My name is John Stamp and as an old Tuptonian now living at Waingroves, near Ripley, I had occassion to call in Tupton fish shop recently on my way to visit my mum at Wingerworth. Whilst waiting, I picked up the winter edition of the Parish Council magazine.and found particular interest in the item about the Carnival royals in February.
You may wonder why a 64 years ex Tuptonian would be interested in this: because I immediately thought of a very old photograph in our family's possession showing our father Tom Stamp in the role of Tupton Carnival King with Ellen Cook as Carnival Queen, this would be around 1930-32. We have no idea where the picture was taken in Tupton. I do wonder if the outfits and regalia are still about?
Tom Stamp; was a well known man in Tupton during his youth and working life mainly as a local milkman in the Tupton, Old Tupton and Wingerworth areas. Tom died in 1989 aged 76 years but his wife our mother is still living at Wingerworth. Tom came to Tupton in 1926 from Bulwell, his parents having put him 'in service' at the age of 12 years at Mathers farm on Ankerbold where after learning the ropes he became responsaible for the delivering of the farm milk around Tupton. He would have been at Ankerbold when he became Carnival King and would have been a popular lad and young man around the village, always happy, always having time for a chat and known to be always whistling. It is not suprising that after some years Tom met another young milk deliverer Kathleen (Kitty) Turner from Whitehouse Farm on Queen Victoria Road. They really fell head over heels in love and remained devoted to each other untill his death in 1989. Kitty and Tom married in 1939 and made their home at, and took over the running of Whitehouse Farm. It is perhaps a mark ofToms' popularity and interesting to note that Colonel & Mrs Jackson, the then occuppants of Ankerbold House, lent Tom and Kitty their car and chaffeur for a wedding car.
Whitehouse farm had been in the Turner family since the early years of the 20th century when our grand father Herbert Turner and his wife Rebecca (nee Madin) were tennant farmers of the Hunloke estate but bought it when the Hunloke estate was sold off. Herbert came from a farming family from Holymoorside and Brampton and Rebecca from the Madin family who farmed at Uppertown, Ashover but had extensive building and stonemason businesses lolcally and built much of early Tupton with Madin Street the obvious example but also houses on Nethermoor Road and the existing chapel on Queen Victoria Road and a second now demolished chapel between Queen Victoria Road and Ward Street. Tom and Kitty were at Whitehouse Farm untill 1954 when it was compulsoraily purchased for coal opencasting and they had a house built at Wingerworth by Mr Crooks the joiner/shopkeepr on Queen Victoria Road who also built his own new house opposite Barlows farm at the Four lane Ends.
However through the milk business our mother and father retained very strong links with Tupton. Certainly my older sister, brother and I spent the first 18 years of our lives in and around Tupton helping to deliver milk and I have a graphic memory of Tupton at that time, especially the old streets between Queen Victoria Road and Ward Street, all of which are long gone but where many of the houses were linked by small communal yards making for very close communities and the smallest of domestic incidents would be shared by many including the milkman, woman, boy or girl!. The three of us attended Tupton School when Miss Cope taught the first (reception) class, Mrs Redffern the second, Mr Roberts the top class and Mrs Warren was the headteacher, my pals there were Reg Day whose parents had a fruit and veg business on Hepthorn lane, John Morton whose parents ran a shop in Green Lane and my cousin John Osbiston whose mother was a Madin. My sister, brother and I were fortunate enough to go to Tupton Hall then a 'grammar school' when Mr B.F.Rice from Wingerworth was head and deputy was Mr Bond from Ashover.
I have clear memories of all the businesses and farms in Tupton in the '50's and '60's; on Queen Victoria Road was Johnsons grocers, Crooks paper shop and Gleesons sweet shop on the corner of Green Lane opposite the doctors surgery where Dr Hanratty was busy and further on, opposite the school was the social club (may have been a miners welfare then?) past the school was Wraggs grocers and on towards the New Inn .On Green lane up from Gleesons, was Hogarths butchers, the Post Office and then Mortons shop, all close together and just about opposite the school entrance, Then up the hill to the junction of Ward Street and the fish shop just where it is now with the Co-operative at the bottom of Nethermoor Road. Off Ward Street near the current community garden there was a hardware shop, always busy as people fetched parrafin for house heaters and the rechargeable glass batteries as in the '50's some house still did not have electricity and the batteries were used to power the radios. Further down Ward street was Mr Whites cycle shop where I spent increasing pocket money trying to make my bike at least look as though it would go faster. Furthe down Ward street was a bus garage and then the Brittania pub. There were three farms then; ours at Whitehouse, Mathers (later Platts) at Ankerboild and Elliots near the Four Lane End where only the house remains I think as a hairdressers.
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