Events and Celebrations
Swalwell Hoppings
Swalwell Hoppings were held from at least the 18th century on ground beside Ridley Gardens. Originally they were probably more than just a fair, being more of a carnival with horse races and sporting events. The Hoppings were still popular in the 1950s when roundabouts and sideshows would appear on the 'Hopping Field' in the late spring and stay for about a week.
A popular local song, Swalwell Hopping, was written by John Selkirk, a Gateshead man, in 1807, and refers to the exploits of the notorious Crowley's Crew, the ironworkers from Swalwell and neighbouring Winlaton and Winlaton Mill.
The Hoppings ceased in the 1960s.
Dunston Carnival
The first Dunston Carnivals were held in the early 20's. This photograph dates from the early 30's. The parade started on Wellington Road and then went around the four main roads.
Fundraising at St Mary's
There was an other unusual fund raising event at the end of the century which involved the Vicar and the Church warden of St. Mary The Virgin, abseiling down the church tower to raise money, again for repairs to the church.
Dunston Millennium Festival held in Dunston Park, June 2000.
Celebrations of 25 years at Washingwell School - 1999
Present staff and former staff and pupils reunited with special guest, illustrator Chris Mabbotts, a former teacher at the school, to celebrate 25 years of Washingwell School.
Children's Week 1987 - Let's Make a Circus
The children's week was based on the theme of 'Let's make a circus'. It was run by Captain David Girt and David of the Church Army team together with the vicar and several members of the congregation .
The children played games, sang songs and listened to stories told by Jolly Jack with the help of his puppet friends.
Then they had refreshments followed by the making of masks and puppets based on characters in the the stories.
The morning ended in church with the singing of songs and The Lord's Prayer.
The whole week was a lot of fun with the helpers having just as good a time as the children. Many thanks to Jolly Jack and David.
1st Whickham St Marys Cubs Field Day 1986
Front Street Primary School Sports Day, Chase Park 1986
Nativity Play, Front Street School, 1984
Queen's Jubilee, 1977
An Evening to Remember! 1973
86 guests attended a Social Evening held, for present and past Councillors of the Urban District, to mark the end of the Council due to Local Government Reorganisation
Council Year Books dating back to 1931 were available and these provided the names and addresses of all Councillors from that date.
Many of the guests had not seen each other since their Council days and took the opportunity to reminisce and to engage in lively debate just as they had done long ago in the Council Chamber.
Whickham West End Methodist Church
On August 24th 1968 the Whickham West End Methodist Church held a fund raising Open Day in Chase Park, Whickham.
In addition to the sideshows and stalls usual to such an occasion, there were competitions for youngsters.. For the girls a Skipping Endurance competition was one of the main events and prizes were awarded to the girls in each age group who could skip for the longest time without stopping.
Another major event was the Soap Box Race. Entries were received from schools, scout troops and boys who felt that they could make a Soap Box Car to beat all-comers in the races or win a prize for the best model.
The Dunston Band (1968)
Dunston Band had a successful trip to Heererween, Holland, where they took part in an International Music Festival and Contest. In addition to the Festival, they also played in various Dutch towns and conveyed to the Mayors greetings from Councillor C.B. Westgarth, the Chairman of the Council.
November 5th Celebrations 1960
The Wallace family and friends celebrating Guy Fawkes with a bonfire at the top of Park Avenue, Beech Avenue, Whickham.
Coronation of Elizabeth The Second 1953
People joined together to celebrate the Coronation of the Queen. Unfortunatly on coronation day it rained so heavily that street parties were impossible. Noel Tate give the use of his new barn to the people of the council houses and Matty Lowdon gave the use of his garage to the residents of Beech Street and the surrounding area.
Christmas Time is Party Time 1952
Dunston Junior school pupils acted two little plays at Christmas. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "Who Killed The Giant."
Party games were in full swing at Byermoor Infants School Christmas Party.
Children at Whickham Infants School Christmas Party took time off from party games to sing carols.
Santa Claus was a popular visitor to Swalwell Infants School Christmas Party.
The League of Friends of Dunston Hill & Whickham Cottage Hospitals
The League held its annual dance on Saturday, March 29th in the Recreation Hall of the hospital. Evening Dress optional. Licensed Bar. Tickets 10/6d. Buffet Refreshments included.
A Grand Draw was held. The prize a day trip to Paris for two people. Tickets 1/- each.
Golden Wedding
In 1944 George and Hannah Oxley of Mill Farm Swalwell celebrated their Golden Wedding, and while they had a party the real party was held when their two grandsons George and Tom came back from the war in 1945. Their cousin Sheila was scared of George when he came home because he looked so dark having spent his war in North Africa, Italy and Greece. For some time, she would have nothing to do with him.
Whickham's 1937 Coronation Celebrations
Sunniside Carnival 1930
Celebrating the Coronation of King George 5th at High Marley Hill 1911
The bonfire was built by local people. The boy in the centre holding the kite is Bob Craig who lived in Prospect Terrace, Sunniside. He married Lily Douglas one of the Lingey Fine triplets.
Party Down the Pit
April 6th 1900: There was an unusual event of a social gathering down Axwell Park Colliery. The occasion was to raise funds to refurbish the Chancel of the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Whickham. Supper was partaken in the 5/4 seam.
On the Railway
ON THE RAILWAY
MEMORIES OF MY FIRST JOB.
On leaving school in 1958 I obtained employment as a clerk on the North Eastern Region of British Railways at a salary of £203 per annum. At that time British Railways employed around 575,000 people and had 5410 stations. Dr Richard Beeching had not yet been asked to produce his controversial report "The Re-shaping of British Railways". Railways were then still being run as a public service rather than as a commercially profitable undertaking. The 'Fifties Modernisation Plan was well under way and steam locomotion was rapidly being replaced by diesel power.
I had attended an interview at the old North Eastern Railway headquarters in York, which had become British Railways HQ for the North Eastern Region. Given a free railway travel pass I arrived one morning for my interview, which took place in the very imposing former North Eastern Railway boardroom. There were large pictures of old NER Directors around the walls and with a big table, at one side of which sat the three middle-aged men who were to interview me. I sat opposite and the interview began. I was asked some routine questions about school and what I did in my spare time, told a little about railway employment and after about ten minutes the interview was over and I was informed that I would hear the result in due course. Just a few weeks later I had a letter telling me when and where to start work and so I saw my headmaster and asked if it was possible to leave school in the middle of a term and shortly afterwards my life as a railway clerk began.
I
In 1958 there were still many rural lines in existence and the Alnmouth to Alnwick, the Monkseaton to Blyth, Ashington and Newbiggin, the Haltwhistle to Alston, the Sunderland to Durham, Bishop Auckland, Barnard Castle and the, Darlington to Barnard Castle and Middleton in Teesdale branches all had passenger services. There were goods stations on the Consett (via both Rowlands Gill and Stanley) lines. There were also goods services on the Alnwick to Wooler and Coldstream, the Chevington to Amble, and the Hexham to Redesmouth, Bellingham, Scotsgap, Rothbury and Morpeth, routes. Large numbers of colliery railways existed and various industries had their own sidings.
From Newcastle Central main line trains ran to the same destinations they do now but also with a daily train to Colchester (a throwback from the war years), to Cardiff, and, in summer, to popular West Country holiday destinations, and also to Blackpool via Barnard Castle, across Stainmore summit and Tebay. The boat trains from Kings Cross still ran to the Tyne Commission quay from London, reversing at Percy Main to reach the riverside where they connected with the Norwegian steamers.
I was initially sent to Wylam for training in passenger station work and accounts This station was generally used to train new clerks and as there was another station, North Wylam, across the road bridge over the Tyne we covered both stations. At midday we would walk over the bridge, sell tickets to any North Wylam passengers, and do the accounts. The rest of the day the porter sold the tickets. North Wylam station was nearer the village and thus handier for passengers, but as fewer trains ran on this line the other station was far busier. North Wylam was reached by a line which diverged from the main Newcastle to Carlisle line at Scotswood, and ran through Lemington, Newburn and Heddon on the Wall, (though these last 3 stations closed soon after I left Wylam), and on via North Wylam over the arched bridge at Hagg Bank to West Wylam junction where it re-joined the main line near the colliery. The main line ran from Newcastle through Elswick, crossed the river at Scotswood, and ran through Blaydon and Ryton to reach Wylam.
There was a considerable commuter traffic to Newcastle from Wylam and on Wednesday's only there was a 'hospital train' which ran from Newcastle to Wylam only, bringing visitors to the RVI Convalescent Home, which had a convenient linking flight of stairs from the end of the platform directly to the hospital. I learned about the various types of tickets, how to deal with parcels, and was shown how to do daily accounts, or ' balances', and how to find my way around the various books of instructions' of which there were several. One large book gave details of every station, passenger and goods, in Britain, including every siding to colliery, factory, dock or other commercial premises, and there were regular amendments to be done. In the afternoon the days takings would be put in to a leather bag which was sealed with sealing wax and with the station stamp embossed on the hot wax (done with a lighted taper) then sent by train to the bank at Blaydon. When anything of value or importance was sent by train on railway business it was known as a value, and a book had to be signed by the guard on handing over into his keeping. Meals were taken in a little cabin near the station entrance used by the track workers or gangers and the vanman who delivered parcels sent by rail would come too and there would be discussions about this and that aspect of railway work and gossip which was sometimes quite heated.
While at Wylam I sometimes visited the tall signal box spanning the tracks and was allowed to try pulling off the yellow distant signal situated some considerable distance up the line towards West Wylam, which meant puling not only the weight of the signal but also a considerable length of wire between it and the signal cabin There was a knack to it, success not merely being due to brute force. There were level crossing gates too and they were controlled by means of a wheel not unlike a wheel used to steer a ship. All the signals, and points were interlocked so that the signalman could not set the signals to show line clear if the points were set incorrectly. There were some goods sidings at the station and a pick-up goods train called regularly to collect any goods wagons there. The signalman communicated with his colleagues at the signal boxes on each side of his own by means of the block instruments and used a system of bell codes to keep the other signalmen advised of the passage of trains through the section of line he controlled. This was done in conjunction with the block instruments which looked something like large clocks but instead of figures had three panels to which the single pointer moved, either right or left. The block instrument pointer initially showed line blocked (no trains in the section), then line clear (when clear to accept a train from the previous signal box), then train on line (when the train has entered his section and back to line blocked (when the train has left his section) and so the train was passed safely down the line from one signal box to another. Only one train on a section controlled by a signal box at any one time was allowed. A couple of years later I was to take a course in the theory of signalling at evening classes but with no practical, hands-on signal box experience, theory only.
After about eight weeks training I was sent as holiday relief to Riding Mill for two weeks and then to Rowlands Gill for a week (which lost its passenger service in 1953 but retained a freight and parcels service until 1962), before being moved to the District Passenger Superintendent's office at Newcastle Central, where I was placed in the Accounts Department. Here all the accounts' statistics were collated from stations in the Newcastle area, which was bounded by Wetheral in the west, Berwick to the north, and Ferryhill and Blackhall Colliery to the south. The other north-eastern areas were controlled from Middlesbrough, Leeds, Hull and York
The Accounts Section also dealt with fare dodging and Ticket Collectors referred details of people caught travelling without tickets both at the barrier and on the trains for a decision on whether to prosecute. Usually a letter was sent to the offender first in an attempt to collect the fare. There were some pitiful stories about lost tickets, and sometimes they were true. Occasionally the culprit would turn up in person to plead their case. One man who regularly and genuinely lost his ticket even suggested that he be issued with a special letter to produce to ticket collectors whenever he lost his ticket, but as it was considered likely that he would lose this letter too, his suggestion was not taken up. Sometimes a prosecution was made but this was expensive and time consuming so was only done as a last resort in the more blatant cases or where the fare lost to the railway was substantial. Refunds on unused tickets were-also made, albeit with a small handling charge, about which some passengers were highly indignant.
All stations sent in weekly returns on passenger and parcel numbers and money receipts, and a much more detailed monthly return was made. These were used to give an indication of the current usage and financial state of each line. There were separate accounts made by the District Goods Superintendent's Office situated at Irving House near the Literary and Philosophical Society in Westgate Road, and each area's statistics would go to North Eastern Regional Headquarters at York. Written requests for train times were also dealt with and of course these had to be absolutely spot on as the passenger had written proof of the information given in the event a mistake was made. I learnt about the intricacies of railway timetables- and their numerous amendments -and the various trunk routes on Britain's rail network, together with it's cross country and branch lines, steamer services to Ireland and the Continent and the many summer only services for holiday-makers.
There was also an office dealing with party travel and excursions, of which there were a lot in the summer, as the large numbers of carriages lying in the sidings during the winter months testified. There were popular trips from Tyneside to the races at York, Carlisle, Stockton and Redcar and to places like Knaresborough, Bellingham Show, the Lake District, Scarborough and the Motor Show at Earl's Court. Football excursions were also run of course, and summer evening tours of stations to view the colourful station gardens on the Newcastle - Hexham line, returning via Redesdale, Scotsgap and Morpeth were quite popular. The withdrawal of staff at the smaller stations and branch closures eventually put paid to this.
There were social events for the staff too. Near Christmas there was the Annual Ball, held at the Old Assembly Rooms in Newcastle and all the senior managers and their wives attended. In the early summer there was a midweek staff rail excursion to Keswick, half the staff going one week and the other half the next. Diesel Multiple Units (DMU's) had recently been introduced on the Newcastle, Hexham, Carlisle line and we used these trains, which of course were still very new. Steam hauled trains still handled some of the Newcastle to Carlisle traffic but the Hexham trains were all DMUs. British Railway Staff Association provided sport and leisure facilities for all employees and there was a small membership payment deducted from pay. Down Forth Lane at the side of the Central Station near Marlborough Crescent there was a BRSA club and you could play snooker or have a drink.
