I  returned from a visit to England to attend my fathers funeral in February of 2012. Here he is on a trip to Whitby that we took some years ago. He has helped me on items for this web page on numerous occasions.

Nathan Simon Cook 1917-2012

He passed away on the 20th of March and was buried on the 29th of March. The following is the elegy that I gave at the Methodist Church in Thornley on the 29th.

He was a good father and tried to do his best for his family that he could. Always independent he lived life to the full, in spite of obstacles that life throws at you.

He was born in 1917 to Rebecca Johnson of Washington and Nathan Cook of Wheatley Hill and grew up spending time with both families. He spent so much time at Washington that he was sometime called a Johnson.

He lived through the 1926 strike, telling us that all he had to eat was jam and bread for breakfast and a bowl of broth for dinner as many people at that time experienced.

At aged fourteen he started at the pit as a lamp carrier carrying spare lamps into the pit. His cousin Ralph Watson helped him get the job. From there he advanced to other jobs and responsibilities.

He married Mam in 1940 and the family came along each in their own time.

Through the years he lived the life of a typical pitman, working at the pit during the week and handing over his pay to Mam and then being given his pocket money. He enjoyed a couple of drinks and a game of cards or domino's on a weekend.

Although he lived a simple life he believed that education was the key to success, he encouraged us to do better.

1946/47 - He did his national service and was trained as a mental nurse and being posted to a facility in Scotland to work with prisoners of war who had returned from the concentration camps run by the Japanese. He came home on leave when the north east was hit with a blizzard which closed all the roads and buses were not running. Arriving at Durham train station the only available transport was a taxi. The taxi drive was not going to Wheatley Hill but was willing to take him to Easington for 30 shilling. Dad declined and after leaving his kit bag at the left luggage office set out for Wheatley Hill through the snow drifts. After a 5 to 6 hour walk he arrived at about 3 o'clock in the morning in Wheatley Hill. We always used to leave the bathroom window ajar to let out the steam and he managed to open it and climb in. I often wondered what my Mam thought about all the noise he must have made climbing into the bathroom.

Maiden Law - My Dad slipped a disc in his back while working at the pit and he had to go to Maiden Law hospital at Lanchester for traction after he had finished his traction he was fitted with a plaster of Paris cast and sent home. He had it on for some time and when he returned to the hospital to have it removed he was readmitted to the hospital. He went to the same ward where he had had the traction and met some of the patients who were still there. That night he was complaining about the windows of the ward being left open and was told that it was by order of the matron of the hospital. The next morning he mentioned that he had seen a bat flying around in the ward and after that the windows were closed at night time.

He lost Mam in 2001, she was a big loss in his life, the support from the family helped soften the blow for him.

He loved to read but as he grew older in years the novels that he once read became difficult as he could not remember what he had read in previous chapters (that's what he said). Therefore short stories became his favourite.

As he grew older he watched his friends dwindle and pass away. He was happy to go to the Constitutional Club, have a couple of pints andsmoke his pipe. Once the smoking ban went into place for the pubs he said that since he couldn't smoke his pipe that he wouldn't go back again, and he didn't.

As a father and grandfather he was loved by us all, always pushing each of us to do better.