Walking With My Grandad

A Memory of New Brancepeth.

in 1961 i would be 5yrs old,and my grandad Sam Gibson would walk with me my sister susan and my brother raymond,along from where they lived round to the wreck,,the name the gave for the local swing park.they lived in doric road,across from their house was a small shop called walter wilsons,he did this walk with us to get us out of the house while my mum and grandma prepared a meal there was a roundabout,and a witches hat,swings and a rocking horse,,we lived in ushaw moor,but we walked up to doric road frequently,,my aunty and uncle lived on cooperative terrace and cousins marion amd margery simpson,we would call on them allso.when we were older we used to walkup a long road outof brancepeth up to wide open spaces above the vilage,as he walked along he told us of his mmories of his time in the coliery,the pit ponies,the clogs.his bait box,all men then wore a flat cap and a jacketand went to the pub in the afternoon and sit outside waching life go by.grandma was allways pegging washing or cleaning,she wore an apron called a pinnie,and it crossed behind her back,and had one big poket across the front,if we had been good she would let us play on the piano in the parlour,we lived at 5 maple park, ushaw moor,just round the corner from my dads parents,gran and grandad jolly.they were a big part of our lives going from one grand parent to another kept us up to date with family news,and there was allways a biscuit or a drink.allso there was a never ending round of auntys and uncles al around us ,making sure we didnt get into any trouble,,as a family we moved,, lock stockand barrel to a village in nottinghamshire just after my 5th birthday,,i was so homesick ,but as a family with 6 children my dad had to go where there was work,since they had been told esh winnign colliery would close,it was a huge move but when we got there most of the village was allready there,,so every time we came back to visit we caught up with all the family,,brancepeth changed beyond recognition each time i was there,

---

---