
and the start of a new day.
Cooling streams, invisible fish, and hot baths by the fire ...
I stated at the beginning of my memories of these trips that things at some points
became a happy muddle of places visited and this is one of those points.
A second visit was made to the area still using the Youth Hostels but with only a one nights stay at Castleton. We were bussed to
roughly the same place as in the last piece where we were dropped off but our path over Kinder Scout did not take us towards Edale, it went over the other side of the plateau and to Mam Tor where, after a rest, we
took the path that went down to Castleton. For part of the way it had a shallow stream running alongside it where some of us removed our boots and socks rolled up our trouser legs and spent some time walking in its
cool, clear water that helped cool our feet down. Feet dried and footwear replaced we all set off once again and shortly joined the road past the caverns.
This time those of us that wanted to were lucky and
were able to go down the Peak Cavern in the village. Part of the information about the Cavern was that at one time the large entrance held the houses of Castleton and the soot from the fires could still be seen on
the remaining part of the roof that was left as the cave entrance was twice maybe three times it's length years ago. The path that we entered the cavern on was to the right and on the left was the stream that must
have passed under the pathway to flow behind the wall we were looking over. Near to the entrance at the base of the left hand rock face is a small hole that our guide explained was thought to be connected to Peveril
Castle that stood above the village and that divers had been trying to find the point of connection.
The path inside the cavern, if my memory is correct, slopped downwards and we were soon below the entrance
level and the caverns had the stream flowing through them in which the guide explained that there were fish swimming, but they could not be seen as they had no colour due to being down in the caverns mostly with no
or very little lighting but with the aid of his torch their eyes and contents of their stomachs could be seen as they swam past or grouped together. I don't remember much about the caverns themselves but one
interesting fact we were told was that if a thunderstorm was to happen while we were underground I think he said within a forty mile radius the water would eventually pass through where we were standing and even if
the caverns did flood and we could not get out of the main exit there was a path that would bring us out into the minstrels gallery that was up towards the roof of the entrance outside.
The Youth Hostel where
we were to stay the night was only a few hundred yards away from the cavern and as we made our way there we passed a house that housed a small museum which was closed but would be open the following day. With a
mental note of the opening times stored we checked in for our evening meal and when over the volunteers for washing up were asked for, pots washed and stored away our time was our own until bed time. We had the use
of the outbuilding along with others staying overnight or we could walk around the village. Come bed time we heard that a lad from one of the other parties staying at the Hostel had been up at Peveril Castle and
fallen and hurt his back and was put to bed under supervision of the teachers through the night. Our teacher Mr Harris was one of the people who helped and as he would be getting up and checking the lad he borrowed
a torch that he knew I had in my back pack to enable him to pass through the dormitory without having to put the main lights on and off and disturb other's sleep. Morning soon arrived and we washed and went to
breakfast and when over the washing up and putting away of pots was done by volunteers from the various groups, with our bags packed ready to move on three or four of us asked if we could pay a visit to the museum
as there was time before we left.
When we got there it was still shut and as we stood there the lady who owned it came to the door and asked if we would mind waiting a few minutes and she would open up
for us. When we went in she apologised as she had overslept. The museum was a private house and her home, most of the upstairs contained the exhibits which were things her husband had made in miniature like the
Lords Prayer written on a match stick that required a large powerful magnifying glass to see it. To things in the eye of a needle. There were cases of butterflies of all shapes and sizes, moths and beetles from all
over the world, Zulu shields, spears and clubs to name just some of the items on show. Thanking the lady for her information about the items and showing us around we went back to join our party in time to move on. I
know that on leaving Castleton we walked down the road for a while then took to the pathways again where we crossed over a single track railway line and continued to leave the village behind us. I am sorry that I am
now into one of the bits of memory that sometimes get into a muddle as having been here previously both memories run into one. I am not to sure but think we made our way on foot to the village of Eyam, the village
that contracted the plague and sealed itself off, where we were picked up by the bus. And then went to the village of Hathersage were we visited the grave yard at the church to see the grave of Little John (of Robin
Hood fame).
As we travelled from there home some of us were feeling rather hungry so my back pack was raided and a loaf of bread, pack of butter and a largish block of cheese were produced and the French
teacher made cheese butties for those of us who wanted them.
Once home again it would have been a case of the clothes that were used in our trip put to wash then after an evening meal it was time to have a
bath. Our's was a tin bath that would be placed near to the kitchen fire and filled with hot water from the copper in the wash house by bucket as there was no bathroom in the house and only a cold water tap. With
the bath over mum or dad would empty it using the bucket again and when it was empty and dried out it would be hung back up in the wash house again. Clean clothes for the following morning along with anything that
was required for school would have been got ready before bed time.
Both of these trips to the Peak District were made in the same areas with the first being the longer of the two. They may have been hard
work with the climbing and walking we did over the time we were there but I would not have missed it for all the tea drunk in Winteringham! “Happy Times” .
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