Dear Frank.

Thank you for all you do regarding your website. I now have had three contacts from ex Myton Gables which has really made my day. and if it wasn't for your site this would not have been possible. I will be contacting Sandra in the very near future and will let you know how I got on.

THANKS FRANK.
Email 19/01/10

Sir,

I have had the pleasure of browsing your "Goldings" website.  It is very well done and a wealth of information to someone like me who lives "across the pond" in Canada.

Erik James
Sooke, BC, Canada
Email 04/01/10

Hello Frank 

Had kept your email regarding contacting Barnardo's direct and thought you may be interested to know that I have received in the past week, 3 photographs and a Governors report upon entry to the Barkingside Home. One of my grandmother at that time and one prior to leaving to go into service, and one with her younger sister. Both the girls look lost and bewildered, and after finding out through my own research and that of the report, just hope that their lives became happier. Took almost 5 months!

I thank you for your input to my quest as it certainly helped me as to which way to go. Trouble is...once you have solved one mystery, another rears it's head.

Regards and best wishes
Brenda Callaghan
Email 02/09/09

Thank you so very much Frank. I will follow up on your suggestions. Please note I shared the info from your site with my Father who is in his 80's. It touched his heart to see the pictures and read the stories of his mother's earlier years. Your actions must mean so much to so many.

Best regards, Patricia
Email 06/08/09

James O'Neil Morton, the husband of my late cousin is visiting from the USA.  On the death of his Mother, he was admitted to Dr. Barnardo's in Belfast in 1938 when aged 14 and transferred to Goldings shortly afterwards.  He was a member of Buxton House and undertook a course in carpentry.  We knew that he had been in Dr. Barnardo's but it was only yesterday that he spoke of his experiences at length.  He had no complaints regarding his time at Goldings and appreciated all that was done for him.  I have downloaded some of the material which I will give him.

I think you have done an amazing job in bringing together so many former residents after all this time and wish every success in maintaining  the project.
Email 07/07/09

In the mid 1950s I was lodged first in a cottage named Wild Violet. This cottage was located on 'Reception Green', with the laundry right behind it, and a short footpath running alongside it which led to the rear of the cottages on 'Permanent Green' (the one with the football and cricket pitches). On the map of the TVH it would be the third cottage from the left in the top left corner of 'Reception Green'.

Many thanks for your continued efforts with the Goldings website. It becomes an ever-more useful reference source.
Bob Robson
Email 14/03/09

Dear Sir

I found your web site quite by accident and can’t believe the co-incidence. My niece is married to Ivan Aldwinckle and his father was Arthur Aldwinckle.  Ivan knows about his father’s past, an emotional time for Arthur and Fred and Ivan would love to know more. The site will fill in a lot of details for him.

Arthur and Fred could tell a good story, and had a lovely sense of humour.  Lucky enough Ivan’s Uncle Fred is still alive and he can ask him more about their upbringing now that he can see the photos of the school etc. I am sure Fred will find some names will bring back a lot of memories.

I did hear about them being ball boys, but seeing the photo’s makes it all the more important . What memories they must have.

What I wanted to ask about was,  I am sure  Ivan would love copies of the photos if that possible? I could  get Ivan’s son Craig’s e-mail number so that if you need to be in contact with the direct relative it is possible. Ivan is due back from Rome today and I can’t wait to pass on the details of your site.

Ivan has always wondered where he got the name Ivan from, and I see in the photo that Arthur & Fred are in, that there is an Ivan, I wonder if that is where he got his name from.

Ivan would willingly pay for copies of the photos and any other copies of details.

With many thanks.

Yours faithfully,

Margaret Lunnon (Mrs)
Email 28th Jan 2009

Hi Frank

Enjoyed reading your article on Cartref Melys, I spent sometime there in 1968, Mr Montgomery had moved on taking up another posting at Camusrory in Scotland which I also attended twice. As an old Barnardo’s Boy, spent 14 years in homes from a baby till 14, most of which at Annesley in the New Forest, then 4 years in foster care till I immigrated to Australia in 1972. Reading the article and seeing the photos reminded me of the fun I had, many thanks.

Email:  31st Aug 2007

Careleavers Reunited.com

This website is a great resource for anyone on the care of Barnardo's in the past. Although it - naturally enough - focusses on Goldings, it also includes a detailed list of a wide number of Barnardo's homes. On the home page you will find a menu on the left. Click the 'past homes' button on the menu and you get access to lists of homes throughout the UK. Each home has details about it. These include address, photos, history and whatever else the site has been able to find. The site is run by Frank Cooke, an Old Goldonian.

From links page

Stephanie Grant Duke

Thanks so much for your prompt reply.  I've just sent a request to the email address at Barnardo's that you gave me.  I haven't yet read everything on your incredibly impressive website, but I will in time. 

You are making a marvellous contribution to history.  You have pictures I've never seen (and that's no surprise since Dr. Barnardo right from the beginning believed in the importance of photographs to document the condition of the children. )

Email:  26th June 2007

Hi, I have been looking at your website which is so interesting to me and a friend of mine. She was known as Sister Halfhide and worked in the sick bay.

