Leadgate, Front Street 1967
Leadgate, St Ives Road c1955
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Leadgate, County Durham
Leadgate maps
Historic maps of Leadgate and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Leadgate maps
Historic map of Leadgate
Illustrated Victorian map of County Durham
Historic Map of any Leadgate postcode
Memories of Leadgate
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I had lived in Leadgate since birth back in 1982 when we used to live on Dunelm Way. Back then Leadgate was a quiet little friendly village where everybody knew everybody. My Dads (David Parkin) half of the family lived close by and i remember going to my Grandma & Grandad's every saturday for tea on Dunelm Close. The shops where nearby on Front Street and had Happy Shopper with the Pet shop next door. Down the street was the Golden Lion pub which had a statue above the door of a golden lion, a little sweet shop i used to go in every day after school for a little treat of a quarter of sweets, bon-bons usually :-) . Next door was a ladies fashion shop and a butchers on the corner, i think it was called Fosters but i may be wrong...in fact i think its still there! Directly across the street there was a shop on the corner which always seemed to change. I remember it being a DIY shop last time i was there.
Up the other end of the street was Lesleys hairdressers where i remember my Dad taking me to get my first haircut (back when i thought Arnold Schwarzenegger was the bees knees, and subsequently asked for a flat-top to be like him he he) there was Klers Fish Bar, the owner had a sistinctive birth mark...if you have been there, you will know what i mean, nice chap too! They do the BEST fish and chips there ever!!!
On the odd occasion we would go up to Consett and check out the Saturday market or go to the Empire theatre house for the odd flick or two...GOOD TIMES!
My Dad recently moved to Ridley Terrace near Park Villas. Where he has an amazing view right across fields upon fields where you can see Pont-on-pike (im not sure if thats how you spell it, thats how i say it you see lol).
I now live in Blackpool and i miss Leadgate. I will never forget the place, its people and my old friends from there. Its a place where you feel you belong and im proud to say im from here.
Shared on 15 October 2008
Welcome to all.
Most of my life was spent in Leadgate where I enjoyed living. I moved to a beautiful village called Milborne Port near a nice town called Sherborne in Dorset. I am married to a beautiful women called Caroline who came from Farmborough. I have worked for a construction firm in Yeovil for 25 years.
I did make a lot of friends in Leadgate, I was still a member of Leadgate Club until a few years ago, I was a member for over 20 odd years. I used to live at Watling Bungalows. My dad William (Bill) Yallop lived with my brother Trevor at Dunelm Close (both deceased). My grandfather and grandmother also lived at Leadgate, Guy and Ethel Westall. My great grandmother also lived there, we called her Little Nanna, her surname was Ringer. My uncle Brian (Westall) and auntie Maureen (Bayles) lived in Leadgate.
I worked at Hounsgills Plate Mill (British Steel) for 5 years untill it closed down. I used to go drinking in the Sportmans Arms, Back O The Shaft and The Commercial. The lads at the time I was there, when we went to see Newcastle United play home and away or often sat on a bench outside Gordon's second hand shop drinking cider until opening time, the lads are Adrian Pooley(who I grew up with), Paul Watson, Paul Wilson, Steve and Frank Castleline, Kevin Toole, John Stelling (great times). I was also a paperboy for Les Temple (he would tell me off because I was waiting outside the shop for him to open so I could deliver my papers morning and evening, he would always say I was too early), a lovely man. The butchers on the corner used to sell great pork sandwiches and pease pudding!! It had a lot of pubs for a small village.
Everyone I knew, I hope they are all well.
Shared on 16 June 2008
I grew up in Leadgate and have many fond memories of the village. The shops - Les Temple's the newsagent, Oughton's fish and chips (later the bookies), Billy Pledger's 'Modern Hair Fashions' and his aunt's place Crosbie's selling knitting wools etc, Bousteads, Tilney's the post office (selling all kinds of goods from stamps to furniture) and, of course, Di Palma's who made and sold the best ice-cream in the world! There was Pace's chemist shop and Cecil Best the butcher and even a bank on the corner of Front Street and Watling Street.
The village has changed, as it must, but memories live on.
Shared on 10 January 2008
County Durham memories
I was born in 1934 and lived in Iveston for 18 years, leaving reluctantly in 1952. We first lived beside the duckpond, in the cottage attached to Letch Farm, run then or later by Mr and Mrs Harrison. Avis Harrison baked my wedding cake. We then lived on the village green across from the school where I started at the age of 5. The headmaster/teacher was a Mr Smith (there was only one teacher). I was only there for a year or so and then went to Leadgate School, but I remember we had slate pencils and slate boards to write on. The only other pupils I remember were Alma and Velma Bates, who were much older than me. Just above the school there was Cruddas's shop. We then moved to Parkers Buildings. I went to the chapel and was on the Anniversay service until I was 18.
