John "Jack" Price
My grandfather, John Price, known to everyone as Jack or Johnny, did a lot of great and memorable things in his life, but most of it is in the memories of family and friends, and the bits that are written down are in various scattered newspaper archives that most people haven't seen. I know myself that before I wrote this, I didn't know much about my grandfather at all, because he unfortunately died in 1988, the year before I was born.
As I got older, I became more curious about Jack and his life. I began hearing a lot of amazing stories from different family members about how he positively impacted our family, friends, and especially the overall local community. He went through horrendous experiences in his youth yet went on to do incredible things.
Writing this and researching Jack has been an amazing personal journey for me, it's really helped me to connect with him despite unfortunately never being able to meet him in person.
Jack was born on January 29, 1926 in Widnes and lived at 95 Timperley Stret. He was the son of James Price (Flynn) and Hannah Mary Elizabeth Keough. He had 4 siblings (Edith, Patrick, Helen, and a younger sister, Mary). In June 1929, when Jack was only 3 years old, his mother Hannah died of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), leaving James to look after the children, including Mary, who was only born 6 months prior in January.
Just two months later, James was summoned to court for neglecting his children in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering and injury to health, and was ordered to place them into the care of an institution. He was out of work, and though he was actively searching for work, he was unable to stay at home and care for his children. The case was adjourned for three months, under the condition that the NSPCC take the children where they'd stay at Greenfield orphanage in Billinge.
In September, James was summoned once again and pleaded relentlessly with the Widnes Magistrates Court, refusing to give up custody of his children, stating “I shall not always be out of work.” Eventually however, the courts ruled against him, and he was stripped of custody and found guilty of neglect. A police inspector who gave evidence stated that “the home was in a much-neglected state, the bedding dirty, and the whole place dilapidated,” and earlier in the year, he had “found the children on an old rubbish heap sucking dirty pieces of bread.”. James also had multiple run ins with the law in his teen and adult years, once spending a month in prison for assaulting a chippy owner for not serving him, which I'm sure didn't help his case.
The youngest of the siblings, Mary, who was still a baby at the time, either died young (Most likely due to TB like her mother) or she was adopted due to her age. No records exist to prove exactly what happened to her unfortunately.
While I'm sure the NSPCC had the best of intentions, the place that they sent the children to turned out to be much worse than their father's neglectful care. The conditions at Greenfield were horrific, the children were often very hungry, illnesses were very common, and the beds were tightly packed together in small rooms. Other children that were sent to the same orphanage, now adults, have come forward publicly over the years, claiming that they were severely beaten, tortured, and in some cases sexually abused by the nuns on a regular basis.
The siblings all left Greenfield at different times. Patrick was the first (11 years old), he left April 4th, 1934, having spent 5 years there. Edith (16 years old) left December 26th, 1936, having spent 7 and a half years there. Jack (11 years old) left October 2nd, 1937, having spent 8 and a half years there. Finally, Helen (16 years old) spent the longest time there, leaving February 5th, 1940 having spent 11 years there.
It was clearly a horrible upbringing for Jack and his siblings. He who would often share his hatred for the nuns but wouldn't go into specifics. I have requested the full records for Jack and his siblings from Liverpool Records Office where they're held. Due to data protection, I have to wait until 2029 (100 years later) to get them, so I'll update this page as soon as I have more information on their time there.
It's easy to say that James was a bad parent when reading this, but his wife had just died, he was also living with his mother, brother, 4 young children and also a newborn baby in a likely very small house. Even if he had a job, this was almost certainly a very overwhelming situation.
When he turned 17, he spent 4 years in the Royal Artillery (1943 - 1947) which we don't know many details about as he never really spoke about his experiences. We know that he earned some medals during his time in the army. He also earned several certificates for his running despite being given a B7 rating by Medicos due to his flat feet.
For reference, here are the medical classifications for army service:
A – Fit for general service at home and abroad.
B – Unfit for general service abroad but fit for base or garrison service at home and abroad.
C – Fit for home service only.
D – Unfit for any form of military service.
The fact he went on to do so many long distance walks in his later life despite his flat feet is actually amazing, as it can cause a lot of leg, hip, and back pain.
