Newcastle, Staffordshire

St Johns the scary

As a child I was terrified of the churchyard, we had to walk past it to get to Wilson Way where my Nan Lizzie Grocott lived. It wasn't so bad in the summer but in winter when it got dark early we would get off the bus opposite the Church and it would loom up like a big dark monster as... [more]

Fishing equipment and Cakes

Every year we would go to Pooles on the High Street to get yellow fishing nets so that we could go and collect tadpoles from ponds around the area. We would deliberate for a good while over what colour nets to get but we always ended up with yellow because our Dad said they showed the tadders up best.
Tiko Bakery... [more]

I went to that school

I went to that school. I went to the nursery and stayed there right up until the year 2000 and then moved away to Scotland. It was a great school.

My memory

I remember I was about 10 and Critchilows Corner was a derelict building at this point, probably in 2000, and we used to try get in to see what it was like inside. I moved away but do visit the area from time to time and it's a housing esate now, seems a shame.

Critchlows Corner

The building in view was a Post Office and General Stores, the area was known as "Critchlows Corner" after the name of the family that owned the shop. The post office was the only one in the area. At the age of 10 I would cycle to the Post Office to collect our familys child benefit.
The bridge in the background... [more]

Good times

We came down from Scotland to Stoke in 1953 as my dad had got a job in the newly opened Pit Hem Heath. As children we used to stay at the house which is sitting in front of the pit . We used to go across the brook on the pipe what ran from one side to the other so we... [more]

George Edward Ramsden, coopers and crate-makers

I have been told that my grandfather and great-grandfather had a business at Longton as coopers and crate-makers for the potteries. This business ceased I believe in the 1950s but would have been running from the late 1800s to that date.
I cannot find any details of this business and have only been told that it was run from Longton.
Any... [more]

High Street Longton in the '40s and '50s

Barbara Johnson's memories brought back some of my own from the High Street days. Those rows of shops Barbara describes provided all the locals with everything they needed. I remember going over the road from the off-licence we ran for a meat and potato pie from 'aunt' Sarah's, going for haircuts at Billy Goodwin's barbers (right up till the middle '50s),... [more]