Memories of Allendale

School Dinners

You see the wooden building in the background? This is where we went for our school dinners when I attended Allendale Junior school. We walked in pairs along the road and down the path. Earlier on we might see the cooks leaving the kitchen which was next door to Jo Bells and wheel the dinners down on a trolley. Sadly the building is no longer there, nor is the tennis court, which we played on while attending the secondary school, but the area has been re-vamped and is looking good. It is so good to see the old dinner hut again.

Home

I lived in Allendale for the first five years of my life, unfortunately due to my parents  work situation, we had to leave the village to find work in the town; things were never the same!  We still returned to Allendale frequently to visit our relatives the Nixon's & Hutchinson's.  I still remember my childhood with fond memories & the very close friendship I had with all my cousins in Allendale at the time.  My mother Iris used to work for Tommy at the Heatherlea in the early sixties & I think my father George Garry used to work at the Dixon's Garage in Allendale as a motor mechanic & later Hexham.

Before the old brewery was redeveloped, my Nana used to live in an annex of the brewery before moving to new bungalows on Allenfields; as a child I found it to be quite an adventure trecking from our home - Allen House, down the Peth, across the field, then over the old bridge that crossed the River Allen & past the Riding Hotel to the brewery, my Mother hated the journey; my Grandmother was a lovely lady.

I also remember going out with my cousins - John Nixon & David Kirkwood with Howard & Dockray on the back of their lorry, some days delivering coal & other days collecting the village rubbish - 'ah sweet memories'!

I attended Allendale infants school for a year (1964/5) & I think my teacher was Miss Bell, does anyone remember her?  That was another quality of village life, the schooling.  It was the only schooling I ever enjoyed!

Now 48, I still return to Allendale to reflect on life & how things have changed over the years, not necessarily for the better.  The village is still the same, apart from a few shops/businesses closing over the years i.e. Charlton's - I loved that shop!  The people are still as friendly as ever.

Laddie

The little dog crossing the road was called Laddie. He belonged to Lawrence and Peggy Dodd and is on his way home to Selah House and the dairy. l used to help with the milk delivery and would sit on a milk churn and sing to Laddie. He always joined in and  we made a lovely racket between us!!
The island as it was called was a great place for roller skating with friends.
The Hotspur has memories of a dentist practice, then a club where my parents and family all had great sing songs round the piano. George Ford, a bus driver from Allenheads, would entertain, and my brother in law, George Wilkinson from Sherriff Hill in Gateshead. He would come to Allendale with a humble tent and camp with all his mates up Wooley Bank.
My Uncle George Garry lived in the top flat in The Hotspur for a while with his wife Iris and 2 children. I used to babysit up there.
Lastly my cousins ran a very good family business in The Hotspur in the 1990s. Once again we had some marvellous memories of good times together thanks to Sandra, Florence and Christine..
Now it is a house again in its original state.

The street where l was born

l was born in the flat above the chemist shop in 1947. Arthur Walker was the pharmacist.  We moved over the road to Cross Keys House in 1950 and lived there till 1965. The street was my playground, with best friend Marion Warwick and Nigel Hutchinson, the Philipson brothers from next door to Charlton's shop ,and all my cousins, Nixons. The cattle wagon bringing the beasts to the butcher shop for Fred was an exciting viewing, swinging on the railings.
Across the road, the magic of the toys in Charlton's shop, the smell of the paraffin stove, and the Rozalex barrier cream that Vester rubbed on her hands.
l lost a shilling in the snow outside the chemist shop one Friday night, and shovelled like mad, to no avail. No cinema that night!
l worked as a waitress in the Heatherlea from 1962. Loved all the visitors coming up on the bus from Shields. Perhaps they remember Mary with the big beehive hair.
l also helped at Lawrence Dodd's dairy delivering the milk in his old dormobile. l was about 10 years old then and saved my half crowns for a perm at Mary Lees. What a mess! l looked like a hedgehog!! Good job it grew out quick!
l remember on New Year's Eve the excitement of waiting for the tar barrels to light up the street and trying to see from my bedroom window as they turned at The Chapel opposite. (I wasn't allowed to see it properly till l was 8.)
The Sunday School across the road. (I still love to sing!)
The poor cobbler down from Charlton's whom we used to tease mercilessly until a big hobnailed boot would come flying out the door and we would run away screaming! The shop had a fire and was a clothes shop after that. Willy Dixons. You could get stuff on tick. l plagued the life out of my mam till l got the pink net petticoat that hung on the outside door. (must have gone nicely with my hedgehog perm!) These are only a few of my memories from one street in Allendale. Could write a book with the rest!

1964 To 1987 In Shield Street

I Lived at 2 shield Street between 1964 and 1987 the people who lived in the street are all gone now but they were true Allerdonians.
Anyone reading this will remember the likes of Jack & Peggy Warwick , Billy Pringle & Marion & the lads , Mr Brown at the chemist and Not Forgeting My Dad Ian Dodd Who worked for Ridleys Transport. But who could forget Jenny and Vester Charlton at the shop and then Tommy Sheild who had the Hotel Who we have sadly lost in 2007, my best memory of him would be when I sprayed him with his own hosepipe in his green house when he cought me and grenville watering his plants we didn't half cop for it !!!!! The Days were Priceless' God Bless .

e mail me leedodd@hotmail.co.uk