Hi
In the late sixties, I lived at the top of Princes Street. I remember a shop at the other of the street just below Ainscough's Newsagents. I think it was called Panzeries or something similar. Can anyone remeber it's name?

This is the shop that is now Reeds Rains. Prior to this it was called Rawle's for a long time, a childhood haunt for a 10p mixup.As a child of the seventies, it is Rawles that I remember it as. Mrs. Rawle's mother was, I believe Mrs. Panzieri (probably spelling this wrongly), and I'm sure she had the shop before the Rawles took it over. Somebody a bit older than me will know exactly no doubt.
Still on the subject of local shops, in Princes Street where I lived, there was and still is Baker's, Charlton's shop on the corner of Grey Street, & the Rumblin Tum takeaway in the seventies and early eighties next to Cables.We had Allsopp's and another little shop in Grey Street (whose name escapes me now - or was it Gowland's?). Evans' is still there in Gibbon Street but we also had the off-licence further along. Strangely just above Charlton's in Princes Street was a little nick-nack shop which I remember sold those tiny Whimsy ornaments in the window. This later became some sort of false teeth manufacturer's, and is now a private residence.There was also John Jackson's butchers and the butchers on the corner. Spoilt for choice!

Joe, Alison, My father told me that as a boy in the 20's his mother and father along with my dad and brother lived in a one roomed flat above Pansiri's ice cream shop.
It was on the corner of Princess street over the road from the Eden Theatre.
It was one of his treasured memories when on a Saturday night after his father had gone out for the night, he, his brother and mother would turn out the gas light and open the window and watch the acts going into the Eden theatre such as the circus.
Although four of them as a young family lived in a one roomed flat with only gas lights and probably no running water it still brought happy memories for my father.

Alison
Now that you have reminded me, the shop was actually called Rawles in my time, but was also known as Pansiris, presumably because of it's previous existance as explained by Gavin. The other shop in Grey Street was Teasdale's and the off licence in Gibbon Strret was Tweddles. There was also Harry Scotts fish and chip shop at the corner of Surtees Street and Gibbon Street, and this is now the Chinese takeaway

Alison, Gavin, Joe,
I think the spelling of the lady's surname would have been Panzieri - as you have suggested, Alison. It's probably of southern Italian origin.

Alison, Gavin, Joe
I also seem to remember that there was a bakery on the corner of Gibbon Street and Surtees Street, opposite Scott's Fish Shop - was it Blacketts?? Anyway, there always seemed to be big bags of flour dumped around and wasps in the summer flying around all the cakes. They never seemed to have much custom.
Joe, you said you lived at the top of Pronces Street, I lived in the very top house - you wouldn't by any chance have lived at Number 6 or 7.

I was born on Princess street 1968. but we moved away when i was 6, so memories have faded

I remember Panzieri's shop. They sold mostly sweets but had two or three tables for light refreshments. Mrs. Panzieri's husband was an itinerant marble-worker from Italy. I remember him particularly well because he had a Lancia Lambda sportscar with tinted glass. I had a never seen a car like that in Bishop Auckland.

Hi Peter
yes it was number 6. I can remember you in the house at the top. We moved away from Princes Street around 1972.
I remember the shop in Gibbon Street but can't remember the name. It later became Youngs TV repair shop.

alright all,
i was also born in princes st in 1972 and lived there for 25yrs before setting off to see the world....around the corner in may st where i still live. it was a fascinating area to grow up in with the old co op dairy in grey st and the old goods yard being our main hangouts.
I remember the Nitrovit next to the dairy (which we all called Nitrovite) being demolished, but i can't remember exactly what it was - a slaughter house or a grain store?
The dairy was pleasantly semi-derelict which was ideal for camps etc., and I remember specifically one room which had cork walls and must have been a deep freeze.
The goods yard had many huts which also made decent camps, but we had to be constantly alert to the threat of "glueys".
We were always finding things there. I once found a clarinet, amongst other things, the most amusing being a couple of cases of wine, which we took home and gave to our dads (we were 9 or 10 at the time).
We subsequently discovered that a local wine merchants had recently been done over and a quantity of your finest Chablis purloined.
Of course it had to be returned, but only after my mates' dad swigged the contents and refilled with water.
I also vaguely remember the bridge at the bottom of Princes Street, under which a double decker once got stuck. Behind Bakers' newsagents there used to be an old hut which I recently discovered had been an air raid shelter.
Plaggy bagging was a favourite winter pastime which was enjoyed on the bank where Saxon Court now stands.
I remember one year a lad there had a brand new sledge which he boasted was faster than anyone else's (which it indeed was) and proceeded to show off much to our disdain.
We had the last laugh though, because he and the sledge parted company at high speed heading down towards the pond. He went one way, the sledge went the other, never to be seen again due to the fact that said sledge was white in colour.
Remembering the old railway bridge which straddled the line from what is now Wesley Grove to Morrisons (then the old station and Edkins salerooms), one year my dad managed to tie a rope underneath it and we had the best swing for miles.
Who needed the rec?
Speaking of the rec, I remember the Ocean Wave, big slide, teapot lid and paddling pool, which we all enjoyed. Am I the only one to think that Wear Valley District Council have done the children from Bishop Auckland town centre a disservice by having the rec the way it is now?
Scruffy, lack of decent equipment, dog dirt, broken glass and other unpleasantries.
My sister has never taken her children and actually goes out of town to other playgrounds with them.
just to finish ,i feel sorry for kids these days. all they have is the rec and the town centre to wander around in. even in the pub with the lads we still recall all the things we got up to around bishop....fantastic memories we'll never forget!