Oldgate Row Bebside Furnace

[loopylou]

It looks like that between 44-49 (presumably 1944) that the middle block was demolished after the fire but the outer houses kept. Then at some point between 1949 and 1959 the lower houses also demolished, keeping the ones closest to Bank Top Hotel until River View Close was built.

 

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

@loopylou & @Canny lass the only old photo I have seen that includes Craggs Buildings is the 1930s one in one of Evan Martin's books on Bedlington :-

And I think Craggs buildings are the ones I have marked with a red star in this copy :-

 

 

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

Then and Now 

[loopylou]

@Alan Edgar (Eggy1948) I think the bungalow you reference as River View in the older picture is actually the second one in, number 2? 

Maps has a no 1 River View which nearly lines up with a corner house in Tomlea Avenue . But the current end house (2) is a bit further down. I assume a few got demolished over the years. 

Edited Friday at 20:16 by loopylou

[loopylou]

Possibly this?

 

[loopylou]

I think this is how Craggs Buildings may have been numbered.

It seems it was named this due to the former license holder of the Puddlers Arms being a J. W. Craggs. He had the pub in 1887 before dying in 1889, aged 43.

No. 1 started where the Bank Top is now, and continued down to No. 13/14 next to River View.

No. 1 - 4 are the cottages that separated the Puddlers from Bank Top Hotel. The 1881 census lists an address “Clark’s Cottages” inbetween “Liddle’s Cottages” (Liddle’s Yard) and “Puddler’s Arms”. I think it’s likely Clark’s Cottages referred to No. 1-4. A former landlord of the Puddlers was Henry Clark.

No. 5 - 8, an auction piece on 22 Oct 1864 (Newcastle Daily Chronicle) lists the Puddler’s Arms as having “eight large rooms”. Possibly that the Puddler’s was split into four two-room flats.

No. 9 - 14, the same auction piece lists the Puddlers Arms as having “three houses, with four rooms each, adjoining the above.” I believe these were split into the six two-room apartments of No. 9 - 14, as a later auction piece on 27 Feb 1869 (Newcastle Daily Journal) now describes the attached property to Puddler’s Arms as “six double cottages”.

 

Photo with the door numbers included.

Edited yesterday at 08:25 by loopylou

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

@loopylou I agree with you on the cottage numbers for River View👍. You have really put a lot of work into delving into your family's past

[loopylou]

@Alan Edgar (Eggy1948) Thank you 😄 Cragg’s Bdgs comes up a lot in my family history.

I’m surprised Puddlers Arms doesn’t have much information about it but I guess if it stopped being a pub in the 1890s it makes sense. I think there might be misconceptions that the Puddlers Arms was *on* the site that the Bank Top Hotel is, when it was a few doors down (I thought this at first 😁). But maps do have Puddlers Arms in one version and the Bank Top in nearly the same place next. So I can see how that would happen. 

(On another bit, I know there is a Bedlington Facebook group for things like this? Would this info be useful?)

Edited yesterday at 18:54 by loopylou

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

@loopylou I would suggest 1st select the Discussion tab then 2nd enter the one word ie. Puddlers  in the search facility. That will return you 3 pages = 65 entries for where Puddlers is mentioned on this site.

There is nothing definite on this site about The Puddlers Arms and The Bank Top Hotel to suggest that the pub changed it's name but it does, because of the space available in the small strip of land, seem more likely to be what happened. 

I know @Canny lass has looked at the area and in the past she found that as well as the Puddlers houses next to River View there was also another row of houses on the opposite side of the pub called Puddlers that later became part of Glassey terrace with the name Puddlers.

If you do search fot Puddlers then yoy will see what I have said above explained in more detail and the fact that Puddlers lives again = some old airey houses in Tosson Close were rebuilt as Puddlers Drive.

There is a Facebook group Bygone bedlington (I am a member) and you will find similar info on that group but again nothing concrete and within that group I have never seen any member delve into census records etc and post info within the group. The admin of the group is a retired gemtelman John Kyyzanowski who may have info but I can't be sure. John used to work at the Northumberland Archives site at Woodhorn Colliery. His main  passion is collecting old postcards of Bedlington.

I will have a delve around (as long as I remember  and get back to you.

Don't think there is any info on the Puddlers from Ireland that were brought accross to work on the Bedlington Iron Works in the Furnace area. Puddlers Row is said to have beem built for those workers. I'll have a scan of the Evan Martin booklet :-

   

[loopylou]

It is certainly a mystery @Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)! Thank you for the info it is very helpful. Will have a look at those. I knew about Puddlers Row but was not aware that Glassey Terrace was formerly a Puddlers-related name too. 😄

One thing that confuses me is the way that Cragg’s Bdgs is labelled in the 1911 census. It makes it look like the Puddlers Arms is in the middle of the block and was later renamed to be part of Craggs. Rather than the Puddlers Arms being demolished and replaced with Bank Top Hotel.

After Bank Top Hotel the addresses go as;

No. 1 Craggs (missing, a shop? Uninhabited?)

No. 2 Craggs Buildings (Weightman)

No. 3 Craggs Buildings (Elliott)

No. 4 Craggs Buildings (Kinghorn)

following these are

Old Puddlers Arms (Mawson)

Old Puddlers Arms (Thain)

Old Puddlers Arms (Cole)

Old Puddlers Arms (Burrell)

All of these addresses ”Old Puddlers Arms” have two rooms each, which equates with the eight rooms  described in the auction.

then confusingly

Craggs Buildings (no number) (McMullen)

No. 2 Craggs Buildings (Thompson)

No. 3 Craggs Buildings (Hutchinson)

No. 4 Craggs Buildings (Campbell)

No. 5 Craggs Buildings (Hadaway)

Craggs Buildings (no number) (Parker)

These also had two rooms each. Then after follows River View. It would appear that No. 2/3/4 are duplicated, but I do not think that these are the same properties, rather that the end six properties later become No. 9-14 of Craggs.

Edited 8 hours ago by loopylou