Ushaw Moor Memories (Backup)

Memories of Ushaw Moor and Deerness Valley

Tuesday, 2 April 2013

Drama At The Nicky Nack

Back in 1894 it was not so easy to get around. Scouring the old papers I found that In late April of that year Sleetburn Cricket Club used a dog cart to fulfill a fixture at Spennymoor. On the return journey it suffered a most unfortunate accident  - being in collision with a horse drawn omnibus at Croxdale.  The horse was injured and soon died. John Maddox of Sleetburn, the owner of the dog cart, sustained serious injuries. He received treatment at the nearby Nicky Nack Bridge Hotel.

I believe that the Nicky Nack is now called the Daleside Arms but I stand to be corrected. 

WB

10 comments:

  1. You are correct, it is the dale side arms

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  2. Yes, it is called The Daleside Arms, a boring meaningless name unlike the wonderful silliness of the Nicky-Nack. I remember reading a book of Durham ghost stories years ago, the Nicky-Nack being one of the tales. Sadly, I can't remember the details.

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  3. There is a restaurant or cafe in church st Durham called the nicky nack cafe.
    But heres some interesting history from Durham records about the inne.
    Scroll down past -History of seaham colliery and on to - History Of New Seaham and its in the 4th paragraph down.
    I enjoyed the whole read of that history lesson.

    http://www.durhamrecordsonline.com/literature/new_seaham.php

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  4. Just a little detail about the Nicky-Nack. It was once the home of Sue Sweeney who is a great comediene and also a presenter on Radio Newcastle. I hope comediene is spelt correctly.

    Brian Mc.

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  5. Sorry Brian but it is comedienne and spelled but then I cannot spell pneumon pneunan pneumin oh never mind Regards Frank Clarke

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  6. Hi Brian, don't know why you just didn't do what Frank did and look it up on dic.com. Funny thing spelling and not one of my strong points. I always put a 'd' in colledge, I reckon as there is a 'd' in ledge, a 'd' in wedge and a 'd' in hedge then there should be one in college. Some words are spelled slightly differently in certain parts of the country, I remember an uncle of mine after moving away from the coast telling one of his mates there was no 'f' in fish in Craghead

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  7. A dogcart is a light horse-drawn carriage which leaves me wondering was it over-laden with cricketers on the return to Sleetburn - could this have contributed towards the accident. Might have to come out of retirement to sort this one out

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  8. Hi Peter. The dogcart was reported to have had six or seven occupants. The shaft of the dog cart entered the chest of the unfortunate horse. Good luck to you in your efforts but the case is so cold now - with or without ice cubes.

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  9. Peter Clarke coming out of retirement good Lord will someone rub some dubbin into Soccers boots regards Frank Clarke

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  10. I was interested in this post because the John Maddox mentioned would be the brother of my great grandfather, Robert Maddox. John was born in 1860, he was a miner and lived in Unthank Terrace. I am new to the Ushaw Moor memories website. I have recently discovered it and think it's great. I was born in East Street, Broompark, but only lived there for the first 4 years of my life. My dad, Ben Hardman was a miner and we moved to Stoke on Trent in 1954 as he was offered a job and a new house by the National Coal Board. I would love to hear from any Maddox or Hardman families that still live in the area

    Christine Lawton

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