Echo Memories: How town telescope came to be eclipsed

THE transit of Venus across the face of the Sun last week went almost unobserved in the Darlington district, and not just because a layer of cloud obscured the view.

It was mainly because a decade ago a mysterious fire melted the Darlington Telescope in its observatory, and ever since there has been no public way of scanning the skies.

The story of the telescope begins in 1890, when the vicar of Eryholme, the Reverend Walter Stewart, had it installed in his home, Ellcott House, in Hurworth.

It was "a five-inch equatorially-mounted refractor" built by T Cooke and Sons of York and London.

It cost £374, and was regarded by one and all as a very fine instrument - not surprising, really, as £374 back then is approaching £20,000 today.

In 1904, Mr Stewart, who was born in Hurworth, was offered a new living in Longley, Gloucestershire. Because Longley is a long way, the telescope had to remain, and so Mr Stewart offered it to Darlington council for about £130.

It seemed natural to place the telescope at the new technical college in Northgate, built in 1896, but the college was still £2,163 in debt and the councillors were in no mood to increase its overdraft for the sake of a telescope.

At the last minute, 29 of the town's leading citizens emptied out their pockets and scraped together enough money to prevent the telescope being sent to the saleroom.

Among the list of benefactors are the Backhouses and Peases, plus names like Barron, CoxWalker, Dale, Harbottle, Lucas, Mounsey, Starmer and ED Walker.

They formally presented it to the town on November 8, 1904, and the following year it was set up in the college's back yard.

But its view of the skies was not good and it was planned to move it to the college roof for "an uninterrupted view of the heavens".

But an astronomical advisor reported: "If the telescope is to be regarded as a pastime then that position would be satisfactory enough, but if a scientific use is to be made of the instrument the position is absolutely unsuitable. The ordinary tram and other forms of traffic set up a great deal of vibration."

North Lodge Park, next to the college, was dismissed as a site because town centre smoke would have obscured the heavens, so a site in South Park, next to the bowling green, was chosen.

The telescope was installed in December 1906 in its wooden, revolving observatory. Students of the skies had to pay 6d each, and inform the park superintendent if they intended to arrive after the park gates were locked for the night.

In February 1908, Professor Dixon, one of the telescope's supervisors, even started an astronomy class at the technical college to make use of the instrument.

But in October 1910, the class was discontinued because it had no students.

In 1912, it was reported that "very little use is being made of the telescope", and by 1919 there was even less.

In January 1931, the Darlington and Stockton Times reported: "The telescope is seldom used now; in fact very few people know of its existence."

At the request of Darlington Grammar School, which is now the Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, the telescope was removed to playing fields off Abbey Road.

There, its 101/2ft high observatory was not popular with residents of Westbourne Grove.

In February 1951, the observatory was broken into, but police recovered the stolen equipment a couple of months later.

In 1979, Barry Hetherington, then chairman of the Cleveland and Darlington Astronomical Society, reported that the telescope needed a major overhaul.

In 1992, there was a fire in the wooden observatory and a lump of melted metal was sold as scrap. Six months later, someone seems to have realised that this lump was in fact the remains of the Darlington Telescope.

Later that year, it was reported that the base, the internal workings and the observatory wheels had survived the blaze and were being kept in a metal container off Abbey Road.

There was some vague talk about them one day being included in a new, £50,000 telescope, but Echo Memories' inquiries last week suggest that that idea had been quietly eclipsed.

Debating the future of park's pets' corner

THE aviaries of South Park are also historic.

The first was on the site of the tea pavilion, and its first occupants were a pair of African kites donated to the town in 1902.

Two years later, three monkeys were donated and kept in a greenhouse with 14 canaries.

The menagerie moved when the tea pavilion was built, and the current aviaries were opened in February 1936.

There is much debate about the future of the aviaries. The modern world increasingly views such cages as not kind on the occupants, and not the sort of thing a municipal park should encourage.

Yet most of the creatures inside were bred for captivity, and for generations of Darlington children, one of the highlights of a visit to the park has been seeing the birds and sticking a carrot - or a finger - through the wire for a rabbit to nibble.

Green vision that came to nought

BEFORE leaving the terrace in South Park, mention should be made of the 18hole putting green that was opened beside the bowling green on September 5, 1923, by the Mayor Councillor R Nichol.

"It will be a source not only of pleasure but also of revenue, " he said.

"I hope that before long there will be greens in other parts of town."

Mr Nichol then shot 54 on the first round, which comfortably put him ahead of his accompanying councillor who managed a 92.

Unfortunately Mr Nichol's vision of other greens appears not to have come to fruition. Even the South Park green is no more.

IT is local studies month, and today, Darlington's Local Studies Centre is holding an open afternoon from 2pm to 5pm. The theme is the Second World War, and ration books, air raid shelter maps and recipes for making delicacies out of dried egg will be on display. Visitors will also be able to find out about their ancestors' military records using resources in the library and on the Internet. There will also be the chance to record personal Second World War experiences for posterity. Plus refreshments - all too good to miss.

Tea times in park recalled

AMID much ceremony and scoffing of sandwiches, the rustic tea pavilion in Darlington's South Park was opened on Thursday, June 4, 1908.

"It is, of course, in close proximity to the bowling green and lawn tennis courts and is most pleasantly situated, " said The Northern Echo.

It was designed by borough surveyor George Winter and cost £300 to build.

Most of the woodwork was done by a Leeds firm, Messrs G Shutt and Co. If you look very carefully, on the righthand side near the rear, you will see they have used their logs to form the Darlington coat of arms.

It was opened by the mayoress, Mrs CW Starmer, but as she was a female she was neither allowed a name of her own nor to make a public speech.

Her husband, the mayor, Councillor Charles Starmer, spoke for her, and said what a great pleasure it had been for her to open "a very handsome structure which will make the park more beautiful".

This was Mr Starmer's first spell as mayor. He was the general manager of The Northern Echo - in fact, a few years earlier he had saved the paper from going out of business - and during his 30 years on the council he worked very hard to keep Darlington out of economic depression.

After the speech, the pavilion proprietress, Mrs Lungley Betts, made tea for everyone.

Darlington Borough Council is spending nearly £4m of National Lottery money restoring South Park and there has been great debate about what should happen to the pavilion.

It is in a poor state, but Echo Memories understands that a decision will be taken within the next few days to fully restore it.

MICHAEL Hoare, of Aycliffe Village, has fond memories of the pavilion because his mother, Millie, worked there when he was a child in the 1940s and 1950s. The cafe was run by Frank Etherington, whom she married. He had a bakery on the corner of Commercial Street and Kendrew Street and sent comestibles to the park in Will Hirstwood's taxi - or even his funeral cortege cars.

"I remember the band playing on a Sunday in South Park, and I would go round the bench seats selling crisps from a tray round my neck.

"The crisps came in a square tin box of 20 packets and sold for 3d a packet, " said Mr Hoare. He thinks that they were Kitchen's Crisps, made in Darlington.

"You only had plain in those days."

One of the summer specialities was the "iced drink" which consisted of a glass of lemonade with a scoop of ice cream, topped by a wafer.

Mr Etherington was succeeded in the cafe by De Luca's, whose ice cream stall beneath the town clock is fondly remembered.

If you have any information or memories about any of the topics mentioned on this page - from Ellcott House to disappeared telescopes, or ice creams in the park - please write to: Echo Memories, The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington, DL1 1NF, e-mail chris. lloyd@nne. co. uk or telephone (01325) 505062.