ShaunL

@David Cope, I'm sure you remember the gym at Hartford. It's changed a bit !

..while I'm here I should mention, I lost Mam to dementia in May (she was 96 and born in December '25 so in terms of logjevity actually just outlived the Queen by a couple of months). Anyway, my brother and I had scattered Dad's ashes in the grounds at Hartford 25 years ago so my wife, Ruth and I took Mam there after the funeral. Of course it's now very upmarket apartments and private grounds but I was lucky enough to find a lady sitting with her friends drinking champagne outside the main hall who turned out to be the property manager. I told her my story and she gave us the run of the grounds so I was able to take Mam down the grand steps in front of the hall down to the riverside walk where I know Mam and Dad did their courting and scattered her ashes there. It was a really nice afternoon.

Hi @David Cope, thanks for remembering. Yes, that would have been Dad's Beetle. He had a string of crappy second hand cars, 2 Beetles, a Morris 1000 and a Triumph Herald to name but a few. He taught me to drive in one of them though not sure his methods would be accepted today..a 17 year old driving him home from Backworth golf club after a few pints !

Thanks @Alan Edgar (Eggy1948) . I think his activity suggests he posted on 3rd December 2021. It was nice to hear that someone remembered Dad at Hartford. Particularly his comment.. ..sounds exactly like him 🤣

Hello Jammy, I've never been a Bedlington resident and just came across your site by accident today. I am however, Jimmy Luke's son. My Dad was indeed an ex-military PT instructor who studied to become a physio after the war. Dad would sometimes take me to work with him at Hartford Hall during school holidays (in the early 70's). I'd play badminton and volleyball with the patients in the gym. Dad also met my Mam (Lorna Shiel at the time) at Hartford. She was working at Tynedale Poultry Farm just across the road in the late 50's. Dad wangled it so that we could visit the grounds in the summer on a Sunday when there was no staff there. Me and my cousins would have the whole grounds to ourselves, it was like a little paradise to us compared to our little council house in Benton. I learned to play tennis on the gravel court, picnic by the bowling green, walks down to the river. Happy, happy days. Here's a pic of Mam and Dad, at the hatchery I think. Dad in his work track suit.. and I found this old newspaper clipping of Mam at the hatchery..