The Rocket Pub, Longbenton | There was always something going on at the Rocket. | RtP/025/006 | leisure pastimes-entertainment working-life | longbenton | 1960s |
The River Tyne Police | God help you if you fell in with all your clobber on! | RtP/031/009 | my-life working-life | north-shields south-tyneside tyneside | 1960s 1970s |
The Ritz Cinema, Forest Hall | The ice cream boy was clad from top to toe in white. | RtP/022/015 | pastimes-entertainment wartime | forest-hall | 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s |
The Rafts 1960 | Once you collected your wood it was a simple task of fitting it together and once launched you just used a couple of pieces of timber for paddles. | RtP/035/018 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | howdon north-shields percy-main | 1960s |
Tynemouth Police The New Look 1948 | The new look was the replacement of high neck tunics with “collar and tie”. | RtP/040/004 | my-life working-life | north-shields tynemouth | 1940s |
Working in Service | There were no fires and no lights because the gas had been cut off. You had to clean with cold water. | RtP/019/001 | working-life | north-shields | 1930s |
Working at the Rex | I thought to myself “here we go again”. | RtP/009/001 | my-life working-life | north-shields | 1940s |
Working and shopping in post-war North Shields | At lunch time I used to go out to the YMCA, which put on a good meal on the top floor. | RtP/042/013 | shops-shopping working-life | north-shields | 1940s 1950s |
Work and Play on Tynemouth Beach | I guess I was a bit of a special case because our family had pleasure boats on Tynemouth beach. They’d been there for 100 years passed down through the generations. | RtP/014/022 | childhood working-life | tynemouth whitley-bay | 1940s 1950s |
Winter Pastimes | We had two places for sledging; Kirkwall Farm fields down through the Lonnen was one but the best of all was Commission Quay Bank. | RtP/037/012 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | percy-main | 1940s |
The Outbreak of War | The date was 3 September 1939. We were returning home when the sirens started. | RtP/037/005 | childhood wartime | percy-main | 1930s 1940s |
The Nana (Gannies of 1955) | Now Sundays was always the best to visit for stotties and scones were getting cooked. | RtP/031/016 | childhood | tyneside | 1950s |
The Lord’s Day | We woke up to the smell of egg, bacon, sausage and black pudding frying. | RtP/035/009 | childhood house-home my-life | tyneside | 1940s |
The Little Chap ‘n’ His Cap | A trip to Kay’s the Sweety Shop saw all our money spent. | RtP/041/019 | childhood | north-shields | 1950s |
The Lighter side of World War Two | Nothing can break the human spirit as long as you can have a good laugh. | RtP/008/009 | wartime | newcastle-upon-tyne | 1940s |
The Launch of the Dominion Monarch 27th July 1938 | A great experience, a wonderful day and a very happy memory. | RtP/019/014 | celebrations-events working-life | wallsend | 1930s |
The Ladies at Carlton Court Remember | Ella was kept on to make fish boxes. | RtP/018/004 | working-life | north-shields | 1920s 1930s |
The Jungle North Shields Quayside 1968 | The Jungle was certainly a rough and tumble sort of place. | RtP/032/019 | pastimes-entertainment working-life | north-shields | 1960s |
The Ice Factory, North Shields | The tyrant called progress won again! | RtP/026/016 | working-life | north-shields | 1950s |
The High School Years | I probably still hold the record for detention in a single term. | RtP/041/007 | childhood schooldays | north-shields tynemouth | 1940s |
The Great Slum Clearance Scheme | Like us, most arrived with their belongings on a horse drawn cart. | RtP/022/010 | house-home my-life | wallsend | 1930s |
Hoyin’ Skeulls | The “Hoyer” - The man who for the time being was throwing coins. | RtP/031/010 | pastimes-entertainment working-life | backworth holystone shiremoor wallsend | 1940s |
The Priory, Pen-Bal-Crag | [Head of Rampart on the Rocks] Tynemouth North East of England | RtP/008/006 | buildings | tynemouth | 1990s |
The Picture House, Forest Hall | When hailstones showered on the roof, the film sound track was lost. | RtP/022/009 | pastimes-entertainment | forest-hall | 1920s 1930s 1940s |
The Percy Arms aka The Die Shop | The snug was nicknamed ‘Turnbull’s Waiting Room’ after the name of the local Funeral Director. | RtP/011/010 | my-life pastimes-entertainment | percy-main | 1950s |
Whitley Bay | My cousins had knitted bathing costumes. When they came out of the water the legs of their costumes reached below their knees. | RtP/020/007 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | whitley-bay | 1930s 1940s 1950s |
What is this Badge? | We want to find out more about my dad's naval career. | RtP/035/017 | wartime | wallsend | 1940s |
Winter 1947 | The snowman my granddad built for me lasted for weeks. He had coke for eyes, a row of coal for a mouth and a carrot for a nose. | RtP/017/015 | childhood | tyneside | 1940s |
What a Dilemma | Thank goodness for the arrival of the flyover at Forest Hall in 1964. | RtP/023/017 | transport | forest-hall | 1930s |
Whitley Bay in the 1930s | Long trains arrived, which were the length of Whitley Bay station platform, to be met by boys with their bogies | RtP/034/010 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | whitley-bay | 1930s |
When the Boat Comes In | Dumpers (cigarette butts), picked up from the streets and re-rolled, provided a smoke. | RtP/018/015 | my-life | north-shields | 1930s |
West Allotment – Life in a Mining Village | My grandfather walked each day to and from the pit, a distance of approximately five miles. | RtP/025/011 | working-life | west-allotment | 1930s |
Weddings 1958 | After the wedding the car window would be rolled down and out came a hand full of coins. | RtP/037/018 | celebrations-events childhood | tyneside | 1950s |
Watching the Ships Go By | The butter boat used to go past our front room window. | RtP/032/017 | childhood transport | newcastle-upon-tyne other wallsend | 1960s |
The Penny Scrush | Beware of the pointed finger - you could never tell if it was loaded! | RtP/022/011 | childhood my-life pastimes-entertainment | wallsend | 1930s |
The Pantomime at the Wesleyan Church Hall, Percy Main | The hall was packed every night for the week. | RtP/037/014 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | percy-main | 1940s |
The Outside Netty (1957) | Now and again you would wake up through the night and want a ‘jimmy riddle’. | RtP/033/004 | childhood house-home | north-shields | 1950s |
Washing Day 2 | It wasn't just one day - it went on for most days of the week! | RtP/030/017 | house-home | tyneside | 1940s |
Washing Day 1 | Granda's long sleeved body shirts and long linings (underpants) took a long time to dry. | RtP/025/012 | house-home | tyneside | 1930s |
Washing and Ironing | In summertime everyone hung their washing in the street, but it was a risky business. | RtP/024/016 | childhood house-home | tyneside | 1920s |
Wash Days and the Large Family | We used to pull the sheets, two at each side, so they would be dead straight and then fold them. | RtP/019/019 | childhood house-home | tyneside | 1930s |
Wash Day with the Poss Tub | In the winter, shirts used to get stiff with the cold; you could take them off the line and stand them up in the kitchen. | RtP/019/015 | childhood house-home | other tyneside | 1930s 1940s |
Toy Forts and Broken Bicycles | I was dying to get my hands on a bicycle it was just a shame the brakes didn’t work! | RtP/043/018 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | tyneside | 1930s |
Tug of War | It was a regular thing to see the men dressed up, often in women's clothes! | RtP/032/013 | celebrations-events my-life pastimes-entertainment | west-allotment | 1950s 1960s 1970s |
Treatment of Diabetes, 1947 | At night, each child was given one sweet, but not if they were diabetic! | RtP/028/004 | childhood health schooldays | tyneside | 1940s |
Travelling to School, 1960s | The buses and trains were always busy. | RtP/027/006 | schooldays transport | wallsend | 1960s |
Train Journeys | It's the little things that stick in one's mind! | RtP/030/010 | childhood transport wartime | north-shields | 1940s 1950s |
Tonsils Out at Home | All in a morning's work! | RtP/028/003 | health my-life | tyneside | 1930s |
Tom’s Day at the Beach | You would occasionally hear an announcement “We’ve got a little boy with red hair, 5 years old and he’s lost his mummy. Can you come and collect him?” | RtP/014/020 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | tynemouth whitley-bay | 1940s 1950s |
Tin Telephones, 1957 | This might sound daft but you understood each other perfectly. | RtP/035/013 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | tyneside | 1950s |
Broken Biscuits 1960 | First we would just look at them, then as your mouth began to water like mad, pop a bit in. It was sheer heaven! | RtP/038/001 | childhood house-home | north-shields | 1960s |
Brigham & Cowan Ltd 1962 | If the dock yard lads were running late they would give two whistles and the little Brigham & Cowan's launch would come over and take them back to the south side. | RtP/040/020 | childhood working-life | north-shields south-tyneside | 1960s |
Wartime | Having been raised in a family of publicans with lots of noise and music, we were now living in the quiet of the countryside. | RtP/020/016 | wartime | north-shields northumberland | 1940s |
Wartime Weather | We often had natural creamy ice-cream in the 1940s winters. | RtP/026/003 | house-home transport wartime | whitley-bay | 1940s |
Wartime Memories | We would put one plant pot on top of another with a lighted candle inside to keep warm | RtP/015/001 | wartime | north-shields | 1940s |
Wartime in Italy | In 1943 and 1944 in Italy there was a war. I pray to God every day “Please don’t let it happen again”. I couldn’t wish it on my worst enemy or anybody in the world. War is very sad for everyone. | RtP/015/023 | childhood wartime | international | 1940s |
Wartime Childhood | I can recall, in canny Shields, the fish-quay and the football-fields, the sound of sirens in the night, the air-raid shelter, small and tight | RtP/041/008 | childhood wartime | north-shields tynemouth | 1940s |
War Time in Wallsend | On moon nights, barrels were put along streets and smoke making stuff was burned in them so the enemy couldn't see clearly. | RtP/016/013 | wartime | wallsend | 1940s |
War Declared – Sunday 3rd September | The news broadcasts, with the well-known voices of John Snagg and Alva Liddell, attained almost religious significance. | RtP/020/001 | wartime | tyneside | 1930s 1940s |
Wallsend | Handrails were used to fasten washing lines from one side of the square to another; clean sheets would flap loudly in the breeze. | RtP/018/014 | childhood shops-shopping | wallsend | 1960s |
Brigham & Cowan Ltd Dry Docks | Dry dock owners and ship repairers South Shields | RtP/043/010 | working-life | south-tyneside | 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s |
Boogie Making | After we'd made them, boogies used to be pushed, pulled and ridden for mile after mile. | RtP/028/014 | childhood games health pastimes-entertainment | howdon percy-main | 1940s 1950s |
Wallsend Wartime Memories | Coming home from school, I turned into our street to see a huge silver barage balloon wedged sideways in the street | RtP/015/011 | childhood wartime | wallsend | 1940s |
Walks in North Shields No. 2 | When the bluebells are up the air is scented and wonderful. | RtP/022/014 | pastimes-entertainment | north-shields | 1920s 1930s |
Walks in North Shields No. 1 | A walk of interest, history, beauty and nostalgia to me, now aged 87. | RtP/022/004 | pastimes-entertainment | north-shields tynemouth | 1920s |
Waggon Ways | Anyone living along the line could hitch a ride from Backworth down to Percy Main! | RtP/028/007 | my-life transport working-life | percy-main shiremoor | 1930s |
Viv’s Memories of Growing up in Sheffield | At home, we had mountains of sheet music and my parents always held musical gatherings in their home, with other friends who were musicians. | RtP/010/020 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | other | 1940s 1950s |
Village Traditions (around 1938) | She was indeed lovely; her pale face framed in lace had a serene beauty that I had never experienced. | RtP/020/019 | childhood | tyneside | 1930s |
Victor the Stick Man (1958) | If we wanted to make a couple of pennies we would just call in and asked if he wanted any bundles of sticks made up or any sacks filled. | RtP/038/005 | childhood house-home working-life | north-shields | 1950s |
Vi Foreman | My summer holidays were spent on the Fish Quay sands | RtP/043/013 | childhood house-home my-life pastimes-entertainment schooldays working-life | north-shields | 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s |
V.E. Celebrations | The staff were given the job of painting a big red 'V' onto each of the cream drinking mugs. | RtP/019/021 | celebrations-events | north-shields | 1940s |
Up and Down the High Street in Wallsend | Ten-year-olds would carry glass jars full of sulphuric acid to and from the shops and no-one thought anything of it | RtP/015/006 | shops-shopping | wallsend | 1940s |
Bonfire Night | The highlight of the event was raiding other people’s bonfires, pinching stuff when they weren’t guarding it, but best of all setting fire to one. | RtP/039/017 | celebrations-events childhood | howdon percy-main | 1940s 1950s |
Boat Trips | I have never been lucky with boats. | RtP/031/020 | childhood my-life transport wartime | north-shields other south-tyneside | 1930s 1940s |
More Memories by Alan Connon | The troop ship continues on its way across the azure blue of the Mediterranean to my destination Port Said. | RtP/009/010 | my-life wartime working-life | other | 1940s |
Margaret’s Memories of Wallsend | My grandmother never drank, but always carried a miniature bottle of brandy in her shopping bag for medicinal purposes. | RtP/010/021 | childhood my-life working-life | wallsend | 1950s |
Tynemouth Borough Police – Annual Inspection of Vehicles, 1964 | Tynemouth Police inspect their vehicles | RtP/040/002 | my-life working-life | north-shields tynemouth | 1960s |
Margaret the Fish Lady | She herself was spanking clean, as was her barrow. | RtP/023/015 | shops-shopping working-life | benton cullercoats | 1950s |
Marching on Good Friday 2 | At the end of the march we were all given an orange. We all felt we had done something good. | RtP/037/011 | celebrations-events childhood | percy-main | 1940s |
Mamie’s Memories of Wallsend | I've lived in the same house for over eighty years. | RtP/010/014 | childhood schooldays shops-shopping working-life | longbenton newcastle-upon-tyne wallsend | 1940s |
Marching on Good Friday 1 | We always wore our new Easter finery for the event. | RtP/032/004 | celebrations-events childhood | cullercoats north-shields shiremoor wallsend | 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s |
Mangles, 1958 | A third time was not required most of the time as us kids used to put our full weight on the mangle rolling handle to get it to turn, often with your feet off the ground, bouncing like mad to get it to turn. | RtP/039/002 | childhood house-home | other tyneside | 1950s |
Mandy’s Day at the Beach | The war closed the seaside you just didn’t go down to the seaside it just wasn’t safe. When it first opened up again after the war it was busy. | RtP/014/015 | childhood my-life | north-shields tynemouth | 1940s |
Tynemouth Police First Aid Team, 1956 | This photograph shows the Tynemouth Police First Aid team of 1956 in the Muster Rooms after winning a trophy in 1956. | RtP/040/006 | celebrations-events my-life | north-shields tynemouth | 1950s |
Tynemouth Police Football, 1949 | This photograph shows the Tynemouth Police football team that played against the Felling Division in the Northern Police Orphanage Cup in March 1949. | RtP/040/005 | my-life | north-shields tynemouth | 1940s |
Tynemouth Village Townswomen | The National Anthem was always played and sung, and a Birthday Cake was a regular feature! | RtP/028/006 | pastimes-entertainment | tynemouth | 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s |