I have tried to get his army records, but so far I've been unsuccessful from both the Ministry of Defence and National Archives. The Narional Archives say they're in a 6 year mass record move and to contact them when it's complete. Likely around 2029.
Shortly after his time in the army, he met Edna, and at the age of 24 in 1950 they got married and began their family, having their first son Denis a year later. The relationship between Jack and Edna was interesting to say the least from the stories I've heard. The most famous being that Edna once barged into the local pub after Jack missed his dinner, she stormed right over to him with the Sunday roast in hand, and poured the plate all over his head in a rage while screaming at him, which according to my cousin Nadine is still somewhat of a legend in the Widnes pubs.
By 1960 they had 3 more children together (John, Susan, and Elaine), and it was this year that he accomplished one of his biggest personal achievements. Britain was gripped by a nationwide marathon craze when activist Dr. Barbara Moore gained worldwide coverage after walking 23 days from John O'Groats to Land's End, the two furthest places from each other in Britain. She did this to prove that people could be fit and healthy while on a strict vegetarian diet. Weeks later, capitalising on the craze, British entrepreneur Billy Butlin announced "The Billy Butlin Walk", which he dubbed "the walk to end all walks" and "a race for the people, the ordinary man or woman in the street."
Within a week, the race was organised and advertised across the nation in newspapers and on radio stations. The race proved to be extremely popular after the promise of a £1,000 prize for the winners, gaining it massive media attention.
This caught the attention of Jack, who was 34 years old at the time, and so he sent off an application form right away. According to a race official, 4,000 applications were received, which were whittled down to around 1,400 participants, of which my grandfather was fortunate enough to be selected.
So, he said his goodbyes in Widnes and set off to John O'Groats in Scotland, ready to start the 891 mile walk with a mere £7 and 10 shillings (around £200 in 2024) in his pockets plus a bar of soap, a toothbrush, a towel, four pairs of socks, and most importantly, two meat pies. He met up with his Londoner friend Bert Brown, whom he’d be spending the majority of the walk with.
From the account of a race participant, A. Walker (Yes, that was really his name), who wrote “The Big Walk” not long after the race, the sight upon arrival was amazing. Expensive cars were all around, reporters were in the streets interviewing participants, helicopters were flying above and thousands of people were gathered to either participate or just see the spectacle.
Jack arrived, and on the 26th February 1960 he presented his card of acceptance to the Butlin official, which was sent to him prior to the event in the mail. He was given a booklet, which needed to be stamped at all the checkpoints along the journey to Land's End. Finally, he was given his race participant number (620) which he'd have to wear at all times on his torso to identify him. Before he got ready to start the race, he sent a postcard home to Widnes.
This is it. We are off. Chemics for the cup!Note: Chemics is the old nickname for the rugby team Widnes Vikings, which he adored.
Only half of the 1,400 that had been accepted turned up to the event, with the official number being 715* participants. An hour before the race began, Billy Butlin, who arrived earlier in the day by helicopter, assembled everyone together outside and gave a big speech where he wished everyone the best of luck.
Moments before the 5pm start time just as the sun was setting, everyone began packing together like sardines, anxiously waiting for the race to begin including Jack. Suddenly 12 rockets went off into the sky, and a stampede of people began moving forward, all at different speeds. The race was on, and Jack, alongside his friend Bert, began the long journey to Land's End, which they had to complete within a 28 day time limit.
The spirits of those taking it easy at the back of the pack were high, they'd be singing songs like “Keep Right on to the End of The Road”, however within a mere 30 minutes as the sun set, the weather completely changed, as did the optimism of the participants.
Temperatures began plummeting below zero and deep snow began covering the thick ice that had been building days prior. It was so bad that many roads were closed off and the participants had to take many detours, which would put them many miles out of their way.
The constable for Caithness, the county that John O’Groats belonged to, had called for the race to be called off prior to the event in light of the conditions and potential life threatening injuries that the walkers might face, citing that the hospital in the area would not be able to cope with the demand. Eventually, he met up with Billy Butlin, who assured him that he’d take responsibility for the safety of the participants.
Billy Butlin remained adamant throughout that the race would go on. He had warned everyone prior to the event that this was a major test of endurance, and the weather conditions really pushed even the best athletes to their limits.
