Early Years
A Memory of West Denton.
I was born at 37, Ravenshill Road in 1955. I can remember a man on a bike sharpening knives and scissors on a grinding wheel attached to the front, also a man with a pony and trap would take you for a ride round the block for a penny. My friends at the time were Eric Rawson and Ian Bracken, I wonder where they are now. There was a burn that used to run down the back of the houses, my mam used to go mad if we played down there as we would have only been about 4 years old. I left West Denton to move to Westerhope in 1960.
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Comments & Feedback
Very interested by your recollections.
My brother Alan and I lived at 53 Ravenshill until I went to college in 1971. We were at the top of the street, at the start of the cul-de-sac - the ideal spot for a game of football. Do you remember Keith Armstrong ? He was younger than me, but a good footballer who I believe had a trial for Newcastle, and later, if you can believe this, turned up as a football analyst on tv in Finland. I was working in Helsinki and out for a drink with a friend, and who should pop up on the screen but Keith. Newcastle didn`t sign him, he was picked up by a club over there, and stayed on. It was probably warmer.
My dad, Sid, drove a lorry for Andersons in Westerhope. He lived in the same house until his death in 2009, and my mother only left it when she went into a home in Cowgate last year.
I remember Eric, and his rather dodgy brother, Ellis, who always struck me as a sleazy individual.
Cud Stephenson lived a few doors down from us, next door to Eric, in fact. He became Lord Mayor of Newcastle in the 90`s and had an extravagant lamp post put up outside his house, which he hated because he said it was so bright it kept him awake.
Don`t know if you`ve been back recently, but the Gilpin has been pulled down to make way for houses or flats, and of course most of the people in the street are new.
I do remember the pony & trap, which seemed to turn up on a Sunday afternoon, as I recall, and the knife man who seemed more intent on destroying them than actually doing any sharpening.
I don`t live in Newcastle any more, but it`s interesting to recall the olden days!
Anyway, please reply if you have the time.
Regards
Ian Percy