Tynemouth Police Charitable Work, 1941 | An example of the police/community interaction and relationship that existed in earlier years. | RtP/040/007 | my-life shops-shopping | north-shields tynemouth | 1940s |
Tynemouth Plaza | Wind blown sand drifts o'er the strand, Where once the "Plaza" it did stand, A pleasure palace built years ago, To entertain both high and low | RtP/029/018 | pastimes-entertainment | tynemouth | 1990s |
Tynemouth Lake, 1961 | I wish I had a pound for every time you called out to a boat “your time is up!" | RtP/035/001 | childhood my-life pastimes-entertainment | tynemouth | 1960s |
Tynemouth Borough Police Remembered | Policing became a varied exercise as the population grew | RtP/035/011 | working-life | tynemouth | 1960s |
Tyne Tugs | The rivers horses do a job right. | RtP/026/019 | transport working-life | north-shields | 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s |
Tyne Tugs, 1956 | It seems just like the other day, When the river Tyne was all a go, About a score of steam tugs, Would be pulling ships to and fro | RtP/026/011 | transport working-life | north-shields wallsend | 1950s |
Turnbull’s of North Shields | They kept their handsome horses upstairs and their carriages downstairs. | RtP/023/007 | transport working-life | north-shields | 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s |
Making Paste Eggs | Brown eggs are a new invention. | RtP/032/015 | celebrations-events childhood pastimes-entertainment | other tyneside | 1930s 1940s |
Making Hooky/Clippy Mats | Mat making was an example of people pulling together during hard times. It drew families very close and gave us a real sense of togetherness. | RtP/037/008 | childhood house-home | percy-main | 1940s |
Hunters the Bakers | The wage was 12/- a week. | RtP/043/004 | shops-shopping working-life | north-shields | 1930s |
Hoy Oot | Hoy your rusty coppers oot. | RtP/037/010 | celebrations-events childhood | percy-main | 1940s |
Howdon to Jarrow for Nowt! | I had often used the old B.A. Gowan (that was the ferry's name). | RtP/015/009 | childhood transport working-life | howdon | 1930s |
How Many uses was the Penny Daily paper put to? | It was a messy job but we got extra pocket money for it. | RtP/037/004 | childhood house-home | other tyneside | 1930s |
How it Was in 1914 | Our Dad delivered milk, pushing a laden barrow round the local streets. | RtP/021/017 | childhood working-life | other | 1910s |
Smoke Screeners | A unit that created smoke so that enemy aircraft couldn’t easily target the shipyards | RtP/044/019 | childhood wartime | tynemouth wallsend | 1940s |
Smith’s Docks Co. Ltd. (1977) | Sometimes the ships would be two or three deep alongside the quay | RtP/033/003 | transport working-life | north-shields | 1950s 1960s 1970s |
Smith’s Dock’s Clock 1958 | I do not think that clock ever stopped or lost time | RtP/037/019 | my-life working-life | north-shields | 1950s |
Smith’s Dock’s Apprentices, 1958 | In these days the first year of an apprenticeship was being a ‘go-for’. You go for this and you go for that no matter who your dad was. Often on a Friday, you would see four or six of the Docks’ apprentices heading up the street with their Hessian sacks | RtP/037/020 | working-life | north-shields | 1950s |
Sleeping Arrangements | I shared a double bed with my sister, who was seven years older than me and she took a very dim view of the new arrangements. | RtP/020/015 | house-home working-life | new-york | 1930s |
Sledges, 1960 | We would have races and snowball fights and all things like this | RtP/040/017 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | north-shields | 1960s |
Sing-Songs in our House | The best player was Lottie Fleetwood, she would pound out the songs and we would all sing along. | RtP/037/009 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | percy-main | 1940s |
Short’s Scrapyard, North Shields 1957 | The place was more than likely lousy with fleas - but you never gave it a thought | RtP/032/020 | childhood working-life | north-shields | 1950s |
Tide Marks, 1958 | ‘Tide marks’ were where the water either ran up your arms or down your neck, so you just let it dry or gave a quick rub with your sleeve. | RtP/036/020 | childhood | north-shields | 1950s |
Thompson Red Stamp Stores | Boxes were provided for customers to sit down until it was their turn. | RtP/022/001 | house-home shops-shopping working-life | north-shields | 1940s |
Things To Do in West Allotment | Giant leeks were put on show after much secret feeding and top dressing. | RtP/025/013 | pastimes-entertainment | west-allotment | 1930s |
The Wolsington Pub, Then and Now | It was used as an air-raid shelter during World War II | RtP/043/020 | childhood wartime | north-shields | 1930s 1940s |
The Way We Were | Our childhood memories remain the best, the happy times, fantastic, | RtP/041/014 | childhood | tyneside | 1950s |
The Wall – Spring Gardens | The wall separated the schoolyard from the old cemetery. | RtP/030/020 | childhood schooldays | north-shields | 1960s |
The View From My Garden | Every ship that went up or down the river came past our house. | RtP/027/007 | childhood house-home transport | wallsend | 1950s 1960s |
The Van Lad | I had to be sure and take my Van Lad's hat, the status symbol that proved I was part of the team. | RtP/027/003 | childhood transport working-life | tynemouth wallsend | 1960s |
The V.I.P. Journey | I stood proudly behind the windscreen heedless of the cold spray cascading round me... | RtP/015/010 | transport working-life | howdon | 1930s |
The Umbrella, 1959 | There was an almighty crash and out went a windowpane. | RtP/036/003 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | north-shields | 1950s |
The Tab Wagon, 1956 | They would give out two tabs in a little box for free | RtP/035/004 | health my-life transport working-life | north-shields | 1950s |
The Squirrel Mentality | We had lots and lots of boxes of matches - enough to set Wallsend on fire I should think. | RtP/017/012 | wartime | wallsend | 1930s 1940s |
The Snug, 1957 | You always tried to duck down so as not to be seen, for some strange reason | RtP/040/009 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | | 1950s |
The Smell of Tar | She would go out of her way to breathe over a tar boiler whenever the men were mending the road! | RtP/027/015 | childhood wartime | tyneside | 1940s |
The Sinking of S.S. Pinna | Only one bomb hit us, but horribly it was plumb on the fo’c’sle. | RtP/029/010 | wartime | international | 1940s |
The Ship Inn, Monkseaton, 1970s | The Select Room was “Gentlemen Only” and a tie was de rigueur | RtP/033/005 | my-life pastimes-entertainment | monkseaton | 1970s |
The Screwless Coffin | The undertaker went as pale as the corpse and a fierce argument began. | RtP/020/011 | working-life | north-shields | 1940s |
The School Dentist | His nurse had to bar the door to stop us escaping. | RtP/021/010 | health schooldays | tyneside | 1940s |
The Sally Army, 1958 | They would come, marching into Appleby Street in North Shields just like a squad of soldiers on parade. | RtP/040/008 | pastimes-entertainment | north-shields | 1950s |
The Saga of the Dredger, “Beaver Mackenzie”, 1975 | We were caught in some of the most difficult weather conditions ever experienced at that time of year - supposedly summer! | RtP/030/016 | transport working-life | international north-shields | 1970s |
The Girls’ Hostel | They handed over their wages every week and an allowance was given to each of them. | RtP/021/018 | working-life | killingworth | 1970s |
The Gasman | People, being hard up, loved to see the gasman coming. | RtP/037/002 | house-home | tyneside | 1930s |
The Gas Oven | How Jean managed to escape being hit by the oven door I just don't know | RtP/041/015 | childhood | tyneside | 1930s |
The Fountain Head | Huge men ready for a fight were quelled at a glance by 4'9" Minnie. "All right Minnie, sorry Minnie". | RtP/020/012 | working-life | north-shields | 1930s 1940s |
The Flower Show | Well you didn't win this year! | RtP/022/012 | celebrations-events pastimes-entertainment | north-shields | 1950s |
The Flix, 1960 | Everyone would be off their seats riding along with the cowboys or flying along with Rocket Man, screaming and shouting at the bad guys. | RtP/036/005 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | north-shields | 1960s |
The Fish and Chip Shop | Fish cakes in those days were two slabs of potato sandwiched with flaked fish, and the whole lot dipped in batter and fried. | RtP/018/001 | shops-shopping | tyneside | 1950s |
The Fifteen Story Flats | We saw them go up and we saw them come down! | RtP/029/003 | house-home my-life | longbenton | 1950s |
The Embassy Ballroom, Forest Hall | One night the ceiling came down. | RtP/023/011 | pastimes-entertainment | benton forest-hall killingworth | 1950s |
The Egg Wagon, 1958 | What a wonderful sight – there were eggs everywhere you looked! | RtP/035/010 | childhood shops-shopping | north-shields percy-main | 1950s |
The Driving Test 1974-5 | The time came for the third test and I resolved that if I didn't pass it I would pack in. | RtP/028/010 | my-life pastimes-entertainment transport | killingworth | 1970s |
The Dreaded Nit Nurse | We dreaded the nit nurse, but she was not as bad as your mother armed with the dickey comb. | RtP/021/013 | childhood health | tyneside | 1940s 1950s |
The Deed Hoose | I can remember on a payday coming into the house shouting "We've got a body this week!" | RtP/026/012 | transport working-life | north-shields | 1940s 1950s |
The Co-op Horses, 1955 | The Co-op stables of a long time ago, Were based at the back of old Coach Lane, Some people would cry and whinge about them, Others saying they were nothing but a pain. | RtP/031/017 | childhood transport working-life | north-shields | 1950s |
The Chippy | You always loved their chips because they were cooked in proper dripping. | RtP/038/012 | childhood shops-shopping working-life | north-shields | 1950s |
The Childhood and Adolescent Years of Les Birkett | Rabbits were a good source of food and we loved helping Dad winkle them out from the station yard buffers. | RtP/028/011 | childhood house-home my-life transport working-life | north-shields | 1930s |
The Camel | For people new to Burradon, the Camel’s Hump was a large heap next to the ash path bordering the Welfare. | RtP/035/006 | childhood my-life pastimes-entertainment | killingworth | 1950s |
The Cabbage Patch on the Fish Quay | This was the nickname of a corner, Down on the North Shields fish quay, Some visitors were local buskers, Who drank stuff stronger than tea | RtP/029/016 | working-life | north-shields | 1950s 1960s |
The Building of a Bridge | I was there, the day the Tyne Bridge was opened | RtP/008/004 | celebrations-events childhood | newcastle-upon-tyne | 1920s |
The Bread Bin | It would stand on the bench, enamel white and trimmed with dolphin blue | RtP/041/013 | childhood | other | 1950s |
Police Transport, 1969 | A diversity of roles and requirements | RtP/040/001 | my-life transport working-life | north-shields tynemouth | 1960s |
My First Memory of a Christmas Morning | My first memory was of a Christmas morning, possibly my fourth year | RtP/033/011 | celebrations-events childhood | whitley-bay | 1920s |
Musings of a Wooden Dolly | I stand there in Northumberland Square, looking at the harbour view | RtP/029/014 | my-life | north-shields | 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s |
Music in North Shields | I became an Associate of the London College of Music and taught piano locally until I was 84 years old. | RtP/023/003 | childhood pastimes-entertainment shops-shopping working-life | north-shields | 1920s 1930s |
Murton Elementary School 1948 | I used to take 4d to buy soup and a sweet at the British Legion Canteen which was opposite the school. | RtP/029/019 | celebrations-events pastimes-entertainment schooldays | north-shields shiremoor | 1940s |
The Box, 1958 | With an almighty swipe, I swung my leg and bang! The box did not move and my foot came to a halt in its tracks. | RtP/035/019 | childhood | north-shields | 1950s |
The Bombing of Preston Hospital | The damage, seen in daylight, was sheer devastation. | RtP/026/001 | health wartime | north-shields | 1940s |
The Big Ships | When I was a young girl, I lived in Fourth Street, Down by the shipyards | RtP/041/018 | childhood my-life | tyneside | 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s |
The Battle with the Dutch Sailors | I have often wondered how they explained it to the Captain and what punishment they received. We, of course, thought we had a great time and had won the battle. | RtP/011/009 | childhood | percy-main | 1940s |
The Battle of Britain Operations Room | Kitty Brightwell remembers her time in the WAAF | RtP/008/011 | wartime | other | 1940s |
The Alcoholic Collie | Nell's legs would start to wobble as soon as she approached the Newcastle Arms. | RtP/026/010 | working-life | tyneside | 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s |
The Air Raid Shelter | From an upstairs window, it looked as though rather large moles had been at work | RtP/015/004 | wartime | tyneside | 1940s |
The Abattoir, North Shields | Suddenly the bull gave a great bellow and jumped out of the wagon, straight into the crowd of people. | RtP/024/017 | childhood house-home my-life | north-shields | 1920s |
Teamers and Trimmers | Apparently, they had a ‘bookman’ who got the best deal he could from each Captain, and this was shared with the gang. | RtP/039/010 | working-life | percy-main | 1940s |
Teaching at Murton School | There were some lovely children in that first class of mine. | RtP/022/008 | childhood schooldays working-life | shiremoor | 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s |
Swimming Memories | I had a knitted two-piece bathing costume | RtP/043/015 | childhood my-life schooldays | north-shields tynemouth wallsend whitley-bay | 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s |
Swimming | My mother used to say if you go to the Fish Quay Sands and get drowned, I’ll murder you. | RtP/017/004 | pastimes-entertainment | north-shields tynemouth | 1930s 1940s 1950s |
Sweet Shops | Matinee Selection or Empire Selection were my favourite. | RtP/032/001 | celebrations-events childhood shops-shopping | north-shields | 1940s 1950s |
Swan Hunters Shipyard (1956 – 1963) | The ship caused a tidal wave and all the Swan's men had to run like mad to get out of the way | RtP/015/008 | working-life | wallsend | 1950s 1960s |
Swan Hunter and its Cranes | You might not see them from this angle very often | RtP/032/018 | childhood transport working-life | wallsend | 1950s 1960s 1970s |
Super Tankers (1970s) | Good news has come to the area, The River Tyne has now been blessed, We are one of the first to build super tankers, That is way ahead of all the rest | RtP/026/018 | transport working-life | wallsend | 1970s |
Sunday School | Now and again they would give us an apple and an orange. At Christmas you got nuts as well. The girls got a rag doll too. | RtP/018/019 | childhood | north-shields | 1930s 1940s 1950s |
Sunday School in Percy Main | Percy Main was a close-knit friendly community – you could wander into anyone’s house (which I was told I frequently did). | RtP/011/001 | celebrations-events childhood | percy-main | 1930s 1940s |
Sunday School and Early Church in Longbenton | The new church was open in time for Easter Sunday 1956. | RtP/028/016 | celebrations-events childhood | longbenton seaton-burn | 1950s |
Sunday Morning September 3rd 1939 | All our lives were changed that morning | RtP/008/018 | wartime | newcastle-upon-tyne | 1930s |
Sunday Dinner | Sometimes it was an effort to eat it all but being three healthy growing lads, we always gave it a damn good try. | RtP/039/012 | childhood house-home | percy-main | 1940s |
Street Scene | A blast on the bugle heralded the arrival of the ragman | RtP/025/007 | childhood house-home | tyneside | 1930s |
Stilts, 1958 | Great fun that cost us nothing. | RtP/036/002 | childhood | north-shields percy-main | 1950s |
Sticky Jim’s | One day we thought we would get some ‘slabs’ and sell them uncut from the shop, I think our venture only lasted a couple of days and we only made a few bob. | RtP/039/015 | childhood working-life | percy-main | 1940s |
