GRIEF FOR
JACK On 25th July 1977, Jack Punton was
distraught, Margaret, his wife of thirty
two years and mother of their six children, died at the age of 57, after a
battle with cancer. He had lost his sole mate, leaving him alone at the age of
64.
“ I didn’t
know what to do with myself in that first year” said Jack, reflecting on that
very difficult period in his life. He
even contemplated selling his business.
But his
eldest son, John, came to his rescue in July 1978 and not long afterwards Jack proudly displayed a new sign on the shop front – J. Punton and Son
As John took
on more and more responsibility, It enabled Jack to think about what he could
do to help with a human tragedy that was troubling him. He had always been at the forefront of
raising awareness and raising money to help children less fortunate than his
own children and grand children. There were always posters and collecting boxes
in the shop and regular events such as coffee mornings and Bring & Buy
Stalls.
This time is
was the plight of refugees from Cambodia and he came up with an idea for
raising money, that would also help him to fill the void in his life.
His idea was
a sponsored walk. He planned his
publicity carefully, which was not difficult, for he was already well
known. He soon had the local press and
radio covering the story.
His first
sponsored walk, in 1979, was 35 miles in one day, from SNAITH to HULL. Many
more DAY walks were achieved and then as he reached his 70th
birthday, he graduated to Long Distance walks, averaging twenty to thirty miles per day.
He became
very good at getting excellent publicity, not just locally, but in whichever
areas the walks penetrated. He also planned
his routes carefully and stuck to them.
He never accepted lifts and never took short cuts, even in extreme
weather conditions. The planned distance had to be walked. It was a point of honour.
All in all
Jack walked over eight thousand miles on official distances and many more if
you take into account his various added diversions and his training before each
expedition.
He raised
between twenty and thirty thousand pounds.
He exceeded
his own hesitant expectations and he ended up a local legend, known by
everybody as “The Walking Man” with the main road in a housing estate in
Snaith, named after him- PUNTON WALK.
JACK PUNTON
- A life well lived
HIS BIRTH
Jack Punton was born at Cross Hill, Snaith on
2nd February 1913. His Mother (Ada) was 35 years old and he was the
youngest of 6 children. His siblings were- Lizzie (15) Mary (11) William.(10) Dorothy(8) and Ted (4).
Ada was bringing the children up on her own as her husband had
died. They were living in a five bedroom "quaint old shack” (Jack’s description)
which was a fire hazard. It was one of many houses at Cross Hill which were
owned by Mr Roderick Shearburn of Snaith Hall. It was a very unique construction, but It was
actually one of the better properties at Cross Hill. The two buildings on the right, were combined to form one house.
This was the state of many of the houses at CROSS HILL
Ada worked hard to support the family. She was a seamstress which provided a regular small income and she supplemented this by taking in washing, working at the Clog Mill and carrying out caretaking duties at the nearby school. These duties included cleaning and resetting the fireplaces in the three classrooms every evening and lighting them every morning.
AGED 2
When he was two and a half years old, Jack became a pupil at this school
and this continued until he was 14.
During his school life, there were two Head Masters, both of whom he
respected, despite them being very strict. The first was Charles Sandoe, know
affectionally as “ Gaffer” or “ Old Charlie”
He retired during Jack’s time
there, after over thirty years at the helm.
The other was Mr Longden
who Jack remembered fondly because he created a school football team.
AGED 7 He was very impressed
when he heard about how Aston Villa football team had won the FA cup that year
(1920) by scoring the only goal of the match in the last minute of extra
time. ASTON VILLA 1 HUDDERSFIELD TOWN
0 That memory stuck in his mind and was
reinforced 11 years later.
AGED 14 He had now reached the age when he could earn money by working for local farmers doing jobs such as potato (tattie) picking. The Agriculture Wages Act had become law just three years earlier. This act had formalised a minimum wage for farm workers.
AGED 15 At the age of 15, Jack started work as an apprentice working for Fred Robinson, a joiner and undertaker with premises in a former methodist chapel at West Cowick. William Punton, Jacks older brother, who operated as a painter and decorator, was able to secure the apprenticeship for him.
Initially,
Jack was learning the trade by making coffins in the workshop and was then
gradually given jobs to do which involved visiting customers. He used to push a handcart, full of tools and
materials, from village to village.
He would
walk every day from his home at Cross Hill to the workshop at West Cowick,
ready to start work at 8am. At
lunchtime, he would walk home and back, between 12 noon and 1pm.