My hours were 8.30 to 5.30 with an hour for lunch and I usually travelled home from Newcastle to Blaydon on the 5.20pm Carlisle train, being allowed to leave 10 minutes early. This train called at Elswick where a number of workers from the huge Scotswood Road Vickers factories situated nearby boarded. It was while at Central Station that I joined the appropriate Trade Union for my grade, the Transport Salaried Staffs Association, then led by the formidable Ray Gunter who was then very active in Labour Party affairs.
After some months at Newcastle I was transferred to Manors station, sometimes called The Manors, just half a mile east of the Central Station and on the North Tyneside electric loop line. Here I returned to the passenger station duties I had learned at Wylam, but on a much bigger scale. The North and South Tyneside lines were still electrified in those days. There were tickets to be issued and replacements to be requisitioned and parcels to be weighed and charged for. Also, there were the accounts to be done twice daily, with a comprehensive summary at the end of each month. Additionally there were the weekly and monthly returns for the District Passenger Superintendents office. Teams of auditors who travelled from station to station audited all these accounts annually. Manors was a big and busy station with nine platforms, platform numbers1 & 2 were for Newcastle to the Coast via Jesmond, 3,4 & 5 for Ashington, Newbiggin trains, 6 & 7 for the North Main line to Edinburgh where the trains for Alnwick or Berwick stopped, and 8 & 9 for the Coast via Wallsend and via the Riverside line. This last was a loop diverging at Byker and passing through St Anthony's, Carrville and Willington Quay close to the river, rejoining the main line near Percy Main. This line had a limited peak period service serving the shipyards. I always regret I never mad a journey on the line which is now a cycleway and footpath. All platforms except 3,4,5 and 5 used the electrified third rail system. Diesel Multiple Units operated the Blyth, Ashington and Newbiggin service although the first train at 5.33am was still steam hauled, Diesel locomotives were gradually replacing steam on the North main line services to Berwick and Edinburgh and south to London and elsewhere.
Manors was a very large and complicated station occupying a position between City Road and Trafalgar Street a little to the east of the city centre. The main entrance was in Trafalgar Street which diverged from City Road, going uphill under a big arch under the railway and used by buses after crossing the Tyne Bridge to gain access to Worswick Street bus station. Here there was a station yard and the main buildings; booking office, station master's office, waiting rooms and porter's rooms. etc. On entering the station you bought your ticket and after passing the W H Smith bookstall and Findlays tobacco/confectionery stalls showed your ticket and went through the ticket collector's barrier which gave access to the platforms. Platform 1 was for stations to the coast via Jesmond. To get to the opposite platorm 2 for trains to Newcastle you went down stairs next to the ticket collector's barrier and along a subway under the lines, and up more stairs to the platform. Platfroms 3, 4 and 5 (all bay platforms) were also reached by this route for trains to Blyth, Bedlington, Ashington and Newbiggin.
At the west end of platform 1, a long wood and iron footbridge ran across all the main through lines with stairs leading down to platforms 6 and 7 half way across. These were the platforms on the east coast main line used by stopping trains to Alnwick and Berwick calling at Manors. Continuing across the footbridge there were more stairs for platforms 8 (trains to the coast via Wallsend) and platform 9 (trains to Newcastle). Platforms 1 to 5 were part of Manors North while platforms 6 to 9 were Manors East.
The other entrances to the station led up to these last platforms, 8 and 9. Long precipitous stairs led up from City Road, with a flight branching off at the bottom going up to platfrom 9 where there was another ticket collector's barrier. The main stairs continued up to Croft Street and to Carliol Square. At the point where the stairs ended and Croft Street began yet another flight led to platform 7 where you had to pass the other (Manors East) booking office and a barrier to reach platform 8. There were no ticket collectors here, the booking office clerks doing that job. Finally, connecting the two flights to platforms 9 and 8 going off from the main staircase up to Croft Street, was a subway halfway between street and platform level linking the two stairways, and thus giving a short cut for passengers getting off at platform 9 and heading for Croft Street, who otherwise would have needed to go right down to street level at City Road and then have a long climb up again on the main staircase.
I began at Manors East, on platform 8 reached by a precipitous climb up several flights of stairs from the City Road or via a lane and pedestrian tunnel from Carliol Square. This office opened from 5.50 am to 7.50 pm and saw a brief period of activity in early morning from shipyard workers using the coast via Wallsend or via the Riverside lines. Midday saw another active period and again at 5 pm when several workers in the New Bridge Street area of the city used the Manors East entrance in returning home. The clerk was also responsible for collecting the many tickets from the very many passengers alighting from trains on platform 8 in the morning rush hour. Twice a month on days notified only to the staff every season ticket was subject to a special check and this always slowed up the queue of passengers exiting the barrier as many held weekly and monthly season tickets from the Coast. Only very occasionally would you find an out of date ticket.
The ticket office was about eight feet long by six with drawers around three sides, a stool and a chair being the only furniture and so was very cramped. There was a till drawer under the ticket window and racks on which the tickets were held. and a ticket stamping machine. Heating was by means of an electric fire. The office was positioned so as to form part of the barrier so that passengers had to pass between the office and the iron railings to enter or exit the station. The only other local examples of this system were at Darlington and Berwick. Normally there would be a sliding gate type barrier controlled by a ticket collector. All the collected tickets were retained, bundled up and sent to the Revenue Accountant's office at the west of the Central Station.
On platforms 7/8 were waiting rooms, toilets and the rest of the buildings were occupied by Carriage and Wagon Works department's offices. There was also a signal box at the west end of the platform, but this had closed shortly before I began working at Manors.
To fill in the gaps between the busy periods, the Manors East clerks, one per shift, had to do clerical work in connection with coal traffic sent by goods train and this was a particularly boring task and involved making carbon copies of weighbills and adding up the weights of each consignment of coal in tons and hundredweights, carrying the total forward to the next page. There were also the accounts to be done on each 7 hour, 6 day a week shift and the monthly balance to be done at the months end and replacement tickets had to be ordered from time to time.
I travelled to work on the early shift by bike, which took 40 minutes or so from Swalwell and involved riding back through Newcastle city centre during the busy midday period. I found out that I could improve on this by riding to Blaydon locomotive sheds on Chain Bridge Road, leaving the bike there, and catching an early empty train into Newcastle Central at 5.15 am walking to Manors from there. Or if I was lucky I just caught the first train to Newbiggin from the Central which got me to work about 5.35 am. But coming back I had a long walk from Blaydon station to the Loco sheds before riding home and I could not use this method on the late shift so I just used the bus. One frosty winter morning at the sheds I climbed up from the track expecting to find the guards van door unlocked as usual but I couldn't open it. The train suddenly moved of and clinging to the outside I had visions of a nightmare journey in the cold to Newcastle nearly four miles away. Fortunately as the train reached the end of the shed sidings it stopped at the signal controlling access to the main line and I was able to climb down. I was late for work that day but was given a carriage key by one of the ticket collectors at Manors who had been a guard, so I could open any doors in future. Another morning when my bike had some fault I had to walk to Blaydon and the shortest route was via the railway line from Swalwell, so, clambering up the embankment at the bottom of Whickham Bank, I walked along the line past Swalwell cricket ground and over the Derwent bridge and on towards Blaydon. There were no trains that early in the morning so I just walked along the tracks. I began to run in order to get to the sheds on time and in the pitch dark could see very little when I suddenly tripped over a signal wire and fell full length cutting my hands on the ballast between the tracks. However in spite of this I still managed to catch the train. Later on I bought a motorbike and this was much quicker but no fun in bad weather. Returning home on the Triumph after midnight during my time at Manors North, people would occasionally thumb lifts, and once I took someone who had missed the last train home back to Whitley Bay.
After 7 or 8 months at this office, I was transferred to the main booking office at Manors North adjacent to Platform 1 at the station's main entrance on Trafalgar Street. This office was very much busier and in addition to selling tickets handled parcels and calculated and paid out the clerical staff's weekly pay, together with the wages of all the other station staff including the signalmen at the Argyll Street, Manors North and Jesmond signal boxes which were under the command of the Station Master at Manors.
As Manors North was quite near Worswick Street bus station we had the custom of many passengers arriving by bus from south and east Durham, especially on fine summer days when families went to the beach for the day at Tynemouth, Cullercoats or Whitley Bay. On really busy days we would open an additional ticket window with a clerk at each to deal with the long queues that built up from about 10am, and Messrs Findlay's kiosk which sold cigarettes and confectionery and W H Smith's newsagents would do extra business on these days too.
Several local firms sent parcels almost daily, often to coast stations, where they would be put on the next train and the sender would advise the addressee by phone to collect them. Parcel rates were calculated by weight and distance on a sliding scale and could be quite expensive if heavy. Incoming parcels occasionally contained live bait from Wells Next the Sea in Norfolk; a long way to send for your fishing bait. Sometimes more substantial livestock parcels arrived containing day old chicks and once a pigeon in a cardboard box came with some holes punched in the top. There were often large baskets of racing pigeons on the platforms being sent south for liberation, or returned empty for collection afterwards, a common sight at stations in those days.
As the railway in those days was designated a common carrier and was obliged by law to carry virtually any traffic offered it, the rules governing the conveyance of parcels by passenger train were very complicated. and amendments to the rules were received weekly and the rules books had to be kept up to date. Although most parcels were relatively straightforward you never knew what you were going to get and it was usually at the most inconvenient time when the most unusual parcel with complicated conditions attached to it would be handed in. All charges had to be calculated before despatch. Some firms had an account with British Railways, while others paid cash. You could send your luggage in advance, either bringing/collecting it yourself or having it picked up/delivered or any combination you chose and this cost a few shillings. There were also of course personal and telephone enquiries requiring use of the timetables of which there were six - one for each of the BR regions. Three clerks worked in the office. One was permanent day shift 8.30 am to 5.30 pm plus Saturday morning, and 2 clerks worked alternate shifts. I was one of these, the hours being 7 am to 1.30 pm (2.30 pm on a Saturday) and 4.45pm to 11.55 pm (2.30 pm to midnight on a Saturday, a forty two hour week.). There was no meal break, meals had to be taken in a quiet period during the shift. The clerks also worked alternate Sundays, 6.45 am to 3 pm and 3 pm to 11 pm two weeks later. This meant only one day off in fourteen. Every month I would finish work on the Saturday at midnight and start at 6.45 am that Sunday morning again which meant very little sleep. So one summer weekend I arranged to sleep at the station, in the Ambulance Room where all the first aid equipment and stretchers were kept. I just stretched out on a table with a stretcher under me and a blanket on top and it was the most uncomfortable night I ever spent. Trains kept me awake half the night and when I got up I felt like I had never rested, and of course I got no breakfast, just a cup of tea and then it was time to start work again. By the time 3 pm came I was very hungry despite a few sandwiches and I felt I needed a shave and a good sleep. Never again.
The two Manors East clerks worked alternate Sunday mornings at the neighbouring station of Jesmond, but only in summer when it was expected to be busy. On Saturdays we unofficially changed shifts at 1.30 pm giving the morning shift clerk the chance to do something with his Saturday afternoon off. During holidays and sickness we were relieved by permanent Relief Clerks who spent their working lives at different stations, a day here, a week there and they must have become very experienced in time, handling all sorts of different situations not encountered at every station. They got a lodging allowance if they were deemed unable to get to and from work in one day and this was a big attraction to anyone wanting to make a bit of extra money and who didn't mind the inconvenience. Usually Relief Clerks would find some way to travel to work and back home in a day, and still claim the lodging allowance where applicable, so that the inconvenience was compensated for. Appropriate relief staff would relieve other grades.
Trains ran 365 days a year on the coast loop as elsewhere and so Easter, Christmas and New Year and the other Bank Holidays were worked. These were paid at time and three quarters, as were Sundays, with a day off in lieu for the statutory holidays. Time worked between 10pm and 6am was at time and a quarter. Annual holidays were 2 weeks, organised on a roster list containing staff from a large number of stations, the more service you had the better the month of your holidays, mine were taken in May or October as I had only 18 months or so service on the railway at that time. Take home pay was not much, about £5 or £6 per week or maybe £8 with your time and a quarter payments and a Sunday in.
In addition to the booking office clerks there was a station master (also supervising Jesmond) with his own clerk dealing with staffing and administrative matters, There were also two Station Inspectors who were responsible for the platform staff and any operational matters concerning trains, seven porters who kept the station clean, (the offices were cleaned by two cleaning ladies). The porters saw the trains out safely giving the guard the "right away" and other general duties. There were also five ticket collectors and several signalmen who we usually only saw on pay- day as there was normally no need for them to come to the station. All these staff worked shifts, the station opening its doors at 5 in the morning and closing about 12.30 am, with reduced hours on Sundays. Trains to the coast ran every 20 minutes in each direction and every 30 minutes in the evenings A few Newbiggin trains ran direct to and from Manors but most ran from Monkseaton, except on Saturdays when many people came into town either shopping or for a night out and trains ran via Seghill to Manors There were also a small number of stopping trains to and from Alnwick calling at Manors at peak periods.
Weekends were very busy and late night revellers would arrive for the last trains after a night at the nearby Oxford Galleries, the pictures, or at one or more of the many pubs. Often the night out would be rounded off with a visit to the local fish and chip shop and ticket money would be offered coated in fish skin and batter. Drunks could be abusive, sometimes not only the drunks. Attempts were made by one man to snatch the pile of money we kept out of the till for handiness in giving change, but my colleague dealt his hand a blow with a heavy wooden ruler one evening and this cured him. After an unsuccessful break-in at the station one night on 4 March 1961, the would-be thieves, disgruntled at being unable to open the safe, tipped out the drawers containing many thousands of unused tickets, all consecutively numbered, onto the floor, mixed them up and emptied the condensed milk and sugar we kept for making tea, followed by some water, onto the lot. We were issuing sugar-coated tickets to all stations for several days although the worst examples were cancelled after the tedious operation of re-sorting all the tickets into numerical order. I was on early shift that day but asked to stay on until late afternoon to help. The would be thieves also broke into the New Railway, a pub opposite, and again finding no cash pulled off the beer pumps and flooded the floor with beer. At least our tickets could still be sold; the beer, alas, was gone forever. Another incident was the big fire at an electrical goods warehouse adjoining the station that began during the night and was not extinguished for several hours. There were lots of smoke blackened electric razors and other things salvaged from the ruins afterwards, though I don't know if any of them actually worked.