St Matthew | The cost for the corrugated structure was £260. | RtP/024/003 | celebrations-events | percy-main shiremoor | 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s |
St John’s Ambulance Brigade in the mid-1930s | It was extremely strict. The length of your dress was measured with your shoes on, and it had to have so many pleats round. | RtP/017/011 | pastimes-entertainment | wallsend | 1930s |
St Cuthbert | St Cuthbert's (North Shields) Catholic Church football team. | RtP/025/001 | pastimes-entertainment | north-shields | 1920s |
Spuds 1957 | Spuds was a nickname for holes in your socks around these times. | RtP/035/020 | childhood | north-shields | 1950s |
Sprat Fighting 1957 | There used to be tons upon tons of sprats swimming up and down the river then | RtP/035/002 | childhood house-home | north-shields | 1950s |
Song of the Tyne | As the hooters died down, the noises of the shipyard took their place: the clang of steel upon steel... | RtP/015/007 | working-life | wallsend | 1930s |
Some Thoughts on Father’s Day | Their marriage was re-arranged to the Friday because the foot handicap finals were held the next day. | RtP/024/007 | celebrations-events childhood pastimes-entertainment | killingworth | 1920s |
Some North Shields Pubs | As the saying goes, here today and gone tomorrow! | RtP/031/015 | pastimes-entertainment | north-shields | 1950s |
Snow Shovelling 1957 | Once up and ready off we would go with two borrowed shovels and a brush to start our front door cleaning. | RtP/028/012 | childhood house-home shops-shopping | north-shields | 1950s |
Percy Main’s Characters | The village had its share of wonderful characters, here are some recollections about a few of them | RtP/011/011 | childhood my-life | percy-main | 1940s |
Pre-War Percy Main Shops | If I only had tuppence ha’penny I would only be given two and a half cigarettes. | RtP/042/016 | childhood shops-shopping | percy-main | 1920s 1930s |
Preparing for War | Weeds were cleared off the quays and slipways, tools were unpacked and sharpened. | RtP/026/004 | wartime working-life | north-shields tynemouth | 1930s |
Poss Tubs and Mangles | When the coalman came you had to run out and take all the washing back in again. | RtP/019/017 | house-home schooldays | tyneside | 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s |
Pocket Money | Sweets were wrapped in a square of newspaper which was rolled into a funnel. | RtP/019/009 | childhood | tyneside | 1920s 1930s 1940s |
Pictures On My Mind | Another happy playground I would visit was called Harbottle’s Field. | RtP/009/008 | childhood schooldays | north-shields | 1930s 1940s |
Shops in the Old Part of Benton | The baker bought ingredients for his gorgeous pasties from the local butcher and greengrocer. | RtP/023/016 | shops-shopping | benton | 1950s |
Shops in Saville Street and Bedford Street, North Shields | T Archer Lee must have dressed half of Shields in its time. | RtP/042/008 | shops-shopping wartime | north-shields | 1940s |
Shops and Farms in New York Village | Elsie Wilkinson recalls New York village in the first half of the 20th century as a thriving busy place with many shops and farms. | RtP/013/003 | shops-shopping working-life | new-york | 1920s 1930s 1940s |
Shopping | You could stand for ages watching all the containers whizzing from different parts of the shop, high up to the cash office. | RtP/017/010 | shops-shopping | north-shields | 1950s 1960s |
Shopping in North Shields in the 1930s | On the way home I would have a peas pudding dip and my mam and dad would have a pork sandwich each. | RtP/042/009 | childhood shops-shopping working-life | north-shields | 1930s 1940s |
Shopping in North Shields as a Child in the 1940s | I used to do shopping for other people, and I’d get a 1d ‘for going’. | RtP/042/010 | childhood house-home shops-shopping | north-shields | 1940s |
Shopping in Forest Hall | The goods were delivered on Thursday or Friday, beautifully wrapped in parcels with brown paper and string | RtP/023/014 | shops-shopping | forest-hall | 1950s |
Shopping at the Co-op | There was a wire to cut the cheese and a slicing machine for the bacon | RtP/042/003 | childhood shops-shopping working-life | north-shields | 1930s 1940s 1950s |
Shopping and Shop Windows | Ellen thought that when she went to the corner shop on the corner of Rudyerd Street for her mother that the shopping she got was free! | RtP/043/003 | shops-shopping | north-shields | 1930s |
Shopping and Running the Home | In went the brown paper parcel, eggs on top. To my horror, they slipped down and were all broken and dripping from the bag. | RtP/015/018 | house-home shops-shopping | howdon | 1920s |
Shop Worker | I worked for Bell Brothers | RtP/043/001 | shops-shopping | north-shields | 1940s |
Shop Assistant | After the sales, we were drafted upstairs to dust the fixtures. With turbans on our heads, what a laugh we had. | RtP/018/017 | shops-shopping working-life | newcastle-upon-tyne | 1940s 1950s 1960s |
Shiremoor County Modern School 1948 – 1952 | We had a Cinema Club, although I seem to remember that most of the films were Laurel and Hardy. | RtP/017/009 | schooldays | shiremoor | 1940s 1950s |
Shipping Cars Through Albert Edward Dock | Reflecting on a time of change for the Albert Edward Dock | RtP/043/009 | working-life | north-shields | 1990s 2000s 2010s |
Selling Papers (1962) | I was lucky enough to land a job selling both the Chronicle and Gazette papers for a man called Johnny. | RtP/038/008 | childhood working-life | north-shields | 1960s |
Seeing Airship R101, October 1930 | We heard the drone of the engines first, coming from the sky. | RtP/025/016 | celebrations-events childhood transport | whitley-bay | 1930s |
Scottish Visitors to Whitley Bay | Families gave up their comfortable beds, consigning themselves to camp beds and put you ups in the back kitchen. | RtP/020/010 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | whitley-bay | 1950s |
Schools in the 1960s and 70s | Our 'made-up' chant at sports events was "Western - the best 'un! | RtP/020/004 | schooldays | north-shields | 1960s 1970s |
School Needles 1957 | Now I could be wrong, but the nurse would shove that needle in with all her might and half the time you thought she was using a spear. | RtP/039/001 | health schooldays | north-shields | 1950s |
School Memories in New York | Elsie Wilkinson recalls her schooldays and teachers in New York village | RtP/013/001 | childhood my-life schooldays | new-york | 1920s 1930s |
School Life | "Mother, I've been put down into 2b." So she said, "well work your way up". | RtP/022/020 | schooldays | north-shields | 1910s |
School Days 4 | Sometimes I would run to school and use the bus fare to buy sweets or broken biscuits at Kidd's shop. | RtP/017/006 | schooldays | wallsend | 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s |
School Days 3 | In the 70s, corporal punishment was allowed, and I was 'sentenced' to two belts from a large leather strap. | RtP/019/006 | schooldays | tyneside | 1970s |
School Days 2 | We didn't write with pen and paper, we had sand trays and used to use our forefinger to write the words | RtP/015/016 | schooldays | howdon | 1920s |
School Days 1 | At Hawkey's Lane pool we would have a lesson in the freezing cold water, after the leaves had been scooped off the surface | RtP/015/012 | schooldays | north-shields | 1950s 1960s |
School Christmas Party 1930 | When the party was over, we were each given a little bag containing an apple and an orange. | RtP/036/011 | celebrations-events childhood schooldays | tynemouth | 1930s |
School 3 | It hurt more than getting the cane. | RtP/033/016 | schooldays | northumberland whitley-bay | 1920s |
School 2 | I spent a happy time there in the infants and senior school. | RtP/033/015 | childhood schooldays | whitley-bay | 1920s |
School 1 | I was always in the top section of the class and passed my eleven plus when the time came | RtP/033/017 | schooldays | north-shields | 1920s |
Scarlett Fever in Annitsford | The isolation hospital was at Scaffold Hill, near Palmersville. | RtP/027/020 | childhood health | seaton-burn | 1920s |
Saturday Afternoons in Newcastle | A very careful calculation went into this trip. | RtP/027/004 | childhood house-home pastimes-entertainment shops-shopping transport | wallsend | 1960s |
Saturday – Best Day of The Week | Why? Going to "the threepenny squash" picture house. | RtP/021/009 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | whitley-bay | 1940s |
Sarah Joyce’s Day at the Beach | Men wore suit and tie and polished shoes to go on the beach women got all dressed up too. | RtP/014/010 | childhood my-life | tynemouth whitley-bay | 1920s 1930s |
Salliers, 1960 | Q: What are salliers? A: The waves of a passing ship, tug or boat etc., | RtP/040/019 | childhood | north-shields | 1960s |
Rudi the Demon Barber | As barbers go, Rudi was irresistible to us teenagers. | RtP/026/007 | childhood shops-shopping wartime working-life | durham north-shields | 1940s 1950s 1960s |
Round and About in Monkseaton | Amazingly, the front end of a number 17 double-decker bus was down a big hole in the road. | RtP/026/007 | house-home my-life | monkseaton whitley-bay | 1930s 1940s |
Roof Snow Slides 1960 | It was like an avalanche! | RtP/041/011 | childhood | tyneside | 1960s |
River Tyne Foyboats | As a ship comes into the river, A foyboat man will then hook on, His job will never ever differ, For the mooring ropes he will don | RtP/026/017 | transport working-life | tyneside | 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s |
Ria’s Story of the Second World War | I used to carry the cot into the shelter, also the insurance policies and three babies bottles wrapped in blankets. | RtP/016/017 | wartime | north-shields | 1940s |
Renee’s Day at the Beach | We swam in the sea always there but you get used to it you see you warm up. We didn’t really play games. We used to bathe. | RtP/014/019 | childhood my-life | tyneside | 1930s 1940s |
Rena’s Memories of Wallsend | We always got dressed up to go dancing, in a long dress and with either silver or gold shoes. | RtP/010/019 | childhood pastimes-entertainment schooldays | north-shields wallsend | 1920s 1930s |
Remembrance | At 11 am the guns sound the start of the two minutes silence. | RtP/008/005 | wartime | other | 1990s 2000s 2010s |
Remembering Chirton Shops | The dairyman took his horse and cart every morning to North Shields Railway Station to collect the churns of fresh milk | RtP/042/007 | shops-shopping working-life | north-shields | 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s |
Registrar’s Office at Swan Hunter’s | The big change came in 1966 when the firm acquired a computer. It was a huge machine and a special room had to be prepared. | RtP/018/010 | working-life | wallsend | 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s |
Reading 2 | I wish I still had a book called ‘King of the Golden River’ | RtP/034/008 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | whitley-bay | 1930s |
Reading 1 | I don't remember when I first learnt to read. I do know it has been a lifetime passion | RtP/034/009 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | wallsend | 1930s |
Railway Stations 1958 | The waiting room it was great, just like entering a toaster as the fire was blazing away | RtP/041/009 | childhood | north-shields percy-main tynemouth | 1950s |
Putting the Old Tank to Bed | The smell of burning coal and oil and the noise of the roaring engine will be with me forever | RtP/035/005 | childhood my-life transport working-life | killingworth shiremoor | 1950s 1960s 1970s |
Putting on the Style | I then let down the hem of my evening skirt, which had been pinned up clear of the bicycle chain with safety pins. | RtP/024/004 | pastimes-entertainment | tynemouth whitley-bay | 1940s |
Putting on a Show | I don't know where the fireplace is | RtP/023/004 | pastimes-entertainment | north-shields | 1940s 1950s |
Public Baths, North Shields | I eventually learned to swim in the Suez Canal | RtP/043/006 | childhood my-life | north-shields | 1930s |
Murton Council School (1934-1941) | I lived down the lane and was in the schoolyard first every morning, usually out of the house by 8.30 am. | RtP/020/005 | schooldays | shiremoor | 1930s 1940s |
Mrs Burns 1957 | You could say Mrs Burns was a blessing in disguise | RtP/038/002 | house-home | north-shields | 1950s |
Mr Hanks, Bookmaker | My dad believed in place betting each way so if a horse came in second or third you got a bit back | RtP/039/014 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | percy-main | 1950s |
Moving to Longbenton | Parson's Estate. | RtP/025/004 | house-home | longbenton | 1950s |
Moving On | Closure of Saville Street Police Station | RtP/039/021 | my-life | north-shields | 1970s |
Moving House | These new houses were going to have water inside and, unbelievably, a bathroom! | RtP/024/019 | house-home | north-shields | 1930s |
Mothers were Soldiers Too | You went along to the dairy and bought your milk from the churn | RtP/042/004 | shops-shopping wartime | north-shields | 1940s |
Mother | Your Mother was Always Cooking | RtP/039/007 | my-life | other | 1920s |
More Odes to Golf and Friendship | The Two Ronnies and me (Lex) met at infant school in Percy Main Primary School in 1941 and we now play golf together every week. Here are a couple of verses about their style of play. | RtP/040/014 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | other | 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s |
MV Stonepool | We heard a massive booming and the vessel shuddered. | RtP/024/005 | transport working-life | wallsend | 1960s |
MV Leda | The tale of a ship of the Tyne | RtP/030/004 | celebrations-events transport working-life | howdon north-shields | 1950s |
Making Ends Meet 2 | The biggest treat of all was when she bought a tin of pineapple. | RtP/042/012 | childhood house-home my-life shops-shopping | north-shields percy-main | 1930s 1940s |
Making Ends Meet 1 | Our neighbour next door kept rabbits and we’d swap a chicken for a Flemish Giant for a bit of variety. | RtP/042/018 | childhood house-home shops-shopping working-life | north-shields | 1940s |
Jane Lackenby (circa 1880-1970) | Once Jane had a bit of money saved, she bought her mother a rocking chair. It cost 5/- and she carried it home over her head. | RtP/020/009 | my-life working-life | north-shields | 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s |
Jane Alice and Willie – A Love for a Lifetime | A trip to the movie theatre was a place for boys to meet girls and girls to meet boys - a place for relationships to begin that would last a lifetime. | RtP/033/008 | celebrations-events house-home my-life pastimes-entertainment transport wartime working-life | other whitley-bay | 1910s 1920s |
Percy Main to Jarrow Ferry 1961 | Many a time we got a lift either one way or the other | RtP/041/001 | childhood transport | percy-main south-tyneside | 1960s |
Percy Main Engine Sheds (1957) | The old steam engine sheds, Were just up the road at Percy Main, They were a good playground for us, But the engine lads called us more than a pain | RtP/027/009 | childhood transport working-life | percy-main | 1950s |
Percy Main Council School | We loved to play in there but there was a hazard in the shape of ‘Old Bill’ | RtP/011/002 | schooldays | percy-main | 1940s |
Percy Main Coal Trains 1957 | The coal trucks ran from Percy Main, Along and down to the Commissioners Quay, Bashing and crashing, jumping to and fro, It was a fun ride for more than just me | RtP/029/011 | childhood | percy-main | 1950s |
Percy Main Boys and Girls Club | A lot of boys and girls spend many happy nights in the Club doing all manner of activities | RtP/011/003 | childhood | percy-main | 1940s |
People in Monkseaton | He built a model Mississippi paddle steamer in his garage workshop. | RtP/026/002 | my-life | monkseaton shiremoor west-monkseaton whitley-bay | 1920s 1930s 1940s |
