High Street 1956, Gosforth
High Street 1956, Gosforth Ref: G125008
Memories of High Street 1956, Gosforth
Growing up in Gosforth 1960-1980
I am young enough to remember Gosforth as a thriving High Street and as a boy buying models from Boydells and my first singles from Woolworths, getting the 45 back and forth with my older brother to go to school too - we were 7 and 8. Witnessing the carnage as traffic volumes and lack of parking killed off many of the shops which became building societies, estate agents and shops full of bric-a-brac. After two decades of traffic congestion I believe the High Street is once again becoming a focal point for the community. At the top of this shot in the rain I shunted my mum's brown Mini into the back of a VW Beetle on my first 'accident.' I'd been driving for less than a year. At the age of 8 or so I narrowly escaped being flattend by a white Rover whilst cycling across a junction after the lights had changed. I'm still here!
Shops I Have Loved...
I grew up in Bath Terrace in the early 1960s and the photo of Wilkinsons brought back memories of its pre-supermarket days of high dark wood counters, butter in barrels and the smell of roasting coffee. Pumphreys with the pastel coloured sugars and exotic coffee beans, Moods where I bought a first gift for my mother of a tiny china cat in a woven basket (I still have it), Thorpes the hardware shop which I think is still there....I have the family's first electric Xmas tree lights we bought from there! They still work and have never needed a new bulb! Paradise slices from Robson and Porteous, wonderful creamcakes and Shrewsbury biscuits from the delectable Smythes, sweets and the first soft ("Tastee-Freez") ice cream from Hennells, Arkles the butchers where huge knives were wielded so noisily on the wooded butcher's block that my little brother and I were scared to go in. Henderson's the greengrocer, the Royalty cinema of course endlessly playing the Shadows' "Wonderful Land" between items. The Toddle... Read more
Gosforth & local memories
Read and share memories of Gosforth and Tyne and Wear inspired by Frith photos.
