Kehilat Middlesbrough Newsletter No 6 April 2000 page 3
One of my most abiding memories of my childhood in M’bro is the matza ramble organised for the children in 1954. I was around eleven at the time and my brother Stuart around nine. The route was along the North Yorkshire moors near Roseberry Topping, above Great Ayton and Stokesley.
Inevitably, the younger children could not keep up and, at some time during the walk, smaller groups formed, with the slower ones getting left behind. I was in a group with my brother Stuart (my brother Geoffrey, who was about fourteen, had elected to stay at home - wisely, as it turned out), Pamela Cohen, one of my best friends and Bernard Vyner. Somehow, we got separated from the others and totally lost, without any map or directions.
It started to get dark and we were frightened. We did not have a clue where we were. We plunged along in the gathering dark and cold. It was March/April time and there were still snow patches on the moors. The ground became very boggy and we were sinking into the mud with each footstep. We came upon a sign that we could just make out. It read "Beware of snakes". What we didn’t know was that there were a number of deep potholes in that part of the moors and we could easily have fallen down one of them. But we didn’t, so some guardian angel must have been watching over us.
Suddenly, we saw, far below us in the distance, a light moving about in the darkness—it was completely dark by this time. We started to yell at the top of our voices and began clambering down the slope towards the light, on our feet and on our backsides, not caring how, as long as we reached the light. At the bottom of the hill, we came to a fence, which was obviously the edge of the property belonging to "the light". We climbed over and jumped down into a ploughed field on the other side. I lost a shoe but didn’t care and splodged on towards salvation.
We were on a farm belonging to a couple called Winsome and Bill, on the edge of lngleby Greenhow, not far from Great Ayton. We were taken into the warm farm kitchen and given some milk, then Bill took us into Great Ayton in his farm cart. We thanked him profusely. I phoned home, told my parents where we were and, just too weary to go any further, sat down on the kerbside outside the phone box. After a while, a car swept into the square and, in my brother Geoffrey’s words, "little bedraggled figures came stumbling out of the dark, towards the light of the car headlights". Later, after a hot bath and much special treatment, we were given the answer to all ills - some chicken soup!
I left M’bro in 1961, to go and study Interior Design in London and went on to work, for many years, as a scenic designer at BBC TV, under the name of Rochelle Selwyn. I married Douglas Specter in 1976 and we have three sons. For the last ten years, with my sister-in-law, I have run a magazine for businesswomen and a magazine for women drivers.
With my brother Stuart and his wife, Valerie, Geoffrey and husband Douglas, I attended the final service at the M’bro shul. I had not been inside the shul for over thirty years and had forgotten how attractive it was. I sat in my mother’s seat and felt very emotional, as I remembered the High Holidays, Chanukah and Purim parties and looking down on the men from above. I saw many faces that I recognised and they all looked more or less unchanged to me but, of course, they weren’t. It was just that I have changed along with them.
We stayed in a village on the Yorkshire moors and the weather was fantastic for the time of year—brilliant sunshine. The moors looked stunning as we drove into M’bro on the Sunday. The whole weekend was like some magical moment out of time and I am very glad that I made the effort to go.
Rochelle Specter (Selwyn, Schmulewitsch)
London, England
You can’t possibly know how excited I was when I first read the M’bro Newsletter; it is such a brilliant idea!
My great grandparents, Bertha and Jacob Wilks, married in 1871 and settled in M’bro. Jacob was one of the original founders of the "old" shul. Bertha died in 1906 and Jacob married someone known in the family as "the second Mrs Wilks," a lady called Rebekah. Jacob died in 1916.
Bertha and Jacob had 11 children. At least 4 of them lived all their lives in M’bro: Lil, who married Phil Simon; Rosie; my grandmother Beck, who married Jonas (John) Richardson from Sunderland; and also Carla.
My grandfather, John Richardson, was one of the founders of the "new" shul. He and my grandmother Beck (Rebekah) had 4 children—Eric, Theo, Marion and Phyllis. Theo, apart from a short period while he was in London training as an articled clerk, spent his whole life in M’bro. He married Brenda Posnansky (Simons) from Bolton and they had one child, Julie. For some time before his death 4 years ago he was secretary of the M’bro shul.
My mother Marion and my father Ralph Segal (from Glasgow) were the first couple to be married in the "new" shul. Although my sister Barbara and I were both born in M’bro, we grew up in Plymouth. However, most of our holidays as children were spent in M’bro, visiting the plethora of relations. In fact, for many years after I qualified as a Special Needs Teacher, I came regularly to M’bro to visit my grandmother. I could have listened to her stories for ever.
Of all the four Richardson children, Aunt Phyllis survives and lives in Australia. I have sent her a copy of your newsletters and also to Ruth Shemesh, Brenda Richardson’s sister, who, like us, was a regular visitor to M’bro as a child, and who lived in Marton with her Israeli husband for a while after they were married.
Joyce Lucas (Segal)
London, England
Boro Quiz no 6
- Who was Boro’s Italian Goalkeeper in the 1950’s?
- What were Jack Hatfield’s main sporting achievements?What was the minimum bus fare from the 1930’s to the 1950’s?
- Who was the Headmistress of Linthorpe Infants School in the 1940’s and 1950’s?
