A recent story in her Karbon magazine about the history of Catchgate brought back fond memories for 89-year-old Winnie Thompson of her own life in neighbouring Dipton. She’s kindly agreed to share them with us. Over to you Winnie…
I was born in a place called Stony Heap, a tiny place made up of just three houses between Annfield Plain and Leadgate in County Durham.
I was a real country girl. As a child I was fascinated by the unusual names of little places around there, places like Happy Land and Hanging Stone.
I moved to Dipton when I married my husband Dennis and I fell in love with the village.
Dennis was a builder and was so good at making and fixing things – there was nothing he couldn’t turn his hand to. I once overheard a man in the village saying: “If Dennis Thompson can’t do it, it cannot be done!” That made me feel so proud. We had four children in six years: Stephen, Philip, Graham and Elizabeth.
When my daughter was two-years-old, a shop on the main road came up for sale and Dennis decided to buy it for his building business.
We ended up turning it into a hardware shop. My daughter grew up in that shop – she’d play for hours with a bit of putty! I built it up into a busy little business where people in the village knew they could find anything they might need that day. We started with nothing but slowly I built up our stock and by the end we sold everything from stockings to sweeping brushes. One Christmas Dennis even bought me a laundrette to install in the shop!
I started writing poetry when I joined the WI (Women’s Institute). I had poems published in their Home and Country magazine, in the village magazine and even in the local paper. On one occasion, a poem published by the WI (see opposite) about Dipton even helped to reunite a family. A lady from Cleveland read the poem and sent me a letter asking if I might know her long lost relatives – they turned out to be living next door to our shop!
When I reached the age of 61, I decided to retire. Dennis wasn’t one for messing about so when I told him I wanted to call it a day he said we’d just sell everything for half price and close that very weekend. But the next day he realised Sunderland were playing that Saturday – and nothing got in the way of his beloved football – so we’d have to wait a week!
The village has changed over the years, but for the better. When I moved here there were pit heaps spoiling the landscape but now it is lovely. There are trees, silver birch, flowering cherries and new benches overlooking our beautiful valley. I still love the gnarled old oak trees and lovely stone walls and our wild flower meadow.
I’ve never wanted to leave Dipton since I came here. I was pleased to move into my home in Karbon’s Delight Court where I can get a bit more help. You couldn’t find a better place to live.
Dipton
It’s a friendly little village and it stands upon a hill,
with a view across the valley down below.
And no-one wants to go away, and say they never will, for they’re quite content and never want to roam.
I wouldn’t say it’s bright, nor call it busy, with its pubs and clubs where life is rather slow.
And its churches and its chapels, with their jumble sales and raffles, and the village hall where all the old folk go.
But I know for sure I never want to leave here, even though sometimes I dread the winter snow.
Everybody knows each other, nothing’s ever too much bother, in that little place called Dipton, that’s my home.
1984, Winnie Thompson
A recent story in her Karbon magazine about the history of Catchgate brought back fond memories for 89-year-old Winnie Thompson of her own life in neighbouring Dipton. She’s kindly agreed to share them with us. Over to you Winnie…
I was born in a place called Stony Heap, a tiny place made up of just three houses between Annfield Plain and Leadgate in County Durham.
I was a real country girl. As a child I was fascinated by the unusual names of little places around there, places like Happy Land and Hanging Stone.
I moved to Dipton when I married my husband Dennis and I fell in love with the village.
Dennis was a builder and was so good at making and fixing things – there was nothing he couldn’t turn his hand to. I once overheard a man in the village saying: “If Dennis Thompson can’t do it, it cannot be done!” That made me feel so proud. We had four children in six years: Stephen, Philip, Graham and Elizabeth.
When my daughter was two-years-old, a shop on the main road came up for sale and Dennis decided to buy it for his building business.
We ended up turning it into a hardware shop. My daughter grew up in that shop – she’d play for hours with a bit of putty! I built it up into a busy little business where people in the village knew they could find anything they might need that day. We started with nothing but slowly I built up our stock and by the end we sold everything from stockings to sweeping brushes. One Christmas Dennis even bought me a laundrette to install in the shop!
I started writing poetry when I joined the WI (Women’s Institute). I had poems published in their Home and Country magazine, in the village magazine and even in the local paper. On one occasion, a poem published by the WI (see opposite) about Dipton even helped to reunite a family. A lady from Cleveland read the poem and sent me a letter asking if I might know her long lost relatives – they turned out to be living next door to our shop!
When I reached the age of 61, I decided to retire. Dennis wasn’t one for messing about so when I told him I wanted to call it a day he said we’d just sell everything for half price and close that very weekend. But the next day he realised Sunderland were playing that Saturday – and nothing got in the way of his beloved football – so we’d have to wait a week!
The village has changed over the years, but for the better. When I moved here there were pit heaps spoiling the landscape but now it is lovely. There are trees, silver birch, flowering cherries and new benches overlooking our beautiful valley. I still love the gnarled old oak trees and lovely stone walls and our wild flower meadow.
I’ve never wanted to leave Dipton since I came here. I was pleased to move into my home in Karbon’s Delight Court where I can get a bit more help. You couldn’t find a better place to live.
Dipton
It’s a friendly little village and it stands upon a hill,
with a view across the valley down below.
And no-one wants to go away, and say they never will, for they’re quite content and never want to roam.
I wouldn’t say it’s bright, nor call it busy, with its pubs and clubs where life is rather slow.
And its churches and its chapels, with their jumble sales and raffles, and the village hall where all the old folk go.
But I know for sure I never want to leave here, even though sometimes I dread the winter snow.
Everybody knows each other, nothing’s ever too much bother, in that little place called Dipton, that’s my home.
1984, Winnie Thompson
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