My parents were Rose and Morris Saville. Father came to Middlesbrough aged 18. with his parents, from Lithuania via South Shields, in 1922 and mother, originally from Leeds, joined him at Newport Road after their marriage in 1934.
I was born on December 10th 1941 at the Ardencaple nursing home at Park Road North. Apparently I was delivered by the Jewish midwife, Bertha Smith, with whom we became very close friends years later, in Jerusalem.
My earliest memory was having my tonsils taken out at Carter Bequest Hospital at the age of two, where we were taken by Bob the taxi driver. There must have been something wrong with our Ford 10, XG 6145. I remember having ice cream after the operation.
No one remembers his Brit Mila but my mother always told me the story of how she got a permanent scar on her hand when she cut it on a milk bottle the day of Tony Glass's Brit at Emerson Avenue. Tony, a life long friend, tells me he also has a permanent scar from the same day.
Education
At the Archibald nursery, next to the Cemetery, my first "Ganenet" was Naomi Miller.
My first day at Cheder was with Rev Kahn who like the next Chazan, Rev Norden, lived in Lambeth road. Sweets and nuts were dropped on my head and only years later when my father told me this was his doing, did I realize it was not a "Malach", in accordance with the tradition.
Thereafter Rev Norden taught us and then, Rev Kersh, assisted by Sam Solomon. On Shabbat afternoons Michael, Ruth and I would go to Zeida Saville at 19 Berner Street for supplemental lessons.
The only Jewish classmate at Miss Bedford's Linthorpe Primary School was Judith Norden, whom I still call up every August 30 to wish her happy birthday. My only Jewish classmate at Linthorpe Junior and Middlesbrough High School was Bernard Vyner with whom I have lost touch, otherwise I would call him up every 29th April.
There is a photo on the website of a 1953 Linthorpe Junior Presentation of classical composers. I still remember my lines as Bach and the names of all the other eight actors taking part playing: Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, Mendelsohn, Tchaikovsky, Brahms..
We used to live in Ayresome Park Rd., opposite "The Rec" and I remember the shelters from the war. Of course the football ground was down the road. From there we moved to Orchard Rd. and our last address was Rochester Rd. When we lived at Orchard Rd., my sister's Kirby School class teacher wrote, We do not understand how someone who lives so near can come so late. One day, Mr Cox used to deliver us milk and the next day he became Mayor of Middlesbrough - such democracy!
Michael and I used to play cricket in the back garden at Orchard Road. He was Australia, and I was England, both with the respective 1948 teams Ah, such glorious names of yore, Hasset, Miller, Lindwall, and Hutton, Washbrook and Compton.
More Memories
My father, serving in the RAF phones mother from the Hebrides, "Good News, Rosie, Italy has capitulated." She answers "I never knew Italy was in the war".
Evacuated to Maynards Farm at the end of the war - it wasn't quite like being at home.
Rabbi Miller's funeral, with Rev Drucker from Newcastle giving the Hesped in the presence of the Bishop and Mayor of Middlesbrough with former Chazan Rev Wulwick officiating. The coffin was placed in the middle of the Shul between the Bima and the Pulpit. I can still see Rev Norden in the Committee Room writing in the Register Book, "No Cheder, Rabbi Miller's funeral". It was the end of an era and I was reminded of it at the 1998 Closure.
The 1952 Presidential Election between Sam Doberman and Nat Marks. There were more people in Shul than on Yom Kippur.
Michael and I leaving MHS in winter on Fridays at 3.00 p.m. cycling up Linthorpe Rd. and emptying our pockets to be in Shul for Mincha at 3:30 p.m. I still use the Bharier Memorial Prize Chanukia I was awarded in 1949. We once had a choir when my Dad davened Shacharit on Yom Kippur, with our Michael, Michael Bharier and myself. With his Nigunim I conducted the last Shabbat Service at the Closure.
There used to be Greyhound Racing in Thornaby and one day Michael went with Dad for a flutter. When he returned, Mother asked him "Well, did your Daddy win, and he replied "My father is not a dog".
At the 1974 Centenary Dinner, Michael, the only Saville member who still lives in England, signed up twenty well-wishers on Phillip Niman's book, so that my parents in Jerusalem could feel part of the occasion. Similarly I signed up people at the Closure who wished my Mother a happy 90th birthday.
My parents ran a Kosher Grocery Shop for 30 years. In 1964, Canon Wareham, of next-door St Barnabas Church, wrote warm wishes on their move to Sunderland in the Parish magazine.
We kids helped in the shop and did the errands like taking one "Gebeigelte" to the Lazaruses at 345 Ackam Road on the bike, six large Challot to Goldsteins every Thursday at 63 The Avenue and then a brown bread occasionally to Rev Turtledove at 26 Ayresome Street, who for some reason always called me Sydney. Dad used to say to the customers, "Thou shall not live on bread alone" but it didn't seem to help.
After two years in Middlesbrough High School I won a scholarship to Carmel College where ten other Boro' boys attended, the largest number from any small Kehilla. Nationwide, Middlesbrough Jewry were not so assimilated, but those who went to Carmel had a better chance. Jewish education was the name of the game.
Specific Childhood Events
Geoffrey Hyman's Bar Mitzva, so many Aliyot! At the Closure I recited to Max Richman his Bar Mitzva Parsha, Shemini.
Swapping stamps with Philip Simon in Claude Avenue - we weren't in his league.
Ferdie Josephs and Jack Adler in "Hamlet" at the Little Theatre .
E. Macdonald Bailey running a hundred yards in 9.8 seconds at Acklam Park.
T.V. for the first time, the King's funeral, the Coronation and Little Red Monkey. We heard Mr Starling announce news of the King's death on the school radio.
My cousin Hilda Saville's Wedding at Dormans Hall. Ronnie and Sheila Niman's wedding at Stockton shul - we were related on the Garbutt side. Dad used to say of Stockton: they haven't had a minyan on Tisha B'Av since the destruction of the Temple.
To Sunderland to see our maternal family almost every Sunday afternoon. That's why I had my Bar Mitzvah there.
To Harrogate and Southport with Dad and Michael - Hebrew weekend seminars.
Tashlich on Rosh Hashana by the Lake in Albert Park.
Mother playing bridge with Pauline Breckner, Belle Niman and Joe Blakey.
Spending a month as a labourer at Thomas Mouget at Lazenby from 6 till 6. Julius Englander took me and Mr Schalk brought me back.
Working with Sol Kossick at North Ormesby market.
Joe Breckner: he helped with the orders from the shop when Dad had jaundice. We delivered groceries to Mrs Lamb and he couldn't read the street sign, Ravenscroft Avenue. I suppose that's why he made so much money.
Naty Baum - just before I left Middlesbrough I bought a jerkin for 30 shillings at his shop in North Ormesby - for years I used it in Israel for my Civil Guard Duty.
More sundry car registrations:
LHN 222 - Sam Hyman - Ford V8
ADC 182 - Louis Bharier - Morris 10.
BDC 3 - Sam Doberman, Humber Super Snipe
CDC 25 – Harry Cohen - Super Snipe
DXG 240 – Jake Wiseman – Austin Somerset
ZB 9063 - Rev Kersh's Morris 10 which he brought over from Ireland
RBB 294 - Ray Brody, Morris Oxford - that's why Ruth Cohen used to call her Ray B-Brody.
And how do I remember all this - I took the address list from Newsletter No. 7, stopped at each name I recognized, closed my eyes for a few seconds and it all came flooding back.