hi i was born at 16 eastgate choppington in 1939 my name is john besford i have brother called brian and a late sister called dorreen looking for anyone who was born around the same time

My dad's from eastgate

Was born in 1950 tho. my grandparents lived there well before then

The Wrights

My dad's from eastgate

Was born in 1950 tho. my grandparents lived there well before then

The Wrights

i can vaguely remember the wrights i left the area and moved to bedlington station in 1954/55

yeah we live at bedlington station now too

hi strange that you also moved to bedlington station we lived on the burnside estate

yeah i live closer to the co op

eastgate isnt there anymore is it? im sure they knocked down my grandads street years ago

yeah i live closer to the co op

eastgate isnt there anymore is it? im sure they knocked down my grandads street years ago

yes eastgate is still there i went back a couple of years ago and was standing outside my old house

and must admit it looks pretty much the same the only things that have changed are some of the houses have a posch at the front and some have had the brickwork painted ..did you ever know the reynolds family the seddons the owens or the rushes just to mention a few

yes eastgate is still there i went back a couple of years ago and was standing outside my old house

and must admit it looks pretty much the same the only things that have changed are some of the houses have a posch at the front and some have had the brickwork painted ..did you ever know the reynolds family the seddons the owens or the rushes just to mention a few

Some of Eastgate is still there, but the houses on the right hand side as you go into Choppington were pulled down around 1998/99 (i think).

your right what you say i know they pulled down the prefabs some years ago i will be going back next

year to see some friends i went to school with so i will take another look .. what i did notice was the

place looks nice and green now .. nice to hear from you

your right what you say i know they pulled down the prefabs some years ago i will be going back next

year to see some friends i went to school with so i will take another look .. what i did notice was the

place looks nice and green now .. nice to hear from you

It`s not just the maisonettes at the bottom that were pulled down, it was George`s shop and all the houses up from it. So there`s even more green than you think!

I`ll try and get a photo tomorrow to show you what i mean.

Just remembered about the photo a was going to get

I`ll try and think on tomorrow

yeah my dads old house was pulled down. number 86 i believe. he stole a brick from the rubble!

and no i dont know those families greenfingers but my dad probably does

Edited October 1, 200916 yr by pennylane909

hi i am informed by my brother that you are indeed right ..they have pulled down quite a lot of houses ..

i am going to see my brother next year so i will have a look while i am there ...i remember georges shop as well as tates ice cream on the corner look forward to the photo nice to hear from you again bye for now

greenfingers

hello again when you mention the wrights i can remember the family that lived on the right as you went through the little roundabout the only name i can recall is a boy who was named gordon .. they lived straight across the road from a family called lofthouse they had a son called billy who was tragically killed shortly after joining the army == greenfingers

hi i am informed by my brother that you are indeed right ..they have pulled down quite a lot of houses ..

i am going to see my brother next year so i will have a look while i am there ...i remember georges shop as well as tates ice cream on the corner look forward to the photo nice to hear from you again bye for now

greenfingers

I`ve managed to get a few photo`s, it`ll give you an idea of what to expect when you visit.

This is taken from Eastgreen, right next to where George`s shop used to be

This was taken from Eastgate..there used to be a row of houses where the grass is now

This is where the houses at Eastgate would have been, looking straight down towards Eastgreen. It used to be the quiet back street of the estate.

And finally, i couldn`t forget Wally`s pub, with the new centre which has been built just along from it.

thank you very much for the photos .. it has really changed in the last few years .when i came back for the first time since leaving i went down the street where i once lived and where i was born it was 16 eastgate it brought me back to reality ..i looked at the bullring( as we used to call it and it was a lot smaller than when i was young we ran around it about 4 or 5 times and we were tired ) the fence at the end on the bullring was at least 6 ft high (so we thought) i have contacted two of the people i went to school with one is joe jobson the other is john young but there are a lot more who we knew that i have yet to find once again thank you for your help i will get in touch with you again if you dont mind.... greenfingers

thank you very much for the photos .. it has really changed in the last few years .when i came back for the first time since leaving i went down the street where i once lived and where i was born it was 16 eastgate it brought me back to reality ..i looked at the bullring( as we used to call it and it was a lot smaller than when i was young we ran around it about 4 or 5 times and we were tired ) the fence at the end on the bullring was at least 6 ft high (so we thought) i have contacted two of the people i went to school with one is joe jobson the other is john young but there are a lot more who we knew that i have yet to find once again thank you for your help i will get in touch with you again if you dont mind.... greenfingers

If you don`t mind me asking, what is/was `the bullring`?

