THIS week, we've pulled the Hamsterley picture packet out of The Northern Echo's photo archive. It is a surprisingly plump packet, which includes photographs of the picturesque County Durham village and the large forest – the largest forest entirely in England – which bears its name.
EMERGENCY SUPPLIES: "People cannot wash, toilets are unflushed and a slaughterhouse floor remains clotted with blood and gore because there has been no running water in a Weardale village for two days," reported The Northern Echo on June 13, 1969. The arrival of this bowser in Hamsterley broke the drought while engineers fixed the pipe problem
The name of Hamsterley has nothing to do with hamsters. Instead, it has everything to do with hamstras. A hamstra was the old English name for a corn weevil, which is a beetle that chomps its way through crops and plants. The syllable "ley" on a place name usually indicates a clearing in a wood, so this Weardale village is the clearing where the hamstra lives.
TOP END: A 1960s view of Hamsterley, including the working men's club on the right
Despite the hamstras at Hamsterley, in the 1730s the village became famed as the first place in County Durham to grow potatoes. Several families relied upon the humble spud as their main source of income.
Another major landmark in the area's history came in 1927 when the Forestry Commission, set up after the First World War to tackle the timber shortage that had hampered the war effort, bought 4,000 acres of woodland for £15,000.
There is an excellent and detailed Hamsterley history on the village website: hamsterleyvillage.com. If you have any information about today’s pictures, or they trigger any memories, please let us know.
MEN OF ACTION: "An area of Hamsterley Forest containing some of the most picturesque woodland scenery in County Durham is to be thrown open to the public in ten days' time," reported the Echo on June 4, 1969. It was so scenic that the men throwing the woodland open could not tear their eyes away from it and so all have their backs to the camera. The opening was to celebrate the Forestry Commission's 50th anniversary
Another 1960s view of the centre of Hamsterley from The Northern Echo's photo archive
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