A visit to the Wharf at Wakefield in 1959, by Horbury Bridge C.E. (Cont.) Junior & Infant School by Nancy Smith
The children visiting will be in their sixties now
Lesley Gott Aged Nine
Colin Slinger Aged Ten
Trevor Hudson Aged Ten
Susan Sugden Aged Ten
Michael Brown Aged Nine
Last Wednesday the Juniors went to the Wharf to see the barges being unloaded. We went by bus to the wharf. There was one barge in. The barge was carrying peeled tomatoes from Naples, Italy. In a new warehouse it had in it Jute from India and Pakistan and wood pulp from Norway, currants from Greece, wool from Australia and lard from the United States of America and acetate from West Germany. The men that were working the crane were wearing overalls and old clothes. The old warehouse contained similar goods to the new warehouse. The gum Arabic is used for fruit gums and sweets like that. The jute goes to make the backing of rugs and carpets. These are made in Halifax.
Michael Brown Now
Jacqueline Lazenby Aged Nine
On Wednesday we went to Wakefield, well the school went to Wakefield to the wharf. We were going to look at a new barge but we missed it. When we got there they were unloading a barge. [There] were some men who had working clothes. In the new ware house it mostly held jutes which came from India and Pakistan. It was like wool only harder. After climbing some stairs a gentleman who was showing us around and telling us thing’s showed us some gum Arabic which makes fruit gums. Then also there were a lot of tomatoes which came from Naples, Italy. Gum Arabic comes from Egypt. The old warehouse had like a little bridge in the middle of the building. It was a tunnel. A horse would walk up and down pulling goods. (includes drawing)
David Moran Aged Ten
In the old warehouse it was a quite mysterious place. It wasn’t very light. It was grey in colour. The staircase was like a spiral staircase. It held such a great weight I was very surprised when I saw that there wasn’t even a little sug in the roof. In the new warehouse the jute came from India and Pakistan was like a big mountain against my small size. It was easy to set alight. It held more jute than anything else. It also held tinned tomatoes, wool, woodpulp, acetate for fertilizer, and currants. It was a bright place and the walls were light in colour. The men unloading the barge were solemn and skilful. They didn’t talk for the sake of talking, they talked when necessary. They wouldn’t let anything interfere with their work. Under the old warehouse the horses used to pull a pully in an arch. They just walked up and down. It would have taken me all day to really study the complete place.