Also, if you haven`t already joined these sites, it`s a great way to meet old friends from school or old neighbours. There is Friends Reunited and Facebook. Give them a try (if you haven`t already)

If you need to get in touch for any reason just pm me or leave a message on here, if i can help in any way i will.

HI THANKS FOR CONTACTING ME WHEN I LIVED AT 16 EASTGATE THE BULLRING WAS THE CIRCLE AT THE END OF THE ROAD WHERE THE CARS TURNED AROUND WHY WE CALLED IT THAT I WILL NEVER KNOW DO YOU LIVE IN THE AREA OR HAVE YOU LIKE ME MOVED AWAY ...I LEFT QUITE A FEW YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS FOURTEEN YEARS OLD I HAVE ONLY BEEN BACK ONCE AND THAT WAS ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO IT WAS QUITE A NOSTALGIC VISIT BUT WE DID NOT MEET ANY ONE WE KNEW .. I WAS SORELY TEMPTED TO KNOCK ON THE DOOR OF OUR OLD HOUSE BUT THOUGHT BETTER OF IT I AM GOING BACK AGAIN NEXT YEAR SO I MAY GET TO MEET SOMEONE FROM MY CHILDHOOD DAYS

ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP

hi pennylane was your grandfathers name gordon by any chance

HI THANKS FOR CONTACTING ME WHEN I LIVED AT 16 EASTGATE THE BULLRING WAS THE CIRCLE AT THE END OF THE ROAD WHERE THE CARS TURNED AROUND WHY WE CALLED IT THAT I WILL NEVER KNOW DO YOU LIVE IN THE AREA OR HAVE YOU LIKE ME MOVED AWAY ...I LEFT QUITE A FEW YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS FOURTEEN YEARS OLD I HAVE ONLY BEEN BACK ONCE AND THAT WAS ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO IT WAS QUITE A NOSTALGIC VISIT BUT WE DID NOT MEET ANY ONE WE KNEW .. I WAS SORELY TEMPTED TO KNOCK ON THE DOOR OF OUR OLD HOUSE BUT THOUGHT BETTER OF IT I AM GOING BACK AGAIN NEXT YEAR SO I MAY GET TO MEET SOMEONE FROM MY CHILDHOOD DAYS

ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP

16 Eastgate will be just past the school and the first turn to your left? I`m trying to think who lives up there now... i think most of the people that lived there for years have either moved or passed away. If there`s certain people you`re wondering about just pm me, i`m sure i`d be able to find out where they are etc

I had family that used to live at Choppington, they`ve moved now but i knew a few folk there and i`m still in touch with a lot of them.

Greenfingers I was born near Choppington and a lot of my relatives lived there Archbolds, Richardsons and Steele's, you mention the Wrights would that be Billy?

I lived there in the 90's the community spirit was tremendous, the look out attitude for your neighbours was second to none! Then all of a sudden BANG the place was a no go area for the police,they would only come on to the estate mob handed crime,burgularys and drugs esculated it was not a nice place to be! Some of the stories I could tell would curl your toes! We just had to get out of the place! But saying that the core of the place is still the same, even though I've been away for at least ten yrs when I meet people from the estate it's as though I was still there! Once a Choppolite always a Choppolite,They will stand by you in anything.I do miss the place,but I could never go back to live there.Sad but true not only in Choppington but in countless estates across Britain today!

hi merlin thanks for getting in touch ..i can remember the archbolds .richardsons the wrights if i recall were called arthur or billy .. some of the names that spring to mind were the owens.. seddons ..tilbury ..

lofthouse.. barker..bush..there are lots more i can tell as my brother is coming through from blyth today and i will get him to go through as many as we can think of i will be back in touch soon many thanks

hi

so sorry for the late reply! my uncle was called gordon and he lived in that house u spoke of with my dad and their 3 sisters! my grandad was called john but got called spike for some reason

my dads name is also billy/spike

also, i'd just like to add that my uncle gordon passed away a few years ago now. but im pretty certain that my dad and his family are the people you are referring to!

nice to hear from you again .. you are right in what you are saying i knew your family my brother and i actually went to school at guidepost with them any more info would be helpful many thanks

what else would you like to know? i'll have a word with my dad, im sure he cud help you out!