Oldies and Nimbys

SOME called it “a haven of eventide”.

Others said it would be “a picture of paradise for old folk”. One even said it was “a tender memorial of chivalry”.

But opponents said it would drive down house prices in the posh west end of Darlington, and it would “spoil an attractive residential estate”.

Today, the ED Walker Homes are an oasis of solitude.

You pass through the grand clocktower entrance and leave the rush of the world behind. The bungalows – originally for “the poor and needy of Darlington in the eventide of their lives” – are set around a large, grassy quadrangle, with mature trees and flowerbeds creating a tranquil atmosphere. It is a haven for birds, as well as for people.

The homes, in Coniscliffe Road, bear the name of a remarkable rose-growing railwayman, a man who was thrice mayor of Darlington, who was sometime owner of The Northern Echo, and who was known as “the WH Smith of the North”.

Edward Daniel Walker, born in Brighton in 1844, was a son of the sea. Generations of his family sailed, right back to Admiral Sir Henniker Walker in the time of Charles II. His father was a coastguard, moving north to be stationed at Goldsborough, near Whitby, and then Coatham, near Redcar.

Young ED was a landlubber, though, and aged 13 got a job on the railway. He worked his way up to become chief clerk at North Road station while playing cricket – he was widely regarded as “one of the swiftest round arm bowlers in England”.

In 1877, he saw a chance and seized it. Aged 33, he left the direct employment of the North Eastern Railway and leased the right to run station bookshops and advertising hoardings. He saw that people waiting for a train wanted something to read; then he saw they wanted something to nibble on, and so he diversified from newstands to refreshment rooms at North Road, Bank Top, Saltburn and Tebay stations.

Then he moved his shops out of stations into high streets. Most communities in south Durham and beyond had a Walker and Wilson newsagents.

For eight years up to 1903, he owned the Echo so that he had a monopoly on the news – printing, distributing and selling it.

He had lots of other business interests, as well. He was a keen rose-grower, and was the sole proprietor of an extensive rosebed nursery in Cambridge.

A Libe r a l , Walker was elected to the council in 1879, and tenaciously drove down gas and water bills. In his first term as mayor, during the 1892 coal strike, he helped stir the charitable heart of the nation, and raised £5,000 to alleviate the distress of families in the Tees Valley.

In his own eventide, he was known as the “Grand Old Man” of Darlington, universally respected and, even, loved. His funeral in May 1919 was an extraordinary civic affair – hundreds, if not thousands, of mourners, all in black, processing through the town centre behind the horsedrawn hearse.

Sir Edward left his estate to his wife, Lady Ellen, and instructions that on her death it should be used to provide comfortable homes for the working class poor.

And that’s when the arguments began. His trustees cheaply bought land at Salutation Corner – now better known as the Elm Ridge roundabout – from the Pease family.

The trouble was that the Peases had sold the n e i g h - bouring land from their old Woodside estate to the middle classes who were building comfortable homes in Hartford Road and Ravensdale Road. They didn’t want the poor moving in next door.

The ED Walker Homes were opened on June 4, 1928, by the noted philanthropist Lady Aberdeen and Temair, who was wearing a splendid hat

The Darlington Chamber of Trade presented a petition to the council demanding the halting of the “incongruous”

development, and a corre spondent who signed himself “Hopeful” wrote in the Evening Despatch: “The erection of almshouses in the midst of the residential quarter of Darlington will undoubtedly inflict serious loss by depreciation upon the owners of property in the immediate district, and will effectively stop further building of a similar class of house in the area.”

These 1920s Nimbys were mocked. A correspondent called Coriolanus countered: “If Hopeful will send me his name and address, I shall be pleased to make arrangements with him to travel to some desert island, where we may be free from this democracy which is fast making the lives of people in our class unendurable.”

Sir ED Walker, the first person to be mayor of Darlington three times

Designed by local architect Joshua Clayton – who also built the superb art deco Majestic cinema in Bondgate – the model village sprung up: 38 single storied apartments, plus houses for a superintendent and a nurse, and “an airy, lightsome and healthful”

communal hall.

IN early 1928, there were 180 applications from people wanting to live in the homes’ 72 places. Among the first residents to be selected were Mr and Mrs Samuel Evison, aged 67 and 68, who were overjoyed at having electric lights in every room and “plentiful and beautiful” hot water.

The homes in 1973, with Sir Edward’s beloved roses in full bloom

Mrs Evison said: “I thank God and Sir Edward Walker that I am at this end of the town – and not at the other.”

She was referring to the east end where the workhouse used to be.

The oldest of the first residents were Mr and Mrs John Bell, aged 90 and 88. For 45 years, Mr Bell had been a gardener in South Park, and for 18 years he was a member of Darlington fire brigade.

Mrs Bell said: “My mother told me to be a good girl, and I was, and that’s why I am still here now. I have been to the pictures, you know, but at my age, I’m afraid these new things get me all confused and mixed up.”

The entrance to the ED Walker Homes in March 1955

Quite what she made of the hullabaloo of the opening ceremony, on June 4, 1928, is anyone’s guess. It was performed by the Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair, who looks to have been a formidable galleon of a woman, with long robes flowing off her ample figure as she strode purposefully around the grounds, her husband – Lord Aberdeen and Temair, a Liberal politician who once governed Canada – trailing in her wake.

A philanthropist, she made a “charming unconventional speech” to the 800 guests, and even the king sent a congratulatory telegram.

All told, the ED Walker Homes cost the ED Walker estate £65,000 – about £3.5m in today’s values.

Sir ED Walker’s funeral in the centre of Darlington

A further £50 was required five months after the opening because the laundry caught fire.

Over the years, the homes have been enlarged and up-dated, and the trees planted by Lady Aberdeen have grown. The sense of tranquillity may also have grown as the grounds have matured.

The plaque on the gate, beneath the clocktower, remains as she unveiled it. It is dedicated to Sir ED Walker, and says: “Always gentle in compassion towards the aged poor, he left to them the legacy of these homes for a sanctuary at eventide.

“All who pass within these portals enter into the memorial of his loving kindness.”

The eldest of the first residents were Mr and Mrs John Bell, aged 90 and 88