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Throckley
Throckley maps
Historic maps of Throckley and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Throckley maps
Throckley area books
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Memories of Throckley
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memories of Throckley.
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White City/Newburn Road.
We came to live at 12 Hewley Crescent in 1950. My gran, Mrs Knight, lived on Newburn Road, at that time she only had gas lighting and cooking. She had electricity installed in 1955 for the FA Cup on TV, she had a house-full that day. I can also remember when they built the Centurion public house 1954/5. There a large gang of us who lived in Hewley Crescent at that time, the crescent was used for football, cricket and sledging in the winter. I have fond memories of the time when I lived in Throckley. I also take the name to whereever I live and call my house Throckley.
I Remember
I remember going to Johnas bank and rolling Easter eggs down, also the big swing in the dean, it was called the witches swing. There was a hut at the dean entrance where the old men used to go and play dominoes and cards. There used to be overhead grabs full of coal leading from Walbottle pit to Throckley where the brickyard is now. Then there was the nudist camp up by the fell road, I don't know if it is still there now. I used to live at 3 Elem Street, that is where the old people's home is now. There was Johnny Miller who used to come round the streets with his mobile shop.
Throckley Fish Shop
Throckley Fish Shop was situated next to the Post Office. It was owned by the Humble family who were really nice people and made delicious fish and chips. Eddie and I think it was his son Freddy who worked there and kept the kids like myself hanging around in place. I'm sure I got a clip behind the ear hole a few times off Freddie, no doubt I would have deserved it. This would of been in the early 1960s, my memories of hanging around there go as far as up to when we were Mods on Scooters Lambrettas and Vespas covered in spotlights and mirrors all chromed up.
Stew and Colin McIvor, Jimmy Bolt, Charles Earl, Stew Pentland, Vic and Carl Ions were a few of the lads I remember had scooters. I still have some old photos of them outside those very shops. There was also a cafe opposite where we would hang out.
A couple of hundred metres further up was the Junior School where I went... Read more
Duffers
I remember when I was a young lad, playing down Johnnas Bank, we used to play Duffers "Dares", like jumping the widest part of the burn, seeing how many friends would fit on a swing and swing across the burn, sometimes the rope snapped. And we would dare each other to sit on the Devils Chair in the Low Dean, we used to climb and sit on the flat part, and someone would say "The Devil will get you", which was very frightening at such a young age but we had a good time. We also used to play football on the top end of Johnnas Bank near where the factories are now, and also we went to the old bomb hole to get tadpoles.
Tyne and Wear memories
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
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
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
