Birtley memories
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Memories of Tyne and Wear
My School Years
I started at Eighton Banks Primary School in 1952 aged five, having been moved from the slum clearance of the Teams, Ghd. To be in open countryside after the lung-choking life of the industrial Teams was absolute heaven.
The headmistress was Miss Smith. My teacher was called Miss Forster, I believe. I loved playing on the old "camp" at the back of the school, (before it became an animal shelter) with my good friends George Harrison who lived on Longbank in a detached stone house, his mother and father were very good to me, she would give me food and clothing, Tim Shield who lived in Springfield Avenue, Eighton Banks, (his mother was a teacher at the school), someone called Michael, a girl called Violet who lived in a bungalow off Wrekenton "Long Bank", Angela Belford and many more.
The school was first established in two cottages in 1832 as a "Charitable" school, called Barrington Charitable school, then in 1867 the existing building was built, still... Read more
Eighton Lodge
Does anyone remember the mother and baby home called Eighton Lodge.
Happy Memories
Living in Low Fell the Ravensworth Arms was our 'local' and a circle of friends was formed in the late 1960s and we still remain friends 40 years on, although only two still live in Lamesley.
My parents met their friends and I met my late husband. It was a wonderful atmosphere and spanned the age range - like an extension of your living room with an extended family.
We married in St Andrews Church in 1970, our two childen were subsequently christened there and six years later when we relocated to the Lake District and bought a cottage which needed a name, 'Lamesley Cottage' was the perfect one.
I have a memorial bench for my parents in Saltwell Park and my husband's ashes are on a Northumbrian beach so on our frequent visits across the Pennines we always come via Lamesley...
Springwell Village School 1944 -1954
I was born at 3 Underhill Terrace in Springwell on 18th February 1939 and attended the village school from 5 to 15 years of age. I remember walking from Underhill Terrace daily to the school via what we called the "Horse Holes". my First teacher in the infants was a Mrs. Clough.Later teachers were Mrs. "Pip" Jenkins (a Tartar) and the gorgeous Miss Glendenning. Mr. Fawcett and Mr. Potts were the only two male teachers I can name but I'm fairly sure there was a 3rd. Mr. Garside was the Head. We didn't have trips away in those days, all we ever got was a walk around the school playing field. I can remember sports days. I was in the Yellow Athenians? House. I was also in the school football and cricket teams. I left school on the Friday in 1954 and started work with British Railways on the following Monday. Names I remember from my schoolmates were. Ian Price, Arthur Richards, Walter Tully, Lawerence Outerside, Pat Bamford.
Memories of my Life in Kibblesworth(nee Graham)
I was born in Kibblesworth in 1945 but my parents and I moved back to our flat in the Redheugh Area of Gateshead when I was about two or three. But mam put me on the bus every Sunday morning to travel to the primative Methodist Church Sunday school. Peggy Balmer would meet the bus and take me to sunday school. Afterwards I would climb the bank up to Short Row to Gran Wards for tea and the rest of the family would arrive for tea and a game of cards afterwards. The last hour would be spent by my parents at the Plough before returning home on the last bus. All my school holidays were spent in the parks of Kibblesworth the middle park with its islands being the favourite. Then in 1953, after my sister Jacqueline was born, we were rehoused as part of the slum clearance to Wrekenton. I was 8 by then and found the Wrekenton schools a shock to the system. ... Read more
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Places this week
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- Broxbourne, Hertfordshire
- Bethesda, Gwynedd
- Halton East, North Yorkshire
- Streatham, Greater London
- Stadhampton, Oxfordshire
- Maesgeirchen, Gwynedd
- Byker, Tyne and Wear
- Dagenham, Essex
- Kings Sutton, Oxfordshire
- Rochdale, Lancashire
- Boxley, Kent
- Godstone, Surrey
- Patshull Park, West Midlands
- Malmesbury, Wiltshire
- Knockentiber, Ayrshire
- Eastleigh, Hampshire
- Neath, West Glamorgan
- Heswall, Merseyside
- Kirkandrews-On-Eden, Cumbria
- Golders Green, Greater London
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I Remember When...
This stunning compilation highlights some of the best stories selected from the thousands contributed here on the
Frith website. The result is an absorbing chronicle of British life from the Second World War to the mid 1960s.
A colourful treasure trove of memories, "I Remember When" is an
irresistible mix of personal stories and recollections that affectionately reveal the detail of everyday life in Britain.
