John Aizlewood
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Order of Service reproduced with grateful thanks to:
Eulogy
Uncle Frank 5th July 1931- 28th February 2020 (age 88)
Frank Stockdale was born at his parents’ home, 16 Cliffe Street, Nelson, Lancashire. His Parents George Edward and Phyllis Stockdale (married in 1930), they were to have six children . Frank the eldest, survived all of his siblings.
1931 Frank Stockdale @ Nelson
1934 Thomas Stockdale @ Colne
1936 Peter Stockdale @ Colne
1937 Dorothy Stockdale @ Nelson
1942 Alvina Stockdale @ Padiham
1945 Lincoln Stockdale @ Padiham
Sadly Tom and Peter, died as infants. This is believed to have had a profound effect on Frank and was often blamed for his stammer.
Franks grandparents, Simon Stockdale & Elizabeth Sewell owned a farm, Spen End Farm and Barn in Dimpenley, Roughlee Booth, Newchurch in Pendle.
George and Phyllis would often move around the Pendle side area as George worked at various farms and estates in the area, with each of the children being born at different addresses.
Frank as a baby spent much time with his beloved Grandmother Elizabeth and went to junior school at St Mary’s Newchurch in Pendle.
The family moved from Nelson to Colne and then to a Farm at Priddy Bank, Sabden Road, Padiham, which is part of the Huntroyde Estate.
Frank, Dorothy and Alvina described a happy childhood, playing in the woods, building dens and losing Dorothy’s wellingtons in the sinking mud at Priddybanks Switchback Woods.
Thanks to their father’s job as a gamekeeper on the estate they always had plenty of food to eat. Game Pie, and Mushroom soup being some of the favourites.
Their mum was a good cook and kept a good table and they lived well from the land, protected from the depravation that was experienced in nearby towns.
Frank recalls with fondness, going up Pendle and picking bilberries, bringing them home and watching whilst his mum made pies for them all, to be served with fresh cream. This love of good food stayed with Frank and all the Stockdales throughout their lives. He often said I reminded him of his Grandmother perhaps because I am also a Foodie.
There was a thriving black market in the area which ensured that food could always be traded for any other items the family required.
Their father George would patrol the woods at night armed with a shotgun to deter any poachers. However it is suspected that if any poachers were discovered they would quickly bargain with George and he could be persuaded to turn a blind eye for the right price. Frank would accompany his father on such outings and was always adamant that the trusty weapon is still hidden somewhere on the estate.
Frank attended St Mary’s Junior School in Newchurch In Pendle and then Simonstone St Peters School, the school where each of Alvina’s grandchildren have also attended. Frank often talked about certain teachers by name, at each school, reminiscing and regretting his failure to study harder.
He recalled walking to school and going to the shop in Simonstone Lane, for chocolate bars. By coincidence, a property which my brother Stuart, would later buy as his first marital home with his wife Andrea. Frank has always loved chocolate.
In the late forties, the family moved to Moor Lane, Padiham opening a Fish and Chip shop. The chip shop was somewhat unique as not only could you buy your chip supper, but thanks to Georges illegal still in the cellar you could also buy a liquid supper no questions asked. The premises are still used as a chip shop today although for legal reasons we are not able to say if the still is operational to this day.
It was here where Franks youngest brother, Lincoln was born in 1945.
All four Stockdale children Frank, Dorothy, Alvina and Lincoln all attended St Leonards School Padiham. Throughout their childhood the children would always visit their grandparents, aunts and uncles at the Farm in Dimpenley. There were numerous paths across the fields that they would walk through to get to the farm as quick as they could. It seemed that they knew a route from each bus stop possible in the area.
Frank of course was his Grandmothers favourite and he always said that had his Grandfather passed away before his Grandmother, the farm would have been passed to him as the eldest grandson. Sadly that was not to be the case.
Frank always loved the land and even when he lived in Erdington he maintained a large allotment, producing pounds and ponds of fresh fruit and vegetables. Most of which he simply gave away to his friends and neighbours.
Being the eldest sibling Frank started as an apprentice, working on the railway, firstly as a cleaner and then as a firemen. Coincidently it emerged later in life that he had worked with my mother in laws father (A train Driver). He loved the railway and remembers spending some of his wages going dancing on Saturday nights, above the Coop, in Padiham .
