Graham Hammond was born in the neighbouring town of Cheadle on the 22nd of January 1938 and moved to Draycott as a small child. He is one of a large Hammond family which consists of two brothers and two sisters,all born in the parish. Dad and Mum are the late Bill Hammond and "Bessie", a still very active lady in her eighties who is well known throughout the parish for her community work as well as being a school governer and parish councillor.
Graham recalls his early school days at Draycott Junior Council School, (now Draycott Manor County Primary), where he began in 1943. He hastens to add that he had a premature attachment to the school, for very often he would "go missing" from his Uttoxeter Rd. home and could always be found on school premises, playing on the sports field,where he would be retrieved by an anxious mother. At this time he was around three years old and of course not of school age. Graham's early activities give a clue to his eventual love of sports for he was to go onto representing Staffordshire Schoolboys at cricket and played at the highest level in local junior football notably with one of the great teams of that 1950's/1960's era, Cheadle Town.
The introduction to full time education as a five year old in 1943 bought back lots of memories,the old school headmaster Mr Cope, affectionately known as "Johnny" and a teacher by the name of Miss Reilly who was nicknamed "Old Mother Reilly" a then famous and witty film character who adorned the silver screen.
The hostilities of world war two are remembered as Graham vividly recalls the air raid sirens and the school drill that ensued. Going into the air raid shelters is probably his best memory together with the droning noise of enemy aircraft of the Lufftwaffe as they made their way across the skies of North Staffordshire,either going to or returning from airaids and of course at that time the adjacent areas were seen as legitimate targets, notably the Rootes Factory in Blythe Bridge and Boltons at Froghall. To this day Graham questions the ability of one of those ground level shelters being able to sustain a hit and adds, that thankfully no bombs, be they stray or intended fell near to the school. On reflection one must agree with his assumption that a hit would have been catastrophic. The Air Raid Shelter is still standing today, a monument to that part of the twentieth century.
During the war years everything was a luxury,everyday food supplies were rationed but Christmas took on a special meaning for the children of Draycott. Stationed just up the road in Cresswell,where Rookery Crescent now stands, was the United States Army Base "Bolero Camp Cresswell" with a contingent of around 300 GIs. It was the US Army who played Santa Claus to the schoolchildren in those days when they visited the school and laid on the annual party. Of course the everyday items that the "Yanks" took forgranted were of course a luxury and Graham tells me that he can see the guys dressed up as Santa as though it was yesterday,without the "Yanks" there would have been no party and presents.
Coming out of school was a particular event for Graham and his friends as they cheered on the American troops as they drove through the village. The kids would call out,"Any Gum chum" and the Yanks would respond by throwing packets of chewing gum to the cheering schoolchildren. More about this subject can be found on the page WWII in the Parish.
Graham eventually moved to Cresswell and has lived in the same house for over 30 years during which time he and his wife Rose have bought up their family, two boys and two girls. For many years Graham played for Blythe Colours Cricket team and worked for that company until he retired recently. He still enjoys his sport,he supports the Blythe Cricket Club and is very proud of his grandson Daniel who it seems is a "Hot Property" in the football world. Daniel is 11-years old and already several big clubs have noted his potential,he will do no better than be advised by his sporting grandfather and all the family hope he proceeds to one of the school's of excellence. Being an active father and grandfather gives Graham lots of pleasure, but apart from sport there is an artistic side to the family as Graham proudly conveys the achievements of his youngest son Anthony who is a very accomplished artist and has a First Class Honours Degree in Applied Art,as well as being a musician.
Over the years Graham has treasured his childhood memories, so much so that he kindly agreed to loan out his last school report from Draycott School in 1949. As one can see he reached good academic standards,passed the eleven plus entry into grammar school and went onto further his education at Thomas Allenyes Grammar School,Uttoxeter. It was there that his sporting ability was noticed and he was soon to be selected to play for the Staffordshire Schoolboys Cricket Team.
Graham's life has revolved around his family and his love of sport and the editor passes on his sincere thanks to Graham for participating in this "Local Characters" section and sharing some of his memories.
As told to Barry Phillips October 2000.
Mary Pointon, 1999.
Mary Pointon, (or "Molly" as she is known by her friends), moved to Draycott in June 1940 from Cheadle her home town, to a house named "Horfield" on Cresswell Lane. She had lived in Cheadle all her life previously, having been brought up by her grandparents and a maiden aunt, but they both died and she felt it was time to move away. The war was raging and she married a young Harold Pointon hastily in Draycott church before he was called up. I asked why she married at Draycott, Cheadle being her home town, but she explained that since she had recently buried two close relatives in Cheadle she wanted a fresh start. She continued to live in Draycott, at "Horfield" until 1962, barring a period of three years, (1942-5), when she moved to a small village near Grantham in Lincolnshire to be near to Harold at the army base. Their house was at first rented, though after demobbing, they bought it through a special County Council loan for ex-soldiers with 2% interest. In 1962, they moved to a house designed by Mr Pointon in Caverswall Road where Mrs Pointon still lives today, (Easter 1999).