In winter I remember snow and ice having to be cleared from the platforms and ashes put down to help the passengers and staff keep their feet. The station had coal fires in most of the offices and the waiting rooms and the porters and ticket collectors rooms had coal fires which had to be kept going from early morning to late night. One job of the porters was to keep the white line marking the edge of each platform clean and white and repainted when necessary. Everyone except the office staff wore uniforms of course, and were provided with a thick coat for winter use and a cap. Clerks wore their ordinary clothes although the union had been fighting for years for a protective jacket to be issued. They finally got these many years after I had left.
One winter evening Tyneside was enveloped in a dense fog and it was so bad that all the buses, including the trolley buses stopped running. We had a lot of extra passengers that night as many people,on finding themselves stranded, turned to the trains. Even if they had a long walk after they got off it would be a great help to be taken most of the way. People groped their way to Manors North and enquired tentatively if any trains were running and they would be a little surprised to find that we were runing an almost normal service, subject to minor delays. The railway signals were supplemented by detonators placed on the line nearby so that the train drivers would know whether it was safe to proceed. Fog signalmen would be called out to perform this task. Takings were greatly up on an ordinary winter evening that day.
There was an accident book at each station and details of any mishaps were duly recorded. I heard all the accounts of the serious accidents that had happened locally over the years, a porter hit by an electric train while crossing the line to get to the other platform at Jesmond, and men being killed when they touched the electrified third rail. The only trouble I had was a piece of grit from a steam locomotive in my eye necessitating a visit to the General Hospital the following day to have it removed.
There were many kinds of tickets, usually pre-printed, with blanks for seldom-requested destinations. There was the standard ticket, the Ordinary single or Return, and the Cheap Day Return for relatively short journeys. Cheaper were the mid -week 'holiday returns' held at the main line stations and, if you travelled locally before 8am, you could buy an Early Morning Return. There were also many Excursion fares and Holiday Runabout tickets giving unlimited travel between stations in a specified area.
The railway provided pocket timetables for passengers and a comprehensive timetable book giving full details of all passenger services in each of the six BR regions was available to buy for one shilling. There was also a publication called Holiday Haunts with suggested holiday destinations and accommodation addresses. details of Camping Coaches and Camping Cottages were given in a leaflet, these offered holiday accommodation in the country in converted railway coaches and station buildings.
Shortly before I went to Manors higher Sunday fares were introduced on the electrified suburban lines to the coast, the justification being that railways were more expensive to run on Sundays as overtime was paid at a rate of time and three quarters. Thus, for example, the fare from Newcastle to the coast stations at West Monkseaton, Monkseaton, Whitley Bay, Cullercoats and Tynemouth increased from 1/10d to 2/2d on a Sunday. This simply resulted in more people travelling by bus on that day rather than pay the 18% increased fare. A further consequence of this was that special tickets had to be printed for Sundays, so that ticket stocks were doubled for the affected services, and space had to be found in the ticket rack to accomodate the new tickets, while booking clerks had to remember to issue the appropriate ticket and charge the correct fare depending on what day it was. These fares only survived for a few years.
Children travelled at half fare between ages 3 and 14 and there were special children's tickets where there was steady demand, otherwise the adult ticket would be cut in half diagonally before issue, according to the rules. and issued to the passenger who was usually extremely dubious as to its validity. Sometimes the remaining half would remain unsold for years. Dogs, bikes and prams had their own fares and tickets. There were weekly, monthly and annual season tickets. Railway Staff were entitled to Privilege tickets offering cheap travel, but a form had to be completed and signed by the stationmaster before travel, which made impromptu journeys difficult. Before issue, each ticket was date-stamped using an ancient but effective date-press machine, painted green. There is an example in the railway station office at Beamish museum. The ticket was inserted into a slot half way down and, the front being hinged, it moved inwards and the date was stamped onto the end of the ticket. Both ends required stamping for returns as each half of the ticket covered one portion of the journey. To stamp each end tickets had to be turned through 180 degrees and if there was a long queue for tickets you had to be able to do it fast, using one hand, some clerks were exceptionally quick. At the end of the late shift the clerk would change the type in the machine to show tomorrows' date Tickets were held in large racks and stored vertically in rows with each station having its own row of tickets, consecutively numbered. Singles were arranged separately from returns, also adult and children's tickets. As a ticket was pulled from the bottom of the rack for issue the next dropped into place, ready for issue, a simple but effective system. After each balance the ticket at the bottom or each row was marked with a pen to show that row had been checked. The serial number of each series of tickets would be recorded and by deducting the serial number recorded at the previous balance we would know how many of each ticket had been sold in the intervening period and so could work out how much money we should have taken. Sometimes we were a few pence out if incorrect change had been given and we could be in debit or credit, if any credit the money was kept for when a debit occurred and it usually balance out. If you were a lot out in your balance you would look for a mistake in your calculations.
Entry to the public toilets cost one penny and the money passed through a coin in the slot mechanism to open the door and it had to be collected every week. There were three ladies' and three gents' toilets; each with several machines and it took quite a while to retrieve the pennies from them all. Our lady clerk did the ladies' of course. I remember in the winter the pennies were always damp and cold. It was surprising how many pennies we collected. There was graffiti in the toilets, even in those days, some of it quite entertaining.
Sometimes lost property would be handed in by passengers or staff and was recorded in a book, unclaimed property being sent to York after a specified time, where it was eventually sold. A handbag containing over £50 was once found and as I had to empty out the contents for recording I was astounded at the amazing variety and number of objects present in a ladies handbag. The bag was claimed quite soon and the finder got a reward as the sum of £50 was about four weeks' wages in 1960.
Every week a man would come round and post advertising bills on the many billboards on the premises, the most interesting for me being the cinema ones with posters advertising the films being shown at the big cinemas in Newcastle. I went to the pictures whenever possible and liked looking at the bills, which have become very collectible and valuable in recent years, though I never managed to obtain any. While I was at Manors an interesting diversion occurred in the summer of 1960 when a film production company came to Newcastle to shoot location scenes for a film called Payroll. This starred Michael Craig and also featured Kenneth Griffith, Tom Bell and Billie Whitelaw The story concerned a payroll-van robbery which went wrong, resulting in the murder of a guard, whose wife eventually tracks down the killers. Although none of the cast managed a Tyneside accent there were many locally filmed scenes. One of the locations was the Granary Lane Warehouse just off Trafalgar Street near the station where the gang had their hideout There were the big lamps set up and lots of people rushing around getting things ready for a take. There were several shots in the back lane and one of Michael Craig driving a sports car along City Road and turning left into Trafalgar Street. The film was released in 1961 and sometimes turns up on TV. There are many other local locations, the old Redheugh Bridge, Grey'Street, the Monument, several Newcastle City centre streets and a house at Tynemouth where one of the villains lived.
Interruptions to train services were infrequent but troublesome when they did occur. At times interruptions to the DC electricity supply would bring the electric train services to a halt until it was restored. Once there was a serious derailment when one of the many coal trains passing through Manors was derailed at the junction of the line from the coast via Jesmond and the main line from Edinburgh, blocking four lines and leaving only the 2 lines normally used by trains from the coast via Wallsend open. This allowed trains to and from Edinburgh to continue running but created severe congestion for over 12 hours until all lines were re opened following re-railing of the derailed wagons by a crane and removal of all the spilt coal from the tracks.
We were kept advised of developments during these incidents by the primitive but efficient railway telephone system used to communicate with the other stations and signal boxes. To call someone you pressed a buzzer using the appropriate combination of dots and dashes or shorts and longs in Morse code style, and the recipient would recognise his station's code and answer the phone. The GPO lines were not used much for internal rail communication. For longer distance calls there was an internal railway system using the line side wires and ordinary but separate telephones. All internal railway mail went by train in special re-usable envelopes. There was also a railway telegraph system and the big main line stations had a telegraph office.
Connecting the platforms 1 and 2 there were two subways under the line, one with steps and used by passengers and the other formerly used for hauling parcels on the big, four-wheeled barrows when the station had been much busier with fruit and vegetable traffic. An electric hoist from both platforms 1 and 2 went down to subway level, one at each end. The younger members of staff had taken to using this subway to play football in, kicking the ball from one end to the other. One of the station inspectors had told them to stop on several occasions without success so he decided on drastic action. One lunchtime when the football match was in full swing he removed the fuses from both hoists and the footballers were trapped in the subway. After a considerable period the Station Master noticed their absence and began enquiries, which eventually led to the subway. The station inspector then surreptitiously re-placed the fuses and the stationmaster descended to find the shamefaced miscreants with their football. There were no excuses possible and the subterranean football matches were never resumed.
There was a considerable uphill gradient between Manors and Jesmond and this was sometimes utilised to transfer a parcels van by gravity into the bay platform number 5. A shunting engine would bring a parcels van up the line beyond platform 1, with the station inspector aboard and the train would ascend 100 yards up the slope and stop, the van would be uncoupled and the station inspector would release the brake, a wheel on a vertical shaft, allowing the van to run down the gradient, over the points diverting the van into platform 5, applying the brake just in time to bring it to a halt as near to the buffers as possible. With practice this could be done very accurately, any slip up and the van would either hit the buffers with a crash or stop well away from where it was required preventing any trains from using the platform. I was friendly with one of the station inspectors and was once allowed to try my hand at the brake, performing commendably well, though it was an unnerving experience running a heavy railway van downhill with only a primitive brake between you and disaster. The inspector, Harry Holt, once took me to the signal box at Little Benton where his brother worked after our shift ended, and I was able to see how signalling worked in practice for I was by then going regularly to the evening classes mentioned earlier to study railway signalling, something you had to know for certain routes of advancement on the railway, such as to station master. The box was very busy with electric and goods trains passing frequently and the signal bells were rung so often that even the Hunchback of Notre Dame would have felt at home. The other station inspector was Jimmy Weir who had at one time been a guard and used to tell me of his experiences on the Border Counties line running up from Hexham to Kielder and over the Scottish border. There were few passengers and Kielder was a remote station with Deadwater, almost on the border, being even more remote. The line could be very desolate in winter beyond Bellingham.
I also did evening classes in passenger station work and accounts but they were less interesting. Staff were always encouraged to attend evening classes and many did. Promotion was by interview for the salaried grades. Lists of vacancies in the region came out monthly and you could apply for any job you thought you were qualified for and if selected you went for an interview. I never applied for any jobs, as I didn't consider I had enough experience yet. Harry Holt had a motorcycle combination and he once let me have a ride in the station yard. I found it very strange having to steer a motorcycle with a sidecar after being used to just the two wheeled version. Once when my own bike had been losing power and Harry decided it was the carburettor, one winter evening we had the bike in the booking office, the petrol tank off and all the petrol stored in milk bottles on the parcels office floor next door, a fire hazard if ever there was one. However the bike was repaired and put safely back together. Early one fine summer Sunday when we could expect lots of passengers for the coast I stepped just outside the office and the wind caught the door which slammed shut and being a Yale lock I couldn't get back in as my keys were inside. I was in a dilemma as in a couple of hours we would be busy, and the only spare key was in a locked glass case in the station master's office. One of the porters, however, came to my rescue, telling me to take a walk to the end of the platform. I was mystified, but when I returned the door was open, how he did it I never knew, but I was very grateful and relieved.
At fairly long intervals the station would receive a fresh coat of paint. The colours for the North Eastern region stations were blue and white and the interiors, waiting rooms, staff rooms, etc including the booking office had to be painted too. This would be done during the night to ensure minimum disruption and one of the clerks would work a nightshift, as the painters were not allowed to be left alone in the office. I never stayed overnight myself, but I do remember the strong smell of paint the following morning. Part of Tynemouth Metro station is still painted in the old colours.
I had also visited several railway sites of interest including the various signal boxes at other stations where I worked, the locomotive shed at Blaydon, still with many steam locos, and the parcels office at Newcastle Central. This was on Westgate Road and was a cavernous wooden building full of barrows piled high with parcels of all shapes and sizes, and many staff coming and going with more barrows. That is one reason why trains had such large guards vans, and why they often have no vans now, as parcels traffic is relatively small in comparison to 40 years ago
Eventually after 2 years I was again transferred to the Central Station at Newcastle, this time to the Station Masters Office. On my first day I was taken on a tour of the station by one of the experienced clerks who was to train me, being shown all the places not open to the public. These included the guards' rooms, the areas used by the Post Office to carry parcels going by Royal Mail, the signal box (-the 3 boxes at Newcastle had recently been replaced by a modern new one), the station announcers' booth and most interesting of all, the Traffic Control room. This was a large room up on the first floor in the area above the portico where a labyrinth of offices existed. Here the train movements on all lines within Newcastle's area were controlled. Traffic Control staff were in communication with all stations and signal boxes as required, and kept the traffic moving whenever problems occurred which was frequently. For example if a locomotive failed (broke down) at, say Killingworth, it was Control's responsibility to locate a suitable replacement locomotive capable of hauling the train, from one of the many motive power depots and to get it to the breakdown site and remove the failed loco for repairs while keeping the traffic moving meantime, possibly by a diversion via Backworth, Choppington and Morpeth or by means of single line working. Train scheduling would have to be adjusted on affected lines as necessary, everyone kept advised what was happening, and the whole operation would need to be completed in the least possible time to keep disruption to a minimum. It was said that if you worked in train control, whatever problem you were dealing with at the end of your shift would have been resolved by the time you began work again the following day, which must have been nice. Trains are scheduled not according to the public timetable but to the railway's own Working Timetable which details not only arrival and departure times at stations but also to and from engine sheds, with passing times at selected junctions, signal boxes and other locations. These timetables were frequently amended and train crews had to read the amendments when signing on every day, which also detailed any temporary speed restrictions. The times in the Working timetable could be slightly different to those shown in the public timetable.
