Nostalgic memories of Whitley Bay's local history

Share your own memories of Whitley Bay and read what others have said

For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our web site to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was when the photographs in our archive were taken. From brief one-liners explaining a little bit more about the image depicted, to great, in-depth accounts of a childhood when things were rather different than today (and everything inbetween!). We've had many contributors recognising themselves or loved ones in our photographs.

Why not add your memory today and become part of our Memories Community to help others in the future delve back into their past.

A couple at a laptop

Add a Memory!

It's easy to add your own memories and reconnect with your shared local history. Search for your favourite places and look for the 'Add Your Memory' buttons to begin

Tips & Ideas

Not sure what to write? It's easy - just think of a place that brings back a memory for you and write about:

  • How the location features in your personal history?
  • The memories this place inspires for you?
  • Stories about the community, its history and people?
  • People who were particularly kind or influenced your time in the community.
  • Has it changed over the years?
  • How does it feel, seeing these places again, as they used to look?

This week's Places

Here are some of the places people are talking about in our Share Your Memories community this week:

...and hundreds more!

Enjoy browsing more recent contributions now.

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I lived at Links Avenue, West Monkseaton between 1965 and 69. Went to Park Road Junior school next to what was then the cinema, and Spanish City. Ended up at Valley Gardens Secondary Modern. Names I remember from those days are, Donald Gibson, Colin Williamson (lives at Lytham St Annes now), David Addison, Clive Morton, Andrew Morton, Malcolm Telfer, Ian Thompson (fellow Sunderland supporter),Willie ...see more
I lived in South Wellfield just outside Whitley Bay in the years listed above. Despite being something of a mongrel in terms of heritage I always look upon the town and area as my true home. Although being probably conceived in Scotland, born in southern East Anglia and now having lived over half a century away from my boyhood at a myriad of locations, Whitley is still very special to me. We moved into our ...see more
Hello, I am the Great Granddaughter of Robert and Mary Metcalfe who were publicans in the late 1800's in Whitley Bay. Local census forms report that they became grocers at a later date while living in Whitley Bay. Their only child, Dorothy Murray Metcalfe (my Grandmother) married a New Zealand Naval Officer in 1918 in Whitley Bay and moved to New Zealand. Her parents ...see more
On the subject of railway bogies (handcarts), for two years each Sunday morning in the late Fifties I used to propel one, laden to the gunnels with newspapers, from Monkseaton station, through Souter Park, down Hawthorn Gardens to the bottom of Marine Avenue, ending up Arthur Beattie's newsagents (almost opposite the Berkeley Tavern). At 6.30am and with no traffic around I got up a fair old a speed once I had passed ...see more
I lived in Jesmond Terrace at No.41. I had been taken to the airraid shelter and was back to sleep when a bomb hit No.55. It did not explode and we were all rushed to the underground shelter at the end of Victoria Terrace and Trewitt Road, now just a triangle of grass, but every time I see it my memory goes back and you think what if the bomb had exploded?
I was born in Newcastle and all my family. My grandparents lived at Percy Terrace and I would go every school holiday to stay with them. I loved walking along the sea front with my gran - she would walk us to Colour Coats and Tynemouth in the evening and on the way back she would buy me and my sister and brother a bag of chips and a hot chocolate. We would stay on the beach all day - it was ...see more
My mother lived on the Esplanade in the 1940s just about opposite Colman Cafe. She taught in a local school. My father was a policeman in the town, and met my mother there. He related interesting stories of the bombing of the town during the Second World War, such as being knocked off his feet by a nearby blast when on air raid duty. He also told me of climbing on to roofs with a device that looked like a squeezy ...see more
My dad was a geordie and every year when I was a kid we would always visit his hometown, Jarrow, N Newcastle. I loved the northeast with all the different beaches and everything about it, as I got older I loved the northeast more, and more even though my father had passed. I loved the fact I had family here, I just wished my father was around to see it. He would have loved to see my kids up there enjoying the ...see more
Fond memories of Whitley Bay: Taking the 17 bus from South Wellfield to the bus station, Whitley Bay, with John Taylor. Dressed in our best (and only) Mod gear we would go to the Spanish City to seek out lasses and avoid attention of any Rockers! With only a tanner each in our pockets we could get two rides on the dodgems and walk home. On summer weekends the place was always packed, I remember ...see more
On the lead up to the Edinburgh & Glasgow holidays, my friends and I used to prepare by building our own 'bogeys' out of some pram wheels, then on the Saturday`we would arrive at the train station and wait for the train to come from Newcastle with the Scots, we would ask the passengers as they came out of the station where they were going to stay and offer to take them and their luggage 'on the ...see more