Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)

Photo and names from Cambois Facebook group members Lillian Hewitt (No 2 in the photo); Brenda Boland & Ellen Easton. 

Photo from 'Jp Brewis' who gave the year it was taken as 1977.

This Google aerial shot, 2020, shows  that the old stone building that the YMCA used as a gym - weightlifting room -etc. is now used as garages for the house' that replaced the main building. .The stone building next to the garages is not part of the YMCA and in the 1960's it used to be a Post Officer. 

Google street view 2009:-

Can't remember any catching any toads from the pond but do remember we spent hours catching fish, sticklebacks I think, from the pond with a long piece of grass plus a worm threaded through the end of the grass. Like you Jammy my memory says we never took them home we put them all back when the day was over.

Another memory is of the pile of wooden pit props close to the pond and my two brothers and me  used a few in an attempt to build a raft. Can't remember what we used to try and tie the props together just that it only worked for less than a minute and I ended up in the pond, surrounded by props, and wor Dek & Den having to get a pole to reach out for me to grab and they pulled me back to the edge. And yes I was in the dog house when we all got home - me still dripping wet, and probably stinking  

@Jammy - there is a web site cinematreasures.org that gives info on all the cinemas in Britain. I remember finding the site, a few years ago, and learned that the name WALLAW was from the original owner's name - WALter LAWson. They don't have any photos of the Bedlington WALLAW but they do have this info :- '

Located in Bedlington, Northumberland. The Palace Theatre was opened as a variety theatre in 1896. It had a full stage and 5 dressing rooms. At the turn of the century it began screening films as part of the variety programme. It suffered damage from a fire in 1927.

The Palace Theatre was restored in 1928, and in 1929 it was equipped with Western Electric(WE) sound system. It was taken over by Wallaw Picture Ltd. in 1930 and in the 1930’s it was rebuilt in an Art Deco style. It was re-named Wallaw Cinema around 1939.

The Wallaw Cinema was closed in the middle of August 1966. 

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In the first half of the 1960's we used to bunk off school to go to the WALLAW on a Tuesday afternoon for the Matinee. It was 6d to get in. 

Can't prove this but I think I was told that the matinee, at the Bedlington cinemas, was introduced for the shift workers = miners  

Palace Theater opened 1896 - now flats.

Entrance to the 'A' pit from Station Road. The kids from Waverley Avenue; Waverley Drive; Bolam Place and the Oval area  that went to Barrington County Primary school would  cross the Station Road, from outside the Pioneer Boot factory and walk through the pit area up to Shop Row where they would turn right and to the railway crossing at Bedlington North signal box and cross the lines onto the Barrington Road and turn left to head for the school.  

Facing East, could the  photographer have been standing on the pit heap? 

Post card shared from Flickr by Ian Foster, Bedlington remembered Facebook group. The image is also in Evan Martin's book - Glimpses of Old Bedlingtonshire with this info :- 

The postcard has 'Sleekburn'  printed on the bottom left corner. Some buildings identified. 

Image, with some info, from one of Evan Martin's books on Bedlingtonshire. 

St Cuthbert's is part of Bedlington's Heritage Trail.

Info on Watson's Wake :-

Info posted by Doug Tindle - Facebook group Bygone Bedlington :-

Image and Info from one of Evan Martin's books on Bedlingtonshire.

Various photos from inside and outside of the church. 

Info on the changes made over the years from Peter F Ryder's booklet - St Cuthbert's Church, Bedlington, An Archaeological Assessment - published in 2015.

Don't know what year the roof was removed and the whole building rendered in 'pebble-dash' . this photo is said to have been taken in 2009.

Note the telephone pole in this photo. It looks like the one that is in the oldest photo pf the building, and according to @Keith Scantlebury it's still there.

c1970 photo of the completed 1955 extension - don't know if the chimney stacks were removed from the old building when the extension work was being carried out.

News paper cutting and comment posted on the Bygone Bedlington Facebook group :- 

 

John Krzyzanowski to Bygone Bedlington

28 April at 23:42 · 

 

In between the building being used as the YMCA and it's current owner - Hms Mot & Service Centre -  it was used by the Pioneer Boot Factory and  Anderson Motors. The tallest guy, 5th from the right as you look at the photo, in the photo when it was the Pioneer Boot Factory is Fred Rocket who opened his own Shoe Repair business - Rockett''s - opposite the Wallaw cinema. 

Then - 1891- and Now - 2018 (Google street view) 

Info on the Durham Mining Museum web site :- 

Photo fro the britainfromabove.org.uk site. and I have added some names of the surrounding buildings. The info posted on the britain_from_above site is :- 

1895 Plans for the Institute from the Northumberland Communites group :- 

If anyone can name anybody in the photo I will add the name to the photo.

Similar photo/postcard in one of Evan Martin's books on Bedlingtonshire has a date of 1904. This is pre Moscardini.

Don't have a date for when The Bank Top Hotel opened. These extracts from two maps show The Puddlers Arms on the 1896 map & The Bank Top Hotel on the 1921 map.