The new Central Station signal box was very impressive with a large illuminated diagram showing all the lines, platforms and sidings it controlled and coloured lights which moved in accordance with a trains progress. The Station Announcers also had their own small booth here and following advice from the signalmen (there were no signalwomen) would make their announcements about train arrivals and departures. Newcastle Central public address system was reputed to be one of the best acoustically, but those who remember the station in those days may not agree. Visits to the Seat Reservation office, the Booking Office and the Telegraph Office completed my tour, which lasted all morning.
The 'Central' was a very exciting and fairly noisy place to work and the platforms were often full of barrows piled high with mail sacks and these would be hauled about by small motorised units. There was a particular knack to loading a barrow with those mail sacks containing parcels and the secret was to place them with the tied openings inward, facing the centre of the barrow. These were usually dealt with at night and loading or unloading a railway mail van was a frenzied operation. Porters got a small addition to their wages for handling the mails. Hoists existed to move the barrows from the platform to a lower level where they would be dealt with by Post Office employees. There were busy refreshment rooms, a ticket office at each end of the station, with the North Tyneside electrics having the east end booking office, plus a seat reservation office, an enquiry office, a telegraph office, several toilets and a big washroom where you could also get a bath. Then there was a left luggage office, waiting rooms, and a police office. The trains themselves had exciting names like The Queen of Scots Pullman, The Tyne Tees Pullman, The Talisman, The Heart of Midlothian, The Northumbrian and the North Briton and a sleeping car express, The Tynesider. The arrival and departure of the sleeping car trains kept the station busy late at night and early in the morning. Finally the Royal Station Hotel was railway owned and was one of several hotels serving the big cities.
When I worked at Newcastle the ordinary single fare to London was fifty-one shillings 2nd class and seventy-six shillings first or £2 55 and £3.80 respectively. The Cheap day Return fare to Whitley Bay was two and twopence, or 11p. In the centre of the station concourse there was a large indicator showing arrivals and departures which were printed on a roller which was turned by a member of staff as the day progressed so that it showed train times for the next few hours. There was a separate indicator at the east end of the station. Various vending machines were placed around the station selling chocolate and also a printing machine where you could print your name onto a narrow strip of aluminium, one letter at a time, by turning a pointer to face the required letter of the alphabet. There were two Findlay's kiosks selling confectionery and flowers and two W H Smith stalls with all the newspapers, magazines and comics laid out on top of a counter with books on shelves, and two or more assistants would take your money, no queuing at tills like today. A barber operated from the east end of the station and outside under the portico a man sold newspapers just as today. On Sundays-only newspapers would be laid out for sale on the steps of the Revenue Accountants office in Neville Street just across from Marlborough Crescent. Presumably no one worked there on Sundays. In the next few months I learned something about guards' rosters, correcting and paying out after errors made in the pay of weekly paid staff, and many other aspects of work in the Station Master's Office, but shortly after my transfer there in summer I had decided I wanted to go into the Merchant Navy and I left the Railway immediately after the New Year in 1962 to start the new term at South Shields Marine and Technical College. to learn to take a course in radio to enable me to go to sea as a Radio Officer. Thus I swapped one mode of transport for another and that was the end of my four-year railway career, which had lasted from 19 May 1958 to January 2 1962.
Copyright M Makepeace January 2004, 2009.
Whickham Dates
1900 The Century started with an unusual event, an underground party in the gaily-decorated fire quarter seam at Axwell Colliery. This was to raise money to refurbish the chancel of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin.
1901 The population of the parish of Whickham was 12,681 and its rateable value was £51,500.
1906 A Flower Show was held in Whickham.
1907 Lang Jack's cottage burned down. Women worked on hands and knees digging for coal on the surface at Whickham Pit.
1909 Whickham Front Street Infant School and Whickham County Council School opened together.
1910 The Hermitage passed out of the ownership of the Taylor family, (founders of Swalwell Brewery), to James Osterley McLeary.
1911
The Miners' Institute was established on Front Street, (it is now the Community Centre).
1910
The Whickham Pump was still in place.
1911 Coronation of King George V was celebrated by a procession of decorated wagons and horses from Church Green to Dykes Nook where sports and games were held and each schoolchild was given a commemorative beaker. The Golf Club at Whickham was opened.
1912 The village pump was moved from the footpath, stored in the council yard, and eventually fitted into the wall of Glebe Farm.
1913 An experimental service of motorbuses was operating in the district, but not in Whickham itself.
1914 Rev C.E. Little, rector of St Mary the Virgin at Whickham made shell casings in a workshop in the Rectory. A soup kitchen was run in the grounds of Whickham Social Club. The first bus service from Stanley to Newcastle was via Whickham.
1918 A Victory bonfire was held behind the Spoor Memorial Chapel. It was lit by the oldest resident, Mr. Buckhurst, who almost caught fire himself and had to be dragged clear. The original building in Church Chare became the Rectory again.
1922 The War Memorial was unveiled. The Rectory, in Rectory Lane was changed to Whickham Cottage Hospital.
1923 South End Farm was demolished to make way for the Watergate Estate.
1924 The Hermitage was occupied by Mr. William Campton of Norwood Coke Works. The Cottage Hospital at Whickham opened and was run by public subscription.
1926
The year of the Miners strike and 60% of the population were connected with Whickham, Whaggs and Watergate pits!
1929 A new Scout Headquarters was built in Park Drive.
1930 Remembrance Sunday. Christ Church Scouts lead the church organisations to the War Memorial, marching to the drumbeat. The guides walked out of step as the Brown Owl, Miss Parker thought marching was unladylike.
1935 The Rector banned the annual Hoppings on the Church Green.
1937 The house and grounds in Chase Park were bought from Mr. Wilkinson by Whickham UDC for £7,000.
1939 The house in Chase Park was used by the Fire Service for the duration of the war.
1948 The Dockendale Estate was purchased by the Catholic Church Authority; the stables were later converted into the church. The Ministry of Health took over the running of Whickham Cottage Hospital.
1951The population of Whickham UDC was 23,000.
1953 The amount allocated for the celebration, in Whickham, of the Queen's Coronation was £154. This included tea in the Miners Hall.
The Council took over the maintenance of The Church Green
1954 The Miners Institute was converted into the Community Centre and the pit at the top of Whickham Bank closed. The Hermitage opened as a hostel for retired men.
1955 Work started on providing a new shopping centre in Whickham and the purchase of 6.25 acres of land, for housing, on the Rectory field was proposed.
1957 Council staff started a five-day working week on March the 20th.
1958 The Whickham Boys singing group was formed and they raised money for charity.
1960 The names of Marx Crescent and Lenin Drive were changed to The Crescent and The Drive. Whickham Round Table was started. The house in Chase Park was demolished.
1961 The plans to build 18 houses in Whickham Orchard were approved. Glebe Farm was demolished but a commemorative plaque was placed in the west wall of the telephone exchange. Whickham UDC had 50 acres of parks and open spaces under its care.
1962 Whickham Secondary School opened. The Council approved plans for houses to be built on the Grange Estate and for Morris Men to dance on the Church Green for twenty minutes. The Council recommends that Saturday afternoon burials be discontinued - except in cases of emergency.
1963 A Motor Club started in Whickham. Council meets with local Head Teachers to discuss methods of reducing vandalism.
The first of the houses on the new Whickham Grange Estate was occupied by Mr and Mrs G. Hails on the first of June.
1964 Whickham Parochial School celebrated its 250th anniversary. A paddling pool and children's zoo opened in Chase Park. The shafts and drift at Watergate Colliery were demolished.
1965 The Council met to discuss publishing a magazine for the area called Focus. The "meals on wheels" service was extended.
1966 Fellside Primary School opened and a purpose built Children's Home was completed. The Council agreed to take part in "Britain in Bloom" competition and it cost £17 a year to repair and maintain a council house. First Whickham Scout Troup celebrated their Golden Jubilee. The Queen Mother attended a service in Gibside Chapel. The zoo in Chase Park now had 100 foreign birds including bantams, doves, and golden pheasants.
1967 Population of Whickham was now 27,000. Whickham won the Award of Merit in the Britain in Bloom competition. Six monkeys were put into the park zoo. Whickham Council agreed to a new shopping centre being built on the north side of Front Street and started negotiations to buy all land and properties from Laws Stores to the Square. Three existing shops will be affected and will be replaced by twelve new shops together with a library, clinic, car park and some housing. The first phase will begin in 1969.
1968 A spring was discovered running into the basement of the Community Centre and a pump was fitted to control the water. Fellside Infant School opened and the Primary School became the Junior School. Compulsory Purchase Orders were made for the houses, which had to be demolished for the building of the Western Bypass. The plan for the new shopping centre is still being considered by Durham County Council, Whickham UDC and the Chamber of Trade.
1970 Whickham Secondary School became a Comprehensive School. Aerial photographs of Whickham revealed the remains of a Roman Fort near Washingwell. A Public Enquiry was held about the controversial shopping centre.
1971 Whickham Parochial School moved from its original site in School Lane to new premises on The Broadway.
1972 The Tree Nursery was nearing completion on Whickham Highway but there was no new Community Centre for Whickham! It was hoped that the Front Street development would start next May.
1973 Free bus travel for senior citizens. Revitalization of pre-war council housing has now passed 1,000. The new Catholic St. Mary's Church is now in use and the cost of the church and presbytery was £52,000. The Northern Co-op made a successful bid for the new supermarket at a rent of £20,000 per annum.
1974 On the first of April, Whickham became part of Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council. The final meeting took place of Whickham WRVS. The first shops opened on St. Mary's Green Shopping Centre. Whickham Glebe Sports Club opened on the site of the cricket and Football ground.
1975 The Hermitage Hostel closed.
1976 Pit demolished.
1977 The Hermitage was converted for use by handicapped people. Cloverhill Primary School opened. Queen Elizabeth's Jubilee Celebrations took place. The monument to Lang Jack was moved near to The Crown pub (which is now Lang Jack), by J.T. Bell builders. The stables and coach house in Church Chare were converted into a dance hall.
1980 Whickham Front Street Nursery opened.
1982 The Gibside Hotel was built.
1985 Phase two of St. Mary's Green Shopping Centre was finished.
1986 Front Street Infants and Junior Schools merge to form Whickham Front Street Primary School.
1993 Fellside Infant and Junior Schools merge, in the Junior building, to become Fellside Primary School.
1994 Fellside Nursery School was incorporated into the Fellside building.
1995 Whickham U3A was started.
1998 Gibside School, for children with learning difficulties, opened on the Fellside Infant School site. The children's zoo was closed in Whickham park.
2000 Millennium Celebrations included a New Year Party at St Mary the Virgin Church Hall with fireworks on the Church Green and the production of "Time Lord 2000" in Whickham park by the community.
There was another unusual fund raising event at the end of the century, which involved the Rector and the Churchwarden of St. Mary The Virgin, abseiling down the church tower to raise money, again for repairs to the church.
Swalwell Dates
1901 Railway traffic from Swalwell to Newcastle reached its peak with a total of 98,000 passengers and fluctuated between 70,000 and 90,000 for the next twenty years. The line was also used for the transport of coal, bricks and clay.
1902 Swalwell Social club founded
1908 The work of enlarging Swalwell Station and putting in an extra line was completed. Blaydon Harriers was started.
1911 Metal works finally closed
1914
There was high drama at Swalwell Bridge as a motorbus teetered on the brink of toppling into the water.
1919 Motor buses first appeared in Whickham and had a disastrous effect upon railway operations in Swalwell.
1921 Rail passenger traffic from Swalwell fell to 46,000.
1923 Adamasez of Scotswood bought out Snowball's Brickworks.
1926 Coke ovens built near Winlaton Mill.
1928 Shopping and Carnival week.
1928 Rail passenger traffic from Swalwell fell to 46,000.
1930 The train passenger traffic from Swalwell was now less than 20,000.
1939 Shield, the builders from Swalwell, helped in the construction of enlargement of Norman's Riding Hospital.
1940 Henry Pit closes down due to flooding.
1945 Margaret Dryburgh died in a Japanese prisoner of war camp. She had lived in Swalwell before becoming a missionary in the far east.
1952 Blaydon Harriers were disbanded because of the closure of the White City Stadium.
1953 Swalwell Station was closed for passenger traffic. Axwell Park Colliery closed.
1955 Swalwell Station was closed for parcel traffic.
1962 Fire Station constructed in the Greenfields area of Swalwell on Market Lane. Centenary celebration of Blaydon Races held at Blaydon Rugby Club
1962 Swalwell Station was closed completely.
1963 Blaydon Harriers were reformed and called Blaydon Harrier and Athletic Club.
1967 The Elephant Inn was demolished to make way for road works on the east side of Whickham Bank.
1968 Approval was given for the plans for the development of Derwent Walk and picnic area.
1969 Ramsay's Brickworks closed down.
1971 A proposal was made to start work on the Derwent Walk along the lines of the old railway. The Western Bypass was started.
1976 The Ebenezer Chapel was demolished.
1986 Opening of Metro Centre.
Swalwell school on Market Lane closed after 111 years and moved to new premises on Coalway lane
1981 The Centenary of Swalwell Cricket Club.
1998
Derwenthaugh Park opened on the Derwenthaugh Cokeworks site. This cokeworks was opened by Consett Iron Company in 1928 and operated until 1986. Reclamation of the site began in 1990 but, because of heavy contamination, the park wasn't opened until 1998. The opening of this park means that the public can once again access to a popular Victorian picnic spot, the Lady's Steps. This is the weir across the River Derwent which formerly diverted water to High Forge, of an old iron/steel forge, the site of which is now occupied by the Swalwell Visitors' Centre.
1999 Swalwell Cricket Club moved to new premises at Derwent Park and a new bridge was constructed across the Derwent to give road access.