Asked about her time in Draycott, she is sorry to say that it was not particuarly happy:-
"I was a young mother, on my own during the war with a baby to bring up・there was no sense of community really, the village was very divided and there were no ties which held the village together, this was the problem."
When I asked what organisations there were, she went into more detail
"There were pubs, but in those days ladies or girls did not go into pubs, certainly unaccompanied. What's more, there was no food served then at any of the three pubs in the village, the Draycott Arms, the Plough and the Isaak Walton. The Isaak Walton in particuarly rough, very much spit and sawdust, a young lady would never venture in there! There was also the Hunter nearby, though it had a different name then, I forget what it was."
I then asked, apart from the pubs, what other organisations or meeting places were there, the church for example?
"The church was fairly strong, and I was a regular member of the congregation. However the Rector was very poor and never showed any interest. The Catholic church was also strong, though the two were very separate and the Church of England church certainly had an isolationist attitude. Apart from the churches though there was little else, no WI, no playgroup, though maybe there was a Mother's Union, I'm not sure. The nearest Scouts group was in Blythe Bridge, there was basically nothing to bring people together. There was however the Draycott Tennis Club, which is now the Sports Centre, though in those days it was very different from today. There was one grass court, one red gra court and a little shed, that's all! It was run my a Norman Wildblood who was actually lame and his wife Dorothy. They lived at "Draycott Lodge" and had four children. There was also a family named Pennington involved and Kath Bloor, now Amison. As well as the Tennis, there was also the Blythe Colours Cricket Club and some horse racing in Totmonslow in which the Vavasour's were involved."
We then went on to talk about transport in the village, and how it fares in comparison with 1999.
"One thing that wa better then was public transport, but I suppose it had to be since only about half the people had cars. We bought our first car, a Standard after Harold was demobbed・ The buses were run by PET, who later became PMT and Wilshaw's. They ran every half an hour on market days; Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, except during the war. The route was Longton to Uttoxter with a connection to Cheadle at Tean. There were also the railways then of course, the trains between Cresswell and Cheadle were pretty regular. Once some friends of ours from Manchester, Harry and Elsie Lyons, came to visit and they alighted at Cresswell. I always remember Harry saying how funny it was since the guard stood and waited for him to give him the ticket before the train could leave, and when the train left, they were isolated on this platform with just a small hut, and nothing else, and how this reminded him of the famous Will Hay film, "The Ghost Train"! Another thing that was different then was that the roads weren't gritted and through the harsh winters the buses couldn't get up the bank!"
We then carried on to talk about other amenities in the village such as shops:
"In those days there were two village shops in Draycott, the Post Office and Lowe's shop. Lowe's shop was situated in what is now a bungalow along Uttoxeter Road, near to the school. I remember George Low ran it, assisted by his sister-in-law. The Post Office I always found amusing since it had a large notice clearly stating 'NO CIGARETTES'!! It did sell most other household items though, such as paraffin and stamps too of course. There was also a chip shop in the building which later became Percy's shop, and the Road House Cafe [now 'Chandni Cottage'], was a garage."
Our next topic of discussion was the effects of the war upon village life in Draycott.
"Of course the war had agreat effect on the as was the case everywhere really. Like me for example, my husband was called up, and for some time we went to live in Lincolnshire because of this. I also went to stay in Manchester for some time whilst Lee [her first son], was being born. However, Draycott wasn't effected as much as most places. Many people talk about air raids, but there was non here really, not like in Manchester. A bomb did fall on Cresswell once I think, though no one was hurt. There was an American army camp in Cresswell where Rookery Crescent now stands. It was only a small barracks with wooden huts though. After the war, squatters moved in and that is why they built the council houses there, my husband was an architect and he actually designed them. There may have been evacuees in the village during the war, I can't remember."
Our next subject was educational provision in the village, another area where Mrs Pointon was less than impressed!
"The schools in the whole area were not too good really, and perhaps that is the reason why there were few professional people about? The village school existed, though once children finished that the prospects weren't so good. Most went to the Marsh School where the headmaster had the boys doing his gardening and the girls doing the laundry. There was also Uttoxeter Grammar school, and later they built Cheadle Grammar and Blythe Bridge Secondary Modern, which is now the High School. We sent our boys to St. Joseph's however, since we wanted to make sure they got a good education and certainly, with Lee, the eldest, the only alternative was the Marsh School."
We then moved onto our final topic, employment in the village:
"As I said before, in Draycott there were very few professional people really, except perhaps for those whom I mentioned early, who were members of the Tennis Club. My husband however, was an architect for Cheadle Rural District Council and I worked there also, that's how we met, though you must remember that we were Cheadle people. Most people in Draycott worked in agriculture, though a good number were also employed at the Colour Works."
This interview was undertaken by Matt Pointon, in Molly's house in Blythe Bridge at Eastertime, 1999. He would like to thank Mrs Pointon for her help and assistance.
The life of Joe Thorley...
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