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Re the fire which destroyed 1 Third Street, I was wrong to say that it was caused by the chip shop. The chip shop and Dr's surgery were destroyed by a fire in my early childhood and they were in a lean-to wooden building at the end of Third Street which I remember. However, the lean-to building, which I remember was not attached to Nr 1 Third Street but to number 2, as I've just discovered. My early research notes are hand written so instead of wading through them without a 'search engine' I did a new search and found that Nr 1 Third Street was destroyed by fire 31 March 1946, shortly before I lived there! The cause was the local Doctor smoking in bed!!

Here's one that Bob might appreciate more as his mother gets a mention. The Newcastle Journal was a bit quicker in reporting as it had a daily edition while the Morpeth herald only had a weekly.