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| Norman Connel is carrying the Sheriff's white staff of office, his wife, Peggy Connel, is on his right in the blue dress |
From Robin Connel:
My parents, Norman and Peggy, had no prior
connection with Berwick when they arrived in the town during the darkest days
of the war in 1940.
I doubt whether either of them had ever
been in the town before.
.
My father had been appointed Manager of the
National Bank of Scotland
branch which stood at the end of the old bridge.
With two young children, a house to be
found, a new job and a world war raging I often thought that they could not
have had a much tougher start to their life in Berwick.
The Bank found them a house at 3 Castle Terrace
and that was to be our home for the next 26 years. Until the house was ready
for occupation, we lived in Lovaine Terrace for a few months.
Norman joined the Royal Observer Corps and
for the remainder of the war he helped to man the observation post at the top
of Halidon Hill, spotting for enemy aircraft passing overhead. The post was
manned 24 hours a day and many a night time shift would see him arrive at the
Bank somewhat bleary eyed the next morning. Among his fellow observers were Tom
Purves (Paxton & Purves), Ted and Ivor Smith (TC Smith & Son,
Solicitors) and Stanley Aitchison, the confectioner.
There were a number of well documented
occasions when enemy aircraft actually dropped bombs on the town – on one
occasion, a bomb landed in a field half way up Castle Terrace. This was
exciting for us children who were blissfully unaware of the seriousness of what
was happening.
On the day that victory in Europe was
declared the pupils of Struan
School in Northumberland Avenue,
which I was attending at the time, were graciously permitted to go home early.
We all jumped over a wall - which we were normally strictly forbidden to do - and
raced home to tell our parents! The wall railings had been removed to make into
bullets and other armaments.
After the war I was dispatched to boarding
school in Edinburgh
and my parents got down to the serious business of immersing themselves in the
activities of the town. Norman
in particular as a local bank manager became involved in many activities. He
was Treasurer and a Congregational Board member of Wallace Green Church for 17 years as
well as Treasurer of the local RNLI and Cancer Relief branches for many years.
He was also a member of the local Rotary Club while Peggy belonged to Inner
Wheel.
On the sporting side they were both very
active in tennis and badminton circles and played these games to quite a high
(county) standard. In these days the local churches had their own badminton
clubs and Wallace Green competed successfully with my parents leading from the
front. They were also instrumental in forming a private tennis club which
played in the Meadows on an old court which the members acquired and restored.
Among the many friends they made in tennis
and badminton competition were Jock and Joyce Edney who were easily the most
accomplished in both sports. It is hardly surprising then that their great
grandson, Andy Murray, has achieved so much in world tennis.
The Berwick Rangers Football Club were
customers of my father’s Bank and in his capacity as their bank manager he
would regularly attend home matches and see the gate takings (meagre as they
were!) safely into the Bank. I can recall accompanying him on many occasions to
Shielfield Park and, most famously, to the game when they knocked Rangers out
of the Scottish Cup.
In 1962, the Mayor, Councillor Eric Mackay,
invited Norman to be his Sheriff for the ensuing year.
Appreciating this great honour he had no hesitation in accepting the
invitation. There then followed an extremely busy period in my parents’ lives but a fitting tribute to
the esteem in which they were both held
within the town. My father carried out his duties with great aplomb supported
by my mother to the best of her ability as she was much less comfortable in the
public spotlight.
In 1966, Norman retired from the Bank and
he and Peggy moved out to Horncliffe to live in a new bungalow “Braeside” which
they had had built to their specific design over the previous year. The house
overlooks the river on the English side of the Border just up the road from the
‘chain bridge’. They shed most of their local activities but retained the many
friendships which had been formed over the 25 years or so of wholehearted
involvement in the affairs of the town.
After nine years of contented retirement
tending his sizeable garden and making the occasional trip into town, Norman
sadly passed away suddenly following a heart attack. Peggy continued to live at
Braeside for a further five years before she also died after a long battle with
cancer. Their long connection with the town had finally come to an end.
Inevitably my own connection with Berwick
ended at this point. I was already living on the other side of the country and
three years later I emigrated to Australia. To this day I still
retain the fondest memories of growing up in the town and through the BerwickAdvertiser website I continue to follow news of the town and fortunes of its
football team on a weekly basis.
The inscription reads: J.N. Connel Esq, Sheriff 1962-1963 My Thanks to you both for VALUED SUPPORT (signature of Eric Mackay) MAYOR
