In our first chapter we brought you memories of Walnut Whips, Bombs in York, local pubs and unusual pets (and their sleeping arrangements!)
In Chapter 2, we bring you a wonderful conversation about Gateshead High street memories we recorded with Kathy, Muriel, Sheila, Margaret and Jenny at Teams and Bensham Community Care lunch club.
We hope you enjoy reading as much as we enjoy listening!
The best view of the Tyne Bridge
Muriel: “I worked on the sweet counter in Shephards. It was straight in front of you when you first walked in. The misshapes from Terry’s were the most popular, but my favourite was Milk Tray. Although there was a hierarchy of the staff, the customers were the top of the tree. You could tell by the marked contrast between the staff canteen and the public cafeteria. The staff canteen was nothing special, but the cafeteria was lovely, it had the best view of the Tyne Bridge.”
My mother would have killed me
Kathy: “I worked at Shephards too, at a different time. I worked on the linen counter, just to the left and towards the back of the store. They would make up a bed for display with different linens. The table cloths were beautiful, they were hand painted. The staff had to look smart all the time. My mother would have killed me if I had failed the inspection of uniform. The women on the make-up counter thought they were a bit better than the rest of us. One of the senior women, she was the ‘First Sale’. She was smart and always had a suit on. She had bleached hair, you never saw people with bleached hair back then. Her word was law.”
There was a bit of a grey market too
Muriel: "Shephards operated on credit. They came door to door on Fridays after payday to collect the cash that had to be found in exchange for the Shepherds money that had been taken by the doorstep sellers on the Monday before. But there was a bit of a grey market too. There was a woman on every street who would buy your Shephard’s money. Even now I won’t say her name, but she would give my Mother 14 shillings for £1 of Shepherd’s money."
They were there to confuse the German bombers
Margaret: "I was born near the Vickers Armstrong factory. I remember walking to the Fish Shop on Scotswood Road in the dark, it was the war and we had the black out.
I would walk to Elswick Park too. There were silver barrage balloons flying over the park. They were there to confuse the German bombers and try and keep the bombs off Vickers and The Yards."
I can remember the sirens so clearly
Sheila: "I have vivid memories of the war when I was a girl. I can remember the sirens so clearly. We lived up at Gateshead High Street in my younger days. We only had two bedrooms. Three girls and our parents in two bedrooms, and only two rooms downstairs. I moved to Lobley Hill in 1958. It was lovely, a big house with three bedrooms, a bathroom and toilet inside. My Mother would hang the washing out in the back lane. I can remember her getting the prop to lift the clothes line so the bin men could get through along the back lane.”
One of them bit my Mother
Jenny: “I have fond memories of the high street. There was a pet shop selling monkeys, one of them bit my Mother! Then there was the Fancy Fayre toy shop and dolls hospital. You could get a bag full of bruised fruit for 6d at the fruit shop. The Accumulator, no-one quite knew what happened in that shop, but Dad’s would take in a piece of equipment on one day, and collect it the next, and then it would be used to run the wireless on it.
You had to make your own decorations
Jenny: “We used to go to the bus station to get the bus to Wooler to see my Mother who had TB. When we went to Wooler, we used to collect Acorns in the grounds. Back then you had to make your own decorations, so we would paint the acorns and put them round the house. When Mam came home she gathered up all the acorns and hoyed them all out!”
I was ill for three days!
Sheila: “Ooo that Sarsaparilla from Laws was lovely.”
Margaret: “Don’t talk to me about Sasparella, it made you go to the toilet. When my husband took me there I was ill for three days!”
Image - Law's Sarsparilla Shop (North East History)
Some of our stories featured in our very own local heritage book, created by local artist, Richard Bliss and Equal Arts in 2014, thanks to funding from The National Lottery Community Fund.
If you enjoyed this, you might also want to take a look at our other blogs that are full of nostalgia.
Memories of Gateshead - Chapter 1
Teams and Bensham Community Care is a registered charity supporting older people in Gateshead to alleviate and prevent the ill-effects of isolation and vulnerability. For three decades, we have provided lunch clubs, men’s groups, art and activities every weekday in our welcoming and accessible centre for up to 25 people each day. We're closed at the moment due to the Coronavirus Pandemic but you can now arrange a priority call back for when we're able to reopen. For more information, visit our website or call 0191 4900945.
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