Dear Listers, Can anyone shed light on the following story. Sometime in the early years of World War Two, I think in either 1940 or 1941, there was a collision on the Tyne between a Royal Navy warship, possibly a destroyer, at night ,with the ferry which operated between Walker ferry landing and Hebburn. The ferry was carrying workmen from Hawthorn Leslie's shipyard, who had to abandon the sinking ship and climb up rigging, let down over the warship's side, to the safety of the deck. My father said he took off his boots and slung them round his neck so he could climb faster. I was 'evacuated' at the time this event took place, which I think was reported on the national wireless 9 o'clock news. Can anyone pin a date on this event so that I can start to look through local papers for more detail? Regards, Mildred Robson

Hi I'm new to this group, tracing the origins of Samuel Henderson b1729 as he seems to have migrated from the Scottish Borders to North Yorks... I have Sam's old diary which notes "At wiltonfurth may-day 1755 and went to see my parents" but for the life of me I cannot trace the name Wiltonfurth (or Wiltonforth as he spells it elsewhere). Other places he writes of include Hethpole, Snitter, Hurton, Netherton and Throckly but I can identify all those within the North-East region. I have "Wilton"s in Hawick, Redcar, N Yks and possibly Newcastle... Does anyone have any idea where Wiltonforth/furth might have been?? I understand "forth" means "ford" in modern language, but this hasn't helped much either! Put me out of my misery! Chris