Mostly I remember the farms. There was Bob Wright's on the other side of Bogle Hole, long gone with mining subsidence. Then Board arm (Joe Parker's) where I spent a lot of time. During the Second World War I used to go out with Joe with the milk float on a Saturday morning to deliver milk to Leadgate. Housewives came out with their jugs and cans and milk was served straight from the churn. The pony was called Hitler. Across from Board Farm was Townend Farm owned by Alf Bates. At one time during the war there was a squad of American servicemen based there. They used the dairy as a cookhouse and if we went to sit on the barn steps we were given papers of chips and other 'goodies'. When they left in convoy they all waved and tooted as they passed the house. Following on from there was the war memorial and then Tot Bates farm. My father built a garden for Mrs Bates at the front of the house. Also in later years Tot converted a small building into a cabin where Cecil Stirk used to come up once a week with his records and play them for us I remember listening to 'The Woodcutters' Ball' and 'Night Riders in the Sky' among others. I also remember listening to the broadcasts of the big fights on the radio there. Next was Best's, then down the hill to Kirkpatrick's, there was another farm at the bottom, then further on past Red Houses was Parky Bate's farm. We spent a lot of time on the farms helping with the haymaking and harvest. I remember being allowed to drive a Ford tractor at harvest time and also a Massey Ferguson. Smaller farms gathered in hay with horse and bogie, the pike being winched on to the bogie. Larger farms had tractors. There was also Woodside Farm on the Lanchester road which was run by George and Mary Robinson. During the war George had German P.O.Ws working on the farm and they used to make slippers and shopping bags from straw and sell them.
There was carol singing around the village and all the farms at Christmas, and an annual trip to the seaside, all organised by the Chapel. There were wonderful bonfires on Guy Fawkes Night on the village green.
I have snapshots taken at the 1937 Coronation celebration outside the Smithy (Tom Armstrong's, I think), and the village is decorated with bunting.
There was sledging down Bogle Hole and also the other side of the village down past Kilpatrick's to the Red Houses. Mind you, it was a long haul back up. I remember going across to the pools just below Happy Land to fish for frogspawn, and my father skating on the village pond when it was frozen. My father was born in Iveston. Mr grandfather, Kit Stockdale, lived at Stockerly Grove Cottage at the bottom of Bogle Hole, the one with the stone cat sat on the east gable.
Cruddas's shop just above the school was where we bought our penny peg bars. Mrs. Bainbridge (across from the Smithy) made toffee apples and cinder toffee during the war - if you took her a bar of chocolate she would make you the most amazing Easter egg. The New Inn was where when we were older we could buy crisps and bottles of pop. And I remember that the Motor Bike Scrambling Club was extremely popular.
I corresponded with and visited Mary Kipling (now deceased) who wrote a book on the history of Iveston and she would keep me informed of all the changes (she fought hard against most of them). The village I knew was a close-knit farming community. Now it is commuter-belt country, full of expensive properties and converted buildings. Where are all the farms, village chapel and school and the duckpond? I am amazed at the changes, and walking through it now is like visiting a foreign country. BUT memories never fade and I can close my eyes and visualise Iveston as it was in 'the good old days'.
Shared on 05 June 2009
Extracts From Leadgate & County Durham books
Displaying a selection of extracts from Frith books about Leadgate, inspired by Frith photos.
This wonderful photograph shows a beautiful convertible car, probably belonging to one of the landed gentry; the two delivery men enjoy a break whilst their horses tuck into their nosebags; and the little boy watches the cameraman at work. The spire of St Nicholas’s dominates the Market Place. In 1857 this Victorian church replaced an earlier church of St Nicholas, which dated from the 12th century - it had a tower. On the left, next to the Prudential Assurance building, is the Market Tavern, where the Miners Union was formed in 1871. In the foreground is the statue of Neptune on top of the octagonal pant (a northern word for a public fountain). Neptune was placed here in 1729 to symbolise an ambitious plan to turn Durham into an inland sea port; this would have resulted in the unthinkable - the joining of the rivers Tyne and Wear! Neptune’s neighbour is the statue of the 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, who owned collieries around Durham and also constructed Seaham Harbour in 1828. The statue was sculpted by Raphael Monti, who reputedly committed suicide following the discovery of a flaw in his creation. According to legend, Monti had boasted that his statue was perfect, but a blind beggar man was feeling in the mouth of the horse and discovered that it had no tongue.
This is an extract from Durham Photographic Memories.
Read more and see photos from this book.
Read more and see photos from this book.
Once a vital part of the city’s defences, the river in recent times has been used for more pleasurable purposes. Boating is a popular pastime, and the river is used by a variety of pleasure and competitive craft. In the foreground we see a couple of moored rowing boats that would be used to take lady friends for a gentle meander along the river on a fine, sunny afternoon, whereas on the river are a couple of skiffs that would be used for more competitive purposes.
This is an extract from Durham Photographic Memories.
Read more and see photos from this book.
Read more and see photos from this book.
After climbing through the narrow streets of Durham, we suddenly come upon a dramatic opening into the light and space of Palace Green, dominated by the awesome cathedral. This great space was created by Bishop Flambard at the beginning of the 12th century: he decided to demolish the clutter of wooden houses and the market place because of the potential fire hazard to the castle and cathedral.
This is an extract from Durham Photographic Memories.
Read more and see photos from this book.
Read more and see photos from this book.
