Station Road 1951, Newburn
Station Road 1951, Newburn Ref: N59001
Memories of Station Road 1951, Newburn
The Main Shopping Area of Newburn
I was 12 yrs old when this picture was taken and I remember it very well. The photo was taken from the war memorial looking down to the railway station, the footbridge is clearly visible in the centre of the picture. On the left of the photo the building was a bank, I believe it was Lloyds but being penniless we didn't have a bank account. Following on down the street the first shop was Proudlocks the drapers - further down was the billiard hall owned by an Italian family - Marchetti who also owned the adjacent ice cream shop where Mr Marchetti made the ice cream on the premises, his son Dino ran the billiard hall of which I was a frequent visitor. Next building down was the cinema (The Imperial) showing a new film every 2 days with 2 separate performances and one showing on a Sunday. Our favourites were Saturday morning matinees where we would enjoy such films as Superman (not the Christopher Reeves version).
On the... Read more
Newburn & local memories
Read and share memories of Newburn and Tyne and Wear inspired by Frith photos.
J.T.BELLS
This is the year I started on the building sites in 1963, I got a job on J. T. Bell's site in Whickam, the site hadn't been running long then as it was in the first stage. All the lads were mainly from Newburn, Lemington, and Throckley. If you needed a job more than likely you would go to the Union Jack Club on Hexham Road, Throckley where the McDonna brothers had their foothold and big Hughie was the main man for a job as he was Mr Bell's top man. I started on the Mixers along with an old school pal, John Hogg from Lemington, who had a BSA 500 motorbike and he used to pick me up at old Scotswood bridge because we started at 7.30am along with Davey Crow the tractor driver. Ali Newton and little Jackie Cock Ryan who were on the concrete mixers started the same time, the reason being John and me would get the batches of mortar out for the brickies coming in... Read more
COOKSONS LEADWORKS PART 2
1965. During my time working here I carried out a number of different jobs, one was to make Zinc ingots, my shift would start with my furnace fired up and there next to it would be my "charge" this would be a pile of old Zinc ornaments the sort you will see on antiques road show now, there was every size of every subject, some damaged some not, we were allowed to buy stuff that came in at scrap value but these ornaments were not in favour. I remember buying brand new pans that came in straight from the factory as seconds with maybe a scratch or a small dent these were purchased for small change through the accounts office. Another job I did was working on the baler, this was a three man team on two 12 hour shifts night and day, I became the charge hand in our team. The baler was a huge press about 6 feet long 2 feet wide and 2 feet deep it had... Read more
COOKSONS LEAD WORKS PART 1
1965. Wes and me got back from the Smoke wi nought and needed a job, he got started at the leather works on Scotchy Road and I got started at the Lead Works which is now the site of the Arena. There were two sides to this place, the lead smelting side and the aluminium smelting side, I got into the aluminium side which pleased me as the lead side was a bit naughty with all the fumes and protective clothing including masks. There was a permanent nurse there who would take blood every month to check your count and if there was any sign of lead in your blood you were sacked, the get out clause was if you had it you were not wearing your mask. I knew quite a few people who were sacked and went back a few months later when clear and got their job back. The aluminium side had its drawbacks as well, we were on 12 hour shifts and I had a smelting... Read more
What we Ate
Eeh! Remember potted meat? You could eat it as it was or put it on bread for a sandwich, where is it now? Then there was dripping which was quite solid and spread like margarine on your bread for sandwiches. I worked in Leeds on the university in the late 1960s and early 1970s and when I got there I never had digs, my pal Tommy Bishop from the west end was with me so I called to see my Aunt Lilly and Uncle Jack who lived in Gipton and stayed there for a week till we got sorted. Yes! You're right, we got dripping and bread for our bait off her for a full week. Tommy found it disgusting but it wasn't that bad when you got plenty salt on it. Licorice root was lovely, you could chew it forever, in fact I got some of this recently at a chemist in Wylam but it didn't taste the same. Christmas was a great time to get some exotic fruit... Read more
OFF TO THE SMOKE PART 2
1964: While working here we would go to two different pubs in Southgate, one at each end of the high street, it was in these pubs we met a local group of lads and lasses who were from very wealthy backgrounds, and they all took a shine to us. We were from totally different backgrounds and we must have seemed like a couple of aliens who had landed in their midst with a language very hard to understand. The main lad called Dave was going out with a girl called Sue and they were forbidden to see each other as he was about 20 and she was still at school aged 14. They used to borrow our little cabin now and then (what do you mean why). We were in the pub one Friday night straight from work, with the wellies and all, as we had been concreting that day. The gang were going down Ladbroke Grove to some posh house where there was a party. We said "Hang on... Read more
THE DELTA
This memory of 1961, and me and me pal Wes Coulthard started work at the Delta Rolling Mills (this was over Scotswood Bridge towards Blaydon, left along the river by the Skiff Inn). It was hard work but the dosh was better than other places. We started on the East Mill which rolled flat bars maybe up to 60 feet long when finished through the process of the rolling.