I would love to hear from anyone who remembers her with affection, and hopefully some pictures so I can show her them. The years she was there are 1960-61

Many thanks

Shirley Stewardson
Email:  1st June 2007

Hi Frank

John Gray
Goldings 1950s.
Email: 20th June 2006

Hello Frank!

Thank you for associating me with my boyhood hero "Biggles". My wartime service was never as exciting as his but I'm sure that I must have terrified some of the enemy...as well as myself. I have not found anything to which I could take offence in your writing. You have the makings of an author or editor if you keep this up. your mentors on the staff at Goldings should be very proud of you and your editorial skills. Keep up the good {excellent] work. Please let me know if you hear anything of Mr. Reg Leason or Frank Offord. Frank's wife was the nurse when I was on staff and they lived in the sick bay. Thank you for helping me keep my memories green and verdant. This is very important when the rest of me is becoming creaking and ancient.

Sincerely, Jack Johnstone
Housemaster Aberdeen.
Email: 27th November 2005

Just to prove we don't only get good reports. A Goldings boy felt it necessary to get a report done on this web site. The names and company details have been removed to protect the stupid click here to view » » » » » »

Well a web site was done and uploaded and lasted a year. It was total crap so I was told. It held quite a few photos that had been nicked from this web site and by all accounts the only decent ones on site. The web site took ages to load and was hard to navigate. I was informed it cost over £500.00 so I will defend his right to be wrong!

It's dead easy to talk the talk, but much, much harder to walk the walk!

Please remember this is all over one old boy who told lies to cover his dark deed in nicking money from the till, that he also very stupidly removed the master till roll.

Great site it brought back many memories we have lost so many great instructors "Inky" Stephenson, Dusty Millar, the Purkis brothers, "Whoof" DeBoek, Skip, Pinhead and so many more. I owe them so much we now have a Printing business in Australia employing 24 people apart from general printing we own and print 2 local papers with a 30000 circulation. I  was at Goldings 1953-1959

Bob Robertson (Arthur)
Email: 24th Aug  2005

I have received a few words regarding the above report, some I can't show but one old boy who I sent the original report along with others wrote:

GOLDONIAN WEBSITE REPORT

I read with interest the report on the goldonian.org web site compiled by Mr Black. It certainly appears that Mr. Black knows the business as far as web site design is concerned but I feel some of his comments were unfortunate to say the least. To refer to the efforts of the current web master as “childlike”, “looks very silly” and “plain silly”, are both belittling and unnecessary. His observation that the site was constructed by an amateur is in the same vein, but being factually correct it cannot be disputed. However, I do not recall Frank Cooke ever claiming to be a professional web site designer.

Mr. Black does not have a single good thing to say about the site and yet every visitor to the site has nothing but praise for it. I have no doubt that technically he could improve the site but if I read his terms and conditions correctly; once he has redesigned it, he is only committed to updating it on a monthly basis. Compare that to the daily maintenance that Frank Cooke devotes, which ensures articles or amendments are completed immediately or within the next twenty four hours.

I would suggest we take on board the points raised in the report but stick with Frank Cooke. Whatever he may lack in technical know-how, he more than makes up for with enthusiasm and dedication, plus of course he has the personal experience of being an old Goldonian.

Victor King
Email: 1st February 2004   

We have just found the wonderful photo of our Dad, Peter Tozer, on the Victor King photo page. It is especially precious because Dad died on July 8th this year. Thank you so much for this wonderful, comprehensive website. Dad would have got a great kick out of seeing his photo there, and it would have been great to hear him reminisce and tell us about the other boys he recognised. We'll enjoy exploring it anyway. Meantime, if anyone has memories of Dad they would like to share, we'd love to hear from them. God bless, Nancy van Dorp (nee Tozer)

Contact Nancy van Dorp
Message board  30th June 2003

Gdday from New Zealand. I was surfing the net and found your web site. I am in the Telecommunications Industry in New Zealand and you have a very informative well laid out site. When I have some time I will fill in some gaps for you. Great Site and thank you. Tony

Message board  6th Aug 2003

This responsibility of Barnardo's is a long‑term one. I do not know how long Goldings Web is expected to last as an organisation, but I do not see any indication from your notepaper that it is registered as a company with Companies House, It is therefore not subject to the legal requirements, restrictions and obligations of the Companies Act. Barnardo’s on the other hand has been in existence for well over 100 years, has a legally recognised corporate status and expected to continue serving the needs of disadvantaged children and young people for many years to come. It would be a gross abdication of its responsibilities if Barnardo's were to transfer its rights relating to the video to an assemblage of individuals that has no legal standing and no likelihood of long term durability.

Christopher Reeve, Librarian:

Part of a letter from HQ 24th May 2003

The author of this letter had a big smile on his face when I met him in the Children's church. He made some comment about a small fee for using a section of the letter in my email signature.

The section reads: This communication is from Goldonian Web an 'assemblage of individuals that has no legal standing and no likelihood of long term durability.' Allegedly.