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In the beginning the school was heated by a coke stove, which appeared to have caused major problems. Many references are made to this.

7th December 1925
The temperature at 9 a.m.was 34º. The essential subjects were taken and the rest of the morning was spent in marching and exercises to warm the children. Mrs. Jobling sent over a large milk-can ful of cocoa. This we dispensed to the children who were exceedingly cold by 10.30 a.m.

23rd February 1931
A new boiler was installed.
Even in 1945 low temperatures forced the Head Teacher to close the school.

February 1962
At 9 o'clock the school was filled with smoke fumes. the boiler registered 90º and the temperature in school was 34º.

14th January 1963
School supplied with two oil heaters as water system was out of commission.

This building, being a church hall, was also used for various activities in the evening, namely Church Lad's Brigade, Youth club, Sunday School Meetings, etc. Several incidents of damage to equipment are recorded.
In 1955 an H.M.I. report reads:- (41 on roll)
"Recently various alerations have rendered the premises more suitable for school purposes. These have includede the paving of the playground, the repainting of the interior of the building in light colors, the installation of extra heating apparatus, the partitiioning of an alcove to form a staff room and the removal of material unconnected with the school, which has given better facilities for the storage of equipment. The two teaching spaces in the hall are separated by a curtain. There is a scullery for use with the school meals, which is prepared at a central kitchen (Burnopfield) and served in the hall to about 12 children each day. Cloakroom and sanitary provision are adequate in amount, but there is no constant supply of hot water to any of the pupils' washbasins.This is a very pleasant school in which the children rapidly acquire confidence and a keen interest in their work."

The school enjoyed a stable staff there being only three Head Teachers, during its lifetime. Namely:- Miss Hannah Armstrong 1923 - 1948, Miss Lesley Cuthbert 1949 - 1951, Miss
Mabel Davison 1951 - 1962. Finally Mrs.A Grant saw the school closed 31st May 1963 with only 15 pupils on roll.

What happened to the building afterwards? For a while it stood idle and then it was sold by the church on the 25th November 1965 to the Dumigan brothers. They tried to develop it but were refused planning permission. It was then sold to Mr. McClennan, a Heating Engineer, who used it as a depot/warehouse. It was burnt to the ground in a spectacular fire on 7th March 1975. Eventually Mr. H. Brown bought the site and built a bungalow 'High Trees' in 1984.

Why the 'White Elephant School'? Who knows? Perhaps it was because so many varied activites took place there, one being a "temproary" school.

New members always welcome....See you there!

Miners' wages to the amount of £12,000 were stolen from Marley Hill Colliery Offices on Thursday, 15th September, 1949. The money, made up into wage packets, was put into the strong room on Thursday night, and when it was opened on the Friday morning at 8.0 a.m. by the cashier, Mr. J. Bell and Mr. D. Dormerhill, clerk, the money was missing. No force was used to gain entry into the colliery office or strongroom itself, and the supposition was that a duplicate key had been used. When Thursday became the day for collecting the money from the bank it was necessary to guard it overnight at the colliery itself. A night watchman's rota was instituted comprising colliery officials. Mr. Ralph Shield, foreman drainer, was the night guard on duty in a room. Thursday was his usual night on duty and during his period on guard he was visited at regular intervals by colliery firemen from a nearby building.

Mr. W. Welsh, N.C.B. area general manager, stated that all the men affected by the robbery would be paid on Satruday. Fourteen men and girls worked all over again to remake the miners' wage packets and the paying out proceeded smoothly on the Saturday morning. The money was in soiled pound and ten shilling notes and £1,000 in silver and copper and the thief left nothing. He even struggled away with a hundredweight of copper and silver.

The N.C.B. offered a reward of £500 for any information which would lead to the arrest of the thieves and the recovery of the stolen money. Now 18 years have passed since the robbery. Not a single clue has been found that would help the police in their investigations and today the North East's perfect crime still remains unsolved.