This is a tough assignment, and you will be called upon to show courage and endurance of the highest order.
150 gave up immediately on the first day, realising the mammoth task ahead of them combined with the brutal weather conditions that were only getting worse. Some were injured at the starting position due to how tightly packed they all were, some even passed out on the floor not long after the race began. Overall, within 3 days, there were only 235 left out of the 715 that started. Jack pressed on, and battled through some of the worst weather Scotland had to offer.
The race had a huge diversity of people from different parts of the world, old, young, fat, thin, men and women. Apparently there was a blind person racing, one in a kilt, one pushing a shopping trolley full of household items and one even had a wooden leg! Everyone from all different backgrounds wanted a shot at the prize, including Jack. The prize money would greatly improve the quality of life for his family.
A. Walker noted that a lot of the participants were unprepared for the event, especially when it came to their attire. Well, one of those people was my grandfather Jack. He wore what seems to be a t-shirt, a zip up jumper, cargo pants, and the boots provided to him by his employer, Peter Spence and Sons, Ltd.
Despite his basic attire, my grandfather wasn’t a novice, he was used to endurance training of the highest order while in the army, where he achieved certificates for his running. He would also walk daily to and from work on a 4 mile round trip. His father James was also known locally for walking from Widnes to Wembley 4 times to watch Widnes Vikings play, so you could say it was the norm for him.
Doing well. Have slowed up, but I am still going. Give my best to the boys and tell them I am still in. I have now gone 57 miles. People are very good to us.
It was made very clear before the event that any accommodation or food would have to be provided by the participants themselves, which, for someone like my grandfather, who was by no means a wealthy man, was likely a big concern. Luckily along the way and at the different checkpoints there were many kind members of the public who provided them with free food, drink, accommodation, and a place to dry their clothes, which likely made finishing the race possible for lots of the participants, including Jack.
We were met with nothing but kindness in the highlands.
The kindness for Jack didn’t stop there either; to his surprise, as he entered Lancaster, he was given a bunch of handwritten messages of encouragement and a money collection which his employer Peter Spence and Sons, Ltd. organised. This money almost certainly made it possible for him to finish the race, especially considering the pocket change he had leftover by the end.
While the kindness almost certainly made things much more bearable, the harsh reality was that my Grandfather would often have to sleep rough in the freezing cold of night in places like shop doorways, huts, hedges, churches, and even on one occasion, a greenhouse. A lot of his fellow participants ran out of money early on and became stranded, having to beg their way home. Billy Butlin, who feared the bad publicity, made some exceptions to his previous statement and made sure anyone destitute would get food and a train ticket home.
My grandfather spoke very disappointedly about how the promised mobile food caterers would only supply the leaders of the race and move on ahead to keep up with them, clearly for the media coverage. This meant most of the participants that weren’t in the leading pack were neglected and rarely got as many opportunities for refreshments.
Jack and Bert arrived in Dingwall on the Tuesday, 4 days after setting off, where they met a Mr. T. McAllister who allowed them to stay with him for the night. The next morning, Jack asked the kind man if he could send a postcard back home after they left for the next checkpoint in Fort Augustus 40 miles down the road, which he agreed to do.
This is just to say that John Price is looking fit and well, and left today (Wednesday) for Fort Augustus. He and his London pal are fit and confident of reaching Cornwall in spite of very bad weather conditions. He asked me to write-hopes he will get a good welcome at Widnes.
My grandfather had high hopes of winning the prize at the start, and I can imagine Edna not being too happy with him spending all this time and money on this eccentric venture. When he passed through Warrington, a stone's throw away from where they lived, he was surprised when he was met by his wife Edna and their 4 young children. She asked Jack to give up, but he was insistent that he’d finish the race even though he knew he wouldn’t win anymore. This was clearly no longer about the money; it was to prove to himself, his family, friends and town that he could overcome this beast of a challenge. At this point in the race, he was also going at his best pace, averaging around 50 miles a day, so he definitely didn't want to stop now.