Peggy’s Memories of Wallsend | I was a Ward Maid in a couple of local hospitals. Most of the cleaning was done on hands and knees, but we did have one machine, called ‘The Dummy’, which cleaned the floors – that made life easier! | RtP/010/018 | childhood wartime working-life | other wallsend | 1940s 1950s 1960s |
Peggy’s Day at the Beach | We’d go down wearing a swimsuit. The knitted ones were terrible once you got into the water they were just around your ankles. | RtP/014/018 | childhood my-life | cullercoats tynemouth whitley-bay | 1930s 1940s |
Peg Racing 1957 | Sometimes, just for a bit extra fun, we would bet a marble on each race. | RtP/033/006 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | north-shields | 1950s |
Peace Parties | I was getting married that year, so I wasn’t really bothered about the war! | RtP/039/005 | wartime | gateshead | 1940s |
Paste Eggs and Rationing | How special was a paste egg! | RtP/032/014 | celebrations-events childhood pastimes-entertainment | shiremoor | 1940s |
Pancakes in a Pigsty | She found four happy children covered in mud and also the walls and ceiling of the sty had been redecorated in mud. | RtP/034/013 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | northumberland | 1930s |
Painting for Beginners | In her delightful accent, one child said to the other, "come here now Mhari - don't disturb the wee man - he's a real artist". | RtP/021/005 | pastimes-entertainment | north-east | 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s |
Outcome of an Informal Chat | There were vague memories of a dentist living in the big house near the Hall, with a caravan in the garden which he used as a surgery. | RtP/030/003 | my-life shops-shopping | killingworth | 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s |
Outbreak of World War Two | My father wasn't impressed - he was busy with the roses in the front garden. | RtP/026/009 | house-home wartime | whitley-bay | 1930s 1940s |
Out of School | We played Tarzan and Jane and swung through the bushes | RtP/034/002 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | howdon wallsend | 1940s |
Our Posh Dinner 1956 | It was delicious and you felt on top of the world | RtP/035/008 | childhood house-home pastimes-entertainment | tynemouth | 1950s |
Our House in West Allotment | Women were hooked on cleaning - there was plenty of it. | RtP/025/008 | childhood house-home | shiremoor west-allotment | 1930s |
Open Air School | We had to carry our desks outside, even in winter. We used pencils because the ink used to freeze. | RtP/015/014 | health schooldays | other | 1930s |
On the Beach | We must have been fit, running back and forth along the beach all day | RtP/034/011 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | whitley-bay | 1930s |
On Being a Grandma | I have a snapshot of myself, looking so smug you would think I had produced her myself. | RtP/019/005 | my-life | other | 1970s |
Olive’s Day at the Beach | One year my father decided to bring a caravan over to the North East and the first port of call was up near St Mary’s Island. To me as a small child, about 6 or 7, the sea was wilder. | RtP/014/017 | childhood my-life | whitley-bay | 1930s 1940s |
Olive Thompson’s Memories | During the air raids, we used to use the culvert | RtP/044/007 | my-life | newcastle-upon-tyne | 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s |
Old Remedies 2 | Fennings Fever Cure was like drinking poison! | RtP/030/005 | health | other | 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s |
Old Remedies 1 | Poultices on boils - hot bread or onion and sugar. | RtP/031/003 | health | other | 1960s |
House shops | You didn’t need a shopping bag. | RtP/042/005 | shops-shopping | newcastle-upon-tyne tynemouth | 1940s 1950s |
House Shops (King Street) | I can still remember the doorbell tinkle as you opened the door. | RtP/042/020 | shops-shopping | north-shields | 1930s |
Hot Cross Buns 2 | It was harder work than keeping the Christmas rush satisfied. | RtP/032/005 | celebrations-events shops-shopping working-life | other tyneside | 1950s 1960s 1970s |
Hot Cross Buns 1 | How could anyone make such a mess of the traditional hot cross bun? | RtP/033/002 | celebrations-events my-life | other tyneside | 1960s 1970s |
Danny Green Blue Five RnB Group early 1960s | We were young and indestructible. Health warnings there were none. We drank, smoked and whatever else we could get up to through the early 1960s. We discovered life and eventually became adults. | RtP/043/016 | celebrations-events my-life pastimes-entertainment working-life | north-shields shiremoor | 1950s 1960s 1970s |
Old North Shields | Shops with every type of wine, Welch's and Maynards for toffee, Boots the Chemist, and opposite, Williamson & Hogg who roasted coffee. | RtP/022/006 | my-life shops-shopping | north-shields | 1920s |
Old Newspapers, 1958 | In return for the newspapers, we got a massive bag of fresh cooked chips | RtP/036/019 | childhood house-home | north-shields | 1950s |
Oh, Happy Days | She was dressed all in black, quite frightening to us, but it never put us off buying her toffee. | RtP/022/016 | childhood house-home pastimes-entertainment schooldays | newcastle-upon-tyne | 1930s |
Nursing | The training was hard, with a 57 hour week, a half day off once a fortnight, all for £7. 9 shillings a month. | RtP/018/012 | working-life | north-shields | 1950s 1960s |
Not Even Christmas | A short story by Robert Scott | RtP/041/004 | childhood wartime | north-east | 1940s |
Northumberland Dock | We loved fishing from the staithes, tying large cod heads to a length of string, leaving them on the bottom for a time and then pulling them up to see if you had any crabs clinging to them. | RtP/011/008 | childhood | percy-main | 1940s |
North Shields Shops Pre-Beacon Centre | How Many Can You Remember? | RtP/042/014 | shops-shopping | north-shields | 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s |
North Shields Fish Quay | In the early days they did not weigh the fish and you had to be able to judge the weight and quality before deciding a price. | RtP/020/003 | childhood working-life | north-shields | 1930s 1940s |
North Shields Co-op 1920s | The Tale of the Mongoose. | RtP/029/020 | shops-shopping | north-shields | 1920s |
North Shields 81 Years Ago | When there was a ship in distress a rocket was fired and the men had to stop what they were doing and rush to the brigade house. | RtP/021/004 | childhood | north-shields | 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s |
North Sea Storms | It looked like a peaceful day, Not a cloud in the whole sky, So when the fishing boats came into port, Everyone started to wonder why | RtP/029/012 | working-life | north-shields | 1970s |
No Credit Control | My mother had lost all her money and the coat too! | RtP/024/010 | shops-shopping | north-shields | 1920s |
Nit Nurse (1957) | No matter how clean your hair was, the dragon had magic fingers and eyes like a hawk, because she always found some stragglers | RtP/038/011 | childhood health | other | 1950s |
Night School | I travelled to night school on the old fashioned buses, with the driver up in the cab on his own. | RtP/016/020 | working-life | longbenton north-shields | 1950s |
Newsteads Farm | I would go with Dad for foddering time. I was allowed to walk under the bellies of the 'Gentle Giants' and help feed them. | RtP/018/003 | my-life | earsdon monkseaton west-monkseaton whitley-bay | 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s |
Never Parted | “You know that lad, he wants to meet you”, but I said, “I don’t know him!” | RtP/039/008 | | tyneside | 1930s 1940s |
Neighbourly Nostalgia | As soon as the toilets moved inside and everyone got automatic washers, there was nothing to go outside for anymore. | RtP/017/002 | house-home | north-shields | 1930s |
National Service Memories | Everything had to be immaculate for “kit inspection”. | RtP/036/012 | wartime | other | 1950s |
National Service in the Far East | We were hanging on to an empire, they were fighting for independence | RtP/036/015 | wartime | other | 1950s |
National Service in Germany | Anything that stayed still got painted white | RtP/036/017 | wartime | other | 1950s |
National Service in Egypt | In Egypt the camp had three large search lights and around the perimeter fence were forty dugouts with a guard in each one. | RtP/036/014 | wartime | other | 1950s |
Nancy’s Memories of Growing up and Going to Work | I was asked if I wanted to go to the Empress Ballroom in Whitley Bay, to run the bar there. I did and I chose my own staff to work with me. | RtP/010/016 | childhood working-life | newcastle-upon-tyne south-tyneside whitley-bay | 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s |
My Very First Job | I was assigned to the toilet department and had appalling visions of being surrounded by mountains of toilet rolls. | RtP/016/004 | shops-shopping working-life | north-shields | 1950s |
My Time in Khartoum | The barracks were glorified mud huts, made with a combination of rubble, straw, soil and camel dung. | RtP/009/002 | my-life wartime | other | 1940s |
Burradon Memories Part 7: The Picture Palace | Now finally let me introduce our Picture Palace, if my memory serves me right it was a building with a tin roof | RtP/012/007 | my-life pastimes-entertainment | killingworth | 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s |
Burradon Memories Part 6: Georgie –A Flight of Fancy | Georgie thought he was one of the family. When he wasn't flying around the room he was on my head being carried. | RtP/012/006 | house-home my-life | killingworth | 1940s 1950s |
Burradon Memories Part 5: Church Affairs | The Church of the Good Shepherd has been a haven for me - so full of wonderful memories of people and clergy. | RtP/012/005 | celebrations-events health my-life | killingworth | 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s |
Burradon Memories Part 4: Village Memories and Characters | Then we come to the jewel in the crown - "The Chute". It was a haven for all the lads in the village. | RtP/012/004 | celebrations-events health house-home my-life pastimes-entertainment shops-shopping transport working-life | killingworth | 1930s |
Burradon Memories Part 3: The Lights | I had wanted to be able to tell the poor souls who couldn't go to Blackpool all about “the lights” | RtP/012/003 | childhood my-life pastimes-entertainment shops-shopping | killingworth | 1930s |
Burradon Memories Part 2: Hardship | Now in those good old days, if you didn't work you didn't eat! | RtP/012/002 | childhood health house-home my-life working-life | killingworth | 1920s 1930s |
Burradon Memories Part 1: 19 Office Row | I was born in my grandparents' home. A colliery house, a large living room with a ladder staircase up to the sleeping area. | RtP/012/001 | childhood holidays house-home | killingworth | 1920s 1930s |
My Time at Tynemouth Cricket Club | In 1930 we played in the Tyneside Senior League and had a reputation for encouraging young, talented players. | RtP/018/018 | pastimes-entertainment | tynemouth | 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s |
My Nana | "Oh, there's plenty of time for sleep when you're laid out", she'd say. | RtP/024/008 | childhood health working-life | north-shields | 1920s |
My Mother, the Mat Maker | She loved making colourful patterns and dying rags to help out the usual dark clippings from men's serge suits. | RtP/023/006 | house-home | shiremoor | 1930s 1940s |
My Memories of D-Day | We were cycle troops, pedalling inland to secure a site. | RtP/029/009 | wartime | other | 1940s |
My Memories 2 | I went to Queen Victoria School. We lived next door to the school so when I heard the bell I had to run. | RtP/018/008 | my-life | north-shields | 1920s 1930s 1940s |
My Memories 1 | When we moved house we felt posh with running water from the scullery, electric light and a gas stove for cooking. | RtP/018/009 | my-life | north-shields | 1930s 1940s |
My Life in the Regular Army | Here I was, the year 1958, a boy in man’s boots doing guard patrols on the Russian Border | RtP/033/0 | my-life working-life | other shiremoor | 1950s 1960s |
My Job at George Angus | The sickening strong smell of Trichloroethylene could make you feel dizzy. We found out later that the fumes could be dangerous. | RtP/009/006 | working-life | north-shields | 1950s |
My Great Aunt Jane | A woman of her time hardworking and independent. I used to wonder why she had never married again. | RtP/008/016 | childhood wartime working-life | newcastle-upon-tyne | 1910s |
My First Memories | It could have been the R101 | RtP/033/012 | childhood | north-shields | 1920s |
My First Jobs | I had to clean everyone's shoes and put them in the monk's bench in the hall, and they had to be absolutely parallel. | RtP/016/012 | working-life | west-monkseaton whitley-bay | 1930s |
My First Home | A Whitley Bay resident recalls when she first moved into her home with her husband and baby in 1947. | RtP/044/004 | house-home my-life | whitley-bay | 1940s |
My First Day at Work | I come down the King’s Head stairs, and there at the bottom of the stairs is Walter Offord’s – a fish merchant at the place I’m going to work. | RtP/044/001 | my-life working-life | north-shields | 1970s |
My Father’s Taxi Business | A Whitley Bay lady talks about her father’s experiences as a taxi driver during the 1920s and 30s. | RtP/044/005 | transport working-life | whitley-bay | 1920s 1930s |
My Father | He had the proverbial green fingers. | RtP/008/017 | childhood house-home working-life | newcastle-upon-tyne | 1920s |
My Father, The Early Years | The first showing of these films was on a white bed sheet propped up at the bottom of the yard | RtP/043/007 | childhood house-home my-life pastimes-entertainment | north-shields | 1930s |
My Father, Henry Baker (1849 – 1930) | When I was seven my father put me in the breeches buoy, put his jacket over me in case I was splashed, and they pulled me ashore. | RtP/023/002 | my-life schooldays working-life | north-shields | 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s |
My Family | We lived for the pictures. We would go three or four times a week, sometimes twice on Monday. | RtP/018/011 | my-life | north-shields | 1920s 1930s 1940s |
My Early Life in Percy Main | My earliest recollection of my dad was that he seemed to be permanently in his overalls. I think he must have worked very long hours and was just too tired to change. | RtP/011/005 | childhood house-home my-life pastimes-entertainment | percy-main | 1930s 1940s |
My Brother Howard | If he missed the train (which he often did) he would come back from the station and incredibly get back into bed for half an hour | RtP/011/012 | childhood house-home working-life | percy-main | 1940s |
Memories of Working Life by Alan Connon | After about a week a pretty usherette approached me and asked was I the new person working with Fred | RtP/009/012 | celebrations-events my-life working-life | north-shields | 1950s |
Memories of Childhood by Alan Connon | Shortly after this period, whole families were summoned to the King Edward’s School to be fitted for gas masks | RtP/009/009 | childhood schooldays wartime | north-shields northumberland | 1930s 1940s |
Introducing the River Tyne | When it came to job satisfaction you were spoilt for choice! | RtP/030/018 | working-life | tyneside | 1950s |
Inness’s Shop 1960 | Off we would go and buy ourselves a lovely hot OXO drink | RtP/040/010 | childhood shops-shopping transport | north-shields percy-main | 1960s |
Illnesses and Treatments | He would try a medication, new on the market, Penicillin MB693 tablets. | RtP/028/002 | childhood health | seaton-burn | 1920s |
More About Life in National Service | I can still remember to this day the smell of the tobacco released from a freshly opened tin | RtP/036/013 | wartime | other | 1950s |
Mood Music | We enjoyed most I think dancing at the Covent Garden Opera House - they didn’t do operas during World War Two so they turned it into a dance hall. | RtP/008/008 | pastimes-entertainment wartime | other | 1940s |
Miss Mutter, 1959 | You always felt that she was muttering those immortal words, “one to me, lads!” | RtP/040/012 | childhood | north-shields | 1950s |
Miss Laverick, Western Board School (1955) | When it came to our dancing lessons, Miss Laverick was certainly one of the best, She was the John Travolta of her day, Knocking spots of all of the rest | RtP/030/007 | pastimes-entertainment schooldays | north-shields | 1950s |
