Childhood

A Memory of Thornley.

Hi,
My family the Burgins lived in Thornley when I was younger and a lot of them still live there now. We lived in Hartlepool Street in an old public house. We used to go down to Fleming's shop for the penny lollies. Our house backed onto the old pit and we used to walk along the lines with my grandad Charlie. My nanna and granda lived in Galt Street and I was always down there playing in Garden Terrace with my friend Tanya. We played all of the usual games, muggles and kick the can, knocky nine doors. We used to go to the Girls Brigade which was run by Mrs Griffiths, although boys and girls used to go. It was just a bunch of kids going nuts literally, lol, poor Mrs Griffiths. There was the community centre where there was discos, the one for young kids was on a Monday. We seemed to always have something to do, and if you didn't, your mam would certainly find something. I can remember going along with a bucket after the coal man had been and picking up the nuggets of coal he had dropped for my nanna. And I remember Davy Gott the butcher in his little van on a Saturday and me nanna buying the meat for Sunday's dinner, I always got a packet of salt and vinegar chipsticks, if I see them now it reminds me of that time. And I remember playing two bally on the wall and getting told off of my granddad for the banging. I was lucky as our house was big and my grandad Charlie lived in a room downstairs, Old Joe lived in another and my Auntie Pauline and her children lived in the other rooms. We lived upstairs as there was two bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and sitting room. My dad had a bit of a garage in the back yard and he was always fixing cars etc. Barnetts the butchers was next door. I remember going to the Spearmans Arms for toasties for us on a night for a treat. We weren't bothered about TV's and such as long as we could play. We moved into a caravan and lived in one for years touring the country and I loved this the total freedom, but I will never forget my childhood, it was hard but so much fun and I look back on it now with true fondness. xx

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