I remember Phil and Lennie Scott who were brothers, Gambo, whose name was Eddie, Alan Bingham keep fit lad, Chappers, Ted, Geordie Ray, Junior Armstrong, Snoz Holmes,and a couple of others who slip my mind at the moment, the furnace men, and Jackie, our foreman who was a powerfully built man with bandy legs. As time has passed by some are no longer here, Wes and me were living Longbenton at this time and used to get the 61 bus from Scotswood bridge to go home along Scotswood road with a crowd of Elswick lads, not before calling into the... Read more
CHRISTMAS
This is about Christmas Day 57 years ago, and how things have changed, even though we had nowt it was still a very exciting time, as it is now, but money was tight and we could only have the presents that each family could afford, what I mean by this is there wasn't such a thing as credit like today, when you buy now pay later. We always had our stockings on the end of the bed, filled with nowt fancy, just a handful of nuts, a few sweets, an orange and apple and maybe a tanner (silver sixpence) if you were lucky. The crackers were hand-made as were the decorations, or streamers as they were known then, paper chains were a favourite. We would sit for hours making these in front of the coal fire on long winter nights, the glue was a bit of flour and water mixed. Then there was the alcohol, home-made of course, Ginger Wine and Ginger Beer from the ginger beer plant that every... Read more
NEWBURN SHOPS
As I told you, in Millfield there was only one shop, 'Jacksons', and two houses, Sewells and Gribbles, both in Victoria Terace where they turned their front parlour into shops. Sewells was run by Anne Veitche's mother, a nice lady, who lived straight opposite in Albert Terrace. All main shoppping was done in Newburn. There were two shops on Warkworth Crescent, Coffees and Lewins who I believe were related. I can't remember who ran which but one was a little general dealers and the other was a wool shop, I'm sure this was Lewins, anyway I was forever in the wool shop getting stuff for me ma who was always knitting. When Christmas was just around the corner the wool shop had an Aladdin's Cave downstairs, set out with all the latest toys, but he never let us down on our own, I can still picture the scene, and the smell of the new toys. I remember buying my jeans from here and new ones had come on the market,... Read more
School Uniform And Schooldays
This was 1958 the time when I seriously got into drainpipes, drapes and rock 'n roll music. I was at Walbottle Secondary Modern School. I used to take in the leg width of my jeans by hand using a needle and thread to make them as tight as I could get them, and I went to school with these drainpipes on and a Donegal jacket, along with black crepe shoes with white bars of music on the front, along with a red jumper with a white and black music bar across the front which me Ma knitted for me. It wasn't long before Mr Turnbull the Head got wind of me, as anyone who was in the assembly hall that day will tell you. Assembly had just finished and we were about to be dismissed when a strange request by the head was made for everyone to sit on the floor. "What's going on?" was the mumbling heard throughout. Then, the head boy was asked to go up on to... Read more
ON THE FARM
This is a memory of about 1960. I had left the pit and started work on Lowrisons farm in Westerhope, there were two houses, one was at the bottom of West Avenue next to the park. This is where John Lowrison lived with his sister Betty, she was a Personel Officer with Clark Chapman. Betty never married, nor did John. He ran the farm with his other sister Sylvia who was married to Roger Contel who owned Contels fruit shops and they lived in a big house at the top of Beaumont Terrace next to the Bridal Path. They had a son also called Roger who was a few years younger than me and we became great friends, he's sadly not with us any more, neither are his parents. The farm grew vegetables, cabbages, cauliflower and limited lettuce, and it covered a lot of area right down to where Jollyes pet shop is, then the other way was down to Hotch Puddin farm in West Denton. I loved every minute... Read more
FIRST JOB
It was 1958 and I had just left school at Walbottle Secondary. Me and my best pal Wes Coulthard (who I'm sad to say has since passed away) went on our first holiday together before starting down the Pit. We went with his parents Jimmy and Polly to Middleton Towers in Morcambe, it was just like a Butlins camp and bye, did we have some fun. Then that over with, it was the Pit, we started doing training at Wheatslade Colliery which was for 16 weeks' experience, part in the classroom and part down the pit. We had to get a bus from Newburn to town, then a bus to Hazelrigg Road ends and walk to the pit along Sandy Lane. This lasted 8 weeks, then it closed as a training site so we got transferred to Seaton Burn, I enjoyed it there as there were ponies, and guess who came out top of the class with these? Wes and me were courting two lasses from Rye Hill, Joan and... Read more
REDIFFUSION
Rediffusion: about 1958 and onwards. This bombshell hit us like nought else, it meant no interference on our wireless. No more tuning in every ten minutes or so. It was A. B. C. D. E. F. You knew Radio Luxembourg was the station for pop, but it was hell to get on a normal set, we would sit with our hand on the knob and ear to the speaker resetting the dial. But with good old Rediffusion it was crisp and clear. And Sunday night was the night for the top twenty. If I remember right, it started about 7 o'clock. Another great programme to listen to was Workers Playtime Wilfred Pickles was the host and give em the money Mable was his co partner, they hosted these shows in factory's up and down the country on a dinner break. Then we had Billy Cotton on a Sunday with his show Wakey! Wakey! which he used to shout at the top of his voice, Billy was a band master.