2000 The Pavilion housing estate was built on the former site of Swalwell Cricket Club.
Sunniside Dates
1902 Building of Dewhurst Terrace and development of shops
1910 Sunniside Chapel opened
1911
Co-op opened
1914 Social Club opened in Rose Cottage. St Cuthbert's Church Hall built
1915 Sunniside Social Club started in an old cottage.
1918 New Social Club built. Rose Cottage became home of Club Steward
1919 The first stage of the present Social Club was started in Sunniside.
1921 Extension to Co-op to include Butchery, Grocery and Drapery with leisure facilities upstairs
1922 Infant School opened in St Cuthbert's Church Hall
1955 The concert room was enlarged in Sunniside Social Club.
1958 Social Club extension. Rose Cottage (Steward's House) demolished and replaced by Rose Villa.
1960 Sunniside Social Club finally completed.
1972 A bypass was proposed for Sunniside.
1987 Co-op closed
1992
Co-op building burnt down
1993 Cobbler's hut demolished
Streetgate Dates
1920 Two shafts were sunk in Watergate Woods to form the Watergate Colliery. A housing estate was built for colliery workers on Broom Lane, Whickham.
1941 There was a very heavy fall of snow and the army was given the task to clear the track from the top of Baker's Bank to the bottom of the Lobley Hill incline.
1953 December- a new underground railway was completed at Watergate Colliery at a cost of £40,000. It was nearly 2 miles long from the shaft bottom to the coalface and a pair of trains carried the men inbye.
1954 Pithead baths and a canteen were built at Watergate Colliery.
1957 Watergate colliery was sending 700 tons of coal each day down the railway to Dunston.
1958 Newcastle and District Motor Club held motor cycle trials in Washingwell Woods
1963 "White Elephant" School closed.
1964 August 20th - Watergate Colliery closed due to it losing money.
1966 Watergate Colliery - the shafts were filled in and the screens demolished.
1974 Fire totally destroyed the old "White Elephant" School building.
1977 Gateshead M.B.C. bought Washingwell Woods from the National Coal Board.
Marley Hill Dates
1904 Will Harrison, last brakesman, was born on 25th. March in High Marley Hill.
1926 Railway accident at East Tanfield on the 13th of April.
1932 The railway line originally known as the Pontop and Jarrow is now to be known as the Bowes Incline.
1936 Miners' Welfare Hall opened by Duke and Duchess or York (the present Queen Mother)
1937 "German" Coke Ovens closed.
1958 Senior pupils transferred to Burnopfield Modern School.
1962 Bowes Incline was closed on September the second.
1964 The Tanfield line was closed.
1964 First extension to Primary School, including indoor toilets.
1974 Additional classroom built by Durham CC, then school transferred to Gateshead MBC
1978 The Tanfield Line was taken over by amateurs and the first stage opened was from Marley Hill to Bowes Bridge.
1982 The Tanfield railway was extended to Sunniside.
1983 Marley Hill Colliery closed.
1995 Marley Hill School Centenary.
1998 Will Harrison, the last brakesman, died on the second of February.
Dunston Dates
1900 Boys and Girls Life Brigade held meetings
Norwood Colliery, Dunston was reopened by the Swalwell Garesfield Company.
1903 
Dunston Tram Service opened.
1904 Dunston Board School (built 1874) was taken over by the County Council; the headmaster was Mr. C. McIntyre.
1905 Dunston Colliery opened. Dunston Christ Church had the chancel extended and a new vestry and organ.
1906 Wood Street Methodist Church was opened.
1907 Dunston Excelsior Social Club was formed in a house in Athol Street; the present club building was opened in 1910. There was a Rifle Range in the club during the First World War and Dunston Lads became the English Rifle Champions. Dunston Railway Station was opened.
1908 The Co-op Flour Mill site was extended to include the Soap Works; key workers were brought from Manchester Soap Works.
1909 An addition to St Phillips Neri RC School was made in Dunston.
1910 Dunston Hill School was opened. Dunston Power Station opened and was called The Newcastle Electric Supply Company.
1911 Dunston Wesylan Chapel had its own Cricket Club.
1914 Dunston Hill Hospital was converted into an Orthopaedic Hospital.
1920 Dunston Chapels had a Ladies Hockey Team and a Football Team.
1922 Wood Street Chapel was extended.
1923 The opening of Dunston Social Club (its origins go back to 1983 and The Clavering Avenue Club).
1924 The Boys Brigade began in Wood Street Chapel.
1925 Wood Street Chapel held an "Electric Lighting Night" after cables were laid from The Dun Cow to Four Lane Ends.
1926 Dunston Station was closed to passenger traffic. Many people were out of work due to the General Strike and meals were served in the "Tin Mission".
1929 The first St. Nicholas's Church was opened in Dunston.
1930 A new Catholic school was built in the Teams for the senior pupils from St Phillips school. It was called St Joan of Arc. Commencement of the building of Dunston Power Station.
Dunston Park was developed, before that people took a short cut over waste ground.
1931 Dunston Power Station became the Central Electricity Supply Company.
1933 Dunston Power Station was replaced and was the first power station of frame and glass wall construction in England and possibly the world!
1934 
A new bridge was constructed over the gut (River Teams) in Dunston.
1935 The Silver Jubilee of King George V. Celebration of 100 years of Methodism in Dunston.
1936 Men on the dole worked on building a bowling green in Dunston Park.
1937 Coronation of King George VI; schoolchildren given commemorative cups. New extensions to the Flour Mill at Dunston.
1939 Dunston Lecture Hall was requisitioned for the Home Guard.
1940 Temporary closure of Dunston Council school and St. Philips Neri because of the evacuation of pupils. The remainder of teachers and pupils worked on a part time basis with their own Head Teachers at Dunston Hill School. Soldiers from Dunkirk billeted in Dunston School - on arrival they were offered a hot bath and their first good meal since leaving the French beaches! Troops from The BEF were billeted overnight in the concert room of the Excelsior Club and the Lecture Hall, Dunston.
1941 Catholic school reopened in January and the council school reopened on August 26th.
1947 Dunston Pit closed
1950 Methodists raised funds to repair and decorate the Lecture Hall after its use by the Home Guard.
1951 Dunston Tramway, the last surviving tramway on Tyneside, closed. The last tram ran at 11.22 pm on the 4th August.
1953 A pig was roasted in Dunston Park to celebrate the coronation - a washout due to heavy rain. Holmeside Hall Labour Social Club was opened in Dunston. Hexham Road Methodist Church celebrated its Golden Jubilee.
1954 Gateshead County Borough applied for permission to build a secondary school on Whickham Highway.
1956 Wood Street Chapel celebrated its Golden Jubilee.
1959 A proposal for swimming baths at the junction of Market Lane and Carrs Bank.
1961 The plan to build swimming baths in Dunston was approved.
1963 Wood Street and Hexham Road Methodist Churches united.
1964 Plans were approved for a Health Centre in Dunston.
1965 Dunston swimming baths opened. Dunston Station was closed to goods traffic. Consecration of the new St. Nicholas Church.
1966 Mount Hooley Estate, Dunston was completed.
1969 Dunston Social Club's new premises opened.
1972 Temporary closure of Ellison Road, Dunston, in connection with the construction of the Western Bypass.
1973 Beech tree on Dunston Bank given a preservation order; estimated age 300 years. New mini-roundabout at bottom of Carrs Bank.
1974 Centenary year for Dunston County Infant and Junior School.
Dunston Staiths, the largest wooden structure in Europe, became a listed building.
1976 Dunston Parish Church closed because of subsidence.
1979 The last ship was loaded at Dunston Staiths.
1980 Dunston Power Station ceased generating electricity. Wood Street Chapel was demolished.
1981 The Lecture Hall was hired by the BBC for the filming of "Play for Today".
1984 Work began on the Metro Centre. Dunston Railway Station reopened.
1985 Ravensworth Road and Dunston Hill Chapels together celebrated 150 years of Methodism in Dunston.
1990 Gateshead Garden Festival took place on Norwood Coke Works Site, which earlier (1874) was a flower garden.
2000 Millennium Festival in Dunston Park.
William Bourne 1848-1926
William Bourn was a local historian and published histories of Whickham and other villages in this area. He was born in Whickham and attended Whickham Parochial School until 13 years of age when he left to work in Newalls Rope Works in Dunston. He later worked at Stephensons Engineering Works and Armstrongs Elswick Works both in Newcastle. In 1891 he was appointed School Attendance Officer until l913 when he retired through ill-health. He contributed to the Monthly Chronicle and the Parish Magazine as well as writing histories of local villages and families.
James Goulbourn, 1871-1955
James, a butcher by trade, was a very well-known and well-respected personality in Dunston at the beginning of the century. He was very involved in many aspects of the community and died aged 84 after a very active life.
As a young man he could be seen riding his bicycle around Dunston. He was still riding his bike at the age of eighty. He was the instigator of many organisations and events in the local community.
Here are some of his activities as told by his grandson Tom Goulbourn. As well as running his own butcher's shop he was; 21 years on Whickham Urban District Council, Captain of the first Dunston Fire Brigade, Captain of The Lord Collingwood Rifle Club, Founder of The Dunston Mechanics Institute (1913) which he always referred to as the "abode I love" (known locally as the Abode of Love) and founder of the now extinct Eleven Club.
He was a Special Constable from 1914 to 1945 when he was awarded a long service medal with two bars.
On the outbreak of the First World War he formed the Dunston Rifle Club into a company. This was the same as the Home Guard in the Second World War. He used to march them up and down Cloddy Lonnen, near where The Metro Centre is now. He led them on a pony, whilst a conveyance followed behind with a barrel of beer. They attended a rifle range to practise shooting.
James had a medal made for each of the members.
When they met in the Mechanics Club to celebrate the Armistice in 1918 James suggested they should form The Eleven Club which would meet each November the 11th to commemorate Armistice Day.
He also owned a horse drawn charabanc and a pony and trap. He used the charabanc to transport various groups around the district and on occasions decorated it for the Dunston Carnivals.
Gallery - James Goulbourn
Whickham U. D. Council 1910
Fire brigade 1904
Rifle Club
Rifle club Challenge cup
Garbutt Cup Certificate
The caravan
Carnival 1928
Carnival Certificate 1928
James Goulbourn and friend
Raymond Hudson
Raymond Hudson, known to his friends as Rocky, was a well-known footballer from Dunston. He played for Newcastle United in the seventies for four seasons but did not have a great deal of success.
He went to the United States in1976, to try his luck in the North American Soccer League. He loved everything about America and for thirteen years played football for Fort Lauderdale Strikers lining up with such notable players as George Best and Gerd Muller. He was later made captain and played against international stars such as Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff and Pele.
He had many fans; James Last (bandleader) and Brian Johnson ( of AC/DC, another Dunston lad) are two of the most famous. On one occasion, when James Last was playing at The City Hall, Ray's father and mother were invited to the concert and he met them in the interval and told them that he enjoyed Ray's style of football.
When his playing career was over he had a business cleaning swimming pools, together with doing some football commentating and coaching children in a local youth league. Last year he was doing a T.V. commentary for the Miami Fusion team, who were not doing well with their Brazilian coach. The owners asked him to come in as a caretaker manager and they won their first three games.
This is his first year as a top manager and he has taken the team from Major League no-hopers to Eastern Division Champions in just one season. He still returns to the North East regularly, not only to see his family but also scouting for players.
Ray's parents Doris and Wilf still live in Whickham.
Christmas 1956.
Members of Dunston Christian Endeavour visited the Staiths to distribute presents to the sailors. These always included a "housewife ".
Hoppings
A notable event in Dunston was the Hoppings, a fair which was held in June on a piece of waste ground adjoining Ravensworth Road, and for which the schools were granted two days holiday.
In addition to the fair-ground attractions there were many organised sporting events and amidst all the activities two local characters, Teddy Whipps and Joe Chucks, were much in evidence. Teddy had a wooden leg, which he was known to take off and use as an offensive weapon on occasions. Joe, a rather docile chap used to take part in an annual walking race around the village. He wore shorts and had his head shaved and painted like an Easter egg. He generally came in last, but considering his frequent stops for liquid refreshment this was not to be wondered at.
Bloom’s Travelling Auction.
The visit of Bloom’s travelling Auction was another popular annual event. Sales of household goods by Dutch auction conducted in a huge marquee erected on land adjoining the Albert Picture Palace, and most of the assistants were both salesmen and accomplished entertainers. Thus, by a judicious mixture of auction and variety show, the proprietor ensured that the marquee was always full. But by no means all of the occupants were potential customers, for this was free entertainment that the younger generation eagerly took advantage of.
We were indeed always on the lookout for free entertainment, for pocket money, particularly by modern standards, was very meagre, and in fact we frequently had to resort to the petty crime of flattening a farthing on the tram lines to produce a ‘ha’penny for the purchase of a communal football edition!
But they were happy days, which perhaps were enjoyed the more because we had to make, rather than buy, our amusements.
Gibside Chapel
Gibside Chapel Is a lovely Georgian Chapel on the outskirts of Whickham Parish.
Gibside Estate (now owned by The National Trust) in the Derwent Valley is one of the finest 18th Century designed landscapes in the North of England. Within this lie the Palladian Chapel, the Long Walks, Column of Liberty, Orangery, Walled Garden and the ruins of Gibside Hall. At the highest point of the estate is the Banqueting House, managed by the Landmark Trust.
This beautiful Georgian Chapel within the parish boundaries of Whickham is still in regular use. The Rev. Duncan Reed Rector of The Parish of St. Mary The Virgin takes a monthly service in the chapel, including a Harvest Festival Service each October.
Whickham Sunday School Annual Trip 1920
We all assembled on the Church Green at 9:30 a.m. with tally identity label and tea ticket slung around our necks on a piece of string. We then walked to Swalwell railway station to board a steam train for the direct route to Whitley Bay.
The teachers led games on the beach. At an arranged time we collected at a church hall where we received a "tea bag". All the bags included a rock bun.
