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Memories of Winteringham - by Stanley Routh
by kind permission of his daughter - Mrs Margaret Schofield
Kindly copied from the original by Judith Chant
For the Routh Genealogy page with more photographs, please
click here
For Hilda Kell (nee Routh) memories of Winteringham plus further photos, please click here
The Routh family to which I belonged were all born at Havelock Place, Low Burgage, Winteringham. The first child
of Mabel and Ernest Routh died prematurely. Seven children were subsequently born in the following order; Elsie,
Nellie, John Spouncer, Norman, Hilda, Stanley and Arthur. My mother died in 1917 within the year following Arthur's birth.
After this event the children were gradually scattered among Dad's sisters. The partial exception was that my
eldest brother had already gone to the care of Grandma and Grandpa Routh at South View, Marsh Lane, and I
followed shortly behind him. The house stood in three acres with half of it orchard, and had several outbuildings; a splendid place for two boys to grow up in.
Grandad Routh went into partnership with a Lincolnshire boat-builder, and the business was established on the
south side of the Humber in Winteringham Haven. My Grandfather always did the cabinet work in the building
process, and I well remember the launching of the last boat of some size, which was built for a firm in Holland. It
was a great village event. The story of the partnership was told some years ago and printed locally. Routh and
Waddingham had a good write up. I think it was an attempt to give a history of industry in the Humber region.
Looking back I now realise how privileged we were to be brought up in Winteringham. The name of the village is
derived from its history. Ermine Street ends near the village and can still be traced on its direct route from Lincoln.
As a child I remember seeing part of the Roman road which was excavated and left exposed for a while, and later covered with soil. It is now just a part of an agricultural field.
The North Lindsey Light Railway ran from Lincoln through to the smelting area of Scunthorpe. The railway came
through Winteringham, turned sharply to the west along the river, and finished in the hamlet of Whitton. We had
no direct road to this hamlet, only a footpath across the fields; an interesting area for boys to explore. The fields
and riverside were full of flora and fauna, a continuing revelation of the wonders of nature. We were instructed about this at home, and day and Sunday School.
The tidal river was an important factor. It ruled our lives in many ways. Every house had some record of high and
low tides always printed with the locally produced calendar for the year. The ferry from Winteringham to Hull was
ruled by this. It was basically the market boat and powered by sail. The shifting sand-banks also affected the times of sailing, especially during the winter.
High tide brought water into the Haven and easy access to the dock-side for bathing. This was our swimming-pool. but very dangerous for beginners.
I well remember my first day at school. The beginners’ class was separated from the rest of the school; the
teacher was called Miss Chipperfield. She was a motherly type and did her best to make the beginners settle
down quickly. Nevertheless it was traumatic in some ways. The class was large, and coming from Marsh Lane, I
knew only a few of the children. The other boys in my family were in the large class, Hilda was in Hull, and Elsie
must have left for her training as a nurse in Sheffield. Nellie had gone for some kind of preliminary training for
teaching. She later had a few weeks back in the school as a pupil teacher. That must have been very difficult for her.
The school had been an Anglican school and after it had changed to a council school the Rector still came in
twice a week to teach R.E. and Anglican Prayer Book; also to prepare for confirmation. Later this was dropped.
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Stanley Routh from his school photograph.
For the whole school photo, click here.
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