The Balmforth family at Park Lodge Lane
                             Little Tom
                       Tom and siblings

CHAPTER ONE:  In the beginning - Tommy

The Balmforths lived in Wakefield, although Dad was born in Ossett, a small town nearby. I've always been fascinated to know more about his family as my great grandfather, Thomas Hirst Balmforth, was married twice which was unusual in those days, and there is a branch of the family in the USA. A few years ago, I got a call from a TV researcher working on a 'who do you think you are' type of programme, who told me I was related to Selfridges' first super-model and asked if I would be willing to feature in the programme. Sadly it was never commissioned and as I was busy in an edit suite myself, I never wrote her name down. But I guess that she was related down the American line.
Maternal grandparents John and Jane Render. He was a coal miner.
George Hirst Balmforth, Tom's Dad
George and Euphemia on the beach

Little Tom, pictured above, was the youngest son of George and Euphemia Balmforth. He had two older sisters, Bessie and Marie, and an older brother, Douglas. Grandpa Balmforth was employed in a mill in Batley in his early working years which belonged to another member of the family (see family tree compiled by Vivien Tomlinson). He lost part of a finger in machinery and this got him off military service during WW1. But he wasn't a natural mill worker he learned shorthand and typing and worked as a commercial traveller selling stationery to solicitors. They taught him how to search land deeds and in 1918 he set up his own business selling law stationery and looking up Deeds at the West Riding of Yorkshire Registry in Wood Street near to his premises in King Street, Wakefield. It was a steady income and he was canny with his money. He only worked in the morning and in the afternoon he would go to the bank, read the Financial Times and check his shares and then adjourn to Yates's Wine Lodge. Aunties Maria and Bessie kept the office running whilst he was away. The two boys were also expected to join the family firm and according to his school records, Tom did leave school to work there for a short time, but the war intervened.


The picture of the family above on the left was taken in the garden of their house in Park Lodge Lane. It was quite large and reflected Grandpa's standing in the Wakefield community -- four storeys high with rooms for servants, although my grandma only had one, a cleaner. The main kitchen was in the cellar and had to be accessed round the back of the house where there was also a chute to pour the coal into a bunker. By the time I visited the house in the 1950's they didn't use the cellar kitchen anymore and had built a second one on the ground floor which had a butler's sink in a huge cupboard. It was painted the green and cream of post-war Britain and was very gloomy. I thought it looked like something out of a museum. Granny Balmforth was also something of a relic. For a start, her name was Euphemia which the rest of the family thought was hilarious although she didn't share the joke. She was a staunch Methodist and was very prudish and straight-laced which you can see in her face. And possibly why she was wearing a hat and coat on the beach, see above. In her later years she would hit the sherry bottle and my cousin Margaret used to find her on the floor when she went round on the way home. Granny in her later years became intolerant to alcohol and after being found drunk had to give it up. She used to declare she was a strict Methodist.


Their neighbours were an Irish Catholic family called the Conlons – Ted and Ellen and their eight children. Ted had come over from County Mayo to work in the coalmines but had serious ambitions for himself and his family. He and Ellen moved to Park Lodge Lane in 1932 after transferring to a new job as under-manager at Park Hills colliery nearby. If the Balmforths had misgivings about such a brood living next door it was soon dispelled and the two families became firm friends. One of the Conlon children, Peter, who became a Benedictine monk recalled how they used to call George ‘old man Balmforth’ and were bemused by some of his habits including his New Year’s ritual of standing on the doorstep where he took the coins out of his pocket and turned them over in his hands, all the while murmuring to himself as he gazed at the sky and turned round on the spot. Heaven only knows what that was all about. Peter also remembers Bessie giving him a pen when he was seven years old, quite a generous gift in those days. He also confirmed that Tommy would fly over the house in his Spitfire and waggle his wings to signal that he was coming to visit.


In the spirit of neighbourliness, Ted used to give some of his coal rations (a ton every three weeks, so more than enough) to the Balmforths and Peter remembers shovelling it into their coal bunker. Later in the 1930s, George and Euphemia used to invite the refugees from the Spanish Civil War to visit them – a large group of them were housed in an old hospital further down Park Lodge Lane.

Young Tom
Tom (bottom row, second from left) in Yorkshire Public Schools XV
The boys were educated at grammar schools -- Tommy at Queen Elizabeth or what became Wakefield Grammar and Douglas at Thornes House.  Thornes House was closed in 1954 but Wakefield Grammar has continued to thrive and provide a high standard of education.  According to the school magazine, the Savilian, Tom was ten when he started, joining from the Wesleyan School. By the age of 15, he was making his mark as a rugby player in the first VX.  'Balmforth.T. 7st 2lbs. Inside-half. For his size has played really well. His service still lacks something in speed and length. Might vary his play a little more. With more experience will be more than a useful player.' And later, 'T.Balmforth 8st 6lbs, 1933-34-35. Inside Half. Has made an ideal scrum-half. His service from the base of the scrum is excellent; his defence is very sound, and he was a worthy representative in the Yorkshire Public Schools XV. We expect him to go very far in the future.'  Indeed, he did go far and played for Yorkshire Schoolboys, the RAF against the Army and Navy at Twickenham and last but not least, he played scrum half for Headingley.  He was the perfect shape for a rugby player, he always said he had duck's disease as he had short legs, sturdy thighs and his bum was a bit too close to the ground.  There are no mentions of his academic achievements in the school records but one thing is certain, he was absolutely useless at art. He always used to tell a story about the days when the boys were taught still life.  He had to bring something in to draw and always took the same item -- the easiest thing he could find. The teacher would come in to inspect his work, 'oh Balmforth, not spring onions again!'.