After an enjoyable and strenuous day we returned home. Arriving back at Swalwell Station tired and weary but grateful for our annual treat, we faced the task of walking up Whickham Bank.
Whickham Church Green
In the early 20th century the church green was hard baked clay and rubble!
After World War One it was used as a car park. It was also the venue for the annual Hoppings. On the first night their was a customary free ride for children, who came straight from school eager to claim their free ride. In 1935 the Hoppings were cancelled as it rained all day. The showmen refused to pay the rent so consequently the rector would no longer allow the Hoppings to be held on the Church Green.
In 1953 it was taken over by The Council and it was laid out as it is today.
St Mary the Virgin, Whickham
The Historic Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin is still the heart and soul of the village of Whickham. The church was once the only place of worship for the surrounding communities of Swalwell, Sunniside, Dunston, Marley Hill and Streetgate. The villagers walked miles, up very steep hills, to attend any form of church service there. Fortunately for the people of the districts, over a period of time each of the communities not only started up their own established Church of England but other non-conformist churches came into being too.
It is intended to give details and a brief history of the newer churches and the clergy, but not to dwell deeply on the exterior of St Mary's, as over the years, this has been researched and written fully regarding its bricks and mortar. Therefore the Church building is being left to the experts and this account will concentrate on some of the wealth of material inside the church from the stained glass windows which are fascinating; the wonderful organ, the marvellous bells, and then there is the history of the church itself. History as diverse as the well-known and wealthy families who attended the church and who would leave Whickham Parish Church with many wonderful legacies and the famous people like William Shield, Henry Byrne Carr, Ralph Carr Ellison, and not so famous families who are buried in St. Mary's churchyard and lastly the Clergy themselves.
Churches have always played an important part in village life. In the olden days the church would collect a Tithe, which was allotted for its up-keep and although Tithes are a thing of the past, St Mary's over the years has on the whole been fairly well maintained by church members through a combination of plan-giving and fund raising activities when work needed to be carried out. At this present moment, although roof repairs have been completed, money is still urgently required.
More information about fund raising can be had from the church.
Information about the actual church building can be found on:
http://www.whickhamstmary.co.uk
The first Rector recorded in Whickham Church was in 1200 A.D.
The Rector at the beginning of the Twentieth Century was the Rev. Arthur Allwork.
The present Rector is the Rev. Duncan Reed.
The stained glass windows in Whickham Parish Church are something to behold; there are eighteen windows in all, fourteen are stained glass and four plain. The colours are astounding, such wonderful vibrant colours; on the right hand side of the Church, magnificent lilac, purple and red hues and on the left side we can enjoy the dark reds, blue and white.
There were lots of artists involved in the work of the windows and many people donated money in memory of loved ones, teachers or friends and their legacies have provided enjoyment for generations of visitors to St. Mary's.
As many as possible of the artists and companies who did the work on the windows will be named.
Looking East:
"The Sermon on the Mount"
Chancel:
Two windows; King David and Saint Gabriel
Nave:
Three depictions - Jesus as a Baby with his Mother and Joseph with the animals in the Stable plus Mary at Prayer.
Jesus on the Cross and Jesus carrying the Cross.
The angels coming to Mary and Her companions and Jesus with staff in hand talking to one of his people.
North Aisle:
St. Monica "To the Glory of God and in memory of Clare Burrowdale Huthwaite May 18th 1931"
Two depictions, one of St. Peter and the other of St. John.
Porch West:
"St. George".
West: Right Side:
"He is my beloved Son whom I am well pleased" and "Suffer little children to come unto me".
South Aisle:
"Suffer the little children" and "All ye who labour".
South West:
"Simeon and the Baby Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary".
In the Baptistry:
"Ascension of Our Lord".
In the South East section of the South Aisle:
"The Five Wise Virgins, our Lord rebuking Martha , the raising of Jairus' daughter, and Christ blessing little children".
Standing above the altar:
"The Rose Window".
North Aisle:
"St. Peter and St. James Curing the Paralytic at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple"
North Wall of Chancel:
"Augustine of Hippo"
West:
"Nativity Presentation - The Birth of Christ and the Presentation in the Temple".
This list of burials at St Mary's from 1901 shows just how many parishioners died in infancy at that time:-
July 18 Barbara Gilchrist Little (Whickham) Aged 19 days.
21 George Oloman (Swalwell), aged 10 weeks.
22 Catherine Scott Radford (Swalwell), aged 5 weeks.
23 William Benn (Swalwell) aged 32 years.
24 Ada Noble (Swalwell), aged 15 months.
28 Edmund Turner (Swalwell), aged 1 month.
28 James Hardy (Whickham) aged 72 years.
29 Bertie Hickson (Whickham), aged 3 months.
30 Joseph Raine (Swalwell), aged 40.
Aug 3 Jane Rutter (Swalwell), aged 17 years.
3 Ridgeway Foster Hutchinson White (Whickham), aged 75 years.
4 Thomas Arthur Gowland (Whickham) aged 5 years.
4 Archibald Allison (Swalwell), aged 39 years.
6 Mary Cook (Swalwell), aged 4 months.
6 Lydia Amelia Hardy (Whickham), aged 5 months.
7 Rachel Brown (Swalwell), aged 10 months.
11 Thomas Norman Lumley (Swalwell), aged 4 months.
12 Alice Clark (Swalwell), aged 9 months.
St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Whickham
Quite near Dockendale Hall, a farm building was converted into a Catholic Church in 1948. The present Catholic Church was completed in 1970. It was designed by Rossi McCann and Partner, will seat a congregation of 350. It was designed to suit the new liturgical requirements. The sacristies and waiting room form the link block to the new presbytery. The scheme is designed to a domestic scale to domestic standards in order to meet a tight budget limit of £52,000!
Fellside Methodist Church, Whickham
When, in the seventies, the West End Chapel became too small for the congregation, it was decided to build a larger church in a new location. When an old church in Gateshead had to be demolished the local authority was persuaded to build the replacement church in Whickham to serve the congregation of West End Chapel. This church became Fellside Methodist Church.!
When the new Fellside Church opened in 1980 the Reverend Thomas Walsh moved with his flock for a few months, until the arrival of the Reverend Terry Hurst. In 1990 further renovations and alterations were paid for by the Church Members. These included a new vestry, an upstairs extension and the turning of the church by 90 degrees to allow a stained glass window to be the focal point of the building. It is a circular window with the Church logo depicting a person kneeling beside a cross with a dove at its centre, the whole being surrounded by sunrays.
The newly established Community Church bought The Old West End Chapel from the Methodist Church. This was an evangelical church and it opened around 1982.
Roman Catholics in Swalwell
Members of the Catholic community used a hall, which was above the grocery department of the Co-operative Store. There was a small committee room, which the priest used as a vestry. They also sold the Catholic papers there. There was a stage in one corner of the room and children used to sit to the left of this stage on wooden benches.
All the adults sat in the main body of the hall on chairs, which were so tightly packed together there was little movement. The Hall became a church every Sunday morning at 9am sharp, but during the week, the Co-operative Society and local Labour Party used it for meetings. The altar was a trestle table with a piece cut out to take the portable altar stone, and the Priest and altar boys had cushions to kneel on.
There was very little room for manoeuvre in the hall. With the large numbers that gathered in the hall to attended Mass, only the children and people seated on the ends of the rows could actually kneel down and trying to get to communion was very difficult.
Priests came from neighbouring districts to hold services. Today the good folk of Swalwell travel to either Blaydon, Whickham, Dunston or Lobley Hill to hear services.
Swalwell, Holy Trinity Church
Holy Trinity was consecrated on 15 December 1905.
Ebenezer Chapel - Swalwell
This was a Presbyterian chapel, which opened in 1750 and was not demolished until May 1976. Ironically for a Presbyterian chapel, its greatest claim to fame is that John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, preached here in 1747 and in 1757.
Swalwell Wesleyan Methodist Church
The Methodist Chapel
after conversion to
a day nursery.
The Methodist Chapel
in the 1960's.
This church was situated on Market Lane at the bottom of Colbeck Avenue and it opened on 26th July 1930. It was built of brick and seated 250 worshippers. There was a sizeable organ and a small upstairs balcony at the rear of the church, which also had two vestrys at the sides of the entrance hall. A Sunday School was held in the afternoons and there were morning and evening Sunday Services. A Harvest Festival and a Christmas Party for children were annual events. It replaced an earlier chapel (1817?) also located on Market Lane.
Market Lane closed in the late 1990's and the premises are now used by a Nursery, the Stepping Stones Day Nursery, after considerable alterations were made to the building..
Swalwell United Methodist Church
This stone-built chapel was on Railway Street and could seat 200. It closed in 1965 and the congregation transferred to Market Lane. In 1966 the building was sold to a printing firm called Fletchers. It is now Comma Print.
Swalwell Primitive Methodist Church
This was located on Napier Road - it was built in brick and could seat 200. The nearby school used it to stage plays and other school productions. It closed in 1955 and the congregation transferred to Railway Street. The Napier Street chapel was sold in 1957 to Shield Brothers of Swalwell for use as a store but has now been demolished and replaced by housing.
Swalwell Churches
In the late 19th century there was seven different churches in Swalwell, unfortunately by the year 2000 there was only one left, the Anglican Church of "The Holy Trinity".
The earliest and most prominent churches in Swalwell were some form of Methodism, from Primitive to Wesleyan Methodist, United Reformed Church, and a Church of England Church, and although there was no actual Roman Catholic Church, Catholics held Mass in a room belonging to the Co-operative Society, Market Street.
Sunniside Methodist Church
The present chapel was built as a United Methodist Chapel at a cost of £1,210 and was opened on the 20th of August 1910. The Builder was Mr. William Hockey of Whickham and the Architect was Mr. Karl Spurgin, of Newcastle upon Tyne. It replaced the old chapel built in 1837 for the Methodist New Connexion. The old chapel became first a Sunday School for a large number of years, then it was used as a meeting place for various organisations.
In 1955 an electronic organ replaced the second hand organ, which was bought, for £275, and installed in 1922. This replaced the piano, used since 1910. In 1960 the Choir Vestry was enlarged, the cost being met from the sale of the old Chapel, to the Over 60's Club and a gift of £100 from Mrs S. Liddle. About the time of the First World War, the Douglas family, of Lingey Fine, had private pews at the Chapel, for which a quarterly subscription was paid.
St. Cuthbert's Church - Marley Hill
St.Cuthbert's Church at Marley Hill was built in Gothic Style in 1877 and was capable of seating 254 persons. It was built at a cost of £3000, was paid for by Public Subscription and was consecrated by the Bishop of Durham on 15th November of that year, whereupon the Ecclesiastical District automatically became a Parish.
Previously services were held in the old Methodist mission. When the Wesleyans vacated their old chapel in 1870, the Church of England began to use the former mission for Sunday worship only; the building being used as a National School from Monday to Friday. The original mission had a communion table, font, pulpit, harmonium, and a vestry partitioned off by curtains to suit the needs of Church of England services.
The first recorded baptism took place on 18th November 1877. The first burial was on 17th December 1877 and the first marriage, William Spencer Telford to Mary Gray Thirlaway was on the 16th of January 1878.
There are three stained glass windows in St Cuthbert's, one on the East Side, 'A Memorial Window' inscribed "I was sick and you visited me" which was paid for by public subscription. Two other windows were dedicated to a former churchwarden, Mr Cuthbert Berkley.
The Organ in St Cuthbert's Church was by Nicholson of Newcastle. A second hand organ was bought for £275 and installed in 1922, replacing the piano used since 1910, which was replaced by an electronic organ in 1955. In 1960 the Choir Vestry was enlarged, the cost being met from the sale of the old Chapel, to the Over 60's Club and a gift of £100 from Mrs S. Liddle.
The longest serving Vicar was The Reverend Alan Gales who was at the parish for over 31 years. He was born on 28th November 1929 and originated from Birtley. To find out more about him go to people of note Marley Hill.
In the thirties and forties many groups met at the vicarage including the Sunniside Guides and Scouts and a Boys' Youth Club. After the War, Harry Roddam held woodwork classes for the young men and the Youth Club Soccer team also trained there. In 1952, an Over 60's Club was formed at Sunniside and the building was widely known as the Over 60's club 'Headquarters'. It was sold in 1995.
Dunston Spiritualist Church
Dunston, Salvation Army Citadel
This was the former PM premises on Ravensworth Road which were sold to the Salvation Army around 1906. The Salvation Army Band was a common and welcome sight on Sundays and on Christmas Day, as were the members, who were regulars in the pubs distributing 'The War Cry'. The premises are now used by "Absolute Security Steelwork".
Dunston, St. Nicholas
Dunston, St Nicholas Parish was created in 1936 from part of Christ Church Parish, though the church was built a few years earlier. Money for the building was raised by Christ Church members. The present St. Nicholas was built in 1965.
Dunston, Christ Church
The Parish of Dunston, Christ Church was created in 1872 from part of Whickham Parish. In 1873 Lord Ravensworth laid the Foundation stone for the parish church; it was completed and opened in 1876. Christ Church was demolished due to subsidence in 1976 and the parish added to that of Dunston, St Nicholas.
Christ Church Parish Hall, erected in 1909, lasted until the 1980s and was used a number of time for church services. It was known locally as the Tin Mission because it was built of corrugated steel. The building was bought from St George's Church, Gateshead, for £30. It had to be dismantled, removed from St George's and erected at Dunston which all cost a further £90-10s-0d. The new foundations cost £12 and the fencing around the site cost £22-11s-6d. The building was re-roofed for £77 and gas fittings and plumbing cost £9-15s-10d. All the decorating was done by church workers. The total cost of the Parish Hall came to £300-11s-1d. The Tin Mission quickly became an integral part of village life.
