Gladys the Middleton Park golfers’ friend

Ted Dockery and Gladys Hetherington
Ted Dockery and Gladys Hetherington

Brian Hetherington grew up in Middleton, but now lives in Essex. He got in touch after seeing our coverage of the closure of Middleton Park golf course:

I was sad to read about the closure of the golf club. My mother was the pro’s assistant and also sold the tickets for 22 years without a day off. When she started in 1941 Phil Day was the pro till he left and took over the Middleton Arms. The new pro was Ted Dockery till his death. His son was a pro in Germany.

My mother took me to work in my pram. I remember a school mate won a golfing scholarship, his name was John Mayhew. I lost touch when I joined up and came down south. My mum will be turning in her grave at the closure of the course.

The cutting from the Yorkshire Evening Post (from 1963) reveals that during her 22 years at the course Gladys Hetherington never ‘raised a club in anger’. Clearly their photographer coaxed her onto the putting green.

SLL_GladysYEP