Picture the scene. Saturday noon. Several ladies making their way to the cricket field -Thomasina (Sina) Laidler, Mary (Polly) Mason, Jenny Errington, Mary (Polly) Dixon, to name just a few. Heavily laden with baskets full of kettles, teapots, cakes, bread, etc., to make sandwiches for the players’ teas. Before 2pm., crowds are gathering to support their team. Prompt 2pm., the umpires in their white coats make their way to the centre of the field and carefully place the bails on the stumps. A great cheer goes up as the famous Bruce brothers Tom and J.B., both Durham county players, proudly walk to their positions, Tom to receive the first ball. More often than not they made a century partnership laying the foundation for a big score. In later years, JB took over the Highlander pub in the village and it became better known as the Cricketers Arms as the teams usually called in there after the game for a quick one (or two)! Depending on the state of the game, tea was usually taken about 4pm when the locals rushed off home for a quick snack then back again for the second innings. If Swalwell were victorious many of the spectators remained, talking about the game, and if the umpire had made a bad decision, questioned his eyesight! “How could he be given out as caught behind the wicket when his bat was nowhere near the ball?” was the cry. Those stalwart members, Tommy Rutter and Humphrey Errington, never without pipes in their mouths. Will Baty, Andy Dixon and others always ready to help in any way.

The ground was very picturesque, separated from the football field by a line of tall trees, the home of scores of crows. At the bottom end was the Newcastle to Consett railway line. Legend has it that a batsman once made a huge hit – the ball soared high into the air and landed on a wagon that was passing and finished up in Consett . Some hit! The river Derwent flowed nearby. There was however one unpleasant spot just outside at the very bottom of the field. Jimmy Foster’s piggery – when the wind was blowing in the wrong direction it was, to say the least, very unpleasant. He also had a little sawmill where he made bundles of firewood that he sold in the village. No central heating in those days, all coal fires.

Next to the cricket field was the football ground. The team was very well supported and had some very good players. The towering Frank Watson, very few players got past him, and Joe (hockey) Watson, strong as an ox. No massive wages for them – they played for the love of the game. What about the pitch? Sloping, bumpy, and often muddy. Could the modern day footballers cope with that and a leather ball and boots? Cricket and football games were not only played on Saturdays but mid-week too for cup ties The cheers and shouting could be heard in the village.

Quoits was another game that was popular. How the men cared and tended that yard square of clay – watered only when necessary to keep it in prime condition. This was played near Coalway Lane, now a council house estate. It was a great pastime for the men to fill in their time and ease the boredom and frustration of unemployment.

Sadly, after the war, things changed. Support dwindled and the football team folded up. The cricket team moved to a new ground. Executive houses are now built on the site. The grounds may have gone but the memories of those happy days and the enjoyment they gave remain.

The Rising Sun.

Margaret Davison, nee Brabban.

Joseph and Louisa Davison
with their children.

The Marquis of Granby in 1938.

Viv and Tom Brown, followed and during their time the pub was refurbished and an extension was made into the house next door.

For the rest of the century there were several landlords who were there a relatively short time. An exception was Harold Turner.

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The Mayor of Gateshead - Councillor Maureen Goldsworthy

Margaret Minns and Michael Makepeace

Col. Alex Johnson MBE and friend

U3A colleagues surfing the site

Video and audio to follow soon!

Whickham Web Wanderers are pleased to announce that our website will be officially launched by The Worshipful The Mayor of Gateshead. Councillor Maureen Goldsworthy at:
Gateshead City Learning Centre
Monday March 19th at 6.30pm

Those attending will be able to surf the website, browse displays and contribute new content to the website. Our friends from Arena North and Sight and Sound will also be in attendance to conduct audio/video interviews for willing participants who have interesting stories to tell.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Telephone: Peter Bolger 0191 460 2900 for further information.

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.

Check them out and if you've got memories related to any of photos use the Comments link below to get in touch with us. We'd love to hear from you!

Beech House, Whickham, 1944

For the past 18 months project staff and volunteers at Gateshead Central Library have been digitising and conserving the photographs thanks to support from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Over 4000 photographs have been digitised and are now accessible on the iSee Gateshead website at http://isee.gateshead.gov.uk.

You can Search or Browse the images by place, subject or date or you can find out more about Gateshead's history by visiting one of the online Exhibitions.