My RHA
Our rich heritage
19th March 2024 | posted in News
There are many examples of housing schemes which preserve our rich heritage, having been named after people who made significant contributions to the railway industry.
Stephenson Court in Hull, Patrick Stirling Court in Doncaster and Tempest Anderson House in Darlington being just a few examples.
We are now pleased to report that more of our history has been preserved thanks to our Housing Officer Andy Bargewell.
Following a recent visit to see residents living in four properties in Valley Road, Scarborough, he noticed a sign on one of the properties which said ‘Whitelaw Cottages’. He subsequently did a little digging online and discovered the following information about them:
They were built under the North Eastern Railway Cottage Homes movement formed in 1919 in the interests of railway staff, and opened on 29th September 1923. By this time the NER had become part of the London & North Eastern Railway and they were opened (and named after) the new company's first chairman, William Whitelaw, grandfather of the former Conservative Deputy Prime Minister of the same name.
Having learned this and realising that Whitelaw Cottage was not listed as an address on our system, Andy mentioned it to our Chief Executive Matt Sugden and they agreed it would be good to write to the four residents living in Valley Road to see if they would like to have Whitelaw Cottages added to their official address.
One of those who agreed was Susan Bond, who says she is particularly happy for her home – where she has lived for 16 years – to be officially associated with railway history.
She explains: “Several generations of my family worked in the railways, so the industry means a lot to me.
“I wasn’t aware of this particular link until Andy mentioned it in his letter to me, so I was very happy to give my blessing to have the name added to my address.
“It’s a lovely piece of history.”
Andy said: “The sign sparked my interest and it’s great that we have now been officially able to preserve another piece of our long history.”
