mickypotts

Micky, I don't think the man in the picture was the headmaster of the Whitley, although it could be some relative. The Headmaster at the Whitley was called Fred Hostler, he lived in a bungalow on Stead Lane next to the cut that ran down to the Oval alongside the Oval school field. The guy in the photo looks older than Fred Hostler would have been in 1943. Matty Hall [whom I am sure you remember taught there] and my dad were school mates. Fred Hostler would not have been much older than them [my dad would have been 20 years old in december 1943], the man in the picture looks a lot older.

that may be true keith but it does look like Mr. Hostler a good bit, time plays tricks on your memory I suppose, We used to visit Mr Hostler at his House, Desmond Reay used to live right across the street( RIP )we were good mates back then and Alan Hall lived a few doors down from Desa. Mattie Hall was a very good teacher except if you were on the wrong end of his blackboard ruler!! did they ever find out why the whitley burned down?

3rd from the left in the back is w potts who may be my grandfather, he died during the war so I never met him, mr hostler was headmaster at whitley and a great cricketeer

does anyone recall the day in 1963 when the kids had just returned to class after break, there were very high winds that week and the wall toppled over the marble pitch where minutes before the kids had all been playing, I was in Mr. Halls class,fate saved us that day

Mickey, you are just a couple of years older than I am so we are thinking along the same lines. The old man was called Les too and he was a good friend of my dads. I think he was a little older than my dad [he would have been 88 this year] so I would imagine old Les would be long gone. The house is still there [i think] but I dont think anything else is ie. greenhouses etc. It may have been a little more than 7 acres but not much I would have thought. I do know one thing though, the bizzies like to sit in the entrance skiving,...... oops sorry, watching for naughty drivers.

I suppose everything seemed bigger when you,re a kid so 7 acres may be right, lesley was a good kid back then how time flies........

The only place I can think of that could be anything like 7 acres would be where Les Dinsmore had a bit of a market garden/plant nursery opposite the bottom end of the golf course, I think there is a public footpath running by there now

Lesley Dinsmore was in my class at westridge and his Dad ran the farm back then, we used to stop in for tea when we ran cross country, I worked one time topping snaggies at the farm, it seemed to be more than 7 acres though, does Les still have the land??

I went to school with David and Alan Arkle who lived at the top of Bedlington bank, we went from Infants to Whitley and then to Westridge, they were both very nice guys, I think their Dad was a spsrky at the Doctor pit, I lost touch after we moved to Newbiggin,Stuart Young ( market Club ) would still know them

The small building in the front used to be Mr Beadles paper shop I think, I delivered for him for a while then went to work for Taits at the station for a little more money

Lets not forget the masonic homes that will take care of a mason in need for life,and give them food room and board and medical too, and the homes work with local lodges to give the elderly as many activities as possible to keep them active, visit a masonic home and ask the residents if they are well treated!

As a Freemason in the US I have found great value in the brotherhood of my lodge, Life throws you many challenges and a fellow mason will honestly listen to your problems, And you to theirs,and give you good advice without reservations, what is said between brothers of a lodge is private and stays that way, I am not a very good christian in that I dont go to church, but I do believe in a higher power and freemasonry shows you the right way to live your life, to be honest and to keep your integrity sound even in times of troubles,the lodge will always help you because they have pledged to do so. free masonry is obviously not for every man but those who wish to join only have to come to the door and ask, you will be welcome.....

nippu takaisin stabbers Ranskan! siellä parasta pitää toisella puolella vettä !!!!!

oups j'ai cliqué finlandais pas français

The only war I can think of that the frogs ever won was when they beat themselves.....in the revolution!!!

or we rode a bike, not too many fat kids back then either

what ever happened to walking to school or taking the bus?? I cannot remember any kids being driven to either whitley memorial or westridge in the 50,s or 60,s and no matter the weather if we didnt have money for Raisbecks we walked......

How about Steptoe and son???

if you want to climb through brambles! there bricked up though!

there at the back of woodside gardens shown on the map

thanks for the info lads, there may still be artifacts to be found around the entrances with a small pick and rake, remember the bloke who just found all that treasure in the farmers feild in yorkshire!!!

Does anyone out there recollect a small cave set into the cliff side on the left side about halfway to three quarters of the way down the path in the hapenny woods? I remember crawling inside about 3 or 4 body lengths as a child and being too afraid to squeeze any further, there may possibly be some artifacts waiting to be found in and around the area, also is that old shack/ caravan still there where the Muldoons used to live?

does anyone know when Ginnie Wilkinsons chippy closed.

I left hirst terrace in 1969 for newbiggin, I,m thinking they knocked hirst terrace down around 1974=5 so maybe 72-73??

anyone any good at either of these, one of my exes used to make these for me damn they were fab one of the many things i miss lol

whenever we are invited to a party at someones house we are asked to bring one of my quiches and they are a very easy thing to make,

I buy a pie crust at the market and use an assortment of ingredients such as green red or yellow peppers, mushrooms, onions scallions or leeks, asparagus, bacon or ham ( cooked ) 2 cups of half milk half cream, shredded cheese, Usually swiss or gruyere, 4 or 5 eggs, and salt and pepper with maybe a touch of cayenne pepper.

put the ingredients on top of the pastry crust then beat the eggs with the half and half and add the seasonings, bake for 15 mins at 425F then reduce heat to 300F for about 30 minutes more, it should have a nice brownish top but not burned. let it cool for ten minutes and enjoy!!!

happy birthday monsta, all the best mate

cant remember one with green stripes, but there's a pic on here of the white one with either orange or red stripes?

this one was still older and had a bonnet that stuck out in front of the windsheild, it was always falling apart, it had a big boot at the backend for luggage, he would sometimes rent a bus when this one was being fixed!

Heres a pic of a 1930 model T wagon that my freind Bobby restored from the ground up, it took him 2 years but its taken 1st prize at a lot of shows

just replaced my sony dsc f717 which i loved,( Zoom stopped working )it had 5.mp with a sony dsc-s980 12.1 mp

it doesnt have the same zoom ability but its smple to use and the screen is bigger with really nice pics and this new one is minute compared to what I had

The old old raisbeck bus, white with green stripes, never seemed like it was going to make it up to the top end, anyone have a picture of that, springs popping out of the seats, freezing cold in winter..........those were the days

RIP and God bless Joe, Heaven couldnt wait

getting chased by wadie for pinching his snaggies! (chased by the local farmer for stealing swedes!) pops mobile shop and setting the woods on fire!

How about tettie pickin fer wadie and when he took the tractor back ti the farm we hauled sacks of tetties over to the railway tracks and sold them to the engineer on the train, then we had rotten tettie fights!! what a stink??

worth the wait to get to the ending