Happy Childhood Memories

A Memory of Wallsend.

I was raised in Rosehill, Wallsend and was born at The Green in 1944. We lived at the top of Rose Bank and I went to the Central Infants and Junior Schools then to the Stephenson Memorial Secondary Modern in Howdon. We lived in a very small terrace house but as my parents divorced in the early 1950's there was only my mother and I so the house, although still tiny even for two people, was a happy place. I remember always having friends of the family calling in and quite a few of my relatives lived within two or three streets in the area. I remember doing some of my Mam's shopping on The Turnpike (Tynemouth Road) or in Wallsend at the Co-op etc. Saturday afternoons at the Lyric Cinema in Howdon and special treats on holidays meant going to a movie in Newcastle and at Christmas going to see a Pantomime at the Theatre Royal. Rosehill was a safe place for us kids to grow up in. Handy for town and for open fields to play on (now built over), and of course The Burn where we spent many happy hours. Going to the 'Shows' at Easter time down the Burn was always fun. Riding our bikes down to the coast and taking picnics of jam and bread with a bottle of Tizer! My Grandparents (who lived in the next street) attended St. Peter's Church and I often went with them, but I went to the Methodist Chapel on Willington Terrace for Sunday School! Memories of playing in the street with lots of other children with no worry about the traffic as there was hardly any! When I was 16 we were given a council flat in the new flats being built on the Coast Road. Even though it was only about ten minutes walk from Rosehill it felt like a totally different place! I also have great memories of being a teenager in the area including going to the dances at 'The Mem' (Memorial Hall) in Wallsend and also to the dances and clubs in Newcastle. I came to live in Canada at age 21, but I go home as much as I can and even though Wallsend has changed a lot it still brings back fond memories. (My maiden name was Smith). Thanks for the opportunity to share memories of home.

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