Don and Eve Perry, Newton Aycliffe’s First Residents

A little ceremony took place at St Andrew’s Church, in the rain, on the 13th of March.
Accompanied by members of the Town Council, and Aycliffe Village History Society, the Mayor and Mayoress acknowledged the re-instatement of a headstone in St Andrew’s Churchyard. Not a thing that you see every day, but the residents of that plot have a place in the history of Newton Aycliffe.
They were Don & Eve Perry. On Tuesday the 9th of November in 1948, they received the keys to a house in Clarence Green, in a formal ceremony, with the keys being handed over by the Rt. Hon. Lord Beveridge, in his capacity as Chairman of Aycliffe Development Corporation.
Don and Eve were the first residents of the new town, which had been brought into being from the vision of Lord Beveridge who, in 1942, produced his ‘Beveridge Report’, from which our modern system of Social Security and NHS have evolved. Newton Aycliffe was one his very first new towns envisaged in that report, and work had begun in 1947 along with Harlow in Essex. So, Don and Eve were true pioneers in that time.
All was not to plan, as the ceremonial presentation included the keys to number 20, however Don & Eve took up residence in number 9! Number 9 had a garage, one of the very few, and Don had a car.
Don and Eve had moved, like many after the war, to work on the Industrial Estate that was growing out of the old ROF. He was an engineer and came to work at Crowborough Engineering. Now closed, the firm occupied a site close to the old Simpasture Railway Station from the WWII days, round about where Howden Road is now. Eve was a nurse, and her skills were very much in demand in the growing new town.
Don & Eve took a very active part in the growing new town. Like many of the early pioneers, they were socially active in both the various clubs and institutions. Don served time as a Parish Councillor and also a District Councillor. Straight from the army after the war, many residents knew him as ‘Captain Perry’. With a growing family, their daughter Patricia, they eventually moved into South Grove, in Aycliffe Village. Patricia followed her father into the army, but sadly passed away a few years ago, leaving a son Tristram, who now lives in the south.
Don spent the latter years of his life wheel chair bound, but that never slowed him down. Still active in retirement, Don became a school governor and a member of the PCC at St Andrews, acting as an auditor. As a couple they were popular and well liked and, as a nod to his wheelchair, his headstone now reads ‘Now Walking in Heavens Garden’.
The Mayor, Councillor Ken Robson, said, “It was a great honour to come along to St. Andrew’s Church, especially as this year we are commemorating the 75th birthday of the New Town of Aycliffe which Mr and Mrs Perry were our first residents. Great Aycliffe Town Council were happy to contribute towards the costs of the stonemason to repair the headstone along with the Aycliffe Village Local History Society.”