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Langley Park
Langley Park photos
Displaying the first of 4 old photos of Langley Park. View all Langley Park photos
Langley Park maps
Historic maps of Langley Park and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Langley Park maps
Langley Park area books
Displaying 1 of 3 books about Langley Park and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Langley Park
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Langley Park.
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Ma Petrie's Ice Cream Shop.
When I left school in 1956 all of the people of my sort of age congregated in Ma Petrie's ice cream shop. It was great, there was a juke box, with Jerry Lee Lewis, Pat Boone ,Elvis, Fats Domino, Lonnie Donnigan, Nancy Whisky.. I could name all the people that were in there at that time but they may not want me to do that. I can honestly say that all the lads were real uns, and all the girls were beautiful. Where are you all now? I hope you are all well, and some of you read this. There was a street of wooden houses straight opposite Petrie's shop and Paddy and me and a few others (I dare not name them yet, but would love to) had a great fight one night, just like the ones the cowboys have on the TV , where no one gets hurt and everyone enjoyed it. There are half a dozen of the lads who must remember this, and perhaps some of... Read more
Good Old Boys
I see when I read other peoples memories they often mention friends' names, so to try to provoke some response to my memories, Malcolm Riley, Paddy to most of his friends, and Peter Bunn, and the times we had together are imprinted in my mind, they enhanced my life.
Visiting Langley Park
Every summer I would go to stay with my mother's friend Clementine Burrell. Clemmie and her husband owned a small shop. I think it was on Front Street but not sure. I would be allowed to weigh the sugar and put it into blue bags. My grandparents were George and Elizabeth Johnson. They owned a newsagents shop which I think was on Quebec Street. My grandfather was a member of the Lanchester Rural Council for 26 years.
War Memorial
My family originates from Witton Gilbert and Langley Park. we left Witton about 1935 to live in Surrey. Langley Park war memorial has the name of my uncle John Robert Swinbank who died on the Somme in the first world war and my cousin William Heppell who was lost on H.M.S Barham in the second world war.
The Swinbank family lived at Hill Top, Esh. My maternal grandparents were Elizabeth and Thomas Greenwell of 12{?} Park View. , Witton Gilbert.
I have many happy memories of holidays spent visiting the l family.arge Swinbank
County Durham memories
Witton Gilbert, The War Memorial From The Woods c1955
The War Memorial stood at the bottom of what was called the "Camels Hump" in "The Dean" - a wild adventure playground for all us kids. The Hump was used for sledging down in winter and rolling down in summer. At the top of the picture behind the trees was the vicarage paddock, this was where as members of the 1st Witton Gilbert Cub and Scout group we us to play football/cricket/make fires etc.
At the bottom of the picture the "brook" - a stream running down through the village from "Barneys' Field" went underground in a culvert to emerge at the start of the Dean (I believe there was the remains of an old house? here).
Not A Very Nice Story
My great-great-grandfather, John Mingins, was a tailor living in Witton Gilbert with his family. Unfortunately, in December 1853 an Irish navvy, Michael O'Brien, picked a fight with John outside the butcher's shop and consequently John was injured and died one week later. Michael O'Brien was found guilty of manslaughter at Durham Assizes and I assume he served the appropriate sentence. I live in East Anglia but intend to make a pilgrimage to Witton and would love to see some early photos of it.
WITTON GILBERT, THE WAR MEMORIAL
I remember this photo well as I was born and brought up in Witton Gilbert. I was born in 1949 in Cheviot House at the bottom of Greens Opening, a very short walk from the Dene. I went to the "Tin School" which was the Infants school and now forms part of the by-pass which desecrated the village. I was told there had been a murder in the house in the dene which is why it was left to go derelict. "Barneys Field" was named after my grandfather Barney King - a farmer in the village who, in the 1950's could be seen daily delivering milk to the folk of the village with his trusty retired pit pony named Toby. We kids played regularly in the dene and swam in the Browney and scrumped many an apple from the vicars orchard.
