Here,s another character a few of you will remember, TOMMY GARTLAND As a small child i lived in abby rd when woodhouse close was just being built, TOMMY was our dust bin man,When i was 3 or 4 if anyone shouted here,s the dustbinman i used to run into the house and hide,but once i got to know TOMMY and the shout of dustbinman was heard we all used to run to meet him.HE would lift us onto the back of the cart (among the ashes) and give us a ride to his next stop (which was only a couple of yards) what a lovely man he was.

I remember Lawrence doing his newspaper thing - donkey jacket etc.. I did see him a couple of times in civvies - very smart he was too. I think he got into the Belvedere on a Sat night.
There was a Funky Truman lived in Edgar Grove. He'd had some really debilitating medical problems but always walked his dog around the grove. It always looked like the dog was taking him for a walk as he struggled on his crutches, tab in one corner of his mouth and shouting. He always said hello to me when I took my dog out..

Hi
One character from Newgate Street that sticks in my mind was red haired Cynthia, As young lads, who could not go into the pubs on a Saturday and Sunday night, so we would walk up and down the street, stopping at Rossi's, with only one of the five of us buying a coffee and making it last. Down to Gill's corner then back up the other side hoping not to be spotted by Cynthia, because you know you could be in for a mouth full or even be chased. After eluding her it was up to the Wimpy Bar for one more coffee to last at least another hour.

sandie.

If it was the church on the grass next to the fire station ,then it was called st andrews church hall.
jeff

tassie i remember cythia too ha ha

The Cynthia you remember from all those years ago is still alive and well and in Bishop Auckland. I think, to be fair to her, she had one or two minor health problems but she appears to be a lot calmer nowadays.

I remember Lawrence clear as day. Always on Halfords corner opposite Rossi's

Used to always appear at Kingsway on Match day to sell half a dozen papers.

Mutt used to live on Walker Drive on Woodhouse rigth next door to the Infant school. he used to have the cart on the front of the house and the horse in the back garden. We used to buy veg off him all the time when I lived on Lowther Road. If his horse was lame I'd see him pulling the cart by hand.

Another character who used to Live on Percy Street in Cockton Hill was my mums aunt Dorothy... She lived into her 80's and until the day she died she was made up to the nines and wore what was rather eclectic for Bishop. As a young kid we would cross the road incase she spotted us. Lookign back now its characters like her that makes a place.

I remember Lawrence clear as day. Always on Halfords corner opposite Rossi's

Used to always appear at Kingsway on Match day to sell half a dozen papers.

Mutt used to live on Walker Drive on Woodhouse rigth next door to the Infant school. he used to have the cart on the front of the house and the horse in the back garden. We used to buy veg off him all the time when I lived on Lowther Road. If his horse was lame I'd see him pulling the cart by hand.

Another character who used to Live on Percy Street in Cockton Hill was my mums aunt Dorothy... She lived into her 80's and until the day she died she was made up to the nines and wore what was rather eclectic for Bishop. As a young kid we would cross the road incase she spotted us. Lookign back now its characters like her that makes a place.

The name of the little church was st andrews hall.

Hawthorn cottages were attached and named after the big house, hawthorn house.Once owned by the wilson family of the wilson's forge empire.

they stood on the site of the odeon theatre in tenters street.

map results at my website here.

[www.unsworthfamilyhistory.co.uk]


also confirmation of the hall came from durham county record office online. goto maps and launch gis and zoom into bishop. then goto date icon at the bottom and change the map back to the 1800s

[www.durhamrecordoffice.org.uk]

jeff



Edited 5 times. Last edit at 11/03/09 04:27PM by jeff.

Hi all My post may be a bit out of date but I have only just found the site which when I read the posts a lot of childhood memories came flooding back to me. I lived in Bishop from 1950 to 1957 when we moved to willington, I went to St annes junior school in Kingsway then to The Barrington in the market place. I remember most of the characters already mentioned, including Cynthia who I believe was in the same class as me (teacher Mrs Swan at St annes) My brother and I were in the Army cadet band of the Durham Light Infantry often seen playing on the way to St Andrews church at South Church. We lived in Newgate Street above Walter Wilsons shop in a flat that belonged to the United Automobile Services, (my Father worked at the ticket office in back bondgate where the fire station used to be) if there are any old school friends out there my name is Richard if that rings a bell send a post I will get in touch.....Take care all bye for now...Rick