In his memory box, there was a post card addressed to his mother and father in 1946, from a time that he went away with his friend George Pollard to Butlin’s at Clacton on Sea.
A young man, blond haired, blue eyed and full of life and great expectations.
Like many boys of that time Frank along with his friends Kenneth Holland, Richard Denson and Alf Cowell were called up to National Service and joined the Army. He served his country and often talked about going to Egypt. He hated the heat and would never sit out in the sun. He always talked about how you would get a charge for getting sunburnt.
After completing his national service Frank returned to Nelson and got a job at Jackson Haulage as a driver. He also joined the Burnley branch of the Territorial Army.
Brian Dorothy’s husband remembers Dorothy talking about her over protective big brother, frightening off all her boyfriends.
It wasn’t until Brian went around to the Stockdale family home to meet Dorothy that he realised that he and Frank had already met each other, because Brian worked in the territorial army stores in Burnley. Brian remembers this being a relief.
Frank was sponsored by his aunt Fanny, who had married a Canadian Mounty and now lived in Canada, to travel and gain work with the railways in Canada.
He handed in his uniform and with £31 headed for Canada to make his fortune. He lived out in Canada for over seven years travelling around working on the Railways and as a Lumberjack right up to the Northern Territories and when he was in civilisation he also worked as a cook in a boarding house to earn extra money and reduce his board.
He often describes the snow and ice, the fear of the Polar Bears and how they were at times only fifteen miles from Russia. At one point it took the Salvation Army to locate Frank who was living in a log cabin in Elliott Lake
I always remember my dad describing a knock at the cottage door one winter’s night in Nelson 1960. Mum and dad were recently married and were getting ready to go out dancing and playing cards. My dad had never met Frank and shouted “Alvina your dad is here”. Frank just looked like my Grandad George, short, strong and stocky. A real farmers build.
Then Brian tells of the night in 1960 when there was a knock at the door at around 1.30 am. He, heavily pregnant Dorothy and baby Howard were in bed and there was Grandma Phyllis, Frank, Alvina and Licoln who had all ben for drink to celebrate Franks homecoming and were there to announce the news to Dorothy and the Dove family.
Frank had returned with his fortune to buy a Farm. But he was influenced by his Dad and unfortunately he was never to realise that dream.
On one occasion Frank had met my mum in town and he noticed that she had liked a dress and coat in the shop window. The next minute he had bought it for her.
Frank bought a car but it then took him six months to pass his driving test, so he loaned the brand new car to his older sister Dorothy and her husband Brian.
In May of 1961 Frank took his sisters Dorothy and Alvina to London for a week, where they went to the Ideal Home Exhibition.
Then Frank moved to Birmingham for work and developed a love of all things Irish. He often talked of his friends Doc and Peter. He holidayed in Ireland most years. But he would always come home to Nelson, sometimes announced and others there would be a knock on Dorothy’s door.
Frank was always very generous; in later life he didn’t have much but what he did have he shared. His friend in Erdington helped to decorate his bungalow and when he did develop dementia they even helped him move.
For the last four years Frank has been cared for by the staff at Anne Marie Howes Care Home in Sheldon Heath. I know that he was very happy and very well looked after. He looked out over the gardens watching the birds and squirrels enjoying nature as he always had.
His dying wish was to come home to Lancashire, back to the farm where he spent much of his childhood, happy with his grandparents, parents and family.
You can take the lad from the land and from Lancashire but you can’t take the land and Lancashire from the lad.
Reading
I farmed the land
I tramped the wood,
These are things I understood
No grand schemes, they passed me by.
I knew the brook the hills and the sky.
To hunt a bird, to wet a line,
Gifts from god so good and fine.
Friend and kin, I loved them so,
Although I’m gone I’m sure they know.
I’m now at peace, life’s battle gone, I’ve faced the foe and I have won.
Hymns/Played
The St. Philips Boy's Choir ♫ The Lord's My Shepherd (Entry)
Judy Collins - Amazing Grace Best Version (During)
Libera Going Home (last Hymn)