Shotley As A Boy

A Memory of Shotley Gate.

I remember walking down towards "The Gate" from Gayford terrace where I lived with my older brother he was 15 and I was 10 we passed a man who had a huge camera on a tripod set up to take a picture in the direction that we were walking. I remember him saying "keep walking boys I want you in my picture further on". When I found this picture on this site I was dumbfounded, then all those memories came flooding back.
I lived in Shotley from 1945 to 1966 Joining H.M.S. Ganges from the Royal Hospital School in 1960. I still have many happy memories of my childhood - playing on the pier with my catapult hanging out of my back pocket, swimming down the "creek" in the summer, the Monday night one shilling film show in the reading room. After school we kids would be out playing until it got dark - or if we got hungry. We made our own fun in those days - there were no tvs - we played football in the park - then they built houses on it, we were given another playing field and I see that is now full of houses. I remember Kingsland being built and we held bonfire night on the green in the middle of it.
I still know a few people from way back then. My name - John Thwaites