Then... Read more
CLIPPIE MATS
It was 1947 and I had just started school at Newburn infants, I was only four and a half, I can still remember me Ma crying when she left me, she should have been clapping her hands. There I was in a lovely knitted jumper - me Ma was a great knitter and my job was sitting in front of the coal fire holding a hank of wool, arms in rhythm with me Ma winding it into a ball. Bah, some of them hanks went on for ever. We also used to make clippie mats in the sitting room, with a piece of hessian tensioned between lumps of wood, and the clippins were bits of coloured rag cut into small pieces, then we had our proggers, these would be used to plunge the clippin through the hessian and back in a loop out the top. This wasn't done just any how, chalk was used to mark a pattern on the hessian, all kinds of inventive sketches were made and the... Read more
THE SALES
It was about 1956. John Sample had started to change with the times and bought himself a pick up truck, him, 'Auld Jimmy' and me went to the horse sales at Gateshead just over the bridge, and I cannot for the life of me remember if it was the High Level or the Redheugh. They went to buy a horse, which they did, and it was my job to bring him home, they bought this poor sad horse showing its bones and saddle sores, it had obviously been ill treated so they left me with a rope halter to make my way back on the five mile trek. Normally I would be on its back like a shot, but he was a bit skitterish because of the bridge so I waited until we got to the other side. Once over, I did the normal thing of getting him near a bit of a slope so I could use this as a step up, I grabbed his mane and was about... Read more
SAMPLES YARD
I used to live a few doors from auld Jimmy Sample and his wife Carrie, his son John was married to June and they lived in Francis Terrace. They had their rag and bone yard down the Winnin, anyway I would spend summer nights, weekends and holidays down there. Early morning before school I would be up knocking at Jimmy's door, out he would come with Gyp the fawn greyhound that went on the cart with him. I once saw this dog chase after a balloon which had escaped from the cart, catch it in his mouth and bring it back without bursting, this happened in the top buildings in Throckley. Anyway, he would give me a couple of slices of bread and a rope halter and then off we would go. He was always dressed the same way, with his neckerchief on, a big belt round his trousers, trouser braces, a waistcoat, brown cord trousers and his hands hanging on the lapels of his coat. We would walk through... Read more
BEST DROP
It was about 1953. Saturday afternoon was a great day down at the Imperial picture house in Newburn. Roy Rogers and Trigger, Gene Autry with his guitar and six guns, Flash Gorden with his ray gun, Batman and his cape. I remember an older lad than us called Wee Wee Reed, he had bright ginger hair, anyway Batman had been on and when we came out Wee Wee put his black Burberie mack, tied the sleeves around his neck and ran down to the station railway bridge with all us in his trail, he stood up on the top girder and jumped, shouting "ME BATMAN", hit the waiting room hut and broke his legs. Johnny Weissmuller played Tarzan then and I joined his fan club, I used to get a birthday card from him every year and the only reason they stopped was cos a moved away and a was 17 by then. Good auld Johnny yi never forgot me.We would come out and walk up Hareside path past the... Read more
KNOCKIE NINE DOORS
This is about 1951 and Millfield Lane was opposite the allotments and the clay field. On the dark nights we would tie thread to the door knockers and lead it across the road and up the bank to a grassy hollow where we could see but not be seen from the houses, then a sharp tug on the thread would bring a puzzled face to the door, a couple of knocks on the same door would have us in hysterics. Then we came up with the idea to tie two adjacent doors together by the door knobs with string, knock on the doors and vanish back into our grassy hollow. The people had to walk around from the back street to open the doors. Buzzers! We would stuff the bottom of the iron rainwater pipes with newspaper and light it, once it got going the noise was a loud buzzing drone. Sorry every body!!
