Ferryhill born author Joyce Veitch passed away peacefully, aged 91, on August 1st, after a short illness, writes Andrew Ford.
Joyce was born in Ferryhill in 1935, first child to Harry Veitch, a coal miner in the Mainsforth colliery, and Hilda Veitch (nee Stobbart), who was a nurse in Winterton Hospital.
The Veitches were a prominent and numerous family in Ferryhill, with numerous descendants and offshoots still living in locally.
Joyce’s grandfather, Thomas William Veitch, was an early activist in the miners union, being blacklisted for his pains, and was instrumental in the founding of the Miners Welfare Hall in Ferryhill Station.
Joyce attended Broom Cottages Junior School and then the Alderman Wraith High School in Spennymoor, eventually qualifying as a teacher and teaching English at Fishburn and later at Sedgefield Secondary Modern.
In 1960 she moved away to teach in London but remained passionately loyal to Ferryhill and its mining heritage, returning regularly to visit family and friends.
In 2023 she published a book, Ferryhill Memories, which can be found in Ferryhill library, describing her upbringing there in the 1940s and 50s, and also her parents and grandparents’ recollections of life in the area in Victorian and Edwardian times.
Andrew Ford
Ferryhill & Chilton's local community newspaper.
