My Chldhood Times

A Memory of Dipton.

Hi, I was born and brought up in Dipton, I lived in Annfield Street with my dad, Tom Bell, and my nanna, Maria Bell. I went to St Patricks RC School and have good memories of my time there with a few of the teachers being nuns. My dad worked at the local mine and worked very hard long hours and was filthy black, when he came home. I remember the tin bath in front of the fire, the outside loo and the coal house. The cobbled street was where we all played all day; we used to go off to the back woods /tennis courts and bowling green area with a bottle of pop and jam sandwiches and stay out all day with no fears at all. The swing park at the top of the streets was great .We used to grease the slide with candle wax to make us come down super fast.The winters used to be bad with the snow hanging around for ages. I remember the overhanging snow from the roofs. Me and my cousins used to walk to school too, knee high in snow we loved it! We walked through a farm I remember, just before we arrived at school. I moved to Portsmouth when I was 9 years old but I've visited Dipton a few times since. I still love the North-East.