On the back street of Francis Terrace there was a footpath leading past the gable ends... Read more
Sally Bash
This was about 1954. The Salvation Army was a large hut on Millfield bank, they did lovely pie and pea suppers now and again for about threepence. Every Sunday evening from six till about seven the Salvation Army band would play on the corner next to Lloyd's Bank. I was enthralled with the musical instruments and decided I wanted to learn how to play one of these, so I joined the band. I went along to band practice and Mr Hurst who was the band master, and Captain if I remember right, gave me a cornet to learn on, but no matter how much I tried to do the scale my cheeks blew out. This wasn't good enough for Captain Hurst, you just didn't puff your cheeks out with a cornet, so he gave me this very large trumpet which you 'had to blow your cheeks out'. I was allowed to take it home and bring it back for band practice once or twice a week. I seemed to be... Read more
ACCUMULATORS
This would be about 1950. Radio was the in thing, me Nanna and Granda had one that was powered by an accumulator, this was a square glass jar with two elements inside connected to two terminals on the top which would fit and connect in the back of wireless. When the power ran down I would walk from Millfield to Newburn, Walkworth Crescent to be precise, where I would exchange this for a charged one (as you would do now with your car battery). This man had all kinds going on in his front parlour, he would also repair bikes and wirelesses etc. Saturday night was the night 'Dick Barton Special Agent' was on, everybody crowded around the radio for this one.
Lotto was a game that was taking a hold about now and on certain nights people would gather in certain houses to play, sitting wherever there was room. The kitchen, which also held a bath, which in turn had a hinged piece of timber over it to make... Read more
NEOLITH
This was around 1968 and I lived in 21 Millfield Lane. I got auld Mrs Bradney's downstairs flat and me Nanna lived in No. 25, so nice and handy to pop in for a cuppa and a chat as me Ma in Da in two sisters had moved to Pegswood, Morpeth through being transferred from Loughbride drift in Callerton to a mine in Ashington. There was a lucrative company in Millfield / Newburn, the Neolith factory. It had a top factory which was in part of old Spencer's steel works and a bottom factory which was in the old rope works which is now Pringles scrapyard. They made insulation slabs for the construction industry, these would form walls, flat roofs etc, they were made from wood wool which is fine planed logs mixed with chemicals and cement, they came out of the process all shapes to be dried and hardened. Wes started first and I followed on, him at the bottom yard and me at the top yard so we... Read more
First Holiday
This was around 1950. Me Ma had a sister who was my Aunt Lilly, she married a Yorkshire man from Leeds who was my Uncle Jack and they had one daughter called Jean who was a year or so older than me and they lived in Gipton, Leeds (I've mentioned them before). Every summer holiday they would come up and stay at me Nanna and Granda's. They would come up by train, steam of course in those days, then get the bus from central station to bottom of Millfield Bank and that was a chore carrying luggage up there. I always got excited waiting for them to arrive and would sit outside Jacksons shop at the top of the bank waiting for them to appear, then run and greet them and help with luggage. They would stay for two weeks and always complained that they couldn't get much sleep with the steel works steam hammer going all night, we were used to this and couldn't understand what the fuss was... Read more
Albert Terrace, Newburn
I remember Edie Veitch as I was born in Albert Terrace, Newburn. She was more my grandma's age (Nan Tulip), and they also lived close together in Tillmouth Park Road. My Great Aunt and Uncle (Doris and Billy Tait) used to have card nights on a Sunday and I'm sure they all joined in - along with Nan Stamp and Anne Liddle. My memories of Victoria & Albert Terrace are quite vague, as I also moved to Throckley when the houses were demolished in 1963 or thereabouts. What I do remember is the outside toilet, scullery kitchen, tin bath in front of the fire and five of us in one bedroom. I also rememer the Salvation Army playing in the street on Sundays and Ken from the Co-op coming around to take the orders for delivery. He carried a brown case, which always contained sweets for sale. I played for hours down at the Winning beside Sample's yard, beside the little stream.