Miss Edwina Chatt, Teacher at Murton School | She has been there for hundreds of years and she will be there for hundreds of years yet. | RtP/021/008 | childhood schooldays working-life | shiremoor | 1950s 1960s 1970s |
Mischief | We were cut off by the sea | RtP/034/001 | childhood | cullercoats whitley-bay | 1920s |
Minnie Beck | Just up from Whitehill Point coal staithes, There stood a small public house | RtP/029/017 | pastimes-entertainment working-life | percy-main | 1950s |
Michael’s Memories of Wallsend | When the bath was out the cleanest (least dirty) members of the family got bathed first, leaving grandad to get in last, with all his coal dirt. | RtP/010/015 | childhood pastimes-entertainment shops-shopping | tynemouth wallsend | 1960s |
Meter Man (1957) | Champion, Dad’s got a smile on his face a mile wide, so he must have got a good rebate. | RtP/038/007 | house-home | north-shields | 1950s |
Memories of West Farm | It was so clean that Newcastle University made a study of his methods | RtP/015/003 | childhood | wallsend | 1930s |
Memories of Wallsend | The teachers were shocked that one of their girls was singing a song that had such ‘suggestive’ words! We just thought it was a great song. | RtP/010/017 | my-life pastimes-entertainment schooldays | newcastle-upon-tyne wallsend | 1930s |
Memories of Trinity Street, North Shields | You could say we were a bit overcrowded. | RtP/022/013 | childhood house-home | north-shields | 1920s |
Memories of the Sampson Family | I was seven years old on September 3rd 1939, the very day that Britain, and my mother, declared war on Adolf Hitler! | RtP/025/014 | childhood shops-shopping transport wartime working-life | north-shields | 1930s |
Memories of the ATS | A Whitley Bay resident recalls her time in the ATS during World War II. | RtP/044/003 | my-life wartime | newcastle-upon-tyne whitley-bay | 1940s |
Memories of St Joseph’s Primary School, Chirton, North Shields, 1956 – 1962 | My childhood was an idyllic one and St. Joseph’s played a major part in this. | RtP/044/013 | celebrations-events childhood house-home my-life schooldays | newcastle-upon-tyne north-shields | 1950s |
Memories of Shopping | Every quarter of the financial year subscribers could look forward to collecting what was known as the dividend. | RtP/043/002 | shops-shopping | north-shields | 1940s |
Memories of School | Our work, our thoughts, our leisure, our lives must ordered be, That each brings its full measure of honour to Q V | RtP/016/005 | schooldays | north-shields | 1910s |
Memories of Scaffold Hill Isolation Hospital | They brought a bowl of water to your bed every day so you could get washed | RtP/044/016 | childhood health | wallsend | 1930s |
Memories of North Shields Shops | If I wanted dresses I went to Bell Bros. or D Hill Carter, they were both nice shops. | RtP/042/017 | childhood shops-shopping | north-shields | 1940s 1950s |
Memories of My First Jobs | A Whitley Bay resident remembers working as an apprentice tailor in the 1930s and 40s | RtP/044/002 | my-life working-life | newcastle-upon-tyne whitley-bay | 1930s 1940s |
Memories of My Childhood – Playing and Entertainment | we would go to the Prince of Wales pub for 3 o clock, waiting for the Trimmers coming out and ask “have you got any bait mister?” | RtP/035/015 | childhood house-home my-life pastimes-entertainment | howdon | 1930s |
Memories of Margaret Pederson-Carlson (nee Nicholson) | a larger than life lady who laughed a lot and knew lots of people | RtP/040/015 | celebrations-events my-life | north-east tynemouth | 1910s 1920s |
Memories of Low Row and Percy Main | Timber yards, the prop yard and the river were the playgrounds of the children living there. | RtP/022/003 | childhood house-home shops-shopping | percy-main | 1930s |
Illness and Remedies 2 | There were only two kinds of ointment so you can see our treatment was very basic. | RtP/016/003 | health | howdon | 1920s |
Illness and Remedies 1 | We always smelt of camphorated oil, no matter what time of year it was. | RtP/016/018 | health | other tyneside | 1920s 1930s 1940s |
Memories of Longbenton | I thought it was the countryside - it was all fields! | RtP/025/003 | house-home | longbenton | 1950s |
Memories of Life | Before he went to sea, my father was a midden man who emptied the netties, as the toilets were then called. | RtP/018/006 | my-life | north-shields | 1910s |
Memories of Life by Rene Phillips | As I was the oldest girl at home after my sister married, I left school at 15 and had to stay at home to help our mother. | RtP/018/007 | childhood | north-shields | 1930s 1940s |
Memories of King Edward School | Mr Murphy had an uncanny way of making teaching interesting so that you wanted to know more. | RtP/041/012 | schooldays | north-shields | 1920s |
Memories of Iris | My first recollection of WW2 is standing at the door with my mam watching the searchlights | RtP/044/011 | celebrations-events childhood wartime | north-shields | 1920s 1930s 1940s |
Memories of Gordon Square, Wallsend | God help those who left prams outside - well we had to have our bogie wheels! | RtP/027/012 | childhood shops-shopping | wallsend | 1930s 1940s |
Memories of Gladstone Adams | It was such a novelty to see a car in those days it was put into a car showroom window while he went to the match. | RtP/022/002 | celebrations-events my-life transport wartime working-life | whitley-bay | 1910s |
Memories of Frances Carr | I heard an air raid siren which was based on the roof of the local Social Club. | RtP/044/010 | childhood wartime | north-shields other | 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s |
Memories of Forest Hall | On Remembrance Day we used to march from the British Legion Club to Benton Church with the Cubs and Scouts. | RtP/029/008 | celebrations-events childhood health house-home pastimes-entertainment | killingworth | 1920s 1930s |
Memories of Forest Hall by Nancy McQueen | Parcels for the station, thrown from passing trains, sometimes missed and ended up in our garden! | RtP/029/007 | childhood house-home | killingworth | 1920s |
Memories of Forest Hall 1930 — 1950 | The 'Institute' had a Reading Room library and a billiard room with two full-sized tables. | RtP/030/002 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | killingworth | 1930s 1940s 1950s |
Memories of Donald Mitchinson | The river at this time was bursting at the seams with ships carrying cargo or being repaired | RtP/044/009 | childhood working-life | north-shields | 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s |
Memories of Christmas in the 1940s | If you are very, very naughty, all you will get for Christmas is a bag of cinders. | RtP/021/011 | childhood | other | 1940s |
Memories of Castle Park | The centrepiece was the Hall, a grand building for indoor games, paid for by the miners. | RtP/027/016 | celebrations-events childhood pastimes-entertainment | shiremoor | 1950s |
Memories of Blackberrying | Of course your blackberries always had worms in when they were picked | RtP/041/002 | childhood house-home | other | 1930s 1940s |
Memories of Ann Alexander | I travelled quite often on the North/South Shields ferry | RtP/044/008 | my-life | north-shields south-tyneside | 1940s |
Memories of an Air Raid Protection Warden | UXB was written on pieces of paper, and two or three men went out before us and put them anywhere. We had to find them. | RtP/017/020 | wartime | north-shields | 1930s 1940s |
Memories of a Wartime Wedding and Honeymoon | If you wanted early morning tea it was 6d (2.5p) per person and if you had meals served in your bedroom it was an extra 1/- (5p). | RtP/038/019 | celebrations-events wartime | other | 1940s |
Meeting My Husband | I met my husband at the Prudhoe Street Mission. | RtP/039/006 | my-life | newcastle-upon-tyne | 1930s 1940s |
Mauretania Maiden Voyage 1906 | Now, remember this, it’s very important. | RtP/023/001 | childhood transport | north-shields | 1900s |
Maureen’s Day at the Beach | It was always sunny for some unknown reason it always was | RtP/014/016 | childhood my-life | cullercoats tynemouth whitley-bay | 1940s 1950s |
Matchbox Collecting 1958 | They would sometimes come in sets of say, animals or cars or motorbikes | RtP/034/020 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | north-shields | 1950s |
Master Mariners Homes, Tynemouth | This building has hardly changed since it was built in 1837 | RtP/044/012 | other | north-shields tynemouth | 1970s |
Marriage and Motherhood | About a week before Dorothy was born, I was so big I couldn't get out of the seat until all the cinema patrons had left. | RtP/016/015 | celebrations-events | howdon | 1930s 1940s |
Home Life in Willington Quay and East Howdon | A man would come with a big barrel full of vinegar and sell it by pouring you a pint. | RtP/035/016 | childhood house-home my-life shops-shopping | howdon willington | 1930s |
I Delivered So Many Babies | Because of my experience I worked at Tynemouth Infirmary. No hospital exam was necessary then. | RtP/018/005 | health my-life wartime working-life | north-shields other | 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s |
Hospital Experiences | I remember being taken upstairs to the ward by "a woman" in a white coat, shouting as I went, "I hate you, I want my Mammy". | RtP/028/001 | childhood health | seaton-burn | 1920s |
Hospital | For some unknown reason, we used to put flour on burns, which was horrendous, but that was the remedy at the time. | RtP/017/001 | health | north-shields | 1950s 1990s |
Home Remedies and Cures | We had passed the fried mouse in a stew stage (a sure cure for bronchitis) by the 1930s. | RtP/030/015 | health | other tyneside | 1930s |
Home Life – Health – in the 1920s and 30s | You cleaned your teeth with salt. If you were going somewhere special you'd put a bit of soot in, to make the teeth sparkle. | RtP/018/020 | health | other tyneside | 1920s 1930s |
Home Front – Monkseaton in World War Two | Gustav, our milkman, was a minesweeper sailor from Konigsberg. | RtP/026/008 | childhood house-home transport working-life | whitley-bay | 1940s |
Looking for Something To Do | Relieved, we escape our captivity and vowed never to go to the railway sidings, ever again. | RtP/041/016 | childhood | north-shields | 1930s |
Looking Back by a 90 Year Old | The soldiers came out for fresh air, dressed in their hospital pale blue garb and sat on the wall in Preston Road. | RtP/019/010 | childhood | north-shields | 1910s |
Longbenton Shops 1950s and 1960s | Friends visited specially so they could go to our shops. | RtP/028/018 | shops-shopping | longbenton | 1950s 1960s |
Longbenton Methodist Youth Centre | A pioneer project, both locally and nationally. | RtP/028/020 | celebrations-events | longbenton | 1950s |
Longbenton Methodist Church Foundation Stone Laying 1955 | Thirty-two commemorative stones were laid that day. | RtP/028/019 | celebrations-events | longbenton seaton-burn | 1940s 1950s |
Longbenton in the 1930s and 1950s | There were only green fields between Four Lane Ends and West Moor. | RtP/025/005 | house-home | longbenton | 1930s 1940s 1950s |
Longbenton Carnival | A great success with over 700 people attending. | RtP/029/001 | celebrations-events | longbenton seaton-burn | 1990s |
Local Transport and Wrecks | Several times the trams had run away on Borough Bank and ended up in the cafe at the bottom. | RtP/026/005 | childhood transport wartime working-life | cullercoats north-shields tynemouth whitley-bay | 1930s 1940s |
Lloyds Sewer Pipe 1962 | This sewer pipe was just like shopping at Marks and Spencer’s – nothing but the best and all free. | RtP/035/012 | childhood | north-shields | 1960s |
Living Through the Slump | One man in Crawford Place even built himself a motor launch in his garden. | RtP/025/017 | house-home my-life pastimes-entertainment working-life | whitley-bay | 1930s |
Living on the fringes of Tyneside in the late 1930s | At night their six exhausts spouted blue flames, rather like a steam organ but more spectacular. | RtP/021/007 | childhood | whitley-bay | 1930s |
scottish visitors | Living in Longbenton in the 1950s. | RtP/025/009 | house-home my-life | longbenton | 1950s |
Living in Jesmond Dene | Kitty Brightwell’s memories of living in Jesmond Dene in the 1930s | RtP/008/010 | childhood house-home wartime | newcastle-upon-tyne | 1930s |
Living in a Building Site | Longbenton was one big, muddy building site! | RtP/029/005 | house-home | longbenton | 1950s |
Living and Working in North Shields | They fired the gun in Northumberland Square to welcome in the new year | RtP/042/001 | celebrations-events childhood pastimes-entertainment working-life | north-shields south-tyneside | 1920s 1930s 1940s |
Liquorice Root and Black Bullets | How many black bullets could we take from my father s jar before he noticed they’d gone? | RtP/043/019 | childhood | north-shields | 1930s |
Linskill School Football Team 1963-4 | A photograph of one of the football teams at Linskill School | RtP/025/002 | pastimes-entertainment schooldays | north-shields | 1960s |
Linskill Girls School | Miss Purdy would take a few of us girls to her home, to show us how tea should be taken. | RtP/016/014 | schooldays | north-shields | 1950s |
Light Industry on the Tyne in the 1960s | The whole factory workforce managed mixed measures. | RtP/024/006 | working-life | howdon | 1960s |
Life Memories | My mother and I were trapped in the cellar for 4 or 5 hours | RtP/043/008 | childhood health my-life schooldays transport wartime working-life | killingworth newcastle-upon-tyne | 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s |
Life in Cullercoats | 24th May, Queen's birthday, if you don't give us a holiday we'll all run away. | RtP/024/013 | childhood pastimes-entertainment schooldays shops-shopping wartime working-life | cullercoats | 1930s 1940s |
Life in 1920s North Shields | I remember a gramophone that had to be wound up to play records. | RtP/024/018 | childhood house-home shops-shopping | north-shields | 1920s |
Home Cures | I was given brown paper steeped in vinegar to cure my headache. | RtP/033/018 | childhood health | other tyneside | 1920s |
Home Cooking | Barley was stewed in the brown earthenware dish and the liquid was deliciously pink in the morning. | RtP/015/017 | house-home shops-shopping | howdon | 1920s |
Bliddy Mackerel | "Bliddy mackerel" he roared, giving me a clip across the ear, "go back tomorrow and get some herring"! | RtP/027/013 | childhood house-home | north-shields whitley-bay | 1950s |
Blackberrying | Our favourite place for doing blackberrying was a place called John Pye Hill. | RtP/037/006 | childhood | percy-main | 1930s |
Birthdays | A birthday party was a big event because you were bombarded with presents. | RtP/031/019 | celebrations-events childhood | durham | 1940s |
Birthday Parties | Currant scones, with money wrapped in greaseproof paper in some of them, were a great attraction. | RtP/019/020 | celebrations-events childhood | other | 1930s 1940s 1950s |
Life and Death | It was 3/6d a visit in those days and one could always see the doctor. | RtP/016/011 | health | howdon | 1920s 1930s |
Les’s Day at the Beach | Sometimes it was foggy down here and you would see people all dressed up and it was just thick fog but they still went and sat on the beach. Newcastle could be baking hot but by the time you got to the beach it could be misty and murky. | RtP/014/014 | childhood my-life | cullercoats | 1950s 1960s |
Laying Out | One corner was lined from ceiling to floor with finely pleated white linen | RtP/015/002 | celebrations-events | north-shields | 1950s |
Land Army Days | When we were threshing we had to tie the bottoms of our dungarees as the rats and mice were scurrying all over the place. | RtP/022/017 | wartime working-life | northumberland | 1940s |
L.S.D. | Gas was 1d in a slot machine which was collected every three months and you also got a rebate back. | RtP/018/016 | shops-shopping | other | 1930s |