- What was the Gaumont before conversion to a cinema in 1931; who bought it in 1964 and what is it now?
- Which 3 families lived at 5 Walton Ave (at different times)?
- Which M’bro Rabbi went on to Jews College and edited the first English translation of the Talmud?
- When did the following Chief Rabbis visit M’bro: (a) Nathan M Adler (b) Herman Adler (c) Joseph H Hertz (d) Israel Brodie (e) Immanuel Jacobovitz?
- Name 2 dentists in the Kehila.
- Which 2 families lived in the same house for more than 50 years?
Inevitably, the younger children could not keep up and, at some time during the walk, smaller groups formed, with the slower ones getting left behind. I was in a group with my brother Stuart (my brother Geoffrey, who was about fourteen, had elected to stay at home - wisely, as it turned out), Pamela Cohen, one of my best friends and Bernard Vyner. Somehow, we got separated from the others and totally lost, without any map or directions.
It started to get dark and we were frightened. We did not have a clue where we were. We plunged along in the gathering dark and cold. It was March/April time and there were still snow patches on the moors. The ground became very boggy and we were sinking into the mud with each footstep. We came upon a sign that we could just make out. It read "Beware of snakes". What we didn’t know was that there were a number of deep potholes in that part of the moors and we could easily have fallen down one of them. But we didn’t, so some guardian angel must have been watching over us.
Suddenly, we saw, far below us in the distance, a light moving about in the darkness—it was completely dark by this time. We started to yell at the top of our voices and began clambering down the slope towards the light, on our feet and on our backsides, not caring how, as long as we reached the light. At the bottom of the hill, we came to a fence, which was obviously the edge of the property belonging to "the light". We climbed over and jumped down into a ploughed field on the other side. I lost a shoe but didn’t care and splodged on towards salvation.
We were on a farm belonging to a couple called Winsome and Bill, on the edge of lngleby Greenhow, not far from Great Ayton. We were taken into the warm farm kitchen and given some milk, then Bill took us into Great Ayton in his farm cart. We thanked him profusely. I phoned home, told my parents where we were and, just too weary to go any further, sat down on the kerbside outside the phone box. After a while, a car swept into the square and, in my brother Geoffrey’s words, "little bedraggled figures came stumbling out of the dark, towards the light of the car headlights". Later, after a hot bath and much special treatment, we were given the answer to all ills - some chicken soup!
I left M’bro in 1961, to go and study Interior Design in London and went on to work, for many years, as a scenic designer at BBC TV, under the name of Rochelle Selwyn. I married Douglas Specter in 1976 and we have three sons. For the last ten years, with my sister-in-law, I have run a magazine for businesswomen and a magazine for women drivers.
With my brother Stuart and his wife, Valerie, Geoffrey and husband Douglas, I attended the final service at the M’bro shul. I had not been inside the shul for over thirty years and had forgotten how attractive it was. I sat in my mother’s seat and felt very emotional, as I remembered the High Holidays, Chanukah and Purim parties and looking down on the men from above. I saw many faces that I recognised and they all looked more or less unchanged to me but, of course, they weren’t. It was just that I have changed along with them.
We stayed in a village on the Yorkshire moors and the weather was fantastic for the time of year—brilliant sunshine. The moors looked stunning as we drove into M’bro on the Sunday. The whole weekend was like some magical moment out of time and I am very glad that I made the effort to go.
Rochelle Specter (Selwyn, Schmulewitsch)
London, England
You can’t possibly know how excited I was when I first read the M’bro Newsletter; it is such a brilliant idea!
My great grandparents, Bertha and Jacob Wilks, married in 1871 and settled in M’bro. Jacob was one of the original founders of the "old" shul. Bertha died in 1906 and Jacob married someone known in the family as "the second Mrs Wilks," a lady called Rebekah. Jacob died in 1916.
Bertha and Jacob had 11 children. At least 4 of them lived all their lives in M’bro: Lil, who married Phil Simon; Rosie; my grandmother Beck, who married Jonas (John) Richardson from Sunderland; and also Carla.
My grandfather, John Richardson, was one of the founders of the "new" shul. He and my grandmother Beck (Rebekah) had 4 children—Eric, Theo, Marion and Phyllis. Theo, apart from a short period while he was in London training as an articled clerk, spent his whole life in M’bro. He married Brenda Posnansky (Simons) from Bolton and they had one child, Julie. For some time before his death 4 years ago he was secretary of the M’bro shul.
My mother Marion and my father Ralph Segal (from Glasgow) were the first couple to be married in the "new" shul. Although my sister Barbara and I were both born in M’bro, we grew up in Plymouth. However, most of our holidays as children were spent in M’bro, visiting the plethora of relations. In fact, for many years after I qualified as a Special Needs Teacher, I came regularly to M’bro to visit my grandmother. I could have listened to her stories for ever.
Of all the four Richardson children, Aunt Phyllis survives and lives in Australia. I have sent her a copy of your newsletters and also to Ruth Shemesh, Brenda Richardson’s sister, who, like us, was a regular visitor to M’bro as a child, and who lived in Marton with her Israeli husband for a while after they were married.
Joyce Lucas (Segal)
London, England