Read a bit. Had walk with Charlie.
Monthly Archives: May 2014
20 May 1914; Wednesday
Busy at work all day. Played a bit at night and read a bit. Went to the meeting. Joe Speed leading. Mr Lawson and Mr Mullens spoke. I played. Dick sang a solo.
19 May 1914; Tuesday
Got up about 7.30. Drilled a bit. Went down to practice at night. Discussed trip again and decided to go to Hexham. Walked round with Charlie and couldn’t find any pills†.
Saw cabman strike a woman beside Library stand.
18 May 1914; Monday
At work as usual. Busy all day. Finished about 6 o’clock. Played a bit and had walk with Charlie. Filled in form for the piano lesson course under Becker. Beautiful day. Very warm.
17 May 1914; Sunday
Father, Gertie, mother and I troubled with diarrhoea, Father in bed all day. I stayed in in the morning and washed my head. Used some hair tonic too. Went out as usual in the afternoon and at night. Fine day. Talked with Charlie about choir trip. Held meeting at night and decided to go to Durham instead of Richmond. Read a bit of Anna Karenina.
16 May 1914; Saturday
Got up at 6 o’clock and went down to Roker on bicycles with Alf. Beautiful day. Finished about 2 o’clock. Played the piano a bit. Had short walk with Father†. Went down to Roker after tea with Joe.
15 May 1914; Friday
Got up at 6 o’clock. Went with George Crawford to the Tunstall Hill<s>1 first thing and took some photos. Had walk at night. Got to know of disaster to aeroplanes which had passed over here2. Some of them wrecked at Northallerton and 2 men killed, Lieutenant Empson and Private Cudmore3 4 5.
Tunstall Hills is an area of open space in Sunderland, now both a Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest both for its geological and biological importance. The area consists of Green Hill and Rocky Hill and surrounding land. Locally these two hills have been also known as the Maidens Paps because of their shape. See also Sunderland map. ↩
Lieutenant Empson and Private Cudmore: these were Army ranks, not RAF, because the Royal Flying Corps remained a corps within the Army until it was transformed into the RAF in 1918. ↩
This page at the History Network appears to refer to the same incident, and names the dead men as Lieut. John Empson of the 4th Royal Fusiliers and Air-Mechanic George Cudmore of No. 2 Squadron Military Wing R.F.C. ↩
See also John Empson and George Cudmore, both at Grace’s Guide. ↩
14 May 1914; Thursday
Got up about 8 o’clock. Busy all day. Finished rather late. Saw Army Aeroplanes pass over town from Blyth to West Hartlepool. We saw 7 of them. There were 10 altogether. Had walk round new park1 with Charlie at night. Fine night.
“new park”: presumably the Barnes Park, from the new park’s proximity to Durham Road: see 5 December 1914 entry. Mentioned by name on 13 June 1915. ↩
13 May 1914; Wednesday
Got up about 7.30. Busy all day. George went away soon. A bit off form at night. Walked along to mill with Father and called in office to see if I had posted London Office letter. Went up to Trimdon Street1 last thing and called at the house of Burrells and engaged house at Bowes for our holidays. Had some trouble to find the place.
Trimdon Street, just S. of the northerly loop in the river Wear between Deptford and Ayres’ Quay, was, incidentally, where the Fenwicks lived – Jessie Thatcher/Linfoot’s cousins who went to California about 1912. ↩
12 May 1914; Tuesday
Got up about 7.30. Talked about taking a cottage for our holidays. Directors’ meeting. Edward and I had to go to the Board room to witness some documents. Went down to practice with Charlie. Played a bit and sang a bit. Decided that the choir trip would go to Richmond.