Contributor Leaderboard

This is a real mystery! I couldn’t find Carr’s Buildings anywhere on (or leading off from) Front Street in the 1911 census and I can’t find it anywhere on (or leading off from) Glebe Row. The address ‘Carr’s Buildings’ just doesn’t seem to appear anywhere. However, it seems to have been a time of great confusion as far as the street names of Bedlington go. According to the enumerator, the whole of what we now call Front Street West was then called ‘High Street’ but no resident uses this name – most of them preferring to use ‘Front Street’ instead. Some dwellings were given specific names by the residents, in particular those that had a specific function, such as public houses, and those side streets and yards having their common entrance from the main road. From the Market place and heading north towards the Red Lion, the residents call these: Mason’s Arms, King’s Arms, Brewery Yard, Old Brewery House (home of Dr. Trotter), St.Cuthbert House, Howard Terrace (3 dwellings), Foggan’s Yard (12 dwellings, mostly 1 room), Baptist Yard West End (16 dwellings of 1-2 rooms) and West End – the latter being the last building before turning the corner onto Glebe Row and then occupied by Robert Beadnell. Most of us can probably remember Beadnell’s grocery shop on that site. With the exception of Foggan’s Yard and Baptist’s Yard, both with the addition of ‘High Street’, none of these names are taken up by the enumerator. The same situation is evident along the length of Glebe Row. Turning the corner from Beadnell’s and continuing towards Choppington as far as the Dr Pit Cottages on the western district boundary the official name seems to have simply been ‘Glebe Row’. However, even here the residents have their own unique way of defining the place they called home. Next to Beadnells was Kidd’s Yard with 10 dwellings ranging from 1-3 rooms. In one room we can find a father and son aged 69 and 30 years living together with a female servant aged 14 years. Talk about overcrowding! Continuing down Glebe Road, the residents use the names: Charlton’s Buildings (7 dwellings), Oliver’s Buildings (16 dwellings), Alma Inn, Front Street, Renwick House, Renwick Yard, Tankerville Yard, Arcade (6 dwellings 1-2 rooms, my parents lived here), Tankerville Arms, Fountain Yard (6 dwellings of 1 room) and Fountain Inn. The public houses are taken up by the enumerator with the addition of ‘Glebe Row’. No mention by either residents or the enumerator of Carr’s Buildings. I eagerly await the release of the 1921 census in 2021. We should be able to pinpoint it accurately with you having named relatives living there Eggy. By the way, ration books, along with National Dried Milk, Cod Liver Oil, Orange Juice and Virol were collected from the Food Office, formerly the Alma Inn. I've vague memories of visiting in the early 50s.