Mary Knox in Ushaw Moor 1924-1926

Here is another little gem from the internet. It relates to an extract from the memoirs of Mary Knox nee Hoban and you can access the full memoir by putting - Mary Knox nee Hoban Ushaw Moor - into google [UK version]. It's currently second on the google page.

Check OUT Mary's memoirs <<<HERE>>>

1924 - 26 was a time of depression, in fact the miners strike was the summer I came home to a time of great want. It was a wonderful summer & the young miners who had spent most of their lives in the bowels of the earth, took tents & crowded to the beaches. They lived on chips & corned beef pies - then finally returned to conditions worse than when the strike began. When I finished at college I was lucky to get a job at Ushaw Moor, many didn't get work. I worked that last week in August & got £3, the first money in the house for mother, other than that father had earned helping farmers. My brother dug for coal in the old heaps beside the pit & sold it to help. The live stock we had and the gardens helped to feed the bairns & grandma was always there with a helping hand. Aunt Lizzie was teaching, they were in the money. People had much more respect for teachers in those days.

WB