One of his first jobs with Fred was nearly his last and almost put him in one of Fred’s own coffins. You can read the full account of Jack's near death experience on the web page for THE SITE OF WEST COWICK CORN MILL. You can also read about another near death experience for Jack, when he was working at the Clog Mill. Its on the web page for SNAITH CLOG MILL
AGED 18 After 3 years with Fred Robinson, Jack, now 18, broke his apprenticeship and went to work at the Clog Mill. He was drawn by the higher pay and greater prospects. His older brother Ted, who was a foreman at the mill, introduced him to the managers. He worked here for six years until 1937 and it was during this time that he and his mother moved from the house at Cross Hill to no 8 Selby Road Snaith. It was 1935. He was 22 and his Mum was 58. It was during that year that the nation celebrated the silver jubilee of King George V and Queen Mary. The town of Snaith commemorated the event by planting a tree at Cross Hill, close the Punton family home. The tree is still there in 2023 and is now part of a rest area celebrating the platinum jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.
Jack played cricket for Cowick and was appointed captain. Then moved to Snaith and was captain for 3 years.
He had been
baptised and confirmed at Snaith Anglican church, but had lost faith. At 18 he
was introduced to the Methodist church by a friend. He was hooked. In later life he became a
preacher and a Sunday School teacher.
Jack and three
friends formed the Sunny Bank Dance Band based on George Street Snaith. They
performed at whist drives, dances etc. including providing music for a
travelling circus. Jack was the pianist.
When Jack
learned that Aston Villa football club, the team that had impressed him 11
years earlier, had started out of a Methodist Church Team, he was hooked. He
became a life long fan.
AGED 22 Jack joined Rawcliffe
Musical Society which had a reputation for putting on excellent productions,
mostly of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas or romantic musicals Despite fantastic reviews of his
performances, he was never fully confident about his singing abilities, but he
remained a regular member of the society until it was disbanded when war was declared.
AGED 26 When war broke out in 1939, Jack was a joiner which was a reserve
occupation, which meant he did not have
serve in any of the armed forces. This was in line with his religious beliefs,
that had led him to be a pacifist. However, he did want to play an active part
in helping people during the conflict.
AGED 28 In January 1941, He joined the Non-Combatant Corps (NCC).
Members of the corps wore a uniform but they didn’t carry weapons. Their role
was to carry out duties related to defence and keeping civilian life functioning . After initial training at Liverpool, he was
posted to the Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset region.
AGED 31 In March 1944, he went on a date with a young Cornish woman named Margaret Ward, three months later they were engaged and on January 1 1945 they were married, followed by a one week honeymoon in Blackpool.
AGED 33 In February 1946, Jack became a father as Sally was born in Cornwall. In June 1946 Jack went to Fulford Barracks in York, where he was demobbed from the NCC. He had hoped that Margaret and Sally and himself would be able to live in Snaith, but he could not find anything suitable. Eventually, he rented a cottage in Carlton and Mr Hinsley, who had employed him before the war, took him on as a jobbing carpenter. One of his first jobs was to help with the recasting and rehanging of the three bells at St Mary’s Parish Church which were in a dangerous state. One of the local doctors and his wife paid for three new bells as a memorial to their two sons and other men from the village who had died during the war. On Wednesday 31st July 1946, the new peal of SIX bells was dedicated. Apart from this interesting job, there was very little work for Jack and so he decided to leave Mr Hinsley’s employment and launch his own business. It was very hard at first, because he had very few tools of his own, only a bicycle for transport and was unable to afford advertising. However, because his workmanship was first class and because he was reliable, honest and pleasant each job he undertook, led, through recommendations, to more work.
As time went
on he was able to employ other men to work for him and he was able to rent an
upstairs function room in the former Snaith Railway Hotel, which became his
base and his workshop. One of the proudest days of his life was the day he was
able to inscribe, in big letters “
J.PUNTON JOINER and DECORATOR” on the side of the van he had been able to
purchase , thanks to a bank loan and a friendly coal merchant who acted as a
guarantor for him.
As an
apprentice with Fred Robinson, he had learned how to make coffins and made them
again for Mr Hinsley. When he broke away
to start his own business, he had agreed with Mr Hinsley that he would not take on undertaking. Despite
this agreement, he now felt it was time to add undertaking to his business.
After all, he felt, the agreement with Mr Hinsley was only for Carlton and
Jack’s business was in Snaith.