The Board School log book records in 1909 state that there were 1007 pupils on the roll, 150 were housed in the Parish Hall. In 1914, Handley Carr Page, Bishop of Durham, licensed the Hall to serve as a church whilst renovations and extensions to Christ Church took place. In 1926 during the General Strike, hundreds of breakfasts and dinners were served in the Church Hall. A soup kitchen was set up to help the needy during those hard times.
Clergy at Christ Church
The Rev. John Jones was appointed the first Vicar of Dunston in 1872, but, as there was no proper church in Dunston at that time, the Rev. Jones worked from the Church Mission Room on Dunston Road. Although Rev. Jones had watched Lord Ravensworth lay the foundation stone of Christ Church in 1873 after marching with him, villagers and scholars, from the school to the site of the church on Wellington Road, he had to wait a couple of years before the New Church was completed.
On the 26th of April 1876 the Bishop of Durham officiated at the opening ceremony. Rev. John Jones was at Christ Church from 1872 until 1904. The Rev. J.W.D. Macintosh came to Christ Church in 1904 and stayed until 1921. He was instrumental in enlarging both the Church School and Christ Church itself. He was the Vicar who recognised that Dunston needed another church to serve the ever-increasing population of the village, and he would see the first St. Nicholas open in 1929 with his assistant the Rev. C.H. Beaglehole as priest-in- charge. Rev. Talbert 1938
The Rev E. W. Hunt was there in the late thirties until 1943. Rev. Hunt is remembered for his work with the youth of the parish. He established a very successful Youth Club. The Rev. Leslie Forster held the record for the longest serving Vicar in Dunston. He was there for over thirty years, from 1943 to 1974.
Dunston New Connexion/United Methodist Church
The first Methodist New Connexion chapel in Dunston was located near the old Parochial School and was opened on 2nd of December 1838. This was replaced in 1875 by a new stone-built chapel on Ravensworth Road, which seated 275.
A Lecture Room with classrooms for the Sunday School was added in 1898. Annual Sunday School trips, down the Tyne by boat started in the early 1900s. In the fifties they were still tripping, but by bus from the Lecture hall.
Ravensworth Road continued to serve the area until the end of the 20th century. It was demolished in 2001.
Dunston Wesleyan Methodist Church
The first Wesleyan Methodist chapel in Dunston was built before 1877 at Stokoe Square. It was replaced by a brick-built chapel on Hexham Road in May 1903. This chapel, which seated 300 worshippers, became Dunston Hill Methodist Church in 1963 (see above) and was rebuilt in 1980.
Dunston Primitive Methodist Church
The first Primitive Methodist chapel in Dunston was located in the "Great Square". Towards the end of the 19th century the congregation moved into new premises on Ravensworth Road, but these were too small to accommodate the growing congregation, so rooms were rented above a shop to house the Sunday School. In 1906, Wood Street Chapel which had been built six years earlier by the Independent Methodists, was purchased. It was of stone and seated 300. The old PM premises off Ravensworth Road were sold to the Salvation Army and later became the Dunston Training Workshops of Gateshead Church Enterprises.
Wood Street Chapel was enlarged in 1922 with the addition of a kitchen and two extra classrooms for the Sunday School. On 6th October 1963 Wood Street merged with the Hexham Road chapel to form Dunston Hill Methodist Church. Services were held at Hexham Road with Wood Street being used as a Youth Centre. This arrangement lasted until the Hexham Road chapel was replaced by a new all-purpose building on the same site in September 1980. Wood Street chapel was then demolished.
St Philip Neri Roman Catholic Church, Dunston
Before 1882 Roman Catholics in Dunston had to travel to St. Joseph's in Gateshead to hear mass, a distance of two miles or more. The Priest at St Joseph's, Father Matthews, tried to hold services nearer to Dunston by hiring first a room in Tynedale Terrace and then a hay loft in Bolam Street which served the dual purpose of school and church.
In 1882 plans were drawn up for a School which would open the same year. Lack of funds meant that the planned presbytery could not be built and the Priest continued to live in Tynedale Terrace until a house was taken in Brompton Place in 1884. In 1884 the present Presbytery was built for £764.00 making a total debt of £2410.00 for School and Presbytery, which was a very large sum for a relatively small congregation.
Owing to the siting of St Philip Neri many locals fail to notice the Presbytery, which is a spacious house with a pleasant 'hidden' garden between itself and the church.
The dual-purpose building served until 1905 when the temporary Church was built. This was followed in 1909 by an extension to the school building and the opening of the infant school as a separate department.
In 1934 after nearly thirty years, the present St Philip Neri replaced the 'Temporary' church building. In recent years, although plans have been discussed for a new church on a new site, it remains in the same place.
Byermoor by Sylvia Reed
When we started our project we did not include Byermoor, though it was at one time part of Whickham Urban District. When we read this description of life in Byermoor in the early thirties we just had to include it. It is such a vivid description of life in a Durham mining village.
I was born in the small mining hamlet of Byermoor, about a mile from Burnopfield in County Durham, which to my great sorrow was bulldozed off the face of the earth when the pit closed in 1968. The inhabitants, most of whom had lived for generations in this close-knit community were scattered to various other villages in the area to lose their identity and sense of belonging, producing sorrow and bitterness especially among the older generation whose lives had been centred round the "family" of Byermoor.
Though the old village completely disappeared I, for one, will never forget the place of my birth and hope the following reminiscences may help to revive some nostalgic memories in the minds of the other sons and daughters of "canny Byermoor".
Byermoor consisted of a few rows of pit cottages - the Top Row, the Bottom Row (Church Street), the two short rows and the pit row, which ran down to the pit yard. Above the top row was the football field, now belonging I believe to the Catholic School, which is at the topside of the field next to the Church of the Sacred Heart (built 1882). At the opposite end of the field to the main road was a disused pit heap, partly overgrown with grass, where we used to play, then a large ventilation fan was built beside the heap.
Going along the top street you had the football field on your left, then you came to the pit pond in the manager's garden on your right and then the pit row leading down to the pit. Straight ahead was the bottom short row but if you turned left you went up to the "coggley" or "cobbley" way past the top short row and West Farne, (where Mrs Brown had a little shop), and turned right to "Dolly Town" being the nickname for the Council Houses - still standing - and Marley Hill School. There was a small sweetshop in one of the council houses I remember, otherwise shopping was done down the bank at Crookgate, at Woodcock's sweet shop or Kyles, a fairly large general store at the bottom of the Mile Bank or further on into Burnopfield itself.
The pit railway ran parallel to the road at Crookgate and under the railway was an arch and road leading to the Old Pit and some old loading bays where coal was loaded into carts for leading coal to the miners' cottages. At the corner of Crookgate and Byermoor Road was another row of pit cottages, back to back, and a path ran behind the houses up to the Quarry Chains and the Green.
Another path branched off at the cottages and followed the railway line towards the pit where several paths led off through the three quarries to the allotments at the bottom of Church Street Gardens or to the Galloway's field behind the manager's house where the pit ponies were kept when they were brought to the surface. I spent many happy hours playing down the quarries but kept away on Sunday mornings when there were tossing schools. These were groups of men who played an illegal gambling game tossing pennies. Hundreds of pounds changed hands and there was always a lookout for the village "polis" stationed on the top of the quarry where he had a wide view and could give warning in good time for the school to split up and scatter if the police were sighted. There was a permanent bald patch at the bottom of the quarry where the grass had been worn away by the tossing school.
Across the railway line was a stretch of boggy land - The Bogs - used by the council as a tip - always burning and smelling foul and beyond that, the black road leading from Crookgate to the Old Pit where there was the entrance to a drift mine and a few old cottages, probably belonging to a worked out mine - paths leading from there to Joe's Well and Barkus Close and through Beckley Woods to Andrew's House, Bob Gins and the Causey Arch.
Along the railway line from Byermoor Pit were the remains of the "German Ovens" - about a dozen beehive shaped coke ovens and a tall chimney. They derived their name from a team of German workers who constructed them. They were disused by the time I was a child - in the twenties- and most of them had fallen in. However two or three were still intact and made ideal "houses" for children to play in, especially as there were stacks of bricks nearby which we used to lay floors, build fireplaces and play "shoe-shops". Across the railway line was Beckley Wood, later completely covered in by the pit heap but in the 1920's, a happy place to play with grassy dells for picnics and trees to climb.
The houses at Byermoor were stone built and similar to those at the Beamish Museum although somewhat roomier. There was one large room downstairs with a scullery or "backend" from which the stairs went up to the landing - big enough to take a spare bed if necessary, otherwise used for storage, items of furniture, tin trunks etc. At the end of this landing was a "Ducket" (derived from Dovecote?) a small room with a dormer window built on, I believe, just before the 1914-18 war.
Two steps up from the landing were two long bedrooms, large enough to take two double beds, large chests of drawers, chairs and occasional tables - the beds usually iron with brass knobs but later replaced with "modern" bedroom suites.
Downstairs in the big room was the double bed in the corner in which the parents slept, in my time an iron or brass bedstead but often, previously a four-poster. Next to the bed was a large sideboard with lots of carving, shelves and mirrors and a press at the bottom which opened up to disclose a spare bed for visitors. There was also a chest of drawers, sometimes the large high Victorian ones about 6ft by 4ft, with china dogs, photographs, ornaments and clocks. On the top the capacious drawers ideal for storing household linen, extra blankets etc., and frequently used as cradles for visiting babies!
A long wooden settle stood under the window, a square whitewood table in the centre of the floor, often with stockings on the legs to prevent scratches. A knife drawer in the table contained cutlery, wooden handled knives and forks, gully (carving knife) and steel, often with fancy handles made at the pit. At one side of the table was a wooden form where the children sat and wooden chairs and wheel back armchair for the father on the other three sides. The table was covered with oilcloth and meals were usually eaten off that, but if visitors arrived or on Sundays the table was set with a white damask tablecloth. In the evenings, and again on Saturdays and Sundays, when the table was not in use it was covered with a plush or a chenille cloth and a plant or a vase of flowers set in the centre.
In the corner between the window and the fireplace was a built-in cupboard - crockery in the top and firewood (pit prop ends) and cleaning materials in the bottom. The iron fireplace was very large - at the window end was a huge square oven, then the fire itself with deep bars, a large fireback capable of holding five or six pailfuls of coal at a time, this being pulled down with a rake as it was required and which enabled the fire to stay on all night - some of the fires had never been out for years! A large set pot was on the right of the fire covered with a round iron lid on which stood the "tin pot" for ladling the water out. An iron tidy, a steel fender and iron or steel fire irons stood in front of the fire on weekdays and an iron kettle stand with a heavy iron kettle and leaning on the wall the "bleezer" for blazing up the fire. On Sunday however, the brass fender, the copper kettle stand, copper kettle and brass fire irons came out. "Proggy" mats lay in front of the fire and "Hooky" mats were scattered over the floor - old ones during the week but new ones on Sundays. There always seemed to be a mat of one kind or another in the process of being made, the frame being brought out on the evenings when everyone, including the men folk took a hand. Some cutting the clips from old clothes, the others, including neighbours or visitors as they dropped in, putting the clips into the hessian with hooks or proggers.
The floors were flagged, usually covered with lino and mats but some of the poorer families, before my time, had no mats and scoured the floor with donkey stone. My mother remembered some of them beating the floor with gorse or broom to make a green pattern.
The mats were taken out into the yard and shaken every day. The fireplace was blackleaded every Friday, along with the fire irons, kettle and large iron pans. On the mantelpiece stood the clock, candlesticks, a tea caddy and maybe a pipe rack or a couple of china dogs. The mantelpiece had a frill or valance of chenille or velvet with a brass rod underneath, which usually had some pit socks drying on it. In the recess beside the fireplace was a small chest of drawers and a press, or maybe a small table or sewing machine.
The bedsteads were of iron with brass knobs or some completely of brass. Mattresses of flock were laid over a straw palliasse on a spring mattress. The flock mattress was shaken and turned every day. Sheets and pillowcases were of white cotton or linen bordered with handmade lace and valances round the bed were also bordered with deep handmade lace edging. The beds were covered with Durham quilts, a local specialty, handmade, with broad alternate coloured stripes and patterned quilting.
On the walls hung enlarged family photographs or religious pictures - Abide with me, Rock of Ages, Monarch of the Glen or even the Derby winner, Jockeys, Footballers or Royalty. There was a large wall clock with a drawer or shelf where watches were kept when not in use. Long lace curtains (often hand crocheted) hung at the windows, tied back with cords and lace trimmed blinds, white, cream or dark green were pulled down in the evening.
I remember in the 1920s when the room was lit by gas, you pulled a chain and held a lighted match near the mantle. Most people had glass lampshades. In the scullery and bedrooms there were just gas jets with no mantles and for the stairs, landing and pantry, candlesticks and matches were always kept handy.
On the window ledges there were large plant pots - some with pictures on, some with flowers or other patterns. My grandma had a beautiful large white swan plant pot. Most houses had aspidistras but geraniums and Star of Bethlehem were also popular. The ceilings were wooden planks with wooden beams but some people had them boarded in and papered.
The scullery was reached by the "middle door" on one side of which was a set pot to boil the washing, then the pantry door leading into a large pantry with two huge bins on the floor, one filled with flour the other with bread. It was common to have eggcups on the small window ledges - I noticed that at least one of the Beamish pit cottages has followed the custom.
Alongside the outside wall of the scullery was a long narrow whitewood bench with a curtain hung underneath. A deep sink with one cold-water tap was under the window and at the end of the bench, next to the back door, was the gas oven. The stairs ran up four or five steps opposite the back door, then made a right angled turn up to the landing.
Under the stairs was the "Dark Hole" where all the pit clothes were kept; consequently it always smelt of coal dust in spite of the clothes being "dadded" against the wall in the yard before they were put away.
Between the "Dark Hole" and the middle door was an old fashioned washing machine with a handle to turn and a large mangle. Under the bench there were cleaning materials- floor cloths, dusters, scrubbing brushes and long bars of soap, some white flecked with green and some carbolic - washing powder was unheard of, so the soap was shredded to wash clothes. The tin bath was also kept under the bench, although some people hung them on the outside of the house near the back door.
