Harold Pursglove

Born 24th April 1922 at Church Warsop, Nottinghamshire
Died 18th February 1984 at Warsop, Nottinghamshire
Married Joyce Tolson at Warsop Parish Church 14th December 1950

Left - a hand coloured photograph of Harold (Harry) aged 13, taken in 1935.

 

Right - A photograph from 1948 when Harold was an SAC in the Royal Air Force, prior to his posting to Germany.

Having spent most of his young life at 23 Wood Lane Church Warsop, Harry worked as a collier.  He was unable to sign up during the Second World War as he was in a reserve occupation.  He joined the RAF as a national service man and trained as an aircraft fitter, working mainly on Merlin Engines fitted to York, Lancaster and Spitfire aircraft.  He married Joyce whilst he was serving in the RAF and was then posted to Germany and later to Egypt and Cyprus.  In the middle east he worked on Avro Anson aircraft.  He was a keen football player and won medals for his unit.  He purchased his release from the RAF in 1953 and took work in a garage as a car mechanic.  With the birth of Paul, Harold moved to work at Welbeck Colliery where he was employed as a machine fitter.  This provided a better income than garage work.

In 1956, Harold and Joyce moved to a newly built house at 17 Little John Avenue, Warsop.  This was a three bedroom council house with out-buildings and a large garden.  The front garden was laid to lawn and the back garden was a vegetable plot, typical of most gardens of that time, with a greenhouse and a shed.  They were well integrated into the local community.

Harold and Joyce had two sons, Paul was born in 1954 and Martin in 1958.

This photograph was taken at Clumber Park during the summer of 1959.

For most of his working life Harold worked on the night shift, preferring this to alternating shifts.  In the early seventies, he started helping out with the local Boys' Brigade (1st Warsop Company) and very soon became Lieutenant in charge of the Junior Section.  His wife Joyce also helped and soon became an officer.  They had a section of between 20 and 35 boys at any one time.  During a 15 year period a great range of activities were carried out from competitive football matches and displays of work, to parades and recreational visits.

Obituary  Chronicle Advertiser (Mansfield, Notts.) 9th March 1984