By George! 100th birthday celebrations
A LOUGHBOROUGH man who worked as a needle maker during the Second World War has celebrated his 100th birthday.
George Herbert Stanbridge was born at 13 Cross Street on St Valentine’s Day in 1921.
He was the first of 11 children born to William Stanbridge and Gertrude Hill-Adams, but he spent most of his early life living with his great grandmother in Burder Street.
From the age of four, he attended Cobden Street School, starting his education just before the general strike of 1926.
During the great depression of the 1930s, when George was 11, he left Cobden Street to continue his schooling at the newly built Lime-hurst High School on Bridge Street.
He returned to his parent’s house in Moor Lane where he occupied the attic room in 1934, when the worst of the depression was over.
At 12 years old, he took on parttime job which paid four shillings a week, at Len Redman’s, a purveyor of fine foods and cooked meats, whose premises were on Nottingham Road.
The youngster left school at the age of 14, beginning work for Lowes Hosiery factory on Clarence Street, where he packed ladies underwear for ten shillings a week.
Later he took a job at Pritchard’s in Biggin Street where he stayed until 1938 making ropes and doing canvas work.
Just before the outbreak of World War Two, Mr Stanbridge left Pritchards to take a job at Hammonds needle factory, where he worked throughout the war years.
Needle making was considered essential war work and so George was deferred from military service, but he joined the air raid precautions (ARP) and became a first aider.
At this time, his passion was the cinema which he visited two or three times a week.
One of his favourite haunts was the Victory cinema in Biggin Street, which was demolished in 1966. Towards the close of 1940, George began a relationship with a young lady from Moira Street and they married at Holy Trinity Church on Moor Lane on January 30, 1943.
George had known his bride, Jessie Downs, since their early schooldays at Cobden Street.
The wedding arrangements were quite frugal as were most that took place during the war years.
Mr Stanbridge remembers he had to apply for the extra rations allowed by law for such occasions.
He wore a rosebud buttonhole made of rice paper and his bride carried a white prayer book instead of a bouquet.
In the evening, the wedding party went to the Fox and Hounds in Wellington Street – sadly both the pub and street have long since disappeared. They had their first child in 1945, on the day that Japan surrendered, marking the end of the war.
The couple were to have three more children.
George recalls that the family were so poor at this time that he had to resort to burning furniture in order to keep warm during the dreadful winter of 1947/48.
After living for 55 years in rented accommodation and long after their children had left home, the pair finally bought their own home on Queen’s Road, in 1976.
After 57 years of marriage, Jessie passsed away in 2002.
Mr Stanbridge remained at Queens Road until 2005 and then at the age of 84 he moved to sheltered accommodation and with a little help from his extended family, George has remained independent and in good health.
At 100 years of age, he takes pride in his four children, 15 grandchildren, 26 great grandchildren and six great great grandchildren.
Wedding arrangements were quite frugal as were most that took place during the war years