In the yard stood the large wooden "poss - tubs", waist high, which were used for washing the clothes. Every Monday morning there was the sound of the wooden poss-sticks thump- thumping rhythmically all along the street. After the clothes were washed and boiled in the set pot they were hung out down the front garden, which stretched quite a long way down to the hen crees or pig sties at the bottom.
In the yard opposite the back door was the outside toilet. When I was young it was a "muck midden" with an oblong wooden lid, in the centre of which was a round hole with a separate lid. The ashes were emptied down the midden and more than one person fell into the muck through the lid being left up and someone being in a hurry in the dark.
The "toilet paper" was newspaper cut into squares, skewered at the corner and hung on a string on the door, although at one of my Grandma's, where the men folk were all interested in horseracing, it was always the Handicap book as the pages were a convenient size. I've spent quite a lot of time reading up the Dam and Sire and marvelling at the ingenuity of the people who thought up the horses' names!
Next to the lavatory was the coalhouse, usually well stocked up as the coal was free and delivered regularly. It was dumped in the street and shovelled in by one of the men in the house through a little door halfway up the back wall of the coalhouse. The front of the coalhouse was shored up with removable planks to stop the coal falling out, and thrown in on top of the coal were long and short handled shovels, a sweeping brush and a broom. The yards were broomed regularly, especially on Mondays when the washing was finished and nice hot soapy was water available.
At the end of the bottom street was "The Green"-used during the 1926 strike for playing quoits - and on the corner of the main road was the "Tin Church", a corrugated iron edifice - an offshoot of St Cuthbert's at Marley Hill I believe - where I went to Sunday school and which was always used for social functions - one of the last, I would imagine, was the Diamond Wedding of my Grandparents. I don't know when it was built or when it was demolished - sometime between 1955 and 1968 - but I have happy memories of it and if anyone can furnish me with any information about it I should be most grateful.
Now, sadly, the old pit village of Byermoor is no more. Its mining traditions date back before 1740 when Sir Thomas Clavering owned the workings and older workings prior to that time have been found. The village was mentioned in the Boldon Book in 1183 as "Beechermoor" which means "bare moor".
Perhaps my reminiscences will help to keep it alive just a little while longer!
The Name of Marley Hill
The origin of the name Marley Hill may have come from the fact that Marley means a clearing near to a boundary or from a corruption of the name of the owners of the land in the twelfth century- the de Merleys. It is of course on a hill!
Streets of Dunston by Stan McRae
The history behind the street names of Dunston is very interesting and I am just going to delve into some. The streets around Dunston Hill Methodist Church are a good place to start. Did you know that the streets around the church are all named after the England cricket team of 1900?
Grace Street
William Gilbert Grace (1848-1915), one of the few cricketers who is still a household name- I would guess there are not many people who have not heard of W.G.,
'The Grand Old Man of Cricket' even though he has been dead for eighty-five years. By the time he died in 1915 he had played for England twenty two times, mostly as captain and dominated the game for most of his life .Few people know that he was an all round athlete in his younger days and ran one hundred yards in 10.8 seconds, jumped over five feet in the high jump, seventeen feet six inches in the long jump, was the fastest quarter miler in the country, and, for good measure, represented England at bowls. He was often guilty of gamesmanship and sometimes refused to leave the wicket, when he was clearly out, saying people had paid to see him bat, not the bowlers!
Wynyard Street
Major Edward George Wynyard D.S.O. was the finest batsman ever produced by the army and he played in three Test matches for England. His army career prevented him from leading England to Australia in 1909 and no doubt he would have played much more often if it had not been for his army commitments. He was a brilliant all round games player and was top of the first class batting averages on several occasions, and this in the time of Ranjitsinji, C.B.Fry, Hon.F.S.Jackson and A.C.McLaren, the golden age of amateur batsmen. Wynyard died at the age of 75 in 1936.
Shrewsbury Street
Arthur Shrewsbury, (1856-1903) was one of Nottingham and England's greatest batsmen. W.G.Grace, when picking England's team, always said, "First give me Arthur". He played in 23 Test matches and came to an unfortunate end by shooting himself because he imagined he was suffering from an incurable disease. He was only 47 years old.
Gunn Street
Any cricketer can tell you that the most famous bat makers in England are Gunn and Moore. William Gunn (1858-1921) was the founder of this firm and played for England in 11 Test matches. He shared many great partnerships with his Nottinghamshire teammate Arthur Shrewsbury, mentioned above. He was well over six feet tall and one of the finest stylists among batsmen of his era and graced the first class cricket scene for over thirty years.
Wood Street
Henry Wood (1854-1919), a wicketkeeper batsman, played for Surrey and Kent and represented England in 4 Test matches, the first being against the Australians at the Oval in 1888. He was said to have been a fearless player. Even though his hands suffered horribly at times, he stood up to the very fastest bowlers of this era and never complained.
All the above streets were built around 1900 when these cricketers were household names. I know of no other streets, in this area, named after cricketers.
Dunston Road
Going past the end of Gunn Street we come to Dunston Road which was formerly known as Asylum Lane, a much more interesting name.
The Asylum stood on the site of the White House and the garage (formerly the Fire Station) and was a large mansion called Dunston Lodge owned by the well-known Tyneside family called Marley. In 1828 there was a lengthy lawsuit when John Barnett, the Curate of Newcastle Cathedral, who had married Margaret Marley died. A relative of his, another John Barnett, was accused of forging a will leaving the Lodge to him. Barnett was aquitted but the court ruled that the will was a forgery and the Lodge passed to General Marley, a distant relative of the Marleys who had owned the Lodge. General Marley leased it to Mr.J.E.Wilkman who opened it as an asylum. The venture prospered and in 1841 there were 84 persons housed there, increasing to 157 ten years later. It was one of the most advanced asylums in England and visitors came there from all parts of the world. Its cure rate was well above the results of any other asylum in the country.
A Mr. Garbutt carried on with the asylum but it gradually declined as public hospitals took over health care and the Lodge was eventually demolished in the late 1920s.During the last war I remember, as a boy, working in Kennedy's market gardens that occupied part of the extensive grounds of Dunston Lodge. Billie Kennedy and his sister lived in an old house, which was part of the old estate. It may interest readers to know that the going rate for boy labourers was 4d per hour (less than 2p) and worked out at 2s 8d per day (14p)
At the bottom of Dunston Road there is a building that must be one of the oldest in Dunston. This is the old church school, which was erected in 1818, and now in a very dilapidated state.
Ruskin Avenue
Named after John Ruskin the English art critic and social reformer who died in 1900 aged 81. A Labour Council because of his political beliefs in social and economic reform would, understandably, name this street of Local Authority houses after Ruskin.
Ross Avenue
Probably named after Sir Ronald Ross, the noted English bacteriologist, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the relationship between mosquitoes and malaria, leading to the virtual extinction of malaria in many parts of the world, by draining swamps, and so getting rid of mosquitoes.
Lister Avenue
Another notable English doctor, Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister (1827-1912), saved countless lives by his discovery and use of antiseptics during surgery.
Rendel Street
The only Rendel I can find is George Rendel who was director of the Ordnance Works of Sir W.G.Armstrong Ltd. of Elswick. Lord Armstrong, the famous Victorian engineer, also had a street named after him that is now demolished and the Riverside Junior School now stands on this site. Stephenson Street, named after George Stephenson, the railway engineer, was also demolished to accommodate the new school.
We now come to a series of streets named after engineers and scientists who were famous when they were built around 1900.
Baker & Fowler Gardens
I have put these two streets together because they are named after Sir Benjamin Baker (1840-1907) and Sir John Fowler (1817-1898), Civil Engineers, who were involved in the construction of the first London underground railway line from Westminster to the City, now called the London District Line (1869). They also designed the Forth Railway Bridge.
Kelvin Gardens
William Thompson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824-1907) was a Scottish scientist noted for his work on thermodynamics inventing the Kelvin temperature scale. He also pioneered undersea telegraphy. .
Tyndal Gardens
John Tyndal (1820-1893), in his early career, worked on the first Ordnance Survey of England and Ireland in 1842. He then went back to school and eventually became Professor of Natural Philosophy at the Royal Institution. He did much work on the properties of sound and acoustics. In his leisure time he was a climber and made the first ascent of the Weisshorn in 1861.
Parsons Gardens
Sir Charles Algernon Parsons (1854-1931), the third son of the Earl of Rosse (Irish), was an engineer and scientist who invented the steam turbine and founded C.A. Parsons Ltd. of Heaton in 1889.
In 1897 he created a sensation when his turbine driven experimental ship, aptly named 'The Turbinia', zigzagged in and out of the Grand Fleet at a speed of 32 knots at the naval review at Spithead. He subsequently was awarded orders for turbine driven naval ships. Parsons was also involved in the development of electricity generation by means of turbo-alternators, raising the voltage produced to 11000 volts in 1905 and 36000 volts in1928. Parsons turbines are to be found in all parts of the world and he has been called the most original engineer since James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine.
Nearby is Newton Street named after Sir Isaac Newton, discoverer of the Law of Gravitation.
Barry Street
Named after Dr. F. W. Barry, who published a report to the Local Government Board on the General Sanitary Conditions of the Borough of Gateshead in 1884. This had far reaching effects on the public health of the surrounding district and ushered in the modern day disposal of sewerage and the supply of clean water to all dwellings in Gateshead.
Ravensworth Road
Lord Ravensworth, the son of Sir Henry Liddell, created a Baronet in 1821, was the major landowner in the area. Ravensworth Castle was the family seat and I remember going to military tattoos there before the war. It was demolished just after the war.
Renforth Street
This is one of the most interesting street names in Dunston. James Renforth was a famous rower and, believe it or not, Dunston was a household name among the rowing fraternity in the middle 1800s. Harry Clasper, who was born in Dunston in1812, was the foremost oarsman of his time and is buried in Whickham Churchyard. There is a fine statue on his grave looking over the Tyne, the scene of his former triumphs. James Renforth succeeded him as world champion sculler. He was born on the Rabbit Banks, Gateshead, in 1842 and was variously a blacksmith's striker, a soldier in the West Indies, and a keelman at Dunston. He won several medals as a swimmer before, at the age of 25, competing in his first professional skiff race against James Boyd on the Tyne for a £100 stake. In the next four years he won against all comers on the Tyne, Thames, Wear, Aire, Humber and Dee.
In 1870 he rowed in the International Fours Championships on the St. Lawrence River, Canada for £1000 prize money with other Tyneside idols, James Taylor, Thomas Winship and John Martin, winning easily. A year later he tried to repeat this feat for a £500 prize on the Kennebacassis River in Canada and collapsed when well in the lead. Renforth died two hours later at the early age of 29. His last words were 'What will they say in England?' His body was brought back for burial in Gateshead Cemetery. It was rumoured that drugs had played some part in his premature death, but this could not be proved. A crowd, said to have exceeded 100,000, attended his funeral and a tablet, carved to represent a broken oar, with his touching last words engraved on it, was placed in St. Mary's
Church, Gateshead.
Clephan Street
James Clephan was the editor of The Gateshead Observer, the first Gateshead newspaper.
Keppel Street
Sir Henry Keppel (1809-1904) was commander of the Mediterranean Fleet based at Gibraltar and finished his career as Commander-in-Chief, Devonport. He was an intimate friend of Edward, Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, and his wife was rumoured to be one of the King's many mistresses.
Ellison Road
Ralph Carr-Ellison owned large areas of land in Dunston, Whickham, and Swalwell.
He lived in Dunston Hill, now occupied by Dunston Hill Hospital, which was a large country house surrounded by rolling countryside planted with specimen trees. Some of these trees still survive, notably the large beech tree at the top of Dunston Bank, and several magnificent horse chestnut trees, which have withstood the annual raids of young conker gatherers over the past century. Sir Ralph Carr-Ellison of Hedgely, the present descendant, is Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland.
Moore Avenue & Ede Avenue
These two streets were built in the early 1900s and were named after the Reverend William Moore-Ede, Rector of Gateshead (1881-1901), who advocated National Pensions and did great work to feed the poor by setting up soup kitchens in times of need. He was deeply loved by his parishioners.
St. Omers Road
This is one of the newer roads in Dunston and comprises Collingwood Terrace, Colliery Road, and Railway Street. It runs from the bottom of Ravensworth Road to join the old Power Station Road near the MetroCentre. Bishop Omer of Therouanne, who died in 670 AD, gave his name to a small area of marshy land at the mouth of the River Team (the Gut as it is commonly known) called St. Omers Haugh. This land was owned by the Hospital of the Virgin Mary, Newcastle and leased by Lord Ravensworth.
On the ordnance survey sheet of Dunston dated 1897 published by Alan Godfrey of 57-58 Spoor Street Dunston in 1981, is shown Baldwin Flat farm. It was between Knightside Gardens and the bottom of Redesdale Gardens and was run as a dairy by the Youens family up to about 1960. One of the girls who delivered milk round the Dunston area, in a small green van, was called Letty. The access to the dairy was at the bottom of Knightside Gardens just before the shops and it was called Baldwin Flats Dairy. Before World War 2 the bottom of Redesdale, Monkridge,and Knightside Gardens had not been built and there was a large field with a stream running through it that was a playground for local children.
The trees estate was built by the Whickham UDC in the 1920's and '30's probably by direct council labour.
Beech Drive was again Council Housing built in the 1950's by Whickham UDC.
Dunston - Bute Hall
Bute Hall, home of the Blenkinsops in the early 1800s and home to the first gatherings of the Methodists in Dunston. From those meetings followed the opening of Dunston's first chapel in 1838 behind the parochial school on Dunston Road.
Dunston - Origin of Name
The name Dunston has been traced back to the fourteenth century and probably means 'hill-town' as 'dun' usually means 'hill' and 'ton' means 'town'. It is likely that the earliest settlements were near to Dunston Hill as areas nearer to the river would have been water-logged.