Diddleywacking

A Memory of Plankey Mill.

In 1960's Newcastle we didn't see a lot of woodland or wildlife on a daily basis.

My dad was from a Romany family and during the war had spent a lot of his childhood, when school was closed, travelling with his uncle who was a horse dealer. As a result he knew spots across the North where, as kids, we could run, shout, paddle, swim and generally have a day or, joy of joys, a whole weekend without the constraints of the city. Let's face it when we were roaming this area we were usually the only folk there. As the years went on more people began to appear, as more people got cars

Not too many knew about the swimming pool - for young kids it was a fair hike, but boy was it worth it. My dad showed us the spot where it was safe to jump and even dive into the pool. Mind you being worried about the cold wasn't an option!!

Looking back the sun always shined. We played building dens and could expect them still to be there when we came again. For a city kid it seemed like heaven on earth and I never wanted to go home. I don't remember much about the ride home in the Austin A35 - we usually woke up when the car stopped at home, and the only thing we wanted to know was when we could go again

Dad always called these days Diddlywacking as we had a Primus stove to brew the tea and​ cook up sausages and it reminded him of his childhood days trading horses with his uncle and living out of a horse drawn waggon




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