THE NEWBURN BRIDGE
I remember nicking pears from the trees at the Retreat then going under newburn bridge to hide and eat them, there were a few of us, our Clem, our David (David Liddle), Hughie Williams, Doreen Milne, Billy Milne. The ledge we used to stand /sit on wasn't very wide, trying to pass someone was suicidal, when I think about it now, somebody was watching over us. We also used to walk over the top of the bridge that wasn't very wide either, phew! There wasn't much traffic then but if a car did go across when you were walking across the top it used to shake. I must have been very brave or very mad. Another time just crossing the bridge to get to the Ryton side, again I was with the usual crowd, we were in about the middle of the bridge, there was this big piece of rope tied in several knots onto the side of the bridge, I started to untie it, I had just... Read more
OFF TO THE SMOKE PART 1
Wes Coulthard and me decided to go to the smoke to try our luck,this was early sixties. Wes had worked in London before for a building company called Higgs & Hill so we decided to give it a go as we had just been laid off. It was a warm Friday and we set ourselves up on the Tyne Bridge with our rucksacks, I had the Stones written in indelible ink emblazoned all over mine and Wes had the Animals on his. We started thumbing a lift and in no time our luck was in, two lads gave us a lift as far as Nottingham. We must of got there in the evening so we decided to stay the night and slept upstairs on a bus on the back seat in the bus depot. It was early in the morning that we were startled by someone there, it was this huge black woman who was the cleaner, all we could see were her big white eyes, I don't know who... Read more
Sewells Sweet Shop
I'm trying to trace my Family Tree and have found this website whilst browsing the internet for memories, photos etc about Newburn in the 1950s. My Nanna, Edith Veitch apparently ran a sweet shop (Sewells). My Mam was Ann Veitch her Sister was my Auntie Stella. I don't remember Newburn as we moved upto Throckley after I was born in 1962 into the new maisonettes on Tillmouth Park Road. It would be great if anyone could share their memories of that time in Newburn or if they knew my Nanna or Mam. My Dad was called Richard Clifton.
I'm A Millfielder
I was born in 1944 at 52 Millfield Crescent, my nana's house, Mrs Liddle. I lived in Millfield till 1963. I was part of Jimmy's gang, I remember doing most of the things that Jimmy did. Saturday matinees there used to show 3 different pictures, first was a cartoon, then a cowboy picture, or fatty and skinny (Laural & Hardy 2 b p.c.) then the serial 'Flash Gordon', or whatever, we got our money's worth, I think it was about a tanner (if you didn't sneak in). I remember going to the evening pictures with my friend Doreen Milne to watch 'White Christmas', I was about 7/8. There used to be 2 pictures on, the little picture, then the big picture, and there was 2 houses, the 1st house was for us kids, the 2nd house was for older ones, us kids had to sit in the first 3 rows, when the picture finished Wally would throw us kids out. This night I enjoyed 'White Christmas' so much I sneaked... Read more
NEWBURN SHOPS
About 1953 onwards. I wrote this out a while ago and somehow it got lost, I know Rob Blackburn read it as he left a comment, so I will try and recall as much again. In Millfield we only had a couple of house shops one was Meggie Gribbles who took over from her parents and the other was Sewells which was run by Mrs Vietch who lived over the road in Albert Terrace, she had a daughter called Ann who was friend of mine as we were the same age and went to the same schools. Ann used to help out when her mam wanted a break and a still paid the same price for me bullets no matter who was on, these were both at each end of Victoria Terrace. Jackson's grocers was a proper shop at the top of the bank, but any serious shopping was done in Newburn. Ive come back to add this in as I had forgot about this shop, it was on the... Read more
Spencer And Sons Ltd
Spencers made the largest steel plate in the world, it was for the liner the 'Mauretania', diameter 13 feet 4ins.
Ferry
Matthew Kirton, owner of Walbottle brick works, used to arrange for this river ferry to take Sunday School and other outings down river to North Shields and back, the ferry was called 'Blue Bonnet'.
Boat House
These are the years when the boat house was flooded, 1771 1832, 1850. They are still marked outside of the boat house. And in 1798 George Stephenson worked at the Water Row colliery.
Duke of Northumberland
On August the 11th 1973 Councillor Conway presented the 10th Duke of Northumberland with the peppercorn rent of a red rose for the use of land near the library on which was the rose park opened July 28th 1956.