Kitty’s Day at the Beach | We always went to Cullercoats Bay when we were young because when the tide was in it was a very safe bay for bathing. But as we got older we used to find our way along to the Spanish City. | RtP/014/013 | childhood my-life | cullercoats | 1920s 1930s |
Keeping Shop in West Allotment | We had huge stocks of tinned food in the back shop - enough to feed the area for two weeks following any invasion. | RtP/025/010 | shops-shopping wartime | shiremoor | 1930s |
Keeping Cool | My Dad made a refrigerator in the garden. He dug a big hole, tiled it round with slate tiles and put a lid on. | RtP/019/008 | house-home | north-shields | 1930s 1940s |
Kathleen’s Memories of Growing up in Tottenham | I loved the Royal on the Tottenham High Road, it had a wonderful sprung floor and a revolving stage so you could have two bands performing in one evening. | RtP/010/013 | childhood my-life pastimes-entertainment wartime | other | 1940s |
Kathleen’s Day at the Beach | I got lost lots of times. There was a lost children’s tent where you had to go. | RtP/014/012 | childhood my-life | shiremoor | 1930s 1940s |
Judy’s Day at the Beach | We built sandcastles, got buried in the sand, and collected crabs – we took them back to the cottage but they always died. | RtP/014/009 | childhood my-life | tynemouth wallsend | 1940s |
Joyce’s Day at the Beach | I remember once my sister got lost and my father went to find her she came back but he didn’t so we went to find him and he was in front of the punch and Judy watching the show. | RtP/014/009 | childhood my-life | tynemouth wallsend | 1930s 1940s |
Johnson’s Dairy, Percy Main | I used to love to go out with the carts and then take the horses to their stables | RtP/011/006 | childhood house-home my-life working-life | percy-main | 1930s 1940s |
Johnny Pie Hill (1960) | We would have the likes of races on the hill. | RtP/038/006 | childhood | north-shields | 1960s |
John Falconar Slater | He was often seen with his easel lashed to a rock | RtP/023/018 | pastimes-entertainment | cullercoats | 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s |
Jobs and Family | Elsie Wilkinson recalls work and family life in New York village in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. | RtP/013/004 | celebrations-events house-home my-life wartime working-life | new-york shiremoor | 1930s 1940s 1950s |
Joan’s Memories of Byker and Walker | It was hard for families to make the decision about evacuating their children | RtP/010/012 | childhood my-life | newcastle-upon-tyne wallsend | 1940s 1950s |
Jean’s Memories of the Rising Sun Hospital | I walked all the way from Dockwray Square | RtP/044/015 | working-life | north-shields wallsend | 1970s 1980s |
Jean’s Memories of Wallsend | Our family was ‘poor as pee’ but all I remember is having fun. | RtP/010/011 | childhood wartime working-life | howdon | 1940s |
Jarpin Your Eggs | We would eat the eggs no matter what state they were in. | RtP/032/009 | celebrations-events childhood pastimes-entertainment | howdon shiremoor tynemouth wallsend | 1930s 1940s |
Holidays | Our room had mirrors on the walls and I can remember us all dancing on the beds and being severely reprimanded. | RtP/034/012 | childhood holidays pastimes-entertainment | northumberland whitley-bay | 1930s |
Holidays in Manchester and Tyneside | These holidays were great fun and helped us to get to know each other well, even though we only met a couple of times a year. | RtP/034/014 | childhood holidays pastimes-entertainment transport | other tyneside | 1930s |
Hill’s Fish and Chip Shop, Percy Main | During the war, there was a shortage of paper and you sometimes had to take a large dish or dishes in place of paper. | RtP/037/015 | childhood house-home shops-shopping | percy-main | 1940s |
Youth Hostelling by Bike | It was a long haul with 3rd rate equipment! | RtP/024/001 | pastimes-entertainment | northumberland | 1950s |
Youth Hostelling | The manager took pity on us and offered us a barn with clean straw by way of accommodation. | RtP/023/020 | pastimes-entertainment | northumberland | 1940s |
Working with horses | All the horsemen would spend hours making paper tissue flowers and decorate the harnesses with them. | RtP/020/018 | celebrations-events working-life | north-shields | 1950s |
Herrings From North Shields Fish Quay | Our mothers made a great fuss of us and we had baked herring for tea for a few days. | RtP/039/019 | childhood house-home working-life | north-shields percy-main | 1940s 1950s |
Health in the 1920s | The school nurse told me I had ringworm and an area of my hair had to be cut away. | RtP/024/015 | health | other | 1920s |
Health | Parents were only allowed to look through a window and were not allowed onto the ward to see their bairns. | RtP/016/019 | health | northumberland | 1920s 1930s 1940s |
Chocolate Eggs | Chocolate Eggs? | RtP/032/010 | celebrations-events childhood | shiremoor | 1940s |
Chocolate and Senna | Chocolate has never tasted so good! | RtP/030/011 | childhood health | howdon | 1920s |
Call of the East – Working Life 1950-2000 | In foreign climes I sailed the seas. | RtP/027/019 | working-life | north-shields other | 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s |
Bus Conductress | A couple of times a week a dog got on the bus. | RtP/044/018 | transport working-life | north-shields percy-main | 1940s |
Building a New Life | I told them I have to live here and they have to come into my shop so they got more friendly. | RtP/020/013 | my-life other | howdon north-shields | 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s |
Children Playing | Drivers always considered the children who were out playing. | RtP/023/010 | childhood | killingworth | 1950s |
Children’s War Effort 1940 | Children were encouraged to help out by potato picking. | RtP/031/002 | childhood wartime | whitley-bay | 1940s |
Childhood Sounds About The House | To hear some 2 dozen trained people singing in a room of 12 feet square was totally unforgettable! | RtP/031/011 | childhood | shiremoor | 1920s |
Onward Christian Soldier | “Right lads, give it plenty of wind. There’s the Boys Brigade, lets give them what for…Onward Christian Soldiers”. | RtP/038/003 | celebrations-events childhood my-life | north-shields | 1940s |
Hawkey’s Lane Baths 1958 | Once you jumped in that was it, you turned instant blue, fighting to breathe because the water was that cold. | RtP/041/010 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | north-tyneside | 1950s |
Harry’s Day at the Beach | We ran races along the sands and played cricket and rounders. | RtP/014/008 | childhood my-life pastimes-entertainment | north-shields tynemouth | 1930s |
Hard Lessons | During the war “National” flour was packed in cloth bags, so we unpicked them, hemmed them round and used the “flour bag handkerchiefs” all during the war. | RtP/038/020 | childhood schooldays wartime | shiremoor tynemouth | 1940s |
Growing up in Tynemouth and Marden (from 1954) | We could make the banana slide really slippy with the greaseproof paper the bread came in then. The parky would shout at us if we pushed the swings too hard or too high. | RtP/041/017 | childhood house-home my-life pastimes-entertainment schooldays shops-shopping working-life | north-shields tynemouth | 1950s 1960s |
Growing up in North Shields in the 1920s and 30s | We had to bath in a zinc bath in front of the coal fire or a bath in the poss-tub on a washday. | RtP/042/011 | childhood house-home schooldays working-life | north-shields | 1920s 1930s |
Growing Up in Monkseaton | We flooded 30 sq yds of the golf course - but not a green, fortunately! | RtP/025/018 | buildings childhood house-home wartime | monkseaton whitley-bay | 1930s 1940s |
Growing Up in Howdon 1960s | The memory entitled “Childhood in Howdon and Willington Quay” brings back some very happy memories - strange how seeing something like that tugs at the old heart strings. | RtP/031/004 | childhood schooldays | howdon | 1960s |
Growing up in Cullercoats | I well remember sitting behind a slight young lady with pigtails (Miss M) and finding her pretty cute, which I think I showed by tugging her pigtails. | RtP/033/010 | childhood my-life pastimes-entertainment schooldays shops-shopping transport | cullercoats north-shields tynemouth | 1950s 1960s |
Growing Up in Castle Park | Once a year we all looked forward to the Miners Welfare Gala. | RtP/027/017 | celebrations-events childhood games house-home my-life pastimes-entertainment schooldays transport working-life | shiremoor | 1950s |
Green Peas and Barley | Honour satisfied, we became friends again. | RtP/022/005 | childhood schooldays | wallsend | 1920s |
Good Friday Planting Potatoes | When the Procession of Witness came past we always stopped what we were doing. | RtP/032/006 | celebrations-events my-life | north-tyneside | 1950s 1960s |
Going to the Pictures in Cullercoats | It was easy to spend five evenings watching the latest films on offer. | RtP/024/002 | pastimes-entertainment | cullercoats whitley-bay | 1930s 1940s |
Going to the Pictures | We would cry, plead and beg for the money to go, asking neighbours if they needed messages, hoping for a tip and looking all over for empty pop bottles as they had a twopenny deposit on them. | RtP/037/003 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | percy-main | 1930s 1940s |
Going to the Cinema | Why doesn’t someone find his mother? | RtP/044/017 | childhood | north-tyneside other | 1940s |
Going To Church | Every Sunday School attendance earned a stamp depicting a story from the Gospels. | RtP/034/007 | celebrations-events childhood | wallsend | 1930s |
Girl’s Brigade | I’m still friendly with some of them now. | RtP/033/020 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | whitley-bay | 1920s |
Girl Guides | I’m still friendly with some of them now. | RtP/033/019 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | whitley-bay | 1920s |
Getting the Washing Done | It wasn't until the mid 1970s that I got a twin-tub washing machine! | RtP/029/004 | house-home | longbenton newcastle-upon-tyne | 1950s 1970s |
Getting Married | Everyone used to wear hats. | RtP/038/017 | my-life | newcastle-upon-tyne whitley-bay | 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s |
George and Gladys’ Days at the Beach | We didn’t play games, we couldn’t because the beach was absolutely packed with people, you had to see it to believe it; this was before the war about 1938/39. Once war came the beaches were all closed off. | RtP/014/007 | childhood my-life | percy-main tynemouth | 1940s |
Geo. Angus and Co. Ltd | Angus hit the headlines again during the D Day invasion, supplying seals for the 25 miles of fuel pipeline under the channel. | RtP/021/003 | working-life | wallsend | 1940s 1950s |
Gas Mantles | We used to lie under the lorry and catch the drips from the melting ice that brought the fish to Geordie’s fish shop. | RtP/021/001 | childhood | willington | 1920s 1930s 1940s |
Games In the Three Cornered Field – Dares | Looking back on those early childhood memories, my life just seems to be one big adventure. | RtP/039/013 | childhood games | percy-main shiremoor | 1940s |
Games in the Street 1920s | One year we made a great big beautiful slide - the ice was like glass - and we played on it all day. | RtP/019/004 | childhood games pastimes-entertainment | north-tyneside | 1920s |
Games and Stories | When it was too dark to play we sat and told ghost stories. | RtP/024/012 | childhood games | north-shields | 1920s |
Games and Entertainment in Forest Hall (1980s) | We fed them and befriended them, gave them a football to kick around on the lawn. | RtP/029/021 | pastimes-entertainment | forest-hall | 1980s |
East End Carnival | There was always a carnival king, queen and jester. | RtP/023/005 | celebrations-events pastimes-entertainment | north-shields | 1920s 1930s |
Early Memories | There was a parrot which used to sit on the gate. Whenever I asked the time it would always say "One o'clock". | RtP/015/015 | childhood health | howdon | 1910s |
Early Memories of National Service | When we went to the firing range we had a target made of paper with a man’s silhouette on it, floating in the air. | RtP/036/016 | wartime | north-shields | 1950s |
Driving Test 1937 | I took a coal lorry to the test centre to take my test. For the passenger seat there was just a beer crate with a cushion on. | RtP/017/016 | working-life | other | 1930s |
Driving a Travelling Shop | I think it was the biggest travelling shop in the world at that time! | RtP/039/020 | my-life shops-shopping transport working-life | gateshead wallsend | 1950s |
Dripping Bread Sandwiches 1955 | When it comes out of the frying pan - It brings happiness to your eyes. | RtP/026/014 | childhood health | tyneside | 1950s |
Drain Pipes 1957 | Once it was in full blaze the roar coming out of the pipe was like a jet engine, then at the same time the pipe would start to rattle like mad. | RtP/039/003 | childhood | other | 1950s |
Down One Side and Up the Other | Remembering shops in Forest Hall. | RtP/031/012 | shops-shopping | forest-hall | 1940s |
Dorothy and Peggy’s Day at the Beach | Imagine if you have something knitted like a swim suit, cos it was all in one, and when it got wet it was sort of sodden and it used to drag. | RtP/014/005 | childhood my-life | cullercoats tynemouth | 1930s 1940s |
Dogger Bank 1965 | Our little boat hops from wave to wave. | RtP/029/013 | working-life | north-shields | 1960s |
Dog End Hunting | When you need a smoke and you are both a kid and skint, dog end collecting sure saved the day. | RtP/028/015 | childhood health pastimes-entertainment | north-shields | 1950s |
Doctors of North Shields | There was a Heath Robinson affair rigged up for summoning us up to the next floor, where a light flashed for each doctor when his surgery was empty! | RtP/030/006 | health | north-shields percy-main | 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s |
Different Routes | Going into the Tyne Tunnel was an exciting experience for a child, especially going down the incredibly long escalators. | RtP/019/012 | childhood transport | howdon percy-main | 1960s |
Funerals (1957) | Young as we were, you knew that if a funeral parade was going to pass you, you kept still and silent until it had passed. | RtP/038/010 | celebrations-events childhood | other | 1950s |
Fundraiser | I used to hold concerts and buy wool for people to knit for the forces. | RtP/038/015 | childhood wartime | other | 1940s |
From Western Board 1956 to Linskill 1964 | You wouldn't believe that in fifty odd plus years’ time we would still bump into one another for a bit natter – but it has happened! | RtP/036/001 | schooldays | north-shields | 1950s 1960s |
From Tyne Brand to Women’s Royal Army | At eighteen she was called up for the army where she served on ack-ack guns. | RtP/042/019 | childhood shops-shopping wartime working-life | north-shields | 1930s 1940s |
From Backworth to Balmoral | During the summer of 1946 the Royal Family were in residence at Balmoral when Ron and a few of his mates were selected for royal duties. | RtP/015/022 | childhood my-life royal-family wartime | backworth shiremoor west-allotment | 1920s 1930s 1940s |
Fresh Air and Nature as the Century Closes | I've always liked a wander by fields and hedgerow, having roamed around Billy Mill district in my childhood. | RtP/016/006 | pastimes-entertainment | wallsend | 1990s |
Fred’s Steam Train | Take the train to Norway. | RtP/031/007 | celebrations-events transport | howdon percy-main | 1950s |
Development of Longbenton | By 1961 another two farmers had lost most of their land and a great new estate was thriving on it. | RtP/028/017 | house-home | longbenton | 1930s 1940s 1950s |
Derek’s Memories of Wallsend | When I stayed in hospital for operations I used to run messages for the staff, just to keep me occupied. | RtP/010/006 | childhood health | wallsend | 1940s |
Dentists | The thing I remember mostly was the smell of the chloroform. | RtP/033/001 | childhood health | wallsend | 1940s |
Deliveries | I would sit in the front of the van next to a small sink where the driver could wash his hands. | RtP/018/013 | childhood shops-shopping | tyneside | 1960s |
Dedication of St Columba, Wideopen, 1983 | The large procession escorted the Bishop into the new church. | RtP/031/014 | celebrations-events | wideopen | 1980s |
