George Sparke (1899-1979) talked of his life as a miner/smallholder near Allenheads in a recording from 1955.
Born at Dove Pool, Allenheads, and later residing in Sparty Lea and Sinderhope – his was a ‘proper’ Allendonian accent from the time when those could be differentiated from those of neighbouring dales.
Listen to George at the British Library Sounds Collection page (accessed October 2022).
More about George Sparke
Born: 20 Jan 1899, Allendale | Died: 2 Jul 1979, Allendale
Born to smallholders/lead-miner Ralph and Mary (née Philipson) George initially grew up with alongside other mining families at Dove Pool, Allenheads.
By 1911, the family of five – George being the youngest child – had moved to a smallholding at Elia, Sparty Lea where the family supplemented the income from the smallholding with his father’s mining income.
He married Violet White in 1935 and by 1939 they were living on a small acreage at Garrett’s Hill, Sinderhope with his parents. Like his father, George was similarly supplementarily employed as a lead miner. The couple did not have children.
George was widowed in 1954 in his mid-fifties shortly before he recorded this interview. A man of the dale, he then lived at Garrett’s Hill for a further 25 years before his death aged 80.