Newburn Bridge
On September 2nd 1947 the 1983 Newburn bridge was the last bridge on the Tyne to be freed of tolls. Dan Dowson and Dick Browell led Northumberland and Durham County councillors over to mark the occasion.
Newburn Church
There used to be a friend of the famly called Susie Handcock, she worked as the cleaner at the church, as she was cleaning inside near the altar a piece of plaster fell and underneath was a lovely painting of Saint Michael and All Angels. I was at a wedding there last year, and I saw it must have been covered up, if so that's a shame, unless it was destroyed in the fire. At one time Susie was supposed to have found a tunnel running from the church to the Boathouse pub, but I can't say if this was true or not as the story was passed down to me.
TAB PACKETS
I was eleven in this year 1954 and me and the lads were by this time avid collectors of anything, tab packets was top of most lists, we would scour the streets and gutters wherever we went for that elusive cardboard. The bins behind the Conservative Club proved quite lucrative, so was outside the Imperial Pictures, especially if there was an epic film on and the queue was long, as soon as the doors opened I would be there following behind, eyes darting left to right. Here are a few names to jog your memory, easy ones first. Senior Service, Players, Capstan, and Capstan full strength, which I later found out to be the hardest tab to finish, by, was it harsh, Woodbines for the Geordies and it was Players Weights for the Cockneys, Kensistas, Craven A, Black Cat, Turf with its cards but that's another line. Piccadilly, Passing Cloud, Pasha, Camel by these honked, Gold Leaf, Three Castles, Four Squares, Gold Flake, Du Maurier, Pall Mall, Three Threes State... Read more
Long Lost Memories
I was born in Dilston, Hexham as most were from that time. But lived in Millfield 400 yards behind where that photo was taken. Then moved to the white city as it was called, in Throckley. I now live on the coast in Kent, but was there in May 2009. The first things I remember of that street, was my mother taking me to the bingo hall. That is this there on the left hand side, then getting chips across the road. Nardini's if I remember right....... more memories soon Thomas Wilson (Tosh)
Millfield Crescent
I lived in 88 Millfield Crescent
THE PECKING ORDER
I was fourteen in this year and I had been at Walbottle School about a year. I had teamed up with two mates, one was Tony Grey from Lemington who dressed like me and we were into the same music. One of the sayings at that time was "Cool" that's the category we liked to think we fell into, the other lad from Newburn was my mate 'Ginger Broon', or Derek Brown, he was a big fella with bright ginger hair, his face covered in freckles and he wore the prevailing black burberry mack. A total contrast to me but he was my mate, he was a strong lad so a welcome mate in the face of danger. There was gang from Throckley who didn't take kindly to our cool look and one day in the toilets we were attacked by this lot, Dave Danskin who was the hard lad amongst them, Wes Coulthard, Brian Young, Joe Curry, Billy Freestone, and probably a few others whose names escape me. Never... Read more
DUFFERS
We are in year 1955 and I'm sure you older ones from around here will remember what Duffers were, this was a task game where all the gang joined in. We had different modes which would take our fancy, pole vaulting was where we would cut a length of tree, dress it up and use it for a number of duffers, like down the burn we would pole vault in different widths of the burn without falling in, well not on all occasions. Then we would go on Millfield Crescent Front Street which was divided between the two crescents, one even numbers and one odd. Anyway they had a walled garden around each terrace flat, all bare or full of grass or weeds. One side was about five feet high while the other was only three feet with a path between, say 10 feet. We would work our way up the street from the high side to low then back down low to high, this took some doing as you... Read more
The Local Dances And Playing Pool
In the mid 1950s to early 1960s there were local dance halls, one at Newburn which was down Station Road, take a left towards the bridge and it was just there on the left side opposite the level crossings near enough. It was a wooden hut as far as I can remeber, I was too young to get in but I would peer in the windows. There were always fights with rival gangs from Blaydon, Ryton, Stella, Blutcher, Throckley etc. There was also a dance at Blucher that got closed down on a couple of occasions due to the fights. Then there was the dance upstairs in the Ord Arms next to Scotchie Bridge. Winlaton dance was also a good place for a fight. I'm talking fisticuffs, not weapons. One dance in Stamfordam was good, they did a canny Bradford Barn as they all did at the end of the night, but it was a canny walk home if you missed the last bus, as did many. Forest Hall was... Read more