As you can imagine, attempts to cheat the race were very commonplace despite the organisers putting different anti-cheating methods in place and constantly patrolling the roads. According to A. Walker, over 100 were disqualified for attempting to cheat early on in the race. Participants would attempt to get lifts to different checkpoints, swap race numbers around, and someone even tried to flag down Mr. Billy Butlin himself for a lift, cheeky. Secret checkpoints were added along the way to help with the amount of cheating, which meant that if you didn’t have this prior unknown checkpoint stamp in your book, you were immediately disqualified. Billy Butlin even paid members of the public to offer participants lifts, and if they said yes, their number would be recorded and passed on down the road to officials.
I am up against crocks.Note: Crocks is the old fashioned term for dishonest and untrustworthy people.
One of the funny stories noted by my grandfather was when he was accused of stealing a Jaguar car during the race. A torch was shined in his direction in the night, and a policeman informed him he was wanted in connection with the theft some miles back.
I’ve never driven a car in my life, I’m even a bag of nerves on a push-bike!
Luckily he managed to convince the officer, who eventually let him go on his way, however, his race number (620) was recorded and passed on to authorities down the route who kept a very close eye on him. 28 miles away from the finish, his right shin gave in, and he had to take off his boots to help him walk, leaving him with just his socks to cushion his feet on the road. During the last few miles, he pushed through the pain and ran to the finish line alongside his friend Bert.
Only 138 of the 715 participants finished within the 28 day requirement. The men's race was won by Jimmy Musgrave (38) in 14 days, and the women's race was won by Wendy Lewis (19) from Liverpool in 16 days. The crowds to receive them both were huge, and it was a big celebration on both occasions. There were still another 14 days left, and my grandfather Jack, now with a visible beard, finished the race alongside his friend Bert, officially getting 53rd place and both clocking in at 22 days, 21 hours, and 20 minutes, which was over a week after the men's winner. This meant his reception was unfortunately very lacklustre compared to the week prior, but they still received an ovation from the much smaller crowd. Unlike his predecessors, Jack stated that he didn’t receive any food or drink upon finishing the race. He had almost no funds left in his money stash with only 9 shillings and 8 pence (£13 in 2024) remaining, so he would’ve struggled to get home on a train.
Thankfully though, two of Jack’s neighbours (Mr. T. Cafferty and Mr. J. Lomax) said they’d travel to Land’s End to pick him up the next day and bring him back — a very kind gesture. Peter Spence and Sons, Ltd. also gave him 2 weeks paid time off to recover.
After getting home, he was interviewed and mentioned in a few local newspapers. He talked about how he felt like he was representing his hometown Widnes on a grand stage.
I just thought of the town (Widnes), and said to myself, if the leaders (of the race) can get there (Land’s End), so can I. I felt that it wasn’t I that was walking, it was Widnes.
Shortly after the race, Billy Butlin announced that the walk would become an annual event, which prompted my grandfather to begin training intensely for 3 months, starting in September later that year, but the annual event unfortunately never materialised.
If anybody wants to join me, they know where to contact me and they will be welcome.
In 2018, while researching family history on Ancestry, I came across my grandfather's Billy Butlin award on a family tree someone had made. I struck up a conversation with David, who shared the same great grandfather as me (James Price). After a bit of back and forth, David asked if I wanted the award, which I eagerly accepted. Nobody in the family knew where it went, but it looks like Jack gave it to his sister Edie at some point later in his life or it was given to her after Jack died.
* There's some dispute on the number of participants in the Billy Butlin Walk, some sources say it was 715, some say 725 and one newspaper I found stated 1143. It appears that the race numbers were pre-assigned prior to the participants arriving at John O’Groats (Which were 1,400 overall invited). There’s enough sources to settle on 715 being the number of participants in total.
By 1965, they had two more children (Tommy and Jake); however, this year marked one of the most tragic moments in the family's history. Elaine, who was 6 at the time, had been given a doll for Christmas, and several days later, on December 28th, she was playing with it in the kitchen next to her big sister Susan (8), little brother Tommy (2), and baby Jake (1). The coal fire was roaring away as usual, and they were getting ready to go to a christmas party, organised by Jack’s employer at the time.
