Margrove Park East Cleveland in the 1930’s
Heartbreak Hill is located on Margrove Road between Boosbeck and Margrove Park. There is somewhere else I am about to mention, Dartmoor. Not Dartmoor in Devon but on the hills above Margrove Park. Both these areas play a very significant part in the history of village.
In the early 1930’s both these areas were uncultivated. A scheme was brought about to give unemployed miners and their families an alternative source of work and support. Both areas of land were worked collectively as seperate smallholdings.
It is said that sixty unemployed miners joined the scheme,each was to contribute at least 3 hours labour per day. The wives were organised to form a sewing and knitting workshop at ‘Rushbys Rooms’ an empty shop in Boosbeck.
Considerable co-ordination and co-operation was needed as these were not just allotments. Public generosity had to be sort as stock and equipment had to be bought.
English, German and Scandinavian students became involved in the land reclamation. Workcamps were established, providing free labour. The miners and the students joined in cultural activies. The students were accommodated in the pit yard at Margrove Park.
People organising these schemes had various reasons for their involvement ie general concern, political or religious.
If anyone has any further information or photgraphs we would be very grateful to receive them.
I obtained this information from a book called Heartbreak Hill by Malcolm Chase and Mark Whyman.
Written by jean.wallace
my dad lived in margrove park and attened the scool around 1940 i would be very pleased for any ifo
sorry my dads name is derek walker, his parents were Olive and John,he was born in 1934. He would have left school at about 14 yrs and worked in the co-op in skelton green. He was drafted into national service and returned home and married my mum Jean Jones and has lived in Loftus ever since. He is now 75 and was an avid pigeon fancier in the 1960’s onwards and was great friends with Brian Gray in the 60’s. My nephew found photo’s of him with his sister Marina but we (being old) cannot find them. He would dearly love copies of them. Thanks in anticipation, Margaret.