Heritage Hour: Birth of our Borough - Gateshead West, 1949-99

[@jack80kiwi]

Thank you for that.I was born in London but my mum was from Swalwell and dad form Wickham. They were married in the church in Winlaton . In '39 my dad left for war and they both settled in London. From 1947 till about 1955 we used to spend the summer holidays in Winlaton. The pictures of Winlaton and Blaydon brought back very happy memories. Sitting on the coal bunker in the garden where we stayed, at the top of Blaydon Bank , watching the boats on the Tyne and the buses and traffic going over the Scotswood Bridge on a summers evening . In 2004 I went home from New Zealand to find my Davison family , went to Gateshead council but was unable to get information, due to privacy concerns. But went out to Stanley to visit a guy I met on Amateur radio and had a good time . Went back home to Auckland and had an unexpected letter from an aunt, who I had lost touch with, yes you have guest it she lives in Rowlands Gill and her sister lives in Stanley. 2005 back to Stanley for a big reunion and two more visits up till 2008 . Always visited The Angel of the North it felt like I had returned home, always loved the place. Thank you for that. By the way I am going on 79 .

[@gatesheadlibraries6807]

Thank you for sharing your memories, and so glad you had a lovely family reunion.

[@chriscummings1279]

I have a feeling i know you Jack

[@jack80kiwi]

@@chriscummings1279 afraid your name does not ring any bells . I am a Davison and my mums maiden name was Hall . I have very fond memories of the area , unfortunately I am now 80 yrs old and will not be back, only in my daydreams . I remember catching the 10.00 pm steam train from Kings Cross and arriving at Newcastle Central at 6.30 am and I had traveled to a different country where they all spoke a foreign language (Geordie) lol . but great times .

[@annakershaw-bar9274]

Takes me back to my childhood.

[@zeddeka]

My parents were the first residents in their flat in Derwent Tower in Dunston in the early 80s. They had to move out shortly afterwards because of the terrible damp. It had been very badly built and also used to sway excessively in the wind. They always tell me the story of when my uncle went round to fix a lamp they had and managed to fuse the entire building. There was a couple of deaths in the tower during its lifetime - shortly after it was built, someone fell down the lift shaft. He had called the lift and got in when the doors opened - but the lift wasn't there. In the 80s, a lady fell from the top floor (the exact same flat my parents had lived in) - it was believed at the time that she may have been pushed. Apparently before it was built, the council had wanted to build a number of similar towers in that area. They were warned by the architect not to build even one because the ground was so unsuitable, but they went ahead regardless. The underground carpark used to flood and was often closed as a result. All in all, it was an example of the disastrous building programmes that so many councils in the UK undertook in the 1960s and 1970s. Shoddily built, inappropriately designed and becoming a haven for antisocial behaviour over the years. The neighbouring maisonettes in Dunston had the same problems, as did other similar buildings in Gateshead, notably in Clasper Village.

[@balthiersgirl2658]

I think it looked much better then than now ❤

[@Maggy47]

I was born in Queen Elizabeth hospital lived in Lobley Hill for 21yrs anyone else here from that era

[@buzzbug22]

I lived in Dunston, moved away when I left school in 66, they knocked our houses down and stuck a rocket there, I went back the odd time but couldn't relate to the place. I still have childhood memories of playing football in Dunston park and watching " THE CLUB " playing on the middle pitch on a Sunday morning.

[@zeddeka]

@@buzzbug22 It's changed so much in recent years too. I went away to London in 2004 and came back recently and was shocked. Seems like everybody who can get out did, and so many of the houses were bought by what are basically slum landlords. They housed a lot of people with social problems and the amount of visible drug taking is shocking.

[@HorseMalone]

5:40 Sled lane pond also known as "Willies Well " is still there and just as weedy. Unfortunately angling is no longer permitted.

[@buzzbug22]

The council knocked our house down on Clavering avenue to build the Derwent towers!

[@jimmyoconnell6167]

Remember before the rocket in Dunston there was a pig farm