Edna had gone next door to get the washing done, as they didn’t have a washing machine at the time. Susan went to get the fireguard to put in front of the fire that was on in the kitchen, however, while Susan did this, Elaine’s new nylon dress caught fire, which immediately set her ablaze. Susan tried to help her, but Elaine’s instinct was to run onto the street screaming for help from her mother, who had only just started talking with the neighbour next door. The neighbour helped dampen the flames with a coat, and they eventually managed to extinguish them, but it was too late, the damage had been done. The burns were already so severe that when the neighbour mistakenly tried to take her dress off, it took large parts of her skin off along with it as the dress had melted onto her body.
She was taken by ambulance to Alder Hey Children's Hospital where she remained there in critical condition for 2 weeks. The doctors determined that she needed skin grafts, and so Jack volunteered to donate parts of his skin to his daughter Elaine, but while he was on the way to the hospital to do this, she unfortunately passed away from bronchopneumonia. Her body had 95% burns, which had also spread during the fire to her internal organs. I recall just before Susan died in 2020 that she told me that Jack held onto Elaine for a very long time after she died and wouldn’t let her go, it was really heartbreaking to hear.
A year after Elaine died, they had their last and 7th child, my Mum. Edna wanted to name her Jill, however, Jack wanted to name her Eileen, after Elaine but Edna did not want this. Jack went to register my Mum and came home to let Edna know that their newborn was in fact now legally registered as Eileen. Edna was livid, and threw a glass bowl at Jack's head, which smashed and cut him open, requiring him to get stitches.
After Elaine's death and all the way through the 1970s and early 1980s, Jack began organising his own events for charity, starting off with friendly challenges with locals to raise money.
In 1967, Jack began walking to Wembley from Widnes to see Widnes Vikings play. He had been a fan of them since he was a schoolboy and even played amateur. He was also following in his father James's footsteps, who was known for walking the same route 50 years prior. The first time Jack did this, it seems like it was more of a personal bucket list item for him than for charity, however, he went on to do the walk at least 3 more times, matching his father's record of 4, each time raising lots of money for local charities up until 1982. While he was very much focused on raising money for charity, he also knew how to play the system, often getting free drinks after entering all the pubs along the way with his collection bucket. Win-win.
In 1970, he was involved in a hit-and-run when a car ran into him, breaking his leg. It looks like it took him a couple of years to recover, but after that, he was back at it again.
I thought my walking days were over, but I started doing some swimming and gradually built up my confidence.
He also did other smaller walks to Liverpool, Swinton, St. Helens, and Manchester as well, still carrying his collection buckets for donations to charity. He was known to donate to Moss Brook Special School, Wade Deacon Grammar School Pavilion Fund, the testimonial fund for Dennis Carden, Widnes R.L.F.C. Social Club, and Cystic Fibrosis Research Trust.
Walks weren't his only source of fundraising, he also participated and sometimes organised the annual Widnes pram racing event, where fathers would dress up in silly outfits and race prams or wheelbarrows through Widnes, stopping at all the pubs on the way for a drink to collect money. The pram races brought in many thousands of pounds over the years, which in today's money is tens of thousands.
On May 7th, 1988, Jack died from multiple heart attacks at the age of 62. His wife Edna passed away almost exactly 10 years later.
His funeral was held at St. Paul's Church in Widnes, according to my cousin Damian (who was one of the pallbearers), there were well over a thousand people who turned up to say goodbye to Jack, so it was easily one of the biggest turnouts in Widnes ever for a funeral. He was buried with his medals that he earned from his time in the army.
While writing this, one common thread with Jack is how much he'd look after his family, often in secret to avoid Edna's dragon breath. My cousin Stuart told me that sometimes Jack would regularly sneak out without telling Edna, and give him and his sister Clare bags of groceries to make sure they were well fed. My cousin Debbie also told me that he'd sneakily give them some money before they left the house, and wouldn't let them leave until they took it. My cousin Nadine told me that her Dad Tommy was once caught bunking school, and a letter was sent home to Jack and Edna. Tommy tried to race home to beat the letter's arrival, but by the time he got home, it had already been delivered. Edna was furious, and Jack was pretending to be as well, but as soon as Edna left the room, he pulled Tommy aside and told him to get home quicker in future, and to be better at dodging the school officer. He was clearly an amazing father and grandfather.
Written by Simon Edwards, August 31 2024. Last updated August 31, 2024.
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Known places that Jack worked
Known places that Jack lived