My Memory Of Chopwell

A Memory of Chopwell.

After reading the other accounts of Chopwell I decided to add my own, I hope I have got the names and dates right as I am doing this from memory, apologies if I get some of it wrong.
All my mother’s side of the family were from the Chopwell area, my dad’s side of the family came from Newcastle.
At the time that I was born (1953) we lived at 16 Balfour terrace my parents living there from about 1946, my grandfather, John Robert Hind, and grandmother, Hannah (nee Metcalf) lived on the street opposite, I can’t remember the name of the street, it may have been Havelock terrace but I’m not sure.
My mother had two brothers, Jim and George, Jim married and lived at High Spen, he worked as an electrician at the pit, I’m not sure if it was Chopwell but more likely Greenside colliery, Uncle George lived with three great aunts on Lenin Terrace, they had quite a large garden with an allotment at the back where George kept hens and they grew most of their own fruit and veg, I’m not sure what George did for a living, if anything! He had a motorbike and sidecar.
My first school was Chopwell infants and then the junior school which was just opposite, both now demolished (there was also a school at the corner of Mill road and Derwent street, also gone) If memory serves me the headmistress was a Miss or Mrs Fairbairn who was widely feared! One of my memory’s is when returning from school one afternoon, a horse and cart carrying items of furniture was making its way along Derwent street, at the corner of South road the horse bolted, the driver managed to jump off and the horse and cart careered off down Derwent street, later I saw the upturned cart in the dene near French and Browns garage (although I’m not sure if it was called that at the time, the garage is still there)
As kids we used to play in the fields and woods, which we got to by a footpath which ran along the front gardens of the houses on Elizabeth street, we also used to play on the pit heap and round the colliery buildings being careful not to get caught by the watchman who I think was called Mr Leadbitter or Leadbetter, however I could have got the name wrong!
There was a corner shop just near Balfour terrace at the corner of William Street run by Mr and Mrs Gillibrand (I think!) and the doctor lived in a large house just further down Mill Road, we had some severe winters the last two in 1962/63 being the worst for snow.
My dad, Joe, was in the merchant navy during and just after the war, after he left the merchant navy he worked for a time at Leadgate, my mum, Mary, was a nurse working at a hospital at Wylam and the RVI in Newcastle, my grandfather John Robert Hind worked at Chopwell colliery but I think he was invalided out after he had an accident during the 1930’s he was very musical and may have taught it after he left the pit, I remember he had a collection of musical instruments at home including a piano, organ and mandolin.
Chopwell was very busy with loads of NCB wagons driving about and groups of men going to a shift at the colliery or coming back, at the top of Derwent Street there was a railway bridge (now gone) with NCB tank engines hauling coal or whatever passing over it, all the buildings were black with soot.
A few of the other names I can recall from then as follows, I seem to remember a Mr Leckenby who lived on Balfour terrace as well and a chap called Mr Ridley (not sure where he lived) who was a chimney sweep, as most people had an allotment soot was used to put on the soil to darken it which helped it warm up in spring, however it had to be stored outside first for a while as it couldn’t be put on straight away, I used to see sacks of it stacked near allotment sheds around the village, when Mr Ridley came round to our house to sweep the chimney he would always ask me ‘what are you going to be when you grow up, a babby (baby) or a polis (policeman)’ and of course I would say a polis!
We moved away from Chopwell around 1963/64 I was about 10 or 11 Y.O. I still visit the area about once per year to call in at my cousin who lives in High Spen and to see another cousin and aunt who live in Newcastle, my parents’ ashes are in St Johns churchyard.

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