Oral History Interview: Kenneth ‘Ken’ Richardson

Interviewee: Kenneth Richardson (b. 1935; aged 87 at the time of interview)

Interviewer: Dave Smith

Editor: Trevor Ekins

Date of interview: 12 December 2022

Recording length: approx. 62 minutes (edited recording)

Summary This is an edited, 62-minute version of Dave Smith's December 2022 interview with Kenneth Richardson, a lifelong Grimsby and Cleethorpes resident. Ken talks freely and the conversation moves between subjects rather than following a strict timeline; the topic list below is provided so readers can jump to the areas that interest them most. Speaker names have been added for clarity (Ken Richardson and Dave Smith) and a small number of obvious transcription slips have been corrected; otherwise the conversation is presented as spoken.

Topics covered:

Bradley Crossroads, Nunsthorpe

Weelsby Hall and Weelsby Old Hall

Weelsby prisoner of War Camp and woods

Local cinemas and theatres and variety stars

Home life and technology

Trams and trolleybuses

Church, ministry and community life

Expansion of above topics list:

Early life and schooling – born at Grimsby Maternity Hospital, growing up near Bradley Crossroads, Nunsthorpe School and Grimsby Technical College (Eleanor Street), including school swimming baths (Orwell Street) and general 1940s–1950s neighbourhood life.

Grandfather and Weelsby Hall – childhood memories of his grandfather, who worked as a groomsman and later gardener/estate worker at Weelsby Hall (having earlier worked at Hainton Hall), living in the chauffeur’s bungalow, and being carried on the estate donkey cart; the family’s later move to Patrick Street and his grandfather’s death from TB.

Weelsby Old Hall itself – seeing the Hall smouldering after it was bombed in the Second World War, and a guided walk-through (prompted by photographs Dave brings out) of the lodge, stable yard, bungalow site, orangery, air-raid shelter and a reputedly discovered tunnel; also a visit Ken and his daughter made to a Weelsby Hall open day.

Weelsby Woods and the wartime camp – memories of Italian prisoners of war and later the Polish Carpathian Lancers based at the camp in the woods.

Cinemas and theatres of Grimsby and Cleethorpes – an extended tour of memory through the Plaza, Savoy/Odeon, Tower, Regal, Ritz/ABC, Rialto, Tivoli, Colosseum, Theatre Royal, Strand, Prince of Wales and the Empire, including Saturday morning cinema clubs, projectionist work, seat-spraying between showings, and the Empire’s history as a theatre-turned-cinema-turned-theatre.

Variety stars and shows – recollections of performers who appeared locally, including Tommy Cooper, Cliff Richard, Billy Cotton and Russ Conway, the Julie Andrews family connection to the Empire, and Frankie Howerd’s appearance at Bunny’s Club.

Home life and technology – gas lighting, wireless radio powered by accumulator batteries, listening to Tommy Handley, the arrival of the family’s first rented television (Radio Rentals) and the shared TV mast on the dock tower.

Trams and trolleybuses – the Hainton Avenue turning loop and the number 3 and number 11 routes used to get to and from town and the seafront.

Church, ministry and community life – Ken’s work as a Church of England lay minister at St Mark’s, conducting funerals (including for local historian Alan Dowling), and his involvement in Grimsby Barbershop singing.