Forest Hall, Social Functions | The floor and windows would all move in time to the music. | RtP/023/013 | pastimes-entertainment | killingworth | 1950s |
Forest Hall, 1960s and 1970s | Having to sit in the house by candlelight because power station coal supply was rationed. | RtP/023/012 | my-life | killingworth | 1960s 1970s |
Forest Hall Remembered (1930s) | Houses had no numbers, they were all named or known by the people who lived there. | RtP/030/001 | house-home shops-shopping | killingworth | 1930s |
Forest Hall in the 1960s | I really missed my lovely friends and neighbours when we moved into a house with a bathroom and a garden and a dog. | RtP/030/014 | my-life | killingworth | 1960s |
Forest Hall in the 60s and 70s | Central heating - what a luxury! | RtP/023/008 | house-home | killingworth | 1960s 1970s |
Forest Hall 1952 | Now we have the flyover, but imagine the line of cars if it hadn't been built. | RtP/022/007 | house-home transport working-life | killingworth | 1950s |
For Distinguished Conduct in the Field | Carried out with complete disregard for his own personal safety. | RtP/026/020 | wartime | north-shields | 1940s |
Fog, Fishing and Wrecks | What nowadays would be a sea mist, in the 1930s and 1940s turned into a thick orange impenetrable fog. | RtP/026/006 | childhood my-life | whitley-bay | 1930s 1940s |
Flower Power | Everything was either flower designs or psychedelic swirls or patterns. | RtP/027/005 | childhood fashion shops-shopping | newcastle-upon-tyne | 1960s |
Fishing at Tynemouth Haven | In July when the mackerel were abundant, Ross could catch up to a hundred big fish in one session. | RtP/019/018 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | tynemouth | 1940s |
Fishing 1920s | My mother used to let me keep the tiddlers in an old bowl in the back garden. | RtP/019/003 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | north-shields | 1920s |
Fish on Good Friday | Everyone ate fish that day and it had to be fresh. | RtP/032/008 | celebrations-events shops-shopping | cullercoats north-shields shiremoor | 1930s 1940s 1950s |
Fish for a Queen | I see fish, skipper! | RtP/027/008 | transport working-life | north-shields | 1950s |
Fish Chasing 1960 | As most were too big to get through the filter system, now and again we got some good sized whiting, haddock and cod that had no escape and were doomed anyway. | RtP/037/001 | childhood | north-shields | 1960s |
First time round… | That was the start of the war! | RtP/038/018 | wartime | newcastle-upon-tyne | 1930s 1940s |
First Memories of Shopping | If I wanted to buy a dress I went to Bell Bros. or D Hill Carter. | RtP/042/002 | shops-shopping | north-shields | 1940s |
First Jobs after School | My last job before leaving at night was to scrub the big stone flagstones in the kitchen. For all of that I got 5/- a week. | RtP/034/016 | my-life shops-shopping working-life | north-shields tynemouth | 1930s |
First Footing 1964 | There never seemed to be enough first footers to go round! | RtP/034/019 | celebrations-events pastimes-entertainment | other | 1960s |
First Day as a Junior Shop Assistant | I never had to contradict a customer, because the customer was always right. | RtP/021/016 | working-life | north-shields | 1920s |
Fire Boat | You are a grand old sight | RtP/032/003 | childhood transport working-life | north-shields south-tyneside | 1950s |
Final Farewell to a Spitfire Pilot | Fly away Valiant Heart on your silver wings | RtP/008/015 | wartime | other | 1940s |
Fever Hospital | I was released from Scaffold Hill isolation hospital, with the hope of never returning to what seemed more like a prison than a hospital. | RtP/034/006 | childhood health | killingworth | 1930s |
Fenwick’s Window – 1960s | A friend and I used to make a yearly pilgrimage especially to see what was in Fenwick's window that year. | RtP/036/008 | celebrations-events | newcastle-upon-tyne | 1960s |
Father in Work | When he went back to work on Monday, Father's suit would go straight back into the pawnshop until the next settling time. | RtP/024/020 | my-life working-life | north-shields | 1920s |
Fashion | My white dress for the Confirmation ceremony at church was made out of parachute silk. | RtP/034/005 | childhood my-life | wallsend | 1930s 1940s |
Family Transport 1935 | As Father was forgetful regards water in the radiator and petrol in the tank we were stranded a few times. | RtP/034/003 | childhood pastimes-entertainment transport | whitley-bay | 1930s |
Family Life | During the sermon I would dream of what I would do when I was older and the places I would visit, London, Africa and America. | RtP/033/013 | childhood my-life | whitley-bay | 1920s |
Family and Home | "Sell those first and then let us know when your money's gone." | RtP/033/014 | childhood health | other | 1920s |
Fairgrounds | When the winch was released I was terrified and would have paid five pounds to get off! | RtP/019/007 | pastimes-entertainment | north-shields shiremoor whitley-bay | 1930s 1940s |
Evacuation 2 | Guns were going and I said, “Mum, look at all the shrapnel.” She said, “Never mind the shrapnel!” | RtP/039/009 | childhood wartime | other | 1940s |
Evacuation 1 | I don't want her, she's too ugly! | RtP/030/013 | childhood wartime | other | 1930s |
Eva’s Memories of Wallsend | When I was 15 years old I went to the Maternity Hospital on the Green, Wallsend as a nurse cadet. | RtP/010/010 | working-life | seaton-burn wallsend | 1940s |
Days at Tynemouth Beach and Saltwell Park | Our mothers would send us for hot water to the kiosk for their tea - we had pop. | RtP/037/016 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | gateshead tynemouth | 1940s |
Cullercoats Folk | Billy Rodney - man of mystery. | RtP/023/019 | childhood | cullercoats | 1920s |
Cookson’s Pond | It was full of sticklebacks and we’d spend many happy hours there fishing. | RtP/011/007 | childhood | percy-main | 1930s 1940s |
Errands and Odd Jobs in the 1920s | On Saturday morning I used to clean six doorsteps in our street and put rubbing stone on the edges. | RtP/019/002 | childhood shops-shopping | other | 1920s |
Entertainment in Whitley Bay | A Whitley Bay resident talks of entertainment at the coast during the 1930s and 40s. | RtP/044/006 | pastimes-entertainment | whitley-bay | 1930s 1940s |
Empire Day | We used to sing a little ditty..... | RtP/030/012 | celebrations-events schooldays | howdon | 1930s |
Ella Gordon (1909-1999) | The children rode the bicycle over 100 miles to the nearest port and addressing it to Miss Ella Gordon, Liverpool, shipped it off. | RtP/020/020 | working-life | north-shields | 1950s |
Edna’s Memories of Wallsend 1 | We used to roll our own pills and make all sorts of ‘bottles'. | RtP/010/008 | working-life | wallsend | 1940s |
Edna’s Memories of Wallsend 2 | I still go to the Procession of Witness in Wallsend and I think I’ve been to every one since I was a little girl. | RtP/010/009 | celebrations-events childhood pastimes-entertainment | wallsend | 1930s 1940s 1950s |
Cooking on Boxing Day | Make it yourself! | RtP/036/007 | celebrations-events | other | 1930s 1940s 1950s |
Cooking on a Flat Iron | With her being a coal burner there was soot and smoke everywhere! | RtP/031/013 | transport working-life | other | 1950s |
Collecting Coke | The coal was frozen solid in the railway trucks and could not be delivered on time to people. | RtP/037/007 | childhood house-home | percy-main | 1940s |
Coast Trains | Passengers were pushed onto the trains, dripping wet. | RtP/027/001 | transport | north-shields percy-main tynemouth | 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s |
Edith’s Story | When I was seventeen I did my bit for the war and joined the National Fire Service as part time firewoman. I felt so smart in my uniform. | RtP/044/014 | celebrations-events childhood house-home my-life pastimes-entertainment schooldays shops-shopping wartime working-life | north-shields percy-main | 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s |
Edith’s Memories of Wallsend | You didn’t go to dances to meet anyone, just to dance. | RtP/010/007 | | | |
Eccleshaw Shops | The period I am reminiscing about is the late ‘60s and ‘70s. I lived on Goathland Ave. near Eccleshaw shops, most of my family still live in Benton. I went to St Cuthbert's in the West End of Newcastle, but my local friends all went to Longbenton High | RtP/027/018 | schooldays shops-shopping | killingworth longbenton | 1960s 1970s |
Easter Weekend | Mother hated it when I brought a goldfish home! | RtP/032/016 | celebrations-events childhood house-home pastimes-entertainment | howdon wallsend | 1950s 1960s |
Easter Monday at the Fair | We would borrow ropes from the girls at Haggies. | RtP/032/007 | celebrations-events childhood pastimes-entertainment | howdon wallsend | 1950s 1960s |
Easter Memories | Cotton dresses, sandals and arctic weather. | RtP/031/001 | celebrations-events childhood house-home | wallsend | 1960s |
Coal Fires 1956 | Soon the fire would be roaring | RtP/029/015 | house-home | percy-main | 1950s |
Coal Colliers (Flat Irons) | These colliers would run from the river Tyne down to Battersea power station. | RtP/026/015 | transport working-life | other tyneside | 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s |
Clive Street Shops (1956) | All the shops look busy and neat. | RtP/030/009 | shops-shopping working-life | north-shields | 1950s |
Easter 1958 | Everyone used to get excited about Good Friday coming along. | RtP/038/004 | celebrations-events childhood | north-shields | 1950s |
Clelands Shipbuilding Yard | Willington Quay Wallsend 1867 - 1983 | RtP/043/011 | working-life | willington | 1980s |
East Howdon Social Club in the 1950s | If you took the lemonade bottle back you got a penny. | RtP/021/015 | pastimes-entertainment | percy-main | 1950s |
East End Sunbeams | We had crinolines made out of crepe paper and soldier's jackets made out of a piece of red mattress covering. | RtP/022/019 | pastimes-entertainment | north-shields | 1920s |
Cinema in North Shields | Any child who had freckles could get in free. | RtP/024/011 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | north-shields | 1920s |
Australia to North Shields | On my journey from London to North Shields, if I stopped every fifty miles, I would have difficulty conversing with the locals. | RtP/020/017 | my-life | north-shields | 1980s 1990s |
Appleby Street (1956) | I have no qualms about the good old days for I am pleased I was there for the ride. | RtP/030/008 | house-home | north-shields | 1950s |
Another Kind of War – Through a Child’s Eyes | My war brought loss of a different kind, not the loss of a death, but the loss of division no less formidable in its onslaught. | RtP/027/010 | childhood wartime | north-shields | 1930s 1940s |
Another Alan’s Day at the Beach | The beaches were full of people. There’s a thing about being in large groups of people, irrespective of the fact that you don’t know them, that everybody’s there enjoying themselves and it’s infectious. | RtP/014/002 | childhood my-life | whitley-bay | 1940s 1950s |
Ann’s Memories of Wallsend | During the war there used to be smoke screens lit on moonlit nights to hide the yards from bombers. | RtP/010/001 | childhood my-life pastimes-entertainment wartime working-life | wallsend | 1920s 1930s 1940s |
An Old Easter Rhyme | Tate, Mate, Misere, Carlin, Palm and Paste Egg Day. | RtP/032/012 | celebrations-events | shiremoor | 1950s 1960s 1970s |
An Old Cottage – memories of a happy childhood | Sitting in the evenings snug by your hearth warmed by a lovely fire. | RtP/008/003 | childhood house-home | newcastle-upon-tyne | 1920s |
An Ode to Golf | It’s all good addictive fun! | RtP/040/013 | pastimes-entertainment | northumberland percy-main | 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s |
An experience of Decorating | I'm alright, I can move my toes. | RtP/021/006 | house-home | killingworth | 1960s |
An Ex W.A.A.F’s Story | We didn’t realise at the time that our carefree teenage years were about to be stolen from us. | RtP/008/007 | wartime | other | 1930s 1940s |
An Act of Chivalry | Ronnie.......I'm not going to ask WHY you've no socks on......Goodnight! | RtP/027/014 | my-life | north-shields | 1950s |
An account of two incidents occurring early in World War II | A bomb had hit a coal shed containing ten tons of coal, which duly vaporised, covering all who ventured out with coal dust. | RtP/038/014 | my-life wartime | other | 1940s |
All About Tea Cans and Spotted Bait Hankies | The shipyard men had their own distinctive tea cans and red and white spotted bait hankies. | RtP/025/015 | shops-shopping wartime working-life | north-shields percy-main | 1930s |
Alick’s Day at the Beach | We used to get the bus to the Central Station and then the electric train from there to Tynemouth. | RtP/014/003 | childhood my-life | tynemouth | 1930s 1940s |
Albert Edward Docks 1950s | Sometimes, just for the hell of it, we would go looking for a chase. | RtP/028/013 | childhood transport working-life | howdon north-shields percy-main | 1950s |
Alan’s Memory – He never called my name. | I could not show my feelings in the same way he could not show his. That’s why he never called my name. | RtP/009/005 | childhood house-home my-life pastimes-entertainment wartime | north-shields tynemouth | 1930s 1940s |
Alan’s Memory of The Mother I Loved | As a young woman my mother was asked if she would be prepared to take an appointment as a Nanny to the local Spanish Consul in North Shields. | RtP/009/004 | celebrations-events childhood house-home my-life transport wartime | north-shields northumberland tynemouth whitley-bay | 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s |
Alan’s Day at the Beach | We just romped about the place as youngsters never thinking of time we just played and played and played. | RtP/014/001 | childhood my-life pastimes-entertainment | north-shields tynemouth | 1930s |
Air Raid Shelters 2 | The boys jumped on top of the shelter banging about, while all the girls went inside the shelter and screamed. | RtP/017/018 | wartime | tynemouth | 1930s |
After School 2 | ‘Don’t forget you are there to sell the books, not get lost in them’. | RtP/034/018 | my-life working-life | whitley-bay | 1930s |
After School 1 | I was awarded a certificate for 120 words per minute shorthand and 60 words per minute in typing. | RtP/034/017 | working-life | north-shields wallsend whitley-bay | 1930s |
Active Service | Our sergeant was determined to make us into first class soldiers. | RtP/021/020 | my-life wartime | north-shields other | 1940s |
Childhood Memories Of Shopping in North Shields | I remember one day a tram went out of control and ran all the way down Borough Road. | RtP/041/020 | childhood shops-shopping | north-shields | 1930s 1940s |
Childhood memories of North Shields shops 1920s-1930s | I got a chocolate biscuit when I went along to pay the bill at the end of the week. | RtP/042/006 | childhood shops-shopping | north-shields | 1920s 1930s |
Childhood Memories of Forest Hall | We went on long walks with our grandfather, who always carried a 'poke' to collect scrap metal. | RtP/029/006 | childhood shops-shopping | forest-hall killingworth seaton-burn | 1930s |
Childhood Memories 3 | I loved Collingwood Infant School. I hid in the cloakroom because I didn't want to leave on my last day. | RtP/019/016 | childhood | north-shields | 1930s 1940s |
Childhood Memories 2 | Good Fridays always stand out in my memory because that was the day we marched round the town. | RtP/017/017 | childhood | north-shields wallsend | 1960s |
Christmas Toys 1942 | The first toy I made was the typical Cowboy’s Gun, or ‘Revolver', drawn out on a thickish piece of wood, then carefully cut to shape with a fretsaw. | RtP/009/003 | pastimes-entertainment | north-shields | 1940s |
Christmas Past | They put a sack over one pig's head, another sack over his hind quarters and heaved him into the seat at the back of the car. | RtP/021/002 | working-life | shiremoor | 1930s |
Christmas on National Service – Egypt 1954 | The officers served the turkey dinner to the men. | RtP/036/009 | wartime | other | 1950s |