Pea-Shooter And Buses
It was about 1953 when we discovered pluffers and ca caws. The pluffer was a device we used for a pea-shooter shooter, this was a straight stem from a weed and it was about an inch or so in diameter, hollow through the centre and collected from Millfield tip where they grew in abundance. We would cut a length measuring about a foot and load our mouths up with the ammo, IE the ca caws. These were the berries from the hawthorn bush. Where the names 'pluffer' and 'ca caws' came from is beyond me, but they worked a treat and cost nowt, as did most of the things we used, but after an hour or so your lips used to swell up, I am sure it was from the pluffer off the tip rather than the ca caws. The (Gatty) catapult was chosen from the Y in a branch off a tree, but the square black lackie (elastic) had to be got from a shop in Blaydon, it was... Read more
TRAGEDIES
It was around 1952 when these tragic accidents happened to to two Millfield families. I remember the day as plain today as it was then. A little boy had fallen into the Dewley Burn and drowned, his mother was Edna Clues who lived at the end of Millfield Crescent. Everyone was out in the back lane with horrified expressions, some crying, others consoling each other. What this poor woman must have been going through, she was in the street absolutely hysterical. I remember tears rolling down my face, she wasn't a relative but everybody knew everybody, in fact in the nine terrace streets I could name who lived in which house, that's how close-knit the families were. The next accident happened at the Tress Engineering works which was on an industrial estate over the back of the old rope works. The estate is still there now but the Tress is long gone. Lots of the local lads were employed there. Anyway, there were big concrete holding ponds there, about twenty... Read more
RYTON WILLOWS AND THE TIDAL STONE
It was about 1957 and before, when the Willows was a place to picnic on a Saturday and Sunday afternoons. It was a very popular place, with the Shuggy boats and the river to play in, and there were houseboats galore tied up on the bank side. Rumour has it that there was a brothel on one of these boats.
In years gone by there were ice games on the pond there, but I can't recall this, but what I do recall was when Tommy Watt and his friend, who were both at school, took a houseboat for a joy ride and sailed it down the river. They were nearly at sea before the river bobbies caught them. They were on the front page in the local paper with reports about the two 'pirates' in one way or another and making great fun of the situation.
Do you know of the Tidal Stone which is situated on the Newburn side? Go west past Moor Court, follow the path close... Read more
Newburn / Millfield Memories
Coming back to this site, I was so glad to read the memories that Jimmy Burrows has added for Newburn & Millfield. His memories was just a lttle before mine but the areas are so vivid in my mind of when I was a kid. I had 3 aunts that lived in Millfield Lane - Chrissy - married to Dicky Done, Patsy - married to John Crossan and Rita (Loretta) - married to Joe Calinski. I remember well Bernard and Dougie. Another lady I remember was Lidia, she used to look after me some days. My Mam worked at Spencers, she used to bring me across the school field from Conniston Avenue in the mornings to my Aunty Chrissy's, where I used to have breakfast before I went off to Newburn Manor School. On a really good morning, my Uncle Dicky used to take me up to his allotment - before the flats were built - where we'd lay siege to those bloody slugs who used to have a good... Read more
WHAT WENT ON
This is from about the 1950s. Along Grange Road was a huge piggery and it was owned by the Liddle family, by, did it pong. Further along you came to the railway crossing with the sign STOP, LOOK, LISTEN in red, this was where the steam train leaving Newburn passed going west. Over the line was Newburn football club which used to draw a canny crowd, then further on was the Big Lamp Brewery, this was where the water works was and our local Waterman lived in a house there, he was called Mr Bell. He would travel around the area with his water key etc on his motor bike and side car, this wasn't one to sit in as it had a lid on it and was for his tools etc. Further on was Salmon Cottage a large detached house in a field, it sounds idyllic but it wasn't far from the local tip where we would rummage on occasions. Next to this was Newburn Reith which stretched up... Read more
ME DA AND MA
Me Da and Ma.
