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Pontefract Years in Focus 1950 |
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YEARS IN
FOCUS
LOCAL NEWS AND EVENTS OF THE 1950s
PONTEFRACT IN 1950
13th
January 1950
A REMARKABLE TOWNSMAN
Once
upon a time, an old shop with a steep gable commanded the junction of
Front Street and Crab Hill, Pontefract. From its old rectangular window,
an assortment of jars, bowls, ewers and gaily-coloured teapots looked
out across a strip of cobbled stones upon the world that was Pontefract.
Above the door, a white lettered notice board announced ‘Joseph
Bullock, Licensed Hawker, Dealer in glass, china, Built 1540.’
Time
and Corporation clearance programmes have long since swept away all
trace of the shop that was built in 1540, but its proprietor, Mr. Joseph
Bullock, of Rockliffe Terrace, is still very much a part of Pontefract.
Born in the town, and claimed as its oldest resident, he was 96 on
Monday.
The
first greeting card of the day arrived simultaneously with a
representative of ‘The Express.’
But
Mr. Bullock, whose sole apparent disability is deafness, was
particularly hard of hearing that morning. Though he cannot read or
write, he quickly established the significance of the card but failed to
connect it with his visitor. There, no doubt, a rich flow of
reminiscence was lost, for Mr. Bullock’s memory is as long as his
voice is strong, and both are frequently in evidence when he is ‘in
the mood.’ In fact, the voice - which was once the best in the Market
Place, back in the days when the market stayed open until 11 o'clock at
night - is still heard on many days in the week in Pontefract when its
owner meets an acquaintance on his regular walk into town.
His
excursions often take him to the Pontefract Fire Station where he is on
good terms with the firemen, and often takes a cup of tea. He never
forgets his own long service with the Brigade, and claims to be the
oldest fireman still living in Pontefract. Whether his membership of the
'Old Brigade' endured for 20, 30 or 50 years, he did not say; but a
faded certificate made good his boast that, with the Fire Brigade, he
was at the riots at the Featherstone Colliery in 1893. The certificate,
on which print is scarcely discernible, is headed ‘The Fire Brigades
Association Certificate of Efficiency, Awarded to Pontefract Corporation
Fire Brigade’, and is ‘in acknowledgement of the efficient and
courageous conduct displayed when engaged in extinguishing a fire at
Ackton Hall Colliery, September 7, 1893, during which the Colliery
Riots, and on which occasion the Riot Act was read and the military
dispersed the crowd by firing and killing two persons and wounding
several others.
But
Mr Bullock’s walks have not always been confined to the town and he
was well known for his pace and his staying power. About ten years ago
says his wife he decided at 6 o’clock at night to walk to Leeds and
back. He set out there and then and returned at four in the morning!
He
delights to tell his acquaintances that the organs of his body are ‘all
on the wrong side’; a fact he relates with no small gusto. Many years
ago he underwent an operation for appendicitis, and the operation was
performed on the left side of his body! He has survived both the
operation and the distinction in remarkable fashion.
His
wife, Mrs Annie Bullock, is over 80; and of five children, one son, Mr.
William Bullock, the former baths superintendent at Bournemouth, and one
daughter, Mrs E. Askew, of Pontefract, remain with a number of
grandchildren and great grandchildren.
[
1950 Index ]
Years
in Focus is researched by Maurice Haigh and reproduced with the kind
permission of the Pontefract and Castleford Express.
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