Christmas Memories Early 1960s 2 | Decorating the tree was a very happy, cosy sort of time, rounded off with a glass of sherry. | RtP/031/006 | celebrations-events | wallsend | 1960s |
Christmas Memories 1928/9 | The ones I had between five and ten were better than the rest! | RtP/028/005 | celebrations-events childhood | north-shields | 1920s |
Christmas in the 1930s | We had lovely glass toys and tin candle holders which dripped on the branches. | RtP/021/014 | celebrations-events | north-shields | 1930s |
Christmas Cooking | The next day was the best – bubble and squeak! Its worth cooking a Christmas dinner and putting it to one side for the next day – just to fry it! | RtP/036/006 | celebrations-events | other | 1930s 1940s 1950s |
Christmas at 14 Backworth Street, Percy Main | A few days before Christmas we wrote our notes for what we wanted and threw them up the chimney for Santa. | RtP/011/004 | celebrations-events childhood | percy-main | 1940s |
Christmas and New Year in the 1920s | The first-foot had to be tall dark and masculine. | RtP/028/009 | celebrations-events childhood | gateshead | 1920s |
Christmas and Easter | Mother used to hard boil eggs in onion skins, which made them a nice shade of brown. | RtP/016/010 | celebrations-events | howdon | 1920s |
Christening Bags 1958 | Now there was always a scramble for the bag because inside the scone you would find a silver coin. | RtP/037/017 | celebrations-events childhood | other | 1950s |
Chris Petter, a Remarkable Man | One peaceful Sunday afternoon (the date was Sept: 17th 1944 ), Chris and his friends, aged about 11 years old witnessed hundreds of men dropping from the sky, some in gliders and some by parachute. | RtP/008/001 | wartime | other | 1940s |
Big Country – Small World | Millions of tons of goods and fuel arrived in Berlin during the airlift to keep the residents alive and functional. | RtP/027/011 | my-life wartime | other | 1950s |
Balliol Community Food Shop | Volunteers bridged the gap to supply goods on a not-for-profit basis. | RtP/029/002 | shops-shopping | longbenton | 1990s |
Childhood Memories 1 | We used to invade the cinema and fidget about upstairs, munching appalling concoctions of sticky goo. | RtP/016/008 | childhood | north-shields | 1930s 1940s |
Betty S’s Memories of Wallsend | On Sundays a big crowd of people used to gather at Marshi’s Ice Cream Parlour at the top of the High Street. | RtP/010/004 | childhood my-life pastimes-entertainment working-life | newcastle-upon-tyne wallsend | 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s |
Betty Sm’s Memories of Wallsend | I can remember going to Redheads, on the High Street, to get the accumulator charged, which meant carrying a container of sulphuric acid around! | RtP/010/005 | celebrations-events childhood pastimes-entertainment schooldays | wallsend | 1930s 1940s |
Betty D’s Memories of Wallsend | Can you imagine what our teachers had to put up with. | RtP/010/003 | celebrations-events childhood my-life schooldays | wallsend | 1930s |
Benton and Forest Hall Railway Stations | One winter’s day the travellers were so cosy in the waiting room that they were unaware of the train having stopped, and then moved on! | RtP/023/009 | transport | killingworth | 1960s |
Belle’s Story – Having a Baby | There were other girls like me on the base, two or three pregnant at the same time as me. | RtP/016/016 | my-life | north-shields | 1940s |
Bella’s 1961 | That was what we called wellingtons when we were kids. | RtP/040/018 | childhood | north-shields | 1960s |
Being a Paper Boy | The bag was really heavy and on Sundays I needed two, which were even heavier! | RtP/039/011 | childhood | percy-main | 1940s |
Being a Chef in the Royal Navy | From HMS Ganges I got my first posting to a ship - but what a ship! It was the flagship, HMS Ark Royal, the biggest ship in the Royal Navy. | RtP/036/018 | celebrations-events my-life transport working-life | north-shields | 1970s |
Beauty in the 1940s and early 1950s | Leg tan was a thick liquid and you had to keep it even or you had blotchy legs. We'd paint a seam up the back of our legs too. | RtP/017/019 | pastimes-entertainment | other | 1940s 1950s |
Bath Time 1960 | Your first job was to go to the wash house outside in the back yard and check if the metal pot that held water was full or not. | RtP/035/003 | house-home my-life | other | 1960s |
Baster Fights | During election campaigning we targeted people according to their political affiliation. | RtP/027/002 | childhood schooldays | other | 1930s 1940s 1950s |
Barrel Walking 1958 | To go forward you would walk backwards on the drum and to go backwards you walked forward. | RtP/036/004 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | north-shields | 1950s |
Baking Day | The food of the gods could never taste as glorious. | RtP/043/012 | childhood house-home | other | 1930s 1940s 1950s |
Childhood in Willington Quay and East Howdon | My mother ran all the way, chasing me with a knotted towel until we got to the school gates. | RtP/035/014 | childhood schooldays | howdon willington | 1920s 1930s |
Childhood in West Percy Road | My brother and I were warned not to touch the table, but we always had our own little selection with a bottle of Tizer to drink. | RtP/020/002 | childhood | north-shields | 1940s |
Childhood in North Shields | A cold water tap in the backyard had to serve about four or five families. | RtP/024/014 | childhood house-home my-life | north-shields | 1920s |
Childhood in Howdon and Willington Quay | It wasn't unusual to see a mouse come out of the corner of the classroom and lick the milk bottle tops. | RtP/026/013 | celebrations-events childhood schooldays transport | howdon | 1950s |
Childhood in East Howdon | We would take our dolls and prams and dress up in our mothers' high heels. | RtP/021/012 | childhood my-life pastimes-entertainment transport | percy-main | 1950s |
Childhood Games 2 | The boys always seemed to be rolling about on the ground wrestling or playing football. | RtP/008/013 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | newcastle-upon-tyne | 1920s |
Childhood Memories of Living in New York | Elsie Wilkinson recalls her childhood in New York village during the 1920s and 30s. | RtP/013/002 | | new-york | 1920s 1930s |
Childhood Games 1 | All of a sudden there was this hand on my shoulder; it was the policeman, 'if you do that again you're in trouble'. | RtP/017/003 | childhood | north-shields | 1920s 1930s 1940s |
Childhood Books | I used to read in the cupboard under the stairs where my mother had a lot of True Romance magazines | RtP/020/006 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | wallsend | 1930s 1940s 1950s |
Chapel Activities | The boys used to fasten their cup to their belt and more often than not they went home with just the handle. | RtP/016/002 | pastimes-entertainment | howdon | 1920s |
Cawkwell’s Farm, Percy Main | My favourite time was haymaking or ‘bringing in the stooks’. | RtP/039/016 | childhood wartime working-life | percy-main | 1940s |
Catty Nelly (1958) | The yard belonged to Catty Nelly and the cats and kittens were her kids so to speak. | RtP/038/009 | house-home schooldays | north-shields | 1950s |
Catapults | If you had no money, we used rubber from old inner tubes. The problem was that it would snap at full stretch and give you a nasty smack. | RtP/039/018 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | percy-main | 1940s 1950s |
Carpet beating 1957 | There would be clouds of dust coming off and God only knows what else, probably fleas, bugs, etc. | RtP/039/004 | childhood house-home | other | 1950s |
Carol Singing | It was the most lovely sound. | RtP/037/013 | celebrations-events house-home | percy-main | 1940s |
Carnivals | Oh happy, happy days, when everyone made their own entertainment. | RtP/034/004 | celebrations-events childhood pastimes-entertainment | north-shields northumberland shiremoor | 1930s 1940s |
Carnivals in North Shields | We were all given an orange each at the end of the day. | RtP/024/009 | celebrations-events childhood | north-shields | 1920s |
Car Spotting on the Broadway | Imagine the futility of car spotting these days. | RtP/033/009 | childhood pastimes-entertainment transport | cullercoats tynemouth whitley-bay | 1960s |
Camping at Collars 1962 | Sure enough there were a couple of beady red eyes staring at us. | RtP/040/011 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | north-shields tynemouth | 1960s |
About A (Bevin) Boy | The face workers, the elite, spent the shift on their knees in 4'6" of height, shovelling coal onto a conveyer belt. | RtP/020/014 | wartime working-life | shiremoor | 1940s |
A Winter Trip to Tynemouth Boating Lake | I could see the lake frozen over and thought it was worth the hike. | RtP/025/020 | childhood | tynemouth | 1960s |
A Very Sad Day – A Great Step Forward | I remember growing up in Burradon, a little village, in a beautiful old colliery cottage which I loved. | RtP/035/007 | celebrations-events childhood house-home my-life pastimes-entertainment shops-shopping | killingworth | 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s |
A Tailor’s Apprentice | We were the first firm in Whitley Bay to work a five day week. | RtP/022/018 | shops-shopping wartime working-life | whitley-bay | 1940s |
A Small Splutter of Memories | The first ten years 1938 – 1948. | RtP/041/006 | childhood | north-shields | 1930s 1940s |
A ride in a ‘Dicky seat’ | We arrived home with all three of us soaking wet - while the four people inside the car were warm and dry. | RtP/034/015 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | other | 1930s |
A Reply to Uncle Doug, 2008 | Hi, Venerable Uncle! Not necessarily interesting to others, but since I’m asked; | RtP/041/005 | my-life | other | 1950s 1960s 1970s |
A Question of Rats | The five guinea investment in the mongoose proved to be finest investment the store ever made. | RtP/020/008 | shops-shopping working-life | north-shields | 1920s |
A Peaceful Night During Advent WW2 | “But hang on, angels don’t have a brass band do they? They are playing the Stars and Stripes! It’s the Yanks - they’ve arrived.” | RtP/008/002 | celebrations-events wartime | other | 1940s |
A New Arrival | I knew something unusual was going on - my Mother was still in bed at lunchtime! | RtP/025/019 | childhood health my-life | whitley-bay | 1930s |
A Grand Day Out | As a treat, on Sunday afternoons, my parents took my brother and myself on a tram trip to Throckley. | RtP/016/001 | childhood transport | wallsend | 1960s |
A Geordie Lad | In Loving Memory of Derek Scott, born 25th May 1936, died 10th October 2011. | RtP/043/005 | my-life | north-shields tynemouth | 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s |
A Day off School | Everything was dwarfed by the Esso Northumbria, which was so long you could see neither the top nor the other end. | RtP/019/013 | celebrations-events childhood | tynemouth wallsend | 1960s |
A Christmas Surprise | There suddenly appeared a young boy pedalling furiously on his new bicycle! | RtP/030/019 | celebrations-events working-life | newcastle-upon-tyne seaton-burn wideopen | 1950s 1960s 1970s |
A Boy’s Own Adventure by Alan Connon | Even after we told my Mum and Dad what we intended doing, they seemed to think this is a joke, they will never do it. | RtP/009/007 | childhood wartime | north-shields | 1940s |
A Big Day Out | Salvation Army, free from sin, we all went to heaven in a corned beef tin. | RtP/032/011 | celebrations-events childhood pastimes-entertainment | shiremoor tynemouth | 1940s 1950s |
Cinemas | If it was a cowboy picture they would play fast, if it was a love scene the music would be slow and romantic. | RtP/017/005 | childhood pastimes-entertainment | north-shields | 1910s |
Cotton Dresses and Arctic Weather | The dress you got had no sleeves and was made of cotton. | RtP/031/018 | celebrations-events childhood fashion shops-shopping | newcastle-upon-tyne wallsend | 1950s 1960s |
Civil Defence Ambulance Service | We only had three tin hats, so we had to supply white paper serviettes that they put on their heads first. | RtP/017/013 | wartime | other | 1930s 1940s |
As We Were | The fisher wives always shouted, “Fish alive, fish alive”, which I could never understand as all their fish for sale was quite dead! | RtP/017/008 | my-life | whitley-bay | 1920s 1930s 1940s |
At Home in Winter, in the 1950s | A shovel full of coals was brought upstairs, still merrily burning, to ignite the newspaper and sticks tidily laid in the grate. | RtP/017/007 | house-home | newcastle-upon-tyne | 1950s |
All Good Grub | On Tuesdays, the Cullercoats fish wife called, wearing her navy blue serge skirt and carrying her creel. | RtP/016/009 | house-home | howdon | 1920s |
A Musical Family | Cousin George could sing all the verses of the Lambton Worm plus many other Geordie songs. | RtP/015/005 | pastimes-entertainment | north-shields | 1940s 1950s |
Elizabeth’s Day at the beach | We all spent the day together it was wonderful it always seemed to be long sunny days just like the Riviera. | RtP/014/006 | childhood my-life | percy-main tynemouth | 1940s 1950s |
Dorothy’s Day at the Beach | Once a year the working men’s club funded an outing for the members’ children and that was usually the first week of the school holidays, but for weeks leading up to that we used to be so excited. | RtP/014/004 | childhood my-life | whitley-bay | 1940s 1970s |
A day at the Seaside | A poetic look back at a trip from Newcastle to the coast in the 1920s. | RtP/008/014 | childhood | newcastle-upon-tyne whitley-bay | 1920s |
Bella | On washing days two families shared a wash house where there was a tub pos-stick and a boiler. The boiler would need to be lighted early morning. | RtP/015/021 | childhood house-home my-life schooldays | north-shields percy-main | 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s |
Elizabeth | When she was eighteen years old Elizabeth joined the Women’s Timber Corps. | RtP/015/020 | celebrations-events wartime working-life | newcastle-upon-tyne north-shields | 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s |
After the War | Kitty Brightwell recalls returning to Civvy Street and finding work. | RtP/008/012 | working-life | newcastle-upon-tyne north-shields | 1940s |
A Wartime Wedding | I don’t know how my mother catered for our wedding reception! | RtP/043/017 | celebrations-events my-life | shiremoor | 1940s |
Being a Tickie Wife in the 1960s/1970s | If you sold £200.00 of toys it meant you had a good pay, because you got a good commission. The trouble was getting the money off the clients after Christmas. | RtP/040/016 | working-life | other | 1950s 1960s |
Christmas and My Great Aunt May | She was a bit of a goer! | RtP/031/008 | celebrations-events childhood | wallsend | 1960s |
Christmas Memories Early 1960s 1 | Washing up was a male domain on Christmas Day. | RtP/031/005 | celebrations-events childhood transport | wallsend | 1960s |
Air Raid Shelters 1 | We covered the shelter with soil from the park and my dad put an armour plated door on it. | RtP/017/014 | wartime | other | 1930s 1940s |
Games we used to Play | We used to decorate our tops with brightly coloured pieces of paper to make a nice pattern while they were spinning. | RtP/015/019 | pastimes-entertainment | howdon | 1920s |
Cullercoats | My Mam and I use to go down to the Fish Quay and buy fresh fish. We would walk for miles around Forest Hall selling fish. | RtP/015/013 | childhood | cullercoats killingworth | 1940s |
A Sweetshop of Long Ago | We attempted to make versions of toffees, chocolates and fondants using some weird ingredients. | RtP/019/011 | childhood shops-shopping | north-shields | 1930s |
Barbara’s Memories of Wallsend | Hill’s the hardware shop was an Aladdin’s cave. It had a downstairs and an upstairs, just full of everything you would need to keep a house going. | RtP/010/002 | shops-shopping | wallsend | 1950s |
A Christmas Party at the Masonic Lodge North Shields | I'd love to go to a party | RtP/036/010 | celebrations-events childhood | north-shields | 1930s |
A Bad Winter | One bright moonlit night during the war, the Germans mistook the new coast road for the River Tyne. | RtP/016/007 | wartime | wallsend | 1930s 1940s |