Papers and Proceedings of the National Convention for the Prohibition of the Liquor Traffic, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, April 3rd to 9th, 1897. Edited by Guy Hayler (1897).
The following is reported on pages 25-26.
"Prohibition has existed at Throckley for some thirty years, since the starting of the colliery. Formerly there were two public-houses. Now the sale of drink is prohibited on all the estate, which is leased by the colliery company, and on the land which belongs to Greenwich Hospital, and which was formerly owned by the ill-starred Derwentwater family. Not only can the inhabitants not buy drink, but they may not keep dogs or pigeons, and so gamble on the result of rabbit-coursing, greyhound-racing, or pigeon-flying. It is estimated that the number of inhabitants now reaches close upon 2,000, and for a pit village it is claimed that in the orderliness and prosperity of its people it is second to no other in Northumberland and Durham. More than half of the miners are total abstainers, for the prohibition of drink, dogs, and pigeons keeps away those that are inclined thereto, and the result of the repulsion of these is a sort of artificial selection of steady workmen, who have in the course of years formed themselves into an industrious, peaceable and thriving community, as is evidenced on every hand. The Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist Chapels and the Church (which is an offshoot of that of Newburn, the head of the parish) are all well attended, and the ministers and clergy report that the number of men they find attending morning service at these places of worship is quite exceptional. The miners are equally good in turning up for work in an efficient condition on Monday mornings, guiltless of 'after-damp' from any Saturday and Sunday potations—and it is said that Throckley Colliery leads all the collieries of the county in this respect. Fortunately in regard to work the pit is one of the most regular in the district, having worked eleven days per fortnight for several years past, and the men earn an average of 5s. a day. At the excellent and commodious British Schools there is an average attendance of 500 scholars, and the Board of Guardians at Ponteland
is called upon to pay the fees of only three. Pinching poverty is almost unknown in this healthy and well-conducted village.
"On what is known as the Bank Top is the Mechanics' Institute, in which are a reading room and recreation room, the latter containing a billiard table and facilities for playing other games. In the summer time a large flower show is held, managed by a committee of working men, and the members of the Co-operative Society promote a leek show, which is held in the Co-operative Hall, as a counter attraction to the leek shows held at the public-houses in the neighbouring villages. The Mechanics' Institute members also hold picnics during the summer, as rival attractions to those of the inns, that, taking things as a whole, the Throckley people contrive to get for themselves plenty of recreation, amusement, variety, and excitement on strictly Temperance principles. Full employment is found for three abstinence societies. each flourishing and with a membership continually at work—the Good Templars, the Rechabites, and a branch of the British Women's Temperance Association. Possibly one active cause of the maintenance of Prohibition in Throckley, more potent, perhaps, than all the efforts of the proprietors of the colliery, is the existence in the village of a perfect water supply. The Newcastle and Gateshead Water Company have filtering beds at Throckley, and they supply the village with water of a quality that is not obtainable at every mining village in the North Of England. This is a great and exceptional advantage, and must be held to supplement very materially the eflorts which have been made by all parties to make Throckley a striking instance of the beneficial results of the application of Prohibition in regard to drinking and other habits which militate against thrift and prevent the acquisition of comfort and independence amongst the working class inhabitants." The population on the 1891 census was 1,464.
In September 1870 the Throckley Coal Company determined upon building day schools for the children of its employees, and the following year a site was chosen on the north side of the Hexham turnpike, belonging to the Lords of the Admiralty, at a cost of 1/- per annum. The school buildings, constructed of local sandstone after 1872, cost £1,293.16.4d. About the same date a Wesleyan Methodist Chapel was built immediately west of the schools (the chapel was demolished in 1998/9 and has been replaced by two houses). The school was opened in 1873, a fact recorded on a sign adjacent to the main entrance and on a commemorative stained glass window inside. The Throckley Colliery School was later renamed Throckley Undenominational School. During the Second World War air raid shelters were built on the north side of the playground. The original stone school buildings were altered and adapted throughout the 20th century, but were due for demolition in 2003.