Pete Stamp Clip 4 : Tyntesfield Park Estate

My name is Pete Stamp. In 1948 they converted Tyntesfield into living accommodation, we moved into number 21, being the biggest one, there was only two bungalows because they were four bedroomed, the only four bedroomed ones on the estate, next door to us they had a big family, which was the Cunningham family, at that time it was wonderful because we had central heating, we had hot and cold running water all fed by a boiler at the top of the estate, obviously which was there for the American Army of course, I think it was in 1950 they decided it was too expensive, all the houses – all the pipes were taken out and we were converted to having a little tiny boiler in the lounge and that’s the only heating we had, and I tell you it was really- then .it was cold in the winter. Oh yes, up at Tyntesfield we had a Sunday School – The Sunday School was – how can I say it – there used to be the Parade Ground and the Chapel was towards the main gate on the edge of the Parade Ground, on Tyntesfield Park, not on the estate. It sounds like Tyntesfield Park had everything there, it had a Church, it had shops - We had a club, a Men’s Club – The best bit of the Sunday School, you had to attend six Sunday schools to qualify to go on the yearly trip to Weymouth by coach, and of course you know we had our own Ambulance as well, there was an Ambulance station. We had our own First Aid Post at Tyntesfield, and every Friday night we used to have a Fish and Chip man used to come and he used to – he used to cook lovely fish and chips and that was a chap called Marsh. It was fired by coal, he used to have to shovel coal in to cook the fish and chips and we used to go there obviously to get the scrumps, scrumps is the little tiny bits of batter that comes off the fish when he cooks it, and we used to go in there to get that, sometimes he used to charge us sixpence for it, and a very old Morris Cowley car he used to have. We had our shop, we had like a little supermarket which was well stocked so – you know – everything we wanted was on this thing – We used to walk down, ‘cause we weren’t allowed to go in there ‘cause they knew us in the shop, they wouldn’t let us have cigarettes, so we used to walk all the way down to Dick Mitchell’s who’s down by the Battle Axes, he was a cobbler and for a penny we could buy one cigarette and a match.