The family grows in Carlton
AGED 43 In April 1956 Jack purchased two cottages on High Street Snaith. It was a financial struggle but he knew it would be worth it. The cottages had once been homes for the men who looked after the extensive gardens of THE LODGE on Pontefract Road (now The Brewers Arms). Jack was thrilled. He was back in Snaith only a few hundred yards from his birthplace.
There were many jobs to do in order to make it a suitable home for Margaret and Jack and five children
and a baby due in five months time. They were living in dust for quite a while
as Jack turned the two cottages into one four bedroomed house, with a fifth
bedroom in one of the attics,
It’s official address was 15 High Street, but Jack and Margaret named it
.APRIL
COTTAGE
AGED 45 In 1958 Jack’s business was growing, but ideally he needed some new premises. A derelict property in the heart of Snaith (1 – 3 Market Place) was to go to auction at The Plough Inn. Jack approached The Yorkshire Rural Community Council about those premises He needed a loan to buy them. The estimated value of the property was £700 and the council agreed to give him a loan up to that figure. The day of the auction came and a very nervous Jack Punton was there as the auctioneer asked for bidders at £,1000. He listened intently as the figure dropped below the £700 he had been offered as a loan and carried on dropping to £100. Eventually Jack purchased 1-3 Market Place Snaith for £85
After a
frantic period of renovation, he opened the Hardware/DIY shop at Easter 1958
At the back
of the shop, there were some old cottages which were condemned and
demolished. Jack bought the land, which
allowed him to create a chapel of rest for his funeral business
AGED 53 By October 1966, the three eldest Punton children were away
from home, studying or working. Jack and Margaret had got used to April Cottage being full of children, so they
decided to foster two Nigerian boys, Dapo aged seven and his brother Bayo aged
six. The boys thrived and grew as part
of the Punton family for around seven years until their mother, a single parent,
living in London, was able to care for them once again.
AGED 63 In May 1976 Town Councillor Jack Punton was elected Mayor of
Snaith & Cowick. He had been a councillor for six years. Despite being extremely ill with cancer, Margaret
accompanied Jack on the majority of his official functions.
AGED 64 On 25th July 1977, Margaret Punton died. After a period of grieving, he took up his
sponsored walking, started a popular Sunday night Songs of Praise and threw
himself into the performances of Goole Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society
(GAODS), where he got immense pleasure from acting and singing.
AGED
72 Tragedy for Jack when his brother Ted, four years his senior,
was killed when he was hit by a train leaving Snaith Station. Ted had been walking his dog which suffered
severe injuries and had to be put down.
AGED 81 He married Anne Dexter on April 2nd 1994, after a comparatively short friendship of two years. She was 26 years younger than Jack, but they were just right for each other. They shared a good sense of humour and they both had a passion for Christianity. She had lived and worked in Israel for twelve years, as part of CMJ (Christian Mission for Jewish People) and, of course, Jack was a lay preacher. After their marriage, for a while, they lived between two houses. Mostly they resided at Anne’s bungalow on St Lawrence Avenue, because it had been adapted for her wheel chair. (she had been diagnosed with MS in 1975 and it was progressive) But for special occasions and for entertaining friends and family, they would use April Cottage.
HIS DEATH
AGED 86 Jack had been
planning to take part in the New York Marathon in November 1998 to raise money
for Whizz Kids, a charity providing mobility aids for children.
However, he had to pull out, due to ill
health, He offered to return money donated for Whizz Kids but everyone refused
and just short of £3000 was raised for the charity.
On Tuesday 9th February 1999, Jack attended a funeral of an old friend. He and another friend sang a duet. He returned home and he and Anne had a meal together while watching snooker on the television. When the 7pm news ended he suddenly remembered that he had left his car parked on the double yellow lines outside the front door. He went out to move it to the parking area at the back of the shop. He was walking the short distance from the shop to April Cottage, when he had a fatal heart attack and collapsed outside The Priory Stores (now Snaith Co-op).
WELL DONE JACK! A life well lived.
We end with
one of his favourite quotes
|
We don’t stop playing because we
grow old We grow old because we stop
playing. |
.
If you want
to learn more about JACK PUNTON, there is a biography available, written
by Jack’s widow, Anne Punton, THE
HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT published in 2011.
Many of the facts on this website page were extracted from that book.
Jack was cremated. His ashes went to Cornwall, to lie with Margaret, in the small windswept cemetery overlooking vale and sea at Crackington Haven.
Anne Punton died in June 2018 and her ashes also went to Cornwall, to be united with Jack.
Margaret, Anne and Jack are all together now in the same grave.