Bid to discover Hamsterley Forest's long lost labour camp

ARCHAEOLOGISTS are on the hunt for stories and memories of a former labour camp at the heart of Hamsterley Forest.

Where the visitor centre now stands was the site of barracks and camp in the 1930s built to cater for the unemployed at the height of the Great Depression.

Durham University’s David Petts has carried out field work on the site and is looking for Teesdale folk with memories and mementoes which may have survived the decades since.

He said: “We would love to hear from people – there might be kids or even parents who have talked about being there. We have got people who remember the prisoner of war camp as the buildings stood for quite some time afterwards.”

The site was one of many set up by the Ministry of Labour to allow men to work in return for the dole. It became a prisoner of war camp in the 1940s. Those who lived there in the 1930s were trained in forestry and there was a strong emphasis placed on physical activity with an open air swimming pool and plenty of sport. Dr Petts said: “The idea of the camp was to give unemployed people, particularly those from Tyneside and Teesside coming from school, some discipline and a bit of training.

“Even in the 1930s people realised there was probably going to be another war and it seems they wanted people to be fit and strong.”

Concrete foundations of the iron huts which provided living accommodation are still visible near the visitor car park. Dr Petts explained how their research uncovered a rich history of the camp and some unusual discoveries within the forest including 80-year-old rubbish.

He said: “We have found all sorts of stuff – we have found fragments of window glass which we didn’t expect to find.”

Jazz music was often played to the camp’s inhabitants by one of the more progressive wardens of the camp.

But its pre-war end was somewhat tumultuous.

Dr Petts explained: “Towards the end there was a little riot. There were jobs elsewhere and people became a bit fed up.”

The project team has trawled through Durham County Council’s planning archive uncovering how families struggled through the economic slump of the time with some smaller villages and settlements disappearing altogether.

A new community archaeology project based at Durham University has also been launched on the back of their research.

“Belief in the North East” aims to work with local community groups to explore the archaeology of religion, faith and ritual across the region of England, An open day on October 1 will be held at the

department at Durham University.

To help Dr Petts with information about the Hamsterley camps, email him at d.a.petts@durham.ac.uk