Lawrence (or Derek) Siverwood, a long time resident of Rimington with his wife Margaret, was born on Oct 13th 1937. His parents were in service to the Hindley family from the 1930s, both in Blacko and then when they moved to Rimington where they lived at Newby. He attended both Gisburn ‘through school’ (primary through to the end of secondary), and then Riversmead (now Bowland High School) when it opened.
He began his working life as an apprentice to Rufus Carr who owned a garage opposite the Memorial Institute in Rimington village. Subsequently, he joined the Navy, when he spent some time on the famous HMS Belfast, and then served in the the Army making a total (inc. as a reserve) of 22 years in the services. After a variety of jobs he became a technician, cycling every single day, no matter the weather, to Edge End High School in Nelson where he worked for many years. He also tandemed with Margaret. One time they cycled from Southport to Scarborough in 1 day and also cycled from Land's End to John o' Groats and then back to Rimington! In fancy dress, they also won 1st prize at the Gisburn Gala.
The Hindleys, who made their money from their cotton mills in East Lancashire, lived in Blacko and later came to Gisburn and bought the Gisburne Park Estate in 1945, which was previously owned by Lord Ribblesdale of the Lister family. The last owners, prior to the Hindleys, were the two sisters of the fourth Lord Ribblesdale, who died in 1944. We understand that a Hindley was one of the founders of British Home Stores.
November 2023
To hear about Lawrence's childhood experiences in WW2 click here
To hear about Lawrence's childhood experiences click here
To hear about Lawrence's time in Nelson and his adventures with horses click here
To hear about Whitsuntide parades click here
To hear about the Hayhurst family of Nelson click here
To hear about Lawrence's experiences back in Rimington, and the Hindleys click here
To hear about Lawrence's experiences starting work at Rufus Carr's click here
To hear about Lawrence's experiences in the Royal Navy click here
Here are a few pictures of Lawrence and Margaret's cycling exploits.
LHS picture - the day after cycling from Southport to Scarborough in one day
Centre picture - at the top of Hartside Pass, between Penrith and Alston
RHS picture - at the Gisburn Gala
