Witton Le Wear memories
Here are memories of Witton Le Wear and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Witton Le Wear or a Witton Le Wear photo.
Family Residence
My Mother's maiden name was Mary Baker who lived in Witton Park . She had a brother, Jack who lived in Witton le Weir. He was a church going man and ran a clothing business from his house (at first going house to house with a suitcase!). He had a family of 2 boys and 2 girls. Isobelle, lived in the village up until her death a few years ago. His other daughter, Lillian, died tragically when she was young. She was drowned whilst swimming in the weir and was caught in the strong current. He had 2 sons, Desmond and (cannot remember his name). I used to spend my holidays with my mother's sister, Elsie, who lived in Garden Street in Witton Park. We used to visit Uncle Jack on a Sunday and I remember going all dressed in our Sunday best and were not allowed to play games or do anything frivolous. They were very happy memories for all... Read more
Memories of County Durham
Village Characters
Mr Joe (Cloggy) Jackson
Almost everyone who met 'Cloggy' has stories to recollect of this colourful village character - Dave Quinn recalls:
Mr Joe 'Cloggy' Jackson, Club Doorman and Saturday Evening vendor of 'The Pink', AKA Sunderland Echo. Invariably dressed in flat cap and tight fitting jacket, riding breeches and leather boots, Cloggy looked every inch a 'horsey man'.
He claimed that as a lad he had been bed-mates with champion jockey Manny Mercer. This was extremely doubtful as Cloggy was not so much economical with the truth, but rather he embellished it.
The classic case occurred one hot Sunday morning when Cloggy was sitting shirt sleeved and barefoot by the well along Witton Road. A by-passer remarked upon Cloggy's weary and overheated state and was answered in no uncertain terms. 'Thou'd be hot if the'd just warked back from Ireland.'
Being something of a romancer Cloggy was also rather gullible. The most famous example of this being the Friday evening phone call to the... Read more
School
Vague recollections of my first days, being taken in my little blue coat and cap by the girls next door. I seemed to cling to them for ages. (Was this a sign of things to come?)
Finally graduated to playing with the boys, sliding in the school yard in black boots with 'segs' in. It was all boys because the yard then was divided by a wall and the red brick toilets and you just didn't venture into the girl's half. What is now the school field was still 'Carter's' field, where Alf kept his pigs.
I suppose most of my generation will have roughly the same memories of the school, such as the huge thermometer on the wall, dinners in the W.I., sitting on the pipes in the winter, 'Tommy's Pantry', and maybe the old oak desks with wooden pens and ink-wells. Surely though, the most lasting impression must be of a certain Miss Elizabeth Heslop. 'Lizzie', with her imposing figure, grey moustache, specs stuck on the... Read more
Play
I know records will prove me wrong, but summer seemed to start around the beginning of May and last until getting on to Bonfire night. We walked to Witton-le-Wear night after night to swim then walked home or, if we were lucky, got a lift in an empty meat van, not unlike the one driven by Corporal Jones in 'Dads Army'.
When it got too cold to swim we set about building and guarding our bonfire in the park. There were few organised displays in those days but there was tremendous rivalry between Bitchburn, High Grange, Valley Terrace, Victoria, 'Them up the New Buildings', and us. We invariably won, but to be fair we were well in with Dougie Wilks for a few tyres, and we enlisted the aid of a few 16-17 year olds, who in those days were not men but still big boys. We also had all of the park to ga at for dead trees and branches, not to mention a few live ones!
Shops
Bryant's Post Office with Mrs Robson, a Queen Motherish figure always dressed in a black two piece, dishing out pensions, stamps and postal orders from the aloof position behind her cage.
Duggie Bain's cobblers, the warm oily smell, my first football boots were bought there for 13/6d. The proprietor ever smiling, with his gold rimmed glasses, shiny bald head, gammy leg and leather apron, he could have been Pinnochio's dad Gepetto himself.
Harry Waggot's, as wide a range of foods as Morrisons, but served with courtesy, a smile and a joke for the kids. Next door was Peggy's wool shop, but a young lad would not be seen dead in there!
Gibsons, substitute Joyce and Mark for Gladys and Bill, treble the 'dying trade', but otherwise things are very much as they were, indeed, as they should be!
Finlay and Wilks, two pumps on the footpath, an endless barrel of paraffin, batteries, light bulbs, puncture repair kits and sticks. Just shows what can be achieved with... Read more
Football
Seeing Frank Golden being carried shoulder high by his team mates back to the pub after a successfull result thanks mainly to Jonty Raine who was a local star at the time.The Carnivals were great fun.Howden Juniors won the County Junior Cup a year or two later.
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