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Swalwell - Farming
South West Farm
South West Farm lost some of its land to housing in the 1970s, but is still a working farm.
North Farm
Some of the tenants at the beginning of the twentieth century were Snaithes, Osbournes then Herdmans. This is the site of the Metro Centre.
Mill Farm
Oxley's farm
Mill Farm was the home of George and Hannah Oxley. The farm had previously been the home of my great grandparents George and Elizabeth Oxley. My own mother moved to Mill Farm in 1911. The farm had a large apple orchard.
The family also had a haulage business. For many years they were under contract to Whickham Council because until about 1957 the Council did not fully own their own transport.
My grandfather received a great deal of work from the Paper Mills in Swalwell. He transported the paper to Newcastle sometimes at 2 am in order to catch a boat taking coal to London. Their schedules were dictated by the tides! They also had the contract for snow clearing. In the late twenties my grandfather nearly lost a horse on Fellside Road because of deep snow. He did lose a horse in a pit fall near to Swalwell Church.
When snow came, the police or perhaps a telephone call would sometimes come in the middle of the night. Then my Uncle George had to get the lorries and men ready to pull the snowploughs. Whickham of course was so open in those days that the snow often drifted and caused problems.
Part of the site of the farm is covered by the car scrap heap which is on Mill Lane leading to the Metro Centre from the B&Q roundabout. The farmhouse can still be seen beside the scrap heap!
By Sheila Carver