This is about 1949. Me Da came from Clara Vale and grew up there in 1 West View (which was a small two bedroom stone cottage) with Granda and his six brothers, Billy, Bobby, Joe, twins Jim and John and Eddy who was the youngest. Me Granda was originally from Crawcrook and his name was Cecil Daniel Burrows, me Da was named after him. Me Grandma Annie, nee Parker, who I never knew, died giving birth to a little girl which they both had longed for, sadly the baby died as well so me Granda brought up seven sons who were all at Clara pit. I remember being the only nephew with six uncles and me Da took me over, usually on a Sunday. Bah! Did I get some pocket money. We used to get a bus to Scotswood Bridge then catch the Adventure bus to Clara, as we got over old Scotswood Bridge I remember passing the dog racing track with a big fence around... Read more
Millfielders
I remember falling off a bike on Millfield Crescent when I was about 7 or 8 and I had a really bad knee injury, there was no going to hospitals in those days though, it was Kit Bateman, a first aider at the pit, who mended me and bandaged me up, I still have a big scar on me knee to this day. There were two women who lived in Francis Terrace who never saw eye to eye, Polly Kane and Hilda Robson, they would have shouting matches at each other the length of the street, as one lived near the top and the other at the bottom, every one could hear them and the language was an education in itself! There was an old fellow lived on Millfield Lane called Spar Gray who only ever said "Merry Christmas", you could say "Good morning" to him and he would only ever reply "Merry Christmas" - it's the only thing I ever heard him say, but then my Granda (KIT... Read more
THE DILLY LINE
The steam train was known as the Dilly, it would haul trucks with shale etc from Throckley to Lemington on a single track to where the pit heap was, the trucks would go into a shed one at a time and a huge barrel type thing would lock on to it turning the truck 360 degrees until the contents were tipped out. This is where the two tubs would be filled and hauled up the pit heap as I mentioned earlier. When the train and empty tubs went back to Throckley we would jump on a coupling chain or sit on the buffers on the last truck for a free ride up to the Dene. Half way along the line were two brick ventilation shafts from the old mine workings, these were approx 12 feet high and 12 feet in diameter, we would manage to scale the wall and drop inside where there was a timber floor about six feet below. There were holes in the floor and we could... Read more
THE DUTCHMEN
This is only an approximate year of 1954. There was the old hospital at Newburn by the Stanners and it was occupied by these Dutchmen who had came to dredge the Tyne. We would spend many an evening sitting chatting to them as they sat on the steps outside with their clogs on, wearing funny hats and smoking clay pipes. I suppose these were the first foreign people we had seen. The Stanners was the end of the Dewley Burn that collected in a concrete pool with a small iron bridge over it just before it ran into the Tyne through an underground tunnel, when the tide was out we would dare each other to walk through the tunnel which was about 200 yards long and we could see the river at the other end. By! There were some big rats in there, I don't know how I did it as I'm terrified of them things now. There were also two other tunnels, one ran from the winning and came... Read more
Auld Millfield
I was another Auld Millfielder, times were hard and nobody was well off but it was a happy place to grow up. I remember as a kid everyone under 18 playing cricket on the 'square' at the top of Millfield Crescent and using dustbin lids for wickets and a tennis ball, no one owned a cricket ball or stumps, and playing football all day from morning till it was too dark to see, on the flat bit at the top of the clay field. There was a big but not too deep sandy hole in the clay field where we would dig tunnels through the clay, kids wouldn't do it now, and it was daft and dangerous then, but no one seemed to care as long as your parents didn't find out! I remember having to feed my dad's hens every day after school (Newburn Manor) and having to rake out the cree, and worst of all, it was my job to go to Walter Wilson's at Newburn and get... Read more
LIGHTNING STRIKES
This is about 1953, I was about 12. We were playing cricket on the clay field with some older lads, the stumps were iron and came from Spencers steel works which was nearby and stuff like this was easily got. Anyway I remember it was very hot and clammy, when out of nowhere came this bolt of lightning and knocked our stumps for six, followed by an almighty clatter of thunder but no rain. Then someone walking on Hareside Path above us screamed for help, someone was hurt on the top field. When we got there a man was lying on the clay path with blood pouring from him. One of the older lads gave him artificial respiration, at this point the lightning and thunder were getting worse. Us small 'uns ran home thinking this was the end of the world on its way. We got in the back lane and people were at their gates or leaning over the yard wall. They all knew what had happened, news travelled... Read more
I'm From Auld Millfield
This memory is from the year of the Coronation (1953), I was 10 then and the street parties were on, we had ours in Spencers Steel Works canteen and we got a Coronation mug. We went to sleep by the sound of the steam hammer at Spencers which went on day and night. We would walk along Walbottle Road and watch the men covered in sweat and muck and wearing an old torn vest or shirt and a sweat band around there necks putting the red hot steel through the steam hammer, we would shout in through the open barred hole in the wall "Any spare bait mister?" and we would always get a sandwich. I remember going to Kirtons brick works on winter nights and helping the watchman to put coals into the Kilns from the top, then going back the following day to see the Kilns opened up, the heat came blasting out, then the men went in to remove the bricks before they had time to cool.... Read more
