I went to Queen Victoria School. We lived next door to the school so when I heard the bell I had to run.
I was born in 1920 at Lovaine Place West. I had a happy childhood. I was an only child. My mother was blind but she was a sweet caring person. My mother and father both had many brothers and sisters, so I was quite spoilt and got lots of presents. My parents had to pay for help in the home, one took advantage of my mother’s disability and put a parcel of her clothes in a room ready to take away. My auntie came and asked what the parcel was. Needless to say the girl was finished.
I remember it was a great day when we got electric light, gas mantles were so easily broken. Also, the day we got flush toilets at the bottom of the yard.
My mother died in 1946 and it wasn’t long before that horses and cabs were used for funerals. One of my friends died and I remember how people walked behind the cabs.
Friday night was bath night and I remember how it took a long time heating pans and kettles for the tin bath.
I went to Queen Victoria School. We lived next door to the school. When I heard the bell I had to run. I wouldn’t say I was bright at school but I was good at essays. When I was thirteen I won a book and certificate for an essay about my pet. It was for all Northumberland and given by the RSPCA. I left school at fourteen and had to look after the home.
When the war started I was exempt from National Service. Because of my mother we had a shelter in the yard with a bed in. I used to put hot water bottles in every night and for heat we had a candle in a plant pot with another pot on top. We had ceilings down when Coach Lane church was bombed.
I married in 1942. My husband was in the army five years. When demobbed he was a bricklayer and later Clerk of Works for the council. He died in 1989 while we were on holiday in Scotland.
I have two daughters, one a Sister at Rake Lane Hospital and the other a School Secretary at Longbenton School. I now live at Carlton Court and I am a member of Howard Street Baptist Church. I have four grand-children and one great grandson.