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Frosterley
Frosterley maps
Historic maps of Frosterley and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Frosterley maps
Frosterley area books
Displaying 1 of 3 books about Frosterley and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Frosterley
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Frosterley.
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Frosterley Green
Still very much the same. The man riding on the bike is Dickie Slater.
County Durham memories
Going to School
I suppose it was round about 1955 not sure. I remember going to school and often the headmistress used to pick us up, and we used to sit in the dicky seat. I remember picking rose hips. I remember we had lots of friends. My name was Sandra Taylor does anyone remember me?? I lived next door to a pub and our friends owned it so we had good times there. Our friends the Waltons also owned the petrol station. oh those were the good old days. Any one else remember them?
The Castle School For Boys.
I was actually born in Middlesbrough in 1953, but being a bit of a handful in my life early life I was placed in certain boys' schools, one being The Castle School at Stanhope. My memories of my 3 yrs there are full of happiness and adventure.
I now try to recall some of the places that I remember but am finding it very hard to locate pictures. Has anyone out there got old pictures of the Wear Bridge that I seem to remember just behind the school, perhaps pictures of the old school itself, the cobble market place that I remember so clearly that used to host the small fun fair yearly, the old church on the hill? I would be so happy to hear from anyone with any info on these things, because Stanhope was a big part of my early life. I was there around 1963 to 1966.
THE CASTLE SCHOOL
I was at the Castle School in Stanhope from 1975-77, I was in Bewdley House and in Big Raby dorm, to me I have no good memories about the place to be honest. I thought it was an evil place, if the law was then as it is today many of the staff would have got a prison sentence after the violence went on there, I am only being honest. At the age of 14 I arrived at the Castle School at about 6pm, had some food, I think it was food, and then I was put straight to work polishing floors, the floor polish was put on so thick it was difficult to polish as you would be on hands and knees, if you stopped the staff would walkacross the front line and stand on your fingers. I remember one boy who hated Cauliflower Cheese and was made to eat it and he was sick, then he was made to eat his own vomit. I was feeling unwell and... Read more
Stanhope Boys Home.. A Horrible Place to Be.
I was in Crawly House in Stanhope Castle School from 1978-1981. My memories were not too good, it was a horrible place to be when you were 11 years old.
I visited Stanhope Home a year ago and it has been turned into flats, the school block looks like it had fallen down and is overgrown with weeds... which is probably the best thing for it!
I went on to Richmond Hill as Stanhope Home closed down. Richmond Hill was a really good home, a lot of activities and the food was good. The staff were ok, unlike Stanhope.
My 6 Years at Stanhope Castle
I have often wondered if I should one day be able to say what happened to me as a child during my 6 year stay at Stanhope. It was like living hell, yes the masters would have been prosecuted for abuse had it happened today. It was every bit as bad as the previous writer described and much worse. I once couldn't read what a master had written on the blackboard. For this I was slammed against the blackboard then told to circuit the lawn outside. I see that the very same weeping willow is still in the middle of it. I ran underneath it and prayed to God to make him stop beating me. This punnishment was repeated 4 times. I was covered in blood from my ears and nose. Nothing was done and you did not dare to complain. Another of their favourite punishments was to tie your fingers to your bootlaces, or they would put you in a corner, remove your trousers and beat you till you... Read more
The Castle School, Stanhope 1977-1980
I went to Castle School in 1977 till about 1980 and have some happy memories of the place. I was sent there because I was a handful at 11 years old, and no local school would take me! Some of the kids there came from really terrible family backgrounds, through no fault of their own, while some kids were just bad.
I wasn't happy being there at the time, but it got me an education, and got me away from the bad kids I knocked around with at home in Hartlepool. I was in Bewdley House, and the housemaster was called Mr O'Donavan. He was strict but fair, and knew and understood his kids. I talked to him in later years and he said I took to the countryside there like a duck to water, while some kids didn't like the area. True, there were some bad teachers there, but there were also some good ones as well. The school headmaster was called Mr Proud. He was strict, but could... Read more
