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Being only a young school lad at the time my first real view of the house was when
we pulled up outside and Dad let me out as the only other view I had was as described - houses and different coloured buildings after they had been passed looking south up the road.
When we entered the house Dad started to light fires in all the rooms to help take some of the chill out of the rooms as we were moving in shortly after. I had great fun looking around the different rooms and gardens then further down the property to the orchard through the long grasses that were the same height as me or taller. After a while we had a hot drink and a sandwich during which time the weather changed and there was a storm. By the time we were ready to leave for Bigby where we lived the rain had stopped and the sun had started to shine again, with that and the fresh smell that comes after a good downpour we set off. Once again my view was looking where we had been from the back of the Land Rover. This time it was looking Northward towards Yorkshire.
The view that I could see was of the River Humber that looked like a silver thread
with the dark storm clouds still overhead and the sun shining down lighting it up along with the different colours that now stood out more till we turned into High Burgage and then left the village behind us.
Skinny-Dipping ...
I would think that at one time or another most of us has seen or heard something
that has brought back memories. These may have been sad or happy. One of mine was prompted by a contributor to the Winteringham Website who told of her days out and about in the village.
The day that I
recall was warm and sunny and a number of us were on the old Light Railway track bed heading towards the village of West Halton from what would have been the crossing on Marsh Lane.
The further we went the warmer we got but as we came to roughly where the track curved round the bottom of the hill and headed towards West Halton and Scunthorpe we stopped off at a point on the drain that had started off way back towards Scunthorpe and passed behind the station at Winterton and Thealby and followed the railway most of its way to the haven at Winteringham and into the River Humber.
The local name for the drain at this part was `New Clew` of which I am not too sure
of the spelling.
The bottom of it was clean sand and the water was clear enough to let you see the bottom. A short way from where we were, a ditch that was maybe two feet wide and not very deep had very clear water running in it. This looked to run from the direction of the West Halton to Whitton road that was to the west of us this may have helped to make the conditions at `New Clew'.
When we arrived there we all stripped off and to use a polite phrase went `Skinny Dipping` - though we had a more crude name for it. After quite a long time swimming and having fun one of the local
farmers appeared as from nowhere and gave us a right telling off, I am sorry to say that I am unable to recall what it was for - maybe it was because we were all naked or that the drain ran through his land and we
should not have been there. The only other thing that I can think of was that we were some way from the village and if any thing had happened to us it was a long way back to get help but in those days as kids
growing up we may have not seen danger in what we were doing. After dressing we headed back towards Winteringham having had an afternoon of fun!
On the Roads ... and Not!
Shortly after our move to Winteringham we found out that the village had its own
road sweeper whose name was Mr George Clayton.
The home of this gentleman was in one of the old Alms Houses at the junction of Winterton Road and Cliff Road that I believe was called Earlsgate at one time ran into High Burgage.
Mr Clayton could be seen working around the village no matter what the weather on work days.
I remember one day as he worked near to the Station Masters House it started to spit with rain and just as suddenly
it turned into a full blown thunderstorm.
Mum was out in seconds and asking Mr Clayton if he would like to come in and take shelter in our house until the storm had passed and also offered him a mug of tea to help warm him up.
I remember Mr Clayton
saying to Mum that he would like the mug of tea but if she did not mind he would stand under the porch way over the front door and drink it so that if his boss was to turn up and see him, it would look like he was
taking shelter from the storm, and that he would still be classed as been at work.
I wonder how many miles Mr Clayton must have walked with his wheelbarrow and tools during his years as village road sweeper?
Resurfacing the village roads saw the tar tanker with its spreader on the back arrive early in the morning and park just down from our house and wait for the tar to get hot. During this time other
workmen were up and down the roads covering up the drains with cardboard and sand to stop the tar going down them. One of the early memories of this taking place involved the use of a steam roller that was
powered by steam to propel it.
The years passed and changes were noted in the type of machinery used and the materials that was used to repair the road surfaces. The tar got thinner much like water
and the topping did not last long.
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